Board of County Commissioners on 2026-02-10 9:00 AM - Feb 10, 2026

I'm going to join me in the Pledge of Allegiance, or rather in the invocation, which is by Pastor James Pendleton from the Coastal Life Church, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Good morning, Commissioners. Good morning. I want you to join me in this moment of prayer. Heavenly Father, God, we come to you today, and in this moment, first and foremost, God, I just want to acknowledge you, and acknowledge just who you are as mighty God, as God, you are gracious. God, you are faithful. You are truth. God, you are good. And, Lord, I just, before anything, want to thank you for that. Lord, I want to pray today for just the people of our community. I pray for our community that we get to live in. I pray for the people of this community who are in seasons of hurting, and whatever that looks like in their life. Lord, I do just pray for the people of our community that are hurting. I pray, God, that you would walk with them. I pray, God, that you would show them your care, and that you would just encourage and lift them up. Lord, I pray for the families of our community. Lord, I pray, God, that there would be strong family units here. Lord, I think of homes all throughout our community, and I pray for marriages. I pray, God, that marriages would be strong and healthy. Lord, I think for moms and dads that our homes would be filled with moms and dads who are strong and healthy. And, Lord, I pray for our kids. I pray for this next generation and younger generations that are filling our schools in this community in the parks. And, God, I pray for those generations as they grow and are raised here, God, that there would be strong morals and values instilled into them, Lord. And I pray, God, that we will look ahead and maybe generations from now they can look back at this season of our life in this community and realize that there was a strong foundation laid for future generations. So, Lord, I just ask that your hand would be in all of those things. And, God, we do just ask that your hands would be on the people of this community that we get to live in and do life with. Lord, today I pray for our commissioners. Lord, I pray that you would give them wisdom and discernment, that you would give them understanding as they look at issues in our county. And, Lord, I pray that you would just guide them. God, I do pray that you would protect them. I know, God, as any time someone sits in a role of leadership, that sometimes and often comes with criticism. And so, Lord, I just pray that you would help them as at times they face criticism, that you would keep their hearts and their minds encouraged in spite of those things. And, Lord, I just pray that you would have your hands over them today and give their minds clarity. And as I pray, Lord, give them wisdom and discernment that can come from you. Lord, I just pray these things in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen. Amen, man. Thank you. Michael Dross, would you lead us in the pledge? We are. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? I'll move approval of the agenda. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. We have one proclamation. Do we have a person who's to receive the proclamation for Black History Month here? Okay. Wait. Are you going to accept the Black History Month proclamation? I'm here, too. Yes. Sorry. I've been waiting for our first house. I've got apologies. Well, we don't. Oh, you can still read it. Okay. Is that okay? Okay. Unfortunately, our recipient is not here yet, but we are the Martin County Board of County Commissioners. It's presenting a proclamation in honor of Black History Day in Martin County. In 1926, historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson established what would become Black History Month to bring special acknowledgement and awareness of African-American accomplishments, contributions, and history, as well as their impact on shaping America. The theme for 2026, a century of Black History commemorations, marks 100 years of celebrating Black History and the role these commemorations have played in American culture and encourages exploration of how Black History and life celebrations have helped shape and transform the modern world. February 2026 is proclaimed Black History Month, and the board is proud to honor the history, contributions, and achievements of African-Americans throughout our community, state, and nation. Thank you. Thank you. And I have a proclamation this morning, too, and that is the Martin County Board of County Commissioners would like to present Don Donaldson with the Outstanding Service Award. Wow. Yep, yep. This is no small feat. Don has been an employee of Martin County for 30 years, and we are pleased and proud of your loyal and dedicated service. And this is wonderful, Don. I'm sure you didn't realize this. You were hereby awarded 24 hours of PTO. That's no joke. So thank you. 24 hours is pretty good. Four days. And a new pin. And a new pin. Thank you so much. Thank you. Each. You'll be getting one of those for one of these days. You will, exactly. So I tell this to many of our new employees. When I started here, I thought that I would be here maybe five years and go back to the private sector. But what's always kept me here is really two things. And one, the most important, is the people I get to work with. I like to work with people that are smarter than me, and there's a lot of those on our team. And the other was that the county has always endeavored to do really innovative projects and really cool things. And I'm always amazed at the number of things that all of our county employees are doing. And it is no, there's, throughout the year, I'm always introduced to something that we've done that I had no part of. But it's a really cool thing that makes our community better. And that's what's kept me here. Thank you. We now have public comment. The first request to speak form I have is from Robert Mackin. Mackin. Mackin. Okay. Followed by Frank McChrystal. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. My name is Robert McKean, Executive Director of the Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast. Am I heard? Yes. Here, I'd like to be real quick. The Stewart Boat Show was in the middle of January, over on the north side of the bridge. A record show in both attendance. Lots of boats sold on the barrelhead. Lots of contracts. Weather was interesting, but it turned out okay for the actual show. What's important to that show is parking, because for most boat shows, parking is a problem. So I'm here to thank you and your staff, Mr. Stokas and Mr. McBean, for the airport parking facility that we had over at the airport. It is vital to be able to get people in. We had six buses running, 20 loops a day, and we had over 20,000 people at the show. So I'm here to thank you for that. We always appreciate the partnerships that we have with both the city and the county, and that show can't happen without those partnerships, and we appreciate that. The industry is strong, and it is growing. Also, last week, we had the Economic Impact Breakfast over at IRIC, Chastain Campus. Very well attended. What a mix of people that were there. It was very interesting. As a moderator, to watch what was happening out in the audience was interesting. Lots of good feedback on it. We'll be doing that again in probably a legislative lunch sometime around Maine as we see what happens in Tallahassee. So, yeah, it was great feedback. We appreciate the support. We appreciate you guys coming, and thank you very much. Thank you. Frank McChrystal is next, and that's the last request to speak form I have. Frank McChrystal, executive director of my house. A wife might disagree. Don Donaldson, stop being so humble. There's no doubt you are the sharpest tool in this shed. Thank you very much. All right. So, the fire burn center at the airport, the training building that's proposed, the same one that the people of Palm City said, not in my backyard, that one. Five or six years ago, I had the pleasure of sitting with the existing fire chief at the time for probably five or six hours, thanks to Mr. Kiampi making that happen. And we came up five, six years ago with a sort of like, in my plea for mercy. He said, okay, we can fit all our guys in and only burn 35 times a year, and we'll use the cleanest material known to man. So, I'm here to ask you today, recognizing that that burn, proposed burn center, is 800 feet from Vista Pines, 1,600 feet from the Barn Theater, but most importantly for me, 1,700 feet from neighborhoods to the east. A lot of old houses like mine that have awning windows still, and we'd like to at least this time of year open our windows. So, I'm here to ask for a few things. Again, organize these burn dates into very organized, large groups of firefighters, because I also learned that the real reason for these burn buildings is to simply teach these guys how to put their mask on properly. Okay? So, I'm asking that you train as many at a time as you can to reduce the number of days that you have to burn, and please never consider making this a regional training center to, quote, offset the monstrous price that this thing is going to cost. Please never even consider that. Okay? But something new I thought of lately, and it really is just be a good neighbor. If the fire chief could publish like a monthly schedule of the burn times so people that do live in those neighborhoods around this new training center will at least know when to close their windows when they're leaving their homes. That would be wonderful. So, keep in mind, the firefighter is different than 25 years ago. The average fire lasts four minutes, so mostly their job is a mop-up scenario. Thank you. Thank you. Would anyone else like to address us? And we will move to Commissioner Comments. Commissioner Vargas. Yes, we did have the flag there, and we can perhaps bring one for the end of the meeting. That would be great. Anything else? Commissioner Capps. I wanted to mention a few things that I've been involved with since our last meeting. On Thursday, January 29th, I attended the 70th anniversary of Audubon at the Palm City Presbyterian Church, and Jackie Thurlow Lippish gave a fantastic keynote address about environmental restoration in Martin County and the Everglades, the photography and the Everglades, the photography and the artwork of wading birds was just stunning. We learned that the health of the wading bird population is a key indicator of the health of the environment in Florida because that means the water is at the right depth in the wetlands to produce food for wading birds, so I thought that was really cool. Then on Wednesday, February 4th, I got to speak to the Martin County CARES group, and that stands for Citizens Academy Resource Education Series, and that was held at the Emergency Operations Center over by where the sheriff and the fire rescue and the emergency operations folks have their offices. This class is a wonderful way to learn about our community and our county government. I took the class many, many years ago, and I was told by Martha Ann that I should take it again because it's even newer and more improved, but I would encourage all of our residents in Martin County to take this class. It's just a great exposure to all of the county government departments and many other cultural things in our county. And lastly, on Thursday, February 5th, I attended the Indiantown Kiwanis Club meeting where I learned of the club's plans to develop a youth sports program for the kids in Indiantown, which is greatly needed, and the kids in Indiantown don't have enough to do after school, and this is a great effort. I applaud what they're doing, and we look forward to helping in any way that we can. Thank you. Commissioner Capps, it's nice that you bring up the Audubon meeting. One of the charges of the Everglades Forever Act, which was passed in 2000 by Congress, was to recreate healthy nesting habitat for the wading birds in the Everglades. They were decimated by the plume hunters, so that was one of the charges of Everglades restoration. And since 1970, in the United States alone, we've lost 3 billion birds. Birds are a real key indicator species. I'm this county's representative on the County Coalition for the Responsible Management of Lake Okeechobee, and we had a meeting last Friday and presentations by the Army Corps of South Florida Water Management District, Florida Fish and Wildlife, and DEP. And the Department of Environmental Protection is doing a really, really cool new pilot project. They've contracted with five contractors, AECOM, Aquaculture, ED, Waste to Water, Eutrophix, Sea and Shoreline, and Solitude Lake Management, to do a dredge project. Each one of them has selected a discrete portion, location, inside Lake Okeechobee to dredge, and they're going to measure success by the amount, mostly, of total phosphorus that they remove, and some of them are also going to be measuring the total nitrogen that they remove. But it's a competition. Whoever removes the most phosphorus will be rewarded by getting a bigger portion of the contract. So initially it's a $20 million competition, and it just sounds like it's a wonderful way. The contractors are devising their own methods. Each one of them is using a different method. So I will be very interested to see the results of this because it surely will point the direction for successful scaling up of muck removal in Lake Okeechobee. So a very cool thing. What's it called, America's Next Top Dredger? No, I think it has a name. It should be that. Thank you. Commissioner Campy. I'm all set. Thank you. And Commissioner Hetherington. Well, personally, I wanted to congratulate the Martin County Arts Council on a fantastic Arts Fest downtown Stewart this weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect, and they had some new additions in the program with the food and wine festival ticket. So I think that it was a great show. They did a great job, and I believe that component will only grow next year. So congratulations. And then I did get to attend the Marine Industries of the Treasure Coast Economic Impact Breakfast, and, Rob, it was just fantastic. I learned so much from some of the panelists, and it also reminded me of how important these marine businesses are to our local economy, both large and small. And then the following evening I was at the DDS for Vets Gala talking with Congressman Amass, and it inspired some questions that I have for Mr. Donaldson, as in what is happening with the train bridge? Who is applying for the grant? Is it going to be fined or the city of Stewart? And it really is such an impactful bridge on our marine industries, so I want to make sure that we are doing whatever we can, even though it's in the city of Stewart. So I would love to get an update on that. Certainly, Commissioners, the rail bridge, which goes over the St. Lucie, which is single-tracked, has been an issue for residents of Martin County and especially our marine industries for some time. The city of Stewart and the Florida Internavigation District applied for, and the city received a grant a little over a year ago. And they're resubmitting for some more funds to get enough to do the project. It is my understanding still that the city of Stewart and the Florida Internavigation District are working as a joint applicant. I've certainly made it known to the Florida Inland Navigation District, if they needed any guidance or help, that we would offer some administrative help should they need it. But at this time, it's my understanding that the city and the Inland Navigation District are still working jointly together on that application for funding the bridge replacement. If you could work with the city and keep us updated on that to make sure that nothing slides through the cracks on that. And then the other conversation I had was the congressman is very upset about the FEC hauling through the Treasure Coast trash from Miami-Dade County, offloading it in Fort Pierce, and then apparently it goes to Okeechobee. So my question is, why would they not put that from Miami-Dade on the CSX Railroad directly out to Okeechobee? I'm guessing someone has asked that question, but I would really love to know why they couldn't do that, haul it on CSX directly to Okeechobee. I don't have the answer to that, but we will get that back to you and let everybody know. What happened was there is a waste energy plant in Dade County that had a fire, I think it was over a year ago, and so that continues to not be operational, and I think they're still studying whether they're going to rebuild it there or wherever. In the meantime, the garbage is being shipped to Okeechobee in the waste management site, and they're currently using FEC. But I had a similar question come up recently on the CSX line, why can't it be used, and I've got staff looking into that to see what we can do to encourage that to happen. And also to encourage when it is happening that any debris that results from that, that it be cleaned up. Thank you. That's all I have. Mr. Donaldson, any further comments? Yes, I do have just a question to the rest of the board. Commissioner Vargas is scheduled to go visit the Sedron site in Seattle, and just wanted to offer if any of you all wanted to attend as we're scheduling that to make that available to all of you, should any of you all want to go see the operation of the biosolids facility that we're contracting to build in Indiantown. What's their timeline to be built in Indiantown, do you know? I think it's going to take about a year and a half to get that constructed. Ms. Elder. Thank you. In that case, we will take up the consent polls. Consent 8, which was a request for adoption of a resolution amending the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting schedule and attendance requirements. This has been changed, and perhaps you can explain why. Good morning, Kevin Abate, Parks and Recreation Director. The board asked us to re-ask the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to look at the number of times that they would like to meet annually. They did vote 7-0 unanimously to meet six times a year on the third Thursday of each month, probably beginning in March or February. We'll work on that date with them based on this outcome today, and that was really the basis of that meeting. Okay. Any questions? Thank you. All right. Thank you. We'll take up consent 12. We didn't vote on the consent. We'll vote on all of them at the end. I think consent 12 is an interlocal agreement for the South Sewell's Point Force Main Extension Project, Phase 3. Mr. Repetti. Good morning. Good morning. Commissioner Vargas, you pulled this? I did. I did. I'm numerous in November. I think I was the one for good reasons. I have – we can't hear you. Turn your – yeah. Yes. Back in November of last year, I think I was the one that opposed passing this. I can't hear you. Can you hear now? Yes. Okay, perfect. Back in November, I think I was the one commissioner that opposed this, and correct me if I'm wrong, there may have been another. But the inconsistencies in the reports that have been continuous and the lack of transparency towards the residents have caused me great concern, did at that time, and continue to do so. At that time, they had presented a survey of 336 recipients. 86 homes wanted the sewers. 32 homes replied no. And 218 homes did not reply at all, which at that time was considered a no vote by then-Mayor Kurzman. Again, I've had people approach me recently to say that the documents were not prepared properly. They were not submitted properly. They – the town manager and actually the engineering company scuttled up this work, which was not due for quite a while and put a tremendous, tremendous pressure on our directors who handle the water and sewer. And so I would like to have those that are here at the meeting come up and make a presentation to our board. We have to take into account our citizens. That's first and foremost, and especially our taxpayers. So I'd appreciate if somebody who is representative from Sewell's Point can come up to speak today. There is one request to speak form, and that's from Mona Leonard. You'll have three minutes to speak to us, Ms. Leonard. Mona Leonard, One Heritage Way, Sewell's Point. Thank you so much, commissioners, for taking your time today. Everything I'm about to tell you can be verified through documentation. The town of Sewell's Point applied for a resiliency grant for a town-wide septic-to-sewer project to improve water quality in the Indian River Lagoon. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection data shows the Indian River Lagoon is not impaired around Sewell's Point. Compliments to the BOCC for standing your ground on required standards on septic-to-sewer. But the town of Sewell's Point decided to move forward on obtaining their own grants anyway, despite no need to convert at all, according to DEP. So the townspeople requested a study by an independent research company, Giffels-Webster, to determine if and to what degree our septic tanks were damaging the Indian River Lagoon. To this day, that study has been denied for the residents to review in spite of the town paying $75,000 for it. For four years, we have been requesting Freedom of Information Act results of the Giffels-Webster study. We were originally denied that the study even existed by our mayor and others. That was after the study itself was presented to our town commission in a meeting and then quickly withdrawn so the town engineer, Joe Capra, could then alter the study and we'd never know the truth. So seeing we weren't getting anywhere, we decided to create our own door-to-door petition to see what people truly felt in Sewell's Point and found that 78% of the residents did not want to convert to sewer. When we presented the results to our town commission, we were told by Commissioner Kaya Mayfield, it doesn't matter how many signatures you get. We're going to vote how we want to vote. A FOIA request for the study by Casey Ingram produced only two pages on the thumb drive given to her by the town. Why not the entire 300-plus pages of data displayed to us at a public meeting before being quickly taken down from the dais, denying its existence at all until the pressure became too much? Why spend money for no good environmental reason with ill-gotten funds? The common denominator, and it only takes one, is Joe Capra, our town engineer, and he stands to benefit dearly. Joe Capra's own survey of interest showed 75% of residents don't want sewer, yet he lied and said 86% of residents do want sewers. We are a congregation of highly intelligent, compassionate people who believe in justice, not going along to get along. The residents do not even realize that the special assessment will be mandatory, nor how much it's going to cost. This, even though residents were assured it would not be mandatory by our town government. Lies on our grant applications, FOIA denials, and huge debt. Please stop the corruption and do not agree to give Sewell's point more sewer hookups. Thank you so much. Thank you. Would anyone else like to address us? Mr. Repetti, any response? Oh, boy. So, yes, there was a study by Giffels-Webster that was discussed, and I'm not sure why the town has not made that available. They engaged the town in that endeavor. So, I mean, that report should be readily available. And looking at the number of residents that are against the project, generally on our side, from the utility side, we find the residents very open to this. We did the first big project on the north side of East Ocean Boulevard, north Sewell's point. Today, we've got a 50% connection rate. Those are people who, you know, for a voluntary connection, not mandated, and it's not an assessment. So, I'm quite happy to answer any other direct questions. So, we met with the board back in November, and the board approved the interlocal agreement. We've reviewed it with county legal staff, and it's been executed by the town of Sewell's point. And we're here today for the other side of what was discussed back in November. Thank you. Mr. Donaldson. I was just going to say that it's important to note that the county is not building the facility. The town is going to construct the forced mains, and once it's completed, then it will become part of our utilities. But this is a Sewell's point project, and the agreement simply is about them building it to our standards and then turning the forced mains over to us once it's completed. But it is essentially just making sure that it's clear that it is the town's project. Commissioner Campy. Thank you. Mine's more of a procedural question. This was originally put on the consent agenda, pulled by one of our commissioners. Did anybody reach out to Sewell's points of town or to let them know that this was going to be discussed? When it was an agenda item, four of their five commissioners came and spoke for it, one opposed. Many residents came. That's when it was advertised. That's when it was going to be an agenda item and a hearing. I have no problem having it be vetted again. We've heard statistics and information from a resident that lives there and one of our commissioners who represents that area, but I'm not in a position to say yes or no based on this new information or the fact that no one is here. I'm sure that someone from Sewell's point, either their administration, their elected officials, residents that are absolutely in favor of it, we can't have an agenda item and then put it on consent, pull it from consent, because we've done that in the past where when people hear that their item is on consent and they understand the definition of what the consent agenda is, they assume it's going to be voted to a yes. So if this is going to turn into a situation, I think it's important that we invite the folks to come back and hear what these numbers are. Is this report been issued? And I agree with Mr. Repetti. I can't imagine, and I'm not disagreeing with what Ms. Leonard said, but I can't imagine that public funds were spent on a public report and then it's kept secret. It's a fact. Okay, well, facts can be looked at in different ways by different people. We don't know until we hear from them that they say yes, we've never shown the report for whatever the rationale is. My point is that you're asking me to make a determination, which I was in favor of it last time, based on the presentation and the information that was presented by their elected officials. Now, granted, I'm up here long enough to realize that sometimes you're on the right side, you know, on your side of a vote, and sometimes you're on the opposition of a vote, and people can be frustrated by that. So I'll make an opinion. I'll make a decision based on what I've heard, but I've only heard one side of it today, and whether it was a Sewell's Point issue or any issue, most people, when they hear that their agenda item is on consent, they assume it's a yes, and they might not attend to hear what it's pulled, might not hear this other information that's come to light today. So as far as I'm concerned, I think we need to wait. Commissioner Vargas. Okay. So I did state before, and you can look up the video, when I was running for office, I met with your town manager. He gave me this report. Look kind of familiar. It says draft on the bottom of it. Okay. To me, a draft is not a finality. However, he ponied that up to me right away. I did read it cover to cover, because I do read all reports. I think that this commission should be looking at all angles, and if there's new knowledge that we have been presented with, then we should take the onus and say, hold on just one moment here. Let's give them the opportunity, and them being everybody in that community, which is Sewell's point, not just because it's in my district either. I would do this for any district, because that's how I operate. That's the right thing to do, and I am requesting that this commission postpone this particular item from today. And then we can invite everybody to come and speak, give them adequate information, and also foreknowledge of when it's going to be heard. And that's the way to conduct a business meeting, no matter what hour of the day or night it is. And business meetings are conducted around the world, which I've lived, any time it's important, is what I say. Commissioner Capps. I have a concern with the timeline. The town of Sewell's point is under an enormous amount of pressure to get the project completely finished by a certain date. I think it's like July or something like that. They are really pressed for time, and they relied on our prior vote to allow these grinders. And this is – I think it's probably true that this work is already underway. Like, to shut them down now would be devastating to their efforts. You know, so I'm very concerned about that. I would suggest that we contact them now and ask them if they would like to come in and speak sometime through the day before we cut them off at the knees, without them even being here to explain themselves. So I would make a motion that we'll allow them to come in today at any given time that they're able, and we can take the issue up after we've heard from them. Second. Commissioner Hetherington. I agree with that. The north section of Sewell's point was – when was that completed? You said only 50 – there was not a mandatory assessment, and only 50% of people have connected? That seemed low unless it was just completed. It was completed in June of 2020, and we don't have a mandatory connection policy. And if the system is available, they'll no longer be able to get a septic repair permit. And to date, we've had 50% of that community connect. And so there was no assessment? No assessment, no aim. And 50% was the connection rate. That seems pretty low in five years to me, a connection rate. It is what it is. We typically end up with about a third of the residents connecting within the first year. They want to take advantage of the lower cost. They want to no longer deal with the septic system. They may have other uses on their property for that piece of their land. And over time, as septics fail, as we also have a lot of residents, when they move into a house and they find out it's available, they're anxious to connect as well. Commissioner Vargas. So, Mr. Repetti, tell me, you've already started digging? Or what's happening with this particular item? What have you started on? Okay, so this is a Town of Stools Point project. They bid out the project for just two aspects of Phase 3. One is a gravity system. The other one is for small diameter force mains for grinders. They've put the work out on the street. They've bid it out. They've awarded contracts. And I know that they've already started on the work for the gravity system, for the 76 gravity residents. And I believe they're getting ready to start on the grinder work. I understand. However, they have not given the information that's been requested. And this report is not of late. I mean, this has been going on for a number of years. And there has been no forthcoming of information. So, I'm not looking at you about this because you're doing your job. However, people have taken their time this morning. And if the town manager wants to come right now, and Mr. CapTech wants to come now also to defend themselves, they have people here and give an explanation. So, you know, if things aren't done right initially, it's not correct. It's just not correct. And I feel very strongly about this. I've had a number of people come to me about this. And that's why I was opposed to this at the beginning when the vote was taken. And do you know what? They want us to hurry up and do something that they should have done a while ago. Do you know what I'm saying? They're making it our emergency. And it's not because we have a process and procedure. I was told that as soon as I came aboard here. A process and a procedure. And the process just kind of skimmied right in front, right to the head of the line. So, again, you're doing your job. But this is something that does not feel right to me at all. And I would request this commission, postpone this. We're talking about another two weeks when we have another meeting. We're not talking about two years from now. Mr. Donaldson. I see Joe Capa. Just letting you know that Mr. Graham is reaching out to Bob Daniels. Don. We're still reaching out to the town manager. Well, we'll wait for Mr. Daniels to. Yeah. Yeah. I also voted against this back in November. Our utility department recommended denial because it was changing our longstanding policy. And it was longstanding policy for a reason. And Sewell's Point had three years to give their residents the opportunity to amortize the cost of these installations and didn't take any action. There are some irregularities and some allegations of misrepresentations. And so there's a motion and a second to have the Sewell's Point town manager and the engineer to come and explain their position. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. We will hear from them later on. Meanwhile, can we have a motion to approve the remainder of the consent agenda? I'll move approval of the consent agenda. I second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. We will take a public hearing quasi-judicial one, which is a public hearing to request approval of the major spinal site plan for the Bridge Road Car Club. This is quasi-judicial. Any ex parte disclosures? Commissioner Vargas. If I have any, they've been filed. Commissioner Capps. If I have any, they have been filed. I have them and they've been filed. Commissioner Campy. I have them and they've been filed. Commissioner Hetherington. I have them and they've been filed. And anyone who's going to be providing sworn testimony, please stand, 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. Sinnott, have you provided all your necessary materials to the clerk? Yes. I'm turning in a copy of my work history and the agenda item to be filed as Exhibit 1. And the applicant's proof of public notice mailers was turned in at the LPA hearing this past Thursday. Excellent. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Commissioners. I'm John Sennett, Principal Planner with Growth Management. I'm presenting the Bridge Road Car Club Major Final Site Plan application. There are no interveners for this application. This is a request by HJA Design Studio on behalf of MCFL Properties for major final site plan approval to construct three one-story vehicular self-storage buildings and associated infrastructure. The building consists of 36 storage units, totaling approximately 55,823 square feet. The subject 32.27-acre site is currently undeveloped and is located at 7550 Southeast Bridge Road, approximately 0.32 miles northeast of the intersection of Southeast Power Line Avenue and Southeast Bridge Road and Hobe Sound. Included is a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation. The site's located on the south side of Bridge Road. It is west of the Hobe Sound Commerce Park development along Suzanne Drive. The property to the south is the Coastal Waste and Recycling PUD. Aside from an existing excavated lake, the subject property is currently undeveloped and contains 14.9 acres of wetlands. The existing zoning of the property is GI, General Industrial. In the yellow to the south of the property, you can see the Coastal Waste and Recycling PUD. To the east, in the pink and cream colors, you can see the M1 Industrial District, as well as the LI, Limited Industrial District, and the B3 District in blue. To the north of the property across Bridge Road is the RE2A Zoning District. The future land use of the subject property and the surrounding sites to the west, south, and east is industrial. Across Bridge Road to the north, you can see the Rural Density Future Land Use designation. The scope of work includes the construction of three one-story vehicular self-storage buildings totaling approximately 55,823 square feet. Access will be provided via a driveway from Southeast Bridge Road. Water and wastewater will be provided by South Martin Regional Utility. As part of this application, the owner will dedicate 42 feet of right-of-way along Southeast Bridge Road during post-approval. The owner will also pay $53,120 in lieu of sidewalk construction along Southeast Bridge Road. The owner has applied for an environmental waiver for access to the upland portion of their property. Staff reviewed the waiver and found it met the criteria of Section 4.3B, LDR. The waiver has been approved by the Growth Management Director. The waiver authorizes 0.16 acres of wetland impacts and 0.36 acres of wetland buffer impacts to allow for a driveway for access to the upland portion of the site. The on-site mitigation will consist of the creation of 0.16 acres of wetlands to offset the impacts. This is the proposed major final site plan. As you can see, the buildings are situated in the southern portion of the site. Along Bridge Road, you can see the 42-foot-wide right-of-way dedication. That results in a total right-of-way dedication of 1.23 acres. This site plan will preserve 14.9 acres of wetland as well as 8.99 acres of wetland buffer. The total developed area, that's the vehicular use areas, buildings, dry retention, and landscaped areas, that will be 5.13 acres. Here I've highlighted the proposed areas of wetland and wetland buffer impacts in red. As you can see, the driveway near this curve from Bridge Road, it leapfrogs between wetland buffer areas to minimize impacts to the wetland itself. And then as it proceeds south and east, there are some marginal impacts to wetland buffers as well. Again, the wetland impact is 0.16 acres. The wetland buffer impact is 0.36 acres. And in blue, adjacent to the existing excavated lake, is the 0.16-acre wetland creation area. This matter was heard before the local planning agency on February 5th. The LPA voted 4-0, recommending approval, with one member being absent. Development review staff have found the MCFL properties application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report. Staff recommendation is to move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments, including the staff report, as Exhibit 1, and move that the board adopt the resolution approving the Bridge Road Car Club final site plan, including the Preserve Area Management Plan. That concludes my presentation. Questions for Mr. Sinnott. Mr. Sinnott, is this within the primary urban service boundary? Yes, it is. Thank you. Commissioner Capps? Yes, the full acreage on the site is 32.27 acres? Correct. And how many acres will be used for development purposes for, like, the buildings? 5.13 acres. That includes their driveway, landscape areas, retention areas, as well as the building footprint. And, again, the area of the right-of-way dedication is 1.23 acres. Thank you. Any further questions? Applicant, would you like to? One more question. Commissioner Barton. It's not a question. It's really a comment. And when I saw wetlands being impacted, that's exactly my response initially, and I understand about the mitigation, what have you. I did ask quite a few questions in our meeting, both with the growth management and with the applicant and the representatives also, about the fact that there would be no oil changes, there would be no runoff. This is our precious land here, and we have to be exceedingly careful with this. My understanding is that your department had tried different ways in order to have an ingress-egress. This is recessed from the road, the main road, from Bridge Road, this entranceway, and it is a locked entranceway. Those that, you know, belong to this club have access, of course. Is there any other way in order to work this so that we're not infringing? Good morning, Commissioners. Paul Schilling, Growth Management Director for the Record. And to address your question, Commissioner, and thank you for that question, the result that we see today in today's hearing, there were other entrances proposed over the last year and a half or so, and this, what you're looking at today, results in the least amount of impact. So all those variables were taken into account, that, as well as the public safety. But first and foremost, is there any other alternative? This is the least impactful. I understand that they're going to have turning lanes both east and west into this property for a safety feature, because I did ask about a, you know, a light, of course, a traffic light, and they felt it wasn't necessary because there wouldn't be a lot of traffic flowing through here, just those that have purchased them. These are condominiums, so these are owners, and they do have to abide by covenants and bylaws and rules, and there will be supervisory management there continuously. And I know you're pretty strict, your department, about this. That's why I said I kind of grimaced when I heard this was wetlands. Any other comments about this? No, just to reiterate the fact you summed it up pretty well. What we're looking at today is the least impactful. There is no net loss to wetlands in Martin County, so those are being recreated on site. And then the operation, the applicant can certainly speak. I believe they have a presentation, but the operation is very low impact as far as trips. There will be improvements done in the right-of-way, or there is a 42-foot right-of-way dedication. So all of those variables came together, and that's the result of this plan today. Okay. I'd like to hear from the applicant, please. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. Can we always have a problem here with my height? My name is Erica Beitler, for the record. I'm with HA Design Studio, and I'm the applicant for the... Have you been sworn in? Pardon? She was sworn in. Have you been sworn in? Oh, yes, ma'am. Excellent. I'm sorry. I have been sworn in. I knew I was forgetting something. As John said, this is a request for a major final site plan of Bridge Road Car Club, and our project team is here for any answer or questions that you may have. This slide, the location is in Hope Sound, and it's accessed off of Bridge Road, just west of the Suzanne Commerce Park and east of Powerline Road. It has a general industrial zoning, as well as an industrial land use, and as well as in the urban service boundary. You... Sorry. I got lost. This is consistent... The zoning is consistent with the county... And the county standards. Hi. Can I restart? I'm sorry. Absolutely. I just got so public... It's okay. You're doing great. We are... Let me just go back. So we are consistent with the zoning and the land use designation, as well as the county standards. This is an undeveloped site along the Bridge Road Corridor, and the existing industrial commerce park is to the east. And this aerial highlights the surrounding natural areas and illustrates why a compact development approach is suitable for this site. This is our site plan, and a little better in color. The proposal is for a low-intensity private vehicular self-storage consisting of three one-story buildings, totaling 55,800 square feet, with 36 individual condominium units. The buildings are compact and contained in the south, resulting in 91% open space and 100% native landscaping, as you can see along the west and in south buffer, as well as in the retention areas. Appropriate on-site stacking and gate entrance will prevent backup onto Bridge Road, and the gate is in between the second and third blue arrows, which those blue arrows on this plan represent hydraulic flow that's being maintained. So here, the entrance drive utilizes a retaining stem wall to reduce grating and limit wetland disturbance. The stem wall is located all along the wetland, and upland interface is shown in this yellow line, and the hydraulic connectivity on the on-site wetlands will be maintained. Stormwater runoff will be treated through the dry retention systems, and it achieves a 95% reduction of the nitrogen and phosphorus, and consistent with the new statewide stormwater rules that were adopted in December 25. The project is dedicating 42 feet, which is 1.23 of this site, for future corridor improvements, and constructs west and eastbound turn lanes to help safety without disturbing traffic along Bridge Road. Additionally, the applicant is contributing 53,000 in lieu of a sidewalk along Bridge to the county sidewalk fund. This is a South Martin Regional Utilities area serviced, and there will be extension to the western property line of a 12-inch water main and a 6-inch force main. This is a detail of those improvements along Bridge. You can see the two deceleration lanes going into the site. From an environmental standpoint, this project results in significant permanent preservation. Access to upland development requires the waiver under the Martin County LDR Section 4.3B. This waiver is permissible by right for access when no other reasonable alternative to the uplands exists. So staff and applicable state agencies have reviewed and certified these standards, and we meet or exceed. So there's no preclusion of use here. The wetland impact shown in red in this graphic, the darker hatch is 0.16 acres of wetland mitigation, and in the blue to the east is on-site mitigation for that area, as well as the upland buffer impact is the less dark hatch in red, and that's 0.36 acres. So of this 32-acre site, 5.13 is uplands, and that's about 16% of the site. The property totals 31 acres, less of the right-of-way, and of that 23.89 acres, or 77%, will be permanently preserved under a recorded conservation easement. This includes the 14.9-acre wetlands and 8.99-acre wetland buffer. And this will all be managed in accordance with the approved PAMP. And here's just a detail of what the development would look like in the midst of the overall site. And then operationally, as Commissioner Vargas mentioned, there will be strict HOA restrictions in place, no overnight stays, no businesses, no auto repair operations, no outdoor storage, or excessive noise. The HOA will be responsible for preservation area management, stormwater maintenance, private infrastructure such as roads, and lift station. This is a graphic illustration looking northeast of the most south building. And the buildings are approximately 35 feet in height, which the code here with general institutional is 40 feet height max, which includes a 14-foot clearance for a roll-up door and a mezzanine in each condominium of a unit. And there will be eight different unit types. Just another view. The width between these buildings is significantly wider than the typical 24 feet that is standard for a drive aisle. It's 40 feet for appropriate turn, auto turn, and all of that necessary for fire trucks and deliveries, what have you. So in summary, this is a low-intensity project with substantial public benefit, including right-of-way dedication, infrastructure improvements, extensive exotic removal, which is very important on the wetlands, permanent conservation of the majority of the property. And I do want to note that typically we just have a PAMP approved on these wetland areas, but we're having additional covering of a conservation easement. So no matter what may, which probably never was in Martin County with wetland mitigation or anything, but the conservation easement will maintain this area to never be disturbed. The design complies with county code, Florida statues, and applicable environmental regulations. We respectfully request approval of this plan, and our team is here to answer any of your questions. There we go. Is that better? Yes. But great job on the presentation. As I asked earlier about the acreage, it's 32.27 acres total, and only 5.13 acres are being used for the development of the buildings. And I think there's another one-point-something acres that's used for the driveway into the... The right-of-way dedication total area is 1.23 acres. That will be deeded to the county as part of post-approval. Right. Can we pull up that first picture, the one with all the... Yeah, let's see now. Right here? This one? Yeah, that one will do. Okay. You know, one thing that's really good about this project, I think, is that you won't even see the buildings from Bridge Road. They're deep into the forest, so to speak. And, you know, it would seem to me that, you know, I hate to see anything built right on Bridge Road, but if something's going to be built, it would seem to me that this is one of the most environmentally friendly projects that I've seen thus far as a commissioner. And there's very little impact to the natural environment here. And I applaud the way you put it together. You know, there's a huge amount of preservation here. So I'm quite satisfied with what I'm seeing here. So I would move approval. Second. Mr. Bargis. Yeah. The other thing that I liked, and help me out here, the stem wall construction. I like that because it's elevated. But the other thing that I like even better is that the water flows through. So it's not impeded at all to maintain continuity with the natural wildlife. Is that correct? Yes. Paul Schilling, for the record. So the hydrology will be maintained with the use of the cohort system. And also the roadway and the elements around the buildings are on stem wall construction. So that eliminates the need for any additional grading and preserves as much as possible with the understanding that these are buildings that will be utilized for, as the applicant said, for a pretty low intense use. Thank you. Anything else? Would anyone from the public like to address us? Seeing none, I'll close this. Commissioner, can we just put on the record that the notice to surrounding properties was turned in? Yes, for the record, I turned in the LPA last Thursday. Okay. Excellent. Thank you. Yeah, this project did an excellent job of protecting the ecosystem. I particularly like the conservation easement. Thank you. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you all for your consideration and time. Thank you, Commissioners. I take DPQJ1, which is a request to approve the Third Amendment to the Coastal Waste and Recycling Planned Unit Development Zoning Agreement, including a revised master and final site plan. This is quasi-judicial. Any exparte disclosures? Commissioner Vargas? Commissioner Capps? If I have any, they have been filed. Hey, can I mention one other thing? Sure. Madam Chair. Joe Capra? Oh, Don's getting him. Oh, Don, you're apprising him of what transpired on the consent. Oh, good, good. All right, great. If I have any, they have been filed. I do have some, and they've been filed. Commissioner Campy? I have some, and they've been filed. And Commissioner Hetherington? I have them, and they've been filed. Anyone who's going to be providing sworn testimony in this public hearing, 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? Thank you. Mr. Sinnott, have you prepared your information and sent it to the clerk? Yes. I'm turning in a copy of my work history and a copy of the agenda item to be filed as Exhibit 1. Thank you. Please proceed. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Commissioners. I'm John Sinnott, Principal Planner with Growth Management. I am presenting the Coastal Waste and Recycling Planned Unit Development Third Amendment, including a revised master final site plan. This is a request by HJA Design Studio on behalf of Coastal Waste and Recycling of Martin County for approval of the Third Amendment to the Coastal Waste and Recycling PUD Zoning Agreement, including a revised master final site plan to construct an approximately 7,800-square-foot vehicular maintenance building, a 4,000-square-foot office building, and associated infrastructure. The 22.7-acre site is located at 12967 Southeast Suzanne Drive, approximately 0.25 miles southeast of the intersection of Southeast Suzanne Drive and Southeast Bridge Road in Hope Sound. Included is a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation. There are no interveners for this application. The site is accessed via an access easement from Southeast Suzanne Drive. It's approximately 22.7 acres in size. The Bridge Road Car Club site, which we just spoke about, is located to the northwest of the subject property. This is a closer look at the area of proposed improvements for this application. It's located in the southwest portion of the existing site. It's currently used for roll-off container storage as well as mulch piles, vegetative processing debris. This is a PUD. As you can see, the properties surrounding the coastal waste site generally consist of the GI, General Industrial District, as well as the M1 Industrial District in the light pink, and the LI, Limited Industrial District in the cream colors. To the south, you can see the A1 District in orange. The future land use designation of the subject site and the surrounding areas to the east, north, and west is industrial, and to the south, you can see the Rural Density Future Land Use designation. The Coastal Waste and Recycling PUD is formerly known as the New Way Recycling Corp PUD. The PUD zoning agreement and master site plan were originally approved in December 2004. The first PUD amendment was approved in July 2022. The second PUD amendment was approved in March of 2023. The existing building at the site was initially constructed in 2006 and was expanded after the first PUD amendment. The application before you is for the third PUD amendment with revised master final site plan. The scope of work consists of the construction of a 7,800-square-foot vehicular maintenance building, 4,000-square-foot office building, as well as associated infrastructure and parking areas. The existing site is a stabilized area currently used for roll-off container storage and mulch piles. As part of this application, the applicant is proposing a PUD public benefit of $25,000 to be paid to Martin County Public Works for the maintenance of southeast Suzanne Drive. This is the proposed revised master final site plan, showing the overall boundaries of the site, as well as the site data. Here we see a closer look at the area of proposed improvements in the southwest portion of the site. You can see the 4,000-square-foot office building is adjacent to an existing dry detention area. There are minor adjustments proposed to that dry detention area as part of this application. You can see the parking areas. That includes parking for their own trucks, as well as the landscaped islands. And in the southwest corner, you can see the 7,800-square-foot, one-story vehicular service building. Behind that building, there will still be some stabilized surface for roll-off container storage and mulch piles. And as part of this application, there are no proposed changes to the existing preserve areas. Those will continue to be managed in accordance with the existing preserve area management plan. Pursuant to Article 10, Table 10.5F9, Martin County Land Development Regulations, review of this application is not required by the local planning agency. Development review staff have found the coastal waste and recycling of Martin County application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report. Staff recommendation is to 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 approve the third amendment to the coastal waste and recycling PUD zoning agreement, including the revised master final site plan. That concludes my presentation. Questions for Mr. Sinnott. Seeing non-applicant, would you like to make a presentation? Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Kristen Spagg at Gunster Law Firm on behalf of the applicant. I just wanted to point out to you all, before I let the real experts talk to you, that we did submit our consultants' resumes in advance of the hearing. We'd like to move those into evidence. We reviewed the staff's report and heard their presentation. We appreciate their recommendation of approval. We agree with it, of course. And we'll have Erica Beitler come and give you this application presentation. Thanks. Thanks. Ms. Beitler, please proceed. It's just coincidence that it's on the same day, in the same spot. So, good morning again, Commissioners and Chair. My name is Erica Beitler, for the record. I am the agent for the applicant with HA Design Studio. And this is a request for the Third Amendment to Coastal Waste and Recycling Revised Master Final Site Plan. And our team is here. If you have any additional questions, we're happy to answer them. So, this project is also located in Hope Sound, just south of the Commerce Park, in Suzanne Drive. And we're existing PUD industrial, as well as industrial land use. The site is existing operation. And the amendment isn't to expand the approved use of the site, but it allows for modifications of the previously approved and developed portion of the property to support and improve existing operations. I had a picture slide that had a role of what it was before the Second Amendment. I'll just talk about it. In a way of background, the site has undergone prior amendments. As mentioned, the Second Amendment, most recent, was approved March 2023. And it was the expansion of the collection hauling material recovery facility and separates construction and demo debris, as well as yard debris. The operation, which was primarily outside, is now 90% inside with that Second Amendment. For the site plan, and that area is located on the east of the site in that existing transfer building with the concrete around it. The current request builds upon those approvals and is limited in scope. The improvements are intended to support current operations of the existing transfer building and their existing employees. The amendment area totals four acres of this 22.7-acre site located in the existing stabilized development area that is located on the west, which is currently used for the rollout and mulch piles. There will be no impacts to the existing preserve and wetlands, as you see colored, and in the approved plant pan. All perimeter buffers that you see here, access points and site layout remain the same. The proposal is for two single-story buildings. To the west is the 7,800-square-foot vehicular maintenance shop to support existing service of the current operation vehicles. And the building to the east is the one-story, 4,000-square-foot office for break room, restrooms, and training space for existing employees. Pavement improvements associated with this include 39 employee parking and 42 truck storage spaces, which is currently located in that roll-off container storage mulch piles that we see. There are the PUD benefit, which would be a sum of $25,000 for the maintenance of Suzanne Drive, a continued commitment from our client. This is a view of the office building. It fits right into this site, as well as the vehicular maintenance area, and just an overview in the context. This is a illustrative graphic, but for the most part, this is what we intend the goal to be. The proposed updates reflect on the master plan and tend to improve operational efficiency, functionality of the business, and its current employees. There is no expansion of service area, no change in the nature of the use, no increase in overall entitlement, and this proposal is not asking for any relief from the code. And this site remains consistent with zoning designations, land use classifications, and the previously approved PUD framework. In summary, this request represents a limited operational amendment to the existing facility. As mentioned, no changes of the use and no additional impacts to surrounding properties, and it remains consistent with our approvals. We respectfully request approval for this third amendment, and we are here for any questions that you may have and further elaborate on. Commissioner Capps. Again, good job. Thank you, sir. So what are you currently allowed to use the property for? What is its current status? Yes, sir. It is a private collection of – it's classified as collection hauling material recovery facility. So it's a private builders or – and I don't know, but they can speak on this as well, the clients here representing. And they just take that yard debris and that demolition trash and they put it in the new transfer building that's on site. It has a conveyor belt, and it shifts out the trash from the recyclables, and then it takes the trash to the landfill and keeps the recyclables out of the landfill to help prolong the life of the landfill that we currently have. So the site is currently cleared, and it's being used for industrial purposes now. Yes, sir. And it would appear to me that it's very compatible with what's going on in the Upsound Industrial Park. And I would also note the public benefit of $25,000 for the maintenance of Suzanne Drive. I think that's adequate as well. So in light of all of that, I'll move approval. Second. Commissioner Vargas. Yes. I did have a number of questions when I met with the attorney, you, the planner, and, of course, our staff, and about Suzanne Road. My understanding is that it's swept three times a day, including with a metal gravitational machine type of thing, you know, for nails and that type of thing that could puncture tires. So that will continue, and that would be part of the agreement if this were to pass. Is that correct, Mr. Shelley? That's correct. Okay. Yeah, I'm familiar with this area, and I ask a lot of questions. I know you're not asking for any change in zoning. It's just to expand, excuse me, as you have said here, for the business to, you know, conduct, I think, their particular entity in a more efficient manner, and, of course, with their employees, too, with the new office building. I was speaking with a gentleman who introduced himself, Mr. Bo Milton, who's sitting right there, and I asked him, well, what about wildlife out there? What did you tell me? He went to the same spot a couple of days, and you have deer down there, but we have sharks, sea rays, we have fresh fish, we have bobcats and coyotes, and we also have some rabbits and raccoons in Jensen Beach. We do, but you have the deer. So I'm a little bit jealous there. But anyway, you know, I see nothing that is changing the makeup of the area, and I would move for approval of this project. Thank you, ma'am. I think you've done a great job, too. I congratulate you. Thank you so much. Would anyone from the public like to address us? Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you, all. I really appreciate your... Mr. Milton, please send me those deer. I want to see them. I'll send it to him. Okay. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. We'll take up Department 1, which is Office of Management and Budget Items, which require board approval. Good morning, Ms. Murley. Good morning. Stephanie Murley, Director of Budget. Our first item is permission to apply for the FY26 Local Road Safety Program through FTOT for the County Road 708 Southeast Bridge Road, West Tern Lane, and Caroline Avenue Project. Our public works department is requesting a million dollars for the construction of the proposed left-turn lane for westbound traffic on Southeast Bridge Road on the Southeast Tower 9th Avenue. There will be a match-up $252,745 to be signed under the FY30 Roads Capital Improvement Plan. Item number two is permission to accept the local agency program supplemental agreement number one for the State Road 714 Southeast Monterey Road and County Road A1A multimodal pathway project. This is an amendment to the agreement to reduce the grant award and corresponding... Sorry. ...match requirement to reconcile to the bid. There is no additional funds required, and this will just assist with the construction of the sidewalk on Southeast Monterey Road. And because every dollar counts in Martin County, item number three is a budget resolution to amend the Surfing's Evolution and Preservation Foundation grant in the amount of $24.09 to assist with the ocean rescue equipment based on grant revenues we received in FY25. Item number four is a budget resolution to amend the Florida EMS Trust Fund grant to allocate carryover dollars from the previous year. We're requesting a budget resolution to allocate $5,413.21 of remaining grant funds into the new fiscal year for the FY25 Florida Department of Health EMS Trust Fund grant for our fire rescue department that we get annually. And item number five is a request from the Sheriff's Office. They're requesting the amount of $41,695.26 from the law enforcement trust funds, which are earmarked for law enforcement purposes. For the payment of property taxes on a forfeited real property, that was part of a court order. And per our fiscal policy, the Sheriff's Office just has to request these from you, and we will remit those to them. And that is all I have today. Questions for Ms. Murley. Commissioner Capps. Yes, I'd like to just highlight the very first grant application, which is permission to apply for a turn lane at Bridge Road and Power Line Avenue. And I just wanted to mention that this is wonderful news for the people who live on Power Line and on 138th Street and Kitchen Creek Road, those areas back in there. Those areas back in there, this is really a hazardous condition that those folks have had to endure all of these years. And we want to give a good shout out to our highly skilled grant application staff members who just do a great job in finding grants for us. I'm always amazed at what you guys can dig up for our county's benefits. So we really look forward to this, and hopefully we'll be successful in getting that grant. Commissioner Vargas. Yes, a couple of questions, Ms. Murley. Sure. On number two, I had a question. You eliminated $285,585. Why did you do it? You received extra funds? Is that what I'm understanding? So the bid came in less than the original estimate. So when FDOT reconciles their grant award with the bid, they reduce their grant award in the corresponding match that we're required to give. Okay, so those funds go back to? To the Rhodes Capital Program. So that stays with us. Okay. The other thing is the surfing's evolution. Yes. What is that? If you recall, a couple meetings ago, it was Ian, I think his name, that was for the purchase of the mannequins for the Ocean Rescue Division. So we had left over $24.09 that I have to allocate so they can spend it. So you're giving it back for a mannequin or something, or a piece of a mannequin. To go towards the mannequin. Fingers. Okay. I get it. All right. Thank you so much. No problem. Any further questions? Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Let's take up Department 2. Contracts that meet the threshold for board approval of $1 million or more. Ms. Brotherton. Good morning. Good morning. So I have two items for your consideration today. Again, Christy Brotherton, Chief Procurement Officer. The first contract is a continuing services agreement for specialized geospatial and coastal surveying services. This contract has a maximum not-to-exceed value of $1,500,000 and a maximum not-to-exceed term of five years. And staff is recommending contract award to the three highest-scoring firms, which are Gahagan and Bryant Associates, Morgan and Eklund, and WGI, and move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. Next up, we have a contract change order for our Fire Rescue Facility Design Public Safety Training Complex. This particular amendment is for additional services and associated fees for the bidding and permitting phase and the construction administration phase of the training tower project. The construction contract for this was recently awarded by the board on January 6th. These services include coordination with design consultants regarding submittals and requests for information, bi-weekly site visits, during construction, and other miscellaneous items related to the training tower. And staff is recommending approval of Amendment 2 to REG architects in the amount of $102,850 and move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. And that concludes the site. Questions for Ms. Brother. I have questions about this. It looks like the total budget for this project is $18,214,000. This is just design, so we're spending $1.137 million to design the project. This was a three-part design contract, but this particular amendment is just to add construction administration services on for the construction to support the training. Why? I'm supposed to have staff here. I apologize. Mark? Commissioner, it is a specialized construction building, and so the architect to be on site to follow through construction to ensure that we're getting the facility that we're paying for. So it does require additional inspection services. And we typically contract for construction management for these larger projects. It just seems exorbitant, and I'm wondering why we're getting an additional over 10% increase in the cost of design and administration at this point. Chair Heard, County Commissioners, Mark Cavaney, Deputy Public Works Director. And my understanding, this predated me, but my understanding, as Mr. Donaldson stated, was originally the scope of this project did not include the burn building and some other things, and so that was added at a later date. And so that necessitated the contract and the construction administration. My understanding is the original belief was that it could save money by not adding it unless we needed to. So they decided, staff decided to add it at a later date when the complexity and the scope changed. Okay. As I recall, this was initially proposed to be somewhere between $4 and $6 million, and it's now $18. I mean, I recognize that there's been inflation, but that's, yeah, too much. Commissioner Vargas. I have the same concern also. Is there any ceiling on this? Because these costs will spiral. You know, good management is able to stay within budget and cut the budget, too. That's good management. Anybody can spend money. And I know this predates you, so I'm not pinning it on you, but you're aware of this. And everybody else who was here on this commission also. I mean, this is your job to do this. We can't just keep spending because we didn't put something in there. Where's the cap? Where are the parameters? Where are the boundaries for this? We're spending other people's money. I keep saying this. We're spending other people's money. And this is reckless. This is reckless. And I agree with Chair Hurd about her deep concerns. And I have the same concerns also. So where's the boundary here? What's the top? Or is it just sky's the limit? We just keep going. Again, I know it predates you. So, Ms. Brotherington, do you have? Commissioner, this would conclude the project. This is the final piece of that training facility. And all improvements were consistent with what was approved in a capital improvement plan. Yeah, I understand. But it's a very expensive building. Very expensive. Let's separate these two items. Is there a motion to approve contract A1? I'll move approval of contract A1. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. And is there a motion to approve contract B1? I'll move approval of contract B1. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Opposed? That motion passes 3-2-2 with Commissioner Zabarkas and Hurd dissenting. Thank you. We will now take a break. We'll come back and take up Department 3 and the discussion on the Sewell's Point septic to sewer conversion. Have we reached Mr. Daniels? Do you know? Yes, Commissioner. And Mr. Daniels is trying to look, get the mayor, see if he can come over. I don't have an update on the time, but I'll do that during the break. Okay. Well, Mr. Capper's still here, right? Yes. So he can at least provide us with some information. If he's been given authorization to do so, he will. Okay. All right. Thanks. Department 3, which is a presentation on household hazardous waste and Hasmobile services. Take it away. Thank you. Good morning, Commissioner. It's always a pleasure to be here and present. We wanted to give you an update. We're a little bit late. Commissioner Capps asked me about an update or a presentation on household hazardous waste quite a few months back, and I apologize. But, you know, sometimes we get sidetracked on other things that just come up. But regardless, we got here today. We wanted to present you where we're at and what we're providing as far as household hazardous waste services. I have with us one of our other rising stars, Michael Carroll. Mike's our lead Has Waste technician. We call it Has Waste for short, and we all know what that's about. And I think many of you have visited the facility and used the facility, and we've had comments, positive comments, over the years. And so I'm going to turn it over to Mike and let him present his PowerPoint. Good morning. Good morning. Hope all is well. Make sure that your mics are on. There should be a light that's on. There we go. There we go. Good. Good morning, Commissioners. Hope all is well. My goal here today is to give a little bit of insight on our program and what we do, not only to you all, but also to the residents of Martin County. To start off, we're located at 9155 Southwest Bush Street, Palm City. We're open Monday through Friday from 8 to 5. We're also open on Saturdays from 8 to 12. We presently have three technicians trained in hazardous waste operations and emergency response. It's a 40-hour class and with an 8-hour refresher every single year. Between all three of us, we all can assist residents in handling offloading materials as well as providing information and answering questions that they may have. Residents may dispose of up to 100 pounds of hazardous materials per day. That's a lot of hazardous materials. That's right. So any hazardous materials are classified in four different categories. Some materials can have only one characteristic. Others can have multiple. So those four characteristics is they can be ignitable, paint thinners and solvents, corrosive, acids, rust removers, concrete etchers, stuff like that, reactive. Some chemicals cannot be mixed with each other. You don't want to do that. And then the last characteristic is going to be toxic. So that would be stuff like pesticides, aldicides, stuff like that. The items we do not accept is any business waste, medications, sharps, needles, compressed gas cylinders, hazardous wastes in any type of drums, tires, and appliances. Those are all the main ones that we get asked the most questions about. Why have the hazardous waste collection? It prevents environmental contamination in the water, air, and soil. It protects human health. If it gets in the water, air, and soil, it's going to get into our bodies. It conserves resources through recycling of materials. It prevents accidents and fires. And it keeps sanitation workers safe. Here's our Hasmobile. The Hasmobile will provide residents with a safe and convenient way to dispose of their hazardous materials at specified locations throughout Martin County, in addition to the Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Center. Here is our schedule for the Hasmobile. We have Hope Sound as the first Wednesday of each month. Stewart is the second. Jensen Beach is the third. Salerno is the fourth. And then Tequesta is the second Friday of every month. Indiantown is the fourth Friday of every month. And for Sewell's Point, since only a few times out of the year, there's five Wednesdays in each month. So when this happens, we use Town Commons Park, South Sewell's Point, for that Hasmobile stop. Hazardous Waste collected in 2025. We had about 10 more tons than we did last year total, with motor oil being our most at 100 tons. We have household chemicals and pesticides. We got 25 tons. Almost 20 tons of electronics. 26.2 tons of aerosol cans and light bulbs, 15.75 for batteries, and 1.8 tons of used cooking oil. This gives us a total of 189.25 total tons collected for 2025. To put that into perspective, that's about a fully loaded Boeing 757 aircraft worth of hazardous materials. So you don't want that going into our ground, water, or air. Any questions? So let me jump in real quick. Thanks, Michael. That was a great presentation. Appreciate you. Talk about some improvements you've made over the last year, a couple of years. I know regarding fluorescent bulbs, how we process those long tubes, the four-foot and eight-foot fluorescent bulbs. We've improved that process. And also, on fire extinguishers, how we handle fire extinguishers. Yeah, so for our fluorescent light bulbs, we have a, it's called a bulb crusher 3.0. And it's basically a long tube where you slide the tubes of light bulbs down into it. And inside, there's a chain that spins. And it breaks and crushes up that light bulb. All the materials will fall into a drum. And then the gases, they contain mercury. They get filtered out through three different filters on the machine. So then once that is filled up, we seal the drum off, and it gets sent off to a vendor. And then for our fire extinguishers, we did have a company that no longer wanted to take them. So we ended up finding a company that made a machine that can take the dry chemical out of the fire extinguisher with a filter. So we now decompress those ourselves. And we're recycling those empties? Yes, and we also take the metal from that fire extinguisher and we're able to recycle it in the metal. Yeah, previously they were just taking away the entire fire extinguisher. And now we empty it, we decant it, remove all the material, and then we can recycle the steel. Martin County is such an innovator, aren't we? Commissioner Hetherington. So there was a presentation recently on the lithium batteries and how dangerous they are as far as starting fires. You take those and then the lithium batteries? Absolutely. Things that are in the EV bikes and the chargers, the scooters, and how are those processed? So whenever we get these lithium batteries, they're getting a lot more popular with all the new electronic transportation and scooters, stuff like that. But what we do with them is we tape off the connectors and we store them in boxes. And then once we have enough to send out, we have a vendor, they're certified in handling them. They come out, they pick them up. We don't get many damaged batteries, thankfully, and we are trained to handle them if something was to ever occur. But I doubt it. We're very safe with the batteries. So along those lines with the lithium batteries, they are a fire hazard, as we know. I've seen even the small ones, like the double A's. If you take that apart, you cut the casing off, you peel off the aluminum. It's like aluminum foil, and it will roll out into a flat piece of, like, foil. You lay that in a dish of water, it will start sparking. You're giving instructions on how to do it. I'm giving you instructions on what not to do with a lithium battery. But anyway, it just starts sparking, and then all of a sudden it's just a catastrophic explosion of fire. It's just really incredible to see it. Just on that level. Now you have to say, don't try this at home. Right, right. We should have a whole presentation just on lithium batteries because talking to the fire chief yesterday, he was saying they're seeing more and more garage fires from these lithium batteries being stored and the more prevalence of them on the scooters and the bikes. So it would be nice to educate. I didn't realize how much of a fire hazard they were until the state of county we had that presentation. Yeah, one of my understandings on that as far as a recharger, if you have to replace a recharger, you need to buy original equipment manufacturer or, you know, when you buy a cheap out or a knockoff or something, I've heard there are some issues with some of those lower cost that could be fire hazards as well. But, yeah, if two lithium batteries, if a lithium battery comes in contact with metal and it bridges the two electrodes on there, it's going to cause a fire. And we've had – we couldn't determine the cause, but the last couple of years we've had two fires, one in the recycling section and one in the trash outdoor, our side of C&D, just, you know, regular trash. It caused some damage, so it is a hazard for sure. But we can do that. Commissioner Capps. I wonder if you could expand just a little bit. First of all, great presentation, and I was so impressed with my visit to your facility there at the landfill with Sam Emerson, who took me there when I was a commissioner-elect before I was actually sworn in. And it was a great, great tour. And I was amazed at how many different kinds of things you collect there and dispose of there. But I was wondering, first of all, if you could explain a little more about what lithium batteries are, how small they are, and, like, give me some more examples of the kinds of things that people should not be just throwing in the trash. First, that's much appreciated. Thank you. And a lot of people don't realize that there's lithium batteries in just about anything now. I mean, all of our phones have lithium batteries in it. The moment that you throw that away or you put it in a trash can or sometimes they end up in recycle bins, they can get damage, and damage to lithium batteries will potentially cause a fire. Hearing aid batteries, power tool batteries, all the way up to now cars have lithium batteries in it. So they make them in all shapes, all sizes. Now we're starting to see a lot more of the bigger ones. Yeah. Typically any battery that's rechargeable, you can consider it hazardous. It's lithium. And with water, when it drops in water, you may have heard of some electric, the EVs, and some areas that are in flooding situations in streets where a car, an EV goes into water, it's submerged or partially submerged underneath. It's a very catastrophic fire explosion. And, of course, fire rescue can probably report more detail on those situations. Good. I remember talking to some people at the Solid Waste Authority in Palm Beach County when we toured this solid waste facility with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council several months ago, and they were talking about the trash trucks when they're picking up trash. If there's a fire in one of those, they have to immediately eject everything out of the trash truck right on the highway. Because it'll burn up the truck. I thought that was interesting to, you know, kind of illustrate the severity of the problem when there is one of these fires. What about the volume of residents that you have circulating through your place there at the landfill? It's picked up a lot within the last few years. I would say anywhere from 30 to 60 people a day will show up to our main facility throughout the week. And then our Hasmobile is very popular. We usually get at least 50 people a day coming out to the Hasmobile. Wow. That's fantastic. Good. Well, good job. Thank you. Commissioner Campy. Thank you very much. I have been a big fan of your operation. I think, like Commissioner Hurd said, we're very fortunate to have it in our community because a lot of counties don't have this. And then it leaves people to collect tons of cans and pesticides and half-used bottles of paint and things that they keep in the corner of their garage because they don't know what to do with it. Or worse, they throw them away into the regular trash. And I remember many years ago, a garbage man, sanitation worker was killed because as they were compacting the truck, he was standing there and he compressed a thing of acid or some kind of caustic chemical and it burned him and he was killed. So it's beyond like, oh, it's an inconvenience. I'll put it in a black garbage bag and I'll tuck it into my garbage and magically it'll disappear. So the more that we have an opportunity to present what you're doing, what the county is doing, the Hasmobile is excellent because a lot of people don't have the ability to come to beautiful Palm City to drop it off. But I think it's also important, like you said, a lot of computer monitors that no longer work, flat-screen TVs that no longer work. They can't just be stacked next to the garbage pail out on the curb. So we do have an option. I think if we didn't, it would be a different set of circumstances. But that being said, the lithium battery thing, I remember speaking to the chief. You mentioned it about tools. If you're a woodworker or you do any kind of contracting, even with my set, I have probably four or five battery chargers in the garage because I'm constantly charging the batteries so that they're ready to go when I need them. And the chief had said, oh, you don't want that in the garage. Well, I don't know what the other option is. You know, you're going to be charging your batteries. So it's something that people need to take into consideration. But even with the smallest things, cell phones have been – can start catastrophic fires, just a little tiny cell phone. And you figure most of it's the phone. Very little of it's the battery. So I really appreciate it. And, you know, as I agree with what Mr. Amerson said, you're a young, new employee, but I thought you did an excellent job. You felt very comfortable speaking to us. Some people get nervous. You did a terrific presentation. And we're glad to have you on the team. Thank you so much. My pleasure. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. That's an excellent presentation. And I look forward to my field trip to visit the HAZMAT operation. So thank you. Keep up the good work. Very good. Thank you so much. Thank you. Now we'll take up our last item, which is a presentation on septic to sewer in Sewell's Point. The consent poll. Good morning. Mr. Daniels, we had a consent agenda item this morning that was pulled because there were questions about the conversion from septic to sewer on Sewell's Point that was approved by this board majority back in November. There were some allegations of misrepresentations and also refusal to provide public records and reports. So can you please illuminate some of those questions for us? Okay. I apologize. I didn't know that was on the agenda today. Otherwise, I would have been here in the audience. But also, my mayor, Vinny Barilla, is here. And, of course, you know Joe Capra. He's been here. He's our town engineer. But anyhow, before I started, almost four years ago, there was a study that was conducted on the feasibility for sewer system and what's the best system. And for the town's use. So there was a study that was conducted. And we didn't, I didn't have all of the backup reports that came from the county and came from Giffels, Webster. But we got those probably about the same time in November and shared them with everyone. So I know there was, you know, some concerns. But the actual report was studied. We paid for it. And the taxpayers paid for it, obviously, of Sewell's point. The other thing that's kind of important to know is, because this gets battered around even within our own meetings sometimes, there's no mandatory connection. I was charged with the responsibility of coming up with a program that had no mandatory connection, no mandatory assessment, and an interlocal agreement with the county. And so far, we've been through two phases. Phase two is just finishing up. And we came back, as you mentioned, in November. We were looking. We did a survey upon the 355 individuals that we felt could still needed to be serviced by sewer. And out of that, 355, the respondents were 75%. They'd connect within three years. And I have copies of this if you need it. And 25% said that they wouldn't connect. So we thought that was a pretty good representation. It was good enough for our commission to approve it and to come in front of you and do that presentation we did back in November. So I think the key thing is, we were up against a time frame. And I know we mentioned this back in November, but our grant funding runs out in June. So we had to be able to be moving ahead. We moved ahead in good faith. We went ahead and did all the bidding process that we're supposed to do under the federal guidelines. And then we went ahead and awarded the contracts. And starting in January, they started construction. And they're down there now. We have seven different contractors that are there doing the job so we can get this up and running by June 1st. And that's our deadline. You know, I don't want to belabor the issue. If there's other specific questions that I can answer for you, I'm more than happy to answer them. So there is a Giffels-Webster engineering report? Yes. And it's a public record? It's a public record. And it has been released as a public record? Yes. And what were the conclusions of the Giffels-Webster engineering report? It was just backup material that CAPTEC used in doing their report. I guess my understanding, you know, I wasn't here when this was done, but I think they did some work for the county, so they had more up-to-date pricing. And that information was utilized in the CAPTEC report. So it was just basically a reference material that CAPTEC engineering utilized. And what's the cost per unit for connecting? The cost per unit right now has been what the county has been charging, and I believe it's $7,000 to $8,000. I think it's $7,000 if it's the first 365 days. And after that, because I believe you all have a grant, and I don't know what the new charges are going to be in the future, and I know my commission would like to spread out the cost factor of the connections between all of the remaining connections that are there. And what mechanism do you use to spread those out? Well, we don't know as yet. That's one of the things that I have to bring back to the commission and vote on. Mr. Campy. Thank you. Thank you for coming over with short notice, and I apologize. I had made the comment this morning that most often when people hear that their item is on the consent agenda, they figure it's on the consent agenda. And then when items are pulled, even amongst ourselves, we are notified, the five of us, if one or more pulls the consent agenda, normally we'll get an email that says, oh, by the way, one of the consent agenda items has been pulled. I might then use that as an opportunity to do additional research, reach out to staff for extra information. We had a situation in Palm City not that long ago where an HOA assumed, because it was the staff's recommendation was approval, it was on the consent agenda. They thought it would just walk right through, but it didn't. And the people that were opposed to it were there that day, but the people that were for it weren't. And I felt this morning was starting to seem like a deja vu of that. So the first part is, and then Commissioner Camps brought up a good point that you had mentioned, that there is a time clock running on this. So for you to be able to come over today versus having it in two weeks is fine. There was a public speaker this morning and one of my colleagues that had serious concerns about the process. From my perspective, and I was obviously one of the people, as you know, that voted in favor of it, and the reason I did is because four of your five commissioners agreed. There was a sampling of residents. That was the agenda item. That was the notified public advertised meeting for folks for and against to come. One of the commissioners was opposed. I thought he did an articulate presentation of his opposition. But, you know, and it's interesting from my perspective that we're basically talking about an agenda item from another municipality. So as far as I'm concerned, one, the municipality's duly elected officials, they came forward. And I don't want to get into – I got enough of my own political ups and downs to not get into how the commission races and the politics of Sewell's Point are. And then actually several residents I thought made very compelling arguments about what they were personally dealing with. And then a couple that weren't able to attend that had reached out and shared very, very harrowing, in my opinion, if your lawn fills up with a black slick sludge during certain weather incidences and then it ebbs away and you've got a black slick on your lawn. I get if you're on the high points of Sewell's Point that maybe it doesn't affect you that much. But I also thought that what the request was was not that out of question for what I thought we could do. Mr. Donaldson and I had a brief conversation today that maybe, you know, we might be under the misunderstanding of what today's consent agenda item actually was. Do you want me to reiterate it or do you want to explain what you had said to me, Mr. Donaldson? Just simply that the board already approved the Sewell's Point to use grinders as the method of serving Sewell's Point for our utility operations. Today's agenda item is a contract just so that when they're complete, how the infrastructure will be transferred to the county. So that's really what is on today's agenda, which is our acceptance of the infrastructure into our system once it's complete. So what that means to me is that in November, three of us agreed to let you move forward, and you have. Today is not a matter of, yes, you can move forward, or no, you can't. It's just a matter of once your project's done, who will be responsible for taking care of it, and that's going to be us, which I'm perfectly comfortable with that. And I look over at our solid waste utilities folks, and they're both shaking their head that they are okay with that as well. So as far as I'm concerned, there's a lot going on in Sewell's Point with the ups and downs and who said what and who showed what and what hasn't happened there. But I have not wavered, from my opinion, to allow you for two reasons. One, I think it's very important that as a community, including the municipalities within our county, that we all continue to move away from sewer system, excuse me, from septic systems to sewer. You don't have to be an environmental engineer to rely, especially in your location with water on both sides, but anywhere in the county, probably anywhere in the state, you don't have to be an environmental engineer to realize that getting away from septic systems, because I currently, where I live, we have one, and so does everybody else in the neighborhood. And they're only as good as the worst one. So with that in mind, I would make a motion to accept staff's recommendation for this consent agenda item. I appreciate the two of you coming forward. And if there's politics that need to go up and down and frustration within your municipality, that's worked out in your village hall and in your ballot boxes, I'm not here. Thank you. Commissioner Vargas. Yeah, you know, I have grave concerns, and I told you that. Now, you met with me before I was even elected to office. Do you remember meeting with me and giving me this report? This is a draft report. This is not a final report. There's a lot of inconsistencies. We have people here that do have facts and figures here. Actually, there were not 86% or 75% of the homes that wanted to have the connection, and it's not forced. And there's no monetary retribution if they don't. So all this about, well, everybody has to connect, and, you know, this is where we're going or whatever. No, it's not like that. You just told us that. So I don't quite understand what the argument is for this then. I mean, we have some people. If you'd like to come up and address again, please do. And I invite you to, because you live in that area. You know these folks here. You know what's been done or hasn't been done properly. So please, address this commission. Well, if I may, can I address your comments that you just made, okay? We surveyed 355 people that were not going to get serviced out of the original amount that the county had authorized us. Now, we just didn't take a survey. We went ahead and mailed a survey form to each one of those residents. That's what I'm showing you here. And we've got all the facts and figures back in town hall. We've showed them. We've also, I have maps here showing exactly the green ones, the red ones that weren't going to connect. But the bottom line is it's a problem with the environment. Nobody can differ from that. And the other issue is we've already moved forward in good faith. You know, we've trusted this commission. And this is more, in my mind, this is more of a housekeeping situation on what we're going to do, how we turn it over, what we have to give, a bill of sale, those type of things that are in there, by a document that was created by your county attorney's office. So I don't feel that we need to sit here and rehash this whole thing. I know this is your ballpark, and you can do what you'd like to do, but I'm just trying to keep this on a positive note. We have a great relationship. And I just don't want to see anything tarnished, because if we get into a situation where we have contractors out there that I can't pay because we can't do the system and we don't have the grant money, it's going to have a big financial impact on our residents. All right. But let me say something else, and I said this before, and I wish my colleagues would listen. Your emergency, well, you can laugh, but this is not a laughing situation. We're listening to everything you say. All due respect yourself, you don't listen, because you don't, people call me, people call me because nobody is listening. Okay. That's why, and you've been here a long time, so take it for that. The thing is that residents cannot get accurate reports. They're changed, it doesn't exist, you know, this sort of thing. I get the phone calls. I feel I need to meet with these folks. That's what our job is here. If somebody else differs, then that's, they have to deal with that. But your emergency was not our emergency. And you say, well, the grant's going to expire, da-da-da. No, that wasn't our emergency, and this was pushed way up to the top of the list. This was way down. And we've had this discussion. We had in the last meeting, I was one of those that was opposed. You still haven't convinced me. Mr. Copra, you haven't produced the reports that were requested. It has been really squirrely. So, we have somebody here who took her time to come out and speak and does have facts also. The truth is not here. Ma'am, you cannot speak unless called to by the chair. And also, Ms. Leonard, I'm sorry, but we only allow you to speak once on an agenda item. Mr. Campy. Yes. With all due, I'm not going to comment I said anything. A colleague says, I'm assuming that we're not listening. Now, we can disagree and have differences of opinions, but of course we are listening to you. That's my only, the other thing, the reason that there's five of us and an odd number, because in November, a presentation, and with all due respect to all of my colleagues, you guys presented your information. It was a... The mics. This is the last day with the mics, by the way. You, your experts, your elected officials, and you, sir, and your residents made a presentation. It passed three to two. Commissioner Hurd had her own reasons for denying, vote for denial. Commissioner Vargas, obviously we've heard her. She is not interested. She voted no. Three of us voted yes. You took that, because that's the way the system works. Now, even the two no's can be passionate about their objections and opposition, but three said yes. That's how the system works. Whether it's your first day or your 20th year, that's how the system works. Three of us said yes, our staff agreed, and you moved forward in good faith like you mentioned. So what we're discussing today is not a rehash of the November agenda item. It's specifically who will manage the project when it's done. I read through this entire thing, Ms. Leonard. Very well done. I literally read during the break and during the meeting. I read through it. Very well done. I don't have time to review and necessarily prove if you said, she said, someone else said, but this is very well done. That being said, that's not the item that we're discussing today. It's once the project's done, that was approved by three commissioners, a majority, who's going to take care of it? And that's the motion that I made. We can beat the drum. I don't mind. It's early. It's only 1130. We can beat the drum if you want. We can ask for more people to come up. But your duly elected majority said, let's move forward. Our duly elected majority said, we agree, and that's where we are. Thank you. Commissioner Capps. Thank you, Town Manager Daniels. And welcome to the county chambers, Mayor Vinnie Burrell. Good to see you. Appreciate you all coming on such short notice. I would like to second Commissioner Cappie's motion. Yeah. So this also was a, the approval of this was a deviation from a long-time utility policy. And that's of concern to me. The policy, it was not, it was not subjective. There was a reason why we didn't allow grinder systems in some places and why we didn't allow vacuum systems in some places. And this deviated from that. And our utility department did not recommend approval of that deviation. Mr. Capra, there's a claim that there were, a survey was sent to 336 residents of South Sewell's Point asking them what interest they had in converting. And the allegation is that you said that 86% wanted sewers, but only 118 people responded and only 86 residents wanted sewers, not 86%, because those 86 residents would comprise only 25% of the 336 surveyed. Can you respond to that? Well, Joe Capra for the record, okay? And I'm just going to say a couple things, trying to keep this as civil as I can, because I've been their engineer since 1980, since 19. Speak right into the mic. 1988. And I've worked through many commissioners, and every time those commissioners and this commissioner have always got along, okay? And for some reason there seems to be this opinion now that they're not getting along. But I just want to make sure everybody's clear, and I'm sorry, Ms. Vargas, but I've been here a long time. You don't be coming to stay an engineer or a manager for some place for that many years without telling the truth, okay? And that's what I'm an honorable person. I'm a Christian, and I do say things that are accurate. So, first of all, as far as percentages, we did say, when I talked in the last meeting, okay, and I just want to make sure, we have had two surveys, okay? One we did a couple years ago, and that we were trying to figure out, was there an interest in hooking up to sewers? And we had the majority of people in that survey. So when you asked about a specific survey, I will get mixed up between the two of them today, because I don't have both surveys in front of me. What Mr. Daniels presented to you today is the second survey we did, which was in the last year, okay? And that survey had a percentage of people, okay? So I just want you to know, we've always had the majority of the people wanted the survey. Have all 355 or 706 residents signed up or looked at the survey and said they were for it? No, we did not have that. But the majority of the people that did turn in their survey wanted sewers, okay? And we went forward with that, okay? Now, we went forward with, we've had two programs out there so far, just so you know. 169 grinders we put out there first, and at the time I came in here in November, 22% of those have hooked up. Just so you know, the number today is closer to, I think it was about 40-something percent. 69 out of 171 have hooked up or are hooking up. That's 40%, okay? That's today's numbers, okay? And on top of that, since you approved this in November, we have had numerous people that have wanted sewers call us up and want to hook up on how fast they're going to get them. So therefore, we moved forward. And so at the time you approved it in November, we had to design the project, we had to permit the project, we had to bid the project, everything that's required for any project just like this, and we bid the project. We've had numerous bids. There's, again, seven contracts out there underway right now by five different contractors. If you've been to Sewell's Point, you know that's kind of a miracle. We've never had that much infrastructure underway at one time. We have about $10 million worth of work that has to be done between January and June, okay? And a majority of that is sewers, okay? The majority of it is sewers. The other part of that, and 50% of that, maybe less than 50%, is to install a resiliency retrofit for stormwater, which raises the road. And the last time we were here, we showed you a picture of the slime that Commissioner Campy was talking about in the area of the, I think that was the, let's see, we've had, Riverview, I just want to make sure I get the right numbers for you, okay? Of the Riverview subdivision, okay? And that's, it happens all the time, and we have that. So that's being fixed also while we're talking about this in the next phase of the resiliency thing. So we have, again, multiple contractors working to get all this stuff installed, so we can utilize the grant funds we have, okay? We've made a huge impact on raising roads, correcting flooding, and getting sewers in the town, okay? We did the study. So you keep complaining about the study. I'm just going to be honest with you. I did a study. I hired Giffels. Let me, to be honest with you, Giffels is a great engineering firm. They have worked for the county numerous times on vacuum systems. They were experts in it, okay? They gave me a study, and they talked about how we could do vacuum and grinders and gravity in multiple combinations, okay? Unfortunately, my board, okay, they were specific. No mandatory hookup, no mandatory assessment, okay? Those are what my board wanted, okay? You could not do that with a vacuum system, okay? It would not work, and we didn't have the money for that, okay? So therefore, that's why we have the study. So I produced a study on top of their study. I utilized majority of their items in my study. It is an appendix to my study, okay? It has been given to the board. It has been given to the residents. It was provided to them. It's clearly shown, and I can tell you the dates and times of that. It was clearly shown in the report that I sent to you on the 18th, okay, that we did that, and it was clearly shown when we gave you that, okay? And it was October of 2025, okay? So we've had the study. Their study is an appendix to my study, okay? It's clearly stated what we're doing, why we're doing what we are. We did not use items. We used items because it was very good information. But you've got to remember, I have to do the work for my board, just like your staff does it for your board, okay? The point is we had specific criteria we had to follow, and that's what we've done. I'm not trying to hide anything. I can tell you we have an unteamed number of meetings on septic to sewer. I've been working on septic to sewer in Sewell's Point for over 20 years, okay? And quite frankly, when I see an opportunity that we're going to get this thing put in place, I'm going to take it, and guess what that was? No mandatory hookup, no mandatory assessment. And guess what? We also went after a grant to get that all done. So I'm sorry that you don't believe that we were up front with our residents. We were more than up front. We've had two surveys. We've basically had people come in all the time asking us to hookup, and when can they hookup. And, again, when you told us in November to go forward, I mean, just to get all those things put in place before January for construction, it's going to be a miracle to finish this. But we're getting it done. We have multiple contractors, and they're working every day on this project. So this is not the time to stop the project, to be honest with you. And all we're asking you for today is, okay, we went through a permitting process. Your staff reviewed everything. We're just saying when we're done with this, we built this project per your criteria and your requirements, and now we just want you to be able to maintain it. And we've always done that on every project we work for out there. You provide our utility service, and that's what we've been doing. So none of the Sewell's Point residents have been assessed? The way it works, okay, the way our grant works is we do have a match requirement, okay? But basically the construction of the lines out there, the design and construction of those lines get paid for by the grant, okay? Our residents, when the lines are built and certified as complete, your staff puts out a letter that says the sewers are available for use now, okay? That means the residents go into your office at Martin County Utilities, and they basically ask for service. What they then do is give you a check for that number. That number, as we've stated in all the reports, is between $8,000 and $12,000 a connection, okay? So they're either paying you, they may be paying you $7,000 because you have a grant that allows an incentive to hook up, okay, which is $1,000, or basically they pay $8,000, and some people have two sewers, okay? So they pay more, okay? But the idea is they are, their assessment is really a connection fee. It's not an assessment, it's a connection fee that they pay to Martin County Utilities to hook up. You guys go out there, you lay out where the grinder is going to be placed, where the lines will be placed on their property, and they pay you to go do it. It's a great program. It's great for our residents. It's great for all the county residents the way that Sam and his team have set it up, okay? And that's what they're doing. They pay, and you guys go hook them up. And that's a connection fee is what it technically is. There is no assessment, it's a connection fee. And you've asked us to go to gravity. We've been talking about grinders. We made one subdivision, which is in the number of the projects we're working on, one of the seven contracts, to line the gravity sewer lines, and the second part of that is to put in a lift station. We are doing that at the same time. That will be ready at the same time in June, like all the rest of the projects are. Any further questions? Nope. I've said what I've had to say. Would anyone from the public who hasn't addressed us like to address us on this matter? Seeing none, there is a motion and a second on the floor. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 3-2 with Commissioners Vargas and Hurd dissenting. Thank you. We've now reached the end of our meeting. There's one 505 request to speak form, and that's from Frank McChrystal. Morning. Y'all got another long day today for you guys. I won't pile on. I'll save my dirty details on Witham Field for another three minutes. I'm here today to appeal to your emotions and maybe your heart. There will always be an insatiable market for new jet hangar space at Witham, and I'm asking you to work for all the people, not just the finest of people. Please do what you can in the future to maintain, I guess it's still 32% of airport proper property that does not facilitate putting jets in the sky. Please make sure everyone knows you feel the same as I do, that we should preserve that manufacturing and county operations and other things that don't put jets in the sky at Witham Field, specifically and most importantly, the buffer of trees and vegetation that is directly northwest of runway 725 that buffers the entire neighborhood on that side and the YMCA from the airport. So throw us a bone and do what you can to stop the bleeding and stop the negative effects of Witham Field upon the community around it. Appreciate it. On another note, I would hope that you would join me in my thoughts on the subject of data centers in Martin County. And my first thought is over my dead body. Thank you. Commissioner Comments. Commissioner Hetherington. I'm all set for today. Thank you. Commissioner Campy. I have a couple. One, I appreciate the fact that we've come up with these new microphone systems. However, the on and off part, I watched the LPA meeting the other day, and for the folks that are watching at home when you hear it on TV, if the microphone is not on, it's very difficult to hear. The last system, I guess it needed an update, but the concept of having them on and off and to have someone have to stop what they're doing in the control room to come in here and say by the time they've done that, we could be someone, anyone could be well into the comments. I think we need to, I like the new mic, but maybe they have to be hot mics during the meetings because the on and off, for whatever level of convenience that could potentially be, I think is more frustration for residents that are taking the time to watch the meeting when they can't hear staff or commissioners or the public making comments. Secondly, I'd like to formally request that we form a committee to discuss bringing forward criteria and guidelines for commissioner expenses. I think that that should be the administrator, someone, if not Ms. Timmons herself, someone that she picks from the clerk of the court comptroller's office and someone from the OMB department to set parameters. I know there's been a lot of conversation recently in some social media posts going around on who's spending what. There was a taxpayers association, white paper, who's spending what. And part of it is, is that if there is not criteria and guidelines, then anything is possible and no one would know what they can and cannot do. I think that makes perfectly great sense. I think every resident would agree that that should be a thing. And finally, I'd also like to have, for I guess all five of us, to do a review of our participation in NACO, the National Association of Counties. I know that Commissioner Smith had gotten involved in that in the last couple of years, held some leadership positions on subcommittees and committees, and that was sort of his thing. He was also a former president of the Florida Association of Counties, and he had pitched that to us. I'm not sure what the financial impact to taxpayers is on that. I'm not sure of the value for Martin County residents of us having representation on that. I know it's expensive to travel. They meet either in Washington, D.C. or throughout the United States during different points of the year. So I'm interested in finding out if that's something that's necessary for us to continue to participate in. I think it's probably just a lot of money for us to be represented and not necessarily any more effectively than if we were just hearing about it. I agree how important Florida Association of Counties organization is and other organizations, but NACO, for to have a commissioner, any one of us traveling all over the country to go to those meetings, to sit in the meetings, is probably, in my opinion, not necessary. So I'd like to see a financial recap of what that costs. Thank you. Any agreement or objection to Commissioner Campy's suggestions? Yes, I have an objection to that because Commissioner Campy is never in the office, so he's not working the position. I'm a voting delegate for National Association of Counties. It's extremely critical right now that we are involved. If you're not in the office, and other commissioners may choose not to be in the office at all except showing up for the two meetings every month, and that's pretty much the way it is. So, you know, he's got his opinion. She's got her opinion. But again, if we are not involved, we have no say in anything. So, you know, you have to make your own decision. You want to work this position and earn your salary, work it. But don't be critical of others that are doing that from the get-go. But that's what a real businesswoman does, too. Commissioner Capps, any opinion? The motion, I believe, is just for us to do a study of costs and things at this point, right? So, I'll just wait to comment after we hear what is presented to us at a later date. Right. I think that's perfectly reasonable. Commissioner Hetherington? Yeah. I agree. Commissioner Campy? Just as a very brief follow-up, I never mentioned any commissioners' names. I only asked our staff to create guidelines for commissioner expenses because I hear repeatedly that we are stewards of the commissioner tax dollars. And if there is nothing to worry about and nothing to be concerned with, let's put it out there. The transparency and protecting taxpayer dollars is important. These were two separate issues. One is that no matter what the expenses are of commissioners, it never really was an issue until recently that there seems to be some runaway expenses. So, I'm not – I didn't disparage anyone. I didn't mention anyone. I specifically asked our staff to create guidelines through a committee of the people that are involved in our finances. That's it. But the NACO situation, which the only commissioner I mentioned was Commissioner Smith and why we ended up that, it's a relatively new thing. And I only asked for a review of what that cost. If we look and we see that it doesn't add up to be a lot of money, then so be it. Then we can continue to do that. And then to get into, you know, who's in the office versus not in the office, I've been elected four times and been here a long time, and the people will decide if they think I'm doing the right job. And sitting in the office doesn't necessarily mean you're doing the job because it's a big county and there's lots of people to meet, and I will put my calendar up against anyone's calendar. This is obviously something that I hold very important, and the majority of the people in each of my four elections felt the same way. I welcome you, Commissioner Vargas, here. I have respect for your election victory. I am interested in hearing about your worldly experiences and your life experience and your professional experience. I think you bring a very interesting perspective to the five of us, and you've heard me say many times, there's a reason there's five of us, so that all of us can bring our opinions. Commissioner Hurd and I have disagreed and agreed on numerous occasions over the years. Same with my friend, Commissioner Hetherington, and with Commissioner Capps here now as well. I'm happy that you're here. I appreciate the job that you're doing. We're focusing on finances, which you beat the drum for the hardest, and then we all have difference of opinions. I will try very, very hard not to disrespect you, but we're all humans, and so I've been up here long enough to know how to get along with my colleagues. Thank you. Commissioner Vargas. Yeah, I'm not one of those that goes along to get along, okay, and repays favors. I don't do that. I don't sit in the office. I'm working my position, and I don't appreciate the lectures. You need to stop it now. They're not lectures. They're lectures. Okay. You don't have the criteria or the experience or the know-how to be asserting your opinion and talking on and on and on. I've heard complaints about that the disrespect you have shown me is abhorrent. Abhorrent. I know you're still grieving over the results of the election of 24, but it's time to move on. Not grieving over it. And, I mean, you know, do what you have to do to pacify whatever your fury is inside. By the way, our health insurance has a mental health component. You might want to look into it. I'm very, very disappointed in you, Mr. Campy. I really am. And you know what? My expenses are in line. Sir, yours may not be. So it would be interesting. We'll find out. Yes, we will. Commissioner Camps. Nothing to say here. I'm good. What did I say? Mr. Donaldson. I have a flag. Thank you. Excellent. Yes. Put it in front of the chair a little bit. Yes. And I'm sure we get an image that we can post in front of our meeting. We should put a flag behind us. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Ms. Elder. One more thing was that we have a few of our centennial books, and the class of our Martin Cares class, if it's all right with you, we could hand out a few to those that are in the current class. We can't give it to every class, but since they're here, part of their timing, if it's all right with you, we'll give some out to them. That's good that you bring that up. We did produce a book celebrating the centennial, and it's excellent. It's really, really good. So residents who are interested in Martin County's history, please make sure that you find a copy, and you will be very glad that you did. Yeah. The Historical Society is selling them, and so is our arts council. Yeah. Ms. Elder. We are adjourned. Thank you.