Board of County Commissioners on 2026-03-10 9:00 AM - Mar 10, 2026

with the invocation provided by Pastor Jim Harp, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance from

Sherrilyn Scraters. Won't you join me in prayer this morning? Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this beautiful, gorgeous day you've given us, a day to once again see your hand of goodness and faithfulness upon us. Lord, as I've been contemplating in this moment, Lord, you've drawn me to your word in the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus is teaching his people what we call Sermon on the Mount, and he's teaching them about what it's like, going to be like to live in this new kingdom that he's about to establish of faith and trust and belief. And I'm reminded as he's talking in Matthew chapter 6, he's telling them, why be anxious about the things of this world? What you're going to eat, what you're going to wear, what you're going to do, different things. He said, and sums it up by saying, seek first God's kingdom and God's righteousness and all these other things that we worry about, that we labor over, will be added to us. Lord, I just like that this morning, Lord, that we would just seek first you and your kingdom and you take care of these things. So God, I, once again, I thank you for these that you've placed in leadership over Martin County. Lord, that you have given them the privilege and opportunity and responsibility and blessing of providing leadership and direction and guidance and making decisions for those of us who live here to, Lord, experience the best that it can be. So Lord, I pray for wisdom, direction, guidance for them. I pray for divine wisdom, Lord, that they would seek what you would have for each of us, Lord. I ask your blessing upon them and their families, their children, all of, all of their families, God, that you would watch over them, watch over them and protect them and give them grace, give them mercy. We all need it. And so Lord, I thank you for it. So bless this meeting today and all that's on the agenda and those that will speak and receive acknowledgement today, Lord, bless them too. And we thank you for all these things this morning in Christ's name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you. Thank you.

I pledge it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice.

Is there a motion to approve the agenda? I'll move approval of the agenda. There's a motion and a second. Any opposition, that motion passes unanimously. We'll now move on to proclamations and special presentations. We have a very special employee recognition this morning. Employee recognition.

It's on here. Yes. So we do have a couple of employees to recognize this morning. We're very proud of this. Today we are recognizing two employees, part of our employee recognition program. This program highlights the everyday actions that strike in our workplace, especially those that promote safety and support among our coworkers. Through this program, we recognize employees who lead by example and those who peers value their positive impact that they make on their team, the organization, and the public we serve. So it's important to note that all these, the staff that are being recognized today were amongst a number of staff that were submitted by their fellow employees for recognition. And out of that pool of numerous staff that were recognized by their peers throughout the year, the leadership team selected the two highest for this year that we we've selected. And the first one for our 2025 safety on the spot employee of the year is Kevin Moore. He is district chief of emergency medical services with our fire rescue department. Some of you may have seen him on video during our state of the county addressed. He is a leader truly committed to safety, leading by example through mentoring others, strengthening communication, implementing preventative measures to keep safety front and center, and supporting more than 400 personnel across three shifts. He has strengthened safety communication and helped advance a culture of shared responsibility so those who, those who protect our community return home safely after every

shift. Thank you, Kevin. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. I'd like to say a few words. First, I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior. First, I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior, county administration and fire administration for believing in me and providing me with the opportunity to be a part of such an organization that's so forward-thinking, as well as filled with a staff of individuals that are so dedicated to their job. I'm truly amazed to be a part of this, as well as them kind of coming together to operate in this county that is making the making it function so seamlessly. I'd also like to thank my beautiful wife and my family for their hard work and their support. And it's truly a blessing for me to have such a foundational balance. Growing up as a child, my family always told me that every time I step out the house or walk out the door, that my last name doesn't just only belong to me. So they told me to carry that responsibility, and I do my best to walk with that and understand that. And the values of hard work, as well as dedication, having a sense of responsibility at a young age, was instilled in me. And I carry that to this day, so I really appreciate and thank you.

And so for our second award recipient, our 2025 Spot On Employee of the Year is Tony Wojnar. Tony is a survey field supervisor with our Public Works Department. Tony demonstrated integrity and dedication advancing our survey capabilities during the topographic survey of Boy Scout Island. He designed and built a wheeled system that allowed the survey division's equipment to move steadily across the terrain. I should say across the bathymetry, because that was working in the water. Annailing automated data collection in the field. His creative approach improved both the efficiency and accuracy of the survey work. The data collected will support an important stabilization project to address erosion on the island. Tony's creativity and problem-solving made meaningful impact on this effort, and his forward-thinking approach reflects a strong commitment to excellence. Thank you, Tony. Come on up.

You don't get the award until the speech is decided.

First off, I'd like to thank the commissioners for this opportunity and your time. Thank you, Don, for presenting me with this award and being a wonderful boss for 28 years. Next, I'd like to thank my old boss, Tom Walker, for originally putting me in for this award. And then finally, final thanks to the Human Resources and Risk team for creating this program. It's very rewarding being acknowledged by your coworkers and bosses. And I feel this program should and will inspire coworkers to work their hardest while being safe. So thank you very much. Thank you. You can have the award. Thank you.

Next up are proclamations. The first proclamation is a proclamation designating March 2026 as Irish-American Heritage Month in Martin County.

Good morning, commissioners. The Irish first came to Spanish La Florida in the 1500s, first as missionaries and mercenary soldiers, and then as planters, traders, businessmen, doctors, and administrators. And three of the Spanish governors were actually Irish military officers. Irish-Americans, since America's inception, have provided leadership and service to Florida and our nation. And March is recognized as Irish-American Heritage Month. All are encouraged to celebrate their cultural heritage and many valuable contributions. And here to accept, we have P.J. Morgan, who is the state treasurer for the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Let's have a good morning.

Good morning, Madam Commissioner. And all the commissioners, thank you for this great honor. And in particular, for recognizing March as a center of Irish-American culture here in Martin County and beyond. As an officer of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, we are the largest Irish organization within the United States. And encourage those that would like to seek our culture, especially someone like myself that is two generations in, as far as being an American of Irish roots, that AOH.com would be a nice resource in order to kind of discover what our ancestors have come through and where we are here to be. We have many divisions throughout our state, and including those in the Treasure Coast, including in Port St. Lucie, we're a member of that as well. Again, thank you so much.

Our next proclamation is a proclamation designating March 9th through 15th, 2026, as Flood Awareness Week in Martin County.

Martin County has experienced severe weather in the past in the form of extreme rainfall or tropical events, resulting in flooding in both coastal and riverine areas. This flooding has caused damage and flood losses to homes and buildings in all areas, whether they are high-risk special flood hazard areas or low-to-moderate-risk flood zones. Flood Awareness Week is recognized March 9th through the 15th, and the board encourages residents to increase their knowledge of how to protect themselves and their property from flooding. And here to accept, we have Christine Madsen, Engineering Permit Manager with Public Works.

Good morning, Commissioners. This week, the Martin County Public Works Department is participating in Flood Awareness Week. We're joining a statewide effort to raise awareness about flood risks and the importance of being prepared and the value of flood insurance. Flooding is one of the most common and expensive natural disasters in the country. We encourage our residents to become flood-ready by understanding their flood risks and taking steps to prepare. This includes having an emergency plan and disaster supply kit ready in case of an evacuation and obtaining flood insurance to protect homes and property. Throughout the week, we're sharing flood-related information on the county's website and social media pages. We've also set up flood awareness displays here in the Administrative Center, the Blake Library, and the Building Department. So we invite everyone to stop by and take a look. And thank you for helping us spread the word.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know it was a thing.

Wait, there's one more.

And our next proclamation is a proclamation declaring Surveyors and Mappers Week in Martin County, Florida.

Surveyors and Mappers are counted among the founding leaders of our country and we're instrumental in the formation of the layout of property boundaries in the United States that provide citizens the enjoyment of property ownership. In recognition of March 15th through the 21st as Surveyors and Mappers Week, the board would like to acknowledge the men and women, a lot of whom are here, of this profession for their diligence in meeting the continuing needs of our communities. And here to accept, we have Michael Griselka, who's our county engineer with Public Works.

Good morning, commissioners. I'm Michael Griselka, your county engineer. I am acting on behalf of Jet Martell, who is your acting county surveyor who has taken ill and has gone to the hospital. So I'd like to say that on behalf of the surveying community, I am deeply honored to accept this proclamation's Recognizing Surveyors Week. This acknowledgement is more than a ceremonial gesture. It is a celebration of a profession that has quietly shaped the world around us. It is particularly fitting that we receive this proclamation during the 250th anniversary of our nation since the days of Washington and Jefferson. Surveyors have been the foundational leaders in community development, mapping the path for American progress. This proclamation not only honors the dedication of licensed surveyors, technicians, and students in the field, but also shines a light on the importance of inspiring the next generation to join our ranks. The tools may have evolved from change and compasses to satellites and drones, but our mission remains the same, to measure with precision, to serve with integrity, and to safeguard the land for future generations. As we look toward the next 250 years, this designation recognizes that the surveyors of today are still measuring America, building the infrastructure, securing our land rights, and driving innovation with modern technology. We accept this not just for ourselves, but for all the professionals working to build a safe and sustainable future for our communities. I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Martin County Board of County Commissioners for recognizing the vital role surveyors play in the growth and safety of our communities, and to my fellow surveyors, past, present, and future, this week is for you. Let us continue to chart this course for progress, one measurement at a time. And I'd like to invite all the rest of the surveyors that are here to come forward.

Some of them are award-winning. Hard to survey inside, right? Is it balanced out? Is it measured properly there?

You don't appreciate surveyors until they're in your neighborhood, and then you think, oh, man, some progress is going to happen here. This is great.

You don't appreciate surveyors until your neighbor puts a fence on your property.

Now we are going to begin public comment. If you would like to speak to us, please fill out a request to speak form, hand it to the bailiff, and the bailiff will get it to me. The first request to speak form I have is from Susan Hargreaves, followed by Jim Porter. And you will have, first is Susan Hargreaves, and you're next, Mr. Porter. You'll have three minutes to address us.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay, terrific. What does the 15-second warning come in? Thank you so much. I'm Susan Hargreaves, and I'm the founder of Be an Animal Hero. And I'm here this morning as a resident of Martin County, petrified that a 26-acre slaughterhouse, which is 50,000 square feet, which dumps 14,000, it's actually the same raw sewage for humans as 14,000 people per day. And I was going to come here this morning and ask you how much sewage, how much fat, how much ammonia, how much blood is going to be going into Lake Okeechobee, but I thought you may not know the answer to that. So I'm here giving you that answer. And your responsibility is to protect residents of Martin County, apart from the extreme animal cruelty that a slaughterhouse holds. It's the damage to the water table, the pollution. And there's actually a movie called The Smell of Money that is all about that, the cancers, the water pollution, the poisoning. And I really think you should watch it, The Smell of Money. And you say it's private property, but here you are. You're here to protect the citizens. And it is Martin County property. And it is Martin County people that will be affected. So you do have the power to stop this harm and this danger. And I really, really hope you use that power and not not put everyone in danger. We've already seen the results now of the green algae. Can you imagine what else is in store? And you will be responsible for it if you allow this to go forward. So thank you very much for listening. But I really hope you use your power for the people of Martin County, which is why you're here, sitting here today. Thank you.

Yeah, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has told us that we are preempted from regulating the slaughterhouse.

There is actually other counties that have stopped slaughterhouses in their county, in the state of Florida. And it's also been Jacksonville, Gainesville that have stopped that. Because they're telling you that because they, it's in their interest to do so. Because it really is all about money. But you do have the power because it does affect your jurisdiction. This directly affects your people, your water table, your pollution, your wildlife. So you do have the power. So don't let them tell you that. Look at the other instances in the state of Florida where they have stopped these before. Because they're going all over the state of Florida trying to open more slaughterhouses. And they're getting turned away. And now they're here. Thank you.

Jim Porter is next, followed by Janine Baxter.

Good morning. I'm here for the public hearing about the Bridge Road self-storage. My name is James Porter. I live at Jensen Beach. I'm here today to state my full support for this application. As a local small business owner, I have often told myself that extra storage space would be great off of that area down there, off of Bridge Road, off of 95. It's perfect for the West Palm people who travel to West Palm Beach with needing supplies and whatnot from Jensen Beach, i.e. any place east of 95. This leads me to believe that not enough has been built. And I believe the project is an appropriate low impact for use of this location. I urge that the board has approved the request so that our taxes don't need to go up. So that's it.

Thank you. Janine Baxter is next, followed by Samuel Alcock.

Good morning. Hi. So that was my brother. I am a new resident to Martin County. He's in Jensen Beach. I'm in Southern Stewart. And having just moved here with all of our boxes and extra things from New Jersey, there really is not a plethora of storage facilities to choose from, therefore causing pretty high prices down here. Can't put our cars in the garage yet. We still have all this stuff. Hoping that you would approve this storage facility down by us in Southern, I guess it's Southern Martin County, or Southern, I call it Southern Stewart, close to Hope Sound. Again, these facilities seem so well hidden off the road. You don't really know that they're there until you look for it. I implore, Sarah Hurd, I do believe that you are my representative in that corner of the county to please approve.

Thank you. Thank you. Samuel Alcock is next. And Mr. Alcock is the last request to speak for him I have.

I'm Samuel Alcock. And... Hold that mic up a little bit. You're taller. Oh, sorry. Good morning. I'm Samuel Alcock. I just wanted to bring something to the table about my property on Commerce and Salerno Road. I've leased the property from my landlord, and I started parking my trucks on it. And the county has been getting on me about the trucks being on my commercial property. They said that because there's no building on the property that I can't have my trucks there. And there is a building connected to the property, but it's a different address. And when I look around at all the other properties around me, like Casco's Rentals and the roof in place, they have their vehicles across the street on the FCC railroad parked. And a lot of them all around me are doing the exact same thing. I'm actually the only one that would be closer to incompliance than anybody around me. And the county is now making me take all my trucks off and move them to somewhere else. And I don't really know where I'm going to move them to or what I'm going to do if that goes through. So I'm just wondering if today we could just hear it out and maybe see some sort of resolution so I don't have to move all my stuff.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll check into it.

Yes. And Nicole Watson is next, and that's the last request to speak form that I have.

Good morning, guys. How are you? Nicole Watson, long-time Port Salerno resident, live in the house my husband was born and raised in. Here in support of Samuel, you know, I feel that the target on his back and all of the code enforcement complaints are due to a very, very few people who truly are against his landlord and not against Samuel himself. If I can tell you, I really do support him. He's done a great job cleaning it up. And, yeah, I'm behind Samuel. Also, I'd like to urge you to approve the dock authority request to use the Upland facilities because I'm quite frankly positive that that was supposed to be part of the deal to begin with. So there we have it. That's it.

Have a good day. Thank you. Would anyone else like to address us? Mr. Crowley.

James Crowley, for the record. Can you hear me? Is this working? I think so. I'll pick it up. I'm the landlord in question for that property for Sam. So you can understand why that there's some problems. But the issue with the slaughterhouse is actually good timing because at the last meeting you guys were saying, since you were preempted, that, hey, let's send some flowers and let's go see what the owner is going to do. Maybe he'll let us in and have a conversation and a walk around, which is a great thing to do once you have no power at all and the owner is not going to let you in. Because he knows that you're just going to go there trying to look for ways to shut it down because you're trying to support the people. What I've been asking for for three years is we start that way, is we start off saying, hey, what do you want? You know, the growth management office should have coffee and donuts for people coming in who are looking to build. Instead of it being, did I cut it off? Instead of it being, you guys pass rules here, and then you let the growth management chew us into pieces. You have a lawsuit that's going to have a summary judgment on April 11th, and you're going to lose that on density. And they never should have gone to the courts in the first place because the rules are very clear, but the interpretation is horrible. And so the developers and the slaughterhouses just go and get preempted, which the state of Florida has done with SB 180 and now the slaughterhouses and so forth. And so what I've been begging for, and which I think is timely, is let's have a different approach. Let's reach out to the people who are doing things. Let's shake our hands. Give us a big hug. Say thank you for coming to the county. I know that some of the community is not going to like the development, but you guys passed the rules, not me. I'm not asking for anything from you that is political. I'm just asking for fair treatment and to stop spending legal dollars harassing Sam. Sam is a genuine Salerno native. Casey Cass and I are not. You've got two carpet beggars fighting it out, and Sam's getting chewed up in the middle. Sam's here. He's roots here. He's got support here. We need to get off of the kicking our butts in growth management and have policy be debated here in the commission chamber and then have it be interpreted in the favor of us, not against us, like you guys have been doing for 30 years. So let's, please, hopefully the slaughterhouse is a watershed moment where we can all cooperate, and hopefully Sam's code case can be resolved amicably. We're not trying to destroy things. We're trying to build things. Thank you.

Thank you. So Dawn Tetreault is next.

My name is Dawn Tetreault. I've been in this area for probably 25 years. My family used to own Treasure Coast Harley-Davidson for a long, long time, prior to the current owner, and I'm a local real estate agent, and all the years and the time that I've driven through Salerno and passed that road, I've never seen it look better. And being a local, I'm not a local local, but I've been here a long time. So Samuel's a local. And to see him, how he's grown over the years and building his business and for himself and his family and then making that corner look like, I was proud to see it, and I told him that. When I first saw his stuff there, it looked nice. It was pretty. You know what I mean? It's somebody who's growing. It's part of our community. And why he's being harassed and all that's going on, I don't know. But I would hope that you guys can, you know, work with him so he can stay there and we can support, right? And to me, it's an example, too, of somebody who's building himself and creating something good in our community.

So thank you. Thank you. Would anyone else like to address us? If not, we will close public comment and move on to Commissioner Comments. Commissioner Vargas.

Yes. I've heard all the comments. And Mr. Donaldson, who can look into this matter that was just discussed by these three individuals?

I can provide a memo to the board on the status of code enforcement issue. And, again, Ms. Elder will look into the current status of it.

I appreciate that. I think we all appreciate that. So this weekend in Jensen Beach, I did go out in a boat, sailboat, excuse me, powerboat, watching the sailboats. It was the Optimus Sunshine State Championship. There were 346 youth from around the country. And this is supporting youth sailing. It's a wholesome environment and activity and also bolsters our local tourism and our dollars, too. And this is under the guidance and the visionary, proactive, innovative ideas of Executive Director Adam Gee and Beth Whitmire. She's the Senior Director of Operations. I encourage you to go out to the sailing center. I think it's something that is noteworthy and what's being developed there. And these are 7- to 17-year-olds, so it was really exciting. The other thing is this coming Saturday, a little levity, we are opening and having the groundbreaking ribbon-cutting for our gazebo. That is at the Hoke Library, and that's at Jensen Beach Boulevard, right at Jack Williams Way, just north of Jensen Beach High School. And that will start at 10 a.m. until about 11, and then City of Stewart. They have the ribbon-cutting ceremony with their amphitheater. And they're going to be at Memorial Park. They'll be there from 10.30 in the morning until about 6, and they'll have live music. They'll have five bands. It's free. Food trucks. Bring your chair. Stay for an hour. Stay for the day. So we'd like you to maybe have a little pleasure this weekend exploring the outdoors.

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Capps.

This past Saturday, I attended the Martin County Employee Picnic at Hal Patioki Park, and I left the event with a strong awareness that I have every day when I walk into this building, which is that staff is very helpful and kind, and that morale is high in Martin County and in our local government. I want to thank each of you on the staff for all that you do for me and for all that you do for our residents. We appreciate you very much.

Thank you. And I would also just like to echo some of the comments this morning about the code enforcement action in Port Salerno. If we can just put a pause on that. I do not want to start civil war in Port Salerno. So let's avoid that at all costs. Commissioners, we've had a request from New Horizons of the Treasure Coast. They're a wonderful mental health facility on the Treasure Coast. They would like our support for requesting funding to establish and operate a central receiving facility for the Treasure Coast, and also they would like to have our state help in putting a new roof on their facility. If we could write two letters of support for these funding requests from New Horizons of the Treasure Coast. Everybody nodding? That's good. And also, Ms. Gordon, can you put up, I received these videos and photographs in Palmar, and we've received lots of information about Palmar, ongoing abuses. Palmar is one of the most beautiful remnants of Everglades that exists in the Everglades, and it's being destroyed by people there. I don't have any idea whether they're landowners. 20 years ago, there were no vehicles in Palmar. Now, as you can see, they've taken over, and they're destroying the wetlands in Palmar. There are campers there. That was a wonderful, pristine wetland not that long ago.

Look at this. Zoom in on their faces.

That guy's stuck. Yeah, he is.

That was you? That's all you need. What's that weird circle? Yeah, you can see there's a gate on the right-hand side. It's not working as well.

There are no roads in there, you know, and yet they have made roads. They're destroying a beautiful, beautiful habitat that Martin County taxpayers have spent considerable funds acquiring. We desperately need some more enforcement in Palmar, and hopefully this will be an impetus for us to do more enforcement there and stop the destruction of this marvelous habitat.

So, Madam Chair, what's the next step, then? I agree. We do need enforcement.

Well, there's also a lot of armed conflict there. We've heard from trailside people about guns being used there, target practice, bullets hitting barns and fences in trailside. And so we need armed enforcement. So we need to encourage our sheriff to accompany us with code enforcement people so that they can go safely in, and we can get this under control.

Is this something that we're requesting now of Mr. Donaldson to pretend to?

Yeah.

I thought we hired an outside firm that was going to do security.

We have. This is in Martin County. Yeah. So I would also like the sheriff to participate in code enforcement.

I'm opposed.

This has been going on for quite a while. I've spoken with the folks at trailside. I mean, they have their animals there, and they can't even allow their grandchildren to walk from the home to the paddock. It's a dangerous situation as well as destructive.

So let's see if we can get the sheriff to accompany us to do some serious code enforcement there. Thank you. Commissioner Campy.

That brings up a point that several years ago there was a group called OHV, Off Highway Vehicles, that was trying. We were trying to work out in western Martin County in District 5 on a couple hundred acres to create a much more author-regulated spot where folks that own 4x4s and dirt bikes and things like that, they have them throughout the state. There's one that everyone that I remember was telling, Chrome. It's up north of here, and it's designed and regulated and has rules so that folks that do own this recreational equipment had a place that they could legally go. Part of the problem is enforcement, but the other problem is that if people genuinely want to do this and you don't create an opportunity you don't create an opportunity to give them a space where it can be a little more authorized, they will find places to do it. But I know in the back of Point Santa Gardens, which we're going to discuss today, that's been a big issue there. There are people that have snuck onto the outskirts of Hal Patiochi to do it. If you have a small retention pond in your neighborhood, it's quite often you'll hear the revving of engines because kids, and grownups too, it's not just kids, are utilizing these things. If you just drive around on the streets in Martin County, it's not that uncommon to see a pickup truck pulling a trailer of dirt bikes or 4x4s side-by-sides because that's the kind of community that we have. If they want to do some off-roading, they like to get out there. Now, we don't want them to tear up environmentally sensitive areas, but perhaps part of the solution is enforcement. And the other part of the solution is where can we tell these folks that they can legally go? And it can't be 150 miles away because that's not going to be a realistic answer. So perhaps we think of some space that we can work on that. When you talk about recreation, there's people that fish, boat, golf, play sports, run, hike. But there's also a lot of people that are into off-road motor sports and it can't be ignored because it is a very legitimate, large industry. People spend thousands of dollars to participate and they don't want to be 200 miles away from home to do it. So I would make that a suggestion as well that we can have real property or parks and rec or somebody look into some property that is not environmentally sensitive that we can create something to say, look, we don't want you to do it here, but you can do it here. Thank you. My next two quick points are up and positive on March 21st, which I, it's not this coming weekend, it's the following, but we won't meet again before then on March 21st, which is a Saturday evening. We're going to have music in the park, part of our patio playlist. It's going to be Mr. Tony Solomon. A lot of people know Tony. He's quite an entertainer. He's a DJ. He plays multiple instruments. He sings. We were supposed to have him in February, but sadly we got completely swamped out with rain. He'll be there on Mapp Road at the patio at Palm City Place from 630 to 830. It is just north of Station 21. We'll have food trucks and ice cream trucks and adult beverage trucks, and you can bring food. You can order food from a lot of the local restaurants. You can picnic. You can bring a chair. It's for all ages. The only thing that we ask is that for parents that come with very young children to be mindful of those children so that they run around and we don't want anyone to get hurt. And then finally, I'd like to compliment and thank our staff. This, very recently, we just closed on the property that, if many of you remember, it was a multi-year story with many chapters. There was a plan to build 90 apartments on Martin Highway, very close to Palm City Elementary School. It was going to be three three-story buildings directly on the sidewalk within the CRA boundary. And myself and many others felt that that was really very out of character for that area and for Palm City in general. It would have been the first three-story multi-units in Palm City. The only thing that we could do, because they were legally allowed to do it, is we put a plan together with some staff brainstorming to purchase the property. Then the concern was, is that we used taxpayer dollars to purchase private property, and what are you going to do about it? Well, we kept some of the property for Public Works because we had no actual access to Danforth Creek. So we, Public Works, purchased a portion of it to maintain the environmental sensitivity there and also give us access to Danforth Creek for maintenance. And then the rest of it was sold and recently closed for the exact same amount that we paid for it. So it was no loss of taxpayer dollars for the property. It will obviously be developed into something, but we also, prior to the sale, worked with growth management staff, our legal staff, public works, engineering, real property. It was much a collaborative effort of multiple departments to put some limitations on the property in terms of development that were not there beforehand. And then we put it out for bids, making sure that all of the people that bid on the property, or at least reviewed the bids, understood that it wasn't going to be do whatever you want there. And so we have a local family that purchased the property and raised, went to Palm City Elementary School, Hidden Oaks Middle School, Martin County High School, they purchased the property. And they're going to be much more sensitive to what the community is looking to have as part of its overall vision. So I'm very, very pleased and happy to announce that we've actually closed on the property. We did not lose any money, and staff did a remarkable job in collaborating. So I think there'll be some folks that want nothing to ever happen there, and the only way that can be is you have to purchase that property. I think we've met a nice middle ground. So thank you to our staff.

Thank you. Commissioner Hetherington.

Yep.

I would just like to echo the comments on the Port Salerno property that we look in and see what we can do to ease that code enforcement issue for the resident. And yesterday we had our ribbon cutting at the Golden Gate Cassidy Center Garden. And I want to thank House of Hope for helping with our support of district funds. We have a beautiful new garden in the Lamar Howard Park at the Cassidy Center. And I do not personally have a green thumb, but it is amazing. All my family members do. And I know that Commissioner Heard has one in her district as well. And I think I took for granted that, you know, I grew up in Indiantown where we had lots of land to garden, and my grandmother and my mother gardened. And so I think it's a great opportunity for an urban area and for those that have the opportunity to experience that, grow healthy food, learn to, you know, kind of to learn about nutrition and have a community garden feel. So thank you to House of Hope, and it was my pleasure to support that project. And I look forward to participating and learning more as you grow.

Thank you. Mr. Donaldson.

Yes. In front of each of you, there is a letter from the city of Stewart Mayor, Christopher Collins, regarding the interlocal agreement with our fire rescue. I had sent their manager a letter a while back about some issues we had with the interlocal agreement. Their response is a request to have a commissioner along with myself and staff to meet in a public setting, and I'm just asking for your direction on that. My recommendation that our chair, Commissioner Heard, and I would accept this meeting and at least have one meeting to see if there are a means to resolve some of our differences related to our interlocal agreement and how some of the services are provided to rescue, especially our, we have, you know, the hospitals are not necessarily providing care for women that are pregnant or having children, and it's especially acute when you have a woman who's at risk pregnancy showing up to the hospital and they're not able, they need to be transported out of county, and there's been some incidences when that hasn't happened efficiently. So I think it's important that we at least attempt to resolve that. I'll make that motion.

I'll second. Commissioner Campy?

Is this, I don't understand the gist of the meeting. To me, it seems like it has a different mission. I don't understand where you and Commissioner Heard and the mayor and their acting manager, you're going to address maternity issues at the Cleveland Clinic in a public meeting. I don't get that. And then in terms of the interlocal agreement with fire rescue, I think, is this a timely thing? To me, it has, sounds like it has a different meaning and mission than us getting together to discuss these things. I think the timing is interesting. I'm not in favor of that meeting.

No, that's fine. I just want to be clear that what's happened is that the women have been delivered to the Cleveland Clinic or Hospital North, and rather than the city of Stewart transporting them to a hospital out of the county, they've called Martin County Fire Rescue to come in, and that's, we believe, caused unnecessary delays. And so there is, the city refused to transport them out. So that's just one issue. I think there is, at least we will continue to have conversations whether we have it in the formal setting that they've requested. That's really ultimately today is just this request from the city to have a publicly advertised meeting to have our first discussion on this. And I'm just seeking direction today on how you would like us to proceed.

Commissioner Hetherington.

Yeah. I think it's premature because I would like to hear from both administration and our fire administration some of the ILA issues, as well as I'm glad you clarified that. The only issue I have heard of is it's not Martin County Fire Rescue that's dropping off mother and delivery labor patients. It's the city of Stewart, so that can be unilaterally resolved by the city of Stewart having a policy that they will transport mothers to where they need to be transported. The other ILA issues, I would like to meet with fire rescue and admin first before we schedule any meetings. So I think it's premature.

I'm persuaded by that argument, and I'll withdraw my motion.

I make a motion that we have an agenda item at our next meeting to hear with us and our staff and fire rescue, and then also reach out to Cleveland Clinic so we can have someone come from Cleveland Clinic to explain it to us. I'm just hearing about this. I watched the city of Stewart meetings. I had a moment to speak to Mr. Donaldson before this meeting started. Let's have our own conversation here before we send our, even though Commissioner Hurd is, I have full confidence in her representing us. I'd just like to discuss it here first before we have a discussion with the city of Stewart that most of us are not included in. Thank you.

So the urgency of this matter is that endangered mothers-to-be are being picked up from a 9-11 call, taken to Cleveland Clinic, and then they are not able to care for them there, and the city of Stewart has refused to take them to a hospital where they can receive the care that they need. So you think it's okay to wait two weeks or a month in order to resolve this?

So I do know that our fire rescue and conversations with Cleveland Clinic is on standby to take transport anybody as quickly as possible. So they are doing it within the parameters that it is occurring so that they're not delayed, but they're not being. So if someone is delivered to Martin North and they're unable to deal with them, Martin North is now calling us immediately as opposed to making the continued request. So they have tried to keep the patient in mind, but it has highlighted the issue with the interlocal agreement that it was a city of Stewart patient that was picked up, and then it's a Martin County fire rescue that's transporting them out of the county.

Well, I would say that obviously none of us are interested in putting a patient in jeopardy, but considering that we can have this conversation on March 24th, and the fact that if something happened today, they would be contacting Martin County anyway, I have the utmost confidence in our ability to render the appropriate care. My motion is that we meet first here on the 24th to have this conversation also including Cleveland Clinic, and that if something happens in the next two weeks that we do authorize Martin County Fire Rescue to transport, which it seems like they had been doing if this has been an issue, an actual, had to happen. Let's continue to do what we're doing, and if City of Stewart Fire Rescue, and I don't know, I don't want to say, I like the City of Stewart. I like the City of Stewart Fire Rescue Department and their personnel very much. I don't think they would ever put anybody in jeopardy either, but this seems bigger than that. So if it's that specific issue, let's address it, and the rest of it we can work on. But to have it thrown that they've decided that we'll have a public meeting with just a couple of representatives, which is fine because I'm comfortable with it being you, Mr. Donaldson, our legal department, Commissioner Hurd, and representatives. But if it's a Cleveland Clinic delivery issue, let's address that. And I would also tell you that when the maternity services were pulled from Martin County hospitals, I do remember speaking to Dr. Rishi Singh, who was in charge of the hospitals in Martin County at the time. And if you're there and you are having a really catastrophic delivery, they're still delivering your baby even if it has to be in the emergency room. It's not like they cannot deliver a baby there. So that is my recollection of a conversation that I had. But again, we're hearing about this. We have no opportunity to do any research individually. So that would be my motion that we do that first before we launch into a big meeting, a public meeting with the mayor of Stewart and his team, because it seems like it's bigger than that. Thank you.

I'll second the motion.

I also spoke with Dr. Rishi at length about maternity services. And he assured me that, yes, every mother would be taken care of, every baby would be taken care of at Cleveland North. So there is service. There are facilities. There are teams there. There are specialists to handle something that could be a crisis situation. But I think we do need to address this matter.

Any further comment? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion carries unanimously. And anything else, Mr. Donaldson?

No, nothing else. Thank you.

Ms. Elder. Okay. Let's move on to the consent agenda. There are no polls. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Move approval. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any opposition? That motion passes unanimously. Commissioners, have you filled out your voting sheet for affordable housing advisory?

Madam Chair, may I just ask one thing? Sure. I know that I think all of us received a letter from Polymath Law that was stating that an agenda item that we had on the schedule is looking, is making a request that the public hearing PH1 scheduled for today be continued. Yeah, we have to open it up. Yeah. So can we do that next? Then I see they're here, and it'll only take a minute. Thank you.

Yeah.

Because that only takes a minute, too.

Yeah.

It's not on.

She's the, just yell. You're pushing it too many times. That's a classic mistake. Uh-oh.

Do we come?

To appoint Nick Brown.

Appoint Justin D'Angelo. Appoint James Moyer. And then one of three citizen appointments. Ooh, I came on. Yeah. And your voting sheets, Mr. John. P. P. Yeah. Received four votes. Mr. Mark Marchesani received one vote. Okay. Is there a motion to reappoint Nick Blunt and appoint Lucille Schilling and Justin D'Angelo and Jim Moyer? So moved. And John Policondritis? Second. There's a motion and a second. Any opposition? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. Now we will take public hearing number one. There is a request to continue this item to May 19th. Would anyone from the public like to address us?

Morning. Good morning. Not really a member of the public. I represent the applicants. And we appreciate your consideration of the request to continue the meeting, the public hearing to May 19th. And you are? Oh, I'm sorry. Krista Story. She's new to this. I apologize. Yeah. I'm an attorney with Polymath Law.

Would anyone from the public like to address us? Seeing none, we'll come back to the board. Make a motion to continue to May 19th, please.

May 19th. Thank you.

I second that motion. There's a motion and a second. Any opposition? That motion passes unanimously. We will see you on May 19th. Thank you very much.

One clarification for the record. I did see an email from our growth management department that said that the applicant would be responsible for the cost of re-advertising. However, knowing that we did pick a date certain, that's not going to be the case anymore, correct?

That's what I understand. And thank you to Mr. Sennett for clarifying that.

Yes, I appreciate that as well, Mr. Sennett. Wouldn't want to have to make that just for an administrative decision, so it's on the record that you won't have to do that again.

Thank you. Thank you for mentioning that. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks. Okay, thank you.

Any other legal obligations to continue this item?

No, I think we're all set. Thank you.

Okay, we will go on to public hearing quasi-judicial number one, which is a public hearing to request approval of the Sixth Amendment to the Island Crossings commercial planned unit development zoning agreement, including a revised master site plan and out parcel A final site plan. 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 some, and they've been filed as well.

Commissioner Heatherington?

I have them, and they've been filed.

Mr. Sennett, have you sent all your materials to the clerk?

Yes, I'm turning a copy of my work history and the agenda item to be filed as Exhibit 1.

Excellent. Anyone who's going to be providing sworn testimony in this, please stand up and raise your right hands 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? I do. Mr. Sennett, please proceed.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Commissioners. I'm John Sennett, Principal Planner with Growth Management. The applicant has turned in their notice of mailers at the LPA hearing this past Thursday. There are no interveners for this application. This is a request by McCarty and Associates, land planning and design on behalf of Buell Land South, for approval of the Sixth Amendment to the Island Crossings Commercial PUD Agreement, including a revised master site plan and final site plan for out-parcel A. The proposed development of out-parcel A consists of a two-story, 99,922-square-foot residential storage facility and associated infrastructure. Out-parcel A consists of approximately 6.83 acres located at 11850 Southeast Federal Highway in Hope Sound, included as a request for a Certificate of Public Facilities Reservation. Here you can see the boundaries of the island crossing. It's commercial PUD in red. It's just over 25 acres, located west of the intersection of Federal Highway and Bridge Road in Hope Sound. It's anchored by a Publix Plaza. There are out-parcels that have been developed with a gas station, a Wells Fargo bank, a Wendy's, as well as the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Center. Out-parcel A is located in the southern portion of the PUD with frontage along Bridge Road. Out-parcel A contains a portion of Southeast Florida Avenue. Southeast Florida Avenue is an easement which provides access to the adjacent Bridgetown residential development. There is an existing detention area in the northeast portion of out-parcel A, and there is also an existing 2.3-acre preserve area subject to an existing preserve area management plan. And to the east of out-parcel A, you can see the old Barnett Bank building right at the corner. The Bridgetown development to the northwest is subject to a separate PUD agreement. In the light green, you can see the RM5 zoning district. That's the Hobesound Golf Club. And the blue areas to the west, south, and east are within the Hobesound Redevelopment Zoning District. The future land use designation of the property is general commercial. The Bridgetown development to the northwest is in the commercial office residential future land use designation. The Hobesound Golf Club property is within the low-density future land use designation. The brown property to the west of out-parcel A is in the CRA neighborhood future land use. And the pink areas to the south and west are the CRA center future land use. The Island Crossings Commercial PUD is formerly known as the Ross Common Square Commercial PUD. It was adopted in August 1989 and was most recently modified via the Fifth Amendment in August 2007. It consists of seven parcels totaling approximately 25.6 acres. This proposed sixth PUD amendment adds residential storage facility as a permitted use for out-parcel A. The amendment clarifies that SMRU shall provide the water and wastewater service for the project. The amendment removes the 0.23 acre out-parcel G, which is currently within the Hobesound Community Redevelopment Area. The amendment includes a revised master site plan to reflect an increase in the maximum allowable square footage and the removal of out-parcel G. The amendment also includes a revised timetable of development for out-parcel A. The development of out-parcel A consists of a two-story, 99,922-square-foot residential storage facility, also known as bridge road self-storage, and associated infrastructure. The out-parcel A owner will construct turn lanes, including a turn lane in the southeast bridge road right-of-way, as well as left and right egress lanes in the existing internal drive connecting to southeast bridge road. There is no new connection proposed to bridge road. No change, there is no change to the existing 2.3 acre preserve area on out-parcel A. Exotic vegetation removal will be conducted during development activities in accordance with the existing preserve area management plan. A parking rate adjustment is requested pursuant to Section 4.625, Martin County Land Development Regulations. Ten parking spaces are proposed as part of the final site plan. The applicant's proposed PUD public benefits include a pedestrian plaza with benches in the southeast corner of out-parcel A. The applicant will also preserve an additional 0.52 acres of native upland vegetation in landscape buffers on out-parcel A. The applicant is also proposing a $25,000 contribution to the Hobesound Historical Society to be used for the restoration and maintenance of the Hobesound Railroad Station. This is the site plan. You can see in the western portion of the site in the hashing is the existing preserve area. You can see southeast Florida Avenue traverses the site. And adjacent to southeast Florida Avenue, there's also an existing 50-foot wide preserve area. The building is situated in the east portion of the site. Here's a closer look at the building. The hashed areas shown in green are the additional native vegetation areas that will be preserved within landscape buffers at the site. And in the southeast corner adjacent to the intersection, you can see the pedestrian plaza. The applicant is requesting alternative compliance from the primary facade transparency criteria of Article 4, Division 20. Staff recommend approval. The Board of County Commissioners is the final decision maker for this application. Here are the proposed architectural elevations, and I know the applicant also has some color renderings in their presentation as well. This top elevation, this is the south elevation. This would be the view directly adjacent to Bridge Road. This matter was heard before the local planning agency this past Thursday, March 5, 2026. The LPA voted 3 to 0, approving staff's recommendation of approval. And there were two absences. Development review staff have found the Buell Land South 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. Move that the Board approve the Sixth Amendment to the Island Crossings Commercial PUD Zoning Agreement, including the revised master site plan. And move that the Board adopt the resolution approving the final site plan for the Island Crossings PUD Out Parcel A project, also known as Bridge Road Self Storage. That concludes my presentation.

Questions for Mr. Senate. Commissioner Capps.

Yes, Mr. Senate. This proposed Sixth Amendment to the PUD agreement adds residential storage facility as a permitted use for Out Parcel A. Did the original PUD allow for storage?

So the existing permitted uses per the previously approved third PUD amendment dictate that permitted uses within the PUD shall be those uses authorized within the PUDC zoning district section of the land development regulations at that time. Those regulations did contemplate a use such as a residential storage facility, which would have been consistent with the uses permitted within the GC zoning district. So at the time, the PUDC zoning district regulations did contemplate a variety of uses consistent with the general commercial future land use designation.

Then why does the Sixth Amendment need to add residential storage facility as a permitted use, if you're interpreting it to mean that the original PUD agreement already allowed that?

This is to memorialize that it is a permitted use for clarity.

Okay. So regarding square footage, that's another way in which the applicant is looking to amend the PUD? Correct. And the proposal here is to build 99,922 square feet? Yes, sir. So how many square feet of construction could have been built under the original PUD?

So the existing master plan that was approved as part of the third PUD amendment in 1995, I believe it was, laid out permitted building square footages for out parcel D as well as the remaining out parcels, and then the total for the project. The existing master plan, it had totals, total building square footage, and it also had a total gross leasable floor area. So using that total gross leasable floor area term, you know, the allowable square footage under the existing master site plan would be in the neighborhood of about 34,000 square feet.

So the original PUD was about 34,000 square feet, and this one is 99,000 plus, right at 100,000. Correct. Yeah, and that would be 50,000 on the first floor and 50,000 on the second floor, basically. About that. Okay. Thank you.

Further questions for staff? Applicant, would you like to make a presentation? Ms. Creech.

Good morning. Audra Creech with McCarthy Summers, land use and zoning attorney. Thank you so much for your time this morning. To clarify a couple of the items identified by staff, in the third amendment to the PUD, use is permitted. Permitted uses shall be those uses authorized in the planned unit development commercial zoning district provisions of the codes of laws and ordinances of Martin County. So that is in the third amendment. That is the exact language. So if it's allowed in the planned unit development commercial zoning district, as of 1995, it is considered a permitted use. That has not changed since 1995 in any other PUD. So given that language, it is our position and the staff's position that it is indeed a permitted use because it was already a part of that commercial zoning district back in 1995, and that language has not been changed. So that's one item. Another clarifying item, which Mike McCarty of McCarty Associates will come up and speak more about, but that I should identify here, is that the master development plan that is dated April 13, 1995, which we are amending as a part of the Sixth Amendment, had the original square footage for out parcel A as 91,833 square feet. We are asking today for an increase of 99,922 square feet. So to say that we are increasing more than 10 square feet, give or take, is inaccurate. Just clarifying those details. On another note, thank you again. Staff did a fantastic job of overlaying the overall realities of this site. Mike McCarty, the land planner, will be coming up shortly to give the real interesting and exciting parts of the site and what it will look like and why we are really excited about it. The fact that I'm excited about self-storage is kind of interesting, but it is what it is. So as identified by staff, the affidavit of mailers were provided already. My work history has been provided. Mike McCarty's work history has been provided. And at this point, I will also provide a final determination by Publix, which is out parcel D, that they do not object to our Sixth Amendment, which was the final no objection. The agenda has all the other no objections for out parcels B, C, D, E, F, and G. Additionally, we have two more support letters, one from a Mr. H, Alan Holmes, Inc., and Hobesound Beach Shop. Additionally, I have a work history from a representative of Lightbox, who will be eventually the company that will be building the storage facility, if indeed it gets approved today, for the record here. All right. Now that I have completed some of the procedural items, I'm going to ask land planner Mike McCarty of McCarty and Associates to come up so I can ask him some evidentiary questions. And then he will be able to give his testimony as to the specifics. I do at this time request that I have a chance to respond to any comments that may come before you as a part of this item.

Madam Chair, if I may interject. John Sennett, Growth Management for the record. The approved revised master site plan that was incorporated as part of the 1995 third PUD amendment lists the total square footage for out parcels A, B, C, E, F, and G, not to exceed 91,833 square feet building area or 73,466 square feet gross leasable area. So I just wanted to clarify that that total was the out parcels combined.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I apologize for the miscommunication. So the increase in square footage totally after that clarification from Mr. Sennett is not near as large as originally contemplated. Thank you. All right. Mr. McCarty, how are you doing today?

Good. Thank you. Thank you.

Are you a land planner of this area?

I am.

How long have you been doing land planning in Martin County?

22 to 23 years.

Do you believe that you are an expert in the land development code and the comp plan of Martin County?

I do.

Do you believe that this project fulfills all the requirements of Martin County comprehensive plan and the land development code?

I do.

Thank you very much.

Good morning. Good morning. Appreciate your time. Beautiful day. Beautiful day. So I'm with McCarty and Associates Land Planning and Design. Address 309 Southeast Osceola Street. I'm here before you to discuss Island Crossing's C-PUD Sixth Amendment. Let me get the remote. Thank you. So some of this is going to be a little bit redundant, but if you'll bear with me, I need to put it on the record. Island Crossing's PUD was established in 1989. This is the last parcel of the C-PUD to be developed. The permitted uses within the C-PUD consists of commercial retail uses, and now Parcel A was previously submitted in 2007 for approval and then subsequently withdrawn. The proposed amendment for out Parcel A increases the maximum allowable building square footage permitted. The proposed final site plan includes a two-story, 99,922 square feet, Gen 5-level residential storage facility. So when we talk about Gen 5, Gen 5 is the highest tier in the storage facility industry. It's climate-controlled, humidity-controlled, high levels of security. The structure itself is built to Category 5 hurricane standards. We're talking the highest level of quality. The Sixth Amendment of the C-PUD requires revisions to the master site plan. Obviously, we beat that up pretty good. Staff did a great job of going through that. It's been challenging over the last 24 months to dive into a, you know, 37-year-old PUD that has layers upon layers of amendment. So it's been great to work with staff and their patients through that. Just to kind of recap some of the area here, you'll see on the slide before you the Island Crossings C-PUD that's outlined in the green. Our site is in the red at the southern end of that. All of the C-PUD is built out, and so this is the last out parcel to be developed. You'll also see to the north there, Bridgetown, which was an R-PUD. And you'll also see around the proximity of the site, around the peripheral of this entire area, the blue hatching. That blue hatching is the CRA boundary. The reason why I point that out is this area is intended for community redevelopment. And so this was an old PUD that predates the CRA, and we find ourselves along the bridge road corridor where it is identified for redevelopment. And subsequently, this out parcel is not bound by those CRA regulations. We're bound by the PUD. However, in the design, you'll see elements that are reflective of the CRA throughout the presentation. I do want to add Bridgetown. The owner of this parcel and our client, Mr. Buell, is a longtime resident of Jupiter Island. His family came down, had a residence on Jupiter Island. He since has moved into Bridgetown, he and his brother continue to live here part of the year. From the inception, literally three years ago, him coming into our office, his goal was to deliver a project at the entrance of his community, his personal residential community that is consistent with the area and poses a benefit to the local community. And so what he was really trying to do is control that we don't have something that goes on this out parcel because it was on the open market that might have a negative effect, whether it be a bar or a restaurant that would have a grease trap or whatever it may be, something that generates a lot of traffic.

So he needs to be able to walk to work.

Yes, sir. Exactly. So here's before you the revised master plan. This reflects all of the changes and modifications that were made. We cleaned up some of the labels, some of the data calculations, and that's reflected here. Again, this is an aerial valve parcel A. You'll see that we do have some native vegetation on there. In the original approval, and you'll see on this site plan, the preserve areas were already dedicated. There's a strip on the east side of Florida Avenue and then acreage to the west side, 1.81 acres that is encumbered by a preserve area management plan as well. Those areas, by this approval, will have to be brought up to compliance, so management, exotic removal, so on and so forth. As part of this project, we did enhancements around the peripheral of the site, and the areas that have the rare and unique habitat, we designed those into the schematic so that we're preserving above and beyond the code minimum. Essentially, we're providing an additional half an acre of rare and unique scrub habitat that will be around the perimeter of the site and pose as a benefit to the community in the surrounding area, also breaking up the buildings as well. Here before you is our landscape plan, further identifies the landscaping areas. You can see we did a really intense planting plan along the east edge of the building, the entry into the overall plaza. We put all the parking, loaded all the parking into the back of the building, which is consistent with the CRA. We provided necessary turnaround for emergency services. We're requesting a reduction in the parking rate that was required by the county, and essentially provides more green space for this site. This is a perspective at the southeast corner along Bridge Road. You'll see here we incorporated a public element and an amenity there with seating area benches, some public artwork. We did a plant pallet that is layered, has a ground cover, some hedges and different grasses, and then palm trees as well as canopy trees. Really, really, you know, important that we provided this element along the Bridge Road corridor. It starts to expand all of what, all the improvements that have occurred on the east side of US-1 over the years down Bridge Road. They're now extending it going west down Bridge Road. So happy to be a part of that. I think I have to thank our client for having that vision and letting us run with that. Here's another zoomed-in shot. You can see how that element, that public benefit element, is going to orient on the corner there. This is the east side of the proposed storage facility. You can see a lot of our architectural elements, you know, the vertical integration, breaking up by the banding, colors, windows. You can see the gussets, the metal roof, wall plane changes along these sides. So we took great care in trying to break up this building and make it as attractive as possible. This is the northeast corner, so kind of looking back, and if you look in the background there, you'll see that red card. That's Bridge Road, okay? So just to kind of orient yourself, you'll see some of the native habitat here in the front. On the right side, that's the native habitat that we're going to preserve. And this is a zoomed-in image of that corner, show you some of the architectural elements, the human scale, really done very well. This is at the corner of Florida Avenue, so southwest corner of the site. At Bridge Road, if you were to turn left, you could see the curb there on your left-hand side of the screen. That would be Florida Avenue. That's the entry into Bridgetown. To the right, Bridge Road heading towards U.S. Highway 1. And directly in front of you on this screen, you can see this is the native vegetation that we're preserving, breaking up, creating a buffer along the face of that building. And then this would be the perspective as you're going into Florida Avenue into the entry north into Bridgetown. And this is another perspective as you go further north, closer to the actual entry gate into Bridgetown. So you can see we took great care in trying to be sensitive to our surroundings. Public benefits. Let me run through our public benefits. Number one, fulfillment of a critical local need currently underserved by similar services. There will benefit from convenient access to secure Cat 5 climate-controlled storage, reducing the need for long commutes in supporting local efficiencies. So this is going to assist with residents on Jupiter Island, allow them a safe place to get their valuables off during hurricane season or during a season that they're not in town, as well as accommodate for discovery and some of the clientele out there, as well as the local community in the heart of Hope Sound. Two, strategic location. Location along Bridge Road and close to U.S. 1 with the geographic area, the CRA makes this an ideal location for infill development. This is infill. Okay, this out parcel was determined to be developed in 1989, and we are fulfilling and delivering on that PUD that was established then. Low-impact land use. The project will have a very low traffic impact, low utility demand. The impacts for alternative by-right uses within the PUD would generate significantly more traffic, impacts, and wastewater. Environmental preservation. In ecological stewardship, the project proposes preservation of rare and unique scrub habitat, exceeds the minimum code requirements. These native vegetation areas contribute to wildlife habitat preservation, natural stormwater filtration, reduced irrigation demand, improved ecological corridors, and serve as a preserve area interface connecting the habitat communities. Additionally, as I mentioned before, earlier in the presentation, the project ensures full compliance with the preserve area management plan, including invasive species removal, native replanting. So once those invasives are removed from those preserve areas, then revegetation and replanting of the appropriate species occurs. Number five, architectural and aesthetic integration. The architectural elements proposed harmonize with the Bridge Road Corridor, Island Crossings PUD, and the CRA. So part of the PUD requires us to match and be consistent with those colors and features of the PUD that is reflected within these architectural elements before you today, as well as the CRA. Material scale and facade treatments were designed to maintain visual consistency and reduce massing impacts. Enhanced landscape buffers were achieved by using existing native habitat pedestrian oriented design elements, such as the plaza at the corner of Bridge Road incorporate shaded seating area with public art, thereby enhancing the aesthetic and pedestrian experience on Bridge Road. Transportation and connectivity improvement, the project supports multimodal mobility and traffic safety through construction of new dedicated turn lanes from Bridge Road into the adjacent shopping center, which thereby improves traffic flow. Installation of new sidewalks and crosswalks, so there's a gap that we are making that connection from Bridge Road to the plaza anchor. And then public green space and community enhancements provided throughout this project by accommodating passive recreation, economic development and local job creation, creation of construction jobs, procurement of local services during development, ongoing employment, employment opportunity during operations, increased property tax revenue that can be reinvested in community infrastructure and services. And then finally, and then finally, number 10, monetary contribution to preserving history and long-term stewardship. The applicants committed to taking active role by contributing to the Hobe Sound Historic Society by pledging $25,000 as the railroad magnate, which will be used to fund the relocation restoration of the old Hobe Sound Railroad Station. Recommendations. So, on March 5th, Martin County LPA unanimously recommended approval of the project as presented. Prior, the prior day on March 4th, we presented to Bridgetown HOA. We went through the same presentation, listened to their concerns, and they also are on board and support our project. Martin County staff has also recommended approval of this application. We respectfully request approval of this application, which has been determined in compliance with Martin County Land Development Regulations and the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan. Appreciate your time. Happy to answer any questions you may have at this.

Questions for Mr. McCarty? I don't see any. We have one. This is a public hearing. I have one request to speak for them, and that's from Jessica Ambrose. You'll have three minutes to address this.

I'm Jessica Ambrose. I live at 11676 Southeast Florida Avenue, Bridgetown, which you already heard about. And I just wanted to speak on behalf of a lot of the residents in there because we fully support what they're trying to do here. I've seen the drawings. I've seen everything. We think it's really good looking. It is low-impact use, and we just support it full steam ahead, and I hope you all will, too.

Thank you. Would anyone else like to address us? Commissioner Campy?

Thank you very much. Very thorough presentation from both of you. I did have an opportunity to watch your presentation when you did it for the LPA. He's right. They did look like they warmly embraced it, all of them. You know, the thing about this is when you hear about storage facilities, I think all five of us will agree that there's always people bemoaning the fact that there's too many storage facilities and car washes and assisted living facilities. That seems to be the trifecta. When I had an opportunity to meet with the applicant and the owner, who I thought it was interesting that he, you know, and Mr. McCarty mentioned it, he and his family lived, you know, within walking distance of the project. So not only would it personally affect his family, it would personally affect his neighbors. So it really makes you think, like, is this appropriate? Two things in regards to storage facilities. One is the fact that this is America. It's a free market. If this group has decided and done their due diligence and their research that says we believe we are unique to this marketplace in a market that seems to be saturated, that's on them. The other thing, my original concern was what will this look like? Because there's always, you know, I think if you ask people, you know, what is your, like, in your mind's eye, what does a storage facility look like, most people are going to think a big, generic, rectangular box. Or the old school version, which was basically just rows of garage doors where you could pull right up, and that's the old school version. We know those. So when I met, they showed me some very preliminary designs, but it's remarkable with the computer-aided advantages now. You almost felt like when you showed those pictures that we were looking at the actual building. I think you did a nice job in terms of anchoring it into the community, into its site with the landscaping. But even if you stripped away the landscaping, I think it's an attractive building. You know, Mr. McCarty was mentioning a lot of those architectural terms. But, you know, the relief on the building, when you have a large box, what do you do to make it look like something? I believe most people would drive by this and not realize it's a storage facility, which really checks a big box for me. Because you're so close to the street. You're so close to Bridge Road. But if it looked like a traditional storage facility, I think that would be very disappointing. The idea of something being built there, like I had mentioned this morning in the property on Martin Highway in Palm City, people have property rights. They're allowed to build something. But the community should also have a say on what is it and what does it look like. So my initial reaction would be like, do we need more storage facilities? But like I mentioned, that's on you. But based on the fact that it will be that, what does it look like? The nice part of storage facilities is that it's very low impact. They do not have a lot of back and forth. We built one in Palm City. It was tucked off the road. This is not tucked off the road, but you make up for that by making it very attractive. The one that's tucked off the road, for the longest time, people kept asking me, how come it never opened? We just assumed that they built it and it never opened because there's no one ever there. And I'm watching now. I don't see cars. I don't see vans. I don't see trucks. I have no idea when these people are coming and going. But I have never seen them. So from a neighbor's point of view, that's pretty good. It's quiet. It doesn't. It's not like you said. And we've all, well, most of us have been up here to hear about restaurant exhaust. You think, eh, it's not a thing. That's a thing. That's a big thing. So from that perspective, the only thing I would tell you is I'm very interested to hear from my colleague who is the District 3 Commissioner. So I'll wait and hear what he has to say, and then I'll jump back in if need be.

Mr. Capps.

The proposed Sixth Amendment to the original PUD adds residential storage facility as a permitted use and proposes to build almost 100,000 square feet of construction. As we have heard from staff, the original PUD only allowed about 34,000 square feet of construction. This is a very large increase in size right at the gateway to our small town in Hope Sound. And this leads me to the conclusion that the original PUD, rather than what is proposed here, is best. And I move that we deny the application.

Ms. Creech.

One moment. We would ask to continue this application to the next county commission date. We believe that there are some miscommunications and confusion that need to be further fleshed out prior to a final decision. And if continuance is not available, we would like to withdraw.

Well, can...

Legally, it can be continued. We, if you want to pick a date certain, then you don't have to re-notice it. But the next meeting on the 24th, the agenda's been done, so it'll probably be after that. Understood.

If we could please continue to a date certain, I believe that there are some miscommunications that do need to be addressed so that the board can make the best decision possible.

I make a motion to approve her request. Second.

That's reasonable. Shall we select a date certain?

So, I'm looking. So, the options for April are April 7th or April 21st. One moment, please.

Thank you. April 7th will be acceptable, and we appreciate your all's time and patience with us. But I do believe that there is a miscommunication that we need to get addressed.

Thank you. So, motion maker, continue this public hearing until April 7th? Yes.

Seconder agrees. Can I just make one more point, just to put it on the record, since we don't obviously get to speak to each other? When I originally heard about the square footage, I was, it's a number. I mean, 99,000 square feet, that's a large number. But I think what I heard at the LPA meeting that I didn't hear today, necessarily, which is just a slight nuance, is if you're thinking about 99,000 square feet, you're thinking one story, and it's really massive. The footprint here is a two-story, which it's not a three-story, which they're trying to do. I guess it passed in Palm City, a different one, and one that's in the future, which you start thinking three stories, you can make the footprint smaller, but now you're making it taller and more demonstrative. Two stories is really 44,000, 45,000, or 47,000 square feet per floor, double. I'm not putting, I'm not trying to convince Commissioner Capps. I hear him, and it's very important what the district commissioner thinks. I think how you're pivoting today is probably smart, because the district commissioner would normally carry a lot of weight, certainly with most of us. So with that in mind, I just wanted to say that I was able to absorb the 99,000 a little easier, understanding that it's two stories, 47,000 square feet per story. Thank you.

Any further comments? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. We will see you on April 7th, and we will now break for 10 minutes.

Thank you, Commissioners.

Taking up Department 1. No, we won't. There are no items in Department 1. Let's take up Department 2, which is contracts that meet the threshold for board approval of a million dollars or more.

Good morning, Commissioners. Christy Brotherton, Chief Procurement Officer. We have one item for your consideration today, which is our Survey and Mapping Services Continuing Services contract. And this contract has a maximum not-to-exceed value of $2 million with a maximum not-to-exceed term of five years. And staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the seven highest-scoring firms, which are listed in alphabetical order, Bowman Consultant Group, Culpepper Interpenning, DRMP, GCY, North Star Geomatics, Serve Tech Solutions, and WGI, and move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. And that concludes this item. Any questions?

I'll move staff's recommendation of approval.

I will second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Next, we will take up Department 3, which is the 2026 priorities of the Board of County Commissioners. We will take them by district. Let's start with District 1.

So, priorities for District 1, several. The county is strategically advancing redevelopment for the Riku Terrace property, working with qualified consultants to evaluate the opportunities and innovative approaches for this special site. Our focus is to secure a highest and best youth that provides clear, public benefit, strengthens surrounding commercial activity, and delivers long-term value to Martin County residents. Next item, we advocate for state and federal funding that will ensure that local tax dollars are leveraged on state and federal priorities that align with Martin County Forever program. The third, we advocate for federal funding for construction of the St. Lucie Inlet Operation and Maintenance, continuing progress on the South Jetty Reconstruction, and Hutchison Island Shore Protection Project. This is ongoing. And we're seeking state support and federal funding for grants that will support completion of Martin County septic-to-sewer projects and stormwater retrofits. We also support increased state and federal funding for SERP, and expedited construction of projects that benefit the St. Lucie River and estuary, particularly encouraging the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite planning and design of the St. Lucie River muck removal project. So, ambitious projects, and we're working towards all of them with a lot of excitement and speed. Thank you to the staff also for their support.

Commissioner Hetherington. Yes.

Okay, so a project I've been working on for a while now, and it will maintain on my priorities, is the St. Lucie Boulevard pedestrian safety enhancement, which include this north section of St. Lucie Boulevard. We completed and have gotten a lot of feedback in front of Sailfish Sands and that corridor of St. Lucie Boulevard, so I want to continue that and also do the crosswalk realignment at St. Lucie Boulevard Park. We are working on it, but until it is broken ground and under construction, it will remain on my priorities. As well as Coral Gardens neighborhood, we have a septic-to-sewer project, which will be breaking ground soon, but we're still addressing a number of drainage improvements, certain culvert issues, and we are working on some kind of innovative, I think, solutions in our district on how to help the residents with their culverts and their drainage in that neighborhood. So I'm excited to be working on that, and that's a high priority for this year, as well as I always have on here reduce or maintain our tax rates, and I've added last year and this year, I just want to make sure that we are always being cognizant that our public recreation facilities are maintaining our user fees so they're affordable for our residents. So I've put that on there again. And then, fourthly, our rail corridor quiet zones. I know we've had this conversation in the past, and it's come before the board. We're working on rail safety, so I think there's a way to balance the safety of these rail corridors, but the train noise has, and I've heard from a number of constituents, it's becoming a burdensome issue, and it's affecting quality of life. So I want to safely and efficiently start working on these quiet zones, and that's all I have.

Commissioner Hetherington, tell me about the crosswalk realignment at Sandsport Park.

Yes, so we've been working for about a year. When you cross, the sidewalk is on one side of the street, and you have to cross right in the curve, and the curve is actually a very dangerous place to cross. So we're working with Parks and Recreation and Public Works on how to realign that so you're not crossing at the curve, which is a blind spot and a pretty dangerous place to cross.

Good move. Commissioner Capps.

Well, when thinking about priorities, the first thing that came to mind is to have one of them as a countywide priority, and I couldn't think of anything more important than improving water quality by purchasing conservation lands and converting from septic to sewer. And that applies to our entire county, and we're making great progress in these areas, so I'm very grateful for that. And then I remembered that District 3 is the largest geographic district, and it encompasses three different communities. There's Hobesound slash Jupiter Island, and then there's Indiantown, and then there is Northern Tequesta that many people tend to forget about, but nevertheless is in District 3. So I thought, how can we make sure that all of those communities get something here out of my priorities as the District 3 commissioner? So the next two are Hobesound priorities that I will mention. One is Dixie Highway Streetscape Project in Hobesound. We're looking to revamp Dixie Highway like we did Bridge Road, and then also the new Pavilion Fire Rescue Building and Bathroom Building at Hobesound Beach. Those would be Hobesound priorities. And if it's not too burdensome on the time schedule, I would love to have Susan Cores and John Donahue give us just a really quick update on those two. First of all, Dixie Highway Streetscape Project in Hobesound. I didn't know we were allowed to bring guests. Can we do that? I don't know.

You know, I'll leave it up to the chair. Yeah, right.

Of course.

Really brief.

Good morning, Madam Chair, Commissioners. Susan Cores, Community Development Director. Just a couple of words about this project. It's been in the works for a while. It's going to encompass about 13.4 acres and includes Dixie Highway, which is a north-south primary thoroughfare from Bridge Road to Saturn Street. It also includes Post Office Alley, which is a 25-foot-wide roadway. Both of these streets also northwest parallel to Dixie. Both of these streets serve residential and business uses. Project elements are improved drainage, stormwater appurtenances, parking, landscaping, lighting, increased pedestrian space, redefined pedestrian space. I don't know if you've walked on Dixie Highway at all. You can fit maybe two people. Maybe not. One person has one foot in the gutter while you're walking. And part of this project will also include a placemaking piece, which is the Hobesound Historic Train Station. There will be a plaza at the end towards Saturn where the new depot will be.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, for allowing her to say that. And then, Sean, if you could tell us just a few skeletal facts about the three new little buildings at Hobesound Beach.

Sean Donahue, General Services Director. So we're actively pursuing the construction plans with the consultants. We do have a site plan application into the town of Jupiter Island, and we're scheduled for an upcoming meeting. There will be a variance request on the beachside setback for that site. We're working with Proctor Construction. They're our CM at Risks, Construction Management at Risk company. They were selected in a competitive qualification-based selection. And then we're working with the DEP and the Florida Wildlife Commission on the coastal construction line setback.

Great. Great. And then my fourth priority is the 714-710 road alignment in Indiantown. I selected that one because it would help the people of Indiantown. And I was wondering if Jim Gordon could tell us just a few things about that.

I need a recess. I need to bring some people in.

Jim Gordon, Public Works Director. So the 714-710 project is a realignment project that will align 714 to come in north of where it currently does, and it will be at a four-way intersection that will be signalized. So it will improve safety for our residents that are in that area and also the residents in Okeechobee County where the actual intersection is going to be in the future. That project is fully funded in the DOT work plan. So they've completed the PD&E, the planning section, and now they're working on preliminary design, which will be followed by right-of-way acquisition and then final design. So it will occur in the first phase of the 710 widening project.

Great. And then lastly, Jim, if you could mention something about my fifth priority, which is the new bridge at County Line Road, and this would be for the benefit of people in northern Tequesta.

So the County Line Road bridge project is a project that we've got two appropriations, one a state appropriation, one a federal appropriation. So we've got $6 million to build that project. We are actively working with the utilities to move their utility lines so that we can build the project. So right now, Village of Tequesta just moved their water lines. They were aerial. They were on the old bridge. Now they're underneath the waterway, so they won't be in our way for construction. Next up is FPL. They'll move their lines and then the lower utilities, and then we'll have our project out to bid by the summer. Great. Construction.

Thank you. Yep.

Next are District 4 priorities. The first is stopover development in Martin County. Probably that's the wrong word, incompatible development. This is mostly directed toward Tallahassee to stop preempting our decision-making to protect Martin County. Second is acquisition of the natural lands component for completion of the Indian River Lagoon South. Third is Port Salerno CRA, and Port Salerno has the potential to be the best CRA in Florida if we can just create consensus about how to proceed with redevelopment in Port Salerno. Fourth is cease gunfire and illegal activity in Palmar. Hopefully, as of this morning, we'll make progress now that people have seen what's going on in Palmar. It should be an immediate concern for all of us. And lastly, identify spoil sites for the placement of 9 million cubic yards of muck dredged from the St. Lucie Estuary and the Indian River Lagoon as authorized in Indian River Lagoon South advanced dredging contracts. This and the natural lands are the last components of IRL South. They are arguably the most important parts of IRL South until and unless these projects are completed. The ambitions, the modeling that was done for IRL South won't be realized. So they're really important, and I think that we'll have federal and state support for those things. District 5.

Thank you very much. I remember several years ago when we came up with this idea. It was around Christmas, and we called it everyone's Christmas list, and then I like that it kept going. Excuse me. What I'd like to start with is some successes. You know, the lists have evolved, and the reason they evolve is because our staff has done a remarkable job of taking what our priorities are and actually accomplishing them. So they fall off. I had one on for quite a long time, which was to bring Internet and cable access to a big chunk of Palm City farms in western Palm City that, believe it or not, had no access to the Internet, and now we do. And I know that Mr. Stokas was involved from the beginning and constantly would have to take my poking every time I would see them about how come we don't have it, how come we don't have it, and now we do. And I know that the residents out there are very, very pleased. The other one, which is number two, and I like to use the word continue because it used to be we needed it, and then we started it, and now we're continuing it, and that would be Jim Gordon and his public works staff that we did a very comprehensive flow study, if you will, like a drainage and water flow study that we had to because everything is interconnected. It starts way out west. Excuse me. I'm choked up by how beautiful this is. It started way out west, and it works its way through Palm City Farms, which is a very serious issue. Some people want more water. Some people don't want water, and it can get very contentious out there. Then it crosses over into Canopy Creek, and then it goes under the turnpike into Martin Downs, where we've had to have a lot of collaboration. Then it comes through Palm City and comes all the way out into the river. So it is as complicated as it could be. We've done the study. We know what we need to do, and the projects are large and complicated and expensive. And so I don't know if that will come off the list anytime soon, but to the residents that are affected, we are working on it, and I think a lot of them that have seen progress in their area understand that, and the others that have not seen construction projects in their area are thinking that we haven't done anything, but we have. The next is construct and open a dog park, which might sound a little benign, compared to some of the other loftier issues that we are addressing. However, other than the City of Stewart, we are still looking for a county one. I know that Mr. Stokas and Mr. Abate and I have identified a location, which the great news is it's in an existing park, which means that we will avoid the construction of new parking, new infrastructure, new restrooms. The spot that has been identified is in Justin Wilson Park. It's gorgeous. It will not only function as a dog park. It's a beautiful location. And I know that Chuck Smith, who's a Palm City resident and the owner of Alpha Zeta Landscaping, has been barking for a park with his committee for a long, long time. They have annual golf fundraisers for a long time and raised a lot of money to participate once we get the bigger work done. And I'm hopeful that I'm demanding that we get it done in 2026. Next, my district funds, I will be utilizing some of my newly found district funds back for this project. I think it's not just obviously for Palm City. It will be large enough for any members of the Martin County to come and use. The next is something that we've been working behind the scenes on for quite a while, but I know that it did pop up recently more publicly at the joint meeting, which is to correct the Citrus Grove Elementary School Zone crosswalk issue. I didn't call it simply to install a school zone crosswalk because it's a lot more complicated than that. The residents of the newly built Canopy Creek have been looking for safety improvements there for quite a while. We did, our public works department several years ago reconfigured how the sidewalk from the back of their neighborhood met the street. There is a traffic signal at the entrance to Citrus. There is a crossing guard at the entrance of Citrus. The concept sometimes which I call sort of a false sense of security, and we've all seen it, just because you put the school zone blinking signs up and tell people it's going to be 20 miles an hour, there are plenty of drivers. And this is a main thoroughfare from residents that are coming down from Port St. Lucie to come to work and probably busy and rushing and distracted. I don't want our residents to think that the school zone crosswalk will be some magic solution for this. The only thing that I, and I'll share it up front, that potentially might work is what we have on Willoughby across from, what is that, Felix A. Williams? Pinewood. Pinewood Elementary School, which is an over-the-road crosswalk. However, Willoughby is a lane in both directions there. The road is not as wide. Citrus, or now Newfield Parkway, is wider and will potentially in the future be wider than it is. So it's not super simple to just address that issue. But if the road does become wider and busier, maybe the concept of an over-the-road crossing will be the only real safe solution. Of course, we'll have to address the same issue that they address on Willoughby, is that the kids refuse to use it. And my last, which again is the space, even though District 3 is crazy large too, the concept of an indoor athletic facility, we can call it a field house. There have been a lot of individual groups working on this. I think it's a Martin County miss. We don't have one yet. It would be very helpful. It will have a lot of other uses. It could be a storm hurricane shelter. It could be utilized for other issues that might be necessary. But the concept of an indoor athletic facility, and then to Mr. Donaldson's new strategy of a public-private partnership, I do have a group, a private group, that has reached out to me that would like to look into that concept. Because I think that would be the best way to do it. Having it somewhere in western Palm City would work, because then you could have a lot of utilization from south of us and north of us without drawing a lot of into the county traffic onto smaller roadways for what would hopefully be a lot of tournament and large association use. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll move on to Department 4, which is OAP. Commissioner Hetherington.

That's a real quick comment. One, I could definitely get behind the indoor athletic facility. And then only because it's the only time we have to talk about it, the spoil sites, I think those are absolutely crucial. I wonder if with the technology that Synergo Cedron has at Valkor, if there's been any contemplation that they could take muck and use that same technology to kind of separate it so that possibly we don't need as much storage space. I don't know if it's scientifically possible, if it's financially feasible, or if it's even something. But I wonder if we could just maybe have a conversation with them to see if there's either that or some other technology that might be able to utilize that same, you know, if they can do that with sewage, maybe they can do that with muck, and we don't need as many spoil sites, and we can get that moving. Just a thought.

You better patent that idea right now.

I will add it to our list and get back to you with one of that.

It's on the record that she said that. Yes. That's Commissioner Hetherington's idea.

And if I could just add one quick thing. I will also ask staff, we're going to take your priorities since we adopted the strategic plan within our budget, and we'll integrate these in as part of your strategic plan as part of the budget document.

I know there's a lot of overlap. It should be easy. Thank you. Let's move on.

I'd like to just say one final thing. I thought everyone's lists, all of my colleagues, Commissioner Vargas, Capps, Heard, and Hetherington, I didn't disagree with any of their things. I know that in years past, some of us would sort of bristle at each other's suggestions. I thought everyone's suggestions were very legitimate and I think could be universally supported.

I agree. Let's move on to Department 4, which is to approve facility use agreement for the upland single occupancy restroom between Martin County Board of County Commissioners and the Port Salerno Commercial Fishing Dock Authority. Mr. Stokas.

Good morning, Madam Chair. George Stokas, Assistant County Administrator for the record. The agenda before you today is seeking approval and discussion for the county to enter into a facility use agreement between the county and the Port Salerno Commercial Fishing Dock Authority. The purpose of this agreement is to allow the dock authority to utilize a designated one-room restroom in the upland facility building and the agreement sets forth the duties, responsibilities, and rights for termination. The duration of this agreement is for one year with a continuous one-year renewal. However, either party may cancel or terminate, excuse me, without cause upon a 90-day notice. The benefit to Martin County was a more sanitary environment, supporting of the commercial fishing and working waterfront as required by law and aesthetics to the community. I think it's important for the board to make known that this will constitute a removal of two portlets off of Park Drive, and that has been a consistent request from the neighborhood as well as the homeowners on Park Drive for a number of years, as I can remember. It has been discussed both at the Salerno NAC as well as the CRA meetings. The cost to Martin County is the janitorial cleaning. It will be cleaned by a park staff member, and we calculate that cost to be approximately $5,340 per year. The dock authority is here today to also answer any questions and comments you may have, as well as Legal and the Office of Community Development and myself. And I want to thank Legal and OCD for assisting me with this item, and I'm more than happy to answer any comments, questions, or concerns.

Questions for Mr. Stokas? Mr. Campy.

I think this is a great idea. The only thing that surprised me was, if you could scroll back to the one year with a one year, does that create, like, just every year you have to start negotiating this again, or it's just going to be an automatic kind of thing?

It would be an automatic one-year renewal every year. It would just automatically renews.

Okay. The only part that I did not like in that language was that it could be – can you scroll back to where it – I just saw it was there. Maybe it was the top issue or something. Removal of the portal. It could be – the contract could be canceled with 90 days notice by either party without cause. I can't imagine that the DOC authority would be looking to cancel without cause, but I'm surprised that the county could cancel without cause. I think, in my mind, the only way the county should cancel it would be with cause, because six months from now or two years from now, if someone says, we don't want to do that anymore, then we can just do that, and then we're having to hear from our residents and do this again. And I would humbly recommend that if the county was looking to cancel the contract, that would have to be with cause. If the folks that are using it were destroying it and, you know, just really making it very difficult for our janitorial staff to keep up with it, that I could see. But I would just make that something that you would then go to the DOC authority and say, look, this is what's happening. We – in Palm City at Charlie Layton Park, they redid the bathroom facilities – I mean, tore it down and rebuilt it. And it's beautiful. And knock on wood, for the most part, it's kept, you know, very well. But I'll tell you that folks that are working folks that drive vans or trucks or are out on the road in their regular jobs use it coming – it's not just park patron bathroom. It's people will pull up in, you know, vans. I won't mention businesses, but they pull up in vans and trucks, and I'm wondering, like, what are they doing? And they just go in, use the restroom, and come out. But to solve a problem in Port Salerno, when I saw this on the agenda, I was pleased because I've driven past and seen those port-a-potties, which is not a good look on a permanent basis. Most people expect to see a port-a-potty for 24 hours. So I think it's a great idea, but I just want to make sure that it's not something that we're creating an issue in the future. That would be my only comment.

Commissioner Vargas. I'm not a fan of port-a-potties. I guess most of you can guess that just by looking at me. Ah, the air conditioning is maybe, that type of thing. I do prefer something concrete. And I think this is beneficial for those that are with this particular authority here, fishing dock authority. Now, my big question was, well, how do they get in? There are keys that are given to those individuals and the mooring field folks to be able to use the facilities. Is this correct?

So the access to the facility is used through the badging system, which creates a date and a time stamp, and they'll be issued a number of badges. And that timing system and the card access also coordinates with the security camera system. That's outside of the bathroom.

Yeah, so the security cameras. Okay. I understand Commissioner Campi's concern about just canceling. I can't see the county doing it, but I always like things in writing. So if there were cause, what's the procedure? Person A went in and graffitied or did something that was defacing the property, destroying the property. So how do we handle that then? Because we're setting this up. We're putting money after it. We're paying for folks to clean this, $5,300, and we definitely want to make it more amenable as an amenity for this area.

I'll hand it off to legal.

So with the term in it, can you hear me on this? You have to just speak. State your name for the record, please. Thank you. Melissa Petrick, Senior Assistant County Attorney. I'm looking through here the actual language. Is your question really, if there was graffiti, and that's our basis, is that there's graffiti in the bathroom. They broke the toilet.

I don't know anything.

We then would do a situation where if repairs have to be made, we would do it, and I believe they would be invoiced, so they would have to pay for the repairs to it. But if it was a continuing thing, let's say there's constant graffiti or they're breaking the sink, then we have that ability, based on this termination clause, to say, hey, pursuant to Commissioner Campy's recommendation, you have 90 days, and we're going to shut your badge access off. That then allows them, if they have to go back and get the porta-potties, they can order the porta-potties back, have them secured in place. So it would be, like anything, discussions back and forth. And I'll look through this right now as we're discussing it. If there was an exact amount of time for them to fix it. That's my next question. And a lot of time is it, you know, if we have to repair something, maybe the parts are available today. Maybe it takes two weeks. So things like that, I don't have a definite answer on how long a repair would take.

Right, right. I understand. But if it's a continuing problem, I mean, what do we say? This has been going on for a month, but it's going on for three months. I mean, how long do we wait? What is written, you know, somewhere where it states, okay, the county now is going to terminate your contract.

Well, that's one of the reasons why you do for cause and without cause. Without cause, we don't have to have a parameter. But for cause, there's no limitation. If we find that the restroom is now tarnished, I mean, it's brand new. And if we find out it's not being maintained, we have that right, pursuant to this termination clause, to just terminate the contract.

Okay.

So it's not like a three strikes are out, if that's what you're asking?

Yeah, I don't know what your language is. Obviously, we're signing a document, so I wanted to be sure about that. Give me one second. Okay. That's fine. That's fair. Commissioner Campy.

I hear everything that I'm, in my mind, I wasn't thinking of vandalism necessarily, because all of our park bathrooms are open to the general public with no card access. I guess I'm unclear, is the mooring field facility with those restrooms that people that are utilizing the mooring field, they have access to this exact same, or is this a separate bathroom?

No, so the setup is, Commissioner, that there are four bathrooms in total. The mooring field users are going to use three of those bathrooms, and then this is a fourth one that was added on to the building for the specific use for the dock authority, and they will be the only ones using that bathroom. I also think it's important to note that the board, that the mooring facility itself is not a public facility. You have to be a user, or you have to have this type of agreement in place as a working waterfront in this scenario to utilize the bathroom. And this access card will not allow them access to the other three bathrooms. It's specifically just this one bathroom. And I think a lot of that from my park staff has to do with, you know, commercial fishing happens at all hours of the day, and then you have some of the refrigeration trucks and all that type of traffic that you kind of talked about happening. And we want to be able to isolate and know what the responsibility of the fishermen are in that specific bathroom. To have them do all four, we couldn't say, oh, you know, it was a user versus a fisherman. So we've isolated just this one.

That answers that first question. The second question in terms of the contract is, you know, these are grownups. These are professionals. These are human beings. These are members most likely of our community, or at least work in the community. Every other bathroom in the county in a parks and rec system is open to anyone to use, vandalize, destroy, misuse without vandalizing. You know, I think that this thing has crazy teeth. If they're going to have to use it like you're at a gas station where you're going to have to go and get a key from the attendant, I didn't even realize that was going to be. I just thought we unlock it like they do all the other parks. Someone comes and unlocks it in the morning. And, you know, the dock authority is decades and decades old. I just assumed we were going to unlock and let them use one of the bathrooms. I didn't realize it was going to be contractual with cards and this. I think we turned this into a thing before we even. And I get that we are trying to regulate for the worst of us instead of create a circumstance for the best of us. I have also heard, and I'm assuming Commissioner Hurd has as well, that some residents, when they were annoyed with the upland facility to start with, that it wasn't open public bathrooms for everyone. Now, I understand the mooring field with the showers and the rest of it. Those people paid and there's like a, I get that. But if you were going to open up one of the bathrooms, why not just make it a park bathroom, open it up. The folks from the dock authority can use it whenever they need to. You have a partner, at least, and I don't want to get into the gory details, but you can destroy, quote, unquote, destroy a bathroom without actually vandalizing it, if you know what I'm talking about. When we were talking about the Jensen Beach Causeway, when fishermen were there and they were fishing and they were cutting and gutting all the fish and just throwing it on the ground, creating a real horrible mess. That's not vandalism, but it caused a big problem. That's the type of problem that I'm talking about at any of our public bathrooms. So I don't understand why we don't just let the board authority employees use the bathroom. And then if it's a 24-hour, I mean, when Butch is here, we can ask them what they think the hours are. I'm sure they start much earlier than everybody else, but I just, it's turned into like, it's not a holiday inn. It's not a lobby bathroom. It's a bathroom. It's a public, it's built to be tough like the rest of them, right? So. What am I missing?

Just to answer a couple of questions, I think although we're focusing on the protection to the county, the ability to isolate users in the bathroom also protects the port authority or the dock authority because perhaps someone vandalizes the bathroom and then they get blamed for it. Well, we would know who was in the bathroom. The second thing is the bathrooms are, the facility was built for the users, and all of our public bathrooms are closed approximately around sunset. We'll say 8 p.m. I might be wrong on that. But we close those overnight once the janitorial contract goes in, they clean it, they lock it, and then opens back up at sunrise, we'll say about 7 a.m. And that's how the majority of the, that's how the majority of the bathrooms work in Martin County because we have been dealing with major vandalism issues in all of your districts, quite frankly. When we approach this, this, you know, again, the goal was to remove the portalets off of the street and also to support a working waterfront. And this is working with the dock authority. This is what we've come up with that works for both parties. Is it perfect? No, by no means. But we also did work with the sheriff's department who had some concerns about having a bathroom open 24-7 and the type of criminal activities that can also destroy a bathroom that we've seen at sometimes at our beaches when those, when those bathrooms were open 24-7. So I think staff has tried to do the best we could trying to balance all the parties. You know, I mean, we can always work to improve it and we can always come back and do changes. But I think this will help balance everyone and it's kind of the best of scenario of where we're at.

I appreciate everything you said and I'm not criticizing the staff at all. I understand you're trying to look at him, like catch a moving target. Mr. Olson is here. Can we ask from him? He's the, Mr. Olson, can you come up? I'd like to ask you just two quick questions.

Absolutely. Mr. Crumpler here, our consultant, he's going to speak as well. Okay. Yes, go ahead, Mr. Campy.

Yeah, the first is what would you think would be the perfect hours if it was an un-card regulated restroom? Is there certain hours that your group?

I think 24 hours a day. All right, so that answers that question. We have fishers that come in, I mean, middle of the night. We have fishers that go out for two days in a row, have to re-ice, which requires, you know, some of our offshore fishermen require 2,000 pounds to reload. It's, yeah, 24 hours a day.

Make perfect sense. Are you comfortable with the card access system, and would your middle-of-the-night fishermen have access to those cards? Yes. Are you comfortable managing that system on your side? We're okay with that.

Yeah, this has been a very long process, several months, eight months or something with working with staff. And I do want to compliment the professionalism with staff on this, throughout this process. It was a little strange at the beginning because we almost felt like it was a social thing, like, our fishermen are family people. Yeah. They're not destroying bathrooms. No, I wanted to make sure about that. We have families and children, you know.

I'd make a motion that we accept staff's recommendation with the concept of eliminating the 90, no, without cause on the county side.

I'll second it.

Thank you.

Ken?

Ms. Elder.

I just want to add that there is no provision in the contract right now to terminate for cause, so we would need authority to add that provision if the board desires. We can remove the without cause, which is standard, which is why that's in there. So we need to add a for cause section if the board wants. So we need that authority as well. If you want a termination for cause section.

I don't think at this particular point we'd need that. It's a card system. It's only their authorized users of the restroom. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm comfortable if you just took that out instead of delaying it longer. And I think that with the card system, 24-hour access, they'll be responsible for it. It's not a fly-by-night group that just showed up. They've been around for a long time. I'm comfortable with my motion. Commissioner Vargas.

Yes. I appreciate what Commissioner Campy is saying, and I wish everybody, you know, kept their word on things, but this is a contract, and I think that it would be foolish for us to say, well, let's just not put anything in there. It should be with cause. With cause, and then it's a formal agreement, and it's a formal notice. This is why we're stopping.

I agree with you. So then we're going to have county staff layer in the language that would make it for cause.

Yes, we would. And then, Commissioner Vargas, to your point earlier, in the contract it has language that if there is a violation, they have 30 days to fix it. Okay. So that, and again, if there's an issue, you know, there's something wrong, obviously it's going to be fixed quicker than that. But it allows the user 30 days to resolve any sort of violations.

So that language is in there. Okay. So if there, I know we said three strikes, you're out, but, I mean, how many causes would come up?

The way it's written, if you have one cause, that's your basis for termination. I understand.

Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Yeah. This whole contract with the DOC authority began in response to the net ban, which was a good thing. And it happened in about 2000, and it was an attempt to save our critical fisheries. So this was before I became a commissioner. Commissioners decided to give the DOC authority access to county-owned property that's unprecedented. No other special interest group in Martin County has such extraordinary access. It's probably about 400 linear feet of waterfront with deep water dockage. And this small group has had exclusive access to this property since 2000. When the first contract was signed, there were a limited number of members. I think it was somewhere around 30, and it sunsetted. If a person no longer could fulfill the criteria for being a commercial fisherman, or if the person died, you couldn't backfill that property. So it was going to be sunsetted so that eventually the property, the asset, would return to the public. And that contract has been altered over the years so that there's no provision for sunsetting now for ever returning this valuable piece of property to the public. So I have an issue with that because that's not the original intent of the agreement. It was always intended to return to Martin County's ownership or to Martin County taxpayers, residents. How many badges and what are the qualifications to get a badge? How many people can use each badge? How do we determine compliance with the badging? We don't know who's using these DOCs any longer. We used to, but we don't any longer. They're not required to be residents. So how are we going to determine compliance with the badging? How many people can use each badge? Is a badge assigned to a person with a name, with a location?

So, Madam Chair, under Section 3 of the agreement, which is page 2 of 9 or 15 under the Facility Use Agreement, it lays out who's authorized to use the facility. And then it does lay out under subsection number 4, badges of access up to 10 badges will be issued and are maintained under the custody and control of a designated member of user here in badge custodian whose title, name, email, and phone number will be provided to the county in writing upon issuance of the badge, updated via email annually. In the event of the name of the badge custodian changes, the user shall notify the county immediately and no less than one eight-hour business day of the change in name, email, and phone number. It also goes through with the lost badges, discusses the dates and times of access, as well as the closure and then the use of temporary toilets, and then recognition of condition and damages and repairs.

So, number 3 also says that the county hereby authorizes the users, members, contractors, vendors, lessee, and sub-lessees to obtain a badge. So, are there any requirements that any of those people be residents of Martin County?

No, it does not require them to be residents of Martin County, but it does allow them, they are not, so it does not authorize access by general public. Any restroom used by the person may not hear being authorized as basis for immediate termination of this agreement. So, if they're not using it, it's incorrect. But we issue 10 badges, and then those people are handed the badge, and then there's a log, or they keep track of who's going through and using it. It's similar because they have contractors, lessees, sub-lessees, seasonal fishermen type of things. So, people who are utilizing the dock are not necessarily Martin County residents, but they are. Currently, they're using the portalets, or they're using our county park, and then they're trolling down to the dock authority to unload fish. So, we were trying to capture all the users that are currently using the portalets so that we can remove the portalets off the road and then allow them to use the one single restroom.

So, what are the criteria for obtaining a badge?

The criteria is late, excuse me, the light criteria. Let me go back to the, I apologize, I turned the page there. 15 hours on. So, the user's authorized person, the user, the dock authority, will issue authorized persons shall access a single restroom using the county-issue electronic badge. The county will issue up to 10 badges, and they are maintained under the custody and control of a designated member or user here in the badge custodian. So, the dock authority will tell us who it is based on their title, name, email, and phone number that they'll provide to us in writing.

So, we don't have any criteria? It's whoever the dock authority authorizes to receive a badge receives a badge, and we just get approval of that because the dock authority has requested approval of it?

The, if I may, so, as written, the badges are issued to the user, and the user is the dock authority. So, they hold the badges. They're allowing, though, as written, the people who can use it also would be their contractors, vendors, lessees, and sub-lessees. Those individuals don't get the badge to keep and hold forever. Those badges are required to stay with the dock authority. If someone comes on their property who's one of their vendors, they are allowed to let them use that badge to go to the bathroom and then come back, and they have to return that badge back to the dock authority. So, the actual badges are in the control of the dock authority, and that's the name, and all the information is maintained. Those who are assigned the badges are dock authority people, members of the dock authority, which would be...

We don't have any control over who's receiving a badge to use at this county facility. Correct.

We have the ability to shut the... And that's one of the reasons why we contemplated the badges is we can shut it off immediately if there is an issue or there is a problem, as opposed to giving a key that can be duplicated or something along those lines. The badges could be shut off upon a phone call to IT.

Commissioner Campbell. There it is. I think we're getting too far away from what we're supposed to be discussing. I think of the badge as a gas station key. Any customer, anybody rolls up in front of a business, a gas station, goes in and says, I'd like to have a key to the restroom. The clerk gives the key. I don't care what their name is. I don't care what county. We have to be careful. This is starting to sound like I can see the headline. Martin County only wants residents to use their bathroom. If I'm coming through and I'm working, I'm a fisherman, I'm a contractor, I just assume we're giving 10 badges. It doesn't even need to be 10. It could be five. It's a single-person bathroom. It's not Buc-ee's. It's a single-person bathroom. You go into some office at the port authority, at the dock authority, you get the thing, you go, you scan the bathroom, you go into the bathroom, you go and you bring the card back. The nice part about a card versus a key is that no one can walk away with it and think, now I've got my own bathroom access all the time. Or it gets lost. With the card, if the dock authority, if the person skipped out, they didn't do it on purpose, they put it in their bag, they went to the restroom, they got in their car and they drove away, and the dock authority lost a card. They just contact the county and the county takes that number out and the card is now decoration. We don't need to know who's going in and out of the restroom. I didn't even think they were going to sign for the ten cards. Dock authority, whoever is their authorized persons, probably Mr. Olson, he signs for the ten cards. They use one at a time. If it gets lost, they got nine others, and that's it. Every park bathroom in the county from 6 o'clock in the morning or whatever, sunrise to sunset, anyone can use the bathroom from any state, and no one has any idea who they are. This is going to be the most secure public bathroom around. I think we're getting well ahead of ourselves. I would almost have to call the question. I hear my colleague, and I like her very much, especially lately, but I think you're getting too far into the details and the weeds on who's using the bathroom and why. Just let them have the cards, and the grown-up people or children have to use the bathroom, they use it, and they give the card back over. Way much more discussion than I thought we would have on this. Commissioner Vargas.

Okay, I'm not going to belabor this. We still have three other items to attend to. So, in other words, who's the keeper of the badges? I'm a little confused here.

The dock authority is the keeper of the ten badges.

There's somebody there? No.

Yes, there's people there.

But their hours are, I come in at 4 a.m. on Fisherwoman.

There is a dock authority member that's typically there whenever there's commercial fishing operations that occur.

Okay.

Whether it's, I apologize, I don't know them by names. I know them by sight. Fine. But they are there, and very similar to what Commissioner Campy just explained. If someone needs to use the bathroom, such as a fish refrigeration truck gentleman, he goes and asks the lady in the little office, and they give him the badge. Although it looks like someone's getting up and wants to talk behind me.

Someone's getting up and wants to talk. Sure. Sure. Please. Please straighten this out. Who's holding the badges?

Yes. So, we have a dock master, myself. We have multiple vendors. So, I assure you, folks, we're not going to destroy your bathroom. This has gotten a little strange. Like Commissioner Campy said a bit ago, every other bathroom in the county is just open to the public. We are not going to destroy your bathroom. We appreciate this. The county doesn't want the portalettes on our facility anymore. We don't want them. It's an eyesore for the neighbors, and we thought this would be a wonderful thing for the community at large.

Okay. So, this is scheduled. So, you know the boat is coming in at 4 a.m., and there's somebody there. I need a key to the restroom or the badge.

If no one's there, they don't have a key.

Okay.

Simple as that. And, again, we're not going to destroy your bathroom, we assure you. Our fishermen are family people. They are not just wild animals. This has gotten a little strange here. But, anyway, yes, we'll make – and we've taken responsibility in the lease as well for our usage. Absolute responsibility.

Any other questions? Sam Emerson here.

I'd like to –

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Opposed? That motion passes 4 to 1 with Commissioner Hurd dissenting. Now, we will move on to Department 5, which is adopt a resolution approving the acquisition of 94 parcels located in Point Siena Gardens for environmental purposes as recommended by the Environmental Lands Oversight Committee and approved by the board. Mr. Houston. Ms. Segura. Tie day. It's a lovely tie.

Thank you.

Iridescent, something fancy. I have to give a shout-out to my friend, Kim Nobby, who, now that she knows that I come in front of these board meetings – We can't hear you on the mic. Pardon. I have to give a shout-out to Kim Nobby, who got me these ties knowing that I'd be in front of the board of county commissioners. And so she bought me – Are those turtles? – three nice ties as a gift.

Lovely. Please proceed. Good morning. And Carlos Segura, real property manager – well, the next three items are all ELOC-approved items. This first one is for 94 parcels located in Point Siena. They're owned by two separate entities, and they're working together. There's going to be, like, two separate closings for it. But both owners were represented by the same agent. Originally, they had asked $34,000 a parcel for the properties. The staff ordered three separate appraisals in the back end of the Point Siena Gardens just to get a feel of how much the market value was going to be. And it came in between $27,000 and $50,000 with an average value of $38,250. Staff negotiated with the owners, and we came to an agreement on $32,000 a parcel. All the documents have been reviewed by real property and legal, and the work was completed, and their title work was completed, and there are no known encumbrances, along with a beneficial interest, and affidavit of no conflict were executed prior to the contract. We ask that the board approve the two separate vacant land contracts and adopt a resolution approving and accepting the purchase of 94 parcels in Point Siena Gardens at $32,000 per parcel and authorize the county administrator or designee to execute any closing documents necessary to conclude this transaction.

Questions for Ms. Segura? Discussion? Motions?

And we'd gladly move for staff's recommendation of approval, and congratulations and nice work. Second. Commissioner Capps?

I was just going to second. I'll remove my second because he put his light on, and that's the system.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Great job.

Great job. Those little parcels are hard, huh? Now we're moving on to Department 6, which is to adopt a resolution approving the acquisition of two parcels of environmentally sensitive land located in Point Siena Gardens, as recommended by the Environmental Lands Oversight Committee and approved by the board. Ms. Segura?

This is pretty much the same acquisition type. They had the same representative for these two parcels. We're selling. They offered them $32,000 a parcel, and we would like the board to approve a resolution accepting the purchase of the properties from Leonora Sardina and authorize the chair to execute the contract and resolution and authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all the closing documents.

Commissioner Campy? Thank you. This is one of those areas that I was speaking of this morning where I know that the residents that do live along that back area of Point Siena Gardens, people have gone in there and tore them up with motorized vehicles, so I'm very happy that you've started to work in there. I know there's more to be done in there. There's a lot of parcels back there?

Michael Euston, Singer, project manager. Yeah, there's something like 500 parcels.

They're platted. They're platted. So with that in mind, I think this is a step in the right direction. I make a motion to accept staff's recommendation. Second.

Any further discussion? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. And Department 7 is a resolution approving acquisition of a 315-acre parcel located between Pratt-Whitney Road and Southwest Trailside Path for environmental purposes as recommended by the Environmental Lands Oversight Committee and approved by the board. Ms. Segura.

This item was ranked number two in the ELOC priority list. The owners originally listed their property for $5.5 million, so the staff ordered two appraisals, which was required by statute, and the average of those appraisals was $3,075,000. Staff worked with the owner and finally came to a resting place of $3,400,000. Pursuant to Florida statutes, when the agreed purchase price exceeds the average of the two appraisals, the governing body is required to approve the purchase by an extraordinary vote, which is one more than normal. Real property reviewed the title work and confirmed ownership. There are no encumbrances on the property. The beneficial interests and affidavit of no conflict have been executed. Staff request that the board approve the vacant land contract with Elise J. LLC in the amount of $3.4 million and adopt a resolution approving and accepting the purchase of the property and authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all closing documents necessary to complete this acquisition. If there's any questions. Commissioner Capps.

I would note that this is number two on our priority list, and so I move approval.

Second. There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you.

That's even better than a supermajority. It is.

I do have some good news, though. We finally closed on the first parcel that we had approved in February. We closed on it last week.

Fantastic. Congratulations. We actually own one now. Thank you for your help.

With Martin.

Thanks. Thank you. We've now reached the end of our meeting. Would anyone from the public like to address us? Seeing none, Commissioner comments. Commissioner Hetherington.

I'm all set for today. Thank you.

Commissioner Campy.

I heard a rumor that John, I wanted to mention it to him earlier, that John's Senate from our Growth Management Department is getting married. I would like to wish him and his future bride all the best.

Very nice. Commissioner Capps.

I'm good. Thank you.

And Commissioner Vargas. Yeah, I second for John Senate's future. I think that's wonderful. I'm going to ask him where he's going on his honeymoon. Maybe I can give him some tips. Thank you. No, I'm fine.

Mr. Donaldson. I'm all set. Thanks. And Ms. Elder. All set. Thank you. We are adjourned.

All right. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.