you're on good morning and welcome to our may 5th 2026 board of county commission meetings we are delighted that you've joined us this morning please join us for a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance which is going to be led by mike saunders who is a former marine and also parks administrator once a marine always a marine first we'll have a moment of silence and mr saunders i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all and mr saunders please tell us a bit about your marine service yeah so i served in the marine corps from 2008 to 2012 as a combat engineer and i was stationed in camp pendleton california excellent thank you very much do not have any presets today is there a motion to approve the agenda i'll move approval of the agenda is there a second second there's a motion and a second any objections that motion passes unanimously we'll now take up proclamations the first proclamation is a proclamation declaring florida emancipation day good morning commissioners on january 10th 1861 florida adopted an ordinance of secession and was the third state to withdraw from the united states to preserve slavery and object to the 1860 election of president abraham lincoln martin county black heritage initiatives inc honors the emancipation proclamation as the foundation for civil rights that abolish slavery and all forms of servitude in the united states the florida legislature established may 20th as a day for statewide celebration specific to florida's history marking the day in 1865 when union general edward mccook read the emancipation proclamation aloud in tallahassee officially ending slavery in florida and here to accept we have lloyd jones who is president of the martin county black heritage initiatives inc along with michael circus good morning commissioners and staff and good morning martin county good morning good morning good morning for the record my name is lloyd jones uh president of the martin county black heritage initiatives incorporation uh to to the commissioners and to commissioner heard we are deeply grateful to the florida legislature for officially recognizing emancipation day in florida in 1997 may 20th emancipation day has been celebrated in florida since 1865 making a significant moment in our state's history and in the ongoing journey towards freedom and equality commissioner heard our board members we sincerely appreciate the martin county board of commissioners and staff for honoring our request to acknowledge this important occasion by presenting us with your official acknowledgement of the emancipation proclamation you will help support the efforts of the martin county black heritage initiatives to bring together the martin county board of commissioners the city of stewart commissioners and the village of indiantown council for a public reenactment for the reading of the emancipation proclamation this special evening will take place on saturday may 16th 2026 at gazebo park and martin arts gallery president abraham lincoln general mccook reenactors will be present for greetings and photographs this program would also include provide educational information about the profound impact emancipation proclamation and subsequent constitutional amendments have had on our laws culture and society this reenactment were proudly proudly is proudly supported by the martin arts council the daughters of union veterans of the civil war tent 12 and the sons of union veterans of the civil war camp 3 because of this historic preservation month we hope to encourage our community to visit the historic knot house museum in tallahassee to learn more about the important role the knot house played on may 20th 1865 when emancipation was announced in florida we encourage you to visit the martin art galleries and the road to victory museum please i ask you to accept our invitation to join the city of stewart and the village of indiantown as we come together to acknowledge our collective freedoms and honor those who sacrifice and serve to help secure them thank you this is historic preservation month in martin county and mr jones was our preservationist of the year two years ago the next proclamation is a proclamation declaring stamp out hunger day in martin county florida every year on the second saturday in may letter carriers across the country collect non-perishable food as part of the nation's largest one-day food drive distributing the donations to local food banks and it's important to note that all food collected in our community stays in our community providing a critical supply for house of hope care for house of hope carriers efforts to help those in need um in recognition of stamp out hunger day on may 9th the board recognizes all letter carriers and local pantry services for their hard work and commitment to their communities and here to accept we have house of hope chief executive officer rob ranieri award winning just won a big award and cash for his organization congratulations thank you commissioner good morning commissioners uh on behalf of the letter carriers and house of hope want to just say thank you for the proclamation today uh saturday is the big day for us letter carriers food drive uh you heard some of the stats uh from for us here in martin county uh this drive really helps to carry uh house of hope and our clients through the summer months uh we spike in the summer time we see more people uh because of the seasonality in parts of our economy um schools closed so no free and reduced lunches and breakfast for kids so our numbers go up uh june july and august so uh the drive is an important piece for us to be stocked up and ready to handle the increase in need in our community uh and that need continues to grow so this drive every year has a great impact on our capacity to serve the community always responds uh in significant fashion to help support uh our neighbors in need and we're certainly grateful for that so i want to say thank you in advance uh you should get a yellow bag in your mail this week if you for any chance don't you can put the food in any bag put it out by your by your box uh the mail carriers will pick it up bring it back to their stations and then from there we collect it all and bring it over to house of hope so again has a huge impact i want to thank the county for acknowledging it uh and thank our community for all their support all year long and especially now at the at the uh letter carriers drive time thank you our next proclamation is a proclamation declaring hurricane preparedness week in martin county florida the 2026 hurricane season begins on june 1st and as a coastal county martin county is extremely vulnerable to storm surge tornadoes flooding and high winds whether hurricane forecasters have predicted an average above average or below average season it takes only one storm to have a bad year in recognition of hurricane preparedness week may 3rd through the 9th the board urges the cooperation of municipalities businesses homeowners and condominium associations hotel associations and all media to help inform residents and visitors of appropriate aware awareness preparedness and safety measures related to hurricane season and here to accept we have emergency management agency director sally wait morning commissioners as we recognize hurricane preparedness week may 3rd through the 9th it is important time for both the border county commissioners and the residents of martin county to focus on readiness ahead of the next storm the 2024 hurricane season underscored that early preparation is one of the most effective ways to protect lives and property martin county's emergency management team continues to strengthen response plans build relationships and ensure resources are in place to support the community before during and after a storm at the same time preparedness is a shared responsibility every household and business is encouraged to take simple but critical steps review evacuation routes assemble emergency kits and stay informed through official alerts we also ask for the continued support of our county leadership and reinforcing these efforts by promoting preparedness initiatives and ensuring residents have access to the tools and information that they need investments in resilient infrastructure public outreach and emergency response capabilities remain essential to safeguarding our community by working together we can foster a culture of preparedness resilience and rapid recovery positioning martin county as a leader in hurricane readiness taking action today will help reduce risk risk and ensure we have we are stronger and better and prepared to whatever lies ahead thank you and our last proclamation is a proclamation declaring historic preservation month in martin county florida historic preservation is an effective tool for revitalizing neighborhoods fostering local pride and maintaining community character historic preservation plays an important role in our lives helping to preserve the tangible aspects of the heritage that has shaped us as a people the martin county historic preservation board has planned events throughout the month of may to increase awareness and public participation in historic preservation in order to save our local treasures in recognition of historic preservation month the board calls upon the people of martin county to join their fellow citizens across the united states in recognizing and participating in this special observance and here is historic preservation board president rob steel to accept good morning commissioners uh so good to see you all today it's it's it's nice that i follow uh hurricane preparedness because for the first time in a very long time i can safely say that the house of refuge our most most treasured asset in martin county is prepared for the next hurricane uh it'll it'll withstand quite a bit in its new condition with the solid cement foundations that have been placed and nobody here is more thrilled than i am but there are a lot of great fans and followers of the house that enjoy that as well the historic preservation board started about 20 years ago with promoting events for historic preservation month with about six events this year everyone should have one of these schedules with about 24 events and we've added five or six events to that schedule so there's something to do virtually every day in the county to celebrate our unique heritage that is part of the patchwork quilt that creates the character of our community so thanks for everyone's time and attention to to keep things uh as they should be and preserve our historic heritage the preservationists of the year will be recognized on the the 14th of may bruce and barbara osburn who appear as captain sewell and his wife and in the sewell house and they have done so for many years we'll be honoring them at that event and we hope you can join us then thank you so much for your continued support of historic preservation in martin county we are going to take uh agenda items out of order this morning we're going to take up okay we'll take public comment first uh the first request to speak forum i have is from john tellum i was gonna we have uh it's election season so please please read that so uh as you come up to make your comments today says we are now in election season politicking is prohibited which is defined as advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for public office either partisan or non-partisan this includes the words date signs props and are wearing apparel that convey a message of support for a person or group of persons thank you fair enough good morning morning i don't know where to start we were given some dock permits about five years ago in the middle of replacing my dock after we received three separate permits it was taken away while i was putting pilings in the water a county truck pulled up and told me that if i didn't cease immediately that was going to be fined and they were going to put a lien on my property it's been five years to this date i have not received any answers of why that was done and i'm going to leave it at that thank you john dial is next oh i'm sorry john dial is next followed by charles bartholomew i think he's on the same subject would you like to swap us around i'm on boating safety it doesn't matter it doesn't matter good morning commissioners my name is john dial i'm with at the helm training we're a boating safety company and i see you have on the agenda here to approve a national safe boating week and we surely hope you will do that because martin county is doing really well in the numbers of accidents we have 17 419 boats totally that are recreational 18 168 that are total vessels and reputable accidents we only had four and we had zero fatalities so we are number nine in the uh in the uh state of florida as if you want to compare it with miami-dade which is number 28 and uh monroe which is number 62 and monroe has almost same numbers within 5 000 boats that we do between myself our company which is a privately held company being at the helm training and the chapman school of seamanship which is a 501c3 non-profit we train over 3 000 people a year chapman's has a program for children in summer that they do over 360 kids a summer so i think we're seeing a real progress and i don't know if you know or not but florida is the only state and the first state to offer the enhanced boating safety card which means you take the online course which we've got and we've gotten that with chapman as well we all have our own white label each one of our school courses and then you have the on water part which geico insurance is giving a discount now somebody takes that so florida's leading the way california's following but as usual florida's leading the way and martin county's leading the way which we were not near these lower numbers three four years ago so uh commend you for making us a national safe boating week and i hope that we can continue to make the numbers drop thank you charles bartholomew is next followed by lisa copeland good morning i'm charlie i've been in the marine business since 1968 um back in the outrigger days um i'm speaking speaking on behalf of the previous speaker mr john tellum um the the dep has uh constantly in its history provided a privilege of any permit holder of the dock to rebuild the storm damaged dock uh mr tellum um is not been told why certain things have been going on within the process of what he is attempting to do to rebuild his dock damaged by numerous storms as friends john burkhard and steward hatteritz and steve moynahan and hmy went about the process to get things moving and get their docks replaced not altered just replaced according to the window the dep has on file they enjoy the privilege of a general license as mr tellum enjoys the privilege of a general license which he uh which he basically got when he closed on the properties that were originally in given the general license otherwise known as a sailfish lodge in 1951 pre-comp plan but this is the highest license that the dep offers the applicant that is the license mr tellum has he was given three martin county permits to go ahead and rebuild the dock he closed on the dock in march of 2021 he began the process he got the crane he removed the improper pilings the the the poor wood as a first step to replacing the dock at that point in time he was notified by somebody from um the building department that if he didn't cease and desist all construction on that dock that he would be fined and the lien would be put on his house well just for the history of it there's been other misstatements coming from senior staff members such as well there's never been a permit issued on that property i have pictures and documentation from dep i have their full comments for the last four years and they have green lighted every exemption entitled to a general license for this applicant to rebuild his dock as specified in the survey and the window the deep dep has on file that's what the applicant seeks that's it he's not looking down the road he's not looking down the cra road i appreciate what the county is doing in the north end sir your time is up yeah well i i think if if you let mr mr tell him rebuild his dock it'll be a less sir your time is up thank you sir your time is up thank you thank you mr donaldson miss elder would you please look into the matter of john we we have um it's a zoning and legal issue and we'll continue to follow up with their representation okay thank you lisa copeland is next followed by angela harrison good morning so i'm just following i'm lisa copeland and i um am following up with john and charlie charlie was speaking on my behalf i am the owner of the property with john um for the dock issue so um originally the property was very appealing to me because i like the history the home um has one of the only original cabins from the selfish lodge back in the day okay the uh dock is a separate parcel but it is connected and we wanted to keep that history not tear down the property just you know it's very important to me i was issued uh a permit no problem with the building department to repair the dock we started pulling there was a storm that came through there was some pilings and it was starting to fall in the water so as soon as we removed all of the old things i mean it's quite pricey you know but i got the material the pilings to put the new ones in um they let me renew it three times um i didn't have all of the material yet so it was on the recommendation by someone in the building department for me to wait and renew the permit once i had the material okay so i did that as soon as i went in um to the building department they actually renewed it took my money uh within minutes of me before i could even get out the door um rachel came out and said oh hold on uh we have to take that back actually voided my receipt and um said i'm so sorry but you're not only going to not be able to rebuild your dock but you'll never be able to rebuild your dock so my question that i cannot get answered is why was i issued the permit let me renew it three times and then when i finally have the material to get it rebuilt that it was voided and taken away okay so i just i've never been given that answer so if it was never to be issued in the first place why was it issued to me three times and now i have a pile of pilings and a half broken you know piece of a dock that um you know i need to know your time is to feel to fix let's make it beautiful thank you angela harrison is next followed followed by derek owl you have to speak into the mic we nobody can hear you then sorry this is in reference to good morning everyone thank you for this opportunity to speak some reference to the um situation that we're having in martin county for the homeless uh martin county has some of the highest homeless unsheltered rates in the country we do not have any shelters for men and the couple that we do have our specific population are for battered women and single moms those places um are notorious for not having availability as a person that volunteers at tent city helpers and trying to provide a bare minimum of shelter in a basic tent we have had many unhoused folks come to us saying they have been giving a warning or actually trespassed and the officer told him they they cannot take any of their belongings or their tent we need to provide basic shelter for the most vulnerable vulnerable vulnerable vulnerable thank you in our country county it is inhumane and callous to ignore the residents of our county they have fallen into hard times we serve families seniors and women that have found themselves left in the cold with no real help people lucky enough to be living in their cars do not even have a safe place to park we have had a family park in a church parking lot disturbed by police at 2 a.m woken and flashlights in their faces told to move it seems the bare minimum would be to have a safe secure place for people living in their cars to park overnight we know many people in martin county are one accident one sickness one mental health event one paycheck not earned away from being unhoused as a caring and compassionate community we beg you be the same and consider options in solving martin county's homeless crisis i volunteer on mondays every mondays and we serve 60 to 70 people and as much as rewarding it is it's heartbreaking to see these people i've been homeless as a child when you don't have family it's very very hard we're just looking to possibly make maybe the fairgrounds turn it into a campground for them we just want to help you know we're doing what we can and i enjoy what i do but i know that we can do more for martin county i moved here from miami and i in 2008 just to give my daughters a better house a better home a better upbringing because i didn't have a good upbringing and it would just i just love this county and i know that we can do so much more for these people i really really appreciate having the opportunity to speak this morning thank you thank you and apologize for my derrick powell is next following mr powell is victoria blake good morning morning commissioners finally getting comfortable coming up here my name is derrick powell i'm on cove road uh first and foremost thank you you know for your efforts along with mr jim gordon his efforts really helped out with that sidewalk to get it away from my driveway um i do appreciate that my name is derrick powell i'm here again because the system that's supposed to protect residents like me isn't working the way it should what we're seeing right now is a pattern and it's a broken one projects are being approved without thoughtful consideration of real life impact on the neighbors who already live here then once the construction starts and the problems become obvious we're told now we'll look at it that's backwards we shouldn't be scrambling to fix problems after approval those issues safety drainage access quality of life should be addressed thoroughly before anything's ever approved that's what due diligence is supposed to be right now it feels like the step is being skipped at best it's being rushed and the proof is what's happening on cove road monday through friday we have over 200 students traveling the roads kids walking past construction zones with exposed rebar uneven ground makeshift sidewalks made of rock and debris that's not a safe path that's a liability and that's at i won't even say the name of it and it's and it's not just inconvenient it's dangerous once these developments are approved the balance of power shifts it's no longer in your hands developers have the upper hand and the residents are left trying to fight for basic fixes after the fact at that point accountability becomes unclear and should and solutions become slow if they happen at all and that's not how this should work the process should protect the people first not leaving them with reacting to the decisions that were already locked in and i keep hearing now that i have the attention of the board but respectively that's not something i should have to earn after the fact i brought these concerns up before prior to the approval of this development so the real question is why does it take a problem become real visible and dangerous before it gets your attention when it was clearly laid out in front of you because if attention only comes after approval then approval isn't the end of the responsibility it's where it should begin that's all i have thank you thank you victoria blake is next followed by judith we guard weekend oh i'm sorry good morning i'm also with um tent city helpers um just want to give you a little background though i mean these people that we see every monday we go to six different locations and a lot of them you can tell used to be executives they used to be prominent they're veterans i used to make over 200 000 a year and i almost was homeless two years ago so this is like a real problem in martin county and the bill that um governor desantis passed a few years ago said is unauthorized for people to camp in public areas however the second part of the bill states that it requires counties to establish specific standards and procedures relating to such property and authorizes to inspect property so there's nothing available for these homeless people there's nowhere to go the police and dogs are hunting them down in the woods and under bridges and it's inhumane it's horrible horrible martin county fairgrounds sits there empty i know somebody owns it i know he doesn't want to use it but it's just sitting there a gated area where all the homeless people could go and be safe and people could come and contribute to them tents and food like we do every monday and the high and you know house of hope all that we do to help these we need an area for them to live in thank you for listening and i pray that you will take action to help these wonderful human beings we're all equal in god's eyes amen thank you miss we got gand and mr cook would you like to speak on uh dpqj1 or now i'd like to wait okay okay excellent justin ducas no we'll wait to go good morning hello commissioners it's nice to see you guys again all right so my name is justin ducas i am a martin county resident um and a uh martin county high school graduate uh so in the last episode we um established a house bill 1365 plus no shelter or designated camping area equals pretty much criminalizing homelessness and i believe that this is wrong on many levels but that's um like self-explanatory now um on me doing some more research on house bill 1365 i came across a speech that ron desantis had at um miami beach in march 20th 2024 in which he was talking about his intentions behind this bill and he pretty much basically said that he didn't want florida to become like san francisco where there's like tents on the sidewalk and there's skid row and all the type and all of of those types of things so he was basically trying to centralize all of us in one place so that it's not everywhere um so in this same speech he said that he had 30 million dollars from the state level to give to the local governments meaning the counties to establish a shelter or designated camping area um and since we have the funding available as per what he says um and being that this is 583 consecutive nights including tonight that i would have have to risk my freedom in order to sleep um and since the funding is there i was wondering um how much nights more will i have to commit a crime in order to um go to sleep and uh i don't know how we can take some action on this like i know that there were some suggestions and all of that but i just want to know like um like can we put it on the agenda for this time for next time for like for next time like can we talk about this in a formal setting or you know what i'm saying yeah thank you thank you mr tukas linda smith is next and miss smith is the last request to speak for him i have for uh public comment good morning linda smith jupiter florida representing sierra club members in martin st lucy okeechobee and palm beach counties please consider revising data centers into two categories small data centers can remain as light industrial but hyper or large data centers are truly heavy industrial due to heavy use of water power creation of low frequency noise light pollution and creation of additional heat data centers are coming data centers are here i want to thank the residents that supported the voter approved funding for martin county forever program and thank this board for securing the over 1700 acre conservation easement at the bar b ranch bringing the total protected area to over 15 115 000 acres i support today's cs cn st 9 approval of the first amendment to fund the agreement to remove the requirement that a portion of hanley creek parcel be used for commercial and allow this parcel to be used for conservation and recreation purposes out of order i also support uh d e p t 7 restoring the natural flood plain of the cypress creek is a wonderful step and i support d e p t 5 resolution accepting another acre to be preserved in perpetuity for conservation environmental and stormwater purposes and support d e p t 6 approval of the donation of 6.7 acres to be preserved in perpetuity for the conservation environmental and natural natural natural based passive recreation purposes all wonderful news and if miss lewis c yeiser is here i would like to thank you thank you would anyone else like to address us from the public if not commissioners if it's okay with you can we take up department five and six yes good morning carla segura real property manager um department item number five is for the adoption and approval of a resolution for the donation of three parcels in north river shores this request is for three parcels that total approximately one acre located in north river shores along southwest spruce drive the property is being generously donated to the county by mrs louise c yeiser and will be used for environmental conservation and stormwater purposes to aid in drainage for the community pursuant to the martin county donation policy real property and environmental resources division of public works have completed their evaluation and support the acceptance of this donation subject to the legal department having final review of all closing documents we ask that the board adopt a resolution approving and accepting the donation of these three parcels from mrs geiser and authorize the chair to execute all closing documents mrs geiser is here today to speak about this donation along with three additional projects that will be discussed in department number six by john mail if there's any questions regarding this item i'd be happy to answer questions for mrs segura questions for mrs geiser would you like to join us i think i think we were planning to go through six and then all of the pomp and circumstance that follows so should let's take up department six and then we'll approve the uh resolutions and i think whatever action needs to be taken on five and six if it's okay with y'all yes it's an idea okay let's take up mr mail so john mail environmental resource administrator first of all i want to ask your pardon on the awkwardness of this agenda item um and give you a little explanation for what we did with with department six um several people asked me in the last week what is a preliminary approval i don't know i made it up and the county attorney's office said yeah i could do it um basically uh miss weiser uh miss geiser uh deb parker and tyson waters have been running around the county negotiating contracts to save really special properties and they've been working day and night at it and our team internally has been trying to keep up and we got to a place as we were preparing department five where we realized we've got three more items coming up and and just to recycle and bring her back again and again we thought it'd be more efficient to just try to do a preliminary approval for everything that she has under contract and intends to donate and so that we could do this all at once so yeah um we're hoping that that's agreeable to you so if i could go over these properties with you briefly um before um we hear from miss geiser and um her team i think we have maps in here right and i'm going to bring an item back on the next meeting in consent so it'll with the resolution yes so you're going to hear about um um the in department five the north river shores uh property was three parcels that had a um approval for 10 units per acre um it was kind of right at the confluence of several roads in that neighborhood and it's an area where uh public works had identified a need for some additional stormwater level of service and uh pairing all that together and with mr eiser's philanthropy we were able to secure those properties to um to build in a small um detention pond and that'll probably look like some kind of wetland slash pond and create a public open space for the the neighbors to enjoy um that one is it was department five that's the one that's actually prepared and ready to to be accepted today there's three more that are coming the first one that you see here is adjacent to the east fork creek stormwater treatment area that we recently completed on us one um that properties turned out to be a very beautiful feature on the landscape it's high profile because you drive right by it on us one but there's really no way to access it or enjoy it it's a really pleasant walk to walk around it but there's no parking there's no pull off there's no really safe ingress or egress to the area the property just to the north we were able to secure that through miss yeiser kind of it was really like a story of a phoenix rising from the ashes it was it was a failed rezoning attempt that went under contract again with someone else who wanted to apply for higher density and uh they had they had really not done a lot of research on on that process in martin county and so they had a really short due diligence period so when we reached out to them it was already a week under contract and it was you know too bad sorry that one's not going to work but as the the individual who was purchasing it got into the mechanics of of rezoning here in martin county they went back to the to the uh seller and requested an extension to their due diligence by that time the seller knew we were interested and so they terminated that contract and miss yeiser was able to put it under an agreement our plan there is to um to to develop a a new park um so there'll be an opportunity for people to pull off in there uh to have like maybe a a small cheeky hut um a trail head and a trail system that uh enjoins the sta adjacent to it so we're getting some economy of scale by by um that acquisition um that's that's a really exciting one it's right on us one and and we'll really be able to celebrate uh miss yeiser's philanthropy there um last time we came to you uh miss yeiser's had was donating this parcel right here on the north side of the the entrance to hope sound scrub today um we're asking you to accept a donation of these parcels on the south side accepted i'm sorry and all of these parcels um that are additionally adjacent to the hope sound scrub preserve they've got some great habitat a bunch of of um scrub and um t e habitat and and it will just secure uh an addition to an already beautiful and super special piece of conservation land all told mrs yeiser uh contributed almost 10 million dollars in conservation land out of her own wow wow wow so we would ask the board for the opportunity to miss yeiser to come speak and uh additionally uh miss deb parker also would like to make a comment please what an incalculable benefit to martin county mrs yeiser thank you so much well thank you john you messed up my whole talk that's what i do best but thank you forget so you're going to hear some of this again and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today when i was here in april and asked and was asked to say a few words i had nothing prepared to read and therefore felt pretty flat-footed for this meeting chat gpt helped me to write a very elegant formal proper speech which i have set aside for the most part to say what i really want to say and this is what i really want to say this is so cool for me i am so excited about being able to donate this land what is so funny is that if i only had one dime for every time i heard someone say i don't know we've never done that before i would have amassed a small fortune by now i have heard this from you guys sitting up there i have heard this from john mail i've heard this from a realtor a banker or two and two or three attorneys and all of us would have been right we had not done this before there was no pathway established for this kind of gift no precedent no process no proof that it could even be done well so much for that because now it has when the next person steps up and donates land to the county for preservation hopefully tomorrow the county will know what to do how to process the gift and how to proceed forward putting everything into place jack gpt has made one excellent point that the that i really love that the gift of land is different from any other gift it cannot be replicated it cannot be manufactured it cannot be replaced and once it is lost to development or perhaps over development it is gone forever when land is protected it becomes something powerful a refuge a classroom a legacy a home for living creatures trees and plants many of which are disappearing rapidly as their natural habitats vanish okay back to my own words i am absolutely delighted that i have the honor of being the first person to do this i got to be the county's guinea pig as most of the time as john said we seem to be making it all up as we went along um but now as i said before martin county knows exactly what to do so i invite other people with resources to please step forward and do the same thing together we can really make a big difference i think the best way to do this is go to the county first and find out what lands are available for sale that they've had their eye on but can't quite get their hands on for one reason or another sometimes a private buyer makes all the difference how gratifying it is to know that the county would like to do some fabulous things with these properties i've been hearing about trails a little extra parking for the public pavilion picnic table doggy bag dispensers with trash can a pond to ease flooding and provide beauty sidewalks benches and trees just to name some and in some instances just leaving the land alone to flourish naturally i have been told to please be patient as these things take time but like many of us patience is not my best quality however i promise to do my best i want to thank deborah parker the real who is here the real estate broker who steered me in the right direction and made so many things happen real estate broker michael dooley who kept us moving in the right direction but is out of town today commissioner stacy hetherington our first liaison with the council and john mail who as far as i can see does just about everything i also want to thank commissioner blake caps as well as commissioner sarah hurd and eileen vargas for giving me their encouragement support and i don't know if this person is here today but i really want to thank naturalist jeff whitman whose enthusiasm and support are palpable you are here he's going to to speak great i'm so glad thank you all so very much i really i really appreciate this opportunity thank you thank you from this day forward whenever we receive a donation we're going to call it the yeiser effect or the yeiser it's going yeah good morning commissioners and thank you for having us is that better okay um my name is deborah parker i'm the broker earner of realty one group engage here in martin county and have been here for 26 years it's an honor to be with you today i am truly grateful to witness and to have played a small role a in a very generous and thoughtful act that reflects the best of the community about a year ago my friend and neighbor wheezy as we call her her real name is louise um shared stories about her family's long-standing commitment to giving donating in places like michigan ohio and naples for preservation they weren't just stories they were a reflection of values values rooted in stewardship foresight and deep respect for places we call home uh wheezy has had the same appreciation for martin county she cares deeply about protecting it from over development for preserving and and what makes it so special with that in mind she asked me to help her identify land that could help be donated uh that would truly make a difference for future generations and for martin county i i admit it was a new process for me i hadn't done that before but i wanted to understand where to begin so i attended a save martin county event in downtown stewart last summer it was eye-opening and inspiring as it often happens in this community a meaningful connection followed i ran into stacy heatherton who pointed me in the right direction and introducing me to john mail that moment said everything in motion and now here we are one year later we're at the finish line i'm shaking i am like so excited um it has truly been a team effort as we all know it takes a village i want to extend my sincere thanks to john tyson carla from the county and sebastian and for their guidance and support throughout this process i'm also grateful to my fellow real estate professionals michael dooley michael baker and tom a lot for their collaboration in assembling these remarkable parcels for donation but most importantly i want to recognize wheezy not only for her generosity but for her friendship her vision her commitment to preserving the character and beauty of this county her philanthropic spirit has made this moment possible we're all fortunate to live in martin county and today thanks to wheezy uh and to this commission for your time and consideration i believe our county stands to become uh better even stronger i respectfully ask that you approve this donation to read one more that was for me uh michael dooley michael dooley as you all know is the the owner broker of illustrated properties and has been instrumental in helping but unfortunately michael wanted to be here but he's in greece so he asked me to read this in his behalf on april 5th i stood before you to speak in favor of a motion to accept 1.28 acres of land from miss uh louise yeiser to increase the size of home sound scrub preserve now we have the opportunity to accept two more parcels from mrs yeiser that will add to the preserve in total with the addition of these two parcels and increase the land by 15 percent it is extremely rare that the people of martin county have had such a generous gift offered to them i have seen many parcels of land offered to the county over the years each time the offer was given with a quid pro quo land for schools parks etc all given exchange for a certain development that was being presented for approval i cannot remember one time in my 40 plus years of service to the county that a person donated land without wanting something in return it could be said that miss weiser wants something too she wants the land to remain in its natural state into perpetuity i think we can all acknowledge that this is an ask we can agree to miss yeiser is a kind gentle soul who would not think of asking for anything but i can i asked if any improvement on these parcels such as pavilion shaded seating areas or any other improvement that would enhance the experience for the people who visit hope sound scrub preserve occur the commission would consider naming that improvement acknowledging mrs yeiser's generous contribution to us all thank you louise thank you for setting an example what true uh altristic giving is about thank you for choosing martin county and most selfishly thank you for picking our little heaven on earth hope sound scrub preserve as a benefactor of your most generous gift thank you thank you thank you commissioner camps i want to begin by also thanking a number of people involved and what is uh occurring here today uh environmental resource administrator john mayle thank you and real property manager carla segura thank you and other members and the public works staff um realtors deb parker and mike dooley and my fellow commissioners who played a role in this commissioner hetherington and then thank you jeff whitman for being such a an enthusiast for the hope sound scrub preserve environmental advocate uh we appreciate you and uh your promptings uh to make some of this to make some of this happen um dear louise yeiser it is hard to put in words the feeling of appreciation we have in our hearts for your amazing generosity to your fellow martin county residents you seem to possess a strong awareness that we are all on this earth not to live for selfish gain but rather to make a lasting difference with our decisions and actions god has blessed all of us with gifts some have time some have talent and some have treasure all of these are important but in the course of human events we often look back at unusual people who make an indelible impression on a community that reverberates for generations ms geiser you are one of those people from the bottom of our hearts we offer our sincerest thanks to you for purchasing and donating 13 parcels of land for the expansion of the hope sound scrub preserve for the purchase and donation of the beautiful scrub land just north of east fork creek on us1 in hope sound and also for the purchase and donation of the parcels in north river shore as we drink in the beauty of open spaces and the reminders of old florida while walking trails or just riding by natural lands we will remember you for your big heart and open hands your example will remind us that we too are here to make a difference god bless you and god bless your family and i would make a motion that we accept department five and department six second mr vargas yes uh miss parker as a fellow real estate broker this is out of the ordinary you know that and i applaud you from the bottom of my heart you're a hard-working lady uh you're a successful lady and usually people when they think of real estate brokers it's going to be sold and developed but you took a different tack and i appreciate you giving the confidence to wheezy and of course your fellow brokers that are not here today thank you so very much for having more foresight this is unusual but i do want to make a couple of mentions um miss segura you're you're professional very much very much um john mail i don't know what else to say i think it's all been said you are a very very easy person to deal with you're very knowledgeable and when you don't know something you find out so i really appreciate your humility and of course in the back there there's mr jeff whitman uh who just loves loves loves the outdoors and i appreciate you taking me on personal journeys uh of hope sound um so wheezy how are you you look great today you are over generous you are kindly you are great-hearted not good but great-hearted and thank you for sharing your bounty with martin county you have set the bar very high for others to follow in your footsteps by donating these extravagant gifts of the beautiful florida nature and we're expecting more wonderful gifts thank you so much for putting the challenge out there and we can applaud you again thank you so very much commissioner hetherington well miss yeiser like you at the last meeting i didn't prepare any notes today but next time you come in because i know you're going to come in again for future donations i will read my chat gpt speech to you but what i do want to say is wow it much of it's been said today and thank you because your generous heart has not only benefited martin county today i think it's going to inspire so many generations that will and people that will step up like you have in this process and i think we will call it the yeiser process and from the bottom of our heart thank you so much you're a woman of action you're my kind of woman you're really a feisty woman of action i see the patience um how you how you demonstrated that you don't want to wait and you got this done quicker than i think any other land acquisition process that i've seen so and i want to thank deb parker and john mail and tyson and carla for really working through this process and making it happen so we appreciate you so much and we hopefully we'll see you back again in the shoe shoe few short months and jeff whitman would you like to speak to us good morning morning everybody yeah jeff whitman hope sound um i am so happy i haven't been as happy since we saved the ham property the out parcels a month ago but i'm pretty happy um jeff whitman hope sound um when this property first came before the commission i guess it was exactly a year ago um it was for a land use change and a zoning change to allow for yet another huge storage facility i'm talking about the the east fort creek property um could have been up to 100 000 square feet uh just terrible um i suggested that the county just buy the property because unlike the five acres in palm city this 6.7 acres was all environmentally sensitive land the back half is wetlands the front half is coastal scrub habitat which is considered rare and endangered the commission made the right decision and that denied the developer the changes um commissioner caps called me the next day and said that he went out with john mail to look at the property and said it was incredibly beautiful and that he would like to see it preserved thank you um what makes this property so unique is that it's contiguous to the east fort creek preserve that's a 21 acre preserve with a 20 acre lake but there's no way the people of martin county could access it you cannot park on the street or the adjacent church this hidden gem most people don't know where it is is almost became a hundred thousand square foot storage facility is now preserved in perpetuity thanks to john mail the county commission especially commissioner caps and especially miss miss yeiser i would like i would like it to be named the miss yeiser preserve um it has a certain ring it does it does it does it does we are so grateful to the additional land added to the ham property aka the hope sound scrub preserve thank you and god bless you um i got a few more seconds here i just wanted to talk about this other parcels on hillside circle um i know that property very well it was it was at one time part of the ham property what makes that unique is that the north parcel where blake blake and i found like three gopher tortoises there uh that was where the old hope sound school used to be the wooden school house before the apollo school and i've been told that that school has been moved to the where the bible college is so i haven't been able to find it but it's somewhere in the bible college probably and that goes back to like 1915 may i have a few more seconds please you do 15 left okay um you're very generous the other the other parcels around um hillside circle that was all part of the ham property and somehow it got yanked out unfortunately and now it's reunited back with the ham property the hope sound scrub preserve um one more thing um up in north western north carolina waynesville from from um we hold uh stone walls are sacred and there's a stone wall on hillside circle that goes back to 115 years old and it's still there and i was so afraid that the developer would come in and bulldoze it but it's still there and it's beautiful and so it's cool so like i said there's so many gopher tortoises there scrub jays there indigo snakes there four-pelled pawpaw geez we're so grateful thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you mr campy i'll keep mine very simple thank you very much god bless you we appreciate you so much and mr donaldson at the conclusion i think it'd be appropriate to get a picture with the commissioners in the well with miss weise is that's a okay with everybody thank you and and also miss yeiser i i want to assure you i know that your goal here is preservation and uh you also are are concerned about that you don't have enough patience to endure this whole thing i assure you that before we make any improvements to any of these parcels we will first of all get your approval we won't put anything on these sites that doesn't meet with your expectations one more comment about uh jeff whitman i mentioned at our last meeting that he really began the pursuit for us finding a solution to keep the uh the first parcel at hope sound scrub preserve that was donated in the last meeting from development and it was about to become townhomes and he suggested that to me quite some time ago and we started uh thinking about it and so i want to re-recognize him for that but also i wanted to mention it's always interesting to think about where ideas begin and uh shortly after east fork creek decisions were made he suggested at that time that uh we find a way to put that land into conservation and i began to start talking to john mail uh often about it and so those were were early discussions about the future of that parcel as well that were inspired by jeff whitman so thank you very much i love this sampler let's let's vote first uh miss elder do we need to do separate motions for you can combine them since there's no changes to the recommended action or separate motions whichever you prefer would be fine so we can do staff recommendations on both departments so we have a motion and a second all those in favor aye opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you thank you so much congratulations on being selfish everybody just take one step to your left perfect there you go one step to your left guys there you go okay oh you can take a step there you go all right button to the lens one two three we'll take a couple and last one one two three thank you so much it will be so gratifying to see the improvements that we're going to make that we're going to make that we're going to make on this one with the staff come go this way yeah keep one with the staff first jeff jeff one with just the staff all right all right all right one step to your right please one step to your right perfect one step toward me just one step carla go in a little bit all right i already look tall enough no you look great that's perfect all right standing on your donation you're very tall one two three sebastian don't be afraid to smile there you go one more one two three what a good-looking group thank you thank you i'm so excited it's like the hand of god was you're taking my job Yeah. See, nowadays, when something's really well done, they're like, is that a GVD? I've never used it. I've never used it. Stop using it. Yeah. I've never used it. I've never used it. I've never used it. I've never used it. Absolutely. You've never used it. I want to go to the championship. Yeah. All right. As soon as we get things under control, you're really taking off the mission. And I'm going to put it in the middle. I'm going to put it in the middle. I'm going to put it in the middle. Thank you so much. Thank you. I'm going to put it in the middle of the building. No, but that's like literally She's like strong I zoomed out, I showed the list I said, look at Sarah's face Yes, that's correct We'll do consent and commissioner comments We will take up Commissioner comments, Commissioner Vargas You know, I said what I had to say Just momentarily ago But human services We've had two meetings now Where people have talked about homelessness Would that be the department to be able to pick this up? Pardon me? The two people that spoke earlier this morning About homelessness Have a department for that? Human services? Yes Social services? What can be done? I mean, can somebody address them? We have a department that addresses those very things All right So are they going to contact them? Or how does this work? Well, they do their jobs every day Mr. Stokes will follow up with that Madam Chair I already spoke with Ms. Michelle Miller Director of Human Services She was talking to the gentleman Who spoke when he left the building Or not left the building But left the dais, excuse me Before he left the building And then there are also the ladies that spoke too She brought up the posters here too Yes, we've been talked with 10 city helpers And been working with other not-for-profit communities As it relates to the Florida state statutes And overnight camping As it relates to counties And what the counties can and cannot do Just to reiterate It is a complicated subject for us to deal with And the state has made it very difficult To address it in simple terms And so it's not simply a matter of roping off an area And saying this is okay It comes with an enormous burden in the law On what you have to do to do that So it is complicated Also our zoning and how it fits in And still gives the opportunities of neighbors To sue you over how you do it So I appreciate the dynamic And the concern of those that represent those folks But it's very difficult for local governments To take it on to the degree That some of our public would like Yeah, I understand the responsibility that goes with that Mr. Kapp On April 22nd I, along with staff, attended the Town of Jupiter Island Commission meeting To discuss the new bathroom, canopy, and fire rescue buildings Needed at Hobesound Beach These buildings would be placed east Of the current construction setback line Which basically runs through the parking lot And to the west of those current buildings So we need a variance From this current construction setback line And one of the commissioners raised the issue Of whether the county intended to extend A sewer line to the site Though we budgeted for this expense SMRU thought that it would not be prudent To extend the line So we decided to switch to a septic tank system instead The commissioners voted at this meeting To continue their decision until their next meeting And asked us to bring back a revised plan For a sewer line to the site And I think it would be good If our county administrator could say At this next meeting That our board has granted him the authority To include a sewer line To the project If the town deems this necessary So I will make that motion That we give county administrator Don Donaldson That authority If that sewer line is deemed to be necessary by the town Any further discussion There is a motion and a second All those in favor Aye Opposed That motion passes unanimously Anything else? I'm good On April 27th we had a ribbon cutting At Bob Graham Beach To celebrate the near completion Of the Army Corps of Engineers Shoreline Protection Project There is a beach renourishment project On covering four miles This is the seventh time This particular beach renourishment project Has been done The first one was 30 years ago And Don Donaldson Was our coastal engineer at the time And that was one of his first assignments So this project was fully funded By the Corps of Engineers At a cost of 15 million dollars It's been eight years Since the last project occurred At this location One of the most inspiring consequences Of healthy beaches And we take an awful lot of pride In our unspoiled healthy beaches And our four story height limit On those beaches So one of the most inspiring consequences Of healthy beaches Is healthy habitat for nesting sea turtles Martin County beaches Had 22,566 sea turtle nests last year So as I contemplated the importance Of our healthy beaches I considered some of the other critical components That combine to create Our revered Martin County difference One of these is our love of fishing and boating We need a navigable inlet In order to do both And the Army Corps is our essential partner In keeping the inlet safe and shoal free Another Martin County difference Is water quality The Indian River Lagoon Is the most biodiverse estuary in North America Its shallow depths Mixing of fresh and salty waters Shores lined with mangroves Its warm temperatures And abundant seagrass beds Combine to create a perfect nursery For the more than 4,400 species Of plants and animals That live in the Indian River Lagoon The lagoon's health is dangerously impaired From over a century of damaging discharges The Army Corps has spent Hundreds of millions of dollars Constructing projects in Martin County That will help restore the lagoon's health And they will spend many more hundreds Of millions of dollars Completing more projects We are forever grateful To the Army Corps of Engineers For being our partners Because of them We are able to maintain And restore the assets That define the Martin County difference And we could not do that Without the Corps' help Each and every year Commissioner Campy Thank you Madam Chair I've had a lot of residents Over the last I guess several months Been reaching out For different reasons About things that are taking place In the waters Just off of Penn Darvis Park In Palm City A lot of it has to do With the fact that As we created mooring fields First in Jensen Beach Then in the Manatee Pocket And then the City of Stewart Has theirs This sort of band of folks That live in their vessels Have moved around And I don't believe That all of them Are causing grief Where they go But a lot of them are That's my soundtrack A lot of them are And whether it's Even though we have Obviously just celebrated A I'd rather listen to that No me too I want to have that As my Absolutely It's my theme music Thank you so much Ten dollars Some folks Even though we have Our MS poop That would free Would pump out People's boats for free Sadly people are Still not using it They are Litter is washing up On all of the Homes there And in the park Folks are digging Through the mangroves To gain access To the uplands The neighbors And folks that are Trying to utilize That park It's turned into A real problem Our sheriff's deputies Have been At the park side Our marine patrols Obviously similar To Jensen and Manatee Have a difficult time Enforcing certain rules The folks that are Anchoring there Know their Know their Rights And are Perfectly willing To exercise them To the detriment Of the locals So I would make A recommendation That we have Staff look into A potential Mooring field There Not so much That it is necessary That we have A mooring field There But I know That the legal Parameters And the area That can be Patrolled Is based on Where the mooring Fields are I think that As you head Now past the City of Stewart One By the base Of the Roosevelt Bridge And you start Heading out Of that zone It pushes Into the Palm City area In the south Fork of the St. Lucie By the Palm City Bridge And then north Of the Palm City Bridge But I think It will just Continue to push South in between The bridges There's a lot Of derelict Boats there That we have Been responsible For taking care Of But sadly Some of the Boats that You would think Are derelict Are not They are Liveboards And it has Turned into A big enough Problem now That I don't Think it is Going to solve Itself Or the people Were just Transiently Moving through That area It's become A little more Permanent So I would Ask that staff Begin the Process of Looking to What's going To be Necessary for Creating an Additional mooring Field there I know that Penn Darvis Park Is a year To year lease With the South Florida Water Management District So legal We'll probably Have to get Involved to See what South Florida Water Management District Feels about it But we can No longer Allow our Residents to Be stuck Dealing with This and Our natural Environment to Be destroyed Thanks I think That's a Great idea Everybody Else Yes Mr. Hetherington I'll be brief But I'll just Bridge on to Commissioner Hurd's Comments on the Indian River Lagoon and I Know that one Of your goals I believe this Year was some Of the muck Dredging and I Think that we Need to continue To prioritize that Because with all Of the great Assets and all The funding that We've put Together that's Going to be a Crucial part of The health of The Indian River Lagoon and I Know that certain Sites for the Muck displacement And even I Think there's new Technology that Seems to be able To process and Compress that kind Of material so I Just want to Reiterate my Support for that Priority of the Dredging of the Indian River Lagoon and then And on another Note on the Historic Preservation Month this all Of these events There's there's Practically one and One a week or a Couple times a week And I think it's Important to Acknowledge and Remember we just Celebrated our Centennial last year Martin County There's so many Events and I know There's a lot of Newer residents to Martin County but Please get active Engaged and check Our website for These events and Really learn about The Martin County History and many Of the people that Helped make Martin County special Because Martin County difference Is its environment And it's Martin County difference is The people in Martin County And also we Attended a ribbon Cutting for the Restoration of Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge This weekend that Is our oldest Building in Martin County and it is 150 years old so If you haven't Visited the House of Refuge It's been closed For renovations for Quite some time It's reopening or It will be reopening Very soon and Please visit Mr. Donaldson We had a new Attorney start in Our office yesterday So we're excited to Have him so I Wanted to introduce Him his name is Joe Barron and We are thrilled to Have him so Today's his second Day so he's just Would you like to Come forward and Introduce yourself And tell us a bit About your previous Practices Sorry Joe Hi good morning My name is Joseph Barron my family Relocated to Port St. Lucie after I Graduated high school After high school I Then went to the Virginia Military Institute I served In the army I was An infantry officer Ranger tab everyone Qualified I ended up Getting an ankle Injury and I used That as a segue to Go into law I went Into Washington and Lee law school after That then I went to The University of Florida and got a Tax LLM and now I'm Here perfect thank You're welcome Let's take a 10 Minute break please Book hearing number One which is a Public hearing to Consider adoption of An ordinance amending General ordinances Martin County code to Require veterinarians to Report microchips and Eliminate submission of Disaster plans Mr. Stokas Good morning madam Chair George Stokas Assistant kind Minister before you as An ordinance as you May know all of our Veterinarians here in Martin County are Required to provide Our tax collector Certificates of Vaccination for Animals primarily cats And dogs that they Provide these Vaccinations to the Proposed ordinance Before you also Requires now requires Microchips and the Microchip numbers and The tags that go Along with them to Also be submitted to The tax collector to Create a database this Is being done in an Issue to try and Return lost animals or Potentially stolen Animals back to their Rightful owners in a Very timely fashion This proposed Ordinance also does Strike some Requirements the Owners of five or More cats or dogs Provide a disaster Plan there has been No no one has Actually ever done That in the past and Our tax collector Would like to see That removed for Efficiency this Ordinance was also Heard by the ACCOB And they voted in Favor of this and Before I address any Questions or comments I wanted to just Thank miss Pietrik for doing All the hard work on This and allowing me To be able to Summarize this in Probably about the 120 seconds so I'm More than happy to Address any comments Concerns or questions Questions for staff Okay so if if you Lose your animal then Isn't it normally Scanned and you're Notified what yes Difference on right Now if you're it's Scanned but the we Those microchip data You would have to Access different databases We're in the process Of centralizing all that Information for our Animal service officers To be able to access And this is really The first step to Making sure you have Good accurate data That goes into that Database okay so this Is just for Martin County or is this Nationwide a plan Well well the Ordinance deals with Martin County only However databases I Think the database we Are looking at would be A nationwide database Through a third party Provider that will be Coming probably before You at a later date When we get to the Appropriate time for that Contract yeah okay Yeah because that's Important and it's Like your child so I I totally get that okay Any further questions This is a public hearing Would anyone from the Public like to address Us on public hearing Number one seeing None back to the board Is there a motion to Accept staff's Recommendation make a Motion I second it There's a motion in the Second all those in Favor I opposed that Motion passes unanimously Thank you ma'am Before we moved on to Public hearing thank you We heard before we move On to public hearing Number two is there a Motion to adopt the Consent agenda so moved Second there's a motion And a second to adopt The consent agenda all Those in favor aye opposed That motion passes Unanimously thank you public Hearing number two is a Public hearing to consider Adoption of an ordinance on Amending environmental Controls article seven nuisance Abatement general ordinances Regarding notification of Property owners of news nuisances Via notices to abate Good morning commissioners Mr. Poprowski Good morning Sebastian Poprowski County attorney's office Commissioners a little bit Of history back in 23 we Amended the preceding section This is 67.201 to broaden And further define nuisances In our county section 67202 a Which we are here before you Today references that Proceeding section 201 and we Would ask that this amendment Be passed so it can be Consistent with the language in The preceding section 201 it's Sort of a administrative Ministerial task just to clean Up the code even further Questions for mr. Poprowski mr. Capps in the agenda item summary There's talk of four nuisance Categories there are they are Weeds undergrowth trash and Brush and trees Brush and trees and you know I Talked to our county attorney about How some people think and perhaps Even in some counties and I'm not Advocating for this yet I'm just it's Just an idea some people think that an Additional nuisance could be the Presence of exotic vegetation on Property and it would be worth Looking into like to see what other Cities and counties do if any of Them do such a thing you know I Know that it would be very Problematic and potentially really Expensive for a lot of private Landowners to have to clear the Exotics off their property but I Would be interested to know if There are any other counties or Cities that do such a thing and Perhaps there could be ways to Limit it so that you know you Don't get some huge liability or Exposure perhaps just along the Roadway part something the part that Of a private property that is Visible from the roadway or the front Yard or whatever something that made It reasonable but it's it's worth Looking into and I'm not I'm not Convinced yet that we should do it But but have you ever heard of that Being a nuisance category I have not But I'll be happy to look into that For it'd be interesting to look at it Because we are we are getting Completely covered up with exotics in Our county our county does a good job Of keeping him back off the roadways You know and that's really the only Place our that we are authorized to Clear them we can't get on private Property to do it but but on private Property it's a huge problem and if You if you take the time to get Educated about what exotic plants are it Will begin to bother you because you Will see them everywhere maybe we can Look into that yes commissioner this is a Public hearing would anyone from the Public like to address us seeing none go Back if you're adding things to the Nuisance category please add e-bikes and Scooters I'll look into that as well commissioner motion to accept staff's recommendation there's a motion in a second all those in favor aye opposed that motion passes unanimously Thank you Do you think we should have a board item on e-bikes and e-scooters yes I think it would be a great idea yeah I think so too I know the sheriff is starting to crack down on that but yeah we need to bring this to the forefront Yes talk about nuisances and destroying stuff it's dangerous to driving really take them out we'll take up public hearing number three which is a public hearing regarding permission to apply for the federal transit administration FY 22 section 5307 urbanized formula program funding grants missed feature or maybe mr. Fox maybe both ashes in the bathroom and he will be here momentarily Okay we'll take up uh thanks for that update Mrs. Offenbach is here we'll take up public hearing number four instead That's going to be scurrying That's a public hearing to consider uh Gen 2501 certified recovery residences No come on in Ordinance amending chapter 21 part 2 article 28 reasonable accommodation procedures general ordinances martin county code Ms. Offenbach Hello again for the record my name is Amy Offenbach Planner with the martin county growth management department GEN 25-01 Is a proposed text amendment For certified recovery residences The applicant here is the board of county commissioners And this is a legislative hearing And proof of public comment Sorry proof of legal notice has been turned into the clerk This request is to amend the reasonable accommodation procedures Found in the general ordinances of martin county code to comply with florida state statutes A reasonable accommodation is an exception to any county rules policies or procedures for persons with disabilities to use and enjoy property Martin county county Martin county provides reasonable accommodation procedures for all kinds of different requests Including but not limited to keeping emotional support animals or housing more than five unrelated persons in a single household State has mandated that each governing body establish specific procedures for reasonable accommodations involving a certified recovery residence Certified recovery residences are simply houses where persons in recovery live There are no services provided at the property and so the proposed text amendments will update the current Reasonable accommodation procedures and differentiate between separate procedures for specifically for certified recovery residences versus all other requests The reasonable accommodation request form which is currently in the code will be removed and eventually two separate applications will be posted on the county website and also made available at the growth management department And a separate section will be added for procedures involving a certified recovery residence with specific time frames specific to that type of property And so the florida association of recovery residences provides the certification for these types of properties and they follow national standards And this again is required by state statutes And so staff recommends approval of GEN 25-01 This concludes the presentation Questions for Ms. Zoffenbach This is a public hearing would anyone from the public like to address us Seeing none back to the board I'll move staff's recommendation for approval Second There's a motion and a second all those in favor Aye Opposed that motion passes unanimously Thank you We will now take up Thank you Item number Public hearing number three Which is a public hearing regarding permission to apply for the federal transit administration FY22 section 5307 urbanized formula program funding grant Mr. Beecher Good morning commissioners Ash Beecher transit administrator for the record So today we have a public hearing for the transit system Martin County's public transit system Marty is partially funded by a federal transit administration or FTA grant that must be applied for each year The grant application requires Martin County Board of County commissioners to conduct a A public hearing that encourages public participation and opportunities for the community to comment on the program of projects for the filing of the fiscal year 2022 section 5307 grant application So program of projects includes operating assistance capital assistance and safety and security enhancements A grant match is required and the fiscal year 22 state public transportation block grant as well as funds from the county general fund is included in the public works transit division operating budget and will be used as match so we use a grant to match for the other grant and the recommendation is that the is to move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute and file the FY22 section 5307 urbanized area formula program. Funds application on behalf of the commissioners application application on behalf of the Martin County Board of County commissioners with the federal transit administration for federal assistance as authorized by USC 49 chapter 53 title 23 and other federal statutes authorizing a project administered by the federal transit administration. Thank you. Thank you. Questions for Mr. Beecher. Mr. Capps. Just thinking about something that was said about the Marty system in prior meetings and what I remembered was that it's in real rough numbers the the program is about a four million dollar program and about two million comes from the federal government about one million comes from the state and about one million comes from the county. Is that is that is that is that right right right I thought that that's always something that's good to keep in mind you know a lot of people have some misconceptions about it they think that you know the county's paying for nearly all of it or something and and our portion of it is actually pretty small. Correct. This is a public hearing would anyone from the public like to address us seeing none back to the board is there a motion to approve staff's recommendation on public hearing number three move approval second there's a motion and a second all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. We will now take up a DPQJ number one which is a quasi judicial public hearing a request for approval of a final site plan for heritage ridge planned unit development parcel C4 lot to be for the storage place hope sound project. Uh this is quasi judicial commissioner Vargas any ex parte disclosures I have any they've been filed. Mr. Capps if I have any they have been filed if I have any they've been filed commissioner Campy if I have any they've been filed and commissioner Hetherington if any they've been filed excellent. Uh Mr. Sennott have you turned over all of your relevant materials to the clerk? Yes I'm turning a copy of my work history and the agenda item to be filed as exhibit one. Okay I don't see an applicant here if you will be providing sworn testimony in this agenda item please stand up raise your right hand and be sworn in no one okay do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth please proceed Mr. Sennott. Thank you madam chair good morning commissioners I'm John Sennott principal planner with growth management this is a request by McCarty and associates land planning and design on behalf of 8280 constitution for final site plan approval to construct a three story 64,260 square foot residential storage facility and associated infrastructure within parcel C4 lot to be of the heritage ridge planned unit development. The 1.5 acre undeveloped site is located on southeast constitution boulevard approximately 440 feet northeast of the intersection of southeast federal highway and southeast constitution boulevard and hobe sound included as a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation. Here you can see the outline here you can see the outline of the heritage ridge pud in red it encompasses just over 300 acres and hobe sound located between us 1 and dixie highway and in yellow at the bottom you can see the proposed development site is in the southern portion of the pud. The subject site consists of approximately 1.5 acres it is adjacent to southeast constitution boulevard it's currently undeveloped to the north across southeast constitution boulevard is undeveloped land followed by the hobe sound tennis center to the east is a drainage canal followed by residences to the south is that same drainage canal followed by the broward motorsports facility and to the west of the subject site is the dollar general. The property and the property and the surrounding areas to the east west south and north are within the heritage ridge pud to the north and south in red you can see the general commercial zoning district along us 1. The future land use designation of the subject site in the adjacent areas to the west and east is low density across constitution in the purple you can see the general commercial and to the south you can also see the general commercial. The heritage ridge development regional impact and pud zoning agreement were approved in october 1978 for residential units recreational areas golf course and open space public service areas as well as commercial areas. The 1978 PUD agreement establishes that parcel C4 shall be developed as if zone B1 business district. The heritage ridge PUD was most recently modified via the ninth amendment in september 1989. The ninth amendment establishes that parcel C4 shall be developed as if zone general commercial according to the martin county zoning regulations as amended from time to time. The proposed development is within the allowable commercial square footage according to the ninth PUD amendment. The proposed development of parcel C4 lot 2B consists of a three-story 64,260 square foot residential storage facility also known as storage place hope sound and associated infrastructure. Ingress egress will be provided via an existing easement through the dollar general property to the west. There is no new access proposed off of southeast constitution. A parking rate adjustment is requested pursuant to section 4.625 martin county land development regulations. Nine parking spaces are proposed. This is the proposed site plan for parcel C4 lot 2B. You can see the building is situated in the southern portion of the site set back from southeast constitution boulevard. To the north of the building is the existing access easement through the dollar general property. There is a retention area between the parking area and southeast constitution boulevard that will be planted. The applicant is requesting alternative compliance from article 4 division 20. Specifically the primary facade transparency fenestration criteria as well as the dumpster location. Staff recommend approval. The board of county commissioners is the final decision maker for this application. Here you can see the proposed architectural elevations. The top elevation is the front that would be facing southeast constitution boulevard. Pursuant to martin county LDR table 10.5 f9 review of this application is not required by the local planning agency. Development review staff have found the 8280 constitution application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report. Staff recommendation is to move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments including the staff report as exhibit 1 and move that the board adopt the resolution approving the final site plan for the heritage ridge parcel C4 lot 2B project also known as storage place hope sound. That concludes my presentation. Questions for Mr. Stinnott. Mr. Stinnott the future land use is low density residential? That is correct. Why wasn't that ever altered? I'm not sure. The low density future land use appears to have been assigned in 1982. The PUD dates back to 1978, you know, establishing the commercial zoning, if you will, for that parcel. But it has been amended. Certainly the PUD has been amended since post-comprehensive plan. So why isn't the land use, why wasn't the land use amended? I'm not sure why the land use was not amended as part of the previous. Why is it proper to put general commercial on a low density land use parcel? That is what the PUD states dating back to 1978 and again in 1989 with the Ninth Amendment. The Ninth Amendment indicated that parcel C4 shall be developed as if zoned general commercial. Okay, and what kind of density transition is being proposed between this project and the low density residences that are adjacent? We would not apply a density transition since this is not a residential use. If you can go to page 215 of the agenda item, tell me about the property that's in between the proposed development and the residential developments. Is that a slough? That is a drainage canal right of way. Is that considered a wetland? No, the canal is not a wetland. Are there wetlands in there? No, not on the property. Any real property interest? Commissioner Vargas. Yeah, I think you asked a number of questions here about this property. Certainly, of course, we have some people here that want to make comments also that live in the area. Are you referring to some inconsistencies with the zoning and the comp plan over time? I'm concerned about consistencies, yes. Sure. Okay. That's exactly what I was concerned about, too. Would the applicant like to make a presentation? I would. Thank you. Good morning. Mike McCarty, for the record, with McCarty & Associates Land Planning and Design. Appreciate your time this morning. The application before you is the Heritage Ridge PUD Parcel C4 Lot 2B PUD Final Site Plan Application, also known as Storage Place of Hub Sound. Ownership Entity is 8280 Constitution, LLC. Before you, we are requesting approval of the 64,260 square feet, three-story storage facility. With that, a request for parking rate adjustment to reduce the parking utilizing the Institute of Transportation Engineers, ITE manual, showing parking demand is much lower. I.T. Land Use Code 152 states the peak parking demand is approximately 0.1 spaces per 1,000 square feet as an industry standard. Based on the industry standards and numerous projects previously approved by the county, precedent has been established in acknowledgement that county parking rate is not consistent with the industry standards. This is an infill development project intended to serve the local neighborhood and surrounding residents. This is a residential storage facility. Therefore, no vehicle or commercial or industrial storage or business uses will take place at a residential storage facility. A little history background, and thank you, staff, for your background and that testimony. So, Heritage Ridge is a RPUD that was approved as a DRI back in 1978 and 79. Permitted uses consisted of residential, recreational areas, commercial, and public service. In September of 89, the Ninth Amendment to the RPUD was approved, whereby parcel C4 shall be developed as if zoned general commercial, okay? Residential storage facilities are a by-right use permitted in the general commercial zoning. Therefore, by-right today before you. Existing conditions. Site contains exotic vegetation and some native tree species. We did provide the necessary tree surveys, environmental assessments, and it was concluded that no habitat exists on the site. They are non-native exotic vegetation and trees, and we have preserved many of those trees within our landscape plan and design. This was all confirmed by Martin County environmental staff, who also conducted a site visit. Most of the surrounding properties have been developed, as staff indicated in his presentation. You've got Dollar General. You have the Broward Power Sports. You've got the Heritage Ridge community to the north and east. And then, obviously, Constitution Boulevard borders this property on the north. Efforts were made to preserve the native trees around the perimeter of the site, to buffer the surrounding properties, and take into consideration the residential uses to the east. Next, here before you is our site plan. You can see this is a one-and-a-half-acre site situated right next to the Dollar General. We have a shared access point off of Constitution Boulevard. As staff indicated, there's this ditch, if you will, or canal that is on a radius along the northern and southern side, north, east, southern side of the site, and perhaps took a little bit of adjustment to design a building. But we did a great job designing a building with undulations meeting the commercial design standards. It made the architectural very interesting. We have buffering around that edge of the site that is up against or closest to Heritage Ridge residents, along with the stormwater system as well. You'll see here in this landscape plan, we packed this site with landscaping. We located the building as far away from Heritage Ridge as possible. Again, you can see a very intricate and detailed planting design and scheme that meanders along the boundary. It's well vegetated. It's going to look fantastic. This is a street view I want to provide. This is if you're standing on Constitution Boulevard looking south down the canal. So looking at this picture, this canal, you can see with the mowed top of bank. To the right of that top of bank, your right as you look at it, would be the storage facility site. And you can see this FP&L box here. This is on the corner of the site. This oak tree right here, this is to be preserved. To the left on the screen is the Heritage Ridge. You can see this native buffer and possibly even exotics as well. That is on the Heritage Ridge site. So they are screened and then you can see on the far left of the screen how far the residences are back. So there's ample buffer, ample landscaping, trees, greenery, etc. here. Again, the architectural elevations, these meet and comply with the county commercial design standards and the PUD. Here is a excerpt from the staff report. This excerpt shows all of the different reviewing departments within the county and all of the individuals. And you can see on the right-hand side of that shot, we are in compliance across the board with all reviewing departments internally to the county. Not only with the LDRs, but the comp plan and the Heritage Ridge PUD and DRI. Public benefit, though we're not required to have a public benefit because this is an existing PUD and we are not before you today to request any modification to that PUD or an amendment thereof. This is a by-right request. However, we're still providing a public benefit. On the screen before you, you'll see a drainage easement that we are providing and dedicating to the county as a condition of approval. There is drainage pipe structures that cross over the property and are of which the outfall to the drainage system into the canal. We are willing and the applicant has agreed to dedicate those easements needed to benefit the county as a condition of the approval. Approval justification. The proposed development is a by-right use. The approval of this project will increase tax revenue to Martin County. Aligns with the original intent of the Heritage Ridge RPUD. Provides for improved water quality and treatment. Provides for exotic vegetation removal. This is an infill development which should be promoted to utilize existing infrastructure such as roads, water, sewer, and other public services to prevent urban sprawl. The small compact infill development promotes vertical integration within a small building footprint. The proposed development meets the intent to provide for commercial uses to support the local neighborhood and surrounding area as envisioned in the 1979 Heritage Ridge approval. Justification. The application has been deemed in compliance with Martin County land development regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan and the Heritage Ridge DRI PUD. Staff confirms compliance. Staff recommends approval. And that's the conclusion of our presentation. Any questions? Any questions? Commissioner Capps. Commissioner Hurd brought up an issue, and I believe what summarizes the issue that she was concerned about is on page 174. About two-thirds of the way down, there's a paragraph that says, Although the current maps show a land use designation of low density, the land use policies applicable to this partial should be construed to be those for the general commercial land use as set forth in the original PUD agreement executed prior to the adoption of the comprehensive plan. Does that summarize your issue that you brought up? It does. Right. So, what I would like to ask the county attorney is, do you have any concerns about this? I mean, like, do we need to continue this item until you have more time to research this? So, I'm going to be honest. I did not look at the PUD agreements back to the original PUD. There might be an entitlement in there. I'm not sure if Sebastian Fox has looked at that issue since he's on this. No. So, if the board... I mean, we may as well get it right. I mean, like, if we need to continue this to the next meeting or the next one, and to give you time to research that and clear that up, we could do that. I do not have a solid answer. So, if the board wants me to provide one before they approve this, then I would need time to research it so I can look at the history. It was a DRI. I don't know if there was entitlement in the DRI. And this goes back to the 70s. So, I don't have the answer to that. And, Madam Chair, the... And I'm looking at the 1989 Ninth Amendment to PUD agreement, which states in one of the exhibits, that all terms and conditions of the Heritage Ridge PUD agreement, as originally approved on October 31, 1978, which are not specifically amended or revised by this Eighth Amendment, shall remain in full force and effect. So, without having done significant research, my understanding is that this contract entered into between the board and the developer has modified several times, you know, essentially does create a buy-right situation. And despite the apparent inconsistency between the future land use and the zoning, this PUD agreement would control. But would you be more comfortable with more time to research? Or do you feel like that's already...that's a firm legal opinion in your judgment? I'm going to defer to Ms. Elder on that if we need to look at it further. So, for a firm legal opinion, I would need to research this issue because I haven't looked at the PUD agreements or the DRI to see if there was an entitlement prior to the Ninth Amendment. So, honest. I think that's a smart move to do that. If I may, as the applicant's representative, Dollar General was approved just a couple years ago on this very same tract fronting U.S. Highway 1. No future land use map amendment was required. The reason why there's an inconsistency between the future land use map is because this PUD and DRI predated the comp plan and the creation of the future land use map. It's quite simple. I think that's what the attorney's stating and... I just didn't look at the original to see if there's an entitlement prior to the comp plan. So, that's all I'm saying. I'm not saying there's not. I'm just saying I didn't look at the original document. So, I couldn't definitively say that, but it appears that's what the case would be. Correct. Thank you. Madam Chair, if I may, John Sennett, Growth Management for the record. This is from the 1978 PUD Agreement, Exhibit F, Paragraph 9, as recorded in OR Book 467, page 1939. Parcel C4 shall be developed as if zone B1 business district, as according to the Martin County, Florida Zoning Regulations, Article 34. And to give you a little more background, the Eighth Amendment was approved in 1987 that updated that paragraph in Exhibit F to read Parcel C4 shall be developed as if zone general commercial, as according to the Martin County, Florida Zoning Regulations. Well, I want our county attorney to be comfortable with the process, and I don't think there's any great harm in pushing forward a little bit until the legal department is satisfied that they have fully researched the matter. Are you making a motion? Do you still feel that would be a good thing, county attorney elder? I'm looking at B1 right now, but if, yeah, I could try, if you want to take a break, I could do it right now, or we could continue it to next time if the commission would prefer that. But why don't we give you the opportunity to look at it carefully? I feel sorry for attorneys who have to practice law in front of television cameras on the fly. So I make a motion we continue it until such time as the county attorney has had time to thoroughly research the matter. And whenever she's comfortable putting it back on the agenda. I make a second. If I may, can we set a specific date and time? Yeah. I don't want to do it today or not. We could do the next meeting. I would be ready to do that. Next meeting's fine. So we need to say the date, the time, location. So it would be at the next county commission meeting, which is May 19th at commission chambers at 9 o'clock or soon after there may be heard. Okay. I would make that motion. I second. Also, Mr. Sinnott, is there a difference between the height restrictions on low-density residential and general commercial? Because we have those existing here also. Right now the height. Because the dollar general is one story. That's correct. Right now the height complies with the general commercial zoning district height, which is a maximum of 40 feet. The building is coming in at 39 feet. Does it comply with the low-density land use? I would have to look at the. This is a public hearing. Would Judith Weigand like to speak to us? I think it's Weigand. I got it. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you so much. I am Judith Weigand, president of Heritage Ridge South Property Owners Association. We are a community, a senior community, of 501 homes. All of them are one-story homes. We are part of a much larger community, and some of you have heard of Heritage Ridge North, that has all the condos and the townhouses and independent living accommodations. Last Tuesday, and I apologize because I was unable to attend this, Mr. McCarty and the owner, the new owner of this property, was present at our clubhouse, and of which there were about 45 residents opposing, voicing opposition to this building. And you're going to say, okay, this has been going on for two years. Why was this suddenly happening now? I can give you, shed a little light. Ever since we learned of this application, our community requested information. We met John, I met John, Sanute, and a couple of our other members of the community met him also. And after a year, we actually sat down and actually discussed our concerns. He also allowed us to provide them with our questions and concerns about the development of this building. This building behind Dollar General, a three-story building, is suddenly out of, doesn't fit in a community when you have one-story buildings all around you. And this three-story building is stuffed into 1.5 acres. And you're going to say, okay, that should be enough for a three-story building of 64,000 square feet. Not when you have a big ditch. We think of it as a creek because it's running water. There's a lot of wetland on that property. Environmental is not considering it wetland. The folks who actually walk up and down that road can see how wet the property is all the time. So there will have to be a lot of fill going into this property. At last Tuesday's meeting, oh, man, I'm off. People were definitely opposed to this just because it's going to increase the number of cars on Constitution. And you're going to say, why are we concerned? Constitution is a county road. However, Constitution is also what we take care of. We have to pick up all the litter. Your time is up. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Lawrence Cook, would you like to address this? Thank you all for listening to us today. You know, I'd just like to say I moved to Martin County. I own two residences in the Heritage Ridge Cambridge Association. And one thing I find very different about Florida, and I should say Hope Sound in general, is the lack of development. And I think it's why we all love to live here. You know, this is so out of place. And I think, you know, laws are made for good reasons. A lot of time has elapsed since 1978, and somebody dropped the ball here. The three-story thing is really insult to injury. Just a one-story storage facility in our community. This is not how storage facilities are situated. You go to remote areas and parking lot situations and so on, and that's where you see commercial self-storage things. And, I mean, how many do we need? I understand that there's an application, or perhaps it's already been approved, just a half a mile away, on the Dixie and Osprey. Now, that would be a lot more fitting of a situation, Dixie and Osprey. It's kind of like removed. There's no houses right there. Dixie is what the Dixie is. As everybody knows, this is in our community. Does not belong. Wetlands, certainly. I've seen, I used to walk my dogs through there. It is a creek. I've seen every creature you could imagine. From coyotes that not all of us like, but, you know, I'm out at 3 in the morning, and they're there. And so are turtles and frogs and birds of every description, and it is not just a ditch. It is a wetland, and it also connects up with the other wetlands in our community and into the golf course. It's all, and the retention pond that they put into the adjacent area. This is so unfitting. My last appeal would say that if there's nothing this commission can do because of laws to prevent this from happening, I would make an appeal to you, the owner, because there was a generous woman here before who has put up millions of dollars to preserve land. So anything you say about this not being a sensitive area is BS, and if it's just money you're interested in, I would love this commission to somehow collaborate with us and the owner to get him compensated for his designer, for his plans, for all of his time, and perhaps a million dollars on top of that because I'm a good negotiator. So, and then take your money elsewhere because it doesn't belong here, okay? There you go. Perfect timing. And I, these are letters that my wife, I was instructed, you know, if you could give a copy to each of the commissioners, I would appreciate this. We started this process two years ago when we first saw a sign go up on that beautiful piece of land there, and Dollar General was vehemently opposed, but we couldn't stop that. Your time is up. Thank you. We couldn't stop Dollar General. You'd like to not have insult to injury. Your time is up. Thank you. Thank you. Would anyone else like to address this? There is a motion and a second on the floor. Is it clear what the intent of the motion is and when the continuance will be? I think so. Are we clear? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you, commissioners. Thanks. And we'll take up our last, let's see. Ms. Murley, what is your agenda item? Do you know? Department one. Department one. Department one is Office of Management and Budget items which require board approval. Good morning, commissioner. Stephanie Murley, the director of Office of Management and Budget, here to present the OMB item today. Our first item is a permission to apply for the FY 2023 Federal Transit Administration Section 5339 Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Grant Program funds. Our Public Works Department is requesting application of $146,920 to assist in the purchase of replacement light-duty cutaway fixed-route buses. There is no cash match required for this item. Item number two is a permission to apply for the fiscal year 2026 Safe Streets and Roads for All Supplemental Planning Grant for the Southeast Bridge Road Corridor Study and Road Safety Audit. Our Public Works is requesting application of $280,000 for supplemental planning activities that will result in a report that enhances, informs, and complements the existing action plan specific to Southeast Bridge Road Corridor and improves safety for vehicles, bicycle, pedestrian users, and wildlife. There is a match of 20,000, 20% in the amount of $70,000, which is budgeted in the FY27 Roads Capital Improvement Plan. Item number three is a permission to apply for the Florida 911 State Grant for Call Handling Solution Upgrade. The Martin County Sheriff's Office E-911 Division is requesting $3,644,729 for a proposed project that will replace aging on-site infrastructure with a resilient, scalable, and secure cloud-based solution that enhances service reliability for our E-911, and there is no match required on that one. Item number four kind of goes along with that one. It's a permission to apply for the Florida 911 State Grant for additional ESI net circuits for the same Call Handling Solution Upgrade. The E-911 Division is requesting $261,175 for these public safety answering point infrastructure equipment, and there's no cash match required on that one. Item number five is a permission to apply for the Bureau of Justice Assistance Adult Treatment Court Program Grant. Our Human Services Division is requesting $1 million to provide expanded supports and services to individuals in the Martin County Mental Health Court Program. These funds are used to provide expanded support services such as housing, transportation, and treatment to the vulnerable population. There is no cash match required, but there is in-kind match that is provided by our salaries and office space. And the last item is just adjustments to the fiscal year 2026 budget. Our Public Works Traffic Engineering Division is requesting funding from our urban road impact fee reserves. After collection of these impact fees, we have identified some projects for traffic signal and intersection improvements for Southeast Salerno Road resurfacing project. We are requesting $978,000 to fund these various projects. And the last item is a request to allocate the unanticipated contribution from the Auto Ranch Hopesound Major Final Site Plan. Martin County is in receipt of $53,120 from the Auto Ranch Hopesound Major Final Site Plan to provide funding in lieu of constructing a sidewalk along Southeast Bridge Road. And OMB is requesting the adoption of a budget resolution to allocate that contribution. Questions for Ms. Murley? Move for approval. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you, Ms. Murley. We'll now move on to Department 2, contracts that meet the threshold for board approval of a million dollars or greater. Ms. Brotherton. Hello. Good morning. Christy Brotherton, your Chief Procurement Officer. I have four items for your consideration today. The first one is a contract award for the Martin County Airport, Witham Field, Hold Bay Extension. And staff is requesting that the board award the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, which is C.W. Roberts Contracting, in the amount of $1,037,082. And move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. Next up, we have a continuing services agreement. This is for invasive and nuisance vegetation management. This contract has a maximum not-to-exceed value of $5,500,000, with a maximum not-to-exceed term of five years. And staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, which is Kerner LLC. And move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. Next, we have another continuing services agreement. This is for environmental consulting, and this contract has a maximum not-to-exceed value of $5,000,000, with a maximum not-to-exceed term of five years. And staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the three highest-scoring firms listed in alphabetical order, which are Ecological Associates, RES, Florida Consulting, and Tetra Tech. And move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. And last but not least, we have a contract amendment. This is for the On-Road Transit and Support Services, which is our MARTI bus system operation. The purpose of this amendment is, as I mentioned, when we awarded this contract, we will be coming before you on an annual basis to increase the contracts not-to-exceed value. This is to take into consideration the annual grant funding allocations. So, the amount of the increase is $3,771,563. And staff is recommending that the board approve Amendment No. 2 to Martin County Transit to increase the total contract cumulative not-to-exceed amount to $5,797,982. And move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute any and all documents related to this request. And that concludes this item. Questions for Ms. Brotherton? Brotherton. Approval. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, aye, opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Next up, we have a Department 3, which is a National Travel and Tourism Week presentation on Explorer Natural Martin County. Good morning, Ms. Okie. Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Marissa Okie, Tourism Director for the Record. And I am here with Emily Dark, who is our Eco-Restoration and Eco-Tourism Senior Project Manager. National Travel and Tourism Week has been celebrated since 1983 to really hone in on the importance of travel and tourism industry. Tourism is a huge driver not only within the United States with a $3 trillion economic output supporting 15 million jobs and representing 2.4 of America's GDP, but it's also a huge industry here in Martin County. Spending is, last time, 2005, because we get the information from the Department of Revenue, was $729.5 million in spending from visitors. And when we talk about visitors, we talk about people who are traveling outside of Florida coming into the area. Visit Florida gives us this information. So if we look at spending in Martin County, ours would be higher because we have a lot of in-state visitation. Tourism supports a little over 8,000 jobs. And we generate $69.3 million in state and local taxes. And when we look at the state and local taxes and we divide that by the number of households, we get a benefit of $815 per household because of the tourism benefit of out-of-state visitors. We really wanted to hone in to the importance of outdoor recreation, which is huge. Outdoor recreation in Florida is 3.6% of Florida's GDP. 5.2 million jobs are supported in the U.S. And it contributes more than $50 billion annually to Florida's tourism economy. So when we look at tourism and the programs that we're developing, we know that there's a huge opportunity here. And we wanted to make sure that we were doing everything we can to capitalize on this. So putting it together, the tourism information that was provided about the benefit and then the environmental benefit we have here in Martin County, we wanted to really create a program that connects people with the outdoor, that it is sustainable, and that when we are inviting people to our environmentally sensitive lands, that we're doing it properly. We wanted to showcase the unique Martin County experiences and support the local economy that connects the ecotourism businesses and events. And we really want to show this. Donna, do I minimize here? What this really looks like. So, maybe. Welcome to Martin County, Florida. A little slice of paradise where nature's wonders come to light and adventures await around every corner. Here, visitors can explore more than 22 miles of uncrowded beaches and over 100,000 acres of parks and conservation land. From lakes and rivers to sprawling campgrounds and nature preserves, there's no shortage of spectacular sights to discover. Needless to say, this is a special place that deserves to be protected for generations to come, which is why we have developed Explore Natural Martin. Our ecotourism program offers a gateway to unforgettable journeys throughout Martin County. Proudly developed in partnership with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, our award-winning program was designed in a way to promote responsible recreation and foster environmental stewardship in our own backyard. Built with the seven principles of Leave No Trace at heart, This program provides a diverse range of unique ecotours that demonstrate what makes Martin County such an ecologically distinct destination, uncover stunning outdoor areas and lesser-known hidden gems, while also learning how we can all better protect our paradise. We believe that Mother Nature belongs to everyone. Available to visitors and residents alike. Simply register ahead of time at ExploreNaturalMartin.com to secure your spot. Whether you're seeking the tranquility of a guided nature walk, the thrill of a paddle excursion, or an educational birding expedition, our program offers something for outdoor enthusiasts of every age. So what are you waiting for? Join us in celebrating the beauty of our natural lands, the serenity of our waters, and the spirit of conservation that defines Martin County. You're sure to make memories that'll last far longer than tan lines. Learn more at ExploreNaturalMartin.com. That's excellent. Eight weeks of staff time. So we see a lot of takes, a lot of time spent in the woods. Actually, yes, it was bought the staff. If you could see, we have the Parks Department, Public Works Department, the Tourism Department, the libraries, so administration. So we use a lot of local talent that keeps the costs down, as well as we all work together on these programs, so we wanted to showcase them. So this program has done extremely well. I said 32 awards for tourism and innovation. That's 33, actually. We just got this one yesterday, and this one is for leadership and ethical and environmental responsibility. So we're extremely, extremely proud of this. We've been awarded the Destination Stewardship Award by the U.S. Travel Association, Eco-Friendly Sustainable Destination by Travel Weekly, the International Stevie Awards for Sustainable Services of the Year, the Government Executive and Marketing University, Gaynor Award for Innovation, as well as Visit Florida Flagler on Sustainable Tourism. And we have also received the Association of Marketing and Communications Professional Excellence in Corporate and Social Responsibility. We knew it was vital if we're inviting people into our environmental lands that we're doing it correctly. So what are people saying when they go on these tours? They're talking about thank you for showing us what this is about. Thank you to Martin County for taking the lead on this because this is a county-led program. And we thought this was really important going into it, that we're leading with Leave No Trace. These are comments from visitors and residents and that we're making sure that we're doing a difference. So Explore Natural Martin before I hand all of the nitty-gritty over to our fabulous Emily Dark. It's a county-wide program focused on environmental education, exploration, and stewardship. This program is free for visitors and residents. Unless we're working with a local outfitter, and then if they have a charge, we would be partnering with them on that. It would just be led by us. Registration is required in advance, but these programs take place year-round, which we thought was very important. One thing we learned from tourism is we can promote the fact that we have over 115,000 acres of parks and conservation land, but going to a park on my own, on your own, or as myself, is nice, it's enjoyable, I do a nice hike. But if I have a subject matter expert that's leading that hike, I fall in love with the area. It becomes part of what I want to protect, and it's very important that we're doing that. So I'm going to turn this over for the nitty-gritty to Emily, who's going to talk about some of the programs and examples and some upcoming exciting things. Okay, thank you, Nerissa, and good morning. So here are some program examples. We do everything from birding series, birding programs. We just finished up our seasonal birding series, so we did a different ecosystem every month for five months. That was fun, and we had a different ornithologist for each month. So that was fun. Sea turtle ecology walks, looking at tracks, night hikes, mangrove walks, spring equinox. These are just some examples, but there are so many. Okay, so what does that look like? What do we actually do? So as Nerissa mentioned, we do programming. So that is guided nature walks, so consistent programming on natural areas. We do the county preserves. We partner with the state parks, and we make sure to vary the locations, times. I know we do some Saturday mornings, so just different nature walks. Outreach and volunteering programs, for example, the fire fest at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. We'll have a table and talk to the public there. Youth education, we partnered with parks to do summer camp activities. That was great. We also partnered with the aquatic preserves on that one. Resource management, you know, trail maintenance, signs, kiosks, which I'll get into a little bit further down the presentation. Stewardship programming, directing people towards opportunities in the county for volunteering and stewardship, and then, of course, our own incorporating stewardship into our programming with Leave No Trace. And then innovative programming, Bark Ranger, if anyone has heard of that. That is a fun one that's originated in the national parks. But that is a great way to address responsible pet recreation. So Bark is actually an acronym, Bag Your Waste, Always on Leash, Respect Wildlife, Know Where You Can Go. And when you read about it online, you kind of, your pet or you makes the pledge to follow the rules of bark, and we educate why that's important in our ecosystems. But then if your pet pledges to be a bark ranger, they get a bandana, which is really cute, and a little tag. And they're all custom made for Martin County. So again, it's a positive way to kind of share that information, how to help take care of nature while enjoying it with your dog. So that's just one example of a fun program. So participation. We do send out a survey, so we get some great information after our programs. And 98% of those folks that do the survey are really satisfied with our programs. We've had over 2,500 individual participants. We've done over 170 programs, and since this was made, we've had more. And we love collaboration. We work with over 25 different partners, and here are some just examples there. I mentioned Florida Fish and Wildlife, the Hope Sound Nature Center, All Trails. Those are just some examples. The Audubon, Wildflower Foundation. So I'm really trying to make this program robust with a lot of collaborators and partners. And some examples of collaborative programming. The City Nature Challenge, we just wrapped that up this past weekend. And as the video and Nerissa mentioned, Leave No Trace, the Gold Standard Program, our Explore Natural Martin Program, is a Gold Standard Program, which means that we use Leave No Trace. We educate about it. I'm a Leave No Trace trainer. You know, you fit these different criteria, and we do. We're also Tourism Partner of the Year with Leave No Trace, which is really exciting here in Martin County. Leave No Trace started a Gold Standard Program for hotels. And we have the first hotel on the East Coast, not East Coast of Florida, but on the East Coast of the United States, that has been designated as a Leave No Trace Hotel Gold Standard Partner. And that's the Comfort Inn. And that's for the innovation that they're doing, the education they're doing with their visitors when they check in, and being responsible. So that was very exciting. We announced that last week, I think. And we have two other hotels in the queue to become Gold Standard Hotel Programs partners. And that is a really great collaboration because, like Nerissa said, the hotels are committed to not only talking about sustainability at their property, but how guests can practice sustainability and recreation or responsible recreation outside of the hotel. Also being aware of, you know, keeping in contact with us and being aware of what's going on, where the, you know, we're giving them information and they're taking it and using it. So that's a really great program. And then today I'm just going to focus briefly on the Florida Trails Trail Town program because of some new signage that folks might be seeing around town. So just a little background so we understand the larger picture. The Florida Office of Greenways and Trails is housed within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. And they lead the planning, development, and promotion of a statewide non-motorized trail network. So this Office of Greenways and Trails supports regional trails like the East Coast Greenway. And it does this through collaborative land acquisition, state designation for protection, and leveraging funding for multi-use infrastructure aiming to connect communities along these trails. So the state partners with local governments, nonprofits, like the Florida Greenways and Trails Foundation, and the East Coast Greenway Alliance, county governments, to build and maintain these routes. So the Office of Greenway and Trails also promotes and supports trail systems through a program called Florida Trail Towns program. So what is a Florida Trail Town? It's a community located along or in proximity to one or more long-distance non-motorized recreational trail. And that's the key is, you know, the proximity to a long-distance recreational trail. A Trail Town is a safe place where visitors and residents can walk, jog, bike, paddle, etc., and find the services they need, easy access to the trail and in town. So a Trail Town is a locally vibrant community that provides services and unique heritage of the nearby community to trail users. It is a community that values and promotes trails, both regionally and locally. And just some examples of benefits of being a Florida Trail Town. It's an opportunity to showcase and support local businesses and your local economy. It helps prioritize trail connectivity and multimodal access. And then also, of course, inclusion in statewide marketing and trail promotion efforts, like with Visit Florida. And as you notice on that map, there's not a star yet on the East Coast, Southeast Coast. So currently, we at the Office of Tourism and Marketing are working collaboratively to get City of Stewart and Port Salerno designated as Trail Town separately. And the reason for that, we have the long-distance regional trail, the East Coast Greenway, running through both of them. So we are working with Martin County MPO, Parks and Recreation, Public Works, CRA, City of Stewart, and, of course, the Office of Greenways and Trails, and the East Coast Greenway Alliance. So the East Coast Greenway Alliance actually came down and visited, and their director came out with us, and we walked the whole sections of the route. We drove the whole route. We talked about where signs would go, and that was with MPO. And so it's been very collaborative, and we were very happy to have the director of the East Coast Greenway down here because the City of Jupiter was getting their sections designated to the head of party. So we'll be next soon. So, again, very collaborative, and we are very close to submitting our materials for City of Stewart, and then right behind that was Port Salerno. So just working on finishing up some wayfinding signs. So just so you can see, the East Coast Greenway here is a developing 3,000-mile-long trail that connects cities from Maine to Key West. It links walking and biking routes along the East Coast, and where it is complete, it is mostly off-road, multi-use paths offering safe, continuous corridor for recreation, transportation, and long-distance travel. Not necessarily always completely off-road, but that is the idea. So you can see the whole East Coast there, and then zoomed into Florida. So the areas that are green are completed and fit the designation, and then the parts that are not would be parts that don't necessarily meet the criteria, but they are still part of the route. So zooming in here to Martin County, you can see the East Coast Greenway does go directly through downtown Stewart and Port Salerno. And both communities also have paddle trail sites as well, so that's what makes them great trail towns. Much of the Greenway is on protected off-road trails, but some portions are still connector sections. So they may be on-road, it may be sidewalk, bike lane, so it's still technically on-road, and that's okay. It's still East Coast Greenway linking the parts that are technically, you know, over 10 feet, maybe off-road. But these existing, or these connector sections, which you would see in red on the right there, you know, they're still, they're considered interim solutions, not necessarily meeting the Greenway's preferred standards. But communities work to get those, to meet those standards, and that's the Sun Trail program, so they often overlap. So where we're kind of developing Sun Trail multi-use trails ends up becoming East Coast Greenway, so they do overlap. So yes, we in Martin County are working on those different sections there, and they're in different stages of development. But you can see the green there, those are officially designated East Coast Greenway sections. So that is why, when you see these signs out, because we have been marking the route here and there with these East Coast Greenway signs, that is why you see those. And again, that has been very collaborative, and thanks to, you know, Public Works and Dennis and the sign department helped us go out there and look at the places, and they put the signs in, and again, with MPO, so it's been great. And just to add, we have also designed some custom wayfinding signage to put strategically in places where, so, for example, coming off the Blue Way Paddle Trail at Manatee Park, where someone could say, you know, okay, town is this way, restaurant's this way, things like that. And then we were working with an Eagle Scout on a kiosk for our most beautiful off-road section of East Coast Greenway by Gomez Preserve, and that'll be a kiosk with a East Coast Greenway and Trail sign with lots of information, because lots of people use that section. And also, eventually, when we're designated as Trail Towns, we'll have some signs that talk about that, which is really special. So, looking ahead, like I mentioned, we're almost ready to send in, just finish some last touches here to get designated for Stewart and Port Salerno and continue our collaborative efforts. This is not just for the Trail Town designation, but it's a great effort to work together for trail connectivity and development in Martin County. So, thank you very much. We thought it was a good time to bring this up. Since these signs have been put up and you may be starting to see those, the tourism office paid for the ones that needed to be covered as part of this ecotourism program. And in case there were any questions as to how and why and what's going behind those, it's been a very collaborative effort, and I can't thank our ecotourism team enough who have walked the sites numerous times. So, that's National Travel and Tourism Week and just some information on Explore Natural Martin for you during this week. Excellent. Questions, comments? Commissioner Capps. I would just like to encourage our residents to take the time to explore our local natural gyms. You know, you can have the spirit of travel that is international or throughout the U.S. or throughout the state, but you can take that same spirit of travel into your local world and make it a goal to walk on every single trail in Martin County. And to explore and to see every single piece of the real estate we have here in our own county. It's really fun, actually. And it's inexpensive entertainment. Also, I remember one time a couple of friends who live locally who used to live in Colorado, and they said of Colorado that the really cool thing about living there is that there's so much entertainment that doesn't cost any money. And the light bulb went on to me, and I think that same thing applies here locally. If you get into the spirit of it, it's really quite fun to do. And then when you're doing it, think about what it means to leave no trace behind. Any further comments? Thank you very much. Great job. Yep. Our next agenda item is Department 4, which is approval of a sovereignty-submerged lands fee-waived renewal with trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund for the boardwalk and docks located at Indian Riverside Park in Jensen Beach. Hi. Carla Segura, real property manager. Did you get somebody to donate it? No. Well, the estate is. This request is for the renewal of the sovereign-submerged land lease at Indian Riverside Park in Jensen Beach. It's a nine-slip docking facility used for temporary mooring of recreational vehicles for visitors that attend the park. Nothing within the sovereign-submerged land lease has changed except for the renewal period. The new term runs from September 26, 2025 through September 26, 2030. There are no fees associated with this lease, as it is a temporary visitor mooring. And I also wanted to note it was brought to my attention. One of the other things that didn't change within the item is they didn't change the signature page, so we'll have to swap that out for the correct one. So we request that the board approve the sovereign-submerged land lease fee-waived renewal and authorize the chair to execute any and all documents associated with this transaction. If there's any questions, we'd be happy to answer. Questions for Ms. Segura? I do. So where are the nine dock slips? Who can use them? How are they regulated? How long can people stay? So it's just for, like, a day visit, like, if you come to visit the park. It's on the dock that's directly behind the pavilion, the big, the two-story pavilion there. And it just goes straight out into the water. And there's nine spots for people to put their boats if they want to visit the park. It's behind the Lankford Pavilion, nine slips. So can you show page 307, please? Okay. Where are the slips? Who can use them? How long can they stay in the slips? Can they spend the night? Can they spend two nights? Who regulates it? So the spots are at the end where it comes out and along the front side because there's a walkway for people to get off their boats and to get onto the dock. They cannot park overnight. It is just for a day visit. There's no time limit for the daytime, but they have to be gone by night. Our parks department regulates it in terms of managing the site. But there's a ramp. They've had floating docks there in the past, but now it's, I think, fixed piers that they have where you can tie up right there close to the L at the end. You can see that silvery strip there. The nine slips are there. So staff recommendation is that we approve the sovereignty submerged land fee waived lease renewal between Tift and Martin County. Is there a motion to approve staff's recommendation? So moved. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. And the last agenda item is Department 7, which is an approval of a memorandum of understanding with the Florida Division of Recreation and Parks for the Cypress Creek floodplain project and adoption of a resolution approving and accepting easements from the Division of State Lands. Mr. Mayall. Good afternoon. John Mayall, Environmental Resource Administrator. So this item is to memorialize an agreement with the Florida Park Service as the structure that's going to be implemented for this floodplain restoration project is on state park property. So it requires us to have a construction access easement and an ongoing perpetual maintenance easement. So our request is for your approval to move forward with executing that easement. John, you want to move the image to you can show where the easement is located. There you go. So the best way to explain it geographically is if you were going north on 95 from Jupiter, just past Cypress Creek, you can kind of look off to the right and it'd be generally in that area. It's a very difficult area to access and to work in, but it's a Mike Houston project. So we're figuring it out. Mr. Capps. In the spirit of ecotourism, I would love to see this if it's possible. Just to know what it is. Of course. I do have been there if there's an opportunity. Since it's in my district. Of course. Mr. Fox, is this your light? Yes, ma'am. Yes. Just to clarify on the easements being requested, the actual easement documents are still in the process of being prepared with the state. We have sketches of where the easement areas will be. So the purpose of this resolution will be for you to acknowledge and accept the easements once they're finalized. Okay. Is there a motion to execute the MOU between Martin County and Department of Division of Recreation and Parks? Move approval. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously. We have, I believe, reached the end of our agenda. Unless anyone finds anything that I've skipped. Commissioner comments? Any final remarks? Commissioner Hetherington? Today, thank you. How about you, Commissioner Campy? All set. I am? Commissioner Capps? I'm all set. And Commissioner Vargas? Okay. So there was some questioning last time about the expenses at the Sea Turtle Cafe. And I asked Mr. Abate to be here. Actually, there was a study done, a survey, I might say. And the top facilities, amenities, most important to households here in Martin County were the multi-use walking, hiking, biking trails, accessibility to parks, beaches, playgrounds, beach parks, beach access, beach cafes, and services, number five. Everything else, that was high priority. Everything else was below. So, Mr. Abate and I spoke about a beach cafe investment justification. Seaside Cafe was built during COVID-2020. Sea Turtle Beach? Well, estimate 2027 will be ready for us to be there enjoying the breezes and the pancakes. Seaside Cafe? $803.55 per square foot. That is a smaller venue, 2,453 square feet. Sea Turtle Cafe? We are now, what, seven years later? And we understand all of the pricing has gone up post-COVID. Aside from that, 1,027.13 per square foot. However, that is a 4,614 square foot structure. So, it's gone up 45% material cost increase, 45%, 50%. And we expected this, given the fact that we had to go up so much. And these are the vendors that we are speaking with. We're scheduled to go out to bids towards the end of this year. We had inflation-adjusted costs also. So, the Sea Turtle Cafe comes in below the adjusted benchmark of $138 per square foot, a bargain, considering today's pricing. So, we had to adjust inflation to make it a parity equal. So, that's $1165 for the Seaside Cafe versus $1163 per square foot for our Sea Turtle Cafe. So, I have a whole breakdown here. If any of our commissioners are interested in going through this, be very happy to deliver it to your office. I wanted to show you that this is very thoughtful. This is not something that we are just doing on the fly. And we are sharpening our pencils over here. However, the public wants this here in Martin County. Any questions from anybody else? Good. If you need the complete study, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Is the bid being done differently on this project? Mr. Abate? They're probably all somewhat different, right? Good morning. Kevin Abate, Parks and Recreation Director. The bid, it's design, bid, build for the cafe, same as it was for the Sea Turtle Beach Cafe. It's the same as Seaside Cafe. So, we are designing it in-house with our civil engineers and our design team. We have everything now in our CIPC, you know, as a programming planning document, are based on the current estimates in today's industry. But we haven't released a bid yet. Not yet. So, we don't know what the price is going to be? The goal is we'll be fully funded in October. My expectation is that we'll have the bid package available late in the fall and hopefully out the bid by the end of the year. Commissioner Campy. Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead. Is it fully designed, 100% design? We are at 60% design drawings. The architect, which is N2 architect with Nikki Norton, on her side, on the building side, is close to 90% for her end. So, we've already designed the kitchen, the hood, mechanicals being reviewed by different departments. So, our goal is to take it through the permitting this summer. And then we understand that the environmental permitting through DEP for the dune crossovers will take some time and get that part out of the way. That way, we can get the DEP permit done subsequently later and then bid out the entire package. But it is a complicated project on the dune, so it takes its time. But we've got pretty good estimates for this CIP that we presented last week for everybody. Thank you. Mr. Campy. Thank you. I'd just like to take a moment to say that I've had the opportunity recently to visit the sand dune. Whenever we have visitors come from out of town, we always make it a point to go there. The staff is absolutely fantastic, super friendly. It's always busy there. There's always a line of people to order to get their food, but the line moves so quickly. The food quality is great. The portions are great. The pricing, considering you're eating on the beach, are even lower than I think they would be in town. The place is spotless. The bar, I know there's a lot of people that tell me that they just go and hang out there because they just like the whole vibe. And, I mean, I think with your leadership and your team, that was one of the best decisions we ever made. And I'm sure the one at Jensen Beach Beach will be equally as great. And all the folks in the northern part of the county will get to enjoy it. For me to go over three bridges to have breakfast is a big deal. But it's absolutely fantastic. And kudos to the staff. I mean, I see you're not even getting a lot of turnover. There's a lot of the same familiar faces are there. It's just perfect. I mean, I don't have any notes for it. It just worked out absolutely great. I will personally invite you to have breakfast with me when this is – I will buy your breakfast. You don't have to, but I'd love to come and have breakfast with you and probably our county attorney. Sure. And everybody else. She will be our sunscreen. So, yeah, just very well done. Thank you. And while we're throwing accolades to the Charlie Layton Park, I know that it sort of was slow for a bit, but it seems to be in warp speed. I guess there's enough happening now with some of the highlights that people have really started to notice. A lot of it was – previous it was more like under-the-ground utility kind of stuff that nobody noticed, but now it's really starting to pop. And I think that will be an awesome new piece of the Parks and Rec crown, new gem. So thanks for everything your team is doing. You're welcome. Mr. Donaldson. I will say again that they have been great to work with. I have been in meetings. I've gone out to the architect's office. I've met with some others that are working on this. Kevin is very easy to work with, and they are extremely professional. And believe me, I have a giant pencil that is sharpened on this. So I'm excited when we go out to bid. Thank you very much. Mr. Donaldson. Just highlighting the fact that our recent contract for public works, which includes roads, stormwater, creating all the infrastructure needed to not only support the building, came in at $535 a square foot. So that was significantly why we supported that contracting method. Thank you. One last thing while we're brainstorming. I'm assuming all of my colleagues had gotten some pushback. There's been some social media and some other information that was put out into the community about the public-private partnership. Yes. I know that I had the opportunity to hear from many different departments of our staff prior to making that decision on why it was a solid decision, in my opinion. I mentioned it once to Mr. Donaldson. I don't like when there's, like, misinformation or the community has confusion or concern about a decision, even if it's after the fact. If our staff could put, like, a little one-page or a white paper together that could just explain some of the highlights. Normally there's some concern the days following a decision, but I don't know about the rest of you, but for my globe, it is still percolating around, and I'd like to have, you know, it's hard to explain all of the different details verbatim the way that it was explained to me. I do understand that most people grow up thinking, hey, you get multiple bids and you pick one like we do for other things, but there was a specific rationale for this decision that, when it was explained to me by our staff, made sense, and I'd like if we could have a version of that that we could put out there, because I think if our residents and taxpayers realize why we did what we did and how we did it, I think they would feel more assured. I agree. I've already asked for that same thing. I've received the phone calls. Mr. Abate. I just wanted to wrap up. Mr. Donaldson and I talked about coming back to the board. It'll be the first meeting in June with kind of a performance report on our revenue facility, so I'll be happy to put that together for you just to show you how things are performing. And while we're talking on the issues of cafes, the Seaside Cafe in its current fund balance is at $1.44 million, and its current net is over $400,000. So that facility by itself in the last four years is approaching a $2 million budget reservation, which is, you know, really helpful when we're going to, for example, replace the thatch after three years and some equipment, and it's performing quite well. So I'll give you an update on the ones that either I've inherited or have been a part of in my 15 years, just to let you know how we're doing. Thank you. Any further comments, questions? Mr. Donaldson. I just wanted to thank our clerk of court for hosting an investiture that I participated in with my daughter over the weekend, and so they did a really nice job of hosting, and the chief judge did an excellent job. Tony Schwab, thank you. I don't think most people understand what you're saying. It's okay. Mr. Donaldson has the honor of having his daughter, who was a local attorney, was sworn in as a new Martin County or District 19's newest judge, which is a remarkable honor, and she is considered pretty young for such a storied position. Congratulations to the whole family. Thank you. And the investiture I attended also, and it was just the perfect balance of solemnity and humor. And we also learned so much about our new judge in a mere hour. It was a wonderful ceremony. And our county administrator, Don Donaldson, the father, did a great job holding up. I don't know how you did it. I think I would have broke down. I can't imagine how proud you must be. Thank you. He's an engineer. That's how engineers roll. No motion. It was a lovely event, and I could see that you had your notes. Yes. Yeah. But you performed beautifully, and it was really very funny. But, again, it showed her human side, and I really, really enjoyed it. Ms. Elder. I'm all set. Thank you. We are adjourned. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.