Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the July 25, 2023 meeting of the Polk County Board of County Commissioners. At this time, I would call on Chaplain Murphy Henley, Polk County Fire and Rescue, to give her the invocation. I ask you to remain standing for a pledge of the flag. Good morning. Please pray with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us this day. Thank you for the opportunity and the privilege to serve this community. We ask as we gather here that you would grant us wisdom, clarity, and courage as we take on the tasks that are before us today. And I ask this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. Mr. Beasley, we have some employee recognitions. Yes, sir, we do, Mr. Chair, members of the board, members of the audience. We have five employees, I believe, going to be recognized today from various divisions. I'd like Mr. Foley to kind of do the intros and set the table for us. Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Jeff Foley, Public and Media Relations Officer for Communications. As Mr. Beasley said, today we are recognizing five employees for their service to Polk County. I'd like to invite the employees to come to the front as their names are called. And then if the honorees will remain standing at the front while the commissioners return to the dais behind them, we will take a group photo at the end. First, Edward Clark. Ed has worked in the Utilities Division for 20 years. He is currently a Water Pollution Operator 3, and he has previously worked as a Trades Helper and a Water Pollution Operator 1 and 2. Ed is a member of BioWizards, which is Polk County's Operation Challenge team, and he has won numerous awards for his work. Ed has twice been named Florida Champion of the Operations Challenge. Ed's hobbies include working with wood to create arc that has household uses and spending time outdoors. He plans to retire in 10 to 15 years to travel with his wife, Karen, and to continue with his wood-making projects. Next, Joe McQueen. Joe started working in Polk County's Fire Rescue Division 20 years ago. He has worked as a firefighter, driver engineer, and lieutenant, and he currently serves as captain at Station 23. Joe has earned two unit citations and his college degree is in fire science. In his free time, Joe enjoys camping with his family and friends, going on cruises, spending time at the beach, and doing charity work. Joe plans to retire in five years, although he anticipates continuing to work in the fire service field beyond that time. Next, Mike Wallace. Mike is celebrating 20 years of employment with Polk County, all of which has been spent as Parks Maintenance Manager within the Parks and Natural Resources Division. With 45 years of experience in the green industry, Mike is always searching for more efficient work practices and new technologies. A graduate of Warner Southern College, Mike also has completed Florida State University's Certified Public Manager Program. In his free time, Mike and his wife, Jill, train dogs, travel, and enjoy outdoor activities. Mike says he has never met a dog that he does not like. Next, Derek Harp. Derek has worked for Polk County's Parks and Natural Resources Division for 25 years. Derek's father, Lois, was Polk County's first Parks and Recreation Director, and Derek is currently the county's Recreation and Program Superintendent. He previously worked as Recreation Coordinator. A University of South Florida graduate, Derek has coached high school baseball at Lake Region and Fort Meade over the past 25 years. In his free time, Derek loves sneaking away to North Georgia to visit family and to attend University of Georgia football games. In the future, Derek looks forward to continuing his Polk County work. He also plans to continue enjoying time with his family and friends and to continue traveling. Finally, Sandra LeMay. Sandra began her Polk County career 25 years ago as a Fiscal Specialist 1 for Health and Human Services Division. She was promoted to a Fiscal Specialist 2 before moving to the Roads and Drainage Division, where she works as a Fiscal Specialist 3. In her free time, Sandra enjoys looking for evidence of Bigfoot. She has participated in the Mid-Florida Bigfoot Research Group. She also loves painting rocks and hiding them for people to find. She uses this exercise to spread kindness, marking the rocks with words of positivity. In the future, Sandra plans to work on her house and to advocate for grandparents' rights in Florida. We've got some family coming up here. Thank you, folks. Congratulations. Thank you, everybody. At this time on the agenda, we invite the public to come forward for any comments they want to share with the commission. I have one request card from Ms. Andre Marie Weaver. Ms. Weaver, please come forward. Adjust the microphone to your height. Give us your name and address. You'll have three minutes. Hello. My name is Audrey-Marie-Weaver. I do not have to state an address as I choose to live anywhere and not subject to adversely law jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is known by the posting of the fraudulent gold fringe U.S. flag. I represent myself for the third time in this final meeting regarding case file LDCU 2023-10 to state for the record, I do not consent to the commission of any communication tower, regardless of height, for any uses. Approval and commission of monopoles is contingent upon the consent of all parties to a judgment and parties in interest. Black laws, dictionary, second edition. The foundation of the consent is with the conditional acceptance, and that is parse syntax grammar, if you don't know. I have received information that this contract was submitted before final approval and was confirmed. This is a serious breach of contract between the FCC and the implied LDCU-2023-10. All words stated, notice and pay us. Beneficiary signature, Audrey-Marie-Cohen-Weaver. Witness in attendance. Off the record, who wrote the agenda for today's meeting? It was a combination of... A combination. So were actual people writing this agenda, or was it artificially created? Mr. Chair, I'll just remind the board that this time it's for the public to make public comment. It's not a question and answer time, but she may make her comments. Thank you. So no one is willing to sign the copy that I have of the agenda, correct? Okay, that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to address the board this morning? Seeing none, we will close the comment section and move to the consent agenda. Approve the consent agenda. Have a motion, have a second on the consent agenda. Have a motion, have a second. Any discussion on that motion? All those in favor, say aye. Opposed, like sign, motion carries. Ms. Butterfield. Good morning. Good morning. To approve and ratify payroll checks number 02167 through 02222 in the amount of $80,154.78. We have 2,550 direct deposits in the amount of $3,567,415.48. And those are dated July the 14th of 2023. We have wire and electronic fund transfers, $8,033,109.33. And those are dated July 11th through July 24th of 2023. We also have invoice checks numbered 440905 through 441822 totaling $17,410,105 and 37 cents dated July the 11th through July the 24th of 2023 for you to approve and ratify, please. So moved. Second. A motion to second. Any discussion on that motion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign, motion carries. Yes, just one more thing if I could, Mr. Chairman. I'm pleased to announce that I will be reopening our Lakeland Branch Courthouse office, the clerk's office, as of August the 1st. We will resume our services and our normal operations, which are Monday through Friday, 8 to 4.30 p.m. And we look forward to getting back to normal, and we thank everyone, the public, any of our customers, the judiciary, and the board for their patience during this closure. Thank you. You got fully staffed, ready to go. We have it fully staffed, and they're trained for now. Just a little statistics, January of this year through June, I hired 50 people, and we have approximately 300 people. I lost 47 people in that time frame, so I'm a net three ahead at the moment, so that's positive progress. So thank you. Thank you, ma'am. We have a special presentation this morning to invite Mike Britt to come forward under our section for other government agency presentations. Gentlemen, good morning. Good morning, Mr. Chair, commissioners. For the record, my name is Gary Hubbard. I'm the director of Winter Haven Water. This morning, we have a brief presentation on One Water. It is actually one of the alternatives that was selected by PRWC as Peace Creek Integrated Water Supply, but we call it One Water, and with that, I'll turn it over to Mike for the presentation. Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to come and talk with you about water. That's one of my favorite subjects for sure. We've been doing a lot of work in Winter Haven. We acknowledge our location in the watershed, as all of Polk County is a headwaters region, and Winter Haven especially is at the headwaters of the Florida Aquifer and the Peace River watershed. So this is just a map showing Winter Haven's location in the watershed, and plus all the lakes in Winter Haven. I know everybody here knows about the lakes in Winter Haven. We've got a lot of lakes and a lot of groundwater recharge happening with those lakes. We are located in a hydrologically impaired region. We're part of the Southern Watery Caution Area. We have low lake levels around the county. We have low river flows around the county, especially in the Peach River watershed, Peach Creek region, along the Lake Wells Ridge especially. And that's the result of, you know, we've pumped groundwater for a long time. We've ditched and drained water away from the land for a long time. We've kind of had so much urban growth, and that kind of affects our hydrology some along the way. But in the end, we're already a hydrologically impaired region, and we can't really afford to be more hydrologically impaired as time goes on. There's a lot of drivers that drive our decisions for the future. Urban growth is just one of the big drivers. The Polk Regional Water Cooperative has done an amazing job of getting us prepared to supply water for urban growth. So that kind of aspect of water management in the future is kind of taken care of on a regional scale or at least a countywide scale for multiple local governments. But one of the things that our efforts to find new sources of drinking water have occurred, I don't know if you know this statistic, but we're paying about $60 million for every 1 million gallons of water we generate for future growth. So if you think about the value of water, and if you kind of assign the idea that all water is kind of connected, then $60 million for every 1 mgd of water is a lot of money. So if water supply, treat your water supply has that kind of value, all other sources of water that are even connected to that have a lot of value as well. So that's a relatively new thought that we have in our thinking process for managing water in the future. And then another aspect of water is that water is such an interconnected resource. You can't manage one aspect of water without it affecting another. And we want to make sure that we're managing water today so that we don't cause additional problems down the road that might cause future generations to expend even more money for water than they might have to. So there's a lot going on with water. Water is an amazing resource. It's interconnected. It's valuable. And plus it provides us with so many benefits. You think about the scenic beauty, recreation, those kind of things that water provides. It's pretty incredible. So one water is the concept about how we manage water as this collective resource. We try to consider all benefits water provides, all value water has, all the interconnections water makes, and the benefits to society as well. This is the definition we use for one water in Winter Haven. I'd like to point out that one of the parts of this definition is the overall quality of life. So this is for us in Winter Haven. You know, we have the Channel Lakes. We have water that benefits everything we do. We have a whole series of nature parks that are focused on managing water and provide recreation in the community that have been around for, you know, over 20 years now. So we have some good experience in what water can do. So water as a community resource, as a quality of life resource, and also that water provides multiple local and regional benefits as well. And the regional benefits is very important to us. You know, as we manage water in the top part of the watershed, we can recharge more water to the aquifer. We can hold water. We can protect flooding. We can provide water quality benefits for everybody downstream, and so that kind of idea goes across, you know, the entire county. Here's the framework we use. This is the mental framework we use for kind of the one water process. But every management aspect of water is kind of connected to another in a lot of ways. So we not only water, you know, restore, recharge, reclaim, and reuse as the general kind of management framework, but then in the middle of that, we're doing utility master's plans. We're doing lakes management plans. We're building recreation systems and health and quality of life benefits for the community, and also the economic development part. We're one of the fastest-growing economies. I think I saw Florida is the largest-growing economy, largest economy in the whole nation now. I'm not sure if that's a new thing or not, but pretty incredible to think about that, and water drives that economy. One of the ideas about One Water is rebalancing the water budget. You know, as we manage water, historically, we've always tried to get rid of water. You know, we ditched and drained. We get rid of it. You know, we don't want to get rid of it. Oh, well, and when there's a drought, we, oh, now we want to restore it. We want to hold it. We want to recharge it. But One Water is this long-term process to rebalance the water budget to benefit all aspects of people and the environment. So that's kind of a good way to think about it. We do have that ability to rebalance the water budget in many cases. Here's the water resource portfolio and kind of those management techniques. You know, aquifer recharge, you know, is we can use treated reused water for that. We can use surface water, excess storm water for that. You know, reused water is one of the most flexible resources we have to manage drought conditions for wetlands, things like that, but also as a potable water drinking source as well, too. So reused water is a key component in that decision-making process. You know, water conservation. In Winter Haven, 40% of our water supplies go to landscape irrigation. Now, if you use that previous number of $60 million per 1MGD for Winter Haven, you know, that's $24 million. Wait, did I do my math right? Oh, $240 million worth of water that we're spraying in the landscape and kind of doing that kind of work. So, you know, that gives you an idea about the cost and benefit of how we manage water. So a huge, huge component to One Water is water conservation. And then the surface water and wetland restoration part. We're learning that the natural infrastructure kind of element of this. So if we can use the natural systems to manage water to whatever extent we can, it provides a huge number of benefits. Flood control, water quality, habitat improvements, recreation, scenic amenities. But also this bottom one on the list, waterfront development. If you hold water and store water in the right way, it can facilitate future growth. It can create value for future growth. People like to live in high-density urban areas near water, which uses less water than a sprawling kind of a single-family home development might. So that's a really important aspect of well, too. So there's like a land-use urban development kind of partnership that we're working on to make this work. Many of y'all may have heard our signature project is called the Sapphire Necklace. So these blue areas on this map kind of surround Winter Haven. And it goes along the Peace Creek drainage canal that was dug a long time ago kind of to get rid of water for, you know, for agriculture, for pasture lands, things like that. But as we grow and develop, there's an opportunity there to store water in these floodplain areas. So these are areas that are going to kind of flood anyway. We have an opportunity to store more water there but create urban growth around it. So the blue areas are the water storage features, and the orange areas on this map are urban growth, or planned urban growth that would take advantage of this waterfront feature. So that's what One Water does. So One Water, it's a valuable commodity for urban growth and water supply, things like that, but also it's a valuable commodity for future development as well, too. And not only can we do that in the right way because we can do that in a way that facilitates the permitting process for urban growth as well because we're going to make things better in the future than it would have otherwise. So there's a lot of benefits to managing water in a natural system approach. Oh, and by the way, there's a 30-mile recreational trail that connects all this together, too. I call it a recreational trail. I think of it more as a multimodal transportation system for, you know, getting around the community as well, too. So here's just kind of a summary slide, basically. But water touches so many parts of our lives, of our industries, our economy, urban growth, agriculture. Almost everything we do touches water in some way in the future. So how we manage that across the whole board of water resources is going to be really important. And then the partnership part of it. Once one water is really a collaborative process to try to bring in partners from all aspects of anybody that needs water, that uses water, that benefits from water. And it really is a shared kind of process. So the idea that we have kind of silos in managing water, that where we get to think of water is kind of for our own type needs, it starts breaking that down and brings us together in a collaborative process. So we are working hard. Winter Haven is a part of a One Water Coalition forming in Florida. So we're trying to get a lot of interest in building this idea of One Water as something that would kind of benefit the whole state and a lot of areas. And we also have a One Water Summit in Winter Haven coming up on October 12th and 13th that we hope that you all encourage staff to participate in or would love for you all to come and kind of hang out with us, too. So with that, that's just kind of a quick overview of what we're doing in Winter Haven. Thank you, Mike and Gary. We appreciate sharing that important message with us. Certainly, Winter Haven's commitment to PRWC and all these other challenges is refreshing and part of the partnership that we enjoy in Boat County. Gentlemen, thank you. Good luck. Mr. Beasley. Mr. Chair, members of the board, the manager's office will have three items for board consideration this morning. Items number H1 and H2 will read and sound similar, and they both have the same objectives. Item number H1 is to request the board to consider approving an agreement with GFL Solid Waste Southeast LLC for curbside residential solid waste collection services within designated service area number 2. This is a five-year term with the first-year estimated annual expense of $22,344,521. In March of this year, Polk County solicited proposals for the purposes of providing curbside residential solid waste collection services to begin on October 1st, 2024. The current waste collection contracts are set to expire September 30th, 2024. RFP 23-175 was issued in early March, and four vendors submitted proposals. The county's recommendation of awards was issued in April and was subsequently protested by Coastal Waste and Recycling of Florida, Incorporated. The Coastal Waste and Recycling protest to deny a contract award to GFL Solid Waste Southeast was subsequently denied by the county manager, and the procurement director's recommendation of award was upheld. In June of this year, the board approved the selection committee's recommendation and authorized staff to negotiate proposed contract terms with all interviewed proposers, beginning with the two highest-ranked vendors, those being GFL and FCC. The proposed agreement becomes effective upon execution by the board. Collection services under this agreement are to commence on October 1st, 2024, and continue through December 31st, 2029. The parties may elect to renew this agreement at that time for a period of three years by way of three one-year renewal agreements. Funds to support this program will be collected as part of the annual Waste Collection Disposal Special Assessment Program and assigned to the Residential Collection Fund. So, Mr. Chair, members of the board, in the interest of the long lead times necessary to prepare for the logistics associated with these types of contract, I would request the board approve a refuse collection agreement with GFL Solid Waste Southeast LLC in connection with RFP 23-175 with first-year services estimated at $22,344,521. Subsequent expenses are subject to allowable, documented, and board-approved contract adjustments to be considered by the board on an annual basis. Second. Motion to second. Discussion. Mr. Braswell, you represented the board on this process. You want some comments? Well, first, Bill, would you do me a favor? Yes, sir. The only questions that I've had since this was in the news, it's the same number of customers, basically, between the two companies, but one's getting considerably more money. Can you explain why? It's almost the same number of customers that projected beginning October 1. And I suspect that the basis of the difference is that there is the eastern sector is a much larger zone. The eastern sector has a lot more rural areas that have to be addressed. So I believe there is a cost differential associated with the land mass that has to be addressed in the eastern sector as opposed to the western sector. Yeah, I've just been telling people it's windshield time. Yes, sir. That's the same thing. It's time not picking up garbage. It's not as concentrated. Yeah, this was an interesting process. It happened right in the middle of a terrible episode in Polk County's history of garbage collection. We seem to be through that and over that pretty much. I just want to say, going forward, one thing that has shifted with our philosophy on garbage collection, we concentrated a lot on missed collections. We accept the fact that there will be missed collections. What's really important is the recovery of those missed collections. What was happening that was so bad in the last couple of years was they were missed and then they weren't picked up for a week or two weeks or three weeks. That's just totally unacceptable. We've told the haulers that and we believe they've come around on that. But that's the focus going forward is how they recover and how well they recover and certainly how quickly they recover. But I'm glad to – I hope this is behind us, but we'll see. Commissioner Braswell, if I could add, for the first time on a significant basis, Polk County now will perform self-hauling services in the southern sector of the county. Any other comments or questions of staff? We have a motion to second. All those in favor of the motion, say aye. Opposed, like, signed. Motion carries. Mr. Chair, members of the board, item number H2, similar in nature and scope and complexity. I would ask the board to consider approving an agreement with FCC, Environmental Services Florida LLC, for curbside residential solid waste collection services within designated service area number one. This is, again, a five-year term with the first year's estimated annual expense of $16,909,286. The narrative is the same. Mr. Chair went through the exact same process, fielded the exact same protest, ruled in the exact same manner. This, again, is a proposed agreement that becomes effective upon execution by the board. Services under this agreement are to commence on October 1st, 2024, and continue through December 31st, 2029. The parties may elect to renew the agreement at that time for a period of up to three years by way of three one-year annual renewal agreements. Funds, again, collected to support this service will be collected through the annual solid waste collection and disposal special assessment program and will be assigned to the residential collection fund. So, Mr. Chair, members of the board, similar to the previous agenda item, I would request the board approve a refuge collection agreement with FCC, Environmental Services Florida LLC, in connection with RFP 23-175, with a first-year service estimated at $16,909,286. Subsequent year's expenses are subject to allowable, documented, and board-approved contract adjustments to be considered by the board on an annual basis. Move approval. Motion to second. Any discussion on the motion? Mr. Chair, I'll just, for the record, the protest only involved GFL, not FCC, but the protest was part of the same RFP, just to correct the record. Thank you for the clarification. Any further discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Opposed, like, sign. Motion carries. Mr. Chair, members of the board, the final item from my office this morning is to item number H3. I would, this is in connection with asking the board to consider approving a collective bargaining agreement between Polk County and an International Association of Firefighters, the IAFF, those that are representing Polk County firefighters and battalion chiefs. The IAFF represents firefighters and battalion chiefs employed by Polk County Fire Rescue Division in two separate bargaining units. The most recent collective bargaining agreement between Polk County and the IAFF expired on September 30th of 2022. Negotiations for successor collective bargaining contracts commenced in the summer of 2022. Despite extensive negotiations, the parties reached an impasse on the proposed collective bargaining contracts and an arbitration hearing before a special magistrate appointed by the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission was held on April 10th and 11th of 2023. The special magistrate rendered his recommendations on June 16th of this year and based upon those recommendations, Polk County and the IAFF reached an agreement on new contracts for both the firefighters and the battalion chiefs bargaining units. The new collective bargaining contracts are two-year agreements which begin, become effective on October 1st of 2022 and will expire September 30th, 2024. Mr. Chair, members of the board, before I make a formal recommendation to the board, I'd like to have Deputy County Manager Joe Holman approach the podium. Mr. Holman, as well as Mr. Mink and several others, were vehement and active participants in the negotiating process. And I'd like Deputy County Manager Holman to kind of touch on some of the more salient and more impactful elements that are included in the proposed agreement, especially as it relates to compensation. Mr. Holman. Thank you, Mr. Beasley. For the record, Joe Holman, Deputy County Manager. First, I want to thank the county negotiating team along with the local IAFF for reaching this conclusion. Many months and long hours were spent to reach this agreement. We believe, I believe, that this contract will allow us to retain our talent, good talent, and create competitive pay and benefits for our employees. As Mr. Beasley said, this is a two-year contract ending in September of 2024. Upon you approving this contract, all bargaining units classification will be adjusted in accordance with recommendation that was issued by Cody and Associates in their compensation study in Polk County in 2023. This is a two-year contract between IAFF local and Polk County. As you can see, firefighters, which is the law of fire rescue, are looking at an average of 12 percent increase. The engineers are looking at a 14 percent average increase. Fire captains, as you see, it's the most, 32 percent. One of the things that Cody and Associates showed, that the fire captains were way out of whack, along with the battalion chiefs, which are looking at about a 24 percent increase. Look at our demographics. One of the things that our fire chief looked at when he first got here is, who's leaving? At what point are they leaving? And you can see five years or less, we've had a 50 percent turnover rate. And that's significant. And so we're going to try to address that in this contract to deal with that issue. What does it cost for this to be implemented? And most of the dollars, as you can well see, is at the firefighter rank, while the captains and battalion chiefs receive individually a little bit more. But the majority of the money is going in that lower rank. What about those who have topped out? Well, we're going to address that issue as well. And we have 10 firefighters, 10 engineers, 17 captains, and one battalion chiefs that are topped out. Those who are topped out, once they have been adjusted, and then after October 1st, then they will get a lump sum as standard with county practice. Generally, the question is, if I rescue, what's the majority of your calls? Clearly, 81 percent, and that's just this year. Eighty-one percent of our call volume has been medical, and that's significant. I was in, the chief and I were at a conference not long ago, talking to a larger department. And I was shocked to know that we're working more calls than this larger department. And so, Polk County is busy, and the majority of what they do is medical. So, what does the contract call for? Firefighter paramedics, based on our research, will have a difficult time putting paramedics as the rescue vehicle. Eighty-one percent of what we do is medical. And so, we intend to address that with this contract. And so, those paramedics who work the rescue vehicle will receive another $1.75 an hour. I think that is cutting edge. I think that will certainly have a positive impact. Currently, any medic in the fire department gets $2.82. So, those who work the rescue vehicle will not only get $2.82 an hour, they'll also get an additional $1.75 an hour. One of the things through negotiating we dealt with had to do with when fire and EMS folks become exposed to some kind of pandemic or anything of that nature. And so, if the county manager decides there's a need for that, they will be given administrative leave. Funeral leave. Currently, they were at $33.6, which is like a day and a half when county employees get three days. So, we just changed that so they can get two days off. Cancer. We basically changed the contract to reflect that it's, as outlined in Florida Statute 112.186. And basically, what that means is, if a firefighter is diagnosed with a particular cancer, I think it might be 9 or 12 or whatever it is, then the county has to pay them $25,000 once it's been determined they have it. And then lastly, the military leave went from 17 days to 20 working days. In my closing, I want to thank the fire chief and his staff for doing a Hercules job. Again, those who worked so hard on the negotiating team, along with the IAFF, after we went through the special magistrate, we sat right down and reached an agreement, which I believe is great for this county. I'll stand for any questioning. Any questions? Mr. Hallman and Chief Smith, I want to commend both of you and the entire administrative team and the IAFF team to come to this agreement. I think it reaffirms this board's commitment to public safety. In your short time here, you've made great strides, and I mentioned it in an earlier meeting. I was so proud to attend the graduation and the pinning ceremony a few weeks ago, where 82 individuals participated, largest class ever. I just see great things and reaffirms the commitment by this board to give you the resources and your team the resources to do the job we depend on. Thank you all. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, subject of the board's approval this morning, funds are available in the fire fund to cover the current year pay increases that would be implemented immediately. Funds will be budgeted in the proposed FY23-24 fire fund to cover the estimated additional salary and benefits costs of about $6 million a year reoccurring expenses. So, Mr. Chair, members of the board, it's an honor, it's a privilege to recommend to you and request that you consider approving the IAFF collective bargaining agreement, representing the Polk County firefighters and those battalion chiefs. I approve the agreement. Second. Motion to second. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed, like, sign. Motion carries. That's it. Anything else? No, sir. Mr. Wilson. Mr. Braswell. Yes, I move to reappoint Robert Beltran as a member, seat one of the Polk County Planning Commission for the three-year term, September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2026. Second. A motion and a second. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, sign. Motion carries. Anything else? Nope. That's it. Mr. Santiago. Nothing at this time. Thank you. Mr. Cumbie. Yes, sir. I would like to, for a motion, to appoint Michael B. Schmidt as a member of the Polk County Planning Commission for the three-year term, September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2026. Second. Motion to second. In my time on this board and watching this board activity for decades prior to that, I've never seen a nominee not be approved on the recommendation of the commissioner. But it causes me concern when I hear on Facebook Mr. Schmidt's animus that he expressed regarding the comp plan, the Planning Commission, the Board of County Commission, the staff, and believes the commission's role is to substitute their knowledge for the codes that are adopted. Clearly not familiar with the quasi-judicial process. Any land use applicant exercising their private property rights would have a legitimate case to ask Mr. Smith to recuse himself from this predisposition. It would be a challenge for the county attorney's office and their orientation, which is we require an initial orientation and renewal of that orientation every year. Or perhaps this might want to cause us to reissue or revisit the land use hearing officer concept at a future date. But I was concerned about some things that I learned over Facebook, and I just wanted to share those. Do we have a motion and a second? Yes, sir. Yeah, I saw the same thing that was brought to my attention. There was a lot of emotional statements, not based in fact, just based on whatever. There was not a lot of criticism of the board, but there was some. But I know the board can take it. It's not a big deal to us. I mean, that's what we do. You know, it's not – I hear you, George. It could be an issue, but I don't think it will. I think – you know, I've seen people appointed to the Planning Commission, because I have appointed them, that were very vocal until they get there. And once they find out what the rules of engagement are, understand the process better, things kind of fall more in line with the comp plan, land development code, and they seem to figure it out. So I just want to make those comments. Thank you. I'm sure that the County Attorney's Office can give a competent orientation, and everybody will understand their roles and their limitations. And I appreciate that from all of you. As a matter of fact, there were a lot of comments on that particular post that were very emotional from some people I know and some that I don't know. But I agree with Bill. I've seen the same thing. I've appointed – this will make the third member since I've been back here. And all of them have complained to me about, you know, the development that's occurring in the county. And I'm like, hey, you come sit in judgment if you're willing to do it. They're all intelligent people. They've all got, you know, some good qualities about them. None of them understood what they were getting into, just like about 99% of everybody that gets appointed to it. But he'll either make a good member or, you know, I'll personally ask him to step aside. Well, as I said, I'm confident that the County Attorney's Office will give an appropriate and competent orientation, and we'll all sing kumbaya. So we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those like sign, motion carries. One other thing, Mr. Chairman, I wasn't trying to be cool or aloof in here wearing my sunglasses, but – and I hope I haven't scared any of those people that came up here and got close. But I look so much better today. Glasses wouldn't make it. Put it back on. I look – oh, thanks a lot. I look like the devil's meaner brother a few days ago, and I hate that I couldn't be here with Friday. But they told me – the doctor told me with the medication I've been taking that I should not be contagious. So I thought I'd better – could not be contagious. But if you've got some – what's it called? That stuff you wipe with? Hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer, you might want to use it when you walk out the door. Here we are. Spray it in his eye. It's conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye. But, boy, it's been a severe case. But thank you, Mr. Chairman. Anything else? That's it. Okay. I don't have any comments at this time. We now move to the expedited hearings. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And before we begin, I'll start the public hearing general procedures. Oh. We ask that you turn off your cell phones and other devices that may distract from the public hearings. Please adjust the microphone and state your full name and address for the record before you begin speaking on topic. Individual speaking during a public comment section of a matter will be strictly limited to three minutes. The Board is experienced in these matters and is able to discern what is legally relevant to an issue and what is not. Information that is irrelevant or repellent only serves to frustrate and necessarily prolong today's business. The Commission expects civility at all times during public hearings. Speaking out of turn, shouting out from the audience, disrespectful sounds or audiences while another is speaking are unacceptable and you will be asked to leave the chambers for the remainder of the day. If any person decides to appeal any decision made by the Board with respect to any matter considered here today, you will need a record of the proceedings and that for such purposes, you may need to ensure a verbatim record of the proceedings that's made, which record includes the testimony evidence upon which the appeal is to be based, which you must gather at your own expense. Anyone in the audience who wishes to speak or present testimony today must be sworn in. All testimony given during public hearings shall be deemed to be sworn. At this time, if you're going to address the Commission or speak on any case today, please stand, raise your right hand, and answer out loud the following question. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony or evidence you provide to the Commission today is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Thank you. Mr. Chair, the next items we have are the expedited hearings. I will go over those procedures very quickly. Expedited hearings are held pursuant to Resolution Number 2022-089. Expedited hearings are used when no opposition was present at the Planning Commission hearing. The applicant agrees to the expedited hearing, and the recommendation of the Development Review Committee is for approval. Expedited procedures are the following. After staff briefly introduces the case, the hearing will be open for public comment. If anyone speaks during public comment, the applicant will be given the opportunity to respond. After public comment, the Board will consider the land use case. At any time, a full presentation from staff can be requested from a commissioner, the applicant, or a member of the public. All documents attached to the agenda item are deemed part of the record of the land use case. Unless removed from the list of experts by motion of the Board, all individuals on the list of experts attached to the agenda item are deemed experts for the purpose of the land use case. At this time, Mr. Chair, I'll turn it over to Mr. Siskel for the presentation of the expedited hearings. Thank you, Mr. Mink. For the record, Ben Siskel, Land Development Director. Mr. Chair, item number 01 is an expedited public hearing for case LDCT 2023-8, private airstrips, to consider changes to the land development code to add private airstrips to the use tables in the agricultural residential rural land use districts. The current code designates any facility, including aircraft operations, as an airport. Staff recognizes the differences between a commercial airport and a private airstrip on a residential property, and is recommending this text amendment. This is your second hearing in the adoption hearing, and following any questions, staff recommends approval, and I'll stand for any questions. Any questions of staff? Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on the matter described. If you wish to speak on this matter, please come forward at this time. Seeing none, we will close the public hearing and entertain a motion. Motion for approval. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, sign? Motion carries. Mr. Chairman, item number 02 is an expedited public hearing for case LDCT 2023-9, RV connection to electrical, to process land development code text amendment to allow recreational vehicles and boats parked on residential property to connect to electrical service with proper permits. The current code restricts any recreational vehicle or boat from connecting to any utility. This would allow connection to electrical service for routine maintenance. This is your second hearing in the adoption hearing. Following any questions or comments, staff recommends approval, and I'll stand for any questions. Any questions of staff? Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on the matter described. If you wish to speak on this matter, please come forward at this time. Seeing none, we will close the public hearing and entertain a motion. Approval? Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, sign? Motion carries. Mr. Chair, that concludes the expedited portion of your public hearings. Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this time, we'll move to the non-expedited public hearings for land development. Good morning, Board members. For the record, Mark Bennett, Senior Planner, Land Development Division. I'll be presenting the next two cases. Because the next two cases are on the same piece of property, I'll give a presentation on both, but we will need separate actions on each item. So this property is LDC-PAS 2023-3, which is a land use amendment for 9.02 acres going from residential medium to business park center. And then the subsequent district change is for a portion of that property, the request being to go from BPC-1 to BPC-2. This map shows the proposed change for the plan amendment and shows the change for the proposed sub-district change from BPC-1 to BPC-2. The site's located south of Lakeland, north of Mulberry, north of 540A, east of South Florida Avenue. This is a more detailed view of the site. The site is accessed primarily from Brandon Road West, which of course goes out to South Florida Avenue. This is a detailed picture of the site. This is the current land use designation of residential medium with the proposed land use change to business park center. The district change would be proposed from BPC-1 to BPC-2. Surrounding uses, auto repair, animal clinic, vacant with residential to the south and east. The dashed line also shows a power line traversing the property. These are aerial photos of the site. This is looking south and to the west. This map and the next map shows that there are floodplains and wetlands on the very southern end of the property. And you can see by the drawing of the lines that the applicant took those into account in determining which areas they wanted to designate as a business park as opposed to leaving as residential. And if both actions were to be approved, this would be the proposed designations. And the key point of this slide, as you can see, there's a transition from the existing business park center 2 designation to the proposed BPC-2 designation. As you go further south, a transition to BPC-1, which is a more, excuse me, less intense land use designation with the residential medium remaining to the south. This is the last slide. To summarize, DRC recommend approval, staff recommend approval, playing commission back in June, also voted recommend approval on a 7-0 vote. So with that, I'll stand for any questions. Mr. Bennett, would you back up to the aerial? Which one? Go forward. No, the other forward. Okay, that's my last slide, so. The color one, slow down. Second to the last slide. Yes, back to the last slide. There? Next to the last slide, keep going. Second. No, keep going. Second from the end. How about that one? Nope. Second from the end. Okay. Sorry, I asked. Yeah, I'm not tracking. Keep going. Well, the Snapchat thing just disappeared. Okay. That one? That one, there we go. Okay. Okay. The BPC-2 matches what's to the north? Yes. And then that line coincides with the power line? Generally, yes. And then the BPC-1 is still the same ownership, but the less intense? Yes. And the triangular to the south of there, still the same ownership, but remains as is? Yes. That constitutes mostly the wetland floodplain area? And a pond there. Yes. A pond. The pond will serve whatever happens to the north? Right. Okay. Just clarify the ownership all the way down to that point. Right. Any questions of staff? This isn't the form of mine laying. It is? I believe naturally reclaimed. Any other questions? Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing. If you wish to speak on this matter, please come forward at this time. Yes, ma'am. Were you one of the ones that stood up when you raised your hand? Okay. Come on. Name and address, please, ma'am. Shelly Thayer, 749 Peninsular Drive, Lakeland, Florida. I'm the executive director at SPCA Florida, and that particular property butts up to our property. Currently, that road is very, very narrow, and there is no line down the road, and there is no shoulder on the road. So, oftentimes, I find myself with semi-trucks and so forth going off the side of the road, so to many of our employees. So, it's a very active road already. So, I think that if something was to butt up against that, that our drain field butts right up against that, as long as our, as well as our dog pads and so forth, up against that property. So, that is, used to be a dead-end street, so that's kind of why we chose that property in the beginning, but we don't see a problem going through as long as the traffic is controlled because we have a, we're open seven days a week with over 200 cars minimum, and over 90 cars just of our staff alone. So, it is a very busy street, which is a very, very narrow old country road. So, I do have concerns about that and just what that might cause in the future. Thank you. You have 90 people working there? Pardon? You have 90 people working there? Yes. Not at one time. Yeah. We're trying to get to no-kill Polk County by 2025, and we're almost, we're getting there. Commissioner Lindsay asked, not all at the same time, though, right? I mean, there's shifts to work, I guess. Yeah, we all actually pretty much do. Some of the staff is staggered, but then our hospital is open, so it's getting clients all day long. We have over 100 clients that come every day. And same with our adoption center, up to 200 people or cars a day. So, that does, and then our semi-trucks that are delivering every day. So, we feed a lot of Polk County animals that belong to residents who can't afford care, have a lot of different programs like that. Free vaccine clinic last week was about 200 cars. So, we do use that road a lot. So, this could impact it greatly by having a larger park in that area. Mr. Chair? Yes, ma'am. Where exactly are you located? Can somebody show me? 5850 Brannon Road, West. You see the BPC2? Right here. Right there. Right. Okay. Thank you. At the end of the road. Pardon? It's at the end of the road. I'm sorry. You're at the end of the road. Yes. Y'all are at the end. There is no cul-de-sac there, though, is there? Right. Not really, no. There are a long time. It just kind of ends there. I was here last month when we approved the other side, and it was supposed to be a small business park, and we thought, okay, that's not going to cause too much impact. But this definitely could affect the flow of traffic on that really old road. Thank you, ma'am. The staff will take that into consideration when they review a site plan or a... Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you for bringing that to our attention. Anyone else wish to speak on this project? Yes, ma'am. Name and address, please, ma'am. Driggers. Ms. Driggers, did you stand open this morning? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I actually live in Auburndale, Florida, but I own the property on Brandon Road Warehouse. Right now, we have actually a swim school in there with children. It's become very popular. As you know, we're surrounded by waters. Drowning deaths are awful and growing. So it is going to impact us greatly as well. I agree with her completely. It's a beautiful road. There is traffic, but the people that come down in there are aware. Of the children and the animals and the people, to create more traffic on this road without any attention to that issue, I think is grave. I appreciate very much what you're doing. Obviously, I'm a commercial person. I have commercial properties. I benefit from different meetings and different adjustments, but I think this is grave. I would like somebody to revisit it, consider the businesses that are already there, and adjust accordingly. And that's all I have to say. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak on this matter? We will now close public hearing. We'll have two votes on P1 and P2. First one is entertain a motion. I would move approval. Let me find the first one here. LDC PAS 2023-3. Question for staff. Now let's get a second to the motion. A second to the motion. And under discussion, it's going to be asked Mr. Bennett. Yeah. I guess there's really no way to know what kind of traffic would be generated by this. This is all. This is BPC2. The dog kennels, the shelter is BPC2. I think Mr. Eggers probably looks like all BPC2. So anything that's over there would be allowed over here, I'm assuming. That's correct. Unless there was grandfathered stuff over there. That's correct. I guess I'm surprised to hear that there's 290 trips maybe a day to the dog shelter. I never would have guessed that. But obviously you know. You've got firsthand experience with it. But probably not a chance we're going to approve another dog shelter here. Or maybe nobody else will come in and compete with you on that. That's pretty hard work. And I don't know, Mr. Eggers, where was yours? Is yours just across the road? Okay. Because I can't really tell much from that photo. But there's really no way to know what's going to be there except the same kind of uses are allowed over here as are allowed up on the north end. Right. That's really it. Mr. Braswell. I mean, we can ask if you know what's planned there. I mean, has there been any indication of what's planned there? Yes. We did receive a, I'll call it a conceptual site plan because, of course, it's not binding. But the conceptual site plan showed the property being split up into about eight lots. Again, the intent is for business park uses. And, again, the conceptual site plan showed the access coming off of Brannon Road West, which is this road here. Not the road in front of the. Correct. Correct. And Shauna asked me to point out one fact. In our staff report, we identified that there would probably be 53 peak hour trips. So maybe you lost me there. The road that we were talking about two minutes ago is not projected access road to this. Right. There's Brannon Road West, which is the anticipated access point. There's also Brannon Road South, which is located here, which the SPCA uses for access. Any further discussion with staff? We have a motion and a second. All those in favor of the motion, say aye. Opposed, like, sign. Motion carries. 23-5, same general subject. Entertain a motion. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on that motion? All those in favor, say aye. Opposed, like, sign. Motion carries. Thank you. The last two items we have will be presented by Mr. Allen for their vacations of right-of-way, or easements. Good morning. Wade Allen, your real estate services administrator. The first item we have is to consider adoption. Excuse me here. The county received a petition from Daniel Hutton to vacate a portion of a platted public drainage easement lying along the northern boundary of Lot 17, as shown on the platted Colbert Court, Phase 1, recorded in Platt Book 98, page 44, Public Records, Polk County, Florida. Subject easement is located in Section 10, Township 29, Range 24. The Platt of Colbert Court, Phase 1, recorded in 1994, dedicated all heights away in easements, shown thereof to the use of the public. The petitioner is the owner of Lot 17 and recently requested a building permit to construct a covered porch along the rear of the residence and adjacent to an existing pool with screen enclosure. During the process, it was discovered that the proposed porch would encroach into the 20-foot-wide platted drainage easement located along the north boundary line of the property. Additionally, it was discovered that an existing in-ground pool and the screen enclosure, which were constructed by the original owners back in 1997, were already encroaching into the easement area. The petitioner is requesting to vacate the south 10 feet of the drainage easement, which will accommodate planned improvements and clear the existing encroachment. Vacating the requested portion of the platted easement will remove the public interest in the subject area, which will allow the petitioner to move forward with their planned improvements and clear any clouds currently or in the future caused by the current existing encroachment. The Roads and Drainage Division and the Office of Planning and Development slash County Engineer have no objections to the proposed vacation. Staff recommends the board adopt a resolution to vacate that portion of a platted drainage easement as shown on the platted Colbert Court Phase 1, as fully described in the legal description attached to the petition and the resolution, and I'll remain standing for any questions that you might have. Any questions of staff? Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on the matter described. If you wish to speak on this matter, please come forward at this time. Seeing none, we will close the public hearing and entertain a motion. I'll second. The motion is second. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, signed. Motion carries. The county has received a petition from Shelton T. Rice, attorney with Peterson and Myers, as authorized agent for Majestic Realty. Excuse me here, just one moment there. Thank you. As authorized agent for Majestic Realty to vacate a portion of a platted and unmaintained access easement lying south of lots 2, 3, 46, and 47, as shown on the plat of Waverly Growers Development recorded in plat book 39, pages 6 through 13 of the public records of Hope County. The subject easement lies in sections 12, township 26, range 26, also section 7, township 26, range 27. The plat recorded in 1956 depicts various access easements on the plat, which are presumed to be dedicated to the public. The petitioner is the owner of lots 2, 3, 46, and 47, and has requested the vacation of that portion of the platted access easements lying adjacent to the south thereof in order to assemble with this property and accommodate future development. The county staff contacted the adjacent property owner to the south of the subject easement, being the Lulin Trust, and it has consented to the vacation. Vacating the easement will remove the public's interest in the subject area and allow the petitioner and the adjacent property owner to assemble and more fully utilize their properties. The appropriate county divisions, along with the utility providers, have received notification and have no objection of the vacation request. Staff recommends the board adopt a resolution to vacate a portion of the platted and unmaintained access easement, as shown on the plat of Waverly Growers, as fully described in the legal description attached to the petition and resolution, and I will remain standing for any questions you might have. Any questions of staff? Ladies and gentlemen, this is a public hearing on the matter described. If you wish to speak on this matter, please come forward at this time. Seeing none, we will close the public hearing and entertain a motion. Move adoption of the resolution. Second. Motion and second. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor, say aye. Opposed, like signed, motion carries. Thank you, Chairman and Board members. Any questions, any comments from anybody else? We are adjourned.