Board of County Commissioners on 2024-11-05 9:00 AM

5th BOCC meeting. If you would, please stand for the invocation followed by the pledge. Good morning. Please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, your word reminds us that it is good for your people to live in unity, not setting aside our differences, but embracing them as we work together. So as our nation and our community decides today, and as we engage here in meaningful discussion and make decisions that will affect the citizens and visitors of this county, we ask for your wisdom and guidance. Fill us with your grace, and may all that we accomplish here today bring you honor. And I ask this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. 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. Good morning, commissioners. I'm Jeff Foley, public and media relations officer for communications, today we are recognizing three employees for their service to Pulp 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, Eddie Benton. Eddie has worked for Pulp County for 30 years, since 1994. He is currently an area maintenance manager in the Mulberry unit for the roads and drainage division. Eddie began his career as a service worker. Eddie credits Pulp County's OED classes for helping him prepare for a managerial role, and he's earned certificates for FEMA classes, as well as certificates for stormwater, erosion, and sedimentation control from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Eddie and his wife, Gloria, have been married for 50 years, and they have one son, two daughters, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Eddie says he is thankful to Pulp County and the management team for supporting him over the years. When it's time to retire, he is looking forward to spending more time with his family, working at Family Church in Lake Wales, and fishing. Nicole Walker. Nicole has worked for Pulp County for 25 years. She started as a Pulp County 4-H agent, and she quickly transitioned to her current position, Director of the Cooperative Extension Service Division. Nicole earned a Master's of Public Administration degree from the University of South Florida, and she is a certified public manager. She recently received the UF-IFAS Superior Accomplishment Award for her work as a member of the IFAS Extension Civil Rights Team. A member of many work-related organizations, Nicole has also served in kids' ministry for 25 years. She enjoys hiking, camping, kayaking, traveling, and building her own personal library. In the future, Nicole hopes to continue advancing the Extension's mission of educating residents to make informed decisions that sustain our local agricultural industry, protect our ecosystems, improve personal and community health, and prepare youth to lead. Eddie Barnett. Eddie has spent the last 20 years working for Pulp County's Roads and Drainage Division. He is currently an Asset Management Technician. Eddie has bowled 1,400 games, and at age 32 was the youngest member to be voted into the Orange Belt Bowling Association's Hall of Fame. Alongside his wife, Kelly, Eddie is the joint owner and operator of Coach Eddie's Backyard Barbecue. Eddie enjoys bowling, fishing, barbecuing, walking, spending time with his family, and attending local short track stark car races. He says that Pulp County has been a wonderful place to work and that he's looking forward to serving as residents in the future. Speaking of the future, Eddie has three very specific goals. To keep advancing with Pulp County, to keep on smoking with Coach Eddie's Backyard Barbecue, and he's looking forward to his 5-5-28 retirement date. All right, moving on. Let's see here. Request from the general public. I had a couple already scheduled. There are no-shows, but I have some here. Hmm. We'll just start. Jared Smith. Hello. My name is Jared Smith. I wasn't intending on speaking today. Kind of a last-minute thing, but kind of representing some people here. I know we're not the only ones that have had some water issues. We're in South Lakeland off of Oakmont Lane. It's about 20-plus houses that are affected by the flooding. We've got a lot of good people there, people that work in, obviously, this community, vets, elderly people. So we're just looking for some direction, I guess. People are starting to get their insurance money back, and they don't know whether to rebuild. They don't know if the pumping situation is going to be a permanent solution. There's a lot of unanswered things. I guess that's one of the biggest things. There's also some talk about the feasibility reports that happened prior to in the 90s, 2005, had some additional, I think it was seven solutions or possible ways to fix the issue. But it seems like it kind of hasn't been addressed. I know there's, you know, unfunded projects is what they say. But I guess my question is, you know, for instance, Clubhouse Road, and I'm not saying this is a comparison, but there was a need for sidewalks on Clubhouse Road, and it took something tragic to happen before it was funded. Traffic signals, unfunded project. It takes three fatalities at an intersection before it's funded. So I know this only affects 20 or so houses, but it's 20 families, 20 people, vets, elderly, you know, young families. So I guess that's my biggest thing is meet some sort of direction. Like I said, I know we're not the only ones that are affected by these floodings. It's all over, you know, Florida in general. But that was my biggest thing is just if we can get some sort of direction on what the county's intention is and what you're proposing to do, if anything. Can we get your address for the record? Sure. It's 5905 Oakmont Lane, Lakeland. Thanks. Mr. Chair, it's not much of a consolation, but what I heard, and I think it's probably true, is the amount of rainfall that we received Wednesday night and Thursday from Milton had not occurred anywhere in Florida since 1933 or 34. Obviously, you and I weren't around in 33 or 34. We've never seen anything like this. But I think when you talk about Oakmont, Oakmont, Lake Deason, Lake Deason, we installed a pump system in that many years ago, and unfortunately, it failed when it was actually needed. But finally, I think they've gotten it back up and running. But what we have to do, and we talked about this Friday, and I think everybody up here agrees, or at least in a concept of, you know, changing our regulations or standards immediately or as soon as possible that addresses closed basins like Oakmont, Lake Deason, and maybe other places differently. And if you want to develop in a closed basin, then we're going to have to have some, you know, plan B for something like this. And plan B isn't, you know, working, you know, night and day for 10 days to try to set up a pump system. Obviously, that there's costs that are associated with that. And, you know, the problem is that everybody else in the county shouldn't have to pay for that. We need to find a way to, you know, put that cost on the folks who are going to rely on and dependent on it. But it has to happen. We cannot look at closed basins the same way we have knowing what can happen or at least did happen with Milton. A little consolation now. But, you know, maybe the solution is if there's 20 homes affected there, that we have to put in a system of some sort to, you know, deal with flood borders where we can pump it when the time comes. Yeah, that would be awesome. And that's what I think everybody's looking for. I didn't come up here to, you know, hoop and holler at everybody. But, you know, they're just looking for some answers to figure out what they're going to do, if they're going to rebuild or if they're going to try and sell. I can tell you right now, nothing's going to be decided here today. We're obviously very aware of the problem. We're working toward, I don't know if the pumps have started yet, but we're working toward pumping the water out. Jay, have the pumps already started over there? All right, so we're pumping water out. That's all we can do for the moment. We'll have to drop back and see what the, like Neil said, see what the cost benefit is to fix your problem and everybody else's problem. But, like I said, it's something we're intimately aware of and we're going to deal with it. But, you know, not today. Yep. Thanks. Danny and Tracy Boyette. Good morning. Morning. Our address is 5908 Oakmont. And, uh. Okay, we stand before you today not only as someone who has experienced an unmanageable loss, but as a voice of our family and our community. We've lost everything. Our home, our memories, and the very foundation that we built our lives upon. For nearly three weeks, our house stood submerged in standing water. In those weeks, we held on to hope that someone, anyone, would step in to help. But that never came. That never came. The flood damaged not just our belongings, but very structure of our home. Walls, floors, electrical systems, and plumbing were all affected. The place where we felt safe is now unsafe to live in. In addition to the damage, there are health risks associated with mold and contamination, which means we can't just move in and rebuild on our own. The financial burden is overwhelming. Insurance doesn't cover all the damage and the cost of repairs is more than we can manage alone. We've already began the process of a clean-up, but restoring our home will require professionals and resources. We reached out to everyone we could. We appealed to FEMA, the Red Cross, and our local county officials. Yet, despite our pleas, we have been met with silence or empty promises. We've seen politicians' visits. We've had TV news crews standing in front of our damaged homes. We've spoken to reporters from newspapers, but still, we feel no real action has been taken. Let's be clear, this wasn't just an act of nature. This flooding was caused by the county's mismanagement, and now we're asking what happens next. We want to rebuild, but how can we when we don't feel safe? We need to know what steps will be taken to prevent this from happening again. Will you make us safe? Will you help us rebuild? Our community deserves more than just sympathy. We need action. We need a commitment from our leaders to not only address what has happened, but to assure that it never happens again. I urge you, do not let our cries for help fall on death errors any longer. We deserve to live without fear, without wondering if the next storm will wash away little we have left. And what we're saying is that I know there's no, you can't give us no answers, but we're left with nothing, and the county didn't even come out. And that's what we're saying. We don't know what we're supposed to do. We don't get no answers from nobody, nobody. And now we're looking at you guys for guidance. I don't know if you ever lived through this kind of a disaster. We never have. There's no book out there to tell us which way to go. So we're looking. We've talked to everybody. We've done all the red tape. We've followed all the rules, and nobody answers us nothing. So what can we do? Our house stood in six inches of water for three weeks. And I walked in gator sewage water. You're going to have to, like everybody else, you're going to have to go through the process. I know. You're going to have to file a claim with your company. But how much longer? Well, I'm not going to debate this today. I want to move on to the next person. I, I, okay. Stacy, Mickey, or Mikey. Good morning. My name is Stacy Mickey, and I live at 5810 Oakmont Lane with my husband Pete and our four cats. As of this weekend, we finally have access to our home via our road and driveway by car. First of all, we want to thank the county for implementing the pumping, which has allowed my husband and I and our neighbors to return to some sort of normalcy and to begin the painstaking process of recovering after the flood. For the past three weeks, we have endured limited and difficult access to our homes. Some of us walked through knee-high water, some through lifted trucks, and some of us even used the yards of the neighbors around us to access our homes. We have had no garbage service, no mail service. We have had limited or no septic, and access to us for emergency personnel would have been challenging to near impossible had we needed it. The past three weeks have been stressful, exhausting, and frustrating. But my husband and I know we are blessed because there are so many people in our neighborhood and across Florida that has suffered far greater loss. Some of them have lost everything. I really don't know all the answers as to why our neighborhood flooded so badly this time. I do know that in the five years we have lived here, we have had very large quantities of rain and have not even come close to the situation we are in now. I am not one to judge unless I hear all the facts or see the problem for myself, and I have no knowledge about drainage, runoff, and flooding to make the accurate diagnosis of these issue or issues. I do know that I depend on my county to protect me and my loved ones from avoidable harm and hardships. I do know that I vote for who I think will act in my best interests even when it's hard, even when it costs money that you would like to spend elsewhere, even when nobody is watching, or if everything seems okay on the surface or just for now. I depend on you to look out for me just as you promised to do when you assumed your roles for this county. We know there's nothing that you can do about what has happened, so let's look forward and discuss what we are going to do from here. We need to know what the plan is moving forward and we need to know as soon as possible. Do we rebuild, repair, or remodel? Do we pour more of our heart and soul and money into the homes in the neighborhood that we love so much? Is the pump system going to be permanent or is it something else going to be changed to prevent this from happening in the future? Are you going to allow our area to be a permanent flood basin and are you going to try to buy our homes? If so, are you going to pay a fair price for them? We have so many questions. Although the water is receding, we are still stuck. We cannot move on or until we get answers. I ask you to please be decisive and swift in your actions for our neighborhood. I know that we're just a small portion of this large county, but we do matter. If you haven't seen our area, I ask you to drive through, although it's not currently in the best state. Our neighborhood is beautiful. Our residents take great pride and ownership and take great care of the homes and landscapes. We love our homes and our neighborhood and we're pleading for your understanding and compassion in this matter. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Heather Sawtel. Hello. I'm sure by now y'all are probably tired of hearing from us Oakmont people, but, and I apologize for that, but everyone has different needs. And I think if you put a face to the homes, you would understand this. I'm a little upset today because my husband, he's a disabled veteran and he's at the hospital right now. So we all have different needs, like I said. And one of the things that we had need for was emergency services during this time, which I'm pretty sure if you're on a commissioner or anything that had anything to do with the county from the historical society, all the way down to lean and development, my husband probably emailed all of you. During this time, he has his third bacterial and probably they're testing for E. coli, which they probably said that came from the water that's in front of our home. So he is at the VA right now. He's a spinal cord patient. So it's not easy to get him in and out of the home. Always. We live at the end of the street. There's no other exit. There was an exit before some of the development happened that they had placed in as an emergency when it flooded back in 2004. But that has been now covered by houses. So there's no emergency exit. Emergency services did try to come into our neighborhood. They did not know that we were flooded. So when they came in on October 22nd, they could not get their vehicles down the road. They did ask me if they could use my lifted truck to take my husband out, which is not a feasible option for a spinal cord patient. So I want you to understand that not only have we been living through this, we were not evacuated. I do thank Commissioner Braswell. I did see you make a visit to the neighborhood and I thank you for that, for coming to check and see if we needed anything. We haven't seen a lot of people. We didn't see a lot of things. A lot of places were evacuated. I understand that a lot of people are underwater right now. My house is ADA compliant. My road being under water, my fire hydrant in front of my house being under five feet of water is not an ADA compliant measure that is taken. I don't know what we're going to do to make it compliant for my husband again. It's not feasible for me to pick up all of his metal equipment and move it out in a moment's notice when water comes in so fast that we can't stop it. I know that it's no one's fault per se. I know that we don't like to say that we pumped the water in, even though that we have videos of water being pumped into our neighborhood from other neighborhoods, even though that the water was to its highest point before Milton came. So I thank you Commissioner Cumbie. You've made a great point and I wanted to kind of reiterate because I was kind of confused by what you said. You said that 1933-1934 we haven't experienced rainfalls except for from Milton and that there's development in closed basins. Now I know that a lot of these houses were built in the 70s so that might have taken but my question is you said everyone shouldn't have to pay for that cost of those that are dealing with the situation that maybe it would go back to the homeowners that live in this closed basin. This this will all be decided at some point in the future. I do understand that. We got to sit back and and first got to get you, you know, get the water out of there before we can figure out what's going on. How much water are we pumping out? I have no idea. Jay, you got any idea how much water? Thank you. Bruce Davis. Good morning. My name is Bruce Davis. I've lived on Oakmont, I live at 5916 Oakmont Lane. I've lived there for 28 years. I've seen lots of storms and lots of flooding. The situation seems that I know I really can't mention the word. Let's just call it CC. Okay, it's getting worse every year. The Gulf is getting warmer. Storms that are coming in are entering as tropical waves and coming out as class five hurricanes. Things are are accelerating and the problems that we have are only going to get worse. Now, I want to say thank you to the county employees who have come down and have worked with us. I'd like to sing out Paul Womble, Phil Irvin, and special thanks to Loy Locke. He and his crew manned the pump on Oakmont Lane day and night and were very instrumental in getting the water out of my personal property. My property, I actually have two properties, the property on Oakmont Lane and the property immediately behind it. Okay, the drains from Oakmont and Imperial Lane both empty into my property. Okay, at one point I had 12 feet of standing water in the back of my property. Okay, they came out and they pumped it and they we've got it down to about six feet now and the pumps no longer work because of the inclination of the drainage and so forth. So, I'll just have to wait for percolation and evaporation and they're telling me it'll probably be at least a month before my property dries out. Okay, the thing about it is when I got there there were houses at the end of Oakmont Lane and people lived there and had not had any floods or problems for 20 years and then I think it was 95 when the first big flood came and we had problems and every year since it's like, you know, we get water in the bottom of the lake but it comes up and you watch it and it doesn't get to the point where it threatens the houses but there's always water there at the end of the summertime and always in September we get water. Okay, but the thing about it, I talk, I'm talking to the county personnel, they're almost uniformly in the belief that something permanent could be a permanent line down Tillery Road. Have it capped at Seward Lake where a pump could be installed at a moment's notice and that then they could start pumping it out. Okay, they're also concerned with how they would determine what the lake level should be to start pumping and so forth. So I just, you know, think that that the county crews done wonderful jobs and we particularly appreciate the port-a-johns. They came in very handy to those of us whose septic fields were totally flooded. Thank you, sir. Pamela Smith. Thank you very much. Good morning. My name is Pamela Smith. I reside at 539 Lake Bonney Drive East, Lakeland, in the city limits of Lakeland, Polk County, Florida. Our home resides, we are the second to the last house before it becomes county. Under normal circumstances, I reside there with my husband Michael and our daughter Mariah, but our current situation is we are homeless. I'm 51 years old and I have never in my life had to say that. But here we are, 2024, living the dream, remodeling a 1964 house to make it a home, living on a beautiful lake, doing all we can to be responsible lakefront owners. Since the end of July 2024, the water in the lake started encroaching on our backyard, consuming our dock, then completely taking over our entire home. Lake Bonney made its way into our home, making it no longer inhabitable. I did a records request through the county and was told to request that information from the BOCC. The floodplain manager was in our area seven days after Milton passed and had no idea this area was flooded. They were standing on Polk County property, not the city. Richard Benton, that's his name. Three times in the past two weeks, I've left messages. My name, my phone number, my questions. I got no response. If not him, who should I ask about the flood zone in Polk County since I reside in Polk County? How did our home become designated as zone X? And to my understanding, it means you're not in a flood zone, but I could be wrong. I never imagined I'd be standing here today asking why are we not in a flood zone if we are at risk of flooding and losing our home. City commissioners of Lakeland and the mayor says speak with the county commissioners for answers. I've asked my husband as well. He said, we're not in a flood zone. There's a pump. It's owned, operated, maintained by the city of Lakeland. If it gets too high, they're going to pump it into the watershed. Don't worry, babe. We're good. We own a home that is no longer inhabitable. Our homeowners denied us. We didn't have flood insurance. Why would we? We're in zone X. Why? We are homeless. How does that happen to someone like us? I'm asking the board, the county commissioners. Who designated us to be in zone X? How did we get there? We were in a zone AE prior to the purchase of our home. Where's the documentation? We're supporting evidence. Why are we not in a flood zone? Why? Why did you put us in zone X if you knew we were going to flood? Like my family and many other residents on Lake Bonnie, we've had to endure this. When is someone going to step up and take some responsibility? What role did the county have? How did we get in zone X from zone AE? I would have had flood insurance if someone would have told me that. I'm not trying to blame you guys. How did we get there? Let me help. We don't create the flood maps. It's the federal government that does it. I'm aware of that. Federal insurance rate map. Okay, then we don't create them. Nobody in this building creates those maps. I've requested records. If we wanted to create those maps, we can't create those maps. I requested records, and your city, your county official said, ask your county commissioners. I'm here. What are you asking? I'm telling you. I can tell you what if zone X means moderate risk of flooding. Okay. So there you go. Zone X means moderate? That's what. What's the percentage? We're not. Okay, we're done with you. Okay, we're going to move on to the next person. We're not we're not here to debate this. I was told by your employees. Please sit down. We're not here to debate. We know the problem. We're well aware of the problem. There's other people that want to. Can I get documentation from you guys? What documentation? I have no idea what you're talking about. I did a records request. All right, then you got whatever you asked for. I'm sorry? You got whatever you asked for. Did you? We'll follow up on the public records request. Yeah, can I say that? And I have your name, and I'll get your phone number, and we'll follow up on the public records. Vicki Manuel. Hello, my name is Kevin Manuel. This is my wife, Vicki. We live at 3620 Lazy Lake Drive North. Us and there's 10 other neighbors. We live on a peninsula. We're solely surrounded by water. Pelican Lake on one side, Lazy Lake on the other side, and a canal. We live at the end of the block, and there's a cul-de-sac. Now, in that cul-de-sac, there's a sewage pumping station, which has a sewer pumping station, which during the flood, it overcame with like two foot of water on top of it, which caused all the sewage water to be infiltrated into the lake water, as well as onto our property, which is a serious health issue. I'm a disabled veteran, as well. I have an ADA house, and again, I was denied. I couldn't use my ADA. I couldn't even get emergency services if I need to. There was three foot of water around us. The water didn't really start approaching until Friday. It seemed like they opened gates or something because the water started infiltrating. It didn't happen during the storm. It started coming in the next day. Finally, our church asked us how we were doing, and we told them, and they put us up in a hotel. Because, you know, I'm a disabled veteran, so money's an issue. So we didn't have funds to leave or move out. All our neighbors left. We were the only ones down there. So it really is a very serious thing. You know, the environmental hazards of just the water overflowing into there. We had your roads and drainers come and look. They finally, they answered, and they came, and they looked, and they said, all the culverts are flowing, everything is fine, hunky-dory, and you're going to be flooded again and again and again. So get used to it. And we're saying, what? We've moved into the house in 2017. We lived there from 2017 to 2022. Never flooded once. Never. Last year, 2023, it flooded. We dealt with it. So, but now this year, now it's flooded from Hurricane Debbie as well as Hurricane Bilton. So I don't know what's going on. They did some construction or something. Something has happened, but they need to be investigated and see why we are flooded and how we can prevent being flooded. And it's a very serious environmental concern, health concern, that that pumping station at the end of our block flooded. And I don't appreciate being surrounded with that health issue. I'm already a disabled veteran. I'm in a wheelchair. I can't deal with that, you know, anymore. So we're looking for a solution. You know, I know you guys can't give it now, but there's got to be a solution out there. The culverts can be bigger. Go ahead. I've got you both down. Okay. Continue. I'm Vicki Manuel, and as he said, we live at 3620 Lazy Lake Drive North. We had to be rescued by boat. There was three foot of water around our house. And in the lower part of our house with Milton, it was thigh deep in the lower part of our house. And with Debbie, it was eight inches in the lower part of our house. All our floors are destroyed. This was supposed to be our forever home. And we don't know what's going to happen. I don't know if we're going to have a home or if we're going to have anywhere to live because we put everything we had into this home and we made it ADA for him. I'm disabled as well, but not as bad as he is. We've had to have our church come and cut drywall out and treat the place and take everything out that needed to be taken out. Now we face it again. We have to move everything out of the house this time if we're going to have the floors removed and replaced. And the place smells like mold. And we've both been sick with sinus issues. And with Debbie, he was in the hospital for 35 days from walking probably in the water, the bacteria water. We couldn't even get out to our vehicle. We had to park our vehicles at the top of the neighborhood. And all the way about, what, 3,000 feet you said the road is? Yeah, about 300 feet. We couldn't even get in and out of our house. And like I said, we had to be rescued by boat. And I mean, it's a major disruption to our life. And we don't know where we're going from now on. And we're still at the house now, but the floors are caving in. We've had to have my son-in-law come in and put plywood down just to keep us from going through the floors. And the pilings have sank down. And we're at a loss. We don't know what to do. So we're asking for some kind of answers and some kind of help. And we know you can't snap your fingers and make something happen. But we're just crying out for some kind of help and assistance. And we're not very happy with the roads and drainage answer to our problem, saying we're going to be flooded again and again. The county workers that we support, we pay our tax dollars for, just came and tell us, oh, you're just going to flood again and again. We can't do anything about it. You know, that's really not an acceptable answer. So I'm really, you know, we're not very happy with that at all. So again, we're just looking for answers. We know you guys can't make a decision right now, but we ask for public record. A couple of things I want to make you aware of. When we get flooded, it takes at least two weeks for the water to go down. That means two weeks for us to either be able to get in or out of our home. Thank you. Diane Borders. Morning. My name is Diane Borders. My address is 2224 Evie Street in Lake Wells. I've been here before regarding the road drainage in the Highland Park Manor, but I thank you all for coming out. You all did come out and you all start the process in our community, but we still have the same problem that's been going on for years. And I have great compassion for these people that's been coming up here. My problem is not as worse as what they're going through, but I still have my problem. And I'm here again for that. We got notice that they're coming in our community to do this work, to do the start on this work. And they closed the road out. They put up the sign saying that they're going to reroute traffic. And it looks like to me, all they did was put pipes from one swell into the drain field. One. They had all this manpower out there that day, all the equipment. And all they did was just put up one drainage from one swell into a drain field. And we still have this problem that's been there for years. But, you know, when they come out and do some work out there, they come out and do a little fix, just a little fix it, put in a swell. But it's still not fixing our problem that we have out there that's been out there for years. And to me, knowing that right behind where they did this work on Freelander Road, there's a house right behind it with the same identical problem. And that's my house. They did the swell before. And the neighbor covered it up because it was digging into his yard. But still, when they have all this equipment out there to do the work, why not do more than one? Why just dig one swell and run the pipes over to the drain field and not do more? We've had this problem for years. But with all that power out there, the manpower, the equipment, traffic done, why do only one? On a regular basis, I've told you all before, too, that there's about a foot and a half of water that's at the bottom of my driveway. And when Hurricane Milton come, when it came through, I didn't stay. I threw some sandbags up to the door and I left, not knowing what it was going to be. But thank God that it wasn't as bad as what they thought it was going to be. We waited so long to get to the final and get this thing done in Howland Park manner in our community to start the work. And to see some of the people that had all this damage in their problem, I don't know when they're going to come back out to do and finish ours. They got out there about two weeks before Milton came and did this work that they did to run the water to the swell, to the drain field. I don't know if it worked or not because I left. But I'm just here to find out when. It took that long to come out and do that one job. When are they coming back to finish? Thank you, ma'am. Cassandra Richards. I live at 2357 Freelander Road in Lake Wells, Florida, which is Howland Park manner the same. I have mixed emotions. I'm gracious. Commissioner Rick Wilson, you have communicated with us. October, they took the center for disaster relief and this month is national holiday. So December the 9th is coming and I'm working with your secretary and I want to say thank you publicly. The same way I come, I come again to say thank you. Thank you to the commissioners for doing the drain in front of my house. I have a grandson that loves me very much. He refused to let me stay there regardless during Milton and he expect me to be at his house before the storm came. However, I got a picture. Lydia's street actually flooded. I mean, actually flooded. There's two streets behind me, which this border street is in the middle. The next thing I want to say is these hurricanes are getting stronger, dropping more water. The building needs to stop because once you concrete all of this land and this water is dropping, where does it go? It has nowhere to go. So not only will these people complain about flood, everybody will soon complain about flood. So I advise them now to get flood insurance whether you live in a flood zone or not because you don't know whether you do or not. So get flood insurance. The next thing I want to say, I'm moving forward because we have more work to do. They have approximately six subdivisions. They are building around Highland Park, Mountain Mountain. Down Hump Brother Road, Cross 60 on the other side behind Thousand Roses to the left and to the right. They coming up with the pipe plant and we have all of this coming. Yet my road is not a collector's road. Yet they use it as a collector's road to go to Wal-Mart because if they go down Lewis Griffin Road, there's no light to get across 60 and they'll be there forever. We need a light there but at Lewis Griffin Road and 60 because I'm tired of them flying through my neighborhood and we have children. My road is not a collector's road. I've already told Steve Logan. I spoke with his supervisor. Now I'm speaking to the county commissioner. Please get something done. I appreciate your time. Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else? I've got Glenn Lawhorn, but I know you're here for P1. And Laura Coyle and Marion Ryan are here for P5, I assume. Or you want to come now? Yep, go on up. Good morning, commissioners. I'm Marion Ryan. I reside at 2215 Avenue A Northwest in Winter Haven. I'm the conservation chair of the Ancient Islands Group of the Sierra Code, Florida. I'm here to express our group's continued objection to the proposed changes to Polk County's comprehensive plan and land development code that will affect property within the green swamp area of critical state concern. The land use density in both the critical and core areas of the swamp was determined by an analysis of the impacts of density. The Central Florida Regional Planning Council coordinated that analysis, which was conducted by the Nature Conservancy, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and the Department of Community Affairs. Each entity contributed their expertise and worked together to consolidate the recommendations in a manner that afforded the best opportunity for development with the least impact. That document, the Green Swamp System Scientific Analysis Green Swamp Task Force 1992, served as the basis for the language of the settlement agreement negotiated with the state of Florida, which is still in effect. If the proposed changes are upheld, the potential exists to allow an additional 1295 properties in Polk's area of critical state concern. The Green Swamp's wetlands provide important flood storage, improve water quality, and provide the headwaters for four major river systems. The swamp is also a critical hub for the Florida Wildlife Corridor, which stretches across the state. Additional poorly planned density could threaten the function of these resources as well as degrade dark sky values, which are important to migratory flyways. We believe a better approach is amending the development code to allow variances that would be considered on a case-by-case basis rather than give many property owners a wholesale right to increase their development footprint under the proposed changes. This could resolve those few cases where property owners may suffer a hardship that is not self-created. The county has continued to chip away at the original settlement agreement in concert with emasculated growth management laws and the transition of the Department of Community Affairs over time to what is now Florida Commerce. We want to see incremental changes packaged as a whole. The long-term big picture for the area of critical state concern must be transparent and the public must be involved. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Come on up. Are these folks going to talk about Oakmont or before they speak? I'd like to invite Paul Wambel up for just to ask him a question regarding FEMA? Yeah, I don't even know. There he is. The biggest question these folks have is what do I do now? Do I rebuild? Do I vacate? Do I demolish? Whatever. The county is not going to be in a position to buy these properties out under any circumstances that I see it, but as for a future board to decide. But there is a protocol for FEMA to do that. In fact, we have previously taken some homes obviously with the permission of the owner under some very strict guidelines, establishing values that are codified. So the folks that are on a dilemma, do I rebuild? Do I vacate? You know, as briefly as possible, what is the process and who do they contact and what is the necessary timeline for them to get a definitive answer? Yes, you are a candidate for condemnation or no, you're not. And I understand there is a FEMA representative team on site, I guess you're still here, that could help guide them through the process to at least give them an answer, go or no go, so that they can move on with their lives, whatever that answer might be. Could you shed some light on that for us, please? I'll try. Commissioners, good morning. Paul Womble, Emergency Management Director. A couple of things there. As to the buyout, the FEMA buyout of homes, that's handled under FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which is funding that comes along, unfortunately, post-disaster. It's based on a percentage of the money the federal government spends in the state. And then that's extrapolated down to eligible counties. And it's not just Polk County, it's county-wide. So all of the cities, all of the folks that are eligible, you know, based on FEMA criteria. We'll have an estimate in about five months. You get a six-month estimate and then a 12-month. They call it a lock-in, but even the lock-in can change. So it will be at least a year before we as Polk County-wide know how much HMGP will come to the county. Once that happens, private homeowners are not able to apply for that money directly. There has to be a partnership with local government that is eligible to apply. The bottom line is it takes at least three years. Once the money is available, we're still finishing up Hazard Mitigation Grant projects. One of the areas that's eligible is critical infrastructure protection. We're just finishing up projects from Hurricane Irma from 2017. It is not gonna, it's not an overnight fix. It's not a light switch. It is a process you have to, as to buyouts, um, which in the past, the county has bought out, uh, homes in Lake Seward. Some didn't want to sell. Some couldn't reach an agreement on the value. All that's based on the FEMA criteria. So is it a tool in the toolbox? Yes. It's not going to happen today. It's going to take a very long process. Yes. The homes that bought out previously were the county was the conduit from FEMA to make that happen. It wasn't county resources that funds that made that happen. It's a 75% federal share, 25% non-federal share, which, uh, based on the bureaucracy that you've described, these people are not going to have any relief knowing whether they qualify or not for the, for the foreseeable future measured in short years. If, if, if, if a buyout by the government is the, is the plan that will take years. Thank you for enlightenment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Paul, while you're there and you may not be the right guy to ask this, uh, and I'm asking because I don't know, but does FEMA flag or recognize closed basins in any way, shape, form, or fashion as to on, on maps, uh, to say, Hey, if, if you know, we get this much rain here, this is, they should, I have not looked at all the, all the flood maps. I know you may not be the right guy to answer. Maybe somebody else knows the answer. There's like this area, uh, is a closed basin until it reaches blank and then it'll go. I do not. I am not aware of some type of hydrology analysis related to, to closed basins or how that relates to specific zones. Thank you. All right. Next. Good morning. My name is Michelle Dean. This is my husband, Dax. Um, almost a year ago today, we bought, um, uh, acre of property in at 1600 West Oak drive in North Lakeland. Um, shortly after we purchased our property, we noticed development, all the trees, um, in the woods behind our property ceased to exist. Then they developed, uh, on banana road, two developments, one of which comes right behind our property. So during hurricane Milton around 5 30 PM, we noticed the water start to come. Um, the property line behind our house is eight feet above our, our property line and our, our, our elevation it's elevated. I'm sorry. Um, and they haven't even built houses yet. So we had substantial flooding come through our property. Our whole plan was the American dream. We bought a house, we started our own businesses. Um, we put so much love money effort into building our home. Um, just to have to evacuate at one 30 in the morning during this catastrophic hurricane with all of our animals, we're building a ranch and, you know, thank God we had a lifted truck and had the ability to leave. Um, but what's going to happen with this development on banana road, or is there going to be a retaining wall built or something done because nobody else on our road was affected? Just us and the property in front of us, which we were planning to buy their 10 and a half acres, but they took 12 inches of water in their home as well. So do you want to say anything? I I'm, I'm just. So we've walked Rogers are supposed to be here with us today. Um, he's more inclined with information. So it's generational land. They've got that land since 1940. It's never flooded once. Behind us, there's a floodway and they develop all the land. And in that marsh, they filled it and they filled all the creeks and everything. And they lifted land up eight feet above us. Every hour, we have photos of water coming down onto our property and it just flooded us all out. We got married out there. We built a business, our home. It's all God's. And we just want to know what's next. Because like she said, there's not even concrete poured yet. It's just land they've developed, build up and they've put in a roadway. Last hurricane, it flooded 20 feet into our backyard. Someone came out and said, okay, we'll get in contact with you. Three weeks later, another storm. And then we lost it all. The overdevelopment that's happening in North Lakeland is catastrophic to everybody because all this people that lived here for generations and all these floodways down, they're building the concrete up and everyone's being flooded out. And it's not just us. One on one on a dead end street and one on the right side of us, there's a creek that flows behind it and they filled the creek in. So the water has nowhere else to go now, except into people that have lived there for the past 40 years. Thank you. Uh, can we get your name and address again? I didn't catch it on. Michelle and Dax Dean. We live at 1600 West Oak drive. Thank you. Ben was raising his hand. Yep. See the guy standing up in the back, talk to him, see what he has to say. Anybody else? Yeah, Mr. Chairman. Oh, I just want to say something real quick. You know, what has happened here in the last couple of weeks, you know, since these hurricanes, it's bad. We know it's bad. It's bad. It was all over the county. And there are certain areas that are really impacted hard. You know, you can talk basins, you can talk rivers, but if you get right down to it, when you get 14 to 18 inches of rain and a 12 to 24 hour period that the ground is already saturated, water's already, the lakes are full, it's going to be tough. I mean, that's tough for anybody to deal with. I just want to let you know, we're very much aware of this and we're doing everything that we can across this whole county. Now, basically Highway 60 North, that's where it started really getting bad. And farther you went up, the worse it got. Down South, we had a lot of flooding too on along the rivers. But just let me, let me, I promise you this. You know, I've heard, you know, about building. It's like that gentleman there. I don't know if it's municipalities or whatever. But there's going to be one good thing that come out of this deal, because I'm going to make dang sure of it. I've instructed our people to look at all these places that are flooded now, that hasn't ever been flooded. That three weeks ago, they were nice pastures, they were nice ground. Now they've got a foot of water on them. Well, guess what normally happens? After it all goes away in a month or so, everybody forgets, somebody builds a house on it. Or they put a subdivision in there. Well, myself personally, we're going to look at this. I'm going to look at it hard. And we're going to do something about it. Now, getting to all, getting to these people that have lost everything, my gosh, that's tough. But don't think we're not just sitting here not doing anything. We understand what's going on. I live on Peace River, within 75 yards of Peace River. So I look at it every day, when it goes up, when it comes down. I remember when we built, when we built our house there. And when we got the three hurricanes, it was newly built. River was coming up. Everybody was getting flooded, just like we are now. I didn't know what to do. No, no, no insurance, no flood insurance. Well, I just happened to be fortunate enough to have equipment. I built a dock around my house. And then when I seen it didn't come, then I knew I was good. But yeah, I still concern myself with that. Took a lot of work, a lot of time. I know y'all do anything you can to protect your belongings in your home. But I just want to make sure that you understand that we do know, you know, we can't control what's going on with Mother Nature. We never would have dreamed we'd got this kind of rain in this amount of time in the last few months. But we know what can happen now. And it's going to take time to get this stuff corrected. And to help some places you will not be able to help. We cannot help you. Because unless we can completely change the diagram, I mean, the flow, and how things drain. But we'll look at it. But I just wanted to say that I mean, we I get it. And I'm going to do everything I can to help and to keep this from happening from now. Mr. Chairman, to follow up on Commissioner Wilson's comments, which I agree with completely. The problem remains that we are not in charge of the firm maps of mapping floodplains in the county. But and I don't know what we can do to take note and provide that information of areas that have not previously flooded. And again, I'll point out if if the folks who are keeping the records are correct, this has not happened in almost 100 years in Polk County, even West Central Florida, 1933-34. So we wouldn't have seen this. None of us. We're not 100 years old. So or 90 years old. So we there's no chance that we saw it. We could hear about it. Maybe some old timer would tell us or show us some photographs of something possibly. But we weren't here. It hadn't happened since we've been alive. But it would be nice, as Commissioner Wilson says, to try to document those areas to try to bring those to the attention of the FEMA folks who do the mapping. And this mapping occurs, I don't know, like every 20 years or sometimes there are updates. But obviously updates would certainly be in order right now. And I'll show you how crazy it is. I own my home where I live. I have paid $1,000 a year, because mid Florida Federal Credit Union requires me to pay it because I have a mortgage. Actually, I paid it off. But then I've got one again, a home equity and I had to do it again. But $1,000 a year for 20 years, building in 04, this is 24. I got one year escaped and they caught me when I took out a home equity loan and said, you've got to buy a flood insurance again. My home has never been close to flooding, period. It's not in a floodplain. But still, the map says that I'm in a floodplain on back, actually my bedroom. If I'd have moved another 50 feet, I'd have been out. But so it's cost me $20,000 paying into the federal insurance fund. And it's not correct. But I'm sure there's other folks that wish that they had been included and had been required to pay and have flood insurance to date. But those maps are out of our control. I tried to bring that to the attention of the lady here. I feel terrible for her. But it's in, this is my time to speak right now. Well, excuse me. Well, when we get through, are we still taking public? Okay. Yes, you're going to get your chance. I'm sure there's others like say that wish they had it. And I wish that maybe her designation of where she lives wasn't next. It was something that absolutely required it. But anyway, we do need to, to the extent possible, document this, these places where people, whether it's Banana Road and Oak or whatever, and provide that information to FEMA, what they do with it, I can't tell you. If they'll make updates, I don't know, because obviously it's an extensive job to go and rework those farm maps. All right. Anyone else? Come on up. Name and address, please. Hello, I'm Kelly Quinn. I live at 22 Lakeview Drive South, Haynes City, Florida, 33844. And I would like to say thank you for all being here today. Really appreciate that. So commissioners, I appreciate y'all saying, speaking to all of us here today, talking about the flooding issues. And I think we all recognize that you don't make the maps and like, that's understandable. However, I would say that don't you decide where development ends up going though. And if you say you feel the impacts and you see more specifically the impacts of this flooding on your constituents who you serve. So you're telling me that you don't believe or you do believe that development impacts how floodwaters move on this historical flooding that we've just been experiencing, but that did not help this situation. Yeah, we can say that it's a once in a hundred, once in a thousand years. But at what point do you also have to take ownership of your own time and effort and actions that have led to floodwaters, general waters, even during a bad thunderstorm, going and moving around places that they historically have not? That's it. I think you make a great point, Mr. Chairman. You impact it where you live. I impact it where I live. Every person in this room that lives in this county impacts it by being here, by being a resident. The current ones. We all impact it. Yes. But what about the future ones? We're not here to talk about the future. Actually, we are, but that'll be later. You're welcome to come back. Anybody else? Yeah. Have you gone already? You got to go. Come on up. All right. You're Laura. Yeah. All right. I'm Laura Coyle. I live at 2648 High Ridge Drive in Lakeland. I'm here today to oppose adjusting the density requirements in the green swamp. Loosening these density requirements would open the door to more development, setting a dangerous precedent for this critically important area. The green swamp has been designated a state area of critical concern, a label that speaks volumes for an area recently impacted by hurricanes and flooding. Not only does this region absorb large amounts of flood water from pushing into our developed areas, but it serves as the headwaters for four major rivers and is a vital recharge point for the Florida aquifer. Our county is now investing millions in taxpayer dollars to drill new, deeper wells because we have reached the aquifer's maximum withdrawal levels. Further development here would only strain these water resources. So our elected officials should be doing everything they can to protect this great resource and ensure clean water to its citizens. We are talking about an area that the Southwest Florida Water Management District spells out on their website as vital. I quote, protecting the green swamp is vital to protecting the quality and quantity of Florida's water supply. End quote. Beyond water concerns, this proposal contradicts conservation goals outlined in the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act, which Governor DeSantis signed in 2021. This act aims to connect and protect lands that form continuous corridors for wildlife to traverse across Florida. In fact, Governor DeSantis thought the corridor was important enough that in April of this year, he signed another bill granting further funds to this project. The green swamp is the only area in central Florida that connects the Everglades headwaters to the Florida's nature coast, making it a crucial link for wildlife. Without this link, the central part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor will be severed forever. To further back up the importance of this connection, Florida DOT, under the direction of the Governor, spent millions of dollars on the wildlife crossing under I-4, which happens to be less than five miles away from the section of Dean Still Road in the green swamp. The Governor's priority for these underpasses is that they are located in areas that connect areas of the Florida Wildlife Corridor. The county should be working with the state to encourage these connections rather than encouraging fragmentation. The benefit to a few homeowners is not worth the risk of flooding of developed lands north of I-4, increased strain on drinking water for Polk County's over 800,000 residents, and the potential loss of the green swamp connection in the Florida Wildlife Corridor. The green swamp is called a swamp for a reason. Development here is simply not in anyone's best interest. Please do not vote for sweeping changes to density requirements in this state area of critical concern. Too much vital land could easily get lost in this process if it's done this way. And from everything I've heard from these people, anybody living north of I-4, you know, anything that happens in the green swamp is going to cause more flooding to these homeowners. So that we do have control over. Your vote does impact down the road. Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else? Going once? Going twice? All right. Public comments? Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, let me just say something very quickly. I just want to say that sitting up here and hearing all these stories and all these catastrophic situations just makes me pretty sad, and I just want you to know, I don't know about these gentlemen, but I've also suffered my loss during the storm, and I'm still dealing with it. So it's not like we're removed from this situation. We're not removed from the situation. I thank God for the neighbors that have come out and helped, and I'm sure that you've experienced that. Church members that have come out and helped out. So where the government cannot step in, our people can, and they have helped, like they've helped me. And I also want to say that when we're looking at solutions to this, whatever they may be, because this is something that we're going to be looking at, we'll also have to be working with our municipalities, Lakeland, Haines City, Bartow, everyone else, to see how we can fix or solve the problems for Polk County. So that's something that I'm going to be looking at. How are we going to work with our municipalities chairman so that we can go ahead and see how we can solve these things? But please don't think that we're removed from this situation. We're not. We're as knee-deep into this as probably not as much as some of you that have had some major floodings, but we still have had our fair share of consequences because of this storm. So I just wanted to share that. Thank you. All right. Now moving on to the consent agenda. Move approval. Second. Got a motion and a second for approval. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign, Ms. Butterfield. Good morning. Today we have for you to approve and ratify payroll checks number 0293 through 0343 in the amounts of $127,429.17. We have 5,819 direct deposits in the amount of $9,484,065.40. Those are dated October 18th through November 1st, 2024. We have wire and electronic fund transfers of $49,866,830.76, dated October 15th through November 4th of 2024. And invoice checks numbered 469774 through 471030, totaling $28,674,503.25, dated October 15th through November 4th of 2024 for you to approve and ratify, please. Move for approval. Got a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign, motion carries. We also request the approval of your minutes of your regular board meeting that was held on October the 15th of 2024. Move approval. Second. Got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign, motion carries. Anything else? Yes, two quick things. As we approach Veterans Day this month, which is next Monday, my office has taken the opportunity to honor our veterans as well as our active military personnel who have served and continue to serve our country. So we're pleased to announce that we will offer free passport photos to any of the veterans or the active duty throughout this month of November. You can look on our website for the details, but it's a pretty simple process. Bring in the appropriate paperwork, your DD 214 or otherwise, and we're pleased to have this small little gift just to say thank you to those people that serve us. Last thing, because I know when you come to another agenda item, I just wanted to say thank you to Commissioner Lindsay and Commissioner Cumby for your service. It's been an honor to work with you and appreciate what you have done and brought to our board and served our community. So thank you. Thank you. All righty. Mr. Beasley. Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board, members of the viewing audience. The manager's office will have six items for board consideration this morning. Item number H1 is to request the board to approve a construction contract with Whitehead Construction Incorporated for construction of the Polk County Fire Rescue Training Center. This will be a construction contract totaling $15,576,045 and will include a community investment program amendment and budget transfer in the amount of $2,388,000 from the county's general capital improvement fund reserves. Polk County has completed the public solicitation process seeking qualified contractors who were interested in construction of a new fire rescue training center located at the end of Vaughan Road in the vicinity of the Sheffield Road-Spirit Lake Road corridor. The proposed new fire training center is the first of its kind for the Polk County Fire Rescue Division. This campus will provide training space and state-of-the-art training apparatus to ensure that Polk County's fire and EMS first responders possess the required skills and training to deliver vital, life-saving services to the citizens and visitors of Polk County. Bid number 24-570 was issued and six contractors submitted bids with the lowest responsive, responsible bid being submitted by Whitehead Construction in the amount of $15,326,045. A recommendation of award was issued and no protests were received. In accordance with the resolution number 13066, $250,000 is included in the contract award total to address allowance and contingency work conditions. Contract time for this project has been set at 365 calendar days. Federal American Rescue Plan funds in the amount of $14,500,000 are budgeted in the lost revenue fiscal recovery account for this project. The additional $2,388,000 needed to fully fund the project will be transferred from the county's general capital improvement fund reserves. And during the fiscal year 25-26 budgeting process, the general capital improvement fund reserves will be replenished from the general fund ending fund balance. So, Mr. Chair, members of the board, I can't say enough about how long we've been talking about creating our own state-of-the-art fire training campus. I believe this will serve us well. I believe it will serve the region well. So, Mr. Chair, I think in keeping with the board's priority commitment to public service, I would request the board to approve the proposed construction contract with Whitehead Construction in the amount of $15,576,045 in connection with bid number 24570, which will include the board's approval of a community investment program amendment and budget transfer in the amount of $2,388,000. Motion for approval. Second. Got a motion and a second for approval. Any questions or discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like signed, motion carries. Mr. Chair, members of the board, item number H2 is to request the board to approve a construction contract with Strickland Construction Incorporated for construction of a new Polk County Sheriff's inmate Sally Port and the subsequent demolition of the Lawrence W. Crowe building. This will be a construction and demolition contract totaling $3,785,679 and will include a community investment program amendment and budget transfer in the amount of $1,572,000. Polk County, again, has completed the public solicitation process seeking qualified contractors who were interested in construction of a new law enforcement Sally Port and the demolition of the existing Lawrence W. Crowe building located at 455 North Broadway Avenue here in Bartow. The Lawrence W. Crowe building is an aging facility which was originally constructed back in the 1970s. There have been two condition assessment studies done on the Lawrence Crowe building by two different architectural firms to determine the long-term viability of the building. In each study, the same conclusion was reached, and that was that the Lawrence W. Crowe building has exceeded the end of its useful service life. The cost to renovate this facility exceeds the cost of demolition and to construct a more modern and energy-efficient facility. And equally important, the demolition of the Lawrence Crowe building now paves the way for us to begin the planning process and the design process for what we believe will be a multi-story court county annex facility to be sited at that location. Bid number 24-497 was issued and five contractors submitted bids. The lowest responsive responsible bid submitted by Strickland Construction was in the amount of $3,605,409. A recommendation of award was issued and no protests were received. In accordance with Resolution Numbers 13066, $180,270 is included in the proposed contract award to address contingency and allowance work conditions. The contract time for this project has been set at 300 calendar days. Funds in the amount of $3 million are budgeted in the General Capital Improvement Fund for this project. The additional $1,572,000 needed to fully fund the project will be transferred from the General Capital Improvement Fund reserves. And similar, during the fiscal year 25-26 budgeting process, the General Capital Improvement Fund reserves will be replenished from the General Fund ending fund balance. So, Mr. Chair, members of the board, before I make my recommendation, I do want to recognize a number of folks from the state court system, the 10th Judicial District here. Chief Judge Yancey, I think we have the public defender here. We have the state attorney here and some of their supporting staff. Part of, I think, their presence today is that we are now ready to begin the process for planning and the development and ultimately the construction of what will be, I think, an iconic addition to the existing courthouse that hadn't happened since the 1990s for the court annex facility. And, Mr. Chair, if you don't mind, maybe the Chief Judge wants to say a few words about that planning process, along with the clerk's office being involved in that process. Good morning, folks. I won't take up much of your time. I do want to thank all of you for your continued support on this project. I know we've met previously, and I know you understand that we are going to be expanding our courthouse in terms of new judges, hopefully by five of them by the end of next year. We'll see how that goes with the legislature and the Supreme Court. But I want to thank all of you, again, on behalf of everybody in the building. I know Stacey Butterfield, the court clerk, would join with me. The public defender and the state attorney are all both here, and we're all on board with this project as vitally needed for our expansion and being able to provide services through the judicial process for this county. So, again, thank you all very much. And as an aside, as I sit down, Mr. Cumbie and Mr. Lindsey, I want to thank both of you all for your service on the board. I think that hopefully good things are in store for each of you in the future. Thank you both, gentlemen. Thank you, sir. Just thank you. This is the – we have certainly come to you collectively as the 10th Judicial Circuit, as we all are over there. The expansion of just judges includes the expansion of our staff, public defender, state attorney. I know that they echo the same. We have to have those staff if you add those type of numbers to judges. So thank you for your continued support for having an addition. So, Mr. Chair, again, in keeping with, I think, the board's priority commitment to public safety, and as now, well, as planning for the growth of the 10th Judicial Circuit, I would request that the board approve the proposed construction and demolition contract with Strickland Construction in the amount not to exceed $3,785,679 in connection with bid number 24-497 with board approval to include a community investment program amendment and budget transfer in the amount of $1,572,000. Move approval. And before we vote, our public defender wants to say something. Second for discussion. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, commissioners. I, like Commissioner Lindsey, Commissioner Cumbie, will be leaving my current level of public service at the end of this calendar year, and I wanted, as an old dinosaur who's about to leave, to thank you one last time on behalf of the Public Defender's Office for all the county commission that has done over the years to assist our office in being able to serve the people of Polk County. I have a great deal of sentimental attachment to what I still refer to as the Hall of Justice. That's where I tried my first case some 47 years ago. But then I had a sentimental attachment to the Blue Metal Building where the Public Defender's Office was housed, which is now the northeast corner of the parking garage. So the time has come to move on. I remember when we were spread out all over this city with courtrooms, judges' offices. The consolidation that we were able to do when we moved into the courthouse building was greatly beneficial to the administration of justice. We've outgrown that space. This addition will continue the growth and the cooperation that we uniquely have here in Polk County and in the 10th Judicial Circuit. So thank you again for all you've done for us. I urge you to continue moving forward to help justice in this county. Thank you, Rex. Anybody else? Yep, there is somebody else. Go ahead. I want to emphasize this. These are low-bid projects. The county has changed recently in the last year or two from construction management back to hard bid, which I think is a better way to do it. And a lot of that was, you know, caused by the increases in material costs and labor costs and skyrocketing costs. And the only way to know that you're getting the very best price for this is to have qualified bidders submit a sealed bid. And the guy with the lowest price that's already been determined is capable gets to do the work. And that's what we're doing here. And I hope the county continues to do this for a long, long time. And I wish the school board would follow suit. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. All right. We've got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Those like, sign, motion carries. Mr. Cummings, to add to that, many of these bidders are local bidders as well. You guys can all go back to work. Who have been excluded through the construction management process? Many of them. All right. It's three. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, item number H-4 is to request the board to approve a construction contract with Strickland Construction Incorporated for a facility expansion and renovations to the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex Administration Building. Yeah, I did. I'll get back to that one. And I just realized my notes were stuck together. But let me, well, I'll go back to H-3. Yeah, go to H-3. And you're human. We got it. Item number H-3 is to request the board to approve a construction contract with Hinkleman Construction Incorporated for construction of the Polk County Sheriff's Office K-9 Training Facility. This will be a construction contract not to exceed $2,696,800 and will include a community investment program amendment and budget transfer in the amount of $1,437,000. Polk County has again completed the public solicitation process seeking qualified contractors who were interested in the construction of a new K-9 training facility for the Polk County Sheriff's Office. The project includes the installation of 30 kennels, staff offices, equipment storage areas, staff training rooms, a break room, and a dedicated K-9 training area. The proposed facility is an expansion to the Polk County Sheriff's Office existing Burnham McCall training campus to include enhanced K-9 training towards explosive device detection, narcotics detection, and missing persons, victims, and suspect location training. Bid number 24586 was issued and 11 contractors submitted bids. The lowest responsive responsible bid was submitted by Hinkleman Construction in the amount of $2,568,381. A recommendation of award was issued and no protests were received. In accordance with resolution number 13066, $128,419 is included in the proposed contract award to address contingency and allowance work conditions. Contract time for this project has been set at 210 calendar days. Again, here, federal American Rescue Plan funds in the amount of $1,500,000 are budgeted in the lost revenue fiscal recovery account for this project. The additional $1,437,000 needed to fully fund the project will be transferred from the General Capital Improvement Fund Reserves. And again, during the FY25-26 budget preparation, the General Capital Improvement Fund Reserves will be replenished from the General Fund ending fund balance. So, Mr. Chair, members of the board, again, in keeping with the board's priority commitment to public safety, I would request the board to approve the proposed construction contract with Hinkleman Construction in an amount not to exceed $2,696,800 in accordance with bid number 24586, with board action to include a community investment program amendment and budget transfer in the amount of $1,437,000, all from the county's General Capital Improvement Fund reserves. Second. Got a motion to second. Any questions, comments? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Those like, sign, motion carries. Item number H-4 is to request the board to approve another construction contract, in this case with Strickland Construction Incorporated, for a facility expansion and renovations to the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex Administration Building. This will be a one-time construction contract not to exceed $1,585,363. Polk County has completed the public solicitation process seeking qualified contractors to expand and renovate the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex Main Administration Building. The original marketing strategy, when the Lake Myrtle Complex was originally developed, was centered around a sports business cluster model. By all accounts, that strategy continues to be successful in light of the Florida Youth Soccer Association's relocation to the complex and the Tourist Development Council now providing part-time office space to the Pan American Lacrosse Organization and the USA Water Ski and Water Sports Association. The Polk County Office of Tourism and Sports Marketing has recently obtained a commitment from the American Power Boat Association to relocate their headquarters from Detroit, Michigan to the Lake Myrtle Complex and that the USA Water Ski and Wake Sports Association has requested additional space to manage their current operation on a full-time basis from within the complex administration facility. Collectively, there is now a business need to expand the complex, the administration facility, to accommodate these needs. The project consists of renovating the second floor of the building by closing in the patio space to create offices for the tourism staff and to expand an additional 3,500 square feet to the facility to provide space for the American Power Boat Association and the USA Water Ski and Wake Sports Association staff. Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing and the Real Estate Division are currently working with both associations to negotiate a lease fee for the space to be provided. Bid No. 24594 was issued and five contractors submitted bids. The lowest responsible bid was submitted by Strickland Construction in the amount of $1,509,870. A recommendation of award was issued and no protests were received. In accordance with Resolution No. 13066, $75,493 is included in the proposed contract award to address contingency and allowance work conditions. Contract time for this project has been set at 300 calendar days. Funding for this initiative is budgeted and available within the Tourism Tax Fund and this project has been endorsed by the Tourism Development Council. So, Mr. Chair, members of the Board, I think in keeping with the Board's continued commitment to tourism travels throughout Polk County by way of enhanced athletic and administrative facilities, I would request the Board approve the proposed construction contract with Strickland Construction Incorporated in an amount not to exceed $1,585,363, all in connection with the Polk County Tourism's Office Expansion Project for bid No. 24594. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any discussion, questions? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Those like, sign, motion carries. Mr. Chair, members of the Board, item number H5 is to request the Board to approve an agreement for sale and purchase between Alcoma Property, LTD, UPCO, Incorporated, and Polk County in conjunction with the Environmental Lands Program Conservation Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee Project number EL-121-24. Today's action would be a property acquisition cost not to exceed $24,071, inclusive of closing costs. In February of 2023, the Board adopted resolution number 2023-009, which created the Polk County Conservation Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee, the Classic. The creation of the Classic was in response to a bond referendum approved by Polk voters in November of 2022 to finance capital projects related to the acquisition, preservation, protection, management, operation, and restoration of environmental lands, water resources, and important fish and wildlife habitat. The Classic reviews and evaluates properties nominated by the property owners and provides a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners as to whether or not staff should pursue the acquisition of these properties consistent with the program's original intent. One such nomination was made jointly by Alcoma Property, LTD, and UPCO, Incorporated for large tracts of land located along or near Masterpiece Road and Masterpiece Gardens Road to the east of the City of Lake Wales. The properties are located on both sides of the roadway and contain approximately 1,225 acres. The properties were evaluated by the Classic, which recommended approval, and in April of 2024, the Board of Commissioners authorized staff to pursue the acquisition of these properties. The county hired two independent appraisers to establish a value of the tracts, which resulted in very similar values. The county made a formal offer based on the results of those appraisals in the amount of $24 million for all of the property which the owners have agreed to accept. Further discussions with the owners have resulted in an agreement wherein the total property will be separated into three groups and closed based on a closing schedule over time, all of which is to be completed by the end of calendar year 2026, solely to accommodate the county's efforts to pursue funding partners for these acquisitions. The owners have executed an agreement for the purchase of the properties based on the closing schedule established. This is an agreement that will be funded over multiple fiscal years. The first year's acquisition, including estimating closing costs, will be covered by the Parks and Natural Resources Environmental Lands Community Investment Program Ridge to River Corridor Project in the amount of $1,713,000, and the Water Resources Community Investment Program Kissimmee Watershed State Grant in the amount of $1,500,000. The county attorney's office and the real estate service director have reviewed the agreement and recommend approval. Approving the agreement, authorizing the issuance of funds for the purchase and hiring American Government Services Corporation to close the transactions will allow the county to take ownership of the properties for their intended program goals. Funds for the parcel number one grouping, along with the applicable closing costs, are budgeted in the Stormwater MSTU Fund in the amount of $1,500,000, and the Environmental Lands Acquisition Fund in the amount of $1,713,000. The remainder of the funds for parcel grouping number two, totaling $12 million, and parcel grouping number three, totaling $8,800,000, will be budgeted in the fiscal year 25-26 budget and the fiscal year 26-27 budgets respectfully. So, Mr. Chair, members of the board, I think consistent with the board's continued commitment to environmental preservation and the protection of local water resources, I would request the board approve the proposed property sale agreement in the total amount of $24 million to be acquired through separate Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3 closing dates. I would also request the board approve the hiring of the American Government Services Corporation to close each of the group transactions with total closing costs not to exceed $71,000, of which Group 1 closing costs have been identified at $13,000. So, all of that is my motion, Mr. Chairman. Move approval. Wade, did you have something to add? I just want to thank the families of these corporations who have the insight to understand, to put this together this way, and allow us to move forward with this. Also, I'd like to thank, although you see me up here, I'd like to thank the Classic Committee. I'd also like to thank Tabitha Beal and Gay Sharp for all their work they've done on this. All right. Thank you. Mr. Chairman? The phased closing in order to seek additional funding from other sources, but it's not contingent on that. The closing is required whether you get additional funding or not. That is correct. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Chairman? Go ahead. Just let me say that this is exactly two years to the day that the voters approved the classic reauthorization. This stuff takes a while, and obviously it's going to take three years to get this closed out because of the interest in finding funding partners with the state of Florida or the federal government, which is a wise and prudent thing to do. But thank you, Tabitha and Gay and everybody involved. I understand how much goes into this, and none of it's done lightly. And I thank the TAG folks for working as well because I guess they're all volunteers. Well, some of them are volunteers. Some of them are employees of agencies. But thanks to everybody for getting it done. I think it looks to me like, and let me just, for clarification, although I voted against it, I think we're buying the subdivision that maybe has not been built in the curve. You actually have to. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Was there a question there? No. All right. All right. Anybody else? Just for the record clarification, Mr. Beasley, County Manager Beasley, the total expense, one-time expense, $24,071,000, correct? Yes, ma'am. I just want that on the record. Thank you. Martha? I know. I just need the record. All right. We got a motion. Second all in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign, motion carries. Final item for me, Mr. Chair, members of the board, item number H6, is to request the board approve a utility infrastructure agreement with Parcel K LLC for the Parcel K project development. This would be a one-time Polk County Utilities Capital Infrastructure investment not to exceed $749,361.49. Parcel K LLC is building a 52-unit townhome development in the county's Northeast Region Utility Service area. The county has determined that it would be more cost-effective and efficient to design, permit, and construct the wastewater infrastructure improvements with the capacity needed to support the project as well as an existing wastewater flow into existing lift station LS-330. Accordingly, the developer has agreed to provide additional capacity in the design of a replacement lift station required to serve his project. This agreement establishes the basis of a proportional cost share between the county and the developer to provide additional capacity for certain wastewater infrastructure improvements associated with the project, whereby the developer will build a new lift station number 330 and formally decommission and close the existing older lift station number 330. Funding for this system improvement initiative is available in the utility's five-year community investment program budget within the miscellaneous developer agreements account. So, Mr. Chair, members of the board, consistent with the board's commitment to utility system improvements, I would request the board approve the proposed utility infrastructure agreement with Parcel K LLC in connection with the Parcel K project to provide additional capacity for certain wastewater infrastructure improvements associated with the developer's project. Move approval. Second. Got a motion and a second for approval. Tamara, did you have anything to add? Any questions? All right. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed like signed, motion carries. That's it for me, Mr. Chair. All right. I'm going to walk down and recognize these guys. Yo, come on down. Come on down. All righty. I'm pleased to recognize Commissioners Neal Cumby and George Lindsay for their years of service to Polk County. Commissioner Cumby was first elected to the Polk County Board of County Commissioners in 1988, and he served there until 2004. He was reelected in 2020, and he spent a total of 20 years as a county commissioner. He's a Polk County native. Commissioner Cumby was appointed in 2005 to the Governing Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, where he served until 2012. He then served in the Florida House of Representatives until 2017, when he was appointed by President Donald Trump as state executive director for the United States Department of Agriculture's Farm Service in Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It looks like he can't keep a steady job, that's what I'm drawing. As a county commissioner for District 5, Neal's focused on maintaining the rural character of Polk's unincorporated areas. He's worked to keep the county an affordable place to live. During his time on this board, Commissioner Cumby's been a part of decisions that have led to improvements for Polk County and its residents, including, yeah, you've done well. That's good. Not sure what happened here. Anyway, thank you for your commitment to Polk County Commissioner Cumby. On behalf of the board, the county, and our residents, I wish you, your wife, Linda, and all your family the best. Thank you. Is this the right one? Yeah, it doesn't matter now. Commissioner Lindsay was first elected to the Polk County Board of County Commissioners in 2012, and he was reelected in 16 and 20. He spent 12 consecutive years working directly for the residents of Polk County. Prior to his service as a commissioner, Commissioner Lindsay served on the Polk County Charter Review Commission in 2001, and as its chair in 2009. He also served on the Polk County Cooperative Plan Committee and numerous other city and county citizen committees and advisory boards, and as chair of the Polk Regional Water Cooperative. George has worked to attract new employers and remove barriers to the expansion of existing businesses in Polk County. He's also worked to increase partnerships between the county and municipalities on matters such as planning, water quality, and parks. Commissioner Lindsay has been involved in many decisions that have positively impacted Polk residents, including safe haven for babies, landfill technology, including the CNG and leach aid, commitment to public safety, opioid litigation settlement, reducing taxes. You're on the board of LAMTED and serving on the canvassing board. Thank you for your service to Polk County's residents, Commissioner Lindsay. We wish you and your family the best as you move on to your next adventure. Going back to 1988 when I first got here, I will tell you that everybody who served on the board with me, with the exception of Marlene Young, everybody wore suits to every meeting. We met four or five times a week. Those were the good old days. Then we had Jeans Day on Fridays. And so it would be okay for everybody to wear Jeans on Fridays. And then when I got back here, you all had Jeans every day except when we have to come down, and then somebody is going to tell me, call me, and say, hey, wear fancy pants today. Nobody call me. That's Bill's fault. So I've got my – huh? On behalf of my – I'm going to read this, and I'm going to try not to get emotional. Well, I'm getting a lot more sentimental as I get old. I guess it's just an age thing. On behalf of myself and my family, I want to begin by thanking our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for my life, my family, and the opportunity to serve my community. My wife, Linda, insists that my time here has been providential. She always tells me to vote like Jesus. Without her support and encouragement, I would probably be an old wore-out cowhand patching barbed wire fences for a living. Linda, my mom and dad, my mother and father-in-law, my boys, all helped make this opportunity possible. My mom and dad instilled a keen interest in me in public policy from an early age. We watched news, and we watched anything political on TV, and they were always providing commentary. And I think that probably got me interested, and I knew that I wanted to be a county commissioner by the time I was 10 years old. That was my life goal. So my father-in-law, who was a homicide detective captain of the sheriff's department, he was one of my biggest supporters when we got started. He built 100, exactly 100, 4x8 signs out of plywood and rough-sawn 2x4s. Each finished sign required two professional weightlifters to install or forklift. Before corplast, it was paper and glue and heavy lumber. He handed out palm cards everywhere he went, grocery store, feed store, flea market. He was retired. Yard sales, barbershops, and any other place where somebody was willing to talk to him. It was clearly a labor of love. He was, unfortunately, for the 92 campaign, was killed in an accident with a tractor a couple of months before election. But he worked extremely hard up to that point. And I would not have been successful without him listening to all this stuff this morning. And I'd written this down, and it's true. It's true when I got here in 88. It's true in 2024. There are not any easy answers to hard problems. And the county's got some hard problems right now associated with Milton and trying to figure out a way forward to keep this from happening again. Every time an elected official votes on an issue or an item, there's a chance in a county of our size, a good chance that someone will disagree. Thick skin helps when it comes to doing this job. I want to thank Polk's voters for allowing me to represent them for parts of five decades. It sounds unbelievable when I think about it, but the tail end of the 80s up to the 2020s. So for five decades, or parts of five decades, I've had the privilege and honor of being involved with this. And for that, I'm grateful. I want to thank all the county employees, thousands of county employees over the years, who have done so much to help me help our residents. So many fine people propping me up for a lot of years. I want to call out by name a few people, Jim Roden, Jr., assistant county manager and sometimes county manager, Judge Mark Carpinini, former county attorney, assistant county manager, Leanne Thomas, for their friendship and expert advice. There was never a minute that I didn't think that they were doing all they could. Give me a minute. I'm almost done. I also want to thank Martha Bell. I hope she's watching. Poe, for her assistance and protection, she was like a second mom to me. And for too many red velvet cakes to count. Lastly, that's the good part. I want to thank all the members of the board of county commissioners that I've served with, past and present, which is 20 or 20-something different folks. All of them, I enjoyed their kindness, their friendship, their cooperation over the years, and their willingness to work with me on issues that maybe weren't important to them or they didn't really understand. I wish I could call out all the names of the hundreds of supporters who've donated time and their money to me over and over throughout the parts of five decades. I want to thank the many friends I've made in the Florida legislature who have continued to help me better serve our residents, even back as a county commissioner. I want to mention my legislative aide, Barbara Blasingame, for doing all she did to make our time in Tallahassee successful and understanding the system much better than me and helping me navigate. What we do here, it's about creating order. It's about keeping the public safe and reaching agreement on essential services, what we can afford and what has to wait. My focus, and somebody wrote this, I guess, Jeff, for you, Bill, but my focus has always been on quality of life, but equally trying to hold down the cost of living, which I think is probably the most important thing we do. Thanks to all who have helped me succeed. I am truly grateful, and this is it. I'm not coming back, I promise. Thank you all so much. Congratulations. Best wishes in your new path. Same to you, brother. Thank you, sir. Listening to Neal's walk down memory lane, I share much of his story. My dad instilled in me the public service and got me interested in civics and history at the time. But I want to say it's been a privilege to serve on this board and the numerous other boards and committees that come along with it. During my 12 years, I've also had the privilege to serve not with 20 colleagues, but eight board members. Two county attorneys, two county managers, seven deputy county managers, and five fire chiefs, I probably shouldn't say this, and two wives. At this role, one soon realizes that nothing gets done with less than three votes, and anything can get done with three votes. It takes a team and a consensus. The most important part is to remember it's not the five of us part-timers that sit up here, and we come and go, sometimes with limited attention. That just goes with the process. But it's employees, as Neal said, that makes things happen. They're the glue that holds things together, and I extend my appreciation for their service and their dedication. The things I reflect on over the last 12 years, some of which have already been mentioned, and in no particular order, this county is on very solid financial footing by evidence of just spending $47 million on the agenda. The last three years, we've reduced taxes 3%, 3%, and 1% in three continuous fiscal years. I'm proud of the role we had in bringing the Holloway Trail together, working with my friend Ed Holloway and his family. Internally adopting the expedited hearing process has helped us a more efficient process moving forward. Creating the Citizens and Sidewalk Advisory Committee was also part of the board's agenda that now involves the citizens in this important element. The board's continued commitment to public safety, Polk Fire and Rescue, and our Emergency Operations Center establishment of the Polk Regional Water Cooperative. Our predecessors 20-plus, 30 years ago paid for us today, and now it's time for us to pay it forward. Our relationship with our cities is better than it ever has been. I'm privileged to serve with Commissioner Santiago on the Lake and Area Mass Transit. It also is on sound financial footing. Merging the city and the county process at the urging of County Manager Jim Freeman was the right decision we've expanded service on the east side of the county and will soon open an east side service center. At the urging of former county attorney Michael Craig, we joined a national opioid litigation settlement resulting over $17 million coming to the Polk County to help address dependency and mental health issues. Again, at the urging of staff, we had the leading edge on landfill technology, the CNG program, and LH8, the wetland mitigation. I'm very proud of how this board has handled the COVID crisis and the subsequent rush of federal dollars. And I give Chairman Braswell credit. He was chairman during that COVID crisis and gave strong leadership in that regard. It was my privilege to serve three times on the canvassing board. Of the thousands of votes that I've cast in my 12 years, there's only one vote that I regret, and that was BS Ranch, and we all know the history of that. I also regret failed to get the transportation sales tax on the ballot and let the people decide. I strongly believe that time will prove that that would have been the right decision. Going forward, my only parting advice to the new board and two new faces, read the instructions and stay in your lane. Thank you. This show back on the road. Comments. George. I've said enough. Rick. Martha. Yes. I just want to wish both Commissioner Lindsay and Commissioner Cumbie wonderful success in the future. And please don't turn on the TV to watch these meetings because I'm sure you're going to want to come right back if I'm that mistaken. But anyway, I wish you the very best. Thank you. I just have a few things I want to say. A special thank you to Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing staff and to Avello and to Lakeland Airport. I participated on the journey on the first flight, the inaugural flight to Puerto Rico last week. And I must say they, these people have a wonderful, absolutely stellar work with the airlines and the people. They were great. Tourism and sports marketing could not have done a better job going to the Puerto Rico and they go to the other destinations to make sure that people come and visit Polk County. And that was absolutely excellent. And so I'm glad I had that opportunity. In fact, I read in one of the comments on Facebook that said someone that also went and used Avello. We need to use this airline and use it often because if not, we're going to lose it. I tell you what, flying into Lakeland and being home in less than 30 minutes, what a game changer. So that was absolutely excellent. I also want to say that I enjoyed yesterday participating in the sheriff's ribbon cutting for the new training facilities. State-of-the-art facility. It's about time. We mentioned this a couple of years ago, how embarrassed we were of our training facilities. And I know that the fire rescue will soon have theirs. But it's great to see that our sheriff's department, our policemen, our agencies, everybody's going to have a place that they can go and have top of the skills in training and protecting our citizens. That's what it's all about. So that was really good. I want to remind everybody to vote today. I hope you exercise your civic duty. I'm sure that most of you already have voted, but if you didn't, please vote today. That's extremely important. And I want to wish all our veterans a happy Veterans Day. We won't be back until then. I salute all the veterans past, present, and the future ones, and the Veterans Day for the work that they do for our community. That's it. Neil. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I hate to prolong the meeting any, but this is my last opportunity to mention a couple of things. And one is, and I didn't know this until just a few days ago, maybe I was the only person who didn't know it, that the DOT, or at least the state of Florida, was going to gift us the surplus property for the old Florida plantation. Is that correct? Mr. Cummings, I know there's talk about, you're talking about the piece off the Bartow, Lake Alfred Highway area? Yeah, right by the Burnham Training Center. Yeah, my understanding is there's discussions. It's a long way from Lake Alfred. I mean, Hancock, maybe. Yeah. Lake Way, I thought it was Eagle Lake. Eagle Lake. Yes. Okay, Eagle Lake. Well, anyway, to me that's outstanding news, and I don't know how much acreage we're talking about there, but, you know, I really wanted to see that property surplused for some use for a long time because that was the pledge and the promise that the district made years ago when they acquired it. And I couldn't be any happier to know that it may wind up in county ownership, which will create some opportunities maybe for the Ag Center. You and I talked about, Bill, rather than the Holman property. But I think also there is a need to seriously consider relocating Bartow's wastewater treatment plant. And I think it would be in the interest of all of us to get behind that effort and to work with the legislature, to work with the city of Bartow, any state agency necessary, because it's my opinion, and I could be wrong about this, and somebody can correct me, that we probably held Lake Hancock up higher or longer than we would have or could have or should have but for the concern of the wastewater treatment plant that serves Bartow and all this building we're in and everything around here, the only one that we have. And if that's the case, that is all the more reason for us to look at trying to find a way to assist Bartow. Maybe with property and to work with them to help obtain funding from the state to relocate that, where in the future, if that in fact did impact folks upstream, that we won't have to do that again, whether it's 100 years from now or 50 years from now. The other thing that I want to get some clarification on, and I appreciate, I saw Cindy here earlier. She might have left. I don't know, but I asked for information from the district on the Hampton track and the ditch blocks that were placed in there several years ago. I thought it was maybe a half a dozen, and I think it was more like 50 or 60, and they provided me a detailed map with coordinates and everything about it. What I don't know, but what I suspect, but I just don't know the extent, is that those ditch blocks on the Hampton track certainly had an impact on some of the folks in North Lakeland. How much, I don't know. It had to have some. I don't know if we need to go back in there and ask them to look at that or to tell us, you know, that the impact was negligible or if it, yeah, we could have saved some folks property and saved some discomfort had they not been there. They wanted to take the Hampton track property and try to rehydrate and hold water, and I get all that. I understand it. And really didn't have too much objection about it. I had some concern when you have people that live like we do out, you know, our hillbilly flatlanders like me, when you have historical drainage, you kind of count on it to work when you need it, when you have hurricanes. And if you go to or if you allow people to fill back, backfill ditches or put in weirs or levies, it can cause problems when you get a situation or event like we had recently. The bottom line is the county's drainage system, state does a better job on their highways, I think, with bridges and culverts. They probably overbuild or they build for, you know, a hurricane where we can't do that, have not done that over the years. So our system, roadway ditches and culverts really aren't sized and probably never will be, and it's probably not practical to size for a storm that drops 15 to 20 inches of rain in a few hours over several thousand square miles, you know, from Sarasota to Orlando and back up to Crystal River. That's just an unbelievable amount of water. And when you look at the roads where the culverts and bridges aren't big enough to handle, then they become levies. And somebody said we needed to upsize some culverts. I don't disagree, that would be wonderful, but that is a monumental task to go in and do that and probably not going to happen at all, or at least not anytime soon, not in my lifetime. But I'd like to really look at what we did with P11, is that the number of the structure, Bill? P11. And the wastewater plant, try to get an effort going to assist Bartow and help relocate that, but also to find out, you know, what the impact of the work done in the Hampton track may have had on North Lakeland and that Gator Creek area with those ditch blocks. And believe me, Mike Scott, I think, is going to be an upgrade. The county's going to be better off with him. You know, you've got a 40-something-year-old guy that's probably, you know, twice as smart as I am. I'm going to try to get him to continue to work on these things. But I think we all ought to have that interest in at least knowing what the facts are and the truth is. Thank you. He's a young engineer, isn't he? Yeah. Yep, yep, yep. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. All right. Nothing else? I love you all. Back at you, Slick. Oh, yeah. Just, you know, to help you out on your question on P11. You know, the district, I think, did an amazing job of what they were up against. Yes, you know, they worked closely with everybody intent, I mean, everybody up and downstream to try to juggle this thing back and forth. Yes, the city of Bartow, you know, with what they were up against, yes, that is a problem as it stood. But the other problem was by doing anything more, then a lot more houses and places would have got flooded. So, you know, there is, I think there's a lot can be done down there with the city of Bartow. I know, I understand the reasons why that place was put back there in the 50s and 60s. And, I mean, and it's all downhill. I've heard rumors of the city of Bartow talking about, you know, maybe doing something out different than that. But, you know, that's, we're all on board with helping them any way that I can. But there's a lot can be done down there, too. But just to let you know, Neil, I mean, the district and everybody involved did an unbelievable balancing act, you know, to try to keep everybody from getting floated downstream, trying to get water off of them up there that could be gotten off of. And it worked out really good. So, you know, kudos to everybody that was involved in it. All right. I got a couple of comments. I went to the ribbon-cutting yesterday at the Sheriff's Training Center. We have the most accredited police force in the United States, which translates to the world. There's 18,000 policing agencies in the United States. Less than one-half of one percent has any accreditation at all. Our police force has 10, which is by far more than anybody else. And what that means is our sheriff and his staff are committed to continuous training for our police officers, which I think is critically important, not only to de-escalate situations that you see on TV sometimes, but for the good of the officers themselves and for the county. And the only other thing I have is I thought it was encouraging. I don't know. Maybe not. Over 50% of the registered voters in Polk County have voted before today. So between mail-in and early voting, 50.5% had voted as of the end of business Sunday. So I think that's a good thing. That said, it's 11.05. We're going to take a six-minute break until 11.10. Vote. Okay. Let's get back to business, please. I can't believe you just did that. Go ahead, Randy. Mr. Chair, at this time I'll go over the public hearing general procedures. We ask that you please turn off your cell phones or 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 the topic. Individuals speaking during the public comment section of a matter will be strictly limited to three minutes. The board is experiencing these matters and is able to discern what is legally relevant to an issue and what is not. Information that is relevant or repetitive only serves to frustrate and necessarily prolong today's business. The commission expects civility at all times during all public hearings, speaking out of terms, shouting out from the audience, respectful sounds or utterances 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 purpose you may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes a testimony and 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 and 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 to the following questions. 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, at this time I will go over the expedited hearing procedures. Expedited hearings are held pursuant to Resolution No. 22-089. Expedited hearings are used when no opposition was present at the Planning Commission hearing. The applicant agrees to the expedited hearing, and 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, and at this time, I will turn it over to Mr. Ziskel for the presentation of the expedited hearings. Thank you, Mr. Mink. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. For the record, Ben Ziskel, Land Development Director. There are five items on the expedited public hearing portion of today's agenda. Item number 01 is an expedited public hearing for case LDCPAL 2024-2, Juanita Main Street Commercial CPA, to consider adoption of a Main Street Commercial Overlay District for the Juanita neighborhood. This is the portion of Juanita that is located on Rifle Range Road that contains a number of commercial land use districts and commercial uses, as well as some residential and institutional uses. The intent of this overlay is to provide flexibility in developing and redeveloping those residential and institutional properties. As you can see here on the screen, a subject case or a case study is the Pink Ice Cream Shop. This is an old 1940s single-family residential home that has a residential land use designation. Converting it to an ice cream shop provides another amenity for the Juanita neighborhood, but under today's policies in the comp plan, that would not be allowed. So this overlay district provides that flexibility and allows redevelopment in the area. This item was before the Planning Commission and received unanimous recommendation for approval. And following any questions or comments from the public or the board, staff is recommending adoption of this hearing today. Any questions? I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Motion for approval. Second. Got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, sign, motion carries. Item number 02 is an expedited public hearing for case LDC-PAS 2024-22, Lake Blue Park, CPA, to consider a future land use change from residential medium to recreation open space at Lake Blue Park. This is an item that you've seen. This is a trend of changing the land use designation on existing county parks. Lake Blue Park is located south of Havendale Boulevard near the Inwood neighborhood. It is a park. It is intended to remain a county park, and the intent of this item is to memorialize that. There is no intent to develop this with residential medium, so we request a favorable vote to change the designation to recreation open space. This item appeared before the planning commission, received unanimous support, and a recommendation for approval. And following any questions or comments today by the public or the board, staff recommends approval. Any questions? I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Move adoption. Motion is second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, sign, motion carries. Item number 03 is an expedited public hearing for case LDC-PAS 2024-23, Lake Cannon Park CPA, to consider a future land use change from residential low to recreation open space at the Lake Cannon Park. This is a very similar item in a similar area of the county. Lake Cannon Park is also located south of Havendale Boulevard in the Inwood neighborhood. Currently has a residential low designation, and this request is to change that designation to recreation open space. This item also appeared before the planning commission, received unanimous recommendation for approval, and following any questions or comments today from the public or the board, staff recommends approval. Any questions? I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Motion for approval. Second. Motion is second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, sign, motion carries. Item number 04 is an expedited public hearing for case LDC-PAS 2024-24, Lake Rosalee Park CPA, to consider a future land use designation change from agricultural residential rural to leisure recreation. Lake Rosalee Park is located north of State Road 60, east of the city of Lake Wales, near Lake Kissimmee State Park. This particular property includes a RV park as well and other active recreational amenities, so the appropriate land use designation for this park is leisure recreation, as opposed to the two previous items where we recommended recreation and open space. This item also received unanimous support and a recommendation of approval from the planning commission. And following any questions or comments from the public or the board, staff recommends approval. Questions? I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Second. Motion is second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Those like sign, motion carries. I remember 05 is an expedited public hearing for case LDC-PAL 2024-4, Spirit Lake Text CPA, to allow the establishment of new office centers next to commercial enclaves. The intent of this text amendment is to allow the expansion of small commercial districts that have existed prior to the adoption of our comprehensive plan. When the comprehensive plan was adopted, it recognized existing commercial uses that were in residential neighborhoods. And the policies that were in place at the time prohibited locating a new office center next to those commercial enclaves, really preventing the spread of the commercial uses. As the county has continued to grow, staff has realized there is a benefit and a need for expanding some of those commercial areas. And we find that placing an office center next to a commercial enclave is a proper transition from commercial uses to surrounding residential uses. So staff recommends approval of this item. Planning commission unanimously recommended approval. This item is on its transmittal hearing. So following any questions or comments, staff recommends approval to transmit this item to the Florida Department of Commerce. Questions? I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Seeing no one, I'll close public hearing. Bring it back to the board. Motion for approval. Second. Got a motion. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Those like sign, motion carries. Mr. Chairman, that concludes the expedited portion of today's agenda. My only comment, it looked like we're still having trouble getting seven to a planning commission meeting. We have implemented our new alternative members policy, so we have alternates that we'll be attending to hopefully correct that. But you are right that prior to implementing that, we have had days when we do not have a full seven. But with the new policy in place, we hope that is eliminated. With respect to the new policy, Ben? Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben? Ben. If an alternate is going to be one of seven, will they be there for start to finish, or will somebody come in, vote on something they want to vote on, and then say, now put an alternate up? The intent is to have all members stay for the duration of the meeting. So we will have seven on the dais, and the policy requires two out of the three alternates to be present, and we've designated that they would sit down here so they'd be non-voting members. And then in the event that one of the regular seven is not here, an alternate would take place on the dais. We have asked that they stay the duration of the meetings. Of course, with schedule conflicts, sometimes people have to leave the dais. So having the alternate stay the duration of the meeting. Let me ask you a different way. I don't know how long a planning commission generally runs, if it's two hours or four hours or two, four, something like that. But if somebody comes in, you start with an alternate, but a full member comes in to vote for a particular case and whether stays or leaves. Is that how that's going to work? Our intent would be to have the same seven the entire time. I guess we have not crossed that bridge yet. If someone leaves mid-meeting, we have to substitute. I guess that would be more of a question for Randy. Well, it really should be a policy question for this board, but maybe you can be decided by Rick, Bill, Martha, and the two new members. I think it's something we need to look into because it would require land use change to address that. But it's something we definitely, I'm not sure if we even thought about, but that could occur. It just occurred to me, and we talked about this, but it never really occurred to me that, you know, that could be a possibility and probably one we shouldn't, you know, accept. Get ready for it. Yeah. Okay. We'll look at that. Okay. What are we at? P1? Yeah. Good morning. Shonda Bennett with the Land Development Division. I'll be presenting P1, P2, and P3, but you'll take action on two of the cases before you. The three cases, the first one is LDCPAL 2024-5. It's a comprehensive plan map amendment on 526 acres from Tourist Commercial Center X, Development of Regional Impact X, to Residential Low X, and Neighborhood Activity Center. And the second case, LDCPAL 2024-6, is a text amendment to the comprehensive plan related to Greenleaf, and it involves several different policies that we'll briefly review. The last case, and I'm sorry, those two cases, the comprehensive plan amendments are for your consideration of transmittal today. The last case is a text amendment to the Land Development Code, which is just a first reading. That's LDCPT 2024-10, and it's a text amendment to Chapter 4 of the Land Development Code. In terms of advertisement, we referenced all three cases in our mailers and our advertisements, so I'll read the list as it applies to each one individually, differently, but as a whole. 854 mailers were sent to area property owners on October 3rd. 22 boards were posted on September 13th. A legal ad was published in the Polk Sun on October 23rd. One phone call in opposition, four emails in opposition, 45 emails in support, and two letters with five signatures in support. And submitted for the record, we have included staff reports, ordinances, applications for each item, utility support information, impact assessment, study, and demonstration of need. We have been receiving emails since we uploaded the information into the record, so I'm just going to give the extra items that we've received to Mr. Mink. I'm sure many of you know where Greenleaf is. It's on the west side of Lake Marion. There is, Haines City Limits does touch the project on the north and west sides of the property. The area that you see outlined in yellow is what we call the Greenleaf utility enclave area. What's being changed in terms of the map is outlined in red on the aerial, and that's basically the convention center and then the golf course. Briefly mentioned to you in previous hearings on the area that we call smoky groves, we talked about that Greenleaf was originally the arrowhead development of regional impact, and that's what you see outlined in yellow in this slide. In 2008, a comprehensive plan amendment was adopted that modified the comprehensive plan in terms of a map and comprehensive plan and land development code. It adopted the nomenclature for the Greenleaf DRI, which is the historic development, which is outlined in blue, and then the additional property, smoky groves, outlined in red. And together, the red and the blue equal the Greenleaf utility enclave area. And there were approximately over 1,300 units developed at that time in Greenleaf with the golf course and the, of course, convention and recreational areas. Also adopted at that time was an additional unit count for new development that was mainly to occur on the east side of the project, which is in the Tourist Commercial Center today. And that was to allow over 1,800 units, hotel rooms, additional convention center, and additional retail. And today's amendment will alter those development approvals. The presentation this morning is to go through just a couple of land slides, site visit slides, go through the land use change, and then some of the text amendments, and talk about the traffic study that's being recommended in the Land Development Code text. This is standing on the north side of Greenleaf, looking east on Lake Merion Road. The site's on the right, and the Diamondback Golf Course is on the left, and that's in the city of Haines City today. This is Kokomo Road. Kokomo Road runs through the middle of the project, goes down and curves and goes to the west. This is standing on Kokomo Road, looking north on the road. The site's really on both sides of the project, or, I'm sorry, of the road. The map on the left is the current future land use map. The golf course is designated DRI, so that's really the subject of this amendment, along with the tourist commercial center that you see outlined in red. On the right side is the proposed future land use amendment, and that includes residential low for the golf course, a neighborhood activity center on the north side of the property at the intersection of Kokomo and 544, or Lake Merion Road. You can see that the tourist commercial center along Kokomo and along the east side of the property is proposed to go to residential low. Also, it's important to point out that there is a remnant parcel on the very southwest portion of the property. That's DRI. It's not owned by the applicant. It's got very minimal frontage on Kokomo Road, but we're also proposing amendments to the text to allow that parcel to develop, at least with the residential home. And then the other tourist commercial center that's left over is not included in this amendment, but again, we're having to amend some of the policies to ensure the ability of those parcels to develop or redevelop. You had heard earlier this year, too, that Greenleaf had a planned development approval on it, which has now expired, but this just gives you a map to show what that intensity looked like. It was along Kokomo Road, which is the map you see in the center, and then on the map on the right is the tourist commercial center on the east side of the property. And you'll see the convention center expansion. You'll see multi-story unit residential structures that were planned originally in that tourist commercial center. In terms of impacts, there is school capacity, some school capacity available in the area of schools, but any new development will be subjected to the school concurrency requirements in our land development code in Chapter 7. The closest park is the Point Siena Community Park, six miles away. There is, of course, a sheriff response in the area. Fire and EMS is about four and a half miles away. The water and utilities, water and wastewater, are private system, but there is capacity in that system, and there's capacity in the surrounding transportation network as well. And in terms of environmental impacts, this area is not in a stressed basin in terms of stormwater. There's no significant impacts to other environmental issues. There's not significant wetlands, but certainly any impacts to wildlife will be addressed according to what the Land Development Code requires. A brief review of some of the policy changes in the conference plan. The policy changes rebrand Greenleaf from a resort community to a full-time community, maintains the development limitations, changes them a little bit, but maintains development limitations, adds Neighborhood Activity Center on the map and in the policies, redefines the development regional impact policies, again, for that remnant parcel that's circled in red on the right, amends some of the policies for TCC, the tourist commercial center, again, to address the remnant parcels, reduces the new commercial to 60,000 square feet outside of the tourist commercial center, but to focus that on the Neighborhood Activity Center parcel in the center of the property. The Land Development Code changes. The LDC also rebrands the Greenleaf community just like the conference plan did. We have to add the Neighborhood Activity Center to the use table in Chapter 4 for Greenleaf, also amending some of the allowable uses for DRI, again, because there's one parcel that remains DRI. The definition of the development unit count in the golf course areas is what you see on that map on the screen. It's our village map that's being added into the Land Development Code, and there are certain densities, units per acre, lot widths, lot frontages that are going to be in the Land Development Code to limit development as well. And then we'll also talk about the traffic study. So that looks like this screen that you see before you, the table on the left, is the table in the Land Development Code. There's a column for units per acre, column for minimum lot widths. Nothing is below 50 feet wide. Unit type, it's either single-family detached, single-family attached, or townhome. Single-family attached and townhomes do incorporate how we define multifamily, but there is a recommendation to add a condition in Chapter 4 to limit to multifamily to only townhomes and single-family attached. So no big, multi-story apartment complexes are permitted, as well as requirements for minimum lot sizes. And you can see how that equates to units per acre throughout the villages on the map on the right. The range, on average, is 2 1⁄2 to 4 1⁄2 units to the acre. The highest in any of those golf course areas are 7 1⁄2 units per acre, and that's on the northern part between Kokomo and Lake Merion Road. The last item on the Land Development Code changes include incorporating existing vegetation into the buffers. Requirements for the utility expansion that, if it goes off the parcel that it's on, it will require a Level 3 review. The PD requirements that the board adopted earlier this year, the applicant's proposing that to be a standard requirement in any of their developments, and also sets parking standards without any kind of waivers, meaning two parking spaces per unit. For the Conference of Plan map amendment, Mr. Bolton, the case planner, wrote a staff report and did an extensive review of trying to compare the estimated water, sewer, transportation impacts for the existing entitlements that were to be new, over the 1,800 units, the hotel rooms, and the additional convention and commercial, and compare that to the proposed changes. And those don't include smoky groves. And what was found is it reduces the impacts overall, leaving some availability for smoky groves and even a little bit additional to that. So that gives some flexibility for the developer as these pods are developing out to ensure that there's capacity available in the system. The traffic study requirements are, I think, important for this particular project because it used to be development of regional impact, which legislation started in the 70s. There's specific transportation requirements for development of regional impact. So what was added includes five points that I'd like to reference. The first is the purpose of the traffic study is to do a major traffic study for all of the proposed development up front, and then apply any kind of major traffic review or analysis to the minor traffic study in terms of bringing up any directly accessed links that were determined to be impacted with a major traffic study and compare that with the development that's going to be considered in the village maps that's added to Chapter 4. And the focus is on any kind of impacts that the development is significant on in terms of the links analysis. And significancy is defined as project traffic that's 5% or more of the link's capacity. That's what we deem to be. It's impacting that link and needs further review. There is justification in the appendices of the Linn Development Code that we can bring in additional links into the minor traffic review. So we have the ability to do the major traffic study up front and do subsequent studies with every pod or phase that comes in if they choose to phase it out. Mr. Chairman? Yes. Can Chana, can you explain, go back a minute to the, yeah, where the study will be prepared and performed in accordance with methodology? The study's done, then what? What, say, you've got to have additional capacity, there has to be, you know, certain improvements made. What is that happens, you've got the study and done, then what? Then we start talking about, well, the improvements that the study identifies need to be done. How are they going to get done? We have the proportionate share requirements in Linn Development Code that, on some cases, the developer's going to be directly responsible for that, especially if it's adjacent to the property or turn lanes, et cetera. There might be further transportation improvements that may be a couple of links away. That could be more of a proportional share approach. It might be in a local agreement that we have with a developer, much like Powerline Road Extension has been done over the several years. So that's what we'll have to figure out when we do the transportation analysis. With that, this is my last slide. Staff does recommend approval. The justification is it does limit the future development as is currently required. In the Conference of Plain and Land Development Code, we have an additional village map in the Land Development Code that limits the density, lot width, and lot size, and lot frontage, incorporating buffers, open space, parking standards as well into the Land Development Code, the traffic study requirements just referenced, and also trying to adjust the policies to allow for the development of the Remnant Tourist Commercial Center and development of regional impact properties. So with that, I'll stand for any questions. Questions? Yes, sir. Yep. In your parking review, does it anticipate some percentage of guest parking? Yes. In fact, that's one of the items added in the Land Development Code is the louse for the guest parking options. Anybody else? All right. I'll open a public hearing and have the applicant come forward. Good morning, commissioners. For the record, I am Bart Allen. I'm a Lane's attorney with the Peterson and Myers Law Firm. My address is 225 East Lemon Street, Lakeland, Florida. I'm here this morning on behalf of the applicant and property owner, Greenleaf Resort Development, LLC, NC Real Estate Projects, LLC, and Ronan Assets. With me is the manager of those entities, Mr. Scott House. I also have with me Mr. Danny Kovacs from Tracked Engineering. He's been our engineer on this site and on this project for the past, oh, gosh, two years almost now, it seems like, guys. Traffic planning and design has been working on traffic analysis for us, and there was some discussion about that in Ms. Bennett's comments. Mr. Jay Dayball, who has performed that traffic study, is with us this morning. We have done a major traffic study encompassing the entirety of the project already. And our utilities expert, Mr. Keith Burge from Bentech, LLC, he is our operator of the utility plants, the water and the sewer plants. That Mr. House owns, and again, that is a private utility. So that's my entire team. And I wanted to make sure I got all of them introduced because sometimes I get going and I completely forget to make introductions. But the last member of our team, and he's probably the newest member of our team, is Ryan Barron. He's a young associate that joined Peterson and Myers about a month ago, and I wanted to make sure he got an introduction, especially on a day like today where Commissioner Lindsay and Commissioner Cumbie, this will be, unfortunately, the last time I get to appear in front of you. So Mr. Barron's with us now and appreciate his help on this project. But with that, you know, Ms. Bennett did a really great job of taking what has been a lot of work, a lot of creative work, between both Polk County and the land developer on this, in this instance, and distilling it down into a very good and brief presentation. As a matter of fact, she did a much better job of it than I did, as she had about half the slides that I have in my PowerPoint presentation. So I want to give a lot of credit to Ms. Bennett and Mr. Bolton for all of their work. Even though you didn't get to hear from Mr. Bolton, I'll tell you that the three of us spent a lot of time working on this together. And I think at the end of the day, what you have here is a very good project. And it is encompassed in three separate applications, and I'm going to be, I'm going to walk through my PowerPoint presentation pretty quickly. So if you see anything that jumps out that you, if you have any questions, but I want to be respectful of our time. We spent, we had a lot of time here this morning talking about other things, but I do want to hit a handful of points. So with that, we're going to talk, this is just a little bit of the agenda here. I've already gone through that one. Ms. Bennett has given you a brief recap of the history. This goes all the way back to the early 70s with the original DRI and the original PUD that was approved for what was at the time called Arrowhead PUD and the DRI. That project, and I spent an inordinate amount of time researching this project. If you go back into the applications from 1973, what they intended to do was develop a resort-style development with golf, convention, associated amenities. And they wanted to develop the actual residential side of it at around three and a half dwelling units per acre. That was a statement right out of the Greenleaf or the Arrowhead PUD applications. That project was very successful for many years. There was a lot of activity in Greenleaf, whether it was the resort, the golf, the tennis. But back in 2002, the golf resort went bankrupt in 2002. And that was even before some of the hurricanes and different things. So, unfortunately, this area hit on some hard times. The resort had started going downhill. The golf course and many of the amenities shut down in 2002. These are some clips of some news articles. I really like this one because it referenced, you know, the Williams sisters who played tennis out here. Jennifer Capriati played tennis out there, Billie Jean King, as well as, if you read in the words, John Daly played on the golf course back, you know, back in the day. So, it had a really high time. Unfortunately, it has hit a very low time. And now in 2002, 2003, and then as you move into 2003 and 2004 with the hurricanes, it just never was able to get back up. And those courses, while there was some effort to partially reestablish some of the golf courses, they were not reestablished. So, for over almost 20 years now, you've had basically a shut down golf course out there. That led to probably the first attempt at redevelopment back in 2008. And that is where the Greenleaf UEA was created. That was a series of applications, whether it was future land use map, comprehensive plan policies. There was a built-out agreement that was entered into between Polk County, the Department of Community Affairs, the property owners at the time that established what Greenleaf had developed at. It also established that the DRI had met its infrastructure requirements for purposes of DRI review and that any new future development within the area was no longer subject to the DRI process, which was pretty onerous. But that, all of that kind of came together. Yes, sir. You look like you had a question. Okay. I thought maybe you were leaning up to ask me a question. And at that time, what it did is it established what amount of development had already occurred and then what new development could occur within the UEA. Looking at what had occurred, you had, as Ms. Bennett pointed out, 1,359 units, 54 holes of golf course. That was around, if I look at that, it was around three units an acre if you exclude the golf course. You take out the golf course acreage and you're looking at around three dwelling units an acre. That was a mix of condominiums, townhomes, some single family, a whole mix of different things. And that effectively occurred in those yellow areas and some of the residential medium areas that you see on the map there to your right. Those built-out agreements, the Conference of Plan and the Land Development Code further recognize that an additional 1,873 units, call it 1,900 for purposes of conversation, additional units could be developed, and those areas were identified primarily in pink in the TCC, as well as smoky groves. And you can see those areas on the map. That's where it was concentrated. So when you take a look at that, that really increases the density in those areas. And we saw that from the PD that was approved, that has now expired. You're jamming a lot. You're jamming 1,900 units within those areas. So what Scott has done looking toward the future, we're preparing, we've got a set of changes, whether it was a map amendment, comprehensive plan text amendment, and a land development code text amendment, to effectively take that intensity and spread it out a little bit, reestablish parts of the golf course, and bring in a new, more contemporary amenity package for the residents in the area. And that is the summation of what these requests are. They did not, they were not created in a vacuum. These, what you're about to see was created through 15, 20 meetings with various folks in the community, public meetings, just wide open public meetings, invite everybody in Greenleaf to private meetings with HOAs, to various meetings, working on all the different packages. What, what kind of amenities did the existing residents like to see happen within Greenleaf to complement new development, as well as become amenities that they have the ability to use in the future. So, summing it up, how we, how we're getting to the end game. We're proposing to change 525 acres of land use on the property. That's comprised of 170 acres of tourist commercial center today, 355 acres of the DRIX, which is effectively golf course areas, to 478 acres of residential low. So, primarily residential low out of the change. 36 acres of residential medium, and then the 11 acres of neighborhood activity center to establish some commercial activities for the residents in the area. This is the proposed future land use map, which you can see here is 90% of it is, is residential low. And that 90% of residential low is adjacent to residential low future land use. So, from a compatibility perspective on the map, you can see how there's compatibility, residential low against residential low. You've got the pocket of residential medium here along Kokomo Road. That's about nine acres. Those are proposed for paired villas, single-family attached type units. And then you've got the residential medium here along 544 and then internal to the site. Those are proposed for townhomes. Those are adjacent to existing condominium units, so they're not adjacent to single-family. So, you've got more like versus like there. And you can see that all the TCC that was on the prior maps is now removed. And this is how the future land use maps look when they're combined. The hatching is relevant to specific density limitations that come within the land development code, but effectively all the yellow is adjacent to yellow. And then you've just got these one little pocket of RM here adjacent to condominium units. The comprehensive plain text amendments take into account, as Ms. Bennett has appropriately pointed out, a rebranding of the uses, getting away from the resort conversation and more into traditional development approach, making sure that we are accommodating and reflecting the units that we're asking for, no additional units, but also making sure that we're providing the ability to develop and limit the development in accordance with what the commitments that have been made by the developer. So, the summary here is this is the existing table that is within the comprehensive plan that shows what could be developed within the site, and this is what we're proposing on the right side. Single-family detached, 1,700 units, 246 multifamily, and that is limited in the comp plan and the land development code to townhomes and single-family attached units or a paired villa. No garden-style, three-story apartment complexes. Those are all prohibited and restricted as the use. And then, again, reflecting the 60,000 square feet of commercial for the Neighborhood Activity Center. This actually reduces the intensity of the development from what is currently entitled within the comprehensive plan. So, at the end of the day, if you look at what's existing, which is on the left, that's the table from earlier in the presentation, 1,359 units, and you add in the proposed development that we're proposing to add, you've got 3,305 units on 1,180 acres. And that 1,180 acres is developed from the entire UEA, which is about 1,250 acres, and less is out the 70 acres of golf course that we're standing back up, and that gives you a 2.8 dwelling unit an acre, which is actually less than what Greenleaf originally developed at under the original PUD, which was about 3. So, what I'm trying to say is, is we're trying to do something that is very compatible, is very consistent with what was the intent back in going all the way back to 1973. It is using up some of the golf course, but that, you know, that is, at this point, a golf course that has been effectively shut down and unused for 20 years. We're creating some commercial. I've already talked about that. The CPA text also protects the remnant, DRIX. It cleans up some of the issues. It does allow us to develop in accordance with the comprehensive plan and the land development code. It implements a lot of the provisions. Ms. Bennett referenced, and Commissioner Lindsay, I think you asked about parking and things like that. We have effectively taken the PD requirements, applied them to the site, and built them into either the comprehensive plan and land development code so that, at the end of the day, what we have done is create a development that is consistent with the PD requirements that are in place today. Right now, the land development code would allow lots as small as 35 feet with 2,400 square feet lot sizes. We're getting rid of that. Our minimum lot size, as you heard, is 50 feet. We've got 50s, 60s. We've got half-acre lots within this project. We're implementing all of your new design criteria, 25-foot garage setbacks, things like that, to make sure that this project operates well, it's compatible. We'll go through the village map again, but again, this is the village map. This is different than anything we've ever really done with a residential project before, but it is a creative way to identify where certain lot styles, uses, sizes can go, but maintain a little bit of flexibility for the landowner in the event we get into specific engineering and maybe we can fit an extra lot here or an extra lot there. We're not tied to a specific number, but it gives us just a little bit of flexibility to move things around, yet you know that you won't be getting 40-foot lots within certain places. We don't have that kind of authority. That would require coming all the way back to this board for a comprehensive plan amendment, text amendment, and I don't think we have any desire to do that. No offense. This, at the end of the day, this is the end result. If you implement all of the comprehensive plan policies that we're proposing, the land development code policies and the village map, this is effectively what you get, and you get single family next to townhomes, next to condominiums with a golf course in the middle. That's the green, and that is what the development will effectively look like with the commercial pod up here on Kokomo Road. And you can see in the village, Village 3, for instance, you can see how those are showing as half-acre lots. They're significantly bigger. Reduces infrastructure, okay. Here is our utility analysis that was provided by Bentech. This shows you, in black and white, that the existing plant has the ability to serve. We have the capacity. We have the ability to serve from a water and sewer perspective these additional units. This is a table straight out of your staff report that shows that there is actually a net reduction in transportation trips as a result of this development program, and this is inclusive of the Smoky Groves project. So from what's currently entitled in the comp plan, the 1,753 units, 120 workforce, the hotel, the additional convention center, if you get rid of that and you look at our development program, we are actually 3,200 daily trips less and 384 p.m. peak hour trips less than what's currently contemplated for these areas in the comp plan. And then last but not least, and I do want to spend just a little bit of time on this, the amenity package is what will be implemented, has been the result of a significant amount of conversation between existing residents. And Mr. House, I already mentioned that he's had 15 to 20 meetings with the folks out there. I give him a lot of credit for taking that time. A lot of developers do not do that. This is probably the most interaction I've had with residents of any project I work on, and I think that's extremely important, and I think that's reflected by the number of folks that we've had support the project. We had 45 e-mails as of the creation of the record in support of this project, and I think that's a tremendous statement for what we're doing. But what you can see here, and it's a little bit difficult, but you can see the nine holes. This is the old Arnold Palmer section of the golf course that's going to be reestablished. We're also creating, and I have a couple better exhibits that show a little bit more detail, cabanas, clubhouse, pickleball courts, dog parks, totlots, walking trail. This red here is an enhanced walking trail that works through basically the entire site. It interconnects with sidewalks in certain places just due to physical constraints on the ground. But there's over three miles of walking trails, excluding sidewalks, within the development that will have benches and workout stations and things of that nature kind of lining it. That will be open and available not just to the new residents but also the existing residents. Mr. Santiago. What amenities are there now, existing now in the area? Really not many of anything. The existing clubhouse or convention center is in really bad shape. It can be opened up, but the pools and things of that nature, to my knowledge, are not open. The golf course is not open, so really effectively nothing. Looking at this just in a little bit zoomed in, what I've done is I've tried to highlight the different amenities. And you can see they're not all in one place. You've got amenities spread throughout. We've got ten separate amenity locations throughout this project. You've got a variety of things, clubhouse, pickleball courts, community pools, things of that nature. If I look at the standard today that I would be, if I was doing this as a PD, clean piece property, under standard county rules for 1,700 single family and 246 townhomes, which is what we're asking to come in, I would need 14 1⁄2 acres of recreation space based on 500 square feet per unit. We're providing over 25 acres, and that doesn't even include the golf course. So if you include the golf course, I'm going to push in closer to 100 acres. So I think that's a tremendous testament to the work and effort that Mr. House has put into this project. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate that information, Bart. I was trying to look up a photo here, but to show you something that I really don't like to see. But the 25 acres, which is non-golf course, what's the largest single piece of that, of the 25 acres in one rectangular or square? Community pool, dog park, pickleball court in location number three down here. That is call it 115,000 square feet, so two and a half acres, close to it, close to three. No, number seven, thank you, 120,500 square feet, number seven, thank you. But there's not an area like playground, all-purpose soccer? That is the number seven. That is playground, splash pad, walking trail, dog park. That is located down in this area. Heard somebody saying something I didn't. You're asking about like a ball field? Yeah, there's something where the kids could play a, you know, a football game or a soccer game or a baseball game or something like that. Some area that's not swimming pool and pickleball, because most of the kids I know, they don't play pickleball. Well, that works good for people my age, but probably not that. A lot of kids that I do know do play football. Really? Yes. I play football. But the answer is there's no ball field. There's no ball field, but these were based on the feedback with the residents. This is, you know, we discussed those options. We discussed a variety of options as it relates to amenities, and these were the ones that kind of came out at the top of the cream of the crop. But the short answer is no, we do not have a play in soccer field. We have areas where – You would think that an open field of some dimension or half court or whatever you want to call it or a half game would be one of the cheapest things you could do because it's mostly just grass and dirt. But anyway, thank you. You're welcome. These are just some renderings that Mr. House had put together kind of illustrating some of the aerial views of where golf courses and clubhouses, things how they would fit into the neighborhood. You know, you've got the pickleball court areas, walking trails with exercise equipment, splash pads, things of that nature. So with that, if there's any additional questions, we're happy to answer them. We've got a staff recommendation of approval. I got one, Barton. You know, you heard us talk about it earlier. I'm just going to throw it out there. During the storms, was any part of this place underwater that is normally not underwater? I have asked my client that, and we are not aware of any flooding issues as it relates to the storms. Okay. I have had very direct and specific conversation as recent as during earlier in the hearing, just to reconfirm. Bart, on the water and sewer, help me understand. And you've got this development, Greenleaf. Yes, sir. You've got the, what's it called, Smoky Groves. Yes, sir. What else, what other developments utilize the utilities, the water and sewer? The existing residents within Greenleaf utilize the existing utilities. Smoky Groves will utilize the utilities. And then this additional development would utilize the utilities. And right now there are no, there's no other projects that would be served by this. Are there other, is there another development that gets their water and sewer from here? I don't think so, not to my knowledge. So, I can't remember who had the slide, but there was one slide, it's like, it shows the capacity of water or sewer, or sewer at least, excluding Smoky Groves. But let me make sure I understand. The capacity of the sewer plant will handle this development, Smoky Groves, and more. Or is it right at capacity? And a little bit more. So, it's close. It's close. So, the, and this is going to weigh heavy in how I, what I, what I decide to do on this. Because this is one of those, depending on which side you're on, damned if you do, damned if you don't. But, you know, my concern has been with the water in the sewer and the capacity. And, you know, I had people in my office the other day that said they've had a boil water notice now for weeks. Well, I mean, if, if this thing is working, what happened there? I mean, you didn't have any flooding, you didn't have any damage from the hurricane. Why, why do you have a situation like that? So, from a, so from one, I'm going to answer, I'll answer your first question first. Any new development will be connected through new utility lines. They will not be running necessarily through existing utility lines. So, there will be, there will be separate utility systems effectively. There may be some interconnect, but those interconnects will be upgraded. And a lot of those lines were installed going back into the early 70s. So, they're fairly old. And I sat through city commission hearing last night in Bartow where they were talking about clay pipes and going out and having to video clay pipe because of the age of it. So, there is some just natural age issues. That's primarily what's caused the, the boil water notices is just, you know, ground saturation. You get, I mean, we had a lot of rain. We didn't have any flooding, but we had a lot of rain. And you end up with a break here and there. I cannot speak specifically to specific boil water notices. That's not necessarily my, my area of expertise. But there's nothing there that's related to the operation of the plant. They've been, any boil water notices has been done in accordance as required and directed by the Florida Department of Health in order to meet their standards. And Mr. Burge can speak to any of those if we need to bring him up. But those systems will be separate. So, we won't be running, we won't be relying necessarily on an existing line to serve new developments. So, there won't be an additional strain on those. It's all going to end up at the same place. It's going to all end up at the same place. And the, and the plant has the, the sewer plant has the ability and the permitted capacity to serve all the projects that we're talking about here. Smoky groves, this development and existing, as well as the potable water plant. Mr. Chairman. Yes. Following up on that, the, so we've got new development, new lines, predominantly or entirely all new is going to serve that development. But, but what does, and where does that leave the existing residents in the system they have? Who's responsible for, is it the resident's responsibility to? The utility is still responsible for the utility lines within, you know, their utility lines, no different than any other public utility. Is there any plan to do anything about the agent system on that or how do you? There are certainly, there are certainly plans and already investments going into the existing utilities based on the new development. I certainly think that that is going to actually be a benefit to existing residents. Because if there weren't new development, then any improvements would be borne likely through rate increases and things like that. We've, we, an issue was discussed and it hasn't been brought up today. So I hate to talk about it, but an issue was discussed about the regional water cooperative at the, and the increase in rates as a result of the regional water cooperative that rate payers are going to see. This project's not a part of the regional water cooperative, so their, their rates are actually not going to be impacted. So they're going to have lower water rates moving forward. So there's actually, you know, a benefit to being on a private utility in this instance. So my point is, is there's been a lot. Is Greenleaf regulated by PSC or? Yes. All permitting, all, all rates, everything's regulated by the PSC. Any questions for him? George. Your withdrawal is still regulated by the water management district. That's correct. Oh, your, your withdrawal is already maxed. We are, we have, we, yes, that's correct. We have the ability. Yes, we have the efficient, we have sufficient capacity to serve the, to serve the project. All right. No more questions for you. I just want to say, I don't, I don't think it's the capacity that, that's the problem. It's the pipes and the fact that it's so old. So I'm glad to hear that there is some work or you're going to consider some things to take care of that. There has to be some improvements to the plant in order to make things work. All right. We're done with you for the moment. Anyone else wishing to speak, please come forward. Now's your time. Glenn, I got you down as first. Yeah. We're in a public hearing. Make me go first, will you? Okay. I was prepared to go first. Mr. Cumberland, Mr. Lindsey, thank you for your service. Good luck in your new adventures. I'm Glenn Lawhorn, 11,000, Jim Edwards Road, Haynes City. The Greenleaf Development was never intended to be anything other than a golf and tennis resort. We need to make sure that that's up front with a small amount of residential within it. It wasn't some giant metropolis that they're trying to turn it into now. When you look to do stuff, what you're looking to do is change this into a large scale residential urban area. So it's going to completely change the area. This not only changes the internal area of Greenleaf, but it also puts a major change to the surrounding area of the residents that have been living in a rural setting all their lives. Why are we changing the lives of so many people for the betterment of a developer? It's going to have a bad effect on everybody that's around it. If you went back to some of those maps, I'll pause on my thing here. This thing doesn't fit the surrounding area at all. I live right by Greenleaf. I worked there as a kid through high school and stuff. We'd have 15,000 people on property at different events. You did not know those people were there. I was a bellman. I ran people to their rooms. You never saw them. It had no impact. You're fixing to flip this thing upside down, and it's going to be a major impact to all the residents, not only in it, which they don't know what's coming their way. They're going to find out if you approve it. But mainly to the people on the outside, especially the people on the front of Lake Marion, and by the Greenleaf store, you're going to put those big, giant townhomes on 544 where the Greenleaf store is. So that's just a little side note. There were land use changes that were made over 16 years ago. Mr. Cumbie, you're well aware of that. But they've expired, and it should not be able to do this just with the text amendment in my eyes. Now, we as the constituents, we get three minutes to try to unpack all this information, and the opposing side, the applicant, gets all the time they need. I think we need to kind of be thinking about how we can change that to make this a little more fair because I'm at 39 seconds, and I got about two hours worth of material. So when Greenleaf was constructed in 73, the surrounding area was developed as a resort, as rural. This is not consistent with the land use that's around Greenleaf, not in any way, shape, or form. I know Mr. Allen's going to argue with me about this, but it's not. Diamondback is across the street. That's no longer a golf course. The Snivelys own all the property around that. The Dunsons own all the property to the direct west, and it's not slated for development. The city of Haines City has it inside of their city limits, but it's not slated for that. So if you've got any questions for me, I'll be sitting right there. Thank you. Anyone else? Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Dennis Leszczynski. I live at 18 Robin Lane, Haines City. I think it's fair to say we've all met before, either individually in your offices or here at this podium, historically I've come to you with complaints and concerns and what our board of directors conceived to be problems with this proposal. I'm here today to tell you that our board of directors is now approving this issue. We're supporting Scott House and his efforts on the west course and our development of Greenleaf Country Homes. A lot of meetings have been held, as was mentioned earlier. Concessions have been made on both sides, and we are now confident that with those changes in place, we will be fine. And that's what I came here today to tell you. So, Ms. Santiago, you were very helpful as well when I met with you. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Who's next? Anybody? Here we go. Good morning. My name is Robert Lewis. I live at 6th Greenwood Lane, Haynes City. I'm here this morning to express my continued support for the improvements proposed for the Greenleaf community. I think you can see by the emails of support, I have 70 signatures here in support, as well as the people in the crowd. Today's proposed Comprehensive Plan text amendment is what is best for the current and future residents of Greenleaf. We are asking that the plan on the books today be amended to better suit our community. We have no interest in more short-term rental properties, multifamily units, a hotel, or another convention center. Greenleaf is much better suited to be a residential community with new infrastructure and amenities for its residents. The plan before today reduces the density of future residents, of future construction, and the extra traffic that would follow. Scott House and his team have been great to work with through this entire process and have allowed us to have a voice. They've listened to our concerns, asked for our input and ideas, and have implemented many into the new redevelopment plan. Through numerous community and private meetings and an open dialogue, Mr. House's vision and the vision of the residents have now merged into the plan before you today. New investment and ideas are what was needed in Greenleaf and what it has lacked for nearly three decades. Certainly there are some opponents that live outside of Greenleaf who claim this infill will ruin the rural feel of the area. The fact is, Greenleaf was developed 10 or 20 years before most of the homes around it were built. Some lots in Greenleaf are as small as 0.2 acres and were built in the 80s. I would argue that the elimination of more multifamily units, short-term rentals, hotels, and another convention center would actually be beneficial in preserving some of that rural feel. Nearly all of the lots currently on our golf course measure no more than one-third to one-half acre, so the density proposed is more than compatible. I'm going to read a quote from our planning board meeting on October 2nd from Commissioner Smith, which I think kind of sums it up. He says, I commend the owner and his development team for making this work for everybody involved. At 2.8 homes per acre, we don't hardly ever see that. That is really low as far as density. That's about as good as I think we can hope for. We as the residents couldn't agree more. We ask for a yes vote on today's Comprehensive Plan text amendment, and thank you for your help in making Greenleaf great again. Thank you. Anyone else? All right. I'll close public hearing. Nope. Yeah, you can rebut. I can't. I can't. I can't miss an opportunity, Mr. Chair. Just real quick, a couple things. Primarily from the utility side of things, there is significant reinvestment going back into the utility as part of this new development. It doesn't take away the fact that there is some older and aging infrastructure out there. That's there regardless of this outcome. But what I want to make clear is that if there is failures within the utility-owned utilities system, water pipe, sewer pipe, that is Mr. House's responsibility to fix in perpetuity as the owner of this utility system. So this will be an increase in the operational efficiency of the site of the utilities. One of the issues, and I'll just, or one fact that is interesting. Right now this sewer plant is permitted at 680,000 gallons per day. It's effectively turned off to 340,000 gallons per day. It's built out to 680,000 from, you know, infrastructure in the ground because of the lack of development. You know, this other half of the development that hasn't occurred that we're talking about today, half that plant is turned off. It's like living in a house and shuttering up the other half of the house. And it creates, that creates a little bit of problem. So the operational efficiency of turning the entire plant on, running the entire plant will be a benefit to the overall system. Another couple of things. You've heard some great testimony from Mr. Lawhorn. You heard from people in support of this project. Again, the support, I believe, and I give a lot of credit to Mr. House on the efforts that he's gone to that. This project has staff recommendation of approval. We got a unanimous planning commission vote in October. And I think that's, that's telling. I haven't actually had a lot of those recently. So, I mean, I was kind of proud of that one. And I think that that's a tremendous signal that as this project has morphed over the past two years, that what you've seen is this project get better and better and better to the point where we had a room full of people here in opposition to a CDD hearing. In March of earlier this year to now where we're down to where we only had three or four different people speak. And the majority of those were in favor. And I think that's a real testament to the work that's going on in this project. I think that should be a real good sign that this is a good project to approve. And with that, we'll stand for any questions that you have. We've, and we're here. We've got our entire team. Go with you. Well, I got a question on the plant. You say the original design was for 680,000 gallons. Yes, sir. Pretty much operating it at 50%, closing off parts of it because it doesn't make any sense to operate a 680 plant when you're only handling 340,000 or whatever the case may be today. But obviously the plant, like me, is getting old and regulated by the PSC. And I am not very familiar with that process. I don't know when they come in and say, okay, it's time to do this or it's time to do that. Or maybe that never happens. But we've had some bad experience with private wastewater treatment plants. We've probably had good experience too, but we don't ever hear about those. In fact, I'm sure there's plenty of them that work well and haven't caused any problems for anybody. But just trying to understand the process and how far PSC or DEP, because what happens with some of the ones we've had trouble with, if DEP shuts them down, there's nobody to stand in their place if you can't connect to an existing municipal system, then it has to rock on for a while and wait for a better solution than maybe at hand. And so I know they've been reluctant to shut down Skyview. They were reluctant to shut down the Crooked Lake thing, I believe, because there was no good alternative for it. But, and I assume that Skyview and Crooked Lake were PSC regulated too, I guess. I don't know. But those are for the mobile home parks? Yeah. Those are substantially smaller package plants. Right, right. And that's a package plant versus a utility system. I don't want to mix apples and oranges, so thanks for pointing that out. But I don't know the process. Does somebody come in at some point and say, you must do these things? Does the PSC do that? Do they rely on DEP? Or do they just basically regulate rates based on how much you invest? And I'm going to ask Mr. Burge to answer those technical details. But I will tell you this, that any improvements, any enhancements, any of those, any of the testing requirements are all met. There's no issues. There's no notices of violation or any sort of consent orders or things of that nature as it relates to this water or sewer plant. How the improvements get in place is all fully permitted through the regulatory authorities. I'll let Mr. Burge. Yeah. While he's thinking about coming, go ahead. There hadn't really been any great technological breakthroughs with wastewater treatment systems in probably my lifetime, Ezra. I mean, it's kind of do it the same way they did it 30 or 40 years ago, I assume. There may be some better systems out there. But Keith Burge, Bentech, 2517 Elm Circle. There has been improvements in processes in the past 10 or 20 years. But let me get back to your point that the system itself is regulated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Polk County Environmental Health Department, and also the rates and the rate structure is governed by the Florida Public Service Commission. The utility each year files an annual report to the Florida Public Service Commission. And the Florida Public Service Commission reviews that annual report and makes sure the system is viable financially to continue its operations. And they take into consideration FDEP mandates and also Polk County Environmental Health requirements. And so the system is at least visited by the FDEP and the Polk County Health Department at least once a year to make sure that all the facilities are running in compliance. So as far as myself, I own a utility system, and it was built in 1961-62, and right now it's 2024 going into 2025. And that system is operating just as good as I'd put it up against any system in Polk County or the state of Florida. So age is a consideration, but Mr. House has shown the willingness to put into whatever the cost, whatever the money necessary to make improvements in that system to keep it viable for a very long time. In fact, I believe we've already submitted plans and a permit application to the FDEP to start making repairs and improvements to that system in anticipation of the development coming in, the new development. So he hasn't shown any hesitation to put in the necessary funds to improve both the wastewater system and the water systems there. Anybody else? Questions? Yeah, I do. Yeah, Martha. Yeah. Martha, I want to start off by saying I'm a little offended that my picture was not there with all the tennis players because in the 80s, I was an avid tennis player at Greenleaf. And so I'll find a picture for you so you can use it the next time. I didn't do enough research. I apologize, Commissioner. Who wouldn't you? But anyway, I just want a boiling the water issue that was brought to my attention and the fact that what you just explained with the pipes, that's a big concern for me. So I'm glad to hear. In fact, in the emails that were just given, it said, the new development will have a whole new system of pipes for their water. So I'm looking forward to that upgrade in that because boiling water, like the way they've been doing it, is not a good idea. And the only other thing I want to say is that there's many promises in this project made to the citizens in Greenleaf. We looked at the amenities right now. You said that there are no amenities. Not existing. Not existing. Right. They've been closed and things like that. So with what I saw with the maps and rendition, it looks like you're going to have quite a bit of them, which I think is favorable for the citizens in the area. My concern is I want to make sure this project is completed the way it's proposed and the way it's promised. So I'm just putting it out there. I don't want two, three years down the road for citizens to come in here and say they only did half of what they said they were going to do. And to that point, we are, you know, let's take a look at where we are in the process, right? We're at a transmittal hearing. So we are sending the map amendment and the text amendments for the comp plan to the state. This has to come back before you as it relates to adoption, right? So at that time, what we've done here is implement the lane development code and text amendments that require us to meet the amenity requirements of a PD today. So we have to at least meet effectively, we have designed this to meet your PD requirements and that's all codified in the lane development code and the comprehensive plan and text amendments. There will also be a CDD that will govern over the new development. It will not be covering any of the existing residents, so they will not be assessed. They will not be subject to any of that. But that CDD will be responsible and that will be as part of that CDD package that comes with what the CDD says. That comes with the financing, the bonding. That is what is effectively approved by this board. We anticipate that will come to you on the same day as the adoption so that you can see that entire package. And that's why we've timed these up the way that we have is we've got, if we can get this transmitted, then it will all come back to you as a complete package. You'll see the CDD. You'll see the commitment of the CDD to make certain infrastructure improvements, including amenities. And that becomes the binding instrument that confirms that those improvements will be in place. Anybody else? Well, one thing that I don't know if I understood this correctly or if Martha's thinking that it's going to be entirely new piping for everything. It will be new piping for the new development, and it will be upgrades in the system where necessary. Yeah, I think that was the way I took our comments. The question, Mr. Chairman, that I have, and I know that's not too far, I don't think, but what is the distance to the county park with ball fields and recreation area? I'll defer to staff. I don't know. It's not walking distance, right? There's not going to be sidewalks six miles? Yeah, I wasn't going to walk six miles to play a game I know I was going to win. The area in seven has ample opportunity if somebody wanted to kick a soccer ball or throw a football between them. But there's no sidewalks. You couldn't ride from this development of 3,000 or 4,000 people? I mean, 5,000, how many people? Internally, absolutely. You could walk to the county park? Oh, I don't know about the county. Oh, I said internally. Yeah, well, but I mean, the county park, you can't ride a bike or walk because there's no sidewalks in a two-lane, maybe all-two-lane road. Okay. Anybody else? Randy, I want to clarify something here. I've opened a public hearing, and it's okay to cover P1, P2, MP3 with one open hearing? Yes. Okay. When Shonda began her presentation, I was listening. She presented that it was covering all three of those items. And I want to make sure everybody in the audience is aware this is a public hearing for all three of these items. Three votes. Yeah. There'll be three votes, but the public hearing covered all three. Right. And I think everyone at 10... No, two votes and one is not voted on, right? Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah. And I guess just to clarify, if there was something that they left off that was not one of the other one issues, if they just centered, everything sounds like it's centered on all three items together. Okay. So, all right. Comments? Oh, no. I'll close the public hearing and bring them back to the board for comments. You got anything? Nope. Neil? No. But I will. You do have comments. Well, I've heard everything I need to hear, so I'll go ahead and make a motion to approve. I just did. Make a motion. I just made a motion to approve. P1. P1, I second P1. Okay. Transmittal hearing. All right. Now, comments. Neil, you got any comments? Well, this is transmittal, and, you know, it's not going to be me or George left here to vote on it when it comes back. It's going to be up to new members. There was a lot of things I wish that we could have put off until the new folks got here where it wouldn't be split like this. But, nevertheless, it is what it is. I, you know, I remember the green leaf in its heyday. I was out there a few times beating up on Martina Navratilova and Arnold Palmer. No, I don't remember you being there. I think I was in the loser's bracket, and you were not there that day. But, no, really, it was a nice place at the time. I don't know it's a situation where it's a rock and a hard place for a lot of people. They don't know if they can really believe that it's going to be everything that's promised, and it may be that and more. Who knows? I know that people who live out there, Glenn and the neighbors, are like me and my neighbors who see a lot of stuff, a lot of changes taking place, and it's not something that we're really interested in or benefiting from. And maybe there's benefits to all of us, but there's certainly downside to all of us, so I understand all that. But I think the idea that you could take this and rehabilitate it with reinvestment, which is going to mean continuing to build out some of this stuff that's had approval for 40 years. I don't know. Has it been that long? A long time anyway. And I think that it's at least worth transmitting and seeing where it goes. Anybody else? I've got a few comments. First, I'm going to express to Bart how I hate seeing developments go in and put homes on golf courses where people paid a premium to live on the golf course. The business failed, and now they're going to pay the price. Another comment is, if this was, we weren't talking about blending this in with an existing development, if it was a standalone development of over 1,000, in my opinion, this would be the very definition of urban sprawl. I mean, we're putting another however many homes, condos, whatever out there, and there's nothing out there to support it. I don't know how far it is to Publix or Aldi or wherever, but in my mind, it fits the definition of urban sprawl. With those two things said, the other factor in my mind is what's going to happen if it's not approved, and that's a hard one to answer. I think it's only going to get worse, and so for that reason, I'm going to vote for transmittal, but it's really, to me, there's not a good answer for this. But anyway, that said, we've got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries on P1. P2. Move approval of P2. Second. Got a motion. One second. P2 is the Land Development Code text amendment case. That's the first amendment. Oh, that's the first reading. Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, first reading. P3. First reading. First reading, sorry. Prove it on first reading, or just... No, we're just acknowledging it, and just the abundance of caution, if there was anyone here that felt that they did not get a chance to speak for P2 or P3, I would just ask you to indicate at this point, since we have heard all three, and I believe that was the intent. So, if that is not the case, please indicate at this point before the board makes a motion. All right. And now P3. Oh, yeah, that's right. Move approval of P3 transmittal. Second. Got a motion and a second for P3. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries. Moving on to P4. Don't you approve first reading? We've never approved first reading. First question, is it implied that it's approved? I don't need it. It's not really implied. A lot of traffic. Who pays you? Yeah, where you going on? Where you're going, does it get paid? This place doesn't get paid enough. At this late date, I'm not going to change it. The implications are this. Where you going? Yeah, they can incorporate those. Oh, you're not flying. Got to catch a fly. That's the way he's an eye on it. Yes. All right. Let's keep moving. All right. Next item. Eric Peterson for the Land Development Division. LDC-PAL 2023-12, Green Swamp Density Measurement. A legal ad was published in the Polk Sun on October 23rd, 2024. We received two phone calls in opposition, three emails in opposition, one letter in opposition. LDC-T 2024-13, a legal ad was published in the Polk Sun on October 23rd, 2024. We received two phone calls in opposition, three emails in opposition, and one letter in opposition. Comprehensive plan amendment went to Tallahassee. They reviewed it. And after much discussion, they realized it was really not a consequential amendment that would threaten the green swamp. So, they have no objections. LDC-T 2024-13 is your LDC text that would implement these changes. What are these changes? Well, everybody knows how sections work geographically and how many legal descriptions are based on the section. The quarter, the quarter, the quarter, the quarter, the quarter. To get to 20 acres or to get to 10 acres, that's how it's described. Now, if that section is not 640 acres, that 10-acre lot is not 10 acres. It's 9 point something. If that 20-acre lot is not 20 acres, it's 19 point something. If that's the case, we can't issue a building permit. This is kind of a fudge factor. So, 10-acre and 20-acre lots are huge. They're off by a couple square feet. Nobody's really going to know the difference. It's not going to really threaten growth management. It's not going to threaten the green swamp. But it's going to make somebody else very happy. They'll be able to put that one house on that almost 20-acre parcel or that almost 10-acre parcel. The other issue is in our comprehensive plan in the ARR where it's one unit per 10 acres, if you've got any wetlands on your property, they're only good for one unit per 20 acres. This creates a very difficult way to calculate how much acreage they really need to have a buildable lot in the ARR. This makes that all the same. It adds in into the calculation that they need at least five acres of upland on any given parcel in the ARRX. So, we're not developing the wetlands. We're just counting them the same as we count the uplands, just like we do in the core, just like we do in the RL, just like we do in the RS, everywhere else. Doesn't change the density. Doesn't change the density, no. Now, where is this going to apply? Well, only in a few places on the left. All this green area you see on this map, it's either under government control or conservation easements. Or land sales subdivisions. Or land sales subdivisions, yes, where they don't have the frontage to build anyway. After calculating that, the potential, the greatest impact that this amendment could have would result in 432 additional properties in the ARR that would exist otherwise, or 67 additional properties in the core that would exist otherwise. It's not a big impact. I mean, that's the equivalent of just one of the city's annexations last year into the green swamp, into the core. So we made the changes, you have various ordinances before you. We split them up, the two, the density calculation with regards to the section size and the right-of-ways, and the wetland calculation with regards to the ARR are in there. In LDC-PAL, it's all one ordinance, and in the LDC-T, there's two ordinances, a Part A and a Part B. So when you make the motion, be conscious of approving both Part A and Part B on the LDC-T. Staff, I'll stand for questions. You've heard my argument. I'll stand for questions. George. The example you gave on the section, quarter section, and dividing, again, was all predicated on a 640 acres. Yes. Do you know between GIS and other assets that a section is something less than 640? Is that predetermined, can be predetermined? Yes. Our GIS, one calculates it, but even our old property appraiser books have a notation in them of how big, and that's where I got that one graphic from here. Yes. This is. So if someone comes in and they've got 9.96 acres, in the current rule, they couldn't get a permit. Correct. So what if they've got 9.2? So do you actually take the sections that are less than 640, calculate that percentage, and that becomes the variable that allows them to be less than 9? That is correct. So it's not discretionary. It is calculable that they have effectively a 10 acres out of that something less than 640 proportionate? Yes. It's calculated by section. By section, yes. One sixty-fourth for the 10-acre lots, one thirty-second for the 20-acre. This is just P4 we're talking about. Are we taking P4 and P5 together? Yes. Yes, we are opening both P4. I mean, that was related to P4, what Commissioner Lindsay was asking about. No. But I've got an explanation when the time comes, when people are through with questions. Oh, okay. All right. Any other thing? All right. I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. And there's a public hearing on P4 and P5. On P4 and P5. Okay. See no one. I'll close the public hearing. I'm Blair Quinn, 22 Lakeview Drive South, Haynes City. I don't really know a whole lot about this, but the Green Swamp is the Green Swamp, and I don't think we should be developing anything in it. We have so many other developments going on, I don't understand why would we even go there with that, but that's all I have to say. All right. Anybody else? All right. I'm ready to... Okay, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And then I'll make a motion to approve P3, or excuse me, P4 and P5. No, one at a time. One motion. Okay, then. P4. Well, I'll do P4, then I'll explain, and then I won't do anything on that. P4. Okay. P4. Okay. Got a second, somebody? Second. Okay, you got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Yes. Okay. Density in the core area, as it stands right now, just so everybody knows and you say you don't know much about it, and I understand that because most people don't know much about it, but density in the core area, which is the most sensitive area, according to a table that was inserted into our comprehensive plan in 2002, of which, when I was a member of this board, it lays out that you can have one dwelling unit on 20 acres of wetlands in the core area. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. Now, in theory, you would probably have to have at least a half an acre so you could have 20 and a half acres as long as that half acre was uplands, which would be necessary to comply with development requirements that apply countywide. But that makes no sense at all. Additionally, on that same table inserted in 2002, after a public hearing, I guess, I don't know, I was certainly not made aware of it until 2011 when the county decided they were going to, according to John Bode, who was sitting in the back, somebody came on staff and said, I think this means you've got to have 10 acres of uplands. So in the less sensitive area of the green swamp, the density is one unit for 10 acres. After we finish here, the density, one way or the other, is still going to be one unit for 10 acres. And then there's other things that have to happen in order to get a building permit. But primarily, you've got to have road frontage on a county-maintained road, and you've got to have so many feet on that road. So you start taking out 99% of everything that's out there, any kind of potential. But just, again, I was going to say that you could have 19 acres of wetlands and an acre of uplands in the core area, you get a building permit. In the outside of that, in the balance, you could have 10 acres with nine acres of uplands, and one acre of wetlands, and you can't get a permit, and you've got nine acres of uplands. The lowest density in the entire rest of the county, whether it's in a sensitive area adjacent to a lake, adjacent to wetlands, is one unit per five with no requirement for uplands specified in the code. It's then dictated by other parts of the land development code, which are dictated by health department regulations and road frontage requirements, which apply county-wide. But the one thing that I want to correct is, and I could give you examples of where this has really hurt people, families who have tried to help their kids to give them something that's useful and beneficial, but they miss by that much. And it's like, sorry, we can't help you. You know, the, and I will say, my family, combined family with my wife's family and my family, direct family, at one time owned close to 32,000 acres of the green swamp. You know, we don't, we're down to like 750 these days, but we still got a bunch of family and kids that'll come behind, and some of them will want to live there because they don't want to live out by Greenleaf. And I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have said that. But anyway, there's one thing that, she's a nice lady and certainly well-meaning that was here earlier. I think her name was Coyle or Cole or something, but she said, she reiterated, and it may be in Paul's article, I didn't read the article, that the green swamp is this major recharge for the Florida aquifer. That's not true now. It's never been true. It's never going to be true. The USGS in the late 50s, early 60s, drilled, documented from one side to the other, north, south, east, west, and the recharge in the green swamp, area of critical state concern, with the exception of the small strip along 27, is zero. It's documented. Water doesn't go in the ground there. It runs to the Withlacoochee River or the Oclawaha. Now, when you get out of there and you get along the ridge, that's where all the recharge takes place. But for people to come up and say, this is the major recharge, that is absolutely false. And it's just downright silly to say it because, like I say, there's extensive studies drilling work that was done that says it's zero. There's no recharge there. We've got water under the ground that comes in from the ridge and is, you know, the potentiometric highs around Polk City. I can't argue with any of that. But nevertheless, this is, if we don't approve it, the minimum density is one unit for 10 acres. If we do approve it, the minimum density is 10 acres. Okay. So. I don't know why I'm curious. I'm looking at you and talking to you because. All right. So we got a motion and a second. We are in discussion. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Those like sign, motion carries. P5. Move approval. Second. Got a motion and a second for approval. P5. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign, motion carries. P6. Good afternoon, board. Scott Lowry, real estate services support manager. I'll try to be brief this afternoon. I just have one item. The county received a petition from Jeff Satfield as authorized agent for Circus Inn to vacate a portion of maintained right-of-way for Holly Hill Grove Road 1, shown on the maintained map recorded in 2015 in Map Book 23 at pages 21 through 25, and is shown at St. Clair Terrace on the plot of Holly Hill Grove and Fruit Company, recorded in Plat Book 17 at page 40. The petitioner currently owns large tracts of land of the north and south of the eastern section of, excuse me, of the roadway, which is under contract with a large-scale retail developer. The petitioner has requested the vacation to remove the bifurcation of the roadway and allow the development as planned to move forward. It's actually part of their conditions of their development. The plans for the development call for the construction of a cul-de-sac at the western end of the development site, which I'm highlighting here, and the county has requested an easement to allow for the roadway that we're vacating to remain open until they can actually construct that cul-de-sac and convey the right-of-way. The appropriate county divisions and utility providers have been notified of the request. One of the data providers, Lumen, has objected stating future needs, but they don't have any current plans. This has become a standard response from them. No other objections were received. County staff recommends the board adopt the resolution to vacate the subject portion of Holly Hill Grove Road 1, as fully described in the legal description, contain the petition and the resolution, and also accept the easement from the petitioner. Also, there is a representative for the petitioner here. If you guys have any questions, I will also remain standing for any questions. I have one question. All of the residents on the west side of where we're closing are totally aware of what's going on? Signs have been posted on both sides of the subject area. Did this go through the planning commission? Yes. Did anyone speak there against this? That I don't know. I don't know if Ben's still here. It did go and was approved. The vacation, yeah. No, no, not the vacation. Just conditional use for the development. It doesn't. Okay. All right. Never mind. I think he was thinking you were talking about the development, not the act. Oh, okay. Yeah, this went to conditional use on October 2nd, I believe, and this was one of the conditions that this right away would be vacated. Okay. All right. Where am I at? I'm lost. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'll open up a public hearing on this matter. Anyone wishing to speak, please come forward. You're welcome to speak. Good afternoon, Commission. Robert Volpe on behalf of the petitioner in this case, the property owner. We did go before the planning commission for the conditional use, and that was given unanimous approval. This right-of-way vacation is one of the conditions. I'm happy to answer additional questions, but we worked with the county staff on this easement that has already been drafted, and in the county's hands, the county will maintain the right-of-way until such time when there is development and the cul-de-sac is constructed on the western side of the area to be vacated. Now, the only reason for my comments, it's just I'm shocked that even though I would – if I lived there, I would probably think this is a good thing, closing a through road, making it kind of a little private drive. I'm shocked somebody disagrees with that idea. We did not receive any comments or questions or no one at the planning commission meeting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Anyone? Anyone else? Care to speak on this? You've also not received any phone calls or – Okay. All right. All right. All right. I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Motion for approval. Got a motion and a second for approval. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. All right. Those alike signed. Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The last item is P7. It's a public hearing to consider adoption of the audit set in the yearly salary of commissioners in accordance with Section 2.5 of the Polk County Charter. The recommended rate of increase is 3.4%. It is the percentage change of the US CPI for 2023, which is less than the average employee increase from previous year of 23, physical year of 23-24, and is recommended for approval. I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Get back. All right. I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Move approval. Motion and a second for approval. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Yeehaw. Anything else? Yeah, let me just say that when I came back here, I had two things I wanted to get done somehow, some way. One of them was naming and recognizing Larry Libertor Jr. for his contribution in the sports and in the county, and the other was that 2002 table. The last, almost the last vote. Second to the last vote. Thanks, y'all. Thanks, y'all. All right. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done.