2026 regular BOCC meeting, and we will stand for the invocation by Mr., or I should say Chaplain Hanley, and then the Pledge of Allegiance. Good morning. I would invite you to pray with me. Heavenly Father, we are all your children, and you love us in a way we can hardly fathom. Help us to see past the issues that divide us and see one another as you see us. We ask that you guard our hearts and let all that we do place the focus on you. May all of our achievements today bring you glory and honor, and I ask this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. 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. At this time, we have no presentations, recognitions. We'll go on to public comments concerning agenda items. Ms. Amper? No, ma'am. We do not have any for the agenda. Thank you. And now we move to County Comptroller, Ms. Stacey Butterfield. Good morning. Today we have for you to approve and ratify payroll checks number 04471 through 04536, totaling $90,865.87. We have 6,117 direct deposits, and the amount of $9,391,756.23, and those are all dated March 20 through April 3rd, 2026. We have wire and electronic funds transfers of $56,541,235.37, dated March 17 through April 6th, 2026. And finally, invoice checks numbered 501-559 through 502-701, totaling $22,260,127.58, and those are dated March 17 through April 6th, 2026, for you to approve and ratify, please. Motion for approval. I have a motion and a second. Any discussions, questions? Hearing none. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. We also have the request to approve your minutes of your most recent board meeting held on, your regular board meeting held on March 17, 2026, please. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any questions, discussions? Hearing none. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Anything else? Yes, ma'am. Next week, the, my office, the clerk's office, is going to hold Operation Greenlight. During Operation Greenlight, anyone that has outstanding fines, fees, court costs that have been turned over to an outside collection agency, which is a requirement by law once if a certain time period passes. And that collection agency adds a percentage on top of the outstanding fines and fees, somewhere between 25 and 35 percent. So it can be a substantial amount of money. During Operation Greenlight, which is next week, for that week, if a person pays in full the outstanding fines and fees, we will waive the collection agency fee, that outside collection agency fee. They can pay in full and we can provide them with the information and potential, so they can be in a position to have their driver's license reinstated. Because if it's an outside collections, their driver's license is suspended. And so to help drivers get back on the road legally, we are offering this next Monday, which is the 13th through Friday, the 17th, normal operation hours at all three of our locations, the main, the Lakeland Courthouse and the Northeast Government Center, as well as, I think it's Tuesday night, we'll be open about an hour extra in the evening to provide an additional time frame for people that want to come into the office. The people can also call our office at the 534-4000 and be able to make payment over the telephone with a credit card as well. So we look forward to that event, and hopefully that will be beneficial for a lot of people that'd like to take advantage. When is it going to start again? Next Monday. You got that, Bill? So, because it's a serious problem to be driving around on a suspended license, and we would love for people to take advantage of this. We appreciate you doing this for our citizens of our county. Thank you very much. That's all I have. Thank you. Okay. Consent agenda? Approval? Second. I have a motion and a second. Any questions, discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. County Attorney, Mr. Mink. Thank you. County Manager, Mr. Beasley. Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board, members of the viewing audience. The Manager's Office will have four items for board consideration this morning. Item number G1 is to request the board to approve a professional services agreement with Dewberry Engineers Incorporated to provide design and engineering services in connection with anticipated repairs within the Circle B Bar Reserve as a result of damages sustained from Hurricane Milton. Anticipated professional services expenses are not to exceed $1,149,927.44. In December of 2025, the board approved the selection committee's recommendation and authorized staff to negotiate an agreement with Dewberry Engineers in response to a request for proposal numbers 25-652. Newberry Engineers will provide engineering services, including design, permitting, and study activities related to damages sustained during Hurricane Milton, which further damage, as a result of increased damages to the previous storm, Hurricane Ian. The whole goal of this program is to restore the site to pre-storm conditions or better. Restoring the site to pre-hurricane conditions will ensure continued improvements to water quality by allowing Banana Creek Marsh System within the Circle B Bar Reserve to function properly. Portions of the project will include repairs to historic berms constructed in the early 1900s and improvements to drainage infrastructure along the existing trail system. The scope of services will also include investigating opportunities to enhance the functionality of the wetland system and its hydraulic capacity to improve water conveyance into Lake Hancock and ultimately to the Peace River. The term of this agreement is through the completion of all required services or December 31st of 2027, whichever occurs first. Funding for these professional services is budgeted and available within the five-year Parks and Natural Resources Community Investment Program, specific to the Environmental Lands Acquisition Fund. So, Madam Chair, members of the Board, I think in order to maintain and preserve what I think is Polk's iconic environmental preservation masterpiece, I would request the Board to approve a professional services agreement with Dewberry Engineers to provide for design and engineering services for anticipated repairs at the Circle B Bar Reserve as a result of damages sustained from Hurricane Milton at a total expense not to exceed $1,149,927.44. Madam Chair, motion for approval. I have a motion and a second. Any questions? Discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Yes, aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Madam Chair, members of the Board, item number G2 is to request the Board to approve a construction contract with Central Concrete Products Incorporated out of Bartow in connection with the Wabash Park Basketball Court and Sidewalk Walking Trail project. This item will reflect a Board-approved contract action not to exceed $481,981. Polk County has completed a public process to solicit bids from qualified contractors to construct a new regulation basketball court and sidewalk walking trail at the county's Wabash Park located at 1230 Southern Avenue in the Lakeland community. The Wabash Park is located west of Lakeland and services the surrounding communities. The site includes the Wabash Resource Center and two acres of outdoor space which currently includes a playground for younger children. The addition of a basketball court and a new sidewalk walking trail will expand much-needed outdoor recreational experiences. New sidewalk will enhance safety and provide a short walking trail for additional exercise opportunities for all park patrons. Bid number 26050 was issued and five contractors submitted bids. The lowest responsive responsible bid was submitted by Central Concrete Products in the total amount of $459,030. A recommendation of award was issued and no protests were received. In accordance with resolution number 13-066, $22,951 is included in the total contract award to address allowance and contingency conditions. Contract time for this project has been set at 150 calendar days. This project is fully funded by the federal government's community development block grant program and this project is included in the Parks and Natural Resources Board adopted community investment program. So Madam Chair, members of the board, I think in keeping with the board's commitment to both passive and active recreational opportunities for all county residents, I would request the board to approve a construction contract with Central Concrete Products Incorporated in connection with the Wabash Park Basketball Court and Sidewalk Walking Trail Project in an amount not to exceed $481,981. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any questions? If I'm... Yes. Go ahead. Yeah, I was just going to say, having not grown up in the area, but visited this area a lot, and I've been to that center, I appreciate the resources we have there now for the younger kids, but there's really not much from an active activity center for the older students or kids or even young adults. So really, I'm appreciative of the county putting this together, and I think it's going to serve that community very well, and I appreciate the effort that went into it. So, Commissioner Scott, we did hear from some of the senior elements of the community, and the walking trail was the number one thing that they wanted to be able to get outside and get some active exercise, and so that was the least we could do. Absolutely. I don't play basketball, of course. They do in that community. So I'm not familiar with the upgrades, but I just noticed the floor of the basketball court is different. Can you tell me? Eric, that looks like it may have been... That's that plastic type of... Yes, sir. They're tiles that we've used at several of our courts over the last couple of years. It gives a better aesthetic, and it also has a safer surface as well than the concrete surfaces. You want to skin your knees when you fall? Is that it? That's what... Not as bad. I mean... That's what, Commissioner... It'll still rough you up a little bit, but not as bad. That is the new standard, though, in some of our parts. It really has a lot of longevity. Its maintenance cost is minimal, and the capital cost is certainly acceptable, but we think that's the new future, and it's well-received by the young folks who play on it. The surface play isn't bad. I thought the first time I saw it, it's like you're bouncing a ball on plastic, but it's not. It really does react very similar to concrete. Interesting. Thank you. Anything else? Okay, I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Madam Chair, members of the Board, item number G3 is to request the Board to approve a consultant services authorization with RS&H Incorporated to provide construction, engineering, and inspection services in connection with the Country Club Road at Buckeye Loop Road intersection improvements project. This agreement will include all identified professional services at an expense not to exceed $460,157.24. Construction bidding for the Country Club Road at Buckeye Loop Road intersection improvements project is anticipated in the near future. In preparation for this project, county staff has completed negotiations for all anticipated construction, engineering, and inspection services necessary to deliver a successful project. Typical services include various field inspections, quality assurance, quality control monitoring to include laboratory testing services, maintenance of traffic, and all field reporting and contractor invoicing and payment reviews. The time frame identified to complete these services is 11 months. Funding for these roadway intersection improvements is budgeted and available within the Transportation Trust Fund, and this is an approved project in the Board's adopted community investment program. So, Madam Chair, members of the Board, I think in keeping with the Board's commitment to roadway infrastructure improvements where prudent and feasible, I would request the Board to approve CSA number 2025-054-03 with RS&H Incorporated to provide construction, engineering, and inspection services to support planned roadway improvements at the intersection of Country Club Road and Buckeye Loop Road at a cost not to exceed $460,157.24. I have a motion and a second. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Madam Chair, members of the Board, final item from the Manager's Office this morning, item number G4, is to request the Board to approve a consultant services authorization with RK&K LLP to provide professional design and engineering services in connection with the U.S. 27 at Bates Road intersection improvements. This agreement will include all identified and require professional services at an expense not to exceed $307,006.07. The Roads and Drainage Division has selected a consultant to provide professional design and engineering services in connection with planned roadway improvements at the U.S. 27 at Bates Road intersection. Services shall include roadway and drainage plans, utility adjustment plans, environmental permits, signage and pavement marking plans, signalization plans, construction quality control plans, cost estimating services, construction specifications, and assistance with right-of-way acquisition and bidding phase services. Funding for these planned intersection roadway improvements is budgeted and available in the Transportation Trust Fund, and this is an adopted project in the Board's approved community investment program. So, Madam Chair, members of the Board, here again, I think in keeping with the Board's commitment to roadway infrastructure improvements where prudent and feasible, I would request the Board to approve consultant services authorization number 2022-095-06 with RK&K LLP to provide professional design and engineering services in connection with planned improvements at the U.S. 27 at Bates Road intersection at a total cost not to exceed $307,006.07. Approval. I have a motion and a second. Any questions? Discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. That's it, Madam Chair. Commissioner Troutman. Thank you. Commissioner Wilson. Yeah, something quick. Bill, just trying to, I know in the last couple days, myself personally have received a lot of rain. And I know it's, you know, throughout the county, but I mean, we're looking at that because of our burn ban. I know a lot of people want to get out from under that. And just, you know, seeing where we're at, if we can be getting closer on that, maybe. Yeah, we'll have discussions with it. It's been so quick and stuff. I think they're hesitant to do it until they can see that it's clearly we don't have more rain. Because if it dries up, we're back over that 500 pretty quickly. So, but I'll be, I can have discussions with the fire chief, see what their thoughts are and stuff. I know last time we had talked about it, and quickly after that, we got, went right back into the drought. So, let me just run it down with the fire chief and confirm that. We'll communicate with the board. I'm just, I get that. I'm just trying to keep it on top of the list, right? Yes, sir. I look at it every day when they send out the burn ban and see where the KDBI is and stuff. I know we're below five, we're at 495 right now this morning, according to, and we'll probably be lowering that based on what rain we get right now. The question is, what is it going to be in the next couple of weeks and stuff? So, I do look at it myself every morning, too. That's it. Thank you. Commissioner Braswell. Yeah, Randy, just to keep in mind, some of us who burn a lot, just a few days window, you know, if they, you know, they don't need to look at it as this is the end. I mean, if we can just get through it. We can do it temporary. We do have the ability, the board, a while back ago, we put into the resolution where the fire chief has like a temporary one he can do up to seven days. So, I can look at that, too. Okay. That'd be great. Yes, sir. The other thing, it is election day, and I don't know, Bartow, Dundee, I don't know who else is having elections. Lake Wales and City. Lake Wales and City. So, notoriously low turnouts on city elections, but now's your opportunity if you got something to say about who you elect as city commissioners. Today's your day to vote. I also want to point out one other thing. Last week in Okeechobee, a four-year-old kid got a hold of a gun, playing with it, shot themselves, they survived. About a year ago, up in Davenport, the exact same thing happened here in Polk County. Four-year-old got a hold of a gun, shot themselves, and they died. And I bring this up because April is Child Gun Safety Education Month. And, you know, we've all heard these stories. Over the last 20 years, there's been a huge increase in these incidents nationwide, and they usually happen at home, usually at the kids' home. And most frequently, it's kids between the ages of 11 and 15. And you can picture what's happening. They show their buddy, they're playing around with it, you know, whatever, and the gun goes off and somebody dies. So, the point of why I'm bringing this up is not just about access, it's also about education. And the people standing, I've asked them to come today because here in Polk County, we're fortunate enough to have a nonprofit organization. It's called Engage of Polk County. These guys, they offer any kind and every kind of gun safety training there is. Everything from the concealed carry course, they've got advanced training, they even have church guardian programs, which is sad we have to even talk about that. But it's a reality that we live in right now. And all of these programs are based on responsible ownership, safe handling, and awareness. They also have a kids' program called Eddie Eagle. And what that does, it teaches kids basically the four steps of when you find a gun. And that's stop, don't touch it, run away, tell a grown-up. So, it's a great program. Rick and I were talking about this. You know, back in the day, our parents taught us, you know, gun safety. But we all grew up with guns. So, gun safety becomes real evident. But a lot of these kids don't. And they need formal training. The parents don't know how to teach it. And so, this group right here, Engage of Polk County, that's what they're here for. That's what they do. And I think it's great if we can just prevent one tragedy. It's a great day for Polk County. Thank you guys for being here. And they're Engage of Polk County. If you need some training, need to teach your kids, the Eddie Eagle program or something like that, it's a great organization. Thank you. Commissioner Braswell, how can somebody get in touch with them if they need to? You've got a Facebook page, a website, and we'll get your information out. Maybe we can put it on the website, the county website. But, yeah, it's a great group. I've been out there before. They've got, you know, excellent people who know what they're doing. It's something we need to look at. Thanks. And thank you for being here today. We appreciate it. And we appreciate the work that you do for our county. Thank you. And that's all I got. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Scott. Yes, ma'am. So we've got Sun and Fun coming up for those that don't know about it. One of the greatest events we have here in Polk County of aviation fly-ins. So we'll look forward to that next week. To bring some clarity to some stuff we had in the past for Mr. Abercrombie, I see you're in the audience. I do have the stack of everything that I believe we've been requested on public record. The attorney's office has prepared that. So I've got hard copies of one of the staff deliver that to you. And Hunt Fountain Park fence, specifically on the contract, it was for bid number 19-148B, removal and disposal of existing fence and install new fence at eight fields and one football field at Hunt Fountain Park. So that's on the very top of it. So if you have questions about what the contract said, that's here for you this morning. So I'll have staff deliver that stack to you. And then last but not least, over the next couple of months, I'll be visiting several of the surrounding county animal control centers and just taking some notes. And again, not looking at building a new animal control, but if we can look at some incremental improvements, that's what we're all about. So I'll be doing that, and I appreciate it. And I was going to bring up the election. Thank you, Commissioner Braswell, for bringing that up because it is local elections, and the turnout is usually very low for that. So whoever hears my voice or those of you that are here, please call your fellow neighbors and everybody you can think of so they can go out and make their elections or vote for whoever they want to see in a position in the county or in the city. So hopefully we'll get those results this afternoon or this evening. That's all that I have. So let's go on now to the expedited hearing. Yes, Madam Chair. Before we move to the expedited hearings, I will go over the public hearing general procedures. I remind everyone, if you wish to speak on any of the public hearing items today, you need to fill out a speaker card in the back and give the card to a member of the communication staff. We ask that you please turn off your cell phones or other devices that may strike from the public hearings. Please adjust the microphone and state your full name and address for the record report before you begin speaking on the topic. Individuals speaking during the public comment section of a matter will be strictly limited three minutes. The board has experienced in these matters and is able to discern what is legally relevant to an issue and what is not. Information is irrelevant or repetitive. It only serves to frustrate and necessarily prolong the day's business. The commission expects civility at all times during all public hearings, speaking out of turn, shouting out from the audience, disrespectful sounds or utterances while another is speaking are unacceptable and you will be asked to leave the chamber's 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 proceedings and that for such purposes, you may need to ensure that verbatim record of the proceedings is made. The record includes a testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is 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 in there in public hearings shall be deemed to be sworn. At this time, if you're going to address the commission and speak on any case today, you please stand, raise your right hand, and answer out loud to the following questions. And this is just for the public hearing cases. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony or evidence you provide to the commission today, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Thank you. Madam Chair, the expedited hearing procedures are the following. Expedited hearings are held pursuant to Resolution No. 2022-089. Expedited hearings are used when no opposition was present at the Planning Commission hearing. The applicant agrees to the expedited hearing, and all recommendations 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 members of the public. All documents attached to the agenda are deemed part of the record of the land use case. Unless removed from the list of experts by motion of the board, all the individuals on the list of experts attached to the agenda are deemed experts for the purpose of the land use case. At this time, I will turn it over to Mr. Ziskell to present the expedited hearings. Thank you, Mr. Mink. Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board. My name is Ben Ziskell, Land Development Director for Polk County, and there are three items on the expedited public hearing portion of today's agenda. All three of these items are proposed text amendments to the Land Development Code on first reading, so there's no formal action required on any of them today, and they'll be back before you in two weeks for adoption. Item number N1 is an expedited public hearing for case LDCT 2025-28 flex space and retail plazas to consider an amendment to the Land Development Code to add standards for flex space and retail plazas. As you can see on the screen here, there's pictures that depict each of these titles. The top picture is a prototypical flex space building that may house some light manufacturing, storage, warehousing, contractor offices and showrooms, and the bottom picture is more of a prototypical retail plaza where we would see typical retail sales, office, restaurant, and other customer-engaging facilities. The Land Development Code currently does not differentiate between these two, and it has become slightly problematic for both staff and applicants when it comes to buffering requirements, landscape requirements, parking requirements, and other types of development standards that really are different. These two types of uses, while they are large, single structures containing multiple tenants, they really do operate different. So, this amendment will create a definition for each of these two uses and ensure that proper landscaping and design standards and buffering is provided when necessary. Again, this is a first reading of this text amendment, so there is no formal action, but I will certainly stand for any questions that the board or the public may have. Okay, this is a public hearing. Amber, do we have anybody that has requested to speak at this one? No, ma'am. Okay. Hearing none, then we close the public hearing. He has a form. It already turned it in. I guess we do. Is this related to the specific? It is. Okay. Everything's related to it. James Abercrombie, 2737, Gibbs-only, Galloway Road, Lakeland. You state your name and address, and for the record... You just did. You did? You did? I didn't hear him. All right. I'm referencing a lawsuit I did in 2007. That basically, on your land development, all your SPDs, all that kind of stuff, you had five points of the policy to add to fulfill. Well, one of them was compatibility, which was, in this day and time, I've listened to this board quite a few times, and the Planning Commission as well. Compatibility is completely suggestive. It's your opinion against my opinion, blah, blah, blah. There's no real definition for compatibility, but yet you make all your decisions based on that. And, of course, development criteria, which would be your infrastructure. That's all you consider anymore. Your infrastructure, of course, now used to be everything. It used to be sidewalks, water, sewer, everything. Now, infrastructure is nothing more than parks, fire stations, and schools. That's it. That's all you consider to make your decisions on whether these projects belong in this area or whatever. There's five different compatibility timing, location criteria, location criteria as well, and development criteria. Now, what you're doing here, and since this was the original forad, today, it is so confusing to go through that land development code. It used to be maybe that thick. Now, look at it today. Everything has gotten so confusing. You overrun everything. You overwork everything. You just keep making this stuff harder and harder for yourselves as well as us because we have nothing to fight with anymore when you take this stuff away from us. We go to these meetings as well, the Planning Commission as well as this meeting. We have nothing to say. We say it. It means nothing. We have to stay within your criteria, which is nothing more than infrastructure, and whatever we say is not in your pervy because we are not professionals. Now, where do we get our power from? Where are we, the citizens, considered in all your decisions anymore? We're not here. We have nothing to say about this. I haven't seen it. I probably could go on a computer, but I'm not a computer littered. I'm not. I can work it somewhat to a degree, but to find it on a computer, I can't do it. I signed up for that meeting out there at the meeting for responses or updates on that. I have received nothing from the Kathleen meeting, period. I don't know why. I'm sure you've talked about it. Some stuff's been processed through the thing here. The last review commission meeting, Mr. Scott was talking about the property at Hillsborough County and Polk County Line, water leaking over into our property, blah, blah, blah. He needed to get involved in it. Ben Dunn's already talked to him. Thank you, Mr. Abercrombie. You're the last one to know, folks. I appreciate it. Can we close the public hearing and we bring it back to the board? Oh, that's right. It's a first reading. Thank you, Madam Chair. Item number N2 is an expedited public hearing for case LDCT 2025-29 storage yards to consider the adoption of an ordinance amending the Land Development Code to add storage yard as a new land use activity in the industrial district. This is a text amendment to, again, provide clarity to staff and applicants regarding the increased demand and interest in establishing storage yards for businesses that have materials, products, or goods that need to be stored on-site prior to going to a job site or prior to use in business operations. Currently, the Land Development Code does not provide a definition for storage yard, which leads staff and applicants to have to try to figure out which type of use this type of operation fits into. It's not really an office as a traditional office, even though they may have a sales office on-site. It's not manufacturing because they're not making the product on-site. So storage yards are sort of this middle ground and we don't have a definition and therefore it's difficult to provide guidance on where this type of operation can exist. So this ordinance will provide a specific definition for storage yards. It will allow this use in the industrial land use categories only and will provide that clarity for the business community and for staff. Again, this is an ordinance on first reading, so following any questions from the public or the board, no action is required today and we will bring this back to you in two weeks for adoption. This is a public hearing and we don't have anyone, Amber, so we will close the public hearing and since this is first reading, we'll go on to the next one. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Madam Chair. Item number N3 is an expedited public hearing for case LDCT 2025-30, administrative plat approval to amend the Land Development Code to comply with legislation that was passed by the state legislature during last year's session, which makes it plat approvals and administrative review not subject to any review by the elected body. This text amendment will replace language in the Land Development Code that provides that the chairman of the Board of County Commissioners is the final signature authority and replace that with the Land Development Director as the final signature authority. I do want to offer one amendment to this text amendment. The code is currently written with having the board chair be the signature authority provides by default that in the absence of the chair, the vice chair could sign the plats and that's a power that the vice chair of the board has built into its regular signature authority. When we drafted this ordinance and replaced the board chair with Land Development Director, we did not provide an alternate signature authority. A lot of times in our code, we offer language as a designee. In the absence of the Land Development Director, we believe that there should be an alternate signature. So what we are offering is to add that in the absence of the Land Development Director, that an assistant or deputy county manager could be the final signature on a plat. If we can get approval of that, we will build that amendment into the ordinance so that when it appears before you in two weeks, we will have that alternate. Again, the intent there is that if a plat is ready for signature and the Land Development Director is out of the office on vacation or is ill or if there's a vacancy or some reason that the Land Development Director cannot sign the plat, that there's an alternate option for the applicant to get that plat signed. So I would ask for a nod or a vote or a roll call or however Randy says we need to do it. Yeah, I'm looking at our county. Yeah, we just need consensus at this point that anyone has any objections to that so we know if not, we'll bring it back. If none of the commissioners have any objections to it. No objection. Are you good with that? We thought it was better to have it go up because of plats and stuff and not just designate someone below the Land Development Director. So that will come on next reading, right? Yes, ma'am. We'll add that change to it. We'll add that change to it. Yes, ma'am. So are you through? Just with that change, we will bring it back to you. Again, this is first reading, so following any questions or comments from the Board of the Public, there's no action required, and we will bring the amended version back to you in two weeks for adoption. Yes, ma'am. And I open it up for public hearing, and I have Mr. Abercrombie. You've signed up. Good morning. James Abercrombie, for the record, 2737 gets on Galloway Road. Got the same principle here, folks, only it's worse. They're taking away your power again, as well as ours. We have nothing to say about this process any longer. The Platts, we have nothing to say about it. We don't anyway. They come to you, and you are the one that either listens or don't listen to us. But the point being is the state is taking away a lot of your jurisdiction as well. Why? That's unconstitutional for them to come and start putting into your business such as this. Now, there are certain things that, of course, they need to, but this one is not one of them. You don't need this. Once again, we, the people, we, the citizens, are the ones supposed to be considered when you make your decisions. Not the developers, not the contractors, not the attorneys that are in the building making decisions, making the rules. Mr. Allen's become a common name around here, and he's part of the process, if I understand correctly. He's on committees and all that. I wonder how many more are. This is not supposed to be run by attorneys. This is our government. We're the ones supposed to have the say, not these attorneys. They shouldn't be involved in them. Mr. Allen continues to use the planning staff as witnesses, but yet they never have to testify. Never. Why should they? They're employed by you. These people are taking over. It's not right. We've got to change this, and soon. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Debra Comby. And we have no one else, Ms. Ember. No, ma'am. Okay, so we close the public hearing. This is first reading, so we'll look forward to it in two weeks with the amendment. Yes, ma'am. And that concludes the expedited portion of today's public hearing agenda. And let's move on to the public hearings part. Madam Chair, the first items will be introduced by or be handled by Ms. Amy Gregory, which is a traffic common device. Good morning. For the record, Amy Gregory, traffic manager for the Roads and Drainage Division. And before you this morning is a public hearing to consider adoption of a resolution to allow the placement of one additional traffic calming device on Avenue Y Northeast and Winter Haven. Avenue Y Northeast is a local residential road, 20 feet wide, 2,676 feet long, with a posted speed limit of 20 miles an hour. On November 7, 2017, the board adopted a resolution to allow the installation of three traffic calming devices on Avenue Y Northeast between First Street North and State Road 544 or Lucerne Park Road. An area resident subsequently approached the county with a request to install an additional traffic calming device on Avenue Y in the vicinity of the Wilford Smith Community Center. Under direction of the county attorney's office, staff distributed ballots to the homeowners with property fronting the segment of Avenue Y where the existing speed humps were installed. And we received the required 80% favorable response from yes votes and from non-votes per the board's policy. On March 17, 2026, a hearing date of April 7, 2026 was set by consent agenda and staff posted on-site notices as well. And as much as the county attorney's directive for the installation of additional traffic calming device has been met, staff recommends adoption of a resolution to install one additional traffic calming device along Avenue Y Northeast. And I'll stand for any questions. Any questions for staff? Okay. This is a public hearing. Amber, I was going to say Amanda. Amber, do we have any? We do not. She looks like an Amanda. Okay. Here and then we close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Approval. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any questions in discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Good morning. For the record, Scott Lowry, Real Estate Services Support Manager. I've got one item this morning, which is a petition received from Harold Myers as authorized agent for Arizona Holding 3 and Arizona Holding 4, requesting the vacation of a platted, unopened, and unmaintained right-of-way lying within the platt of Cruz and Horny's first addition to Lake Bonney Park, recorded in Platt Book 8 at page 45. The map, filed in 1925, depicts various rights-of-way throughout the platt, which are presumed to be public due to a lack of dedication to the contrary. A 40-foot-wide, unnamed, unopened, and unmaintained right-of-way lies between Lot 5 of Block 3 and Lot 3 of Block 4, both of which are owned by the petitioners. The petitioners are requesting the vacation to remove the bifurcation and assemble with their adjacent properties to accommodate future development. The appropriate utilities and county divisions were notified. The only item was the county's roads and drainage division requested a 15-foot-wide drainage easement over the southern portion of the vacation area and extending to the west in conjunction with existing drainage facilities. And the petitioners have agreed to comply with that request. Staff recommends the board adopt the resolution to vacate platted, unopened, and unmaintained right-of-way shown on the platt of Cruz and Horny's first addition as more fully described in the legal description contained in the petition and resolution. We also request that the board accept the drainage easement that was granted by Arizona Holding 4. And I'll remain standing for any questions. Any questions for staff? Just one, as far as that 15 feet that we're requiring, that does give us... I don't know if there's an existing ditch that's there now or what infrastructure is current. Yeah, there's an existing ditch, primarily in this area. I believe there are some back here, but it would allow for future extension of that if needed. Okay, so we don't have to go there presently and do anything else to move a ditch to... No, not to my understanding. It's working what's there today. Okay, very good. Thank you. Any other questions for staff? Okay, this is open hearing, so... No, we do not have any, ma'am. Thank you, Amber. I will close the open hearing and bring it back to the board. For approval. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any questions, discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Okay, we move on now to the general public and audience opportunity to be heard. So, do we have some? Okay. So, the first one to come forward would be David Butler. David Butler, exempt address. Yes, I see that. A couple of weeks ago, the sheriff put out a little video. I think it's kind of tongue-in-cheek inviting TSA officers to come to the sheriff's office because they wouldn't miss a paycheck. Due to the government shutdown, they weren't being paid. Sheriff also said something at the end that kind of made me mad. He said, we offer overtime. Street-level deputies do not get paid overtime. They are forced to flex that time off, which means if they get an hour overtime, at some point during their pay period, their supervisor tells them to go home early or come in late. They don't get paid that overtime. 12,000 hours last year of flexed overtime for these deputies. First one's on the scene of the kids getting shot. It's bad. It's terrible. They have to make split-second decisions, life-changing decisions, split-second. That's the only people in the sheriff's office that have to do that. Detectives have lawyers they can call. State attorneys, everybody. These guys right here are the first ones on scene making decisions, and they don't get paid overtime. 12,000 hours of deputies being sent home instead of on the streets. During the 25 years I was at the sheriff's office, this was the policy. The sheriff said, we never have money in the budget to pay overtime. But you got money in the budget to buy that airplane that y'all fly on, that he can fly his buddies around on, don't you? You got money for that. I'd like for you to go to the sheriff's and say, sheriff, we're going to get in your budget because we have the right to do it. We have the authority to do it. We have the responsibility to do it, pay these guys the overtime they deserve. He gave back $11.7 million this year. Mr. Beasley was quick to respond to the public record request I made to see how much money he gave back, though he wasn't very specific about where that money went. It said it went to capital purchases, such as that airplane. $11.7 million the sheriff gave back. If he was to pay $50 per hour for these deputies' overtime, that's $600,000. That's a rounding error in his budget. Why is it fair for y'all to get to fly on a plane and these guys have to go home for their overtime? Is that a good policy? Can you do that for your private? Some of you own businesses, right? Can you do that for your employees? Can you force them to go home instead of paying them overtime? I don't know if you can or not, but I don't think so. And, Mr. Scott, thank you so much for listening to these people about animal control. That's what you're supposed to do. I appreciate that immensely. I'm glad you didn't give excuses about why you couldn't do anything. So, thank you. Thank you. Mr. Butler, I'd like to say something about this. You can sit down. But, you know, you keep harping on this airplane. I'm talking. We let you talk. You know, we do the numbers. We know we're pretty good on math. When we fly, the only times that we fly was when we're going after appropriations to the state or Washington, D.C. It's cheaper for us to do that than fly commercial. So, just to let you know, two trips. We've made a total of three trips on this plane that you say that we're taking our buddies and we're doing all this stuff. And I'm not trying to get on to you about this. I'm just wanting everybody to know the truth. On these two trips, two of them, we brought back $22 million to Polk County. $22 million that we received already from the state and the feds with a total from this year that we haven't received our money from the state because it's still that, you know, the state's kind of a little slow on what they're doing this year is another, I think it's 11 or 12 million. But a total of $35 million that we brought back to Polk County to make things better in this county and for projects that we have to do. So, yes, we can do it cheaper and we can bring back money for Polk County. We don't go to New Orleans on this plane like you think or everybody else thinks. We go to work and we try to bring money back to this county to make it better and cheaper to get that job done. So, I just wanted to make that clear to everybody. So, thank you. No. That's it. Thank you. Next is Kay Bork. Good morning. My name is Kay Bork. I live at 1133 Brook Road in Fort Meade. And I'm going to talk a little bit about the need for spay-neuter programs today. First, I'd like to commend animal control for some recent improvements. The social media presence is much improved with stray reports, biographies of available animals. And we've seen some refreshing and cleaning of the shelter facilities to improve environmental comfort and exercise space. These folks, as well as the rescue community, work hard every day to find better outcomes for animals. And, Commissioner Scott, thank you so much for your leadership in looking at opportunities for the shelter facility. That said, we are swimming upstream in Polk County when it comes to improving animal welfare because critical prevention programs are either missing, underdeveloped, or under-supported. Today, Polk County Animal Services spends $5 million annually. It's all tax money spent to treat symptoms and not causes. And we'll spend it again year after year unless we take action to prevent litters from ever being born. Community donors fund hundreds of thousands of dollars to local rescues who are faced with caring for these unwanted animals. Well-designed spay-neuter assistance programs cost less money per animal over the long run than paying to catch, transport, shelter, and care for unwanted animals who all too often in Polk County will eventually be euthanized. Just in the last three weeks, two rescues of the many in Polk County have taken in over 150 puppies from unplanned litters or backyard breeding that got out of control or one rescue was faced with 47 chewinis in one day. This is just a few of them on this picture. Rescues will tell you that when gathering up loads of unwanted puppies, many times the pet owner will accept spay-neuter for the mom and dad from the rescue. Many pet owners simply can't afford the spay-neuter without assistance. An affordable spay-neuter program is the smart, long-term, proven solution to driving down shelter and rescue intake numbers by preventing litters from ever being born. There is spay-neuter work ongoing in Polk County, but it's simply not enough. Animal Control and All Reputable Rescues provides spay-neuter for all pets that are adopted. SPCA Florida has a grant. They're offering backyard cat spay-neuter with rabies vaccine for $50 for 20 animals a day through the end of May. TLC Pet Snip is raising $50,000 to try to get a spay-neuter program started. They actually performed 4,450 spay-neuters last year. And then Street Cat Project has spayed or neutered over 330 cats already in 2026. Conservatively, 20, I'm sorry, 2,000 births have been prevented. And this is all funded by community donations. In conclusion, encouraging and providing financial assistance for spay-neuter is a good investment for government. Polk County would be smart to join in with the programs already started and fund low-cost spay-neuter assistance programs for Polk County residents. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next is Eve Salambini. Eve Salambini, 4230 Live Oak Road in Lakeland. Again, thank you, Michael Scott. We appreciate you taking the time. I would encourage some of your commissioners here to go with you so you can see what other shelters are doing. I'd like to speak about clarification today on the Polk County Code Section 433, titled Residents Capturing At-Large Animals. A TNBR program like I run does things very methodically. We are structured. We are humane. We are mission-driven. We educate. We give explicit instructions to the residents trapping for us or helping us, and we have releases signed that say, should something go awry, which occasionally animals do die under anesthetic, that we are not held liable, nor the county, nor the vet who is doing the surgeries. Animal control in their website gives out traps to people that they can trap at-large animals in their yard. The word at-large is really kind of subjective because what if it was Mr. Scott's cat who got loose and happens to be in the neighbor's yard? So we have to be very careful with at-large because that could be anticipated any way you can read it. Anybody's animal who walks through the yard, maybe it just got out of the fence. A property owner can seize in a humane manner any at-large animal on their property. The person shall immediately deliver the animal to the animal control officer, and it has to be treated humanely without injury, hunger, or any other ailment. Any person unable to comply fully with the section shall not seize the animal, and it may result in the filing of a cruelty charge if they don't do it correctly. So if that's the case, then what happens if they get the animal in the trap when animal control is closed, or it's the weekend, or it's midnight because cats move around at midnight a lot of times. What happens then? We have reports of animals sitting in traps in the heat for two to seven days before animal control, who is very overworked, gets there to retrieve the animal. That is not humane. That is not a good way to do things. This applies this ordinance to unaltered cats and dogs. That's what it says. Cats that are trapped through TNR are altered cats. They are visually able to know that by the eartip. These cats are being trapped by constituents because they happen to be loose, and that cat is then taken to animal control or picked up seven days later, and the cat is euthanized. How come that the code says unaltered animals, but yet we are picking up altered animals? Could you please look into this code and let us know why this is appropriate? Thank you. Mr. Beasley, let's look into this code and see. Be glad to, Madam Chair. Yes, let's see what this says and what we can do about it. Next is Charlene Lise. Yes, good morning. My name is Charlene Lise. I live at 20400 Southwest Beach Boulevard, Dunnell in Florida. However, I've lived here for the last 38 years, and we just moved. And I've been part of this community, and I intend to stay here. My family still lives here, so I come back frequently. So I want to say good morning. Last time I stood here, I spoke to you from my heart about the connection between domestic violence and animal abuse. Today, I want to go even further. I pray that none of you or any one of you love has ever had to witness or endure that kind of pain, mentally, physically, or emotionally, because animal abuse doesn't exist in isolation. It often begins in the same place domestic violence begins inside the home. And from there, it escalates into control, intimidation, suffering, sometimes into torture, mutilation, and even death of both humans and animals. This is not just an animal issue. This is a human crisis, and it is happening in our community. Do you know how often an abuser throws a beloved pet onto the street to manipulate, intimidate, and control their victim? Do you know how many victims are forced to give up their pets, throw them into the unknown, just to save them from further harm? And yes, sometimes those animals are lost forever. And when they are not lost, they end up in Polk County Animal Control, and there they face something just as devastating, a 50% chance of death. It could be your pet or my pet. This could be the only source of comfort a victim had left. Why did they have to be punished with death? Simply because they ended up in Polk County, because in most other counties, they would have a chance to live. There is a humane solution. TNVR works. It saves lives. It reduces suffering, stops reproduction, and another health benefit is by vaccinating for rabies. It creates a barrier between the disease with wild animals, domestic pets, and people. Without sustained funding, these efforts falter, and the suffering continues. If you're going to allow this level of killing to continue under your leadership, then at the very least, you must ensure that these animals are not subjected to inhumane deaths, because what is happening now is not humane. Do you understand what a heart stick means? It means a terrifying animal, sometimes not even properly sedated, has a needle driven into its heart through muscles and nerves, causing immense pain. And if the needle misses from struggling, the animal struggling to death becomes a prolonged, violent, and agonizing. This is not mercy. This is not suffering. So today, oh, this is not mercy. This is suffering. So today, I'm asking you, please touch your heart, the same heart that beats inside of you. I guess I got to quit. Yes. Thank you very much, though. Thank you for your passion. Madam Chair, if I may. Yes. Ms. Lees, just on your, the first time you came up, I did go and ask the Sheriff's Department for some data. They are diving more into that. That was relative to the domestic violence scenarios versus animal abuse. So we are still looking at that. So I appreciate the insight to that. I don't have a conclusion at this point, but I do appreciate the insight for us to look into that. Madam Chair, and I would just say, you know, for the record, there's been some almost causation that some of the advocates for animals are trying to suggest that because of animal control that we're seeing, you know, spikes in domestic abuse. So there is no causation linked between the two. They are absolutely right when you look at young children, adults, oftentimes those that are sociopaths in our society start out with cruelty to animals, but in no way is that linked to what we do at Animal Control. Thank you. Next, I have Audrey Stansbury. Oh, okay. Hi, my name is Audrey Stansbury, and I came from 7116 Coral Ridge Road in Highlands County. We've been, I've worked with that shelter for 16 years. I'm a small, small-scale rescuer. Right now, I'm represented Max and me, pet rescue in Tampa. I want to tell you a story and show you some pictures of some animals that came from your shelter. A lot of years ago, and I have letters from my vets to back up that everything I'm telling you, a dog with a normal intake photo from Polk County, I called them to rescue her. They said, the dog's getting a special adopter. No worries. I said, if anything goes off the rails, please let me know. Three weeks later, this is what I picked up from your shelter. The dog was starving. I begged my vet for a transfusion for the dog. I would not accept. I could not accept because I was naive at the time that she couldn't be saved. So I took her home. The next day, I got a second opinion, and the third day, I brought her back to my trusted vet for euthanasia. There was nothing anyone could do. Her organs were in failure from starvation. This sweet, very sweet dog. Fast forward to last year, I saw an old hound that I was just moved to help. He had a microchip. They called the owner or the guy that was registered to the microchip. He said he had given the dog away 10 years before, but he was going to come pick up his dog. Now another five days have gone by. I called, and knowing what happened to the previous dog, the three weeks that she waited for her special adopter, I said, please, could you call this owner and tell him, ask him if he'd be amenable to rescuing this dog that he gave away 10 years before? He said, yes. This is the dog that I picked up from your shelter. He weighed 96 pounds. His body weight was about 40-some pounds. He had 45 to 50 pounds of fluid in his abdomen. He could not lay down. So he stood there for five days. He couldn't lay down in my car, although he was very... But you can see the fluid in his abdomen. If there's nothing you can do, at least offer them a peaceful death. And a heart stick is not a peaceful death. They need pre-anesthesia. A heart stick is the cheapest way to end an animal. It's not the kindest or the best. And I begged, my vet was already gone for the day. The dog, I had to put the seat back in my car. His big belly laid on the bucket seat and his sleep on the dash. I took him to the... Thank you, Miss. Thank you. I appreciate it. And here are letters, I don't know, from my veterinarians. Thank you, Miss Audrey. Will I leave them with you? Thank you. Next person is Miss Debbie Hicks. Debbie Hicks, 236 Alderman Road, Lakeland. I don't know what I can add to be perfectly honest, but this is a season of renewal. We just celebrated new birth. And renewal starts from the inside out. Animal control, they're doing a good job of putting lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. And Commissioner Scott, I feel like I should just quit and go home and be happy. But the outside of the structure, but the inside is just failing. Just the other night, on Friday night, I heard ABC say that we are going to be over a million people by 2030. This facility was built in 1988. It was not built for this kind of stuff. And every week, and I don't know about this thing that you're talking about and giving to the planning, but every meeting, it seems like you're always adding more people to land, which means more animals coming to land. But I want to make sure I do mention, I'm going to move on from that, do mention the animal committee. We need a committee to help you look at the things that are coming up. And the abuse is one thing, the domestic violence. I retired from the state attorney's office in Tampa. And I mean, you saw it in the misdemeanor in the lower cases, a lot of the people started injuring animals, you know, causing problems to animals. So it begins like this kind of stuff. But we need a committee so that we have somewhere to go to talk and also a committee that can help to let the public know what they can do to help. And when you do put in some money, some kind of a program to help them pay for this spain and neutering, we can get the word out. We just need to look at it from all different angles to see what we can do best for this county. It's a great county, but this is just a dark spot. It just needs to be cleaned up. And I just can't thank you enough for what you've done and that you're looking at it. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Higgs. Next, we have Mr. Abercrombie. Third time today, James Abercrombie, 2737 Gibson and Galloway Road, Lakeland, Florida. All right, folks, I'm going to give you a little education. In 2000, the Polk County adopted the Land Development Code and Comprehensive Plan. Once again, it started with compatibility, timing, location criteria, location criteria, and development criteria. I went through all that stuff. Now, right after the Board of County Commissioners okayed a project behind my house, 32 houses on 13 acres. It was only one per acre when I bought the place. The day before that, the county, the day after that, I'm sorry, after Buddy Fletcher George Lindsay came to them and tried to get a SPD. The day afterwards, the county comes and says the infrastructure is not there for that high density. So, bye-bye. The corruption. That's what I'm trying to impress here is the corruption that's going on at that time. I took it to court. I won them. I'm the only person, my wife and I, my ex-wife, the only people in Polk County and probably the whole country that beat the Board of County Commissioners 100% on their own plans. 100%, all right? After it was all over and during this process, of course, I'm fighting five attorneys. My own, of course, I'm fighting him as hard as I am and the rest of them. The county attorney, George Lindsay's attorneys, Buddy Fletcher's attorneys. So, I might fight them all. Not my attorney, I am. I'm doing the reading, I'm doing the writing, I'm doing everything. My wife does the organizing. She's that second chair in the courtroom with our attorney. We beat you 100%. I lost everything I had, folks, everything. I come back, afterwards, afterwards, I try to get my money back. Just my attorney's fees would be great. So, the judge does allow us cost, which they consider cost was just filing fees and blah, blah, blah. Nothing to do with attorney's fees. So, we come back to the Board of County Commissioners, wife and I, ex-wife and I. We come back and we win. We convince them to give us our attorney's fees back through Charlie Chris, the county attorney or the state attorney at the time, stating that if we did you a favor, then you could give us our attorney's fees back. Only people in history, I guarantee you, in the country that actually got their attorney's fees back directly from the Board of County Commissioners, from the citizens of Polk County, really. Okay? Now, because of that fight, all these, this program that I labeled out has all changed. Everything's changed. Everything. Once again, I just went through that earlier. There's a lot more to this story, folks. Thank you, Mr. Abercrombie. I have to do it three minutes at a time. Thank you. Yes. And our last speaker that I have, Mark here, okay, is Kristen Alberg. Is that you? I almost didn't. I know, right? Good morning. Hope your Easter was good. My name is Kristen Alberg. I'm in Seminole County. Oh, wait, my address. 633 Green Cove Terrace. So, I brought some pictures. I'm going to go through them really quick. This cat was in a pit bull fight. So, when you guys, not you guys, I apologize. So, when Polk County has free cat adoption day, they get the cats, they give them out free, and then they have trolls that go there to get the cat and they do pit bull fights. Thank God this one will survive, but he had 103 stitches. Next photo, please. This dog was pot, no, okay, wrong picture. This cat, as you can see, it's colored green. What they usually do with cats is they give them out free. They spray paint them. So, one is green, one is usually purple or blue or even red and they throw the cats in the ring. The pit bulls go after them. And they bet on the color, okay? First cat that dies, they win the money. Next photo, okay, this is the dog that was involved in the pit bull ring. He was part of the fight. He wasn't the pit bull, pit bull. They went after the dog. He lost his eye. He passed away a week later. Next photo, this is a picture from Polk County, Animal Control. You see what they're feeding the dogs? They put the food in there. Guess what? Those are all cockroaches and that is from a video. I can only screenshot it but there are cockroaches in the dog's food so that's what they eat. Mind you, they don't have water to drink but they do have food. I don't know how many vitamins are in cockroaches but that's what they eat. Next photo, this here, I'm going to read it. Judd is also selling the dead cats. Why it is? Because of the money, there is no room in the county dump next to the animal service buildings. Those are cat cadavers. If we can just lower the pictures just a little bit, that's what it looks like a month. We're going to hold on that for a minute. I got time. Those are all dead cats. Polk County. Next photo. This cat right here was in Polk County. He got shot by a BB gun. Why? Because the car rode by, saw a cat walking on the street, shot him. They took him home in a box. He couldn't walk. Took him to the vet. He couldn't walk so they put him down. Polk County's wonderful, isn't it? Okay. I just want to say something right here. I can play this video if you want. This here is Commissioner Bill Broswell. I can play the video if you want. I have him on here saying that he's offering $50,000 towards T&R. You want me to play it? No, that's okay. Okay. I can play it if you want to. So what we're doing right now is that one second we're asking for that $50,000. Thank you. I'll be back next month to ask for that $50,000. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. I think I think we're through. Amber, anybody else? Okay. So I think we're adjourned. I say, Madam Chair. Thank you.