November 10th, it's hard to believe it's November 10th, 2026, Board of County Commissioner meeting. We are delighted that you are all here. This is one of the largest crowds we've ever had. And as I said earlier, one of the most obedient. Let's keep it that way. We always start our meetings with the invocation. And if you would, immediately following, lead us in the pledge. We have Nancy Ringier from the Central Florida Free Thought. Madam Chair. Commissioners, County staff, and everyone joining us today. Let's take a moment before we begin to reflect on what it means to show up for one another. With Veterans Day tomorrow, we honor those who have served. To the veterans here today and across Seminole County, thank you for your service. We also recognize the families who shared in the demands of that service, from long stretches apart to finding a new routine when a loved one returns home. We can carry that gratitude throughout the year by listening to veterans and following through when they tell us what would make a difference to them. As we turn to the work today before the board, let's keep in mind our neighbors whose lives these decisions will touch. Some of them have made time to join us today. Others are at work or caring for someone at home. Each of them has a stake in what happens in this room. May we weigh the facts carefully, listen long enough to understand one another, and remember that even when we disagree, we're still neighbors. And we all have a role in making Seminole County a place where all people feel welcome. Thank you. Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. 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. Thank you very much for those thought-provoking words. I should have said, if you wouldn't mind turning off your electronics, your ringers, as I had to do during that, that would be greatly appreciated. We're going to start this morning with awards, presentations, and proclamations. And we typically would go through all of them and then do pictures at the end. And so that is what we'll be doing. Otherwise, you have us running back and forth and it just takes longer. We do have two that are on the consent agenda, and we will take pictures with those as well in anticipation of the proclamation passing when we do the consent agenda. Commissioners, is that okay with you? Absolutely. All right. The first proclamation will be read by Commissioner Lockhart, and this is a proclamation proclaiming Master Sergeant Charles Wilson, our Veteran of the Month. Commissioners, it is truly my honor to move the following proclamation of the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, recognizing United States Marine Corps Master Sergeant Charles Wilson for his outstanding service to the United States and Seminole County. Whereas the brave men and women of our Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Space Force demonstrate a resolute spirit and unmatched selflessness, reminding us there are a few things more American than giving of ourselves to make a difference in the lives of others. And whereas throughout our country's history, generations of service members have answered the call to leave their families, their jobs, and put their futures and even their lives on the line to valiantly defend our nation. And whereas for many service members, the sacrifice has ended in permanent injury or death, yet their spirit remains in the continued preservation of our freedoms and the promise of liberty. And whereas there are more than 25,000 living veterans in Seminole County who served our nation in times of peace and war. Through their service, they kept America strong. And whereas Master Sergeant Charles Wilson joined the United States Marine Corps in May 1996, continuing a proud family legacy of military service that spans generations, from his great-grandfather's service in World War I to his son's current service in the Marine Corps, By answering the call to serve, Master Sergeant Wilson carried forward a long-standing commitment to duty and country. And whereas throughout his distinguished military career, Master Sergeant Wilson served around the world with assignments and deployments in Japan, South Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Philippines. He retired in 2018 as a motor transport maintenance chief, completing more than two decades of dedicated service to the United States. And whereas since retiring from active duty, Master Sergeant Wilson has continued to serve on the front lines of his community through Florida Association of Veteran-Owned Businesses, Operation Barnabas, Disabled American Veterans, and his local church. He invests his time and talents to support veterans and civilians alike. He has led efforts to establish an Operation Barnabas chapter in Seminole County and routinely uses his handyman skills to build wheelchair ramps, repair roofs, and assist neighbors in need. Master Sergeant Wilson exemplifies service above self, demonstrating that his commitment to others extends far beyond the uniform. And whereas Master Sergeant Wilson has brought great credit and distinction upon himself, the United States of America, the United States Marine Corps, and Seminole County, now therefore be it proclaimed that we, the Board of County Commissioners of Seminole County, Florida, express our gratitude, admiration, and respect for Master Sergeant Wilson for his outstanding service to the United States Marine Corps. Be it further proclaimed that this proclamation is presented to Master Sergeant Charles Wilson, along with our sincere congratulations and recognition as Seminole County's Veteran of the Month, adopted this 10th day of November, 2026. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none, it passes unanimously. Congratulations. Master Sergeant Wilson here. I'm embarrassed. There you are. We couldn't spot you. Would you, we would be delighted to hear a few words from you, and congratulations. Thank you. You guys actually make me sound like I do something. There's a reason I went Master Sergeant, not First Sergeant. First Sergeant's like to be out front. Master Sergeant's like to be in the back. We work in the shadows. So I hate being the center of attention. But thank you. We'll all look the other way if that would happen. It's all right. Thank you. It was a great honor. Whoever nominated me for this, thank you. You know I hate being the center of attention, too. It's fitting that today is also the 251st birthday of the United States Marine Corps. So if you didn't know that, November 10th, 1775, we started in a bar. We will fight about it. Tomorrow being Veterans Day, especially kids home right now. If you are a veteran, thank you for your service from any branch, including the Coast Guard. If you're the family member of a veteran, thank you for your service that you didn't sign up for. And you still endured the service that your family member put forth. I would just ask that during the invocation, they said, you know, how can we help veterans? Treat us normally. Some people like to say we're broken. Some people like to say we're bent. We're not. We're just us. We try to accept you. Just try to accept us. And if you can, support veteran-owned businesses. So thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Lockhart. So Master Sergeant Wilson and I ran into each other at Publix the other day. I joke sometimes that's where I do all of my best work is at Publix. And neither of us looked like we do now then. So I did not recognize you here this morning. My sincere apologies. We had both come from working a long day. And it was great to see him. He said, so I'm going to see you on Tuesday. And I said, like, on purpose? It's wonderful. Congratulations. And I'll see you in Publix again. Much cleaner this time. Both of us, yes. And very well said. Very, very well said. Thank you. All right. The next proclamation will be read by Commissioner Constantine. And this is appropriately a proclamation proclaiming November 11, 2026, as Veterans Day in Seminole County. Commissioner Constantine. Thank you, Commissioner. Many of you saw the donuts and the coffee. We invited our veterans that work in Seminole County for the people of Seminole County today to come here for a reception. But for those of you in the audience, all that are veterans, will you please stand up, all of you? It is with great honor that I move the proclamation of the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners proclaiming November 11, 2026, Veterans Day in Seminole County, Florida, and recognizing Seminole County veterans for their outstanding service to the United States. Whereas at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, after four years of bitter conflict, the world rejoiced and celebrated the signing of the armistice by the Allied Forces and the Federal Republic of Germany for the secession of World War I. And whereas to remember the sacrifices that men and women have made to ensure lasting peace, on November 11, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Armistice Day in the United States. And whereas on June 4, 1926, the United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution requesting that Calvin Coolidge, the President, issue a proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. And whereas on May 13, 1938, 20 years after World War I, Congress passed an act making November 11 each year a federal holiday, a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day. And whereas to honor all American veterans, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law a bill on June 1, 1954, officially renaming Armistice Day to Veterans Day. And whereas in 1971, President Richard Nixon declared Veterans Day would be observed on the second Monday in November. And whereas recognizing the historic and patriotic significance of commemorating Veterans Day on its original date, President Gerald Ford re-designated Veterans Day on the original day of November 11th by signing Public Law 94-97 and acting on September 18, 1975. And whereas Veterans Day is a time for all Americans to reflect upon the service and the valor of those who have worn the uniform, to express our gratitude, and to reaffirm our commitment to supporting them in both military and civilian life. And whereas approximately 200,000 service members transition from military to civilian life each year, returning to communities across the nation. And whereas many veterans continue to serve their community as in the American Legion, veterans of foreign wars, disabled American veterans, church groups, and whereas in 2026, we continue to honor not only those who served in times of war, but also those who stood ready in times of peace, recognizing that their dedication strengthens our communities and inspires our nation. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners does hereby designate November 11th, 2026, as Veterans Day in Seminole County, Florida, and calls upon all Seminole County residents to honor the contributions of current and former members of the United States Armed Forces. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none, it passes unanimously. Thank you very much to all of the veterans in the audience. I do believe that we have a video teed up. If I get a nod on that, it's the final mile video. We do. So as you're pulling it up, I'll walk through. This is worth just sharing a moment with so many community members that are here. In Seminole County, when we have a veteran that passes away and is unclaimed, there's no local family, we escort them to their final resting place, and this is a little video for the last one that we did and an invitation for anyone that would like to attend the next one, which will happen on December 11th. Box of Ashes. A name. A service record. Nothing else. Nobody came for them. So we did. Know their voices. We didn't know their laughs. But we know they raised their hand when the country asked. And on this final journey, they weren't alone. They had a procession guided to their final resting place by those who came to honor them. A flag folded and presented. A tear shed. A prayer read. One last salute. There will be someone who remembers them. Someone who was there for their final mile rule. It is singly one of the most honorable things I've done as an elected official. I'll also share with you, that is the same day that my brother passed away. And so I left his deathbed, went and did that, and went back. And I know for certain I was in the right place that afternoon. All right. So now on to happier times. I'm so sorry to do that lead in, but I thought I should explain why I'm reduced to this many tears, which is not usual for me. The next resolution, which is good news, and by the way, those small voices in this audience are making my day, just so you know. This will be read by Commissioner Zimbauer, and this is a resolution honoring the retirement of the Honorable Judge John D. Galuzzo, who we will miss very much. Thank you, Madam Chair. And it's with great honor and appreciation that I'm allowed to introduce this resolution to the Board of County Commissioners for my dear friend, Judge Galuzzo. The resolution of the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners honoring the career and service of the Honorable John D. Galuzzo, whereas Honorable John D. Galuzzo devoted decades of distinguished service to the administration of justice in the citizens of Seminole County and the state of Florida, and whereas Judge Galuzzo earned a bachelor's of arts degree in criminal justice from the University of Central Florida and a jurist doctorate degree from Nova Southeastern College of Law, establishing a strong educational foundation for a career dedicated to public service, the rule of law, and whereas throughout his legal career, Judge Galuzzo served as an assistant public defender, assistant state attorney within the 18th Judicial Circuit, worked in private practice, and ultimately established a respected legal career characterized by professionalism, integrity, and the dedication to justice. And whereas Judge Galuzzo provided exceptional leadership to the judicial branch through service as chief judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit from 2015 through 2017 and held numerous administrative leadership roles, including administrative judge for Seminole County, administrative judge of the circuit criminal division, civil appeals division, and guardianship and probate divisions. And whereas throughout his judicial tenure, Judge Galuzzo earned the admiration and respect of attorneys, court personnel, law enforcement professionals, fellow judges, and citizens through his fairness, impartiality, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to the administration of justice. And whereas Judge Galuzzo further strengthened the legal profession through service as the president of the Seminole County Bar Association, chair of the 18th Circuit Grievance Committee, chair of the 18th Circuit Grievance Committee, chair of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, and chair of the Seminole County Criminal Law Section, while also contributing to the Florida Supreme Court Trial Security Worker, and whereas his dedication to excellence has been recognized through numerous honors, including the Seminole County Bar Award for Chief Judge Service, the Allen A. Dickey Judicial Service Award, the Thomas A. Wiggum Award for Service, the Seminole County Judge of the Year Award, and the Florida Council on Crime and Delinquency Chapter 7 Distinguished Service Award. And whereas, beyond his professional accomplishments, Judge Galuzzo demonstrated his commitment to the community through many years of mentoring local youth as a baseball, football, and lacrosse coach, positively influenced countless young residents and families throughout Seminole County. And whereas, following a remarkable career marked by leadership, service, and dedication to the citizens of Seminole County, Judge Galuzzo retires from the bench leaving a lasting legacy that will continue to benefit generations to come. And whereas, the Board of County Commissioners of Seminole County wishes to express its deepest gratitude and appreciation to Judge Galuzzo for his extraordinary service and commitment to the people of Seminole County. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners hereby congratulates the Honorable Judge D. Galuzzo upon his retirement and commends him for his exemplary service to the judiciary, the legal profession, and the citizens of Seminole County, adopted this 10th day of November, 2026. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none, it passes unanimously. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you. You know, it's been said that the most dangerous thing you could do is to give a judge a microphone. Yep. So, I'll try and keep this short. I try never to make life about me, but I want to express my thanks and gratitude, my love for my family, my beautiful wife, Beverly. This is our 44th year of marriage. And my son, Dominic, my daughter-in-law, Taylor, my beautiful, two of my beautiful granddaughters of my five, Alessi and Sienna, who are here, as well as all of you. But I try not to make this about me. You know, I want to thank all the veterans in this courtroom for everything that they've done. My father was an Italian immigrant, and he served in World War II in the Army Air Corps, and he volunteered for that because he felt like he owed something back to the country that gave him life and brought him an open door. Our son, one of our sons, excuse me, Joe, is a major in the Air Force following in my father's career path, and I know many of the veterans who are here, and I just want to thank all of you for everything that you've done for all of us, continue to do for all of us, and how you keep us safe. You know, my job is very difficult at times, and I have to make hard decisions. I don't take them lightly, but I couldn't do it without feeling your hands on my shoulders showing to me that freedom is something we should all strive for and protect. And for that and for all the wonderful years the Board of County Commissioners have helped us in the judiciary to make sure that we have the funds that we need and to take care of us and take care of the citizens, I can't thank them enough, but I can't thank all of you enough for giving me the wonderful 20 years of the end of my career, and now I get to go have a little bit of enjoyment. Thank you. Madam Chair? Yes. Point of personal privilege, if you may. I want to tell a story about Judge Galuzzo, and just gives you what kind of character this man has. Back when Hurricane Charlie hit, many of our neighbors in our community were devastated, and I had worked with neighbors, and we were running chainsaws and tractors and stuff, cleaning things up. And about the third or fourth day, Judge Galuzzo pulled in, and he came up with a big box of fried chicken. And he said, Jay, I'm sorry you're going through this. I'm not able to come help work a chainsaw or a tractor, but I will bring you dinner. So thank you, John. That's a memory I will forever cherish. I didn't give it myself. But that's the kind of character that we see in our community, so thank you. I will say that that is your character and your heritage that you've honored. Food solves all issues in an Italian family. Thank you so much for your service. Your father certainly gave public service, but so did you. Your role is difficult, and we appreciate you and the entire family for the time you've taken to do that. All right, Commissioner Constantine, you are back up for a resolution honoring the public service of Mayor Pat Bates. Thank you very much, Commissioner. And this is emotional for me because this is a person that I've known for a long, long time, and I'm so proud of what she, her husband, and everybody that has worked with her through the years has done for the city of Altamont Springs. I will move a resolution of the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners honoring the career and service of Mayor Pat Bates, whereas Mayor Pat Bates has devoted decades of distinguished public service to the residents of the city of Altamont Springs and the greater Seminole County community, and whereas Mayor Pat Bates was elected to the city of Altamont Springs Commission in 1997 serving as vice mayor from 1999 through 2008 and was elected mayor in 2008, and whereas before her election to the city of Altamont Springs and where as before her election to the city commission, Mayor Pat Bates served for seven years on the city's planning board, chaired the police officer's pension board, and contributed her knowledge and leadership as a member of the city plan 2005 committee, redistricting committee, and charter review committee, and whereas Mayor Pat Bates has represented the interest of municipalities and their residents through her service in the Tri-County League of Cities Board of Directors and the Florida League of Cities Board of Directors, and whereas Mayor Pat Bates served as president of the Florida League of Cities from 2011 to 2012, becoming the first Seminole County resident in 83 years to hold that distinguished position, and whereas in 2016 the Florida League of Cities presented Mayor Bates with the E. Harris-Drew Municipal Officials Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her exceptional record in public service, and whereas Mayor Bates further served the residents and visitors of Seminole County through her membership in the Seminole County Tourist Development Council and contributed her expertise as a board member of the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, and whereas Mayor Bates has consistently demonstrated integrity, vision, sound judgment, and a collaborative spirit while working with the residents, businesses, public employees, and elected officials to improve the quality of life throughout Altamont Springs and Seminole County, and whereas her leadership has supported meaningful advancements in infrastructure, public safety, economic development, recreation, community services, and creating a lasting and positive legacy for current and future generations, and whereas Mayor Bates has been an active and dedicated civic leader including her service and support of the Altamont Springs American Cancer Society Relay for Life and other efforts benefiting residents throughout our community, and whereas through her commitment to transparency, accountability, responsible governance, and regional cooperation, Mayor Bates has exemplified the highest idea of public service, and whereas the Board of County Commissioners of Seminole County finds it fitting and appropriate to recognize Mayor Pat Bates upon her retirement and to express the county's sincere gratitude for her remarkable career and enduring contributions to Seminole County. Now therefore, be it resolved by the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, hereby recognizes and honors Mayor Pat Bates for decades of dedicated public service, exemplary leadership, and steadfast commitment to the residents of Altamont Springs and Seminole County, hopefully adopted this day, the 10th of November, 2026. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none, it passes unanimously. Thank you, Mayor Bates. You want me to talk after that? It has been the honor of my life to serve the citizens of Altamont Springs. Our staff loves their job, which made me love mine just as much. We are a family in Altamont Springs. It's a very, very special place, and I have been so honored to get to serve. And I want to thank all of you for this honor. You're my friends. This doesn't happen everywhere. We have a county and our cities that all get along. It's not like that everywhere. So I don't take it for granted. I thank the world of all of you, and I appreciate it immensely. I love my city, and some of them are here today, and that got to me when I walked in the door and saw them. So I've cried many times over this. This has been one of those I'm happy to be able to spend more time with my family and my husband, although I haven't asked him if he thinks it's a good idea. So we're about to find out. But I'm sad to be leaving my city family. They are my heart, but I will always be a part of them. I love my city, and thank you again, and thank you to my wonderful city. Love you all. Commissioner Gilari. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mayor Bates, I want to thank you from another level as well. We talked about all the achievements that you've done on the city level, but there was one little word in your proclamation that we read. It talks about your regional input. Most people may not realize the input that you've had regionally. You have faithfully served this community and the region for many, many years on Metroplan Orlando, on the large Metroplan Orlando Board. You had input in the growth and development in Osceola County, Orange County, and Seminole County. Projects that you had input on included I-4, 417, 408, the beach line, truck stops, SunRail. The list goes on and on and on. I could sit here all day and talk about all the achievements that you've had regionally. I'll also tell you that on a regional board, it truly takes crabulation and cool heads and leadership and forward thinking. You not only have those traits, you've encouraged other people in the region to have those. So I want to thank you for all of us, for your leadership, your friendship, and your devotion. Thank you. In continuing, yes. Just real quickly. I met Pat a long, long time ago when she was in the audience of the city commission of Altamont Springs talking about an issue that will long be forgotten. But the impact that she made that day was remarkable. And I was sitting, I believe, with, at the time, Mayor Bates. And I said, we need to get that woman involved. And... So you married her? He did. He did. And I pushed her to run for office. But this is in many ways between Dudley and Pat being long time mayors of Altamont Springs, an end of an era in that city. And the remarkable impact that they have made will be remembered for a long, long time. And I just wanted to say that, how truly blessed that city has been to have people like that. And I see Sarah Reese hiding back there. And Sarah Reese and others that have made that city so remarkable. Thank you very much. Well, speaking of the end of an era, Commissioner Lockhart is going to read the resolution honoring the public service of David Mueller. Commissioner Lockhart? It is truly my honor and privilege to move the following resolution of the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners honoring the career and service of Mayor David Mueller. Whereas, Mayor Mueller was first elected to the Lake Mary City Commission in 1988 and faithfully served the community for 12 years, including service as mayor from 1996 to 2000. And whereas, in 2000, Mayor Mueller was elected to the Florida House of Representatives where he served four terms and earned statewide recognition for effective leadership, advocacy, and legislative accomplishment on behalf of the citizens of Florida. And whereas, following his service in the Florida House of Representatives, Mayor Mueller was re-elected mayor of Lake Mary in 2008 and has continuously served in that capacity since that time, providing steadfast leadership, vision, and commitment to the community. And whereas, Mayor Mueller is a graduate of the University of Georgia where he earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and a doctorate of philosophy, demonstrating a lifelong commitment to academic excellence and educational achievement. And whereas, Mayor Mueller honorably served in the United States Army and was awarded the United States Army Commendation Medal in recognition of his distinguished military service and dedication to his country. And whereas, throughout his professional career, Mayor Mueller has received numerous awards and honors recognizing his accomplishments in education, public service, and leadership, including Researcher of the Year, Faculty Leadership Award, and the Teaching Incentive Award. And whereas, Mayor Mueller has been recognized with the Leadership Legend Award, the Seminole County Chamber Elected Official of the Year Award, the Florida Chamber of Commerce's highest legislative ranking, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards National Legislator of the Year, the Florida Student Association Distinguished Service Award, the Florida Children's Home Society Legislator of the Year Award, the Florida League of Cities Defender of Home Rule Award, the Seminole County Mental Health Services Distinguished Services Award, the Special Olympics Florida Award, and numerous University of Central Florida honors and recognitions. And whereas, Mayor Mueller has further distinguished himself through service and membership in numerous professional and civic organizations, including the Florida Research Consortium, the Florida Digital Divide Council, and Florida Blue Key at the University of Florida, where he was granted honorary membership. And whereas, Mayor Mueller is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International and served as President of the Lake Mary Rotary Club, exemplifying his commitment to community service and civic engagement. and whereas, Mayor Mueller's decades of public service, leadership, integrity, and dedication have significantly enhanced the quality of life for residents, strengthened local government, and positively impacted countless individuals throughout the State of Florida. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners hereby recognizes and honors Mayor David Mueller for his decades of dedicated public service, exemplary leadership, and steadfast commitment to the residents of the City of Lake Mary, the City of Lake Mary, and Seminole County, adopted this 10th day of November, 2026. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none, it passes unanimously. Wow. Thank you so very, very much. And the fact that we're honoring veterans, especially tomorrow being Veterans Day, and Veterans Day, I want to thank this commission for the support that you give the veterans organization here in Seminole County. If you ever go in there, you see the men and women working, and they make such a profound difference. And with that said, I'm joined by a couple of my colleagues. One, of course, is our Deputy Mayor. We served as a captain and an attorney in the United States Air Force. Commissioner Taylor, thank you very much for your service. Our Director of Economic Development, the director of our nationally accredited Parks and Rec Department, Mr. Brian Knight, and our city manager who does a remarkable job with all of you, Mr. Kevin Smith. But with that said right now, to my commission colleagues, to our county manager, our county attorney, and the county staff, on behalf of the City of Lake Mary, I want to say thank you for the incredible partnership that working together, we've truly made a difference in Northwest Seminole County and the City of Lake Mary. And, Commissioner Lockhart, let me just tell you, since there was a public story, I go into publics, and over the years, many will come to me and say, more of us vote for your wife than they do you, and I simply say, please don't stop. Thank you very much. Commissioner Lockhart. Since we were telling chainsaw stories, not that it's a competition, but Mayor Mueller did come to my neighborhood with a chainsaw during Hurricane Charlie. We were out there trying, we were clearing the streets, and we looked up, and I looked at my husband, and I said, I think that's David Mueller. And he said, do you think it's David Mueller? Because we live just over the border. Like, I could throw a rock out my back door to the City of Lake Mary. And he and his son were there, and they literally cut their way through to the back of our neighborhood helping neighbors. And it will not be forgotten that you not only serve Lake Mary, but you serve this entire community. So thank you. Madam Chair. Yes, Commissioner Constantine. Since I served with David for a long, long time, both before when we were both elected officials at the cities and then in the legislature, hearing all the accolades and the things that he has accomplished, there was one that was failed to mention, but it was failed, it was not mentioned. And it was one that I think is very significant to this community. And while he was in the House and I was in the Senate, we collaborated on bringing a medical school to the University of Central Florida. And I had a separate bill, and he had what was called an omnibus bill in education. And at the very end, to pass, it was put in this bill that was a very large bill that happens quite often in the legislature that really didn't give him the credit of what he had to do in the House to get that passed. And both of us, I think, are very proud of that, bringing the medical school to UCF. But it was also to FIU that was put in there at Florida International University. And I think of significance for this region, I think there can be no more significance from a regional perspective than bringing the medical school to UCF. So congratulations, Sandy. Thank you very much. Okay. Commissioner Jelari, you're going to read a resolution honoring the public service of Commissioner Brian Sackett. Thank you, Madam Chair. It's my great honor to present this resolution to the Board of County Commissioners and to the county. Resolution of the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners honoring the career and service of Commissioner Brian Sackett. Whereas Commissioner Brian Sackett was first elected to the Longwood City Commission on November 4, 2003, and faithfully served the residents of the City of Longwood for nearly 23 years. And whereas the citizens of Longwood demonstrated their confidence in Commissioner Sackett's leadership and commitment by electing him to several consecutive terms as the City Commissioner. And whereas during his tenure, Commissioner Sackett served the City in numerous leadership capacities, including four terms as Mayor, four terms as Deputy Mayor, and providing thoughtful guidance and dedicated public service to the community. And whereas Commissioner Sackett approached public service with integrity, a very great diligence and commitment to informed decision-making, carefully considering large-term impacts to the City's politics, policies, programs, and initiatives to the residents of Longwood and future generations. And whereas Commissioner Sackett devoted 43 years of his professional career to education, serving as a teacher, school principal, mathematician, collaborative developer for Seminole County Public Schools, inspiring countless students and educators through the leadership and commitment to academic excellence. And whereas Commissioner Sackett earned both his bachelor and master's degree, student cum laude, achieving national board certification, and received numerous professional recognition, reflecting his dedication and preparation and perseverance in serving others. And whereas Commissioner Sackett's service extends well beyond his professional and elected responsibility through his involvement in the community liaison to Alignment High School, supporting the Longwood Babe Ruth baseball and softball, participating in the YMCA Italian Princess Program, serving as the Longwood Historical Society, and donating bicycles to local schools and communities organization. And whereas during his service as commissioner, Commissioner Sackett helped guide the city through more than two decades of growth, progress, and community enhancements, including participation and discussions in contributing to the development of Rider Park, Candyland Sports Complex, and the City's Heroes Memorial. And whereas Commissioner Sackett's contributions are reflected not only in the visible community assets, but also in the many ordinances, budgets, and policies, and initiatives that strengthens the City of Longwood and enhances the quality of life for the residents. And whereas public service and municipal service requires extraordinary commitment, dedication, and sacrifice, including the attendance of countless meetings and community events, engaging with residents in carefully consideration of complex issues throughout the community. And whereas Seminole County Board of County Commissioners further recognizes and extends their sincere appreciation to Commissioner Sackett's wife Mary and his family for unwavering support, for sharing him with the City of Longwood throughout the years of his public service. And whereas Commissioner Sackett's legacy of leadership, service, and commitment has become an enduring part of the history of the City of Longwood and will continue to benefit the community for generations to come. Now that proof will be resolved that the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners do hereby recognize and honor Commissioner Brian Sackett for his decades in dedication of public service, leadership, and steadfast commitment to the residents of the City of Longwood and Seminole County adopted its 10th day of November 2026. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none, the motion passes. Congratulations. But I do not see Mayor Sackett here. And before I pass that, I just want to make sure he's not here. I just didn't see him come in today. I didn't see him come in either. I see former Mayor Matt McMillan here. All right. The next resolution I will read, and this is a resolution honoring Mayor Art Woodruff. Commissioners, I offer the following resolution of the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners honoring the career and service of Mayor Art Woodruff. Whereas Art Woodruff is a sixth-generation Sanford resident whose deep roots in the community reflect a long-standing family legacy of service and commitment to the City of Sanford. And whereas Mayor Woodruff has devoted more than three decades to Seminole County Public Schools, first serving 14 years as a science teacher and yearbook advisor at Seminole High Go Knowles School before continuing his teaching career at Oviedo High School, where he has educated and inspired generations of students in science and computer science. Whereas Mayor Woodruff and his wife, Patty Woodruff, have been married since 1995 and have raised two children, Daniel and Rachel, while remaining actively engaged in the Sanford community and the betterment of Seminole County. And whereas Mayor Woodruff was first elected to the City Commission as the District 1 Commissioner in 2001, and served with distinction through 2010, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to transparent government, community engagement, and responsible stewardship of public resources. And whereas following a brief hiatus from elected office, he was again elected by the citizens of Sanford in November of 2014, reaffirming the confidence and trust the community placed in his leadership and vision for the City. Whereas Mayor Woodruff has served the community beyond elected office through his leadership and involvement with numerous civic and nonprofit organizations, including the Community Improvement Association of Seminole County, the Wayne Dench Performing Arts Center, Run for God, and Boy Scout Troop 787. And whereas Mayor Woodruff has been a tireless advocate for the preservation of Sanford's rich heritage and has played an instrumental role in supporting the restoration and continued legacy of historic Hopper Academy, ensuring that future generations understand and appreciate the City's history and cultural significance. And whereas throughout his public service, Mayor Woodruff has worked diligently to strengthen neighborhoods, enhance community partnerships, support educational elegance, excellence, and elegance, preserve Sanford's historic character, and promote a vibrant and welcoming city where families, businesses, and visitors can thrive. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners hereby recognizes and honors Mayor Woodruff for his decades of dedicated public service, exemplary leadership, and steadfast commitment to the residents of the City of Sanford and Seminole County, adopted this 10th day, November of 2026. Second. I have a motion to second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none. It passes unanimously. I also don't see Mayor Woodruff here, so I will give him the appropriate hard time about that later on. Commissioners, I'm going to ask for a motion to pull items 12 and 13 from the consent agenda so that we can vote on them right now. There may or may not have been a little note passed to me down the dais from the county attorney who didn't like me. So moved. All right. Second. Second. Items 12 and 13. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none. Passes. Madam Chair, I would move the approval of the proclamation of the great day in the county days in Seminole County. I think we just did that. No. We pulled it. We pulled it. Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. And I would also approve the proclamation proclaiming November 15th, American Recycle. Second. Second. All right. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none. It passes unanimously as well. So it is officially picture time, what you all have been waiting for. Our team will direct us. We'll come down front and center. I'll call the meeting back to order officially, and next on the agenda is Mr. Scott McIntyre for our county investment advisor report. Scott, welcome. It is always interesting to me what kerfuffle we have you following, but we manage to do it every meeting. This ought to be a good one. I feel like a commercial right in the middle of everything. Yes. I apologize for that. So it's been a couple weeks since I was last year, and it feels like it's been a decade since I was last year. A lot has happened. We don't have the reports for October, so when this is prepared, they weren't available at this point. So basically, and I also don't have a slide that shows what's influencing the markets because the markets are really being influenced every day. We had an employment report on Friday. We had a CPI report today that was very hot, surprisingly hot. The midterm elections really are a reroute and kind of a rethink in terms of what that means. The market has perceived it early as the idea that the conflict in the Middle East is more likely to be resolved earlier rather than later. Whether that happens, we don't know yet. And also the expectation is that the data center build out will be slow and a little more methodical in its pace. So both of those are disinflationary, but again, this has to play out. Again, we got a really hot CPI report today. The Fed met a couple of weeks ago right after our meeting here. They meet on December the 9th, and I expect that the Fed is going to take that opportunity to raise rates. One of the things kind of to set for expectations for this next calendar year is that if the Fed hikes, it won't be more in my opinion than a time or two, and then I think we hold for a while. I think I mentioned this before, but what that means is that your earnings rate for this next calendar year should be higher than it was in a previous calendar year. So there is a takeaway there, and that's hopefully more interest income. Our feeling with what has happened with the midterms is that we're going to be, and I mentioned this before, but given that Amendment 3 passed, there will be more liquidity that we're going to hold onto just for a precaution. We're not going to go out quite as far as we did the previous year because we don't expect the rate cuts are coming anytime soon, so there's no urgency there. The next time I'll be in front of you will be next year, I believe, so there are some maturities that are coming up that need to be re-addressed. We're not going to address your incoming property taxes until we get to January, and that should be just fine. So in a bit of a holding pattern, yields, I'm not sure why we even go through this. There's been so much volatility on a day-to-day basis, to be honest with you. So if we had done this instead of on Thursday today, then yields would have been roughly 10 to 12 basis points higher, which in terms of investing money is going to be a good thing. There are a number of upcoming maturities that were positioned that are going to be coming off at lower, generally lower interest rates than they were put on. That's a good thing. The maturity that is going to happen next week on the 17th is generally going to be held in a liquid option. But then the next ones can be reinvested, and what I'm suggesting is that we go out essentially to July 2027. It looks to me like the yield is going to be somewhere around a 460, so you're replacing a 380 with a 460. Taking 10 million, maturing, going out to October, which is where we feel like funds are needed. Again, 466 may be approaching 470 compared to 378. You can see the pattern. You're going to be earning more. These are maturing in an environment where the overnight rate as of now is at 3 and 7.8, so they were good investments up to this point. They'll be invested higher. I think the important thing to remember on these longer maturities, the one that I've got going out to July 2028 and August of 2028, they are expected to fund your expenses in those days. That's the idea. But in the event that you needed to sell for liquidity, they're going to be government securities easily able to go out and market and be sold. So, again, there's not a whole lot to talk about today because I don't have the normal slides that I have just because of the tightness of the window, but we're asking for reinvestment of these maturities when they happen. So it's not immediate, but it's later this month in these investments, which are fortunately yielding higher. Madam Chair, I move a motion to implement recommendations of our financial advisor based on the report submitted today and recommended the clerk implement said board recommendations. Second. We have a motion and a second. Commissaries, is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Passes unanimously. Thank you so much for being here. Can you all have a happy holiday? You as well. You as well. Be safe. All right. I do notice, Ms. Drager, that you have public comment forms. Is this for the consent agenda? Yes, ma'am. All right. I'll ask our county attorney to read the public participation rules. Thank you, Chairman. Florida law provides that members of the public shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard on propositions before the board of county commissioners, except when the board is acting on emergency or ministerial matters or conducting a meeting exempt from the requirements of the Sunshine Law. Individuals shall be permitted three minutes each for public comment or six minutes when the individual is an official representative of a formal association or group. The chairman may modify the maximum time for public comment at her sole discretion when appropriate. Public comments and quasi-judicial or other public hearing items will occur during the board's consideration of those items this afternoon. Public comments on pending procurement matters or on non-agenda items shall not be permitted at this time. Members of the public desiring to make public comment must fill out a speaker form and present the form to staff. Forms are available in the lobby. Chairman. Thank you so much. All right. How many speakers do we have? Two speakers, Chairman. All right. First is Bill Hyde on item 26 and then Leslie Grubel on items 13 through 23. All right, Mr. Hyde. Welcome and thank you for your service. My welcome. This service, too. And thanks for your support on the final mile. Believe me, we recognize that. My name is Bill Hyde. I live at 2379 Audley Street in Oviedo. And I'm here on item 26 and I'm not sure if I'm happy, sad, somewhere in between or just don't understand it. As I read this, and I read the back up but I don't have much detail, that we're still moving first and second generation infrastructure sales tax money. I recall a couple of years ago, and I'm sure Commissioner DeLauri remembers it, we had a workshop. And at this workshop, there was extended discussion on making sure that the first and second generation projects got done. So my question is, do we still have first generation projects that aren't complete? And if we are, I think maybe it's time we had another one of those workshops to get where our tax money is going. That's all I got. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you, Mr. Hyde. I think it's a good question. Yeah, I can. And I will have the county manager address it. Thank you, Chairman. And thank you, Mr. Hyde. I get confused too at some of these generations. But yes, so we are closing out first and second gen. We have been on this path for the last couple of years. The reason that there are a couple of projects in first and second gen, if you remember the Oxford Road project that has continuing to go on for the last decade. It's been held up really not by us, but by legal means. So what we are doing is just because those have multi-generation funding to them. And so we're closing out the first and second gen and just moving all that to our third and fourth gen projects. It's just a clean up. That's all it is. And there's just a few of those projects out there. Madam Chair. I would also add, thank you, Madam Chair, that this is also a reflection on the good work that our folks, our staff have done and the tens of millions of dollars in grant money that we've brought to this county that have helped take some of those projects and backfill with additional projects and moving that money forward. So often that money gets to last further when we can pay for a project with grant money and it carries forward, which is good news. All right. Next speaker. Leslie Grubel, 1841, Misty Morn Place, Longwood, Florida. I am speaking today as a citizen, not representing the League of Women Voters today in support of the consent agenda items, especially the items for community services number 14 through 22. I wrote 13 on there, but I particularly wanted to point out 14 through 22. These include True Health's uncompensated care for low income pool, Boys Town advocacy services for the homeless population, the Sharing Center and its outreach, the Aspire partners in their mental health outreach. I will add that as a citizen, I will say a word in support to our county commissioners, their departments and constitutional officers. Please do not take Amendment 3 as a repudiation of your previous conscientious good works and design decision making. I see this passage of Amendment 3 as a response to an extremely difficult economy and being presented an easy path to the public for a tax cut, albeit not well considered as to its local government impact and overreach. Also, I see this amendment as a response to the general public decrease in trust of our government officials and politicians that in no way relates to the actions and decision making of our county commissioners over the years in their budgetary decisions. Lastly, I will miss Amy Lockhart. Her loss is somewhat incongruous to her many cost saving measures for the county, including introducing Scout as only one. Thank you all. Thank you. Is that the last public comment? Yes, ma'am. All right, commissioners, I'll look for a motion with regard to the consent agenda. I'll move approval items 11 and 14 through 31. Second. I think we have to take out 12 and 13 and the Constitutionals. 9, 10, 11, and 14 through 31. Got it. All right. Second. We have a motion and a second. Hold on. And do you have anything to pull? No, ma'am. Scotia, I have a question for the county manager? Yes. I'd rather ask it this way than individually. I support all the projects that are on this agenda. I just want to make sure because there was a letter sent out by staff and the community services agencies as well as other organizations regarding some of the funds from the general fund. I just want to make sure because it says in here that there would be potential impacts in evaluation. I just want to make sure that you've done the evaluation and that you support all the things that this agenda item is talking about. Yes, sir. Yes. Yes. I support that. And as you know, we'll start in January to discuss the impacts of Amendment 3 with the Board and how you want to move forward with that. So you want us to move forward? Absolutely. Yes. Great. I will add to that that I think the letter going out to the nonprofits in this community is a judicious way to put you on notice that we don't know what the budgets will hold. Well, we do know what the budgets won't hold. We know what the budgets won't hold. What we don't know is what the budget will hold in terms of predicting the future for the number of residents that sell and all the stuff. Yes, Commissioner Zimbauer, but let me finish. I do believe that there will be significant cuts in anything that is funded through General Fund next year and the following year until we get our legs back under us and understand where this takes us. We also fully acknowledge that it's not been fully codified yet. And as we speak, there's debate as to when that will be done, by whom that will be done, etc. So the passing of this is our opportunity to share with you a glide path for figuring out how to replace these funds for those organizations that are getting them because it is doubtful that if it's coming from ad valorem, they will be there next year. Commissioner Zimbauer? Thank you, Madam Chair. I would just point out, agree with everything that's been stated, and I think the nonprofits understand. We've been very transparent. We've had the public hearings. But I want the public to understand that there's a big cost in not funding these entities. First of all, the government's not equipped to do what these NGOs are capable of doing on the ground. Number two, failure to find a path to fund these NGOs results in more homelessness, more children out of school going hungry, crime, drug abuse. All the things that these programs and these NGOs do on behalf of the citizens of Seminole County, I've always felt it's a wise investment. It saves the taxpayers the money from the criminal standpoint, as well as the unfortunate impacts of homelessness and mental health impacts. So I just want to make sure everybody understands that in the public. That's one of the big reasons I back these initiatives, because there is a benefit in return on the investment to the taxpayers. Agreed. I will also agree with that. And I will also share that I prefer to call you nonprofits and public service organizations since that terminology. I see some wincing in the audience. I wouldn't want to write politics as politics. So commissioners, we've had discussion. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none, it passes unanimously. All right. That takes us to the regular agenda. We have an economic development update from Guy Cunha, economic development and tourism director. Welcome, Mr. Cunha, to the podium. Good morning, commissioners. For the record, Guy Cunha, director. This is not a reflection on the presentation we're about to make. I think this is a very comfortable sigh of relief from folks that have been worried. They're out of here. Yes. Director of the Office of Economic Development and Tourism for Seminole County. So our presentation today will be mainly conducted by our two economic development business division, sorry, business managers. Starting off, we'll look at the county business profile. Then we'll take a macro level look on the performance indicators for big business and going into small business entrepreneurship and workforce development. Before I hand it over to Irma Stenman, I do want to say that all the partners that are reflected on the presentation have joined us today, so we do have perfect attendance. Very excited about that. All the partners know that every agreement in Seminole County has reporting requirements and key performance indicators. These are going to be macro level data that we're looking at. And then the last piece, I'll come back to discuss our seminal moments and some of our next steps in generating more efficiency throughout our department. Good morning. Yes. For the record, Irma Stenman, Business Development Manager, Office of Economic Development and Tourism. Here in the summary, we'll see that Seminole County's unemployment rate fell from 4.3% in August to 4% in September and continuing to be the lowest unemployment rate in the region. Both our labor force and unemployment grew and in September about 1,700 more Seminole County residents were employed. Seminole County has about 22,000 registered businesses with the tax collector's office and about 18,000 businesses report wages to the state. Nine of 10 businesses in the county have 25 or fewer employees. Based on the wages from the first quarter of this year, the countywide average wage was $71,000. Finance and insurance had the highest average wage at $122,000. And the highest percentage of the total payroll was in the construction industry. Now, this one slide has a chart that has a lot of information in it, so bear with me while I break it down for you. The first, on the bottom, on the X axis, we're going to see the grouped by size of businesses. Those businesses that have 1 to 10 employees, those that have 11 to 25, all the way up to 800 or more employees. And then on the blue bars, we're going to see that is representing the number of businesses in each size. The green bars represent the number of employees in those businesses. And the orange marker represents the average wage for those businesses. So we see that, for example, on the very far on the left, we see that those businesses that are our smallest businesses, the 1 to 10 employees, we have over 11,000 of those. And they employ, on average, almost 35,000 people with an average wage of $65,183. Now, as we move to the right, we see at the other end our largest businesses, those that are 800 or more employees. We only have 21 of those, and they employ almost 33,000 people at an average wage of $89,000. On the next slide, we're going to see a pie chart here that represents by industry. So we're going to see how our businesses, the number of business establishments is distributed by industry. So the largest section is for, in blue, is the professional scientific and technical services with 17.2% of our county businesses. And this industry includes engineering, consulting, legal, and accounting firms. The next two largest slices, we have in red, health care and social assistance with 11.4%, and followed by construction in green with 11.1%. The next one here is using the same approach, but here we show the distribution of jobs or employment by industry, which health care and social assistance in blue has the largest percentage of county jobs, 12.3%, followed by retail in red, 12%, and green construction is our third largest industry with 11.7%. Now, we use both of these to understand the fabric of our economy and guide our efforts. Now, moving to big business, we're going to start talking about our largest employers. We compiled this list of top employers using different estimates from different sources, data sources. We also contacted each public sector employer directly and incorporated actual figures from those that responded. This particular view of this year's list includes retail establishments, which were not shown in previous presentations. Urban Health still leads our private sector employers, followed by Publix, Walmart, BNY, and Orlando Health. On the public sector, the school board is still the largest employer, followed by our office here, Seminole County Government, and the Sheriff's Office. Now, this slide is about the pipeline from the Orlando Economic Partnership, one of our partners. We see from the third quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year, now our team works hand-in-hand with the OEP to respond to leads when Seminole County meets the project's requirements. As of that quarter, out of all of the projects that they had in their pipeline, 43 included Seminole County. And of those 43, 28 were qualified leads. Of those in 43, 12 are being actively worked on, of which four are in the decision phase. These four would have 297 jobs attached and a capital investment of $4 million. And with that, I'll pass it to my colleague Esteban. Thank you. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning, county leaders. For the record, Esteban Saldarriaga, business marketing manager for Seminole County Economic Development. And we're going to begin our presentation in small business focusing on Seminole State College's Center for Business Development. The Center for Business Development brings together several programs, including Small Business Development Center, Business Incubation, Entrepreneurial Training, and Support Services. Collectively, these programs serve 234 businesses this year, supporting $309 million in economic output and representing $1,766 in economic output for every dollar invested into these programs. The Regional Small Business Development Center at Seminole State College was also nationally recognized as the best regional small business development center in the Central Florida region by the Small Business Administration. Word salad, guys. I'm sorry about that. I'm spelling them all out today. Additionally, the partnership with the University of Central Florida brought the nine new incubator tenants to the Heathrow campus, expanding incubation opportunities and generating additional lease revenue for the college. We'll move on to the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program. The University of Central Florida's Business Incubation Program supported 23 active companies this year, generating $95 million in gross regional product and $200 million in economic output. Here's the really fun part about that. Seminole County's incubator ranked second amongst the university's seven regional incubators, second only to Central Florida Research Park. In fact, its economic output exceeded the combined output of the other five incubators. Wow. Pretty impressive. Yep. The program was also recognized by Time Magazine as the number one business incubator in Florida. Two companies, TechRage IT and Fresherize, graduated from the program and established their headquarters here in Longwood. Moving on to our business support organizations, Prospera National Entrepreneurs Center. Our partnership with Prospera, the National Entrepreneurs Center and Central Florida International Trade Office, focused on expanding access to business support. Prospera provides multilingual industry agnostic consulting and educational programs, helping entrepreneurs across diverse backgrounds and industries develop the skills they need to operate and grow their businesses. Through the National Entrepreneurs Center and the Central Florida International Trade Office, business access, specialized trade guidance, export training, and international business connections to explore opportunities in global markets. And we'll see here some of the highlighted events for this year from both organizations that were the most well attended. The one highlight I'd like to point out is the fundamental programming that's given by Prospera and the specific trade guidance that's provided by the Central Florida International Trade Office, specifically that training cohort was the first program, the first year of this program. Now we move on and we'll close with the workforce development update from CareerSource. Our partnership with CareerSource Central Florida focuses on connecting residents with career training and employment opportunities. Through the Access to Career Pathways Program, 37 residents enrolled in training with 27 completing programs and earning their Florida Ready to Work credentials. Florida Ready to Work is a state-recognized certification that validates essential workplace skills and demonstrates job readiness to employers. This included a dedicated cohort of neurodivergent adults. The Public Sector Youth Academy introduced 28 high school-age students to careers in county government through a four-week program involving more than 10 Seminole County departments, achieving a 93% completion rate. And lastly, CareerSource recorded 1,424 service interactions through their community hubs, with almost half of those coming through our Seminole State College workforce hub. This concludes my presentation on small business and workforce development. I'm going to hand it back to Guy for Seminole Moments. Thank you. Now, to bring us across the finish line here, we have our next top five Seminole Moments that the Office of Economic Development and Tourism we're targeting. But I do want to pull three Seminole Moments out just to discuss as we wrap up. The UCF incubator relocation is not technically done. We've been informed by UCF and Seminole State College there's actually room for possibly more savings, more reductions, more efficiency. So although, similar to the BNY deal of last year, when we thought the deal was concluded and was going to bring only 1,000 jobs, it beefed up to two. So our incubator, although second, still has capacity for growth. So very excited about that ongoing project. Second there, the RFI impact study. We have been getting interest from investors and developers in strategic locations in Seminole County as we look to diversify our revenue streams. This is an opportunity that we look to bridge not just economic development but tourism as well. And the impact study on direct, indirect, and induced specifically towards non-advalorem revenues as well. So very excited about that opportunity. And then lastly, the accreditation of economic development organizations. That's AEDO certification. So there are two large international entities that provide certification for tourism and economic development. As we've seen other counties begin to bridge both departments together. As of the end of November, start of December, we are very optimistic that we will be the first Office of Economic Development and Tourism throughout the entire state that is duly accredited through two different international agencies. So kudos to our entire team, to all the partners here that come together, that we work very well. We press on the performance indicators and make sure that the citizens and the commissioners' expectations are always being met or surpassed. With that, I open the floor to any questions or comments. Commissioner Zimbauer. Thank you very much. Can we go to slide four, please? Yes, sir. Just real quick, the 800 and up number, and if we could go to slide eight. Can you, at your convenience, take the public sector out of that and give my office a number strictly on the private sector? Well, please. I'd like to delineate the actual average wage on the public versus the private sector. I think that's important. I think it's good for us to understand what that looks like as we start budgeting and making decisions. Yes, sir. In addition to that, I cannot say enough how thrilled I am with our economic development team. You guys have been great. You know, not a lot of counties have the ability to have a team that is actually doing the work that you all are doing, and the accreditations and the awards you guys have won speaks volumes, and we're thankful because when we have folks like you doing that kind of work, it helps us turn budget session, helps us interact with the largest employers and prospective future employers to our community, and it truly brings value to our community. So thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, Guy and your staff, I think you're all doing a phenomenal job, as Commissioner Zimbao spoke about. You truly are trying to not just grow the economy but to do it by bringing jobs in and being more efficient. One of the things you didn't talk about, and I'd like for you to elaborate on, is the industrial revenue bonds, and particularly how that actually works. Some of us in the public may not be aware of that, and how it can actually be leveraged, not just for the county but for the region going through the state industrial revenue bond agency. So please talk about that. So one of the big points that Scott McIntyre brought up as well is the increase in rates expectation. Well, one of the large positives that I'm going to ask Esteban to come up as Secretary of the Industrial Development Authority because awareness and education was at the forefront from the very beginning when we brought in industrial revenue bonds from the Orlando Economic Partnership. So we've been putting together an entire program to build the awareness, not just in Seminole County, but we actually have now the Industrial Development Authority of the entire state looking to partner with us on some of the resources that Esteban has built out. Esteban? Thank you. And to specifically answer the question of use of these bonds, the authority that the special district that manages them is the Seminole County Industrial Development Authority. Through that authority, we issue industrial revenue bonds. How these bonds work is that you have to be a qualifying project. What qualifies one of these projects? Well, primarily job creation, and it has to be within industries that create positive wages and property tax for a county. So when you look at it, the primary focus of this is really education and manufacturing. There is health care. There is hospitality. There are many others that do it, and we are open to those conversations. In fact, much of the efforts that we've taken over this past year is really getting an understanding for how these bonds fit in tourism projects, into health care projects, and finding niches within manufacturing that are specific to our county that we can then create a strength out of. All that's to say is that what these bonds offer to these businesses as they apply for them and use them for their benefit is a reduced cost in lending, in borrowing money. If you qualify for tax exemption with an industrial revenue bond, you can see savings of up to one to two percent on a conventional loan. That is not a small savings when we're talking about minimums of four and a half million and up. These are real dollars, these are real numbers, and it gives the flexibility to a lot of these organizations to do more hiring, buy more equipment, expand further. So again, these bonds are allowing a lot of our industries in Seminole County to find specialization because it's a very, very niche financial tool, but fortunately applies to many of the things that we already enjoy here in Seminole County. Now, one point I think Commissioner wanted to say, these are also a new revenue stream as well. Every time these bonds are used, there is a new revenue stream to the county. And that is correct, but also this is not county money. This is money that someone's going through a bank to go through and get credit through the federal government. It's just a whole different aspect of it. Correct. This is not county money. Yes. We're in essence creating the mechanism for them to get a lower interest loan, and benefiting from it as well. Right. Citizens of Seminole County benefit from it as well. Commissioner Lockhart? This, what you do is as important from a domino effect as what happens with our nonprofit partners. The best insurance policy that any community can have for insulating themselves against some of the national downturns and the economic impacts that we've been seeing that have been affecting families is high wage paying jobs. That's the insurance policy. The way that you have a successful, thriving community is jobs and people working. And so I am thrilled with the work that you've done. I am thrilled with our partners and the way that we have really gone about making sure that we have a broad range of opportunities for our community. The domino effect that I know people are concerned about, just like the nonprofits who were here earlier. Seminole State College, Dr. Loren sent out an email to our trustees. Here's what's on the horizon with our partnership with Seminole State College. Amendment 3 is not, you know, while it theoretically, quote, protected education, a lot of what we do in partnership with the college and with our school district is potentially at risk with some of the potential cuts that are coming. So the bonds are another example of a way that we can partner with the college. I know that we've been talking about that for the performing arts and studio arts program building that we're doing at the college. So I think there's a lot of opportunities moving forward. And in continuing to work with, in your creative mind, we'll figure this out. I know it will. Out of the box, creative ways to engage the private sector even more, not just for economic development purposes, but for funding these nonprofits. The synergy there is very, very obvious to me. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Zimbauer. Just one final note. Thank you very much. We don't have to look far but to the unemployment rate. And this is great news, but it's happened for decades in Seminole County. Even through the COVID pandemic, if you look at the numbers, Seminole County's unemployment was far less than our entire surrounding counties in the entire state. And I credit that to good leadership and good work on behalf of our economic development team in engaging the regional partners and telling us what's happening so we can make employment much easier to occur here in Seminole County. Good work. I'll round this out by just throwing a few thoughts out there. If you look at either of the pie charts, one of the industries that is growing in this country at this point that is very underrepresented in Seminole County is manufacturing. And those are typically high-paying jobs in this day and age. And so advanced manufacturing has to be something that we're targeting and bringing into this community. And I know you're already doing that, but you might want to address that. Yeah. So we are actually taking a very strong partnership with one of the cities has now tied in their chamber to look at an initiative specific towards manufacturing, an initiative called SMART, an acronym they're rolling out. This is also the momentum felt last year on the Manufacturers Association of Central Florida for Seminole County, first time ever sweeping the manufacturers of the year from small, medium, and large side, has started to push a lot more momentum on the SMART and strategic locations of the best areas for manufacturing. But, yes, it is a top priority for us. I would also add that I am delighted to see that 10 neurodiverse individuals graduated from the program at CareerSource. That's been a discussion since I got here, so that's more than one per year of that effort, and I look to that to grow. I would also add that Orlando Health, and I think I brought this up, does have a program that they've implemented in their own organization for bringing folks with different abilities through a 12-week paid internship with the idea that they get jobs after that. And they are willing to train any business in our community that wants to do that on the curriculum and how they did it. And I would suggest that we should consider that as an employer. I'm going to give a huge shout-out for I have attended two of the L Collectives, which when I do walk in there, Amy looks at me like I'm a duck out of water, and I am a duck out of water in that room. There's no doubt about it. But when you get the L Collective advisory, there are topics on there that I just would never take the time to sit and learn how to prompt AI. I just wouldn't. In my real job, I have people that do that. But it was really cool. Both of them were really, really well done. And in an hour and a half, people walk out of there with real job skills that propel them to the next level. So great shout-out for that. Commissioner Zimbauer? I would just, from a manufacturing perspective, the Manufacturer Association of Central Florida, Donny Casey, if you reach out to him. Yes, sir. I have engaged the manufacturers in multiple aspects in and around Seminole County. There is some opportunity there, so thank you for pointing that out, Madam Chair. Mm-hmm. Commissioner DeLaurie. Thank you, Madam Chair. Gee, one of the issues that we've had on manufacturing is permitting. And some of the issues we've had with permitting is not with our county, but with one or two of the cities. And I think I'm hoping that the interlocal agreement that we have coming forward, hopefully, is keep on continuing to move forward to guarantee timely fashion of permitting through the city aspect of it. So just a comment. Yes, sir. I'm not asking for you to elaborate, but it's an issue because Loomis basically had a big issue, and I believe we actually lost their expansion due to that. So that is on our radar. It has been, I would offer you this, the permitting process, it takes two sides of the equation. It wasn't all one, although there were opportunities for growth. With that, I think we can conclude this conversation. Would you all agree? Yep. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for the work you're doing. Thank you to the team that's here. 100% participation. Yay. Is there any public comment on this item? No, ma'am. All right. The next work session is Water Supply Facilities Work Plan. Come on down. All right. Good morning, Chairman and Commissioners. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to present to you today. Joining me in this presentation is Mary Thomas of Corolla Engineers, and I am Johnny Edwards, the County Utilities Director. Today, we are talking about the Water Supply Facilities Work Plan, which may seem familiar to you because this is a requirement that we update this every five years. A brief agenda here, I'm going to talk briefly about the purpose of the presentation, a few key regulations. Some county plans that may look familiar to you. Then we're going to get into next steps and ask for BCC action and discussion. The purpose, simply put, today is we're going to preview some potential comprehensive plan updates related to utilities and the environment. We're going to ask that the board authorize staff to implement our updated 10-year Water Supply Facilities Work Plan. Key regulations. I listed a few Florida statutes up there on the board. The first one created the Central Florida Water Initiative, which covers all of Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties, as well as the southern part of Lake County. It includes three parts of three different water management districts, St. John's, South Florida, and Southwest Florida, as well as DEP, the utilities in the region, environmental groups, and other stakeholders. One of the mandates for CFWI in the second bullet there is that it must update its 20-year regional water supply plan every five years, and it was most recently updated in November 12 of 25. The last bullet, another statute, indicates that within 18 months following the adoption of the regional water supply plan, local comprehensive plan elements must be updated to include traditional and alternative water supply projects, i.e. our 10-year Water Supply Facilities Work Plan, and the deadline for that, just based on the dates up there, is May 12 of 27. So, Water Management Districts, I think it's worth mentioning. We have, in Seminole County, our utility, a consumptive use permit that's consolidated for four different service areas, but it is set to expire in September 23 of 29. In the applicant's handbook, which is a subset of rules, if you will, in renewing this permit application, we're given the guidance that our upper Florida aquifer withdrawals are going to be limited to our demonstrated 2025 demand. That is, the amount of water that we pumped out of the upper Florida aquifer in calendar year 2025, that's going to, that is expected to become our new limit when we renew our consumptive use permit. So, water demands, water supply for new demands, how do we provide water for these uses? We either have to reduce existing uses, i.e. water conservation, or we need to find more alternative water supplies. Screen wells in the lower or lower, lower Florida aquifer, which is more expensive because there are more salts and dissolved solids that we have to treat in that water. Screen wells in the lower, potentially surface water, aquifer recharge, or reclaimed water are also options. Fortunately, earlier this year, the board approved our utilities master plan, a very large document covering numerous topics. We have several presentations leading up to that approval, and a list of topics on the board, a very abridged list that are included in the master plan. We talked about demands for putable water, reclaimed water, and wastewater services, the regulations that address all of those. Our treatment plants, both water and wastewater treatment plants inside the fence, and the distribution and collection systems outside the fence, if you will. We talked about renewal and replacement programs to make sure that those assets remain in good working order, and a capital improvement plan that lists all the projects, as well as providing budgets and schedules for those projects. And within that CIP, fortunately for us, there is a list of water supply facilities projects from which we borrow to make our water supply facilities plan. So in engaging Mary Thomas and Carollo engineers, I asked them to pull these projects from the master plan, put them in the water supply facilities work plan, provide the necessary analyses and narrative required by regulations, and whether or not it's in the plan, I wanted to, when we talked to the board, give some perspective on cost effectiveness on these projects. You know, which groups of projects give us a better return on investment than other groups of projects? So with that, I will turn it over to Mary for the interesting stuff. Good morning. Okay, so Mr. Edwards discussed why we need a water supply facilities work plan, so I'm going to talk a little bit about what is in your water supply facility work plan. So again, in the spirit of concurrency and making sure that the development plans match your ability to provide water to your development plans, a work plan requires current water usage in existing water supply facilities, population and water demand projections, at least for the next 10 years, traditional and alternative water supplies that will meet those demands, and there must be a subsection on conservation and reuse. The capital improvements required to develop and deliver those supplies is required, as is a schedule for delivery. And as discussed, lucky for me, my job was very, very easy. I took a lot of the material from your recently approved master plan. So what you will see in this work plan is master plan usage data, master plan population and demand projections, and the master plan capital improvement projects. The conclusions of this work plan are that your current permit allocations and facilities will meet your future demands. However, there are current and pending regulations that will have unknown consequences on your ability to retain those permitted allocations, which is why your utility division has been continuously working hard to mitigate for the unknowns by constantly evaluating other project options. The graphic to the left is similar in conclusions to what you have seen in the master plan, just a little different format, where the largest, widest oval with the dash, that is your permitted allocation of 23.7 MGD. That is what we're not sure you'll be able to retain, whereas the 21.53 number, that is what the master plan says you will need in 2045. So this work plan is intended to say, okay, if you need 21.53 MGD, how do you get there? We feel fairly confidently that you can rely on 17.17 MGD in upper Florida in allocation. That is a part of your permit. That's in blue. We also feel fairly confident you can retain another 2.1 MGD in lower Florida in allocation. That's in green. And that leaves about 2.27 left to sort of figure out to meet your 2045 demands. How do you get there? How do you get the 2.27? Well, just as every other utility in central Florida is doing, you review your options and determine which are most cost effective. Most folks look at conservation, they look at reclaimed water expansions, groundwater recharge, well deepening, and even surface water treatment. So as Mr. Edwards indicated, we looked at which of these project options might be the most cost effective for the county. Where the top table comes right out of your master plan, it recommends conservation, well deepening, and reclaimed water expansion projects. Conservation will continue to be your cheapest and best option, providing up to 2.7 MGD, depending on how aggressive you get, at a cost of around $3.99 per gallon saved. Well deepening is an interesting option. Again, you have most of your source from the upper Florida aquifer. If you were to deepen your wells to the lower, it creates less of an impact on your surface water wetlands and water bodies, and you can actually free up a little bit more water. That's an option in some parts of the county at a cost of around $8.33 per gallon supplied. There are two elements to your reclaimed water expansions. Some are more cost effective than others. Your northeast and northwest service area can be constructed at around $36.16 per gallon. In your southeast service area, that's a little more costly at $60. You will see in the top graphic, if you need 2.27 MGD between these projects, you are very likely to meet your 2045 demand with these projects. But we continue to look at other options in the event that these are not feasible, or if you wanted to look beyond 2045. So other projects estimated include a regional project being implemented by the St. Johns River Water Management District. For around 4.2 MGD to the county, we're looking at $13.84 per gallon. And then, of course, there is the surface water supply project, which has been historically in a lot of county planning documentation and maybe something that is looked at someday in the future. That cost would be approximately $43.42 per gallon supplied. I think it's worth mentioning, just for the presentation, I asked Mary to categorize different projects. The actual work plan gets a very detailed list of the projects and the budgets and schedules. So the next county plan that I wanted to talk about, we talked a little bit about the master plan, the water supply facilities work plan, our comprehensive plan. The statute said that we have to update our comprehensive plan to reflect the water supply facilities work plan. We could press the easy button here in Comp Plan Policy POT 5.1. In the middle of that paragraph there, it says the Seminole County, and this is existing in the Comp Plan, Seminole County 10-year water supply facilities work plan prepared by Corolla, Inc. of Orlando, conveniently, and dated December 2021, is hereby adopted, et cetera, et cetera. So we could press the easy button and say December 2026, and our work could be done. I did want to point out to the board there are five comprehensive plan elements that touch on utilities, and I've listed them on the screen. We could also update some dated language, rule references, et cetera, in each of these Comp Plan elements. My inclination, as long as we're opening the book, to update those, I don't want to miss that May deadline and understand that these have an approval process. It has to be approved by the state. It has to be approved by PNZ before we can bring it back to the board for adoption. But we also understand that the Senate Bill 180 would restrict our making permitting more stringent, if you will. So in an environment where the state is making the utility's ability to deliver water to customers more difficult, we can't do anything in the Comp Plan to restrict development. So what are our next steps? Implement the 10-year Water Supply Facilities Work Plan. If the board approves of the draft plan, we will go ahead and finalize it, start implementing in accordance with the schedule. We'll work on updates to the comprehensive plan to bring back in the springtime before the deadline, one, to reflect the Water Supply Facilities Work Plan at a minimum, and two, possibly to update old information and references that are currently in the Comp Plan related to utilities. So with that, that concludes our presentation. We will ask that the board authorize staff to finalize and implement the 10-year Water Supply Facilities Work Plan. Commissioner DeLaurie? Mount Chair, I move to approve and authorize the staff and implement the 10-year Water Supply Facility Work Plan as presented here today. Second with if the first will accept an amendment to that motion. I'd like to hear it first. With an update annually from staff so that we clearly understand any changing legislation at the state level or at the federal level that could impact this. The first will accept that amendment. Thank you. Okay, we have a first and a second. And I'm going to ask if we have any discussion, but I have some questions. I have some comments to make as well. All right, I'm going to go through mine if you don't mind. Timing of the cup renewal process. So it expires, again, I think it was September of 29. You know, we're going to start, we have our surface water cup that actually expires about a year before that. So we're going to start working on renewing that this fiscal year just because there's a lot of work that goes into maybe modeling and preparing the applications. And, frankly, Mary's got a lot more experience than I do with these cup renewals. So she may, yeah, okay. So, yeah, we're starting work on both of those this fiscal year. Okay. And how are we following and reporting back to this board the pending regulations? Well, I know when we had several master plan presentations, the board indicated that it wanted annual updates. I heard that again here this morning. So I'm more than happy to present to this board at least annually or more often if there's a pending regulation of importance that might not wait for an annual update. We'll get that information to the board sooner. Yeah, I think this needs to rise to the top of the issues that we have our focus on just because of the timing of all this. And then just in the for the record category, what is the funding source for all of these projects? So the funding source, the utility is derived entirely from our water and sewer utility fund. That is our sole source of revenue for everything that we do. Just wanted to get it out there. All right, Commissioner DeLaurie. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate all those comments and concerns. The concern that I have is there's no doubt that I believe that through the engineering and our staff and the leadership, we can meet our demands. That's not my issue. My issue is to make sure that it's cost effective. I say that because you hear people, and I've gotten many phone calls, I'm sure you all have as well, about, you know, their water bill, their sewer bill. I mean, it happens, especially people that are on fixed income. So it's not about, you know, just approving a project and it's the rate base. It's about approving a project that is cost effective so that we don't get those phone calls, so people feel as if they can afford to live here and use the water and the sewer. system effectively, whether or not, you know, robbing Peter to pay Paul just to have the utilities. There's a lot of overall projects that are shown in our regional, in our plan that are regional projects. That if we have partners, we can actually make it more cost effective and more beneficial, either from the county, both the county side, the city side, as well as regionally. For the record, what are our neighborhoods and the surrounding counties and cities? I'm sure they have similar issues because I hear it all the time from the residents about, you know, the high bills, looking for the cup, you know, from city officials. You hear that as well. So at some point, I want you to expound on that. I've asked you in the past, and you've been talking about it, you know, what is the cup of the cities or the surrounding areas, and which cities, if they are, or which counties are over-pumping. Because we had a problem back in, there's at least one city that I know that's over-pumping, and I'm just saying that for the record. It's good to put that out there. I know that Orange County years ago, I noticed before you got here, Johnny, I think it was 2011, I think, that we had to actually get attorneys involved so that we didn't have significant drawdown on our wells because of Orange County. We should be talking to the associated state agencies about working together to be more proactive with our cities and the surrounding counties to get these regional projects on board. And I think your chart that you have here on page 11 shows that, that, you know, you have the regional project, and then you have the surface water potable project. You know, it's important that we bring partners in. It's important that this gets to be more cost-effective so that everyone can afford drinking water effectively. And, you know, hypothetically, you know, and I know people call up all the time and say, you know, there's a water main break, and it's not because people are flushing their water system because of chloramine. You know, why aren't we doing it? Because we went to ozone. We paid that price years ago. And so I want to make sure that as we move forward, we're encouraging our staff to have these conversations with the state agencies to figure out how we can bring those regional projects together, not just from the city's perspective and opportunity, but the surrounding areas to get this cost down. And so those are the concerns that I have. Commissioner Zembauer. Thank you, Madam Chair. To Commissioner Dilawri's point, CFWI is exactly why that exists, to have that coordination. I can tell you, as sitting on that board, on behalf of this board, that, you know, you have conflicting interests. You have agriculture that wants all the water they can ever get to grow and feed their cattle and so forth. And arguably, maybe they were here before a lot of the cities and counties have been drawn as they are. So striking that balance is what the state's trying to do. But it's clear to me that they are going to continue to cut the cup. That's no surprise, based on all the conversations and having the CFWI conversations with other municipalities offline and understanding what was going on during those meetings. I think I've asked for this before, and I haven't received it yet. And maybe I didn't ask for it in the right fashion. I don't need to know this answer right now because you can't give it to me, which is what have we done to pursue the cups of the golf courses that we purchased, the Yarborough Ranch, and what are we doing and have we looked at FUGWA, which is Florida utilities, government utilities, which took over the eastern corridor and has a cup, and Seminole County has, as a sponsoring county, first right of refusal on that utility. All of those things we should be looking at to understand what our cup availability looks like in the future. And can we leverage those cups from those golf courses or any other thing that the county has brought in to offset those necessary needs? So if you guys could get that to me. Yes, sir. Help me understand that because I know when we took over Deer Run, there was a lot of conversation. Kim Mornberg was in on that conversation about how, and she had talked to St. John's and FDEP and how we could get that cup allocation from the golf course. All those things are creative ways that cups that already exist that we may be able to leverage on behalf of our citizens in the future. So whenever you get a chance, I'd appreciate that very much. Yes, sir. Thank you. Any other comments? One more comment. And I'm sure I'm going to be quick. In the future, I'd like to get an update on the minimum flows of the springs because that's just as important. Oh, I did have one. I forgot. I can't believe that. Commissioner Zimbauer. Sorry. My last one was, do we still have a permit to pull the million gallons a day or whatever the number was out of the St. John's? It still exists, right? Yes. So that is our surface water. Yeah. Yes, sir. And that was a cost initiative to be able to use that last time we spoke. Yeah. It's on the chart. The cost analysis, the full-blown cost analysis, is pretty darn expensive. Is that correct? To turn it to potable water. Yeah. That's the last box on the chart. Yeah. Yeah, that is something that was analyzed years ago. And that would be, yeah, the bottom row on the chart is the ballpark number for what that might look like. Thank you. Yeah, we did. So we have a motion and a second. I just want to point out for the record that when any commissioner up here asks for information to be sent to their office, our team sends it to all offices, even though that's generally not the language we use when we're asking for something. The vacuum cleaner is awesome. We are, yeah, something probably fell. Well, they're cleaning up from the donut party because we will complain about the donut crust on the floor when we walk out of here. So God bless them. Commissioners, we have a motion and a second. And the discussion seems to be done. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none. It passes unanimously. Thank you to your entire team. Well done. All right. Next up, we have a work session on animal services ordinances. And we have Alan Harris here to present. Thank you, Chairman. For the record, Alan Harris, Director of Emergency Management. Today, going over the Code of Ordinances, Chapter 20, Animal and Fowl, as well as the Seminole County Administrative Code. I have with me, behind me, Andrew Alenius. He is our county attorney that did a lot of work on this over the last year. I have Division Manager Chris Stronko and Field Services Manager Lauren Watts. Of course, our purpose today is to discuss the Code of Ordinances, reference Chapter 20, as well as the Seminole County Administrative Code, reference to animal services. The agenda is simply a background. We're going to tell you a little bit about where we are and how we got here, what the current status is of both of those, the Code of Ordinances, as well as the Administrative Code, and then some potential recommendations for changes to those as we move forward. As a background, so the Animal Control Board, all of you appoint someone to that Animal Control Board. Over the last year, they took the Code of Ordinances, as well as the Administrative Code, and each meeting of their three meetings, they meet quarterly. Each of those meetings took a portion of that to recommend improvements to that code. So, the recommendations were based on, one, recommendations from the County Attorney's Office. So, the County Attorney's Office looked at the code to see what Florida statutes had changed and where we do not align with Florida statute, and that was all brought to the Animal Control Board. So, simultaneously, Emergency Management, Animal Services Division, also looked at our citations, animal control, when we go out into the field and do process, whether it's a neglect or animal cruelty, all of the various things that we see out in the field, and where were we successful in court and where were we not successful in court when issuing citations. And we wanted to strengthen our Code of Ordinances and Administrative Code reference those gaps, if you will. Simultaneously, during this process, we had two animal groups that came forward that wanted some things added to the ordinance, as well. One was a group that looks at rabbit rescue, and so there's some provisions in there, and I'll get to that. And then, one of the groups looked at the declawing of cats, so we'll get to that, as well. So, the first part of the County Code, the Code of Ordinances, there are a couple recommendations the Animal Control Board makes, and the way it works is the Animal Control Board votes on this, and they unanimously voted forward to move this forward. And it comes to, in the Administrative Code, it comes to the Director of Emergency Management, I bring it to County Management, we discuss it, and then we bring it to you for discussion, and that's where we are today. So, the first changes that we have on the Code of Ordinances is to add a couple definitions and to strengthen some of the definitions. The first one is abandoned animals. So, we're adding a definition about abandoned animals. These are animals, of course, that are neglected or left out. And for some reason, there was a gap there related to cruelty to animals that were abandoned. So, we wanted to strengthen that language a little bit, so that when we issue citations, there's a definite definition there for that. We added a definition as well. Our recommendation was to add a definition for custodian. Of course, that would be someone that is taking care of the animal, not just the pet owner. That's where we saw the little gap there. We changed the dangerous dog definition to be consistent with Florida statutes. So, Florida statutes are very clear on dangerous dogs. So, we had made a recommendation to change the dangerous dog so that it was very, it was clarified. There's a recommendation in there also to add the declawing definition. And this is, of course, if the section of declawing is passed, if you choose to move forward, then there would be a definition related to declawing. Domestic animals, we wanted to fine-tune domestic animals. So, the current definition in the Code of Ordinance for domestic animals, it lists each and every animal. So, we want to be a little bit more broad because we didn't list every single animal that could potentially be out there. We know in Zimbauer's district there's an emu. So, we wanted to list. He's on the loose today, by the way. Is it? I just got a text. Did y'all get that call yet? Again. So, if you don't follow the Geneva Umu on Facebook, I highly suggest it. It's quite comical. But we wanted to add or strengthen our definition of domestic animal. We strengthened our definition of owner to clarify what an owner of a pet was. Pet shop, we wanted to clarify that. And that strengthens our standard care certificate, which you all passed quite a few years ago. And that just sets a level for a pet shop, boarding facility, a place like that for taking care of the animals. And then the last is just a definition of what is a shelter. And I don't mean a shelter like a pet shelter. But what is a shelter? So, if you leave your animal outside all day long, does the animal have shelter from the elements? We wanted to very clearly list what that shelter should look like. So, it should have a roof and three walls to protect them from rain and things like that. Section 20.04 is simply an administrative suggestion. We suggest changing this from the code of ordinances to the administrative code. The reason for that is every other board, planning and zoning, all the other boards, parks board, everything else is an administrative code. The animal control board was created so long ago, it still lays in the code of ordinances. It doesn't make any sense to be there. It's the only one left there. So, we just suggest moving it to the administrative. For cruelty to animals, section 20.16, we wanted to break down, again, to strengthen protection of animals in our community. So, talking about what the deprivation of food and nutrition is for the animal. Abandoning animals is not appropriate, we believe, here in Seminole County. So, we wanted to clarify that a little bit further. Failure, the failure, this goes back to the definition, failure to provide shelter. Some people leave their animals out, like dogs, out in their backyard, chained to the fence with no shelter at all. This would add that definition that that would be considered neglect and cruelty if there's nothing out there, especially in these Florida storms and things like that that are left out there. Beating animals, of course. Deprivation of water. So, there are some times we go to homes and dogs are in the backyard with no water, no food at all. And they've been back there, according to the neighbor, for days. So, we wanted to strengthen that a little bit as well. And then, of course, the use of bull hooks, any other cruel devices on animals that would be added in there. This gets to the advocacy group that came to see us at the Animal Control Board. They recommended, and the Animal Control Board approved to recommend, the adding of prohibitions to declaw cats, unless medically necessary. So, the vet can choose that it's medically necessary in Seminole County. There is one other county in the Central Florida area, Volusia County, that has this ban. Orange County is looking at it right now. Lake County does not have a ban on declawing of cats, but there is a ban right now. Volusia County and Orange County is considering it, just like you'll be considering it, of course, today. Just discussing it. Just for note, we went a little further into this just to see how many people actually declaw cats. There are six vets in Seminole County that actually declaw cats out of 72 vets. The practice isn't even taught anymore at the University of Florida, which is our vet school, of course, here in the state of Florida. So, that's just for references. In Section 20.24 through 20.28, we aligned any change there, we aligned with Florida statute to make sure that the dangerous dog statute is very much similar to the code of ordinances here in Seminole County. Of course, you all added aggressive dogs years ago. We called that Reese's Law. If you remember, Reese was a little Yorkie. That was maimed and killed by another dog. We did not have a protection for that dog because in Florida statute, a dog has to kill two dogs to become dangerous. That's the way it's written in Florida statute. So, we had nothing. The animal was let go and let free. So, we added aggressive dogs. We had a request to add some additional language to aggressive dogs. The animal control board heard those requests, and they also recommend that these two changes occur. The first change is that a sign be placed on the fence. So, if you're walking down the street with your dog, you'll know there's aggressive dog there. So, you may choose to walk your chihuahua on the other side of the street instead of that side of the street. So, why? Why would we want something like that? Because dogs dig under fences. And this has now happened a couple times. So, aggressive dogs without signage. The dog dug under the fence and then made its way to the Yorkie chihuahua. Now, I'm just, I say chihuahua loud because I have a chihuahua. But, whatever, your small dog of choice is, brussel griffin. So, and it'll make it to, I know all the dogs now. You asked me 10 years ago. I wouldn't have known all the dog breeds. But, now I'm, but it protects those individuals, those dogs. The second request was that the dog be monitored when they're in the backyard so that we can see the, the, the custodian of the dog can see the dog digging in the backyard underneath the fence. So, this is only for aggressive dogs. So, what the clarification would be, and I see Simbauer has, it looks like it. Okay. So, the request is to put signage on the outside. And then when the aggressive dog that is deemed aggressive is in the backyard that someone is watching. In a yard. In a yard. In a fenced yard. Like our chicken ordinance. Yep. Chickens have to be monitored in the backyard. Who's monitoring them? You got a camera set up on them or what? The next one is $20.32. I don't have anything on chickens. So, this is an addition. So, Florida statute now allows us to have another declaration called propensity to be dangerous. So, if a dog is deemed aggressive, after two years, that dog can come off of the aggressive list with no issues, hasn't had any concerns, anything like this. Now, sometimes when they're in the two years, something else happens. It doesn't reach the threshold of dangerous dog in Florida statute, and there's nothing in between. Florida statute does allow, though, another definition called propensity to be dangerous. So, if we add this to our county code of ordinances, it allows a little bit more. So, we know this dog is aggressive already. The dog now has done something else. It's attacked a family member. It's attacked a guest at the family's house, whatever, and done something but not reached the level of dangerous dog in Florida statute. So, this would add an additional lifetime designation, propensity to be dangerous, and require the family to have a liability insurance for that dog. And that's all also in Florida statute. We wanted to look at 20.39. This is fixed point restraint. There are dogs, of course, that are in the backyard that are fixed to a location. They're allowed to roam around, but they're fixed. So, we wanted to clarify or strengthen protections for that animal when they're in the backyard, to not allow a choke collar, the use of chains for that animal, and make sure that there's, again, adequate shelter, water, food for the animals. And then, we wanted to strengthen 20.71 through 86. This is our standards of care. Standards of care certificates are required for any boarding facilities. We go, we inspect the boarding facility or pet sheltering of any type. We check them to make sure that the animals are taken care of, that there's food, that there's adequate shelter locations for the individual animals that are in there. So, all the different places that have animals have a standards of care certificate, and we annually inspect those. There is a couple changes to this that we wanted to call out. One is, and it should be kind of a no-brainer, community cats, sometimes called feral cats, but I can't do that because they'll be very angry with me if I say feral. So, community cats, okay, there's a prohibition, or we suggest a prohibition to not leave food out in the urban bear area. Do you think? There's no provision in there now, so we just wanted to strengthen that language a little bit because, of course, that, you know, if you have cat food out for the community cat. You don't have to explain it. Yeah, we got it. Okay. Believe it or not, gravel used to be considered a common way to help digestion of birds. That is not still in our ordinances, so we'd like to remove that. To strengthen our means of getting citations paid, we wanted to add some language in there, Section 20.139, where we can do order to show cause and final judgment when we take the individual to the clerk of the court and then, I don't want to say prosecute, but follow up to make sure that citations are paid. At 20.151, we suggest removing this. This is actually for wildlife, and it's shining lights, and it's not something that we do. The Florida Wildlife Commission and the Sheriff's Office manages this. We don't do this. Animal control officers do not do this, so we suggest removing this. The last section, 20.182, this is another nonprofit group that came forward to us that was interested in rabbit sales and the prohibition of rabbit sales. So there are some jurisdictions in the Central Florida area, just for information purposes, that have the prohibition of rabbit sales. That one is Orange. That one is Orange County. So Orange County does have a prohibition of rabbit sales except for agriculture and livestock purposes. So you can still sell rabbits for agriculture and livestock purposes. It's retail sales of rabbits inside of pet stores. We did a call around just to see if anyone even sells rabbits in Seminole County. There is one pet company that sells rabbits in Seminole County, and they have three stores in our county. That is it for the code of ordinances. So these are the recommendations for the administrative code changes. So the first one is a very, very one important to us here in Animal Services, and we would like for you all, if you would please, to give the county manager authorization to file for custody of animals and animal cruelty cases. The reason for this is we only have a certain amount of time to do this, and if you all do not meet in time, which often does happen, then we cannot file for custody. This would give him the authority to do that, and we could go to the county manager, and the county manager then could help us to seize animals in cruelty cases to protect them from whatever environment they are in. Yes. Question on that. Why the county manager? It could be. This is the recommendation. Could it be a county attorney? Could it be? It seemed to me that might be the logical thing since it may lead to a legal. It would be the county attorney commissioner that would be filing the petition for custody. Sometimes I will come to you each individually and try to get authority to file such an action because it's a legal proceeding. But we oftentimes run out of time because we're on this strict time clock. So this just allows the county manager in consultation because he supervises animal services to work with the county attorney's office to just make sure that it's warranted and get that filed in a timely fashion. Thank you. I think that makes sense. Do you need a motion to do that? We're going to come back with all of this. This is just for your discussion for work session, and then we'll come back possibly next meeting for the public hearing where we actually will adopt any changes. Madam Chair, in that regard, I would do county manager and or designee. I don't think we're voting on all of these independently. I understand that, but we're making suggestions to bring it back. That would be my suggestion. We're going to go to conversation on all of it all at once after public comment. The addition of Section 4.1, this just goes back to the other. So you removed it from the Code of Ordinances. Now we just add it to the Administrative Code, the Animal Control Board, as I mentioned earlier. Some suggestions on a couple of the changes for the fees, and these changes are due, one, to propensity to be dangerous. If we add the language or the name propensity to be dangerous, we have to, of course, add a fee related to that. So if you have an animal that has the propensity to be dangerous, then there would be a fee related to that. And then these also right-size some of the different programs that we have, as well as the request from the small animal group, the rabbit group, to move small animals, gerbils, rabbits, things like that, to $15. We wanted to make sure that sterilize cats that are adopted and dogs that are adopted. I know some people are cat people, some people are dog people. There should be a different price for that, so we just suggest they be the same price. And with that, I will turn it over for discussion. I know. All right. Before we go to board discussion, is there any public comment? Yes, ma'am. How many? Two. All right. Let's do it. Carla Wilson and Susan Detrick. Name and address for the records? Carla Wilson, 702 Heather Lane Winters. Good afternoon, commissioners. I brought the declawing issue to the Animal Control Board. I'm happy to see its progression. A decline is not a manicure. It's a series of 10 to 18 painful and unnecessary amputations. I'm here to urge this commission to please pass the ordinance banning this inhumane procedure within Seminole County. When a cat is declawed, they lose their primary defense mechanism, leaving them vulnerable if they ever escape outdoors. Furthermore, the pain and trauma often lead to severe behavioral issues. Studies show that declawed cats are more likely to develop litter box aversions because litter hurts their amputated paws, leading them to soil homes and furniture. Additionally, because they can no longer scratch to defend themselves, many become neurotic biters out of fear. Two reasons why cats are turned into shelters, and we don't need more of that. Declawing is banned in over 40 countries and in the United States. Momentum is growing. As of 25 to 26, several states and communities have passed bans. I wanted to speak directly to the budget concern in light of the passage of Amendment 3. This law would not add meaningful cost or strain to the county enforcement. Analysts of statewide declawed ban legislation by the Humane World for Animals found zero minimal impact on local government finances, counting both enforcement costs and any revenue from fines. The law does not require inspections or verification of veterinarian practices. A suspected violation would most likely come from a report by the public, so staff respond to complaints rather than seek out violations. It's civil, not criminal. Penalty fines are civil fines, so the county would not hear the cost of jailing anyone, bear the cost of jailing anyone. Veterinarian establishments are licensed in the county, so we expect them to follow the law with violations rare to nonexistent. Six states and about two dozen local jurisdictions have enacted declawed bans, including our neighboring Volusia County, and as far as we are aware, there have been no violations or enforcement costs. The commission has already indicated from support of this ban, with such minimal costs and enforcement burden, it can move forward without adding to the county's budget concerns. I urge you to please pass this ordinance and keep cat's claws on their paws. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Hello. My name is Susan Dietrich, and I'm a citizen of Seminole County. I would just like to speak in support of the ordinance with regard to the Orlando Rabbit Care and Adoption Group that I am a member of. We currently have almost 100 rabbits that are in our foster care system. And I believe we've received about 30 over the last year from the county because when we get a call, we come up and try to get that rabbit, put it into our system, and then hopefully adopt it out. Now, the prohibition against the sale of rabbits will help us with the total numbers. You know, hopefully it will decline, the numbers will decline, and we won't have to. Another issue is that they're not really trained in how to take care of rabbits, the store, the employees. So a lot of times it's just too much for them to handle. They dump them with our group, and we're, again, having to find another home for a rabbit. If anyone has any questions, I currently don't have any foster rabbits because I have greyhounds. It would not be a good mix. But anyway, that would be a really bad idea. It would be a bad idea. They've told me that. So anyway. Really bad idea. All right. Thank you. And again, our group is in support of the ordinance. Commissioner Ollacar. Yeah. I just want to recognize Susan Dietrich was a longtime employee in the county attorney's office. Yep. It's good seeing you again. Yes. Great to see you. Great to see you. Yes. This is what I do in my retirement years. So here you go. Your future in its displayed. Thank you. So, crazy question. My colleagues will probably laugh but not be surprised. Rabbit poop is one of the absolute best fertilizers because it does not need to be, I know, I know, but it doesn't have to be composted. Sounds like a crappy discussion. It doesn't have to be composted. You can put it right on your vegetable material and it will not burn. Are you looking at that as a renewable, sustainable source? If you've got 30 rabbits in your care, that's a lot of fertilizer. Yes. Yes. And some of our foster care pet parents have 10 rabbits in their home. So they probably do that. But we don't have a facility, so they're all parceled out into different homes. And fortunately, we have enough people that are willing, you know, to foster the rabbits until we can find homes for them. Okay. All right. But I will bring that up. Yeah. Because honestly, I have to compost the chickens. You know, I mean, it's a whole different. Rabbits are great. I'm just going to point out that this may be the singular market for it. You guys already have a connection. We will be contacting you. She grows great vegetables. You make magic happen. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Any other comments? No, ma'am. All right. With that, we'll close public comment. I would love to kick off a very brief discussion about this, if this is possible. Good luck with that. How about I've done quick notes and I'll walk through it. Neglect determination. This was not in there. But I would like to see us add something where we can account for feeding and care by others when we're measuring the neglectful state of the animal. Because as I understand it right now, we don't do that. So if the neighbors are feeding the dog and the dog looks okay, we say dog looks okay. And so please make sure we tighten that up. With regard to the aggressive dog, I'm okay with that. That dog had due process. Yes, the neighbors deserve protection. And they don't only attack dogs. They attack kids. So you need to know not to go anywhere near there. The kids need to know not to go anywhere near there. And watching it if it's a digger. I mean, I've had diggers and you can't let them out in the yard without watching them. That just should be your responsibility for any animal, let alone an aggressive one. The propensity to be aggressive, I like the concept. I do not like the requirement to have liability insurance. I think the labeling is good. The requirement to buy a $50,000 liability policy, depending on the residents, probably not going to be able to source it. I don't think the cost would be prohibitive. But that is, I just don't, I don't think we need to be there. Our goal is to prevent the liability, not have it covered by insurance. I am okay with no rabbit sales for retail. I am okay with no declawing. And I am a full-blown yes on the custody, having lived through that nightmare. Commissioners? I'll take a stab at it. We're just giving direction to bring it back. Yeah. I would like a cost analysis on the impact. I know we had a speaker who said there's no impact to our budget. But if you're going to be inspecting veterinarians and doing those kinds of things and verifying that doggy daycares are doing the right thing, there's got to be time spent. So I'd like to know how that looks. I'm okay with not declawing cats. Although, you know, a lot of this, at the end of the day, there's so many loopholes on how this is enforced. And I'm not a fan of putting ordinances or laws together that are to scare people, that have no enforcement mechanism behind them. I mean, I find a cat that's been declawed. Are you going to find me because I have a cat that's declawed because I adopted it or whatever the case might be? Or the vet's going to say it's medically necessary to appease the owner so that it doesn't tear up their furniture inside the house and these kinds of things? Because it may be a step too far in my mind. The aggressive dog, look, I've owned a lot of dogs. And I know the difference between propensity to be aggressive breeds versus an aggressive dog. I think a lot of people would agree there are dogs that are not a breed that are propensity to be aggressive, but will absolutely get aggressive protecting their own family. And that's where the line gets fuzzy on what's truly aggressive or are they just protecting their folks. And, in fact, years ago, I was a victim of that by Seminole County who threatened to come take my dog because my dog busted through a fence to go after a stranger when my children were in the backyard. Never happened before that. Never happened after that. I told Seminole County at that point, we'll see you in court if you think you're going to take the dog. That's not something we need to get involved with our citizens. If it's an aggressive action that continues or its propensity, I got it. But in that case, if you ask a resident who has a dog that's very protective of their family, but not an aggressive dog otherwise, and you ask them to put a sign on their property that says, dangerous dog, beware, guess what happens in a civil litigation case? The attorney on the other side says, you knew it was a dangerous dog. You had a dangerous sign on the daggone thing. So why were you keeping a dangerous dog? So we need to think all that through a little bit. I mean, there's a lot of good things that we need to adopt in this, but I think we need to really parse out what we're really trying to accomplish. I mean, I understand we're trying to meet the statutes the state put forward. I'm not a fan of insurance, as Commissioner Herr indicated. I let that fall in the civil litigation format. So I'd like to go through a few of these offline, and when we get back, maybe the county manager can make sure we all get details and get input from all of us. But I think all of us up here love our pets. We don't want dangerous animals out here. You know, I get the rabbit thing, but what do you do about guinea pigs? What do you do about the snakes? What do you do about the turtles? What do you do about the lizards? What do you do about all the other small animals that I'm telling you in my district, people just come from the city and let them loose in the country, and they either get eaten by coyotes, run over by a vehicle, or who knows where they end up eating by an alligator or a snake skin, whatever the case might be. So I don't know. You know, it's rabbits now, and it's guinea pigs next year. I mean, I don't know. I think I just want to ask some clarifying questions. I don't think the propensity to be aggressive is breed-driven. It's behavior-driven. That's correct. Yeah, so aggressive dogs as we are right now, a dog would have to kill another dog. Or seriously maim where the person went to get medical treatment. So if they went to an ER, our investigators review that before they determine that a dog is aggressive. And then even with the aggressive, the way it's written right now is that they can ask for an appeal. So they can appeal it, and it appeals to me for an aggressive dog. For a dangerous dog, it appeals to a special magistrate. And we appear to the special magistrate. For a dangerous dog, a dangerous dog would have to kill two other dogs or seriously maim the person where they have a physical alteration to their body for the rest of their life. So that means they've torn the person apart, and they will have something there for the rest of their life. And then we would declare that that dog was dangerous. For an aggressive dog, they went out and killed another dog for no reason whatsoever. And it has to be no reason whatsoever. It can't be the other dog's charging. It has to be this person's dog left their property, has to leave their property, left their property, went and attacked and killed another dog before we would declare it aggressive. So I think the thing that we're going to need at the point that we're actually looking at these ordinances is those definitions along with it. Otherwise, we're inferring what it means. And then the difference for me between a guinea pig and a turtle and a snake, which I never thought I'd be having that discussion ever, is that there's not an annual holiday where children love to get a bunny. A snake. Yeah, there's no snake holiday. Now we're going to tie it to a holiday? It's a turn of cream. April, May is a big rabbit time for us in the animal shelter. We see lots of surprise rabbits about that time. Yeah. Commissioner Constantine? And quite frankly, I wouldn't have a problem eliminating snakes and sails myself. You know, I mean, like, come on. I agree with you there, by the way. I mean, we have proliferation of snakes in, you know, sales that have come in, and I actually did that in the legislature with a certain very big snake in the Everglades. But listen, the retail sales of rabbits, I am fine with the prohibition of the decalling of felines. You said seven are doing it in Seminole County? Seven best, yes. I guess. I'm sorry, six. Six best. Six. If we sent a letter to them saying it's now illegal, I think they'd stop. So I don't see a lot of price tags on that. And if they don't, you know, then we'll find out from somebody telling us, Mrs. Wilson specifically. Okay. You know, I understand where Commissioner Hur indicated about the insurance. How much would that cost? Just tell me, because offline you and I have talked about this. I'm fine with these changes. But, you know, I'd like to know exactly the circumstances and approximately the cost. And the conditions in which someone couldn't get it. Its availability is an issue. Okay. All right. Thank you. Everyone's eligible for it. All right. And that's all I have to say about this. I have one thing. Are you going to ask to increase the chickens? No. I promise. Recognizing that good policy is not always good politics, I will just say that today's concerns are rabbits and decline. Tomorrow's will be some other group. It will be the docking of puppies' tails or cropping of ears or any other number of procedures that qualified, licensed veterinarians in the state of Florida perform. And if people want to do it and have it done based on the breed of dog that they have or whatever it is, for local government to get between a breeder or a particular type of procedure, let's take it even out of the animal realm. Let's take it to the people realm. What types of procedures? We talk about getting around things and saying, well, something for the life, health, safety, and there's always a way around. I just would say think about the policy of this and the enforceability of this and not the politics of it. Well said. That's all I have to say. Do you need any further direction? No. I think that's good. We're good. We'll follow up with each of you. We'll have more discussions. All right. Thank you very much. I think that brings us to a lunch recess that will be an hour and seven minutes long. See you back here at 1.30. All right. Good afternoon. This morning we had a very ruly audience when I called the meeting to order. And we're making up for it now. I got it. Good afternoon. We're making sure everybody's paying attention. Good afternoon. Welcome to the afternoon session of the Board of County Commissioner meetings. Commissioners, I'm going to look for... Move. Proof of publication. Second. Proof of publication. And we've moved it and we've approved it. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none. It passes unanimously. Would you all please declare ex parte communication? Commissioner Lockhart? I have none. I have none. I have none. I have none. I have none as well. All right. Do you have public comment forms? No, ma'am. Okay. Does anyone from the public wish to make any public comments regarding this afternoon's two items? I'll have one. It's a written form, not a speaker form. Written form, not a speaker form. All right. Well, we are going to hold off on the rules of public comment unless we have any public comments. How about that for being efficient? The first public hearing is a quasi-judicial, and it is St. Albans Church Special Exception. This is in Commissioner Dilawri's district, and it will be presented by Annie Silloway. Thank you, sir. Good afternoon. Annie Silloway with Development Services. This application is to consider a special exception to allow the use of a civic assembly and the expansion of a private school to allow grade levels 6 through 12 in the A-1 zoning district on approximately 9.64 acres located on the north side of State Road 426, east of State Road 417. Subject property has a future land use designation of office and a zoning classification of A-1 agriculture. The property known as St. Albans Church has been operating as a civic assembly use since 1983. In 1994, a site plan was approved to add 1,400 square feet to the existing civic assembly building for educational purposes associated with the House of Worship. The church leases facilities to the Ecclesial School, a private day school currently serving approximately 190 students. The school is seeking to increase its enrollment to a maximum cap of 250 students, as established by a condition of the development order. In 2022, the Ecclesial School added six portable classrooms for kindergarten through fifth grade through student approval. The current request proposes adding three new portable classrooms for a total of nine portable classrooms on the site, as well as expanding the grade levels to include sixth through twelfth grade. The addition of grades sixth through twelfth necessitates the requirement of a special exception approval, and per the 2024 Land Development Code update, community civic assemblies require a special exception. The school operates on weekdays, Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. from August 1st to May 31st. The church has adequate parking spaces to accommodate the various uses on the property, as the parking meets the requirements by the Seminole County Land Development Code. The school's kindergarten through second grade classes are located in the existing church building, while grades three through twelfth are housed in the nine portables. The special exception review looks at whether the proposed uses fits the character of the surrounding area and meets the criteria under section 30.3.1.5a, such as functions safely within existing traffic patterns, aligns with the county's comprehensive plan, and protects the public interest. For this request, the site's transitional location along State Road 426, existing church use, and compliance with required setbacks and buffering support compatibility. Traffic impacts remain below county threshold, with added conditions such as staggered drop-off times to further reduce effects. The office future land use designation allows school uses and supports community-serving facilities along collector roads. Noise, lighting, and outdoor activity impacts are addressed through conditions that limit hours, prohibit amplified sound, and required shield lighting. Overall, the request meets the intent of the criteria by ensuring compatibility, safety, and minimal impacts on nearby residential areas. The project meets the additional use standards by ensuring the outdoor areas, traffic circulation, noise, and lighting are all designed to prevent impacts on nearby residential properties. Portable classrooms are placed away from the residential lots and closer to State Road 426, and lighting for recreational areas is prohibited to avoid glare or light spillover. Traffic circulation is designed to keep queuing on-site by entering and exiting on the subject property. Noise impacts are minimized through limited hours of operation and prohibiting outdoor amplified sound, with special events requiring permits to ensure proper coordination. All lighting will use fully shielded fixtures, and together these measures ensure the use remains compatible with the surrounding area while meeting the county's criteria for special exception. The additional zoning requirements for this site that is zoned A1 does not apply because the property is not within the rural area. The proposed expansion of grades 6 through 12 remain low intensity with a floor area ratio of approximately 0.072, which is well below the allowable maximum FAR of 0.35 for office uses. The scale of activity is consistent with surrounding office uses, and any future expansion would require a new special exception. Public services such as water, sewer, and emergency services already serve the existing church and school, and the modest increase from 190 to 250 students is not expected to impact service levels. Overall, the project satisfies the criteria by remaining low intensity, with an acceptable development limits, and adequately supported by existing public infrastructure. Special exception applies only to the existing civic assembly use and the addition of grades 6 through 12, including three new portables as shown on the approved site plan. Any expansion of the buildings will require future approval by the Board of County Commissioners, and a site plan must be approved prior to permitting. The applicant did conduct a community meeting on May 18, 2026, and the minutes have been included in your agenda package. The Planning and Zoning Commission met on October 7, 2026, and voted unanimously to recommend the Board of County Commissioners move to approve the special exception and the associated development order to allow, with conditions, the use of a civic assembly and the expansion of a private school to allow grades, grade levels 6 through 12. So staff requests the Board of County Commissioners approve the special exception and the associated development order as per the following motion as shown on the screen. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you. All right. Does the applicant hear them? Would they like to make a presentation? Yes. Can you hear me? We can. Name and address for the record. My name is Tyler Davidson. I'm with John Grande Engineering Planning as the civil engineers. We agree with Annie's presentation, and we will make sure that the project complies with Seminole County standards and the other municipalities involved. If you have any engineering-related questions, happy to answer. All right. Have a seat, and we'll call on you if needed, Commissioner Diwari. First of all, let's just double check. No public comment. Correct. No, ma'am. No public comment. I saw somebody walk in with a phone. Thank you, Madam Chair. I like this project. I think it's a good project to approve. But before I make the motion for approval, the only issue I do have when I spoke to staff about this is about the limitation on the 250 students. There are some schools we don't have it, and there are some schools we do. And I'd rather not have it, because if the buildings don't support it, then it's not going to get approved. And I'd rather not have the limitations on X amount of students. They've got to be able to fit the kids in the buildings or the children in the buildings. And I think that's the limitation. I didn't know how the rest of the board feels. I'll go with the majority. But if there's consensus, I'll make the motion to remove that portion, like we did at Trinity Prep. It's the same type of scenario here. I have a question. Question. Go ahead. To staff. Where did the 250 student count come from? That was based on their request. We always ask the increase. Every time I've done a special exception for a school, we've always kept the students. Okay. So, staff, what is your position if it was removed? Well, we always worry about the traffic queuing as far as dropping off of students. But it's based on if they can't fit the children in the buildings, they're not going to have the children there? Because I didn't know how the rest of the board felt. I'm good either way. I'm prepared to make a motion either way. I just wanted to hear it from the board and what your consensus would be before I make the motion. So, all the way in, I understand the not wanting to have something in there that we don't need to have in there. The only concern that I have about that is if we do run into issues, then we don't have the cap to fall back on. And that's the biggest challenge, I think, with any of these rulings that I would worry about is that we can't predict the future and we wouldn't have the cap to fall back on. That's fine, Madam Chair. That's why I wanted to have the discussion rather quickly. I appreciate it. Based on the satisfying and testimony and evidence received here at this hearing, I find the request to meet the identified portion of the land development code and move to approve the special exception of the associated development order as to follow with the condition stated in development order and use the civil assembly and the expansion of the private school to allow the grade levels of 6th through 12th in A1, agricultural, zoning district, on the approximately 9.64 acres located on the north side of State Road, 426 east of State Road, 416. Second. We have a first and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Hearing no opposition, it passes unanimously. Congratulations. Golf claps in the back row. Further golf claps in the back row. You can clap out loud. No, it's not Anglican to clap out loud. All right. Item 36, Chestnut Street right-of-way vacate. This will also be presented by Annie Silloway, and this is in District 5. Thank you, ma'am. Yes, this is a right-of-way vacate petition to right-of-way, vacate the right-of-way. The applicant has petitioned the county to vacate an undeveloped portion of public right-of-way known as Chestnut Street. The portion of right-of-way subject to this vacate request is located on the south side of lot 326 of the Booker subdivision and does not impact any other lot within the subdivision. The area requested for vacation is approximately 14 feet in width and 45 feet in length, totaling approximately 630 square feet. Chestnut Street has a total right-of-way width of approximately 36 feet. The portion proposed for vacation consists only of the northern 14 feet. The request is intended to resolve the encouragement of an existing single-family residence into the Chestnut Street right-of-way. The home was constructed in 1960 prior to the establishment of the zoning regulations. Staff does not recommend vacating the full northern 18 feet of the 36-foot right-of-way. Instead, staff supports vacating only the 14 feet necessary to eliminate the encroachment. If the request to vacate 14 feet of the right-of-way is approved, the structure would no longer be encroaching within the right-of-way. However, the structure will still be non-conforming to the required 20-foot rear yard setback, but per policy, FLU 5.5.4, it does provide flexibility for legal lots of record in designated low-to-moderate income target areas, allowing home renovations and replacement dwellings without setback variances. The subject parcel is a lot of record and is not required to obtain a variance. The applicant has obtained letters of no objection from all applicable utility providers, and Public Works has no objections to the requested right-of-way vacation. The request satisfies the requirements of Section 35.184 of the Seminole County Land Development Code and Sections 336.09 and 336.10 of the Florida State Statutes. The proposed vacation will not affect access to the surrounding properties or create any landlocked parcels. So staff requests the Board of County Commissioners adopt the resolution as per the following motion shown on the screen, and that concludes my presentation. Thank you. Thank you. Is the applicant here? Yes. Would the applicant like to speak? No. That was an emphatic no from the back of the room. Commissioner Zimbawa? Thank you. On a question for staff. Sure. This is an 18-foot parcel, and we're talking about 14 feet. It's 18 width. I'm sorry. How about, Annie, you answer the question? Yeah, you answer. I'm sorry. No, you're fine. That's okay. The total width is 36 feet. Half of that right-of-way is 18 feet. Public Works is only allowing the 14 feet of the 18-foot. Thank you for the clarification. You're welcome. Yes, sir. Commissioner Lockhart. So that was a new question for me as well, and I'm going to dig a little deeper into that if I can. Sure. But something else that I mentioned when I was doing my briefing with Mr. Rhodes, it appears that there might be some other homes in that area that could also benefit from vacation, and maybe there could be some consideration to do it just one fell swoop so that each individual parcel doesn't have to come forward and make an application based on the aerials that I saw. Okay. It's just a thought for the district commissioner to consider. For future vacations, do those in one fell swoop, move this one forward as we speak today? Yes. I do think that's a fair observation, and I don't suspect that's the only street. Agreed. Would you mind going back to the aerial? Yes, ma'am. Okay. So Chestnut Street right-of-way is 36 feet. Total. Yes, ma'am. The shaded area is clearly more than half of 36 feet. No. Did you want to? So the total right-of-way is 36 feet in width. Half of that 36 feet is 18 feet. We're only vacating 14 feet of the 18-foot half right-of-way. So the shaded area is not a true representation of the actual vacation? It is, but the line is the midline of the street. Yes, ma'am. The line that is just above the word Chestnut Street is the half. Is the midline of the street. Yes. Because we didn't want to show the whole right-of-way. That makes more sense. Right? That's why it wasn't making sense to me. The math wasn't mapping based on... We're missing the other half. Yeah, where's the other half? Yeah, it's a little confusing. If you look on the survey that was provided by the applicant, they show it, they reference it as 36 feet platted right-of-way, but they don't necessarily show the other side of it, the south side, because that's not, you know, included. But really, you know, they probably should have showed it to make it right there. Okay. Thank you, because I was... The mental gymnastics were going, so I appreciate that. You're welcome. Commissioners, if there... Oh, Commissioner Zendler. While we're on this topic, and I asked Mr. Rhodes about this, and I'll support this 100%, no problem, but, and I brought this up previously about us abandoning these right-of-ways to parcel owners, and I understand the benefit of the property owner now having a possession, and they would take care of it and so forth and putting it on the tax rolls, but in light of the flooding and drainage problems that we continue to have, can we agree to look at something in the way of a deed restriction when we sign these over that nothing will be built upon those abandoned areas? I mean, most of these are, like, 10-foot, 12-foot at the back of the log, the side of the lot. I would like us to at least consider looking at that and having a discussion. That ship has sailed for this particular parcel. No, understood. That's what I'm saying. Not on this one. Want to get that out on the record? Okay. If I can just interject, typically we put drainage easements over these rights-of-ways, and as part of that drainage easement, you can't put any structures within the drainage easement that may prohibit flow within that easement. So, you know, the issue comes, we're not going to let a shed or a structure be put in it. The issue comes with fencing, but if the fencing's, you know, chain link and water can flow between it, that may be acceptable as far as the structure goes. So we already have, I would suggest more, you know, legally I think the best way to get there, if you were to move forward with this, which we typically already do, is to make sure the drainage easement that we put over the vacated area has language in it that prohibits any structures being built that would impede the flow of drainage. For this case, you have a house that's already built in the 1960s, so kind of the ship has sailed on that. But for other cases, we can definitely have public works look at that, and legal can put some language in the drainage easement to address that. And I think it needs to become part of the presentation that happens at the dais. Agreed. Okay, thank you, that's all I have. All right, with that, I am prepared to move forward to adopt the resolution vacating and abandoning 14 feet of an undeveloped public right-of-way known as Chestnut Street in the Bookertown subdivision, recorded in Platte Book 04, pages 97 through 98, of the public records of Seminole County, Florida, for property more particularly known as 4515 Isaac Lane, Sanford. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Passes unanimously. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for the presentation. And I'm going to assume there was no public comment on that as well, since I keep asking this question. County Attorney. Thank you, Chairman. I have no report today. County Manager. It's just a couple items, Chairman and Commissioners. First, good news item. We were awarded, Seminole County was awarded $7.5 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. This will go towards our signals on 419. So there is a match to that that we're working out, but more information to come. So we finally got one. We've been working on these for a while. So we were just notified with that. Also, in case if you all didn't know, but Amendment 3 passed last week. So just to let you know what I am doing now and the team is doing, and I know we have done a lot of work over the last couple months preparing, if this would pass or not, that I am putting together a budget framework for the board, and actually in phases, and we've already completed our first phase, which was a couple months ago, working with the department. So I would like to present that to you at the next board meeting in December. I know that you're getting asked a lot of questions. I'm getting asked a lot of questions. I think this is just going to be a thoughtful, strategic discussion over the next couple months on how we implement Amendment 3. So I put together a draft of that. I will send that to you prior to the next meeting. So if you have any comments on it or a few tweaks on it, but I'll be more than happy to present that at the next meeting. Commissioner Delari. Thank you. So you're going to be presenting the plan to us so we can actually make a comment on it. So it's going to be your recommendation. Correct. Okay. I've got to make sure. Yes, and I'll send this to you way ahead of time so you can look at it. Appreciate it. Thank you. And I think the plan builds upon the plan that we did during the last session, the last budgeting process. Yes. Commissioner Zimbauer. Thank you very much. Is it possible, as you and your staff go through this, that you can do two things. Give us an impact statement on each to the citizens of our county, the good, the bad, and the ugly, so that we're able to maybe properly rank them, if you will, as we have that discussion as a board, what most impacts and least impacts our citizenry, as well as what's statutorily required that we have to provide. Correct. I think it would be helpful that we know that going into that session, so I appreciate it. Will do. All right. Anything else? That's it. Thank you. I have one more question for the county manager. I know you gave us an update via email about the mosquito prevention, but can you let the public know what's actually happening with the mosquito prevention? Mosquito prevention. Yes. Spraying. Yes. Can you just let us know what's happening? Can you let the public know? Yeah. We did that update at the last meeting. Do you want me? I can have... Because I know things have changed over the last two weeks. Yes. We're still out there spraying. We still have the education materials out there that we have put out through not only our newsletter, but it's on our website as well. Because there's been some new cases identified. Yes. And I don't know how many new cases have been identified. I can have... If you want, I can have Ms. Orenberg or... Oh, there's Shannon. I can have her give an update real quick. That would be great. I know my district has seen an increase in spraying. I mean, that's all good. I just want to make sure the public is aware of what's happening. No, that's fine. Hi, Shannon Wetzel, Watershed Management Division. Quick update. We still have two confirmed locally acquired DEGIE cases that DOH, Department of Health, has identified. We are treating several suspect cases, but we have not had any of those convert to confirmed cases, which, as I've explained before, mosquito control doesn't really care if it's suspect or confirmed. We respond as soon as Department of Health gives us a call that they have a suspect case. So we have five, I believe, active disease vectors that are suspect that we're treating right now. But yes, we have seen increased activity with our surveillance traps. Yes, we are monitoring the flooding conditions over on the east side of the county because once those floodwaters recede, they leave pockets of water that are ideal for breeding mosquitoes. And so we're monitoring that. Is that addressing? Mm-hmm. All right, thank you. Thank you for jumping up. All right, anything else, County Manager? That's it, thank you. Anything else for the County Manager? All right, Commissioner Zimbauer, District 2. Thank you. As I mentioned earlier, the EMU is on the loose. Be aware as you're driving through District 2 out in the Geneva area along Osceola Road, along Wakasa, last seen fleeing one neighbor's property going to another. You can't make it up to my district. Commissioner Constantine, happy belated birthday. Your birthday was last week. Happy birthday. I attended the investor of a new judge here at Seminole County, Honorable Brianna Bynum, this past week. Very lovely event for a new judge coming on board. Also, I took a trip down to Florida, Florida. And of those who don't know where Florida, Florida is, that is in Highlands County on Lake Iztapoga. And I went down there to see a state of Florida project that a contractor is pulling sludge out of the lake and by doing so is removing the nutrients from the lake. And the nutrients are being removed by transferring that sludge to the farmer's fields that are close by. And the hay is pulling the nutrients out of the sludge and is then sold for cattle, hay, and silage. Very neat. I'm working with a private entity to hopefully be able to bring this to Lake Jessup and we can impact that. So I'll be working and communicating with my fellow commissioners as we move along and county staff and St. John's Water Management and so forth on how we can make this happen. But it's really a cool concept that's already been proven out, approved by FDEP, EPA, FWC. Pretty neat stuff that's happening with no chemicals and no byproducts. I met with a group of residents while we were down there who live on the lake that have nothing but great things to say. The fish and wildlife have begun to come back in the lake and a great deal of sludge has been removed along with those nutrients. So good news on that front. Mr. Zimbauer, did you mention the funding source? I cannot, but it's a private entity that we're working on who does these type of cleanups for social benefits. Great. Bring it. Not taxpayer dollars. Not taxpayer dollars. And that would be the win-win if we can get it finalized. So as it moves along, I'll bring that to you all so everybody's aware. Also, as everybody knows, it was mentioned here, the flooding that's going on, which is severely impacting my district on the east side as the Lake Harney area and Mullet Lake continue to rise along there. I was out driving in the district yesterday. Wickham Road, as of yesterday, was not completely underwater, but the intersection of Lake Harney Road and Wickham was underwater. That is going to increase if the National Weather Service forecasts are correct. This is going to be a much slower event than we've typically seen, I guess, and all the way into perhaps the first week of December. So it's going to be a prolonged event. I would tell you that when I did make my trip down to Florida, Florida, it was the day after all the flooding had occurred, and I was shocked how much water was in Brevard, Indian River, Manatee, DeSoto, Okeechobee. I cannot tell you how many ranches I went by down there that the cattle were up to their necks and chests deep in water, and the ranchers were beginning to evacuate them, and many roads were covered with water. But living here in Florida my entire life, I've never seen flooding so widespread as what happened down there. So a lot of that water eventually will come here, as we know, and Aster being the bottleneck north of us is already seeing problems. So as it begins to back up and it comes in, I would just ask our residents to pay attention to our emergency operations center and all the stuff we put out to make sure that you're aware of when you need to go and when you can stay. And finally, today is National Civic Pride Day. Thank you, Madam Chair. That's all I have. District 3, Commissioner Constantine. Thank you. Yesterday, the Central Florida Zoo honored our long-term, long-time support. Commissioner DeLore and I were there, as well as a number of folks from our staff, and they just wanted to thank us for all the hard work and effort, put a sign up recognizing that. And I used that occasion to say that on the 13th, on Friday, the Asian Lantern Festival will begin. Again, on the 11th, tomorrow through the 13th, there is the 2026 Barta Automated Vehicles Summit at the Grand Cypress. Many of the Jetson vehicles will be there if you want to jet test. But I'm planning on going down there. It's just going to be a very interesting occasion. I was there a couple of years ago, and incredible technology. And, you know, every year it seems to jump three or four times, that type of situation. Again, tomorrow, both, if not others, I'm sorry I didn't, but both Altamont and Sanford will do Veterans Day ceremonies. And thank you again, veterans, for all your service. And the last thing I want to say is I have two fellow members, if not more, that are here today that are November birthday folks. One is Naysa, which her birthday was yesterday, and Tricia, whose birthday is on the 13th. Happy birthday, ladies. I will also say that Alan's birthday is tomorrow, and Allison's birthday is Thursday. See, a lot of good November people around. And that concludes your report? Yes. All right. Commissioner DeLaurin. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll be as quick as well. I do want to thank the zoo for acknowledging not just this board for supporting the zoo, but all our county staff members. That's one of the reasons why the staff was there, both from emergency management, public works, flood control, mosquito control, public. I mean, it just, the list goes on and on and on and on. I just want to make sure, as Commissioner Constantine said, the zoo wants to say thank you to the entire staff, as well as the Board of County Commissioners. So just make sure you're aware of that. And also, I did talk to public works. There seems to be a traffic light issue on Redbug and Slavia. The yellow light is either out or the shade on the yellow light is missing, and it's actually caused one accident so far. So please be careful when you drive through it. Hopefully, we'll get it fixed soon, if not sooner. The attorney wishes you really hadn't said that, by the way. I'm okay with it. Pass him a note. She's okay with that. She may not be, but. And then there's that. And then there's that. I'm okay. We have enough lawsuits. What's one more? What's one more? End of my report. Thank you. End of your report. All right. Commissioner Lockhart. Let's get it fixed. Oh, gosh. Fabulous. You all were there for the Rosenwald groundbreaking. Good job. This last month. Amazing. Wonderful. I mentioned in my comments, and I will continue to believe forever, that this is a team sport. And there is no way that we would be where we are with that project and so many other things without this entire team. And I know that the community is very excited to see what's coming. It's just a great event. Well done. First class to everyone who pulled that together. The Emerald Awards, the Salute to Black Excellence at Northland Church, was held this last week as well. Shout out to the entire group. That event supports the nonprofit Breaking Bread and Beyond. And thank you to everyone who supported that. And I have no reports for Lynx or SunRail or the medical examiner today. I know you all are very sad about that. Yes, we are. Yeah. But I do just want to say thank you to everyone. I am proud of absolutely everything we have done together. I'm proud of this team. I'm going to miss you all terribly. But I am confident that this is an incredible team of people who, no matter what it is that we have facing this community, you are equipped very, very well to manage it. And I know everything that you do, even the hard decisions, will be coming from the very best place for everyone. So thank you all. Thank you. For my report, I'm skipping the entire report. I have a proclamation to read. But before we do that, I think we have a video to tee up. It's not long. So I know you're probably going to be right. Not very large. Oh, there it goes. As a county commissioner, I want people to know that I'm accessible to them and I'll be their advocate. Quite honestly, I've made the decision. Some people thought I was crazy. Super excited to officially cut the ribbon on this project today. Has forbidden his governors to pass laws. Am I going that way? Yes. Okay. Right? No. That way. The fact that it looks like I couldn't get my foot in the shovel. The amount of work we've been able to accomplish with a penny. Well, what is that? Oh, dear God. Should I give it to Lee? What are we doing? And we take very seriously the responsibility of prioritizing projects. Stay. All right. I heard Jay's coming, so I promise not to bring you to dinner. All right. Come on, girls. Let's go. Come on. We've got to go. We've got to go. Sweet. Courtesy of Tricia. So we're going to do this official business and then move on to our own individual comments. Commissioners, I move the following resolution of the Seminole County Board of Commissioners honoring and recognizing the distinguished public service of Commissioner Amy Lockhart. Whereas, Amy Lockhart has devoted more than two decades to the residents of Seminole County through a distinguished career in public office, civic engagement, and community leadership. And whereas, Amy Lockhart began her career in local government in 2004 with the Seminole County Board of Commissioners working in the District 5 Commission office, where she gained valuable experience in county government and developed a strong foundation in constituent relations and community advocacy. And potentially a few other things. And whereas, from 2012 to 2018, board member Lockhart served on the Seminole County School Board, including two years as vice chair, two years as chair, helping shape educational policies and initiatives benefiting the students, families, and educators of Seminole County. And whereas, Amy Lockhart further advanced educational opportunities and workforce development through her tenure on the Seminole State College Board of Trustees, beginning with her appointment by Governor Rick Scott in 2014 and subsequent reappointments in 2018 and 2022. And whereas, during her tenure as a trustee, Amy Lockhart held prominent leadership positions, including vice chair, chair, championing academic excellence, career readiness, and pathways to student success, and pathways to student success, and earning statewide recognition as the 2022 Trustee of the Year by the Association of Florida Colleges. And whereas, Amy Lockhart was first elected to the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners in November 2018, representing District 4, and was re-elected in 2022, spending eight years helping shape the county's future while navigating the opportunities and challenges of a growing community. And whereas, during her tenure on the board, Commissioner Lockhart served as chairman in 2023 and vice chairman in 2026, fostering collaboration among her fellow commissioners, county staff, community organizations, and regional partners to address local priorities and promote the continued success of Seminole County. And whereas, Commissioner Lockhart's influence extended beyond county boundaries through her participation in numerous regional and statewide organizations, including the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, the District 24 Medical Examiner Examiner Advisory Committee, and the Florida Association of Counties, where she advocated for regional partnerships, transportation solutions, and strong local governance. Whereas, Commissioner Lockhart pursued continued professional development in county governance, earning a certified county commissioner designation in 2021, and the advanced certified county commissioner designation in 2023 through the Florida Association of Counties Institute for County Government, reflecting her dedication to informed and effective leadership. And whereas, throughout her career, Commissioner Lockhart has been recognized for her thoughtful and deeply engaged approach to governance, genuine connection with the community, and willingness to championing and willingness to champion issues important to Seminole County residents and businesses, earning the respect of colleagues, community, partners, and residents alike. And whereas, the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners wishes to formally recognize Amy Lockhart's remarkable engagement, professionalism, and commitment to our community, and express its sincere appreciation for her many contributions to the county and to the people she has proudly represented. Now, therefore, be it resolved that Seminole County Board of County Commissioners hereby honors Commissioner Lockhart for her more than 20 years of distinguished public service, exemplary leadership, and meaningful contributions to Seminole County, and extends its heartfelt gratitude for her dedication to the community, her many accomplishments, and the enduring legacy she leaves for the residents and the future generations of Seminole County. Be it further resolved that Seminole County Board of County Commissioners wishes Commissioner Amy Lockhart continue success in all future endeavors, and expresses its sincere appreciation to her family for sharing her talent for the benefit of Seminole County residents. Second. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Did you vote? Should I? It feels weird. Aye. Aye. Motion passes you now. I feel like we should tee up the music for You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me, Lucia. I thought about it, and then I thought the better of it. I do believe we have a few public comments. One for this item. Chairman, Pastor Jay Blackshear. How many minutes do I have? Take as long as you want. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. Chairman, Commissioner Lockhart is, I see it says Seminole County, Florida's natural choice. I could say that Commissioner Lockhart is Seminole County's best choice. And I'm not going to cry. I don't know what happened just then. That's what I thought. Coming from Orlando being born and raised, Seminole County being my second home, getting involved, a group of pastors reached out to the county commissioner. We didn't know who it was in 2018. That's how long it had been since that community felt connected to their elected official. We had to find out, I mean, literally what district we're in and who's in charge of it. We invited Commissioner Lockhart to a meeting of pastors and expressed some grievances that we had. From that meeting until the Rosenwald groundbreaking, no one has fought harder for South Seminole, East Altamont, other than Amy Lockhart. I am a lifelong Democrat. And I voted for a Republican the first time in my life for Amy Lockhart. And I'd do it again tomorrow or in four years. My point is, she has fought for us. And I'm not talking about easy fights. It is not lost on us that this community building that we're talking about is the first of its kind in Seminole County ever. And I'm sure, with Amendment 3 looming and other things, that $14 million could have went somewhere else. I'm almost positive. We've got to catch whatever that is that's running loose in District 2. It could have been. With every setback, with every opposition, with every misunderstanding, she showed up smiling, she showed up working, and it has been an honor to work with you in that community. I'm not going to miss you because I may change my religion. I may join your church. It seems like a good one. But I just wanted to personally thank you. The president of South Seminole Community Association for Progress is here, dressed much better than me, by the way, the Reverend David Ferguson. And we'd like to present this card and these flowers to you and say thank you. We wish you well. And you will always be in our prayers. Thank you. May I approach? You have to take a picture. I have a couple of Thesis here. Anyone who can deal with Thesis deserves everything that you've got. Well, Thesis and I went on a field trip. We did. We had fun. I know all about this. Yes, she goes. That's the last of our public comment forms. We have two non-agenda. Non-agenda. We're going to hold those until the end. I realize. So my one mission today was to make it through the entire meeting without skipping any public comments before she left. Because I can hear the sigh when I skip one. And she does it subtly now for me, but I can feel it. And I missed the last one because I was all nerved up about the proclamation. Commissioner Constantine, would you like to say anything? I think we all would like to say something. And since I'm first, I hope I'll speak briefly because I think we could all go on for a long time. But Commissioner Lockhart, Amy, you and I have spent a lot of time together over the last number of years at the Florida Association of Counties and, of course, on this board. And we've grown not only to be fond of each other, but also to respect one another. And it's, you know, one thing somebody told me a long time ago when it comes to elections, sometimes it's the circumstances and not the person. And you have served this community well as an assistant to your county commissioner and as a staff member. I remember when you did the 100th anniversary of this city, you were in charge of that. Then, of course, in our wonderful, wonderful school system and how you've done such a tremendous job in that. And now the eight years you've served here at the county commission. And I won't, I will miss you on this board. I will not miss you because I'm sure I will see you at Publix or some other place. But it's, it's been a pleasure and an honor. Thank you. It'll be tough. Amy, you and I started this journey together in 2018. And we came onto this board with pretty similar thought patterns, pretty similar observations, although we approached it from maybe different angles. And I would say that Amy is very passionate in her beliefs, very passionate on protecting the taxpayer. And it's been a pleasure of my lifetime as elected official to serve with you. And, you know, you and I have danced the dance many times on this dais and didn't hate each other because we're both passionate in our beliefs and what we think is right. And ultimately, the benefit of this board has been, even though we have different approaches, we always seem to land in the right spot. And we respect each other's opinions and we respect how passionate we are in understanding that one's district maybe is a little different than others. And what we can do in my district for help amongst my colleagues and I can help them and their districts and so forth to get initiatives passed. Rosenwald was one that I always supported. And I applaud you for taking that on and the great work that you did for the community over there because my business is in that community. And I've forever known that that community has been neglected and ignored for many, many decades. And you were the one to bring that over the line. But it was not lost on me as the chairman, Amy's character and her passion for the public and the public service. When there were very difficult regional boards that had to have a strong voice on it to protect our dollars here in Seminole County, I chose you for some of those. And for that reason, I knew that you would go in fighting, you would be respectful, and you would get results. And I think we see that. So thank you very much. You're going to be best. Commissioner Gillard? Where did we start? 2003. Actually, 2003 is when you and I first met, believe it or not. Yeah. More than a moment ago. And we met on the campaign trail. There's many situations that I could spend literally a lifetime talking about relating to you and me and all the different issues. What I loved about you and I still love about you is not just your passion, but the way you approach issues. It's unique, but it's also with compassion. It's also, I'm being serious, compassion. Because unique could go either way, Bob. It could, but I'll give you a good example. So in other words, you know, Jay just talked about how, you know, you went to Medical Examiner or to Lynx or to Sunrail and you fought. I don't see you fighting. I see you passionate, sticking by what you believe was your true convictions. To me, that's not fighting. To me, that is standing up for this community or this county to make sure that people are doing what's right. And there's many a times, even though we may disagree or you and I may disagree, you truly took it from what you believe is right because we both, as well as we all do, have that same end goal in mind. I remember when you approached me, you know, talking about running for school board. I mean, you truly had a passion for it. And it's not just sitting on the school board. It's representing the children and the families and the parents and the community. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. Most people sometimes don't see that because they see, as Jay was just discussing, you know, the fighter. You're not a fighter. You're passionate about the issues. Some people misinterpret that. Some people don't sometimes see it where you're trying to be the voice of someone that can't speak. I mean, the people that just gave you the flowers today from East Altamont, they needed a voice. You were that voice. The Rosenwald School and that community, East Altamont, you were that voice. Same thing with Midway area. There's so many times that, you know, we discuss things and right, wrong, or indifferent, you're trying to be that voice of that community. Same thing with the drainage issues in the Lake Mary about the MSBU with the lakes. You were that voice. There's a lot of passion. I'm curious to see what you're going to be doing next because I know that with your passion and your desire, there's a next chapter here. I don't know what it is. I can't wait to hear about it. I'm not saying goodbye because our friendship will continue, and I truly, truly will miss you. You know, but I miss you on the dais, not as a friend, and I know that I can't wait to see what's in store for this community with you because I know that you're going to be turning that chapter, and it's all about the community with you. I mean, you were talking about backyard chickens. I mean, I remember when you first brought that up. I'm like, what in the world is she talking about? I had no idea. But yet, that's the passion that you have. I mean, I love you for it. I really do. So there's so many things that I've learned from you over the time together. There's a few that I haven't, and I do wish you would be here longer so that I could master it. Things like the ability to say no with a smile is just so convincing, and people don't really realize that she's cutting their knees out from under them because she's smiling, and I don't have that skill. You guys think I'm angry when I'm not even angry, so that's just a whole different thing. So I will always be trying to aspire to that. Your attention to detail. It is not a skill I will ever have. We laugh about this. We've laughed about this together where it's like, she would say to me, how did you miss that? And I would say, how in the hell did you see that? Why were you looking there? And how deep did you dive? And I do better at 100,000 feet, and Amy does well at 100,000 feet, and at the level of detail that is beyond all of our abilities, quite frankly, and we're going to miss it to a very large degree. There's about 1,000 other things that I haven't learned yet, but I'll continue to learn from you. I think your next adventure is going to be Grand Pooh Bear, right? Since for the mom, our kids are about the same age, so you remember the Grand Adventure. All of our kids watch that CD 7,000 times. And it will be to the benefit of this community in one way or another, but most of all, I hope it's to the benefit of you. Thank you. All right. Do I get to say something? Yes, you do. Sorry. Are you finished? I am. Well, I want to thank you, Commissioner Lockhart, Amy, because you were the chair on this commission and had this board. I didn't say have this board, but you all approved to hire me four years ago, so no, I thank you for that. But the process that you put together, I actually do for Kate as well, but the process that you put together for me to get introduced to this community was amazing. So I thank you. First, I was like, you mean I have to interview for this job? You just don't want me? And no, I wasn't joking, but you know what I mean. But it was, first of all, three days of interviews, but it was amazing. It was an amazing process because you did it for a reason, to ensure that both of our sides, you know, really wanted to take that commitment and to make this work. So I thank you. But on behalf of all of our directors and our team and our staff, everyone here, it has, and I told you this earlier, it is an honor and a privilege to work with you. I have, I told Amy that, or Commissioner Lockhart, that she is my historian for the county. I mean, if I need to know anything, she's the first call I make or she tells me why something was, something was done. Sometimes she's the first call to you. Yes, she will tell me. We also have a nickname for you around the office of Nancy Drew because she will investigate anything. And it is amazing, and I say that in a very good way. Tricia and I talk about this a lot. You're terribly going to be missed. But what's exciting is, and what you said last week at your watch party, that you're not leaving. You're still part of this community. You're going to be a part of it. You're going to hear from us, which is exciting, and we're glad that you are and that you're staying here. But most of all, what's exciting is what you're next, what the future holds for you. And it's going to be bright, and it's exciting for us to sit and watch because we know that you're going to do amazing things. And you have a cheerleading group right here for you. So it's been an honor to serve with you this past four years. Thank you. Commissioner Lockhart, like Darren, I am so honored that you trusted me as part of the board to lead the county attorney's office. And I will always remember the five of you and you especially for that. I knew when I interviewed with you that you had done your research, and you had researched me. You knew a lot about me when I came in here. And I've just so enjoyed working with you over the past few years. I've learned a tremendous deal from you. I've been representing different local government entities for almost 25 years. So I've had a lot of elected officials that I've been working with. And you are by far one of the most keen, most poised, most articulate elected officials that I've had the honor to work with. And I consider you a friend. Thank you. Can I say something? You can, and then I have the next steps. Go for it. Well, I want to thank you all for your kind words. Unbelievable. Blown away. One of the things that I said was, please don't make a big deal of this. So I don't know what's next either, but that's kind of exciting. And I do firmly believe that God is ultimately in control of everything that we do and everything that happens. And it was just not his will for me to continue on in this particular role at this time. And that doesn't mean that I'm not supposed to be doing something else in this community. So look out. Don't know what that will be. But I do know for the next couple of months, I am going to be spending a lot of time with my family. People don't realize the strain that is put on the families of elected officials. We endure a lot, and we have some pretty thick skin. You have to. But when we sign up to put our name on the ballot, our family is not necessarily, especially our children. I think I asked him what he thought when I ran for office. Lynn Talkhart is here, by the way. And Jake Lockhart, who has managed to avoid this building for the majority of his life. Karis is, you know, well-known, always out and about. But there's this, like, there's this other, there's a boy, isn't there? And, you know, you miss things for your family because you made a decision to serve your community. And I will never forget when I was on the school board. I don't remember which year it was. Jake was playing Sanford Babe Ruth. I don't remember if he was maybe in fifth or sixth grade. And he was, it was one night. It was a, it was a final, it was a game. It was, they were in playoffs. And he was pitching. And I wanted to be there so badly to watch him pitch. But I had a school board meeting. And so you choose the children, the 66,000 children of Seminole County Public Schools because that's the commitment that you made. And you miss getting to be there to support your own child. And I would just pray that the citizens of this community, while we all don't ever make the decisions all the time that everybody agrees with or appreciates, I would just ask for this board and all of the other boards that people realize that there is a sacrifice that's made. Not just us. If you want to be mad at us, that's fine. But, but our families really do take a toll. So think about that, if you would, for future. I just love you all so much. It's been an amazing, amazing ride. And I'm, and I'm not going away. So we'll see. Stay tuned. I think Jake turned out okay. He's covering his face back there. And we are a little concerned about Lim Tokart and whatever next three minutes he may do for us. Although he has an eternal fan in my household that literally asks me every time I come home if he came to talk for three minutes. I'm going to propose that we get your big proclamation and we all go down to the floor for one picture. And then I'm going to propose to the photographer that you come up here and we take a picture of the full audience. We'll all get in the middle and you can see. Every now and then. Every now and then. Well, this was not. So we have two more public comments on items that are not on the agenda. Oh, not these poor people. What are they doing? Yes. First is Elizabeth Tracy and then Mr. Bill Hyde. Is Elizabeth Tracy here? Oh, thank you. Elizabeth Tracy, 1752, Willis Circle, Winter Park. My issues about the water department. Seminole County residents now have no physical way to interface with our water utility provider. They state they have permanently closed their office and discontinued all in-person interactions to include resolutions of banking specifics of customers. All matters are now to be handled digitally in a sunshine record state. Personal account security is impossible to maintain under the new format during efforts to resolve payment-related issues. Our current choices are a recorded phone line, a non-functioning website that traps users in constant CAPTCHA games without login resolution, insecure email submission of secure account details, or images and screenshots being sent insecurely to us by email from water department employees. There must be a way to physically, non-digitally interact with our water utility provider, especially during banking, legal, service, and technical life transitions. The situation we just encountered was a simple human error. A bank employee miscoded an account transfer that resulted in automated billing processing errors. But then the bank switched over to AI-agentic services later the same week the error was made. And Seminole County Water then closed its office and became all digital, leaving us in a digital vacuum, accruing $30 fees every two weeks, despite the Seminole County Water Department having received payment in the interim and October news coverage of cyber attacks on this department in the midst of all these new security holes being created. So I have to create all the accounts. The October cyber breaches further demonstrate this department's unreadiness to become a wholly digital organization. There remains no resolution to this simple matter over six weeks later. The manager will not return my call. The department does not seem to understand that it is their lack of an office that caused the holdup, resolving what ought to have been a simple five-minute issue over six weeks ago. How many other residents will end up locked in similar digital confusions between institutions or exposed to account privacy violations going forward due to state records laws with our now all-digital County Water Department? How can physical utility exist without even one physical office? Lord willing, it is our request that our water department be given modified, weekly, in-person business hours within an existing county building and a functioning drop box so that no other resident has to end up caught in a seemingly endless situation like the one we've been dealing with these past two months. Thank you for your time. Ma'am, could you just clarify who your water utility provider is? Seminole County Water. And so I see a lot of confused faces up here. I'm going to ask the county manager to speak to you before you leave, if that's okay. I know you've endured a very long meeting. It's fine. It was wonderful. And it's just corruption in the government that people are upset about. That's why they voted like they did, but they voted for Amendment 3. Okay, ma'am, you're turning us over. Have a seat. Have a seat. And we are going to help you as long as you help yourself here. Matt, I'm the chair. Yes. I have a question for the county manager. I heard something about a cyber attack to the website. Not with us. Yeah, as you know that is. I'm not aware of that. Is that something that occurred? No. To the water? Not with the Seminole County Board of County Commissioner's side. As you know, we have the clerk of court. I know the clerks have a cyber attack. And actually, I'm going to have Mr. Edwards meet her, if she don't mind. And I'll go and meet with them afterwards, too, because this is news to me. We do have customer service. Right. And we have – I know we're switching over our system there, but our staff is always there to answer any questions and to help our customers and our residents. So we'll get to the bottom of it. Commissioner DeLaurie. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Can you also give us a briefing individually offline so each one of us can understand exactly what took place? Of course. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, we may need to bring this back to the next meeting as well. That's fine. Mr. Hyde, we would love for you to end this on a wonderful note. I can't hear it back there. Only on the speakers. Oh, can you hear me now? She said we don't want to hear from you today, Mr. Hyde. I did not say that. Now, how come you heard that? I said we would love for you to wrap this in a wonderful way. Yeah, my name is Bill Hyde. I live at 2379 Audley Street in Oviedo. I'm not going to take up a whole lot of your time because I only got three minutes. I was already up here yammering about taxes today, and that's where I'm going to go right now. It used to annoy the bejesus out of me when I would be going around town and I would see empty buses driving all over the place. And I kept thinking, what a terrible, terrible waste of money that was. And then scout program came along, and this commission jumped on the opportunity to at least try to save some money and improve service. And who championed that? Amy. Amy. Amy was out there, you know, giving instructions in the parking lots, and one of the things that came up from my perspective was veterans. You all may not know it, but VSO now has a mechanism where it can use scout for veterans who cannot get back and forth to their meetings and stuff like that. And that's a great, great thing. What really highlighted it was our veterans had some difficulties understanding how scout worked. So who comes out themselves, Amy Lockhart comes out to our American Legion post and basically gives an entire scout presentation teaching these veterans how they can better use the scout program to get around. As veterans, I thank you. As a taxpayer trying to save our tax dollars, we appreciate specifically what you've done for that. And one more thing that's also personal is Seminole State College. I don't think we've heard enough about Seminole State College and the leadership that Amy Lockhart has given us. Once upon a time, I was an old sailor coming home, and I didn't really have a skill that would translate into being home all the time. I found Seminole State. Seminole State gave me an IT education, Cisco network and stuff. And Amy Lockhart and I have talked about this, is how important it is not just to have a big, fancy master's program, but how important it is to have a program at a local level where people can actually get an education that translates immediately into a job. I was able to go from a guy who knew how to tie knots and chip paint to an IT guy, and I finished out my working career in an air-conditioned office. And leadership of Seminole State College and a board of trustee member, Amy Lockhart, was a large part of that. So I want to thank you, and I probably won't see you at Publix again, so you won't have to listen to me anymore. Thank you for that. Ladies and gentlemen, meeting adjourned, except for one last standing O. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.