BCC Minutes 04/28/2015 R BCC
REGULAR
MEETING
MINUTES
April 28, 2015
April 28, 2015
TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Naples, Florida, April 28, 2015
LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County
Commissioners, in and for the County of Collier, and also acting as the
Board of Zoning Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such special
districts as have been created according to law and having conducted
business herein, met on this date at 9:00 a.m., in REGULAR SESSION
in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida,
with the following members present:
CHAIRMAN: Tim Nance
Donna Fiala
Penny Taylor
Georgia Hiller
Tom Henning
ALSO PRESENT:
Leo Ochs, County Manager
Nick Casalanguida, Deputy County Manager
Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney
Crystal Kinzel, Office of the Clerk of Courts
Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations
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COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Community Redevelopment Agency Board (CRAB)
Airport Authority
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AGENDA
Board of County Commission Chambers
Collier County Government Center
3299 Tamiami Trail East, 3rd Floor
Naples FL 34112
April 28, 2015
9:00 AM
Commissioner Tim Nance, District 5 — BCC Chair
Commissioner Donna Fiala, District 1 — BCC Vice-Chair; CRA Chair
Commissioner Georgia Hiller, District 2 — Community & Economic Dev. Chair
Commissioner Tom Henning, District 3 — PSCC Chair
Commissioner Penny Taylor, District 4 — TDC Chair; CRA Vice-Chair
NOTICE: ALL PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK ON AGENDA ITEMS MUST
REGISTER PRIOR TO PRESENTATION OF THE AGENDA ITEM TO BE
ADDRESSED. ALL REGISTERED SPEAKERS WILL RECEIVE UP TO THREE
(3) MINUTES UNLESS THE TIME IS ADJUSTED BY THE CHAIRMAN.
COLLIER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 2003-53 AS AMENDED BY
ORDINANCE 2004-05 AND 2007-24, REQUIRES THAT ALL LOBBYISTS
SHALL, BEFORE ENGAGING IN ANY LOBBYING ACTIVITIES
(INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ADDRESSING THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS), REGISTER WITH THE CLERK TO THE
BOARD AT THE BOARD MINUTES AND RECORDS DEPARTMENT.
REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON SUBJECTS WHICH ARE NOT ON
THIS AGENDA MUST BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING WITH EXPLANATION
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April 28, 2015
TO THE COUNTY MANAGER AT LEAST 13 DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE OF
THE MEETING AND WILL BE HEARD UNDER "PUBLIC PETITIONS."
PUBLIC PETITIONS ARE LIMITED TO THE PRESENTER, WITH A
MAXIMUM TIME OF TEN MINUTES.
ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THIS BOARD
WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDING PERTAINING THERETO,
AND THEREFORE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD
OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE
TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED.
IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY WHO NEEDS ANY
ACCOMMODATION IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCEEDING,
YOU ARE ENTITLED, AT NO COST TO YOU, THE PROVISION OF CERTAIN
ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT THE COLLIER COUNTY FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT DIVISION LOCATED AT 3335 EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL,
SUITE 1, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 34112-5356, (239) 252-8380; ASSISTED
LISTENING DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED ARE AVAILABLE IN
THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION.
LUNCH RECESS SCHEDULED FOR 12:00 NOON TO 1:00 P.M.
1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
A. Pastor Bob Scudieri - Faith Lutheran Church
2. AGENDA AND MINUTES
A. Approval of today's regular, consent and summary agenda as amended (Ex
Parte Disclosure provided by Commission members for consent agenda.)
B. March 24, 2015 - BCC/Regular Meeting Minutes
C. April 7, 2015 - BCC/CRA and Parks Impact Fee Workshop
3. SERVICE AWARDS - EMPLOYEE
A. 20 Year Attendees
1) Wayne Watson - EMS
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April 28, 2015
B. 25 Year Attendees
1) Ernst Augustin - Road Maintenance
2) Eddie Chesser - Road Maintenance
3) Gary Kessler - Parks & Recreation
4) Pamela Moore - Library
5) Peg Ruby - Parks & Recreation
6) Matt Vila - EMS
7) Rhonda Watkins - Pollution Control
C. Retirees
1) Mary Margaret Gruszka - Museum - 9 years of service,
2) Jodi Walters - Solid Waste - 37 years of service
4. PROCLAMATIONS
A. Proclamation designating May 3-9 as National Corrections Officer Week in
Collier County. To be accepted by representatives of the Collier County
Sheriffs Office - Sheriff Kevin Rambosk, Chief Chris Roberts, Captain Beth
Richards, Commander Kevin McGowen, Commander Patricia Gifford, and
many other corrections officers support staff.
B. Proclamation designating April 2015 as National Fair Housing Month in
Collier County. To be accepted by Angela Edison, Collier County Housing
Authority.
C. Proclamation recognizing and congratulating House of Carpets for receiving
the WRAP award for its continued efforts to promote waste reduction, reuse
and recycling and for sustaining the usable life of the Collier County
Landfill. To be accepted by Mr. Adam Van Beneden owner of the House of
Carpets.
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April 28, 2015
D. Proclamation designating April 28, 2015 as "Fran Bratcher and Family to
Family Day" in Collier County, recognizing the efforts of Fran and the
organization's efforts to assist children and families in crisis. To be accepted
by Fran Bratcher.
E. Proclamation designating May 7, 2015 as National Day of Prayer. To be
accepted by Senior Pastor Grant Thigpen, New Hope Ministries; Pastor
Larry Rigley, First Baptist Church of Naples; and retired Pastor Bob
Scudieri, Faith Lutheran Church.
F. Proclamation designating April 27 - May 1 as the 35th anniversary of Know
Your County Government Week. To be accepted by Tish Roland, Wendy
Hodgsen and Kathy Ryan representing the Collier County University
Extension and 4-H Youth Development and 4-H Students Oasis Diaz,
Palmetto Ridge High School; Thanise Marc, Golden Gate High School;
Sophia Torres, Lely High School; Luz Nieto, Immokalee High School;
Annisa Setiawan, Naples High School; Ana Garcia, Barron Collier High
School; and Astrid Mendieta, Corkscrew Christian High School.
G. Proclamation designating May 2-10 as Travel and Tourism Week in Collier
County, in recognition of the outstanding economic, social, and cultural
contributions of the travel and tourism industry to the citizens of Collier
County. To be accepted by Jack Wert, Director of Tourism.
H. Proclamation designating May 1, 2015 as the "50th Anniversary of Modem
Marco Island Day" in Collier County, and to recognize the 50th Anniversary
Celebration being hosted by the Marco Island Chamber of Commerce and
the Marco Island Historical Society on Friday, May 1, 2015 at 6 p.m., at the
Marco Island Marriott, 400 South Collier Blvd, Marco Island. To be
accepted by Richard Shanahan, President Marco Island Chamber of
Commerce and Pat Rutledge, President Marco Island Historical Society.
5. PRESENTATIONS
A. Presentation to recognize contributions made by seven Eagle Scouts to the
Conservation Collier Program.
6. PUBLIC PETITIONS
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April 28, 2015
Item #7 to be heard no sooner than 1:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
7. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT
OR FUTURE AGENDA
Item #8 and Item #9 to be heard no sooner than 1:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
8. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
9. ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. This item to be heard at 9:45 a.m. Recommendation to deny the single,
2013 Cycle 3 Growth Management Plan Amendment specific to the
Vincentian Mixed Use Subdistrict petition. (Adoption Hearing) (Companion
to rezone petition PUDZ-PL20130001726, Vincentian Village Mixed Use
Planned Unit Development)
B. This item to be heard immediately following Item #9A. This item
requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by Commission members.
Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are required to be
sworn in. Recommendation to approve An Ordinance of the Board of
County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida amending Ordinance
Number 2004-41, as amended, the Collier County Land Development Code,
which established the comprehensive zoning regulations for the
unincorporated area of Collier County, Florida, by amending the appropriate
zoning atlas map or maps by changing the zoning classification of the herein
described real property from a Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning
district to a Mixed Use Planned Unit Development (MPUD) zoning district
for a project to be known as the Vincentian Village MPUD, to allow
construction of a maximum of 224 multifamily residential dwelling units, up
to 250,000 gross square feet of commercial land uses, and a hotel limited to
150 rooms and an assisted living facility (ALF) at 0.6 FAR. The commercial
uses are subject to conversions and limitations if the project is developed as
mixed use or if a hotel or ALF is constructed. The subject property is located
at the southeast corner of Southwest Boulevard and U.S. 41 in Section 32,
Township 50 South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida, consisting of
30.68+/- acres; providing for the repeal of Ordinance Number 99-37, the
Vincentian PUD; and by providing an effective date. [PUDZ-
PL20130001726. This is a companion item to the Growth Management Plan
Amendment establishing the Vincentian Mixed Use Subdistrict,
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April 28, 2015
PL20130001767/CP-2013-10].
C. This item to be heard immediately following Item #9B. This item
continued from the April 14, 2015 BCC Meeting. Recommendation to
approve an ordinance amending Ordinance Number 04-41, as amended, the
Collier County Land Development Code, by amending section 5.04.05
Temporary Events, to allow temporary events on Collier County property
without a permit; providing for conflict and severability; inclusion in the
Collier County Land Development Code; and an effective date.
10. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
11. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT
A. This item to be heard immediately following Item #9C. Recommendation
to adopt policy guidelines governing the planning and conduct of"Farmers
Markets" held on Collier County property. (Steve Camel!, Public Services
Department Head)
B. Recommendation to consider a "good deal" purchase with Collier
Development Corporation, now known as CDC Land Investments, Inc., for
7.51 acres under the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Program, at a
cost not to exceed $403,150, and under specific conditions. (Alexandra
Sulecki, Parks and Recreation Environmental Specialist Principal)
12. COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT
A. Recommendation pursuant to Collier County Resolution No. 95-632 that the
Board of County Commissioners authorizes the Office of the County
Attorney to select and retain outside counsel to represent County Manager
Leo E. Ochs, Jr., as well as Procurement Services Director, Joanne
Markiewicz, who are being sued by Clerk of Courts Dwight E. Brock in the
case styled Dwight E. Brock v. Leo E. Ochs, Jr. as Manager/Administrator
of Collier County and Joanne Markiewicz, as Purchasing and General
Services Division Director, Case No. 11-2015-CA-000595-0001-XX, in the
Circuit Court of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit in and for Collier County,
Florida, and Waive the Purchasing Policy to the Extent it May Apply to the
Selection of Outside Counsel and/or Otherwise Exempt the Selection of
Outside Counsel From Competition Pursuant to Purchasing Ordinance
Section Eleven Procurement of Professional Services, B5, and to direct the
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April 28, 2015
County Attorney to take action to intervene in this litigation on behalf of the
Board of County Commissioners.
13. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
14. AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND/OR COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT
AGENCY
A. AIRPORT
B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
15. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
A. Current BCC Workshop Schedule
16. CONSENT AGENDA - All matters listed under this item are considered to be
routine and action will be taken by one motion without separate discussion of
each item. If discussion is desired by a member of the Board, that item(s) will
be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered separately.
A. GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to amend Exhibit "A" to Resolution No. 2013-239,
the list of Speed Limits on County Maintained Roads, to reflect the
reduction of the speed limits on: Collier Boulevard (CR 951) from
Green Boulevard to Golden Gate Boulevard; on Green Boulevard
from 0.5 miles west of Collier Boulevard; on Pine Ridge Road from
0.5 miles west of Collier Boulevard; and, on White Boulevard from
0.5 miles east of Collier Boulevard; from Forty-five (45) miles per
hour to Thirty-five (35) miles per hour due to the construction of
"Collier Boulevard Roadway Capacity Improvements." (Project
68056)
2) Recommendation to quitclaim to Jeff Dami and Calixto Montenegro
and World Strategic Alliances (WSA), LLC, a Florida limited liability
company, a 30 foot strip of property that was originally quitclaimed to
Collier County for road right-of-way by predecessor in title. (Fiscal
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April 28, 2015
Impact: $0)
3) Recommendation to authorize a budget amendment to recognize
revenue for projects within Transportation Capital Funds in the
amount of$175,713.03 (Projects #60085, #69081, #60088, and
#60132).
4) Recommendation to grant final approval of the private roadway and
drainage improvements for the final plat of Turnbury Preserve
Application Number AR-10119 with the roadway and drainage
improvements being privately maintained and authorizing the release
of the maintenance security.
5) Recommendation to grant final approval of the private roadway and
drainage improvements for the final plat of Audubon Country Club,
Unit Three Application Number C3696 with the roadway and
drainage improvements being privately maintained and authorizing
the release of the maintenance security.
6) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for Conditional Final
Acceptance of the private roadway and drainage improvements, and
acceptance of the plat dedications, for the final plat of Runaway Bay
Replat PL20120000266, and authorize the reduction of the
maintenance security to the amount of$19,262.25 which represents
150% of the cost of the remaining required improvements.
7) This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by
Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all
participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to
approve for recording the final plat of Maple Ridge Reserve at Ave
Maria, Phase 1, (Application Number PL20140001692) approval of
the standard form Construction and Maintenance Agreement and
approval of the amount of the performance security.
8) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
Contract No. 15-6416 - Wiggins Pass Interim Channel Dredging to
remove approximately 9,400 cubic yards (CY's) of beach quality
shoaled sand from the Wiggins Pass channel to Quality Enterprises
USA Inc., for $242,304 (Project No. 80288), authorize the necessary
budget amendment, and make a finding that this item promotes
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April 28, 2015
tourism.
9) Recommendation to approve payment for a Joint Coastal Permit in the
amount of$6,039 to rebuild South Doctors Pass Jetty, authorize all
necessary budget amendments and make a finding that this item
promotes tourism (Project No. 90029).
10) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. 12C01 with the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Bureau of Beaches
and Coastal Systems Beach Management Funding Assistance
Program for Collier County Beach Monitoring.
11) Recommendation to accept a proposal from CB&I Coastal Planning &
Engineering dated March 19, 2015 for Local Government Funding
Request (LGFR) Ranking Analysis and Preparation in order to
maintain eligibility for annual distribution of state funds for shore
protection and inlet management projects; approve a work order under
Contract No. 13-6164-CZ for a not to exceed amount of$14,046;
authorize the County Manager or his designee to execute the Work
Order; authorize the necessary budget amendment and make a finding
that this item promotes tourism (Project No. 90065).
12) Recommendation to accept a proposal from CB&I Coastal Planning &
Engineering dated March 10, 2015 for Collier Creek Dredging Project
Design, Permitting and Bid Assistance, approve a work order under
Contract No. 13-6164-CZ for a not to exceed amount of$68,845.90,
authorize the County Manager or his designee to execute Work Order,
authorize necessary budget amendment and make a finding that this
item promotes tourism (Project No. 90064).
13) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 1 to Work Order
#4500151095 in the amount of$27,992 and for an additional 397 days
with CH2MHi11, Inc., for Design & Related Services for the
Improvements to the Pine Ridge Weir. (Project #60119)
14) Recommendation to approve a Temporary Use Agreement to permit
the temporary use of a portion of the right-of-way previously acquired
for the expansion of County Barn Road from two lanes to four lanes.
(Fiscal Impact: None)
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April 28, 2015
15) This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by
Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all
participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to
approve Petition VAC-PL20140001484, to quitclaim and release the
County's interest in the 30-foot wide strip of land described as an
easement for public road right-of-way as recorded in Official Record
Book 130, Page 447, Official Record Book 130, Page 449, Official
Record Book 143, Page 313, and Official Record Book 972, Page
1466, all of the Public Records of Collier County, Florida, located in
Section 30, Township 48 South, Range 26 East, Collier County,
Florida.
16) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a
Collier County Landscape Maintenance Agreement (Agreement)
between Collier County and the Lemuria Condominium Association,
Inc. for a landscape planting within the Goodlette-Frank Road Right-
of-Way.
17) Recommendation to authorize payment to Superior Landscaping and
Lawn for routine maintenance per contract #13-6062S, Annual
Contract for Landscape Maintenance.
18) Recommendation to approve an easement agreement for the purchase
of a Road Right-of-Way, Drainage and Utility Easement (Parcel
156RDUE) required for the expansion of Golden Gate Boulevard
from East of Wilson Boulevard to 20th Street East. (Project No.
60040) (Estimated Fiscal Impact: $9,100)
19) Recommendation to approve a Transportation Post Project
Maintenance Agreement with the Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT), for the maintenance of the sidewalk, signing
and striping for crosswalks, and three transit shelter pads with
associated deployment pads adjacent to portions of US 41 (SR 45) and
Trail Boulevard upon completion of the FDOT improvements project,
Financial Project No. 430873-1-32/52/62-01, and a Resolution
authorizing the Chairman to sign the Agreement.
20) Recommendation to direct Staff to extend the "Early Entry" bonus
Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) credit, as provided for within
the Future Land Use Element (FLUE) of the Growth Management
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April 28, 2015
Plan (GMP).
21) Recommendation to award ITB #15-6404 - Purchase of Mulch to
Forestry Resources, Inc. for the purchase and delivery of organic and
inorganic mulch.
22) Recommendation to reject all responses received for Request for
Proposal No. 15-6413, "Collier County 2015 Beach Renourishment"
and authorize staff to issue a modified solicitation.
B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
C. PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve, execute and record Satisfaction of
Notice of Claim of Lien for Sanitary Sewer System Impact Fee.
2) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid No. 15-6402, "Goodland
Pump Station Improvements," in the amount of$516,130, to Quality
Enterprises, USA, Inc.
3) Recommendation to approve a Settlement Agreement and Release
between Collier County and Bay Villas, Inc., in the amount of
$307,223.58 payable to Bay Villas, Inc., related to street and driveway
restoration and replacement costs associated with the underground
water utility infrastructure project and accept a grant of a Utility
Easement from Bay Villas, Inc. and 26 Utility Easements from Bay
Villas individual property owners.
D. PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve a Resolution superseding Resolution No.
2013-28, the Collier Area Transit Bus Fares and Transit Fee Policy,
and authorize staff to establish a student summer pass program.
2) Recommendation to allow staff to distribute bus passes and other
promotional transit items for the purpose of promoting transit.
3) Recommendation to consider the Ad Hoc Public Transit Ad Hoc
Committee's recommendation to continue meeting for an additional
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April 28, 2015
twelve months, to extend all current member terms through that
period and to approve a Resolution adopting the extension.
4) Recommendation to approve a release of lien for full payment of a
deferral of 100 percent of a countywide impact fee for owner
occupied affordable housing dwelling unit.
5) Recommendation to approve fifteen Releases of Lien for the Disaster
Recovery Initiative Program loans due to the terms and conditions of
the 5 year affordability period being met.
6) Recommendation to approve Third Amendment to the State Housing
Initiatives Partnership Program Subrecipient Agreement with Centro
Campesino Farmworker Center, Inc. to extend the expenditure
deadlines on the budget narrative (Exhibit B) of the agreement.
7) Recommendation to award a work order to Surety Construction
Company, using the Annual Contract for General Contractors
Services Contract No. 10-5510, for the replacement of the Clam Pass
Park decking at the concession area, approve the necessary budget
increase, and make a finding that this expenditure promotes tourism.
8) Recommendation to approve eight mortgage satisfactions for the
State Housing Initiatives Partnership loan program in the combined
amount of$47,226.08.
9) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign eight
satisfactions of mortgage for owner-occupied affordable housing units
that have satisfied the terms of assistance for Collier County HOME
Investment Partnership Program.
10) Recommendation to approve a satisfaction of mortgage for the State
Housing Initiatives Partnership loan program for full payment in the
amount of$5,280.
11) Recommendation to approve a satisfaction of mortgage for the
American Dream Down payment Assistance Program in the amount
of$6,954.
12) Recommendation to approve a State of Florida Public Library
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April 28, 2015
Construction Grant Application in the amount of$500,000 for the
proposed expansion and renovation of the Headquarters Library. The
Friends of the Library of Collier County Inc. have pledged to commit
$500,000 as a local grant match and raise an additional $300,150 from
private donations to fund the estimated project cost of$1,300,150.
13) Recommendation to approve four Modifications to Disaster Recovery
Initiative and Recovery Enhancement Fund Grant Agreements for
disaster relief and long term recovery or mitigation with the Florida
Department of Economic Opportunity and approve four associated
amendments to subrecipient agreements.
14) Recommendation to authorize and approve support of the Rotary Club
of Naples-Collier, Inc. use of Fred W. Coyle Freedom Park for a
fundraiser for the Freedom Memorial.
15) Recommendation to approve a Maintenance and Support Agreement
with Avail Technologies, Inc. and approve the advance payment of
the hosting support, maintenance and warranty of the Intelligent
Transportation System (period February 2016 - January 2017).
E. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to recognize and appropriate revenue for an
insurance company refund to EMS in the amount of$39,738.31.
2) Recommendation to approve Change Order #12 in the amount of
$114,853.20 to Deangelis Diamond Construction on Contract #13-
6137, Collier County J-1 HVAC System Replacement, and authorize
the necessary Budget Amendment to install security related devices in
the J-1 Section of the Naples Jail.
3) Recommendation to approve the purchase of emergency dispatch
enhancement equipment from Locution Systems, Inc. in the amount of
$71,202 as well as the annual maintenance cost of$4,695, to approve
the installation of the equipment by Communications International in
the amount of$132,408, and to authorize waiver of competition in the
best interest of the County. (This item is a companion to Item #16K2)
F. COUNTY MANAGER OPERATIONS
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April 28, 2015
1) Recommendation to approve the use of an alternative road impact fee
rate, previously approved by the Board of County Commissioners for
Taco Bell, for a new Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits Restaurant being
constructed in Golden Gate.
2) Recommendation to adopt a resolution approving amendments
(appropriating grants, donations, contributions or insurance proceeds)
to the Fiscal Year 2014-15 Adopted Budget.
3) Recommendation to approve the First Amendment to the Grant
Agreement with the State of Florida Department of Economic
Opportunity for funding assistance for the County's Soft Landing
Business Accelerator Project to update the schedule of project
deliverables.
G. AIRPORT AUTHORITY
H. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
1) Recommendation to appoint two members to Conservation Collier
Land Acquisition Advisory Committee.
2) Recommendation to appoint a member to the Collier County Planning
Commission.
3) Recommendation to appoint one member to the Forest Lakes
Roadway and Drainage Advisory Committee.
4) Recommendation to appoint one member to the Radio Road
Beautification MSTU Advisory Committee.
5) Recommendation to appoint two members to the Immokalee
Enterprise Zone Development Agency.
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
J. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
1) Report to the Board regarding the investment of County funds as of
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April 28, 2015
the quarter ended March 31, 2015.
2) Board declaration of expenditures serving a valid public purpose and
approval of disbursements for the period of April 9 through April 15,
2015.
3) Board declaration of expenditures serving a valid public purpose and
approval of disbursements for the period of April 16 through April 22,
2015
K. COUNTY ATTORNEY
1) Recommendation to approve a General Release of Argo Warm
Springs LLLP under Paragraph 5 of the Replacement Development
Agreement relating to the payment of claims, expert fees, attorney's
fees and costs in the case styled Collier County v. Naples
Syndications, LLC, Case No. 09-9432. (Tree Farm Road Project No.
65061) (Fiscal Impact: none)
2) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a
Settlement Agreement with the Florida Department of Health to settle
an administrative case captioned Florida Department of Health v.
Collier County EMS (DOH Case No.: 2013-13123) with County
agreeing to commit funds toward Locution Systems and related
upgrades (total amount $231,493) within one year with no admission
of liability. (This item is a companion to Item #16E3)
17. SUMMARY AGENDA - This section is for advertised public hearings and
must meet the following criteria: 1) A recommendation for approval from
staff; 2) Unanimous recommendation for approval by the Collier County
Planning Commission or other authorizing agencies of all members present
and voting; 3) No written or oral objections to the item received by staff, the
Collier County Planning Commission, other authorizing agencies or the
Board, prior to the commencement of the BCC meeting on which the items
are scheduled to be heard; and 4) No individuals are registered to speak in
opposition to the item. For those items which are quasi-judicial in nature, all
participants must be sworn in.
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April 28, 2015
A. This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by Commission
members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are
required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve Petition VAC-
PL20140001818 to disclaim, renounce and vacate the County and the public
interest in part of the 50-foot drainage easement located along the eastern
border of Tract "A", Collier County Production Park Phase 3-A, as recorded
in Plat Book 22, Pages 59 through 60 of the public records of Collier
County, Florida, in Section 36, Township 49 South, Range 25 East, Collier
County, Florida, and to accept Petitioner's grant of a replacement drainage
easement to replace the vacated drainage easement.
B. This item continued from the April 14, 2015 BCC Meeting. This item
requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by Commission members.
Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are required to be
sworn in. Recommendation to approve Petition VAC-PL20140000235, to
vacate the 2.35-foot wide conservation easement as recorded in Official
Record Book 4251, Pages 1007 through 1018, of the public records of
Collier County, Florida, being a part of Tract M-1, Stella Maris, and approve
an Amendment to the Settlement Agreement and General Release, dated
June 26, 2007, as recorded in Official Record Book 4251, Pages 1019
through 1024.
C. Recommendation to adopt an Ordinance to maintain compatibility with the
South Florida Water Management District's Mandatory Year-Round
Landscape Irrigation Conservation Measures, as amended, and repeal
Ordinance Numbers 2002-17 and 2000-61.
D. Recommendation to adopt a resolution approving amendments
(appropriating carry forward, transfers and supplemental revenue) to the
Fiscal Year 2014-15 Adopted Budget.
18. ADJOURN
INQUIRIES CONCERNING CHANGES TO THE BOARD'S AGENDA SHOULD
BE MADE TO THE COUNTY MANAGER'S OFFICE AT 252-8383.
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April 28, 2015
April 28, 2015
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning
and welcome to the Board of County Commissioners' meeting of April
28, 2015.
I would ask you to at this time silence all devices and cell phones
so that we can have an orderly meeting and we don't get interrupted by
various and sundry inappropriate sounds.
This morning's invocation is going to be given by Pastor Bob
Scudieri from Faith Lutheran Church to be followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Would you all please rise.
Item #1A
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE — INVOCATION
GIVEN BY PASTOR BOB SCUDIERI FROM FAITH LUTHERAN
CHURCH
PASTOR SCUDIERI: The prayer I'm going to pray this morning
is based on the prayer written by Dr. Jack Graham for the National
Day of Prayer.
Let us pray.
(Prayer beginning in Spanish.)
Heavenly father, we pray for our beloved nation. May we repent
and turn to you and be a light to the nations. We pray for our leaders
and ask that you give them wisdom and faith to follow you. We come
to you knowing that you are a prayer-answering faithful God, the one
we trust in times like these.
We ask for you to renew our spirits, revive our churches, and heal
our lands. We pray for the healing of the divisions in Fenton and
Baltimore and wherever there is disharmony in our land. Lead us not
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April 28, 2015
into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Those who came before us prayed to you: Abraham, Moses,
Washington, Lincoln, and Jesus. Jesus prayed, Father, may they all be
one. Father, even as you and I are one. Father, may we all be one,
Christian, Jew, Hindu, and Muslim, straight and gay, black and white,
Asian, African, Hispanic, all Americans, may we be one in loving each
other this day and forever and thereby serve you.
(Prayer spoken in Spanish.)
Deliver us from all fears except to fear you. Let us stand
courageously in your love for all people, forgiving our debtors as you
forgive our debts. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the
glory forever and ever. Hear the prayer your servant is praying in your
name this day. Amen.
(The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ladies and gentlemen, before we move
into the agenda of our meeting, I would like to make one note of
sadness before we get to the happy things, and that is to note the
passing of Mr. Jack Pointer this past April 15.
I'd like to say a couple things about Jack. Jack was kind of an
interesting and model citizen. Such a gentleman, he sat for many
meetings in the right, rear portion of this room and served as a
volunteer in his retirement years. But I thought a little bit of comment
on him was appropriate.
Jack was born on Christmas Day in 1925 in Wisconsin. He was a
proud World War II veteran in both theaters of the war and in Korea in
World War II -- in World War II and in Korea. He was -- he served in
the 100th Infantry Division earning both the Bronze Star and the
French Legion of Honor.
His professional career was with Wisconsin Power & Light, and
he moved to Naples in 1986 with his wife, Shirley.
Now, during his retirement years, he served as a community
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April 28, 2015
volunteer in a number of capacities, including an election worker, a
committee member with the Collier County Metropolitan Planning
Organization, Citizens Advisory Committee, and he was always
somebody that had a kind and encouraging word and a thoughtful
comment.
So I just would ask that we all have a moment of silence in
remembrance of Jack Pointer as a loyal American and as a great citizen
of our community.
(Moment of silence taken for Jack Pointer.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you very much.
Mr. Ochs, would you take us into today's agenda.
Item #2A
APPROVAL OF TODAY'S REGULAR, CONSENT AND
SUMMARY AGENDA AS AMENDED (EX PARTE DISCLOSURE
PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR CONSENT
AGENDA) — APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES
MR. OCHS: Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the
Board.
These are your proposed agenda changes for the Board of County
Commissioners' meeting of April 28, 2015.
The first proposed change is to continue Item 16A14 from your
consent agenda to the May 12, 2015, Board Meeting. That move is
made at staffs request.
The next proposed change is continue Item 16H2 to the May 12,
2015, Board Meeting. That's appointment of a Planning Commission
member in District 2. That request is made by Commissioner Hiller.
The next proposed change is to continue Item 17B from your
summary agenda to the next meeting, May 12, 2015. It's an item
Page 4
April 28, 2015
having to do with a vacation of easements, and that is made at the
County Attorney's request.
You have your court reporter breaks scheduled for 10:30 and 2:50
today.
You have several time-certain items on the agenda today,
Commissioners. The first reminder is that Item 7, public comments on
general topics, will be heard no sooner than 1 p.m. or at the conclusion
of the agenda, whichever occurs first.
Item 9A will be heard at 9:45 a.m., and that's the Growth
Management Plan amendment related to the Vincentian mixed use
development. That will be followed by the companion Item 9B.
Those items will be immediately followed then by Item 9C, which is
your Land Development Code amendment having to do with farmers
markets, and the companion Item 11A, which is the policy
recommendations for the Board's consideration on that subject.
Your last time-certain is Item 12A. That will be at 11:30 a.m.
You have three notes this morning, Commissioners. The first is
that we will be attending lunch with the Know Your County
Government Teen Citizenship Program participants at noon today up
on the fifth floor of this building. Their smiling faces are right here in
front of you in case you couldn't tell that.
Item 16D14, there's a correction. The executive summary states
that 50 percent of the net proceeds of the event will be donated to the
Freedom Memorial project while the event flier in the backup material
indicates all proceeds go toward the construction of the memorial.
Actually, the executive summary is correct. The flier was a previous
version. That flier has been updated, and I appreciate Commissioner
Henning bringing that to our attention.
Item 16F3, we have a modification to the attachment on the
change in the deliverables schedules. It's noted here on your change
sheet.
Page 5
April 28, 2015
And those are all the changes that I have, Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you, Mr. Ochs. At this time we
will go to the board members for any additional changes to today's
regular or consent agenda or summary agenda, and also ex parte
communication.
Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Start with me. Okay. Let's do ex
parte on --
MR. OCHS: Ma'am, could you get a little closer to your
microphone?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. On 9 -- better?
MR. OCHS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay, good. In the growth
management, under 9B, I've had meetings and emails regarding this
issue. And other than that, besides staff conversation, I've had no more
ex parte communication.
And I would like to pull 16F3, please, for a discussion, more an
explanation of what's really going on here. Not that there's anything
but what's in front of us, but I think there's a chart that we could show,
and I think it makes it a lot easier.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that item would become Item 11C
on your regular agenda.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And that's it. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you very much. I have no
additions or corrections to our agenda. And my ex parte on the consent
agenda, I have nothing. On the summary agenda, I only have 17B,
which is the Stella Maris in Port of the Islands, and I've had emails
with some friends of mine who knew the area pretty well. Also, I went
on a boat ride just to check it all out, to see exactly where it was that
Page 6
April 28, 2015
they were talking about. I had meetings and emails and calls.
And as far as the regular agenda, I'll mention them at the time that
we're asked to.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I have no changes to the agenda,
but I would like to highlight one item, and that is the time-certain with
respect to public comment on general topics.
There was a great deal of confusion, I believe, at the last meeting
where members of the public didn't understand that if we finish the
meeting ahead of 1 o'clock, that we would be calling public speakers at
the point in time that we came to the end of the agenda.
And I think that this comment, Leo, that you read as part of the
proposed agenda changes really should be at the front of the agenda.
Leo?
MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: It should be on the front page, and
it should be standard practice, and people need to understand that that
will always be the case when we finish ahead of 1 o'clock and that it's
no intent to cut any speakers off but, you know, it's just the normal
course of business.
MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. I've had conversations with several
commissioners sharing that same sentiment. And if that's the pleasure
of the Board I'd be happy to make that addition to the front page of the
agenda.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes. Commissioner Hiller, I've also
suggested that notification indication of that scheduling possibility be
noted at the end where the speaker slips are turned in, on the speaker
slips themselves, and in the hallway where those materials are
available.
Page 7
April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And I'm very glad to hear that
other commissioners feel the same way. I think it's very important.
And as much as we can educate the public as to what our procedures
are, the less there will be any misunderstandings on their part.
I, like Commissioner Fiala, will make my disclosure on 9B at the
time we hear that item, and I have no disclosures on any of the consent
items.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Good morning.
I have no changes to today's agenda, and I have no ex parte
communication on today's consent or summary agenda.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And I'll make a motion to
approve the agenda as amended.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I need to make my ex parte. One
moment, Commissioner, and we'll move to that.
I have no further changes to today's agenda. I will also do my ex
parte on the public hearing items at that time.
I have no ex parte on the regular -- other regular or consent
agenda, but I would like to note also a very good-news items that's in
the consent agenda, and that is the commitment by the Friends of the
Collier County Museum for contributions of up to $800,000 for the
improvement of our -- of our -- excuse me, our Friends of the Collier
County Library for the improvement of our library system. It is such an
amazing commitment by those volunteers and citizens to help our
libraries, and it should be noted how generous they are in their work.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And, actually, always have been.
They have done an outstanding job.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Eight-hundred-thousand dollars
commitment is absolutely extraordinary, and what a wonderful thing.
Page 8
April 28, 2015
So I wanted to make note of that.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Good point.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: If there are no other comments, we have
a motion --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- to approve the agenda.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. That's approved.
Page 9
Proposed Agenda Changes
Board of County Commissioners Meeting
April 28,2015
Continue Item 16A14 to Mav 12,2015 BCC Meeting: Recommendation to approve a Temporary Use
Agreement to permit the temporary use of a portion of the right-of-way previously acquired for the
expansion of County Barn Road from two lanes to four lanes. (Fiscal Impact: None) (Staffs request)
Continue Item 16H2 to Mav 12,2015 BCC Meeting: Recommendation to appoint a member to the
Collier County Planning Commission. (Commissioner Hiller's request)
Continue Item 17B to Mav 12,2015 BCC Meeting: This item continued from the April 14,2015 BCC
Meeting. This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by Commission members.Should a
hearing be held on this item,all participants are required to be sworn in.Recommendation to
approve Petition VAC-PL20140000235,to vacate the 2.35-foot wide conservation easement as
recorded in Official Record Book 4251,Pages 1007 through 1018,of the public records of Collier
County,Florida,being a part of Tract M-1,Stella Maris,and approve an Amendment to the Settlement
Agreement and General Release,dated June 26,2007,as recorded in Official Record Book 4251,Pages
1019 through 1024. (County Attorney's request)
Time Certain Items:
Item 7—Public Comments on General Topics—will be heard no sooner than 1:00 or at the conclusion of the
agenda
Item 9A to be heard at 9:45 a.m.
Item 9B to be heard immediately following 9A
Item 9C to be heard immediately following 9B
Item 11A to be heard immediately following 9C
Item 12A to be heard at 11:30 a.m.
Note:
Commissioners will be attending lunch with the Know Your County Government Teen Citizenship Program in
the 5`"Floor Conference Room-Administration Building-from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Item 16D14: The executive summary states that 50%of the net proceeds from the event will be donated to
the Freedom Memorial Project,while the event flyer in the back-up materials indicates all proceeds will go
toward construction of the memorial. The executive summary is correct.
Item 16F3: Modify Attachment 1,Scope of Work,to accurately reference the appropriate deliverable
numbers as follows:
In the chart for Deliverables 1-7,change all references to"Deliverable 2"to"Deliverables 1-7". In
the chart for Deliverables 8-12,change all references to"Deliverable 3"to"Deliverables 8-12". In
the chart for Deliverables 13-14,change all references to"Deliverable 4"to"Deliverables 13-14".
4/282015 8:29 AM
April 28, 2015
Item #2B
BCC REGULAR MEETING MINUTES FOR MARCH 24, 2015 —
APPROVED AS PRESENTED
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Is there a motion to approve the March
24th BCC regular meeting minutes?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Motion to --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Second.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Motion to approve and a second.
Any comment?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HENNING: Hearing none, all those in favor,
signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: That's approved.
Item #2C
BCC/CRA AND PARKS IMPACT FEE WORKSHOP MEETING
MINUTES FOR APRIL 7, 2015 — APPROVED AS PRESENTED
CHAIRMAN NANCE: And also the minutes of the Parks Impact
Page 10
April 28, 2015
Fee Workshop and CRA of April 7, 2015.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Second.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Motion to approve and second.
Any discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HENNING: Hearing none, all those in favor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. That's approved.
All right. Would -- I think that takes us to the service awards, Mr.
Ochs.
Would the commissioners kindly assemble in front of the dias to
greet our award recipients.
Item #3A
SERVICE AWARDS — 20 YEAR ATTENDEES
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, we're pleased this morning to
honor several county employees with long-term commitments of
county service. We'll begin this morning with our 20-year service
awardees. The first awardee with 20 years of service with EMS is
Wayne Watson. Wayne?
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Up here for a photo, sir.
Page 11
April 28, 2015
MR. SAVAGE: Hold up your certificate now.
MR. WATSON: I'll stand next to the photographer.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. How does he look? Is he
okay?
MR. OCHS: Congratulations.
(Applause.)
Item #3B
SERVICE AWARDS — 25 YEAR ATTENDEES
MR. OCHS: These next category of employees, Commissioners,
are celebrating 25 years of service with county government. The first
recipient, 25 years with Road Maintenance, Ernst Augustin.
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: In the middle there.
MS. HETZEL: You want to get in the middle there.
MR. OCHS: Get him in the middle. There you go.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: A little nervous.
MR. OCHS: Congratulations.
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Twenty-five years of service, Road Maintenance,
Eddie Chesser.
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Celebrating 25 years of service with Parks and
Recreation, Gary Kessler. Gary?
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Twenty-five years with our library system, Pam
Moore. Pam?
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Congratulations, Pam.
Page 12
April 28, 2015
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Twenty-five years with Parks and Recreation, Peg
Ruby.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Now I don't look so short.
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Twenty-five years of service with EMS, Matt Vila.
Matt?
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Hey, buddy. Congratulations, man.
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Our final 25-year service award recipient this
morning from Pollution Control, Rhonda Watkins. Rhonda?
(Applause.)
Item #3C
RECOGNIZING RECENT RETIREES
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, we have two employees here that
were recent retirees that we'd like to acknowledge this morning. The
first is from our museum system with nine years of service. I don't
believe she's here, but I'd like to recognize Mary Margaret Gruszka for
her fine service to county government.
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: And then our final retiree, who we all know and
admire and appreciate, 37 years of service with county government,
Jodi Walters. Jodi?
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Congratulations.
Commissioners, that concludes our service awards this morning.
Page 13
April 28, 2015
Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd please exit quietly so we can
continue with the Board's business. Thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, that takes us to Item 4, proclamations.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, sir.
Item #4
PROCLAMATIONS — ONE MOTION TAKEN TO ADOPT ALL
PROCLAMATIONS
Item #4A
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 3RD THROUGH 9TH
AS NATIONAL CORRECTIONS OFFICER WEEK IN COLLIER
COUNTY. ACCEPTED BY REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE
COLLIER COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE — ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 4A is a proclamation designating May 3
through 9th as National Corrections Officer Week in Collier County.
To be accepted by representatives of the Collier County Sheriffs
Office: Sheriff Kevin Rambosk, Chief Chris Roberts, Captain Beth
Richards, Commander Kevin McGowan, Commander Patricia Gifford,
and many other corrections officers and support staff.
(Applause.)
CHIEF ROBERTS: If I may very quickly. Sheriff Rambosk
regrets that he can't be here this morning, but on behalf of the sheriff
and all the men and women that work for the Sheriffs Office, we
greatly appreciate the support of this board, our working -- and the
board's staff. Our working relationship is probably better than it ever
has been. We certainly notice that, and it makes our mission much
easier.
Page 14
April 28, 2015
Thank you.
MR. OCHS: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
Item #4B
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING APRIL 2015 AS NATIONAL
FAIR HOUSING MONTH IN COLLIER COUNTY. ACCEPTED
BY ANGELA EDISON, FROM COLLIER COUNTY HOUSING
AUTHORITY — ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 4B is a proclamation designating April 2015 as
National Fair Housing Month in Collier County. To be accepted by
Angela Edison, Collier County Housing Authority.
If you'd please step forward and receive your proclamation.
(Applause.)
Item #4C
PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING AND CONGRATULATING
THE HOUSE OF CARPETS FOR RECEIVING THE WRAP
AWARD FOR CONTINUED EFFORTS TO PROMOTE WASTE
REDUCTION, REUSE AND RECYCLING AND FOR
SUSTAINING THE USABLE LIFE OF THE COLLIER COUNTY
LANDFILL. ACCEPTED BY ADAM VAN BENEDEN, OWNER
OF THE HOUSE OF CARPETS — ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 4C is a proclamation recognizing and
congratulating House of Carpets for receiving the WRAP Award for its
continued efforts to promote waste reduction, reuse, and recycling and
Page 15
April 28, 2015
for sustaining the usable life of the Collier County Landfill. To be
accepted by Mr. Adam Van Beneden, owner of the House of Carpets.
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Fantastic.
(Applause.)
Item #4D
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING APRIL 28, 2015 AS "FRAN
BRATCHER AND FAMILY TO FAMILY DAY" IN COLLIER
COUNTY, RECOGNIZING THE EFFORTS OF FRAN AND THE
ORGANIZATION'S EFFORTS TO ASSIST CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES IN CRISIS. READ INTO THE RECORD AND
ACCEPTED BY FRAN BRATCHER — ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 4D is a proclamation designating April 28,
2015, as Fran Bratcher and "Family to Family Day" in Collier County
recognizing the efforts of Fran and the organization's efforts to assist
children and families in crisis. To be accepted by Fran Bratcher.
Please step forward.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Mr. Chairman, may I read that
also? I'd like to read this, so -- a lot of you don't know who Fran
Bratcher is, but there's a great many families in this community that
have been touched by her.
Whereas, Family to Family, an organization founded by Fran
Bratcher, has been dedicated to assisting with meeting the incidental
needs of children and enhancing families' ability to cope with
unsettling circumstances since 2002, including foster families and
families from the Shelter for Abused Women and Children;
Whereas, Family to Family created Kids' Crisis Closet, providing
Page 16
April 28, 2015
clothes and basic necessities to foster families welcoming newly
placed children who may arrive with all their belongings in a trash bag.
Indeed, they have furnished countless households for families in crisis
starting anew;
Whereas, the organization and its wonderful volunteers have
created many hundreds of holiday gift baskets for Collier families,
delivered enumerable items, and helped in uncountable ways; and,
Whereas, Family to Family, through Off-the-Floor Program, has
lifted more than 2,300 children and parents onto beds who formerly
have slept on the floor.
Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County that Florida -- in Florida, that April
the 28th, 2015, be designated as Fran Bratcher and Family to Family
Day.
(Applause.)
MS. BRATCHER: These are my right hands.
MR. SAVAGE: Turn the plaque around.
(Applause.)
Item #4E
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 7, 2015 AS NATIONAL
DAY OF PRAYER — ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 4E is a proclamation designating May 7, 2015,
as National Day of Prayer. To be accepted by Senior Pastor Grant
Thigpen, New Hope Ministries, and Pastor Larry Rigley, First Baptist
Church of Naples, and retired Pastor Bob Scudieri, Faith Lutheran
Church.
Gentlemen, if you'd please step forward and receive your
proclamation.
Page 17
April 28, 2015
(Applause.)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: If I could, I'm here representing
Pastor Grant who couldn't make it, but I just did want to tell you that
there are two local events being held on May 7th in recognition of
National Day of Prayer. One is at the courthouse steps right over here
at noon, and there will be a number of local pastors who will be
sharing their prayers for our city, our community, our state, our
government.
And also at 7 o'clock at the Golden Gate Community Park at the
band shell there will be another prayer event. Again, local pastors
coming together to pray for our nation. So I hope you'll be able to
attend.
And I'd like to thank you for this proclamation and your support
of the National Day of Prayer. Thank you.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Is there also another National Day of
Prayer on Marco Island at the Marriott?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Not that I'm aware of. There may
well be.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay.
Item #4F
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING APRIL 27TH - MAY 1ST
AS THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF KNOW YOUR COUNTY
GOVERNMENT WEEK. ACCEPTED BY TISH ROLAND,
WENDY HODGSEN AND KATHY RYAN REPRESENTING
THE COLLIER COUNTY UNIVERSITY EXTENSION AND 4-H
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT; AND 4-H STUDENTS OASIS DIAZ,
PALMETTO RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL; THANISE MARC, GOLDEN
GATE HIGH SCHOOL; SOPHIA TORRES, LELY HIGH SCHOOL;
Page 18
April 28, 2015
ANNISA SETIAWAN, NAPLES HIGH SCHOOL; MEGAN
SULLIVAN, NAPLES HIGH SCHOOL; JAY FLORESCU,
BARRON COLLIER HIGH SCHOOL; AND ASTRID MENDIETA,
CORKSCREW CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL — ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 4F is a proclamation designating April 27th
through May 1 as the 31st -- excuse me -- 35th anniversary of Know
Your County Government week. To be accepted by Tish Roland,
Wendy Hodgsen, Kathy Ryan, representing the Collier County
University Extension; and 4H Youth Development and 4H students
Oasis Diaz, Palmetto Ridge High School; Thanise Marc, Golden Gate
High School; Sophia Torres, Lely High School; Megan Sullivan,
Naples High School; Annisa Setiawan, Naples High School; Ana
Garcia, Barron Collier High School; and Astrid Mendieta, Corkscrew
Christian High School.
If you'd please step forward and receive your proclamation.
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Could we get the rest of the class, please.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You know, we should probably
allow Commissioner Taylor, with her skills, to take the photos.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, no, but I can organize them.
Lavah does a great job. With a group like that, you need two.
MR. DIAZ: Good morning. My name is Oasis Diaz. I'm an 11th
grader at Palmetto Ridge High School.
MS. MARC: Hello. My name is Thanise Marc, and I'm an
18-year-old senior at Golden Gate High School.
MS. TORRES: Hello. My name is Sophia Torres, and I'm a
sophomore at Lely High School.
MS. SETIAWAN: Hello. My name is Annisa Setiawan. I'm a
junior at Naples High School.
Page 19
April 28, 2015
MS. SULLIVAN: Hi. My name is Megan Sullivan, and I'm a
junior at Naples High School.
MR. WIRESHELL: Hi. My name is Jay Wireshell (phonetic),
and I'm a junior at Barron Collier High School.
MS. MENDIETA: Hi. My name is Astrid Mendieta, and I'm a
senior at Corkscrew Christian High School.
We wish to thank the Commission, County Manager, all
participating county officials, Constitutional Officers, and adults from
4H, the League of Women Voters, and Collier County Public Schools
who have worked together to make Know Your County Government
program possible.
MR. WIRESHELL: Thirty-two students from throughout Collier
County are participating in this program representing Barron Collier,
Naples, Golden Gate, Lely, Palmetto Ridge, Immokalee High Schools,
and Corkscrew Christian Academy.
MS. SETIAWAN: Some of the things that we've learned include
the Collier County Landfill, Wastewater Management, the School
Board, Domestic Animal Services, and our Collier County history.
MS. SULLIVAN: What impressed me most was the intricacy
and interworking of county services that we take for granted every day.
MS. TORRES: Today we are also looking forward to eating
lunch with all of you, our County Commissioners, as one of the last
events in this Know Your County Government program. It has been
something that we've really been looking forward to. It's going to be a
great way to end this program.
MS. MARC: In June of 2014, the United States League of
Women Voters awarded the League of Women Voters of Collier
County with a Community Connections Award at their national
convention for this program.
MR. DIAZ: This is the 35th Anniversary of the Know Your
County Government program.
Page 20
April 28, 2015
In addressing the Board and the employees of Collier County,
we'd, again, like to thank you for making this program possible for us.
(Applause.)
Item #4G
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 2ND — 10TH AS
TRAVEL AND TOURISM WEEK IN COLLIER COUNTY, IN
RECOGNITION OF THE OUTSTANDING ECONOMIC, SOCIAL,
AND CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE TRAVEL AND
TOURISM INDUSTRY TO THE CITIZENS OF COLLIER
COUNTY. ACCEPTED BY MAGGIE MCCARTY, MANAGER
OF THE COLLIER COUNTY FILM OFFICE — ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 4G is a proclamation designating May 2nd
through 10th as Travel and Tourism Week in Collier County in
recognition of the outstanding economic, social, and cultural
contributions of the travel and tourism industry to the citizens of
Collier County. This proclamation to be accepted by Maggie
McCarty, manager of the Collier County Film Office. Maggie?
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Thanks, Maggie.
Item #4H
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 1, 2015 THE "50TH
ANNIVERSARY OF MODERN MARCO ISLAND DAY" IN
COLLIER COUNTY AND RECOGNIZING THE 50TH
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION BEING HOSTED BY MARCO
ISLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND MARCO ISLAND
HISTORICAL SOCIETY FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2015 AT 6 P.M., AT
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April 28, 2015
THE MARCO ISLAND MARRIOTT, 400 SOUTH COLLIER
BLVD, MARCO ISLAND. ACCEPTED BY RICHARD
SHANAHAN, PRESIDENT MARCO ISLAND CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE AND PAT RUTLEDGE, PRESIDENT MARCO
ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Item 4H is a proclamation designating May 1, 2015, as the 50th
Anniversary of Modern Marco Island Day in Collier County and to
recognize the 50th Anniversary Celebration being hosted by the Marco
Island Chamber of Commerce and the Marco Island Historical Society
on Friday, May 1, 2015, at 6 p.m. at the Marco Island Marriott on
Marco Island.
This proclamation to be accepted by Commissioner Dick
Shanahan, President, Marco Island Chamber of Commerce, and Pat
Rutledge, the president of the Marco Island Historical Society. And I
know they brought many other friends from Marco with them.
If you'd please step forward and receive your proclamation.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: And I know Commissioner Fiala,
because of her endless enthusiasm for Marco Island, would like to
make some comments.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: This is so much fun. I'll see you
Friday.
Thank you. First of all, I would like you to meet the kingpins of
the Chamber and the Marco Island Historical Society, but then I've
asked a few other people to be with us; two City Councilmen, the
Chairman of the City Council and the Vice-chair. The Chairman is
Larry Sacher. Come on up, Larry. And the Vice-chairman is Bob
Brown. Come on up, Bob.
And I don't mean to embarrass you, Sandy, but Sandy Riedemann
is the executive director for the Chamber. Would you like to come up,
Sandy? Thank you.
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April 28, 2015
And one of the things -- one of the things that anybody knows a
little bit about the history of Marco Island, it's the Mackle brothers that
first really got Marco Island started and made it what it is. And they
had an architect there that is still here today, still on Marco Island, and
is still singing his heart out, and that's Herb Savage. Come on up,
Herb.
MR. SAVAGE: Hut, two, three. I'm here.
MR. OCHS: I'd invite you all down to the right a little bit.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And then would you take -- Lavah,
would you take one picture just of Pat and Dick Shanahan. Thank you
very much.
MR. SAVAGE: What's going to happen?
MR. OCHS: You got kicked out there, Herb.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Everybody else can sit down. We'll
just have -- it was the Chamber and the Historical Society who
prompted this to happen. And thank you all. I'll see you all Friday
night.
MR. SHANAHAN: Absolutely.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Is there a motion to approve today's
proclamations?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So moved.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Motion.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Moved and second.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any opposed?
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April 28, 2015
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: We've got Dick to talk with us.
MR. SHANAHAN: You know, just if I take a moment or two to
thank you on behalf of the Marco Island Chamber of Commerce and
the Marco Island Historical Society. Pat Rutlidge will read the
proclamation on Friday night before 400 people. It will be a Greek
gala. We're looking forward to it. Our City Council members, Larry
Satchell and Bob Brown, are very much a part of it, and we can't thank
you enough for what you've done for us.
Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
Item #5A
PRESENTATION TO RECOGNIZE CONTRIBUTIONS MADE
BY SEVEN EAGLE SCOUTS TO THE CONSERVATION
COLLIER PROGRAM — PRESENTED
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that takes us to Item 5A on your
agenda this morning. That is a presentation to recognize contributions
made by seven Eagle Scouts to the Conservation Collier Program.
Alex?
MS. SULECKI: Good morning, Commissioners. Good morning,
Mr. County Manager.
It is my honor and pleasure to be here this morning with you.
And the Conservation Collier -- oh, well, first I'd like to introduce one
of your land managers, Crystal Segura, here with me, and also the
chairman of our Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Advisory
Committee, Bill Poteet.
Conservation Collier, the county's conservation land acquisition
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April 28, 2015
and management program, would like to take this opportunity to
highlight its partnership with the Boy Scouts of America and give
thanks and recognition to the Eagle Scout candidates who've built
valuable contributions and enhancements for visitors on Conservation
Collier lands. And this was for their Eagle Scout projects between
2013 and 2015.
The projects that are done include building picnic tables,
campsites, benches, fire rings, a kiosk, hitching post, mounting steps,
and an observation platform. And if there is -- is it possible to show
that up there? Let's see. Okay, great. Thank you.
If there are any future Eagles Scouts in the audience or watching,
the email and the phone number on the screen are where you can call
to contact us to do a project with us.
So Eagle Scouts is the highest advancement rank that a Boy Scout
can achieve with the most challenging requirements, and it must be
done before the scout reaches the age of 18.
Originally, it was conceived of as a merit badge in 1911, and the
Eagle Scout badge was meant to be awarded to any scout who had
earned the rank of first-class scout, which was the highest rank of the
day, and who had also earned 21 merit badges.
The first Eagle Scout medal was awarded in 1912, and since then
over 2.2 million scouts have earned that award. That's quite a few, but
it's still only 2 percent of all Boy Scouts.
To earn the rank, a Boy Scout must progress through five other
ranks, earn 21 merit badges, serve six months in a troop leadership
position, plan, develop, and lead a community service project like the
ones you're going to see today, and take part in a scouting conference,
and then successfully complete an Eagle board of review.
Some famous Eagle Scouts include Neil Armstrong, U.S.
astronaut and first man on the moon; Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of
New York City; Gerald Ford, 38th U.S. President; Rick Perry,
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April 28, 2015
Governor of Texas; James Lovell, former U.S. Navy Officer and
Captain of Apollo 13, and many others holding positions of power and
authority in the United States. And, Commissioner Nance, your
executive aide is also an Eagle Scout.
And we are so proud today of the exceptional young men who
have chosen to serve our community through Conservation Collier,
and we wanted the Board and citizens to be aware of the enhancements
that these young men have provided to their conservation lands.
Now I'd like to put up some of the projects and call our scouts up
one by one to recognize them.
Richard Guthrie. Some of them might not be here today. It's a
school day.
Mr. Guthrie?
(No response.)
MS. SULECKI: Thomas Birch?
(Applause.)
MS. SULECKI: And Mr. Birch in 20 -- this is Thomas Birch's
father, Tom Birch. Thomas Birch is in college today. And he did a
project for us in 2013, and you can see it at the top of the screen. He
put in fire rings in campgrounds at Pepper Ranch Preserve.
Edward Larsen?
(Applause.)
MS. SULECKI: And Edward Larsen built this wonderful kiosk
on the top right at Pepper Ranch Preserve; finished in June 2014.
Devon Peck?
(No response.)
MS. SULECKI: Devon is not here today. Devon did the
beautiful picnic tables at Caracara Prairie Preserve on the bottom left,
June 2014.
Reems Landreth?
(Applause.)
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April 28, 2015
MS. SULECKI: And Reems built picnic tables and benches for
us at Rivers Road Preserve. And that's the bottom picture in the
middle.
Luke Weisbecker?
(Applause.)
MS. SULECKI: And Luke built a group campsite for us at
Pepper Ranch. It serves about 50 people with tables and the fire ring
that you see at the bottom right of the screen.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Great work.
MS. SULECKI: So we're very proud of these young men. Thank
you very much.
And is there a few words that you'd like to say?
MR. POTEET: I would like to comment on this as chairman of
Conservation Collier. We've long looked for a relationship between
the Boy Scouts and our community. These young men have gone out
there, spent dollars out of their pockets, and raised funds in order to do
these projects. Every project did not cost Collier County a penny, and
they're a true benefit to our community.
And so as a Scout leader and a member of the Southwest Florida
Council of Boy Scouts of America, we're very, very proud of these
individuals as well as the members of Conservation Collier.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, if we could get a photo with the
Board and all the Eagle Scouts. Alex?
MS. SULECKI: Oh, me, too.
MR. OCHS: Yeah. Jump up there.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You look pretty proud of your
younger one.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Mr. Chairman, just a word of
note. Our dear Mary, who makes sure that we get escorted in safely
every day, she is, Friday, going to a ceremony where her nephew is
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April 28, 2015
going to be -- have the honor of becoming an Eagle Scout.
(Applause.)
Item #9A
RECOMMENDATION TO DENY THE SINGLE, 2013 CYCLE 3
GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN AMENDMENT SPECIFIC TO
THE VINCENTIAN MIXED USE SUBDISTRICT PETITION.
(ADOPTION HEARING) (COMPANION TO REZONE PETITION
PUDZ-PL20130001726, VINCENTIAN VILLAGE MIXED USE
PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT) — MOTION TO CONTINUE
TO THE MAY 12, 2015 BCC MEETING TO ALLOW THE
PETITIONER TIME TO BRING BACK AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN
— APPROVED
Item #9B
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NUMBER 2004-41,
AS AMENDED, COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT
CODE, WHICH ESTABLISHED COMPREHENSIVE ZONING
REGULATIONS FOR UNINCORPORATED AREA OF COLLIER
COUNTY, FLORIDA, BY AMENDING THE APPROPRIATE
ZONING ATLAS MAP OR MAPS BY CHANGING THE ZONING
CLASSIFICATION OF THE HEREIN DESCRIBED REAL
PROPERTY FROM A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (PUD)
ZONING DISTRICT TO A MIXED USE PLANNED UNIT
DEVELOPMENT (MPUD) ZONING DISTRICT FOR A PROJECT
TO BE KNOWN AS THE VINCENTIAN VILLAGE MPUD, TO
ALLOW CONSTRUCTION OF 224 MAXIMUM MULTI-FAMILY
RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNITS, UP TO 250,000 GROSS
SQUARE FEET OF COMMERCIAL LAND USES, AND A HOTEL
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April 28, 2015
LIMITED TO 150 ROOMS AND AN ASSISTED LIVING
FACILITY (ALF) AT 0.6 FAR. THE COMMERCIAL USES ARE
SUBJECT TO CONVERSIONS AND LIMITATIONS IF THE
PROJECT IS DEVELOPED AS MIXED USE OR IF A HOTEL OR
ALF IS CONSTRUCTED. THE SUBJECT PROPERTY IS
LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF SOUTHWEST
BOULEVARD AND U.S. 41 IN SECTION 32, TOWNSHIP 50
SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA,
CONSISTING OF 30.68+/- ACRES; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF
ORDINANCE NUMBER 99-37, THE VINCENTIAN PUD; AND
BY PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. [PUDZ-PL20130001726,
A COMPANION TO THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN
AMENDMENT ESTABLISHING THE VINCENTIAN MIXED USE
SUBDISTRICT, PL20130001767/CP-2013-10] — MOTION TO
CONTINUE TO THE MAY 12, 2015 BCC MEETING TO ALLOW
THE PETITIONER TIME TO BRING BACK AN ALTERNATIVE
PLAN — APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that moves us to your time-certain
items this morning.
The first one is Item 9A. It is a recommendation to deny the
single 2013 Cycle 3 Growth Management Plan amendment specific to
the Vincentian Mixed Use Subdistrict petition. This is an adoption
hearing. There is a companion rezone petition following this item if
the Board moves affirmatively on this Growth Management Plan
amendment.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, sir. At this time, let us go ahead
and have ex parte communication that was not previously given for
Items 9A and 9B, which is the Vincentian Village MPUD issues that
are being considered.
Commissioner Taylor?
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I gave mine previously. Do you
want me to --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: No, ma'am.
Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. First can I say, Troy, I don't
know if everybody else's button is not working, but mine is not.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: It's because I knocked the phone
off the hook so many times this morning.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I don't know.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, mine's not either.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Nobody's buttons are working.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: So we're button-less. So, ladies and
gentlemen, you're just going to have to flag me down here for a while.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We're going to throw things at
you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: You're going to throw things at the
Chair, okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. It's not your fault, so we
won't throw anything.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: We'll call for technical assistance.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: All righty, fine.
On Items 9 -- well, Item 9B -- I'll say 9A and B because they both
related -- I've had meetings with the petitioner and with -- that's Chris
Shucart and with Rich Yovanovich, his attorney. I've met with -- I've
called Lori Miller, who lives in that area. I've spoken with Marci
Seamples and the East Naples Civic Association. I've spoken with
several Planning Commissioners and several East Naples residents
about this item. And actually I've worked really hard on this to make
sure that it's a good project that we can all be proud of.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you. I have read the staff report.
I've had discussions with the petitioner's representative, Mr.
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April 28, 2015
Yovanovich, and phone calls, discussions with staff, and read
communication.
Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I've read the staff report. I've had
calls and emails with staff and with the petitioner's counsel.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I've received correspondence
from the petitioner and spoke to staff and received staffs
communication to the Planning Commission.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you. All right. I guess you're
going to lead us off, Mr. Yovanovich. We're going to swear everybody
in for the public hearing.
(The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Mr. Yovanovich, please, sir.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Thank you. Good morning. For the
record, Rich Yovanovich on behalf of the petitioner. With me today I
have Chris Shucart who represents the owner of the property; Bob
Mulhere and Paula McMichael from Hole Montes are here, and they're
planners on the project, and that's the engineering firm on the project.
And we can answer any questions you may have regarding the project.
Up on the visualizer is an aerial depicting the 31 acres that's in
front of you today. As the introduction mentioned, we're here for the
adoption hearing for a Growth Management Plan amendment and for
the actual hearing to consider the companion PUD amendment for this
particular piece of property.
Briefly, by way of history, in October of 2014, we had our
transmittal hearing for the project. At that time we were doing a Comp
Plan amendment to change the designation from the property, which
was urban coastal fringe, and to change and form its own subdistrict in
the Comprehensive Plan.
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April 28, 2015
Under the current Comprehensive Plan, the property can be
utilized for residential, or the front roughly eight-and-a-half acres can
be retail. There's an existing PUD that would allow for strip retail
along the front eight-and-a-half acres up to 115,000 square feet. And
then the remainder of the property can be developed at four units per
acre for basically a total of 39 acres under the current staffs
interpretation of the PUD because there were just two development
PODS on the back portion of the property, and they are counting the
density just based on those development PODS, or we could come in
and rezone the property under the current Comprehensive Plan to three
units per acre for a total of 92 units, because it's slightly under 31
acres, or we can do another combination which would allow us to keep
115,000 square feet of strip retail and roughly 68 units of residential.
What we heard from the community is they want a nice,
moderately priced housing complex on this property or a nice
commercial development on this property, neither of which can occur
under the current zoning on the property or under the current
Comprehensive Plan designation for the property because we can't put
commercial on anything but that eight-and-a-half acres.
So we started the process of talking to the neighbors about the
potential of the entirety of the property being commercial with up to
250,000 square feet of commercial on the property or the entirety of
the property being residential.
We quickly surveyed the market, and the development
community is not interested in a 90-unit multifamily project on this
property. There's not enough units for them to do a higher quality
project to properly amenitize it to get it to the price points that the
community really wanted.
So we asked for an increase in density. And if you'll remember,
the increase in density was over 300 units per acre when we came to
you the first time.
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April 28, 2015
Commissioner Fiala and the community asked us to reduce that
density yet achieve a density that would be enough to allow for a well
amenitized project to come back through the form of the PUD, and we
had told you the last time about the different development
commitments we were going to bring back to you in the PUD, which
we have.
So we transmitted at 250,000 square feet of commercial uses, a
150-unit hotel or senior housing as the commercial options, and 224
dwelling units as the residential option. And if we did a mixed use
project, there would be adjustments based upon -- the acreage that
went to retail would reduce the number of multifamily units that can
go on the property.
We initially had proposed doing a rental community, but the
community asked us to go to a -- allow for the option of doing a
for-sale product, which we're allowed to do under what was
transmitted, as well as what's in front of you regarding the PUD.
On the -- the zoning map to the right, basically -- can we zoom in
a little bit, Leo, if you don't mind -- we'll show you kind of what's
around us. You'll see both on the right side and the left side of the
property there's commercial along the front, and about -- that's the
width of the commercial that we can do today. And then you'll see that
we have some R4 zoning around us, and we also have some mobile
home park zoning around us.
So we worked with everybody around us, and we then we worked
with the East Naples Civic Association. We met with them on
multiple occasions. And what you have in front of you is a PUD that
has been endorsed by the East Naples Civic Association with a master
plan that looks like this --
MR. OCHS: Do you want to do it this way?
MR. YOVANOVICH: Yes, thank you. Whoops, that's it.
And in going through this process, you will see that we have
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April 28, 2015
placed the preserve and the lake in a location that provides a very wide
buffer to our neighbors to -- in all directions except for where we have
streets. But that was one of the concerns the residents have and one of
the concerns that the Planning Commission had, and you'll see that we
have a minimum width requirement of 65 feet along our preserve
boundary, and it gets, obviously, much wider where you have the lake
boundary as well. There will also be a wall along the development
side of the development.
So we've gone through this process, and one of the things we
heard loud and clear from the community was how do we assure that
this will not become an affordable housing project. There was concern
that if we were to do a smaller-lot single-family community, those lots
would be priced at a point that affordable housing could be constructed
on this property. So we put a requirement in both the Comp Plan and
in the PUD that requires that this property be development --
developed as market-rate housing.
We also included a lot of development standards in the PUD
regarding a gated entry, block construction, resort-style pool, a
clubhouse with a fitness center; all of those requirements are in the
PUD that we discussed the last time to make sure that this would be a
moderately priced single-family community. I'm sorry, multifamily
community.
So we've made those assurances and we have those obligations in
the PUD, so whoever is the ultimate developer on this property is
committed to providing that type of housing, which is what we were
asked to make sure would happen in the first place.
We have a unanimous recommendation of approval from the
Planning Commission. The communities around us support this. The
only hiccup we have is Comprehensive Planning staff. Since we're in
the Coastal High Hazard Area, Comprehensive Planning staff feels that
we should be locked in at three units per acre. The statute has changed
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April 28, 2015
since the original three units per acre occurred, and basically the statute
applicable to coastal hazard areas allows you to increase density if you
provide the mitigation necessary to make sure that the increased
housing is addressed.
And Dan Summers has required that we provide a portable
generator. He's not even concerned about the quality of the housing on
the property. He wants a generator so he can take it around the county
where he may need it for shelters that will be public shelters. So we've
done that.
Utilities staff says there's plenty of utilities available.
Transportation staff says it's not a transportation issue. FDOT says it's
not a transportation issue. So under the statute, you can increase the
density in the Coastal High Hazard Area.
So we are requesting that the Board of County Commissioners
approve both the Comp Plan amendment at the adoption stage and the
PUD that were reviewed and approved unanimously by the Planning
Commission -- I can go into a much more detailed presentation if you
need me to, but that's a fairly detailed overview of the project.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Since this is Commissioner
Fiala's district, I'm going to start with her, followed by Commissioner
Henning, and then Commissioner Hiller.
Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. Excuse me. Rich was
wondering did we want to hear from staff before we started, or I don't
know if you do that or not?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ma'am, I'm going to let you give us some
guidance and tell us what your thoughts are on it.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Well, thank you very much.
This is a much better project than when we started out, I feel. In fact, it
was also four stories, and I was very concerned about the neighbors
who are all one-story buildings. And so they reduced it down from
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April 28, 2015
four stories down to two stories that would be -- pardon me. Oh, you
can't hear me, okay.
So we reduced it from four stories -- or they reduced it -- I didn't
do it -- from four stories down to two stories, which the neighborhood
felt was much more acceptable.
As you heard, I called a lot of people just to make sure that the
neighbors were in agreement with it. And I talked with East Naples
Civic Association, and they also felt that this was a project that they
could stand behind and support.
I was -- excuse me. One of the things I was concerned with is the
lack of housing for young professionals. We want to bring a lot of you
guys back into our community after you graduate from college, but we
don't have housing for you, and that's been the biggest problem with
the businesses around Collier County is they're trying to bring people
down, but there is no housing for the young professionals from the
skilled workers and so forth.
And so that's heavily what I talked about with Chris Shucart and
Rich Yovanovich, and they are writing this into their agreement so that
they will have housing that will be for those people who right now
have a sad lack of that type of housing. We have plenty of low-income
housing and very-low-income housing, but we don't have -- we don't
have specialized housing for young professionals, young college
graduates, skilled workers. So that's what this is proposed to do.
I know Chris is going to be selling it, so we've wanted to make
sure that this was in the agreement so everybody understood when they
bought this property they would be buying this commitment as well.
I think that that's all for right now.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes. Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Rich, did you provide a market
analysis needs for the commercial?
MR. YOVANOVICH: Yes, sir.
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. And then it -- it showed
that it was not needed?
MR. YOVANOVICH: That's not correct. Our market analysis
showed that there was a need for more commercial in the area. Your
staff, what they do is they look at an overall potential development out
there for already zoned commercial property.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right.
MR. YOVANOVICH: So they assume it will be built. Well,
most marketing people will tell you that's a bad assumption. You have
to look at the type of parcel, and the type of parcel we have at 30 acres,
the market analysis does show that commercial is a viable option on
that property and makes sense. Because the community was real clear
to us, they do not want any more strip retail that can be developed on
that property. So we did provide a market analysis that does support
additional retail.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So why would you think -- what
would your reasoning be that the existing zoned commercial is not
already built on if there's a need out in that area?
MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, first of all, there's not a need for
more strip retail in that area. What there is a need for, is your larger
commercial developments where you can bring in -- and I know there's
already an Outback Steakhouse in that area, but that you can bring in
those types of restaurants to the areas, those kinds of shops that
co-locate with an Outback Steakhouse. Those don't go into strip retail.
There's definitely a need for more of the larger format retail out in that
area, not strip retail.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And the property to the east is
zoned what? That's the Hitching Post commercial center, right?
MR. YOVANOVICH: Yes.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Commercial?
MR. YOVANOVICH: That is zoned C3, which is consistent
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April 28, 2015
with the type of commercial we're asking for, and we have C5 to the
west.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right. And then C4 and then
C3, and that's not strip zoning then?
MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, that is strip retail. Go up and down
41, and there's plenty of strip retail.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Sure is. There's a lot of empty
commercial down there also.
Commissioner Fiala mentioned the affordable housing for our
professionals such as teachers and firefighters and sheriffs deputies.
I don't see that anywhere in the proposal.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, we -- I'm not sure what terminology
we use anymore. I think those are essential service personnel types of
people or at one time the gap housing phrase I think we co-authorized.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. We'll call it gap housing
today.
MR. YOVANOVICH: What's that?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: We'll call it gap housing today.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Okay. We'll call it gap housing, okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, what page would I find it
on?
MR. YOVANOVICH: The PUD doesn't specifically call out gap
housing, but the price points for this project will be in that price range.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So there's no guarantee for gap
housing, as Commissioner Fiala's understanding?
MR. YOVANOVICH: And our understanding was -- now, we
certainly can address that issue, but our understanding was, based upon
where this project was located, and the price points that you can expect
to see on this property is going to be in the upper twos to the lower
fours, which is gap housing.
Location tells you it's not going to be a half a million dollars and
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up. So when we were talking about providing that, we didn't see a
need to address it any further than these are the types of amenities that
will be there, and this was the type of project that would result from
those amenities.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I received an email from your
client, and I'll read it to you, because I was looking for the public
benefit.
Public benefit would be for providing of much-needed housing
opportunities for healthcare workers, schoolteachers, county workers,
fire and police and other vital services provided that keep our county
great.
Although there's no commitment within the ordinance for such
housing. It's only market rate. Whatever the market will bear is
whatever the market would bear.
And when we talk about a factor of housing within our -- within
our documents, there is a percentage of median-priced income. So,
again, there's no guarantee, so --
MR. YOVANOVICH: Commissioner Henning, we stand by that.
We think that the price points for this project are going to come in at
the thresholds for gap housing.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You think you'll get another
Outback Steakhouse at this site?
MR. YOVANOVICH: I don't think I'll get another Outback
Steakhouse, but I think I'll get -- maybe get a competitor with Outback
Steakhouse.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You know, when somebody
makes a commitment to the Board that you're going to have something,
it really should be written in the document. I mean, you're going above
and beyond what is allowed in this area for over double for the
housing, but there's no commitment for the public benefit.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, the public benefit as the public
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explained it to us?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I mean, this is what was
explained to me by your client.
MR. YOVANOVICH: And I'm not arguing with you. I'm saying
what the community wanted from us was the opportunity to have
either a successful commercial development that was not strip retail or
they wanted us to have a moderately priced residential community.
And at 224 units on 30 acres, slightly over seven units per acre, and
with the required amenities that we're going to have, it will be a
moderately priced residential community. It will not be small lot,
small housing that has been recently acquired by an affordable housing
builder in the community; and they didn't want anymore of that. So
they saw the public benefit of making sure that we had a different
residential type there.
We believe, without a commitment as to percentages, that we're
going to --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Which project are you talking
about?
MR. YOVANOVICH: What's that?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Which project are you talking
about?
MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, right behind us you'll see there's a
lot of vacant lots that have been recently acquired by an affordable
housing builder.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Who's the affordable housing
builder?
MR. YOVANOVICH: Habitat for Humanity is buying lots in
there.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: We're not talking about their
product.
MR. YOVANOVICH: What's that? No, we're talking about a
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April 28, 2015
much better quality product. That's what the community wanted.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: But there's no commitment, so --
MR. YOVANOVICH: There is a commitment. The
commitment is in all of the acquired amenities that we have to have
that go with that moderately priced housing.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Even throughout the urbanized
area, four units per acre, you're asking even above and beyond that, so
-- but there's no commitment. There is no commitment, Rich. You
can't sit up there and argue that there is a commitment to build much
needed housing like your client has said to me.
MR. YOVANOVICH: What's the percentage you'd like to see?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Over the base density.
MR. YOVANOVICH: All of it above the base density has to be
-- well, that's --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Three units.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, three to seven.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You have three units.
MR. YOVANOVICH: We have 90 units.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You have three units per acre.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Ninety units.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Above the three units per acre.
MR. YOVANOVICH: So you want 100 --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Make a commitment.
MR. YOVANOVICH: You want all 134 units above the base
density to be --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: This is what your client has told
me; he's going to have it. And, you know, in my opinion, it is strip
zoning, for one thing; however, I'm looking at what is the community
benefit? If the property is tied to housing provided to professionals,
teachers, firefighters, and police officers, that's a public benefit.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, the irony -- the irony is, I can do
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affordable housing in the Coastal High Hazard Area, and I can get up
to 11 units per acre through using the affordable housing density
bonus. And I can assure you that only a percentage in a low fraction of
those units would be affordable housing units; not every one of the
units.
Now, the community was very clear to us, do not come forward
with an affordable housing density bonus agreement for this piece of
property because we will not support it. So what you're asking us to do
is, one, go against what the community has asked us to do, which was
to deliver a nice multifamily project; two, you're asking us to give you
more percent of units than we would be required to do under an
affordable housing density bonus agreement for those additional units,
and that's -- and you're asking us to build something the community
doesn't want.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I'm only repeating what your
client has told me; that's all I'm doing.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, my client never said that 100
percent of the units were going to be --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I didn't say that.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, you just asked me for 100 percent
of everything above the base to be limited to, I'm assuming, gap
housing.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, it's not 100 percent. It's
above the base units.
MR. YOVANOVICH: I wouldn't even have to do 30 percent
above the base if I did an affordable housing project. Thirty percent of
the project, worst-case scenario, if I did an affordable housing density
bonus, which the community doesn't want, 30 percent of the units
would be affordable, which 30 percent times 220 is 66. It's not 135.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I have a question for David
Weeks about this conversation.
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David, the base density is three units per acre; is that correct?
MR. WEEKS: For the record, David Weeks of the
Comprehensive Planning staff.
Commissioner, that's correct. At this location three units per acre.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Three units per acre. They're
asking for over seven units per acre?
MR. WEEKS: Correct.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So if they were going to -- since
they're asking for more units under our Growth Management Plan,
how does it comply with the Growth Management Plan when they're
asking for more density?
MR. WEEKS: Commissioner, there's only one way for them to
comply with the Comprehensive Plan's density rating system, and Rich
made reference to it, and that's the affordable housing density bonus.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And is that above the base
density, or is that all?
MR. WEEKS: That's above base density.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Correct.
MR. WEEKS: And, actually, the way it works is that -- first of
all, their base density is market rate. That's their choice. Anything
above base density that is part of that bonus, there's a matrix in the
Land Development Code. So it is not all of the bonus units that have
to be in any type of affordable/workforce category. It is a percentage
of those. That's how the bonus works.
The incentive for the developer to provide some lower-cost
housing is that they get more market-rate housing. The presumption is
it's going to be difficult to make money on those affordable/workforce
units; therefore, their incentive is the fact that they're going to get to
build more market-rate units.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So since the developer has made
a commitment, at least to me, and I hear it from Commissioner Fiala,
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April 28, 2015
of providing housing for our professionals, what would it take for this
to be in compliance in that aspect of the Growth Management Plan?
MR. WEEKS: Commissioner, you have professional housing
staff here, and they're the ones that need to answer that, because there
is a matrix in the Land Development Code. It depends on the income
level that they're providing for, the income level of those that would
acquire or rent the units. That's -- it's a formula. It's a matrix.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I'd like to hear that, but I
have one more question for you.
MR. WEEKS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And part of your
recommendation for denial is because of the commercial aspect of it?
MR. WEEKS: Correct.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Can you explain that to me.
MR. WEEKS: Commissioner, the applicant did provide a
commercial market study, needs analysis. Staff reviewed it. We met
with the applicant and their professional consultant, and we just never
came to a point of agreement. I mean, after the -- as a result of our
meeting, the applicant did go back and revise their market study, but
staffs professional opinion is that they still have not demonstrated a
need for additional community commercial. That's a category of
commercial. And they provided no data and analysis to support the
neighborhood serving commercial.
So we're -- simply put, we're at a point of disagreement.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
MR. WEEKS: And, Commissioner, if I might go back to your --
the earlier question. It's because the applicant does not want to provide
affordable/workforce housing. They did not want to pursue the density
bonus; therefore, they're not in -- consistent with the Comprehensive
Plan. That's why they filed the amendment to be able to increase that
density.
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER HENNING: All right. Well, I'd like to talk
about what would it take to be compliant to just that part of the
amendment to the Growth Management Plan.
MR. WEEKS: That would be your housing staff.
And, Commissioner, if I can make another comment while they're
coming up. When we talk about affordable/workforce housing, as far
as what the Comprehensive Plan allows, we are talking about a
regulatory of workforce housing, what regulations require.
It may be true that the actual housing prices at market rate fall
within affordable category. I mean, that's something the county has
experienced over the last handful of years during the economic
downturn. This commission recognized with such a tremendous
reduction in housing prices, all of this market-rate housing -- a lot of
market-rate housing was, in fact, affordable; it was just not from a
regulatory perspective.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And, you know, I don't disagree
with that statement; however, hold onto your pants because --
MR. WEEKS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- you know, the prices are
going up, and I know Commissioner Fiala wants some landscaping and
some parks and that, and the only way we're going to get there is
increased valuation. There goes the affordability.
MS. GRANT: Commissioner, good morning. Kim Grant,
director of Community and Housing -- Community and Human
Services.
I believe the question being asked is should the affordable
housing density bonus program be applied for, and we looked at --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: No, what I'm asking --
MS. GRANT: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- is the -- to comply with the
Growth Management Plan --
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April 28, 2015
MS. GRANT: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- in this particular area, it has a
base density of three units per acre.
MS. GRANT: Correct.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: The affordable housing, in this
case, we're talking about for professionals, what would it look like?
Would it be -- they're asking for over seven units per acre. So would it
be that affordable housing over the base density that that commitment
would be written into the ordinance?
MS. GRANT: Okay. Let me try to answer. Hopefully I'll be able
to answer your question, Commissioner.
Since the base density is three per acre, in the PUD amendment
they have requested 7.3, which is 4.3 more per acre. In their
amendment they're not requesting or indicating that that would be
specifically affordable or workforce housing.
If we did apply the formula in the Land Development Code
associated with affordable housing density bonus, as Mr. Yovanovich
said, they would be eligible for a total of 11 units per acre, which is
eight more than the three.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right.
MS. GRANT: If we wanted to look at what that would come out
to in terms of percentage affordable, I could work with Rich and the
developer and come back to you with a more precise number.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Let's say that the 4.3 should be
for gap housing --
MS. GRANT: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- or professionals. What
percentage of-- I know you work on a percentage, like 120 percent
above --
MS. GRANT: Area median income.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, the income. What would
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April 28, 2015
that be for our professionals, such as teachers, sheriffs deputies, EMS
MS. GRANT: Okay. Are you asking --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- police, professionals?
MS. GRANT: -- essentially the basic price point of a property?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: What would be the percentage
above the -- or below the median income?
MS. GRANT: Okay. Let me try this chart we've prepared and
see if this answers your question, Commissioner.
MR. OCHS: These are owner occupied, Kim.
MS. GRANT: Is there a copy for me, please.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. That would be workforce
and skilled.
MS. GRANT: Right. What we're showing here are a couple of
the various income categories. And just as a reminder for everyone,
including the public, in order to take a look at an approximate price
point of affordability for an individual, we have to take a look at their
income. We base this off HUD's area median income.
The group of people I believe you're talking about Commissioner,
are between our 81 and 120 percent of area median income.
The LDC has an overlapping category called gap income, which
you've also been using those terms today; above 81 percent but up to
150 percent.
Now, let me just pick the 81 to 120 to try to answer your question.
What we're saying here is that a family earning $79,800, which is at
the top end of that, 120 percent of the area median income, can afford
approximately a $266,000 home.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right.
MS. GRANT: And so where can I take you from here? I think --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: No. You answered the question.
It's between 81 and 120 percent. And, quite frankly, we saw (sic) in
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April 28, 2015
Cirrus Pointe about changing that affordability, and I believe it was
market rate. We have some more coming to change the affordability to
market rate.
There's a trend, just like changing these golf courses into
residential homes. So the trend is getting away from that market rate
for our professionals. And, quite frankly, unless we can agree on the
percentage above the base density I can't support the project. I'm done.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller, then
Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: If it were -- if this project were to
be considered for an affordable housing density bonus, this petitioner
would get a lot more than what they're asking for.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: They could ask for up to 11.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Uh-huh. I think there's some
confusion between affordable housing and gap housing. Gap housing
is that housing that is supposed to be priced to attract the professional.
I don't mean professional as in, like, a lawyer or a doctor, but I should
say workforce.
The non-gap housing is what is supposed to be considered
affordable housing as HUD defines affordable housing. They're two
very different target markets.
We had a recent affordable housing study presented to us, and it
was deemed that there was no shortage of affordable housing and no
need to create more affordable housing at this time.
If our goal as a community is to develop prices that fall in the gap
income bracket, then we have to create a separate policy from what we
have.
With respect to this project, do you, Mr. Yovanovich, realistically
see your pricing -- and I think it's very important to -- when we look at
this chart, when we look at the price -- you know, the numbers that are
presented, like, for example, the approximate home price affordable,
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April 28, 2015
and that is -- is that -- just -- I want to ask staff, is that a median
number? Is that -- I mean, you're driving it off the median income, so
I'm assuming you came up with some -- this is, like, I guess what you
would consider, like, the median home price?
MS. GRANT: The way that that -- again, Kim Grant. The way
that that is calculated is, yes, we use the area median income, the figure
that's on the --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And can you define median so
people understand that it's not average.
MS. GRANT: Let's see. Going back to math.
MR. OCHS: It's the point above and below which 50 percent of
the numbers reside.
MS. GRANT: Thank you very much.
MR. OCHS: Half of them are higher; half of them are lower.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's the textbook definition.
MS. GRANT: HUD publishes the area median income every
year for the various income levels. So for the 120 percent, $79,800 is
the area median income.
The basis upon which the calculation for the approximate home
price affordable is the planning approach that in order for a home to be
affordable, a family will spend no more than 30 percent of their
income on their housing costs. And so the mathematical calculation is
the AMI divided by .3, which comes up with the figure there.
So I believe in answer to your question, you know, that 299- --
266- number is the price -- approximate price point for the family
earning the median income at the particular item level specified.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So have you looked at this
particular project from an affordable housing and a gap housing
standpoint?
MS. GRANT: Not officially.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Have you looked at the
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surrounding area to look at what the prices are in the surrounding area?
MS. GRANT: I have not been asked to do that to this point.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Has staff looked at that? Did the
petitioner look at that?
MR. YOVANOVICH: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's very -- I'm shocked that staff
didn't. I mean, that's -- I can't believe we're even having this discussion
and staff did not look at what the surrounding market prices are.
MR. YOVANOVICH: We --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: What are the surrounding market
prices, just out of curiosity, approximately?
MR. YOVANOVICH: In the two's for the single-family homes.
I haven't looked at what the mobile homes are selling for, but --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So the homes are, in that
surrounding area, falling in the workforce housing price range?
MR. YOVANOVICH: Yes.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Okay. And in order for you to be
competitive, can you realistically price above what the gap income
price range is?
MR. YOVANOVICH: When we made that statement --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Because really what Commissioner
Henning's concern is, when he's looking to these workers like firemen
and nurses and so forth, he's looking at really the gap income market.
So are you going to be priced and can you sell product in a market
that is predominantly two's above 342,000?
MR. YOVANOVICH: The goal will be to have some of those
units above that price because there will be some bigger units; they'll
be better amenitized than what's around us, but --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: It's okay if you have some. That's
not -- the issue isn't whether all units. The question is, on the average
-- or let's just say do you see the median? Because the median is what
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we're talking about. Because, you know, there is no question that, you
know, there are people in the gap income bracket that are making 100
-- 50 percent was AMI.
MR. YOVANOVICH: We truly -- I didn't want anybody to -- the
reason I gave you the answer I did is I didn't want anybody to say my
answer is every unit will be less than that number, but we truly believe
that the median price will be at that number or lower for purposes of
the units. We truly believe that the market --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Which price, the 332-?
MR. YOVANOVICH: The 332,5-, which is the gap housing
price.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Right.
MR. YOVANOVICH: And when we were -- when that email
went out, it was -- we were talking about gap housing, and that's
exactly what we were talking to Commissioner Fiala about and exactly
what we were talking to the neighborhood about.
We believe that the market, based upon what surrounds us, and
the amenities that we will be providing, this will be marketed to people
of that income threshold. And we truly believe it will be housing for
teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, deputies. They don't -- if
I --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: You're going to have -- you are
going to have a lot of units which will be under the median as well as
units that will be over that median.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Correct.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So you will -- I mean, you're not
required to have 100 percent of the project targeted to gap. That's not
how the -- you know, that's not how the bonus works.
MR. YOVANOVICH: The matrix doesn't work that way. It
doesn't work to where every unit above the base is dedicated to one of
those categories that are up on your screen. That's not the way it
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works. A percentage is dedicated to that.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So with respect to higher density in
the Coastal High Hazard Area, my understanding now is that, as you
say, the statute has been changed, and mitigation is permitted.
So you have provided the mitigation as required by staff.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Correct.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And you are going to be providing
units which -- where the median, you believe, will be at or below gap
income?
MR. YOVANOVICH: Yes.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: The gap income, as staff calls it,
approximate home price affordable with a little star up in the corner
referring to the notes below as to how that formula is calculated.
So it would appear that this change, as Commissioner Fiala would
like to see it happen, makes sense for this community.
MR. YOVANOVICH: I would agree with that, and it's what the
community asked us to do.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I don't think I have any further
questions.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I just -- I'm just -- I'm inclined to
agree with Commissioner Henning, maybe not to the degree that you
are required or will take 4.3 units and make it gap housing/affordable
housing.
But as I look at this, this is a gift. And I know it's not spot zoning,
but we're zoning for one person. We're changing the Comprehensive
Plan for one developer. And there needs to be a higher bar by which to
approve it. I would like to ask staff a question, please, two questions.
The coastal high hazard zoning, the statute's been changed, but
you stand by your denial?
MR. WEEKS: Yes, Commissioner. Here's the reason for staffs
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recommendation. The Coastal High Hazard Area, generally speaking,
is an area which historically the statute has encouraged local
governments not to increase density; don't put people and don't put
property in harm's way. That CHHA, Coastal High Hazard Area,
boundary reflects the Hurricane Category 1 impact zone from flooding,
from storm surge.
Rich is correct that the statute has changed, but it still, in staffs
opinion, is appropriate to be very concerned about what we place in
that area. Mitigation is allowed and, as has already been stated, they've
provided the mitigation requested.
The density rating in the Future Land Use Element of our
Comprehensive Plan, which is how we calculate eligible density, still
limits properties, in this particular case, the urban coastal fringe; this
area south of U.S. 41, east of the City of the Naples. Still limits that
area to a maximum of four units per acre with only one exception, and
that's the provision of affordable/workforce housing.
Obviously, what we're saying here is there's a competition. We're
trying to balance between the concern for public safety and -- back
when the plan was adopted, 1989, but has not changed since -- a need
for affordable/workforce housing. So there's this balancing act, which
is safety, provision of affordable/workforce housing. So that is the
only bonus that's applicable to increased density above four units per
acre.
That's still what the Comprehensive Plan says today. So the
staffs perspective is that is the established policy.
We're here for a Comprehensive Plan amendment. It's a
case-by-case evaluation. This Board, of course, has the authority to
amend the plan if you deem it appropriate.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. And then may I speak to
Laurie?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Kim.
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Kim. These figures for your
AMI, that is income per household, not necessarily income per
individual?
MS. GRANT: Correct.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. Because I believe -- and
I'm going back. I believe a teacher starts at 30-, 32-. A teacher with
two children and no husband would not qualify to live here. Your
starting officer would never -- they don't start at 48- or -- so we're not
talking about gap housing here for those professionals. Now, if there's
two incomes, yes, but not for starting. Okay, and that's what I wanted
to ask you.
When I was elected, I got a lot of information. And I'll never
forget when I asked about growth and what can we do about growth.
You know, folks, their zoning is in place. There's a Comprehensive
Plan. And there was a smile in the response, don't change your
Comprehensive Plan. Five million dollars a mile it costs and seven
years to lay road. And we do it -- it's like we're taking bites from this
apple and this apple, and all of a sudden we look around, the apple's
gone and we wonder what we did. And I just can't -- I can't support
this.
The other -- the other issue is intensity, and it is an intensity issue,
and we all know what we went through this season and what we're
looking forward in future growth, and a lot of developments haven't
even come online yet.
So I'm sorry, Mr. Shucart, I cannot support this.
MR. YOVANOVICH: I'd like to, if I can, make a couple of
comments, and I think it's your typical break, and then I'd like to go
out, talk to my client, and maybe come back with a proposal, if that's
acceptable.
A couple comments based on what was said. The ultimate irony
of your Comprehensive Plan as it sits here today is I can do affordable
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housing, go up to 11 units per acre, and provide no mitigation because
your Comp Plan says today I can go to 11 units per acre, and I can put
people in the lower income who can least afford to live there in -- your
staffs statement -- harm's way. But I cannot put substantial housing
that meets the requirements for gap housing in that very same location
under your Comprehensive Plan.
It's not a density issue. It's not a safety issue, if you look at your
own Comprehensive Plan, because your Comprehensive Plan says I
can go to 11. I'm on the edge of the Coastal High Hazard Area. I'm on
U.S. 41, which you're not going to spend any money to improve, and it
already has the capacity based on your transportation's staff review and
FDOT's review.
So you look at it on a case-by-case basis. What we're asking for is
not unreasonable and is consistent with the density that I could achieve
today if I did affordable housing.
So I think that we need to take that into consideration. In the
meantime, I would like to, if we can -- your normal break is right about
now, correct, Commissioner?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes.
MR. YOVANOVICH: If we can take a break, I'd like to talk to
my --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I'm going to make one statement, and
then we're going to take a little break.
I think that the current Growth Management Plan, as it applies to
this parcel, is completely asinine. How we can go in and say it's
inappropriate to put stuff in the high hazard zone at a higher density
and yet it's okay to put 11 homes to the acre of very low income
housing in there and that's okay? I think that's the most bizarre thing
I've ever heard in my life.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I second that.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I think it's the most --
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Let me explain to you why it's
there. Because there is a need in this community for the workforce to
live. That is -- that is the tradeoff that --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning, I have no doubt
there is a need, but if we're -- you know, you have to choose your own
poison. If we're going to sit there and say, okay, it's okay to put them
in a hazardous area, I think that's completely nonsensical to me.
But I'm going to go back to comments by Commissioner Fiala,
and then Commissioner Hiller. At present we're going to take a little
15-minute break. We're going to come back at 11 :05. We're in recess.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: 11 :05 or 11:00?
MR. OCHS: Sir?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Just make it 11 o'clock.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Eleven o'clock, sorry.
(A brief recess was had.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ladies and gentlemen, please take your
seats. Thank you.
Mr. Yovanovich, I'm just surmising from comments on the dais
that as this item and the companion, Item 9B, require a supermajority
vote, I think that I would like to hear if you have any proposals that
might address the concerns that you've heard this morning and perhaps
allow additional support to come your way, if possible at all.
MR. YOVANOVICH: What I heard was the need for a
commitment to provide houses in the gap housing category, which is
the -- it's not up there anymore, but the 80 to 150 percent income
threshold. That's what I heard was needed.
I hope I'm hearing it correctly, and I hope I'll be corrected if I'm
not hearing it correctly. Now, when I looked at the LDC matrix, in
order to get four units per acre additional density, you would need to
provide 40 percent of those units in that income category.
So what we would propose -- and we can continue and come
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back, but I want to know if I'm on the right track -- that we would
propose that 40 percent of the additional units above base would be
marketed to people and in that income category for the first 120 days
after that unit is CO'ed. We think we'll be able to find qualified buyers,
but if we can't, we would like that restriction -- and you've done that in
other projects -- that if you can't find qualified buyers, you can sell it to
people who are not in that income category.
We would also require that if someone in that income category
bought a unit, they would be required to live there for a year, because
we've been told people are concerned that they'll get a, quote,
discounted unit -- and I'm going to assure you they won't be discounted
units, because that's the market we're going for anyway. But if there
were an inherit discount based -- they'd have to stay there for a year so
they can't flip it and immediately take care -- take advantage of this
perceived price differential because they met an income category.
I think that answers the question about are we committing to
provide units to the people in that income category.
So we would propose 40 percent of the 134 or so units be
restricted for 120 days for sale to those income categories, and
anybody who buys a unit in that category has to stay in there for a year.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Commissioners, our lights are
currently working. Any comments on the proposal? Commissioner
Fiala, then Commissioner Henning.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. I really appreciated
Commissioner Henning's feelings about this, and I agree with him,
actually. I think we do need assurances that we're going to get the
housing that is in need at this time.
And when Chris Shucart first came into my office, he was going
to build a different product altogether. And I said, Chris, I said, there's
no need for that type of housing. I said, we're looking for skilled
worker housing. We're looking for young professionals, young college
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graduates just coming back. We want to get them here and keep them
here and new businesses who are trying to lure them. And I said, so
we need a better quality housing than that. And I said, but don't
believe me. Just go out and ask. And I said, go to the Chamber, go to
the business professionals; check with them.
He came back two weeks later, and he said, oh, my gosh, you're
right. He said, I didn't realize that. And so he changed the product
because of that, and I think that that's good.
And I think what we're all saying here is this is what we need is
we need -- we need better type housing but not too expensive but
expensive enough where young people just getting out of college will
feel comfortable living there and yet it's not overpriced.
So I agree with the proposals that you have come up with.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I could go along with the 40
percent above the base. What I can't go along with is the proposal to
advertise it for so many days and for the unit to stay affordable for one
year or less than one year.
What I can agree to, since the average person moves within five
years, is to keep that unit affordable for up to five years.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Can I respond, if you don't mind?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You're not going to change my
mind, but go ahead.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, I'm going to try, if that's okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Define affordable.
MR. YOVANOVICH: The reason I -- the problem we have is
there -- and Nick pointed one out to me. There's another project up on
Livingston Road that's being developed by one of my clients that the
price points for condos are in the mid twos and slightly less than the
mid twos.
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April 28, 2015
So if you can go and buy a condo in that community without any
restriction on the ability to sell that unit, you're going to go there versus
coming to our community. And I think Commissioner Fiala is saying I
want to attract those types of people to move to my community and
live in her district where we've had trouble.
And I've represented -- I've done a fair number of affordable
housing density bonus agreement owner occupied. Our problem has
always been, one, finding qualified buyers, because they're at the lower
threshold, and it's hard to get people qualified and, two, it's the
restriction on their ability to sell that unit to anybody they want to once
they've decided to relocate somewhere else.
They have this deed restriction on that property that makes that
unit unattractive to buy because they can't sell it when they're getting
ready to sell. If you get transferred to Atlanta and you have a five-year
commitment that you've got to find someone in that income threshold
to buy your unit -- and, oh, by the way, you've got to restrict the price
because they have to income qualify, why would you buy a unit in that
development where you can't participate in the upside when you can
buy somewhere else like the project Nick pointed out to me that you
could?
We don't think people historically buy and flip condo units, so we
thought the one-year threshold would weed out the flipper, if you will.
Five years is probably too long for that to make it be a marketable unit
when we're competing against other units that won't have that same
restriction.
So hopefully that can be taken into consideration.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Let me go back to Commissioner Fiala,
then Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Rich, would you just explain to me
in very simple terms exactly, now, what price levels, what type of
housing. You keep mentioning affordable. In my mind, I interpret
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affordable a lot differently than possibly other people. So I wanted to
hear exactly what you are talking about.
MR. YOVANOVICH: What we're talking about for this
particular project --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. I don't have a thing --
MR. YOVANOVICH: -- is this income threshold and below,
because we were told gap is the issue. Gap housing is the issue, and
that's what we committed to. We committed gap. So below that price
point for a family of four making that income -- these are your
numbers from staff, so I have to work from those. So 40 percent of the
units will be marketed at that price point or below.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Define below.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, we'd have to find qualified buyers.
So, you know, it's based on what their income threshold is because,
remember, your staff says it's 30 percent of whatever their income they
could go towards housing, so we would have to find qualified buyers.
And when we're finally ready to CO these in a year and a half to
two years, that number could go down as far as what the median
income is, therefore, the price point would go down, or it could go up.
We just don't know. But we're committing to that gap threshold.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I hope I'm not missing something
here.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor, then
Commissioner Henning.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And forgive me, Rich, this is --
this is, you know, zoning on the fly, and I can't participate in this. You
know, if you're serious about this, you come with a proposal, you go
back, you figure it out, but that's not what's happening. You're trying
to save a deal. I understand that. I get that, okay.
But it's not the way to zone. It's not the way to enact legislation
and amend a Comprehensive Plan.
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April 28, 2015
MR. YOVANOVICH: Commissioner, I think what I said was,
this is the proposal. If we need to continue it to flesh out the details --
all I'm asking is, are we in the right direction, because if the answer is,
I'm not voting for this under any circumstances, tell us, because there's
really no reason for us to continue this for two weeks, spend a lot of
time and effort to put the exact proposal in place to just have a, no,
there's no chance I'm ever supporting this. That's fair to us.
I didn't say I'm trying to do it today. I said I'll continue it, but I
want to know I'm moving in the right direction.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Somehow I didn't hear that
conversation.
MR. YOVANOVICH: I said that right at the beginning, we can
continue this.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you.
Rich, what I'll be looking for is 180 to 150 percent. You're
actually capturing more people that you can market to, and it's
professionals.
MR. YOVANOVICH: So 150 to 180 over -- above the
threshold?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: No, no, 180 -- or I'm sorry 81 to
MR. YOVANOVICH: The 150.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- 150.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Okay, okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah.
MR. YOVANOVICH: That's the category I was talking about as
well. So we're on the same page on the category, okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. So that would be the first
two bottom categories.
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April 28, 2015
MR. YOVANOVICH: Correct.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Correct.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. And the gap housing is
what I was looking at also. That was the target that I deemed
appropriate for who we're looking to benefit and help with this type of
initiative.
I have to go back to what Commissioner Nance said. You're
absolutely right, Commissioner Nance, our policy is ridiculous. To
suggest that we're going to give density bonuses because it's affordable
but not to anybody else because there's a public safety hazard makes
no sense at all. That is the most ridiculous policy I've ever heard, and I
agree with you. You know, so we're basically, as a government
saying, you know, we don't mind putting gap income households at
physical risk --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Risk.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- but we are going to look out and
make sure that people who make more than the gap income are safe.
That's insane.
But more importantly, that the state has identified that mitigation
does allow for higher densities in that area, does allow for the type of
proposal that's before us. And with the added bonus of providing gap
income level housing, it does make sense to, you know, consider what
the petitioner is proposing.
With respect to Commissioner Taylor's remark that, you know we
should not change the Comprehensive Plan that's just simply nonsense.
The Comprehensive Plan is a plan. It is a living, breathing,
ever-changing legislative document. It's a policy decision that has to
evolve as this community evolves. And to view every developer as a
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special interest also is absolute nonsense.
You know, a developer, homeowner, landowner, it doesn't matter
if it's a developer of an affordable housing project, low-income project,
a high-value project, whether it's a homeowner of a single-family
home or a duplex, whether it's a landowner of one type of vacant land
or another, you know, everybody has the right to petition their
government. There are procedural standards. Due process applies.
We have standards of review, type of evidence. And to sit there and
just consider every time a developer stands before this Board as a
special interest is so fundamentally unfair that it really concerns me.
Commissioner Fiala, this is your district, and I know you have
spoken to the petitioner. I know you've reviewed all the evidence that's
being presented to us under oath today. What is it, based on your
review, that you would like to see happen in light of how you would
like to see your local community that you represent developed?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think you're all going in the right
direction. I think what Commissioner Henning is actually saying is, as
long as you say you're going to want to build this, I just want to see it
in writing before I approve it.
I think that he's -- you know, he wants to make sure that what
they say they're going to do, they're going to do, because he realizes
the property is probably for sale, and he wants to make sure that the
next people that buy it get it. I agree with that.
I think you're all heading in the right -- this is -- we've all heard
this is the type of housing we need, and so I think we're all going along
with that.
And, by the way, I just -- I put my button on because you were
absolutely right and, Commissioner Hiller, so were you, about putting
low-income housing. We -- years ago we were discussing this, and
there were areas where you couldn't put any of this housing way down
-- it was off Bayshore, actually, and -- but you could build 16 units per
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acre if it was affordable but only three otherwise. And I was asking the
same question, but I don't think it ever came out as clearly as you guys
mentioned it today. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And continuing with your
perspective, you know, Commissioner Fiala, it's -- going to the issue of
the restriction, I want to make sure I understand what we want from
this and other developers. You know, the restriction on the resale, one
of the things that's happening in Collier County is we are seeing
development to the east, and so there's going to be more opportunities
for affordable housing as a consequence of the market naturally
providing affordable housing to the working community because land
in the east is cheaper, and so houses naturally will be less expensive.
You know the market has its -- you know, the market will set the price.
And because we're looking to see commercial development out
there, we'll see people who will live and work in Eastern Collier as
opposed to commuting inland. Like, we've always been striving for
this affordability inland so people wouldn't have to commute, and
that's because they were commuting to work on the West Coast.
Now as we see commercial development on the east, that type of
scenario is going to change. And so we're going to have a lot more
affordable housing and people living close to where they work, as we
see the trend emerging.
The restriction of limiting the pricing on this housing, for
example, to five years, is so unfair to these people, because one way
that these people are going to build their own wealth is through the
capital appreciation of their property. So you're taking someone who is
in a -- who's making, for example -- take a gap-income family. And
now you're telling that gap-income family that has been given the
opportunity to buy this more affordably priced home that they can't
build equity and that they are now going to be punished for having
stayed in this house where everybody else is building equity.
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And this poor family can't build equity because they bought at
gap prices, and so they can't move up. They can't move forward,
because the whole idea is for them to be able to build that equity to put
that money down on the next house, you know, that might be a bigger
house that they need now. Because they have children, they may need
a three-bedroom house as opposed to a two-bedroom house, and
they're not going to have the down payment to do it. And we've been
deprived --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: What would you suggest?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, what I suggest is, you know,
if you want to -- we do want to avoid our flippers, but we don't want to
deny these people to be able to build equity so that they can improve
their lot in life.
So to protect against a flipper, I agree; I think the idea of
restricting it for a year from the time of sale does make sense so people
don't buy and then flip. But to deny these young families -- because
obviously we're targeting young families, you know, the starter
professionals -- would be unfair.
So a one-year restriction might make sense, but to do it beyond
that is hurting the family. And, like I said, I'm not worried about the
future because we are going to see gap housing development in Eastern
Collier.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And we already are seeing that,
and it's attractive. It's of the highest quality. And, you know, people
are enjoying the benefits of the better pricing because of the cheaper
land as well as seeing commercial development where they are going
to be living so they don't have to commute, and we don't have
congestion on the --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's where the growth is going to
take place.
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Right.
And so I think we're okay; I think we're okay.
And I like the fact that the state is now requiring mitigation. I
don't think you can compromise on public safety, and I don't care for
what reason. And so if the state has come up with mitigation standards
that will protect the interests of the community, then I feel comfortable
in us going forward with this.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Before I go to Commissioner
Taylor, I'd like to make a few comments.
I believe that it's going to be essential for this board to adapt and
use changes within the Growth Management Plan, particularly as we
approach build-out. I think as we go into -- and this is a parcel that's,
you know, really infill, if you look; it's surrounded by already existing
things.
As we go through the process of infill and as we go -- as we begin
on the coast, in a lot of cases redevelopment, I think it's going to be
essential for us to have a working relationship with developers to work
with our staff to make sure that these final elements in our community
fit, and that means they're going to have to fit what our goals are, what
our needs are on a community basis, and to make sure that they're
compatible with what's adjacent and what the community is looking
for. So there is a great deal of difficulty in making these final pieces of
the puzzle fit.
So I'm going to predict that that's going to be something we're
going to continue to wrestle with. I'm going to go to Commissioner
Taylor, and then let's talk about if the Board would like to see the
petitioner come back with some proposals.
Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I would agree -- Rich, to answer
your question, I would agree to consider what you're proposing. I'm
not saying I'm going to support it 100 percent, but I would definitely
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April 28, 2015
be open to really exploring it.
In response to my colleague Commissioner Hiller's remarks, no
one is saying that the Comprehensive Plan is somehow a tablet written
in stone, and it can't be changed. That's very myopic. That's not what
I'm talking about. I'm talking about if you want to change the
Comprehensive Plan, you change the Comprehensive Plan. If we're
upset, if we don't like this 11 units per acre provision in it that can only
be used for affordable housing projects, then change it, but don't
change it because a developer brings it in and wants -- you know,
today Developer A wants this, we change it today. Tomorrow
Developer B wants this, we change it. That's not the way to do it.
Change the plan. I'm fine with that.
I think you're absolutely correct, Commissioner Nance, that we
are looking at a lot more infill, and I think we need to be very aware of
what we're doing. And maybe staff can be helpful and -- I mean, they
know this Comprehensive Plan better than most of us, and they can
come back and guide us and say, okay, we think this is a problem, this
is a problem.
But in this commissioner's opinion, someone who's given the
privilege of coming in and buying a property at a reduced price in
order to be able to build up a profession probably shouldn't be
rewarded at end of the year. I think that time limit needs to be much
longer.
I would hope that this new generation of new professionals are
not here solely to flip their properties and make their millions. I hope
they're here to become professional in what they do and to advance
within our community.
I think Arthrex is a classic example of a company that you can
start at one level and move up through it, and certainly the
achievements of Arthrex, which we all know about now -- we have a --
we really have a Fortune 100 company here.
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Finally, I will leave you with a comment which came from a very
well-to-do lady living in a very well-to-do neighborhood. She comes
down here. She lives in Chicago, and yesterday she said, what's this
about changing? She said, you know, I move into a neighborhood.
I want it to stay the same. And I know what the zoning is, and I come
in, and the next thing I know it's changed, and I don't know what's
happening. I want - I want -- she said in Chicago we don't change
things like that.
So I think we're maturing as a community. I'm optimistic about
our future. Please -- and I'm very optimistic that you want to do
something. I'm not trying to, you know, scorn development; it should
never happen. That's crazy. But what I am saying is we have a plan.
If we don't like the plan, let's change the plan and not for a specific
person or a developer.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Miller, I see we have public
speakers, sir.
MR. MILLER: Yes, Mr. Chairman. One registered speaker on
this item, Jeffrey Macasevich.
MR. MACASEVICH: Still good morning, Commissioners.
Happy to be here. My name's Jeffrey Macasevich, for the record. I am
the vice president and program chair of East Naples Civic Association.
And just as a side-note, the civic association, East Naples Civic,
was founded in 1950. I was not present at that founding date, just as a
point of record.
Commissioners, Dear Commissioners, the East Naples Civic
Association Board of Director supports the proposed amendment to the
Collier County Growth Management Plan establishing the Vincentian
Mixed Use Subdistrict as well as the companion Planned Unit
Development amendment as approved by the Collier County Planning
Commission on March 19th of 2015.
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The East U.S. 41 corridor is ripe for development and
redevelopment. Right now Collier County has the rare opportunity to
encourage growth that will best benefit the community and the area
residents.
We believe this project is an excellent example of what
well-planned development can bring to East Naples.
Whether the parcel's ultimately developed as residential, mixed
use, or commercial as outlined in the amendment, it will bring a
needed improvement to the U.S. 41 corridor as well as increase
property values.
A residential project would provide much needed market rate
multifamily housing, and a commercial project would offer better
services for the residents of East Naples.
The East Naples Civic Association Board of Directors urges the
Board of County Commissioners to approve the Vincentian Mixed Use
Subdistrict Growth Management Plan amendment as well as the
companion PUD amendment.
Sincerely, Marci Seamples, President of the East Naples Civic
Association. It's dated April 24th.
And, of course, we would go along with the continuation if that's
what the Board so desires.
Thank you for your time.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: That was our only speaker, sir, on this item.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Members of the Board, is
there a motion to continue this item for more detailed proposals or
related that can be brought forth by any one of you?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'll make that motion.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: What is your motion, Commissioner
Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: To continue this item to allow the
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petitioner to bring back an alternative proposal considering what the
Board has suggested.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Is there a second?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, I'll second it, and I would ask
that we do this within the next two weeks so we can move forward
with this subject.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller, do you have
further comments, ma'am?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: No. I'll amend my motion to
include what Commissioner Fiala wants.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. There's a motion and second.
Any comments or discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Hearing none, all those in favor, signify
by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. That passes. I guess we're --
was that a motion -- let's go back and do a little housekeeping.
Was that a motion to continue both 9A and 9B?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yes.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Does the motion and second reflect that?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. That was a motion to continue
both Item 9A and 9B --
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April 28, 2015
MR. OCHS: To the next meeting.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- to the next meeting.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Thank you.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, there are some people in the
audience on 11B, and you have a few minutes till your next
time-certain. I don't know if you wanted to try to take that.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Which item?
Item #11B
CONSIDER A "GOOD DEAL" PURCHASE WITH COLLIER
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, NOW KNOWN AS CDC
LAND INVESTMENTS, INC., FOR 7.51 ACRES UNDER THE
CONSERVATION COLLIER LAND ACQUISITION PROGRAM,
AT A COST NOT TO EXCEED $403,150, AND UNDER SPECIFIC
CONDITIONS — APPROVED
MR. OCHS: 11B, which is a recommendation to consider a
good-deal purchase with Collier Development Corporation.
Would you like to take that one, Mr. Chairman?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Let's go to that one. See if we can go
through that.
MR. OCHS: Alex Sulecki, Parks and Recreation, will present
this item, Commissioners.
MS. SULECKI: Good morning, again, Commissioners. Alex
Sulecki, your coordinator for Conservation Collier.
I'm showing you on the screen the parcel in question for this item.
The seller is CDC Land Investments. We call it the CDC parcel.
The map above shows the close-up, the aerial of the parcel on the
left. It's 7.51 acres. And on the right you can see its location, which is
directly adjacent to the Gordon River Greenway Park on the south
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side. It's in green right down here.
This parcel lies within the zoning and taxing boundaries of the
City of Naples. Staff received the okay from the Naples City Council
to pursue the parcel, as is required by our ordinance when we're
looking at lands in another jurisdiction.
And the City of Naples Airport Authority also supported this
acquisition. Both of these approvals were in 2010.
This parcel was first proposed as an acquisition in 2009 during
our seventh acquisition cycle. That cycle was ultimately suspended,
and the application was carried over to our eighth cycle, and that was
in 2010.
Then acquisition was suspended altogether in January 2011, and
we moved to the management's phase of the program.
Now, at the same time the acquisitions were halted, we asked that
you approve the Cycle 8 active acquisition list primarily so that we
could demonstrate community interest in the parcels in case money --
we could find money to acquire them, and we also received your
permission at that time to bring forth any good-deal sales. So that is
why we are here today.
This parcel met five of the criteria for acquisition by Conservation
-- five of the six criteria for acquisition by Conservation Collier. The
only one it didn't meet is that it's not within the acquisition boundary of
another agency.
It's comprised of 3.3 acres of mangroves and right about 4 acres
of pine mesic oak. And although staff has not seen any listed plants or
animals on the parcel, there are many of them in the immediate area,
including fish, nesting wading birds, and manatees.
You see here this is the parcel itself looking from the southeast
corner, the river's on the other side of it, and also some photos of the
interior, some of the exotics we've found. This is a shot right about in
here, and so you can see the inside is a little bit more open.
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You can see on the map, we've mapped out the major exotic,
which is -- well, at the time this map was made in 2010, Australian
pine, and these are some of the Australian pine you can see in the
canopy here.
I do want to apologize. You had a project design report that said
the level of infestation was 35 to 40 percent, something like that. That
was 2010. I hadn't visited the parcel again. I did so last week, and it's
quite a bit -- it's advanced in its infestation. Now it's about 50 to 65
percent infested with exotics.
So if you approve this acquisition, Conservation Collier would
acquire the parcel, manage it, remove the exotics. And we're
proposing to set aside $30,000 for the initial exotic removal and set
aside 10,000 a year for maintenance, which would be folded into the
Gordon River Greenway management budget.
We did receive some donations, a portion of which were set aside
for acquisition of this parcel and a portion for management. We
received two donations. When you add the management money
together, it comes to 32,000. So there's enough there from those
donations to do the initial treatment.
The ongoing maintenance of$10,000, which I estimated a little
high for purposes of this meeting, that will need to be pulled from
multiple preserve budgets.
And the $30,000, by the way, is an estimate based directly on
what we spent on the Gordon River Greenway with 10 percent added
for contingency.
And we also propose not to consider any other improvements to
this property until and unless future funding becomes available.
So even without improvements, the Conservation Collier Land
Acquisition Advisory Committee and other community organizations
who attended our meetings have recommended this acquisition
because of the parcel's environmental attributes, protection of listed
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species along the Gordon River, protection of water resources, it's
within a wellfield protection zone, and it's adjacent to the river, the
threat of development, there's a plan for 17 homes, and it's adjacent to
Conservation Collier lands, and also the future community benefits
that it could provide in terms of public enjoyment and access to the
Gordon River itself and the Gordon River Greenway Park.
So I know that the state of our finances is a very important factor
in this decision for you. And this slide basically shows our original
plan, and it stays within the Capital Fund here because we really have
found the money within that Capital Fund.
So the first column here is what we had on our plan that we
brought to you last April, and that shows us doing approximately $3
million worth of capital improvements. With -- if we take the
proposed plan that we're bringing to you today, the proposed
acquisition, we add it in there, and we look at some savings that we've
had in some of our projects, we can see the Greenway, we had
proposed it to be 27 -- 2.7 million. It actually came in at 1.8 million.
We saved over $800,000, close to $900,000 there.
And I'd like to put in a plug here to the facilities project managers
who saved us that money, Claude Nesbit and Hank Jones. So that
really helped us quite a bit.
So the -- let's see. The third column shows what the revision will
actually save us. And if you incorporate the CDC purchase and you
take out the bridge that's in our long-term 10-year plan, what you come
up with, we're still 585,000 and change to the good in that fund.
So in the bottom capital plan comparison, you can see the total
expenses in green. In the proposed plan with the CDC parcel are less.
You can see in the turquoise the Greenway expenses are down, and the
land acquisition is up.
The rest does not appreciably change; so, therefore, I would
present to you that the CDC acquisition is not unfavorable to our
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current financial status.
And our recommendation is that the Board consider and provide
direction to staff whether to proceed with the good-deal acquisition of
the CDC parcel at cost not to exceed $403,150 subject to -- and these
are very important things -- that we receive formal direction to remove
that City of Naples bridge from the future 10-year financial plan and
that no plan for capital improvements to the parcel is proposed unless
future funding becomes available.
Now, just -- so you have the full picture, I told you about the
estimate costs for exotic removal, and there's $1,000 for signage
thrown in. So the total estimated cost, 434,150. And I would tell you
that the Conservation Collier Committee recommends this purchase.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. That's just what I was going to
say. Good for you, Commissioner Hiller.
This is really a no-brainer, in my opinion. Here we're going to
have the last piece of a puzzle, and we need that. Why let it go when
it's the last piece we could have? And once you let it go, it's gone
forever. You build houses on this, and then we lose the value of that
property. And not only that, but we get it at a reduced price, so I don't
think there's a better deal.
But Commissioner Hiller already made the motion, and I heartily
second it. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And I second Commissioner
Fiala's comments.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Where's the appraisal?
MS. SULECKI: The appraisal was done last year and -- in April
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of last year, and it was $510,000.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You mean staff did the
appraisal?
MS. SULECKI: No. The appraisal was done by an outside
appraiser pursuant to our purchase policy.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. The purchasing policy
for Conservation Collier, how old can the appraisal be before it's
considered? It's less than a year.
MS. SULECKI: I don't think that's -- that's not considered in the
purchase policy itself, and typically you're correct, it's considered right
around six months to a year that it's stale.
In this case, we had discussions with the County Attorney's Office
and also the Real Property Management Department, and some recent
evaluations -- I don't know if Mr. Roosevelt Leonard is here.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah.
MS. SULECKI: Oh, okay. He might be able to explain that
better to you than I.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, I mean --
MS. SULECKI: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: It was a deal last year. Is it a
deal today?
MR. LEONARD: I'm Roosevelt Leonard, Real Estate Appraiser.
You are correct, Commissioner Henning, as far as the life of the
appraisal as far as being six to eight months for this type of property,
but I recently reviewed, also contacted the outside appraiser that
performed the appraisal, and they also indicated just verbally that the
appraisal was $510,000 and that the market value of this appraisal
would be in the upward direction.
Also, contacting the Property Appraiser's Office, the method that
this appraisal came in -- and I'll apologize that it wasn't uploaded, but it
was 30,000 per unit or per parcel, and they also agreed that that 30,000
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is a little on the low side at this current market condition.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: In your professional opinion, did
the -- the stale appraisal is valid and worth of(sic) today's valuation?
MR. LEONARD: Yes, it is. If we were to send this out back on
the market, I'm very confident that it would be greater than the
$510,000.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. That's all I need.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, public speakers, Mr. Miller?
MR. MILLER: Yes, Mr. Chairman, we have four registered
speakers on this item. Your first speaker is Nicole Johnson, and she'll
be followed by Ellie Krier.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Krier.
MR. MILLER: Krier. I do that every time; sorry.
MS. JOHNSON: Good morning. For the record, Nicole Johnson
here on behalf of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. And I -- from
the conversation, I don't have to tell you the ecological value of this
parcel. The Conservancy is very supportive of acquisition. We do see
this as the final piece of the Greenway puzzle, and you get the
additional benefit of having it as green space now but having the
upland portion which has some unremarkable uplands, we'll call them,
available for additional amenities in the future, and I think that's
something that, from a facilities standpoint, is really important.
We're seeing the use of the Greenway just skyrocketing. So
having that additional property there for use in the future is really
important, and then maintaining the mangroves in their natural state
because the Naples Bay system has lost 70 percent of the mangrove
fringe to development. So it's very important to retain what we can of
the currently existing mangroves.
And one other point that I wanted to touch on is this issue of the
parcel being a very good deal. And all the stars have really aligned on
this one. You have a property owner who is willing to take less, much
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less, really, than the appraised value, and that is very much
appreciated, and you also have donations from a number of
developments that, through the policies in the Land Development Code
where instead of preserving their native vegetation on site, they paid
into the Conservation Collier fund. You have I believe it's $135,000.
And the one developer that I wanted to really call out, because it
was the project that the Conservancy was involved in, is the Landing at
Bear's Paw. And they did this payment-in-lieu-of option. And they
were able to either go out and purchase some property in the
Winchester Head area as meeting their LDC requirement -- probably
would have cost them 20,000 or less, but they decided, because they
are adjacent to the Greenway, part of this Naples Bay/Gordon River
community, they decided to go that more expensive option and give
that $103,000 because they felt it was the right thing to do in order to
have this parcel acquired.
So there wasn't a legal attachment/requirement for that money,
but they went above and beyond, and I really wanted to point that out
and put that on the record because it was something the Conservancy
advocated, and it was much appreciated.
So the stars are in alignment. You have the very good deal in
front of you, the ecological value, the final piece of the Gordon River
Greenway puzzle, and we ask that you move forward with acquisition.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Ellie Krier. She'll be
followed by William Poteet.
MS. KRIER: Good morning, Commissioners. Ellie Krier,
Executive Director of the Southwest Florida Land Preservation Trust.
I just want to, again, support the acquisition on behalf of the land
trust, as we've been doing for years here. As was stated, there is no
better time and there is no better price.
And I want to follow up with Nicole, not only thanking Landings
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at Bear's Paw, but Collier Development Corporation for their reduction
in price.
I want to put one thing on the record for clarification for the
record and for the public. The elimination of the third bridge from the
Conservation Collier budget does not mean it will not be built. It just
means it won't be paid for by those dollars. So don't panic. That
bridge is coming some day.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is William Poteet. He'll be
followed by Patrick Utter.
MR. POTEET: Good morning. For the record, my name is
William Poteet, and I'm here to represent the Collier -- Conservation
Collier Land Acquisition Committee.
I just want to reiterate our position of purchasing this property.
We've been saying that this has been a great asset to our community
since 2009. And each year we look at all the properties that we make
recommendations, and this has been our number one priority, so I urge
you to purchase.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your final speaker on this item is Patrick Utter.
MR. UTTER: For the record, Patrick Utter with Collier -- CDC
Land Investments, Inc., the owner of the property.
My main reason even to come up is really to give Ellie some
credit. She's been a bulldog on this piece for about four or five years.
It actually goes back -- I think somebody said '09 -- when we first
submitted it to Conservation Collier, and it's taken this long to finally
get to a vote.
And two years ago she came to us with this proposal at 400,000,
and I can tell you it was -- you know, we had to go all the way to our
board and get approval, and -- which was -- and the reason I think the
board was, you know, interested at all -- all the benefits we've
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mentioned, the access to the Greenway, but Ellie dug up this picture of
Miles standing 25 years ago when this pathways, Gordon River
Pathway Group first was formed, and I think it's fitting that the final
piece is -- we're able to sell it at a deep discount to fulfill the
Greenway.
I think it's going to be great. I personally -- you know, I've been
on the Greenway several times, and parking is desperately needed on
this side of the Greenway. So in the future, I'm sure bathrooms,
parking, and other facilities will become invaluable to the Greenway.
So, anyways, I appreciate your support. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes. I'd just like to make a couple
comments. I'm going to support -- I'm going to support the motion
with the removal of the bridge as has been made in the motion, but I do
so with a great deal of concern and a great deal of anxiety about the
financial health of the Conservation Collier Program.
I've said repeatedly I don't think it's accurate for somebody to
come in and say, well, we've spent less money, therefore, we're saving
money. No, we're not saving money. We're spending a great deal of
money.
And the ability of Conservation Collier to maintain its property in
perpetuity is definitely in doubt, in my opinion. I don't think there's
sufficient funding for perpetuity. Because as I've said many times,
where I come from, perpetuity is a very, very long time.
I will support it, but I hope -- and my hope was that Conservation
Collier would be more aggressive in fundraising and reaching
donations for the continued purchases of property after the designated
acquisition period was supposedly closed, which hasn't been the case.
We've actually acquired three parcels in the last three BCC meetings,
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none of which are going to be supported in perpetuity with the
maintenance money that is currently available.
So it is my, really, hope that Conservation Collier would be
aggressive about raising funding rather than relying upon an increase
in taxes again to fulfill the commitment that they originally made.
Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you for that explanation,
Commissioner Nance, because I was questioning that myself, and I
appreciate it.
But -- and this is not a topic for today's discussion, but I think it
might be an interesting conversation with the public to see to see if
there would be a referendum if they would agree to tax themselves, not
that we would tax them, but to ask the public what their values are.
But, again, that's a topic for another day.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. There's a motion and a second.
Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Hearing none, all in favor, signify by
saying.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Unanimous passage, sir.
MR. OCHS: Very good.
MS. SULECKI: Thank you, Commissioners.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that takes you to your 11 :30
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time-certain item. This is Item 12A on your agenda. It's a
recommendation pursuant to Resolution 95-632 for the Board to
provide a legal defense and outside counsel to myself and your
Procurement Service Director, Ms. Markiewicz, both of whom have
been individually sued by the Clerk in an action related to procurement
of goods and service for county operations.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Just a fast question. It's 11 minutes
till we're supposed to be upstairs or leave for upstairs, and the school
people are waiting for us. Do we adjourn then and then continue when
we get back? Is that how -- or are we going to continue this subject
until it's finished and have them wait?
MR. OCHS: Pleasure of the Board and the chair, ma'am. I didn't
ask for the time certain. I believe the Clerk's Office --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: What's the pleasure of the Board?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I don't think we can keep the
students waiting.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, I agree.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think that's completely
unacceptable.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I agree.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Let us begin then, then we'll take a
recess for lunch, if that's acceptable to the --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: What time are we supposed to be
up there?
MR. OCHS: Twelve o'clock.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Twelve o'clock, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I mean, I think we could
only start for five minutes. We need, you know, at least five minutes
to get up there. I mean, I don't know that it makes sense to start and
then stop.
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MR. OCHS: Sir, if you want to table this and take it back up after
lunch, that's fine with me.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Would you like to take it up after lunch,
Commissioners?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Sure.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Sure.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Let's take it up after lunch, first item
after lunch.
Let's see if we can knock out, perhaps, one other short item, sir, in
the meantime.
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir.
We had an item pulled from your consent agenda at
Commissioner --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Taylor.
Item #11C
THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE GRANT AGREEMENT
WITH THE STATE OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITY FOR FUNDING ASSISTANCE FOR THE
COUNTY'S SOFT LANDING BUSINESS ACCELERATOR
PROJECT TO UPDATE THE SCHEDULE OF PROJECT
DELIVERABLES — APPROVED
MR. OCHS: -- Taylor's request, and that was Item 16F3.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And, again, I pulled it not to
challenge it, but more to have a graphic explanation of where we were,
where we are now, and what this means about the amendment to us for
an extension and the future. So I don't expect this to --
MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I appreciate that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- be a long time.
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MR. OCHS: I appreciate that. We'll go through this very quickly
for you.
MR. REGISTER: Perhaps I could hand out individual versions,
if I might.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Register will make a brief presentation on the
changes in the deliverable schedule on this agreement with the
Department of Economic Opportunity.
MR. REGISTER: Commissioners, Bruce Register, your Director
of the Office of Business and Economic Development.
What I'd like to describe to you very briefly, this is the first
amendment to a grant agreement with the State of Florida Department
of Economic Opportunity to provide the funding for our county's Soft
Landing Business Accelerator Network.
This amendment adjusts to reflect the circumstances and the
occurrences since the initial formation of the agreement. This adjusts
not only the schedule, it makes some minor modifications, and it also
acknowledges some additional changes the DEO has requested.
Why are we doing this? The approval process was protracted as a
result of a new state grant policy requirement in Florida Statute, I
believe it's 215.971, as well as updated construction completion
estimates, and that is -- that has given the county pause to request an
extension for a legislative funding appropriation of the state's fiscal
year. We need this amendment regardless, though, to help us make the
minor modifications and extend some due dates to accommodate the
agreement that we've entered into.
I can go through line by line if you care to, but I provided a
matrix that's the bottom row. Well, actually, the first row outlines the
agreement as it was drafted and approved by this board. The second
row provides the new suggested proposed amendment. The third row
provides the deviation or the variation from the first row and the
second row.
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I'd be happy to go through it line by line if it's the pleasure of the
Board.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, I'm quite satisfied with this.
MR. OCHS: Okay. Essentially, you're moving the list of
deliverables out a series of weeks or months. As Mr. Register said,
when the Board accepted the grant and we moved into the initial
agreement, it was based on the state fiscal cycle, but the money didn't
come from the state until six years into that cycle, so obviously --
excuse me, six months into the cycle. I'm sorry, six months.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I missed something here.
MR. OCHS: So it was virtually impossible to execute on some of
the early deliverables until we had the state funding in hand. And
DEO recognized that, so we're working together to true up the
deliverables schedule, in essence.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: No.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And, Mr. Ochs, we're definitely
avoiding any kind of 50-day penalty with this, with our agreement to
this amendment today?
MR. OCHS: That is correct, Commissioners; no penalties
associated then.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Good.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Is there a motion to approve?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Move to approve.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: There's -- I'll second it. There's a motion
and a second.
Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Hearing none, all those in favor, signify
by saying aye.
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Let us recess for our students.
We will return at 1 p.m. and begin with Item 12A, which was our
time-certain for 11 :30. We're in recess until 1:00.
(A luncheon recess was had.)
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, you have a live mic.
Item #12A
RECOMMENDATION PURSUANT TO COLLIER COUNTY
RESOLUTION NO. 95-632, THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE
COUNTY ATTORNEY TO SELECT AND RETAIN OUTSIDE
COUNSEL TO REPRESENT COUNTY MANAGER LEO E. OCHS,
JR., AS WELL AS PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIRECTOR,
JOANNE MARKIEWICZ, WHO ARE BEING SUED BY CLERK
OF COURTS DWIGHT E. BROCK IN THE CASE STYLED
DWIGHT E. BROCK V. LEO E. OCHS, JR. AS
MANAGER/ADMINISTRATOR OF COLLIER COUNTY AND
JOANNE MARKIEWICZ, AS PURCHASING AND GENERAL
SERVICES DIVISION DIRECTOR, CASE NO. 11-2015-CA-
000595-0001-XX, IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE
TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR COLLIER
COUNTY, FLORIDA, AND WAIVE THE PURCHASING POLICY
TO THE EXTENT IT MAY APPLY TO THE SELECTION OF
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April 28, 2015
OUTSIDE COUNSEL AND/OR OTHERWISE EXEMPT THE
SELECTION OF OUTSIDE COUNSEL FROM COMPETITION
PURSUANT TO PURCHASING ORDINANCE SECTION ELEVEN
PROCUREMENT OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, B5, AND TO
DIRECT THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO TAKE ACTION TO
INTERVENE IN THIS LITIGATION ON BEHALF OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes. Mr. Ochs, I believe we're
beginning on our 11 :30 time-certain, which is a little late, but that's
Item 12A; is that not correct, sir?
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. That is Item 12A, and it's a
recommendation pursuant to Resolution 95-632 that the Board provide
legal defense and outside counsel for myself and Ms. Markiewicz,
your procurement services director, who have both been sued
individually by the Clerk of Courts over matters relating to your
purchasing ordinance.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning, I believe your
light -- did you ring in, sir?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. I want to talk about this
issue. The specifics in the case was a contract for education -- safety
education for our employees. I was sent the invoice. Quite frankly, I
wouldn't pay that invoice the way it was written. I think we can do a
much better job -- and this is probably maybe a sidenote -- complying
to the contract, my opinion.
Now, going back in history, I think it was in 2013 that we were
changing our purchasing policy to try to become lawful in some
opinion. We did pass an ordinance but keeping with the same practice.
Still a bone of contention, we directed the County Attorney to
work with the Clerk of Court to come up with a question to go to the
State Attorney General to get an opinion about our practice.
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Is that right, Jeff?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. But what I see is we had
the County Manager's staff write an opinion to go to the AGO, and
then we had a version from the Clerk of the Court.
So I don't understand, Jeff, how staff got involved in this issue
that we directed you to work with the Clerk of Court to come up with a
question.
MR. KLATZKOW: Staff did not believe that the question as
posed by the Clerk, would give them sufficient clarity into what they
were supposed to do.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. But that's -- again, it's
contrary to what the Board directed. Did you feel comfortable with the
question the Clerk provided?
MR. KLATZKOW: No.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: All right. And I think
somewhere -- going to court is not going to settle anything.
Ultimately, it will; however, we've seen in the past where it's been very
costly and feelings got hurt, and I think that we can do it differently.
I think the question that should be proposed is our existing
practice, something in the order of-- and, again, instead of going to
court is let's move on with our original idea of getting an opinion. May
the Board of Commissioners authorize staff to approve contracts $50
million or under? Does that comply with Florida law? What's wrong
with that question?
MR. KLATZKOW: You have an existing policy. I have no issue
taking that particular policy and asking the AG, does this conform with
Florida law. That's the policy that's under question.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well --
MR. KLATZKOW: That would give clarity, okay, because it's --
everything else just ducks the issue. You have a board-approved
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policy. If the AG would say that that board-approved policy does not
comport with Florida law, you know that.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I think that the policy can be
attached, but it's something like 32 pages or something like that.
MR. KLATZKOW: No. The only issue is about less than a page.
The only issue we're talking about are purchases between 3,000 and
$5,000 (sic).
MR. OCHS: Fifty thousand.
MR. KLATZKOW: Three and fifty thousand dollars. That
provision is in the executive summary. I cut and pasted it.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right. And I think that's what
the question should be. I don't know if we can get a consensus for
sending the question up to the State Attorney General and putting a
stay on this conflict within the court system.
MR. KLATZKOW: No. I've spoken with Mr. Pires just before
this started, and I believe that he might be amenable to that, but I'll let
Tony speak for himself.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Otherwise, I can't approve going
to court. Well, I should say that I hope that the Clerk would seek other
remedies instead of going to court.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, sir.
MR. OCHS: Again,just for the record, the Board hasn't been
sued, for whatever reason. It's myself and Ms. Markiewicz
individually. And while I appreciate Attorney General Opinions and
other opinions, we have, frankly, debated this issue for many, many
years, and it's the Clerk now that has sued to take this to a court of law.
In my opinion, it's about time that we determined who sets the
policy for this county government; is it the commission, or is it the
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clerk? And I think only a court of law, at the end of the day, can
resolve that.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: One point -- I'd like to make just a few
comments.
One of the things that we need is that we need to come to a
working relationship with the Clerk that gives certainty and stability to
our process.
And what concerns me is that I don't see a pathway other than
going -- than getting a judicial determination that's going to give us
finality on this issue because, from time to time, on a matter that
doesn't seem like it's being administered as it should, this topic comes
up.
And the way that it comes up is there's an assertion by the Clerk
that the County Manager or his agents are not working in a manner
that's authorized by law, all the way down to a purchase order level,
and that it is not possible for the Board of County Commissioners to
delegate any of its governmental power, whatever that means, to the
county administrator or restating the Florida Statute which says that the
legislature intends only to allow the County Manager and their staff to
do things that are administrative or ministerial.
And at no point does it define a threshold that we use or that other
counties use below $50,000 or below 100,000 or 20- or what other
counties do. I've never seen anywhere defined -- that defines that as a
de minimis amount of money that makes it administrative or
ministerial and allows us to go forward with operations.
Now, there's also individual circumstances that come up on a
case-by-case basis, but we never know when those cases are going to
come up. And what they do is they come up when other issues bring
them to the forefront, and then it's discussed in terms of this greater
theory that the County Manager is simply not able to do what he's done
and, therefore, we can't pay our vendors.
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I'm very, very concerned operationally about the effect that it has
on the county's ability to get advantageous pricing from vendors,
because the vendors also seem to get caught in this discussion between
the County Manager and the Clerk, and sometimes maybe that's
appropriate and sometimes not.
It doesn't really matter because this is a -- this is a greater issue
that somehow we have to come to some agreement or determination
that people are going to be able to act in a way that can be codified by
our purchasing policy and is acceptable.
We just have bumped down the road from issue to issue. And,
you know, it goes along for months and there's no problem. The
process continues. It's been used on and off, I guess, way, way before
my service on the board here. And then all of a sudden it's a problem
at this very fundamental level, and we always go back to the same
issues.
So if we can craft a pathway to a determination where everybody
agrees in writing what's acceptable, then I have no problem with it. But
I think it's so very harmful to everyone in government service. It's
created a lack of faith in our citizenry. It's created a reluctance on the
face of-- on the part of vendors to do business with the county, and it's
caused us all to look exceedingly dysfunctional. And it keeps coming
back to this same issue.
So I would love, Commissioner Henning, to find a way to resolve
this with some permanence. I just hope that somebody will suggest a
pathway. Because until somebody comes up with something, I don't
see any pathway other than a judicial determination on the intent of the
legislature and the language that we keep coming back to and
bickering over time after time after time.
I do not know who's next. Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think it was Henning.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Henning.
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CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning, sir.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. If the Clerk would agree
that we both go for an Attorney General's Opinion on -- you know, if
there is any threshold of spending authority to staff under the Florida
Statutes. Because, quite frankly, you know, I'm a black-and-white
person. Most of the time when it comes to the people's money, what I
see is the county staff can negotiate contracts subject to the Board's
approval. That's what I read. It's very, very, very simple.
So I also understand the dynamics of the things that need to be
done on the day-to-day business within the county government.
So, again, if the Clerk can agree to the answer of the question,
then once you do that, it's going to be a lot cheaper.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I just wanted to hear from the
Clerk. I guess it's Mr. Pires representing what's being offered because,
I mean, I'm hearing things, but I don't know what's being offered. And
I'm of like mind, if-- and I wasn't on the commission. Commissioner
Fiala and Commissioner Henning were when the last go-round in court
with the Clerk was. But if you at that time had said that it would end
up $2 million and being appealed to the Florida Supreme Court, would
you have believed it?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: (Shakes head.)
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. These things have a way
of getting out of hand. And so I'm -- you know, when it's the Board's
wish to do it, I'd like to hear from Mr. Pires.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Do you want to --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I can say now, or I could wait till
he's done.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Why don't you say what's on your mind,
Commissioner Fiala, and then we'll go to Mr. -- the public speakers,
Mr. Pires.
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COMMISSIONER FIALA: I feel that we as --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Can you speak into the mic.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Pardon me. I'm sorry. Oh, thank
you.
We as county commissioners, our duty is to set policy, and we're
never told to ask anybody what the policy should be. We work
together to set policy. And I didn't realize that another office could
come in and change that policy. I thought that we set the policy, so
that causes confusion for me. And I don't quite agree with that, by the
way.
Not only that, but every time there's a complaint coming, it's a
lawsuit, and the taxpayers are ending up paying for the lawsuits.
That's a lot of waste of money. Why can't we just talk this thing
through or get an opinion from the Attorney General rather than
lawsuits all the time? It looks -- that's a very poor way of running a
government.
Lastly, these lawsuits and these differences in opinions are
causing people who do work for us to either fall by the wayside
because they don't even want to work with the county anymore; they're
not sure if they're going to get paid or not get paid. And when they do
give us pricing, they're going to jack it up because they don't know
whether they're going to get the pricing or not.
So now all of these lawsuits and stoppage of payments -- right
now there are other payments that haven't been made -- that drives up
the price again for the taxpayers to pay. And I just think that that's a
horrible disservice. I think we could go about this in a much better
way.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Mr. Miller?
MR. MILLER: Yeah. Mr. Chairman, your only registered
speaker is Mr. Pires. I'm sorry. Tony Pires.
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MR. PIRES: Thank you. Either way. Thank you, or Anthony
Pires.
MR. MILLER: I'm sorry, sir.
MR. PIRES: No. Formerly Anthony Pires known as Tony Pires,
law firm of Woodward, Pires, and Lombardo representing the Clerk of
Courts in this matter.
I'm here to briefly address the board on this issue. And thank you
for the opportunity.
As to the Clerk's position and continued willingness to work with
the Board and work with the County Attorney's Office as originally
agreed to last year to draft and submit a request for an opinion to the
Florida Attorney General's Office on this issue.
Yes, we have a lawsuit that has been filed, and we have been
trying to resolve this issue for the last year another way since the joint
request for an AGO working with the County Attorney's Office.
We have drafted a request that asks the question as the Board
directed last year. In the joint request submittal, the county has the
opportunity to provide its memorandum of law. The Attorney General
requests that you provide a memorandum of law supporting a position
in the request for Attorney General's Opinion.
And the county has the opportunity to provide its memorandum
of law, and I think we've already shared ours with the County
Attorney's Office. But I've not yet seen that from the county as to its
legal opinion on this issue, similar to the prior joint CCNA BVO,
best-value offer, an Attorney General's Office request that was made a
few years ago where the Clerk and the county submitted a request.
The county responded with their particular comments on the
request, and the Attorney General's Office issued an opinion stating
that the county's CCNA BVO, best-value offer, policy was
inappropriate and not lawful and contrary to state statute.
For all parties and for all the taxpayers of Collier County, we
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need to bring finality to this issue, and I've heard that discussion
mentioned this morning -- afternoon, and the request for an AGO is a
method previously agreed to.
As long as we all continue to work in good faith with a good-faith
effort to seek a resolution by way of the previously agreed-to approach
of a joint request for an Attorney General's Opinion with appropriately
framed questions based on facts, we are willing to extend the time to
file the answers in this lawsuit by an additional 30 days. The answer is
due -- or responses are due May 6th. We're willing to extend that for
another 30 days.
And provided that progress is being made on an agreed submittal,
we will agree to additional extensions of 20 days each until and unless
it becomes apparent that a joint request for an Attorney's General
opinion is not possible.
Once everyone has agreed as to the request to be submitted to the
Attorney General, the Clerk will dismiss the law suit. Again, we're
here to continue to willingly work with the County Attorney's Office at
the Board's direction to frame the questions -- with my 29 seconds left.
Thank you.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Don't go anywhere.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Don't go anywhere, Tony.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Can you tell me, if this is approved
and so forth, are you going to pay all those vendors out there, or
whomever -- I don't know if there's all or a lot or a few or whatever.
Are those vendors going to be paid? Because it's not their fault all of
this is going on. Oh, there's a vendor.
MR. PIRES: Well, there are a number of vendors with a number
of issues. And, again, until the Clerk is of the opinion --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: But they're issues --
MR. PIRES: -- that it's a lawful expenditure, the Clerk cannot
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pay those expenditures.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: But they accepted the agreements to
work for the county with understanding that if they would do the job
and do it well, they would get paid for the amount that was negotiated
and approved. They were never told that, well, maybe the Clerk won't
agree with our policy, so they're not going to pay them. And that's
another thing that's extremely disappointing to me.
MR. SUMMERS: We're going out of business because of this.
We've already had to let go half of our staff.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: He's going out of business because
of this.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Have you signed up to speak, sir?
MR. MILLER: He signed up under public comment, and I was
just going to suggest that it might be better ceded to speak here.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: No. You need to sign up under
this item, if you didn't understand that.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Who's next, Commissioner Henning or
Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Let Commissioner Henning go.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning, go ahead, sir.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Anthony, I don't know if I really
agree with the question provided to the County Attorney by the Clerk's
Office. I think it's -- I think it could be worded different and get to the
same question, such as I stated earlier. Give you an example, may the
Board of Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, delegate its
discretionary spending authority.
It's leading to me that we're giving our duties and powers away to
have staff do our job. And what the real question is, can the Board of
Commissioners authorize staff to approve contracts $50,000 or below.
I mean, it's a simple question. And I can criticize the other document
that was written, but I'm not going to.
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I just think that we need to try to nail this down today of what the
question's going to be and submit it.
MR. PIRES: Commissioner Henning, with regards to any
revision to the question to be asked, it's something I would need to run
by my client, the Clerk, before we can say that it would be
incorporated in the request. And the question that you read was
specifically at the direction of the Board a year ago, whether or not the
Board has the ability to delegate discretionary spending authority and
whether the Clerk has the ability to pay for an expenditure that the
Board has not voted on as to serving a valid public purpose, and that's
why that question was phrased.
But I would gladly bring that and work with the County
Attorney's Office to see if the Clerk is amenable to incorporating that
question into the request.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Jeff, what do you think about the
question? Are you seeing it the same way as I am?
MR. KLATZKOW: My view of this is that you have a definitive
policy in place, and I would just like to submit that policy. And the
Clerk's position is that policy is in derogation of a statutory
requirement that the County Manager bring -- negotiated contracts and
bring it to the Board, and that comes out of the county administrator
statute.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, I got it right in front of
me.
MR. KLATZKOW: And I would just basically say, is this policy
in conflict with this statute, or may the Board authorize the County
Manager to proceed in this way.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: What do you think of that,
Anthony?
MR. PIRES: Again, I don't think it's -- today, once again, the
approach from the Clerk's Office is that we are willing to work with
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the County Attorney's Office over the next 30 days to see if we can
craft the request for the Attorney General's Opinion that both parties
are comfortable submitting, and I can't commit to the language being
revised up here at the podium this afternoon. I can quickly take that
back to the Clerk and try to get back as quickly as I can with the
County Attorney's Office.
MR. OCHS: Sir, you know, the clock is running on this
requirement to submit an answer to the complaint, so --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well --
MR. OCHS: Again, this is Ms. Markiewicz and I that have been
sued, not the Board. So we have quite a bit here at stake, and
hopefully we can have our views considered.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And I think we're going to put a
stay on that.
MR. PIRES: For 30 days. We'd extend the time frame for the
responses to be filed for 30 days. Right now the 20 days --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Additional?
MR. PIRES: Additional. Right now it's May 6th; it would be 30
days from May 6th. And then, provided we're continuing to work
forward in good faith, it would be additional 20-day extensions until it
got to the point in time where it became apparent that a joint request
was not possible.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Or a joint request goes forward,
in which case --
MR. PIRES: Either one. We would dismiss the lawsuit.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You would dismiss it?
MR. PIRES: Yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to
interrupt there.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: No, that's great. I'm done.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller?
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COMMISSIONER HILLER: This issue of presenting a question
to the Attorney General has been going on for how long now, a year,
or more than a year?
MR. OCHS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And if by this point in time there
isn't an agreement as to what the question should be -- and it should
not be a leading question, and as it's framed, it is a leading question -- I
don't see any reason why, since the Clerk has sued the County
Manager and the county's purchasing agent, that we should do
anything but allow them to have representation and proceed with this
litigation.
If in the interim the Clerk would like to work with staff, be it the
County Attorney or the County Manager, and if there is some
resolution to this matter during the pendency of the litigation, the
litigation will be dropped by the Clerk.
But for us to believe that because of the threat of litigation that
somehow the county will capitulate on the framing of the question in a
manner which is leading and will somehow result in whatever the
Clerk wants to ratify, whatever his position is, is completely
unacceptable.
And to sit here and say, okay, well, you know, we filed a lawsuit
against you, which I find reprehensible in the first place, and we'll wait
another 30 days if you come up with a question that we find
acceptable, you know, to try to put pressure on the Board through
those kind of legal tactics is just downright offensive.
So I listened very carefully to what this board has said. I listened
very carefully to Commissioner Fiala's comments, which I think are
very, very important, and that is -- the question is who decides policy.
And to Commissioner Nance's point that this is interrupting the
county's ability to do business in a very serious fashion. I mean, I've
got a vendor standing right behind you who just said that he is going
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out of business because of what is going on with respect to this
conflict.
We have a duty to the citizens of this community to deliver the
services, and we cannot allow this matter to interpret our duty to our
community.
So I say that, you know, we fund the representation for our staff
because they are the ones being sued, not this board, and we have a
resolution which provides for that.
And hopefully in the meantime, Tony, I hope you can, you know,
work with your client to, you know, figure out some alternative
solution, and I hope that you, you know, see the wisdom of dropping
this suit. But in the meantime, I think the County Manager and the
county's purchasing agent ought to defend, and we need judicial
finality. An Attorney General Opinion is nonbinding, and it's certainly
not final.
And if it comes back with an answer that you don't like and your
client doesn't like, then you're going to be back in front of this board
with some sort of litigation.
So we need to stop kicking the can down the road. We need
finality. And I respect your comments, Commissioners, that at this
time I think we need to move forward and approve funding.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, I'll make a comment, then I'm
going to go to Commissioner Taylor.
I certainly believe that it's the Board's responsibility to provide
defense for our staff. The staff has been acting in good faith based on
policies adopted by the Board.
It would be irresponsible, in my view of the Board, to not provide
them with a legal defense when they have been sued for acting based
on guidance given by their bosses.
You know, perhaps the -- perhaps the Court would decide that
they were not at fault and the Board of County Commissioners was
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rightfully the one who had erred or been outside Florida Statute, but it's
certainly not our paid employees that are acting in good faith on the
policies that we've adopted.
So I would certainly think that we have to, at the minimum, allow
them to have a rational defense. How can we go forward without that?
That makes no sense.
Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I would agree, you know, if it
gets to that point, and that will be a decision we're going to make
today.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ma'am, it's to that point. They have been
sued.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We're allowed a 30-day breather
to take a deep breath and to look at this and maybe craft an AGO
opinion that might satisfy both parties. I'm not sure why we wouldn't
do that.
And now there's a time frame. My understanding of reading the
past minutes, there was never a time frame. There was an AGO
opinion requested, I think it was last year, but there wasn't, okay, you
have to do that within a certain time frame. Now we've got a time
frame. And I being the -- it's very clear that we, of course, would
support the County Manager and Ms. Markiewicz in legal defense of--
to fund it. Of course we would. I mean, I would agree to that, but we
have nothing, nothing to lose by taking a breath and allowing it one
more time.
And, frankly, I'm rather impressed by our County Manager's
solution of just submitting the -- our purchasing policy, as this board
has approved.
MR. OCHS: You mean your County Attorney, ma'am?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'm sorry. Did I say County
Manager? County Attorney, yes, to submit that policy specifically
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targeting the $50,000 and under amount as it's written to see what the
AGO would say.
Now, of course, there has to be whatever -- whatever comes back
from that is going to give us a lot more clarity than we have now. We
have nothing, nothing to lose.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And taxpayers' monies to save.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Ochs?
MR. OCHS: Again, just to the question of an AGO, as
Commissioner Hiller, I believe, has correctly pointed out, if the
Board's interest is similar to mine in terms of wanting to get this matter
ultimately resolved and some finality to it, an Attorney General
Opinion, from my layman's understanding, is nonbinding and is
ultimately subject to interpretation by the court system or the
legislature or both.
If there's a new clerk some day or a different board, their opinion
of the Attorney General's Opinion could be very differently applied.
I just don't know how we settle this, and I'm, frankly, as tired as
most of you are, I'm sure, after 15 or 20 years of trying to slug through
this and, you know, deaths by a million cuts. Let's just get it resolved.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala, then Commissioner
Henning.
MR. OCHS: There's dozens of other counties, sir, in the state that
have this identical or similar policy, all non-chartered counties, all
working under the same state statutes that Ms. Markiewicz and I are
accused of violating all of those clerks and commissions have found a
way, miraculously, to figure out how to adopt and execute that policy
together without any lawsuits that I'm aware of.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: And all of them seem to be functioning
under the theory that a certain threshold or de minimus amount
qualifies as an administrative or ministerial action of its County
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Manager.
MR. OCHS: I can tell you that hundreds of thousands if not
millions of dollars of transactions in this county have taken place over
the last 20 years in this same manner.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: And what is the difference between any
one of those transactions and the one that seems to have triggered this
lawsuit?
MR. OCHS: I am not sure about that, sir.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I'm not sure about it either.
Commissioner Fiala, then Commissioner Henning.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
One of the reasons that we set this policy up, of course, it's
because, as the County Manager said, all of the counties in -- most
every one of the counties has a policy just like that. And the reason
this policy is in place is there are times when we won't be here, and we
can't make any decisions on our own. We need the County Manager to
step in or his representative to step in for us.
Like, for instance, when we're gone two months in the summer,
now, we might be hanging around town, we might not be, but nobody's
here. And if you need to buy supplies, you've got to depend on the
County Manager to make those decisions and get that contract taken
care of and pay the vendor.
Then Commissioner Taylor said we have nothing to lose right
now, and you're right, except that the people that are not being paid
have plenty to lose, and I just wanted to add that to what you were
saying. I agree with everything you said, by the way. But we've got
some people here, no matter how long it takes us, they're not getting
paid.
And it's -- and I think that should be required. Even though we're
deliberating, they should -- those people should be paid. That just
bothers me so much.
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And let's see. We've been -- here's the other thought. We've been
under this -- as long as I've been here, 15 years, we've always operated
under this policy, and the Clerk has always paid the vendors under this
policy, and now all of a sudden after 15 years he's not paying them.
Something's wrong with that picture.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, if I might, I did have one
additional speaker, the gentleman that's standing. He had submitted
this under public comment, but as I read this, it is regards to payment
on an invoice. Would you like to hear that on this item, sir?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yes.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I don't think we're going to hear that
issue now because I don't think that's a comment on the issue that we're
deliberating on at this moment.
MR. MILLER: Yes, sir. I just wanted to --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Sir, if you don't mind, I would love to
hear your comment, but I don't think it's appropriate to hear it -- I don't
want to diverge off the issue.
Commissioner Hiller, then Commissioner -- all right.
Commissioner Hiller, then Commissioner Henning.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. I think Commissioner Fiala
made a very important point, and that is this exact type of expenditure
has been paid for again and again by the Clerk. And it raises a thought
in my mind that gives me pause for concern. If the Clerk is asserting
that to pay this particular expenditure is illegal, then that would suggest
that all the previous expenditures paid by him were, in fact, illegal
warrants, and he's personally liable.
So I guess my question is, where is his responsibility for all those
previous payments that he made where he now alleges that they're
illegal and improper? He has a duty. He has an obligation. He has
personal liability if an illegal warrant is issued by him.
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And I guess -- I mean, what would he have to do, pay the county
back for all those illegal warrants if it was deemed that this was
illegal? It's a question that concerns me.
To that end, I agree with you, Commissioner Fiala. I think it's
very concerning that exactly this type -- I should say this process
which has been used for all these years is now deemed illegal, and the
statute hasn't changed.
So, I mean, I think -- I'd like to -- I think we need to make a
motion. I think we need to move forward on this. I hope in the
meantime the Clerk reconsiders his litigious position, but I think we
have to -- we have to defend based on what you-all have said.
So I'm going to make a motion to recommend that we authorize
the county -- and I'm not quite sure -- you have to help me phrase this,
County Attorney. What's the appropriate phraseology for this motion?
MR. KLATZKOW: Well, I guess my question is, part of the
request is that you direct me to intervene in this action on behalf of the
county so that it would -- the county would be involved in the litigation
COMMISSIONER HILLER: No, that --
MR. KLATZKOW: -- as well as to authorize Mr. Ochs to
procure counsel to defend him.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I think what we could start
with is to have the -- to basically allow the County Manager and the
county purchasing agent to select representation and to fund that
representation in defense of the action, which is a claim against them
individually in their official capacities doing county business, and the
resolution allows for us to provide funding for their representation.
And I think that's what the motion ought to be at this point, and let
them move forward.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I will second that for discussion.
Commissioner Henning?
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COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I was going to make a
motion if this one fails. I'm still prepared to make a motion that I think
is more favorable to the taxpayers and resolves this issue quicker.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: What would that consist of, sir?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, that would consist of
directing the County Attorney to work with the Clerk's representation
to request a stay on the litigation, prepare a question to the State's
Attorney General, and if that cannot be accomplished, then the Board
authorizes what the recommendation is under 12A, and that would be
to procure representation for the -- is it the director? Are you a director
or interim director?
MS. MARKIEWICZ: Director.
MR. OCHS: Director.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- for the director of purchasing
and the County Manager.
MR. PIRES: Mr. Chairman?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I don't think those are mutually exclusive
motions.
Mr. Pires?
MR. PIRES: If I may just briefly address one item.
The resolution, I'll call it the strawman or red herring of
nonpayment of vendors because the contract hasn't come before the
Board, can be resolved by those contracts coming before the Board for
ratification utilizing the same process that should have been used at the
additional (sic) adoption time that is always available, so that the Clerk
can pay those contractors and vendors.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: What about a $5 item, Mr. Pires?
MR. PIRES: It's a hypothetical. If you have a $5 item to buy
something from Staples and you have a general contract with Staples,
they can buy items on the approved contract with Staples.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: What if we do not?
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MR. PIRES: You have purchase cards, I believe, that are used
quite frequently for those type of purchases.
MS. KINZEL: And, Commissioner, they have petty cash funds
that have always been authorized and allowed. So I think we're really
looking at the larger payment and larger contract amounts. And if the
concern is for the vendors, if the contracts come before the Board and
are approved by the Board, they could be processed.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor?
MR. OCHS: That's the whole subject of the suit.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: The whole subject of the suit is our
current policy that has a threshold amount for operation.
Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We digressed. I was just -- I'm
just a little confused, because as the new person on the board, things
would be brought to me and I'd ask questions, and I need to understand
from the Clerk's perspective.
It's my understanding that on many cases -- I'm not saying it's 100
percent, because I don't have that kind of memory. But on many cases
I understood from the Clerk that the nonpayment -- and, believe me,
I've heard about the nonpayment before I was elected. So, you know,
doing business with the county is challenging.
That has a lot -- that has to do not with this policy, but has to do
with perhaps not following the contract that was signed and things like
that, not -- my understanding, that it has so little to do with that
$50,000-and-under policy. It has more to do with the way the contract
is developed, what the contract says, does it match what the
contractor's done; if it doesn't, then we can't do this, that kind of thing.
But I think -- I think what I'd like to suggest with this, maybe to
facilitate this -- and I think Commissioner Fiala had a very important
comment and good idea that I'd like to further that -- is that if there's
anything in that 30-day -- I mean, we're talking 30 days, for Pete's sake
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-- 30-day time period. If we can get -- if we can get a question to the
AGO, if there's anything that comes up in that time period that has
anything to do with this policy, that it's -- that the Clerk follows the
policy and it's paid, because that's what our policy says. You pay it,
50,000 and under, the County Manager can execute it, and it can be
paid, and then we go forward.
I mean, again, I don't -- it's my understanding -- and I guess we'd
have to hear from the Clerk's Office, but it's my understanding the bulk
of what's not being paid is because of contracts that do not conform
with the work that's been done.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner, this lawsuit says that this
is not being paid because our staff does not have the right to do it.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Right.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: It doesn't have anything to do with the
particulars of this particular issue. It was just selected as an issue. It
has do with any which -- it has to do with the challenge to the policy of
the Board of County Commissioners, which it states right now that
between 3,000 and $50,000, these people have the authority to make
certain decisions.
Now, whether they make decisions within that that's appropriate
for the Board of County Commissioners to have a discussion with its
County Manager. And if the County Manager does not perform to our
policy, he can be dismissed by three votes at anytime. We are the
bosses, the five of us, collectively, over the County Manager.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Right.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: This discussion always lapses back. It
doesn't have to do with the individual details of any contract. It has to
do with the fundamental statement that's right in this lawsuit. It says
here, the intent of the legislature to grant the county administrator only
those powers and duties which are administrative and ministerial.
All of a sudden, we've done something, and he has no authority to
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do that because the only thing he can do is administrative or ministerial
things which -- whatever that means. I don't even know what that
means.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But it's my understanding -- what
I'm saying is it's my understanding of the vendors who are not being
paid, the reasons they're not being paid are not this reason. It's other
reasons.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: But that's not what we're discussing here.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Right.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: We're discussing the fact that, in my
opinion, we have two employees of the Board of County
Commissioners that is suggested that they be held hostage for the next
30 days until we rush through some resolution without defense.
They've been sued individually. The county -- Board of County
Commissioners is not being sued. These employees of Collier County
are being sued. And I, frankly, don't care for that.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'm with you.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Me, too.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I don't see how in the world the Board of
County Commission cannot supply these people with defense when
they have been personally sued by the Clerk.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I didn't -- I never said they
shouldn't.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'd like to ask that the -- I'd like to
call the question, have you call the question.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala, and then we'll take
a -- we've got a couple of pending votes here.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, she could call the question,
too, because I'm ready to discuss that. I was just going to ask, because
it was said briefly that we hadn't approved these contracts so that's why
they weren't paying them. Can we just make a motion here and say we
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approve those contracts, and then they pay them?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: We don't want to go there.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No? Can't do that?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I would just stick to this. We'll
deal with that.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. That's all I want.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. We have a motion on the floor.
It's my understanding, Commissioner, and I was the second, that
authorizes the Office of the County Attorney to work with Mr. Ochs
and Ms. Markiewicz to retain outside counsel. Is that your motion, and
a second; is that correct?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Is that correct, yeah.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I'm asking you if that's your motion.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: If that's all right.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. I was the second.
Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All those opposed?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: (No verbal response.)
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. That passes 3-2.
Commissioner Henning, I think it's absolutely perfectly possible
for us to stand down in this issue if we can get an Attorney General's
Opinion. And I would think it completely appropriate that Mr. Ochs
and Ms. Markiewicz would stand down also if we can do that. Now, if
we can do that, I think everybody can agree we can stand down with
this lawsuit. But I don't see, you know, how we cannot go forward.
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MR. KLATZKOW: Commissioner, it is my understanding that
an Attorney General will not give an opinion if there's an existing
dispute.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And there is an existing dispute.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Say that one more time.
MR. KLATZKOW: It is my understanding that the Attorney
General will not issue an opinion if there's an existing lawsuit.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: So then we have to agree to stand down
in our lawsuit for us --
MR. KLATZKOW: Well, you're not standing down.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: It's he that's suing us.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: He's standing down.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: The Clerk is suing us.
MR. KLATZKOW: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And they're not withdrawing that
suit.
MR. OCHS: No.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: They're keeping that suit.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: This sortodamically (phonetic) is over
everybody's head.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Absolutely. I think -- look, the
discussion is over. We've voted. Let's move to the next item, please.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, if I may, one related item. The
lawsuit and the service attendant to that requires a response within 20
days of the date that it's delivered. I won't be able to get back to you
with a recommendation on outside counsel nor will Ms. Markiewicz
until the next meeting, which is beyond the date that we have to file a
response to this complaint.
What I'm requesting of the Board is that they authorize the
County Attorney to ask -- or to make a motion to the Court to get an
extension on the filing of the response so that Ms. Markiewicz and I
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have an opportunity to secure counsel and respond to the complaint.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: But you don't need to bring back
your choice of counsel to us. You can go out and hire an attorney
today.
MR. OCHS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: How much time do you -- how
much time has it been since you were served? How much time do you
have to respond?
MR. OCHS: Well, the response is due on, I believe, May the 6th,
Mr. Pires.
MR. PIRE S: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: What's the date?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I believe --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Your attorney can --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- your counsel can manage your case,
sir. I don't see --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah, your attorney can file a
request --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Can manage your case as needed, unless
you feel like we somehow need to validate that decision.
MR. OCHS: No. Historically, it's been a two-step process, but it
doesn't have to be. We can just --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: It's not.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Klatzkow, do you have an opinion
or can you provide us --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: The law doesn't -- the resolution
doesn't require that.
MR. KLATZKOW: I think you can authorize Mr. Ochs and Ms.
Markiewicz to get outside counsel and be done with it.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: We're done.
All right. Next agenda item, sir.
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Item #9C
ORIDNANCE 2015-28: AMENDING ORDINANCE 04-41, AS
AMENDED, THE COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT
CODE, BY AMENDING SECTION 5.04.05 TEMPORARY
EVENTS, TO ALLOW TEMPORARY EVENTS ON COLLIER
COUNTY PROPERTY WITHOUT A PERMIT; PROVIDING FOR
CONFLICT AND SEVERABILITY; INCLUSION IN THE
COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE; AND AN
EFFECTIVE DATE — ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. That takes us to Item 9C on your agenda
this afternoon, Commissioners. This item was continued from the
April 14, 2015, BCC meeting. It's a recommendation to approve an
ordinance amending Ordinance No. 04-41, as amended, the Collier
County Land Development Code by amending Section 5.04.05,
Temporary Events, to allow temporary events on Collier County
property without a permit; providing for conflict and severability;
inclusion in the county Land Development Code; and an effective date.
And Mr. Bosi will make the presentation.
MR. BOSI: Good afternoon, Commission. Mike Bosi, Planning
Zoning Director.
I'm just going to provide an overview of the proposed Land
Development Code amendment, and there's also a companion item that
Steve Carnell will be bringing related to the contract that's going to be
associated with the proposed amendment, and basically it's addressed
within our temporary use section of the code, and I'll just read the
amendment. Temporary events on county --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Do you need to read it, since it's on
the overhead and we can all read? Just out of curiosity. I mean, I think
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it's very clear.
MR. BOSI: No, Commissioner, I don't have to read it.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you.
MR. BOSI: Obviously you guys can read very well.
The component basically says that on county Collier (sic)
property that an agreement shall be required for all temporary events
on park's facilities and other properties, and a temporary use permit
shall not be required. Currently a temporary use permit is required for
any event at any of our government facilities.
The signage will still be related to the temporary use section, so
that restriction will be imposed, and the other component that's still
going to be required that was part of the temporary use section is
notification of our emergency service providers. We want to make
sure that they're appraised of the activity, the duration, so they could
have appropriate staffing and be aware of the type of activity.
And why we came to this where we -- where we've agreed that all
county government property could have these temporary uses as
deemed fit by these contracts in being particularly required that have --
that has established the contract is because the events that are
happening at the community -- the Golden Gate Community Center, at
Sugden Park, those are traditional -- those are traditional events,
traditional activities that you would associate with those type of
facilities.
And when we heard the discussion on February 10th, there was a
multitude of areas that we had spoken about. We spoke about Sugden
Park, we had spoken about the government facility and the events
going on here, the Golden Gate Community Center, what type of--
what type of market should it be, should it be a farmers markets,
should it be a community market? What's the duration?
There was a plethora of opinions that were expressed from the
dias, and we felt that trying to codify all of those individual nuances
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would be too difficult.
So when we proposed this language for the temporary events to
be allowed for all government facilities, we said the key was
particularly in No. 1, and key is in the approved agreement. And the
nuances of that agreement has been worked out and has been
developed with assistance from the County Attorney's Office to make
sure that -- ultimately, where the responsibility and where the decision
making is going to vest within the Board of County Commissioners.
The directors and the facilities that we put it on these events (sic)
that will sign these agreements will know that, ultimately, if the Board
of County Commissioners feels that these are inappropriate events, that
they no longer should be contained for those type of durations or the
event activities at that facility, then those facilities will be curtailed
because those agreements have that particular out incorporated within
them.
And I really think that's the key to this proposed amendment, that
those agreements are going to be the guidance, and they're also going
to be the avenue for -- if the Board feels that these are no longer
appropriate at any one of these facilities, the discontinuance of that use
would be provided for.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning, then
Commissioner Hiller.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Mike, these temporary events is
really -- it's really a land use; is that -- that's correct? It has to go
through the zoning department and so on and so forth?
MR. BOSI: Well, currently the process for a temporary event,
you would have to have a zoning review that's done associated with the
activity that's being proposed for the event.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And that's what's happened
historically?
MR. BOSI: Yes.
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COMMISSIONER HENNING: So the temporary event section
within the Land Development Code states that you can only have so
many events during the year. It would still -- the county would still
have to comply to that?
MR. BOSI: The county -- the county would not on county-owned
property.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. But it doesn't really
specifically -- if you're going to write this in the ordinance, in the Land
Development Code at the same time we're exempting them and how
many days that they could have that event during the year, shouldn't it
spell out something like that? I think it's -- what is the temporary -- you
can have it so many times?
MR. BOSI: Forty-two times --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Forty-two, yeah.
MR. BOSI: -- is normally the maximum that an event could
happen at any one facility.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Because we're still calling it
temporary event on county property. Temporary event within the
temporary -- within the Land Development Code is -- the maximum is
42, and I think what we're hearing is we want it more than 42, once a
week or whatever, so --
MR. BOSI: The problem with the specificity, whether it be 42
days or whether it be 58 days, what we were hearing from the dias
from the last discussion was on a number of these events they thought
that a community facility such as the Golden Gate community facility
was designed -- it was a community facility. And what -- some of
these events, the duration of those events were longer than what the
articulation of what the numbers were being provided.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I just don't want anybody to
confuse when they look at the Land Development Code that temporary
events on government property is only -- still has to comply to the
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42-day rule. That's my point.
The second thing is, since this is a land use, what we're doing is
exempting government from that land use regardless of the zoning,
regardless if it's in a PUD, regardless if it's straight zoning; we're
giving that exemption.
So we have churches that have these markets. And I know there's
a lot of buzz words of what it is. What would they have to do to get an
exemption if they don't comply to the land use?
MR. BOSI: All conditional uses, all churches that are conditional
uses are still eligible for the temporary use section. This temporary use
section is not being altered.
We do have an intention to go out and talk to the community as a
second phase to the private events that would be happening on
nongovernment locations to see what modifications maybe need --
would be appropriate based upon that. But currently, today, they could
put on those events, but they would be -- they would still be limited to
the express 42 days that's contained within the section.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, you have churches with
conditional uses for the worship and related things. Farmers market or
flea market is not related; is that a true statement?
MR. BOSI: Well, a church has a multitude of something -- they
have social services. They have childcare facilities. They have --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: If it's allowed within their
conditional use, you can have a childcare.
MR. BOSI: Yes.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right.
MR. BOSI: Yes. And we find that community events such as
special events are appropriate within those specific locations on a
limited basis as contained by the regulations.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: By the temporary event?
MR. BOSI: Yes.
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COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. All right. I understand.
So what about in PUDs? I mean, we have several PUDs out there
MR. BOSI: The PUDs, unless they had specific language that
says that the LDC regulations would no longer -- wouldn't be
applicable related to the --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Hang on a minute. Hang on.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'm sorry. None of this is part of
this modification of this ordinance.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Absolutely, it is.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: No. We're only talking about
temporary events on Collier County property. We're not talking about
all this other --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You know, Commissioner --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- all these other issues.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- some people feel that
government is for all to all, and what I know about the law is the
people have the rights, and government is limited in their rights. So
the only thing I want to be is fair to the individual property owner.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And then I think if you want to
bring back a modification of this ordinance relative to temporary uses
or uses within PUDs --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Chairman, can I finish my --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I mean, it's --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Let's let Commissioner Henning, you
know, finish his thought. But I understand Commissioner Hiller's
point.
Go ahead, sir.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So within a PUD we have these
markets going on.
MR. BOSI: And in a PUD, unless the PUD specifically says that
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the LDC section related to temporary events would not be applicable
or would be altered in some way, the LDC is controlling. The PUD
only has when -- regulations that they find -- that they want to see an
exception from the LDC. That's really where the PUD will address the
regulations.
So there may be some PUDs that have some restrictions further
than what's contained in the LDC or related to temporary events, but
that's a part of the PUD process as they construct their own individual
regulations.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: But, generally, today, Commissioner,
we're speaking about modification of the procedure for these so-called
temporary events on county property that's generally considered for
community uses, right?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Correct. That's what we're here --
MR. BOSI: And I apologize. I should --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You hear yes --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I'm asking you, Commissioner --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Or do you want her to answer
my question?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, she might anyway. But I'm asking
you, Commissioner Henning.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I'm sure she would. But,
yeah, no, I understand that; however, again, there's -- when
government takes action, there's an opposite reaction, and I just want to
look at this totally so that we -- so the private property owner has the
same fortitude that we're giving ourselves.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Point well --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's real simple, and Mike
explained it.
So what about my concern about the -- within the temporary use
section that governs everybody else, I think, that says you can only
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have it for 42 days? Are we going to further clarify in this amendment
that the county's exempt from that?
MR. BOSI: We can if the Board would think -- thinks that that
clarification is necessary.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: May I help? Give me an
example. Give me an example of that, 42 days.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, that's what the whole --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: This 42 weeks, like 42 Saturdays,
or it could be 42 days in a row?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Forty-two Saturdays. That's
what everybody else has to comply to.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: If I could help a little bit. For the
record, Nick Casalanguida, Commissioners.
Your church is a good example. I think when a church is
approved under a conditional use, you don't expect every weekend to
have a fair at the church, but if they have a temporary use event where
they have a fair or a flea market or some event, it's somewhat regulated
in time.
In your park system, you almost expect something to go on all the
time. And I think when staff met with the County Attorney's Office,
we talked about these being community use locations where there are
events all the time so that they wouldn't require a permit.
On the private side, we would look at them not coming in for
permits over and over again but might limit them so they can come in
and get one permit, and that would allow them to have temporary uses
to a certain limit.
And we might have those be approved by the Board. But that's in
the second phase where we'd vet that with the private sector.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. So you're going to
address -- you're going to address it in the second phase on how you
deal with temporary use on properties besides government?
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MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And you're going to treat at least
those private sectors -- we're going to treat at least those private sectors
equally to what we're doing for ourselves?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: When we say "equally," equally
consistent with what the properties are used for. In other words, if in a
PUD it was allowed to have a market listed in the PUD, that would be
-- they wouldn't require that.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, in other words, if we're
going to allow it for 50 -- for every weekly event on county property,
are we going to, through the second phase, allow that on private
property?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: And I don't think that would be the
case, sir, because I don't think a church -- for instance, there's an
example -- would not have an event every weekend like a county park
might.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Would not have?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Would not have. They normally don't
have --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: But we limit it to 42 weeks.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: On the church properties, a maximum
of, right.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I'm confused.
MR. OCHS: The answer is, no, Commissioner, you're right. In
the scenario that Nick just gave you, we wouldn't be treating those
events equally in terms of duration of time. I think that's your point.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's my point, and I think
that's what we need to do if we're going to do that. Furthermore, as far
as the specific items that is going to be sold on government property,
that we're not going to limit it, then we shouldn't be asking -- or we
need to reverse the direction that we gave previously to where we
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wanted to separate farmers market and flea market.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, some of that is the subject of your
companion item on the policy proposal, yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: For -- on government property?
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Commissioner Hiller wants to
limit me on that topic, and I'm looking at the bigger picture so we don't
fumble and not allow the same for private property owners.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: You could be more restrictive, sir, on
your own property, but you can't be -- the opposite can't take place.
On your property you can be more restrictive than the code.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And I agree with that statement.
So that's where we're going to go.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So if the Board says we're going
to have this every weekend on government property, we're going to
come back and say, okay, the church and gallery and other properties
can have the same.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sir, the difference on duration is that
your park system has an event every weekend almost going on. It's
been traditionally adopted to do that. They have road races, they have
tournaments, they have events that take place. It's a community
location. That was the discussion with staff.
Your retail centers where the parking is there, they're seeking
reductions in parking, differences that were not planned for that
location. So we'll vet that in the second phase, but it's not -- they're not
really looked at the same because a church is not expected every
weekend to have a fair. I would use St. Agnes as an example. They
have a big fair with a Ferris wheel. And I think if when they went
through the conditional use process, if the residents thought that every
weekend they could have a fair, there would be a lot more discussion
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about the conditional use.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, I know, but there are
churches out there that have farmers market every week.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: And that's something we'd have to
look at in the second phase and to bring it back to you to talk about
that.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Everybody's light's on. We're
going to start with Commissioner Hiller, then we're going to
Commissioner Fiala, then Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Mike, I think you did a great job. I
think the way you have modified this ordinance giving the Board the
appropriate latitude through negotiation by way of agreement for these
temporary events on public property, on county government owned
property is well done through this ordinance modification.
So I'm going to make a motion to approve. And Nick's
explanation as to the difference between the temporary use permit on
private property versus temporary events agreements between potential
event holders and the county makes sense. I completely understand
the distinction.
So I make a motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's all right.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You know, I think -- I think
Commissioner Henning has a point, you know; we don't want to give
ourselves more ice cream than anyone else.
So -- and I can appreciate that's the second phase of it. And I
think this is good work. This is a start, but there's going to be a lot of
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bites at this apple. And, you know, we're not going to solve it all
today, and things are going to come up.
But I think if-- which I think staff agreed the philosophy is we
are not going to expect the private sector to be more restrictive than the
government. I think that's a very important philosophy to have going
forward that will underline everything.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Now, I have to say
something.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Except that government properties,
such as parks or garages or whatever, are open to the public at all
times. That's just what we're there for. That's what the taxpayers pay
for; whereas, churches, for instance, they govern themselves a little bit
differently. They use them for fundraisers and so forth.
And so I think it's not that we're trying to limit anybody. It's just
that we're expected to be open all times and should be involved in the
community. That's what they're there for.
So I think there's a whole difference. You can't just compare the
two, because they're not the same animal.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Now, it's my understanding that the
change in the Land Development Code, which we are contemplating,
does not increase the amount of use on Collier property over and above
what is currently permitted.
MR. BOSI: That's correct, Chair.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: So, Commissioner Henning, are you
suggesting that we should expand the uses on private properties above
and beyond what's currently permitted in our -- when we reconsider it?
I'm trying to make sure that you're comfortable with where we are with
this item.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. My understanding is,
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instead of a 52 -- or 42-day event, the community's asking for more of
a weekly event. So you're going to have more than 52. That's what
they want on county property, county parks.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And my only concern is, okay, if
we're going to do it on county property, allow it on county property,
we should allow it on private property. That's all.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Does that make it clear?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes. I'm just trying to confirm.
Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Commissioner Henning, but you
wouldn't object -- I mean, people want to use their parks. So you're not
objecting to an entity using it X amount of time for, like, 30 or 40
weeks, but the concern that we will get if we allowed one park to do
that or one entity to do that is that we might get pushback from other
community leaders or community organizations that want to use that
park at the same time that are in that vicinity. So we've got -- we'll
have another road to cross or another river to row across.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And I think we're going to get to
that on this item. I think there's good resolution to that.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: We have -- seeing no further comment,
we have an item which is -- requires a supermajority. There's been a
motion and a second.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye.
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COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. It passes 5-0.
Item #1 1 A
POLICY GUIDELINES GOVERNING THE PLANNING AND
CONDUCT OF "FARMERS MARKETS" HELD ON COLLIER
COUNTY PROPERTY — DISCUSSED WITH STAFF DIRECTION
INCLUDING CHANGING THE LANGUAGE "FARMERS'
MARKETS" TO "COMMUNITY MARKETS"
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, this takes us to your companion
item. That is a recommendation to adopt policy guidelines governing
the planning and conduct of farmers market held on Collier County
property.
Steve Carnell, your Public Services Department Head, will
present.
MR. CARNELL: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of
the Board.
The policy that we're bringing to you today for discussion
contains a general structure for how we might authorize and manage
these farmers market events on county property, and it also includes
some specific considerations that we want to focus your attention on
and definitely get your collective feedback on going forward.
Previously, the Board, of course, back in February, authorized the
continuation of the Golden Gate farmers market event, and staff, of
course, was directed to address changes to the Land Development
Code, which we just -- you just acted on, and we were asked to bring
back a draft policy, which is, of course, what we're here to discuss
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today.
Pursuant to this preparation of this policy, staff was also directed
to reach out to stakeholder groups, and we have, and a list of the local
groups that we've talked to and met with is included here for your
consideration. We've also looked at the practices and policies of
farmers markets in neighboring communities within Collier County
and elsewhere in the State of Florida as well.
As we just discussed with the Land Development Code, the focus
is to -- at this point with regard to usage on county property, to make it
a matter of policy which is, again, what we're here to discuss today.
And this policy -- again, to start with the general structure, it defines
the term "farmers market" and creates the duty of a farmers market or
role of a farmers market manager and spells out the duties of that
individual or group.
And remember the context of this. This is predominantly
individuals coming to the parks division, in most instances, and asking
to -- the opportunity to utilize their park for an event. And we have all
kinds of precedence and years and years of practice of this; not
necessarily with farmers market, but with all kinds of other rental use
agreements.
And the idea is that we would engage -- we would define and
identify a farmers market manager and assume -- assign them duties
and responsibilities for the event. And they're really going to be the
person responsible, and I'll talk a little bit more about what those
responsibilities include in just a moment.
We're also making a distinction between short-term and long-term
events, and we thought that was important because most of the
overwhelming amount of traffic in the parks system with regard to
event rentals are short-term. They're usually onesie, twosies; I want to
use your park Saturday, May blah, blah, or Sunday, June such and such
for my specific event.
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Occasionally, the engagements are longer than a day or more
frequent than one time. It may be a repeat occurrence like we have
with the Golden Gate event. And the Golden Gate event, at the
moment is a near year-round event, so we wanted to take into account
short-term and separate that from long-term, talk a little bit more about
the distinctions in a moment.
And we particularly want to focus on what are approved uses,
what types of activities do you want to permit within a farmers market
event or, more specifically, the types of items and services that are
sold.
And within that, do you want to put a limit, either a minimum or a
maximum, on these ratio -- establish ratios, if you will, for these
various approved uses.
Let's talk about the duties of the market manager first. The big
thing here is managing the logistics and capacities of the events.
Remember, this is an individual or group coming to us and saying, I
want to use your park. It's not Barry and his staff saying, let's have a
farmers market. It's the community coming to us and saying, we'd like
to use your space.
So the thought is, okay, you'd like to use our space, you're going
to take on a series of responsibilities for the overall success of the
event, and you're going to assume liability for the event. You'll have
proper insurance, and you'll indemnify Collier County.
We'll also -- you'll be responsible for food safety as the event
manager in terms of being sure that the vendors who are selling any
foods being sold are being sold and have been prepared and delivered
within Florida Statutes and the food safety laws of the State of Florida,
and we have a broader requirement in the policy that you do
everything lawfully for federal, state, and local laws as well.
In addition to that, you see there's a few other specific
requirements here. In the event that somebody's selling something that
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would require a special or unique permit, again, the event manager's
responsible for obtaining that and producing that and showing that to
county staff prior to and during the event to ensure that everybody
transacting business in the event is properly licensed, and that the event
manager will execute a standard rental agreement or lease, depending
on the duration of the rental, and that these are -- these documents,
whether they be the short-term rental or a lease, will be brought to the
Board. We'll bring templates to the Board in the case of the short-term
rental.
And our recommendation is that we continue the practice we've
used from all of our other park site rentals, which is the short-term
events, the Board approves the standard agreement, and their parks
director executes them on behalf of the Board, provided that they all
meet the parameters of the standard agreement. The longer term
agreements would be brought to the Board individually for each event.
Then also the event manager, parks -- the farmers market
manager will be responsible for overseeing the sales, transactions at
the event. And these agreements will contain a right to terminate -- for
the county to be able to terminate for cause or convenience.
Now, with that I want to focus on the specifics, and this is where
we really need feedback from the five of you collectively and
guidance. Three particular points here: What allowable uses do you
want to authorize and permit in these events? What ratios, if any, do
you want to employ in terms of guiding what gets sold and what
percentage and concentration, so to speak?
And then the rental term periods; are you comfortable with a
short-term approach as we've defined it in the policy draft and the
long-term rental as well? And let's just address each one of them
individually.
In terms of allowed uses, we're proposing six categories: Farm
products; prepared foods; handmade goods; used goods; new retail
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goods or manufactured goods, if you will; and services.
And as we have looked around at different farmers market events,
you know, there is no statutory definition or Biblical definition of
farmers market. It's generally a matter of policy. And it's very diverse.
There's some commonalty to it, but there's no one set definition out
there.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: By the way, everyone's laughing
because you said Biblical standard.
MR. CARNELL: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: In case you were wondering.
MR. CARNELL: It's not in the New or Old Testament, I promise
you.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Right.
MR. CARNELL: And so with that --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: It probably is.
MR. CARNELL: Well, that would be for another day.
Anyway, you see the six categories that are identified there. And
what we've noticed is that while there's commonalty to a certain degree
between these different events, nobody does it identically. There's all
-- there's variations from whether it be a private sponsored event or
public event, City of Naples, which is a private event, City of Marco,
which is a public event, other cities and counties we've looked at.
There's a great deal of variation to the point where I really think it's a
policy call of the Board, ultimately, in terms of what the five of you
think is best for the community overall remembering that this policy is,
again, written to cover all county property.
Really, the focus is on the parks, but we want to be a little broader
than that because there will be some instances where your zoning will
permit and where the usage is logical to occur in other places such as
the Collier County Government Center.
With regard to the ratios, we've proposed that at least 51 percent
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of the vendors selling must be selling farm products, and no more than
10 percent can sell new retail goods. So we've got a floor in one case
and a ceiling in the other.
And then the other thing that -- by deduction, that leaves you with
the other four categories that we listed in the policy for allowable uses
would make up the remainder or 49 percent of the vendors selling in
the event.
MR. OCHS: Steve, are you going to come back to each of these
policy decisions or --
MR. CARNELL: Yes.
MR. OCHS: -- as we go?
MR. CARNELL: Yes. I wanted to kind of cruise through each
one of them, and then ask the Board for guidance. But I think it's
useful to look at them all quickly and go back one by one.
All right. And then the last major point here for discussion is this
concept of short-term versus long-term rental. In the case of
short-term rental, we're proposing essentially up to one full month.
Agreements -- and we're focusing on the length of the agreement as
opposed to the number of events.
All of this is going to be contingent upon the availability of the
site, and the parks staff is always going to be able to say, no, it's not
available that day because we're doing something else, and we don't
anticipate people booking an event, say, for 31 consecutive days in a
short-term case, and we just haven't had a history of that. Most of our
short-term rentals, as I said, are one day, half a day, or maybe a couple
of days.
And in that case we would continue -- we recommend continuing
in the same practice that we use for other event rentals within the
parks, which is standard Board of County Commissioners agreement
reviewed by and vetted by the parks staff, and the park's director signs
on behalf of the parks, the event manager would sign on behalf of the
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interest wishing to rent.
Long term, we're using the word "lease," and this is for more than
a month or for somebody who wishes to book space in a park or a
county facility for up to one year, and each one of those would be
brought to the Board of County Commissioners for approval.
So with that, I'd like to just kind of walk through, if we could,
each of the three, and we'll start with the allowable uses. And I'd like
to ask input from the commissioners as to, if you look at the list there,
the six, do you have questions or thoughts or suggestions about what's
appropriate for allowable use?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you. Thank you very much.
I would like to suggest that we change the label of these markets
that are going to be held on county property from farmers market to
community market.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, I second that. I was going to
say that.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's your idea from the last
meeting, and I loved it.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you. You're very kind to
say that.
So to that end, I think every community within the county that has
one of these markets on government property is different. And I don't
believe that you can have a one-size-fits-all formula. I think that each
community has to develop, you know, its own idea of, you know, what
works for that community. And I think that proposals should be
brought forward to the Board, and then we will ratify that proposal.
You know, what we have here at the county is going to be very
different than at the Golden Gate Estates Civic Center. We may decide
here that it's all going to be food where we're not going to do any retail
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of any sort, whether it's homemade or reselling new goods or used
goods or anything like that. We may say it's just food. It's going to be
homemade foods, fresh vegetables, cheeses, things along that line.
Over in the Estates, we may have -- or take Immokalee. Let's just
-- let's say we decide to have a community market out there. That
could be, because it's the will of the community, predominantly all
farm products.
So I think to ask us now as a matter of policy to come up with
these ratios and say it's going to be a max of this and min of that
doesn't really make a lot of sense.
So I would ask that we as a board direct staff to look at where
these markets -- or these communities markets, if the Board agrees to
call them community markets -- are situated, look at the desires of the
community, and develop profiles for these markets based on what the
community demand is, and each agreement will be tailored
accordingly.
That's what I would suggest for discussion purposes.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Commissioner --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And maybe -- let me just add one
thing. Maybe what we really need to do -- and I hate to delay this, but
maybe what we ought to do is have a workshop that identifies all the
different markets and then discuss, you know, what we would be
hosting in each of these markets, in turn, by way of agreement through
the private-market managers.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I agree to the community market
idea. I think it's a good idea and, in fact, Kaydee Tuff said, oh -- you
know, she couldn't be here today. She was concerned. I thought we
had a community market at Golden Gate. So I think that's a great idea.
But, you know, these managers are there to make money. They're
not there to do anything else. They make a lot of money. That's not my
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business, and I don't think it should be government business.
And I think that they're going to be wise enough to design a
market that will be frequented by the people they want to frequent. If
they make mistakes, people aren't going to come, so I think we kind of
have to leave that up to the private enterprise, what's inside these
markets, and let the market dictate whether they're successful or not.
I think it -- and going forward, I think this is a great -- good start,
and I compliment staff on this. This was not an easy thing to do in
such a short period of time. I'm very pleased at the direction this is
going.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. Yeah, if you drop the
word "farmers," then there's no confusion what has historically
happened. But I have to ask, is there -- would there be any limitations
by the board of what a vendor can sell?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You want to limitate (sic)?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I have one item.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: What's that?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Fireworks.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Oh, okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I feel that we should not be allowing
fireworks to be sold on any of our property because anybody could get
hurt and because we allowed it.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I'm glad you didn't say guns,
because that's a family wholesome thing that a lot of, you know,
families do together is buy and shoot guns. So that was my concern,
that we don't limit what can be sold on there because we're picking and
choosing winners -- or used cars or anything like that. Insurance
salesman, which is going on now, is a practice. So we're going to
allow all those things except for fireworks.
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Part of your workup, this is going to be advertised, and it's going
to be competitive to get back bids on what -- how the parks and rec's
going to benefit from this private enterprise selling on the county
property?
MR. CARNELL: Yeah. What we've proposed here -- and,
remember, we're the landlord. These are groups approaching us. And
I would -- I'm not sure I would call it bidding in the sense of a hard
bidding type of scenario, because typically when landlords are renting
space, they don't put the space out to bid.
But what we're contemplating is two pieces to this. One would be
that we would put a notice out to the community when anybody wants
to enter into a longer term rental. And the thought was, we didn't need
to do that for short-term rentals, because they're going to be 31 days or
less, and they're not taking up that much space for that much time.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right. I agree with that.
MR. CARNELL: Okay. Good. If it's going to take longer than
that, then the thought was you put this notice out -- and the way it's
written, we're talking about -- first off, we want people to be aware that
the park is -- or the site's going to be used for that purpose and,
secondly, we do want to find out if anybody has an objection to that
usage, and, third, as Commissioner Henning -- where your question
leads, we would be offering others that want to compete for that space
or that site with a similar or perhaps better idea; we afford them that
opportunity.
I'm not sure if all -- if everyone's aware that that was really the
genesis of the Golden Gate market. They came to the MSTU advisory
board last year. There were actually two competing groups at the time
that made presentations to that board, and that was what led to the
authorization by the advisory board and the signoff by the parks staff
of the temporary use agreements that came after it.
But, Commissioner Henning, again, the idea would be to allow it
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to have a competitive -- some kind of competitive opportunity. Find
out if there's a showing of interest and give people a chance to propose
something, and do that all within the time frame of while we're either
using a short-term event or a negotiating towards a long-term event
that would be engaged thereafter, and we would bring those
agreements to the Board.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Well, there is case law on
this particular -- Jeff, what is your opinion? Should it be what is being
proposed, or should it be --
MR. KLATZKOW: This differs from virtually all other park
activities in that this is a commercial use, usually parks and
recreational use, Little League, soccer leagues, what have you; this is a
commercial use. Because it's a commercial use, I think it would be
appropriate to open this up so that you get different proposals sent.
You don't necessarily have to take the most money out of it, but
you may find that one person comes in with a better mix of goods and
services.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: The value is to the county.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah. You may find out if you open this up,
you get -- you will have a better product that's offered than what you
have now. You may find that you have only one person interested in
this business. I don't know.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Are you okay with that?
MR. CARNELL: I am.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: It would be a bid?
MR. CARNELL: Well, again, if I understood the County
Attorney to say you wouldn't necessarily be focused on revenue to the
county, because this has never been about revenue to the county. It's
talking about -- if we're talking about the best overall arrangement,
whether it be a superior event --
MR. KLATZKOW: Almost like an RFP.
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MR. CARNELL: It could be.
MR. KLATZKOW: You're getting proposals from people. This
is what I offer, you know --
MR. CARNELL: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: No, I agree. Because the Florida
Statute says whatever the best value is, and we can determine what the
best value is. It could be a whole host of things. It could be what's best
for that individual area.
MR. CARNELL: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And you might find one person
wants to do a mall within the county. So if you're going to proceed
with that, I don't have a problem -- I don't have a problem with it.
MR. CARNELL: Okay.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
Yes. There were so many things I wanted to say. First of all, one
of the things we haven't had in a long time, we used to have craft shops
a lot of places, or we used to have these craft shows all over, and, boy,
they were very, very popular. But anyway, we don't have that
anymore, so I'm delighted that we'll be able to continue selling those in
parks. I think that's a wholesome thing. I also think wholesome is
vegetables and fruits and all kinds of farm products, and even prepared
foods. It's fun to go in and have a sandwich while you're doing your
thing, or buy jellies or breads or whatever.
And maybe retail goods. I think that might be good too. I don't
know about used goods. Now it begins to get junky. And with
services, I mean, I think sometimes services overdo a market, and all
of a sudden you've got all these vendors that sell insurance and car
parts or whatever they're going to sell, instead of what people really go
to a farmers market for, and then you lose the enticement of a farmers
market.
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So I personally would eliminate services and used goods, and I
would eliminate fireworks. So you're asking for opinions; that's mine.
I think in Immokalee, they have -- they're so few places for those
people to shop, so I think a farmers market there -- in fact, all the
farmers market they can put together -- they have plenty of fruits and
vegetables, but they sure could use some other items, whether it be
clothing or shoes or prepared goods or whatever. I think that that's a
great offering for the community, out there. Thank you. That's my
opinion.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I want to make a couple comments, then
I'm going to go back to Commissioner Hiller and then Commissioner
Taylor.
One concern that I do have is exactly what was kind of introduced
by Commissioner Fiala, and that is that I heard loud and clear from the
community that they were very interested in the community and social
aspects of these markets. And I'm concerned that if we get going into a
best-offer solicitation process, that what we're going to do is we're
going to eliminate some of these desirable things like perhaps local
prepared foods and handmade goods because actually they're not as
profitable as somebody that's going to come in and sell awnings or
tires or something.
And I'm concerned that we don't -- in our effort to leave it
completely open to best value, that we're maybe losing the exact
element that we're trying to enable here.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I agree.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: So, you know, I was looking at the -- I
don't think there's any argument that selling farm products is going to
be less profitable than somebody working on a commission basis or
something. It's hard for me to imagine that that's not the case.
So I want to make sure that everybody agrees that there should be
no restrictions on this. And I'm not trying to be restrictive. I'm just
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trying to not let it go to strictly economics and lose what I heard people
telling me that they enjoyed most out of the markets.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: We're all saying the same thing.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: How do we do that, Commissioner?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, we just did. I mean, I
didn't say best -- how much money the county's going to get back from
it. What I said was, you know, each community's different in what
they want. So the staff is going to be looking at exactly what you're
saying, what is the best --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Choose the mix? Help choose the mix?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Based on community preference?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller, then
Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And we might want to sell guns
here because we're right by the courthouse.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think we should all have guns in
the boardroom and make sure that the Naples Daily News gets that
down. Headline, Hiller says. No, I'm kidding, all right.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Ochs, this is taking a decidedly dark
turn after 2:00. I believe we need to take a rest for the court reporter; is
that appropriate?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Are we going to come back, and
can I comment after the break?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, of course.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Okay. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We should just finish it.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: No, she needs a break. What need
-- what, 3 o'clock?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, we'll come back at three. We're in
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recess.
Then we're going to have public comment and additional
comment from everyone.
(A brief recess was had.)
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes. We are returning to our discussion
on Item No. 11A, and we're supposed to be beginning with -- as soon
as Commissioner Taylor returns, she's next in the queue, and then
we're going to go to public comment.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I was next in the queue.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: No, you weren't.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yes, I was. Well, I was on, and
then you said we'll come back and talk after.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I assured you that we would.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I swear to God I'm next in the
queue.
MR. CARNELL: Mr. Chairman, if I could make a suggestion.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes.
MR. CARNELL: I'm thinking it would be helpful for staff if we
went through each of the three slides, focused on the three questions
and just see what consensus we have among the commissioners; is that
all right?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: You want to defer your comments until
we do that, ladies, or you want to continue? You --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I have --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor's up next.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I do have one question.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And it was your -- under your
manager's responsibilities. And my question to you is, how are we
going to ensure that the managers -- the manager ensures food safety?
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How are -- what -- where are we with that? What kind of supervision?
What goes on? Is it just because if something happens, there's a policy
out there, and that's our insurance, or is there going to actually be feet
on the ground so to speak?
MR. CARNELL: Well, what I would anticipate would happen is
that when the event manager comes in and wants to rent the location,
we're going to take them -- staff is going to take them through a
checklist of requirements. And in the case of food safety, we're going
to take them to the state agricultural website, we're going to point them
to the Florida Statute that pertains to food safety and make sure they
understand that. And then I think on site, day of the event, we're going
to be out there. We will have a staff presence. We're not food-safety
experts. But we will be looking for the conspicuous and the obvious
and, obviously, we'll respond to any complaints or anything that we
see on the site that may be of an obvious problem.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And you feel that the required
insurance, the indemnification of the county or however -- whatever
legal documents need to be executed will be sufficient, so in a case of
-- an unfortunate event happens, the county's protected.
MR. CARNELL: I think it's about the best we can do and still
enable the events to go forward. I don't know if you have anything to
add to that, sir, or not.
MR. KLATZKOW: My understanding is that you contract with
one person, make sure they have sufficient insurance and experience in
these things; they, then, subcontract with the vendors --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Right.
MR. KLATZKOW: -- under that and, you know, hopefully
you're dealing with professional people here. It's in the main guy's best
interest to make sure his people don't, you know, do anything wrong,
because he'll lose his contract, and he'll be liable himself. So we'll do
the best we can on this.
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COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I just -- you know, again, I just
want to make sure that the county's protected. And, my goodness,
we're not inventing the wheel. Food's served in a lot of markets
throughout this county for many, many months and probably several
years, so I'm fine with that.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you.
I know there was some discussion about the sale of firearms. Is it
legal to sell firearms on government property?
MR. KLATZKOW: I have no idea.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Interesting thought.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I mean, I think --
MR. KLATZKOW: That's the first time anybody's asked me
that, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I think it's very important
that -- you know, looking at the legality of the sales is very important.
I mean, this is government property, and there will be restrictions.
And I think it is very, very important that to the extent there are, that
that contract with, you know, these individual market managers clearly
provides that, you know, obviously, no illegal sales or illegal activity,
but we need to also know what they are, that in the event that these
vendors do engage in the sale of, you know, illegal goods or illegal
services, that, you know, we know what we're looking to prohibit. And
I don't know. I don't know the answer. But since Commissioner
Henning, you know, raised the issue of the sale of guns --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: The reason I did is because Lee
Civic Center, they have an event twice a year selling guns.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Is the Lee Civic Center a
governmental entity, or is it a -- I don't know what it is.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, I don't know. But also, the
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-- you're allowed to carry guns within the park system and on the beach
and so on and so forth.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: My point is, I don't want to pick
winners and losers. If we're going to have private enterprise profiting
on government property, don't pick winners and losers.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I understand. And I wasn't
concerned about that, but I understand your point.
And to that end, this issue of whether or not these arrangements
have to be put out to bid, is there a legal requirement that they have to
be put out to bid since we're leasing this property?
MR. KLATZKOW: You've got an --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Public property?
MR. KLATZKOW: You have a statute that requires that when
you're leasing property, that it be put out to bid. That's really
contemplating, say, a building that you want to lease. It's not really
contemplating this. In my mind, this is a 'tweener. I mean, you
wouldn't put out to bid, for example, your Little League fields. That
wouldn't make any sense.
But this is a commercial use, and because it's a commercial use, I
think, in all fairness, that anybody who wants to use that be given the
opportunity to make a proposal, and then you guys can pick the best
proposal for that particular park.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So what we would do is basically
put out, as staff said, an RFP. Instead of looking for competitive
bidding, we're just really looking for what we deem to be the best
proposal for the use of that site?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah. I think that would be a good
approach.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Okay. I just wanted clarification
on that. And I think one of the important things about these
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community markets is I personally like to see a venue where artisanal
talent can be promoted, and I don't see enough of that in this county. I
like, you know, the idea of people who are making, you know,
homemade honey and, you know, special types of candles and jewelry.
I really think we need to promote the artisanal community, and I think
these venues will offer these micro businesses an opportunity to show
off their artistic talent.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Mr. Carnell, you were making a
request of the Board. Tell us what you would like --
MR. CARNELL: If you look at the slide that's up now, this is the
summary of allowable use categories. Now, based on -- in the current
draft of the policy. Based on the discussion of the Board just now, do
you want to go with these defined categories, yes or no, and if yes,
which ones? And then if no, do you want to prohibit anything
expressively in terms of general use category? That's just an open
question for the Board.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: We vote on a little piece of paper?
MR. CARNELL: Talk among yourselves, and my suggestion is
build a consensus. My thought is go through -- we'll go through three
slides and ask that question, and then somebody maybe can make a
motion based on the discussion.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller, you'll be first.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think this goes back to what we
all just talked about, and that is we put out an RFP for a particular
market, you know, the different market managers put together
proposals with any combination of the above, and then we look at
them and deem, you know, what's -- what looks like the best for the
community based on community input.
So to sit here and say, like, yes or no to these, I mean, let the
market dictate and, you know, bring us the best offers based on what
the citizens want.
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MR. OCHS: Commissioner, that's fine on the long-term events
by definition. If you remember the previous slides, short-term events
were described as events of 30 -- 31 days or less, and the instrument to
effect those rental agreements was going to be through a rental
agreement, the template which is approved by the Board, but on a
case-by-case application the staff would -- parks and rec director
would sign off on those, so --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So on those, is that 31 --
MR. OCHS: So that --just so you know, we -- if there's -- if it's a
laissez faire, market will dictate. They weren't all intended to come
back to the Board, just the long-term event ones.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: But 31 days or less, is it -- it's not
31 continuous days?
MR. OCHS: Not necessarily, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Could it be 31 continuous days?
MR. OCHS: By definition.
MR. CARNELL: In theory, it could be, but that would be the
maximum. I mean, it's an agreement that lives for 31 days. You use
the park once, you use it three times, or it could be a one-day
agreement.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Are you setting a schedule so that,
you know, we know when -- like, when you get into a 31-day
agreement, let's say someone goes up to 31 days, are you going to --
you're going to define those days in that contract --
MR. CARNELL: Oh, yes.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- very clearly so we know what's
available and not, I would assume.
MR. CARNELL: And those are the agreements that are going to
be executed by staff. They'll be standard agreements that the Board
will approve, and then from there, if somebody wants to use the park
and the duration is 31 days or less, then the point the County
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Manager's making is the staff will sign those on behalf of the Board
with the event manager.
And the point is, if you have no policy guidance on the allowable
use categories, then just understand, the staff will be -- will not have
formal direction or policy direction from the Board on what's
permitted.
MR. OCHS: Commissioner, listen, I'm fine with letting the
market dictate on either short- or long-term events. I just wanted the
Board to understand, at least in the proposal, how short-term events
will be authorized, because you seem to take some comfort in the fact
that you're going to see all these agreements at some point and know
precisely what's being proposed in them. And all I'm trying to
communicate is for the short-term rentals, that wasn't the intent.
So we're still fine with the policy decision if it's let the market
dictate based on the location of the event and the event manager
assume the risk, as Commissioner Taylor had said, of making sure they
know their market; we're fine with doing that for short-term events,
too. I just wanted to make sure that the Board clearly understood those
-- those don't come back like the long-term events agreements would.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I mean, if the direction of the
Board is, you know, any combination as a short-term event, then you
are being given the parameter by the board. You are being given
direction.
MR. OCHS: I understand.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And I don't really know how we
would -- I mean, yes, we can start imposing limitations and say, for
example, short-term events shall, you know, only be farm products,
prepared foods, homemade goods, but maybe that's not what that
community wants.
On the other hand, if you start getting all these complaints on
these short-term agreements, you can come back and tell us, you know,
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the communities don't like short-term events that are used goods or
services.
MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. And we're very comfortable with that.
I just wanted --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Maybe what you need to do is
experiment on these short-term events and see, you know, what the
market does want, and then come back, and then --
MR. CARNELL: That would be the intent.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- maybe we can hone the policy.
If, you know, people really are upset with, you know, these short-term
markets looking like a flea market and they want more of an artisanal,
you know, event, then, you know, we can come up with a policy. But
how do we even know if we don't know what each community wants?
MR. OCHS: I'm fine with that approach.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: But letting the market dictate, we're
not even listening to the market, because we're not. We're only dealing
with the organizer. And the organizer is going to take on whoever
pays them the most money and -- you know, because he's not in it to
please everybody. He's in it to make money.
MR. OCHS: Well --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So no matter what the community
says --
MR. OCHS: People won't come back.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- you know, he's -- you know, it's
up to him to either, you know, put on a show that will just draw lots of
crowds or whether he's in it for a different reason and getting more
money in a shorter thing. You know, we don't know.
We're only dealing with the organizer, right, Leo?
MR. OCHS: Yes, that's correct.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So maybe what we need to do is
when the organizer comes forward, that the organizer, you know -- oh,
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I don't know. It's very difficult.
MR. CARNELL: See, my thought is, don't overthink this part of
it, my suggestion, because you have -- your parks are living, dynamic
venues. There's people walking in all the time. I want to use it for a
day. I want to use it for a week, and we've had little or no problem
with that. And it's because, with the short-term events, they come and
they go. And so there's -- they're not -- like, they're not cordoning the
park off forever, you know.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So then why are we changing our
policy? If what you're doing works and everything is fine, then why
should we limit you other than saying --
MR. CARNELL: Well, maybe you shouldn't.
The other thing to keep in mind, too, is that a number of people --
we keep talking about for-profit ventures. And you have to consider
the profit motive in this, but not all these farmer markets are for profit.
The one on the government center is a nonprofit event. It's sponsored
by the Health Department.
And so you're going to have not-for-profit groups that want to do
events, community markets from time to time. So just keep that in
mind. It's not all profit driven. Some of your fear may be negated by
the fact that a lot of times it will be not-for-profit groups initiating the
event.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I think what happens is -- it's
been my experience in the city that when an unscrupulous manager of
a street fair -- we call them street fairs, you know. And he was in it
specifically to collect his money per booth, and what happened was
people stopped coming, and so then that ended.
I think -- it's not a quick fix, but over time, I think the market does
correct it. And, you know, he -- and the vendors won't want to come
because they're not making any money.
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And, you know, for the Health Department to sponsor a farmers
market is just wonderful. It's -- I'm sorry. It's blue zone. It's blue zone
all over, right? So the county's ahead of the curve here.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I just have one comment, Steve. And I
don't know if you're getting the guidance that you need. I hope that
you're compartmentalizing, and you're able to do it.
I just have one concern and one concern only, and that is the
under the food-safety element of what we've talked about. It's been a
concern to me for a long time, and I'll tell you why.
I'm going to suggest that we make sure, through our efforts as the
county, that we are guided by the Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services on what they require on these events. Several
reasons for that. No. 1 : There have been 280 fatalities from listeria in
this nation in the last 10 years. We've had an example of a food -- an
excellent food producer in Collier County that was in our industrial
park over here that was selling crab dip and fish dip and shrimp dip
nationally to mass marketers that went out because of one food-safety
incident. That's a one-and-done issue.
When we went to the University of Florida to talk about our food
accelerator, they cautioned us. They said, this is something you
absolutely can help these people with. It's of the highest importance.
It's a big crisis, and it's a crisis at our farmers markets. They
mentioned that unsolicited when county staff went up there.
And right now, if you've paid attention, we've had three fatalities
from Bluebell ice cream products in the last couple of weeks, and it's
caused a recall in 23 states and internationally. Bluebell ice cream has
disappeared across this county. You can't even go find it. They may
be done. They may be out of business. And they've been around ever
since I was a little kid.
So this is your Uncle Tim just trying to -- you know, I'm not
trying to bring everybody down here, but what I'm saying is, what we
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do here in supervision is going to protect us. No amount of insurance
that we're going to have is going to protect us. We have to make sure
that we're just doing the right thing. And if we do the right thing, I
don't think we're going to have that high risk -- that many high-risk
items that are going to give us that exposure.
But I think it's a great responsibility that we bear just to make sure
nobody gets into trouble and we don't have a tragedy just from benign
neglect.
That's the only issue I have. I have no problem with any of these
items.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: What about, you know, under
new goods, Commissioner Nance? That would -- we're going to
exclude guns, right, and we're going to exclude firearms -- or I'm sorry,
fireworks?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, Commissioner Fiala suggested
fireworks. You know, new retail goods was a concern for me because
I thought, you know, back when we had this conversation months ago
that we were going to compete against our other vendors, but I have no
problem in letting this seek its own level.
If there are individual exclusions Commissioners would like to
make -- Commissioner Fiala has said fireworks. I have nothing to
contribute to that.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And if I can comment on what you
just said. I have a real concern about us taking responsibility for, you
know, quality control over food products or edible goods, I mean,
however you want to call it. I mean, we're not in -- we're not equipped
to do that.
I mean, who -- who in the county, Jeff, inspects, you know, these
-- for example, these artisans that make bread and sell them at farmers
market or cheeses or, you know, other prepared sauces? Who's
responsible to ensure that the preparation and the presentation at these
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markets is done in a way that, you know, there is no public safety
issue? It's not our job.
MR. KLATZKOW: It's not our job. If it's anybody's job, it's the
state.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, then it's the state's
responsibility, and we should not be taking responsibility for
whichever governmental agency has the duty to ensure this. I mean,
we're not equipped to do that.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: He didn't say that.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I thought that's what he said.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: No. I don't think we need to take the
responsibility. What I'm saying is that this list that we were presented,
it said duties of the farmers market manager. The farmers market
manager, I would think, would have a responsibility to make sure if
they have a food vendors, that those food vendors have the required
licenses and that they've filled out the necessary paperwork through
DACS.
MR. CARNELL: And it does say that, sir, verbatim, in the
current policy.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Right. DACS says that -- you know, you
can say everything set forth under Florida Statute. Look, we don't
want to turn our farmers market manager into lawyers. I can just tell
you, you can go on the DACS website and it will say, look, if you're
going to sell fresh juice, this is what you've got to do. If you're going
to sell prepared sandwiches, this is what you've got to do. It's
something that's easy to understand, but they are farmers market
managers.
I don't want everybody to come back and say, look, the Board of
County Commissioners put us out of business because they put
requirements on us that we couldn't meet. This is required by law by
the state, and we just need to be aware of it.
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And forewarned is forearmed. If people will just do the basic
things as described by DACS, they'll be okay.
I would suggest to you that many of them aren't even aware that
they should be doing this. They're selling items that, you know, they're
confident in, but they're not even aware that, you know, if they sell
shrimp that they went out and caught or that they bought on the docks,
that they have to have a license, and they have to have, you know,
temperature required -- requirements and so on and so forth to sell that
retail. They may not be aware of that. And somebody's got to be there
to catch those gaps.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Have we given you any direction?
MR. CARNELL: Well, I think I'm hearing that you're not
inclined -- you're inclined to allow all of these six categories right now.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Except for fireworks, because
Commissioner Fiala --
MR. CARNELL: Okay. And you want an exclusive -- or a
specific prohibition on fireworks. Anything else? I mean, at this point
I think we've got -- I think I've got what I need for the moment. Is
there anything else?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. So then the other two questions,
do you want to regulate the ratios in any way with regard to minimum
or maximum of any -- of any product, any of the six categories?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No.
MR. OCHS: Okay. Next.
MR. CARNELL: All right. And then last but not least, are you
comfortable with the short-term, long-term concept the way we've
proffered it?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes.
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COMMISSIONER HENNING: Except --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: What is up to one year? Whoever
rents one of our facilities for a year?
MR. CARNELL: Well, I think that's would be the desire of Mr.
Rakow at the Golden Gate Farmers Market would be have it to run
maybe not every single week, but essentially year round.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, I see.
MR. CARNELL: And he's been operating under a series of
temporary use permits.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And as we talk about this -- and
it's -- I'm segueing here, but to make sure that we're not talking about
farmers market, we're going to change the name as --
MR. CARNELL: Community events.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- Commissioner Hiller has
suggested to community markets and then let the manager decide what
he wants of the goods into those markets, right? Is that right?
MR. OCHS: That's our understanding of the Board's -- at least a
majority of the Board's intent.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yep, good.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Public speakers, sir.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: But on the -- except for on the
long-term leases, those agreements come back to us for approval.
Those will be solicited through RFP and, you know, the mixes may be
different based on, you know, the different managers' proposals, and
then we'll have the discretion to select whoever we want.
MR. OCHS: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: But on the short term, up to 31
days, whether, you know, 31 spread through the year or 31 continuous,
you're going to use a standard form, whatever the manager proposes
that is seeking that short-term rental agreement is what will be
approved.
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MR. OCHS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And the agreements that come
back to us -- and we just -- because I think Commissioner Hiller's
right, we may not know what one community wants, and I think
Commissioner Fiala said this, how do we know?
So as much supporting documentation we can get. I'm sure you're
going to be running it by property owners' associations or, in the case
of Golden Gate, I guess, that's their MSTBU, right, or their MSTU?
MR. CARNELL: Uh-huh.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, that's --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You know, we need to know --
we need to have their recommendations in order to make an educated
decision for that specific part of our community.
MR. CARNELL: Yeah. I would anticipate for any park site we
would vet it through the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, too,
before we got here.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay, great. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your first speaker is Garrett
Beyrent. He'll be followed by Skip Haeger.
MR. BEYRENT: Good afternoon, Commissioners. I'm Garrett
FX Beyrent. I'm the representative for the Amalgamated Sign Holders
Union.
And what we have to do with this particular issue is we do
periodically employ people to hold signs advertising the markets.
Now, we'd call them -- the last sign we had made was actually a
community market sign for a Golden Gate flea -- I guess we call them
community markets. That's it. We'll call them that. From now on we'll
be called a community market.
In any case, I had employed two individuals to hold signs
directing people to the market, and one was a 12-year-old boy and his
14-year-old sister. And they'd trade off, and their mother worked in the
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market selling new clothing.
In that particular market, about 40 percent of the booths were
vegetables and fruits, and the rest was just an amalgamation of
everything, which it should stay, because that's what the general public
is looking for when they go to a community market. They don't
specifically go there just to buy green tomatoes.
And all of them are wearing clothing, because people that are
farmers, they actually buy clothing as well as fruits and vegetables. So
it shouldn't be restricted to specific food items, which I was afraid that
it would be.
But as far as the sign holders go, the Sugden Park, which is a
perfect example of a failure only because they -- the county took down
all their directional signs, and now they're out of business. And they
probably will open again in the season, but you can't find it. It's so far
back in the park, you need directional signs. And directional signs
should have people holding them. They shouldn't be just stuck
willy-nilly in the ground where anybody chooses to put them.
And thank you very much for your time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Skip Haeger. He'll be
followed by Bill Arthur.
MR. HAEGER: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is
Skip Haeger, and I've been a licensed and insured dealer of agricultural
products here in Collier County since 1991. I've also participated in
farmers markets here in Naples for over 15 years.
I'm here today to speak to you in regards to the community
market at the Golden Gate Community Center which is held every
Saturday for only five hours and is run by Mr. Joe Rakow as the
manager of that market.
Back in February of this year, we came before you to express the
feelings we had, not only as a vendor, but as the concerned citizens of
the Golden Gate City area.
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You had expressed your feelings in regards to closing our market.
Well, the community responded to that by presenting a petition to you
with almost 2,000 signatures all opposed to that decision, and over 25
speakers voiced their sentiments that day against that decision.
One favorable outcome of that meeting was a unanimous vote to
keep our market open for that year. There were stipulations, however,
those on the Board up there.
First, your definition of what comprises a true farmers market is
incomplete. While it should contain things like tomatoes and
vegetables, fresh flowers, cut flowers, plants, it should also contain
fresh fish caught in our waters, also, any other fish and seafood that is
harvested throughout the State of Florida. Honey and bee products are
another item that should be included in the farmers market agenda, all
these items coming under the umbrella of the Florida Department of
Agriculture and classed as agricultural products from Florida. Your
definition as proposed lacked these additional items and should be
included.
Secondly, when Mr. Rakow took over the market, it was between
himself and another gentleman. And Mr. Rakow got approval from
the Golden Gate Advisory -- Community Advisory Board, and the
permit, based on that recommendation, was finally approved.
We have been very satisfied with Mr. Rakow as a manager,
resulting in no problems or complaints. We would like to see him
continue as manager, and hopefully you would consider extending his
permit beyond the one-year limit.
And, lastly, because of our unique situation here in Golden Gate
City, we would like to be known as the Golden Gate Community
Market because what happens each Saturday goes far beyond a farmers
market. People walk in, they ride their bicycles, and they push their
baby carriages into the market not only to buy some tomatoes or
maybe buy a dress for their toddler, but to meet with their neighbors,
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talk about the week's events.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to
conclude your remarks, sir.
MR. HAEGER: I just have one more sentence -- and talk about
their neighbors and old and new friendships. You can't and shouldn't
put restrictions on that type of community involvement.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Bill Arthur. He'll be
followed by Dr. Joseph Rakow.
MR. ARTHUR: Good afternoon, Commissioners. It's been a
long day. I'm glad you guys do this all the time and I don't have to.
I'm on the board at the Golden Gate Community Center, and I
think that our board should really have control over the market, and I
think we can do it, and it doesn't really have to come to you.
And when we took the -- Joe came to us. There were two
vendors. They both presented their cases, and our community board
decided on Joe. He had the best group. He had a group that was
knowledgeable and ready to go, and the other vendor didn't.
Now, we also insist that they carry insurance. He's got a million
dollar insurance policy so that the county doesn't get sued. So, you
know, it's not like it's just somebody out on the street come in and
started a market.
Also, we really look at the market. Usually some of our board
members are down there when it's there. And if it's needed, if we need
the community for some other project or something else is going on, he
will give us the spot and doesn't ask for any extension.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you, sir.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Dr. Joseph Rakow. He'll be
followed by Angela Cisneros.
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DR. RAKOW: Good afternoon, Honorable Commissioners. My
name is Dr. Joseph Rakow, and I'm currently the manager and
developer of the Golden Gate Community Park.
When we originally came to speak to the Board back in February,
it was to explain how unique our market was to the community and to
ask to be allowed to operate all year.
As you know, we are a local community market that serves the
needs of the Golden Gate community. We are not your typical seasonal
farmers market. We do not fit into any generic policy that has been
presented here today.
I feel that the guidelines are so restrictive that it would be
impossible for a manager of a market to attain. Markets do not need
such overregulation and micromanagement. This will turn a simple
event into a tangle of bureaucratic red tape. It was -- it will make the
process so difficult that no small businessperson could comply, thus
discouraging anyone from attempting to do a market on county
property.
The percentages presented in your guidelines are not realistic for
the Golden Gate Community Market. The Golden Gate Community
Market has one of the highest percentages of fruits and vegetable
spaces in the county, yet we only have approximately 31 percent, not
the 51 percent that the policy guidelines were calling for.
Our new retail space comprise about 15 percent, which is higher
than the 10 percent that the policy was requiring.
When markets are first developed, they start out small and take
years to grow. Putting such tough percentage restrictions are an
impossible goal for anyone to achieve.
The requirement to advertise a new market for long-term leases
every 12 months will surely promote instability for market vendors, as
well as uncertainty of the management of the facilities. It just adds
more bureaucratic red tape and unnecessary regulations. It takes at
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least 12 months or more for a market to be developed.
What manager's going to do this and then be told they will be
replaced? This just makes no sense at all. Would you invest 12
months of your time into a business knowing you might have to give it
up at the end of 12 months? What stability would a business have if it
changed managers every 12 months? A more reasonable contract
could be every two to three years.
Thank you very much for your time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Angela Cisneros. She'll be
followed by Jim Klug.
DR. RAKOW: I don't believe she's here.
MR. MILLER: Angela's not here. Your next speaker is Jim
Klug. He'll be followed by Mary Ellen Cash.
MR. KLUG: Good afternoon, Commissioners. I came in here
with the idea of making some points, and they've completely changed
based upon this meeting.
For your information -- so I'm going to do this ad hoc, so I
appreciate if you -- I'm an old man, so if I ramble a little bit or
something, I appreciate your patience.
First of all, we have a -- I'm vice-chairman of the Golden Gate
Community Board -- Advisory Board.
First of all, we have this process. We do this process. It's been a
very successful process. From a specific standpoint of the Golden Gate
Community Center, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. We think that we did
this. As everybody says, we had two vendors; we chose the vendors.
We're a very successful type of a thing.
Please, from a specific Golden Gate Community Center, do not
change our process. We know what we're doing. Most of our advisory
board members are also members of the Golden Gate Community
Association, and so we represent the community.
From a more general standpoint -- so I don't understand why
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we're doing anything from a specific standpoint. From a general
standpoint, I'm not sure that you people realize what you're getting
into. To have to approve each agreement over 30 days that
compromises over a 30-day period, do you know how many
agreements will be like that?
Now, my understanding here, just this morning, was this is just
restricted to community markets. This is not exercise classes and all
that kind of stuff, so I've kind of changed my opinion on it -- on that,
but I still think that you're micromanaging this thing.
And I haven't seen anybody formally oppose what we're doing.
We keep on hearing about businesses coming back, and you're taking
money from the businesses. I -- I don't know -- who are they? Where
are they coming from? I don't have that concern.
Okay. This is a social thing, and it's one of the primary uses of
our wonderful facility there. And as a member -- and I'm not speaking
for the advisory board, I want you to know that. I'm speaking for
myself. I just think it's a fantastic operation, and you shouldn't change
it.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your final speaker on Item 11A is
Mary Ellen Cash.
MS. CASH: Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Mary Ellen Cash.
I'm here on behalf of the people who are the vendors at the
market. I have several friends in there. And the only issue we would
like to recommend is that the market managers -- excuse me. I have
bronchitis -- the market managers be required to have leases for the
vendors so that there's equality and ethical behavior implemented,
because right now they don't have leases, and if the market manager
has a bad day and kicks them out, they don't have any income.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think that's a really important
point.
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COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Very important.
MS. CASH: Okay. So that's the only thing I have to say. And it
was a really interesting day for me. Thank you very much. First time I
spent all day here. So thank you; very interesting.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's why you've lost your voice
even more, right?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's a very important point. And
we should get copies of the subleases.
MR. CARNELL: I was going to make a suggestion, Mr.
Chairman, in hope of simplifying this whole thing in terms of-- if
there is a general agreement on these three areas that we've talked
about, rather than adopting a policy, perhaps you should just simply
direct staff to bring these standard agreements back, and we'll address
these issues in the agreements. Is that something workable with the
Board with -- worth considering? I'd just offer that suggestion.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I want to talk about the
Golden Gate Community Center, because it is different. You know
there's a governing document for the community center?
MR. CARNELL: Uh-huh.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And you know the
responsibilities of the advisory board and the Board of
Commissioners?
MR. CARNELL: I don't know them all specifically in terms of
what the advisory board --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. So we really need to
adhere to that. I know there's concern from the members. But the
people voted on that when they voted to tax themselves, and we really
need to adhere to that, so --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Of course, that's important.
Whatever that agreement is, we have to honor that, I would agree.
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CHAIRMAN NANCE: So right now we're just -- as a Board
we're just asking staff to bring back what they understand our guidance
has been today. I'm not sure I know exactly what it is. I'm sure you
probably have a better grip than I do, sir.
MR. CARNELL: Well, let me --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Move to approve.
MR. CARNELL: -- say it back to you. I'll just -- and you-all tell
me if this is it.
I'm hearing that we don't want to define the specific uses as a
matter of policy, but we'll address those in the individual agreements,
and we'll -- and we'll bring the -- I'm also hearing comfort with the idea
of short-term and long-term leases, and the long-term lease will come
back to the Board. And something I should mention is Mr. Rakow
made the comment that there may be some business benefit to having
these relationships last more than a year.
The Board would be afforded that option under the template
agreement where the agreements could be renewed annually, meaning
they could carry into multiple years, and this board could make that
decision each year. So I'm hearing that.
And then the last piece with regard to the percentage, I'm hearing
no guidance on percentages at this point, that we won't adopt standing
percentages, at least for the time being. And so we'll bring you
agreements back that spell out the role of the event manager, try and
incorporate some of that discussion we heard about food safety and
other operational considerations.
And, Commissioner Henning, I will take a look again at the
advisory board ordinance just to be sure that we're not stepping on
anything or we're consistent with that, and I'll advise the Board if
there's anything that the Board needs to be aware of. But at this point
the idea would be for the Board to adopt these agreements.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's basically what it says.
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CHAIRMAN NANCE: So there's no motion required,
Commissioner Henning, in your opinion?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: No. I don't -- I don't know if
there's a motion as long as they -- staff understands.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: One last question. Will this be a
new position that you'll have to hire for?
MR. CARNELL: No, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Right in your department.
MR. CARNELL: This event manager is the private party
wanting to rent the site.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: All right. Great.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Good. That only took a few hours.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well worth it.
All right. Mr. Ochs, where does that leave us here?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Seven.
Item #7
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA
MR. OCHS: That brings you to Item 7, sir; that's your public
comments on general topics.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your first speaker under public
comment is Billy Summers.
MR. SUMMERS: All right!
MR. MILLER: He'll be followed by Marvin Courtright.
MR. SUMMERS: Hi. I represent BQ Concrete. For
approximately two decades now we've been under contract with
Collier County in some way or another to do work. We've done really
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good work for you or we wouldn't keep getting the contract every year.
But now we're at the point to where we have invoices that go back
to November and December of last year that have not been paid.
And, you know, for two months it was, well, they haven't been
signed off by the departments. Well, we went to the departments and,
in fact, they had been signed off by the departments.
And now it's -- as of this, today, it's an internal audit. It's all a
game. And we can't afford to keep paying (sic) it. I've had to let six
people go already that have been with my company for six years or
longer. These people are out of jobs.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: How much is the Clerk not
paying?
MR. SUMMERS: Right now we have 100,000-plus in the
ground that we haven't even invoiced for because we can't because the
PO isn't completed yet. And we have here almost 200,000 more that is
completed that we're not getting paid for, so -- and there's also an
excuse --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: How long has --
MR. SUMMERS: -- is all lies, because we have went back and
done our homework. I'm sorry?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: How long has this been going on
for?
MR. SUMMERS: We haven't had a check for, I'm going to say,
probably over two months, and our contract states every 45 days we
are to get paid from the time that we submit our invoices. I've got
invoices here from November, December, January, February, March.
I'm not getting paid, not a dime, nothing.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I have a question.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Are you in compliance with
your contract?
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MR. SUMMERS: We're in compliance with our contract. All of
our invoices have been signed off by each individual department.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Are you -- what percentage of
subcontractors can you use under the contract?
MR. SUMMERS: We can use subcontractors anytime we want,
as long as we do 80 percent of the work. But we haven't -- none of
these are subcontractors, none of them, not one.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So you're saying you can use as
many subs as you want?
MR. SUMMERS: Correct, as long as we provide 80 percent of
the work if we use subcontractors. But none of the -- the invoices that
we're doing here that are in question are -- it's all in-house.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So 50 percent of the work that
you do for the county is subcontractor?
MR. SUMMERS: No, sir. We hardly ever use a subcontractor.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. I'm just trying to figure
out what your statement was, what that means. So you're doing 80
percent or more?
MR. SUMMERS: If we have to hire a subcontractor, we have to
do 80 percent of that work ourselves or be there for 80 percent of that
work.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. Let me ask my --
MR. SUMMERS: And the other 20 percent is --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Let me ask my question.
MR. SUMMERS: Okay. Maybe I'm not understanding you.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: No, you're not.
You're telling me you're doing -- your company, your employees
are doing 80 percent or more of the work.
MR. SUMMERS: Correct.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yes? Okay.
MR. SUMMERS: Correct, yes, sir. But on these particular
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invoices, we've done 100 percent of the work, and we're still not being
paid.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
MR. SUMMERS: I mean, we've got to get paid; that's all that is
to it. We're going out of business. Twenty years we've worked for you
guys, and we've done a good job. And every year they've re-extended
our contract.
We make 3 percent. It's the lowest bidder. Everybody comes in
with numbers. We make 3 percent, is what we make. It's nothing.
And we're being put out of business.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Ochs, do we -- can we verify that
our departments have signed off and that everything's completed on
our end so that we can figure out what the holdup is? Make certain
that it's not a holdup on the --
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sir, for the record, Nick Casalanguida.
We've met with Crystal's office. We've looked at the ones that we've
seen. Some have been verified. Without looking at each individual
invoice he's looking at, I couldn't tell you each one.
There's one in question in terms of quantity and which line item
was used. Bottom line, concrete was put down. There's a structure
there that could be looked at and measured.
I don't know the nuance of the internal audit yet. Crystal has
spoken to me and said that we will get into it now that it's an internal
audit.
But the invoices we've seen, the ones that have been field --
checked with Travis Gossard and his staff all matched.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: There's an internal audit on each of these
jobs?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sir, I was told this morning. Crystal
could probably answer that.
MS. KINZEL: Commissioner, for the record, Crystal Kinzel.
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Yes, based on information -- we've been meeting with staff and
working on the general review of invoices. This is now converted to
an internal audit, and we will be getting back with staff to do some
additional work.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: How long does this take before this
gentleman gets paid?
MS. KINZEL: Commissioner, that will be based on the findings
of an internal audit, but we would hope to work expeditiously.
MR. SUMMERS: There is a Florida act that they've already
violated, the Payment Act where we can get paid in a prompt amount
of time.
Our contract states 45 days. These have all been approved for
longer than 45 days. Every single one of these are Travis Gossard,
road and bridges. They've walked every single job in the last two
months, measured everything we've gotten. Nothing is any different
than what our statements state, but they still won't pay us. It's wrong.
We haven't hired an attorney to sue the county because we've
been doing this for you guys for 20 years. We've been doing this for
20 years. We're all about the community. We give back. We gave a
hundred plus thousand dollars to the YMCA in free work. We've
given hundreds of thousands in free work to the school system that we
do, we pull out of pocket to do. You know, we're part of the
community, but now we're getting screwed. Excuse my French, but
that's what's happening.
Why? Because somebody up there has a vendetta on one project
that's wrong, so they're going to hold up everything?
And even that project was reviewed by that department and
okayed, but they have an issue with it. It's not right.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And we can't write a check here.
MR. SUMMERS: No, but we can set time limits on when we can
get paid. We need to be paid.
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COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Mr. County Attorney, can we set
time limits on requiring a specific time for an internal audit?
MR. SUMMERS: It's been going on over two months. Now, last
week it was that they weren't signed off For two months it's been
they're not signed off Now all of a sudden, today, it's an internal audit.
Come on. This is -- it's well beyond.
MR. KLATZKOW: This is a Clerk issue. I hate saying that, but
this is a Clerk issue. I mean, from what I understand, staff has
reviewed the invoices, approved the invoices, and for whatever reason
-- and I have no idea what the particulars are -- the Clerk is
withholding payment.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: They do anything they can to find
some reason.
MR. SUMMERS: Yeah. Well, they're putting us out of business,
and it's not fair to us. And, you know, it's just not right. I think what
they're doing somewhere is criminal and, if it is, that they need to go to
jail. I mean, it's like a conspiracy, and it's not fair to us. Yes, it is. And
you've lied to us, Crystal, yourself, many a times.
MS. KINZEL: Okay. Commissioners, I'm not going to engage
with Mr. Summers. We've had numerous --
MR. SUMMERS: You don't have to.
MS. KINZEL: -- meetings with them. They're aware that there
are some issues. There are additional issues that we have to vet in
order to make a legal payment. That's the status.
MR. SUMMERS: You've already vetted them over and over and
over again, and you've still come up with the same conclusion. These
people's people have told you what it is. They've signed off on them,
but you guys, because you're having a little bicker going on here, aren't
paying us, just to squeeze on them. Not just us, but there's other
vendors. How much do you owe Hannula?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Mr. Summers, please, I'm going
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to --
MR. SUMMERS: It's wrong.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: You're --
MR. SUMMERS: It's wrong.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: What you're saying is noted, sir, and I
appreciate it. We'll do what we can to look into the circumstance.
MR. SUMMERS: Well, just to let you know, we've already
requested all the emails coming from her computer system and Dwight
Brock's, and we're going to turn them over to our attorney. And if
there's any wrongdoing there, we are going to look for prosecution.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.
MR. SUMMERS: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Marvin Courtright. He'll be
followed by Robert Messmer.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I want to -- can you get that guy
back in.
MR. MILLER: Marvin?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. The first question I have is,
County Attorney, where -- yeah, if you'd just step back up here
because I want to get a better understanding of this issue.
County Attorney, where does it provide in the law that the Clerk
has to cosign checks?
MR. KLATZKOW: I believe it's statutory. I'm going to have to
get that to you.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I need to see the specific statutory
reference.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Now, I know that there are two
statutory provisions that make the Clerk individually liable for issuing
an improper warrant, that there is a separate statutory provision that
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makes the Board liable if-- but not individually, but if we issue an
improper warrant, but I don't see anywhere in the law where it says
that the Clerk must cosign the Board's checks.
MR. KLATZKOW: I will get that to you.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And I want to know if there's a
statutory provision, if there's case law on that. I'm just not aware of
anything like that. And if there isn't, then I think the Board should
consider having the ability to execute checks independently if, you
know, based on our review we deem it to be legal and there's no
evidence to the contrary.
The second issue that I have with what you're describing, sir, is
now you suddenly being tied up in an internal audit to avoid payment.
Leo, were you notified that there was an internal audit going on of
-- I don't know what division or this transaction? I mean, you know,
where does the line between the pre-audit and internal audit start
transitioning? I mean, my understanding is what the Clerk was doing
was engaging in the pre-audit function, and now all of a sudden it's
morphed from the pre-audit to an internal audit. What is -- how can
we have an internal audit investigation of what is supposed to be the
pre-audit function?
MR. OCHS: I don't know that I can answer that question,
Commissioner. That's probably a -- those are --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I'm going to ask the County
Attorney then. What's the answer to that?
MR. KLATZKOW: I think the Clerk is ultimately responsible to
ensure that all invoices are lawfully paid. And I think, from my
understanding -- and, really, I've had very little conversation on this
particular matter.
My understanding is that that's being questioned now, that there
may be some irregularities involved in this transaction that the Clerk's
looking into.
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COMMISSIONER HILLER: So that goes to a pre-audit. This is
a compliance issue. I mean, obviously what we're -- when you're
looking at a payment that will be made as opposed to an approved
expenditure of funds, we're dealing with compliance work, the
determination of whether or not the invoices presented should be paid.
I mean, how does that turn into an internal audit versus the pre-
audit function? I mean, what -- and if there are alleged irregularities,
what are they accusing you of doing improperly that they're not paying
you?
MR. SUMMERS: They're saying that our measurements don't
add up with the measurements that their own division comes up with
the same measurements as I do. All our measurements are good
except for their saying they're not. They're different.
Our contract states six inches of concrete is considered our square
yard. To them we could be 10 foot deep and it's a square yard. But
that's not -- our -- it's specifically written in our contract, six inches.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Do we have a contract that
provides for six inches, Jeff?
MR. KLATZKOW: Ma'am, like I said, I know very little about
this matter.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I mean, you approved the
contract.
MR. KLATZKOW: Oh, I don't remember this particular one,
whether it was six inches --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I mean, this is --
MR. KLATZKOW: -- or eight inches or 12 inches.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I mean, this is a big deal.
MR. SUMMERS: Concrete repair. It is.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And we've got hundreds of
thousands of dollars owed to a vendor. It's a legal issue. How come
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you haven't looked into it? Does the County Attorney (sic) know
anything about this?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Ma'am, the contract reads -- there's
two line items. One is a line item for concrete sidewalks, and it goes
by square yard. And the contract reads six inches in depth. There's
another line item that says miscellaneous concrete work by square
yard. Staff interpreted that to be six inches in depth. And where he
had put in more than six inches, they used a multiplier because it was
more than six inches to give him for the additional concrete.
Apparently, there's a discrepancy with the Clerk's Office on how
that's calculated and if that line item is appropriate. But that is one
item. I don't know about these other ones that he's not being paid for.
They appear to be sidewalk ones.
MR. SUMMERS: Sidewalks.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So, I mean -- but that contract was
reviewed by the County Attorney, right?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And that contract in terms of its
specifications was deemed to be protective of the county's arrangement
and adequately clear to allow for proper payment.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Honestly, it would be good for me to
get with Crystal's office to see now what the different issue is. If it is
just a line-item interpretation, my recommendation would be to bring
that interpretation back to the Board and get this man approved, and
that would be the simplest way to do that because that I think right
now there's a discrepancy what item is being used.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, we're looking at the
interpretation of the line item in the contract, not any sort of fraud
perpetrated by the vendor.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Not that I'm aware of, ma'am, other
than the contractual issues with subcontractors.
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COMMISSIONER HILLER: And we have a County Attorney
who approved the contract as written. And so, obviously, I'm
assuming that in your review, County Attorney, you ensured, you
know, when you said that we could go ahead and bless it, that the
provisions were drafted in a way that he could be appropriately paid.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Ma'am, I would really like to get with
Crystal and see where the next step of this is. If it's bringing an item to
the board, you know, in my discussions with our staff, I'm happy to do
that if it needs clarification.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: My question is, why hasn't Crystal
brought this to your attention?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Can we have staff just review this and
get back to us at the next meeting and see if we can resolve this as soon
as practicable?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I don't see where the internal audit
is. I mean, if you're talking about an interpretation of a line item in a
contract, you know, where's the fraud?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, let's determine what --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And is this nothing more than a
cover for not having properly paid this vendor? And, again, this is part
of the pre-audit function and, you know, it should have been referred
to the County Attorney for interpretation, to staff for interpretation, and
a discussion between you guys, which should have been done months
ago if this guy hasn't been paid.
MR. SUMMERS: November of last year, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: You know, I just don't understand.
I just don't understand how you transition from the pre-audit to internal
audit with, you know, out any -- without any explanation to the County
Manager as to, you know, what the allegations are that form the basis
for this invest -- I mean, this is not -- I mean, it's not a hunting -- or a
fishing expedition, is it?
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MR. OCHS: Ma'am, I haven't seen it.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Fishing, drinking (sic)?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just -- I'm
concerned for you.
MR. SUMMERS: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right, sir.
Anything further from the Board?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you, Mr. Summers. We'll attend
to it as best we can.
MR. SUMMERS: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Marvin Courtwright, and
he'll be followed by Robert Messmer.
MR. COURTWRIGHT: I'm getting too old for this.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Sitting a long time.
MR. COURTRIGHT: Marvin Courtright, owner of
Hummingbird Flight Service.
MR. MILLER: Bring the mic down, Marvin.
MR. COURTWRIGHT: I have here a document where the
airport authority back in -- February 13, 2001 -- a long time ago -- built
-- contracted to put in at the Immokalee airport a designated
Foreign-Trade Zone, No. 213. It also has been designated as a customs
port, No. 1881, and the FAA and DOT funded the building to be built,
which is built and was completed according to contract.
The work order for the project dated 01/01 with Hole Montes
Contractors -- I have here the work order which specifies the entire
project as a federal inspection station including facility for U.S.
Customs, Immigration, Naturalization and Department of Agriculture.
I have here a copy of the Public Transportation Joint Participation
Agreement for the facility to be built with attachments identifying the
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conditions that are relative to the grantor. All of this is in -- I provided
the County Manager a packet, and Mr. Nance, Commissioner Nance --
thank you -- the documents.
And it was appropriately pointed out to me -- I did this this
morning -- that I should have presented it earlier and given everybody
an opportunity to review it about a week ago or more, but I wasn't
comfortable with that because of circumstances in acquiring all of this
information. So that's why I brought it in and dropped it here today.
And what I'm asking is that you consider -- obviously I give this
to the lady here -- reviewing the project, because -- well, I'll leave it at
that, if I'm out of time.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Sir, I'd like you to continue -- are
you okay? I just would like to know what you want us to do.
MR. COURTWRIGHT: Okay. I would like the project to be
reviewed because that project has been utilized now since it was
completed by the sheriffs department to maintain and store their
special vehicles, their weapons, and all that in one hangar. The
dragstrip owner, Mr. Hester, has been using the building for racetrack
activities in the other hangar, and the administrative portion of the
building has been used for drug enforcement and things of that nature.
Now, my point is this: Every one of these organizations are not
identified as the purpose of the building. It was funded for a specific
purpose at the Immokalee airport, and it made money. But where did
the money go? It certainly didn't go towards the grantor or any other
conditions.
I would like to see the project reviewed. I would like to bid on
leasing the facility and activate the port authority program under its
intended contract -- what do you call it, grantor's conditions.
And I think it's a shame, because Immokalee needs activity, and
Immokalee has always been looked down on and ignored and
mistreated. And I think it's time -- this was a good idea. They could
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use a project like that. And if nothing else, just make sure that the
money that is coming in from that building now is going to the proper
use.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you.
The item is about hiring a contractor to design the facility. The
building that he stated that the Sheriffs Department uses --
MR. COURTWRIGHT: Pardon me, Mr. Henning. I'm sorry. I
can't hear you.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- is owned by the Sheriffs
Department. So I'm not sure if you're getting -- really getting factual
information.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So the Sheriffs Department owns
the building. Okay.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Why don't we just do this: Why
don't we just turn the document over to staff; let them take a look at it.
If they have any concerns, they can bring it back to the Board.
And, Marvin, thank you. What we're going to do is we'll turn the
document over to staff; let them take a look at it. If they have any
concerns, they can bring it back to us, and they can talk to you also.
MR. COURTWRIGHT: I think I would have a right to hear what
the gentleman just said. The Sheriffs Department owns that building?
I've done a lot of homework on this. I've been to Mr. Bloom, Chief
Bloom. I've talked -- I'm very familiar with this, and there sure is
something wrong with a contract that I'm the only one has (sic).
There is no record in the records section of this contract. I got
this by virtue of the County Management Division, a lady there
researching it for me. She provided this, and it's accurate. This is
disappointing.
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COMMISSIONER HILLER: So you know -- Marvin, wait. Let
the County Manager's staff review it and come back to us with
information.
MR. COURTWRIGHT: Okay. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: If there's anything wrong, they'll let
us know. They'll take a look at it.
MR. COURTWRIGHT: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your final speaker under public
comment is Robert Messmer.
MR. MESSMER: My name is Bob Messmer, and I am a member
of the Bayshore Beautification MSTU Advisory Committee.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak about a serious safety
issue the county is embarking on.
The reconstruction of Thomasson Drive and Hamilton Avenue is
the largest and most important project the MSTU has taken on since
the reconstruction of Bayshore Drive almost 20 years ago.
On Friday, April 10th I delivered copies of three drawings and
my letter to you regarding the safety issue. I am providing another
copy to you and the staff today.
Since that following (sic) Tuesday, April 14th, the commission
meeting had a short agenda, I was unable to speak to you that
afternoon.
Option 1, as the drawings indicate, places the bicycle lanes
directly adjacent to the vehicular lanes separated by only a painted
white line.
Option 2 and 3 separates the bicycle paths away from the cars and
trucks by distance, curbing, landscaping, and deep and wide
stormwater swales.
I've been trying since December 2nd of last year to show my
other six committee members and county staff that the design the
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committee has chosen, Option 1, is very unsafe for bicyclists; however,
I have failed to do so. That is why Commissioner Taylor suggested I
speak to you today.
Since county staff nor its consulting engineers, as of yesterday,
have not given Avalon Elementary School Principal, Dr. Eufemia,
these drawings, I did. She gave me permission to quote her. And I
quote, I am in favor of the safest option, unquote.
I spoke with the FDOT district manager, and since they have no
authority over county roads, they cannot force counties to adhere to
FDOT standards; however, he did go on to say, FDOT prefers to
separate bike pathways away from vehicular lanes when the
right-of-way is sufficiently wide because, he said, it is safer.
I'd be pleased to address any questions. And may I turn these
drawings over? Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any comments?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. I would like to just speak
to this.
Mr. Messmer has been very concerned, and I think rightly so,
about a decision of his board members. And I think the only thing that
we possibly can do is -- I understand the choice, Mr. Messmer, was
because of cost.
MR. MESSMER: That is correct, ma'am. A small cost as --
excuse me for interrupting. A small cost stated by the consulting
engineer.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I know that there -- the CRA
policeman -- I don't remember his name, but he comes to all the
meetings -- indicated that he is in agreement with Mr. Messmer that we
should -- you know, any kind of bicycle lanes, if at all possible, should
stay as far away from traffic as possible.
So I guess it would be brought to us to see if there could be a
decision by this board. I'm not sure of the process, but as we are the
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ultimate gatekeepers here, the issue would be, can we intervene and,
perhaps, change this plan so that the bicycle lanes can be kept as far
away from the traffic as possible.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor and Mr. Messmer,
I commend you for coming in. It has been my greatest hope that as a
county and as a board we would adopt, when practicable, the idea that
we were going to use multi-purpose lanes for pedestrian and bicycle
traffic in lieu of unsurfaced bike lanes. I know -- and I'm not a
bike/ped expert, but I know,just by driving around town, how
dangerous the on-surface lanes are.
And when we have an option to do so, I would hope that
everybody would consider that, and I believe it needs to start at staff
level. I don't know how to give direction on that either, but I can
identify with your concern.
And I would hope that if we have an option, if we have enough
right-of-way -- and many times, sir, honestly, we don't have enough
right-of-way, and it's not an option. But where we do, I think it should
be given our highest consideration, and I would hope that would catch
-- at some point catch some air under it.
MR. MESSMER: If I may, Commissioner, you do have enough
right-of-way. That is confirmed by the design engineers. They came
up with Option 2 and 3 separating the bicycles away from the driving
lanes.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, I don't -- honestly, I do not feel it
is my position to overrule the work of advisory committees and boards.
I think it's very distasteful. I would hate it if a commissioner did it in
my district, but I would hope that, you know, some consideration can
be given to it.
If it makes sense and it's not going to cost a bunch of money
more, I think it would be worth something. I would defer to the
commissioner of that district to carry the flag on this item.
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COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Mr. Ochs, is there a precedent
here? What can be done?
MR. OCHS: Well, I think the most straightforward thing is to
place an item on your next board agenda under CRA and let the
chairman of the advisory board and your CRA staff come back and
explain how this design has gone forward and let the Board ask
whatever questions they want.
I don't think the advisory board or the staff has any problem with
that or has anything to hide, frankly, on this.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. Good.
MR. OCHS: If that works for the Board, I'll arrange for that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's fine with me.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Fine with me.
MR. OCHS: This commission did approve the design contract,
so it's -- you know, it's been moving along. It's probably in 30 percent
design at this point. So we're not past the point of no return, certainly,
but it would be good to hear all the discussion from all stakeholders
and all participants, I would think.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Can I ask one question?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I just want to understand. Did you
bring -- these concerns that you're bringing to us today under public
comment, have you taken them to the advisory board?
MR. MESSMER: I'm a member of the advisory board.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Right. Did you raise these issues?
MR. MESSMER: Oh, yes, I did. Yes, I was there.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I understand. And what was their
response?
MR. MESSMER: I was the only dissenting vote.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I see.
MR. MESSMER: And I asked my six colleagues why did they
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vote this way, and they said because of cost. At that time I asked the
consulting engineer, what difference in cost? They responded by
saying, a small difference. I asked, can you be more specific? No, not
at this time. It's too in design.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: And when this was brought before
the Board of County Commissioners when the contract was being
approved, did you come and speak to the Board at that time? I don't
recall.
MR. MESSMER: No, I did not. I was unaware of when the --
the advisory committee is not made that aware of when county staff
brings a consulting engineer contract before you, to the best of my
knowledge. We're advised by the project manager, we're looking at
several engineers, we're going to recommend this one. They're the
cheapest, blah, blah, blah. Well -- and later on they announce to the
advisory committee who the county staff has selected.
MR. OCHS: Well, in this case, the executive said April 1, 2014,
at a meeting of the Bayshore Beautification MSTU Advisory
Committee, the committee voted unanimously to approve awarding the
contract to RWA Consultants.
So the committee was involved in the recommendation that then
went forward to this commission.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: What was the vote again, you said?
MR. OCHS: Well, it says unanimous, so I will verify that. We'll
get all the information and the facts reported to you at the next
meeting.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Just a question. You feel that you
want the sidewalk separated from the road by, like, grass?
MR. MESSMER: By distance, landscaping; swales are needed
for storm drainage --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You're getting into cost.
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MR. MESSMER: -- and so if a car or truck is determined to hit
this bicyclist, they have to traverse over curbing, landscaping, and
distance, which makes the bicyclist far, far safer.
And may I add, I have no quarrel with the engineer the county
chose. I have a quarrel with the decision an advisory board -- an
advisory committee is making picking the wrong -- the design, an
unsafe design. That is my issue.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you, sir.
MR. MESSMER: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any further comments?
(No response.)
MR. OCHS: Is that it, Troy?
MR. MILLER: (Nods head.)
Item #15
STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
MR. OCHS: Sir, that takes you to Item 15, staff and commission
general communications. Sir, I just have one reminder. You have
your workshop scheduled for next Tuesday, May 5th, on your fleet
maintenance operation.
That's all I have, sir.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: May 5th?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right.
Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, on that topic -- let me get
to it. There are minutes of January 27 of this year about this fleet
management contract. And there is discussion about the audit, the
Clerk's audit coming forward. Everybody -- most everybody, or the
majority agreed that we'd wait for the audit; however, the vote was to
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have the workshop in May. We still don't have the audit, so --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Delay?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Pardon me?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Should we not delay?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I mean, that's my feeling.
I mean --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: You don't have information?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I mean, I'll attend, but I'm not
going to really participate until that comes forward because it's all the
pieces. So I mean, my opinion, we ought to delay it until we get the
audit.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I would agree.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Can I comment on that?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Maybe go fishing.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. I guess my question is -- I
don't know what that is.
MR. OCHS: That's the audit engagement for -- that's two years
old.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's when -- it started?
MR. OCHS: That's two years old -- May 10, 2013.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So -- I guess that was one of my
questions, like --
MR. OCHS: Last time you talked about this in open session,
there was a representation that the -- you can schedule this for May
because certainly we'll have the audit done by March.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So what seems to be the delay with
producing the results of the audit?
MS. KINZEL: Commissioner, we're waiting for one external
report that's somewhat out of our control, but I will go back over the
schedule with the Clerk.
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COMMISSIONER HILLER: Which external report are you
waiting for, and who's not producing it?
MS. KINZEL: It's an outside report. And I would prefer to wait
and speak with the Clerk regarding that audit.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, if there was a motion to
have it in --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I guess -- can I -- the only reason --
I thought that the reason we were having this workshop was for a
completely different reason. I didn't realize we were having the
workshop because of the audit. I know it was intended to add the audit
discussion, but that wasn't the primary purpose. The primary purpose
of the workshop on fleet was to evaluate our fleet options, whether we
should use as many private entities are now doing a leased fleet either
in whole or in part, whether other governmental agencies were
interested in joining us in putting out either a request for information or
even or, you know, putting out an RFP, if we did decide we wanted to
lease some of the services that we are now providing through the
purchase of vehicles directly and our staff working those vehicles, and
I thought we were just looking at it as a business decision as to, you
know, whether we should keep the existing model or move more
towards the model that the private sector is using, if it could even
apply, and that was really the question I thought the purpose of the
workshop was being held for.
MR. OCHS: Those are the materials that the staff is preparing to
present.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. So I mean, I guess, I don't
see why we need to delay that discussion. I mean, the issue of the
internal audit of fleet can come back as an agenda item in a regular
board meeting just like all the other internal audit reports are presented
to us. I mean, I'm not sure why we have to have a workshop on it. But
I think the business decision of whether it's a more either efficient or
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whether it might produce more in the way of savings for us if we lease
is something that, you know, we should explore. I mean, that's what
the whole -- that was when the direction was given by this board. That
was the whole purpose of that workshop agenda item.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning, I think you're
probably, professionally, the most knowledgeable on this topic. What
would you prefer to do? Would you prefer --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, again, I'd prefer to wait for
the audit. What -- I don't see the purpose of having the workshop. I'd
rather have all the information.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So we're really going to have,
essentially, two discussions at that workshop; the first is whether it
makes sense to lease outside services rather than do it in-house or lease
outside vehicles instead of acquiring them, and then separately to have
an additional discussion on the audit, which has been going on since
what date? Remind me again, what was the date you said?
MR. OCHS: May 10, 2013.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So two years.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes.
MR. OCHS: By my count, yes, ma'am.
Commissioners, also, there's a prescribed procedure, as you all
know, for how audits are reviewed and released to the Board and to the
public. So I'm assuming we'll follow that process, Ms. Kinzel, like you
always do. So you're not going to get your first look at whatever that
audit turns out to be at that workshop, ma'am, in either event, whether
you have it now or have it later.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So what is the purpose, then, of the
workshop?
MR. OCHS: The Board had asked for a workshop to evaluate
options on the provision of Fleet Management Services, including
some of the elements that Commissioner Hiller just described, ma'am;
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do you want to continue to operate it essentially as you do? Do you
want to make some changes in the way you procure equipment or
vehicles or maintain equipment or vehicles? Those types of
discussions and options are what the staff had understood the general
interest of the Board was in conducting that workshop.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, forgive me, then, for maybe
not understanding, but everything that you've spoken of, we don't need
an audit to discuss those issues, do we?
MR. OCHS: Not to my knowledge, no, Commissioner. I don't
believe you do.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: No. These are financial decisions.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: These are -- you know, are we
operating optimally, and can we save money? You know, like, for
example, Hertz manages fleets for --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Right.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- lots of corporations, and they do
acquisitions. They do -- you know, they do the leasing deals, which
are very different than, like, when you and I lease a car.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's, like, a different subject,
right?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Totally different subject.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So why don't we have the workshop
anyway?
MR. OCHS: It's the pleasure of the Board.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: My opinion is, we're going to be pretty
foolish if the audit turns up something that we didn't anticipate after
we've already made a decision to do something prior to that. I believe
if it's a topic -- if it's something that's reviewing one of our operations,
we should get all the information. That's all I'm saying. I can't see
where -- we've waited two years for an audit, we have a meeting, we
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make a decision, then we get an audit that shows that -- I don't know
what it's going to show, if it's going to show anything, but we might be
COMMISSIONER HILLER: What is the objective of the audit?
I mean, why is it taking two years? What was the stated objective?
What are they trying to determine, or have they -- are they just looking
at 100 percent of the fleet transactions?
MR. OCHS: Well, there's the general scope.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So they're looking at everything?
It says the audit will include but not be limited to everything.
MR. OCHS: Yes, pretty much.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Internal audit.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Well, if you ask
Commissioner Taylor, then maybe we could get a consensus whether
we're having a workshop in May or going fishing.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Commissioner, you want to go
fishing?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Are you -- is that an invitation?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Hey, if you're inviting her, I'm
going. I'm not going to be left out.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You know, I -- this is a tough one,
but I can see -- if we were going to review, if we did this, it would do
this, if we did that, it would do that without expecting that we had to
make a decision or give staff directing guidance where to go, I could
see it as pure informational, but if it's more we need a decision today
because we need to know what direction, you know, you as policy
makers want us to go in, I think the audit's going to be important. So
there we have it.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think you're right. I think this is
purely informational. We can wait on the results of the audit to make
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any decision. So we can have the informational meeting now. It gives
us an opportunity to mull on it. And if there's a problem revealed by
the audit, we now all of a sudden have an alternative that we've already
explored.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: As long as it's -- if you're not -- if
this is -- as long as you're not expecting us to give you direction on
which path to pursue or there's something coming up that you have to
make a decision on.
MR. OCHS: No. No, ma'am. That's not the case. I mean, most
of these workshops are informational --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes, as the pack.
MR. OCHS: -- in nature.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. So the will of the Board is --
MR. OCHS: Further action comes back to formal agenda of the
Board.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: We're going to continue with the May
5th workshop date then. That's the majority of the Board, the way I
see it.
MR. OCHS: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Continue the workshop or --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, we're going to have it.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: We're going to have it on that date.
Who's next? Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: A couple of things. The first is I
think it's very important that our county website gives the community
information that we keep getting asked about over and over again. And
one of the questions that keeps coming up is, you know, how does this
land use approval process work? You know, what is a quasi-judicial
hearing, you know? How do we -- where's our opportunity -- what's
our opportunity as citizens to speak to a particular petition, whether it's
in support or to object? You know, what's the standard?
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And I really think it would be worthwhile to have the link to the
statute as well as a narrative posted to the growth management's
website so staff and the commissioners don't have to answer these
questions over and over again and so there isn't a misinterpretation as
to what the Board does when the Board votes in these quasi-judicial
property rights hearings.
So I think we need to make sure that's out there, because it's very
clear that the community doesn't understand and doesn't understand
that land use decisions like the ones that we vote on, which are held in
a quasi-judicial setting, are not political decisions. They're not
legislative decisions, and we don't have the right to object merely
because there are people in the audience who don't like a petitioner's
request when that request is supported by facts and by the law.
And that's very, very important, because property rights are, you
know, clearly something that government has to respect, and we can't
be arbitrary and capricious in our decision making with respect to
property rights as it relates to all our constituents.
And there is no constituent that comes before the Board that
makes a request with respect to property rights that is a special interest.
All constituents with respect to their property rights are equal in the
eyes of the Board, and there is no favor being granted when we afford
them the opportunity to present to us, and they are presenting facts that
support what the legal requirements are to get approval. Very
important issue, and that has to be made readily available to the public.
The second thing is, is I read a letter to the editor, which I -- led
me to understand that the lack of information that the public has is
causing them to rely on an improper conclusion with respect to another
thing that we do and we do regularly, and that's beach renourishment.
And a constituent said, you know, we shouldn't have truck hauls
because the sand on the beach is not the same sand that the sand was
there, and we used to have white beaches, and now all of a sudden the
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beaches are brown. Well, that's just another example of
misinformation because the law requires that the sand we place on
beaches has to be of like kind and quality to the sand that we have, and
that's a statutory requirement.
And there is oversight. The pit has to be approved -- isn't it
approved by the state, I believe, in order for able -- in order for us to be
able to draw sand from that pit.
So, you know, maybe that citizen was looking at the sand when it
was wet. I'm not sure. Maybe it had just rained and it was still damp
and so the color of the sand looked different than when, you know, the
sand was dry in different area.
But, again, it's one of those situations where if the citizens knew,
if our taxpayers understood that there are legal guidelines in what we
are required to do and that we do do those things, whether they're
federal guidelines or state guidelines or our own guidelines, if those
would be posted to -- again, under growth management in the coastal
zone section, inform the citizens so they understand that it is the same
sand.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's why they call it the
opinion page. Somebody's opinion. It doesn't necessarily mean they
need to -- they know what they're talking about.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: You're so right about that. But on
the other hand, unfortunately, people don't understand when they read
these letters and these opinions. While they're completely incorrect,
we want them to know what the facts are and what the truth is and
what the law is. And so to the extent that we can publish that and, you
know, be as transparent as possible and make it as easy as possible for
the community to be informed by, you know, a link to a statute or a
link to an ordinance with a nice narrative, you're going to do two
things; you'll benefit the community on the one hand, and on the other
hand, what you will also do is reduce a lot of time that the
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commissioners and you as staff spend in answering the same questions
over and over again, because we do get a litany of the same questions.
So if the Board would be agreeable, I'd love to see staff, you
know, post information on our website and make it, you know, easy to
find, like with a, like, link. You know, here's the petition process.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, you know, Commissioner Hiller, I
think that's a great idea, and I think in a proactive website presentation
on the questions of the day might even be more --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: On top of that.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- effective than what you're talking
about, because people wouldn't have to go in there. Because, you
know what happens with rapid communication, people go in and they
start talking about something. If we had something in there -- the
Naples Daily News has even started doing that. They've started going
in and going, hey, we got a lot of questions on this, then they give you
an answer. Here's the question; here's the answer. And I think --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think that's absolutely --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- a rapid response on topics of the day
might be, you know, what's the buzz out in the community? Here's a
little something that maybe you didn't know that might help you
understand.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think that's really brilliant. I
agree with you 100 percent. That is such a good idea. So you
basically have a hot topics --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: A what's-happening topic.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Like hot topics Q&A, but in
addition still have the permanent information available, so -- and the
only reason I say that is sometimes items could be in the pipeline
where people are questioning something that hasn't yet become a hot
topic, but they want to know what to do if it does become one. And it
may never become one because a petitioner may never come forward.
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I mean, that's another issue we have; when people hear rumors that a
developer is contemplating something and they haven't even submitted
anything to us and they already think we're going to vote a certain way.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Like, why don't we have a Wawa, okay.
(Commissioner Henning left the boardroom for the remainder of
the meeting.)
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. And it's like -- and, I mean,
nothing has even been submitted to the county and everyone says, oh,
like, you know, we're going to vote a certain way, and we don't even
know what the developer wants or that he's even capable or wanting to
do something. It's a rumor. So it's just really important that everybody
understands the process.
And thank you very much for that suggestion. I love it. I really --
and it should be on the front page.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I made a joke out of that, and probably
getting a grocery store in my district has been the biggest demand. But
I can tell you if you go out there right now and just say "Wawa," I will
get more responses from that than I ever did get from a Publix, and I
don't know what it is.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's true.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I don't know what I've been missing in
my life, but it seems to be one of those hot topics.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: You know, I love the names like
Wawa, but my favorite name for a grocery store was Iggly Piggly.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: No, Piggly Wiggly.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Oh, Piggly Wiggly. I thought it
was Iggly Piggly. I mean, what do I know?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: You are definitely not from the south if
you don't know what a Piggly Wiggly store is.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Okay. It's Piggly Wiggly. I'm
sorry.
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CHAIRMAN NANCE: Oh, boy.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Hey, what can I say?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Miles to go, Mr. Ochs.
I just have a couple of things; a couple of things have kind of
spurred me from topics, topics -- hot topics, so to speak, and one of
them was I know that Commissioner Fiala is very interested in
landscaping, and it elicited a lot of response. There's a lot of people
out there that are wondering what we can do, and we did get an
interesting response, and we had our MPO meeting down at Marco
Island because we had the little tiny native landscape demonstration
project down there, which is really quite an interesting one.
So, you know, with the Board's indulgence, sometime this fall I
would like to put together a little presentation, perhaps utilizing some
of the resources we have at the Collier County Extension Office to
gather together for the board's consideration some information that
IFAS has readily available concerning native landscaping, what we can
do for lower impact landscaping, how we can do something that might
require less maintenance in terms of time and dollars and integrate this
together with some of our new projects out east or elsewhere to try to
put in some projects that might give us a chance to look at some of
these long term.
I would also like to come back with a discussion on a topic that
we haven't discussed in quite a long time, and that is my concerns
about having a fertilizer ordinance that I feel like would be really,
really effective.
Right now Collier County has the minimum state fertilizer
ordinance, and I supported that because I thought it was the best of the
alternatives at the time, but I think it's time to look at --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: City of Naples.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: No. It's time to look at something we
can really utilize that actually will produce some results that we can
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April 28, 2015
really, really be proud of, and I think it's above and beyond what others
� Y p � Y
have done, because I don't think a lot of the ordinances that have been
adopted by municipalities along the coast are actually as effective as
people want them to be.
And there's a lot of reasons that I can personally explain to you
why, because I have some experience -- considerable experience with
utilizing fertilizer products that have never been adequately discussed
in any forum I've been around on the fertilizer ordinance.
That's all I have. And I'd like to do that this fall at some point at
the Board's convenience.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I just want to ask, is there -- did the
state preempt -- I thought the state preempted this whole fertilizer
issue. I didn't think we had any local discretion anymore.
MR. KLATZKOW: I haven't looked at this issue since the last
we spoke, so this goes back a few years.
My recollection, ma'am, is that you basically use the state model
ordinance unless you can show through scientific expertise that your
particular area is different.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: So we actually would have to have
a scientific study done to change from what the model is.
MR. KLATZKOW: That's my recollection. I could be in error
on that.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, we need to look into that,
because I think -- I mean, I think, you know, your point is well made;
however, if the state has preempted this particular issue, then, you
know, there's no point to go further. If they haven't, then we need --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: I don't think that's the case.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Then we need to know specifically
what needs to be done to justify making a difference.
MR. KLATZKOW: Well, I mean, with the Board's pleasure, I
could work with Commissioner Nance on this, and --
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER HILLER: It's my pleasure to support you
working with Commissioner Nance if Commissioner Fiala and
Commissioner Taylor at the end say yes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Sure.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yep.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala, the dais is yours.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh. Okay, fine.
Mine is pretty simple. A group -- I mean, a huge group of
veterans and I are going up again this coming Saturday, and everybody
else is encouraged and invited to attend. It's pretty late at night on
Saturday night. You have to get there about --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Freedom Flight.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- 10 o'clock at night for the Honor
Flight welcoming back all of those World War I veterans, and I think
sprinkled in there will be some World War II veterans as well who
they've flown up for the day free of charge, and each one has a
guardian with them. They go up to see the war memorials that are up
in Washington, D.C.
They take them around, they spend the entire day with them.
Some of them have never been to Washington, and some have never
seen these memorials. And then they come back that night. And if
you've ever seen anything stirring, it is magnificent. You get goose
pimples a mile high. I'll tell you.
As they come back off the plane, we're all waiting for them, and
everybody's -- they're playing music and everybody's clapping and
everybody's shaking their hands, and it's a stirring moment.
So if any of you have nothing else to do Saturday night pretty
late, come on down to the RSW Airport.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: A couple of things.
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April 28, 2015
First of all, I received a notice here that Collier County has the --
and here it is -- wins the best tasting water in Southwest Florida so, Dr.
George, thank you very much.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Very good. And I understand
we're going to compete statewide here; is that correct?
DR. YILMAZ: (Thumbs up.)
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Very good.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Don't we do that every year? I
mean, is there a year that we've lost, Dr. George? At least since you've
been onboard, is there a year that we've lost? There is? Don't say that.
Don't answer.
Congratulations, because you won last year also. That's really
great. I think we should bottle that water and sell it.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: W.C. Fields says water's just for taking
baths.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, well, he doesn't know what
he's talking about.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, this is the best tasting water
to take --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: He doesn't know what he was
talking about.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: This is the best tasting water to
take a bath?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: No. I'm just teasing you, ma'am. It's late
in the day.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Don't confuse me.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: W.C. Fields -- W.C. Fields would only
take baths in water. He would never drink water. He was too busy
drinking Scotch.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Oh.
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER FIALA: She's too young to know --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I got it. Yeah. Well, I don't drink
Scotch, so -- but you can ask Mr. Casalanguida and Commissioner
Henning; they seem to be Scotch drinkers. I heard them talking about
Scotch.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes. They would use one small cube of
Dr. George's frozen water that would barely be noticeable.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'm not going there. Just know, Dr.
George, obviously, those two gentlemen are putting your water to good
use.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, the second topic I'd like to
see if we could bring it back, I'd like to see if we can move our public
comment to right after the proclamations before we begin our business.
I think -- and it's not -- what happened two weeks ago was not the
fault of this commission. It was not the fault of our -- what we -- what
is in our policy, and it was very clearly spoken. This is not into it. But
it's more what we saw today where we had elderly folks that were here
all day long waiting to speak.
And I think if we -- it would be wonderful to have a time in the
morning that says right after -- before we begin the agenda, but
certainly after proclamations and after our awards and after -- before
public petitions, the public could speak, and to have it where there was
a clear time in the morning, and it would be respectful of our public. It
would also allow them to continue their day, because only required
folks could have stayed with us all day long today. And it gives them
certainty.
And I'm speaking because in the city, of course, we had the policy
that they spoke at the end of the meeting, and we changed that policy.
And it was -- it's never been abused. But what it does is allow the
public to participate in the government, which is what we're trying to
do.
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COMMISSIONER FIALA: We used to have it at Item No. 3,
right?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, I will -- let me just make one
comment, then I'm going to go to Commissioner Hiller.
In the past it was that way, and what occurred was we found a lot
of dissatisfaction because people were commenting on things that they
thought were going to occur in the meeting that didn't occur in the
meeting.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, no; they can't do that.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, but this is what happened.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: You can't stop them from doing that,
ma'am. If you just have topics on open -- sometimes they can't
comment the way they would comment later in the day and, as a
consequence, that's why we moved it. That's why -- once upon a time
it was early, and we got together and we said, oh, this is not working
out; it was early. We need to make it right after lunch so that perhaps
we can be more predictable with the time and we'd get better results
because we got a lot of bad feedback the other way. So it's -- we've
seen it both ways. I don't --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But if you make it clear you don't
come -- the public comment is for anything that is not on today's
agenda, period, and that's public comment. And then anyone who
wants to speak on an agenda item, you know, we're holding their hand
through the whole thing; they have to be with us.
But anything -- specifically today we had two items that weren't
on the agenda. And it seems to me that it would be more respectful of
our public and also welcome more public participation.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you. I want to add
something else. You know, with respect to the agenda, one thing I'm
noticing is a growing list of proclamations. And I think proclamations
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are very important, and recognizing the community is very important,
but I'm not sure that having so many proclamations on the general
portion of the agenda makes sense. And I was thinking maybe what
we should do is limit the proclamations on the general portion of the
agenda to, you know, one per commissioner. And we can add, like, as
many as we want on consent so these community -- you know, these
groups can still be recognized because, I mean, they're very important,
but on the other hand, you know, it seems to be growing and growing
and growing and growing.
And, you know, I'm not sure -- like in many instances, you know,
the people don't necessarily have the ability to come. They feel bad if
they don't come. You know, they're leaving work. They still want to
be recognized, but then if they don't show, it doesn't look good. And I
think it just might be a better way of handling -- that way you don't
limit the number of proclamations. You just limit the number that we
do, like, a presentation --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Presentation.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- on and leave it to the discretion
of every commissioner do -- you know, every commissioner can post
as many proclamations as they want; one on the general agenda and as
many as they want otherwise. And that way every month every
commissioner has two, you know, officially ceremonial proclamations,
and then, you know, recognizing proclamations beyond that.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yeah. Let's think about how we can --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: But something needs to be done to
manage this.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- do that. I don't know.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And maybe that could be -- we
could bring this back for a topic. We don't have to make a decision
now, but --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: No, but I think --
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- if I have an agreement with the
commission, and to also include Commissioner Hiller's concept and
bring it back as an agenda item so that -- are we okay with that?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Sure. I never really call anybody, so
-- I get calls a lot, though, and I've already started to get calls for next
meeting, you know.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Right. And people want to get
recognized but not necessarily show up.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think they are hoping that their
name will get out, but usually it's never in the paper or anything.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Uh-uh. They get no --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: The only time --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Right.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: If somebody isn't tuned in right then
and there, they miss it entirely.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Absolutely, absolutely. So it's not
getting -- they're not getting the benefit, necessarily, that was intended.
But as far as the timing of the public comment, we've analyzed
that at length. And I think that the time that we have settled on now is,
you know, either at the end of the meeting if it's before lunch or right
after lunch is really optimal, because these people don't sit around all
day and nor do they have to be here at the very beginning, and then we
have to keep all the other constituents who have items before the
Board waiting.
By doing it right after lunch, we can get our morning business
done, and then after lunch, you know, constituents can have lunch and
then come here and speak. And we've analyzed that a lot. I mean, I
don't know that --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, the unfortunate thing, too, is what
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I don't think bringing that back --
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April 28, 2015
CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- occurred the other day was like one in
a row. It's not like we've terminated these meetings early. I thought --
everybody thought we were going to get out of here before lunch. We
didn't even --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: It's unheard of.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: We didn't even get a loud foul on that
one, okay. We didn't come close. So it's not like we have been serial
offenders on this topic. But, you know, I welcome, personally, you
know, methodologies to allow people to speak in a timely fashion and,
you know, I don't like to cut them off in mid sentence, as you can see.
I probably take too much time on that.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You've done a great job.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: But, you know, we have to let them
know when we (sic) can speak, and it's -- Commissioner Taylor, I
recognize that it's a problem. It's never been completely satisfactory,
honestly. But I think -- what I've seen, right after lunch has been the
best in total.
What do you think, Mr. Ochs? I mean, opinion -- you've seen it
every which way.
MR. OCHS: Yeah. I think where it is now is probably as good a
landing spot as we've had. You know, sometimes the problem is not
where it is on the agenda; it's the fact that we have a tendency to load
up the agenda with time-certain items.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Kick it down the road.
MR. OCHS: And that just -- if they don't finish on time, you
know, that just kicks everything back. And I'm not sure how you can
ever completely control for that except to stop in the middle of an item
and take another item, and that's very disconcerting. That normally
doesn't make for, you know, a good result either.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Smooth operations.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Mr. Ochs, the way you solve that
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April 28, 2015
is they're even at -- they're at the end of the meeting or before we start
our business. If they're before we start our business, then there is a
relatively secure time-certain. If they're at the end of the meeting,
bring your lunch.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: No, no, no.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Bring their pillow, and that
doesn't work. If we can do it where there's a specific time in the
agenda.
MR. OCHS: Well, it is a specific time. It's 1 p.m.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No. I mean, right after -- after we
do the proclamations and everything, and that way the public is here
from 9 o'clock to, say, 10 o'clock or whatever. But then they can go
about their day. I mean, we had elderly people here all day long, and
no one heard it at 1 o'clock. We weren't at 1 o'clock. And that's quite
appropriate. But now, are we the servants of the public, or are they our
servants?
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, this is a Board policy, at the end of
the day. You know, these are your sections of the agenda;
proclamations and the presentations and how you want to handle your
public comment.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Let me suggest this, then. If we say
that they're still at 1 o'clock -- because we've tried it late in the day;
we've tried it early in the morning.
MR. OCHS: In the middle of the day.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: We found this to be the very best
one. But what we don't do is we continue on with whatever subject we
had before lunch, because everything seems to be taking longer there.
We should probably just continue that subject, whatever we went to
lunch over, and start back with public comment before --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I agree.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- we get back onto the subject.
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's the best solution, because
one of the -- you're absolutely right because that's the least disruptive.
Because the problem with the speaking in the morning is that we have
time-certains usually in the morning. And then the problem becomes --
like, if you -- if we would have a large group speaking under public
comment, then it's going to throw off all the time-certains that are
immediately after the public comment period because we don't have
the public comment period limit to one hour.
I mean, sometimes the public comment period can run on for
quite some time, and the Board wants to get engaged with the public
and wants to have the ability to talk to the public about the issues that
they're bringing forward.
So it could -- I think Commissioner Fiala's solution is absolutely
the best one, which is if we don't finish an item before lunch, that we,
notwithstanding, just take public comment and give a little leeway so
that if someone -- you know, if a commissioner runs late or if a staff
runs late, say that public comment -- and so that people having lunch
coming to the board meeting have time to get here.
You could say, like, public comment starts at 1:30. That way if
people go to lunch from 12 to 1, if, you know, someone wants to come
for public comment, they have the transportation time from wherever
they're having lunch, because usually, you know, businesspeople or
working people have lunch from 12 to 1, and then they can -- then they
don't lose their lunch hour, and they still can come here and make it.
So, you know, we can start public comment at 1:30, and then --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But what happens if we're in the
middle of an agenda item because we're back at 1 o'clock? We're
going to stop the agenda item?
COMMISSIONER HILLER: We just -- we stop the agenda item
and take the public comment. I mean, we -- there's --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: If we could have a -- I think it's
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April 28, 2015
time certainty. I think that's the issue. It's not, well, we're going to
have it after 1 o'clock.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Unless we finish the meeting early,
which was the one exception, in which case it's at the end of the
meeting.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: These time-certains, we can never
tell how long they're --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: I know.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Let's face it, sometimes we figure --
like today with 9A, 9B, we figured you'd get over them quickly
because the answers should have been quick, and lo and behold, it
wasn't even close to that.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: No, I agree.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And we've had some times where
we've had a time-certain in the morning, and the person is taking three
hours, and we didn't plan on three hours, in fact, over through lunch
and coming back and still on the same subject.
So I think maybe what we have to do is think more carefully
about a time-certain. If it's something we know will be quick, great,
but if not --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, remember, we're having those
time-certains for convenience, a lot of times, of out-of-town
professionals that are coming here to address a specific issue, and the
other thing is, you have the same problem with advertised public
hearings, which are --
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yep.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- subject to the same sort of concerns by
staff and the Board to make sure we move these people in and out of
here in a timely fashion, so it's a conundrum.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: The thing to remember is that
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April 28, 2015
everybody that comes before us is the public, whether it's a public
speaker under public comment or, you know, a constituent on an
agenda item, you know, being presented by staff; it's all the public. I
mean, everything is the public.
So, you know, we're displacing one for the other. And, you
know, there's always going to be something imperfect about the
process. But I really like what Commissioner Fiala said, and I think
right after lunch has proven to be the best of all the times that we've
had in terms of the opportunity to speak.
But I like her idea. I mean, what did you say, 1 :30?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: One o'clock.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Or 1 o'clock.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Come back at 1 o'clock.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: One o'clock, 1 o'clock.
MR. OCHS: You already have 1 :30 listed as the start time for
your advertised public hearings.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Okay. So then 1 o'clock.
MR. OCHS: That's fine.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: One o'clock firm. So when
someone calls up Mike, you know, your staff, and says, okay, when
can I come talk, he says, come here at 1 o'clock, all right, unless -- you
kind of monitor the meeting. If the meeting's over before -- I mean, I
don't understand where we don't come back for public comment.
That's another thing I don't understand, and that has nothing to do with
what happened two weeks ago.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Why we don't what?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: When we adjourn -- to me, the
public participating in what we do is so critical that, in my opinion --
and I'm one. I understand that -- we should come back for public
comment, whenever it is. The -- if the meeting is over at 20 minutes to
12 and we go to lunch, 1 o'clock is public comment, then we're done.
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April 28, 2015
Now, that's not a criticism. That is not --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No. Fine with me. We all set the
day --
CHAIRMAN NANCE: That's a Board policy, ma'am. If
everybody wants to do that, I'll be the first one to be in my seat.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: All right. Well, let's -- maybe we
can bring this back, because we're missing one board member anyway.
So maybe we could bring this back and let people think about it.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think most of us -- I would have to
say all four of us, at least sitting here, we dedicate the whole day
anyway, and so does staff. You don't plan on leaving. So, you know,
we could always be here at 1 o'clock.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. All right. Well, that's all
I've got. Is that enough?
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Crystal Kinzel, anything further, ma'am?
MS. KINZEL: No, thank you.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Klatzkow?
MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing, sir.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Nothing.
Mr. Ochs, any final thoughts? Mr. Casalanguida? Dr. George?
Nobody? Everybody's worn out.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Could you please look up, you
know, what other counties do as far as proclamations go and give us,
you know, some alternatives so that we can better manage --
MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- and make sure that, you know,
we're properly promoting, you know, the groups and individuals that
should be promoted but, at the same time, managing that volume?
And I actually think we could do more if we had a different method.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I loved the thing today where we
had the Eagle Scouts. That was just great.
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April 28, 2015
COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah, that was. And that was a
presentation.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And also the Sheriffs Office thing,
that was a wonderful thing. And I think that there -- and Marco, too,
because of their 50-year anniversary. There were so many nice things.
You want to, you know, congratulate them.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's a wonderful thing to do.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Any final comments?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to adjourn.
CHAIRMAN NANCE: Adjourn. We are adjourned. Thank you,
ladies and gentlemen.
**** Commissioner Henning moved, seconded by Commissioner
Fiala and carried unanimously that the following items under the
Consent and Summary Agendas be approved and/or adopted ****
Item #16A1
RESOLUTION 2015-73: AMENDING EXHIBIT "A" OF
RESOLUTION NO. 2013-239, THE LIST OF SPEED LIMITS ON
COUNTY MAINTAINED ROADS, TO REFLECT A REDUCTION
OF SPEED LIMITS ON: COLLIER BOULEVARD (CR 951)
FROM GREEN TO GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD; GREEN
BOULEVARD FROM 0.5 MILES WEST OF COLLIER
BOULEVARD; PINE RIDGE ROAD FROM 0.5 MILES WEST OF
COLLIER BOULEVARD AND ON WHITE BOULEVARD FROM
0.5 MILES EAST OF COLLIER BOULEVARD FROM FORTY-
FIVE (45) MILES PER HOUR TO THIRTY-FIVE (35) MILES PER
HOUR DUE TO CONSTRUCTION OF "COLLIER BOULEVARD
ROADWAY CAPACITY IMPROVEMENTS" PROJECT #68056
Page 207
April 28, 2015
Item #16A2
QUITCLAIM OF A 30-FOOT STRIP OF PROPERTY THAT WAS
ORIGINALLY QUITCLAIMED TO COLLIER COUNTY FOR A
ROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY BY PREDECESSOR IN TITLE TO JEFF
DAMI AND CALIXTO MONTENEGRO AND WORLD
STRATEGIC ALLIANCES (WSA), LLC, A FLORIDA LIMITED
LIABILITY COMPANY (FISCAL IMPACT: $0) — A REQUEST
BY PROPERTY OWNER CALIXTO MONTENEGRO FOR
PROPERTY AT THE NORTH END OF LAKELAND AVENUE,
AND RESERVING A DRAINAGE AND UTILITY EASEMENT
ON AND UNDER THE PROPERTY FOR COLLIER COUNTY
Item #16A3
A BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR $175,713.03 TO RECOGNIZE
ADDITIONAL REVENUE WITHIN TRANSPORTATION FOR
PROJECTS #60085, #69081, #60088 AND #60132 — COLLECTED
IN FY 15 AS A PROPORTIONATE SHARE PAYMENT FOR
CAMERON COMMONS WITHIN THE HERITAGE BAY PUD
WITH FUNDS APPROPRIATED TO PROJECTS: IMMOKALEE
ROAD/CR-951 (60132), TIS REVIEW (60085), PATHWAYS
(69081) AND TRAFFIC COUNT (60088)
Item #16A4
RESOLUTION 2015-74: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF PRIVATE
ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE
FINAL PLAT OF TURNBURY PRESERVE (APPLICATION
NUMBER AR-10119) WITH ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE
IMPROVEMENTS PRIVATELY MAINTAINED AND
Page 208
April 28, 2015
AUTHORIZING RELEASE OF THE $44,477.85 MAINTENANCE
SECURITY — LOCATED ON LIVINGSTON ROAD ACROSS
FROM THE CARLTON LAKES DEVELOPMENT
Item #16A5
RESOLUTION 2015-75: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF PRIVATE
ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE
FINAL PLAT OF AUDUBON COUNTRY CLUB, UNIT THREE
(APPLICATION NUMBER C3696) WITH THE ROADWAY AND
DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS BEING PRIVATELY
MAINTAINED AND AUTHORIZING RELEASE OF THE
$14,639.87 MAINTENANCE SECURITY — LOCATED IN NORTH
NAPLES WEST OF US41 (TAMIAMI TRAIL) AND JUST SOUTH
OF BONITA BEACH ROAD
Item #16A6
RESOLUTION 2015-76: CONDITIONAL FINAL ACCEPTANCE
OF PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS,
AND ACCEPTANCE OF PLAT DEDICATIONS FOR THE FINAL
PLAT OF THE RUNAWAY BAY REPLAT PL20120000266, AND
AUTHORIZING A REDUCTION OF THE MAINTENANCE
SECURITY TO $19,262.25 WHICH REPRESENTS 150% OF THE
COST OF THE REMAINING REQUIRED IMPROVEMENTS —
DEVELOPER IS REQUIRED TO COMPLETE ALL REMAINING
IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN 12 MONTHS FOR THE RUNAWAY
BAY SUBDIVISION WITHIN THE FIDDLER'S CREEK PUD
Item #16A7
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April 28, 2015
RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF MAPLE RIDGE RESERVE
AT AVE MARIA, PHASE 1, (APPLICATION NUMBER
PL20140001692) APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM
CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND
APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE
SECURITY — W/STIPULATIONS
Item #16A8
AWARD CONTRACT #15-6416 IN THE AMOUNT OF $242,304
TO QUALITY ENTERPRISES USA INC. FOR WIGGINS PASS
INTERIM CHANNEL DREDGING TO REMOVE 9,400 CUBIC
YARDS OF BEACH QUALITY SHOALED SAND FROM
WIGGINS PASS CHANNEL (PROJECT NO. 80288),
AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT
AND MAKE A FINDING THIS ITEM PROMOTES TOURISM —
A 2-YEAR INTERIM PROJECT LARGER THAN ANTICIPATED
THAT WILL NOT BE COMPLETE BY THE BEGINNING OF
MAY 1 SEA TURTLE NESTING SEASON ALTHOUGH
ACTIVITIES AND DREDGING OVER WATER WILL BE
COMPLETE THEREFORE INTERFERENCE WITH THE
NESTING SEA TURTLES IS NOT ANTICIPATED
Item #16A9
PAYMENT FOR A JOINT COASTAL PERMIT IN THE AMOUNT
OF $6,039 TO REBUILD THE SOUTH DOCTORS PASS JETTY,
AUTHORIZE ALL NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS
AND MAKE A FINDING THIS ITEM PROMOTES TOURISM
(PROJECT NO. 90029)
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April 28, 2015
Item #16A10
AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO CONTRACT NO. 12C01 WITH
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION (FDEP) BUREAU OF BEACHES AND COASTAL
SYSTEMS BEACH MANAGEMENT FUNDING ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM FOR COLLIER COUNTY BEACH MONITORING —
AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item #16A1 1
A PROPOSAL FROM CB&I COASTAL PLANNING &
ENGINEERING DATED MARCH 19, 2015 FOR A LOCAL
GOVERNMENT FUNDING REQUEST RANKING (LGFR)
ANALYSIS AND PREPARATION TO MAINTAIN ELIGIBILITY
FOR ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION OF STATE FUNDS FOR SHORE
PROTECTION AND INLET MANAGEMENT PROJECTS;
APPROVE A WORK ORDER UNDER CONTRACT #13-6164-CZ
FOR A NOT TO EXCEED AMOUNT OF $14,046; AUTHORIZE
THE COUNTY MANAGER OR HIS DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE
THE WORK ORDER; AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENT AND MAKE A FINDING THIS ITEM
PROMOTES TOURISM (PROJECT NO. 90065) — IN RESPONSE
TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION'S APPLICATION REVIEW AND PROJECT
ASSESSMENT FOR SOUTH MARCO AND COLLIER COUNTY
BEACH RENOURISHMENT PROJECTS IN ORDER TO
RECEIVE STATE FUNDS FOR SHORE PROTECTION AND
INLET MANAGEMENT PROJECTS
Item #16Al2
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April 28, 2015
A PROPOSAL FROM CB&I COASTAL PLANNING &
ENGINEERING DATED MARCH 10, 2015 FOR COLLIER
CREEK DREDGING PROJECT DESIGN, PERMITTING AND
BID ASSISTANCE, APPROVE A WORK ORDER UNDER
CONTRACT #13-6164-CZ FOR A NOT TO EXCEED AMOUNT
OF $68,845.90; AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER OR HIS
DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE THE WORK ORDER, AUTHORIZE
THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT AND MAKE A
FINDING THIS ITEM PROMOTES TOURISM (PROJECT NO.
90064) — NEEDED TO OBTAIN A NOTICE-TO-PROCEED (NTP)
FROM THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AND STABILIZING THE CREEK FOR A PERIOD
OF TIME TO ALLOW PROPER INVESTIGATION OF CURRENT
ISSUES IDENTIFIED IN THE CB&I COASTAL PLANNING AND
ENGINEERING FEBRUARY, 2015 FEASABILITY STUDY TO
ASSURE AN APPROPRIATE LONG TERM SOLUTION IS
CARRIED OUT
Item #16A13
CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 TO WORK ORDER #4500151095 IN
THE AMOUNT OF $27,992 WITH CH2MHILL, INC. AND AN
ADDITIONAL 397 DAYS FOR DESIGN & RELATED SERVICES
FOR PINE RIDGE WEIR IMPROVEMENT PROJECT #60119 —
EXTENDING THE COMPLETION DATE TO JUNE 30, 2016 FOR
WORK UNDER CONTRACT #13-6164 THAT INVOLVED
REPLACING A WEIR ON PINE RIDGE CANAL AND CHANGES
NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE DESIGN AND ADDRESS
MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
DISCOVERED WHILE ASSESSING CURRENT FACILITIES
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April 28, 2015
Item #16A14 — Continued to the May 12, 2015 BCC Meeting (Per
Agenda Change Sheet)
RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE A TEMPORARY USE
AGREEMENT TO PERMIT TEMPORARY USE OF A PORTION
OF A RIGHT-OF-WAY PREVIOUSLY ACQUIRED FOR THE
EXPANSION OF COUNTY BARN ROAD FROM TWO TO FOUR
LANES (FISCAL IMPACT: NONE)
Item #16A15
PETITION VAC-PL20140001484, TO QUITCLAIM AND
RELEASE THE COUNTY'S INTEREST IN THE 30-FOOT WIDE
STRIP OF LAND DESCRIBED AS AN EASEMENT FOR PUBLIC
ROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY AS RECORDED IN OFFICIAL
RECORD BOOK 130, PAGE 447, OFFICIAL RECORD BOOK
130, PAGE 449, OFFICIAL RECORD BOOK 143, PAGE 313,
AND OFFICIAL RECORD BOOK 972, PAGE 1466, ALL OF
THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA,
LOCATED IN SECTION 30, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE
26 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA — TO RELEASE
WHATEVER TITLE OR INTEREST THE COUNTY (GRANTOR)
HAS TO THIS PROPERTY IN LIVINGSTON LAKES USING A
FORM WHOSE MAIN USE IS TO CLEAR ANY CLOUDY
LANGUAGE ON THE TITLE
Item #16A16
A LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT BETWEEN
COLLIER COUNTY AND THE LEMURIA CONDOMINIUM
ASSOCIATION, INC. FOR LANDSCAPE PLANTING WITHIN
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April 28, 2015
THE GOODLETTE-FRANK ROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY — PLANT
MATERIAL HAS BEEN REVIEWED AND ACCEPTED BY THE
COUNTY AND LEMURIA CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION,
INC. HAS AGREED TO MAINTAIN LANDSCAPE AND
IRRIGATION IMPROVEMENTS
Item #16A17
A $25,000 PAYMENT TO SUPERIOR LANDSCAPING AND
LAWN PER LANDSCAPE AND MAINTENANCE CONTRACT
#13-6062S, FOR ROUTINE WORK PERFORMED DURING
JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 2015 — AS DETAILED IN THE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item #16A18
AN EASEMENT AGREEMENT FOR PURCHASE OF A ROAD
RIGHT-OF-WAY, DRAINAGE AND UTILITY EASEMENT
(PARCEL 156RDUE) REQUIRED FOR THE EXPANSION OF
GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD FROM EAST OF WILSON
BOULEVARD TO 20TH STREET EAST PROJECT NO. 60040.
(ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT: $9,100) — 7,398 SQUARE FEET
AND PART OF A 2.81 ACRE PARENT TRACT ON THE SOUTH
SIDE OF GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD BETWEEN 4TH AND
6TH STREETS SOUTHEAST
Item #16A19
RESOLUTION 2015-77: AUTHORIZING THE CHAIRMAN TO
SIGN A TRANSPORTATION POST PROJECT MAINTENANCE
AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
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April 28, 2015
TRANSPORTATION (FDOT), FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE
SIDEWALK, SIGNING AND STRIPING FOR CROSSWALKS,
AND THREE TRANSIT SHELTER PADS WITH ASSOCIATED
DEPLOYMENT PADS ADJACENT TO PORTIONS OF US41 (SR
45) AND TRAIL BOULEVARD UPON COMPLETION OF FDOT
IMPROVEMENTS FINANCIAL PROJECT #430873-1-32/52/62-01
Item #16A20
DIRECTING STAFF TO EXTEND EARLY ENTRY BONUS TDR
CREDITS FOR AN ADDITIONAL THREE YEARS, UNTIL
SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 AND TO INCLUDE THE EXTENSION
WITHIN THE STAFF INITIATED GMP-AMENDMENT CYCLE
— ALLOWING FOR THE PUBLIC PLANNING PROCESS TO
ARRIVE UPON THE BEST RECOMMENDATIONS
Item #16A21
AWARDING ITB #15-6404 TO FORESTRY RESOURCES, INC.
FOR THE PURCHASE AND DELIVERY OF ORGANIC AND
INORGANIC MULCH — ALL WORK WILL BE INITIATED
UNDER A COUNTY PURCHASE ORDER; HISTORICALLY
THE COUNTY SPENDS $500,000 ON MULCH ANNUALLY
Item #16A22
REJECTING ALL RESPONSES RECEIVED FOR RFP #15-6413,
"COLLIER COUNTY 2015 BEACH RENOURISHMENT" AND
AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ISSUE A MODIFIED SOLICITATION —
STAFF IS CONCERNED ONLY TWO QUALIFIED RESPONSES
WERE RECEIVED TO THE TWELVE HUNDRED AND NINETY
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April 28, 2015
(1290) NOTICES SENT OUT; STAFF RECOMMENDS
REJECTING BIDS FOR A MORE COMPETITIVE PROCESS
AND TO AVOID POTENTIAL CCNA CONFLICTS OR ISSUES
ASSOCIATED WITH PRELIMINARY DISCUSSIONS IN
ADVANCE OF SELECTION & RATIFICATION BY THE BOARD
Item #16C1
SATISFACTION OF CLAIM OF LIEN FOR SANITARY SEWER
SYSTEM IMPACT FEES — SATISFYING A 2005 LIEN ON
PROPERTY AT 1018 MANATEE ROAD, APT E-105 NAPLES, FL
Item #16C2
AWARDING ITB #15-6402, "GOODLAND PUMP STATION
IMPROVEMENTS," IN THE AMOUNT OF $516,130, TO
QUALITY ENTERPRISES, USA, INC. — TO REPLACE 30-YEAR
OLD ELECTRICAL & MECHANICAL PUMP STATION
EQUIPMENT, UPGRADE INSTRUMENTS, RECONFIGURE THE
INTERIOR SPACE AND RESTORE THE FACILITY EXTERIOR
Item #16C3
A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE BETWEEN
COLLIER COUNTY AND BAY VILLAS, INC., IN THE
AMOUNT OF $307,223.58 PAYABLE TO BAY VILLAS, INC.,
RELATED TO STREET AND DRIVEWAY RESTORATION AND
REPLACEMENT COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH AN
UNDERGROUND WATER UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE
PROJECT AND ACCEPT GRANT OF A UTILITY EASEMENT
FROM BAY VILLAS INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY OWNERS — AS
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April 28, 2015
DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item #16D1
RESOLUTION 2015-78: SUPERSEDING RESOLUTION 2013-28,
THE COLLIER AREA TRANSIT BUS FARE AND TRANSIT FEE
POLICY AND AUTHORIZING STAFF TO ESTABLISH A
STUDENT SUMMER PASS PROGRAM — STAFF IS
PROPOSING A "SUMMER PAW PASS" THAT FOR A COST OF
$30.00 WOULD BE VALID JUNE 1 THRU AUGUST 31 EACH
YEAR, TO HELP YOUNGER ADULTS BECOME FAMILIAR
WITH THE TRANSIT SYSTEM AND ENCOURAGE THOSE
AGED 17 AND UNDER TO USE CAT TO ACCESS PARKS,
LIBRARIES, MUSEUMS & EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Item #16D2
TO ALLOW STAFF TO DISTRIBUTE BUS PASSES AND
OTHER PROMOTIONAL ITEMS FOR THE PURPOSE OF
PROMOTING TRANSIT — TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC AND
PROVIDE AWARENESS ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF USING
COLLIER AREA TRANSIT SYSTEM WITH A FISCAL IMPACT
THAT LIMITS STAFF TO DISTRIBUTING NO MORE THAN 50
FULL FARE DAILY PASSES WITH A VALUE OF $4 PER PASS
NOT EXCEEDING $200 PER EVENT AND OTHER ITEMS
DISTRIBUTED WOULD NOT EXCEED $100 AT ANY EVENT
Item #16D3
RESOLUTION 2015-79: EXTENDING THE PUBLIC TRANSIT
AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE AN ADDITIONAL TWELVE
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April 28, 2015
(12) MONTHS THROUGH JULY 16, 2016
Item #16D4
RELEASE OF LIEN FOR A FULL PAYMENT OF A 100%
DEFERRAL OF COUNTYWIDE IMPACT FEES FOR AN
OWNER OCCUPIED AFFORDABLE HOUSING DWELLING
UNIT — A 2008 LIEN AND PAYMENT OF $15,553.15 FOR
PROPERTY AT 3572 LIBERTY WAY, IMMOKALEE, FL
Item #16D5
FIFTEEN (15) RELEASES OF LIEN FOR DISASTER
RECOVERY INITIATIVE PROGRAM LOANS DUE TO TERMS
AND CONDITIONS OF THE 5-YEAR AFFORDABILITY
PERIOD BEING MET — AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Item #16D6
THIRD AMENDMENT TO THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES
PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM SUBRECIPIENT AGREEMENT
WITH CENTRO CAMPESINO FARMWORKER CENTER, INC.
TO EXTEND EXPENDITURE DEADLINES ON THE BUDGET
NARRATIVE (EXHIBIT B OF THE AGREEMENT)
Item #16D7
A WORK ORDER USING GENERAL CONTRACTOR SERVICES
UNDER ANNUAL CONTRACT #10-5510, WITH SURETY
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY FOR REPLACEMENT OF
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April 28, 2015
DECKING AT THE CLAM PASS PARK CONCESSION AREA,
APPROVE A NECESSARY BUDGET INCREASE, AND MAKE
A FINDING THAT THIS EXPENDITURE PROMOTES TOURISM
— IN THE AMOUNT OF $245,899.02; WORK HAS BEEN
SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE IN SECTIONS DURING THE
OFF-SEASON TO LESSEN IMPACT TO THE AREA AND NO
WORK WILL TAKE PLACE AT NIGHT FROM MAY-OCTOBER
DURING SEA TURTLE NESTING SEASON, THEREFORE THE
DECK WILL NOT BE CLOSED DURING THE PROJECT
Item #16D8
EIGHT (8) SATISFACTIONS OF MORTGAGE FOR THE STATE
HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP LOAN PROGRAM IN
THE COMBINED AMOUNT OF $47,226.08 — AS DETAILED IN
THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item #16D9
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN EIGHT (8) SATISFACTIONS OF
MORTGAGE FOR OWNER-OCCUPIED AFFORDABLE
HOUSING UNITS THAT HAVE SATISFIED THE TERMS OF
ASSISTANCE FOR COLLIER COUNTY HOME INVESTMENT
PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM — WITH A COMBINED $87,958.00
IN GRANT FUNDS FORGIVEN FOR NAPLES PROPERTY AT:
4451 23RD PLACE SW, 4085 24TH AVE NE AND 2740 14TH
AVE SE AND FOR PROPERTY IN IMMOKALEE AT: 1820
LEED AVE, 707 PALM RIDGE, 308 E DELAWARE AVE, 3751
JUSTICE CIRCLE AND 3776 JUSTICE CIRCLE
Item #16D10
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April 28, 2015
SATISFACTION OF MORTGAGE FOR THE STATE HOUSING
INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP LOAN PROGRAM FOR FULL
PAYMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,280 — A 2011 MORTGAGE
FOR PROPERTY AT 5160 EVERGLADES BOULEVARD N.
Item #16D11
SATISFACTION OF MORTGAGE FOR THE AMERICAN
DREAM DOWNPAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IN THE
AMOUNT OF $6,954 — FOR PROPERTY AT 5160 EVERGLADES
BOULEVARD N
Item #16D12
A STATE OF FLORIDA PUBLIC LIBRARY CONSTRUCTION
GRANT APPLICATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $500,000 FOR
THE PROPOSED EXPANSION AND RENOVATION OF THE
HEADQUARTERS LIBRARY. FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY OF
COLLIER COUNTY INC. HAVE PLEDGED $500,000 AS A
LOCAL MATCH AND PLEDGE TO RAISE AN ADDITIONAL
$300,150 FROM PRIVATE DONATIONS TO FUND PROJECT
COSTS ESTIMATED AT $1,300,150 — THE SECRETARY OF
STATE WILL INCLUDE APPROVED GRANT APPLICATIONS
IN THEIR BUDGET REQUEST FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE
FLORIDA LEGISLATURE; IF APPROVED AND FUNDS ARE
APPROPRIATED, FUNDING WOULD BE AVAILABLE IN THE
SUMMER OF 2015 FOR THE PROJECT OF WHICH PLANS
INCLUDE ADDING 1,717 SQUARE FEET TO THE CURRENT
LIBRARY AND RENOVATING 4,173 SQUARE FEET OF SPACE
Item #16D13
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April 28, 2015
FOUR (4) MODIFICATIONS TO DISASTER RECOVERY
INITIATIVE AND RECOVERY ENHANCEMENT FUND GRANT
AGREEMENTS FOR DISASTER RELIEF AND LONG TERM
RECOVERY OR MITIGATION WITH FLORIDA DEPARTMENT
OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND FOUR (4) ASSOCIATED
AMENDMENTS TO THE SUBRECIPIENT AGREEMENTS —
MODIFICATION NO. 12 TO DRI "Z" GRANT (2007)
AGREEMENT #07DB-3 V-09-21-01-Z01; MODIFICATION NO. 10
DRI "A" GRANT (2008) AGREEMENT #08DB-D3-09-21-01-A03;
MODIFICATION NO. 12 DRI "K" GRANT (2010) AGREEMENT
#10DB-D4-09-21-01-K09 AND MODIFICATION NO. 5 TO DREF
GRANT (2012) AGREEMENT #12-DB-P5-09-21-01-K39
Item #16D14
AUTHORIZATING THE ROTARY CLUB OF NAPLES-COLLIER
TO USE THE FRED W. COYLE FREEDOM PARK AT NO COST
FOR A FREEDOM MEMORIAL FUNDRAISER — THE CLUB IS
PROPOSING TO SELL FLAGS THAT WOULD BE PLACED AT
THE MEMORIAL FROM MAY 30, 2015 TO JUNE 15, 2015 FOR
A DONATION TO THE ROTARY CLUB IN HONOR OF THE
PERSON THE DONOR WISHES TO COMMEMORATE.THE
ROTARY CLUB WILL APPLY 50% OF THE NET PROCEEDS
TOWARDS THE MEMORIAL PROJECT AND REMAINING
FUNDS GOING TO OTHER NON-PROFITS INCLUDING THE
LORENZO WALKER INSTITUTE AND THE BOYS SCOUTS
WITH PROCEEDS DIRECTLY PROVIDED TO THE FREEDOM
MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF NAPLES FL, INC.
Item #16D15
Page 221
April 28, 2015
A MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT AGREEMENT EXTENSION
WITH AVAIL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND AN ADVANCE
PAYMENT FOR HOSTING SUPPORT, MAINTENANCE AND
WARRANTY OF THE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION
SYSTEM FROM FEBRUARY, 2015 THROUGH JANUARY, 2017
— WITH PAYMENT OF $197,923.00 DUE UPON ACCEPTANCE
Item #16E1
RECOGNIZING AND APPROPRIATING $39,738.31 INTO EMS
FUND 490 FOR AN INSURANCE REFUND — TO REPLACE
EMS VEHICLE CC2-901 STRUCK BY ANOTHER VEHICLE IN
FEBRUARY, 2015 AND DEEMED BEYOND REPAIR
Item #16E2
CONTRACT #13-6137 CHANGE ORDER NO. 12, IN THE
AMOUNT OF $114,853.20 WITH DEANGELIS DIAMOND
CONSTRUCTION FOR COLLIER COUNTY J-1 HVAC SYSTEM
REPLACEMENT, AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENT TO INSTALL SECURITY RELATED
DEVICES IN SECTION J-1 OF THE NAPLES JAIL — PART OF
A $5.6 MILLION 4-YEAR PROJECT IN ITS FINAL YEAR OF
COMPLETION AND BASED UPON RECOMMENDATIONS
GIVEN BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICES' NATIONAL
INSTITUTE OF CORRECTIONS (NIC)
Item #16E3
PURCHASE OF EMERGENCY DISPATCH ENHANCEMENT
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April 28, 2015
EQUIPMENT FROM LOCUTION SYSTEMS, INC. IN THE
AMOUNT OF $71,202 AS WELL AS ANNUAL MAINTENANCE
COSTS OF $4,695, APPROVE INSTALLATION OF EQUIPMENT
BY COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL IN THE AMOUNT
OF $132,408, AND AUTHORIZE WAIVER OF COMPETITION
IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE COUNTY. (COMPANION TO
ITEM #16K2) — PURSUANT TO TERMS IN THE SETTLEMENT
AGREEMENT WITH FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Item #16F1
USING AN ALTERNATIVE ROAD IMPACT FEE RATE
PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS FOR TACO BELL FOR THE NEW POPEYE'S
RESTAURANT BEING BUILT IN GOLDEN GATE — AS
DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item #16F2
RESOLUTION 2015-80: APPROVING AMENDMENTS
(APPROPRIATING GRANTS, DONATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS
OR INSURANCE PROCEEDS) TO FY 14/15 ADOPTED BUDGET
Item #16F3 — Moved to Item #11C (Per Commissioner Taylor
during Agenda Changes)
Item #16H1
RESOLUTION 2015-81 : APPOINTING PATRICIA SHERRY
(CIVIC/CITIZEN CATEGORY) AND REAPPOINTING TRACEY
DEWRELL (AGRICULTURAL/BUSINESS CATEGORY) TO
Page 223
April 28, 2015
TERMS EXPIRING FEBRUARY 11, 2018 TO CONSERVATION
COLLIER LAND ACQUISITION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Item #16H2 — Continued to the May 12, 2015 BCC Meeting (Per
Agenda Change Sheet)
RECOMMENDATION TO APPOINT A MEMBER TO THE
COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
Item #16H3
RESOLUTION 2015-82: APPOINTING MSTU RESIDENT JOHN
W. GOODY (A TERM EXPIRING APRIL 21, 2019) TO THE
FOREST LAKES ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
Item #16H4
RESOLUTION 2015-83: APPOINTING MSTU RESIDENT
MARIA C. SCHOENFELDER (A TERM EXPIRING MARCH 3,
2017) TO THE RADIO ROAD BEAUTIFICATION MSTU
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Item #16H5
RESOLUTION 2015-84: APPOINTING ANDREA HALMAN (TO
A TERM EXPIRING APRIL 4, 2019) AND NEW IMMOKALEE
DISTRICT CODE ENFORCEMENT SUPERVISOR JOE MUCHA
(REPLACING CODE ENFORCEMENT REPRESENTATIVE
CRISTINA PEREZ) TO THE IMMOKLAEE ENTERPRISE ZONE
DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
Page 224
April 28, 2015
Item #16J1
A REPORT TO THE BOARD REGARDING INVESTMENT OF
COUNTY FUNDS AS OF THE QUARTER ENDING MARCH 31,
2015
Item #16J2
BOARD DECLARATION OF EXPENDITURES SERVING A
VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE AND APPROVAL OF
DISBURSEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD OF APRIL 9 THROUGH
APRIL 15, 2015
Item #16J3
BOARD DECLARATION OF EXPENDITURES SERVING A
VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE AND APPROVAL OF
DISBURSEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD OF APRIL 16 THROUGH
APRIL 22, 2015
Item #16K1
THE GENERAL RELEASE OF ARGO WARM SPRINGS LLLP IN
THE REPLACEMENT DEVELOPER AGREEMENT UNDER
PARAGRAPH 5, RELATING TO THE PAYMENT OF CLAIMS,
EXPERT FEES, ATTORNEY'S FEES AND COSTS IN THE CASE
STYLED COLLIER COUNTY V. NAPLES SYNDICATIONS,
LLC, CASE NO. 09-9432. (TREE FARM ROAD PROJECT NO.
65061) (FISCAL IMPACT: NONE)
Item #16K2
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April 28, 2015
CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO SETTLE
AN ADMINISTRATIVE CASE CAPTIONED FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH V. COLLIER COUNTY EMS
(DOH CASE NO. 2013-13123) WITH COUNTY AGREEING TO
COMMIT FUNDS TOWARD LOCUTION SYSTEM UPGRADES
WITHIN 1-YEAR (TOTAL AMOUNT $231,493) AND WITH NO
ADMISSION OF LIABILITY. (COMPANION TO ITEM #16E3)
Item #17A
RESOLUTION 2015-85: PETITION VAC-PL20140001818
TO DISCLAIM, RENOUNCE AND VACATE THE COUNTY
AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST IN PART OF THE 50-FOOT
DRAINAGE EASEMENT LOCATED ALONG THE EASTERN
BORDER OF TRACT "A", COLLIER COUNTY PRODUCTION
PARK PHASE 3-A, AS RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 22, PAGES
59 THROUGH 60 OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER
COUNTY, FLORIDA, IN SECTION 36, TOWNSHIP 49 SOUTH,
RANGE 25 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, AND TO
ACCEPT PETITIONER'S GRANT OF A REPLACEMENT
DRAINAGE EASEMENT TO REPLACE THE VACATED
DRAINAGE EASEMENT
Item #17B — Continued to the May 12, 2015 BCC Meeting (Per
Agenda Change Sheet)
THIS ITEM CONTINUED FROM THE APRIL 14, 2015 BCC
MEETING. THIS ITEM REQUIRES EX PARTE DISCLOSURE
BE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS. SHOULD A
HEARING BE HELD ON THIS ITEM, ALL PARTICIPANTS
Page 226
April 28, 2015
ARE REQUIRED TO BE SWORN IN. RECOMMENDATION TO
APPROVE PETITION VAC-PL20140000235, TO VACATE THE
2.35-FOOT WIDE CONSERVATION EASEMENT AS
RECORDED IN OFFICIAL RECORD BOOK 4251, PAGES
1007 THROUGH 1018, OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA BEING A PART OF TRACT
M-1, STELLA MARIS, AND APPROVE AN AMENDMENT TO
THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND GENERAL RELEASE,
DATED JUNE 26, 2007, AS RECORDED IN OFFICIAL RECORD
BOOK 4251 PAGE 1019 THROUGH 1024
Item #17C
ORDINANCE 2015-27: AN ORDINANCE MAINTAINING
COMPATIBILITY WITH THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER
MANAGEMENT DISTRICT'S MANDATORY YEAR-ROUND
LANDSCAPE IRRIGATION CONSERVATION MEASURES, AS
AMENDED, AND REPEALING ORDINANCE NUMBER 2002-17
AND 2000-61
Item #17D
RESOLUTION 2015-86: APPROVING AMENDMENTS
(APPROPRIATING CARRY FORWARD, TRANSFERS AND
SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE) TO FY 14/15 ADOPTED BUDGET
*****
Page 227
April 28, 2015
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 5:00 p.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL
TIM NANCE, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST:
DWIGHT E. BROCK, CLERK
but, s In(
Attest as to
signature only,
These minutes approved by the Board on rilaLi a, 3o V5 , as
presented ■ or as corrected
TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF GREGORY COURT
REPORTING SERVICE, INC., BY TERRI LEWIS, COURT
REPORTER AND NOTARY PUBLIC.
Page 228