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Agenda 12/12/2017 Item #2B12/12/2017 COLLIER COUNTY Board of County Commissioners Item Number: 2.B Item Summary: October 24-25, 2017 - BCC/Regular Meeting Minutes Meeting Date: 12/12/2017 Prepared by: Title: Executive Secretary to County Manager – County Manager's Office Name: MaryJo Brock 11/13/2017 1:03 PM Submitted by: Title: County Manager – County Manager's Office Name: Leo E. Ochs 11/13/2017 1:03 PM Approved By: Review: County Manager's Office Leo E. Ochs County Manager Review Completed 11/29/2017 2:49 PM Board of County Commissioners MaryJo Brock Meeting Pending 12/12/2017 9:00 AM October 24-25, 2017 Page 1 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida, October 24, 2017 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: Penny Taylor Andrew Solis Donna Fiala William L. McDaniel, Jr. Burt L. Saunders ALSO PRESENT: Leo Ochs, County Manager Nick Casalanguida, Deputy County Manager Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney Crystal Kinzel, Director of Finance & Accounting Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations October 24-25, 2017 Page 2 MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning. Good morning, everyone. It's a great day in Collier County. We are pleased to have so many people here. And at this point I'd like to invite -- and excuse me. I don't have it in front of me right now. MR. OCHS: This is Pastor Heath Jarvis. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- Pastor Heath Jarvis, yes, of New Hope Ministries to lead us in the invocation and, Commissioner Fiala, I wonder if you would lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance after that. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I would be happy to do that. Thank you. Item #1A INVOCATION BY PASTOR HEATH JARVIS NEW HOPE MINISTRIES – INVOCATION GIVEN PASTOR JARVIS: Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you, first of all, for this wonderful country that we live in, a country where we can come before you freely like we are today and invoke your presence and your wisdom without fear of reprisal or consequence from our government. We thank you for this opportunity to come together as the leadership of Collier County, and we ask for your guidance as decisions are made that will affect all who live here. Lord, may we never take our responsibilities lightly; order our steps and order our words. May we always do what you desire, Lord, for we know that your desires towards us, your thoughts towards us, and your plans for us are always good, always perfect, and always for our benefit. We thank you, Lord, for your hand of protection and provision October 24-25, 2017 Page 3 over this area during last month's hurricane and the subsequent storms that followed it. We know the things that could have been much worse. And we thank you that the storm dissipated faster than expected. We thank you that the storm surge was much lower than expected. We thank you that the loss of life and loss of property was lower than expected. But, Lord, we also know that some people are still challenged with recovery efforts, so we ask for your peace to guard our hearts and our minds. We ask for your provision and protection for those who are still recovering. And, Lord, we ask that you would show us how to best use the resources that we have available to continue to help our brothers and sisters as they recover. You, Lord, are the giver of wisdom, you're the giver of all good and perfect gifts, and you're the God of restoration. We ask for your guidance in all of these things, and I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. COMMISSIONER FIALA: That was a beautiful prayer. Thank you very much. With that, would you put your hands over heart please, and say with me... (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) Item #2A APPROVAL OF TODAY'S REGULAR, CONSENT AND SUMMARY AGENDA AS AMENDED (EX PARTE DISCLOSURE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR CONSENT AND SUMMARY AGENDA.) – APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES; COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL ABSTAINED FROM VOTING ON ITEM #11D; COMMISSIONER SOLIS ABSTAINED FROM VOTING ON AGENDA ITEM #16A1 October 24-25, 2017 Page 4 MR. OCHS: Good morning, Madam Chair, Commissioners. I have one proposed change to today's agenda, and that is to continue Item 16F6 to the November 14th, 2017, meeting. That item has been continued at Commissioner Saunders' request, and it will be rescheduled for the regular agenda for a presentation. We also have two time-certain items on this agenda. The first is Item 11A. That's the presentation of your Community Housing Plan. That item will be heard tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. in the chambers; and Item 11F will be heard this morning at 10 a.m. And those are all the changes that I have, Madam Chair. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. So we'll do some ex parte and also if there's any other changes to the agenda. Commissioner Saunders, we'll start with you. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Just for clarification, Leo, the 11F is noted at Item No. 11E, and I want to make sure that the public knows which item is going to be heard at 10. MR. OCHS: 10 a.m. is Item 11F. That is the follow-on staff report on the proposed senior advisory committee. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. MR. OCHS: Okay. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I have no additions. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No ex parte? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: At this time any other, besides when we hear the one advertised hearing, then we'll declare at that time? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No ex parte, but I do have to -- I have a conflict with 16A1, which is the final plat recording or acceptance for Sereno Grove. So I will abstain from voting on that particular item. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. I have no ex parte on anything else besides Briarwood, I'll declare that at that time, and no October 24-25, 2017 Page 5 other changes to the agenda. Thank you. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I have no changes, no additions, no corrections, and that's it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have one ex parte on 16A1, correspondence and emails with regard to that item, and I do have a conflict of interest on Item 11 -- oh, I forget the item number; forgive me. Which one is -- oh, it's 11C. So I will be abstaining from voting on that. MR. OCHS: That's the golf course item, sir? 11D are you talking about? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct, I'm sorry. Thank you, County Manager. I meant 11D. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: 11D. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's the off-road vehicle park. MR. OCHS: OHV. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So just as a point of order, County Attorney Klatzkow, in some situations when you abstain to vote on an item, you can participate in that conversation, in some situations you've advised -- MR. KLATZKOW: My recommendation is that the commissioner do not -- that this commissioner on this item does not participate in this particular conversation. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. And may he stay in the room, or does he leave? MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Thank you very much. All right. Good. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, that's good. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. All right. So hearing what was declared, do we have a motion to accept the agenda as amended? October 24-25, 2017 Page 6 COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to approve the agenda as amended. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do I hear a second? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. October 24-25, 2017 Page 7 Item #2B, #2C and #2D SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 BCC/REGULAR MEETING MINUTES – APPROVED AS PRESENTED; SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 BCC/FINAL BUDGET HEARING – APPROVED AS PRESENTED; SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 BCC/SPECIAL SESSION BUDGET – APPROVED AS PRESENTED COMMISSIONER FIALA: I make a motion to approve the September 26th regular meeting minutes, the September 28th final budget hearing, and the September 28th special session budget. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Very good. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. Item #2E – Added During Meeting PRESENTATION OF A CHECK FOR $6.5 M TO COLLIER COUNTY BY TAX COLLECTOR LARRY RAY – PRESENTED MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, we have a special presentation this October 24-25, 2017 Page 8 morning from your Collier County Tax Collector, Larry Ray. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: This is a surprise appearance. MR. RAY: Yes, indeed. I'll just take a second here before you all get into the very important business of the county here. I have a check here for $6,255,000 that represents the fees that were collected by the Tax Collector in the performance of our duties that were not used to support our operations. I feel real good about it this year because this number is in spite of the fact that we did an improvement project at the office here at the courthouse complex and provides for a lot better customer service, and I think that building hadn't been touched in -- since 1980 something, so we found some wires that -- anyway, that would be another story. So use it well. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any recommendations, sir? MR. RAY: No. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: See if you can spend it all in one place. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. That's good news. Item #4 PROCLAMATIONS – ONE MOTION TAKEN TO ADOPT ALL PROCLAMATIONS – ADOPTED Item #4A PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING OCTOBER 2017 AS SAFE INFANT SLEEP MONTH IN COLLIER COUNTY. TO BE ACCEPTED BY DANNA BREEDEN R.N. AND PATRICIA HANSEN R.N. FROM THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH-COLLIER COUNTY AND PAULA DIGRIGOLI, October 24-25, 2017 Page 9 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NCH SAFE & HEALTHY CHILDREN'S COALITION AND OTHERS – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: That takes us to Item 4, proclamations. Item 4A is a proclamation designating October 2017 as Safe Infant Sleep Month in Collier County. To be accepted by Sally Kreuscher, Safe Kids of Southwest Florida; Stephanie Vick and Danna Breeden, Florida Department of Health in Collier County; Patty Hansen, Early Learning Coalition of Southwest Florida; Selena Lucas, Healthy Start; Paula DiGrigoli, Naples Community Hospital; Dr. Jorge Camina and Karen Smith, Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida; and Sergeant Kevin O'Neil from the Collier County Sheriff's Office. If you'd please step forward and receive your proclamation. (Applause.) COMMISSIONER FIALA: You get stuck seeing all of us. Thanks for all you're doing. I appreciate it. (Applause.) Item #4B PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING OCTOBER 28, 2017 AS NATIONAL FIRST RESPONDERS DAY IN COLLIER COUNTY. ACCEPTED BY SHERIFF KEVIN RAMBOSK, CHIEF TABATHA BUTCHER, CHIEF JAMIE CUNNINGHAM, CHIEF KINGMAN SCHULDT, CHIEF PETE DIMARIA, CHIEF AL SCHETTINO, CHIEF TOM WESCHLER, CHIEF MIKE MURPHY, CHIEF MICHAEL CHOATE, DEPUTY CHIEF ALAN MCLAUGHLIN, AND SUPPORTING COMMAND STAFF FOR THE COLLIER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, COLLIER COUNTY EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES, GREATER NAPLES FIRE RESCUE DISTRICT, NORTH COLLIER FIRE CONTROL AND October 24-25, 2017 Page 10 RESCUE DISTRICT, IMMOKALEE FIRE DISTRICT, CITY OF NAPLES POLICE DEPARTMENT, CITY OF NAPLES FIRE DEPARTMENT, CITY OF MARCO ISLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT AND CITY OF MARCO ISLAND FIRE RESCUE DEPARTMENT – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: Item 4B is a proclamation designating October 28th, 2017, as National First Responders Day in Collier County. To be accepted by Chief Mike Hedberg on behalf of Sheriff Kevin Rambosk; Chief Tabitha Butcher; Chief Jamie Cunningham; Chief Kingman Schuldt; Chief Pete DiMaria; Chief Al Schettino; Captains Robert Montegano and John Barkley on behalf of Chief Tom Weschler; Chief Mike Murphy; Chief Mike Choate; Deputy Chief Thomas Cunningham; Deputy Chief Alan McLaughlin; and supporting command staff of the Collier County Sheriff's Office, Collier County Emergency Medical Services, Greater Naples Fire Rescue District, North Collier Fire control, Immokalee Fire Control, City of Naples Police Department, City of Marco Island Police Department, and City of Marco Island Fire Rescue. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We're going to be a little out of order. I'd like everyone here to stand and thank these men and women for their work during the hurricane. (Applause.) COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Now we have to find a spot. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. So now we have our Commissioner Fiala, who no one can see. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I always look like I'm standing in a hole here. MR. SUMMERS: You all cleaned up real nice. (Applause.) COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'm just curious, has there ever been October 24-25, 2017 Page 11 a situation where we've had two emergencies in one year, first the fires and then a hurricane? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's a good question. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, you know what, I don't know. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, has there ever been a situation where we've had actually two emergencies that our first responders had to address in one year, for fires and -- MR. OCHS: Oh, yeah; unfortunately. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Two hurricanes in a year. MR. OCHS: Yeah. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, we had -- not in Collier County, but the state of Florida. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No, I'm talking about in Collier County. I mean, first we had the fire and then we had -- amazing. COMMISSIONER FIALA: You're so right. I never even thought about that. It was a nasty fire, too. It wasn't just a little one. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Two nasty fires. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Two fires, that's right. Three, we had three emergencies. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right, three emergencies. It's an incredible job that our first responders have done in this past year. It's amazing. We're lucky to have them all, and they keep us safe. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, that's right. MR. OCHS: Absolutely. (Applause.) Item #4C PROCLAMATION HONORING JIM AND CAROL LUDWIG AND THE VOLUNTEERS FROM PICKLEBALL FOR ALL FOR THEIR EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS IN HELPING OUR COMMUNITY October 24-25, 2017 Page 12 TO HEAL AND RECOVER AFTER HURRICANE IRMA. ACCEPTED BY JIM AND CAROL LUDWIG – ADOPTED; COMMISSIONER FIALA READ INTO RECORD MR. OCHS: Item 4C is a proclamation honoring Jim and Carol Ludwig and the volunteers for Pickleball for All for their extraordinary efforts in helping our community to heal and recover after Hurricane Irma. To be accepted -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Would you read it for us, Leo, so that everybody understands what this is about. MR. OCHS: Sure, if I can. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I was going to ask to do it, so I'm glad you said that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're going to do it. No, no. You do it, Donna. COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, no, no. That's good. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Donna, you do it. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, okay, if you don't mind. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh, no. COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, no. I always find a place between. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So everybody slide this way. This way. Simon says. COMMISSIONER FIALA: See, I've got that hole right there. And don't leave because I want you to stay there. Our chairman here, and the County Manager, both allowed me to read this to you. So if you don't mind, I'd like to let the audience see what this proclamation says. Whereas, Collier County was severely impacted by Hurricane Irma on September 10th, 2017; and; Whereas, Jim Ludwig, founder and executive director of October 24-25, 2017 Page 13 Pickleball for All, and his wife Carol, contacted the county to see how its organization could help and volunteer after Hurricane Irma after she tore through our area. Pickleball for All is a nonprofit organization that introduces the sport of pickleball to kids and adults, at the same time the county was contacted by the -- and I don't know how to pronounce this. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Tzu Chi. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Tzu Chi, okay, foundation, an international humanitarian organization, to provide monetary relief to those affected by Hurricane Irma; and, Whereas, Mr. Ludwig was asked to help orchestrate the process and work alongside the Tzu Chi Foundation to expedite the process so that they could distribute debit cards to the less fortunate and affected families in Collier County. Mr. Ludwig, along with his volunteers, worked with community leaders of the Everglades City, Immokalee, City of Naples communities to identify those in need; and, Whereas, Mr. Ludwig went above and beyond what was asked of him, had a can-do attitude, which he always has, by the way, if I might add that, can-do attitude, and was a pinnacle of volunteerism and community spirit. And now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County honor William and Carol Ludwig and the Pickleball for All volunteers for their extraordinary efforts in helping our community to heal and recover after Hurricane Irma. Done and ordered this 24th day of October, Board of County Commissioners, Collier County, Florida, Penny Taylor, Chairman. (Applause.) MR. LUDWIG: Thank you. Appreciate it. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you, Jim. Thank you, everyone. I guess they were out riding the streets early morning till late at night. October 24-25, 2017 Page 14 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Past the curfew? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Actually, they had to call me one time to make sure they could get back in. Item #4D PROCLAMATION TO RECOGNIZE THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS AND ITS "MORMON HELPING HANDS" VOLUNTEERS. ACCEPTED BY STEPHEN THOMPSON, JOSEPH LINDSAY, AND JULIE CROWDER – ADOPTED; COMMISSIONER TAYOR READ INTO RECORD MR. OCHS: Item 4D is a proclamation to recognize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and its "Mormon Helping Hands" volunteers. To be accepted by Stephen Thompson, Joseph Lindsay, and Julie Crowder. If you'd please step forward. (Applause.) COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Don't look so happy. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'm going to keep this because I want to read this. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you for what you've done. We heard about you guys walking around and helping people fix things and cut things up. Thank you for all you do. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So I'm going to read this because I think it's very important for our community to know people who can help other people and people who did, and so the proclamation reads: Whereas, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints invites members of the church and others who wish to join them in serving communities impacted by disaster, such as Hurricane Irma, as "Mormon Helping Hand" volunteers; and, Whereas, the "Mormon Helping Hands" first seek to assist the October 24-25, 2017 Page 15 first responders who sacrificed their time serving the community during a disaster, leaving aside the needs of their own families and homes; and, Whereas, the "Mormon Helping Hands" then focused on addressing the needs of the elderly, the handicapped, and the single-parent families; and, Whereas, during the initial three weekends following the landfall of Hurricane Irma, the "Mormon Helping Hands" had 2,982 volunteers serving the residents of Collier County, completing more than 2,148 work orders, and compiling a total of 49,969 volunteer hours, with more unreported work done as well; and, Whereas, the "Mormon Helping Hand" volunteers came as far away as Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, and out of state to assist Collier County residents with tree and debris removal, installing tarps on roofs, and helping with -- to remove the muck and debris from flooded neighborhoods such as Everglades City, where more than 150 "Mormon Helping Hand" volunteers served during each of the initial two weekends following the storm. We wish to recognize the selfless efforts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints "Mormon Helping Hand" volunteers who helped the citizens of Collier County recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, that we recognize and honor the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and its "Mormon Helping Hands" volunteers. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do you want to say something? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Do you want to take pictures first? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Photo op first. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, that's right. October 24-25, 2017 Page 16 MR. THOMPSON: I won't get any better looking than this for I don't know how long. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Photo bomb. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I miss the hat and the perspiration. MR. THOMPSON: I think we smell better today than we did. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, I think you do. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you. MR. THOMPSON: Madam Chairman Taylor, members of the County Commission, we appreciate this recognition on behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We'd also like to reciprocally express our appreciation of Collier County for enabling us to get in and serve all the people that we were able to do, in particular, Dan Summers of the Collier County EOC was instrumental not only in helping us determine, assess, and respond to first responder needs in Collier County, the City of Naples, Everglades City, and Marco Island, but he also helped us open doors in Monroe County, the City of Marathon, and the City of Key West. We had over 10,000 volunteers working on those weekends in those areas. So we appreciate Dan, his support, and your recognition of these many hours of service by thousands of volunteers helping to relieve those that stand in need during this time. There's still many more, and the work goes on. We appreciate it. Thank you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Madam Chair, if I might just make one little comment. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, of course. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think it's important to -- I mean, these volunteers came from all over the United States without any necessity for services whatsoever. These folks came and brought tents and pitched tents and took these work orders and went to our residents' homes upon request and assisted, and I just cannot share with you how invaluable that was for our community. Thank you. Thank October 24-25, 2017 Page 17 you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It gave us hope. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It gave us hope. Madam Chair, if I may have a motion to approve today's proclamations. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- approve today's proclamations. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do I have a second? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: There's a motion on the floor and a second. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. MR. OCHS: Thank you. Item #5A HURRICANE IRMA STATUS REPORT FROM DAN SUMMERS, BUREAU OF EMERGENCY SERVICES DIVISION DIRECTOR – PRESENTED October 24-25, 2017 Page 18 That takes us to Item 5A this morning. It's a Hurricane Irma status report from Dan Summers, the director of the Bureau of Emergency Services. MR. SUMMERS: Commissioners, good morning. Dan Summers, director of your Bureau of Emergency Services and Emergency Management. And just to echo again, you know, you have some things in your emergency plan that you hope work, and you have some things that always work, and there's a group that always works. And I've been engaged with that organization for 30 years in their disaster engagement, and it helps us sleep very well at night. So thank you for a job well done and thanks for all of your support to the community. Let's jump in here real quick. I wanted to focus on five areas with you today, kind of give you an update of where we are with our survivor and neighborhood assistance. Debris removal, I've got the thumbnail sketch on that. If you have some particular questions, Dan Rodriguez is here today. Temporary housing update, certainly a little bit of forward progress there. We wanted to make sure -- Jamie French is here. We wanted to make sure that you had some visibility on NFIP and where we are as part of the recovery process and how NFIP engages with the community and certainly be available to take any questions. COMMISSIONER FIALA: What is NFIP? MR. SUMMERS: The National Flood Insurance Program, ma'am. Sorry. And that's a terrible thing that we have in emergency management is the use of acronyms. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Government. MR. SUMMERS: So I'll try to maintain an acronym-free zone or AFZ, as we call it. We have about -- FEMA registrations: As you know, the best October 24-25, 2017 Page 19 way to get assistance is through FEMA. And we've seen an increase -- continue to see a steady increase in those Collier County registering; 69,319 individuals have registered with FEMA. That's up last week from 65,000. We've had a steady stream of folks doing disaster assistance registration at the Golden Gate Community Center at the Disaster Assistance Center that FEMA has located there, and we've been seeing about 130 people there a day. So it's been a steady, continuous need. We continue to evaluate, if necessary, taking that Disaster Assistance Center back to Immokalee and back to Everglades City, and the last couple of days we were there the participation there was practically zero. But we'll double-check. We'll follow up again and see if we need to have the Disaster Assistance Center team back at those two locations. We'll monitor that carefully. FEMA reports to us that individual assistance -- and, again, there's a myriad of programs that FEMA offers. But FEMA has committed $17,801,000 to residents in Collier County for various forms of temporary assistance or individual assistance, I should say, and the last number reported was 14,499,000. So I do think that FEMA is getting some resources -- very much getting some resources out to the community. Just a couple of other highlights: $7 million has been made available under the housing program for other needs, and sometimes that can be critical needs, maybe even some emergency repairs, replacing refrigerators, those type of things for medicines. The latest update: 62 families are in hotels. They are Collier County residents. But 62 families are in hotels outside of Collier County, and 168 families are in hotels in Collier County. That cost is absorbed by FEMA as part of the transitional sheltering assistance. So they get them from their home to the shelter where they could not go back to their home due to damages, and then they're still in a hotel October 24-25, 2017 Page 20 environment. And FEMA continues to track the health, safety, and welfare of those clients engaged in that sheltering or transitional sheltering; essentially, a hotel. We want to take a moment and -- again, and remind our public about the FEMA assistance. And, you know, I had this exact same slide up last time. I think we can't message this enough. We want to remind folks, especially this November 9th deadline here, which is the last day to apply for FEMA assistance. And that's going to sneak up on you here pretty quick. And, again, that is done through the 800 number or the federal website, the disasterassistance.gov, or going and sitting down with a representative at the Disaster Assistance Center, again, at Golden Gate. And, again, that's some of the information that you'll need when you apply. We want to remind -- again, we're a little concerned. We still see a trend of the public not returning the phone calls necessary for the FEMA inspectors to make the residential inspection to help them with other programs. So, again, we want to remind individuals it's very important that you go through the entire application process, that you may get an SBA package for a Small Business Administration for a residential loan. Continue to work with that process, return the calls of the inspectors; FEMA has provided a large number of inspectors to both Lee and Collier County, and they're making great progress. They're almost about 50 percent done with those inspections. That was about 60,000 inspections requested, and they're at the about 30,000 mark. So -- but in order for that process to be efficient, we want to remind the public to please make sure that you close the loop when these federal officials or FEMA officials/inspectors call. Real quick about debris removal -- and before I forgot, too, I October 24-25, 2017 Page 21 wanted to remind you that in terms of utility systems, all utility systems are back to pre-disaster conditions. So we're doing good there on water and sewer. If you have any questions, Dr. Yilmaz is here. Dan Rodriguez's team, again, phenomenal job with the debris removal. Certainly moving along. We all want it taken care of, but this is a massive, massive operation. I haven't seen anything this big since Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina that devastated 60-some counties. So this is an incredible operation. I think they're to be commended and understand and hope the public understands there's just a lot of debris. As of close of business on Sunday, 1.26 -- 1.25 million cubic yards of debris with 241 vehicles. And if you have kind of been out anywhere and just looked at the amount of truck traffic and the trucks that are moving, it's pretty impressive. Again, the debris -- the temporary debris processing sites, management sites: Wiggins Pass right now, they're doing call out. There's a large volume of debris there. Those trucks that would normally drop there have temporarily diverted until they get the quantity down on that pile that's been ground. The resource recovery park has grinding operations. Northeast Grinding, Everglades City, continuing to do the haul out. Immokalee debris management site remains open, and the Manatee Park still has operations going on. And Dan can give you the latest on that, but that's moving quite well. And that's quite an orchestra of operations if you've driven by one of those to see what's going on there and the volume of material. Just the citizen drop-off program continues to be in effect. The Immokalee transfer station, they're open six days a week; the Naples Airport; Carnestown, also open six days a week; and the Santa Barbara site. Remember, again, we want -- I know folks are anxious to get October 24-25, 2017 Page 22 their debris moving, but there is that sorting process that remains important. I want to make sure that folks are not commingling construction and demolition and appliances with vegetative debris. We want to keep that separate. The debris goes in the county's right-of-way. The horticultural debris, as I mentioned, must be separated. Horticultural waste must be in piles and not contained in plastic bags, again, because of part of the recycling effort that goes with the horticultural waste. And conforming piles, up to 10, can be collected by Waste Management as part of our regular vegetative debris stream pre-disaster. Let's jump into temporary housing a little bit. As I mentioned last time, it is a phased process, and by no means has it moved as fast as I want it to move, but there has been some forward progress here. FEMA and the Corps of Engineers share that mission jointly. The information about the clients, the locations, the resources provided to them, that is privacy-protected information, so all I get is raw numbers in terms of metrics of their performance. Again, you have to participate in the disasterassistance.gov or the 800 number. In order to participate in temporary housing, you have to go into that portal, you have to be part of that process and go through it in its entirety. It is a phased approach in temporary housing, and I've mentioned before the part that FEMA does not like to do -- it's only a last resort -- are the RVs and mobile homes. They first evaluate the commercially available RV parks and mobile home parks for resources, and that resource, the spare pads, was, frankly, minimal, and we knew that would be the case. Seven to 11 pads, I think, was the last number that the Corps was able to negotiate, because those pads are reserved for our visitors that come in here shortly this time of year. So there's very little vacancy in the mobile home park or RV park. October 24-25, 2017 Page 23 The second phase is certainly that of a private property assessment. That takes place, again, to find out what can be repaired, whether that home is ultimately destroyed and can't be utilized. And you have a lot of scenarios there. Again, is this a renter? Is this a homeowner? Is this -- property have certain standard issues? So FEMA does a good job. They get in there, and I think they -- part of the reason that this moved slowly is it is important to do it right and do it right the first time. If a mobile home is lost, the value of that mobile home must exceed $16,800, a verified lost value to be eligible for replacement. Now, obviously, if they have insurance, the insurance is the first line of support. The second part of that is that FEMA's not going to invest back in unless that mobile home had certain values. There is elevation requirements if FEMA engages in a mobile home replacement somewhere between 42 and 58 inches, depending on the manufacturer's standard, or a base flood elevation waiver. The occupancy when FEMA provides a mobile home unit, they authorize that mobile home to be used for six months or more, meaning that if you're going to need a residence between zero and six months, a travel trailer is probably sufficient but, as we know, a travel trailer is a tough way to go for a long period of time. It is certainly a temporary relief, but it is a big quality-of-life issue if you're there for the long-term. Travel trailers are going into the floodplain areas. There are one or two zones where, basically, I would say if it's a marsh, the trailer's not going in there. But if it's dry, FEMA is putting the trailer in there. And we continue to get those calls, and we try to alleviate those rumors. But if they become eligible for that travel trailer and as long as that ground is dry at the present time and the hookups can be done safely -- you have to remember that FEMA becomes a landlord at this point. So that means that they want to make sure that the electrical October 24-25, 2017 Page 24 hookup to that travel trailer is done safely, the potable stormwater is done safely, the sewer system is done correctly, the propane hot water heater in those RVs is operating correctly. So there is more than just dropping the trailer. FEMA become the landlord, the resident becomes the occupant or the tenant, and that has to be done properly and safely. And they are very cautious and want to make sure that that goes safely. There's a little good news that occurred over the weekend, and that is that -- and this is the first time that FEMA has done this. FEMA has approved a 200 percent increase in direct rental assistance over the HUD fair market rental for apartment units. So what that means is that before, when FEMA had direct housing assistance where FEMA could go and find a residential structure to be rented, they were limited to the HUD fair market rate. They went in, did the analysis, and for Collier, Lee, and Monroe County, authorized up to a 200 percent increase in that fair market rental. So what that will allow is for FEMA to engage more families in apartment rental. Now, I don't have great visibility on how many resources are available for that. Probably the biggest gain for that will be Bonita, I suspect, in the Fort Myers area. But for the first time it allows FEMA the opportunity to have some negotiation power on rental units based on this market and the market conditions. It certainly makes for a better quality of life for a family to get to an apartment as opposed to a travel trailer or a mobile home unit. FEMA will rent or -- basically rent an entire block of apartments, if necessary, and then FEMA manages all the tenancy. So it speeds the process. There's not credit checks. There's -- none of those things are done. FEMA basically sublets the entire complex or a unit or block of units and then puts its disaster survivors in there. Depending upon the qualifications, up to $2,400 a month will October 24-25, 2017 Page 25 now be in FEMA's buying power for apartment units, which is quite good. As it stands right now, the tenancy that FEMA will offer will be up to or on or about March 10th of 2019. So that gives families two years, basically, to get settled and get assistance squared away. That's pretty good. There are -- if there are some extenuating circumstance, the federal coordinating officer on a case-by-case basis can extend that. And, again, they're going to continue with the travel trailer activity where appropriate but certainly, as a quality-of-life issue, they're going to work the apartment market, and now they have the ability to pay competitive rental rates. The housing numbers are starting to improve. The last time we reported I believe we only had 26 families settled, or about to be settled. Now that's 77 that are approved for additional housing units. Again, this can be a combination of mobile home, travel trailer, and now the apartment renting or the direct rental as we've referred to it. So these numbers are improving. Again, I have said many times I want this to move faster, but at least we are seeing some forward movement there. And, again, there is a lot of paperwork involved in getting these families resettled. We'll come back for any questions, but let me turn it over -- yes, ma'am. Go ahead. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, okay. Just a quick -- it's kind of like just stepping around what you just said a little bit. But I know we have a bunch of people here that are removing all of the debris. Does FEMA pay to house them in motels or whatever they're doing? MR. SUMMERS: The debris removal contractors, no, ma'am, they do not pay them to do that. They're a contracted source of labor. They're responsible -- they are used to traveling. A lot of these organizations travel around the country. I don't want to say chase the disaster, but are part of the debris removal process. October 24-25, 2017 Page 26 So, no, there's not housing for them. Some of them -- some will stay in local hotels, and the dust has kind of settled on the availability of those hotels. Some of these truck trailer haulers also bring an RV with them as well. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh. Okay, fine. The last question was -- MR. SUMMERS: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- at the Naples Estates -- that's just the one that I know. That's that mobile home -- MR. SUMMERS: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- where it was almost obliterated. Are they able to take these travel trailers that they've brought in, and on those pads that, you know, there isn't a mobile home sitting there anymore, are they able to use those things? MR. SUMMERS: It's up to the park operator, and we have found only a few park operators that were interested in doing this. They had very few. And I think a lot of those, just because they had -- the pad may still be leased, but the trailer's just not there -- is not there, so -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you. MR. SUMMERS: -- could be one of those scenarios. Jamie? MR. FRENCH: Good morning, Commissioners. For the record, Jamie French, your deputy department head for Growth Management Department. Commissioner Fiala, just real quick, at the last meeting the Board unanimously passed a consent item that would allow a travel trailer that was tied back to a primary structure, whether it was a mobile home -- and it clearly states that -- to have a recreational vehicle, and recreational vehicles are defined within our LDC as those that would be road-ready travel trailer, one that may be self-propelled, may have a motor. But in those cases, yes, ma'am. October 24-25, 2017 Page 27 And we are working that. We're tying back every one of those travel trailers, or we will be, and it's a permit, so to speak, but there's no charge. It's only for tracking purposes, because what this board did is that they want to know where they are every six months, and that's right in line with FEMA, because they do revisit those travel trailers to make sure there is a need every six months. As Dan said, there is a case management. We are working very close with them. Commissioners, my reason for being here is primarily just to give you a little visibility. So a few days after the event, maybe a few weeks, we received a call from FEMA as well as from our state emergency management office, their floodplain coordinator, and they said, hey, we're in town, would you like some technical assistance, which indicates to us that because we are an NFIP community is, well, we've got work to do. And so -- and what that means is that -- so all of those structures that are right out of the FEMA P758 manual, what it talks about is those structures that went through substantial damage that are now going to require substantial improvements, to include mobile homes, that are in a flood-prone area that may have been or may currently be under the base flood elevation that is currently required by both federal and State of Florida requirements for the building code. What that means is that we go in and we look at both the pre-storm condition of the unit, and that includes flooring, that includes cabinetry, that would include rebuilding or rehabitating that structure. And if that exceeds 50 percent of the value of that structure, what happens is that a new requirement comes to light, and that means they have to elevate the structure. The good news is is this is going to primarily affect mobile homes. And within your flood insurance policy -- so if you have a federally backed mortgage, you would be required and you are under the base flood elevation, you would be required to carry flood October 24-25, 2017 Page 28 insurance. So your flood insurance policy allows for the structure to be covered up to $250,000, and that's backed by FEMA. If the structure's only worth $125,000, there's a provision in there which FEMA will allow for up to $30,000 to be over and above the value of the structure to be put forward towards code compliance or to make sure the structure is elevated. This, of course, would be a challenge with some of our brick and mortar structures. Bad news is is that they do exist in Collier County. We don't have a total number yet, but we do believe it's going to be in the teens. We don't think it's going to be more than 20, but we know that there's some homes out there that were inundated very badly, primarily Chokoloskee, Plantation Island, Goodland, where, most likely, these structures are going to exceed -- the repair would exceed 50 percent of the value, so that means the entire structure is going to have to be elevated. And about the best example I can think of is when the coast of New Jersey went through Hurricane Sandy and many of those structures were impacted, and they can't be rebuilt because -- one, because now they're in a coastal construction line. That's not the case here, but it could be that they had to be elevated so high that the costs were just unbearable. So we're working with those. We're probably about 30 to 45 days out from sending these residents a letter, but we are out in the community. Just to give you some ideas, this talks a little bit about what we're doing with partnering with FEMA. We are out in the community. We've been out there since last week. We actually trained in Everglades City. We're back out in Plantation and Chokoloskee today. We're primarily looking at those assessments within your VE and AE. Those are your coastal areas that would be subject to wave action or October 24-25, 2017 Page 29 tidal action. Your AH and A zones are primarily ponding where water is collecting from sheet flow from rain. And then here's our inspection process, just to give you a little idea of what we've seen out there. This is a picture of, actually, Goodland where a mobile home -- where if you were to look at that address on Google Earth or on the private -- or on the Property Appraiser, that home stood, it was fine, but now when you go back, it's completely gone. They both took the wind and they took water. So in this particular case this would be 100 percent damage, destroyed structure, so this home would need to be rebuilt. It could not be rebuilt. It would have to be to current code. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. What home? There's nothing there. There's nothing there. MR. FRENCH: Oh, I'm sorry. I had the latest update. I can -- I'll be happy to -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, no. I know what happened, but I'm just saying that it's unbelievable. COMMISSIONER FIALA: You said this home couldn't be rebuilt. There's nothing there to rebuild. MR. FRENCH: And I apologize. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: There's nothing there. MR. FRENCH: There's nothing there, and I apologize, and we've got a -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, no. That's not the reason. It's just -- it's extraordinary, the damage. MR. FRENCH: Yes, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Extraordinary. MR. FRENCH: So we are out in the community, and these homeowners have been exceptional. They've been quite lovely, actually, because they are -- they are seeking help from both the state and from FEMA, and many of those to include Chokoloskee, October 24-25, 2017 Page 30 Everglades City. And the conversations we've had with the good people in Plantation, they certainly want to have their homes elevated so that in the event of another flood they don't want to have to go through this again, no doubt. This is our numbers as of 10/20, but I do have updated numbers since then. Currently we've inspected 513 as of yesterday; 513 residential structures; 61 nonresidential, which would be businesses, commercial-type structures; or they could very well be secondary structures attached to residential. So that gives us a total of we've evaluated 574. We have been working with our outside contractor, our emergency contractor, CDR Maguire. We do appreciate their help, as well as with Stantec. We're currently at 574. We anticipate being completed with Collier County by the end of this week. With that said, letters will be evaluated. All of that data is compiled by FEMA. It's provided back to the county. It is not a determination. That determination stays local. So what we look at is we are -- we're going to encourage those that may be using a Property Appraiser value for the valuation of their home on the value to go back and potentially get a private appraiser so that we get a real market value, and then what we're going to use for our cost of construction will be based directly out of the Florida Building Code. They're out of the International Code Council construction tables for values. What that will do, that gives you a national value versus a value of Collier County. Collier County is certainly probably about 30 to 40 percent above what the national value would be for your cost of construction with labor and materials. So -- and that's fine so long as FEMA's okay with it, and they have been, but at least it will give that person and the insurance company a real good snapshot of what they can be prepared to pay or what they can be prepared to assess that value at going October 24-25, 2017 Page 31 forward. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I have a question, Jamie -- MR. FRENCH: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- and that is, I've heard that something rather new out is some kind of a bungee cord that they can wrap around mobile homes, and it's just something that came out. And I don't know how many have used it. Is that an acceptable practice amongst mobile homes? I've heard that -- I don't know -- that it worked, but I don't know how many people actually have it. And they're supposed to, I guess, wrap all around it, but then you've got doublewides and everything. I don't know how they would do. MR. FRENCH: So mobile homes are regulated by the Department of Transportation. You can rebuild them. It does require -- in all cases it requires a licensed contractor. You cannot -- you can't represent yourself as an owner/builder like you could in a single-family home. So it requires a licensed contractor, and it would also require that an engineer recertify that mobile home to the DOT to make sure -- especially if there's any structural damage. So I'm not quite certain as far as what mitigation efforts are available, only because that's directly linked back to the DOT. Certainly something we can look into. COMMISSIONER FIALA: It's just in regards to hurricanes or something. MR. FRENCH: For strapping down? COMMISSIONER FIALA: I guess it keeps it -- yeah, for strapping it down and keeping it more secure than allowing, you know, it to disintegrate. MR. FRENCH: A good majority of our mobile homes suffered because of -- the carports peeled off, wind got up underneath of the roof, and it just peeled the roof back. October 24-25, 2017 Page 32 I can testify you today -- to you today that most of our Class 3 product that's out there for Wind Zone 3 did very well. We saw very little, if any, failure whatsoever with the mobile homes that were Class 3, which are required by the most current building code. So all the new mobile homes that would come in would be Class 3. COMMISSIONER FIALA: But you never heard of those bungee cords, did you? MR. FRENCH: No, ma'am, I never have. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Bungee cord. So stretch out and -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: I have no idea. I just heard about it. I don't know. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I have a -- can I say one thing? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Sure, sure. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Because I wanted to make a point of bringing up great stories from the hurricane, since it's hard -- you know, there's been so much misery around it. But I would like to point out Jamie French's abilities during the hurricane. I mean, he was the all-purpose player, and it got to the point where every time I was at the EOC, I'd check in with -- it was where is Waldo. It's what is Jamie fixing today. I mean, from running a bulldozer to -- or fixing a bulldozer. What was it? Give us an idea of all the different things you actually did during the hurricane recovery, because it was amazing. MR. FRENCH: Well, on that, that was -- I think that was the fuel truck. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The fuel truck. MR. FRENCH: It lost its PTO. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. MR. FRENCH: So they needed a new drive shaft put in. October 24-25, 2017 Page 33 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. MR. FRENCH: The drive shaft was wedged in. And I put myself through college as a mechanic, so I happen to -- I always carry tools with me, so I'm like, okay, I'll go fix it. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. I walk in there one day, he's covered in grease. I said, well, Jamie, you're the deputy director. I mean, what's going on today? And, yeah, I fixed a drive shaft today. And one day it was operating a bulldozer or something, right? MR. FRENCH: A forklift. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: A forklift. MR. FRENCH: They needed somebody to operate a forklift, so I watched a You Tube video on the way to -- I'm kidding. My grandfather was a farmer, so I learned how to drive a lot of equipment. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well -- and I bring this up because it's just -- it's a great example of the staff coming together and doing just whatever needed to be done during the hurricane. So my hat's off to you, Jamie, because that was an amazing thing to see happen. MR. FRENCH: No problem. Thank you. MR. OCHS: We call him McGyver. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: McGyver, yeah. MR. SUMMERS: We are going to offer forklift rides as a -- immediate future. Anything else? That's all I have. Any other questions? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think that's it. I see Cormac -- Nick Kouloheras here, and we had a conversation in our office. I think it's very important to put that on the record, if you would, about what happened with Habitat for Humanity houses throughout the county. What kind of damage? Have you actually assessed it? MR. KOULOHERAS: Yes. Good morning, everyone, Nick Kouloheras, president of Habitat for Humanity. And before I answer your question, I would just like to echo the October 24-25, 2017 Page 34 thank yous I heard this morning. I will say, I've never personally lived through an experience like this, I hope to never live through one again, but the job that this commission has done and Leo and Nick and Jamie's mechanic skills just really, really appreciate as a resident here in Collier County. I can't thank you enough. And I know a lot of my friends and colleagues have the same feeling. So to answer your question, Commissioner, yes, I have personally visited 2,021 Habitat for Humanity homes in Collier County, and I'm very, very happy to say that I have not seen a single Habitat home that suffered any structural damage. And I am also very happy to say that as of today I am unaware of a single Habitat for Humanity family in Collier County that has been displaced by this storm. So don't get me wrong, there's some cosmetic staff, shingles, some siding, and we're putting together a work program right now with our volunteer corps and redirecting some internal funds to help those families out to get their situations settled as quickly as possible. But, yeah, you know, I looked at my own property after the storm went through, and I said, oh, boy, we've got some work to do, and then that week I traveled all around this county looking at all the different Habitat properties and many others as well, and I'm very, very happy to say that we're in good condition, so thank you very much. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Great news. So you are down in Everglades City right now; is that correct? What are you doing down there? MR. KOULOHERAS: Yes, yes. Well, you know, Habitat for Humanity has never had a presence in Everglades City before, but one of my journeys around the county after the storm was to head down to Everglades City and to look at their damage, and there's tremendous need, obviously, in Everglades City and Goodland and Immokalee and a number of other places throughout the county. So we've decided to reach out to the folks in Everglades City. We October 24-25, 2017 Page 35 reached out, actually, to Jim, the principal of the school, first, and we had our first public information meeting last Thursday where, from what I understand, I wasn't able to attend, but about 50 or 60 folks showed up. We also -- the county there was as well to help distribute SHIP applications for disaster recovery. So we're working at and seeing what's the best fit for Habitat. We want to be a long-term solution in Everglades City. We are redirecting some of our volunteers down to Everglades City to do the muck and gut work, if you will. But right now we're working with Everglades City and the residents to see where Habitat fits into their recovery efforts. You know, our standard model is to bulldoze destroyed homes and then rebuild those homes at the proper elevation, as we just discussed. So we're hoping to get in there. We just had a conversation with our board of directors this past Wednesday about efforts that we'd like to direct down there, and so Lisa and myself have to come back with another presentation to them to make sure we're all clear. But the conversation is ongoing. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So these are for the homes of the people who live there; is that correct? MR. KOULOHERAS: Correct. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're not bringing people in? This is to -- MR. KOULOHERAS: Correct. This is to assist the families that are in Everglades City currently, yep. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And if I may just to -- and it's an amazing effort. One of the things that we have to remember, a large part of what Habitat does for our community is provide financing, and that -- especially for folks that are already here that have suffered from this storm damage. There are mechanisms that -- they have a mission October 24-25, 2017 Page 36 statement. They have a directive of how and what they can and cannot do, but there are stipulations when funding comes their way. If there is a specificity with the designation of the funding, they can -- they can deviate from their normal mission statement, and they are an extremely good lender. They've got those capacities in place to be able to offer assistance to folks. I know Ms. Lisa and I spoke last week about some -- about some of the rebuilding effort and offering help to our folks in Everglades, Chokoloskee, and Plantation. So really good -- it's really good. MR. KOULOHERAS: Great. Well, thank you very much for your time. Have a good day. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. KOULOHERAS: Thank you. Item #6A PUBLIC PETITION REQUEST FROM MR. VICTOR VALDES REQUESTING THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SUPPORT AN INVESTIGATION INTO CONSUMER ISSUES INVOLVING REVERSE MORTGAGES – MOTION TO BRING FORWARD A RESOLUTION EXPRESSING SUPPORT REGARDING ISSUES INVOLVING REVERSE MORTGAGES AND PREPARE A LETTER FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, that moves us to Item 6A, public petitions. This is a public petition request from Mr. Victor Valdes requesting that the Board of County Commissioners support an investigation into consumer issues involving reverse mortgages. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Who's the vice chair? You're on now, running the show. Oh, she's back. Now you're off. October 24-25, 2017 Page 37 MR. VALDES: Good morning, Commissioners. He will help me with the English translation. He will read some part of my article, because you know I am not proficient in the English language, and I want that you listen with flavor in English. He is with me. He's my co-host in my TV show and part of the investigation. He will be on the other side or here? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. Would you like to use this other podium and then -- MR. AGUIRRE: Sure. MR. VALDES: Thank you. For the record, my name is Victor Valdes, forty years living in this Collier -- in this beautiful Collier County. I am here as the president of the Valdes Civil and Human Rights Foundation, and representing the organization like Class Hispana (phonetic), Multicultural Alliance. Well, you can start. MR. AGUIRRE: Hello. Good morning. My name is Felipe Aguirre. I'm a member of the Valdes Foundation. Okay. This is a petition to the honorable commissioners of Collier County. The undersigned and present citizens and residents of Collier County in Southwest Florida ask the Collier County Commissions for a resolution supporting an FBI investigation to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into fraud allegations and deceptive promises to persuade senior citizens to purchase the dirty product of reverse mortgage aimed at dispossession of the property, taking advantage in some cases of languages, in others of deficiencies in health. Even knowing English, there are so many pages of legal document that are not easy to understand, only for those with knowledge about the subject. It involves dozens of documents in English that make up the contract and that are generally signed without October 24-25, 2017 Page 38 even knowing what is being signed. Of this, they take advantage to create conditions to take away your property with deceptive offers and a siege of calls with wonderful offers that we call "bullying friendly." MR. VALDES: In this case, "bullying friendly" because they -- for the Office of the Reverse Mortgage, London, was for the months in the morning, night, every time, friendly, trying to sell you the product, the mortgage. MR. AGUIRRE: Of the commercial product sale called reverse mortgage, a real dream, to be true, according to the sales offers. We have three exhibits and allows us to explain them, and then with those deceptions, wake up to a horrible nightmare. Honorable Commissioners, we do not want you to take a side in this situation. MR. VALDES: We want to be clear that we aren't asking you to be put on our side. What we want is that you have a concern with this situation and ask for some investigation, not taking sides with us. It's clear. MR. AGUIRRE: Which we ask that, as top leaders of our area, as you are, we ask you not to be untouched by the pain, the robbery to the illegal and illegal eviction of the most unprotected of our community, the elderly people. We ask on behalf of these elders not to be unaware of this pain in the face of fraud and injustice of many in this situation of the wonderful reverse mortgage. We only ask for support for an investigation. We will help demonstrate it. MR. VALDES: We insist, not take part in our side. Only be concerned for acts on the investigation, and we will do the other side, to prove the evidence. MR. AGUIRRE: Honorable Commissioners, please do not abandon our elders. Note, among thousand of articles found on the October 24-25, 2017 Page 39 Internet, writings and videos talking about reverse mortgage and its irregularities, we have chosen for your knowledge. Thank you. MR. VALDES: I have a few more minutes. I want to give you one of these documents for you and one of the record for the administration. If somebody can help me, please. Give it you, Mr. Leo. Okay. We have three exhibits. I can put in your tables dozens of evidence in my own cases, because I am in this situation. I love it when they offer to me $75,000 plus 1,200 a month every month for the next 10 years. We have in Exhibit No. 2 a letter from the manager of the peoples saying that he do this with the last customer; give it to him $80,000 plus $1,200 a month for life or for 10 years. Was wonderful. And I felt -- now they try to take my home because they said that I owe $10,000 for taxes and -- for two years and insurance. But I suppose that I will pay with the $1,200 a month those taxes and other minor expenses, but they never give it to me, the 1,200, in four years. They give me $75 (sic) a time, and the other promise, never. Also in the package of the contract, close to 85 pages of English -- legal size and legal documents in English, they give me this, the Exhibit No. 1. They promised they never will take my property. Your home can never be foreclosure or taken from you. According to federal law, this is a promise, and this is a farce. They articles with the HUD said, you cannot sell with false promise, document -- or in document. I have the document from the banker that said that they never take me my property, that the remaining equity is mine. They are trying to take for $10,000 my home that has $100 -- no, $180,000 equity for $10,000. Why they don't take the $10,000 from my equity? This happened to thousand of elderly people. If you go to -- the October 24-25, 2017 Page 40 number that is -- contact with the Internet, you can find around United States thousands of people. You can enter in Google "reverse mortgage complaint," (indicating), you will see thousands of people crying because loss with a fraud, people at the very end of this life, taking away his home, his unique property with fraud. I repeat, I can put over your table dozens of documents that I am using now in court and I am using in the investigation that we expect that you help us to have. To finish, we need that you have a concern and move this petition and, yes, thank you very much. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Are there any questions? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, I was just going to say that, you know, I spoke with Mr. Valdes about the petition, and the petition, as a general support for investigations that are ongoing is something, you know, that -- there are apparently, if the Internet is real news. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's got to be true if it's -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right, it's got to be true. No, there are investigations ongoing with -- like in anything, there's probably bad players in the reverse mortgage industry, not that all reverse mortgages are an evil thing. So what I had discussed with Mr. Valdes was that if this is a concern for the senior citizens in Collier County, it's something that, you know, that -- the investigation is something we should support. Mr. Valdes has his own personal issue, and I don't think we can be involved in that. But, certainly, I think we should be supportive of if there's -- and what that means is just -- expressing our support for ongoing investigations into reverse mortgage issues, I think, is something we should support. I'm hesitant and wouldn't want to get involved into asking for investigation into his particular situation, because that's not our role. October 24-25, 2017 Page 41 But as a general proposition, I think it would be a good thing to have, and I'd be willing to bring forward just a resolution, you know, that says something general like that for Mr. Valdes; I would be willing to do that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I've done a little bit of reading about the reverse mortgages, and there are some investigations going on. There's been a lot of fraud in that arena. As Commissioner Solis indicated, not all reverse mortgage lenders are committing fraud and doing the wrong thing, but some are, and that's probably true of any -- I hate to say it, but it's probably true of any mortgage business. I don't have any issue with the Commission indicating its support of and investigation by the appropriate authorities. I don't think the appropriate authorities are going to pay any attention to it, quite frankly, but it certainly can't do any harm. So I would -- if you draft up something, I would be happy to take a look at it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Is there a way that we can somehow assist in just some kind of a pamphlet or something to tell people what happens with the reverse mortgage? Maybe they don't understand that they could lose their house or -- you know, it sounds like such a good deal, right? It's too good -- if it sounds too good, it probably is bad. But, anyway, maybe we could assist somehow with -- I don't know how. I mean, I would love to do something, because it seems that they prey on the most vulnerable. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: You know what might be -- I'm sorry to interrupt. COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, that's it. That's it. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was just going along with October 24-25, 2017 Page 42 what you said. I don't think the County Commission should get involved in that, quite frankly. I don't think we have the staff or capability to determine what's fraudulent and what's not in that type of an arena, but we can ask the Attorney General's Office for the state to do that. They have that authority, and we could certainly, perhaps as part of your suggestion in terms of resolution, add to that that we request that the Attorney General take a look at the industry, because that is their mission is -- when there's fraud perpetrated on consumers, the Attorney General is involved in that. But I don't think the County Commission or our staff should be involved in that. COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's an excellent idea. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Madam -- just as a point on that, maybe -- and it might be something we can do as we're moving through. We're going to have a lot of discussions in our housing plan. It might be something that our Housing Department, as it is going through providing information with different assistance programs and the like, can also -- can also offer some advice or some information with regard to reverse mortgages. Because our Housing Department does get a lot of inquiries. We have a website, and we can certainly refer off. And I, as well, Commissioner Solis, I met with Mr. Valdes, and I would be happy to support your resolution, so... COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I think there are a lot of links, and there's a lot of information on the Internet about, you know, what they are and what you need to be careful with, so maybe we can just provide links and things in some way. But I'll bring that forward at the next meeting. MR. VALDES: Okay. Next meeting? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: At the next meeting. I'll prepare a resolution for the Board to consider supporting investigations into reverse mortgage. October 24-25, 2017 Page 43 MR. VALDES: Okay. Give me one minute more. I am here because too many elderly people don't have to show -- don't have the ability to be here in front of you or in front of the senator or congressman that they are supporting me to take some action. I need your help in some way that you can do, please. I come back next time. Thank you very much for your time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're welcome. MR. VALDES: Thank you. Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So what I'm understanding is we'll draft a letter to the Attorney General and attach the resolution to it, assuming that we pass it at our next meeting, right? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So there will be a letter going to the Attorney General to that effect. MR. VALDES: Thank you. But we need to come back next meeting? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: If you like us, you can, but other than that, you can watch us on the television. I have a feeling that -- let's have a motion that we agree to do this. Do I hear a motion that we -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll make a motion to bring forward a resolution in support of the investigation -- ongoing investigations into reverse mortgage fraud and that the Chair forward that with a request to the Attorney General to look into reverse mortgage fraud. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. I'll second that. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. October 24-25, 2017 Page 44 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously, sir. MR. VALDES: Thank you very much. Item #11F RECOMMENDATION TO CONSIDER THE PRIORITIES AND PROPOSED ACTIVITIES OF A SENIOR ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AND DETERMINE IF THERE IS JUSTIFICATION TO MOVE FORWARD AND ESTABLISH AN AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR THE TRIAL PERIOD OF ONE YEAR TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE SENIOR NEEDS IN COLLIER COUNTY – MOTION TO APPROVE STAFF’S RECOMMENDATION – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Madam Chairman, you have a 10 a.m. time-certain, and that is Item 11F. This is a recommendation to consider the priorities and proposed activities of a senior advisory committee. Mr. Willig will present. MR. WILLIG: Yes. Good morning, Commissioners. For the record, Geoff Willig, operations analyst in the County Manager's Office. After the September 26th meeting, I met with Mr. Hartman and had several phone and also some emails with him to discuss the proposed advisory board. I believe that we've developed a pretty good mission and vision and some goals for this group to -- for them to work on. And I've attached that in association with your agenda item. From what I've learned from Mr. Hartman and in our discussions, October 24-25, 2017 Page 45 I believe that for the trial period of one year and to do a SWOT analysis to see where they could go and what they could do, it makes sense, if it's the Board's desire, to try for a year to see what this group can produce. So if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. Commissioner Solis? Oh, I'm sorry. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, that's okay. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll go second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd like to make a motion that we approve staff's recommendation, and then I would -- after we move to discussion, I have a couple of points. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll second the motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Motion on the floor and a second. All right. Let's have some discussion. Commissioner Fiala or Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I just had two notes, and I'd like to suggest -- I've reviewed it. I like it. I like pilot programs. I think those are nice things for us to do when we're moving into new territory. It gives us an opportunity to explore. There's -- you know, so I like the theory of the pilot program as you well know. In review of the tasks and duties of this committee, I would also like to suggest that this committee look at other government senior programs that are available and nongovernment organization senior programs. There are several senior programs that are available that are not operated by the government, and I would like for them to be looking at those as part of their purview. MR. WILLIG: Okay. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Like, for instance? October 24-25, 2017 Page 46 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I forget the name, the really cool one up in North Naples behind -- off of Castello, they have -- I've been there. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's in the city. The Jewish Federation. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Senior center. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There you go, the senior center. It's an amazing facility. But, again, a lot of folks -- and if for any -- nothing else -- and when I say review or look or explore, it's informational purposes. A lot of people don't even know that facility exists and what they, in fact, do and provide with services, and there are several of those entities throughout our community. So that was -- when I was reviewing the purview of the committee, I would like for that to -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: To identify senior centers throughout the county? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You know, that's far better wording, Madam Chair, rather than review. "Review" is kind of critical. But to identify is a good -- is what I was looking for, yes, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, actually, I'm just happy with the motion. I'm glad you made it. I'm happy that I seconded it, and I would like to see it move forward. So I was going to go into a little bit more, but no need. He said it all. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Actually, I think Commissioner Saunders was -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, I think you -- but that's okay. We will. October 24-25, 2017 Page 47 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Either way. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Very cordial. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll be quick. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We can rock, paper, scissors again. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: We messed that up last time, didn't we? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You've got to add Lizard Spock to that, too. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. I was just going to say that I think it's a good idea. Again, I don't know why the group wouldn't -- wants to saddle itself with being an official governmental advisory board and saddle itself with the rules related to meetings. I just think it's going to make it that much more difficult to do what it wants to do, but I'll certainly support it. I think there are already some organizations out there that could -- and even GNL or one of the other groups that could advise us, just like the Chamber advises us, comes and gives us advice on the business community, and the Conservancy advises us on conservation matters. I'm supportive of it. I think it's a great idea. I just wish it would do it on its own, but I'll support the motion. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, the only thing I was going to add is that I think the advisory committee is a great idea. I have no issues with creating it, but I'd like for them to tell us areas that they want to investigate as well, as opposed to us just dictating everything. You take a look at the focus, as an example, emergency preparedness, building standards, housing affordability, recreation, public transportation. Each one of those issues could consume an advisory committee for a year. And so instead of saddling them with here's what we want you to do, let them get organized, let them October 24-25, 2017 Page 48 develop what they think is important from the senior's perspective, and then we can work with them in dealing with that. I think Commissioner McDaniel had a great idea in terms of an area of focus, but I'd like to hear from them as opposed to us dictating everything to them. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do we need to adjust the motion to pull the specificities out of the suggestion or just let it -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't know that you need to change the motion; I don't think you do. But I think, just as a commission, if we'll just say to them, you know, we want you to go out and tell us what's important. As well as us giving you areas to look in, you tell us where you need to look at. I think as long as they know that, that's all that's important. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Designating it as a pilot program allows for -- perception-wise it allows for a lot of latitude as a pilot program for that, so... MR. WILLIG: Commissioners, the County Manager advised me to remind you that the next steps are to have the County Attorney draft up the resolution or ordinance or whatever it might be, and then we'd bring that back and then solicit for membership. MR. KLATZKOW: It will be a resolution, so there's no need to advertise. You'll have it on your next meeting. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And then -- and I think it's a great idea, but I agree with my colleague, Commissioner Solis. Be careful what you ask for, because there's ways of doing this without becoming a formal committee and without having to bear the burden of the Sunshine Law and records retention, so just know that. But we welcome your input. We welcome what you want to contribute, and we look forward to this. We heard something this morning about seniors and their vulnerability, and that might be something that you want to maybe tackle and come back with. So October 24-25, 2017 Page 49 thank you very much. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Were there any speakers? MR. MILLER: Yes, Madam Chair, we have one registered speaker; Doug Hartman. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Going to talk us out of it? That's your line. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We haven't voted yet, so... MR. HARTMAN: Which way? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Either one. MR. HARTMAN: Good morning, Madam Chair. My name's Doug Hartman. I'm a resident of Lely and of the county and also the leader of the group proposing the creation of this committee. We -- I want to say only three brief things. One, we have worked out an agreement with Mr. Willig, and that agreement is reflected in the memo, and we support the structure as proposed there. We do have two concerns. One has already been raised by Commissioner Saunders is that this is a two-way street. We see the value of this committee as being a conduit but a conduit up from the people as well as a conduit of -- in which the Commission would direct us to look at specific areas in which they have concerns. I do, secondly, want to point out that to make this committee effective, it must have people that have a passion and time to dedicate to what we want to do. And so it kind of leans exclusively towards having retired seniors, and the proposal is over the age of 62, which we agree with. The third thing I want to note is that Hercules would have been cowed by the list of activities that are listed for us to do. This is equivalent to the labors of Hercules, and we really think that the wording in that document, the memo, would conclude possibly that we get a report card at the end of one year, and there will be seven items on that as to whether we've accomplished them or not, and it is way October 24-25, 2017 Page 50 beyond even the ability of Hercules to do it all. I do think that we should take on an evaluation of the Schultz (phonetic) needs study, which will be coming out in completed form approximately January, about the same time this committee can anticipate being organized and ready to go forward and possibly get into one more area of analysis during that 12-month period. Conducting seven different major analyses is beyond the ability of that group. And I don't think that just getting into a shallow opinion is of any value to you. We want to do something substantive using the skills and knowledge of our members. I do want to point out it was noted that we talk about things such as senior centers. That was clearly on our list, but it would be more in the nature of the fact we now have two senior centers. We're going to grow to 500,000 people in the next 15 to 20 years, and we're going to need more senior centers. So one of the great points of analysis that needs to be addressed is how many, where, and how do the seniors get to those centers. I mean, there's a whole package of issues there which are part of the growth plan, part of the senior issues plans, and those are the areas we think we would have the expertise to address. I would be glad to answer any questions you may have. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That was from before? Okay. Commissioner Solis? MR. KLATZKOW: Madam Chair, is there a will on the board for a certain number of people on this board: Three, five, seven, 12? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I thought -- the proposal, wasn't it for there to be one from each district and then four at large? MR. HARTMAN: That's correct. The memo that you have from the staff -- October 24-25, 2017 Page 51 COMMISSIONER FIALA: Good memory. MR. HARTMAN: -- and what our agreement has been reached -- because we originally wanted a larger committee -- was that the committee would be composed of nine members, one selected from each district by a commissioner, and four at large from the county. MR. KLATZKOW: And that's the will of the Board? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And so did I hear you say that you don't want to be an official committee but you're -- MR. HARTMAN: We do want to be an official committee. We've wrestled with this. We're very familiar with the restrictions that the Sunshine Law imposes on a committee of this type. So what we see as a feasible way to go forward is that this committee would be created and would become just that, a conduit between those organizations, both non-profit and for profit and civic, throughout the county that would address various aspects of the issues for seniors and, at the same time, we would continue to examine the possibility within, let's say, GNL or in conjunction between GNL, CFCC, the Community Foundation and others, to form a citizens ad hoc committee that might be a group that could work on some of these materials outside of the Sunshine requirements, and then feed their results in to a member of the official committee, as is done currently with the other committees. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All right. Good. Yes, Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I just -- I wanted to assure you, you are going to get a report card at the end of a year. MR. HARTMAN: We're aware of that, Mr. Commissioner, and that's why I was concerned about the labors of Hercules here. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: But I wanted you to know that October 24-25, 2017 Page 52 -- to fear not for your grade. If the efforts of this pilot program are offering assistance and information to one person, one person who benefits, we win. So thank you. MR. HARTMAN: Thank you, Mr. Commissioner. Any other questions from me? (No response.) MR. HARTMAN: I'd like to thank the Commission for taking this under consideration, and we await the vote after you get the final documents. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So there's a motion on the floor and a second to direct the County Attorney to create a resolution and to bring it back with a nine-member board as stipulated in the executive summary. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, it's time for our morning break. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It certainly is. One minute late, but we almost were there. MR. OCHS: Ten minutes, ma'am? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Ten minutes, sir. MR. OCHS: Thank you. (A brief recess was had.) October 24-25, 2017 Page 53 MR. OCHS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd please take your seats. Madam Chair, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. I think we're at public comment; is that correct, sir? Item #7 PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. Public comments on general topics not on the current or future agenda. MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, we have one registered speaker for this item, H. Michael Mogil. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Very good. MR. MOGIL: Good morning, everybody. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Welcome back. MR. MOGIL: I want to talk water. We've been dealing with a lot of it, and we had some more this morning, which ponded on the streets. I'm a meteorologist. I've lived here about a decade. I moved in a few months before Wilma, so I experienced Wilma and Irma. Concern about the sewer pumping issues and the emergency generators; I'll talk about that in a minute. But I also attended the sea level rise meeting last week and realized that there's two separate flooding issues in Collier County. One is the coastal issue, and the second one is the inland or the community lakes or roads or whatever we want to call it. The premise behind the inland flooding issue is that concrete and asphalt do not absorb water. That's my first law of physics. And we October 24-25, 2017 Page 54 have way too much concrete and asphalt here. In fact, I know there's moves afoot to discuss a water management or similar type of utility issue. And I heard the figure 35 percent impervious surface thrown around somewhere, I don't remember where, for what would be allowed on a single-family home at a community. So I went back to my experience in North Carolina. I built a house in North Carolina. And the code there was 30 percent impervious surface unless you build rain gardens or retention ponds or something that took care of the first four inches of rainfall, and then you can have up to a 45 percent impervious footprint. I will send you all the link to the 526-page document from Currituck County, North Carolina, with specific links to where you need to go to see these percentages. I've already skimmed the document. I don't need for you to have to do that either. But they do have very specific requirements, and there are very concerned about water ponding. They are -- it's a great learning experience. There's other coastal communities that have similar stuff. I think that we should try to go to those places and get their expertise because they've had these plans in place 20-plus years. When I say that we're building too much asphalt and concrete, I bring you to the Naples Daily News a few days ago. On Pages 18R and 19R in the real estate section -- I'll just hold it up to show you -- there are a total of 30 communities being advertised in Lee County and 67 in Collier County. This is new-home communities. If we don't change the impervious surface footprint that we're putting on Collier County, it doesn't matter what we do to the utility district, we will never, ever catch up. We'll be playing catch-up forever. And I say this real quickly, at the Climate Change Summit, the ex-mayor of Miami Beach talked about he came into office, and the utility tax was 3 percent or $3, I forget what the numbers were. It's October 24-25, 2017 Page 55 now $23. And Miami's made some improvements, but you all know what Miami is. It's the asphalt jungle, concrete jungle. And they could raise it to $100, and they're not going to do what needs to be done to stop flooding in Miami. So I'm concerned about that issue in Collier County, and I just want to make sure that any efforts being done on the utility district talk about making serious, serious changes to what we are doing now so we get it under control. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Thank you. MR. OCHS: Okay. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Item #9A ORDINANCE 2017-42: AMENDING ORDINANCE NUMBER 95- 33, THE BRIARWOOD PUD, AS AMENDED, TO ADD 320 MULTI-FAMILY DWELLING UNITS IN TRACT B & C: MULTI- FAMILY RESIDENTIAL AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON TRACT B & C: COMMERCIAL COMMUNITY; TO ADD DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS FOR TRACT B & C MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL; TO ADD EXHIBIT A-1 TRACT B & C MASTER PLAN AND EXHIBIT A-2 ENHANCED TYPE D BUFFER FOR PROPERTY CONSISTING OF 209.17± ACRES; LOCATED ON THE EAST SIDE OF LIVINGSTON ROAD, NORTH OF RADIO ROAD, IN SECTION 31, TOWNSHIP 49 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA; AND BY PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (PL20170000007) – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, that takes us to Item 9A, advertised public hearings. This item requires all participants be sworn in and ex October 24-25, 2017 Page 56 parte disclosure be provided by commission members. This is a recommendation to approve an ordinance amending the Briarwood PUD to add 320 multifamily dwelling units in Tract B and C, multifamily residential as an alternative to commercial development on Tract B and C, commercial community, and to add development standards for Tract B and C, multifamily residential, to add Exhibit A, Tract B and C master plan, and Exhibit A2, enhanced Type D buffer, for a property consisting of 209.17 plus or minus acres located on the east side of Livingston Road, north of Radio Road. It would be appropriate for ex parte disclosure at this point. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You just mix it up all the time, don't you? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, I do. I have to keep you awake. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And that happens; thank you. I do have disclosure: Meetings, correspondence, emails, and phone calls. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel -- or Commissioner Fiala. I'm looking right at you and saying McDaniel. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I was going to answer. I didn't notice. I've received many, many emails from the community; I've spoken with members of the Planning Commission; I met with Rich Yovanovich, Brett Boyd, and Bob Mulhere; and I also have the staff report on that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I've met with Mr. Yovanovich, Mr. Boyd, and Mr. Mulhere; I received numerous emails from residents, and had a phone call, I believe, with Scott LaPorte. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I had meetings with the October 24-25, 2017 Page 57 developer -- representatives of the developer, some correspondence, and emails. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And I, too, echo many of these. I went to a NIM meeting with the developer and the developer's legal counsel, with the neighbors listening to what they thought about the project, and did not participate. I have had meetings, numerous meetings, correspondence, emails, calls. It's all in this packet. Thank you very much. MR. OCHS: Like to swear in the participants now? (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. OCHS: Mr. Mulhere? MR. MULHERE: Thank you. Thank you. For the record, my name is Bob Mulhere with the firm of Hole Montes here this morning representing my client, Brett Boyd, who's sitting right here. Also with me this morning, Rich Yovanovich, and Norm Trebilcock, who's our transportation engineer, and Jeremy Sterk, who is our ecologist on the project. I'll step over here. I'm sure you all know where the property is located. It's shown on the visualizer right now. On the left is the larger perspective, and then on the right is the Briarwood PUD highlighted. The subject property, the property that's the subject of this amendment, is right here, right on the corner of Radio and Livingston. And to put an aerial on the visualizer as well -- let's see. It's a little confusing because we used to go always the other way. This is a new visualizer, I guess. MR. OCHS: Yes, it is. You missed the lessons. MR. MULHERE: I missed the lessons, you're right. They told me I'm not allowed to touch much up here, just -- anyway, there is the subject property right here. There's a aerial. And this neighborhood right here of multifamily within Briarwood is called Dover Parc. October 24-25, 2017 Page 58 The Briarwood PUD is 209.17 acres in size, and it's mostly developed, already developed out, with the exception of this parcel. I'm sure you are familiar with this parcel that was the subject of a previous zoning action a few years ago. It is presently owned by Lowe's Corporation, and the PUD designates it for commercial uses, shopping center, big box store, those kinds of uses. We have proposed an amendment to construct 320 market rate rental units on the property. That would bring the density of Briarwood to 4.4 units per acre. We've had numerous meetings with the residents. My client has met one-on-one with many of the residents as well as representatives of the various associations as well as the master association, and we also had several meetings including the required and formal neighborhood information meeting. A lot of good questions at those meetings. A lot of very good participation. There were a few issues that sort of were raised that were repeated and that we felt the obligation, obviously, to deal with. The way the -- there are some -- I'm not sure if they're deed restrictions or covenants -- I suppose they're covenants -- that require any residential development that's part of that project to pay their fair share of operation and maintenance costs for the recreational facilities. Now, right now that's a commercial project -- parcel, and it wouldn't have any obligation. If this is approved, it will become a residential parcel and, therefore, we would have an obligation to pay fair share of those recreational operation and maintenance costs, and we've agreed to do that. There was a question about the stormwater. There is a master stormwater plan on this site and so, obviously, we've also agreed to pay our fair share of the operation and maintenance for the stormwater facilities. The folks that live -- I want to put a colorized site plan on. See if October 24-25, 2017 Page 59 I can get this right. The folks that live the closest to this project, right in here, had some request -- a specific request to us as it related to landscape buffers adjacent to their condominiums. And we agreed to address that, and we've attached an exhibit to the PUD that provides for what they requested, which is an open space area right here adjacent to their property line as well as their vegetation to allow for adequate area to maintain their vegetation, and then our buffer pushed back eight to 10 feet. There's a wall, and then some enhanced plantings within that buffer. So that's what was requested, and we did that and put this exhibit in the PUD so they would be assured that that would be taken care of. We also have one deviation, and that's to allow for the landscape buffer along Livingston and Radio to allow us to put all of our plantings within a 10-foot width. That's a 20-foot buffer, but there is a 10-foot-wide county slope easement, slope and right-of-way easement, I believe, or drainage easement. So because of pushing the buffers this way or the development this way to apply for -- to propose that buffer here for the neighbors, we were a little bit squeezed in space here and here. And that's been done before. And so we have an exhibit that shows that, and we have an enhanced landscape buffer there as well. And so you can see that we'll put our plantings within that 10-foot area, all of the plantings that's required, and this would be the 10-foot road or county slope easement. I want to show you just a couple of renderings of the proposed development. If you're familiar with -- and I'm sure you are -- the Orchid Run project, this will be very similar to that, very high quality, very well done. And here is another exhibit. Pretty much very similar to the one I just put on there. Nice architecture, very compatible. As I said, we had NIM, neighborhood information meeting -- acronyms again, I apologize -- on May 17th, 2017, and then we had several followup interactions with both individual residents and the October 24-25, 2017 Page 60 associations there after that neighborhood information meeting. The Planning Commission meeting was on August 17th. We did receive a recommendation of approval. We have a recommendation from staff for approval. This project is consistent with your Comprehensive Plan. It will provide for safe, convenient housing, rental housing, in a very good location in the urban area. And we would -- we're happy to answer any questions that you have. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Commissioner Fiala was first, Madam Chair. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Looks like a great project. This is something we've been looking for. I think all of us have been trying to encourage this type of housing, so it's great to see. MR. MULHERE: Thank you. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Secondly, do you have garages available for people who might want to rent them? MR. MULHERE: Yes, there are garages. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Thirdly, what amenities are you offering? MR. MULHERE: So let me put that -- there are -- some amenities in the units themselves. These will be very nice, because they do have to compete in the free market system, but I wanted to put this exhibit back on and show you -- so there is a -- the clubhouse is right here. There's two points of ingress and egress to the project; right in, right out, right in, right out. That's Radio; that's Livingston. This will be the main entrance. Those were already constructed. As you drive by, you will see those. They were constructed when Radio and Livingston were widened. They were paid for by the property owner. I don't know if that was Lowe's at the time or a October 24-25, 2017 Page 61 previous owner. But sometimes the county, if they're doing a roadway plan, will provide that opportunity for an owner to do that during the construction process, and that's what happened there. So this would be the main entrance. Right here is the clubhouse. That's about 10,000 square feet as we plan it, so it's a good-sized clubhouse. And this is a swimming pool, recreational facility right here, and then, of course, this lake we're putting in, it's not required to meet the stormwater capacity -- it will provide for more water retention and treatment -- but it's really put in as an amenity, more as an amenity. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you. MR. MULHERE: Yep. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just one quick question. And I was going to ask you to put this map back up. What type of access do the folks that are going to live in these apartments have to the balance of Briarwood? MR. MULHERE: That's a really good question. That's a really good question. I apologize; I should have addressed that. That was one of the -- also one of the major questions. If you look at this little roadway here -- it's called Skelly Road -- it's not fully improved, but it's compacted, and you see this little turnaround here. That's kind of not really located in the location where that actually is. That actually comes into, or right up to, the proposed project. There was a lot of concern about vehicular interaction from one community to the other, and, of course, nobody that lives in the balance of Briarwood really wants this traffic driving through their project. And in this case, because this already has two improved points of ingress and egress, there's really no reason for us to impact them in that way and, you know, I think staff agreed with that. So we have our own points of ingress and egress. There will be October 24-25, 2017 Page 62 no vehicular interconnection between the two projects. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you. No further questions. MR. MULHERE: I know that was a long answer. I could have done shorter with that. Sorry. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: You could have said no. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So now I have a couple of questions. There are a lot of recommendations/requirements by the CCPC. You've agreed to all of them? MR. MULHERE: Yes, we have. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So where are the garage doors on these? I mean, is this -- I assume if they weren't garage doors they'd just be carports, is that correct, before? MR. BOYD: For the record, Brett Boyd. I'm the applicant. All of the units are enclosed, which is one of the requirements of the CCPC. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. MR. BOYD: So there will be garage doors on all the units. They'll all be enclosed. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Prior to that it was just open parking? MR. BOYD: No. We had always intended them to be closed -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. MR. BOYD: -- but I think the commissioner -- the Planning Commission wanted to make sure that it was on the record. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Good. Yeah, I kind of wondered about that. MR. BOYD: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. And the eagle, we need to address that because we actually had a email about that this morning, so I think we need to -- I think there's only one -- personally, okay, to each of the commissioners, but I think there's only one there; is that October 24-25, 2017 Page 63 correct? MR. YOVANOVICH: There's -- for the record, Rich Yovanovich. For purposes of the eagle, there have been a couple of eagles in a tree. They haven't quite completed a nest. We don't know if it will ever be a nest. But there's a stipulation in your record that if it ever becomes a nest where the eagles are actually using it to produce more eagles, then we will be subject to the appropriate federal regulations and go through the federal process for obtaining approvals to construct the project and possibly have to go back to the Planning Commission to amend the master plan to actually show the eagles if it ever becomes a real nest. Right now there's eagle activity, but -- I can bring Jeremy up here right now, but there's no final indication that there's -- it's going to be an actual nest used for producing baby eagles. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay, very good. So I kind of said this before, so I'm going to deliver this again with this issue. But I am concerned about housing for essential service personnel, and I'd like to see if there's any movement on the part of the developer to include this in this. And in light of this, I've actually asked our County Attorney to craft something to see if you might agree with it, and I wanted to pass this out right now. COMMISSIONER FIALA: It's going to look like essential service. MR. YOVANOVICH: I've seen the language, and we could put it on the visualizer. But I could tell you that Mr. -- this is going to be a market-rate project, and Mr. Boyd would like nothing better than to have qualified teachers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, all the typical essential service personnel people living in that community. So, I mean, he's more than willing to make these units obviously available to October 24-25, 2017 Page 64 those types of individuals. And I think the language that Mr. Klatzkow proposed is that if you have two equally qualified people, one who is essential service personnel applying to move into a unit and one who's is not, we would choose the essential service personnel person first. Again, market rate -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Right. MR. YOVANOVICH: -- you know, teachers, you know, no issues with that -- with that type of language that Mr. Klatzkow's proposing. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Could I ask a legal question? Because I know there's certain federal guidelines in terms of discrimination and that sort of thing. Are we able to have this type of language in a zoning approval? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't think you can. MR. YOVANOVICH: I'm going to defer to -- MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. And we've done this in other PUDs. This is relatively common language for us. MR. YOVANOVICH: And more of the apartment complexes that have been coming forward, there's been kind of a tendency to try to -- that's one of primary markets, frankly, for apartment complexes is to deal with the young professionals that are coming to town or they live in town, and we don't see this as anything that's a hinderance to what we're kind of already doing anyway, and that's our market. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But it says here that you shall rent it. It doesn't say that you -- MR. YOVANOVICH: If they meet all of the -- if they meet the requirements, credit check, all the same things that -- since one of the people that's not essential are lawyers. So if a lawyer were to come through -- just about everything's essential but a few of us in this room. You know, as long as we all meet the same credit check, the October 24-25, 2017 Page 65 background check, everything they're going to do, if it's between me and a teacher, the teacher wins for -- if there's -- yes -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I mean, yeah, assuming they meet the qualifications. MR. YOVANOVICH: Right. All have to meet the same qualifications. There's no reducing of any of the qualifications. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No. MR. YOVANOVICH: It's just -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Especially if it's a land use lawyer. MR. YOVANOVICH: Especially -- we're definitely not essential. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So you are agreeing to this in terms of -- MR. YOVANOVICH: And, again, if someone were to question it and we are to find that we cannot implement this provision, we won't. I mean, if there's a challenge to that, I think the Commission's not trying to impose on us anything -- MR. KLATZKOW: Look -- and obviously, there are protected classes out there, and it's not the intent that the developer violate anything like that. So it's going to be a balancing act at the end of the day. But all things equal, the essential personnel will get the nod. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And so what kind of marketing are we going to do to the teachers and the community colleges and the educators and the police and fire? How are we going to let them know that, by gosh, you know, this is available. You need to qualify, but know that -- because the world is so busy out there. So many people are -- MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, I can assure you Mr. Boyd wants to rent up these units as quickly as he can, so he's going to get the word out to everybody and anybody, including the county, the school system, the different hospitals in town. He will -- I mean, he's going to October 24-25, 2017 Page 66 -- hopefully, I'm assuming. He's a smart man -- is going to let everybody know, I'm getting ready to, one, break ground, and then keep going with I'm getting ready to rent units, and he'll have that 7 outreach like other projects in town are making that outreach. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. BOYD: We'll have a property management company, and that will be part of status quo. Apartment comes up, immediately emails go out in an email blast, and it's setting up that email database first to the hospitals, the school system, et cetera. And once it's set up, that's easy. It's just, we get the word out. And it's -- like you said, it's a market-rate project, but we would love to have nothing more than emergency personnel. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Wonderful. Thank you. All right. Good. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It's a good idea. COMMISSIONER FIALA: So, as I said in the beginning, this is exactly the type of housing we're looking for, and so I make a motion to approve. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'll second that motion. All right. So do we have any speakers? MR. MILLER: We do not. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. So do you have anything else, Mr. Mulhere? MR. MULHERE: No. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You don't want to talk us out of it? MR. MULHERE: No, no, no. We're good. My response is "no." COMMISSIONER SOLIS: There you go. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. There's a motion on the floor and a second. Any other questions or discussions? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. October 24-25, 2017 Page 67 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. MR. MULHERE: Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well done. Well done. Item #11B RECOMMENDATION TO ALLOW THE DEVELOPER OF OAKES FARMS, “SEED TO TABLE” THE ABILITY TO EXPLORE A PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP WITH COLLIER COUNTY TO SUPPORT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH A JOINT USE PARKING LOT LEASE ON A VACANT COUNTY OWNED PARCEL, LOCATED ON THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF IMMOKALEE AND LIVINGSTON ROADS – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Commissioners, Item 11B is a recommendation to allow the developer of Oakes Farms Seed to Table the ability to explore a public/private partnership with Collier County to support economic development through a joint use parking lot lease on a vacant county-owned parcel located on the northwest corner of Immokalee and Livingston Roads. Mr. French, your deputy department head for your Growth October 24-25, 2017 Page 68 Management Department, will present. MR. FRENCH: Commissioners, I believe everything was in the executive summary. Again, Jamie French, for the record, deputy department head for Growth Management. I'm happy to answer any questions. Also, Commissioners, I have Mr. Oakes here if you'd like to ask any questions of him. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, first of all, this is a great idea. I mean, it's wonderful, and it's good that you're applying for employee parking, but there's a six-lane road there. I was -- now, this is going to sound maybe preposterous, but bear with me. Between Tin City and -- what is that across the street from Tin City? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Bayfront. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- Bayfront they have that underground walkway between the two so that people can walk safely. I was just wondering if that -- if you could ever do something like that rather than run across the six lanes. I think it would be more expensive, but it might just be a good idea. MR. OCHS: For the record. MR. OAKES: Yeah. For the record, Alfie Oakes. For the record, Alfie Oaks. So for future designs, we would love to do something like that. I thought about, you know, even something possibly overhead, if it ever -- you know, something to make it safer for sure. But I think we're talking into probably millions of dollars to get something like that done. We have -- the project has went considerably over budget from the original design which is, you know, I guess not a shocker. We're about a year behind. We originally were hopeful to -- we own that October 24-25, 2017 Page 69 Dunkin Donuts piece there. We're hopeful to buy out that lease, but it really didn't come to fruition. And because of the fact that the store is -- it is -- everything is from scratch there. So we're not really bringing in things from other commissaries like a Publix supermarket or something that would do. We just have a larger amount of employees per square foot than normal. So the reason that we needed the -- I think this parking lot would serve us better is just to accommodate the employees over there and allow more space for -- you know, for customers. The back of -- there's area for parking in the back of the store to some degree, but there's also the community there that we are a part of and -- which we've had several meetings with them, and they seem to mostly be on board with what we're doing there, but they don't want to see the traffic congestion. So we thought it might help a lot with that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, I think to Commissioner Fiala's question, as I recall there was a discussion about providing -- actually providing transportation from the parking lot to -- for the employees so that they're not running across the road. MR. OAKES: Absolutely. I thought maybe you had that information already. So we're planning on having a bus that we already own -- we bought it from the county, actually, at one of the auctions, but -- to bring the folks back and forth from the parking during the shift changes. So we planned on having, you know, several shifts there because of so much of the product being created fresh overnight with breads and things like that. So we're going to run that for every shift change to get the people safely across the road. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was a good point. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So on the support of economic October 24-25, 2017 Page 70 development and the county supporting local people who are developing and building, tell us what you're doing there in detail. Give us -- come on, this is the first public plug here. MR. OAKES: Yeah. So a lot of people ask that question, yeah. We're providing -- it's very -- you know, probably many of you have been to Food and Thought or Oakes Farms, and at Food and Thought we do a little bit more of the prepared foods there. So this is kind of a combination of the two. It's a lot of fresh. So when you go in there, we're going to be making fresh pasta. We have 40 different types of fresh pasta that we'll be making. We'll be churning fresh butter, making fresh mozzarella cheese. So it's just all about fresh. One of the cool things about this store is that we don't have a whole lot of center store. It's more -- kind of like the Oakes Farm's market where it's more about all the fresh things. We're growing 105 different commodities at our farm now, so those are items that we'll be selling in the store, of course. But the store is just a component of the grocery store and a place to go and eat, like Food and Thought, with good, fresh prepared healthy food. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We don't want you to close the store on Davis, though. Don't you dare do that. MR. OAKES: Oh, no. That's not going to happen. No, not at all. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Good one. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I will say that I was lucky enough to take a quick tour with Mr. Oakes a few months ago, and it is a one-of-a-kind thing. I certainly have never seen anything or heard anything like it. So it's going to be a real asset, I think, to the county. It's going to be a destination. So I just can't wait till it's open. MR. OAKES: Yeah. It looks like we're on track for November of '18. The hurricane beat us up pretty bad at the farm. I'm hoping that's not going to set us back. I've not been big on leveraging the October 24-25, 2017 Page 71 company really hard, but I might dig in a little bit to try to get this done. The storm kind of hit us at a tough time, but things are moving along. We've really never slowed down the project on our end for any money purposes or anything like that. And it seems like we're definitely in -- on line to get it done. We're going to start some of the interior finishing in the next couple weeks, start to begin that. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I'll just make one more comment, and then I'll be quiet. I just think that this is also a great idea or -- for using some land that is, essentially, just sitting there, to some extent is kind of an eyesore. I mean, this FP&L easement runs all the way up and down Livingston Road. I get any number of calls and emails about the intersection of Livingston and Vanderbilt Road for the same kind of condition, you know, that's used for staging by, I think, FP&L and other entities. So I think this is a great way and a very creative way of using property that's not really used for anything else and making the county look better. So I commend staff for working on this as well. This is a great idea. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Mc -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And on both those notes, with regard to the economic side and the making our community look better, how many employees are you going to have here? MR. OAKES: At the new store -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. MR. OAKES: -- we figure it's going to be somewhere between 3- and 400. Even at Food and Thought, it's a relatively small store there, and we have in excess of 100 employees there because of the same thing. There's so much that's just from scratch. You don't see the behind-the-scenes work that goes into that. Nothing comes out of a bag. Everything is, you know, from the -- you know, from scratch. October 24-25, 2017 Page 72 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, sir. And with that, I'll make a motion for approval. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. MR. FRENCH: Commissioners, if I could add just one thing. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. MR. FRENCH: This is what we provided here; it was not in your package, and I apologize. We are talking about a ride-share component potentially. That would alleviate some potential traffic issues as well as potential for CAT bus riders. What we're looking at here is just primarily the area of interest. As you can see identified within the dotted yellow line, the -- let's say the slashed orange area would be for another lift station, and this area here within the red box that's cut in two by that yellow dotted line, that would remain as preserve. So that way we fit it more so into that Livingston Road area so it does not have a direct impact on any of those neighbors within those communities. MR. KLATZKOW: And just so the Commission's aware from a timeline standpoint, this may require an amendment to the Comp Plan. And the sooner that that process gets started, the quicker we can get this wonderful project off the road. MR. FRENCH: Thank you. That's what I was going to say. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, that's great. And thank you for not moving to Lee County or another county. You're ours, and you've stayed here, and you're investing in here, and I think that speaks volumes. MR. OAKES: Yeah. We've been blessed to take care of -- actually, we take care of Lee County and Collier County School District, but we're able to do, I believe, over 40 field trips at a farm that we specifically designed for field trips, and we have probably, I think, even more than that lined up for this year. It's really, really good to October 24-25, 2017 Page 73 really educate the kids on healthy eating and get them out there and interacting with all the different things we have at the farm. And if you know anyone that would like to take a tour of that, it's a really neat property. We have chickens out there and the greenhouses, and we have the bees inside of glass where you can see the bees making honey and a treehouse, and we let the kids plant while they're out there and then send them pictures of what they grew. So it's a really neat -- it's a neat thing for the community. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: What you did for -- I think it was three years ago when I was first elected, and the farm to table -- not farm -- seed to table, but the Farm-City Barb -- you know, event, and the bins of fresh vegetables, it was just -- I took photographs of it. It's just incredible -- MR. OAKES: Well, thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- what you brought forward. Nothing was wilted; nothing was brown. Everything was just wonderful, and it speaks volumes of what you do in your operation. MR. OAKES: Well, thank you. We were happy to do that. That was a fun event and, for whatever reason, we haven't been invited back yet, but we'd love to do it again. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, this was a plug. I think we need to understand that farms are farms. Thank you. MR. OAKES: All righty. Thanks. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Make butter? Really? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Homemade butter. Yeah, no Amish butter anymore. Homemade? MR. OAKES: Oh, no. We're going to be churning the fresh butter. Really, there's a lot of different -- we have a bread station where we'll have the fresh bread coming out and fresh pastries. It's really -- it's just all about everything from scratch. The whole layout of it is just going to be -- it's going to be fun to October 24-25, 2017 Page 74 walk around there. And then there's the eating mezzanine up top where you can grab a bite. It's also going to be where you can -- if you want to sit down and have a drink, we have really the cutting-edge point-of-sale system. We'll have iPads at the table where you can do your shopping from the table while sitting there and have someone pull your order together. So there's some neat concepts involved with the store. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Wow. Thank you. All right. There's a motion on the floor and a second. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Who wouldn't want to approve that? Item #11C RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE THE COLLIER COUNTY PUBLIC GOLF COURSE FACILITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT STUDY PREPARED BY HUNDEN STRATEGIC PARTNERS AND DIRECT STAFF NOT TO PURSUE THE PURCHASE OR CREATION OF A PUBLICLY OPERATED GOLF COURSE AT THIS TIME – MOTION TO ACCEPT STUDY BY HUNDEN STRATEGIC PARTNERS AND DIRECT STAFF NOT TO PURSUE October 24-25, 2017 Page 75 PURCHASING A GOLF COURSE AT THIS TIME – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Item 11C is recommendation to approve the Collier County Public Golf Course Facility Needs Assessment Study prepared by Hunden Strategic Partners, and direct staff not to pursue the purchase or creation of a publicly operated golf course at this time. Mr. Barry Williams, your director of Parks and Recreation, will begin the presentation. MR. WILLIAMS: Commissioners, good morning. Barry Williams, Parks and Recreation. Just to start, I just wanted to say that the County Manager asked us to look at the idea of a golf course in terms of the Parks and Recreation Division managing one. And as you know, in our community we have a plethora of golf courses that are in operation. So what we did was we contracted with Hunden Strategic Partners to help us with that analysis. And Mr. Hunden, who's the president of Hunden Strategic Partners, is here today just to walk you through that analysis. He has Nick D'Onofrio with him as well, a senior analyst with the company. But if I could, I'd just like to turn over the podium to Mr. Hunden and let him walk you through these slides. MR. HUNDEN: Thank you, sir. Good morning. It's been about six months. I'm pleased to be back. About six months since we completed this study and you heard from us on our preliminary findings, and we fleshed out some additional data between the preliminary draft and final, but the results were essentially the same. So, again, pleased to be here and help sort of wrap this up. We just have a nine-slide presentation, so we kept it pretty tight, and we'll take you through it. So what were the key questions? We looked at some of the October 24-25, 2017 Page 76 opportunities. I know for many years the question has been considered about whether or not Collier County should develop its own golf course as a public course, what are the costs and benefits? Are there alternatives to achieve similar goals, which we looked at. What are the national golf trends, and how do they relate to what's going on here? And, specifically, what are your demographics relative to those national trends in the demographics for golf? What about your existing golf facilities? And then, ultimately, what are the pros and cons and cost and benefits of going forward with a publicly managed -- a public golf course that would be managed versus a privately managed golf course. So we looked at that, too. We're not going to focus as much on the public versus private management today. It was more about the concept of whether or not it makes sense to go ahead and go build -- buy, build, and/or develop a public golf course. So the headlines purpose of the publicly owned golf course is to provide quality golf at a seasonably competitive and reasonable rate for residents, especially during the peak season when it's either impossible to get on a course or the prices are sky high or both. The capital cost to develop a golf course can be fairly high; 4 to 5 million for just -- once you have a piece of dirt that's sort of ready, the land purchase can be quite expensive, as you know, and ongoing operating cost which can 7 run several hundred thousand dollars after netting revenues and expenses. So it's an undertaking. Alternatives that could achieve a similar goal would be discount coupons or similar county provided discounts at existing privately owned courses. One of the things that you see here is that there are many courses in the county, and there's a -- there's sort of a whole strata of quality and price. Golf demand is currently so high during the season that discounted rounds may not solve the problem, but certainly during off peak that could be an option. October 24-25, 2017 Page 77 National golf participation is steadily decreasing, and it's experiencing about a quarter decline in the last -- well, between 2006 and 2015, which is what we have the statistics for at this point. Target demographic for golf are those folks sort of my age and older who have annual incomes above 50,000, so Generation X and older, and a lot of that is driven by both the ability to afford to play but also just the overall trends in participation, which are sort of dying out a little bit with the younger generation. So that's a concern long term that we're keeping an eye on. There is a high concentration of courses in Collier County. Limited number of high-quality affordable, of course. You wouldn't expect the highest quality to be the most affordable and vice versa, and so that's part of the mix. There is a higher likelihood of increased gross in net revenue with a private third-party manager if you did go that route, but there are concerns with that approach because sometimes there may be -- if the agreements aren't written well, there might be an incentive for them to maximize profit and not continually reinvest in the course's quality. But, again, our focus is really not so much on the management as it was on the concept of developing one that would be county owned. Quality is important. Existing privately owned low-quality golf courses charge less than higher quality public owned courses. We did do a survey of a number of difference courses in different spots. Now, one of the questions that came up back in the spring was, well, you know, that's interesting that the national statistics and participation are declining, but what's going on locally? And, obviously, you're a different county than the rest of the country. You have a different makeup in terms of who's living here and you have a high seasonal demand and participation, so golf is still very popular here, and golf is supported in many different courses; however, as with anything where there's a multitude of options and there's a changing October 24-25, 2017 Page 78 market all the time, there will always be those courses that sort of fall out and decline, as people migrate to newer, nicer courses, or maybe owners don't continue to reinvest in the existing ones. And so there may be opportunities here and there where older, not well taken care of privately owned courses sort of fall out of the mix or are taken over by banks or whatever. So those provide opportunities for the creative destruction of the marketplace, and that's always an opportunity for the county to get in at a steep discount, buy something on sale if that opportunity arises. But to go in full price, full sale price, is quite expensive. So your demographics relative to some of the other counties that we looked at that have publicly owned courses, you have a slightly lower percentage of the population between 35 and 65 years old, which was the -- one of the demographics that was stronger, obviously, for playing golf, but a higher percentage of households with incomes over 50,000. So a bit of a mixed bag there, but it does appear that the participation locally is solid and steady. Seventy-five total courses; 14 public-access courses in the county. I won't go into detail on all of those, but there are many options. And one of the things that I wanted to look at as we went into this was really to understand -- I think in matrices, and I like to think how -- for membership courses, you know, there are averages, but averages don't always tell you everything you need to know. So we looked at sort of the lower grouping and the higher grouping and the averages between the publicly owned surveyed golf courses that we saw in other counties and the privately owned local public access courses to understand what that differential would be in both the membership cost as well as the low rate and high rate. And you can see that public access courses in other counties in Florida were, on average, cheaper by between 25 and $56 per round, and that ranged between, really, 10 and $58 from low and high, and October 24-25, 2017 Page 79 then the annual -- or, excuse me, the membership fee was significantly lower as well. So there is certainly that ability to offer golf at a lower cost. But, again, that comes at a cost itself to do that. So this was -- this is sort of a graph showing the revenues and expenses of the municipal golf courses that we surveyed and, in general, if you took the averages, there is a higher expense than revenue, and so -- and we're doing some -- we're doing some analysis right now for the Chicago park district on a golf course combination there, and we're looking at similar trends there as well in terms of -- it's just hard to run an operating surplus in a public course if you're going to be offering rates they are significantly lower than the private sector rates. Okay. So what did we conclude? The conclusions were that there is a one-time and ongoing financial commitment. The next four little sub bullets sort of get into what the costs would be, which I talked about. In addition to the net loss -- net operating loss of up to 3-, 400,000 a year, there would be cap ex, reinvestment in sort of the infrastructure of both the buildings and the course that would be significant as well. It does provide affordable play for county residents, but the number of beneficiaries relative to the overall population and relative to other sports and recreation programs that people participate in is relatively small, and there are many options, especially off peak, for people to play. So it's not as if golf isn't an option locally. Discounts, as I mentioned, or coupons at existing courses might be a way to provide that benefit to those who want to use it, and also, then, benefit the existing private sector market to help them fill gaps during off peak. In terms of little -- of economic, fiscal, and employment impact analysis, most of the play would likely be local, and so there would not be sort of a net inflow of capital and spending from outside the county, October 24-25, 2017 Page 80 7, for something like this, and so it's really sort of a county benefit to provide to the county citizens. There are dozens of sports and rec programs that citizens and tourists use, and this is one of many. There are many multi-purpose facilities that will generate impact and provide opportunity for citizens indoor and outdoor. Single-purpose facilities are tougher to sort of make that claim. You certainly can do that, and many counties have done it. So it's really a choice, but we know that you're assessing many opportunities. You have infinite choices and finite resources. And so, as it stands, there did not seem to be an exceeding need or an overwhelming benefit relative to the cost to pursue this aggressively unless something comes at you that's on super sale through bank ownership or some other constrained situation. We are also aware, because we are under contract with you to be assessing this youth sports complex that will have other economic benefits -- we're certainly not choosing sides, but when you compare the two in terms of overall impact and opportunity to host many different types of activities and events for county residents and for visitor impact, certainly you have some other options there as well. So with that, I will take any questions and appreciate your time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Who was first? Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Go ahead. You go ahead. COMMISSIONER FIALA: You go ahead. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I just would like to make it clear with regard to staff's recommendation that our staff's not going to actively pursue the acquisition of a golf course and/or certainly not go buy land and construct one, because there's no economic feasibility. But I want to -- I heard you say multiple times, should the opportunity October 24-25, 2017 Page 81 arise, should one be offered that makes some kind of sense that could be a benefit for our community, we could look at it. But we're not -- in the motion, specifically, staff recommendation is to not pursue the acquisition and construction or purchase of. But we're not going to turn somebody away if they hand us one. MR. HUNDEN: That's my understanding. I mean, that's obviously -- that's a choice of yours. But our recommendation would not be to be in a forward leaning stance but to sort of sit back, and if things come at you, then -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: In an accepting stance. Sometimes things are interpreted that, you know, if someone could -- one of our staff interprets it as such that, well -- no, we're not -- the Board's already given us direction; we're not going to buy a golf course, period, the end. And I wanted to clarify that. MR. OCHS: That's why the recommendation says "at this time," because we always reserve that opportunity if we get one to bring that to the Board. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, sir. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir; agreed. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. "At this time"; that's a good phrase, isn't it? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, it is. COMMISSIONER FIALA: We've got a couple golf courses that are for sale. We're building a big sports complex to lure people from other areas in, but we're not building a golf course that has been cried -- people have been crying for for years. And I think that -- you know, we have, like, the Golden Gate golf course. That's been sitting there a long time, and it's pretty decent. It could probably use some upgrades, but it's a good size, and the people in that area would love to have it continue as a golf course because they bought their homes around it as October 24-25, 2017 Page 82 a golf course, and they would like to keep it that way. There's also a couple in Lakewood that are for sale. One is an awful big expense. The other one is working just fine, and it's a very nice course. But, I mean, you've got -- at this time you've got some things right on the market. And I was reading something in a magazine just the last couple weeks where they say -- well, they say golf is dying, but not in Florida. And there was a big article about it, because you've got all the people that are -- the boomers that are going to be moving here. Now, we're not building any more golf courses here, and they can't get any in the private communities anymore, who are not building any. They're going to want to play golf someplace. And I really -- I hate to close the door on this. I think it's an opportunity that is -- if we close the door, that opportunity is going to be wasted. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have a question. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll make a motion to -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: What are you going to move? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll move to accept the Hunden Strategic Partners report and direct staff not pursue the purchase or creation of a publicly operated golf course at this time. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Mr. Miller, do we have any speakers on this? MR. MILLER: Yes, ma'am. I have one registered speaker; H. Michael Mogil. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Again. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You can use this one. MR. MOGIL: Oh, okay. Good idea. For the record, H. Michael Mogil. I'm a meteorologist. I live in October 24-25, 2017 Page 83 the Vineyards, and I am not a golfer. So I'm not taking any side on whether we should buy a golf course or not, but I want to raise the issue -- and I don't know if it's been done by staff or done by the commissioners -- any other uses for this golf course, short of the golf course, my concern, which I voiced before about impervious surfaces, if we have a builder come in and say, hey, land, we wind up with more concrete and asphalt. So that's my question to the commissioners. Any other uses planned: Possibly bike trails, possibly walking trails, possibly an exercise facility -- you know, trail, possibly nature trails in addition to what we have here, and keep it open and let there be impervious -- pervious surface. That's my question. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. This is something that's come up before when we were wrestling with the golf course, changing them and developing on them. I need an update where we are with that, please, in terms of what we initiated, and there was a moratorium. I'm not sure. MR. OCHS: Went ahead and adopted the standards, special standards for conversion of golf courses. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: But, I mean, at this point. MR. OCHS: It included a 100-foot minimum buffer all the way around the perimeter of the course or the property, so there are, I guess -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Nothing's come forward since that? MR. OCHS: No, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And my story about wilderness where they are not going forward with that at all. They wanted to develop on wilderness and didn't do it. The challenges we have, of course, is the acquisition of open space, I think, is critical to any community. And -- but if we pursue this with golf courses that are for sale, I think the community October 24-25, 2017 Page 84 surrounding the golf course must be brought into the maintenance agreements of these golf courses, that we would purchase for open space, for walking trails, for bike paths, because they would benefit directly, and also with private communities, there would have to be an agreement for access. But without a maintenance agreement with the surrounding buildings, or the residents, I don't think we would be very wise to enter into maintenance of vast -- of golf courses throughout. So that's just a thought I had. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Good thought. Good thought. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All right. So there's a motion on the floor and a second. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: 4-1. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I just want to keep the door open. I just think we're going to -- I hate to slam the door on a good opportunity to continue to look at it. Item #11D RECOMMENDATION NOT TO PROCEED WITH CONSTRUCTION OF AN OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLES (OHV) PARK AT THE IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT DUE TO PROHIBITIVE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT COST PROJECTIONS AND TO RE-INSTITUTE A MODIFIED VERSION OF THE October 24-25, 2017 Page 85 “TICKETS TO RIDE” PROGRAM FOR BOARD CONSIDERATION – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that takes us to Item 11D. This is a recommendation not to proceed with construction of an off highway vehicles park at the Immokalee Regional Airport due to prohibitive project development cost projections and to reinstitute a modified version of the Tickets to Ride program for future Board consideration. Mr. Williams will present. MR. WILLIAMS: Good morning. Barry Williams, Parks and Recreation director. Commissioners, this is a beautiful community. We have a diversity of recreational opportunities for folks in our community, and it certainly -- it's been a pleasure for me to work with an ad hoc committee that you appointed to look at off highway vehicle use in Collier County. And, as you know, this has been an issue that we've looked at for several years. We did an extensive review of properties available. We were looking for something in the 6- to 800-acre range. And, as you can imagine in Collier County, the availability of that kind of acres is a challenge, just both with the conservation and the lands that are in under conservation and the available lands. So when we looked at the airport -- Immokalee airport as a site location, we knew it had complications in terms of developing it as an ATV park. With that, though, we did want to move forward and do some analysis of that, and we looked very carefully at the park. And I told Troy I would use this device. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Very nice. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Beautiful. COMMISSIONER FIALA: How did you do that? MR. WILLIAMS: Well, I'm not sure I know how. October 24-25, 2017 Page 86 But I just wanted to identify the parcel. It's about a 300-acre parcel that we're looking at, and the complications with this parcel are several. The first one that I'll note is this area here, and this area that we're looking at here is considered a secondary panther zone. And we did approach U.S. Fish and Wildlife with RWA. Mark Sunyak is here with us this morning. He can answer any questions you might have about that. But we approached them with the idea if we were to develop a trail system within this, could we somehow minimize the impact of it being in a secondary panther zone, and the answer that we got from U.S. Fish and Wildlife that we included in your packet was, basically, no, that they would consider the entire area. And so when you look at the permitting cost associated with this, the panther mitigation credits that we would have to obtain, you're looking at a 2.5 to $3.6 million hit just on panther mitigation alone. So that in itself kind of took us out of our budget in terms of what we had available. The other issue, though, that I wanted to point out to you is the southern portion, if you will. If you're looking at that and you're looking at these lands, those lands -- one of the provisions on those lands is they're considered aviation use. So while the Immokalee airport was willing to work with us on this project, those lands, if the FAA or there's determined the need, an aviation purpose for those -- for that property, then we would be basically given notice, and we would have to evacuate the lands and give it back for that purpose. So it's a complicated site in those aspects. It's a nice piece of property. It was a lease agreement that we're looking at with the airport, but it is just too complicated. It's something you could do, but you're going to do it at twice the budget that you have available to do it. So what our recommendation is to not continue to look at this October 24-25, 2017 Page 87 site. I think we've done the analysis that we need to know in terms of what -- the cost associated with it. The ad hoc committee would like to continue to work with us on this project, and our recommendation is continue to work with them on an as-needed basis. As properties become available, as we continue to look for this property that would serve in this purpose, you know, to continue to use that group. They're invaluable in terms of their knowledge on this type of recreation; but to work with them in that regard. The other thing that we're asking, though, was there was a program that you approved a couple years ago that we looked at that allowed us to take the interest monies related to this $3 million that's been set aside for this purpose. And with those monies, what we did at the time was we bought tickets for people that had this recreational pursuit where they could use existing trail systems, parks that are available in Southwest Florida, Southern Florida, and we're also recommending that we look at that in revising that program. And so part of the recommendation is if you can direct us to do that, what we'll do is work with the ad hoc committee, come back with a revised form of this "tickets to ride" program for your consideration. So with that, certainly if you have any questions about our proposal, I'm here to answer. And as I mentioned, Mark Sunyak with RWA is here as well that can answer any technical questions that you might have about our process. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Two. Have we ever investigated the Big Cypress area? I mean, it would be owned by the Feds. We probably couldn't even buy it, but maybe we could use it. And this would be a great place for them, and all we could do is fix it up for them; save us money. MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. The federal and state lands in October 24-25, 2017 Page 88 Collier County, they are in preservation. So there are certain limitations that you can do. They do have -- and as you mentioned, they have legacy programs that allow people that have historically used the property for that type of purpose. And so there is a limited use that is available. Now, to develop it as a public recreation course, probably not, but there are some opportunities now that we could certainly explore with them. And basically, though, it's a program that they manage, where they allow and permit users to come in and use the property in those ways. So that's something certainly the ad hoc committees looked at, and certainly something we can continue to discuss. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think that's one good idea. MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Especially because I think that they would work together with them, and you don't need to build too, too much. The guys that used to do the ORVs before just built their own course, I think -- MR. WILLIAMS: That's correct, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- way out there, so they didn't even need us to build anything for them. They could do it themselves. But that was my first idea. The second idea was yesterday morning at the TDC meeting, Ski Olesky was talking about next to Lake Trafford, I guess it is -- MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- where we did all that dredging, and then got the stuff out that had arsenic in it, right? The dirt had arsenic in it. MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: But he said something like that could actually be made into a brownfield instead where they October 24-25, 2017 Page 89 minimized the arsenic by adding other dirt and so forth. And he said, there's a huge area there that could also be used, and I wanted to -- I thought that was another good idea. These are not my ideas. They're somebody else's. But I thought, you know, it's something to pursue. MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. And I would say that particular parcel that you're describing, that was the original 640 acres that South Florida Water Management had set aside for this purpose back in 2003. As part of the due diligence they did in that project, the thing that they did determine -- and you mentioned it -- the arsenic levels at that particular site were such that made it prohibitive. It was cost prohibitive at the time. There was a dollar amount that I recall is about $10 million to do what needed to be done to make that rideable. So that is a cost associated with it. But you mentioned brownfields and grants associated with it. It's an excellent thought. We certainly can approach -- that land is owned by South Florida Water Management. It's something we could certainly approach them and see if there's any interest on their part for working together on that. COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's just great. Ski Olesky was telling me yesterday that no fish even died in the water. They talked about all the arsenic and, yet, the fish seem to be fine in there. So, I mean, it's just something else to pursue. MR. WILLIAMS: Good to know. MR. OCHS: That's a good idea. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any other questions or comments? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do I have a motion? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to approve staff's recommendation to deny this particular location. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And to reinstate a modified version of October 24-25, 2017 Page 90 the "tickets to ride" program, right? COMMISSIONER FIALA: I guess, yeah. And to pursue some of these other ideas that we were just mentioning. MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'll second that. Any other discussion? MR. KLATZKOW: But before you vote, Commissioner McDaniel, you will be abstaining on this one? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I already -- yes, sir. I already announced that. MR. KLATZKOW: Just for the record, yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: For the record, I will be abstaining. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have abstained. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So all those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: (Abstaining.) COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And one abstaining. Thank you very much. 4-0. MR. WILLIAMS: Thank you. Item #11E RECOMMENDATION TO REJECT THE MOST RECENT PROPOSALS FROM THE CITY OF NAPLES RELATED TO THE October 24-25, 2017 Page 91 RENEWAL OF THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT GOVERNING RECIPROCAL USE OF CITY AND COUNTY BEACH PARKING FACILITIES AND PARK AND RECREATION PROGRAMS – MOTION TO SEND PROPOSAL TO THE CITY AND ASK THEM TO RECONSIDER THE COUNTY’S OFFER – APPROVED; MOTION TO DIRECT STAFF TO EXPLORE AREAS TO INCREASE BEACH PARKING FACILITIES AND BRING RECOMMENDATIONS BACK TO THE BOARD – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that takes us to Item 11E. This is a recommendation to -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Perhaps, sir, maybe we could hear that after lunch, or are we going to work through lunch? I mean, we're here almost at the end of an agenda. So maybe we need to have a brief discussion about that at this point. What do you think? I mean, we've got two items left; is that correct? MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. I thought maybe you could be out of here by 12:30 at the latest and be done, but it's up to the Board. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Are we okay to work through? Okay. Good. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Our court reporter -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: How are you doing, Terri? THE COURT REPORTER: I'm fine. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: As she falls off the chair fainted with work. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm doing fine. Hurry up. MR. OCHS: So we'll move forward, then, with 11E. This is a recommendation to reject the most recent proposals from the City of Naples related to the renewal of the interlocal agreement governing reciprocal use of city and county beach park facilities and park and recreation programs. October 24-25, 2017 Page 92 Mr. Sean Callahan, your public services division support services director, will make the presentation. MR. CALLAHAN: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Sean Callahan, for the record, division director of operations support for the Public Services Department. Following our March 7th workshop between the City of Naples and Collier County, there's been ongoing negotiation to come up with a new solution for an interlocal agreement that would provide access to beach parking. So what I'd like to do with the presentation is take you through some of the historical accounts for how we've constructed these different agreements and then provide you an update on where we are in the negotiations to come up with a new one. So since 1987 the City of Naples and Collier County have had reciprocal beach access for all residents of Collier County. You can go to several locations throughout the county, get a beach parking sticker, and park for free whether it be a city beach or a county beach. Currently -- we signed an agreement in 2008 which runs through the end of this current fiscal year and allows for free beach parking for all county residents, like I said, at city and county beaches, but it added the use of Parks and Recreation programs on the same terms and conditions, is the specific language. So that was a change from previous structures of interlocal agreements in 2008 when we added Parks and Recreation. In consideration for this, the county issues an annual payment of $1 million to the city plus or minus an adjustment factor that's calculated by the ratio of city residents' taxes into the General Fund versus the percentage that they paid in 2008 when the agreement was signed. So in Fiscal Year 2017, including the adjustment factor, our payment to the city is expected to be $1.137 million, which is actually October 24-25, 2017 Page 93 down from the previous year. So as I said, November 2008, there was an item you approved where the Board directed staff to include Parks and Recreation in our interlocal agreement along with the beach parking that had been in agreement since 1987 for the payment of $1 million. Specific language in the current agreement here authorizes the beach parking sticker valid for free at any city or county beach, and here's the specific language on the Parks and Recreation facet, which called for same terms and conditions, which we've always viewed as parity in our program. So parity and costs are covered. Parity in fees that are charged to residents of both the city and county. Previous interlocal agreements that did not include -- the Parks and Recreation's piece were based solely on making the city's -- the Naples Beach Fund, which is the city's enterprise funds, the fund that are expenses and revenues for the beach fund. It was based on making it whole. So we would pay whatever the deficit was in that fund to bring it to a 100 percent cost recovery. So in 2003 it was about $390,000. Over the year it's been between 350- and $500,000 that the Naples Beach Fund has operated at a deficit. In the current fiscal year, though, the Naples Beach Fund is projecting a surplus. So under the previous tenets of interlocal agreements before 2008, our payment to the city for reciprocal access to beach parking would actually be zero this current year. If you look at the Naples Beach Fund budgets from over the past 10 years, you'll see where we started off. In Fiscal Year 2008, the first year, we took half of that interlocal allocation of a million dollars and applied it -- and they applied it to beach fund which brought it to -- their cost recovery up to a 100 percent. It made the Beach Fund whole. In Fiscal Year 2017, the City of Naples began to allocate the October 24-25, 2017 Page 94 entire interlocal payment into their General Fund and not apply any into the Beach Fund. So in Fiscal Year 2017, I would draw your attention to the net revenue column. That resulted in a budget deficit of $360,000, which is in that historical range of where the Naples Beach Fund has operated at a deficit, but in the current fiscal year it's actually projected to have a surplus of $183,842 without any application of the interlocal allocations, so without applying any of the money that we pay them through the current agreement. If you look at the chart below, you'll see that over the past 10 years, when the agreement's been in effect, the growth in revenue has actually outpaced the growth in expenses through the Naples Beach Fund over the lifetime of the agreement and, as I said, that's without applying any of the interlocal allocation for Fiscal Years 2017 and the current fiscal year. So high level Beach Fund observations, the Naples Beach Fund is healthier than it was in 2008 when this agreement was signed because revenues have kept pace with expenses. And in the current fiscal year, as I mentioned previously, it actually resulted in a surplus of almost $200,000 for the current fiscal year. Now, one of the things that I feel is important to point out among the negotiations and information that was presented during the March 7th workshop is the number of parking spaces which the city and county comparatively have. Now, the city will tell you that they have 1,300 beach parking spaces. We've accounted for about 290 of those that we don't consider purely for beach parking, which you could say the same -- you couldn't say the same about the parking spaces that we include in the county. So when we say they're not pure beach parking, they're in competition with retail and residential demand. So everybody that's parking there is not going to the beach. So the way that we look at it, the county has 1,498 spaces versus about 10 -- a little bit over a thousand for the city that we consider pure October 24-25, 2017 Page 95 beach parking. Another thing that wasn't accounted for in our March 7th workshop was the economic impacts that the beachgoers have, especially in the off season. So these noncounty residents who are coming to the city beaches often is a positive economic impact for the city. So just to show you a bit on the chart, those 290 spaces that I mentioned that are not considered pure beach parking, you'll notice our -- on 5th Avenue South and then down 4th Street, and then below it's marked in yellow on 3rd Street. So there's 290 spaces there where you'll recognize those areas from the city have heavy retail and restaurant shopping. So those are considered in the city's allocation of beach spaces but, as I said, they're in heavy competition with retail and residential needs. On the flip side, here are -- is the accounting for the county beach spaces, which you'll notice from the locations they don't compete with residential/retail demands. And in the chart you'll see outlined, we're about 1,500 spaces. So when we look at the allocation of parking spaces between the city and the county, we think that we have, for pure beach parking, about 60 percent of the spaces versus the county's 40 percent. Now shifting just forward a little bit and changing from the beach parking, I want to talk a little bit about Parks and Recreation and the concept of cost recovery, which is how we view, as I said, the parity and same terms and conditions that was signed in the interlocal agreement. So we look at the fee-based revenues in relation to the total expense for Parks and Recreation's programs. And this was reaffirmed. In a 2011 joint study with city and county staff, we acknowledged some of the different arguments that you'll here for the city of why we should continue to contribute more money to their October 24-25, 2017 Page 96 Parks and Recreation program that, in some city programs residents of the county exceed far what city participants are, but because these are fee-based programs, it's actually immaterial where that resident resides. And then they also made a recommendation that both entities should continue to review the cost recovery for programs and seek as much parity as possible. So that's important when we look at the City of Naples parks budgets for this previous fiscal year. Countywide our cost recovery for Parks and Recreation's programs is about 35 percent. So when we look at cost recovery parity and we look at the City of Naples' park budget, they're at about 24 percent cost recovery. So a payment, an interlocal allocation payment of $350,000, would bring them to the same cost recovery ratio as the -- as we experience in the county. But as I mentioned previously, they've taken the whole interlocal payment and shifted it into the General Fund, which houses Parks and Recreation. So if you took that entire interlocal payment for Fiscal Year 2017 and applied it to their parks budget, they would see cost recovery of in excess of 60 percent versus where we have about 35 percent cost recovery for our Parks and Recreation's programs. So a huge difference in cost recovery that exceeds the parity. As I mentioned before, their Beach Fund is whole already in the current fiscal year. Very quickly to talk about recreational program usage; you'll see on the charts the county, in Fiscal Year '15, served about 102,432 people, versus city programs which served a little bit over 16,000. So in terms of Parks and Recreation's users in Collier County as a whole, the city served approximately 13 percent of those with the county serving the other 87 percent. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The 13 percent, do we know if those were county residents or were they city residents or both? October 24-25, 2017 Page 97 MR. CALLAHAN: They're both; they're both. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. I just didn't know if you had the city residents included in that. MR. CALLAHAN: Yes, sir. The city residents would be included in that. So park funds observations at a high level: Collier County Parks and Recreation, we experience about 35 percent cost recovery enterprise-wide, so that's for our regional parks, our community parks when you lump them all together, and a payment of $350,000 would bring city Parks and Recreation on par with what we experience. So I say that just in reasonableness when we negotiate to know, under the tenets of how we've always considered these interlocal agreements, what a fair payment should be for our county usage of city programs. And, again, just to hit on the point that the 2008 interlocal agreement is where we included Parks and Recreation programs, and that's what resulted in a payment increase from in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to a million dollars plus that adjustment factor. County and city programs are going to continue to experience similar cost recovery in Fiscal Year 2018. And as I said before, the concept of this cost recovery parity was reaffirmed in a 2011 study, which included both city and county staff. Now, we've been negotiating with the city to try to sign a new interlocal agreement for the past seven months, and one possible solution, when you look at all the different cost factors that the city's proposed and how we might help them generate some additional revenue, will be the elimination of a nonresident city pass. So currently, nonresidents can purchase an annual pass for $50, and these are people who don't live in -- don't live in Collier County or don't own land in Collier County. They can purchase a pass for $50 and forego the daily fees at city beaches of $2.50 an hour, or the daily October 24-25, 2017 Page 98 fees at county beaches of $8 a day. In 2016, the last year that we have complete data, the county issued a little bit under 10,000 of these nonresident passes and, according to city data, they issued about 900 more. So currently, we sell those passes for $50, and the county Parks and Recreation has revenues of about -- a little bit under $500,000. So the city's suggested that we give up that revenue and eliminate the sale of this pass so that people would pay these daily user fees, which could lead to increased revenues for the city, would lead to increased revenues for the city but would hopefully leave us in a position where we break even for loss of those revenues. So to calculate that, we've taken the -- we've estimated that approximately a million dollars in revenue is out there if we eliminated the sale of these passes. So how we did that, we took the total number of these nonresident permits issued, which is a little bit under 11,000, you take the daily fee at city beaches, which is 2.50 an hour, for an average stay of four hours, which gives you $10, and you average that with $8 a day for the county beaches daily fee, make the reasonable assumption that folks as nonresidents will visit a beach at least 10 times a year, and you come up with that possibility of a revenue stream. Now, if that was split evenly between city and county, it would generate about a half a million dollars. But as I said, the county ceasing the sale of these is going to lose us, guaranteed, a half a million dollars. So we would be hoping to make back that revenue where the city, only selling 900, would experience a boost in revenue. So that brings us to where we are today with the different offers that we're bringing. The city has presented an offer to the County Manager for $1.58 million annually effective January 1st of the new calendar that would eliminate the nonresident passes but continue the reciprocal beach parking, but it does not include terms on Parks and October 24-25, 2017 Page 99 Recreation, and the agreement, if accepted by the Board, would be for a term of three years. The County Manager presented a counteroffer to the City Manager of 1.25 million, which is an increase from the current level that the city's experiencing right now in the current agreement, would eliminate those beach parking passes which, as I pointed out, would lead to guaranteed revenue boosts for the city where we would be trying to recover some of our lost revenue, and would continue to include Parks and Recreation, which is important because, if you remember, we go back to the 2008 interlocal agreement, Parks and Recreation, the inclusion of that was how we got to the boosted payment of a million dollars, plus or minus that adjustment factor. And we would prefer -- the County Manager would prefer that the interlocal agreement be for a term of longer than three years. In the last offer it was for five. The city has presented one more offer in addition to these that would let the current agreement be served out until September 30th but would require the county to eliminate the sale of that nonresident pass. So that would be the fourth proposal that's out there. If we would want to go through with the agreement to its end, we would eliminate the nonresident pass right off. If not, the city would look at possibly terminating the agreement with us, effectively as soon as they could do that. Now, the net effects of the city proposal, just to touch on that a little bit. If the Board decided to accept that, you would have -- an increased cost of the interlocal payment would go up immediately to $1.5 million. So we've estimated a gain of revenue to the city that we've projected at just under 900,000. As I mentioned, the lost revenue that we would experience from the elimination of this pass, we would hope to make that back through our daily parking fees, but that's not guaranteed. But we have October 24-25, 2017 Page 100 estimated that the revenue universe is around a million dollars that would be out there from the elimination of that pass. So the city proposal does not include terms on Parks and Recreation, which would leave county residents open to being charged disparate user fees in the future. And going back to the original reason of why we raised the payment to the city to a million dollars is because it included Parks and Recreation. The current city proposal does not. And then you'd have renegotiations, so we'd be standing here again in three years walking through a proposal, which you've seen this is already a lengthy negotiation, which is why I believe the County Manager would prefer a longer term of agreement. So with that, that's where we're at today. And I believe that we'd seek some direction from the Board on where to go on those two proposals, so... With that, I'll take your questions. That's the end of my planned presentation. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders, your light was on. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. First of all, I want to thank you. That was a -- you know, it's nice to start a negotiation or being in a negotiation based on facts, and the County Manager and county staff have put together facts that would justify a particular position for the county to be in, and I don't believe the city has done that. So at least we're dealing with facts that make some sense. I'm disappointed that we've not been able to come to a reasonable understanding here. We've got a lot of issues that we're going to be dealing with on the city -- with the city. I would hope that we would be able to move forward on this one. I think it's important. I don't see any way that we can justify going above the 1.25 million. It just -- at that point I think we'd all feel that we were just being taken advantage of, and that just isn't -- I don't think that that's October 24-25, 2017 Page 101 right. So I guess I've got a couple -- a question and then a couple observations I'd like to make. I've gotten the sense that the city would like to terminate this agreement, that they're not really that interested in moving forward with that. Has that been sort of your sense as well, or do you think the city is really desirous of working this out? MR. OCHS: Well, you know, if you put yourself in the city's shoes, they have an agreement, and if their real desire is to maximum revenues and go from a -- kind of a cost-neutral basis to a profit center in the city, if I were them, I'd let the agreement run, and then I'm free to charge anybody I want whatever I want at city beach parking spaces. So if the goal is to maximum revenue for the city and if I were in their shoes, I wouldn't be probably in any hurry to renew the agreement, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. It seems to me that obviously beach parking is going to be an increasing problem for our county residents. And as part of our discussion, I'd like to have the Commission consider directing our staff to -- I know staff has been looking at different parking facilities, parking garages, but as part of this, I'd like the Commission to direct our staff to continue with some earnest to look at locations for additional parking facility that we could build so that our -- the county residents will certainly have access to the beaches. I know there's a couple locations; I think down in the Seagate area might be one as well. And so whatever direction we ultimately give the staff, I'd like to see us direct staff to work in that direction. Those are facilities that could be constructed with tourist development taxes because they're beach related, and I think we need to do that. I would like to suggest that we advise the city that we've got an offer of 1.25 million on the table, we could eliminate the nonresident October 24-25, 2017 Page 102 passes, and see if we can get them to agree to at least extend this for the next couple years on that basis, based on the facts that you've presented. I think it somewhat puts them in a position of how do they justify a high fee, and I just don't see how they can, other than if they're looking to maximum revenues, and I don't think that's the right position for them to be in. MR. OCHS: Commissioner, if I might, my only suggestion to your suggestion is, perhaps, consider adding the requirement that we maintain the reciprocity on the use of Parks and Recreation programs. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes. I would agree with that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And I'd just -- I'd like to make a point. And I want to start off by saying this, and I think I shared this with Leo yesterday. You see "city" on the top of that page, and "county"? We're not two. We are one. It is our beach. It is not the city's beach, and it is not the county's beach. We are one Collier County. A portion of that beach resides within the City of Naples proper, but it is, in fact, our beach. And in deference to the city, because it is an incorporated area that has an actual geographic bound, if I'm not mistaken, my last look, approximately 27 percent of our ad valorem is generated within those bounds. So there certainly needs to be credence to where the city's going and what they're doing. One of the thoughts that I had as the presentation was going on with regard to the elimination of the nonresident beach passes that can, in fact, generate additional revenue, would the city give consideration to -- because you can't really tell what that number's going to be until after the fact, but would the city give consideration to a reduction in the monies provided from the county on a commensurate basis on an after-the-fact basis, a look back, if you will. If they -- if the city were October 24-25, 2017 Page 103 to generate 50 percent of that parking on a percentage basis, would that be something that could be utilized? Because, again, you provided very factual information, and there is an opportunity, potentially, for both of us to generate more money than a half a million or so that we get in those pass fees, and we could then extend the agreement out for a longer period of time and utilize that as a dollar-for-dollar reduction in our contribution to the city for that parking facility. And that's just a thought. MR. OCHS: I don't believe in any of my negotiations that they have any interest in reducing the demand for the additional annual payment plus -- plus whatever new revenue they could generate through elimination of the nonresident pass. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- and just as a final point. It's imperative, I don't want to see a county resident fee for beach parking. MR. OCHS: Well, that was a basic premise of the negotiations on our side anyhow. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understand. I just want it to be said. In deference to the city, in deference to the ad valorem generation, in deference to their looking to have a profit center, I don't want to see a county fee or a county resident fee for beach parking. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. I sat on City Council for 10 years, and I was the vice mayor for two of those years. Let me give you the city's perspective. The county has developed and basically ignored beach access. They have sold properties and made decisions without thought of beach access. This is a huge problem for the city, because the city was designed -- the beginning of Collier County was the City of Naples. And when they designed the City of Naples in 19 -- 18 late, 18, 1900s, they said, you know, we're going to make sure that people have access to our beaches, and what we're going to do is make sure that every street October 24-25, 2017 Page 104 ended at the beach, and it was public. And there are 33 or 35 -- I wish Gary McAlpin was here. He knows it, and I don't keep that in my mind -- beach accesses in the City of Naples. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thirty-three. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And when there was a huge battle when the north part of the city at that time was made into condos and there was no beach accesses, the people put down their foot and they said, we are not doing this. And this was in the '60s, '70s. They said, we are not -- well, it was in the '60s -- we are not going to do this. We are going to keep the residential quality of our city. We're going to keep the opening so that people can walk to the beach; the homes can be on the beach. It's open. So put yourself in the City of Naples' position; 350,000 people in Collier County growing to 500-. That's not in the City of Naples. The beach -- the majority of beach access, not parking places, beach access is in the City of Naples. And they're looking and saying, what is the county doing -- what are we going to do? And the county comes back and says, we don't have access. We don't have -- we don't have the ability to create these areas in our county anymore. So to threaten by putting a garage -- parking garage in Seagate is a threat, and it shouldn't be there. What we need to do is cooperate. Now, granted, they're using the money for -- and I was part of that negotiation, that "$10 million over 10 years" negotiation for their General Fund, which has to indicate that they don't need it to manage the beach. What this agreement does -- and I'm not suggesting that we necessarily agree to the money. But what this agreement does is say, if you don't live in Collier County, it's going to be difficult to get to our beaches unless there's a parking place, unless there's a parking place. October 24-25, 2017 Page 105 It's not money. Unless there's a parking place, which minimizes the congestion and people parking on people's lawns. And if anyone wants to see the impact of Collier County on the City of Naples, go to July 4th, all right. So I'm not suggesting that this is -- that the city is right in 100 percent of this, but this is a lot more -- it has a lot more depth than just the money. It has to do with maintaining a quality of life and a density and a residential feel to a community that has opened itself up to the public for the beaches, and it's a way to monitor this, and the no sale or distribution of nonresident beach passes, which I'm delighted that the county has agreed to, is a very important part of this, because if we read our emails, there was a lady from Lee County who was complaining because she can't get into a beach in Lee County because the parking places are always full. There's no place to park, and they don't have numbers on the meters and, you know, she doesn't have money to do it or it's been taken or the meters are broken, and she just loves to go to Collier County because they don't have that problem here because she can buy her pass. So I think that 12 -- 1,250,000 -- well, what is it? One hundred and two -- well, one-and-a-quarter million dollars on an annual basis to the city for this agreement is -- I think it's a fair number. I would not like us to see -- to start -- an "us." I'm Collier County, but I would not like to see the city starting to start figuring out who's county and who's city, which I -- that happens at a couple of places within the city, and I take great offense to that. I'd like to continue the Parks and Recreation program. I think our numbers justify it. Thank you very much. I'd like to hold the line. But really you understand, it's more than just money. It has to do with what we're doing and how we're going to go forward as a community as a whole to make sure that the beaches remain open but also to understand there is a carrying capacity of beaches, too. And unless we October 24-25, 2017 Page 106 want to look like Fire Island in New York City or Miami Beach, we need to address it. And, yeah, I guess we could create some beaches in the -- you know, the Big Corkscrew Park. We could. That's been suggested. And that's all I need to say. Thank you. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Could I just respond to one thing? Because, you know, the issue of parking garages, I don't see that as a threat. I think it's just the reality that at some point in time in the not-too-distant future we're going to have 500,000 people living in Collier County. We need more beach parking spaces. There's not going to be any new beach parking in the city. We have very limited areas in the county where we can create additional parking, and I think that we need to at least recognize that we need to start looking at creating more spaces. That will take some of the pressure off the City of Naples. It's not going to create more pressure. And so that wasn't a threat. That's not like -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Unless you live at Seagate and you have a beach that's already reaching a certain level of capacity. Why would you not say, we need to understand how we can transport our people and create more and put our money into transit to bring people to the beaches to eliminate that? And, oh, by the way, there's a huge development going in at Vanderbilt and Gulf Shore Boulevard North just next to the Ritz. They need to supply beach parking for us. You know, it's -- there's a lot of ways to approach this problem, but it -- but I agree with you, there is a big, big problem with this. I think the city has felt that the county has basically ignored that problem and dumped the problem on the city, and I think you're seeing the pushback from this. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And all I'm saying is -- and I'm sorry. Just to follow up. All I'm saying is we need now to stop ignoring the problem and look for the different solutions. There aren't October 24-25, 2017 Page 107 a whole lot of solutions. Creating more parking spaces is going to require some creative thinking, but part of that creative thinking is where can we place parking facilities to get more cars there. That's just a reality. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I think if the issue is there's not enough parking spaces in the county, then we have to provide more parking spaces, and somebody's not going to like it. It's -- I mean, it's not a -- it shouldn't be a threat. If they perceive it like that, it's -- you know, there's nothing we can do about that. But, I mean, the whole idea is to provide more parking to relieve -- take some of the stress off of the city parking. We've got a handful of places where we can do that, and we'll probably have to do it at all of them at some point, you know. But not to look at that is kicking this can down the road and, I think, creating more of a problem is not addressing it, so... You know, I think -- I'm with the County Manager's recommendation that we include the -- we have to include the Parks and Rec program in there as well. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I agree. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I mean, I think that's -- you know, for the kids and the people that use the Parks and Rec, that's just the way things have been. It's one of the things that I think makes our community such a good one. So I think we need to keep working on this and trying to think out of the box, but I don't -- I wouldn't support just accepting the city's version of what the agreement should be. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I agree. No, I agree. I support that. I support the county's position. I just wanted to bring in the underbelly of this and why there's such -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Sure. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- a donnybrook. October 24-25, 2017 Page 108 And as we -- you know, and maybe this is another -- a topic for another day where we talk about how the county is going to increase the -- not parking places, the accessibility to county beaches, to the beaches within the county, not parking only, but the accessibility of the public to go to the beaches within Collier County. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I agree. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: See my light? See my light? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And I guess that would mean Marco Island also, ma'am, and I know they're tough down there. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, you know -- and we as a county -- excuse me. Yeah, we as a county tried to do something with that because they have hardly any beach access, and we have one section of one area down by South Beach, but we only have half the parking lot. The other half is owned by the civic association, and it sits almost empty most of the time while people are trying to pack in. We've begged them to lease it, buy it, rent it, whatever, so that we can give more parking; they will not. So then we suggested we would build a parking garage there, you know, and it would be very nice like the one we have out in Vanderbilt. The answer was no. And there's just -- and so we've been fixing up Tigertail. But, you know, Tigertail isn't a beach anymore. It's only a mudflat. And so, you know, you can't lay around there and, you know, enjoy the sun or anything. And then, of course, the environmentalists are protecting the island, Sand Dollar Island, so they don't like people walking over there. So we're kind of confined to just South Beach. And yet, as much as we would like and willingly wanting to spend the money, we cannot. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So if we, County Attorney, decide to -- and I'm not suggesting that there's even support to do this, but October 24-25, 2017 Page 109 approach redevelopment as you do redevelopment along the beach or close to the beach within certain miles, you provide parking for the public, how does that work? MR. KLATZKOW: I think we're going to have to relook at the entire issue, we're going to have to look at our Comp Plan, and we're going to have to, perhaps, go that direction, if that's the way the Board wants to move. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I would support looking at it. I'm not suggesting that this commission wants to go that way, but I would support looking at it. If people come to us and ask us for redevelopment rights and ask us to grant those rights, we've got to keep the concerns of the county and the broader picture when we decide to do these things. COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's what they did in Hawaii. They wouldn't let anybody -- that's what they did in Hawaii. They wouldn't let anybody build on the beach. You had to build on the other side of the road. The one side is just dedicated to people going to the beach and parking and so forth. But it's a little bit late. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Late for us. COMMISSIONER FIALA: The horse is out of this stall already. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, that's late, but certainly not exploring requiring accommodation for beach parking on redevelopment within a certain radius of the beach throughout Collier County. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah, that's potentially a good idea. There's underlying zoning on those parcels, and there's Bert Harris issues. There's taking issues that are associated with changing the rules to require the dedication of property or places for parking. So that may be a solution, but it may have some very expensive issues associated with it. And I know that we're not all going to agree, you know, and there October 24-25, 2017 Page 110 may not even be support on the Board to even think about parking garages in Seagate, as an example. But the issue's going to come up, and I'm just raising it today as an example of the type of things that we're going to have to do to deal with the increasing population, the increasing number of people that want to go to the beach, and the fact that there are a limited number of spaces. You have 1,000 or 1,300, depending on how you want to count them in the city. The number of spaces isn't going to increase, and we have to solve that problem. We don't have any alternative. We can't just simply say, well, the beaches are crowded and we don't want to have them more crowded, and so, therefore, we won't have any more parking. You can't do that. We have to accommodate -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: But there's a level-of-service requirement for everything that we do, and there's a level-of-service requirement for beach access, which the county removed from the AUIR several years ago because they weren't meeting it, so... COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Let's set out for us to meet it. It's time for us to deal with it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. MR. OCHS: I don't think we ever had that in your AUIR. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You did. Mark Strain has pointed it out to me. MR. OCHS: I think he's wrong, but I'll double-check. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, no. Not Mark Strain. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And it doesn't matter. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, it doesn't matter, but, you know, there is a level of service. And I think that -- you're right, we need to think about the future, and we need to start planning for it now. So I don't know if there's any support, and I'm not suggesting it's at next meeting, but I think this is a discussion right now that we need to bring forward because I think it sends a message within the October 24-25, 2017 Page 111 community, especially to the City of Naples, that we are serious about this and that we understand there is a challenge and that we are going to meet with it instead of passing it on the next commission. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Just for purposes -- I'm sorry. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's all right. I've had my light on. I'm trying to be -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Go ahead. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm trying to be polite about it, and she hasn't wanted to call on me, so... And I didn't want to inference that it all has to do with money, okay. A lot of it revolves around money these days, and I didn't want it to be the sole inference, and I certainly don't want us to be compared to Lee County with regard to our beach accesses. I've lived here for 35 years. I've made a career out of selling homes to folks that have moved to Collier County, and one of the big attractions was the miles and miles of public beach access that were provided for by the forefathers of Collier County. It doesn't all revolve around money. It is a county expense that needs to be addressed. I know our CAT system currently is in the process of expanding and talking to the city managers with regard to different types of facilities to be able to move -- have park and ride areas outside of the City of Naples. I mean, we all know that, ultimately, there is an issue with parking that needs to be addressed at some time, whether that's another parking garage. I didn't perceive Commissioner Saunders' suggestion as a threat. It's just an acknowledgment of the necessity of a population growth that is, in fact, coming. I want to say out loud, I have concerns with regards to putting that onus of beach parking on individual property owners that are outside the city limits and within the county with regard to that onus be part of the private sector. If it is -- if it is an amenitization for a development October 24-25, 2017 Page 112 where you live in our subdivision and we're going to provide you with a van to the beach, that's another subject matter for us to discuss. But I would hesitate in that discussion of regulations to force developers that are coming on line to provide for that type of parking. I think it is the county's responsibility to assist with that, acknowledge it, and make every move possible that we can outside of the city limits. You know, there was one discussion with Alfie's parking lot in the south end and a park and ride facility there that's on a major intersection. What's that going to be used for? CAT transport? Park your vehicle, hop on a bus, and go. Why can't we have more of those? That's -- those are things that I would like to see. And if we are expanding our bus routes to provide for greater access to the beaches, then -- I'm done now. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I mean, one of the things that's in our summary, or consent agenda is reinstating for this coming year the park and ride system to the beach -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- with the -- where you park at the North Regional Park and, you know, the bus will -- the CAT system will take you there. You know, I hope it's understood that there are ongoing efforts. I mean, obviously, this affects my district more than anybody else's, I mean, other than Commissioner Fiala's. And this is something that I'm looking at all the time because it, obviously, is an issue. I mean, we've looked at several options and, you know, there's even been properties, you know, have -- for the potential of parking and access and things. So this is not something that isn't an ongoing effort, at least on my part, because I realize it's not going to get better. It's going to get worse, and we have to be proactive in this. So I just want to make sure that it's understood that this is not something that people aren't looking at. I mean, I'm looking at this almost every day, so -- number one. October 24-25, 2017 Page 113 Number two, yeah, I think we have to be proactive, it's not going to get better, and if we wait till it is a crisis, then -- it's always more expensive to deal with a crisis than head it off at the pass, so... CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, my concern long, long term is that the state government is going to come down and tell us how to do this, and that's my greatest concern. And I'm not talking about in the next 10 years. But, you know, if Florida's growing as fast as they say it's growing, and I kind of believe it is, this is going to become more and more an issue for people moving here. And there is such a move in Tallahassee to get rid of local control and home rule. I think that we need to provide a platform that says that we are working with this to, not to necessarily stop this from happening in Tallahassee, but certainly to have a better -- a better presentation of what we've actually done. I do not know what's coming. I haven't heard anything specific, but it's been a great concern of mine. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, I mean, I guess we need a motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. Don't we have -- don't we have one? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Is there a motion? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. I'd like to make a motion that we accept the county's proposal to the city and that we go back and -- go back and offer to them again and give them an opportunity to reconsider their position, and that's it. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll second your motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. Just for -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Go ahead. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was going to say, just for clarification, make sure I understand what the motion is, it's basically October 24-25, 2017 Page 114 for the county to restate its -- its original offer -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- that's been rejected. And I don't have any problem with that, but I will make a motion subsequent to this one as well. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And it was my understanding that the city already rejected this offer that we're telling them that they need to reconsider -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- and that we were here today to offer our county -- our staff some additional recommendations on potentially how to get there from here. And I don't know if maybe the -- maybe the mayor's watching, and this is -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: They're watching. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm sure they are. That was a little bit of a joke. And what was going to incentivize them, besides our plea to be reasonable, to reconsider, when they have already -- or at least the City Manager has rejected the original proposal that we're suggesting that they reconsider. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think the message that we're sending by her motion is that we have a factual basis for the offer that we're making -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- and we're not going to go any higher. You know, this may be the end of the beach parking agreement, which ends in September. But at least we're saying that, you know, we want to be reasonable, this is a reasonable number, and we're not going to sweeten the pot with more money, and they need to rethink their position on it. And if they say no, then -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We'd like to give them an opportunity October 24-25, 2017 Page 115 to re-think it based on the factual information brought forward at today's meeting. All right. There's a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, say aye. MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, I'm so sorry. You do have one registered speaker on this item; H. Michael Mogil. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We are aware there's concrete. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Beg your pardon. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We're not going to put any concrete on the beach. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I don't know. This parking garage worries me. MR. MOGIL: No, I'm not building a parking garage. For the record, H. Michael Mogil, Vineyards. I'm a meteorologist, and I'm here partially representing my wife, Barbara Levine. She said, if you go to the meeting today, you must say something about the beach parking, so I'm doing that. But, first of all, I just want to say thank you for explaining the situation which the Naples Daily News condensed into a few paragraphs and basically just said you're in disagreement. Wow, what a complicated mess. So I understand it now. I'm glad I stayed for it. But I want to throw some ideas out, because Commissioner Saunders said, thinking outside the box, so did, I think, Commissioner Solis. And I didn't realize about the beach -- you, too. All right. All of you. I didn't realize about the beach shuttles that are here. I'm sitting here going, why don't we have beach shuttles. That's what we did in North Carolina; we had beach shuttles, and I've seen it at other places, too, and we already have them. But maybe we need smaller shuttles so that when they're going to the beach with a handful of people, we don't have to ride a big bus to take five people to the beach. Maybe there's October 24-25, 2017 Page 116 ways of doing that. But I want to throw a different idea out. I've talked about impervious surfaces already. I'm not going to dwell on that, but I'm concerned about the beach issue because every couple years we wind up with beach replenishment, and we wind up the beaches are getting shorter from the beach to the coast, and we're getting more people crammed onto the beaches, and that will be Long Island Beaches and Coney Island and everything else. I want to propose that instead of giving the money to the City of Naples that we take money from the City of Naples and money from Collier County and put it into a beach fund that develops a barrier island off the Collier County beaches that, one, protects the beaches from storm surges and, two, allows the beaches to grow naturally rather than beach replenishment. I don't know if that's a good idea or not, but I'm throwing it out for consideration. If they're county beaches and city beaches all in one, then let's put the money together as one instead of putting it in separate pots; we'll give you this and you give us that and so forth. Let's put it together and work for a common cause. And I think that helps save the beaches. It eliminates this whole business. Yeah, we're giving free parking out and sharing parking, but we're working to make the beaches better for everybody. So that's my idea for consideration. I just framed it here while we were talking, and I'm going to now keep quiet. MR. OCHS: Sir, you may be pleased to know that that is exactly what's being pursued right now through the beach resiliency plan that the Board has adopted. So we're looking to extend the beaches and make them higher and wider and protect them to the extent that the permitting officials will allow. MR. MOGIL: Lee County has barrier islands. We should have them, too. October 24-25, 2017 Page 117 MR. OCHS: We'll do what we can. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: If you can get a permit for a barrier island, let me know. MR. OCHS: Yeah. I was going to say, good luck with that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We're finding it tricky getting a permit to get beach sand. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: You have to go to Dubai for that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Well, there's a motion on the floor and a second. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Terri, are you okay? THE COURT REPORTER: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: One last thing on beaches, beach access. I'd like to make a motion -- and I don't expect to get, you know, a unanimous vote on this, but I think it's something that is important for us to take a look at. I'm going to make a motion that we direct our staff to explore and bring back to us some recommendations on how we can increase beach parking facilities, beach parking garages with different locations -- I don't know. Staff's been working on this for a long time -- to bring that back to us sometime in the next 90 days or so so that we can start October 24-25, 2017 Page 118 making some decisions on how we're going to solve the beach parking. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll second that motion. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Third. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, I'm sorry. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, no, I'll second that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. It's a great idea. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. We have a motion on the floor and a second. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. MR. OCHS: Commissioners, also on that subject, just to close it off, despite our differences, you know, I want to assure the Board that, you know, Bill Moss and I and our staffs continue to work very well together at a very professional level, and all of our discussions have been that way, and will continue to be. So we appreciate our counterparts at the city. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good. Item #11G RECOMMENDATION TO AWARD BID #17-7196, “JANITORIAL SERVICES,” TO UNITED STATES SERVICE INDUSTRIES (USSI) AND 3-H SERVICE SYSTEM, INC., FOR COUNTY-WIDE October 24-25, 2017 Page 119 JANITORIAL CLEANING AND SERVICES IN A BASE CONTRACT AMOUNT OF $1,396,800 – APPROVED MR. OCHS: All right. You've got 11G. It's your last item under the County Manager's agenda. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'd just make a motion to approve. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Second. MR. OCHS: That would be fine, sir. This is a competitive bid contract letting. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Any other discussion? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I had one note, and is there -- and I don't know -- you and I talked a little bit about this yesterday, and it has to do with any exposure from the prior contractor for early termination, or is that part of the agreement in that 30 days each way? MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. I did send you an email later yesterday. You probably didn't get it. But what happened was we had a contract with a fixed term with options to renew. If we want to invoke that renewal clause, we send them a letter. They have an opportunity to accept or reject the renewal. In this case they rejected the renewal offer, so we had to -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Per Commissioner Solis' thought process, no, there is no exposure. MR. OCHS: No. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Got it. MR. OCHS: That's correct. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Short answer. MR. OCHS: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So there's a motion on the floor and a October 24-25, 2017 Page 120 second. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you for staying with us. MR. OCHS: So, Madam Chair, the only other item before we recess until tomorrow, and this is, you know, at the Board's discretion, you can take your staff and commission general communications now, or you can defer that till after your item tomorrow. Whatever the pleasure of the Board would be. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: What's the pleasure of the Board right now? Do you want to do it now? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I would do it tomorrow. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do it tomorrow? Yeah, it's a recessed meeting? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: We'll probably have more comments. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: After that? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So then this meeting is recessed until nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Thank you very much. Thank you, Terri. ***** October 24-25, 2017 Page 121 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida, October 25, 2017 (Day2) 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 CONTINUED REGULAR SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: CHAIRMAN: Penny Taylor Andrew Solis Donna Fiala William L. McDaniel, Jr. Burt L. Saunders ALSO PRESENT: Leo Ochs, County Manager Nick Casalanguida, Deputy County Manager Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney Crystal Kinzel, Director of Finance & Accounting Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations October 24-25, 2017 Page 122 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning. Let's note that this is a continuation of our meeting from yesterday. So at this point we will not say the Pledge of Allegiance or have an invocation; however, I would like -- I would defer to my colleague, Commissioner Donna Fiala, who would like to say a few words about Chick Heithaus. COMMISSIONER FIALA: We lost a good friend about a week ago. You remember the Bayshore Cultural and Performing Arts center project, CAPA, that has been going on for a number of years. Chick has been working so hard to locate that wonderful facility on Bayshore. And Chick and his wife were in Germany a little over a week ago to celebrate his wife's birthday on, last week, Sunday. And they did. They had a great celebration. They were staying with their German friends, and Thursday he had a massive heart attack and left this world to a better place. And I just -- I just want to tell you all, it's a great loss to our whole community. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. So a little housekeeping. We have the meeting also being broadcast, and you can participate on the fifth floor. We also would request that you turn your cell phones off. We don't want to hear dogs barking or trains going down a track if there are speakers. We have a lot of folks here. We love your participation; however, we are human beings, too. So if you would like to be here but give your three minutes to someone else, you can do that. If you find that your words are repetitive from what was said before, you can also come up, identify yourself, and say, I agree with the speaker. That would be another way of doing it; however, we do not want to muffle you. We look for your participation, and we're delighted you're here. And, finally, because I'm chair I'm going to say something, and then we're going to start this meeting. October 24-25, 2017 Page 123 This isn't about putting people in homes that you don't know. These are about the people that take care of you in the hospital, the people that teach your grandchildren, the first responders that worked so hard during the hurricane. This is about my neighbor across the street who's on Social Security whose husband died and she doesn't know if she can stay in her house. It's about seniors, and it's about my children wanting to come back to this community and finding a place to live. That's what this is about. We have a great community, but we're at a crossroads, and that's why this commission has agreed to struggle and to work at this and why we brought the ULI in to guide us in this. But, ultimately, we're here before you and we're open to your comments. But please keep it in mind who we're trying to house. Thank you very much. County Manager? Item #11A (10/25/2017) RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE THE COLLIER COUNTY COMMUNITY HOUSING PLAN AND BEGIN IMPLEMENTATION – MOTION TO ACCEPT THE REPORT AND DIRECT STAFF TO BRING FORWARD EACH SUGGESTION IN THE REPORT INDIVIDUALLY FOR DISCUSSIONS IN WORKSHOPS – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. Commissioners, this takes us to Item 11A on your board meeting agenda this morning. This is a recommendation to approve the Collier County Community Housing Plan and to begin the plan's implementation. The presentation will be started this morning by Cormac Giblin, your housing and grant development manager. Mr. Giblin? October 24-25, 2017 Page 124 MR. GIBLIN: Good morning, Commissioners. For the record, again, my name is Cormac Giblin. I'm your housing and grants development manager in the Community and Human Services Division. Today we are here to present to you the housing plan that's been in the making for going on two years in our community. We will discuss beliefs about housing needs, we will answer what housing that is affordable is and what it is not, we will reveal a new housing demand model to answer the question of how much housing do we need and for whom, we will outline a package of incentives and programs designed to meet the need, and we will show you the impact of that package of programs in our response model. Right from the beginning I'd like to thank the members of the Community Housing -- Housing Plan Stakeholders Group for their direction, their dedication, their time, their effort, and their talents. As you will hear, the preparation of this plan has been a true community effort. We've been very fortunate to have such a broad range of dedicated individuals come together to assist in the creation of this plan. I'd also like to thank my colleagues from Growth Management, Transportation, Real Property, Utilities, and other divisions and departments within the county. This has truly been a countywide effort both internally and externally. Commissioners, to set the stage, I'd like to start by showing a two minute -- brief two-minute video. (A video was played.) "Collier County is our home. With our beautiful beaches, top-notch golf courses, fine dining and shopping, you can't imagine living anywhere else. But in order to keep our community growing, vibrant, and October 24-25, 2017 Page 125 sustainable, we need housing that is affordable for our residents. "Housing that is affordable helps maintain Collier County's reputation as a premier tourist destination, maintains economic growth and a strong real estate base, and keeps our community safe and healthy. In other words, housing that is affordable benefits everyone. "So who needs housing that is affordable? Lots of folks; more than 80,000 people who work in industries ranging from hospitality, education, healthcare, retail, construction, administrative support, personal services, and general laborers. "And many of our seniors and retirees need housing that is affordable too; however, about 40 percent of Collier County's households are cost burdened, meaning 30 percent or more of gross income goes towards mortgage or rent. According to the Urban Land Institute, Collier County absolutely has a housing affordability problem. It's not a crisis yet, but with our continued growth, the problem will only get worse unless something is done. "So what needs to happen to help fix this problem? We've identified six core strategies: First, we must increase the supply of housing that is affordable; second, identify funding sources to support further October 24-25, 2017 Page 126 development of housing that is affordable; third, maintain or restore the existing supply of housing that is affordable; fourth, increase certainty in regulations in governance; fifth, enhance our transportation options; and, sixth, engage, market, and educate the stakeholders, starting with the public. "Housing that is affordable is about people. It's about keeping Collier County strong, vibrant, and growing. If we fail to be a place for everyone, we risk losing what makes Collier County special. From working families to retirees, everyone should have a place to call home." (The video concluded.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Just again, I'm sorry, I'm going to interrupt. Please hand your speaker slips in to Mr. Miller right here. Thank you very much. I think we are going to get some chairs for the hallway, is that correct, or what you would suggest? MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. We're also -- the fifth floor is full. We're going to open up another room -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. MR. OCHS: -- very quickly and let folks know where else they can go to watch. MR. MILLER: We also are efforting speaker slips from the fifth floor down to here, and so wherever else we send people, we will get slips from those rooms as well. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. Because you're not in this room doesn't mean that somehow you're not going to be able to participate. October 24-25, 2017 Page 127 You will be participating. We are going to keep your speaker slips right here. So please be rest assured. And it will be televised so that you will be able to follow it. And we will have runners letting you know that you might be the second or third speaker after the speaker that's at the podium. So please come on down. Please don't be hesitant. It's going to be a long meeting. Thank you very much. And at some point the fire marshal's going to come and knock at our door, so -- you know how that works -- MR. GIBLIN: All right. Commissioners, with that, I'd like to introduce Mr. Stephen Hruby to help take us through the next section of the presentation. Stephen is the chair of your Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and has helped in the preparation of the housing plan. Stephen? MR. HRUBY: Good morning, Commissioners. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning. MR. HRUBY: Before we can begin to talk about data and numbers, incentives and programs, we need to acknowledge that all of us have our own beliefs and bias about the needs of housing that is affordable in Collier County. Some of us believe that there's no problem at all while others of us believe we're in a crisis situation. Some of us believe that the laws of supply and demand and market forces will address the problem without any intervention. Others of us believe that some form of intervention is necessary to incentivize and motivate the marketplace. However, in this process our stakeholders and participants transcended these systems -- these belief systems to focus on developing a plan that is fact based. Here are some undeniable facts that we -- that the stakeholders based their analysis on. Which one? October 24-25, 2017 Page 128 MR. GIBLIN: Right -- MR. HRUBY: Not happening. Technical problems. 61 percent of the jobs in Collier County pay less than $33,250 per year. That's a fact. More than 57,000 households in Collier County are cost burdened. That's a fact. Apartment rental rates have increased over 15 percent just in the past year. That is also a fact. Our Chamber of Commerce has identified affordable housing as its number one public policy issue. That is also a fact. Those earning a median wage cannot afford a median priced home in Collier County. A four-person household, their median income is a little over $68,000 a year, while the median sale price for a house in Collier County is $327,000. Those are facts. Sheriff Rambosk, Superintendent Patton, and many other employers have had difficulty attracting and, more importantly, retaining employees due to the high cost of housing. That's a fact as well. According to the census, 40,000 people commute daily from other counties in the region to Collier County for employment, thus taking their salaries and their wages out of the county and spending it elsewhere. That's a fact. There is little or no vacancies in our multifamily apartments throughout the county. That, too, is a fact. There's some commonly asked questions throughout the years. For years these questions have been asked about what housing that's affordable is. What is affordable housing, who needs affordable housing, and how much do we need? I will answer the first question, and then I'll turn it back to Cormac for him to address the other two questions. Let me start by addressing what affordable -- housing that's affordable is not. These photographs are not what housing that's affordable in Collier County is. Affordable housing is not public October 24-25, 2017 Page 129 housing. Affordable housing is not the infamous Cabrini Green projects of Chicago and other dense public housing in urban areas of the county. Affordable housing is not the slums, and affordable housing does not drain the neighborhood property values. There is no credible study that we know of that successfully correlated the addition of affordable housing into a neighborhood that lowered its property values. What is housing that's affordable? It's safe, decent, and affordable to its occupants. It is housing that costs less than 30 percent of a family's monthly or annual income. Here are several examples of housing that's affordable right here in Collier County. From left to right we have single-family homes that are developed in North Naples, an affordable housing complex in Golden Gate, and a single-family rental development in Immokalee. Furthermore, we have, from the upper left, clockwise, we have villas that were built in the Preserves at Bristol Pines, townhouses built in Cypress Glen, condos built in Botanical Place, and apartment homes in Heritage Bay. Affordable housing that's throughout the county. Commissioners, this is what we are talking about when we say housing that's affordable. It's safe, decent, attractive housing that is virtually indistinguishable from everything in the surrounding community, other than the fact that its buyers or renters are able to live within their means and spend less than 30 percent of their income under housing expenses. And now I'd like to turn this conversation back to Cormac to talk about the remaining questions: Who needs affordable housing and how much do we really need? Cormac. MR. GIBLIN: Thank you, Stephen. Commissioners, an initial and ongoing struggle in answering that second question of who needs affordable housing has been achieving a October 24-25, 2017 Page 130 common understanding of the definition of affordable housing as well as how that housing is tracked and reported in order to inform decision-making. This plan recommends a new and simple definition of affordable housing to be in line with federal and state definitions. It focuses on the household income in determining whether or not housing is affordable. Under the definition, if a household spends less than 30 percent of their gross income on housing, then it is affordable. The definition is inclusive of all populations, including seniors and persons with special needs. The plan introduces a new definition of affordable housing to quantify the number of approved affordable housing units which are those that are restricted, income verified, and price restricted for a period of time, as well as a new category of affordable housing called unrestricted market rate affordable housing. This refers to units that may be naturally occurring affordably in the market but are unrestricted with no income or price restrictions. There is no knowledge of or restriction on the income or costs of the household. The most prevalent reasons that these housing units are valued as such, that they may be affordable or that they may be perceived to be affordable, have to do with factors such as location, age of the units, condition, type, and size of the units. The units that may be affordable in this category will fluctuate as the market conditions change; however, this new definition attempts to quantify units that may naturally occur in the open market based on their value assessed by the Property Appraiser. The housing plan shows that there are 10,766 approved affordable housing units and 78,127 unrestricted market rate affordable units in Collier County. Within our definition of affordable housing there are certain targeted income levels that are expressed as percentage of median October 24-25, 2017 Page 131 income based on family size. In Collier County, it is proposed to focus on those households from zero up to 140 percent of median income. This slide shows the actual incomes for a family of three that fall within those ranges and some typical occupations within those incomes. This slide shows how much those households can afford to pay in rent per month for a two-bedroom, and here's how much they can afford to buy purchasing a home or condo. One of the biggest problems identified in the plan is that there is very little vacancy or inventory available at those levels. We'll get into this in more detail coming up in the presentation as the demand model and response models are presented. Let's take a second now to review what we've been through. We have a new definition of affordable housing and a new reporting format that includes more than just approved restricted affordable units. We know what incomes our definition addresses, we know what jobs and occupations make up those incomes, and we know what those households can afford in rent, and we know what those households can afford to buy. So now that brings us to what we'll call the big question, because after knowing what affordable housing is and what it is not and then learning who affordable housing is for as well as what they can afford and earn, we are then left with answering how much affordable housing is needed as well as what type and where. Let me start in reverse with the "where." We want to emphasize that this housing can be anywhere in the county. The Community Housing Plan is intended to be applicable to all areas of Collier County. Also, let me say that it is recommended in the plan that whatever strategies or incentives are adopted for the unincorporated area of the county, that the incorporated cities also strive to adopt similar proposals. October 24-25, 2017 Page 132 The stakeholders groups' message is that all of Collier County should be open for business to produce affordable housing. Now to move on to the question of how many units are needed, for whom, and what types. Collier County does already have a housing demand model. This model was approved by the Board of County Commissioners in March of 2014. It measures new entrants to the county based on population growth, it assesses their household incomes, it looks at the existing supply of rental and for-sale inventory in those price ranges, and computes a need. The current model shows a gross demand of 1,817 units and an existing supply of 1,323 units for purchase and 499 available purchases for rent, for a total of 1,822 units available. So at first blush, you could look at this and conclude that supply matches demand and there is no problem; however, if you look at the supply columns as to what incomes the available product is affordable to, you see a severe disconnect, with virtually no units available at the lower levels. It does not target the incomes of the need. Another glaring shortcoming of this model is that it assumes that everyone who is already living in Collier County is living here affordably and has no need for additional affordable units. It ignores the over 57,000 households currently living in Collier County who are cost burdened or those who spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing expenses who desperately need additional affordable units. The Community Housing Plan introduces a new housing demand model that seeks to overcome the shortcomings of the previous model. It uses the county's entire housing supply, calculates a gross need, accounts for existing supply, and computes a remaining annual need. One other addition is that it uses the demand not only from population growth but also the demand generated by striving to reduce the number of cost-burdened households by just 1 percent. This finally establishes October 24-25, 2017 Page 133 a level of service to quantify the county's need for affordable units at specific income levels. Here's a look at the complete model showing exactly how many units are needed, what incomes they are needed for, and what types of units they are; rental or owner occupied. The plan document goes into great detail on the math, assumptions, and metrics behind the model, and some of the footnoted sources on notes are shown here. At the very high level, the model shows the current and future housing need, and the greatest need for affordable units falls within the rental category for households less than 80 percent of median income. Another quick pause for review. We have now talked about the existing demand model and its shortcomings, shown the benefits of a new housing demand model, we have used the model to show where the greatest needs are for who and what, we've developed a model that addresses current needs, not only those of the future, and it uses real-time availability and is easily updated. Commissioners, we'll now speak briefly about the approach and process that went into creating this housing plan. Your charge to us was to develop a plan that used wide stakeholder input to come up with a product that was to be realistic, flexible, able to respond to market conditions, and that would meet the current and future needs of our residents. To assist in development of the plan, you created the Collier County Housing Plan Stakeholder Group. The charter of that group states that there was not a cohesive, inclusive, and rational plan in place to meet the short- and longer-term housing needs in our community, and it has been directed by the Board of County Commissioners to develop such a plan. Over 40 members of the group represented all sectors of our community and economy. The group met in the Sunshine and held over 20 full committee meetings, more than 30 subcommittee meetings, five public hearings, presented at various advisory boards, October 24-25, 2017 Page 134 took feedback from over 120 stakeholder interviews, took a bus tour to every commissioner district, sent out over 3,500 email notifications, developed a website presence, and issued multiple press releases and news articles. Early in the process, the stakeholder group decided to seek some strategic guidance and brought in the Urban Land Institute to form an expert services panel. With that engagement came extensive community engagement, detailed background and data analysis, and high-level policy recommendations. The chairman of that panel is here today with us, Mr. Philip Payne. He's come back to join us at the end of this process, and you'll be hearing from him a little later in the presentation. The ULI described Collier County as Mayberry meets Rodeo Drive. They said we have a small-town feel and beliefs coupled with world-class style and resources. The ULI stressed that affordable housing is an economic issue, not a social issue, that needs to be addressed to retain the working base of the community. The ULI suggested reframing the discussion from affordable housing to housing affordability to be inclusive of all ranges, all income segments, and all housing types. The ULI used the concept of cost burdened to quantify affordability. Simply put, cost burdened is if you spend more than 30 percent of your gross household income on housing-related expenses. They said that having a high cost burdened percentage drives people out of the county for housing along with their spending power. The ULI looked at employment in Collier County and found that public safety, healthcare, education, service workers, and entry to mid-level professionals make up more than 50 percent of all the jobs in Collier County. These are the first responders, the educators of our children, and those that provide us healthcare. They found that there was insufficient availability in our market for these income categories. October 24-25, 2017 Page 135 The ULI looked at employment in -- the ULI looked further to see if people in these occupations could find and afford housing in our market. They found that of these 13 to 15 sample jobs and their entry to mid-level salaries, only four out of 13 could afford the median rental costs in Collier County, none of them could afford to buy the median-priced home, and only seven could afford a home at even half the median. They determined that two out of five households in Collier County are cost burdened or currently living here unaffordably and that one out of five are severely cost burdened, meaning that they must spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing expenses. Over 17 percent of our workforce, or about 40,000 people, commute daily from outside of Collier County; 32 percent of your own Board of County Commissioner employees drive more than 30 minutes each day to work; 5 percent of those drive more than 60 minutes each way. One thousand Collier County Public Schools' employees do not live in Collier County. This affects the Sheriff, the city, our hotels, and other major employers. Remember that 61 percent of the jobs in Collier County pay less than $33,250 a year. This chart compares Collier County's cost burdened percentage to that of other counties in our region and to that of our similar coastal counties throughout Florida with like populations. It shows that Collier's cost burden percentage is higher than our nearest competitor, Lee County, and much higher than others in our region and other similar counties throughout the state. In February 2017, the Board of County Commissioners held a workshop to review the housing stakeholder group direction given from the ULI. The Board gave the group direction -- sought direction on 35 individual recommendations made by the ULI. The Board moved that the stakeholder group should move forward with 28 of the 35 recommendations. October 24-25, 2017 Page 136 In the ULI's final report to the Board, they cautioned that what is abundantly clear to the panel is that action and implementation are crucial to creating sustainable solutions. Having received its marching orders from the Board of County Commissioners, the stakeholder group then began its committee work on the 28 individual recommendations. The stakeholder group used the same categories to group the recommendations into high priorities and other priorities, including strategies that increase the supply of housing, strategies that increase certainty in the process, community land trust and review of publicly owned land, and to provide stable funding sources for housing. The other priorities explored were strategies that addressed transportation needs and strategies for communication and outreach. To guide them in their work, the stakeholder group adopted the following mission on June 19, 2017, which was to provide the residents of Collier County a diverse range of accessible housing options. Now we'll go through a high-level review of the incentives and proposals contained in the Community Housing Plan. The first set of recommendations are those that increase certainty and reduce cost. Throughout this process, the stakeholder group heard from those in the development industry that certainty is key to providing affordable housing. The plan recommends allowing the conversion of high intensity commercial uses to less intense residential uses. It recommends allowing developers of housing that is affordable to get half of the available density bonus with four units to the acre by right. This would result in a maximum of seven or eight gross units per acre for the development. Public notice and hearings would still be required to rezone the property. The plan suggests revamping the expedited review process to October 24-25, 2017 Page 137 allow for interactive in-person reviews to quickly clear discrepancies. Again, all while maintaining all public notice, involvement, and hearing requirements. The plan recommends a series of cost-saving infrastructure requirements to lower development costs. A real-world case study was performed by an engineering and consulting firm to look at the potential savings that could have been realized on a recently completed single-family home development in North Naples. It was found that by implementing the recommendations in the plan, a cost savings of $7,000 per unit could be realized. This is profound given the fact that according to the National Homebuilders Association, every $1,000 added or subtracted from the price of a home in Collier County either allows 189 additional households to purchase the median priced home or puts that home out of reach. This means that over 1,300 new homes could have been affordable just by making these cost-saving changes. The next set of recommendations deal with increased density. The plan suggests that the Board of County Commissioners create strategic opportunity sites where additional densities above the current maximums may be permitted; for example, a new corporate headquarters site or business park. The plan also recommends requiring the future -- that future development or redevelopment of our activity centers include a residential component. Also in the plan is a suggestion to increase the bonus in the current affordable housing density bonus program from eight units to 12 units per acre in order to allow the project to achieve the maximum allowable density of 16 units. The Board of County Commissioners would still approve the density through public hearings, and the end product would still live within the current density caps of Collier County. Another quick section summary. The plan moves us forward October 24-25, 2017 Page 138 with recommendations that reduce regulation, increase certainty, reduce costs, reduce delays, encourage the development of housing that is affordable. These are the very ingredients we heard from the development industry that were necessary to address housing affordability. Also recommended by the plan is the creation of a mixed income housing ordinance. This would require every new development to address housing affordability. It would reward those developments that incorporate a mixture of housing types and incomes with a density bonus of 30 percent. There are multiple other options available to meet the requirement, including buying your way out for $127,000 per unit, which is the difference between what a household at moderate income can afford, $200,000, and what the median priced home is, $327,000. This strategy is paramount to increasing supply long term. This slide explains how the mixed income ordinance would work should a developer use the incentives and bonuses available. I'll walk you through from left to right. In a typical development you would have a base density of four units to the acre and a 50-acre site. They could build 200 market-rate units through the current system. Applying the mixed-income housing requirement, they would need to provide 15 units at mixed incomes in exchange for a 30 percent density bonus. That would yield them 260 units on the same site. They would still build their original 200 market-rate units, plus an additional 21 bonus market-rate units in exchange for providing the 39 affordable units, 13 at each of the designated income ranges. The resulting new density of the development would only be 5.2 units to the acre. This slide shows a 10-year history of PUD unit approvals by the Board of County Commissioners. Should a mixed-income housing requirement be adopted at the 15 percent level, it would be projected to produce 183 units in 2017 and would have created nearly 2,000 affordable units over the past 10 years. A quick summary of the October 24-25, 2017 Page 139 mixed-income house ordinance. It provides flexibility through multiple provisions, including building units on site with the density bonus, building units off site, providing a land donation, partnering with other providers, or even "outside the box" options that could be adopted on a case-by-case basis by the Board of County Commissioners. The last resort would be the fee in lieu. The next recommendation from the density and certainty group is to look at the benefits of adopting a smart code as the county moves forward with Growth Management Plan restudy areas that are currently working through the process. The plan also suggests some fine-tuning our existing impact fee deferral program. Collier's impact fee deferral program is very sophisticated. It's based on a de minimis amount. It defers impact fees on units up to 120 percent of median income and can be used for both rental and for-sale units. Capacity of the program is capped at no more than 3 percent of the prior year's total impact fee collections. The suggested fine-tuning is to increase the deferral period for rental developments to 30 years, forgive owner-occupied deferrals after 15 years, increase participants in the program up to 140 percent of the median income to include gap housing, and add capacity to the program, increasing it from 3 up to 4 or 5 percent of prior year collections, which would add an additional 100 homes and capacity to the program. The next section of the plan addresses the recommendation to develop local, stable, recurring funding sources to address housing affordability. Recommendation No. 1 is to reinstate the Local Housing Trust Fund. This is a national best practice that Collier County currently has at its disposal but does not use. There are more than 700 local housing trust funds nationwide, and they are often a critical element of a jurisdiction's overall housing policy. Housing trust funds are October 24-25, 2017 Page 140 established sources of funding for affordable housing, construction, and other related purposes. Given the long planning process involved in housing development, Collier County's Housing Trust Fund should be sustainable and predictable. Recommendation No. 2 is to actually fund the Local Housing Trust Fund. A variety of funding sources are recommended with each doing its part to contribute to the trust fund while still not overburdening any one particular sector. These range from lobbying for increased grant funding and housing linkage fees to partnering on a sales tax referendum and General Fund support. With a local source of funding, the local decision on where and who to use funds for can be made. It would allow the Board to target -- target specific incomes that are inaccessible with current grant funding. It is also recommended that at least 10 percent of all local housing trust funds be dedicated to housing for seniors and those with special needs. One of the sources identified to fund the Local Housing Trust Fund is a nonresidential linkage fee. A linkage fee is charged to new development to address the affordable housing demand it itself creates. Several counties and cities throughout Florida currently implement linkage fees ranging from less than $1 per foot to more than $35 per foot in Monroe County. A nexus study completed for Collier County in 2006 concluded that linkage fee of up $43.46 per square foot was justifiable and legally defensible to address the housing demands created by employment in Collier County. The stakeholder group recommends approval of a nonresidential housing linkage fee be adopted in Collier County at $1 per square foot. If implemented at $1 a foot, the linkage fee would be projected to collect $1.9 million in 2017 and could have collected nearly $5 million over the past four years to be used for housing affordability. October 24-25, 2017 Page 141 A summary on the Local Housing Trust Fund is that it allows local control. A modest linkage fee would move us forward and allow us to address the backlog of affordable units. It suggests a wide range of funding sources where everyone participates, all income levels may be assisted, and it would create leverage opportunities, typically at 10 to 1, 25 to 1 in a housing development. The Community Land Trust and Public Lands Review Committee recommends the creation of a community land trust. A community land trust takes the costs of the land and infrastructure out of the cost of the home. There are several community land trusts in Florida. It also guarantees that those homes will be affordable in perpetuity. The committee recommends that the Board of County Commissioners establish a public policy that places a priority for housing in all future public land acquisitions. For example, when acquiring a site for a new library, the Board should look for a way to see how affordable housing could be incorporated into that plan. Like, perhaps, some senior apartments located on the second or third floors of a new library. The Transportation Committee took the ULI's advice when they said the workforce of Collier County needs a range of transportation options that align with and support a range of housing choices in a variety of areas. The Transportation recommendations are to evaluate all existing transit routes in relation to housing locations and major job centers, explore multi-modal alternatives within gated communities, consider land development regulations requiring an ungated central internal roadway, and require development to accommodate transit as part of its development. Also suggested is to establish non-peak and peak schedules with higher frequency during peak hours. The plan also makes several recommendations for communication and outreach. Those are to increase access to October 24-25, 2017 Page 142 information with the creation of a one-stop housing website that would house the current inventory of affordable housing availability. It would provide links to information and resources outlining all available programs. There would be an easy application process for developers and applicants. Commissioners, now we can see what happens when we put all of this together. Remember from earlier here is the demand model that shows the need for 1,665 units at various income levels. The response model begins to plug the creation of actual units through each of the incentives described in the Community Housing Plan. We can see the number of new affordable units that are attributed to increased density and certainty, we can see the number of new affordable units and types created through a linkage fee mixed income housing ordinance, and we can see the number and type of units created through a land trust and expanded grand funding. And what we find is that when all of these strategies are implemented to work together, we have the potential to create 1,265 new affordable housing units. But you can see there's still a gap between our projected need and our projected response of about 400 units. Commissioners, there are alternatives available that could generate any number of possible outcomes. A $5 linkage fee would result in 1,465 units created; a 20 percent mixed-income housing requirement would result in 1,330 units created. Should you decide not to adopt any linkage fee or mixed-income housing requirement, only 915 units would be created. If you're looking for a plan that is balanced -- that balances the need and response, a $7.50 linkage fee and a 20 percent mixed-income housing requirement could get you there. But, again, this plan does not recommend any of that. It has been described in the public as a modest plan, a package deal, and a balanced approach that, again, takes great effort not to overly burden October 24-25, 2017 Page 143 any one area. And now, Commissioners, it's time for a reality check. This is a long-range plan. It will not create units overnight, or maybe not even for a couple years. Funds identified may not be available for use for quite some time, and some items may take more than a year just to be implemented. There is no silver bullet when trying to address housing affordability. The suite of programs, strategies, and incentives described in this plan are intended to work in concert to produce the best results based on national best practices coupled with local data and control. Commissioners, now I'd like to bring up Michael Dalby. Michael is the CEO of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, and he's also serves as vice chair of the Housing Stakeholder Group. MR. DALBY: First off, thank you, Commissioner Taylor, for your opening statement. That really kind of put it in context. And thanks to all of the commissioners for taking the time and making available the resources to address this issue. I'd like to spend just a few moments with you talking about the benefits of the plan. One of the main goals of the stakeholder group that we kept in mind when drafting this plan was to be cognizant of not overburdening any one sector of our economy with the responsibility to fix Collier County's housing affordability problem. With that in mind, the stakeholder group developed a plan in which everyone participates. The development industry, the general public, the nonprofit organizations, for-profit builders, employers, and government agencies all have a role to play in addressing this issue because it's not just a social issue. This is an economic issue and a quality-of-life issue that impacts all of our citizens. Some of the benefits of this plan are that it meets a statutory obligation for the county to have a plan that provides housing options for all its residents. This plan increases supply where it's needed, it October 24-25, 2017 Page 144 reduces the number of citizen housing units currently cost burdened, it increases our opportunity to sustain a vibrant economy and very high quality of life. The plan helps employers and employees, and you'll hear more about that later. The plan develops stable revenue streams to continue to meet needs and implements a rational needs and response model for decision making that includes a matrices to track future successes, and the plan results in a balanced conservative approach. Commissioners, in February the ULI cautioned us by pointing out the growth implications of failing to address this issue which will result in, quote, at minimum, 11,000 more households that will experience severe cost burden above 50 percent than even exists today. The stakeholder group has concluded that the time to address this issue is now. This Community Housing Plan contains an implementation schedule ranging from immediate actions, such as accepting this plan, to short-term and long-term items ranging out up to 10 years. Each of the individual recommendations in the plan are proposed to come back to you for final approval through the appropriate mechanisms before enactment, such as an LDC amendment, ordinance approval, requests for proposals, public/private partnership, or other methods; a continuation of that implementation schedule. And one final slide, I think. Commissioners, it's the recommendation of your Community Housing Plan Stakeholders Group that you approve this plan. As you know, the Housing Stakeholders Group and the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee endorsed this plan. The plan has also been supported by and recommended for adoption by the following organizations in Collier County: The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, Naples Community Hospital Healthcare Systems, Jewish Family and Community Services of Southwest Florida, the Urban Land Institute, the Collier Citizens Council, the Habitat for Humanity of Collier October 24-25, 2017 Page 145 County, the Collier County Sheriff's Office, Arthrex, the Collier County Housing Authority, and the United Way of Collier County, among others. And, Commissioners, at this time I'd like to have a few of the members of the stakeholder group to share a few words, beginning with Renee Thigpen of NCH. Mike Boose of Arthrex. MR. BOOSE: Thank you, Michael. Good morning, Commissioners, and thank you very much for the opportunity to present this morning on behalf of the committee but also to represent Arthrex as one of the larger employers, our perception in terms of the needs of this plan. So this is a process that started well over two years ago, and it's also a process that Collier County is already familiar with. Affordable housing is not just an issue of the moment; it is an issue that the county has struggled with over the years. So we really truly believe from the stakeholder committee standpoint that this is the time to establish a vision for the next 20, 25 years, 30 years of what Collier County is going to look like and what we're going to grow to become, building upon the successes that the commissioners, current board as well as prior boards, have done to establish as a fantastic place to live. When we first began this process of understanding what workforce housing is, really the first piece was that definition: What does workforce housing mean and to whom? And, quite frankly, we found out that we didn't have a common definition. And so it took us a lot of time as a stakeholder committee to come up with that definition and understand the various groups that were served and needed to potentially be served by workforce housing. From a large employer standpoint with well over 2,000 employees that are based in Collier County and over 3,000 employees in the Southwest Florida region, for us it was about our entry-level October 24-25, 2017 Page 146 employees. It was about our young professionals that would come in and join us with degrees in engineering and accounting and industrial technologies and IT types of positions, but it also came very rapidly apparentness about teachers, it's about firefighters, it's about service support, and it's about our landscapers; it's about the folks who help us live and keep the quality of life that we have. If we're not able to come to a plan, we will continue to have negative impact -- agreement on plan, we'll continue to have negative impact on things like traffic congestion. Just getting in and out of the county has become more and more difficult. All you have to do is drive 75 and Immokalee Road at seven o'clock in the morning, eight o'clock in the morning or four o'clock to six o'clock in the evening to understand the type of challenges that that presents. Having residence-base support, sheriff's officials and county deputies, that live here within the county is extremely important, because then they know our communities, they know us; they're invested in the success of the county. And so it is much broader than any one single organization. It is much broader than any one singe perspective. And so the plan that's been developed and then presented is not perfect. It does not suit any one particular organization specific needs, but it does really truly address and begin the process of establishing that vision. Once that vision, that plan is implemented, then employers, developers, community members can begin to establish how do we work within this plan to maintain quality of life yet at the same time be able to provide places to live for people who are helping us have the type of community that we have had and will continue to have. So on behalf of Reinhold Schmieding, the owner of Arthrex, who was a part of this process and who graciously allowed me to invest my time in serving on this stakeholder committee on behalf of our October 24-25, 2017 Page 147 leadership, on behalf of the transportation subcommittee for which I was able to participate, and, quite frankly, on behalf of a fabulous experience getting to know the experts within Collier County Government and their knowledge into this issue. It was a fantastic experience, it was a challenging experience, and we do believe that we have come up with a plan that -- again, it's not perfect, but it's good, and it does establish a long-term vision that we then all can begin to work with. So, with that, thank you very, very much. I appreciate it. Nick. MS. DANIELSON: Good morning. I'm Sandy Danielson, and I'm the talent acquisition manager with the NCH Healthcare System. I deal day to day with my team with recruiting and trying to recruit healthcare providers to our area. And we are very challenged with the affordable housing to warrant an individual to come and join us with our facility and work and live in the area. A lot of our folks live in Lee County or counties further up north, and they commute. One of our challenges is to retain them, because after commuting in a season, after being here during season, it's a challenge. And so they decide to live closer and work closer to where they live. So they tend to go to our competitors, which causes a challenge. We have our entry-level positions that have difficulty finding housing here. Those are your medical assistants. Those are the folks -- the PSRs that work in the doctors' offices, our CNAs that help the nurses. We also have challenges with our respiratory therapists and our physical therapists and our nurses. We supply the athletic trainers in the school systems, as well as our school nurses. Another challenge we have is our seasonal folks. With the influx of the population in season, our census goes up, and we have seasonal folks who come and join us from up north or northern cities in Florida, and they work here, six-, seven-month agreements, but they also have a home back where they live, and they need to find a home here that's October 24-25, 2017 Page 148 affordable to live while they're here working during our high peak season. And so we find those challenges every day when recruiting. We're very excited to get somebody hooked to an offer and then, lo and behold, they can't afford to live here, so it does become a challenge. So I hope we can find more affordable housing within this area so we can employ more healthcare providers as we grow as an organization. So thank you. MR. KOULOHERAS: Good morning, Commissioners. Nick Kouloheras. First and foremost, I'd like to thank you. This is a daunting task to take on. It encompasses everyone in this room, it encompasses all of our employers, all of our suppliers, everyone that has a stake here in Collier County. So it's not easy to get consensus amongst everyone that it's the right -- that it's a perfect plan. But that being said, I would like to just talk to you a little bit about how this plan helps the developer/construction company that builds affordable housing here in Collier County. Through these processes that we've recommended as a stakeholder committee, it gives certainty to a development. It looks at time, and it looks at money, and it looks at the time value of that money. And with that savings, we can pass that, then, further down the road to the end-user. We can pass it down the road to the construction worker, to the nurse, to the firefighter, whoever it may be. And the other way I also like to look at it, besides dropping the price point to a home so that affordability becomes more attainable to all of our residents, think of the aesthetics as well. There's ways to drop prices, as in the study, the quick analysis we did of $7,000 per unit. Think of that $7,000, and if it took five of those $7,000 to bring it down to an affordable price point, as Cormac said, right, as the National Homebuilders said, for every thousand dollars, I believe, is October 24-25, 2017 Page 149 186 homes become either affordable or unaffordable. You then even have a delta there of $2,000 where you can go and help create aesthetics value within that community and within those homes, and the slides up here show some of the great stuff we already have in Collier County and some of the stuff that I believe we don't want it to look like. So these cost-saving measures that can take place through -- I don't want to call them simple, but Land Development Code changes because there is a process behind that, and it's tedious as well, but those things are -- those items that we've recommended, we looked at, do not jeopardize the health, safety, or welfare of the county residents. And I think that's important as we think this through, that we can make these subtle changes and have no negative impact on the county as a whole and, in the process, we can turn out more units that are affordable. So, once again, I want to thank you for your time. I want to thank the stakeholder committee. Please remember that these were all volunteers. These folks took time out of their busy schedules, and they were very busy schedules, and is putting countless hours to try to develop it, not because they were getting paid, not because they wanted a pat on the back, but because they felt it was the right thing to do for this county. So thank you very much for your time. Now I'd like to introduce Steve, please. MR. SANDERSON: Good morning. Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to comment. My name is Steve Sanderson, and I'm president and CEO for the United Way of Collier County. We're a platform for community service. We fund over 32 partners and nonprofits serving over 100,000 of our friends and neighbors right here in Collier County. We also administer the Collier 211 help line for anyone that needs help and deploy and engage hundreds of volunteers October 24-25, 2017 Page 150 in reviewing agencies and providing hands-on volunteer projects through the Volunteer Collier Initiative. I'm also appointed and active member of the stakeholder group, and thank you for that honor. It's a pleasure to speak on behalf of the hundreds of investors and stakeholders invested in this work, as you've already learned. But simply put for me, it's time to leave our legacy and plant the seed for our future. It all started in my -- in my world in October 2015 where the United Way of Collier County, along with the Chamber and the county and local elected officials, several of you here today and your predecessors, and business communities, came together for a community and economic development forum to discuss the increasing needs for housing in Collier County. We focused on the development of innovative, scalable solutions to fulfill this need. Those of you that might remember, David Jackson, a visiting community and economic development advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, joined our community, and he came with various credentialed panel speakers. At that same time, we were producing various reports, one of which has been cited in here, the ALICE report, whose data was just overwhelming, citing and highlighting cost burden to our hard-working, employed, and our seniors that reside in this community. Fast-forwarding from that day in October of 2015 to June of 2016 to a gathering similarly sized to what we have today, with a similar type of discussion, the commission, your predecessors, wisely voted to move forward with the concept of today's stakeholder committee, of which you're hearing today's report from. The amount of community support at that meeting, similar to the one here today, reinforced our understanding of the need to find and address solutions to this. October 24-25, 2017 Page 151 And I thank you personally, each and every one of you current Collier County Commissioners, for tackling this issue and charting the course for those who will follow in your footsteps as commissioners, as did your predecessors leading us to today. We have the opportunity to build on the promise of building a better community for all our citizens. The county staff and stakeholder committee, your work has not gone unnoticed, in particular by organizations like myself and those of us in this room seeking hope and solutions for our collective future. But, most importantly, to everyone in this room that's already been shared in our opening comments and those watching or listening in, as we need to be reminded, this is not about statistics. It's not about housing. It's about homes. It's about work forces. It's about the life blood of our community. It's about families, lives, and livelihoods. It's about our children's education, teachers; it's about our safety, police, fire, and boy do we know that now after going through this hurricane and how wonderful those people are to have been here. It's about first responders. It's about our service industry that maintains the beauty of the environment that we're blessed to be here in, and those who provide quality experiences and services for our seasonal community, and all our care providers, should any of us become ill. It's about hardworking people, employers, and seniors all making a difference in the quality of life for our community. Yes, this is a challenging multi-faceted issue that requires leadership. It requires your leadership. It requires our leadership to get us started. We have a community and your stakeholders behind you. I encourage you to make the tough decisions to propel us forward. Today's effort, however, is only just the beginning for our community, and in some ways may not go far enough, though it is a beginning, and every journey starts with a first step. October 24-25, 2017 Page 152 I wholeheartedly support the concept of your committing to implement this community plan, encourage your adoption of its results and focused approach. Thank you for the opportunity to comment. And I think Michael -- or who's back up? Thanks again. Thank you. MR. KOULOHERAS: I want to make sure I go in the correct order here, I apologize. Yes, Michael; I'm sorry. Michael Dalby. MR. DALBY: I'm not going to take much time. You get the picture, and we understand this. And we just appreciate that you're taking the time to address. I'll take a moment here to give some kudos to Cormac and Kim and others from the staff that got involved with this. Amazing amount of work that they did, and we can't thank them enough for helping us and putting all the information all together for us. So thank you for your staff. Thank you for the commitment from there, and we appreciate your addressing the issue. MR. HRUBY: For the record, I'm Stephen Hruby. I chair the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. First of all, I just would like to thank this commission for their vision and their leadership and their funding to make this happen. After -- I've been on -- chairing this committee for 10 years, and this is the -- I really feel this is the first momentum that has picked up. I'd also like to thank Mr. Payne and his ULI panel. You'll here more from Mr. Payne in a moment after I'm done. The stakeholders committee, they were fantastic, and they've dedicated so much of their time and energy and effort, as well as the staff. Your staff is -- you know, just has spent countless hours and given serious deliberation and research to craft this plan. I just have a few comments that probably are redundant; some of them you already heard, but I just would like to quickly go through it. October 24-25, 2017 Page 153 First of all, the issue of housing affordability in Collier County is not a social issue, which many people believe it is. It's not welfare. It's not subsidizing the lives of segments of our population. It's an economic issue, and we have to keep focus on that. It's an economic issue about sustaining, diversifying, and growing our economy. It's about attracting the brightest, most skilled, and dedicated workforce and retaining them, most importantly. It's about ensuring that we have the finest healthcare, a world-class education system, and dedicated first responders. It's about providing a community where our children can and want to return to establish their careers here in Collier County after they finish their college education. It's about making it reasonable for our senior citizens on fixed income to age in place and remain in their communities securely and confidently. It's about the majority of our residents who are housing cost burdened and who potentially decline the property values in our neighborhood due to the deferred maintenance and neglect that this condition results in. The solution to this problem is not solely the government's -- centered in government, nor is it solely the responsibility of any segment of the private sector. This is a problem that impacts us all and, therefore, it's a problem for the entire community and all segments of this community. The solution lies in a public/private sector's cooperative partnerships to achieve a common goal, and I think that's what this plan has been driving to do, to pull together all the segments of the community and all the segments of government toward a common goal. In my 10 years I have -- that I've chaired AHAC, this is the first time I've seen a real serious conversation within the community about housing. It's the first time I have seen the major segments of the business and institutional community come together to address the problem despite their self-interest and their ideological differences. October 24-25, 2017 Page 154 I'm very encouraged, and I am hopeful that we have moved this agenda forward and we are looking toward the future rather than toward the past. This plan is not perfect. No, we need to do some refinement, we need to continue to vet it. It will take further refinement, detailing, and vetting before it becomes a sound plan. It's a good foundation to work from. I encourage you to adopt the plan, to direct your staff to make the necessary refinements, and to continue vetting the details through the stakeholder group and in the community with community town hall meetings. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. So I think right now I'm going to see if -- MR. HRUBY: We have Mr. Payne. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh. MR. PAYNE: He didn't say anything, so I thought maybe I didn't know. I could cut my time short and use your thing of saying "I agree" and just sit down, but I won't because that's not in my nature, and there are some things that I don't -- I mostly agree, okay. There are a few areas that we'd like to talk about, but in the interest of time, I am going to cut to this sort of cryptic broad view thing, and we can deal with specific issues in the question and answer session, okay. First of all, I want to thank you for having me here. ULI wants to thank you for having me here. Getting ready for this, in the last week I've had many hours of conference calls with people at ULI, the leadership and the staff and the members of the panel, and one thing is -- they have two things I'm supposed to communicate with you: One, we are all very impressed with the amount of thought, effort and, actually, the quality of the work that's been done on this topic to date here in the county and, two, we want to make sure you all you October 24-25, 2017 Page 155 understand that my appearance here today is not our last hoorah. This is not we're going to disappear into the sunset here. We're here to continue to work with you on any way we can to help you going forward for as long as it takes, okay. It's important for you to understand that about two years ago the trustees of ULI -- every few years we go through a process, say what are the important issues that we really want to focus on for the upcoming few years. And, I mean, with the second-place topic being way in the distance, affordable housing was our number one concern. So there's a lot of time and effort being put into this topic. We're vitally interested. We're vitally interested in what you do here so we can learn lessons that we can share in other places that maybe they can help solve the problems in their communities as well. Since the name ULI has come up so much, and I've been called a consultant probably for the first time in my life, I do want to take just a moment -- which I hadn't planned to explain who we are and what we do. ULI is a global organization of over 40,000 members, about 30,000 of them here in the United States. We are composed of every discipline you can conceive of related to the development, construction, and operation of real estate. Our mission is to create vibrant communities and responsible use -- promote the responsible use of land. The panel that you had here is one of -- we've done about 600 of these over the last 40-something years. We average right now about 15 to 20 a year. They go around to different places all over the world at the request of people like the commissioners here and address topics that they want advice on. And it can range from all kinds of things about what should we do with the land where we've got this old non-used sports stadium, or what should we do with this land outside of town, to what is the best use of this corridor. And this topic, though, is one of the top topics, and it's coming up October 24-25, 2017 Page 156 all over the country for affordable housing everywhere. We're doing a lot. And this panel by the way, this panel report, has gotten more requests for followings and interviews and stuff about what did we do here and how should we help other people. So you've done that, so... And I do want to emphasize that all the people who serve on these panels, including myself, serve for free. We donate our time. It's our way of giving back. So the previsit, the hours of reading all the briefing materials and gathering and the research and everything, the whole week spent here, untold hours drafting writing, editing, rewriting, cutting, explaining this -- when this book was written, and my appearance here today is all donated time, okay. And we all -- by the way, to be on a panel, you cannot have done business in the community within the last year, and you promise not to do business in the community within the upcoming year, trying to make sure that we are all independent and have no financial interest in this report. So we're a little bit different than a for-profit consultant. I'm trying to get over that this morning that I'm a consultant, but we'll deal with it. Okay. It's been said over and over this morning, but it can't be said enough, affordable housing is an economic issue, plain and simple. It's not about social work. It's not about social welfare. It's about how do you provide housing that's affordable to the people who live and work in your community? Decades of stagnant middle and lower income wages have come in direct conflict with rising real estate values that have created this situation. It's exacerbated in towns in areas like Collier and Naples where the real estate has really exploded in value, okay, which is even pushing it. But it's economic at every single level, no matter how you look at it. From the individuals, your constituents, by the way, it's an economic burden in that they -- those who are making middle and October 24-25, 2017 Page 157 lower income wages just can't find a place where they can live without being in financial crisis at any given moment. I promise you, if you're spending 30 or, God forbid, 50 percent of your income on housing, all it takes, one illness, if you're a construction worker, a string of rain where you don't get to work that week, that pushes you over the brink where you can't survive. So that's what we're talking about. They're economically burdened. All they want and all we're trying to do is give them a decent place to live. And by decent we mean, by the way, clean, safe, warm, and dry. Not fancy, not granite, not curved arched windows, not swimming pools or tennis courts. Just a clean, safe, warm place to live. By the way, those four criteria are the exact same criteria that were used by our forefathers when trying to pick out a cave, okay: Clean, safe, warm, and dry. That's it. The community faces an economic -- the community at large and the business community both face the same economic burden as well. How do you find people who work here? How do you have first responders who live here and work here and schoolteachers and store clerks? We did a panel in Northern Colorado after a thousand-year flood, in the City of Estes Park, which had a crisis of lack of affordable housing. Discovered when the road, the only road, was totally washed out, they didn't -- you couldn't even buy groceries. You couldn't go to a drugstore. You couldn't do anything because they had nobody to work from the stores. The solution ended up being for about -- a little over a year, almost 18 months, they had free helicopter service from the adjacent county up to the town so that people could just come and like -- you couldn't go to a restaurant because there was nobody there to cook. There was nobody there to wait on you. There was nobody -- they didn't have the food. I mean, this is what we're talking about. The private real estate community is another one. These are October 24-25, 2017 Page 158 normally the people that you would find who would solve this problem, but they're caught in a crisis as well. Rising land prices, rising cost of building juxtaposed with stagnant wages and then, on top of it, lots and lots of increasing rules and regulations that just add to the cost have made it virtually impossible for them to solve this problem. The government, well, it's really simple. You don't have the money to solve this problem on your own. You just can't do it, okay? It's an economic beyond your control. So there is a solution, and there are a lot of people working on it. We don't have the total answers yet, but we're getting there. But the solution must be an economic one. It must be an economically viable solution, and for that to happen, the government needs to partner with the private real estate community and come up with ways that make it economically viable for the developer and the development community to provide the units you need. The focus has to be on only one goal; that is to increase the availability of affordable housing, period. You can't focus on how you do it. You just have to focus on the goal. There requires a commitment. The commitment is that you're willing to work with the real estate community; the commitment is that they're willing to work with you. It goes both ways. It requires flexibility. We want to be real -- they've talked about flexibility, but let's just be -- one-size-fit-all is not a solution in this thing. It can't be. You need to have flexible solutions for each project. You need to be creative. I promise you, there are things that can be done that nobody's thought of yet, and nothing would make me happier than to have this group be the one that we could write up in a giant ULI publication saying you came up with a new idea to deal with the problem, so... There is -- you really need -- we need to go back and review every rule, every regulation, every ordinance with one goal in mind, October 24-25, 2017 Page 159 both existing regulations and proposed ones, is, what is its impact going to be? Does it have an impact on housing? And what impact is it? We also need to be -- and I want to warn you very carefully, because you want to be aware of unintended consequences. The best conceived, most thought-out, well-meaning plans sometimes don't work, and if you sat back and think about it, you could have seen it, okay. So I'm not going to mention the name, but there is a town in -- small town in North Carolina where I'm doing some work. They have a housing shortage for affordable housing, too. Their decision was, we're going to pass an inclusionary zoning ordinance. That ordinance was very ill-conceived. Just -- they didn't really know -- they just knew they had to do something, mostly to get a voting block off their back. So they passed an ordinance on Valentine's Day 2017. Prior to that, that city was getting applications or requests for information about building multifamily apartments, 10 a month. Since February 14th they've had none. Not one. And all the projects that were in process have stopped, okay. So it's important that as you do -- and the reason is, it's economically unsupportable. Nobody can build under that ordinance. So I'm just saying, be careful as you do this that you pay attention to unintended consequences. So that's all I'm going to say now. I am here for the whole meeting. I'm here for the whole day. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I would ask you, please, to respect the speakers, whoever they are. Thank you very much. MR. PAYNE: And so I'll be here. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Well, it's almost time for our reporter's break, and I know -- did October 24-25, 2017 Page 160 you want to ask -- I thought we should maybe break now and come back for questions. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No, I didn't want to ask any questions. I'm not sure what process we're going to use. Are we going to have the speakers next or -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, we can discuss that right now. What's your pleasure? If you have burning questions right now, we can ask, or we can wait for our speakers and then discuss later. How would you -- what's the consensus of my colleagues here? Any burning questions? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Should we wait to hear the speakers, because then we ask questions. If we ask questions before, then we still have questions to ask after. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I would agree. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So ladies and gentlemen, when we come back in 10 minutes, which would be 10:30, we will start listening from you. Thank you very much. (A brief recess was had.) MR. OCHS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd please take your seats. If we could ask you to take your seats, please. Madam Chair, you have a live mike. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Commissioner Saunders would like to speak before we hear from the speakers. I think we have 43 speakers. They each speak for three minutes, so you can do the math. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Just real quickly, I wanted to thank the staff, our committee, the ULI. The presentation this morning was excellent. We've all heard a lot of different presentations on a lot of different subjects, and I just want to congratulate our staff for really putting together a well-done report. They had a lot of support from the committee. And I want to thank the citizens committee for their efforts October 24-25, 2017 Page 161 and the ULI as well. But I also want to thank Commissioner Taylor. We're all interested in trying to solve this affordable/workforce housing in the county, and all of us on the board take different areas that we kind of specialize in and promote. And, Commissioner Taylor, you've been the real champion on this issue, and so I just want to thank you for getting us to this point. And I'm looking forward to hearing from the public, but I think that we've got a tremendous base of information to start from. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. And I was asked a question, and I think we need to answer this right away, County Manager. I was asked the question: Well, you know, if a development comes in and it's turned down for county LDC reasons or code issues or whatever, if it's turned down within the staff because it doesn't conform to our rules and regulations, are we going to relax those rules and regulations in order to accommodate workforce housing or affordable housing? MR. OCHS: No, ma'am. The staff never has that option. That's always a prerogative of the Board through policy changes or changes in your code of ordinances or development regulations. I mean, that's part of what's being proposed is that we look at our regulatory environment. And if it makes sense at a policy level for this board to consider thoughtful changes that make it easier or faster or cheaper to produce the kind of housing that is being discussed here today, we'll bring those recommendations to you, and you, as an elected policy-making board, will decide whether that's in the best long-term interest of the community. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: But not on a development, development basis? MR. OCHS: No, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: This is going to be a very thoughtful -- October 24-25, 2017 Page 162 with public hearings and a discussion about, if there are going to be any changes, what those -- MR. OCHS: Yes, absolutely. And I think there's some confusion about this term "by right" and what that means. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, sir. MR. OCHS: And hopefully as we get some questions and then some dialogue going, we can get at that in a little bit more detail. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Would you please -- I'd like you to explain what -- "by right," because I've gotten more than one email about it. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I've got it from Mike Bosi himself, so -- because I asked that same question. MR. OCHS: Sure. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Would you like me to read it? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, I would. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. But I need glasses. Commissioner Fiala, the term "by right," in plain speak, would be stated affordable housing that could be developed with no public hearing or public notice required. The only requirement would be the submission of a site plan to the county to meet administrative rules such as setbacks and height restrictions but, once satisfied, the project would be developed with no dialogue with the surrounding community. MR. OCHS: Yes. And in context, that assumes that the zoning is in place for that use on a piece of property. That zoning or that requirement to obtain that zoning would still require all of the public meetings and all of the public hearings that are part of any zoning action. So I think we need to put it in context. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Is that increasing the density or this would -- MR. OCHS: Well, you have programs now that allow for October 24-25, 2017 Page 163 increased density by right per an ordinance that this board has adopted. So, you know, I think that is essentially what's being proposed here. Mr. Bosi -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: There he is. That's good, Mike. MR. OCHS: -- just popped in. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: With a pretty tie. MR. BOSI: Thank you. Good morning, Chair. Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning director. And that is correct, if the zoning is in place, a by-right action is administratively approved. There are no notification requirements. There are no public hearings. There's no opportunity for the public to place comments in relationship to the project, and it's related to the zoning that's approved. So some of the concepts that are being proposed within this plan would develop a policy or strategies where the Board of County Commissioners would make evaluations as to whether they wanted to move forward with a strategy that would allow for by-right zoning in specific locations, but that zoning is not in place. It would have to be put in place by a 4-1 vote of the Board of County Commissioners. So when you see "by right" referenced within this housing plan, we could not do that today. That would have to be something that would be directed by the Board of County Commissioners in a proposal that would be brought forward by staff at a later date. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: At public hearings? MR. BOSI: Public hearings. The Board would be made well aware of what that would be. One of the -- one of the suggestions was within our activity centers. Our activity centers are the confluence of our arterial and collector roads. It's where -- and they're termed mixed-use activity centers, but they've really been developed almost monolithically as commercial development. Well, with the changing and restructuring of the supportable October 24-25, 2017 Page 164 square footage of our commercial square foot, there may be opportunities to convert some of those square footages from commercial to residential at higher densities. One of the concepts being proposed is if that was the case within an activity center, they could convert that through an administrative process, not a public hearing process, because the impact -- the intensity of that commercial center has already been absorbed by the surrounding -- the surrounding built environment, and transition to a residential use would probably deem less of a traffic impact, and because of that, they would make a proposal that they could do that administratively. That policy is not in place today. That's a policy that the Board of County Commissioners is being suggested by this housing plan at some point in time to consider whether we would like to go forward with that, and that would allow the type of certainty that they're asking for, that the development community would be asking for. But the Board would only do that based upon understanding that the impacts in those areas that are being -- that that allowance would be provided for, have already been designed to handle the type of intensities that could be associated with the project. So that's what's being requested. It's not -- with the approval of this plan, it doesn't mean that that is being imposed upon this community or allowed within this community. It's simply saying that this is one of the strategies that the Board of County Commissioners would like to evaluate in the future, and does it make sense at certain locations to have that by-right administrative approval for the conversion of commercial to residential for higher density projects. COMMISSIONER FIALA: So if they vote for that, whatever it is, say, commercial to higher residential or whatever, is that like a blanket package, then, for all commercial, or just for that one in particular? MR. KLATZKOW: That's going to be up to you. October 24-25, 2017 Page 165 COMMISSIONER FIALA: Huh? MR. KLATZKOW: That's going to be up to this board. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It's up to us. MR. KLATZKOW: We're going to have to go through LDC amendments to implement this, which is why later I'll ask you, if you wish to adopt this, you do so understanding that there may be changes made to this as we go through the process. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: LDC is Land Development Code. MR. KLATZKOW: Which requires four votes by the Board of County Commissioners; so that none of what's being said today can be implemented today. You've got a public process it will have to go through. Now "as of right" could mean many different things. Right now we've typically had density bonuses language like "up to" eight units per acre, and as of right would be eight units an acre, as an example. But that's going to be entirely up to the Board as to how you want to structure this "as of right," if you even want an "as of right" at the end of the day. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, Madam Chair. And just to -- and this isn't directed to Mr. Bosi. I did have a couple of things. As Commissioner Saunders said, I'd like to say, first off, thank you to that citizen stakeholder committee that brought forward this report. I, myself, have spent years of life in a volunteer position making suggestions to our leadership that necessarily came to no avail. I want you to know that that's not going to be the case with regard to this. And I was going to expand upon -- the County Attorney kind of stole my thunder a little bit. And I wanted to ask the question about -- because I was concerned about the language; "approval" or "acceptance" of this report, does that mean two different things? October 24-25, 2017 Page 166 And it's important for everyone that's reading, has been looking at these reports, at this information, these are suggestions that have come through the stakeholders community of avenues that we can do on an individual basis that are going to necessarily need to be effectuated by LDC, Land Development Code, and GMP, Growth Management Plan, amendments; individually. Not by right. Not by a wave of a magic wand because the stakeholders committee said that that was a good idea. Singularly, these suggestions are going to have to come back to this board with an entirely different set of folks that have issues both pro and con as these items, in fact, come back before us. And I want to give that assurance today. Our acceptance or approval, however the language, in fact, goes, is certainly an acknowledgment of the need, the data that's been provided, and a path for us to travel to begin to mitigate this known issue that we have, which is housing affordability -- not affordable housing but housing affordability -- and how do we tackle that as we, in fact, go forward in our future growth and development of our community. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? MR. OCHS: Thanks, Mike. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I'm just going to say it again in a different way just to make the point. Assuming that this housing plan is accepted, does it -- assuming that that happens, that doesn't mean that anything's going to happen or can happen immediately. I just want to make sure that everybody understands and that we're all on the same page that if we approve the plan, then staff is going to be bringing who knows how many separate resolutions, ordinances, changes to the Land Development Code, maybe even changes to the Growth Management Plan, who knows, each of which will be subject to a public hearing, each of which the community will have an opportunity to present their ideas and their October 24-25, 2017 Page 167 either objections to it or whatever. So what we're doing here today is trying to come up with a vision for how we're going to move forward to address this issue. Nothing's going to happen tomorrow. It doesn't approve anything. I just -- I don't think we can say that enough. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was well said. Well said. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: There's no hidden "gotcha" here. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. There's no hidden agenda. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It's, we're trying to move forward and set a vision for how we're going to go forward into the future to address an issue that affects everybody. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think the wording of "approval of this report" had a connotation -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It's an acceptance. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- of implementation and not just acceptance. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right, right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I don't want to take away from the validity of the report with regard to approval or acceptance, because it's extremely viable information and has engaged the public, which was what we want. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I'll just wrap up by -- but I would also like to thank the stakeholders committee. The ULI, you know, these are professionals from around the country that volunteer their time, significant amounts of time, to come here and help us because we asked them to, and I would hope that we would be respectful of their time. You know, they're not being paid to do this. We've asked them to come here, and they volunteered. So I think we need to be respectful of that and listen to their ideas. And it's up to us whether or not we want to accept those. So thank you again for all the time you've put into it, and I look October 24-25, 2017 Page 168 forward to the Q and A at the end. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Thank you very much. All right. Mr. Miller, our first speaker? MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, speakers, ladies and gentlemen, I will call two names. The first name will be the speaker to speak at that time. The next name will be the following speaker. Please use both podiums. If you are listening from the fifth floor or another auxillary room, you might want to head down to the hallway of the third floor soon. Your first speaker today will be Jerry Gadshaw. He will be followed by David Gee. Also, please bear with me with spelling and pronunciation. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Take your time, Jerry. MR. GADSHAW: Thank you for accommodating me, because I have a commitment later. My name is Jerry Gadshaw, and thank you for allowing me to speak here. I'm speaking not only as a retired economist, which may be dangerous, but also as head of the Collier Citizens Council committee on affordable housing. And it was mentioned earlier that we support this proposal, and we want to express our views as a nonpartisan, independent group of concerned Collier County residents who come from all walks of life, all districts in the county who just are concerned with sound public policy, and that's our only concern. We want to encourage you to support the stakeholder and advisory committee -- commission on affordable housing report. We believe it's an important first step in addressing the critical housing problems confronting the county. ULI, the county staff, and many interested parties have come together to not only recognize the problem but take important steps to begin to address the housing shortage and several other important October 24-25, 2017 Page 169 elements in our community. This is not just limited to the public servants and -- you know, we've heard this before. I don't want to repeat all that. Could the plan be improved and broadened? Of course. Does it mean some sacrifices? Absolutely. But it's time to put some of those special interests aside and just move forward. Consider just a few of these concerns: First, density. If we're to be serious about managing our growth in the county while maintaining green space but, more importantly, permeable land to avoid runoffs from storms, which we all know how we've experienced that, we must consider increasing density. It's not an option if we're going to manage our growth. This is not only a housing issue, but I think it's a long-range planning issue that the county must address. The report stops short of the recommendations that ULI had of increased density, but it represents a good first step. It doesn't go all the way, but I think it's something that's very necessary for the county to do. Next, consider fees. We've got to recognize that any attempt to increase the supply of affordable housing will involve costs. Money must come from somewhere, right? The fees proposed are modest. The proposed linkage fee is modest and the in-lieu-of fees need to be a level so as to encourage building of affordable housing units. Without these -- without those incentives, as an economist, I think it would lack teeth. Regulatory, and this was just discussed. The proposals will streamline the approval process and avoid costly delays currently incurred in construction approvals by removing some of the administrative roadblocks. I think this has been a major problem that many builders have confronted, and I think it's a necessity. In sum, the problem and consequences of not having an adequate supply of affordable housing on the county had been well documented. October 24-25, 2017 Page 170 Recruiting difficulties of several key workers are known. The consequences in terms of high transportation costs, road congestions, et cetera, have been documented. The initiative is not entirely -- will not entirely solve the problem but is a step in the right direction, and we urge you to accept the recommendations without dilution of the key initiatives. Thank you, and I remain at your disposal. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is David Gee. He will be followed by Carole Gilfedder. MR. GEE: Thank you. Before beginning, I would also like to thank the members of the committee who certainly had a daunting and challenging task; however, to paraphrase what they said, this is not a perfect plan. And sometimes when you serve on those committees you get so close to the issues and so focused that, frankly, you can't see the forest from the trees. Now, my name is David Gee, and I am currently president of Naples Lakes, which represents over 700 East Naples residents and taxpayers. I'm here today to express some concern over the recommended changes to the Collier County Community Housing Plan. Now, while we all recognize that it's impossible to keep things the way they were and that some change will always be needed, we had hoped that any proposed change would be beneficial to all residents, especially those in East Naples where it appears that there are multiple developments currently being planned. Unfortunately, I do not feel this is the case with these proposed changes. Specifically, by increasing the residential density from 20 to 25 per acre puts an enormous burden on East Naples that no other areas have previously experienced. It could easily lead to increased congestion and an increased demand for county services. October 24-25, 2017 Page 171 And, now, while Collier County certainly needs affordable housing or, as I learned earlier today from the presentation, housing affordability, increasing affordable housing density and bonus programs will affect our communities and seems to benefit potential developers. Changing the requirements regarding mixed income housing by allowing a developer to include mixed units on site or to provide mixed units off site are just two noteworthy examples. It seems that these changes help developers but do not necessarily benefit current residents and taxpayers; however, we are most upset about the fast tracking issues that, at least in regard to proposals, reduce or eliminate public input regarding future development. The proposal for affordable housing by making it a right and approved administratively without appropriate public input, appropriate public discussion is not appropriate. It does not provide transparency and promotes an attitude that county staff knows better what is needed rather than the residents and taxpayers who currently live there. In short, to paraphrase one of the presenters, this is a quality-of-life issue and, therefore, I would urge the commissioners to not accept these proposed recommendations. Thank you for the time and the opportunity to speak. And I do have copies of my remarks if you're interested. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Carole Gilfedder. She'll be followed by Patricia Young. MS. GILFEDDER: Good morning. I'm Carole Gilfedder. I'm the treasurer of the board of Imperial Wilderness Condominium Association in East Naples, and I concur with this gentleman that just spoke, that is part of our problem; having your right taken away to see what is going next door to you, what is going to be built, we do have an issue with that. And I would greatly appreciate being informed if that is going to happen, if that is going to change, because it will affect October 24-25, 2017 Page 172 us greatly. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Patricia Young. She'll be followed by Sally Luken. MS. YOUNG: Thank you. Concern for adequate housing, I think, is both a sign of compassion and a sign of a good society, and I think that the housing plan was very -- an impressive array of information on the subject, gave lots of strategies, mostly economic, but it raised a lot of questions, too. I am not knowledgeable in city planning or anything like that, but I am a former educator, and I noticed that although there were mentions of educators, there were no mention of students. And I see that as a big barrier with the way things have been developing in Collier County to this point, and it doesn't look like it would be changed any way with that report. But in Collier the distribution of subsidized housing has created a problem of income segregation in some schools, and I'm sure it's an unintended consequence. Affordable units, either government or privately sponsored, have clustered economically needy children in certain schools. But studies have shown that income-based segregation works against educational success for most students, not because of the quality of the teachers or students, but because of the issues inherent in relentless low-income environments, and that's the way things have been working out so far in Collier. The newest study -- and this is one called Place not Race, offers a well-researched explanation of all of that. New employees that we want to attract to the county also have children, so schools really need to be emphasized, and I think we need to look very carefully at that. Another thing that has happened, as we've done affordable October 24-25, 2017 Page 173 housing or whatever we want to call it, subsidized in the county, is that there's been kind of a compartmentalization. The schools are like they are because affordable houses and apartments are not equitably located throughout the county, and it sounds like, from this plan, if builders don't want to build in a certain community, they can find a way out. Here, some areas of -- neighborhoods have -- are mostly affordable housing, and some have none. Instead of dividing up our best resource, which are our people and our students, we need to blend them in. Developers should be required to include affordable units in a community; no getting out of it. Collier needs to advocate for more inclusivity in that regard. I mean, just as Anthrex (sic) has said there's not enough trained workforce here, in order to un-tap this human potential, we need to create an environment for human growth just -- it parallels what I was talking about with the schools: Place not race. And, finally, resale value and free market. For most of us, houses are our biggest expense and investment. For those living in subsidized housing, their selling is restricted, and many times they cannot sell at market value. And I just want to give you a little example of what happened to me in my life as an educator who traveled long miles on the beltway. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Your time is up. MS. YOUNG: Time is up. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I apologize. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Sally Luken. She'll be followed by Suzanne Orshell. MS. LUKEN: Good morning. Thank you. Sally Luken. I live on Charlemagne Boulevard off of Rattlesnake. I also have a stepdaughter who is a fifth grade public schoolteacher here in Collier County. She got recruited coming out of Ave Maria University to teach in Collier County. And, quite frankly, if October 24-25, 2017 Page 174 it weren't for the fact that her father is subsidizing her housing and she's working two additional jobs on top of teaching fifth grade, she wouldn't be able to stay here. So I'm speaking on behalf of myself and her. I had the distinct privilege, really, to participate in some of your stakeholder meetings as a volunteer. I work as a private consultant, so I am in and out of Collier County often. I also had the privilege to volunteer on your Community Development Block Grant Review Committee earlier this year. I strongly encourage acceptance of this report but also to encourage you to also have the political will to take action. I know that's the next step and that that can be tough. Having worked on housing that's affordable in many parts of the country with both local, state, and federal government, non-profits, and private developers, I know and I've seen and experienced the not-in-my -backyard phenomenon and the fear and worry that neighbors have about these types of projects. And it was mentioned evidence-based practices, such as the Housing Trust Fund. There's also another one that's called six steps to community acceptance of housing that's affordable. I encourage you to consider looking at that and implementing it. You're already starting some of those steps, actually: Listening to folks and getting lots of input. And the other thing that I see in this community that is somewhat distinct in some of the other places that I've worked is the wealth of resources here. And I'm not talking money. You have got tremendous expertise here. You've got folks that have all kinds of professional experience. I saw that in the stakeholder group. I was very impressed with the folks that I got the opportunity to work with. So this is a marvelous opportunity, and I just welcome it to happen for both my family as well as other folks in the community. October 24-25, 2017 Page 175 Thanks. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Suzanne Orshell. She'll be followed by Sandra Simmons. MS. ORSHELL: Yes, good morning. Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners, and I thank you for the opportunity to be here today. After Commissioner Taylor kind of gave her disclaimer about this plan, that did kind of blow my comments out of the water a little bit. I do totally agree with the gentleman from Naples Lakes; those were my major concerns about losing my effect as a property owner and a taxpayer, having something come in that I didn't have any input on. And I kind of hate to bring this up, but as I kind of looked over the plan, I was reminded of a phrase that my old boss used to quote. People do what's inspected not what's expected. So that always makes me a little nervous. I never did really believe it at the time, but now that I've gotten older, I kind of feel it a little bit more. So I really want to be a part of the process to know what's going in in my community. Because I've been here since 1960. God knows I've seen a lot of changes, so we're hanging in. Thank you very much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Sandra Simmons. She'll be followed by Michele Flaherty. MS. SIMMONS: Madam Chair, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Sandra Simmons. I'm a resident of East Naples and a business owner of two companies in the area. I have a number of concerns about this plan as it is written and one overriding concern about the reach of this plan. My first concern is where the affordable housing will be built. In East Naples we have a large number of affordable housing units already. The property assessor's list counts only 1,201 of these units in East Naples, but a study done to compare the actual number of October 24-25, 2017 Page 176 affordable housing units showed over 15,000 housing units appraised under $126,000 in East Naples; the discrepancy being that the additional 13,000-plus units which are affordable housing units in actuality are not HUD approved for various reasons, and these number also do not include the low-income rental units. I think that the property assessor's list should be updated to include all of the actually affordable housing units that really exist in every part of Collier County, HUD approved or not, including all the low-income rental properties which are not included now, and those actual numbers should be made public and discussed before agreeing to this plan. The "where" question also relates to the financial implication of things. And I am accountant, and I always look at the financial implication of things. It caused me to wonder how many of those who will get power stand to financially benefit from this plan and how the developers will benefit, especially to the by-right statement in the plan from this plan passing. Third, I have heard one radio ad after another that says that this plan should be accepted because it's for teachers and medical personnel and first responders. And I love those people and admire them greatly; however, it's my understanding that those professions do not qualify for affordable housing because they are median-income professions, not low-income professions. And our current housing development -- affordable housing department, rather, deals specifically with low-income to very-low-income housing. And I think that the county should be looking at more moderate or median-income housing instead. Finally, my highest overriding concern is that this plan strips away our county residents' right to be informed and to have a say on what gets built in their communities in the statements made in the plan, and it puts it in the hands of a small group who could very likely not October 24-25, 2017 Page 177 want affordable housing in their areas. In my opinion, this plan demonstrates somewhat a government overreach in that it takes away the residents' rights to be informed and the liberty to have a say about how their neighborhoods are developed and are financially impacted by this plan. One example is on Page 51 where, again, you talk about teachers and fireman who are median income and this statement that says only 2.8 percent of the planned housing would actually be for those people. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Michele Flaherty, and she will be followed by Jim Cutry. I would like to remind the speakers, please state your name for the record when you come up and start talking. Thank you. MS. FLAHERTY: My name is Michele Flaherty, and I live on Estelle Drive, which is in Riviera Golf Estates. I had a prepared statement, but some of the things that went on here kind of took that away. I have more questions than anything. One is -- well, first of all, I've dealt with these kinds of reports almost through my whole life, and sometimes they arrive at the conclusion first, and then they back into the details of that. And I'm always very wary about reports that have so much information in it, and the conclusions seem to be -- they just seem to have already been thought out. Anyway, one of the things I want to ask, you talk about geographical diversity and that it's -- all this housing going to be in all of Collier County. How do we get assured of that? Is there a formula that has been devised, that if something goes into East Naples, then the next project's going to go into North Naples or it's going to go into the Immokalee area or whatever? I'm not sure how you can -- how you can tell me for sure that there is going to be that geographic diversity. October 24-25, 2017 Page 178 The other thing is this "by right," those two little words, they instill fear in my heart because you can -- there are too many ways you can kind of skirt around that and say, oh, I thought I had that authority by right, but then the damage is already done. I do have some suggestions. One of the ways to improve the image of affordable housing is to go into our blighted neighborhoods -- and we all know where they are, and we know they exist -- and implement a strong neighborhood revitalization program. If not a complete one, at least a cosmetic one so that we don't look like we have blighted housing here. You can do that through all kinds of different programs. I think that would be a really -- very important to the people who live in those houses, and if it's -- if they're rental, then go to the landowner and say, you're going to participate in this revitalization of our neighborhoods because we need to do that. And I think that's a really big, big area that has to be addressed first. I'm concerned that -- one of the things that was said is that all these ordinances are going to be reviewed. Well, what happens to the ordinances that were just implemented by this board to protect development of golf courses for housing and now housing that we can increase the density for? Is that going to disappear? Is this going to supersede those rules? I'm concerned about that. And I am a special interest. I'm a homeowner, and I really would like you to listen to my comments. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jim Cutry. He'll be followed by Jim Grow. (No response.) MR. MILLER: Jim Cutry? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Bill Grow? (No response.) October 24-25, 2017 Page 179 MR. MILLER: Is there a Bill Grow present? (No response.) MR. MILLER: All right. I'll come back to them. Joe Abruzese? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Followed by? MR. MILLER: Joe Abruzese will be followed by Nancy Moore. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And maybe we can have an on-deck person. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Beyond that person. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Let's have an on-deck. Let's have three people. So, Nancy Moore. And who is after Nancy Moore? MR. MILLER: Dwight Kehoe. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: They're upstairs. MR. MILLER: Mr. Abruzese? MR. ABRUZESE: Hi. I'm Joe Abruzese, and I live in the Lely Resort area, and I've had -- my comments are slightly different. I listened to proposals and predictions till my head almost exploded. I'd like to just point out to the Commission that the congressional budget office does predictions also, and they've hardly ever been right in their future predictions of what goes on. The other thing is, I hear what a burden it is for police, firemen, teachers to drive 40 or 50 minutes to get to work. I mean, in the northeast in New York -- I worked in New York for close to 15 years, and I had to move to a community that I felt was good for my family where I drove an hour every single day to get into my job in New York. That was in the morning because I left at six so I wouldn't be in bumper-to-bumper traffic. On the way home, it was at least an hour and a half, and when it rained, it was better than two hours. But I did that because that was the free-market atmosphere that was supposed to operate in this country, okay. That was -- so I don't think that this idea of traveling is such a October 24-25, 2017 Page 180 horrible burden for public employees or teachers or hospital people. And I listened to the NCH lady talk about the difficulty of hiring people because of the distance they had to travel. They should have brought the president of NCH, who makes more than a million dollars a year between salary and bonuses, if they were ultimately concerned about the wages that they could give to people who come in at entry levels that are unaffordable. And that's basically what I'd like this commission to really think. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Nancy Moore. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Let's try Dwight Kehoe. Before you begin, sir, is Jim Cutry here in the room? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Bill Grow? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Kehoe, go ahead. After him will be Mary Walker (sic), followed by Alan Horton. MR. KEHOE: Thank you. My name is Dwight Kehoe, K-e-h-o-e, and my wife and I live in Rivera Golf Estates, an over-55 community of 690 individual family homes that surrounds a privately owned Rivera Golf Course, a golf course that is currently for sale. Some of my comments will parallel what Michele Flaherty mentioned. But one of the desirable features of Collier County is the extensive planning and precise implementation of all phases of the planning process. This has taken many years to reach the current level of near perfection. The Community Housing Plan seems to deem itself exempt from all the careful coordination that the county's various departments have worked to achieve. It appears to bypass all checks and balances currently in place in favor of promoting residential development plans October 24-25, 2017 Page 181 featuring affordable housing. Last spring the county commissioners approved an amendment to the Land Development Code to address golf course conversions, which there are approximately 10 on the slate. Included in that amendment to the LDC are a number of provisions that appear to be in jeopardy should the proposed Collier County housing plan be permitted to be implemented, including the following: One, notification of all residences bordering on the golf course of a developer's intent to use the land for a purpose other than a golf course; two, scheduling neighborhood information meetings with the local residents between November and April to discuss development plans; three, an effort to develop a residential community that would be compatible with the character of the community surrounding the new development; and four, a buffer between the existing residences and new residential development. It appears the Community Housing Plan has the desire to supercede the LDC amendment. It is my hope that the commissioners realize that the LDC amendment pertaining to golf course conversions needs to take precedence over the current and any future proposal made in accordance with the Community Housing Plan rather than the Community Housing Plan seeking to override the LDC amendment if affordable housing is planned for a property that was previously a golf course. If this is the intent of the Community Housing Plan, to me, this is careless, uncalled for, and morally indefensible. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Mary Waller. She'll be followed by Alan Horton. He'll be followed by Diane Jensen. MS. WALLER: Good morning and thank you for allowing me to speak today. I am speaking as a member of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee as well as the Collier County Stakeholders Committee. October 24-25, 2017 Page 182 I worked on this plan, and I'm encouraging the council to please approve it. It's a good plan; it's a great plan. Nothing's perfect in this world. You know, maybe some people I know, but it's -- it is a nice plan. Of course you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MS. WALLER: We worked very hard not to overburden the taxpayers and citizens of Collier County with fees and taxes. We tried to rule out anything that was going to be controversial, but we looked to our citizens to say, yes, we do need this. Yes, this would be a great idea. I want to be part of it. I am passionate that one of the biggest problems is communication. We need to better communicate what we're planning on doing and what we're proposing. Sometimes just a little definition, a little word explained to the citizens of Collier County. This is exactly what this is. They will understand better, and they will follow up and join us and get behind the plan. Please think about everything you've heard today, all the numbers that you've seen, and always remember, no matter how many stats that's put before you, it does no good without action. We can only relieve the problem of affordable housing, workforce housing, housing that is affordable -- housing affordability, whatever you want to call it, we can only correct what's happening right now with action. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Alan Horton. He'll be followed by Diane Jensen. She'll be followed by Pam Cannon. MR. HORTON: My name is Alan Horton, and I live in Moorings Park here in the city. I've been a resident of this community off and on for a number of years, and I'm proud to say that I know well four of the five county commissioners and am very proud of the fact that they've moved this issue this far down the road. I thought Commissioner Taylor's opening remarks today were October 24-25, 2017 Page 183 exactly right. I want to remind Commissioner Saunders and Commissioner Fiala of the long-time friendship and respect I've had for them, and I remember back in 1987 when I first came to town as editor of the newspaper that we began to write editorials in favor of affordable housing, and the associate editor at the time was a fellow named John Lundsford who wrote many memorable columns on the subject, and I'm sure that some of you remember that. When I retired, I was asked to give a speech -- keynote speech at a Chamber banquet in 2005, and I spoke about workforce housing. And then -- now I've been on this task force. And I've got to tell you that everyone in the audience needs to know that there was no one on the stakeholder task force that didn't ask the following questions: What have the communities like ours facing the same problems learned and done to create workforce housing? Everything that's in the report is being done successfully in more than one place. How many county residents are cost burdened? You've heard that today. Fifty-eight thousand households are paying more than 30 percent of their gross income, not take-home pay, their gross income, on housing, and 29,000 households are paying more than 50 percent of their gross income. We have a lot of momentum going in this community, and I just want to commend the county. The county staff and the county commissioners had created a partnership with the Chamber a few years ago to do economic development. A group was formed very much like the stakeholders committee called Opportunity Naples. They came up with a plan. There were five pillars in that plan. Commissioner Solis was a member of that group. The five pillars in that plan started with affordable housing. We are not going to attract jobs and create good jobs and keep our kids October 24-25, 2017 Page 184 educated in our great schools here if we don't have affordable housing. And my time is up, and I just want to say congratulations to you. Keep the momentum going. Not everything in the plan is perfect, as has been said. There are a lot of differences of opinion in here today, but I hope -- and we've done polling and focus groups, and I promise you that when people are asked questions, they all know that we need more affordable housing. We can argue about the details and how we do it, but we all know we need it. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Diane Jensen. She'll be followed by Pam Cannon, who will be followed by William Cannon. MS. JENSEN: Good morning. My name is Diane Jensen. I live in Saratoga Community in Lely Resort. Let me say this: I am not opposed to affordable housing, but I am opposed to this plan. There are many parts of it that have me concerned, and I'll only talk about two. On Page 24, they talk about administratively changing zoning from commercial to high-density residential without public hearing, without notifying residents affected by it, but administratively. I know things are done at public hearings, but as someone who lives in Illinois during the summer, I also notice some of those public hearings are in the summer. On the surface, what I would like to say is I think this part, at least in spirit, goes against the state's Sunshine Law which is supposed to make sure that everything a governing body does has the light of day. On Page 14 they talk about reducing regulations. My feeling is either regulation is necessary or it isn't. Regulations are supposed to protect residents. I wonder what regulations they have in mind to reduce, and are we going to make that for everyone? I spend summers in Illinois. And we had affordable housing sold there also saying that teachers, firefighters, and policemen would be October 24-25, 2017 Page 185 able to afford it. It was approved last year, and in the past year a firefighter applied to this affordable housing and was turned down because she made too much money at 30,000 a year. One thing I haven't heard is, what about affordable wages? Why should we have to have affordable housing if our businesses are not going to provide affordable wages? You talk about rush hour. Don't tell me about rush hour. I've seen Chicago. That is rush hour. Here it is just a small blip in the road. In closing, I would say that I agree with David Gee and many of the others that spoke. Thank you for this opportunity. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Pam Cannon. She'll be followed by William Cannon, who will be followed by Sandra Arafet. MS. CANNON: Hi. My name is Pam Cannon. I live in Rivera Golf Estates. I have just recently suffered a stroke and need to walk through the estates with my walker. I am just very concerned and scared of the fact that affordable housing does have children. There will be lots of children. They will, of course, be all throughout our roads. They won't be staying right in their homes, and I just don't know what to expect with this situation. So I'm hoping that that can be considered as, you know, compatibility. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. And another thing that's kind of been interesting to me is in this area there are many, many empty malls and shopping centers that just stand there like great arks and, you know, they're all on bus lines, they all have plumbing, they all have sewage. They could be made into decent apartments, if you, you know, broke down walls. I think it would be a very doable situation to use these empty spaces. So that's all I had to say. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is William Cannon. He'll be followed by Sandra Arafet, who will be followed by Kathy Curatolo. MR. CANNON: Good morning. I'm Bill Cannon. I live at 169 October 24-25, 2017 Page 186 Flor de Lis, Naples. I'd like to start by saying that I listened to the ULI report and was impressed with the quality of the recommendations made. Later I followed the Board's selection of the recommendations and found that they made good choice of those to pursue considering Collier County's present status with workforce housing. I'm somewhat disappointed with the final draft of the Collier County Community Housing Plan. Why do I say that? The report includes 16 appendices or exhibits, copies of which I was finally able to obtain yesterday. I've been unable to read the 255 pages of these documents in a timely manner, so I've been unable to fully comprehend the document. I hope the commissioners were able to review these exhibits. In detail, on Page 10 the report uses many different data sources. The prime data is individual earnings, but the cost burden calculations deal with household income while the report states, on Page 13, that 61.4 percent of jobs in Collier County pay less than $33,000 per year. Just yesterday the Board received a report from the Hunden Strategic Partners. It's Page 136 of your agenda packet if you want to look it up. States that 57 percent of households in Collier County earn more than $50,000. This seems to be a disconnect in data. Page 24 of the report talks about by right. We've talked about it a little bit here. Remember, once implemented, by right is almost impossible to reconsider. This is since you are now taking away somebody's rights. But also by adding right density bonuses, you would take away the rights of adjacent homeowners through proper notification and public comment. There's got to be a balance somehow. Again, on Page 24, the commercial to residential conversion near targeted transportation and job centers. As I recall, the ULI recommended using vacant commercial already-developed parcels October 24-25, 2017 Page 187 since they were on bus routes, had water/sewer, et cetera, and were on major roads. The recommendation, as written, is somewhat broad. It would point out that, for instance, there are millions of square feet of commercial zoned property within the PUDs along Collier Boulevard not yet developed. It is the intent to allow conversion of land not built on? The mixed-use housing ordinance includes the requirement for developers to address housing affordability. Four options allow the builder not to build but to do something else and move the housing someplace else in the community -- in the county. I've got to skip over. I'm running out of time. I can't stop without talking about carpooling. I'm from the northeast where commuting to work is a way of life. Provisions have been made at local government level and by larger employers to encourage ride sharing through special road lanes, commuter parking, lots at highway exits, and provision of 10-passenger vans for employees to share riding into work, and reserve parking for car pools, among other ideas. Thank you for your time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Sandra Arafet. She'll be followed by Kathy Curatolo, who will be followed by Scott Smith. MS. ARAFET: Good morning. My name is Sandra Arafet. I'm a full-time resident of Collier County. I'm going to make it short because several speakers have actually come up, like Mike -- David Gee, and the speaker before me as well. But I'm not against affordable housing for our seniors, our hard-working employees. What I am absolutely opposed to is any recommendation from the Affordable Housing Committee to revise the administration approval without a public hearing or a public notice or by right. Just the thought that such an important decision would be left in October 24-25, 2017 Page 188 the hands of just a few people without the community input or even to be heard by the Planning Commission or the County Commissioner is a big red flag. The county, all of us, needs to be involved. And like the previous speaker said, once that happens, we have no control. And I trust that you will not allow any recommendation to go forward from the Affordable Housing Committee to revise the Community Housing Plan that will have a negative impact in the future and the vision of East Naples. And I say this because we do have a lot of developments that are coming into East Naples in a space. And this, if this ordinance pass, which I hope it doesn't, then we -- in East Naples we have a burden because we have so much development that is coming up. And I'd really thank you, and I trust that you will really take into consideration the East Naples. I believe that affordable housing needs to happen, but it has to be evenly distributed around the county and, yes, our teachers and our firemens and all of our hard-working workforce needs affordable housing. But please make sure you distribute the housing within the county, not in just East Naples. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kathy Curatolo. She'll be followed by Scott Smith, who will be followed by George Danz. MS. CURATOLO: Good morning. Kathy Curatolo representing the Collier Building Industry Association. Before I begin my comments, I just want to thank board members for your attention to this particular issue that is -- been widely discussed within our community. I know full well, having served on another board, how difficult this is. So I want to thank you all. We believe at the CBIA, as most everyone present in this room does, that housing affordability is a shared responsibility, a quote taken directly from the plan itself. While CBIA has and remains committed to working with other October 24-25, 2017 Page 189 organizations and committed individuals within our community to develop working solutions in housing affordability, there are simply aspects of this plan that CBIA cannot support. Firstly, requiring inclusionary zoning. I could go on for an hour. And I'm not a builder, but inclusionary zoning does not work. The alternative requirement that builders and developers pay a fee in lieu of providing mixed income units of $127,000 per unit, I don't know what kind of an adjective I can express except to say that it's outrageous, and I don't go that far very often. Even with density bonuses, could financing work? Questionable at best. I ask, how does this proposed concept align with the plan's core strategy to simplify, expedite, and reduce the cost of development? At issue also is the plan suggestion for a linkage fee for commercial development. We believe this is double dipping. Comparatives are made with Juniper, Winter Park, and Coconut Creek, all of whom have linkage fees; however -- however, I would recommend that if we're going to align ourselves with other communities, we align financially in terms of what the impact fees are within those communities before designing a linkage fee here in Collier County, because the reality is, our competition to the north does not have a linkage fee, and we already compete over companies and economic development with Lee County. If raising money is important and a community trust fund is an important aspect of this plan, look at other alternatives for providing that. One such alternative that was presented to me -- I haven't given a lot of thought to it, but a transfer fee of 200 or $250 per sale, old and new, within the county. Thank you so much for allowing me to share the thoughts of the Collier Building Industry Association. Very much appreciated. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Scott Smith. He'll be October 24-25, 2017 Page 190 followed by George Danz, who will be followed by Dave Dunnavant. And one more time, please silence your cell phones. Thank you. Mr. Smith? MR. SMITH: Yes. Hi. My name is Scott Smith, and I'm here in part because I'm a Naples resident but also because I'm a consultant and, with all due respect to the people who wrote this report, when you look at the composition of the coalition that wrote the report, the conclusions, I would agree with an earlier speaker, were largely preordained. And as a consultant, I also know that you can stick entirely to accurate and correct facts, but you can still string those facts together around a preexisting narrative to create a message that you want to create. It's done all the time, and we all know it. And I'm sure you're definite consumers of that kind of information. I would draw your attention to one of the key exhibits which is the sample cost-burdened employment in Collier County which shows that a lot of occupational classes can't afford the median house. I was on the real estate website last night; $405,000 is a very nice house. The idea that an entry-level administrative assistant, a single parent could not afford a $400,000 house in Naples should not be considered a crisis worthy of suspending democratic and participatory principles of community government. That's really important, really important. You can get a nice house in Naples for 200-, 250-, and you can get decent starter homes for under 200-, and those homes are for sale. The other thing that I thought was very misleading is where Collier ranks in terms of the sample of cost-burdened counties, again, to make the case that Collier has a housing crisis. Collier is at 40 percent, and the report promises to get us down to, like, 36 or 37 percent. That doesn't move the needle at all. That doesn't move the needle at all. And if housing prices go the wrong way, that won't happen. That's a promise. That's not a guarantee. October 24-25, 2017 Page 191 This is a Trojan horse to subvert democratic processes to take the community, these people and all the taxpayers like them, out of the process to absolve yourselves of responsibility by moving everything behind a curtain to an invisible county employee that can go behind a curtain and do God knows what in terms of approvals. Don't approve this report. It sends the wrong message. It sends the idea that the reason we have elected officials is to represent us. And you're saying, oh, well, even though a development might exist for a 100 years into the county's future and change the feel of the county and the quality of life of the county, we don't want to be bothered with that. Don't do it. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is George Danz. He will be followed by Dave Dunnavant, who will be followed by Kevin Walsh. MR. DANZ: Madam Chair, Commissioners, my name is George Danz, and how do I follow that? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You can go ahead and sit down. MR. DANZ: First of all, I guess I have a couple, three concerns. One is the stakeholders committee, and I've been impressed with the testimony from NCH, Arthrex, Habitat, Chamber, United Way, et cetera, but I haven't heard too much until we get to this point on the meeting in reference to homeowners associations or residents or so forth, and I question what the makeup was of that committee. Number two, mixed income off site, and there's various -- I heard that report this morning, and various methods to do that to move some of that off site. I guess my question there becomes one, is that a political term for "not in my backyard," because I think that's moving -- it seems to me like every development ought to have some firefighters and police officers and nurses and teachers and things like that in their community, so they should be mixed. By right, fast tracking, beat that horse to death already this morning, I guess, so I'm not going to expound upon that. October 24-25, 2017 Page 192 My last point is, I was encouraged by the commissioners' comments that it's not etched in stone yet. There's going to be additional town hall meetings, there's going to be additional hearings and things like that, and we look forward to participating in those. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Dave Dunnavant, who will be followed by Kevin Walsh, who will be followed by Ted DeGroot. MR. DUNNAVANT: Good morning, Commission. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. It is important, as everybody has stated. We as -- I'm here as the president of the builder's association. I know Kathy Curatolo mentioned some of the points. I've got a little bit of a unique perspective because of my time in Collier County. We want to help. We're part of the community. We're not just builders. Our association includes anybody associated with the development industry: Designers, suppliers. We're part of this community. We're proud of what we've created and what the commission and the county has created, and that's why we're attractive. That's why people come here. The single biggest issues for housing in this community are the cost of land and impact fees. Our ad valorem taxes are some of the lowest in the state because of the value of our lands. Our impact fees are the highest in the state. We've deferred the ability to build in this community on new construction too far. The one thing that -- out of this plan is, all of the recommendations are basically pushed forward to new construction. One of the keys of that it this community's already trying to develop housing. It's in the eastern part of the county often; Ave Maria. There are other developments being looked at out there, but they've still got to overcome -- at least the land values are less out there, but they've still got to overcome the impact fee issue. Collier is desirable. We attract people. We've got great medical October 24-25, 2017 Page 193 services. The doctors want to live here. But we've got to get the support staff to go too. There's affordable housing, but mainly there's workforce housing; these critical people that everybody needs. I'm a native Floridian. I moved to the City of Naples in 1969 from Orlando. It's been this way from the get-go. Everybody that's come here has just about said, I like it the way it is. Let's not change it at all. It's not practical. That was before Regional Southwest Airport (sic), that was before I-75. It's happened. We're out of the box. City of Naples is a jewel into itself. This affordable housing isn't coming to the City of Naples. There's not parcels to do it. The large enough parcels to do it are Eastern Collier County, and this plan would further burden the ability to develop properties out there. My personal point is, ULI, Urban Land Institute. We want to pretend we're a big community. We're not. We're not a metropolitan area. We aren't an urban community. We don't have a central business district. We don't have mass transportation to support people that need to get to work spots. Comparison to other communities; I mean, Lee County, yeah, they have less ad valorem. They have Cape Coral. They have Lehigh. They have ability for people to stay. The question is, let's understand where any of these programs have succeeded. I don't know they have. I don't believe that a government fund administrated is going to solve it. The single biggest issue is going to be financing. We're less than 10 years out of one of the biggest recessions the country's ever had. By adding costs to this is not going to help. It was easy for the group to sit there and say, let's put it on the builders, on new development, but that's just not fair. We need to figure out solutions, and there are solutions that everybody participants in. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. DUNNAVANT: Thank you. October 24-25, 2017 Page 194 MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kevin Walsh. He'll be followed by Ted DeGroot, who will be followed by William Confoy. MR. WALSH: Good morning. Kevin Walsh. I live in Winter Park over in East Naples. And I've come to speak at previous hearings related to golf course conversions and other activities, but I really wanted to come today just to thank the commissioners for the transparencies and the Sunshine that you've given to this issue. I read the report. It was sent by Donna to a lot of folks in the condo board community, and it's a great report. And I think it's intended to try and keep Naples the way it has been, which is a great community. Certainly we need more low-income or cost-competitive housing. You can't redefine it and just stay it needs to be more affordable, because that implies we're going to raise wages. So bite the bullet and decide whether you're going to build more housing is great. Put the burden on the free market to find out how you do it. But I would implore you never to give up the transparency that your Sunshine in this commissioners' meeting has brought to all of these processes over the last few years. Having things that are deemed met by administrative staff has a place, but please continue to be very careful about doing that. We appreciate the fact that you provide these forums. We appreciate the fact that you do so much homework in advance. We appreciate the fact that you set the stage for these hearings with the comments like the commissioner -- the Chair made at the beginning. Everybody wants to continue to move in the right direction. Keeping it in the Sunshine is the thing that's most important to us. We will come and try to be constructive, protect our own rights as homeowners or as neighbors, but I think this is an issue that deserves to be moved forward. I encourage you to adopt the report and then October 24-25, 2017 Page 195 take the steps that are necessary to make sure you protect the Sunshine as you go forward. Thanks. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Ted DeGroot. He'll be followed by William Confoy, who would be followed by Brett Cohan. MR. DeGROOT: Good morning, Ted DeGroot, live in Lely, and thank you, Commissioners, for this community. I'm a licensed real estate broker. I sell real estate for Berkshire Hathaway here in Naples. I'm also working on a book on nonprofit corporation governance so I'm very interested in words. And while nonprofit governance basically deals with charities, homeowners' associations are also nonprofit, so they fall under the same kinds of things. I would like to strongly suggest that the Commission strike the cause "by right." The reason for that, as a realtor, is that we are obligated by ethics, and perhaps by law, to divulge to any potential buyer any factor that could impact the value of property. The by-right clause, in my mind, would enable a builder to build a property, conceivably, that would impact the value of the property next door. I really believe that it would be better that the Commission had a chance to take a look at all those things before a builder could go in and just put a high-rise up next door. And, secondly, I really believe that you should be looking at mass transportation, because we are not a little county. We're part of a metropolitan area. Fort Myers is the key. We are going to have population about two-and-a-half million in the area. And looking at just trying to do things within Collier County probably is not reasonable. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is William Confoy. He'll be followed by Brett Cohan, who will be followed by Rosemary Goris October 24-25, 2017 Page 196 Karnes. MR. CONFOY: Hi. I'm Bill Confoy, and I'm on the board of Wyndemere, who met and reviewed this package. And I want to comment on the parcels that are named in the body of the report and further in the Index I where it describes Parcel No. 4, which is the Grey Oaks PUD. The plot begins actually 250 feet north of the Grey Oaks entry. It goes about 3,300 feet north to where Marsala Lakes Road would extend across the street. It's not just a transmission line that is there. It's six heavy-duty transmission lines, two of which are 230 kilovolts and two -- four of them are that, and two of them are 138 kilovolts, and these are major transmission lines. And I have spoken to FP&L about your requirement for this parcel to be -- put those lines underground, and they have comments back to me, and they may have contacted the Board with some of those comments, is that burying those six lines would cost seven and a half million dollars just for basics and then, of course, it would be burdened by the additional fill, and the whole total bill would be about $10 million. But that isn't the big point. They can bury them, but once they're buried, their position is you can't build on top of the buried lines because they have to have complete access to those lines. So even putting it in here, they say, is not only impractical, it is impossible. That was their words from Charlotte Miller who represents FP&L and, according to her, by the way, she had never been spoken to before I spoke to her about doing this particular piece of property. If you don't bury the lines, then you're looking at a field of major transmission lines. I don't know anybody that would want to live under all those transmission lines. But if you found some, then I would call your attention to the report from the disease control, which I October 24-25, 2017 Page 197 read to you, says that any -- there's an increased risk of 69 percent for leukemia in children living within 200 meters of power lines, and these are major power lines. So I think that particular property should be struck from this report because it's impractical, and its impossible to actually use that property for the purpose that you want to use it for. And that's the only thing I'd like to talk about. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Brett Cohan. He'll be followed by Rosemary Goris Karnes, who will be followed by Maurice Gutierrez. MR. CONFOY: You're lucky. You got two for the price of one. I had -- I called from -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Your time is up, sir. MR. CONFOY: Yes, but now I'm Brett -- now I'm Brett. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: He has to be here to cede his time. Is he here? MR. CONFOY: No. He called me and told me that he put in the thing but he had to leave. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: He has to be here, unfortunately. That's the -- MR. CONFOY: I can't -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- rules of the -- no, you can't. MR. CONFOY: Well, you still got two for the price of one. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Rosemary Goris Karnes, who will be followed by Maurice Gutierrez, who will be followed by Sandra Danielson. MS. GORIS KARNES: Hello. My name is Rosemary Goris Karnes. I'm a designer who is working on a concept of small housing, affordable housing. These are green homes, sometimes called tiny homes, but not as extreme as they are on TV. These are practical homes with closets, with pantries, with everything that a larger home October 24-25, 2017 Page 198 has, but in order to make it affordable, they're smaller. We would do communities so that you just change the code within that gated community, and it would not affect outside that community. They could be targeting specific people, like the lady who had concerns about walking around the neighborhood, and so it could be a 55-plus community. It could be a family community. It could be a community for first home buyers. And the pricing that we are structuring it on is $65,000 for a one-bedroom home up to 100,000 for a three-bedroom, two-bath home. And these are energy-efficient homes with a low power bill that would be for -- let's say, a 1,500-square-foot home would have an energy bill of $50 a month. So you would be able to afford a better home if you have a low salary because your utility bills will be lower. I'm working -- I'm partnering with the Home Ownership Resource Center and New Panel Homes. Home Ownership Resource Center of Lee County works also with Collier County and all the counties in South Florida, and they train people. I know a lot of people in the audience are afraid of, well, who's going to move in next door. They're not going to know what -- you know, what owning a home entails, won't know how to maintain that home. The Home Ownership Program teaches people how to maintain homes, how to buy a home, what mortgages to avoid so that you don't have that housing crisis that we had 10 years ago where people just abandoned their homes because they could no longer afford them. I'm also working with New Panel Homes, which builds energy-efficient green homes, and I'd like you to be able to consider that. I will leave my business card here if anybody wants to contact me about my presentation, and I will take the time to show you what it's all about. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Maurice Gutierrez, who will October 24-25, 2017 Page 199 be followed by Sandra Danielson, who will be followed by Michael Facundo. MR. GUTIERREZ: Good morning, Commissioners. I was going to open up with a phrase: I hope you don't pass this so we can see what's in it, because I think it's been said before. But I thank Commissioner Taylor for clarifying some terms which I think are troublesome as in the word "by right." I'm not going to get involved in that because it's been spoken pretty well, but the other concern is the mitigation of off site. That tells me that you're allowing developers to not -- not address the issue here but elsewhere. And isn't that why we're in the situation we are now? Because if this would have been addressed, we would not be having all these studies. I look at it as a slush fund to allow this to continue so that that responsibility falls on somebody else somewhere else, not with the actual developer. From looking around, I see everybody's from the east side of town. I think that's because we haven't spoken about who won't be affected by this ordinance. City of Naples won't be. There's nothing left to build. Any planned PUD or gated community won't be because, by design, they have eliminated themselves from the community with a gate in the community they want to participate in. So that, by design, has left the burden of this issue on those that have no associations, no voice, and that's a concern because that's almost discriminatory to handle this issue on, of course, undeveloped property that only exists on the east side. I am lucky enough to volunteer and chair the Bayshore CRA, and we've taken a different approach. We have inserted language in our PUDs that have come before us that will require a percentage, as has been recommended in the study, to require developers to address this issue of affordable housing. The Cirrus Pointe, as well as the 17 acres October 24-25, 2017 Page 200 currently that will be proposed to your board, has that component. I think it is very important to lead by words and actions, and I'm hoping that when you look through this proposal you take a pen and strike out "by right" and the mitigation factor and tell us constituents that you are leading with words and actions. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Sandra Danielson. She'll be followed by Michael Facundo, who will be followed by Steve Bracci. Sandra Danielson? (No response.) MR. FACUNDA: I'm not Sandra, but Michael Facundo. MR. MILLER: Sorry about that pronunciation, sir. Michael Facundo. MR. FACUNDO: Since she's not here, am I next? MR. MILLER: Yes, sir. He will be followed by Steve Bracci, who will be followed by Al Zichella. MR. FACUNDO: Good morning. My name -- first of all, I want to thank the Board of County Commissioners for doing this study. I think it's good. I just -- some of it is good, some of it, maybe it's a little questionable, but that's for a different time. But, you know, I read this thing -- first of all, I live -- I'm a licensed architect. Let me just slow down. I live in Immokalee. My wife is a schoolteacher. She and I decided to build there because we like the community, grew up in Immokalee. I mean, we went to school there and then took off to school and then came back. One of the primary reasons is because we wanted to give back to the community where we -- which we grew up in. I'm also a graduate from Leadership Collier 2013. I serve in my local CRA advisory board, which I'm very involved in. But when I read this thing, I looked at it and I said, listen, I don't think it's broad enough. It's almost like we're trying to jam some October 24-25, 2017 Page 201 criteria into already a packed house, if you will. And I read, you know, I think it was Mark Strain in part of his literature that I read, he says, by 2040 it's expected Collier County to -- the population to grow to 482,000 people. If you do the math, that's only 23 years from now, which is not very far. But I think it's going to happen quickly. If we're not planning accordingly and appropriately, then we're really going to miss the buck. I think one of the things that I look at is that I didn't find in the study is Immokalee. Immokalee could be served as a bedroom community, a hub for the workforce. I think sometimes with urban planning and sometimes with studies, you're not seeing the broader picture, if you will. I think it's important to look at that. East Naples may not want it, and I understand that, and I respect that, but what about northeast Collier? What about Immokalee as being, as I said, a hub to be able to -- where you could put this type of housing, affordable housing? It's not unprecedented, when you really look and study. It has been done. Detroit right now is doing it. They have a situation. It required some government agencies to be creative in what they did, and it's called the CSS -- I believe it's called the CSS, Community Social Service, and now they're being creative to do some redevelopment in areas where, obviously, it is blighted. Immokalee could use this. It could use it because it could be a tool to also help with the low-income housing, as Irma relieved, the vulnerability of the housing that is there. That's what it showed. And I don't think much attention has been given there, and I think I see this as an opportunity to use this, not only for here. If it doesn't work here, hey, we'll receive it over there. There's opportunity there that we're not tapping into. The trend is, people like me, they go to school, come back. October 24-25, 2017 Page 202 There's not many places to live, because you've fallen into a certain bracket. And that bracket doesn't allow you to be able to qualify for certain housing, so they move to Lehigh. And from Lehigh, they're traveling to Naples and to Fort Myers, and that burdens our road infrastructures. I do think by creating some mass transportation would also be helpful to make -- to connect it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. FACUNDO: Has my time run out? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. MR. FACUNDO: I'm sorry. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Steve Bracci, who will be followed by Al Zichella, who will be followed by John Gaynor. Mr. Bracci has been ceded additional time from Dr. Joseph Doyle, who I see, and Ms. Sandra Doyle, who I also see. Mr. Bracci will have nine minutes. MR. BRACCI: Thank you. Steve Bracci, for the record. I'm concerned about the process that was followed in this particular instance for affordable housing with the stakeholder committee. Under Florida law, you can't -- a board can't delegate to a subcommittee the effective work of the committee and then have that committee work outside the Sunshine. I've gone on board's minutes and records, the Clerk's boards minutes and records, and found no minutes whatsoever of the stakeholder committee. There's minutes of the Affordable House Advisory Committee, but not the stakeholder committee. It looks like in June of 2016 this board, by resolution, created the committee, the stakeholder committee, invited certain particular individuals and groups to join the committee, and it was contemplated that they would make a recommendation of a plan to the Affordable October 24-25, 2017 Page 203 Housing Advisory Committee who would then make a recommendation to this board who would then make their own decision to adopt or not. And there was a letter, a form of a letter by -- that would be signed by, at the time, Commissioner Fiala as the board chair to these individuals. The law is very clear, the Florida law -- I started going back to 1974. Florida Supreme Court case of Gradison versus the Town of Palm Beach County, and I -- can I -- am I just going to continue, or should I pause, or what should we do here? MR. MILLER: I'm not sure why you're asking. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Because everybody was walking out. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Everybody was getting up. So I'm listening. MR. BRACCI: Okay. Town of Palm Beach County versus Gradison, Florida Supreme Court said, you can't -- they were going to -- they were going to delegate a subcommittee of people, of advisory people, to create a zoning ordinance. They said that's illegal. That's basically the delegation of the real effective decision-making process outside of the Sunshine, because this group had met outside of the Sunshine. In 1983 the Florida Supreme Court takes it up again in the case called Wood versus Marston, and they -- once again, they say -- it says here, no official act which is in of itself decision making can be remote, too remote, essentially, from the decision-making process regardless of how many decision-making steps go into the ultimate decision. An agency may not -- THE COURT REPORTER: Can you slow down, please. MR. BRACCI: Sure. October 24-25, 2017 Page 204 The agency cannot develop -- delegate, be it through a closed-door committee such commi -- improper practice being described by the Court, quoting Gradison, as the crystallization of secret decisions to a point just short of ceremonial acceptance. It's an evasive device which the Sunshine Law is designed to frustrate and prohibit. So in this particular case, we have a subcommittee that effectively did the real drafting and planning -- drafting of this -- of this affordable housing plan, which is now before you. They didn't just draft it. They made recommendations. So they went beyond just fact finding. They're making recommendations as to what this county should do, and they're putting them in front of you guys for a decision. That can't be done outside of the Sunshine. Now, the question is, did you guys -- or were these meetings noticed? And I went to the -- I asked Crystal this morning. She checked with the Clerk's Office. It sounds to me like these were not noticed on -- by the Clerk -- to the Clerk's Office, under BMR. There's no minutes anywhere on this. Apparently, there's some minutes that may have been posted, the Clerk's finding, on the county's web page, which is improper, because the Clerk is the keeper of the Board's minutes, by statute and by your own procedures. Why this didn't happen in this case for something as important as this is beyond me. But on top of that, if you then compare the minutes on line, there's minutes, and there's maybe 10, 12 meetings of the stakeholders, but then there's another section of that page where it's posted -- and the public meeting notices are posted for the stakeholder committee, and there's only, like, three. So what happened to the other nine or so? Some of these things look like they were never posted to the public. So some of the feedback you're hearing today, these folks who are saying, why weren't we a seat at this table, is because a lot of folks October 24-25, 2017 Page 205 didn't know about it, okay. And then the other thing, this, then, gets into the makeup of the stakeholder committee. Guys, this town, this county has a lot more people than the 20 people who seem to run this town. I mean, you look at the Blue Zones Committee, you look at this committee, it's the same playbook over and over again. You get the same cast of characters, you round them up, and you create some kind of committee that's really everyone over and over again. You know, Alan Weiss, Kamela Patton, Steve Sanderson. They're all on the Blue Zones Committee. They're on this committee. Where are -- if this is a -- why do we have to have a stakeholder committee? Isn't that, by definition, nonobjective? Isn't that subjective? I mean, if you look up -- the only way that you can have a stakeholder committee is if you have so many stakes that they cancel each other out. But the makeup of this particular committee wasn't that way. They all -- I mean, Arthrex, they have an incentive to have cheaper employees, cheaper housing, because then they could pay less. Same with the woman who came up and spoke on NCH this morning. She said, we can't compete against the other guys. Well, you can compete by paying more money, or you can have the county -- the county just give you more affordable housing and subsidize NCH's costs. I mean, all the way through this committee -- the thing that strikes me the most in this, okay -- so there was going to be three at-large people on this committee, citizens at large. Do you know who that at-large committee -- citizen was? Ed Morton. Come on. Ed Morton? Ed Morton is what Alan Weiss used to be. He used to be the head of NCH before -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I would ask you please to keep personal remarks about individuals to yourself. October 24-25, 2017 Page 206 MR. BRACCI: Ms. Taylor, I haven't maligned Mr. Morton. What I'm saying -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, sir. You just did. It's the Chair's opinion that you did, and I would ask you to stop it, please. MR. BRACCI: I am trying -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Please give him extra time. MR. MILLER: I have paused, ma'am, the moment you started. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. MR. BRACCI: Please, the point -- and I understand the Chair's comment, but the point I'm making is the people at large, where are the people who are just regular folks? If you look at your -- if you look at your executive summary for today, it starts out by saying something to the effect that economic -- or that affordable housing deals with infrastructure and it affects all of us. So why is it that the three at-large people were either activists for the affordable housing cause, or they were basically alongside the folks that are already on the committee? Where is the folks that's just -- look at your Planning Commission. You don't load it up with stakeholders. Why was this committee done differently? It had a foregone conclusion, it appears, on something that's extremely important. Look, folks, I'm not asking you guys not to do this, but this stuff should be in the Sunshine. This is good governance. You can do better than this. And I've beat this drum with the school board, as a lot of you know. A lot of you folks probably think I'm just out there as a rabble-rouser. What I want is good, effective governance, and I don't see it happening right now. That's what I'm asking for. This stuff should be -- the meetings should be noticed. These meetings should be open and in the public. You shouldn't have the same cast of characters over and over again making decisions in this town with a foregone conclusion. That's what I see happening here. And I know it's an unfavorable October 24-25, 2017 Page 207 and unpopular speech, but somebody's got to say it and, for whatever reason, I got roped into this with the school district a few years ago, and it's kind of become my calling. And I don't particularly -- I mean, I'm taking time off of work today to deal with these things. I could be doing a lot of other things. So hopefully that's respected along with everyone else who's saying these people worked on these subcommittees, you know, gratis or free, because somebody's got to point out the other side here. These committees have to be objective, and they are not. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Al Zichella. He'll be followed by John Gaynor, who will be followed by Jamie Blue. MR. ZICHELLA: Commissioners, for the record, Al Zichella. I'm here just as a private citizen although, full discovery, I am a past president of the building association of both Collier, the State of Florida, and former vice president of Miami. So I have a perspective on this that I think you may find to be of interest. I would just -- my remarks, I'm going to keep them just to economic issues, if I may. We heard about this is really about economics and, having read the report, I don't necessarily agree that everything in the report is economically sound. First, the mixed-use, if I may, the mixed income zoning, better known as inclusionary zoning. It's really a rather unsuccessful program. It has only worked, to my knowledge, in places where the average income is around the $100,000. You could read that suburban Washington, okay. Everywhere else it produces about seven units a year on average. With the 1,600-unit backlog, I would submit to you that that's not really a solution. It's a penalty for everybody else. Inclusionary zoning is known to be a price control and a tax, and anybody familiar with economics will tell you that is bad and will constrict production of October 24-25, 2017 Page 208 anything. So if you're looking to get more production of housing, of any kind of housing, including affordable housing, that's not the right way to do it. A price control and a tax will constrict supply. Also, the Community Land Trust portion of it, I think it's condemned by its own language in your report on Page 43. I mean, I looked at it in Miami-Dade County where we know that there's over two million residents. It produced, what was it, eight units in over a two-year period, managed by four people. I would suggest to you that's not a recipe for success. That's just new bureaucracy. And I urge you to take a close look at that. It doesn't really have a very compassionate appeal to me, even for the people that it serves. They have no interest in the land underneath the home that they would be buying and, therefore, have no equity, frankly, in the home that they're buying because they're contradicted by the very rules of the trust. You want to keep that housing in the affordable stock, as they say, which means that those people can't really afford themselves of the equity which, again, is how people achieve any wealth at all as hard workers. The other thing was a linkage fee. Ladies and gentlemen, that's a tax on job creation. I just think that's a bad idea on a basis. Any economic policy that would tax job creation is just not a good idea. And I don't see really, frankly, the nexus to either affordable housing or infrastructure on job creation. So I would say that that's foreign. The last thing is I've heard a lot of talk about the stakeholders, and I've looked at the stakeholder list and, briefly, it's just very underrepresented by the providers of housing, okay. And everybody can talk about how to fund it, okay, but somebody's got to build it, okay. And if you don't have means to finance it or gain equity financing, this is just not going to happen. So, to sum up -- and I know I'm out of time. And thank you, by the way, for my time. This is just doomed to be an unsuccessful October 24-25, 2017 Page 209 venture. I would urge you to please reject it. Having said that, I do appreciate the work that everybody put into it. I have no comment on who the participants are; I won't go there. But people did spend their time, went to meetings, and I thank them for the effort. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is John Gaynor. He'll be followed by Jamie Blue, who will be followed by Steven Kirk. MR. GAYNOR: Good afternoon, everyone, and special thanks to the commissioners and everyone that's spoken here today and has a little bit of skin in what's going on here today. I live in East Naples, Rivera Golf Estates, and I'm concerned about the value of my home and my safety should a government program housing go in my backyard, so to speak. And I can say that from a little bit of experience, because I have a master's in rehabilitation counseling and, as such, it was our job to get people out of government programs, get people out of governmental housing, get people off social programs, et cetera, into the world of work, just like you and me. Living in an affordable housing, low income, and Section 8 community has its pitfalls. The first being low self-esteem. And I can show you some studies that have doing that -- that has been done on that issue. And it's very true, people get caught in that vicious cycle of government programs. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Would you just give him more time? Sir, we are not talking about government programs, and we are not talking about Section 8. MR. GAYNOR: Okay. My question is then: You're speaking about affordable housing, which has to do with an income -- an income level, and below that is low-income housing and then Section 8. How can you guarantee to us that other programs such as Section 8 and low-income housing won't creep up to the affordable level? Thank October 24-25, 2017 Page 210 you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jamie Blue, who will be followed by Steven Kirk. MS. BLUE: Hi. Good afternoon. I'm Jamie Blue. I am an average Joe here in Naples, Florida. I want to thank Scott Smith. I totally agree with you; this plan has too many ifs, too many assumptions. And what we need to concentrate on, public transportation. And if you want to recruit the workers, pay the workers. Also, Mr. Convoy, thank you for keeping children safe about the power line. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, your final registered speaker for this item is Steven Kirk. MR. KIRK: My name is Steven Kirk. I'm president of Rural Neighborhoods, and we're a non-profit developer who are primarily working in Immokalee. I think we said at the beginning of this meeting that it was a framework, and I think if we treat this recommendation from the stakeholder committee as a framework, there are elements of it that address the remarks from most people in this crowd. I heard several common themes that this is for workforce housing, that this is for affordable housing, it's for teachers and others and firefighters. I think that's true. It's important to realize it's not for the poor solely. We're looking at 120 percent of median, an average family who earns -- a family of four who would earn just under $85,000. These are neighbors. These are our hairdresser. These are the persons who are medical technologists in our community. One job equals either a home or one to two -- or a trip from Fort Myers or Lehigh. And so if we don't solve the affordable housing problem, we'll be back here in three years talking about the congestion October 24-25, 2017 Page 211 problem on our highways, which already exists. Naturally occurring affordable housing is disappearing. There was a remark earlier that we have 1,200 units of affordable housing in East Naples but 12,000 others that are below $100,000. I would posit that most of those homes preceded the development in East Naples, but even those mobile home parks and small townhouses are disappearing, and that supply will be gone as development proceeds. Integration of the burden is one of the common themes in this meeting. And if we're going to distribute low-income housing, affordable housing, and workforce housing throughout our community, then we need to be able to tweak an idea like inclusionary zoning to make it work because there is very little other way to distribute this need and this supply across jurisdictions. We had a discussion about Immokalee. We had a discussion about -- and we have not had a discussion about the rural lands that are beginning to open up. I do think we need to begin to consider targeting some of these programs to places where land is affordable, there are not significant numbers of wealthier homeowners impacted, and where, perhaps, inclusionary zoning and others may be performed on a trial basis. So I think if we look at this as a framework and we don't get tied down into every single detail at this point, we have a framework. I think one of the things that the Commission dealt with at the beginning of this meeting is the idea of by right. A woman spoke about communication. That concept has been poorly communicated, and I think that everyone who speaks about transparency is right. And I think as the Commission pointed out at the very beginning of this process, that's our goal. I think it was the goal of the stakeholders, I think it's the goal of this commission, and I think the community wants a broad discussion of these ideas, but the "by right" was not meant to slip something past everyone. It's simply a beginning, starting point. October 24-25, 2017 Page 212 Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. (Applause.) MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, if you don't -- these are three names I called earlier. If you don't mind, I'll call them again. They were not here. Nancy Moore? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Jim Cutry? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Bill Grow? (No response.) MR. MILLER: And that is all of the speaker slips I have, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. MR. DeLESIA: One must have fallen on the floor. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, come on up. MR. DeLESIA: I handed it right to you. MR. MILLER: What's your name, sir? MR. DeLESIA: John DeLesia. I live in Lely Resort. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, why don't we just have him come up and speak. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. MR. MILLER: Oh, yeah. MR. DeLESIA: I have had the benefit -- thank you. Thank you. I've had the benefit of hearing a lot of what has been said. Some comments: I really felt that the transit issues need to be addressed in the county, perhaps, and that's one thing. I must be straight about it, and I stand in stark contrast to your goal to provide affordable housing. I truly believe the free market should take care of that. I see it as government meddling, and I just want to make that known. You can look at the Bureau of Justice statistics. There's a direct October 24-25, 2017 Page 213 correlation between income and crime. If -- you know, you must see that, I would think. I also agree with some of speakers that the -- that your stakeholders advisory board was racked and stacked with affordable housing flag holders, and that's really -- I wanted to talk about zoning. And I feel it's the responsibility of a zoning board and a community to enforce density. I'm firmly against increased density and the congestion that it brings to our community. But as a member -- as a resident of Lely, I really -- you know I would ask the Board, do we really -- must the government get involved? Must the county of Collier get involved in affordable housing, and must we -- I don't see the need, and I think the free market should take care of it. Read Adam Smith from the 18th century. That's it. Bye. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So that's -- and do we have his -- we didn't find -- MR. MILLER: Pardon me? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We don't have a speaker slip? MR. MILLER: I filled one out for him. I did not have a slip, but I filled one out. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala wanted -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: DeLesia. MR. MILLER: DeLesia. Am I saying that right, sir? Jim DeLesia? MR. DeLESIA: Jack. MR. MILLER: Jack. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And there was one other fellow -- gentleman that came in. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: He said no. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All right. So then we'll close October 24-25, 2017 Page 214 the public speaking, and I'll turn it over to my colleagues, and... COMMISSIONER FIALA: We have to take a break, I think. She's got -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, she doesn't want a break. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, she doesn't want a break? We're going to go -- no lunch? No nothing? Just keep going? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Keep on going. All right. We'll give you a break. I took a break -- take a break. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Let's take a 10-minute break. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. So, Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Why don't we take a 10-minute break? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Let's take a 10-minute break and come back. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We talked about it in advance. She'd like to work through. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, why don't we go ahead and take a 10-minute break? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We'd be glad to do it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's why we weren't going to take a break. Okay. We are going to take a 10-minute break. We'll be back at 12:27 -- 37; 10 minutes. That's right -- 27. (A brief recess was had.) MR. OCHS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd please take your seats. Madam Chair, you have a quorum. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm in the back. October 24-25, 2017 Page 215 MR. OCHS: You're still in the room. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So at this point I think we've closed the public comment, and I think it's now time for us to discuss this and figure out where we're going. And if the County Manager has any direction at this point, are we going to -- I think -- I bet Commissioner Saunders has. Are we going to go this, point by point, or what's your sense on it? And I'm -- the floor is open, so let's begin. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I could throw out one idea. Obviously, if we accept this report or any parts of the report, that's not moving the ball, necessarily. That's just simply saying we're ready to start playing on this and dealing with this. I think that there are probably some issues in here that we don't want to move forward on, and I'll give you a couple of examples of some things I think we could take out of this and direct staff to move forward but, perhaps, eliminate a couple things. So, for example, the fee per unit of $127,000, I doubt that there's anybody on this board that really wants to go forward with that or I doubt that there's a majority of the Board that would want to go forward with that. Some of us may be opposed to the linkage fee. The issue of by right in terms of eliminating some of the public process, I think we're all very concerned about doing that. The inclusionary zoning issue, I think that raises some concerns that we're -- probably a majority of us would be somewhat concerned about that. So I think maybe one way to deal with this is, as opposed to going through each and every item, maybe we can discuss what we think is important to send the message that we don't want to deal with it in that way. That would be my suggestion, but we could go, you know, each October 24-25, 2017 Page 216 item. But that would be my thought. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are we raising our hands or doing our light? What do you want? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Let's do the light, but I heard you, so... COMMISSIONER FIALA: You just keep doing that, because I forget. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's okay. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Just roll my chair back, right? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: One of the thoughts that I had, rather than us as a board going through these points individually -- because as we heard from the public speakers today, there's a diversity of opinions on how we're going to go through these. And as we talked at the beginning prior to hearing the public speakers, we all -- I think we all agreed that, individually, these points, suggestions that are coming to us from the stakeholders committee and through this report are all going to require individual LDC and/or GMP amendments that are going to come back to us on a case-by-case basis, and so... And that's where I was having trouble with my computer, but the executive summary -- and I got it fixed. Just so you know, I'm back on. The executive summary language was where I was having some concern about the staff's recommendation to approve this report. And I think that if we could shift the language in staff's recommendation from "approval" to "acceptance" with direction to staff to bring back these suggestions on an individual basis through whatever mechanisms are, in fact, necessary for their implementation and not -- and/or not, and that way there, Commissioner Saunders, as you mentioned several points I concur with, quite regularly, the linkage fee and the in-lieu fee. I mean, we could go on and on and on individually about things where we have issues. But in order to move the process forward, we all know that it is an item of discussion and necessity for our community. So my suggestion would be that we just adjust the language in the October 24-25, 2017 Page 217 executive summary, move to accept the report, and give direction to staff to bring back those items which do, in fact -- can, in fact -- can be done on an LDC and GMP amendment. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Your turn. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I was going to say the similar thing in that, again, this is a broad vision that lists out some suggestions from a committee that, whether or not they get implemented once we get down to the specific ordinances or resolutions that we're going to need to do any of it, that's when the public has the opportunity to come in and we debate those, you know. I don't know that there's going to be enough time in the day if we were to go through each one. I'm -- what's that? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, it is the beginning of the day. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, it's 12:30. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'm teasing. I'm teasing. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It's 12:30. Right, I mean, we're just going to start the process. And so I agree with Commissioner McDaniel. I think it's -- you know, there are certain things that I agree are probably nonstarters for many of us. There's things that may be if we're -- if we discuss them and work through them and changed them a little bit that they would, you know, probably be ideas that many of us would be in favor of. So I'm just a little concerned in trying to adopt this plan as these are the changes that are going to happen, because there's a lot of fleshing -- the devil's in the details. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sure. And if it is that, no. I mean, acceptance, yes; adoption? Approval? Those are where I was having concerns with the language, so... COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was trying to push the button October 24-25, 2017 Page 218 there. Your light thing is not working. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Wait. Mine is. COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, but his keeps going off. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's by design. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: What I was trying to get at is, clearly, this is just a framework was one of the terms that was used by one of the speakers. There's nothing in this that binds anybody to anything or commits anybody, this board, to anything, whether we accept the report or whether we adopt the report. Whatever word we use doesn't really change the fact that we're not adopting or implementing today. There are some issues that are of great concern to the public, and I think we should send a message to our staff, if we agree that those things should not be brought back to us in the forms that are included in the report. So I'm going to give you, again, a couple of examples. I think we can make a -- unless the Board is interested in having a linkage fee. I'm not. I'm not interested in this fee per unit. I'm not interested in the -- having these things approved as a matter of right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Agreed. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So those are the types of things that I think are the most of concern to the public. The inclusionary zoning issue is one that's of great concern. I think if we can have a direction to staff that we're going to accept this report but we're not supportive of the list of things that I think are very concerning to the public, I think that sends the right message to the public that we're listening, number one, but number two, it eliminates the need for people to be concerned about whether we're going to bring this back to them, you know, at some point in time in the future. So that was my thought was that we could eliminate a lot October 24-25, 2017 Page 219 of angst if we are in agreement that certain things should not be part of the program going forward. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And maybe we can't get to that point, but that was my thinking. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. I agree with everything that you said. I think that that's -- I think that that's what we've heard the audience say in all different forms from all different walks of life here was they didn't care for those specifications. There was one other, and they were talking -- the report talks about how the housing would be distributed fairly around the community, but then it gives them the out to -- and you've heard this from the audience today -- that they didn't -- they wouldn't have to build it. They could have another developer build it in another part of the county, and that's what you heard the people saying. And they're saying, no, you know, if you want to distribute it fairly, then leave it where it is. Don't -- you know, if they want to build housing there, then they have to accommodate their own affordable housing as well, and that way it would distribute it more evenly around the county. I don't think that that's going to be really exciting to anybody who's living in those areas, but that would help for some distribution of the affordable housing. There was a gentleman; he had a yellow shirt on. I don't know where he's now. And I have his name someplace. But, anyway, he was talking about the economics of it and the differences in what he finds in the paper and what was reported here about the difference in numbers and something about, you know, the devil is in the details with the numbers and, you know, he made some really good points as well as I think if we form -- if we continue this on -- and, you know, it's a good thing to do, as long as it's done fairly, and I think everything that you've said is fair. October 24-25, 2017 Page 220 I think that we should maybe re-form that committee so that it's comprised of citizens more than people who make their money off development. Maybe we should have, I don't know, just John Q Public, three from each one of the districts or two from each one of the districts and see what they could come up with, if that's something that you guys -- it doesn't make any difference to me, but I thought that would be another nice thing. Inclusionary zoning, you mentioned inclusionary zoning, Commissioner Saunders. I was so in favor of inclusionary zoning years back. I was a strong proponent. And so when Phil McCabe built Botanical Place, I thought, boy, that's good. We're going to do this, and we're going to just make a difference in people's lives. It was the worst mistake we could have ever made. What's happened now is people that brought there still can't sell their places. They paid 315,000 for their units, and the affordable housing went bad. They had a lot of problems there. And I won't go into what all went on. I'll just say that we still hear from those people who are stuck with their units because they could never sell them because the area deteriorated so quickly. So I totally agree with you on the inclusionary zoning, and I have proof of it. And I was for it. So -- let's see. I think if we strip out some of those things, just as you said, I think that we will be complying with what our speakers have said, is what they would like. They're just asking to be able to be aware of what's going on and to hear us vote. I mean, that's what we're here for is to vote on different subjects, and that's what you're saying is take out the "by right" and let us vote. And same with administrative approval. We have to be able to vote on these things. That's what our job is, and that's what the audience says. Let's see. I think that that's -- I was making a bunch of notes, and I have a bunch more notes, but I think I'll just stop it there. But with the figures, I was surprised that they were talking about 80 percent. October 24-25, 2017 Page 221 You all have heard me, I mean, probably till ad nauseam when I say, well, take some of that money and let's build some housing for seniors or why don't you build a whole village just for seniors, and I've been rebuffed every time. I think it's a good idea, but nobody seemed to be interested in it, but this is what they were asking for. Also, I've been saying we should be building things for 80 percent. We really should be building something for that moderate income, but we don't seem to be incentivizing that at all, and I think maybe we ought to -- well, maybe the committee ought to discuss that if they want to. We showed that last year our 80 percentile could purchase a $217,000 home, and this year that same percentage could only afford a $115,000 home. I don't know how that slipped by $100,000 in just one year, but I thought that was interesting, too. The figures don't even begin to match there. Again, the guy with the yellow shirt; wherever he is. Oh, okay. So some of those things, I think, need to be tested. But if you're saying that we should accept the report and modify it so that it would be more in keeping with what -- all of our committee members, whether they be developers, whether they be members of the community, whether they be the affordable housing that we would like to build so that we can -- so that we can make a whole Comprehensive Plan, I think it's a good idea. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Are you -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You haven't spoken. I was going to make a motion, but if you want to -- if you want to go first, I'll wait. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. We struggle, and many of you know we struggled with the golf course issue, how people could -- what happened if I lived on a golf course, and, oh, my gosh, it could be sold and built upon by right. October 24-25, 2017 Page 222 COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. That's something that we're struggling with. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: By right. So how did we address it? We gave tremendous restrictions around what could be built there. For instance, we required a 100-foot buffer. We required it to be planted for walkways. We required a series of meetings with the community that is going to be impacted. That's how we handled it. So when you hear "by right," you've been living by right for a long time, but we know how to handle that. Now, can we improve what's given to us? Of course we can. And, administratively, yes, we struggled with administrative permissions up here not too long ago. So, yeah, we can improve that. I don't know what the economics are, Commissioner Saunders, of removing the two income-producing parts of a plan. I'm not willing to do that at this point. I think we need to understand the impact of not agreeing to this linkage fee and not agreeing to the fee in lieu of building workforce housing or affordable housing. I'm not willing to do that at this point. I would remind everyone, because it was the front page of the newspaper -- and if you don't read the newspaper, that's fine. But we had a thousand jobs leave us never to have materialized because of two things. First of all, we don't have a properly trained workforce here in Collier County, and we don't have workforce housing; and the name of the company is Arthrex. Why do we have people on the stakeholders committee that are the hospital and that it is Arthrex and it's the big employers? Because they're the ones who feel it. I don't feel it. I have my own -- you know, I'm up here. Collier County feels it. Hospitals feel it. And a long-time resident of Key West told me what happened in Key West is they had this kind of attitude, this kind of, well, you know, we don't want this. We don't want to prepare. We don't want to plan for October 24-25, 2017 Page 223 workforce housing. It got more and more and more expensive to the point where when people retired and a practice, like a doctor, sold his practice, the doctor coming in couldn't afford to live there. So they're isolating themselves more and more. And I know you say this can't happen in Collier County, but I can tell you it's happening, and that's why it's important. We're building for our future. We're not building for tomorrow. We're building for our future. So I think that there are many, many very good points raised by the speakers here. I think it's something that we must address and get answers for. I would like to see if I had any support to accept the report as it is and then start going through this so that we can address it because, again, Commissioner Saunders, I don't know -- I don't know the impact of removing a provision that would give us some kind of fiscal part of this plan. I don't know what that means. And I don't suggest that we are here at a quarter to one to decide that or to make that very clear. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I could suggest one of the things that's going on without any dollars changed or encouragement or anything. I wasn't really sure if I was going to like this or not, so I always go out and look at things. And so David Torres was building a rental community, okay, and it's right there on Lord's Way. So I went out and took a look at this rental community. One-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom. The place is darling. They're affordable. They start at, I think, $1,300, and they go on up somewhat for the three-bedroom. They all have amenities. They're even going to have a childcare center there. I mean, they're -- they're not asking for any money. They're not paying anything in. And I would think that by not having to pay linkage fees and by not having to pay some of these other fees, he's incentivized enough just to build it himself. October 24-25, 2017 Page 224 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I think I would add to that -- sorry. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, you're next; then me. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think what I would add to that is that this is a community-wide problem, and the whole community should be involved. And if there's going to be any funding, it should be the entire community that's involved in that. Where I'm -- the problem I have with the linkage fee and with this -- the $127,000 per unit, the problem I have with that is that's shouldered by one segment of the community. So if we are really concerned about the community being involved in helping to fund some of this in some way, then whatever money we could make with dollar per square foot, we could certainly use that -- pay for that in terms of our General Fund. That way everybody is participating and solving the problem as opposed to just newcomers, new developers. That's the problem I have with it. So let's spread -- I'm not saying we shouldn't be involved financially. I'm just saying that it's not fair to have the fees imposed by one segment of the community. Let's make this a countywide expense. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Madam Chair, I have an idea -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- and it's right in line. I think -- and I don't want to put words in anybody's mouth, but I'm hearing the same thing. We're basically in consent with some adjustments along the way with what we should do. If you'll recall back in the spring we had a housing workshop, and staff brought us -- after the ULI's original report -- and it is on Page 14 of that which was included -- it talked about regulations, increased -- maintain, restore, supply, enhanced. There was a column. And I have it here. I don't know if anybody can pull it up on the screen. But we went through those items, and those that stayed green October 24-25, 2017 Page 225 were things that we gave direction to staff to pursue and bring back to us. Those that were red, don't talk to me about raising minimum wage and don't talk to me about increasing the board membership from five to seven. Those are off the table. We could have -- today we could come to a consensus and agree that the acceptance of this report is certainly deference to those that spent the inordinate amount of -- that's the portion I was just talking about. We could -- by accepting this report -- we aren't approving it. We certainly know that there are things that are in there that we all have -- we could discuss this linkage fee back and forth and the opt-out fee forever. We can accept this report and then move forward with another session, a workshop along those lines to bring out those things that we could actually talk -- give specific direction to staff to in another session to go through to more publicly vet those issues, and it gets to the same end. So with that, I'll make a motion that we accept this report and give direction to staff to bring forward, individually, the suggestions of the report. Again, if one comes to us that we know we're going to be able to shoot down, we're going to be able to do that in fairly quick order before it ever even gets to us. But I'd like to make that motion. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And, Madam Chair, I'm going to support the motion because, obviously, we want to move this forward. But I'm kind of sending the message -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- that there are a half a dozen things in this report that give me great concern. I'm going to indicate what they are just for the record because I don't want there to be any surprises when -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I didn't read my list. I didn't read my list. October 24-25, 2017 Page 226 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, that's what I was trying to get you to do was to read your list. But, again, I have a problem with the linkage fee, the $127,000 fee, the approvals by right, the inclusionary zoning. And so I'm going to support the motion, but when this comes back, I just want staff to understand there's at least one vote that has some concern with those issues. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well -- and maybe it would be a good idea for, you know, all of us to kind of express these issues, because we don't want staff going down a road of preparing something -- right. I understand your position, too. I mean, in addition to those, I've been a big proponent of opening up these activity centers and, you know, creating some affordable housing, giving the owner of a commercial activity center the ability to -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mixed use. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- put some, you know, housing that's affordable within this activity center, the transportation's -- you know, I don't know that I would be in favor of requiring that of a new activity center developer just because it's completely -- it's two different things, you know. It's two different kinds of development. So I think there's other things that are in there that we just have to flesh out. And I think this is at least a good start, and I would be in favor of just accepting it as the recommendations from the committee, and we're going to have to flesh these things out in more detail, because I'm concerned about some of the unintended consequences that someone brought up, too. We have to really be mindful of the things that we may create unintentionally. So I'd be in favor of it as well. I think Commissioner Saunders' comments regarding the issues that he brought up are well taken, but I think it just merits more discussion. October 24-25, 2017 Page 227 COMMISSIONER FIALA: And you know what, can I first ask Commissioner Solis a question. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Stay on the mike, please. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, I just wanted to ask, you know, I was in favor of also activity centers, but they're so jammed with traffic as it is. Would that -- I know that they want to build them there so people can work there, but if they're not working there, wouldn't that jam up the traffic more? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, I mean, I think the traffic counts for the activity centers are what they are, and they're going to have to fit. I mean, obviously, we're not going to -- the intent isn't to create traffic issues. I think there are a number of activity centers that, you know, have ample parking, and adjustments could be made to where it wouldn't create a traffic issue. COMMISSIONER FIALA: It's a good idea. I'm not shooting that down at all. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And that's the kind of thing, I think, that we really need to think through, right, because we could create these huge traffic jams if we're not careful with that. So yeah, that's -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's part of fleshing it out. COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's exactly what I meant. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. And then I add to your list, again, I'll just say that wherever they're building, the developers should be building the housing there, the affordable housing there as well. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Going forward. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Pardon me? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Going forward, right? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. So that then we have a more even distribution of housing. I think that that's what you heard from October 24-25, 2017 Page 228 the audience a lot of is the fear that it's going to be transferred back to them again. And so if you would consider that, that would be fine with me to add to the list. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. So we have a motion on the floor and a second, and before we close the -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Did somebody second it? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, I believe Commissioner Saunders did. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, he said he'd support it but he didn't -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I hadn't, but I will second it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh, I thought you did. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. He just said he'd support it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: He didn't? Oh, he would support it. I'm sorry. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm supporting it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh, I'm sorry. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's okay. I'll second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm not the parliamentarian -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So, County Attorney, we had a very clear accusation that we are doing things illegally in Collier County with regards to this -- stakeholders and their minutes and things. Could you please opine on that. MR. KLATZKOW: The stakeholders group was created by this board during a public meeting at which anybody could have voiced any displeasure as to the components of it and did not. The meetings were duly advertised, each and every one, and minutes were taken of the minutes, each and every one, so that the allegations are without merit. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. All right. October 24-25, 2017 Page 229 There's a motion on the floor and a second, and that is to accept this plan and -- I'm sorry. I'm just going to ask -- and then to direct staff to bring it back to us so we could sort of get into it on a much deeper level. I think the committee's heard our concerns and our questions, so it gives them more opportunity to do the research. Am I incorrect with that? COMMISSIONER FIALA: I would just want to add that I would think that maybe some of those that have been on that committee forever and ever and ever, maybe add some people that -- like, somebody from the development community, for instance -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: There are. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- that was here. I don't care who it was. But somebody who is -- okay, Kathy Curatolo, you know, or something like that, or maybe the past president. Get some other people there that would offer some input, maybe some people that are, maybe, from a couple communities that would want to be serving on there so that you give that -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: She is on it. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, you're already -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Kathy Curatolo is on it. COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's why you're raising your hand. Okay. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Russell Budd is on it. He's PBS. Mentos community is on it. MR. OCHS: Commissioners, we had considered the work of the shareholders work done with this report, unless you want to -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, no, no, no. COMMISSIONER FIALA: So we can form a new committee? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. At this point you're going to, as staff, as Collier County staff, come back to us to address our questions? October 24-25, 2017 Page 230 MR. OCHS: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Perfect. Are you relieved? It's done. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Specifically, the motion maker, perception of the motion, was that we accept the report and that we give direction to staff to bring back, individually, the items that are suggested within this report that we will then be able to more publicly vet with regard to the LDC and the GMP amendments that are requisite for these suggestions to be implemented. One of my suggestions was that we have another workshop and do a similar -- a similar green and red item -- line item here for staff to be able to, as we like to say, pick the low-hanging fruit, things that are easier to do and less contentious. Let's continue to address it. But that was what I made when I made the motion was to give direction to staff to bring back individually. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: In a workshop format? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, in whatever format. I think workshop provides for greater public input, but mostly my interpretation of these suggestions, we can't vote on anything today. They're going to require LDC and GMP amendments, so staff to bring those back to us on an as-needed basis, and a workshop is a great way to do that. MR. KLATZKOW: From a process standpoint, normally what we would do is staff would work on the ordinance, we then get you through DSAC, Planning Commission, go through public vetting before it would come to you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. MR. KLATZKOW: That's the normal. Is that the process you envision, or do you want to -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I don't want to -- as Commissioner -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Workshop. October 24-25, 2017 Page 231 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Workshop it again. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: A workshop would be allowing us to express some of the immediate concerns that we have again. I haven't shared my list. MR. KLATZKOW: So we're -- are we preparing ordinances or -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Not right at this point. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, no, no, just -- I mean, no. That wasn't the intent. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Right. We'll workshop this again. We have specific questions and concerns. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Including golf courses, you know; that was mentioned a few times. And there, people are afraid that what -- you know, they've been living on a golf course and paid extra for the land and have been enjoying it all these years, and now they could lose it if it was by right. Maybe they couldn't lose it otherwise; I don't know. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There is no -- there's no by right in here. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. Ms. Kinzel? MS. KINZEL: Commissioner Taylor, thank you. I think it is maybe a good time to remind everyone that the Clerk's board minutes and records is the keeper of your official records, so it would probably be the best repository for all advertised or noticed meetings as well as minutes of all the meetings; that whether they're on the Board's website or not, those meetings should come to the Clerk's board minutes and records, and then we can centrally make them available to the public as the minutes and records. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Good. So I think it's clear as mud; is that correct? MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. All right. October 24-25, 2017 Page 232 MR. OCHS: We have our direction. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So we have a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you for your work. It will not go -- it will not be put on the shelf. Thank you. Item #15 (10/25/2017) STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, that takes us to Item 15 on your agenda. That is staff and commission communications. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. MR. OCHS: If you folks could leave quietly so we could finish up the meeting. Thank you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You want to take another break until they get out. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, they're leaving pretty quietly. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, they are. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All right. County Manager? MR. OCHS: Just a quick reminder on an upcoming workshop. You have two topics you're going to deal with on November 7th. The October 24-25, 2017 Page 233 workshop on the infrastructure sales surtax will be at 9 a.m. on September 7th, and then at 1 p.m. we'll have the Hurricane Irma after-action workshop. I think all your calendars have been cleared for those. And I believe that's all I have right now, Madam Chair. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. County Attorney Klatzkow? MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Ms. Kinzel? MS. KINZEL: No, thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I'm sure this is going to amaze you. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Nothing? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Nothing in the east. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. I was going to tell you about that great new rental place that David -- what's his name? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Torres. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- Torres is building. He's over halfway through. He should be starting to rent them in -- oh, he should be starting to rent them in January, I believe. And there's a couple more that are just like that that are for moderate income, that middle income that we all know is needed so badly. And one is adding to it's repertoire more housing into the same thing. So we've got some good things going that I'm really thrilled about. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good. Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I had just a couple things. First is -- and there was a letter to the editor, I think it was yesterday, on an issue that I'd like to have the Commission consider maybe at the next meeting or some future meeting, and that is, as everybody's returning back to Naples, so are the car carriers. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. October 24-25, 2017 Page 234 COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, they are. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I don't know anyone's had the experience that I've had with those parking in right turn lanes or, you know -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: All over the place. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I think we're running into a safety issue, at least certainly in front of Calusa Bay where I live, you know, if I'm going to come out and try to turn out onto Goodlette this time of year, very likely that there's a car carrier in the right turn lane, and I can't see anything. And I see it on Airport Road, I see it on a lot of different major roads. COMMISSIONER FIALA: U.S. 41 east? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yeah. Commissioner, last -- this came up once last time as well, too. We had our Code Enforcement Department reach out to all car carrier companies, let them know, and we worked with some larger shopping centers and said, why don't you -- you know, they've allowed a car carrier to pull in and unload the cars. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right. MR. CASALANGUIDA: And we contacted the SO because it really requires them to say you're working in the right-of-way, because it's a quick response. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right, right. MR. CASALANGUIDA: With a few nods, I think we'll just do the same thing. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. Or even -- you know, one of the parks or something. If we could designate a place where -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: Not a bad idea. North Collier. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- people could come and do that, it would also get some traffic to the park. COMMISSIONER FIALA: If you could let the HOAs, you October 24-25, 2017 Page 235 know, to notify their people in their intercom or whatever that, you know, if you want your car it will -- you know, it has to be at so and so place or something, and they could make arrangements for it. Yeah, because you're absolutely right, it's a -- I was watching yesterday and, boy, somebody was near -- on U.S. 41 is how I knew -- unloading their cars there right there by Treviso Bay, and whoa. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: In the middle of 41. The other thing I would like to bring up -- and I'd like the Commission's support on this. Mr. Lister's in the back. The United States Submarine Veterans, I think it's association or Inc., the Naples base of the USS VI, is requesting the dedication part of our -- of one of our roadways as the -- as a Submarine Veterans Memorial Highway, to receive that designation, and I think that would be a wonderful thing. They're very active. They're at all of our events. And what they're -- what the request is, it's really a resolution to support their petition to the state dedicating a portion of I-75 from Mile Marker 110 to the Broward County line as the Submarine Ventures Memorial Highway. And since that affects Collier County -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do we need to do that in a timely manner? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Tin can sailors, right? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. I mean, is there a time limit for us to be able to get the letter of support out to the legislature, or can you bring it forward on a -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The way they do the namings of roads is that towards the end of the session there's a transportation bill, and that gets, sort of, added. So you've got time to do it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Commissioner Solis, bring in an executive -- October 24-25, 2017 Page 236 COMMISSIONER FIALA: It's a great idea. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- summary and we're all over it. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah, if everyone's in favor, I'll bring forward the resolution. And hopefully Mr. Lister will be here to accept that for us. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Were you on a submarine, Mike? MR. LISTER: I was. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Nuclear. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Ah, that explains it. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Really? MR. LISTER: It does. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So thank you for all you do and what your organization does. I think that's a great idea. And that's all I have. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I just had one comment. The item that I asked to be pulled off the consent agenda dealt with the innovation facility, the EII. And I just wanted to explain why I pulled that off in case they're listening. I need to have a good understanding as to how this thing is going to be financially stable going forward. We're putting $800,000 in General Fund revenue this year, and I haven't seen how they're going to, number one, be financially stable and then, number two, I just need to get a good understanding of whether or not spending that money in that way is really getting the best bang for the buck for our taxpayers. So hopefully they're listening and hopefully that's what they'll present to us. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I've been asking Leo at different meetings also what kind of income are we getting to offset all of the outgoing money, and so I'm glad you're bringing that up. October 24-25, 2017 Page 237 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Well, it was pulled on the meeting before. All three of them were for her particular reason, and I was happy to see that you were looking at it as well, sir, and madam, so... CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. I have a couple of things. And I see Jack Wert is in the back, so you're going to mosey on up here, first of all. MR. WERT: Yes, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think we talked about it at the last meeting where we would get involved with a -- Naples had the eye of the hurricane but, by gosh, if we're rocking, the rest of Florida is. And guess what? MR. WERT: Naples is rocking. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So it's going forward December the 9th. Do we dare say -- is it confirmed? MR. WERT: Not quite yet. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. We can't say. MR. WERT: We're still doing a few more last-minute things. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Pretend she didn't say anything. MR. WERT: But the date does look favorable yes, December the 9th, and it would be a concert and, as commissioner has said, really, really celebrating the fact that Naples is back. You know that our theme has been "The Paradise Coast is Open," and we're clear, we're free, and restaurants are fired up and the businesses are getting back to normal. So we thought this would be a great opportunity to really celebrate that, the people getting back to work and so forth, but also just a fun event. I mean, after all this community has been through, it's time we have a little bit of fun, and we thought this would be a great opportunity to bring the community out and really enjoy themselves October 24-25, 2017 Page 238 for a concert. Don't have the bands quite worked out -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You can't say. MR. WERT: -- yet but we're close. And so we'll be announcing that soon. But it -- we think it will be a great opportunity. And we're adding a component to it, a charitable contribution that all of the folks who come to the event would have an opportunity to make a voluntary donation. Commissioner Taylor has been in touch with the Community Foundation, and it looks as though they're interested in being the recipient of those funds, and they would then help us redistribute to where we really -- they really see a need. And we'll get lots of input from different folks. But the biggest unfunded needs at this point in the community is where that money would go. So we think it's a great opportunity to bring folks out and add that component to help the community as well. Perhaps a portion of the proceeds of admission would also go toward that. And it looks as though the Community Foundation could be the funding source and the recipient of sponsorship dollars, which we want to go out and see if we can find as well. We've got a meeting this afternoon with the Naples Chamber, see if they'll help us, perhaps, reach out to some of their members to see if we can raise some additional dollars to help support this. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So one of the things that I would like to do, if I got agreement up here, what I'd like to do for this is I'd like to put together -- and Jack doesn't know about this, but I told Leo yesterday. I would like to put together maybe a three-minute film of -- what the impact of Hurricane Irma on us, including some footage from the EOC that I know is available, and have that. And also to honor our first responders at this event. The other thing that we have talked about is if -- as this is unfolding is to -- the boat parade is earlier in the evening, and then we October 24-25, 2017 Page 239 would have this celebration, but then to continue it on 5th Avenue with the restaurants and to -- you know, to make it all a community event -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Nice, nice. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- and to -- so that -- you know, there are some restaurants that are still not open because of the damage of Hurricane Irma. So we're really reaching out. So we talked about, perhaps, having food trucks for food at the concert. And as you know, in Everglades City, or Immokalee, if there's food trucks, this is what we'd welcome. COMMISSIONER FIALA: How do you find the food trucks? MR. WERT: Oh, they're all over. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I know, the Bacon Fest. I'm sorry. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, no, no, no. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Bacon Fest is going to be coming up, and they couldn't find food trucks in order to help service. MR. WERT: There's actually going to be a rally here in a couple weeks. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: A food truck rally? MR. WERT: A food truck rally, yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I can't stand it. No. MR. WERT: Yes, right. So we're going to be able to identify -- there are a number of them out there, so we'll attend and see if we can recruit a few. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Let us know the date for the food truck rally. MR. WERT: Yeah. I think it's November the 9th, but we'll get that information out. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Where's it going to be, the concert? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It's going to be -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: At? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, we can't -- October 24-25, 2017 Page 240 MR. WERT: Oh, no. It -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's confirmed? MR. WERT: That event. You talking about food truck? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, the Rocking -- Naples is Rocking. MR. WERT: Let's say it's downtown somewhere. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It's downtown. Downtown. It's going to be great fun. It's going to be great fun. And then -- but the weekend before at Sugden Park, guess what? Pit Masters that are on television are coming to Sugden Park. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Who are? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Pit Masters. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Pit Masters. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: They're the barbecue folks. December the 2nd, 2017, and it's going to -- they're going to photo -- well, film an event that's going to be broadcast nationally. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: They're on TV. Pit Masters. It's a TV show. MR. WERT: They are on TV, yes. COMMISSIONER FIALA: If they're not on the Hallmark Channel, I guess I don't see them. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: This is what they look like. MR. WERT: Wrong demo. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's a reality TV show. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Anyway, it's a barbecue cookoff. So our wonderful Steve Carnell has the slogan for it is "Naples is Really Cooking." COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, that's cute. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And that will be Sugden Park on the 2nd of December. COMMISSIONER FIALA: And speaking of Sugden Park, guess what's this weekend? October 24-25, 2017 Page 241 MR. WERT: This weekend starts pro watercross. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Pro watercross, those guys that ride the boards, right? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Jump in the air, right. MR. WERT: National televised finals. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. So tell us again all about watercross, as long as it's starting, what, Thursday, right? MR. WERT: Yeah. The riders are coming in Thursday, and they'll be doing some preliminary testing and so forth this weekend. We get into a number of different on-the-water events. Some guys that -- jet packs and all kinds of different things. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: In the air. MR. WERT: Yeah, all over the place. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It's unbelievable. MR. WERT: Jet-powered boards and a lot of different things. But then the finals is several different classes of riders on these really souped-up -- they're jet skis, but they really are snowmobiles. I mean, literally, that's the size of these things. So they get some pretty amazing speeds in the straightaways on Lake Avalon. So it's going to be a big deal, and that -- the finals will be taped for a later broadcast, similar to what they're doing with Pit Masters, and so we'll have some national television exposure. We've got television commercials within that telecast as well to continue to show everybody that we're open and ready for business. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And not only that, Stone Crab Festival opens up Friday night. MR. WERT: This weekend. That's right. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So we are cooking. MR. WERT: We definitely are cooking, that's correct. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So -- and on another serious note, we all saw in the paper where Arthrex is now going to open up in South October 24-25, 2017 Page 242 Carolina, and I would like to see if I have the consensus of my board to put together a Blue Ribbon Committee of educators and college presidents within Collier County to come together to understand how we can create a differently trained workforce so that this -- we can start the process to move to that. And we have -- we've always had -- and the Chamber would, of course, be part of it. But I'm thinking of the president of FGCU, Florida Southwestern, I-Tech, Vo Tech, the school board would be part of it, but to bring these intelligent, experienced people together to say, they're doing it in other communities. Why can't we do it here? Are you -- is that -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, I think it's a great idea. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I would need to better understand what it is that you're putting together. I think I'd need to see some more meat to that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So can you just put this on an agenda where you -- and bring back what it is that you're trying to accomplish -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Sure. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- because we have -- there are a lot of these different organizations around, and maybe you can let us know how this would interact with other economic development organizations, what the school board's position would be. I'd need to see that before I could say let's put it together. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Well, basically it's to create a pipeline from high school to colleges and to have the technical training within the existing colleges or to create it so that in the future they're trying to build a technical college here. I mean, that is part of the goal. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I would need to -- before I could support that, I would need to see more about what this is that October 24-25, 2017 Page 243 you're proposing -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- because I get concerned a little bit about mission creep when we start talking about what our role is, and so I just need to know what -- when you start talking about education and training, I need to see what you're going to say; otherwise, I can't support it till I see it. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think what you're also saying is -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Get on the microphone. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- we don't know what they need, and we can't form a committee -- oh, yeah -- we can't really form a committee until we know what they need. I mean, we can't tell them, Arthrex, what they need. They need to tell us what kind of educated people they need, what classes and so forth, and other big businesses also that are bringing people in so we can answer that need. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. And I think that there's some committee within the Chamber that's looking at this, too. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No. I talked to Michael Dalby. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: You talked to him? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh, yeah. No, I cleared this with Michael Dalby. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It seems like some other organization. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I know for a fact, too, that there is a serious initiative through the Promise Zone for the educational enhancements of our residents, specifically in Immokalee. Now, you may be talking about a larger geographic area, but I know there is very specific committees that are going on with regard to educational enhancements involving the schools that you just named. I've been to the committees through that Promise Zone initiative. So -- but I think bringing it -- bringing it back will give us -- October 24-25, 2017 Page 244 (Multiple speakers speaking.) COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm all over it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Yeah, I'll be glad to. And then one thing -- and I forgot to ask. And it has to do with Naples is Rocking. I'd like to see if we have permission or if we have consensus to, perhaps, underwrite the EMS services for that evening, only for that evening, which means Collier County taxpayers would underwrite the services of EMS if needed for that evening. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: For which evening? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: December the 9th. I forgot to ask that. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think that's okay. I think that's okay. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Who would be paying for it? COMMISSIONER FIALA: I don't see -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, we would -- what we're doing is -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't like it. I mean, I like -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Leo? MR. OCHS: There's a couple ways to do it. We could come back with a consent agenda item to ask you to waive the special event fee that's part of your EMS fee ordinance or, if you don't want to waive it, then we could take that money from General Fund reserves or something if you want and transfer it into the EMS fund. But those are two ways, if you want to provide that relief, you could do it. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So you'll bring that back? MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And then we're all okay with it if we bring it back and get a look at it. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. I think we have to be a little careful. When we get into this County Commission comments and suggestions, we don't want to get into the position of making final October 24-25, 2017 Page 245 decisions on the fly. So generally we bring things back. That's why I was -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Advertised, publicized -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- discuss, vetted, yes. And that was the only reason that I -- if you heard me -- I don't know if you did or not -- but I wasn't happy with that just because precedent setting along the way for what we might be doing in the future as well. But if you're going to bring it back and we have a chance to vet it, I'm all over it. I like the idea. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: There has to be an interest. If there's not an interest... COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I got it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's fine. Good. All right. That's it. Thank you very much. Meeting is adjourned. **** Commissioner Fiala moved, seconded by Commissioner Saunders and carried that the following items under the Consent and Summary Agendas be approved and/or adopted **** Item #16A1 RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF SERENO GROVE, (APPLICATION NUMBERS PL20160001884, PL20170002740 AND PL20170002781) APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY. (THIS IS A COMPANION TO AGENDA ITEM #16A2) – LOCATED OFF OF LIVINGSTON ROAD WITHIN THE PELICAN MARSH PUD October 24-25, 2017 Page 246 Item #16A2 FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND UNCONDITIONAL CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR A PORTION OF WILSHIRE LAKES PHASE TWO, ACCEPT A DEED OF UTILITY EASEMENT OVER THE SUBJECT UTILITY FACILITIES, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE ATTACHED INDEMNITY AGREEMENT. (THIS IS A COMPANION ITEM TO AGENDA ITEM #16A1) – LOCATED OFF OF VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD Item #16A3 RESOLUTION 2017-199: LOCAL AREA PROGRAM AGREEMENT (FPN #433180-1-98-01) WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION IN WHICH COLLIER COUNTY WOULD RECEIVE REIMBURSEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $300,000 TO PURCHASE ARTERIAL MONITORING CAMERAS FOR THE COLLIER COUNTY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CENTER, EXECUTE A RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE BOARD'S ACTION AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS. (PROJECT NO. 33532) Item #16A4 AN EASEMENT USE AGREEMENT FOR LOT 63, PALM RIVER SHORES, ACCORDING TO THE PLAT THEREOF AS RECORDED AT PLAT BOOK 3, PAGE 27 OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY – ALLOWING AN EXISTING POOL ENCLOSURE AND PATIO PAVERS TO ENCROUCH 1.34 October 24-25, 2017 Page 247 FEET INTO A 15-FOOT DRAINAGE EASEMENT AT 88 SHORES AVENUE Item #16A5 THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $92,500 WHICH WAS POSTED AS A DEVELOPMENT GUARANTY FOR AN EARLY WORK AUTHORIZATION (EWA) (PL20160000891) FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH ESPLANADE GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB OF NAPLES DILILLO PARCEL – LOCATED OFF OF IMMOKALEE ROAD JUST WEST OF COLLIER BLVD Item #16A6 RECOGNIZING CARRY FORWARD FUNDING FOR THE COLLIER METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION (MPO) IN THE AMOUNT OF $14,770.97, EARNED FROM THE FY 2016/17 TRANSPORTATION DISADVANTAGED PLANNING GRANT, AND AUTHORIZING ALL RELATED NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS Item #16A7 ENDORSING THE APPROVAL GRANTED BY THE COUNTY MANAGER TO INCREASE AN EMERGENCY PURCHASE ORDER TO HIGHWAY SAFETY DEVICES TO REPAIR STOP AND YIELD SIGNS DAMAGED BY HURRICANE IRMA IN THE AMOUNT OF $176,000 – FOR A TOTAL OF $376,000 AVAILABLE FOR PROJECT #50154 October 24-25, 2017 Page 248 Item #16B1 A TRAVEL VOUCHER FOR MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,162.78; AUTHORIZE PAYMENT FROM THE IMMOKALEE CRA TRUST FUND (FUND 186); AND DECLARE MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT AS SERVING A VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE – COVERING IN-COUNTY TRAVEL FROM DECEMBER 2015 - JULY 2016 Item #16B2 APPROVAL OF THE REVISED TERMS OF THE EXISTING LEASE AND THE SHORT-TERM LEASE AGREEMENT WITH SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WORKFORCE BOARD (FISCAL IMPACT: $3,000) – RELATING TO THE LEASE WITH THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD FOR A 760 SQUARE FOOT OFFICE SPACE TO HOUSE CRA STAFF IN IMMOKALEE Item #16B3 A BUDGET AMENDMENT REFLECTING A BUDGET IN THE AMOUNT OF $128,000 TO FUND IMMOKALEE SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS – FUNDED BY IMMOKALEE CRA SOURCES, CDBG FUNDS AND FUND 186 RESERVES Item #16B4 SECOND AMENDMENT TO SHORT TERM AT WILL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD (CRA) AND T.T. OF October 24-25, 2017 Page 249 NAPLES INC., TO ALLOW A CAR STORAGE BUSINESS TO RELOCATE FROM ONE CRA OWNED PROPERTY TO A LARGER CRA OWNED PROPERTY FOR A HIGHER RENT – NEW LOCATION IS 1936 DAVIS BLVD; INCREASING THE RENT TO $3,500 A MONTH Item #16B5 A COMMERCIAL BUILDING IMPROVEMENT GRANT AGREEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $9,999.50 FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2248 TAMIAMI TRAIL E. AND WITHIN THE BAYSHORE GATEWAY TRIANGLE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA – FOR EXTERIOR IMPROVEMENTS TO EL RINCON MEXICAN RESTAURANT, FOLIO #51690680009 Item #16D1 TWO RELEASES OF LIEN TO COMBINE RELEASE OF 31 SEPARATE LIENS FOR A COMBINED AMOUNT OF $205,060.90 FOR PROPERTIES DEVELOPED BY IMMOKALEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, INC AND HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF COLLIER COUNTY, INC. THAT HAVE REMAINED AFFORDABLE FOR THE REQUIRED 15-YEAR PERIOD SET FORTH IN THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP (SHIP) IMPACT FEE PROGRAM DEFERRAL AGREEMENTS – LOCATED WITHIN THE NAPLES MANOR LAKES Item #16D2 October 24-25, 2017 Page 250 A BUDGET AMENDMENT INCREASING THE FY 2016-2017 STATE HOUSING INITIATIVE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM ALLOCATION BY $22,179 AND RECOGNIZING PROGRAM INCOME RECEIVED IN THE AMOUNT OF $541,243.03 FOR SHIP FY 2016-2017 – FOR INTEREST AND LOAN REPAYMENTS BETWEEN JULY 1, 2016 AND JUNE 30, 2017 Item #16D3 AN AGREEMENT TO REINSTATE, AMEND AND EXTEND CONTRACT NO. 15-6530 - ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES, TO DISNEY & ASSOCIATES ON THE IMMOKALEE FITNESS CENTER, TO ALLOW FINAL PAYMENT FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES COMPLETED ON THE PROJECT Item #16D4 A TIME EXTENSION AMENDMENT TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) JOINT PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT (JPA) FOR FY13-14 SECTION 5339 BUS AND BUS FACILITIES GRANT FUNDS FOR THE NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS TO THE RURAL AREA BUS STOPS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) - EXTENDING THE AGREEMENT UNTIL DECEMBER 31, 2019 Item #16D5 AN AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION (FTA) 49 USC § SECTION 5307 FY16 GRANT AWARD TO USE GRANT FUNDING FOR THE October 24-25, 2017 Page 251 PAYMENT OF THE COLLIER AREA TRANSIT’S (CAT) EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR PREVIOUSLY PURCHASED FIXED ROUTE TECHNOLOGY AND PURCHASE REPLACEMENT EQUIPMENT FOR THE PARATRANSIT TECHNOLOGY, AND EXECUTION OF THE AMENDMENT THROUGH THE TRANSIT AWARD MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (TRAMS) – ALLOCATING $158,710 TOWARDS THE EXTENDED WARRANTY AND $51,000 FOR THE REPLACEMENT EQUIPMENT Item #16D6 RESOLUTION 2017-200: AFTER-THE-FACT APPROVAL FOR THE SUBMITTAL OF THE FY17-18 SHIRLEY CONROY RURAL CAPITAL EQUIPMENT SUPPORT GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $83,493 TO THE FLORIDA COMMISSION FOR TRANSPORTATION DISADVANTAGED FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF ONE CUTAWAY TRANSIT VEHICLE Item #16D7 THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT #14- 6277 “FACILITY EVENT COORDINATOR” WITH CATERMASTERS, INC., REMOVING RENEWAL OPTIONS AND HONORING PRE- BOOKED EVENTS – FOR THE MUSEUM DIVISION’S AFTER- HOURS RENTAL PROGRAM Item #16D8 AWARD RFP #17-7152 PICKLEBALL PROGRAM OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT CONCESSIONAIRE TO PICKLEBALL October 24-25, 2017 Page 252 ENTERPRISES, LLC AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE COUNTY ATTORNEY APPROVED CONTRACT – FOR CONCESSION SERVICES AT THE EAST NAPLES COMMUNITY PARK Item #16D9 AUTHORIZING THE REMOVAL, DONATION AND CURATION OF ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS UNEARTHED AT OTTER MOUND PRESERVE DURING HURRICANE IRMA BY UTILIZING THE FLORIDA PUBLIC ARCHEOLOGICAL NETWORK FOR COLLECTION AND STATE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND THE MARCO ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY AS THE RECIPIENT AND CURATOR OF DONATED ARTIFACTS – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Item #16D10 RESOLUTION 2017-201: AN AMENDMENT TO THE TRANSIT FEE SCHEDULE TO ALLOW FREE FARES FOR THE BEACH ROUTE AND AN ALTERNATIVE WRAP FOR THE BUSES USED ON THE BEACH ROUTE Item #16D11 ADVERTISING A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE CASSENA ROAD MUNICIPAL SERVICES BENEFIT UNIT TO PROVIDE COLLIER COUNTY POTABLE WATER CONNECTIONS AND AUTHORIZING THE USE OF THE UNIFORM METHOD OF COLLECTION FOR COLLECTING October 24-25, 2017 Page 253 NON-AD VALOREM ASSESSMENTS TO FUND THE MSBU – LOCATED WITHIN PINE RIDGE ESTATES Item #16E1 SUBMITTAL OF A REQUEST FOR FUNDING PROPOSAL TO THE COLLIER HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COALITION (CHEPC) FOR THE PURCHASE OF DECONTAMINATION EQUIPMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $27,826.40 Item #16E2 APPROVAL OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT PREPARED BY THE PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY AND NOTIFICATION OF ITEMS AVAILABLE FOR SURPLUS Item #16E3 APPROVAL OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS PREPARED BY THE PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR CHANGE ORDERS AND OTHER CONTRACTUAL MODIFICATIONS REQUIRING BOARD APPROVAL – TOTAL OF 5 CHANGE ORDERS AND 2 AMENDMENTS TO CONTRACTS Item #16E4 AN INFORMATION SECURITY REPORT CONFIDENTIAL DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT WITH IMAGETREND, INC, THE COUNTY'S EMS PATIENT CARE REPORTING SYSTEM October 24-25, 2017 Page 254 SOFTWARE VENDOR Item #16E5 A BUDGET AMENDMENT TRANSFERRING $5,000,000 FROM PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE FUND RESERVES TO THE INSURANCE CLAIMS OPERATING BUDGET TO ENABLE THE PAYMENT OF ANTICIPATED INSURANCE CLAIMS ASSOCIATED WITH HURRICANE IRMA – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Item #16E6 AWARD RFP #17-7116 DISASTER RECOVERY CONSULTING SERVICES TO MULTIPLE FIRMS AND TERMINATE FOR CONVENIENCE THE EMERGENCY CONTRACTS WITH CDR MAGUIRE, INC. AND TIDAL BASIN GOVERNMENT CONSULTANT, INC. – AWARDED TO DISASTER STRATEGIES AND IDEAS GROUP, APTIM ENVIRONMENTAL AND INFRASTRUCTURE AND TETRA TECH, INC. Item #16F1 A RELEASE OF LIEN FOR FULL PAYMENT OF AN IMMOKALEE AREA RESIDENTIAL IMPACT FEE DEFERRAL AGREEMENT APPROVED AS PART OF AN IMPACT FEE DEFERRAL PROGRAM FOR PROPERTIES LOCATED WITHIN THE IMMOKALEE ENTERPRISE ZONE – LOCATED AT 1205 ALLEGIANCE WAY, LOT 55, INDEPNDENCE PHASE I Item #16F2 October 24-25, 2017 Page 255 RESOLUTION 2017-202: AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING GRANTS, DONATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS OR INSURANCE PROCEEDS) TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2017-18 ADOPTED BUDGET Item #16F3 ADDITIONAL FY 2018 BUDGET AMENDMENTS COVERING POST HURRICANE IRMA CLEAN UP AND RECOVERY FOR THE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK, GOVERNMENTAL FACILITIES AND UTILITY SYSTEM – FOUR ADDITIONAL BUDGET AMENDMENTS FOR TRANSPORTATION NETWORK REPAIRS, REPAIRS TO GOVERNMENTAL FACILITIES, WATER SYSTEM REPAIRS AND WASTEWATER SYSTEM REPAIRS AND EQUIPMENT Item #16F4 APPROVAL OF THE ANNUAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTNERSHIP FOR COLLIER’S FUTURE ECONOMY, INC. (“PARTNERSHIP”) AND COLLIER COUNTY IN CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THE ESTABLISHED PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP DESIGNED TO ADVANCE THE COUNTY’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Item #16F5 APPROVE OF THE ANNUAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT October 24-25, 2017 Page 256 ALLIANCE, INC. AND COLLIER COUNTY IN CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THE ESTABLISHED PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP DESIGNED TO ADVANCE THE COUNTY’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS – TOTAL COST OF THE AGREEMENT NOT TO EXCEED $100,000 Item #16F6 – Continued to the November 14, 2017 BCC Meeting (Per Agenda Change Sheet) THIS ITEM CONTINUED FROM THE OCTOBER 10, 2017 BCC MEETING. RECOMMENDATION TO RENEW AND APPROVE THE ANNUAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN ECONOMIC INCUBATORS, INC. AND THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS IN CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THE ESTABLISHED PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP DESIGNED TO ADVANCE THE COUNTY’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS Item #16F7 APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSED FY2018 ACTION PLAN FOR LEO E. OCHS, JR., COUNTY MANAGER Item #16G1 RESOLUTION 2017-203: PARTNERING WITH THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL, GLADES COUNTY, AND HENDRY COUNTY TO APPLY FOR THE FY2018 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY BROWNFIELD ASSESSMENTS GRANT THROUGH THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA PROMISE ZONE BROWNFIELD October 24-25, 2017 Page 257 COALITION Item #16I1 MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE – TO FILE FOR THE RECORD October 24-25, 2017 Page 258 Item #16J1 RECORD IN THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, THE CHECK NUMBER (OR OTHER PAYMENT METHOD), AMOUNT, PAYEE, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE REFERENCED DISBURSEMENTS WERE DRAWN FOR THE PERIODS BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 28 AND OCTOBER 11, 2017 PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06 Item #16J2 BOARD APPROVED VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF OCTOBER 18, 2017 Item #16J3 AN AGREEMENT AUTHORIZING THE COLLIER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE TO HAVE TRAFFIC CONTROL JURISDICTION OVER PRIVATE ROADS WITHIN THE ORANGE BLOSSOM RANCH SUBDIVISION – AGREEMENT WITH FAIRMONT RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION Item #16J4 THE CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT’S INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT 2017-11 JOB CREATION INVESTMENT AND FEE PAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS: HAYNES CORPORATION, ISSUED ON, OCTOBER 18, 2017 – REPORT IS AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY ON THE CLERK OF COURTS WEBSITE October 24-25, 2017 Page 259 Item #16K1 A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,700 FOR FULL COMPENSATION AND ALL STATUTORY ATTORNEY FEES, EXPERT FEES AND COSTS FOR PARCEL 171RDUE IN THE CASE STYLED COLLIER COUNTY V. TARA CHAPIN, ET AL., CASE NO. 15-CA-0319 REQUIRED FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD (PROJECT NO. 60040). [FISCAL IMPACT: $4,400] - FOR THE ROAD WIDENING OF GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD FROM 4TH STREET EAST TO 8TH STREET EAST Item #16K2 A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $17,196 FOR FULL COMPENSATION AND ALL STATUTORY ATTORNEY FEES, EXPERT FEES AND COSTS FOR PARCEL 147RDUE IN THE CASE STYLED COLLIER COUNTY V. BENJAMIN SANCHEZ, ET AL., CASE NO. 15-CA-0249 REQUIRED FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD (PROJECT NO. 60040). [FISCAL IMPACT: $15,896] - FOR THE ROAD WIDENING OF GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD FROM EAST OF WILSON BLVD. TO 4TH STREET EAST Item #16K3 A STIPULATED ORDER OF TAKING AND FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $21,500 FOR THE TAKING OF PARCEL 410RDUE, INCLUSIVE OF FULL COMPENSATION AND ALL October 24-25, 2017 Page 260 STATUTORY ATTORNEY FEES, EXPERT FEES, AND COSTS IN THE CASE STYLED COLLIER COUNTY V. LOURDES PEREZ BELLO, ET AL., CASE NO. 17-CA-1390, REQUIRED FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD (PROJECT NO. 60145). (FISCAL IMPACT: $21,670) - FOR THE ROAD WIDENING OF GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD FROM EAST OF EVERGLADES BOULEVARD TO EAST OF THE FAKA UNION CANAL Item #16K4 A JOINT MOTION FOR FINAL JUDGMENT AND FINAL ORDER OF APPORTIONMENT AND DISBURSEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $17,513 FOR PARCEL 282RDUE, IN THE LAWSUIT CAPTIONED COLLIER COUNTY V. NABIL JOSEPH, ET AL, CASE NO. 16-CA-1256 REQUIRED FOR THE GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD EXPANSION PROJECT NO. 60145. (FISCAL IMPACT: $13,713) - FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROADWAY AND RELATED DRAINAGE AND UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS Item #16K5 RESOLUTION 2017-204: APPOINTTING JACOB WINGE TO THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Item #16K6 RESOLUTION 2017-205: RE-APPOINTTING MARK S. WEBER TO THE VANDERBILT BEACH BEAUTIFICATION MSTU ADVISORY COMMITTEE October 24-25, 2017 Page 261 Item #16K7 APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSED FY 2017-2018 ACTION PLAN FOR JEFFREY A. KLATZKOW, COUNTY ATTORNEY Item #17A ORDINANCE 2017-41: REPEALING ORDINANCE 2009-44, AS AMENDED, KNOWN AS THE RADIO ROAD, EAST OF SANTA BARBARA BOULEVARD TO THE INTERSECTION OF RADIO ROAD AND DAVIS BOULEVARD MUNICIPAL SERVICE TAXING UNIT (MSTU), AND DISSOLVING THE MSTU’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE Item #17B RESOLUTION 2017-206: AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING CARRY FORWARD, TRANSFERS AND SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE) TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2017-18 ADOPTED BUDGET ***** October 24-25, 2017 Page 262 There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 1:21 p.m. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL ________________________________________ PENNY TAYLOR, CHAIRMAN ATTEST: _________________________ DWIGHT E. BROCK, CLERK These minutes approved by the Board on ____________, as presented ______________ or as corrected _____________. TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT, INC., BY TERRI LEWIS, COURT REPORTER AND NOTARY PUBLIC.