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Agenda 11/18/2014 Item # 11G11 /18/2014 11.G. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Recommendation to select a method of collecting the $10,500 utilized for emergency repairs on Platt Road and authorize the advertisement of an Ordinance for the December 9, 2014 BCC meeting for final consideration. OBJECTIVE: To obtain reimbursement of County funds expended on a private road. CONSIDERATIONS: On September 10, 2013 during Staff and Commission General Communications, Commissioner Nance requested the Board authorize staff to establish a program to address the emergency repair of roads that become impassible due to heavy rains. On September 11, 2013, the Fire Chief of Big Corkscrew Island Fire Control and Rescue District sent an email to Dan Summers and others to express concern with the poor condition of Platt Road and other streets in the flood prone area and to note that it was in accessible. The condition of the road prevented timely response by fire and emergency vehicles and caused damage to one fire vehicle. Platt Road is a private road and the County is not responsible for the repair or maintenance. Article VII, Section 10 of the Florida Constitution requires that the expenditure of county funds must be for public purpose, and includes a general prohibition of the use of taxpayer dollars to repair or maintain private roads. On September 24, 2013, the Board passed Resolution No. 2013 -221 establishing a procedure under which public funds could be used for emergency repairs of private roads to allow the passage of emergency vehicles. Immediately following that Resolution they put it into effect by passing Resolution No. 2013 -222 specifically addressing needed repairs on Platt Road. Platt Road emergency repairs were completed on September 25, 2013 at a cost of $10,500. Subsequently, on October 22, 2013, a letter was sent to all property owners in the area notifying them of the process and the requirement to form a voluntary Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) or the Board would establish one for them, to at minimum recover any funds expended to repair the road. Although no action has been taken to form a voluntary MSTU, the community has organized themselves and devised a plan for the continued maintenance of Platt Road and other roads in the area to avoid the need for the County to expended future funds in the area. Thus far, the community has spent $2,560 to maintain Platt Road. With this plan in place the community felt there was no need for a voluntary MSTU for the ongoing maintenance of the road. In keeping with the established procedure, staff placed an item Board agenda for September 23, 2014 to advertise the establishment of an MSTU solely for the repayment of $10,500 to the County. After discussion, the Board directed staff to initiate connnunications with the 51 property owners abutting Platt Road to ensure their understanding of the situation and solicit their input on an alternative method to collect the outstanding funds. Staff sent out letters to all property owners with information about potential methods to recover the funds and inviting them to a public meeting on October 30, 2014. Four property owners contacted staff via telephone and were given additional information and in turn provided their feedback on a possible method to recover the funds. During the public meeting only one property owner attended to provide her input and recommendation. The consensus of these five property owners was some type of uniform distribution of the charges would be the recommended best method. Packet Page -777- 11 /18/2014 11.G. Three methods to repay the total cost of $10,500 were investigated. 1. A uniform payment by each of the 51 properties resulting in an equal assessment of $205.88 per property. This method was discarded on advice of the County Attorney. 2. The Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) or a non -ad valorem tax assessment of $0.5873 per linear footage of roadway frontage on Platt Road. Property frontage along the road range in size from 1,320 LF, 660 LF, 330 LF, I 10 LF, and 30 LF with the majority of the properties being 330 linear feet. Utilizing this method the following is the estimated cost based on the frontage: Linear Footage Cost 1320' $775.24 660' $387.62 330' $193.81 110' $64.60 30' $17.62 The Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) or an ad valorem charge of .005463 per assessed taxable value. The total valuation for the area is $1,922,043. Method 42 is recommended as it better weighs the benefit of the improvements with the usage of the roadway to detennine the assessment. If the Board agrees to assess based on this method, an ordinance will be brought back to the Board on December 9, 2014 to adopt the MSBU and the assessment will be applied to the November 2015 tax bill. FISCAL IMPACT: Approval of this item would refund Collier County $10,500. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS: Board direction was for the County Attorney to advertise an ordinance to create an MSTU for Board review in December, while staff reviewed alternative methods of payment. Florida Statutes Sec. 125.01(1)(q) authorizes the Board to "Establish... municipal service taxing or benefit units for any part or all of the unincorporated area of the county, within which may be provided... essential facilities and municipal services from funds derived from service charges, special assessments, or taxes within such unit only." Accordingly, approach 2 (establishing an MSBU) or approach 3 (establishing an MSTU) is equally permissible. Approach l (uniforin payment) is not recommended as an assessment is not a tax; to be a valid special assessment under Florida case law, the property assessed must derive a special benefit from the improvement provided, with the assessment fairly or reasonably apportioned among the parties consistent with the special benefit provided each property. Apportioning the assessment based on road frontage in a methodology that has been accepted by the Courts. Having everyone pay equally would arguably violate the special benefit requirement and is not recommended. This matter requires majority vote for direction. -JAK GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT: There is no Growth Management Impact associated with this Executive Summary. RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of County Commissioners selects the establishment of an MSBU for the collection of the $10,500 utilized for emergency repairs on Platt Road and authorize the advertisement of an Ordinance for the establishment of the assessment for the December 9, 2014 BCC meeting final consideration. Prepared By: Harry Sells, Project Manager, Alternative Transportation Modes Department Packet Page -778- COLLIER COUNTY Board of County Commissioners Item Number: 11.11.G. 11 /18/2014 11.G. Item Summary: Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners select a method of collecting the $10,500 utilized for emergency repairs on Platt Road and authorize the advertisement of an Ordinance for the December 9, 2014 BCC meeting for final consideration. (Michelle Arnold, Alternative Transportation Modes Director) Meeting Date: 11/18/2014 Prepared By Name: SellsHarry Title: VALUE MISSING H /6/2014 5:45:08 PM Submitted by Title: VALUE MISSING Name: SellsHarry 11/6/2014 5:45:09 PM Approved By Name: TownsendAmanda Title: Director - Operations Support, Public Services Division Date: 11/7/2014 10:35:52 AM Name: AlonsoHailey Title: Operations Analyst, Public Services Division Date: H /7/2014 2:35:14 PM Name: ArnoldMichelle Title: Director - Alt Transportation Modes, Alternative Transportation Modes Date: I I /10/2014 8:36:47 AM Name: CarnellSteve Title: Administrator - Public Services, Public Services Division Date: 11/10/2014 3:54:40 PM Packet Page -779- 11/18/2014 11.G. Name: KlatzkowJeff Title: County Attorney, Date: 11/10/20]4 5:00:38 PM Name: FinnEd Title: Management/Budget Analyst, Senior, Transportation Engineering $ Construction Management Date: 11/12/2014 10:58:10 AM Name: OchsLeo Title: County Manager, County Managers Office Date: l 1/] 2/2014 12 :38:24 PM Packet Page -780- 11/18/2014 11.G. for approval at the first board meeting in October. (Commissioner Hiller) Motion to approve and the County Manager to consult with PFM to review the current policy and bring back any recommendations to updating if needed by the next meeting if possible — Approved 5/0 C. ., seniees . Hiller) Placement of attached banking services documents into the official record. (Commissioner Hiller) (Per Agenda Change Sheet) Motion to approve — Approved 3/0 (Commissioner .Hiller abstaining and Commissioner Nance absent) 11. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT Time Certain 1.00 p.m. (Per Agenda Change Sheet) A. This item continued from the September 9, 2014 BCC Meeting Recommendation to authorize advertising an ordinance creating the Platt Road Improvement Municipal Service Taxing Unit to fund and levy not to exceed three mills of Ad Valorem Taxes per year to reimburse the County $10,500 for emergency roadway improvements made to Platt Road. (Michelle Arnold, Alternative Transportation Modes Director) Motion to delay advertising and for staff to work with residents to devise a possible alternative solution and payment plan — Approved 4/1 (Commissioner Hiller opposed) B. Recommendation to complete the Annual Performance Appraisal for the County Manager. (Leo E. Ochs, Jr., County Manager) Report Accepted C. Recommendation that the Hoard of County Commissioners extend the County Manager Employment Agreement with Leo E. Ochs, Jr., fixing the end date of the second extension term as September 30, 2017. (Leo E. Ochs, Jr., County Manager) Approved — 510 12. COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT A. Recommendation to approve a Mediated Settlement Agreement for the payment of a global settlement of $3,145,000 for the taking of Parcel 120FEE in the case styled Collier County v. New Plan Florida Holdings, Page 6 September 23, 2014 Packet Page -781- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 comment, but my understanding is their comments are related to 12.B, and I think that's the more appropriate, rather than doing it twice when they come back for public comment, to simply have what they have to say on 12.13. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Yes. MR. MILLER: I will double check, but the exception, just off memory, the exception of one name in here, everyone that has registered for public comment has also registered for Item 12.B. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay. All right, well, when they come back we'll straighten it out and have a wonderful joyous meeting after that. We're on break. (Luncheon recess.) MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN HENNING: We have a time certain. MR. OCHS: Yes, we do, sir. That is Item I I.A. And I believe before the Board broke for recess, the Board also said they were going to hear Item 13.A immediately after I LA; is that correct? CHAIRMAN HENNING: That's correct. MR. OCHS: And then -- CHAIRMAN HENNING: Then we'll go from there. Item #1 I A AUTHORIZE ADVERTISING AN ORDINANCE CREATING THE PLATT ROAD IMPROVEMENT MUNICIPAL SERVICE TAXING UNIT TO FUND AND LEVY NOT TO EXCEED THREE MILLS OF AD VALOREM TAXES PER YEAR TO REIMBURSE THE COUNTY $10,500 FOR EMERGENCY ROADWAY IMPROVEMENTS MADE TO PLATT ROAD - MOTION TO DELAY ADVERTISING AND FOR STAFF TO WORK WITH Packet Page -782- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 RESIDENTS TO DEVISE A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION AND PAYMENT PLAN — APPROVED MR. OCHS: Okay. Item 1 LA is a recommendation to authorize advertising an ordinance creating the Platt Road improvement Municipal Service Taxing Unit to fund and levy not to exceed three mills of ad valorem taxes per year to reimburse the county $10,500 for emergency roadway improvements made to Platt Road. Ms. Michelle Arnold, your Alternative Transportation Modes Director, will begin the presentation. COMMISSIONER NANCE: Mr. Chairman, I'd like -- with the permission of the Board, I'd like to make a few introductory remarks on this agenda item, because I think it's going to be a little perhaps nontraditional. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay. You mean your remarks are going to be nontraditional? COMMISSIONER NANCE: No, my remarks are going to be very traditional, but the item might be a little nontraditional. This item came forward, and basically as all of you realize by reading the backup material, as a forced MSTU to repay a little more than $10,000 for work that was done to maintain private roads. And during my discussion with the community, actually the greater community, much larger than the immediate Platt Road area, because up in the Corkscrew Island neighborhood area, as well as numerous other regions in the county, we have large communities of low density that are privately owned properties where people are responsible for maintaining their roads. And these are -- there's a lot of areas there where the ownership of the road is various and sundry. The county typically doesn't own many right -of -ways if any and the county does no work. And of course these areas in the rural residential parts of the Page 90 Packet Page -783- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 county and the agricultural parts of the county, the condition of those roads suffered greatly during the recession, because people just did not have any money to spend towards maintenance of those roads. With last year's heavy rains, it created some emergency conditions where first responders, primarily Big Corkscrew Island Fire and Rescue District, had a difficulty responding to crises, health crises and calls, and so it's precipitated this agenda item. I would like to have Michele introduce the items just to remind you of where we are on this. But what I would like to do is in the course of discussing this item, I would like to make a motion that this recommendation be continued for a period of two years to allow the county to assess a community proposal that's coming forth. And the community proposal will be to address this Platt Road area and indeed a larger area. So if that pleases the Board, I think we're going to have a pretty interesting discussion. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay. MS. ARNOLD: For the record, Michelle Arnold. Commissioner Nance gave you an introduction of why we are here. And on September 24th the Board passed a resolution which established a procedure where public funds could be utilized to make emergency repairs on private roadways; more specifically so that those roadways could be passable for emergency vehicles. On that same date the Board also passed a resolution specifically to address Platt Road, because of the concerns that were raised of that condition of that particular road. Within the resolution and the procedure that was established, it directed the County Manager to take action to make the minimum repairs to make the road passable. It also directed that the County Manager send out letters to property owners to advise them of their responsibility to create a voluntary MSTU for the purposes of Page 91 Packet Page -784- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 maintaining a road. It further noted that should the property owners not voluntarily create the MSTU, that the Board should have that ability to involuntarily create one for the community. The MSTU also would be utilized, if one was created, to repay any funds that were utilized to do repairs on the roadway. On September 25th the county did do repairs, and those repairs came out to about $10,500. My department did send letters out to the property owners advising them of the cost and the process that has been established for the -- by the Board of County Commissioners. At this point we have not had an interest from the community. My staff has been working with them. They are working very hard to avoid the need for the county to do additional -- expend additional funding, because they're taking it upon themselves to voluntarily collect funds amongst themselves and do the repairs. My staff has gone out and been monitoring the area, Platt Road, as well as the other roadways, and they have been maintained by the community, more specifically the Big Cypress neighborhood district. You are going to hear from representatives from that neighborhood association today to identify what it is specifically that they've done and they're going to present to you a proposal. We are just here today, staff, that is, to follow through with the policy that has been established by the Board. And if you also choose to fulfill that policy, establish an MSTU mainly for the purposes of repaying the monies expended by the Board. At this point I turn it over to the public speakers, or if you all have any questions of me, I'd be happy to answer those questions. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Questions by the Board or staff? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HENNING: Seeing none, let's go to public speakers. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, I have six registered public Page 92 Packet Page -785- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 speakers. Four speakers have ceded additional time to Doug Wilson, who will have a total of 15 minutes. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay. I guess we'll start off with Mr. Wilson, and then who else after that? MR. MILLER: And then Mr. Wilson. And after his 15 minutes will be followed by Chief Rita Greenberg. And that basically is all of them then. CHAIRMAN HENNING: All right, thank you. Mr. Wilson? MR. WILSON: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am the secretary of the Corkscrew Island Neighborhood Association, which is our association that covers the affected area here. As you have seen in your materials, it's about seven square miles up around the curve of Immokalee Road as it approaches Sanctuary Road. And we've got about 200 families or so out there. And I approach you today feeling that this is really a good news story. What started out as a problem, Chief Greenberg encountered some difficulties in accessing a home along Platt Road because it was in such bad shape that the emergency vehicles couldn't get there. And that led to a further discussion about what the county wanted to do long term in terms of the MSTU, and there were various options discussed which included an MSTU that would cover our whole neighborhood association service area. And this stimulated a lot of discussion among our residents. Now, as you may know, our residents out there are east of 951, they're sort of independent folks, and they are great believers in the Jeffersonian ideal that government is best which governs least. And so they wanted to take the bull by the horns and treat this as an encouragement to set about fixing the problem ourselves. And we have come a long way with that. We have a map and the materials which I think you've seen before, but -- this map displays the Page 93 Packet Page -786- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 roads involved. The black places on the map are the ones that were the worst. The Platt Road segment was one of the first ones that was addressed. The county, as reported, went out with its repair effort and spread some rock. Now, the rock was kind of rough. I have a photo I'm going to show you in a minute, it's also on your materials. You may have seen it on the page with the Platt Road photos. The ones with all the rocks, that's where the county laid its rocks down. Well, our people came along after that and got some fill dirt, put it on top of the rocks, made the road even better. And that's pretty much what happened on all of the bad segments in our area. As we kept discussing this, we learned, for example, that there are half a dozen people, three of them are in this room, who have taken responsibility to go out and without telling anybody use their own equipment to improve and fix the roads when the erosion set in. We have now identified most of the people that have done that voluntarily. And while some of the early repair efforts were geared through our association to fix particular problem spots, looking ahead in the future our intention is to coordinate with all of those people who have volunteered so far and encourage the property owners around them to help them keep those roads in repair. In short we are now monitoring all of the roads out there. As of today they are all passable. Most of them are highly passable. I want to brag a little bit more and even though they're in your materials show you just an example or two of what the roads look like. I won't put all the photos up, but they all look about like this. They're flat, they're even, they have good fill dirt on them, and they are excellent -- in excellent condition for unpaved roads. Our association, which we call CINA, C- I -N -A, CINA has adopted a formal policy to coordinate among our neighbors out there. And one of the things that I'm in the process of doing now, though it Page 94 Packet Page -787- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 may not bring fruition, but I think there may be some grant funds out there to supplement our private donations. There have been substantial private donations from the property owners in addition to the in -kind contributions of equipment. We also have a neighbor out there who has some -- CHAIRMAN HENNING: Mr. Wilson, hang on. Somebody -- somebody want to have a conversation on the phone? MR. BEYRENT: I was president of the amalgamated sign holders. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Can you silence your phone, sir? MR. BEYRENT: I did, actually. I don't know what the hell's the matter with it. I apologize for that, by the way. CHAIRMAN HENNING: I'm sorry, Mr. Wilson. MR. WILSON: We have a neighbor who has scientific background and has told us about some materials that are available that help retard erosion. Now, they're kind of expensive, but compared to the cost of maintaining the consequences of erosion, it looks promising. So we're studying all of these things. The neighborhood is actively involved. And this is a very good outcome from the initial crisis -- it wasn't a great crisis, but it was a small neighborhood crisis, that caused the expenditure of county funds. And in that regard we are hopeful that the county will regard that expenditure, which is made on an emergency basis, as just another emergency that it needed to attend to at the time, and regard it as an investment in what is a very positive program going forward. And not bothering to go ahead with the MSTU. There may come a time some day in the long distant future when if our program doesn't work you may need to revisit the MSTU. We don't think that's likely in the foreseeable future. Our neighbors are together on this, we've done a great job, we'd like your support for the Page 95 Packet Page -788- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 idea of going ahead. CHAIRMAN HENNING: I'm sorry, the idea -- Mr. Wilson, the idea of what? MR. WILSON: The idea of going ahead on our basis, on a volunteer basis under the overall supervision of our association and not imposing the MSTU or asking the Platt Road residents to pay the money back. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay. So you want a gift of -- you want us to waive the 10,500? MR. WILSON: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN HENNING- Okay. Understand. Thank you. MR. WILSON: Any questions? CHAIRMAN HENNING: Any questions? Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: You also wanted to -- you didn't want to create an MSTU, you wanted to do this on your own. MR. WILSON: That's correct. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. That's what I understood. There's nothing that unites a community more than everybody working together for the benefit of each other. Sounds nice. MR. WILSON: Thank you. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your next public speaker is Chief Rita Greenberg. CHIEF GREENBERG: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Chief Rita Greenberg for the record. I just want to let you know as the fire chief of the Big Corkscrew Island Fire Control District which serves the CINA neighborhood that they have complied with the things that Mr. Wilson just spoke to you about. The roads are passable, they've been passable since this event occurred. And I just wanted you to be aware that the community has Page 96 Packet Page -789- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 done -- created that bonding. I get a monthly report on what roads they're working on, what they plan to do next. We evaluate the roads after the heavy storms. We've just had some recently that caused some minor flooding in the Corkscrew total fire district, and we went out and evaluated the roads and they were in good shape, they were all passable. And to that end, I just want you to give consideration to their request. CHAIRMAN HENNING- That's a legal question I think that needs to be answered. Can we expend public monies on private property? I think that's the issue, you know, waiving this. Maybe the fire department will pay for it. MR. KLATZKOW: The process we put together is the appropriate process, which is that we'll upfront the money and then we'll be get paid back. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Can we forgive what we did and -- MR. KLATZKOW: I think the more prudent thing would be to get the money back. Can I tell you you can forgive? No I can't tell you you can forgive. But the next time this issue comes up where a community is asking for a payment in advance, we either have a process or we don't. Now, I understand that Commissioner Nance wants to come forward with a different process. Perhaps that will help with these issues. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Who's next? Commissioner Fiala, Commissioner Coyle, Commissioner Nance. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I already spoke. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Commissioner Coyle? COMMISSIONER COYLE: I have sort of the same question. I'm concerned about the precedent it establishes. I don't really feel strongly about how they do it. If it's -- if they don't want a mandatory fund collection and they're willing to collect the funds voluntarily, I Page 97 Packet Page -790- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 would be happy to enter into an agreement that would specify the amount that they would pay back each year. But just waiving the expenditure of the funds creates a precedent that I'm afraid will work to the disadvantage of the people of Collier County. As the county attorney has said, we don't normally do this. So I would like to hear how we're going to get the money back in a way that has the least impact upon the residents there. CHAIRMAN HENNING: And I think Commissioner Nance is going to answer that. COMMISSIONER NANCE: What I'm -- what -- members of the Board, what I'm trying to start a discussion on, and what I'd like to do is I would like to see the county enter into some sort of a Memorandum of Understanding with this community organization. And let me tell you why. This is only one circumstance. Mr. Wilson, could you put that map up of the Corkscrew Island neighborhood? I'd just like to point out one thing to the Commissioners here. I'm going to try to use this laser without blinding our County Attorney over here, but I want to point something out on this map over here. Shows the whole Corkscrew Island neighborhood. The MSTU that we're talking about establishing is on this road only right along here. And it extends from about here to here. The area that is covered by the proposal of CINA is this entire everything you're seeing on this map. So if we create an MSTU, we're going to be creating an MSTU just for this little strip of road down here, and you're going to have I don't know how many participants in it but it's going to be a little piddly MSTU. There are requests like this in neighborhoods all over rural Collier County. I've had three or four more. Mr. Sells has been approached numerous times. I'm afraid that what we're going to get into is we're going to get into a situation where we're creating MSTUs to get paid back emergency money, which is fine, and it's very equitable and Packet Page -791- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 meets all the requirements and the questions Commissioner Coyle and Commissioner Henning have raised, but we're not going to be solving the problem. And the fact of the matter is the county is going to have great liability to continue to have all sorts of little piddly MSTUs and we're not going to solve the problem, we're going to continue to create these MSTUs in response to a crisis. In other words, you're not going to be able to rescue somebody, Chief Greenberg or one of the other fire districts is going to have damaged equipment, we're going to have incident, we're going to have some liability or something and we're going to stumble, fumble and fall forward with this methodology. I'm reaching out -- I worked very closely with CINA in a couple of meetings, and there were some very contentious meetings, but I think we got a proposal that's included in here that is the basis from a Memorandum of Understanding that can be a model for some of these other areas to get the county to work with some of these community areas to not only get the roads fixed but to have information provided to the county at no cost that assures them that things are being taken care of and that our first responders can do what they need to do. So I don't have all the answers to this. I think it's a worthy request. I think that the county will more than get its monies worth back, if it gets a Memorandum of Understanding for those seven square miles right there. That will take a burden off of a lot of people, including, you know, our first responders first and of course the responsibility of the county. If our MSTU administrators get that information on a semi - annual or annual basis brought to the Board to assure them that this has taken place, this could be a very creative solution to a very longstanding problem. And I don't have any other possible solutions to this problem. But I know that throughout my district and I believe in Commissioner Fiala's district there's a number of areas where we need to come up with something, because we're simply not getting it done. Page 99 Packet Page -792- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 We're not safe. We're not in a safe circumstances. And the only time we find out is when we get to be a crisis situation. And I'm reaching to find a solution. And I think -- you know, I would like to make a motion that the Board consider this information and rather than forge ahead on this MSTU assessment at this time, to consider -- have staff evaluate it and consider what sorts of set -ups we can -- what sort of a public /private partnership we can put together at a very minimum cost to the county to solve this problem. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay, there's a motion on the floor. Is there a second to the motion? COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll second the motion. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Second by Commissioner Fiala. Discussion on the motion? COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah, I still don't have an answer to my question. Will the money be paid back or is it a gift? COMMISSIONER NANCE: Commissioner Coyle, can I address your concern? COMMISSIONER COYLE: Sure, please. COMMISSIONER NANCE: When I started this discussion what I asked the Board to consider was to continue this item for two years to give this a chance to work. And if we can't work out something and the county doesn't think it's getting its money's worth out of a public /private partnership, they can turn around and assess the people. That way we don't forgive it but we continue it that allows this process to go forward, give these citizens a chance to prove their worth and to show that they are providing information and services of value to the county as a whole. And then if you don't like it, come back and -- you know, I don't think you've -- you're not forgiving it, you're just giving it a chance to work. And I don't think the potential loss to the county is anything if we adopt that sort of methodology. Maybe that's a copout, you think, but I don't know how else to get there, sir. Page 100 Packet Page -793- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 COMMISSIONER COYLE: Will you let me come back in two years and vote on that? COMMISSIONER NANCE: I will have you be the first speaker, sir. We'll give you -- we'll let you have public petition. COMMISSIONER HILLER: See, there's a real problem, because you'll be gone and these three could be gone. So I would be the only one left to vote on it. COMMISSIONER NANCE: Commissioner Hiller will have to take the entire responsibility. COMMISSIONER HILLER: It will be me, myself and I. COMMISSIONER COYLE: Maybe that's not too bad. But okay, County Manager, what is our legal obligation to maintaining these roads? MR. OCHS: I'm going to defer to your County Attorney to give you that legal advice. MR. KLATZKOW: You have no legal obligation to maintain private roads. What we had here was a situation where the -- you couldn't get emergency vehicles down the roads. COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah, I understand that. MR. KLATZKOW: And honest to God, the reason we're here is public safety first and foremost. And so the thought process was we'll do just enough on these roads just to get the EMS vehicles down there and no more. This is going to be a recurring problem. We have God knows how many miles of private roads out there, many of them are 30, 40, 50 years old, deteriorating. It's a problem. We have Rock Road, Sable Palm Road, you've got this one over here. And I think as people move out there and the older people go away, as it were, the ones who moved out there for the privacy, I think the new people will have higher expectations of what public service should be. COMMISSIONER COYLE: And those expectations would be Page 101 Packet Page -794- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 that -- MR. KLATZKOW: Getting a school bus down there, getting fire engines down there and the problems that you might have, nine residents down the road who want that and one resident saying this is my private property and he puts a gate on it. And we've literally had that happen. COMMISSIONER COYLE: I don't have the perfect solution either. COMMISSIONER NANCE: Commissioner Coyle, let me give you a little more information. I'll give you an example. Rock Road, which is one that you'll remember, there was an MSTU set up under a similar situation. Now so far those people on that road, it's not even a mile long, have expended close to a quarter of a million dollars maintaining that Rock Road. And they've done that under a forced MSTU. I don't think anybody out there feels like that's been a great value to them. Almost all of them feel like they could do it cheaper themselves. And as a matter of fact they're putting a lot of sweat equity into it right now to do that. But I think they could have done as good or better a job under an agreement if there would have been some methodology to do that that, you know, wasn't available at the time. I'm not saying they had bad results, but it's been exceedingly expensive to people that really can ill afford to do it. I think they can take care of their roads and fix the problem spots cheaper and more efficiently under some guidance together. But, you know, how do you encourage them to do that? I don't know. If we don't come up with some offering for our staff to go out to these people to try to bring them together, I don't know what else we can do other than just bump forward on a crisis -to -crisis basis. And what I'm telling you is I predict that we're going to have a lot more of them. Complaints are coming in, questions about MSTUs are coming in, and we just really don't have that many options other than just a Page 102 Packet Page -795- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 blanket going into huge areas and just tax people. CHAIRMAN HENNING: You know, there is an option, Commissioner, and I haven't seen it exercised up here, and it's to say no. It's okay to say no, all right? There's a lot of public demand what is reasonable and what is fair. Nobody's going to put fruit trees on my property. They -- obviously the Board doesn't want to put in shopping centers either. But it's okay to say no. Anyways, Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, I was just thinking along the lines that you just mentioned. And you're right, have I a lot of those same type of roads, whether they be in the farm rural area or even in the -- in the areas that are well maintained and yet hidden back in there. And I'm thinking of like Polly Avenue and Atkins and all those little roads back there that are still dirt roads. And maybe there would be some -- we could offer an initiative where we can get people representing those dirt roads, sit them around at a table and have them come up with an idea that would be fair to everybody that doesn't cost the taxpayers any money but something they can settle with if they want to keep their private roads. Have you ever thought about something like that? COMMISSIONER NANCE: Well, that's what this -- if you look at this proposal, that's what Corkscrew Island Neighborhood Association put together. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, but I'm talking now about the whole -- because we're talking now about the whole county. COMMISSIONER NANCE: Well, you need each community to come together. But I want you to know that I did not write a single word of what was attached in your executive summary. That was all put together by the community. It was not edited by me, I didn't change a period, cross an I or T. This is all generated by citizens. And what I'm seeking is I'm seeking a methodology to start Page 103 Packet Page -796- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 addressing this problem. Because it's just not going to go away. CHAIRMAN HENNING: The community, and Mr. Wilson stated, they don't want to pay this back, okay. So that's not a resolution to this item in my opinion. You want to restate the motion? COMMISSIONER NANCE: Well, my original motion, Mr. Chairman, was to continue this item for two years pending development of a program with public /private arrangement with the community, and at that time the Board should reconsider this -- would rule on this item to see if they think they've gotten their $10,500 worth of benefits and cooperation back out of the community. If not, then I would not object to them being assessed at that time. But I'm just asking to defer that decision as an encouragement to this group to go forward. Are you saying you're holding it over their head? Yeah, okay, you're holding $10,500 over their head. Let's see what comes out of it and let's see if we can develop this into a methodology and a pattern to use in other areas. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay, thank you. Any further discussion on the motion? COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah, I didn't finish my question last time. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Sorry. COMMISSIONER COYLE: That's all right, it just got diverted. I don't want to seem uncharitable, but I have purchased land in rural areas on private roads and not once during the entire time of ownership have I ever asked a government to come in and pave my private road or to make it passable. When you buy property that you know is remote and private and not on a public road, you have to expect that it will deteriorate. You must have known this when you bought the property. And for the government to go in and create better Page 104 Packet Page -797- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 roads for you and maintain the roads for you increases your property values. So yeah, you're looking for a hand -out from the rest of the residents of Collier County to increase your property values. And I guess human nature being what it is, that's sort of natural. But it creates a problem for all of the other people who are in the same circumstance. Why would they bother to do anything unless the government came in first and gave them some money to do it? I don't understand why any community would be reluctant to pay their fair share for doing something like this and pay back the $10,000. Pick a time frame that is convenient for you, that doesn't have a major financial impact upon the residents. But at least make the gesture and the attempt to pay the $10,000 back that other taxpayers in Collier County have given to you. That's the fair thing to do. And there's no assurance that having invested $10,000 to do your repairs on your roads at one point in time is going to motivate people to continue to maintain it forever. And if they believe that they're only obligated to maintain it if the government gives them a financial subsidy, then they're ultimately going to do nothing at all. So I just don't know that it's a solution, but I'd be happy to vote in favor of what you've proposed if you would say look, we'll pay you back $1,000 a year over the next 10 years. And oh, at least make the gesture to pay the other taxpayers back, and that would make it a lot easier for me to support it. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Any further discussion on the motion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HENNING: Seeing none, all in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER NANCE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Opposed? COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye. Page 105 Packet Page -798- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Aye. Motion fails 4 -1. Is there a motion to accept staff s recommendation? COMMISSIONER COYLE: What is staff s recommendation? CHAIRMAN HENNING: Staffs recommendation is -- MS. ARNOLD: Staff s recommendation is to follow your policy and to establish an MSTU for the repayment of the 10,500. COMMISSIONER COYLE- If you don't mind me chiming in again on this issue, I would rather not ram something down the throats of the residents. If the residents would voluntarily say yes, we'll make an attempt to pay this back over a period of time and suggest a period of time that is reasonable then, you know, I'd be willing to accept that. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Michele, in your communications did you do anything like that or similar to what Commissioner Coyle is suggesting? MS. ARNOLD: We didn't, you know, request that of the community. But we can surely do that, if that's the direction of the board. We can work with them and, you know, try to get some sort of payment plan established to get the repayment over time. COMMISSIONER NANCE: How many property owners have been identified on the proposed MSTU, Mr. Sells? MR. SELLS: 50. COMMISSIONER NANCE: There's 50. MR. OCHS: Commissioner, I'm not sure we totally answered your question. Michele, what's the time frame in the ordinance in tenns of voluntary compliance versus the staff being obligated to come forward? MS. ARNOLD: There's a six -month time period for establishing Page 106 Packet Page -799- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 the MSTU, which we've exceeded already. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Well, you can't do any kind of taxing on this to the following year. MS. ARNOLD: Correct. CHAIRMAN HENNING: So it won't even go in effect until the 2015 tax roll. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Am I correct in understanding this is about $210 per resident? When you said $10,500 for 50 residents, we're talking about $210 per resident. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Well, per property. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Per property, forgive me. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Per parcel. COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's the total. CHAIRMAN HENNING: I'm going to make an alternative motion to approve staff s recommendation. And along with that is, you know, if anything comes up before the implementation of the MSTU, in other words, go out to put on the tax roll, if there's any other solution by the residents, for staff to coordinate with the residents and then come back to the Board of Commissioners with that idea. MR. KLATZKOW: And this is coming back. This is just a request to add a tax. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I have a question, if I may. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Well, it's coming back through the budget process. That would be the last thing. MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, eventually. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I don't understand what we're doing. Because I thought, Commissioner Henning, you said that you cannot create an MSTU to make improvements to private property. That was the whole issue with the seawall down in, what was the name of your -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Isles of Capri. Page 107 Packet Page -800- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 COMMISSIONER HILLER: Isles of Capri. So how can we be creating an MSTU for the improvement of private property here when we couldn't do it for the improvement of the seawall? CHAIRMAN HENNING: You can't expend public dollars -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: But we have expended public dollars. I mean, recapturing those public dollars is the same thing. CHAIRMAN HENNING: That was -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: I don't see the difference. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay. Well -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: That one was public safety too, I mean, the seawall was. CHAIRMAN HENNING: And if you recall, Commissioner, and I'll be glad to provide the minutes, you asked that certain question. And on the seawall there was no imminent danger to private -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, there's no imminent danger here. CHAIRMAN HENNING: I know that you wasn't here at the time, but the chief of the fire district came in and says we can't get down there, you know, these roads. So that's the reason for it. But -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: So it's okay if there's -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: May I suggest something? CHAIRMAN HENNING: No, I put a motion out there and I want to see if there's a second to the motion, okay. COMMISSIONER COYLE: Would you refresh my memory on the motion? CHAIRMAN HENNING: Yeah, it's been a while. COMMISSIONER COYLE: I'm getting old. CHAIRMAN HENNING: No, I don't know if you're getting old, but there's a domination on the Board here. The motion was to accept staff s recommendations and also work with the residents to come up with any alternative, bring those Page 108 Packet Page -801- 11/18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 alternatives to the Board in the meantime. COMMISSIONER COYLE: I'll second that. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay, there's a motion and a second. So we're going to discuss the motion. Is there a discussion on the motion? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Yes, go ahead. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I would like to suggest that we bring this motion back to the next meeting and allow the members of the community to come up with a payment plan themselves and -- for say a two -year time frame where they don't have to enter into an MSTU. Being that it's only $210 a home, maybe they can figure that out and pay that all back in a couple years and then they don't even have to go into the MSTU process. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Right. And that is -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Bring that back at next meeting. CHAIRMAN HENNING: That's a part of the motion. However it's not going to be at the next meeting. I wanted to give it a longer timeframe if there's other solutions. MR. KLATZKOW: It will be coming back next meeting, because I've got to advertise this. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Advertise the MSTU? MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. CHAIRMAN HENNING: That doesn't need to be taken place until -- MR. KLATZKOW: My drop -dead date is the last -- your meeting in December. That's when it has to be enacted. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay. Is that acceptable to you? COMMISSIONER FIALA: As long as you can add the provision that they can come back with their own plan instead of an MSTU. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Correct. Page 109 Packet Page -802- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 COMMISSIONER FIALA: If they prefer. CHAIRMAN HENNING: And also staff is going to be working with them up 'til the time of putting the MSTU assessment on the tax roll. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. And Commissioner Nance, would that meet with your approval? COMMISSIONER NANCE: Yeah, you can do whatever you want. I mean, this proposal was an alternative proposal. You know, if you're just talking about how they're going to pay it, you know, the decision has already been made to tax them to recover it in two years. That's what this calls for. So after two years, you know, you're going to have gotten the $10,500 back, and then you're going to accumulate $5,000 in taxes every year and be fooling around with one little road. So then the county's going to be fooling around with $5,000 a year maintaining one little road. MS. ARNOLD: And we wouldn't -- our recommendation is only to create the MSTU for the purpose of repayment, not for the maintenance. COMMISSIONER NANCE: All right. So in two years, you know, you get your money back and then you're right back where you started. CHAIRMAN HENNING: I'd just say no. That's my point, you could say no to any of this. And it's okay to say no. COMMISSIONER NANCE: No, that's fine. Then you have -- well, then the fire district and the Board can deal with it on an ongoing basis as crises arise. That's what we've done so far. So, I mean, I can't really say that, you know, anything's going to be any different. CHAIRMAN HENNING: In my opinion, this should be the experience of reason to say no. Again, it's private property. And like Mr. Wilson said, doesn't necessarily mean that government knows best or can do the best. Whatever. Whatever it was, something like that. Page 110 Packet Page -803- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 Anyways, any further discussion on the motion? COMMISSIONER FIALA: So let me just clarify that motion, okay? Just to make sure I understand what the motion is. The motion is to either -- to' come back at the next meeting to either create an MSTU or to allow the people to come up with their own plan to repay the $10,500, right? MR. KLATZKOW: My understanding is that I'm going to delay advertising this so that it will be advertised for your December hearing, which gives them almost three months to come up with a different payment. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Gives them more time. MR. KLATZKOW: So I'll hold off on the advertising, I'll bring it forward for your meeting in December and hopefully staff will have time to get with the residents and work something else out. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Any further discussion? MR. KLATZKOW: That's my understanding. COMMISSIONER COYLE: So I'll still be here in December then to vote on this? CHAIRMAN HENNING: You can send your opinion. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Just hang onto your chair, don't let it I- COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Okay, all in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Aye. COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye. COMMISSIONER NANCE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Any opposed? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye. CHAIRMAN HENNING: Motion carries 4 -1, Commissioner Page 111 Packet Page -804- 11 /18/2014 11.G. September 23, 2014 Hiller dissenting. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I don't think these people should be subjected to this MSTU and there needs to be some alternative means to collect the payment back from them. But -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's what I'm hoping they'll come up with their own plan about. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I don't even see why you're directing the County Attorney to go forward with this. CHAIRMAN HENNING: What's the next item? Item #13A BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (BOARD) APPROVAL OF THE ATTACHED NEWLY PROPOSED THREE PARTY AGREEMENT FOR BANKING SERVICES BETWEEN THE CLERK, THE BOARD AND FIRST FLORIDA INTEGRITY BANK AND ACKNOWLEDGE ANY WAIVERS OF THE BOARD'S PURCHASING POLICY AS THE SOLICITATION WAS MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CLERK'S PURCHASING POLICY - MOTION TO APPROVE AND WAIVING PURCHASING POLICY IRREGULARITIES TO PREVENT ANY INTERRUPTION OF SERVICES FOR VENDORS AND EMPLOYEES — APPROVED MR. OCHS: 13.A, sir. That is a -- recommend that the Board of County Commissioners approve the attached newly proposed three -party agreement for banking services between the Clerk, the Board and First Florida Integrity Bank and acknowledge any waivers of the Board's purchasing policy as the solicitation was made in accordance with the -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Are we not doing 12.B? Page 112 Packet Page -805-