BCC Minutes 10/09/2018 ROctober 9, 2018
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TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Naples, Florida, October 9, 2018
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: Andy Solis
William L. McDaniel, Jr.
Donna Fiala
Burt L. Saunders
Penny Taylor
ALSO PRESENT:
Leo Ochs, County Manager
Nick Casalanguida, Deputy County Manager
Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney
Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller
Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations
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October 9, 2018
COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Community Redevelopment Agency Board (CRAB)
Airport Authority
AGENDA
Board of County Commission Chambers
Collier County Government Center
3299 Tamiami Trail East, 3rd Floor
Naples, FL 34112
October 9, 2018
9:00 AM
Commissioner Andy Solis, District 2 - BCC Chair
Commissioner William L. McDaniel Jr., Dist. 5 - BCC Vice-Chair; CRAB Co-Chair
Commissioner Donna Fiala, District 1; CRAB Co-Chair
Commissioner Burt Saunders, District 3
Commissioner Penny Taylor, District 4
NOTICE: ALL PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK ON AGENDA ITEMS MUST
REGISTER PRIOR TO PRESENTATION OF THE AGENDA ITEM TO BE
ADDRESSED. ALL REGISTERED SPEAKERS WILL RECEIVE UP TO THREE
(3) MINUTES UNLESS THE TIME IS ADJUSTED BY THE CHAIRMAN.
REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON SUBJECTS WHICH ARE NOT ON
THIS AGENDA MUST BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING WITH EXPLANATION
TO THE COUNTY MANAGER AT LEAST 13 DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE OF
THE MEETING AND WILL BE HEARD UNDER “PUBLIC PETITIONS.”
PUBLIC PETITIONS ARE LIMITED TO THE PRESENTER, WITH A
MAXIMUM TIME OF TEN MINUTES.
ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THIS BOARD
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October 9, 2018
WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDING PERTAINING THERETO,
AND THEREFORE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD
OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE
TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED.
COLLIER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 2003-53 AS AMENDED BY
ORDINANCE 2004-05 AND 2007-24, REQUIRES THAT ALL LOBBYISTS
SHALL, BEFORE ENGAGING IN ANY LOBBYING ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ADDRESSING THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS), REGISTER WITH THE CLERK TO THE BOARD AT THE
BOARD MINUTES AND RECORDS DEPARTMENT.
IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY WHO NEEDS ANY
ACCOMMODATION IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCEEDING,
YOU ARE ENTITLED, AT NO COST TO YOU, THE PROVISION OF CERTAIN
ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT THE COLLIER COUNTY FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT DIVISION LOCATED AT 3335 EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL,
SUITE 1, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 34112-5356, (239) 252-8380; ASSISTED
LISTENING DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED ARE AVAILABLE IN
THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION.
LUNCH RECESS SCHEDULED FOR 12:00 NOON TO 1:00 P.M
1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
A. Father Paul D'Angelo of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church
2. AGENDA AND MINUTES
A. Approval of today's regular, consent and summary agenda as amended (ex
parte disclosure provided by commission members for consent agenda.)
B. September 6, 2018 – BCC/Budget Hearing Meeting Minutes
C. September 11, 2018 – BCC/Regular Meeting Minutes
D. September 20, 2018 BCC/Budget Hearing Meeting Minutes
3. AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
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October 9, 2018
A. EMPLOYEE
B. ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
C. RETIREES
D. EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
1) Recommendation to recognize Lorraine Lantz, Principal Planner,
Growth Management Department as the September 2018 Employee of
the Month.
4. PROCLAMATIONS
A. Proclamation designating October 20, 2018 as Children's Business Fair Day
in Collier County. To be accepted by Michael Dalby, Nikkie Dvorchak,
Madeline Young, Amanda Beights and Alex Breault .
B. Proclamation designating October 2018 as Domestic Violence Awareness
Month in Collier County. To be accepted by Linda Oberhaus, Chief
Executive Officer - Shelter for Abused Women & Children and Collier
County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk.
C. Proclamation recognizing Collier County Public School's 19th Annual Red
Walk, to be held on October 19, 2018 at Lely Elementary School. To be
accepted by Christa Crehan, Principal, Lely Elementary School and Craig
Greusel, Program Director.
5. PRESENTATIONS
A. Presentation of the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for Fiscal Year
2018 from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) presented
to the Office of Management and Budget. To be accepted by Mark Isackson,
Corporate Financial Planning and Management Services Director.
B. Presentation of the Collier County Business of the Month for October 2018
to The Immokalee Foundation, Inc. To be accepted by Noemi Perez,
Executive Director; Laura Simmelink, Development Director; and Amber
Barr, Program Services Director. Also in attendance is Bethany Sawyer
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October 9, 2018
representing the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce.
6. PUBLIC PETITIONS
7. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT
OR FUTURE AGENDA
8. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
9. ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS
10. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
11. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT
A. Recommendation to direct staff to continue implementation of the
Community Housing Plan (CHP) by taking necessary actions to: (1)
Continue work on a Mixed Income Housing Incentive Program; (2) Provide
regulatory relief to certain housing applications (including senior, veteran’s,
and special needs housing); (3) Develop a streamlined process for
commercial to residential conversions; (4) Develop guidelines to incentivize
mixed-income residential housing in future and redeveloped activity centers;
(5) Develop a process to identify and allow for increased density in Strategic
Opportunity Sites; (6) Provide an increase in density in the Community
Redevelopment Agency (CRA) areas and along transit corridors. (Cormac
Giblin, Grants and Housing Development Manager; Community and Human
Services Division)
B. Recommendation to approve the Fiscal Year 2018-19 Strategic Marketing
Plan for the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors
Bureau (CVB) and make a finding that this plan promotes tourism. (Jack
Wert, Tourism Division Director)
C. Recommendation to approve release of $250,000 from Tourism Division
Emergency Advertising Reserves to support an integrated marketing and
promotion campaign to mitigate the future negative visitor impact of the Red
Tide crisis in Collier County and make a finding that this action promotes
tourism. (Jack Wert, Tourism Division Director)
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D. Recommendation to approve an Interlocal Agreement between the District
Schools of Collier County (District) and the Board of County
Commissioners (Board), that supersedes the prior Interlocal Agreement and
meets new reimbursement guidelines implemented by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), authorize the payment of
$3,038,402.12 to the District for shelter and transportation cost incurred
during Hurricane Irma, and authorize all necessary budget amendments.
(Dan Summers, Bureau of Emergency Management Division Director)
12. COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT
13. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
14. AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND/OR COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT
AGENCY
A. AIRPORT
B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
15. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
A. Proposed BCC Future Workshop Schedule
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16. CONSENT AGENDA - All matters listed under this item are considered to be
routine and action will be taken by one motion without separate discussion of
each item. If discussion is desired by a member of the Board, that item(s) will
be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered separately.
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A. GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and
sewer facilities for RaceTrac at Davis Boulevard, PL20160002277,
accept unconditional conveyance of a portion of the potable water and
sewer facilities, and to authorize the County Manager, or his designee,
to release the Utilities Performance Security (UPS) and Final
Obligation Bond in the total amount of $18,093.40 to the Project
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October 9, 2018
Engineer or the Developer’s designated agent.
2) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and
sewer facilities for Vanderbilt Commons, PL20170000562, accept
unconditional conveyance of the potable water facilities and a portion
of the sewer facilities, and to authorize the County Manager, or his
designee, to release the Utilities Performance Security (UPS) and
Final Obligation Bond in the total amount of $38,553.68 to the Project
Engineer or the Developer’s designated agent.
3) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water
facilities for Villages of Monterey Clubhouse, PL20170001728,
accept unconditional conveyance of a portion of the potable water
facilities, and to authorize the County Manager, or his designee, to
release the Utilities Performance Security (UPS) and Final Obligation
Bond in the total amount of $6,129.24 to the Project Engineer or the
Developer’s designated agent.
4) Recommendation to approve final acceptance and unconditional
conveyance of the sewer utility facilities for Collier Park of
Commerce Phase 2, PL20160000500 and to authorize the County
Manager, or his designee, to release the Utilities Performance Security
(UPS) and Final Obligation Bond in the total amount of $5,216.45 to
the Project Engineer or the Developer’s designated agent .
5) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and
sewer facilities for Hammock Cove Tract C, PL20170000348, accept
unconditional conveyance of a portion of the sewer facilities, and to
authorize the County Manager, or his designee, to release the Utilities
Performance Security (UPS) and Final Obligation Bond in the total
amount of $6,074.82 to the Project Engineer or the Developer’s
designated agent.
6) Recommendation to approve and Authorize the Chairman to sign the
Utility Facilities Quit-Claim Deed and Bill of Sale between Collier
County and Minto Sabal Bay, LLC, in order to correct an error in the
previously recorded Utility Facilities Warranty Deed and Bill of Sale
for Isles of Collier Preserve Phase 8 – Dog Park, PL20180001856, in
which the Developer mistakenly conveyed sanitary sewer facilities to
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October 9, 2018
the County even though no such facilities exist .
7) This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by
Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all
participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to
approve for recording the final plat of Abaco Pointe, (Application
Number PL20180001040) approval of the standard form Construction
and Maintenance Agreement and approval of the amount of the
performance security.
8) Recommendation to approve the release of a code enforcement lien
with a value of $289,730.43 for payment of $680.43 in the code
enforcement actions entitled Board of County Commissioners v. Irene
Sylva Est and Rafael Rosas, Code Enforcement Board Case No.
CESD20150002305 relating to property located at 141 20th Avenue
NE, Collier County, Florida.
9) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 1 for Johnson
Engineering, Inc., for the “Sunshine Blvd. from 17th Ave. SW to
Green Boulevard” LAP project, for the design of sidewalk and
pedestrian bridge improvements in the amount of $27,604 (Project
No. 33505).
10) Recommendation to approve an agreement for $318,142 with Quality
Enterprises USA, Inc. pursuant to Annual Contract “14-6212 Bridge
Repairs and Maintenance” for repairs on Bridge 030149 (Bluebill
Avenue over Naples Park Canal), Project Number 66066.
11) Recommendation to authorize the Chairman to execute Change Order
No. 2 to Contract No. 17-7128 in the amount of $29,028.35 with
APTIM Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc., for additional
professional engineering services as required for the “Wiggins Pass
Channel and Doctors Pass Channel Dredging Project.”
12) Recommendation to award a Work Order to Preferred Materials, Inc.,
for construction of the “Airport Road and Davis Boulevard (Phase2) -
Northbound Right Turn Lane” project in the amount of $518,443.49
(Project 60148).
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13) This item was continued from the September 25, 2018 BCC
Meeting. Recommendation to approve the release of a code
enforcement lien with a value of $33,130.36 for payment of $10,000
in the code enforcement action entitled Board of County
Commissioners v. AT&T Wireless Services of FL, Code Enforcement
Board Case No. CEPM20150012708 relating to 1173 Sun Century
Road, Collier County, Florida.
14) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid (ITB) No. 18-7430
“Landscape Maintenance Vendors” to Florida Land Maintenance
d/b/a Commercial Land Maintenance and Superior Landscaping &
Lawn Service, Inc.
B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
1) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, acting as
the Community Redevelopment Agency Board (CRAB), approve a
Lease Modification for Bayshore Gateway Triangle CRA office
located at 3750 Bayshore Drive with 3750 Bayshore Drive, LLC and
authorize the Chairman to sign.
C. PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve a First Amendment to Lease Agreement
with South Seas Northwest Condominium Apartments of Marco
Island, Inc., to extend the lease term to maintain 800 MHz
communications equipment operating at that location.
2) Recommendation to correct a scrivener’s error in the Executive
Summary for Bid Number 18-7314 “95th Avenue North Public
Utilities Renewal,” Project Numbers 60139 and 70120, awarded to
Douglas N. Higgins, Inc., on June 26, 2018 as Agenda Item #11G.
3) Recommendation to terminate the Siemen’s Guaranteed Energy,
Water, and Wastewater Performance Savings Contract assigned to the
Collier County Water-Sewer District (CCWSD) by Florida
Governmental Utility Authority (FGUA) for non-appropriation.
D. PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT
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October 9, 2018
1) Recommendation to approve the conveyance of a Raw Water Utility
Easement along the eastern edge of the Gordon River Greenway to the
City of Naples.
2) Recommendation to approve the FY18-19 contract with the State of
Florida Department of Health (DOH) for the operation of the Collier
County Health Department in the amount of $1,491,400 .
3) Recommendation to authorize Change Order No. 1 in the amount of
$59,998.24 against a purchase order issued under Contract #17-7154
for Structural and Mechanical Pool Contractor with Omni Aquatics,
Inc.
4) Recommendation to approve two (2) after-the-fact grant requests to
the Florida Communities Trust Grant from the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection; one (1) application in the amount of
$163,642 is to enhance recreational amenities available at Isles of
Capri Neighborhood Park, and the other application in the amount of
$735,000 is to purchase the Gore property which is designated as
Strategic Habitat Conservation Area for Conservation Collier.
5) Recommendation to approve an out of cycle Collier County Tourist
Development Council (TDC) Grant Application for Beach Park
Facilities in the amount of $200,000 for restroom improvements and a
feasibility study for the construction of a Park Ranger Station at
Barefoot Beach Preserve Park, authorize necessary budget
amendment, and make a finding that the expenditure promotes
tourism.
6) Recommendation to approve a Conservation Bank Agreement
between Collier County and the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service, and all documents necessary, to create the Pepper Ranch
Preserve Conservation Bank, generating U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service panther habitat unit mitigation credits to mitigate for proposed
impacts to panther habitat during future County projects and to
authorize any Budget Amendments necessary to fund the new Pepper
Ranch Preserve Bank Endowment Fund 673 in the amount of
$253,600 for interim maintenance at the Pepper Ranch Preserve
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Conservation Bank.
7) Recommendation to adopt the Museum Division 2018 Strategic Plan.
E. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to renew the annual Certificate of Public
Convenience and Necessity (COPCN) for Ambitrans Medical
Transport, Inc. to provide Class 2 Advanced Life Support (ALS) inter-
facility transport ambulance service for a period of one year.
2) Recommendation to approve a five-year agreement with Marsh
ClearSight, Inc. in an annual amount of $138,000 for the purchase of
Risk Management Information System Software (RMIS) and
authorize the Chairman to sign Contract #18-7341.
3) Recommendation to accept a Federally-Funded Sub-award and Grant
Agreement through the Florida Division of Emergency Management
for reimbursement of expenditures associated with prep aration and
recovery from the Florida 30th Avenue Fire (Net Fiscal Impact:
$82,964.96).
4) Recommendation to award Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) #18-7321,
“Gas and Diesel Fuel Multi-Agency Cooperative Purchase,” to
Palmdale Oil Company, Inc., authorize the Chairman to execute the
agreement, and terminate the award of #18-7406 “Emergency Fuel.”
5) Recommendation to approve a Florida Emergency Medical Services
County Grant Application, Request for Grant Fund Distribution Form
and Resolution for the funding of Training and Medical/Rescue
Equipment in the amount of $63,545 and to authorize the necessary
Budget Amendment.
6) Recommendation to authorize routine and customary budget
amendments appropriating carry forward budget in the amount of
$8,944,843.63 for approved open purchase orders into Fiscal Year
2019.
7) Recommendation to approve the Administrative Reports prepared by
the Procurement Services Division for change orders and other
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contractual modifications requiring Board approval.
8) Recommendation to approve the administrative report prepared by the
Procurement Services Division for disposal of property and
notification of revenue disbursement.
F. COUNTY MANAGER OPERATIONS
1) Recommendation to award Solicitation No. 18-7434 for Pelican Bay
Streetlight Pole Repairs to SPE Utility Contractors FD, LLC in the
amount of $97,894 and authorize the Chairman to execute the
attached agreement.
2) Recommendation to adopt a resolution approving amendments
(appropriating grants, donations, contributions or insurance proceeds)
to the Fiscal Year 2017-18 Adopted Budget.
3) Recommendation to adopt a resolution approving amendments
(appropriating grants, donations, contributions or insurance proceeds)
to the Fiscal Year 2018-19 Adopted Budget.
4) Recommendation to award RFP #18-7281R, “Tourism Fulfillment
and Call Center Services” to Faneuil, Inc., for $21,772.97, authorize
the Chairman to execute the associated agreement, and make a finding
that this action promotes tourism.
5) Recommendation to approve the submittal of a grant application to
Florida Sports Foundation in the amount of $25,000 to offset a portion
of the operating expenses to host the 2018 Football University (FBU)
National Championships in Collier County, authorize the County
Manager to accept the award and process any budget amendments and
make a finding that this action promotes tourism.
6) Recommendation to use Tourist Development Tax Promotion Funds
to support the upcoming November 2018 Sports Tourism Events up to
$17,800 and make a finding that these expenditures promote tourism.
7) Recommendation to use Tourist Tax Promotion Funds to sponsor the
2018 Powerboat Nationals Formula 4 Global Championship Event
October 27-28, 2018, approve reimbursement of operating expenses
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October 9, 2018
for this purpose, and make a finding that these event expenditures
promote tourism.
8) Recommendation to approve Tourist Development Tax Promotion
and Marketing funding to support the upcoming Winter Nationals
Senior Softball Tournament on November 6-11, 2018 up to $6,105
and make a finding that these expenditures promote tourism.
9) Recommendation to approve the submittal of a grant application to
Visit Florida in the amount of $70,000 for the Tourism Recovery
Grant Program for Red Tide in Collier County, authorize the County
Manager to accept the award and process any n ecessary budget
amendments and make a finding that this action promotes tourism.
10) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners reviews
and approves the proposed FY2019 Action Plan for Leo E. Ochs, Jr.,
County Manager.
G. AIRPORT AUTHORITY
1) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
the attached Resolution authorizing execution of Joint Participation
Agreement Contract No. G0E50 Supplement One with the Florida
Department of Transportation for construction of a new terminal
facility with associated entrance, parking, and related safety
improvements at the Marco Island Executive Airport .
H. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
I. MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
J. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
1) Recommendation to extend the 2018 Tax Roll at the request of Tax
Collector Larry Ray.
2) Recommendation to approve the FY 2018 SCAAP letter delegating
authority to Sheriff Kevin Rambosk to be the official grant applicant
and contact person, or his designee, and to receive, expends the
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October 9, 2018
payment and make any necessary budget amendments of the FY 2018
of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) grant funds.
3) Recommendation to serve as the local coordinating unit of
government for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Federal
Fiscal Year 2017 Edward Byrne Memorial, Justice Assistance Grant
(JAG) Countywide Program and (1) authorize the Chairman to
execute the Certification of Participation; (2) designate the Sheriff as
the official applicant and the Sheriff’s office staff as grant financial
and program managers; (3) authorize the acceptance of the grant if
and when awarded; and (4) approve associated budget amendments
and approve the Collier County Sheriff’s Office to receive and expend
the grant funds.
4) To 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 13 and 26, 2018 pursuant to Florida
Statute 136.06.
5) Request that the Board approve and determine valid public purpose
for invoices payable and purchasing card transactions as of October 3,
2018.
K. COUNTY ATTORNEY
1) Recommendation to appoint two members to the Golden Gate
Beautification Advisory Committee.
2) Recommendation to reappoint a member to the Collier County Citizen
Corps.
3) Recommendation to reappoint two members to the
Historic/Archaeological Preservation Board.
4) Recommendation to reappoint a member to the Lely Golf Estates
Beautification Advisory Committee.
5) Recommendation to reappoint a member to the Golden Gate Estates
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October 9, 2018
Land Trust Committee.
6) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Final Judgment for final
compensation in the amount of $8,000 for Parcel 404RDUE,
including all attorney and expert fees, in the lawsuit styled Collier
County v. Jarrett Cox, et al, Case No. 16-CA-1313, required for the
Golden Gate Boulevard Expansion Project No. 60145, (from 20th St.
E. to Everglades Blvd.). (Fiscal Impact: $4,800)
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17. SUMMARY AGENDA - This section is for advertised public hearings and
must meet the following criteria: 1) A recommendation for approval from
staff; 2) Unanimous recommendation for approval by the Collier County
Planning Commission or other authorizing agencies of all members present
and voting; 3) No written or oral objections to the item received by staff, the
Collier County Planning Commission, other authorizing agencies or the
Board, prior to the commencement of the BCC meeting on which the items
are scheduled to be heard; and 4) No individuals are registered to speak in
opposition to the item. For those items which are quasi-judicial in nature, all
participants must be sworn in.
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A. Recommendation to adopt a resolution approving amendments
(appropriating carry forward, transfers and supplemental revenue) to the
Fiscal Year 2018-19 Adopted Budget.
18. ADJOURN
INQUIRIES CONCERNING CHANGES TO THE BOARD’S AGENDA SHOULD
BE MADE TO THE COUNTY MANAGER’S OFFICE AT 252-8383.
October 9, 2018
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MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you, Mr. Manager.
Welcome, everyone, to the October 9th, 2018, Board of County
Commissioners meeting.
We'll begin today with the invocation and the Pledge, and the
invocation will be given by Father Paul D'Angelo of St. John the
Evangelist Catholic Church. Thank you.
Item #1A
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – INVOCATION
GIVEN
FATHER D'ANGELO: Good morning to all of you. And let's
pause and place ourselves in the presence of Almighty God.
Direct, oh Lord, we beseech Thee, all our actions, that we carry
them on by thy gracious assistance so that every prayer and work of
ours may always begin with Thee and by Thee, be happily ended, and
may Almighty God bless you and all your loved ones, all your family
members always.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you.
Commissioner McDaniel?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Happy to. With me, ladies and
gentlemen.
(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 MEMEBERS FOR CONSENT
October 9, 2018
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AGENDA.) – APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES;
COMMISSIONER SOLIS ABSTAINED FROM VOTING ON ITEM
#16A3
MR. OCHS: Good morning, Commissioners. These are the
proposed changes for the Board of County Commissioners meeting of
October 9, 2018. I'm pleased to report no changes from the agenda as
published.
One agenda note, Commissioners. We have one time-certain
hearing that will be held at 10 a.m. this morning. That is Item 11A.
That's a presentation of the next segment of your Community Housing
Plan. Again, that's Item 11A to be heard at 10 a.m.
And those are all the changes that we have this morning, Mr.
Chairman.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you.
County Attorney?
MR. KLATZKOW: No changes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: We've disclosures on the consent and
summary agenda.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No changes and no disclosures.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No changes, and 16A7 -- oh, I don't
even have anything on that one. That's the Abaco Pointe. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No changes; nothing to declare on
ex parte.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No changes and no ex parte.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you. And I have no changes, no ex
parte, but I will abstain from voting on 16A3, the Monterey clubhouse.
Very good. Anything else?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Is there a motion to approve?
October 9, 2018
Page 4
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to approve the agenda as
written.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: A motion and a second. All in favor, say
aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Agenda's approved.
Proposed Agenda Changes
Board of County Commissioners Meeting
October 9, 2018
Time Certain Items: Item 11A to be heard at 10:00 a.m. (Commissioner Fiala’s
request)
10/10/2018 9:43 AM
October 9, 2018
Page 5
Item #2B
BCC/BUDGET HEARING MEETING MINUTES FROM
SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 – APPROVED AS PRESENTED
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, Item 2B is approval of the
September 6th, 2018, BCC budget hearing meeting minutes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll make a motion for approval.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second that.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Motion and a second. All in favor, say
aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: The minutes are approved.
Item #2C
BCC/REGULAR MEETING MINUTES FROM SEPTEMBER 11,
2018 – APPROVED AS PRESENTED
MR. OCHS: Item 2C is approval of the September 11, 2018,
BCC regular meeting minutes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Motion and a second. Any discussion?
(No response.)
October 9, 2018
Page 6
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: All in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: The minutes are approved as well.
Item #2D
BCC/BUDGET HEARING MEETING MINUTES FROM
SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 – APPROVED AS PRESENTED
MR. OCHS: Item 2D is approval of the September 20, 2018,
BCC budget hearing meeting minutes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Move approval.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion and a second. All in
favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: All the minutes are approved.
Item #3D1
October 9, 2018
Page 7
RECOGNIZING LORRAINE LANTZ, PRINCIPAL PLANNER,
GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT AS THE
SEPTEMBER 2018 EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH –
RECOGNIZED
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, we move to Item 3D1 on this
morning's agenda. This is a recommendation to recognize Lorraine
Lantz, principal planner with your Growth Management Department,
as the September 2018 Employee of the Month.
Lorraine, if you'd please step forward.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: It's such a joy working with you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Congratulations.
MR. OCHS: Lorraine, stand right there while we tell the
audience a little bit about you.
Commissioners, Lorraine's been with the county since 2002
working in our Capital Projects Management division. For the last
several years, Lorraine has taken the lead on the county's
Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery project.
The acronym for that is TIGER. TIGER is a highly competitive federal
discretionary grant program. Each year when the project wasn't
chosen, Lorraine coordinated a debrief with the Department of
Transportation at the United States Government to see how the
application could be improved. She never gave up her positive attitude
about the grant and spent many long days into the late nights reviewing
and revising that grant application.
Earlier this year, Collier County was chosen as one of 41
recipients to receive a portion of the $500 million in 2017 TIGER
funding.
Lorraine's efforts have secured over $13 million in federal
funding for important multi-modal improvements in the Immokalee
October 9, 2018
Page 8
area. The residents and visitors of Immokalee will greatly benefit from
her tenacity.
Lorraine's effort, determination, and endless optimism while
pursuing this grant demonstrates how very deserving she is of this
award.
Commissioners, it's my honor to present Lorraine Lantz, your
September 2018 Employee of the Month.
Congratulations, Lorraine.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: When the MPO was without a --
with a head, it was Lorraine that steadied our ship. It was no question.
She's just been a beacon, and thank you so much for your hard work.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that takes us to Item 4, your
proclamations for this morning.
Item #4
PROCLAMATIONS: ONE MOTION TAKEN TO ADOPT ALL
PROCLAMATIONS
Item #4A
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING OCTOBER 20, 2018 AS
CHILDREN’S BUSINESS FAIR DAY IN COLLIER COUNTY.
ACCEPTED BY MICHAEL DALBY, NIKKIE DVORCHAK,
MADELINE YOUNG, AMANDA BEIGHTS AND ALEX
BREAULT – ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 4A is a proclamation designating October 20,
2018, as Children's Business Fair Day in Collier County. To be
accepted by Michael Dalby, Nikkie Dvorchak, Madeline Young,
October 9, 2018
Page 9
Amanda Beights, and Alex Breault.
If you'd step forward and receive your proclamation.
(Applause.)
MS. DVORCHAK: We're very happy to accept this
proclamation for October 20th for the Naples Children's Business Fair.
We will be hosting an event for 16 to 17 year-old young
entrepreneurs that will be able to come out and sell their product or
their service to the public. We're really trying to take them on this
journey and help with the CCPS program for entrepreneurship as well
as opening it up to the homeschool students, the academies, the charter
chools, private schools, and we have over 150 students registered to
participate.
So we hope everyone will join us at Gulf Coast High School on
October 20th to celebrate these young entrepreneurs. Thank you.
MR. OCHS: Your name, for the record?
MS. DVORCHAK: Nikkie Dvorchak. Thank you.
MR. OCHS: Thank you, Nikkie.
(Applause.)
Item #4B
PROCLAMATIONS DESIGNATING OCTOBER 20, 2018 AS
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH IN COLLIER
COUNTY. ACCEPTED BY LINDA OBERHAUS, CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMAN &
CHILDREN AND COLLIER COUNTY SHERIFF KEVIN
RAMBOSK – ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 4B is a proclamation designating October 2018
as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Collier County. To be
accepted by Linda Oberhaus, CEO of the Shelter for Abused Women
October 9, 2018
Page 10
and Children; and Collier County Sheriff, Kevin Rambosk. If you'd
please step forward.
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Right on cue, Kevin.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You deserve it, by the way.
MS. OBERHAUS: Good morning, Commissioners. For the
record, my name is Linda Oberhaus. I'm the CEO at the Shelter for
Abused Women and Children and, I just want to thank you for
acknowledging October as National Domestic Violence Awareness
Month.
It's going to be a busy year for the shelter. We're hoping to break
ground on a new shelter facility in Immokalee to serve both victims of
domestic violence and human trafficking. It will be a 32-bed shelter,
21,000 square feet. And, again, we're hoping to break ground this
season.
Let's see. So October we're doing a lot of events, awareness
raising events, and we're going to be doing a flash mob at Mercato.
For anyone in the community who would like to learn the dance, you
can go to the shelter's website at Naplesshelter.org.
We have a Next Gen event that's going to be happening this
Friday at Bayfront Inn for all of the young professionals who would
like to come out and help us raise both funds and awareness, and then
we end the month in Immokalee with a children's peace fair.
And so I would just encourage members of the community to,
again, visit our website to find out the dates of the events, and join us if
they can.
One final thought is that as it relates to domestic violence, one of
the things that we track is the number of calls to 911. And what was
really noticeable this year -- because we map it out. It's a collaboration
with the Collier County Sheriff's Office, Marco Island PD, and Naples
PD. And we've had an increase in about 200 calls to 911 over the prior
October 9, 2018
Page 11
year.
I don't know if this is a result of the "Me too" movement or
maybe the fact that people are more comfortable calling to get the help
they need or if domestic violence is actually on the rise.
But we know that local law enforcement, they're spending a fair
amount of their on-duty police time, I think about 29 percent,
responding to domestic violence calls.
So although the Shelter for Abused Women and Children -- you
know, we continue to, you know, work with victims to help keep them
safe and hold perpetrators accountable, there's still much, much more
work to do.
So, Commissioners, again, I just want to thank you for your
support and for the support of our sheriff, Kevin Rambosk.
(Applause.)
Item #4C
PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING COLLIER COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOL’S 19TH ANNUAL RED WALK, ON OCTOBER 19, 2018
AT LELY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. ACCEPTED BY SHARON
WHEELER, VICE PRINCIPAL, LELY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
AND CRAIG GREUSEL, PROGRAM DIRECTOR – ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 4C is a proclamation recognizing Collier
County Public Schools 19th Annual Red Walk to be held on October
19th, 2018, at Lely Elementary School. To be accepted this morning
by Sharon Wheeler, vice principal of Lely Elementary School, and
Craig Greusel, program director.
Please step forward.
(Applause.)
MR. GREUSEL: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is
October 9, 2018
Page 12
Craig Greusel, and I am privileged to be here for the 19th time, believe
it or not. I've enjoyed coming before you and seeking your approval
for the recognition of the Red Walk.
This is our county's way of kicking off the Red Ribbon activities
for the month of October leading from the 19th, now this year, all the
way through the 31st. Several schools are doing many different
opportunities of children -- for them to celebrate a healthy lifestyle.
At the Red Walk this year, we are, again, combining with our
community partnerships, our service personnel, fire, EMS, safety
EOC, as well as our community partners in Habitat for Humanity and
the Arlington Center, the library system, as well as many others.
The children will have the opportunity to walk in the morning
hours and be presented by our community sponsor, and then in the
afternoon, then they give back to the community in opportunities like
doing a concert for one of the nursing homes. They are doing Meals
for Hope in the afternoon as well. They're also creating invitations for
the library's 10th anniversary out on Lely Cultural this year as well.
I look forward to having all of you, if you can, come and join us.
And I'm going to put in a plug. Next year's our 20th year. We really
need you then.
So come back. Donna's been fantastically energized by coming
out and speaking to us each year. So we look to see you there, and
thank you again.
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, if I could get a motion to approve
today's proclamations, please.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So moved.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion and a second to approve
the proclamations. All in favor, say aye.
October 9, 2018
Page 13
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: They're approved. Congratulations.
MS. OBERHAUS: Thank you.
MR. OCHS: Move to Item 5, presentations.
Item #5A
PRESENTATION OF THE DISTINGUISHED BUDGET
PRESENTATION AWARD FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018 FROM THE
GOVERNMENT FINANCE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION (GFOA)
PRESENTED TO THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET. ACCEPTED BY MARK ISACKSON, CORPORATE
FINANCIAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES
DIRECTOR – PRESENTED
MR. OCHS: 5A is a presentation of the Distinguished Budget
Presentation Award for Fiscal Year 2018 from the Government
Finance Officers Association presented to the Office of Management
and Budget. To be accepted this morning by Mark Isackson, your
director of Corporate Financial Planning and Management Services,
and the budget staff.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a wonderful plaque here. And can
I just read what the award is, because I think it's worth noting.
This is from the Government Finance Officers Association to Mr.
October 9, 2018
Page 14
Isackson, and it says, "We are pleased to inform you, based on the
examination of your budget document by a panel of independent
reviewers, that your budget document has been awarded the
Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from Government Finance
Officers Association for the current fiscal period. This award is the
highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting. Its attainment
represents a significant achievement by your organization." So well
done.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There you are.
(Applause.)
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Ask Mark to smile.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Yeah, Mark. You've got to smile. It's a
good thing.
MR. OCHS: He is smiling. Congratulations.
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, Mark Isackson with the
Office of Management and Budget.
I'd be remiss if I didn't sit here and recognize this organization is
very fortunate to have a number of excellent financial professionals,
not only under my tutelage on a corporate level in the office, but at the
departmental level and also at a constitutional level. So this award
really is a testament to their hard work on a detail basis, so I think a
shout out goes to all of those staff.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you.
Item #5B
PRESENTATION OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BUSINESS OF
THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER 2018 TO THE IMMOKALEE
FOUNDATION, INC. ACCEPTED BY NOEMI PEREZ,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR; LAURA SIMMELINK,
October 9, 2018
Page 15
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR; AND AMBER BARR, PROGRAM
SERVICES DIRECTOR. ALSO IN ATTENDANCE IS BETHANY
SAWYER REPRESENTING THE GREATER NAPLES
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
BY NOEMI PEREZ; ANNUAL REPORT REQUESTED BY
COMMISSIONERS
MR. OCHS: Item 5B is a presentation of the Collier County
Business of the Month for October 2018 to the Immokalee Foundation.
To be accepted by Noemi Perez, executive director; Laura Simmelink,
development director; and Amber Barr, program services director.
Also participating this morning is Bethany Sawyer representing the
Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce.
Congratulations.
MS. PEREZ: On behalf of the Immokalee Foundation, we'd like
to thank you for being recognized. It is a great honor.
Thank you, again, for allowing me some time to give you a little
presentation on our new venture over at the Immokalee Foundation.
The Immokalee Foundation was established in 1991. Our
founder, Parker Collier, really believed that education was key to
breaking the cycle of poverty. Within the Immokalee Foundation, our
mission is to build pathways to success for the children.
We have great outcomes. We have 100 percent of our students
graduate from high school; 100 percent of them enroll into a post
secondary pathway within six months of graduating; 84 percent
graduate from post secondary school.
And so while we have great outcomes, we also looked at a
shortage of students tying together with their field of study as they
graduate. And so 40 percent of those students are not working within
their field of study.
So not only do we take a look at how we looked internally at our
October 9, 2018
Page 16
data, we also looked at the national trend, and we noticed that there
was a disconnect as well with students who are -- with what they're
studying in college and then aligning with what employers need.
So 66 percent of our graduates who enroll into post secondary,
over 25 percent of those drop out. The students who do graduate, 50
percent of those end up in what we call gray-collar jobs. And really, it
doesn't equate to their level of education, 33 percent of those require
(sic) bachelor's degree, and we saw that there was a significant rise in
certification in associate degrees.
So in accepting the responsibility, even though it is a national
trend and it is an issue nationally, we felt a need within the Foundation
to do something; more importantly, because many of our students are
first-generation college students, and they do rely on us, on our
advocacy, on our counseling, on our mentors, and our parents to guide
them.
So in addressing the problem, we identified there are certain
career pathways that are within Southwest Florida that will start to
grow within the next few years. And so, for us, identifying those
careers that are high in demand, alongside providing career exploration
and education within our programs and also focusing on credentials to
build those employability skills for students.
So in identifying the four pathways, we looked at, number one,
there's healthcare; number two, there's businesses management;
number three, there's construction and engineering management; and
then, four, education.
So we felt the need starting as early as sixth grade to begin to
expose our students to the different careers that are around. So by
providing an after-school program for sixth through eighth grade, we
hope to provide research and exploration within these four pathways,
provide a summer STEM component that will build on reading and
math skills, and by eighth grade our hope is that each eighth grader
October 9, 2018
Page 17
will start to select their interest to go on into high school and explore
furthermore.
In high school, between ninth and tenth grade, they will continue
to explore their pathway while we provide our career panels, our
industry-focused field trips, and also providing our career counseling.
We'll work on remediation to build up their math and reading
skills so that they can enroll into career-based academies that are
provided within the school that will also allow them to receive
certifications. In their junior and senior year, we hope that they will
enroll in these dual academies and then continue to further explore,
and also providing them job-skill training and internships. Our
students will graduate high school with one or more certifications in
their field of study. They will then select their pathway based on the
career field.
We'll continue to support the four-year university tradition if they
choose to do so, and as post secondary students, we'll continue to
provide the career counseling and mentorship.
But we knew we couldn't do this alone. We knew we had
partners within that were specialized, and their feedback and guidance
is very valuable to us.
The partners that we have locally, just to name a few, is
Immokalee Middle School, Immokalee High School, Immokalee
Technical College, FGCU, and other local businesses such as BCB
Homes.
But not only is it important for us and the partners within, it's also
important to engage our mentors and our parents. We knew that we
had to build a strong foundation of trust within the parents because
many of them do believe that the traditional four-year university
pathway is success, and for some it is, but for others a technical and
maybe even an associate's degree is just as successful.
So by providing what we call parent cafes, having one-on-one
October 9, 2018
Page 18
meetings with students, and providing the career education that they
need to help their students make a selection, we will also bring in
mentors to help utilize them and train them for that extra support,
because we know that they are very vital to the success of our students.
So we feel that by focusing on career exposure and helping them
find the information at a very early age, students will have the tools
and resources to attain a satisfying professional career.
Thank you for your time.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Don't go away. Don't go away.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: The Chairman wasn't paying attention to
his little talking board. I think --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Was I first or Commissioner
Saunders?
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: You're first.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Noemi, could you share with
me just a brief excerpt of your mentorship program and the requisites
there and how you're coming along in achieving or having enough
mentors.
MS. PEREZ: That is a challenge for us. As you know, we're,
you know, a rural community about an hour away from, you know,
Naples, and about 90 percent of our students right now are matched
with a mentor.
We have over -- between middle and high school, we have a little
over 300 students in total. Right now we have about 130 students
matched with a mentor. The criteria for a mentor is that it's just
support; an individual that will be there for the student to listen, to just
talk to, to help just give guidance. You know, we don't look for
mentors to have, you know, a bachelor's degree. It's more of sharing
their experience with the students.
So they do have to have a background screening with the Collier
County district. But they meet with their students at least once a week
October 9, 2018
Page 19
whether it's in our building or at school campus, so it varies between
45 minutes to about an hour. But it's very rewarding. A lot of the
team at the Immokalee Foundation are mentors. I, myself, am a
mentor. So it's just finding that time that's very rewarding. But it's
very crucial, and it's very important, especially with this new initiative
that we're taking on, that we have these mentors and that we have the
community communicate come together and help build our next
generation.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Isn't that one of the keys of the
success for the students as they're coming through is that they do, in
fact, have a mentor and have that assistance?
MS. PEREZ: It is. And many of our mentors do follow the
students, not only following the students seventh grade, but all the way
through their post secondary and into, you know, their career, so it is a
long-lasting relationship.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: For the record, the call is out.
If you have the time -- that was a leading question. But if you have the
time, it certainly would be appreciated if you could assist with a
mentorship program that we have over there. Thank you.
MS. PEREZ: Yes, of course. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Saunders?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I have a couple
questions and a comment as well.
MS. PEREZ: Oh, sorry.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think you said you have 300
students there now. Is that pretty typically what you have on an annual
basis?
MS. PEREZ: Yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And your funding -- I assume
that you do fundraising and that sort of thing. But how do you
accomplish fundraising for your organization?
October 9, 2018
Page 20
MS. PEREZ: We do. About 97 percent of our fundraising is
private, so private donors. We also have our annual charity classic,
which is, this year, November 9th, where we bring in a lot of the
funding.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And are there similar
programs to this throughout Collier County, or is this kind of a unique
program for the county?
MS. PEREZ: As far as we know, this is a unique program, and it
is because of the different partners that we've brought to the table to
really specialize, you know, alongside with Dr. Patton, having her
support in this as well.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman,
Commissioners, you know, occasionally we hear of really interesting
programs that are, I think, good for the future of the community, and
this is one that strikes me as being one of the more important ones.
And I'd like to suggest -- I think it would be nice if you could give us
an annual report. Come to the Commission, maybe Mr. Ochs can set
that up on an annual basis where you come and tell us what your
events have --
MS. PEREZ: Of course.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- what your fundraising
activities are, what your students are doing. I think this is an incredibly
impressive program. And I'm curious as to why there aren't other
programs like this, and hopefully some are listening and will try to
mimic what you're doing. I think this is really incredible work.
So I'd like to suggest that we have an annual report from the
Foundation, have them tell us what their successes are and what their
plans are, and that will help get the word out as well at this end of the
county.
MS. PEREZ: Of course, thank you. We'd love to do that.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you for what you're
October 9, 2018
Page 21
doing.
MS. PEREZ: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I just made a quick calculation;
27 years ago. Immokalee Foundation is 27 years.
MS. PEREZ: Yes, it is.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And at the time, 27 years ago,
Immokalee Foundation, I remember, what, the riding horse. Oh, they
have to be riding horses out there.
MS. PEREZ: That's right.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And what you've done and the
lives you've touched is short of remarkable. And to have this initiative,
which is -- it's cutting-edge.
And to bring children to the idea, and parents and society, that,
you know what, you don't really need a college education. If you want
to do something else, if you have the talent, and if you have the
support, you can do it, and you can have a good life.
It's what we need in Collier County. It's just so exciting, because
it ties the economic driving that we're trying to do, because you're
preparing workforce for the future.
MS. PEREZ: That's right.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And it's just -- I'm so impressed
with it. I read it. I read it page by page.
MS. PEREZ: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, yeah, yeah. Well done and
well thought out, and congratulations. And I echo Commissioner
Saunders' request to bring you back here on an annual basis.
MS. PEREZ: Of course, thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you for all your hard work.
MS. PEREZ: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Mr. Manager?
October 9, 2018
Page 22
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir.
Item #5C
COMMISSIONER SOLIS ANNOUNCED THE FEATURED
ARTIST OF THE MONTH – LYNDA FAY BRAUN
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I have been remiss in not bringing up the
featured Artist of the Month, so I thought I would do that now.
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: The Collier County Artist of the Month is
Collier County resident Lynda Fay Braun. I hope I pronounced that
properly.
Lynda's independent spirit combined with an affinity for nature
led her to fine art photography. Through the use of the camera and
computer, Lynda seeks to capture the order and chaos that she sees
with the rhythmic flow of water, wind, and light.
The pieces displayed in the boardroom are from her upriver series
of photographs taken while kayaking on the Imperial River. In
addition to the Naples area, Lynda's art has been displayed in
exhibitions throughout the United States. It's really wonderful. So
thank you for that.
Item #7
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, we move to Item 7 this morning,
public comments on general topics not on the current or future agenda.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, I have seven registered speakers
October 9, 2018
Page 23
for public comment. Your first speaker is Trent Dunn. He has been
ceded additional time from Jason Shook. If you will indicate you're
here, Jason.
MR. SHOOK: I am.
MR. MILLER: Oh, there you are. Sorry.
Alexander Popoff?
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: Jeff DeWood?
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: And Susan Dunn?
(Raises hand.)
MR. MITCHELL: Mr. Dunn will have a total of 15 minutes and
will be followed by Rae Ann Burton.
MR. DUNN: Good morning, and thank you, and I promise 15
minutes is far more than I need or want with a microphone in my face.
But my appreciation to those who showed up and conceded (sic) their
time.
I wrote this out in my initial handwriting thoughts, put it onto a
Word document, did a one-and-a-half spacing; lost it.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Hit the wrong button.
MR. DUNN: So you'll bear with me. We're going through draft
one today. My name is Trent Dunn. I've lived in Southwest Florida
since 1991.
When I first considered taking this opportunity to speak to you,
somebody in my circle said, hey, but what about your job? That struck
me. I don't think much about -- by the way, I'm here to talk about
cannabis dispensaries.
I've never thought of the implication of that before, but when I
thought about it longer, what I really did was I considered my other
job. When I'm not running the marketing department of a company
here in Collier County, I'm at home with my wife who is an amazing
October 9, 2018
Page 24
cancer warrior, and working with her on her ongoing battle with the
dragon named cancer.
Diagnosed just a few years ago, this lifelong nonsmoking
vegetarian developed oral cancer with no markers present. After the
initial fog from such a punctuating moment, we began the process of
surgeries, radiation sessions, chemotherapy treatments in the dozens.
The hours of surgery over the last three years are over 50, and
they continue to this day as we remain in stride running through this
storm together.
In 2016 they had to remove a portion of the back of her tongue,
and she had to relearn many of the basic sounds of speech. In 2017,
when the cancer returned, it was determined that the next surgery
would require the removal of her vocal chords. In the time leading to
that moment, we talked a lot, we laughed, we cried, but with more
intent than ever, or at least more than we knew possible.
The voice that lived to sing, including worship bands at church
and once did the National Anthem at a Boston Red Sox spring training
game was being silenced. You can no longer hear her voice, but I still
do. There is still more to do. While we are currently cancer free, the
work to restore her jawline still continues. Another surgery looms for
us.
Throughout this process, I've learned more about the medical
process and all the tools at hand to continue beating back a dragon that
doesn't know the word "remission."
Among my education, I've learned and, more importantly,
witnessed the effects of widely and easily distributed narcotics made
available to us at will. Whatever we wanted, we could get. It's a
dramatic surgery. It has dramatic recovery processes. It's an
incredibly infectious-ridden process. Anything we wanted, it was a
phone call away.
We went down that route for months. As we moved through all
October 9, 2018
Page 25
the cycles of surgeries and treatments, we continued to work on
nutrition and healing, but we were saddled by an ongoing sense of
addiction.
We continued to fight through this. All of my wife's feeding goes
through a G tube in her stomach. She no longer eats or swallows. We
thought we could do better than the formula the hospital gave us that
was full of glucose and sugar, so we went and we bought a Vitamix,
and we found our own affordable items, and we comprised an all
organic, zero sugar, healthy fats diet that keeps her going to the point
where she has to try to lose weight every once in a while, which is
pretty good for a cancer patient.
If she's going to run this course, we have to give her every
advantage. When we started seeing dramatic signs of long-term opioid
use, as well as considering the effects of adding addiction to her
physical burdens, we turned, again, to a more natural and life-offering
option. Without the benefits of medical cannabis, there's no doubt my
wife's quality of life would be saddled with addiction and compounded
with complications from the ongoing dosages of these many, many
Schedule 2 narcotics made freely available to us.
By the way, we also grow our own wheat grass in our home. It's
an all-natural, easily grown product with numerous benefits in our
fight against the dragon. We believe in finding natural options when it
adds life to who we have.
All we're asking for in this conversation and in this moment is
local and affordable access to the medicine we need. For some, not
having local access to a dispensary might be a bit of a hurdle, but for
most the lack of a local dispensary is an unscalable wall.
As you might sense by now, I would run through a wall for my
warrior wife. If the cancerous patient was your loved one, you would
run with me through the same wall. We will continue to run forward.
And if a wall appears, we will continue to run through them.
October 9, 2018
Page 26
There is no other choice for us, but there is a choice for you. You
can be a wall, and you can make people like me run through you, or
you can be a door to progress, to helping people find balance in their
medical treatments.
There's an opportunity here for us to exercise something maybe
new, a new concept. Maybe it's called a governing level of responsible
compassion. I would ask you to exercise the same level of responsible
compassion in your governing as we did in our voting.
I thank you for your service to our community. I know the
sacrifices you make of your time and your schedule with your own
families, and I appreciate you.
Thank you, and have a good day.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Rae Ann Burton. She will
be followed by Garrett Beyrent.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We should take a break after
that.
MS. BURTON: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is
Rae Ann Burton. I live in Golden Gate Estates off of Everglades and
Oil Well.
My concern is the increase of panther sightings and the killing of
family pets and stock, livestock becoming an almost daily occurrence
since there's been an increase in development.
The Estates is surrounded by Corkscrew Swamps on the
northwest; Florida panther, southeast. Each panther that needs a
habitat of about 10-mile radius. Male panther's don't share.
Rural Lands West is parallel on the west side of DeSoto
Boulevard. Immokalee Road on the north. The panther preserve is
south of this proposed development. Panthers are already using the
area for hunting.
May 27th a large panther was seen crossing DeSoto Boulevard,
October 9, 2018
Page 27
29th Avenue Northeast. It concerns me as I live off of 31st Avenue
Northeast and Everglades, the next street from DeSoto.
Golden Gate Estates has a neighborhood website next door (sic).
I found 27 sightings so far from 2017 to present day; 17 alone this
year. That's 1.7 panthers per month, and I'm not sure I have all the
sights reported. It's been reported this panther showed no fear of
humans.
September the 13th on 16th Northeast, the panther grabbed a
chicken while a homeowner sat in his yard.
July 8th the panther came right up to a screened lanai on 16th
street east of DeSoto. They've been spotted near the Everglades
Elementary School on Panther Walk on 60th Avenue Northeast off of
Everglades. This is 4.38 miles from my home. Remember, 10-mile
radius. Same area bears have been reported.
A large male goat was killed and carried off October 7th off of
10th Street. It showed no fear of the owner. Another was seen
roaming around his neighbor's house in daytime on April 19th, one off
the woods on the 16th Northeast and Everglades around 3:20 p.m.
That's when kids get off of school buses.
Homeowner stated that he's seen panthers every other week on
17th Street Southeast killing cats. Another post of February 28th, in
two years he's see eight of them. None of them have collars.
August the 20th, 2017, reported on next door, four developments
on Immokalee/952 on the east side are causing the panthers to move
inward.
I saw a panther over a year ago walking toward the Immokalee
Road, which is now a development -- corner of Immokalee Road and
Miller Road. Forest was just cleared. Events keep -- permit eventual
(sic) for a construction of an elementary school.
I'm not against development, but it seems it's out of control.
Uniqueness in Naples and wildlife in danger of becoming extinct, not
October 9, 2018
Page 28
to mention the water aquifer. If this is not done, the uniqueness of
rural Naples and wildlife will be replaced with sterile mass
development, tightly packed houses.
So I'm asking the commissioners and Growth Management to
re-think the projects. Growth with moderation is best for tourists, trade
(sic), the homeowners, the wildlife, and the environment.
It will preserve why the tourists came to Florida and why we
chose to live here, to see wildlife and the unique environments.
Thank you for your time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Garrett Beyrent. He is your
final speaker under public comment.
MR. BEYRENT: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I want
to thank, in particular, Commissioner Taylor for creating the
innovation zone. I assumed it was you, but I don't know for sure.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, this commission.
MR. BEYRENT: But in any case, it's a great concept. The whole
idea of going back into areas like Commissioner Taylor suggested we
do and Burt Saunders most recently did and Donna Fiala did when she
created the triangle quite a while ago.
And I just wanted to comment that Burt's idea recently of redoing
the Golden Gate stretch out there of the Parkway, particularly the
dilapidated areas -- as we all know, the K-Mart moved out of that one
shopping center. And I talked to the managers of the Golden Gate
Farmers Market, and Burt was there recently with his son. And they
had a taco out of the trailer, and the funniest thing was is I was kind of
doing one of my reverse things where I go in and I investigate different
projects.
And I thought, this whole idea of the -- that was created by
Marshal Goodman and Georgia Hiller a while back, the concept of
creating businesses through the accelerator program -- and I thought,
you know what, how about if I reverse the accelerator. I'll go out and
October 9, 2018
Page 29
find places that are already doing little businesses and they're trying to
build up their businesses. It just happened that Burt was there with his
son, and Burt had a taco at the only -- the only trailer out there that I
thought we could do something with this guy here; Juan and his trailer.
And sure enough, I thought, you know what, we'll get all the Golden
Gate farmers market together, and we'll put them in that old K-Mart
shopping center, right in the middle, which is what they -- years ago
they did that down Third Street, and that's got 60 vendors, and it's
down on Third Street in Olde Naples.
And the other areas that have had -- Mercato ought to have one.
Maybe they don't yet. But the one -- my favorite is the one over at the
Vanderbilt -- Shoppes at Vanderbilt. That's done extremely well. And
people think, well, you put a farmers market in the middle of a
shopping center, it actually generates -- it's a great system that
generates more businesses. A lot of them are just startup companies
themselves. It seems to be working.
So I thought maybe we could move all of the farmers market into
the middle of dilapidated K-Mart shopping center, and I'm giving that
job to Burt. Is that okay? Andy's got a job, right? This is tougher,
though.
In any case, thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll do a little shout out to the
Golden Gate Farmers Market, and the vendor, that taco vendor there.
Excellent food, excellent farmers market. And you're absolutely right,
that K-Mart area hopefully down the road will become sort of a city
center, if you will, for those types of activities. So it was good seeing
you there.
MR. BEYRENT: Thank you very much. Bye-bye.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, we have a 10 a.m. time-certain, so
I'm going to try to move around the agenda a little bit, if you don't
mind.
October 9, 2018
Page 30
Item #11D
AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE DISTRICT
SCHOOLS OF COLLIER COUNTY (DISTRICT) AND THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (BOARD), THAT
SUPERSEDES THE PRIOR INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT AND
MEETS NEW REIMBURSEMENT GUIDELINES
IMPLEMENTED BY THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA), AUTHORIZE THE
PAYMENT OF $3,038,402.12 TO THE DISTRICT FOR SHELTER
AND TRANSPORTATION COST INCURRED DURING
HURRICANE IRMA, AND AUTHORIZE ALL NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS – APPROVED
MR. OCHS: I'd like to take Item 11D. This is a recommendation
to approve an interlocal agreement between the district schools of
Collier County and the Board that supersedes the prior agreement and
meets new reimbursement guidelines implemented by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency and also to authorize the payment of
$3,038,402.12 to the district for shelter and transportation costs
incurred during Hurricane Irma, and Mr. Summers will make the
presentation this morning.
MR. SUMMERS: Commissioners, good morning. Dan
Summers, director of the Bureau of Emergency Services and
Emergency Management. And I'm glad to be in front of you talking
about storms in the past, not storms in the present. And we'll certainly
keep our friends and neighbors and our hearts and prayers here for the
days to come for the Panhandle.
I'll ask first if you have any questions. I think we've laid out for
you a pretty good explanation in terms of FEMA's post-Irma
October 9, 2018
Page 31
requirements to retool our interlocal agreement and make that
payment. We certainly could not have done the job that we did do
without Dr. Patton's support, and her team was awesome.
I have a couple of slides if you'd like. Just briefly, we've had an
interlocal agreement that has served us well with the Collier schools
for a number of years and met the FEMA requirements. Following
Hurricane Irma, FEMA in its infinite wisdom who quite frequently
makes some amendments to its rules and went retroactive back to the
east coast as well for Hurricane Matthew reimbursement, determined
that school districts could not be a direct applicant for reimbursement,
meaning that it would have to be worked through the counties as a
service.
FEMA applauded our state statutes. Our state statutes are quite
clear that local emergency managers can use public schools and
universities for sheltering, but it does not provide sufficient legislative
detail to allow the district to be a -- the school district to be a direct
applicant for FEMA reimbursement.
FEMA supports these costs. This is obviously in the emergency
phase of our disaster. I expect 100 percent of these costs to be
reimbursed. In order to make this payment, we certainly need to have
this new interlocal agreement which, again, ties back to new FEMA
ruling.
Dr. Patton and her team have really stood up in their engagement
with us and our helping to build a disaster-resilient community by
bringing additional commitments, supplies, and resources, and a
staffing commitment to help us in a partnership arrangement with
some of our sheltering challenges.
Just a quick look. Until I saw these numbers again, it was kind of
absolutely phenomenal what got done during that period with 18,000
people sheltered. We used 27 of her buildings, 320 of her employees;
75,000 meals were served during the period we transported pre-event
October 9, 2018
Page 32
and post-event 250, 260 some folks; we provided air-conditioned buses
for temporary cooling stations.
We had the janitorial services involved both pre-event, and that
means helping to set up the shelter, operate the shelter, do the janitorial
maintenance, and then certainly put the school back together ready for
operations again, and that included pet-friendly services. So a
phenomenal job by everybody and a great opportunity to revisit our
interlocal agreement and make sure that we're ready for the next one
with FEMA.
Do you have any questions?
MR. OCHS: Dan, do you want to talk about some of the
resiliency efforts for our special-needs shelter?
MR. SUMMERS: Absolutely. We are working closely with Dr.
Patton. She is doing some substantial retooling in that generator at
Palmetto Ridge. We had some problems with that device. We brought
some backup equipment in, and it was a tough go. But she is retooling
that generator with substantial overhauling, very aggressive
preventative maintenance program, and in her capital budget next year
she has some plans to add generators to other campuses and also
expand the generator capability that we have at Palmetto Ridge.
So just an outstanding level of commitment from Dr. Patton for
facilities and support. She's found opportunities there for win-win. It's
a good investment for her operations as well as a good investment for
us in building shelter capability. So a lot going on and a lot to be
thankful for that her team is so heavily engaged as a strong partner.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. Just a quick comment.
You guys did a wonderful job, and I'm so glad you're here
reporting that, because I don't think a lot of people knew that. So that
was great.
MR. SUMMERS: Thank you, ma'am.
October 9, 2018
Page 33
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll move for approval.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion and a second. All in
favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Motion carries.
MR. SUMMERS: Thank you-all.
MR. OCHS: Thanks, Dan.
Item #11C
RELEASE OF $250,000 FROM TOURISM DIVISION
EMERGENCY ADVERTISING RESERVES TO SUPPORT AN
INTEGRATED MARKETING AND PROMOTION CAMPAIGN
TO MITIGATE THE FUTURE NEGATIVE VISITOR IMPACT OF
THE RED TIDE CRISIS IN COLLIER COUNTY AND MAKE A
FINDING THAT THIS ACTION PROMOTES TOURISM –
APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, if we might move now to Item 11C.
This is a recommendation to approve the release of $250,000 from our
Tourism Division emergency advertising reserves to support an
integrated marketing and promotion campaign to mitigate the future
negative visitor impact of the red tide crisis in Collier County and
make a finding that this action promotes tourism.
October 9, 2018
Page 34
Mr. Wert will make a brief presentation.
MR. WERT: Good morning, Commissioners. Jack Wert, for the
record. Your tourism director.
We presented to you as part of the agenda our overall plan here.
The request is to move $250,000 from our emergency advertising
reserve fund -- this is the money that's set aside for these purposes --
much like we did and you helped us through post Hurricane Irma with
a similar move of funds.
And so what we want to do is combine that $250,000. We have
applied for two different grants with Visit Florida that has made red
tide grant monies available. So we'll have about $50,000 from that
source. $70,000 was actually on the consent agenda today for a
separate grant with Visit Florida.
So we're going to leverage all of those dollars and put together an
overall campaign that includes public relations, that includes
advertising through digital media, social media to work with the
media, the national media specifically, to kind of overcome this
negative impression that we are really damaged terribly down here and
there's constantly dead fish and sea life on the beaches all the time,
and, you know, you can't go to the beach.
Fortunately, we have not had that situation. We have certainly had
red tide. We've definitely had sea life on the beaches. There's a story
today in the newspaper about the opportunity of putting some of our
fishing captains to work to actually clean up some of that, which I
think is a great idea.
So we want to put this plan together. I do have a few slides that I
can go through, if that would help with your decision. But we are
requesting that you recommend that we move those funds. And we
can get to work as soon as -- really, it's the scientists that are the
experts here. We're going to certainly listen to them.
You know we are monitoring our beach conditions every single
October 9, 2018
Page 35
day on our website. There's a beach-conditions page that sometimes
gets updated several times a day, gives people links to all of the mote
marine FWC sites and so forth.
And also -- and this has really been helpful. We have beach cams
up and down the coast. We've asked all of our partners who own those
beach cams to direct those so you can see people on the beach. You
can really see the activity that's going on. People in the water, people
on the beach. And in addition to that -- and you'll find this also on that
beach-conditions page, pictures that we're getting every day from
visitors who are taking pictures on the beach of this positive activity.
This is the stuff that people really believe. They want to see
real-time pictures. They want to see pictures taken by people who are
actively in the destination and seeing this.
So all of that combined together, we think we've got a good
opportunity to mitigate the negative impression we have. We're really
aiming to get people back here early for season, and we want to make
sure that that happens.
I was just on the phone this morning with the Lodging
Association Board; heard from several hotels who are saying, you
know, we're okay for now, but if we look at January, we're, you know,
a little bit behind pace. So we need to be cognizant of that and start
this campaign as soon as we can, and these dollars would certainly
help us do that.
I'll answer any questions you might have.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Saunders?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, thank you.
We'll probably spend a little bit more time on Item 11B, but on
your slides, I'd like to see the slides. I'd like to see what your red tide
recovery campaign is, you know, fairly quickly, obviously, but I'd like
to see what you're putting together there.
MR. WERT: Sure. Okay. Let's see if I can get this to move.
October 9, 2018
Page 36
So the current tactics that we've been using, first of all, we've
been -- I'm sorry. It jumped on me. We've been monitoring daily
national media, whether it's broadcast, newspapers, whatever. We get
a daily report of stories that have been written that mention red tide in
Collier County. So we are on top of that. And whenever we see an
inaccurate story, we are going to that media source and correcting
them. They may not always do a retraction or anything, but at least
we're on record that that wasn't quite right, and we are really working
closely with our local television stations.
If you notice in the morning now, they are reporting beach by
beach who has red tide, who does not. That's helpful because Marco
Island, for instance and, you know, if you move further south, they
have not had a problem, certainly not like we've seen in Lee County
and so forth. Our northern beaches, yes, we get them occasionally.
But, anyway, we are working with local media as well to get that word
out.
That beach-conditions page that I mentioned before is updated
continuously. If our link is working here, I can just bring this up
quickly. Zscaler got me again.
You can go to the beach -- to that beach-conditions page and take
a look. What -- I wanted to show you those beach cams and so forth,
but let's move on.
One of the other things we've been doing, we've worked through
our advertising agency with a group of radio stations up north. They
have given us public service announcement time on their stations. You
can see the various markets that we're running this stuff in. Let me just
play one of these spots for you.
MR. MILLER: Jack, we're going to have to unmute that.
MR. WERT: Can you unmute that? Here's my expert. Okay.
Now we can play it.
(Commercial being played.)
October 9, 2018
Page 37
"Headed to Naples and Marco Island,
Florida, and worried about red tide? Don't
be. For the latest information, go to the
beach-conditions page at ParadiseCoast.com."
MR. WERT: And this one.
(Commercial being played.)
"Headed to Naples and Marco Island,
Florida, and worried about red tide? Don't
be. For the latest information, go to the
beach-conditions page at ParadiseCoast.com."
MR. WERT: So that's the way that we've been able to, in
northern markets, right now, tell people that, you know, we're in better
condition that you might have seen.
(Commercial being played.)
"So headed to Naples and Marco Island,
Florida, and worried about red tide?"
MR. WERT: I'm sorry. That is really good, isn't it? Let me try
this one. Okay.
So the results have been great. We've been tracking our results,
and you can see social media YouTube videos that we've been playing
online. The digital media are all delivering very good analytics. A lot
of people are hearing and seeing the advertising.
So the plan itself -- as I mentioned, we're really going to kind of
leave it up to the scientists, the experts, to tell us when, pretty much,
the coast is clear, that we can be pretty confident that things are going
to change. Frankly, I think this storm may help us a little bit, because I
think it will move some of the cooler water from the Atlanta Ocean
around the keys and get it into the Gulf, and that's that motion that we
need to begin to cool down the Gulf of Mexico a little, and water
temperature is one of those factors that red tide seems to be dependent
upon.
October 9, 2018
Page 38
We're going to also use -- we've got that Stone Crab Festival
coming up the end of this month. What a great opportunity to tell the
world we're the Stone Crab Capital of the world. Look at the catch.
We've got -- come and enjoy the stone crab claws.
The message is going to be "return to paradise."
ParadiseCoast.com is our website. All of those things point to come
back to paradise. Those grants -- I've just highlighted those grants from
Visit Florida that we have already applied for. The 112,500 is a
five-county opportunity for us to work with Google to get the word out
to really help bring people to Google, ask those questions about beach
conditions in our area in Southwest Florida. So we'll be working
together with our northern neighbors on that.
The $70,000 is strictly for Collier County. That grant will help go
with the $250,000 that we are asking for now.
One of the things we're going to work hard on is getting stories
placed about our fishing fleet, about the restaurants we have;
obviously, stone crab, shopping, and really supporting jobs in our
community. It's really important to make sure we've got people
working because for every 45 visitors we bring here, we support one
additional tourism job. So jobs are hugely important.
Overall, those campaign goals are that obviously we want to
mitigate the negative perception. We want to reassure folks that they
can come to our area and enjoy what we have. We're going to work
with those cities that have direct air service into Fort Myers, that's
important, but also Fort Lauderdale and Miami and Punta Gorda.
Those airports feed people from those northern markets that we've
been using radio in.
We're going to use the tactics that we know work well. Radio is
certainly one now that we've discovered works very well for us. And
"our beaches are open" is the message. "Return to paradise" is the call
to action.
October 9, 2018
Page 39
And in paid advertising, we're going to use a couple of different
platforms that digital-media-wise have worked very well for us. Sojern
is one that is a low-cost platform that we've used numerous times in
other campaigns. We're going to allocate 60,000 in paid, but we've also
negotiated an additional $30,000 in unpaid, in-kind additional value
that that buy will give us. About 1.1 million impressions we are
projecting there.
USA Today, we know that that's a well-reported national
publication. We think that will help us a lot, because they've got
multiple platforms, not just print. They've got social and they've got
digital as well. So we think that that will help us a great deal.
Adara is another digital platform; $45,000 we're going to allocate
to them. One of the nice things about this is they seem to target people
that are looking for last-minute booking opportunities. So if we are
talking in December through Adara to people who are thinking about
vacation, this may change their perception, and they will go ahead and
book that January or February trip to our area.
And in paid social, this is things like Facebook live posts where
we're actually out on the beach shooting a live feed that people can see
real time this is what the beach looks like. We did that after Irma, and
I will tell you it made a huge difference. Immediately people could see
our beaches were clear. It was time to come back to Florida's Paradise
Coast. So about $20,000 we're allocating to that.
Total of 175,000 of that 200,000 would go toward paid digital.
The balance of it is in public relations. And you may know that
we contract with one of the top PR firms based in New York, Lou
Hammond Group. They are really well connected, and one of their
specialties is crisis management, crisis communications. And so
they're going to help us overcome those negative stories. They're the
ones that have been talking to the media directly and trying to change
stories when they are not quite correct.
October 9, 2018
Page 40
We're making arrangements now to bring a local chef to New
York, highlight our fresh-from-the-Gulf seafood, get on some of the
talk shows up in the northern markets. New York is a great place to
launch any kind of a campaign, so we think that will work well.
And while we're there, we're going to meet face to face with
journalists in New York. We're going to do the same thing in Chicago.
Where they are, we're going to their office and talk to them directly so
that we can give them the real current story about the red tide situation
here.
So we'll measure our effectiveness through all the channels that
we normally do use. The TDT, Tourist Development Tax collections,
we're going to watch those closely. Those have been staying up very
nicely, and through this red tide situation, even the fact that our
Ritz-Carlton was closed in the summer months, we're still doing very
well, and we are still setting records each and every month.
The average daily rate in hotels has stayed up nicely. In fact, we
are definitely leading our competitive set of other destinations in
average daily rate. So we measure that every month, and we'll be able
to tell very quickly how this campaign is working.
So overall, this is just a recap of the plan. The public relations
totaling 75,000. The direct advertising plan that we'll place through
our advertising agency, Paradise Advertising, that's 175-. So that's the
$250,000. And I want to make sure you understand we've also
negotiated an additional 65,000 that we aren't paying for that helps us
continue to get that message out.
So staff recommendation, obviously, is we would like you to
approve moving those dollars to align in the Fund 196 that we can
spend for these purposes. It was recommended by the Tourist
Development Council on September the 24th; unanimous vote there.
Those red tide grants from Visit Florida, I think, will help us a lot, and
we'd like you to make a finding that this action does promote tourism.
October 9, 2018
Page 41
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. You know, Jack, there's no
question that this is a well-thought-out approach to spend this money,
this emergency money.
But I think what I would like to do is reserve my comments. So if
I approve this, if I agree to go forward, I'd like it to be -- the content of
how we approach this and what we're trying to market be discussed
under the strategic plan.
Clearly, a quarter of a million right now is very important, is very
important. I'm a little concerned, a little concerned about the direction.
I think we could be much broader in our reach in terms of what we
offer here in Collier County, and I'd like to see that implemented in
October, not next year.
So with that, I'd like to make a motion that we approve this move
of $250,000, a quarter of a million, from the Tourist Division
Advertising Reserve to allow this marketing and this emergency to go
forward, and then to discuss the content of it would be under our
strategic plan which, of course, we can't do right now because we've
got a time-certain.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll second that motion. And I just
want to ask one little question, and that is, is that Chef Asif from 21
Spices that's going with you to New York?
MR. WERT: That's correct. He's now a national hero. We've got
to use him all we can.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion and second. Any other
discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I just have a quick comment. I'd just like
to point out that -- and I didn't see anything in there about it, but I
would just like to comment that we have a lot of -- my firm has a lot of
October 9, 2018
Page 42
European clients. This is actually in the news in Europe, and it was in
the news when I was there. So I just hope that we are -- and a lot of
them are already making other plans and letting us know that they're
making other plans.
So I just hope that we attack it from that standpoint, too, that we
do have a lot of European visitors and Canadians as well that have
been very concerned about it.
So, anyway, there's a motion and second. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: All in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: It's approved unanimously.
MR. WERT: Thank you.
MR. OCHS: Thank you, Commissioners.
Item #11A
DIRECTING STAFF TO CONTINUE IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE COMMUNITY HOUSING PLAN (CHP) – AS DETAILED
BELOW
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that takes us to your 10 a.m.
time-certain item this morning. It's Item 11A on your agenda.
This is a recommendation to direct staff to continue
implementation of the Community Housing Plan specifically taking
October 9, 2018
Page 43
action on six elements of the plan that will be presented here this
morning by Mr. Giblin.
MR. GIBLIN: Good morning, Commissioners. For the record,
my name's Cormac Giblin. I'm your housing and grants development
manager. I'm going to be joined today by Kim Grant. She's going to
actually introduce the item to you with some background information.
MS. GRANT: Good morning, Commissioners. Kim Grant,
Director of Operations and Veteran Services.
Before Cormac goes through the details of the six housing plan
recommendations that we have before you today, I wanted to take just
a moment to put them in context since it's been a little while since
we've been up here before you.
First, I want to remind everyone that this is intended as a
long-range plan that has engendered a great deal of community
support. Many of the people in groups and organizations that have
supported this plan are up here on this slide.
Now I'm going to take you back to 2017, earlier 2017. This is a
chart you've all seen before, and it represented the recommendations of
the Urban Land Institute that was a study that you had hired at that
time. Now, they said in their report there is no question that Collier
County has a housing affordability problem. It's not a crisis yet, but if
housing is not addressed, the panel believes that it will become a crisis.
The items here in green are the ones that the BCC directed staff to
continue to work on, and the ones in red were not advanced. So, as
directed, staff went and created a Community Housing Plan that was
presented to the BCC in October of 2017. The plan was accepted but
not adopted. So since then, that means that we've been coming back to
you with groups of recommendations to get your agreement as to
whether you want us to continue work or not.
In February of 2018, we brought forth the foundational items such
as a new definition of affordable housing. And the items in green here
October 9, 2018
Page 44
got a "yes" vote, and they were all the items presented, and they all
moved forward.
The second group brought forward are referred to as
enhancements. These were brought forth in May. And the ones in
green moved forward. The one in bright red did not.
So through May the BCC had approved moving forward on 16
recommendations and not moving forward on just one.
So we want to talk now about what the impacts of the decisions
so far have been on the model that we've presented and created in the
housing plan.
You will recognize this chart. This chart was developed at the
direction of the BCC. You said as you bring forth recommendations,
we want metrics. We want to know how many units you're going to
produce, which helps us establish our baseline for implementation and
the success moving forward.
You'll be reminded that these are in categories: Increased density,
increased certainty, Housing Trust Fund, and so on.
So the modeling showed that if everything was accepted in the
plan and everything went as planned, we would be able to create 1,265
units a year. Thus far, with the decision not to move one of the items
forward, the impact has been that the max number of units we can
create is 1,215.
So that brings us to what we're going to be talking with you about
today. We're calling these transformational items. These are the ones
that can really make a dent in achieving the number of units outlined in
the plan. So these six recommendations in yellow are what we'll be
discussing today with you.
That leaves those that are shown up here in blue. There were
several recommendations made as it relates to transportation. We
understand that the Commission is looking at transportation. There's a
workshop coming up, and there are other things being considered. So
October 9, 2018
Page 45
our recommendation, that these be considered in the future along with
transportation discussions.
So Cormac is going to take you through all six of these
transformational recommendations, but I'd like you to please keep in
mind that just like the foundational and the enhancement groupings
that we brought forward, today we're asking for your yes or no as to
whether we continue. None of the recommendations today are hard
recommendations with specific language recommended. So we're
asking for your direction on each one of these as to whether you want
us to continue work and bring back the specifics for your evaluation
and potentially eventual approval.
Briefly, we're going to talk with you about a mixed-income
housing incentive program, talk about some regulatory relief that could
make it easier, faster, less expensive to get affordable housing
development; a streamlined process for commercial to residential
conversions. We'll also -- Cormac will go through with you creating
some guidelines to get more housing in activity centers. He'll talk with
you about a process to create criteria for strategic opportunity sites, and
then potentially increase the density in those; and then the last one is
looking at increasing the density in the CRAs and along transit
corridors.
So what will be the impact potentially of your decisions today?
What's at stake today? Today's recommendations make up a thousand
units out of the 1,200 units, and they're in three major categories:
Increased density, increase certainty, and the mixed-income housing
program.
So the moral of the story today is as you make decisions about
whether you're going to have us move forward on these or not, these
recommendations have the most significant impact on the ability to
change the course for housing affordability in our community.
With that, I'll turn it over to Cormac to go through the
October 9, 2018
Page 46
recommendations with you.
MR. GIBLIN: Thank you, Kim.
Again, for the record, my name is Cormac Giblin. I'm your
Manager of Housing and Grant Development.
The first recommendation we'll be going through today is called
the mixed-income housing incentive program. The purpose of this is
to provide market incentives for the inclusion of housing that is
affordable in all new developments.
To get a few things out of the way up front, we understand this is
not necessarily popular with all developers and regulators. We
recognize that it's a solid and increasingly utilized mechanism to
develop a new housing stock in a growing area in proportion to the
influx of new residents.
We're asking for your consideration in hearing where we're going
and seek approval to keep working on this to bring back to you specific
regulatory changes to create or enable such a program.
One thing I'll mention, and I'll mention it right at the front. In
your agenda today there is no draft GMP or LDC language. There are
no draft ordinances. There are no draft resolutions. There's no draft
language of any kind. All the items today are simply getting the
temperature of the Board to direct us to move forward or not.
National interest in this subject is surging, and it's complicated
and innovative, because -- it's complicated because it aspires to harness
the ever-changing dynamics of the market to achieve a fixed policy
goal of the county. It's innovative because it aims to balance opposing
points of view in communities regarding the roles and responsibilities
of the private sector to meet a public need within that free-market
system.
What we'd like to do is to be able to come together to the extent
that where policies are mandatory, voluntary, or somewhere in
between and apply -- get a direction of where we should apply those
October 9, 2018
Page 47
and which circumstances. Where the Board lands is determined by the
development incentives that attempt to mitigate and offset the
economic impacts of the zoning.
The good news here is that Collier County has at our disposal a
number of tools to optimize developer participation and spur the
desired development of new housing that's affordable.
Some of the benefits of such a program is that we do create a
market-based solution. The market chooses how to meet the goal with
multiple options offered to participants.
We can increase density which allows more market-rate units.
We can fast track and save money through the approvals and time. We
could make our impact fee deferrals available to these units and maybe
more.
We're looking for a win-win proposition that would provide a
revenue-positive scenario for the developer whereby the developer
saves time and gets to create more market need for affordable housing
units. We feel it's a measured and balanced approach that would
produce homes that are affordable in perpetuity to keep pace with
growth.
This concept isn't new. It's been in our Comprehensive Plan for
decades, or at least a decade. Policy 17.9 of your current
Comprehensive Plan Housing Element says that we will explore the
development of a fair-share affordable housing ordinance that shall
require commercial and residential developments to address the lack of
affordable housing.
It further says that the requirement that a percentage of units be
developed will be set aside for below-market-rate housing, an option
whereby land could be donated to a non-profit entity and/or placed in a
land bank or other alternatives that will assist in mitigating the rising
need for affordable housing as the population increases.
Also in our Land Development Code we currently have this
October 9, 2018
Page 48
concept in place. In Section 2.A, 2.B of the rural villages section says
that within rural villages shall include -- a minimum of .2 units per acre
in a rural village shall be affordable housing, of which at least .1 units
per acre shall be workforce housing.
What this means is that as your rural villages are developed out at
two to three units to the acre, .2 are required to be affordable, which
equates to 7 to 10 percent, set aside.
Our recommendation here for this item today is to work with -- to
direct staff to work with the development community, bankers, and
other interested parties to develop Growth Management Plan and Land
Development Code amendments that will create a market-based
mixed-income housing program.
Commissioners, this recommendation would put housing on the
same playing field as other community needs such as parks, open
space, utilities, water/sewer, traffic. It forces new development to
address the housing demands that it itself creates in the same
mechanism as those other types of things that we consider, that all
viable and good communities should include in the development
approvals.
And, Mr. Chairman, there are six recommendations. That's the
end of the presentation on No. 1. I don't know if you'd like to have
discussion after each or at the end.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I think it would be better to have
discussions after each just because they're different, and I think that's
also the way we've been doing it in the past so we don't forget what
we're going to ask, right? Speak for myself.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Why don't we do that.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: So I think -- are there any speakers that
want to speak to this specific item?
MR. MILLER: They're all just registered for this item as a
whole.
October 9, 2018
Page 49
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: As a whole. Okay. All right. Oh, I think
Kathy Curatolo would like to.
MS. CURATOLO: Thank you. Kathy Curatolo, for the record,
Collier Building Industry Association. I would like to speak to this
particular issue.
First of all it, in my mind, is defined as inclusionary zoning.
Inclusionary zoning does not work. The research shows us that it does
not work, so why would we want to have government dictate
inclusionary zoning?
As you are all well aware, the Collier Building Industry
Association is very much interested in working collaboratively within
our community. We work with the Building Department on a regular
basis, meet regularly to create solutions. This is an area where there's
no budging. We don't believe government should be entered into
inclusionary zoning issues.
And we appreciate that staff reached out to the Collier Building
Industry Association to discuss this issue. I went to my leadership, but
the reality is we're not interested in discussing an issue that doesn't
work. We're interested in affordable housing issues that work.
Thank you so much.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Anyone else that would like to speak to
this specific item? Yes, sir.
MR. MILLER: Please state your name, sir.
MR. SHUCART: Yes. My name's Christopher Shucart. Good
morning, Commissioners.
I've been a full-time resident of Collier County for 14 years. I've
owned a commercial property in East Naples for over 13 years, and
I've been a member of the East Naples Civic Association since 2004.
Housing that is affordable is a very important issue for a
well-balanced community. I'm not here to be unsupportive of the
Community Housing Plan; however, the devil's in the details, and
October 9, 2018
Page 50
there's a lot of details that need to be worked through.
I did have a question. Could I ask staff a question?
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Sure.
MR. SHUCART: As part of this item, is there anything within
the Community Housing Plan that would allow the residential
developer to mitigate a portion or all of the required affordable housing
out of their project or out of the area in which they would be building
their project?
MR. GIBLIN: As you said, the devil's in the details, and those
details haven't been worked out yet with the direction of the Board. So
there are --
MR. SHUCART: So there's no details as to that specific
mitigation requirement as of yet?
MR. GIBLIN: Correct.
MR. SHUCART: Okay. So my topic would be pertaining to not
having the mitigation ability whereby a development in East Naples
could mitigate north or a development in North Naples could mitigate
their affordable housing or low-income housing to East Naples or
some other portion or some other area within the county. It's a
county-wide issue that we need to work on, and I believe that the
mitigation issue would be detrimental to the areas.
I appreciate your help. Thank you.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Anyone else who wanted to speak on this
particular issue?
And if there's anyone else that's going to speak, you can please
come on up --
MS. YOUNG: Patricia Young.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: -- and be ready.
MS. YOUNG: And I think I want to kind of speak to one of the
ideas here, the win-win. There's something missing here. I mean,
October 9, 2018
Page 51
we've got a housing plan that neither the ULI nor the Collier approach
has considered the unintended consequences to our schools.
No housing exists in a vacuum. The effect of neighborhood on
children's outcomes is significant. Because of the locating of so much
affordable, subsidized, and non-profit housing in East Naples, the area
schools have an inordinately high percentage of economically
disadvantaged children.
And here are the numbers. Let's win for the children, but here is
what it looks like right now. These are the latest percentages of
economically disadvantaged students in the East Naples elementary
schools feeding into Lely High School, with one into Naples High
School. Manatee, 93 percent; Parkside, 97 percent; Avalon, 94
percent; Shadowlawn, 92 percent; making Lely Elementary sound low
at 77 percent. This is scary. This is a crisis.
Overall, East Naples has 92 percent economically disadvantaged
students in the schools versus, say, 50 percent in the Gulf Coast High
School area. But we also need to acknowledge, as was the subject
today, Immokalee and Everglades City with 97 and 91 percent
economically disadvantaged, and kudos to the Foundation in
Immokalee. But these places are impacted by their job base in
agriculture, fishing, and the rural location.
Geography has been the isolating determinant here, unlike the
residents of East Naples who work in areas from Marco to North
Naples. So why do you continue locating more affordable units in East
Naples? You are molding this profile. And why should you care?
The latest educational research shows that schools where there's a high
percentage of poverty, there is less academic success and economic
mobility.
Living amidst poverty itself includes a huge dose, and including a
huge dose in school all day, is a hurdle in and of itself. Putting
Cambridge programs in every school in the county does not solve this
October 9, 2018
Page 52
problem. The problem is not a lack of academic challenge. It is a
psychosocial culture challenge. So we need to pay attention to that
science.
And as we talked about the environmental red tide and things
being in the USA Today, USA Today also put a map in the Naples
Daily News Saturday showing the United States, which is currently
being measured by a group called, excuse me, Opportunity Atlas.
They're a group of economists out of Harvard University, and they are
looking at the schools across the country and evaluating them in terms
of the poverty issue.
And, unfortunately, in this map, Florida is one of the three school
systems that are of concern. You could change that.
Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Very good. If there are no other -- one
more speaker. For this item, please.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Sorry.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: For this particular recommendation?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: For this in general.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Well, no. We're addressing each one of
these.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Okay. I'll wait till the end.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: So, please, if you want to speak, please
speak to each of the recommendations. Figure out which ones you
want to speak to and speak to that.
Again, just to be clear, there are no recommendations coming out
today approving specific Growth Management Plan amendments or
Land Development Code amendments or specific developments of any
kind anywhere in the county. Let's just be clear about that. These are
recommendations from staff that they're bringing forward and asking
for our direction as to whether they should pursue amendments to the
October 9, 2018
Page 53
Land Development Code that would apply in general. Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And would you be clear on
which item we're actually having a discussion on? Because it sounded
to me like we were kind of global with regard to why they're here
today with this housing plan.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Well, we have how many, seven?
MR. GIBLIN: There are six recommendations.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Six recommendations. So we're going to
go through each one of them like we have in the past.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And this proposed
recommendation right now is for No. 1 on today's --
MR. GIBLIN: Correct. It's called the Mixed Income Housing
Program.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Gotcha, gotcha.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Correct. Very good. So other speakers on
this recommendation, so Commissioner Taylor.
MR. GIBLIN: I understand the question. So you're asking that if
this were implemented and a --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: There we go.
MR. GIBLIN: -- and a development had to include a number of
affordable units, how would we guarantee they actually are?
Any units created by this program or any other program that I'll
discuss today would be, by definition, an approved affordable housing
unit: Those that we monitor yearly through the county; we know the
rents that are being charged; we know the incomes of the renter or
buyer; we know the sales prices; and through yearly monitoring, we
currently have an inventory that we look at a few thousand a year to
make sure that the developers who made those commitments are living
up to them.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But what income bracket,
though?
October 9, 2018
Page 54
MR. GIBLIN: Again, the devil would be in the details. This
proposed program you could designate certain percentages to different
income brackets.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Workforce housing?
MR. GIBLIN: Correct.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Seniors, that kind of thing, okay.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Cormac, I've had an issue
with this process since I became a commissioner. I've had issues with
the metrics that you popped up there, the data that shows the theoretic
need, the calculations to assimilate that and the methodologies utilized
to that, and I've regularly not been pleased with those as we've been
going through this process. I think, candidly, the government's way
outside of its bailiwick with regard to this.
And my question is: It sounds like -- from some of the slides that
you brought up were basically already addressing -- per the code, per
the LDC, per the GMP, we have stipulations that allow us to fulfill the
statutory requirements that we have, that we are required as a
community to provide for a certain amount of housing that is, in fact,
affordable, and those criterion are already established in our current
GMP and LDC.
MR. GIBLIN: The GMP policy says that you will look at it. The
LDC section that I brought up about the rural villages does -- that is the
law of the land today in Collier County. If you develop a rural village,
you will include housing that's affordable. This recommendation
before you today is to do that all over the county, not just in a
mixed-use rural village.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. And so are we -- is
there a specific definition within the statute -- because the statute's very
broad. Is there a specific definition within the statute requisites that
requisites the county to supply a certain number of units that are, in
October 9, 2018
Page 55
fact, affordable?
MR. GIBLIN: The statute is very broad. It says that there will be
housing available to the entire population.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Is it your opinion that Collier
County is within the guise of the statute and its requisites for the
community to provide housing that is, in fact, affordable?
MR. GIBLIN: The statute also mentions the Shimberg Center for
Affordable Housing as the state's -- the housing data clearinghouse.
They point to them as the numbers folks. And according to them, we
do have a deficit. It's a function of the cost-burdening percentage.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sir?
MR. GIBLIN: They use a function of the cost-burdened
percentage, how many people are living here unaffordably.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And you know well I'm not
going to go down that rabbit hole again. I've already shared with you
I'd never even heard of cost burdening until that was brought up to us
by the folks from ULI, and then all of a sudden it shifted right straight
into this metrics for calculation of this need, so I question -- I have one
more question, if I may, Mr. Chair.
I have, on this Slide 11 that came through and these proposed
units that come from these different initiatives, how are you estimating
-- how are you estimating these numbers without having specificity for
us to actually look at to make adjustments to the GMP and LDC to
effectuate these incentive programs? You've got numbers that are
coming in here that are -- absolutely have to be estimates.
MR. GIBLIN: We have a specific methodology that was created
to justify each of those estimates. And you're right, they are estimates.
But for each of those numbers on that chart, here is the background
and the methodology and the assumptions that are built in to each one
of those. So they're not just throwing darts at a dart board. They do
have some reason and thought behind them.
October 9, 2018
Page 56
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And my last question is, is I
haven't seen any available data or any data from you with regard to the
units that we, in fact, have that are classified as affordable or could be,
in fact, affordable, and I'd like to see that at some time as well, soon.
MR. GIBLIN: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Is that all?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's all I have for now.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. Commissioner Saunders wants --
has some questions, I believe, I've got some questions, and we now
may have some other speakers. So we are due for a break for our court
reporter, so why don't we take 10 minutes, and we'll be back at 10:47.
(A brief recess was had.)
MR. OCHS: Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.
Sir, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'm not sure if this is really questioning or more in the line of some
comments. It may result in some response and some questions.
The topic, this particular topic is mixed-income housing incentive
program with the emphasis on incentive. I think that we've all been
talking about trying to provide incentives for property owners and
developers to develop this type of housing without trying to get into
some of the mandatory things.
The inclusionary zoning issue is one that I've had some problems
with. I don't think it's appropriate for the county to say to a property
owner "if you want to develop your property, you have to have a
certain percentage of a specific type of housing in that development."
But I do like the idea of substantially increasing density.
At one point we were talking about as much as 26 units per acre, I
think, was one of staff's suggestions. There were a couple of us on the
October 9, 2018
Page 57
Board that said, hey, that's way too dense. I'm not so sure that that is
too dense. I think for some type of workforce and affordable housing
perhaps we should look at those types of densities, and I would support
that.
The other issue in terms of incentive is fast tracking. We've
talked about that, and we've made sure that we still have the public
hearings for affordable workforce housing. I know there's an effort at
some point to perhaps have the Hearing Examiner make that final
decision if there's a -- if we're talking about commercial areas
converting to residential. I think we should always have the County
Commission making those decisions, and I think we should always
have the public hearing process, but we can still fast track it, and I
think we're doing that already. I don't know if that needs to be tweaked
some more for this type of housing.
We talked about impact fees deferrals, and I certainly support
that. That's a type of an incentive.
The point that I want to make is that I don't think we should go
with the inclusionary zoning, and I don't think we should be requiring
property owners to develop in a certain way. But I like the idea of
providing an incentive. And perhaps that increased density up to as
much as 26 units per acre, impact fee deferrals, and continue to fast
track the process I think would work with this better than trying to
force inclusionary zoning on property owners.
Let me ask a question. And I'm not sure Cormac is the right
person to answer this. It may be from our zoning planning staff. But
we have approved projects with densities approaching 26 units per
acre, I believe; is that correct? I know that the Triangle, that project
there, I think, could have very high density.
MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, Zoning and Planning Director. And, yes,
the mini-triangle project was upwards of 40 units per acre.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So the point is, I think, that
October 9, 2018
Page 58
those types of densities would make some sense to me, but not the
inclusionary zoning.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: My question was, we're talking about --
right, and it's similar or maybe it's just a different way of asking the
same question as Commissioner Saunders just made.
I mean, we're calling this an incentive-based mixed-income
housing program, but it's incentives but it's mandatory.
MR. OCHS: Correct.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Right.
MR. OCHS: No. You require a certain amount of mixed-income
housing, but you provide a series of options to the developer on how to
satisfy that requirement. That's the recommendation, yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I mean, this -- we've been -- we've tried
this in the past, have we not, something similar?
MR. GIBLIN: I don't understand. Tried?
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I mean, we've --
MR. KLATZKOW: In the past what we've done is we've taken
money in lieu of this concept, and it didn't quite work out, and we gave
the money back.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Right.
MR. OCHS: We had a recession.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Right. Okay.
Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. Just a question for
Commissioner Saunders. This increase in density, is that also, in your
motion anyway, for areas that are in the Coastal High Hazard Area?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, I guess a couple things.
I didn't make a motion.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, I'm sorry. Your statement.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But when we discussed
October 9, 2018
Page 59
density increases some time ago, there were a couple of us, including
myself, that said, hey, 26 units per acre, that's way too much, and then
we went ahead and approved the development at a higher density. So
I'm just saying, the 26 units per acre was a staff recommendation at
one point, and I concur with that, that we should increase the densities
to those levels, but keep this purely as an incentive program, not
mandatory in terms of the inclusionary zoning, not mandatory in the
sense of requiring a payment in lieu of providing that type of housing,
but let's --
One of the comments that has been made is that we don't have a
crisis yet, and I think that's important. I think we have the opportunity
to try some of these incentive programs, see how they work, and if we
do get into a crisis situation, that's a different ballgame, but that's
where I'd like to go. I don't want to see us requiring developers to
build certain types of housing. I want to give them the opportunity to
build that type of housing, make a nice profit, and we do that through
increasing density, and I think 26 units per acre makes sense, and
continue the fast track and providing impact fee credits.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So your answer to my question is, do
you feel that extra density belongs in the coastal high hazard area as
well?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm not sure that the coastal
high hazard area is a place for that, but...
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It could be.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Fiala, is that it?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'm done. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. One of the examples you
brought up with regard to existing regulations that we have is in the
rural fringe regarding rural villages. How many rural villages have we
actually constructed?
October 9, 2018
Page 60
MR. GIBLIN: Zero.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And so -- and I'm not saying
that this portion of the law, if you will, as you referred to it as the law
of the land -- but I also know that some of the restrictions -- we've had
a difficult time with the Rural Fringe Mixed Use District and the
utilization of the TDR credit system, and it was a combination of the
expense associated with those TDRs along with the regulatory
constraints. And even well before I became a commissioner I heard
about the regulatory constraints that were imposed upon these villages
that then, in turn, were cost prohibitive, adding increases to the
development and, ultimately, the successes associated with it, so...
And, Commissioner Saunders, I couldn't agree with you more in
regard to approaching these efforts as an incentive base. I've said it
since the final report of the ULI came out, and I think I actually even
read that last paragraph that came from their report with regard to this
not being an emergency at this stage.
There's no argument that there's a need. There are certain facets of
our community, veterans housing, housing for those with
developmental -- God bless you -- those with developmental
disadvantages and the like, but I'm purely hoping that we lean towards
incentive-based programs with regard to this.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: If this is inclusionary zoning, and
maybe that could be inclusionary zoning, maybe you would consider it
that, isn't that a better idea than congregating 26 units an acre in an
area? You almost start getting what we all left the northeast for, which
is congregating low-income housing in an area, building after building
with very high densities. And that's probably not what we should be
thinking of.
Now, I'm not suggesting that incentivization isn't -- I think it's a
wonderful idea, but I'm a little concerned about that concept. And I
October 9, 2018
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guess my question to staff would be -- I'm not sure this -- I don't think
this is going to pass, but assuming that we said, okay, bring us back
some ideas on this idea about having it as inclusionary zoning, could
we be very specific what income levels we want in those developments
that would -- where we would require this kind of workforce housing
or this kind of affordable housing?
MR. GIBLIN: You certainly could. There are a few key decision
points that you can put into an ordinance. Number one would be what
percentage of that development is needed to satisfy the requirement. Is
it 5 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent? Also, then, what income levels do
those set-asides target? Low income, very low income, moderate
income, gap income? So those would be the details that -- the decision
points that would be in a possible program.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. And then just, you know,
not to be argumentative, but I don't think I'm ever going to forget Al
Reynolds standing up in the back of the room; he was right over there
saying, you know, it is a crisis for affordable housing. And as an
employer, a major employer in this community for decades, I think I
would accept his word on it. I mean, to me that showed me that it's
starting to hurt the employers that are trying to hire people so that they
can do a good job here.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. I'm not comfortable in
giving direction to staff with regard to this initiative without
specificities. I can't see any reason for us to be even considering
inclusionary zoning.
I think there are multiple processes. And if you're looking for --
the recommendation is to direct staff to bring forward these things, I
don't feel comfortable in doing that at this particular stage. Without an
accurate dataset for me to actually look at with the availability of units
that are there, and the specific diagnosis of the need, I can't support
October 9, 2018
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that; I can't support that recommendation.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, I think we can give staff
some direction in terms of an incentive -- a mixed-income housing
incentive program. And I think we can give them some direction that
that does not include inclusionary zoning.
MR. GIBLIN: Commissioners, the specific recommendations
that you referenced, the higher densities, 20 units to the acre, the fast
tracking, those kinds of things, those are Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6 in this
presentation.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct.
MR. GIBLIN: So those are part of the package. This was -- this
is the only recommendation that was looked at as a mandatory
regulation, that all developments would be forced to address the issue.
It's also the only one that would be --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm looking at the
recommendation. Direct staff to work with the development
community, bankers, and other interested parties to develop Growth
Management Plan/LDC amendments that will create a market-based
mixed-income housing program. That -- I don't have any issues with
that particular statement. That does not necessarily include any
particular type of a program. It's working with the community to --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- come up with that. As long
as we give staff the direction that that doesn't include inclusionary
zoning. If we -- I mean --
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, I think, you know, the word that
should have been added there was probably a "mandatory
market-based mixed-income housing program." And on that basis, I
think there's not sufficient support that I'm seeing on the dais.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Then I agree. I'm just reading
October 9, 2018
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the recommendation.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And that's where it's -- forgive
me, am I out of line? I'm out of turn. Commissioner Fiala.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Fiala was next.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I was just -- I have a couple little
questions, and I think it's pertaining to this. Anyway, how many units
right now do we already have in Collier County? Do you have those
figures?
MR. GIBLIN: I do.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Of affordable housing; I should
clarify that. And as long as you're looking that up, you could also let
us know how many more are needed. We don't even know --
MR. GIBLIN: We have -- earlier this year in February we asked
you to recodify our definition of affordable housing, and we split it
into approved affordable housing, which I've already mentioned this
morning, are those that are known, tracked, monitored, quote-unquote,
"the official affordable housing units" that are in the county's
inventory.
We also then looked at everything valued by the Property
Appraiser less than $250,000 per year. I mean, per value. And there
are 78,000 units right now in Collier County that are valued at less than
$250,000.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: One quick question while he's
there.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Does that include rental properties,
or where is that included in your figures?
MR. GIBLIN: Certainly, some of the restricted approved
affordable housing are rental properties. Many of them, I'd say more
than not, are in this unrestricted market-rate housing that changes price
as the market goes up and down.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Now, when you were doing
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the count -- I'm not quite sure if that's getting to the points I said, so I
have to think that through. When you got to that, did you also count in
the housing that I would say isn't approved? Like, for instance, Naples
Manor, but that's not in your count, is it?
MR. GIBLIN: If those homes are appraised by the Property
Appraiser less than $250,000 market value, then they're in the -- then
they are included.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, then that's how you got it?
What about, like, Section 8 housing; is that included in it?
MR. GIBLIN: Those would be in the restricted side, yes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. And let's see. I think -- I
think that's it for now.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, how many do you need?
MR. GIBLIN: The needs model that you adopted also in
February showed a yearly need of about 1,665 units per year.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Based on approved or based upon
the entire --
MR. GIBLIN: Based on we would need that many approved
units --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: New.
MR. GIBLIN: -- yearly; new.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So we need that much approved,
housing, or is it based on the ones that you've categorized not only
approved but not approved but sitting on the ground?
MR. GIBLIN: Yeah. The interesting thing about that model is
that it did include everything in the known universe of housing units in
Collier County both approved and market rate that may be affordable.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Well, just two points, and
October 9, 2018
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you brought up one. There again, in that needs metrics that is
continually referred to, you were strictly utilizing a tax assessor
valuation with regard to the dataset for the homes that are below
250,000.
MR. GIBLIN: On the needs side, we do include the totals, but to
address -- to compute the need, we look at real NABOR data, real
estate data of numbers of homes and units available for sale or rent at
certain levels. So it's a real-time metrics.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Market, not assessed
valuation?
MR. GIBLIN: Correct, correct.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. And then going back
around to my original point, Commissioner Saunders, if you read the
preamble, if you read what was on our agenda, it talks about an
incentive-based program, but then when you read the actual
recommendation, it is actually a compliance-based program, and I'm
discontent with that.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I agree with you. I was
reading the recommendation. And I think the manager clarified that by
adding the word "mandatory" in there.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So I'll make a motion for no.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second that.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion and a second. Any other
discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: All in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
October 9, 2018
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CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
(No response.)
MR. GIBLIN: All right. We can move on to Recommendation
No. 2 now. It's to provide regulatory relief to certain housing
applications that address housing affordability to increase certainty.
The purpose of this recommendation is to incentivize the development
of housing that's affordable by increasing certainty in the development
process.
Creating development incentives for development that voluntarily
include housing that is affordable will encourage the development for
more affordable units.
Possible examples of the types of regulatory relief that this could
encompass would be increasing the allowed floor area ratio for assisted
living facilities that have a greater number of Medicare beds. You
could allow cluster housing for developments that volunteer to include
housing that is affordable without a conditional-use process, as is the
current system, or that relief can come in some other form of site
design standards with road and sidewalk widths, the availability of
generators, design criteria, or reduced parking standards.
The bottom line of this recommendation is that we're looking for
your direction to work with the Development Services Advisory
Committee to explore and vet possible changes to our LDC that would
provide regulatory relief and bring those suggested amendments back
to the Board for approval. The benefits of this is that if the reliefs are
spelled out, it increases certainty to the development industry. We
would maintain that any relief sought would need to maintain the
overall health, safety, welfare of the community, and it would be a
public benefit because this is a priority of the Board to make sure that
there's sufficient need for affordable housing.
So, in short, our recommendation is looking for direction to move
forward working in concert with your Land Development Services
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Advisory Committee to explore the LDC, take it apart, and look for
areas where we can look for incentives.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Before Commissioner Taylor, is there
anyone that would like to speak on this particular recommendation?
MS. SOUKUP: I would.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay.
MR. MILLER: State your name, please.
MS. SOUKUP: Yes, thank you.
Hi. I'm Sheryl Soukup. I'm on your Affordable Housing
Advisory Committee, and I didn't really realize you were going to vote
on this before the last one.
But I do want to say that we are working really hard as your
volunteers to try to look at all this information. I've attended a lot of
public town meetings and different affordable housing gatherings that
have taken place, and I've really tried to listen to people's concerns.
Today the staff is asking you to just give direction to move
forward to continue to explore these possibilities. So just as a whole, I
want to ask you, for each of these, give direction on what you do and
don't want and let them continue their work down this path, because
we really do need affordable housing.
And I think none of you is -- I think, none of you thinks that
there's no need. We just have to figure out how to best meet the need
that, you know, works for all community members.
So having said that, on this specific one I really want you to
understand an example of how this could work. People with
developmental disabilities often don't have the ability to drive cars. So
if you're creating housing for people with developmental disabilities,
you may not need as many parking spaces. So this would be one way
that you could provide some regulatory relief that would reduce the
cost of development and allow us to make housing for people with
developmental disabilities affordable.
October 9, 2018
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Many other examples that developers could provide to staff to
help them with this process, but if you could give some direction as to
how they might move forward to explore some of the things, we'd be
grateful.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you, and thank you for your work
on the committee.
Yes, sir.
MR. DANZ: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, my name is George
Danz, and I'm here to represent myself as a taxpayer and also the East
Naples Civic Association.
There are a number of questions on a number of these, and I have
specific comments about this item and also have items on Item F, so
I'm going to -- as long as I'm at the lectern, I'm going to do both at the
same time.
I don't see specifics regarding the methodology in this request to
provide certain housing applications. Is there criteria -- is there criteria
for increased floor area ratio for assisted living facilities? Where do
we want cluster housing to be located? How would cluster housing
apply for relief? I don't see any specific site-design standard to which
relief is to be provided.
It isn't clear that road widths, sidewalk widths, design criteria,
reduced parking standard would benefit the community. Should these
exemptions be simply granted by a county department or advisory
committee without oversight or approval by the County Commission?
And I realize that these are the standards that need to be
developed, but I still think my biggest concern is we need oversight by
the County Commission and NIMs process.
Also, I had some comments prepared for Item F in the executive
summary, so let me do that while I'm here. Provide an increase in
density in CRA areas and along transit corridors. I don't believe that
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the recommendation was included in the original plan issued in
October of 2017 but was added later.
There are currently three CRAs in Collier: City of Naples,
Bayshore Drive, and Immokalee. The LDC already allows for density
changes through the regular MPUD process with input from NIMs,
Planning Commission, and the BCC. This recommendation guts that
process, eliminating citizen input. I see the Bayshore area as that
likely precipitant (sic) of this change.
Has any study been performed to assess the effects of higher
density to the school system, traffic congestion, and response for
emergency services? Has there been any consideration of the
integration of this change to be included with the Courthouse Shadows
and other possible strategic opportunity sites and activity centers?
I would ask the commissioners to consider the unintended
consequences of this change. Any CRA under county jurisdiction will
be subject to the density expansions without regard for legitimate
citizen engagement and buy-in. And, again, I think the important issue
is citizen input and County Commission approval.
Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
MR. KOULOHERAS: Good morning, Mr. Chair,
Commissioners, my name is Nick Kouloheras.
I was going to save my comments to the end, but I had a
conversation I'd like to just briefly tell you about. Last week I met
with a gentleman, a local business owner, and he saw what -- the need
for affordable housing, the need for it in Collier County, what it was
doing, how it was restricting his ability to recruit and retain the
qualified workforce that he needs.
So he decided to take it upon himself, and he went out, and he is
building a home right now for his employee or employees to buy.
And he was trying to do this at a price point of $250,000 with the
October 9, 2018
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intention that his employees that make between about 75- to $90,000,
roughly 100, 120 AMI, would be able to buy this home and affordably
live in it. He's doing everything he can right now to get that house
done and under 300,000.
So after talking with him and talking about the different things he
was going up against, he said, well, Nick, he said, here's my problem.
He said high land values, impact fees, materials, labor, and he said --
perfectly honest with you, he said, quite frankly, just what he perceives
is a lack of motivation by our local government and by residents within
Collier County to have this type of affordable housing. He said, I'm
done. He said, I'm not going to try to build another one. He said, I
might pick up, move my company out of town, and go somewhere
where I can do this.
And so the housing plan, as it pertains to these type of incentives,
is meant to create tools to do just that, to counter what that gentleman
told me, to give him or her tools and incentives to be able to offset
some of those things that government or private sector can't offset
which are such things as land values.
So, you know, as we look at these recommendations to move
forward and bring back -- I agree with Mr. Shucart and Cormac about
the devil's in the details; there's a lot of things still to work out. But
what will happen if these programs are not considered and not looked
at? It will inevitably force developers -- take Habitat for Humanity for
an example -- that if there's not these type of programs to help offset
costs to develop properties around Collier County, then those
properties that are developed are going to be forced into areas where
land is -- where land costs less. And I think, ultimately, what we'd like
to see is properties being spread out around Collier County.
So those are the type of incentives that we look at and we try to
deal with every day that would help us get there as well.
So thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.
October 9, 2018
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MR. CIOFFI: Good afternoon. Hi. My name is Ralph Cioffi.
I'm a resident of Naples. I've been a full-time resident since 2010, and
my family has been here since 1979. I'm a business owner and a real
estate developer.
And I think there's some confusion or maybe some knee-jerk
reaction among the residents of Naples when they hear affordable
housing. Basically, affordable housing is housing whereby the monthly
total cost of ownership or rental does not exceed 30 percent of one's
monthly gross income. And I think you have to keep in mind a lot of
those people are already in our community. They're living here now,
but they're living in what would be considered unaffordable to them
where their monthly cost of ownership or rental far exceeds 30 percent.
I think the other thing to keep in mind is that affordable isn't low
income; affordable can be moderate to affordable. And what that
means -- and it's based upon HUD limitations -- is that moderate would
be anywhere from 51 to 80 percent of median area income, and -- by
the way, Collier County's median area income is 75,000. That's one of
the highest median area incomes in the country.
And we're also looking at affordable and workforce housing.
People hear workforce housing; there's always a negative knee-jerk
reaction. But I think in Collier County it's nurses, it's teachers, it's first
responders. And the concept is, if they're working in those
professions, they should live in the community in which they work.
I have a nephew who's a second-year police officer, a niece who's
two years out of FGCU. She's got a good job, but they're living in
Bonita somewhere because they can't afford to live in Naples. I think
incentive -- as a developer, incentives definitely work. I'm not a big
proponent of forced affordable housing, but if the incentives are right,
I'll build affordable. I'll build a mixed affordable and market-based
housing.
It can work with the right incentives. And I think we need more
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community understanding, more community support to make this kind
of an all-exclusives process.
Thank you.
MR. RIGSBEE: Good morning, Commissioners. How are you?
My name's Steve Rigsbee, and I'm a CRA representative for the
Triangle.
I'd like a more specific. Special-needs housing, would that
include halfway houses, or would that include just people that are
handicapped and can't get about correctly? Because at the present time
with the special-needs housing, that's kind of an inclusive of -- it's too
broad a term, I guess, is what I'm saying.
We already have probably a half a dozen halfway houses in the
Triangle area that I live in. We don't want them. They're a nuisance.
They're disruptive to the neighborhoods. And I, myself -- and I don't
mind breaking my anonymity -- is I've been sober for 37 years, so I
know how these places work. I know about the sexual assaults that
occur in these houses. I know a lot of information that is vital to
making a decision on this special needs -- if you're going to include
that special needs.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: We decided not to go forward with that,
the inclusionary section of it.
MR. RIGSBEE: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: This actual item, Mr. Chair,
"Provide regulatory streamline for certain relief that includes seniors,
veterans, and special-needs housing." This is specifically what he's
referring to and that definition of special needs, so...
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. But it's not inclusionary. It's not
mandatory. It's -- if somebody wants to do that, then there would be
some regulatory relief to make it --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And definition as to what, in
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fact, special needs is.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I understand. Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. I wasn't --
MR. RIGSBEE: All right. I guess that's all I have to say if
you've made up your mind about it. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you.
(Applause.)
MR. JARON: My name is Stephen Jaron. I'm a resident of the
Bayshore/Gateway Triangle area.
My comments aren't necessarily directed at No. 2 on your list, but
I have to leave, so I can't stay much longer.
But, anyway, first thing is about the metrics that are used to
determine who is eligible for affordable housing. I believe Mr. Giblin
said 75,000 in income and 440- in -- 440,000 in home price. Is that
pretty much where we're at?
MR. GIBLIN: I don't believe so, no. 75,000 is the median
income of Collier County.
MR. JARON: Median income, yes. Average median income.
And the average home value is 440-?
MR. GIBLIN: No. A home value of someone at the top level of
our gap housing level is about $290,000.
MR. JARON: Okay. But when you talk about just basic numbers
for average income and average home value in Collier County, isn't
75,000 and 440- the --
MR. GIBLIN: If you're asking about the average, yes. Not for
affordable.
MR. JARON: Yes, okay. Okay. Yeah. Those are the two
numbers that, really, your whole presentation is based on.
April of 2017, the City of Naples rejected affordable housing. I
believe your numbers include the city incomes and the city home
values also. If we aren't going to put affordable housing in the city, I
October 9, 2018
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can't understand why we would include the incomes and the home
values within the city limits. So just my opinion on that matter.
I live in the Bayshore/Gateway Triangle area. One of these items,
the last one, is to increase density within Bayshore, within the other
CRA that's in the city and the CRA that's in Immokalee. Folks have
been -- and I think this gets forgotten. People that live in the CRAs
have been paying an additional MSTU tax for years. In the Bayshore
area it's been almost 20 years.
To inject low-income housing into Bayshore, Immokalee, and
Naples, if that's possible, really kind of contradicts the whole point of a
CRA. We're trying to redevelop areas instead of hold them back.
Bayshore, it's been mentioned before, of course, is west of 41. It's
in the coastal high-hazard area. I can't see why we'd want to put
low-income folks in harm's way.
A couple other things. The Collier housing plan, whatever it
becomes, whatever way it goes, it will have a lasting and irreversible
impact on Collier County. Let's make certain the data and figures are
accurate.
And just one last thing, workforce housing for civil servants --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you.
MR. JARON: -- for police, fire, EMT I think should be a
number-one priority. Sorry. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you.
Very good. So we have the recommendation. Is there a motion?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'd like to make a motion to
accept the --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Oh, I'm sorry. There are two lights on,
before you do that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, I'm going to speak anyway,
so --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: You're next, by the way.
October 9, 2018
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COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: All right. Then I'd like to make a
motion and then discuss, if that's okay. I'd like to make a motion in
support of the second recommendation from staff which is before us
on the viewer.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion. Is there a second? I'll
second it.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Then there's discussion.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Then the discussion is I would
really tread very carefully about deciding that generators could be
something that could be considered not as important in any
development going forward. So that's all. That's the only thing that
caught my eye. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I have a question for Mr.
Bosi, if I might.
And this is -- it's a two-part question. When a development
comes to you, a property owner comes to you and wants to do a
development, is there consultation with our Housing Department about
the -- about the type of housing that's included in it, the
implementations of the uses, the incentivizations that could be
provided to that developer in order to incentivize this need that is being
purported for our community? Is our Housing Department consulted
in this process?
MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning director.
When we have a request for a pre-application meeting, we will
ask the type of development that they're seeking if there's any incentive
base that they're looking for additional density. Anything that would
relate to housing, then Housing is brought into the conversation. So
we do a process of prescreening the pre-application process to try to
figure out which appropriate departments and divisions should be
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involved in the early-on conversation. So we try to identify those early
on.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: One of my thoughts, Mike, that
I had when someone comes to us, we've got a Housing Department
that technically could be consulted with with regard to the housing
that's being provided, where it falls within the AMI and the average
price for availability and affordability in relationship to No. 2, which is
the one we're, in fact, on, what incentives could be, in fact, provided to
that particular developer to provide for housing for developmentally
disadvantaged or for veterans or for those of age and the like.
This seems to me to make more sense that we -- as opposed to
having the Housing Department go out and hypothecate incentives that
could be -- I say "hypothecate." I don't mean that disrespectfully. But
to grab at potential incentives, why wouldn't -- wouldn't it be better
that we came back with an analysis from the Housing Department as to
what any particular developer is going to provide within a project and
then incentives that come along that could be enhanced to help meet
these needs that the Housing Department's continually managing?
MR. BOSI: Well, those all would be individual one-offs.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
MR. BOSI: I think what they're asking for is to set -- to identify
some set development relief identified within the code that could be
pre-prescribed, meaning that they wouldn't have to be one-off. You
wouldn't have to evaluate these and bring them to the Board on an
individual basis.
I think what they're proposing is to identify some development
regulatory relief that if you're -- if you're moving forward with a
component of affordable housing, here's your options of relief that you
could contemplate.
So I think that's what they're asking for. Instead of having
one-offs, this would be kind of the repository for where those
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development reliefs could be sought, and then they could probably
pick and choose like a le cart.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So it's more of a menu that
could be provided to a developer of incentives. But it is Housing
Department requisite for that? I mean -- because the Housing
Department's the one we're going -- we are currently relying on in
order to ascertain the global community need and availability thereof,
and individually the one-offs, as you refer to them, are a portion of the
aggregation of the entire housing component.
MR. BOSI: And they would -- Housing would come live in our
world. They would come live in our world, come over to 609/610
where we host the Development Services Advisory Council, it's the
building industry, and we would have those conversations to try to
identify what other regulatory issues, where can they find the standards
that could be maybe adjusted to provide that regulatory relief.
So they would be living within Growth Management in terms of
talking to the constituents that could best identify what regulatory
reliefs really have legs and gain value.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, sir.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Saunders, you're next.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I just want to make sure, for
the record, what the actual motion is. You've got a recommendation on
the screen. I assume the motion is to approve that recommendation.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And, Mr. Manager, there's
nothing you want to add to that?
MR. OCHS: No, sir.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. Then I'll support the
motion.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. Excuse me.
October 9, 2018
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Average income includes, of course, the very wealthy as well as
the very poor, right? Whether they earn that income or it comes in the
form of wages, how is that calculated?
MR. GIBLIN: The median income of the county is calculated
using all sources of income: Passive income, investment income, and
wages. So that's all globally looked at for the entire county, and it's
currently $75,000 a year per household.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I see. And so that would make a
difference if they just -- if they just averaged out the wages. Of course
-- well, anyway, I was just concerned with that.
And the other thing I had to ask is, I've got a list here of all of the
apartment rentals that we have right now that I could get, and this was
11,746 from the MLS, but right in the process of being built right now
are 4,019. Was that taken into consideration when you figured how
many we need?
MR. GIBLIN: Those are tracked. We're familiar with the 4,000
units that are in process right now.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay.
MR. GIBLIN: To date, two of those have gone through the
approval process and are being built. The rents that are being charged
or proposed to be charged at those don't fall into the affordable
categories, though.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So they're not being counted then; is
that correct?
MR. GIBLIN: Not as affordable.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I see. Okay. Okay. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Just briefly. Mr. Giblin, where do
you get the -- who decides the median income in Collier County; is
that your office?
MR. GIBLIN: No, ma'am. The federal government, the
October 9, 2018
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Department of Housing and Urban Development calculates that on a
yearly basis.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Very good. If there's no other discussion,
there's a motion and a second.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: To?
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: To adopt this recommendation to direct
staff to review regulations and develop Land Development Code
amendments that will provide development relief to certain residential
land-use applications that voluntarily provide a portion of their units as
housing that is affordable.
All in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: (No verbal response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: This one's approved.
MR. GIBLIN: The third recommendation we'll discuss this
morning is to allow for commercial to residential conversions via the
Hearing Examiner. The purpose, again, is to increase certainty in the
development process for the conversion of existing commercially
zoned property to residential that includes housing that's affordable.
This is a trend that we're seeing in the private sector now. Again, you
recently heard an item in Pine Ridge Commons of the private market
attempting to do this. We've heard other about Courthouse Shadows
and other big-box retail strips that have failed may be looking to take
advantage of this.
Commercial zoning is widely considered to be one of the most
October 9, 2018
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intensive land uses with residential likewise being considered one of
the least intensive when you gauge it on noise, lighting, traffic
generation, or et cetera. This recommendation would seek to increase
the certainty and decrease the time in the approval process for
developments seeking to downzone from existing commercial uses to
residential in exchange for those developments providing a portion of
their residential units as housing that is affordable.
Historically, the vast majority of these requests have been
approved by the Board of County Commissioners. This process would
be limited to properties located in activity centers or that are
commercially consistent by plan.
It would develop clear guidelines that would outline where and
under what circumstances this would be allowed. It would offer
certainty while maintaining transparency. Staff would do a thorough
review and hold each application to the requirement of the code and, as
an example, the Hearing Examiner would provide oversight to ensure
these guidelines are followed and neighborhood compatibility is
maintained.
The Hearing Examiner option is -- that is one way this could be
rolled out. There are several ways you can direct us to roll this out.
We thought involving the Hearing Examiner would be a good way to
keep the -- keep it above staff level.
The benefits, again, are that it would increase certainty and
promote inclusion of housing that is affordable with clear guidelines
that would be set by the Board.
And so our recommendation here is to develop a Growth
Management Plan and Land Development Code amendments that
would increase certainty in the commercial to residential conversion
process for developments that voluntarily provide a portion of their
units as housing that is affordable.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Good. Any speakers that want to speak
October 9, 2018
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directly to this one?
Ms. Curatolo?
MS. CURATOLO: For the record, Kathy Curatolo with Collier
Building Industry Association.
I just want to ensure that there's public/private engagement in
conversation about this particular endeavor so that we get the private
sector involved in this process which, by the way, we agree with.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: This would involve the DSAC committee
or --
MR. GIBLIN: Well, all Land Development Code amendments
go through DSAC, and it would go through the Planning Commission,
and --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: But also there would be some engagement
like you've had in some of the other ones with the private sector,
CBIA?
MR. GIBLIN: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. Yes, ma'am.
MS. MESSER: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is
Donna Messer, and I'm here representing the Collier Citizens Council.
And I thought we were going to do this at the end. So I'm going to just
comment quickly on some of the other things we've talked about.
The Council -- the Collier Citizens Council previously endorsed
the recommendations of ULI and the views that the proposals -- as a
vital step forward in addressing the needs of the housing needs of
Collier County.
We all know the problems that a lack of affordable housing
causes in terms of recruiting teachers, firefighters, businesses, and
other workers, not to mention the challenges confronting our seniors.
The housing plan presented today represents continued process in
bringing the community together in a market-oriented fashion.
In our view, the critical elements focus on three key areas. We
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talked about changes to density and increasing the allowable density to
16 units per acre or greater in some cases, as in CRAs, will allow the
economics of affordable housing to occur by mitigating land and
development cost. Density increases in many areas also allow for a
better mixing of population segments, including seniors and the young.
When done in transit corridors, this allows for increased utilization of
existing infrastructure.
Secondly, commercial to residential conversions, allowing
expedited and streamlined commercial to residential conversions,
especially along the north/south corridors. This would have several
benefits including allowing people to live closer to work and
encouraging the use of public transport, creating mixed-income areas.
And, finally, we talked a little bit about allowing regulatory relief
not only for specific land-use application, ensuring some units are
available for seniors, veterans, and special-needs housing, but also in
terms of assessing impact fees for such residential units.
In sum, we are encouraged by the staff recommendations. Thank
you for your time. And we encourage you to adopt all these proposals.
Thanks.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you.
Okay. Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. I like the idea of combining
commercial and residential in properties. I think that's a great thing.
But what about if you -- most of these things are like in activity
centers, and if you increase the density to 26 units per acre versus
whatever that density would be called for, now you're going to have
some terrific traffic generated in areas that are already filled with
traffic, and our intersections are tough.
Can that be adjusted to be a rate that could be -- could
accommodate the roads and traffic in that area?
MR. GIBLIN: The recommendation before you in this item does
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not address densities above current levels. It lives within our current --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. That's a good answer.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: It's switching one for the other.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay, good. So that's a good
answer.
And then I also had some gentleman stop me, and I couldn't tell
you who he was even, but he said -- you know, he said, what kind of
housing are you trying to incentivize? And I said, well, you know,
housing for people that can't afford it right now. And he said, but -- he
said, what are the businesses asking for? I said, well, they're asking for
skilled labor. They're asking for education and so forth.
He said, are you building any housing for those? He said, I don't
see that you are. And as long as you don't, they're going to -- people
are going to keep saying we don't have any affordable housing when,
indeed, they didn't categorize what they're talking about, and that's
usually coming from the businesses, he said. So I'll just add that.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Cormac, during your
presentation you made a comment about our regular approval of
conversion of commercial to residential and then alleged that it is a
downzone. It's not always going to be a downzone.
And my concern with regard to this -- I'm all about providing
incentivization. I'm all about providing more certainty. But my
question is, is more in line with the -- to the County Attorney, and that
is, are we going to be -- are we going to be allowing for these
conversions by right?
MR. KLATZKOW: Under our local Collier law, it takes four
votes of the Board of County Commissioners to rezone property, okay.
So this idea that we're going to do it administratively isn't going to
work, unless you want to start changing your special act.
Now, if you want to do an LDC amendment that makes it as of
October 9, 2018
Page 84
right, it gives certain commercial properties the right to convert to
residential under a certain process. In essence, you would be rezoning
it all at once, and at that point in time, yes, it would be administrative.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So the -- necessarily there's no
reason to be doing this. It's going to require a 4-1 vote, supermajority.
There's no reason for our Housing Department to be moving over into
this arena.
MR. KLATZKOW: You could do this one of two ways. Your
present way in which the Board of County Commissioners hears all
applications and makes a decision based on that particular property in
that particular community.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: With input from our Housing
Department as to the impacts of the implications of the development.
Forgive me for interrupting.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir. Or the other way to do it, which is
-- what Cormac's getting at is, okay, instead of taking these to the --
through the process, including the Planning Commission, the Board of
County Commissioners, to create certainty in this, in essence, rezone
these properties all at once and so it's as of right.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Essentially included in all the PUDs all at
once.
MR. KLATZKOW: Well, whichever properties you wanted to
do this to, if you want to limit this to the activity centers or --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Right.
MR. KLATZKOW: Whichever ones you limit it to, they would
then, on a going-forward basis, much like a PUD, have the right to
then change the zoning from commercial to a residential mixed.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Without a hearing?
MR. KLATZKOW: There would be no hearing. At that point in
time, there is no hearing, and there would be no need for the Hearing
October 9, 2018
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Examiner to do anything. This is as of right.
MR. GIBLIN: And I would just add that some of the criteria that
we might be able to build into it would be that that traffic analysis and
those other impacts be studied up front and that it only apply in those
instances where traffic is less on the residential side as opposed to the
existing commercial.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel, are you --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm done, yeah. Just --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I was just going to make a comment, and
then Commissioner Saunders' light is on.
Again, you're just asking for a recommendation to go ahead and
move forward and start developing what the parameters and criteria for
this would be, and we will then be looking at those very, very closely.
MR. GIBLIN: Correct.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: That's what we're talking about so, I mean,
I would like to flesh this out some more myself, because I think there
is some potential here for incentivizing the kind of housing that we're
talking about. It was one of the recommendations that the ULI made.
So I would support it if -- in order to get it to the next level so that
we can really look into the details. Whether or not the Hearing
Examiner ends up being the one hearing it is -- you know, I think we
have to look at the details.
Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: This is a question for the
County Attorney, and you may have addressed this. I was talking to
Mr. Lykens on another topic, and I may have missed this. But we have
the special act that requires a supermajority vote to change zoning.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And that has -- there's been
efforts over the years to do away with that, and we've resisted that.
When I was in the legislature, there was an effort by some county
October 9, 2018
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commissioners, this was a long time ago, to do a repeal of that special
act.
And I believe that that special act has really resulted in some very
excellent zoning and development throughout Collier County. It
requires a supermajority vote of the Board. That's difficult to get. And
so developers have been very willing to make concessions, provide
additional public benefits, set aside more land, that sort of thing,
knowing that they have to get four votes.
If we eliminate that as it relates to this particular issue, I'm not
sure if that's the right policy decision to make.
Now, if you have the right type of criteria and traffic situations
are -- you know, the traffic analysis meets approval, I don't think that
there's a problem with those types of things coming back to the Board.
So I don't have a problem with staff taking a look at this, but
when it comes back, I'm going to have to really seriously consider
whether or not we should eliminate that type of requirement on those
types of conversions.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah. And I would just note, this is -- once
you do this, you set the switch so that you've now created this vested
right to convert. Should circumstances change and you no longer want
this, you can't do that. This is a one-way switch.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: But somebody would have to have relied
upon it in --
MR. KLATZKOW: On a going-forward basis --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: -- going forward basis.
MR. KLATZKOW: -- people will be relying on this, yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: They're going to say "we relied
on it."
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Well, there has to be some actual reliance
on it. They have had --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Financial initiative.
October 9, 2018
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COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think what the County
Attorney is saying, and correct me if I'm wrong, but if we create this
right, make this change as it relates to these conversions, then down the
road decide that we don't like what we've created and try to uncreate
that, then we create a Bert Harris situation.
MR. KLATZKOW: On a case-by-case basis, you could.
Commissioner Solis is right; initially you would not because there was
no investment-based expectations, but as the years go on and these
properties turn over, they become vested rights.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So this is your right of
expectation?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. I bought this property with a certain
bundle of rights. This is what I could do. If you're going to take away
some of these rights, you have to compensate it for me.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And that's the Bert Harris
legislation --
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- comes into play.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: This is -- this recommendation is
certainty, speed, all those things, which is very important to
development.
So perhaps if it passes -- and I am going to support this -- we can
talk about if we decide that, yes, we want to be the final body, that
there is some kind of mechanism built in this that it doesn't necessarily
have to go through the length of time that other developments do. Not
that we shortchange, but the most important thing is -- the most
important thing is make sure it's right, then get it to us. And if that's
possible, I don't know, but that would help with this certainty, get it to
us, speed, all those things that are so important to the development
October 9, 2018
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community.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. Any other comments?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Is there a motion?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Make a motion to approve this
recommendation as presented on our screen.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Is there a second?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I'll second it to move it forward. Any
more discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: All in favor, say aye.
Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: That was three -- Commissioner Saunders,
was that you?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I voted in support of the
motion. I made my comments in terms of when it comes back I may
not support it when it comes back because of that special act.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. So you voted in support of the
motion?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It passed 3-2.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: 3-2. I thought I heard a --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, I thought I heard another
voice.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I spoke loud. I was too close to
the mike. Forgive me.
October 9, 2018
Page 89
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You were two.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Very good.
MR. GIBLIN: All right. That brings us to No. 4 today, is to
develop guidelines to incentivize mixed-income residential housing in
future and redeveloped activity centers.
The purpose here is to encourage activity centers be built out or
redeveloped as true mixed-use areas offering a broad range of
residential products and types and price ranges.
Activity centers are located throughout the urban area in Collier
County where development is to be encouraged. You see them on the
map here, the Future Land Use Map. It's the red squares on the map.
Basically, anywhere there's a meeting of two major roads is an activity
center.
There is no requirement right now that activity centers include
any residential units, and many have been developed as strip center,
retail parcel -- and outparcels without a residential component.
Offering a mix of residential options within an activity center takes
advantage of existing infrastructure, locating residential units near to
employment centers, and relieves traffic by offering internal capture
and shorter trip lengths.
Possible incentives to achieve this would be reduced impact fees,
greater densities, streamlined approval process, concurrency waivers,
lower preserve requirements, or the like. Our existing activity center
model is over 30 years old, and it's time to restudy it and do a
reevaluation.
Some examples of what density looks likes, this is Mercato
mixed-use development up in North Naples. This is what a mixed-use
activity center could look like. This is 10 units to the acre in Botanical
Place off Bayshore Road. This is what a 10-unit-per-acre development
would look like. And then you have already mentioned this morning
the proposed Davis Triangle development, and these are some of the
October 9, 2018
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renderings that were submitted with that application process to show
you what density could look like on major arterial roads.
The benefits of this is that it would encourage residential uses
near areas that already have existing infrastructure. And it would
allow for housing that's affordable to be developed throughout the
north/south corridors of the county.
Again, our recommendation on this item is to direct staff to
reevaluate the activity center zoning to modernize and encourage the
inclusion of residential units for developments that voluntarily provide
a portion of their units as housing that's affordable.
That's it.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Very good. Any speakers that would like
to speak to this issue? Mr. Hartman. Anyone else after Mr. Hartman?
Okay.
MR. HARTMAN: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is
Doug Hartman. I live in Lely. I've been a resident for the last 10
years. I also serve on the Senior Advisory Committee and a few other
activities.
I've got a number of concerns. My big concern I want to address
last in the limited time I have. But with respect to this specific, you
know, item, item -- I guess they have as E, we have a concern on the
senior side. We developed the concept of activity centers, as Cormac
indicated, many years ago, and it's time to reexamine that.
I would like to support his suggestion of reexamination and use
an example to express the concern that I have. The intersection of
Route 41 and 951 on the way down to Marco was just rebuilt at some
considerable expense. It is an activity center on that map.
For seniors, it is not particularly friendly. We have a 14-lane-wide
highway making an intersection with a 12-lane highway with an
average speed of almost 60 miles an hour for traffic moving through
that area. We have the Publix in one corner. We have the drugstores
October 9, 2018
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on two other corners. If you're going to utilize that as an activity
center where seniors might be encouraged to live, there is no way that
they can get from one item to the other without endangering their life. I
couldn't make it across the 14 lanes in the time that the light permits.
Certainly nobody that has any mobility problems could not (sic) do it
as well.
So I think we need to look at the question of collocating activity
centers and what are similar to the village centers that are conceived of
in some of the other Growth Management Planning. We need to be
very, very cognizant of the limitations on mobility for seniors if we're
going to encourage them to live in an area, and I don't think we've
done so.
But now let me turn to my broader concern about the whole
approach that is involved here. I was active on a number of the
subcommittees that worked with the stakeholders when we started this
process and am fairly familiar with how we got to where we are.
I would point out that there are a number of areas that we could
be looking at that are best practices in other communities that are
totally outside the scope of what we're looking at.
Let me give you an example. We have a housing stock in the
county of 200,000 units. If you accept the data that's included in the
census data that's been put forward by the U.S. Census Bureau, some
8- or 9,000 of those houses are occupied by a single individual. We
have some 20,000 bedrooms that are empty in this community at this
time.
Why can't we put together a program jointly, private, public
perhaps, this needs to be examined, perhaps by the housing people, to
develop a co-housing program.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Sir, I'm sorry, your time is up.
MR. HARTMAN: Yes. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you. If there's anyone else, please
October 9, 2018
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come forward so we can expedite the process here.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, I do still have, like, six registered
speakers left. We are starting to get into people that have not
registered or people that have come up a second time now.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay.
MS. SOUKUP: Sorry, I didn't use my three minutes, so is that
okay?
MR. MILLER: I understand. I was just advising the Chair.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, you only have a minute
and a half.
MS. SOUKUP: Thank you. I'll go quickly.
I really only had one really quick point to make. I'm Sheryl
Soukup, again, a member of the Affordable Housing Advisory
Committee.
Regarding this one specifically, I wanted to just say that the
incentivizing of mixed income is a really important tool in the policy
toolbox, and I want to ask you to please accept the recommendation to
move forward and explore these opportunities.
In order to attract developers to create affordable housing, we
have to give them some incentives, and I think one of the things I
wanted you to know about the Affordable Housing Advisory
Committee's discussions and what I've heard as I've gone to the
community meetings is that people don't want housing that's affordable
concentrated in one area of the community, and this is a very important
way that you could spread affordable housing opportunities across the
community in a way that's planned in advance. So that's it. Thank
you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Thank you.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Anyone else?
(No response.)
October 9, 2018
Page 93
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I find it interesting that --
well, and it's good that it's been pointed out that we're 30 years remiss
in reviewing our activity centers, but I'm hesitant in giving direction to
our Housing Department to do the reevaluation of those zoning and the
encouragements that are necessary other than from an advisory
capacity to Mr. Bosi.
Quit texting while I'm talking.
I'm concerned with giving direction to our Housing Department
to do the reevaluation of these activity centers. I would prefer that it be
done with your consultation, with your recommendations of things that
can, in fact, be accomplished to assist with these housing needs. But
I'm not in favor of giving direction to the Housing Department to do
that.
MR. GIBLIN: And, sir, that is our recommendation is that you
give direction to staff in general through the County Manager, and he
can assign it to whichever staff.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. That's -- I cannot
support the current recommendation as it is up there, because it leads
me down a path of reevaluation of activity centers by the Housing
Department with these encouragements for inclusionary residential
units, development, and the like. And I am in favor of review of the
activity centers to be done by our Zoning and Planning Department
with input from you, with input from our DSAC, with input from the
private sector with regard to that but not currently as this is stipulated.
MR. GIBLIN: Sir, maybe I wasn't clear. That is exactly what the
recommendation is. It would be anticipated that Growth Management
Department would head this initiative up, just like all the other major
restudies.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. That's not what it says.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You can make a motion.
October 9, 2018
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CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Do you want to make -- yeah.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Make a motion.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I make a motion to deny the
request or deny the recommendation.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: There's a middle area. Direct staff
to work with Mr. Bosi. Direct the County Manager to make sure that
Mr. Bosi's department is --
MR. OCHS: When you're directing the staff, you're directing me.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
MR. OCHS: Whether you -- so if you want to direct me to send it
to a specific division, I'm happy to do that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Then I'll direct -- I'd like to
make a motion to deny this particular presented recommendation and,
if you wish, I can make another recommendation with regard to the
activity centers.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll second that. Isn't this what Kathy
Curatolo was talking about was inclusionary zoning?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, it does have the word
"inclusion" in it, but it's not inclusionary -- this doesn't necessarily --
my understanding is -- this is too broad -- this is too broad of a
direction, of a recommendation for staff, so -- and, again, there's far
more -- if we're 30 years remiss in looking at these activity centers
within our community, there's far more than just the specifics with
regard to voluntary housing proportions to be accommodated. So I
make a motion to deny the recommendation.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll second that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I don't think it's our --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion and a second. Any other
discussion?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The only point that I have to
make with regard to that, I don't think it's our duty right now to be
October 9, 2018
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fixing -- we're here to review the housing plan and making a medium
-- Commissioner Taylor, you made a comment with a medium
suggestion to adjust this on the fly. It's not -- it's not where we want to
be right now, so...
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm going to vote against that
motion. I think -- I agree with what you're saying in the sense that if
we take a look at activity centers, we need to look at it more globally
than just as it relates to workforce housing or affordable housing.
So I think the alternative would be to direct staff to do as
indicated on this recommendation but also to include any other areas
that need to be modernized in terms of those activity centers so at least
we're looking at it more globally. So I'm going to vote against your
motion, and I'll make the other motion.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Fiala, your light is on.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. So there is a motion and a second
to deny this recommendation or not approve the recommendation. All
in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: All opposed?
Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. The motion fails 3-2.
Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Then I'll go ahead and make
an alternative motion to accept this recommendation but to add to it
that the County Manager will direct his departments to also kind of
evaluate our activity center zoning and come back with whatever
October 9, 2018
Page 96
recommendations you have to modernize that more globally but in
addition to also this particular issue of having some incentives for
workforce affordable housing.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'll second that.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion and a second.
Discussion? Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's in complete
contradiction to what you just voted for. I mean, you're -- by
approving this particular -- and with all due respect, sir, it's just -- what
you just got done saying could have been accomplished by denying
this recommendation, and they -- the staff would have come back to us
with a further -- with a more refined recommendation of what to do
within these activity centers.
But you voted against the recommendation -- this -- you voted
against the motion to deny this particular recommendation and then
came back and --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I came back with a motion to
accept the staff recommendation with some added language to it to
accommodate the issue that you were raising, which is activity centers
need to be evaluated more globally than just for workforce housing.
So we're going to come back with a combination of things, I believe.
And they may only -- you know, staff may come back and say the
only change we need to make to activity centers is this one, and that's
fine, but I want staff to take a look at activity centers in general as well
as the specific issue.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll just tell you, honestly, my
feelings, I worry about all the traffic in those -- okay. I'm sorry.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: But, again, the staff is going to do their
analysis, and they're going to bring forward recommendations which
we will then vet once we know what they are. So we will be talking in
great detail, I think, about the traffic and how it's going to work.
October 9, 2018
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COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, that's scary.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. There is a motion by
Commissioner Saunders, a second by Commissioner Taylor. Any
other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: All in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: That's approved 4-1.
MR. GIBLIN: All right. Commissioners, that brings us to No. 5
on the list today. It is to develop a process to designate certain
strategic opportunity sites and allow for increased density, and this is
where we would be talking about greater than 16 units to the acre,
which is your current maximum.
The vision of the strategic opportunity sites would be that the
Board of County Commissioners would designate these sites in
advance. Again, this was a recommendation of the ULI panel. The
map on the screen is not a map of where we think strategic opportunity
sites should be located. It is just simply a representation that once they
are selected, they are put on a map, and they are well known to the
public ahead of time.
One of the main recommendations of the ULI study was that we
should allow for greater densities than 16 units to the acre in order to
mitigate high land and development costs. The Board would designate
strategic opportunity sites where higher densities would be encouraged
similar to the activity center concept but at densities in the 20- to
25-unit-per-acre range.
October 9, 2018
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Examples of a strategic opportunity site may be a new corporate
headquarters campus, a regional commercial center, or an institution of
higher learning. And the strategic opportunity sites would be
designated in the Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map in
order to reduce any future negative NIMBY opposition to higher
development in those areas in the future.
Again, a tour of what density looks like. This is the Naples Square
development located in downtown Naples. It is built out at 30 units to
the acre.
The benefits is that it would increase certainty, reduce cost, create
a jobs and housing balance, reduce infrastructure needs elsewhere, and
fuel economic development.
So, again, our recommendation on this item is to direct staff to
develop Growth Management Plan and Land Development Code
amendments that will create a process for the creation and designation
of strategic opportunity sites allowing for increased density above 16
units to the acre for developments that voluntarily provide a portion of
their units as housing that is affordable.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Very good. Any speakers that would like
to address this particular recommendation from staff?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. Commissioner McDaniel, you were
first.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I'm in opposition of this
recommendation as well. I don't care for the designation in advance. I
think it creates an opportunity for additional by-right zoning that, in
fact, starts -- that, in fact, occurs.
I'm not in opposition of, on a case-by-case specific process,
meeting concurrency, meeting compatibility, meeting with
consistency, having gone through the neighborhood process. I'm not
opposed to giving consideration to higher-density projects. That's how
October 9, 2018
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-- that's how we assist with housing affordability. By allowing for
more units, we have an opportunity to reduce the per-unit land cost.
But by us going -- you going through a motion to designate particular
areas and us approving particular areas where those could, in fact, be
done without the specificity that comes at that particular point in time,
no.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. I'm sure that all of you have
received the same type of mail I have. We hear a lot from our
community who is saying enough is enough. Don't keep putting
people in here because we can hardly move anymore. Why can't you
resist that and, you know, let our community grow at a nice level of
growth. Actually, most of them want to stop it at all.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Stop all of that.
But, anyway, I just -- you know, everything we're talking is
increasing density. And I don't know how that -- how good that is. I
just don't feel comfortable with that at all.
And in many cases, they might not even be able to know it's
coming until it's starting to be built because we might just approve it
administratively, depending on what the issue is.
So I feel very uncomfortable with this one, as well as a couple of
the other ones. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We're going to take a look at
precisely what staff comes back to recommend. So by directing staff
to proceed with this, I don't think we're -- we're not making any
decisions.
I want to go back to the issue of the units per acres. When we
first discussed this, I think ULI was talking about 26 units per acre, if
I'm not mistaken.
October 9, 2018
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MR. GIBLIN: They were looking at 25 to 30.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Twenty-five to 30 units per
acre. And I was one of the guys that said that's way too much. I think
I've kind of done a 180 on that. I'd like to see what -- can you put that
picture up that had 30 units per acre?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think that's in East Naples.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's Naples Square. It's over
on Goodlette, isn't it?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I know where it is.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So I think directing staff to
look at the potential for the 26 units per acre makes some sense. I
know Commissioner Taylor had mentioned these low-income projects
in big cities, and I just -- I wanted to see what kind of densities they
had in some of these big projects. And, believe it or not, there's some
of those projects that have densities of 387 dwelling units per acre. So
we're not talking about a Northeast Chicago or New York City type
housing project at 26 units per acre.
So I support staff's recommendation. And I'd support looking at a
slightly higher density, up to 26 units per acre.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. And, again, I don't have a
problem at all looking at it, but I would encourage everybody to drive
by the Naples Square and decide whether you want this. I mean, it's
rising as Phoenix from the ashes, and it has been ashes. It's laid -- it's
been -- there's not been a lot going on there for many, many years. So
just take a look at it and think about it, whether this is the kind of
density we want in specific areas. That's a great example.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It's not affordable.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: A great example for you in
real-time to see density and what may come. That's what I mean. Not
October 9, 2018
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that it's a great idea.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm going to make a motion to
deny the recommendation.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll second.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion and a second. Any other
discussion?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the comment is,
Commissioner Saunders, you heard me in my conversation at the front,
there's a lot more to it than our Housing Department evaluating the
densities and such. I think our Housing Department ought to be an
integral part of our Planning and Zoning Department's advice to us
with regard to the particular projects that are coming.
There's way more to these intersections or these properties that
have to do with the overall impact to our community, and by us in
advance going out and designating areas where we think that this could
be accomplished provides for a certain amount, I think, of by-right
issues again. And I can't support -- I like the idea, again, of
considering site specific once we've met the three Cs, increased
density, but, you know, there's such a combining -- a need for a
combination.
You've talked, Commissioner Taylor, about increasing density.
Commissioner Fiala, you've received the same thing. And why aren't
we -- why aren't we giving consideration to redirection of already
vested real property rights? Why aren't we -- we can utilize those for
benefits for the overall community, for benefits for our watershed, for
benefits for the vested property rights while we're giving consideration
to increasing particular densities as long as we're meeting with
concurrency and compatibility and the like and not, at the same time,
increase the overall population of Collier County at its buildout. So I
can't --
October 9, 2018
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(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Look at that. Somebody liked
what I said. What are all those orange shirts for?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: They're red.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Or red shirts, I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Opposition.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: So there's a motion and a second.
You know, I'm troubled somewhat by this kind of predesignation
of areas but, you know, I think -- again, we're recommending that staff
bring these things forward. I hate to shut the door on something that
may lead to something that would be useful because, you know,
something -- some discussions that this particular recommendation
leads to might lead to a good idea.
And while I'm skeptical as to whether or not at the end of the day
I could vote for it, but I don't -- understanding I don't want to create
needless work for staff, I just -- I don't feel comfortable just shutting
the door on something that might lead to some beneficial discussion.
So I would be in favor of moving this forward. But the motion is
to deny the specific recommendation, and there's a second on that
motion. So all in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Those opposed?
Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So I'd like to make a motion to
support the staff's recommendation. My colleague, our chairman,
certainly discussed it so eloquently, and I would agree with him.
We don't know until we look into it, but I have reservations about
increasing density. And so -- but I don't want to close the door, so I
October 9, 2018
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would like this to go forward for staff to come back to us.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second that motion.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. And discussion?
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And I just can't believe
that you believe the door's shut. I can't believe that you're considering
or you're giving consideration to the fact that a good idea isn't going to
come before us that isn't going to be vetted. That's not the premise of
my recommendation for denial of this particular -- of this
recommendation by our staff. So I'm --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Well, you're certainly welcome to your
opinion. That's what it's for.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I certainly am, and I'm
just -- I'm sharing with you my particular opinion. I don't want you to
-- I don't want you to interpret what I'm saying as the closing of the
door.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You mean that --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Well, it might not be a closing of the door,
and I understand what you're saying, but we have these
recommendations coming from staff to move things forward. If we
don't move it forward now, then it's going to have to come back in
some other context, and when would that happen?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: On a case-by-case basis when
our Zoning and Planning Department has actually reviewed the three
Cs, as I continually refer to, and makes recommendations to us with
consultation of our Housing Department as to whether or not there is a
fulfillment of the portion of the need of the housing necessities of
Collier County. And by -- and again --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Understood.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So we certainly --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I disagree.
October 9, 2018
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COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, there you are.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: And so there's a motion and a second. All
in -- or did we already vote on that one? I'm lost.
MR. OCHS: No.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: We haven't voted on that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Commissioner Taylor made
another motion. I don't understand.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion and second from
Commissioner Saunders, there was discussion by Commissioner
McDaniel, and now we're ready for a vote.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can you repeat the motion?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. I want to -- would you
read the motion back, please.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Can I just, for clarification. I
think the motion is approve the recommendation that's on our screen.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You already did that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, we didn't.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: By voting against my motion to
deny it 3-2, you approved it.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That doesn't mean a thing.
That just means your motion failed. It doesn't mean the other one
passed.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Gotcha.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So my understanding is that
the motion is to approve the recommendation that's on the screen.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I misunderstood. Forgive me. I
thought by denying the motion to deny it passed, this one, so, gotcha.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Am I correct on my
understanding?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes, that's correct; yes.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: So there's a motion and a second. No
October 9, 2018
Page 105
other discussion. All in favor, say aye.
Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: (No verbal response.)
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: The recommendation's approved 3-2.
MR. GIBLIN: All right, Commissioners. That brings us to the
last of our recommendations to you. Number 6 is to provide an
increase in density in the Community Redevelopment Agency areas
and along transit corridors.
The purpose is to incentivize development in these areas and
along major transit corridors where infrastructure already exists.
Locating housing that's affordable on major transit corridors and in
CRA areas was a recommendation of the ULI study. Allowing housing
near transit reduces trip lengths and traffic from employees commuting
from further away.
And CRAs typically need additional incentives to increase their
property values and encourage new development. Again, what density
looks like. This is 6.85 units to the acre. This is in Bristol Pines off
Collier Boulevard. This would be something that would be in the
seven-unit-per-acre category that we'd be talking about with this
incentive.
It would increase certainty, it would incentivize
difficult-to-develop areas and, again, it would locate housing that's
affordable on existing infrastructure.
The recommendation is to direct staff to work with your CRA
advisory boards to develop Growth Management Plan and Land
Development Code amazements that will allow for increased density
and other incentives in the CRAs and along transit corridors for
October 9, 2018
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developments that voluntarily provide a portion of their units as
housing that's affordable.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any speakers that wish to speak on this
particular subject? Yes, ma'am. Anyone else?
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, as she's making her way up here, I
understand this is our last of our recommendations. Do you want me,
after the speaker, just to call the remaining speakers, or how do you
want to do this?
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Yes, if they want to speak. This is your --
this is it.
MR. MILLER: We will do that then.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Anyone else?
MR. MILLER: I'll just -- as soon as I find out who this is -- your
speaker after this young lady will be Bart Joseph Jackson.
MS. KUNGLE: My name is Jean Kungle. I'm a resident of East
Naples, and I'm also on the East Naples Civic Association board.
I believe that the CRA -- I have a little bit -- just a couple
sentences.
There's no "avoid concentration" wording anywhere that I've seen
in any of the presentations, which is a state mandate and should be
included in all of the components. The concentration should include
all market affordable as well as the HUD approved, and the CRA is
one of those places, and along the corridors, because it will be the U.S.
41 East Trail.
There's 37 components to the presentation. None of it included
what is on the books now for details and what these changes/additions
do for the end goal.
Staff approvals: Today we know who the staff is, but we do not
know who the staff is in the future.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next registered speaker is Bart Joseph
October 9, 2018
Page 107
Jackson. He'll be followed by Susan Orschell.
MR. JACKSON: Thank you for the opportunity to address you.
I'd like to begin with a simple question: Is affordable -- is it my
understanding that affordable housing shall not exceed 30 percent of
one's income? Is that correct?
MR. GIBLIN: That's the definition.
MR. JACKSON: That's the definition.
With that definition in mind, I'm sure that if you polled most of
the people here, especially those retired, and ask them to give you a
breakdown, a fiscal breakdown of their expenses per month, you'll find
that most of us exceed 30 percent of our income each month.
So is housing affordable for us? Possibly not. Does that make
sense?
MR. GIBLIN: Correct.
MR. JACKSON: Okay. Okay. So I wrote to the Naples Daily
News about this issue of affordable housing, and I think one of the
problems that we have in East/South Naples with affordable housing is
as such: Affordable housing is not necessarily acceptable housing.
Example being, if the schools in East/South Naples are not of the
caliber that parents require for their children, policemen, nurses,
service workers, I don't think you're getting a lot of people that want to
move to, quote, "affordable housing." The schools have to be in line
with the housing that's being offered. I hope that -- that you agree with
that.
The other thing I'd like to say, Mr. McDaniel, I loved all your
comments today. What I'd like to see you do more of, I'd like to see
you use the category of a variance more often in some of these issues
you addressed today. I've heard no discussion of the use of a variance.
A variance is a simple application. It allows one who's trying to seek a
breaking of the law, if you will, to come forth with a variance. A
variance is open to the public, is that correct, variance application? It's
October 9, 2018
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a simple solution to allow an applicant to come forward, present their
case, try to justify their application. It allows attendance by the general
public, and then a variance can go through the process that it normally
goes through, and it's either approved or denied.
The other thing that's great about a variance is if it's denied, it's
denied. If it's approved, however, it stays with the property and the
land forever, so I think we need to keep that in mind.
The other thing I'd like to talk about is affordability.
Affordability in general is based on one's income. And if we have
income problems, that's going to lead to, obviously, housing problems.
I think one of the biggest problems you have here is that employers
don't pay enough. Right now unemployment's at an all-time low. This
is a great opportunity for people to go out and leave the job that's not
paying them enough and seek another job. Does that make sense?
The other thing we should concentrate on is for those that are
veterans, those that are elderly, those that are disabled. I'd like to see
you take a hard closer look at subsidies. Subsidies allowed individuals
to get into the spots that they need to be with government intervention
and with possibly higher taxes. I'm not opposed to higher taxes rather
than all of this development you guys are talking about. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next registered speaker is Susan Orschell.
She'll be followed by Gail Alio.
MS. ORSCHELL: Good afternoon, Commissioners. And, for the
record, my name is Susan Orschell. And, again, I'll have the tremulous
voice, and I apologize for that. I should have taken speech in school.
I'm just listening to the dialogue today, your evaluation of these
recommendations. One thing that I've had concern about from the
beginning is the amount of or the lack of detail; how this is actually
going to be implemented. There are a lot of colorful charts and so
forth talking about comparison of rentals versus homeowner but still
many, many questions about this.
October 9, 2018
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As I've listened to the progress today, the one thing that worries
me or one of the things that worries me is how citizen input and that of
the BCC could be eliminated. I'm hoping as you go forward with your
evaluation, you will keep yourself in the process. I think you're a very
important part of that.
I do have to say I'm very concerned about the possibility of the
by-right approval because, as it was mentioned, if that's passed, it's a
bell that cannot be unrung. It's done.
I kind of freak when I hear you-all talk about the
26-units-per-acre density. I've been here for a long time, and now if
you can give me a Naples Square in my neighborhood, I will take that,
I'd love it, but I just don't think that's kind of what's going to come
down the pike for me.
So, again, all of these deals are critical, especially about the
activity centers and strategic opportunity sites, and many of them
relocated south of Golden Gate Parkway and east of Goodlette, kind of
in my neck of the woods.
So I respectfully ask the Board of County Commissioners to
pursue all aspects and consequences of the Community Housing Plan
including changes to the LDC and Growth Management Plan before
proceeding further with staff's recommendations. And thank you for
your time today.
MR. MILLER: Your next registered speaker is Gail Alio. She
will be followed by Linda Jorgensen.
MS. ALIO: Hi. I just want to let you know that I just recently
moved down to Naples, so I'm not long term. And what I have to say
is very basic, really basic, not up high. Really down low.
I want to talk about affordable housing/workforce housing which
has become very confusing terminology.
My annual salary for my first teaching job Upstate New York in
1976 was $7,684. I could not afford a one-bedroom apartment, pay
October 9, 2018
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utility bills, upkeep a car, and pay my student loans, but somehow I
made it works. No one built affordable housing for me.
In 1979 my annual salary for my teaching position with the Board
of Education, New York City, was a little over $10,000. I could not
afford to live in New York City, but somehow I made it work, and no
one built affordable housing for me. As a young person I wasn't
looking to buy a home. I was looking to live in an area.
In 1991 our family moved out to Long Island. Over the next 20
years our property taxes more than doubled to over $10,000 a year.
We could not afford to move. Our housing costs were over 40 percent
of our combined salaries, but no one built affordable housing for us.
Over all of my 30-plus years of teaching no one I knew or met
over all that time ever lived in affordable housing or a Habitat housing,
not teachers, not firefighters, not police officers.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next registered speaker is Linda Jorgensen.
She'll be followed by Lisa Lefkow.
MS. JORGENSEN: Hi. I've been asked to deliver a message
from Dr. Lisa McGarity, who's the president of the Lely Golf Estates
Homeowners Association, and she's unable to be here because of her
teaching requirements.
After reading the executive summary regarding the Community
Housing Development Plan, there are several items that are no less
than appalling. One, as a community, we should be incensed that our
first responders, teachers, and healthcare providers are included as a
part of this plan. As a community, we must stand up to those
responsible for salary and benefits for these professionals who are the
pillars of our community.
The fact that these highly skilled and trusted professionals are not
compensated commensurate with their importance in our community is
a disgrace, and we should all be ashamed.
October 9, 2018
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Two, increasing the density of affordable housing units in greater
than 16 per acre is troubling. Perhaps many of you here today are
unaware, but Collier County is one of the three largest counties east of
the Mississippi River. It is completely unnecessary to cram more units
per acre in order to meet our affordable housing goals.
Many studies have concluded that increasing densities is not
healthy and much less safe for residents who live in these affordable
housing complexes. A review of current literature is absolutely
warranted before this plan moves forward. I must insist on better
conditions for our seniors, veterans, service workers, and special-needs
community members. They deserve the dignity of the current
standard, as lowering our standards is completely unnecessary and
unacceptable in our community.
Three, the distribution of affordable housing in Collier County is
grossly uneven. Certain areas like East Naples, Golden Gate City, and
Immokalee are carrying such a high proportion of the affordable
housing that I personally hear people say that they would not live in
these areas because of the high percentage of free and reduced lunches
at the schools. The time is now to recognize the inequities that have
emerged from our Collier growing pains and begin to diversify the
entire county.
This elitist attitude by some community members has been
documented in interviews on local TV as people rather ignorantly
proclaim that they do not want affordable housing units in their
neighborhood. The attitude must come to an end immediately.
In closing, Collier County has a unique opportunity to be a model
community of diversity, equality, and leadership in Growth
Management. I would be so honored to be a part of a community that
integrates all community members regardless of income level
throughout our entire county. Our United States Constitution ensures
equality for all of our citizens, and we are bound to uphold it. We
October 9, 2018
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cannot do so by lower standards. We cannot achieve equality by
continuing to place affordable housing units in districts that are already
shouldering more than their share of the burden of growing pains.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Your time's up. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your final registered speaker for
this item is Lisa Lefkow.
MS. LEFKOW: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Lisa Lefkow,
for the record.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are you wearing red today on
purpose?
MS. LEFKOW: I'm delighted that everybody got the message.
Clearly, housing, access to housing that is affordable is an
important issue for our community. Our previous speaker spoke to that
eloquently, that there should be access across the county in many
different ways.
What we're doing today is continuing the conversation. So I
appreciate so much that you have been open to so many of the
recommendations by the county housing staff. I hope that we will
continue to have this dialogue to seek alternative ways to incentivize
all providers of housing across a spectrum of affordability. This is an
issue not only for low-income or low-wage earners in our community,
but certainly for moderate income, for gap income, throughout the
spectrum.
Earlier this year we heard from the Schulze Foundation who
responded with a community assessment survey and identified that
housing was the most important issue to members of this community
across the board. It is essential that we take the time and really study
the opportunities that are available to us.
Having the ULI results and their vast body of information and
experience to inform us is invaluable. So let's not treat that lightly.
October 9, 2018
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Let's be cautious and careful in our consideration of opportunities that
might move us forward and advance the challenge that we have here.
We quickly set aside inclusionary zoning, and I understand that a
mandate is very onerous and difficult to swallow, but I will share with
you that the one opportunity that Habitat for Humanity had to build a
community, again, in an area that we would not normally be able to
afford to buy land, in North Naples, was a result of exactly that
program. The developer was able to mitigate that affordable housing
component by providing land that then was made available to Habitat
for Humanity which now holds a showcase neighborhood of Legacy
Lakes.
So I encourage you to just consider all of the alternatives that we
have before us. And there are more that maybe the housing staff has
not yet provided clear direction.
So thank you for doing this hard work that we might be a
stronger, healthier community with a stable workforce. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: That was our final registered speaker on this
item.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Very good. Thank you.
Commissioner Fiala.
And while you're clearing your throat, I just point out we're
overdue for a break for our court reporter, so hopefully we can get
through this last -- is the court reporter okay? Can we finish?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Or do you want to go now?
THE COURT REPORTER: I'm okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: She's not going to quit.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: She can say she needs a break, and we
would take a break.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, say it.
THE COURT REPORTER: We can finish this item.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Let's finish.
October 9, 2018
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COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Based on all that we've heard
today, one of the things they talked about was the average income but
-- and all of these prices are based on one person living in a house, but
it's seldom that there's just one person living in a house. We're basing
it on one person's income, but there might be two people living there
or, you know, some kind of waitresses or waiters will double up for
their jobs, and they'll have two and three and four living in there, and I
think --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Why don't you ask Cormac
that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You need to respond.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
MR. GIBLIN: The models and assumptions built into the plan
use a --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Pardon me? Say again.
MR. GIBLIN: The models and assumptions that we use for the
plan use a three-person household with a total household income from
all three people, or it could be one person and two people not working
or three people working.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. You didn't make that clear,
so thank you very much.
Another problem that we have in my section of town now,
because we have the giant portion of affordable housing, we have a
problem with the traffic going out of here in the morning. Some guy
was giving the commission -- mentioned, I don't know, at the last
meeting or something, saying there's so much traffic going out because
they're all going to their jobs, and then there's so much coming back in
as they come home at night. That's a problem, and he's trying to figure
out how they can handle all of that and still build more. Now we're
talking about -- as I said before, we're talking about increasing density.
And the third thing I wanted to say is they were talking a lot about
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incentivizing but, you know, our development community has come to
the bat and they've been building things without getting any incentives
and without ever asking for anything and, as we see, 4,000 units
building right here that are coming out of the ground, and I don't
believe any one of them is incentivized.
But I thought, you know, are we trying to push too hard to push a
program through that isn't even really needed? Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I can't support this
particular recommendation either. I think you -- by providing for these
density increases in designated CRAs, you're going to do nothing but
increase the concentration of these housings in those particular areas. I
think the CRAs, as they exist now, have enough with regard to that.
I am also concerned about along transit corridors that are -- I
mean, they should be considered, but that's also too broad of a term. I
think that these -- these -- the majority of these projects should be
coming to us from our Zoning and Planning Department in correlation
with the interactive growth model that we just -- we're in the final
stages of developing that has a land-use modeling component that can
show the impacts of the changing of the densities, of the changing of
the uses, of the conversion of commercial to residential and the like,
and I don't think it ought to be coming from our Housing Department.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'm not so sure that I support the idea of increasing the densities
and promoting this type of housing necessarily in the CRA for the
reasons that Mr. McDaniel has indicated; however, what we're talking
about is directing staff to work with the CRA advisory boards and to
come back and let us know what type of program would be acceptable
with the potential of increasing the density in those areas. So I'm
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going to support the staff recommendation with the understanding that
it's going to take a little bit selling on the CRA issue part of it, but I'll
look forward to having that debate.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Did I make a motion to deny
the request or no?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'll second your motion.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I was going to -- make
that a motion, and we don't have to do this twice.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, I'm going to make a
motion to do as indicated, recommended by staff, the item that's on the
screen, to work with the CRA advisory boards to develop Growth
Management Plan and Land Development Code amendments that will
allow increased density and other incentives in CRAs and along transit
corridors for developments that voluntarily provide a portion of their
units as housing that is affordable.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I'm going to second that
understanding the CRA, it's in my district, and understanding their
ultimate goal is to solidify and magnify their artistic base, and the last
time I looked, artists can't afford the rents in Collier County. So this
would be a real boom, so I'm supporting this.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: There's a motion and a second. Further
decision?
Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. Just another little thing, and
that is in this particular CRA what they've been trying to do is pull
themselves out of the depths of hell and get to live like other people
live instead of having to always be the underdog, and they're slowly
trying to come out of that and move forward, and I don't think these
things will help them at all because it sounds like they're now going to
have to go backwards, and that's a shame. It's taken so long to get this
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far.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. There's a motion and a second.
Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: All in favor, say aye.
Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Those opposed?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Three -- aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Three. Listen to me.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: It's approved 3-2.
MR. GIBLIN: All right. Thank you, Commissioners. That's the
conclusion of our presentation.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I think we'll break for lunch, and we'll
come back.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, I think we only
--
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: We only have one, but it's a presentation,
so we'll be back at 1:45.
(A luncheon recess was had.)
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, you have a live mic.
Item #11B
FISCAL YEAR 2018-19 STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN FOR
THE NAPLES, MARCO ISLAND, EVERGLADES CONVENTION
& VISITORS BUREAU (CVB) AND MAKE A FINDING THAT
THIS PLAN PROMOTES TOURISM - MOTION TO APPROVE
October 9, 2018
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THE STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN AND THAT IT
SUPPORTS TOURISM – APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, we are on Item 11B. This is a
recommendation to approve the Fiscal Year 2019 Strategic Marketing
Plan for the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors
Bureau, and Mr. Wert, your Tourism Division director, will make the
presentation.
MR. WERT: Afternoon, Commissioners. Jack Wert, your
tourism director, for the record.
I'd also like to just call attention -- I think most of you have met
Ed Caum, our deputy director, who we brought in. It's been how long
now?
MR. CAUM: Almost a year and a half. I'm almost legit.
MR. WERT: Almost a year and a half. He survived, right. And
he's kind of been overseeing our sports as well.
But we had an opening on the sports side, so we have brought in
the newest member of our team, Jeffrey John, who is going to be our
guy in the trenches to help sell us, both the new sports complex and all
the other events that are going on.
So, Jeffrey, say hello.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Welcome aboard.
MR. JOHN: Hello.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Good one.
MR. JOHN: So, yeah, I've been here exactly one month and four
days.
MR. WERT: That's right. And he's still here, so that's good.
MR. JOHN: I came from Tucson, Arizona. So I'm excited to be
here, excited to work with everyone on staff, and we're getting through
some things right now, but we're going to make things happen. I see
great opportunity for Collier County in the sports tourism business.
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We have a lot of good opportunities coming forward, so I'm excited to
be a part of it.
MR. CAUM: And he's got his new moniker; his first meeting
with Nick. He goes, "Jeffrey John." Nick immediately goes "JJ."
MR. WERT: So he's now JJ.
All right. Commissioners, we are here this afternoon to look at --
and what I have is a presentation here of the highlights of what is in
this book. This is the one that we provided to you ahead of the
meeting.
This is the 2018-19 plan for marketing the destination, and within
it lots of different sections. Every one of our marketing disciplines and
group sales and sports and leisure sales, our national representatives.
Everybody has their part of this plan.
So what I'm going to do is just hit some highlights of it and show
you overall what's in the plan and how we plan to market the
destination in the coming year.
Just some introductory notes. It's very important to know that this
plan has been developed by the Collier County tourism industry. It
wasn't just the county staff. It wasn't just the ad agency. It was really a
group effort.
The county tourism industry met with us a number of times
during the year. You can see we have monthly meetings with our sales
staff and the sales staff of our hotel sales and marketing folks. The
monthly meetings with the Sports Council. Quarterly we have
roundtable meetings where we invite all of the tourism industry. And
we've got hotels and attractions and restaurants and shopping venues
all coming together to talk about tactics and strategies.
We do roundtable discussions of items on the strategic plan. We
also get monthly reports, and this is what really drives a lot of our
decisions is research. Everything in this plan is research driven.
Research data services, Arrivalist, a new source for us, Smith Travel
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Research, and our monthly reports from our international reps. That
all goes into how we shape this plan for the coming year.
We then have a day-long marketing retreat. This one was on June
the 27th. We had 100 tourism partners there. Again, hotels,
attractions, salespeople, Sports Council, Lodging Association,
chambers of commerce, our airport, shopping, restaurants, and so
forth. They all spent a day with us virtually shaping this plan. They
gave us the ideas of what are the target markets, who are they targeting
and will target during the year. We looked at both strategies and
tactics, strengths, weaknesses, everything. That's what drove a lot of
this plan.
We actually then had a second meeting with the Sports Council
members to be sure we really understood what they were thinking
about in terms of the new complex we have and the existing events that
we're bringing to the area and we hope we'll be repeating.
We presented the plan to the tourism industry on September the
20th. That was another one of those roundtable get-togethers. We did
that at Opera Naples this year; first time we've had an opportunity to
really use their facility. There was an unanimous acceptance of the
plan at that meeting, and then we presented the plan to the TDC on
September the 24th, and now we're bringing it to you for your
approval.
Our customer, our visitor, has a very distinct profile, and it's one
that we've honed over the years. Really, for the last 15 years through
research, we've been able to identify who our customers are, how old
they are, what their activities are, what their income is, what they like
to do, how they like to receive their travel information.
So the words you see on this slide are really the kinds of activities
that they -- our typical customer likes to do. They are foodies
definitely. They love to experience the food scene here in our area.
They love to travel. They are cultural, and they are arts inclined. They
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are caring to others. They are eco conscious, and many of them are eco
enthusiasts.
So that's kind of an overall profile of activities. They're about 48
years of age. Household income of 150,000. And the target market
skews toward the female because, for the most part, they are the ones
that make travel decisions. They travel -- they study things, and they
make those decisions, make recommendations to the family, for
instance, and that's usually where they end up going.
I mentioned that research really drives this plan. What we found
out over the last year, and Arrivalist is this new tool that we've been
using that virtually gives us the opportunity to follow someone from
the first time they see a digital ad that we have sent out on various
websites. We follow them all the way to the time when they actually
make a travel decision, and we can deliver messages as they go along
on other website so that we're kind of continually in their face, if you
will, when they're making those decisions.
So some -- no surprises for some of this. Our established
markets, that research shows it's certainly the Northeast, that Boston to
Philadelphia corridor. At least the first two quarters of the year, that's
where we get most of our visitation.
Growth markets: The Midwest and the Southeast. These are
ones that we want to see grow some more in the future.
And then we've got emerging markets, and in some cases these
are places that we aren't currently advertising in, but they may have
experienced our destination by attending a sports event or it might
have been a group meeting, and they kind of liked it, and so they've
been kind of following us to see if maybe they'd like to come back for
a vacation.
The other thing we found out, the further people travel, the longer
they stay. So people from the Northeast, for instance, that come down
the first quarter may stay on average of five days, whereas a Florida
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resident traveling in the summer months, their stay is more like three
days.
So, obviously, we want to target people who stay longer because
that's more revenue truly for the entire community. And Florida is a
year-round destination for us. We get travel throughout the year from
them.
The other thing that Arrivalist showed us -- and I mentioned there
are some cities that we don't normally target with advertising and
promotion. You see in the left-hand column there Denver; St. Louis;
Nashville; Cincinnati, Ohio; Houston, Texas. These are places that we
aren't currently advertising in but we're seeing people who have
traveled here. Again, might have been a sports event or some other
activity that brought them here. But it suggests that if they've been
here once, we've got an opportunity to bring them back for another
visit.
This tool also gives us the opportunity to take our customer
profile that I just showed you and add those emerging markets that we
just showed you on the previous slide. And then airport lift. Where do
we have direct air service into our area, and is there some correlation?
And what you see in those circles are areas that we think really have
some potential to bring new visitors to the destination.
And just to recap all of that, we've categorized these particular
markets now established, and you see our Florida markets kind of at
the top there, but you also see those New York, New Jersey, Boston,
Philadelphia, Chicago areas. Their growth markets -- and most of
these we've done some marketing in. In fact, we've added them. As
we've gotten more funding, we've been able to add some of these. So
Minneapolis-Saint Paul is a good one. Cleveland is another
opportunity there. Columbus, Ohio.
Atlanta, we've got more direct flights into RSW from Atlanta than
anyplace else. So let's think about maybe Atlanta's a good market.
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Emerging-wise, you see some places that you might not normally
think about. Asheville, North Carolina; Charlotte; Baltimore;
Washington, D.C. These are places that have direct air service, but we
aren't really or haven't marketed because we just -- we were going after
the ones where they were -- they came every year; you get more
business out of them.
The tactic is going to change this coming year. So for those
growth markets, Midwest and Southeast, we want repeat visitation.
We want those folks to come again. We're going to give them reasons
to come back again.
With the established markets, if we get one more day's stay out of
those folks from New York, move from five to six days, tremendous
impact, especially when they come the busy time of the year when
rates are the highest, prices are the highest.
And those emerging markets, we've just got a great opportunity to
build our customer database to find new customers that haven't been
here before, and those that have, we just suggest more things that they
maybe don't know about our destination.
And this is how the plan is going to really be different. We're
going to split up our marketing spend into three different pockets: 60
percent of that messaging is going to go toward the growth markets,
because if we can attract more of those growth markets folks, we will
see more -- it will -- they'll eventually become an established market,
and then we find more growth markets from the emerging group.
We're going to promote year-round to those places, and that's
important because normally we would just think about, if it's cold up
north, you advertise in the winter. We're finding visitation from places
like Detroit that you wouldn't think about would come in the summer,
but they do, and we've found that through this new research tool.
Thirty percent of the focus will go toward those established
markets: The Northeast, those places we know are going to come to us
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virtually every year, especially as long as it's cold. So we want repeat
visitation from them. We want them to stay that extra day. And you
see in each of these slides kind of what our overall tactics will
probably be for each of those.
And then the remaining 10 percent goes toward those emerging
markets with the goal that we can move those forward.
The target market for our primary traveler is that age group of 35
to 64. Baby boomers continue to be very strong. They still love our
destination. They are traveling. Yes, some of them are certainly
retired, but they're still traveling. They love to travel. They save their
money, and they travel. Household income, 150,000. And, again, it
skews toward women.
The boomer, those boomers are also in that same household
income. Families and couples both we go after there.
Generation X, Gen X as we call them, the 35 to 54 bracket.
Actually, a good part of Gen X is in that same sweet spot where our
typical visitor is coming from.
Seniors, you know, we don't often think about seniors, but they
can travel during the week. That's the time we need hotel room sales.
So let's go after some seniors. Let's give them reasons to come
midweek. Bring the grandchildren on a vacation.
And then the millennials, and we talk so much about the
millennials and how do we get them here. They are very different in
terms of how they act. They are very tech savvy. Everything they do is
via technology. So we need to be able to deliver the message maybe a
little bit differently to them and bring them to our destination, because
they are our future visitors here in our destination.
Summer and winter, we just broke out how the established growth
in emerging markets and what cities we go after. And summer and
winter are different, and so the messaging is different, and the
approach is different, and we're going to show you a little bit of the
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winter campaign here in just a second.
Internationally, we have really become a strong international
market. Central Europe is very strong. We have direct air service into
Fort Myers from Germany. That brings a lot of Germans here. But it
also brings the Swiss, the Dutch, and the Belgians, because they're
close to many of those airports in Germany. And Eurowing's the new
carrier that we have from Germany, is part of Lufthansa, which is one
of the largest European carriers. They have connections all over
Europe. So this gives people an opportunity to find us in ways they
never could before.
UK/Ireland continues to be a strong year-round feeder of
visitation to our area, and South America has really begun to catch on
now. Yes, years ago, a few years ago, they knew Miami, and they
knew Orlando, and they really didn't know anything about the rest of
Florida.
We have targeted Brazil over the last couple of years. Brazil's
going through a tough time right now with their economy. So we're
switching to Argentina. Argentina is showing real strong visitation
already to our areas. We want to capitalize on that.
Wellness has been something we've talked about a lot in the
destination. We used to just call it medical tourism, but it really is all
about wellness. We've formed a task force here in Collier County. I
think some of you attended a breakfast meeting we had not too long
ago kind of talking about this segment of tourism. It's really
mainstream. Virtually, it touches every kind of visitor you could bring
here. Many of our hotels are very interested, so we're going to have a
lot of strategies related to wellness tourism in the coming year.
Specialty markets: LGBT community is really getting to know
us. The east coast of Florida has kind of been -- that was their sweet
spot over there. Fort Lauderdale and the Keys really have done very
well with that. But they've now discovered our side, and they've come
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over to some of the pride festivals in Southwest Florida, beginning to
understand what we have to offer here.
SMERF, you may have heard me use that before. Those aren't
those little green -- purple people.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Blue.
MR. WERT: That's social medical -- it's education, retired, and
fraternal. Those are the kinds of meetings that we love to get in the
summer months, because they're looking for better deals, they're
looking for lower rates. They won't come in the first couple quarters
of the year, but that's good business for our meeting hotels in the
slower time of year.
Weddings and honeymoons. This is a market that we've dabbled
in over the last few years, but the same staff person that's going to be
working on the SMERF market and LGBT will also be attending some
wedding shows now. Weddings and honeymoons, especially
destination weddings, are huge. They bring tons of business to our
area. They fly the whole group down. They stay as a group. That's
really important future business for us.
On the group meeting side, we're going to have a lot to talk about
this year. The JW Marriott has now reopened their beautiful new
meeting space. If you haven't had a chance to get down to Marco
Island yet and see that, it is incredible. It looks like you're walking into
a big city convention center. It is really something.
The Hilton next door on Marco Island is about to re-open. That's
going to help us very well. They've got meeting space as well. That
gives us an opportunity to do island-wide events, island-wide meetings
that multiple hotels -- it gives us the opportunity to bring bigger groups
to Marco Island.
On the sports side, certainly the big news is the sports complex,
and thank you-all for your support of that. That whole development is
working -- moving along very, very well.
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We've got to create a plan that when that place opens sometime in
'19 when we have the first set of fields ready, we want events ready to
go that we've really sold the first year of events, and that's Jeffrey's
challenge, right? And he's accepted it.
New artificial turf fields at North Collier. What a great
opportunity to now finally be able to have summer events here in
Collier County. Yes, it rains, but we'll be able to use some of those
fields at the times of year that we never were able to have events
before.
And, finally, one of the tactics we want to talk about is the
forming a sports advisory committee. This would bring various types
of sports and champions for each of those in our community or in the
region to be a part of an advisory committee that will help bring more
events. Each of those people have got contacts in their sport
nationally, regionally, internationally. Those are the people we need to
draw on their expertise to bring us new visitation and new events to the
area.
Arts and culture. We're going to oversee the strategic plan that
Collier County's putting together for the arts and culture community.
That is -- if it's not on the street today, it will be tomorrow. I think that
RFP will be out.
We've got a strong section on the website of arts and culture
activities in the area. At least twice a year we dedicate e-newsletters to
our customers about arts and culture; November for arts month and
again in February.
We've got a grant program that's available to any of the nonprofits
to get additional marketing dollars to help promote their events.
We work with United Arts Council to get wide distribution of
their digital event calendar. And we're going to use public relations as
an opportunity to really further all of the knowledge that people have
about the great arts and culture that we have. And I think we'll all
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agree, for a small community, we have got an abundance of arts and
culture, much more than most small communities would have. It's
because we've got visitors coming here year round to support those
activities.
Active adventure, that's an important part of what we promote
here. We've got the world famous Everglades, but we've also got
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, and we've got Rookery Bay, and all
kinds of -- Naples Botanical Garden. These things people want to see.
They want to learn. They want to know more about our area and about
all of those activities related to adventure. And many of our visitors
are very adventuresome, and they are looking for those kind of
activities.
Heritage tourism. You know, five county-owned museums plus
several not-for-profit museums in our area. They are offering some
great programming, some great events that come to the area. We want
to help them promote those. Again, they are certainly able to get some
marketing support from us. And the -- some time next year we will be
opening the Naples Depot Visitors Center that will go in that baggage
car that sits beside the depot there. Very excited about that. That
coupled with the Pullman car and being able to serve food there. That
kind of becomes a destination in downtown, so we definitely want to
help promote that as well.
The platform, our brand voice, if you will -- this is the second
year we will be using this. It's really an invitation for people to come
and discover what we have here: Our unique beaches, our great dining
scene, the Everglades, all of the things that they might not expect from
a place like Naples and Marco Island.
And we sign everything we do with "Love Paradise." Kind of
like a little invitation to come and enjoy it. The branding is -- we are
Marco Island -- excuse me, Naples, Marco Island, and the Everglades,
Florida's Paradise Coast, and the promise we're giving our visitors is
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they're going to love what they discover here, and that's what pays off
our branding phrase of "Love Paradise."
I got a few examples here of this is -- first look at what we're
anticipating the winter -- fall and winter campaign will be, and we will
be using a lot of these same images, a lot of these same lines and so
forth, copy lines in what you approved this morning. The red tide
campaign is going to use a lot of this same type of imagery, a lot about
families, a lot about different types of families.
We're really going after diversity now. Our last photo shoot is all
about showing the various ethnic groups, different body types, and so
forth. This isn't just the beautiful model anymore. This is real people.
This is what our visitors look like, and they can identify, then, with that
advertising; that that kind of looks like me. I think I can see me in that
setting.
Certainly, we've got the great shopping scene here in the Naples
area, and all of these are very short copy. This is "Tis the season for
fabulous. Love Paradise."
Again, families. This is a 15-second television spot. We don't do
much of 30s anymore. Fifteen is about the attention span of everybody.
"So as the days get shorter and the temperatures get lower,
remember, you can always count on us to bring a little summer to your
winter." That will resonate pretty well on Long Island, I think, in
January. I think that will really get their attention.
It's certainly a romantic destination, and we've got great sunsets,
and we want to continue to really use that asset as a way to bring
people here. "Just the two of you. One unforgettable evening. Love
Paradise."
The Everglades, that whole eco experience, some great
photography we've got out in that area. "Go wild with an eco
adventure. It's only natural. Love Paradise."
So the budget allocations really go along very well, we feel, in
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this plan with what our typical visitation is. We are a leisure
destination. This is for family vacations. So 70 percent of our
travelers are leisure travelers. But the group and the sports travelers
make up the balance of that visitation. So that's the same allocation
that you'll see in our budgets that we're going to allocate 70 percent to
that leisure traveler, because they are our year-round bread and butter.
The group meeting business, very important. Now that we've got
a lot of our meeting space back online, we can really promote that, and
we hope and you'll see in some of our goals for the future -- we've got
actually two years worth of goals in here -- we want to get that up to
about 40 percent, and that's important because that's good, strong
business, and it's repeat business, because they'll be here for a meeting,
they'll come back, they'll bring the family for a family vacation as well.
So, Commissioners, that's just a brief overview. I've got a lot
more slides. You've seen a lot of it in that presentation there, the
printed version. What we're asking for is approval of the Tourism
Division Destination Marketing Plan for 2018-19, to make a finding
that this action promotes tourism, and direct your staff to implement
the plan.
And I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, thank you. I'm amazed, first of
all, that I learned recently that a lot of the people that come in the
summertime -- come to Naples in the summertime actually come to
cool off. That was so interesting.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Oh, yeah.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, you knew that, too?
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Oh.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I had no idea.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: It's a lot hotter in Orlando than it is here.
MR. WERT: Yeah, it is. That's right. We've got a breeze.
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People like to come here.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And I actually understood that even
they'll come from Canada, and I was really surprised at that. But,
anyway, I just thought I'd mention that. You're doing a good job, Jack,
I'll tell you.
MR. WERT: Thank you, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And then nice additions to this.
You've expanded it. Your ideas here will reach more people, and
you've added, like, a new enthusiasm to it. So thank you.
MR. WERT: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Jack, early on you were
talking about tracking clientele. If you would expand on that a little
bit. I thought I heard you say that from the first time somebody hits
our website we're tracking them, following them to other destination
advertising, and then trying to insert targeting that. Did I hear that
correctly?
MR. WERT: Yes, sir, that is correct. In addition to that, the way
we really find out what our typical visitor is is through -- our research
company does intercepts in hotels and attractions, on the beach and so
forth, at the pool, to find out -- they go through a whole list of
questions to find out where they come from, how they heard about us,
how long they're going to stay, their idea of what they'll spend and so
forth. So that gives us the profile.
What you're talking about is Arrivalist, which is a new tool that
we're just using this year. So let's say we create one of those digital
ads that I showed you before that kind of it gives you an opening and it
goes maybe two more frames, and then it gives you an opportunity to
click. You go to the website from there.
From the time they open that, we drop what's called a cookie onto
their computer. They can delete it, that's fine, a lot of people do. But a
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lot of people don't. And so from that point, so -- the research we've
been seeing is that on average -- and this comes from Google, actually
-- that people are going to 28 different websites before they make a
final decision where they're going to go. That's the kind of research
that our customers are doing.
So the idea is, along that path, we'd like to be dropping a message
back to those people that -- don't forgot about us. Don't forget about
paradise. We've got this activity, and we've got great food and great
beaches and those types of things. So it's an opportunity to tract it, but
also it gives us information, honestly, Commissioner, we've never had
before. It's really been able to show us how long it takes from the time
they first see the ad until they come. It's about 45 days. And we can
track that. That's where we found out people from Detroit stay much
longer than people from Jacksonville do.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sure. Well -- and I would
think it would also enhance your target marketing as you're going
along, because you've got -- there's search parameters that are coming
in off of that dataset.
MR. WERT: That's right.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If they're hitting 28 sites, I
think is what you said, something, 25, 28, then they're searching for
particular items, and that's going to better allow you to direct the
marketing that goes to those individuals.
So that's -- and I can also assume that while we're collecting that
data we don't disclose anything. It's all held private and --
MR. WERT: Absolutely private.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- all that sort of thing.
MR. WERT: We just see the ad.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was a very -- that was
early on in your presentation, but I made a note about it.
The only other -- the other question I had for you is, don't we
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already have a sports council?
MR. WERT: Yes, sir. We do have a private sector sports
council.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You're recommending over and
above that sports council a separate advisory committee for sports?
MR. WERT: This would be in addition to that group, because
most of what the Sports Council currently has is their hoteliers and
attractions on that -- in that group. They're obviously looking for
business coming from our events. What we're looking for are those
people that are already engrossed in a sport. Maybe it's one -- Florida
Fire is a good example of a group that's right here that -- they are
plugged into all kinds of events that they could bring to us.
We want a soccer group. We want a lacrosse person. We want to
have a basketball person and so forth to identify, let's go after this type
of event. I've got a contact with the Olympic Committee for field
hockey. Maybe we can bring that kind of event here.
It's strictly an advisory group. Certainly might be part of the
Sports Council, but it's really very specialized people we're looking
for.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you very much.
MR. WERT: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. Thank you, Jack.
I think, you know, after reading these for several years, I think,
you know, you're data driven. You're trying to get a lot of information
that justifies you going forward, and I think this is a lot of work, and I
think it's -- you know, you're to be commended. Unfortunately, it was
done over a year, not in the last -- since July.
MR. WERT: It was done with input over the year but, yes, it
was; it was created in July.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Right. I'm going to pass out some
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things and have it on the board, if we could. And this is absolutely not
a criticism at all of your work.
This is front page of the Naples Daily News today. "Rotting
carcasses littering Moorings Bay." When I read your strategic plan, I
was concerned because it talked about fishing. There's no fishing.
There's fishing in Marco. There's no fishing. There's no fish around
the reefs.
It doesn't mean you can't market the beaches. The beaches are
part of what we do. But next week, next month, we could repeat what
we went through in the summer.
MR. WERT: True.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Red tide comes back in the
wintertime. It doesn't go away.
So we have tourism -- we have a three-legged stool for tourism:
Luxury tourism, sports, and arts. And what I would like to see is not to
negate your hard work here or the research you've done but to balance
the pull to everyone to come here not only for beaches but also to
come for the arts and what we can offer in arts and to perhaps work
with our different partners in the county to create packages to create
buzz around what's happening.
And, if you would, please, I have -- now this is just a very short
morning list of what's going on here. But if we could -- if we could
start talking about these things now, in addition to, you know, stay at
the Ritz, it's beautiful. There's sunsets there, but look what we've got
going on here.
This Reflections in Glass in the Garden is extraordinary. We
have pickleball. You know, let's talk about pickleball now. Let's start
the hype. If we want people to stay here, let's bring them here and start
talking about it now about unique things we have to offer, and there's a
lot more. YogaCAN, that's an incredible event, by the way, and that's
health and wellness.
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We have the -- I believe it's USGN Women's planning on coming.
MR. WERT: Yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: These amateur sports. You know,
there's so many things that we can balance the beaches so that if it does
go south on us, which it did yesterday, we've got other things to bring
people here.
MR. WERT: Okay.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I was concerned because in
the marketing plan you've allotted 8,000 for marketing for sports,
nothing for art, arts and culture in your plan in the destination
marketing plan that I read, at least the budget.
MR. WERT: That's only the paid advertising. That was the only
thing that was in the plan. There is a separate budget, and if you look
in the back of the book, here -- let's look at sports.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: What page are we on?
MR. WERT: Let me get my glasses on here, and I'll -- sports
would be Page 137; Page 137. So that's sports, and $1.3 million is
what the budget is for promoting sports. That includes supporting
events that are coming. It promotes us traveling to various trade
shows. That is the plan that the sports group has put together, and that
will also support the sales for the area.
It is true I don't have a breakout specifically for arts and culture.
We will. That's going to be part of that strategic plan. You've got to
plan where you're going to go first. Just so you know, every single one
of those events that you just showed up there are on our event calendar
on our website, every one of them, and that is the most number-one
place people go on our website. So we are promoting that.
And you mentioned the one at the Garden, that's a grant. We are
helping them with a sizable amount of money to promote that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But the -- I think the statistics in
the Garden will say that the number of visitors to the Garden exceeds
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any other attraction, any other. It's the top one in the entire county.
Why wouldn't we put the Garden on your marketing plan? Why
wouldn't we send photographs of people enjoying the Garden?
MR. WERT: There are, all over the website. Look. There are
pictures all over about the Garden. We use that place extensively.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: There's not a -- no, it's the beach.
So it's always the beach, and I think it's risky business.
MR. WERT: We are a beach destination; 100 percent we are a
beach destination.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But, unfortunately, right now --
unfortunately. And it's not -- I don't like this, okay. I don't like the
front page of the Naples Daily News showing this. I don't like the fact
that in -- a French friend of mine who speaks French was listening to
French TV that's international who talked about the kill of fish in
Sanibel and in Collier County. I don't like hearing from some German
friends of mine they're considering selling.
MR. WERT: Sure. None of us do.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So what I'm saying is, there's
more to coming to Naples besides the beaches. Not -- we should
always have the beaches there, but there should be -- there needs to be
more of a balance showing all the other things we have so that in case
things go south, there's other reasons people come here for.
MR. WERT: And, Commissioner, I do agree with you. And I
think you've been in on some of the meetings where we've talked about
how we have changed the advertising that we've done over the last two
months. We haven't been talking about the beach. We haven't been
talking about fishing. We've been focusing on inland activities, and
that's the message that's been in digital ads and so forth. So we have
changed that. And the nice thing about using digital advertising and
social is you can change like that. And if we do have a situation where
we've got to stop talking about the beach, we can do that. This plan is
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very flexible to do that. And, certainly, we'll have that created, ready
to go if this pops up again, and we're hoping it doesn't.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But it's popped up again. It
popped up this morning.
MR. WERT: Okay. In one place. That's -- one of the nice things
about our area has been that it has been spotty. It hasn't been all up
and down the coast. Lee County's a much different situation, but we've
been fortunate.
And I mentioned this morning -- and I think it's important that
now the news media, at least in the region, is beach by beach showing
who has it and who doesn't, and that helps us a lot, because the
unfortunate part is the people in New York don't see that. That's our
job to get that word out.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You know, if I was a New Yorker
coming here and wanting to spend five days and wanting to drop
maybe $1,500, $2,000, having it spotty isn't going to satisfy me that
this beach is clear and that beach isn't. I would probably book
somewhere else because I was concerned. And that's -- I'm not saying
gut your plan. You've worked hard, and it's a wonderful, wonderful
plan, but -- and I'd like to -- I'll vote for this to go forward, but I'd like
to see something in a couple of months that embraces the other two
legs to that stool.
MR. WERT: I'm happy to do that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Sports and arts and culture.
MR. WERT: Absolutely; be happy to do that, absolutely.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Because you've got fall
campaigns. You've got a fall campaign you're in the middle of now,
you've got a winter campaign that this could touch; it could touch.
And we don't know what's going to happen, but it's not Irma.
This is not Irma. This is not today it's here, tomorrow it's gone,
unfortunately.
October 9, 2018
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MR. WERT: And I do agree with you, and that's why I said this
morning -- and we might be back for some additional emergency
dollars. If this thing goes into the first part of next year, yes, we're
going to need more dollars to maybe offset negative thinking and
perception.
So truly that's one of the things that we all talk about every staff
meeting we have; it's have things changed? Do we need to change
some things in our messaging? And we will continue to do that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I guess what I'm saying to
you when you talk about coming back for more money, I'm saying
maybe be more proactive and just assume that we need to balance it a
little bit more than it is.
MR. WERT: Okay. Understood. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you.
Just a couple quick questions. I was looking at, on Page 133,
your "all tourism promotion funds," and I was a little puzzled because
there's actually a reduction, and maybe I'm just reading this wrong.
Total for all tourism division oversight funds, Fiscal Year '18 it was 24
million, Fiscal '19 it's 20 million. On the marketing and promotion just
above that, Fiscal Year '18, it was $15 million. Fiscal Year '19, it's $12
million. I'm just wondering why the reduction.
MR. WERT: Some of that is the funds that are going into the
sports complex now. We're moving some of the revenue that -- from
the fifth percent that's going into that fund instead, and we had some of
that --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I didn't -- I didn't understand
that the fifth cent --
MR. WERT: Fifth percent goes to the sports complex primarily,
and there's some that goes into --
October 9, 2018
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COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: On the fifth cent, and correct
me if I'm wrong, but I thought that was for the sports complex and
beach renourishment.
MR. WERT: It is -- no, no beach renourishment out of there.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: None of that --
MR. WERT: No. What we did was reallocated the first 3 percent
to give more to the beaches, so that's how they got more funding.
MR. OCHS: Net increase to the beaches.
MR. WERT: Yeah, there was a net increase.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So anyway, you got a $4
million or $3 million reduction in promotion and a $4 million
reduction in all oversight funds, so that $4 million reduction, each
penny generates about, what, about five million?
MR. WERT: Yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: 5.5.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was curious as to why there
was a reduction, and I'm not sure that fully explains it.
MR. WERT: It's because we include reserves in there in past
years, and we moved those reserves into now the capital account to
build the sports complex. So that's where some of that money that was
just sitting in reserves unallocated moved to that project.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: If you look at '17, okay, I
guess Fiscal Year '17 it was 16 million, and then '18 it was 15 million,
so would that account for that year as well?
MR. WERT: I think it might. And I think the other thing to look
at is look up -- the second line under marketing and promotion. The
advertising and promotion, that has stayed consistent, $5 million over
the year -- over several years here now.
And so that's the amount of money that we are allocating to paid
advertising, to digital media and so forth. That's where the messaging
comes from. The rest of these lines are contractual. You know, we are
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outsourcing most of those other things, and the amounts of money do
change. And we also, like in promotion and sponsorships, about
halfway down, there's quite a bit less money, but there's more going
into the sports promotion side and not so much in that line. We don't
do as much in the sponsorship. We're doing more in support of
football university, of pickleball, of the watercross event that's coming
up this next month.
So it's just that things are moving around a little bit, but the big
change is those large reserves are now in that fund for the sports
complex because we've got to build it. I mean, that's -- and pay the
debt service; that's the other piece.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
Commissioner Taylor, I like your idea of diversification,
spreading around the message. I'm disappointed about that article in
the Naples Daily News today. It epitomizes selling advertising and not
necessarily the greater good for the community.
I would like for you to reconsider a statement that you made out
loud that there is no fishing. That is not correct. The further south you
go, the better it gets.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Our friends in Everglades City
and Marco Island are flourishing right now and -- but you made that
statement out loud about there being no fishing, and that's not --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'm aware of that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So I just would like to --
I wanted to clarify that point so that our friends in Everglades City and
Marco Island that are in that industry -- I think this Saturday
commences our stone crab season.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, and the festival's at the end
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of the month.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct. There's a whole
bunch of really good things happening around the fishing industry at
large.
I like your thought processes of diversification and spreading
around the message, because you never know what's going to transpire
next along those lines. But I just wanted to clarify that point.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yep.
I just heard today that the stone crab -- the crab traps have already
been dropped, and they start picking them up next week is what I've
been told. So that's kind of a good thing, but I don't think you can use
that in advertising, but I'm just announcing that because we've got
good stone crabs.
Thank you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I was talking to Howie a few
days ago, three days, the mayor of Everglades City, and they're
expecting a banner season, so...
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, that's wonderful.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yep.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Awesome. So we need -- do we need a
motion to accept the marketing plan?
MR. OCHS: Yes, and make a finding --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second.
MR. OCHS: -- finding that the plan promotes tourism.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: So it's a motion to accept the marketing
plan and a finding that it promotes tourism; is that the motion?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, and promotes tourism.
October 9, 2018
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CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. There's a motion.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: And a second. All in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Any opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: It's unanimous.
MR. WERT: Thank you so much, Commissioners.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Could we have a second --
MR. WERT: I really appreciate your support.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- motion that we ask the Tourism
Department to bring back an update on the plan to incorporate the
other two areas, which would be sports and arts and culture?
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Is that a motion?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Those are already included.
MR. WERT: They're already included, but we'll bring back some
focus on that as to what we're doing.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But your numbers are not
going to change?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, I was hoping that you'd see
a balance --
MR. WERT: Well, maybe the reallocation is between different
activities.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: There we are.
MR. WERT: That's really what we're talking about. It's all
activity based, so we can move things around.
October 9, 2018
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COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And perhaps some promotional
material that would go into the Northeast actually mentioning the
Botanical Garden or the Everglades or the zoo's great show that's
coming in this spring.
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, what we'll do, with the Board's
approval, is we'll bring a report back in January that breaks down the
current allocations. Gives you some options to consider if you want to
pull the trigger on those.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: All right. Great.
MR. WERT: Just a final note and just so you know, all of those
activities, the zoo, Naples Botanical Garden, they are part of what we
show -- influencers and travel writers when they come here, those are
regular stops. They write about those. Those posts are on social media
now and get a lot of play. Those folks have a lot of following. So
we're using those places as well, and we're promoting them. We'll do
more.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, just a question
for the county attorney. We're directing some information to be
brought back to us. Does this need to go through the Tourist
Development Council and then back to us, or how is that flow of
information supposed to --
MR. KLATZKOW: You would probably benefit by putting this
through the TDC and then getting it to you.
MR. OCHS: I had intended to do that, sir.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You know -- and let me reiterate.
Right now folks in New York City, right now, should know about the
cat coming back and that it's going to be on Marco Island. It's an
incredible, incredible find. You know, maybe as a cover to something.
That's all I'm asking for, more of a balance, because we have culture
and we have sports here.
MR. WERT: We have an article in the Smithsonian right now on
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exactly that subject.
MR. OCHS: Understood. We understand.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You understand where I'm going?
MR. OCHS: Yes; yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
MR. OCHS: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So do we need to have a motion
or is that just a consensus?
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I think the County Manager said he's
going to bring it back.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
MR. OCHS: I have your intent, ma'am.
Item #15
STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that takes us to Item 15, staff and
commission general communications.
Just a brief reminder of your upcoming workshop. You have --
February 5th, I'm trying to maximize your schedules here, and we had
the transit system workshop set for 9 a.m. I'm hoping -- and we're
reaching out to the municipalities as you had directed to see if they're
available to join the Board at 1 p.m. that same day for the fertilizer
workshop.
And then we're also working on a meeting for March 5th for a
workshop that the Board had asked for at the last meeting to discuss
the county's Future Land Use Map and the buildout population. So
we're trying to plug that meeting in for March as we had discussed at
the last meeting.
That's all I have right now, sir.
October 9, 2018
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CHAIRMAN SOLIS: County Attorney?
MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing, sir.
THE CLERK: No. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Nothing.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Nothing?
Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I do, and I think she's back here,
but if not -- yep, she's coming, I hope.
You know, when going -- it's interesting when I was going
through the CRA master plan, which we are about to approve -- well,
we're starting the studying of it, we have here an interesting
observation by the Tindale and Oliver that the -- there is a needs of a
coordination and zoning between LDC requirements and the overlay
and the relationship of various applicable codes to each other, meaning
it's complicated because it's zoning that's been there forever and ever,
and there's different layers, and it's hard to make them go together.
So I'm wondering, as we proceed, especially in the triangle area,
if I would have consensus of my colleagues that decisions made by
staff -- because it might come to us, it would be made by staff, maybe
we could just have a review of them just to make sure that it works,
because it's complicated. It's very complicated in there. And I guess
maybe the -- I mean, I guess it would be the Hearing Examiner that
would take a look at these things.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I think we'd have to have some changes
made to --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, it wouldn't be binding. It
wouldn't be binding. It would just be a second pair of eyes on things.
Better than my pair of eyes on things. I can tell you it's not an easy
read in that area.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: These are changes that -- who would be
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applying for the changes? I guess I'm --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, as it develops. There's
questions about zoning and questions about how -- you know, what
can be built here and how it could be built here. Things that would
come up again and again that are starting to, you know, bubble to the
surface, and there seems -- there just needs to be, I think, a second pair
of eyes on these things, and then we can make sure that this
complicated amass of overlays and underlining zoning and LDC, that
whatever is granted to developers -- because I can tell you at our
meeting -- interestingly enough, at our meeting on a Friday morning
with the landowners in the Triangle, which was a meeting that the
CRA established, the concerns, the overriding concerns of the CRA
advisory board was intensity.
It was how -- what are we doing and how do we know there's not
going to be more of the Bayshore Triangle building that we've -- that's
in the process. And it was stated at that meeting that this is -- this is
complicated, and I think it deserves a second pair of eyes; not a
binding second pair of eyes by any means.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Well, but it -- I would just look to the
County Attorney. If we're going to require some additional reviews, I
mean, that's got to be in the Land Development Code so that the
owners know what they have to do and how long it's going to take,
right? I mean, how are we going to know what to send and what not to
send and --
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah. If you're telling -- if what you're
saying is our Land Development Code's very complicated, I don't
know what to tell you, but it is. It's why you generally only have one
attorney doing all of your land use in Collier County. No, it's a very
complicated code.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But it's not just there, but it's
specifically in the CRA area. Specifically --
October 9, 2018
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MR. KLATZKOW: You've got an overlay in your CRA, and
you've got -- and that's on top of your regular LDC, which is on top of
the GMP, yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Right. And that's the area. Until
-- until this -- if it even is passed by our CRA board. Again, this is the
master plan for the -- to update the master plan in the community
redevelopment agency area, and it acknowledges how complicated and
how there's a need for coordination. So for me this is almost a
preemptive measure to make sure that it runs smoothly with a
nonbinding review by, I would assume, our Hearing Examiner.
MR. KLATZKOW: Well, it goes to the Planning Commission.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: It would go to the Planning
Commission?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Ma'am, maybe I could help a little bit
because we had some conversations. I think you've got -- we have a
piece of property that we have a contract buyer, and then recently the
property next door was purchased by somebody else. There's a little
juggling going on between the two property owners in terms of what
they want to do, how they want to do it.
One of your sections in your Hearing Examiner's ordinance, or
contract, allows you to assign him some work as long as it's not a
hearing in terms of making a decision, but to review these site plans,
these applications, as they go forward and just keep an eye on them
and kind of provide guidance to both staff and the applicant of, you
know, how they can work together, how they could come together
without, you know, staff feeling like they're caught in the middle
between two developers.
And that's some of the conversations we've had. So it's
nonbinding. It's overseeing. He does it almost now already when he's
asked to voluntarily to come in and sit down. So I think that's the
conversation we had; that he might help out a little bit.
October 9, 2018
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COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And also just the -- I mean, this is
one example, but there's a whole triangle like this. It's complicated in
there, or it wouldn't have been noted in the CRA master plan update.
So it's really an innocuous thing, but it's just a second pair of eyes,
that's all.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: So that's already happening is what --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: It's happening when he's asked. I think
what the commissioner's saying is she'd like to maybe have a couple
nods from the Board to say, you know, you're free to go in there and
take a poke and look at these things as they come in and provide
guidance to staff and the developer that they're following the codes and
maybe, you know, help them out a little bit.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm not sure what we're being
asked to do, quite frankly. I've kind of listened to this. If we're being
asked to have some of these staff determinations to come before the
Board for us to just simply take a look at, then I certainly don't want to
do that. What is it that you're asking us to do?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That the Hearing Examiner -- is
there almost -- I think -- I think the expression is "route," but it's almost
when these decisions by staff are made, that there's a review by the
Hearing Examiner that is nonbinding. So if something, you know,
bubbles to the top and when there's a dispute because this is -- you
know how complicated -- you gentlemen are land-use attorneys. You
know how complicated this kind of stuff can be.
When there is a dispute, there is a second pair of eyes on this that
does keep the staff out of the push and pull of developers that want to
do the best for their project.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And isn't that what you just
said you do anyway if there's a problem between developers and --
October 9, 2018
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MR. CASALANGUIDA: Staff -- yeah, staff will --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: You'll use the Hearing
Examiner for just some guidance?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Well, he'll do that if he's asked by
staff. I think the way Commissioner Taylor explained it to me is that
she'd like to make sure that he felt comfortable that you-all gave three
nods that he could do that and you were comfortable doing that in
reviewing some of these things and just assisting.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's it. I mean, I don't -- you
know, I don't go in there and watch what staff is doing and call our
Hearing Examiner in to review it. It just -- it seems to me it's just a
nice, easy, automatic way until -- at such point there is a coordination,
and we can get that morass of regulations and overlays and LDCs a
little smoother in this particular area. Only in this area.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: And one of the challenges, I think, that
-- in conversation, we own the property, so it's staff reviewing our own
property, which happens, any zoning application, if we do a
conditional use. I think that's come up in conversation with some of
the developers. Well, it's county-owned property. This is what we
want, and so the idea was Mark might take a look at this and say, I'm
independent. I can keep an eye on things.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: He's independent of what?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Independent of the staff. He works for
the Board directly, and he could just provide them guidance and
comfort that he's looking as well, too. I don't -- I think everybody
would acknowledge the amount of research that gentleman does is
beyond anything I've seen, and he usually goes, you know, between,
you know, all the four corners of the books and checks everything, so...
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Again, nonbinding; absolutely
nonbinding.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner McDaniel.
October 9, 2018
Page 150
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Commissioner Taylor, I
do agree that there -- our LDC and GMP and such are rather
cumbersome at best.
I'm not quite sure about your question. I certainly think we
should utilize our Hearing Examiner to the utmost. There's probably
hardly anyone who knows our very cumbersome GMP and LDC better
than Mark.
I'm not -- I'm not so happy about a blanket thrust over to the
Hearing Examiner every -- because we have a procedure in place. A
property owner comes to us. We have an LDC. We have an overlay.
We have uses. And it's up to staff to make the determination as to
whether there's compliance with regard to the request of the property
owner and their uses.
And then, ultimately, those come through the system through --
either through the HEX Hearing Examiner or the Planning
Commission and, ultimately, to us. So you're speaking specifically
about what's going on within the Bayshore CRA --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- at large.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes, only that area that I'm -- for
instance, our microbrewery. Commissioner Fiala knows what a
challenge that whole was.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And, in fact, even in the update
it's referenced, clear guidance in the LDC would have been helpful for
such uses as microbrewery.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: But what held the microbrewery up
was the guy across the street who wouldn't allow them to build, and he
was taking them to court to just stop it --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Based on our LDC.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So it wasn't -- our LDC couldn't do
October 9, 2018
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that at all. It was just -- he was trying to hold it up because he didn't
want to see it, then he died, so then it started moving forward again.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And they also have an advisory
board, CRA advisory board, to turn to.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, I think it's -- this is
technical, very highly technical.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Well, my only concern is if it's nonbinding
-- my only hesitation is that there's no clear statement of what this will
involve. I mean, he's going to -- he's going to do what exactly? I
mean, he's going to look at -- he'll -- you know, to add another layer of
review without being specific about what the review's going to entail,
when it's going to happen, and what the outcome of that review is, I
just -- I just could see that morphing into something that we never
intended.
But, I mean, I appreciate what you're saying; it's just -- it seems to
me that if we're going to do that we need some definition as to what
that's going to mean, even if it's just for the Triangle.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We can do that.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Ma'am, I think that was your intent,
because it's county-owned property. There are two developers; there's a
little friction. If it's just for those parcels -- because it went through the
zoning process already -- or the whole Triangle. I think it's just for
him to take a look at the codes, look at what was presented as fact in
front of the Board when the zoning was approved, recognizing the
Board owns that property until the contract buyer closes, and as there's
a competing interest between the two applicants, he could just review
it and provide advice and comments to staff. And it's just, hey, this is
what I found, this is what I'm looking at, and limit it just to those two --
that triangle.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Because it's all owned by the county still?
October 9, 2018
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MR. CASALANGUIDA: One parcel's owned by a private entity.
One parcel's owned by the county.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct.
MR. OCHS: The very tip of the mini-triangle is not county
owned.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Right. It's not, so -- I mean, again, I'm just
a little concerned that there's no specificity as to what exactly he's
going to be doing and how many rounds of that could there be and,
you know, just to be clear with the staff and the landowner, but that's
just my concern, so...
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Can we maybe move forward and
limit it to these two properties at this point and get feedback from staff
on this?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Staff's -- I don't know.
Commissioner Saunders' light was on.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Oh, I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Right.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Commissioner Saunders was next.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was just going to suggest that
if there's an issue here, if you could, perhaps at our next meeting,
present something that is a little more concrete in terms of what you're
trying to accomplish. I don't see where there's a problem, and we're
talking about doing -- limiting this to that -- those two parcels.
But I think staff has already said that they've already had those
types of conversations. So I'm not sure -- I think if you could give us
some more substance to this at the next meeting, maybe we could
make some decisions. But I'm not prepared to direct the Hearing
Examiner to take a look at anything at this point without a little bit of a
better understanding of what that all means and what the problem is.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You know it's always about
density and intensity. But I think we can be a little more specific.
October 9, 2018
Page 153
And, again, I heard that discussed very clearly by Maurice Gutierrez,
you know, that how are we going to ensure that this is the last intense
building in this triangle. It was very, very clear last Friday at a
meeting.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, we're the ones that
permitted that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I don't know that there's -- well, never
mind.
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I just -- I tend to agree
with Commissioner Saunders. I mean, we already have a process in
place. Certainly, anyone's welcome to reach out to the Hearing
Examiner, especially on an unofficial basis, to render some advise and
opinion. But I think that involving -- you're correct, it is cumbersome.
You've got underlying zoning. You've got the Bayshore overlay that
changed the uses, then you've got county ownership and so on. There's
a lot of things that make that a cumbersome piece of property. But I
think leaving well enough alone is the best way for right now.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's it.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. Is that all you have? Okay.
Just one quick thing for me.
I'm sorry?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You forgot Commissioner
Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No, I can go after you.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: No, no, go ahead. I'm sorry. Your light
was on, then it was off.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He is the chairman. He was just
yielding the gavel to talk.
October 9, 2018
Page 154
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: I thought you were done. I'm sorry. Go
ahead.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I haven't even started. I do
have one item. I talked to the County Attorney about this yesterday
just very briefly. There's a problem in a lot of Florida communities
with thieves placing skimming devices on gasoline pumps and stealing
credit card information and then stealing the credit cards. There's some
communities now that have started adopting what they refer to as a
gasoline pump security measure. It's very simple. I drafted one for the
Village of Estero, for example. Charlotte County has adopted one.
Cape Coral has adopted it. Even the Florida agency that's involved
with regulation of gasoline and gasoline stations, they've kind of come
along and said this is not a bad idea. There's a very inexpensive
locking system that gas station operators can place on their pumps that
would preclude these skimming devices from being installed.
And so I'd like to get the consensus from the Board for the county
to explore having a gasoline pump security measure ordinance to
prevent skimming devices here in Collier County. And I've got a draft
of an ordinance that I can give to the County Attorney if the
Commission is in agreement with moving forward with something like
that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. That was my -- that was
my comment I wanted to ask. Is it -- is there penalization for the
station owners that don't comply, holding them accountable
theoretically?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The way it's worked in other
communities, it's a code-enforcement violation. It's a code violation
subject to penalties; $250 a day per violation. The solution is literally
a small lock that costs a couple dollars. So it's not an expensive
application for the gasoline station operators, and it's something I think
that's going to be pretty consistent around the state before long.
October 9, 2018
Page 155
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I like it. I like it.
MR. KLATZKOW: Do you want me to bring that ordinance
back for the Board, Commissioner, for first reading? Do you want me
to put together an executive summary?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes. I've got the draft
ordinance I can give to you.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah, we'll take it.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Anything else?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Now it's your turn.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Okay. Now my turn. Finally.
I was just going to report that last -- I believe it was last night, the
Schulze Family Foundation had a workshop, and there was a panel of
medical healthcare professionals, and then myself and Nancy
Dauphinais from David Lawrence on the mental-health side, and there
were some really interesting pieces of information that came out of that
that I'd like to send around as a one-way communication mainly on
how -- also Tabitha Butcher was supposed to be there, but I guess she
was stuck in the airport. So Anthony Moreno -- Marceno -- Moreno
was there.
And it's very interesting the interplay between what the shortage
of primary-care physicians that we have -- which is apparently
significant in Collier County; primary-care physicians as opposed to
specialists -- the effect that that's having on EMS when you combine
that with the Marchman Act calls that they get. That's one of the
things that's adding to the hospitals being full, the ERs being full, and
people sitting in ambulances waiting to get into the hospital.
And so I would like to send that around. It was interesting. And I
really didn't understand the interplay there.
And then I've also got a copy of an article that was in -- I think we
got it as an email. I don't know if everyone got it, but I was going to
October 9, 2018
Page 156
share it. It's an article about, actually, Chicago, and it's titled "This is
what happens when a city shuts down medical health clinics." And I
think it's worth reading.
I know we don't want to become Miami. We certainly don't want
to become Chicago either. And it just -- it points out how the lack or
the shortage of mental-health facilities impacts different areas and
different ethnic groups and demographics. So it was very interesting.
And that's all I have.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Just one comment. In our consent
today, we -- I don't remember if it was a pass-through, sir, or if it came
from our budget -- 1 million plus to our health services on campus.
MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. That's our annual contract with the
David Lawrence Center. That's a statutorily required --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: It wasn't David Lawrence. It was
to our --
MR. OCHS: Oh, our Health Department.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Our Health Department here.
MR. OCHS: Yes. That's another statutory requirement to fund.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And it's statutory. And I'm sure
that it's a -- it's a pass-through, right? It's state money passing through
us, or it's --
MR. OCHS: No.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- required --
MR. OCHS: No, this is local money required by state law to go
to the --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: To the Health Department.
MR. OCHS: The State Health Department in this county.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Three areas, not one of them
mental health. Three areas, not one of them mental health.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: That's not -- that's really not what the
Health Department does.
October 9, 2018
Page 157
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But shouldn't it? And it did, but
that's the -- to me it was this big gap. You know, we keep pointing --
we need to get involved, but certainly on the state level they need to
get involved, because this is by statute. Nowhere in the statute does it
talk about mental health needing support.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Right. It's the public health function. No,
I agree with you. It's -- everybody needs to help.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Because of the situation we're in, so -- and
one last thing is I will be -- and you're next. I will be bringing back the
draft of an ordinance creating the mental-health advisory -- behavioral
health advisory committee to begin vetting this strategic plan that I
hope we can get together.
And I would like to thank the Schulze Family Foundation,
because they have done a lot of work on a lot of different areas, and
these -- this needs assessment for the community as a whole is -- I was
pretty impressed with what they've done.
Commissioner.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And it's on -- it's in
regard to the mental-health plan for Collier County. I've had -- I had
multiple communications with folks up in Washington, D.C., back in
March. I've been working with some legislators along those lines, and
everyone I run into, Commissioner Solis, asks me about our
mental-health plan for Collier County, and a strategic plan needs to be
implemented or created and, in fact, utilized so that we can insert the
priorities of our community with regard to the treatment of mental
health.
So if we're going to have a -- I would like to suggest if we're
going to spend some time on a workshop, that we spend some time on
a workshop in assisting to enhance the production of that mental-health
plan, because without it those who are funding sources have a difficult
October 9, 2018
Page 158
time in ascertaining what the priorities of the community are and
assisting with funding in that regard.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: And are we planning on having another
mental-health workshop in June, hopefully?
MR. OCHS: Well, I think a lot of that depends on how far the
committee is with the development of the plan. As soon as that
committee is impaneled formally and --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's not even in existence,
though, yet, is it?
MR. OCHS: Informally I think there's been a working group, but
now we need to come back, and the Board needs to actually appoint a
committee and give them something to do.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: And I'll bring that forward to the -- or I'll
get it to the County Attorney no later than the end of this month. So I
was hoping that the committee would be formed and be official and
have their first meeting hopefully by the end of the year. I think that's
doable, and then January --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You better look at the --
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Is that not doable?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- the button pusher over there.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: To adopt the ordinance, we wouldn't be
able to do that by the end of the year?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: You could adopt the ordinance
by the end of the year, but they probably won't be able to have a
meeting.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: First of the year.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: By Valentine's Day.
MR. OCHS: My suggestion would be once you get the
committee in place and you have a draft of the plan, that might be the
point in time where you want to have another workshop and vet that
before you bring it back for a formal vote. I think that's what I'm
October 9, 2018
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hearing Commissioner McDaniel suggest.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Oh, right. No, no. I'm not talking about
bringing back the plan by the end of the year. I'm just talking about
having the committee formed to then --
MR. OCHS: Right.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: -- start -- we have a list of six or seven
priorities that were identified through the last workshop, and then -- so
this committee would hopefully be formed by the end of the year. The
beginning of the year they can start working on developing a strategic
plan, and then hopefully by June we'd have something to look at, and
that was what I was hoping for.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I just wanted to show my
support for the acceleration of the creation of the mental-health plan.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: Right, thank you. It's in the works.
And just so everybody knows, what I'm working on is having a
committee made up of folks that are either working in that area, you
know, that know the challenges, know the funding issues, know the
system, and also people that, you know, have been affected by it and
have been through it, from that aspect, too. So it's not necessarily -- it's
going to be probably 15 -- 11 to 15 members to really cover the
breadth of everybody that everybody thinks should be involved. So it
will be a working committee that's going to work on this moving
forward. That's it.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's it.
CHAIRMAN SOLIS: All right. We're adjourned.
*****
October 9, 2018
Page 160
**** Commissioner Fiala moved, seconded by Commissioner
McDaniel and carried that the following items under the Consent and
Summary Agendas be approved and/or adopted (Commissioner Solis
abstained from voting on Item #16A3) ****
Item #16A1
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER FACILITIES FOR RACETRAC AT DAVIS
BOULEVARD, PL20160002277, ACCEPT UNCONDITIONAL
CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER
AND SEWER FACILITIES, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE
COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE
UTILITIES PERFORMANCE SECURITY (UPS) AND FINAL
OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $18,093.40
TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S
DESIGNATED AGENT – FINAL INSPECTION WAS
CONDUCTED ON AUGUST 22, 2018 AND FOUND TO BE
SATISFACTORY
Item #16A2
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER FACILITIES FOR VANDERBILT COMMONS,
PL20170000562, ACCEPT UNCONDITIONAL CONVEYANCE
OF THE POTABLE WATER FACILITIES AND A PORTION OF
THE SEWER FACILITIES, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY
MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE UTILITIES
PERFORMANCE SECURITY (UPS) AND FINAL OBLIGATION
BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $38,553.68 TO THE
PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED
October 9, 2018
Page 161
AGENT – FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON
AUGUST 28, 2018 AND FOUND TO BE SATISFACTORY
Item #16A3 - Commissioner Solis Abstained from Voting
(During Agenda Changes)
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER FACILITIES
FOR VILLAGES OF MONTEREY CLUBHOUSE,
PL20170001728, ACCEPT UNCONDITIONAL CONVEYANCE
OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER FACILITIES, AND
TO AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS
DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE UTILITIES PERFORMANCE
SECURITY (UPS) AND FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE
TOTAL AMOUNT OF $6,129.24 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER
OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – LOCATED
OFF OF ORANGE BLOSSOM DRIVE BETWEEN GOODLETTE-
FRANK ROAD AND AIRPORT-PULLING ROAD
Item #16A4
FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND UNCONDITIONAL CONVEYANCE
OF THE SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR COLLIER PARK OF
COMMERCE PHASE 2, PL20160000500 AND TO AUTHORIZE
THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE
THE UTILITIES PERFORMANCE SECURITY (UPS) AND
FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF
$5,216.45 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE
DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – FINAL INSPECTION
WAS CONDUCTED ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 AND FOUND TO
BE SATISFACTORY
October 9, 2018
Page 162
Item #16A5
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER FACILITIES FOR HAMMOCK COVE TRACT C,
PL20170000348, ACCEPT UNCONDITIONAL CONVEYANCE
OF A PORTION OF THE SEWER FACILITIES, AND TO
AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE,
TO RELEASE THE UTILITIES PERFORMANCE SECURITY
(UPS) AND FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL
AMOUNT OF $6,074.82 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE
DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – LOCATED AT 4525
THOMASSON DRIVE
Item #16A6
UTILITY FACILITIES QUIT-CLAIM DEED AND BILL OF SALE
BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY AND MINTO SABAL BAY,
LLC, IN ORDER TO CORRECT AN ERROR IN THE
PREVIOUSLY RECORDED UTILITY FACILITIES WARRANTY
DEED AND BILL OF SALE FOR ISLES OF COLLIER
PRESERVE PHASE 8 – DOG PARK, PL20180001856, IN WHICH
THE DEVELOPER MISTAKENLY CONVEYED SANITARY
SEWER FACILITIES TO THE COUNTY EVEN THOUGH NO
SUCH FACILITIES EXIST
Item #16A7
RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF ABACO POINTE,
(APPLICATION NUMBER PL20180001040) APPROVAL OF THE
STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE
October 9, 2018
Page 163
PERFORMANCE SECURITY – THE DEVELOPER MUST
RECEIVE A CERTIFICATE OF ADEQUATE PUBLIC
FACILITIES PRIOR TO THE ISSUANCE OF THE
CONSTRUCTION PLAN FINAL APPROVAL LETTER
Item #16A8
RELEASE OF A CODE ENFORCEMENT LIEN WITH A VALUE
OF $289,730.43 FOR PAYMENT OF $680.43 IN THE CODE
ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS ENTITLED BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS V. IRENE SYLVA EST AND RAFAEL
ROSAS, CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD CASE NO.
CESD20150002305 RELATING TO PROPERTY LOCATED AT
141 20TH AVENUE NE, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA – FOR
VIOLATIONS CONSISTING OF SEVERAL STRUCTURES
ERECTED ON THE PROPERTY WITHOUT PROPER
PERMITTING THAT WAS BROUGHT INTO COMPLIANCE ON
AUGUST 2, 2018
Item #16A9
CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 FOR JOHNSON ENGINEERING, INC.,
FOR THE “SUNSHINE BLVD. FROM 17TH AVE. SW TO
GREEN BOULEVARD” LAP PROJECT, FOR THE DESIGN OF
SIDEWALK AND PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE AMOUNT OF $27,604 (PROJECT NO. 33505)
Item #16A10
AN AGREEMENT FOR $318,142 WITH QUALITY
ENTERPRISES USA, INC. PURSUANT TO ANNUAL
October 9, 2018
Page 164
CONTRACT #14-6212 “BRIDGE REPAIRS AND
MAINTENANCE” FOR REPAIRS ON BRIDGE #030149
(BLUEBILL AVENUE OVER NAPLES PARK CANAL),
PROJECT NUMBER 66066
Item #16A11
CHANGE ORDER NO. 2 TO CONTRACT NO. 17-7128 IN THE
AMOUNT OF $29,028.35 WITH APTIM ENVIRONMENTAL &
INFRASTRUCTURE, INC., FOR ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL
ENGINEERING SERVICES AS REQUIRED FOR THE “WIGGINS
PASS CHANNEL AND DOCTORS PASS CHANNEL DREDGING
PROJECT.” FOR A REVISED CONTRACT AMOUNT OF
$179,017.29 AND REVISED COMPLETION DATE OF
NOVEMBER 17, 2018
Item #16A12
WORK ORDER TO PREFERRED MATERIALS, INC., FOR
CONSTRUCTION OF THE “AIRPORT ROAD AND DAVIS
BOULEVARD (PHASE2) - NORTHBOUND RIGHT TURN
LANE” PROJECT IN THE AMOUNT OF $518,443.49 (PROJECT
#60148)
Item #16A13
THIS ITEM WAS CONTINUED FROM THE SEPTEMBER 25,
2018 BCC MEETING. THE RELEASE OF A CODE
ENFORCEMENT LIEN WITH A VALUE OF $33,130.36 FOR
PAYMENT OF $10,000 IN THE CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTION
ENTITLED BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS V. AT&T
October 9, 2018
Page 165
WIRELESS SERVICES OF FL, CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD
CASE NO. CEPM20150012708 RELATING TO 1173 SUN
CENTURY ROAD, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA -
VIOLATION FOR A GARAGE WITH ROOF DAMAGE THAT
WAS BROUGHT INTO COMPLIANCE ON NOVEMBER 28, 2016
Item #16A14
AWARD INVITATION TO BID (ITB) NO. 18-7430
“LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE VENDORS” TO FLORIDA
LAND MAINTENANCE D/B/A COMMERCIAL LAND
MAINTENANCE AND SUPERIOR LANDSCAPING & LAWN
SERVICE, INC.
Item #16B1
A LEASE MODIFICATION FOR BAYSHORE GATEWAY
TRIANGLE CRA OFFICE LOCATED AT 3750 BAYSHORE
DRIVE WITH 3750 BAYSHORE DRIVE, LLC AND AUTHORIZE
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN – FOR A MONTH-TO-MONTH
LEASE UNTIL THE NEW CRA BUILDING IS COMPLETE IN
EARLY 2019
Item #16C1
FIRST AMENDMENT TO LEASE AGREEMENT WITH SOUTH
SEAS NORTHWEST CONDOMINIUM APARTMENTS OF
MARCO ISLAND, INC., TO EXTEND THE LEASE TERM TO
MAINTAIN 800 MHZ COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
OPERATING AT THAT LOCATION – LOCATED AT 380
SEAVIEW COURT
October 9, 2018
Page 166
Item #16C2
A SCRIVENER’S ERROR IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR
BID NUMBER 18-7314 “95TH AVENUE NORTH PUBLIC
UTILITIES RENEWAL,” PROJECT NUMBERS 60139 AND
70120, AWARDED TO DOUGLAS N. HIGGINS, INC., ON JUNE
26, 2018 AS AGENDA ITEM #11G – DUE TO AN ERROR
UNDER THE FISCAL IMPACT FUNDING SOURCE, THE
AWARDED ANOUNT DID NOT INCLUDE THE GRANT
FUNDING INFORMATION
Item #16C3
TERMINATING THE SIEMEN’S GUARANTEED ENERGY,
WATER, AND WASTEWATER PERFORMANCE SAVINGS
CONTRACT ASSIGNED TO THE COLLIER COUNTY WATER-
SEWER DISTRICT (CCWSD) BY FLORIDA GOVERNMENTAL
UTILITY AUTHORITY (FGUA) FOR NON-APPROPRIATION –
AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item #16D1
THE CONVEYANCE OF A RAW WATER UTILITY EASEMENT
ALONG THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE GORDON RIVER
GREENWAY TO THE CITY OF NAPLES – FOLIO #61947800001
Item #16D2
APPROVAL OF THE FY18-19 CONTRACT WITH THE STATE
OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (DOH) FOR THE
October 9, 2018
Page 167
OPERATION OF THE COLLIER COUNTY HEALTH
DEPARTMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,491,400
Item #16D3
CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 IN THE AMOUNT OF $59,998.24
AGAINST A PURCHASE ORDER ISSUED UNDER CONTRACT
#17-7154 FOR STRUCTURAL AND MECHANICAL POOL
CONTRACTOR WITH OMNI AQUATICS INC. – FOR THE
ACTIVITY POOL AT THE AQUATIC FACILITY IN
IMMOKALEE
Item #16D4
TWO (2) AFTER-THE-FACT GRANT REQUESTS TO THE
FLORIDA COMMUNITIES TRUST GRANT FROM THE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION; ONE (1) APPLICATION IN THE AMOUNT OF
$163,642 IS TO ENHANCE RECREATIONAL AMENITIES
AVAILABLE AT ISLES OF CAPRI NEIGHBORHOOD PARK,
AND THE OTHER APPLICATION IN THE AMOUNT OF
$735,000 IS TO PURCHASE THE GORE PROPERTY WHICH IS
DESIGNATED AS STRATEGIC HABITAT CONSERVATION
AREA FOR CONSERVATION COLLIER
Item #16D5
AN OUT OF CYCLE COLLIER COUNTY TOURIST
DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (TDC) GRANT APPLICATION FOR
BEACH PARK FACILITIES IN THE AMOUNT OF $200,000 FOR
RESTROOM IMPROVEMENTS AND A FEASIBILITY STUDY
October 9, 2018
Page 168
FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PARK RANGER STATION
AT BAREFOOT BEACH PRESERVE PARK, AUTHORIZING
NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT, AND MAKE A
FINDING THAT THE EXPENDITURE PROMOTES TOURISM
Item #16D6
A CONSERVATION BANK AGREEMENT BETWEEN COLLIER
COUNTY AND THE UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE
SERVICE, AND ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY, TO CREATE
THE PEPPER RANCH PRESERVE CONSERVATION BANK,
GENERATING U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE PANTHER
HABITAT UNIT MITIGATION CREDITS TO MITIGATE FOR
PROPOSED IMPACTS TO PANTHER HABITAT DURING
FUTURE COUNTY PROJECTS AND TO AUTHORIZE ANY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS NECESSARY TO FUND THE NEW
PEPPER RANCH PRESERVE BANK ENDOWMENT FUND 673
IN THE AMOUNT OF $253,600 FOR INTERIM MAINTENANCE
AT THE PEPPER RANCH PRESERVE CONSERVATION BANK
Item #16D7
ADOPTING THE MUSEUM DIVISION 2018 STRATEGIC PLAN
– FOR THE OPERATION OF THE COLLIER MUSEUM AT THE
GOVERNMENT CENTER, MUSEUM OF THE EVERGLADES,
IMMOKALEE PIONEER MUSEUM AT ROBERTS RANCH,
NAPLES DEPOT MUSEUM AND THE MARCO ISLAND
HISTORICAL MUSEUM
Item #16E1
October 9, 2018
Page 169
RENEWAL OF THE ANNUAL CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC
CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY (COPCN) FOR AMBITRANS
MEDICAL TRANSPORT, INC. TO PROVIDE CLASS 2
ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT (ALS) INTER-FACILITY
TRANSPORT AMBULANCE SERVICE FOR A PERIOD OF ONE
YEAR – ALL REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN MET BY
AMBITRANS MEDICAL TRANSPORT
Item #16E2
A FIVE-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH MARSH CLEARSIGHT,
INC. IN AN ANNUAL AMOUNT OF $138,000 FOR THE
PURCHASE OF RISK MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
SYSTEM SOFTWARE (RMIS) AND AUTHORIZING THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN CONTRACT #18-7341 – TO MANAGE
DAMAGE CLAIMS AGAINST THE COUNTY
Item #16E3
ACCEPTANCE OF A FEDERALLY-FUNDED SUB-AWARD
AND GRANT AGREEMENT THROUGH THE FLORIDA
DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FOR
REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENDITURES ASSOCIATED WITH
PREPARATION AND RECOVERY FROM THE FLORIDA 30TH
AVENUE FIRE (NET FISCAL IMPACT $82,964.96)
Item #16E4
AWARD INVITATION TO NEGOTIATE (ITN) #18-7321, “GAS
AND DIESEL FUEL MULTI-AGENCY COOPERATIVE
PURCHASE,” TO PALMDALE OIL COMPANY, INC.,
October 9, 2018
Page 170
AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE
AGREEMENT, AND TERMINATE THE AWARD OF #18-7406
“EMERGENCY FUEL.”
Item #16E5
RESOLUTION 2018-171: A FLORIDA EMERGENCY MEDICAL
SERVICES COUNTY GRANT APPLICATION, REQUEST FOR
GRANT FUND DISTRIBUTION FORM AND RESOLUTION FOR
THE FUNDING OF TRAINING AND MEDICAL/RESCUE
EQUIPMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $63,545 AND TO
AUTHORIZING THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT –
IMPROVING PRE-HOSPTIAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL
SERVICES
Item #16E6
AUTHORIZING ROUTINE AND CUSTOMARY BUDGET
AMENDMENTS APPROPRIATING CARRY FORWARD
BUDGET IN THE AMOUNT OF $8,944,843.63 FOR APPROVED
OPEN PURCHASE ORDERS INTO FISCAL YEAR 2019
Item #16E7
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS PREPARED BY THE
PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR CHANGE ORDERS
AND OTHER CONTRACTUAL MODIFICATIONS REQUIRING
BOARD APPROVAL – FOR 11 CHANGE ORDERS THAT
MODIFY CONTRACTS BY $21,894.78, ONE AFTER THE FACT
MEMO WITH FISCAL IMPACT OF $3,930.00 AND NO
AMENDMENTS
October 9, 2018
Page 171
Item #16E8
AN ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT PREPARED BY THE
PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR DISPOSAL OF
PROPERTY AND NOTIFICATION OF REVENUE
DISBURSEMENT – ON-LINE SALES TOTALED $2,526.99 FOR
SURPLUS EQUIPMENT AND $1,000 FOR TRADE-IN VALUE
FOR NEW EQUIPMENT
Item #16F1
AWARD SOLICITATION NO. 18-7434 FOR PELICAN BAY
STREETLIGHT POLE REPAIRS TO SPE UTILITY
CONTRACTORS FD, LLC IN THE AMOUNT OF $97,894 AND
AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE ATTACHED
AGREEMENT - TO STRAIGHTEN 110 STREETLIGHT POLES
AND REPLACE FOUR PATHWAY BOLLARD LIGHTS
DAMAGED BY HURRICANE IRMA
Item #16F2
RESOLUTION 2018-172: AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING
GRANTS, DONATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS OR INSURANCE
PROCEEDS) TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2017-18 ADOPTED
BUDGET
Item #16F3
RESOLUTION 2018-173: AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING
GRANTS, DONATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS OR INSURANCE
October 9, 2018
Page 172
PROCEEDS) TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2018-19 ADOPTED
BUDGET
Item #16F4
AWARD RFP #18-7281R, “TOURISM FULFILLMENT AND
CALL CENTER SERVICES” TO FANEUIL, INC., FOR
$21,772.97, AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE
ASSOCIATED AGREEMENT, AND MAKE A FINDING THAT
THIS ACTION PROMOTES TOURISM – INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, PREPARING AND DISTRIBUTING TOURISM
LITERATURE AND STORING LITERATURE, SPECIALTY
ITEMS PROVIDED BY THE CONVENTION & VISITORS
BUREAU (CVB) TO REQUESTORS, MAINTAINING MAILING
LISTS AND DISTRIBUTING SPECIAL FULFILLMENT
PROJECTS (AS ASSIGNED BY CVB STAFF) AND MANAGING
A HOTEL INVENTORY DURING EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
Item #16F5
THE SUBMITTAL OF A GRANT APPLICATION TO FLORIDA
SPORTS FOUNDATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $25,000 TO
OFFSET A PORTION OF THE OPERATING EXPENSES TO
HOST THE 2018 FOOTBALL UNIVERSITY (FBU) NATIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIPS IN COLLIER COUNTY, AUTHORIZE THE
COUNTY MANAGER TO ACCEPT THE AWARD AND
PROCESS ANY BUDGET AMENDMENTS AND MAKE A
FINDING THAT THIS ACTION PROMOTES TOURISM – FBU
CHAMPIONSHIPS WILL TAKE PLACE DECEMBER 15-20, 2018
Item #16F6
October 9, 2018
Page 173
THE USE OF TOURIST DEVELOPMENT TAX PROMOTION
FUNDS TO SUPPORT THE UPCOMING NOVEMBER 2018
SPORTS TOURISM EVENTS UP TO $17,800 AND MAKE A
FINDING THAT THESE EXPENDITURES PROMOTE TOURISM
– TO ATTRACT VISITORS DURING THE SUNCOAST SOCCER
INVITATIONAL, TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 3-4, 2018; THE
PARADISE COAST SOFTBALL INVITATIONAL, TO BE HELD
NOVEMBER 16-18, 2018; AND THE TROPHY FISH BOWL
LACROSSE EVENT, TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 17-18, 2018
Item #16F7
THE USE OF TOURIST TAX PROMOTION FUNDS TO
SPONSOR THE 2018 POWERBOAT NATIONALS FORMULA 4
GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT OCTOBER 27-28, 2018,
APPROVE REIMBURSEMENT OF OPERATING EXPENSES
FOR THIS PURPOSE, AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THESE
EVENT EXPENDITURES PROMOTE TOURISM – THE EVENT
IS BEING HELD AT SUGDEN REGIONAL PARK
Item #16F8
APPROVAL OF TOURIST DEVELOPMENT TAX PROMOTION
AND MARKETING FUNDING TO SUPPORT THE UPCOMING
WINTER NATIONALS SENIOR SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT ON
NOVEMBER 6-11, 2018 UP TO $6,105 AND MAKE A FINDING
THAT THESE EXPENDITURES PROMOTE TOURISM – BEING
HELD AT THE NORTH COLLIER REGIONAL PARK
Item #16F9
October 9, 2018
Page 174
THE SUBMITTAL OF A GRANT APPLICATION TO VISIT
FLORIDA IN THE AMOUNT OF $70,000 FOR THE TOURISM
RECOVERY GRANT PROGRAM FOR RED TIDE IN COLLIER
COUNTY, AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER TO ACCEPT
THE AWARD AND PROCESS ANY NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENTS AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THIS ACTION
PROMOTES TOURISM – TO PROMOTE THE “BEACHES ARE
OPEN” CAMPAIGN
Item #16F10
THE FY2019 ACTION PLAN FOR LEO E. OCHS, JR., COUNTY
MANAGER
Item #16G1
RESOLUTION 2018-174: AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF
JOINT PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT CONTRACT NO. G0E50
SUPPLEMENT ONE WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW
TERMINAL FACILITY WITH ASSOCIATED ENTRANCE,
PARKING, AND RELATED SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS AT THE
MARCO ISLAND EXECUTIVE AIRPORT
Item #16J1
EXTENDING THE 2018 TAX ROLL AT THE REQUEST OF TAX
COLLECTOR LARRY RAY – DUE TO THE VOLUME OF
VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD PETITIONS
October 9, 2018
Page 175
Item #16J2
THE FY 2018 SCAAP LETTER DELEGATING AUTHORITY TO
SHERIFF KEVIN RAMBOSK TO BE THE OFFICIAL GRANT
APPLICANT AND CONTACT PERSON, OR HIS DESIGNEE,
AND TO RECEIVE, EXPENDS THE PAYMENT AND MAKE
ANY NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS OF THE FY 2018
OF THE STATE CRIMINAL ALIEN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
(SCAAP) GRANT FUNDS – FUNDING IS FOR COSTS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCARCERATION OF ALIENS
Item #16J3
SERVING AS THE LOCAL COORDINATING UNIT OF
GOVERNMENT FOR THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT’S FEDERAL FISCAL YEAR 2017 EDWARD
BYRNE MEMORIAL, JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT (JAG)
COUNTYWIDE PROGRAM AND (1) AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE CERTIFICATION OF
PARTICIPATION; (2) DESIGNATE THE SHERIFF AS THE
OFFICIAL APPLICANT AND THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE STAFF
AS GRANT FINANCIAL AND PROGRAM MANAGERS; (3)
AUTHORIZE THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE GRANT IF AND
WHEN AWARDED; AND (4) APPROVE ASSOCIATED
BUDGET AMENDMENTS AND APPROVE THE COLLIER
COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE TO RECEIVE AND EXPEND THE
GRANT FUNDS – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Item #16J4
October 9, 2018
Page 176
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 13 AND 26, 2018
PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06
Item #16J5
BOARD APPROVED AND DETERMINED A VALID PUBLIC
PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND PURCHASING
CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF OCTOBER 3, 2018
Item #16K1
RESOLUTION 2018-175: APPOINTING NORMA R. LEES-
DAVIS AND RE-APPOINTING RONALD J. JEFFERSON TO
THE GOLDEN GATE BEAUTIFICATION ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
Item #16K2
RESOLUTION 2018-176: RE-APPOINTING BARRY
GERENSTEIN TO THE COLLIER COUNTY CITIZEN CORPS
Item #16K3
RESOLUTION 2018-177: RE-APPOINTING ELAINE REED AND
EUGENE V. ERJAVEC, JR. TO THE
HISTORIC/ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRESERVATION BOARD
October 9, 2018
Page 177
Item #16K4
RESOLUTION 2018-178: RE-APPOINTING KATHLEEN
DAMMERT TO THE LELY GOLF ESTATES BEAUTIFICATION
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Item #16K5
RESOLUTION 2018-179: RE-APPOINTING ANNETTE KNIOLA
TO THE GOLDEN GATE ESTATES LAND TRUST COMMITTEE
Item #16K6
A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT FOR FINAL
COMPENSATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $8,000 FOR PARCEL
404RDUE, INCLUDING ALL ATTORNEY AND EXPERT FEES,
IN THE LAWSUIT STYLED COLLIER COUNTY V. JARRETT
COX, ET AL, CASE NO. 16-CA-1313, REQUIRED FOR THE
GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD EXPANSION PROJECT NO.
60145, (FROM 20TH ST. E. TO EVERGLADES BLVD.). (FISCAL
IMPACT: $4,800)
Item #17A
RESOLUTION 2018-180: AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING
CARRY FORWARD, TRANSFERS AND SUPPLEMENTAL
REVENUE) TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2018-19 ADOPTED
BUDGET
*****
October 9, 2018
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 3:10 p.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECI • P TRIC ''� 1, DER ITS CONTROL
4
AN r Y SOLIS, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST:
CRYSTAL K. KINZEL, CLERK
gitPr-
Attest as to
sIgnaturE enlY.
These minutes approved y the Board on ! t t3 11E5
as presented or as corrected
TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF U.S. LEGAL
SUPPORT, INC., BY TERRI LEWIS, COURT REPORTER AND
NOTARY PUBLIC.
Page 178
FORM 8B MEMORANDUM OF VOTING CONFLICT FOR
COUNTY, MUNICIPAL, AND OTHER LOCAL PUBLIC OFFICERS
LAST NAME—FIRST NAME—MIDDLE NAME NAME OF BOARD,COUNCIL,COMMISSION,AUTHORITY,OR COMMITTEE
Solis, Andrew I. Collier County Board of County Commissioners
MAILING ADDRESS THE BOARD,COUNCIL,COMMISSION,AUTHORITY OR COMMITTEE ON
3299 Tamiami Trail East, 3rd floor WHICH I SERVE IS A UNIT OF:
CITY COUNTY 0 CITY L`ICOUNTY ❑OTHER LOCAL AGENCY
Naples Collier NAME OF POLITICAL SUBDIVISION:
Collier County
DATE ON WHICH VOTE OCCURRED MY POSITION IS:
October 9, 2018 Le ELECTIVE 0 APPOINTIVE
WHO MUST FILE FORM 8B
This form is for use by any person serving at the county, city, or other local level of government on an appointed or elected board, council,
commission, authority, or committee. It applies to members of advisory and non-advisory bodies who are presented with a voting conflict of
interest under Section 112.3143, Florida Statutes.
Your responsibilities under the law when faced with voting on a measure in which you have a conflict of interest will vary greatly depending
on whether you hold an elective or appointive position. For this reason, please pay close attention to the instructions on this form before
completing and filing the form.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 112.3143, FLORIDA STATUTES
A person holding elective or appointive county, municipal, or other local public office MUST ABSTAIN from voting on a measure which
would inure to his or her special private gain or loss. Each elected or appointed local officer also MUST ABSTAIN from knowingly voting on
a measure which would inure to the special gain or loss of a principal (other than a government agency) by whom he or she is retained
(including the parent, subsidiary, or sibling organization of a principal by which he or she is retained);to the special private gain or loss of a
relative; or to the special private gain or loss of a business associate. Commissioners of community redevelopment agencies(CRAs)under
Sec. 163.356 or 163.357, F.S., and officers of independent special tax districts elected on a one-acre, one-vote basis are not prohibited
from voting in that capacity.
For purposes of this law, a "relative" includes only the officer's father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister, father-in-law,
mother-in-law, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law.A"business associate" means any person or entity engaged in or carrying on a business
enterprise with the officer as a partner,joint venturer, coowner of property, or corporate shareholder (where the shares of the corporation
are not listed on any national or regional stock exchange).
ELECTED OFFICERS:
In addition to abstaining from voting in the situations described above,you must disclose the conflict:
PRIOR TO THE VOTE BEING TAKEN by publicly stating to the assembly the nature of your interest in the measure on which you are
abstaining from voting; and
WITHIN 15 DAYS AFTER THE VOTE OCCURS by completing and filing this form with the person responsible for recording the
minutes of the meeting,who should incorporate the form in the minutes.
APPOINTED OFFICERS:
Although you must abstain from voting in the situations described above, you are not prohibited by Section 112.3143 from otherwise
participating in these matters. However, you must disclose the nature of the conflict before making any attempt to influence the decision,
whether orally or in writing and whether made by you or at your direction.
IF YOU INTEND TO MAKE ANY ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE THE DECISION PRIOR TO THE MEETING AT WHICH THE VOTE WILL BE
TAKEN:
• You must complete and file this form (before making any attempt to influence the decision)with the person responsible for recording the
minutes of the meeting, who will incorporate the form in the minutes. (Continued on page 2)
CE FORM 8B-EFF.11/2013 PAGE 1
Adopted by reference in Rule 34-7.010(1)(f),F.A.C.
APPOINTED OFFICERS (continued)
• A copy of the form must be provided immediately to the other members of the agency.
• The form must be read publicly at the next meeting after the form is filed.
IF YOU MAKE NO ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE THE DECISION EXCEPT BY DISCUSSION AT THE MEETING:
• You must disclose orally the nature of your conflict in the measure before participating.
• You must complete the form and file it within 15 days after the vote occurs with the person responsible for recording the minutes of the
meeting, who must incorporate the form in the minutes.A copy of the form must be provided immediately to the other members of the
agency,and the form must be read publicly at the next meeting after the form is filed.
DISCLOSURE OF LOCAL OFFICER'S INTEREST
Andrew I. Solis , hereby disclose that on October 9th 20 18 •
(a)A measure came or will come before my agency which (check one or more)
inured to my special private gain or loss;
inured to the special gain or loss of my business associate, •
inured to the special gain or loss of my relative, •
inured to the special gain or loss of a client of my law firm by
whom I am retained;or
inured to the special gain or loss of ,which
is the parent subsidiary, or sibling organization or subsidiary of a principal which has retained me.
(b)The measure before my agency and the nature of my conflicting interest in the measure is as follows:
On October 9, 2018, the Board of County Commissioners will consider Agenda Item 16-A-3, a recommendation
to approve final acceptance of the potable water facilities for Villages of Monterey Clubhouse, accept
unconditional conveyance of a portion of the potable water facilities, and to authorize the County Manager or his
designee to release the Utilities Performance Security and Final Obligation Bond.
One of the parties associated with the Villages of Monterey is a client of my law firm and in an abundance of
caution, I will abstain from voting pursuant to Section 286.012, Fla. Stat.to avoid any perceived prejudice or
bias.
If disclosure of specific information would violate confidentiality or privilege pursuant to law or rules governing attorneys, a public officer,
who is also an attorney, may comply with the disclosure requirements of this section by disclosing he nature of the interest in such a way
as to provide the public with notice of the conflict.
October 9, 2018
Date Filed Signature
NOTICE: UNDER PROVISIONS OF FLORIDA STATUTES §112.317, A FAILURE TO MAKE ANY REQUIRED DISCLOSURE
CONSTITUTES GROUNDS FOR AND MAY BE PUNISHED BY ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: IMPEACHMENT,
REMOVAL OR SUSPENSION FROM OFFICE OR EMPLOYMENT, DEMOTION, REDUCTION IN SALARY, REPRIMAND, OR A
CIVIL PENALTY NOT TO EXCEED$10,000.
CE FORM 8B-EFF.11/2013 PAGE 2
Adopted by reference in Rule 34-7.010(1)(f),F.A.C.