Agenda 09/10/2019 Item #2D (7-09-2019 BCC Meeting Minutes)09/10/2019
COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Item Number: 2.D
Item Summary: July 9, 2019 BCC Meeting Minutes
Meeting Date: 09/10/2019
Prepared by:
Title: Executive Secretary to County Manager – County Manager's Office
Name: MaryJo Brock
07/25/2019 7:45 AM
Submitted by:
Title: County Manager – County Manager's Office
Name: Leo E. Ochs
07/25/2019 7:45 AM
Approved By:
Review:
County Manager's Office MaryJo Brock County Manager Review Completed 07/25/2019 7:45 AM
Board of County Commissioners MaryJo Brock Meeting Pending 09/10/2019 9:00 AM
2.D
Packet Pg. 22
July 9, 2019
Page 1
TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Naples, Florida, July 9, 2019
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: William L. McDaniel, Jr.
Burt L. Saunders
Donna Fiala
Andy Solis
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
July 9, 2019
Page 2
MR. OCHS: Good morning, Mr. Chairman. You have a live
mic.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Good morning, everybody.
MR. OCHS: Good morning, sir.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: If you all would just rise with me,
please.
Pastor Jarvis, do you want to do the blessing this morning?
Item #1A
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
PASTOR JARVIS: Good morning, everyone. Let's pray.
Father in heaven, we thank you for this opportunity to come together
as the leadership of Collier County, and we ask for your guidance as
decisions are made this morning that will affect all who live here.
Order our steps and order our words.
I pray that you would give each of us the wisdom, the
temperament, and the self-control to communicate with each other
fairly, reasonably, and respectfully. Help us to reach decisions that
are openly the best decisions for our community.
I pray for the leaders in this room, that your hand of protection
and provision would be upon them, their families, and their offices of
leadership.
You, Lord, are the giver of wisdom, the giver of all good and
perfect gifts, and the God of all sufficiency. So we invoke your
guidance and your provision in everything that we discuss today.
Lord, only you can make crooked paths straight and make a way
where there seems to be no way. So we ask you to do that this
morning, and I pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
July 9, 2019
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CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Madam Clerk, will you lead us this
morning. I don't want to put you on the spot.
(The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: While we're going there, I didn't
formally introduce Pastor Heath with Faith Life Worship Center.
Thank you very much. That was a very nice prayer this morning.
PASTOR JARVIS: My pleasure. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Good morning, sir.
Item #2A
TODAY’S REGULAR, CONSENT AND SUMMARY AGENDA
AS AMENDED (EX PARTE DISCLOSURE PROVIDED BY
COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR CONSENT AGENDA.) -
APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES
MR. OCHS: Good morning, Commissioners. These are your
proposed agenda changes for today's Board of County Commission
meeting July 9th, 2019.
The first proposed change is to add Item 16J2 to your Clerk of
Court's consent agenda. This is a routine report to record in the
minutes of the Board the check number and amount for your
disbursements on a -- for the period between June 13th and June 26th
of this year pursuant to requirements of the Florida Statutes. That
item was added at the Clerk's Office's request.
Similarly, we have add-on Item 16J3. This was also a request
from the Clerk's Office to add this item on. It's the routine
determination of valid public purpose for invoices and purchase card
transactions through July 3rd, 2019.
The next proposed change is to move Item 16K5 from your
County Attorney consent agenda to the regular County Attorney
July 9, 2019
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section of the agenda, Item 12A. And it's a recommendation
regarding an interpretation, and this was moved at Commissioner
Solis' request.
We have one note this morning, Commissioners, and it's to
correct a misstatement in Item 16K7, and this was an appointment of
a member to your Contractor Licensing Board. The term of that
office or, I'm sorry, the term of that service was indicated as
October 20th, 2022, in the executive summary. It's corrected now to
read June 30th, 2022, as the new term.
We have one time-certain item, Mr. Chairman. That's scheduled
for a 10:45 a.m. hearing this morning. It's Item 11D. This has to do
with the affordable housing proposals on the Board-owned
Bembridge property.
And those are all the changes I have, sir.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Outstanding, outstanding.
Well, before we go on into the agenda, I am going to do something
that I usually forget, and that's to announce the featured artist of the
month for July is Collier County resident Cynthia Adams.
Cynthia's been devoted to bringing greater awareness to the
visual and performing arts through her involvement with several local
non-profit organizations. Cynthia was a signature member and
current president of the Naples Art District, and she has served on the
board of the Naples Art Association.
In addition, Cynthia and her husband, Steve, contributed to the
development of a photography program for special -needs adults
called Shooting Beauty, and she teaches workshops throughout the
year at the Naples Senior Center, Pace Center in Immokalee, and for
the children residing at Youth Haven. Cynthia's artwork has been
displayed in collections throughout North America and Europe as
well as in Russia, Thailand, and Lebanon.
And across the back of the room, if you have a moment on one
July 9, 2019
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of our breaks or at lunch, please take a moment and enjoy her
artwork. Done.
So with that, let's move into the agenda and ex parte.
Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Other than the changes that the
County Manager provided, I have no other changes and no
disclosures on the consent or summary agenda.
MR. OCHS: Commissioner, if you don't mind.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'm sorry.
MR. OCHS: A little closer. Thank you. We got it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: We all heard it. I'm not sure Terri
did.
MR. OCHS: She's got it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Fiala, good morning.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. Thank you very much. Good
morning, everyone.
I have no disclosures, no corrections to the agenda, no
disclosures on consent, but I have one. 17C on the summary agenda,
and that is the Auto Ranch Road subject on the concrete
batch-making plant.
Nothing else.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes. I have no disclosures,
but I do have a couple changes.
16K6 is the settlement of a lawsuit. I'd like to pull that and have
just some discussion. I should have done this yesterday. I didn't
notice it, quite frankly. So I hate to catch the County Attorney a little
bit by surprise, but I'd like to ask a few questions and discuss this. So
if we can pull that off the consent; it's 16K6.
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And so on 16E6, the Clerk
July 9, 2019
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has raised some issues concerning some contracting issues, and I just
want to make sure that -- I believe those questions may have been
answered. Ms. Kinzel, are you satisfied?
CLERK KINZEL: We're okay with that. We're going to meet
with the Assistant County Manager and procurement soon, so yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. Good. I just wanted
to make sure that was going to occur. So I have no other changes
other than to pull 16K6 for some discussion.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Okay. And you're going to leave
E6 a go?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that will make 16K6 now Item 12B
under County Attorney.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Okay. Commissioner Taylor, good
morning.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Good morning. I'd like to
address my colleague, Commissioner Fiala. Commissioner Fiala,
you ever heard of a batch of concrete? I know you're a cook and, I
knew you made batches of cookies, but a batch of concrete is -- kind
of stretches it a little bit, don't you think?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's interesting. I never even
thought of that before.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: You have to cook it.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I have no disclosures on
anything that's going to be discussed today.
And I just have a question, and I spoke to the County Manager
yesterday about this, and I wondered if we could address it. Not to
pull it, but just to get some clarification basically for the public. And
the item number is -- oh, I had it here. It's -- I'm so sorry.
MR. OCHS: 16A20.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: 16A20, yes, and I spoke with
July 9, 2019
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Mr. French. And, basically, just for the clarification of what the
PACE program now will apply to will be very helpful for the public.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Before we go there, let's just move
it to the top and have a discussion then through our regular process.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I would rather not, if we could
possibly not do that. It won't take us long. That's why I think it
would be fun just to get this -- not fun, but more -- less stressful.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was trying to figure out
what in the world could be fun when we're dealing with PACE. I was
anxiously awaiting.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That was a misstatement. No.
Just maybe a -- breathe a sigh of relief.
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, as I understand the question, there
was a question on what exactly do we mean by the inclusion of
commercial multifamily properties in the resolution. And Mr. French
can very quickly clarify that. And if the Board has any further
questions, you can move it certainly for discussion. Jamie?
MR. FRENCH: Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you.
Good morning, Commissioners. For the record, Jamie French.
Very quickly, Commissioners, in following the Board's
direction, what you'll see on your screen, which was included in your
package, is the eligible properties or types of construction that would
be eligible for the PACE structure. Clearly, commercial and
businesses would be eligible, but as far as the residential goes, these
would fall under the Florida Building Code, the commercial section
under the residential group.
And you can see here where they're unit over unit, much like a
tall condo along the beach, or it could be a mid -rise, or you could
have almost like a townhouse type. But what's important to note here
is that they all share one parcel. So they're not fee simple; whereas,
in the next slide you'll see the same structure where the property lines
July 9, 2019
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divide the actual units. Those are what's called a multifamily or a
single-family attached where the type of construction is a little
different, but they're fee simple where you own the ground
underneath and you don't have a unit over the top of you.
Of course, single-family, and then single-family where you've
got like a townhouse or a unit that would be attached to you. These
structures would not be eligible because they are not within the
commercial -- they're not considered commercial multifamily.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you. That's it?
MR. FRENCH: That's it.
MR. OCHS: We believe that's consistent with the Board's
intent, and I think the commissioner was just trying to confirm that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes, because of questions from
the public. So now it's on the record that folks can refer to it. Thank
you very much.
And other than that, I don't have any other changes to the
agenda. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Nor do I, and no ex parte as well.
So with that, I'll -- we'll move to 2B for the meeting minutes.
MR. OCHS: Sir, did you take a motion to approve?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Oh, no. I forgot to do that.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Move to approve.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Thank you. It's been moved and
seconded that we approve the agenda as has been adjusted.
Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
July 9, 2019
Page 9
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
July 9, 2019
Page 10
Item #2B
JUNE 11, 2019 - BCC MEETING MINUTES - APPROVED AS
PRESENTED
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Now we'll do the minutes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to approve the minutes for
the June 11th meeting.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded that
we approve the minutes from June 11th. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved.
Item #5A
PRESENTATION OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BUSINESS OF
THE MONTH FOR JULY 2019 TO PELICAN WIRE. ACCEPTED
BY TED BILL, OWNER, AND TRENT DUNN, MARKETING
MANAGER. ALSO PRESENT IS BETHANY SAWYER,
REPRESENTING THE GREATER NAPLES CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE – PRESENTED
July 9, 2019
Page 11
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, we move to Item 5 this morning,
your presentations.
Item 5A is a presentation of the Collier County Business of the
Month for July 2019 to Pelican Wire, to be accepted this morning by
Ted Bill, the Owner, and Trent Dunn, the Marketing Manager of
Pelican Wire, along with Bethany Sawyer representing the Greater
Naples Chamber of Commerce.
If you'd please step forward and receive your award.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Congratulations.
MR. BILL: Good morning, Commissioners.
On behalf of the employee/owners of Pelican Wire, I'd like to
thank you for naming us Collier County Business of the Month. We
have watched Collier County grow over the past 40 years and are
proud to have grown along with it.
We -- I was admiring the plaques outside that have the
milestones of the county. And we weren't here when the first train
pulled in in 1927, but we were here when the last train pulled out.
We started a small pole barn building on an unpaved Taylor Road
over in J&C Industrial Park, and we have grown into our
33,000-square-foot facility that we operate today out in White Lake
Industrial Park.
We started literally as a mom and pop business to our now 80
employees in Collier County and over 150 employees worldwide.
In 2018, we sold over 16 million worth of wire products all
manufactured here in Collier County, sold thr oughout the country and
throughout the world. I'd like to boast that we're on the positive side
of the trade deficit.
During a visit last week, Commissioner Taylor introduced me to
the Innovation Zone No. 9 which includes the property where we
July 9, 2019
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operate today. I'm very excited to see that you are using funds to
invest in companies that are here and dedicated to growing in Collier
County and not just for those that are interested in relocating to our --
to our great county.
I know an area of continued interest is affordable housing for
our workforce. I'd encourage the Commission to focus on this issue.
If we don't find solutions for Collier County, we will have a transient
workforce that doesn't live in the county they work, or worse, we'll
start to see businesses move to the places where those workforces are
located. I have to admit that thought has crossed my mind more than
once.
To put numbers to it, just 10 years ago over 85 percent of our
workforce had Collier County addresses. Today that number is down
to 65 percent. And we continue to find new employees out of areas
such as San Carlos Park and Lehigh Acres.
About a month ago a group of our employees volunteered with
Habitat for Humanity hanging insulation inside the townhomes that
they're building down near 951. It was a hot day. We sweated a lot
hanging that insulation. But they're a great organization, and they
can be part of the solution, and I'd encourage you to support that
organization, but we must find other ways.
So thank you again for your -- the honor that you've bestowed
upon us today. We hope to work together with you to keep Collier
County a wonderful place to work and live. If you're ever interested
in how we manufacture wire, I'm more than happy to show you
around, show you how we do it, introduce you to some of your
constituents that work at our facility.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
Item #5B
July 9, 2019
Page 13
UPDATE ON RECENT GROWTH, EXPANSION AND
ACHIEVEMENTS OF ARTHREX, INC. PRESENTED BY DAVID
BUMPOUS, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, ARTHREX,
INC. - UPDATE GIVEN
MR. OCHS: Item 5B is a report from David Bumpous, the
Senior Director of Operations at Arthrex, on the plans and
achievements for the company.
Good morning, Dave.
MR. BUMPOUS: Good morning. David Bumpous, Senior
Director of Operations from Arthrex. It's a pleasure to be with you
this morning. It's always a pleasure to present before the Board and
see everyone.
I'd like to specifically thank Commissioner Taylor for inviting
me today to say a few words about the recent growth and expansion
that's been occurring within Arthrex as well as talk about Arthrex's
perspective on affordable housing.
Briefly, if you've spent any time or passed through the
Immokalee/Goodlette-Frank area anytime last year, you've certainly
seen some changes occurring around the Arthrex campus.
Very exciting time for us. Our projects are on time and
currently slightly ahead of schedule, which is very exciting.
The innovation, technology, and education center, the large
building, is slated to hopefully have CO by December or in
December of this year, as well as the hotel and, of course, the
wellness center probably leading the way being smaller buildings, as
well as Goodlette-Frank Road improvements are beginning soon, and
a lot of appreciation and thanks to the county and county staff. They
have been outstanding in working with us through the permitting
process, the inspection processes, and, quite frankly, I know as busy
July 9, 2019
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as everything is in the county right now, we've put a lot of extra
pressure on you to keep up, and we appreciate that greatly.
Also, you're all aware that we recently expanded into South
Carolina, specifically in our manufacturing operations. Very pleased
to announce that we recently received our certificate of occupancy on
300,000 of square feet of manufacturing as well as support operations
there in the upstate of South Carolina, and we were actually making
parts within seven days of receiving CO. So very exciting for us, as
you can imagine.
And that's an important point, because it leads into affordable
housing and how it affects us all.
Why do we -- hit the right button here.
So why am I here to talk about affordable housing? Hopefully
you all know who Arthrex is. We're certainly one of the largest
employers in Collier County and Southwest Florida, having
operations here in Collier County as well as Lee County. We're also
one of the largest companies in our field globally, expanding at an
unprecedented rate that requires a tremendous amount of growth and
infrastructure that this board and the county has always supported and
we're very grateful for; however, it also requires people, good people.
And being in a high-wage, high-tech industry, you would think that
would not be a problem, but I'm here to tell you it is.
When we have engineers from other parts of the country that
just simply tell us it's too expensive to live here, that creates,
certainly, challenges for us.
We're fortunate that a lot of our manufacturing is further out into
Eastern Collier County. We now have 1,700 employees that work in
our operations out in the Ave Maria and Immokalee area. So, again,
very good things for us. Very good things for the county.
But as a company that puts nearly two billion dollars annually
back into the local economy. Keeping in mind, that's revenue coming
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from outside this county and outside this country. We want to
continue to grow here. We want to continue to thrive and be a
valuable part of the local community, and certainly the only way we
can do that is to encourage local children growing up to get their
educations, to learn skills to stay local, to be able to recruit people
from outside the area.
So am I going to give you a magic bullet today? Of course not.
Are we going to solve this problem unequivocally? Of course not.
We have laws on the books that say you can't break the law. We still
have laws broken every day. But there's so many implications and
ramifications that come with the current situation that we are in here
in Collier County.
You know, the full-time growth in this area as well as,
obviously, the snowbirds and the seasonal growth that we see has
tremendous impacts. Most of us that have been here for a while,
we've learned to adapt to that quite well. That is more challenging,
though, for new people that are coming to the area.
And then certainly the market impacts. Listen, we're very, very
fond of the market and glad that the markets control everything we
do. In fact, when you tinker with the markets, we've learned from
California and other states it can create massive problems.
So the reason this is important, though, is because we have to
look at other alternatives, other creative ways.
You know the perception that we often run into here in Collier
County is, well, I just moved here; don't let anyone else in. We've all
heard that. We've all experienced that. Heck, we've all probably felt
that a time or two in our time here. But what does it do? It
dramatically impacts our recruitment. It dramatically impacts
companies like the gentleman that just spoke.
And, again, being a company that recruits from around the
globe, I can only imagine how difficult it is for smaller engineering
July 9, 2019
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and manufacturing and support companies that are in this area -- how
difficult it is for them to recruit. They don't have the advantages we
have. They don't have the horsepower, if you will.
So it's certainly something that's of concern. And being a
company that prides itself in having virtually no turnover, we are
beginning to see more turnover, and it tends to be because the
economy's well and people are moving out of the area where it's more
affordable. That's directly what the exit interviews tell us.
And then safety. Well, how is safety a factor? Well, if anyone
watched the news this morning, they definitely saw this. The top
picture is a routine day driving north on I-75. The bottom picture is
actually as common as the top picture.
I drive to our Fort Myers office several times a week, and this is
what I experience. And this is not in season. This is out of season.
We also hear that, much like the gentleman that spoke earlier, we
hear that from candidates that we try to recruit from Lee County and
surrounding areas. They just don't want to have to deal with this.
They don't want to be part of the accident that occurred this morning
at roughly 6:30 on the interstate.
There was also an accident this morning on Immokalee Road.
Immokalee Road, arguably, is worse than I -75 during an accident.
So these are all factors that certainly play into what we need to
pay attention to. Again, we're not going to solve the low -income or
the affordable housing 100 percent, but it's certainly important that
we continue to make strides to gain some ground so we can address
things such as this commuting and the hazards that come along with
it.
I recently was having dinner with my wife and began a
conversation with our -- the young lady that was waiting on us, and
she began telling us that she's a third-grade teacher here in Collier
County, but she waits tables in the evening, and she actually has a
July 9, 2019
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third job.
And I said, wow, you must be -- you're obviously very busy.
And she said, I have to be to put meat on the table, to pay my rent,
and to continue to live in a county that I grew up in and not li ve with
my parents. That's quite telling when that's the situation.
So I was very fortunate. It's summertime. I brought my young
son with me today to see how the government works and to get a
chance to see Dad speak in public, but at the same time I wan t him to
have opportunities here. I want him to be able to grow up and stick
around and afford to live here and enjoy this paradise that we call
Collier County.
I appreciate all the efforts of the Board, all the committees, the
analysis, the planning. The things that have happened prior to today,
certainly we need to continue that.
Incentives. Incentives are obviously a great way to improve and
to encourage people to look at alternatives.
Being creative. Coming from a company that is so innovative
and driven, again, I don't know today what that solution is for us, but
there's certainly some solutions out there that will give us some relief.
Special taxes such as the 1 percent increase. Again, with the
hundreds of millions of construction that we have underway right
now, I feel like we're probably contributing significantly to that sales
tax here in Collier County.
But we just cannot maintain the status quo. If we maintain the
status quo, we're going to look up in 10 years, 15 years, and
companies like Arthrex will have to take even more operations out of
the county, out of the town. And, again, I go back to the billions of
dollars that are coming into the local economy, not just being passed
around Collier County but are actually being generated and brought
in from outside. And that's in the good times and the bad.
So I really appreciate your time today. Thank you for the
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Page 18
invitation to come and share a little insight from one of your largest
and most successful employers in Collier County. I appreciate it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
Item #5C
PRESENTATION BY JOE MINICOZZI OF URBAN3,
PROVIDING COLLIER-SPECIFIC FISCAL DATA,
PROJECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO
LONG-TERM GROWTH POLICIES IN RURAL TOWNS AND
VILLAGES AND IN URBAN INFILL AND REDEVELOPMENT
AREAS – PRESENTED
MR. OCHS: Item 5C is a presentation by Joe Minicozzi of
Urban3 providing Collier-specific fiscal data, projections, and
recommendations related to long-term growth policies.
MR. MINICOZZI: Commissioners, thank you. Thanks for
allowing me this presentation. My name is Joe Minicozzi. I'm the
Principal of Urban3, a data analysis firm in Asheville -- based in
Asheville, North Carolina. And I want to thank you for the
opportunity for letting me present here but also give you some
information. I'm going to move pretty fast through a lot of stuff.
I didn't want to short you some of the information that your
public is going to see. There's two presentations tonight and one
tomorrow morning. So I'm going to give you the meat of the
information. But also when I talk about cities, I'm going to give you
some analyses but also some analogies.
When I talk about cities, the first thing I want to put in your
July 9, 2019
Page 19
mind is think about cities as places in time and counties as places in
time as well; that your city's growing up. It's got DNA. Kind of like
I have DNA. The two of you have DNA, right.
So this is how I started my life, and this is my trajectory. I'm not
going to change that path to being my grandfather, whether I like it or
not, right or, more importantly, there's my path of becoming my
father.
Now, I look at my family's history. I'm Italian. I like to eat a lot
of food, because Italians do, but we also have a pre-genetic
disposition to heart disease, so I have to watch what I eat, and I have
to exercise, right? There's stuff baked in my DNA that I have to be
careful about.
As I give all of this information, I want you to ask yourself these
questions: Who is Collier County? What do you want to be when
you grow up? And who is your grandparent? What DNA can you
learn from around the state of Florida and what can you take forward
as you wrestle with affordable housing issues? There are people that
have been down this road before. My dad has been down this road
before, so I have to learn from that, right? So we'll come back to
that.
What we do is, at data and analytic, is kind of like think of the
way your doctor may look at your brain. You can see your brain
stem processes and the blue stuff as well as your creative stuff in the
green.
So can I do an economic analysis of your city the same way? So
let's go back to Ashville for a second and think of this as a base level
just to see my county.
So the gray stuff are parks. We have the Mount Mitchell and
Pisgah. Green is low value, so you see green in the not low bar up
here. Green is low value. Purple is high value. So this big purple
splotch right here is the Biltmore Estate. It's worth $100 million.
July 9, 2019
Page 20
Now, when Bill Cecil shows up at a council meeting, we all
genuflect and thank him for his time. His house is worth
$100 million. But it's kind an unfair way of looking at it. His house
is 180,000 square feet. It's the biggest house in the United States, and
he sits on 2,000 acres of land.
So he's got the biggest gas tank, right? Biggest gas tank means
the most miles, but it doesn't mean the most efficiency. We say miles
per gallon rather than miles per tank. And we say value per acre.
The map changes, and we get a better idea of relative productivity of
my county. And I'll just show it to you in new 3D.
Does anybody want to guess where downtown Asheville is?
And you can see this big purple spike right here. But we can also see
10 miles away the Village of Black Mountain, and we can see its
downtown out here. So this is the little sister to us in downtown.
So the physical form of the city is telling you about the productivity
of that place for my whole entire county, right?
So this is the type of analyses that we do with you all is basically
how do we visualize Collier County. But we also find weird things.
We did West Palm Beach back in 2017. You can pretty much tell
where the ocean is. But we find odd stuff when we do analyses like
this.
These are two buildings downtown two blocks away from each
other. But look at the numbers. That three-story building is actually
more productive than the skyscraper. The three-story building is
10.5 million an acre, and the skyscraper is 9.2 million an acre. Who
would have thought that a small building is more productive than a
big building?
So allow yourself some ability to get past your biases, get past
the way you think the city operates, and allow yourself to let the data
inform the discussion.
So for you all, first of all, let's get through the county tax
July 9, 2019
Page 21
system, how all of Florida works, basically, but your own millage
rates. We're just a bunch of dumb idiots from North Carolina. Our
tax system's really crude. We basically have a market value to get
the taxable reduction to a taxable value. Boom. That's it. That's how
our state tax system works.
You-all are a little bit more complicated. First of all, you
separate the distinction between residential and commercial
differently than we do, but your city millage rate for Naples is about
1 mill. Your county millage rate is about three times that at 3.5 mills.
And you have an unincorporated county millage rate that's an
additional .8 mills or about a mill for folks that are in the
unincorporated area. But -- so a Naples resident's paying about, let's
call it, five mills in taxes on value.
Right out the door your state gives you an exemption if you're
residential, so you get a $25,000 haircut just because you live in a
house, which we don't have in our state, and that was so good your
voters -- that you all went ahead and adopted a second one. So you
get a second exemption of 25,000. So the taxable value for that
$100,000 of value drops to 50,000 for that residential versus 100,000
for commercial.
So another way of looking at it is that your commercial
properties pay a higher level of freight on taxes versus residential,
which allows some affordability for residential.
You give an additional 25,000 if you're a senior. I didn't realize
that there was -- trying to get a whole bunch of retirees down here in
Florida and you had to offer an incentive, but that's the way I look at
it.
So just looking at $100,000 of value, a residential property in
Naples is paying about 200 bucks per hundred thousand, and
commercial's about 475. So commercial's paying about 200 percent
more per hundred thousand.
July 9, 2019
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Now, here's where it gets crazy. You-all adopted this cap rate
on growth and value, the Save Our Homes Act. So you capped
commercial at 10 percent. It can grow up to 10 percent and stop.
Your residential, however, is restricted down to about 3 percent or
CPI, which is ever lower of the two.
Now, this is a tremendous problem when 80 percent of your land
use is residential, right, because the majority of your land use is now
constricted to its growth value.
So we were in Brevard County, which is where Melbourne is.
Their county assessor did this really cool chart. And what you notice
here is here's what's going on with the market value. And, indeed,
you see earlier with the takeoff of the market, everything balloons up,
and then this is the assessed value. So that cap is actually really
good. It keeps you from going crazy when a boom goes on. But t he
problem is, is this gap here.
Notice what happened in the recession. Everything conflates or
deflates down, and then when the market starts taking off again, the
value of -- the taxable value of the county is now held down because
of that cap.
Now, let me ask you a question. What happens to the price of
concrete? The price of asphalt? The price of labor? Does it stay
constricted to 3 percent or CPI? No. The price of everything in your
marketplace is going up, which is causing an affordability issue,
because you can't keep up with that stuff from a government level.
You all have your revenue supply restricted.
Now, out here in the private world, we don't have that problem.
I have to raise more money to pay more salaries and everything else.
You-all can't because your tax level is constricted.
So as the costs go up, your revenues don't. So as you feel that
pressure for your county, just realize that this is one of the things
that's causing it, and this you can thank your state legislature for.
July 9, 2019
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So this is just one of the things that we noticed. And you're not
alone. Other counties are having the same problem.
So from a valuation standpoint, here's your county's total value.
So think of this as miles per tank. And when you look at this , you see
big splotches for these large properties, and, sure enough, they pop
up. But, again, that's not telling you efficiency. So this is value per
acre where you start to see that heat shift toward the gulf, which you
know.
And then here's your three-dimensional model. So this is
showing you your productivity. And typical of a Florida community,
you have a lot of value on the beaches, and it spreads out.
One of the things to note here, again, think back to the model of
my county, and we have a little sister floating out nine miles away.
Where's your little sister? Where is the community's and towns and
villages out in the county? And you can see Ave Maria kind of pops
up right here, and here's Immokalee. But, generally speaking, it's
relatively flat through your system.
One of the things that we're trying to get our brain around is the
size of your county. You're 2,305 square miles, which is
tremendously large. You all know that. So from a relative
standpoint, you're twice the size of Rhode Island. Do you-all see
yourselves as you twice the size of Rhode Island? Or ask yourself
the question. We only have, what, maybe half a dozen municipalities
inside our county. Could you imagine Rhode Island or two Rhode
Islands with half a dozen municipalities? So why is that not
happening? Why is that development pattern happening differently
from you all?
You're about the size of Delaware in land area. Could you
imagine Delaware having about a half a dozen municipalities within
it or, more importantly, you're about half the size of Connecticut.
So as you think about your land patterns, think about the
July 9, 2019
Page 24
questions you ask yourself. Is it -- you have a commonplace problem
where you're having people commuting across your county for work.
Could you imagine commuting all across all of Delaware to find
employment?
So there's a way that you're developing your pattern of land use
that's not consistent with the land area that you have and the
opportunity that you have, and maybe think of that mindset a little bit
differently. But this is a little bit mind-blowing for us.
Also you have a tremendous territory that you have that's
basically in preserves. So we went ahead, and for going here
forward, we pretty much lopped that piece off, because it's not part of
what you can control anyway, and it's really pretty much off the
table.
So thinking about that land use area that you currently have
which is about the size of Delaware -- or sorry. This is about one and
a half Rhode Islands right here that you're looking at. Here's Naples
from a value-per-acre standpoint, and here's its 3D.
There's some interesting stuff here. Obviously , you can see the
value along the coast. But what's interesting is how downtown starts
to pop up right here, and we'll come back into this in a second. And
here's the downtown's valuation. And, again, you can see Fifth Street
coming through here in the older part of town versus the newer part
of Fifth Ave.
Here's Marco Island. And it's interesting, there's actually a
lower level of valuation on the inside, of course, because it has less
water access in there.
Everglades City is pretty flat, but you can pretty much see where
the valuation is. And then here's Ave Maria. Now, this is -- the
parcels out here for the downtown were surprisingly flat, but it was
also because they have tremendously large surface parking areas that
are conjoined with them. When you release the building from the
July 9, 2019
Page 25
surface parking lot, it pops up here to here. So it's about -- peaking at
about 7.5 million per acre. A Walmart's about $500,000 per acre, put
it in perspective.
So your county is about 70 percent nontaxable. When you cut
off the preserve area, you're about 15 percent nontaxable. That's
about average for a county. Usually we see them around 30 percent.
You're maybe below average. Your city is -- of Naples is about
28 percent nontaxable. That's about average for a city. And your
downtown's about 30 percent.
And you think about these areas. Like, in my town we have
county buildings, city buildings, state buildings, churches that are all
nontaxable in our downtown. We're at about 40 percent nontaxable,
which is -- maybe we're on the high end in Asheville.
Here's Immokalee in 3D. And so from a -- your county
standpoint, your city is a proportion of your county. So all of the city
residents are also county taxpayers. They're taking up about
2 percent of the land area of the county, and they're producing about
30 percent of the county's value, which you know is productive. It's a
highly valuable place. It's about a 1-in-16 ratio of productivity,
which is -- which is about on the -- you know, Asheville is actually a
little bit higher for our county's productivity. But this is still potent.
Your downtown of Naples to Naples is a 6 percent of the city's
land area. It's about 5 percent of the city's value. So it's about a -- it's
actually -- it's less productive than its consumption, which is on the
low end but, obviously, they have condos facing the beach that are
really high.
And then your downtown to you all. So your downtown barely
takes up a percent of land area of the county. It's been 1.3 percent of
the county's value. That's a 1-to-13 ratio of productivity. So it
actually benefits you to have a more healthy downtown. It produces
a tremendous amount of county taxes in the process.
July 9, 2019
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Retail sales, we measured those. I'll just kind of jump ahead so
you can see it. This is the retail sales in green on top of your property
tax productivity. So we tend to get distracted by retail transactions,
but they help, but they generally don't amount to a lot compared to
your property tax productivity in Florida.
For states like Colorado, Alabama, California, the cities depend
more on retail tax than what you all get.
And then this is stripping out the non-retail uses. So you can see
the true productivity of the retail consumption and where those areas
are.
So, generally speaking, most of your retail productivity is
coming from along the vertical spine through downtown Naples.
So building typology. Your average Walmart's about $500,000
of value per acre. Your Home Depot is about let's call it $600,000 of
value per acre, a little bit more than a Walmart. And we keep
Walmarts on the lower right here as, like, a benchmark. It's kind of
like a Big Mac index or something for Walmarts. Your South
Naples -- Naples South Plaza is a little bit more than a Walmart.
Here's what's kind of interesting. The strip mall over in
Immokalee is actually more productive than a Walmart at about
$700,000 of value per acre. And, again, allow yourself the ability to
see these numbers and get past your biases of what you think may be
happening. This is the true productivity of your real estate, which is
actually a little bit -- oops -- a little bit less than a Costco, that
Immokalee strip. And then here's your Target at 760 -.
These are all typical of what we find in a lot of places. Your
Carillon Place is about a million an acre. Coastland Mall is about 1.3
million. Waterside Shops is double that at about 2 million.
And then you get into your housing. You do have a pretty high
peak for single-family housing. It peaks out at about $34 million of
value per acre. Somebody has a really expensive house somewhere
July 9, 2019
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in Naples.
But your average for your whole entire community, your county,
is somewhere around $750,000 of value per acre. So you can see this
is that chart showing the clusters more toward that 700,000.
When you get into your multifamily, you're averaging about a
million. So your multifamily is actually more productive than your
single-family at a base level across the average at about $250,000
more.
Typically, we get a lot of people that tell us that multifamily is
subsidized or affordable, and we're like, it's actually producing more
production for you all.
When you get into the Mercato, you're about four million or
double the good mall of productivity. And you get onto Fifth Street
(sic), you're starting around 24 million and 26 million of value per
acre. We were a little surprised by the Little Luxe. It's really killing
it at 26 million an acre.
Naples Square is about 28 million an acre of value. Now, again,
that's also paying county taxes at that level, that productivity. They're
about -- let's call it about 40 times the productivity of a Walmart.
This building here was pretty surprising at about 28 million an
acre. And then this is at 30. And your condos by the beach are
crushing it at about 50 million and 83 million at the peak end and
somewhere all in the smattering between that.
This is a bar chart. I'm not going to go through all this, but the
big takeaways here are green is mixed use, red is single use
commercial, and blue is residential. Those condos by the ocean or by
the gulf are all the blue stuff on the far right. But you see how flat it
is when you get into your commercial product that's along the strip.
So even though you're taxing it higher, it's actually a lower level
of valuation per unit versus your stuff that you'd find in and around
main street. And that main street stuff is reproducible.
July 9, 2019
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So to put it in comparison, about .4 acres of 365 Fifth Street on
the left would equal the 13-acre Walmart. Apples to apples, dollars
for dollars. You only need less than half an acre of that building to
equal a 13-acre property.
You need two acres of the Inn on Fifth to equal the five-acre
Cove Inn. And, again, these are relatively close to each other in
downtown.
About one-and-a-quarter acres of the Mercato would equal the
nine-acres Naples South Plaza. And six acres -- or let's call it
six-and-a-half acres of the Immokalee strip would equal the 12.5-acre
Courthouse Shadows in Naples.
So, again, it's -- think of your productivity differently and think
about these number differently. About half an acre of Lit tle Luxe
would equal the 14-acre Costco.
So when you look at the meat of that stuff in and around Fifth
Street (sic) and think of it a little bit differently, let's put these two
side by side. Now, again, I know these are in the Naples area, but the
building on the left is three stories. The building on the right is 17
stories, yet the three-story building is half the value of the 17-story
building.
So if you just stack it on top of itself and do a six-story building,
or if someone in Naples did, that would equal the value of a 17-story
building. You don't have to build tall buildings to have productivity.
Another thing is density. This is a duplex right here, and this is
a four-plex right there. And, again, though these buildings are in
around Third Ave, these are building types that can be reproduced out
in the county. So this is a duplex, you split that down the middle, and
this is a quad.
These buildings are pulling 10 and 7 million dollars of value per
acre. They're really potent for their little footprint. And the one on
the right is -- I hope nobody here lives there. Nothing to write home
July 9, 2019
Page 29
about architecturally. It's just a box with a mansard roof on top of it,
yet it's pulling $7 million of value per acre. It's potent because of its
density and location.
But what's crazy is the one on the left is 17 units an acre, and the
one on the right is 24 units an acre. I've heard a lot of conversation
about unit counts, and oftentimes we chase that number without
really knowing what we're talking about from a "why density?" Is
density bad? Is density good? Who would have thought that those
two buildings were 17 and 24 units an acre?
The reason why I bring that up -- we'll talk about from a density
standpoint is -- and valuation. Let me kind of just jump ahead.
So we measured your typologies of your RLSAs and your urban
design districts. And if you just look at the -- this is just a sampling.
We made this as kind of a diagram actually based on -- this goes back
to the 1800s. Ebenezer Howard is a famous practitioner of urban
design who talks about conceptual layouts of cities, and this is a
diagram he made of a utopian city with a core. And then you have --
so think of this as your downtown and you'd have a series of little
sisters out in the countryside.
So if you think of that diagram as a little sister, and you restrict
it to .5 dwelling units per acre, that's going to hold your value to
about, let's call it $200 million for that 2,500-acre area, right. When
you increase the density to 2.5 million across that whole system --
and it's not going to say it's uniform 2.5. You might have or you
should have more of a core in the center of the entire density. Think
of this as those quadplexes and duplexes and mixed-use buildings
along a main street. As you step down, it should reduce this density
that's about $700 million of value for that total area versus the
200 million.
So now you're increasing your valuation. As you increase the
density, the valuation goes up. Here at four units an acre you're at a
July 9, 2019
Page 30
billion of value.
So to put these side by side by side, you can see as that density
increases, so does the valuation and, ultimately, the infrastructure has
to be paid for. So how do you get that money to pay for the
infrastructure that you have to carry?
So you have to consider the valuation that comes out of that to
cover the infrastructure. And it's not just when that infrastructure
goes in. It's when you have to fix it 40 years from now.
One of the ways to think about -- we were having conversations
about why would you do a main street in the middle of nowhere?
What does that look like? And we did a project up in Winter Haven.
And I don't know if you all have ever been to Winter Haven, but it's
in the middle of nowhere. It doesn't have an ocean or gulf or nothing
of any amenity to it. It was an orange plantation town. Yet back in
the day, in the 1920s, it was common sense to build a main street. So
they built this main street. Here's an old postcard. And here are two
buildings side by side. The one on the right is empty. The one on the
left has been renovated. So these buildings were built by their great
grandparents, and they're just sitting around in their downtown.
So to put these in comparison, on the left is the empty building,
and it -- empty it's produced $87,000 in taxes per acre. And we
compared that to the Walmart. The Walmart's producing one-tenth
that at 86 -- 8,600. That's an empty building more productive than a
Walmart. When you fix that empty building, it's now up to 227,000
in taxes per acre versus the Walmart at 8.6 -- or 8,000.
So one of the things to bear in mind, when you think of why this
development pattern happens, it makes sense. You're taxing me less
if I build a Walmart. It's a cheap throwaway building, and it
consumes a lot of real estate. I take more of your infrastructure, and
you charge me less in taxes. It's not to hate the player that builds it.
It's to understand the game that runs your revenue model, right.
July 9, 2019
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You're a multi-billion-dollar corporation. You have a cash flow.
You need to understand that cash flow and how it affects the
marketplace, and you are subsidizing something one way or another.
So be mindful of that subsidy and make sure that you're getting the
best bang for your dollars investment or invest the thing properly that
you need to have to maintain an efficient county.
So going higher to the RFMUD models, this is at 2,000 acres.
This is .5 dwelling units. Again, approximate 161 million an acre --
or of total value. As you increase the density of the three dwelling
units, it goes up to 400. And when you get up to seven units -- and,
again, we're building up that spine with more of a Winter Haven
typology down the main street, and now you're about a billion.
And so be mindful of those rules as you set to build a village.
Make sure that it's got all of the ingredients of a village and not just a
scattering of uses that aren't connected. The rule of the village should
be that it's all connected together. I should be able to walk to get a
gallon of milk or something, right. So we can learn from these
typologies.
As you get to 12 units an acre -- and I know that sounds scary,
but that's now two billion dollars of taxable value. Now, it's going to
be more expensive to build from a development's perspective, so find
a way to seed that revenue. Could it be through a tax increment
financing investment or some -- you can think of your taxes
differently in that area to offer a tax break for affordability or that
mix of uses.
But, ultimately, when you say -- let's see. That 12 units an acre
may sound scary, but when you put it in relative terms, the building
on the left is 17 units an acre. So both of these buildings -- and the
one on the right is double the density that I just showed you. So is
that building scary or intense or too difficult? And that's something
to bear in mind. And the market's proving that people want to be
July 9, 2019
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there because obviously that choice is there.
Now, just around the corner is this building, and, you know, it
doesn't even have a ground-floor use. It's all sitting on top of a
parking garage, basically, but it's pulling about $20 million of value
per acre, and it's 18 units an acre.
So the reason why these buildings have that higher density and
the people who want to be in that area are making those purchasing
choices is because of their ability to get to Fifth Street (sic). So there
are some lessons that are there about the walkability of that main
street environment that are transferable in Immokalee, Ave Maria, or
wherever, that you can use those rules. When you separate those
uses, it changes you into a different class of development pattern.
So infrastructure liability. One of the problems with the way
that we look at infrastructure -- and, you know, this will probably
blow your mind a little bit. But when we build buildings and I put an
air conditioner on top of the building, I'm going to make a reserve
account to fix that air conditioner, right? I'm going to charge you-all
rent annually to save money because it's going to cost me a $100
million -- or $100,000 to fix that air conditioner on my eight-story
building. It's expensive. So I can't just reach into my pocket and pull
that money. I have to cultivate it.
When you look at your budgets -- and it's even worse for cities.
Our CAFR standards require us to put roads into an asset ledger,
right? A road's not an asset. It's a liability. Now, in my business, my
computer's my asset, or if I had delivery vehicles, those are assets.
Or if I had real estate, those are assets. Those all depreciate, but
they're also transferable, right. You can sell your car, your computer,
or your house, or building, right. Can you pick your roads up, and
can you sell them to Lee County? Can you sell your pipes to Dade
County? No. You're stuck with them. And once they're in your
system, you have to pay them every 40 years. You have to rebuild
July 9, 2019
Page 33
those -- maybe 50 years or 60 if you're lucky.
So we looked at your roads -- and this was kind of
mind-blowing. You have about 3,000 of (sic) roads in your county
which would stretch from here to San Francisco. That's a lot of
asphalt. Now, that's your total system. That's state, federal, and local
roads that you don't control inside Naples.
When you look at just your county -maintained roads, you can
get all the way to Houston. A thousand miles of roads is a lot. Now,
as you start adding more lanes and widening them, that becomes
more liability. So you may think that you're solving transportation
issues, but it's like fighting obesity by buying bigger clothes. The
more you -- sorry for that analogy, but it's an Italian family thing,
right. It works, right? Yeah. So I feel good when I get that new
wardrobe, but if I don't change my diet, I get fat again, right? It's not
changing the pattern.
So that -- we estimate your yearly maintenance should be
somewhere around $65 million a year. That should be your set-aside
that you should have as a reserve account for your maintenance
system of your roads. This is something to talk to your engineers
about.
Now, again, it's not the fault of your municipal agents. This is
the fault of how the CAFR model works. I've been working with the
Government Finance Officers Association to try to get that tweaked,
because it just -- it just allows you to not see that number. So -- but
I'm sure if you talk to your Public Works Department, they know that
number.
The other thing that's kind of weird in the model in any
system -- this is Cheyenne, Wyoming. So if you take the -- if you
take the buildings off the dirt and just throw the buildings away and
just look at the dirt per acre, I was presenting this in Cheyenne,
Wyoming, and you look at this neighborhood right here, and you see
July 9, 2019
Page 34
the dirt per acre up here in the upper left is -- everything's blue. So
this is fair. Everybody in this neighborhood has the same value per
acre.
But when I was presenting this to the community, I said, what's
going on here where this is blue at $15,000 an acre, and when you
cross the street in the same zoning category, it doubles to $40,000 an
acre? How could land double in value in the same zoning district
when you just cross a road?
And the tax assessor was sitting in the front row, and she raises
her hand. And she goes, you don't understand. And I was like, what
am I missing? What do I not understand?
She goes, well, they have more land, and the more land you
have, the lower the value. That was the look that the mayor gave,
and he almost started laughing so hard he almost spat coffee out of
his nose. I was like, hold on a second. I've got three miles of land
road around here. This fellow's got 200 feet. She goes, yeah, we
don't count infrastructure as part of the valuation.
I said, so your money in, you don't want to know whether you're
getting back?
She goes, no, that's not part of our standard.
And I said all right. Well, I'm sure that this property right here
probably has more trips. More trips mean more car accidents. More
car accidents mean more fire calls, more police calls. Do you charge
for that?
She goes, no, that's not part of our standard.
I'm like, so you don't have any municipal connection between cost
and how to get your money back?
And she goes, no, that's not part of our standard.
So I actually went to the International Association of Tax
Assessing Officers conference and presented this there -- which is
like the squarest conference I've ever been to, and I asked them –
July 9, 2019
Page 35
their magazine is called Fair and Equitable.
I said, how is this fair and how is this equitable?
They're like, it's not.
I'm like, where did this standard come from? Did Moses deliver
it to you?
They're like, we don't know. Seriously. I'm not making this up.
So when you think of the market forces and dynamics, when you
tax people less for larger tracts of land, it's going to drive valuation.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I was --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Darth Vader.
MR. MINICOZZI: Oh, okay. So when you look across your
model, we see this. When you -- you know, obviously the dirt value
in Naples is really high; that's no surprise. But when you get into the
model and kind of zoom in, you can see how the smaller tracts are
more valuable than the smaller -- let's get over here; we can see it.
See how the outparcels are so much more valuable than the
bigger tracts behind them? So think about that; how it affects your
commercial property and commercial valuation. And you can see it
pretty clearly right here in particular in the lower right.
So, okay. Just to close, you-all are $8.4 billion worth of taxable
value. As a corporation, you are an $84 billion corporation, and
you're the board of directors. So you're worth more than all of the
professional sports teams in the entire state. Think about this from a
data perspective. You're managing a really complex corporation.
You're about -- Naples is about 20 Buccaneers. You-all are about 76
Buccaneers. I use this as an analogy because, you know, our parent
company owns a nightclub. I can tell you that cups in the nightclub
cost five cents a pop. Why do I know that? Well, I know that
because we have to stay in business, and we have to make sure that
we can get that price for buying compostable cornstarch cups. We
had to charge a little bit more for our beer because we have to stay in
July 9, 2019
Page 36
business.
So I can tell you that Malcolm Glazer knows Jameis Winston's
towel bill. You know, you need to understand the cost of all of these
streets, the infrastructure, the pipes, how it's all tied together. These
land-use decisions, how it affects your bottom line, not just today but
40, 50 years from now when you're going to have these problems.
And a lot of decisions that -- problems you're stuck with right
now are decisions that happened in the '70s and the '60s that you're
still living with.
So we call this geo-accounting. Put your data on a map. I'm
not -- this is your community. I'm not making choices for you-all.
Like, your accountant doesn't care if you buy a boat, right? Your
accountant cares if you can afford a boat.
So make sure you're running these numbers and making
conscious choices about the long-term costs of this for your
community. And we put numbers on a map is all we do. And --
thanks, we did math.
But I'm available for questions. Sorry I went a little bit over.
And I'm presenting tonight at the South Regional Library at 5:30 and
then tomorrow again as a public presentation at the Orange Blossom
library at 9:30 a.m.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And, Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. This is not a
question for Mr. Minicozzi, but thank you for the presentation. And
don't leave the podium because I may get back to you.
MR. MINICOZZI: Okay.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And it's really a question for
our staff. We were going to discuss the Rural Lands Stewardship
Area, and that's been put off until October. And I was going to ask
some questions during that discussion, and I thought this is somewhat
relevant to what has just been presented in terms of land values and
July 9, 2019
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densities and clustering of units and that sort of thing.
And I had the occasion to speak with some of the environmental
groups here yesterday, and I also spoke with one of the
representatives of one of the larger landowners out in the rural part of
the county.
And I've been trying to get my arms around how the County
Commission should proceed with dealing with a lot of things that
were put in motion 10, 15 years ago now dealing with the rural lands
and the villages and towns that we're trying to deal with there.
One of the things that the environmental folks kind of agreed
with as well as the landowner representative was that the idea of
retaining some expert that's independent of the landowners,
independent of our local -- large local environmental groups, to
evaluate the five-year study that took place to give us some direction
to what we should do with that. Because we're going to be tasked
with implementing some of those recommendations or all of those
recommendations. I can't personally get my arms around all of that.
And so this is a question for staff. I know at one point there was
some -- and this is going back five or six years ago or longer that
there was some effort to consider hiring some experts to assist staff in
that -- in evaluating that. And I'd like to suggest to the County
Commission that we consider that. We're going to have this come
back in October. We're going to have to make some decisions, and I
think I need that extra guidance. So I guess these are sort of
comments or questions directed to our managers.
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, certainly staff doesn't object to,
you know, some outside analysis or independent analysis on the
RLSA proposals. You've got a staff report that has probably 50
recommendations for you to consider as part of the update to th e
RLSA. And we've had quite a bit of stakeholder input on all of those,
as you might expect.
July 9, 2019
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We're in the process over the summer of trying to see if we can't
narrow down some of the differences in opinions among the various
stakeholders with respect to those 50-some recommendations.
If the Board thinks that we would benefit from some outside
expertise in trying to, you know, further evaluate those
recommendations or work with stakeholders to see if we can't narrow
some of those differences, we certainly don't object to that.
I don't know whether we'd be ready in October if we bring that
expertise in or whether that would take a little bit more time. And I
don't know that that makes any difference to this board at this point.
It's more about, I guess, getting it right --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Getting it right.
MR. OCHS: -- than getting it at a certain time. Did that answer
your question, sir?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That answers the question. I
guess the suggestion is for staff to come back to us in September with
some recommendations on how we could do that evaluation. I don't
think it makes a whole lot of difference if we have a hearing in
October or we have a hearing in January on this. These are decisions
we're going to make that are going to affect the future of this county
forever, and I'd like to make sure we get it right.
And, again, this -- my colleagues on the Board may not be
having any problems understanding all of this, but I'm having some
difficulty. And I think some expertise would certainly help me in
making the right decisions. So that's my goal.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: What area of expertise are you
thinking about?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, I think it would
certainly be land planning and environmental protection. I don't
know what entity would provide that, but there are plenty of them.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Maybe there would be two
July 9, 2019
Page 39
entities.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. And someone even
recommended that a firm like Andre Stuani (phonetic) could come in
and assist us with that type of planning. That's the -- I guess the issue
that I'm trying to deal with.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: What about the issue that we
were just discussing which is the data that says that when we invest
and when we invest taxpayers' money in an area, there's a return, and
to try to look forward 10, 20, 40, 50 years to make sure that return is
maximized?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, certainly that's part of
it. I think it's very interesting to look at a Walmart versus other types
of development, but we have to have Walmarts and those types of
commercial services.
So it's all very interesting. And the part of it that was most
interesting to me was the clustering and the increases in density to
generate those types of returns.
But, again, we've got a plan that's going to be coming to us in
October with, I think staff said, about 50 recommendations, and it's
just very difficult for me to fully appreciate all of those. I don't know
if there's anyone registered to speak. I know there's some --
MR. MINICOZZI: Commissioner Saunders, if I may, that's -- I
went really fast. I go through a lot of information.
And, you know, I actually did a presentation in Colorado. It's a
town called Rifle, Colorado. And the cities in Colorado run -- like,
90 percent of the retail comes to the city. They get 10 percent of the
property tax. So they're really starved for retail dollars, and they
fight tooth and nail to get retail uses.
And they were -- this little town, Rifle, was really proud that
they got a Walmart. And, you know, one of the biases that they --
that people see in my presentation that they -- I should say that they
July 9, 2019
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interpret out of my presentation is that I'm anti -Walmart.
And, you know, frankly, I don't care, you know, one way or
another. I just want you to know the data and know that transactional
cost. So they were proud that they got the Walmart.
And I said to them, I'm like, did you not have the ability to get
toilet paper and jeans before Walmart showed up, or is it about the
price difference that you now get and enjoy with that Walmart? But
there's a transactional cost in paying for that reduced price.
The average Walmart consumes more in police services than it
pays in property taxes. And you could just ask anybody in the
Sheriff's Department if you have one that -- where the sheriffs
maintain. They actually have a policy where because they don't ask
you for a repeat, it actually incents people to steal things, take them
back to the Walmart, and get paid for that thing. They c all it leakage.
The leakage that a Walmart produces would be the 17th largest
retailer in the entire company. And this is just their business model.
Now again, don't hate the player, hate the game, but go into it
consciously realizing that there is a financial exchange to get that
land use.
And I'll show you an example. This is -- the last time I was here
this drawing was sitting right there, and it kind of blew my mind from
a planning perspective, like, that you all are considering investing in
this intersection with this amount of asphalt. That's a really
expensive problem, right. This is a really expensive infrastructure.
So we just said, well, let's just drop it into the model so you can
see the valuation of what's going on around here.
So you're basically investing in infrastructure adjacent to real
estate that will never pay that cost back. I mean, you can see how
low that value is. So when you design an infrastructure that's
essentially designed for a singular purpose, it's going to affect the
land uses around it.
July 9, 2019
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I'm just -- a lot of this is just trying to connect the dots there,
understand that there is a financial ramification to what you have to
pick up for infrastructure based on the land uses around it.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No, I understand that
completely. I was just, again, looking at it -- at basically different
issue, and that is the RLSA issue that we're going to be dealing with
in October.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: The -- the direct correlation --
where are we going?
We have a couple of staff members that I think want to address
what you had brought up, and then I want to talk to Joe about his
most recent statement.
So, Mr. Bosi, you walked in when this was brought up, or
Mr. Cohen. Which one wants to go -- Joe? Excuse us for a second.
MR. COHEN: And to respect your time and other issues on the
agenda, as the manager's indicated, we're looking to bring some
stakeholders together over the summer to be able to narrow the issues
as you understood them, Commissioner.
I think that's separate from the conversation that you're seeing
here that's going to be able to be had later this evening as well as
tomorrow.
Outside consultants -- interestingly, a representative from Dwani
Zeibeck (phonetic) will be here today talking in terms of design,
urban design issues, forms.
So I think as we go forward over the summer, we're going to
have an opportunity, I think, to be able to address a lot of the issues
that have been raised by other stakeholders, both the landowners as
well as the environmentalists.
Back in September, I think, when we meet, we'll be able to
provide at least a snapshot as to where we think we are at that
moment in time, having had those conversations over the summer.
July 9, 2019
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And I think that will probably provide you, as we talk to each of you,
with a better sense of where we are currently.
My concern would be that we start to reinvent the wheel. As we
get more folks involved, we've got a baseline that we did back some
10 or so years ago that we're kind of looking at how we're reforming
and reshaping that. I think we're in a very good position as far as
where we are as far as the issues are concerned, to start to inject some
more players, I think, would start to sideline us as to where we need
to go.
I think we can touch on -- with folks to be able to make sure, as
you're indicating, we're getting it right, but I think we've kind of got a
timeline that will be able to help us get there.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: A couple of questions.
Mr. Cohen, I'm not sure that information is going to be so bad
for this process. And the thing that strikes me and why I'm so
intrigued by Mr. Minicozzi's analysis is that we've never done that.
This is new ground. We don't look at development that way in
Collier County. We've never looked at development that way. And
now we might have the tools to start building something that will
address the issue of establishing neighborhoods to the east and the
congestions on the road and how we -- how we minimize this.
So I don't see this as -- I see it as a delay, and I can understand
your angst about it, but I don't see this as damaging to the process.
MR. COHEN: I think what you're seeing is it's been an ongoing
conversation. Mr. Minicozzi was here earlier in the year to be able to
talk in terms of putting forward these kinds of ideas and issues.
We were able to give you an update as to where we were in the
RLSA and the RFMUD, which is sitting out there for us still to be
able to do. We'll be having conversations with folks over the
summer. We have a public opportunity for Mr. Minicozzi to
July 9, 2019
Page 43
continue to have those conversations about how the process works.
But what we ultimately need to provide to you is that
overarching construct as to where the county's ideas of what
development and that larger framework will work. What you're
seeing here is the more granular as to what development could be on
a project-by-project basis within the context of that overall process.
So what we'll still owe you is how we're going to resolve the
issues between two stakeholder groups, as the manager's indicated, to
narrow those issues down to something that you can then ask us to
move forward with.
This granular component, I think that's the conversation that just
generates out in the general public on an ongoing basis, but that's not
the process that we're engaged in. This is something that I think is a
supplement to that, and my concern would be is as we're looking at
those data inputs, how that relates to the overall fra mework.
And our focus still is to be able to have a framework that allows
for a multiplicity of ways that development can occur, of which this
is one, of which our current process is another.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I would agree with you, but
I don't think one negates the other, and I think it should be a
three-legged stool: Stakeholders -- both sides of stakeholders, the
county, the taxpayers. And we're not considering the taxpayers in
this. We're not considering the cost to the taxpayers in the white
paper that I just read.
Are we considering the concerns of the developers? We're
considering the concerns of the environment, but we're not talking
about the taxpayers, and that's what this does. It talks about taxes
that we can use to run our $84 billion corporation. It makes a lot of
sense to me.
MR. COHEN: Well -- and, ultimately, tax policy clearly is not a
planning issue. What Joe is talking in terms of is how you make
July 9, 2019
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those relative decisions, but we still have to look at the framework in
which those decisions ultimately get made. And then how they get
made on the ground, I think that's a voice of many voices that we'll
talk in terms of how these things ultimately get done.
I think we still are mindful of what the costs are. I mean, I run
the department that has to do the roads and the infrastructure. So,
clearly, those are the things that we do worry about, and that's how
we take a look at the overall planning construct to be able to help us
get from where we are to where we need to be.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Just one quick comment, and
I know that some other people are going to be speaking on this. But
Mr. Cohen you used the phrase "reinvent the wheel" I'm glad you
said that because this wheel was -- again, using that analogy, this
wheel was invented 20 or 15 years ago.
MR. COHEN: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And we're now asked to
implement this program. And I'm not afraid of reinventing the wheel
if that turns out to be the best thing for the future of the county.
And so that's my concern. I just want to make sure we're doing
the right thing when we get into this -- these 50 recommendations.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: You kind of jumped ahead.
Commissioner Solis was a minute ahead of you, but that's okay.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm sorry.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's all right. We understand your
statement. I understood what you said.
Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. One, in terms of the RLSA, I
think -- I think no one has -- on either side of the issues has suggested
that we should reinvent the wheel. I mean, that's -- neither the
conservation community or the landowners have said, you know, this
is a plan that's so flawed that we should start over.
July 9, 2019
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And so I'm a little concerned with reinventing the wheel. I think
this is an ongoing process. None of this needs to be set in stone. And
while I appreciate the analysis that's been given, what I hadn't heard
is how the market -- because Mr. Minicozzi started his analysis by
saying, you know, you don't want to monkey with the markets too
much like you have -- you know, governments have in different
states. California being one of them.
Yes, a Walmart might not produce as much tax revenue as a --
you know, some kind of housing, but yet in most of the places where
Walmarts -- we've had applications to rezone property for a Walmart,
it's not a place where anybody was interested necessarily in doing
residential.
I mean, so the market has to play a big part in this. And I
appreciate this is an interesting way of looking at it, but I think it --
we also have to deal with and plan with what the markets want, what
the residents want, and we deal with what's presented to us. We can't
just say we're not going to have Walmarts because I think -- we can't
do it, right? No, besides that, I mean, we can't do it because --
MR. KLATZKOW: One of your zoning criterias is not
market -- how to maximize our market value. I mean, you know, if
Walmart meets all your zoning criterias, you're getting a Walmart.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right, right. So I think this is -- it
is an interesting way of looking at it, but I think we have to be careful
in how we use this information, because we have certain limitations,
not the least of which is our Land Development Code and what
people -- landowners can apply to do on their property.
So I was glad to hear that there's still some ongoing discussions
between the stakeholders -- jumping back to the RLSA -- the
stakeholders and the conservation community to try to narrow down
some of the gaps and what the issues are.
I think that's -- that's the best-case scenario in my opinion, that
July 9, 2019
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we're going to narrow that down. Ultimately, I think, we're going to
have to make decisions. Whether there's issues or decision points are
going to be presented by experts, we get that all the time: Experts on
one side of the issue, experts on the other. It's ultimately going to be
up to us to make those decisions.
I would be concerned with reinventing the wheel mainly
because nobody has said it needs to be reinvented, and I think --
we're getting close, I think. Yeah, we're going to have to make some
important decisions, but I think we're getting there. And I commend
the staff for that, so...
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And I'd like to say this. And this is
something for all of my colleagues. As you know, I've spent an
enormous amount of time on the RLSA. I was on that five -year
review committee for two years of my life to bring that forward to the
Board then. It's never going to end.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. It's not supposed to.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Nothing is carved in stone. What
we adopt, if we do, in fact, adopt to transmit something with regard to
the RLSA, we'll be subject to review again. And the goal is to -- my
personal belief should be the goal would be to transmit a product that
allows for adaptability, allows for analysis such as what was brought
forward today. It would be, I think, Commissioner Saunders,
premature at this stage to hire Joe's firm -- I'm sorry --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Minicozzi.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Minicozzi. Forgive me,
Mr. Minicozzi, wherever he went -- at this stage because -- other than
to analyze what we, in fact, have that is existent with the RLSA.
Once we make some decisions with regard to incentivizations
for intensities within town centers and so ons and so forths as what
has been proposed in the white paper, those are things that could have
an economic impact going forward. But I think at this stage it's a
July 9, 2019
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minute premature with regard to that.
But the statement that I want to make is, it's never going to stop.
There's -- once we get to a transmittable document for the Rural
Lands Stewardship Area, I certainly hope that we designate a,
relatively speaking, short period, because there's going to be items
where we're just not going to be able to reach consensus. And I hope
there's a relatively short period of time that we implement in that
transmittal that brings it back for an additional review as time and
information evolves to allow us to come to consensus. So the finality
of what we're -- what's being discussed really isn't that.
So having said that, I'd -- I do have a specific question for
Mr. Minicozzi, and it has to do with your -- two statements that you
made. The picture that you've got up there on the screen right now
and that large expense with regard to that intersection improvement
and not ever deriving an increase in the property values sufficient to
warrant the offset of that expense. And it kind of falls in line with
something that you said earlier in treating our roads as deficits, as --
not an asset but an expense.
Now, are you giving consideration to the commerce and the
capacity to transfer commerce to and through particular areas with
regard to that delineation and the sole expense? I mean, it's inhere nt
upon -- you said something about your air-conditioning unit on the
top of your eight-story building and having to replace it. We,
literally, this year have a line item in our budget that actually
accommodates for appropriations of capital asset maintenance and
replacement.
And any prudent business, both in the private sector and
government, I think, should be doing those things. I just -- I find it
interesting that you delineate our road systems as a burden as
opposed to a customers generator that actually allows us to receive
revenues and enhancements of value. So that's one statement.
July 9, 2019
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And then the second was: How far out does your circle go from
that particular intersection with regard to the enhancements of the
property value in correlation to that direct expense?
MR. MINICOZZI: Well, in this case we just dropped it into that
existing situation. And you're right, there will be a draw in gain --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Did you just say I was right?
MR. MINICOZZI: Yeah, but hang on.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Do it again.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: But.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: But.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: You just lost all credibility.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Saunders is done
listening when you said that.
MR. MINICOZZI: I'm with you. Look, this is all behavioral
economics. If you ask me what I want, I want to be 6 foot tall and
have a full head of hair. That would make me happy, you know, but
there's a cost to that if I say you should pay for that, right.
So there's transactional costs in all of this. The reason why that
site may have been better for a Walmart and not a residential, it could
be because of the street that's in front of it. It could be a car sewer
(sic) that's just really difficult to live next to. I wouldn't want to live
next to this intersection.
You know, so the infrastructure has an impact on the land use
adjacent to it and also the capacity of all of that.
So we just did an analysis in Eugene, Oregon, and we said, let's
just -- as a thought puzzle, you're not charging these streets for
stormwater impact, are you? Are you sending a bill to the streets?
Are you-all paying for a bill for that? Or are you sending it off to the
taxpayers?
So we, as taxpayers, are paying for the stormwater capacity of
the sheet flow that's coming off the roads. And in their case, they
July 9, 2019
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have 3.3 square miles of roads that are sheet flowing water that has to
go into a stormwater system. Their stormwater system costs
$450 million a year.
So I said, just as a thought puzzle, rather than stretching out, let's
compact the city to half its size. If you half the size, you're half the
stormwater. If you're half the stormwater, you've just saved yourself
$200 million. Could you think of a better use of $200 million than to
pay for pipes? Could that go to your children's daycare? Could it --
you know, have you thought through this as a question that these
are -- these are -- there are questions that are being asked out there
that we're just not -- that we're not asking relevant in a public
environment.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, I can understand your thought
process, but you can't have half the size in America without a taking.
MR. MINICOZZI: Well, I'm not saying taking --
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I'm not being argumentative with
you, and certainly maybe we ought to have this discussion at a
different time.
MR. MINICOZZI: No, no --
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I just wanted an answer to my
question with regard to the valuation for the property values intrinsic
to this particular improvement to this intersection.
MR. MINICOZZI: I'm being yanked.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think you're emptying --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Taylor had a
question. Do you have a question for him or --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. A quick question of
Mr. Minicozzi.
What we're looking at -- we're not looking at -- we're not
July 9, 2019
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looking at developing -- the issue before us, this commission, is not
redeveloping the urban area of Collier County. It's developing the
farmland, the former farmland, the land that folks own that there was
an agreement made. So we're kind of creating. We are creating. It's
not kind of. And there's a plan.
But can you name some other communities that I will spend
time this summer talking to some elected officials who have faced
this before?
MR. MINICOZZI: Yeah. Actually -- well, both -- we both
have this experience from the East Coast of Florida. I think that --
you know, when I went to school in Miami in 1987, my grandmother
lived in Broward County. And I can tell you -- I know this will make
a lot of folks in this audience bristle. Collier County feels to me the
way that Broward County felt in the '80s or Martin County felt in the
'90s.
It actually would be worth it for you-all to get in a -- just take a
nice trip over to visit your peers in Broward and Palm Beach County
or Martin County, meet with the other commissioners there, and say
if you-all could turn the clock back in time, what would you advise us
to do? Kind of like if I could visit -- my dad's passed away, but if I
could talk to my father today about the habits that he would have
changed when he was my age, you know, that I'm learning as I get
older how to change my habits.
And cities and counties have that same habitual pattern. And,
again, it's just -- there are forces and dynamics in your system that
we're not paying attention to, but there are also people that have made
these mistakes but also capitalized on some good opportunities that
they did the right thing. And I think that we probably have the
same -- go visit those folks and chat with them.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Good. Thank you.
July 9, 2019
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I think with that, we'll --
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, I know we don't normally take
speakers under presentation, but I just wanted to let you know we did
have two slips submitted.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I'm --
MR. MILLER: As a rule, we generally don't, but it's your
prerogative, sir.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: As a general rule, we usually don't.
I mean, we're -- I mean --
MR. OCHS: Nor do you take specific action.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Right.
MR. OCHS: I mean, this was intended to provide some
information and context, not -- I didn't put the RLSA on this agenda
for a reason, and --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Correct. And we went right down
that rabbit hole.
MR. OCHS: We're not ready yet.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I enjoyed the presentation very
much. I hope to be able to make your longer -- elongated one
tonight.
I don't -- I mean, it's up to you folks. Do you want to allow -- or
have the public speak on something we're not voting on, or do you
want to move on? It's up to you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'm all right with it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Have them speak?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Let's go. It is the people's business.
MR. MILLER: First up is April Olson. She'll be followed by
Patricia -- I'm having trouble with this. Is it Forka? Forkay?
MS. OLSON: Good morning, Commissioners. I'll be brief.
I have to talk about the RLSA, since it's an issue that I work on. And,
July 9, 2019
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by the way, I'm with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. And I
just wanted to -- first of all, I really appreciated the presentation by
Mr. Minicozzi.
And Commissioner Saunders brought up the idea of having a
third party look at the RLSA in our current plan, and I think that
Mr. Minicozzi's talk really brings -- ties in the importance of really
creating some communities that are not going to burden our
taxpayers. And by creating communities that are more compact and
walkable, not only do we save taxpayer dollars, but also save natural
resources such as agricultural lands and listed species habitat.
And the RLSA program is -- it will accommodate a huge
amount of growth. In fact, it's equivalent of about two Fort
Lauderdales in geographic size.
So we're not talking about just a couple thousand acres. We're
talking about a 200,000-acre area. So we have to make sure that this
is done right. And this process -- the landowners have their federal
permit in to develop over a 50-year time period.
So right now during this restudy is the time to get an
independent third party to make sure that everything is done right;
that we're not burdening the taxpayers and that we are saving our
natural resources.
So, I mean, that's basically all I wanted to say is we want to get
it right. It was great to see -- or to see a presentation from a different
perspective, and I think now is the time to make sure that we are
doing this right while we're on the ground floor of the RLSA and as
new towns are coming forward.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your final speaker is Patricia Forkay.
MS. FORKAN: Okay. I'm Patricia Forkan. I live in Lely. I'm
a Commissioner Fiala citizen.
I've gone to almost every single workshop, and I have talked at
July 9, 2019
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length with Mr. Van Lengen and Mr. Cohen, and one of the things
that troubles me a great deal as we keep putting this off is it's my
understanding -- I hope I'm wrong -- but it's my understanding that
the landowners are proceeding to develop and can continue to
develop while we're all talking, and they can get permits -- if they get
their permit in, if all of them get their permit in, and -- all of this is
for nothing because they don't have to follow anything so -- that is
decided.
So RLSA suddenly becomes moot that we've spent all this time,
and they've already built out the 45,000-plus or more acres.
So I respectfully request that you consider the idea of a
moratorium on building until the RLSA -- this process is finished.
And I don't know if that's realistic but, anyway, I feel strongly
that why should we continue having talks -- I didn't know we were
going to have talks this summer with the stakeholders. But why
should we continue if everything's just going to be built up while
we're all jabbering?
So that's my two cents as a citizen and as somebody that's paid a
lot of attention to this and who sees a lot of stuff going on in East
Naples -- and as we hear scientists talking about planting more trees
rather than building more homes and more roads, because we need to
have more carbon sinks.
So that's my -- thank you very much for letting me put that two
cents in.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Thank you. We will be back at
10:47.
(A brief recess was had.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I told Commissioner Solis I
wouldn't start without him, so how's that working out?
I think we're going to make a little adjustment on the fly, if I
understood what we talked about a moment ago.
July 9, 2019
Page 54
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. We do have a 10:45 a.m.
time-certain hearing on 11D, but I know we had some members of
the audience waiting on 10A and 10B. So, with your indulgence,
maybe we could knock those out first.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I think that's a prudent move.
MR. OCHS: Very good.
Item #10A
RENAMING THE CHOKOLOSKEE BRIDGE TO THE “JOHN
JOSEPH BROWN MEMORIAL BRIDGE.” (DISTRICT 5) -
MOTION TO DENY – APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Item 10A is a recommendation to approve a
resolution renaming the Chokoloskee Bridge to the John Joseph
Brown Memorial Bridge. I believe we have one registered speaker,
Mr. Chairman, and I know you brought this item forward previously.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I did. I did.
MR. MILLER: You want the speaker, sir?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yeah, sure. Let's do the public
speaker.
MR. MILLER: I'm going to have trouble with the speaker and
this writing. J, is it Materi?
MS. MATERI: Jennifer Materi.
MR. MILLER: Materi, thank you.
MS. MATERI: Good morning. Jennifer Materi. I'm in-house
counsel for the Miccosukee tribe. Betty Osceola usually comes to
these meetings. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend this
morning.
Miccosukee elders shared with me that the word -- let me see if I
can pronounce it -- chickee keylacate (phonetic) -- excuse my
July 9, 2019
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mispronounce -- means, in Miccosukee, old home, and that is the
derivative of the Chokoloskee area and the bridge.
As I'm sure everyone's familiar, Native Americans lived in the
area and are a great part the reason that the area and the bridge has
that name.
The tribe is opposed to the proposed renaming of the bridge to
the John Joseph Brown Memorial Bridge.
In the petition it proudly stated that Mr. Brown was, in 1876, an
Indian agent. I'm not here to speak ill of Mr. Brown, but this position
was an anti-Indian job that was held through the federal government,
and it's to implement federal Indian policies often by whatever means
possible.
Many Indian agents were corrupt. They skimmed annuities,
colluded to steal land, and the agents asserted their power and
authority over the Indians, usurping traditional political authority,
suppressed natives' cultural religious practices, and forced those
simulation policies.
Given Mr. Brown's position as an Indian agent and the fact that
the Chokoloskee bridge already has a Miccosukee name "old home"
and is located in an area that has cultural and historical significance
to the Miccosukee tribe, the tribe urges the Commission to deny the
petition to rename the bridge and keep the Chokoloskee bridge as it's
named now.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And that's the official position of
the tribe you're reading, or the opinion of a few?
MS. MATERI: That is the tribe's position, correct.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: From the Council?
MS. MATERI: Yes.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Okay, thank you.
Yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: As you know, I asked you, and
July 9, 2019
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you were very gracious in moving this to another meeting so that the
tribe could meet with Mayor Grimm. And I don't know the outcome
of that meeting, but I got a little busy on the Internet to understand
Indian agent. Frankly, I wasn't aware of that myself wh en I read the
petition.
And what I found was a piece from the encyclopedia of the
Great Plains, and it specifically deals with Indian agents.
Now, this is an encyclopedia created by the University of
Nebraska and by a professor there. And I'm just going to read briefly
just the opening paragraph. It says that in both Canada and the
United States Indian agents were responsible for implementing
federal Indian policy. They were the government's representatives on
reservations and reserves and, as such, they wielded great power over
native peoples even to the extent of usurping their traditional political
authority, suppressing religious practices, and transforming social
roles.
In the United States, Indian policy was transmitted from a
commissioner of Indian affairs operating after 1849 from the Office
of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., through regional
superintendents to aid and to agents, Indian agents, who were
responsible for single tribe or group of tribes.
Then I had a conversation with Betty Osceola, and she said, you
know, it's hard for us to understand what Indian agent means in terms
of the input to a native -- to indigenous people. But she said, think
about it as an SS officer, naming a bridge after an SS officer and
what that would mean to the Jewish people. It's a poke in the eye,
she described it as.
And I -- this is not an aspersion on this gentleman at all. But,
frankly, I think he became an Indian agent, as I read, in 1879, '76 --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Something.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- something like that.
July 9, 2019
Page 57
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Right.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But that was a mere 46 years
after Andrew Jackson issued his decree to remove all Indians from all
territories so we could develop it. So it's a very tough position to be
in, and I had no idea that Chokoloskee was a Miccosukee name.
And when we think of the importance of our indigenous people
today, I think it's important to remember that it was the Miccosukee
tribe that sued the federal government because of the pollution of the
Everglades. It was the Miccosukee tribe that stood up and said we
can't do this anymore, and from that has come to what we're seeing
today, this understanding of this environment.
So I would just ask that we understand this and accept this and
perhaps not vote to change the name. I can't support that for these
reasons.
And, again, it's nothing personal on the Brown family. And to
Mayor Grimes if he's listening, the Browns of Everglades City are
not the Browns of Immokalee. I found that out from Pam B rown.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Sure.
Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I
agree with Commissioner Taylor in terms of not naming this under
this particular agenda item.
I don't see any reason to create this type of a controversy over a
naming of a bridge. I would ask the folks in Chokoloskee and
Everglades City to come up with another name, as simple as that.
The Seminole Indians and the Miccosukee Indians are an
extraordinarily important part of Collier County's history, and I don't
want to be part of creating that type of a controversy.
So I agree with Commissioner Taylor. Let's ask for folks in
Chokoloskee and Everglades City to come up with another name.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, I have a thought, I think. I
July 9, 2019
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would like -- there again, sometimes as elected officials you get to do
things that you wouldn't necessarily do during the course of business.
We have a resolution. We have an ordinance that requires a thousand
signatures. We're getting ready to vote on another naming here in a
minute, and it requires a thousand signatures and a vote of the Board,
and there isn't a thousand people in that area to sign a petition. We
have over 300 signatures there.
And I've talked to Kenny. I've talked to Jeanine. And I haven't
spoke to Betty. But one of the thoughts that I had, as this was
welling up in the last week -- I did speak to Howie last week. He had
a business meeting with the Business Council. He shared with me
that short of Jeanine's bringing up the issue, that there didn't seem to
be any angst with the Business Council with regard to this. That was
his perception. This is all just hearsay.
I then asked -- Jeanine asked me to --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Who's Jeanine?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Bennett, the general counsel for the
tribe. She's the one I've been speaking to until today. And then I
even went so far as to call Howie, asked him to bring it up at his
council meeting last week and asked if they wanted to rescind their
resolution of support. There wasn't any move to do that.
As we all know, most of the folks in Everglades/Chokoloskee
are related to Mr. Brown. He's one of the original -- he's one of the
original settlers down there.
The thought that I had, Commissioner Saunders, was maybe we
continue this one more time. I will go meet with the Council myself
personally and see if there is a compromise in the naming process
that we could, in fact, come up with and bring that back.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. I don't want to
jump ahead of anybody. I don't have any issue with continuing this,
but my position is not likely to change when this comes back unless
July 9, 2019
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there's a change in position from the Miccosukee and Seminole
Indians, and I would not expect that to happen.
So we're sort of delaying what -- unless there's -- there may be
three votes to name this the way it is, but assuming there aren't three
votes today, we're not going to have three votes down the road unless
there's a change of position, and I don't think there will be from the
presentation that's been made.
So I think the better choice -- and I don't -- again, I'll support
you on continuing it, but I think the better choice is let's come up
with another name. And I think that's what we'll ultimately wind up
doing if we continue this.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: There's nothing wrong with the
name that it is. We've been asked to rename it to the Brown
Memorial, and that's what I'm doing. So -- and I don't -- there again,
I said this to Jeanine and I said this to Howie, this is something that
I'm being asked to do.
So, Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, my thought is, I think it's a
very sensitive issue, and I would hate to see some controversy over
the renaming of the bridge. I like the Chokoloskee Bridge. I mean,
it's got a nice ring to it to me. But maybe -- I wouldn't be against a
continuance and maybe in that process there would be another way to
honor, you know, the Brown family and Mr. Brown, if that's, you
know, something that the folks in Everglades City want to do that --
maybe there's something else that can be done besides renaming the
bridge. Just a thought.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Fair enough. And I'm -- again, I'm
not looking to continue the inevitable. If there isn't support to do
this -- I've been asked to -- how do you feel? Your name's up.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. My name is up because I
think that the -- I see no problem in delaying it because I like the idea
July 9, 2019
Page 60
of you coming up with a compromise. Maybe there's something else
they can name for him or whatever, being that all of the Browns live
there, and that might be a way to work with them and work with the
Indians, have this -- as long as this is a very important thing to them,
then there's something else that they could name, and I don't know
what it is.
But you've got -- you said you're going to work with them
personally, and I think that's a great idea.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I would be happy to go meet with
the Council and see if there's something we can do.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, based on what she's just
said, that the Seminole/Miccosukees aren't -- there's not going to be a
change in their position, we have three or four and possibly five
commissioners that kind of agree we're not going to name it after
John Joseph Brown, let's vote no on that --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- and then have you --
instead of just continuing it, because we're going to have the same
conversation. Instead of continuing it, let's vote that down and just
have you do your magic in terms of working with the parties that
have an interest. And maybe it stays the Chokoloskee Bridge.
Maybe it changes. But -- so I would -- if this meets with your
approval, Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion to not approve the
renaming of the bridge to the John Joseph Brown Memorial Bridge
and give you the authority to see if you can work something else out
and come back to us.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second that.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded to
deny the request to rename the bridge.
Any other discussion?
July 9, 2019
Page 61
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No. I would like the Seminoles,
though, to come back and tell us what they've done in Chokoloskee to
work with the people, so that would be an interesting thing too, but I
will agree with you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, I think it's very important
to note that the chairman, Billy Cypress, was at the Everglades
Seafood Festival. He was one of the dignitaries there, and that's
because the Miccosukees gave a direct donation to the Everglades
Seafood Festival.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Right. It's been moved and
seconded. All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed?
Aye.
So carried.
MS. MATERI: Thank you.
Item #10B
RESOLUTION 2019-138: A CITIZEN PETITION REQUEST
RENAMING THE EAGLE LAKES COMMUNITY PARK THE
“DONNA FIALA COMMUNITY PARK.” THE REQUEST IS
SPONSORED BY MR. PHILLIP BROUGHAM AND SUPPORTED
BY 1,007 RESIDENTS OF COLLIER COUNTY - MOTION TO
RENAME THE PARK THE DONNA FIALA EAGLE LAKES
COMMUNITY PARK – ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Item 10B is a recommendation to consider a
July 9, 2019
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citizen petition request to rename Eagle Lakes Community Park the
Donna Fiala Community Park. The request is supported by Mr. Phil
Brougham and supported by over a thousand residents of Collier
County.
Mr. Mike Sheffield, your Communications and Customer
Relations Division Director, will make a brief presentation.
Michael?
MR. SHEFFIELD: Good morning, Commissioners, Mike
Sheffield, your Director of Communications. And I'm here with
someone you all know very well, Mr. Philip Brougham, and he is the
sponsor of this petition.
So unless -- if you have questions of me regarding the policy or
the process involved, I'd like to turn the mic over to Mr. Brougham.
MR. BROUGHAM: Thank you, Mike.
Good morning, Commissioners, and especially to, hopefully, the
commissioner that we're going to honor this morning with this
request.
My name is Phil Brougham, and I've lived here full time in
Collier County for 19 years. I'm a member of the Parks and
Recreation Advisory Board.
I think it's appropriate that last meeting you, as a commission,
proclaimed the month of July as Parks and Recreation Month, and
today we're asking you to honor a colleague, Commissioner Donna
Fiala, for her dedication long over the decades as a champion of our
parks system. She's left an indelible mark not only on Collier County
over the years but on our park system and what you see today.
I've known Commissioner Fiala -- I want to say Donna, but I
won't -- Commissioner Fiala for over 15 years, and it's been my
privilege personally to work with her on many, many park projects
and concerns and to also become her friend and to get to know her
and what is her passion.
July 9, 2019
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She has a passion for improving the facilities of Parks and
Recreation across all sections of this county, not just in East Naples,
but every park. And I've been on a tour multiple times where we go
from park to park to park, and we'll point out different things that
need to be improved, and we always find quite a list, but that's a story
for another day.
Her persistent efforts for Eagle Lakes has resulted in a
community center and a state-of-the-art aquatics center being
constructed at that park and, as a result, it has been one of our most
visited parks.
We began the process to collect signatures for this petition to
rename this park almost a year ago. And there were times where I
didn't think we were going to attain the minimum signatures required,
but we kept going and, ultimately, we collected 1,234 signatures.
Your resolution says 1,007, but that was after culling out those folks
that were gracious enough to sign their name and print their address
but no city or no zip, so we couldn't verify that they, in fact, had a
residence here.
I want to point out specifically the great assistance that we got
from the residents of Fiddler's Creek as a community, from Jim and
Carol Ludwig, from Ann Hall, from Jean Kungle, from Shirley
Barsic (phonetic) and Joe Swaja. Those are all names that you
probably know, and they all worked very hard to gather the
signatures.
We believe, as a group, that it's fitting and proper to rename
Eagle Lakes Community Park to Donna Fiala Community Park in
recognition of her passion and dedication to improving our park
system and providing recreational facilities and opportunities for the
children of Collier County.
And I'm here to ask you to please approve this resolution.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Thank you.
July 9, 2019
Page 64
Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Just one thing. Congratulations.
I totally support this.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I remember -- I think our
dear Commissioner Fred Coyle was outgoing, and I remember the
discussions -- because at that point I was monitoring meetings -- of
the Fred Coyle Freedom Park. So I'm wondering if you would agree,
ma'am, to calling it the Donna Fiala Eagle Lakes Community Park.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's fine. Thank you. Yes. I'm
so --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, you do need to talk. Come
on.
MR. BROUGHAM: Commissioner, you have to put your mic
up close.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yeah. You've got to bring your
microphone up.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That would be very lovely. Thank
you. I'm shaking.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, I don't know --
(Applause.)
MR. OCHS: Troy?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second the motion.
MR. MILLER: It was Phil.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm sorry? I'll second the
motion.
I do have a question, though, that's related. There was already a
facility in the park that I believe was named after Donna Fiala.
Would it be appropriate -- and this is a question for the Board. I'm
not suggesting that we necessarily need to do this, but it seems to me
that we would take the name off of the community center and just
July 9, 2019
Page 65
name the full park. That would be --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: That's what they're asking to do.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize
that that was part of it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And I'm just questioning why
you're wanting to add Eagle Lake in there and not just rename it --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Because it was the Fred Coyle
Freedom Park, it placed the park -- everybody knew the Freedom
Park. So they named the park after Fred, but put his name, Fred
Coyle Freedom Park. So everybody knows Eagle Lakes, but let's --
you know, it could be the Donna Fiala Community Park at Eagle
Lakes, but I don't know. It sounds kind of nice. Donna Fiala Eagle
Lakes Community.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think that's great. I like it. I do.
And that way then you --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Motion?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I spoke with Mr. Brougham
and he said yes, just name it.
MR. BROUGHAM: Well, I think I said just vote for it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Motion?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, we have a motion and a
second.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Motion and a second. It's been
moved and seconded. Any other discussion?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Other than to say congratulations.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: That's right.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And thank you for your years of
service.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you. Thank you so much. I
July 9, 2019
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appreciate that. Can I stand too?
MR. BROUGHAM: Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Phil, thank you for all of your
work.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I haven't called for the vote yet, so
don't go away.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, I was so afraid everybody
would vote against it too. I was sick to my stomach this morning.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved. There you go.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: There it is.
MR. BROUGHAM: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you, everyone. Thank you
for being here.
Item #7
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, just one more bit of housekeeping,
you know, we do have Item 7, public comments. I'd like to get that
over before the afternoon session.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I would like that as well.
July 9, 2019
Page 67
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, I have one registered speaker for
public comment. Rae Ann Burton.
MS. BURTON: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is
Rae Ann Burton, rural Golden Gate Estates.
Hope everyone had a great 4th of July.
Current concerns: Water pollution. Last meeting water-quality
spokesman said developments were the cause, but approvals for more
and even denser developments are being permitted.
Naples websites have several foreclosed homes, some in the
developments and yet more development is permitted.
Fire Department states vegetation should be 50 feet from house.
Developments build five -- 10 feet or less. Fire hazards waiting to
happen?
Sixty-five-feet-high building next to single buildings? Some
with the same wall built with a maze of roads with one or two ways
in and out. Emergency evacuation issues.
Heavy construction vehicles destroying Immokalee Road,
surrounding streets, and Estates. Ever run over railroad tracks?
Some developers have buried wildlife boroughs. Cleared land totally
of all vegetation. Destroyed habitat. Some lay undeveloped for
month or years destroying natural water flow, creating flooding.
Use broken concrete slabs for landfill. Waste aquifer water when dug
too deep, flooding nearby land, using aquifers to replenish water
retention ponds, lakes, and road medians.
Now proposed millage rate go up, which is charged by county
municipalities, emergency services, college and school boards.
Already the sixth highest county in state.
Millage pays for median beautification. Some even have dug
wells tapped into the aquifers plus electric to run the pumps.
Newly vegetated median on Immokalee has dead grass.
Sprinklers creating standing water on road. Millage rate is paying for
July 9, 2019
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that?
Heavy construction vehicles are creating traffic nightmares by
speeding and land -- lane switching. Some can't even make a left
turn across Immokalee. They're too long. Create traffic tie-ups.
Last, please recommend -- recommendation to appoint Angie
Berks, a member of Golden Gate Estates, land trust community.
Thank you for all that you do. Please remember all current and future
issues when making your decisions. Growth is great but with control.
One cookie is great, but more will spoil your supper. Keep control of
all the growth cookie jars. Don't spoil our paradise environment.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Less than three minutes.
MS. BURTON: Thirty-eight seconds.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Outstanding.
MR. MILLER: That was your only speaker for public comment,
Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Now we'll go.
Item #11D
SELECTION COMMITTEE RANKING FOR INVITATION TO
NEGOTIATE NO. 19-7556 FOR “BEMBRIDGE PUD
AFFORDABLE HOUSING LAND DEVELOPMENT” AND
AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS WITH
THE TOP-RANKED FIRM OF MCDOWELL HOUSING
PARTNERS, LLC AND, IN THE EVENT THAT AN
AGREEMENT CANNOT BE REACHED WITH THAT FIRM, TO
CONTINUE NEGOTIATING WITH THE REMAINING FIRMS IN
RANKED ORDER TO OBTAIN A PROPOSED AGREEMENT,
WHICH WILL BE BROUGHT BACK TO THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FOR CONSIDERATION AT A
July 9, 2019
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SUBSEQUENT MEETING - MOTION TO SELECT MCDOWELL
HOUSING PARTNERS, LLC – APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, we move now to Item 11D. This
is a recommendation to approve the selection committee ranking for
the Bembridge PUD affordable housing land development project
and authorize staff to enter into negotiations with the top-ranked firm
of McDowell Housing Partners, LLC.
And Ms. Kristi Sonntag, your Director of your Division of
Community and Human Services, will begin the presentation.
MS. SONNTAG: Good morning, Commissioners. Kristi
Sonntag, for the record. I'm here this morning to present to you
staff's recommendation for Bembridge PUD ITN 19-7556.
As you will recall, the Urban Land Institute completed their
study in early 2017, and one of the recommendations identified
through this study was for the review and use of publicly owned lan d
and, subsequently, in 2018 the Board passed a resolution to support
this initiative.
The adopted housing plan identifies the area of greatest need for
housing in our community to serve those below 140 percent of area
median income and, most specifically, those who are very low and
low income.
In December of 2017, the Board directed staff to conduct a
feasibility study of the Bembridge property. The property, just as a
reminder, is located between Santa Barbara and Radio Road. This is
a 5.1-acre site with 1.27 acres reserved for the Public Utilities pump
station. This site can accommodate a higher density; however, as
you'll see in the proposals from the firms, that they are not
recommending maximum density.
It's surrounded by Calusa Elementary and the EMS station.
There are other rental developments nearby, and the property is
July 9, 2019
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located in a density band.
The land was purchased in 2002 for the construction of the
Emergency Management building; however, this did not occur. The
price at that time was 406,697. An appraisal was completed in
February of '18 appraising the property at 774,000. The 3.8 acres for
the residential development are appraised at 581,363, while the 1.27
for public utilities is at 192,637.
The feasibility analysis. In September of 2018 staff
commissioned Davidson Engineering to complete a feasibility
analysis of this site. It was determined that there were no adverse
effects to the schools, traffic, or the environment and, in fact, they
recommended density for low being 29, mediu m 54, and high at 78.
Davidson Engineering completed a conceptual bubble plan with
the center area for the residential development. That's the 3.8 acres.
And the pullout there is for the pump station. Now, the developers
and Public Utilities can work together to determine where the
location of the pump station best fits on the property with their
structures.
Following the study, staff met with the Affordable Housing
Advisory Committee, and that committee recommended unanimously
that we move forward with the development of an ITN for this
property.
As a result of the positive recommendation of the AHAC and
the feasibility study, on November 11th you provided direction and
approval of the ITN criteria and directed us to move forward
unanimously with preparation of the ITN.
As a reminder, an ITN is a public competitive process used to
select one or more vendors to which whom we can negotiate.
The ITN for Bembridge was released on February 6th. 23,864 firms
were notified. We had 114 downloads. Eight proposals were
received on April 10th.
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Procurement found all eight proposals to be responsive and
responsible. The selection committee initially met on May 21st.
They reviewed the proposals and short listed the top firms. And then
on May 21st -- or, I'm sorry, on June 12th, the committee met again
and had presentations from the top firms, at which point their three
top proposals were ranked. They were, No. 1, McDowell Housing
Partners; No. 2, JHM; and, No. 3, Habitat for Humanity.
And with that, I'm going to turn it over to McDowell Housing
Partners so they can show you their proposal. And we have Ariana
Brendle and Chris Shear.
MR. SHEAR: Good morning, Commissioners. How are you?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: We're good. How are you?
MR. SHEAR: Great. Thank you. Let her pass out the
presentation here.
Again, my name is Chris Shear. I'm Managing Director of
McDowell Housing Partners. And with me is Ariana Brendle, who is
our Development Manager.
Foremost, you know, I want to commend the Commission for
taking a progressive action to address the lack of quality workforce
and affordable housing. We see a huge demand across the state.
There's been a loss of housing due to recent hurricane activity, and
there's a lot of opportunity to deliver, through various sources of
funds, a quality project on this site. So we're excited about that. This
is what we love to do, and we appreciate the opportunity.
Where's the clicker?
MS. SONNTAG: Right here.
MR. SHEAR: Sorry. Figure out the tech side of this.
And I will try to be quick. I know we're limited to just a few
minutes, so...
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But you're not on the clock right
now.
July 9, 2019
Page 72
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I think we've appropriated about 10
minutes for each presenter, if I'm not mistaken. No, you'r e not
limited to three minutes, so, I mean --
MR. OCHS: We tried to tell them they had, you know, six to
seven minutes to give their presentation.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Less than 10.
MR. SHEAR: I talk fast, so we'll get through it. All right.
Thanks again.
We were -- as you saw in Kristi's presentation, our
presentation/proposal was ranked the top proposal of the eight
proposals that were listed. McDowell Housing Partners, just to get a
little context on who we are, we are an affiliate of McDowell
Properties. McDowell Properties -- we are the affordable workforce
housing arm of McDowell Properties. McDowell Properties is a
national development/investment multifamily company. McDowell
Properties has amassed about 45,000 units through acquisition and
development.
As it relates to the affordable side, I personally orchestrated and
developed about 2,500 units, most of those in the state of Florida.
Most of those with public/private partnerships as well.
We're Florida based. We're over on the east coast based in
Miami. You know, we have a deep relationship and rapport with
Florida Housing, who administers a good proportion of the funding
on behalf of the state as well as on the federal funds that get
administered through Florida Housing, and we'll get into some of
those funds in a moment.
McDowell Housing Partners -- you know, this may not seem
like much, but we are a select sponsor of Freddie Mac. There's only
40 select sponsors throughout the country. So it's something that we
hold -- you know, we take a lot of pride in. And, you know, Freddie
Mac is a multi, multi-billion-dollar issuer of debt for multifamily
July 9, 2019
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assets.
So getting into the proposed design. We looked at this. We
really wanted to give you guys an opportunity to work from the
inside out. That's generally how we approached this. We don't want
to take a firm stance that this is solely going to be a senior
development or solely going to be a family development.
We did look at the criteria and some of the direction, and we
tried diligently to meet and exceed the expectations that were laid out
within the solicitation.
So what we've designed is a development that will maximum the
current zoning and allow us to build 78 units, which is as of right to
not have to go through a lengthy rezoning and entitlement process.
We've designed both a family and senior development; however,
keep in mind in the family development, if we proceeded there, there
would be a number of one-bedroom units, currently 34 one-bedroom
units, which would be geared and marketed towards senior
population. So just because it’s family does not preclude seniors
from living within the development.
Senior development would be limited to 55 years plus, and that
is a mix of largely one- and two-bedrooms. Both of the site plans, as
you can see within the presentation, work very well with the site, and
we incorporate the pump station on the -- the eastern portion of the
parcel.
Next. So just to give you an idea of the interior finishes and the
amenities that we provide. In terms of interior finishes, this is kind of
our standard design package. You know, budget pending, we will
often upgrade to stainless steel appliances, but these are full-size
energy-star appliances. We go with generally a granite or
solid-surface countertop. We have a luxury tile plank flooring which
we find to be very attractive aesthetically as well as durable, solid
counters -- or sorry, solid cabinets.
July 9, 2019
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You know, pretty standard package, but as you'll see, this really
reflects what most market-rate developments in this community are
delivering now. So although this property would be designated an
income-restricted, there's really no difference aesthetically from a
market-rate development.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: One question.
MR. SHEAR: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Do you have a facility already here
in town?
MR. SHEAR: We do not operate any developments in Collier
County.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Thank you.
MR. SHEAR: So this is just a quick rendering of the units.
Very efficient units. We have, you know, L-shaped kitchens which
provide ample counter space with islands. These are the designated
unit mix depending on whether it's family/senior or solely senior.
Only ones and twos in the senior designated development.
Something to keep in mind is we are proposing to build concrete
construction, impact windows, and provide generators on the
property because that -- just looking at the future of hurricane
activity, we think it's important. We're long-term owners and
operators of the asset, so we want to make sure that the asset will be
maintained for the long term.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's my question. Do you
operate what you build, or do you sell it?
MR. SHEAR: No, we do not sell. We're long -term operators;
generally 15 years or longer. We will use third-party property
management, and that's just been always our strategic kind of tact in
the sense that we want the best property manager for the community.
And we've operated a property management company, and it wasn't --
it wasn't worth the overhead, and we found that we had better
July 9, 2019
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operation. So we will third-party a local property manager, but we do
operate it, and we have our asset management team in-house.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Could I ask also one more
question? Do you have a washer and dryer in each unit?
MR. SHEAR: Yes, ma'am. Washer and dryer hookups in each
unit, and generally there is a small premium for the washer and dryer
rentals. If budget permits, we do include those washer and dryers as
well. So it just really comes down to the final numbers.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I didn't understand. Does a washer
and dryer come with each unit?
MR. SHEAR: They may or may not. The hookups are in each
unit within a closet. We generally, budget pending, we have to figure
out if we can afford to buy the washers and dryers, but they're always
available for lease if they're not provided to the residents.
And site amenities, again, this is, you know, really a market-rate
level development. We have full fitness centers, playgrounds, tot
lots, a multi-purpose community room. Swimming pool is pretty
standard in all of our developments, and as you saw from the site
plan, we anticipate including all of those within this development as
well, so...
Our residents get a lot of use out of it, and, you know, we find it
to really provide a better community.
Okay. So getting into the proposed income targeting. Given the
direction of this being a workforce and affordable housing
development and some of the financing constraints we work under,
we generally are required to set aside 10 percent of the units to what's
the extremely low-income level, which in this case is 30 percent of
Collier County's AMI. As you see here, 30 percent on a
one-bedroom is about -- net of a utility allowance is about 700 -- I'm
sorry -- about $313 per month. So that's quite affordable.
July 9, 2019
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And then on the 60 percent units, which are required for our tax
credit financing that we have to average to 60 percent of the area
median income, that rent on a one-bedroom is 750, and up to the
three bedrooms of just over $1,000 per month.
Again, you know, 10 percent of these units will be marketed and
set aside for seniors regardless of whether it's a family development
or specifically a senior-population development.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Don't you have to build
differently for seniors? I mean, these are going to be designated
apartments; isn't that correct? In terms of the width of the doorways.
MR. SHEAR: Oh, yeah.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I've been told this. I'm not sure
it's --
MR. SHEAR: There's a multitude of design requirements. So
we work under -- because of the financing particularly, there are a
number of requirements within the development that are universal
federal accessibility design standards, ADA standards, Section 504
standards. There's a number of constraints and design factors that we
work under to address exactly that where a number of the units have
to be on an accessible corridor. They have to maintain certain turn
radiuses. They have to have accessible features.
And it will depend on the deve -- the number of units that have
some of those features, such as the turn radiuses for a wheelchair, full
accessibility is a percentage of the total number of units. So
depending on how many units we build, that number could increase
or decrease.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And you don't go above
80 percent? You can't go to 120 percent?
MR. SHEAR: We can. So that's a good question. We certainly
can. It's -- at some level it may make us more or less competitive
within the financing. The financing structure, which we can get into
July 9, 2019
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now -- this is the next one. Go to the next slide.
So under Slide 8 here you'll see that there's a number of
upcoming financing solicitations through Florida Housing that are
available, and depending on which one we pursue -- our intent is to
pursue all of them until we get this deal financed. I mean, that is the
goal. There are some nuances within each of them that may prohibit
the number, and if we add more, we end up becoming a little less
competitive because we have to request more -- we're losing the tax
credit equity, so we're having to make it up with more debt.
So there's a little bit of a balance, but to answer your question,
we can certainly include above 80 percent AMI. We would just ask
that -- our next step would be to do a market study. So let's figure out
where the market is. And if the market's at 100 percent AMI, we
probably wouldn't be able to go up to the 140 because we're not
gaining anything from that side, so...
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Or 120.
MR. SHEAR: So it will be basically at the market level. We
can certainly integrate units, and it's just rebalancing.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'm sorry. How does it work?
Because every year we determine the average mean income in Collier
County, and last year it went from 65- to 75,000. I'm not sure what
it -- we don't have that right now, do we? What is it this year?
Seventy-three?
MS. SONNTAG: Seventy-eight, three for a family of four.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Seventy-eight, three, okay.
So you lock in that financing at a certain AMI. No matter what
it goes to, that's what they use, right? You don't have to --
MR. SHEAR: We actually place the building in service. Once
it's delivered, then we lock in to our rents at that point, and the rents
can go up proportionate with the AMI increases.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
July 9, 2019
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MR. SHEAR: But there are some rules with that in terms of
notice periods and so forth. So there's -- you know, FHA is very
strict on displacing residents, so it's not like we're going to increase
the rents like a market-rate community can and basically displace
everybody who can't afford it.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And the leases -- how long are
the leases in your buildings?
MR. SHEAR: One-year leases.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: One year?
MR. SHEAR: We have the ability to go to six months, but we
don't. We have enough demand that we don't want a transient
community, so we prefer one-year leases.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Nothing longer than one year?
MR. SHEAR: We renew every year, but we generally don't --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Sales tax.
MR. SHEAR: -- extend to --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Sales tax applies if it's over -- more
than a year.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, didn't know that.
MR. SHEAR: Learned something new. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, that's good to know.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Could I ask another question about
that also? I was just at another place, their grand opening, and so --
and they said -- they gave me the prices for that day, but they said
they fluctuate all the time. And I said, so how can you quote one and
then, you know, two weeks later it's a different? Well, they said they
tell everybody the prices fluctuate. Does that happen in your facility
as well?
MR. SHEAR: No, no. We're trying to achieve the AMI
set-aside we're at, and we cannot go above that. So we have a
ceiling. We can certainly go below and certainly offer concessions,
July 9, 2019
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but in this market today, that's not something we typically have to do.
So we set our rents, and whatever the AMI is that particular year will
be the maximum rent that we can charge, and there is a utility
allowance that we pass through to the residents, and they'll get a
reduction of that rent for their electric al, water, sewer, and trash
service.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So I rent from you, and then
there is a reduction based on the utilities I use?
MR. SHEAR: Yeah. It's a prescribed number either from the
local housing authority, or you can do an energy consumption study.
So if your gross rent, maximum rent on a 60 percent unit is $1,000,
by way of example, and the PHA schedule for utility allowance is
$100, your net rent out of your pocket would only be $900. So it's --
and that's all done within the lease, so the residents really don't see all
that.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: The acronym for PHA?
MR. SHEAR: Public Housing Authority, excuse me.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's good.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And there's -- and because these
are rentals, there's no -- there's no surcharge for the amenities? I saw
there was a pool and meeting room.
MR. SHEAR: No surcharges for the residents, and it's not open
to the public either. So this is a private facility for the use of the
residents and their guests.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
MR. SHEAR: In terms of the cost to the county, we are not
asking for any additional funding depending on the financing that we
end up securing. As I mentioned, we're going after a number of
different sources of financing. Some of them are more lucrative than
others and can support a land cost. If we're lucky enough, for
instance, to secure a 9 percent tax credit award, we can support a land
July 9, 2019
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payment.
So I think within the development agreement that we move
forward on, there will be some provisions whereby if we're able to
secure a favorable financing terms on the 9 percent credit or through
enough gap financing, we will actually pay the county as much as we
can support for the land up to the appraised value.
At the minimum the county would contribute the land, and there
would be no additional requirements from the county for financing.
Some of the community benefits here, I won't belabor those, you
know, but there's some ancillary benefits that I think are important to
note.
And, you know, this is just a basic source and use. You can see
the difference between two of the financing structures that we'll be
pursuing, and the other financing options are there. Bottom line is,
you know, we plan to make this a top priority, and this will be an
opportunity for us to pursue a number of different sources that are
available out there, not just take a swing at the 9 percent tax credit,
which is incredibly difficult to secure last year in median counties.
There's 190 applications for 10 developments. So we need to find
other avenues, and that's what we plan to do.
Quick timeline. We're hoping to get a development agreement
executed prior to the end of August which the first application for
financing is due that we would like to pursue. So we look forward to
moving quickly through that process with the county.
Ultimately, we have an application and a design process that
will take us out until probably March of next year, and then we would
close on our financing by early summer, commence construction.
Construction's a 12-month period, 12 to 14 months, and we would
deliver in two years.
So this is a long process. It's a long gestation process here, but
it's the way the development works often, and we're going to move as
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fast as we can. We have incentive to get this deal closed and to get it
built as quickly as possible, so we'll do our best efforts to get there.
Just in summary, thanks again for the opportunity. You know,
we think now is a good time for you guys to bring this out. There is a
number of different financing vehicles that are available, and, you
know, we plan to exhaust those, and we look forward to working with
you guys as a partner.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Thank you. Commissioner Solis?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Out of curiosity, what's the closest
development that you've done to Collier County --
MR. SHEAR: I would --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- geographically?
MR. SHEAR: -- say it's Bradenton.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Bradenton.
MR. SHEAR: So up the west coast. A number of deals in
Tampa, in the Tampa market. So we have built on the west coast,
and we have a great general contractor who we work closely with,
and so we have the ability to design build, which saves a lot of cost
issues and so forth.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Sure. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: My only question is deed restrictive
covenants. How long of a hold period in order -- is that determined
by the third-party financing, or is it something you consent to?
MR. SHEAR: Florida Housing generally requires today 50
years.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Five oh.
MR. SHEAR: Fifty; five oh.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Five oh.
MR. SHEAR: For their funding. And there are programs that
we will be pursuing that actually require the property to remain in
perpetuity as affordable housing. So this is a long-term affordable
July 9, 2019
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housing development. Perpetuity would be in 99 years.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Taylor and I are up
here talking about whether --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Perpetuity.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: -- in perpetuity or not, and I like it.
So she doesn't say it exists. So there you go.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: The attorney doesn't say -- in
law it doesn't exist. It's only the next court case.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Right. Thank you, sir.
MR. SHEAR: All right. Thank you all.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Thank you very much.
Or in our case when three of us say that's over. This is what
we're doing. That's in perpetuity.
MS. SONNTAG: Okay. Our No. 2 ranked firm is JHM, and
from JHM we have Ely Banks and John McClutchy.
MR. McCLUTCHY: Good morning.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Good morning.
MR. McCLUTCHY: I'm John McClutchy. This is Ely Banks. I
represent JHM Group of Companies.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Stay on the microphone there, sir,
please.
MR. McCLUTCHY: I'm sorry. I represent the JHM Group of
Companies. I'm the Founder and CEO of the company. Ely is with
the Richman Group. In Richman and McClutchy, JHM, have been
developing together since 1976. We've done about 150,000 units of
housing. About 100,000 of those are affordable in one form or
another. We -- not only do we develop all of our own properties, we
also construct and manage all of our own properties. We have done
quite a bit and are doing work here in Collier County, and I'll have
Ely explain that in a few minutes.
We've looked at this for quite a while. I've been interested in
July 9, 2019
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housing in Collier County for the 30 years that I've been coming here
and vacationing in the winter. And as of 2006 I became a
homeowner here. I have a home at the Estuary at Grey Oaks, and I
live there during the winter and spend my time in Connecticut in the
summers, although I'm wondering how much more time I'm going to
spend in Connecticut. The weather is not that great lately.
In any event, we've done -- we have here in the state of
Connecticut (sic) over 12,000 units that we own and operate
presently. Some of those right here in Collier County. We
additionally have raised over 11 billion in capital for low-income
housing tax credit and affordable housing properties. The Richman
Group, on its own, is the seventh largest housing owner in the United
States, and it's the fifth largest syndicator of low -income tax credits
in the United States. Together we have done over $20 billion worth
of apartment-related developments throughout the United States.
We've actually worked in every state in the country.
We presently manage and operate over 15,000 units at 100
properties with 400 employees. We are very resident oriented in
terms of our management processes.
The team that we have here is the same team that we take with
us everywhere. We do all of our own construction, as I said earlier.
We do all of our own property management, all of our own asset
management.
We're not new to the affordable housing business. This has not
only been Dick Richman's and my vocation; it's been our avocation.
We got into the business together because we believe truly that
people need to have affordable housing. It really doesn't exist in this
country without some kind of government assistance.
And we have worked hard to bring together these programs and
make them work in every one of the developments we do.
We are long-term holders of properties. Richman and I have
July 9, 2019
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properties that we've developed together 40 years ago that we still
own and operate. We continue to do so. If they're affordable from
our perspective, they always remain affordable.
We're not in the business of coming in and developing
something to be affordable, watching the market grow, and
converting that to market rate to see how much money we can make.
We do fine the way we are, and our goal is to provide affordable
housing for people that need it in whatever communities that we
work in.
And I'll let Ely explain a little bit about the project that we're
talking about here.
MR. BANKS: So it's a proposed 72-unit apartment complex.
And we're flexible with it. We haven't had as much feedback as we'd
like, and we really wanted to tell more about ourselves and hopefully,
once selected, try to work with you to determine, you know, what it is
you want. Whether it's family, whether it's senior, whether it's
maxing out the site itself at 78 units, letting the site breath more at 72
units.
Our product does look like market rate. It is affordable, but it
does look like market rate. Here are some of the interior finishes.
Stainless appliances.
The mix is conceptual. Like I said, this -- we put this here just
because it's something that we've done before and something we can
do, but we can be flexible on the mix. It's just depending on what
you're looking for.
Here is some of our amenities. And we have developed three
apartment complexes in Collier County. Summer Lakes One and
Two and College Park. I think all in all around 700 units, and we're
working on one now on Magnolia Pond.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: On where? Magdaleno Pond?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Magnolia Pond.
July 9, 2019
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MR. BANKS: Yes.
We, too, can be flexible with the unit mix as well as the rents
themselves. A market study would be called for. And if you wanted
to see, you know, more of a mixed income, you know, we could
provide that.
So this shows going either sale/bond with 4 percent credits or
9 percent credits.
MR. McCLUTCHY: You can see the benefits, the difference in
the benefits using either scenario. In a 4 percent credit, there's not
enough money to pay for acquisition of the property; just not enough
available. And I don't think there's enough soft financing available
from the state or anywhere else to be able to do that. In a 9 percent
credit, we estimate that we could pay $864,000 for the land, and that's
based on the 9 percent.
We think we have a very competitive application based on the
way we have structured the application. We'll talk about that as we
get further into this, but that is a pretty solid number. We also would
be paying, under the 9 percent deal, full impact fees, which are
$16,000 a unit, and real estate taxes would be estimated at $700 a
unit.
I'll let you finish with your --
MR. BANKS: Sure.
And these are just two models. One of them is the 9 percent;
one of them is 4 percent. We can be flexible with these. If we were
to chase the local government area of opportunity preference, then
that would be more common -- well, that would be the 9 percent
model. If we just did stale workforce with bonds that would be the 4
percent model.
MR. McCLUTCHY: I think one of the things you need to be
clear on is the fact that no matter what the acquisition of the land may
be, in order for the application to be competitive, the county's going
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to have to make some kind of a contribution. So some part of that
land cost is going to go back into the deal.
MR. BANKS: And this is the entitlement process. Obviously,
time is everything. So, we'll move as fast as humanly possible. A lot
of it's out of our hands, especially during the entitlement process
itself. But this is an example of what it could look like.
MR. McCLUTCHY: So Richman and McClutchy have been
working together, as I said, since 1976. We're presently working on
contracts that we have to develop over 5,000 units of affordable
mixed-income housing with different government agencies
throughout the Northeast.
We have been in the process of redeveloping all of the public
housing for Bridgeport, Connecticut. We're going to convert 1,500
units of public housing, very-low-income housing, to about 5,000
units of mixed-income housing so that the balance within each
development better reflects the demographics of the entire
community rather than putting all of the more poorest of the poor in
any one community.
We've found that that works. As I said, we've had offices here
in Florida since 1976. We continue to work here. I'm more and more
interested in working here because I spend a lot of time here in the
winter, and it works better for me, to tell you the truth. I don't have
to fly back north when it's cold. I'd rather not do that.
Ely mentioned that our product not only looks like market rate,
what we find most often is that when we open an apartment complex,
people come and they want to fill out an application because they
believe it is market rate, and when they find out that they don't
qualify, they're very upset. They don't understand how we can build
these units that they would want to live in and they don't qualify for
the income limits that are affected by it.
In any event, I think you need to look very strongly at your
July 9, 2019
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partner in this deal, because this is a process, and it's a process of a
joint venture where the public entity needs to work together with a
private entity to create a true public/private partnership. We're well
experienced in doing that. We've been doing it, as I said, since '76.
We continue to do it and become more and more involved in
public/private partnerships, because as the rules change in these
programs the federal government puts out, we find that the better
opportunities are working together with public entities, whether it
happens to be a housing authority, a county commission, or a
municipal agency, or a state agency, for that matter.
So, we have the experience to do it. This is not new to us.
We're comfortable that we can sit down and negotiate a deal that
would make sense for both the county, us, and all the people that live
here.
Thank you for your time.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Questions?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Thank you very much.
MR. McCLUTCHY: Thank you.
MS. SONNTAG: And our No. 3 ranked firm was Habitat for
Humanity, and we have Mara Foley from Habitat to present to you.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Could I ask you a question.
What were the total number of points that were possible if someone
got the 100 percent of the points?
MS. SONNTAG: There was 100 points available.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay.
MS. FOLEY: Good morning, Commissioners, almost
afternoon. My name is Mara Foley, and I'm the Director of Land
Development for Habitat for Humanity of Collier County.
Habitat has over 40 years building and selling affordable homes
in this county. We've served a total of 2,200 families, and we've built
July 9, 2019
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10 communities and have six communities currently under
development. Our communities range from size from 40 homes to up
to just over 180 homes.
Habitat is a construction company, we're a social services
organization, and we're the bank financing zero-interest loans. We
have 65 staff members and over 3,000 volunteers who help make our
work possible.
Our proposed site plan for the five-acre site includes the
approximately 1.3-acre pump station to the south and the remaining
acreage for residential development. Here we propose building 30
two-story townhomes which would be owner occupied by
income-qualified families. So this is what sets us apart from the
previous presentations. These will all be owner-occupied units.
The site plan assumes several Land Development Code
variances to make this project feasible within the existing footprint,
and I'll discuss those in a moment.
Entry to the community would be through the Calusa Park
Elementary access road, and with it we would have a potential
interconnect through the pump station access road and out to Santa
Barbara Boulevard.
Families may enjoy a picnic in the half-acre park as children
play, and the site is extremely convenient to shopping plazas, work,
and schools nearby.
Our interior finishes, we recommend modest finishes, but are all
equipped with window treatments, a washer, a dryer, a refrigerator, a
range all located in a modern kitchen with a center island.
Each unit would have two-and-a-half baths. The master bath would
offer dual sinks, and both full baths would offer a shower/tub
combination. Laminate flooring would be provided throughout the
home.
Of the 30 townhomes that we propose on the site, we anticipate
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having 24 townhomes being three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath, and
the remaining six townhomes being four-bedroom, two-and-a-half
bath.
As you can see in this conceptual floor plan, the first floor
would include the living space with a kitchen, dining room, living
room, laundry room, and powder room, and then the second floor
would include our bedrooms and two full baths.
We envision the priority of our residents within this community
to be towards their families. The location alone makes the site
conveniently accessible to daily needs, while the proposed half-acre
park allows for a retreat close to home to spend time with family.
Pathways throughout the community would allow for
walkability with a potential future connection to the school sidewalk
system.
Habitat provides an opportunity for hard-working families who
are already living and working within the county to provide -- to
purchase a home that they can afford. These families are cost
burdened by paying more than 30 percent of their income towards
housing and often paying more than 50 percent of their income
towards housing.
Families are income qualified and make 30 to 80 percent of the
area median income. We would be interested in a potential
partnership opportunity with potentially a for-profit builder/developer
who then we could provide for families making up to 80 to
120 percent of the area median income.
In order to make this project viable, we ask for several things:
That the land be donated and impact fees be deferred; we ask for a
90-day due diligence period to confirm the feasibility of this project;
we ask to be co-applicants with Collier County for all permits and to
have a development liaison with review timeline commitments; and
we ask to work with county staff to coordinate wastewater services
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between the proposed residential development and the future pump
station.
We also ask for several variances from the Land Development
Code to make this project feasible due to the size -- to the site size
restrictions and the development costs. We ask for relief from
requiring the 60 percent open space. We ask to allow for a perimeter
landscape buffer to be 10 feet Type A versus 15-foot Type B.
We ask for a relief from requiring on-site native vegetation
preservation, and if off-site mitigation were required, we ask that the
county absorb those costs.
We ask for relief for requiring one canopy tree per 2,000 square
feet. We ask to allow for a hammerhead Y configuration or the
connection to the pump station access road in lieu of a cul-de-sac.
And we ask to allow for on-site sidewalks constructed only on the
side of the street that has units.
Habitat of Collier County is self-financed and has offered the
following pro formas for both the single unit and the development
costs. These budgets assume a donation of land, zero mitigation
costs, and impact fee deferrals. Each home is estimated to sell for
$165,000 to an income-qualified family.
Total development costs are estimated to be just under
$5 million.
Our construction timeline is very simple: We ask for a 90-day
due diligence period. Following that, we would be submitting permit
applications to South Florida Water Management District, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, and Collier County. Assuming that with
the state and federal agencies their permitting timelines can take up to
three years, we anticipate beginning infrastructure September 2023
and getting our first certificate of occupancies issued the following
year and moving families in September 2024.
Commissioners, thank you for your time. Do you have any
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questions that I can answer?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: If you would -- go ahead, please,
Commissioner Taylor. You go first.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Have you secured this
partnership with a developer, or are you anticipating that it might
happen?
MS. FOLEY: We're anticipating, yes. We have --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
MS. FOLEY: -- been in talks. This is something that we at
Habitat for Humanity have been interested in for some time, but we
have not secured anything specific to this site yet.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Have you done this kind of
partnership in any other properties throughout the county?
MS. FOLEY: Not yet.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
MS. FOLEY: We're excited for that opportunity, but we have
not; not yet.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And as far as term goes, how do
you manage the affordable aspect of your housing?
MS. FOLEY: How we manage the affordability?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Term for affordability, yes.
MS. FOLEY: So our homes are all purchased, and so at the
time of purchase, we have -- our family services department will look
at families' financial backgrounds just as any other bank would who
would be issuing a mortgage.
And at that point in time, we are able to identify what families
can -- what these families can afford. And so we will be sure that this
is an affordable product for them.
We do have additional layers that we're able to kind of put in to
make our homes more affordable for families. Whether that's
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changing the term of the mortgage and stretching that out or whether
that's adding an affordability layer to essentially subsidize that
monthly pay ment.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: From a hold standpoint, how do
you manage the backside with regard to the disposition of the asset?
You're receiving land for free, the deferral of the impact fees and
such. How do you manage the term of hold?
MS. FOLEY: We do have deed restrictions on some properties,
and this could be one that we continue to deed restrict this property
so that in the future we -- families within the certain area median
income would only be eligible to move into this property.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So basically then forever? The
deed restrictions would travel along with the property?
MS. FORKY: Correct, correct.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Okay. Commissioner Solis?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I just want to make sure. So while
it would be a multifamily development and townhouses, I just want to
make sure I understand that this is going to be a community that
you're going to be selling the units or --
MS. FOLEY: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. Because your presentation
says opportunities for families. And I want to make sure that -- so
you're going to use, essentially, your same business model that you
have for your other developments for this one?
MS. FOLEY: Yes, that is correct. And we just received our
first COs, certificate of occupancies, on a community called
Dockside just off of 951 south of the 41 intersection there, just south
of Walmart. In that community -- that's our first multifamily
community. We have six-unit buildings, and we'll be also building
four-unit buildings within that community.
These are all single-story units where we're proposing two-story
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in our proposal here today. But this is a great example of what we
imagine for the Bembridge community. And those are all homes that
are for sale.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Any other questions?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: No. Thank you.
MS. FOLEY: Thank you, Commissioners.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Speakers?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And I don't know, do we have
speakers?
MR. MILLER: We do not have any registered speakers for t his
item.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: How about that.
I have one question of -- Commissioner Saunders, go ahead.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No, go ahead. I was waiting
for you to go ahead and start. Then I pushed my button so I'd be after
you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Just so you -- oh, so you want to be
after, okay.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yep.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I was wanting to see -- I was
looking through the information and, you know, all three of the
presenters seemed to be quite worthy. I was just wondering about the
actual ranking process and how we came up with McDowell as the --
recommended by staff.
MS. SONNTAG: That's a really good question. Thank you.
The slide that I have up, and --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: She was ready for me, wasn't she?
MS. SONNTAG: All right. We did a comparison for you on
the slide. And the Review and Ranking Committee looked at project,
scope, community impact, zoning, timeline, and the overall income
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targeting. In fact, McDowell Housing Partners ranked first because
of their timeline, the cost to the county was zero, their experience
with financing and development, in addition to the option for an all
senior versus an all family or a mixed development.
MR. COYMAN: Commissioners, for the record, Ted Coyman,
Director of Procurement. There was a question about the scoring.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yes.
MR. COYMAN: So this process involves two steps. So first
the submittals from the interested parties come in, and they are
evaluated by a selection committee. It is a 100 -point scoring system.
So, there are five points for business summary, five points if you're a
certified minority firm, 20 points for a business plan, 20 points for the
cost of services to the county, 20 points for experience and capacity,
20 points for specialized expertise, and 10 points for local vendor
preference.
The firms are then short listed. The three short-listed firms were
invited for -- excuse me. After -- the firms are invited for
presentation, and then a final short listing and rank order is
established, and that's what's in front of you today.
Of the three firms that are in front of you, only one of the firms,
and that is Habitat, qualified for the local vendor preference points.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: The local what, please?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Local vendor preference point.
And do you have the point totals there?
MR. COYMAN: I do not, no. I can make those available if
you'd like.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: We're assuming that you're okay
with it. I just wanted -- it would have been interesting to see how the
scoring was.
Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
July 9, 2019
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I want to thank the selection committee for their rankings. And
I tend to always try to support the rankings that are submitted, but I
have to tell you I was more impressed with the JHM/RHD proposal,
and I would just raise that as a potential.
I understand that they're a little bit longer in terms of delivery,
but I thought that was that a -- I just felt that it was a better proposal.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Can I ask why?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, there are a couple
things. One is the commitment they already have to Collier County.
They've apparently developed several projects here. Not this type of
a project, but other housing projects here.
They -- I think we're going to have several other projects coming
along that are going to be substantially larger than this, and I felt that
with their experience and the amount of capacity they have, that this
would be a better partner for Collier County.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Tell me who you thought again; I'm
sorry.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The second rank for
JHM/RHD, LLC.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Solis, you asked
why. Thank you for asking why. I was going to, but I figured you
had your light up for something else.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. I think it is a tough decision
because both companies are very qualified. I mean, I was going to
make a motion to approve McDowell.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I'll second that if you make
that motion.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. I would make that a motion.
A tough decision. The other company is already here. I think
that the flexibility in what McDowell is proposing, depending on how
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it comes out, will be a better financial, I think, deal for the county.
Their flexibility on the kinds of units that we would have.
And I'm just curious. Just to make sure that we're all on the
same page, that really we're just approving the developer. We're not
today deciding whether it's going to be all senior housing or all --
MS. SONNTAG: No, Commissioner.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. That will be --
MS. SONNTAG: That will be part of the negotiations, and if
you would like to direct staff one way or the other, we'd be more than
happy to move forward.
I do want to make a correction to the slide. The cost to the
county for McDowell originally in their proposal was 100,000, and
Chris explained today that there would be no cost to the county.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right.
MS. SONNTAG: So -- but yes, you are correct, if you -- you
know, part of our negotiations will be the mix, the income mix, you
know, and then we'll bring an agreement back to you.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And maybe we can do this in two
pieces, because I think that's an important piece to me as well.
So I think it's a little -- there's some more flexibility. I think
financially it would be better for the county and also the timeline, I
think, was a little more attractive to me.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Just a couple questions.
I don't remember us even approving any senior housing that is
affordable. I know we hear it talked about all the time, but I don't
know -- do we have any figures that show what is needed for
workforce versus senior housing?
MS. SONNTAG: Currently, Commissioner, there are two
affordable housing developments for seniors. One is Vermilya Place
in Immokalee, and the other is Goodlette Arms here in town, and that
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particular facility has, I believe, a four-year waiting list for
occupancy, so...
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That kind of gives you an idea of
what we need.
MS. SONNTAG: Yes, it does; yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's what I'm looking for is what
do we need.
The second thing is, I know that all around us now we've got a
lot of -- a lot of rentals being built, but I don't know of many
single-family homes. Do you know what there's more -- what the call
for is? Do we need still more rentals? Do we need more
single-family or what?
MS. SONNTAG: Commissioner, we recently -- let me try to get
to this slide. Whoops. Right here.
Our second-quarter rental analysis that's completed by my
department -- sorry -- my division, 50 percent and below, there are
three vacancies, and then at 80 percent and below, there are 25
vacancies. So the majority of the vacancies cluster between 81
percent and 120 as far as rental goes.
And we recently requested information from Growth
Management on housing development. And here is the chart on the
number of permits for homes. And what we're seeing is about -- and
GMD can correct me if I'm wrong -- about 300 a month.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Three hundred a month.
MS. SONNTAG: Three hundred a month single-family permits.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, that are being built?
MS. SONNTAG: Uh-huh. And those are all price ranges.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, okay. Everybody?
MS. SONNTAG: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: All right. All right. Fine.
Yeah. I was wondering. I've been just going out to see, like, the
July 9, 2019
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newest one that they're just opening around the corner here but, of
course, it isn't low income or anything, and this is completely a
different market.
MS. SONNTAG: Yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I've been looking at that. I think
that the rentals that they're building right now seem t o be a little bit
higher priced and -- but then you've got David Torres' place, and he's
40 percent available and -- but -- and he doesn't have too, too high of
a price, but they're more teacher prices and nursing prices than others.
But I was just wondering what we need more so we can know what to
target.
But I'm with you as far as the McDowell goes. It looks like it's
the best offer, but I just wanted to make sure we're not passing by
single-family homes if that's what we needed more, and same with
senior housing, you know. Okay.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, I think we're going to have
that mix when they actually come back to us.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, I understand that. But I'm
just asking that question now because that would make a difference
as to whether we vote for a single-family house or rental family
apartments. So that's why I'm asking. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I like the idea with the
McDowell that there seems to be flexibility. I like tha t a lot in the
initial proposal, because the analysis is what we have to build for. I
mean, this is a very precious time for us, and it will be our first foray
into this kind of affordable housing.
And I do know that seniors are desperate for housing because,
you know, if a spouse dies, it's not a pretty picture out there. So I
look forward to working with you.
And I'm assuming that when you come back the analysis will be
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incorporated into the proposal that we're going to hear in the fall; is
that right?
MS. SONNTAG: Yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I also like the time frame for
McDowell a lot. I hope you can deliver it.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: May I ask -- may I add to what --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You had just talked about senior
housing, a lot of these seniors are pretty old, and their Social Security
that they get isn't what people get nowadays. You know, they're
meager.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And so they have a tougher time
living unless there's housing that's priced for them.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Sure. Okay.
No further discussion. It's been moved and seconded that we
proceed with negotiations with McDowell. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved, 5-0.
We will be back at 1:10.
(A luncheon recess was had.)
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Forgive me. Commissioner Solis
July 9, 2019
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was having a conversation there. He's on his way. He's actually the
reason I was late getting here, so...
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Is he coming back?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: He is. I think I hear the door going.
Let's move on, County Manager.
Item #11A
RESOLUTION 2019-139: ESTABLISHING PROPOSED
MILLAGE RATES AS THE MAXIMUM PROPERTY TAX
RATES TO BE LEVIED IN FY 2019/20 AND REAFFIRM THE
ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARING DATES IN SEPTEMBER 2019
FOR THE BUDGET APPROVAL PROCESS – ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that moves us to Item 11A, which
is a recommendation to adopt a resolution establishing proposed
maximum millage rates to be levied in FY 2019/2020 and reaffirm
your public-hearing dates in September. Mr. Isackson will report.
MR. ISACKSON: Thank you, County Manager Ochs.
Commissioners, good afternoon. Mark Isackson with the Office of
Management and Budget. It's just the topic you want to talk about
right after lunch: Millage rates.
Every year we're before you at this time just after receiving our
July certified taxable values. Beginning on Packet Page 64,
Commissioners, is the executive summary. And, operatively, the
Package Page 68 provides you with the maximum millage rates that
staff is proposing coming out of the June budget workshop.
More importantly is the General Fund millage rate at 3.5645 is
proposed to be the same rate as it is this year and as it's been for the
last 11 years.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Eleven years. Wow.
July 9, 2019
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MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, the resolution, which is
attached to the executive summary, is the operative action item. It
contains the attachments, including the millage rates, the dollars
raised, and as well as the public-hearing dates in September which
are the 5th of September and the 19th of September beginning at
5:05 p.m.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Move approval.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded that
we approve the recommendations of staff per the executive summary
as set forth.
Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved.
MR. ISACKSON: Thank you, Commissioners.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I want to compliment,
again, senior staff and Mr. Isackson and Mr. Ochs, County Manager
Ochs. Again, such a -- you prepare us for this. It's not an easy -- it's
never an easy decision to set the millage rate, but you gave us a lot of
discussion, gave us time to bring it back to you, and it's, you know,
you -- Mr. Isackson you write like normal people, you know. Like, I
can actually read it and understand it, so it's compliments to you.
MR. OCHS: Thank you. I think we'll keep him around for one
July 9, 2019
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more year. In fact, we'll keep him around here for the next couple of
items.
Item #11B
RESOLUTION 2019-140: AUTHORIZING A CAPITAL
CONTRIBUTION OF $500,000 PER YEAR FOR A PERIOD OF
TEN YEARS TO REPLACE AND TRANSFER MAINTENANCE
OF SIDEWALKS, AND CERTAIN DRAINAGE OUTFALLS TO
THE PELICAN BAY SERVICES DIVISION IN PERPETUITY –
ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: So that moves us to our next, which is Item 11B.
It's a recommendation to authorize a capital contribution of $500,000
per year for a period of up to 10 years to replace and transfer
maintenance of sidewalks and certain drainage outfalls to the Pelican
Bay Services Division.
This will be a joint presentation by Sean Callahan from the
County Manager's and Mr. Isackson.
Sean?
MR. CALLAHAN: Thanks. Good afternoon, Commissioners.
For the record, Sean Callahan, Director of Corporate Business
Operations.
What you have here is the product of a long series of
conversations and negotiations with the Pelican Bay community to
which they've wanted to make some capital improvements in that
community. They came to us willing to incur some debt and borrow
up to $20 million to mainly do four things, which is lake bank
restoration, the expansion of their existing operations and
maintenance facility, the replacement of sidewalks throughout the
community, and then the transfer of some proposed drainage outfalls
July 9, 2019
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that run easements within the properties of the community.
We discussed this at your June 20th budget workshop, and we
went through this same presentation. I'm happy to give it again. I'll
just buzz through it real quick, and the n Mr. Isackson's here if you
have any specific questions about the debt structuring or financing.
MR. OCHS: Would you like Sean to go through the
PowerPoint?
MR. CALLAHAN: It's up to you.
MR. OCHS: Pleasure of the Board. I think you've all seen it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Are you all okay with it?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'd make a motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded that
we approve the recommendations of staff. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved.
MR. CALLAHAN: Thank you, Commissioners.
Item #11C
RESOLUTION 2019-141: ACCEPTING THE PROPOSAL OF TD
BANK, N.A. TO PROVIDE THE COUNTY WITH A TERM LOAN
TO PURCHASE CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY KNOWN AS THE
July 9, 2019
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GOLDEN GATE GOLF COURSE; TO ENTER INTO THE LOAN
AGREEMENT AND ALL RELATED DOCUMENTS; AND TO
ISSUE A TAXABLE SPECIAL OBLIGATION REVENUE NOTE,
SERIES 2019 IN THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED
$29,000,000; AND APPROVE ALL NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENTS - STAFF TO KEEP THE GREENS
MAINTAINED WITH PUBLIC USE BUT NO OPEN PLAY GOLF
– ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, Item 11C is a recommendation to
approve a resolution accepting the proposal of TD Bank to provide
the county with a term loan to purchase the Golden Gate Golf Course
property and to enter into the appropriate loan agreements and to
issue our special obligation revenue notes in the amount -- principal
amount not to exceed $29 million.
Mr. Isackson will make a presentation.
MR. ISACKSON: Thank you, County Manager Ochs.
Commissioners, this is -- will allow you to purchase the Golden Gate
Golf Course in a timely fashion, closing toward the end of July. It's a
note from TD Bank. We had six competitive proposals. TD Bank is
the lowest competitive that we received. There are specifics in the
executive summary that indicate the structuring of this particular
deal. It's 10 years in duration. Principal payments beginning in
October of 2022 with your semiannual interest payments beginning
on October 1 of 2019. As a provision for prepayment, the interest
rate is locked through closing.
The loan documents are attached for your review, and we're
recommending that the Board approve the resolution accepting the
proposal of TD Bank.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Move approval.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second.
July 9, 2019
Page 105
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded that
we accept -- or approve the recommendation of TD Bank, and as a
point of discussion, I just want to ask on the operational aspect of
things -- this has nothing to do with the approval or not, but there was
some discussion at our last meeting when we voted to buy the course
that it was going to be shut down for the summer, and I've
subsequently learned that it's not. It's only for a brief period of time
while they're doing some maintenance and things.
Have we got any -- have we got any proposals from anybody to
operate the facility --
MR. CASALANGUIDA: No, sir. The direction from the Board
was just to cut the grass upon taking title of the property. We've
contacted two landscape firms under contract to get quotes, and we'll
begin just maintaining the grass through the summer and the fall until
we start the zoning and planning processing.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: If I might make a suggestion.
There's more to it than cutting the grass at a golf course. As far as
maintenance goes, we may seek some advice from golf course
operators on minimum, minimum things that we should be doing in
order to keep it up in some form or fashion just past mowing the
grass.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Commissioners, that's not the
direction we received, but if you want to give us further direction. It
was to, you know, maintain it at a minimum level, allow the public to
use it but not to operate it as a golf course or maintain the grass at a
golf course level. So, if the direction is different, we need to go out
and get different quotes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. I said at the last meeting
that -- I had my button on.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I know. I wasn't done, but go
July 9, 2019
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ahead.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's all right.
We've had three offers from three different golf course
management companies who would manage it for us and who would
operate it for us. It wouldn't cost us any money, and they'd take care
of it, and it would remain a golf course rat her than just let it be grass
in somebody's front yard. And have we approached any of them and
said, yes, we'd like to talk to you or how much it would cost or
anything at all?
MR. OCHS: Commissioner, we have reached out to The First
Tee, and I think we're trying to learn more about their intent in that
initial letter that they sent proposing to operate.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You mean the Bobby --
MR. OCHS: No, The First Tee of Naples.
But to go back to what Mr. Casalanguida had just said, and our
understanding as a staff from the direction at the prior board meeting
was that you wanted us to maintain the facility in good condition but
not operate it on an interim basis as a golf course.
I think what I'm hearing Commissioner McDaniel say is that,
you know, it might not be black and white, because if you want to
keep an option for operating the current golf course in its current
configuration, then you may want to make sure that the greens and --
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, that's the path I was -- and the
reason I brought -- the reason I brought this up is I was in
Pennsylvania last week, and I got to go play the little municipal golf
course that I grew up on at home, and they had lost an electric facility
that ran the pumps to water their greens. And one of the comments
that the lady that owned the golf course said the electrician said, well,
it's going to be very expensive to extend that wire out to fix that
pump.
July 9, 2019
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And she said, what's the relationship with having to replace all
of the greens on the facility due to the lack of water? The electrical
expense was far less than the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the
greens which is -- and then also after we voted I heard during that
discussion that the course was typically closed in the summertime
anyway.
And so I didn't think that was that large of an issue, and so I
just -- we may be forced into not keeping it as a golf course or
utilized as a golf course if the maintenance associated with the
upkeep isn't sufficient to -- the cost associated with bringing it back
might be far in excess of anything that we're -- we have contemplated
so far.
Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. I mean, I thought we had
decided that we would just mow the grass, keep it up to looking nice,
and I thought we had decided that that was pretty clear.
I will say that I was in Oklahoma City over the 4th of July
weekend, and they have actually just gone through the same thing.
They closed a municipal golf course and turned it into a series of,
like, linear parks and things.
And it's -- because I always have had this thought of, well, what
would that look like if we were to do something other than a golf
course? And I would recommend everybody get on line and see what
they did. Because it winds its way through a neighborhood, and
they're all public streets. It was a public golf course. And it's really
nice. It's a real nice amenity. And I think -- you know, they planted
trees and things, but they're just -- you know, they're mowing the
grass and not maintaining the golf course.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's just something that I brought up
or thought of when I saw this coming up, and I just wanted to bring it
up.
July 9, 2019
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Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. Of course, I voted -- or I
wanted to vote and my thoughts were to keep it a golf course. I have
a personal interest in it, and that's my assistant. He goes and golfs
there every Saturday with a group of guys. And he says that, you
know, the golf course is in -- it is run all summer, and they like to go
golfing. And even in this heat I'm surprised to say. So --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, currently we're not --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll wait till Leo finishes.
MR. OCHS: I'm listening.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, okay, fine. I just think that
there's other people that would really like to keep a golf course. I
realize some want to get rid of it, but once you're rid of it, you never
get it back. You start building on it, you start making it something
else, and it will never be back. What we've heard from all over -- I
even got a letter from somebody in Pelican Bay.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No kidding.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That surprised me; that he said, I
hope you're going to keep this as a municipal golf course, because
there's too many people that can't play on private golf courses. I
thought that was pretty cool.
And, anyway, so I just don't -- I just don't think we ought to just
mow it. I think we ought to keep it operating, as long as we can get it
operated for nothing, you know, and all you have to do is reach out to
these people. They're reaching out to us, but we haven't reached back
to them. I think we should do that.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Well, ma'am, just for clarification,
when I was up at the podium, I think the way the Boar d left it was if
an entity wanted to reach out to us, we would accept all
considerations. And I think Mr. Carnell has been in contact with a
few of these. That was one of the taskers we put out of the manager's
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office.
So -- but I -- you know, last time I was up there, the direction
was to cut the grass and keep it open for the public to use but not to
run it, and that's what I'm going off of from the last time I was there,
ma'am.
MR. OCHS: Also, the deal was if you wanted to keep it open on
an interim basis, the current operator wanted $30,000 a month to be
reconciled quarterly in case there were --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: We had no interest in that. I mean,
that proposal was absurd.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Of course not. Nobody does
because that's the bitter pill. But if we can find one of these clubs
that have taken the time to write to us -- and we have three now; three
that have approached us and said they would do it.
I don't know if anybody has reached out to them. They've
already reached out to us or we wouldn't know it, but has anybody
reached out to them and talked to them about this? Like you, for
instance. Yeah, you could reach out and ask them. And I think that
that's great.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yes, I could.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Huh?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yes, I could.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, you could.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yes, I could.
Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: It was my understanding, too,
that at least during the summer months until the fall we're trying to
figure out what we are going to do with that property and that in
order to maintain, you know, a recreational area, that we would take
care of it, which includes making sure the grass doesn't -- you know,
the pumps are working.
July 9, 2019
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But that -- First Tee has expressed an interest in that. So you're
evaluating all these -- and not closing the door to anyone.
MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. Although, you know, just as a
reminder, the last time we took this approach was on the Randall
Curve, and, you know, as soon as we thought we had all of the final
offers, we found out we didn't.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We had the final of the final.
MR. OCHS: And it wasn't until we, yeah, went out and got the
final, final.
I mean, at some point the Board's going to have to decide
whether they want to operate or have a contractor operate that
property as a golf course and, if so, you know, we ought to do an RFP
and advertise it and let anybody that has an interest respond to it just
like we do most of these other contracted operations.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But can't we -- can't we -- I
won't use that term. Can't we do part of the property as a golf course,
perhaps a smaller golf course?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Nope.
MR. OCHS: Yes, there's all kinds of options, but we have no
idea how many there are out there --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Correct.
MR. OCHS: -- at this point.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah, just -- your recollection
is correct at the last meeting. We decided to maintain it nicely for the
community but not operate it as a golf course or maintain it as a golf
course.
We're going to have to make some decisions as we get into the
fall as to what we ultimately want to do with this.
I've been approached by several people that are talking about
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12-hole golf courses, which apparently is something that's very
popular now.
Millennials don't like playing 18 holes because it takes so long.
And it's a whole lot cheaper to build and to operate. And if we did
something like that, ultimately we would have to reconfigure
everything anyway. And also we're talking about other types of
governmental facilities on part of that acreage.
And so I think leaving things the way they are right now,
maintaining it nicely, and then we'll explore all these different
options. But I think to try to keep this open as a golf course for the
next couple months would -- I just don't see the point of that.
And you're right, they were going to charge $30,000 a month
plus a reconciliation, and so we knew that it was going to be more
than $30,000 a month cost. And they knew that as well, I'm sure;
that's why they wanted the reconciliation.
So I think the direction was clear before --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And I was -- excuse me. I wasn't
questioning the direction. It was, in fact clear. It's just there are more
issues with maintaining a golf course than mowing the grass. And if
you don't maintain it as a golf course, even if you're not using it and
operating it as such, the costs and expenses associated with
bringing -- should this board choose to open it back up, the cost -- we
may be forced into making decisions for a different utilization than
what we could if we gave direction for some consultation on things
that could be done to maintain it as a golf course, even not to be
opened, but just to maintain it.
That was -- and that popped up last week, like I said, when they
were talking about the Sleepy, what I grew up on, so...
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So what are your constituents
saying?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, it depends on which
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constituents you ask.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Pardon me?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think we each have about --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Sixty thousand.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- sixty thousand constituents.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, I don't know. I just -- I know I
went to the town hall meeting, and they filled the hall, but nobody
wanted to see anything less than a 19-hole -- an 18-hole golf course.
But on the other hand, too, if you can use it for that, you know,
you never get a chance to have that much property again. And one --
with great access to everything. It would just be so perfect to -- and
we've got -- you say it's going to cost us $30,000. But if we've got
somebody operating it, and it doesn't cost us a penny, there's nothing
wrong with that.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I will tell you, I was being a
little bit sarcastic when I said it depends on which constituent you
ask. The folks that I've spoken to -- there are a lot of folks that want
this to be maintained as a golf course.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No question about that,
especially the folks that live at the parks.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's why I asked that.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But even those folks -- and
I've talked to a lot of them. Even those folks are saying we're
delighted that this is going into government -- public ownership. And
if it's a golf course, that's a wonderful thing. If it's open space, that's
a fine thing as well, as long as it doesn't have 750 or 770
single-family homes and multifamily homes on it --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Condos.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- which was the plan.
So whatever we do with this, if it's linear parks on part of it, my
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constituents are going to be perfectly happy with that because they
know that the alternative was a developer putting homes on there and
condos.
There is a constituency that is very much pro golf, and there
may be some middle ground where, as I mentioned, the other
potential there. But that was my point is this -- I don't think there's a
vote on the Board now to maintain that as an 18-hole golf course
going forward.
And so let's go ahead and shut it down. That's -- at least
temporarily until we determine, you know, are we going to do 18 --
12 holes or something else.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Can we add in maybe give direction
to staff to seek some consultation as to the upkeep to make sure that
we at least have that choice without a burdensome expense to force
us in one direction?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think that's a good idea.
Still maintaining it.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yep.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: That would be -- not open it up, but
just maintain it as such so we're not forced into making decisions that
would later impact the utilization of that land because of an
exorbitant expense.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So in other words, when you say
not opening it up, that means nobody can play on it; is that what you
mean?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: That's correct, yes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I wonder if Mike and his group will
go out there anyway and want to play on it anyway. Can they?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, that brings up an issue there,
because we said something about it being open to the public. What
are you going to do about people going out there and playing? We're
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not going to allow that.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yeah. I talked to Steve. And what
we do with our open parks is we sign them as open play. You know,
feel free to go out and walk the area. If you want to hit a golf ball, as
long as you don't hurt anybody in an open field, you can do that now
in our parks.
So it's open to public to use the trails and fields and kick a ball
or walk around and use it as a passive, you know, active type of area.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I see that being problematic.
MR. OCHS: Yeah. We've got to give that a little more thought.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I see that being problematic. There
again, I mean, if it is allowed for recreational golf play, I mean, the
damage -- the damage that can be done -- if you're not doing ongoing
maintenance, reseeding, fertilizing, all of the things that you need to
do, the pock marks on a green alone, the replacement of the green if
ball marks aren't fixed, it's off the chart.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's right. We're not planning to
staff that facility at all right now. It was to maintain it and allow the
public to use it. If the direction is to assign it to no golf of or --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I would recommend no golf. If you
walk around -- if you want to walk your dog, as long as you pick up
after it, kick a ball, that sort of thing, but I wouldn't recommend it for
open play golf.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I agree. If you've got people
walking around and other people hitting golf balls, that's just not a
good combination. I agree with you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: That can be -- that could be
dangerous as well.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: All right.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So it's been moved and seconded
that we do the interim financing. You brought up the RLSA, and we
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went down a rabbit hole. Sorry about that.
MR. OCHS: Not interim, Commissioner.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: TD Bank.
MR. OCHS: This is not interim financing. This is the
permanent financing.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I'm sorry. This is financing to
allow us to go ahead and move forward with acquisition per the
recommendation.
Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Same sign, same sound. So moved.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Loud and clear.
MR. ISACKSON: Thank you, Commissioners.
Item #11E
AWARD INVITATION TO BID NO. 19-7560, “EMS 25
(HACIENDA LAKES STATION) CONSTRUCTION,” TO
WALTBILLIG & HOOD GENERAL CONTRACTORS, LLC, IN
THE AMOUNT OF $2,359,605, AND AUTHORIZING THE
NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT – APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that takes us to Item 11E on
today's agenda. This is a recommendation to award a construction
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competitive bid to Waltbillig & Hood General Contractors in the
amount of 2 million 330 -- excuse me -- $2,359,605 for the
construction of the Hacienda Lakes EMS Station No. 25.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Move approval.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded that
we accept the staff's proposal on 11E. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved.
Item #11F
AN AGREEMENT FOR THE “WESTERN INTERCONNECT
FORCE MAIN” PROJECT FOR INVITATION TO BID NO. 19-
7568, WITH METRO EQUIPMENT SERVICES, INC., IN THE
AMOUNT OF $3,293,020 – APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Item 11F is a recommendation to approve a
construction contract competitive bid with Western Interconnect
Force Main project with Metro Equipment Services in the amount of
$3,293,020.
Mr. Chmelik is available to present or --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Move approval.
July 9, 2019
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COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
MR. OCHS: -- entertain questions.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: It's been approved and seconded.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been -- yes. I'm sorry. I was in
the process of moving it. I'd lost my place on the --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I forgot I'm not running this
meeting.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Not till next year.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: 11F. It's been moved and seconded
that we accept staff's recommendation. Any other -- any additional
discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved. Another fine report, sir.
MR. CHMELIK: Thank you, Commissioners.
MR. OCHS: Thanks, Commissioners.
Item #11G
RESOLUTION 2019-142: SUPERSEDING RESOLUTION NO.
2016-140, ESTABLISHING THE COLLIER AREA TRANSIT
ADVERTISING POLICY AND STANDARDS, FEE POLICY AND
THE AGREED TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR ADVERTISING
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ON TRANSIT ASSETS AND FACILITIES, TO EXPAND THE
ADVERTISING POLICY, STANDARDS AND FEES TO
INCLUDE FIXED ROUTE EXTERIOR BUS WRAPS AND
DIGITAL ADVERTISING - MOTION NOT TO MOVE
FORWARD WITH THE BUS WRAP PORTION AND APPROVE
THE DIGITAL ADS AND BENCH DONATION PORTION –
ADOPTED W/CHANGE
MR. OCHS: Item 11G is a recommendation to approve a
resolution that would establish a Collier Area Transit advertising
policy and set standards fee policy and agreed terms and conditions
for advertising on transit assets and facilities.
Michelle Arnold, your Director of Public Transit and Neighborhood
Enhancement, will present.
MS. ARNOLD: Good afternoon. I am here to present to you a
revision to the policy for our advertising.
Currently the county has an advertising policy that provides for
internal advertising in the buses and in the terminals, our smart cards
and other limited advertising like the bus cards over in the interior of
the buses. And what we're asking to do is to expand that current
policy.
If you recall at your workshop in February, we talked about
alternative revenues to help -- to help expand the services within the
county. That is being requested by the public.
And one of the suggestions was advertising, and so I'm now
bringing the policy to you to ask you to answer several things: One is
wrapping the buses, which would be advertising on the exterior of the
bus; digital advertising, which would be installing monitors interior
of the buses as well as interior of the terminals to provide for digital
advertising, which is a lot simpler to do currently than the paper
advertising that we have; and then, finally, introducing a program for
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bench donations. So if somebody wanted to install benches along --
at one of the stops along our routes, we now have a program that's
being established with this resolution to do so.
I mean, I can go into a lot more details if you'd like to, but the
revenue that would be generated by the wraps would help to alleviate
our costs in terms of wrapping the buses currently, because we have a
trolley motif, so to speak, on our fixed route buses. And then it
would also provide for revenue, because whoever would be
purchasing the advertising from us would be charged a monthly cost.
We're estimating for the wraps, with our current fleet of 28
fixed-route buses -- we also have the para-transit buses that we could
do wraps, but we're not recommending at this time to proceed with
that. We're just limiting it to our fixed-route buses.
With the current fleet, we estimate we can raise revenue
somewhere from 190,000 to 350,000, and that's being conservative.
If we're able to expand the services with that revenue, additional
buses could be purchased, and then that would obviously expand the
potential for revenue.
The digital advertising could also produce revenue for us. That's
included in that cost but, again, it could be, on its own, producing
about 22-, 23,000 to 100,000 for the services.
There isn't a cost associated or a revenue associated with the
bench program. It would just be a cost savings to the system because
we wouldn't, obviously, have to pay the cost for installing the bench.
And it would be more of a donation, and those things will be brought
to the Board and accepted by the Board if someone were to present
that.
If you have any other questions --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. I'm not in favor of this at all.
When we first -- when we -- way, way a long time ago the
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commissioners -- I don't even know if I was here yet or not -- they
eliminated all the billboards because they felt that it was -- it really
detracted from the quality of community that we were.
By the way, these would look like traveling billboards. They
then cut back on the heights of the signs because, again, they wanted
it to look like a unique community, a really, you know,
above-average community. It doesn't -- and it doesn't -- we don't
even have any neon signs because they wanted to eliminate those as
well.
I think that by adding these signs to these buses -- I don't think
we need the money that bad, and we already give state and fed money
to help us operate the system. I don't think we should cheapen our
community that way and put signs all over the buses. And then you
were talking about the wraps. They have a wrap that's a whole bus, a
wrap that's a half a bus, a wrap that's a quarter of a bus. That means
you could have signs all over this bus. I just don't like it.
And then, you know, when you bring your pen along on your
bus, oh, now I have something to write on. So while I'm in the bus, I
could just write on these signs a little bit, put my message. No --
when they finally find out they can erase it or take it off. But, you
know, I think you're inviting a lot of trouble, and I don't like the idea
at all.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Depending on what the will of
this commission is, when I looked at your CAT bus and how it's
wrapped -- maybe you could put that up, Ms. Arnold.
MS. ARNOLD: Currently?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. It's in our backup.
MR. OCHS: Yeah. She's talking about the beach trolley.
MS. ARNOLD: Oh.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: There it is. And, you know,
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that's -- I like it a lot.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Where's the advertising, though?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, this is to say -- it's called
the beach -- the beach -- the Collier transit or the beach bus -- Collier
Area Transit beach bus.
So if you go to the next one, there's no -- I missed the CAT on it.
So to me if we're going to do this, we need to make sure that the cat
is on it.
Now, if you go down to the fourth one, which is quarter bottom
wrap and it's Hodges, the perfect ride, that kind of works, but I do
think it's very important that we -- if it's the will of this commission
to go ahead with this, that we have that branding on it.
MS. ARNOLD: Yeah. And we just put these together to give
you an idea of the size. The front and the rear, obviously, would
keep the branding because we do -- I mean, that is the risk of
adopting a program like that. You have the risk of losing your
branding if you have 100 buses that are with a full wrap. But the
intent is to maintain that branding with the advertising.
So on the half wrap, the --
MR. OCHS: That's one side of the bus and --
MS. ARNOLD: Yeah, it's -- on the half wrap it's one side of the
bus, but the staff that put this together didn't cut off the fact that our
wrap that's in the front -- that shows Collier Area Transit, and then in
the back would remain on there, so --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Front and back of the bus.
MS. ARNOLD: Yeah. So you're still going to have that
information to the public that it's a public transit bus.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. All right. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So the -- being conservative,
you're estimating, if we did the full wrap, how much total revenue;
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190 to 350?
MS. ARNOLD: Yeah, what we looked at is not having every
bus with a full wrap, and those numbers are considering a portion of
our fleet would have the full wrap and a portion would have half or
quarter or -- and so the estimate was up to 350,000.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: What's the total budget for
our transit system; do you know off the top of your head?
MS. ARNOLD: Our operating budget for fixed is about
nine million.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. So I'm -- I think I'm in
agreement with Commissioner Fiala that I kind of like the bus system
the way it is. I'm not sure that this is enough revenue to go through
the pains of working that out.
MS. ARNOLD: Well, I mean --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I like the idea -- you know, I
like the idea of the donations in terms of the bus stops, and I don't see
any particular problem with advertising that would result from that
type of a program, but I'm not so sure I'd support wrapping the buses.
MS. ARNOLD: The reason why this was brought up is to
provide revenue to add to the service.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Right.
MS. ARNOLD: So 350,000 could probably provide
enhancements to our existing service on two or three of our routes.
So if you recall at the workshop we talked about the fact that we
hadn't been getting any additional funding contributi ng to the service,
and this was one way that was proposed to at least get funding for
transit specific so that we could enhance the service that we've been
requesting -- we've had requests for over the years.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Solis -- you okay?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Solis.
July 9, 2019
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COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Can you go back to the other ones
where it's a quarter and a --
MR. OCHS: That's a quarter. Then this would be a bottom --
what's called a bottom wrap.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Those -- you know, and I think I --
it goes to what Commissioner Taylor was saying about not losing the
brand. But I have to say the full wrap, at least the one that was on
there, was not very appealing.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: The beach bus looks fabulous.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The beach bus looks fabulous, and
it was fabulous this year, by the way. I'm not sure if anybody
noticed, but it went from maybe, what, 1,000 to 6,000-plus this year?
Yeah. So -- but that's all right. I don't want to go down a rabbit hole,
but --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Been down two already.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. I don't know if it makes it
any better for anyone, but I would be supportive of that. I don't know
if that would generate enough money to make it wort hwhile. No?
It's the full wrap?
MS. ARNOLD: Yep.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Is this something that we could
experiment with, and if it's --
MS. ARNOLD: Well -- and that's what's being proposed,
because we're not -- we're only limiting it to the fixed route service.
It's not expanding to -- because other --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Para transit.
MS. ARNOLD: -- because other communities will do their
whole fleet. And, as I said, we want to see how it works, and we'll
bring it back to you-all if it's profitable or not profitable.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And a lot of it has to do with
the management of what advertising's going to go on there.
July 9, 2019
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MS. ARNOLD: Right.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: What's acceptable, what's not.
MS. ARNOLD: Right. Right now we currently have
advertising that we allow on the interior of the buses and at the
terminals. Because it's a limited population that it's exposed to, the --
there's not the demand as this would be, because it's -- the buses are
not -- the advertising on the buses are not being attracted to our
ridership. It's more all of the traveling public that's going by.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, it's a traveling billboard.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. Well, I -- okay. I'm going
back. I'm kind of torn, but I think it's worth a try, and if it's
successful and we're good at managing the -- what's on the bus so that
it's appealing to the eye -- I know that's an unknown quantity, but I'd
be in favor of trying it and seeing if it works. If it -- if it doesn't work
and it just kind of changes the ambiance, then maybe we can do
something different. But I'll support it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: One second, please. We've got
lights.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was just wondering if he's
talking about the full wrap.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The full wrap, yeah. If that's where
the money is. I mean, I think if we're trying to generate funds to
extend the services or add to some of the routes, then the other one
doesn't really make sense.
And I'd be curious to know -- it would be curious to see how
many full wraps people would pay for, but I think it's worth a try.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Do you have any takers? I
mean, have people expressed interest?
MS. ARNOLD: Oh, yeah. We've had inquiries from, you
know, restaurants, national restaurants, and that type of thing. I think
we had some examples in the executive summary.
July 9, 2019
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I know that -- I don't see it. I know that our marketing staff had
several inquiries in the past year, and we were unable to provide that.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. Just a question, please.
Throughout this thing you said something about will rent space
on its transit assets. What are transit assets?
MS. ARNOLD: The buses, the vehicles.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So it's clear to me. Just the buses?
MS. ARNOLD: The vehicles.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Why didn't you say buses?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, it's more than just the buses,
though. You said potential park benches. Potentially --
MS. ARNOLD: No, the benches are not -- the benches are
merely a donation program where somebody -- if somebody wants to
donate or, you know, purchase a bench and construct it for us, we're
allowing that as a part of this. It's not advertising on the benches.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So transit -- even though you've
added asset, and that's underlined and added to it, you really mean --
every time it says assets, it only means buses? Just so I understand
what you really said.
MS. ARNOLD: Where we would -- where we would be
allowing the advertising is where the rate information is provided
on -- starting on Page 12.
So currently we have seen internal cards, which is the interior
bus cards inside of the buses and -- well, terminal cards, sorry, and
interior bus cards. We also allow for advertising on the smart cards .
Do you see -- do you see what I'm referring to? And so those are
considered assets as well.
We currently allow for interior bus announcements. So our
buses have audible announcements for ADA purposes, but we also
have the ability to, at certain trigger points, at GPS locations,
July 9, 2019
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advertise for an establishment, and we've done that with this -- with
your current ordinance.
We also have the ability to do terminal announcements, bus
schedules, and our bus schedules have -- these are all current --
currently in the policy.
What we're adding is the bus wraps -- we're proposing to add is
the bus wraps, the bench program, and the digital advertising.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So those are the assets.
MS. ARNOLD: Yeah. So all of those are assets, because your
smart cards are assets, and all the other things are assets. That's why
that word was added.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think -- I think my question
was answered, so I'll pass for the moment.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So I think it's a visual issue, of
course, right? So I look at it and say, how much control do you have
over the way you can maintain the integrity of the advertiser but say,
you know what, we're just not going to use -- we want to change it so
it's a little more pleasing to the eye? Because what you have done
with that beach bus is wonderful.
MR. KLATZKOW: You've got a content issue here.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Right.
MR. KLATZKOW: I mean, once you start advertising, you
can't say, well, Morgan and Morgan, we don't like your design here,
so we're not going to use you, but we like the Botanical design, so
we're going to use you. We've got a content issue here. So the
aesthetics go away.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yeah. Wait till you see my face
July 9, 2019
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plastered on the side of my reelection bus.
MS. ARNOLD: That's not allowed.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: It's not allowed. That's right.
No political --
MS. ARNOLD: There's certain prohibitions that are in the
policy, so specifically Bill McDaniel's.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No booze on the side either. No
cigarettes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So we couldn't go to them and
say, we like what you have to say but please change the color?
MR. KLATZKOW: I am telling you --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: No.
MR. KLATZKOW: -- once you do this, you're doing this.
It's --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
MS. ARNOLD: In terms of the color -- I mean, because we've
done that before with some of the internal ads. So they're flexible in
terms of color and that type of thing. But content is the issue that I
think the County Attorney is bringing up.
So there are certain things that, as I pointed out, are prohibited.
But we -- with working with some of the advertisers, we have asked
them to make tweaks to their things, and they've obliged.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: This is a question for the
County Attorney. I understand we would be very restricted in what
we could do in content -- in terms of content.
So let's say that we initiate this program today and you get two
requests for two buses to wrap, one from Morgan and Morgan to
wrap a whole bus and one from a medical marijuana pharmacy. I'm
assuming -- this is -- the question is, do we have to take these in
order, or how do you --
July 9, 2019
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MR. KLATZKOW: You need to be fair about it. You just can't
pick and choose what you like. Whatever system you come in -- first
in --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's fine.
MR. KLATZKOW: That's fine, yeah.
MS. ARNOLD: Based on availability.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: First in would be the first on
the bus?
MR. KLATZKOW: First in, first on, yeah.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You used those words, didn't
you?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yes, he did.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Medical marijuana. He used
those words.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, there's going to be a
pharmacy on Marco Island, so they should be advertising it.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's right. That's right.
Thanks to John Boehner.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I have concerns with this on
multiple levels. First off, if there was a little bit more specificity as to
what good we could do with the money, I might be able to get sold.
I'm inclined, like Commissioner Solis, to give it a try. But I'm not
liking Pandora's box. I think that's getting -- that potentially could be
opened up. I am concerned on the other side of competing with the
private sector.
I actually know of one lady at a bank that I do business with.
She and her husband actually have a bus or a vehicle that they sell
advertising on, and it's part of what they, in fact, do for their business
is advertise on the side of their -- on the side of their vans. So
competing in the private sector gives me some issue as well.
July 9, 2019
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So I have concerns with regard to the branding. I wouldn't be --
I don't think I would object as much if maybe it was just on one --
maybe on the back of the bus and one particular area on the bus that
would allow us to maintain our branding and that sort of thing and
develop some additional revenue. But I also am concerned about the
content issue, because once we start, we get to go.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It's not like we have a ton of buses
anyway.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: We've got 29, I think she -- I think
Michelle shared we've got 29 buses.
MS. ARNOLD: Twenty-eight.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Plus a para transit and shuttles and
so on.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: We're not doing the para transit,
though, right?
MS. ARNOLD: No. It would be limited to --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's just the big buses.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I would make a motion to bring it
back at another time and another year.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Do the government thing; continue
it.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: It dies.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I'm not having a motion one way or
the other, so -- but Commissioner Saunders, are you going to help us?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was going to suggest that
we have a motion to -- I don't think it was intended to continue this --
to, you said, another time and another year, and we're going to be in
another year here pretty soon, so --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I meant next year.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Having this now, would this allow
you to -- is this part of your upcoming budget cycle?
July 9, 2019
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MR. OCHS: No. The budget's fully funded with or without this
for next year.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And we're talking about 2
percent -- if you did the full buses --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And the maximum revenues.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Two or 3 percent.
MS. ARNOLD: This is not intended to replace my budget.
Understand.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No, I understand.
MS. ARNOLD: It's enhancing the --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Just to put it in some
perspective, we're a mid range of what you said. If we did all the
buses full wrap -- or the buses you're suggesting at full wrap, you're
at 3 percent of your operating budget. So it's not like a huge number
that we're dealing with. And so I would support a motion to just not
move forward with this.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Second.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Third.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, that's okay. You could do the
second.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's okay. I'll let you do it.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I like being third.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Can I ask one -- if there's
discussion, just one quick question. So it was 2 percent of the whole
transit budget, or what is it as a percentage of the big bus operating?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: She had indicated that their
operating budget was $9 million.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Total for everything?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The operating portion, not
capital, but --
July 9, 2019
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MS. ARNOLD: Well, that includes everything.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Bus purchases and
everything?
MS. ARNOLD: Yeah, that includes the bus purchases and
everything. Our operating budget for the fixed route, just looking --
thinking of the contract. It's probably like 3.54 million.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But if you're looking at the
overall budget of the nine million, it's 2, 3 percent of that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I think it's risky business. It's a
great idea, and your initiative is greatly appreciated, you know. I
know what you're trying to do, and I think it's an admirable business
move, but I think it's risky business, and I would agree with your
motion.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded that
we continue this item to another date and time. Is that okay repeating
of the motion?
MR. OCHS: I thought it was to deny the staff recommendation.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Deny the -- okay. Fair enough.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We can -- somebody on the
Board can always bring this back.
MR. OCHS: Sure.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: The motion's been made and
seconded to deny the recommendation. Any other discussion?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Could I ask a question on the
motion just to make sure -- because there were some other aspects of
this, the donation program and that sort of thing.
MS. ARNOLD: Yeah. The digital advertising and donation
were also two other aspects of it. So I didn't know whether or not
you were denying the whole thing or --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, just the --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And the digital is primarily
July 9, 2019
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on the inside of the bus?
MS. ARNOLD: Interior of the bus and interior of the terminals.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't have any issues at all
with either one of those, so I would exclude those from the motion.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I would be okay with that as well. I
was under the impression that those were already part of the existing
resolution that we have.
MS. ARNOLD: No. We were proposing the bus wrap, digital
advertising, and the bench program.
MR. KLATZKOW: So you're approving the bench program,
you're approving the digital advertising, and you're saying no to the
bus wrap.
MS. ARNOLD: Bus wrap.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I'll be okay with that.
It's been moved and seconded that we do that: Okay with the
bench program; okay with the digital advertising; not okay with the
bus wrap.
MS. ARNOLD: Okay.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved.
MS. ARNOLD: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I'll apologize if --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: You don't have to apologize.
July 9, 2019
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COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. If this was an idea that we
asked them to bring to us and develop, and now we're pulling back
from it. So thank you for the work anyway.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, you know, sometimes when
we're thinking about things, sometimes there's -- you don't really get
to think about until you actually see it in motion.
Item #12A
AFFIRM STAFF’S OFFICIAL INTERPRETATION AND REJECT
THE APPEAL THEREFROM CONCERNING OLD GROVES
ROAD IN THE VINEYARDS PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT
WHICH WILL ALLOW THE ENTITIES TO GO DIRECTLY TO
COURT TO ADDRESS THEIR DISPUTE - MOTION TO DENY
THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND ADVERTISE FOR A FUTURE
PUBLIC HEARING – APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, we move to Item 12A under the
County Attorney's report. This was previously Item 16K5. It's a
recommendation to affirm staff's official interpretation and reject the
appeal therefrom concerning Old Groves Road in the Vineyards
Planned Unit Development which will allow the entities to go
directly to court to address their dispute.
This item was brought to the regular agenda at the request of
Commissioner Solis.
MR. KLATZKOW: I'm just here to take questions, sir.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Let me just say, since this was my
idea to bring this forward is -- and I'm assuming everybody's read the
executive summary. I mean, I understand -- it does appear to be a
matter of law, and so I agree with the County Attorney that ultimately
the Court's going to have to decide this.
July 9, 2019
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What I think we shouldn't do is short circuit what we're
obligated to do, because the Land Development Code at 1.06.01
says -- it sets out the process for asking for an official interpretation,
and then it sets out the process for an appeal. And it says that if
somebody wants to appeal an official -- a formal interpretation, then
they're entitled to a publicly noticed hearing and the presentation of
witnesses.
So I don't feel comfortable, even though it may in the end not
make any difference from the outcome of it, I don't feel comfortable
short circuiting that by just kind of summarily denying the appeal
when the Land Development Code says that there's the right to a
public hearing.
And so -- and this brings up maybe we need to look at this
provision -- the appeal provision in the Land Development Code.
Maybe we need to make changes to that so that we don't end up in
this situation where we have to go through maybe a formality, maybe
not. I'm not saying that that's what we have here. But that, you
know, we don't end up with a bunch of situations like this where we
just have to go -- kind of go through the motions because, ultimately,
at the end of the day, it is a legal issue which a court is going to
decide.
I just -- if we need to make some changes, we should consider
that. But I don't feel comfortable putting this on a consent agenda
when there's references to the -- to a public hearing and witnesses and
things.
And the other thing is, is it concerns me -- and I can see the
concern from the party that's appealing, that there's a process -- they
have to exhaust their administrative remedies. You know, I wouldn't
want us kind of abbreviating the process to have an impact one way
or the other on any of the parties.
So I think at this point -- I think we're just stuck -- it's kind of a
July 9, 2019
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due process issue in my mind, and I think we just have to do it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Was there a question in that for the
County Attorney? He said he was just here for --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: That was a rather long
proclamation, but --
MR. KLATZKOW: You have public speakers.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And commissioners as well, so...
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I was just giving the reasons for
why I wanted to pull this.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: My simple question is, could you
have just pulled it and put it on the regular agenda? Would that have
satisfied you?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I don't think so, because it wasn't
advertised. I think that's the issue is that it specifically references an
advertised public hearing.
MR. KLATZKOW: It has to be advertised, yes; otherwise, it
would be -- I could have structured this almost like -- sometimes
you'll get a trial court decision and it gets appealed, and the appellate
court will do what's called a pro curium where they just tell you,
we're just affirming below. But I really can't -- I couldn't do that
process here because it requires a public hearing.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right, right. And I do -- and I
understand the County Attorney's thought process on this, and this --
this just doesn't make me feel right to go that way, so...
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And my question for the County
Attorney -- and Commissioner Saunders is lit up. But I just -- are
we -- are we circumventing or not allowing someone due process by
this vote?
MR. KLATZKOW: No. And Commissioner Solis and I had a
good conversation yesterday, and I understand his concerns. My
July 9, 2019
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concern is you're going to have a roomful of 200 people here, 100
people in red shirts, 100 people in blue shirts, four hours later,
whatever decision you make is not going to matter because,
ultimately, the trial judge is going to determine that since there are no
facts here; it's just whether or not there's a provision in the PUD or
the LDC that requires those gates to be open.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Right.
MR. KLATZKOW: So it's almost -- you're having a hearing,
but it's --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: That was what I read here as well.
It was -- ultimately it was going to be decided by a judge irrespective
or not. But I can understand Commissioner Solis' concern not
allowing for that appeal process.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And one of the other things that I
think could happen is a court coming back and saying, well, wait a
minute, there should have been a hearing in front of the County
Commission, so we're going to do it over anyway, you know.
I just think it's -- it's not a perfect process, but I just -- I feel like
we have to follow it regardless of whether or not we're going to have
a whole bunch of people in the room.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Agreed on that.
Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: If we do have the hearing and
this goes on for a couple days here because of the 200 people in
different colored shirts, we do have the hearing, one of the parties is
going to appeal. Is that appeal heard de novo?
MR. KLATZKOW: It's de novo. This is not quasi-judicial.
You are not looking at any criteria.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, that's the reason I
wanted to ask the question, because the evidentiary aspects of this are
not going to be determined in front of us, as well as the legal issues.
July 9, 2019
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So, I think in terms of due process, there will be plenty of that
opportunity in court. There is a good question in terms of exhaustion
of remedies.
And are the parties able to agree just to go straight to court and
eliminate that step without getting into a trap that Commissioner
Solis has talked about?
MR. KLATZKOW: From that standpoint, they created the
problem. They do not have to ask for a staff interpretation. Could
have gone right to court for an injunction. That's my view. Counsel
may differ.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I would ask Commissioner
Solis, in terms of the fact that it would be a de novo hearing anyway,
does that change your thinking at all?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I still think we're -- you know, I
think the Land Development Code says what it says, you know. I
understand it's de novo, but if the process is that we're supposed to
have an appeal at a publicly noticed hearing so 200 people can show
up, that's what we're supposed to do. It's just a fundamental kind of a
fairness --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Are you going to be in
Ireland in an Irish pub when we do that?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I may be. No, and this is -- you
know, this is my district also, and it just -- not that that makes any
difference in my analysis of this thing.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: No.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I just think our Land Development
Code says what it says. And maybe we need to look at changing
what it says in terms of if it's just a legal -- a legal -- strictly legal
issue that it can be on the summary agenda or something. I just -- we
just don't have that, so I don't feel comfortable not taking that extra
step, because it seems like we're stuck with it whether we like it or
July 9, 2019
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not.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Let's hear from the public speakers
for a minute.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, we have one registered speaker.
Mark Adamczyk.
MR. ADAMCZYK: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Mark
Adamczyk, Attorney for the Orchards Community Association, for
the record. The Orchards is a large HOA. It is the party that has
appealed the official interpretation.
I'm not here -- I'm not prepared to argue the substance of really
the issue today. I do agree with Commissioner Solis that we have
another step to go through under the Land Development Code.
Our research does indicate that we could have problems in court.
Even if it is a de novo standard, we could have problems in not
having exhausted all lower remedies and, as Commissioner Solis
points out, the Board of Zoning Appeals, I think it says "shall," have
a public advertised hearing.
We'll do our best to keep it precise, to the points, and not have,
you know, a public outcry. It's simply a matter that we believe there's
multiple access points required by the code, and that's what we're
appealing.
But, yeah, we would love to put on the appeal as requested. And
that's really all we are here to comment on today.
I'd be happy to answer any questions while I'm here.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Questions?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No.
MR. ADAMCZYK: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I do have a question for our
County Attorney, or maybe my attorney to my left. What does de
novo mean?
July 9, 2019
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MR. KLATZKOW: It's sort of like at first flush. It's like
nothing else counted. We're taking this as if we were the original
trier of fact.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Like new.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Like new.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Like new, yeah.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So why don't you make a motion.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, do we need a motion, or do
we just bring --
MR. KLATZKOW: You need a motion to deny.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: We need a motion to deny.
MR. KLATZKOW: Deny the recommendation and direct the
county staff to advertise for the public hearing.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I would so move.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second that.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded that
we deny the recommendation. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Do you need to also give direction
for the advertisement, or will that just follow?
MR. KLATZKOW: That will follow.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: That would follow.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Okay. It's been moved and second
we deny the recommendation. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
July 9, 2019
Page 140
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved.
Item #12B
A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT TO SETTLE THE LAWSUIT
STYLED JUAN CARLOS GIL V. COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA,
CASE NO. 2:19-CV-00372-SPC-UAM NOW PENDING IN THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, MIDDLE DISTRICT OF
FLORIDA FORT MYERS DIVISION AND AUTHORIZE THE
COUNTY MANAGER, COORDINATING WITH THE COUNTY
ATTORNEY, TO TAKE ANY ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE
ACTION NECESSARY TO FINALIZE THE SETTLEMENT
DOCUMENTS – APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that takes us to Item 12B. This is
previously Item 16K6 on your agenda moved now to the County
Attorney's regular agenda at Commissioner Saunders' request, I
believe. This is a recommendation to enter into a settlement
agreement to dispose of a Federal Americans with Disability Act
lawsuit that's currently pending in federal court.
Mr. Klatzkow?
MR. KLATZKOW: And I'm here to take questions.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. I pulled that off the
consent agenda not because I'm opposed to the settlement
necessarily -- and it sounds like the amounts are reasonable in terms
of what these types of things would cost. But I guess one question is,
are we in compliance with the ADA now? And I know there's some
time limits in there. I think the law firm that sued us was going to
work with us for three years to help us get into compliance and --
July 9, 2019
Page 141
MR. KLATZKOW: Nobody's compliant. In fact, if you put
the -- Troy, would you put that last one up, the map. No, no. The
item we just had.
MR. MILLER: Sorry.
MR. KLATZKOW: That's all right.
That's not compliant because the graph doesn't do it. So it's --
you have a ADA law that never contemplated the Internet, all right,
because it essentially predates the Internet. And now people are
trying to access the Internet. And there are certainly things on the
Internet, signatures, graphics, that just -- they don't comply. You
can't read them if you're blind.
And everybody, and I mean everybody, has this issue. We've
got the two years on a consent order, as does everybody else entering
into this, and pretty much everybody else is entering into this now.
And hopefully within the next two years you'll get some federal
regulations so that there will be a safe harbor, so items like this,
which you really can't do, to make them compliant, will be exempted.
And we'll see what we can do.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, it's kind of a shame that
the -- and I'm a lawyer, so I guess I can -- I'm part of the problem, but
it's a shame that these types of things -- when there's attorney's fees
available, you see a lot litigation, so...
MR. KLATZKOW: But this is what the feds do. The feds have,
like, 60 or so of these statutes where they put in these -- I call them --
well, terms of private Attorney General, and the feds let attorneys just
go running around trying to find this stuff to enforce it for them that
way. It's just -- it's the system we've been living under for quite some
time.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, I'll move to approve the
recommendation of staff --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second.
July 9, 2019
Page 142
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- on settlement.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded. As
a portion of discussion, what's to keep somebody else from suing us?
MR. KLATZKOW: We'll have this as a consent order. It has to
basically go through the same judge, and so it will give us sort of a
two-year safe harbor, and hopefully within that time we'll be fine. If
we're not fine, nobody else is fine either. Either that or two years
from now I'll come back to you with another $9,500 settlement. I
don't know what to tell you.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So no one -- interimly, no one else
can sue us on the same process?
MR. KLATZKOW: They can, but I think this will protect us.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Okay. It's been moved and
seconded to approve. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed same sign, same sound.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved.
Item #15
STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that takes us to Item 15, staff and
commission general communications.
July 9, 2019
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Just a reminder, when you return from your break, you have a
workshop on October 29th to hear the strategic plan from your
Mental Health and Addiction Ad Hoc Committee, and beyond that I
have nothing else except to wish you all a good summer and enjoy
your well-earned time off.
We look forward to seeing you back here on September 5th at
5:05 for your first public budget hearing, adoption hearing.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Hopefully no hurricane bearing
down on us at that time.
MR. OCHS: Well, yeah, in that case I'll see you before
September.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I didn't order any for this year.
MR. OCHS: Very good.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Good.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: County Attorney?
MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing, sir.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: How about our favorite clerk?
CLERK KINZEL: Thank you so much. No, great -- have a
great summer.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Outstanding. Thank you.
Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Nothing from me other than to say
have a good summer and thank you to the staff for all the hard work
and putting up with us for the last six months.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I like that. I agree. They have
really put up with us, haven't they? And everybody still smiles.
Thank you everybody. Have a wonderful summer.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I've got a couple items. I ran
across a news article that -- the headline of the article was Governor
July 9, 2019
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DeSantis signs two bills at USF supporting veterans. And in this
bill -- article the governor says that he wants to make Florida the
most veteran friendly state in the country, and the re's a real effort to
improve conditions for veterans, which leads me back to the veterans
nursing home.
I'd like over the next -- the legislative session's going to start in
January this year. Sometime in the early fall, I'd like to be able to
broker a meeting with the governor's office and the Florida
Department of Veterans Affairs to let them know that we have
acquired that Golden Gate Golf Course, because we were talking
about the possibility of that being a site for this, and see if we can
jumpstart some conversations concerning the veterans nursing home.
Again, utilizing the words of the governor that he wants to make this
a very veteran friendly state, and Collier County is more than
ponying up to the table to help that effort here in Collier Coun ty.
Secondly, we were just talking about hurricanes and all that, and
I know there's been presentations from staff about the preparation and
everything. And I just -- I think I want to hear it one more time
before we go on break that you're prepared, you feel that you've got
what you need while we're on break.
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. We're well prepared and we're ready to
go.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The pump stations and all, I
know you've got a lot of generators put in, and I know you've got a
lot of generators that you can move fairly quickly. So you're fairly
comfortable that if we do have a major storm and we lose power
throughout the county, which is not impossible to happen again, that
we're not going to have the -- kind of the sewage overflow problems
that -- I know you can't guarantee that, but you're --
MR. OCHS: We've made a substantial improvement from Irma,
and I don't expect that we would see that level of spill.
July 9, 2019
Page 145
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. All right.
And then, thirdly, I've become somewhat acquainted with the horse
industry in Collier County over the last couple of years.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The what?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Horse.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Of course, of course.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Horses. And what I'd like for
staff to come back in the early fall with is some information on how
we regulate folks that want to develop barns for rental for people that
want to move their horses into barns.
The reason I ask that is my understanding is that there are only a
few specific locations where horse barns for boarding out horses to
other -- from other people is permitted, and it has to be large tracts of
land zoned agricultural. So that eliminates that type of activity
almost everywhere in the county.
And you have a few barns that are leasing out to the public that
are probably in violation of county ordinances, and I don't think that
we should be that restrictive.
So there's also some state law dealing with agricultural types of
activities. And the state law kind of preempts local regulation of
certain agricultural types of activities, and horse breeding/horse
boarding is an agricultural activity.
So I think the public's getting kind of a mixed signal from the
county, because I think there's a little bit of confusion as to what they
can legally do. And as I think we all know, there are a lot of people
in Collier County that like to have horses for their kids, and the
ability to board horses is really restricted, much more so than
probably anyplace else in Florida.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: This isn't a short-term boarding
issue, is it?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We're talking about boarding
July 9, 2019
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for six months or more.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. I just wanted to make sure I
understood what we were talking about.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No parties.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: There will be no horsing
around in these facilities.
But anyway that's -- if staff could come back and give me -- give
the County Commission some information, I think that's something
we should take a look at.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And you're ultimately looking to
facilitate more opportunities for boarding.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yes.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yes, okay. And I think that's a fine
idea. It's happening everywhere and not necessarily within the guise
of what the ordinance is, in fact, saying.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I appreciate the
Commission agreeing to look into that.
Other than that, I have nothing other than, again, high praise for
our staff and all the folks way in the back there that have been with
us all day and all year, and I hope everybody has a nice, restful
holiday -- or vacation. I guess it's not really a vacation for you guys.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Vacation from us.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Maybe, right?
First of all, I'd like to wish everyone a wonderful break from us
and, you know, some relaxing days. This is the time that we can get
around Collier County, and it's a beautiful time of year here.
Second of all, I don't know where this design for Collier County
came, but it is absolutely outstanding. It is elegant. It's really quite
beautiful. I'm very impressed with that. So whatever you're doing
graphically, keep it up. It's great.
July 9, 2019
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Thirdly, is that you, Troy --
MR. MILLER: Yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: What -- you're blushing. It's
wonderful.
MR. MILLER: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So there's another -- from last
week, we -- or the last meeting we heard from Dr. Savarese and
Dr. Peter Sheng. And as I listened to that presentation, I wa s
wondering -- and I broached this with Dr. Sheng, and he has yet to
get back to me -- but the concept of creating maybe a 30-second,
maybe even a 60-second -- short, of what was presented, that they
can use to introduce what they're doing to the community .
It is significant that no insurance folks have responded to their
invitation to come and talk to them. And I don't think -- I don't think
it's out there. We could also, perhaps, even use this on our public --
on our public station. Again, it would need to be approved by
Dr. Sheng and Dr. Savarese -- but to condense what they presented
with the tools, with their concept of what their -- what the grant is
about, what they want to go into.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The -- I'm sorry. Unfortunately, I
wasn't here for that presentation.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: But they invited the insurance
companies?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No. Part of -- they wanted to
talk to the leadership and the major industries within Collier County
to assess the assets of their different areas, and insurance companies
have been --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Standoffish?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: They're not -- they're not
answering the phone, so to speak. And so it's -- and everyone's
July 9, 2019
Page 148
talking about it. So it's more to understand. I think -- I think it would
be a great tool for them, but also I think it would be great for our
community to be able to review, not in 45 minutes, but maybe in a
minute film what these two scientists are doing, and the fact that they
have received another million dollars from NOAA to continue this
speaks volumes of the quality of their work.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Did they get that approved?
Because that wasn't approved at the presentation. So they did get it
approved?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, it's there.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Because it was forthcoming.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, forthcoming meant yeah.
So if there's an agreement, and then, of course, I would work with
Troy because he does it so well. And it would have to be approved
by Dr. Sheng and Dr. Savarese, and we're ready to go.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'm sorry. To do?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: To take 45 minutes and make it
into a minute.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Oh, of their presentation?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes, yes.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It's public record, right, the
presentation? We could --
MR. OCHS: Yeah. My only reservation is I want to stick to the
grant, the modeling program that is the subject of the grant. I want to
avoid any commitments on a regional compact, because I think it's
premature at this point.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We're not talking about any
regional impact.
MR. OCHS: Okay. But that -- there was part of that in the
presentation, and I want to make sure that we reserve that until the
Board can really get a full detailed presentation.
July 9, 2019
Page 149
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. And I -- yeah, absolutely.
No, no. Strictly -- strictly the tools -- the two tools that they
developed, the capability of these tools, that kind of thing.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: My only concern with that is the
information that ends up being in that one-minute condensed version
could be inflammatory. There was some things in there when you
looked at the bathtub model as to potentials that could come from sea
level rise and the negative aspects of that --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I don't want to go into that.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, I would hope that you
wouldn't. That's a concern that I have --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, no, I don't want to go into
that.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: -- with condensing that. If someone
were -- without us -- without us all having a say-so in what the final
version was, in fact, going to look like, that could -- that could incite
circumstances that could get out of hand pretty quick.
I'm having a cramp right now, so forgive me.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Sorry.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I would agree to what
Commissioner Taylor has indicated as long as before it -- obviously
once the one minute is produced, it's public record, and that's fine.
But before we put it on our web page and before we give it our --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Where you going, Crystal?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: She's already leaving. She's out
the door.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: She's ready to go.
CLERK KINZEL: I'm ready to go. Sorry.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Before we authorize that, that
the final product be presented to the Board and we vote on whether
July 9, 2019
Page 150
we want to put that on our web page so we at least have an
opportunity to look at it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So we don't put it up until
September when we come back.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And that's fine. That's fine. I
think it's really to use it as a tool.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: That's a good way to go.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Absolutely. Good. I mean, it
would engage Troy with a significant amount of work assuming that
Dr. Sheng -- and they have angst at their end, of course, because it's
the University of Florida, and it's about -- they need to be very sure
that they're going to do it. So it's a process.
All right. Good. You all right?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I'll be all right.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. Next -- and this is a
tough one for me, but as your economic chair, I just would like
everyone to think long and hard about the South Florida Economic
Alliance and the fact that we are the only county contributing to it at
this point.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That makes for an interesting
alliance. One party?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yeah. We get to do a lot of good
things.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. We're the only county
that's contributing to it.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's the $100,000 --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: It's the Collier Alliance, right?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. And, you know -- and I
understand it, but it kind of reminds me of -- are you okay?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I'm all right. Forgive me for
squirming.
July 9, 2019
Page 151
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Why don't you get up and walk
around.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I'll be all right. I'll be all right.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: It kind of reminds me of the
Regional Planning Council in a way, which we were struggling
with --
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I am.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- with what's going on. And I'm
not suggesting anything except I think we need to take a close look at
our participation in it, which is pretty much what you've said.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. That's the $100,000 a
year where we're basically paying for someone's salary to do that
work. And it may still be valuable. But, I agree, if we're the only
ones in it, we should take a look at it.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: We can do that in our budget
hearings in the fall, can we not?
MR. OCHS: Yes, you can.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Okay. Let's make a note. I would
suggest that we do that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. All right.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And I'll do my -- since you brought
up the RPC, I'll do my best to come back with a report then as well as
to what's going on with the RPC.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We could take that 100,000,
put it into the bus operations, wraps some buses with the Collier
County, just our logos and stuff on it.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Could I ask you a question about
the alliances? In the past Lee County has kind of hummed, hawed,
and dragged their feet, but they ended up contributing at the end of
the day. Have they just said that we're just not going to contribute, or
are they just dragging their feet again?
July 9, 2019
Page 152
MR. OCHS: They're dragging their feet.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay.
MR. OCHS: We're monitoring it every week. They know that
I'm not going to recommend that we continue participation unless I
see the receipts from Lee County. We're due to renew those contracts
in the second meeting of September.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Right.
MR. OCHS: So they know if we don't see some evidence of
payment from Lee County, at least, we're not going to continue.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, it's tough. But they've got
Skyplex. And if you've never been up to Skyplex, I'm not sure they
need us.
And I think that's all for now.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I have two things. If you haven't
yet -- and I want to remind everybody to remind everybody 311 is an
amazing facility for our community. It doesn't hurt that Michael's
sitting right there in front of me to remind us of that.
But two days ago -- no, yesterday when I was coming in in the
really, really bad rains, I was able to literally -- Lakewood, you know
where we sneak in the back way over off of Glades and come in off
of Lakewood, the storm drain was clogged. And I just -- driving
down the road, 311. Lady answered. I told me her where the storm
drain in fact was, left my name and number. Got a phone call later
on that they'd sent someone out and evacuated just because -- it was
deep coming through there.
So it's an enormous opportunity for our community to be able to
help our government help our community. It's not just a complaint .
It's 360,000 pairs of eyes cruising around for -- to be able to assist our
county government in doing its job. So 311. Use it. It's amazing.
The other thing is -- I've done it for two years in a row, and
we've all had our accolades in wishing our staff well while we're not
July 9, 2019
Page 153
here, but I would really like sometime for us to give consideration to
adjusting our board schedule.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: To what?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: To adjust our board schedule.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: To what?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: To something different than what it
is.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Like not meet?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: No.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's different.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It certainly is.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: During deer season.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, deer season would help a lot
for me personally. But I just -- I really think it's time for us -- we're
no longer a sleepy little fishing community of less than 100,000
people, and we have business that's being conducted. We ran into
several circumstances today where I could foresee at least one or two
more meetings in this period of time where we're off that we could be
doing the people's business and taking care of things. So if --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: But you can stay while we're gone,
and we could invite you to do that.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Would you give me authority to
make decisions?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: No. Did you note she said no.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Real quick, too. No.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: You can stay, but you can't do
anything.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: If Commissioner Fiala will
make a motion to delay that to another time in another year, I will
second that.
July 9, 2019
Page 154
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You'll second it?
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, if -- and I don't want to waste
my time. I just --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Good.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I've got a lot of people -- a lot of
people that like this idea.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: A lot of people.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: You know, you regularly ask what
our constituents say, and I -- a lot of people like the idea. The ladies
that I speak with regularly at the League of Women Voters think it's a
pretty nice idea. So, anyway, I would bring forward a resolution if
you'd give it some consideration. And I'm getting --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I think I might have to think about
that over the summer.
CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Okay. You just do that.
With that, I will see you all in September.
Thank you very much.
**** Commissioner Solis moved, seconded by Commissioner Fiala
and carried that the following items under the Consent and Summary
Agendas be approved and/or adopted ****
Item #16A1
RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF MEADOWOOD,
(APPLICATION NUMBER PL20180003143) APPROVAL OF THE
STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE
PERFORMANCE SECURITY (THIS IS A COMPANION ITEM
TO AGENDA ITEM #17A) BOTH ITEMS MUST BE APPROVED
July 9, 2019
Page 155
OR DENIED ON TODAY’S AGENDA (DISTRICT 3) –
W/STIPULATIONS
Item #16A2
RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF HAMILTON PLACE,
(APPLICATION NUMBER PL20190000034) APPROVAL OF THE
STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE
PERFORMANCE SECURITY (DISTRICT 4) – W/STIPULATIONS
Item #16A3
RESOLUTION 2019-119: A RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND
DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF
PONTE RIALTO, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20130002029,
AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE
SECURITY (DISTRICT 1)
Item #16A4
RESOLUTION 2019-120: A RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND
DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF
TUSCANY POINTE, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20130001473,
AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE
SECURITY (DISTRICT 5)
Item #16A5
July 9, 2019
Page 156
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR WATERPARK PLACE
PHASE III, PL20190000940 (DISTRICT 2) – STAFF HAS FOUND
THE FACILITIES TO BE ACCEPTABLE AND SATISFACTORY
AFTER AN INSPECTION ON MAY 31, 2019
Item #16A6
RELEASE OF TWO CODE ENFORCEMENT LIENS WITH A
VALUE OF $837,702.88 FOR PAYMENT OF $2,000 IN THE
CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS ENTITLED BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS V. JUAN M. GONZALEZ AND
NAYELIS GONZALEZ, RELATING TO PROPERTY LOCATED
AT 5370 MCCARTY ST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
(DISTRICT 1) – FOR VARIOUS CODE VIOLATIONS THAT
WERE BROUGHT INTO COMPLIANCE ON JANUARY 13, 2019.
THE NEW OWNER IS NOW SEEKING SETTLEMENT OF THE
FINES AND THE PROPERTY HAS NO REMAINING CODE
VIOLATIONS
Item #16A7
AN AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF A FEE SIMPLE
PROPERTY (PARCEL 107FEE) REQUIRED FOR THE
IMMOKALEE STORMWATER IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
(PROJECT #60143) (ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT: $115,850)
(DISTRICT 5) – FOR 2.5 ACRES AT THE SOUTHEAST
CORNER OF EAST DELAWARE AVE AND 16TH STREET SE
Item #16A8
July 9, 2019
Page 157
THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE
BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $82,500 WHICH WAS POSTED AS
A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER 60.156,
PL20170001525 FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH HADLEY
PLACE WEST (DISTRICT 3)
Item #16A9
THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE
BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $53,680 WHICH WAS POSTED AS
A DEVELOPMENT GUARANTY FOR AN EARLY WORK
AUTHORIZATION (EWA) (PL20180002422) FOR WORK
ASSOCIATED WITH BRENTWOOD LAKES (DISTRICT 5) – A
RECENT INSPECTION CONFIRMED THAT THE DEVELOPER
HAS FULFILLED COMMITMENTS OF THE EWA
Item #16A10
AN EASEMENT USE AGREEMENT (AGREEMENT) FOR LOT
8, BLOCK A, CORINTHIAN GARDENS AT WORLD TENNIS
CENTER, ACCORDING TO THE PLAT THEREOF AS
RECORDED AT PLAT BOOK 18, PAGE 58 OF THE PUBLIC
RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY (DISTRICT 4) – PARCEL
#27800002702
Item #16A11
AN EASEMENT USE AGREEMENT (AGREEMENT) FOR LOT
88, IMPERIAL GOLF ESTATES PHASE IV, ACCORDING TO
THE PLAT THEREOF AS RECORDED AT PLAT BOOK 13,
PAGES 104-106 OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER
July 9, 2019
Page 158
COUNTY (DISTRICT 2) – LOCATED AT 2016 IMPERIAL GOLF
COURSE BLVD., WHERE THE POOL INCLOSURE
ENCROACHES 2.8 FEET INTO A 12-FOOT DRAINAGE
EASEMENT
Item #16A12
RESOLUTION 2019-121: SUBMITTAL OF TWO (2)
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
GRANT APPLICATIONS TO THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER
MANAGEMENT DISTRICT (SFWMD) BIG CYPRESS BASIN
LOCAL PARTNERSHIP GRANTS PROGRAM FOR FY 2020
AND A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE COUNTY’S
APPLICATION (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16A13
BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO RECOGNIZE REVENUE, IN THE
AMOUNT OF $39,752.76, WITHIN STORMWATER CAPITAL
FUND (325), IMMOKALEE STORMWATER IMPROVEMENT
PROJECT #60143, FOR THE EDEN GARDENS OFFSITE
BYPASS DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS AND NORTH THIRD
STREET DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS (DISTRICT 5) – FOR
IMPROVEMENT ENGINEERING AND DESIGN
Item #16A14
AWARD FOUR AGREEMENTS FOR INVITATION TO BID
(ITB) NO. 19-7544, "TRAFFIC SIGNS AND RELATED
MATERIALS," TO THE FOLLOWING VENDORS: ALLIED
TUBE & CONDUIT CORPORATION, ASSET MANAGEMENT
July 9, 2019
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SOLUTIONS USA, INC., ANNAT, INC., D/B/A MUNICIPAL
SUPPLY & SIGN CO., AND OSBORN ASSOCIATES, INC. (ALL
DISTRICTS)
Item #16A15
RECOGNIZE AND APPROPRIATE REVENUE TO THE
TRAFFIC OPERATIONS COST CENTER, IN THE AMOUNT OF
$69,170 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019 AND AUTHORIZE ALL
NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS (ALL DISTRICTS) –
FROM INSURANCE COMPANY REFUNDS
Item #16A16
RESOLUTION 2019-122: A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) TO
ERECT APPROPRIATE SIGNAGE ON INTERSTATE 75,
DESIGNATING THE ROADWAY BETWEEN MILE MARKER
100 AND MILE MARKER 102 AS THE “TROOPER LINDELL J.
GIBBONS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY” (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16A17
CREATION OF SEVEN (7) ADDITIONAL FULL- TIME
EQUIVALENT POSITIONS IN THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT TO ALLOW FOR HIRING AND TRAINING OF
STORMWATER MAINTENANCE CREWS PRIOR TO THE FY20
BUDGET YEAR, AND TO AUTHORIZE ANY NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS (ALL DISTRICTS) – 1 SR. CREW
LEADER, 1 CREW LEADER, 3 HEAVY EQUIPMENT
OPERATORS AND 2 EQUIPMENT OPERATORS
July 9, 2019
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Item #16A18
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A COLLIER COUNTY LANDSCAPE
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT (“AGREEMENT”) BETWEEN
COLLIER COUNTY AND RICHMOND PARK MASTER
CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC., FOR LANDSCAPE AND
IRRIGATION IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN WOODCREST DRIVE
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY (DISTRICT 5) – FOR WHICH THE
OWNER AGREES TO MAINTAIN THE SOD AND IRRIGATION
IMPROVEMENTS DESCRIBED IN THE AGREEMENT
Item #16A19
AN AGREEMENT PERTAINING TO THE AWARD OF
INVITATION TO BID NO. 19-7551, “NORTH NAPLES
SIDEWALKS AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS,” TO O-A-
K/FLORIDA, INC., D/B/A OWEN AMES KIMBALL COMPANY
IN THE AMOUNT OF $578,224.44; AND TO ACKNOWLEDGE A
TIME EXTENSION TO A LOCAL AGENCY PROGRAM
AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION FOR CONSTRUCTION OF NORTH
NAPLES SIDEWALKS AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS (FPN
#435117-1-58-01, PROJECT NO. 33506); APPROVE THE
EXPENDITURE; AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO
EXECUTE THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT (DISTRICT 2) – AN
EXTENSION TO THE LAP AGREEMENT HAS BEEN
APPROVED BY FDOT THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020
Item #16A20
July 9, 2019
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RESOLUTION 2019-123: TO REPEAL AND REPLACE
RESOLUTION NO. 2017-130 BY ESTABLISHING A NEW
PROPERTY ASSESSMENT CLEAN ENERGY (PACE)
PROGRAM WITHIN THE UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF
COLLIER COUNTY FOR COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND
COMMERCIAL MULTIFAMILY PROPERTIES, APPROVE A
STANDARD FORM MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH PACE
PROVIDERS, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER TO
EXECUTE THE STANDARD FORM MEMBERSHIP
AGREEMENT WITH PACE PROVIDERS (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16B1
DIRECT STAFF TO BEGIN THE REVIEW, DRAFTING AND
PUBLIC HEARING PROCESS OF REGULATORY CHANGES
TO IMPLEMENT THE ADOPTED 2019 COLLIER COUNTY
COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE
BAYSHORE GATEWAY TRIANGLE COMMUNITY
REDEVELOPMENT AREA (DISTRICT 4)
Item #16B2
THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, ACTING AS
THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY (CRA),
AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE NECESSARY
DOCUMENTATION TO TRANSFER THE VOLUNTARY TAX
CREDIT CERTIFICATION NO. 348 TO VALLEY NATIONAL
BANK AND CREDIT PROCEEDS TOWARDS THE PURCHASE
PRICE FOR THE 5.27 ACRE SITE WITHIN THE BAYSHORE
GATEWAY TRIANGLE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT
AREA AS IDENTIFIED IN THE PURCHASE AND SALE
July 9, 2019
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AGREEMENT WITH REAL ESTATE PARTNERS
INTERNATIONAL, LLC; AND APPROVE ALL NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16B3
AGREEMENT WITH AECOM TECHNICAL SERVICES, INC., IN
THE AMOUNT OF $626,732.37, RELATED TO REQUEST FOR
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) NO. 18-7466,
CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING INSPECTION (CEI)
SERVICES FOR THE THOMASSON DRIVE BEAUTIFICATION
PROJECT, AUTHORIZE NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENTS TO MOVE CAPITAL PROJECT FUNDING TO
BAYSHORE CAPITAL PROJECT FUND (160), AND
AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT
(DISTRICT 4) – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Item #16C1
A BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR THE FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT DIVISION IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,500,000 TO
ALLOCATE INFRASTRUCTURE SALES SURTAX FUNDING
ASSOCIATED WITH THE EMERGENCY SERVICES CENTER
ENCLOSURE OF THE EAST BAY (PROJECT #50390)
(DISTRICT 1)
Item #16C2
PARTICIPATE IN THE COLLIER SOIL AND WATER
CONSERVATION DISTRICT’S MOBILE IRRIGATION LAB
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PROGRAM AND PROVIDE PARTIAL PROGRAM FUNDING IN
THE AMOUNT OF $20,000 ANNUALLY. (ALL DISTRICTS) –
PROVIDING FOR 40 ON-SITE EVALUATIONS AND FOLLOW-
UPS
Item #16C3
AN AGREEMENT AWARDING INVITATION TO BID #19-7571,
“PUMP STATION MATERIAL REMOVAL AND DISPOSAL,”
TO CARLOS RIVERO PLUMBING & SEPTIC TANK
CONTRACTOR, INC. (ALL DISTRICTS) – TERMINATING
AGREEMENT #17-7042 UPON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF
AGREEMENT #19-7571
Item #16C4
AN AGREEMENT FOR THE AWARD OF INVITATION TO BID
NO. 19-7589, "NCWRF OPERATIONS BUILDING NEW ROOF",
TO CFS ROOFING SERVICES, LLC IN THE AMOUNT OF
$147,455 AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE
ATTACHED CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT (DISTRICT 2) –
DUE TO DAMAGE CAUSED BY HURRICANE IRMA
Item #16C5
AWARD INVITATION TO BID NO. 19-7620, “COLLIER
COUNTY METASYS NAE REPLACEMENT,” TO PLUG SMART
IN THE AMOUNT OF $518,338.84 FOR THE UPGRADE TO AN
OPEN ARCHITECTURE BUILDING AUTOMATION SYSTEM
FROM THE JOHNSON CONTROLS METASYS BUILDING
AUTOMATION SYSTEM, AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY
July 9, 2019
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BUDGET AMENDMENTS, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN
TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT (ALL DISTRICTS) –
WITH SERVER INSTALLATION TO BE COMPLETED BY JUNE
2020
Item #16C6
AWARD AGREEMENTS FOR REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION
NO. 18-7471, “PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF FLOOR
COVERING” TO TAMPA CONTRACT FLOORS, INC. AND
WAYNE WILES FLOORCOVERINGS, INC., FOR COUNTY-
WIDE PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF FLOOR
COVERING SERVICES (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16C7
AN AGREEMENT FOR INVITATION TO BID NO. 19- 7580,
"SOUTH COUNTY REGIONAL WATER TREATMENT PLANT
EMERGENCY CHLORINE SCRUBBER", PROJECT #70166, TO
RF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF
$328,000, AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENT (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16C8
EXECUTION FOR THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE SOLAR
LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT
COMPANY (FPL) FOR THE COLLIER COUNTY SPORTS
COMPLEX AND EVENTS CENTER (CC-SCEC) (ALL
DISTRICTS) – FOR THE INSTALLATION AND
MAINTENANCE AND PROVIDING 2 SOLAR TREES AND 1
July 9, 2019
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CANOPY FOR THE TROPHY SECTION IN THE PARK
Item #16C9
RESOLUTION 2019-124 (DISTRICT I); RESOLUTION 2019-125
(DISTRICT II): RESOLUTIONS TO SET THE DATE, TIME AND
PLACE FOR AN ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARING WHERE
THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WILL ADOPT
SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS TO BE COLLECTED ON THE NON-
AD VALOREM PROPERTY TAX BILL FOR CURBSIDE SOLID
WASTE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES FOR
FISCAL YEAR 2020 AND APPROVE THE NOTIFICATION TO
CUSTOMERS (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16C10
A $397,608 WORK ORDER UNDER REQUEST FOR
QUOTATION NO. 15-6469-5 TO WELLS & WATER SYSTEM,
INC., UNDER PROJECT NUMBER 70085, TO CONDITION AND
TREAT TWELVE PRODUCTION WELLS IN THE GOLDEN
GATE WELLFIELD (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16C11
RESOLUTION 2019-126/CWS RESOLUTION 2019-03: A
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION BY GIFT
OR PURCHASE OF THOSE PERPETUAL UTILITY
EASEMENTS AND TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION
EASEMENTS NECESSARY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF
WATER MAINS TO FACILITATE THE I-75/COLLIER
BOULEVARD UTILITY RELOCATION PROJECT (PROJECT
July 9, 2019
Page 166
NO. 70229) (ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT: $510,000)
(DISTRICT 1, DISTRICT 5)
Item #16C12
AN EASEMENT TO FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY
OVER PROPERTY OWNED BY THE COLLIER COUNTY
WATER-SEWER DISTRICT AT 9622 VANDERBILT DR.,
NAPLES, FL 34108 (DISTRICT 5) – FOLIO #62831200004
Item #16C13
A UTILITY EASEMENT FOR WASTEWATER MASTER PUMP
STATION NUMBER 167 WITHIN THE HERITAGE BAY PUD
(DISTRICT 3) – FOR A PORTION OF TRACT “G” LOCATED IN
SECTION 23, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST
Item #16C14
AN AGREEMENT FOR INVITATION TO BID NO. 19- 7597,
“NCRWTP DEGAS BLOWER ROOM CORROSION
REMEDIATION,” PROJECT NUMBER 71066, TO THE WALKER
CONTRACTING GROUP, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $161,856.
(ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16C15
A WORK ORDER IN THE AMOUNT OF $264,238 FOR
REQUEST FOR QUOTATION NO. 14-6213-130 TO DOUGLAS
N. HIGGINS, INC., ON THE “SUNSHINE BOULEVARD AND
GREEN BOULEVARD WATER MAIN IMPROVEMENTS”
July 9, 2019
Page 167
PROJECT, WHICH IS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF WORK UNDER
PROJECT NUMBER 70222, THE “GOLDEN GATE CITY
COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE” PROJECT (DISTRICT 3)
Item #16C16
A SECOND AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 18-7288,
“COLLIER COUNTY JAIL MOBILE KITCHEN TRAILERS,”
WITH S.R. HOLDING CO. OF MIAMI, INC., D/B/A S.R.
HOLDINGS INC. (ALL DISTRICTS) – EXTENDING THE
CONTRACT THROUGH AUGUST 20, 2019
Item #16D1
ONE (1) RELEASE OF LIEN IN THE AMOUNT OF $15,323.79
FOR FULL REPAYMENT OF A COUNTYWIDE IMPACT FEE
FOR AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING DWELLING UNIT (ALL
DISTRICTS) – LOCATED AT 7342 BRISTOL CIRCLE, NAPLES
Item #16D2
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THREE RELEASES OF LIEN FOR
THREE (3) AFFORDABLE HOUSING DENSITY BONUS UNITS
THAT ARE NO LONGER SUBJECT TO THE TERMS OF THE
AGREEMENT (ALL DISTRICTS) – PARCELS #24778007382,
#24778005300 AND #24778001524
Item #16D3
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN FOUR SATISFACTIONS OF
MORTGAGE FOR THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES
July 9, 2019
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PARTNERSHIP (SHIP) LOAN PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF
$39,311 AND AN ASSOCIATED BUDGET AMENDMENT (ALL
DISTRICTS) – LOCATED AT THE FOLLOWING: 1871 41ST SW;
2431 48TH AVE NE; 2927 ANDREWS AVE AND 7342 BRISTOL
CIRCLE
Item #16D4
THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVE PARTNERSHIP (SHIP)
PROGRAM EXPENDITURE EXTENSION FOR FY 2016/2017
THROUGH DECEMBER 30, 2019 (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16D5
THE DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE GOAL FOR
FY 20, 21, AND 22 TO ENSURE THAT THE DISADVANTAGED
BUSINESS ENTERPRISE HAVE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
TO RECEIVE AND PARTICIPATE IN FEDERAL TRANSIT
ADMINISTRATION ASSISTED CONTRACTS BY ENSURING
NONDISCRIMINATION IN THEIR AWARD AND
ADMINISTRATION (ALL DISTRICTS) – ENDING ON
SEPTEMBER 30, 2022
Item #16D6
ACCEPT THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE,
MEDICALLY ASSISTED TREATMENT PLANNING
INITIATIVE GRANT AWARD, TO FACILITATE THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A MEDICATION-ASSISTED TREATMENT
APPROACH IN THE COLLIER COUNTY JAIL AND
COMMUNITY TREATMENT SETTINGS, APPROVE THE
July 9, 2019
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RECOMMENDED COLLIER COUNTY DELEGATION
MEMBERS AND APPROVE A BUDGET AMENDMENT IN THE
AMOUNT OF $15,730 TO RECOGNIZE A PRIVATE DONATION
TO FUND TRAVEL FOR REQUIRED TEAM MEMBERS TO
PARTICIPATE IN MEETINGS THAT WILL BE HELD IN
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ALL DISTRICTS) – FOR MEETING HELD
ON AUGUST 13-14, 2019 AND A SECOND MEETING HELD ON
JANUARY 22-23, 2020
Item #16D7
THE ELECTRONIC SUBMITTAL OF A FUNDING ASSISTANCE
PROPOSAL TO THE FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE
CONSERVATION COMMISSION’S INVASIVE PLANT
MANAGEMENT SECTION FOR CONTRACTOR SERVICES
WORTH $100,000 DURING FY2020 TO TREAT INVASIVE
EXOTIC VEGETATION WITHIN CONSERVATION COLLIER’S
DR. ROBERT H. GORE III AND MCILVANE MARSH
PRESERVES (ALL DISTRICTS) – WITH $50,000 GOING TO
THE CONTRACTOR FOR EACH PRESERVE
Item #16D8
AFTER-THE-FACT CONTRACT AMENDMENTS AND
ATTESTATION STATEMENTS BETWEEN THE AREA
AGENCY ON AGING FOR SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, INC. AND
COLLIER COUNTY SERVICES FOR SENIORS TO EXTEND
THE COMMUNITY CARE FOR THE ELDERLY, ALZHEIMER’S
DISEASE AND HOME CARE FOR THE ELDERLY PROGRAMS
GRANT PERIOD FOR SIXTY (60) DAYS OR UNTIL A NEW
2019 CONTRACT IS EXECUTED AND TO AUTHORIZE
July 9, 2019
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BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO RECOGNIZE INCREASES FOR
COMMUNITY CARE FOR THE ELDERLY AND ALZHEIMER’S
DISEASE CO-PAY GOALS FOR FY 2018/2019 (ALL
DISTRICTS)
Item #16D9
RESOLUTION 2019-127: CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE LONG-
TERM LEASE AGREEMENT AND WITH THE FRIENDS OF
MARCO ISLAND FLOTILLA 9-5, INC. AND RESOLUTION
WHICH WILL ENABLE THE FRIENDS TO CONTINUE TO
TEACH BOATER SAFETY EDUCATION TO COLLIER
COUNTY RESIDENTS AND VISITORS AT CAXAMBAS PARK
(DISTRICT 1)
Item #16D10
A BUDGET AMENDMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $137,000 TO
DESIGN THE GOLDEN GATE COMMUNITY PARK ACTIVITY
POOL RENOVATION (DISTRICT 3) – FOR DESIGN COSTS
Item #16D11
BUDGET AMENDMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $390,000 TO
REALIGN FUNDING WITHIN PARKS & RECREATION
OPERATING BUDGETS TO SUPPORT COUNTY PARK
FACILITIES, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND EQUIPMENT
MAINTENANCE (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16E1
July 9, 2019
Page 171
RECOGNIZING ACCRUED INTEREST FROM THE PERIOD
OCTOBER 1, 2018 THROUGH MARCH 31, 2019 EARNED BY
EMS COUNTY GRANT AND APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR A
TOTAL AMOUNT OF $1,333.49 (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16E2
AN AWARD OF $78,352 IN GRANT FUNDS FROM THE STATE
OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, BUREAU OF
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES, WHICH REQUIRES A
LOCAL MATCH OF $26,115 FOR THE PURCHASE OF EIGHT
HYDRAULIC ASSIST STRETCHERS AND TO APPROVE
NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16E3
RESOLUTION 2019-128: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE
REMOVAL OF 7,820 AMBULANCE SERVICE ACCOUNTS
AND THEIR RESPECTIVE UNCOLLECTIBLE ACCOUNTS
RECEIVABLE BALANCES WHICH TOTAL $5,390,407.16,
FROM THE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE OF COLLIER COUNTY
FUND 490 (EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES) FINDING
DILIGENT EFFORTS TO COLLECT HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED
AND PROVED UNSUCCESSFUL (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16E4
A RENEGOTIATED INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR
ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN
COLLIER COUNTY AND THE CITY OF MARCO ISLAND TO
REPLACE THE EXISTING AGREEMENT TITLED
July 9, 2019
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“INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT
(ALS) ENGINE PARTNERSHIP” DATED MAY 22, 2007 (ALL
DISTRICTS) – THE AGREEMENT SHALL BE REVIEWED AND
RENEGOTIATED AS NECESSARY EVERY THREE YEARS
Item #16E5
EXTENDING EXISTING CONTRACTS TO FIRMS IDENTIFIED
ON THE ATTACHED DISCIPLINE SHEETS UNDER
AGREEMENT #13-6164, “PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
ARCHITECT AND ENGINEERING” FOR A PERIOD OF SIX
MONTHS TO ALLOW STAFF TO COMPLETE SOLICITING
AND NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE VARIOUS PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES DISCIPLINES (ALL DISTRICTS) – CURRENTLY TO
EXPIRE ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2019 WILL BE EXTENDED TO
MARCH 9, 2020
Item #16E6
AWARD INVITATION TO BID NO. 19-7584, OEM AND
AFTERMARKET PARTS FOR COLLIER COUNTY FLEET
MANAGEMENT, TO THE FOLLOWING VENDORS: GILLIG,
LLC, IEH AUTO PARTS LLC D/B/A AUTO PLUS AUTO PARTS,
SUNBELT AUTOMOTIVE, INC., TPH HOLDINGS, LLC D/B/A
THE PARTS HOUSE, AND TAMIAMI FORD, INC., AND
AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ISSUE PURCHASE ORDERS TO
THOSE VENDORS (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16E7
MODIFICATIONS THAT CONSIST OF THREE TITLE
July 9, 2019
Page 173
CHANGES, TWO RECLASSIFICATIONS, AND TWO
ADDITIONS TO THE 2019 FISCAL YEAR PAY &
CLASSIFICATION PLAN MADE FROM APRIL 1, 2019
THROUGH JUNE 30, 2019 (ALL DISTRICTS) – ADDING A
SENIOR PROCUREMENT STRATEGIST
Item #16E8
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT PREPARED BY THE
PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR DISPOSAL OF
PROPERTY AND NOTIFICATION OF REVENUE
DISBURSEMENT (ALL DISTRICTS) – FOR THE DISPOSAL OF
A NET BOOK WITH THE VALUE OF $159.35
Item #16E9
THE ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS PREPARED BY THE
PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR CHANGE ORDERS
AND OTHER CONTRACTUAL MODIFICATIONS REQUIRING
BOARD APPROVAL (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16F1
THE “2018 INDEXING CALCULATIONS” PREPARED BY
TINDALE-OLIVER AND ASSOCIATES, IN ACCORDANCE
WITH THE ADOPTED INDEXING METHODOLOGY
CONTAINED IN CHAPTER 74 OF THE COLLIER COUNTY
CODE OF LAWS AND ORDINANCES, PERTAINING TO
IMPACT FEES, AND DIRECT THE COUNTY MANAGER TO
FOREGO THE CALCULATED INCREASES, TO THE
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES IMPACT FEES 3.2%,
July 9, 2019
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GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS IMPACT FEES 3.4%, LAW
ENFORCEMENT IMPACT FEES 2.7% AND LIBRARY IMPACT
FEES 2.9% DUE TO THE IMPACT FEE CATEGORIES BEING
SCHEDULED FOR FULL STUDY IN EARLY FISCAL YEAR
2020 AND ANTICIPATED CHANGES IN DEMAND
COMPONENTS AND THE IMPACT OF THE NEW SALES TAX
REVENUE ON THE CREDIT CALCULATION FOR SEVERAL
OF THE LISTED FEES (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16F2
THE USE OF AN ALTERNATIVE ROAD IMPACT FEE RATE,
PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS FOR TACO BELL, FOR A WENDY’S
RESTAURANT BEING CONSTRUCTED AT TAMIAMI
CROSSINGS AND FOR AN ADDITION TO AN EXISTING
TACO BELL CONVERTING TO A KENTUCKY FRIED
CHICKEN IN IMMOKALEE (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16F3
RESOLUTION 2019-129: A RESOLUTION FIXING
SEPTEMBER 5, 2019, 5:05 P.M., IN THE THIRD FLOOR BOARD
ROOM, 3299 EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL, NAPLES, FLORIDA, AS
THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING
FOR APPROVING THE SPECIAL ASSESSMENT (NON-AD
VALOREM ASSESSMENT) TO BE LEVIED AGAINST THE
PROPERTIES WITHIN THE PELICAN BAY MUNICIPAL
SERVICE TAXING AND BENEFIT UNIT FOR MAINTENANCE
OF THE WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, BEAUTIFICATION
OF RECREATIONAL FACILITIES AND MEDIAN AREAS AND
July 9, 2019
Page 175
MAINTENANCE OF CONSERVATION OR PRESERVE AREAS,
MANAGEMENT OF THE DREDGING AND MAINTENANCE
ACTIVITIES FOR CLAM PASS FOR THE PURPOSE OF
ENHANCING THE HEALTH OF THE AFFECTED MANGROVE
FOREST AND ESTABLISHMENT OF CAPITAL RESERVE
FUNDS FOR AMBIENT NOISE MANAGEMENT,
MAINTENANCE OF CONSERVATION OR PRESERVE AREAS,
INCLUDING THE RESTORATION OF THE MANGROVE
FOREST, U.S. 41 BERM, STREET SIGNAGE REPLACEMENTS
WITHIN THE MEDIAN AREAS, LANDSCAPING
IMPROVEMENTS TO U.S. 41 ENTRANCES AND BEACH
RENOURISHMENT, ALL WITHIN THE PELICAN BAY
MUNICIPAL SERVICE TAXING AND BENEFIT UNIT
(DISTRICT 2)
Item #16F4
THE USE OF AN INDIVIDUAL ROAD IMPACT FEE RATE,
CALCULATED FOR THE CELEBRATION PARK NAPLES, IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 74-
202(K) OF THE COLLIER COUNTY CODE OF LAWS AND
ORDINANCES AND APPROVE A 3-YEAR PAYMENT PLAN
AND PAYMENT AGREEMENT RELATED TO THE IMPACT
FEES FOR THE SUBJECT PROPERTY (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16F5
TOURIST DEVELOPMENT TAX PROMOTION FUNDING TO
SUPPORT THE UPCOMING PUBLIX LABOR DAY SOCCER
TOURNAMENT AUGUST 31-SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 UP TO
$12,100 AND THE NAPLES KICKOFF SOCCER TOURNAMENT
July 9, 2019
Page 176
SEPTEMBER 21-22, 2019 UP TO $6,100 FOR A GRAND TOTAL
OF $18,200 AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THESE
EXPENDITURES PROMOTE TOURISM (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16F6
RESOLUTION 2019-130: A RESOLUTION APPROVING
AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING GRANTS, DONATIONS,
CONTRIBUTIONS OR INSURANCE PROCEEDS) TO THE
FISCAL YEAR 2018-19 ADOPTED BUDGET (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16F7
THIS ITEM WAS CONTINUED FROM THE JUNE 25, 2019 BCC
MEETING. TERMINATING THE FY19 AGREEMENT WITH
ECONOMIC INCUBATORS, INC., TO OPERATE THE COLLIER
COUNTY ACCELERATOR PROJECT, AND ACCEPT AN
AGREEMENT FOR THE LIMITED TRANSFER OF ASSETS
AND LIABILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROJECT (ALL
DISTRICTS)
Item #16G1
ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT BETWEEN TELLUS FLORIDA,
LLC, GALEXA, INC., AND THE COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS IN ITS CAPACITY AS THE COLLIER
COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY FOR LEASED SPACE AT
THE IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT (DISTRICT 5) – FOR
A ONE ACRE PARCEL FOR THE CONSTRUCTION,
MANUFACTURING AND STORAGE OF PREFABRICATED
CONCRETE BUILDING MATERIALS
July 9, 2019
Page 177
Item #16G2
THE THIRD AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 16-6561,
“DESIGN SERVICES FOR MARCO EXECUTIVE AIRPORT
TERMINAL,” WITH ATKINS NORTH AMERICA, INC., TO
EXTEND THE SCHEDULE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY (180)
DAYS TO COINCIDE WITH CONSTRUCTION AND INCREASE
THE FEE ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXTENDED SCHEDULE
BY $211,976 FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES DURING
CONSTRUCTION (DISTRICT 1) – EXTENDING THE
AGREEMENT TO FEBRUARY 5, 2020, AND INCREASE THE
AGREEMENT AMOUNT TO $1,131,649.50
Item #16G3
AWARD INVITATION TO NEGOTIATE NO. 18-7334, “MARCO
ISLAND AIRPORT LAND LEASE AND HANGAR
DEVELOPMENT,” AND AUTHORIZE ITS CHAIRMAN TO
EXECUTE THE ATTACHED COLLIER COUNTY AIRPORT
AUTHORITY LEASEHOLD AGREEMENT FOR HANGAR
CONSTRUCTION WITH MARCO HANGARS, LLC FOR THE
CONSTRUCTION OF HANGARS AT THE MARCO ISLAND
EXECUTIVE AIRPORT (DISTRICT 1) – TO BUILD 8 BOX
HANGERS (70’ x 56’) AND 3 BULK HANGERS (110’ x 80’)
Item #16G4
AWARD SOLICITATION NO. 19-7623, “AIRPORT OFFICE FOR
LEASE – IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT,” AND
AUTHORIZE ITS CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE ATTACHED
July 9, 2019
Page 178
COLLIER COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY STANDARD
FORM LEASE AGREEMENT WITH GLOBAL FLIGHT
TRAINING SOLUTIONS FOR VACANT COUNTER/OFFICE
SPACE AT THE IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT
(DISTRICT 5) – WITH A 60 MONTH TERM AGREEMENT
Item #16I1
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE (All Districts) – ITEMS
TO FILE FOR THE RECORD
July 9, 2019
Page 179
Item #16J1
A BUDGET AMENDMENT RECOGNIZING ELECTIONS
SECURITY GRANT FUNDS UNDER THE HELP AMERICA
VOTE ACT IN THE AMOUNT OF $69,236 (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16J2 – Added (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
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 JUNE 13, 2019 AND JUNE 26,
2019 PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136 (CLERK’S
OFFICE REQUEST)
Item #16J3 – Added (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
REQUEST THAT THE BOARD APPROVED AND DETERMINE
VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND
PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF JULY 3, 2019
(CLERK’S OFFICE REQUEST)
Item #16K1
AN EXTENSION AGREEMENT FOR COLLIER COUNTY
PARTIAL FUNDING OF THE COLLIER COUNTY LEGAL AID
(ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #16K2
July 9, 2019
Page 180
RESOLUTION 2019-131: APPOINT A MEMBER TO THE
WATER AND WASTEWATER AUTHORITY (ALL DISTRICTS)
– APPOINTING RUCHI ARORA WITH TERM EXPIRING ON
MAY 21, 2023
Item #16K3
RESOLUTION 2019-132: APPOINT A MEMBER TO THE
GOLDEN GATE ESTATES LAND TRUST COMMITTEE
(DISTRICT 5) – APPOINTING ANGELA BIRKS WITH TERM
EXPIRING ON OCTOBER 13, 2022
Item #16K4
RESOLUTION 2019-133: APPOINT A MEMBER TO THE
EMERGENCY MEDICAL AUTHORITY (ALL DISTRICTS) –
APPOINTING DONNA CUOMO WITH TERM EXPIRING ON
DECEMBER 31, 2022
Item #16K5 – Moved to Item #12A (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
Item #16K6 – Moved to Item #12B (During Agenda Changes)
Item #16K7
RESOLUTION 2019-134: REAPPOINT A MEMBER TO THE
CONTRACTORS LICENSING BOARD (ALL DISTRICTS) –
REAPPOINTING MICHAEL BOYD WITH TERM EXPIRING ON
OCTOBER 20, 2022 JUNE 30, 2022 (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
Item #17A
July 9, 2019
Page 181
RESOLUTION 2019-135: PETITION VAC-PL20190000627, TO
DISCLAIM, RENOUNCE AND VACATE THE COUNTY AND
THE PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE DRAINAGE, UTILITY AND
MAINTENANCE EASEMENT (PARCEL 846) LOCATED
APPROXIMATELY 3800-FEET SOUTH OF IMMOKALEE ROAD
(C.R. 846) ON THE WEST SIDE OF COLLIER BOULEVARD
(C.R. 951) AS RECORDED IN OFFICIAL RECORD BOOK 3920,
PAGE 445 OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA, LOCATED IN SECTION 27, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH,
RANGE 26 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA. (THIS IS A
COMPANION TO AGENDA ITEM 16.A.1) BOTH ITEMS MUST
BE APPROVED OR DENIED ON TODAY’S AGENDA
(DISTRICT 3)
Item #17B
ORDINANCE 2019-18: AN ORDINANCE REPEALING AND
REPLACING ORDINANCE NO. 2011-24, REGARDING THE
FLORIDA FRIENDLY USE OF FERTILIZER ON URBAN
LANDSCAPES (ALL DISTRICTS)
Item #17C
THIS ITEM WAS CONTINUED FROM THE JUNE 25, 2019 BCC
MEETING. RESOLUTION 2019-136: A RESOLUTION OF THE
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS OF COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A
CONCRETE BATCH-MAKING PLANT IN THE
AGRICULTURAL (A) ZONING DISTRICT WITHIN THE RURAL
FRINGE MIXED USE OVERLAY- RECEIVING LANDS
July 9, 2019
Page 182
PURSUANT TO SECTION 2.03.08 A.2.A.(3)(C)(VIII) OF THE
COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, FOR 5.16±
ACRES OF A 7.3± ACRE PARCEL LOCATED
APPROXIMATELY ONE HALF MILE NORTH OF TAMIAMI
TRAIL EAST, AT THE END OF AUTO VILLAGE ROAD, IN
SECTION 18, TOWNSHIP 51 SOUTH, RANGE 27 EAST,
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA [PL20170002361] (DISTRICT 1)
Item #17D
RESOLUTION 2019-137: A RESOLUTION APPROVING
AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING CARRY FORWARD,
TRANSFERS AND SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE) TO THE
FISCAL YEAR 2018-19 ADOPTED BUDGET (ALL DISTRICTS)
*****
July 9, 2019
Page 183
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 2:40 p.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL
______________________________________
WILLIAM L. McDANIEL, JR., CHAIRMAN
ATTEST
CRYSTAL K. KINZEL, CLERK
______________________________
These minutes approved by the Board on ____________, as
presented ______________ or as corrected _____________.
TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF U.S. LEGAL
SUPPORT, INC., BY TERRI LEWIS, COURT REPORTER AND
NOTARY PUBLIC.