BCC Minutes 05/12/2020 RMay 12, 2020
TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Naples, Florida, May 12, 2020
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: Burt L. Saunders
Andy Solis
William L. McDaniel, Jr.
Donna Fiala
Penny Taylor
ALSO PRESENT:
Leo Ochs, County Manager
Nick Casalanguida, Deputy County Manager
Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney
Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller
Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations
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COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Community Redevelopment Agency Board (CRAB)
Airport Authority
AGENDA
Board of County Commission Chambers
Collier County Government Center
3299 Tamiami Trail East, 3rd Floor
Naples, FL 34112
May 12, 2020
9:00 AM
Commissioner Burt Saunders, District 3 — Chair
Commissioner Andy Solis, District 2 — Vice -Chair
Commissioner Donna Fiala, District 1; CRAB Co -Chair
Commissioner Penny Taylor, District 4
Commissioner William L. McDaniel, Jr., District 5; CRAB Co -Chair
NOTICE: ALL PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK ON AGENDA ITEMS MUST
REGISTER PRIOR TO PRESENTATION OF THE AGENDA ITEM TO BE
ADDRESSED. ALL REGISTERED SPEAKERS WILL RECEIVE UP TO THREE
(3) MINUTES UNLESS THE TIME IS ADJUSTED BY THE CHAIRMAN.
REQUESTS TO PETITION THE BOARD ON SUBJECTS WHICH ARE NOT ON
THIS AGENDA MUST BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING WITH EXPLANATION
TO THE COUNTY MANAGER AT LEAST 13 DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE OF
THE MEETING AND WILL BE HEARD UNDER "PUBLIC PETITIONS."
PUBLIC PETITIONS ARE LIMITED TO THE PRESENTER, WITH A
MAXIMUM TIME OF TEN MINUTES.
ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THIS BOARD
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May 12, 2020
WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDING PERTAINING THERETO,
AND THEREFORE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD
OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE
TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED.
COLLIER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO.2003-53 AS AMENDED BY
ORDINANCE 2004-05 AND 2007-249 REQUIRES THAT ALL LOBBYISTS
SHALL, BEFORE ENGAGING IN ANY LOBBYING ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ADDRESSING THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS), REGISTER WITH THE CLERK TO THE BOARD AT THE
BOARD MINUTES AND RECORDS DEPARTMENT.
IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY WHO NEEDS ANY
ACCOMMODATION IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCEEDING,
YOU ARE ENTITLED, AT NO COST TO YOU, THE PROVISION OF CERTAIN
ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT THE COLLIER COUNTY FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT DIVISION LOCATED AT 3335 EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL,
SUITE 1, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 34112-5356, (239) 252-8380; ASSISTED
LISTENING DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED ARE AVAILABLE IN
THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION.
LUNCH RECESS SCHEDULED FOR 12:00 NOON TO 1:00 P.M.
1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
2. AGENDA AND MINUTES
A. Approval of today's regular, consent and summary agenda as amended (ex
parte disclosure provided by commission members for consent agenda.)
Approved and/or Adopted w/changes — 5/0
• Featured Artist of the Month Martha Cantu - Recognized
3. AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
A. EMPLOYEE
B. ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
C. RETIREES
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May 12, 2020
D. EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
4. PROCLAMATIONS
5. PRESENTATIONS
6. PUBLIC PETITIONS
7. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT
OR FUTURE AGENDA
A. Jill Sasso — Registered online but not available for Zoom participation
8. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
9. ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS
10. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
A. Recommendation that the Board foregoes its annual summer break and
instead conducts regular meetings to deal with the expected backlog of
items, including land use matters. (Commissioner McDaniel) (All Districts)
Discussed
11. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT
A. This item to be heard immediately following Item #2A. Recommendation
to consider the District School Board of Collier County request to place an
item on the August 18, 2020 election ballot for a tax neutral funding shift of
capital budget funds to operating budget. (Geoff Willig, Senior Operations
Analyst County Manager's Office) (All Districts)
Approved — 5/0
Continued to the May 26, 2020 BCC Meeting (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
B. This item to be heard immediately following Item #11A. Recommendation
to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign an Agreement with the
Florida Gulf Coast University School of Entrepreneurship for programmatic
support to the Collier County Accelerator project, in the annual amount of
$377,651.29 and authorize the necessary budget amendments. (Sean
Callahan, Executive Director, Corporate Business Operations) (All Districts)
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May 12, 2020
C. Recommendation to accept the findings of the two independent appraisals
and provide direction on the potential acquisition of the 967 +/- acres located
three miles east of Collier Boulevard and directly north of Alligator Alley
known as the HHH Ranch owned by Francis and Mary Hussey, et al. (Nick
Casalanguida, Deputy County Manager) (All Districts)
Motion to approve purchase price at $10 Million and staff to work on
terms with seller — Approved 5/0
D. Recommendation to approve an Agreement for Sale and Purchase with SD
Corp of Naples, Inc., a Florida corporation and Cypress Landings II of
Naples, LLC, a Florida limited liability company, for approximately 37.16
acres under the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Program, at a cost
not to exceed $1,595,000. (Steve Carnell, Department Head, Public Services
Department) (All Districts)
Motion to deny — Failed 2/3 (Commissioner McDaniel, Commissioner
Fiala and Commissioner Saunders opposed);
Motion to approve purchase minus $100,000 costs for exotic removal —
Approved 3/2 (Commissioner Taylor and Commissioner Solis opposed)
A separate COVID-19 Update for Immokalee is scheduled to be heard at 11:00 a.m.
(Per Agenda Change Sheet)
E. Recommendation to accept the COVID-19 Status Report and provide further
direction as appropriate. (Steve Carnell, Public Services Department Head)
(All Districts)
Stephanie Vick — COVID-19 update from the Health Department
Dan Summers — COVID-19 update from Emergency Management
Steve Carnell — Status Report from the Public Services Department
• Motion for beaches to remain open as normal during the week
and limit beach hours on Saturday and Sunday from lam to IIam
and 5pm to sunset with no restrictions on chairs, tents and coolers
(Including Memorial Day) with County parking facilities
restricted to only county residents with beach parking stickers —
Failed 2/3 (Commissioner Fiala, Commissioner Saunders and
Commissioner McDaniel opposed)
• Motion for beaches to remain open as normal during the week
and limit beach hours on Saturday and Sunday (Including
Memorial Day) from lam to IIam and 5pm to sunset with no
restrictions on chairs, tents and coolers and restrict County
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May 12, 2020
parking facilities to only county residents with beach parking
stickers on the weekends and Memorial Day — Approved 4/1
(Commissioner McDaniel opposed);
• Emergency/Executive Order 2020-02 (for enforcement by CCSO
on beaches)
• Motion to accept staffs report on Public Services — Approved 5/0
Kimberly Shmina — Keeping beaches open
Jill Sasso — Beaches overcrowded and cars are parked everywhere
Colonel Bloom— Sheriffs Department update and report
Byron Donalds — Social distancing issues
Thaddeus Cohen & Jamie French — Status Report from Growth
Management
F. Recommendation to approve an Emergency/Executive Order allowing for
the placement of additional outdoor seating at restaurants within zoning
districts where eating establishments are permitted uses and, also to allow
for additional outdoor seating for restaurants located within certain Planned
Unit Developments where outdoor seating is not currently allowed. (Jamie
French, Deputy Growth Management Department Head) (All Districts)
Emergency/Executive Order 2020-03 — Adopted 5/0
12. COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT
13. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
14. AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND/OR COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT
AGENCY
A. AIRPORT
B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
1) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, acting as
the Community Redevelopment Agency Board, approve an
Agreement for Sale and Purchase to acquire Del's Corner consisting
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May 12, 2020
of three contiguous properties located on the southeast corner of
Bayshore Drive and Thomasson Drive, recognize and appropriate
Bayshore CRA Fund (187) carry forward, establish budget for the
Triangle Property sale, and authorize necessary budget amendments.
(Debrah Forester, Director, Community Redevelopment Agency)
(District 4)
Continue item to advise seller of contingency of the Triangle —
Approved 4/1 (Commissioner Solis opposed)
15. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
A. Commissioner Taylor — Banks helping small businesses with loans
B. Tax Collector — Help with processing beach parking passes
C. Commissioner Saunders — Thanking County Staff for all their efforts
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16. CONSENT AGENDA - All matters listed under this item are considered to be
routine and action will be taken by one motion without separate discussion of
each item. If discussion is desired by a member of the Board, that item(s) will
be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered separately.
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Approve and/or Adopted w/changes — 5/0
A. GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a
Collier County Landscape Maintenance Agreement ("Agreement")
between Collier County and LB Naples Grande, LLC, for landscape
and irrigation improvements within the Golden Gate Parkway public
right-of-way. (District 4)
LB Naples Grande, LLC, will maintain improvements
accordingly
Continued to the May 26, 2020 BCC Meeting (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
2) Recommendation to accept a multi -way stop warrant study and
approve the removal of a two-way stop control at the intersection of
Manatee Road and Roost Road, for a cost of approximately $400
(Cost Center No. 163630). (District 1)
3) Recommendation to approve an agreement for the purchase of land
(Parcel 102FEE) required for the Triangle Blvd/Price Street Project
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May 12, 2020
(Project No. 60215). (District 1)
B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
C. PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to accept a Quit Claim Deed from Dixie Sky Corp
for approximately 13.56 acres of lands for right-of-way purposes, with
no responsibility for maintenance. (District 1)
For property off SR29 and Jones Grade Road
2) Recommendation to award Agreements for Invitation for
Qualification ("IFQ") No. 19-7624, "Marine Contracting Services,"
for county -wide general contractor services to Quality Enterprises
USA, Inc., Kelly Brothers, Inc., Marine Contracting Group, Inc., TSI
Disaster Recovery, LLC. (All Districts)
To efficiently and effectively address the maintenance, repair and
construction projects, including annual capital improvement
program projects
3) Recommendation to approve the documents necessary to terminate a
portion of an existing Collier County Utility Easement to Watermark
at Naples FL, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, associated
with the development at Edge 75 at Watermark. (District 3)
To terminate the utility easement which had previously been
conveyed for sanitary sewer utility facilities to the County
4) Recommendation to approve a Termination of Easement to release a
portion of the 1984 recorded Utility Easement with Florida Power &
Light Company and to approve a new Underground Easement
(Business) to Florida Power & Light Company to memorialize the
location of the existing electrical services. (All Districts)
A portion of an existing ten (10) foot wide Utility Easement
5) Recommendation to authorize budget amendments for the Facilities
Management Division in the amount of $2,100,000 to fund two (2)
Infrastructure Sales Surtax Projects under the HVAC, Roofing, and
Capital Equipment Replacement at Sheriff's and County Facilities
category. (Project No. 50184 and No. 50185) (District 3, All Districts)
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May 12, 2020
6) Recommendation to authorize a Budget Amendment for the Facilities
Management Division in the amount of $200,000 to cover costs
associated with COVID-19. (All Districts)
To cover the cost of enhanced cleaning services, specialty facility
disinfections, purchase of COVID-19 related supplies, and
personal protective equipment (PPE) for County staff
7) Recommendation to approve and execute documents necessary for the
conveyance of a Utility Easement for potable water infrastructure on
County owned property located at the Collier County Sports Complex
and Events Center, 3920 City Gate Blvd N, to the Collier County
Water -Sewer District, at a cost not to exceed $200. (All Districts)
D. PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign the
Termination of Agreement letter for the Summer Food Service
Program Agreement between the Florida Department of Agriculture
and Consumer Services and the Collier County Parks & Recreation
Division. (All Districts)
At eight (8) Parks & Recreation community meal sites: Golden
Gate Community Park, Eagle Lake Community Park, East
Naples Baptist Church, East Naples Community Park, Immokalee
Community Park, Immokalee South Park, Avalon and River Park
2) Recommendation to approve "after -the -fact" second amendment and
attestation statement with the Area Agency on Aging for Southwest
Florida, Inc. (Agency) to transfer funds between the Older American
Act (OAA) Program Title IIIE Services to Title IIIES Supplemental
Services. (All Districts)
3) Recommendation to approve a resolution approving and authorizing
the execution of an amendment to a Joint Participation Agreement
between Collier County and the Florida Department of Transportation
for the Section 5339 Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Program to
revise the total grant award to $202,400 and remove the twenty
percent (20%) State Transportation Development Credit match
requirement. (All Districts)
Resolution 2020-77
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May 12, 2020
4) Recommendation to approve the Construction Agreement with the
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for Collier Area
Transit (CAT) to construct a bus pull-out at bus stop site 367 on
FDOT owned Right -of -Ways and approve a Resolution authorizing
the Chairman to sign the agreement. (District 5)
Resolution 2020-78
5) Recommendation to approve Collier Area Transit (CAT) Public
Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) in accordance with Final
Rule 49 C.F.R. Part 673 requirements. (All Districts)
To maintain compliance with Federal Transportation
Administration (FTA) grant requirements
6) Recommendation to approve and authorize the chairman to sign five
(5) mortgage satisfactions for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership
loan program in the amount of $11,800 and authorize two (2) Budget
Amendments. The first for $11,800 in program income from the
mortgage satisfactions, the second in the amount of $970.43 is an
administrative action to recognize budget roll forward from program
year 2015-2016 Close Out, Project No. 33429 to program year 2016-
2017, Project No. 33467. (All Districts)
7) Recommendation to approve and authorize the chairman to sign one
(1) release of lien for full payment of $8,712.70 ($6,970.16 plus
interest), pursuant to Agreement for Deferral of 100% of Collier
County Impact Fee for an Owner -occupied Affordable Housing
Dwelling. (All Districts)
8) Recommendation to approve and authorize the chairman to sign one
(1) release of lien for an Affordable Housing Density Bonus unit that
is no longer subject to the terms of the agreement and authorize the
associated Budget Amendment in the amount of $5,389. (All
Districts)
E. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to ratify the County Manager's acceptance of the
Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund payment under
Public Law 116-136 "Cares Act Provider Relief Payment" in the
amount of $458,750.17 that was deposited on April 17, 2020 and to
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May 12, 2020
authorize any necessary budget amendments. (All Districts)
To offset the loss of the County's Emergency Management
Services revenue during the COVID-19 outbreak
2) Recommendation to award Request for Proposal ("RFP") #20-7674,
"Biometric Testing," to Midland Health Testing Services, Inc., in
support of the County's health and wellness program. (All Districts)
To provide biometric testing services in support of the Invest in
Your Health wellness program
3) Recommendation to ratify Property, Casualty, Workers Compensation
and Subrogation claim files settled and/or closed by the Risk
Management Division Director pursuant to Resolution #2004-15 for
the second quarter of FY20. (All Districts)
4) Recommendation to approve a Resolution to support the Community
Foundation of Collier County as a central site for the receipt and
distribution of financial donations during times of local crisis or
disaster. (All Districts)
Resolution 2020-79
5) Recommendation to approve Modification # 1 to Emergency
Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Agreement G0042 with the
Florida Division of Emergency Management to allow for an extension
of 90 days to the period of performance. (All Districts)
Extends the period of performance from June 30 to September 30,
2020, allowing the County to receive and process expenditures
related to probable delays in receiving ordered supplies and
equipment as a result of current emergency management
6) Recommendation to approve the administrative reports prepared by
the Procurement Services Division for change orders and other
contractual modifications requiring Board approval. (All Districts)
With a net total for four (4) items of $196,635.90
7) Recommendation to accept the report for the sale of items and
disbursement of funds associated with the County surplus auction held
on April 3 and April 4, 2020. (All Districts)
Held by contracted vendor Royal Auction Group, Inc. and
conducted exclusively online
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May 12, 2020
8) Recommendation to approve the administrative report prepared by the
Procurement Services Division for disposal of property and
notification of revenue disbursement. (All Districts)
Includes on-line sales in the amount of $6,135.00, no trade-ins and
disposed assets with a value of $561.18
F. COUNTY MANAGER OPERATIONS
1) Board ratification of items approved by the County Manager pursuant
to Resolution 2020-50 declaring a Local State of Emergency in
Collier County. (All Districts) — BCC Ratification on 05/12/2020
a) Recommendation to renew the annual Class 1 (ALS
Transport/ALS Rescue) and Class 2 (ALS intrafacility
ALS Ambulance Transport) Certificate of Public Convenience
and Necessity (COPCN) and permit for the
Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue Department within the boundaries
of the Seminole Tribe in Immokalee.
b) Recommendation to execute a Memorandum of Agreement
(MOA) between Collier County and the
Florida Division of Emergency Management for the storage of
palletized materials and medical equipment.
c) 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 March 12,
2020 and April 1, 2020 pursuant to Florida Statute 136.06.
d) Request that the Board approve and determine valid public
purpose for invoices payable and purchasing card transactions
as of April 8, 2020.
e) Recommendation to approve two (2) agreements totaling
$1,437,560 with the United Way of Collier County and the
Keys to implementing an Emergency Solutions Grant -CV
COVID-19 and State Housing Initiative Partnership Program to
benefit individuals and households impacted by the
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May 12, 2020
Coronavirus pandemic.
Resolution 2020-76 (dated 4/27/2020)
BCC Ratification 05/12/2020
f) Recommendation to authorize the Chairman to sign the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development entitlement
COVID-19 and any future grant agreements and required
S17424s upon arrival and approve (1) substantial amendments
to Collier County's U.S Department of Housing and Urban
Development Annual Action plan for FY2019-2020 to address
additional funding and programs related to COVID-19 that
provides for $707,128 for ESG-CV activities and $1,561,633
CDBG-CV for those impacted by COVID-19; (2) substantial
amendments to the County's 5-Year Consolidated Plan
2016-2021; (3) changes to the 2016-2021 Citizen Participation
Plan to reflect HUD COVID-19 waivers; (4) authorize the Chair
to sign HUD required documents; and (5) authorize necessary
Budget Amendments.
g) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners
approve the Second Amendment to Professional Service
Agreement # 18-7404, Collier County Sports Complex
Marketing and Support, to Sports Fields, Inc., of GA d/b/a
Sports Fields, Inc. ("SFI"), and make a finding that this
expenditure promotes tourism.
h) Recommendation to approve an Agreement with CC BSG,
LLC. ("C1ubCorp"), pursuant to Invitation to Negotiate
("ITN") #20-7689, allowing for up to a one-year due diligence
review period concerning the provision by C1ubCorp of a golf
and entertainment services at the former Golden Gate Golf
Course, at no cost to the County, which provision of services
the parties intend to memorialize through a Lease Agreement
to be brought back for the Board's consideration at a future
meeting.
i) Recommendation to authorize execution of the budget
amendment for $300,000 for communications D-4 back up
PSAP due to COVID-19 (9-1-1).
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May 12, 2020
j) Recommendation to authorize a Work Order under Agreement
No. 14-6213, "Underground Utility Contractors," for Bay
Colony Beach Dune Swale Restoration to Quality Enterprises
USA, Inc., in the amount of $325,714.28.
k) Recommendation to approve the administrative reports
prepared by the Procurement Services Division for change
orders and other contractual modifications requiring Board
approval.
1) Recommendation to extend existing contracts with Executive
Alliance Group, Inc. and HyperTeam USA Business
Consulting, Inc., under Agreement No. 15-6521,
"Information Technology (IT) On- Call Services," for a
period of six months to allow staff to complete soliciting and
negotiating a new agreement, to prevent a lapse in this service.
m) Recommendation to approve a $557,000 work order to Kyle
Construction, Inc., under Request for Quotation ("RFQ")
14-6213-GG WW SYSTEM EXTENSION, "Golden Gate
Wastewater System Extension," for Underground Utility
Contracting Services (Project Number 70255).
n) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid ("ITB") No.
20-7704, "Pumps, Parts, and Services," to Naples Electric
Motor Works, Inc., and authorize the Chairman to sign the
attached Agreement.
2) Recommendation to approve a Fourth Amendment to Agreement with
GC II, LLC, to extend the closing date from May 15, 2020 to
December 11 2020 for the purchase of 1.75 acres previously approved
to provide additional parking at Collier County Sports Complex and
Event Center at a cost not to exceed $401,300, and to authorize the
necessary budget amendments. (District 5)
As detailed in the Executive Summary
G. AIRPORT AUTHORITY
1) Recommendation to approve the submittal of an Airport Improvement
Program (AIP) grant application to the Federal Aviation
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May 12, 2020
Administration requesting approximately $205,065 for the design of
the rehabilitation and widening of Runway 15/33 at Everglades
Airpark at a total estimated cost of $227,850. (District 5)
The current runway is rated as poor and with a width of 50 feet,
does not meet current FDOT public airport license criteria
2) Recommendation to approve the after -the -fact submittal of a
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act grant
application to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requesting
$51,000 for eligible operating expenses at the Immokalee Regional
Airport, Marco Island Executive Airport, and Everglades Airpark.
(District 1, District 5)
Funds are coming directly from the U.S. Treasury and no match
is required
H. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
1) Proclamation designating May 17-23, 2020 as Emergency Medical
Services Week in Collier County. The proclamation will be delivered
to Tabatha Butcher, Chief, Collier County Emergency Medical
Services.
Adopted
2) Proclamation designating May 2020 as National Bike Month in
Collier County. The proclamation will be delivered to Michelle
Avola, Development Director, Naples Pathways Coalition.
Adopted
3) Proclamation designating May 2020 as Drowning Prevention Month
in Collier County. The proclamation will be mailed to Paula
DiGrigoli, Executive Director, NCH Safe & Healthy Children's
Coalition of Collier County.
Adopted
I. MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
1) Miscellaneous Correspondence (All Districts)
J. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
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May 12, 2020
1) 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 April 16, 2020 and April 29, 2020 pursuant to
Florida Statute 136.06. (All Districts)
2) Request that the Board approve and determine valid public purpose
for invoices payable and purchasing card transactions as of May 6,
2020. (All Districts)
K. COUNTY ATTORNEY
1) Recommendation to appoint a member to the Coastal Advisory
Committee. (All Districts)
Resolution 2020-80: Appointing Raymond Christman, the City of
Naples representative, to a four-year term expiring May 22, 2024
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17. SUMMARY AGENDA - This section is for advertised public hearings and
must meet the following criteria: 1) A recommendation for approval from
staff; 2) Unanimous recommendation for approval by the Collier County
Planning Commission or other authorizing agencies of all members present
and voting; 3) No written or oral objections to the item received by staff, the
Collier County Planning Commission, other authorizing agencies or the
Board, prior to the commencement of the BCC meeting on which the items
are scheduled to be heard; and 4) No individuals are registered to speak in
opposition to the item. For those items which are quasi-judicial in nature, all
participants must be sworn in.
Approved to continue — 510
A. This item has been continued from the March 24, 2020 BCC Meeting to
May 12, 2020 and is further continued to the June 9, 2020 BCC
Meeting. Recommendation to approve by Ordinance petition
PL20180002792/CPSS-2019-03, a Growth Management Plan Small Scale
Amendment specific to the Urban Commercial District of the Future Land
Use Element, to create a new subdistrict, Vanderbilt Beach Commercial
Tourist Subdistrict. (Adoption Hearing) (This is a Companion to Agenda
Item # 17B) (All Districts)
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May 12, 2020
B. This item has been continued from the March 24, 2020 BCC Meeting to
May 12, 2020 and is further continued to the June 9, 2020 BCC
Meeting. This item requires ex parte disclosure be provided by the
Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants
are required to be sworn in, An Ordinance of the Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County, Florida amending Ordinance Number
2004-41, as amended, the Collier County Land Development Code, which
established the comprehensive zoning regulations for the unincorporated
area of Collier County, Florida, by amending the appropriate zoning atlas
map or maps by changing the zoning classification of the herein described
real property from a Commercial Intermediate District (C-3) zoning district
to a Commercial Planned Unit Development (CPUD) zoning district for the
project to be known as Vanderbilt Beach Commercial Tourist Commercial
Planned Unit Development, to allow up to 17 hotel and motel units and
7,000 square feet of commercial development on property located on the
northeast portion of the intersection of Gulf Shore Drive and South Bay
Drive, approximately 400 feet north of Vanderbilt Beach Road, in Section
32, Township 48 South, Range 25 East, consisting of .62± acres; and by
providing an effective date. (PL20180002792) (This is a companion to
Agenda Item # 17A) (All Districts)
18. ADJOURN
INQUIRIES CONCERNING CHANGES TO THE BOARD'S AGENDA SHOULD
BE MADE TO THE COUNTY MANAGER'S OFFICE AT 252-8383.
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May 12, 2020
May 12, 2020
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : The meeting of the County
Commission will please come to order. We want to welcome
everybody here.
Item # 1
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And we'll start off with an
invocation and a pledge to the flag. And we'll ask our partner,
Commissioner McDaniel, if he'll provide us the invocation and lead
us in the pledge.
Mr. McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Good morning, everybody.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Good morning.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Good morning.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If you would please bow your
heads with me.
Heavenly Father, we ask for your blessings upon these
proceedings. Lord, these are trying times, but please provide us with
faith to trust in your will and know that your guidance will assure us
that we will come through.
Father, we ask that you, as always, protect those who are out
fighting for our freedom, our military. Also, Father, please provide
additional assistance and guidance for our first responders, those that
are on the front lines every single day protecting our community.
In thy holy name I pray. Amen.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Amen.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: With me, ladies and
gentlemen.
(The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.)
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May 12, 2020
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, again, I want to welcome
everybody this morning. As Commissioner McDaniel said, these are
difficult times, and I appreciate the public social distancing and
participating in our meetings and doing so as carefully and safely as
we can arrange.
Mr. Ochs, let's go through the agenda -- changes to the agenda,
and then we'll hit the main points for today.
Item #2A
APPROVAL OF TODAY'S REGULAR, CONSENT AND
SUMMARY AGENDA AS AMENDED (EX PARTE
DISCLOSURE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR
CONSENT AGENDA.) - APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED
W/CHANGES
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. Thank you very much.
Good morning, Commissioners. These are the proposed agenda
changes for the Board of County Commissioners' meeting of
May 12th, 2020.
The first proposed change is to continue Item 11 B to your next
board meeting on May 26th. That's a proposed contract between the
Board and Florida Gulf Coast University.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Mr. Ochs, let's spend
just a moment on that just to make sure that there's -- see if there's
any objections or problems with the continuance of that particular
item.
Commissioner Taylor, I believe you had requested a
continuance until our next meeting.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Do you want to -- let us know what
Page 3
May 12, 2020
the rationale is for that, and we'll make a decision.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I really didn't have a chance to
review the contract with the FGCU. I wasn't brought into the
negotiations during staff time, and I'd like to have that opportunity.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Any objections to that item being
continued?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : All right. Going to the next item,
Mr. Ochs.
MR. OCHS: The final proposed change is to continue
Item 16A2 from your growth management consent agenda and move
that item to your next meeting on May 26th as well. This is a
recommendation concerning a multiway stop sign warrant study, and
the staff needs a little bit more time to go work on that and bring that
back to the Board at the next meeting.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Are there any objections to that
continuance?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No objections but just a
comment. If you could give me a visual, it wouldn't [sic] be very
helpful.
MR. OCHS: Yes. And Commissioner Fiala had spoken with us
about that same thing --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh good.
MR. OCHS: -- and some of the concerns on Manatee.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, did you want it, too?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I wanted a visual, yeah. It was
hard for me to -- I'm not that familiar with that neighborhood, so
yeah.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah.
MR. OCHS: We'll do that. We'll do that, ma'am.
May 12, 2020
Mr. Chairman, just two quick notes on the agenda. 1 I is a
time -certain item. It will be heard immediately following Item 2A
when you set your agenda. That's the request from the school district
for a ballot referendum in August. The superintendent, I believe, is
going to be here just in case there's any questions. But it's pretty
much a perfunctory item, and I promised her we'd get her in and out
early.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
MR. OCHS: And a final note is on Item 11E. That's your
presentation on the status report for the COVID pandemic. As part of
that, we've bifurcated the report out on the activities in Immokalee
and set that for 11:00 a.m.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. And I wanted that set for
11:00 a.m. for a couple of reasons, just in case there was anybody
from Immokalee that wanted to come and participate. And, also,
there were some folks that advised me that they may be here, so I
want to give them a time certain. But I don't think that will slow our
meeting down. I think we'll be at 11:00 before we get to that
anyway, so I don't think that will be a problem.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Before we leave that, I
wondered if we could include in this discussion about COVID the
most recent decision of the City Council regarding the beaches.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. The main event, I think, on
that particular item is what are we going to be doing with our
beaches, so that will certainly be part of that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Klatzkow, do you have any
changes?
MR. KLATZKOW: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ms. Kinzel, I see you in the back
there. Did you have any comments on the agenda?
Page 5
May 12, 2020
THE CLERK: No. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioners, any --
Commissioner McDaniel?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, sir. I'm good.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No, sir.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh. Forgive me.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Fiala?
(No response.)
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I do have one. On the summary
agenda, we have moved a land -use item to June.
MR. OCHS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That would make their NIMs --
you know, they've expired. That time for NIMs on one of them has
expired. So I just wanted to bring it to staff s attention. I'm assuming
that, that requirement would be waived because of that, but I just
wanted to be sure.
MR. OCHS: Yeah. Mr. Chairman and Commissioner, as part
of the COVID presentation on the staff s side, we're going to ask for
some authorizations to restart the land -use process and go through the
scheduled proposal for June. That item is there, so we'll be able to
address that with you at that point --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: All right, fine.
MR. OCHS: -- if that's okay.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I think there are several people
breathing a huge sigh of relief.
MR. OCHS: Very good.
Sir, any ex parte from the Commissioners on the summary or
consent agenda?
May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: None.
MR. OCHS: All right. Very good.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Then we need a motion to approve
the agenda as amended.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So moved.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second. All
in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That is approved unanimously.
MR. OCHS: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Before we get to the main agenda,
we do have some new artwork on the back that certainly brightens up
this room. The featured artist for the month of May is Martha Cantu.
And I'm going to readjust a short statement about Martha.
Martha has been a resident of Immokalee for over 30 years and is a
self-taught artist who grew up working in the fields that surrounded
the little town. She was accepted at the prestigious Ringling School
of Art in Sarasota but never had the opportunity to attend. Martha
also won a "first place" and "best in the show" award at the Barron
Park House Gallery in LaBelle, Florida.
Featured in this month's display is Martha's extraordinary
colored -pencil artwork. And I can tell you that really is some nice
artwork there. That really brightens up our day. So thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: It is not easy to get into the
Ringling School of Art.
Page 7
May 12, 2020
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It's unfortunate she couldn't go.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Mr. Ochs, that takes us to --
I believe we're going to deal with the school board item; is that
correct?
MR. OCHS: That's correct, Mr. Chairman.
Proposed Agenda Changes
Board of County Commissioners Meeting
May 12, 2020
Continue Item 11B to the May 26, 2020 BCC Meeting: Recommendation to approve and authorize
the Chairman to sign an Agreement with the Florida Gulf Coast University School of
Entrepreneurship for programmatic support to the Collier County Accelerator project, in the
annual amount of $377,651.29 and authorize the necessary budget amendments. (Commissioner
Taylor's request)
Continue Item 16A2 to the May 26, 2020 BCC Meeting: Recommendation to accept a multi -
way stop warrant study and approve the removal of a two-way stop control at the intersection of
Manatee Road and Roost Road, for a cost of approximately $400 (Cost Center 163630). (Staffs
request)
Time Certain Items:
Item 11A to be heard immediately following Item 2A
Note:
Item 11E a separate presentation on the COVID-19 response in Immokalee is scheduled to be heard
at 11:00 a.m. (Commissioner Saunders' request)
5/27/2020 3:50 PM
May 12, 2020
Item # 11 A
THE DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD OF COLLIER COUNTY
REQUEST TO PLACE AN ITEM ON THE AUGUST 18, 2020
ELECTION BALLOT FOR A TAX NEUTRAL FUNDING SHIFT
OF CAPITAL BUDGET FUNDS TO OPERATING BUDGET —
APPROVED
MR. OCHS: This item is 11A, and it is a recommendation to
consider the District School Board of Collier County's request to
place an item on the August 18th, 2020, election ballot for a
tax -neutral funding shift of capital budget funds to operating budget.
Again, this is a request that this board has dealt with affirmatively at
least two times before. The County Attorney really tells me that
when he reads the statute, it's not so much of a choice as a directive,
and I don't know that there's any real discussion that needs to take
place, sir.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I would move for approval.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- and a second.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, I have a registered speaker
remotely for public comment on this item.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's go to -- first of all,
Dr. Patton, do you have any comments you'd like to make in
reference to that? And it may be helpful for you to explain to the
public that may be listening that this is a tax -neutral situation.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, look at her going the
wrong way.
DR. PATTON: I know. Sorry.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If you could write up a ticket for
May 12, 2020
her.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Where's the Sheriff at?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: A reckless walking ticket would be
appropriate.
DR. PATTON: Provide a little entertainment.
So just thank you for allowing us to put this agenda on your item
[sic]. And it's kind of what you mentioned. It's kind of odd that
we're almost directing people by state statute. But it is important.
So what we know in Collier County is that this is absolutely a tax
neutral, meaning it is not an increase. So it's asking for the
permission from the voters to move money from our capital dollars to
our operating side.
So just as a quick little note, that we have 20 counties of 67 in
Florida that have already done an increase tax in 2018. So that's
65 percent of all the kids in Florida right now going to school are
operating off a tax increase, and three of those 20 counties did both
the sales tax and ad valorem tax. So it's telling you that the State of
Florida's not funding people. That's not your issue, but that says a
lot. We've never had 65 percent of the kids having to operate on
asking taxpayers for additional funds.
So we have gone ahead and worked with Jen Edwards and really
suggested for us to put this on the August 18th ballot, not the
November ballot. So we're following that lead. We think that's right.
We've done this before in 2008 and 2016 -- or 2012. In 2016 we did
not because we were able to use our reserves. Those reserves, at the
end of school year 2020/21, which is next school year, will be
depleted. So that's why we're looking to take this on to this ballot at
this time.
Hopefully -- in the past we've had an 80 percent approval rate,
both in 2008 and then 2012. It is a very different time because we
don't have the ability to get out folks to get out and go to all the
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May 12, 2020
meetings that are held, so we'll see what happens with that. But we'll
still be working virtually in the groups that are out there to help
promote that. And just as a promoting tool, it's on our website, and
people can go and read about it, see a very -- one -pager with
information. And if they want to help the cause, there's some
verbiage for both a Tweet that they can send out in a picture as well
as a Facebook little address in a picture right off our
www.collierschools.com.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. We have public comment.
Commissioner Taylor, do you want to hear the comment before
you --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I have a question for --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- Superintendent Patton. So --
thank you. So do I dare say, when's NBC coming to town?
DR. PATTON: I know, right?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: When?
DR. PATTON: So NBC Nightly News comes to town
tomorrow morning at 10:00. So we are excited, because they're
going to actually be filming a piece, Kerry Sanders, and it will be
aired on the Lester Holt's nightly news. It has a six million
viewership nightly, so they're going to feature us. I think we have
two minutes.
So we're headed over tomorrow morning to meet him at -- Kerry
Sanders over at Mike Davis Elementary to show off what a classroom
would look like, what a classroom would look like if rules stayed in
play for the six -feet social distancing. He also requested a bus,
because our normal buses hold 77. With social distancing, it's 13.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Wow.
DR. PATTON: So a "students with disability" bus that normally
would hold 12 will now hold three. So we bus 22,000 of our 45,000
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May 12, 2020
students. So right there tells you where our problem is, right?
So as we're going to meet, I'm sitting on a panel with eight
superintendents that were asked to be working with some
pediatricians and doctors, but we're going to take them through -- let's
start with the kids' day, like, how do they get to school? Nobody sits
with a second fleet of buses. Nobody sits with a second fleet of bus
drivers nor the operating costs. So -- and we sit at 50 percent. Some
small districts bus 99 to 100 percent of their kids.
So it's not just a problem here, but -- so it was nice that Kerry
Sanders chose our county to feature that. So I think it will on
sometime either Friday or the weekend, but we'll let you know. We'll
send you a note, so...
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Congratulations.
DR. PATTON: So I tried to get my hair done last night when it
opened. So I was like, oh, yes, the hair places opened up.
Seven -thirty at night. I said, oh, please, thank you. I'll meet you.
So, anyway, thank you for asking, though, Mrs. Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I do have a couple of
questions for Marvin Easton.
DR. PATTON: Yep.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And so he actually answered was answering Mr. Commissioner Solis' newsletter. And what he --
because of the announcement you put in your newsletter about this
issue before us.
And so his first question is, how many years out are you
projecting that this capital funding covers your needs without a tax
increase?
DR. PATTON: So the projection is that the referendum is good
for four years. So what we know is that we've shared with people
publicly and all the board members that we look to seeing in 2026 to
be capital side debt free so that in 2026 we could go back to starting
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May 12, 2020
to catch up on the projects that we're having to slow down for those
six years, which would mean we'd have to bring a referendum one
more time in four years from now to get us through to that 2026 so at
least we have an answer. Other counties don't do this because they
don't have an answer. They're not going to be debt free, so then their
buildings just become -- buildings and maintenance become an issue.
So we do have a solution for that. But to be perfectly honesty,
we don't know what is going to happen because like you, like us, we
receive, obviously, a lot more of our funds than you from the state,
but the point is, who knows where they economy's going to go. So
even with the referendum, we base this back, two years ago when we
talked about it, with X number of dollars each of those years. Well,
we know that that's not going to happen because the economy, for
sure, because of COVID-19, is going to change in some way, shape,
or form.
So for now, we think we have it covered, but only time's really
going to tell.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So then the second question is,
since you're projecting an excess in your capital funding -- and I
think you've answered this question -- what about lowering just a
small portion of the tax rate when you transfer the excess capital
funding to the operational funding since even keeping the same tax
rate will increase the amount of taxes paid by each property owner.
DR. PATTON: So the answer to that is exactly that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You just answered -- you don't
know. It's the big question mark. Okay. Thank you very much.
DR. PATTON: Yeah. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Good luck tomorrow.
DR. PATTON: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes.
Page 13
May 12, 2020
DR. PATTON: Oh, sorry.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's okay.
I just -- I think back in 2008 there were a lot of people that were
objecting to this very angrily, and they expected -- they were going to
try and raise their taxes and everything. And to and behold nothing
happened, and it went smoothly, and it really helped the school
system. So I think we're absolutely on the right track.
DR. PATTON: Thank you. That's correct. There was a lot of
noise. I think the second one, when it was really -- again, is how the
folks listed it. Let people know that one had happened before, and it
was really renewing the -- and to get that message out, the tax
neutral --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah.
DR. PATTON: -- which is what the key during these times are.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Dr. Patton, we do have a public
comment. Why don't you stay where you are just in case you need to
respond to anything.
MR. MILLER: Yeah. Mr. Chairman and Commissioners, as
you know, we allowed remote public comment this time. We have
one comment for this item. Bill Korson. Mr. Korson, are you
hearing us?
(No response.)
MR. MILLER: Mr. Korson, do you hear us?
(No response.)
MR. MILLER: Geoff, is he there?
MR. WILLIG: Is the computer un-muted?
MR. MILLER: Yes, sir. Hold on. I'll check it again. Oh.
There. Mr. Korson, do you hear us?
MR. KORSON: Yes, I do. Good morning.
MR. MILLER: Please state your name and begin, sir. You'll
have three minutes.
Page 14
May 12, 2020
MR. KORSON: Thank you.
Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Bill Korson. This
morning I will be speaking for the more than 300 members of the
coalition for quality public education which is centered in the Greater
Naples area. First I'd like to thank each of you for your service
during this crisis. Your behavior has been exemplary.
Resolution: The Coalition for Quality Public Education, C for
QPE, endorses the referendum approved by the Collier County Public
Schools to reduce capital budget by .35 mills and to increase the
operating budget by .35 mills. This is a tax -neutral referendum to
provide additional funds required to cover operating costs.
The Coalition for Quality Public Education will publicly advocate for
the passage of this referendum.
Facts: In the last nine years, Collier County schools, under the
leadership of Dr. Patton, have become a top -rated school district
whose programs serve as a model throughout the state of Florida. To
maintain the high-level programs and outstanding staff, the district
needs the flexibility to use some capital dollars for operating
expenses; however, this is a tax -neutral referendum, meaning that
there will be no tax increase to the residents because of it.
Collier County schools -- Collier County charters schools will
receive their fair share from the referendum. Twenty others districts,
as Dr. Patton mentioned, statewide have conducted referendums to
help with the funding crisis, but those are tax -increase referendums.
This one is tax neutral. No tax increase.
These are needed because of Florida's funding of public
education has been historically dismal, placing it in the 42nd to 45th
in the nation; therefore, the Coalition for Quality Public Education
requests that the Collier County Commissioners endorse this
referendum.
Thank you so much for your time and your continued good
Page 15
May 12, 2020
works.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Korson, thank you very much
for your comments. I assume you don't really have any response to
that other than a thank you.
DR. PATTON: Absolutely.
Thank you, Mr. Korson. Absolutely.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second. All
in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
DR. PATTON: Thank you. And thank you for moving the item
up to your agenda today. And if you'd like, June 3rd we have seven
different virtual graduations that you're free to join along and see. So
the schedule will be right on ours, so a little different this year.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Mr. Chairman, just to -- do we
know when the NBC piece will be aired?
DR. PATTON: So it will either be Friday or the weekend, but
I'll email you guys so that you just --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. It would be great to watch.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. And then
congratulations with that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Final question. How many --
how many meals have you served to date?
DR. PATTON: So 800,000. So it's a -- and I tell you, when we
all -- you, myself, our board say that we live in a great county, we do,
Page 16
May 12, 2020
because we're able to help the breakfast and the lunches, right? So if
you come at 10:00 in the morning, we give you breakfast and take
you -- give you the lunch to take home. If you come at lunch, we
give breakfast for the next day, and now on Fridays, you get weekend
food so we -- it covers you Saturday, Sunday.
As we find another pocket, we take out our little mobile vans
and get into the neighborhood. When it grows big enough, we take a
bus to there. So you have feeding sites plus a mobile site that turns
into a bus site. And then from there, what we've done is we've
coordinated, like, with the Harry Chapins and the food banks and told
them, you coordinate dinner. We can catch the breakfast and
lunches. And that's why we say we live in a great city and a county
here because it's that coordination that doesn't happen when I talk to
my colleagues around, much like our sheriffs and everything like
that.
We just -- so thank you for your leadership -- in lots of these
areas hit, our Health Department, just very fortunate how we all
work, especially during critical times.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Dr. Patton, in terms of those meals,
how -- are you going to be doing that all through the summer, or is
there going to be a break in that?
DR. PATTON: So what -- no, there won't be a break, even
between is summer school. They've allowed us to continue through
the end of June. We actually feed the kids through summer school,
so we know it's minimum through July 15th. But my guess is they're
going to continue and just open the door for us to continue on. And
first time I've ever seen the federal government, the lunches or meals
are only allowed to be provided at Title 1 schools. So they actually,
about three weeks ago, gave us the flexibility if we, as the
superintendent, felt that we needed other schools that are not Title 1,
that we could go ahead and put in those sites. So that's the first time
Page 17
May 12, 2020
I've ever seen that in my career. So good for the federal government
to understand, if kids don't have food, they cannot get to the state of
learning, that's for sure.
So thank you for asking, by the way.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If there's anything -- any assistance
you need from Collier County government -- I'm sure you're getting
that, but if there's anything else, just let us know. That's a great
program. Thank you.
DR. PATTON: Thank you. And thanks for all you're doing
during these unusual times.
I can follow the sign out now.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The right way.
Item #7
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that takes us to Item 7 this
morning, public comments on general topics not on the current or
future agenda. Mr. Miller, any registered --
MR. MILLER: Yeah. We do have one registered public
comment. Jill Sasso. I'm going to assume it's actual public comment
and not to do with beaches or COVID. So let's see if we can bring
her online. Ms. Sasso, are you there?
MR. WILLIAMS: Troy, she is not on the Zoom call.
MR. MILLER: All right. Then that is the only registered
speaker we had. We have no one here present.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Ochs, does that take us to l0A? Is that --
May 12, 2020
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir.
Item # 1 OA
THE BOARD FOREGOES ITS ANNUAL SUMMER BREAK AND
INSTEAD CONDUCTS REGULAR MEETINGS TO DEAL WITH
THE EXPECTED BACKLOG OF ITEMS, INCLUDING LAND
USE MATTERS — DISCUSSED
MR. OCHS: Item l0A is a recommendation that the Board
foregoes its annual summer break and instead conducts regular
meetings to deal with the expected backlog of items, including
land -use matters, and this item is brought forward by Commissioner
McDaniel.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner
McDaniel, you're recognized.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Well, good morning.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: There you are.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Good morning. I warned you
at our last meeting that I was going to bring this forward. And, you
know, we went through the process. I just -- I just would like to say
that the circumstances that are prevalent today are not just the need to
continue on with this or not just land -use items. There's the normal
conduct of business going on for a citizenry of 360,000 people that
live here year round.
And I have advocated to extend our meeting dates and times
since I became a commissioner, and I really haven't come off of that,
and now I find that, due to circumstances that are prevalent around
our community and nation, that it's even more important that we give
back to our community, and this is a small way that we can, in fact,
do that.
Page 19
May 12, 2020
I did -- and there is allowances, Commissioner Fiala -- we spoke
about this two weeks ago, but there is allowances here for anybody
who has travel plans to call in and do it remotely. And several of you
have already done that so far with the circumstances that are upon us
today, so...
The executive summary is self-explanatory, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, okay, yes. One of the things
that concerns me with this is I think this is the time that we give all of
our employees the summer off. This is where they take their
vacations. This is what they do. And the reason it's so good for them
is because the kids are out of school.
Now, of course, this is a different time. But the kids are out of
school, so they're home with them. They can travel with them or
whatever they want to do, assuming that they can travel then.
And then it's all -- yeah, our employees get to -- get to have
some time with their families in the summer. They can't do that in
the winter. And I just feel that this -- it works so well. And not only
that, but with the -- with the issues -- we're able to do so many of the
issues.
For instance, Leo, wherever Leo -- there he is. He can approve
many, many things administratively so we can operate through the
summer. And usually we try and avoid any land -use issues, whether
we're meeting or not, in the summer, because that seems to be when
the things that might be controversial would be brought up, when the
people are gone.
So I don't agree with this, but I know -- you know, we could
take your call, and you could call in.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't need to call in. I want
to conduct business for our community.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, okay.
Page 20
May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I appreciate what you're
saying. It's just -- and again --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's -- let me get back to you after
we hear the other, as opposed to back and forth here.
Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I did have a conversation with
staff yesterday. They say they don't need this. We don't usually have
land use during the summertime; therefore -- and that's traditional
and that makes sense because it is our off season. This is an unusual
year, that's clear. But they don't feel that it's necessary to meet
through the summer, but it -- you know, it's something that -- I think
if we can keep some kind of normalcy here with what we're doing,
and if staff says they don't need this, then I'm kind of inclined to
agree with Commissioner Fiala.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I had a couple comments. I can
give you those comments if you want, then you can respond to all of
us.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm already counting.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I don't have any particular concern
one way or the other. You really boil this down to we're talking
about three meetings that we don't have in the summertime. And all
of us are doing the work that we normally would be doing as
commissioners, and staff s doing the work they would normally be
doing.
I've always felt that this kind of gave us -- gave staff a break
from having to prepare thousand -page agendas every two weeks to
get caught up on all the other little things. And we've always had an
opportunity for staff to -- or for the Manager to take care of the
normal business. So there's never been a problem with that.
I think you're right in the sense that these are different times, and
we have delayed some land -use issues. And, of course,
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May 12, 2020
Commissioner Fiala's correct as well; we do not take up any land -use
issues in the summertime because people are gone. And we can
make up for those three meetings that we miss by having -- we only
have one meeting in November, so I would suggest let's make up for
some of the land -use issues by having that second meeting in
November and perhaps even doing the same thing in December. That
way, you know, we've given up three meetings in summertime.
We've picked up two meetings when people are here, and that's when
we really should be doing the land -use issues.
So I'll throw that out as an alternative if there's some concern
about the fact that we are missing some meetings.
Commissioner, you were next.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm not even lit up. If you
want to go ahead, and then I'll say my piece.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'm going to agree with what you
said. I think, on top of everything that's been said, we don't know
what's going to be going on in July and August at this point. I mean,
it's not that far away in terms of, you know, the pandemic and
everything. So -- and I understand -- I understand, Commissioner
McDaniel, your interest and why you want to do it.
I would say, in terms of additional meetings, I mean, we can --
or the Chairman could set -- if we need a meeting, another meeting in
November, we could do that. If there's a backlog and the staff feels
that it's becoming an issue, we could -- I think the Chairman could
call another meeting in November or, really, whenever, right? I
mean, it could be an emergency meeting of some kind, and we could
take care of it.
But I think it's -- it would be a change in the midst of a lot of
uncertainty that I just think would -- I think our staff s probably under
enough -- enough strain with dealing with all of the uncertainty and
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May 12, 2020
all of the change and everything. And so I don't think I can support it
either. Sorry.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No sorries.
And I'm going to say this. This isn't new. This isn't new. We
are a 360,000-year-round population of folks that deserve to have an
audience with their government, number one.
Number two, the timing of the 60 days that are taken off in the
summertime are at the end of our fiscal year. A $1.4-plus billion
budget is adopted in September with public communication being
limited for the 60 days in advance of those perfunctory board
meetings that we come back statutorily and adopt that $1.4 billion
budget.
I -- Commissioner Saunders, with regard to adding additional
meetings in the fall, if you want to give that a try, we can give that a
try if it's necessary. I think -- to me, it's personally counterintuitive
because that's Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's when the
balance of the planet's on vacation anyway. I've said that back in the
private sector day when I opened my first real estate company. I
could take that entire period of time off because everybody else was
on vacation, and real estate transactions and the like were not
transpiring.
But my rationale was we've had limited agendas so far this year.
I have suggested this even before this pandemic came upon us, and I
thought, because of the limited agendas, the lack of time that our
public has had to get in front of us to take and conduct business --
now, if there isn't a need -- and I did. I spoke with staff yesterday as
well, and they think, certainly, that they can get along. If there isn't
any -- and I'm not going to -- I can obviously sit here and count to see
the way this is going to go. I do believe that it is proper for a paid
board of directors for a $1.4 billion company to conduct its business
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May 12, 2020
and do it on a regular basis. So I'm going to stay with my position
and respect all of yours.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And I'm just going to indicate, as I
said before, I don't have any particular problem with meeting or not
meeting. What we can do is if we do need a meeting, obviously we
can call that. There's no question at all about that. And you're
correct, these are different times, and there may be the need to have a
meeting.
I'll work with the manager on some of these land -use issues. I
don't think we really have a backlog at this point. But I'll work with
the Manager, and if we need to have some additional meetings when
people are here, that's really the time to deal with that.
And in terms of normal business, I think all of us conduct our
normal business as commissioners during this -- it's not really 60
days. We have a meeting the second Tuesday in July, and then we
meet the first week of September for the budget. It's about 45 days.
So it is a substantial period of time but, again, it's three County
Commission meetings, and we're all available to do our county work.
I know during that time period I'll be meeting with the Manager on a
regular basis, as we all will. And if there is a need, then let's go
ahead and set those meetings up as needed.
But in the meantime, we'll give the Manager the authority that
we always give him, which is to conduct normal business during that
time period when we're not meeting, and then we'll ratify that
business that he conducts in September.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I appreciate you allowing me
the opportunity to share again. It's --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It's a good point. I mean, but let's
see how this goes, and if we need to schedule some meetings, we're
all here to do what we need to do.
All right. Mr. Ochs?
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May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, we don't need to vote. I
didn't even call for a motion. The comments are self-evident.
Item # 11 C
ACCEPT THE FINDINGS OF THE TWO INDEPENDENT
APPRAISALS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION ON THE
POTENTIAL ACQUISITION OF THE 967 +/- ACRES LOCATED
THREE MILES EAST OF COLLIER BOULEVARD AND
DIRECTLY NORTH OF ALLIGATOR ALLEY KNOWN AS THE
HHH RANCH OWNED BY FRANCIS AND MARY HUSSEY, ET
AL - MOTION TO APPROVE PURCHASE PRICE AT $10
MILLION AND STAFF TO WORK ON TERMS WITH SELLER —
APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that moves us to Item 11 C this
morning. This is a recommendation to accept the findings of two
independent appraisals and provide direction on the potential
acquisition of the 967 plus or minus acres located three miles east of
Collier Boulevard and directly north of Alligator Alley known as the
HHH Ranch owned by Frances and Mary Hussey.
Mr. Casalanguida will take you through a brief presentation. Nick?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Thank you, Mr. Manager. Good
morning, Mr. Chair and board members.
I'm going to provide you a little history, I think, for the record
which is important for yourselves and the public watching this, and
then we'll go through the opportunities with this project.
This is the location: I-75 and 951, slightly northeast in your
Rural Fringe Mixed Use District area at North Belle Meade, I think
you're all familiar with it, just east of our landfill.
Then you get a feel for what's around that project, and I'll use
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May 12, 2020
my cursor, or the visualizer. This is the project we're talking about
here.
So as you go through the project, I'm going to give you a little
history, and then we'll talk about what the opportunities are. This
area was rezoned by the Board in 2002 for the Rural Fringe Mixed
Use District, and then the property was in debate for a period of about
six years. The landowner filed suit against the county in 2008
claiming Bert Harris. And in the valuation he presented he claimed
the property was worth about $93 million because of the aggregate
available there.
In 2013, the county settled with the landowner and rezoned the
property, essentially providing for the property to have both sending
and receiving lands. We're talking about 967 acres with 583 acres
being receiving and 384 acres being sending lands.
Since that settlement, they've actively marketed the property. People
have looked at it. It is a difficult property to take down from a land
development business. There's no infrastructure out there: Water,
sewer, roads, things like that. So people have looked at it. There's
mines all around it. As you can tell from the graphic to the east,
there's Vulcan, and to the northeast is the Brown pit. So there's a lot
of mining interest. In that whole area a report has been done where
you've got Florida DOT aggregate down to about 80 feet. So it sat
for a while.
They approached the county in 2017 with an offer to sell it to
the county for $ 7 5 million, and they wanted to do a joint venture with
the county in terms of mining and looking at that. We did an
appraisal at that time as -is, where -is, and it came in at $8.2 million.
At that point in time, we walked away; the Board rejected the offer.
They approached us in March of '20, this year, and offered us to sell
the property for $11 million.
The Board directed us to do due diligence, look at it again. We
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May 12, 2020
updated our appraisals, and our appraisals came in at $8.5 million
as -is.
About a week ago we met with the representatives of the
property, and they would lower their offer to $10 million, and that
was their best offer and final as they put it in front of us.
So let's talk a little bit about this property and what the value is
to the county and what potential we have. As I mentioned, it has
967 acres split between receiving and sending lands. The land -use
potential is between 342 units to 852 units. And that property could
be entitled for based on what's there.
There's geo tech down to 100 feet on this property that shows
there's FDOT-grade rock there for road construction or other activity.
So a significant amount of rock.
Now, let's talk about the relocation of the roadway. Make no
mistake, you are in the infrastructure development business, and
you've known that because you fund these projects for years. We
look out 25 years in our capital project, and we make good business
decisions and provide you recommendations in terms of ways to save
money.
The red line on your graphic is the current alignment of
Wilson/Benfield Road. And with the acquisition of this property, you
could potentially relocate the road.
So a potential relocation of that road shaves off about anywhere
from .7 miles to one mile of roadway. It costs us $3.5 million for
each lane mile of road we build. So by relocating a road, you have
the potential savings of 3 to $5 million in just road relocation costs.
And then to the south and east, that's all environmentally
sensitive land in the North Belle Meade area. So in that location, by
relocating a road, when you go to the permitting agencies, you would
mitigate a lot less of road, and that's 3 to $5 million in savings that's
there.
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May 12, 2020
Right-of-way acquisition could potentially be reduced. With the
landowners to the north and east, our goal, if this is acquired, would
be to sit down with them and look at the roadway network and try
and shift this as much as we can to the north and west therefore
protecting more of the land to the south and east in that sensitive part
of North Belle Meade that is part of our NRPA area.
We talked about a housing component. As you know, there's
$20 million set aside approved by the voters for acquisition of
property for, you know, essential service housing or housing.
We talked about potentially moving the sending and receiving
line to the north to increase the preservation area. And there's also a
water quality component. We have done studies where we would
take water out of the Golden Gate Main Canal, treatment train it
through, and then either hydrate to the south or put it back in. And
by doing so, you improve water quality in that area. Now, I'm
making a mess of the diagram. If I could erase the whole thing at
once, it would be helpful.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Which piece of property is
this?
MR. MILLER: There's a clear button there, Nick.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: There we go. Thank you, Troy.
This is the property we're looking at that we're acquiring.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I was -- it was a joke. I'm
sorry.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: In the middle of this, when we do
develop this, you're going to have to develop a lake consistent with
the lakes you see to the north and east. And, again, another benefit is
the material you pull out of that. We wouldn't go to 20 feet. We'd go
to 60 feet and pull the rock out to build the road. So there's another
benefit to doing that as well, too.
Now, these benefits don't really benefit a private buyer because
May 12, 2020
they wouldn't be looking at this like we are in the infrastructure
development business. That's why the property sat for so long on the
private side.
Now, potential funding sources, I talked a little bit about that.
Road impact fees, surtax for housing, potentially conservation funds
if we moved the property to the north and provided more of an area
for conservation purposes.
Those dollar amounts or funding sources wouldn't be used in the
short term. They would be on the back end and refinanced back into
whatever program act, funding we identified to acquire this property.
If we did acquire short term, we'd look at internal financing.
Now, in talking to OMB and the County Manager, our
recommendation, you have three choices that we put in front of you.
One is to give it our best and final offer at 8.5 back to them; two, to
accept their offer of $10 million; or the third one that we are
recommending, which is direct your staff to meet with them, talk not
only price but talk terms. If we could put down a reasonable down
payment on this and then acquire it, five, 12, 18 months from now, it
would put us in a better condition to finance the project, probably
with other projects, and the market would be a little bit better. And
the representative from the seller I briefly talked to in the hallway. I
believe they're open to that.
So our recommendation would be the third option and then us
bring back to you a very good purchase and sale agreement with
defined benefit and terms.
And with that, I would answer any questions that you have.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We don't have anybody
lit up here. Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. Would you just point out
where the Golden Gate Canal is on this, Nick, please. Yeah.
So how are you going to bring -- I know that the South Florida
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May 12, 2020
Water Management has a couple of projects to the north. So the idea
is to do what with water from the Golden Gate Canal?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: We've looked at this as far back as
when Clarence Tears was here. So you'd be diverting water through
these lakes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, okay.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: And so, if you can imagine, even if
you put it back in the Golden Gate Canal, it's gone through a series of
deep lakes for, you know, water quality.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And it would keep hydrating in
the east, which is important also.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's one area in the NRPA we've
talked about putting some water there as well, too.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: For the audience, do you want to
tell them what NRPA means?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: You're catching me on the acronym.
The NRPA. North --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Environmental --
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Resource protection area. I know --
that's the RPA. Natural Resource Protection Area. There you go.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd like to make a motion for
approval and recommend Staffs Recommendation No. 3. I've
gotten -- as you know, we've talked about this since, Commissioner
Saunders, you and I became county commissioners. And when we've
watched this volley go back and forth between the property owners.
There's certainly substantiated value here, whether it be at eight and a
half million, per the appraisal, or 10 million is what the seller is.
I think that, long term, we're -- this is a fine acquisition for our
community on a lot of levels; from an environmental perspective,
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May 12, 2020
from a management of our community. I think that -- and there's
certainly -- Nick mentioned multiple sources of revenue that can
come to assist us with the funding and go forward.
I want to -- and I don't know if Brad's going to be on the call
today. I spoke with Brad Cornell last night, and one of the things that
I promised him was that if we do, in fact, go forward with this
acquisition, that we will continue to involve the public in how and
what we end up doing with this piece of property.
Innumerably, the ecological value alone is twice what -- the
numbers that we're talking about now, and then add in all of the other
economic benefits that come to our community. It's a pretty easy --
it's a pretty easy "yes" for me. And I think recommending to our staff
to continue to negotiate with the sellers to be able to facilitate the
transaction is a good way to go.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second the motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I was going to say, we have a
motion, but before we second it, let's hear some other comment, if
you don't mind, just in case there may be some discussion that might
change us that [sic] .
Let's see what the public comment is, then, I think,
Commissioners, I have some comments as well.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, we have a total of five registered
speakers; two here in person, three remotely. We're going to start in
person with Meredith Budd. She will be followed by Randy Thibaut.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: She's going the wrong way,
too.
MR. OCHS: No. She's following the arrows.
MR. MILLER: No. She's going the right way.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: There are some exceptions to this
walking rule here. If you're over here, just go straight there.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Have you seen that --
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May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Go that way.
MS. BUDD: Good morning, Commissioners. Meredith Budd
on behalf of the Florida Wildlife Federation.
I am here to enthusiastically support the acquisition of this
property. I think public acquisition is the best option here. Getting it
into public ownership is going to provide an immense opportunity for
our county.
I've spoken to all of you, I think, at length about this property
over the years. It has an incredible environmental value:
Red -cockaded woodpecker habitat; Florida panther habitat as well.
FP224 historically lives in North Belle Meade across the whole North
Belle Meade, and she has denned specifically on this ranch twice.
One thing I do want to point out, from visual inspections map,
her dens have been in the receiving areas of this ranch. So both of
her dens have been on the receiving areas of this ranch. One more
north than the other. The southern one, it may be at the border of the
receiving and sending lands, but I did want to point that out.
And I want to also point out that when the overlay was first
introduced, all of the ranch was designated as sending for its
environmental value, and that settlement agreement didn't change the
environmental value of the property. And so I wanted to just
highlight that and point out FP224's denning habits on the property as
well.
I appreciate the discussion and being included and involved
across the board. And I also want to recommend, if possible, to
include the agencies as well. So U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
FWC, and even FDOT, perhaps. FDOT evaluated this segment of
I-75 from the toll booth to the Miller Canal. And they did that
because it's fenced the whole way, but there's no wildlife crossing,
and that's a big connectivity issue. And they concluded that they
would consider putting in an enhanced full wildlife crossing along
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May 12, 2020
I-75 if there was suitable habitat to the north of 75.
And this ranch really provides that opportunity, and I think that
involving FDOT in the discussion as well to ensure that the amount
of space and habitat they would require for such a crossing would be
something to bring to the table and make sure we can accommodate
that as well.
So thank you for your time, and have a good day.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Randy Thibaut. He will be
followed remotely by Gladys Delgadillo.
MR. THIBAUT: Good day, Commissioners. I obviously vote
for No. 2.
Opportunity's here. There's been many years this property's
been on your queue; 75 million, all kinds of numbers, lawsuits. I'm
not going to -- I'm not here to talk to you about giving you a sales
pitch. I'm the CEO of LSI Companies. We've been given a fortune
to represent the Husseys.
Opportunity's knocking right now. There's an opportunity for
you to acquire this property at a price and terms that is very
favorable, much less the intrinsic values of the property in addition to
the appraisals. I'd recommend that you take advantage of acquiring
the property for $10 million.
With all respect, I've enjoyed working with Nick and his team,
and we'll do whatever we can to do that to facilitate a closing, but I
would recommend you go ahead and make a decision at $10 million.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Gladys Delgadillo, and she
will be followed by Brad Cornell.
Gladys, are you there?
MS. DELGADILLO: Yes, I'm here. Can you hear me?
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May 12, 2020
MR. MILLER: Yes. You have three minutes, Gladys.
MS. DELGADILLO: Gladys Delgadillo on behalf of the
Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
We, along with Florida Wildlife Federation and Audubon of the
Western Everglades, support moving forward with purchasing HHH
Ranch and placing the entirety of the property in conservation. This
maximizes the benefit -to -cost ratio for the land.
(Unintelligible) services on this property will provide
continuous economic benefit. Natural wetlands are much more cost
effective than built infrastructure when it come to storing and treating
water and aiding in the county's water load. This property includes
hundreds of acres of wetlands.
Preservation of the property will maintain a tourism generating
resource in peril to Everglades wildlife and encourage more efficient
development. In most cases, the cost of providing public services for
residential development exceeds any increase in tax base provided by
the development.
We ask the county to please investigate options for preserving
the land. These may include utilizing Conservation Collier, if it's
renewed; mitigation banking, which may provide further economic
benefit; and protecting the property with the aid of a private partner.
At this time, we ask you to please not hedge acquisition of the
property on other considered land uses until further analysis has been
done.
HHH Ranch is about as environmentally sensitive as they come.
So, as Meredith said, it's home to Florida Panther 224, an ambassador
for species. She's raised two litters of kittens on the receiving
portion, which is most vulnerable to development. The receiving
portion is also where the RCW cluster is and where they're foraging.
So this is a very sensitive part even north of that boundary.
There has been a tug of war over this property for years. And,
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May 12, 2020
as Meredith said, the county rightly did determine that the land was
so ecologically valuable that all of it should be sending. And this
fight is reminiscent of so many the county has faced before, just this
conflict as the county tries to balance private property rights in
protection of its environment which is beloved worldwide for future
generations.
But now the county has the opportunity to end this particular tug
of war without further battle. The county can ensure that the
originally desired land use is finally implemented. Preservation of
the property via any means would be a resounding win for the
county, the public, and for Collier County's wildlife and waters.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Brad Cornell, and he will
be followed by Robert and Alexandra Brennan.
Brad, are you there?
MR. CORNELL: I am.
Good morning, Commissioners. This is Brad Cornell, and I'm
here on behalf of Audubon of the Western Everglades. Appreciate
very much you making this technological visit to the chambers
possible. So I'm impressed. So keep it up. Good work. And Geoff
Willig has been very helpful in facilitating this, so thanks.
I want to second my colleagues at Florida Wildlife Federation
and the Conservancy, Meredith and Gladys, on support for moving
forward with purchasing the HHH Ranch for its conservation value.
Audubon of the Western Everglades, along with Florida Wildlife
Federation, had felt so strongly about this that we actually hired our
own attorney to help the county defend against the Bert Harris
lawsuit back in 2008. And we were successful in circuit courts. So
that's how strongly we feel that this is an important ranch to protect
for its conservation value.
And I also appreciate Commissioner McDaniel's mentioning the
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May 12, 2020
importance of deferring deciding what to do once you purchase this,
what the county wants to do with it. I learned some interesting
information from Nick Casalanguida this morning. It would be --
there's not very much information for the public to figure out what's
going on in terms of options for land use in the future. So deferring
that decision until the public has had more of an opportunity to
understand these options and engage in that process is really an
important part of this equation. So please do give us an opportunity
to jump in on that.
So, please, we support -- Audubon Western Everglades supports
you moving forward today in acquiring for public value the HHH
Ranch.
Thanks very much.
MR. MILLER: And, Commissioners, your final registered
speakers are Robert and Alexander Brennan. Ms. and Mr. Brennan,
if you're on the line, were you both wanting to speak separately, or
what were you aiming, to both speak together?
MS. BRENNAN: Good morning. Good morning,
Commissioners. This is Alexandra Brennan. I am here with my
husband, Robert, but I will be speaking.
MR. MILLER: Go ahead, Ms. Brennan.
MS. BRENNAN: Thank you.
As mentioned, my name is Alexander Brennan, my husband
Robert. We have lived at 2727 Hancock Hammock Road for 26
years. Our property is located directly north and east of the HHH
Ranch property.
As stated in your considerations, the property was designated as
sending lands by the Board of County Commissioners in 2002 but
later, as a result of the lawsuit, amended to also include receiving
lands. Had it not been for that amendment, we believe there would
be no meeting on the subject today.
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May 12, 2020
The reason we are speaking up is because we need to reiterate
the importance of that property and what it means to Collier County
and preservation of natural resources, especially for endangered
species such as the Florida panther. Due to the ever-increasing
population in Collier County, habitat loss has been extensive. This is
an area untouched for many miles to the south and the east providing
corridors for travel of land, animals, as well as resting spots in the
wetlands for migrating birds. Any change to that fragile
infrastructure would lead to further demise of these animals.
Over the past several years, we saw at least three collared
panthers and three un-collared panthers. Sorry. I'm a little nervous.
One of the collared panthers being FP224. If you don't know her
story, we urge you to read up on it. She's a true fighter and survivor.
We've seen her personally several times. HH [sic] Ranch and the
surrounding area are her home. She's been there several times.
In addition to the panthers, the area's also home to the protected
Red -cockaded woodpeckers, and in late fall, wood storks, also a
protected species, literally descend in hundreds on the swamps to
feast on fish and crawfish, and then they rest in the treetops of the
cypress and pine trees, a most humbling sight.
There's a myriad of animals benefiting from undisturbed land,
and any kind of destruction of habitat may be through road
construction, such as the Wilson/Benfield extension, lake excavation,
and subsequent building construction would be detrimental to the
survival of many of those species.
In the name of conservation and preventing Collier County from
becoming the next Miami -Dade, we urge the Board to purchase the
property. Once the property is safely out of the hands of potential
future developers, over time, Conservation Collier, Audubon, with
the use of mitigation, as well as other entities, could be negotiated
with to help offset the expense.
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May 12, 2020
Thank you very much for your time and thank you for your
service.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
I have a couple questions for our staff. And, Commissioner
Fiala, I appreciate you holding off on the second. I just had a couple
issues that I don't know if it will change the conversation or not, but I
just wanted to have that opportunity before the motion was seconded.
How long have we been back and forth with the seller on this
property? I know it's been going on for a long time, but I'm talking in
terms of getting to this $10 million number. I know we were at eight
and a half. They were at 11. They're down to 10.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Most recently, about three months.
Prior to that, we were talking to them in about 2017.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So for the last three months, we've
been focusing in on the sales price. Is that --
MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's correct. We've been doing --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And the seller -- now, the seller
didn't say -- the seller's representative didn't say this, but it was sort
of in his comments. I get the impression that they may be at their last
number. Is it correct that that's what they've said to you, that this is
their bottom line?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: They've indicated that's their best and
final offer. Now, the question would be terms, sir, when we would
close.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So the reason I wanted to ask those
two questions, because it seems to me that we have an opportunity.
We have Item No. 2 and No. 3. It seems to me that we try to
combine those two. I don't have a problem with the $10 million
offer. Now, of course, that's, perhaps, not a good thing to say at a
public meeting with the seller listening and all.
I certainly don't have a problem with a lower price. But at the
May 12, 2020
same time, I'm concerned that if we continue this conversation
concerning price, we may lose this opportunity to buy this. And I
think some of the comments you made today, quite frankly, are
indicative of the intrinsic value of the property. The road alignment.
If someone else went up to the seller and bought that property today
and sat down and negotiated with you for the right-of-way through
there, I don't know how much of that 11 -- of that potential savings
we might have in continuing negotiations, how much that would cost
us to realign that road to realize the savings that you've suggested.
So I'm going to suggest to Mr. McDaniel -- and it's just a
suggestion. It's in his district. It's his motion. But -- I don't have a
problem with $10 million. I do think that we should have
conversations with terms and then come back to us in two weeks with
terms, but I think it's reasonable for us to ask for some ability to take
advantage of the market at the right times.
The seller may say "heck no" with that, and that's fine. But I
want to focus on this sales price for just a minute, because I don't
think I -- I'm concerned that we may lose the opportunity, and I'll just
go back to Commissioner McDaniel.
And I'm going to follow your lead on this, but I think that we're
at a point we're accepting the offer in terms of the price and
suggesting that we talk to the sellers about some terms that may be
necessary for us because of the current market. I think the seller
would understand that. I don't think there would be a problem with
that.
And if Commissioner McDaniel is somewhat willing to talk
about that, then I'll ask Mr. Thibaut about the other terms.
So I'll turn that back over you to, Commissioner McDaniel.
That's just my gut feeling right now.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. And I have several
comments with regard to that. But Commissioner Solis is down there
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May 12, 2020
raising his hand, if you don't mind calling on him first.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Don't mind at all.
Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Thank you. Just a couple of
questions. I mean, I'm looking at the agreement that's attached, and it
says 120 days following the execution of the agreement. It just
seems --
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sir, we'd be looking to extend that
time period if --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. I'm -- it seems like a big
purchase to not have completely fleshed out the details and at least
explored the options for -- I mean, there may be win -win situations
here on both sides. You know, I'm very reluctant. I have ultimate
confidence in our staff in the ability to negotiate these kinds of
agreements, because they've been doing it for years and been doing it
extremely well.
You know, it is an important property that we need to acquire
for a lot of different reasons. Conservation, you know, potential is
one of them. And I agree that this is just a purchase. The future use
of it will be the subject of a lot of discussion.
But I'd like to second the motion and give the staff the ability to
flesh out the terms. It seems like a complicated piece of property to
have just a standard form of agreement, although I do think we need
to purchase it.
And I agree with your position, Mr. Chair, that we've negotiated
the price, but I think there's still some things -- from my discussions
with Mr. Ochs and Mr. Casalanguida, I think there's still some things
that need to be fleshed out, and I wouldn't want to take that away
from the staff, because I think it -- some of it could be important for
us and maybe even the owner.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis, I'd asked
May 12, 2020
Commissioner Fiala not to second the motion until the
conversation --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Oh, I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's all right.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I want to make sure.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'm sorry.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I just wanted to make sure she had
the opportunity to second on that one.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I don't have any money on that one.
Don't worry about it.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Sorry.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So we have a motion and second.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the motion is going to --
if you don't mind, I mean, you've lost your talent in negotiating on
sale price, just so you know. When you tell the seller you're going --
you're willing to pay 10 million, you're going to pay 10 million, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm only 20 percent of the vote.
Looks like --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Agreed. So -- but, again, I've
said it before. I think the ecological value alone for our community is
far in excess of what the sellers are asking for this piece of property.
I concur with you. And, Commissioner Solis, it was mentioned in
our package that 'tis not the season to be going out and borrowing
money. So if we could have an opportunity to negotiate on the terms
of the acquisition and timing, I'll be happy to make a motion to go
with No. 2, a derivative of No. 2 as recommended here at that
10 million price and allow staff to go back and negotiate the terms of
Number 3, which --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Procedurally, let's kind of back up,
because we have a motion and a second and another second to go
with No. 3, which is to continue the dialogue and try to negotiate a
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May 12, 2020
further reduction and then bring it back.
I'd asked that not to be seconded just so we could have this
dialogue as to whether or not we should kind of up this up a little bit.
The negotiations would not necessarily be on price but would be on
terms. So we have a motion and second. We have to dispose of that.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Unless there's an amendment to the
motion and --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. I just made an
amendment to that first motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, you can't amend the motion
unless the second to the motion accepts the amendment. So we're
going to have to do this procedurally. But right now we have a
motion and a second. We have a comment from the commissioner
from that district that, perhaps, looking at a combination of 2 and 3 as
I had suggested might be a more expeditious approach to this, but we
do have a motion and second.
So the question is whether motion maker and second would --
and I want to clarify what your --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll reiterate it, if you wish.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. Let's make clear, because,
again, this is an important decision. So, again, what is your
suggestion at this point?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: My suggestion for the
amendment for the motion is to utilize No. 3, which -- except for the
reduction in the sale price. Just go ahead and accept the offer of the
10 million --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- from the seller and then
allow staff to negotiate with regard to those terms.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. You had made that first
motion. You're willing to withdraw your -- or amend your motion?
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May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Does the second accept that
amendment?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll defer to Commissioner
McDaniel.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So you are accepting that --
you are.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: (Nods head.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. We have an amended
motion and a second to combine Items No. 2 and 3. We're not
concerned about the purchase price going forward, 10 million, but we
do need to talk to the seller about terms.
I see Mr. Thibaut in the back there. I don't want to put him on
the spot, but he is shaking his head. It seems like that would be an
affirmative that you're willing to discuss terms and that sort of thing.
If you could just --
MR. THIBAUT: (Nods head.)
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I just want to caution,
from a real estate contract perspective, we're putting him in a very
precarious position because he's a realtor, and he's representing the
sellers.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And he's a big boy, and he'll know
what to say.
MR. THIBAUT: Thank you, and I got that.
You have -- I first want to say -- Randy Thibaut, LSI -- and I
appreciate your comment, William, but I can tell you that you have
not negotiated against yourself. The final price is $10 million if we're
going to sell it to the county.
As far as your motion, I respect that, and we will do that. And I
have good faith that Nick and ourselves will be able to come to an
agreement. I have no question in that.
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May 12, 2020
So I would -- I think that's a good decision and would
recommend that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. THIBAUT: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and a
second. The motion, I think, is clear as amended. Are there any
further comments on the motion? We have two people lit up.
Commissioner Taylor, anything else?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I think the horse is out of the
barn. I'll support the motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. All right.
Commissioner Solis?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No, I'm --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I did have one other -- I did
get lit up.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel?
Commissioner McDaniel?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The point I wanted to make,
and I wanted to -- you brought up rehydration and the reduction of
water going into the Naples Bay and out of the main canal systems of
Golden Gate. We also have another project coming with regard to
pump stations along the southerly canal along I-75. And Mr. Barton
is here and can probably enlighten us a little further. But this whole
process is going to assist with that, this acquisition. So I just wanted
to put that on the record as well.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Casalanguida, do you have
anything else on the motion?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: No, sir. I would be remiss if I didn't
tell you that I would not recommend acquiring this property if you
don't acknowledge or we don't acknowledge that you're going to
May 12, 2020
build a road here someday, and this will save you significants dollar,
so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I've had several phone calls with
environmental groups, and I've said there's two options we have for
this, quite frankly. One is to not buy it, and the other is to buy it with
understanding that we're going to use it to the best interest of Collier
County in terms of the environment, in terms of the road
right-of-way, in terms of whatever else we determine down the road.
So I think everybody's clear that this is not an acquisition that's going
to be totally preserve, and we're not making those decisions today.
We're just simply making a decision to move forward with the
acquisition.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well stated.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Then we have a motion
and second. I'll call for the question. All in favor, signify by saying
aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Generally we take a court reporter
break. We have the court reporter here. Do you need a break at this
point, or should be continue to --
THE COURT REPORTER: A little longer.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We'll go until about
10:30, and then we'll take a quick break there.
May 12, 2020
Item # 11 D
AN AGREEMENT FOR SALE AND PURCHASE WITH SD CORP
OF NAPLES, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION AND CYPRESS
LANDINGS II OF NAPLES, LLC, A FLORIDA LIMITED
LIABILITY COMPANY, FOR APPROXIMATELY 37.16 ACRES
UNDER THE CONSERVATION COLLIER LAND ACQUISITION
PROGRAM, AT A COST NOT TO EXCEED $1,595,000 -
MOTION TO DENY — FAILED; MOTION TO APPROVE
PURCHASE MINUS $100,000 COSTS FOR EXOTIC REMOVAL
—APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that moves us to Item 11D on this
morning's agenda. This is a recommendation to approve an
agreement for sale and purchase with SD Corp of Naples,
Incorporated, in Cypress Landings II of Naples, LLC, a Florida
limited liability company, for approximately 37.16 acres under the
Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Program at a cost not to
exceed $1,595,000.
Mr. Carnell, your Public Services Department Director, will
present.
Steve?
MR. CARNELL: Okay. Good morning, Commissioners.
Welcome to Publix.
This item was -- is in follow up to direction from the Board in
November to pursue purchase of this property. Staff has worked with
the seller and completed due diligence in advance of the sale
including all environmental assessments and review of the property.
And as Mr. Ochs read, the total purchase price is not to exceed
$1.595 million. That includes expenses associated with the purchase.
May 12, 2020
And I'm prepared to answer any questions the staff may have -- the
Board may have.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. I am very, very
concerned. I know -- I've seen the property. Of course, you can't
walk on the property because it's so overgrown with exotics. And I
think I read in here that the cost -- the maintenance cost -- the annual
maintenance costs will be 8,000, and the property, to get it to the
point where you can maintain it, is 100,000.
I would respectfully suggest that we -- it's my understanding
from the Conservation Collier effort that they are going to go forward
with a referendum and, if that's the case, I would suggest that we
wait. Why are we acquiring a property that's going to be $100,000 to
clear? That's just madness right now. We're in a different time than
November. So that would be my motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'm going to reiterate my position
that I've held on this since we started talking about it a while back. I
mean, I think Conservation Collier's a good program. I think that
there's a need for it. I don't believe that we should be spending
maintenance funds in perpetuity as -- I think it was Commissioner
Nance that used to say "in perpetuity" is a long time.
And -- but there's a couple of added reasons. One is, I mean,
we're -- we just -- we're acquiring a $10 million piece of property
now that's going to have some conservation value there.
I mean, in the current environment, I haven't heard anything
definite as -- maybe Commissioner Taylor's heard something that I
haven't heard, but I haven't heard that they've definitively made a
decision as to whether to put the referendum on the ballot because of
the situation that we're in and the effects of the pandemic on the
economy. I don't know that that decision's been made yet. But, you
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May 12, 2020
know, you may know more than I do.
I think there's just too much uncertainty at this point to be
digging a bigger hole, to put it bluntly. So I'm not going to support
the purchase at this time. I think if the referendum passes, there will
be plenty of funds. And I don't think anybody's running out to
purchase property like this for development purposes given the
environment, so -- I mean, the state of the economy.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So do you second my motion?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Your --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I made a motion not to buy it.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Oh, I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You made a motion to what?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Not to buy.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Not to buy. Yes, I will second your
motion. Yeah.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We do have some public comment,
and we do have some commissioners that want to speak.
Commissioner Fiala, Commissioner McDaniel, do you want to wait
for the public comment?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll be happy to.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
MR. MILLER: I have one registered speaker, Mr. Chairman.
Bill Barton.
MR. BARTON: Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners.
For the record, my name is Bill Barton. I'm here this morning
representing the property owners for that matter before you.
Before I start on that, Mr. Chairman, would you indulge me?
Although I didn't sign up to speak on Item 11 C, would you mind if I
took a couple of minutes to do that?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, let me see if the Board has
any objections. And I don't see any, so let's go ahead and do that. If
May 12, 2020
you'll do that first, and then we'll get to the --
MR. BARTON: I will.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : All right.
MR. BARTON: I will. First, I want to commend you on the
decision you made to go forward with the purchase of Triple H. It
was hinted at by both Commissioner McDaniel and Mr. Casalanguida
that this project would offer an opportunity to present some very
good hydrologic issues that have faced this county for years and
years and years, specifically Naples Bay.
If we design that system well, and I'm sure we can do that, to tie
those lakes -- that series of lakes together with a new lake in this
Triple H property, it does two things. Mr. Casalanguida spoke to the
fact that it would then give us a large segment of water that would
further cleanse the water going into Naples Bay, which is certainly
admirable, but it would do another thing if designed correctly, and
that is it would buffer the peak flows, because these volumes of lakes
will provide us storage so that when we get the very heavy rainfalls
during the wet season, they will absorb a lot of that peak and let it go
out more slowly.
What does so much damage to Naples Bay are those peak surges
of freshwater. And if we can design the system to slow that down,
we do a great deal to bring Naples Bay back into some form of
normalcy. So I commend you on that as well. I speak on that as my
position as president of Southwest Florida Land Preservation Trust,
and that is a very strong interest of ours. So I just wanted to share
those comments with you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Okay. And then you've got three
minutes on the other item.
MR. BARTON: Thank you very much.
First let me say that we read your staff report. We find it very
comprehensive and informative. We have read your staff
May 12, 2020
recommendation, and we concur in that recommendation.
Commissioner Taylor brought up the subject that this property
may have as much as $100,000 worth of exotic -- exotic remediation
required to bring it up to standard. And we agree that's true. If it will
help the Board, I think that my sellers would be willing to negotiate
to absorb that $100,000, and they would put that money in the
purchase price, that is to lower the purchase price by that amount so
that this -- that expense then is no longer the expense of Collier
County, and the properties would be brought up to a standard that
would eliminate that necessity. So I give that to the Commissioners
for their consideration.
With that in mind, we're willing to close on it under the terms
that I just outlined.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Thank you.
All right. Any other speakers or any questions for Mr. Barton?
MR. MILLER: No, there's no speakers.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Barton.
MR. BARTON: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and a second.
There's been some comment that you just heard. I don't know if that
changes anybody's mind. Commissioner Fiala, you're recognized.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
One thing I wanted to say about this property -- and I've walked
it a few times. And it's so seldom we ever have urban land that we
can put into the Conservation Collier Program. This is a nice piece of
land to put into that program. What, with the exotics being taken off,
it doesn't even cost us anything then. And I feel that this is
something that we really ought to look at. And I like the project. I
would not want to take it off the board.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I almost agree with
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May 12, 2020
Commissioner Fiala. We've already vetted this piece of property. It's
already gone through the CCLAC. We've already seen -- and I was
actually going to suggest before Mr. Barton came that we make
some -- because we -- as you all know, I've got opinions about
Conservation Collier and its efforts and how it goes. But we've got,
personally, into some poor habits of assuming those remediation
environmental removal expenses when we acquire a piece of property
as the organization.
And I was actually going to suggest that we go forward with the
purchase and not -- and not until such time as additional funding
sources are acquired to do the environmental removal.
Now, the fact that Mr. Barton suggested that the sellers would
assist us with that takes care of that, and then we're into the normal
annual maintenance that goes along with it. But that's one of the --
one of the systemic adjustments that I would like to see with
Conservation Collier going forward; that that remediation be
accomplished by the seller in the acquisition price and not be an
additional expense and burden put onto the funds that are available.
And, Commissioner Solis, in perpetuity is a long time. In this
particular case, that 25 million that we're currently holding in the
reserve is not in perpetuity. At the burn rate, we're looking at a
million dollars a year or so. So 25 years or so we run out of reserves
with regard to that.
So I would suggest that we make the acquisition and accept the
seller's offer to take care of that removal of the exotics within the
purchase price.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: If I had the opportunity, I would
second that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think we'll get to procedures.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. Commissioner Solis.
Page 51
May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah, I just -- I just have to
reiterate. I mean -- and I think Commissioner McDaniel just made
the point that in terms of in perpetuity, 25 years is a blip. And in the
environment that we find ourselves in now, even more so when this
issue came up, you know, a couple years ago, I think, you know, this
is -- this is Wimpy, you know, I'll pay you Tuesday for a burger
today, I think. I mean, we're using money that's not intended to
purchase the property to purchase more property. It's going to make
that 25 years even shorter.
And, you know, we've prided ourselves, I think, here in Collier
County on being fiscally conservative. I don't see how this is fiscally
conservative. I just don't. We are extending ourselves further in an
environment of uncertainty that's unprecedented. We've never been
in a place like this. We have no idea what the long-term effects are
going to be on the economy. We have no idea what the long-term
effects are going to be on real estate values.
In this environment, we have no idea what a referendum would
do or not do. I just -- I know I sound like a broken record on this, but
now I feel compelled to say it again. It is -- this is not the time to
be -- after spending $10 million on property that will be -- hopefully
some of it will be used for conservation, to spend another sum of
money that's going to shorten the amount of maintenance funds that
we have.
I mean, we are sometime in the future going to saddle the future
generations of Collier County with maintaining this property when
that was not the whole idea behind this program. This program was
going to be approved by the voters. The voters were agreeing to how
much money they were going to put into it based upon their property
values and the tax -- and the millage. It was going to have both funds
for purchasing property and then maintaining it in perpetuity, and
that's not what we're doing.
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May 12, 2020
And somewhere along the line the county's going to become a
land -maintenance entity, and there's not going to be enough money,
and at some point that's going to affect taxes in Collier County.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner -- Commissioner
Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. And I wondered if we
could discuss this in light of this and also to make a statement that I
do not know for sure if the referendum is going to go forward in the
fall. There has been conversations. So please understand that.
And I think -- I think we find ourselves in a different time, and I
think we have to face it, and we have to make adjustments. I'm not
suggesting we don't purchase this in the future, but I would ask my
colleagues to support the motion because I think -- I don't think this is
going to go and be sold right away given the economic challenges
that we face, and I think it could be kept on that list. And I think
right now we need to stop looking at buying land for Conservation
Collier at this time and wait until a decision has been made and then
adjust.
I just think it's prudent. Yes, it's cautious but, frankly, I think it's
probably the way our taxpayers would like to see us go.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I'm -- I don't disagree
with Commissioner Solis. I think he, along with others, were misled
in the original premise of Conservation Collier and the perpetual
maintenance fund that was put up to continue to carry on the
maintenance of the acquired lands.
There is an end. It was -- it was represented to us when we --
when the vote was brought out that that was going to be a perpetual --
and it's referred to regularly as a perpetual maintenance fund, and it's
not. There's a burn rate that's going -- whether it was 30 million
when this board chose to not raise the taxes on the residents of
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May 12, 2020
Conservation Collier -- or for Conservation Collier back in '17 and
chose to allow for the expenditure of some of those reserves until an
alternative revenue source came about.
There was always a term on that maintenance reserve. And it's
evident at some stage, Commissioner Solis, that we have to come up
with an alternative revenue source and/or make adjustments to the
program and how we continue on acquiring land and then managing
those maintenance expenses, inevitably.
So this acquisition is part of what we did when we reached a
compromise to draw down -- and I know you don't concur with the
expenditure out of those reserves for those perpetual maintenance
funds, but this was a -- this is an approved, gone through the process,
appraised, meets the criteria for the CCLAC and for what we
established as the Board as policy for the future managements for and
until an additional funding source was arrived at in some form or
fashion.
So I would -- especially in the light of the seller reducing the
sale price an equivalent amount to accommodate for the mitigation
and the exotic removals, I would suggest that we do go forward with
this particular acquisition and highlight the fact that maybe as a
policy we make adjustments to Conservation Collier's acquisitions in
the future and not accept those expenses up on the front end.
Because we've done it on a regular basis multiple times, bought other
pieces of property and then assumed that burden of the
environmental -- or the exotic removals after the acquisition.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'd like to ask staff a quick
question. When we started talking about using some of the
maintenance funds for acquisition, it's been a couple years now, but I
think the number was 17 million we moved from maintenance into
acquisition. How much of that 17 million have we actually spent? I
think it's probably in the neighborhood of three million, but is that
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May 12, 2020
about right?
MR. CARNELL: In the last two years it's about 2.3 million.
There may have been a little bit before that, Mr. Chairman, at the
point where the Board made the decision, but I think you're in the
ballpark, yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So I think what I -- I'm sort
of leaning towards voting against the motion to delay the acquisition
but also indicating, as Commissioner Taylor has suggested, no more
acquisitions from that $17 million fund because, you know, the
uncertainty that we have.
But we do have a motion and a second. Are there any other
comments on the motion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Then we'll call for the vote. All in
favor of the motion, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Motion fails 2-3 .
Is there another motion?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I make a motion to approve the sale
of this, which includes the reduction in the price, about $100,000, to
remove the exotics.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. We have a motion. Let
me --just on the motion, you used the word "about $100,000." I
think we're going to have to be probably specific.
Staff, you've estimated that the cost would be 100,000; is that --
MR. OCHS: $95,700 was the specific estimate on the exotic
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May 12, 2020
removal.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So if we say $100,000 --
MR. OCHS: That should cover it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- it should be covered. You're not
concerned about it being more than that?
MR. OCHS: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Can you just, instead of
saying "about," can you say 100,000 in the motion?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay, 100,000.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion. Is there a
second?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and a second.
Any discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. If there's no further
discussion, I'll call for the vote. All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Opposed.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously [sic].
Let's advise staff no more in terms of the acquisitions until
further notice.
MR. OCHS: Commissioner?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll second it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Are you sure, Commissioner Solis?
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May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yes. Well, let me make sure I
understand the motion. The motion was not to spend any more of
whatever's left of the 17 million --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That is correct.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- that was transferred?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No more acquisitions.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No more acquisitions.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Now, is there any problem with
that motion, Mr. Ochs?
MR. OCHS: Of not acquiring anything more?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah.
MR. OCHS: No. Just one clarification. We have the
Winchester Head Parcel, Steve?
MR. CARNELL: Yes.
MR. OCHS: Do you want to talk about that real quickly?
MR. CARNELL: There are a couple of parcels pending that are
being -- Barry, help me on this. Now, they're part of the exchange
program with developers?
MR. WILLIAMS: Commissioners, Barry Williams, Parks and
Recreation Director.
So you have some parcels within Conservation Collier's that --
you know, there are matrix of properties that we've been able to
acquire from time to time. Small properties that were -- are within
our checkerboard, if you will. And Winchester Head, Red Maple
Swamp are the two areas from, time to time, we'll get willing sellers.
Typically, the price point of these properties is nominal. You
know, you're looking at 4- or $5,000, you know, if I recall the last
one. So those type of properties are ones that, you know, are
consistent with, you know, what we've done over the last couple of
years. So just to mention those for you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Maybe what we should do
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May 12, 2020
is, as opposed to just having that flat out no more, just I think staff
knows we don't want to see anything unusual here.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I seconded the motion, but I would
suggest let's not do this on the fly.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So you understand, we
don't want to see a new piece of property pop up.
MR. OCHS: We do. We do. And also, if I could get some
clarification on the prior motion on the vote. Was it --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It was 3-2. I think Commissioner
Solis voted against the motion; is that correct?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: He did.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I though he voted for it. No.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No, no. I voted against it.
MR. OCHS: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You can change your vote if you'd
like to --
MR. OCHS: You've got it. Thank you, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Why don't we take a
break until 10:40 for the court reporter. I encourage everybody to
continue to exercise social distancing. We're in a break, but the virus
is not, so we'll be back at 10:40.
(A brief recess was had from 10:30 a.m. to 10:40 a.m.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll
take your seats, we'll begin.
Item # 14B 1
AN AGREEMENT FOR SALE AND PURCHASE TO ACQUIRE
DEL' S CORNER CONSISTING OF THREE CONTIGUOUS
PROPERTIES LOCATED ON THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF
BAYSHORE DRIVE AND THOMASSON DRIVE, RECOGNIZE
May 12, 2020
AND APPROPRIATE BAYSHORE CRA FUND (187) CARRY
FORWARD, ESTABLISH BUDGET FOR THE TRIANGLE
PROPERTY SALE, AND AUTHORIZE NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENTS - CONTINUE ITEM TO ADVISE SELLER OF
CONTINGENCY OF THE TRIANGLE — APPROVED
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, I believe we wanted to move to
14B 1 before we got into the COVID update. That's our final regular
agenda item.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, let's take care of that.
MR. OCHS: This is under your Community Redevelopment
Agency. Agenda Item 14B 1 is a recommendation that the Board of
County Commissioners, acting as the CRA board, approve an
agreement for sale and purchase to acquire Del's Corner consisting of
three contiguous properties located on the southeast corner of
Bayshore Drive and Thomasson Drive, recognize and appropriate
CRA fund carryforward, establish the budget for the Triangle
property sale, and authorize the necessary budget amendments.
Ms. Debrah Forester, your CRA Director, will make the
presentation. Deb.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Good morning.
MS. FORESTER: Good morning. For the record, Debrah
Forester, CRA Director.
Today we are here to ask you to consider the purchase of a site
located on the corner of Thomasson and Bayshore Drive, commonly
referred to as Del's corner.
The site consists of four lots. One lot, the frontage, which has
the store and the warehouse, is zoned for C-5, heavy commercial
uses.
Lots 1 and 2. Lot 2 is also zoned C-5, again, allowing for heavy
commercial uses. Lot 1 is zoned C-3, and those two parcels, 1 and 2,
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May 12, 2020
make up the dry storage facility, that business that is there, and
there's a small structure on that site. And Lot 4 is vacant, and it is
zoned multifamily, RMF-6.
We had two independent appraisals done. The average of those
two appraisals results in our purchase price of $2,118,000. We've
also allocated some additional funds for closing costs and some due
diligence that we would like to take place during your inspection
period.
The agreement does recognize a memorial marker that would be
installed. The verbiage and the placement of that would be
determined with the seller and us. And that would be, of course, in
recognition of Mr. Ackerman.
There is a 120-day due diligence period, and during that time we
can terminate this agreement for any reason.
Some of the benefits to consider on purchasing this property, of
course, is in the reduction of the intensity of uses. C-5 allows for
outdoor storage, auto repair and truck repair, things that really are not
compatible with that neighborhood at this time.
It would allow us also to enhance Thomasson Drive. We are
currently getting underway to start that Thomasson Drive project.
We are going to do some enhancements. By acquiring this piece of
property, we would be able to extend those improvements into the
frontage. And we also see some potential partnerships, both with our
cultural arts community, also with the Botanical Gardens, and FGCU.
We looked at the redevelopment plan. Is this consistent with the
redevelopment plan you -all approved last May? And there are a
number of bullets here that show that it does meet the intent of our
mission for redevelopment. Land acquisition is allowed. Limiting
the heavy commercial uses. Del's is identified as a redevelopment
opportunity in that plan. Arts and cultural oriented development is
something we're striving for, and we do recognize the development of
May 12, 2020
a multipurpose facility somewhere in that redevelopment area.
From a fiscal impact, we currently have enough funds in both
our reserves and carryforward to allow for the Del's acquisition. We
also have two projects that we would like to move forward this year.
One is the construction of the CRA parking lot at the corner of
Bayshore and Coco.
And our 17 acres, we would like to start the design and
permitting to make that connection into Sugden Park, which is an
important feature that the community has wanted for a number of
years.
If all three of these projects move forward, we would still have a
reserve of $450,000, approximately. Once we sell the mini -triangle,
we believe we will be able to increase our reserves by $2.7 million.
There are a number of actions that this executive summary
requests you to do. Of course, the approval of the sale and purchase
agreement, authorizing staff and the chair to prepare and execute
some documents, and to authorize budget amendments.
And with that, I'm available to answer any questions you may
have.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner
Fiala, do you have any questions or comments?
CHAIRMAN FIALA: No, I don't.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS : All right. No one's lit up
here. Do we have any public speakers?
MR. MILLER: We do not, sir.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS : All right. Well,
Commissioner Solis?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I just had one question. So there's a
120-day period for inspecting the property. Is that going to come
back to us or to the CRA board at the end of the 120 days to proceed
or -- and I'm not suggesting either way. I'm just asking the question.
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May 12, 2020
How does that usually work within the CRA?
MR. OCHS: Toni, question on the 120-day due diligences and
how that affects the closing.
MS. MOTT: The contract provides for 120 days to close. So
we will begin our due diligence once the Board approves the
acquisition. And that 120-day count will start once the agreement is
signed.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think the question is, does
that come back to the County Commission, does it come back to the
CRA board, or is it simply staff that closes?
MR. KLATZKOW: The way the executive summary is
structured, it would not come back to the Board; that, providing that
there are not hiccups, staff would process the transaction and then
have the Chair sign.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Are we sitting as the CRA
Board now or --
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. And who chairs that?
I don't believe I do.
MR. OCHS: Yeah, it's co-chairs. Commissioners Fiala and
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay.
MR. OCHS: This would be Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. Commissioner Fiala,
you're chairing this item. So sorry about that. And you do have two
speakers. After you was Commissioner McDaniel.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Okay. And being that I'm the Chair,
even though I'm the second -- or the first one, let's start with
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm all for a memorial for
Mr. Ackerman. He was my friend. I bought -- I bought a lot of -- I
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May 12, 2020
bought a lot of bait off of him over the years when I used to go in and
out back when that was not named Bayshore Drive. The name that
shall not be mentioned out loud again, so...
I am not in favor of this acquisition from the CRA's standpoint.
I think that it's not something that the taxpayers necessarily need to
do. We're sitting on $12 million of already acquired pieces of
property that were bought by the CRA back in '06 '08, and '09. And I
think it's -- though it's allowed within the purview of the CRAs
statutorily, land acquisition, it's -- God bless.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: God bless you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's not some that needs to be
acquired right now, specifically. So I'm not in support of the
acquisition.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Any other comments?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Okay. I will make a comment. And I
have to tell you, honestly, I was not a part of any of this, so I didn't
even know it was going to come up till I read about it. I was hoping
somebody would let me know, but they didn't. But I think that this
area is influx. It's trying to improve itself. It's trying to make a new
stand. And this particular area really needs improvement. And with
the three parcels there, it gives us an opportunity to work also with
the Botanical Garden and some of the things they need. And I really
feel that this is an important acquisition. And I feel I would like to
move forward, and so I will make a motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'll second that motion.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Okay. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I'd like to echo your
comments, ma'am. And if anybody knows what it was and what it is
now and what it wants to become is you --
CHAIRMAN FIALA: And you.
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May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- because you've seen that
history. And, clearly, this is a very important corner. This is a very
important acquisition.
And I think your advisory board, what was the -- when you
polled them, what was the reaction to this?
MS. FORESTER: The informal consensus was to move forward
with the acquisition. We had seven folks in favor of that and two that
felt this wasn't the right time and location.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. Right.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Commissioner Solis -- I mean,
Commissioner Saunders. Excuse me.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think Commissioner
McDaniel actually had his light on first.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Oh, okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And, again, I've already stated
my opinion, and I'm not going to change that.
One of the questions I have, and maybe it's for you, is are there
not infrastructure requisites that are still needed in the Bayshore area,
fire hydrants, stormwater, sidewalks, those sort of things that are
requisite for the residents of the -- for the residents of the area?
MS. FORESTER: Yes, of course. There are a list of
infrastructure improvements.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sure.
MS. FORESTER: One thing, though, that we look at doing is
increasing our TIF so that we can have additional funds to do those
infrastructure improvements. So as we develop -- redevelop
properties, then that TIF will increase, and then we will be able to
continue to move forward on some of the infrastructure
improvements.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And/or maybe not buy real
estate.
May 12, 2020
MS. FORESTER: That's always an option.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I remember -- I remember the
negotiations several years ago, and when Mr. Ackerman was alive
and his concern about the improvements to Thomasson. And I think
now, with this acquisition, the additional expense and the -- what we
agreed because -- I mean, who else has a convenience store privately
owned and running for 50 years who stayed open through every
hurricane except for Irma? Who else? It was him.
And so we made concessions for that design, I believe, of the
Thomasson Drive. And I don't think -- I think it's going to help so
much to own that property because now that can be a little bit better.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Commissioner Saunders.
MS. FORESTER: Yes. I have the diagram, if you'd like to see
it, on those.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Oh, I'm sorry. Pardon me. Say that
again, please.
MS. FORESTER: Oh. I was just saying on the impact to
Thomasson Drive I have a small diagram, if you care to see it, on
what this would enable us to do if we acquired the property.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Let me ask you a couple of
questions. It looked like part of your reliance in terms of being able
to pay for this is the closing on the Triangle property. What is the
status of that at this point, and when is the closing date for that?
MS. FORESTER: I just spoke to Crown Castle yesterday,
which this is all geared towards our demolition of the tower that is
located within our mini -triangle. So as you may know, they've
erected the new tower at Kirkwood, and so the next step is for them
to relocate T Mobile onto that new tower.
They are having some difficulties with equipment and getting
staff assigned to do that remobilization, but they anticipate having
everything completed by the end of July this year.
May 12, 2020
So with that, we have 30 days after that to close on our property
with our purchaser. So by the end of September, we anticipate the
closing of the mini -triangle.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. The reason I wanted
to ask that question is, just from the numbers -- and you can put
that -- maybe you can put that slide back up that had the numbers --
that you're looking at -- and that property price was -- how much was
it for the Triangle? What's the --
MS. FORESTER: Just over $6 million.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. And I think you
indicated that once you close on that --
MS. FORESTER: And these are our anticipated fiscal impact
that I've just put up here on the mini -triangle. So with this, paying
off our debt, so we would be debit free after the mini -triangle, we
would be adding to reserves the 2.7 million.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: What happens if you don't
close? What happens if the purchasers decide, too complicated,
they're not going to go forward with the acquisition?
MS. FORESTER: Well, we would know that probably prior to
us closing on this piece of property that we're talking about today,
and we would continue to pay our obligation on our note. And if
they were withdrawing from our agreement, we would, again, pursue
another purchaser to come in and purchase the property.
The good thing is we would have the tower gone, which has
been a sticking --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, let me ask you the
hypothetical just because it's important in terms of where I'm going to
vote on this, because it looks like there's a bit of a split Board here.
If you make the assumption that the Triangle does not close,
then you will be still recommending the acquisition of the property as
outlined here? You've said we'll know that prior to the closing on
1 ••
May 12, 2020
this property, but would that change your recommendation?
MS. FORESTER: I think it may -- we would still be able to do
it and have a balance of 450,000. We do think this is an important
corner to control for the future. I think we would need to look at our
options, but I think fiscally we could do it, but we are hoping that the
Triangle does close.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And just one last question. I
don't want to belabor things, but you said that this is an important
corner for the county or for the CRA to control, and I'm not sure why.
MS. FORESTER: One, it's at the crossroads of Thomasson and
Bayshore. It is heavy commercial right now, and so those heavy
commercial uses are not, I think, suitable for that neighborhood that's
up and coming. We have Mattamy Homes that is on one corner. We
have Camden Landings that is planning on coming in to develop that.
We have a new residential piece down the street. So we're having
good residential development.
I think here we want to just sort of control those uses that could
be allowed on that corner. And if we purchased it, we would be
looking at rezoning that and eliminating those heavy commercial
uses.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: My inclination is -- and this
is just a comment. The Chair's going to call the motion here shortly.
But my inclination is not to do this until we know that we're going to
close on -- or until we close on the Triangle property. Because you
said some words that give me some concern, and one was it sounded
like you were saying that you could probably still afford to do this.
You're going to most likely be seeing some revenue problems going
forward, or at least I think we would have to anticipate that property
values are not going to continue to go up. There's a potential that
we'll see a devaluation of properties.
So I'm afraid that if we direct to purchase this, we don't close on
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May 12, 2020
the other property, we don't get another shot at saying what to do
with this. I can't support the motion until after I know what's going to
happen with the Triangle property. That's kind of just my current
thoughts.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Commissioner Solis?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I'm going to agree with that.
Again, we're in an uncertain world, and it just doesn't seem that now
is the time, especially with the uncertainty. I mean, I think there's
more uncertainty as to whether or not the Triangle will close. I just --
I don't think the timing is right to be taking on more risk. So I can't
support it either.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just as a final point. And I --
Commissioner Saunders brought up a very valid position with regard
to the necessity of the transaction closing on the Triangle piece itself
and facilitating the money to be availed. I actually had thought that
maybe we could continue this item for and until a later date and that
transaction actually closed. Again, we're all in search -- dire search
of data on a regular basis. And with more information, we could then
maybe make a more prudent decision down the road if we have more
information with regard to the perspective of the value of real estate,
whether or not the Triangle piece, in fact, closes or not and whether
or not we could go forward.
So that was my kind of sort of compromise as to -- I wouldn't be
in opposition of killing it now, because I don't think it's an
appropriate expenditure of the taxpayers' money, but a continuance
may be a more prudent process for this particular transaction.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Is the seller willing --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Madam Chair?
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Might I respond to taxpayers' money?
The good thing is, if we do buy it at some point in time and it
May 12, 2020
becomes what we need it to be -- we need it to be, it will help the
taxpayers because then it will start to -- right now it's not delivering
any money to the coffers. But once it would be sold and become a
new venture altogether, I think that's when you'll see some additional
dollars to the taxpayers' bottom line.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And if I might respond,
Mr. Chair.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: I am the Chair.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Madam Chair, may I respond?
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't disagree with you at
all. I think that a delineation of the -- of how the monies are, in fact,
spent -- I had a -- I had a similar circumstance with our CRA in
Immokalee, and there was a -- there was a considerably smaller
discussion with regard to an expenditure of those CRA funds which
are taxpayer money to be reinvested back into the community. And I
ended up being the one, even though I -- even though I wasn't on the
actual CRA board, I was asked to comment. And the suggestion
was -- and my comment was not to make the expenditure at that time
because I still had kids that were walking through -- didn't have
sidewalks to get to school.
There were stormwater issues and infrastructure issues that
were, I felt at the time, a far better expenditure for the taxpayers'
contributions into the CRA, similarly with this. This is a much larger
scale. But I think -- that's my comment.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Okay, good.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I haven't changed my
position.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: I have Commissioner Solis next, and
then Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I was just going to throw out that
May 12, 2020
if -- well, I think I know where it's going to go, so I'll just -- I'll pass.
I've said enough today.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Okay. Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: As far as the infrastructure and
the CRA, they are very much involved in a very robust funding with
CDBG funding and also with the City of Naples, and that is ongoing.
There's no quick -- no quick result. I mean, there's results, but it's
street by street. But I can guarantee you and assure you that it is
undergoing and people are benefiting from it.
The positioning of this property adjacent to the Botanical
Gardens is a win -win for everyone. And I would hate -- I mean, the
seller is a widow now, and I'm not sure she's willing to wait. I don't
know that that's not the case. But I would ask you to reconsider this.
You know, we just started off with a thought that we weren't
going to spend a million five or more on a property with the HHH
Ranch, and we ended up at the beginning of our meeting, basically,
telling the seller, okay, we'll take your price. You know, this is --
we're here with a CRA that really is kind of the place now in Collier
County where growth is happening, and I think it's important to
secure this property. Very important. It's a cornerstone.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Deborah, did you have anything you
wanted to say?
MS. FORESTER: I was just going to say that the seller did
come to us first before they put it out on the market. So I think that,
you know, shows that there is some interest from their side that this is
a key parcel for the community.
Also, you know, we do have that 120-day period to look at
various options. So, you know, I would hope that you would look at
that, and perhaps if you wanted us to bring you back an update within
that 120-day period to give you some more information on the status
of the mini -triangle and also if there's been any other items that came
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May 12, 2020
up as we go through our due diligence, that would certainly be an
option for you -all to consider today.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Thank you.
And I'll just make a comment, too. When the CRA was formed,
we had a street that was loaded with crime. It had slum. It had
blight. It had crime. It was a perfect area for a CRA to be
established.
And through the years -- and it was very slow starting because
no sooner did they put the CRA together, then we went into an
economic slump with the Great Recession, so then they couldn't
move forward.
Even with all of those encumbrances that they had to deal with,
they slowly got back up on their feet. There was a CRA director that
started to buy some things which was most important. He was a
polished CRA director, and he started buying pieces of land, a lot of
them. Like, for instance, there were 27 flophouses there. He bought
all of the 27 flophouses and had them hauled away, which changed
the area immensely, and the crime started easing away, and the
people started taking a love of their area and promoting it, and then,
of course, people come on board like Rebecca Maddox and really
bring her stuff into it and her business expertise. There's been a lot.
But there's so much more that needs to be done because this place
was so far down.
And once this property, the Triangle, is sold, the movements that
were made previously on buying these properties will start to help to
pay forward into more reconstruction, renew.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Redevelopment --
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Yeah, redevelopment, and I just want to
say, in the effort to continue to make it a better place to live and work
and play. And I really am for this. I think it's such an important
thing. But you can hear that I'm emotional about this. I'm sorry.
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May 12, 2020
Yes, Penny.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Is there a way -- I'd like to ask
staff. Is there a way that we could approve this contingent upon if we
have that 120 days of due diligence? And I'm understanding from
our CRA director that we are going to know about the sale of the
Triangle during that period of time. Is there a way that we can -- if it
turns out that the property -- the Triangle property doesn't go
forward, can we then walk away, for lack of better words? I'm not --
this is not my world, so forgive me for that. But can we walk away
from this purchase?
MR. KLATZKOW: You can structure your transaction, if that's
the will of the Board.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We can?
MR. KLATZKOW: You can.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. We'll -- Madam
Chair?
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Okay. Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: My concern is moving
forward with this acquisition without knowing what is going to
happen with the Triangle, because I have concerns about that
particular closing at this point.
We could add -- we could approve this with a contingency that's
contingent upon all the things that the staff would normally do for
evaluating a property and the contingency that the other property
closes. If the other property doesn't close, we don't close on this.
Now, the seller may not be willing to do that, because that could be
six months; it could be a year from now before we know if that
property's going to close.
But I don't think we, in good conscience, can direct the purchase
of this when the CRA can't afford to purchase this when the
Triangle -- if the Triangle doesn't close. And that's just -- based on
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May 12, 2020
the numbers, that just, to me, seems like a simple fact.
So I don't know how you get there, because the Triangle closing,
if the seller comes back and -- or purchaser comes back and says,
well, I need another couple of months, and we agree to that, then that
just keeps putting this off on this closing.
But that's my concern. So there has to be knowledge on the part
of the CRA that the Triangle has closed before I can support moving
forward with another acquisition.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: You know, that's a good suggestion.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't know how you do that.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: You were trying to make a positive here
or a compromise. I think that's a good one. Is that something that
can be done?
MR. KLATZKOW: I can put a clause in the agreement that the
purchase of this property is contingent upon the successful closing of
the Triangle piece.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Regardless of how long it
takes to close.
MR. KLATZKOW: Regardless how long it takes. Now,
Commissioner Saunders is right. The seller may reject that, but
assuming that the seller accepts those terms, then we would proceed,
and you wouldn't hear this item again.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, could I make a
suggestion then?
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Thank you for that effort, by the way.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Could I suggest that we
continue this to our next meeting; that the seller be advised that this is
a contingency that is, quite frankly, the only way you're going to get
three votes. It's 2-2 right now. I'm sitting in the middle here. The
only way you're going to get my vote is knowing that the other
Triangle property closes first. Ask them if they're willing to accept
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May 12, 2020
that as a condition and, if so, how you would draft it would be the
County Attorney's job. I'd support a motion to continue this for that
purpose.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Now, how do we handle that? Because
we have a motion and a second on the floor now.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: If I made the motion, I will
withdraw my motion.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Okay, good. Then that makes it null and
void. Okay. So would you like to make that, please.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'd make a motion that we
continue this item for the purpose of directing staff to advise the
seller of the concern in reference to the closing of the Triangle and
that in order to consider this for acquisition, we have to have a
contingency based on the closing of that Triangle property.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: And do I hear a second to that?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'll second.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Okay. I have a motion and a second.
Any further comments?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN FIALA: The motion is on the floor. All in favor,
signify by saying aye.
Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Oh, we've got -- did you vote for it?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Okay. It's a 4-1 vote, so we win.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay.
CHAIRMAN FIALA: Just a little levity on my part. Excuse
me. And the motion -- and now the chairmanship is handed back
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May 12, 2020
over to the Chairman.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
Item # 11 E
COVID-19 STATUS REPORT AND PROVIDE FURTHER
DIRECTION AS APPROPRIATE — MOTION FOR BEACHES TO
REMAIN OPEN AS NORMAL DURING THE WEEK AND LIMIT
BEACH HOURS ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY FROM 7AM
TO 11AM AND 5PM TO SUNSET WITH NO RESTRICTIONS ON
CHAIRS, TENTS AND COOLERS (INCLUDING MEMORIAL
DAY) WITH COUNTY PARKING FACILITIES RESTRICTED TO
ONLY COUNTY RESIDENTS WITH BEACH PARKING
STICKERS — FAILED; MOTION FOR BEACHES TO REMAIN
OPEN AS NORMAL DURING THE WEEK AND LIMIT BEACH
HOURS ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY (INCLUDING
MEMORIAL DAY) FROM 7AM TO 11AM AND 5PM TO
SUNSET WITH NO RESTRICTIONS ON CHAIRS, TENTS AND
COOLERS AND RESTRICT COUNTY PARKING FACILITIES
TO ONLY COUNTY RESIDENTS WITH BEACH PARKING
STICKERS ON THE WEEKENDS AND MEMORIAL DAY —
APPROVED; MOTION TO ACCEPT STAFF'S REPORT ON
PUBLIC SERVICES — APPROVED;
*ADDED: EMERGENCY/EXECUTIVE ORDER 2020-02
(FOR ENFORCEMENT BY CCSO ON BEACHES)
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, we move now to Item 11E on this
morning's agenda. This is a recommendation to accept the
COVID-19 status report and provide further direction as appropriate.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
MR. OCHS: And we'll begin --
Page 75
May 12, 2020
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm sorry. I was just going to say
two things: Number one, let's keep the report as short as possible. I
think we've all looked at the numbers, and we all are familiar with
that. So let's don't spend a whole lot of time on the report. We need
to get the basic information, and we have the report. And I believe
that -- assume that this would ultimately be accessible to the public.
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So the issue that I want the
Commission to be thinking about as we go through this is what do we
do with our beaches. Our beaches are completely open. There's no
restrictions. And so we're going to need to have a conversation about
that as we go through this.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I gave you the folder with this?
MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So I only took mine out.
MR. OCHS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: This is what the City of Naples
did.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Right.
MR. OCHS: Ms. Stephanie Vick, please, begin.
MS. VICK: Good morning, Commissioners. We're back at it
again.
Okay. We're going to start off quickly here with some just
general statistics. As of yesterday we had done 7,149 tests. Of those,
766 were positive, and that gave us a positivity rate of 10.7 percent.
So we're still hanging in the 10 to 11 percent positivity rate for the
county as a whole.
In deaths, we've had 31 Collier residents die, five non -Collier
residents die in our hospitals, and that gives us 36 deaths so far for
the county. And then there's more breakdown information that you
might want to look at.
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May 12, 2020
All the way at the bottom of the screen, you'll see our mortality
rate for Collier County with the COVID virus, and it is 4.1 percent.
So these are some of the gating criteria. And if you'll follow the
black dotted line -- and this is for the past two weeks ending on the
IOth, so on Sunday. You can see that there is a downward trend in
people reporting to the emergency departments with influenza -like
illness. On the other hand, you can see with people going to the
emergency departments with COVID-like symptoms, that there is
just a slight uptick in trend in the past two weeks.
Now, I have to say, if you've been going to the state dashboard
and you go under the metrics section for Collier County -- and they
do it by month and by weeks -- you'll see a downward trend that is
much more definite in that category. But, still, in the last week, there
is a little bit of an upturn. So it's just something we need to pay
attention to.
Okay. And, again, people who test positive in Collier County,
the percentage you can see here is very variable and hard to really get
a feeling unless you do this trend line. That's the black broken line
here. And so it is going down. Our target area is to be less than
10 percent. So we're heading in that direction on a day-to-day basis,
so that's a good thing. It's just the overall average was 10 to
11 percent.
Okay. So then we look at -- and this is as the Governor also was
looking at. He was not so much looking at testing criteria as he was
the hospital capacities and their ventilator capacities. So we changed
our graph to make it a little bit more understandable for people.
So you can see, this is for available ventilators in Collier
County. So if you look all the way down at the bottom to the brown
numbers, these are the ventilators that are in use on a day-to-day
basis over the last two weeks. And then the next line are the
available first -line ventilators, which is what I was reporting to you
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May 12, 2020
before that came from the ESS report statewide. So that's the next
group of ventilators that will be available to use if we needed them.
And then the dark green ventilators are the surge ventilators, so that's
the disposable ventilators. It's the transport ventilators. It's the
anesthesia ventilators. It's all the other ventilators that aren't
necessarily in use but could be used if we needed them. So it should
make you feel good that you look all the way at the bottom, and the
brown is what really is in use right now. And all of this is capacity
above it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Just to make sure that I'm reading
the graph right, are -- the numbers in the bar, is that cumulative, or is
it 15 are in use, 88, plus the 147 are available, or is the 147 the total?
MS. VICK: Let's look at April 26th, okay.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay.
MS. VICK: The first one. So 24 are in use.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right.
MS. VICK: Seventy-seven are available, and then 149 beyond
that are available.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Beyond that. Okay. That was my
question. Okay.
MS. VICK: And these are all three hospital systems. This is
NCH, this is the Physicians Regional, and then this is Landmark.
And it comes up to a total of about -- with all of them, together those
that are in use and those that are available, to about 250 ventilators
countywide.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just one, quick.
And then is there any specification with regard to the people that
are currently utilizing ventilators? All 15 here on the 1 Oth are not
necessarily COVID patients.
May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Is that right?
MS. VICK: Right, correct. That is correct.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's correct. I think that's
an important fact that needs to be shared is that there are -- as I
shared before, I speak regularly with our hospital administrators, and
there are folks that require ventilators for other medical conditions
and not specifically for COVID. So that's an important fact.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah, you're right about that. The
last time we were here, the gentleman from Physicians Regional said
that there were six ventilators in use, and only one of them was for
COVID, so --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And that's currently the case
that they have going on right now.
MS. VICK: So it just means that in terms of ventilators, overall
our hospitals have great capacity right now.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
MS. VICK: So that's really what we want to know. Okay.
Hospital beds are what's next. And, again, this is all three
hospital systems. And it's broken up the same way. So it's not going
to look as pretty as the last one because, of course, your hospital beds
are filled to a greater degree, so --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But not necessarily with COVID
patients.
MS. VICK: No, that is true.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: This is good news. This is good
news for the hospitals --
MS. VICK: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- because they're making --
finally getting folks maybe with elective surgeries and things like
that.
MS. VICK: That's correct. But then it also is a relief to the
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May 12, 2020
community to look at the other numbers and see that there is capacity
beyond that so that they can serve more COVID patients that come in
and more of anything else that needs to come in.
Now, down at the bottom where it gives your key -- so we talk
about the blue is the filled beds. The orange color is -- they're
unfilled beds but staff is immediately available to take care of people
that would be admitted into there. And then we have the grayish
portion are unfilled beds, but there's no immediate staff available, but
they can get them in easily. It's just -- if we say it a different way, it
looks like you have a bunch of empty beds and people just sitting
around. So that's not the case.
Okay. So then that is what our gating criteria looks like if you
just use this data. And, of course, it's that little turn upward in
COVID cases, people reporting that they have those symptoms that
made that a "no," and then that affected the overall answer.
Otherwise, we would have been all green, which would be great
news, right?
I want to caution you that since the Governor opened up us into
Phase 1, there's only been one week within that two -week set of
data -- one week where those things have been in effect. So to really
get a good picture of how we're doing, it will be in the next two
weeks.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: More data.
MS. VICK: Yeah, more data. Yeah.
So I just want to make that clear. And the other thing I need to
use this time to drive home, that it's up to us, every single individual,
to make sure that we're in the right direction, going down; that we are
doing social distancing, we're wearing masks where appropriate,
we're staying six feet away from people as much as we can, and
practicing that good hand washing.
Okay. And then just a little bit of an update to -- you remember
1m
May 12, 2020
me talking about additional staffing needs. And we have made a
request to the state for two to three more registered nurses. Our
needs are still increasing. We've actually had two community
members who heard me last time -- two community members call
and want to volunteer to help with contact tracing, and so we will
be -- we will be training them with county staff, and hopefully they
can help us.
So in terms of the county staff, we have 10 county employees
that are going to be reassigned, five at first and then five on standby
if needed. All of them are being trained tomorrow. So the training
occurs tomorrow, and then we should be able to have them work as
of June 1 st or sooner if needed.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: For in what areas?
MS. VICK: In contact --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Contact tracing.
MS. VICK: -- contact tracing.
And, Commissioner Fiala, you've called the office more than
one occasion asking for recovery rate, and I know Commissioner
McDaniel would like to know that, too. Some of the holdup was, is
that the State of Florida had been -- the state Department of Health
had been waiting for a clear definition from the CDC to know how to
calculate that data. Okay. And they come up with that it's the
number of persons that are recovered from COVID-19, and it's
calculated using an average recovery time of 14 days -- which is
important -- 14 days for all the cases excluding the people that have
died. So that's the definition.
It's only ever showed up one time so far, one time, and that was
on May 7th from the state for Collier County, and that gave us a
recovery rate of 76 percent. Now, that would make you think that 24
percent of our people have died, and that is not true. Our death rate is
4 percent.
May 12, 2020
The reason it's so difficult to do is because many people don't
recover just in 14 days. It could take them 21 days, or some recover
in 7 days. So this is -- as I've said before, it's a new virus. That's a
difficult number to figure, and the state is still working with that data.
So it's only appeared once so far. But I assure you, as soon as it
keeps showing up, I'll report it regularly. Okay.
And that's all for this.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. Any other questions
from the Commission?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Summers?
MR. SUMMERS: Commissioners, good morning. For the
record, Dan Summers, Director of your Bureau of Emergency
Services and Emergency Management.
I wanted to bring to you a little clarity from what I think was a
success story and not painted very well in our media in terms of our
PPE engagement.
First of all, just to let you know that the Emergency
Management Office does not regulate minimum inventories for PPE
for various providers and agencies. That is not a recommendation --
that is not a requirement. It's not even a reporting requirement in any
contingency planning.
No doubt that after this event, probably the ORCA, the Agency
for Healthcare Administration, will probably start putting PPE
mandates and inventory levels and reporting.
So Emergency Management statewide, all the county Directors
stepped in to augment Department of Health with this particular
challenge. The state Emergency Operation Center, Jared Moskowitz,
the Director, Kevin Guthrie, they are to be absolutely commended on
the logistical lift that they have done to get supplies into the state. It's
been phenomenal.
May 12, 2020
I don't want to make light of it, but I've referred to us as Amazon
Southwest. We have turned into quite an operation. There were over
15,000 delivery orders requested by the state and, as a result, the
county became -- the county EMs, EOCs became the receiving point
for those orders and the distribution out to our community. Again, a
very big -- a big lift on behalf of our team.
I just want to stress that while their inventories were critically
low statewide, that Collier County was one of the few counties that
had reserve inventory. We had about 50,000 N95 masks that carried
us over in the March 6th -- the early days around March 6th while the
state Department of Health and other agencies were working to
backfill that demand.
We've also -- part of this supply chain juggling, if you will, has
been to meet the guidance provided by the Department of Health in
the distribution, and that's been to the public and private sector, as
well as our first responders, and maintain some reserve inventory for
an immediate outbreak should we have some type of surge at a
nursing home or rest home or even within the community. And
we've managed that very well. It doesn't -- and burn rates, what we
call consumption rates, have changed on a day-to-day basis.
So this has all been successful, albeit just -in -time delivery from
the state, as the state has worked worldwide to bring these inventories
in.
We're also preparing for additional demands. We've supported
the field testing in Immokalee, hospital testing demands for PPE,
non -congregate sheltering, should that become necessary, and we are
in that mode right now at a very small scale, and then, of course, a lot
of work going on right now to prepare for hurricane season in the
event that we have to run both COVID-19 and hurricane operations
together.
Our office, in partnership with some resources from Department
May 12, 2020
of Health, we've distributed 475,000 pieces in Collier County
supporting 356 deliveries -- not deliveries, but pickups have come to
our facility. We've communicated with 58 healthcare organizations
in Collier County. Eighty-eight organizations have been supported in
this lift, and this still continues with weekly coordination calls.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Excuse me.
MR. SUMMERS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Are you also delivering to
nursing homes or --
MR. SUMMERS: Absolutely. In other words, when they --
they make a request to us, they also have to validate that they have
done due diligence on their part through the private sector to acquire
those materials, and when they are running short, we have lumped
that with other facilities, made the order to the state, the state gets it
to the county, and they have also an algorithm in terms of being able
to fill that order. So no one's gotten 100 percent of what they've
requested, nor have we received 100 percent of the joint order.
So we've looked at outbreak. We've looked at areas where there
might be some demand and tried to meet that, and we have countless
thank you letters already from the public and private sector is what
we've been able to support.
Now, look, this also means that private sector needs to continue
their due diligence and get their own material. But our goal here was
to be a stopgap.
My remaining slides address Immokalee, and so I'll stop right
here unless you have any questions, and I'll come back and add a few.
My slides are lumped in here, and we'll come back on
Immokalee.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chair, do you want the Immokalee briefing
now before we get into the county operational?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. Let's go ahead and just go
May 12, 2020
straight through. I think -- my purpose in dealing with the
Immokalee issue and wanting that as part of our agenda was just to
kind of highlight the positives that are out there that the county's been
involved in and Commissioner McDaniel's been involved in --
MR.00HS: Good.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- but also to see if there's anything
else we need to be doing, so...
And any -- what I'd suggest to the Board is that we go through
the presentations, and then if there are questions afterwards, just hit
your button, and we'll go through those.
MR. OCHS: So Stephanie will have some slides, and Dan will
have a few slides related to Immokalee.
MS. VICK: Just a few. It won't be as long as the other one.
Okay. I think we've told you about a lot of these outreach
activities that we've done before, but I just wanted to highlight them
again.
This is not just the Department of Health. This is Department of
Health working in conjunction with the Sheriff s Office and with
Emergency Management under the unified command and then many,
many different community organizations in Immokalee.
So we had the rolling bulletin board that we had driving around
the Immokalee area and then a few other additional areas, but mainly
Immokalee, and it's Spanish and Creole and then English. But
Spanish on one side, Creole on the other, English on the back. And
this is a picture of it here, you can see.
And then we had -- the Sheriff s Office signage was placed
throughout Immokalee with the same type information about washing
your hands, staying the distance away from people, and that was also
in English, Spanish, and Creole.
The Sheriffs Office went around the Immokalee area and also
did PA announcements during work hours and pickup times at the
May 12, 2020
hand -washing stations throughout the day. And then there were eight
hand -washing stations, and they actually were on loan to us from the
Littman Group, so a neighbor place at the pickup stations for the
farmworkers. So here a hand -washing station.
Every single flyer that we were doing was translated from
English to Spanish and Creole, and then some specific handouts able
to be translated into Mam, which is a language used in Guatemala. I
know you know that. Okay.
So we did daily interviews between us and the county on LaLay
Radio, Conciencia Radio, Haitian Radio, Kowona Kronik.
Television interviews were done with Telemundo and with Accion
Hispana.
There were 2,000 hygiene kits that were given to the migrant
and seasonal workers out there.
So then we just completed last week, from May 3rd to May 5th,
COVID-19 testing, and that was done on our Health Department site
in Immokalee but done with many, many partners. So -- I'll tell you
who. All ages were welcome to come. We even did infants out
there. We had 1,388 residents that were tested. We were prepared to
do up to 2,000. And so we had -- this information I need to update
because when we first did this we had already about 732 results with
29 of them coming from Immokalee residents but 35 total. And the
reason that's different is because we actually had a few people come
from the Hendry/Glades area and a few people come from Lee
County, and so we took those out, and it's just 29 Immokalee
residents that were positive.
And with that number there, that gave us a 4 percent positivity
rate. That was the first time. The new numbers are that I,194 results
have come back so far; 1,139 of them have been negative. There was
an additional 55 positive, but only 47 of them were Immokalee.
So when we took the 29 and 47 together and calculated it out
1 i•
May 12, 2020
among all the Immokalee people that tested, we still had a 4 percent
positivity rate.
So we have about 194 tests we're still waiting for, but I believe
that the positivity rate will still remain around that amount, around
4 percent.
It's important for you to know that because we tried to calculate
it before, but we only were able to get the number that were tested
really from the people that were testing in Immokalee. So Healthcare
Network. There were a couple private doctors. There was the
Braden Clinic in Ave Maria, and then there was the Health
Department.
But, in reality, the Immokalee residents were going many places
other than there to get tests, and so they were going to places in Lee
County, they were going in town Naples to get tested, some even
went to Miami.
So when we only calculated it with the group we knew about in
Immokalee, that gave us a much higher positivity rate, but it was not
correct because we didn't have all the tests that were done. So this --
this was a good way for us to get a good snapshot picture of the
situation in Immokalee.
And then I just threw in a couple pictures so you could see our
people who were in their Tyvek suits. The day that we did testing,
people actually were funneled in through the Health Department to
do their paperwork, but then they came back outside again to the
National Guard, and they actually had their tests done outside. And it
was abysmally hot that day. So even with many, many fans out there,
people were just wilting, but they were there for the hours that they
needed to be, and I'm really proud of everybody that participated.
And we had great help. We could not have done it without all
the partners, particularly with Emergency Management, the Sheriffs
Department, National Guard, the Healthcare Network of Southwest
May 12, 2020
Florida and all the nonprofits in the Immokalee area. And that's the
end of mine. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Thank you.
MR.00HS: Dan.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: May I?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Director Vick, I know you
were -- I know it was a good thing because this time you're smiling.
So I know that the results and what you're saying is very, very
positive and that you're very pleased about it, and I am, too. It's good
news. Thank you for the work you've done.
MR. SUMMERS: Commissioners, briefly, just also to circle
back on a few additional issues in Immokalee. Again, tremendous
amount of support from the partnership.
The Emergency Management and the state EOC as well has
been working to augment food supplies and to support the food banks
and the pantries wherever possible, and that battle rhythm has
become much more established. As food banks and pantries are
making requests to the county's EOCs, we're forwarding those to the
state EOCs. Feeding Florida is heavily engaged, and then Feeding
Florida is working with the counties and, in most cases, Harry Chapin
to get that commodity back. So we have this distribution network set
UP.
The items that are underlined here are add-ons since our last
report where we have ordered and distributed to the Benison Center
128 pallets of meal kits. And, again, these are more disaster type box
meals. These are not typical retail food delivery commodity items.
Augmented the hand -washing stations, as Stephanie had already
mentioned.
We've also supported -- the Sheriffs Office has made some
drops with the Homeless Coalition. We have supported St.
May 12, 2020
Matthew's and Our Daily Bread as well. We -- you've heard
Dr. Patton's number. That was 200,000 weekly. She's been into that
four weeks now, so 800,000 meals working through Dr. Patton's
office. And, also, we've had our second delivery from non-profit
groups for animal food that's also going to the food pantries for
distribution to augment those needs as well. So that continues. And
we're going to continue to support that. We're just simply the broker,
and in many cases we receive that commodity and split that off.
Last, some questions about what we were seeing in Immokalee.
We all hated to see some of the produce losses that took place.
We've been in touch with USDA in Immokalee. Our information is
that the crop destruction is over. Many of the agencies, public and
private, were able to recover produce. Publix did a big push, as you
know, to buy locally and make some of that available where possible.
All indications, we're at the close of the growing season. There still
may be some watermelon harvest going on, as I understand.
USDA tells us that most of our workers are moving on to
Manatee County as well, and there really hasn't been substantial
changes from past migrant labor migration activities. So I wanted to
share that brief report with you.
Generally -- and Stephanie has already highlighted on this.
Certainly, we're in good shape at the hospitals. As we mentioned,
beds were up a little bit, most likely from other activities. We have
no unmet PPE needs.
FEMA's direct distribution is expected to start drop -shipping
this week to any facility that's registered with the Center for Medicare
and Medicaid. A CMS registered facility, FEMA's doing direct ship
for additional PPE. We will still monitor that and be a stopgap for
any of that FEMA distribution. FEMA also announced today they're
going to make some reusable PPE available for critical infrastructure
like utility workers. We don't have a delivery date on that, but that's
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May 12, 2020
forthcoming. And as -- no major impacts for our public safety
responder workforce, and they, too, have done an awesome job.
That's all I have. Any questions?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Thank you.
The reason I had asked for this to be included is I wanted to kind
of highlight what was happening out there and just to see if there was
anything else that needs to be done, and it sounds like you've got
everything pretty well covered unless there's some suggestions or
anything from the Commission. If not, we'll move on.
We do have public comment. Is that on --
MR. MILLER: It is remote, sir, yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. And is that in reference to
the overall report, or is that going to be beaches and everything
mixed in together?
MR. MILLER: From what I can tell, it's beaches, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Well, it looks like that's
probably next on our agenda. So let's go into staff report there. And
is Sheriff Rambosk here, or is he going to be participating by any
chance, or somebody from his office? Because we may have some
questions concerning --
MR. OCHS: We'll make a call, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Yeah, I think it may be
important to hear from him in terms of from a law enforcement
perspective as to whether there were any problems. City of Naples
had a hearing yesterday that lasted six hours and 15 minutes.
MR. OCHS: We'll try to keep it under that, sir. I think --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You'll do your best.
MR. OCHS: -- you'll help us with that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'll work with you on that one.
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir.
Mr. Carnell is going to lead the balance of the staff presentation
May 12, 2020
here.
Steve?
MR. CARNELL: Okay. Thank you. For the record, Steve
Carnell, Public Services Department Head.
Before I dive in and in the spirit of what the chairman just said,
to help you -all focus --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Did he just say that?
MR. OCHS: Dive in.
MR. CARNELL: Dive in, yeah. Oh, there'll be more to come
of those, ma'am, if you'll listen carefully.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Moving along swimmingly here.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, gosh.
MR. CARNELL: I'm going to be drowning in a sea of slides
here. But what I want to tell you is that -- before we get into this, I
want you to understand we're going to -- I'm going to try to orient the
presentation to what's open, what's re -opening, and what hasn't
reopened. So think high-level in those terms. And, obviously, we're
going to start with the beaches. That's the most visible one.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And I've got to stop you
for a second. I didn't realize we were moving right from one to the
next to the next. And I -- I didn't say anything on that previous
report. Really, thank you for bringing that forward. But I want to
say to everybody that's watching, our staff, Dan, Vicki -- or
Stephanie, forgive me. I want to say thank you. There was an
enormous effort in the community of Immokalee that came together,
still is going together. It's ongoing.
I had a conversation with Mark last week with regard to the
change of the biweekly calls just because of data, and standing up
that testing facility. I wanted our community to continue to be
informed.
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May 12, 2020
And so -- and I'm not going to list off everybody, because I
would forget someone with regard to my thanks and appreciation.
But I want to say thank you. It's been an effort from the beginning
well in advance of what's, in fact, transpired, and our community has,
in fact, come together, and I just want to say thank you. So thank
you.
MR. OCHS: Commissioner, if I could take one second and
thank Commissioner McDaniel for his leadership and engagement
throughout this pandemic, but particularly in Immokalee. I think
we've probably talked three or four times every day, and every day he
is drilling the staff on exactly what we're doing out there for all the
right reasons, and appreciate your leadership on that area.
MR. CARNELL: Okay. Thank you.
As you all know, our beaches reopened locally on Thursday,
April 30th, and Wiggins Pass State Park reopened last Thursday to
50 percent capacity. At the county level and the city level as well, we
have been increasing our sanitization of the restrooms and the
showers. We doubled our efforts, shifted staff to various positions on
the beach, in contracted labor as well, to make that happen, and we've
been working very closely with the Collier County Sheriffs Office to
monitor all of our beach sites throughout each day.
And I need to also mention North Naples Fire Department and
the Marco PD. They've been extremely helpful as well at the various
sites.
First comment I want to convey to all of you that's been coming
from the Parks staff to me repeatedly is the expression of
appreciation from our beachgoers. They're thrilled to be back.
They're very grateful of the decision you made to re -open the beach
and to entrust them with the opportunity to experience and enjoy the
beach.
This past Saturday was like no other. We had high traffic at all
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of our locations. Sunday was starkly quiet with the rain on Mother's
Day, and I think you -all are aware the City of Naples closed the
beaches midnight Sunday, so they were not open on Sunday. Our
beaches were open but, with the weather, there was very little traffic
on Sunday. Sunday was the diametric opposite of Saturday in terms
of traffic.
From the day that we've reopened onward, Vanderbilt Beach
and Barefoot Beach have been our hottest spots. I'm going to talk to
you about that now specifically. This is a drone shot from the
Sheriffs Office. They've been providing drone footage every day to
us. And this is Barefoot Beach on Saturday. We had the park staff
and the Sheriffs Office on site all day with some help from North
Naples Fire as well.
We had to close the parking area several times during the days,
but that notwithstanding, the actual activity on the beach was heavy
but manageable. We did not have --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: What time of day were these
photographs --
MR. CARNELL: You know, I'm not certain, ma'am. I think it
was midday. I could find out if that's important. I'm not trying to
suggest that this is the way it was all day long. This is one moment
in time.
Vanderbilt Beach moving south was the busiest, as we would
expect it to be, as it always is. And again, we had a very intense
presence from our rangers, our Sheriff, and our firefighters.
The beach -- the beach -- the beach remained open all day, but
we had to close the garage four times including a 4:00 p.m. closure of
the garage. Meaning it's full, and that's unusual. Normally even in
peak holiday weekends if we have to close the garage it's 11:00 to
1:00 or 1:00 to 2:00 or somewhere in that range, but usually by 4:00
the traffic is lessening. And it was that intense on Saturday that we
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May 12, 2020
had to -- we were full as of 4:00 p.m. with the Vanderbilt garage.
All that said, if you look at the beach, you can see the intensity
of use. I think this photo's a pretty good representation of what was
happening out there. And while there were people in great numbers,
you can see space in the sand between folks. And we don't have
people up on the dune line -- or in the growth. So we felt like -- and
this is kind of a common opinion of ourselves and the Sheriffs
Office, that the social distancing at Vanderbilt, as crowded as it was,
was manageable on Saturday.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Can I -- I mean, what --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Sorry. Define manageable.
MR. CARNELL: Well, you know, there's no perfect term here.
Obviously, we're focused on 6-foot separation between individuals.
We have groups of people that were clearly closer than six feet. But
with the latest guidance, there's some exception and room to
maneuver with people who are family members or appear to be
family members or share the same household. Now, you know, we're
not carding everybody to find out if they all live together. But from
what we could see, the people that were close together were
affiliated; came together, left together. So that's what we have at the
moment.
Okay. Going south to Clam Pass. I don't have a drone flight
shot from Clam Pass or from the north Gulf Shore access point at
Seagate. But we, again, had a Parks presence and a Sheriffs presence
throughout the day. Both parking lots filled up midmorning and were
pretty much full all day. Both beaches remained open. We didn't
reach the point where we needed to feel -- we needed to close the
beach.
I was down there a couple times myself, and I saw people
walking on the walkway close to each other but giving each other
May 12, 2020
space and being very deferential to each other to let each other
through and not crowd each other. And on the beach it was similar.
There was white sand between groups of people, and the groups were
not beyond 10 at a time in any one place. So, again, we felt like the
social distancing was manageable at those locations.
And then you get the Lowdermilk Park on Saturday. And these
are two shots, one facing south and one facing east. And you can see
there's quite a bit of crowding. And the Naples Pier probably takes
the prize in terms of the most intense usage. I think we all know the
city staff was very overwhelmed by what happened, not only the
beach, but in the surrounding neighborhoods with parking on private
lawns and parking in illegal parking places all over the place.
We did not experience that, with one exception which I'll talk
about in a moment. But for our beaches, generally, our vehicle traffic
was manageable. There was a little bit of congestion here and there,
but we didn't have issues that I'm aware of with ticketing or parking
violations.
Anyway, we know what the city did on Saturday night, and then
we'll talk more -- a little bit more about what they did yesterday in
just a moment.
Now, going south to Marco Island, two beaches -- I've got two
shots of two locations here. They're both Tigertail related. The
lower shot is the lagoon facing out towards the Gulf of Mexico, and
our observation tower and our park area is to the right along the sand.
And the interesting thing about this was, again, we got -- we got -- we
had -- we experienced a full parking lot. We had to close the parking
lot at Tiger Tail at least once on Saturday. Had quite a crowd but yet
we saw almost no evidence of social distancing problems or
crowding whatsoever.
And if you look at the white sand, which is to the south, the Sea
Colony condo area, the south of Sandpiper -- Sand Dollar Island,
May 12, 2020
there's nobody there. And, again, Commissioner Taylor, I don't know
which time of day this was shot, but it was sometime on Saturday
during the day as they flew over. So we had no reports of any issues
with crowding at Tiger Tail other than the fact that the parking lot
filled up. So there were a number of people there, but we didn't have
issues with them congregating improperly.
And then, of course, yesterday Commissioner Saunders referred
to the marathon, otherwise known as the emergency meeting of the
Naples City Council, and the council members worked very
diligently for the better part of six hours to try to figure out what to
do. And I think you all have been provided a media release from the
city in terms of -- and this is, I think, going to line up with what I'm
going to tell you I heard listening to the meeting, that they decided to
re -open the beach tomorrow and go back to regular hours during
weekdays, and for weekends and Memorial Day go to a truncated
schedule where they open from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and from
5:00 p.m. to sunset.
They're restricting the use of chairs, coolers, tents, umbrellas in
the morning times on the weekends, and chairs are permitted in the
evening for people that want to sit and watch the sunset. Now,
walking, running, swimming, those are all permit activities on the
beach at all times all days. They're going to limit parking to only
those with city/county beach parking stickers, and they're going to
restrict residential street parking; limit it strictly to legal public
parking spaces, and that includes the beach ends, and then they're
going to authorize the City Manager to double parking fines
temporarily as a way of trying to dissuade people from coming over
here who maybe shouldn't be here.
With that, the -- I think we need to understand some differences
between the city beaches and the county beaches that are important.
And this is -- this is -- I'm very empathetic to what the Naples City
May 12, 2020
Council's dealing with, because they probably have fewer options
than we do and a little bit less maneuvering room than we do.
As you know, the city has many, many streets that end at the
beach. I think they have 40-some-odd beach ends. And pretty much
all of the city's parking that's not in Lowdermilk Park is shared
parking use. It's -- for example, the parking by the pier is for people
visiting the pier but it's also for people going to Third Street and the
surrounding restaurants. And the county beaches are different in the
sense that the vast majority of our beaches have on -site dedicated
parking that's strictly for the beach.
So what that enables us to do in ways that it's much more
difficult for the city to do is we can close our parking lot, and we can,
essentially, cut off the flow of people going to the beach, if you will,
by closing the parking lot. And it's a much simpler act for us to
contain our parking than for the city. They have to put barricades on
42 streets in order to keep people off the beach. So it's a much more
challenging endeavor for them.
So I say that to you with -- in the context of our general
assessment, talking to Sheriff Rambosk and talking to Colonel Bloom
and the staff and the park staff has been that, while we had a very
busy and crowded weekend on Saturday, it was, in a word,
manageable. We did not feel like we got to the point where we had
to close any beach. And that's not what the city's experience was.
And, again, we had some resource advantages going in our favor.
We had a heavy staffing presence and Sheriff presence in each
location, and we have fewer sites to manage. We have about the
same number of parking spaces, in reality, but we have fewer sites to
manage. It's at least more easy, more contained.
So with that, we're expecting, with the city's decision that takes
effect tomorrow, that we will, with them closing their beaches on the
weekends, that between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. you won't be able
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to access the city beach lawfully, and we would expect that there may
be some turning to the north to our sites during that time. So we
could be looking at more traffic on Saturday than we would have
otherwise.
Again, we feel like we're in a better position to control the traffic
flow because we can limit the number of cars coming in, by
extension, limit the number of people coming in.
So at the moment we don't necessarily see that we need to make
a significant change to our current operations.
Now, I can stop here, and we can talk about the beaches,
Mr. Chairman, or --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's do that, because that's going
to be the one point that we're going to have to make a decision on.
We do have two speakers online. Why don't we hear from those two
speakers.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And then we'll go to the
Commission.
MR. MILLER: Just one second here. Our first speaker will be
Kimberly Shmina, and after Kimberly is done, we'll be hearing from
Jill Sasso.
Kimberly, are you there?
DR. SHMINA: Hi, this is Dr. Shmina. Can you hear me?
MR. MILLER: Yes. You have three minutes, Dr. Shmina.
DR. SHMINA: I was going to ask the Chair if it's possible I
could address some of those death rate numbers and have an
additional three minutes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, I'll ask the Board. We
generally do not do that, and I don't think we should start myself.
No, my response is I don't think we should do that. But how does the
Board feel?
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May 12, 2020
or --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: This is about beaches or death rates
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: This is about beaches.
DR. SHMINA: Well, I would like to give a little perspective.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Is
there any objection to -- she basically wants six minutes. Is there any
objection to doing that?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm not quite sure she'll
require six minutes. I've been in constant -- or been in
communication with --
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Dr. Shmina, if you can
be very quick on the death issues. We're on the beaches, and that's
where we want to focus, so...
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And, Mr. Chair, just as --
DR. SHMINA: Okay, great. Can you hear me all right?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes.
DR. SHMINA: Can you hear me?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes.
DR. SHMINA: Okay. Excellent.
So I did distribute my resume and CV to you, so I wanted you to
be aware of my background and my 30-plus years in community
health.
So I live in Ave Maria. I'm the director of nursing at the
university, and I've been following this pandemic since its inception.
I wanted to talk about the crude death rates that were mentioned
earlier, because there's a little bit of confusion. The number
mentioned was 4 percent. She's talking about 4 percent of people
who are positively diagnosed with COVID. This is not -- and in the
hospital and sick. So the actual death rate for the state of Florida is
0.81 per thousand. You can do it per thousand or per hundred
May 12, 2020
thousand. That's the way you report a crude death rate.
So if you were to look, let's say, at prevalence and incidents, you
can't do that without having the total numbers available of all people
that were positive with COVID during that time period.
So it's -- a lot of the models and a lot of the projections that you
hear about on the news and in the media really are based on
presumptive extrapolation of numbers that have not been proven.
So I want to be very clear. The only number that you can prove
right now is your crude death rate. That's the only thing. And even
that is somewhat skewed because now when we report death rates,
they are adding COVID-like symptoms to the death certificates. So
you could actually have a very similar type of illness or have a
comorbidity of COVID but die of something else.
So I wanted everybody to be very clear that when we were
talking about numbers, really, our incidence and prevalence cannot
be measured at this time.
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Okay. Let's switch to -- yeah, let's
switch to the beaches, if we could.
DR. SHMINA: Okay. Oh, sure. No worries.
So, anyways, so I've been doing a lot of research of what's
effective as far as prevention for COVID-19. And, basically, there
are numerous studies out there. The biggest ones out there is that UV
light, sunlight, kills the virus. Kills it dead. Kills it within 30
seconds. So -- oops. My connection's a little unstable. Can you still
hear me?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, go ahead.
DR. SHMINA: Okay. Perfect.
So if you look at, let's say, for instance, the latest research from
the Department of Homeland Security, that's the biggest study that's,
you know, currently out there that everybody's talking about. Bill
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May 12, 2020
Bryan is acting Homeland Security undersecretary, and he stated, our
most striking observation to date is the powerful effect that solar light
appears to have on killing the virus, both surfaces and in the air. Let
me repeat that. The most powerful effect we have right now to kill
this virus is UV rays. That is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.
In the laboratory when they did the studies, the CDC back in mid -
April put out an edict to use sterilization with UV light to help, you
know, cleanse materials in hospitals. We already use this in a myriad
of ways. Cleaning sleep apnea machines, using it to clean cell
phones. Even to sterilize our water we use UV light.
I think that City of Naples is actually -- it's kind of a travesty
that they're closing the beaches because the beaches are the safest
place right now for our population. I'll repeat that. The heat and the
UV light will sterilize the surface that people are sitting on and
prevent the spread of this disease. The research -- the data is very
clear in this. It's very clear.
So, you know, like I said -- now, this has nothing to do with
your body. If you contract COVID-19 and you go in the sunlight, it's
not going to cure you, but it will sterilize the surfaces which you're
sitting on. I mean, even decreasing the rate of transmission, it's ideal
to go to the beach to decrease the rate of transmission.
So I could talk to you about half life. I could tell you this much
for certain. COVID-19 is spread by droplet spread. It's not an
airborne disease. It's very different than TB, right?
So in droplets, if a bunch of particles fell on a surface, in less
than 30 seconds it would be dead with just UV light, not counting
humidity or temperature.
So there is really strong evidence out there to support going to
our beaches, getting out in the sunlight, being active outside. Social
distancing is not going to hurt, obviously. But first and foremost,
those UV light are -- light is protective to you and to your family.
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So use sunscreen, but I would encourage you to be out in the
sunshine. I would encourage people to get out on the beaches, and I
would encourage people to read the myriad of articles and
peer -reviewed studies that are available talking about -- everything
from the National Academy of Science and Engineering to the CDC
website itself --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Dr. Shmina, if you could wrap up.
DR. SHMINA: -- pretty good science. Am I there?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes. If you can wrap up here real
quickly.
DR. SHMINA: Yes, yes, yes. No.
So I'm in 100 percent favor of keeping the beaches open. I
believe they are safe.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Commissioner Taylor.
DR. SHMINA: I believe that --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you, Dr. Shmina.
Commissioner Taylor, did you want to say something here, or
can we move on to the other public speaker?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, no, not of this one, but at
some point I want to --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Let's go -- let's finish up the
public speakers. We have another one.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, we have one more remote
speaker, Jill Sasso.
Ms. Sasso, can you hear me?
MS. SASSO: Yes, I can. Hi.
MR. MILLER: You have three minutes. Thank you.
MS. SASSO: Okay. I am calling -- I live in Naples Park.
I'm calling about the crowding of the beaches, of course. Last
weekend it was really crazy at Vanderbilt Beach. I mean, there were
so many cars and so many people -- that thing that you do need to
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May 12, 2020
kind of squeeze through one narrow chute to get to the beach, it was
impossible to maintain social distance just to get to the beach.
But the one -- I'm not actually advocating to close the beaches. I
do think it's great to be able to go. It's healthy. And, hey, if I could
ingest UV light, wouldn't that be great, but I don't think that's going
to happen.
Anyway, I did notice one way that I think would be helpful,
which is to reduce the number of illegally parked cars. I don't know
what the issue is with that large lot that's across from the public
parking garage, but it probably had over 200 cars parked on the lawn
there next to Da Ru Ma's. And I don't understand why we allow that
to happen. Not only were cars parked there, but all along in different
construction sites. They were parking on people's lawns. It was just
out of control. And I think that maybe controlling that part of it
could really help.
That's really all I have to say. I mean, I think "beach pass only"
would be another great way, but it's just probably very logistically
hard to implement being that pass has to stay in your car. So that's
really all I have to say.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Okay. Thank you. That, I think,
concludes the public comment. Unless -- there is no one else
registered here in the audience?
MR. MILLER: No. We have no registrants in person. Just
those remotely.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Okay.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, Colonel Bloom is here from the
Sheriffs Office if you have any questions for him.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. Mr. Bloom, if you could.
MR. OCHS: Also, while he's coming up, sir, I do have to say on
Marco Island over the weekend on our south beach, not on Tigertail,
we did have very busy activity on the south end of the island.
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May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We just heard from Terri
Graham who said that that photograph on Marco Island had to be
taken in the morning. She said it was really, really packed.
MR. OCHS: She's probably --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you. Say
that again.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Terri Graham reported on the
beaches, and we're getting the copy for everyone, and she said it was
packed on Marco.
MR. OCHS: I imagine she's referring to the south beach,
certainly.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good afternoon.
COLONEL BLOOM: Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Good
morning, board members. It's a pleasure to see you. I know there
were some questions early on. The Sheriffs tied up, so I apologize.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I had wanted just a report from
your department concerning problems. The issue that we have, the
beaches are completely open in Collier County to anybody that wants
to use them. We have to make some decision as to whether we want
to stay that course, and part of that is whether or not there were any
problems that could not be resolved from a law enforcement
standpoint. That's a very important portion of that.
So I just wanted to have your thoughts concerning how the
beach operations went on Saturday in particular, because that was the
busy day.
COLONEL BLOOM: Yeah, sure. Everybody hear me okay?
You heard earlier from the county staff. Let me back up a little bit.
From the very beginning, we've worked off a unified command since
this opened up with North Naples Fire, EMS, and, specifically, I've
got to give kudos to the County Manager and your staff, the county
staff. Phenomenal working with the rangers and in the park service.
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May 12, 2020
With that being said, we've partnered. It's a very unique and
challenging time with the opening, but ours is very unique as far as
the county perspective versus the city perspective and all the
egress/digress [sic] areas. Ours are a little bit more controllable from
the county perspective on the north end relative to that. And we can
do more managing through what we call levels of control, security
control.
And you heard it said earlier. I believe Mr. Carnell advised as
far as with the parking, the drop-offs and situations like that. We
have put into plan a very detailed plan. I think some of you may have
received some of that information for it. I think some of it was up on
the board earlier in reference to how to limit/manage the situation.
What we did, too, is we've increased staff even more so than last
weekend. We've put on training this week as far as ATV use. We'll
increase that up in the area, along with more members from the
Sheriffs Office. We will be there to control both the traffic situation
and the population on site -- or on the beach itself and do that.
So if you're asking me, can we manage it? Yes, sir, we can
definitely manage it. We have a very detailed plan in place. We
have several plans, as you all know. We have the Keewaydin plan.
We have the general access -- beach access plan I'm putting together,
which ties into it. We have a lot of boating traffic coming from the
East Coast. I know that's a concern to everybody. We've put
together a specific traffic plan for both the Alley and 41 specific to
this weekend to deal with that situation, too.
Once again, just to make everybody abiding by the law and gets
here and leaves here safely. That's our overall goal. I know as both
the Board and the Sheriffs Office, we want people to have a good
time, a healthy time, and a safe time.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So you're not recommending from
the Commission at this point any particular changes?
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May 12, 2020
COLONEL BLOOM: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You're okay with the status quo.
All right. We have -- everyone's lit up here, so we'll start off with
Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. So -- and I thank you
very much for -- because I heard reports. You've done -- you did a
fabulous job and -- you really did, but your sheriff told me
yesterday -- I had a long conversation with him -- it's a lot easier to
have some rules in place at the beginning than to ask 1,300 people to
social distance on the beach.
COLONEL BLOOM: That would be correct.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And it's a lot easier to have the
rules at the beginning than going from blanket to blanket which I
believe you did at the beach.
COLONEL BLOOM: Yeah, we make a lot of contact.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, yeah. And this extra --
and I have to get into budget. I mean, this is OT, right?
COLONEL BLOOM: No. A lot of this we've been able to
utilize resources from the schools closing, the court systems closing.
We've been able to move a lot of staffing around to, I don't want to
say accommodate, but to deal with the situation as we always do with
the agency on the concerns.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You dealt with them, but what
about the issue of -- how do you think that the East Coast -- the East
Coast, I think, has discovered us.
COLONEL BLOOM: Oh, they've discovered us,
Commissioner. Until the East Coast --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I don't think they discovered us
before as much as -- I mean, their boat ramps are open, and we've got
people -- our residents not being able to launch their boats because of
the East Coast traffic; isn't that correct?
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COLONEL BLOOM: Well, I don't know about the lack of
being able to launch a boat, but I will tell you it's a lot more hectic, a
lot heavier traffic at both the boat ramps and, obviously, in our
beaches, and a lot of them are coming from the East Coast,
absolutely.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: All right. Thank you.
COLONEL BLOOM: You're welcome.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Commissioner Taylor, I will just --
I'm going to disagree with you just a little bit, respectfully, that I don't
think they've discovered us, because the data from the TDC -- and
Commissioner Fiala would know this from years at the TDC -- that
during the summer when the beaches are open on the East Coast, our
hotels fill up every year, every weekend, with folks from the East
Coast. I mean, that was traditionally what happened.
And so I think now that the beaches and the boat ramps and
everything are closed on the East Coast, I think it's compounded,
because it just stands to reason that if they came over here when
things were open, more of them are going to come over here when
they're closed.
So I think -- I have gotten a lot of emails, a lot of pictures, a lot
of frantic calls about, you know, the bottleneck getting to the beach
is -- it's very narrow. I mean, social distancing in there, from when
everybody's telling me, is essentially impossible when there's
thousands of people there.
How are -- and one of the things that I keep getting are emails
and pictures of, you know, young people, groups of more than 10,
setting up on the beach somewhere and, you know -- and how are you
able to or can you deal with, say, groups of more than 10 on the
beach that clearly don't meet the guidelines or what the Governor
wants or anything?
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COLONEL BLOOM: Sure. No, I'd be happy -- if I can, I'll
regress a little bit.
The East Coast has been coming here on Memorial Day and
Labor Day for a long time. But in addition to that now, obviously,
because of the situation. So you are correct, Commissioner. We put
plans in place every year for the increased traffic during those
holidays because we know that they are coming on that aspect.
As far as the social distancing aspect of it, yes, it is very
difficult. We have gone down the path of compliance, trying to get
compliance, and we've been very fortunate up to this point. The
majority of the people listen to us and abide by what we ask them to
do. If you're asking should we be arresting, you know, 10 people
because they are 11 people, I don't think that's really the spirit of the
law or would be a benefit to anybody, especially with the difficulty of
trying to keep our jails, you know, from any COVID-19 --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Sure.
COLONEL BLOOM: -- getting inside the jail. So there's a lot
of moving parts and dynamics to the whole situation that we try to
review together. Once again, have we been able to manage it in what
we believe is a safe manner up to this point, yeah, we have been able
to. Are we looking at enhancing some of the things we've done from
last weekend to this weekend? Yes, we are looking at enhancing that,
too, even up to a greater level.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: You know, I said this last time, and
I -- you know, I think the photos, for me, of Vanderbilt were rather
frightening because it seemed to me to be more crowded than what
we saw at Lowdermilk. Maybe that was just the time of day or
whatever. But, you know, I think that now is the time to be prudent
because the -- what is that -- what is that?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's the pier at 3:00. My
photograph.
May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. This is -- this is exactly what
all of the experts are saying we should not be doing. I mean -- and so
I would like the Commission -- because I said this last time, and I
voted against the motion just to re -open with just the social
distancing requirements. Now is the time to be prudent. I think we
can -- we can do things. We've got a lot of options, you know, along
the lines of what the City of Naples did. We saw it happen when the
City of Naples closed their beaches during spring break and when
Lee County closed their beaches; a lot of people went to Vanderbilt
or to Barefoot.
COLONEL BLOOM: Sure.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: We've already been through it once.
We know it's going to happen again. It's inevitable.
So while things may be manageable, you know, in the sense
of -- I mean, I'm not sure what "manageable" means, but I'm urging
the commissioners, my colleagues, to -- let's be prudent. We can
make some changes to hours of operation, hours of parking garages.
We can do things to make sure that our residents still have access to
the beach, that the beaches are open but discouraging, you know,
what we know is happening and what we know will continue to
happen, and that is folks coming from the East Coast to use the
beaches here because their beaches are closed.
I think we have to be prudent about this, because not being
prudent enough has a downside, you know, and it's potentially
people's lives. You know, we have to wait a couple of weeks to see
what the effect of this is.
COLONEL BLOOM: Right.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And if we wait a couple weeks,
then there's been a couple of weeks more of what's been going on,
and that's how you end up, I'm assuming, with a spike, which I think
we need to avoid.
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You know, I appreciate it if -- I don't know how you would
manage that because it's -- you know, with so many people at the
beach. You know, I know it's a hard job, and you're doing the best
you can. You've got a lot of people out there, but when things are
just recommendations and we can't really enforce anything, it's just --
you know, I don't know -- I think managing -- trying to manage that
is probably a request that's unfulfillable, in my opinion.
COLONEL BLOOM: A lofty request.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah, it's a lofty request, sure.
COLONEL BLOOM: And I know I speak for the Sheriff on
this. Whatever the Commission decides we will support
wholeheartedly and carry out. That's our mission, you know, to keep
the health, safety, and welfare of this community at the very
forefront, and we will do that. I promise you. Whatever -- whatever
comes out of this meeting, I will go immediately and put a plan
together to make sure it's carried out.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I don't think we should put the
burden on the Sheriffs Department to manage this, because I think
we can do things that will better manage the numbers of people on
the beach, when they go to the beach. I mean, Commissioner Fiala
had -- I think it was her recommendation. Why not just do along the
lines of what the City of Naples did. Let's regulate the hours. We're
not denying anybody access to the beach. We can regulate the hours.
I mean, that's not a constitutional infringement.
We close the beaches at sunset anyway. We can regulate the
hours and -- you know, and there will be a disincentive from people
coming over here for the beach. I just -- I can't -- you know, I don't
know what else to say.
The photographs -- if the amount of garbage at Vanderbilt was
any indication of the number of people that were there, there was a
lot of people, because that's -- you know, I've got residents there on
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the beach sending me photographs first thing in the morning of, you
know, what a mess it was.
So, I mean, our staff, obviously, took care of it. They all went
out and took care of it, but now is the time to be prudent, so I'm
urging my colleagues to do the right thing.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd like to hear about the
Keewaydin plan.
COLONEL BLOOM: Okay. In what extent as far as detail?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: How did it go? I mean, we
opened up Keewaydin again.
COLONEL BLOOM: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I had a conversation with
our sheriff the week before, and he had said that we had ramped up
additional enforcement efforts and such. I had a lot of friends that
had issues getting in and out of the boat ramps and some of the
crazies on jet skis and the like. But I'd like to hear from your
perspective how that all went.
COLONEL BLOOM: Sure. I believe there was -- I don't know
if we can get the slides. There was a -- the packet that was sent over,
I believe we had photos of this year and the previous year. I don't
know if we can show those.
But I will tell you, in my opinion, it's probably the smoothest
operation at Keewaydin in the years since I've been at the Sheriffs
Office from captain of special operations, captain patrol chief, and
now colonel. A lot of thought, a lot of partnership between FWC,
U.S. Coast Guard, and the Sheriffs Office.
The one on the top is obviously this year. You can see also
Mother Nature's aspect in the shrinking of the island there. You can
see the boats are single file as compared to tied up and flotillas and so
forth from the previous year.
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As far as the social distancing, the boats, the ones that were --
there were a few tied up, quite frankly, but it wasn't -- there weren't
people on the boats, jumping from boats. They were tied up so they
weren't hitting each other in that extent.
But we had groups. We had two groups on the north and south
side on land, and then we had -- I don't remember the exact number
of patrol boats out there. I believe it was right around seven to nine, I
believe, patrol boats that we had partnership.
And as far as, you know, disorderlies and things like that,
everybody was extremely compliant on the island, the aspect now,
you know. It's difficult to compare Keewaydin to the north end. I
don't want to get apples to oranges, those types of things. But
specific to Keewaydin, that went extremely well. We have an
operation planned again this weekend because, as they say, build it
and they will come; it's been built, and they will come. So we are
prepared for that. And as you know, that is regulated by DEP state
law, but we are in a partnership with FWC, and they've been
phenomenal on that aspect.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- and I'd like --
personally, I'd like to thank the Sheriff Office. I'd like to thank our
staff.
I think one of the -- one of the successes that Collier County has
experienced with people coming to our beaches was the forethought
with the appropriation of our assets. The City of Naples was ill
prepared with the appropriation of their assets from any kind of a
recommendation standpoint. Once you have that many people, again,
it's difficult going towel to towel.
And just as a perspective from your officers and the like, when
you -- when they were approaching folks who weren't socially
distancing properly and the like, was there much kickback or was
there decent compliance?
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COLONEL BLOOM: Very rarely. What I was advised -- I
wasn't there, Commissioner. I was advised people were extremely
cooperative and compliant on Keewaydin.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And so, circumstantially, I do
believe it is a constitutional issue in reducing and limiting the hours
of access to our public beaches. I don't concur with the thought
processes there. I do believe that we should allow for and continue
our efforts.
Now, I would like to see some enhanced -- and I don't
necessarily mean raising penalties on parking, but I think people that
come to the boat ramp, if the boat ramp parking lot's full, you don't
get to put your boat in that ramp. Sorry. Go to another ramp or don't
put your boat in that particular day.
I don't think -- and I have concerns with regard to the parking
that ends up going along our right-of-ways and the like. I actually
sent -- one of my councilmen down in Everglades City sent me a
picture of all the boats parked along the road along Chokoloskee, and
my quote -- or my comment back to him was, I think the Sheriff s
going to make payroll this week just on those tickets. And that's a
joke, because I know you don't get to keep any of that money.
COLONEL BLOOM: No. That all goes to Tallahassee.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right, exactly.
So if we do continue on those efforts, I think we're going to be
able to -- as we said, I'd like to share with my colleagues, there's no
absolutes with this process. There's no perfect scenario, necessarily.
And I think we can only, at best, hope to manage the circumstances
and work with our -- with our law enforcement and our staff.
And, again, I want to commend you, because you were out in
front of it -- you and I spoke about it last week -- to make sure -- our
people are our assets, and I think maximization of those assets in
these efforts is going to provide for people to be able to access our
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public facilities, and they should be allowed to do so.
Thank you.
COLONEL BLOOM: You're welcome.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Any other questions for Officer
Bloom?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Pardon me?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Any other questions for Officer
Bloom? You're lit up, Donna. Did you have some questions for --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, I don't.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Penny, did you --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Thank you very much.
Maybe if you could stay here --
COLONEL BLOOM: Absolutely, Mr. Chair.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And three of your partners are in
the back there. I'm not sure if they're here to participate or --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I probably pushed the button.
COLONEL BLOOM: Backup. They thought I was going to get
in trouble, I guess.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
COLONEL BLOOM: There's always a good chance of that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: They look like backup.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We've got some difficult
decisions to make. It may take us a little bit of time. We're going to
need to take a little bit of a break for the court reporter. My hope was
to not take a long lunch break so we could get through and -- what's
the pleasure of the Board? Are you willing to --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Let's come back at 1:00.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So we'll take -- all right.
We'll take -- is that the desire of the Board to -- all right. Let's --
we'll take a break until 1:00. That's our court reporter break and
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lunch break, but when we get back at 1:00, we're going to go straight
through. And during the break, I'd urge the Commissioners to make
some notes as to where you want this to go. When we get back, we'll
have a discussion on options.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I just wanted to mention --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- if I can -- it doesn't have
anything to do with anything except the pictures that Chief Bloom
showed us, it was amazing in one year's time all -- Keewaydin has
dissipated that much.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's all down on Marco now.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor, did you
have anything that you wanted to say before the --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We will be back at 1:00
then.
(A recess was had from 12:26 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.)
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen,
if you'll please take your seats.
I think where we left this off was that we had completed the
public comment and we were talking about county options on beach
parking, but rumor has it that there's at least one more pubic speaker
who has arrived. So why don't we go to the public comment. Good
afternoon.
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: Commissioner Saunders,
Commissioners, how you guys doing?
I was watching your, I guess, deliberations begin on the
Government Channel, and I would like to give you guys a point of
caution. Obviously, it's now the third time in two months I've spoken
with you.
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Look, first of all, I've seen the pictures like everybody else has.
There are family clusters and other clusters that showed up at the
beach. But if you actually look at these photos in depth, there is
plenty of space, the necessary six feet between these clusters. It's not
clear to me what the difference is between a family cluster in
somebody's house, a family cluster at Costco or Publix, or a family
cluster at an open-air beach. There's really no differentiation in that
at all.
The second thing I would like to point out to all of you is that a
week ago you opened your beaches, and according to the data by the
Department of health, there is no surge or uptick that they're
concerned about with COVID cases in Collier County. So if you
now reverse course or change your decision, you're doing that based
upon no information, only pictures and fear concerns and complaints
from some residents. And I grant you there are residents who are
concerned about seeing the pictures of people out and about at the
beaches, but your job is not to make decisions based upon fear or
concerns of some residents. Your job is to make decisions based
upon the evidence that exists.
And the evidence is clear, number one, there are plenty of beds
to take care of those who come down with coronavirus/COVID-19 in
Collier County. That is clear. I've been on the emergency calls
myself.
Number two is that by re -opening the beaches, there is no
evidence to suggest that there has been a surge in coronavirus cases
in Collier County. That evidence does not exist.
Now, if you guys come back in a week and maybe making that
decision because you have new evidence, that's one thing. But no
evidence exists to that point right now.
So by going down this course of action it appears you might be
going down, what you really are going to do, frankly, is piss off a lot
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of citizens in Collier County who, frankly, may or may not decide to
go to the beach but simply do not like the fact that their beaches have
been closed on an arbitrary reason.
I'm going to go back to why we started this entire process of
nonessential businesses, social distancing, and the like. That was
because it was to slow the spread, to bend the curve so the hospital
system would not be overwhelmed. That's the original purpose of all
this. What we cannot do as lawmakers and as public officials is take
that original purpose and then move the goal post simply because we
are afraid of contracting a virus that can be deadly.
And I do grant that for some people amongst our citizenry it can
be deadly. But you can't move the goal posts without the pertinent,
detailed information. It is my opinion the county does not have that
information. I know what the City of Naples did last night. I saw
what they did. But the county has other means -- you've heard it
from your own staff -- to control how parking happens at the beach.
But in light of new information that is credible to the spread of
coronavirus, in my opinion you guys will be out of order in closing
beaches any further. Leave the beaches open. People want them to
be open.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Hang on just a second. We've got
three people lit up here, and I have a quick question for you.
Commissioner Fiala, did you have a question of --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, I just wanted to tell him to
make sure and say his name into the microphone so people know who
you're talking to.
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: Sorry, Commissioner Fiala.
Byron Donalds, State Representative, House District 80.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : And, Penny, did you have a
question for --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, no.
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May 12, 2020
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Andy, for --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No, but I would make a comment
that, you know, we are being told by the experts that as we reopen to
expect an uptick in cases. So I don't agree with you that there's no --
there's no reasons to be concerned with the beaches being open and
overcrowding at the beaches and people not abiding by social
distancing. I don't think that's a fair assessment of the issue that we're
being asked to consider.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And I had a question --
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah, I don't want to get into --
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: I don't know your rules,
Commissioner -- Chairman, so I don't want to go into it --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: But I did have a question. We do
occasionally ask questions, and we try to keep that to a minimum as
well.
But the -- there may be a proposal to go along with restricting
parking to county residents only. Now, that's not closing the beach.
And I just wonder what your thought would be on that. That would
keep people from Miami coming over to the beaches or from -- quite
frankly, from Lee County or from anywhere else coming. But that's
not closing the beach. Do you have a thought on that?
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: A couple. Number one, I
think the number -one thing you should do is rely on your staff,
especially the Sheriffs Office and parking staff, about what kind of
additional pressures that puts on them.
Number two -- and this is the part where I'll probably be a little
bit more cautious about not doing that -- is, you know, last time I
checked, people in Miami don't have the plague. It's not really clear
that even their participation at our beach creates additional burdens
other than maybe parking stresses on our beaches and on our parking
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infrastructure. But that's something I think you have to rely on your
staff for.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So your inclination would be to
kind of stay the course, the beaches are open and keep going the way
we're going?
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: Well, Commissioner, what I
would say is that keep in mind it was Mother's Day weekend on a
Saturday. Mother's Day weekend's always packed at the beaches. I
almost took my wife, but we just didn't go because we knew the
beaches would be packed.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Too crowded, yeah.
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: So that's why we didn't go.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thanks for coming down.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Representative Donalds, just one
second. Commissioner Taylor does have a question.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. And I don't think
anybody thinks they have the plague, but I can tell you that the latest
information as of last night from the Department of Health says that
in Broward the infection rate is for every 100,000 people there's 309
that are infected in Broward. In Miami -Dade, there's 505 people for
every 100,000. Collier has, as of last night, 208.
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: 208 per --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Per 10000.
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: Per 100,000.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. So it's clear that we do
have a reason to be concerned. It's not that they're bringing the
plague at all. It's just that it's -- this is a highly infectious disease that
we have not quite mastered yet. And so I think it's understanding the
risk -- risk/reward factor. That's what the issue is.
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: If I may, Commissioners.
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May 12, 2020
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Just -- yeah, sure.
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: If I may.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah.
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: I do not think that -- whether
it's -- whether it's the legislature making the decision or it's the
Commission making the decision, I don't believe it is our job to judge
whether we've mastered the virus. I grant that it is deadly for certain
people who do contract it.
The broader point is, is that the point of government action that
we've undertaken the last two -and -a -half months has been to make
sure that our hospital systems are not overwhelmed so that people
who do contract the worst aspects of coronavirus that could
potentially lead to death have the ability to receive care.
The hospital systems in Collier County -- frankly, the hospital
systems in Miami -Dade and Broward County all have capacity to
handle those cases.
And so in light of that, I think that that's the point where it is
important for government operations to start to lighten our
encumbrances on the movement of people. I think the Governor's
leading that with Phase 1. Potentially Phase 2 and 3 down the line.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Thank you very much.
REPRESENTATIVE DONALDS: Thank you, guys.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioners, we're --
I think we all understand the issue and the options, and we've heard
all of the testimony. I think it's time to start talking about decisions.
I'll start off as I did the first time when we dealt with this, my initial
reaction the first time was to keep the beaches open and see how it
goes. And I'm not so sure I'm ready to come off of that position
primarily based on what the Sheriff has said, what our staff has said.
I listened to the City Council debate, and they obviously have a
much different situation there in the city than we do. I even saw one
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analysis by one of the -- by the Chief of Police there that bodies were
body to body, and there was no white sand on the beach. Well, that --
that wasn't the case in our county parks, county beaches.
So I'm -- unless I can hear something from the Commission that
persuades me to go the other way, I'm convinced that we should
continue to operate the way we have with the understanding that if
we have a problem, you know, we can certainly close. But that's just
kind of my initial thoughts.
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Thank you, sir.
I've listened and I've watched a lot as to what's going on with regard
to this -- is that another -- God bless you again.
MR. MILLER: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He does that when I'm talking.
Maybe it's -- are you trying to break me up?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Now, if he sneezes a second time,
we have to close the room and sterilize everything.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Get the UV light in here.
I think it's important for us to remember all of the efforts that have
been put out by the federal government and by the Governor. Never
once has there been anyone say we're going to stop this bug. All of
the efforts are slow the spread; 15 days, slow the spread; 30 days,
slow the spread; social distancing; wash your hands.
Our health administrator talked about it today about the
requisites of things that we can do individually to protect our health.
And I think it's incumbent upon us to remember that that is who is
ultimately responsible for our health, is the individual.
If you go to the beach and you find it to be overcrowded, don't
go. If you go -- I said it when Colonel Bloom -- I keep wanting to
call you Chief Bloom. When Colonel Bloom spoke earlier, if you go
to a parking lot where you want to launch your boat and there's not
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enough room to park, you are then at risk of receiving a ticket for
parking in the right-of-way. Don't launch your boat.
It's up to the individual to take care of their own health
circumstances. Any regulation that is put upon by a government,
especially under the circumstances that are currently availed to us, is
difficult to enforce. We've already seen it in other states and in other
areas.
And I truly believe that we should stay the course. I see no
reason why we can't allow for our residents and for our beaches to be
open and, as has been done so far, appropriating the necessary assets
to make the recommendations to our citizenry to, for lack of a better
term, act appropriately.
It's difficult to discern what a family unit is, who can congregate
in larger groups or not, and the like, but we've heard nothing from
any of our enforcement agencies that would indicate to me that we
haven't been able to manage the aspects and the prospects so far.
I also agree with Representative Donalds that -- and I've been
regularly watching. I've talked to both of the directors of our
hospitals, Paul Hiltz and Scott --
MR.00HS: Lowe.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- Lowe, Mr. Lowe, with
regard to our hospital facilities and the availability of hospital -- and
especially when we were moving for the increase in testing, and that's
something that we need to keep in mind. The availability of testing is
doing this (indicating); up and up and up and up. And when you
have more people tested -- and the percentages run particularly the
same. We're staying very close to a 10 percent rate of people that test
test positive.
I was concerned when we stood up that National Guard facility
in Immokalee because we -- up to that point, we had administered
approximately 200 tests in the Immokalee area and had about 40 -- 47
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people or so that had tested positive. Some of those folks, as Ms.
Vick had said, had gone to other places and gotten tests, which made
our number look -- in Immokalee look artificially high.
But then when we threw 2,000 tests at that community, and
approximately 1,400 of them got tests -- folks got tested, I was -- I
actually -- I talked to Mark Lemke and asked that the call be initiated
again today, because we could go from 47 to 200 just like that.
But if you look at the data and the folks that are testing positive,
of that percentage of people that test positive, about 10 percent of
them require hospitalization. So even with 200, if that number had
jumped -- and it didn't. Even with 200, that would mean 20 would
require hospitalization, and approximately 10 percent of that
population would require an ICU bed, which is 2, and then 10 percent
of that population might necessarily require a ventilator.
And so as I've been watching and trying to make decisions for
all of our community and knowing that there are a lot of different
information sources that come at us from a lot of different places, I
truly believe that we're okay. We have the proper enforcement
capacity. We've appropriated -- and I've already applauded our staff.
I'll do it again. We've already appropriated our assets to manage, as
best as possibly can, the circumstances, and we have the assets
available to care for our residents should an increase in those
hospitalizations be requisite.
So my vote is we stay the course. With more information, with
more data, we can make -- we can make additional decisions as, in
fact, are needed.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, I think, first off, you know, I
think that managing the beach in terms of how we manage the
beaches and the number of people in the regular world that we used
to live in is one thing and that this is not -- we're not in the same
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place we were last summer.
I, again, think that -- we know, the experts tell us, that we can
expect an increase in infections now that we're opening up. It's just
the natural order of the way these things work and that that will
happen. So my concern is, is that we have the data. And I asked the
folks at the TDC to provide me the hotel data. I mean, we know that
this happens all the time. Every weekend people come here from the
East Coast and -- without the COVID-19 and without their beaches
being closed. We know it's going to happen. It happened after the
beaches were closed on spring break.
We immediately shut our beaches down because, as the beaches
around us closed, people were congregating in our beaches. We
didn't do that out of fear. We did that because it was a prudent thing
to do.
You know, this is not the same. I disagree. This is not
necessarily the same. I cannot just say, you know what, I decide I'm
not going to get the virus today. I'm just not going to get it, because
we can't control it. This is -- this is like -- it's not like that. And I
don't think that it's prudent for us to not take into consideration
something that we know is happening. We know that things are not
as good as they are here on the East Coast.
And all I'm suggesting is, as many counties and municipalities
have done across the state, is to create some kind of disincentive to
keep people from Dade County and Broward County from coming
here because their beaches are closed.
We know they're doing it -- Commissioner McDaniel mentioned
it -- at our boat ramps. They're all in their boats over here to go
boating. I mean, we know it's going to happen. So to disregard that,
I think, would be irresponsible.
Number two, I am not suggesting that we close our beaches
again. What I'm suggesting is let's arrange the hours of operation to
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disincentivize folks from coming over here and filling up the
beaches. Other counties and municipalities have done it. The City of
Naples has done it. Our residents can go to the beach at the times
that they normally go to the beaches, right? They go in the morning;
they go in the evening.
It is not, in my opinion -- and I'll put my Supreme Court law
clerk hat on if I have to. This is not necessarily a constitutional issue,
because we are not closing -- if that was the case, then we couldn't
have closed the beaches to begin with, and we couldn't close them at
sundown.
So, I mean, we have to have the ability, especially in
circumstances like this, to regulate our parks in some way. And, you
know, limiting the parking, limiting the hours, limiting it to residents
that have beach stickers, I think there's a lot of things we can do that
is not going to prevent people from enjoying the beach and getting
out getting some exercise.
It will just -- it would be a prudent thing to do under the -- under
these unusual circumstances that we've never been in and nobody
else has ever been in for the sake of our residents. That's all I'm
suggesting. The downside to not being prudent, I think, is not
something that we should even be risking, in my opinion. And I'm
just -- reasonable -- some reasonable restrictions to make sure that it's
the residents of Collier County that are enjoying the beaches.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. We seem to have noticed that
on the weekends the beaches are much more active than during the
week. So maybe on the weekends we could limit the hours --
Saturday and Sunday limit the hours to the morning, say, from 8:00
until 12:00. Close them down from 12:00 to 5:00. Open them back
up. There would be no reason to drive over from the other coast all
that way and then sit here and wait five hours. So maybe that
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would -- they would decide it isn't worth it to travel all that way to
have to sit for five hours in a restaurant or something or rent a room.
So I think that would be a gentle way of just controlling what we're
doing without using a hammer or anything. And for our residents, I
don't think they would mind either because they would like the fact
that the beaches are kind of protected.
So I think it's an excellent idea. Every weekend just close them.
We've found that that's when a lot of people come over here from
other areas, too, and -- so that's my two cents.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: There's a reason the City of
Miami Beach hasn't opened their beaches, and they're not talking
about opening it until June. We did -- our office did talk to the
mayor's office in the City of Miami Beach, and they indicated they
have a park on Miami Beach called South Pointe Park, and they
opened the -- that park last week. They had 7,000 people in that
park. They closed it down.
We talked to the -- one of the mayors of Broward, Broward
County. I think we actually talked to a liaison to the mayors, and
there was a commission meeting coming up. They indicated that
Broward is not ready to open up their beaches.
I do think that -- I don't -- I'm not under any kind of mis -- well,
any idea that suddenly Miami's here because they've discovered us.
What I'm saying is they've discovered us in a bigger way than they
ever have. And my great concern is that I have neighbors that say I
can't even launch my boat. What's going on? The boat ramps are
open. It was -- I can't even launch my boat. I can't get in there.
And we have -- we have a responsibility to our community and
to our neighbors. The idea that suddenly the -- that UV is the
solution to this virus kind of flies in the face of Miami's experience.
And there's an email from -- that I gave to everybody sitting in front
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of us which talks about what happened when there was a white party
on the beach and how many people got infected from it.
I think that it would be prudent and probably -- I don't think it's
going to be overtaxing our authorities if we follow what the City of
Naples did. I would ask my colleagues to remember that there are
three commissioners up here that have coastal communities that
they're responsible for. That's our district. And I think we know our
coastal communities pretty well.
I would also gently correct our County Manager. When Terry
Graham went to the beach on Saturday, she went to North Beach,
Tigertail. It wasn't South Beach.
MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So there's a -- there's a challenge
we have because of the number of people coming over here. And
unfortunately, it is one of two counties that still has not gone into
Phase 1 and still has social distancing part of it.
I'll finish this by describing a situation that happened in the city
on Saturday where a family of four went to the beach, and they were
very happy, and it was in the morning. And they left sooner than
they wanted to at about 12:00 because a van that was marked -- and I
have the photograph -- Miami/Fort Lauderdale Express -- airport
express had pulled up into the curb, and three families of four to five
people each. And this van pulled out and emptied out and went to the
beach. And this was witnessed.
So if I was on the East Coast, I'd be desperate for these beaches,
too, and I'm not faulting anyone for coming over here. I just think we
have a responsibility to protect our citizens and to put some tools that
we have just to minimize creating such an attraction. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : All right. You know, if no one else
is lit up here, we'll continue the conversation in terms of motions and
that sort of thing.
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The difficult part about this is there really isn't any right answer
or wrong answer. It's just -- Commissioner Solis said that this is not
one of those things where you can just wake up and say -- I think the
quote was, "I will not get the virus today." Well, actually, you can. I
do that pretty much most mornings. I get up and say, "I'm not going
to get the virus today" and stay home and don't get the virus. So, you
know, there are ways. Or if I go out, I wear a mask all the time. So
there are ways you could keep from getting the virus. You can't
necessarily use those ways when you're at the beach.
But maybe there's a -- maybe there's a suggestion. I know there
hasn't been a problem during the week. Commissioner Taylor, you
mentioned the van coming up. If we close parking to county
residents only, that's not going to keep a van from coming up and
dropping off three families. So that's not going to necessarily solve
that issue.
Certainly, it would solve the issue of too many car on -- you
know, illegally parking, and I think that's a problem that we could
probably deal with.
So I'm still not convinced that we should close the beach parking
at all times. Maybe we need to consider the weekend. But I just
don't think that we can legislate common sense. And -- so anyway,
I'm not sure where I'm going to ultimately go with this, but -- what
we also could do is, we don't have another meeting until May 26th, I
believe, which is after Labor Day. I mean, Memorial Day. And so
we might want to --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No. Is it?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The 25th is Memorial Day, I
believe. Is that incorrect?
So our next meeting isn't until after Memorial Day. But what I
was going to say is maybe we could schedule to have another
meeting next Tuesday. See how things go over the weekend and
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whether or not we need to take additional further action for Memorial
Day. That's just a thought. You know, we don't have a motion out
yet, but I'm sure we will.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: My light's on down there.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- and it has to do
specifically with that. I mean, we're here talking about a particular
item that we voted on in the past -- didn't -- other than having a report
as to what's going on -- and we're about to make a decision and adjust
the policy decisions that were already done and not properly
advertised and invited the public to come and speak. And I'm
wondering, just as a matter of fact, on a point of order, of making
adjustments to what we've already done without it being properly
advertised and noticed and offering an opportunity for the public to
speak to let us know.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, just from a technical legal
standpoint, the County Attorney can jump into this. All we really
have to do is advertise we're having a meeting. What comes up on an
agenda is up to us. So, no, there's nothing illegal or wrong in terms
of discussing the beaches and making changes today or scheduling
another meeting.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was my question.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: No, there's no --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's been brought up to me
several times today with regard to --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It's sort of like the -- it's sort of like
with the legislature. They say that no one's life and fortune are safe
while the legislature is meeting. Well, that's the same thing -- the
same thing is true about the County Commission. No one's safe
while we're meeting. You can't just look at the agenda and say, hey,
that's going to be it.
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COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Unless it's a zoning issue.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Unless it's a zoning issue, that's
correct.
So, anyway. So, no, I think we're properly here. And we may
not make any changes, but I'm just saying that we do have an
opportunity to see how things go this weekend and revisit it next
week, but that's just a thought.
Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I appreciate your thoughts,
sir, but that doesn't solve the problem of Memorial Day weekend on a
county that --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah, that would, because we'd
have a meeting prior -- the week before.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, but what if we say the
same thing. Oh, it's going to be fine. Maybe we should let Memorial
Day and see what's going on with Memorial Day.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, that would be a policy
decision for us to make.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But I think -- I think that there's
a reason the beaches aren't open on the East Coast, and I think it
would behoove us to not close the beaches. I'm not suggesting -- I'm
not suggesting we close the beaches, but I am suggesting that we
maybe stagger the weekends which seem to be the party time that's
when families can get together and become uninviting for the East
Coast.
And maybe, because the number of tents and the coolers and the
everything that goes on with people coming and wanting to spend an
entire day at the beach, would be limited on the weekends so that the
beaches become -- we give ownership of the beaches to the people
who are here. It doesn't mean that they can't put a tent there, but it
does mean that they're not, you know -- I'm sorry -- put a blanket
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there, but it does mean that no tents, none of this stuff.
I was in the room when they were debating and then, of course, I
listened to it afterwards with the City Council, and it was tough.
But we have tools. Let's use them. Please listen to your
commissioners who are on the coast and please, please understand
that we're not speaking to restrict people from the beaches from
people from Immokalee or places like that. We're saying we're going
to keep the beaches open perhaps during the week and have it
staggered time on the weekend.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Fiala, and then
Commissioner McDaniel, and then I think we're probably ready to
start with a motion here soon.
Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Thank you.
First of all, I wanted to thank Chief Bloom. That was a really good
report. And I was amazed at how well you -all organized and created
things so that you keep our beaches kind of spread out and watching
over everything. I was pleased to hear that, and I think that helps an
awful lot.
I think that it's important on weekends, definitely, to have a
little -- as I said before, you know, I won't even repeat it. Just do it
on the weekend. And if you're afraid of all the crowds or whatever,
don't go. You know, you don't have to go. I wouldn't go when I
know there's going to be a big crowd. You know, let them have the
beach. I have it every other day that I want to go to, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Commissioner McDaniel?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: As a final point -- and I may
be repeating myself, but it's important that you hear. This doesn't
have anything to do with who I represent. I represent -- and I've said
it regularly. Even though we're all elected from individual
geographic areas, I represent all 360,000 people that live here
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year-round.
And I believe that this is government overreach. I don't believe
that there's a need for restrictions. I believe that we have sufficient
healthcare facilities to take care of our residents, and I believe that
the assets that we have put in place to relegate what is, in fact, going
on as best as we can are sufficient, and we should leave it alone.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. All right. Is there a
motion? If not, we'll just stay the course. But is there a motion?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll make a motion that we limit the
hours of operation of the county beach parks from 7:00 till 11:00 in
the morning Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays re -opening at, pick a
number, 5:00 until sunset. Our beaches close at sunset anyway, I
believe, and that we limit the parking structures to Collier County
residents with stickers --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Could I just make one point.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- beach stickers. Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: In the City of Naples they did
restrict hours, but I don't think it was on a Friday. I think it was just
Saturday, Sunday, and then Memorial Day.
MR.00HS: Correct.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. Was it --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. No, it wasn't Friday. It
was Monday through Friday business as usual.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: But they had restrictions on no
coolers and no tents.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: On the weekends.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, I think Friday -- I would
include Friday. It says weekends 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 -- I would include
Friday.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It's your motion.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. I want to -- I want to include
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Friday because that's when the weekend starts for most people.
I think that what the city has enacted in terms of Memorial Day
weekend we should mirror, because we -- it's not conjecture. We saw
it happen. When there's -- it's the County Manager's great analogy of
a balloon. You squeeze it at one end, it goes the other direction --
and that we mirror that on Memorial Day weekend, which is
7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Chairs, tents, umbrellas, and coolers
prohibited. Walking, running, swimming, paddleboarding allowed.
And then 5:00 p.m. to sunset chairs only, because that way there's a
consistent schedule of operation for most the beaches in Collier
County. I think -- and we can reassess in a couple weeks this as
things develop. I think it's the prudent thing to do.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Is there a second?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'll second that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : All right. There's a motion and a
second. Before we vote on the motion, I want to ask you to kind of
clarify to make sure everybody understands what the motion is.
Commissioner McDaniel?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are the parks buildings open?
MR. OCHS: No, they're not.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If someone wanted to get a
beach parking pass, can they get it online?
MR. CARNELL: No, sir. No, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: With that consideration,
you've just precluded all of the residents, including me, who don't
have a beach parking pass from going to the beach with one move.
MR. OCHS: Commissioner McDaniel, let me -- let me just
clarify. The Tax Collector does sell beach stickers. He has only two
locations open where someone could physically go there and get that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, as long as there's a
facility somewhere for people to be able to get a beach parking pass.
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I don't agree with the motion, just so you know. But I'm sitting
here -- I'm thinking about it, and somebody said to me this morning
when I was riding in that our parks offices are closed, and you can't
get a beach pass, and I was -- I was wondering how that was going to,
in fact, be taking place, so...
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I mean, they're available, and if --
and I think if -- you know, the right thing to do is sometimes the hard
thing to do, and I think where there's a will there's a way. If we need
to set up something so we can issue beach stickers, I think we could
make an adjustment somewhere and do that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The motion doesn't prohibit Collier
County residents without a beach sticker from going to the beach.
They just can't park in our parking facility. There are other parking
spots, other ways to get to the beach. But if I understood the motion,
it's not -- the beach is not restricted to Collier County residents. The
parking -- our county parking facilities are restricted to --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The beaches will have limited
hours of operation on the weekends.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : And Friday.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And Friday, and then the parking
structures will also have those hours of operation and be limited to
Collier County residents with beach stickers, which they can get, I
believe, for free.
County Manager, if -- I mean, I know I'm putting a huge burden
on our staff, but if there's something that I need to clarify to make it
more feasible or workable, let me know, and I'll be glad to do that.
MR. OCHS: The question was on the stickers for the parking
garages; is that all week long or just Friday through Sunday?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: My vision of it was the parking
structures all week long.
MR.00HS: Okay. Understood.
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CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS
second?
Was that the understanding of the
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So everybody's saying the same
thing. All right.
Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: As the seconder, I'd like to
appeal to the motion maker to see if you would agree -- agree, not
necessarily pushing you into it, but I see that if the City of Naples
opens their beaches on Friday -- and I would agree with you the
weekend begins on Friday, and we are limiting ours, it will start
maybe pushing people to the city, and we need to kind of -- in my
opinion, they're too close. We probably should try to mirror the
hours somewhat to keep it -- and also on Marco Island, of course.
Marco Island coming in. You know, Marco Island's the first stop
from Miami coming in, so...
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Are their beaches open? I thought
they were closed.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: We have two beaches on Marco.
We have South Beach. We have Tigertail.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I thought they we -- you're talking
about the county. The county --
MR.00HS: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: The county owns those two.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Ochs, could you clarify that as
to what beaches on Marco?
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. The beach access points controlled by the
city are open. The beach access points controlled by the county are
open as well without restrictions at this point.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: The biggest problem is, on Marco
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Island anyway, there's no parking. There's very, very few parking
spots, and you can't even park any other -- at any random place
because everything is blocked. So, you know, whatever can fit in the
parking spots or you can walk to them, that's about all you get.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and a
second. No one else is lit up. There was a request by the --
Commissioner Taylor to amend the motion to eliminate Friday from
the hours restriction.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Let me just explore that a little bit,
because the gap between the two schedules would just be from 11:00
till 5:00 on a Friday.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I mean, it's --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Your call.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Could I make a suggestion? I'm
not sure that I'll support the motion, but I think we have to be as
simple as we possibly can.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So you've got one set of hours in
Collier County and one set of hours in the city, and I think that would
be -- personally, I think that would be confusing. Folks would not
know what the real rule is on a Friday. That's the only thing.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. I'll agree to make that
amendment then, that -- I'm reluctantly agreeing to make that
amendment because I think --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Right.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- I think Friday is when the
weekend starts for most people.
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, also, just before the vote on the
motion, I would ask the Board to consider, or the motion maker,
these prohibitions on umbrellas and chairs and coolers. You know, I
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think about young families in the heat of the day, even at 10:00 and
11:00. The inability to create any shade or to have, you know, a
snack or juice box and cooler because they're prohibited is --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No, I wasn't following those,
because I agree with that. It's mainly --
MR. OCHS: The hours?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Other than Memorial Day weekend,
which I think is a -- I mean, we're all going to have to do with a little
less. And I think Memorial Day weekend we know what happens at
the beaches, and we're just going to have to, I think, deal with a
Memorial Day weekend that maybe isn't what it has been in the past
because we're not in that same place.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Could you clarify in the motion,
then, what the rules would be --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- coolers, tents, chairs, umbrellas
both Monday through Friday and then also on the weekend.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. So Monday through Friday
the parks would be open like they normally would be. Saturday,
Sunday they would be open from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and then
5:00 p.m. to sunset. In terms of what people can bring, I don't
necessarily see that we would need to preclude coolers and tents. So
I wouldn't even include that.
I mean, if residents want to bring chairs, if they want to bring a
tent and get some shade for their kids, I wouldn't be against that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. And then that would be for
all the times that the beaches are open?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: How about Memorial Day? Right
now, unless it's -- are you going to go to the 7:00 to 11:00?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Memorial Day I would mirror what
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the city has done.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: But they prohibit coolers.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right, on Memorial Day. What I'm
saying is on Memorial Day, on that weekend, we would have
restrictions on coolers.
MR. OCHS: Well, they're restricting chairs, tents, umbrellas,
and coolers in the morning session and only allowing chairs in the
evening session on that Memorial Day weekend schedule.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Correct. Yeah.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Does everyone
understand the motion in terms of -- because I got a bit confused, and
I'm going to ask you to clarify it again. But, Commissioner
McDaniel?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I can't -- I can't -- all of
these restrictions are worthless. You're restricting parking to parking
permits. If I want to come here from Miami and go to our beach, I'm
going to park in the Walmart parking lot and Uber over to the beach.
The Sheriff -- I would love to see the Sheriff arrest somebody for
going on one of our beaches and taking a chair or taking a cooler or
putting up an umbrella.
These are -- these are public properties and should be accessible
to everybody all of the time. And I'm trying to breathe right now,
because I can't even imagine that we're having this conversation.
These restrictions are unenforceable. Constitutionally -- I'm not the
lawyer that you are, but I would really like to have that argument or
discussion at some particular stage with regard to the Constitution
and the people's rights to be able to come and go. And we are
forgetting the singular number -one fact: Whose responsibility is it
for your health? Yours.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I would ask you not to point your
finger at me.
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COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Whose responsibility is it for
my health? It's mine? And if I go to a beach, if I go to a public
facility, if I go someplace that is not circumstantially happy for my
health -- and I'm pointing at myself. Forgive me, because I get a little
hot when people point their finger at me. Apologize. I do. It's my
responsibility to remove myself from that circumstance.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Okay.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I mean, we -- okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. I just wanted to add, when
we're talking about umbrellas especially -- and many people come
with their children, and, you know, you get heat stroke, and you have
to have a place to put those kids that can be protected from the sun.
And their skin is the -- children's skin is so much thinner than ours. I
think that -- I don't really agree with that, but that's my point of view.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : All right. We're going to go ahead
and vote on this motion, but I do want to clarify, because I got a little
confused.
So we have a motion and a second. I'm going to ask
Commissioner Solis to go through it. The area that really got
confusing is to what types of coolers, tents, and things are permitted
weekdays, weekends, and then on Memorial Day.
So maybe the way to go through this is you've got the City of
Naples news release that has Monday, weekends -- 7:00 to 11:00;
weekends 5:00 to sunset, and then it has Memorial Day. If you could
go through each one of those four categories, just reiterate when the
beaches —
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Let me just make it -- let's just
make it simple. Monday through Friday, beaches will remain open
sunrise to sunset, whatever our normal hours of operation are, and we
don't have to have any of these restrictions.
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May 12, 2020
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: That's number one. On the
weekends, 7:00 a.m. -- 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and then from 5:00
p.m. to sunset. And I'm not even concerned with chairs. No
restrictions.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The county parking garages will be
limited to --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Parking facilities.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Parking facilities. Parking garages,
parking lots would be limited to Collier County residents with beach
stickers, and we can disseminate how those are obtained.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Memorial Day?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And Memorial Day weekend -- I
think the restrictions on parking will take care of the concern that I
have about the East Coast, and so -- in fact, so none of these
restrictions will apply. I'll just make it easy.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So Memorial Day would be just a
regular weekday?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Open from sunrise to sunset, no
restrictions?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No, no, no. Memorial Day
weekend's a Saturday --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS:
Day.
I'm only talking about Memorial
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Memorial Day. Memorial Day
would be -- you're right. Memorial Day is a Monday, and it would be
the same schedule as the weekend.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So the whole Memorial --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The whole Memorial weekend will
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May 12, 2020
be a weekend.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: On Saturday, Sunday, and Monday
Memorial Day weekend, beaches will be open from 7:00 a.m. to
11:00 a.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to sunset. No restrictions on chairs
and --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Correct. Let's just keep it simple.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And then -- all right. So I think --
does everybody understand the motion, and the second is in
agreement with that?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes, I am.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Any other comments on
the motion?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. The parking that was saying
that people had to have a parking sticker, is that for all the time?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That will be -- that's going to be
until we change the rules.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So for every day of the week
regardless?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes, yes.
MR. OCHS: So. Yes, if you have a City of Naples or Collier
County beach sticker, those are the only ones that have access to the
parking facilities.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Just one -- my only quick
comment, I'm not going to support the motion, but I think the
comments from our law enforcement were indicative of the fact that
we don't have a big problem. I do agree that we need to be cautious,
but I think we're being overcautious here.
So if there are no other comments, I'll call for the vote. All in
favor, signify by saying aye.
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May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I don't know how that turned out.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, there's three against.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Oh, okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And I think that's probably because
we all agree that during the week that isn't really a big problem for
us, and so we shouldn't be limiting the parking.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Is there an alternative motion?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I make a motion that we have
a meeting next Tuesday and readjust -- readdress the subject matter
with more data.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I'll second that. I think
that that's a rational way to go to see how things evolve. That gives
us the opportunity to shut everything down before the Memorial Day
weekend. And if there's a problem, we can do that. So we have
another motion and a second.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Same time, same channel?
You okay with Tuesday -- you're not okay with Tuesday at 9:00?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. Let's make a decision.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We did.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Let's make a decision one way or
the other. I'll make an alternative motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'll withdraw my second to that. If
there's an alternative motion, that's what I had asked for, and there
wasn't.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Then if -- Commissioner Fiala, if
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May 12, 2020
the issue is applying the beach parking sticker only to the parking
structures and parking lots during the week, I'll amend my motion to
leave that out. So the beach parking restrictions would only be on
Saturday, Sunday, and all of Memorial Day weekend meaning,
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, Memorial Day. Would that be
satisfactory?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That would be good for me.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I'm going to support that
motion. I think -- I want to commend Commissioner Solis for being
flexible.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: The seconder agrees to the
amendment or -- I guess it's a new motion, but I'll second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And I'll call for the vote
but in just a quick second. I do think that we may need to be
available to revisit next week, if we have a problem.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll be available.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Klatzkow?
MR. KLATZKOW: Just for a matter of enforcement, I had a
very quick conversation with Colonel Bloom, and I've had prior
conversations with the Sheriffs legal staff over the years. They're
going to need something to enforce that in writing. I suggest that it
be by executive order of this Board of County Commissioners. I can
get one popped out in about 15 minutes. That would just solidify the
enforcement mechanism for the Sheriff.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You understand what the motion
is?
MR. KLATZKOW: I think I do, yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Get somebody typing up while
we're voting.
All right. Any comments from staff?
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May 12, 2020
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Any other comments from the
Commission? Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, we're going to vote on it?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay, okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and a
second. I think everyone understands the motion. All in favor,
signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed, signify by saying no.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It passes 4-1.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And could we please, for the
public, let the public know where they can get beach parking stickers
as of today and ideas going forward, please, if we could.
MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And I would suggest,
let's go ahead and advertise to have a meeting next Tuesday, and it
can be a fairly brief one if there's no problems, or we could make
changes. Is that --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's fine with me.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Let's leave it in your hands with
the County Manager. If there's some problems, we meet.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, I don't want to -- I think
we're going to have to have communication from the Manager to
each of us. I don't want to be the one saying, well, we didn't have a
problem, so we're not going to have a meeting, because my definition
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May 12, 2020
of a problem may be different than yours. So it doesn't have to be
Tuesday. It can be any day of the week.
But, Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want me to hit the
button?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: May I just ask one question? Is
this, the one that we've already approved, effective tomorrow?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There's no reason for us to
have a meeting next week unless it's a requisite. I had suggested that
in lieu of the decision that was made to leave our beaches open on the
premise that things became unmanageable or we had an increase in
capacities with our hospitals that we had that meeting. So I really
don't see us needing to have a meeting --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- until our next scheduled
meeting.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Well, then I will -- if it's
okay with the Board, I will assume the responsibility of, if I hear
from the Manager or the Sheriff s Department that we're having a
problem, we'll schedule a meeting; otherwise, I will stay the course as
you've outlined in the motion.
Any other business to come before the Commission? Oh, yeah.
We have a couple other items on the agenda.
MR. OCHS: Yes. We have one other item, plus we wanted to
finish the staff briefing, if we could, real quickly.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And where can people get beach
parking stickers as of today? Where can they go?
MR. OCHS: They can get them at the Tax Collector's Office
right here at the main government center campus, and they can get
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May 12, 2020
them at the Tax Collector's Office at the North Collier government
center located behind our headquarters library at Airport and Orange
Blossom.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: We have a Tax Collector's Office
also at 951 and 41.
MR. OCHS: He's not -- those are those only two places he's
selling them right now, ma'am. And I'm sure he'll be ringing my
phone up as soon as I get out of here.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And so the public knows, they're
not being sold, but you do have to give your -- have your passport --
MR. OCHS: I'm sorry. Yes, yes. You have to prove your
residency, yes.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You have to prove you're a
resident, yeah.
MR. OCHS: Steve?
MR. CARNELL: Okay. Let's get to boat ramps.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's another one.
MR. CARNELL: All of them are open. Remember, we've been
open for two weeks. Well, really, they've been open the entire time
except for the Caxambas boat ramp which closed early April and was
closed really the entire month of April and reopened on Friday, May
1 st. So all have been open since Friday, May 1 st.
We've had almost two weeks of experience, two weekends
worth of experience. We had quite a bit of traffic issues the first
weekend at the Goodland boat ramp with people parking in the
right-of-way. We were beyond capacity.
We have worked very closely with the Goodland community,
and specifically we installed a message board this past week on State
Road 92 to redirect Goodland boaters to other sites, and we've also
put some more concerted staff resources at the boat ramps to monitor
and maintain proper compliance. And this past weekend was much,
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much more successful at Goodland.
They are all crowded. They all closed at some point in time. So
success doesn't mean they were empty. Success means they were
manageable. We did not have issues in the parking lot or -- I'm
sorry -- in the streets.
Now I -- earlier, when we were talking about the beaches, I
didn't finish a thought, and this was a failure on my part. When I was
talking about Marco Island, Commissioner Taylor, those photos were
taken at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Now, those were the north end, if
you will; Tigertail, in that area.
Marco -- I don't have photos from Marco Island South Beach access
that we operate, but we did have vehicle issues. There are 67 parking
spaces in the county parking area, parking lot, and that parking lot
filled up very quickly. And we had traffic backed up reports onto
Collier Boulevard. So we need to work with the City of Marco to
manage that better.
It wasn't the same problem that Naples is having. You're not
spilling into residential areas to the same extent that Naples was
struggling with that. So we have an issue there we have to address.
But the Caxambas boat ramp, my intel was that we did close, but
we did not have issues with social distancing in the seawall area
which we were having weeks earlier. And we also didn't have an
extended backup, but we closed the ramp when we were full. It
didn't create vehicle traffic issues going into the boat ramp. That's
my understanding there.
Now, an important comment. To our knowledge, the majority
of the boaters, from what we could tell from the license plates,
Collier County license plates. Now, you'll understand the state of
Florida -- I haven't taken license plate 101, but there is -- you look at
a license plate, it will say Collier, or sometimes it says Sunshine
State. And I'm not, frankly, sure when you get issued a license plate
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that says Sunshine State versus when you get a license issued to your
particular county.
But what I'm telling you -- and we didn't count this precisely,
folks. But what our counts were indicating, a majority of the license
plates were Collier County. So I just want to be clear about that. I'm
not saying there were none from the East Coast; not saying that at all.
But I'm just saying a majority of them were Collier County from
what we could tell, and I'm generalizing all the sites when I say that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Is it possible, is it even legal, can
we require that the people using the boat ramps are Collier County
residents?
MR. OCHS: Right on cue, Mr. Klatzkow. Question was, can
you limit access to county boat ramp facilities and associated parking
to county residents only?
MR. KLATZKOW: Simply the countv facilities?
MR. OCHS: Yes.
MR. KLATZKOW: Well, we're limiting our parking garages to
county stickers, so why not? In for a penny, in for a pound.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You can't -- I'm sorry. I'm missing
something there. You can't tell whether somebody lives in Collier
County just because they have Collier County on their plate.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, no, no. You'd ask -- it's as if
you're getting a beach parking sticker at the ramp. They have -- you
have people posted at the ramp. Let me check -- and, by the way,
part of what I'd like to have is a motion or just a request from our
TDC representative here, is that we go back to Jack Wert and
advertise as of tomorrow to the East Coast these regulations,
including, if we agree, that only Collier County people can use the
boat ramps if we agree.
MR. OCHS: Commissioner, just a consideration, when you say
May 12, 2020
"only county residents," that means we're going to have to have
someone posted at the entrance --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Right.
MR. OCHS: -- checking residency. The backup on the
roadways is going to be severe.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's why the -- that's why the
advertising by our Tourist Department is important.
MR. KLATZKOW: Well, you just can't use Tourist
Development taxes for that because you're not exactly promoting
tourism now, are you?
MR. CARNELL: Yeah. One other distinction, ma'am. We do
sell marina stickers to people outside of Collier County. We don't
sell them for the beach at this point, but we sell them for the county.
I mean, I'm sorry. We do sell them for both at this point.
But, Barry, what's your concern; is it commercial or private users?
MR. WILLIAMS: Just -- you do have annual stickers out there
that if you're not -- you don't have to be a resident of Collier County
to purchase if people have. So you've obligated yourself for an
annual sticker for people to use the ramps there.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. You've already
purchased. So what happens with folks who are coming over here
from Dade County the new time, you know, just over here the first
time they've been here?
MR. WILLIAMS: Well, you know, the beach stickers, of
course, you cannot, you know, acquire, or purchase, but if you have a
sticker, if you live in Dade County and you present the sticker to get
on the boat ramp, certainly you can't -- yeah.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. Other regulation, okay. I
wasn't aware of it. Thank you.
MR. OCHS: If you don't have a sticker, you could pay. Yeah,
if you don't have a sticker and you're from Dade County, you can still
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enter the ramp and pay the fee to launch.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : We don't have a motion or a
decision on anything dealing with boat ramps yet. That's all
hypothetical. Go ahead and complete your report, and then we'll take
that up.
MR. CARNELL: Well, that's the gist of the information
regarding boat ramps. Let me move on to the next area.
I just want to -- remember, I said at the beginning I wanted to
talk to you about things that are open or things that are opening.
Presently in our park system, our trails and our green spaces remain
open, and we haven't reported any significant social distancing issues
there.
We reopened our playing fields and hard courts and dog parks,
essentially, the day that we reopened the beaches to not a lot of
fanfare, frankly.
The fields and courts are limited to single and small -group use
among groups of 10 at the max, and we're allowing -- this is
something that came out of the Governor's most recent executive
order where, prior to that you could have read it as 10 people max,
period. And the new order is now saying not allowing groups of
larger than 10, but it implies you can have more than one group as
long as there's sufficient social distancing.
So if you had two groups of 10, that is now permissible as long
as they're all properly socially distant. That affects us for, really, the
rest of our parks operations for fields, for hard courts, and for our
buildings.
So we've been operating under that since April 30th and by and
large been successful in terms of maintaining compliance.
And our Conservation Collier properties are open to the public.
And we do get some traffic at Pepper Ranch, but we have a
preregistration process there to control the groups as they come in
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and have not reported any problems with that thus far.
Let me keep going. Now, to talk about the things at the moment
and present are closed. Our community centers are closed. We
would like to begin re -opening them starting next week. And,
Commissioner Taylor, to your point, we will be able to distribute
beach parking permits at our community centers.
MR. OCHS: Just an aside, ma'am. And I don't mean to belabor
this, but many of the supplemental staff that we're putting on the
beach are the people that normally would be manning community
centers. So as we open community centers, that, you know, depletes
a little bit of the force that we had out on the beaches.
MR. CARNELL: Yeah. We're going to have to manage that as
we go, and we'll talk about summer camp in a moment.
Our aquatic facilities are closed at present, and we are looking at the
prospect of potentially re -opening them with our summer camps on
June 8th.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So you think only children
swim?
MR. CARNELL: No. No.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I'm just asking.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Hang on a second.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'm sorry.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel, you
were lit up, but I was just going to let him finish.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And that was a while ago, so
it had more to do with -- what's he doing?
MR. CARNELL: I gesture to Geoff. We need Geoff s help for
a second. Go ahead. Sorry.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, no, no. There's no
sorries. There is no license tags per county anymore. They stopped
that years ago because of thievery. People would be able to
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distinguish a county tag from a rental tag, and it ran into a big
problem with literally thieves were hitting people that were in rental
cars because they knew they were there. So they stopped delineating
the county from with which you're from, and that was done quite
some time ago. So it's a difficult aspect to enforce in the boat ramps
as to -- unless you have a body standing there and make them show
their ID as to whether or not they're from the county or not. I just that was the point I wanted to make.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. So lap swimming for
adults and children. Lap swimming, not --
MR. CARNELL: Can I talk about that in just a moment?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes, you may.
MR. CARNELL: If you would, this is an overview, and then
we're going to go to each amenity in a little more detail.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, okay. Sorry.
MR. CARNELL: All right. Okay. Fitness centers right now
are closed and really can't re -open until the Governor's executive
orders change. I'll talk about that more in a minute.
Playgrounds are closed right now, and we do have a plan for
some partial use of the playgrounds this summer, which I'll talk about
in a moment, and then competitive league play on our fields is really
closed until, effectively, the fall. I don't see really any window to
open it before then at the present time.
All right. Let's talk about summer camps. Right now I keep
telling my staff about my little adage with COVID is make a plan and
be ready to change it, all right. And that's -- you've got to understand
my comments in that context when we talk about summer camp.
Right now we are intending and seeking to open summer camp on
June the 8th. When we look at the prevailing guidance from the CDC
and the Governor, it is doable, and I'll explain just a little bit how
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we're going to try to do this.
We have over 800 campers registered at the moment. There's a
great deal of expectation and desire in the community to see summer
camp happen. Right now I don't -- I doubt seriously we're going to
be able to accommodate 800 campers and meet all the restrictions
and requirements. But what we have now is we've gone to a more
vanilla process where we're going to start with our basic nine -week
camp. That is kind of the core camp. We have 140 people signed up
for that right now. We have capacity, we believe, to handle between
450 and 500 based on the square -footage calculations and the things
that we're -- in terms of building capacities, all right.
And so right now we're starting with 140 of that base nine -week
camp, and then we have several other specialty camps we're going to
look at and see -- we may end up only being able to offer the
nine -week camp. I expect these numbers to grow, but they won't be
800 people because we're not going to be able to house that unless
something radically changes with the requirements.
We will be, I'll say, creatively challenged in terms of how we're
going to occupy our campers' times. We're not going to be doing
field trips. We're going to be -- so everybody who signs up at their
site, they're going to be confined to what's available at the site. In
places where we have playgrounds, we'll open the playgrounds for
the use of the campers, but we'll limit that. We will not be opening
the playgrounds to the public, the general public. And the same with
our community center buildings at this point.
The plan would be by and large to limit those uses to summer
camp. Now, we may have some beach parking permit location
pickups and some other business that takes place as well in those
community centers, but the plan right now is to go with a very tightly
controlled approach.
The thought is, we'll keep these kids in groups of 10. We'll
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separate them and spread them. In cases where we've got buildings
and we can put them in different rooms, we'll move them around,
kind of keep them apart from each other. And I know you're looking
at me, how in the world do you keep 10 eight -year -olds apart all day
long? We're going to do our best. We're going to increase our ratio
of counselors to campers.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Do we need to increase our budget
for ropes and --
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- and restraints?
MR. CARNELL: Maybe suicide prevention counselors, too; I
don't know.
But we're going to make an earnest effort, and we've got a lot of
"can do" in our park staff, and we're going to give it our best shot.
And, again, this could all change tomorrow if something else in the
rules and regs changes. But right now we think it's doable. We've
got to have adequate personal protective equipment at each site.
We've got that now, but we've still got to make sure we can maintain
that. And then we've got -- we're still working on protocols for
monitoring the health of the campers day to day right now.
It may be as simple as taking temperatures. Maybe we'll do a
little bit more than that if we can. That's still a work in progress, but
we'll figure that out between now and June the 8th.
So that's the plan with camp. Now, to what the County Manager
said earlier, I do want you all to understand. We have -- since the
beaches closed and our community centers closed, more or less at the
same time, Barry Williams took, essentially, ballpark numbers, about
50 staff resources at our 12, 13 community centers and redirected
them to the beach.
And from the entire time the beach was closed, March 1 st to
April 30, closed, closed, closed, we had people standing, our staff,
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our tollbooth staff and our community center staff, if you will, at the
various beach access points, the manned and unmanned sites and --
essentially, a friendly face instead of people just encountering a
barricade. We had a friendly face there to explain to them why we
were closed, to acknowledge and appreciate their efforts to help us
with social distancing and comply. We're all in this together.
That's been one of the most successful public relations strategies
we've implemented the whole time. We've gotten very positive
feedback from the public, people who understand, when they're
talked to respectfully, why it's important not to go on the beach.
Well, when the beach opened, most of those people stayed in place
because we were now into monitoring mode of trying to friendly -- as
Colonel Bloom describes, what did he call it, soft, friendly
enforcement where we are there to encourage people to comply, and
where things get out of hand, we escalate it. If things are really --
people are not willing to cooperate, then we go from a park staff
member to a park ranger, and then we get a guy with a gun if we need
to. That's the protocol in terms of dealing with misbehavior on the
beach.
Well, as we reopen the community centers, that staffs going to
be shifted. This is like, you know, military shifting from one theater
to the other. That's what we're going to be doing over the next three,
four weeks, and we're going to have to measure that against what's
going on, on the beach in terms of how much continued involvement.
I don't want any of you to get the impression we're pulling all 50
people out Monday. That's not what I said. It's going to be done
incrementally over three weeks and leave enough presence on the
beach to where we can still have some kind of face-to-face contact
with people but be able to operate our community centers as well.
So that's the juggling act that our Parks director's tasked with
right now, and I think he's up to it. And, again, those are the
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predicates. We've got to be able to make that work before we can
open for summer camp. And if we can't, then we open fewer sites. If
we can, we open as many sites as we can. That's the thought right
there with summer camp.
Now, the aquatics. Commissioner Taylor, start a little bit big
picture here. The national guidance right now on pools is to limit
re -openings to what we call community pools, and that would be
most of our pools. Everything not named Sun-N-Fun would be
considered a community pool in our system. And, of course, we need
to establish social distancing, crowd -size protocols.
There are benefits of opening pools beyond getting exercise.
They are fairly safe environs for limiting virus spread, similar to the
ultra -violate argument. There's -- the chlorine kills the virus. That's
all good. The problem is when you have six people hugging each
other or sitting on the deck next to each other too friendly. And
that's -- so that's the social distancing challenge, plus you have
restrooms and showers that have to be maintained and kept clean.
So right now, this is a plan, but the plan right now is to open
with -- on June 8th, sync it up with our summer camp opening. And
this will be open to the public at large. We will open with our
restrooms being cleaned frequently. We will keep locker rooms,
water parks -- that would be Sun-N-Fun -- and splash baths closed for
the time being until further notice.
And I suspect you will not have a full normally operating day at
the pool. We intend to close at least once midday to clean. And that
doesn't mean there won't be cleaning happening other times. But
there will be one set -aside time, probably an hour, to close the
facilities, clean and also check the water chemistry in all the water
features, and that will happen daily.
But the intent is to open it to everybody. The other big qualifier
on this is that we need lifeguard capacity. We need to have sufficient
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lifeguards to be able to man each water beach feature at each site.
And pretty -- if we keep Sun-N-Fun closed, that actually goes a long
way to helping the problem. We can redirect resources elsewhere to
the community pools.
But that's our plan right now. And, again, we're going to try to
sync that up with an opening on June 8th. Questions on that before I
move on?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, I think -- with all due
respect, and the -- and the pattern that the River Park pool takes is
what I know and have learned. They open their pool at certain hours
only to lap swimmers, and lap swimmers don't sit and sunbathe. So if
there could be any consideration to do that, I think it would be very
helpful, not to any swim teams, no competition, but just to lap -- lap
swimmers.
MR. CARNELL: Well, that's what I would expect would be the
primary users in the competitive pools, but I understand your point,
and we'll take a look at that.
Okay. Fitness centers. Right now the Governor has still not
released his executive prohibition on that, so they are not open. What
we are doing, though, is we have done a planning exercise where -- if
you've seen the Governor's plan -- I keep telling Leo, you have to
segregate the Governor's plan from the task force that made
recommendations to the Governor. The Governor basically bought
the task force in Phase 1 with the exception, I think, of the
hairstylists. He didn't open them till Monday.
But in the Phase 2 of the task force plan, which is presumably
guiding the Governor, it does have fitness centers opening at
75 percent capacity. There's no date on that yet and no action by the
Governor yet. So, again, they're not open now. When they do open,
if and when that happens, our thought would be we'll re -open with
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strict parameters. We're going to limit the number of patrons in each
facility at one time. We'll have user protocols, and we'll install
workplace controls. We'll include sneeze guards and things that
separate people from each other, and then on the equipment we'll
probably stagger the use of the equipment. So if you -- some of our
gyms have, like, five treadmills together. We'll turn off Treadmill 2
and 4. One, 3, and 5 will be open so it creates space between the
treadmills and the users there. Things like that.
And then we will be doing, similar to the pools, the thought will
be that we'll close at least once, probably limit the hours something
like 10:00 to 5:00 to begin with, and close 1:00 to 2:00 for cleaning,
and there will be cleaning occurring in between, but there will be one
focused central cleaning 1:00 to 2:00. And the idea is to kind of walk
into it, not rush the doors.
Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: How do you determine capacity in
a gym? I mean, would -- you said the Governor may open up at
25 percent capacity.
MR. CARNELL: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: But I spent a fair amount of time
in, you know, LA Fitness and some of the other places. Sometimes
they're crowded and most of the time they're not. But how do you
know what capacity is? I mean, is there a per -square -foot limitation?
MR. FRENCH: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Jamie
French. I'm your Deputy Department Head for Growth Management.
Sorry. I was going to say interim zoning director. Thank you.
That capacity's determined by square footage of type of construction.
Typically it's defined by the fire code.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So there is a number that
you come up with.
MR. FRENCH: Yes, sir.
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CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I was just curious how
you would do that.
MR. CARNELL: It's a valid question. It comes up on our
museums and libraries. We'll just talk about it in a moment.
Okay. So, anyway, that's the general plan. And, again, there's
no dates on any of this, because the Governor's going to make the
next move before we can really do anything in terms of activating it.
The thought would be, you go -- the first thought is we will open
the first phase for a week, see where we are. If we're successful -- I
mean, in other words, we'll probably open below the capacity the first
week, and then Week 2 maybe go to the gubernatorial level, if you
will, and then work our way back up to full utilization some day
between now and who knows when. So that's the thought with
fitness centers.
Okay. Libraries. Right now at the present time -- we have
reopened the Everglades City site. All other buildings are closed.
Our book drops have reopened. Our "mail a book homebound"
services resumed, curbside pickup of reserved materials has resumed,
and we are planning to operate summer reading this summer, our
summer reader program virtually beginning in June. So those are all
the things that are currently functioning.
The buildings are closed, as I said, and we do have, in the
Governor's executive order, a limitation to operate at 25 percent
building capacity until further notice, and then probably the single
biggest challenge to operating a library building, we are under a
72-hour quarantine requirement for all returned materials. So you
bring back War and Peace on Monday, we can't check it out to
anybody until Thursday, and it sits there off to the side. And the
same thing with DVDs and everything else coming back into the
library.
Now, originally the guidance was seven days on quarantine,
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which had the library director committing hari-kari in front of me at
the time, and it has been reduced and relaxed to three days, which is
actually semi functional.
And what it sets us up for -- we are going to have to make other
changes. We're going to install, again, sneeze guards, workplace
controls, limiters on traffic. We've got the 25-percent-capacity rule,
Mr. Chairman, to your question. We're going to work in the Building
Code -- work from the Building Code, and go from there, and we've
got to be sure we've got adequate supply of equipment for our staff
and disinfectant to be able to disinfect regularly throughout the day.
Now, this one has one date to it but two not. We're going to
phase the library starting with the regional libraries, and the hope
would be to open May 26th, and then we'll bring in the remainder of
the branches in two phases: Immokalee, Marco, Golden Gate, and
then eventually Vanderbilt, Golden Gate Estates, and East Naples.
But I have no dates on Phase 2 or Phase 3 yet. The challenges there
are we've got some temporary staff that have been laid off that have
had to come back to work. Don't know -- and we've also got a
number of people in the library who have health challenges who
won't be able to necessarily return to the workplace immediately. So
we -- by starting with the regional libraries, that gives us the biggest
bang for our buck, and it doesn't tap the entire staff. We can use staff
from the branches to support the regionals to begin with.
That's the plan for the libraries right now.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. When you say "regional
libraries," is that South Regional?
MR. CARNELL: Yes, ma'am. Naples regional, south, and
headquarters. Yeah, thank you.
All right. Domestic animal services, our shelter is still open to
the public, has been open to the public throughout the COVID-19
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experience, if you will, but we've been doing our adoptions primarily
online. We're doing a lot of front end gathering the data for the
adoptions and filling as much of the paperwork electronically
upfront, minimizing the actual adoption to a very limited experience.
A big factor for us at DAS, the Sheriff was good enough years
ago to provide us inmate labor to clean the kennels. Well, he's had to
pull those folks back and is advising that he probably won't be able to
bring that resource back to DAS until the end of July.
Now, that just means that we've got to do -- be very creative in
keeping our animal population on site down. Right now we're
fostering out practically all the animals in the shelter to foster
families, and they've been great, and we've had great support there,
but we're going to have to start, I'm assuming, taking some of those
animals back over time, I'm sure.
We're also contracting with the Humane Society beginning
today to provide us some relief veterinary services at the clinic so that
we can continue to operate and care for the animals that are there.
So, again, as I alluded to a moment ago, we've got to get the jail
inmates back to be able to function. All the field officers -- we are
limiting our calls right now in the field to emergencies, those where
we're assisting law enforcement or to pick up of confined stray
animals as a way of just trying -- believe it or not, it's mostly to limit
human contact in the shelter, these limitations.
So we've also got volunteers out right now. They're not back in
on site. We'll be bringing them back in with exceptions. There's
going to be people with health limitations who aren't going to want to
come back, but we'll bring them back in in line with as we increase
the animal population gradually back at the shelter. So that's DAS.
And then our Community and Human Services Division right
now, our congregate meal sites have been closed since March. We've
been delivering meals in a number of different ways. Most recently
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and currently delivering meals directly to clients.
Our case managers are not conducting any in -person home visits
with our elderly services programs. We're all doing that all by phone
or online. And for the bulk of our clients, that's just fine. They
would rather we not be in their homes. So their expectations and our
ability to serve kind of line up with each other at the moment.
We are developing a plan to re -open the meal sites with proper
social distancing, and the thought would be to target the Roberts
Center in Immokalee first potentially by June 1 st. We've got to
change how we order and accept the meals and what type of meals
we deliver. But the incentive to do this is we can deliver better meals
if we do a congregate site. Right now we're essentially delivering
what would almost be canned goods, maybe just a notch above that,
to people.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Hang on just a second.
Mr. Klatzkow, you've got the executive order for the beaches?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Commissioner Solis, you --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I reviewed it. I thought it was
fine --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That's fine. I just want to make
sure, if you could get someone to make copies, maybe a couple of
copies for all of us --
MR. KLATZKOW: I do.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- and staff, for the Manager,
everybody, so that -- because there are going to be questions, and we
need to get that on our web page as well so that the public will know.
I'm sorry, Mr. Carnell. I just wanted to get that process there.
MR. CARNELL: Yes. That's where we stand right now with
community human services. We will be ramping those services back
up, but a big factor is going to be the confidence and comfort of our
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clients in returning to in -person services. But we can meet their
needs in the meantime.
All right. Collier Area Transit continues to operate pretty much
all of our routes. We have suspended fares since March 23rd. And
we are actually using some additional buses on some routes to
maintain social distancing. Where we have heavy traffic, we're
sending duplicate buses to winnow down the crowd in a bus, so to
speak.
And we foresee being able to continue to operate this way for a
period of time. It is costing us some lost revenue each month, but we
understand the need for that. And we also have to keep our ridership
comfortable with being proximate to being with other people on the
buses, and we're very sensitive to when we see situations where
things are getting crowded to come up with alternative strategies to
relieve the crowding.
Now, our museums, all sites are closed right now. We are doing
a good deal of online exhibit work with our clients and families and
inviting them to participate in different online games with our
museums, but we are under the same limer (phonetic) the libraries are
under, 25 percent building capacity, and working through that right
now, developing the protocols for when the patrons come back.
Museums are a little different. The spaces are smaller and more
cozy, and that presents some challenges. In some ways it makes it
also easier to manage.
But we have to -- essentially, when we're -- when we get the
workplace controls in place, we'll be able to consider re -opening.
We'll need a little bit of lead time to reschedule canceled events and
restart programs. But at the moment we're just waiting -- we really
need to get to a point where either the Governor gives us more
capacity or we're completely ready to go with all of our workplace
controls.
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And last, the University of Florida Extension, right now the
office is closed, and they are establishing protocols for re -opening.
University of Florida's got some very strict prohibitions, and they
pretty much canceled all of their summer programs. That came from
Gainesville. So there's not going to be a lot of programming there for
children. There will be some adult outreach by faculty working with
our agricultural clients in the field, but that will be predicated, too, on
having enough PPE and being able to support them in the right way
with office visits limited -- limited office visit capacity.
So what I'm basically telling you is probably no children's
programs until the fall unless OF changes its posture, and we will
have some adult programs this summer.
So that's it in a nutshell from Public Services. Any questions?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Yeah, I want to make a quick
comment, and then Commissioner Fiala has her light lit up.
We're going to have to go back, obviously, to have a
conversation. Boat ramps was one of the items that we needed to talk
about.
But before we get into the boat ramps, I'm going to ask the
Commission members if they have any problems or recommend any
changes to all the other proposals dealing with parks, swimming
pools, things like that. So we may have to take those up one by one,
but I think we can do that fairly quickly.
Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. So I wanted to ask -- it says
here installing workplace controls. Sneeze guards for protection.
What is that, and do they have to wear them or what?
MR. CARNELL: No, no. Big giant plexiglass. There's some in
the County Manager's Office right now.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh.
MR. CARNELL: That's what we're talking about.
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COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We have to get one for Troy.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We need a sneeze guard for
Troy.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. Just a couple of things. I
don't think there's a discussion on boat ramps, because, clearly, if
folks have paid for a license and they're living in Dade County and
they've already paid for a license, which I guess is an annual fee, a
sticker, they can use our boat ramps. How can we -- we can't --
there's no other controls, so there's no discussion there. And then --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, I'll tell you what. Let's do
this one --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll just go through each one.
On boat ramps, we've heard the presentation. Boat ramps are
open. No restrictions. Any comments from the Board or any
changes?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If not, then we'll move to park
amenities that are -- I'm sorry -- park amenities that are closed. We
have community centers, aquatic facilities, fitness centers. There's
been dialogue concerning how we want to open those.
Commissioner Taylor, did you have any comments on those?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: The only one is the pools. I'd
like to see -- I'd like to see the pools open countywide for lap
swimmers only for specific times, and it's usually not in the middle of
the day.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. They have an aquatic
facilities target re -open date of June 8th. Are you looking at that date
for the opening for the --
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COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, I'd like to see it before.
That's for the kids. I'd like to see it before for adults, or lap
swimmers. You know, at least the kids who are on -- at least the
young people who are on swim teams can get in the water. You
know, they haven't been able to get in the water. So I'd like to see
that, but only for lap swimmers.
MR. CARNELL: Well, again, we've got to get the workplace
controls, the safety controls, physical equipment in place to protect
people, and then we also -- this issue of reallocating resources from
the beaches.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
MR. CARNELL: We're going to have to balance that.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's fair. Just a request, not a
demand.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Summer camps. You heard
presentations on that. Any concerns from the Commission?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: What is that page again, please?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I have a feeling, considering the
City of Naples has canceled their camps for the summer, you might
have a very great opportunity for staff, and you might also be able to
consider using their facilities. Excuse me, but they're sitting there
vacant.
MR. CARNELL: That's a great point, and we also are thinking
about trying to partner with them where maybe there's some staff
resources, particularly with special -needs campers that could
potentially help us at our sites.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. What are we going to do
with those special -needs kids? Wow.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : All right.
MR. OCHS: Commissioners, most of these were just updates or
briefings, and maybe by exception, sir, if there's anything in here
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that --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That's what I was trying to get to,
because there's a lot of things that staff has indicated that they're
planning on doing, and I want to make sure that on each one of these
items commissioners don't have any concerns.
MR. OCHS: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So that's why I was kind of going
through each one of these.
MR. OCHS: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The fitness centers, any concerns
with the way staffs proceeding with that?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Libraries?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I had one quick question. I
just wanted to ask where were you -- why did you find it okay to
open up the library in Everglades City and no others?
MR. CARNELL: A fine question. That is staff served by the
Tax Collector, and we have a cooperative arrangement with them. I
say "library." It's a reading room with materials for checkout and
circulation.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
MR. CARNELL: It's not a full-blown library. But they're open,
so we might as well allow checkout to occur was the thought.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Domestic Animal
Services?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Community and Human Services?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Collier Area Transit?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Museums?
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May 12, 2020
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And the University of Florida
Extension Services?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing no concerns, then the
staff -- I think it would be appropriate to have a motion to accept the
staff report as it relates to those items. So the staff has the authority
to proceed, so --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So moved.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'll entertain a motion.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: There's a second.
All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
MR. CARNELL: Thank you, Commissioners.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. OCHS: Thank you, Commissioners.
We have just a couple of quick updates from your Growth
Management Department. Mr. Cohen.
MR. COHEN: Thaddeus Cohen, Department Head, Growth
Management. We're going to do a tag team with Jamie French.
Currently, our retail services will resume this week. We did
enhanced signage.
Continue to focus on online services. Limited the public to the
May 12, 2020
physical structure. And also it provide us some enhanced safety
measures for not only the staff but the public. We're encouraging
folks who come into the facility to practice social distancing as well
as to wear some sort of face covering to be able to help both our staff
as well as the general public that comes in.
We continue to explore physical and virtual opportunities to
support the public for alternative meetings the way we're going to do
NIMs. The Planning Commission, we think we want to model after
what you -all are doing here, particularly now that we see that there
can be call -ins. We think that kind of -- that resolve some of the
issues that we have. So we're looking at being able to do that as well.
Looking to the applicant to be able to decide the best
methodology for being able to do NIMs. Code Enforcement, the
Special Magistrate, again, we've got a model here that the Board of
County Commissioners is using that we think that we can replicate.
Then from a hearing standpoint, let me turn that over to Jamie so we
can talk in terms of if you choose to direct us to be able to move
forward, how we're thinking about that process.
MR. FRENCH: Good afternoon, again. Jamie French, for the
record.
Commissioners, right now what we have ready for you, is how
I'll kind of phrase this, so it's already been through the Planning
Commission. These are land -use items that have already been
through the public process. There's some re -advertising that needs to
occur with these, and this is what we're here today to ask you for
some guidance.
The soonest we could get an item to you would be on 6/9, and
that advertising would need to happen tomorrow.
So then, currently, the -- like with Shadow Wood, Naples Senior
Center, Hyde Park, those, many of those the applicant had already
paid for the advertising and where the applicant had already paid and
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we've delayed it, we're going to go ahead and we're going to pay for
that advertising upfront so that we not put the burden back on the
community or back on the advertising -- on the applicant or the
landowner simply because this was just one of those unforeseen
circumstances. So we've got that built in, but that advertising would
have to take place tomorrow.
But it's met all the conditions as far as going through the public
process, and that would be the only three that we would have that we
could not bring forward to you on either a summary or a consent -type
agenda.
We have spoke with -- in fact, I know Bill Barton was here
earlier. He's representing -- he's involved with Shadow Wood.
Naples Senior Center, of course, is with the Oaks community -- or the
Oaks Boulevard community, and that's being represented by John
Passidomo and Rich Yovanovich.
And we've been -- and Bob Mulhere and Rich Yovanovich on
Hyde Park. Again, these are three that we're confident that we can
bring forward to you, and that would be on the 6/9 meeting.
It is going to take some time, though. There may some public input
because, especially with the Naples Senior Center. We believe that
that's going to be a pretty lengthy hearing, at a minimum of about an
hour and a half based off of the Planning Commission.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: What is that one, please? I'm sorry.
MR. FRENCH: Essentially what that is, it's a rezone of a
currently developed property from a former storage facility to where
they're trying to build a community center for residents that would be
considered senior citizens.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah, the Naples Senior Center.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: On that proposed set of hearings
for June 9th, you've got, just the estimate, of five hours of hearings.
MR. FRENCH: Correct.
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May 12, 2020
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a second meeting in June.
MR. OCHS: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So I think we should divide those
UP.
MR. OCHS: Stagger that, yeah.
MR. FRENCH: And we could do that. This would just be the
soonest we could get it to the Board.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. I don't have any problem,
personally, in hearing these, but I just don't want to hear them all the
same day.
MR. OCHS: Understood.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And the one that's probably the
most controversial is going to be the Naples Senior Center. And so I
want to make sure -- and maybe that's the one we should hear on the
second meeting so that we can get the word out. People that are out
of town can participate remotely now. We don't have quite the same
concern with doing something in the middle of the summer, but that's
one that's been delayed for a long time. And the other perspective is
we can delay that one until the fall. But if we're going to hear all
three of those, I'd like to divide them up.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I would agree that we
should divide them up. I'm not so sure, sir, that the Naples Senior
Center should ever be moved to the fall. I think it's -- there's a lot of
anxiety and anticipation on that one.
But perhaps because it is the biggest one, maybe we need to hear
it earlier in the month. Have that as the first one.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. I don't want to be
picking and choosing winners and losers. If there's a way
chronologically that we can manage these as they, in fact, came in, as
they were supposed to have been coming in, we should hear them in
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accordance with the time frame that they're in slot. Not jump one
ahead of the other. I don't want us to -- I mean, I agree with you that
we want to split them up as best as we possibly can. We don't need
to hear them all at once, necessarily.
But if we can keep them in the queue and move -- because
they're in line in some of a -- some sort of a --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. First in, first out.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I would agree with that.
So I'm assuming that the Board has no problem in hearing these three
items. We'll leave it to staff to decide how to divide them up; is that
all right?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's fine.
MR. COHEN: That will work best for us, because we have
some others that are going to come down the pike in which we're
going to try to bundle them to be able to move them more
expeditiously to be able to save time. So I take, Commissioner
McDaniel, the first in, first out, but sometimes we think what we're
trying to do is be sure that the ones that would have gone all the way
through to your July time frame, that we're still able to manage those
at this time --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I was just talking about -- I was
just talking about these three.
MR. COHEN: Okay, sir.
MR. OCHS: We'll apply that same methodology --
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I think the County Attorney's --
MR. KLATZKOW: Just real quick, because these are
quasi-judicial proceedings, our current rules on quasi-judicial
proceedings do not contemplate our present structure here, so I guess
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at the next meeting I'd like to work with staff and bring back sort of
like emergency rules for quasi-judicial in a hybrid situation like this.
I mean, among other things, swearing in people who are telephoning
in is --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All we can do is the best we can
do.
MR. KLATZKOW: All we can do is the best we can do. But if
we have -- at least if we have standard rules, everybody knows where
we are.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. If you could have those
for the next meeting --
MR. KLATZKOW: Next meeting.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- and we can approve those, and --
all right.
Then the items ready for summary agenda?
MR. FRENCH: So, Commissioners, we've --
MR. OCHS: Next slide.
MR. FRENCH: Here's your summary agenda items. And so
you know, we have been bringing you summary agenda items
currently, so we appreciate your support on that.
A number of land closings are dependent upon plat and plans
being recorded. That can only be done by this board, so we certainly
appreciate the Manager's guidance and your support in letting us
continue to bring these forward.
This is one there, though, the Clam Pass facility expansion.
That does not have CCPC requirements. That would be heard by the
BZA, so that goes directly to you, and that's a county project.
MR. OCHS: That's to expand the bathrooms, just so everybody
knows.
MR. FRENCH: And then -- so on the Planning Commission,
just for a little guidance, we're not seeking direction on how to do it.
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May 12, 2020
We're looking for your blessing today or certainly your go-ahead, so
to speak, on moving forward with the Planning Commission
meetings. If we were to advertise -- and I've had some conversation
with Ms. Kinzel, our clerk, with regards to advertising guidelines --
the soonest virtual or let's say a meeting like this that we could put
the Planning Commission back in business would probably be
June I l th based off advertising.
If we don't act on that today -- and what we would do is we
would -- we recognize that we're probably going to have to take those
less controversial items to push those forward first. But currently
we're sitting on somewhere between 50 and 60 items that need to go
to the Planning Commission. Now, some of those are for Hearing
Examiner. And, as you know, we currently don't have a Hearing
Examiner, so some of those are dock extensions, things like that.
So very procedural, but just to give you roundabout numbers,
what's currently ready to go for advertising and scheduled for hearing
are that many items currently.
MR. OCHS: How many of those are summary, would you --
proportionately?
MR. FRENCH: I'd say probably two-thirds of them are going to
be summary -type items.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So the direction you
need from the Commission is the authority to move to a larger venue,
is that basically --
MR. FRENCH: Or to allow us to go ahead and start Planning
Commission meetings back up in June.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So we have two items.
Any thoughts?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Just --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor and then
Commissioner Fiala.
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May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So I just -- this is about — not
about that in particular, but I guess I have a question. Where are you
with the hiring of a hearing examiner? Where are we in the process?
MR. OCHS: Commissioner, we just had an interview with one
applicant last week, and we've got one more interview scheduled --
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay.
MR. OCHS: -- I think for the latter part of this week, and
hopefully we'll be able to bring a contract back then in June.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: All right. Good.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. I was just wondering, what
are we going to do with items that require a hearing examiner? What
do we do with those items?
MR. OCHS: Well, right now they have to come to the Board in
lieu of the hearing examiner. But, again, we're moving as quickly as
we can to get that hearing examiner on board so we can move those
things to the hearing examiner.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think we ought to go ahead
and open up the Planning Commission again. We've got digital
capacities now that we didn't have before. I think we're going to be
able to function okay, continue to recommend social distancing and
do what we need to do. If it's requisite that we have the meeting in a
bigger venue because you don't have enough space, things are too
constrained, fine.
NIMs are going to be a trick, because -- the neighborhood
information meeting, because we're actually literally inviting the
public to come. But I think I recall that there are -- there are
opportunities for people to participate, and they don't have to be in
the room. They can do it digitally. And, I mean, we've already done
that today so far under the -- under the Zoom processes. So I would
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May 12, 2020
leave it up to staff s discretion as to whether or not you need to move
the venue to a larger space.
I think we've got the same technological facilities at North
Collier at that facility necessarily as what we do have here, and that's
a lot larger space. And so I would recommend that we go forth and
persevere.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I would agree with both of those,
especially using the North Collier hall, because we have control of
that. If we go into a school auditorium, you know, we have use of it
when we're permitted to use it. This way we've got total control over
it.
How many -- do you have any idea how many people you could
seat in the North Collier Regional Park exhibit hall with social
distancing? Just a ballpark number?
MR. COHEN: I would not ballpark it at this time. I think we
need to work with staff to, like we do here, you know, tag the seats
and see how we're able to --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. Okay.
MR. COHEN: -- make that work more.
MR. OCHS: It's 50. I'd say 50 easily, probably more.
MR. COHEN: Probably more.
MR. OCHS: Minimum of 50.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Then you've got places outside
where people can wait to go in.
MR. COHEN: Yeah. And it's covered. And you've got a
covered walkway. You can sit some folks there.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Any objections from the
Commissioner to start the process and use the North Collier hall?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. You got your direction
on that one.
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May 12, 2020
MR. OCHS: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So just one more thing before
we leave it, about the NIMs. I just want to confirm that these
issues -- and there's just a few of them, I think. Two of them are
coming in June. The NIM has expired in terms of our regulations, so
can we waive that, waive that requirement, or how do -- or just FYI,
we need to be able to handle it.
MR. KLATZKOW: No. What I'd like to do is have staff bring
back an item presenting the issue to the Board whether or not you
want to waive them. That will be the next meeting.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Anything else on the
COVID-19 issues?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Ochs, I think that -- does that
take us to 11 F then or --
MR. OCHS: Yes, it does, Mr. Chairman. We're scheduled for a
court reporter break at 2:50. I don't know if you want to try to rip
through this and finish up or --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's see if she gives us a thumbs
up to go forward. Okay. She wants to get out of here just as badly as
everybody else.
Item # 11 F
EMERGENCY/EXECUTIVE ORDER 2020-03: AN
EMERGENCY/EXECUTIVE ORDER ALLOWING FOR THE
PLACEMENT OF ADDITIONAL OUTDOOR SEATING AT
RESTAURANTS WITHIN ZONING DISTRICTS WHERE
EATING ESTABLISHMENTS ARE PERMITTED USES AND,
ALSO TO ALLOW FOR ADDITIONAL OUTDOOR SEATING
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May 12, 2020
FOR RESTAURANTS LOCATED WITHIN CERTAIN PLANNED
UNIT DEVELOPMENTS WHERE OUTDOOR SEATING IS NOT
CURRENTLY ALLOWED -- ADOPTED
MR. OCHS: Okay. Well, then Item I IF is a recommendation
to approve an emergency executive order allowing for the placement
of additional outdoor seating at restaurants within zoning districts
where eating establishments are permitted uses and also to allow for
additional outdoor seating for restaurants located within certain
Planned Unit Developments where outdoor seating is not currently
allowed.
Mr. French will make a brief presentation.
MR. FRENCH: Commissioners, I'm just here to answer any
questions that you might have. Your current Land Development
Code supports these regulations. The only thing different is the
extension of time.
And as -- we've had conversation with the County Attorney's
Office and Manager's Office. There are areas of the county where it
is restricted within the PUD that would prevent that type of use.
What we're asking for is for additional consideration given to some of
those shopping centers or things like that where outdoor seating is
restricted or maybe not be able to go within those vehicular use areas
that other areas may be able to enjoy.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I'm completely in
support of this. I mean, for as much time and effort as we spend
talking about regulating our beaches, we need to spend a greater
period of time assisting our community to get back to work and
supply the economic engine that makes us go.
So I'd like to make a motion for approval for this, but I would
like to ask a question. Do you want me to ask it now or --
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May 12, 2020
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Because we are fairly
unique in the zoning classifications -- we have a lot of PUDs that
allow for similar uses that are designated within our commercial
zoning designations, but then there are specific prohibitions of uses
that are delineated within the individual PUDs. How are you
planning on managing that?
MR. FRENCH: They'd be tied to the primary use, sir. They
would be tied to whatever they're licensed for currently.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the second question is,
in -line facilities, restaurants that have -- that are in line with retail,
how are you going to regulate the aggregation of the parking to be
able to facilitate the additional outdoor seating requisites and still not
encumber the retail businesses that are in line at the same -- in similar
location?
MR. FRENCH: That's a great question. Thank you, sir.
So within the -- within your executive order what it does call for
is that if the property that's being -- that's requesting -- the business
requesting the additional parking, if they don't own their parking lot,
then they would come forward with the property management group,
and they would have that worked out.
So typically what happens is that the restaurant is guaranteed a
certain number of spaces based off their occupancy or based off their
use, and the remainder of the parking lot is utilized by the rest of the
strip center.
Because -- we don't know that that's going to be much of an
issue because most of these business are -- they're now limited to
25 percent occupancy as it is. So, so long as they bring in an
agreement and understanding for that time period that's identified by
the landowner or by the property management group, we would take
that into consideration on the application.
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May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And we did waive the fee for
the request?
MR. FRENCH: Your -- and thank you. But the County
Manager's done a great job in giving us guidance and, yes, the fee is
to be waived only for these restaurants.
MR. OCHS: And that's in your order.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And just, if the Commission
agrees, I'd like to see if we can't incorporate that into our regulations
for in case of emergencies so that the -- dare I say it? If this ever
happens again, there is already a mechanism in place. And I think I
spoke to Mr. French, and he indicated that that would be a simple
task; is that correct?
MR. FRENCH: That's correct.
MR. KLATZKOW: You'd have to -- no. You'd have to amend
the Land Development Code for that. This is an emergency order for
this particular emergency.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh. Okay. Well, I'd like to see
if we could amend the -- and, again, that's a process.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll entertain that in the fall;
how's that?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Hopefully we will not have another
pandemic for another 100 years.
We have a motion. I don't know if we had a second or not.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second to
accept the staff recommendation concerning the outdoor dining. Any
questions, any comments from the Commission?
(No response.)
May 12, 2020
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS
If not, I'll call for the question. All
in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
Thank you.
Item # 15
STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that takes us to Item 15, staff and
Commission general communications. I have nothing additional. I
think I took up enough time of this board today.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I would ask Ms. Kinzel if she had
anything, but I don't see her back there. So if she hears us, she can
come running back while we're going through this.
Commissioner McDaniel, do you have anything for the good of the
order here?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Good news. Good -news item. I
think we need to hear it. I got some statistics just recently from some
data from First Florida Integrity Bank. They have loaned 1,571 loans
in Collier County for $185 million, and 85 percent of those loans are
under $1001000.
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May 12, 2020
Mr. Richter, Senator Richter thinks that -- he estimated that
24,000 individual paychecks were affected by this loan.
And then Jerry Mull from Bank of America emailed me. They
have issued 2,045 loans -- yeah, 2,045 loans for $143 million, and the
average size of those loans are $70,000.
So, you know, the money is flowing into Collier County, and
we've got some -- it's just -- it just kind of balances all this other out a
little bit, right?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I ask that you shoot a
one-way out to us all so we could have that just in the repertoire?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes, you got that. Yeah, yeah.
Thank you. Thank you for the work of our bankers.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : Okay. I think we may have some
comments from our Tax Collector maybe having something to do
with beach parking stickers.
MR. RAY: You think?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Just a wild guess.
MR. RAY: You think.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, come on.
MR. RAY: Larry Ray, Collier County Tax Collector.
You know, we opened up Monday, and we've got limited
capacity. There was a pretty good pent-up demand. We've been
open the whole six weeks doing phone work and doing some work.
But anyway, it's been a busy time for us.
Beach passes is a troublesome service to provide because
nobody's happy with the rules, and we don't make the rules. And let
me go out and take a picture of my registration. I don't have the real
registration. What do you mean you can't give it to me for my
brother who's -- you don't -- you know, you don't want to know.
But at any rate, when you made your announcement, the phone's
been ringing off the hook. So I need some -- could you help me in
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May 12, 2020
any way, Leo? Is there a way that you -all could have an office --
right now I'm the only game in town for beach passes, you know.
The only reason I took beach passes -- this will be news to you
guys -- was -- used to do it in Building F, and I had my old office
right there at the front, and I spent an inordinate amount of time
walking out and pointing people how to get to Building F.
So finally I went to the county, and I said, hell, why don't I just
do beach passes? And that way I won't have to direct people to
Building F. And then I made a really key mistake, is one reason I'm
over here, I said, I'll do it for free.
So I'm here today to ask some kind of help and relief in this
beach pass business.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You need some mercy.
MR. RAY: I need some mercy if you can help me out. And I
don't know the answer to that. I know the parks aren't open, but
could you open a front office that does beach passes or something?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I can tell you one thing that's not
an answer; we're not taking it back.
MR. RAY: Well, I'm not sure that's the way that works. But
you're right, I don't want to give it back. I don't mind doing beach
passes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Maybe that's something that you
and the County Manager should have some conversation about.
MR. OCHS: I know where we can meet.
MR. RAY: Yeah. Well, I'm sure we can.
MR. OCHS: Yeah, that's true.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If you stay six feet apart, you can
work it out.
MR. OCHS: Yeah. We'll get some staff -- we'll get some places
open very quickly here to help take that burden off.
MR. RAY: I'd appreciate that.
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May 12, 2020
here.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. Thank you for being
Commissioner Taylor, did you have anything else?
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That was it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner Solis?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. I think we used to give
beach passes out downstairs, didn't we? We could always do that
again. You say no?
MR. OCHS: No, no. We'll get after it.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: We should have gone to lunch. I
think I didn't eat breakfast either, so I'm ready.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. I'm going to spend a minute
bragging about the County Commission for just a second.
Obviously, we appreciate everything our staff has done.
They've done a marvelous job through the last couple of months, and
we've got many, many more months to go.
But I'll tell you, we had probably -- we've been dealing with one
of the most controversial topics we will ever have to deal with, and
it's very hard to come up with the right answer to any of these things
dealing with beach openings, beach closing, anything dealing with
COVID-19. It's just, you know, something that's beyond anything we
would have ever expected.
We had a very civil conversation today. We didn't agree on
everything. I want to thank Commissioner Solis for coming up with
what I think is a good middle ground to solve an issue or deal with an
issue dealing with beaches, but we did it in a way that was civil. No
one's yelling at anybody.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Except me. I got a little hot.
Sorry about --
May 12, 2020
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Don't point your finger at anyone.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- I apologize for telling you to
stop -- stop it, so...
We're at opposite ends, though.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And you know -- but it ended well.
In a lot of commissions, the two of you would still be arguing about
who's pointing fingers at who. And the point is that we're working
together as a team. We don't always agree, but at least we're being
agreeable in our disagreements and not creating a situation where the
public is looking at us and wondering what's going on at the county.
And so I just want to thank the board members for that.
I don't have anything else, and -- Mr. Klatzkow?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah. Just real quick.
The County's Manager suggested a minor change to the
emergency order that Commissioner Solis reviewed and is okay with,
and it was the addition of not only Collier County beach parking
passes but also City of Naples.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm sorry. I couldn't understand
what you were just saying.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. It's not -- the vehicles will be both
Collier County and City of Naples beach parking.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Oh, okay.
MR. KLATZKOW: That's the only change, but since you had
voted on the prior language, I just wanted to make sure the
Commission was fine with this.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I assume that nobody has any
objections to that change in the language?
MR. OCHS: Yeah. That's consistent with your current
interlocal agreement on beach parking passes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. That's what was intended
Page 185
May 12, 2020
anyway.
All right. Anything else?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS : If not, we are adjourned.
* * * * Commissioner Taylor moved, seconded by Commissioner Solis
and carried unanimously that the following items under the Consent
and Summary Agendas be approved and/or adopted * * * *
Item # 16A 1
A COLLIER COUNTY LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE
AGREEMENT ("AGREEMENT") BETWEEN COLLIER
COUNTY AND LB NAPLES GRANDE, LLC, FOR LANDSCAPE
AND IRRIGATION IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN THE GOLDEN
GATE PARKWAY PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
Item #16A2 — Continued to the May 26, 2020 BCC Meeting
(Per Agenda Change Sheet)
RECOMMENDATION TO ACCEPT A MULTI -WAY STOP
WARRANT STUDY AND REMOVAL OF A TWO-WAY STOP
CONTROL AT THE INTERSECTION OF MANATEE ROAD
AND ROOST ROAD, FOR A COST OF APPROXIMATELY $400
(COST CENTER 163630)
Item # 16A3
AN AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF LAND (PARCEL
102FEE) REQUIRED FOR THE TRIANGLE BLVD/PRICE
STREET PROJECT (PROJECT #60215) — PORTION OF FOLIO
May 12, 2020
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Item # 16C 1
A QUIT CLAIM DEED FROM DIXIE SKY CORP FOR
APPROXIMATELY 13.56 ACRES OF LANDS FOR RIGHT-OF-
WAY PURPOSES, WITH NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR
MAINTENANCE — LOCATED OFF OF SR 29
Item #16C2
AWARD AGREEMENTS FOR INVITATION FOR
QUALIFICATION ("IFQ") NO. 19-7624, "MARINE
CONTRACTING SERVICES," FOR COUNTY -WIDE GENERAL
CONTRACTOR SERVICES TO QUALITY ENTERPRISES USA,
INC., KELLY BROTHERS, INC., MARINE CONTRACTING
GROUP, INC., TSI DISASTER RECOVERY, LLC. — WITHIN
THE PARKS & REC DIVISION TO MAINTAIN COUNTY -
OWNED MARINE FACILITIES
Item # 16C3
APPROVING THE DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO
TERMINATE A PORTION OF AN EXISTING COLLIER
COUNTY UTILITY EASEMENT TO WATERMARK AT NAPLES
FL, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY,
ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT AT EDGE 75 AT
WATERMARK — LOCATED WITHIN THE 951 COMMERCE
CENTER
Item # 16C4
Page 187
May 12, 2020
A TERMINATION OF EASEMENT TO RELEASE A PORTION
OF THE 1984 RECORDED UTILITY EASEMENT WITH
FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY AND TO APPROVE A
NEW UNDERGROUND EASEMENT (BUSINESS) TO FLORIDA
POWER & LIGHT COMPANY TO MEMORIALIZE THE
LOCATION OF THE EXISTING ELECTRICAL SERVICES —
FOLIO #003 89600008
Item #16C5
AUTHORIZING BUDGET AMENDMENTS FOR THE
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION IN THE AMOUNT OF
$2510000 TO FUND TWO (2) INFRASTRUCTURE SALES
SURTAX PROJECTS UNDER THE HVAC, ROOFING, AND
CAPITAL EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT AT SHERIFF'S AND
COUNTY FACILITIES CATEGORY. (PROJECTS #50184 AND
#50185)
Item #16C6
A BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR THE FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT DIVISION IN THE AMOUNT OF $20000 TO
COVER COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH COVID-19 — COVERING
THE COST OF ENHANCED CLEANING SERVICES,
SPECIFICALLY FACILITY DISINFECTIONS
Item # 16C7
EXECUTING DOCUMENTS NECESSARY FOR THE
CONVEYANCE OF A UTILITY EASEMENT FOR POTABLE
May 12, 2020
WATER INFRASTRUCTURE ON COUNTY OWNED
PROPERTY LOCATED AT THE COLLIER COUNTY SPORTS
COMPLEX AND EVENTS CENTER, 3920 CITY GATE BLVD N,
TO THE COLLIER COUNTY WATER -SEWER DISTRICT, AT A
COST NOT TO EXCEED $200
Item # 16D 1
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE TERMINATION OF
AGREEMENT LETTER FOR THE SUMMER FOOD SERVICE
PROGRAM AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER
SERVICES AND THE COLLIER COUNTY PARKS &
RECREATION DIVISION — COLLIER COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS IS TAKING OVER ADMINISTRATION OF THE
PROGRAM
Item # 16D2
"AFTER -THE -FACT" SECOND AMENDMENT AND
ATTESTATION STATEMENT WITH THE AREA AGENCY ON
AGING FOR SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, INC. (AGENCY) TO
TRANSFER FUNDS BETWEEN THE OLDER AMERICAN ACT
(OAA) PROGRAM TITLE IIIE SERVICES TO TITLE IIIES
SUPPLEMENTAL SERVICES — AS DETAILED IN THE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item # 16D3
RESOLUTION 2020-77: AN AMENDMENT TO A JOINT
PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY
May 12, 2020
AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
FOR THE SECTION 5339 BUS AND BUS FACILITIES
FORMULA PROGRAM TO REVISE THE TOTAL GRANT
AWARD TO $202,400 AND REMOVE THE TWENTY PERCENT
(20%) STATE TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT CREDIT
MATCH REQUIREMENT
Item # 16D4
RESOLUTION 2020-78: CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT WITH
THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT)
FOR COLLIER AREA TRANSIT (CAT) TO CONSTRUCT A BUS
PULL-OUT AT BUS STOP SITE 367 ON FDOT OWNED RIGHT-
OF-WAYS AND APPROVE A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT — LOCATED ON
SR 29 AND E. MAIN STREET IN IMMOKALEE
Item # 16D5
APPROVAL OF THE COLLIER AREA TRANSIT (CAT) PUBLIC
TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SAFETY PLAN (PTASP) IN
ACCORDANCE WITH FINAL RULE 49 C.F.R. PART 673
Item # 16D6
FIVE (5) MORTGAGE SATISFACTIONS FOR THE STATE
HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP LOAN PROGRAM IN
THE AMOUNT OF $11, 800 AND AUTHORIZE TWO (2)
BUDGET AMENDMENTS. THE FIRST FOR $11 NO IN
PROGRAM INCOME FROM THE MORTGAGE
SATISFACTIONS, THE SECOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $970.43
Page 190
May 12, 2020
IS AN ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION TO RECOGNIZE BUDGET
ROLL FORWARD FROM PROGRAM YEAR 2015-2016 CLOSE
OUT, PROJECT 33429 TO PROGRAM YEAR 2016-2017,
PROJECT #33467 — PROPERTIES LOCATED AT 5333 32ND AVE
SW, 2773 54TH ST SW, 14737 APALACHEE STREET, 3715
FIELDSTONE BLVD AND 1748 44TH TERRACE
Item # 16D7
ONE (1) RELEASE OF LIEN FOR FULL PAYMENT OF $8,712.70
($6,970.16 PLUS INTEREST), PURSUANT TO AGREEMENT
FOR DEFERRAL OF 100% OF COLLIER COUNTY IMPACT FEE
FOR AN OWNER -OCCUPIED AFFORDABLE HOUSING
DWELLING — LOCATED AT 7749 BRISTOL CIRCLE, FOLIO
#24778006286
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ONE (1) RELEASE OF LIEN FOR AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING
DENSITY BONUS UNIT THAT IS NO LONGER SUBJECT TO
THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT AND AUTHORIZE THE
ASSOCIATED BUDGET AMENDMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF
$55389 — LOCATED AT 7749 BRISTOL CIRCLE, FOLIO
#24778006286
Item # 16E 1
RATIFYING THE COUNTY MANAGER'S ACCEPTANCE OF
THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES EMERGENCY
FUND PAYMENT UNDER PUBLIC LAW 116-136 "CARES ACT
PROVIDER RELIEF PAYMENT" IN THE AMOUNT OF
Page 191
May 12, 2020
$458,750.17 THAT WAS DEPOSITED ON APRIL 17, 2020 AND
TO AUTHORIZE ANY NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Item # 16E2
AWARD REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL ("RFP") NO. 20-7674,
"BIOMETRIC TESTING," TO MIDLAND HEALTH TESTING
SERVICES, INC., IN SUPPORT OF THE COUNTY'S HEALTH
AND WELLNESS PROGRAM
Item # 16E3
RATIFYING PROPERTY, CASUALTY, WORKERS'
COMPENSATION AND SUBROGATION CLAIM FILES
SETTLED AND/OR CLOSED BY THE RISK MANAGEMENT
DIVISION DIRECTOR PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION #2004-15
FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF FY20
Item # 16E4
RESOLUTION 2020-79: SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY
FOUNDATION OF COLLIER COUNTY AS A CENTRAL SITE
FOR THE RECEIPT AND DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL
DONATIONS DURING TIMES OF LOCAL CRISIS OR
DISASTER
Item #16E5
MODIFICATION # 1 TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
PERFORMANCE GRANT (EMPG) AGREEMENT G0042 WITH
THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
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May 12, 2020
TO ALLOW FOR AN EXTENSION OF 90 DAYS TO THE
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE - ALLOWING THE COUNTY TO
RECEIVE AND PROCESS EXPENDITURES RELATED TO THE
PROBABLE DELAYS IN RECEIVING ORDERED SUPPLIES
AND EQUIPMENT AS A RESULT OF THE CURRENT
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENT
Item # 16E6
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS PREPARED BY THE
PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR CHANGE ORDERS
AND OTHER CONTRACTUAL MODIFICATIONS REQUIRING
BOARD APPROVAL — COVERING ONE (1) CHANGE ORDER
MODIFYING CONTRACTS BY $0.00, AND THREE (3) AFTER -
THE -FACT MEMOS WITH A FISCAL IMPACT OF $196,635.90
Item # 16E7
REPORT FOR THE SALE OF ITEMS AND DISBURSEMENT OF
FUNDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE COUNTY SURPLUS
AUCTION HELD ON APRIL 3 AND APRIL 4, 2020 — WITH
TOTAL SALES AT $530,480.00
Item #16E8
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT PREPARED BY THE
PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR DISPOSAL OF
PROPERTY AND NOTIFICATION OF REVENUE
DISBURSEMENT - FOR ON-LINE SALES IN THE AMOUNT OF
$61135.00 AND DISPOSED ASSETS HAD A NET BOOK VALUE
OF $561.18
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May 12, 2020
Item # 16F 1
BOARD RATIFICATION OF ITEMS APPROVED BY THE
COUNTY MANAGER PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION 2020-50
DECLARING A LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY IN COLLIER
COUNTY
Item # 16F 1 a
RENEWAL OF THE ANNUAL CLASS 1 (ALS TRANSPORT/ALS
RESCUE) AND CLASS 2 (ALS INTRAFACILITY ALS
AMBULANCE TRANSPORT) CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC
CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY (COPCN) AND PERMIT FOR
THE SEMINOLE TRIBE FIRE RESCUE DEPARTMENT WITHIN
THE BOUNDARIES OF THE SEMINOLE TRIBE IN
IMMOKALEE
Item # 16F 1 b
A MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (MOA) BETWEEN
COLLIER COUNTY AND THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FOR THE STORAGE OF
PALLETIZED MATERIALS AND MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
Item # 16F 1 c
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
Page 194
May 12, 2020
FOR THE PERIODS BETWEEN MARCH 12, 2020 AND APRIL 1,
2020 PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06
Item # 16F 1 d
BOARD APPROVED AND DETERMINE VALID PUBLIC
PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND PURCHASING
CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF APRIL 8, 2020
Item # 16F 1 e
RESOLUTION 2020-76 (DATED 4/27/2020): TWO (2)
AGREEMENTS TOTALING $1,437,560 WITH THE UNITED
WAY OF COLLIER COUNTY AND THE KEYS TO
IMPLEMENTING AN EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT -CV
COVID-19 AND STATE HOUSING INITIATIVE PARTNERSHIP
PROGRAM TO BENEFIT INDIVIDUALS AND HOUSEHOLDS
IMPACTED BY THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Item # 16F 1 f
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ENTITLEMENT
COVID-19 AND ANY FUTURE GRANT AGREEMENTS AND
REQUIRED SF424S UPON ARRIVAL AND APPROVE (1)
SUBSTANTIAL AMENDMENTS TO COLLIER COUNTY'S U.S
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
ANNUAL ACTION PLAN FOR FY2019-2020 TO ADDRESS
ADDITIONAL FUNDING AND PROGRAMS RELATED TO
COVID-19 THAT PROVIDES FOR $707,128 FOR ESG-CV
ACTIVITIES AND $1,561,633 CDBG-CV FOR THOSE
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May 12, 2020
IMPACTED BY COVID-19; (2) SUBSTANTIAL
AMENDMENTS TO THE COUNTY' S 5-YEAR CONSOLIDATED
PLAN 2016-2021; (3) CHANGES TO THE 2016-2021 CITIZEN
PARTICIPATION PLAN TO REFLECT HUD COVID-19
WAIVERS; (4) AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN HUD
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS; AND (5) AUTHORIZE NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Item # 16F 1 g
THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
AGREEMENT #18-7404, COLLIER COUNTY SPORTS
COMPLEX MARKETING AND SUPPORT, TO SPORTS FIELDS,
INC., OF GA D/B/A SPORTS FIELDS, INC. ('SFI"), AND MAKE
A FINDING THAT THIS EXPENDITURE PROMOTES TOURISM
Item # 16F 1 h
AN AGREEMENT WITH CC BSG, LLC. ("CLUBCORP"),
PURSUANT TO INVITATION TO NEGOTIATE
("ITN") #20-7689, ALLOWING FOR UP TO A ONE-YEAR DUE
DILIGENCE REVIEW PERIOD CONCERNING THE PROVISION
BY CLUBCORP OF A GOLF AND ENTERTAINMENT
SERVICES AT THE FORMER GOLDEN GATE GOLF COURSE,
AT NO COST TO THE COUNTY, WHICH PROVISION OF
SERVICES THE PARTIES INTEND TO MEMORIALIZE
THROUGH A LEASE AGREEMENT TO BE BROUGHT BACK
FOR THE BOARD'S CONSIDERATION AT A FUTURE
MEETING
Item # 16F 1 i
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May 12, 2020
BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR $300,000 FOR
COMMUNICATIONS D-4 BACK UP PSAP DUE TO COVID-19
(9-1-1)
Item # 16F 1 j
A WORK ORDER UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 14-6213,
"UNDERGROUND UTILITY CONTRACTORS," FOR BAY
COLONY BEACH DUNE SWALE RESTORATION TO QUALITY
ENTERPRISES USA, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $325,714.28
Item # 16F 1 k
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS PREPARED BY THE
PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR CHANGE ORDERS
AND OTHER CONTRACTUAL MODIFICATIONS REQUIRING
BOARD APPROVAL
Item # 16F 11
EXTENDING THE EXISTING CONTRACTS WITH EXECUTIVE
ALLIANCE GROUP, INC. AND HYPERTEAM USA BUSINESS
CONSULTING, INC., UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 15-
6521, "INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) ON- CALL
SERVICES," FOR A PERIOD OF SIX MONTHS TO ALLOW
STAFF TO COMPLETE SOLICITING AND NEGOTIATING A
NEW AGREEMENT, TO PREVENT A LAPSE IN THIS SERVICE
Item # 16F 1 m
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May 12, 2020
A $557,000 WORK ORDER TO KYLE CONSTRUCTION, INC.,
UNDER REQUEST FOR QUOTATION ("RFQ") #14-6213-GG
WW SYSTEM EXTENSION, "GOLDEN GATE WASTEWATER
SYSTEM EXTENSION," FOR UNDERGROUND UTILITY
CONTRACTING SERVICES (PROJECT NUMBER 70255)
Item # 16F 1 n
AWARD INVITATION TO BID ("ITB") NO. 20-7704, "PUMPS,
PARTS, AND SERVICES," TO NAPLES ELECTRIC MOTOR
WORKS, INC., AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN
THE AGREEMENT
Item # 16F2
A FOURTH AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT WITH GC II, LLC,
TO EXTEND THE CLOSING DATE FROM MAY 15, 2020 TO
DECEMBER 11 2020 FOR THE PURCHASE OF 1.75 ACRES
PREVIOUSLY APPROVED TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL
PARKING AT COLLIER COUNTY SPORTS COMPLEX AND
EVENT CENTER AT A COST NOT TO EXCEED $401,300, AND
TO AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Item # 16G 1
SUBMITTAL OF AN AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
(AIP) GRANT APPLICATION TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION
ADMINISTRATION REQUESTING APPROXIMATELY $205,065
FOR THE DESIGN OF THE REHABILITATION AND
WIDENING OF RUNWAY 15/33 AT EVERGLADES AIRPARK
AT A TOTAL ESTIMATED COST OF $227,850 — FINAL
May 12, 2020
APPLICATION IS DUE TO THE FAA BY MAY 18, 2020
Item # 16G2
AFTER -THE -FACT SUBMITTAL OF A CORONAVIRUS AID,
RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY (CARES) ACT GRANT
APPLICATION TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION
ADMINISTRATION (FAA) REQUESTING $511000 FOR
ELIGIBLE OPERATING EXPENSES AT THE IMMOKALEE
REGIONAL AIRPORT, MARCO ISLAND EXECUTIVE
AIRPORT, AND EVERGLADES AIRPARK - FUNDS ARE
COMING DIRECTLY FROM THE U.S. TREASURY'S, AND NO
MATCH IS REQUIRED
Item # 16H 1
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 17 - 23, 2020 AS
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES WEEK IN COLLIER
COUNTY. THE PROCLAMATION WILL BE DELIVERED TO
TABATHA BUTCHER, CHIEF, COLLIER COUNTY
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES — ADOPTED
Item # 16H2
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 2020 AS NATIONAL
BIKE MONTH IN COLLIER COUNTY. THE PROCLAMATION
WILL BE DELIVERED TO MICHELLE AVOLA,
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, NAPLES PATHWAYS
COALITION — ADOPTED
Item # 16H3
Page 199
May 12, 2020
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 2020 AS DROWNING
PREVENTION MONTH IN COLLIER COUNTY. THE
PROCLAMATION WILL BE MAILED TO PAULA DIGRIGOLI,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NCH SAFE & HEALTHY
CHILDREN'S COALITION OF COLLIER COUNTY — ADOPTED
Item # 1611
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE — ITEMS TO FILE FOR
THE RECORD:
Page 200
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
May 12, 2020
1. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS TO FILE FOR RECORD WITH ACTION AS DIRECTED:
A. DISTRICTS:
1) Heritage Bay Community Development District:
Meeting Agenda 01/30/2020
Meeting Minutes 01/30/2020
2) Naples Heritage Community Development District:
Meeting Agenda 01 /07/2020
Meeting Minutes 01 /07/2020
3) The Quarry Community Development District:
Meeting Agenda 03/16/2020
Meeting Minutes 03/16/2020
B. OTHER:
1) Immokalee Fire Control District:
District Audit FY Ended 09/30/2019
May 12, 2020
Item # 16J 1
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 APRIL 16, 2020 AND APRIL 29,
2020 PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06
Item # 16J2
BOARD APPROVED AND DETERMINE VALID PUBLIC
PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND PURCHASING
CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF MAY 6, 2020
Item # 16K1
RESOLUTION 2020-80: APPOINTING RAYMOND CHRISTMAN
WITH TERM EXPIRING ON MAY 22, 2024 TO THE COASTAL
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Item # 17A
THIS ITEM HAS BEEN CONTINUED FROM THE MARCH 24,
2020 BCC MEETING TO MAY 112020 AND IS FURTHER
CONTINUED TO THE JUNE 9, 2020 BCC MEETING.
RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE BY ORDINANCE
PETITION PL20180002792/CPSS-2019-03, A GROWTH
MANAGEMENT PLAN SMALL SCALE AMENDMENT
SPECIFIC TO THE URBAN COMMERCIAL DISTRICT OF THE
FUTURE LAND USE ELEMENT, TO CREATE A NEW
Page 201
May 12, 2020
SUBDISTRICT, VANDERBILT BEACH COMMERCIAL
TOURIST SUBDISTRICT. (ADOPTION HEARING) (THIS IS A
COMPANION TO AGENDA ITEM # 17B)
Item # 17B
THIS ITEM HAS BEEN CONTINUED FROM THE MARCH 24,
2020 BCC MEETING TO MAY 12, 2020 AND IS FURTHER
CONTINUED TO THE JUNE 9, 2020 BCC MEETING. THIS ITEM
REQUIRES EX PARTE DISCLOSURE BE PROVIDED BY THE
COMMISSION MEMBERS. SHOULD A HEARING BE HELD ON
THIS ITEM, ALL PARTICIPANTS ARE REQUIRED TO BE
SWORN IN, AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
AMENDING ORDINANCE NUMBER 2004-419 AS AMENDED,
THE COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE,
WHICH ESTABLISHED THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING
REGULATIONS FOR THE UNINCORPORATED AREA OF
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, BY AMENDING THE
APPROPRIATE ZONING ATLAS MAP OR MAPS BY
CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION OF THE HEREIN
DESCRIBED REAL PROPERTY FROM A COMMERCIAL
INTERMEDIATE DISTRICT (C-3) ZONING DISTRICT TO A
COMMERCIAL PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (CPUD)
ZONING DISTRICT FOR THE PROJECT TO BE KNOWN AS
VANDERBILT BEACH COMMERCIAL TOURIST
COMMERCIAL PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT, TO ALLOW
UP TO 17 HOTEL AND MOTEL UNITS AND 71000 SQUARE
FEET OF COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON PROPERTY
LOCATED ON THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF THE
INTERSECTION OF GULF SHORE DRIVE AND SOUTH BAY
Page 202
May 12, 2020
DRIVE, APPROXIMATELY 400 FEET NORTH OF
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD, IN SECTION 32, TOWNSHIP 48
SOUTH, RANGE 25 EAST, CONSISTING OF .62± ACRES; AND
BY PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (PL20180002792) (THIS
IS A COMPANION TO AGENDA #ITEM 17A)
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 2:59 p.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL
BURT SAUNDERS, CHAIRMAN
frr��
ATT,FST. '11r.
CItYSA tKINZEL, CLERK
3
ifa's to Chairman's
signature only.
These minutes approved by the Board on , as
presented ✓ or as corrected
TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF FORT MYERS
COURT REPORTING BY TERRI LEWIS, FPR, COURT
REPORTER AND NOTARY PUBLIC.
Page 203