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CEB Minutes 08/27/2021August 27, 2021 Page 1 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE COLLIER COUNTY CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD Naples, Florida, August 27, 2021 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Collier County Code Enforcement Board, in and for the County of Collier, 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: Robert Kaufman Gerald J. Lefebvre, Chloe Bowman Lee Rubenstein, Alternate George Andreozzi, Alternate Danny Blanco (Excused) Sue Curley (Excused) Kathleen Elrod (Absent) ALSO PRESENT: Patrick White, Attorney to the Board Jeff Letourneau, Investigations Manager, Code Enforcement Helen Buchillon, Administrative Secretary, Code Enforcement Elena Gonzalez, Code Enforcement Specialist August 27, 2021 Page 2 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Good morning. I'd like to call the Code Enforcement Board to order. Notice: Respondents may be limited to 20 minutes for case presentation unless additional time is granted by the Board. Persons wishing to speak on any agenda item will receive up to five minutes unless the time is adjusted by the Chairman. All parties participating in the public hearing are asked to observe Robert's Rules of Order and speak one at time so the court reporter can record all statements being made. I think our microphones are echoey. Any person who decides to appeal a decision of the Board will need a record of the proceedings pertaining thereto and, therefore, may need to ensure that a verbatim item -- record of the proceedings is made, which record includes testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. Neither Collier County nor the Code Enforcement Board shall be responsible for providing this record. Okay. All rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) MR. LETOURNEAU: Mr. Chairman, before we get going here, if it pleases the Board, I'd like to introduce somebody. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Only if I know them. MR. LETOURNEAU: I believe you do know them. We mention this gentleman's name about every hearing, so we'd like to put a face to the name. And he's here today just in case we have any Building Department questions. So here he is. Renald Paul. MR. PAUL: Good morning, everybody. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Good morning. MR. PAUL: Good morning. Well, I've been before you before, probably hundreds of times. My name's Renald Paul to everybody. I'm a Project Coordinator for Collier County, and I'm an in-between for Code Enforcement. If there's anybody that has any August 27, 2021 Page 3 Code Enforcement issues, whether they're building related, land related, any violation whosoever, I can assist you. I'll be providing business cards, so if anybody has any questions after the hearing, you're more than welcome to just give me a call, and I'll be able to assist you. If we need to set up any meetings or anything, I'm sure we could coordinate anything. I'm here today just to make a quick introduction so that everybody will know who I am just in case they have any questions. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We use your name every meeting. MR. PAUL: As long as I'm not getting butchered. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And they're always somebody who has a problem. When we all fail on how to resolve the problem, we refer them to you. MR. PAUL: Perfect, perfect. I'm here to help as much as possible. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Thanks, Renald. MR. LETOURNEAU: Thanks, Renald. MR. PAUL: Thank you. MR. LETOURNEAU: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Helen, you want to call the roll? MS. BUCHILLON: For the record, Helen Buchillon, Code Enforcement. Mr. Robert Kaufman. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Here. MS. BUCHILLON: Mr. Gerald Lefebvre. MR. LEFEBVRE: Here. MS. BUCHILLON: Mr. Lee Rubenstein. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Here. MS. BUCHILLON: Mr. George Andreozzi. MR. ANDREOZZI: Here. MS. BUCHILLON: Sue Curley is excused, and Danny August 27, 2021 Page 4 Blanco's excused, and we're just waiting for Kathleen and Sue -- and Chloe, I'm sorry. MR. LEFEBVRE: Chloe. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I understand Sue is in the building -- Kathleen's in the building someplace. She must be hiding. MR. WHITE: Just for the purpose of the record, Patrick White, Board Attorney. We have a full quorum with two alternates seated as regular members. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Correct. I'm sure everybody's read the minutes. Anybody have any comments on the minutes? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: If not, they will be accepted. Which brings us to our agenda. Do we have any changes? MS. BUCHILLON: Yes, we do. First of all, we have three stipulations. Under hearings, No. 2, CESD20200010389, Bridge WF FL Waverley Place, LLC. Number 4 -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Let me stop you one second. That's under. MS. BUCHILLON: Oh, no. I'm sorry. That's extension of time. I'm so sorry. I apologize for that. It's No. 2 under hearings. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MS. BUCHILLON: Case No. CESD20210002873, Yoelvis Ruiz Escobar. And that would be No. 4 now under hearings, CELU20200011248, Veronica Tressler, Barbara Dethloff, and Elizabeth Lucky. Number 8, CESD20180006675, Med-Life Enterprise, Inc. August 27, 2021 Page 5 Those are all the stipulations. And we have withdrawns, too. (Chloe Bowman is now present in the boardroom.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Why don't let the record show that our long lost soul, Chloe, has showed up. MS. BOWMAN: I'm here, sorry. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Let's see what's been withdrawn. MS. BUCHILLON: Okay. Under public hearings, D, hearings, No. 1, CESD20200000828, Mario Antonio Gutierrez Ruiz, Karla Maria Melara Rodriguez, and Sergio Canu Duenas, has been withdrawn due to permit has been extended. Number 5, under hearings, CESD20210001477, Four Amigos 3, LLC, has been withdrawn due to compliance efforts. Number 6, CESD20180015567, Christine C. Sullivan Revocable Trust, has been withdrawn due to medical reasons. Number 7, CESD20190000758, Xueping Yang, has been withdrawn due to compliance efforts. Number 9, CESD20190000755, Philip J. Ricossa Trust, has been withdrawn due to compliance efforts. Under motion for imposition of fines, No. 5, CESD20180002262, CTPML, LLC, has been withdrawn. Permit has been issued. Number 9, CESD20190011745, Diane M. Moore, has been withdrawn. Respondent's out of town. Number 11, CENA20210002435, Sheila D. Gebhart, has been withdrawn. We need to reschedule under the Nuisance Abatement Board, because this was under the Nuisance Abatement Board the first time it came, so we have to schedule it under imposition. And those are all the changes for now. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. I have one question, and that's on No. 5 under imposition. And I don't know if this is for you, August 27, 2021 Page 6 Helen, or for you, Jeff. MR. LETOURNEAU: I'm sorry, sir. What was that? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Under number -- imposition of fines, No. 5. MR. LETOURNEAU: Yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We were imposing fines and now because they got a permit, that gets all erased? That doesn't seem logical to me. MR. LETOURNEAU: For the record, Jeff Letourneau, Collier County Code Enforcement. As our policy has been, Code Enforcement has the discretion whether or not we feel that the violator is making a concerted effort to come into compliance, and at this point we believe he is. We'd rather not impose at this time. Hopefully he comes into compliance, we bring him before the Board, rather than having you guys impose and then having to deal with him coming before the commissioners later on. You still have a -- it's going to be imposed at some point, obviously, because there's going to be fines; however, we feel at this time this company is making efforts to come into compliance. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: That's not my point. My point is, it's like a murder trial. We forgive the person because he killed somebody but now that person has risen from the dead. MR. LETOURNEAU: Well, I mean you still have the opportunity down the road to impose any fines that you deem. So I believe in a murder trial the prosecutors have the discretion of whether or not to bring the case to a hearing. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Not once it's been adjudicated. MR. LETOURNEAU: I -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Let me ask Patrick. What's your thought on that? MR. WHITE: I believe that the prior practice and what the August 27, 2021 Page 7 Board has accepted in the past is that if the staff chooses to withdraw an item, they're typically allowed to do so because the understanding is that the item will return to the agenda for consideration by the Board at some point in time in the future. My understanding of the county's position is that it's greater administrative efficiency if they bring it back at the point in time when it has been abated for your consideration rather than going the other route where the evidence today would be, it sounds, that they have been issued a permit. So they're partially in the compliance to the extent that they've taken at least the first step to get the permit. Of course, they have to go through the inspections and get the CC or CO. So it's going to come back to you. The person, if you will, who is, in your analogy, the defendant accused of murder still will be accused of murder when it comes back to you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: But they have the right to drop the case if they come back to life. MR. WHITE: I think they're simply saying -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: That's what this is. MR. WHITE: They're simply saying today that it's not appropriate, from the staff's perspective, to hear it. They prefer to hear it at a subsequent time. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. It probably would have been cleaner had this not even appeared on our agenda. MR. LETOURNEAU: And I would say that the notice of hearing for the imposition is a great way to get people to move on these cases a lot of times. And as you notice, a lot of times permits do get issued once they receive this hearing notice. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: A motivation tool. MR. LETOURNEAU: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have the agenda modified. Could we get a -- accept the agenda from the Board, a August 27, 2021 Page 8 motion? MS. BOWMAN: Make a motion to accept the agenda. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a motion. MR. RUBENSTEIN: And a second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And a second. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Which brings us to probably the first -- or, Jeff, you wanted to bring a case up that's under imposition of fines first and get it done? MR. LETOURNEAU: Are you talking about the last case? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Right. MR. LETOURNEAU: That would -- yeah, that would be preferable, I think, at this point. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Do you want to hear it now? MR. LETOURNEAU: Sure. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Then we need to modify the agenda one more time to move that up to hear that now. MR. LEFEBVRE: Okay. MR. WHITE: Mr. Chairman, I'm not sure you need to do that, but if you choose to, that's fine. Typically, the order in which matters are heard have been determined by your staff, consistent with the rules. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. WHITE: And if I may, pertinent to this item, after Helen introduces it, I'd like to make some initial comments, if I may, please. August 27, 2021 Page 9 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. WHITE: 6C14. MS. BUCHILLON: Okay. Under imposition of fines, No. 14, CESD20140017065, Davis Crossing, LLC. MR. WHITE: My understanding, Mr. Chairman, is that both the county and the respondent, through their agent attorneys, have had a conversation and that for your consideration today there is a proposed settlement in terms of a dollar amount for fines and costs that the respondent would be willing to pay, and in lieu of a full-blown evidentiary-type hearing, which your rules typically wouldn't contemplate, my recommendation to you is to have each of the two sides present briefly their position. And in this instance, because it is an offer from the respondent, my belief is that it would be more appropriate to hear from there first. And if that's acceptable to the Board and the Chair, I believe that would be the most efficient way to proceed. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So what I'm looking at here, this case started June 30th, 2015. An oldie but goodie. The permit expired without inspection and without a CO. Fines accrued, $250 a day, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The total amount is $535,809.35; am I correct? MR. WHITE: I believe those are all correct factual statements. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. The operational costs have been paid. Okay. Sir, can you state your name on the mic for us, please. MR. WHITE: Do the parties need to be sworn? (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. ELLIS: I do. MR. MATHES: I do. MR. OSSORIO: I do. MR. ELLIS: Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Board. My August 27, 2021 Page 10 name is Bradley Ellis. I'm an attorney with Icard and Merrill, and I represent the respondent. With me today is the representative of my client, Todd Mathes, who I'm going to let speak to you for this opening statement. MR. MATHES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the Board. I'm a representative of the owner, Benderson Development. I'm the director of development there. I've been working for the company for about 12 years and involved in this project for a long time. And we've had a long relationship with Collier County, and it's been a nice partnership. I mean, all of the staff that we deal with, including Code Enforcement, are professionals, and we've worked well together, and we worked well together on a very hard piece of real estate. We acquired three quadrants of the 951 and 75 intersection back in the mid 2000s, started developing it, and went through the crash, and the building sat there. And it was not enjoyed by anyone visually or aesthetically, and there was a lot of complaints, rightfully so, and we certainly didn't enjoy that we had spent tens of millions of dollars on county roadways on prepaying impact fees on other things to build that building, and there it sat without producing any income. Fast forward into 2015/16, we were, you know, getting back on our feet in terms of the county. We were aggressively working towards deals to finish that product one way or another. It wasn't going to be the multi-tenant retail building that was planned. The world had changed. And we had a lot of false starts that we spent a lot of money on. And the county was right there with us side by side trying to move it forward. A BJ's deal died, other deals died. In 2017, the property was occupied by the state and the county for the wildfires. It was occupied by the state and the county during August 27, 2021 Page 11 Hurricane Irma. We donated that during that time. Fast forward into '18/'19, we started to get real traction and, ultimately, delivered what we think is a fantastic final product. Amazon's there. It's a good employer. The building itself is probably the nicest Amazon logistics facility in the country thanks, in large part, to the county's requirements in terms of standards and things. So, you know, the bottom line is, you know, we understand and respect the process that the attorneys can go through and this board's job in terms of imposing a fine and working through that. And Brad had filed a motion, and we're prepared to do that simply because -- if we need to do that, I need to be responsible, you know, to our business and do our job, and he needs to do his job. But we also understand that there is a fine here that should be imposed and should be collected, and our proffer of that amount, which tied back to something that, you know, we don't necessarily need to get into, but it was $15,750. So, you know, from our position, we're certainly prepared to go through all the details and talk about it more holistically, or I'd be happy to answer questions, but I also just wanted to introduce, you know, the concept that we understand a fine needs to be imposed here, and we're prepared to pay one. We think that would be an appropriate amount, and there has been, like I said, a long partnership with the county where we've worked hard on this project. We've spent a lot of money and, you know, that's sort of the result that we think would be appropriate in this case. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So the number that you came up with is? MR. MATHES: $15,750. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. WHITE: And, Mr. Chairman, I'm not sure if you desire to August 27, 2021 Page 12 have the information on the record or not, but I'm prepared to, you know, indicate to the Board what you probably already know about what the criteria are for determining valuation of any fine that may be imposed. And if that's anything the Board wants to have, that's fine. If not, we can proceed to what the county's perspective is on the proffer of the settlement amount. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I don't think I need it. Does anybody on the Board need it? MR. LEFEBVRE: I think a quick synopsis would be good. MR. WHITE: Sure. It's very brief. The factors are, under Article 7, Section 4, the gravity of the violation, actions taken by the violator to correct the violation, any previous vitalizations committed by the violator, and any other relevant factors. So it's pretty straightforward in my opinion. Certainly, I think it's well within this Board's discretion, given the fact that the matter is now in compliance and has been abated, that the amount that's being stipulated to certainly would be legally appropriate. It's up to your discretion as to whether or not that's appropriate. And at this point, unless there's a question, I suggest, perhaps, we get the county's perspective. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Jeff, you want to talk? MR. LETOURNEAU: Good morning. For the record, Jeff Letourneau, Collier County Code Enforcement. At the end of the day, you've got a beautiful building there with a good company that's obviously a benefit to the community. Any fines decided by the Board today we would leave up to the discretion of the Board, but we would have no objections to anything that you guys were proposing. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Would anybody from the Board like to make a motion? MR. LEFEBVRE: Well, I'd like to make some comments prior August 27, 2021 Page 13 to a motion. I know, in fact, that this building sat vacant for much longer than 2015. I think there could have been actions by the respondent. They are a large, large company. There could have been items taken to mitigate the unsightliness of this structure which were not taken. This building has -- and I've been on Code Enforcement 19 years. And there's been -- we've heard this -- this has come in front of us multiple times. And I think there could have been corrective action taken sooner, and to come now and say we want our fines reduced down to roughly -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Fifteen thousand. MR. LEFEBVRE: -- 3 percent of what the original fines were, I think, is not even in the cards for me. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Do you want to make a motion and adjust that? MR. LEFEBVRE: I think maybe -- hear comments before I make a decision. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yes. MR. RUBENSTEIN: I have a comment. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Go ahead. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Okay. This has been going on for six years. And I'm not sure how you arrived at your offer but, certainly, the county has got numerous dollar expenses babysitting this case for six and seven years. And I think that the county's entitled to some type of reasonable reimbursement for their expense taken into consideration that you've got a good history with doing business with the county. But I'm prepared to make a motion if you want. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Go ahead. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Okay. I'd like to make a motion that the fines be abated to $100,000 and all other fines would be dismissed. August 27, 2021 Page 14 MR. LEFEBVRE: I second that motion. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion and a second. Let me just comment on the motion. During the period of time from 2015 to now -- and I know it goes back farther than that -- I guess no taxes were paid since the CO was never issued; am I correct? No property taxes were paid. MR. MATHES: Property taxes were paid. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: On vacant land. MR. MATHES: On the assessed valuation. I honestly don't know. I'd have to look at what that was along the way. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So I think that plays into what Lee has said, that that would be more appropriate considering all those years where those dollars never came to support the county. MR. LETOURNEAU: I would say that they did not have money coming in from a tenant during that whole time either, though. So they weren't using the building as it was proposed to be eventually CO'ed as. So they weren't getting any kind of income. MR. MATHES: If I could just -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Go ahead. MR. MATHES: -- be heard. And I respect the conversation, and I appreciate that we're having the conversation. We, in terms of, you know, the level of partnership that we're talking about, which maybe isn't fully clear, we prefunded -- when we bought the property, we were working, you know, with your former assistant county administrator and others, who were real leaders in this county, about the land, and we also prefunded $14 million, almost, of impact fee credits so the county could match DOT's funding and build the roads for development there. Today, standing here today, 15, 16 years later, we haven't used up those dollars. The county's been the beneficiary of having that in their bank. August 27, 2021 Page 15 So there's been a reciprocal nature here, which isn't to say there wasn't an eyesore, because I agree with you, Commissioner, and we agree with you, there was. During the time when -- from when the first notice of violation was issued in that '15 time frame, we worked and permitted and almost had a BJ's. Then we worked and permitted and almost had -- and so we kept having these false starts trying to build a product, and they were all different, just like Amazon was different. And I respect that that didn't take away the eyesore, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. It wasn't for a lack of spending money. It wasn't for a lack of anything other than the things that stood in our way. And then in '17 the property was occupied; COVID happened. You know, there was a lot here. And so the number we had proffered we had discussed with staff. And so if that's not the total right amount number, you know, certainly I have some discretion standing here today to do better. I can't -- I can't spare us all the process over $100,000. I'd have to just, you know, responsibly ask Brad to do his job, too. But certainly, you know, if it was, you know, more in the neighborhood of $50,000, I could do that, and I could do that standing here today rather than us go through the process. And even if we go through the process, what I hope everyone understands, staff and your attorney, is that, you know, we respect them, we understand lawyers are going to be lawyers and we're going to cross-examine each other and have all these questions and things, but that's -- you know, it's not in the spirit of how we've worked with the county ever until today, and that's what we're trying to avoid. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Let me ask, so you're saying that you could agree to 50,000, not that you -- that it requires you to agree, but -- MR. MATHES: Yes, sir. August 27, 2021 Page 16 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Gerald? MR. LEFEBVRE: There's times that builders go in or developers like yourself go in and finish building in its vanilla shell. This wasn't even vanilla shell. This was a skeleton shell. And in a prominent area that it's in, I think there could have been more cooperation from Benderson to go ahead and try to make it a vanilla shell. MS. BOWMAN: That's not why we're here. MR. LEFEBVRE: What I'm saying is it's unsightly. There has to be -- and, again, your company came in front of us multiple times, and we were never told -- updated, and I wasn't aware until today that there was a BJ's or this or that, but I still think, in all fairness, that 15,000 is way too low and 100,000 is more reasonable in this particular case being where the property was and for how long it -- the duration of it. MR. MATHES: The only thing I'd like to add, Commissioner -- and, again, I respect what you're saying -- is that the case did come in front of you. We never appeared, and we intentionally didn't appear because we were on the same page. I mean, we were working together. We understood that needed to happen. We understood where the goal posts were, and we were working together. So we didn't -- it wasn't for a lack of want to show up and do what I'm doing now. You know, but we -- we understood the gravity of things and were working together so we never showed up to present our side of that discussion or have the discussion because we were working with your staff. So just in terms of the prior appearance. MR. LEFEBVRE: Right. A lot of respondents do come and update us and let us know what they're doing to correct the violation. That wasn't -- for me, I don't feel that was done. MR. MATHES: And all I'm trying to communicate is I regret I August 27, 2021 Page 17 didn't communicate that to you. We felt that we were on the same page with Code Enforcement. MR. LEFEBVRE: Okay. MR. LETOURNEAU: Can I say one comment? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Go ahead. MR. LETOURNEAU: The actual notice of violation wasn't for property maintenance issues. It was for unexpired original permit; I believe a 2009 permit. The state extension for the recession, that's when the actual notice was issued, and I believe it was November of 2015. So I think that to ding them for anything before that -- because, you know, this goes back a long way -- I think that does a disservice to them at this point, and then you've got to take into account they really tried to get it done at the end, but I think COVID was a big factor at the end for these people. So I just kind of want to, you know, point out a few facts. MR. WHITE: Just one other point relative to the motion maker's observations and comments regarding the county's costs, if you will. That certainly is a relevant factor, but as you see in the record, those costs are articulated for the costs of prosecution. The previous costs were paid, and today's costs are $59.35. So, from my perspective, the balancing of the gravity of factor -- excuse me, gravity of the violation being one that you're going to weigh the aesthetics of, I'm not sure how much weight that carries. You're free to, of course, exercise your discretion. I'm just simply -- from the perspective of articulating what's appropriate to consider under each of the factors, I don't believe that, quote-unquote, an additional penalty of costs is something that is supported beyond what the operational costs are stated in the record. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I see -- MR. RUBENSTEIN: Mr. Chairman, I'd like to call the motion. August 27, 2021 Page 18 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Nay. MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Oppose? MS. BOWMAN: Nay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I oppose also. George, yes or no? MR. WHITE: Mr. Chairman, I'm not certain, but my understanding was that the respondents desired to have a more well-developed record, and before you tally the vote, I would just ask if that is, indeed, what they choose to do at this time. It would be door closed if you vote and the motion has passed. MR. ELLIS: Mr. Chairman, yes, if the Board were not inclined to accept what has now been proffered as a 50,000 stipulation, then we would like the opportunity to build our record, to cross-examine Mr. Letourneau, to present our own case, all of which is going to take some time. So we were trying to -- with staff and with the attorney, to try to see if we could do a status check if the stipulated offer would be accepted. If so, we're done. If not, we do need time to present our case. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So what we have here is originally 15,750. Then the goal post moved to 50,000. Before we take our vote, is there any other number that you would have in mind? MR. MATHES: I think it's clear that the Commission is, you know, going to stand with Mr. Rubenstein's motion, which -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: That's not clear, but, okay. Go ahead. MR. MATHES: You know, again, I would have to -- so I work August 27, 2021 Page 19 for a company, right? And I showed up with a certain amount of ability to do something today, and we were trying to get there in a simple -- simpler way, because I don't -- I don't want to -- I want to spare everyone the time and effort. I mean, honestly, I think at the end of the day that we've had good cooperation and will in the future, too. So, you know, if the -- if the Board is at 100-, and, you know, you want to give me time to find out -- I don't think that's going to change. If you want to come up with a different number, I can find out. I know I can -- I can stand here and I can tell Brad, you don't have to work anymore, drive home, if it's 50-. That's what I can do standing here. MR. WHITE: May I inquire, Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yes. MR. WHITE: Mr. Mathes, would you believe that if we tabled this for further consideration until later in the meeting you'd have an opportunity to make whatever inquiries to modify the authority of amount that you have? Would that be helpful or not? MR. MATHES: I think it's only going to be helpful within a few dollars of where I am. I don't think I'm going to get to 100-. I know I'm not going to get to 100-. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Chloe? MS. BOWMAN: Okay. So I just want to say that -- because when we get to this portion of our hearings, we typically -- you know, the goal is to get the issues abated. This one's been abated. Have the fines [sic] been paid? Yes. Have they been in compliance with the staff and really made an effort here, and have there been roadblocks? Absolutely? But our job as the Board is to help people get to a place of abatement, and they're there. MR. LEFEBVRE: We also have to look at the time it took, too. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I think Patrick's idea of tabling this till later, maybe later this morning, may be helpful, unless the Board August 27, 2021 Page 20 does not want to do that. MR. LEFEBVRE: I don't know if this is proper, being as a second, can I rescind my second? MR. WHITE: Absolutely. MR. LEFEBVRE: All right. So let's rescind the second with the understanding that this would come back in front of us. MR. WHITE: You can make a motion to have it tabled till later in the agenda and have it brought back at the time staff believes appropriate. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yes. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Since I made the motion, I'll retract it to be heard later this morning. MR. ANDREOZZI: I'll second it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Okay. MR. WHITE: Are you going to vote? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: All those in favor of retracting the motion? I don't think you need to vote on it. MR. WHITE: To table. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It's tabled. Okay. MR. MATHES: Thank you. MR. WHITE: It was unanimous? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yes. MR. WHITE: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Which brings us to our motions for extension of time. MS. BUCHILLON: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. You call it. I have one slip here, public speaker. I'm looking which case this is. MS. BUCHILLON: For No. 3? MR. LEFEBVRE: Extension of times. August 27, 2021 Page 21 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Agenda Item 3. I guess that's in hearings. MR. LEFEBVRE: Extension of time. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yeah. MR. WHITE: Extensions. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It says, Agenda Item 3 for public, but I don't know if that's under hearings, extension of time, or imposition of fines. We have three places that No. 3 appears. MS. BUCHILLON: She put the case on there. MR. WHITE: I believe it's Roman Numeral 5A3, Cammuso. MS. BUCHILLON: Yes. It's extension of time. MR. LEFEBVRE: The address is incorrect on the slip. MS. BUCHILLON: Oh, she did? Okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Good morning. MR. MUCHA: Good morning. MR. LEFEBVRE: What case is being heard right now? MS. BOWMAN: Read it in. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Helen? MS. BUCHILLON: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Which case? Is this the -- MS. BUCHILLON: This is No. 3, but we have a case before that, but it's okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: This is case 3, Dominick? MS. BUCHILLON: Yes, under extension of times. Dominick Cammuso. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: This is the one that we have a public speaker on. MS. BUCHILLON: Case No. CELU20210001048. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We're not hearing the case. We're just hearing whether an extension of time should be granted. MR. LETOURNEAU: Correct. August 27, 2021 Page 22 (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. MUSSE: I do. MR. CAMMUSO: I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. You are the individual, Dominick; you can state your name on the microphone for us, please. MR. CAMMUSO: Dominick Cammuso. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And you're requesting an extension of time? MR. COMMUSO: That is correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And the reason for requesting the extension of time? MR. CAMMUSO: Not to get too deep into it, but I believe that the rule is being interpreted incorrectly, and we've been allowed to operate in the same manner for nine years, from 2012, and now the rule has been reinterpreted, and I'm not in compliance. And I would like to get -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Without going into the case -- MR. LETOURNEAU: Yeah. I would object to anything that -- other than the extension. We're not here to hear the merits of whether or not it's a violation at this point. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: There's a reason why you don't want the case heard today. MR. CAMMUSO: Correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And that reason is? MR. CAMMUSO: I would like to get Ray Bellows to assess what is going on at my property, since he approved it to begin with, and go from there. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So you have a witness that you want to have come before the Board at the time that it's heard? MR. LETOURNEAU: No. I believe he wants to bring a witness onto his property to determine whether or not he still has a August 27, 2021 Page 23 violation. MR. CAMMUSO: Correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Let me just read through this briefly. Okay. MR. WHITE: Point of order. If I may inquire of the respondent, Mr. Chairman. I'm just trying to understand where, factually, matters may be with the county. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: When was this initiated, this case? MR. MUSSE: I don't have it in front of me. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: A month? A week? A year? MR. WHITE: It's a 2021 case. MR. MUSSE: 2011, it was this year. This case has already been heard, yeah. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So we're -- okay. So you were notified of this violation when, around? MR. CAMMUSO: I believe it was February, maybe January. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: In February. Did you attempt to get somebody on the property to check out -- MR. CAMMUSO: No, I did not. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. I just -- okay. MR. WHITE: There's a follow-up, I think, from the process perspective. If I may inquire, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Inquire. MR. WHITE: Thank you. Have you submitted any applications, for example, for a zoning verification letter with Mr. Bellows or other staff? MR. CAMMUSO: No, I have not. MR. WHITE: Have you submitted an application for an official interpretation of the Land Development Code with staff or not? MR. CAMMUSO: No, I have not. It was done prior -- it was August 27, 2021 Page 24 done previously, in 2012. So we're going back all the way to then when it was done. MR. KLATZKOW: Is it your statement today under oath that you're aware of a prior zoning verification letter or official interpretation that the county has relevant to this case? MR. CAMMUSO: As far as -- MR. WHITE: If you don't know, that's fine. MR. COMMUSO: As far as I know, it is -- there has been all those things filed. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Let me -- Jonathan, do you have anything to bring before us regarding the extension of time that the respondent is requesting? MR. MUSSE: As of right now, since -- since the hearing date to today, there hasn't been much improvement in the violation. At this time the county's position is we object to the extension of time. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Got that. Now, I'd like to hear from the public. We have somebody who wants to -- Jeff? MR. LETOURNEAU: I believe -- I spoke to Investigator Musse yesterday, I believe, about this case. I wasn't aware of the fact that Mr. Cammuso believes that he's in compliance due to the original site plan that he had. So I don't -- I don't think the county really objects too much to getting an extension in order to get Mr. Bellows out there to determine whether or not he does at this point. So a reasonable extension we're not objecting to. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So you're not objecting? MR. LETOURNEAU: Yeah. Well, I didn't have a chance to talk to Mr. Musse. MR. MUSSE: I'm the bad guy. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Jonathan -- and Jonathan has no problem following your lead, so -- August 27, 2021 Page 25 MR. LETOURNEAU: This was brought -- this was brought up this morning when Mr. Cammuso showed up, so I didn't have a chance to, you know, talk to Jonathan about that. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay, great. We have somebody from the public who would like to speak about this case. What we're talking about, by the way, is the respondent has requested that it not be heard now. MR. NOVO: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: He's requesting -- THE COURT REPORTER: Do you want me to swear him in? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yes, I do. I just wanted to go through my spiel. Okay. (The speaker was duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. NOVO: Yes, I do. Jose Novo. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. NOVO: Okay. I'm here just to say that, you know, the business that's there as of right now, the doors have been shut for a while, and there hasn't been anything going, but when they do open, there's all kinds of stuff going on. Trucks coming in and out. There's almost been accidents. It's a road where people live. Because of that property, there's other properties that are attracted to it. Another property right next to it, the whole entrance of the road looks like a disaster. My property values have gone down about 30 percent. People on the road, everybody on it, opposes what's going on in the entrance of our homes. If it was a nursery -- there's a nursery right across the street, no problem. People go in, buy trees. We don't have a problem with that. But what's going on now and an extension and everything that keeps on going on is wrong. We live there. We chose to live out there because it's peaceful, quiet, but 18 Wheelers coming in, machines going on all day long. You know, it's a little, tiny skinny August 27, 2021 Page 26 road. It shouldn't go on out there. And I just see that the county's not enforcing what they should be enforcing, and extensions and extensions and everything keeps on going on. And it's ridiculous already. We've spent a lot of money on lawyers fighting this, the residents there, and even people across the street. They've applied for permits for a dump, for all kinds of different situations, crushing concrete, all kinds of stuff. We live there. There's other places where that type of business should be, and, you know, that's just my point. I just wanted to show up to represent everybody that lives on Riggs Road. Everybody's property values have dropped. Everybody that drives in that road sees everything that's going on and we're just -- you know, nobody even wants to buy on Riggs Road. It's a disaster on the entrance, and that's where we live, so that's my point. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Thank you for your testimony, Mr. Novo. MR. NOVO: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Now let me go back to the respondent. You're requesting an extension of time. Let me ask how much time. MR. CAMMUSO: That would be determined by Ray Bellows' schedule. So I don't know. A month? Or when's the next meeting? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: In a month. MR. COMMUSO: In a month. I think that's agreeable. See if I can get him out there. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Jeff. MR. LETOURNEAU: I would say that's a good amount of time. At this point there would be a good chance that if nothing got resolved or Ray said that, no, you're not in compliance, we would be August 27, 2021 Page 27 looking for an imposition at that point also. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Well, you have to hear the case. MR. LETOURNEAU: Well, if you extended it a month, we would definitely -- and Mr. Bellows came out and said that, no, Mr. Cammuso was nowhere near compliance, due to the fact that I don't believe any of the vegetation has been removed off the property at this point, the county would definitely be looking to move the imposition quickly. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So in other words, if we were to grant a 30-day continuance -- not continuance -- to hear this in 30 days -- MR. LETOURNEAU: Right. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- in 30 days the Board would hear the case. I have no idea where this is or what the violation is other than the one paragraph that I have here. MR. LETOURNEAU: Right. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So that's what we would be -- the Board would consider to postpone this case for 30 days. MS. BOWMAN: Does the county have -- do we have what we need to actually have the hearing on this today? MR. WHITE: It's not on your agenda. MR. LETOURNEAU: He wasn't noticed for the imposition -- no, he wasn't noticed for the imposition, so he didn't get his due process at this point. MR. WHITE: And you do have, as shown in the record, you know, the order finding violation from back in March. MS. BOWMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: So he isn't on the agenda to be heard; is that correct? MR. WHITE: Not for imposition, no, just for the extension of time request. August 27, 2021 Page 28 MR. LETOURNEAU: He came in on his own volition to ask for an extension. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Have you been in touch with Ray Bellows? MR. CAMMUSO: Not currently, but I will do that today. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: I'm just struggling with why you haven't reached out knowing that this case is going -- you know, you're looking at an extension of time. There should have been some communication to set this up to have Ray come out and look at the property. I'm just a little bit -- MR. CAMMUSO: This morning when I had the conversation with Jonathan, that's what he suggested, to have him come out and, you know, file -- you know, see if I was in compliance with what I have presented today. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So this is more or less a zoning issue? MR. WHITE: Yes. MR. CAMMUSO: Apparently. MR. LETOURNEAU: And I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, sir, he's contending that the amount of vegetative debris he has on the property complies with the -- with the nursery aspect of his property at this point. MR. CAMMUSO: Correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And, Jonathan, you've been out there? MR. MUSSE: Yeah. Recently, like the gentleman said, the gates been closed. He doesn't have an employee -- employees working there anymore, so I don't have -- have a limited view, but you can still see the vegetation off to the side. MR. RUBENSTEIN: I have a question. August 27, 2021 Page 29 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Well, I have no problem granting a one-month extension. It's going to come back. Yes, Lee. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Is there materials on the property that is not vegetation? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I don't want to get into the discussion on the particular case. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Just the extension. The respondent is saying -- I mean, it's cut and dry. I need a month to get somebody out there to take a look to see what the -- if it's in compliance with the zoning or not. Once that happens, we hear the case, and whatever it turns out to be. MS. BOWMAN: I just don't understand what the purpose is of going through the exercise of rezoning if their doors are closed and they're not operating the business there anymore. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It was still a violation when it was done. MS. BOWMAN: So what is the point of the extension to get rezoning information if the business is no longer operating? MR. CAMMUSO: I don't believe it's rezoning information. It's been zoned that, and I need Ray to verify that. MR. LETOURNEAU: Bottom line is he's got a bunch of vegetative debris on his property. That's why we brought him here. You're allowed to have a certain percentage of that as an accessory use to a nursery. Code Enforcement contends, and Ray has in the past when we brought this case to a hearing, that he has too much vegetation for whatever nursery he has out there. He contends now that he doesn't have too much vegetation and that it does comply with the nursery aspect of his property, so -- MR. WHITE: And the appropriate place for the respondent to August 27, 2021 Page 30 engage the county further is to request, in my opinion, a zoning verification letter, and he can seek to have that expedited at Mr. Bellows' discretion. The staff typically takes things in order of applications being received. This may be one that requires Mr. Paul's assistance in order to, as ombudsman, assist in getting this back to the Board in a timely manner. Just an observation, if I may, even if you deny his extension request, he's still going to -- it's not going to come before you for another 30 days. MR. LEFEBVRE: Right. That's what the question was. What was the alternative if we deny the extension? It's coming back in another 30 days, so... MR. WHITE: It will come back when the staff brings it on the agenda. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Anybody want to make a motion to grant a 30-days extension? MR. LEFEBVRE: Now, fines, are they still -- MS. BOWMAN: They're accruing. MR. LEFEBVRE: They're accruing, okay. So that will not change -- okay, perfect. I make a motion to extend for -- is it up to us to make that decision, or is it the county? MS. BOWMAN: Till the September hearing. MR. WHITE: With respect to what? MR. LEFEBVRE: Extension. Can we put a time frame on it or -- MR. WHITE: Oh, absolutely. The time frame for the amount of time, it's certainly the Board's discretion. MR. LEFEBVRE: The next -- sorry, I don't want to overtalk. So I'd like to make a motion that we hear -- or extension of time for next meeting, till next meeting, September meeting. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion. August 27, 2021 Page 31 MS. BUCHILLON: Excuse me. Extension of time or continuance? The continuance, the fines keep accruing. MR. LEFEBVRE: Continuance. I want the fines to keep accruing, yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion. MS. BOWMAN: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And we have a second. Any questions on the motion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Hearing none, all those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Aye. MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Okay. You have your extension. MR. COMMUSO: Thank you. MR. WHITE: Continuance. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Continuance. MR. CAMMUSO: See you next month. MS. BOWMAN: One of these days we'll get those two figured out. MR. LEFEBVRE: So I have a question, then. It's more of an administrative question. We were pretty much locked into granting a continuance. MR. LETOURNEAU: Yeah. I'm going to be honest with you. It was my fault. We were -- we should have had this on imposition, and the paperwork didn't get submitted in time, and we didn't get the August 27, 2021 Page 32 hearing notice out for the imposition in time, so that's why it wasn't on here. It should have been on here. MR. LEFEBVRE: Our hands are tied. MR. LETOURNEAU: Right. MR. LEFEBVRE: So for future reference, it probably should be on as imposition of fines. MR. LETOURNEAU: Definitely. Yes, they both should have been on there. MR. LEFEBVRE: This should have been withdrawn by the county. MR. LETOURNEAU: Well, it was actually his request to ask for the extension, so we really couldn't withdraw his request at that point. I just -- we should have had the imposition on at the same time. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. What's next? MS. BUCHILLON: Next case on the agenda, under public hearings, motion for extension of time, No. 2, CESD20200010389, Bridge WFL [sic] Waverley Place, LLC. MR. LEFEBVRE: Was the first case -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Case No. 3. MR. LEFEBVRE: No. But No. 1, Case No. 1 under extension times, was that -- MS. BUCHILLON: Oh, they're not here. I have a letter. MR. LEFEBVRE: Oh, okay. MS. BUCHILLON: And they also have an imposition of fine, but they're not here yet. MR. LEFEBVRE: Okay, perfect. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. BROWN: Yes. MS. COUTIN: Yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Could you state your name on the August 27, 2021 Page 33 microphone for us, please. MR. BROWN: You bet. My name is Micah Brown. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And you are? MR. BROWN: I'm a director of project management and strategic initiatives for Bridge Property Management, and I represent the owner for Waverley Place Apartments. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And they've agreed to have you testify for them? MR. BROWN: They have. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And you are a new face to me. MS. COUTIN: Well, I've been with Code for three years, but I became an investigator in November. My first time in front of the Board. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So you've been hiding out? MS. COUTIN: I've been hiding out, yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Well, you've been doing a good job of hiding out. THE COURT REPORTER: Your name? MS. COUTIN: Oh. For the record, Investigator Saylys Coutin, Collier County Code Enforcement. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: Rooky mistake. Happens all the time. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. You are here to request an extension of time for a particular reason or -- MR. BROWN: Yeah. We -- I mean, we came before the Board -- or I wasn't here personally, but we sent a letter back in April, but we had to get a Site Development Plan amendment, which we did accomplish since the meeting. We were also -- and I don't know if you have my letter in front of you, my request, and then I also added to it. August 27, 2021 Page 34 But, basically, since then we've been able to re-file for a permit, and it actually was approved on August 3rd. So we have the permit in hand, and we're now starting the process of getting the work completed. So I have our contractor submitting a notice of commencement today. And so we just need time. Given the amount of conditions and inspections that are on the list, it will take about five weeks to do the construction piece of it, but there's a lot of -- list of inspections and conditions. So we just want to make sure we have ample time to get everything done and get our certificate of occupancy. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So you're looking for an extension. MR. BROWN: To October 29th, is what we're requesting. That's -- I sent an updated letter to the -- MR. LEFEBVRE: It's right here. That's still eight weeks, roughly? MR. BROWN: Yeah. So we have five weeks of construction, but then we need the times for the various inspections and conditions that have been listed. I'm trying to make sure this is closed out, finished, and I don't have to come back. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have no meeting in November; is that correct? MS. BUCHILLON: In November we do. December we don't have any meeting. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So we're okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: I think you might need a little more time, honestly. I mean, if it's going to take five weeks, if there's an inspection that's failed, some corrective work that needs to be taken. And you've been issued a permit, okay. MR. BROWN: Yeah, we were issued the permit. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Hear it in November. MR. LEFEBVRE: Yeah. So I grant -- I make a motion to August 27, 2021 Page 35 grant a continuance through our November meeting. MS. BOWMAN: Second. MR. BROWN: Is there a way to have that be an extension with no fines imposed? Is that an option, just given that we have gotten into compliance, have a permit and -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We haven't heard the case yet. MR. WHITE: The fines are not imposed. They are accruing. MR. LEFEBVRE: Right. MS. BOWMAN: And then you have the chance to come back once it's abated and we -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Well, this is the only thing that I'm looking at here, a continuance request. We haven't heard the case, or have we? MR. LEFEBVRE: No, we have. MS. BOWMAN: We have. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. But that doesn't show on here. MR. BROWN: It was an extension request, but yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So there are fines that are accruing? MR. BROWN: Technically, as of August 21st, that's when the stipulation went into effect. That's why I'm here to request an extension so that we can hopefully avoid that. But August 21st was the date that was set. MR. LEFEBVRE: Yeah, the fines start accruing. MR. WHITE: Fines accrued beginning August 22. MS. BOWMAN: Does your motion still stand? MR. LEFEBVRE: Yes, yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MS. BOWMAN: So we have a motion and a second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a motion and a second. August 27, 2021 Page 36 All those in favor? After that date you can request that since you came into compliance, et cetera, et cetera, that any fines that have accrued could be abated. That would be up to you, okay? MR. BROWN: Okay. So that's for the -- that following meeting, is that what I understand? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: November meeting. What's the date of the November meeting? MS. BUCHILLON: November 24th. MS. BOWMAN: He was just, I think, confused that, you know, that these fines are accruing and that they have to be paid, but I think, just for his own information, that it's just, you know, essentially a way to keep people's feet to the fire to get the completion. MR. BROWN: Yeah. Fully understand and, obviously, it's in our best interest, that of our residents and our office staff, to get this done, so that's what we're pushing towards. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We'll see you November 24th. MR. LEFEBVRE: Have you started that -- let me ask a quick question. Have you started that work yet, since a permit's been issued? MR. BROWN: We have the Notice of Commencement that we're filing today. So there was -- there was a stop work order, which is what necessitated this. There was a permit that wasn't pulled appropriately -- MR. LEFEBVRE: Okay. MR. BROWN: -- and so we had to go through that process to make sure we were doing things correctly. MR. LEFEBVRE: Perfect. Thank you. MR. BROWN: Thank you. Appreciate it. August 27, 2021 Page 37 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Okay. Helen, that brings us to? MS. BUCHILLON: Next case, No. 5, CESD20200011986, Leon Gerald Austin, Jacqueline Franklin, and Lori Anderson. And they're also scheduled for imposition of fines. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. CATHEY: I do. MR. AUSTIN: I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Can you state your name on the microphone for us. MR. AUSTIN: Leon Austin. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And we have Ryan over on the other side. Okay. You are requesting an extension of time? MR. AUSTIN: Yes, I am. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Do you want to tell us why? MR. AUSTIN: Let me give you a quick rundown. I'm 77 years old. I'm legally blind, and I'm doing the best I think I can. To give you an idea of how things go, I just finished my last inspection. It took me over a month to get that done simply because at first -- after three phone calls I got an engineer to come in. And then what I'm up against is they do not want my work -- to do my work simply because it's less than $1,000 to do that work, and they're really tied up with big jobs. So, well, to get this matter settled, the guy finally comes in, does it. Oh, this is after he had to take a vacation in between the time I contacted him. He took a two-week vacation. Then there was another week to get it on his schedule. So finally we get him in, and he went through, and luck -- and, rightly so, there was very little things to correct, and I'm ready to file at this point. So -- and to give you an idea, we are not talking about a August 27, 2021 Page 38 multi-million-dollar project. We're talking about two rooms and a bath. So that's basically what I have to say. I'll answer any questions you have. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. You have a permit. Well, let me ask the county to present what they have first. Ryan. MR. CATHEY: No permit's been filed at this time. This was heard back in March. He signed a stipulation. He's been, as he said, working with an engineer trying to get things in order, but no permit's been filed at this time. MR. AUSTIN: Correction. This is the second engineer. I've had two in here. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: No. The point of the violation was that there was an unpermitted addition, two bedrooms and a bathroom, or whatever it is, but no permit was ever pulled to do that addition. MR. AUSTIN: That is correct. And this -- to give you a little history lesson, this was done back in 1979. This is when this should have been handled, and it wasn't. I didn't come into the picture till about 2006. MS. BOWMAN: Okay. So how much time are you, essentially, asking for? MR. AUSTIN: I asked for 90 days. I asked Mr. Paul for 90 days before my time ran out. I don't -- I -- personally, I would not want to take one more day than I need to get this thing done. I need to be in Pennsylvania for family reasons, and I want to get it done as fast as possible. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: But to this date you have no permit? MR. AUSTIN: Correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: The -- August 27, 2021 Page 39 MS. BOWMAN: The engineer -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: The process goes, I want to build an addition, they require certain documentation to issue you a permit. Once they issue you a permit, the work is done, it's inspected, and you get a CO. MR. AUSTIN: Correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: But we're not even in Step 1. MR. AUSTIN: Step 1 happened way before I came into the picture. That -- you know, is it -- it's not my fault that that was not done. Whether the county didn't inspect it on time or the people didn't request it, I don't know. But, you know, this happened way back in 1979. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Did you own the property then? MR. AUSTIN: No, I did not. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So that -- that's what's confusing. So you bought a piece of property, and there was no CO issued on that two-bedroom, bath; is that correct? MR. AUSTIN: Apparently that's so. I didn't know it at the time. As a matter of fact, I didn't -- my late wife bought it, and then I married her. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MS. BOWMAN: Who brought this to us? Like, is it a neighbor or -- MR. CATHEY: I believe the complainant's a neighbor. I'd have to look back at the case, but -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Eric, do you want to say anything? (The speaker was duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. SHORT: I do. For the record, Supervisor Eric Short with Collier County Code Enforcement. Before you consider any extension of time, I just have one August 27, 2021 Page 40 question for the respondent. Is that area occupied with a tenant currently? MR. AUSTIN: Yes. MR. SHORT: I would ask that you please take that into consideration. Because the area hasn't been inspected, we believe that to be a life safety issue. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I agree. Okay. Is this on our agenda to hear today? MR. CATHEY: For imposition? MS. BUCHILLON: For imposition, yes. MR. WHITE: Yes. It's Item No. 7. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So does anybody want to make a motion as to whether we want to grant an extension or not? MR. RUBENSTEIN: I'll make a motion to not extend the request -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: Deny. MR. RUBENSTEIN: -- of obtaining the permit. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: To deny the request? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion. Do we have a second? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I'll second it. Any comments on it? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Aye. MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. August 27, 2021 Page 41 MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We're going to hear this case when it comes up in the agenda, which I guess will be later on this morning. MR. AUSTIN: Okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And the reason for that, more than anything else, is it's a health and safety violation being as this space is being occupied and no inspections have been done on the electrical and I assume plumbing as well, since there's a bathroom. MR. AUSTIN: Well, it has been done. The plumbing was just done last week. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We'll -- the plumbing was done last week, but you have no permit. How do you do that? I don't understand. So we'll hear it later on. MR. LETOURNEAU: Mr. Chairman -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yeah. MR. LETOURNEAU: -- with no objection, the gentleman's already up here. Can we just hear the imposition? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Okay. Modify the agenda to bring this one up. Which case is -- this is -- MS. BUCHILLON: Number 7. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yep, okay. MR. WHITE: Just read it into the record, please, Helen. MS. BUCHILLON: Under imposition of fines, No. 7, CESD20200011986, Leon Gerard Austin, Jacqueline Franklin, and Lori Anderson. MR. AUSTIN: That's Gerald not Gerard. MS. BUCHILLON: Oh, Gerald. I'm sorry. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have one of those next to me. August 27, 2021 Page 42 MR. LETOURNEAU: Does Ryan have to be re-sworn in, or can he just do his spiel right now? (The speakers were previously duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. WHITE: I believe it's adequate to note that they were both previously sworn. MR. LETOURNEAU: Okay. Go ahead, Ryan. MR. CATHEY: Past orders -- or excuse me. For the record, Investigator Ryan Cathey, Collier County Code Enforcement. Past orders: On March 25th, 2021, the Code Enforcement Board issued a finding of fact, conclusion of law and order. The respondent was found in violation of the referenced ordinances and ordered to correct the violation. See attached order of the Board, OR 5933, Page 2485, for more information. Violation has not been abated as of August 27th, 2021. Fines and costs to date: Fines have accrued at a rate of $200 per day for the period from July 24th, 2021, to August 27th, 2021, 35 days, for a total fine amount of $7,000. Fines continue to accrue. Previous assessed operational costs of $59.28 have been paid. Operational costs for today's hearing, $59.35. Total fine amount of $7,059.35. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So we are starting from the beginning. This is the case we're hearing now, and that's the imposition of the fines, which is, as just read, a total of $7,059. And it's being done because the violation has not been abated as of August 27th, which is the date, if I'm not mistaken, that you agreed to in a stipulation. Is that correct, Ryan? MR. CATHEY: Yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: July 24th. MR. CATHEY: July date. July 23rd. August 27, 2021 Page 43 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: July 24th, right. So do you have -- I know you spoke before -- a reason that we should not impose the fine? MR. AUSTIN: Yes. Back in July, I was on pace to get this done, at least I thought it was. I had an inspector come in, he was a retired inspector, and he was working with an engineering firm. Well, he come in, inspected, turned his report in, and I was waiting for the report back, and what came back was he wouldn't do the report because he didn't want to work with the Collier County Code Division. He apparently had some bad blood with them or something, I don't know. So then I had to go find another engineer and that took a -- yeah, that just blew the whole time schedule right out the -- the -- yeah. So -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Just for purposes of understanding better, so what you were trying to do is get this permitted by affidavit, is what it's called. That's why you went to an outside person to get this inspected, et cetera; is that correct? MR. AUSTIN: Well, in other words, that would be the engineer inspection that I'm required to do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Right. Well, the regular inspections are done by the county, so that's what confuses us a little bit. MR. AUSTIN: Well, yeah. The county asked me to get these inspections, and then they'll come back, and they'll do their inspections when it's done. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So my question is, was this a case that you wanted to have this done through a certificate of -- from an outside vendor, outside engineering firm? Jeff? MR. LETOURNEAU: Are you referring to a permit by affidavit? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yeah. August 27, 2021 Page 44 MR. LETOURNEAU: Yeah. We could have Renald come up here and explain it better than I could, to be honest with you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Well, I understand permit by affidavit. If you did the change, then you're not eligible for permit by affidavit. But it appears that the respondent said this was done years ago -- MR. AUSTIN: Yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- by somebody else before you owned the property. MR. AUSTIN: That's correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So then you could do permit by affidavit. So then you called a company to do that work to get it permitted? MR. AUSTIN: I'm trying to get a company to come and file the permit. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Right. MR. AUSTIN: That's where I'm at right now. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. However, they didn't -- they came and they did something, inspected or whatever, but they didn't want to complete that. MR. AUSTIN: No. That -- I think we're getting confused. I did all the work up to the point of -- till I felt we were ready to file for the permit. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. AUSTIN: And now I'm trying to get a company to file the permit. I took a look at it last night. It's quite complex. So I'll get a firm that does that type of work to file that permit and then move on. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Is Renald here? MR. LETOURNEAU: Unfortunately, he had to go. I'm sorry. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It wouldn't be a hearing without August 27, 2021 Page 45 mentioning his name. MR. AUSTIN: And I have been in contact with Renald faithfully. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You have? MR. AUSTIN: Yeah. As well as Mr. Cathey, which he'll attest. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Eric. MR. SHORT: I believe I'm still under oath. For the record, Supervisor Eric Short. The reasoning for retaining that design professional would be to establish what code are we using, because I believe it was testified earlier that it was done around late '70s, early '80s. So what code are we going to use to bring it into compliance through permit by affidavit. That would be acceptable. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. But since March, we're in the same position with no permit, and now the property -- I don't know if it was occupied at that time, is occupied, which is a health and safety. That's a problem. MR. AUSTIN: You say it's health and safety. I think I know what you're saying. In practicality, I see no health and safety problems with the -- with it, but I understand what you're saying. It's a -- it's a violation of that. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: They categorize health and safety is if you've had electrical work done, for instance, which was done to add two bedrooms and a bath, without a permit. It was never inspected by Collier County so, you know, the wires could cause a fire or whatever. MR. AUSTIN: Yeah. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: But that's the whole point of what health and safety means. MR. SHORT: Yeah, that's correct. I'll just reiterate that, you August 27, 2021 Page 46 know, having that area occupied with no inspection, we don't know if your points of egress are accurate, whether the plumbing, electrical, and safety components are up to standard, and that is a major concern for Collier County. MR. AUSTIN: All I can tell you is that I know the plumbing is definitely up, because we just finished that study. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Unfortunately, we can't go by your word. It has to be documented properly. MR. LEFEBVRE: I make a motion to continue this case for 60 days. MS. BOWMAN: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Hearing none, all those in favor? MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Aye. MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? MR. RUBENSTEIN: No. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries. You have 60 days. MR. AUSTIN: Got it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Get back with Renald Paul or whomever you need to get it -- get to to get this thing permitted. MR. AUSTIN: I am working very hard on that, and I expect to be done in the 60 days, hopefully. I'm not sure how much red tape stands in my way, but we'll get through it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So we'll see you in November. MR. AUSTIN: Okay. Hopefully I'll have it all done by then August 27, 2021 Page 47 and not need to be here. MR. LEFEBVRE: October. MR. AUSTIN: Take care. MR. CATHEY: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Helen, you got a short 10-minute case? MS. BUCHILLON: We're going to go to the stipulations now. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Oh, that should be fun. Okay. Number 2, 4 or 8? MS. BUCHILLON: Number 2, CESD20210002873, Yoelvis Ruiz Escobar. MS. COUTIN: Good morning, again. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Good morning. (The speaker was duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MS. COUTIN: Yes, I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So now you look familiar. You have a stipulation that you'd like to read into the record for us? MS. COUTIN: Yes. So, good morning. Saylys Coutin, Collier County Code Enforcement. Therefore, it is agreed between the parties that the respondent shall pay operational costs in the $59.28 incurred in the prosecution of this case within 30 days of this hearing; and, Two, abate all violations by obtaining all required Collier County building permits or demolition permit, inspections, or certificate of completion/occupancy for the unpermitted garage conversion within 120 days of this hearing, or a fine of $200 per day will be imposed until the violation is abated. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Respondent signed that. I'd ask them -- let the record show the respondent is not present. MS. COUTIN: Yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Anybody like to make a August 27, 2021 Page 48 motion? MR. LEFEBVRE: Excuse me. But just for a point of clarification, does she have to read 3 and 4 also into the record? MR. LETOURNEAU: Yes. MS. COUTIN: Yes. Oh, sorry. Number 3, respondent must notify Code Enforcement within 24 hours of abatement of the violation and request the investigator perform a site inspection to confirm compliance. Number 4, that if the respondent fails to abate the violation, the county may abate the violation using any method to bring the violation into compliance and may use the assistance of the Collier County Sheriff's Office to enforce the provisions of this agreement, and all costs of abatement shall be assessed to the property owner. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Thank you. MS. COUTIN: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Do we have a motion on this? MR. LEFEBVRE: Make a motion to accept. MR. ANDREOZZI: I'll second it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Thank you. MS. COUTIN: Thank you. MS. BUCHILLON: Next stipulation, No. 4, CELU20200011248, Veronica Tressler, Barbara Dethloff, and August 27, 2021 Page 49 Elizabeth Lucky. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MS. PATTERSON: I do. MS. TRESSLER: I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We don't have a copy of the stipulation. MS. BUCHILLON: We just got those this morning. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Sherry, you want to read the stipulation into the record for us. MS. PATTERSON: Good morning. For the record, Sherry Patterson, Collier County Code Enforcement Board. Therefore, it is agreed between the parties that the respondent shall: Pay all operational costs amount of 59.28 incurred in the prosecution of the case within 30 days of this hearing; Two, abate all violations by removing all unauthorized accumulation of litter and all other items not permitted for outdoor storage to a site designated for such use or store items in a completely enclosed structure within 30 days of this hearing, or a fine of $100 per day will be imposed for each day the violation remains; Number 3, the respondent must notify Code Enforcement within 24 hours of abatement of the violation and request the investigator perform a site inspection to confirm compliance; Number 4, that if the respondent fails to abate the violation, the county may abate the violation using any method to bring the violation into compliance and may use the assistance of the Collier County Sheriff's Office to enforce the provisions of this agreement, and all costs of abatement shall be assessed to the property owner. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Could you state your name on the microphone for us. You might want to bring it down a little bit. August 27, 2021 Page 50 MS. TRESSLER: Yes. Veronica Tressler. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: And, for the record, this is a case that I'm going to be recusing myself. MR. WHITE: Yes. Mr. Chairman and board members, I believe we have a copy of the Form 8B for each of the board members, if you don't already have them to review. The original completed by Mr. Lefebvre has been submitted to the minutes keeper. The short version is is that this is an actual conflict of interest where there's the potential for a financial gain or loss and, therefore, it will be noted next month as also being read into the record. So that complies fully. Certainly, the board member's entitled to participate. He just isn't allowed to vote. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. WHITE: At his discretion, to be present or not. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. WHITE: If there's any questions, I'm happy to answer. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. No questions. To the respondent, Ms. Tressler, you have a month to clean up the litter. MS. TRESSLER: Yeah. I'm almost -- I've been working diligently, and it's almost done. The weather hasn't permitted me to finish it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And also the outside storage of certain items on the property. MS. TRESSLER: I didn't know you couldn't tarp, like, a lawnmower or something. I've been trying to get, you know, the garage clean so I can put everything in there, and that's where the tarps and things have -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I'm sure that Sherry would be more than happy to steer you in the right direction. August 27, 2021 Page 51 MS. TRESSLER: Yes, she will. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Okay. We have a stipulation. Anybody want to make a motion? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Make a motion to accept the extension. MR. ANDREOZZI: I'll second. MS. BOWMAN: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It's not an extension. It's to approve the -- MS. BOWMAN: Sorry. To approve the stipulation. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Approve the stipulation. Okay. And we have a second. MS. BOWMAN: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Aye. MR. LEFEBVRE: (Absent.) MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Okay. Thank you. MS. TRESSLER: Thank you. MS. PATTERSON: Thank you. MS. BUCHILLON: Next stipulation, No. 8, CESD20180006675, Med-Life Enterprise, Inc. Jonathan, you lost a lot of weight. Oh, he's not there. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. MUSSE: I do. MR. TANIS: I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Can you state your name August 27, 2021 Page 52 on the microphone for us, please. MR. TANIS: Cleophet Tanis. THE COURT REPORTER: Can you spell your last name. MR. TANIS: T like Tom, a-n-i-s. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: What is your connection with Med-Life Enterprises? MR. TANIS: I'm the president of Med-Life. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I'm sorry. I didn't -- MR. TANIS: I'm the president of Med-Life. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Oh, okay. Okay. We have a stipulation. If you'd like to read that into the record for us, Jonathan. MR. MUSSE: Good morning. Investigator Jonathan Musse, Collier County Code Enforcement. It is agreed between the parties that the respondent shall: Pay operational costs in the amount of $59.28 incurred in the prosecution of this case within 30 days of this hearing. Abate all violations by: Obtaining all required Collier County building permits or demolition permit, inspections and certificate of completion/occupancy for the interior renovations within 60 days of this hearing, or a fine of $100 per day will be imposed until the violation's abated. Respondent must notify Code Enforcement within 24 hours of abatement of the violation and request the investigator to perform a site inspection to confirm compliance. That if the respondent fails to abate the violation to -- the county may abate the violation using any method to bring the violation into compliance and may use the assistance of the Collier County Sheriff's Office to enforce the provision this agreement, and all costs of abatement shall be assessed to the property owner. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Sir, you understand the stipulation that you agreed to? August 27, 2021 Page 53 MR. TANIS: Yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: No problem? MR. TANIS: No problem. Okay. Someone like to make a motion? MR. LEFEBVRE: Make a motion to accept. MS. BOWMAN: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion and a second to accept the stipulation as written. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Thank you, Jonathan. MR. MUSSE: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Thank you, sir. MR. TANIS: Thank you, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We're going to take a break now, Helen. Our court reporter, who's not been working very hard this morning -- MS. BUCHILLON: Okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- needs a break. We'll be back in 10. (A brief recess was had from 10:30 a.m. to 10:49 a.m.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I'd like to call the Code Enforcement Board back to order. MS. BUCHILLON: Okay. Next case under public hearings, D, hearing, No. 10, CESD20200007975, Jessica Doyle and Marc C. August 27, 2021 Page 54 Berry. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. CATHEY: I do. MR. BERRY: Yes, I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Could you state your name on the microphone. MR. BERRY: Marc Berry. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You can turn it up so you don't have to bend over. MR. BERRY: Marc Berry. Jessica Doyle's husband. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And she knows you're here? MR. BERRY: Yes, she does. She works -- she works at a hospital, so it's kind of hectic right now. MS. BOWMAN: Bad timing. MR. BERRY: Yeah. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So, Ryan, you want to present your case? MR. CATHEY: Yes. For the record, Investigator Ryan Cathey, Collier County Code Enforcement. This is in reference to Case No. CESD20200007975 dealing with violation of Florida Building Code, Sixth Edition (2017), Chapter 4, Section 454.2.17, and Collier County Land Development Code 04-41, as amended, Sections 10.02.06(B)(1)(a) and (B)(1)(e)(i), located at 3180 63rd Street Southwest, Naples, Florida, 34105. Folio 38160200000. Service was given on September 11th of 2020. This case originated as a complaint to our department. On September 9th, 2020, former Investigator Latoya Thompson observed the pool with no barrier, and no permits were found. Notice of violation was served on September 11th. August 27, 2021 Page 55 On October 12th, Investigator Thompson observed three permits: One for the pool, one for a power to a water pump, and one for a chain-link fence. On January 12th, 2021, I took over the case, continued to monitor the permits. I attempted to contact the owner on June 30th and had not heard back. On July 12th of '21, I went out to the property, spoke with a gentleman at the home who stated the owners were out of town. I observed that there was no barrier around the pool. I asked him to have the owners contact me. July 13th, I spoke with one of the owners, Marc, advised him of the situation. He stated the project's been on hold. Advised to get a temporary barrier up as soon as possible. I went to the property on August 11th and observed a partial temporary barrier around the pool. The current permit for the pool was abandoned, and the pump and fence permits had expired at that time. I attempted to contact the owner again and had not heard back. A new permit for the pool was applied for and is currently pending fees. As of today the violation remains, and there is still a partial temporary barrier around the pool. I'd like to present case evidence: Aerial of the property; determination from the county building official; one photograph September 9th, 2020, from Investigator Thompson; one photograph from July 12th of '21; one from August 11th of '21; two from August 26th '21, all taken by me. MS. BOWMAN: Have you seen the photos? Have you seen the photos? MR. BERRY: Yes. Yes, I've seen. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Do you have any objection to them? August 27, 2021 Page 56 MR. BERRY: I absolutely do not. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Can I get a motion from the Board to accept the photos? MS. BOWMAN: Make a motion to accept the photos. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Okay. MR. LETOURNEAU: I'm going to go in chronological order starting with 7/12/21. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Just for a little perspective, where is this looking? MR. BERRY: This is looking from the side -- each side of the house. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: No. Is this in Golden Gate City? In Golden Gate Estates? MR. CATHEY: It's off -- the Estates off of Golden Gate Parkway. MR. LETOURNEAU: Yeah. I'll put up the aerial. MR. BERRY: 75 is my backyard. MR. LETOURNEAU: I'll put up the aerial as soon as we're done with the photos here. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. August 27, 2021 Page 57 MR. LEFEBVRE: Are you going to have a lazy river there, too? MR. BERRY: Yes. MR. LEFEBVRE: Cool. MR. BERRY: Never do it again. Too much work for one man. MR. LETOURNEAU: There you go. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Let me stop you right there a second, Jeff. Is that your house there? MR. BERRY: Yes, in the red. Yes, the red. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LETOURNEAU: Did all the pictures pop up? It didn't look like all the pictures popped up. I guess they did. So here's the determination from the building official: Pool requires a permit. Permit for a pool protection also. So -- MR. BERRY: It will be done -- I'm going to do the protection. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Let him do his thing first, and then we'll come to you, okay? MR. BERRY: I'm sorry. MR. CATHEY: That's all I have. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Go back to that aerial again. Is there any fence on the -- I guess that would be the east side that abuts 75? MR. BERRY: Yes. MR. CATHEY: Yeah. There's -- I'm assuming it's Department of Transportation that maintains that fence line separating the interstate from the houses. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: There's no fence on the north and south portion of that parcel; is that correct? I can't see it on this. MR. CATHEY: There's no fence around the property. August 27, 2021 Page 58 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Okay. Okay. You're done? MR. CATHEY: That's it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Okay. Now it's time. MR. BERRY: Sorry. So, basically, the partial fence was put up. As soon as he contacted me about there's got to be a barrier around the pool, I immediately jumped on it and did it to -- I thought -- because the pool is elevated above the grade line, you really can't get into the pool when you go past the barrier, so that's why I stopped. Now, I don't have a problem with today I'm going to go right to Home Depot and get the rest to do it all the way around like he asked. I'm not -- I'm not -- you know, I'm not here to -- he knows what he's talking about. I got to follow suit. So I'm going to have that done immediately today. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. BERRY: Okay. As far as the permit goes, this is my second permit. Like I said, this was a one-man project. What killed me was -- is when COVID popped up and killed my costs. A 2x4 was -- at particular one time was $12 for a single 2x4. That just -- I just -- that's why the hold was put on the pool. Now, the pool isn't operational. We -- my wife has a long day at NCH. She comes home. She gets in the lazy river. She goes around. She drinks a cocktail. So it works fine. I just -- you have to understand that this was a project that I didn't -- I didn't -- I knew that I didn't have -- know everything going into it. I've changed pipes. I've got plumbing. I ripped out plumbing, redid it. So the pool was built first for safety and fast, okay, because I knew I didn't understand all the aspects. I had read the code. I knew how far the pool had to be back from the house. I did all that. But I didn't have the particulars on getting the lazy river to work efficiently under the power requirement August 27, 2021 Page 59 and -- because my wife said, "my electric bill" and the -- as much water as I wanted to move. So up to now, a year, I'm finalizing everything. The electric -- the electrical is almost completely finished. I've got a few details I've got to do. I'm going to stop at Home Depot today and get that done, and the electrical will be done in no time. I'm just here to ask about time. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Let me see if I can make this simple. The first thing we have to do as a board is to decide whether a violation exists. MR. BERRY: Yes. A violation did exist, yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. That makes that part easy. So get a motion from the Board. MS. BOWMAN: I'll make a motion that a violation exists. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion. MR. LEFEBVRE: We have a second (indicating). CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a -- he seconds it. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Aye. MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unan -- Now, the next thing we have to do is to find out how much time you need to get this thing resolved. It sounds like you can probably get this thing all done in a month. MR. BERRY: I wish. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. August 27, 2021 Page 60 MR. BERRY: But that's not reality. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. How much time do you think you need to -- MR. BERRY: They were going to give me, I believe it was 90 days. Is that what it was? MR. CATHEY: We had talked about briefly about that. MR. BERRY: Yeah. We had talked briefly about 90 days, but I want to -- because right now I only really have the weekends to work on the project, and in the afternoon, but -- so that's why it kind of limits what I can -- you know, this took me a year. So that's why -- I think I'm going to need the whole six months to -- but, now, when I say six months, I'm saying inspections, everything, so I don't have to come back. It's done. And -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Do you have a permit now? MR. BERRY: Yes. And it's paid for, too. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. BERRY: But the way they do it now -- before I could pay it right at the facility, but now you've got to go through the computer. I have the receipt -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. BERRY: -- of me paying the 60 bucks, yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So you have the permit. And do you have a temporary fence around the pool? MS. BOWMAN: He's going to go finish it today. MR. BERRY: I'm going to finish it. As you can see in this picture it's there, but I didn't go all the way around because I didn't think I needed it, because you can't get into the pool unless you come out of the house. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And, Ryan, what is your thought on the temporary fence? MR. CATHEY: I mean, it should be placed immediately, so... August 27, 2021 Page 61 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And how many feet is it short of being done? MR. CATHEY: I don't have an exact measurement for you. It's not much. I mean, it's literally -- right now it's surrounding about half of the pool, I would say. It's just that back half that needs to be protected. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So the -- Gerald, you want to say something? MR. LEFEBVRE: No, go ahead. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So it's two things. You're going to put a temporary fence. That's the red fence. MR. BERRY: Yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: That's a temporary fence. MR. BERRY: Yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And you're going to pull a permit to do a permanent fence. MR. BERRY: Well, the -- the pool is going -- just going to have a fence around it now, okay. I'm just going to build a fence around the pool -- around the border of the pool so you can't -- because at first I was just going to leave the back -- the side in the back. If I may, I have a better picture so you can understand what I'm -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Just give it to him. MR. LEFEBVRE: It's almost like part of it's like an aboveground pool. MR. BERRY: Right, right, so you can't get into the pool unless you climb something at this point. Either you climb that orange temporary fence or you climb up into the pool. MS. BOWMAN: Kind of like one of those infinite edges. It's, like, obviously higher. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So from where the fence stops, August 27, 2021 Page 62 what's the height of that deck? Just curious. MR. BERRY: From the -- where the fence stops? MR. LEFEBVRE: From the ground to the deck. MR. BERRY: It's almost 48 inches. MR. LEFEBVRE: Okay. Okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Our concern is that some kids wandering around wander in from -- MR. BERRY: Of course, of course. I have a daughter. She's three years old. MS. BOWMAN: So are we able to give, like, a two-week window to get the fence -- MR. BERRY: I'm going to have the fence done today. MS. BOWMAN: Like a -- (Simultaneous crosstalk.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yeah. The temporary -- MR. BERRY: The temporary fence today. MS. BOWMAN: -- like, 120 days or something? MR. LETOURNEAU: Yeah. I believe we have a recommendation that's broken down into specifics, yeah. MS. BOWMAN: Perfect. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Eric, did you want to say something? MR. LEFEBVRE: He wanted to enter some pictures. MR. BERRY: I have some more pictures if you -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: If you want to -- MR. CATHEY: I have no objection. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You can put it on the overhead. MR. LEFEBVRE: But they have to be put into record. MS. BOWMAN: Motion to accept the photos. MR. LEFEBVRE: Correct? MR. LETOURNEAU: Yeah. I believe that we'd have to keep August 27, 2021 Page 63 them. MR. BERRY: That's fine. Oh, you would have to -- oh, oh. MR. LEFEBVRE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have to enter them as evidence. MR. BERRY: Yeah. This is -- MR. LEFEBVRE: Nah. MR. BERRY: Beautiful. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. BERRY: Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: What's important to us is that the temporary fence goes up -- MR. BERRY: Yes, immediately. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- immediately. MR. BERRY: I agree. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And that you get everything done permit-wise in some particular time frame. MR. BERRY: I agree. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Whether it's 90 days or more, that's up to the Board. MR. BERRY: I would love 128 days to be done with this. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Make it 120 instead of 128. MR. BERRY: Okay, 120. That's okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: I feel your pain. I'm having a pool installed now. MS. BOWMAN: Can you give us your recommendations, Jeff. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yes. MR. LEFEBVRE: And no one's been there for, like, three weeks. MR. BERRY: And the rain has just been killing me. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It rains sometimes in August. Ryan, do you want to give us your recommendation, please? August 27, 2021 Page 64 MR. LETOURNEAU: Before Ryan gets going there, I think that we need to add, as Chloe's been talking about, something in the beginning about a temporary fence within blank days of this hearing, or a blank fine is entered. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: Chloe's going to do the -- MS. BOWMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: -- recommendation. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why don't we wait until Ryan gives us what he says, and then we modify what he does. MR. LEFEBVRE: Okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: That's how we generally do things. MR. CATHEY: Recommendations: That the Code Enforcement Board orders respondent to pay all operational costs in the amount of $59.28 incurred in the prosecution of this case within 30 days and abate all violations by: Number 1, erect an approved pool barrier to avoid safety concerns and/or obtain all required Collier County permits for a permanent pool enclosure and/or protective barrier, inspections, and certificate of completion/occupancy within blank days of this hearing, or a fine of blank dollars per day will be imposed until the violation is abated; Number 2, obtain all required Collier County building permits or demolition permit, inspections, certificate of completion/occupancy for the pool within blank days of this hearing, or a fine of blank amount will be imposed until the violation is abated; and, Number 3, that the respondent must notify the code enforcement investigator when the violation has been abated in order to conduct a final inspection to confirm abatement. If the respondent fails to abate the violation, the county may abate of violation using any August 27, 2021 Page 65 method to bring the violation into compliance and may use the assistance of the Collier County Sheriff's Office to enforce the provisions of this order, and all costs of abatement shall be assessed to the property owner. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Now, Chloe, would you like to add the time frame of erecting a temporary fence? MS. BOWMAN: Yeah, I would say within seven days of -- the temporary fence, or a fine of a $250 a day. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: Can you fill in the blanks for the rest of the -- MS. BOWMAN: Okay. So one of them was for the permit, which it sounds like he already has a permit for the pool, correct? MR. BERRY: Yes. MR. CATHEY: Correct. MS. BOWMAN: So that doesn't -- does that still need to go in there? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: No. We're looking for a total till it's CO'ed. So it will be a total amount of days. MS. BOWMAN: One hundred twenty days. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And a fine of how much? MS. BOWMAN: A hundred fifty dollars a day. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. One hundred and fifty if he exceeds the 120 days. Okay. MR. BERRY: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Again, if you have any problems -- MR. BERRY: Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- meeting the dates, you come back to the Board, and we can adjust things. MR. CATHEY: Is that for both? MR. LETOURNEAU: Yeah, that's for both the fence and the August 27, 2021 Page 66 pool, because there's two separate -- there's two separate articles on this recommendation, one for the pool and one for the permit barrier. MS. BOWMAN: Both. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LETOURNEAU: Okay. Seven days -- oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. MR. RUBENSTEIN: What was the recommendation on the pool? MR. WHITE: One twenty and 150. MR. SHORT: If I could just be sworn real quick. (The speaker was duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. SHORT: I do. What we can do here is -- for the record, Supervisor Eric Short with Collier County Code Enforcement. Number 1, you can change that to simply a temporary barrier there and, No. 2, we can do your six months with -- there's going to be a condition on that permit that he's going to have to have pool protection before he gets a certificate of completion, so I think that's probably the cleanest way of doing this. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. BERRY: Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So we filled in all the blanks on that. Any questions? MR. LETOURNEAU: Just to reiterate, seven days, 250 for the temporary -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Right. MR. LETOURNEAU: -- and then 120 days and 150 for the pool and the barrier? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: That's correct. MR. SHORT: If that makes sense for Mr. White for his order. MR. LETOURNEAU: Basically, what Eric's saying is you've August 27, 2021 Page 67 got to get the barrier for the pool to get the CO. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Right. MR. BERRY: Right. I'm good. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And, again, if you have a problem meeting those deadlines, we're here. MR. BERRY: I won't. My wife is sick of me doing this. She wants it done. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Give her a cocktail and put her in the lazy river. MS. BOWMAN: He's going to be sleeping in a doghouse on the patio, I think, soon. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: I heard of a she shed but not a she pool. MR. BERRY: This started with watching the Natives over on YouTube videos build a pool in the jungle, and that started going down from there. MS. BOWMAN: Here we are. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a -- do we have a motion? Yes. MR. LEFEBVRE: Do we have a second? Who seconded? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Who seconded the motion? MR. LEFEBVRE: If no one did, I will. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. The motion is seconded. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) August 27, 2021 Page 68 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Get the pool done. Put up the temporary fence. Get it all done. Have a cocktail on me. MR. BERRY: Thank you. Thank you, Counsel, and thank you, everyone involved. Have a good afternoon. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You, too. MS. BOWMAN: Good luck. MS. BUCHILLON: Okay. Next case under imposition of fines, we're going to start with No. 6 because the attorney's here. Number 6, CESD20200000596, Maroon Investments, LLC. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MS. PEREZ: Yes, I do. MR. RUSINKO: Yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Cristine, could you give us a little summary of what we're about to hear? MS. PEREZ: Sure. For the record, Cristina Perez. Collier County Code Enforcement. This case was in reference to a garage that had some alterations done to it. That has been corrected. The demolition permit was issued, and it has been completed but, unfortunately, there was a time period where the permit compliance extended beyond the time frame that the Board had provided. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So if I go to the sheets on this originally, it will show that the -- this has been abated; is that correct? MS. PEREZ: Correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Give me a minute while I -- and if you would, could you state your name on the microphone for us. MR. RUSINKO: My name is Michael Rusinko. I am an attorney with Peck & Peck. August 27, 2021 Page 69 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Do you want to read this into the record for us, and then we will go to the respondent? MS. PEREZ: Yes. This is in reference to violations of Collier County Land Development Code 04-41, as amended, Sections 10.02.06(B)(1)(a). Location: 260 9th Street Northwest, Naples, Florida. Folio 37068440002. Description of the violation was alterations and renovation to see a garage structure with no permits. Past orders: On February 25th, 2021, the Code Enforcement Board issued findings of fact, conclusion of law and order. The respondent was found in violation of the referenced ordinances and ordered to correct the violation. See the attached order of the Board, OR 5920, Page 3886, for more information. The violation has been abated as of August 25th, 2021. Fines have accrued at the rate of $200 per day for the period from May 27, 2021, to August 25th, 2021, 91 days, for a total fine amount of $18,200. The previously assessed operational costs of $59.28 have been paid, operational costs for today's hearing is $59.28, bringing the total amount to $18,259.28. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So we're here today to impose or not to impose the 18,259.28. MR. RUSINKO: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. RUSINKO: Thank you. My name is Michael Rusinko, as I said, and I represent Maroon Investments, LLC, and its sole member and managing member, Mr. Charles Flanagan. I filed a motion last week for a reduction or abatement of fines. At the time when I was filing the motion there were some last-minute issues that came up that I didn't -- at the time when I filed the motion, August 27, 2021 Page 70 so we couldn't get the affidavit of compliance. That's why it's not -- it wasn't in the motion when I filed it. But, as Ms. Perez said, the property did come into compliance on August 25th of this week. And the respondent wanted to move forward with this hearing last week because he was confident he could get those repairs done, as he did, and he actually was the one who wanted this hearing so he could move forward. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Let me just stop. We have a sheet in front of us -- MR. RUSINKO: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- that gives a summary of everything, and it says that the violation has been abated. MR. RUSINKO: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So we don't have to go into all the rest of this stuff. MR. RUSINKO: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It's done. MR. RUSINKO: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Now, the case is what happens with the fine. I'll leave it to you. MR. RUSINKO: Thank you. And if I could give you a little background. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Sure. MR. RUSINKO: So this originally started with a complaint. When the code enforcement officers inspected the property, it turns out that there was a violation that was in place from before the current owner, Mr. Flanagan, through Maroon Investments, owned the property. So he wanted to move forward to get permits in place; however, there was a tenant in the property, which -- who he -- who wouldn't allow access to the property, so it took some time to get the tenant to August 27, 2021 Page 71 vacate the property so he could get access and then begin the permitting process. At that point he engaged a contractor, submitted some permits, but there was changes that needed be to done which further delayed the process. Since getting the permits approved, which he did in May, he made significant efforts to complete an extensive list of repairs, which I put in the motion as well. He, essentially, though, had to decide whether he was going to tear down the structure or completely gut it. It was a garage that wasn't approved to be a residence. So he decided to, essentially, just strip it down and gut the garage, which took some time. The respondent's been in constant communication with the code enforcement officers, and he's been working hard. He actually lives out of state in Connecticut, so he's had to work with getting contractors in there while not being in town and then trying to manage all this from out of state. So that, additionally, took a bit of time. And, essentially, this -- you know, this violation existed, and this poor guy, as -- as evidenced in my exhibits, has spent in excess of $41,000 to come into compliance and get this problem abated. And there was also an additional $2,000 for citations stemming from the original complaint, which he has paid to date. So in light of the significant time and money and just cost that the respondent has incurred, I feel he will be unduly burdened if additional fines were imposed, and I would respectfully ask that the fines be waived, the fines and cost be waived. MR. LEFEBVRE: Okay. I make a motion that we deny the county's request to impose the fines. MS. BOWMAN: I'll second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have second. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. August 27, 2021 Page 72 MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. MR. RUSINKO: Thank you very much. MS. PEREZ: Thank you. MS. BOWMAN: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Thank you for your patience. MR. RUSINKO: Oh, of course. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And all the paper. MR. RUSINKO: I thought I'd keep you busy. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You do. MS. BUCHILLON: Okay. Next item under imposition of fines, No. 2, CESD20180006864, Zoele Cattanio and Scott Cattanio, as guardian. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. SHORT: I do. MR. CATTANIO: I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Eric, give us a minute. Eric, do you want to read the case into the record for us. MR. SHORT: Yes. For the record, Supervisor Eric Short with Collier County Code Enforcement. This is in regards to your past orders. On July 23rd, 2020, the Code Enforcement Board issued a finding of fact, conclusion of law and order. The respondent was found in violation of the referenced ordinances and ordered to correct the violation. See the attached order of the Board in the Official Records Book 5822, Page 1428, for more information. August 27, 2021 Page 73 The violation has been abated as of August 13th, 2021. Fines and costs to date are as follows: Fines have accrued at a rate of $100 per day for the period from September 22nd, 2020, to August 13th, 2021, 326 days, for a total fine amount of $32,600. The previously assessed operational costs of $59.56 have been paid, operational costs for today's hearing is $59.35, for a total fine amount of $32,659.35. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So, basically, it's stairs that didn't meet code and took a year to fix. MR. SHORT: Correct, and I believe your respondent can explain -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yeah. No, I'll get there. MR. SHORT: -- the circumstances. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Sir. MR. CATTANIO: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Would you state your name on the microphone for us. MR. CATTANIO: Scott Cattanio, owner. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You can pull that down a little bit. There you go. MR. CATTANIO: Scott Cattanio. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So outside stairs and deck don't meet the current building code. Was this a major -- MR. CATTANIO: No. I'm not a builder, but I did my best I could. I had a neighbor that complained about -- we bought a home that needed a lot of work. I've been fixing it, and I was told by Michele if I were to complete it in full, it would look a lot better if I partially did it, and then there was a complaint, which I understand. During this time, my wife had passed, and it just took a lot out of me, which is no excuse, but we did get it done. And then with COVID and the cost of things, and with my wife passing, it wasn't a very August 27, 2021 Page 74 motivating time in my life. So it's not an excuse, but we did get everything taken care of. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And so you are requesting that the fines be abated? MR. CATHEY: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: Make a motion -- go ahead. MS. BOWMAN: That's okay. I'll make a motion to deny the county the fees. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a motion. Do we have a second? MR. LEFEBVRE: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: All those in favor? MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? MR. RUBENSTEIN: No. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: One opposed? Okay. So it passes. The fines have been abated. MR. CATTANIO: Thank you, sir. MS. BOWMAN: Sorry about your wife. MR. CATTANIO: Thank you for your time. MS. BUCHILLON: Next item on the agenda under imposition, No. 3, CEAU20200004120, Melanie Ann Carter and Reginald Von Carter. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. CARTER: I do. MS. CARTER: I do. MR. SHORT: I do. August 27, 2021 Page 75 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Could you state your name on the microphone for us, please. MR. CARTER: Reginald Carter. MS. CARTER: Melanie Carter. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Let's see. It's the right height for you, but for you we have to move it down a little bit. Either that or you need to grow. Eric, do you want to read this into the record for us? MR. SHORT: Yes, Mr. Chairman. For the record Eric Short, Collier County. This is in regards to your past orders. On January 28th, 2021, the Code Enforcement Board issued a finding of fact, conclusion of law and order. The respondent was found in violation of the referenced ordinances and ordered to correct the violation. See the attached order of the Board in the Official Records Book, Page -- Book 5944, Page 930, for more information. On April 23rd, 2021, the Code Enforcement Board granted a continuance. See the attached order of the Board in the documents and images for more information. The violation has been abated as of July 14th, 2021. Fines and costs to date are as follows: Fines have accrued at a rate of $100 per day from the period of March 30th, 2021, to July 14th, 2021, 472 days -- that math is inaccurate. That math is very wrong. MR. LEFEBVRE: Is it 47 days? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: What they did was $100 a day for 472 equals the 47,2-. It's the dates that -- MS. BOWMAN: March to July is not 472. MR. LEFEBVRE: Correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It isn't. MR. SHORT: Yeah. So we have January -- so March 2021. August 27, 2021 Page 76 MR. LEFEBVRE: A hundred and five days, roughly. MR. SHORT: That times 100. If I was good at math, I'd have a better job. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You picked up the problem; you get a star. Okay. So the fine is not 47,200. It's -- MR. LEFEBVRE: Roughly -- roughly 105 days. April, May, June -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: That would be $10,000 roughly. MR. LEFEBVRE: Fourteen days in July, and March, another day in March, so 105 days times 100. 10,500 roughly. MS. CARTER: Okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make a motion. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Hold on. We need to hear from the respondents. MR. RUBENSTEIN: I thought we had. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: No. But we are going to hear from them now. It looks like it took you some time to get a permit for the fence; is that the deal? MR. CARTER: Yes. At the beginning of COVID, where most people know, at that time we built the fence ourselves, and then when it came time to get a permit, what we found out is that we need a particular fence that was for a pool barrier protection as well. And so with my expertise, I could not do that. So I had to hire Carter Fence to do that. And so once I hired Carter Fence, they were able to bring it up to code with regard to pool fence barrier. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Any questions from the Board? MR. LEFEBVRE: What are you looking for us -- from us? MR. CARTER: We're looking to get the fines -- MR. LEFEBVRE: Abated -- August 27, 2021 Page 77 MR. CARTER: -- abated. MR. LEFEBVRE: -- is the term. MR. CARTER: Abated, yes. MS. BOWMAN: I make a motion to deny the county the fines. MR. CARTER: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion. Do we have a second? MR. RUBENSTEIN: I'm sorry. I didn't hear what you -- MS. BOWMAN: I made a motion to deny the county the fine due to compliance. MR. RUBENSTEIN: I second. MR. LEFEBVRE: You second it? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. So your wait was worthwhile. MR. CARTER: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MS. BOWMAN: Thanks, guys. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay, Helen. MS. BUCHILLON: Next case under imposition of fines, No. 8, CESD20170006435, Midland Era, Inc., Scott Toth Era. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) August 27, 2021 Page 78 MR. TOTH: I do. MS. PATTERSON: I do. Good afternoon. Sherry Patterson, Code Enforcement. The past orders of the Board: On November 20th, 2020, the Code Enforcement Board issued a finding of fact, conclusion of law and order. The respondent was found in violation of the referenced ordinances and ordered to correct the violation. See the attached order of the Board, OR 5874, Page 368, for more information. The violation has been abated as of July 16th, 2021. Fines and costs to date are as follows: Fines have accrued at the rate of $200 per day for the period from February 19th, 2021, to July 16th, 2021, 148 days, for a total fine amount of $29,600. Previously assessed operational costs of 59.49 have been paid. Operational costs for today's hearing is 59.42. The total amount is $29,659.42. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. TOTH: I was asking for abatement. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Is there any reason why this took so long? MR. TOTH: I'm going to say it's a law of twos on this. I had two bad contractors, I got two new hips, and I opened two new businesses over the time frame, and it was sort of a crazy period. When I signed -- when I signed this stipulation on November 20th, realistically it probably was not something we could have pulled off. I didn't realize I could have requested a longer period of time, which is what I should have done. I actually approached the county. I drove there right about the 90-day mark and was trying to talk to somebody, because my contractor had done absolutely nothing at that point, nothing had been done. And I actually got things moving forward and scheduled a meeting on February 22nd with Fred Clum and Myron Jacobs with August 27, 2021 Page 79 my contractor, and from that meeting we had to come up with a new drawing which the engineer had to go back and redo; however, he was out with a back injury for a few months, and it was just sort of a fiasco, to be honest with you. Ultimately we -- I dealt with Diane Lynch from the county, and we worked hand in hand through each separate process. I basically spoon-fed my contractor on every step. And, you know, I don't ever want to go through this again. I learned a lot over the course of this whole process. I also didn't mention that Ortega was hired back in '17 and, basically, I have an e-mail. I didn't know what I was supposed to bring here. It said to bring three copies. I've got e-mails going back and forth. Ortega, two years later, had correspondence with the county saying that he would submit everything on that Thursday, and that was actually on a Thursday, which never happened and he pretty much disappeared. So then we had to get another -- you know, start from square one again. I guess that's pretty much -- I could talk about this all day long, but, you know, with respect to time, that's basically -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. WHITE: Is Mr. Ortega a contractor? MR. TOTH: He's an engineer, from what I understand. I didn't hire him. The GC did. MR. WHITE: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Any motions from the Board? MR. LEFEBVRE: Make a motion to deny the county's imposing of the fines. MS. BOWMAN: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? August 27, 2021 Page 80 MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? MR. RUBENSTEIN: No. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. One no. Okay. MR. TOTH: Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It looks like they did a good job on your hips. MR. TOTH: They did. Very good job. Dr. Biggs. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I need one fixed. I'll just ask you your doctor later. MR. TOTH: Don't put it off. Thank you very much. MS. PATTERSON: Thank you. MS. BUCHILLON: Next case under imposition, No. 10, CENA20200013489, Wilson Touchet and Dawn Hubert. On this executive summary, you're going to have -- it says it hasn't been paid, the ops cost, but it has been paid, so it's been modified in the system. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MS. PEREZ: Yes, I do. MR. TOUCHET: I do. MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Cristine, you want to read this into the record for us. MS. PEREZ: Good morning. For the record Cristina Perez, Collier County Code Enforcement. Violation: Collier County Land Development Code 04-41, as amended, Section 2.02.03. Location is an unimproved parcel in Naples, Florida. Folio August 27, 2021 Page 81 No. 37165120005. Description: Accumulation of litter on Estates-zoned unimproved parcel to include but not limited to large piles of vegetative debris, landscaping materials, and commercial vehicles and trailers. Past orders: On February 25th, 2021, the Code Enforcement Board issued a findings of fact, conclusion of law and order. The respondent was found in violation of the referenced ordinances and ordered to correct the violation. See the attached order of the Board, OR 5920, Page 3882, for more information. The violation has not been abated as of August 27, 2021. Fines have accrued at the rate of $100 per day for the period from June 26th, 2021, to August 27, 2021, 63 days, for a total fine amount of $6,300. Fines continue to accrue. Previously assessed operational costs of $59.28 have been paid. Operational costs for today's hearing are $59.42. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So the line that interests me the most on this is the violation has not been abated; is that correct? MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: For the record, my name is Dawn Hebert Touchet. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Move the mic down so you don't have to stretch. MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: Okay. Thank you. That is correct. A portion of the violation has been corrected as of now. And I was working with Paula Guy with the county, who was wonderful. She did come over, did inspections. We have managed to clear probably 98 percent of the vegetation, and then my husband broke his hand. So that imposed a lot of fees because we had to load the debris, bring it to the county, pay the county. It cost us, like, $700 to get rid August 27, 2021 Page 82 of the debris. I did speak to Cristine on a couple of occasions. There was a county function where you could bring your debris and just dump it off, you know, instead of going to the county waste. So we did that a couple of times, so almost all of the debris is gone. The majority of the commercial vehicles and the employees are gone. There is -- the manager of the corporation, or the LLC, I think it is, has been over to the property. We do have pavers that are still left that belong to us. It is on the vacant property. We are working towards getting it. I would like to ask for an extension to come into compliance and be done. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: How long -- how much of a continuance are you asking for? MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: Ninety days. My husband's hand is just healing from his surgery. MR. TOUCHET: You see who the boss is. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: That's why you have wives. Send her out there to do the work. MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: I had to learn how to use the chainsaw. MR. TOUCHET: And most of this stuff was just pepper trees. It wasn't no big trees. It was just pepper trees that I cleared so we could park some vehicles, until my neighbor got jealous and wanted something for free. And it's not me to put bricks, so she couldn't -- that's why we're here today. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So the most of the vegetation's gone? MR. TOUCHET: Yes, sir. MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: The commercial vehicles are? MR. TOUCHET: I've got two left. That's it. August 27, 2021 Page 83 MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: There's two vehicles left. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: How long do you think it will take you to get those -- MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: Well, they were trying to secure somewhere for them to go. With what's going on with the county right now, it seems like it's unaffordable to them, but that's, again, not our problem. They have to go. So that's why I'm asking for the 90 days to have compliance into everything. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: And then hopefully not have to come back. I can report to Cristina before 90 days and have everything -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You're probably going to have to come back because the fines continue to accrue, unless you just want to pay the fines. But if you want the -- MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: No, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- fines to disappear, I would suggest that you come back and request that after it's in compliance. MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Anybody want to make a motion? MR. ANDREOZZI: I'll make a motion to extend 90 days. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Continue. A continuance for 90 days. MR. LEFEBVRE: Just for point of clarification. If you continue -- if we continue it, the fines keep on accruing. Extending it, the fines stop, and -- MS. BOWMAN: It wipes them away. MR. LEFEBVRE: -- it wipes them away, and then after 90 days they would start again. So that's the difference between -- MR. TOUCHET: That's what we want to do. August 27, 2021 Page 84 MR. LEFEBVRE: It's going to be -- MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: We would like an extension. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yeah. MS. BOWMAN: You're in front of the wrong board. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yeah. MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: Okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We rarely, rarely do extensions. We do continuances; however, at the end of a continuance, if you're into compliance, you can request that the fines be abated and, as you've seen today, quite often that's what happens. MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: We've learned a lot today. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So we have a motion -- MS. BOWMAN: And I'll second that. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- for a 90-day continuance, and we have a second, Chloe. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. So -- MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- hopefully you'll have it done before Christmas. MS. HEBERT TOUCHET: Yes, sir. Yes, thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Good luck on your hand. MR. TOUCHET: Thanks, guys. Have a great weekend. MR. LEFEBVRE: You, too. August 27, 2021 Page 85 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You, too. MS. BUCHILLON: Next item, under impositions, No. 12, CESD20200001254, Jean Fortin. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Oh, Jean. MR. FORTIN: Yes. Good morning, Court. Everybody, good morning. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: But I know you by your face. Okay. Hang on a minute as you get sworn in. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. FORTIN: Nothing but the truth. MR. SHORT: I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Eric, you want to read this into the record for us? MR. SHORT: Yes, sir, and I double-checked the math, so... This is in regards to your past orders. On August 28th, 2020, the Code Enforcement Board issued a finding of fact, conclusion of law and order. The respondent was found in violation of the referenced ordinances and ordered to correct the violation. See the attached order of the Board in the Official Records Book 5874, Page 510, for more information. On January 28th, 2021, the Code Enforcement Board granted a continuance. See the attached order of the Board in our documents and images for more information. The violation has not been abated as of August 27th, 2021. Fines have accrued at a rate of $100 per day for the period of October 13th, 2020, to August 27th, 2021, 319 days, for a total fine amount of $31,900. Those fines continue to accrue. Previously assessed operational costs of $59.21 have been paid, and your operational costs for today's hearing are $59.56, for a total amount of $31,959.56. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Jean. August 27, 2021 Page 86 MR. FORTIN: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: The last time you were here, you said you were going to get this all resolved and yet you're back here, and it's still not been abated. MR. FORTIN: Yes, Your Honor. Your Honor, I've been having a problem. I've been having a problem with the county inspection and enforcement -- enforcement. I've been trying to please everybody. You know, my property, try to get the property clean and try to work on the house at the same time. And I've been sick, you know, for two months, and everybody used to come in and helping me. They start, you know, staying away from me because I having been sick. And my job, my house, I can't be working on it and being sick. So that's why I can't complete it. And the special -- inspector, the home inspection, when they come, they're looking for everything. Like, now I have four inspections in the house. I fail three of them, and I got one of them left. Because it's not easy to go through with the inspections. And that's why my house is kind of, you know, slow motion. And I would like to -- the Court to give me another six month continue that I can work with my house, finish my house, and keep my yard clean because the yard, it was a mess, you know. And if I work on the house, I don't work in the yard. This gentleman right there, he's going to be right on my back. So I have to get everything moving along, and I'm a one-man game, you know what I'm saying? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: As I recall, the last time you were here, you were living in the shed that was on the property; is that correct? MR. FORTIN: Yes, Your Honor. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: But you said you were going to not August 27, 2021 Page 87 live there anymore. MR. SHORT: We have an open case separate from this one regarding that, and to date we haven't been able to prove it. Do I believe it, yes, but... CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Are you still living in the shed? MR. FORTIN: Yes, I am, Your Honor. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I don't know what we can do with you. MR. FORTIN: Your Honor, it's -- the construction, what I'm building -- you know, when a poor man doing something, you know, it's not the money that I have to do the house. It's because the house was going down. I have to remodel it. And it's not the money why. It's the knowledge why. It's because I have the knowledge to do the job, so -- and I consider myself -- I go around the construction sites and pick up the stuff, and then I can get my house built to stay out of, you know, living in -- on the street. And so the little shed that I build, you know, I know after I finish with the house, they ask me to tear it down, yes, I will tear it down, or I get the permit to do whatever they want me to do with it. But because my -- I know it's -- because -- since I didn't have a permit to build it -- you know, the permit is required. But I'm a carpenter. I know what to do. I know what the county needs to be done on anything in a house. And I will finish the house, and then whatever I have to do, I'll do it. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Mr. Chairman, I have a question. MS. BOWMAN: What was completed since the last time? MR. SHORT: Jeff, if you don't mind. I actually have an inspection report from the primary structure attached. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. SHORT: And recent inspections have been done as of yesterday, the 26th. August 27, 2021 Page 88 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And -- MS. BOWMAN: Anything changed since the last time you were there? MR. SHORT: Yes. Appearance-wise, yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You said you had four inspections done and you passed three of them. MR. FORTIN: Yes, yes, I passed three of them. The only one I got left is just my windows. Just a couple screws on the top of the window, he failed me. You know, I mean, I told him, I'm going to put the screw on. He said, no, you got to call back. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So is that the only thing left between you and a CO? MR. FORTIN: No, it's not that, because I don't -- I haven't -- see, before I can go forward, you know, to get my Sheetrock, my insulation, first I got to have an inspection. The Sheetrock, I got to have an inspection. Before I go forward, I have to get the -- pass a window inspection before I can go forward, you know. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Eric. MR. SHORT: Yeah. If you review the inspection report, everything highlighted there is currently pending. It looks like he has an inspection scheduled Monday to reinspect the impact glass, but there's quite a bit still standing out there. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Lee? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Do we have a -- do you have a picture of this shed dwelling? MR. LEFEBVRE: That's not the case. MR. SHORT: Not available today. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have seen that in the past. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. The concern I have, August 27, 2021 Page 89 Jean -- you are a nice guy. MR. FORTIN: Thank you, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We love you. MR. FORTIN: I know you do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: But this can't continue. MR. FORTIN: Well, Your Honor, you can't put me sleep on the street either, you know, or living in the car. I mean, you got -- I got to do something. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I'm not talking about your living arrangements. MR. FORTIN: Oh, okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We're talking about this case here. MR. FORTIN: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: When's it going to be done? MR. FORTIN: Give me six months, Your Honor. I will be done. MR. SHORT: Mr. Chair, just to be clear, that the case -- it's for the shed, and that's -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Oh, it is for the shed, okay. MR. SHORT: It is. It can't be permitted where it sits. It doesn't meet setbacks. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And that's -- yeah. MR. SHORT: Even if it is permitted, you can't live in it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You're going to have to get out of -- we said this the last time. You have to get out of the shed. MR. FORTIN: After the six months, Your Honor, the house will be done, and then I'll be out of the shed. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: But you shouldn't be in the shed tonight. MR. LEFEBVRE: What I'm afraid of is we give an extension, we'll be -- or I should say "continuance" -- we'll be in the same spot. August 27, 2021 Page 90 I don't think there's going to be any resolution to this case in three months or six months. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Let me ask Eric a question. From memory, I remember that you can't have a shed on this property. It was too close to the property line or -- MR. SHORT: Yeah. Currently where it sits, it's too close to the property line, and it can't be permitted at that location. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So eventually the shed has to be removed? MR. SHORT: Or moved to another location on the property. Because you don't have a certificate of occupancy on the principal structure, you're not going to permit the shed first. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Right. I don't know what the answer is. I mean, even if we grant you more time, you'll never come into compliance. MR. FORTIN: I will be, Your Honor. I will be done, Your Honor. MR. LEFEBVRE: Unfortunately, we went through this last time he was here on this case, and we said he had to move out, and I remember he said he was looking at other arrangements. And he wants to be on the site to save money and so forth and so on. We just can't -- we can't just let this keep on going. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make a motion. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: Thank you. MR. RUBENSTEIN: I'd like to abate all fines except $1,000. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We can't abate -- we don't abate anything that's still in violation. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Okay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Then I'll retract that, and I'd like to make August 27, 2021 Page 91 a motion for this shed structure to be removed from the property within 30 days. MR. LEFEBVRE: We don't have that option either. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We're not doing -- the only thing we're here to do today is to impose the -- what's on the sheet -- impose the fine or abate it. You can't abate it because it's still in violation. That kind of narrows it down to what we can do. MR. LEFEBVRE: We can impose the fine or give a continuance. MR. RUBENSTEIN: You're talking about the full amount? MR. LEFEBVRE: We can do one of three things. MS. BOWMAN: Right now it's give him the fine, or give him the continuance. MR. LEFEBVRE: Continuance or an extension. Those are the three options. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Now we have -- MR. LEFEBVRE: Impose the fine, continuance, or an extension. Those are the three options. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We were here a year ago in August with the same exact case. That shed, which is mentioned in here, will -- would need to be moved to a different piece on the property after he completes the house, because you can't have an accessory unit without a primary unit, and that's what's on the board there are the permits pending on the primary. MR. SHORT: Correct, the primary structure. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: If the primary house was completed, then he could move out of the shed, if you will, and move into the house. MR. FORTIN: Yes, sir. MR. LEFEBVRE: I make a motion that we impose the fines. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion. Do August 27, 2021 Page 92 we have a second? MR. RUBENSTEIN: I'll second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a second. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. I don't know where we go from here, but that's what the Board has done. MR. FORTIN: Thank you, sir. Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay, Jean. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Point of information, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yes. MR. RUBENSTEIN: I know we just voted on this. Does this shed have utilities in it? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Well, that's a matter of discussion. MR. LEFEBVRE: It's too late now. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We discussed this a year ago. There was electric in it. MS. BOWMAN: At least electric. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Right. And he had a window air conditioner in it; otherwise, he'd cook. He'd be so warm. Okay. We are up to the next case. MS. BUCHILLON: Next case, No. 13, CESD20190007550, Julian Pereira and Maria E. Lopez. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) August 27, 2021 Page 93 MS. DAVIDSON: I do. MR. PEREIRA: Yes. MR. ESCOBAR: Yes. MS. DAVIDSON: Good morning. For the record, Colleen Davidson, operations manager for Code Enforcement. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I just saw Joe there. MS. DAVIDSON: He's backing me up. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: He's hiding behind you. Okay. You want to read this into the record for us? MS. DAVIDSON: Violation of Collier County Land Development Code 04-41, as amended, Sections 10.02.06(B)(1)(a). Location: 14708 Apalachee Street, Naples, Florida. Folio 25967802481. Description: Two sheds built and/or placed on the property without permits. Past order: On November 22nd, 2019, the Board issued a finding of fact, conclusion of law and order. The respondent was found in violation of the referenced ordinances and ordered to correct the violation. See the attached order of the Board, OR 5703, Page 3300, for more information. On February 27th, 2020, the Code Enforcement Board granted a continuance. See the attached order of the Board, OR 5758, Page 2563, for more information. On September 24th, 2020, the Code Enforcement Board granted a continuance. See the attached order of the Board in documents and images for more information. The violation has been abated as of June 28th, 2021. Fines have accrued at a rate of $100 per day for the period of January 22nd, 2020, to June 28th, 2021, 524 days, for a total fine amount of $52,400. Previously assessed operational costs of 59.28, 59.35, and 59.42 August 27, 2021 Page 94 have been paid. Operational costs for today's hearing, 59.63. Total amount: $52,459.63. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Can you state your name on the microphone for us, please. MR. ESCOBAR: Fernando Escobar. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And? MS. PEREIRA: Julian Pereira. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. I know this is not as simple as it looks to me right now. Two sheds and November of 2019. We're coming up on several years after that to remove the shed. So give me a little summary of what we've got. MR. ESCOBAR: One was removed, the other one, we got the permit already for the second one. And he take a long time because he been struggling with heath issues. He's diabetic now. And I'm the only one helping him. Him and his wife, they both -- they don't work. So I'm kind of just paying all his bills right now, like his house. Well, I pay the whole process right now for the permit and just kind of just trying to keep him on his feet. So -- but we finished the permit with the county. So that's why it takes so long. And also I was helping him to have his son go into the army. MS. DAVIDSON: Mr. Chair, if I may. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yes. MS. DAVIDSON: There were some permitting issues. They had to get an elevation certificate. They needed a spot survey. So there was some issues with the permitting process, and on top of that, it was a financial burden, like he was speaking of, so it extended the amount of time it took them. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Gerald, now is your time to tell me how long it takes to build a high-rise on the beach versus removing two sheds. August 27, 2021 Page 95 Have they been removed or permitted? MR. ESCOBAR: One of them is removed and the other one we got the permit for it already. MS. BOWMAN: I'll make a motion to deny the county the fines. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion. Do we have a second? MR. LEFEBVRE: Second it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a second. Any discussion on the motion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: All those in favor? MS. BOWMAN: Aye. MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? MR. RUBENSTEIN: No. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed. George, did -- you said yes? MR. ANDREOZZI: Yeah, I opposed. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Oh, you opposed. Well, the motion fails. Okay. MS. BOWMAN: They've got a permit, an active permit for the one shed. Bring that -- MR. LEFEBVRE: They're in compliance. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: They're in compliance, I understand. MR. LEFEBVRE: Yeah. One was removed. One was permitted. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yep. MR. LEFEBVRE: Well, what's the other option? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Well, we have an option. We can August 27, 2021 Page 96 impose the fine, or we can impose part of the fine. MR. LEFEBVRE: That's correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Anybody want to take a shot at that? Lee? MR. RUBENSTEIN: I'll make a motion to abate all fines but $5,000. MS. BOWMAN: What is the purpose of that? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: In other words, the 52,000 would be reduced by -- MR. RUBENSTEIN: Reduced to 5-. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- to 5,000. Okay. We have a motion. Do we have a second? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: No second. Joe, do you want to say anything. (The speaker was duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. MUCHA: I do. I just wanted to say for the record that they were keeping in touch with me the entire time. There was a couple things, like she had mentioned, the elevation certificate and the spot survey, and those are -- you know, for somebody that's struggling with money, it was kind of a hardship for them, and it just took a little bit of extra time. But I kind of think that $5,000 is a little out of line, personally. I think they did everything that they could. I feel that in my heart. MR. LEFEBVRE: Under the circumstances, considering no one was living in them, it's different than the previous case that we heard. And, again, there was no health and safety issue -- MR. MUCHA: No, sir. MR. LEFEBVRE: -- with these items. MR. MUCHA: No, sir. MR. LEFEBVRE: So I think Chloe's initial and my second -- August 27, 2021 Page 97 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Let me try a motion. I'll make a motion that we abate all the fines except for $100. MR. LEFEBVRE: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Three ayes. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Opposed. MS. BOWMAN: Nay. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Three to two. It passes. So instead of 52,459, you have a fine of $100. MR. ESCOBAR: Appreciate it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. ESCOBAR: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Thank you. We're getting down to the end, Helen. MS. BUCHILLON: Next case, we're back up to motion for extension of time. No. 5 -- no, wait. I'm sorry. No. 4, CESD20210005432, Highland of Lee and Collier Limited. And there is a letter under -- Mr. Cadenhead is here. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. CADENHEAD: I do. MS. PULSE: I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We're not here to hear the case. We're only here to hear the extension. Do you want to start us off, and then we'll go to Mr. Cadenhead? MS. PULSE: Mr. Cadenhead has something to request. MR. CADENHEAD: The request is we're all complete except for a few maintenance items that Growth Management wants us to August 27, 2021 Page 98 complete. We've installed over three miles of silt fence already through all this rain and stuff we had. And what I'm doing now is just asking for another 10 days to -- in other words, basically at 3:00 today, we should be in total compliance. But we're out there -- as we speak, the inspectors are there, and I've been there all morning back and forth to get it. But the story on this is the project's been going on for years, and the county come in and requested in this thing new silt fence to be installed. We sent the county a letter back in July 14th after they heard from our engineer and said that the silt fence was not required, because that -- we already had the growth of grass on the berms and that. The county come back out and said they didn't really care. They wanted a silt fence up. So we put in right at four miles of silt fencing around the property. And right now we're to the last point of having inspections yesterday, day before yesterday, and the county is making sure every little thing is proper to the maintenance part. Our part of compliance with what we've done is that all the silt fence is in. And every time we get a rain and wind and everything else, it causes damage to the fence. So now we're back doing maintenance work on the fence. And the storm that we had right after we asked for -- we got the thing that we were supposed to be through by the 23rd of July. In other words, the storms come in, we've had high water and everything else. So it's not -- it hadn't been an easy job. But right now we're within to 3:00 basically trying to be in compliance. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I remember hearing this a month ago, I guess it was a month ago, where the silt fence was improperly installed; is that correct? MR. CADENHEAD: Yeah. We had to go back, redo the fence. There's a little bit of a problem here. The county wanted 12 inches. The original engineer on the job says bury it four inches. August 27, 2021 Page 99 The second engineer on the job said bury it six inches. And so we've gone back and replaced every stick of fence on the property. We've done the job, but we also have been fighting weather throughout this whole deal. As you all are aware of, every rainstorm we get -- you're in a forested area, and we're just having problems with it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: How long have you lived in Collier County? MR. CADENHEAD: I lived here 76 years. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Did you ever notice that in 76 years that in August it rains? MR. CADENHEAD: No. At one time in our life, come June you quit working anywhere outside in the county because of the high water. No. In other words, we understand that. MR. LEFEBVRE: I make a motion to continue it for 15 days. MR. CADENHEAD: Okay. That's fine. MR. LEFEBVRE: If you're telling me it's going to be done today. MR. CADENHEAD: Yeah. In other words, we're within 3:00 today of having certification. MR. LEFEBVRE: Right. So what I'm saying, if something happens, you can get the inspector back out there within the two weeks. MR. CADENHEAD: No, the inspectors will be back out there at 3:00 today. MS. BOWMAN: Second. MR. CADENHEAD: We've had Growth Management with us all week, and they picked it over with a fine-toothed comb, so... MR. LEFEBVRE: Very good. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So we have a motion and a second for 15 days. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. August 27, 2021 Page 100 MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Okay. MS. BUCHILLON: We also have an imposition of fines case scheduled. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: The one that's out in the hall? MS. BUCHILLON: No, for him. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Oh. MS. BUCHILLON: No. 4. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Don't go away so fast. MR. WHITE: I thought that was 4. MS. BOWMAN: I thought that was 4, too. MR. LEFEBVRE: Same case. Same case. Same case. MS. BUCHILLON: Okay. We're going to -- okay. MR. WHITE: Withdrawn. MR. LEFEBVRE: No. Motion to continue for 15 days. It's the same case. MR. LETOURNEAU: It's the same case. Obviously, we'll bring it back next month after the 15 days are over with, yeah. MR. WHITE: The appropriate, I think, request is for the county to withdraw -- MR. LETOURNEAU: We will withdraw this case until next hearing. MR. WHITE: And then have the Board -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Gotcha. MR. WHITE: -- amend the agenda to accept the withdrawal. You need a motion and a second to amend the -- August 27, 2021 Page 101 MS. BOWMAN: Make a motion to amend the agenda to withdraw the hearing. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And we have a second? MR. LEFEBVRE: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Are you happy? MR. LEFEBVRE: So we just negated our vote; is that what you're saying? MR. WHITE: No. It will come back for the hearing on the imposition -- MR. LEFEBVRE: Right. MS. BUCHILLON: Right. MR. WHITE: -- after 15 days, which would be next month. MR. LEFEBVRE: Right. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Well, you notice it's not as crowded it was before. MR. ELLIS: I have that effect on a lot of rooms. MS. BUCHILLON: Are you ready for that one? Ready for this case? Number 14, CESD20140017065, Davis Crossing, LLC. MR. OSSORIO: Good morning, Commissioners. Good afternoon, actually. I was sworn in earlier, but I can do it again. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It wears off. August 27, 2021 Page 102 (The speakers were previously duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. OSSORIO: Commissioners, for the record, Mike Ossorio, director of Code Enforcement. I'm just going to go ahead and add my quick two cents. Jeff maybe alluded to it a little earlier about how Code Enforcement works, processes, and how we send letters out and how we do impositions and how we set the agenda for this board. If you go back into 2018, early part of 2019, we sent a letter to the respondent and let him know that we're going to impose. E-mails were going back and forth, and they decided to do a construction contract or construction timeline, and it was very aggressive. I don't have the e-mails here, but it was a pretty aggressive timeline. They made some commitments to us, Code, that -- we're the prosecutors -- that they were going to complete this time frame by mid 2020, and that was for a Hobby Lobby. So, you know, the respondent's correct that he kept on changing, modification, doing some revisions to the permits, because there was -- whatever reason, tenants dropped out, and Hobby Lobby was coming in, and so they were really moving forward in earnest. They've been in contact with us since then. And, unfortunately, in 2020 there was COVID, and this board was basically shut down for four or five months as well. In the meantime, since the construction contract -- or the timeline somewhat shifted a little bit because then the Hobby Lobby left, for good reason, because we have -- you know, Amazon went in there, and that's a good plus for us. They could have gone to Bonita, they could have gone to, you know, somewhere north, Fort Myers, they could have gone, but they decided to stay here in Collier. What I would tell you is not one person here, Commissioners, August 27, 2021 Page 103 not the respondent, has been -- more phone lit up, more complaints, been tomato throwing than me. I will tell you that fact, because not a day goes by that we didn't invest time and energy trying to seek compliance, and that's our mission. People don't realize that, and I'm sure -- our mission is to educate, promote compliance, you know, do what we can, because it's not about the fine, it's actually about the neighbors. Neighbors that look at this every day, they don't care about fines and money amount. They want a completed project, and so we factor those in, how we impose penalty. Are you making compliance? How we set the agenda, how we send out a carrot, a letter saying imposition. That brought, you know, Benderson back into the table a little bit, and we got a great construction timeline. I thought it was too aggressive myself, and they had to modify it again because of the change of tenants, and now we have a great product. So for me, I understand this board has a job they do, and it's a tough job, and I salute every one of you folks for doing such great work for us. But for me is I want to be consistent. And I would think, for us, anything over 10 percent would be a consistent standard as we've done in the past. If you look through this record, there are some standards that we alleviate all fines for zero. There are some we do full amount. But we -- you know, our mission is pretty clear. So I have nothing to say other than to say that this company -- yes, they had some right-of-way issues that -- and, unfortunately, maybe this -- these attorneys don't recognize what this imposition fine is. It's about hardship. It's been telling a story, as your attorney -- as your board's attorney has told you, the factors. But for me, yeah, I lost sleep on this project. I was -- you know, this project was one of the issues the community had. And just like the previous one with Mr. Cadenhead, his property, that seems to be an issue, and you folks are working through that, too, as well. August 27, 2021 Page 104 So I have no objections of the 50,000, which is 10 percent, which is roughly around there. So I would like the Board to reconsider it and let -- that's the county's perspective, from me as the director of Code that represents the second floor of the County Manager's Office. With that, I have nothing further. MR. ELLIS: Mike, I think when we talked outside, you were going to speak to whether this has, in fact, been before this board before. MR. OSSORIO: No, this hasn't -- well, I believe Jeff Letourneau talked about the carrot and the stick and how we process and how we put things on the agenda. Just like any board or quasi-judicial board, or especially considering this is Robert's rules, is that we set the agenda, and you hear the cases. Historically, that's how prosecutors do work. The judges really don't set the -- they set the agenda, but then the prosecution will go ahead and do some things, remove things from the docket as well. So this is why you'll see some cases being removed, but I would -- rest assured this Benderson -- or this respondent has never been formally in front of this board except for the fine in itself during the charging document, which is a good charging document, you know, for expired building permits in 2009. But the state -- you know, from 2009, 2014, and 2015, the Governor put a stay on it because there was an economic downturn. And we did -- for us, we lost 200 employees, too. So I'm sure they had some hardship as well with the -- with those -- there was issues with a variety of DOT, I will tell you. That was a nightmare in itself. I sat in those meetings. There's a variety of -- the light issue. Who was supposed to pay for the light -- was it Walmart? -- especially coming down on that road as well. So it's a good project. You know, for me, I'd like to move August 27, 2021 Page 105 forward. It meets our mission statement, and it actually meets our guidelines of 10 percent. We got our costs back. So with that I really don't have anything else to say other than to -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Let me make a motion, since you brought up 10 percent. I make a motion that we reduce that fine to a total of 10 percent, which would be $53,580. That's my motion. That would be 10 percent of the fine. I know you were at 50,000, so I don't -- this isn't a -- MR. WHITE: As a point of order -- and certainly I encourage the respondents to say whatever they need to after I say this. But you had a pending proffer of settlement at 50,000. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: No, we didn't, because it was withdrawn. We're starting from square one. MR. WHITE: Okay, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. You originally made the 50,000, and then you withdrew it. MR. LEFEBVRE: No, 100,000. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: 100,000, and then you withdrew it. MR. RUBENSTEIN: I withdrew it. And then we sort of went into limbo and put us to where we're at right now. MR. WHITE: My point simply is that the respondents have made a proffer to settle the matter for 50,000, and the Chair has indicated a motion, which awaits a second, at a 10 percent of the total fines and costs. And all I'm trying to make sure is that, as a matter of process, they're afforded the opportunity of procedural due process, and that if you're going to vote on the Chair's motion, before you do, we're at the same place we were before where they have to put whatever they want to on the record. MR. RUBENSTEIN: But we never finished the vote on the first motion from earlier. August 27, 2021 Page 106 MR. WHITE: Correct. MR. RUBENSTEIN: It's sort of hanging out there. So how could you go to a new motion until you conclude from first motion? MR. WHITE: You and the second both withdrew. MR. LEFEBVRE: Withdrew. MR. WHITE: There is nothing pending before this board other than the -- MR. RUBENSTEIN: Okay. MR. WHITE: -- proffer of a $50,000 settlement. And you can step over that and consider the Chair's motion when duly seconded. But my point is simply to say, lady and gentlemen, that you have to afford the respondent's procedural due process. If you're going to deny that motion, you still have to be able to let them put on their case relative to what they believe are mitigating circumstances. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Well, I have a motion, and I'm going to wait to see if I got a second before I go to the respondents. Do we have a second on my motion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: No second. What? MS. BOWMAN: So we move forward to the respondents. MR. LEFEBVRE: The motion dies. MR. WHITE: You would need a second. If there is no second, even for the purposes of discussion, then the motion, quote-unquote, is -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Dead. MR. WHITE: -- dead. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I understand. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make a new motion. MR. LEFEBVRE: Whoa, whoa. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We're going to follow our August 27, 2021 Page 107 attorney's -- we're going to follow or attorney's -- MS. BOWMAN: We're going to let it go, because they need -- that affords them the opportunity to speak on their behalf. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: So why don't you speak on your behalf now, and then we'll see where we go. MS. BOWMAN: Please go ahead. MR. MATHES: I wish I was as eloquent as your chief code enforcement officer. I think he put it nicely. There's a lot of history here. We're going to make a submittal for the record that was in writing just -- so that's just in writing. We don't need to get beyond that. And aside from that, Commissioner, we think that's put in a very fair way. It's put in the spirit of the partnership we've enjoyed with the county for a long time. I imagine if that was the conclusion of this board, that we would pay that amount and that would be the end of the story. And so, you know, that's basically what I can offer to say, and I'm hopeful you'll consider it, you know. And if you end up imposing a different fine, then, you know, I'll have to evaluate it and continue to work in partnership with the county, and that's -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I took -- I took what Mr. Ossorio had said, I said 10 percent, and he gave a brief history on that, and that's what I did, 10 percent of the fine that's on the total amount listed on our documentation, and that's where I came up with that number, so... MR. WHITE: May I inquire of the respondent? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Go ahead. MR. WHITE: You've proffered 50,000. Are you authorized to amend that and proffer 58,580? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Fifty-three. MR. WHITE: 53,580. August 27, 2021 Page 108 MR. MATHES: Yes. MR. WHITE: You now have testimony from the respondent that they would agree to settle the matter for $50,580, and the -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Fifty-three thousand -- MR. WHITE: Five hundred and eighty. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- five hundred and eighty. MR. WHITE: Correct. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. WHITE: And so you now have a revised proffer, and it's up to the Board to either accept or deny that proffer. That would be the form of the motion, to accept or deny the proffer, the amended proffer. MS. BOWMAN: I'll make a motion to accept the proffer of $53,580. MR. LEFEBVRE: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? MR. LEFEBVRE: How about discussion? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Discussion. Go ahead. MR. LEFEBVRE: I'm just wondering if there's anyone that needs. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: That's the same motion I made earlier, but -- MR. LEFEBVRE: Correct. MS. BOWMAN: Well, just for the sake of -- MR. WHITE: You know have -- MS. BOWMAN: -- their best interests were presented. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. WHITE: You now have the testimony that, from the perspective of the respondent, they would agree to that, they would pay that, and that it would conclude the matter. August 27, 2021 Page 109 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: All right. Okay. So the motion has been made, seconded. We are on the discussion phase of the motion. Anybody on the Board have anything to add? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Hearing nothing, all those -- MR. WHITE: Mr. Chair, just so we understand -- and I hate to be a pain about this. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Well, you are. MR. WHITE: Even if you deny the motion, you still need to give them the opportunity to put on their case. MR. RUBENSTEIN: What did you say? MR. LEFEBVRE: I though we did. MR. WHITE: No -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You just -- MR. WHITE: -- I don't believe we do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: You just asked them if they would go along with the 53,000, and they said they would. MR. WHITE: And if the Board agrees -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And then somebody made the motion for that amount, and it was seconded. MR. WHITE: And -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Am I missing something? MR. WHITE: Not at all. I'm simply allowing for the fact that if the Board doesn't accept the amended proffer, we're going to have more testimony from the respondent. That's all I'm saying. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Fine. MR. LEFEBVRE: Call it. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Call the question. Okay. All those in favor? MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Aye. August 27, 2021 Page 110 MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? MR. RUBENSTEIN: I oppose. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. One opposed. It passes. MR. ANDREOZZI: I oppose. MR. WHITE: Thank you, Board. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Two opposes. Okay. It still passes. Okay. MS. BOWMAN: Congratulations. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Thank you for being so patient. MR. MATHES: Thank you. MR. LEFEBVRE: We still have a couple cases. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Terri, do we need to give you another break? THE COURT REPORTER: How much do we have left? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We're just about done. MR. LEFEBVRE: Don't we have a couple more cases? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Motion for extensions, I think we're done. MS. BUCHILLON: We've got one. We've got one left for extension of time. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. And which one is that? MS. BUCHILLON: Number 1. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Number 1? MS. BUCHILLON: Yes. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Ramirez? MS. BUCHILLON: Yes. And then we have -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Why don't you call that one. Hi, Chris. August 27, 2021 Page 111 MR. AMBACH: How are you, sir? MS. BUCHILLON: Next case, under motion for extension of time, CESD20190007261, Esterban C. Ramirez, Teresa M. Ramirez, and Ignacio Ramirez. (The speaker was duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. AMBACH: I do. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Let the record show that the respondent is not present, and you have an ugly shirt. MR. AMBACH: We look like twins today, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: The round one and the straight one. MR. AMBACH: For the record, Chris Ambach, Collier County Code Enforcement. So it looks like this extension of time was a request via e-mail that you folks should have in front of you now. MR. LETOURNEAU: It's up on the screen. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Can you make it bigger? MS. BUCHILLON: You have a copy in your paperwork, Mr. Kaufman. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. I just didn't want to look through all of it. MS. BOWMAN: Okay. Due to COVID they had issues with obtaining loans. MR. LEFEBVRE: I have a question when -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Is this thing scheduled to be heard today? MR. AMBACH: It is. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: The question I have is in the description of the violation it says, unpermitted single-family dwelling, but then they're saying that there's block that has to be delivered. I'm not August 27, 2021 Page 112 really -- MR. AMBACH: I don't understand that either. This is a -- this is a home, replaced the mobile home and built a house, six-bedroom, four-bath home, sheds, and gazebo, no permits. MR. LEFEBVRE: Okay. So I don't understand what they would need block for. MR. AMBACH: I don't understand. MR. LEFEBVRE: The house is already built, so... MR. AMBACH: Exactly. MR. LEFEBVRE: So -- okay. Thank you. MR. AMBACH: You're welcome. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. I don't want to hear the case, but the respondent is not here to argue for an extension of time, other than -- other than the e-mail that they sent knowing that if we didn't approve the e-mail, we would hear the case, and they're not here. MR. AMBACH: And the permits expired two months ago. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: So we would be hearing the imposition of fines. MR. AMBACH: Yes. MR. LEFEBVRE: Have you been in contact with them on a regular basis? MR. AMBACH: My staff has. MR. LEFEBVRE: Well, that's what I mean. MR. AMBACH: Yeah. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And? MR. AMBACH: Haven't -- nothing. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: What do you mean "nothing"? MR. AMBACH: They've done -- there's been three passing August 27, 2021 Page 113 inspections on this property in two years since this case opened: Monolithic slab, some kind of framing, and underground plumbing. That's it. There's at least 15 or 20 more inspections that need to be done. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Let me just say one thing: This gives true definition to the word chutzpah. Do you understand chutzpah? MR. AMBACH: Yeah. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I make a motion we deny their request for an extension of time. MS. BOWMAN: Second. MR. RUBENSTEIN: How do you inspect a property that's not permitted? CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Okay. We'll hear this case. MR. AMBACH: Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: The only thing -- I didn't have time to say it. But the only thing that I'm questioning is what they wrote to get the extension or continuance is totally different than what the case here is. MR. AMBACH: That was the first thing I looked at was the block for something that's already been completed two years ago, so -- MR. LEFEBVRE: So that's what I wanted. MR. AMBACH: I don't understand that. MR. LEFEBVRE: Unfortunately, I was thinking if we can give a continuance for one month, bring them here to explain this, but let's move forward. MR. AMBACH: And, again, I would still argue -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We can still bring this forward a August 27, 2021 Page 114 month now. Instead of hearing it now, because of the late hour, we could -- MR. LEFEBVRE: We're here to take care of the business, so let's do -- MR. AMBACH: And a reminder, that permit expired two months ago. They haven't reapp'ed the permit. MR. LEFEBVRE: What was the permit for? MR. AMBACH: Single-family home. MS. BOWMAN: So a permit after the fact for the whole thing? MR. AMBACH: Correct. But they still have to open everything up for the inspectors to see what was done. MR. LEFEBVRE: Let's hear the case. We've agreed to that. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Are you going to be the one who's going to present the case? MR. AMBACH: I will present the case, yeah. I don't think we should. I think we should move forward at this point. The permit's no good right now. They let it expire two months ago, over two months ago. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And this is an imposition of fines? MR. AMBACH: It is, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. WHITE: Can we please introduce the case, then, since we're talking about it. MS. BUCHILLON: Sure. Under imposition of fines, No. 1, CESD20190007261, Esterban C. Ramirez, Teresa M. Ramirez, Ignacio Ramirez. Respondents were notified regular and certified mail on July 30th and were also serviced on July 30th, 2021, posted at the courthouse. (The speaker was previously duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) August 27, 2021 Page 115 CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Chris, do you want to get into the -- MR. AMBACH: Yes, please. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Read through it. MR. AMBACH: Past orders: On January 24th, 2020, the Code Enforcement Board issued a finding of fact, conclusion of law and order. The respondent was found in violation of the referenced ordinances and ordered to correct the violation. See the attached order of the Board, OR 5727, Page 2796, for more information. The violation has not been abated as of August 27th, 2021. Fines and costs to date are as follows: Fines have accrued at a rate of $100 per day for the period of July 23rd, 2020, to August 27th, 2021, 401 days, for a total fine amount of $40,100. Fines continue to accrue. Previous -- previously assessed operational costs of $59.28 have been paid. Operational costs for today's hearing, $59.35. Total amount: $40,159.35. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. I'll wait a minute till Gerald comes back. MR. LEFEBVRE: I was able to hear anything. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Would you like to make a -- anybody want to make a motion? MS. BOWMAN: Make a motion to impose the fines. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. We have a motion to impose the fines. Do we have a second? MR. RUBENSTEIN: I'll second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a second. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Aye. August 27, 2021 Page 116 MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Just as a side thing on this case -- MR. AMBACH: Sure. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: -- this is somebody who built a house a year ago or more. MR. AMBACH: Two years ago. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Two years ago, who paid no taxes, I'm sure, on that house for two years, which is really taking advantage of the taxpayers in Collier County. I don't know what the -- well, what the taxes would be. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Is this home completed and lived in? MR. AMBACH: It is. It's being lived in right now, sir. It's a massive home, six-bedroom, four-bath. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I would even go -- (Simultaneous crosstalk.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: This is a safety and health -- MR. AMBACH: It was picked up as a complaint from a neighbor. MR. RUBENSTEIN: How long ago? MR. AMBACH: Over two -- a little over two years ago. MR. RUBENSTEIN: So during that time period, was that project red tagged to stop them from -- MR. AMBACH: Not that I'm aware of, sir. This is out in Immokalee. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Is that the protocol? MS. BOWMAN: Yeah. Do you have a stop work order? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Should that project have been red August 27, 2021 Page 117 tagged? MR. AMBACH: By who, sir? MR. LETOURNEAU: I believe it was done by the time we got there. MR. AMBACH: Oh, no. The house was completed. MR. RUBENSTEIN: No, I'm talking about last year. MR. LETOURNEAU: The house was completed when code was aware of the issue. MR. AMBACH: When my staff showed up at that property, that house was done. It was already built, and all the accessory structures were completed, to include a gazebo, so... CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Can code go out there now -- this is a question -- and issue a code violation that they're living in a house that has no CO and require them to move out? MR. WHITE: I would encourage, before the gentleman answers, to rephrase that as a hypothetical -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. WHITE: -- and not have it applicable to this specific case, because if it does come back... MS. BOWMAN: It's prejudice. MR. AMBACH: Jeff, do you want to help me with this? Because it's going to involve the building official, correct, and the Building Department? MR. LETOURNEAU: That would -- I'm going to have to say that we'd have to research something before we're going to put anything on record here at this point. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. AMBACH: But, yes, a CO is required, obviously, before anyone moves into the house. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. MR. AMBACH: And none of that -- none of the utilities have August 27, 2021 Page 118 been checked with the exception of the underground plumbing. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Hypothetically, if you have a house that's not CO'ed, how do you get electric to the house? MR. LETOURNEAU: I'm not sure how they got -- I don't really know how they got electric. Temporary pole? Yeah, I have no idea. I've never been out to the property. MR. AMBACH: Well, there was -- okay. So the -- MR. WHITE: Let's just recall here that the case has been decided, No. 1. Number 2, anything that the Board wants to discuss with staff should be in the form of a hypothetical -- MR. AMBACH: Okay. MR. WHITE: -- please. Let's not prejudice our own case. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I think I did use the word hypothetical. MR. WHITE: Staff didn't. MR. AMBACH: Hypothetically -- CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. It is now 12:33. It's time for Terri's break, but we'll make it, like, a month break. MS. BUCHILLON: We have one more case. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Oh, one more case. Okay. MR. LEFEBVRE: We have Gerald, right? Is that the one? MS. BUCHILLON: Number 3 under hearings, CESD20190012596, Dezilia Vital. Respondent was notified regular and certified mail July 30th, 2021. It was also posted at the property and courthouse August 11th, 2021. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Let the record show that the respondent is not present. (The speaker was duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MR. CATHEY: I do. Good afternoon. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Good afternoon, Ryan. What do August 27, 2021 Page 119 you have for us? MR. CATHEY: For the record, Investigator Ryan Cathey, Collier County Code Enforcement. This is in reference to Case No. CESD20190012596 dealing with violation of Collier County Land Development Code 04-41, as amended, Sections 10.02.06(B)(1)(a) and (e), unpermitted bathroom renovation located at 13356 Covenant Road, Naples, Florida, 34114. Folio 77390000866. Service was personally given on October 18th of 2019. This case originated as a result of separate complaints regarding a commercial vehicle and expired fence permit. On October 16 of 2019, I spoke with the owner's daughter, Marie, who stated the box truck was there to store materials while they were renovating the bathroom. Marie signed an entry consent form, and I observed interior renovations/alterations including, but not limited to, a wall dividing one bathroom into two, a new shower and toilet. Met with the building official on October 18th who stated a permit was required and then met with the owner again who signed for the notice of violation. On January 16th of 2020, I observed the permit was in issued status. On October 12th, permit had expired. Case was originally prepared for hearing, however, due to Executive Order 20-276 permits were extended. I left a voicemail for the owner on December 7th and have not heard back. I spoke with the owner and her daughter again on January 5th, 2021, and advised of the remaining inspections. May 3rd, permit expired, and I have not had any contact from the owner. Executive Order 20-276 had expired at the end of June 2021. The case was then prepared for hearing. As of today, the violation remains. Case evidence: Aerial of the property, determination from the August 27, 2021 Page 120 county building official, and four photographs from October 16th, 2019, taken by me. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Make a motion from the Board to accept the photos. MS. BOWMAN: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. You can show us the photos. There we go. I have one of those in my house. MR. CATHEY: So the permit's currently expired, and a final inspection, I believe, is the only thing that's remaining, but I've not had any luck reaching the owner or anyone at the property, so... CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. So first question is, does a violation exist? MR. LEFEBVRE: Make a motion a violation exists. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a motion. MR. ANDREOZZI: Second. MR. RUBENSTEIN: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: And a second. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. August 27, 2021 Page 121 MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Do you have a recommendation for us? MR. CATHEY: Yes. Recommendation is that the Code Enforcement Board orders the respondent to pay all operational costs in the amount of $59.28 incurred in the prosecution of this case within 30 days, and abate all violations by: One, obtaining all required Collier County building permits or demolition permit, inspections, certificate of completion/occupancy for the renovations/alterations including, not limited to, new wall, new shower, and toilet within blank days of this hearing, or a fine of blank dollars per day will be imposed until the violation is abated; and, Two, that the respondent must notify a code enforcement investigator when the violation has been abated in order to conduct a final inspection to confirm abatement. If the respondent fails to abate the violation, the county may abate the violation using any method to bring the violation into compliance and may use the assistance of the Collier County Sheriff's Office to enforce the provisions of this order, and all costs of abatement shall be assessed to the property owner. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Okay. Anybody want to fill in the blanks? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: I'll do it. The 59.28 paid within 30 days, the fine will be $150 a day, and we will give them 60 days to get the final on the premises. MR. LEFEBVRE: Second. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: All those in favor? August 27, 2021 Page 122 MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. MR. CATHEY: Thank you. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Thanks, Ryan. MR. WHITE: Point of order for the agenda. I noticed the last thing that's in the agenda packet you have is a letter from the County Attorney's Office regarding liens. I don't know that anything else needs to be put on the record regarding that. So it's just informational, I believe, for the Board, and I thought I'd draw your attention to it. MS. BOWMAN: Don't we usually make a motion to accept the -- MS. BUCHILLON: Yes. MR. LEFEBVRE: I thought that was part of the consent agenda. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Yeah. MS. BOWMAN: I'll make a motion to accept the memorandum. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: We have a motion to accept the memorandum. It's seconded. All those in favor? MR. RUBENSTEIN: Aye. MS. BOWMAN: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: (No verbal response.) MR. LEFEBVRE: Aye. August 27, 2021 MR. ANDREOZZI: Aye. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: It carries unanimously. Okay. Are we done with all the cases, Helen? MS. BUCHILLON: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN KAUFMAN: Code Enforcement Board is adjourned. **** There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 12:39 p.m. ODE E► FO ' MENT BOARD 4111110111111: 1 -01 ' • : E ' :' d FMAN, CHAIRMAN These minutes approved by the Board on .Stp ellofie. 023, 2Od21 as presented or as corrected TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF FORT MYERS COURT REPORTING BY TERRI L. LEWIS, RPR, FPR-C, COURT REPORTER AND NOTARY PUBLIC. Page 123