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BCC Minutes 04/11/2023April 11, 2023 Page 1 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida, April 11, 2023 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners, in and for the County of Collier, and also acting as the Board of Zoning Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such special districts as have been created according to law and having conducted business herein, met on this date at 9:00 a.m., in REGULAR SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following Board members present: Chairman: Rick LoCastro Chris Hall Dan Kowal William L. McDaniel, Jr. Burt L. Saunders ALSO PRESENT: Amy Patterson, County Manager Daniel Rodriguez, Deputy County Manager Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations Page 1 April 11, 2023 COLLIER COUNTY Board of County Commissioners Community Redevelopment Agency Board (CRAB) Airport Authority AGENDA Board of County Commission Chambers Collier County Government Center 3299 Tamiami Trail East, 3rd Floor Naples, FL 34112 April 11, 2023 9:00 AM Commissioner Rick LoCastro, District 1; – Chair Commissioner Chris Hall, District 2; – Vice Chair Commissioner Burt Saunders, District 3 Commissioner Dan Kowal, District 4; – CRAB Co-Chair Commissioner William L. McDaniel, Jr., District 5; – CRAB Co-Chair NOTICE: ALL PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK ON AGENDA ITEMS MUST REGISTER PRIOR TO PRESENTATION OF THE AGENDA ITEM TO BE ADDRESSED. ALL REGISTERED SPEAKERS WILL RECEIVE UP TO THREE MINUTES UNLESS THE TIME IS ADJUSTED BY THE CHAIRMAN. ADDITIONAL MINUTES MAY BE CEDED TO AN IN-PERSON SPEAKER BY OTHER REGISTERED SPEAKERS WHO MUST BE PRESENT AT THE TIME THE SPEAKER IS HEARD. NO PUBLIC SPEAKERS WILL BE HEARD FOR PROCLAMATIONS, PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLIC PETITIONS. SPEAKERS ON PRESENTATIONS ARE LIMITED TO 10 MINUTES, UNLESS EXTENDED BY THE CHAIRMAN. ALL PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK ON A CONSENT ITEM MUST REGISTER PRIOR TO THE BOARD’S APPROVAL OF THE DAY’S CONSENT AGENDA, WHICH IS HEARD AT THE Page 2 April 11, 2023 BEGINNING OF THE MEETING FOLLOWING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. ANYONE WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON PUBLIC PETITION MUST SUBMIT THE REQUEST IN WRITING TO THE COUNTY MANAGER AT LEAST 13 DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE OF THE MEETING. THE REQUEST SHALL PROVIDE DETAILED INFORMATION AS TO THE NATURE OF THE PETITION. THE PUBLIC PETITION MAY NOT INVOLVE A MATTER ON A FUTURE BOARD AGENDA AND MUST CONCERN A MATTER IN WHICH THE BOARD CAN TAKE ACTION. PUBLIC PETITIONS ARE LIMITED TO A SINGLE PRESENTER, WITH A MAXIMUM TIME OF TEN MINUTES, UNLESS EXTENDED BY THE CHAIRMAN. SHOULD THE PETITION BE GRANTED, THE ITEM WILL BE PLACED ON A FUTURE AGENDA FOR A PUBLIC HEARING. ANYONE WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THIS AGENDA OR A FUTURE AGENDA MUST REGISTER TO SPEAK PRIOR TO THE PUBLIC COMMENT PORTION OF THE AGENDA BEING CALLED BY THE CHAIRMAN. SPEAKERS WILL BE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES, AND NO ADDITIONAL MINUTES MAY BE CEDED TO THE SPEAKER. AT THE CHAIRMAN’S DISCRETION, THE NUMBER OF PUBLIC SPEAKERS MAY BE LIMITED TO 5 FOR THAT MEETING. ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THIS BOARD WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDING PERTAINING THERETO, AND THEREFORE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED. COLLIER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 2003-53 AS AMENDED BY ORDINANCE 2004-05 AND 2007-24, REQUIRES THAT ALL LOBBYISTS SHALL, BEFORE ENGAGING IN ANY LOBBYING ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ADDRESSING THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS), REGISTER WITH THE CLERK TO THE BOARD AT THE BOARD MINUTES AND RECORDS DEPARTMENT. IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY WHO NEEDS ANY ACCOMMODATION IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCEEDING, YOU ARE ENTITLED, AT NO COST TO YOU, THE PROVISION OF CERTAIN ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT THE COLLIER COUNTY FACILITIES Page 3 April 11, 2023 MANAGEMENT DIVISION LOCATED AT 3335 EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL, SUITE 1, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 34112-5356, (239) 252-8380; ASSISTED LISTENING DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED ARE AVAILABLE IN THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION. LUNCH RECESS SCHEDULED FOR 12:00 NOON TO 1:00 P.M 1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE A. Invocation by Pastor James Boyd - Grow Church, Naples 2. AGENDA AND MINUTES A. Approval of today's regular, consent and summary agenda as amended (Ex Parte Disclosure provided by Commission members for consent agenda.) B. March 14, 2023, BCC Meeting Minutes 3. AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS A. EMPLOYEE 1) 20 YEAR ATTENDEES 2) 25 YEAR ATTENDEES a) This item continued from the March 28, 2023, BCC Meeting. 25 Years - Jeanne Marcella - Transportation Management Services - Administrative Support Specialist II 3) 30 YEAR ATTENDEES 4) 35 YEAR ATTENDEES B. ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS C. RETIREES D. EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH Page 4 April 11, 2023 4. PROCLAMATIONS A. Proclamation recognizing Sunlight Home of Collier County. To be accepted by Carolyn Bott, President. B. Proclamation recognizing the Bargain Basket Thrift Store as recipient of the Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) award, for contributing to the greater good of Collier County by advocating the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" message, thereby helping to prolong the usable life of the Collier County Landfill. To be accepted by Samantha Arago and Bill Johnenning, and represented by Jonathan Bartos from our Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Division. C. Proclamation designating April 9 - 15, 2023, as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. To be accepted by Sheriff Kevin Rambosk, Colonel Jim Bloom, Chief Greg Smith, Captain Chris Gonzalez, Manager Amy Tuff, and several 911 Collier County Telecommunicators. D. Proclamation designating April 2023 as Water Conservation Month in Collier County. To be accepted by Howard Brogdon, Water Division Director. 5. PRESENTATIONS A. Artist of the Month B. Presentation of the Collier County Business of the Month for April 2023 to Galt Insurance Group. The award will be accepted by Andrea Galt, Marketing & PR Director, and Sara Barcarolo, Director of Human Resources. Also attending are Michael Dalby, President & CEO, and Bethany Sawyer, Vice President of Membership & Investors, the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce. C. Presentation of the 2022 Drinking Water Plant Operations Excellence Award in recognition of outstanding treatment plant operation, maintenance, and compliance for the Collier County North Regional Water Treatment Plant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. To be accepted Page 5 April 11, 2023 by Howard Brogdon, Division Director, Water, Public Utilities Department. (All Districts) 6. PUBLIC PETITIONS 7. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA 8. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 9. ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Recommendation to consider adopting an Ordinance establishing the Collier County Health Freedom Bill of Rights. (Companion to Item 10A) (All Districts) 10. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS A. This Item to be heard immediately following 9A. Recommendation to adopt a Health Freedom Resolution. (Companion to Item 9A) (Sponsored by Commissioner Hall) (All Districts) B. Recommendation to appoint two members to the Infrastructure Surtax Citizen Oversight Committee. (All Districts) C. Recommendation to direct the Clerk of the Circuit Court to timely transfer $30 million to the State of Florida pursuant to the terms of the Memorandum of Agreement and Escrow Agreement for the “State Veterans’ Nursing Home” project using Infrastructure Sales Surtax Funding and authorize the necessary budget amendment (Fund No. 318). (All Districts) 11. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT A. Recommendation to authorize the Chairman to sign a letter of concurrence to support the continuation of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Collier County Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study. (Trinity Scott, Department Head, Transportation Management Services) (All Districts) Page 6 April 11, 2023 B. Recommendation to authorize budget amendments to recognize $23,233,000 in revenues deposited in the Solid Waste Capital Fund (474) received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) related to the Hurricane Ian debris removal expedited expense reimbursement, and return budgeted funds back to the original funding sources which include Water/Sewer Operations Fund (408) ($8,913,500), Water Capital Fund (412) ($8,909,869), Solid Waste Disposal Fund (470) ($2,151,700), and capital projects within the Solid Waste Capital Fund (474) ($3,257,931). (Chris Johnson, Interim Director – Corporate Financial and Management Services) (All Districts) C. Recommendation to approve an operations and maintenance budget in the amount of $1,200,000, in fiscal year 2023 (FY23), for the newly constructed interim Northeast County Water Reclamation Facility (NECWRF) and Potable Water Storage Tank and Pump Station, authorize twelve (12) additional Full-Time Equivalent positions, and authorize all necessary FY23 budget amendments. (Craig Pajer, Subregional Utilities Director) (All Districts) D. This Item to be heard no sooner than 1 PM. Recommendation to execute a new Interlocal Agreement between Collier County and the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District for continued management of the Ochopee Fire District, authorize necessary budget amendments and authorize staff to bring back a proposed millage cap update to the Ochopee Fire District Ordinance (Estimated Fiscal Impact $4,046,870.52). (Ed Finn, Deputy County Manager) (All Districts) 12. COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT 13. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS 14. AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND/OR COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY A. AIRPORT B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY Page 7 April 11, 2023 1) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners approve a pilot test program with Ecological Laboratories of Cape Coral Florida to monitor and document the result of using Ecological Laboratories product “Quantum Growth Series” a soil and plant microbial inoculant within the existing landscape right of way within the Bayshore Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment Area (BGTCRA) and accept the donation of the product. (Debrah Forester, Community Redevelopment Agency Division Director) (District 4) 2) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency Board (CRA), direct staff to give at least 30 days public notice of its intent to sell, lease, or otherwise transfer approximately 1.84 acres of CRA-owned property at the corner of Thomasson Drive and Bayshore Drive in the Bayshore Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment Area, and invite proposals from, and make all pertinent information available to, private redevelopers or any persons interested in undertaking to redevelop or rehabilitate this parcel. (Debrah Forester, Community Redevelopment Agency Division Director) (District 4) 15. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS A. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA BY INDIVIDUALS NOT ALREADY HEARD DURING PREVIOUS PUBLIC COMMENTS IN THIS MEETING B. STAFF PROJECT UPDATES C. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16. CONSENT AGENDA - All matters listed under this item are considered to be routine and action will be taken by one motion without separate discussion of each item. If discussion is desired by a member of the Board, that item(s) will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered separately. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A. GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT (CONSENT) Page 8 April 11, 2023 1) Recommendation to approve final acceptance and accept the conveyance of the potable water utility facilities for the Nagakris Professional Building, PL20180003044, and authorize the County Manager, or designee, to release the Utilities Performance Security (UPS) and Final Obligation Bond in the total amount of $4,862.97 to the Project Engineer or the Developer’s designated agent. (District 2) 2) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and sewer facilities for Siena Lakes, PL20200002457, accept the conveyance of a portion of the potable water and sewer facilities and appurtenant utility easement, and authorize the County Manager, or designee, to release the Utilities Performance Security (UPS) and Final Obligation Bond in the total amount of $135,239.92 to the Project Engineer or the Developer’s designated agent. (District 2) 3) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the sewer utility facilities and accept the conveyance of the sewer facilities for Terreno at Valencia Golf and Country Club Phase 1A-2 (Sewer Only), PL20220006264. (District 5) 4) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance of the private roadway and drainage improvements for the final plat of Valencia Lakes - Phase 6-A, Application Number AR-5383 and PL20110001980, and authorize the release of the maintenance security in the amount of $76,104. (District 5) 5) This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve for recording the minor final plat of Broadview Estates, Application Number PL20210003212. (District 1) 6) This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve for recording the final plat of Hacienda Boulevard Phase One, Application Number PL20220001391, approval of the standard Page 9 April 11, 2023 form Construction and Maintenance Agreement, and approval of the performance security in the amount of $1,308,086.70. (District 1) 7) This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve for recording the final plat of Logan Towns, Application Number PL20220001513, approval of the standard form Construction and Maintenance Agreement, and approval of the performance security in the amount of $855,817.88. (District 3) 8) Recommendation to approve an extension for completion of required subdivision improvements associated with Montiano (PL20140002750) subdivision pursuant to Section 10.02.05 C.2 of the Collier County Land Development Code (LDC). (District 1) 9) Recommendation to consent to the filing of applications by GM Advisors, LLC, for a growth management plan amendment and a rezoning on a County-owned parcel on Immokalee Road that is subject to a Board-approved land swap agreement. (District 5) 10) Recommendation to approve and execute a Second Amendment to Developer Agreement with GM Advisors, LLC, for a land swap on Immokalee Road in order to extend the construction schedule. (District 5) 11) Recommendation to approve the selection committee’s ranking related to Request for Professional Services (“RPS”) No. 23-8057, “Design Services for Goodlette-Frank Road/Naples Zoo Stormwater Outfall,” and authorize staff to begin contract negotiations with the top-ranked firm, WGI, Inc., so that a proposed agreement can be brought back for the Board’s consideration at a future meeting. (All Districts) 12) Recommendation to award Request for Quote ("RFQ") No. 2022-012, "Collier Area Transit ADA Bus Stop Site Improvements," utilizing Agreement No. 19-7646, to Capital Contractors, LLC, in the amount of $409,382.80, and authorize staff to issue a purchase order for the total amount. (All Districts) Page 10 April 11, 2023 13) Recommendation to authorize the necessary budget amendments to reallocate funds within the Transportation Management Services Department Stormwater Bond Fund 327 in the total amount of $522,900. (District 1, District 3, District 4, District 5) 14) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 2 to Agreement No. 20-7735, Design-Build Whippoorwill Lane and Marbella Lakes Drive Connection to Quality Enterprises USA, Inc., adding ninety-five (95) days to the construction contract (County Project Number 60219). (District 2) 15) Recommendation to award Construction Invitation to Bid (ITB) No. 23-8079, “Treeline Drive & Logan Blvd. North of Immokalee Rd. Intersection Improvements,” Project 60245 to Thomas Marine Construction, Inc. in the amount of $1,249,275.10, authorize the necessary budget amendment and the Chairman to sign the attached Agreement. (Jay Ahmad, Director Transportation Engineering). (District 2, District 3) 16) Recommendation to authorize the necessary budget amendment to reallocate Transportation Engineering Division project funds to reallocate Naples Production Park Maintenance reserve funds to fund Commercial Blvd. at Domestic Ave. Intersection Improvements. (District 4) 17) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 1 to Agreement No. 20-7708, Design-Build Veterans Memorial Boulevard Extension, Phase I, with Quality Enterprises USA, Inc., to revise the plans in accordance with County staff-requested changes in a total not to exceed amount of $784,998.50, add 35 additional days, approve the necessary budget amendments for the design build cost share with the Public Utilities Department, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Change Order (Project Number 60198). (All Districts) 18) Recommendation to approve and authorize the chairman to execute Local Agency Program (LAP) Agreement 446252-1-58-01, between the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and Collier County, where FDOT will provide up to $456,500 in Federal funding to update Page 11 April 11, 2023 Collier County’s School Flasher System; execute a Resolution memorializing the Board’s action; and authorize all necessary budget amendments. (All Districts) 19) Recommendation to adopt a resolution authorizing the purchase of 5.15 acres of unimproved land (Parcel 102FEE) necessary for the construction of roadway, drainage and utility improvements for the Randall Boulevard/Immokalee Road Project No. 60147, and to approve a purchase agreement in the amount of $1,231,000 (Estimated Fiscal Impact: $1,237,350 and approve miscellaneous title policy, closing and recording fees estimated not to exceed $6,350. Source of funds is impact fees and or gas taxes.). (District 5) 20) Recommendation to accept the award and authorize the Chairman to execute Grant Agreement No. RT015 between Collier County Board of County Commissioners and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for Biological Debris Removal associated with Red Tide within Collier County and accept grant funding in the amount of $446,000 (Project No. 33851). (All Districts) 21) Recommendation to provide after-the-fact approval for the submittal of a Watershed Protection Program grant application to the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, in the estimated amount of $9,328,519.40, with an estimated local match in the amount of $2,809,795.00, authorize the County Manager or designee to execute the award and amendments, and authorize any necessary budget amendments. (All Districts) 22) Recommendation to approve a Budget Amendment in the amount of $319,808.52 to cover cost increases as a result of the Third Amendment to Contract No. 18-7382 for Collier Area Transit (CAT) Fixed Route, Demand Response, and Transit Operations Management Services with MV Transportation, Inc. (All Districts) B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY (CONSENT) 1) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency Board (CRA), approve a Purchase Agreement with Catholic Charities Diocese of Venice, Inc., Page 12 April 11, 2023 to convey 1.96 acres of CRA owned property in the Immokalee Community Redevelopment Area. Purchase Price is $600,000. (District 5) C. PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT (CONSENT) 1) Recommendation that the Board 1) approve the sale of the property to Collier County Water-Sewer District in the amount of $370,050; 2) accept such property as the Ex-Officio Governing Board of CCWSD; and 3) Authorize its Chairman to execute the Statutory Deed and all documents required to transfer the property for conveying a 7.38 parcel of land held by the GAC Land Trust to be used for the Northeast Service Area (“NESA”) utility projects program (GAC Land Sales Fund 605). (District 5) 2) Recommendation to waive liquidated damages against Florida Design Drilling Corporation pertaining to the construction of the New Tamiami Well 40 Project under Agreement No. 20-7808, approve all previous administratively authorized Change Orders, and authorize payment of any pending or final payment applications subject to the contractor providing all required backup documentations prerequisite to processing payment. (District 5) 3) Recommendation that the Board approve Change Order No. 3 providing for a 60-day time extension to Construction Agreement No. 21-7912 with R2T, Inc., for the NCRQTP Chemical Bulk Tank Replacement project, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Change Order (Project No 71066). (All Districts) 4) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid (“ITB”) No. 23-8059, “39th Avenue NE - Waterways Wall Extension,” to Coastal Concrete Products, LLC, d/b/a Coastal Site Development, in the amount of $299,966.00, authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Agreement, and approve the necessary budget amendment. (District 5) 5) Recommendation to approve a License Agreement with American Towers, LLC, for the Collier County Water Sewer District to place an antenna on a privately-owned communications tower at the Big Page 13 April 11, 2023 Corkscrew Island Fire and Rescue Station on Immokalee Road and authorize the Chair to sign the agreement. (District 5) 6) Recommendation to approve a Certification of Financial Responsibility, as required by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, for the renewal of an operating permit for the deep injection well system at Collier County’s South County Water Reclamation Facility and authorize the Chair to execute the Certification of Financial Responsibility form. (District 1) 7) Recommendation to approve proposal No. 10788, under Agreement No. 19-7592 Building Automation Energy Management Services, from Juice Technologies, Inc., d/b/a Plug Smart, and authorize the issuance of a purchase order in the amount of $302,990.89 to replace the proprietary N2 Johnson Controls BMS with new BACnet Reliable Controls at the Collier County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Building (Project No. 52162). (District 4) 8) Recommendation to approve a First Amendment to Agreement No. 22-7992R, “Palm River Public Utilities Renewal Project Areas 1 and 2,” with Haskins, Inc., pertaining to the replacement of public utilities infrastructure in Palm River, and authorize the Chairman to sign the amendment. (District 2) 9) Recommendation to approve the Second Amendment to Agreement #18-7279 in the amount of $88,463 and approve Change Order No. 3 for a time extension for an additional 120 days associated with additional design engineering services with Q. Grady Minor and Associates, P.A., for the Big Corkscrew Island Regional Park (BCIRP) Phase II (Project No. 80039). (District 5) 10) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 16 to Paradise Coast Sports Complex Phase 2.1 and 2.2A, under the Sixth Amendment to Agreement No. 17-7198 with Manhattan Construction (Florida), Inc., providing for a time extension of 45 days (Project 50156). (District 3, District 5) 11) Recommendation to approve administrative Change Order No. 1 to Purchase Order 4500217564 for an additional $9,320 to investigate an Page 14 April 11, 2023 alternative site under Agreement No. 20-7753 with Schenkel & Shultz, Inc., for Design Services for North Naples EMS Station (Project No. 55213.1). (District 2) D. PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT (CONSENT) 1) Recommendation to accept and recognize a grant donation from the Naples on the Gulf Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution through Rebecca Ann Schlueter, Corresponding Secretary in the amount of $200 and authorize the necessary Budget Amendments. Library Admin Grant Fund (Fund 129) (All Districts) 2) Recommendation to accept the donation of a Stadium sound system from Gulf Coast National Little League for use at Cindy Mysels Park. This donation will replace the existing sound system with a comparable modern system. (All Districts) 3) Recommendation to approve a Second Amendment to Extend Agreement No. 11-5785, “Management of Pelican Bay Tennis Center,” with The Naples Tennis Academy, LLC, for a period of one year. (District 2) 4) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign two (2) mortgage satisfactions for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership loan program in the amount of $23,310 and the associated budget amendment. (SHIP Grant Fund 791) (All Districts) 5) Recommendation to approve the initial allocation of City/County Abatement funds from the State of Florida Opioid Settlement Fund in the amount of $289,151.06 and authorize the necessary budget amendment. (Collier County Seniors Fund 123) (All Districts) E. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES (CONSENT) 1) Recommendation to approve the administrative report prepared by the Procurement Services Division for disposal of property that is no longer viable and then removal from the County’s capital asset records and notification of revenue. (All Districts) Page 15 April 11, 2023 F. COUNTY MANAGER OPERATIONS (CONSENT) 1) Recommendation to adopt a Resolution withdrawing Collier County from the Florida Local Government Finance Commission. (All Districts) 2) Recommendation to approve the expenditure of the Tourism Development Tax Promotion funds to support the March 2023 Sports Tourism Event, Trilogy Lacrosse, up to $12,000, and make a finding that these expenditures promote tourism. (All Districts) 3) Recommendation to authorize budget amendments in the amount $721,760 to provide additional funding for maintenance and repair of the County’s 800mhz Public Safety Radio Communications System and for the replacement of five (5) fixed tower site generators. (All Districts) 4) Recommendation to adopt a Resolution approving amendment (appropriating grants, donations, contributions, or insurance proceeds) to the Fiscal Year 2022-23 Adopted Budget. (The budget amendments in the attached Resolution have been reviewed and approved by the Board of County Commissioners via separate Executive Summaries.) (All Districts) 5) Recommendation to approve modifications to the 2023 Fiscal Year Pay & Classification Plan which consist of nine new classifications, four classification title revisions and six reclassifications made from January 1, 2023, through March 31, 2023. (All Districts) G. AIRPORT AUTHORITY (CONSENT) H. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (CONSENT) 1) Recommendation to adopt a Resolution establishing the Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study Ad Hoc Advisory Committee, and direct staff to advertise for members in the same manner as other advisory boards. (All Districts) Page 16 April 11, 2023 2) Recommendation to direct staff to prepare an LDC amendment to repeal LDC Section 5.05.15, Conversion of Golf Courses. (All Districts) I. MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE (CONSENT) 1) April 11, 2023, Miscellaneous Correspondence (All Districts) J. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS (CONSENT) 1) To record in the minutes of the Board of County Commissioners, the check number (or other payment method), amount, payee, and purpose for which the referenced disbursements were drawn for the periods between March 16, 2023, and March 29, 2023, pursuant to Florida Statute 136.06. (District 1) 2) Request that the Board approve and determine valid public purpose for invoices payable and purchasing card transactions as of April 5, 2023. (All Districts) K. COUNTY ATTORNEY (CONSENT) 1) Recommendation to appoint a member to the Collier County Citizen Corps. (All Districts) 2) Recommendation to reappoint two members to the Tourist Development Council. (All Districts) 3) Recommendation to appoint four members to the Public Art Committee. (All Districts) 4) Recommendation to reappoint a member to the Public Transit Advisory Committee. (All Districts) 5) Recommendation to approve retention of Derek P. Rooney to serve as mediator for a voluntary mediation related to a Bert Harris Notice of Claim filed pursuant to Florida Statutes 70.001(4)(a) by La Minnesota Riviera LLC, regarding the Riviera Golf Course. (District 1) Page 17 April 11, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17. SUMMARY AGENDA - This section is for advertised public hearings and must meet the following criteria: 1) A recommendation for approval from staff; 2) Unanimous recommendation for approval by the Collier County Planning Commission or other authorizing agencies of all members present and voting; 3) No written or oral objections to the item received by staff, the Collier County Planning Commission, other authorizing agencies or the Board, prior to the commencement of the BCC meeting on which the items are scheduled to be heard; and 4) No individuals are registered to speak in opposition to the item. For those items which are quasi-judicial in nature, all participants must be sworn in. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A. This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve an Ordinance of the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida amending Ordinance No. 99-69, as amended, the Forest Glen of Naples Planned Unit Development (PUD), by adding warehousing and flex space uses including specialty trade contracting, minor fabrication, and manufacturing as principal uses in addition to previously permitted commercial uses on the Commercial Tract located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Collier Boulevard and Beck Boulevard, subject to the limitation of 100,000 square feet for all uses on the Commercial Tract. The subject Commercial Tract consisting of 9.6+/- acres is part of the 635+/- acre PUD located in Section 2, Township 50 South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida. (PL20200002302) (District 1) B. Recommendation to approve an Ordinance of the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, amending Ordinance Number 04-41, as amended, the Collier County Land Development Code and Zoning Atlas, which includes the comprehensive land regulations for the unincorporated area of Collier County, Florida, to create the Collier Boulevard/Interstate 75 Innovation Zone Overlay (CBIIZO) zoning district and eliminate the Activity Center #9 Overlay zoning district, and establish uses, boundaries, and design standards, by providing for: Section One, Recitals; Section Two, Findings of Fact; Section Three, Adoption of Amendments to the Land Development Code, more specifically amending the following: Chapter One General Provisions, including Section 1.08.01 Page 18 April 11, 2023 Abbreviations; Chapter Two Zoning Districts and Uses, including Section 2.03.07 Overlay Zoning Districts; Chapter Four Site Design and Development Standards, including Section 4.02.23 Same—Development in the Activity Center #9 Zoning District; and Chapter Five Supplemental Standards, including Section 5.05.08 Architectural and Site Design Standards; Section Four, Conflict and Severability; Section Five, Inclusion in the Collier County Land Development Code; and Section Six, Effective Date. [PL20200002400] (First of two hearings) (District 1, District 3, District 5) 18. ADJOURN INQUIRIES CONCERNING CHANGES TO THE BOARD’S AGENDA SHOULD BE MADE TO THE COUNTY MANAGER’S OFFICE AT 252-8383. April 11, 2023 Page 2 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Good morning, everybody. THE AUDIENCE: Good morning. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: No. Good morning, everybody. THE AUDIENCE: Good morning. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Listen, we've got a large crowd. I just want to ask you before we get started, silence your cell phones, okay. We don't need to hear your favorite song, The Pink Panther theme. We all know it, okay. But please silence your phones. And if you need to make a phone call or do an extensive test, that's what the -- text, that's what the hallway's for. So we've got a lot to cover this morning. We'll get start at 9:00 on time but would appreciate that. Thank you. (A brief recess was had.) MS. PATTERSON: Commissioner, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Good morning, everybody. We've got a full house. We've got a lot on the agenda today. And so let's go ahead and get started. MS. PATTERSON: We're going to start with our invocation by Pastor James Boyd from Grow Church Naples. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. And then our Pledge is going to be led today by Jeanne Marcella, who is going to be recognized for 25 years. She's the Transportation Management Services, Administration Support Specialist. Is she here? Right up front. There you go, okay. And I bet she knows every word of it. No question. Pastor. Item #1A INVOCATION GIVEN BY PASTOR JAMES BOYD – GROW CHURCH, NAPLES April 11, 2023 Page 3 PASTOR BOYD: Thank you. Father God, we come before you today in the name of your son, Jesus. We just thank you for this opportunity to pray before this meeting, God. We know that you said in your word that where two or more are gathered in your name, that you're in our midst, so we know that right now you're in our midst, God. We see in your word that you surround your people with favor as a shield, so today we surround these commissioners, every single person in this room, with favor as a shield, God. We thank you for your presence in this place, God. We can't do this without you. So we ask for wisdom today. You said in your word, when we ask, you give liberally to us, God. So we ask for wisdom in this place. We see in your word where Solomon asked for wisdom and you gave it to him but then you gave him everything else, too, God. So today, wisdom is in this place. We pray for every single commissioner to have your wisdom today, Lord, in your presence in this place, God. So we thank you for such an opportunity to bring you in this place right off the start, God. We know that today is going to create great opportunities for this county, God. So we thank you for speaking to us. We keep one ear open to you today and one ear open to the agenda so that you can have your way in every decision that takes place in this place, God. We love you and we thank you for this. In the name your son, Jesus, amen. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Amen. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Outstanding. MS. MARCELLA: Thank you, sir. Item #2A – Continued to later in the Meeting April 11, 2023 Page 4 APPROVAL OF TODAY'S REGULAR, CONSENT AND SUMMARY AGENDA AS AMENDED (EX PARTE DISCLOSURE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR CONSENT AGENDA.) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL AND COMMISSIONER KOWAL - APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, I'll take you through our change sheet. First, move Item 16H2 to 10D. This is a recommendation to direct staff to prepare an LDC amendment to repeal LDC Section 5.05.15, conversion of golf courses. This is being moved to the regular agenda by the separate requests of all commissioners. Several agenda notes. We are adding Item 15B1, which is a rock crushing update, to be heard at the end of the meeting. There's a scrivener's error in Item 16A9. The Property Appraiser uses 11-digit folio numbers, so the folio number of No. 377744880001 should be 377742880001, removing an extra digit. And a correction to the index title for 16C3. The index title contains a typo. NCRQTP should be NCRWTP. We have a number of time-certain items. Item 10C to be heard immediately following 5C. This is a recommendation to direct the Clerk of the Circuit Court to timely transfer $30 million to the State of Florida for the State Veterans Nursing Home project. Item 10A will be heard immediately following 9A, which is a recommendation to adopt the Collier County Health Freedom Resolution, and Item 11D to be heard no sooner than 1:00 p.m. as a recommendation to execute a new interlocal agreement between April 11, 2023 Page 5 Collier County and the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District for continued management of the Ochopee Fire District. We have court reporter breaks scheduled for 10:30 and 2:50. County Attorney? MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing, thank you. MS. PATTERSON: Chair, changes from the Board and ex parte on the summary and consent agenda. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Kowal, do you have any changes or ex parte? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Nothing on the consent agenda and no changes. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have no disclosure in terms of ex parte. On the consent agenda, Item 16 -- I'm sorry -- 16K5, one of the lawyers in my firm has been requested to help mediate a Bert Harris claim for the county. He's mediated several claims, mediated a claim for the city, same type of thing, and so apparently he's been recommended by -- I'm not sure if by the County Attorney or who he was recommended by, but he's recommended to be a mediator for the county for this mediation. So I'd like the record to reflect that I'm abstaining from voting on 16K5, and I did file a conflict report, though I really don't have any legal conflict. But just in the appearance of propriety, I wanted to file that disclaimer. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Perfect. Thank you, sir. Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER HALL: I don't have anything on the consent agenda. I do have, on 17A, one email. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. I have no -- thank April 11, 2023 Page 6 you, sir. I have no changes, and I also have a disclosure of meetings and emails on 17A. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I have no changes to the agenda, no disclosures on consent, and 17A, I have emails. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Can I -- just for the record, on 17A, I just -- I didn't refer to that, but I do have emails. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay, sir. Got it. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So do I, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let the record show changes to Commissioner Kowal and Commissioner Saunders, 17A; 10 demerits. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Good morning. Good morning, both of you. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, I do have a registered speaker for 17A. Do you want me to call him at this time? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. MR. MILLER: Yeah. Tim, is it Cragh, Cray? C-r-a-g-h? This slip came late. There's a possibility he's upstairs. I'm having -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Is that appropriate we do 17A right now? MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. MR. MILLER: Yeah, summary agenda before we set the -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. MR. MILLER: I don't know how you want to proceed. He could be upstairs. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. We'll wait for him to come down, but let's keep -- MS. PATTERSON: We can -- so 2A would be when we approve the agenda and the changes. Let's hold that, and we'll go to 2B. SEE REVERSE SIDE Proposed Agenda Changes Board of County Commissioners Meeting April 11, 2023 Move Item 16H2 to 10D: Recommendation to direct staff to prepare an LDC amendment to repeal LDC Section 5.05.15, Conversion of Golf Courses. (All Districts) (Commissioners LoCastro, Saunders, McDaniel, Hall, and Kowal Separate Requests) Notes: Item 15B1 - Rock Crushing update Scriveners Error in Item 16A9: The Property Appraiser uses 11-digit folio numbers, so the Folio number of #377744880001 – should be 37742880001 removing an extra digit. Correction to the Index Title for 16C3: The index title contains a typo “NCRQTP” should be “NCRWTP”. TIME CERTAIN ITEMS: Item 10C to be heard immediately following 5C: Recommendation to direct the Clerk of the Circuit Court to timely transfer $30 million to the State of Florida pursuant for the “State Veterans’ Nursing Home” project. Item 10A to be heard immediately following 9A: Recommendation to adopt the Collier County Health Freedom Resolution. Item 11D to be heard no sooner than 1 PM: Recommendation to execute a new Interlocal Agreement between Collier County and the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District for continued management of the Ochopee Fire District. 5/24/2023 2:33 PM April 11, 2023 Page 7 Item #2B BCC REGULAR MEETING MINUTES FOR MARCH 14, 2023 – APPROVED This is the March 14th, 2023, BCC meeting minutes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll make a motion for approval. COMMISSIONER HALL: Second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a motion and a second. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. MS. PATTERSON: County Attorney, are we okay to proceed with our service award? MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, we'll just table this, 17A, until the individual comes down. MS. PATTERSON: Okay. Do we want to just hold the approval of the rest of the agenda or just 17A? MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah, let's just wait. MS. PATTERSON: Okay. All right. Item #3A2a AWARDS AND RECOGNITION - 25 YEARS – JEANNE April 11, 2023 Page 8 MARCELLA - TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT SERVICES - ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SPECIALIST II – PRESENTED MS. PATERSON: We're going to move on to employee awards and recognitions. Item 3A2a was continued from the March 20th, 2023, BCC meeting. This is a 25-year award to Jeanne Marcella, Transportation Management Service, Administrative Support Specialist III. Congratulations. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We'd like to know where you were two weeks ago. We need a full report. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: In the Air Force, we call 25 years colonel. Here you go. Congratulations. MS. MARCELLA: Thanks. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Congratulations. Yes, ma'am. MS. MARCELLA: Thank you, all. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thanks for your service. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let's not break up the awards, so let's go. MS. PATTERSON: That was our only award. We're going to move on to proclamations, okay. Item #4A PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING SUNLIGHT HOME OF COLLIER COUNTY. ACCEPTED BY CAROLYN BOTT, PRESIDENT – ADOPTED MS. PATTERSON: Okay. Item 4A is a proclamation recognizing Sunlight Home of Collier County. To be accepted by April 11, 2023 Page 9 representatives of Sunlight Home. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Ladies, would one of you like to say a few words? At the podium. MS. ZINGALI: I'm Diane Zingali. On behalf of the board of directors and staff, I would like to thank the Collier County Board of County Commissioners for recognizing Sunlight Home for its work in helping underprivileged moms and babies find their way in a difficult and dark time in their lives. We provide them with a safe home and a ray of hope for their future. Sunlight Home has provided a shelter in the storm for these women and girls for the past 29 years. We look forward to continuing our work in Collier County, and thank you again for the recognition. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Absolutely. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I just want to say, it's another great organization in the community that sometimes people don't know much about because they -- you know, you visit the beaches. This is paradise. Everything's great. But, you know, we have the same challenges in our community that they have anywhere else. And I know I recently visited and highlighted you in my newsletter, and I know some of the other commissioners did as well. Thank you so much. Your organization is just magnificent. We're so lucky to have you in the community. MS. ZINGALI: Thank you very much. (Applause.) MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, we're going to hop back to 2A. Our speaker waived and is not going to be -- MR. MILLER: He was here in support. April 11, 2023 Page 10 Item #2A – Continued from earlier in the Meeting APPROVAL OF TODAY’S REGULAR, CONSENT AND SUMMARY AGENDA AS AMENDED (EX PARTE DISCLOSURE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR CONSENT AGENDA.) – MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO – APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES MS. PATTERSON: So Item 2A is the approval of today's regular, consent, and summary agenda as amended. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Make a motion to approve. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Motion and a second. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. Item #4B PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING THE BARGAIN BASKET THRIFT STORE AS RECIPIENT OF THE WASTE REDUCTION AWARDS PROGRAM (WRAP) AWARD, FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE GREATER GOOD OF COLLIER COUNTY BY ADVOCATING THE "REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE" MESSAGE, April 11, 2023 Page 11 THEREBY HELPING TO PROLONG THE USABLE LIFE OF THE COLLIER COUNTY LANDFILL. ACCEPTED BY SAMANTHA ARAGO AND BILL JOHNENNING AND REPRESENTED BY JONATHAN BARTOS FROM OUR SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT DIVISION – ADOPTED MS. PATTERSON: Item 4B is a proclamation recognizing the Bargain Basket Thrift Store as recipient of the Waste Reduction Awards Program for contributing to the greater good of Collier County by advocating the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" message, thereby helping to prolong the usable life of the Collier County Landfill. To be accepted by Samantha Arago and Bill Johnenning, and represented by Jonathan Bartos from our Solid and Hazardous Waste Management division. Congratulations. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Did you want to say anything or -- thank you. (Applause.) Item #4C PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING APRIL 9 - 15, 2023, AS NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATORS WEEK. ACCEPTED BY SHERIFF KEVIN RAMBOSK, COLONEL JIM BLOOM, CHIEF GREG SMITH, CAPTAIN CHRIS GONZALEZ, MANAGER AMY TUFF, AND SEVERAL 911 COLLIER COUNTY TELECOMMUNICATORS – ADOPTED MS. PATTERSON: Item 4C is a proclamation designating April 9th through 15th, 2023, as National Public Safety Telecommunications [sic] Week. To be accepted by Sheriff Kevin April 11, 2023 Page 12 Rambosk, Chief Greg Smith, Manager Amy Tuff, and several 911 telecommunicators. Congratulations. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay, great. Sheriff, did you want to say anything? Please. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Yes, please. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, staff. Thank you very much for recognizing this upcoming week as Telecommunicators Week. As you know, they are the first emergency responders that intake calls, provide information to fire rescue, EMS, and law enforcement to get the best, quickest response, and they actually participate in saving lives. So I'd like to recognize them for the great work that they do for Collier County and thank you again for recognizing them this week. Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir. (Applause.) Item #4D PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING APRIL 2023 AS WATER CONSERVATION MONTH IN COLLIER COUNTY. ACCEPTED BY HOWARD BROGDON, WATER DIVISION DIRECTOR – ADOPTED MS. PATTERSON: Item 4D is a proclamation designating April 2023 as Water Conservation Month in Collier County. To be accepted by Howard Brogdon, Water Division Director. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: They abandoned you. Come on. Get up here. You're going to leave him up here alone? Did you-all want to say something? April 11, 2023 Page 13 MR. BROGDON: Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All right. Thank you. MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, if we could get a motion to approve the proclamations, please. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Accepted unanimously. Item #5A ARTIST OF THE MONTH – COLLIER COUNTY STUDENT WINNERS OF 2024 KEEP COLLIER BEAUTIFUL CONTEST – PRESENTED MS. PATTERSON: Item 5A is Artist of the Month. Chair, would you like me to read, or do you -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Sure. Yeah, you go ahead. MS. PATTERSON: Okay. We are honoring several talented Collier County students as our April Artist of the Month. These students are winners from the -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Wait a second. Wait a second. Do we have the -- Sue, come on up here. Let's see, we have some of April 11, 2023 Page 14 our artists up here? Come on up front. Come on. We want to see who you are and recognize your talent. Okay. I didn't think there were that many. Everybody, go back. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Somebody pointed to two people. Come on up front here and face the crowd so we can see the talent that we have here in our county. Commissioner McDaniel just did color by numbers when he was a kid. That was it. This is the real thing. This is actual art. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There had to be lines. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All right. County Manager, go ahead. MS. PATTERSON: These students are the winners for the 2024 Keep Collier Beautiful Calendar Contest. Here to tell us about Keep Collier Beautiful is president Larry Berg. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. (Applause.) MR. BERG: Thank you, Commissioners. Since 1996, Keep Collier Beautiful has been working with -- in catalyst with businesses, government leaders, and professional associations to organize education and outreach projects that touch our children. Through their efforts, hundreds of thousands of hours have been spent removing litter and debris from our precious waterways within the county. One of my favorite ways that we have engaged children in our environment is through their art. For over two decades, Keep Collier Beautiful, in collaboration with the Collier County Solid Waste/Hazardous Management division, has been giving presentations on protecting our environment right here in our schools in asking our children to submit art projects for inclusion in the April 11, 2023 Page 15 annual art contest. All levels of students from kindergarten through high school are included, and we make sure every voice is heard. Let me tell you, this year, 1,000 pieces have been entered into the contest. So the biggest event we had in the history of Keep Collier Beautiful. And we had -- volunteers had a very difficult task to break it down to 14 winners and 12 runner-ups. I would just like to applaud all the art teachers who have incorporated this into their curriculum and all the dedicated students that cared enough about our environment to submit their artwork. Additionally, the students will be receiving a framed copy of their artwork, a certificate of appreciation, and they get a gift card to spend this summer. So we'd like to thank everyone for participating and, as you see by the artwork that's on the walls, everybody did an outstanding job, so thank you. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I just wanted to say something before -- Business of the Month's going to be next. MS. PATTERSON: Yep. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I just wanted to say something about the proclamations and the awards that we give. Those of you that are on social media, Maria, who takes our photos, her and her office will put all these online, and you'll see them on Facebook later today. And it always disappoints me when -- you know, and it's only one or two citizens. They'll put, like, an angry face, and they'll say, oh, it's great that, you know, you spend 30 minutes giving out awards, but what are you doing about affordable housing and red tide and construction? You know, get to the business of the county. This is the business of the county. Those folks that accepted a April 11, 2023 Page 16 water award, that's not just a frame and a piece of paper. That's effort. That's work. These are incredible students that are going to be sitting up here one day. When we give out, you know, other awards and proclamations to Sunlight Home, that is the business of the county. So to those one or two people sitting on the couch telling us, you know, what we need to be doing at the county, these are folks that are doing it. So these aren't fake awards in $2 frames. This is a thank you for a lot of hard work, and so I applaud all of you. (Applause.) Item #5B PRESENTATION OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BUSINESS OF THE MONTH FOR APRIL 2023 TO GALT INSURANCE GROUP. THE AWARD WILL BE ACCEPTED BY ANDREA GALT, MARKETING & PR DIRECTOR, AND SARA BARCAROLO, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES. ALSO ATTENDING ARE MICHAEL DALBY, PRESIDENT & CEO, AND BETHANY SAWYER, VICE PRESIDENT OF MEMBERSHIP & INVESTORS, THE GREATER NAPLES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE – PRESENTED MS. PATTERSON: Item 5B is a presentation of the Collier County Business of the Month for April 2023 to Galt Insurance Group. The award will be accepted by Andrea Galt, marketing and PR director, and Sara Barcarolo, director of Human Resources. Also attending are Michael Dalby, president and CEO, and Bethany Sawyer, vice president of membership and investors, the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Who's Galt? Which one's Galt? April 11, 2023 Page 17 So what a coincidence, your name -- your last name is the same as the insurance company. I mean, that's -- how does that happen? You're welcome to tell us a little bit about your company from the podium if you'd like. Mr. Miller, if we've got people up in the -- just to let people know, there are seats down here now. If there are people, we can get word to them. MR. MILLER: We have about 30. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. They can come on down. MS. GALT: All right. Good morning. Thank you so much. This award actually makes all the hard work worth it. So I'm up here for my husband. My husband, Christian Galt, actually founded Galt Insurance Group about some 20 years ago in Naples. And now we -- we work, and we've grown into a large team of agents, and we write insurance in 33 states. So our corporate office is located on Fifth Ave right down the street. And we've seen so many changes and earned the ability to protect our beautiful area and keep the commerce strong. So we appreciate all of you. Galt Insurance offers commercial insurance for all the business owners and continues to expand our operations by providing the best training. Our specialty will always be built on homeowners insurance and auto insurance, as -- just as it was in the beginning. And long story short, we promise to continue to learn, to educate, and improve your experiences one client at a time. We thank you, and it's been an honor serving Naples families and businesses. Thank you. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Where's Mr. Galt? He's home warm in his bed, and you're here doing the heavy lifting? MS. GALT: He's at an insurance seminar. April 11, 2023 Page 18 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Is he? Is he? MS. GALT: Yes. MS. BARCAROLO: And as the HR director, I just wanted to echo Andrea's comments by saying we have a team of 20, six of which are born and raised in Southwest Florida. So we like to retain the talent that Southwest Florida has created over these past few decades, myself included. And thank you very much for being recognized. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Item #5C PRESENTATION OF THE 2022 DRINKING WATER PLANT OPERATIONS EXCELLENCE AWARD IN RECOGNITION OF OUTSTANDING TREATMENT PLANT OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, AND COMPLIANCE FOR THE COLLIER COUNTY NORTH REGIONAL WATER TREATMENT PLANT FROM THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. TO BE ACCEPTED BY HOWARD BROGDON, DIVISION DIRECTOR, WATER, PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT – PRESENTED MS. PATTERSON: Item 5C is a presentation of the 2022 Drinking Water Plant Operations Excellence Award in recognition of outstanding treatment plant operation, maintenance, and compliance for the Collier County North Regional Water Treatment Plant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. To be accepted by Howard Brogdon, Division Director, Water, Public Utilities Department. Congratulations. (Applause.) April 11, 2023 Page 19 Item #10C RESOLUTION 2023- 69: THE CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT TO TIMELY TRANSFER $30 MILLION TO THE STATE OF FLORIDA PURSUANT TO THE TERMS OF THE MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT AND ESCROW AGREEMENT FOR THE “STATE VETERANS’ NURSING HOME” PROJECT USING INFRASTRUCTURE SALES SURTAX FUNDING AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT (FUND NO. 318) - MOTION TO APPROVE WITH CHANGES THAT INCLUDED CONFIRMATION OF REMOVAL OF 7, 1ST WHEREAS ADD “SOME”, 2ND WHEREAS ADD “POSSIBLY” AND CHANGES IN RED BY COMMISSIONER HALL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL - ADOPTED (COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS OPPOSED) MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, this brings us to the first of our time-certains. This is Item 5C [sic], recommendation to direct the Clerk of the Circuit -- I'm sorry -- Item 10C, which is a recommendation to direct the Clerk of the Circuit Court to timely transfer $30 million to the State of Florida for the State Veterans Nursing Home project. This item is brought to the agenda by Commissioner Saunders. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Saunders, the floor is yours, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is obviously a big step for the county, sending a $30 million check to the state, or a wire transfer, I guess, is the way it would work. It really is a big deal. And the Clerk of Courts has raised some interesting questions. April 11, 2023 Page 20 I know she is still evaluating that, obviously, to make sure that the public interest and the taxpayers of Collier County are protected, and hopefully we will provide her the cover she needs to send the funds to Tallahassee on or before May 1st. I'd like to -- and, again, this is a big deal for the Commission to make this determination. So I'd asked John Mullins if he would come forward, with the permission of the Board, to kind of explain why we need to send this money up today on a project that might be a couple years away in terms of actual construction, and I think the Clerk also needs to hear this type of information. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. Mr. Mullins. MR. MULLINS: For the record, John Mullins, your director of Communications, Government, and Public Affairs. And if you recall last month, I displayed a ranking sheet before you on the visualizer. The font was rather small. My spectacles were on top of my head instead of in front of my eyes, so it was even hard for me to read. But I'm here to explain better how that ranking system works and to show you the benefit of having money in hand as a state applicant as opposed to not having money in hand as a state applicant when applying to the construction grant program. And this is very brief, and I will try to keep it pretty high level. Now, all applications to the construction grant program are ranked by the secretary of the VA once they're received based on three main criteria: The specific criteria in the Code of Federal Regulations, the application date -- and I'll revisit that here shortly -- and certified state matching funds up to 35 percent. Now, this ranking culminates in the annual priority list, which is what I showed you last month. April 11, 2023 Page 21 Now, the secretary will produce this list prioritizing all the applications received on or before April 15th, and that will also come into play here in just a few moments. Now, via the stewardship of our Senate president, FDVA anticipates receiving $500,000 from the legislature for the preliminary design and engineering work and plans to submit those materials for VA review later this year well before the April 15th deadline for the next cycle. Now, the application will also certify at that time that the state already has its matching funds in hand and unencumbered, and that's an important distinction. Now, even if you have state funds in hand or not, there are eight priority group lists that kind of set those in order. Priority Group 1 applies to the states that have demonstrated that they have the matching funds available for the project, and on the ranking sheet that I showed you last month, there are 31 projects in Priority Group 1 totaling $667 million. Those were all states that had money in hand. Priority Groups 2 through 8 apply to all other grant applications, and Florida's pending request for a new facility in West Florida was in Priority Group 4 of that list. Now, even if you have your funds in hand and you are placed in Priority Group 1, there are still seven sub-priorities, and the reason why I'm bringing up this minutia is because there have been several questions as to, okay, you're giving $30 million to the state, you're providing land. Why are we not number one in the nation? Well, that's because new construction is not at the top of the list for the VA. At the top of that list is Sub-Priority 1 of Priority 1, which is remedies for cited life safety issues. This is fixing problems in existing facilities to take the threat of imminent harm away. Now, 1.2, which is the second level, are states without a construction grant for a state home. There has not been anyone in April 11, 2023 Page 22 that category for the last few years. The last state was Wyoming. They were the last of the 50 states to receive a grant, and that category is now clear. 1.3 is where the State of Florida would be if they can certify that they have their state funds in hand because they are a state of a defined great need, which is an unmet need of 2,000 or more beds. So that's where Florida would be, pretty close to the top. Now, when you look at great need, because there are other states that may qualify in this category, you'll see that Florida, of course, is in the lead with a deficit of over 2,900 beds for veterans. Texas, though, is right on our heels; they are also categorized as great need. And California is on the cusp of entering that category. Now, you may ask, what happens if Florida and Texas apply in the same cycle? If that happens, it is actually based upon who applied first which, again, demonstrates the need to get the application in as early as possible. Now, this is the list that I showed you last month, and on it I demonstrated that if you had been in Priority Group 2 and, in our case Priority Group 4 ranked No. 32, if you had had state money in hand during that cycle, you would have jumped all the way up to No. 3, because if you look at the top of that list, there were only two projects ahead of you at 1.1, which were remedies for life safety in both cases, and then you'll notice the absence of 1.2 states without a grant, because that doesn't exist anymore, and then 1.3 states "with great need." No one applied in that cycle that had great need that demonstrated that they had funds in hand. Had Florida had funds in hand, they would have been right there. And I hope that sheds a little bit more light on the need of having state funds in hand early as possible to facilitate the grant application going in, receiving federal feedback in plenty of time to make any revisions before the April 15th deadline. April 11, 2023 Page 23 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Mullins. And, Commissioners, the reason I wanted this to be clarified is it's important for the Clerk to understand why this money needs to be sent to Tallahassee so quickly, because we have a project that could be under construction in two years. It could be under construction in three years. We just don't know the ultimate timing. And so the question is, well, why would we send $30 million to Tallahassee to sit in an escrow account, an interest-bearing account, when we don't have a project that has yet been funded by the federal government? And that explains why this May 1st deadline is critically important to get those funds there. And so we're going to have to work with the Clerk over the next couple of weeks to make sure she has the comfort to wire transfer those funds, because the state does charge a fee for handling those funds. It's .2 percent. So it's a statutory fee. And, of course, the Clerk has raised a good question: Why should we pay the state a .2 percent fee on the funds that they're holding when we could hold them here at no cost? The answer is, if we want this project to move forward and receive the 60- to $70 million in federal funding for this project, then we have to send those funds up the way that it's been described. That way the funds are totally unfettered. They're in hand and ready to be deployed. Now, the good news is that those funds, if there is no project, the contract with the state is that they return all those funds with interest minus the .2 percent handling fee to us immediately. There's no delay in that. The other good news is that before the state can even disburse those funds, the Florida Legislature has to approve that. So we have a couple protections there. We just need to make sure the Clerk is comfortable with those funds being forwarded up. April 11, 2023 Page 24 So, Mr. Chairman, my motion would be -- I don't know if we have any registered speakers. MR. MILLER: No, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: My motion would be, then, to approve the -- moving forward with the project and give direction, or whatever the proper word would be, to the Clerk. I see she's smiling back there. Request the Clerk to send those funds to Tallahassee before May 1st, 2023. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Third. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. I wanted to make a comment. I want to thank Commissioner Saunders, you know, for his leadership. This is, obviously, a location in his district, but it affects the entire county, but -- and, really, all the commissioners have had efforts in getting this done, but it's really been with Commissioner Saunders' leadership. And nobody knows Tallahassee better than Commissioner Saunders. So when we go up there, it's great that we get our foot in the door a little bit quicker because they really have a respect for him as well. Now, I want to thank Mr. Mullins. When we just went up there to Tallahassee, it was obvious that this was on everybody's short list to not only talk with all of us -- and they were impressed that all five of us came up, and it was primarily for the VA nursing home. But April 11, 2023 Page 25 thank you for your leadership. And to Ms. Kinzel, her job is oversight, so everybody's doing their job here to make sure everything's done properly. But, you know, I would just add anecdotally, Governor DeSantis' lead person for the veterans nursing home is General Hartsell, who's a retired Marine Corps two-star. And one of the things he said to me off-line is what jumps you on that list is a couple of things: The money, the land. But the money shows commitment. It shows our sense of urgency. It shows that we're serious in moving forward. And one of the reasons why a lot of counties haven't taken the lead the way we do is maybe they don't have the funds or they're a bit tentative. But it's been our strong commitment and the strong commitment of the leadership of the county that is moving this forward, and we'll get the veterans nursing home sooner than later and, certainly, sooner than maybe we would have had it 10 years ago. I mean, maybe when it wasn't even on the board. So thank you to all, and, you know, everybody's doing their job here, and we're going to make sure that we get the best bang for our buck. And you certainly can see the need here in Florida, long overdue. So thank you to everybody, and it passes unanimously. Thank you. (Applause.) Item #7 PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 7, public comments on general topics not on the current or future April 11, 2023 Page 26 agenda. MR. MILLER: I have two registered speakers for this item, Jesse Karen, and Bill D'Antuono. I don't know if I'm saying that right. If you'll come up to the microphones, gentlemen. If you'll come up, one to each microphone. Jesse, you would be first, followed by Bill. If you'll begin by stating your name, please. MR. KAREN: Good morning, Commissioners. Captain Jesse Karen, Collier business owner for 18 and a half years and president of the Collier County Guides Association. I wanted to come to you today because we have an issue. There's about 100 or more users operating their businesses inside the county boat parks that do not have the necessary permits or insurance to do so. So instead of enforcing permits, there are considerations that the 200-plus properly licensed businesses should be cut down, thus putting some out of business. Right now there are no means or methods for enforcing the permits that businesses are required to have. I think it would make more sense to try and figure out a way to enforce those permits to reduce the numbers in the parks rather than punish the businesses that are in compliance. There are park rangers but, unfortunately, they have told me they have no enforcement abilities whatsoever when it comes to the permits. Calls have been made to Parks and Rec on multiple occasions to complain about specific non-permitted operators using the park, and they told me flat out that they have no way to enforce it, none, zero; that I should call Code Enforcement. We tried Code Enforcement several times, but it seems like unless there is an address with a sustained violation, it's very difficult. They, too, have no means or methods for enforcing the violations. So one of the problems is the permits can be placed on your April 11, 2023 Page 27 truck, your trailer, or your boat. So it's very hard for any authority to try and understand who is in compliance and who is not. If all the permits were placed on the vessels, it would be easy for any authority to look exactly at the vessel, see who has the permit, who doesn't, who has customers getting on and off the boat and doesn't have that permit, okay. So right now I'm told that when someone is operating in the park without a permit, they are trespassing; there's hundreds. I mean, if not 100, there's 110, but there's a lot. Just in Goodland alone we have probably 25. So it's kind of -- it's kind of scary when there's talk about closing some of the businesses to reduce the volume in the parks. You know, we produce millions of dollars in this economy through sales tax and dollars that our visitors spend while we're [sic] here. We surveyed our customers over the last two and a half years and asked them if they would still come if they did not have the tours available that they have. Seventy-seven percent of our visitors said they would not return here if they did not have these tours to take, and that was pretty shocking to me. That's kind of scary. So I ask that you please continue to help our tourism thrive and our businesses grow while we all try and find solutions to the problems. But I think one of the biggest problems is figuring out an enforcement method. Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'm going to -- I'm going to just take advantage of you being here. So when -- I thank you for being here. MR. KAREN: Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: The issue isn't lost on us, but when I hear very specific things like we have no way to enforce permits, I mean, I think we do have a way, so we might be doing it poorly. April 11, 2023 Page 28 But my question to you would be, if numerous calls were made to Parks and Rec and all this, do you have the names of the people? Because I want to know who's giving you that bad information saying, wow, I'm a park ranger, and I'm just out here, you know, watching cars and dolphins. I mean, you know, we're using taxpayer dollars to have -- and checking permits isn't like launching the space shuttle. It actually is possible to check permits. MR. KAREN: It is. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So do you have the names of the people so we can actually go to the -- see, one of the things -- MR. KAREN: I can. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- we're trying to do at the county staff here is find where our deadwood is, people that say, yeah, not my job. Yeah, call your county commissioner or whatnot. Do you have any of those details that you can share with us to help us, you know, start -- or share those with, you know, Mr. Rodriguez, or -- MR. KAREN: Okay. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- Tanya. We have the right leadership here. MR. KAREN: Yeah, we do. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And part of a citizen speaking at the podium is to help us do a better job as a county. Everything you just said actually is doable. MR. KAREN: Yeah. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So I'm flabbergasted if we're letting trucks sort of go in and go, first come, first serve, and then when you show up with a permit, it's like, park's full of a bunch of illegal people but, you know, nothing we can do. I mean, that's not true, and if that's what's happening out there, then we want to take aggressive action. So don't leave here this morning without sharing -- Tanya in the back; raise your hand, Tanya. I want you to April 11, 2023 Page 29 talk with her. And I want to get as much info from you as we have to the subject-matter expert. MR. KAREN: Okay. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Because we share this issue, and we've been fighting it. MR. KAREN: Yes, we do. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And exactly what you said is what we don't want to have happen. People with permits are blocked out because the park's full of people who don't have. And, you know, my understanding -- and it's not an understanding. We have been working hard. We didn't have a bunch of rangers out there years ago, and we do now. MR. KAREN: Nope. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: If alls they're doing is saying they can't do anything, then that's a problem. So I appreciate you coming here and bringing this to our attention. Please share that info, and let's figure out what we're doing wrong. MR. KAREN: All right. Thanks, Commissioners. I appreciate it. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you. MR. MILLER: My other speaker is Bill -- is it D'Antuono? MR. D'ANTUONO: D'Antuono. MR. MILLER: D'Antuono. You have three minutes, sir. MR. D'ANTUONO: Good morning, Council. My name is Bill D'Antuono. I run Offshore Naples Fishing Charters. It was run out of Bayview Boat Ramp since 2017. Now we have formed the Collier County Guides Association, and I'm chairman of the board on that representing hundreds of people who are not here, maybe even thousands, that are guides and just citizens. One issue that -- I'm just talking about one issue today. I'm April 11, 2023 Page 30 going to try to keep it as short as possible. There's a major, major parking issue at Bayview right now. There's one construction company that's there before the sun comes up, and there's about 40 cars that show up every day, take up every single parking spot. They're double parking in trailer spots. There's a pontoon that picks them up, and the pontoon doesn't have a pass. The sticker's not on the pontoon. And anyone that knows charter fishing, it's a six-pack license or you have to have a certified vessel. They -- it's not a certified vessel, and they're loading this boat with over 20 people in it, and it's a hazard on the water. They're taking up every single spot during the week at Bayview. I mean, it's just -- you want to talk about Wild West, that's a -- that's a showdown at sunset. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: That's my term. That's my term, Wild West Show. MR. D'ANTUONO: We talked about that before. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, I know. MR. D'ANTUONO: Yeah. So, I mean, at the least, they should be bussed in, but they don't have the pass to even pick people up. And if they were going to have a pass and do it right, they would need at least five or six boats to accommodate for all those people. I mean, this is worse than all the jet skis, stuff, you know, the guides. These are not guides. This is a construction company that's doing work on Keewaydin, I think, after the hurricane, or whatever they're building out there. But, I mean, I have a picture I could show you of 30 guys standing on the dock in the morning. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Someone sent us that picture, at least me, maybe all of us, like -- MR. D'ANTUONO: I sent it in to Kowal. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- a day or two ago. Okay. April 11, 2023 Page 31 Yeah, we all got it. MR. D'ANTUONO: So, you know, guides and ecotourism is the backbone of this county's history, and it's been around longer than anyone in this room has been alive, so we should try to keep that tradition alive. And, you know, what's been going on the last two years here, you guys have been trying to move it forward so everyone can have a peace of mind and have a good experience at the boat ramp, and I just wanted to bring that issue to light, because it's really a problem down there in the morning, so... CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Got it. Mr. Rodriguez, are we taking action? Did you see that photo? I mean, it's pretty clear. MR. RODRIGUEZ: Good morning, Commissioners. No, I did not see that photo, sir. It hasn't been forwarded to me. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We'll talk about it today. We need a better solution. It's completely obvious, so -- it was just brought to our attention, but it's been a problem a long time, apparently. So I appreciate you coming in and telling us. We've got everybody we need. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, that was all my registered speakers for Item 7. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Item #9A ORDINANCE 2023- 18: AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE COLLIER COUNTY HEALTH FREEDOM BILL OF RIGHTS. (COMPANION TO ITEM 10A) - MOTION TO APPROVE WITH CHANGES THAT INCLUDE REMOVAL OF “EXPANSION” COMMENTS FROM THE LAST WHEREAS, ADD SPECIFIC STATE STATUTE REFERENCES TO THE SECOND TO THE April 11, 2023 Page 32 LAST WHEREAS AND CHANGE 3 VOTE REFERENCES FROM UNANIMOUS TO SUPER MAJORITY BY COMMISSIONER HALL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS- ADOPTED MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that moves us to Item 9A and its companion item, Item 10A. Item 9A is a recommendation to consider adopting an ordinance establishing the Collier County Health Freedom Bill of Rights and its companion item, 10A, is a recommendation to adopt a Health Freedom Resolution. Item 10A is sponsored by Commissioner Hall. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'm going to give a little opening and a little setup here, and then I don't know if Commissioner Hall has something that he wants to say. But the first thing I want to say is we're all citizens up here. So this isn't some sort of magic court, you know, up here, and we're not part of the population. We're all citizens and, you know, we understand the issues at hand here in the county. I'm really thankful that we've got people from both sides of the issue. You know, we've gotten emails from people this week and last week saying, how could you even hear something like this on the agenda? The way it works in America is citizens put things on our agenda; I said this two weeks ago. And so it's not a matter of us sitting up here saying, well, we don't want to hear that. I mean, if it's something that's important to citizens, it gets vetted and it gets on the agenda. I said in my newsletter this week, but I just want to talk about contacting county commissioners. So we got hundreds of emails. And citizen voice is very important whether you're here in person or not. But let me just separate a little rumor from fact. Getting 200 April 11, 2023 Page 33 emails from a partisan group that has a cut-and-paste email that doesn't have the person's email in the return address, it says "no reply," something, something, something .org -- I don't know about the commissioners here, but I think I speak for all of us, I want to talk to my constituents. So those of you that sent us hundreds of emails -- I mean, I'll just speak for me -- I want to be able to reply back to you. I also want to hear your personal comments, not some email that one person typed, and then they just spit in 300 email addresses and sent it to me. And I've said that before. It does show us that 300 people hate or like what we are about to talk about, but nobody up here keeps score. This isn't the Super Bowl. We don't sit here and go, well, we got 800 fors and 200 against, so we better vote for. So for those of you that took the time to send us personal notes and say, this is the reason why I love the resolution and the ordinance or this is the reason why I hate it and then outline something, that's the kind of, at least, professional, you know, conversation that I really respect; not just sort of blowing up our in-box with a bunch of cut-and-paste emails and then no ability to even reply to the person because we're locked out. Also, I got emails from people this week that said, boy, I really would have -- I wanted to -- I can't come in person, and I would have called in, but Zoom is all full. So that's fake news as well, because Zoom doesn't fill up. If we have 3,000 people on Zoom, then we're going to order pizzas and have breakfast here in the morning, because we're going to hear from every citizen. So, you know, if you want us to be, you know, open minded and honest and have integrity, then I just say to the citizens out there, you know, speak with us with an open mind and also eloquence and do your homework and understand what we're passing. Sending us emails saying, you know, I'm not for something April 11, 2023 Page 34 because it does A, B, C, D, and E when it does none of those things -- I mean, I have no idea what side any of us are going to be on here, but this resolution doesn't ban a whole bunch of things. It gives choice; at least that's what the people on the pro side are going to say, and the people on the negative side are going to say something else. But a lot of the emails that filled our in-box summarized what was happening in here, and 90 percent of it actually wasn't true at all, and so that makes things difficult. So misinformation, certainly, is what makes our job, you know, a lot harder. But I would say to both sides today, let's all be professional, just like we were two weeks ago. Very impressive how people on both sides -- we had a very open and honest conversation regardless of what side you're on. This isn't -- we're not on Oprah, so we don't need cheers and screams and howls and all that. Let's -- you know, let's have an actual conversation like we did. But for those of you that were able to make it here, you know, attendance isn't mandatory. We know you're speaking on both sides for large groups of people. But, you know, let's continue the professional discussion that we had. And for those that might be watching or listening or if you take our message back, we all, you know, welcome emails and welcome messaging. And I'm not here to tell anybody how to contact us, but, you know, I'm here to give some advice on what works the best or what helps us the best. It's those type of things. You know, talk to us, and we want to talk with you. And it's not about, you know, how much you can blow up somebody's, you know, in-box with an email that somebody else typed and not even give us the chance to be able to reply back and ask questions and things like that. But having said that, Commissioner Hall, sir, the floor is yours. April 11, 2023 Page 35 COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I brought this ordinance and the next resolution up to the public because this was the whole reason why I ran for this job. I stood in front of everybody two years ago and I said when the mandates came down in this county from the federal government forcing us to do this and forcing us to do that, shutting our businesses down, forcing people to lose their jobs that they'd been there for years and had seniority because they wouldn't get a certain shot that was mandated on them, that was just a violation, number -- just a violation of personal liberty like I'd never seen in my life in this country. And so I brought the ordinance forth. The ordinance is a county ordinance that basically follows state law, that we want to make an ordinance in Collier County. In case anything changes at the state level, we have liberties protected in Collier County. That's what the ordinance is for. Following the ordinance as the next agenda item is the resolution. The resolution is not law. The resolution is not anything that's binding, but it's a resolve from the county commissioners, if we approve this, that says as a commission board, we're going to have your back as the people; we're going to protect and secure your personal liberty. I've had emails coming to me right and left saying, how can you even -- how can you even consider this ridiculous topic? Well, I can tell you why I can consider this ridiculous topic, because if you want to wear a mask, you're so welcome to. If you want to get a vaccine, you just -- you get you one and do it proudly. If you want to close your business, you do that. You're free to do that. That's your choice. But if you don't, we want to give you the choice not to wear one, not to get a shot that hasn't been proved. You can argue with me all day long, but I got vaccinated when I was April 11, 2023 Page 36 a young child with -- for polio. I've never had polio. That was a true vaccine. The people that I know that had vaccines have had COVID. They have had it more than once. To me, that's not a vaccine. You can argue with me all day long, but for me to know that and not to choose to do that or not to be mandated is important to me. So the role of a government official is to protect and secure the liberties of the people. You say, well, what about my freedom? If you're running around loose, you're a public threat. No, that's the freedom that I have. You're free to stay home. You're free to wear a mask. You're free to do whatever, but when your freedom infringes on my freedom to make my choice, that's an infringement on liberty. There's a difference between liberty and freedom. Anytime freedom is infringed on another person's freedom, that's a violation of liberty, and I want to make that clear. That's what this resolution is about is a resolve for us in Collier County to make those choices. We made some mistakes in the past. I said that in the last meeting, and I want to make sure that Collier County doesn't make those same mistakes. Our rights are given to us by God. I've had emails saying, "document that." I wanted to send him a picture of a $100 bill "In God We Trust" and say, there's your documentation, but I didn't. But our rights are given to us by God, and our job is to protect and secure those liberties that are given to us, and that's what we hope to do with this ordinance and this resolution. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir. (Applause.) Okay. Mr. Miller. MR. MILLER: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. What's next? We're going April 11, 2023 Page 37 to start with public comment. MR. MILLER: Yeah. We have 51 registered speakers here and on Zoom, sir. We'll -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: On Zoom. Zoom's not full? MR. MILLER: No, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Interesting. Wow. MR. MILLER: By the way, I'll check, but -- there is a cap, but I think it's 500. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. It's about 500, yeah. That's what I thought. MR. MILLER: Your first speaker -- I'm going to remind the speakers, please queue up and use both podiums. I'll also remind you, please, I know you're limited on your time, but don't talk too fast. The court reporter's taking down every word. We'll begin with Pastor Anthony Thomas, and he'll be followed by Scott Riley. PASTOR THOMAS: Thank you, Chairman and Commissioners. Today I want to share very quickly, and then I'm going to lead us in a time of prayer. The Prophet Daniel, one of the great Prince of Prophets looked thousands of years ahead in his prophetic scope, and he saw a dark and an evil day, yet he gives us a great promise of hope in this passage, and he said that those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness, like stars forever and ever. Let us pray. Father, we thank you today for the power of your spirit that's here right now. And, God, you said when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will rise up a standard against them. And, God, we know that you've put leaders in office, and those leaders one day will have to stand before the king of kings and lord of lords and give an account of their leadership. As your word says, April 11, 2023 Page 38 when much is given, much is required. And, God, I'm asking right now, Lord, as we've seen a time and an age where, God, lies and deception and darkness has invaded our country, God, I thank you for Naples, Florida, and for Collier County, that, God, there are leaders that are willing to stand in the midst of this flood of evil. God, I'm asking today that you would strengthen the county commissioners here to make the right decision. Let them shine like the stars, as you said, and let them be that standard that stands against wickedness. God, we know that generations will look back to this time and, God, they will bless those who stood and, God, they will curse those if they fainted in the day of adversity. God, let it be said of our leaders today that they stood and they governed with righteousness and goodness and protected the people. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. God bless you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Scott Kiley. He will be followed -- oh, he's going to be followed by Ann Vandersteel. Mr. Kiley's been ceded additional time from Marcy Daveas -- is it Pritzi [sic]? MS. DAVEAS-PITZI: Yes. MR. MILLER: She is here. Also additional time from Jill Kiley. (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Oh, there she is. Scott will have a total of nine minutes. MR. KILEY: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Scott Kiley, resident of Marco Island and a member of the COVID Tyranny Task Force. Commissioner Hall, I'm going to expand on your eloquent words this morning. Let's bring clarity to three questions: Why do April 11, 2023 Page 39 we need a resolution, why do we need an ordinance, and why can we not merge the two together? Starting with why do we need a resolution. Let's walk through the nine major points of the resolution and, as we go, I will justify the need for every point. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Excuse me. MR. KILEY: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We're voting -- if I'm not mistaken, we're hearing the ordinance first. So we've got to stay on the ordinance right now, if I'm not mistaken, as a point of order. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We're hearing them together. MR. KLATZKOW: We're hearing both items together; otherwise, you'll hear them twice. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. I'm sorry, Scott. Forgive me. I just wanted to make sure we were on task. MR. KILEY: Thank you, sir. Okay. Now and therefore, be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, that: Number 1, the first item, right to no medical mandates. Gentlemen, this is justified because informed consent was denied. Testing transparency does not exist. Any mandate under these circumstances is giving blind trust to Big Pharma that has not earned our trust. Further, the use of a biological agent on civilians without informed consent is considered human criminal experimentation and is in violation of international laws that protect human rights, including the Nuremberg Code and the Geneva Convention. Last, hospitals, doctors, and pharma companies often have no liability and huge financial incentives to push new medications. This is an unacceptable conflict with mandating anything and in violation of our right to not be harmed, injured, or deprived of life April 11, 2023 Page 40 without due process of law under the 5th and 14th amendments. Commissioners, it is our resolve to never allow this again by working toward no medical mandates. Item No. 2, the right to no discrimination. If you did not get vaccinated, it turns out you were smart in not putting yourself at risk for heart complications, autoimmune disease, and even sudden death. But today, if you need a medical procedure, should you be denied that procedure because you did not get injected? If we allow this nonsense to continue, they can mandate any treatment or procedure, and humanity will be forced to comply. Commissioners, we must resolve to preserve freedom of choice without discrimination. Number 3, informed consent without interference. Doctors have a personal history with their patients. I'm sorry; back up. The Nuremberg Code foundational element is informed consent. What do we demand for ourselves and our children? Of course, informed consent is a must-have under all circumstances. It is unconscionable that any doctor would ever deny informed consent to their patient. We resolve to assure our citizens will also receive informed consent. Point No. 4, the right of personalized care. Doctors have a personal history with their patients. They can weigh out all the circumstances and make a personalized healthcare plan in the best interest of the patient, not the hospital's bottom line. We resolve to never be subjected to anything less than personalized care created between the patient and the doctor. Number 5, the right to exclude third-party interference from the W.H.O. We stand united against the W.H.O.'s attempt to subvert or supersede our constitutional rights, including usurping our bodily sovereignty and healthcare freedom. Number 6, the right to not be refused care based on vaccine history. The HIPAA privacy rules establishes national standards to April 11, 2023 Page 41 protect individuals' medical records and other individually identifiable health information. Commissioners, we resolve to guard and protect medical privacy. Number 7, the right of free movement. Health vaccine passports must be prohibited in Collier County. Vaccine passports are unconstitutional and an invasion of privacy. Of course, we do not want to live in a society where vaccine passports dictate our level of personal freedom. Number 8, the right to a medical advocate. Medical advocates allow a check and balance to hospital staff that may get it wrong. Medical advocates know your health circumstances that can impact treatment decisions. Medical advocates know your end-of-life wishes. It is our resolve to assure all Collier County citizens have the right to a medical advocate. Last, Point No. 9, the right to forego unlawful quarantine. Commissioners, in 2020, for the first time in history, we improperly and unlawfully quarantined the healthy, including children. This cost lives. It prolonged the pandemic. It crushed the economy. It served no purpose. It caused irreparable social and developmental harm to children, and we must never allow this to happen again. In closing, on the question of why we need a resolution, so much of what was recommended by our health officials over the past three years was incorrect and harmful. New pandemics will come, and we must do better. The resolution highlights areas of concern and areas needing improvement. We will use the resolution to educate citizens. There's a lot of educating to do. We will rally. We will unite support within our county. We'll teach our Constitution and change state statutes that desperately need improvement. The second question: Why do we need an ordinance? Commissioners, we have Florida state statutes that provide some level of protection for citizens of Collier. These cumbersome, April 11, 2023 Page 42 hard-to-read, contradicting statutes, they get passed, and our Collier citizens are not aware of the benefits. By adopting our own health freedom bill of rights ordinance that reflects these state statutes, we can better educate and create awareness of the benefits to our Collier County citizens. Examples: We will break out the most pertinent beneficial elements in long, lengthy statutes, and we will make it easy for citizens to understand. We'll teach citizens their options to opt their children out of medical mandates, and we'll show them how to complete the process. We'll inform citizens of the rights against discrimination in the workplace. We will shine a light on areas of state statutes that pose a threat to our health safety, and we will mobilize citizens to get active and create the change in Tallahassee. We will use all of this to make sure we are educated and prepared to fight back against future government overreach, and it sure is coming. Our ordinance also rejects any authority from the W.H.O. or any other international body. It is critical that we spread this word around the state and the country as the globalists are coming for our freedom. Collier County will be the beacon of freedom in all of Florida. And, finally, last -- the last question: Why can we not combine the ordinance, excuse me, and the resolution? So, Commissioners, the resolution lists items that are preempted by state statutes. In Collier County, we cannot preempt or supersede state statutes or state laws. Because of this, the two documents cannot be combined. The ordinance is legally binding and reflects state statutes. The resolution acknowledges areas needing improvement and our resolve to do better. Commissioners, thank you for your time. I hope this brings clarity to the need for both. Please protect our citizens and pass the Health Freedom Resolution and the Health Freedom Bill of Rights April 11, 2023 Page 43 Ordinance. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I just would remind the other speakers -- we have 50 -- and thank you, sir -- if somebody has already said what you have said, there's no shame in raising your hand and saying, "I defer my time." I'm not encouraging that. We want to hear from everybody but, you know, if you're just going to repeat what the next person said and you don't feel like you need to do that, then you can just let Mr. Miller know, "I waive my time." Ma'am. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Ann Vandersteel. She'll be followed by Josh Yoder. Ms. Vandersteel's been ceded additional time from Carol DiPaolo. (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Back there. And Mindy Marcozzi. (Raises hand.) MS. MARCOZZI: Present. MR. MILLER: She will have a total of nine minutes. MS. VANDERSTEEL: Thank you very much. Good morning, Honorable Collier County Commissioners, concerned fellow Americans, and to all my colleagues who are called to make sure that the truth is shared like a mantra far and wide. It is my honor to stand before you-all today to discuss the importance of the Collier Health Freedom Resolution and the Collier Health Freedom Bill of Rights Ordinance. And in order to make this case, I need to detail the current global setting. And let me be clear: We are at war. The last three years have made that abundantly clear from government overreach, violation of our God-given, constitutionally protected human rights, and the exposure of the fascist evil of what government would have you believe is constituted in your best interest. The public/private April 11, 2023 Page 44 partnerships across the board have all been exposed to be the corruption on steroids, putting profits over people. I am Ann Vandersteel, president and chair of the Zelenko Freedom Foundation. Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, who stood in the breach for humanity early in the COVID-19 pandemic, delivered to the world the Zelenko Protocol of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and zinc for early treatment and intervention, proving efficacy not only in his practice but for millions around the world. He also exposed the evil and profiteering taking place with the public/private partnership between the CDC, FDA, and the Big Pharmaceutical medical-industrial complex. Two years ago, President Trump was made aware of the success of Dr. Zelenko and what he was seeing, using the hydroxychloroquine clinically in his practice, and the President brought it to the world during the coronavirus press conference stating that he had a good feeling about hydroxychloroquine. Dr. Fauci's immediate response was to refute that narrative, declaring the double -- that a double-blind placebo-controlled trial was needed to be done. What he failed to mention was that the NIH studied chloroquine back in 2005 as a potent inhibitor of the SARS-CoV virus. In a study published by that NIH in 2005, it was reported that chloroquine has strong antiviral effects on SARS-CoV-2 infections. Those inhibitory effects were observed when the cells were treated with the drug either before or after exposure to the virus, suggesting both a prophylactic and therapeutic advantage. In addition, chloroquine had also appeared to interfere with the virus' ability to bind to the ACE2 receptors, thus resulting in the inhibition of infection and spread of SARS-CoV at clinically admissible concentrations. The coverup of the deadly nature of these COVID shots which April 11, 2023 Page 45 were ushered in under Operation Warp Speed has been made possible by the mainstream media, government agency employees, your elected officials and, of course, the big pharmaceutical medical-industrial complex. Let's talk about the toxic nature of graphene oxide, a substance present in these shots that Karen Kingston called out early in July of '21. I know because I was with her in Brandon, Missouri, when I found her one night at 2:00 a.m. poring over Pfizer documents when she found that deadly graphene oxide was present in the shots, and while explaining what it meant, she broke down in tears. She knew it was what we would call a bioweapon then and what the ultimate result would be, as evidenced by the data, lies, and obfuscation of the adverse events reports we know it as -- we know it to be true today. Several independent studies conducted by doctors and scientists have now confirmed that graphene oxide is, in fact, present in these vaccines, but the manufacturers, medicine regulators, and so-called fact checkers have refuted these claims, most likely due to the known toxic effects it has on the body. For instance, Reuters, which essentially supplies the news to the entire western world without most people realizing it, stated in a fact-checking article published back in July 23rd of '21 that it is impossible for COVID vaccines to contain graphene oxide because they would either be dark brown or black in color instead of the clear yellowish color they are. But what Reuters fact checkers failed to mention is that when graphene oxide is combined with other ingredients such as sucrose, a listed ingredient on the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, it's perfectly possible to produce a clear or yellowish -- I'm sorry -- liquid. I apologize. I'm used to microphones not working so well. Thank you. To further substantiate proof of this, the document published -- April 11, 2023 Page 46 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I didn't mean talk lower. I just meant slow down, because Ms. Lewis here is -- you know, she's trying to get every word and hydrochloride, whatever, you know, is -- MS. VANDERSTEEL: Oh, sorry. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- it takes a couple of key pounds, you know. So you've got -- we're not going to cut anybody off today. MS. VANDERSTEEL: Okay. Thank you. Sorry about that. To further substantiate proof of this, a document published in February of 2023 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by order of the U.S. federal court and submitted to the FDA by Pfizer to gain the emergency-use authorization confirms it is perfectly possible for toxic graphic oxide to end up in the COVID-19 vaccines due to the manufacturing process. The COVID-19 injections had not completed Phase 3 or 4 trials, so could not be fully approved in December of 2020. Instead, they had to be authorized for emergency use only. That is why it's criminal that they extended the EUA to children considering we were at little risk of -- or suffering anything more than severe or common cold if infected with the alleged SARS-CoV-2 virus. If the federal court judge had not forced the FDA to publish the documents, they wouldn't have seen the light of day for 75 years, because this is the length of time the FDA actually requested on behalf of Pfizer that they be given to publish the documents under the Freedom of Information Act. We actually owe a debt of gratitude to a group of scientists and medical researchers who sued the FDA to force the release of hundreds of thousands of documents related to the EUA of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Sadly, one of the most recent documents published by the FDA confirms the use of graphene oxide in the manufacturing process, and April 11, 2023 Page 47 the confirmation can actually be found on Page 7 in this document where it clearly states graphene oxide is required to manufacture the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, thus proving that the unelected bureaucrats of the unconstitutional for-profit agencies who are supposed to protect the public because they are the regulators of safety in testing and manufacturing of medicines, coupled with the mainstream media, fact checkers, and Big Pharma corporations like Pfizer, have conspired to deliver a faulty product at best and a bioweapon at worst, and they did all of this by lying to all of you. As to be very clear about how serious the collusion is between the Fourth Estate of government, known as the mainstream media, and their paymasters and Big Pharma is, Reuters' content is used by many news outlets, including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and that's just here -- across the pond you have the BBC, The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent in the UK. So what have we learned? Well, thanks to the DOD, Department of Defense, whistleblowers like Colonel Theresa Long, we gained access over a year ago to the gold standard of healthcare trend data. It's called DMed, Department [sic] of Medical Epidemiological Database. It proved that in the first 11 months of the mandated COVID shots being administered to our military servicemen and women, there was a 1,100 -- one-thousand-one-hundred percent increase in vaccine adverse events as compared to the previous 24 years. And, according to Dr. Thomas Levy, a minimum of seven million Americans now have heart damage by COVID vaccines. And although there's no way of being certain at this time, Dr. Levy also said it's within the realm of possibly that over 100 million people in America have some degree of heart damage from the injections, not myocarditis, but heart damage that will be detectable with a April 11, 2023 Page 48 troponin test. Sadly, the U.S. and its global RICO corporately owned government partners are behind the coverup. The money being paid to our medical institutions, like Sarasota Memorial Hospital, for instance, a taxpayer-funded community hospital, has clouded the judgment of its medical professionals and staff so much so that their record profits last year also resulted in a record turnout by the community during public comment at the hospital board meetings demanding answers and, of course, cessation of the deadly CDC protocols that resulted in the unnecessary killing of their loved ones. What has been made possible by unconstitutional laws giving liability protection to anyone administering the deadly COVID protocols of the emergency-use-authorized remdesivir and ventilators has now been made clear that should Governor Ron DeSantis not re-sign that bill into law when it expires in June, all liability will fall upon the medical professional. No more corporate liability shield. So you see, these excuses of "I was just following orders" defense fades quickly, just as it did during of the Nuremberg trials after World War II. What makes the use of EUA Remdesivir indefensible is that in 2018 and 2019, the NIH and W.H.O. funded a clinical study in a Democrat Republic of the Congo conducting human trial experiments using Remdesivir to treat Ebola, resulting in 53 to 86 percent fatality. The W.H.O. even declared its lethality made it null and void. They would never support this. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You need to wrap up, ma'am. MS. VANDERSTEEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. MS. VANDERSTEEL: Yet our government, Dr. Anthony Fauci, condoned it and put it forward. This is where we have to draw the line in the sand, ladies and April 11, 2023 Page 49 gentlemen. What Commissioner Hall has presented and what you're being presented today with, the opportunity to pass a resolution and an ordinance to protect the safety of your constituents, is all about the local action having a national impact, something that General Flynn has espoused for decades, in fact. And here in Collier County you are at the tip of the spear. You have the opportunity to lead the country out of the darkness and prove that we the people can make the best decisions for ourselves, that we the people, in fact, govern, and that you the commissioners will do the right thing in listening and responding to the people's wishes. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, ma'am. MS. VANDERSTEEL: Thank you so much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Josh Yoder. He'll be followed by Erin Olszewski. Mr. Yoder's been ceded time from Mary Azger or Alger. MS. ALGER: Alger. MR. MILLER: Alger, thank you. And George Sewitt. Am I missing George? MR. SEWITT: Yeah, I'm here. I'm giving up my time. MR. MILLER: Oh, okay. Thank you. So Mr. Yoder will have a total of nine minutes and be followed by Erin Olszewski. MR. YODER: Thank you. Good morning to the Collier County Commission. I would like to thank all of you for being here today and for listening to these concerns that we believe are so important. It says a lot about your character, and I would love to see more leaders like you across the country. So my name is Josh Yoder. I'm the cofounder and president of US Freedom Flyers. I'm a major airline pilot. I never anticipated that I would be standing here speaking to a county commission as an April 11, 2023 Page 50 airline pilot. But back in 2021 we had a devastating occurrence which was vaccine mandates that came to the airline industry. As pilots, as you know, we are very focused on our health, and we're very reluctant to take medications, anything that could potentially violate our flight physical, harm our health, and, therefore, harm our careers. The airlines, right, they took a totalitarian stance. On October 6th, my airline mandated the vaccine on myself and my colleagues, one of which is sitting over here, another -- a senior captain at our company. And there was tremendous chaos within the airline industry. I had already been seeing vaccine injuries amongst some of my friends who had willingly taken the shot early in 2021. We stood up in force, first with just a few people, then tens, then hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands across the industry. We stood up, and we pushed back for individual liberty and freedom, you know, the thing that we hold most dear in this country. As the year progressed, we provided pushback. The airlines largely -- in part, they accepted religious and medical exemptions when they had initially said it was termination. No exemption was going to be allowed. It's because we stood up in force, and they knew that they couldn't afford to lose 20 to 25 percent of their workforce and continue to operate as companies. They didn't do it out of the kindness of their hearts. They did it because we stood together as citizens. That's what it means to be an American. Look at how this country was founded: Normal people who stood up to their government, and they brought forward freedom, and they stood for what they believed in, and we're now experiencing the benefits of that even today. I'd like to tell you a few stories of some of my friends who have been vaccine injured just to bring -- just to highlight this issue. April 11, 2023 Page 51 So in the fall of 2021, my friend Cody Flint, he was an agricultural pilot out of Mississippi. You know, he did what the FAA told him to do. They said the vaccine was safe and effective even though they did no safety studies whatsoever. Cody Flint, he gets his first Pfizer shot on the side of the road -- on the side of the road with no informed consent. Within minutes, he develops a headache, a headache that continues to progress over the next two days while he waited the mandatory 48 hours before he could fly an aircraft. He gets in his agricultural airplane. He takes off. He's at about 200 feet going across the field. Both of his inner ears rupture at the same time. He loses all consciousness. He doesn't remember landing his aircraft. There's now four doctors, four specialists -- two in Canada, two in the United States -- who have said conclusively 34-year-old pilot Cody Flint's injury was a direct result of the COVID-19 vaccine. He's now left with a wife and two young children, and he's unable to provide for his family. Soon after -- soon after Cody Flint became public with his story, another person came forward, Greg Pearson, a major airline captain. The first Pfizer shot, within hours he's in the hospital in atrial fibrillation. Doesn't know if he's going to be able to go home to his family. He thinks he's going to die. Fortunately, Greg pulled through, but his flying career is over. And so Greg, he came out. He became public as well. He started telling his story. And then on April 9th we have Captain Bob Snow, an American Airline captain flying an Airbus 321 with nearly 200 people on board from Colorado down to Dallas Fort Worth. That was American Airline 1067. Six minutes after the wheels of the aircraft touched down on the runway, they pulled into the gate, and Captain -- Captain Snow set the parking brake. They were in the deplaning process. As he April 11, 2023 Page 52 stands up to collect his bags, he collapses in cardiac arrest. You see, Captain Snow was one of those pilots who succumbed to the mandates and the pressure at the airline. And, as it turns out, he was diagnosed with something called subclinical myocarditis. This is inflammation of the heart muscle itself. And he had no symptoms up to this point. This is what makes it so dangerous. We know per studies coming out of Thailand that 50 -- more than 54 percent of cases of myocarditis, which is a listed side effect on Pfizer's own documents, have no symptoms, meaning that the first symptom can often be sudden death. And as if that's not concerning enough, also new studies have come out that said myocarditis, left untreated, has a 20 percent mortality rate within two years and a 50 percent mortality rate within five years. So you can understand the significance of that if an airline pilot has a subclinical case, doesn't realize they're affected. And what's even more concerning is that the Federal Aviation Administration, even though we notified them on December 15th of 2021 via a 10-page letter signed by doctors, scientists, and lawyers and other experts -- we warned them that this was going to happen and yet the FAA did nothing to stop it. In fact, they encouraged pilots to go ahead and get the shot and allowed the airlines to mandate it. So now we're seeing just an incredible fallout. I work with hundreds of pilots who are vaccine injured. Many of them afraid to come forward, many having cardiac issues. We were just at an airshow, SUN 'n FUN airshow here Lakeland, Florida, less than two weeks ago. We had a booth there for six days, and over that six-day period, we had more than 50 vaccine-injured pilots come past our booth to talk to our doctors to get free consults saying, look, I'm still -- many of them still flying, afraid to speak up, afraid of losing their careers and being placed on April 11, 2023 Page 53 long-term disability, which is a fraction of what they would earn as a pilot. This is a problem. This is a major problem, and it all stems back to the fact that there was no informed consent and there were medical mandates. And, unfortunately, that doesn't just affect the pilots and the flight attendants. That affects you as passengers. It also affects everyone who's on the ground, you know, should there be an accident, you know, leaving a major city. There are too many -- too may counts to even discuss. I mean, back in November of 2019 -- or I'm sorry, of 2022, there was a flight -- American Eagle flight leaving Chicago O'Hare Airport. Ninety seconds after that aircraft was cleared for departure, the captain -- he was a captain in training. He was joined by a very experienced check airman who was sitting in the right seat. Ninety seconds after that aircraft was cleared for departure, Captain Ford was deceased in the left seat. And it's very fortunate that he wasn't flying with a brand-new first officer, someone who had -- you know, was new to the airplane. It was a very highly experienced gentleman. Did a perfect job of bringing that aircraft back around and landing it. But that's a near miss by anyone's terms. And, you know, more and more cases have happened. You haven't heard about them. We had seven pilot incapacitations just in the month of March alone, and those are the ones that made the media. There are others that have occurred. We just had a flight attendant that passed away just a few days ago in flight. I know of at least 50 cases now of flight attendants who have passed away in flight, and many more at home. This is a significant issue, and we need the -- we need the public to get involved. We need you to push back. I hope this helps you understand the severity of the impact of illegal mandates that were brought to this country. And it's not just April 11, 2023 Page 54 our industry that it's affected. It's you. It's normal people. You just don't hear about these deaths. You don't hear about these incapacitations and the medical issues because it doesn't make the news. That doesn't mean it's not happening. It is absolutely happening. And I would -- I would implore you to pass -- you know, to pass this resolution. You have a -- you have an option here to take local action that's going to have a national impact, just like Ann Vandersteel said. And I believe that I'm looking at a group of leaders. The fact that you even -- you know, that you'll sit here and you'll listen to this and that you'll take this into consideration says a lot about your character, and I would just like to thank you so much for being here today. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Erin Olszewski. She'll be followed by Sherri Palmer-Jennings. Erin has been ceded additional time from James Rosenberger. James, are you here? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: She will have a total of six minutes. MS. OLSZEWSKI: Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you, guys, so much for having me here and also listening to all of us. It's very unheard of these days. My name is Erin Olszewski, and I'm here in support of the Collier Health Freedom Bill of Rights Ordinance and the Health Freedom Resolution. A little bit about my background and why it's important that you understand how imperative it is that what I'm about to share with you is in your decision today. First, I'm a mom. I have three boys. I'm here to protect them, but I'm also here to protect and defend your children and grandchildren as well. I'm a registered nurse. I'm here to stand up for my patients and honor those who have died unnecessarily. April 11, 2023 Page 55 I'm an author of a book that is no longer allowed on bookshelves -- which I'm going to give each of you a copy to read -- because of censorship. They won't even put it on bookshelves so people won't find out what's going on. And also -- I'm an army combat veteran. I served over a year in Iraq, 2003 to 2004. Commissioner LoCastro, thank you for your service and, Commissioner Kowal, thank you for your service as well. I'm here -- my oath never expires, not only to my country but also to my patients. So at the height of the pandemic, I actually traveled from Florida in the Tampa Bay area to New York to work in the COVID ICU. I actually was placed at the epicenter of the epicenter, which is Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, New York. I just want to make this very clear that this was not just solely happening in New York but all around our great nation, including Florida and, more specifically, right here in your county. I know this because upon my return after getting kicked out of New York for trying to advocate for my patients, I began advocating for patients all around Florida, the same situation in every single hospital. What I witnessed in New York can only be described as a turnkey-style assembly line to a body bag. There's no liability. There is gag orders on all of our staff, including myself. We were threatened to be sent home if we said anything. They banned family members, which are the patients' advocates, which should never happen ever again. They banned treatments. I always say that politicians make lousy doctors. A politician, our government should never get in between the doctor/patient relationship ever again. If they wanted to do that, they can go to medical school or become a nurse. There was financial incentives put on admissions of patients. So $13,000 to admit patients. So why not? We were actually April 11, 2023 Page 56 ordered down from sending any of the patients to the Comfort Ship, which was wide opened. The Javits Center was empty. The Good Samaritan tents were empty. They admitted them for $13,000 a person. The protocols consisted of sedation, paralyzing agents, and then, essentially, a vent. Some of the patients' rooms that I went into, there was feces dried up their backs for two, three weeks. They had bed sores where you could see their bones at this point. They weren't coding full-code patients. Being a full code means you want all resuscitation done and all measures done; CPR. You want to be saved. They were not doing that, and they were not doing it behind locked hospital doors, and neither -- nobody knew except for the people that were in there. They ended up in a body bag. Eventually we just had garbage bags, and then they were tossed into the freezer trucks. Every single one of my patients, outside of one patient, died, and I had to stack their bodies in these freezer trucks, but they were not dying of COVID. And on top of that, they ended up banning autopsies. So there was a $39,000 price tag for the ventilators and sometimes $10,000 for each death. It's absolutely disgusting. I tried to say something, and I was unable to. I was threatened with being sent home, so I decided that I was going to go undercover, got some spy glasses, got some audio gear, and I started recording for the next four weeks. I'd like to share a little clip, if I could, because I think that it is very important that you actually hear with your own ears what is actually -- what happened, what continues to happen to this very day in the hospitals. This is a seasoned medical doctor working at the New York City hospital. He was on a travel assignment. He was making approximately $75,000 a week. Nurses were getting $10,000 a week, so this was hush money, in my opinion. April 11, 2023 Page 57 He ended up calling all the nurses together after he was, essentially, busted for not coding a full-coded patient and actually wrote her death certificate before she even died and then called the family and lied to them. But I'd like to just have this record, because I think it's very important that the public know that this happened and this was going on. (Audio recording played as follows:) If there was family in the room, if the ethics committees was in there and Jaco was standing in the room, you guys wouldn't do what you guys just did. You guys would have been way more proactive. Yeah. Absolutely. And that's what I have a problem with, because if you, in good conscience, could say we would have done the same thing regardless of who was watching us right now, then I'd be like, all right, fine. But I don't feel like that's the case. Let me ask -- let me ask a question. And this -- whatever your opinion is: What do you think the right thing to do for her is in that setting? It doesn't matter. I think the right thing to do for her is what she wants. What she wanted at that time was a full code. Okay. Now, during that time when she was crashing, she was full code. You guys were already having conversations with the nurse to not code this April 11, 2023 Page 58 patient. Yeah. And when I went to go call the code, you were saying, no, don't call code. Right. But at the time, she was full code. Yep. Later on she became DNR, I think, around 1:45. Yep. But when she was crashing, it was 1:15, 1:20. Yep. So if you don't want to code a patient, you need to aggressively contact the family to make it a DNR before this happens. Totally agree. (Audio recording concluded.) MS. OLSZEWSKI: I'm going to cut it short. I know that my time is short, but that's clearly a murder. I'm just going to end with this: The last thing standing between a patient and a body bag is a good nurse. If a good nurse isn't allowed -- sorry, this is tough. Sorry. If a good nurse isn't allowed to do her job -- sorry -- then it's an automatic death sentence for our patients, and we're forced to watch them die unnecessarily, and now we have to live with that reality forever in our hearts and our souls. And, you know, a lot of us have been holding the line for a really long time, and this dam is about to break, and we are calling for reinforcements. We need you guys to support us to make sure that this never ever happens again, because it could be you; it could be your family members next time. And any person that's in opposition of this resolution and the April 11, 2023 Page 59 ordinance is likely someone that you don't want taking care of you or they have something to hide. So I'll end this with this: United we stand against those we trusted. I hope that you guys will really dig deep in your souls and your hearts and understand that this is good for humanity, not only Floridians but all over the world. So God bless you, and thank you for listening to me. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Mr. Miller, we'll go with -- this will be the last speaker, then we'll have a break and then resume with the speakers. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Sherri Palmer-Jennings, and she'll be followed by Dr. Paul Alexander. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Dr. Alexander, you'll be immediately after the break. MS. PALMER-JENNINGS: You should have gotten the vaccine. You should have gotten the booster shot. These are some of the last words my patients heard from fellow healthcare providers they trusted. Then these same healthcare providers turned to other nurses like me telling me those patients deserved to die. Imagine if that was you or your loved one. Maybe it already happened but without your knowledge. And to think these patients were denied early lifesaving treatments. My name is Sherri Palmer-Jennings, and I'm a local acute-care registered nurse who worked on the front lines in one of the first COVID units in Florida. This is one of the many unfortunate events I witnessed and fought back against and how that led me to support the proposed Bill of Rights Ordinance and Health Freedom Resolution. I want to share with you more of what my patients and my peers went through as a healthcare provider. I represent myself, my April 11, 2023 Page 60 nursing profession, the COVID Task Force, and do not speak for nor affiliate myself with any other entity. I worked COVID-19 as the intermediate care nurse and continue to care for these patients to this day. I understand how serious this virus is. I have also cared for many patients who suffered or died from the vaccine since February of 2021 in acute care. I just took care of a sweet person just last week who kept up with their CDC recommended booster shots and still died the same horrifying way others have died from COVID-19. This vaccine was a mistake, as it does not prevent infection or transmission. I've witnessed coercion, shaming, and suffering amongst my community for choosing not to get vaccinated. I've educated many of them to honor their civil rights and helped them fight for their exemptions against the vaccine because local private entities were refusing to honor them or approve of them. Many of my peers were able to keep their jobs or stay in their nursing school programs but many did not and could not fight back because they didn't know how. This bill would help prevent that from happening again and build a larger workforce locally rather than dwindle it and lose the great talent we do have. I witnessed medical tyranny from the current work force we do have. Providers told families there was nothing more they can do for their loved ones and encouraged families to code them as AND, or allow natural death, meaning you stop all treatments and let a person die. We had hallways of these patients. Many of these patients couldn't be kept comfortable enough, had nowhere to be discharged to and, per providers, they took up a bed. These patients were starved, overly medicated with drugs, and alone. I remember breaking down when I started my shift because I found two out of my three AND patients deceased and in stages of rigor mortis. They died alone. April 11, 2023 Page 61 So I started FaceTiming with families multiple times a day and convinced them to change their code status to AND, and providers convinced them. Because families could see their loved ones on FaceTime, they changed their mind about AND and continued to treat their loved ones. Some family members didn't even know they could change their mind. They were failed by the system that they should have been able to count on. Providers tried to fight them back in the end. They had to listen. Because of that, some of those patients made it out of the hospital back to their loved ones. And I'm sorry, I know I'm a little over. I'm just going to end it with I emphasize my unconditional support for the Bill of Rights Ordinance and Health Freedom Resolution and urge you to vote in favor of them. Be the leaders paving the way of the preservation of our constitutional republic. We can do better, especially for our community. Thank you, Commissioners, for being brave and for your time. Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We will take a court reporter break, and we will resume at 10:50. (A brief recess was had from 10:37 a.m. to 10:52 a.m.) MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Go ahead. MR. MILLER: Okay. We'll continue with our public speakers. Folks, if you will please have your seats. Your next speaker is David Parsons. He'll be followed by Karen Kingston. MR. PARSONS: Good morning. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Good morning, sir. MR. PARSONS: Am I on? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes. April 11, 2023 Page 62 MR. PARSONS: Can you hear me? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes. MR. PARSONS: Oh, cool. I am David Parsons. I am a resident of Collier County. And in July of 2021, COVID vaccines became widely available, and at that time, early July, about 50 percent of the U.S. population had at least received one shot. Between then and now, 500,000 Americans died from COVID infections. In my three minutes, I want to talk a little bit about the 500,000. First, people over 65, 65 years of age and older, were 350- of the 500,000. There are other over-65s here, I believe. That group represents only 17 percent of the population, but they had 72 percent of the deaths. Kind of a 13-1 ratio between, I'll call them, seniors and everybody else in terms of the probability of dying from COVID. Among the age 65 and over, by now almost 90 percent of that group have been vaccinated with at least one shot. During that period, the probability of dying from COVID among that group of vaccinated seniors was one chance in 546. Pretty good odds. Unvaccinated -- the small 10 percent or so who were not vaccinated, the probability was one out of 39. The numbers show -- and these numbers basically are reported at the level of 3,200 counties in the United States and percolate up through various channels. So this ratio of 546 -- one chance in 546 if you've been vaccinated, one chance in 39, is pretty good evidence that the vaccines were working for a large number of those people. Vaccination was not perfect. Vaccinated people died, no doubt about it. But in a much -- at a much smaller rate than those unvaccinated. Among the under-65s, if you've been vaccinated, your probability of dying of COVID was one chance in over 10,000. Phenomenal odds. Unvaccinated -- the unvaccinated group, which April 11, 2023 Page 63 constituted about 100 million unvaccinated under 65, your chances of dying were one in 1,500. Also very good odds. In thinking about that group -- and I've -- actually, going back a year or so, I knew people in that rather large age group who felt like the chances of serious illness were not great; they might as well just get the virus and get it out of the way and become immune through infection, which has proven to be actually very effective. So it's understandable for people with a perceived and actual very low probability of infection to weigh the pros and cons of vaccination. They may see it being risky. They may just not like to get shots. Viewing it strictly from the standpoint of their own health probabilities, it's not unreasonable to think that they would not get a shot. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: If you can wrap up, sir. MR. PARSONS: Oh, my God. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Three minutes goes fast. MR. PARSONS: Okay. Very quickly. What they didn't understand was that between the time you get infected and the time you have symptoms, several days pass when you can infect other people, and it's that problem of infecting other people that many organizations had to deal with when to reopen and what protections to take to protect their other employees. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. MR. PARSONS: My concern is that this proposed legislation will keep people from making those kinds of judgments on their own. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir. MR. PARSONS: Three minute doesn't last very long, does it? MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Karen Kingston. She'll be followed by Dr. George Yiachos. Karen has been ceded additional time from Terri Codella Caspersen. April 11, 2023 Page 64 MS. CASPERSEN: Caspersen. MR. MILLER: Caspersen. Is she here? MS. CASPERSEN: Right here. MR. MILLER: Oh, thank you. Also by Jim Guzzi. Am I getting that right? MR. GUZZI: Jim Guzzi. MR. MILLER: Guzzi. Thank you very much. She'll have a total of nine minutes. MS. KINGSTON: Thank you. Thank you, Commissioners. My name is Karen Kingston. Just so people know who I am, I'm a med-legal advisor and biotech analyst in the industry. My work is currently being used in global criminal prosecution of Pfizer. Also, South Africa began prosecuting Pfizer. And what I'm going to talk about today is why we're here, so why maybe some people want to continue to surrender their constitutional rights to the government. And I also want to talk about laws that are passed by the federal government that actually legalize crime and how unfortunate it is that people believe if they go along with legalized crime, that they are above judgment and the law because, unfortunately, judgment is coming, whether it's from the people of the United States of America or outside military powers, what we have done is very wrong. And I do wish the knowledge I have upon nobody, but I do wish to share with you some information that may hopefully guide your decisions today in regards to the ordinance and the importance of standing up for our inalienable, God-given rights under the U.S. Constitution and the Florida Constitution. So up here, Joe Biden last night dropped the COVID-19 emergency. That means a lot of immunity for people who committed crimes such as what Erin just spoke about -- Nurse Erin, April 11, 2023 Page 65 those doctors -- that immunity's going away, so judgment is coming. I have to do the clicker thing again. How do I do that? Space bar. Okay. So what is authoritarian? And I want to go through this. There was a study out of University of Toronto across 31 nations and hundreds of counties and communities just like Collier County. And the definition of authoritarian -- I took this from the 1983 Webster dictionary when we had President Reagan, because words mean different stuff today. So we've got to go back to the '80s. It's when our individual freedom is held completely subordinate to a group or an individual to the power of the state that is not constitutionally accountable to the people. This is what we don't want. We don't want to pass laws. We don't want to submit to federal laws. We don't want to submit to state laws that are not constitutionally accountable to the people, because this is tyranny, and in some cases it's actually criminal. This is the study. It was published in a peer-review journal, again, across 31 nations and over 100 communities around the globe. And what they looked at is how do we get people so terrified that they would submit all of their rights and demand others do the same, and it's called the parasite-stress hypothesis. It's out of the University of Toronto. The study was done in 2013. So a parasite is any virus, bacteria, or a parasite; and a democratic form of government is one where we have popular participation, there's a political process, there's individual freedoms and rights, and there's -- and we're open for debate. We have the freedom of speech. But an authoritarian governance is one where you submit to one single power, and anyone that goes against what the current narrative is, what the current demands are, what the current rules are is seen as an outcast and is punished either socially or even criminally. April 11, 2023 Page 66 Let's keep going. I have time. Uh-oh. I hit the wrong button again. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Try "escape" and then -- MS. KINGSTON: Thanks, Dan. Dan the man. All right. So here we go. Let me just keep going. So this is the study about whether or not people at an individual level would submit to an authoritarian power. And what they looked at is in a community, let's say there was a grave difference in income, let's say we threatened them with famine, let's say that there was a big difference in education. Nothing really swayed them that much to submit all of their rights, but one thing did, and that was threatening them with a highly infectious virus. And then all of a sudden at the individual level, I wanted you to tell me what to do so I don't get hurt and my family doesn't get hurt, and I demand that others do the same. So what's interesting, though, is the more education you have, the less likely you would submit to an authoritarian governance unless you were threatened with a highly infectious pathogen. By the way, a lot of this research is done out of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and there's an interesting study out of Harvard I'll share with you later. The environmental stuff that we do, 15 years, they figured out how to manipulate Americans to do things that we wouldn't normally do and it actually costs us. So back at the -- this study, it shows at the individual level, if you perceive that you're at a high infectious risk, you're going to conform, and you're going to demand others that don't. So this is why people all mask the children, wore masks at the grocery stores, forced people to stand six feet apart, and condemned others who would not go along with this. It's also why on Facebook you have the "I got vaccinated" tab to show people that you were part of the group. You were not going to be outside the group, because April 11, 2023 Page 67 everyone was terrified that they were going to be infected. And then we know that on March 16th, Deborah Birx said they didn't know a lot about the virus, and so they need everyone to stay home. So they demanded everyone go on house arrest. President Trump said people started policing their own communities. Again, this was a psychological warfare, if you will, because Deborah Birx lied, and so did Anthony Fauci. Because on February 28th, they published in the New England Journal of Medicine that the COVID virus was the same as the flu. It had a .1 percent case fatality rate when it was out in the wild, if you will. And then on March 31st, they continued their lie and said 2.2 million people would die if we didn't lock down. So what happens at the social level? Again, across hundreds of communities, what they found is the pathogen stress, people would submit -- together as a community they would say, please tell us what to do so that we don't get infected and our families don't get infected. And what they found was that when they combined a virus being prevalent, so ubiquitous across the country, and also highly deadly -- so those are the two components of a pathogen stress -- the correlation was .87. That's a nearly perfect one correlation. This is higher than the correlation between education and income. So they knew that if they threatened communities with a highly infectious, highly contagious virus, they would do whatever they were told, and they would submit to an authoritarian government. They would even be willing to give up their life -- not their life -- their liberty, their property, and participating in the voting process. That's exactly what happened. Now, what's on the horizon is the IHR, the International Health Regulations from the W.H.O. Which, if they're passed, they're basically a treaty. And as Mr. Klatzkow knows, a treaty in the United States is basically considered the supreme law of the land. April 11, 2023 Page 68 Article VI of the Constitution often does not override it based on SCOTUS's past rulings. So the International Health Regulations, it talks about using health technologies, that these will be mandated. It talks about that they're going to put together readiness and resilience in ways that commiserate with a restricted -- not to public health risks, but all risks that could potentially impact health. So this could say there's an environmental risk, there's mosquitoes, there's one pig in Denver, and so we need to lock down the country. But one of the most alarming things in the regulation is under Article III where they deleted -- "the implementation of these regulations shall be," and they deleted "with full respect for dignity, human rights, and fundamental freedoms of persons." This is what's on the horizon. And if it's passed as a treaty and we do not honor to uphold our constitutional rights under the Constitution and State of Florida, this is how the residents of Collier County can be treated. Our worst nightmares have still not happened. So what happened during COVID-19? I don't know if everyone's familiar with the PREP Act, but what was passed by our Congress was that an emergency-use product could be passed that may be effective. It didn't have to go through the standard FDA safety and efficacy trials. But what people don't realize is that that product, per what's passed by Congress says, that it may result in adverse health consequences or even death. So these vaccines, they knew it could have resulted in death and chronic disease, and it may be caused by administering the drug, biological agent, or device against the chemical, biological, radio, or nuclear threat. So they knew this was going to cause disease, disabilities, and death. This is just reiterated in the guidance. So when Pfizer met with the FDA on October 22nd, 2020, they April 11, 2023 Page 69 knew they were going to put people at unreasonable risk for all of these diseases, including death, and they moved forward with it. Why would they do that? Because under the PREP Act, willful misconduct is also waived. You have immunity. So if you know what you're doing is wrong, if you know there's no legal or factual justification, and you know that the risk outweighs the benefit, as long as you're following orders from HHS and you're a manufacturer, you can get away with murder. And so I just ask that you respect the rights of Collier County residents and children to not [sic] put forth an ordinance that does not [sic] declare that the federal government has the right to put their children at risk for disease, disabilities, or death, and the criminals that are doing this have legal and civil immunity. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Dr. George Yiachos. He'll be followed by Tamra L. Mitchell. Dr. Yiachos has been ceded additional time from Ken Frazier. MR. FRAZIER: Here. MR. MILLER: And also from Jay Kohlhagen. MR. KOHLHAGEN: Right here. MR. MILLER: And Dr. Yiachos will have a total of nine minutes. DR. YIACHOS: Good morning. My name is Dr. George Yiachos. I've been a board certified cardiologist and a physician for over 30 years. And I'm not representing any corporation or hospital system today. Excuse me. I had to run up here. Early in my training I was taught that the best way to learn to cure and to heal is to study the patients that have passed. Historically, most of what has been learned about the human body first came from the study of the people who had died. This has been April 11, 2023 Page 70 the main way to establish the cause of death and what went wrong with treatments so that the medical practitioner could better understand what can be done to prevent disease, suffering, death, and, most importantly, what could be done differently to help others. Autopsies were deemed so important to medical education and the advancement of science that up until the early 1990s, medical residency programs would actually give gifts and books to residents to actually get them to convince family members to have their deceased family members go for autopsies and postmortem exams. In 2020, during the biggest health crisis to hit the modern world for the first time, advancing science was discouraged. A postmortem examination was thought to be inappropriate, and there was a fear that the physician was going to get COVID, and that's why that wasn't allowed. By April 2020, three and a half months into the U.S. landfall of COVID, community hospital pathologists decided to do their job against those recommendations. From those investigations, spreading the knowledge that clotting played an integral role in the deaths of hospitalized patients. An email sent to Dr. Fauci about this discovery was met with a simple reply email of "Thank you." That's it. Strangely, even though the local recommendations for blood thinning started to turn things around for the inpatients, the reality was that there was no proclamation by the federal or state agencies about this vital information for months, a testament to the government's slow reactive nature. In 2021, deep into the COVID vaccination program, German families started requesting private autopsies after state and locally financed public coroners declared their family members died of natural causes. Why did families make requests for private autopsies? The April 11, 2023 Page 71 people that died never had COVID but were vaccinated, and the families were suspicious that their family members were dying as a result of the COVID shot. They did not believe the state or locally funded coroner's conclusions. In January of 2022, a group of world-renowned pathologists led by Dr. Arne Burkhardt were contracted by the families, and they ended up releasing their private autopsy results, which were very enlightening. The majority of those who were deemed dead of natural causes had actually died as a consequence of the COVID shot. The team had developed a test to detect the spike protein in these patients who never had a COVID infection but were vaccinated. Microscopically they found the spike protein being expressed in every organ system, not just at the injection site; it was found in the brain, the heart, the coronary arteries, the kidneys, the lungs, the lymph nodes, and the aorta. Shockingly, the patients' own blood cells, white blood cells, were seen actually attacking every one of these organs where the spike was being expressed, and this was causing clots, aortic dissections, heart attacks, myocarditis, encephalitis, and lung damage. All names of natural causes of death, but these people were killed by an autoimmune reaction to the spike protein produced by the COVID shot. With all of the sudden deaths in our younger population and the increased death rate since the inception of the vaccination program, I have yet to hear of an autopsy series in the United States using this technology. And what has now been well documented by video testimony, many morticians in the United States have been identifying a high percentage of fibrous clots being identified in vaccinated family members which microscopically resemble amyloid plaques. These are abnormally folded proteins in the blood. These fibrous clots are April 11, 2023 Page 72 not blood clots as one would expect when you're embalming a body, but they're long, rubbery clogs spanning the full length of arteries and veins in all parts of the body. There has been an exploding number of these observations made by morticians only since the COVID vaccination program began, yet I have not seen any federal or state agencies investigating these findings. Despite this information and many other data points, we are now seeing hospital systems threatening the abandonment of patients who are making their own informed decisions. Children and adults have been denied transplants and healthcare because they did not get the COVID shot. Globally, people who need blood transfusions and are requesting blood from unvaccinated donors are being denied access. Parents in New Zealand -- a very exemplary case. Parents in New Zealand had their child taken by the state for making such a request for their sick child. Despite the parents having their child's blood type, they were refused the ability to do that for their kid. We are now seeing small groups of people organizing local cooperatives to create a pool of non-COVID-vaccinated blood donors, yet there is no forthcoming information from the global, federal, or state health agencies regarding this concern. I bring forth these real-world examples to highlight that the reactionary characteristics of the global or federal agencies have and will continue to fail local health systems and populations. Although these centralized health agencies have created an excellent way to disseminate information. The system primarily focuses on recommendations driven by corporate agendas and blocks real-world data and solutions being generated at the local level. Collier County has to create as many firewalls as possible between international health bodies like the W.H.O., the federal April 11, 2023 Page 73 alphabet agencies, the state health boards, and Big Pharma. The mistakes made during the pandemic need never be repeated. Voting yes to the ordinance and the resolution being presented will codify a health bill of rights, building another layer of protection, reaffirming innate rights for a person to decide what is best for their body, never forcing people to agree to health mandates driven by fear and greed and, most importantly, creating a firewall to tyrannical overreach by these health agencies. I thank you for having the bravery to hear and act on these matters before you. I would like to make one further proposition. When all is said and done, let's show other counties how to care for the health of their communities. I would ask that you consider convening a local health congress, inviting the major hospital systems, local health practitioners, and citizens of Collier County to review and even debate with experts over what can be done to protect from future attacks on our health rights. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Tamra L. Mitchell. She'll be followed by Kathleen Ludwig. MS. MITCHELL: I'm Tamra Mitchell, a Collier County resident, retired registered nurse, and health law attorney. For over 20 years I represented hospitals and healthcare providers. A big part of my job was to keep them out of the courtroom. And I know one of your -- parts of your job is to listen here to everyone's stories. But I, unlike the previous speakers, would like to focus on what the documents actually say. When I read the proposed resolution and ordinance, I was shocked at the vague, unsubstantiated statements being used as fear tactics, as well as the multitude of cites to the Constitution that tie into nothing. Just because you throw in a bunch of legal jargon doesn't make it legal. Did you know there are a number of inconsistencies between the April 11, 2023 Page 74 proposed documents and Florida's statutes, especially in the resolution? It's pretty obvious that these documents, especially the resolution, weren't drafted by anyone with knowledge of Florida law. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I can't go into all these inconsistencies, but I did send out emails to each of the commissioners over the weekend. The problem with these inconsistencies is that they can lead to lawsuits, and that will require Collier County to spend considerable sums of money in its defense. And I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want my hard-earned taxpayer dollars spent this way. I would hope that these potential legal problems alone would be enough for you to decline to adopt the proposed resolution and ordinance. But in case they're not, let me add some other important considerations. First of all, many concerned citizens in Collier County do not agree with the resolution's premises, and they find the document misleading, inaccurate, incomplete, and unnecessarily provocative. Second, don't you find it at all ironic that the so-called health freedom documents contain so many ways to prohibit healthcare measures that keep us healthy? For instance, if you read Section 8 of the proposed resolution, it broadly proclaims that citizens cannot be denied entrance based on their medical status, but it doesn't say entrance to what. Maybe your home? Your child's school or your business? Presumably, this was intended to bar hospitals from denying entrance to visitors. But do you really want hospitals to be required to let people with COVID in to visit immunosuppressed cancer patients? And taking the broad language a step further, do you want to have schools be required to admit children with Ebola into the classroom? What about other life-threatening diseases that may arise in the future? April 11, 2023 Page 75 This proposed resolution seeks to render us powerless to keep infected people away from others, and that doesn't sound very safe or smart to me. Fortunately, resolutions, by their very nature, have no legal authority. Not so with the ordinances. The stated purpose of the proposed ordinance is to mirror existing state law. So my question is: Why do we even need a redundant ordinance? Collier County citizens and businesses are already subject to state law. There is a Bill of Rights already in state law. The clear answer is we don't need this resolution or this ordinance, and I urge the commissioners to vote no in the adoption of them. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kathleen Ludwig. She'll be followed by April Donahue. MS. LUDWIG: Thank you, Commissioners, for listening to us today, giving us your time. I know that's a lot of work, and we appreciate it. My name is Kathy Ludwig, Kathleen Ludwig, and I'm a 10-year resident of Naples. And I vote, so I like to know what's going on in my county, and I'm very pleased to be here today before you to talk about this. I'm speaking as a private citizen. I just became aware of the details of this yesterday, so I put together a few notes. I don't have any slides or presentations or anything, just my heartfelt feelings. But I am on the Health Advisory Board of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and my husband had been on that board before me, so I have paid very close attention to the data for the past three years. We have had meetings about it. It's been broadcast different places, and I follow it. And I -- I understand where it comes from. I understand that the county reports their data up through the system April 11, 2023 Page 76 to the CDC. And so when I looked at the data, Florida had the worst, abysmal data in the whole -- not the worst in the whole country, but among the worst in the whole country. It was terrible. Eighty-seven thousand deaths reported from COVID. Now, since we talked about New York and Elmhurst Hospital, New York has had 78,000 deaths, and they're approximately the same size state. So it's a terrible record. And a lot of this, I believe, comes from lack of vaccination, lack of education, lack of non-pharmaceutical interventions being practiced here in Florida. In January of 2022, the virus was rampant, and we were wide open down here. Everybody was going about their business, and we had a huge spike in deaths. New York had a huge spike in cases but not in deaths. As for the W.H.O., we are members of the W.H.O. That's not a third party. That's us. That's every country that belongs there. And they give advice and recommendations. If you look on their website, they do not have mandates. It's advice. And the World Economic Forum, I don't exactly know what that has to do with this. I've been there, and they haven't met much in the past couple of years, so I don't really know what they have to do with this. The mRNA technology has been around for 15 years. It is not new. COVID is new. It's a novel virus. And, again, I agree that you need to have data to support the statements that are made here. You can't just make broad statements and expect people to go along with it. They're stories. They're not facts. So I encourage you to please look at this carefully. And thank you for your time. I appreciate it. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is April Donahue. She'll be April 11, 2023 Page 77 followed by Rebecca Smith. MS. DONAHUE: Good morning, Commissioners and Chair LoCastro. I'm April Donahue, executive director of Collier County Medical Society. And first I have a statement from Dr. Rebecca Witherell, a board certified infectious disease physician in our community who could not testify today. She says, I have reviewed the proposed ordinance and resolution, and I appreciate your consideration of the concerns of the community members on these issues. The COVID global pandemic has been a terrible experience for the world, our country, and our community. Millions of lives have been lost due to this aggressive virus, and we all want to protect ourselves and our rights. We must find a balance of individual freedoms and public safety. We have many freedoms in this country, and we also have many laws and regulations to protect us. It will be a great disservice to our community members to disregard the expert guidance of scientific bodies and -- under the guise of protecting personal freedoms. We do not know what the future holds for any of us as individuals, but one thing that is certain is the occurrence of another pandemic. Pandemics and the spread of disease are one of the few things guaranteed in this world. As a physician and as a community member, I want to ensure that Naples is well protected while preserving personal freedoms. It would be negligent of the Commission to make large, blanketing decisions today based on fearmongering and distrust of large scientific groups. There has been a dissent from trust and data and science during the pandemic due to fear, stress, and other factors. It is not easy to face the things that we have over the past three years. It is a defense April 11, 2023 Page 78 mechanism to put trust in anecdotes of a neighbor, friend, or celebrity on television. We need to remain united in our goals to protect our freedoms and our community members by recognizing threats and addressing them individually after reviewing the accurate and real-time data that is impacting the outcomes of our lives. When considering this resolution and ordinance, it is important to remember that we cannot assume to know when the next pandemic will come or to understand the ways it will impact our community. The concerns brought forward in this resolution and ordinance are reactions to the past, and while we know hindsight is 20/20, it does not allow us to see future ramifications. It is detrimental to our community to blindly create regulations or restrictions now that will limit our ability to address future threats to our community and its members. And I also have a statement on behalf of the CCMS board of directors. We respect individual freedom of choice and seek to preserve the physician-patient relationship, and we have concerns with the proposed ordinance and resolution. The ordinance is, by and large, redundant of state law and, therefore, unnecessary at a county level. We recognize our patients' rights and freedoms to the state's current Statute 381.026. This promotes the interest and well-being of patients of healthcare providers and healthcare facilities. But if this county ordinance is to be adopted, we request the following amendments: The exemptions for healthcare providers, as detailed in Florida Statute 381.00316, should be added, as this county ordinance is intended to mirror state law, and those exemptions allow healthcare providers the freedom to protect their patients and staff in a public health emergency. Second, Sections 7 through 9 should be amended to allow for a simple majority or a supermajority vote instead of unanimous, because allowing a potential outlier member of the Commission to April 11, 2023 Page 79 have de facto veto power is generally not good policy, particularly during a public health crisis. So one quick little more statement. After reviewing the revised resolution, we believe it will not be effective in rebuilding the trust some community members have lost in public health efforts, and we cannot support it. If the Commission chooses to move forward, we request the opportunity to work with you in the best interests of our community so that any final statement which would reflect the will of the Commission and our entire county is free of inaccuracies and follows the preponderance of health and safety measures. Thank you for your time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Rebecca Smith. She'll be followed by Jane Schlechtweg. I hope I'm getting that close. Rebecca Smith has been ceded three additional minutes from Dr. Marilyn Varcoe. (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Is Marilyn -- can you -- yes, she's right there. So you'll have six minutes. DR. SMITH: Thank you. Thank you, County Commissioners. I'm Dr. Rebecca Smith, president of the board of directors of the Collier County Medical Society. I speak on their behalf. Based on review of the original and updated versions of the ordinance and resolution, we cannot support them as currently written. The ordinance and resolution need review by a group of individuals, including medical specialists, a constitutional attorney, representatives from the County Commissioners, and the public to compose balanced statements that ensure the individual healthcare rights of our Collier County citizens and respect the needs of our local businesses while allowing for the provision of necessary public health interventions in the time of public health crises as determined April 11, 2023 Page 80 by our medical professionals working in conjunction with federal, state, and local authorities. We respect individual healthcare rights and freedom of choice as it pertains to public health. We agree that international organizations should have no control over the implementation of healthcare protocols in the United States; however, none of us can predict the future. Dr. William Osler, a famous, well-known infectious disease specialist, said, the enemies of humanity are famine, fever, and war. To him, by farmost [sic], the worst enemy is fever, a sign of disease and infection. Our past world history has been greatly impacted by infectious diseases such as the bubonic plague, the influenza of 1918, smallpox, tuberculosis, and polio. Our healthcare workers today -- we still see people with residual effects of polio and now with COVID-19. Factual public education, safe and effective preventative strategies, and innovative treatments will help preserve life and expedite recoveries from infectious disease. We do have concerns regarding the accuracy of information that has been reported, including the complications of the COVID-19 vaccine. For example, even the British Medical Journal published a major article entitled "COVID-19." Florida's surgeon general uses careless research practices in recommending against vaccine, his university finds. Dr. Gregory Poland, a renowned contemporary infectious disease physician and researcher at the Mayo Clinic commented recently during a presentation that he made to the NCH medical staff in March, I'll add a fourth enemy of humanity that may be even more influential than fever. This is human behavior and public response. In summary, both the ordinance and the resolution require a detailed review with representatives from multiple professionals in April 11, 2023 Page 81 our community to make statements that are consistent with science, with reason, constitutional law, ethics, fairness, and in the best interest of the individual but with consideration of our community needs and -- our community needs when other public health crises arise. If the Board votes to proceed with further consideration of the ordinance and the resolution, then please consider all public health risks, not just those due to COVID-19. There will be another pandemic. We need to be forward thinking. If Collier County is to approve such documents, then please do not rush. We should take the time to get this right. It is a reflection of our entire Collier County community. We will appreciate your consideration. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jane Schlechtweg. I hope I'm getting close on your last name. MS. SCHLECHTWEG: You're right. MR. MILLER: And she'll be followed by Jennifer Walker. MS. SCHLECHTWEG: Thank you. Yes, my name is Jane Schlechtweg. I am the Collier County Democratic chair. I'm speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party today. We feel that this resolution and ordinance have been brought by a group of citizens that are angry with the federal government who distrust the W.H.O. and the CDC. It's filled with personal and inaccurate views, and we have not seen any reliable or reproducible evidence to warrant such a -- evidence to warrant such an ordinance. Furthermore, since state and federal laws already exist, this ordinance is redundant and a waste of time, as others have pointed out. Your previous speaker, Ms. Mitchell, echoes our feelings. And I would just like to add that the Collier County Democratic Party has always and will always defend the right of any citizen to free speech and opinion, but opinion and their free speech should not govern the April 11, 2023 Page 82 whole. If you want this ordinance on the books, this law, then you need to bring a referendum to the people on election day and let the Collier County citizens vote onto whether they are governed by pseudoscience and quackery, or if they want to keep themselves safe. Anyway. As an American, you have the right to your opinion, but you do not have the right to dictate public health. And based on the unproven Internet theories advanced by uninformed minority, we oppose this ordinance. Thank you very much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jennifer Walker. She will be followed by Kathy McQuarrie. MS. WALKER: Thank you, Commissioners, for the opportunity to speak to you this morning about my very strong concerns regarding the amount of time and effort you have been extending on a discussion about a so-called health freedom ordinance and resolution. I am Jennifer Walker, a 30-year resident of Collier County, and have worked diligently during this time to make our community even better. I have been president of Greater Naples AAUW, president of Greater Naples Leadership, chair of the board of trustees of the Collier Community Foundation, and I've served on the boards of the Pace Center for Girls and the Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida. I've even been a poll worker and most recently and currently I am justice chair of the -- chair of the Justice Committee of the Naples United Church of Christ. But I'm speaking to you today not in any of those capacities but as a very concerned long-time citizen of Collier County and as a polio victim now dealing with post-polio syndrome because the Salk vaccine wasn't available when I contracted the disease as a child. So you should know that I have a profound appreciation for our April 11, 2023 Page 83 country's public health system that has kept my children and grandchildren from suffering the effects of all the childhood diseases that have affected me. I have read the revised referendum you are thinking of adopting and find that you may have scrubbed the language a bit, but you've left the intent behind it, and the intent seemed to be incendiary. It is worded to position the citizens of our county as opposed to and challenging some of our country's respected institutions. But why are you even spending any time contemplating this referendum? I know you tried to explain it. I still don't understand. Existing federal and state law would trump anything you adopt here. It has no force of law. It is merely opinion. And it certainly isn't my opinion or the opinions of my friends, my colleagues, and my neighbors. It does seem to be the opinion of an opaque group that is apparently based in Washington, D.C., as best I can figure it out. I wish to thank Commissioner LoCastro for encouraging me to come and speak to you today and to express my concerns. He has always answered any email I sent him and has responded personally to every concern I raise. It does make me feel as if I have a representative in local government, even if we disagree. I do believe he is committed to listen to all his constituents and not just one group on one side of an issue. And so I want to encourage you all to devote your precious time and effort and that of the county staff to solve the very real problems we have in this county that you are in a position to solve. Please move with expediency on reducing the affordable housing obstacles, such as zoning laws and impact fees. Please work with other counties in our region to guarantee clean water for every citizen. But please don't waste your time and your relationship with your constituents on this distraction, this -- freedom from community health whatever policies. Are we next going to be freedom from seat April 11, 2023 Page 84 belts? Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kathy McQuarrie. She'll be followed by Kate Tardif. MS. McQUARRIE: Gentlemen, the resolution that you're considering today begins by charging local governments and state governments and the federal government and healthcare institutions and one named international health organization, I guess thrown in for good measure, with causing harm, even death, to our citizens. This is just one remarkably overblown, unsubstantiated statement in this so-called freedom resolution. So here's how I remember it. Two years ago my neighbors and my friends, most over 65, and my family members, doctors, nurses, military members eagerly sought to get a vaccination against COVID, and all of those people are doing just fine. My husband contracted COVID before there was a vaccine, and he died from COVID, so that's how I see it. That's how I remember it. I agree with the former -- the preceding speaker. I don't know why you are engaged in this controversy. I don't know why you think it's good government to appoint yourselves better health decision makers than doctors, medical researchers, and public health experts. We've been through three tough years. We've learned a lot, we still have a lot to learn, but we need to move forward. And I urge you to forget the ideology and take care of the people. You failed to do that in February when this ideology caused you to take money away from a program of healthcare education for the residents of Immokalee. This ideology led you to deprive many of our most needy residents important healthcare information. It was a callous act of disregard for the well-being of Collier County residents. And let me finish by saying you are inconsistent in your handling of health matters. In that February discussion, one of the April 11, 2023 Page 85 commissioners suggested making a part of what you took away by using funds from the county budget, but the County Manager said, no, healthcare isn't in the purview of the commissioners. So how is taking healthcare education away in your purview? How is supporting an extremist ideology about healthcare in your purview? Collier County is a great place to live. It has so much to recommend that people come here to live. People come here to visit. Becoming a poster child for an extremist ideology puts a stain on our community. I urge you to vote no on the resolution and the ordinance and take care of the people. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kate Tardif. She'll be followed by Edward Ludwig. MS. TARDIF: Hi, again. Let's see. Can you all hear me? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes. MS. TARDIF: Thank you. Oh, hello, County Commissioners. Thank you for your long hours -- can you hear me really -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes. MS. TARDIF: -- your hard work and commitment to the diverse Collier County citizens you represent and serve. Like you, many of us work hard for the betterment of life for all in Collier County and, like you, exhaust ourselves promoting the common good, respect, and peaceful coexistence of such diverse groups and opinions. So far, Collier County has managed to stay that way. Your careful handling of the unnecessary and volatile health freedom ordinance and resolution is mission critical to preserving the peace. Peace is necessary -- is a necessary ingredient to attracting and keeping our visitors and owners and residents; stirring animosity is not. The ordinance and proposal offers nothing that improves quality April 11, 2023 Page 86 of life in Collier County. It does nothing to improve upon the peaceful environment; rather, a hornet's nest was stirred, kicked, not for the betterment of Collier County. And now, just two weeks since officially proposing it, special interest groups and concerned citizens are rising up in anger. What is the benefit to Collier County owners, taxpayers, visitors, residents? What is the benefit of deepening local rifts and divides? Especially for an ordinance and/or resolution that will certainly immediately become litigious and cost us, Collier County taxpayers, retailers, restaurants, merchants -- will cost us money and peaceful coexistence. And for what? Florida laws already offer most, if not all, of the legitimate protections this other group says we need and without costly litigation, but who doesn't like a good show? The last meeting's and again today's "ceded time, multimedia, special guest appearances, presentations" made for quite a show. The hornets nest is stirred again. But still, it's not too late to reset the clock. March 28 may have released the horses of the Collier apocalypse from the barns, but today we still can -- the commissioners still can rein them back in. I respectfully ask each of you to decline to further contemplate, thus promote, these Collier County powder kegs. Hopefully today you will please shut down the costly in so many -- too many ways, the Health Freedom Bill of Rights and the Health Freedom Resolution. Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Edward Ludwig. He'll be followed by Dr. Michael Finkel. MR. LUDWIG: Thank you, Commissioners. And I'd like to thank Commissioner LoCastro. I only found out about this April 11, 2023 Page 87 yesterday. I wrote an email to him last night, and he responded to it at 11:15, so God bless you for working late. I'm a 10-year resident of Naples. I represent myself and more than a few neighbors. I'm not part of any organization. I've worked for over 40 years in the medical technology industry. I've served as a CEO for a Fortune 300 medical technology company. I serve as the trustee of Ford Hospitals in several states. I currently serve on the board of two public medical companies. I'm also a member of GNL, but I'm not speaking on their behalf. I would like to call out several major observable problems with this proposed resolution. Number 1, in the negative, this resolution is very, very long on inferences, hearsay, generalities, innuendo, and very short on competent, independent, verified facts and data. I urge the commissioners to ask for independent, competent verification of every one of the resolution statements. This should be easy to do. And if you find independent verification, proceed accordingly. On the positive scientific side, as I said, I've been an active professional student of the FDA -- the US FDA for over 40 years. They do their homework backed up by independent medical professionals and competent clinical trials data. Always, they're a gold standard. mRNA vaccines have been thoroughly scientifically developed and have been tested in clinical trials to be competent and safe. Those who criticize or doubt the mRNA platform haven't been following the verified scientific progress of this technology over the last 15 years. With respect to the recent COVID vaccines, they have been thoroughly clinically tested to provide -- to be safe as prescribed by the FDA and CDC, period. Finally, with respect to the false and unethical assertions by our Florida state surgeon general -- and perhaps this was one of the root April 11, 2023 Page 88 causes of the -- of the freedom proposition here. So, finally, with respect to the false and unethical assertions by our Florida state surgeon general that COVID vaccines were less than safe -- less safe than going it alone, these assertions were made in spite of the fact that the clinical evidence in the study he cited affirms that serious cardiac complications and fatalities were greater among those unvaccinated, and those who were vaccinated had better outcomes and fewer negative events. Read the study as recommended by Dr. Matt Hitchens. Our surgeon general picked the data he wanted to support his point of view. Another definitive study evidenced 11 times lower risk of myocarditis if vaccinated, lower if vaccinated, 11X versus unvaccinated. Finally, I've personally read anecdotal reports that the risk of adverse events from COVID vaccine is less than the risks of taking regular or low-dose aspirin. Shall this resolution also ban aspirin if it's scientifically verified? Don't take my word for it. Look into it for yourselves. Thank you. Do your homework, then do the right thing. Follow the science. Don't bring us back to 1918 when flu ran rampant or to 1950 when people died from portfolio -- polio before the polio vaccine. Thank you for your time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Dr. Michael Finkel, and he will be followed by Nikki Blaha. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Listen, my fellow citizens. Let's be respectful for -- to everybody here. You know, we're trying to have a professional conversation. This isn't, like I said, The Jerry Springer Show, okay. So I applaud you all for being here on both sides of the aisle, but we really want to keep this professional. So, you know, cheering and scoffing at the speakers, you wouldn't want April 11, 2023 Page 89 that if you were up at the podium. So I'd just appreciate, you know, some -- a bit of decorum. Sir, you have the floor. DR. FINKEL: Honorable Commissioners, my name is Michael Finkel. I'm speaking as a 24-year resident of Collier County who practiced medicine here for over 15 years. And I'm here to speak against the proposed ordinance and resolution. I'm a retired board certified neurologist. I am past president of The Wisconsin Neurologic Society and the Florida Society of Neurology. I've been on the staffs of Mayo Clinic and of Cleveland Clinic. Please review my credentials online as a credible presenter and do the same for the people who've also presented positions contrary to mine. Decisions on issues related to healthcare must be based on reproducible data, not innuendo or, well, testimonials. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but not their own data. The U.S. and Florida Constitutions are established -- are not established by any higher powers. They are -- there are no stone tablets from the mountains, but there are paper documents written by humans based on Greco-Roman concepts of democracy, of law, and of what a republic is. The founders of the U.S. Constitution were educated in these concepts and drew upon them, not any religious texts. The revised resolution is still fatally flawed. I will focus on why the interpretations of individual rights are subservient to public health necessities. The Florida Constitution clearly establishes the state's concern for the health of the public as an aggregate without exceptions for individual desires. Per the state constitution, all counties have a department of public health with countywide responsibilities for the health of all. This is not a purview of the Board of County April 11, 2023 Page 90 Commissioners. Similarly, the U.S. Congress has established the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. They were crucial to controlling COVID, among many other diseases, and preventing its spread. Today on National Public Radio -- National Public Radio, Florida Surgeon General Ladapo had been proven to have altered reports to fit his biases and totally misrepresented the conclusions of sciences -- scientists. The University of Florida said that they could not discipline him as he would be disciplined in most situations by academic institutions because he was acting as surgeon general, not as a -- not as a member of the staff. The redundancy has been addressed. If you're going to do anything with this, first, you've got all the information recorded. Get independent people to review the data and tell you what is reproducible and what is not. Finally, Rick -- David Silverberg has made an excellent response -- excellent proposal regarding how to honor the healthcare workers and those who were patients here in Collier County during the COVID. It's a memorial to them. It's not a gotcha resolution. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. Ma'am. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Nikki Blaha. She'll be followed by Jeannie Bullock. MS. BLAHA: My name is Nikki Blaha. I moved to Collier County in 1988. I'm 75 years old. I have been vaccinated for COVID, and yet I did catch COVID, and I spent at least 12 hours feeling achy. So I am very pleased that I took that vaccination and that protection. I am deeply disturbed by this proposal. There are people who do not believe in science, vaccination, masking, and quarantines. I April 11, 2023 Page 91 suspect that those same people would suddenly become believers and want medical help based on science if they or someone they love had a heart attack, stroke, cancer or other cancer treatments or other medical emergencies. Your job is to make the best decisions for the greatest number of your constituents, not decisions based on a few people who are loud. Science deniers can choose to not get vaccinated, not wear masks, and not to quarantine themselves. If some of these folks work in health fields, I would suggest that they have gotten into the wrong field of work, and they need to work in fields where science is not a major part of the job. However, this ordinance would deprive me and others of the good medical care that I expect and have come to appreciate in Collier County. I want to feel confident and protected with the knowledge that all staff in hospitals, urgent care facilities, doctors’ offices, medical and testing facilities, pharmacies, nursing homes, rehab centers, et cetera, are vaccinated and masked. Also, children are our most precious citizens. All public schools should allow the same protocol as hospitals so our children will be protected. The population of Collier County should not be forced to accept the primitive medical care of the late teen hundreds. These proposals should not be passed. Thank you for listening. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jeannie Bullock, and she'll be followed by Dr. Williams. DR. BULLOCK: Good morning. This is -- I'm Jean Bullock, M.D. I'm a radiologist, board certified, and I'm really pleased to have the opportunity to talk to you today. I'm very concerned that this resolution that has the word "freedom" in it is not going to promote freedom from disease. April 11, 2023 Page 92 We've been through three very, very difficult years but, luckily, in the year 2020, early 2021, a vaccine against COVID was developed at warp speed -- can you hear me okay -- at warp speed. It was just historic speed. We have never had a vaccine/vaccination that was developed in less than a year, so this was a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of this vaccine in terms of curbing deaths -- and we had a lot of deaths. We had -- the numbers of people who were dying daily in 2020 and early 2021 was like the equivalent to several jetliners crashing, several 911s every single day. And so once this vaccine was available, luckily that number has decreased significantly but, still, a lot of people died because of people who were anti-vaxxers. Let me just tell you a very brief story. Smallpox vaccination, when it was introduced and it was sort of a -- kind of a ground-roots thing, but Benjamin Franklin had the opportunity to have one of his sons kind of inoculated with fluid from the pustule of a smallpox victim, and he refused. He was sort of anti-vax in those days, and his son died from a severe case of smallpox, and this ruined the rest of his life. He always regretted the fact that he denied vaccination to his son. I know the invocation today, which really called for wisdom as our guiding force -- I really urge all of you -- that was so well put. Wisdom should be our guiding force, and we should be basing our decisions on science, and I really urge all of you to do that. You're in a position of really great power, and I urge you to turn down this -- this bill, this resolution. Freedom involves responsibilities to others. None of us live in a bubble. If we carried this to an extreme, we'd say people don't have to have their pets immunized for rabies anymore. I don't think any of us would be in favor of that sort of thing, but there is a Florida resolution calling for vaccination. And I just think that if we said, April 11, 2023 Page 93 I'm not vaccinating my pet, I think there would be a lot of people who would be upset. We owe it to other people. We owe it to all of our friends, neighbors, families to promote vaccination. I urge you to turn this resolution and bill of rights down. Thank you for your time. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, a quick question. According to our rules, registration to speak on an item's supposed to cut off at the beginning of the item. I am starting to receive a couple more slips. I just wanted to make you aware of that, let you know. If you want me to cut it off, let me know going forward. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Not yet. You can -- MR. MILLER: Going forward. Your next speaker is Dr. Williams, then followed by Diane P. Moore. DR. WILLIAMS: Good morning. Yours is a tough challenge, a challenge of a grand jury and a regular criminal court. The grand jury process is the accumulation of facts, not prejudices, not gossip, but facts. My interest is in the facts. I'm a retired professor of pharmacology and internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and Parkland Hospital. I have four years of experience as head of the Cardiovascular Renal Research Division of the Hoffmann-La Roche Corporation. I've had two years of research experience at NIH, not far from the laboratories of Anthony Fauci. I know that Anthony Fauci is one of the finest -- finest scientists, leaders. And anyone who attempts to undermine his reputation either are ignorant of the facts or have some sort of a political design. Anyway, I actually developed some of the technologies for measuring messenger RNA in tiny fragments of the tubule of the kidney. I mention this because the mRNA vaccines that we have are April 11, 2023 Page 94 extremely effective in preventing serious COVID-19. People who have had the vaccines have much less serious illness if they have been vaccinated, and nearly all of the people who have died from COVID-19 did not have vaccinations. You have a record here documenting Edward Ludwig's comments. I support those absolutely. I'm just very troubled -- I just found out about this, and I just came on board here this morning, but I'm very troubled by what I see in this, and I request of you to not approve this resolution. I thank you very much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Diane P. Moore. She'll be followed by Melanie Chadwick. MS. MOORE: Good morning. I'm Diane Preston Moore, and I'm the president of the League of Women Voters of Collier County. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization. We firmly believe in the individual rights that are established in the U.S. Constitution, but we cannot support the ordinance or the resolution. There's no question that COVID was unlike any other public health crisis. Hospitals, governments, agencies, business, and individuals made decisions -- the best decisions that they could be based on evolving information. In any public health crisis, local, state, and federal governments must balance freedom with public health and safety. Citizens rely on their government to make decisions for the greater good and to provide for the public safety in a time of a pandemic. The ordinance and the resolution preemptively limit freedom in the name of guaranteeing freedom. They tie the government's hands in the event of a future public health crisis. The ordinance allows for minority rule. It requires a unanimous vote of the commissioners for decisions like mask and vaccine mandates. But the Board makes its decisions based on majority rule. April 11, 2023 Page 95 Requiring a unanimous vote is the exact opposite of majority rule. Requiring unanimity is more like minority rule. That is, one person disagrees, that person wins. That's not good policy. Both the ordinance and the resolution attempt to control the decisions of private businesses. The ordinance requires private businesses to re-hire a terminated employee. The resolution suppresses the rights of public business -- of private businesses, especially hospitals and medical institutions, to run their business as they see fit. A private business should be free to make the decisions it deems appropriate to run its operations. Local governments should not interfere with those business decisions. The ordinance and resolution are overbroad, overreaching, they're vague, and they're unnecessary. They're imprecise, not specific, particularly the resolution. It's inaccurate, not factual. They misrepresent Florida law and the Constitution. They profess to protect health freedom, but they leave the most vulnerable at risk. I agree with Mr. Rifkeys (phonetic) that new pandemics will come. If we experience a future public health crisis, one that might be more deadly than COVID, our local government must be able to react to protect public health and safety. We should not restrict freedom in the name of preserving freedom. And on that, the League respectfully urges you to vote no on the ordinance and on the resolution. Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Mr. Miller, one announcement that I'm just going to make, in case anybody's out there pending, is when we break at 12:20 or 12:30 -- when we break, that's when we're going to end any question, you know, turn-ins or whatnot. So people have a window between now and when we break for lunch to get you anything, and then when we resume after lunch, whatever you're sitting with in your hand, that's who we'll hear from. April 11, 2023 Page 96 MR. MILLER: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Sound fair, County Manager and County Attorney? MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. Okay. Next? MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Melanie Chadwick. She'll be followed by Keith Flaugh. MS. CHADWICK: Hello. My name is Melanie Chadwick. I'm a Naples resident. I want to start out by saying that authoritarianism is not the same as public health emergency action, and to equate the two is really false. I also want to read a little bit from a New York Times article that made the point that back in 1898 to 1903, some Americans declared that they would never get vaccinated and raged at government efforts to compel them. Anti-vaccination groups spread propaganda about terrible side effects and corrupt doctors. State officials tried to ban mandates, and people made fake vaccination certificates to evade inoculation rules already in place. The disease was smallpox. So we see that in our country, Americans have periodically disliked mandates, but when we look back we say, gosh, I'm glad smallpox is eradicated from this country. When the polio vaccine came out, my mother cried because she was so happy that her children would not have to have the threat of polio. That has also been eradicated in this country. So there has always been opposition to mandates, but it hasn't always been partisan. It has become partisan now. I also want to point out that legally speaking, the Supreme Court resolved the issue of mandatory vaccinations in 1905, ruling 7-2 in Jacobson vs. Massachusetts that they were constitutional. This is Justice John Marshall Harlan, who is known for defending civil April 11, 2023 Page 97 liberties, and he wrote, real liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each individual person to use his own whether in respect of his person or his property, regardless of the injury that may be done to others. And as other people have pointed out, we live in a community. We follow lots of rules. We do lot of things that we may not individually want to do, such as stopping at red lights -- most of us -- paying taxes, registering our cars, et cetera, et cetera. But we do it because we are part of a community. And this radical idea of freedom, that somehow a person standing on top of a mountaintop all alone, is not what a society -- a civilized society is about, and it's not what America is about. I wanted to just quickly point out, too -- this is an article that was put together by the Pew Research Center. And I would say, too, anybody who knows anything about science knows that anecdotal evidence is the weakest kind of evidence. We've heard a lot of anecdotal evidence this morning. I'm so glad that other people have spoken up for science. Apparently, in the pandemic, in the very beginning of the pandemic, it was in the cities that people died the most. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Ma'am, you'll need to wrap up soon. Thank you. MS. CHADWICK: But starting with the spring of 2020, the third wave of the pandemic, counties that voted for Donald Trump over Joe Biden suffered substantially more deaths from the coronavirus pandemic than those that voted for Biden over Trump, and that has continued. The coronavirus death rate among the 20 percent of Americans living in counties that supported Trump by the highest margins in 2020 was about 170 percent of the death rate among the one in five Americans living in counties that supported Biden by the largest margins. April 11, 2023 Page 98 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Ma'am, ma'am, I respect your comments, but if you could just please wrap up. MS. CHADWICK: I will wrap up by saying, so why is this being brought up? As so many people have pointed out, this is redundant, perhaps a waste of your time. I think that it's -- I think that it's partisan. And part of what is being done is let's shake people's confidence in the CDC. Let's shake people's confidence in the W.H.O. Let's shake people's confidence in the FDA. And that looks familiar. There's a man who's currently under -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, ma'am. MS. CHADWICK: -- under indictment who -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, ma'am. MS. CHADWICK: -- did a lot of that and got it started. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Keith Flaugh. He'll be followed by Michael Sales. MR. FLAUGH: Good afternoon. It is afternoon so I can be the first to say that. Thank you for allowing me a few minutes. I won't take a lot of your time. On behalf of Florida Citizens Alliance, we're about 250,000 strong here in the state and over 50,000 here in Collier County. We strongly support the intent and the spirit of what you're doing -- what you've been asked to pass in both the resolution and the ordinance. I would like to point out that I'd like to suggest you need an amendment to the ordinance. In Sections 7, 8 and 9, there's a phrase at the end of each of those that says -- and I quote -- without the unanimous vote of the Board. I would urge you to -- I would suggest to you strongly that the five of you do not have the constitutional right to take away my individual rights or any of your constituents'. That should be a April 11, 2023 Page 99 period, full stop, without the exclusion. We saw multiple counties and local officials throughout the U.S. unabashedly take away our constitutional rights that they did not have the authority to do. So I would ask you to make that amendment and move forward aggressively. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Michael Sales. He'll be followed by Kathy Gumph. MR. SALES: Thank you. I bring a message from George Washington. In 1777, which I think is relevant to our conversation today, General Washington wrote, finding the smallpox vaccine -- excuse me. Finding smallpox to be spreading much and fearing that no precaution can prevent it from running through the whole of our army, I have determined that all troops shall be inoculated. This expedient may be attended by some inconveniences and some disadvantages but yet, I trust in its consequences -- that its consequences will have the most happy effects. Necessity not only authorizes but seems to require the measure. For should disorder infect the army in its natural way and rage with usual virulence, we should have to dread it more than the sword of the enemy. And I do believe that General Washington's statement is quite relevant to the ordinance and the resolution that you are looking at today. For over 30 years, I worked with medical scientists at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, consistently two of the top-rated hospitals in the world. I should say 15 years. These scientists were not perfect, and neither were the systems they worked in, but, in general, they were tireless hard workers, and they were sticklers for the validity of their evidence and their conclusions. They did not cherry-pick data. That's not how science April 11, 2023 Page 100 works. These scientists are the opposite of misrepresentation peddlers and outright liars like Alex Jones, who has pervaded so much of this disinformation that is driving the conspiracy theories that have influenced our population. This ordinance and this resolution will keep Collier County from paying close attention to folks who work at the Center for Disease Control and who are truly dedicated to the scientific method. Instead, it will further legitimate people who beat their chest loudly and tell you that drinking bleach is the way to cure your ills. These people who preach those sorts of things are frauds, and they can't defend their research, because they don't know how to do research. I want to say finally, remdivir [sic] was mentioned in the course of this morning. If recollection served, remdivir is the drug that saved Donald Trump's life when he had COVID. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Cathy Gumph. I don't see -- G-u-m-p-h. I don't see her approaching. I'll hold her aside. Libbie Bramson. And Libbie will be followed by Kathi Meo. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Meo. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Meo, yeah. MR. MILLER: Meo? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Kathi, you can queue up. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's spelled Meo, but it's Meo. MR. MILLER: Thank you, sir. MS. BRIMSON: Good afternoon. I'm a 25-year citizen of Collier County, District 2, and support -- and do not support the health freedom initiative. As I researched online to learn more about the people who spoke on March 28th and those who are speaking today, I noticed that some of the speakers are nationally known in the health freedom area. I wondered how many high-profile health freedom media stars are April 11, 2023 Page 101 residents of Collier County and whether noncounty speakers represent the will of us locals. The freedom speakers' stated concern about COVID vaccines is related to their belief that mainstream-approved vaccines are not safe and that alternate treatments, including ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, are preferred, but they have provided no relevant scientific, statistically projectable support for their concerns. I'm alarmed that the freedom health these speakers are selling is filled with misinformation and inflammatory verbiage overlaid with a political agenda that removes science from medicine. I'm alarmed that one high-profile freedom leader claimed that Pfizer vaccine was filled with polyethylene glycol, an active ingredient used in antifreeze. This claim spread like wildfire. Actually, ethylene glycol is used in antifreeze. Polyethylene glycol is used in various vaccines and other pharmaceuticals. I'm very uneasy that two freedom speakers sit on the board of directors of GlobaltechMD, an online telehealth company that sells its services for 49.95 a month. Other global tech directors include General Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, both recipients of presidential pardons. One freedom speaker physician is a patient advocate for bulldog.com that markets a $255 jab kit for people who have accidently been touched by a COVID test swab or inoculated with COVID vaccine. He promotes himself on this website -- on his website as a skilled speaker available for hire and shares his vision for the future as well as shares disturbing tactics to achieve the future. I believe that Collier residents have -- Collier County residents have little to gain and much to lose if you approve the proposed health freedom initiatives. I respectfully ask you -- I urge you to vote no for both resolution and ordinance. Thank you. April 11, 2023 Page 102 MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kathi Meo. She'll be followed by Michele Kelly. MS. MEO: Thank you, gentlemen. I was not going to speak, but I have -- I just can't sit here anymore and listen to so many, just, inconsistencies and just flat-out lies about what really happened. All right. So we can sit here all day long and we can argue if the vax is effective, it's not effective, if people got hurt, people died. I know for a fact from the VAERS website, just what has been reported, which we know is just a small fraction, that just in the past two years of this so-called vax, more people have had adverse effects and deaths than the past 30 years of every single vaccination combined, all right. So the smallpox and polio and all those, for -- they had years of testing, years and years of testing. This thing was thrown out there without testing. People are dropping like flies. We see it every single day. Everybody in Hollywood, you see -- and soccer players fully healthy right on the field, they're just dying, boom, myocardia and heart attacks. It's just -- exponential deaths. I'm just actually furious that people can sit here and say that Anthony Fauci is some great, wonderful person. The man is a criminal and should be in jail. They have lied to us. The government has lied to us. The CDC has lied to us, the W.H.O., FBI, DOJ. This was a plandemic. It was totally created, and you think that we're not going to have another plandemic next year that it's an election year, you are all mistaken. Because let me tell you, they are coming after every one of us, and after they come -- they come after all the Republicans, they're going to come after all you Democrats, too. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Ma'am, ma'am. MS. MEO: So -- I'm sorry. I'm sorry. April 11, 2023 Page 103 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Ma'am. MS. MEO: We need to -- this is about freedom. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Ma'am, you're speaking to us. MS. MEO: Okay. I'm speaking to you. You know my son is in the military. He's a staff sergeant in South Korea right now. He is 23 years old. He's totally healthy. He was forced to take this shot. He is so upset about it. So many of his friends have been adversely affected. You heard from some -- last meeting how the adverse effects of so many in the military that were forced to take this, and it's just not about facts. It's about our freedom. This is about liberties and freedom, as Commissioner Hall has brought up. And we should all have the opportunity to take whatever we want if that is what we want to do. Just as people say my body, my choice, okay, well, that's what I'm sticking with. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Michele Kelly. She'll be followed by Scott Sherman. MS. KELLY: Thank you very much. My name is Michele Kelly. I've lived here for about 20 years or so. And some of the things I'm going to say are not going to sit well with anybody, but it's a platform. First off, COVID-19 is a manufactured virus. It's patented. I've had a lot of time in the last eight years to do a lot of research about a lot of things. And if you go take a look at it, it's the SARS-Co2 that was -- that was manipulated to become manufactured COVID-19. There is no such thing. And if it's patented, it's not real. Natural viruses cannot be patented. Co -- SARS-CoV -- SARs-Co2 is a natural virus. Secondly, there were no trials on the MMR. I did a lot of study in that, because my grandchildren were going to get vaxxed by their mother who didn't read anything. And the only one that was was an April 11, 2023 Page 104 MMR trial that produced autism in a trial sample of little black boys, and they all got autism. Dr. Thompson, who was in charge of that, threw the report into the garbage, as he was instructed to do. And just recently, in the last four years, he came out and admitted to that. Now, I'm going to go to some personal things. First of all, everybody else's health is not my responsibility. You have people that smoke and drink, do drugs. I'm not going to worry about them. Those are their choices and -- I don't know if I'm allowed to say "God." God gives you free will. So you take care of yourself. That's your job. So as far as somebody mandating that I should wear a mask, take a shot, stay in the house, don't go shopping because somebody's health is going to be impacted, not my problem. My dog's not in that fight. Here's my own personal experience with doctors, and some of the doctors here have been less than competent. First of all, I went to an endocrinologist with a problem. There was a test taken, and he immediately said, well, we're going to have you take this pill, then you're going to have an X-ray, and then you're going to -- and then we're going to take out your thyroid. I said, no, you're not. You're not taking out my thyroid. Give me the medicine, because I was familiar with it. I did my research, and I already had had the thing. The second example I have is going to a primary care doctor that decided that I had COPD, a heart aneurysm, and third stage kidney failure. I was told -- that was on my summary. We never discussed it. I have nothing. I have no problems like that, and it's in my summary from that doctor. I know another person who was told he had a heart attack. He said, I didn't have a heart attack. And this is recently. I have dentists that told me I had to have four teeth pulled. I April 11, 2023 Page 105 stopped, and I said, your job is to keep my teeth in my head. Now, just for a little follow-up, the endocrinologist was arrested. The dentist was arrested for felonious behavior. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Ma'am, if you could summarize. MS. KELLY: Well, it's my feeling that -- don't just trust what you think you're seeing on TV or reading. Do your own research. You're responsible for your own health, and you should take care of it. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Scott Sherman. She'll be followed by Kathy Maines. He will be followed by Kathy Maines. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I was going to say, she's got -- MR. MILLER: I'm sorry. It's like 45 into these. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Mr. Miller, we're going to stop at 12:30, okay. So however we can -- MR. MILLER: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- however many we can squeeze in, and then we'll come back at 1:30. MR. MILLER: Yes, sir. MR. SHERMAN: Thank you, Commissioners. We do appreciate your time and your attention to this matter. We are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, and governments are instituted among men to protect those rights. It's not about whether you believe masks work or whether you believe vaccines work. It is about our freedom. It is our freedom to choose. So we really appreciate you guys having the wisdom to put this on the docket and to vote for it. Thank you very much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kathy Maines. She'll be followed by John Meo. MS. MAINES: Hi. My name is Kathy Maines. I've been a April 11, 2023 Page 106 pharmacist in the community for over 30 years. The last 13 years I was working in a hospital. I'm no longer there for several reasons, which I won't get into, a lot of it having to do with the last three years of the pan -- or plandemic. My training is I received my degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I did a postgraduate training program in Oregon at the Oregon Health Sciences University. I currently hold three licenses in three different states, and I'm a consultant pharmacist. I also have certification for collaborative practice pharmacy agreement. But, you know, I have a lot of experience as a pharmacist in the healthcare profession, working in many different areas, including hospital, retail, home healthcare. What I witnessed in the last three years has just floored as I saw many healthcare professionals turn a blind eye to what was going on. I'm not representing any type of hospital or any type of pharmacy. I'm just going to share my personal experience. But where I was working recently, we as pharmacists were given a 10 percent raise before the vaccine came out. We were all kind of shocked at that. And they were just told that we were doing such a good job at our jobs that they wanted to give us that raise. In over 30 years of practicing as a pharmacist, I've never received more than a 3 percent raise, and a 3 percent raise was great at that, you know, point in time. I don't know what other people do -- you know, get as far as raises but, basically, it's cost of living. With that being said, then the vaccines rolled out. If we all got fully vaccinated, the pharmacist, that is, we received another 10 percent raise. In talking with a lot of the other pharmacists, they went back and forth whether they were going to receive the vaccine or not. And I would say probably 50 percent of them were not going to. From the research they did, from the knowledge that they had, they April 11, 2023 Page 107 said they definitely would not consider getting this vaccine. It hadn't been out long enough. It hadn't gone through enough research. There was a lot of concerns about it affecting the DNA. But, anyways, when that second 10 percent raise came out after -- if they got fully vaccinated, every single one of them got vaccinated except for myself. And it just goes to show how people are being coerced into things with money and finances. I saw it at the hospital. We've already discussed that. And you had mentioned if things were talked about already, not to repeat it. So we already talked about the financial incentives of the hospitals. So we don't need to go into that but, yes, I did witness that. So what I did was the last three years, I spent my own personal time after work, got very little sleep, just helping people stay out of the hospital, stay healthy, get treatments that would work -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: If you could sum up. MS. MAINES: -- fight with the pharmacies. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: If you could sum up, ma'am. MS. MAINES: Pardon? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: If you could sum up. Your time's up. But if you could sum up. MS. MAINES: Sure -- fight with the pharmacies to fill the prescriptions of the ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, whatever would work. They were afraid to fill prescriptions with the azithromycin for some reason. I'm not sure why that is still. I guess it was because of maybe their supervisors telling them they couldn't. But so many people died because of lack of treatment is what I witnessed, and so that has been my goal now is to just help people stay healthy, stay out of the hospital, and get treatments that are effective. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, your next speaker is John Meo. April 11, 2023 Page 108 That should be our -- probably our last speaker before lunch, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And we'll close the comments as soon as -- MR. MILLER: Yeah. I'll stop accepting slips. We'll still have like, like, nine people left. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Go ahead, sir. MR. MEO: So thank you, Commissioners. I'm kind of cleanup for before lunch break. So I don't really have anything prepared to say, but I'm just thinking -- I'm a pretty good thinker off the top of my head. And I'm not going to dispute the experts on this side and the experts on the other side, but there are comments made that are striking. When we're talking about freedom -- everybody has freedom. I have my freedom. My freedom is guaranteed by God and by the U.S. Constitution -- and I hear things that have occurred in the last three years that they're likened to polio vaccine and -- that's kind of ridiculous. I was born in 1949. I've never seen the country shut down businesses, tell people what jobs are critical, what jobs are not critical. If any of you could recall that as a citizen, you let me know. I don't ever remember seeing that. So I come down to this: You gentlemen are the voice for the people of Collier County. You actually have the obligation to ensure my freedoms. As was said by one of the commissioners, if somebody wants a vaccine, go for it. If somebody wants a mask that's useless, go for it. I'm not going to believe every scientist or pseudoscientist that came up here, but I do believe in my right as a U.S. citizen, and that right has been placed on your shoulders. I want my guarantees that I had growing up in this country -- in the greatest country in the world to be guaranteed for the future April 11, 2023 Page 109 generation. So I've got about -- did I run out of time? My clock never started here, so I have no idea how much time I have left. So, again, you're not experts in medical treatment. I'm not an expert, but you know what your heart tells you, and you know what you've seen over the last three years. And what the last three years have been done to this country is atrocious in the guise of protecting people from some created vaccine as one -- created virus, as one speaker mentioned it. So I would implore you to vote for this resolution, vote for this -- that's before you, and provide for the safety and choice that everybody here is talking about that we all have, and I thank you very much, guys. And have a great lunch. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We will I resume at 1:30. (A luncheon recess was had from 12:29 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Mr. Miller? Mr. Miller, please call our next two speakers. MR. MILLER: Our next two speakers are Jose Jaramillo and Tom Henning. Jose Jaramillo. (No response.) MR. MILLER: I don't see him. I'll set his aside. Tom Henning? COMMISSIONER HALL: Tom's not here either. MR. MILLER: Yeah. I saw him before the break. I don't see him now. Domenico Ivan Priano. I know he's here. I just spoke to him. You're next, sir. And he's ceded additional time from Joseph Alger. Joseph, are you here? MR. ALGER: I'm giving my time, right. MR. MILLER: Yes, yes. To this gentleman. April 11, 2023 Page 110 MR. ALGER: Gladly. MR. MILLER: Total of six minutes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There's Henning. MR. MILLER: And there's Mr. Henning. So Mr. Henning will be after this gentleman. Domenico. MR. PRIANO: Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, Board of County Commissioners, thank you so much for the chance to get my voice heard. My name is Lance Corporal Domenico Ivan Priano Cochella, disabled Marine Corps veteran. My voice is the same voice that's speaking for those, both civilian and military alike, who are no longer with us on this earth. This injection, this poison, was one to never to be trusted in the first place. Thousands, if not millions, of American citizens lost their jobs and their financial stability. My heart goes to the -- goes out to the thousands of doctors, pilots, law enforcement officers, and other families and loved ones whose lives have been crippled by this vaccine. I am one of thousands of military service members who was diagnosed with pericarditis only after just a mere three months of receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine. I am only 21 years of age. I'll probably not get to live through my 40s, my 50s, my 60s and so forth. Of my graduating class from the military police officer course in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, more than half of my marines have been hospitalized for heart-related issues and pains. One thing to point out is the -- is that of the -- I'm so sorry. One thing to point out is that the oldest of my marines who graduated in my class was 28-year-old -- 28 years old, and the youngest just being 18-year-olds. I am living proof that the vaccine is killing April 11, 2023 Page 111 Americans. The American people have suffered far too long. The Health Freedom Bill of rights and resolution is only the beginning of the end of the massacre of innocent men, women, and children, for they will be allowed -- for they will be allowed the freedom of choice and not to abolish vaccinations -- I'm so sorry -- not to abolish vaccinations. For any of those opposed, I have and will continue to pray for the day that you all open your eyes. This is kind of an add-on that I was recently told. This is going off of what I had planned to speak out -- speak about. But I have a female marine who is stationed over in Camp Pendleton. Just like myself, she is a 5811 military police officer. She has not -- had not just one, not two, but three strokes three -- a mere three months after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine the same day that I received the same vaccine. It's -- it's hard to explain how much frustration and how heartbreaking it is to live in a world where the very same government that I signed to serve and protect is the same one that's killing millions if not thousands of American citizens -- the ones wearing the service uniforms overseas, the ones wearing the uniforms in California, the ones in North Carolina, South Carolina. This Freedom of Health Bill of Rights and ordinance allows people to choose what goes in and what does not go into their bodies. All I ask of you, Commissioners, is to please consider to pass this -- to pass this Bill of Rights. People need the choice. Too many people have died because of this vaccine. To create a vaccine in under a year -- unfathomable, impossible to be 100 percent certain that this vaccine would not have killed people in the first place. There's no way it would -- it wouldn't have -- it wouldn't have -- there's no way it -- there's just no way. Once again, Commissioners, please consider this Bill of Rights, April 11, 2023 Page 112 please consider this ordinance for the sake of the people, for the sake of the people in Collier County. For those who are not even on this earth with us anymore, please consider the Bill of Rights and the ordinance that we're trying to pass. Thank you so much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Tom Henning. He will be followed on Zoom by Bill Feldman. MR. HENNING: Mr. Chairman, Board members. Well, to be perfectly honest with you and in my humble opinion and, of course, without offending anybody who thinks differently than my point of view, but also looking at this matter at different perspective and without condemning the viewpoints of many others that may try to object and consider each one of the valid opinions, I honestly believe that I forget what I was going to say. Terri, what was -- oh, yeah. As a has-been and a 50-year resident, I want to welcome everybody to the Board of County Commissioners. Let's keep it simple, put the KISS treatment on it. All this is an affirmation or a statement by the leaders of our great community of citizens’ rights. That's all it is. So I was watching this and, Mr. McDaniel, you look really good today. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. I got my pretty tie on. MR. MILLER: I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman. The rest of your speakers are on Zoom. Your next speaker is Bill Feldman. He'll be followed by Brown Collins. Mr. Feldman, you're being prompted to unmute yourself, if you'll do that at this time. Mr. Feldman, I see you're unmuted -- MR. FELDMAN: I'm unmuted. Thank you. MR. MILLER: You have three minutes, sir. MR. FELDMAN: Okay. Thank you. Good afternoon. I am speaking in opposition to the resolution April 11, 2023 Page 113 and related ordinance. Let me be clear that I believe the ordinance serves to prejudge what actions you, the commissioners, take in the event of another pandemic. Let me be further clear that diseases do not care about individual freedoms and bodily sovereignty. The Board of County Commissioners serves as the governing body of the county and has the responsibility of setting policy -- policies that protect the health, safety, welfare and quality of life of our residents and visitors. In my view, you should make policy based on the best available information related to the topic you are considering. To disqualify experts and institutions and offer very little in terms of credible alternatives is a disservice to this body and to our community. It is not tyranny to keep an open mind and consider all reasonable sources and options. I listened to the discussions of the commissioners during the pandemic. While I do not agree with all of their decisions, I believe overall they listened and made judgments based on the best available information. This resolution seeks to limit the options available to this commission based on the conclusions that some errors were made. It is fine to learn from mistakes. It is not fine to legislate away options the next time a healthcare crisis happens. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Brown Collins. He will be followed by -- excuse me, by Kim Finer. Mr. Collins, Brown Collins, you are being -- I think that's a mister. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It is. MR. MILLER: All right. Well -- I'm sorry. There's been a mix-up on the Zoom end. We're going to go with Kim Finer because she's unmuted. Ms. Finer, you have 10 minutes, and you will be followed by April 11, 2023 Page 114 Brown Collins. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Ten or three? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Three. MR. MILLER: Three minutes, excuse me. MS. FINER: Shoot. I wanted those 10. MR. MILLER: No, no. MS. FINER: Good afternoon. My name is Kim Finer, and I reside in Collier County, District 2. I retired as professor of biological sciences at an R1 university after spending 30 years teaching microbiology, virology, immunology, and infectious disease courses to over 3,000 nursing, premedical, medical, and Pharm. D. students. I have authored numerous textbooks on infectious disease, none of which have been banned. Given my training and expertise, I was and am appalled to hear speakers at the current and previous meeting repeating COVID conspiracy theories and disinformation. The most offensive statements push parallels between public health approaches and Nazi atrocities. This is unacceptable. It was also disturbing to hear speakers parroting anti-vax propaganda espoused by the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, a small fringe group whose members think that COVID vaccines magnetize your body and contain microchips. This group should not be confused with the American Medical Association. Not once have I heard any pro ordinance speaker provide legitimate data -- that's not anecdotes. That's not opinions, stories, or urban myths -- from vetted research studies written by virologists, vaccinologists, or immunologists. I could refute every false talking point with scientific evidence generated by well-designed, controlled, unbiased academic research, but I only have three minutes. April 11, 2023 Page 115 In my opinion, the citizen group pushing these documents invalidates their premise by supporting it with pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and disapproved hypotheses concerning ineffective clinical treatments. Mandates and other efforts to control infectious disease are nothing new in the United States. We heard about George Washington, Ben Franklin, Typhoid Mary. We've been putting these controls in place for well over 200 years. In a civilized society, an effective community response to health emergencies requires temporary rules and regulations to limit disease and death. There will be other pandemics; therefore, it is imperative that Collier County remain flexible to address a future outbreak in a timely fashion. We cannot do that if we have an obstacle in place like this redundant ordinance. I'll close by saying that I'm remote because I spent Easter with my 91-year-old mother who is healthy and alive today thanks to vaccine and mask mandates for her as well as the workers in her assisted living facility. In conclusion, this proposed ordinance, as well as the resolution, makes a mockery of legitimate science and evidence-based medicine. There are many pressing issues in Collier County that deserve the commissioners' time and attention. This resolution and the ordinance do not solve any problem currently facing the county. Both should be rejected so that we can move on to more important matters. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Brown Collins. He will be followed by Michelle Kingsbury. Mr. Collins, you're being prompted to unmute your microphone. If you'll do that at this time. There you go, Mr. Collins. You have three minutes, sir. MR. COLLINS: Thank you. It's merciful that I'm not on April 11, 2023 Page 116 camera. It's better for everybody. I know two of the commissioners personally for some time and suspect all sitting there are people of good will and intent. I've got three things I'd like to speak about in my three minutes: God, country, and individual. I taught my children that in the beginning, man created God, so it is a different perspective than many we've heard today, and I respect those with different opinions. From a country standpoint, I've heard much of the first person singular -- I, me -- rights, and I -- it's interesting because I'm a generation that grew up as a baby boomer in the post-World War II period and heard stories and still have things like rationing stamps for sugar, meat, rubber, gas that were issued during World War II, and none of my ancestors or the folks I knew of that generation ever complained about how that trampled on their individual rights for the collective good. And much of what I hear today and for the last few years, from my seat, looks like whining -- the entitled whining. I would suggest, as you process the information you've been given over time and here today, looking at it as a skirmish in a new global conflict. By the time I believe the planes and tanks and that sort of thing engage in the next world war, it will be over. It is a cyber war that's been going on for a long time where adversaries like the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians try to amplify and monetize our natural internal disagreements. And in my opinion much of what we're hearing now is that. I appreciate your time, your good will, and your effort. Thank you for the time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Michelle Kingsbury. She will be followed by the Reverend Dr. Sharon Harris-Ewing. Michelle, you're being prompted to unmute your mic. I see you've done that. You have three minutes. April 11, 2023 Page 117 MS. KINGBURY: Good afternoon, gentlemen. First of all, I'd like to say I fully endorse Kim Finer's points. I agree with her wholeheartedly. And I just want to say that I've had a house here for 25 years. I've also had five shots and have not ever had COVID, and I'm very thankful for that. I believe in science and in vaccines, and they've kept us safe. My husband is immune compromised. Masks and vaccines have kept us safe. When did we stop believing in science? No one has the right to spread their germs that would endanger the entire population. It's never been done before in history, and it should not be allowed to happen here all in the name of freedom. If this crazy law is enacted, we might as -- I'm sure that we, as others, will rethink our investment in Collier County. Not a threat, just reality. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Dr. Reverend -- Reverend Doctor, excuse me, Sharon Harris-Ewing, and she will be followed by Tony Fisher. Dr. Ewing, you've unmuted your microphone. You have three minutes. DR. HARRIS-EWING: Thank you. My name is, as you know, Sharon Harris-Ewing. I am a resident of Naples. In order to preserve my freedom and my health, the purported goal of Agenda Items 9 and 10A, I strongly encourage you to vote no. It's impossible to list all that is wrong with both the long list of justification for these items and the proposed solutions in three minutes. So here are just a few highlights. One, the justifications are replete with assertions of fact with absolutely no evidence. Two, they include mistakes of fact. For example, it is true that April 11, 2023 Page 118 getting vaccinated gave people protection against infection and transmission. Not 100 percent, but significantly enough to seriously reduce severe illness and hospitalization. If HCQ and IVM were denied to doctors, it was because research showed they did not prevent COVID infection, but they did risk causing harm. Research and accumulated scientific knowledge from before COVID until now have been ignored or twisted beyond recognition. These proposals reject scientific evidence. Three, the very nature of these proposals is problematic, even embarrassing. Real laws that criminalize certain conduct are determined by the legislature, the governor, and the courts, not by the county, and includes specific information about penalties incurred if broken. No information is provided here about enforcement, penalties, or the cost to taxpayers if these purported solutions were enacted into law. To the extent that they mirror state statutes, they are unnecessary and a waste of time and resources. Fourth and most important, the proposals before you are based upon values that may be held by some commissioners and some citizens, but they run counter to my values and the values of many others -- values I believe are fundamental to our democracy. Instead of worshiping individuals' rights to do whatever they want regardless of their impact on others, I believe in the public good, in government decision-making that protects all of us. Many of the decisions made by these proposals or the suggestions made -- excuse me. Many of the decisions made that these proposals find so objectionable were decisions made to protect public health. I want decisions to be made based on science and made to protect our public health. Please vote no. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your final speaker for this item April 11, 2023 Page 119 is Reverend Tony Fisher. Reverend Fisher, you're being prompted to unmute yourself. If you will do that at this time. You had. If you'll try again, sir. There you go. You're unmuted. You have three minutes, Reverend Fisher. REVEREND FISHER: Good afternoon, everyone. My name's Reverend Tony Fisher. I serve the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples. I seriously question the motivation and need for this resolution and its ordinance. While I understand that the beliefs of those who have spoken on behalf of the resolution are strongly held, I believe fervently that they represent a very particular point of view and are not held by the general public. My faith tradition teaches us that the truth comes to us from many sources. We believe in justice, equity, and compassion in our relations with one another. And one thing I haven't heard until very recently is that we act for each other, for the common good, especially in times of crisis. What I've heard from folks who want to uphold their own private wants and needs in the name of freedom are not speaking for the common good. And, again, my faith tradition also teaches us that truth comes to us from many sources, including the teaching of science and the use of reason. This resolution assumes that good and qualified people on the state and federal levels are not looking back themselves and assessing what happened during the pandemic so that they can learn from their experience and they can adjust their responses to what was an unprecedented deadly pandemic that hit quickly and spread rapidly. No one promised perfection. Again, in time of crisis, we act in the best way we can for the common good. This resolution also sets up the Collier County Commissioners April 11, 2023 Page 120 as experts in areas of medical complexity, and it would allow for one commissioner, one only who does not go along with the majority, to potentially have a significant negative impact on the health of the citizens of Collier County. Please listen to local medical organizations who spoke out against this resolution. I haven't heard anything today that would lead me to believe that this resolution would provide any -- any kind of protection for my health and well-being or for the members of my congregation. Science is a process, a method of discovering the truth by people who spend a lot of time learning in their own areas of expertise and understanding the process. We need to listen to their acquired wisdom, respond with reason and not set up the Collier County Commissioners, as wise as they may be, as arbiters of our healthcare choices in times of a national crisis. I would argue for the use of reason and strongly against the adoption of this resolution and ordinance. Thank you so much. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, that was our final speaker on this item. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Thanks very much, Mr. Miller. Okay. I guess we'll open it up for some discussion here. Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER HALL: So thanks for everybody who spoke. We listened to every one of you, 53 of you, and some of the comments, I want to address them. We've heard a lot about facts. We've heard a lot about science. We've heard a lot about data. We've heard a lot about research. And this ordinance and this resolution doesn't have anything to do with that. It doesn't have to do with we believe that or we don't believe that. It has to do with April 11, 2023 Page 121 individuals having the right to choose whether they do or whether they don't and not having anything shoved down their throat. We've heard about a small fringe group or a radical few or special interest or people that don't live here. You know, this ordinance and this resolution doesn't have anything to do with that. When I ran for this job, I ran with this as my number one priority, no mandates, smaller government, less government control. Call it partisan. Call it whatever you want. That's why I ran. I was elected by 70.1 percent of the people in District 2. That's 27,501 votes. I'd never done anything like this before. But they believed in the message that I wanted to bring forth. So that's not a trivial few people. That's not a small fringe. I am representing the people of my district. So I wanted to say that and make that public record. I'm not listening to just a small fringe or a radical group. It has nothing to do with what we believe, what we don't believe. We want the choice. And here's what I really think, and here's -- as I'm listening, this is what I'm thinking. It doesn't limit anyone's ability for the healthcare of their choice, period. It does limit other people's control over other people who don't want to make the same choice they do. And I understand losing that control can be uncomfortable, but that's what it is is losing control. It's not losing any freedom. Nothing is being taken away from anybody. It's only being added to those who didn't get to it. And with that, I'm going to make a motion to pass this ordinance. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel, we're going to still have some discussion before we vote. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: This is -- this is about freedom. This is about control. I'm reading this ordinance. April 11, 2023 Page 122 Section 5 has -- and I'm looking at you, Commissioner Hall; I'm looking at the rest of my colleagues. It puts restrictions on business owners. If you're a Collier County business, you can't require certain aspects to have someone prove whether or not they can or cannot come into your business, and I have concerns about that. And for those of you who were here and have been watching, I've stayed -- I've stayed right in the middle. I've advocated for that personal choice. I've never once voted for a mandate. I've never once voted for a government restriction that wasn't put upon us by the federal or by the state. Reading Section 5 of the actual ordinance, section -- Section 5A does that. Section 5B says that Collier County will not do that with regard to COVID-19. Section 6A and B both put restrictions on employers of businesses. And we have a duty to protect the private business operators within our community. And I feel we need to make some adjustments to those sections so that a private business owner has that right to make a determination as to whether or not -- because -- as to whether or not that private business owner wants to allow me into their facility. Then that puts the responsibility of choice on me as to whether or not -- if Commissioner LoCastro runs a business and he says I have to have a vaccine passport in order to enter into his business, that's his choice. Then it becomes my choice as to whether or not I want to get vaccinated and have that passport and whether or not I want to continue to patronize his business. That's my choice. But by putting restrictions on business owners, we're putting -- we're imposing government will on a private business. Further down, in Section 7, 8, 9, the requisite of the unanimous vote for a mandate takes away -- I think it takes away the right of a board by majority vote. I would -- I would request that we give consideration to moving that to a supermajority vote simply April 11, 2023 Page 123 because -- there again, I was -- I was on the not happy side of the mandates that got put in back in '20, '21, something like that, because of a majority vote of this board to enact the mask mandate. I think a supermajority vote provides for sufficient protection but doesn't allow for one person to be picking and choosing whether or not a particular directive or mandate should go forward. And then -- are we voting on the ordinance first or the resolution, or do you want me to talk about them both? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Well, I mean, we'll take them -- we're going to take them collectively, but we're going to vote separately. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Well, my comment on the resolution is No. 7 of the resolution, and I -- I actually had this in my notes from when I read the resolution over the weekend, and it has to do with the mental health care aspect, 72 hours of -- COMMISSIONER KOWAL: That was removed. COMMISSIONER HALL: It was removed. It should have been removed. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Well, there again, these things are happening on the fly. I get to read what's put in front of me. So if that -- if that was taken out, then I -- you know, there again, the resolution is -- actually -- so it did get removed? MR. KLATZKOW: It did not get removed. It can be, though. COMMISSIONER HALL: It should be. We didn't intend it to be on there. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Number 7, it says a right to mental health review. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: It's not on my copy, and I just printed this off this morning. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So if it's removed off of that, then, you know, I can live with the rest of the things that are April 11, 2023 Page 124 in the resolution. But I do have concerns with regard to the unanimous vote of this board and -- on any mandates and also the restrictions on employers. COMMISSIONER HALL: I could concur with unanimous vote -- or not unanimous, but super vote. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Supermajority vote. That's my comments. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Pardon me. And I apologize in advance if I start to cough. I've gotten over a little bit of a cold, so every now and then I -- I remember saying this back when Bill McDaniel and I got elected back in 2016. I had indicated that I think part of my job is to help my colleagues be successful in their efforts, things that they want to accomplish in their district, and I still believe that to be the case even though there may some disagreement on this particular -- these two particular items. And I want to also say I respect -- greatly respect Commissioner Hall and his enthusiasm for this, because I know this is coming from his heart, and I know that this is something that he truly feels is necessary. But I don't know that I'm going to be able to agree with either of these, and I hope Commissioner Hall understands that we do have differences of opinion, and it's certainly never anything personal. We have a motion on the floor to deal with the ordinance, and so I want to deal with that. I agree with Commissioner McDaniel that the unanimous vote needs to be changed. I believe Commissioner Hall has indicated that there's no objection to making that change; did I understand that? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Supermajority. COMMISSIONER HALL: Supermajority. April 11, 2023 Page 125 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Supermajority vote, which I think does improve things, but there are some other parts of this that I have concern about, and it goes into the resolution as well. So I'm just going to kind of focus on the ordinance for a minute and then, Mr. Chairman, I'm not sure if it would be appropriate to talk about the resolution. We have a criminal statute, a bill or an ordinance, that I don't think is particularly clear as to what is legal and what is not legal, what the penalties are, and I think that that creates a problem for any kind of an ordinance that has a -- has criminal penalties. Someone has to be very clear about whether or not they violated an ordinance for it to be enforceable, and I don't think that that's clear in here. Section 10, we don't recognize the authority of the World Health Organization. Well, the World Health Organization has no authority in Collier County, in Florida, or in the country. And so I don't know that that is a meaningful provision. I don't know what it means. I don't know what the impact of it is. There's, I think, a belief that all this does is incorporate state law into an ordinance. Well, state law is already part of our ordinances. And I know some individuals want to use this ordinance as a teaching tool. I think there was one statement from Mr. -- from Scott Kiley, I believe, about using this and being able to educate the public on the details of what really is embodied in the state law. Well, you don't need an ordinance of Collier County adopting state law to be able to educate people on what the state law says. And so I don't really know what this ordinance accomplishes. And I agree with Commissioner LoCastro that when we do adopt ordinances, we need to know what the impact of those are and what they really mean. And I'm not so sure that this does that. So there are going to be some changes, and I'll consider that as we get to vote on the ordinance. April 11, 2023 Page 126 On the resolution, I have -- I don't think there's any way I can get to a point of supporting the resolution, and part of the reason of that is, again, I don't know what the impact of this is. I don't know what the impact on county government will be. I do not want to be provocative here, but there were statements that our job is to protect our citizens' constitutional rights. Now, I agree that our job is to make sure we don't violate our citizens' constitutional rights. But if a citizen is out there and some state agency, some federal agency, or some individuals are violating their constitutional rights, we don't have the mechanism to protect those -- those citizens from a violation of their general constitutional rights. If you look at the Constitution, there are a lot of constitutional rights out there that I don't think we can get involved in. I'll give you just a couple silly examples. The right to due process. If someone is denied due process by a state agency or by the sheriff's department, we're not the body that can protect those constitutional rights. We have no authority to do that. We have no resources to do that. And so this resolution, I think, creates expectations that are just not accurate. And so there are a lot of little other pieces of this that I just find that I can't get my arms around. What are the unintended consequences of this resolution? I really don't understand. And so I'm compelled not to vote in favor of an ordinance or resolution if I don't really fully understand what it does. And I don't fully understand what these items do. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman. I kind of agree with Commissioner McDaniel under Section 5 and Section 6. I think when we start talking about freedom and freedom of choice, we have to watch we don't cross over a fine line April 11, 2023 Page 127 of violating people that, you know, put their hard work and their life's money on the line to have a business. And if they feel that it's their right to have certain provisions or certain things to operate that business, that doesn't mean you have to go to that business or service that business or use that business, because that's your choice; that's your right. And if -- people that do choose to go there have the free will to go there and accept whatever provisions they want to impose to use their product or use their business; they have that right. But the market will determine if they're right or wrong with their own decisions, because that depends on what you do and your choice. If -- you either frequent there or you don't. That's your choice. But I don't think us as a governing body have that right to tell any private business to -- what -- or what they can't do with their business. That's not our job. Other than that, I also agree with the supermajority on those other three sections. And that being the ordinance, I'm all right with the rest of it, because I think it does just mirror the state law. And by that, we're just guaranteeing that the -- we stand with our counterparts in Tallahassee who passed these laws, and we believe in what they believe in, and we don't have a problem with mirroring that same law. And on the grounds of the resolution -- I've been struggling with this resolution because I feel that -- like, as a governing body, our job is to protect the rights of the people that we affect with our judgment and our rules. And like Commissioner Saunders said, if another body or government body violates those rights, your beef is with them and not with us, and I don't know how we can keep another governing body from violating your rights even with the resolution. And I think the resolution is more something just saying that we are -- we're April 11, 2023 Page 128 committed to preserving your rights and your choice. We heard a lot of people on both sides talk, you know, science. Either you believe the science; you don't believe the science. Some people have good points on both sides. This is not about science. This all comes down about you and choice. That's what it all comes down to. It doesn't matter who's right or wrong in the science. It comes down to your choice. And I think in a resolution, I just want to make sure that you as citizens of Collier County, that I, myself, respect those rights and that choice, and I'll always make a decision with my authority. When it comes down to anything that may affect your right or your choice, I would hope I make the right constitutional decision on behalf of your choice and your rights. So that's all I've got to say. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER HALL: I'll withdraw the motion and make a new motion to pass the ordinance with the exception of Section 5. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, Section 5A is the main one that I have an issue with, and then Section 6A and B are specific with regard to impositions on private employers, business owners, and then whether or not -- and the penalties for the same. So those were the three primary paragraphs that I had. Again, it's -- you know, it's a simple little "no shoes, no shirt, no service." And if I don't want to wear a shirt and can't come into Commissioner LoCastro's business and he requires it, then I don't go into the business. COMMISSIONER HALL: It's a little different, though, of putting a shirt on or wearing shoes than having to have something in your body that you vehemently object to. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't disagree, but April 11, 2023 Page 129 it's -- and, again, this is just you and I talking in front of a whole bunch of people and a TV and such. But if an employer chooses to -- because there is a large portion of the population that think the vaccine's all that and a bowl of cherries, and if it's that employer's -- I feel that employer has as much of a right to that opinion as someone who doesn't. And so the imposition of not allowing an employer to mandate a vaccination and/or stipulate penalties if they do is an imposition on the private sector coming from this government. COMMISSIONER HALL: I just disagree that an employer has the right to tell somebody that they have to do something or they lose their job, they lose their tenure, they lose all of the benefits that they've gained for it, they lose all of the -- they lose all of that based on one man, his private -- the boss, his opinion. And I just want to protect every employer [sic] in Collier County from that ever happening again. I can agree and I can concede to a business having the right to allow you to come in or not, but to fire an employer or mandate an employee, I just take -- I take issue with that strongly. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understand. My counter to that is that's government imposition on an employer who has that right to make that choice. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I was going to chime in. Commissioner Saunders, I was going to let you go. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Go ahead. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Maybe what I'm going to say is going to just take us -- have us take a little bit of a pause. So one of the questions that several people asked up here is why are we so stupid that we're hearing this? Why did we even let it come to this panel? So let me just give you a little bit of background. As elected April 11, 2023 Page 130 officials, we don't have the authority to censor or silence citizens. Yes, if one citizen brings us something that's, you know, outrageous, we don't just throw it on the agenda because one person said it. But as Commissioner Hall said, it's more than one person, you know. I mean, every single person in here that's either for or against this isn't in this room right now. Every person for or against this didn't send us an email, but it's a significant group for and against. I'll also remind everybody, when one commissioner champions or supports or sponsors something on the agenda, we respectfully request -- you know, we respect that whether we agree with it or not. So some people that are sitting here saying, you know, why aren't you talking for five hours about affordable housing? Well, trust me, when we all vote on this, if we do now, and 99 percent of you exit, we're going to be in here till it gets dark because we're going to be talking about the fire department and we're going to be talking about beach restoration. And so we have the ability to walk and chew gum at the same time. We didn't throw this on top of the list because three people banged a big drum. I know we heard a lot, 53 speakers, right? Is that what I counted, too? We're not here to debate the vaccine. Okay. We're not here to determine good versus evil. We're not here to debate Dr. Fauci's resumé, okay. We're not here to talk about if the last presidential election you agreed with it or not. It has nothing to do with this. We're not here to dispute the effects or the effectiveness of the vaccine, not at all. It doesn't matter if you live here or not. I got a bunch of emails from some people that said, every single person that comes to the podium -- if you sponsor something as a commissioner or you bring something as a citizen and you want to bring in subject-matter experts who you feel are subject -- you have that right. We don't check your ID at the door. You can have people that can April 11, 2023 Page 131 come here and speak on things. Our sheriff can bring the sheriff of Lee County here to talk about what the sheriff is doing in Lee County. So, you know, those of our citizens that sent us notes saying, you know, we were mistaken doing that and we're stupid to be hearing this, you know, I wanted to sort of correct the record. I'm for choice, okay. I believe in science. I believe in doctors. I believe in nurses. I was the COO of Physicians Regional Medical Center, and I spent a lot of time in the ICU with a CEO of NCH walking around seeing people that were suffering from the effects of COVID. That's not what we're talking about here today. We're talking about what's in the resolution, what's in the ordinance, and the rights that it protects to give somebody choice. I want to make sure we don't have a rush to judgment on anything we ever vote on in here, but I also don't want to kick the can for six months like at times has done in local and state and national government when, you know, you can't make a decision, so no decision's made. I mean, you know, I put on my old military hat. You either lead, follow, or get out of the way. What I would remind this group here is we can do several things right now. Number one, we can vote on the ordinance separately and the resolution separately as-is; on the fly, we could make some changes putting in supermajority vote, crossing out No. 5, adding No. 5B, crossing out 4A; or the sponsor of this ordinance and resolution, which is Commissioner Hall, which is his right -- he has already pulled his motion because he wants to -- he at least started to make some edits, which is his right, and we all respect that. But if you feel that you're hearing some things here -- this is a decision you have to make as the sponsor of this. If you're hearing things much like the last time we were here -- I will say in closing, and then there's some -- and I'll say some things April 11, 2023 Page 132 later, but I wanted to just set the table. There have been some major changes to the ordinance and the resolution that made me feel much better about it. But one of the other things that -- I'll just say this in conclusion -- that was said to me a few days back, you know, when we met with you, Commissioner, you seemed like, you know, you were all for it, and then we hear new things in here. Okay, but that's what happens in this room. So we formulate a bit of a background opinion and questions, but when I hear from my colleagues, you know, you've got to -- we've got a commissioner here that spent, you know, what 85 years in Tallahassee? Yeah. He looks good for his age. But the discussion here and, especially there, makes all the difference in the world. So never think because you sent us an email or you talked to us for five minutes in our office -- this is where the rubber meets the road. This is, like I said, the final case. And there's valuable things being talked about here. So I don't think I have to -- you know, certainly don't have to remind my colleague, you know, Commissioner Hall, who's already spoken so eloquently, that you've got several options, or we do as well. You know, we can make motions. But I just wanted to clarify why we're talking about this today and all the reasons we are. And although a lot of people spoke very passionately and eloquent at the podium, a lot of what was said there really had less to do about the resolution and the ordinance and more to do with sort of background and everything, and that's fine. That's what citizen comment is all about. But in the end, we're going to vote on a resolution and an ordinance that has very specific guidance. And it's not about Dr. Fauci's resumé or good versus evil or debating if the vaccine works or not. It's really about choice and about giving more choice. April 11, 2023 Page 133 And to Commissioner McDaniel's point about businesses, the possibility of limiting some choices that -- if you really read it, do we really want to do that? I think definitely what you said, and echoed by Commissioner Kowal as well, has significant merit, because I feel strongly, you know, the way you do in that case. So I'll go to Commissioner Chris Hall and then, Commissioner McDaniel, you're on deck, sir. COMMISSIONER HALL: Dr. Yiachos, did you want to mention something about being mandated? DR. YIACHOS: Just a quick point. My memory -- and I'm a resident of Collier County, a proud one, in fact. And previously I was a resident of New York City. I was in the thick of it. And all of my friends in the restaurant business who had businesses, they never once made their decision about whether to serve somebody whether they were vaccinated or not. It was mandated by the state. And I want it to be clear that you have an opportunity where you leave that choice with that business owner, because once a state mandates things, that business owner does not have the gumption, the fortitude to fight state government unless Collier County is backing them, and I think you should consider that. Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Mc -- or go ahead, Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER HALL: So just to reiterate the motion, I want to make the motion to pass the ordinance with changing the unanimous language to super vote. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Supermajority. COMMISSIONER HALL: Supermajority and then doing away with No. 5. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I don't know who feels like they want to speak first. I've got Commissioner McDaniel and Commissioner Saunders lit up. Commissioner McDaniel, do you April 11, 2023 Page 134 want to -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- and here again, I'm repeating what I already said. This is about choice. And as Commissioner LoCastro -- as Commissioner Saunders says whenever he's leaning in to agree with me, I'm concerned about agreeing with Commissioner LoCastro. But government imposition of choice on a business owner to mandate anything that goes on with their business is government overreach, in my opinion. There are -- there are people in this room who believe that vaccine can walk right out across the retention pond. I don't, personally, but I also defend the person's choice who does. I feel it necessary that I do defend that choice, agree with it or don't agree with it. But 6A and B put impositions on a portion of our private sector that I don't feel is the government's right to impose at all. COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. I understand. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I just wanted to ask -- make one -- one question for Commissioner Hall and then one question for the County Attorney. The last whereas, and there's been -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Which -- are you on the ordinance or on the -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: On the ordinance. I'm sorry, on the ordinance. On the last whereas, there's been a lot of discussion about what we're really doing is really just adopting state law. And there's a phrase in here that gives me a little bit of concern. It says, the Board wishes to address the concerns of Collier County residents and adopt the foregoing state statutes into local law as well as expand upon them. April 11, 2023 Page 135 I'm not sure what that expansion would be. I would ask the County Attorney, with the changes that Commissioner Hall has made in terms of eliminating Paragraph 5, I believe -- or I'm sorry -- Section 4 -- no, I'm sorry, Section 5 -- and changing to a supermajority vote, is there anything in this ordinance that is -- that is inconsistent or not already part of state law? MR. KLATZKOW: No. COMMISSIONER HALL: Is No. 5 still state law? MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, No. 5, I think your motion excludes -- COMMISSIONER HALL: No, I'm going to change my motion now to include Section 5 if it's already state law. So my motion will be to pass the ordinance with changing the unanimous Board decisions to supermajority. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And keeping Section 5? COMMISSIONER HALL: And keeping Section 5. It's already state law. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Now, I don't know what this would do -- it says a business entity within Collier County as defined in Section 768.38. Mr. Klatzkow, what's included in 768.38? MR. KLATZKOW: I'm sorry, Commissioner. What paragraph are you on? COMMISSIONER HALL: Section 5. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Section 5 and Florida Statute Section 768.38. MR. KLATZKOW: That's simply the business entity definition. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. Can we -- we had a letter from the medical society. They wanted to include some April 11, 2023 Page 136 language. It says, additionally, please review and consider the exemptions for healthcare providers listed in Florida Statutes -- Statute 381.00316 as this ordinance is intended to mirror state law. So I hate to put you on the spot again, but what does that section provide and -- MR. KLATZKOW: Commissioner, I can cut and paste all sorts of state law into this, I mean, but it's not going to change -- change anything. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. MR. KLATZKOW: The sections that I did put in here I thought was the sections Chris -- Commissioner Hall and I spoke about what was important to Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, I'm just suggesting that there are two changes that the medical society had recommended. One was the unanimous vote, and the other is the inclusion of the exemptions for healthcare providers in Section 381.00316. MR. KLATZKOW: I can put that in, sir, if that's the will of the Board. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That would be up to Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER HALL: It's already in there, isn't it, in the second to last whereas? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second to last whereas. COMMISSIONER HALL: Isn't that Section 381.026? Is that what you were saying? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes, 381.00316. MR. KLATZKOW: The reason I did not put that in there is it goes on for many, many, many pages, that particular section. The Florida -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Just incorporate it by April 11, 2023 Page 137 reference. MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, we can do that if you'd like. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That would be a question for Commissioner Hall as to whether -- COMMISSIONER HALL: It's state law. I'm fine with sticking it in there as reference for the exemption. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: One of the things I wanted to just add as the Chair, for clarity, we're going to -- you know, we're going back and forth talking about the ordinance and the resolution. Let me just offer that we stick to the resolution right now since we're kind of like taking a deep dive into it, and -- COMMISSIONER HALL: You mean the ordinance? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'm sorry, the ordinance, yeah. Because we're starting to sort of, you know, pick it apart a bit and ask questions and whatnot. So let's table the resolution so we can concisely talk about this. So what I'm hearing you say, Commissioner Saunders, based on also Mr. Klatzkow, is the second-to-last whereas where it talks about Section 381.026, as you said, Mr. Klatzkow, you don't have to cut and paste the whole thing, but you can put in parentheses or something, reference and then, you know, put that nomenclature. MR. KLATZKOW: I'll add an additional section which simply incorporates it by reference. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I mean, so what I've heard so far is -- and I'm not saying we're marching towards any particular vote possibly yet, or maybe we are on the ordinance -- but changing the unanimous vote to supermajority, so that would change in three places. Section 5 was in, it was out, it was in, it was out. So now it's in, correct? COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Because the County Attorney is April 11, 2023 Page 138 saying that's already part of state law. MR. KLATZKOW: I would note, though, Section 11 does incorporate the Florida Patient's Bill of Rights. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'm sorry, sir? MR. KLATZKOW: Section 11 does incorporate the Florida Patient's Bill of Rights. COMMISSIONER HALL: I think you wanted the reference to the exemptions that the medical society wanted. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right. COMMISSIONER HALL: And that's a different -- that's 381 something, something. Commissioner Saunders knows the number. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah, it's -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It's the same section. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. It's 381.00316. I don't know what -- exactly what that provides other than exemptions for different healthcare providers, so... MR. KLATZKOW: So you want the exemptions -- the state exemptions to be incorporated? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah, I think -- I think you could simply indicate that the provisions of Florida Statute Section 381.00316 are hereby incorporated by reference. MR. KLATZKOW: Okay, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And as amended from time to time. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And that's what our Collier County Medical Society -- that was their point at the podium, correct? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Correct. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I wrote that down. COMMISSIONER HALL: Do I need to amend the motion to include that? MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. April 11, 2023 Page 139 COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. So I make the motion to pass the ordinance with the super-vote language and incorporating the reference to -- I think it's 381.00316 or 386 ? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: It's 381.00316. COMMISSIONER HALL: .00316. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And another question for the County Attorney just for clarification. On the penalties section, all we can do is, it's a misdemeanor, six months, I think -- MR. KLATZKOW: We can't do anything more than the state already does. But to the extent you enforce this by Code Enforcement -- and I don't know how you do that by the way -- it would be the same as any other Code Enforcement. If you're going to take something like this to the Code Enforcement Board, they would have the full ability -- ability under the Florida Statutes for Code Enforcement penalties. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So someone reading this will know what is legal and what is not legal? And so that penalty -- MR. KLATZKOW: Commissioner, that language is in the majority of our ordinances, because the fact of the matter is they change that provision every now and then, so it's always good. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I mean, really, that Section 12 is just a restating of Florida law. It says, to the extent not inconsistent with Florida law, violations of this ordinance shall be punishable as provided by law for the violation of county ordinances. I mean, so it's just -- right? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I mean, there's nothing -- it's not adding or subtracting anything. It's just sort of summarizing what already exists. I mean, I felt the same way on the World Health Organization. I agree with what folks are saying. We don't necessarily take April 11, 2023 Page 140 direction from W.H.O. and -- but what's in here is indicative of Section 12, which it's -- it just -- it's sort of just a summary. To me it doesn't take away or add anything. It just reconfirms, I guess, to me, unless somebody feels it's too strong or too weak. But I'm not looking to pick apart every single word in here. We did bring that Section 10 up, and that section didn't bother me because it just seemed like it was just summarizing what's already fact. COMMISSIONER HALL: That's correct. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So while you're all poring over this, just to summarize, the second to the last whereas, we've talked about adding more reference in there from the Florida Statute, taking out three unanimous votes, and putting in a supermajority vote, leaving in Section 5. And did I miss anything else? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, I had raised a question about the last whereas, the phrase that incorporates state law, and then it says, "as well as expand upon them." CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Correct. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I thought that would be more clear if that phrase was taken out, because we're not expanding upon state law. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So end it with the word, just, "local law," period? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's what I would recommend, I don't know if that is acceptable to Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER HALL: I can concur, yeah. I'm looking for a second and a vote. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, I'll second your motion with those changes, and I appreciate your willingness to make changes. I may not be able to get to where you need to be on the April 11, 2023 Page 141 resolution, but I can stick with you on the ordinance. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's fine. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'm going to support it as well. Like I say, I'm going to just reecho so that -- and I'm sure we'll all be misquoted after this meeting, as we often are -- I'm not here to debate the vaccine. I'm not here to determine good or evil. I'm not here to give a report card on our past president or current president. I'm not here to hire Dr. Fauci to be my personal physician. I believe in science. I believe in the nurses who felt they were doing the right thing when they were following whatever medical hospital guidance they got, and I support and respect those who walked away and struggled with some decisions. I'm not a scientist. I'm not a doctor. I don't feel like we're having a rush to judgment, and I feel like it's every citizen's right to come into these chambers and present something to us that they think and that is supported and sponsored by a commissioner for us to hear, whether there's people on all sides of the aisle. And so I think, when it comes to this ordinance, I like the changes that have been made. I think a lot of it is more of just a summary. And I've said before, you know, I'm not a huge fan of just passing things that are more celebratory or just feel-good kind of things. I don't believe that that's the case here. I think people on both sides made good arguments, and I think this ordinance does reconfirm, it stresses, and I also -- and I've used this in private meetings. It's a preventative. It puts some things on here that should something come down from up above, we have some verbiage in place that we feel is appropriate that gives us some latitude to make some considerations or not, and I don't think that's a bad thing. So I'm of the mind of Commissioner Hall and Commissioner Saunders with the major changes we've made. Commissioner McDaniel. April 11, 2023 Page 142 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I just wanted to reiterate that Sections 5 and 6 are already a part of the Florida Statutes, and the Governor signed -- the Governor signed the legislation back in '21 prohibiting employers from mandating vaccines. So I'll support the ordinance with the supermajority change. COMMISSIONER HALL: As amended. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So as amended, we have a motion. We have a second. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: The ordinance passes unanimously with the changes as directed. Item #10A RESOLUTION 2023- 69: A HEALTH FREEDOM RESOLUTION. (COMPANION TO ITEM 9A) (SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER HALL) MOTION TO APPROVE WITH CHANGES THAT INCLUDED CONFIRMATION OF REMOVAL OF 7, 1ST WHEREAS ADD “SOME”, 2ND WHEREAS ADD “POSSIBLY” AND CHANGES IN RED BY COMMISSIONER HALL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL- ADOPTED (COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS OPPOSED) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let's go to the resolution. I'm going to have you open it again, Commissioner Hall, if you April 11, 2023 Page 143 would, sir, with your thoughts. COMMISSIONER HALL: Sure. There again, the resolution, based on our experience and based on what happened, we don't want these things -- we just want to -- I want to be resolved that in case we're ever faced with this again, we're going to protect and secure individual liberty. There again, it's the same argument. We're not debating the facts; we're not debating science. I believe in science, but I want to pick and choose the science that has been proven to me to be effective. I'm just not going to take it. And I want to give every person the right not to just take anything from CNN or Fox News as fact. You know, the polio vaccine, the smallpox vaccine, those were proven -- those were vaccines. This was called a vaccine, but it was highly experimental, and it didn't prevent anything and it didn't -- you know, you were still able to contract it, and you were still able to give it. So it didn't do anything to eradicate it. So this -- this resolution is in case certain of these whereases happen, I will be resolved to protect the individual liberties of the people, and that's really what we're saying. We're just resolved. It's not a binding thing. It's not an ordinance. It's not anything that we can -- that we can enforce. It's just that this is where we're resolved with the people of Collier County. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. It's -- you already -- you shared that No. 7 had been eliminated. Was there any other changes from what was originally advertised before -- COMMISSIONER HALL: I was looking to see -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- as of last Wednesday? COMMISSIONER HALL: I was looking to see -- there was -- we had -- at one point in time Mr. Kiley and I were working April 11, 2023 Page 144 on a statement. You know, the World Health Organization's been mentioned, and they are advisory right now. So I think the language that we were looking for was if the World Health Organization or any other third-party three-letter figure was to make any decisions or mandate anything on us that violated our constitutional rights, we weren't going to recognize that. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: That's in there. COMMISSIONER HALL: That is in there? Okay. No. 7 should not be in there. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It's not. COMMISSIONER HALL: We nixed it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: As far as you know, that's the only major change that was done? COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Well, and you -- I think we might have the one major change that was in there, but it's in the newest version that was for us. It's -- let's see. It's the fifth whereas where it talks about the FDA. Commissioner Hall, you had made an edit that we all did get, which -- when it talked about animal testing and it added that sort of last sentence, but -- COMMISSIONER HALL: Mr. Klatzkow, we do have one little added thing on the FDA statement. Can you put that up, Troy? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It's on the latest one, but is using new means, correct, Commissioner Hall? COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Using means of computer modeling? COMMISSIONER HALL: Using computer models, yeah. It wasn't on mine; that's why I wanted to make sure. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Am I the only one here with the April 11, 2023 Page 145 latest one? Am I sponsoring this? I'm just kidding. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Apparently. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I got it, Chairman. I've got your back. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal, what do you think? It's just you and I. While they're pulling this one up, I want to just mention a couple things in the resolution. I don't want to -- I mean, I don't want to sort of -- Commissioner Hall, do I -- do you want me to wait? I sort of had some things I wanted to address. COMMISSIONER HALL: Sure. No, go ahead. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So on the resolution, I made a lot of copious notes. So there again, you know, a lot of people had accused that we were, you know, doing certain things up here that were not -- or giving people choice. But if you look at -- on the back, the nine latest details, it basically is -- in summary, it says, the right to no mandates, the right to no discrimination, the right to informed consent without interference, right of personalized care, right to exclude a third party -- third-party interference, right to not be refused care, right to free movement, right to medical -- to having a medical advocate, the right to forego unlawful quarantines. So I've got check marks next to all those. COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Love all those; agree with them. As you said, sir, under the World Health Organization, you added "if," which I thought made the statement more eloquent. The only thing that sort of jumps out at me is similar to the last meeting that we had, the first two whereas. The same way you added the "if" on the World Health Organization so we weren't so, sort of, accusatory across the board, so black and white -- let me just read this to you. And in the end, it's my signature that goes on this April 11, 2023 Page 146 as the Chair. I mean, I'm representing all of us, so I realize that it's not just me saying "approved." But, you know, I value my signature. But let me just read this to you and see if Commissioner Hall, since -- you know, I appreciate all the work you've put into this to edit and author this to get it to where, you know, we could talk about it in the best way. But the first one says, whereas our federal and state health agencies have not demonstrated transparency and consistency in protecting the citizens of Collier County. I get that, I don't -- but it just seems a little too definitive for me. And I don't want to split hairs on this because I think the greater good on this -- like I said, I don't -- when I vote for something, I have to agree with everything, and I don't -- I don't hate that, but I just think it seems so definitive. They did demonstrate transparency in some cases, and then there was some that they didn't. But saying they just didn't, period, is something that I'm struggling with a little bit, especially when it's the opening paragraphs. And then the second one, whereas constitutional rights of Collier County citizens were violated through discrimination based on vaccine status. It just seems very definitive. Some rights were violated, and you can make an argument that some weren't. And the only reason why those two stick out at me is -- what I expect is all the whereases below were edited a bit to make more -- like, I'll read the third one. Whereas many doctors of Collier County were not allowed to speak freely. I believe that's a true statement, but some doctors did speak freely. So it's not so definitive. And the first two I just think maybe didn't get looked at to be edited as much. I don't know if my colleagues think it really matters. But then as you get further down, you can tell. And I don't April 11, 2023 Page 147 want to say softer verbiage, but just better clarified; whereas if global organizations -- and then some of the other changes that were made further down, that shows that there was more than the possibility, but it wasn't so extreme. It wasn't so definitive. It wasn't 100 percent. The first two seem like they maybe didn't get any look, and maybe they don't need to. I mean, this is something that, you know, you're sponsoring. But everything else, I actually don't have a problem with. COMMISSIONER HALL: What about, "whereas some federal agencies and state health agencies"? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Where is that? COMMISSIONER HALL: The first one. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: First one. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Oh, to say that, "whereas some"? Yeah. And, granted, you know, I always kind of say, I don't want to sit here for three hours and change the word "small dog" and cross it out and put "puppy" because it makes not much of a difference, but I think it is semantics to say "some." You know, I do like that better. Because you've put so much time and effort into some of these other things that I do feel strongly about and support. And so I think, you know, we want to vote on the best verbiage possible. I don't know on the second one. You know, my initial takeaway -- and if I read it a couple times, then maybe I sort of hear it with a different set of ears, but it makes it sound like every single personal in Collier County's constitutional rights were violated, and we had half the people speak at the podium that feel like they weren't. So I don't -- you know, this resolution has to -- it won't make everybody happy, but I want to feel good that it at least represents, to the best of our ability, the population. COMMISSIONER HALL: What about "were possibly violated"? April 11, 2023 Page 148 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So if those words were added in there, I just think it complements the rest of the resolution better. COMMISSIONER HALL: I agree. It doesn't didn't give up the message. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Not at all. So those would be my things. Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'd like to speak, because I heard George Washington's name mentioned twice. And, you know, I know -- I'm familiar with when the smallpox was an issue with his troops and, believe it or not, the British troops didn't have an issue because they had herd immunity because most of them were still in Europe and where smallpox was there for 75 years earlier, and, you know, herd immunity was basically what it was. And he kind of referenced that he used a vaccination or used some sort of vaccination on his troops, and that's not really what happened. For 76 years in Europe, basically, their treatment of smallpox was exposing somebody to smallpox and -- or taking a body fluid from a person infected with smallpox and exposing that person to that. And a majority of his troops probably already had herd immunity, because some of them were just from Europe maybe a few years earlier. You know, there wasn't a big span. But, basically, there was just a hope and a dream that their own immunity would fight the smallpox and hopefully just have a mild case of it. So I just don't want to have confusion that somehow General George Washington enforced the vaccination upon his troops, because that's not -- and he had 76 years of science behind it before he exposed his troops to other people with smallpox just to mitigate it so his natural immunity would take over and help his troops in the April 11, 2023 Page 149 long run. I just wanted to kind of put that out there. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Did you see how this is more than a commissioner meeting? It's also a history lesson. Do you see? So those of you that are here and listening at home, it's very, very educational. Commissioner Hall, I just wanted to get clarification. So I like the "whereas some constitutional rights." What did you say, sir, on the first one? What edit would you make? COMMISSIONER HALL: I said, "whereas some federal and state" -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Some federal, same. Okay. COMMISSIONER HALL: And then, "whereas constitutional rights of Collier County citizens possibly were violated." CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Possibly, yeah. COMMISSIONER HALL: And then I'll make the motion to pass the resolution with those two changes. MR. KLATZKOW: Plus the change in red? Plus the change in red? COMMISSIONER HALL: Plus the changes in red. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Just for clarity, let's -- I mean, I don't want to be overly redundant here. So in the first whereas, we're putting "some," second whereas putting "possibly," correct? COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: The changes that are in red, like you said, which I already have here in front of me. What else? Is there anything else that we missed? Or I'd like to hear, you know, before we take a valuable vote here -- and I do have two commissioners lit up. So, Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. As I said before, I don't think I can get to a point of voting in favor of the resolution. I April 11, 2023 Page 150 appreciate the -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: What don't you like about it? I'd really value your opinion. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, yeah. Well, first of all, you've got whereases dealing with the Fourth Amendment, Article I of the Constitution, Fifth Amendment and Ninth amendment. I don't know that we need to pass a resolution that says -- or paraphrases what those sections of the constitutions provide. But there's certain things that are -- there's -- one of the whereases -- and maybe the language has been changed where it says, healthcare institutions which are directly causing harm, including death, to the citizens of Collier County, I don't know that to be the case. COMMISSIONER HALL: Which whereas are you on? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It's the last one on Page 1. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The last whereas. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Page 1. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Some language dealing with -- I think there's something in here dealing with informed consent. I think it says at the moment information is withheld, it violates informed consent. It doesn't say what information. It doesn't clarify what we're really talking about. I think what this does is it creates some expectations that are simply not in reality. COMMISSIONER HALL: I'm not sure we have those in the final -- in the final draft. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I know I have the final one here in front of me for sure. MR. KLATZKOW: It's on the overhead, the final draft. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, then I'm at a little bit April 11, 2023 Page 151 of a disadvantage if I don't have the -- COMMISSIONER HALL: You have mine, and that's the original language, and that's not in there anymore. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: It probably was, but it's not there. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. There were other things. And I look at Paragraph 9 -- again, I'm just picking out a couple things just to -- the right to a medical advocate. And so it says here -- let me just make sure I'm reading it right. And this may not be in your final draft. But citizen patients have the right to a medical advocate, we all know that, of their choice. Hospitals must recognize power of attorney documents outlining the patient's wishes. Citizen patients have the right of advocate visitation, family visitation, and personal doctor visitation. Now, I don't really know what that means. So, for example, I remember my father was in the hospital at one point, and he had an infectious disease, and he had to be isolated, and so there was a limitation on visitation. This seems that -- to eliminate that ability of hospitals to reduce visitation when you're dealing with infectious diseases. And then personal doctor visitation, again, just looking at hospitals -- and I don't know if this does this or not. I just don't understand it. Hospitals require physicians that practice in those hospitals to have certain rights and privileges -- hospital privileges in order to be able to practice medicine in those hospitals. It seems to me this eliminates that. That somebody's admitted, their personal doctor -- certainly a personal doctor can come in to visit a patient, but I believe that this expands upon what that personal physician or personal doctor can do in the hospital in the event that that doctor doesn't have any privileges in the hospital. So I just -- I don't know what the impact is on our healthcare April 11, 2023 Page 152 system. I think it also creates the belief that Collier County Government is out there to protect people's constitutional rights from being violated by other entities. And, again, I'll just emphasize our mission, our goal, is always to make sure we don't do anything to violate anybody's rights, but I don't want to send a message out to the whole world that if your constitutional rights are violated, your right of due process is violated by the sheriff's department, by a deputy, then you have the right to come to Collier County for some redress. And so I don't know that I can get to a point where I can support this because it's just too -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You're on No. 9? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- too many unknowns. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You're on No. 9 still? Is that what you're talking about or you -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was just kind of jumping around. But, yeah, No. 9 was the right to a medical advocate. I think raises some questions about -- the right of free movement. I'm not sure what Collier County would do if the state of Florida, for example, or the federal government prohibited, for some reason, people coming into Florida. I'm not sure what we could do about it. It's just those types of things, I think, it sends -- it creates expectations that I think are unrealistic. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let me hear from Commissioner McDaniel, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh. I just -- I just wanted to say, I mean, it is a resolution. It -- it's not enforceable. It's just a direction of this board with regard to what the citizens' rights, in fact, are. It's a resolution. What we've already passed is actually -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: A biggie. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- is actually law. This is a resolution that just -- that stipulates -- stipulates the perceived -- if April 11, 2023 Page 153 you will, perceived rights of the citizens and the actions of the medical community. There's no imposition of anything with a resolution. Did you make a motion to pass this yet? COMMISSIONER HALL: I did. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: With the changes. The first "whereas some" -- COMMISSIONER HALL: As amended. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- "possibly," a couple of changes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll second it. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a motion and a second. Any further comment? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All in favor -- COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- of the resolution with the changes? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Don't be adding in. We made the motion. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'm just summarizing. Okay. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes 4-1. April 11, 2023 Page 154 COMMISSIONER HALL: Want to take a break? (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. We are going to take a break here, and we will be back at -- let's just say 3:00. We have a lot of business to do. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Monkey business. (A brief recess was had from 2:52 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.) MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was a fast break. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. We've got a lot of work to do. If you're staying, stay. If not -- okay. If we can -- can we have everybody quiet down, please, so we can get started on time? And I ask you to silence your phones again since a few got turned on somehow at lunch. Okay. Mr. Finn, the floor is yours, sir. MR. FINN: Good morning [sic], Mr. Chairman. Edward Finn, Deputy County Manager. We're here to talk today about -- provide the provision of fire service on the Ochopee Fire District. MS. PATTERSON: I've got to read the title in. MR. FINN: Beg your pardon. Item #11D EXECUTE A NEW INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY AND THE GREATER NAPLES FIRE RESCUE DISTRICT FOR CONTINUED MANAGEMENT OF THE OCHOPEE FIRE DISTRICT, AUTHORIZE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS AND AUTHORIZE STAFF TO BRING BACK A PROPOSED MILLAGE CAP UPDATE TO THE OCHOPEE FIRE DISTRICT ORDINANCE (ESTIMATED FISCAL April 11, 2023 Page 155 IMPACT $4,046,870.52) MOTION TO APPROVE WITH LONG- TERM CLAUSE BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO – APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: Okay. We are at our no-sooner-than time -- 1:00 time-certain. This is a recommendation to execute a new interlocal agreement between Collier County and the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District for continued management of Ochopee Fire District, authorize necessary budget amendments, and authorize staff to bring back a proposed millage cap update to the Ochopee Fire District ordinance. Mr. Ed Finn, your Deputy County Manager, is here to present. MR. FINN: Thank you, ma'am. Edward Finn, Deputy County Manager. Good afternoon. I appreciate your efforts today. Thank you so much. Ochopee Fire District, we'll hone you in here. The Ochopee Fire District is a very large district in the eastern part of the county. It also stair-steps up U.S. 41 providing service to Station 61, which is Port of the Isles; Station 60 in Everglades City; the little station here -- little station here is Station 66 which is, essentially, a storage facility. That's been the long-term home of the Ochopee Fire District. We're going to talk today about providing -- continuing the provision of professional fire rescue service to the Ochopee Fire District. As I said, Everglades City, Port of the Isles, Ochopee, Copeland, U.S. 41, and numerous other properties out there as well as the balance of the unincorporated area, including areas owned by the federal government. We currently are working on the continuation of a management agreement that was started in 2016. It's been a very beneficial April 11, 2023 Page 156 agreement to us, and we're hoping that the Board's going to agree to continue that. Pursuant to the existing agreement, Greater Naples submitted a letter to us to terminate the agreement on April 30th. They indicated two things: They'd be willing to continue to provide services so long as we could arrange for a cost-neutral proposition to them as well as an acknowledgment that consolidation of the Ochopee District into the Greater Naples District was not -- was not really a viable option at this point because of the discrepancy in the tax value or the relative density of the tax value. In any event, the fire district met on March 31, and they approved two agreements, one a long-term, one a short-term. And last thing is if we can have a little discussion about millage rates before we're finished here today. The two alternative agreements, a long-term 10-year agreement with 90-day termination clause or short-term. We might term that a termination agreement in and of itself. That brings us through the end of this fiscal year or 8:00 a.m. on October 1. Staff's recommendation at this point is that the Chairman be authorized to sign a long-term agreement for the important continuation of these services. And with that, I have -- I have dozens of more slides I'm sure everyone wants to see, but at this point I'll pause and see if there are questions or comments. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So our task at this meeting is to determine whether we want to agree with -- obviously, there could be a million questions. But in the end you're proposing the long-term or the short-term agreement for us to consider? MR. FINN: Our recommendation is, in fact, the long-term agreement. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right. One thing I want to just mention to citizens -- because you look at the map, and that's -- you April 11, 2023 Page 157 know, it's -- you've got a fire station in my district and one in Commissioner McDaniel's. But there's fire stations all over Collier County. Getting a lot of emails from citizens that are hearing some of this chatter or see a few things on the agenda without being as deep into it as we are on a regular basis. Our fire district, commission, leadership chain is a complicated one in Collier County, and I'd venture to say more complicated than I ever imagined it could be before I took this job. But having said that -- and I think I speak for every commissioner here -- we know Collier County's getting larger, not smaller. And so none of us are looking to reduce services or staffs or service lines or anything like that unless it came to our attention that something wasn't staffed properly. But, you know, there's been a lot of sort of fake news out there that when people see one slide and they see something on the agenda, we're here, you know, slashing fire stations, closing fire stations. And I believe everyone up here has had one-on-one meetings with senior leadership at our County Manager Office and with our fire leadership, and that couldn't be further from the truth. As I've told my constituents, faces might change, the unit patches might change, you might see one truck leave and one truck come replace it. But the service, the support, the level of emergency services, our intention is that they -- they're invisible to the citizens. So I think in the case of whether it's a long- or a short-term, would you echo everything that I've just said for the record is correct, that we're not making any kind of changes in service? MR. FINN: No, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: That it's more of the agreements. And sometimes it does move the pieces around a little bit, but it -- I know that my expectation is that nothing gets reduced. If anything, April 11, 2023 Page 158 it stays the same or gets better. But in this particular case it's more of the financial agreement, and the staffing is what we're talking about, correct? MR. FINN: Yes, sir. Level of service will remain the same and as, essentially, the fire district said in their letter, they're trying to seek a cost-neutral environment here. When they originally struck this agreement, it was under different leadership, different intent. And at this point we're faced with a reasonable business proposition where they simply want to be -- want to be made even. The contract provides for a reconciliation at the end of the year so that if there's a plus or a minus, it can be adjusted. The contract that the Board sees is the maximum that the county's going to pay. So what can happen from there is it may be slightly less than the maximum amount you're seeing today. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: What I liked -- and then I'll go to Commissioner McDaniel. What I liked about the long-term agreement recommendation by our staff was it really is a long-term recommendation with a short-term one buried in there should we decide to execute it, so I think we get sort of the best of both worlds by doing that. But that was my takeaway. Commissioner McDaniel, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll make a motion to accept the long-term agreement. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I second it unless -- I don't want to rush -- any questions? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We do have a couple of public speakers standing over there not doing anything. The mayor. Oh, you want to talk about something else? MAYOR GRIMM: Well, I just -- you know me. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Oh, you've got to come to the April 11, 2023 Page 159 podium, sir. It's all official here. Can't scream from the cheap seats. MR. MILLER: You need to state your name, sir, please. MAYOR GRIMM: Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. Because somebody -- I don't think I've met some of the commissioners. My name's Howie Grimm. I'm the Mayor of Everglades City. As you can tell, I'm not a politician. COMMISSIONER HALL: Neither are we. MAYOR GRIMM: But I am a public servant, and that's what I'm here for. But I do want to thank you all for something else before we get into this. And I know -- I know better because I run meetings, too. But thank you for working with us and everything that you do, including this. But also we're in trouble with our sewer plant right now. Dr. George and that whole crew has really been helping us a lot, and I really appreciate that. But mainly, I just want to say thank you for considering this, and thank you for the service that you give. And the relationship that we have now, it's tremendous compared to what it used to be. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Straight up. MAYOR GRIMM: Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And not to -- not to make him think any more of himself than he needs to, but it's largely due to leadership and your assisting with what we've been going through down there, sir. So thank you. MAYOR GRIMM: Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I was going to have that gentleman arrested. He was up against the wall. I didn't know. He looked a little bit sort of -- MAYOR GRIMM: It wouldn't be the first time. April 11, 2023 Page 160 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We have a motion and a second. I also want to just acknowledge Chief Sapp here. There's been a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure that our fire service stays strong; there is no reduction in service. There are some moving pieces that move around so we can make sure everything's covered. But nobody in this room or all the people that are in this room -- that aren't in this room that we represent are doing anything other than, you know, making sure that we have strong, robust first responder coverage. And a few of our stations took some big hits during Hurricane Ian, and I really applaud the county and the fire team for getting those stations -- one was in my district, which was down for a while due to significant damage. But, you know, Chief, you guys did all the right things to -- you know, we still need to replace a few. That's a separate topic. But, Chief, did you want to say anything? CHIEF SAPP: Nolan Sapp, Fire Chief, Greater Naples Fire Rescue. I want to go on record and say that, you know, we've worked very hard with the leadership, County Manager, Deputy County Managers. It's been a great experience for me. I mean, we've come together for a -- what I keep referring to in all my meetings is a true partnership. Forgetting some of the things that's happened in the past through the years, but today I feel that we truly are working toward a solid partnership working with everybody, and I don't want to leave Jeff out. Jeff's been great with us in the meetings as well. And, you know, I've been doing public safety now for 44 years, and that's my end goal is to make sure we're there for the citizens whether it's a hurricane, a wildfire, or just to help them get their cat out of a tree. We're there to help in any way we can. And we want to continue that. And we -- it's our mission to ensure that all the citizens, Everglades City, Ochopee, and throughout Greater Naples April 11, 2023 Page 161 Fire, that we meet the need, the call when it comes in, and we'll be there for the citizens. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chief. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, Chief. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We've got a motion. This is our two districts here. We've got a motion -- but it's all of Collier County, obviously. We've got a motion from Commissioner McDaniel. I've seconded it. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: The long-term clause passes -- MR. FINN: Thank you, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- unanimously. Item #10B RESOLUTION 2023-70: APPOINT TWO MEMBERS TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE SURTAX CITIZEN OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE - TO REAPPOINT/APPOINT (PATRICIA SHERRY, KERRY GEROY, RONALD KAPLAN, JOE TRACHTENBERG) 1ST MOTION TO APPOINT PATRICIA SHERRY BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL TO APPOINT PATRICIA SHERRY – ADOPTED; 2ND MOTION TO APPOINT KERRY GEROY BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HALL- ADOPTED April 11, 2023 Page 162 MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to item 10B. This is a recommendation to appoint two members to the Infrastructure Surtax Citizen Oversight Committee. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let's see. I want to try to pull it up here. Is there something -- just so we can get the names, and I'll just get back to where we were. MS. PATTERSON: 10B. There we go. Okay. Is somebody pulling it up? All right. Let's see. Okay. So Patricia Sherry from District 4 is reapplying, correct? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct. MR. KLATZKOW: That is correct. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. And then did we have a -- did we have a nomination for the second? I see we have three candidates. COMMISSIONER HALL: Commissioner Kowal. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Chairman, I would like to nominate Patricia Sherry for the District 4 position. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll second that. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Got a motion and a second. All in favor of -- she's reapplying and nominating her again. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? April 11, 2023 Page 163 (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So Patricia Sherry passes. I'd like to nominate Kerry -- I think it's Geroy, for the second seat. Is that what -- that's what -- we're taking a stab at the three applicants here, and one more gets to be selected, right? MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I'd like to nominate Kerry for the position unless somebody has an objection or wants to talk about any other candidates. COMMISSIONER HALL: I'll second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Got a nomination for Kerry Geroy and a second. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. It passes unanimously. County Manager. Item #11A CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A LETTER OF CONCURRENCE TO SUPPORT THE CONTINUATION OF THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS (USACE) COLLIER COUNTY COASTAL STORM RISK MANAGEMENT FEASIBILITY STUDY. (TRINITY SCOTT, DEPARTMENT HEAD, TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT SERVICES) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY April 11, 2023 Page 164 COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO – APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: That brings us to Item 11A. This is a recommendation to authorize the Chairman to sign a letter of concurrence to support the continuation of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Collier County Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study. Ms. Trinity Scott, your Transportation Management Services department head, is here to answer questions or present. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Move to -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We're on 11A, right? MS. PATTERSON: Yes, that's 11A. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Hall's got a question, I believe. Sir. COMMISSIONER HALL: When are we going to do 10D? MS. PATTERSON: Sir, we'll do that one next. This should take a very short amount of time. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, like a motion for approval. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Second. MR. MILLER: I do have two registered public speakers, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Trinity spends a lot of time in our office before these meetings. COMMISSIONER HALL: We know. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Exactly. Just because of the -- you say this regularly, Mr. Chair, but just because we're moving forward doesn't mean we're not informed. We've already had these things. COMMISSIONER HALL: We know. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let's hear from our two public April 11, 2023 Page 165 speakers, Mr. Miller. MR. MILLER: Your first speaker is Rachel Rhode. She'll be followed by April Olson. You had slides? Just a second. MS. RHODE: Good afternoon, Commissioners. It's nice to meet you all in person. My name is -- MR. MILLER: That's correct. MS. RHODE: Yes. My name is Rachel Rhode. I work with the Environmental Defense Fund. We're a global organization that has deep expertise in coastal resilience nationwide. Collier County has a narrow window of time to seize a $3 billion investment to ensure that this region is protected from events like Hurricane Ian from doing the damage this community is still recovering from. Only a few months really remain for planning and public engagement in order to be eligible for an upcoming Water Resources Development Act. Planning must begin immediately to develop a plan that maximizes the incorporation of nature-based solutions that will have the ability to strengthen our economy, environment, and protect residents. Hurricane Ian was a pivotal point in this region. There's now a second opportunity to work with a federal agency willing to provide capacity in a large investment to the region. This reinitiation is an opportunity to find out possible solutions that Southwest Floridians want to see that could be implemented to protect communities from the next Ian and more. EDF has extensive experience and expertise, both nationally and within the state of Florida, with the Corps on these particular coastal studies and projects. We've been a critical asset in Miami-Dade, as well as with the Corps themselves and that team for the Norfolk district, and helping them guide through developing alternatives with greater stakeholder engagement and the incorporation of hybrid and April 11, 2023 Page 166 natural solutions, which are some of the renderings that we are showing on the slides that we were excited that we've been able to share with the commissioners prior to this meeting. These are to hopefully better understand some of the types of solutions that could be proposed in the process moving forward. Like I said, for over three years we've worked closely to establish a relationship with the Norfolk team that's going to be involved here. We are in a unique position to be able to bring lessons learned from other places throughout the state going through the same process to bring it here. I also want to -- I know that there's a letter that's already been drafted that will likely go to the Corps right after this meeting. I highly, highly recommend that the county requests the Section 8106 to the Water Resources Act of 2022, which allows you to look -- the nonfederal sponsor can request that the Corps look at developing alternatives that address not just storm surge but also other flooding impacts such as rainfall, tidal flooding, sunny day flooding. That's something that has to be requested by the nonfederal sponsor, and you can do so in your letter. We also request that you have the Engineering with Nature Program, which is a part of -- the program within the Corps itself, be a part of the project delivery team moving forward in this reinitiation. Public engagement's got to happen now. We're eight months into an extension that's been given a short amount of time to really develop a Comprehensive Plan. We know public meetings are happening quickly this month, which is great, and we look forward to even more happening over the course of the study. So thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next and final speaker on this item is April Olson. MS. OLSON: Good afternoon, Chairman LoCastro and Commissioners. It's a pleasure to see you-all today. April Olson April 11, 2023 Page 167 here from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Collier County is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise and flooding, as many of you probably know, and scientists predict that hurricanes are getting stronger; thus, the Conservancy appreciates that the Army Corps of Engineers is willing to work with Collier County to improve coastal resilience. However, if this board does decide to approve continuation of the study, which it sounds like you are, the previously recommended plan must be significantly redesigned to work with nature, not against nature. In the 2020 EIS, the Army Corps admits that the surge barriers, gates, and floodwalls would result in, quote, temporary to permanent impacts to aquatic resources and habitats that range from moderate to potentially significant. The Corps' environmental appendix also states that there will be impacts to many endangered and threatened marine species, including sea turtles and shorebirds, and the plan would likely result in moderate to significant impacts to essential fish habitat, managed fish species, and potentially 31 species of reef fish. The Corps also acknowledged water-quality issues due to the gate closures, which will increase the probability of red tide and harmful algal bloom. Even though the Corps states that the recommended plan likely would result in these impacts, they also acknowledge that the marine economy is, quote, of significant value to the local economy, end quote. They point to a study that found Collier County's marine economy contributed $954 million to the local economy in 2016. Should you reinitiate the study, we hope you will insist on the following: No. 1, a plan that includes nature-based solutions to provide storm resilience so that coastal habitats are protected and enhanced and so is our coastal economy; 2, we hope that the Army April 11, 2023 Page 168 Corps requests, as Rachel had mentioned, engineering with nature team. That is from the Army Corps. That they're brought to the table as they have experience working with nature-based solutions for coastal resilience; No. 3, we hope that local knowledge and preferences drive the plan and local scientists and engineers are included in the process; 4, we hope that WRDA 2022, Section 8106, is requested by this board, which looks at more than just storm surge. It looks at other flooding impacts as well; 5, we hope that in addition to property owners, recreational and commercial anglers, hoteliers, restaurant owners, boat tour operators, and other tourism-based business owners are invited to the table. The Conservancy believes it is possible to design a storm resilience plan with the goal of protecting life and property as well as preserving and enhancing coastal natural resources. Collier County's tourism and marine industries, fisheries, and our local way of life all depend on the health of our world-renowned and natural coastal resources, and we look forward to offering solutions and a better plan during the shareholder meetings. Thank you. MR. MILLER: That was our final speaker, Mr. Chair. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I was just going to say, I couldn't agree more with what you said. And just to remind people that might be looking at the slides quickly, every single slide has the word "concept" on it. I've been very clear that, you know, I've got quite a bit of previous work with Army Corps, and, you know, you want them to come to your town and give you recommendations. I'm not going to support building the Panama Canal anywhere in Collier County, and some of those gates and walls and things like that are subject to discussion. But you said it perfectly: Our goal is to get everyone under one roof and one room. When we get the Army Corps' diverse and vast April 11, 2023 Page 169 concepts and list of recommendations, you know, we certainly support the nature-based ones. I mean, some on there are no-brainers. Then there's a few that, you know, are a little bit out of -- maybe a little bit out of scope, but their job is to think outside the box as well. And what that tells us -- and I've said it in here before because they've come to some of my, you know, military bases that I commanded and give you something that's really out of whack with your budget and maybe with even nature-based solutions, but then the takeaway is, wow, but they did shine the light on a vulnerable spot that we have to do something. And their charge is to show us everything that you can do, and we can do anything, but we can't do everything. And so that's what this study will do. So I don't know if -- Commissioner McDaniel, if you had a question or you were going to make a motion, but the floor is yours, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I already made a motion and you already -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. And I second it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- seconded. I had a comment very similar to what you were saying, and that was there were a lot of slides put up. The motion is not to take -- make any changes other than what's being recommended to us by staff and ensure -- and assure the public that this is going to be a very open public process. We've already set the motion in our consent agenda today to establish an advisory committee to this board, I think a member -- a total of seven, if I'm not mistaken. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Seven. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: One from each county commission district and then two at-large that will kind of sort of officiate the community responses and go through the Corps' recommendations, likes, dislikes, so ons and so forth. But I just April 11, 2023 Page 170 wanted to assure, similar to you, that pictures that were shown during the public comment were not a portion of what our recommendations agreeing or dis- -- I mean, some of the things that April talked about, like you said, are no-brainers. But we're not giving direction to the Corps other than to go forth and persevere and come back and tell us what they think, and then we'll go through their recommendations on a case-by-case basis. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let the record show that Commissioner McDaniel fully agreed with the Chair's comments and echoed what I said. So we have a -- we have a motion and a second. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Now we get to do yours. Item #10D TO PREPARE AN LDC AMENDMENT TO REPEAL LDC SECTION 5.05.15, CONVERSION OF GOLF COURSES - MOTION TO NOT REPEAL AND HAVE STAFF STUDY FOR IMPROVEMENTS AND BRING ITEM BACK WITH RECOMMENDATIONS BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL - APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, Item 10D is formerly April 11, 2023 Page 171 16H2. This is a recommendation to direct staff to prepare an LDC amendment to repeal LDC Section 5.05.15, conversion of golf courses. I will look over to the County Attorney to start, or the commissioners. This was pulled by all five of you separately. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I'd like to -- I've got a golf course that's going to fall under this eventually, but I'd like to defer to, you know, Commissioner Kowal, if you want to just -- maybe just open with some comments. I mean, I don't see you lit up here, but I thought you might want to just get us started, because I know you put a lot of effort into discussions with constituents in your district. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah, thank you, Chair. Yeah, I'm looking at, I believe, three golf courses right now that fall under this particular subject matter. I know at least one was the initial -- that prompted the Bert Harris lawsuit that I think prompted this whole conversation in one of our earlier commission meetings. And I'm looking at Evergreen and Lakewood right now. Well, Lakewood's its own special -- it's a little different than the other two, but it's also going to -- it's going to have some effects and effects on the community and what they plan on trying to do with that particular golf course. I just feel that -- I know this was prompted because we're seeing -- then we saw a second Bert Harris lawsuit come in that was referring to the Links property on 41, East 41, in Commissioner LoCastro's district. And, you know, when I researched back -- I wasn't here back in 2017 when the Board of County Commissioners decided to put this in place for the conversion and the stipulations for the conversion. But I know that it was praised, and it was praised by a lot of people, the work they did. And I think now, how many years later, we've actually had two situations where we have one very frivolous Bert April 11, 2023 Page 172 Harris lawsuit that I believe that refers to the Riviera project, that we may be acting in haste to start changing something that I think may have been a very well-written statute or amendment or -- I'm sorry -- land-use conversion for the golf courses here in Collier County. I just don't want to rush to judgment, and I feel it should have conversation and have the people definitely express their feelings on it. I know two of the communities that I represent have already sought out representation to their independent law firms to represent them moving forward, and I know they wanted to be part of the discussion, so -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Mr. Miller, how many speakers do we have? MR. MILLER: We have 17, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got every commissioner lit up here. Would you rather -- I'd like to maybe hear from the citizens first, and that might change what you want to talk about. So let's go ahead and get started, Mr. Miller. MR. MILLER: Absolutely, sir. Your first speaker is Michael Whitt. He'll be followed by Tricia Campbell. Mr. Whitt's been ceded three additional minutes from Lydia E. Grima. Lydia -- (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: She's right there. And so Mr. Whitt will have six minutes and will be followed by Tricia Campbell. MR. WHITT: Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman, Commissioners. My name is Michael Whitt. I'm an attorney with the firm of Hahn, Loeser & Parks. We have offices in Fort Myers and Naples. I want to just make a comment a little about my background April 11, 2023 Page 173 before I start. I'm not a typical zoning and land-use lawyer, you know, that shows up in front of you all the time. I'm a trial lawyer. My practice is predominantly eminent domain, inverse condemnation, Bert Harris claims, et cetera. I also do a lot of business litigation, real estate litigation. Riviera is represented by the Becker law firm. Fine law firm. I was with them for 25 years. And I was brought in because of this directive to go to staff to repeal this ordinance and because of the implications of the Riviera Golf Course Bert Harris Claim. And let me start by saying I'll echo what Commissioner Kowal said. It's a baseless Bert Harris claim, and I believe that this -- this directive to go to staff to say just repeal Section 5 -- I always forget the numbers -- 5.05.15 is kind of an overreaction. So initially -- let me be clear, and then I'll make some comments. What we're asking the Commission to do is not to send it to staff to repeal it but send it to staff to maybe look to see if amendments are proper. Now, six years in, it may be appropriate to go back and say, you know what, we didn't really see this particular situation. We didn't see this happening. Maybe there are some tweaks there that may prove to be beneficial, and maybe they stave off a Bert Harris claim. But you really are kind of caught in between. You've got competing land interests, you've got landowners, i.e., the golf course owner who may be seeking to convert and redevelop that property, but you have existing homeowners. And Riviera, for example, 692 homes, I believe, that's a lot of stakeholders. And they've paid premiums when they purchased their property to be on the golf course and have views. They've paid increased property taxes through the years, decades, many of these people. And given the nature of this community with a lot of the people that are resident there, veterans -- it's a 55-and-over community. It's April 11, 2023 Page 174 not as easy as, well, it's going to change. We're just going to pick up, pack up, and sell out. So we're asking that if there is a direction to staff, that it be let's go back, let's take time, let's hear from the stakeholders, let's hear from the impacted citizens and these property owners and see if there are changes that maybe make sense. So the Bert Harris Claim, there's not been a denial of anything. And I've seen it. I've looked at it. I saw the lawsuit that was filed back in 2019. Frankly, that was ridiculous and was dismissed immediately. And this one's no better. There's been no denial. So they've gone through ITC. They started. We had the stakeholder outreach meetings. My people showed up, and they cared, and they tried to have input. It may not have been as well received from the developer, who I think was simply checking boxes. Wait, under this LDC provision, we've got to have these meetings. Okay, let's have the meetings. I don't know that there was much by way of good faith in taking into account what the residents of Riviera actually had an interest in preserving, which is the greenways. So you mentioned, Commissioner Kowal, that in 2017 this was praised. Commissioner McDaniel at the time said that it offered a nice balance of protections for homeowners and the rights of the developers and landowners. We couldn't agree more, Commissioner. It really did. Staff really, really worked hard. I've read the white paper that they did. They worked hard for months to investigate this and come up with these recommendations, and I think it's workable and should not be repealed. Now, one of the things that I want to bring up is oftentimes when these developers initially go through the process to get these approvals to get the density that they need, they use the golf course as the required open space to meet the requirements of the Land Development Code. So now it's almost like a second bite at the April 11, 2023 Page 175 apple. So years ago you come before us, you get your approval, that meets the open-space requirements. Now you want to get rid of the golf course, you want to build more homes, and you want to get rid of the open space. You want to get rid of the greenways, which is going to be vitally and dramatically impactful to the residence of Riviera. So floodplain compensation is another big, big factor here. There are as many as 10 different residential communities that are dependent on the Riviera Golf Course for floodplain management and stormwater drainage, 10. That's a lot. So to say, yeah, sure, no problem. Oh, my gosh, you filed a Bert Harris Claim; we're just going to have to get away -- do away with this ordinance, it's really not the way to go. So there's a dichotomy. You've got these folks. You've got the existing landowners. You've got a land developer who's got rights as well. So let's just take our time, let's take a deep breath, and let's go back, send this to staff, and see if there are any changes that may be needed. So we're asking that the Commission direct staff to take this back, take a look at it, see if there are any potential changes. And I would -- no kick in the shins to the County Attorney's Office. I've dealt with them for many, many, many years. They've got very, very fine lawyers in the County Attorney's Office. I would suggest and recommend that you at least consider retaining special counsel to look at these Bert Harris Claims and defend them vigorously and not just, you know, look at them and say, oh, my gosh, now what are we going to do? We've got all these Bert Harris Claims coming up by these golf course developers. Of course they're going to do that. I don't want to be mean, but I've done this for 37 years. They're golf course developers, and that's what golf April 11, 2023 Page 176 course developers do if they feel they're not going to get their way. So I would suggest that, as an alternative, to hire a firm that specializes in Bert Harris, eminent domain, and that area of the law to represent the county in defending against those Bert Harris cases. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir. MR. WHITT: Thank you very much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Tricia Campbell. She'll be followed by Denise Hanrahan. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Denise, if you want to queue up, if you're here, at the other podium. Thank you. MS. CAMPBELL: Thank you for hearing us today. There's a lot of people in this room you'll see the Riviera T-shirts on. Tricia Campbell, president, Riviera Golf Estates Homeowners Association. I want to thank you for taking it off the consent agenda and putting it on the regular agenda, because this is an important subject. 2017, staff put hours and hours into the Land Development Code, that the Board of County Commissioners at that time all voted to put this into place. 5.05.15 was part of that approval. On March 28th at the commissioners' meeting, I heard someone say that this is not working. Well, if it isn't broken, why fix it or, should I say, if it isn't used, why are we repealing it? On behalf of Riviera Golf Estates, we ask that you do not repeal the Land Development Code for golf course conversions but instead that you request staff to review the code and return with their recommendations. At Riviera Golf Estates, our board of directors has a fiduciary responsibility to cover 1,125 residents in that community. We have 690 homes and 692 lots. Two of the lots are owned by the county, just so -- put that on record. With all due respect to the board of directors -- excuse me -- the Board of County Commissioners, do you have a fiduciary April 11, 2023 Page 177 responsibility to attorneys who want to do a Bert Harris claim to the county for a taking that wasn't taken, a developer who may not be in Collier County or even in the state of Florida or, most importantly, the population of over 440,000 citizens of Collier County that a majority voted to put the five of you into office? Please, do not repeal the LDC for golf course conversion. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Denise Hanrahan. She'll be followed by Kimber Perala. MS. HANRAHAN: Hi. My name is Denise Hanrahan. I want to thank you for allowing me to speak. I have been a resident of Lakewood for almost 25 years now. And I'm not sure if any of you have been there, but it's a great deed-restricted community. And we're getting hit by both sides. We're getting hit by Lakewood and Evergreen, both the golf courses, and it's not just the golf -- golfing aspect of it. It's the flooding aspect of it. This is huge green lands that prevent us from flooding. If you've been down Lakewood during our summer rain, you'll realize that Lakewood -- the boulevard fills up quite nicely with water. And, unfortunately, with the building and construction that both courses are trying to pass through, it would, I'm sure, cause us to flood. Not only that, but the traffic. Lakewood has become a cut-through, which it's -- from Davis to 41 up to Walmart. But now when you're going to add this, you're going to add two places. One is going to be 3- to 400 homes. The other one's going to -- could have the capacity of 300 clients, you're almost a thousand more vehicles in and out of there every day. People on Lakewood Boulevard won't even be able to go to work and get out of their driveways. April 11, 2023 Page 178 This is just such a wonderful community. And when these lands were purchased, they were purchased as golf courses. That's what they were zoned as. And to go ahead and change it and to destroy the community, it's -- it hurts us all. So thank you very much for your time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Patrick J. -- is it Wansor? I hope I'm getting that right. Patrick? (No response.) MR. MILLER: All right. Anthony Pires? Oh, there he is. Anthony will be followed by Daniel Zegarac. MR. PIRES: Hiding in plain sight. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Daniel, if you can queue up over here so we can -- oh, there you are, sir. I'm sorry. I didn't even see you sitting there. Go ahead, Tony. MR. PIRES: Mr. Chairman, members of the Board, Tony Pires with the law firm of Woodward, Pires, Lombardo representing the Lakewood Community Services Association, Inc. And as Commissioner Kowal has articulated, there -- Lakewood -- and the former speaker addressed the issue of there is -- Evergreen Golf Course is going through the ITC process at the present time, may come through with a rezoning. And in Lakewood there are thousands of residents. They're well-established residential communities. And what you have, you have 15 distinct communities: Three condominium communities, three single-families, and nine villa communities. And we concur with the request by the Riviera Golf Estates' representatives and the residents to not direct staff to look towards repealing the ordinance. As Commissioner Kowal said and Mr. Whitt stated, that ordinance was a product of almost a year -- six-month moratorium April 11, 2023 Page 179 and then almost a year of work, collaborative efforts. This is the agenda packet for that March 14th, 2017, meeting that included other amendments, but primarily the golf course conversion ordinance with changes to the Administrative Code, data, backup; a substantial amount of material, a substantial amount of time and effort went into that effort. Also at that time, the golf courses were granted additional uses. Additional permitted uses were added, and conditional uses were added that had not been there previously as part of this whole process. And we would suggest, then, consistent with what's been requested by Riviera Golf Estates, leave Section 5.05.15 in there. Do not change the Administrative Procedures Manual. If you're to do anything at all, direct staff to prepare and present to the Board at a future board meeting a detailed presentation as to the origins, genesis, and creation of the ITC ordinance including, but not limited to, the significant research performed by county staff just a few short years ago, and direct the staff as part of that process to solicit input from the various shareholders, review the ordinance and make recommendations to the commissioners. This will provide the opportunity for a full and robust review and possible amendments to the ordinance. And, again, that -- the concerns of Lakewood communities and others would be considered. The ordinance was developed to protect residential communities and provide a balance while simultaneously providing golf course owners with additional alternative use of the golf course property to proceed with reasonable economic development. The staffs and the Board did a very good job of developing and adopting an ordinance that provides for that balance and participation on both sides, the property rights of property owners adjacent to the golf course and the property rights of the landowners of the golf course. April 11, 2023 Page 180 As a result, we request that the Board not direct staff to implement their process to repeal, but if the Board wants to take any action, instruct staff to work with the communities, look at possible amendments, find out what issues and flaws there might be, if any. I've not seen any that have really been identified. So we request -- respectfully request not to take the requested action as outlined in the executive summary. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Daniel Zegarac. He'll be followed by Peter Osinski. Daniel's been ceded three additional minutes from Robert Montuori. Is Robert here? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: There he is. So, Daniel, you will have six minutes. Before you begin, sir, Peter Osinski, are you here, sir? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He's coming. MR. MILLER: Okay. Please, thank you. Queue up at the podium. Daniel. MR. ZEGARAC: Thank you. Thank you, Commissioners, and good afternoon. It's been a long day so far. You know, it started before 9:00, and thank goodness you only have to do this twice a month. I moved into the Fountains, which is the Fountains 1, which is an island which is the first group of Fountains south of Riviera Golf Estates. I moved in a few years ago. And I had heard that there were some issues, you know, with the golf course and et cetera, and as I studied it, I found out, yeah, there's some differences of opinion. Riviera Golf Estates -- any of the neighboring communities, Riviera offers a great place to pedal your bike without having any issues. Probably -- you know, you could probably take children or grandchildren along with you in those communities and really not April 11, 2023 Page 181 face aggressive traffic or incidents that may cause you to not feel safe. I would ask you, Commissioners, do not take away our rights and freedoms by repealing this Land Development Code, 5.05.15, which is the golf course conversion code. I was surprised to see it on the consent agenda a few days ago, and I wasn't surprised. And finally we're -- we got it -- we nailed it down. It quit moving around. So we have a chance to talk about it. You know, 2017 was when the Board of County Commissioners enacted this Land Development Code, 5.05.15. I have a -- I have something from Naples Daily News in front of me, March 12th of '17. After studying it for six months -- Mr. McDaniel and Mr. Saunders, you were on the Board then. After studying this for six months, county commissioners may approve new rules limiting how developers can turn golf courses into housing developments. A proposal is to be voted on to require developers to put up between a 75- and 100-foot-wide greenway around the perimeter of the development. Okay. It's right here if any of you guys want to see it. Mr. Saunders, in that article from the Naples Daily News, you're quoted as saying if there's going to be a conversion there, there has to be some way to protect the people who bought property on a golf course, Saunders said. The process would make it more difficult to do a conversion. And I don't have a problem with that, because it should be difficult. And so you guys know, I'm all for letting this development company build 104 homes. I am vehemently against 346. You know, kneeling with people that are -- that just want to push as many units into a space as possible isn't the way for us to behave, not at all. And there's more in these articles. The new rules would bring the public into the process earlier and attempt to balance the inserts of April 11, 2023 Page 182 business -- interests of business owners with homeowners who have been paying a premium for views, said Mike Bosi, the County Attorney's Zoning director. So Mr. Bosi behind me, the Zoning director, you know, said people paid a premium because of where their condo or their home was located. In the next article -- and I know the young attorney, young to me, brought up a few of these things earlier -- to the applause of more than 200 residents that packed the chambers Tuesday night six years ago, Collier County Commissioners approved new rules saying they will make it tougher for developers to turn struggling golf courses into housing developments. This is -- this is printed, so I assume that it's correct, right? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's in the Naples Daily News. MR. ZEGARAC: Among the changes is a new requirement that would force developers to put up a greenway that is between 75 feet and 100 feet wide around the perimeter of the development. That gives this guy 104 homes. It's not -- or housing units, whatever you want to call it. Don't hide behind the state. Don't hide behind affordable housing. Just don't vote yes on this. And if they're going to take you to court, okay. Sometimes that happens. Commissioners would still have final say over any rezone request. I guess we know that. Commissioner Bill McDaniels [sic] said the new rule offers a nice balance of protections for homeowners and rights for landowners. I think it's a decent path for us to travel, McDaniel said. Sorry if I put an S on it earlier. Developers will be required to put a minimum of 35 percent of the land under a conversion. But, you know, why change now? Why -- you know, why change now? And the only other question I have is, Rick, were you in the April 11, 2023 Page 183 military? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Pretty sure. Pretty sure. MR. ZEGARAC: You were the COO at the hospital, too. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You're being sarcastic? Sit down; your time's up. I've got the gavel here. Thank you, sir. MR. ZEGARAC: I know you have the microphone -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You do too. MR. ZEGARAC: -- way more than we do. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, that's not true. Thank you, sir. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, your next speaker is Peter Osinski. He'll be followed by Paul Swinwood. MR. OSINSKI: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Peter Osinski. I live in Riviera Golf Estates. And I come to you as a member of the golf course study group at Riviera. And what we did, there's six or seven of us that have done our best to keep up with what's going on in the regulations, how to respond, and how to best proceed in the challenge that we have with this development in our -- coming at us. Now, when it came time for the SOM meetings, we looked at Section 5.105.15 [sic] very carefully, and we looked at what the SOM meetings are all about. Now, what is important about this section is that it encourages and requires dialogue between the stakeholders and the developers because, as you know from the law you passed in 2017, there has been a lot of litigation that went nowhere and served no one. So we took the SOM opportunity very carefully. As a result, we came up with our questions at the study group and also encouraged residents to come up with their own questions. And we went to the SOM meetings. And you know the story. There were mixed results as far as how the meetings went or April 11, 2023 Page 184 whatever. But we took the results very seriously. We looked at all of the transcripts, and we looked at all questions that were raised, and we looked at all the answers that were offered by developer. We came up with a list of 78 questions that we raised and were not addressed. We then wrote a letter to Nancy Gundlach on June 15th, 2022, and we listed at least nine of the major issues and questions that are yet to be addressed. Now, these aren't gotcha questions. These are very good questions about drainage, about compatibility, about a number of things -- land values -- that weren't addressed. As a result, we sent this letter, along with nine of those very important issues and 21 more very good questions; 21 -- 14 pages of probably 70 more, 21 of which I think are very important pages. Did it work? Did this process work for us? Absolutely. Whether or not the developer dismissed this as, ah, it's nothing, it's not working, it's not helping, it really helps us because we have and have documented and have sent to the county a number of our concerns and questions, and we know that in the next phase of the zoning process, we are going to make sure they're addressed. As far as we're concerned, this thing works. The 100-foot greenway works. What we would be left with if we didn't is a change-of-use variance, which here's a change-of-use criteria from Collier County. Basically, you have 18 questions that you will simply consider. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: If you could sum up, sir. MR. OSINSKI: Yeah, okay. In other words, in the absence of this, then we go to change of use, which is even less protection for us. I ask you sincerely, leave it as it is. Go forward. This is a good process. You haven't seen it through, but we've taken it seriously, and we guarantee it's going to bear fruit. Thank you very much. April 11, 2023 Page 185 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Paul Swinwood. He'll be followed by Daniel Snyder. MR. SWINWOOD: Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity here. My name is Paul Swinwood. I'm a resident of the lands just south of Riviera Golf Estates called Fountains 1. You've already heard from one of our residents. We are probably the group most impacted by the proposed changes. And I want to acknowledge that the work of the staff and the counselors of Collier County in developing LDC 5.05.15, a wonderful document as a starting point. It provides guidance and direction in the conversion of golf courses. I would strongly recommend that it not be repealed, but if some subsections are in conflict, there be hearings to adjust them. As a homeowner who is negatively impacted by some of the weaknesses of this LDC, it saddens me to see a proposal to provide less guidance on the conversion of golf courses, especially lands within a golf course community or a current community. In closing, I'd like to invite Collier County planning to come and look at the current infrastructure below Riviera Golf Course Estates and this conversion. No one has defined who will pay for the 5- to $7 million of infrastructure improvement that will be needed to support any homes going in there: The safety, the traffic lights that will be needed to access Rattlesnake Hammock, and the safety for the additional sidewalks that need to go in, and for the lighting since there's no lighting along that street. So Collier County itself is looking at 5- to $7 million if this goes ahead. So I ask you, vote no to the repeal. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Daniel Snyder. He'll be followed by George Danz. April 11, 2023 Page 186 MR. SNYDER: Right. Thank you. Daniel Snyder. I'm a six-month resident, full-time resident of Collier County. I moved here from King County, Seattle area in Washington State. So I've move from one west coast to another west coast, and I really love it here. What really attracted me here was the community, the sunshine -- frankly, Chris, you mentioned freedom and responsibility. I appreciate that. It was really a breath of fresh air for me to come here and find the right community. We worked with a realtor for a number of months. We found the perfect neighborhood in Riviera Golf Estates, and we've been really happy. We found here that -- we find that Collier County is really about freedom. One small example is the beach parking pass for free. You really look after your community and your citizens of Collier County, and I really appreciate that coming here. What concerns me, though, with the proposed development conversion of the 55 community is the loss of the 55 community. If you look at a map of Riviera Golf Estates, it's a set of tendrils of roads and housing for, in this case now, a lot of senior citizens, 70, 80, 90-plus-year-old people who would be hard pressed, honestly, to deal with a conversion at this point in their retirement, in their lives. So myself, I know I've moved here. I've helped neighbors with their sprinkler systems. Yesterday I helped a lady get her air-conditioning running again. It wasn't running for a few days. We walked the neighbor's dog. She just got a puppy. There's a real strong sense of community in Riviera Golf Estates. But what I really found is a lot of people are still needy. It would be very hard pressing on them to endure a conversion at this point. I think we owe it to them as citizens and supporters in our community and our county to not go ahead with the conversion. Thank you very much. April 11, 2023 Page 187 MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is George Danz. He'll be followed by Jody Job. MR. DANZ: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, my name is George Danz, and today I am the secretary and representative representing the East Naples Civic Association. Over the past few years, rules, regulations, procedures, and codes have been developed to provide organized and reasonable development in Collier County. In the last few months, there's been issues regarding some of these items that have come up. Just a month or two or three, whatever it was, this commission sent back the NIMs process to staff for changes. I have attended numerous NIMs meetings since I've been in Naples, and it's been a very logical exchange of ideas between the presentation of the developer and the attendees, and they interact with each other. Someone had the idea that we need to look at that or make changes to that. I'm not sure what that is. The Bert Harris Act was mentioned in the executive summary for this item. As the attorney pointed out, that's my understanding that the Bert Harris Act is to try to rectify a loss or a wrong. And as the attorney pointed out, to this point there has been no loss to any of the claimants. Now we'll talk about the Land Development Code itself. A lot of time, a lot of effort went into that Land Development Code, and all of a sudden it's brought up. We need to look at it to repeal it or make amendments to it. A whole bunch of these things coming up at one time. I'm wondering if we're on a track to remove regulations and codes for developers so that they can do anything they want. But, really, we'd like to respectfully request that you vote no against repealing the amendments to the -- vote no on repealing or amending the Land Development Code for golf courses. April 11, 2023 Page 188 Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jody Job. She'll be followed by Gary Henderson. MS. JOB: Thanks. It's Jody Job. Thanks so much -- MR. MILLER: I'm so sorry. MS. JOB: That's okay. Everyone does it. Thanks so much for letting me speak here today. I am here on behalf, in part, of my mom right here, Jeannie Job. She's able to speak for herself but prefers me to, I think, maybe. She's -- you know, I'm going to say it. She's 92 years old. And she is completely on point. She keeps me on point most of the time, if I'm being honest. My parents bought their home in Riviera Golf Estates in 1999. They bought a home right on the golf course because they love the view and the space it afforded them. They had years of beautiful memories with their neighbors and friends, their peers, in this tight-knit 55-and-up golf community. My dad has since passed, but my 92-year-old mother still lives a vital active life at Riviera Golf community and enjoys reading her murder mysteries out on her lanai overlooking her golf course every day. Please do the right thing and preserve the golf course conversion code that has already been unanimously supported, and preserve this community and ensure it will remain a vital active community where seniors thrive. It's wrong to pull the rug out from under our seniors. They bought in a 55-and-up golf community. Repealing the well-researched and unanimously approved golf course zoning law sets a dangerous precedent not just for RGE but all seniors and residents, your constituents. In golf -- in golf communities across Collier County, as we can see here today, not only is it careless to April 11, 2023 Page 189 cram in more housing without care, it's not safe. It would subject these seniors to community congestion, dangerous flooding conditions, loss of property value, and a deterioration of their well-being and happiness. Please do the right thing for our Riviera Golf Estates law-abiding, taxpaying, voting residents. And, in fact, please support all of our senior citizens and for all our Collier County residents, your constituents. You can be their voice, and they won't forget you for it. Thank you so much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Gary Henderson. He'll be followed by Richard Ciarcia, I'm going to guess. MR. HENDERSON: Hi there. Gary Henderson, 921 Charlemagne, part of the Riviera Estates. And the reason I'm here is to ask you to not repeal the -- MR. MILLER: Can you get closer to the mic, please. MR. HENDERSON: Oh, sorry. I just like being here. I've got my "vote" socks on. I only get to wear these about four times a year. And to that point, I have a choice. I can either vote in an election, or I can vote with my feet. That's why these socks work well. And allowing willy-nilly golf developments to be redeveloped without a proper process is what I'll be doing, I'll be voting. I'll either be voting in an election, be one of the 27,502 -- COMMISSIONER HALL: One. MR. HENNING: I'll be the No. 2 if it's -- or -- you know, or I'd be voting with my feet because what I want is a district and a county that follows a process and a process that allows me the open access to ask the questions of the developers when they develop an area, a golf course. I understand golf courses don't always end up being golf courses all their life. It's -- you know, it's not like going to the old April 11, 2023 Page 190 course, which has been there since 1500. But I'm still waiting for these questions to be asked. And if we start repealing stuff or doing mediation, that circumvents the process of the Planning Commissions and the Collier County Commissions. And so I'm asking you to -- if you've got questions about your process, ask those questions to be reviewed, but just repealing something because you've got questions is the wrong methodology. And one of the questions I have for the developers is what are they going to do with the 2.5 million gallons of water that will be landing on those acreages that they will be redeveloping? How will that be processed? I've yet to receive an answer on that, not to mention over three gallons every minute when an inch of rain falls every minute; what happens to that water? So I haven't seen that in their -- in any of their proposals, and I want to have that process available to me so I can ask those questions. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Richard -- is it Ciarcia? MR. CIARCIA: Yes. MR. MILLER: And he will be followed on Zoom by Alan Carpenter. MR. CIARCIA: Hi. Hello again. Let's just look back at a point that I think we're missing in here. When the developer first bought the place back in 2005, at that time the building code per building was six feet high, and since the average level in -- where we are in Riviera it was about six feet. You know, it looked probable. But that 20-year standoff, that's what made the difference. In 2017 after the hurricane, the builder saw that this land requirement was going up, and so it was -- about that time was around 9 or 10 feet, and so that's when he tried to get the proposal April 11, 2023 Page 191 through again for the 2020. But when you look at that end of it, 6 feet versus the 2010 -- and with the feeling that it was an awful lot, that it was going to go higher and, obviously, it did. 2000 [sic] it went to 12 feet. That's when Fiala and a few of you came up with the thing. And it wasn't based on, you know, harassing or changing some -- making it difficult for a builder. It was based on this fact of this water requirement and the flooding out on that. So with that 12 feet, it became a state and federal requirement that you do something about it. So the builder saw that. When we met with them again, they figured, let's come out with a proposal to fix this. So they said, if we create more ponds -- well, they're filling in a few ponds, too. If those ponds are maintained at 3 feet -- I don't know how we do that. We had nothing to do with them before. If those pipes and everything else that go through the road and connect all the ponds are maintained with removing the silt so that the water could flow through it, then it should work. Well, that's if, if, if, and should. That's not a guarantee, a warranty, even a great guess. And they knew this, and that's when the requirement -- the three requirements that they were supposed to do was meet with us, then come out with a proposal, you know, saying what our -- what our requests are and what we're worried about -- they never did that -- and then come out with their land requirement thing on what they were going to fix. Well, obviously, they saw it wasn't going to work either. So based on these things, this seems like the easiest decisions in the, quote, history of decisions, to quote a little TV commercial on that end. On the final end of it, you guys have done a great job, you know, putting in parks, putting in soccer fields, sports parks, and pickleball, but one of the biggest requirements, because of the senior April 11, 2023 Page 192 end of it, is golf courses, maintaining these golf courses. Right now, even though it's in March and it's starting to turn off, these golf courses are full right to the end of the day. They're putting in, you know, a full end. It's almost 300 people, you know, per day on this end. He said that the golf course was not feasible economically. Even though he kept it horrible, that place was still putting in people into that end of it, and we know he was making money, because all the other golf courses were making record profits. Hibiscus alone was making -- reported $800,000 profit five years ago. The last part of it is that if this goes, obviously Lakewood goes, obviously Greenwood goes. Would Hibiscus be next? If the guy likes the money that much, I mean, the price of this land is just skyrocketing like crazy. And then how many other golf courses? And what have we done for the community for there [sic]? Thank you very much. MR. MILLER: Your final registered speaker on this item is Alan Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter, you're being prompted to unmute. I see you've done that, sir. You have three minutes. MR. CARPENTER: Thank you very much. I want to thank the commissioners for allowing this topic to be on the regular agenda. I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person to address you. My holiday travel plans were set a while ago. I just wanted to say, as a former in-house counsel for a number of companies, that I was a great believer in process, spent a lot of time in front of the US FDA, the NRC, DEA, HHS, EPA, you name it. Policy and procedure were sort of my forte, and you can call me the process guy. And I think what we're hearing today from both Attorney Whitt and Attorney Pires is that we implore you to follow our logical April 11, 2023 Page 193 process for major changes to the code, if any are warranted. And I wanted to just remind everybody that the Board previously voted in favor of having the county review -- county staff review the specific sections that seemed objectionable that led to these purported Bert Harris letters having to do with the dimensional requirements of the greenway. And that meeting was only three meetings ago on February 14 where the vote was taken and asked to direct staff to do that study and come back with recommendations. I think it's important to rely upon the staff in any logical planning process, and we all, as taxpayers as well as the commissioners yourselves, rely upon those experts, the land planners, the engineers, the attorneys, and others, for their respective expertise in their fields. So we sincerely request that they follow the process of studying the proposed changes, if any are needed, and to improve the process. We agree with continuous improvement for any code that needs adjustment. Finally, I'd just point out there's always the result or the rule of unintended consequences, which may come into play by anything as drastic as repealing a code, which is sort of like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Such an action could impact thousands of homes' values in golf course communities across the county. Thank you very much for your attention. MR. MILLER: And that was our final registered speaker on this item, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner McDaniel, you're lit up. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. Well, it was my name that was put on this, so I wanted you to hear why I made this April 11, 2023 Page 194 proposition. Two weeks ago, County Attorney, when you were sitting in my office and we were discussing the proposed zoning settlement for the Naples Links on the East Trail, what was your comment with regard to this ordinance? MR. KLATZKOW: It doesn't work, not as intended. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Agreed. Mr. Bosi, I just wanted folks to understand why we're here, why I made this suggestion. And I don't want to put words in your mouth. I just want to talk a little bit from your personal -- or from your opinion, not personal opinion, but your opinion with regard to this golf course ordinance and its functionality. Is it requisite -- was it extreme for me or for the suggestion to bring this back for a vote of repeal? MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning director. I won't offer any comment in terms of the extremism of the nature. I think what your request was related to was the number of Bert Harris claims that we have against the golf course conversion process. And, remember, I think there needs to be a clear distinction. The golf course, the intent-to-convert -- the intent-to-convert process has no decisions made within there. The golf course -- the intent-to-convert process was designed to promote dialogue between the developer and the existing homeowners within proximity to the golf course. It was -- took the concept of our neighborhood information meeting and kind of -- and blew it up even further. It said, we really want to get compromise. We want to explore is there compromise between the developer, what they're proposing within these -- within these existing golf courses and in the conversion process and the existing homeowners. Where is it we can find areas towards when it -- because after April 11, 2023 Page 195 the intent-to-convert process, there's no decision. Then after you're satisfied with your intent-to-convert process, then you're allowed to ask and petition this Board of County Commissioners, can we rezone from golf course -- in this particular case, in Riviera, it's golf course. In Ironwood it's zoned golf course. Both of these are unique in terms that they are zoned golf course, not zoned as part of a larger PUD that has a golf course component within it. And what we have found, both the Riviera and the -- and the Ironwood, there has -- there hasn't been the robust conversation we had hoped for. I think one of the speakers had said the intent-to-convert process has elicited a number of questions that they have arrived upon that they want to see answered during the rezoning process. So within their purview, they feel that the golf course conversion process has shed light onto things that they need to be more -- to ask questions about. But in terms of the give-and-take that we have designed for the golf course conversion, it hasn't happened. One of the things I did want to point out that is a requirement -- and the basis of the golf course conversion, the SOM -- so those are called stakeholder outreach meetings, they're required to have two of them where the developer goes and talks to the community and tries to find where they can maybe have some compromise in terms of how they're proposing. And the whole basis of -- and what I've highlighted within the intent-to-convert process -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's not showing up yet. MR. BOSI: Thank you, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There we go. MR. BOSI: Conceptual development plans. The basis of the intent-to-convert process is based upon conceptual development plans, and those conceptual development plans are not engineered, they're not stamped. They are the concepts, the concepts they want April 11, 2023 Page 196 to bring to talk to the community about; this is what we'd like to see. And then the idea is the community says, well, we're not in favor of that. We'd like to see the buffer in a little bit more robust manner. We'd like to see maybe higher setbacks, different arrangement of structures depending on if they're one-story, two-story, those type of things. That hasn't really been -- hasn't been provided for within the conversion process. But further within this intent-to-convert process, there is components that requires, and it's at odds with that concept plan that -- and we'll get back to that section that I had -- stormwater requirement -- or stormwater management requirements, they have to demonstrate that the stormwater management for surrounding uses will be maintained at an equivalent or an improved level of service. That should be demonstrated by a pre versus post development stormwater runoff analysis. So we're saying there's no zoning action during the intent-to-convert process. This is a process to stimulate discussion between the applicant and the existing residential community. It's based upon concept plans. But right here it's telling you that you've got -- you're spending dollars on engineered stormwater -- stormwater management requirements. That's an inconsistency within that code. That needs to be addressed. If the recommendation of the Board of County Commissioners was to seek areas for modification and improvement within this area, that is one of the areas. Next it says, floodplain compensation in accordance with Section 3.02 has to be provided. But how is -- it's hard to provide that level of specificity when you're dealing with concept plans. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And so -- and that's where -- you know, there again, this is where I -- you know, I'm trying to gather this. I mean, the County Attorney and I talked about April 11, 2023 Page 197 it not being a functioning ordinance, so the automatic -- the automatic was to repeal it, because we're getting all these requests of claim of Bert Harris and potential lawsuit and property takings and so ons and forth. Would you concur that the ordinance is not working? Or would you suggest -- because I'm totally fine with -- I mean, repealing it -- we don't have to repeal it. If there are aspects of the ordinance that staff is happy with that's offering some assurances, I'm totally fine with reviewing it, bringing back recommendations for necessary adjustments so that it is more functioning. I also want to hear from the County Attorney as to why he says it's not working. So I wanted to hear from you on that. MR. BOSI: I most certainly think that there are opportunities for improvements within it and I just highlighted on. The other aspect that I think -- and this gets to the heart of what -- why I think there was the motivation from the dais to potentially repeal this -- this section, and it has to do with -- the second portion says -- of B -- and it talks about -- this is about the greenway. This is what's required for a golf course. If a golf course wants to go -- move from a golf course to a non-golf course use or residential use, it's required to have a greenway, and that greenway is required to be a minimum average of 100 feet and no less than 50 feet at any one location. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Seventy-five. Seventy-five feet. MR. BOSI: I'm sorry. Thank you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: They know it better than you do. MR. BOSI: Yeah, I see that. So thank you. And so that component is a standard that's saying that's a requirement. That requirement is what is allowing the Ironwoods, is April 11, 2023 Page 198 allowing the Rivieras, allowing the Links to go straight to the Bert Harris Claim, because there's no residential development proposed in this county that would be next to a residential development that would require a 100-foot buffer. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. MR. BOSI: That's a unique aspect of -- if you have a golf course and you're transitioning to something, you are asking -- the government is asking that property owner to surrender more of his land than what would be required of any other developer. So that's problematic. And what -- the other aspect -- and if you look at A and its relation to it -- and it's been my interpretation that the Board of County Commissioners could deviate from any aspect of the golf course conversion, but the strict reading of that the language, the Board may approve alternative designs that was vetted at the stakeholder outreach as provided for in LDC Section 5.05.16.C.3. So there needs to be modifications to say that the Board of County Commissioners can make deviations from any and all components of the golf course conversion so you don't have a developer being able to say, we're going straight to Bert Harris because there's 100 feet that's being dictated of my property. And from a -- from a taking standpoint, they can make a pretty strong foundation that we are being treated uniquely because we are a golf course compared to any other land use within -- because there's no other component within our zoning code that would require such a dedication of land. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Would we not have sufficient protection within the existing LDC for a conversion of a golf course for the residents and the people that are impacted by it? Would this board be able to -- again, not everybody's going to be happy, but do we not already have sufficient protection for residents that reside next April 11, 2023 Page 199 to within the LDC, the existing LDC, without this conversion? MR. BOSI: The existing, without this, would not have the requirements for the -- requirement for the additional greenways and the width of them and the average lengths and the specific definitions. What you would have, you would have the rezone process, you would have a neighborhood information meeting where there would be promotion -- try to promote a little bit more dialogue. But -- but you would always have the ability to impose additional standards of additional buffering, additional setbacks in relationship to where the proposed development could actually be. So from that perspective -- from that perspective, rezone -- the rezone process does allow for the Board of County Commissioners to make specific impositions. But the intent-to-convert process is designed specifically to suggest what could be appropriate. I think there's areas of improvement within the intent-to-convert process if it's the will of the Board to direct staff to modify or seek amendments to the golf course conversion, and at that time, if you felt that it wasn't sufficient enough, you could -- you could ask for additional or you could tell us at the time that you felt that the repeal was the appropriate action. I'm not -- you know -- so from staff's perspective, you know, we're ready to take the direction -- the policy direction from the Board of County Commissioners, but there are aspects of the intent-to-convert process that simply do not work. The requirements for the floodplain compensation and the water management, that's a rezone aspect. That's not a conceptual planning aspect. That's not necessarily needed to promote the dialogue. What you're trying to find out is if we had a -- if we had the golf course and we put the residential development in this location and we had a 100-foot green space buffer, does that satisfy your concerns? And then the residents could have some April 11, 2023 Page 200 give-and-take back with the developers. That's how we had hoped to do it. What has happened is both positions have become entrenched, whereas it's simply we don't want residential development, and we're not going to participate. And the developer is saying, well, if you don't want it, then there's nothing else for us to talk about. That's what we've had from Riviera. That's what we've had from Ironwood. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Gotcha. MR. BOSI: I was at -- I was at the meeting. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: This isn't part -- do you want to correct them? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. Just -- I think everybody knows the kind of decorum and professionalism we want to have in here. So this is a commissioner talking to one of our staff members. If you want to come to the podium, you've already had that chance. So let's -- go ahead, sirs. MR. BOSI: And all I'm saying is the dialogue is not exchanging between the two parties. That's what I'm saying. We need to do better at trying to promote -- to codify that activity, because that's the intent of what it was trying to do, to try to promote better conversations between the developer and the existing residential community, and we haven't gotten that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understand that now. And your -- you know, the best intentions of mice and men, and I understand the intent. I supported the original golf course conversion ordinance when it came through. My comments and quotes were read. And, Dan, it was in the -- Dan? He's back there talking to the county clerk. He's not listening to me right now, but because it was in the Naples Daily News, it had to be true. The question that I have is back over to the County Attorney, April 11, 2023 Page 201 and that is your statement to me of this ordinance is not working, what's the premise of that? MR. KLATZKOW: Mr. Bosi and I are completely on the same page. The original intent was to have super meetings, super neighborhood information meetings where the residents can get together with the golf course developer and hopefully reach some sort of accommodation. What's happened is that the residents have said, no way, no rezone. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. MR. KLATZKOW: And the discussions were -- they were not profitable in any manner. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So the question is -- and this is where I come back around -- what's the -- what's the -- what's the rationale of having a golf course conversion ordinance if the -- if the property owner has to rezone the piece of property -- has to ask for a rezone of the piece of property? Why would we -- why would we have this even at all? I mean -- and then it's up to the developer and the residents, and I'm using Riviera because I see all the shirts. It's up to the developer and the residents of the community as to whether and what they actually, in fact, propose. MR. KLATZKOW: Because the original intent was to have the community and the developer come together on an agreed redevelopment plan rather than having food fights before the Planning Commission and ultimately this Board. But if residents, as a matter of human nature, are not going to have discussions with the developer, all right, then the entire underlying foundation of the golf course ordinance just collapses. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And so the rationale, then, becomes the developer is meeting with resistance because of an intent to communicate by this golf course conversion ordinance. He's meeting resistance, so he automatically defaults to the Bert Harris for April 11, 2023 Page 202 a taking that hasn't, in fact, transpired similar to -- MR. KLATZKOW: That's a different issue. My own feeling is that you may have a -- let's just say -- a lightweight suit, all right, and they'll go for the Bert Harris hoping to extract some sort of settlement because they know the rezone is a difficult row to hoe. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. MR. KLATZKOW: So the unintended result of this ordinance is that the developer has some incentive to sue the county over it because they're concerned they'll never get their rezone. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. MR. KLATZKOW: That's personal opinion. I could be in error on that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And there again, the reason -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Sir, sir, please. Go ahead, sir. Sir, please. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So the reason that we're here is because -- you and I talked about this, and you were of the opinion that this ordinance is not working and needs to be repealed. MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, however, if Mr. Bosi feels that it can be tinkered with and made better, I would be more than happy to work with him on that. MR. BOSI: And I would say, when you asked a question of why the intent-to-convert process before the rezoning process, the rezoning process allows for the avenue with the neighborhood information meeting and the Planning Commission give-and-take. The whole purpose of the SOM was to say, before you get to the pressure of the Planning Commission, before you get to the pressure of the BCC when things are being decided, when it's now April 11, 2023 Page 203 happening -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Going to happen. MR. BOSI: -- this is before the rezone process, we're going to craft out two specific meetings to try to promote that conversation. What we have found is that conversation just hasn't been robust in the nature, and it has not resulted in a lot of compromises from both of those processes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So consequently, then, if you're okay with this, I'm going to change this from a recommendation of repeal to a recommendation of study it and amendments offered up by staff. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I've got a couple. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Bosi's raising his hand. Is he saying two? Is that "peace" or -- MR. BOSI: No, sir. I just wanted to remind you -- and the speaker -- one of the speakers, I believe the last Zoom speaker, did remind you, you did direct the County Attorney to work with me to make amendments to the -- and we have started that process of identifying areas where we think that the improvements can be made to the intent-to-convert process. So we are -- I think we've gotten a -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It already happened back in February, I think. MR. BOSI: So we are -- so we have started that process of identifying -- of trying to improve the intent-to-convert process based upon that prior direction that the Board provided, I think it was a couple meetings ago. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders, and then Commissioner Kowal, then Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. April 11, 2023 Page 204 I think all of -- I know Commissioner McDaniel had brought up the idea of repealing this, but four of us asked this to be pulled off the consent agenda. I assume it was because none of the four of us want to repeal this. And now Commissioner McDaniel agrees that maybe repeal is not the proper thing. So I would -- I'd like to see us take this ordinance, come back with amendments. I think the whole idea was to make sure that golf course communities had a couple bites at the apple, if you will, in terms of what's going to happen in their neighborhood. And so this process kind of slows things down a little bit. I understand that they have to go through a rezone process. But I like the idea of communities having this advance warning, trying to work things out, and if it doesn't work in terms of working things out, that's fine. They're still going to come to us. So I would make the motion -- unless Commissioner McDaniel's already done that -- to have staff work on this ordinance, try to fix it, and -- but not to -- not to repeal it. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal, and then Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman. Actually, that was my note was to make a motion not to take it as what it's written today as a total. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll withdraw my motion so you can make the motion. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: But the same -- same motion. And the reason I say that, if we went forward with the language that was here before us -- you know, I can't say what the future will bring or what will happen with golf courses and their neighboring communities, but what I do know, what will happen today if this would pass the way it is written, it would affect 6,002 rooftops in our community today. April 11, 2023 Page 205 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So make the motion. I'll second it. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So I would like to motion to have this reviewed by staff, make amendments or not, and bring it back at a later date for discussion. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Hall, did you have comments? COMMISSIONER HALL: I did have a question for Mr. Bosi. So listening to the comments, it seems to be the theme is is if this LDC goes away, it makes it an easier path for the developer, and I didn't see it that way at all. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. COMMISSIONER HALL: That wasn't the reason why we wanted to repeal this. The reason why we were entertaining about repealing was because the intent and the process that we wanted to initiate was not effective. If that's -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. COMMISSIONER HALL: If that's what I'm -- so that was -- I just wanted to make it clear, the entertaining of this LDC, of it going away, is in -- by no means trying to make it easier for the developer. There's still a rezoning process and still a process that he would have to go. I've listened to -- I've read every email that I've gotten, and I can tell you that I agree with just -- I agree with them. So I'm hearing you, and I'm listening to you. But the question I have for Mr. Bosi is, if this Land Development Code, if the intent to convert went away, does that limit our -- does that limit our position in any way in considering other rezoning changes? MR. BOSI: No, it doesn't. It doesn't change any of the criteria or any of the compatibility and analysis or any of the evaluations that April 11, 2023 Page 206 the Board would make. COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. Does it -- does it open up any other land uses or any other easier paths of least resistance for any other developers if this goes away? MR. BOSI: I would have to say it does make it easier, because the intent-to-convert process is about a nine-month process to a year process. So it does -- you have to satisfy that before you can get to the rezoning. So it does -- and I think Commissioner Saunders had highlighted it. It does slow the process down and allows the adjoining residential community to sort of get their hands around the issues in a little bit more of a robust way. COMMISSIONER HALL: Thanks. In that case, I'll support the motion and the second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. No, I'm good. Let's -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I think we've got a motion and a second to send it back to staff and come back to us with better verbiage and more analysis. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I did have one quick question from the County Attorney, and this goes back to the -- this flurry of Bert Harris Claims. Is there -- have you had specific language with Mr. Bosi with regard to amendments that would reduce that exposure? MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah. I believe we've had some conversations, yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Okay. That's all for now. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. We've got a motion and a second to send it back to the staff, give us some more eloquence and detail, and then, obviously, I'd encourage citizens to continue to stay April 11, 2023 Page 207 engaged and -- all in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. So, Mom, 92 years old, how do you think your daughter did at the podium? She did all right? Not too bad, huh? She did okay? Your daughter did all right at the podium? JEANNIE JOB: (Nods head.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We're going to take a break, and we will come back at, let's say -- let's say 4:50, and then hopefully that will be our last break. (A brief recess was had from 4:36 p.m. to 4:50 p.m.) MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic now. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let's get started on 11B. Item #11B AUTHORIZE BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO RECOGNIZE $23,233,000 IN REVENUES DEPOSITED IN THE SOLID WASTE CAPITAL FUND (474) RECEIVED FROM THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA) RELATED TO THE HURRICANE IAN DEBRIS REMOVAL EXPEDITED EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT, AND RETURN BUDGETED FUNDS BACK TO THE ORIGINAL FUNDING SOURCES WHICH INCLUDE WATER/SEWER OPERATIONS FUND (408) ($8,913,500), WATER CAPITAL FUND (412) ($8,909,869), SOLID April 11, 2023 Page 208 WASTE DISPOSAL FUND (470) ($2,151,700), AND CAPITAL PROJECTS WITHIN THE SOLID WASTE CAPITAL FUND (474) ($3,257,931). (CHRIS JOHNSON, INTERIM DIRECTOR – CORPORATE FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HALL – APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: Yes. 11B is a recommendation to authorize budget amendments to recognize $23,233,000 in revenues deposited in the Solid Waste Capital Fund received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency related to the Hurricane Irma debris removal expedited expense reimbursement and return budgeted funds back to the original funding sources which include Water/Sewer Operations Funds, Water Capital Fund, Solid Waste Disposal Fund, and capital projects within the Solid Waste Capital Fund. Mr. Chris Johnson, your interim director of Corporate Financial and Management Services, is here to answer questions. And just a reminder to the Board that this is on the agenda, number one, as a good-news item, but, number two, because of the dollar amount. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll make a motion to approve. COMMISSIONER HALL: Second. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I've got a motion and second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Fourth. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. April 11, 2023 Page 209 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. MR. JOHNSON: Thank you, everyone. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Spend it wisely. Item #11C AN OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE BUDGET IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,200,000, IN FISCAL YEAR 2023 (FY23), FOR THE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED INTERIM NORTHEAST COUNTY WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY (NECWRF) AND POTABLE WATER STORAGE TANK AND PUMP STATION, AUTHORIZE TWELVE (12) ADDITIONAL FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT POSITIONS, AND AUTHORIZE ALL NECESSARY FY23 BUDGET AMENDMENTS. (CRAIG PAJER, SUBREGIONAL UTILITIES DIRECTOR) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS –APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: Item 11C is a recommendation to approve an operations and maintenance budget in the amount of $1,200,000 in Fiscal Year 2023 for the newly constructed interim Northeast County Water Reclamation Facility and Potable Water Storage Tank and Pump Station, authorize 12 additional full-time-equivalent positions, and authorize all necessary FY '23 budget amendments. Dr. George Yilmaz is here to start the presentation or answer questions. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So that's a new station, and putting money and people into it, basically, is the summary, right? Do I April 11, 2023 Page 210 have a motion to approve or any questions for Dr. Yilmaz? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Motion to approve. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a motion and a second. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. MS. PATTERSON: Thank you. COMMISSIONER HALL: Good job, Doctor. MR. YILMAZ: Thank you, sir. Item #14B1 A PILOT TEST PROGRAM WITH ECOLOGICAL LABORATORIES OF CAPE CORAL FLORIDA TO MONITOR AND DOCUMENT THE RESULT OF USING ECOLOGICAL LABORATORIES PRODUCT “QUANTUM GROWTH SERIES” A SOIL AND PLANT MICROBIAL INOCULANT WITHIN THE EXISTING LANDSCAPE RIGHT OF WAY WITHIN THE BAYSHORE GATEWAY TRIANGLE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA (BGTCRA) AND ACCEPT THE DONATION OF THE PRODUCT. (DEBRAH FORESTER, COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY DIVISION DIRECTOR) MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER HALL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL - April 11, 2023 Page 211 APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: That moves us to Item 14, Community Redevelopment Agency. Item 14B1 is a recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners approve a pilot test program with Ecological Laboratories of Cape Coral, Florida, to monitor and document the results of using Ecological Laboratories' product "Quantum Growth Series," a soil and plant microbial inoculant with the existing landscape right-of-way within the Bayshore/Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment Area, and accept the donation of the project. Ms. Deb Forester, your Community Redevelopment Agency division director, is here to answer questions or make a brief presentation. MS. FORESTER: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the record, Deborah Forester, CRA director. This concept was first initiated back in May of 2022 at a joint BCC workshop with our CRA Advisory Board and our Bayshore Beautification Advisory Board, and at that time the commissioners were supportive for us to look further into this product. So today we are here with a pilot test program with protocols that have been vetted through county staff, through the University of Florida extension service, and the Naples Botanical Garden has also given us feedback. So with that, I can go through the presentation, or if you have any specific questions about the product, we do have a representative here from Ecological Laboratories that can answer product-specific questions. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Just two questions. This is on a donation basis, right? It's not costing the county or any taxpayers April 11, 2023 Page 212 any money to do this pilot program? MS. FORESTER: That's correct, sir. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: And the second is basically what we're trying to achieve is get off of the harsh fertilizers that we typically use and have some of the other to cut down on that? MS. FORESTER: Correct, to reduce our dependency on nitrogen-based fertilizer, if appropriate. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I have a question. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Go ahead, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want me to hit my light? I mean, it makes perfect sense. Are negative impacts from this -- known negative impacts from -- maybe I should ask him. MS. FORESTER: Yes, ask him. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And is he going to -- or you, it doesn't really matter. Are there known negative impacts coming? MR. SANE: No, sir, no negative impacts. THE COURT REPORTER: Can I get your name? MR. SANE: Aaron Sane. I run the agriculture, horticulture, and turf division for Ecological Laboratories. We're a bacterial manufacturer located in Cape Coral. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. COMMISSIONER HALL: Does it stink? MR. SANE: It has a strong odor. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It has a strong odor. MR. SALES: Yeah. Hydrogen sulfide. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So... COMMISSIONER HALL: I make a motion to approve. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I've got a motion to approve. Do I have a second? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Second. April 11, 2023 Page 213 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Motion and a second. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. Item #14B2 THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, ACTING AS THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD (CRA), DIRECT STAFF TO GIVE AT LEAST 30 DAYS PUBLIC NOTICE OF ITS INTENT TO SELL, LEASE, OR OTHERWISE TRANSFER APPROXIMATELY 1.84 ACRES OF CRA-OWNED PROPERTY AT THE CORNER OF THOMASSON DRIVE AND BAYSHORE DRIVE IN THE BAYSHORE GATEWAY TRIANGLE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA, AND INVITE PROPOSALS FROM, AND MAKE ALL PERTINENT INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO, PRIVATE REDEVELOPERS OR ANY PERSONS INTERESTED IN UNDERTAKING TO REDEVELOP OR REHABILITATE THIS PARCEL. (DEBRAH FORESTER, COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY DIVISION DIRECTOR) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS – APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: Item 14B2 is a recommendation that the April 11, 2023 Page 214 Board of County Commissioners, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, direct staff to give at least 30 days' public notice of its intent to sell, lease, or otherwise transfer appropriately 1.84 acres of CRA-owned property at the corner of Thomasson Drive and Bayshore Drive in the Bayshore/Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment Area and invite proposals from and make all pertinent information available to private redevelopers and persons interested in undertaking to redevelop or rehabilitate this parcel. Again, Ms. Deborah Forester, Community Redevelopment Agency division director, is here to make a brief presentation or answer your questions. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: That's formerly Del's, obviously, right, for the record? MS. FORESTER: Yes. It's formerly known as Del's Corner. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right. Okay. Any questions? Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are we deviating from our normal process when we get an unsolicited offer for government properties here? MS. FORESTER: No. We're following the same process that you approved, basically, with Catholic Charities. I do have representatives here from Naples Cinematique to give you a brief overview if you would like to hear from them before we would go forward with the 30-day notice provision. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, I don't think we need to do that. I'll make a motion for approval. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Got a motion and second. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. April 11, 2023 Page 215 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. MS. FORESTER: Thank you very much. Item #15A PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA BY INDIVIDUALS NOT ALREADY HEARD DURING PREVIOUS PUBLI COMMENTS IN THE MEETING MS. PATTERSON: Item 15, staff and commission general communications. Item 15A is public comments on general topics not on the current or future agenda by individuals not already heard during the previous public comments in this meeting. MR. MILLER: We have no such registered speakers. MS. PATTERSON: Excellent. Item #15B1 ROCK CRUSHING UPDATE - PRESENTED WITH REQUEST TO PURSUE CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR NEXT MEETING Item 15B1, this is staff project updates. We do have an update on rock crushing. Ms. Jaime Cook, your Development Review division director -- maybe I got it right this time -- is here to present. April 11, 2023 Page 216 MS. COOK: You did. Thank you. Jaime Cook, Development Review director at Growth Management/Community Development. Since the last board meeting, you'll have noticed in the weekly report that I had provided to you, they'd only crushed about 3,500 cubic yards. So staff is estimating that we're actually about halfway there with the crushing. They do have new equipment installed. A new densifier was installed last week. And so they now have three machines actually preparing the material for the crushing portion of the activities. They've been separating out the construction debris, the rebar, the other metal and materials that cannot be crushed. So last week they separated what they estimated to be about 5,600 cubic yards of material that can be crushed this week. So hopefully we are going to see that number go up this week. And they have moved further into the site. So they are actually now closer to the Boys and Girl Club than they are to Santa Barbara and Davis at the corner. But, again, we're about halfway there. So at the next Board meeting -- the next Board meeting will be the last Board meeting before that May 1st deadline that we would need your approval to either let them continue to crush past May 1st or an alternative method of removal. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I mean, I said this before, and I think we're at that point, but I'll see what my colleagues think as far as, you know, if there's an appetite for it. But I just think it's time to burn the candle at both ends. And I realize that, you know, six months ago there was, you know, maybe no appetite for the -- you know, let's remove rock that's uncrushed as quickly as we're crushing it. And, you know, at the time it was, oh, too many trucks and traffic and dust. April 11, 2023 Page 217 But I've been out to the site, and there's some very large pieces that are going to be crushed very, very slowly when they get to those. And I -- you know, the proposal I had made is -- and it's not optimum. A year ago we wouldn't have said that, but we're sitting here a couple weeks away from 1 May, and we knew this was coming. So -- and I think Commissioner Kowal sort of echoed this as well, you know. I mean, I think the citizens in this area would put up with the fleet of trucks for however long to be removing larger pieces that would take a long time to crush while they're crushing the things that are easier to crush. I mean, even the contractor said, well, we got some pieces that are loaded with rebar and all kinds of other things. You can't crush those as quickly as some of the other pieces. So, I mean, I don't want to oversimplify this thing, but I just sit here and say, I'd like to just see more activity there. I mean, hearing that they're halfway through, and we were sitting here a year ago and -- you know, and now they're only half. I just think the time has come to set aside inconvenience and accelerate speed. And, you know, my proposal would be -- I mean, I'm just talking out loud, especially since this is in my district. I would love for our staff to have that conversation with the contractor, if I had the support of the commissioners here, to tell us how that could be done. And I realize it's not optimum. If the landowner was here, they'd hem and haw and say, oh, we've got an extra piece of equipment, you know, if you give us another few months, I mean -- I just -- I just think we're at the point now where, you know, realistically hauling out the big pieces and either bringing it to the dump or if it can be utilized in an artificial reef or somebody wanted to take it or what have you, but to crush every remaining piece of rock that's on there, we're going to be sitting here in September, October and counting up the last little bits. And I think we've passed that point of no return. April 11, 2023 Page 218 So the bite out of the apple I would take is is it feasible for the staff to talk with the contractor if we had support here from the commissioners to say, you know, our direction is we'd like to know a plan to remove uncrushed rock as quickly as you're simultaneously crushing the easy stuff. Their own word was some of it's easier to crush than other pieces. So remove the parts that are hard and -- or, you know, difficult to crush, and crush the things that are easy, and then you're increasing your -- you know, your work -- your productivity by a factor of two. So that's just me talking out loud. I don't know if I've got comments from my colleagues here. But I'm not -- I'm not pleased with, you know, 2,000 cubic yards every single week, and then something breaks. And that's the other thing we have to also allow for. You know, I mean, you can come back here in two weeks and it's like, oh, two things broke again, and, you know, we have to fly in parts from Switzerland. And, you know, we said 1 May. We knew that was always going to be a little bit, you know -- probably wasn't going to be precise. But I think hearing we're only halfway, I'd like to just see some of that material, you know, removed. And if they need to do something else magical to increase the elevation of that -- of that lot, I'd just like to know what the options are. So maybe -- I'm not being as directive. I guess what I'd like to know is a strategy plan that would implement that as a possible option. MS. COOK: So staff did look into the cost of if they were to stop at this point and not do any additional crushing and remove everything and haul it to the landfill. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Well, but that's not -- but that's not what I'm saying. MS. COOK: I believe the cost would come out somewhere April 11, 2023 Page 219 between, like, 8- and 13 million. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, but that's not what I'm saying. I wouldn't want them to stop anything. What I'm saying is, even if removing the -- whatever, you know, 20 percent of the largest piece is, if that scraped off a month of crushing -- because, I mean, by their own admission, there's some pieces that -- the reason the numbers are low is there's some pieces that are very difficult to crush. So why wouldn't we remove those? But I don't think anybody up here is going to approve stoppage. So if we do nothing right now, on 1 May you know what the vote's going to be: Keep going. We already stopped them once. But, you know, my suggestion is, why don't we remove the most -- the more difficult pieces while they continue crushing? If that was happening, I'd feel better about extending the time frame. Number one, you'd have to. I mean, it's not going to be a solution to crush it and leave it out there as an eyesore. So we've got to keep going. But at least we would know they were burning the candle at both ends. MS. COOK: And staff is happy to sit down with the contractor and figure out a game plan moving forward. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: They wouldn't be removing all the material, so it wouldn't be 8 million. It would be keep crushing with the stuff you have. But what -- what algorithm could you use and how much do you think that that would shave off of the time? So what do my colleagues think? Anybody pushing a button here? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I kind of agree. We need a contingency plan. And every time you have an operation, at some point you have to have a contingency plan to get to an end result. So -- and as we said in the past, they set that date; we didn't. And I don't know -- I think history's correct; we didn't really stop April 11, 2023 Page 220 them. They let their permit expire, and I think that put a stop prior to me being here, but -- MS. COOK: Yes. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: -- they had the opportunity to come back. And that's when they set their May 1st date. So, yeah, I wouldn't have a problem if staff wants to sit down, have a contingency plan, you know, with an operation of -- dual operation of crushing and removal of things they feel that are going to be, you know, harder to do. They may even break down their equipment because of the extra building material that may be in there, hidden in there that they're not finding with the densifiers. So, yes. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I mean, business as usual isn't the answer. I mean, so I guess even keeping it wide open. Bring us back a contingency plan for something else, not just keep at it and try hard and, you know, bring two more workers out there. I think they made it very clear they feel they have the maximum amount of equipment out there that their company can bring out there. So if that's not true, then the contingency plan should be, hey, they just found five crushers, in South Dakota; they're bringing them here, and they're going to be done in June. Okay, great. But I actually think that's probably the best verbiage is I would love to hear a contingency plan for something that's going to accelerate finality on that lot and, really, cost, that's -- that's their problem. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I agree with you again. It's -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Terri, you got that? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Terri wrote that down. I'd like to -- you know, as you said, the May 1st date was a date that they picked, but I'd like to see -- I'd like to see from -- have our staff come back to us, having met with the contractor, to offer us April 11, 2023 Page 221 alternatives. And I think -- and we still have time in our next meeting to actually have that discussion. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: What I would offer, too, is to Commissioner McDaniel's point, we have time in the next meeting, but between the next meeting -- from today and the next meeting, I would at least like you to have dialogue with me, since it's in my district, so that I could sort of vet out and make sure that I know when we come back at the next meeting, I'm not hearing it for the first time, because if I don't like what I hear, and I think I know my colleagues well enough to go, oh, that's not going to float, they didn't sharpen their pencil enough, we have a window, then, so that at our next meeting we at least have something that -- and any of the commissioners could task you, obviously, Ms. Cook, and, say, you know, come to my office. But I'd like you to meet with them sooner than later, and I don't want to be -- I don't want to hear the surprise answer two weeks from now. And even if it's just an email back and forth: We met with the contractor. They're bringing out one more piece of equipment, but they also are -- here's the contingency plan for removal or something magical that we haven't thought of. I would just like that sometime -- even to all of us -- between now and the next meeting so the next meeting's really fruitful and that, you know, we're not, like I said, hearing it for the first time. Does that sound -- COMMISSIONER HALL: I'm in. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. MS. COOK: Absolutely. I will call the contractor when I leave here and get something scheduled. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I mean, we always knew May 1st was loose, but I don't think anybody sat up here thinking, well, we know it's not May 1st. It could be November 1st. Maybe that's what they thought, but none of us were thinking that. And April 11, 2023 Page 222 it's -- it's got to be, you know, much tighter. We're not going to roll into season again, you know, now that we're sort of rolling into off season, and we still have activity out there. So it's -- got to knock it out, so, okay -- MS. COOK: Sure. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thanks. MS. COOK: Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: What's next, Ms. Patterson? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: We're to staff communications at this point. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. MS. PATTERSON: So we'll start here. We did speak with each one of you about Public Utilities and the unusual circumstance we find ourselves in with the increases in all their commodities, chemicals. So we wanted to advise you, both individually and collectively, that we're working with our rate consultant for options on how to address that. There is an already-approved and scheduled increase for 10/1 of 4.7 percent. It includes a mix of CPI as well as a rate adjustment. Some ideas that have been brought forward by our rate consultant would be to accelerate that to an earlier date as well as evaluate any additional CPI that needs to be included. We are in a rate study, so I want to provide assurance that we're moving that rate study along, and any interim adjustments that are made in the meantime would be considered when we go and present those rates. So it's not a -- it's not a layering. It would just simply be a timing issue. So with your concurrence, we will be working to bring back some options for the Board to consider. There are notice provisions that have to be met by way of the utility bills, so that's another consideration for timing. April 11, 2023 Page 223 I don't know if you had anything else to add, Dan? MR. RODRIGUEZ: I think we covered it all. MS. PATTERSON: Okay. Other than that, we have nothing else. County Attorney? MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing. Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER HALL: I just want to thank you, thank everybody, thank all the colleagues for the discussion earlier. I appreciated it. Never going to hurt my feelings ever. Always speak your mind. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I have a couple of things. I'll go -- I want to have a little discussion and ask our County Attorney about the -- it was brought up with regard to the Bert Harris claims that have been coming -- that have been coming at us, about our policy, how we manage these claims. And it was suggested by one of the counsel that spoke to us earlier that maybe we engage with an outside counsel to help represent us when these claims come forward. MR. KLATZKOW: And we have outside counsel to do that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We do? MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, we do. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. How did we get to your office negotiating an offer to settle a Bert Harris Claim two weeks ago? MR. KLATZKOW: The statute requires it. The statute -- what happens is you get a notice of claim, and as part of that, you're supposed to sit down with them, eventually make an offer. That will be the Board that makes the offer, not me. Staff and I will have a recommendation for you. But, ultimately, it's the April 11, 2023 Page 224 Board. And that could be that they can pound sand. I mean, it's whatever the Board wants to do. But we're simply following the statutory mechanism. One little thing I added was to get a mediator in there because it greatly enhances the chance of actually getting something done, and we will -- we have invited the community to attend the mediation as well, and hopefully something can get done. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Well, I guess maybe I'm looking for a little more clarity as far as your office being involved sooner. And, again, that Naples Links project is disturbing to me, because it seemed like there was a lot of communication from our Zoning and Planning staff to the developer or to the property owner who made the claim for quite some time before it actually got to the Board and to our senior staff as -- MR. KLATZKOW: I worked with staff on that. So you know that that offer was a collaboration between my office and Mr. Bosi's office, and we brought it to the Board, and the Board took action. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. KLATZKOW: Again, that's just the process, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Would it behoove us to maybe clarify the process so that -- so that the Board's involved sooner than a negotiated settlement? MR. KLATZKOW: I can't call it a shade session on that because there's no suit that's been filed, all right? But if you'd like, I can -- I can bring it up to Claims. I mean, I do give the Board a quarterly report of all the outstanding claims and am happy to talk about them publicly. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. I think maybe we should do that. I don't know. I mean, how do my colleagues feel about this? I say, "I don't know." I just -- I -- other than -- other than the report that comes out on the quarterly basis -- April 11, 2023 Page 225 MR. KLATZKOW: I would prefer to talk off-line on this rather than publicly. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's what I was going to suggest. It's best to do it one on one. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. All right. The other item that I'd like to talk -- I have two other items that I'd like to talk about, one of which is we've been asked -- I've been asked -- Trinity Scott sent me a draft of a letter of support. We all know about the Governor's legislation with regard to Moving Florida Forward. There was a large sum of money that was coming into the -- coming out of the -- this legislative session, and it's being, for lack of a better term, it's being whacked. It's being hit really, really hard. I would like for -- and in Collier County, the improvements to our infrastructure are gone. And so I would like for our board to send a letter of support for the Moving Florida Forward initiative as it was originally proposed. And so, Ms. Scott, I think I've -- I think Christina has left me for the day. Would you send that draft letter of support to my colleagues? I'd be happy to sign that letter, but I think it might carry a little more weight if our chair signed that. And I'd like you gentlemen to review that in advance. And can we get that done outside of a normal meeting? Because it needs to happen fairly quickly. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We can just authorize you to sign a letter or distribute it, and we don't have to have another meeting on it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So if you would, Trinity, send that -- okay. I'm getting a thumbs up. So we'll do that. And if it meets with your approval -- we can reply back to Trinity. April 11, 2023 Page 226 And if it meets with everyone's approval, then the Chairman can sign it, so... And then last, but not least, and I forgot -- didn't forget. We ran out of time yesterday, Amy. There's a discussion with the city on the interlocals. MS. PATTERSON: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can we have a -- do you have a quick update on that? MS. PATTERSON: Sure. Actually, I'm going to look at Mr. Rodriguez for that. MR. RODRIGUEZ: Good late afternoon. Commissioners, in speaking, or actually emailing, with the city manager -- Jay with the City of Naples, they plan to come back to the county with a recommendation in early May. They're using April to kind of put their recommendation together and get it to their council people. So we should see something here early May. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. That's all I have. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I just want to say that we had another very -- a telling meeting, and I think we all tested our constitutional values up here today, and I think we -- we did a great job once again. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I do have one project that I want to update the Board on real quickly and then ask staff for some further direction. In the one-cent sales tax, there was $15 million allocated for a vocational education facility. This was a facility that the county would build and the school district would operate. And I know there's been ongoing conversations between the county staff and school board staff. April 11, 2023 Page 227 But I wanted the Board -- the Board may not be aware of this. I had a friend, actually, who donated a building on Golden Gate Parkway. And you're probably familiar with it. It's a white building. It's empty. If you drive down Golden Gate Park as you approach 951 on the south side of Golden Gate Park, there's a white building there, two-story building. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's the one in front of the golf course. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Jimmy Mags, or whatever it was? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. It was purchased -- it was -- the exterior was reconstructed. It has dirt floors, so the owner never was able to really make any economic use of it and needed some tax deductions and, quite frankly, asked me if the county would be interested in accepting it, and, of course, the answer was yes, and we did. What makes that piece of property and that building valuable is that there is a court-ordered right for the owner of that building to use 200 parking spaces in that parking lot. So the building has not only the building and the plot of land that it's on, but the right to use 200 parking spaces. So the school board has evaluated that property and determined that this would work well for this vocational educational facility. The good news is we have $15 million in the budget for that. This remodel of the building will cost about $5 million. There may be some chargeback to this one-cent sales tax for the value of the land. But I just wanted to see if staff could -- I know you're talking to the school board. Maybe at our next meeting or meeting in May -- there's no hurry. Give you a few extra weeks -- our meeting in May to just kind of let us know how that project -- what we can do April 11, 2023 Page 228 to move it along. I know that the school folks, I think, are excited about this vocational facility, and I think it's a great location for it. There's a tremendous working community there, and this should provide some real benefit, so -- MS. PATTERSON: We -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- I wanted the Board to know that we had that piece of property and that opportunity there. MS. PATTERSON: We'd been working well on this issue with the school board and staff, and then with the change of superintendent, had to make sure -- and the changes to the school board -- we had to make sure that everybody was still heading in the same direction, which it appears that we are. The intent is to have this to the Surtax Committee in June, so coming back to you all with an update in May will be timely, and we'll have some information to share. But is -- it's exciting for it to be located there. They're just down the road in leased space, so we're working through that. And it does give the opportunity for potentially some growth on that site, as we have a government site there. So they're not -- you know, the size of that building works well for them and also just thinking about what the future might hold as it fits into that as well. So we'll come back with an update. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. If you-all remember, a few meetings ago, a couple meetings ago, the properties -- Conservation Collier properties, remember, List 10A, List 11, List 11A, what's the appraisal, what's the -- where are they? What did we buy? We're sitting on our hands. We've done nothing. I tasked the staff to come up with basically a -- basically a multipage -- one-page sort of April 11, 2023 Page 229 snapshot for us. And I've got the draft here. You'll get the final one. But this is going to be very valuable to just have in your hip pocket. And what it shows is List 10, List 11A, List 11B, all the properties by name, where they are, the acreage size, the -- and we made a couple changes. The new one you'll see will have the appraised value, what we offered. So you could say, appraised for 86,000, offered 86,000. No extenuating circumstances. You might see a couple appraised for 1.2 million, offered 800,000. Took it because it was one of those extenuating circumstances. And then the last column says, appraisal pending, conversation with owner, closed, bought. And so it will be something that we have so we won't sort of catch those rocks anymore from folks, or if you get a question about a particular lot, you'll have the document. So it needed a little bit -- a little bit of tweaking, and the staff's working on it, but it will be something that will come to all of us, and it will be a living, breathing document, and we'll basically pick them off. List -- Cycle 10 has got most of the things already picked off, and then the other ones, you know, we're getting deeper into it. But it will be a -- you know, we talked about, you know, how can we have a one-page snapshot. For Mr. Rodriguez, just -- let's just remember the two gentlemen that came to the podium talking about the marina parking. I saw those pictures, and I think maybe you might have as well. I mean, we have to figure out a better place for those contractors to park. You know, that's not their own personal parking lot. They do get there at oh dark thirty, and then our customers get there, and there's no place to park. And secondary to that, and it's more in my district but, really, you know, everything in the county is all of our, you know, April 11, 2023 Page 230 responsibility. The marina concessionaires, I mean, we're -- if you-all recall, we had some conversations -- and it's been a while ago. It might even predate Commissioner Kowal and Commissioner Hall. But we have some marina concessionaire contracts that were very lopsided. They weren't good business deals. And not that they have to be cash cows for the county or cash cows for the concessionaire, but it should be something more fair, in the middle. And we had some that were big cash cows for the concessionaire. And what we said was as those contracts come up for renewal, we'll be renegotiating, and if that concessionaire didn't, you know, want to renegotiate, then we would put it out for bid and get plenty of others. We have a couple of concessionaires that look like we won't retain the current concessionaire. And what I've said to -- and it's in my district. We're talking Goodland, Port of the Islands, and really talking Caxambas but we're not because the Caxambas marine store is totally destroyed so it's empty, and Caxambas is only partially open, but it will eventually be Caxambas. So it's more on my side. But just in case you hear anything, my conversations with the staff is similar to the fire departments: No loss in service. So if we lose a concessionaire and we don't get a new one, the staff has a plan to utilize county staff to at least continue selling gas, water, you know, necessities. You know, we might not be selling every single thing in the marine store, but also to minimize the gap between the old concessionaire, if they choose to not renegotiate the contract, and the new one. So between the parking and the concessionaire, I just wanted to sort of put on the record -- I mean, Mr. Rodriguez, anything that I misspoke or -- you know, you guys have it? MR. RODRIGUEZ: We do, and you're absolutely correct. And as a matter of fact, we do have some good news. We have two April 11, 2023 Page 231 respondents for our concessionaire that staff's going to look at here over the next week and evaluate them and see if we can come up to an agreement managing those different -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let's just not really drag our feet on it. And I know we're not. But I have -- you know, I have citizens in those areas that the concessionaire that's exiting is -- of course, seems like, you know, she's exiting telling everyone, well, on 1 May you won't -- you know, all the stores will be closed and empty, and gas will be shut down, and, you know, you guys are getting screwed because the county isn't negotiating with me, and that's just not true. So I appreciate all the hard work by our Parks and Recreation team and yourself as well. MR. RODRIGUEZ: Tanya and Olema, they actually have a transition plan -- (Simultaneous crosstalk.) MR. RODRIGUEZ: -- so we'll be providing the fuel, as you stated, water, and whatnot. So the services will continue. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. And then you might remember, we voted in here a few meetings ago, too, on the Tigertail project. It was Hideaway Beach/Tigertail. We voted to augment the millions that Hideaway Beach is spending to take some money out of the TDC funds. It was about 900,000. Mr. Rodriguez, myself, and a few other people from the county staff actually went out to the site for several hours. And maybe contrary to some folks that maybe were against it no matter what, but if you went out there and really knew very little to nothing about restoration, hurricane damage, water becoming more shallow and less flow, and you know what they call the Tigertail mud puddle, you literally could know very little and quickly, just visually, you would see that the money is well spent. April 11, 2023 Page 232 I mean, we were both flabbergasted at the improvement out there. And it won't please everyone. You know, I mean, we've gotten some notes, you know, what about this one bird? And somebody saw a manatee. But something needed to be done out there. It was way long overdue. And we were out there with Marco city manager as well, Mr. McNees, and a couple people from his staff, even though this is really more of county's involvement and the state and Hideaway. But I think, you know, we were both very impressed. So I thought I would tell you, it was money well spent. They're not done. So there's stuff on social media. Oh, place looks horrible. The turtles aren't going to be able to get up on the beach, and they're about to finish. They're not. The project goes through May. So there's still much to be done. But you would have been impressed, as we were. And then, lastly, I'll just say, it was another very busy meeting, and sometimes these two people, you know, go unnoticed, but Ms. Lewis and Mr. Miller, you know, I mean, keeping everybody -- I mean, I don't know -- hydrochloric something, something, something. I don't know if you've got a shortcut key for that. It was said about 10,000 times, right? So it's probably misspelled in the final minutes, but they'll know what it is, or you'll have to correct it, right? But I just wanted to say on behalf of all of us, it's -- people are talking fast, 50-something, you know, speakers, and thank you so much for, you know, your patience and how hard that you work over there, sort of behind the scenes, keeping things, you know, flowing. So thank you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: What are we doing with regard to the parking infraction there at Bayshore? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Bayview? April 11, 2023 Page 233 MR. RODRIGUEZ: You mean Bayview? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Bayview, yes. MR. RODRIGUEZ: I got an update from Tanya, and she and Olema, they're reaching out to the contractor who's doing some hurricane recovery work, and they're going to, more than likely, park somewhere else down the road, and then they'll shuttle people in so they don't take up the residents' parking spaces. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And they're close to being -- are they close to being done? I mean, the hurricane recovery guys, what's the timeline; do we know? MR. RODRIGUEZ: It's a water project. MS. WILLIAMS: Good evening, Commissioners. For the record, Tanya Williams, interim Public Services Department head. I just got a last-minute communication. The contractor that was in question, it's neither a county contractor nor a state contractor. This is a private contractor. We've just found this out. So we'll need to circle back around to this issue starting tomorrow. We'll also have Olema reach out to the owner of the contracting firm, and we'll work through this and get some possible solutions for parking issues. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We were -- we were, at one time, working with the Botanical Gardens on extending parking up along Thomasson/Bayview, down through there. How's that coming along? MR. RODRIGUEZ: The Thomasson project and down through Danford -- Danford is currently still in design, if I'm not mistaken. MS. PATTERSON: But the Thomasson project is largely complete. And, in fact, we were looking at -- over the weekend looking at where people are still parking a little bit outside of where we've created additional parking. So parking continues to be a challenge. April 11, 2023 Page 234 Mr. Finn and I were actually talking about what our options are going forward down in this area to continue to try to provide that service to the residents and getting them adequate boat parking. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So that's not an employee parking lot for people that are working on the water, even though I know they need parking. So we want to help them, not just tell them, you know, go away. And if you remember, too, the other thing that one of the citizens here said is -- and we need to look into it -- the boats that are sort of coming in and out with no permits, you know, big giant pontoon boat at Bayview but then he also was alluding to, like, we have places like Goodland and maybe in Port of the Islands that, you know -- and, I mean, we both spend a lot of time out there, and I think the problem was maybe a little overstated, but I don't think it's zero. But I also took exception to we're not doing anything. Well -- so, I mean, if we have rangers out there that are just letting everybody drive by, which was the accusation, nobody accepts that, which I don't think that's the case, but it could be something sort of in the middle. But the biggest travesty would be the parks filled up with a bunch of people with no permits, and then the people who paid and are doing it right and get their 10 minutes -- so it's not first come, first served. It's first come, first served by authorized folks. So if you guys would take this and give -- you know, give us an update, even if it's just through email. Hey, we fixed it. We didn't fix it. The problem wasn't a bad problem. The problem was bad. I mean, I know me personally, I'd like to know the solution so when citizens ask me, hey, you know, I know you heard about this problem. I don't want to just say we're aware and, yes, we're April 11, 2023 Page 235 handling it. I want to be able to say what the solution was, so -- but other than that, so -- MS. WILLIAMS: Absolutely. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Is it possible that we can use Del's corner as a temporary parking area for the contractors, and then they can provide some sort of shuttle for their workers down to the docks to be picked up? Because we -- you know -- MS. WILLIAMS: (Nods head.) COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Either they're going to park on our county property in the parks, or we can provide a property. Because if we go stick them in a private business parking lot or something or tell them to use Gulf Gate Plaza, then we're kind of taking away spots from private business. So if that could be an option, we can get with these contractors, say, hey, we have county property on the corner. You can temporarily use that. But you have to provide a shuttle to and from for your workers. And that will free up our actual county parking for our vendors and our people that have permits to use those parks. MS. WILLIAMS: Thank you, Commissioner. That's a great idea. And I'll get with Olema, and we'll work with the contractor. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Any other? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay, great. Adjourned. ***** ****Commissioner Saunders moved, seconded by Commissioner McDaniel and Commissioner Kowal, and carried that the following items under the consent and summary agendas be approved and/or adopted**** April 11, 2023 Page 236 Item #16A1 FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR THE NAGAKRIS PROFESSIONAL BUILDING, PL20180003044, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE UTILITIES PERFORMANCE SECURITY (UPS) AND FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $4,862.97 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION BY STAFF FOUND THESE FACILITIES TO BE SATISFACTORY AND ACCEPTABLE ON FEBRUARY 27, 2023 Item #16A2 FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER FACILITIES FOR SIENA LAKES, PL20200002457, ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER FACILITIES AND APPURTENANT UTILITY EASEMENT, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE UTILITIES PERFORMANCE SECURITY (UPS) AND FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $135,239.92 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION BY STAFF FOUND THESE FACILITIES TO BE SATISFACTORY AND ACCEPTABLE ON MARCH 2, 2023 Item #16A3 April 11, 2023 Page 237 FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE SEWER FACILITIES FOR TERRENO AT VALENCIA GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB PHASE 1A-2 (SEWER ONLY), PL20220006264 – A FINAL INSPECTION BY STAFF FOUND THESE FACILITIES TO BE SATISFACTORY AND ACCEPTABLE ON FEBRUARY 8, 2023 Item #16A4 RESOLUTION 2023-59: A RESOLUTION FOR FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF VALENCIA LAKES - PHASE 6-A, APPLICATION NUMBER AR-5383 AND PL20110001980, AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $76,104 Item #16A5 RECORDING THE MINOR FINAL PLAT OF BROADVIEW ESTATES, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20210003212 – LOCATED AT SECTION 20, TOWNSHIP 51 SOUTH, RANGE 27 EAST Item #16A6 RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF HACIENDA BOULEVARD PHASE ONE, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20220001391, April 11, 2023 Page 238 APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT, AND APPROVAL OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,308,086.70 – LOCATED IN SECTIONS 14 AND 23, TOWNSHIP 50 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST Item #16A7 RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF LOGAN TOWNS, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20220001513, APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT, AND APPROVAL OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $855,817.88 – LOCATED IN SECTION 28, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST Item #16A8 AN EXTENSION FOR COMPLETION OF REQUIRED SUBDIVISION IMPROVEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH MONTIANO (PL20140002750) SUBDIVISION PURSUANT TO SECTION 10.02.05 C.2 OF THE COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE (LDC) – EXTENDING THE DEADLINE FROM SEPTEMBER 8, 2022, TO SEPTEMBER 8, 2025, W/IMPROVEMENT TO RECEIVE FINAL ACCEPTANCE PRIOR TO APRIL 11, 2025 Item #16A9 THE FILING OF APPLICATIONS BY GM ADVISORS, LLC, FOR A GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN AMENDMENT AND A April 11, 2023 Page 239 REZONING ON A COUNTY-OWNED PARCEL ON IMMOKALEE ROAD THAT IS SUBJECT TO A BOARD- APPROVED LAND SWAP AGREEMENT – FOLIO #37742880001 AND FOLIO #37743960001 Item #16A10 SECOND AMENDMENT TO DEVELOPER AGREEMENT WITH GM ADVISORS, LLC, FOR A LAND SWAP ON IMMOKALEE ROAD IN ORDER TO EXTEND THE CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE – NEW IMPROVEMENTS MUST BE COMPLETED BY AUGUST 28, 2024 Item #16A11 SELECTION COMMITTEE’S RANKING RELATED TO REQUEST FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) NO. 23- 8057, “DESIGN SERVICES FOR GOODLETTE-FRANK ROAD/NAPLES ZOO STORMWATER OUTFALL,” AND AUTHORIZE STAFF TO BEGIN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE TOP-RANKED FIRM, WGI, INC., SO THAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT CAN BE BROUGHT BACK FOR THE BOARD’S CONSIDERATION AT A FUTURE MEETING Item #16A12 AWARD REQUEST FOR QUOTE ("RFQ") NO. 2022-012, "COLLIER AREA TRANSIT ADA BUS STOP SITE IMPROVEMENTS," UTILIZING AGREEMENT NO. 19-7646, TO CAPITAL CONTRACTORS, LLC, IN THE AMOUNT OF April 11, 2023 Page 240 $409,382.80, AND AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ISSUE A PURCHASE ORDER FOR THE TOTAL AMOUNT Item #16A13 BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO REALLOCATE FUNDS WITHIN THE TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT STORMWATER BOND FUND 327 IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $522,900 Item #16A14 CHANGE ORDER NO. 2 TO AGREEMENT NO. 20-7735, DESIGN-BUILD WHIPPOORWILL LANE AND MARBELLA LAKES DRIVE CONNECTION TO QUALITY ENTERPRISES USA, INC., ADDING NINETY-FIVE (95) DAYS TO THE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT (COUNTY PROJECT NUMBER 60219) – THE NEW FINAL COMPLETION DATE AS AUGUST 28, 2023 Item #16A15 AWARD CONSTRUCTION INVITATION TO BID (ITB) NO. 23-8079, “TREELINE DRIVE & LOGAN BLVD. NORTH OF IMMOKALEE RD. INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS,” PROJECT 60245 TO THOMAS MARINE CONSTRUCTION, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,249,275.10, AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT AND THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT (JAY AHMAD, DIRECTOR TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) April 11, 2023 Page 241 Item #16A16 BUDGET AMENDMENT TO REALLOCATE TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING DIVISION PROJECT FUNDS TO REALLOCATE NAPLES PRODUCTION PARK MAINTENANCE RESERVE FUNDS TO FUND COMMERCIAL BLVD. AT DOMESTIC AVE. INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS – FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF TURN LANES ON ALL APPROACHES Item #16A17 CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 TO AGREEMENT NO. 20-7708, DESIGN-BUILD VETERANS MEMORIAL BOULEVARD EXTENSION, PHASE I, WITH QUALITY ENTERPRISES USA, INC., TO REVISE THE PLANS IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNTY STAFF-REQUESTED CHANGES IN A TOTAL NOT TO EXCEED AMOUNT OF $784,998.50, ADD 35 ADDITIONAL DAYS, APPROVE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS FOR THE DESIGN BUILD COST SHARE WITH THE PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER (PROJECT NUMBER 60198) Item #16A18 RESOLUTION 2023-60: THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE LOCAL AGENCY PROGRAM (LAP) AGREEMENT 446252-1-58- 01, BETWEEN THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) AND COLLIER COUNTY, WHERE April 11, 2023 Page 242 FDOT WILL PROVIDE UP TO $456,500 IN FEDERAL FUNDING TO UPDATE COLLIER COUNTY’S SCHOOL FLASHER SYSTEM; EXECUTE A RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE BOARD’S ACTION; AND AUTHORIZE ALL NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS Item #16A19 RESOLUTION 2023-61: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PURCHASE OF 5.15 ACRES OF UNIMPROVED LAND (PARCEL 102FEE) NECESSARY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROADWAY, DRAINAGE AND UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE RANDALL BOULEVARD/IMMOKALEE ROAD PROJECT NO. 60147, AND TO APPROVE A PURCHASE AGREEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,231,000 (ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT: $1,237,350 AND APPROVE MISCELLANEOUS TITLE POLICY, CLOSING AND RECORDING FEES ESTIMATED NOT TO EXCEED $6,350. SOURCE OF FUNDS IS IMPACT FEES AND OR GAS TAXES.) Item #16A20 THE AWARD AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE GRANT AGREEMENT NO. RT015 BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION FOR BIOLOGICAL DEBRIS REMOVAL ASSOCIATED WITH RED TIDE WITHIN COLLIER COUNTY AND ACCEPT GRANT FUNDING IN THE AMOUNT OF $446,000 (PROJECT NO. 33851) April 11, 2023 Page 243 Item #16A21 AFTER-THE-FACT APPROVAL FOR THE SUBMITTAL OF A WATERSHED PROTECTION PROGRAM GRANT APPLICATION TO THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, IN THE ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF $9,328,519.40, WITH AN ESTIMATED LOCAL MATCH IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,809,795.00, AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER OR DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE THE AWARD AND AMENDMENTS, AND AUTHORIZE ANY NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS Item #16A22 A BUDGET AMENDMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $319,808.52 TO COVER COST INCREASES AS A RESULT OF THE THIRD AMENDMENT TO CONTRACT NO. 18-7382 FOR COLLIER AREA TRANSIT (CAT) FIXED ROUTE, DEMAND RESPONSE, AND TRANSIT OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT SERVICES WITH MV TRANSPORTATION, INC. Item #16B1 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, ACTING AS THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD (CRA), APPROVE A PURCHASE AGREEMENT WITH CATHOLIC CHARITIES DIOCESE OF VENICE, INC., TO CONVEY 1.96 ACRES OF CRA OWNED PROPERTY IN THE IMMOKALEE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA. PURCHASE PRICE April 11, 2023 Page 244 IS $600,000 – Folio #00122840008 Item #16C1 THE BOARD 1) APPROVE THE SALE OF THE PROPERTY TO COLLIER COUNTY WATER-SEWER DISTRICT IN THE AMOUNT OF $370,050; 2) ACCEPT SUCH PROPERTY AS THE EX-OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD OF CCWSD; AND 3) AUTHORIZE ITS CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE STATUTORY DEED AND ALL DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO TRANSFER THE PROPERTY FOR CONVEYING A 7.38 PARCEL OF LAND HELD BY THE GAC LAND TRUST TO BE USED FOR THE NORTHEAST SERVICE AREA (“NESA”) UTILITY PROJECTS PROGRAM (GAC LAND SALES FUND 605) Item #16C2 WAIVE LIQUIDATED DAMAGES AGAINST FLORIDA DESIGN DRILLING CORPORATION PERTAINING TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW TAMIAMI WELL 40 PROJECT UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 20-7808, APPROVE ALL PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIVELY AUTHORIZED CHANGE ORDERS, AND AUTHORIZE PAYMENT OF ANY PENDING OR FINAL PAYMENT APPLICATIONS SUBJECT TO THE CONTRACTOR PROVIDING ALL REQUIRED BACKUP DOCUMENTATIONS PREREQUISITE TO PROCESSING PAYMENT Item #16C3 April 11, 2023 Page 245 CHANGE ORDER NO. 3 PROVIDING FOR A 60-DAY TIME EXTENSION TO CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT NO. 21-7912 WITH R2T, INC., FOR THE NCRQTP CHEMICAL BULK TANK REPLACEMENT PROJECT, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER (PROJECT NO. 71066) Item #16C4 AWARDING INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”) NO. 23- 8059, “39TH AVENUE NE - WATERWAYS WALL EXTENSION,” TO COASTAL CONCRETE PRODUCTS, LLC, D/B/A COASTAL SITE DEVELOPMENT, IN THE AMOUNT OF $299,966.00, AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT, AND APPROVE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT Item #16C5 LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH AMERICAN TOWERS, LLC, OR THE COLLIER COUNTY WATER SEWER DISTRICT TO PLACE AN ANTENNA ON A PRIVATELY-OWNED COMMUNICATIONS TOWER AT THE BIG CORKSCREW ISLAND FIRE AND RESCUE STATION ON IMMOKALEE ROAD AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT Item #16C6 CERTIFICATION OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, AS REQUIRED BY THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF April 11, 2023 Page 246 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, FOR THE RENEWAL OF AN OPERATING PERMIT FOR THE DEEP INJECTION WELL SYSTEM AT COLLIER COUNTY’S SOUTH COUNTY WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO EXECUTE THE CERTIFICATION OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FORM Item #16C7 PROPOSAL NO. 10788, UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 19-7592 BUILDING AUTOMATION ENERGY MANAGEMENT SERVICES, FROM JUICE TECHNOLOGIES, INC., D/B/A PLUG SMART, AND AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE OF A PURCHASE ORDER IN THE AMOUNT OF $302,990.89 TO REPLACE THE PROPRIETARY N2 JOHNSON CONTROLS BMS WITH NEW BACNET RELIABLE CONTROLS AT THE COLLIER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE SPECIAL OPERATIONS BUILDING (PROJECT NO. 52162) Item #16C8 FIRST AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 22-7992R, “PALM RIVER PUBLIC UTILITIES RENEWAL PROJECT AREAS 1 AND 2,” WITH HASKINS, INC., PERTAINING TO THE REPLACEMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES INFRASTRUCTURE IN PALM RIVER, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE AMENDMENT Item #16C9 SECOND AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT #18-7279 IN THE April 11, 2023 Page 247 AMOUNT OF $88,463 AND APPROVE CHANGE ORDER NO. 3 FOR A TIME EXTENSION FOR AN ADDITIONAL 120 DAYS ASSOCIATED WITH ADDITIONAL DESIGN ENGINEERING SERVICES WITH Q. GRADY MINOR AND ASSOCIATES, P.A., FOR THE BIG CORKSCREW ISLAND REGIONAL PARK (BCIRP) PHASE II (PROJECT NO. 80039) Item #16C10 CHANGE ORDER NO. 16 TO PARADISE COAST SPORTS COMPLEX PHASE 2.1 AND 2.2A, UNDER THE SIXTH AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 17-7198 WITH MANHATTAN CONSTRUCTION (FLORIDA), INC., PROVIDING FOR A TIME EXTENSION OF 45 DAYS (PROJECT #50156) Item #16C11 ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 TO PURCHASE ORDER #4500217564 FOR AN ADDITIONAL $9,320 TO INVESTIGATE AN ALTERNATIVE SITE UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 20-7753 WITH SCHENKEL & SHULTZ, INC., FOR DESIGN SERVICES FOR NORTH NAPLES EMS STATION (PROJECT NO. 55213.1) Item #16D1 A GRANT DONATION FROM THE NAPLES ON THE GULF CHAPTER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION THROUGH REBECCA ANN SCHLUETER, CORRESPONDING SECRETARY IN THE AMOUNT OF $200 April 11, 2023 Page 248 AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS. LIBRARY ADMIN GRANT FUND (FUND 129) Item #16D2 DONATION OF A STADIUM SOUND SYSTEM FROM GULF COAST NATIONAL LITTLE LEAGUE FOR USE AT CINDY MYSELS PARK. THIS DONATION WILL REPLACE THE EXISTING SOUND SYSTEM WITH A COMPARABLE MODERN SYSTEM Item #16D3 A SECOND AMENDMENT TO EXTEND AGREEMENT NO. 11- 5785, “MANAGEMENT OF PELICAN BAY TENNIS CENTER,” WITH THE NAPLES TENNIS ACADEMY, LLC, FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR Item #16D4 THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN TWO (2) MORTGAGE SATISFACTIONS FOR THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP LOAN PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF $23,310 AND THE ASSOCIATED BUDGET AMENDMENT (SHIP GRANT FUND 791) Item #16D5 INITIAL ALLOCATION OF CITY/COUNTY ABATEMENT FUNDS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA OPIOID SETTLEMENT FUND IN THE AMOUNT OF $289,151.06 AND April 11, 2023 Page 249 AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT (COLLIER COUNTY SENIORS FUND 123) Item #16E1 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT PREPARED BY THE PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY THAT IS NO LONGER VIABLE AND THEN REMOVAL FROM THE COUNTY’S CAPITAL ASSET RECORDS AND NOTIFICATION OF REVENUE – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIEVE SUMMARY Item #16F1 RESOLUTION 2023-62: A RESOLUTION WITHDRAWING COLLIER COUNTY FROM THE FLORIDA LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE COMMISSION Item #16F2 EXPENDITURE OF THE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TAX PROMOTION FUNDS TO SUPPORT THE MARCH 2023 SPORTS TOURISM EVENT, TRILOGY LACROSSE, UP TO $12,000, AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THESE EXPENDITURES PROMOTE TOURISM – THAT OCCURRED FROM MARCH 12, 2023, THROUGH MARCH 31, 2023 Item #16F3 BUDGET AMENDMENTS IN THE AMOUNT $721,760 TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR MAINTENANCE AND April 11, 2023 Page 250 REPAIR OF THE COUNTY’S 800MHZ PUBLIC SAFETY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM AND FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF FIVE (5) FIXED TOWER SITE GENERATORS Item #16F4 RESOLUTION 2023-63: A RESOLUTION APPROVING AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING GRANTS, DONATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS, OR INSURANCE PROCEEDS) TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2022-23 ADOPTED BUDGET. (THE BUDGET AMENDMENTS IN THE ATTACHED RESOLUTION HAVE BEEN REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS VIA SEPARATE EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES) Item #16F5 MODIFICATIONS TO THE 2023 FISCAL YEAR PAY & CLASSIFICATION PLAN WHICH CONSIST OF NINE NEW CLASSIFICATIONS, FOUR CLASSIFICATION TITLE REVISIONS AND SIX RECLASSIFICATIONS MADE FROM JANUARY 1, 2023, THROUGH MARCH 31, 2023 Item #16H1 RESOLUTION 2023-64: A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE COASTAL STORM RISK MANAGEMENT FEASIBILITY STUDY AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AND DIRECT STAFF TO ADVERTISE FOR MEMBERS IN THE SAME MANNER AS OTHER ADVISORY BOARDS April 11, 2023 Page 251 Item #16H2 DIRECT STAFF TO PREPARE AN LDC AMENDMENT TO REPEAL LDC SECTION 5.05.15, CONVERSION OF GOLF COURSES Item #16I1 APRIL 11, 2023, MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE APRIL 11, 2023 1. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS TO FILE FOR RECORD WITH ACTION AS DIRECTED: A. DISTRICTS: 1) Cedar Hammock Community Development District: 12/13/2022 Agency Letter; 12/13/2022 Signed Meeting Minutes; 12/13/2022 Agenda, Advertising Affidavit, Oaths of Office, and CDD Resolution 2023-03 B. OTHER: 1) Letter from Mr. Jess D. Clark of Immokalee - Addressed: Collier County Commissioners (Commissioner McDaniel, District 5) April 11, 2023 Page 252 Item #16J1 TO RECORD IN THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, THE CHECK NUMBER (OR OTHER PAYMENT METHOD), AMOUNT, PAYEE, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE REFERENCED DISBURSEMENTS WERE DRAWN FOR THE PERIODS BETWEEN MARCH 16, 2023, AND MARCH 29, 2023, PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06 Item #16J2 REQUEST THAT THE BOARD APPROVE AND DETERMINE VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF APRIL 5, 2023 Item #16K1 RESOLUTION 2023-65: APPOINTING A MEMBER TO THE COLLIER COUNTY CITIZEN CORPS. – APPOINTING ETHAN TICEHURST TO REPRESENT THE RED CROSS W/TERM EXPIRING ON NOVEMBER 5, 2026 Item #16K2 RESOLUTION 2023-66: REAPPOINTING TWO MEMBERS TO THE TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL – REAPPOINTING KATHLEEN BROCK AND CLARK HILL BOTH W/TERMS EXPIRING ON APRIL 21, 2027 Item #16K3 April 11, 2023 Page 253 RESOLUTION 2023-67: APPOINTMENT OF FOUR MEMBERS TO THE PUBLIC ART COMMITTEE – APPOINTING NORA BEYRENT, LISA CATALDO-ABSHER, PAUL GOWER AND MARTHA “MUFFY “GILL W/TERMS EXPIRING ON APRIL 12, 2025 Item #16K4 RESOLUTION 2023-68: REAPPOINTING A MEMBER TO THE PUBLIC TRANSIT ADVISORY COMMITTEE – REAPPOINTING PETER BERRY WITH TERM EXPIRING ON MARCH 22, 2026 Item #16K5 RETENTION OF DEREK P. ROONEY TO SERVE AS MEDIATOR FOR A VOLUNTARY MEDIATION RELATED TO A BERT HARRIS NOTICE OF CLAIM FILED PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTES 70.001(4)(A) BY LA MINNESOTA RIVIERA LLC, REGARDING THE RIVIERA GOLF COURSE Item #17A ORDINANCE 2023-17: AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 99-69, AS AMENDED, THE FOREST GLEN OF NAPLES PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (PUD), BY ADDING WAREHOUSING AND FLEX SPACE USES INCLUDING SPECIALTY TRADE CONTRACTING, MINOR FABRICATION, AND MANUFACTURING AS PRINCIPAL USES IN ADDITION TO PREVIOUSLY PERMITTED April 11, 2023 Page 254 COMMERCIAL USES ON THE COMMERCIAL TRACT LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION OF COLLIER BOULEVARD AND BECK BOULEVARD, SUBJECT TO THE LIMITATION OF 100,000 SQUARE FEET FOR ALL USES ON THE COMMERCIAL TRACT. THE SUBJECT COMMERCIAL TRACT CONSISTING OF 9.6+/- ACRES IS PART OF THE 635+/- ACRE PUD LOCATED IN SECTION 2, TOWNSHIP 50 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA (PL20200002302) Item #17B ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, AMENDING ORDINANCE NUMBER 04-41, AS AMENDED, THE COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AND ZONING ATLAS, WHICH INCLUDES THE COMPREHENSIVE LAND REGULATIONS FOR THE UNINCORPORATED AREA OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO CREATE THE COLLIER BOULEVARD/INTERSTATE 75 INNOVATION ZONE OVERLAY (CBIIZO) ZONING DISTRICT AND ELIMINATE THE ACTIVITY CENTER #9 OVERLAY ZONING DISTRICT, AND ESTABLISH USES, BOUNDARIES, AND DESIGN STANDARDS, BY PROVIDING FOR: SECTION ONE, RECITALS; SECTION TWO, FINDINGS OF FACT; SECTION THREE, ADOPTION OF AMENDMENTS TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, MORE SPECIFICALLY AMENDING THE FOLLOWING: CHAPTER ONE GENERAL PROVISIONS, INCLUDING SECTION 1.08.01 ABBREVIATIONS; CHAPTER TWO ZONING DISTRICTS AND USES, INCLUDING SECTION April 11, 2023 Page 255 2.03.07 OVERLAY ZONING DISTRICTS; CHAPTER FOUR SITE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS, INCLUDING SECTION 4.02.23 SAME - DEVELOPMENT IN THE ACTIVITY CENTER #9 ZONING DISTRICT; AND CHAPTER FIVE SUPPLEMENTAL STANDARDS, INCLUDING SECTION 5.05.08 ARCHITECTURAL AND SITE DESIGN STANDARDS; SECTION FOUR, CONFLICT AND SEVERABILITY; SECTION FIVE, INCLUSION IN THE COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE; AND SECTION SIX, EFFECTIVE DATE [PL20200002400] (FIRST OF TWO HEARINGS) **** April 1 1, 2023 There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 5:30 p.m. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL C � , RICK LoCASTRO, CHAIRMAN ATTEST CRYSTAL,, . KINZEL, CLERK Attest* top airman's airman's sign t o only These mihutes appro ed by the Board on 5 �3�.2-,3 presented as V or as corrected TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF FORT MYERS COURT REPORTING BY TERRI L. LEWIS, REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL COURT REPORTER, FPR-C, AND NOTARY PUBLIC. Page 256