Agenda 5/23/2023 Item # 2C (BCC Minutes 4/25/2023 R)05/23/2023
2.0
COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Item Number: 2.0
Doc ID: 25542
Item Summary: April 25, 2023, BCC Meeting Minutes
Meeting Date: 05/23/2023
Prepared by:
Title: Management Analyst II — County Manager's Office
Name: Geoffrey Willig
05/11/2023 2:53 PM
Submitted by:
Title: Deputy County Manager — County Manager's Office
Name: Amy Patterson
05/11/2023 2:53 PM
Approved By:
Review:
County Manager's Office Geoffrey Willig County Manager Review
Board of County Commissioners Geoffrey Willig Meeting Pending
Completed 05/16/2023 8:13 AM
05/23/2023 9:00 AM
Packet Pg. 13
April 25, 2023
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TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Naples, Florida, April 25, 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
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April 25, 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 25, 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 BEGINNING OF THE MEETING FOLLOWING THE PLEDGE OF
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April 25, 2023
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
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April 25, 2023
PROVISION OF CERTAIN ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT THE
COLLIER COUNTY FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION LOCATED
AT 3335 EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL, SUITE 1, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 34112-
5356, (239) 252-8380; ASSISTED LISTENING DEVICES FOR THE
HEARING IMPAIRED ARE AVAILABLE IN THE FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT DIVISION.
LUNCH RECESS SCHEDULED FOR 12:00 NOON TO 1:00 P.M.
1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
A. Invocation by Rabbi Ammos Chorny of Beth Tikvah Synagogue
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.)
3. AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
A. Employee
B. 20 Year Attendees
1) 20 Years - Concetta Disarro - Emergency Services Division -
EMS Battalion Chief II
C. 25 Year Attendees
1) 25 Years - David Chalick - Library - Branch Library Manager
2) 25 Years - Dana Alger - Solid and Hazardous Waste
Management - Recycling Coordinator
3) 25 Years - Mary Jo Brock - County Managers Office -
Management Analyst I
D. 30 Year Attendees
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April 25, 2023
E. 35 Year Attendees
F. Advisory Board Members
G. Retirees
H. Employee of the Month
4. PROCLAMATIONS (All Proclamations Adopted with One Motion)
A. Proclamation designating May 4, 2023, as National Day of Prayer. To
be accepted by Pastor Grant Thigpen, Pastor Jesse Barrett, and other
leaders of the faith community.
B. Proclamation designating April 30, 2023, as National Therapy Animal
Day. To be accepted by Susan Abreu and her therapy dog, "Nanny."
C. Proclamation designating May 2023 as National Safe Boating Week.
To be accepted by Richard Hurd, Flotilla Staff Officer-Public Affairs,
Partner Visitation, US Coast Guard Auxiliary, Marco Island, Florida.
D. Proclamation designating May 7 - 13, 2023, as National Correctional
Officers Week. To be accepted by Sheriff Kevin Rambosk, Colonel
Jim Bloom, Chief Mark Middlebrook, Captain Keith Harmon, Captain
DaReece Canady, Director Katina Bouza, and other correctional
officers and Naples Jail Center staff.
E. Proclamation designating May 2023 as Military Appreciation Month
in Collier County. To be accepted by Major Jessica R. Sterns, US Air
Force (VFW Post 7721), Lee-Ann Forsythe, US Marine Corps
(American Gold Star Mothers), US Army Officer Candidate Alicia
Starova (Collier County Veterans Council), Tyler King, US Air
Force (Parental Alientation Southwest Florida Support Group), and
Laura Vieth, US Marine Corps (AVOW-Coffee with Veterans).
F. Proclamation designating May 2023 as National Bike Month. To be
accepted by Skip Riffle, President and Founder, Bikes for Tykes, Inc.,
and Olema Edwards, Director, Parks and Recreation Division.
G. Proclamation designating May 2023 as National Foster Care
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April 25, 2023
Awareness Month. To be accepted by Rick Jacobs, Executive
Director, 4KIDS Southwest Florida.
H. Proclamation designating April 2023 as National Fair Housing Month.
To be accepted by Angela Edison, Director of Housing, Collier
County Housing Authority.
5. PRESENTATIONS
A. Recommendation to accept an update on the Paradise Coast Sports
Complex from Sports Facilities Management, LLC.
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. This item requires that all participants be sworn in and ex parte
disclosure be provided by Commission members.
Recommendation to approve an Ordinance rezoning a portion of
Justin’s Village to increase density, by amending Ordinance Number
04-41, as amended, the Collier County Land Development Code,
which includes the comprehensive zoning regulations for the
unincorporated area of Collier County, Florida, by amending the
appropriate Zoning Atlas Map or maps by changing the zoning
classification of the herein described real property from Residential
Multi-Family-6 (RMF-6) zoning district with a Gateway Triangle
Zoning Overlay-Residential Subdistrict (GTZO-R) to a Residential
Multi-Family-12 (RMF-12) zoning district with a Gateway Triangle
Zoning Overlay-Residential Subdistrict (GTZO-R), to allow up to 28
total multi-family dwelling units with an affordable housing
agreement on 2.33± acres of property located south of Lots 6 and 18,
Breeze of Calusa Subdivision, on Justin’s Way, approximately 500
feet south of Calusa Avenue, in Section 11, Township 50 South,
Range 25 East, Collier County, Florida; and by providing an effective
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April 25, 2023
date. [PL20220003739] (Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning Division
Director)
10. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
A. Recommendation to approve a Sixth Amendment to the Long-Term
Lease and Operating Agreement for the Golf and Entertainment
Complex (the "Lease") with CC BSG Naples, LLC ("BigShots") to
Extend the Financing Contingency Period to June 30, 2023.
11. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT
A. Recommendation to ratify the County Manager’s awarding of
Invitation to Bid (“ITB”) No. 23-8111, “Collier 2023 Emergency
Berm Truck Haul and Construction, Reach A” to Phillips & Jordan,
Inc., in the amount of $6,723,041.50, “Collier 2023 Emergency Berm
Truck Haul and Construction, Reach B” to Earth Tech Enterprises
Inc., in the amount of $8,422,934.50, authorize the Chairman to sign
the attached the Agreements, approve the attached budget
amendments, and make a finding that this item promotes tourism
(Hurricane Ian, Project #50280) (Andrew Miller, P.E., Manager,
Coastal Zone Management).
B. This Item to be heard no sooner than 2:30 P.M. Recommendation
to approve First Amendment to Developer Agreement with Rural
Neighborhoods, Inc., to develop Housing at the former Golden Gate
Golf Course. (Companion to Items #11C & #11D) (Cormac Giblin,
Economic Development and Housing Division Director)
C. This Item to be heard no sooner than 2:30 P.M. Recommendation
to approve Collier County Standard Form Long-Term Ground Lease
with Rural Neighborhoods, Inc., to develop Housing at the former
Golden Gate Golf Course and authorize necessary budget
amendments. (Companion to Items #11B & #11D) (Cormac Giblin,
Economic Development and Housing Division Director)
D. This Item to be heard no sooner than 2:30 P.M. Recommendation
to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a State Housing
Initiative Partnership Sponsor Agreement between Collier County and
Renaissance Hall at Old Course, LLC in the amount of $1,500,000 for
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new construction of rental housing units at the Golden Gate Golf
Course, and authorize the County Manager or designee to execute any
and all SHIP-related restrictions for this property in accordance with
this agreement and project. (Companion to Items #11B & #11C)
(Kristi Sonntag, Community and Human Services Division Director)
12. COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT
A. Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a
Mediated Settlement Agreement with La Minnesota Riviera, LLC,
and the Riviera Golf Estates Homeowners Association, Inc., for
settlement of a Bert Harris Claim filed pursuant to Florida Statutes
§70.001, related to application of the County’s Golf Course
Conversion Ordinance on the Riviera Golf Course.
13. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
14. AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND/OR COMMUNITY
REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
A. AIRPORT
B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
15. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
A. 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
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16. Consent Agenda - All matters listed under this item are considered to be
routine and action will be taken by one motion without separate
discussion of each item. If discussion is desired by a member of the
Board, that item(s) will be removed from the Consent Agenda and
considered separately.
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A. GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the sewer
utility facilities and accept the conveyance of a portion of the
sewer facilities for Bayshore Food and Wine Venue,
PL20220008943.
2) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable
water and sewer facilities for Edge 75 by Watermark – Phase 1,
PL20210000049, 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 $32,107.76 to the
Project Engineer or the Developer’s designated agent.
3) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable
water and sewer facilities for Edge 75 by Watermark – Phase 2,
PL20210000986, 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 $33,180.82 to the
Project Engineer or the Developer’s designated agent.
4) Recommendation to approve final acceptance and accept the
conveyance of the potable water and sewer utility facilities for
Esplanade by the Islands - Phase 1C, PL20200000680, and
authorize the County Manager, or designee, to release the Final
Obligation Bond in the total amount of $4,000 to the Project
Engineer or the Developer’s designated agent.
5) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable
water and sewer utility facilities and accept the conveyance of a
portion of the potable water and sewer utility facilities for
Valley Stream Self Storage, PL20220001872.
6) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance
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of the private roadway and drainage improvements, and
acceptance of the plat dedications, for the final plat of Maple
Ridge Phase 5B, Second Replat, Application Number
PL20180000568, and authorize the release of the maintenance
securities in the amount of $454,837.97.
7) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance
of the private roadway and drainage improvements, acceptance
of the plat dedications, for the final plat of Silverwood at Ave
Maria (Phase 1), Application Number PL20170002303, and
authorize the release of the maintenance securities in the
amount of $661,265.90.
8) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance
of the private roadway and drainage improvements, and
acceptance of the plat dedications, for the final plat of Tree
Farm, Application Number PL20180003592, and authorize the
release of the maintenance security in the amount of
$184,220.85.
9) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid (“ITB”) No. 23-
8077, “Aquatic Vegetation Maintenance,” to DeAngelo
Contracting Services LLC, as the primary vendor, and Superior
Landscaping & Lawn Service Inc., as the secondary vendor,
and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached agreements.
(Estimated annual spend $350,000 Stormwater Utility Fund
103).
10) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid ("ITB") No. 23-
8069, "Tree and Palm Maintenance," to Tree Scaping of Naples
Inc., as the primary vendor, and Superior Landscaping &
Lawn Service Inc., as the secondary vendor, and authorize the
Chairman to sign the attached agreements.
11) Recommendation to approve an Economic Development
Agreement with AZT Technology, LLC, in the sum of
$40,272.80 for infrastructure expenditure for a Florida Power
and Light transformer and feeder conduits, equipment feeds and
grounding for a precision metal component manufacturing
facility in the Interchange Activity Center No. 9 Innovation
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Zone and authorize for reimbursement of these expenditures.
12) Recommendation to approve an Agreement for the purchase of
a sidewalk, slope, and utility easement (Parcel 513SWUE)
required for construction of improvements for the Logan
Boulevard at Vanderbilt Beach Road Intersection (Project No.
60252).
13) Recommendation to authorize a budget amendment to
recognize revenue and transfer funding for projects within the
Transportation Supported Gas Tax Fund (313) and
Transportation & CDES Capital Fund (310) in the amount of
$122,648.76. (Projects #60085, #60088, #69331, #69333,
#69338, and #69339)
14) Recommendation to award Fixed Fee Professional Service
Agreements to Stewart Title Company, American Government
Services Corporation, and Guaranteed Florida Title, Escrow &
Abstract, Inc., (f/k/a Title Partners of South Florida, Inc.,) under
Request for Proposal (“RFP”) No. 22-7997, “Real Estate Title
& Closing Services,” and authorize the Chairman to sign the
attached agreements.
15) Recommendation to approve the selection committee’s ranking
and authorize staff to begin contract negotiations with Kimley-
Horn and Associates, Inc., related to Request for Professional
Services (“RPS”) No. 22-8053 for “Design Services for
Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension Phase II,” so that staff can
bring a proposed agreement back for the Board’s consideration
at a future meeting.
16) Recommendation to approve the commencement of services
under Agreement No. 21-7842, “Roadway Contractors,” to
authorize construction of the Radio Road at Devonshire
Boulevard and Countryside Drive Intersection Improvements in
the amount of $773,114.25, and to authorize any necessary
budget amendments. (Project #60016.47)
17) Recommendation to the purchase a Mack MD6 cab and chassis
truck upfitted with a truck mounted TrafFix Device, Scorpion II
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TL-3 Attenuator and a Mobile Traffic Advisory/Directional
Signal Board utilizing two Florida Sheriffs Association
(“FSA”) Cooperative Agreements from Nextran Truck Center
under FSA22-VEH20.0 “Heavy Trucks & Buses” (cab and
chassis truck) and from Striping Service and Supply, Inc., under
FSA20-EQU 18.0, “Heavy Equipment."
18) Recommendation the Board of County Commissioners approve
an access easement and temporary construction easement for
the construction of an eight-foot concrete noise wall on two
County-owned properties to abate noise from Veteran’s
Memorial Boulevard in accordance with the 2006 Settlement
Agreement for the Sandalwood PUD.
19) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to
sign a Small County Outreach Program (SCOP) State-Funded
Grant Agreement with the Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT) to receive reimbursement up to
$818,622 to construct paved shoulders on Immokalee Road (CR
846) from east of Main Street (SR 29) to east of Tradeport
Parkway (FPN 449668-1-54-01, Project #60253); to execute a
Resolution memorializing the Board’s action; and authorize all
necessary budget amendments.
20) Recommendation to approve the attached Amendment No. Four
to Agreement No. 18-7382 - Professional Services Agreement
for Collier Area Transit Fixed Route, Demand Response, and
Transit Operations Management Services with MV
Transportation, Inc., allowing for an extension of Amendment
No. Three to address staffing shortages through and including
the current April 30, 2024, termination date of the Agreement,
and authorizing the Chairman to sign the attached amendment.
21) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to
sign a Supplemental Agreement to the Local Agency Program
(LAP) Agreement with the Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT) to increase ($125,000) the grant award
from $467,424 to $592,424 for the construction of bike lane
and shoulder improvements along 111th Avenue North from
the Bluebill Avenue Bridge to 7th Street North; to adopt the
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April 25, 2023
accompanying resolution formally approving and authorizing
its chairman to execute same on behalf of the Board; (Project
33620), FPN 441846-1-58-01.
22) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute a Local Agency Program (LAP) Construction
Agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation
(FDOT) reimbursing the County up to $983,670 for the
construction of 5-foot bike lanes on Green Blvd from Santa
Barbara Blvd to Sunshine Blvd; execute a Resolution
memorializing the Board’s action; and authorize the necessary
budget amendments (Project #33849), FPN 438093-2-58-01.
B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
C. PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve an Agreement for Sale and
Purchase with: (1) Jose F. Castillo and Jorge F. Castillo; (2)
Odalys Quevedo; (3) Michael L. Toro and Patricia M. Toro, as
Trustees of the Michael and Patricia Toro Revocable Joint Trust
Agreement, dated April 20, 2017; and (4) Frederick P.
Trofatter, Jr. and Heather B. Trofatter under the Conservation
Collier Land Acquisition Program, at a cost not to exceed
$175,905.
2) Recommendation to approve administrative Change Order No.
8 providing for a 90-day time extension and a $111,552.00
increase to the contract amount under Agreement No. 18-7469
with WSP USA Environment & Infrastructure Inc., for the Big
Corkscrew Island Regional Park. (Project No. 80039.1.3)
3) Recommendation to approve proposal No. 10795, 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 $397,226.27 to replace the proprietary N2
Johnson Controls BMS with new BACnet Reliable Controls at
the Collier County Emergency Service Center. (Project No.
52162)
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April 25, 2023
4) Recommendation to accept a project update to NCWRF
Pretreatment Facility Project No. 70149 currently in design
with AECOM Technical Services, Inc., under Agreement No.
20-7722-NS.
5) Recommendation to approve the Second Amendment to
Agreement No. 15-6365 for “FEMA Acceptable Debris
Removal for Disaster Generated Debris” with AshBritt, Inc.,
d/b/a AshBritt Environmental, to increase the fee schedule rates
7%, effective on the renewal date of January 12, 2023, and
authorize the Chairman to sign the amendment.
6) This Item continued from the March 28, 2023, BCC
Meeting. Recommendation to 1) approve the attached
Agreement and Access and Utility Easement to allow VB BTS,
II, LLC, access to its proposed communications tower through
Palm Springs Neighborhood Park and authorize the Chairman
to execute same on behalf of the Board of County
Commissioners; 2) Direct the County Manager or her designee,
to record the Access and Utility Easement in the Public Records
of Collier County, Florida; and 3) Direct staff to ensure that all
proposed improvements discussed herein are part of and
incorporated within the SDP (PL20210000655).
7) This Item continued from the December 10, 2022, BCC
Meeting. Recommendation to approve an Agreement for Sale
and Purchase with WISC Investment Company, LLC, for 0.39
acres under the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition
Program, at a cost not to exceed $432,600.
D. PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to authorize a Budget Amendment in the
amount of $100,000 to transfer funding within the County-
Wide Capital Fund (301) to continue funding eBook collections
to meet patron demand for digital resources and materials for
Collier County Public Libraries.
2) Recommendation to approve a Release of Lien in the amount of
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April 25, 2023
$7,051.70 for full payment of an Immokalee Area Residential
Impact Fee Deferral approved as part of an impact fee deferral
program for properties located within the Immokalee Enterprise
Zone.
3) Recommendation to approve the resurfacing of Twenty (20)
additional Pickleball Courts at East Naples Community Park
and to make a finding that this expenditure promotes tourism.
There is no additional fiscal impact as the original funded
amount is sufficient to include resurfacing of the additional
courts.
4) Recommendation to authorize Staff to submit an application to
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s
Invasive Plant Management Section to be eligible to receive
funding assistance services, worth $280,000 in FY 2024, for the
removal of invasive exotic vegetation within Conservation
Collier’s North Belle Meade, Winchester Head, and Red Maple
Swamp Preserves, and to authorize staff to accept such funding
assistance services, if awarded.
5) Recommendation to accept the Conservation Collier Annual
Report, the Public Access and Preserve Amenities Report, and
an update on the Program’s recent and pending acquisitions.
6) Recommendation to approve an “After-the-Fact” Amendment 2
with Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida, Inc., for the
Emergency Home Energy Assistance Program to authorize
FY2022 funding for the EHEAP 203.21 Agreement to increase
the award amount of $100,000 with revision to the Budget
Summary for FY21 & FY22 and the supporting Budget
Amendment. (Human Services Grant Fund 707)
7) Recommendation to promote economic development in local
agriculture via a $5,000 sponsorship of the Collier County Farm
Bureau 2nd Annual AgVenture and Rodeo event organized by
the Collier County Farm Bureau. (Economic Development
Fund 007)
8) Recommendation to approve the Conservation Collier HHH
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April 25, 2023
Ranch Preserve 2-year Interim Management Plan under the
Conservation Collier Program and to name the property North
Belle Meade Preserve.
9) Recommendation to approve the “After-the-Fact” submittal of a
grant application for a four-year Bureau of Justice Assistance
(BJA) Drug Court Discretionary Grant in the amount of
$1,000,000.
E. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
1) Recommendation to approve the administrative report prepared
by the Procurement Services Division for various County
Division's After-the-Fact purchases requiring Board approval in
accordance with Procurement Ordinance 2017-08 and the
Procurement Manual, as well as, to approve the payment of
$5,404.95 in expenditures that have been incurred that were out
of compliance with the contracts or procurement requirements
for associated invoices that have not been paid.
2) Recommendation to authorize one additional Full Time
Equivalent (FTE) position in the Collier County Fleet
Management Division.
3) Recommendation to approve Agreement #23-001-NS with
United Data Technologies, Inc., for additional professional
services pertaining to the installation of the Cisco Phone
System upgrade using General Services Administration
(“GSA”) contract #GS-35F-538GA (professional services).
F. COUNTY MANAGER OPERATIONS
1) Recommendation to renew the annual Certificate of Public
Convenience and Necessity (COPCN) and Permit for a Class 1
(ALS Transport/ALS Rescue) and Class 2 (ALS intra-facility
ALS Ambulance Transport) for the Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue
Department within the boundaries of the Seminole Tribe in
Immokalee; authorize the Chairman to sign the permit and
certificate; and recognize and accept the $250 application fee
within Fund 001.
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April 25, 2023
2) Recommendation to adopt 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.)
3) Recommendation to approve a Fifth Amendment to the
Facilities Management Agreement 21-7898 with Sports
Facilities Management, LLC to amend the budget to reflect the
increased cost of goods from $488,928 to $889,365, increased
revenues from $1,389,743 to $1,922,474, authorize the
Chairman to sign the amendment and authorize all necessary
budget amendments.
G. AIRPORT AUTHORITY
H. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
I. MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
J. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
1) Recommendation to approve a budget amendment recognizing
a Florida Department of State, Division of Elections, 2022/2023
Election Security Funds Grant Award in the amount of
$118,610.
2) 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 30,
2023, and April 12, 2023, pursuant to Florida Statute 136.06.
3) Request that the Board approve and determine valid public
purpose for invoices payable and purchasing card transactions
as of April 19, 2023.
K. COUNTY ATTORNEY
Page 17
April 25, 2023
1) Recommendation to reappoint two members to the Animal
Services Advisory Board.
2) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Final Judgment in the
total amount of $8,600 plus $8,513.36 in statutory attorney fees,
litigation costs, apportionment attorneys’ fees, and experts’ fees
and costs for the taking of Parcel 1268RDUE required for the
Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension Project No. 60168, and an
amount not to exceed $3,000 for additional apportionment costs
if needed for the taking of Parcel 1268RDUE required for the
Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension Project No. 60168.
3) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Final Judgment in the
total amount of $10,350 plus $7,655.92 in statutory attorney
fees, litigation costs, apportionment attorneys’ fees, and
experts’ fees and costs for the taking of Parcel 1267RDUE
required for the Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension Project No.
60168.
4) Recommendation to authorize the County Attorney to file a
lawsuit on behalf of the Collier County Board of County
Commissioners against Roy Garcia in the County Court of the
Twentieth Judicial Circuit in and for Collier County, Florida, to
recover $5,743.11 in damages incurred by the County for
repairs to a foxtail palm, park bench and trash receptacle, plus
costs of litigation
5) Recommendation to authorize the County Attorney to file a
lawsuit on behalf of the Collier County Board of County
Commissioners against Ashley Angelica Hernandez and Marta
Rebeca Hernandez Garcia in the County Court of the Twentieth
Judicial Circuit in and for Collier County, Florida, to recover
damages for the repair of Collier County property totaling
$7,710.14, plus costs of litigation.
6) Recommendation to authorize the County Attorney to file a
lawsuit on behalf of the Collier County Board of County
Commissioners against Rachel Jimenez Lopez in the County
Court of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit in and for Collier
Page 18
April 25, 2023
County, Florida, to recover damages for the repair of Collier
County property totaling $7,956.38 plus costs of litigation.
7) Recommendation to authorize the County Attorney to file a
lawsuit on behalf of the Collier County Board of County
Commissioners against Michael Lavery and Mason Tyler
Morgan in the County Court of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit in
and for Collier County, Florida, to recover damages incurred by
the County for the repair to the security gate and fence at the
South County Regional Water Treatment Plant located at 3875
City Gate Drive the totaling $4,400, plus costs of litigation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. 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
Abbreviations; Chapter Two Zoning Districts and Uses, including
Section 2.03.07 Overlay Zoning Districts; Chapter Four Site Design
Page 19
April 25, 2023
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] (Second of
two hearings) (This is a companion to Item #17B)
B. Recommendation to Adopt PL20190000821 -GMPA- Collier
Boulevard/Interstate 75 Innovation Zone Overlay - An Ordinance of
the Board of County Commissioners amending Ordinance 89-05, as
amended, the Collier County Growth Management Plan, specifically
amending the Future Land Use Element and Future Land Use Map
and Map Series to add the Collier Boulevard/Interstate 75 Innovation
Zone Overlay to attract and retain qualified targeted industry business;
to correct a Scrivener's error in the Activity Center #9 inset map; and
Furthermore directing transmittal of the adopted amendment to the
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The subject property is
located at the intersections of Collier Boulevard and Interstate 75, and
Collier Boulevard and Davis Boulevard, in Sections 34, 35 and 36,
Township 49 South, Range 26 East, and Sections 2 and 3, Township
50 South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida, consisting of
1,236± acres. [PL20190000821] (This is a companion Item to #17A)
C. Recommendation to adopt a resolution approving amendments
(appropriating carry forward, transfers, and supplemental revenue) to
the FY22-23 Adopted Budget. (The budget amendments in the
attached Resolution have been reviewed and approved by the Board of
County Commissioners via separate Executive Summaries.)
D. This item requires that all participants be sworn in and ex-parte
disclosure be provided by Commission members. Recommendation
to approve Petition VAC-PL20220000374 to disclaim, renounce and
vacate the County and the public interest in two unimproved 30-foot-
wide public right-of-ways described as Avenue “B” and First Street,
according to the COL-LEE-CO TERRACE subdivision plat, as
recorded in Plat Book 1, Page 32, of the Public Records of Collier
County, Florida. The subject property is located on the south side of
U.S. 41 between Fredrick Street and Palm Street in Section 11,
Township 50 South, Range 25 East, Collier County, Florida; and to
Page 20
April 25, 2023
approve a Developer Agreement with TB East Trail LLC (Developer)
and Collier County (County) to provide $528,431.35 for a stormwater
management improvement between Spruce Street and Pine Street.
E. A Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners proposing an
amendment to the Collier County Growth Management Plan,
Ordinance 89-05, as amended, specifically amending the Future Land
Use Element and Future Land Use Map and Map Series to add the US
41 East Overlay to allow certain economic development uses within
the Corridor segments; and, allow increased height and density, and
certain economic development uses in Regional Centers and
Community Centers through incentives, and amending the
Transportation Element and maps to expand the South US 41
Transportation Concurrency Exception Area, and furthermore
directing transmittal of the proposed amendment to the Florida
Department of Economic Opportunity. [PL20230000930]
F. An Ordinance of the Board of County Commissioners amending
Ordinance 89-05, as amended, the Collier County Growth
Management Plan of the unincorporated area of Collier County,
Florida, relating to the Rural Fringe Mixed Use District Restudy and
specifically amending the Future Land Use Element and the Future
Land Use Map and map series to require transfer of development
rights for comprehensive plan amendments for increased residential
density in the Urban Mixed Use District and the Rural Fringe Mixed
Use District; amending the Urban Mixed Use District, Urban
Residential Fringe Sub-district to remove the density bonus cap on
Residential In-Fill and remove the requirement to use transfer of
development rights within one mile of the urban boundary; and
amending the Rural Fringe Mixed Use District of the Future Land Use
Element to change development standards and requirements, increase
density on Receiving Lands for affordable housing, add transfer of
development rights credits, add uses in Receiving Areas, and add a
conditional use for recreation in Sending Lands, and to amend
development standards for rural villages; and create the Belle Meade
Hydrologic Enhancement Overlay; and to correct the scrivener's error
for the Immokalee Road Rural Village Overlay on the Future Land
Use Map; and furthermore, directing transmittal of the adopted
amendments to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and
providing for an effective date. [PL20200002234]
Page 21
April 25, 2023
18. Adjourn
INQUIRIES CONCERNING CHANGES TO THE BOARD’S AGENDA
SHOULD BE MADE TO THE COUNTY MANAGER’S OFFICE AT 252-
8383.
April 25, 2023
Page 2
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Good morning, everybody. How
are you?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We are well, sir. You?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All right. Great.
I said, "Good morning, everybody. How are you?"
GALLERY: Good morning.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. Olema, I'm talking to you.
Give me a big hello. There you go. Follow her lead.
Okay. Glad you're here. We've got a lot of business to get to
today. So let's start with our invocation and then our Pledge.
MS. PATTERSON: Yes. Today's invocation by Rabbi
Ammos Chorny of Beth Tikvah Synagogue.
Item #1A
INVOCATION BY RABBI AMMOS CHORNY OF BETH TIKVAH
SYNAGOGUE INVOCATION GIVEN
RABBI CHORNY: Good morning.
Before my remarks today, I want to acknowledge a personal
milestone. Today marks 10 years since I've been given the honor of
coming before you and fulfilling this important duty. To you-all, I
thank you.
Dear members of the County Commission and fellow citizens,
as we assemble here today to conduct the business of our community,
let us take a moment to reflect on the responsibility we bear to serve
our fellow citizens with fairness and dedication towards the
betterment of the community.
Master of the universe, we ask you for guidance and wisdom,
that in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect, we be able to set
April 25, 2023
Page 3
aside our differences, striving in concert and mutual respect toward
our common goals and reach the important decisions we are called to
make which impact the lives of so many of maintaining a safe,
prosperous, and equitable environment for all.
Let us be mindful of the challenges we face in the opportunities
that lie ahead. Let us be inspired to rise to the occasion to make a
positive difference in the lives of those we serve.
We offer this prayer in the spirit of humility and gratitude,
recognizing the great privilege and responsibility that comes with the
honor of serving our community. Amen.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: One of our proclamations this
morning is going to be to recognize National Correctional Officers
Week. And I know we've got a bunch in the back, but we're going to
have one of our correctional officers come forward here and lead us
in the Pledge. Is it Chief Roberts?
CHIEF ROBERTS: Yes, sir.
(The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chief.
Okay. County Manager, over to you. Approval of minutes?
Item #2A
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
KOWAL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL -
APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, agenda changes for April 25th,
2023. We have several.
April 25, 2023
Page 4
We have -- first is move Item 17E to 9B. This is a resolution of
the Board of County Commissioners proposing an amendment to the
Collier County Growth Management Plan Ordinance 89-05, as
amended, specifically amending the Future Land Use Elements and
Future Land Use Map and Map Series to add the U.S. 41 East
Overlay to allow certain economic development uses within the
corridor segments; and allow increased height and density and certain
economic development uses in regional centers and community
centers through incentives; and amending the Transportation Element
and maps to expand the south U.S. 41 Transportation Concurrency
Exception Area; and, furthermore, directing transmittal of the
proposed amendments to the Florida Department of Economic
Opportunity.
This item is being moved to the regular agenda at Commissioner
LoCastro, McDaniel, Hall, Kowal, and Saunders' separate requests.
Moving Item 17F to 9C. This is an ordinance of the Board of
County Commissioners amending Ordinance 89-05, as amended, the
Collier County Growth Management Plan of the unincorporated area
of Collier County, Florida, relating to the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use
District Restudy and specifically amending the Future Land Use
Element and the Future Land Use Map and Map Series to require
transfer of development rights for Comprehensive Plan amendments
for increased residential density in the Urban Mixed-Use District and
the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District; amending the Urban Mixed-Use
District Urban Residential Fringe Sub-District to remove the density
bonus cap on residential infill; and remove the requirement to use
transfer of development rights within one mile of the urban boundary;
and amending the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District of the Future
Land Use Element to change development standards and
requirements, increase density on receiving lands for affordable
housing, add transfer of the development right credits, add uses in
April 25, 2023
Page 5
receiving areas, and add a conditional use for recreation in sending
lands, and to amend development standards for rural villages; and
create the Belle Meade Hydraulic Enhancement Overlay; and to
correct the scrivener's error for the Immokalee Road Rural Village
Overlay on the Future Land Use Map; and, furthermore, directing
transmittal of the adopted amendments to the Florida Department of
Economic Opportunity, and providing for an effective date.
This item is being moved at Commissioner McDaniel,
Commissioner Hall, and Commissioner Hall's [sic] separate requests.
Move Item 16C7 to 11E. This item was continued from the
December 10th, 2022, BCC meeting. This is a recommendation to
approve an agreement for sale and purchase with WISC Investment
Company, LLC, for .39 acres under the Conservation Collier Land
Acquisition Program at a cost not to exceed $432,600. This move is
at staff's request.
Move Item 16F3 to 11F. This is a recommendation to approve
a fifth amendment to the Facilities Management Agreement 21-7898
with Sports Facilities Management, LLC, to amend the budget to
reflect increased cost of goods from 488,928 to 889,365; increase
revenues from 1,389,743 to 1,922,474; and authorize the Chairman to
sign the amendment; and authorize all necessary budget amendments.
This item is being moved at Commissioner McDaniel and
Commissioner LoCastro's separate requests, and this item will be
heard immediately following Item 5A, which is our update on the
sports complex.
Move Item 16C5 to 11G. This is a recommendation to approve
the second amendment to Agreement No. 15-6365 for
FEMA-acceptable debris removal for disaster-generated debris with
AshBritt, Inc., doing business as AshBritt Environmental, to increase
the fee schedule rates 7 percent effective on the renewal date of
January 12th, 2023, and authorize the Chairman to sign the
April 25, 2023
Page 6
amendment.
Item 10A will be heard time-certain at 10:00 a.m. This is a
recommendation to approve a sixth amendment to the long-term lease
and operating agreement for the golf and entertainment complex with
CCBSG Naples, LLC, to extend the financing contingency period to
June 30th, 2023.
Item 12A to be heard no sooner than 3:00. This is a
recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a
mediated settlement agreement with La Minnesota Riviera, LLC, and
the Riviera Golf Estates Homeowners Association, Inc., for
settlement of a Bert Harris claim filed pursuant to Florida Statute
70.001, related to application of the county's Golf Course Conversion
Ordinance on the Riviera Golf Course.
And let's see. Oh, sorry.
Continue Item 16D1 to the May 29th, 2023, BCC meeting.
This is a recommendation to authorize a budget amendment in the
amount of $100,000 to transfer funding within the countywide
Capital Fund 301 to continue funding eBook collections to meet
patron demand for digital resources and materials for Collier County
Public Libraries. This move is at Commissioner McDaniel's request.
And, finally, Items 11B, 11C, and 11D will be heard together no
sooner than 2:30 p.m. This is a first amendment to the developer
agreement with Rural Neighborhoods, long-term ground lease with
Rural Neighborhoods, and State Housing Initiative Partnership
sponsor agreements for construction of rental housing units at the
Golden Gate Golf Course.
With that, County Attorney, any further changes?
MR. KLATZKOW: No. Thank you, ma'am.
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, ex parte on the summary
and consent and any changes.
Commissioner LoCastro.
April 25, 2023
Page 7
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We'll start with Commissioner
Kowal. Do you have any changes or ex parte?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No changes and no ex parte on
summary or consent.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I have no changes and also
no ex parte.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I have one meeting on 9A, and
none on 17A.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Consent and summary only.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Oh. None then.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No changes nor any ex parte.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. And I have no changes and
no ex parte either.
We accept the agenda and the minutes.
MS. PATTERSON: Can I get a motion to approve the agenda as
amended?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Motion -- 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. Next?
April 25, 2023
Page 8
MS. PATTERSON: Troy, did we have a speaker on the --
MR. MILLER: We had a registered speaker for our consent
item, but they're not on Zoom at this point.
MS. PATTERSON: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: One thing I just want to say to my
colleagues and really to folks -- you know, we've got a large crowd
here, and sometimes maybe you haven't been at every single meeting.
I want to really thank my colleagues for, as they always do,
really diving into the agenda. And when something is moved as a
change and pulled off -- pulled off of summary or consent, oftentimes
it means one of us or all of us have an issue and can -- summary or
consent just takes one vote, and then it approves what appears to be,
like, a million things. Kind of like they do in Washington, D.C.
We don't do that here.
And so, you know, I really applaud all the commissioners
for -- when they see something on the agenda that they have a lot of
questions on, they pull it. But also at times we pull things because
we want to give it positive visibility. Rather than just a blanket vote
and say, oh, we just approved some great and wonderful thing, we
pull it because we want to discuss it. We want to thank staff. We
also do want to give public any comment. But they're pulled for two
totally separate reasons.
But I actually like when I see a big change sheet, because it
means we've all dug into it, we've all read it, and we're all here to talk
about it, and we're not trying to get out by lunch. We're trying to do
the work of the county.
So as we've got a lot of things that we pulled today for various
reasons, and I appreciate it.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Some of us trying to get out
by lunch.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Well, maybe
April 25, 2023
Page 9
Commissioner McDaniels [sic], but -- so I thank you-all for digging
into that. We've got some real hot topics.
With a large crowd, too, I also want to say, please silence your
cell phones, okay. Some of you might not come in here a lot. So
we don't want to hear, you know, all your different, you know, songs
and what have you.
And then also, we expect to have a lot of public speakers on
different areas today. We keep this a very professional type of
meeting. So it's not The Jerry Springer Show, okay. So when
somebody gets their three minutes up here, give them the respect that
you are hoping to get when you get your three minutes up here. So
there's not cheering and hooting and hollering and whatnot. We
don't do that anymore, okay. We run a professional meeting. We
want to hear from everybody on all sides so that we can render the
best decision for the county. And it will always be something that
not everyone agrees with. But the one thing we all want to agree
with is this is a professional meeting from professional people that
are respectful regardless of what your side of the equation is. So we
really appreciate that.
And, you know, we've had some really, really great fruitful and
valuable meetings in here on some real heavy and controversial
topics. But I really thank the folks that have sat in those seats before
you who have done just that.
So we want to continue that trend, and we don't want to hear
your Happy Birthday song on your cell phone, you know, if it goes
off or whatnot. So we appreciate that as well. Thank you.
All right. What's next?
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that moves us to awards
and recognitions.
Our 20-year awardee is not here today, so we will try to catch
her on the next meeting.
SEE REVERSE SIDE
Proposed Agenda Changes
Board of County Commissioners Meeting
April 25, 2023
Move Item 17E to 9B: A Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners proposing an amendment to the
Collier County Growth Management Plan, Ordinance 89‐05, as amended, specifically amending the Future Land
Use Element and Future Land Use Map and Map Series to add the US 41 East Overlay to allow certain economic
development uses within the Corridor segments; and, allow increased height and density, and certain economic
development uses in Regional Centers and Community Centers through incentives, and amending the
Transportation Element and maps to expand the South US 41 Transportation Concurrency Exception Area, and
furthermore directing transmittal of the proposed amendment to the Florida Department of Economic
Opportunity. [PL20230000930] (Commissioner LoCastro’s, McDaniel’s, Hall’s, Kowal’s, and Saunders’
Separate Requests)
Move Item 17F to 9C: An Ordinance of the Board of County Commissioners amending Ordinance 89‐05, as
amended, the Collier County Growth Management Plan of the unincorporated area of Collier County, Florida,
relating to the Rural Fringe Mixed Use District Restudy and specifically amending the Future Land Use Element
and the Future Land Use Map and map series to require transfer of development rights for comprehensive plan
amendments for increased residential density in the Urban Mixed Use District and the Rural Fringe Mixed Use
District; amending the Urban Mixed Use District, Urban Residential Fringe Sub‐district to remove the density
bonus cap on Residential In‐Fill and remove the requirement to use transfer of development rights within one
mile of the urban boundary; and amending the Rural Fringe Mixed Use District of the Future Land Use Element to
change development standards and requirements, increase density on Receiving Lands for affordable housing,
add transfer of development rights credits, add uses in Receiving Areas, and add a conditional use for recreation
in Sending Lands, and to amend development standards for rural villages; and create the Belle Meade Hydrologic
Enhancement Overlay; and to correct the scrivener's error for the Immokalee Road Rural Village Overlay on the
Future Land Use Map; and furthermore, directing transmittal of the adopted amendments to the Florida
Department of Economic Opportunity and providing for an effective date. [PL20200002234] (Commissioner
McDaniel’s and Hall’s Separate Requests)
Move Item 16C7 to 11E: *** This Item continued from the December 10, 2022 BCC Meeting. ***
Recommendation to approve an Agreement for Sale and Purchase with WISC Investment Company, LLC, for 0.39
acres under the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Program, at a cost not to exceed $432,600. (Staff’s
Request)
Move Item 16F3 to 11F: Recommendation to approve a Fifth Amendment to the Facilities Management
Agreement 21‐7898 with Sports Facilities Management, LLC to amend the budget to reflect the increased cost of
goods from $488,928 to $889,365, increased revenues from $1,389,743 to $1,922,474, authorize the Chairman to
sign the amendment and authorize all necessary budget amendments. (Commissioner McDaniel’s and
Locastro’s Separate Requests)
Item 11F formerly 16F3 to be heard immediately following 5A: (Commissioner McDaniel’s request)
Move Item 16C5 to 11G: Recommendation to approve the Second Amendment to Agreement No. 15‐6365 for
“FEMA Acceptable Debris Removal for Disaster Generated Debris” with AshBritt, Inc., d/b/a AshBritt
Environmental, to increase the fee schedule rates 7%, effective on the renewal date of January 12, 2023, and
authorize the Chairman to sign the amendment. (Commissioner McDaniel’s Request)
Item 10A to be heard at 10:00 AM: Recommendation to approve a Sixth Amendment to the Long‐Term Lease
and Operating Agreement for the Golf and Entertainment Complex (the "Lease") with CC BSG Naples, LLC
("BigShots") to Extend the Financing Contingency Period to June 30, 2023. (Commissioner Saunders’ Request)
Item 12A to be heard no sooner than 3:00 PM: Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute a Mediated Settlement Agreement with La Minnesota Riviera, LLC, and the Riviera Golf Estates
Homeowners Association, Inc., for settlement of a Bert Harris Claim filed pursuant to Florida Statutes §70.001,
related to application of the County’s Golf Course Conversion Ordinance on the Riviera Golf Course. (Staff’s
Request)
Continue Item 16D1 to the May 9, 2023, BCC Meeting: Recommendation to authorize a Budget Amendment
in the amount of $100,000 to transfer funding within the County‐Wide Capital Fund (301) to continue funding
eBook collections to meet patron demand for digital resources and materials for Collier County Public Libraries.
(Commissioner McDaniel’s Request)
Notes:
TIME CERTAIN ITEMS:
Item 11F formerly 16F3 to be heard immediately following 5A: Fifth Amendment to the Management
Agreement with Sports Facilities Management, LLC to amend for cost of goods sold.
Item 10A to be heard at 10:00 AM: Sixth Amendment to the Long-Term Lease and Operating Agreement with
CC BSG Naples LLC.
Items 11B, 11C, and 11D to be heard no sooner than 2:30 PM: First Amendment to Developer Agreement with
Rural Neighborhoods, Long-Term Ground Lease with Rural Neighborhoods, and State Housing Initiative
Partnership Sponsor Agreement for construction of rental housing units at the Golden Gate Golf Course.
Item 12A to be heard no sooner than 3:00 PM: Mediated Settlement Agreement for settlement of a Bert Harris
Claim regarding the Riviera Golf Course.
5/15/2023 10:42 PM
April 25, 2023
Page 10
Item #3A
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS - 25 YEARS ATTENDEES -
DAVID CHALICK, LIBRARY BRANCH LIBRARY MANAGER
DANA ALGER - SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTE
MANAGEMENT - RECYCLING COORDINATOR, MARY JO
BROCK - COUNTY MANAGERS OFFICE – MANAGEMENT
ANALYST I - PRESENTED
So that moves us to 25 years. Our first 25-year attendee is
David Chalick, Library, Branch Library Manager.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: How about that?
(Applause.)
MS. PATTERSON: Congratulations.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right here, sir. Right here in the
position of honor. Right here.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Picture time.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Shall we quiz him on that?
Dewey Decimal System and all that, right? You should be an expert
on that, right?
Hey, congratulations.
(Applause.)
MS. PATTERSON: Twenty-five years, Dana Alger, Solid and
Hazardous Waste Management, Recycling Coordinator.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Congratulations.
MS. PATTERSON: Twenty-five years, Mary Jo Brock,
County Manager's Office, Management Analyst I.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: This young lady could tell some
stories. Would you like the mic? Would you like to tell us a few
April 25, 2023
Page 11
things about anybody? You have to take it to the grave.
Thanks, Mary Jo.
(Applause.)
MS. PATTERSON: That brings us to Item 4 proclamations.
Item #4A
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 4, 2023, AS NATIONAL
DAY OF PRAYER. ACCEPTED BY PASTOR GRANT THIGPEN,
PASTOR JESSE BARRETT, AND OTHER LEADERS OF THE
FAITH COMMUNITY. MOTION TO APPROVE BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL - ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: 4A is a proclamation designating May 4th,
2023, as National Day of Prayer. To be accepted by Pastor Grant
Thigpen, Pastor Jesse Barrett, and other leaders of the faith
community.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We're giving him this to try to
reenergize him; you know, get him involved in stuff.
Pastor, would you like to say a couple of words of wisdom or
give us something? Come on, you always have something, right?
If you'd go to the podium there, if you'd like --
PASTOR THIGPEN: I'd rather do it in private.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Oh, our confessions?
PASTOR THIGPEN: We pray for all of you, men and ladies as
well.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir.
April 25, 2023
Page 12
PASTOR THIGPEN: Thank you.
(Applause.)
Item #4B
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING APRIL 30, 2023, AS
NATIONAL THERAPY ANIMAL DAY. ACCEPTED BY SUSAN
ABREU AND HER THERAPY DOG, "NANNY." MOTION TO
APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL - ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Item 4B is a proclamation designating
April 30th, 2023, as National Therapy Animal Day. To be accepted
by Susan Abreu and her therapy dog, Nanny.
(Applause.)
Item #4C
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 2023 AS NATIONAL
SAFE BOATING WEEK. ACCEPTED BY RICHARD HURD,
FLOTILLA STAFF OFFICER-PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PARTNER
VISITATION, US COAST GUARD AUXILIARY, MARCO
ISLAND, FLORIDA. MOTION TO APPROVE BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL - ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Item 4C is a proclamation designating
May 2023 as National Safe Boating Week. To be accepted by
Richard Hurd, flotilla staff officer, public affairs, partner visitation,
and other distinguished guests, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary,
Marco Island, Florida.
April 25, 2023
Page 13
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Gentlemen, if anybody wants to
say a few words; all up to you.
Okay. Keep moving.
Item #4D
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 7 - 13, 2023, AS
NATIONAL CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WEEK. ACCEPTED
BY SHERIFF KEVIN RAMBOSK, COLONEL JIM BLOOM,
CHIEF MARK MIDDLEBROOK, CAPTAIN KEITH HARMON,
CAPTAIN DAREECE CANADY, DIRECTOR KATINA BOUZA,
AND OTHER CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS AND NAPLES JAIL
CENTER STAFF. MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER
SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL –
ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Item 4D is a proclamation designating
May 7th through 13th, 2023, as National Correctional Officers Week.
To be accepted by Chief Chris Roberts, Chief Mark Middleton,
Captain Keith Harmon, Captain DaReece Canady, Director Katina
Bouza, and other correctional officers and Naples Jail Center staff.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You never want to know these
people on a first-name basis. We thank them for what they do,
right?
(Applause.)
MR. MIDDLEBROOK: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, I'm
Chief Middlebrook on behalf of Sheriff Rambosk, Undersheriff
Bloom, who are both tied up with Senator Scott, I want to thank you
for this recognition. This recognition is for more than 300
April 25, 2023
Page 14
hardworking, dedicated professional members of the corrections
division. They are the best, because this county deserves the best.
While we do a formal proclamation for one week, know that we
appreciate their efforts every day. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Amen.
(Applause.)
Item #4E
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 2023 AS MILITARY
APPRECIATION MONTH IN COLLIER COUNTY. ACCEPTED
BY MAJOR JESSICA R. STERNS, US AIR FORCE (VFW POST
7721), LEE-ANN FORSYTHE, US MARINE CORPS (AMERICAN
GOLD STAR MOTHERS), US ARMY OFFICER CANDIDATE
ALICIA STAROVA (COLLIER COUNTY VETERANS COUNCIL),
TYLER KING, US AIR FORCE (PARENTAL ALIENTATION
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA SUPPORT GROUP), AND LAURA
VIETH, US MARINE CORPS (AVOW-COFFEE WITH
VETERANS). MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER
SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL -
ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Item 4E is a proclamation designating
May 2023 as Military Appreciation Month in Collier County. To be
accepted by Major Jessica R. Stearns, U.S. Air Force, VFW Post
7721; U.S. Army Officer Candidate Alicia Starova, Collier County
Veterans Council; Tyler King, U.S. Air Force Parental Alienation
Southwest Florida Support Group; and Laura Vieth, U.S. Marine
Corps, Avow Coffee with Veterans.
(Applause.)
April 25, 2023
Page 15
MAJOR STEARNS: On behalf of all the veterans groups,
Collier County -- which I'm active with most of them -- and I want to
thank you for all of your support and continued future support,
because we have many veterans who are in need of shelter, in need of
healing, and we do need that assistance. So thank you very much
again for this honor.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thanks, Major.
(Applause.)
Item #4F
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 2023 AS NATIONAL
BIKE MONTH. ACCEPTED BY SKIP RIFFLE, PRESIDENT AND
FOUNDER, BIKES FOR TYKES, INC., AND OLEMA EDWARDS,
DIRECTOR, PARKS AND RECREATION DIVISION. MOTION
TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED
BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL - ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: 4F is a proclamation designating May 2023
as National Bike Month. To be accepted by Skip Riffle, president
and founder, Bikes for Tykes, Inc.
(Applause.)
MR. RIFFLE: This is Dave Pascale, my vice president.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER: Can you take one step.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Not that big a step.
MR. RIFFLE: I only have one leg to do it on.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. Give the guy a break.
MR. RIFFLE: Thank you, all.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Sir, did you want to say anything
or -- it's totally up to you?
April 25, 2023
Page 16
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: To the mic.
MR. RIFFLE: Bikes for Tykes has been serving Collier County
now for 39 years. We've given away over 43,000 bikes to those in
need. And we've noticed that on the weekends, you see all these
lines of bicycles shooting down our road, but you don't see any
family units.
So on May the 14th at Sugden Park, we're putting on a bicycle
event where families can come out and ride around and experience
the wonders of our Sugden Park. And please tell your friends, and
we hope to see you all out there having fun.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
Item #4G
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 2023 AS NATIONAL
FOSTER CARE AWARENESS MONTH. ACCEPTED BY RICK
JACOBS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 4KIDS SOUTHWEST
FLORIDA. MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER
SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL -
ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Item 4G is a proclamation designating
May 2023 as National Foster Care Awareness Month. To be
accepted by Rick Jacobs, executive director, 4KIDS Southwest
Florida.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Rick, did you want to say
anything, if you'd like?
MR. JACOBS: Sure.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Totally up to you.
April 25, 2023
Page 17
MR. JACOBS: On behalf of all the foster care organizations,
we're honored to serve this great community of Southwest Florida.
At 4KIDS, we focus on hope, homes, and healing. So hope is that
aspect of getting in on the front end and trying to keep families
together before they enter foster care. Homes is obvious. We want
to provide a home for every child that enters foster care in our
community. Twenty-seven children yesterday morning needed a
home. And then healing, providing trauma-informed therapy to
those kids that enter care and providing that hope and healing for
their families as well.
So we thank you for the privilege of serving the less fortunate of
this community.
(Applause.)
Item #4H
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING APRIL 2023 AS NATIONAL
FAIR HOUSING MONTH. ACCEPTED BY ANGELA EDISON,
DIRECTOR OF HOUSING, COLLIER COUNTY HOUSING
AUTHORITY. MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER
SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL -
ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: 4H is a proclamation designating
April 2023 as National Fair Housing Month. To be accepted by
Angela Edison, director of Housing, Collier County Housing
Authority.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Angie, do you want to say
something?
MS. EDISON: On the behalf of Collier County Housing
April 25, 2023
Page 18
Authority, we want to thank you so very much. It's a true honor,
because -- this is special because we actually practiced this. And
that's -- that speaks volumes for our county. So we thank you so
very much for your support. Thank you.
(Applause.)
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, if we could get a motion
to approve the proclamations, please.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So moved.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Motion and 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.
Item #5A
AN UPDATE ON THE PARADISE COAST SPORTS COMPLEX
FROM SPORTS FACILITIES MANAGEMENT, LLC.
PRESENTED
MS. PATTERSON: Item 5A is a recommendation to accept an
update on the Paradise Coast Sports Complex from Sports Facilities
Management, LLC.
Mr. Adrian Moses is here to present. Oh. Sorry, Adrian. Are
April 25, 2023
Page 19
we having somebody else up? Okay.
MR. MOSES: No.
Good morning, everyone. Good morning, my name is Adrian
Moses, general manager for the Paradise Coast Sports Complex on
behalf of Sports Facilities Companies. It's my honor to serve at the
pleasure of the -- of Collier County running the sports complex.
I wanted to come here today to share with the commissioners
and with the rest of the county, quite simply, the remarkable success
that we've had this fiscal year so far with a year that literally started
with a hurricane.
The facility was fully booked in October and, unfortunately, we
had to cancel everything in October. That didn't hold us back. We
went after things that had been displaced by the hurricane and
helping out our friends and colleagues in Lee County as well. We
were able to rebook the facility in October and actually do more than
we had projected to do in October.
So I guess I should flip this on. So what essentially could have
been seen as a challenge to the start of the year, we saw it as an
opportunity. And that's really the theme of what I'm going to present
to you guys today is that every opportunity that presents itself to us,
we track it down, and we see if we can make something of it. And
you'll see that we've been pretty successful with that.
Troy, am I --
MR. MILLER: You should. We can't have that.
MR. MOSES: Okay, thank you.
The first slide shows the increase in foot traffic at the complex
on year to date. You may recall that we took over the management
of the facility a week before Thanksgiving in 2021. In that first year,
we -- we made a million dollars in revenue, and we also saved the
county over a million dollars in the subsidy on the previous operating
year with the previous operating company.
April 25, 2023
Page 20
So we're showing numbers against ourselves now even though
that first full year we inherited a lot of contracts and a lot of
agreements and a lot of gaps in the schedule as well, which we did
our best to fill. And you can see that the increase in the foot traffic
has increased based upon our robust calendar that we booked so far
this year.
What I would also add here is that a lot of the larger
tournaments that we have, we utilize Olema and James' team to use
the other county parks in Collier, Big Corkscrew Swamp and North
Collier. We only have five fields available to us, so there's eight at
North Collier. So when we do these large tournaments, we don't see
the foot traffic at the complex even though we have brought the foot
traffic to Collier County, and we put people in the hotels for those
events.
So that is a good indication of the amount of people that are
coming to the complex both during the week with our local
programming, our standard community events that we do around the
holidays, plus the weekly events that I'll share with you-all, if you
don't already know that, a bit later.
As I mentioned, it was a difficult start to the year in terms of the
weather for everyone. We were used as a site for law enforcement
and a rescue and recovery service. We supported law enforcement
agencies from around -- around the state, which we were happy to do,
we were proud to do. We were able to get the Piece River
Conference football championships playoffs which were going to be
elsewhere, but we lent ourselves to them because all of the events
that we had had to cancel because the hotels that -- in the area were
being used to take on the people coming to help us, the workers that
were helping us.
It was quite -- quite a fun time as well. We had a wedding that
was taken from an event venue in Lee County, and we did that with
April 25, 2023
Page 21
us, and we also got ourselves back to normality. There was very
little in the way of damage to the complex. We literally could have
been open the next day after the -- after the storm, and we were for
the law enforcement agencies. But save a gate and an awning and a
few dented benches, that was -- that was it for us. So we were very,
very fortunate for that.
And that also comes down to a very robust plan that was put in
place by my operations director through our operating manual of
preparing the facility for -- for such a storm to limit any impacts of
that.
Into November, we had essentially what was our largest event
that we've ever had was the DSNAP event over three days of the
Florida Families -- I can't remember the name off the top of my head.
But we had a food stamp collection event where we saw 33,000
families come to the sports complex to redeem and collect food
stamps after the storm.
We then moved into -- into more normality. Alliance Cup was
an over-200-team soccer tournament, and then the Gulf Coast
Runners Thanksgiving 5K, which is traditionally in the City of
Naples, was relocated to us with over three and a half thousand
runners on-site enjoying the complex on Thanksgiving morning.
That was a really fun event and one that we can look to replicate.
Into December, and it began in an incredibly busy way with us
partnering with our colleagues at the Parks and Rec Department with
SnowFest. We sold 3,500 tickets to this event, and then we had an
additional 3,000 walk up, for a total of six and a half thousand people
for Collier County SnowFest. This was in the stadium, featuring
snow, vendors, bounce houses for the kids, music, and we also
showed a movie, which I'll come to later, on the big screen.
We moved into the rest of the month hosting our partner's,
FBU's, National Championships, which is always a superb event, and
April 25, 2023
Page 22
we showed our flexibility and our partnership with the Parks and
Recs Department as well by what, ostensibly, is our largest event.
During the same week, we also hosted a Perfect Game baseball event
at North Collier as well.
We went from football to lacrosse to small-sided soccer all
within two weeks, rotating the facility. That comes at a high cost,
and we wouldn't have done that had we not seen the revenue return
from that. And December was our record month in terms of revenue
that was -- that was created. Total revenue. You'll hear me say
"record month" most times. It's because we're beating the record
January, we're beating the record February, we're beating the record
March, and we're going to beat the record April.
Into the new year, and one of the challenges that we face in
January is this is such a nice area and so popular with tourists that the
hotels are hard to come by, and the hotel rates are relatively high;
specifically for sporting groups, which tend to have a -- tend to trend
with a lower -- lower average rate for events.
So we had a month of showcase events which are very popular
because -- and they're good for us and the area because rather than
four teams coming, it's individual athletes with a parent. So it's not
so much of a drive on the -- on the hotel inventory that's available.
We're not bringing thousands and thousands of people, but what we
are doing with these events is showcasing the flexibility of the
complex and our food and beverage team that led by Jimbo Mann, by
feeding every single athlete that comes through and driving revenue
through -- through that, which you wouldn't expect. But we're
taking advantage of that.
Into February, a really -- I think I wrote in my newsletter notes,
this month really showed our flexibility with WolfStock being a craft
beer and music festival the first weekend, moving into Super Bowl
weekend, having a national flag football tournament, into the
April 25, 2023
Page 23
Western Cup on President's Day weekend which is, again, a huge
tournament that's hosted by our partners, Tournament Success Group.
We finished up the middle school soccer season, which we host,
supporting the local community and the -- and Mark Rosenbaum
and -- with hosting middle school soccer.
And the Southwest Florida Shootout this year featured Ohio
State playing Virginia, preceded by Michigan playing Marquette.
We sold over 4,000 tickets to this event, engaging traveling people
coming in and the local community for such an event which was
broadcast on national TV.
Incredibly successful event that required a heavy lift from
our -- from all -- from our standpoint, and we were able to turn that
around the next day hosting an event, which isn't up here, supporting
the Collier County Museums and their Jazz on the Lawn, which was
an event that brought around about 4- to 500 people to the complex
that Sunday and utilized some of the infrastructure that we had in
place from the previous day. So we were able to make them savings
on that.
Also in February was the ZOObilee, which was at the zoo. You
may have gone to ZOObilee. It's the zoo's main fundraiser for the
year. We took our food truck and was one of 40 food vendors that
was there, and it was the sports complex that beat out all the
restaurants to win the judge's favorite for the food that was
presented -- that presented at that event. So that's something that
we're very proud of in another way. And it goes to show that when
you mess with a sports complex, you have to expect to come up
against people who are very competitive. So we went out there to
win, and we won it.
Into March -- March we began with an adult soccer tournament,
and then we went into three weeks of spring break training lacrosse
with the support of Paul, and we were able to go from one week last
April 25, 2023
Page 24
year with the same group to three weeks this year. Last year we only
fed them lunch. This year we fed them lunch and dinner. That was
over 6,000 meals over three weeks. This event brings in an
incredible amount of economic impact to the local area through
transportation, through hotels, not only through the sports park.
It's eight to nine private and public high schools that come to
North Collier and the Paradise Coast Sports Complex; eight teams a
week for three weeks running. It's a heavy lift for us from -- on a
food and beverage standpoint but actually, on an operational
standpoint, it gives us time to take a breath because we're not rotating
the fields each week from sport to sport. It's the same sport each
week.
That being said, in between those week -- on those weekends,
we were filling the event [sic] with in-transit soccer events, in-transit
sports events. So we're finding that there's a great opportunity for
teams from Tampa playing teams from Miami that don't want to drive
all the way to Miami or all the way to Tampa. They meet halfway,
and they play here, which works for us, and we'll accept that all day.
One thing that was an important event for me because -- I am a
cyclist as well, so I'm looking forward to coming to that event. We
hosted the Pan-Florida Bicycle Challenge, which was a 125, 120, 62,
30, 10-mile bicycle challenge that began and ended at the sports
complex. So that was a fun event to have and showcase the different
types of events that the sports complex can have, not only sports on
our rectangle fields, events in the great lawn, music events, but we
can actually do events like running races and bicycle races as well,
so...
As we go through, I mentioned most of these. So these are the
other events that we've been doing. And our ongoing events is what
we do on a weekly basis for the community. I see
some -- St. Matthew's House is here. We do a food distribution
April 25, 2023
Page 25
every Monday morning. We host a different theme night each night
of the week. And one of the things that we've been doing recently is
Movies in Paradise, which we were able to secure a sponsor for from
a local company, Pelican Wire. So we're able to provide blockbuster
moves on the video board every third Thursday of the month for the
community at no cost.
And those have been very popular. Unfortunately, last
Thursday's was canceled due to the weather that is pretty standard in
Southwest Florida, so we're looking to reschedule that one. The next
one that is scheduled is a third -- the third Thursday in March [sic].
We look forward to seeing you there.
So there's events going on every single night of the week for the
community that we're putting on.
What does that mean in the fiscal standpoint? This is through
five months. I do have notes for where we were halfway through.
Essentially, we're looking at $975,000 in revenue of a $1.3 million
budget for the entire year, which means that we were, at that point,
395,000. Spoiler alert, now that we have the numbers for March as
well, which takes us through six months, we're at $1.2 million of
revenue and $540,000 over target.
Our operating budget had us at a loss of $50,000, and we're
operating at a profit of 32,000. So we have that swing in that net
operating income. Again, spoiler alert, as we look into March six
months through the year, that number has improved to -- checks
notes -- $85,000 in operating net profit, which this is 109,000 over
where we had projected to be in our budget.
This is all based upon the complex being operated as a five-field
complex. We budgeted as a 10-field complex. I lead a very
committed and talented team who's very committed and competitive,
as I mentioned before. We didn't see the fact that we had budgeted
for 10 but only had five fields as a challenge. We saw it as an
April 25, 2023
Page 26
opportunity, and we went after every single revenue opportunity there
was, and these are the results that have come from that.
We're going to see out the rest of the year. You
mention -- we've mentioned that we're looking to increase our
revenue budget for this year, and we're looking forward to inviting
bigger and better events as we move into the next fiscal year.
One thing that Commissioner McDaniel has requested at the
TDC meetings is that we review all of our events, which we
absolutely do, and what that means is the events, as we move into the
second, third, fourth year of our management here, is every year
we're able to tighten up the events, tighten up the contracts that we
have to make them more favorable for us and make sure that
everybody who participates wins; the event operators, the county, and
Collier County businesses as a whole.
So at this point, that concludes my part of the presentation. I
hope you enjoyed it. I'm very proud to present these numbers to
you. We've worked extremely hard for them, and we continue to
do -- continue to commit to doing that and, as you can see, the best is
still yet to come from the complex.
Do you have any questions?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Gentlemen, questions? I have a
few, but I'll defer to you first.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Until we get -- I want to do
the -- I have nothing -- I'm very pleased with all of this. I appreciate
you taking the time to come and tell the Board, tell the community
what's going on.
I'm astounded, as Commissioner LoCastro says on a regular
basis, how many people don't even know this facility exists. And so
the more we can do, the more we can advertise, the more -- the more
the merrier. So I want to thank you for coming today.
I've got a couple of questions on the next item, but for now we're
April 25, 2023
Page 27
good.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. I've got a couple
questions.
And we had said a couple times before -- and I appreciate you
coming -- these regular updates are not only important for us but for
the community, you know, to hear, and then some of us will pull
some things off of your presentation and use it in town hall meetings
and newsletters and things like that. So it's important that we, you
know, separate rumor from fact.
When you showed your financials, I assume that's actually cash
in hand. Sometimes when you get a financial briefing, they say,
well, we brought in 3,000 people, and that was, you know, X number
of hotel nights, and those are valued at $110 per night. That's not
what you were doing here. This is actual charges, revenue that came
in. It's cash, right? It's not cash value using sort of some other
extemporaneous type of numbers as far as, like, the value to the
county or how many people bought tanks of gas, and that's all worked
into the financials, which sometimes when you get a financial
presentation, you know, somebody does that. But I didn't think you
were. I just wanted to clarify that, right? That was more of just
straight black-and-white cash flow, correct?
MR. MOSES: I appreciate the question, because it gives me
the opportunity to highlight my finance manager, Amanda, Amanda
Vass, who -- the contracts that we write with our event operators are
very tight, and they protect the county in terms of the revenue that we
bring in. Our aging report is very, very small. This is booked,
collected cash that's in there.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Excellent.
I know that you've opened up conversations, and so has our
tourism, you know, development folks, Paul and his team, to, you
know, do all we can to advertise the people that -- you know, we
April 25, 2023
Page 28
didn't just cut a ribbon on this thing two months ago. I'm still
flabbergasted that, you know, I just had a town hall meeting at
Hacienda Lakes, which is a long walk to the Paradise Coast Sports
Complex. And I opened my town hall meetings -- Trinity was
there -- and I said, how many people have ever heard of the Paradise
Coast Sports Complex? And, yeah, a few hands went up. Every
hand should have gone up. And it was a handful. But, you know, I
know that we're getting there.
The question I have is, have you opened up any conversations
yet with Great Wolf Lodge as far as what your relationship's going to
be with them? Has that started at all? I mean, I know it's early, but,
you know, the sooner the better to make sure there's no confusion as
to, you know, how we're going to share each other's backyards, and,
you know, that our sports complex isn't just an open gate for them to
have, you know, free access and free fields for their guests, and it's an
awesome deal for them but not much for us. Has that -- any of those
conversations happened yet?
MR. MOSES: Yeah. It's not early, and we have been in
conversation with them for months. So the way that we are
presenting our relationship with Great Wolf Lodge so far has been
incredibly, incredibly positive. Similar with the Uline construction
that's next door. We look at each other as neighbors, and we want to
be good neighbors.
So with Great Wolf Lodge, we have begun discussions about
where our lodge events are in the calendar and connecting their
business objectives with our business objectives to try and find
synergies there.
In addition to that, we receive a lot of their mail, and so I'm
dropping that off quite often. And recently we connected them we
our -- with our vendor, Pepsi, to help their construction at the early
point of their construction now for their bars and restaurants. So we
April 25, 2023
Page 29
made that referral there as well.
So, so far, very positive, and we're looking forward to a great
relationship with them.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. We want, obviously, a
symbiotic relationship, but we don't want any ambiguity as far as,
you know, you're getting overrun by their guests, and people are sort
of, you know, storming the compound. But that's exactly what I
hoped to hear.
A little seed I wanted to plant, but maybe it's, you know,
common knowledge to you. So I was at the pickleball tournament
that we had at the East Naples Community Park that we had for this
past week, the US Open, and one of the gentlemen who's one of the
senior leaders, we were sitting side by side, and he goes, hey,
Commissioner, I want to show you something. He pulls up his iPad,
and he goes, here's what we're doing at Arrowhead Stadium in
Kansas City. At their stadium we have these modular transportable
pickleball courts that we actually lay on the football field, and we can
have tournaments.
And he said, you know, we obviously will always have the US
Open tournament at the East Naples Community Park because it was
built for that. He's like, but, you know, we'd love to be able to bring
maybe smaller tournaments and put them -- you know, move them to
another location at the county to sort of draw pickleball to different
locations and, you know -- that the sports complex would be great
with the fields. And whatever they put on top of the grass, it does
protect the field. He's like, oh, trust me, Arrowhead Stadium, they're
sticklers for us not messing up the field.
But they set up 25, I think, of these courts. Is that -- have they
been in contact with the pickleball folks at -- either of the folks that
do the US Open or other pickleball people to maybe, you know, bring
something and do something like that on top of some of our grass
April 25, 2023
Page 30
fields, if it worked? Is that -- is that new news, or it's something
you've heard some chatter about that?
MR. MOSES: It goes back to any opportunity that presents
itself to us. We're going to run that down. And pickleball is one
thing that we hear about a lot. And there is quite an extensive cost to
put down those fields for a short period of time, and it would have to
make sense for us to be able to do that. But we'll absolutely take a
look at that. It has to be played on, like, a sport court. It has to be
laid down.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right.
MR. MOSES: That comes at a high cost. And if we were to
compare that to an event that came in that didn't require it, that would
obviously have an impact on the ability for us to drive revenue and be
profitable that weekend. But we would absolutely take a look at it.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I mean, it might be something that
before they bug out of town, or maybe they already have, you reach
out to them. Because you and I are in total sync. First thing I said
to him is what does it cost to put all those down? And we wouldn't,
you know, absorb the cost of that, or maybe there's some shared
thing, but we're not going to make it an unbelievable, great deal for
them and for us it's just a giant cash cow and, you know, a sucking
expense or whatnot.
And obviously those things would need to be worked out. I just
like the concept. And it sounded like at Arrowhead Stadium they're
picking up a lot of the cost because it brings in so many people, and
then it balances out what the cost is. So I just wanted to throw that
out there.
And then, lastly, I would just say, the next time you give us a
brief, a couple of extra slides I'd like to see is what's scheduled in
future months, like about three or four months -- and obviously that's
liquid. It's going to change -- but as of today, what do you have on
April 25, 2023
Page 31
the calendar for May, June, July, and August just as a little teaser to
see, you know, how much it's filling up or just so that we see, oh,
wow, there's something really huge in July already locked in.
And I know it gets populated over time, but I would assume you
have some things on the books for the summer, and, you know, that
would be a nice way to end this presentation to show us what you've
been working on. Is there anything just verbally you can tell us
that's --
MR. MOSES: Yes.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- sort of bigger than the normal
event that might be coming this summer or is in the final stages of
negotiation?
MR. MOSES: Yeah. I mean, the -- yeah. We missed that.
That's something we can absolutely improve on for the next
presentation because we do have a calendar that we can shout about.
There's no doubt that the "season" months for Southwest Florida
are going to be our biggest months. That doesn't mean that we don't
have a robust calendar as we go through the summer. We absolutely
do. The highlight being the FBU's Top Gun event, which is in early
July this year.
That being said, we're busy every weekend. And one of the
things that we're going to talk about is the cost it takes to run the
facility versus the amount of revenue that we're bringing in, which is
good, because we're making more than we're spending.
As we move into the summer months, it becomes more of a
routine sports complex for us. It's local programming, tournament,
local programming, tournament. There's no huge event which
requires us to buy 500 cases of soda and water for it. There's no
event where we're feeding 6,000 athletes in three weeks. So it helps
balance out our books in terms of how much we're spending to make
the money, but we absolutely have a robust calendar this summer.
April 25, 2023
Page 32
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And then I'll just add on top of this
as the last point. Anything that you perceive as a future projected
significant maintenance cost, like, hey, we've had all these people,
we've increased, you know, the pedestrians and the visitors by, you
know, 10,000 percent or whatnot, but, hey, our bathrooms are starting
to take a hit, oh, we've got the field -- hey, we just figured out the
HVAC that we have for all of the suites, it's undersized and it's, you
know, breaking down every -- I'm just saying hypothetical things.
But, you know, I'd like us as a board or -- and/or the county staff
to hear any of those things sooner than later, because anything that is
more than just sort of normal maintenance, you-all are out there and,
you know, the more people you bring out there, the more events, stuff
starts to wear down or, you know, it takes its toll. So just so we can
stay on top of that so that that field continues to look as -- you know,
as high quality and as impeccable as, you know, we want it to be.
So I just sort of add that. But, other than that, I appreciate it.
MR. MOSES: Yeah. There is -- there is one major thing. I
will add that Marissa -- Marissa's team, led by Kirk Peters, does an
incredible job of the maintenance of the facility. There's -- it still
looks brand new. And one of the things that we do have is a
state-of-the-art facility that lacks Internet connectivity across the
facility. So for us to continue to be in competition with other sports
venues around the country, adding the ability for us to have Internet
at each field so that events can be streamed is something that's going
to keep us at the forefront, and it's going keep us from falling down
the pecking order of every year a new complex in a nice place is
opening. So we need to keep ourselves relevant, and we need to
keep ourselves at the top of that tree.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You have an idea, just spitballing,
you know, not estimating or giving us a figure but, like, what would
that cost to add either a system or make the system we have more
April 25, 2023
Page 33
robust, or we don't have it and we need it; what's the ballpark
investment? Have you done any exploratory work on that so we've
got an idea of the figure?
MR. MOSES: Yeah. There's some quotes that have been put
together. We're looking at somewhere between 75- to 125,000 to
have that -- to have that done. That varies because we have
additional fields to add as well, so...
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. One of the things I'll just
mention is, as we start to get into rainy season, keep an eye on
flooding. I mean, we've built some really nice things around in the
community. Other people have as well, and sometimes when you
think you've got every grate, every drain and all that, and then you
get one of our, you know, huge storms here -- not to mention the
hurricanes that are coming, but you know, any -- if you start to see
some areas where, wow, you know, water's really backing up, you
know, those are things we want to jump on quickly.
And we have that challenge all over the county in places that
were designed perfectly, but, you know, maybe underserved or just
missed something, the slope wasn't quite right, and we've got pooling
water and things like that, because that's also a big safety hazard.
But, you know, that's what I was thinking of.
But I appreciate the topic about the connectivity. That's
obviously -- that has merit for sure.
Anything? Anybody?
Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.
MR. MOSES: Thank you.
Item #11F
A FIFTH AMENDMENT TO THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
AGREEMENT #21-7898 WITH SPORTS FACILITIES
April 25, 2023
Page 34
MANAGEMENT, LLC TO AMEND THE BUDGET TO REFLECT
THE INCREASED COST OF GOODS FROM $488,928 TO
$889,365, INCREASED REVENUES FROM $1,389,743 TO
$1,922,474, AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE
AMENDMENT AND AUTHORIZE ALL NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENTS. MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER
MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS -
APPROVED
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, we have our follow-on
item before we go to our 10:00 time-certain, and that is Item 16F3,
which is following this presentation directly. This was moved to
11F.
This is a recommendation to approve a fifth amendment to the
Facilities Management Agreement 21-7898 with Sports Facilities
Management, LLC, to amend the budget to reflect the increased cost
of goods from 488,928 to 889,365; increased revenues from
1,389,743 to 1,922,474; authorize the Chairman to sign the
amendment; and authorize all budget amendments.
Mr. Paul Beirnes, your Tourism director, will begin the
presentation.
MR. BEIRNES: Good morning, everyone. And for the
record, Paul Beirnes, division director of Tourism.
I just want to echo what Adrian has said. It has certainly been a
pleasure. And I'll also mention for those that aren't aware that as of
January 1st, the sports complex folded under the oversight of CVB
and Tourism. And I can tell you that in itself, that oversight, that
synergy, that alignment really allowed some very fruitful
conversation on a regular basis. One, as you had mentioned, with
Great Wolf Lodge. We have had a tremendous amount of meetings
with their senior executives, their PR, really looking at strategy and
April 25, 2023
Page 35
timing and how we can connect, so a lot of excitement there.
And as far as getting word out for the facility itself -- excuse
me -- we have already initiated Paradise Advertising, which is our
branding advertising for the CVB, to immediately look at elevating
some of the community communications, whether it's social media,
paid media, in market not only for this year but also a formal
campaign for Fiscal '24.
So a lot of good things have already happened. A lot of great
things are going to continue to happen. The reason why we're here
today is the numbers that you saw Adrian present, which are the
tremendous amount of people that have been out to the complex
already, causes costs to increase. So we're going to dig deep on
some of those numbers.
And I want to introduce to you Marissa Baker, who has really
been in ongoing day-to-day alignment with Adrian and his entire
team. But when you think about the sports complex, you can think
of our combined effort as well as the oversight of the TDC as well.
MS. BAKER: Good morning, Commissioners. For the record,
Marissa Baker, manager of Paradise Coast Sports Complex with
Collier County.
I'd like to take a moment, give you guys some quick facts and
history on the sports complex before I hand it over -- back to Sports
Facilities to talk about the financial impacts of the amendment.
So as you know, the sports complex has been incredibly
successful in attracting more events than anticipated. More events
equate to more sales, and the increase in those sales have a direct
impact on the cost to acquire goods.
Specifically, Sports Facilities created its most recent budget in
good faith that the additional four fields would be completed by
December of 2022. Now they won't be completed before May of
2023, and so they've revised their budget to show accurate increased
April 25, 2023
Page 36
costs of goods and revenues.
So the objective today is to obtain an approval to the fifth
amendment to the Facilities Management Agreement to amend the
budget to reflect those increased costs of goods and revenues.
So a little bit of background for you. Collier County entered
into the Facilities Management Agreement with Sports Facilities on
November 12th of 2021. There have since been four prior
amendments, and the parties wish to amend the agreement a fifth
time to reflect those increased costs of goods and revenues.
Currently, costs of goods are funded to -- or prefunded to Sports
Force -- or Sports Facilities on a quarterly basis, and what that means
is they don't necessarily have access to cash flow outside of the
COGS that we prefund them. So all of the revenues that Sports
Facilities is bringing in is being deposited directly into a Collier
County account. So if they require additional monies, that means
they have to request that through the county with either County
Manager approval or approval through the Board of County
Commissioners, depending on the amount.
With that, I'd like to invite Sports Facilities up to talk about the
financial impacts.
MR. ADAMS: Thank you very much. Jack Adams from
Sports Facilities Management. Nice to see you all again.
The budget for this year was, as you can see on that top line,
$1,389,000, and we believe, based on what we have booked, that we
will be at $1,922,000. So that's going to be an increase on revenue
and the cost to sell that revenue. This is direct cost of delivery. So
if you sell a hamburger, you have to buy the hamburger meat, the
bun, the plate, the ketchup. The direct cost of delivery will increase
to 889,000. That's a $400,000 cost-of-goods increase. That's what
we're asking for.
The net impact to your budget, which is the Collier County
April 25, 2023
Page 37
taxpayer, what they're spending, is that instead of spending $170,000,
as you can see there, it's now going to be the $37,000 number. So
we're saying that although we're asking for more COGS to deliver
that revenue, there will be an additional improvement of $132,000 to
your bottom line.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. I mean, as I do the math,
so the difference in revenue is 532,731, and then the request that's
being asked here for cost of goods is the $410,437, right? I mean,
that's the point you're trying to make, right?
MR. ADAMS: Yes.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You're asking for less than what
it's going to gain, right?
MR. ADAMS: That's right.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'm just trying to do fifth grade
math here.
MR. ADAMS: We separate our budget into three categories.
Revenues on are top; direct costs of delivery we call COGS, cost of
goods sold, is in the middle; and then you have those fixed expenses,
that are going to be the air-conditioning, admin building, the general
manager's salary. It's some of the expenses that don't change
depending on how many fields you have or events you bring. And
so these are the -- these are the direct costs of delivery that, when you
make more, you have to --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah.
MR. ADAMS: -- spend more money.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: The burger-and-bun thing you just
said. Anybody have questions?
MR. ADAMS: The burger and the bun.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Good morning, Jack.
MR. ADAMS: Good morning.
April 25, 2023
Page 38
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: My first question is, how are
you getting along with our Clerk of Courts?
MR. ADAMS: Very well.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Very well. It's going okay.
The questions, answers, payments timely?
MR. ADAMS: Yes. Commissioner, we have -- we have a
couple clerks that we work with in Florida. We understand Florida
law and how to work with clerks. They are very particular and
very -- very strong guardians of the taxpayer. They care a lot about
that, and they're elected to do exactly what they do. It's our job to
feed them what they need to reimburse us.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Good. I'm happy to hear
that.
The second question I have -- and this is -- this is a question of
operational aspects and relationship to revenues. Commissioner
LoCastro basically already said the increase in budgeted income or
revenue is almost consumed, shy 100,000, which is attributable to
very close to the improvements of the cost-of-goods-sold increase
that you have coming up. You're bringing in 500-, and your
expenses have gone up four.
What surprised me was you -- we -- somebody owns our own
food truck to a point where we even are entering that food truck in
competitions in other areas. And my question is, has an analysis
been done to determine the relationship? Because there's a lot of
management that goes along. You've got food spoilage. You've got
storage. You've got stuff that's going on you've got to buy for,
you've got to plan for, whereas if we didn't have our own food truck,
we'd pick up the phone and call five to come and service 6,000
people that are showing up for the weekend, and we wouldn't have
the management and the overhead and the expenses that are
attributable to that.
April 25, 2023
Page 39
Now, I also understand that has an impact on our revenue at the
same time.
Who's supposed to shut their phone off?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Keep going.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So there's a -- there's
a circumstance here of looking good with generating more revenue,
but we've also got management and overhead and expenses that
travel along with owning our own food truck. And has an analysis
been done with regard to the dispensing of the food truck from an
operational ownership standpoint and going into a contractual
relationship for a fee from independent vendors supplying more
business to the independent vendors in our community?
MR. ADAMS: Short answer, yes; long answer...
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Long answer.
MR. MOSES: Hi.
So it's something that is important. There's likely to be
some -- I'm not fully aware, so I can't be certain about this. But in
terms of us having a beer-and-wine bar, we have to be able to make
sure that we are offering food at all times, which is one thing that we
can do.
We do go into partnerships with local food trucks, because when
we do have these large events, we don't have the ability to service the
amount of people that are coming through. Literally too many
people are coming.
We have SnowFest. We can't handle SnowFest, six and a half
thousand people at one food truck. So we have to engage, and we do
have good partners in the food truck community to help us through
that.
In terms of the analysis of the food truck, it has been a drain on
us. There's no getting away from that because it hasn't been as
efficient as we would like it to be; however, we have got to a point
April 25, 2023
Page 40
where the fixes that have been made to that truck have -- what I
would suggest is the cost of running the food truck and the ability for
us to take it out to community events helps us not only from a
revenue standpoint, but it give us another reason to get out into the
community and market the -- market the facility to let people who
may or not know it exists that we do exist. So there's two -- there's
two benefits to the food truck. Not just revenue, but there is the
marketing aspect as well.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd like to see the analysis
that's been done with regard to that, just simply because there's an
enormous amount that comes into your increased request -- we're
going to -- I'm assuming we're going to approve this amendment.
But I think we need to dig deeper -- and I'm looking over at the
numbers guy when I say that -- dig deeper into an analysis exactly of
what the cost-of-goods-sold increases are, what they're attributable
for, what's the additional charges that are being paid for out of my
Parks and Rec systems that aren't included in the actual operating
budget that's over here.
I'd like to see a deeper dive at our next quarterly report,
minimumly maybe at the next TDC meeting, along those lines. I
mean, it's nice -- it's good that we're doing good. I like seeing the
extra people coming and so on and so forth. But if we're -- if we're
operating something that we're not -- that -- not -- and I don't want to
say that we're not good at it. But if we're operating something that
we don't need to and then we could pick up a phone and move it into
a revenue generator solely -- without any exposure, without storage,
without spoilage, without anything, and just move it into a
revenue-generating standpoint, your overall cost of goods sold are
going to go down at the same time.
MR. MOSES: That's heard, and we'll put that together.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
April 25, 2023
Page 41
MR. MOSES: And I would suggest that the food trucks need to
make money themselves as well, and their profit margins are
pretty -- pretty tight as well. So from our perspective of being
guardians of the county money, if we felt that the food truck was not
a positive thing for us, then we probably wouldn't open it as much as
we do.
Ultimately, if we are going to do a thousand dollars of revenue
from a food truck and we get to spend money against that, that's still
going to be a much higher amount that we're going to get from not
associating the COGS of that and only taking a commission payment
from an outside food truck.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't want to -- and, again,
I'm not debating this with you, today especially. I just want some
credence given -- because there's more to an overhead budget -- or an
overhead number than the COGS. There's an -- there's a whole
bunch more that goes into it that adds up to that, that actually has an
impact on your bottom line. And I just want to ensure that
exploration is, in fact, done so we're going forward. I haven't even
got over into the rationale of the government competing with the
private sector on a government facility with regard to the disposition
and sale of foods. That's a whole 'nother can of worms.
MR. MOSES: Yeah, let's not do that today. Thank you.
That's heard. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
That's kind of the lines I was going, because, you know, if
Commissioner Kowal -- I'm a simple man. If I had a food truck
myself, and I was out there to try to make a profit, you know, and I
have to compete with the inflation and things like that, I would roll
that into my product to sell my product to make the money back to
what I have to invest in making -- getting my buns and burgers.
April 25, 2023
Page 42
But -- see, sometimes we forget when we're aligned with a
government agency -- or government. We always think we have this
pot of money we can always just pull from, you know, but that's not
our money. That's the taxpayers' money, so we have to be very
cautious of that. And I wouldn't have that luxury as a private man
out there with a food truck. I would only be able to pull on what
profits I've made already.
So in reality I could say, all right, let's give you $33,000
because, year to date, that's about what you made. So, you know, I
have to just swallow this pill.
I inherited this when I became a commissioner six months ago,
so I owe it to this community to make it work, but I also want to
make sure everybody uses caution and think about it as if you were a
private businessman operating something like this. Because
Commissioner McDaniel brings up a great point, you know. If the
food truck isn't making money, we're not going to use the people's
money to make it money, if that makes sense. We have to make sure
it's online and making money, just like anybody else would have to
do it.
MR. ADAMS: We'll do that analysis to give you the specifics.
That's what you're asking for, and we'll definitely put that together so
you can see what we're doing.
The purpose of the food truck -- the initial purpose, Adrian -- is
the first thing he stated, but we have to have food out at that -- at the
Cove in order to serve beer and wine, so that was the purpose of
activating it. And we inherited that truck as well. But fixing it up
and making sure we had it out there, because it wasn't profitable.
Asking one of our food truck partners, in exchange for coming out to
a big tournament and making money that day, we need you to bite the
bullet and come into the Cove Monday, and we need you to do it on
Tuesday, and you to do it on Wednesday, and maybe lose a little
April 25, 2023
Page 43
because we need to have a food truck operating, now we can -- we
can take that on.
I believe that operating the Cove is not as profitable; however,
we can go kind of pay for the truck, which is something we see as an
obligation to make sure that we're good stewards of the taxpayer
money in that way to make sure that that thing is at least at a
breakeven, if not better.
But I don't want to speak to exactly where it lands. I want to do
that study for you very specifically so you can have that.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, just to -- and on that
point. I'm very familiar with how you do what you do. I do do it
myself, so -- and I have seen that it's better, because there's a
thousand independent proprietors that are out there that have their
own food trucks that, if you make commitments with those vendors
to be there in the good times as well as the not-so-good times, you'll
supply the requisite of the food that you need in order to keep your
food and -- or your beverage license intact, so just --
MR. ADAMS: Absolutely. And there are things that go into,
for example, the cost of goods that we've gone over with -- with our
county, you know, administrators as well. But, you know, just
taking food and beverage as an example, food and beverage costs
went up about 9 percent. We are going to double our revenue in
food and beverage. So when you look at the doubling of food and
beverage revenue and going up about 9 percent on that, there's still a
delta where we've cost more. And some of the reasons we've cost
more in food and beverage, as an example, is bringing on contract
staff. These aren't regular staff, but these are for these big peaks of
activity like 6,000 meals and things where we bring on a contract
chef or we have extra entertainment at the Cove to try to drive, you
know, that for the community and so on.
April 25, 2023
Page 44
So there's reasons for those things. When you just have five
fields and you add five more fields, you have a rise over run the exact
same thing but more, and you can maintain cost percentages or even
drive them down because you're doing it in -- you're doing it
efficiently.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Spreading it out.
MR. ADAMS: When you are -- when you are without those
extra fields and you have to be creative to try to find that revenue to
plug the hole, you find yourself doing a lot of different types of
things. And you see the creativity, and you see all the different types
of activities, but those are, you know, in some cases R&D, some
cases you have different type of staff that you bring on or different
things that you have as costs.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll make a motion for
approval of the amendment.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a motion to
approve the amendment. Do I have a second?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: 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: It passes unanimously.
Thank you.
MR. ADAMS: Thank you.
Item #10A
April 25, 2023
Page 45
A SIXTH AMENDMENT TO THE LONG-TERM LEASE AND
OPERATING AGREEMENT FOR THE GOLF AND
ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX (THE "LEASE") WITH CC BSG
NAPLES, LLC ("BIGSHOTS") TO EXTEND THE FINANCING
CONTINGENCY PERIOD TO JUNE 30, 2023. MOTION TO
APPROVE THE 60-DAY EXTENSION AS A FINAL
AMENDMENT BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED
BY COMMISSIONER HALL – APPROVED (COMMISSIONER
MCDANIEL OPPOSED)
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, this brings us to our 10:00
time-certain. Item 10A is a recommendation to approve a sixth
amendment to the long-term lease and operating agreement for the
golf and entertainment complex with CCBSG Naples, LLC, to extend
the financing contingency period to June 30th, 2023. This item is
brought to the agenda by Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, if I might
give just a short introduction.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. The mic is yours.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I understand Randall
Cousins is here. He represents the Big -- represents BigShots, the
BSG of Naples. And before he begins, I want to make a couple
comments. We're all frustrated with how long this project has been
going on without the actual construction, and I know my fellow
commissioners are concerned as to what's really happening here and
what's causing the delay.
And we now have in front of us a sixth request for an extension
on the financing contingency for 60 days. And what I would suggest
to the Commission -- we're obviously going to hear from
Mr. Cousins. There may be some questions.
April 25, 2023
Page 46
But I think what I would suggest to the Commission is
that -- let's just do a 90-day extension with an indication that this is
the last extension on the financing contingency. That should be
enough time. If 60 days is what's being requested, give them an
extra 30 days, and let's get this project underway. And so I'm going
to make that suggestion to the Commission to at least put some
finality to the financing contingency.
But with that, Mr. Chairman, I think Mr. Cousins has some
comments to perhaps explain what's going on and what's causing the
delay and why the 60 days is needed.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir.
MR. COUSINS: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is
Randall Cousins. I'm with BigShots, invited. And I echo
Commissioner Saunders' comments. We are frustrated that it's taken
as long as it has for us to get under construction.
You know, from our perspective, this is a venture that should
produce millions of dollars in revenue, and every month that we're
delayed puts that revenue further and further away. So we're highly
motivated to get this product under construction. We remain
tremendously excited about the opportunity to bring BigShots Golf to
Collier County, as well as to open up Golden Gate Golf Course to
public play.
So, you know, we continue to explore every opportunity, you
know, to try and get this project to completion and to get it under
construction. And my hope is that, you know, within the next 60 or
90 days, you know, our next meeting with you is to schedule a
groundbreaking ceremony. And, you know, we'll have much better
things to talk about at that time.
We continue to make tremendous progress on our project. You
know, we've been through an SDP process. We have permits that
are ready to be issued. We are continuing to work through what
April 25, 2023
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exactly our final budgets for this project are going to be.
As a large company with many capital projects of this nature
going on across the country, we have pretty simple return math that
we have to look -- we look at a lens through ROI. And so part of
that is being able to get to a budget where our operators, our
construction team, can stand up and say, "This is the number. It's
not going to move. You know, the scope is fully defined." And we
just -- quite simply, we just aren't there yet. You know, we do need
a little bit of additional time in order to finalize that scope and those
efforts.
So I'm hopeful that the 60-day ask is the last ask, and, as I said,
you know, I hope that our next meeting is one to schedule a
groundbreaking.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Go ahead, sir.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Cousins, if the extension
is provided and you are able to complete your planning, or whatever
it is that is resulting in the request for this extension, when do you
think you could actually begin construction? What -- being realistic
at this point, when can we, with some degree of certainty, say to our
constituents we believe that construction's going to begin on this
project? When?
MR. COUSINS: In late summer is our target. So we're
thinking August, August 1st. And then we have a 40-week build
cycle, so then the goal would be to be open to the public, you know,
spring of next year.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. Now, when you say
"40 weeks," is that for the BigShots facility and the golf course?
MR. COUSINS: That's just for the BigShots facility.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: When would construction
begin on the golf course?
MR. COUSINS: It would be on a separate timeline, so it would
April 25, 2023
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be under -- it would start construction this year. But then there's,
you know, obviously a growing season which affects the construction
period for the golf course.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So best case, when do you
think the golf course could actually be open for play?
MR. COUSINS: I think next fall.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. All right.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Before I go to Commissioner
McDaniel, I just -- I'm looking for just more clarity on the reason for
the sixth extension. You know, if you were a company that had
never done this before, you know, you're reinventing the wheel, you
know, this is going to be a one and -- you know -- and I realize every
project's a little unique, but one of the reasons why we got excited
about BigShots is, hey, man, they've done this all over the place, and
every place it's been a big hit. And so maybe it's not a design issue,
because I would expect -- not that every project is cookie cutter, but I
don't feel like I got clarity on why we keep kicking the can down the
road or why we aren't. You know, like, maybe there's some specific
reasons. But I'd just like -- I would like specificity in what
challenges you're running into that keep having you come back to the
well here asking for a little more time, a little more time.
Because where I get nervous is, boy, when you're on your sixth
request, are you guys about to head out of town going, you know
what, this isn't a -- you know, we're bailing from this deal. And, you
know, I'm putting you on the spot saying that I don't expect that's the
case. Right? Right?
MR. COUSINS: Right. Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So, then, the follow-on is
why the extra time? What's going wrong on your side of things, or
what challenges that are unexpected are you-all running into?
April 25, 2023
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MR. COUSINS: I think that's a very fair question. And so to
get very specific with you, you know, early on in this process we
discovered that there were some title issues with the property. You
know, we signed the lease. It was fully negotiated. We signed the
lease. There were some issues from the way that the title was
recorded that we had to work through with the county, which we did,
but that took some time.
In part of our due diligence, we did find a protected species of
bat on the golf course that needed to be addressed which required a
study, which required some remediation, which did take some
additional time, which delayed our SDP submittals and then our, you
know, ultimate approvals. They did discover arsenic, some
contamination in the soil on the golf course, which isn't unusual,
especially for this part of the county, given it was used as a golf
course, herbicide for long periods of time. But it is something that
required, you know, some diligence, which further delayed some
submittals and some plans.
There was some right-of-way back and forth with the county,
which was an issue that we've ultimately resolved, but it's one that,
again, took quite a bit of time.
And then probably the longest issue was we had an issue about
the coding of our exposed steel structure with the fire marshal where
we worked collaboratively with the fire marshal to look at what our
competitors were doing in the state of Florida to make sure that we
were being held to a similar standard, but that affected not only the
design component but then also the submittals for the specific
building that required quite a bit of rework from a design perspective.
And then as this time has passed, you know, at this point we're
20 months into this project, costs -- the underlying costs of our
construction project have continued to increase. We opened a store
in Bryan, Texas; we opened a store at Firestone up in Akron, Ohio.
April 25, 2023
Page 50
So we understand what these projects cost, and the costs have just
continued to increase over time.
So part of this has also included, you know, going back to the
drawing board from a value engineering standpoint to look at, you
know, are there opportunities from the facility to deliver the same
experience to Collier County guests but to do it in a more
cost-efficient way. And so that has required us to spend some
money from a design and construction standpoint to make sure that
we're vetting those plans appropriately internally.
To date, we've spent about $3 million on materials. That
includes, you know, a steel foundry package, that includes rooftop
air-conditioning units, elevators, glass, doors, things that, when we
intended to be under construction last summer, were long lead items.
And so, you know, we've spent that money ahead of time; we've
warehoused those items in anticipation of being under construction.
And we've spent about a million-two of consultant dollars with
architects, with civil engineers, with local consultants to help us
address some of these issues I identified for you.
So we continue to spend money. We're very enthusiastic about
this project. We certainly think there's a path here, but we've run
into some issues that have just required more time than we
anticipated during diligence.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel and then,
Commissioner Hall, you're on deck.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't have any questions for
him. If you have a question for him, then you can go ahead. I'll
reserve my comments for --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I just have a couple questions and a
comment.
So title's taken care of, the right-of-way's taken care of, the
April 25, 2023
Page 51
arsenic's taken care of, the bats are taken care of, everything so far
that has delayed is taken care of. So what is the 60 days specifically
needed for?
MR. COUSINS: So we are finalizing our layout for the
concept. So there's a discussion internally about is this a 60-bay or a
48-bay single-story facility, which changes the budget and, quite
frankly, changes our revenues that we think that we can generate
from the opportunity as well as the costs. And so we are going
through an internal process of basically landing on a finalized
concept scope, which will drive the budget which then drives the
conversation with the banks to finalize the financing.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. And my comment -- thank
you.
My comment would be, I have the appetite for 60 days, but I
don't have the appetite for any longer. I've done business. I've been
under the gun. I've had to get financing. I've had to do these things.
And when the gun is -- when the trigger's pulled, you get it done.
And so 60 days I have the appetite for but longer than that not so
much.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. I don't have an
appetite. I'm -- my comments are for my colleagues. I have
nothing to say to you unless you care to address me.
I am done with the golf course financing. I'm done with a sixth
extension. This transaction has not been fortuitous for our
community for -- since we actually acquired the piece of property.
There was justification and rationale for 28, $29 million.
To be honest with you, Commissioner Saunders, you sat with
me in March in the Veterans Administration. Actually, we were in
President Kathleen Passidomo's conference room. I was about this
far away from her, and General Hartsell was in between me and the
April 25, 2023
Page 52
Senate President. And he expressed, for the fourth year in a row,
concerns about the site constraints on the location of our veterans
nursing home. He expressed concerns to the Senate President while
we all sat there.
And I think it's high time that we prioritize the utilization of this
site. Set this golf course construction aside.
I'm willing to consider the extension of the financing for the
TopGolf facility. I certainly want to support our First Tee and their
utilization, because they, I believe -- and, again, this is convoluted
because we've leased -- or agreed to lease the entire site predicated
upon the construction of the facilities and then you sublease to the
First Tee folks.
But I would -- I would suggest that we recapitulate the entire
project; prioritize the utilization of this land for what's most
important, and that's our veterans nursing home first. Set aside the
construction of the golf course indefinitely until such time as that
location is picked and blessed by the Veterans
Administration -- Veterans Administration both at the state and
federal level.
Continue on with the housing project, because that's a project
that's -- a development that's going forward that's meeting with
successes. Continue on with a separate arrangement with First Tee
for a lease from us to be able to utilize the facilities of BigShots as
well, and then when we're done and those things are completed and
the Veterans Administration has a piece of property that they feel
warm and fuzzy about from a location/utilization standpoint, then we
decide whether or not we're going to build a golf course at all.
There's a lot of alternatives. I can think of several right off the
top of my head. We've got a 12-hole golf course that's coming
forward, and though there's a lot of people sitting around me talking
to me about 12-hole golf courses that don't play golf, I know it's 9
April 25, 2023
Page 53
and 18. So I know I've got three holes to play with from a land-use
standpoint.
I also know that First Tee and the kids that come there could
have a three-hole golf course to be able to lap around. One Par 3,
one Par 4, and one Par 5, and then you'd do your combination to get
your nine holes and do what you need to do and actually have golf.
So I think it's past time. I'm not interested in any additional
extensions for the construction of the golf course. If we want to
amend this agreement to do the BigShots because you've already
expended money in doing that -- and I'd even be happy -- I'd be okay
with the loan that originally started out as a subordination agreement
that then was found couldn't be effectuated, turned into a $7 million
loan to help with the funding of this project. I'd be -- I'd be
supportive of those things.
But I think it's high time that we prioritize the utilization of this
land for what it's designated for and, most importantly, for the
veterans nursing home, and set aside the golf course.
There was a whole bunch.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Make a motion that we
approve the sixth amendment for 60 days.
COMMISSIONER HALL: As a final amend- -- as a final
extension?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes, sir. I'm accepting
your --
COMMISSIONER HALL: Second. I'll second it.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'll just add this --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I'm asking -- I'm asking
at least three members of this board to support this.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yep.
April 25, 2023
Page 54
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I heard Commissioner
McDaniel. Everything he said is just baloney. And I hate to say
that, but that's how I feel about it.
I'd like to have the 60-day extension. But we can talk about the
veterans nursing home, we can talk about all those things, but that's
not what's on the agenda today. What's on the agenda today is
moving forward with this project and giving them 60 days.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Before I defer to Commissioner
McDaniel -- so I'll maybe diffuse the -- but this is healthy. This is
healthy.
I'm probably the worst person to talk to because this feels very
"rock crushing lot'ish." And I don't know if you're familiar with that,
we are, which is "need more time," "can't do it," "got a problem," this
and that.
On the flip side, as a realist, I look at it -- and I use that rock
crushing lot as an example. Sometimes the train's already left the
station and it's down the road. And so I don't like to be
nickeled-and-dimed. Everything that Commissioner McDaniel
says -- you know, I don't know if I'd characterize it the same way. I
think a lot of it does have merit. But I sit here and say, okay, I mean,
you know, the cooks are in the kitchen. They're trying to -- they're
trying to cook the meal. I mean, you know, this isn't the time to
close the restaurant and just say, you know -- you know, let's be done
with it.
But, you know, you're sitting here on the sixth extension. And,
like I said, my biggest disappointment is this isn't a fly-by-night
operation. I get the arsenic. I get the bats. I get that, you know,
there were some other things. But some of that -- you know, a good
contractor sort of works that padding into the -- it doesn't mean you
don't ask for extensions, but six is -- you know, to me that's a lot.
You know, having said that, you know, I look at it as, okay, if,
April 25, 2023
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you know -- I defer to the -- you know, the commissioner that's been
working this project even a lot longer than I have. You know, 60
days isn't six years, but it's like, hey, it's 60 or nothing. And if it
does get approved here, you need to take that back to your leadership
and say, hey, you were given a gift here, because you do have one
commissioner that made some points that I actually think do have
merit, and some of it is more of a frustration of, you know, gosh, you
know, we're not launching the Space Shuttle here. What takes so
long?
The one part I will add about the veterans nursing home -- but I
do agree with Commissioner Saunders, that's not the argument here.
But as an aside, you know, I had a one-on-one with General Hartsell,
who I know from sort of a previous life. And one of the things he
said to me -- and the veterans nursing home is important to all of us,
everybody here. He did sort of say -- and maybe it's not your issue,
but it's ours -- hey, I hope the veterans nursing home is your priority
on that piece of property. And the answer is, obviously it is. All of
the things are a priority. But he did express some concern, and
you're exactly right, right in front of Senator Passidomo and then to
me separately in a meeting where he asked me to swing by his office.
And he said, don't let that nursing home get choked out by some of
the other things. You know, we've worked really hard and have
moved you up the list for some very specific things, you know.
And, you know, one of the lines I said to the news media
yesterday is when it comes to that nursing home, we don't want it to
be the next one. We want it to be the best one. And part of that is
making sure they have the space that we need.
Having said that, I do agree with Commissioner Saunders, that's
not the argument here, but it is a little bit of the back story.
So I don't love it, but I support 60, not 90. But I can tell you,
leave here knowing that on the 61st day, all of a sudden, my
April 25, 2023
Page 56
allegiance is going to switch over to every single thing Commissioner
McDaniel said because I actually think some of it still has merit now.
But I also just -- I feel like if we're that close and if you're sitting here
saying that, okay, the bats are gone, you know, the arsenic is gone,
okay, you know, you guys are supposed to be really good at this.
The other thing I will say is you listed some things. Well, you
know, it took us some time to work with the county. It took us some
time to work with the county. I'm not here to be throwing spears or
anyone under the bus, but we are the county. So if it took an
excessive amount of time, I want you screaming from the rafters
saying, we can't get ahold of somebody on the staff, or your county
manager is blowing us off, or nobody cares -- and I'm just saying that
hypothetically.
If that's the case, we have the ability to accelerate, bring
everybody in a room. So if there's an artificial slowdown -- and I
know you didn't say that, but I just say that to sort of plant the seed.
Remember, we are the county, so I don't want to hear all these
extensions are needed because, you know, it's taken a while, you
know, for the county. And I know you didn't say that, and maybe
that's not true. I hope it's not true. I hope it's, hey, we've been
working with the county, and they've been great, but we've needed
more time for unexpected challenges that we didn't plan for. Okay.
You know, that has merit. But, you know to me this would -- this
would also be it.
I've got everybody lit up here.
Commissioner McDaniel, you're next. Did you want to go
next, or do you want me to defer to -- I've got Commissioner Kowal.
I've got Commissioner Saunders. Are you ready?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I'm ready.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All right, sir. You're next.
And, Commissioner Kowal, you're on deck.
April 25, 2023
Page 57
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I take exception to
Mr. -- Commissioner Saunders' statement. What I said was absolute
fact and absolutely not baloney. You're certainly entitled to your
opinion.
But I think it's past time for us to prioritize the utilization of this
site for what's important for the community and the veterans of our
community and prioritize the veterans nursing home first. And for
you to call what I said -- all of what I said as baloney, I take --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- insult --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I stand by that.
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, you just continue to do
so.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: You voted against the
funding source for the veterans nursing home. Now you support it.
I think that's hypocritical, quite frankly.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's absolutely not factual
either.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: You voted against placing on
the ballot the sales tax --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- that is the funding
source --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's an entirely separate
adventure [sic] as to what we're talking about for here.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's the funding
source -- that's the funding source for the veterans nursing home.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. And 460 other
million dollars’ worth of things that weren't attended to properly.
So the singular funding source for the veterans nursing home
April 25, 2023
Page 58
came out of the sales tax. And it was genius, by the way, that you
put it in that mix to make that look that much better. But it has
nothing to do with the circumstances of -- to what we have right now.
And the fact that you and I have sat there for four years and
General Hartsell has been consistent with his concerns with regard to
the proposition and the utilization of this site is -- is factual.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Then you need to add to an
agenda item where we can have this discussion. The item today is
whether or not we're going to extend this for 60 days.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The item today isn't are we
going to cancel a golf course? Are we going to move the veterans
nursing home to a bigger spot on that? That's not on the agenda.
If you have that, put some substance together and present it.
But to bring this up at the last minute with no notice is not really the
right way to do the county's business.
We have -- we have a motion and a second to give them an
additional 60 days. That's what's on the agenda. If you want to
cancel the golf course and do all those things, bring it forward but not
on an item that's not related to that, without any substance.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'll go to Commissioner Kowal.
Sir?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
I just kind of -- Commissioner Hall had asked a question, and
we kind of got through all the hurdles, and you got to the point where
he asked you, okay, then what is the additional issue or the additional
delay, and something just stuck out. And when I heard you give the
answer, you said that you and your people are still debating if it's
worth doing a 60- or a 40- or, you know, position building. And so
if you're still in that position now, debating if it's going to be
profitable on how many spots you're going to build for the drive -- I
April 25, 2023
Page 59
guess the driving portion of it, where everybody hits the balls or the
positioning or areas where you utilize while you're there using your
facility, and you're talking 60-day extension, and you're telling me
that you will have that figured out -- you will have those plans done
and all that in the 60-day period so you can move forward?
MR. COUSINS: Yes, sir. I mean, we are not starting today.
This has been something that's been in progress --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: But you said -- you just said
what would be next. He asked you what's next now; where are we
at? And you said you're still debating what would be the profitable
number of --
COMMISSIONER HALL: Full scope.
MR. COUSINS: What I understand the question to be was
what was the last outstanding issue, and the last outstanding issue is
we have plans to sign --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So it's still outstanding?
MR. COUSINS: It is still outstanding. But it's been --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: You have 60 days to figure it
out.
MR. COUSINS: Yes, sir. We have 60 days to finalize it.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay.
MR. COUSINS: It's been in progress for much longer
than -- we didn't start today. We've been working on this for quite a
while.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'm just telling you my position.
You've got 60 days.
MR. COUSINS: Understood.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Understood.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let me ask you a question. If you
didn't get the 60 days today, if we all voted it down, what happens?
You guys pack up and leave?
April 25, 2023
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MR. COUSINS: We would be -- yes, sir, we would be required
to terminate the lease.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You know, one thing that
Commissioner Kowal says that does resonate with me is, okay, while
you're killing bats and cleaning up arsenic, you should be able to
walk and chew gum at the same time. So I'm flabbergasted that you
didn't know how many slots to have and you haven't done the
financials.
I mean, you know, you do all those things simultaneously, and
because you're a valid company that has done this all over the -- all
over the country -- and I'm looking for a rebuttal to this. I'm not
being accusatory, but I'm just throwing it out there and saying, wow,
you know, while they were doing all the unexpected things, they
weren't sitting around the conference room table and saying, well, at
least we have the plan, at least we know how big it's going to be, so
we've got all those sort of things done.
Now let's deal with bats and arsenic and all these unexpected
things, and maybe a county moving a little bit slow, but all the things
we can control is all sitting in a binder ready to go. And so what's
incorrect about that statement I just said?
MR. COUSINS: Yeah. I think maybe I've done a poor job of
explaining our contemporaneous efforts over the last period of time.
So when we opened the BigShots store in Bryan, Texas, we
opened it in January of last year. It's a 60-bay, two-story facility.
That is the plan, the building that we had basically finalized and
intended to move forward with here.
So as we went through that SDP process, we went through the
permitting process, that was the -- basically the foundation of the
application that was made for the store here.
In November of last year, we opened a store at Firestone in
Akron, Ohio, which was a 36-bay facility. It was smaller. It was
April 25, 2023
Page 61
kind of an existing building that had been renovated that had a
different driving range on it. And those two had dramatically
different cost basis. The construction costs are very different. The
revenue opportunities were very different. And what we've seen, as
we've continued to monitor these two very different prototypes, is
that there was a bigger opportunity sometimes with the smaller
concept in that size market than we had previously anticipated.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: In any of your previous -- as far as
you know, previous projects, have you needed four, five, six, 10, 11
extensions? I mean, I know every project's different, and it might
not be apples to apples. But is this an anomaly here that you've run
into such a unique case in Collier County but everywhere else, you
know, it's plug and play and, boom, you're off and running, or
extensions are sort of what your company is, you know, known for
based on, you know, unknown requirements?
MR. COUSINS: No. Our goal is to ask for the amount of time
that we need and then to execute inside of that period, so this would
be an anomaly.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So why are we so different besides
the bats and the arsenic which aren't -- like you said, arsenic's found
on lots of golf courses and things like that, you know.
And I'm not -- I'm not trying to, like, you know, put you on the
spot or grill you, but I just would like clear answers as to what makes
us so different. Is it our county staff is moving too slow and
everywhere else, you know, they've been at your beck and call? And
I'm not saying that to be accusatory of the county, but I'm just trying
to find the nuggets that have extended this for such a long period of
time. Is it you? Is it us? Is it a combination?
And, you know, while we were killing bats and cleaning up
arsenic, lots of other stuff should have, you know, been already
completed, done, and, like I said, sitting on the shelf ready to go.
April 25, 2023
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I just -- I feel like I'm still missing something. Am I? Is there
anything to add or --
MR. COUSINS: Yeah. I mean, I think we're really
down-playing the bats and the arsenic and the title work and
especially the fire marshal issue. I mean, those things took some
substantial time, and they required adjustments to our plans.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. All right.
MR. COUSINS: And, you know, the intention was to basically
build the building that we already had built, that we already had
planned. And so this pivot came last --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Well, I don't like the 60 days, but I
know if I say no to it right now, you guys walk away, and then that
means -- that means all the stuff that has led up to this was basically
for nothing. I -- you know, I wasn't a commissioner, but I wouldn't
have been a big fan of buying the golf course and all that, but that's
ancient history. We've got it sitting here right now. And if we're 60
days away from doing something, you know, I think you guys
packing up because, you know, you couldn't get 60 days would be a
real waste of all the time that we've waited up to this point and all the
progress that has been made.
But I can tell you, like, you know, Commissioner McDaniel is
saying, you know, he's sort of out of time. I think everybody else
here has a very short fuse, you know, because we've got that property
for some other projects as well that seem to be, you know, on the
same piece of land and are moving forward at light speed.
Commissioner Saunders. Sir?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And, again, I appreciate the
Commission going forward with the 60 days.
Let me explain two things: When we first conceived of this
project and purchased the golf course and entered into an
arrangement with ClubCorp for the golf course, we had an
April 25, 2023
Page 63
engineering firm that went the wrong way. It was our firm that we
hired to help us with the permitting on that -- on that whole 169-acre
parcel. Because of mistakes done by our engineers, that delayed us
probably a year to a year and a half. As a matter of fact, ClubCorp
and BigShots hired another consultant to take over the consulting
work to make sure we could get through the state permitting. So that
probably -- you add the arsenic to that, you add the bats to that, and
our engineering mistakes, that probably added a year and a half to
two years to this whole process.
After that time period, we had the -- you know, the issues with
the availability of equipment and all of that -- the increase with
inflation. All of that has now piled on top of that. So it's
understandable that they've needed more time to reconfigure this
project because of the delay and the increase in costs.
But I agree as well that 60 days -- you know, if you can't get it
done in the next 60 days, then we need to -- we need to start thinking
of other things.
So I appreciate the Board's consideration, and I would request
that we go ahead and vote on the motion.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So I believe we have a
motion and a second; am I correct? We already have one. And this
would take three votes?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes, sir.
MS. PATTERSON: Three votes.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So I have a motion and a
second. So I'll say, "All in favor?"
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed?
April 25, 2023
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COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes 4-1.
Let's take a break, and let's come back here at 11 o'clock.
(A brief recess was had from 10:47 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.)
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. County Manager -- if
everyone could take their seats, please, we'd like to start.
Okay. What's next?
Item #7
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, we're moving on to Item 7.
This is public comments on general topics not on the current or future
agenda.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, we have 12 registered speakers for
this item. Your first speaker is Eldon Solomon. I think I've got that
right. And he'll be followed by Jackie Keay.
MR. SOLOMON: Good morning, Commissioners. Thank
you for the opportunity to present here today. There's my clock.
Thank you very much.
My name is Eldon Solomon. I'm here to introduce myself as
the CEO of The Journey Home. We're a veteran outreach
organization. We have expanded our services. We're a national
organization trying to find veterans who are homeless or at risk.
And we have expanded our operations and programs here with a
veteran outreach team to Naples.
I also wanted to create awareness that, in the journey home of
veterans, is a struggle.
April 25, 2023
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You might be aware that between 17 and 25 veterans commit
suicide every day, but did you know that when you add drug
overdose and accidental deaths of veteran, the veteran death rate rises
to 44 per day?
You might not know that 33 percent of veterans -- homeless
veterans experience war zone deployment and that to the suicide rate
amongst -- despite how hard we have fought to decrease the suicide
rate amongst our veterans, that rate continues to remain high; and that
in rural populations, populations like Naples where veterans are
isolated from resources, that rate -- suicide rate can go up to
4.2 percent.
You know, you've also heard that the federal government will
say that there's 37,000 veterans that they count every year, and that's
correct. What you might not know is that those are -- that count
occurs in metropolitan urban communities where the veterans want to
be counted. In rural communities and other locations throughout the
country, that population is not counted. So the veteran homeless
population is really, in reality, impossible to count.
They estimate that 1.4 million -- 1 million 400,000 veterans in
this country are either -- who are at risk of becoming homeless, and
that less than 50 percent of all veterans that have access to VA care
actually use that care.
So our veterans in trouble. And the Journey Home works with
local, regional, and national community partners to go find
those -- those veterans, walk with them, and connect them to
those -- to those services.
I provided for you a couple things to think about. This -- the
"did you know" status that I just gave you are programs and services.
And we're doing a meet and greet tomorrow at the VFW on Neff
Way. We'd love to have you all there to be with us and learn more
about veteran homelessness.
April 25, 2023
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Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jackie Keay. She'll be
followed by Bo Landers.
MS. KEAY: Good morning. For the record, my name is
Jackie Keay. I am an Army veteran, and I'm on the board of
directors for the Journey Home as well as I am the chair for our
national mission. Our goal is not only to end -- or our mission to not
only end veteran homelessness but to build partnerships within
various communities and regions across the United States and, in
building these partnerships, form a network of providing services to
veterans so we can attack that suicide rate.
Just for example, so we're averaging about 22 veterans dying by
suicide each day. That is 154 veterans in a week, 660 veterans in a
month, and 7,392 veterans in a year.
So as I'm looking at attacking this complex problem, you have
to understand that a complex problem requires complex solutions as
well as resources. One of the first things that I've thought about
when I look at this issue and how, starting at the federal level, we can
start addressing it -- as much as I love the fact that we do a lot for
immigrants who come to the United States and who want to have a
new life -- we provide services, homes, insurance, we provide
everything that they need for that new life -- why aren't we providing
those same services and resources to veterans? These are the
veterans, like myself, who have served our country, who have made
many sacrifices, but we have immigrants -- and this is not about an
immigrants issue, but we have immigrants coming to our country
receiving more services than our veterans.
So I feel like that is something that we need to change. Not
only that, we need to have a system of -- within the military when
veterans get out, they go through transition. So we need to have that
April 25, 2023
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same system within our community where they transition into the
community, they are provided these same services that go to other
people who come to our country, and within this network of
organizations, we're also providing a buddy or a sponsor to help that
person integrate into the community.
So when we look at this issue, if the numbers aren't changing,
we're doing something wrong or we're missing something. So we
have to think outside the box.
Another thing we have to put onto that is black mold poisoning
which leads to a condition called CIRS, chronic inflammatory
respiratory syndrome. And as a matter of fact, I heard someone
mention Senator Scott. Senator Scott, Senator Rubio, Warren, as
well as Ossoff, they contacted the Department of Defense inquiring
about the black mold and the contractors that they use. So he would
be someone I would definitely like to talk to if we can get connected
to him. But we have to think outside the box.
And, to me, it's just unacceptable that so many veterans are
dying each day, and they're given less services than people who are
coming to this country who have not invested in our country.
Thank you all very much.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Bo Landers. He'll be
followed by Michelle Avola-Brown.
MR. LANDERS: Hello there. My name is Bo Landers. I'm
the national cochair for Journey Home, and I'm just excited to be
here.
I'm not a veteran, but I grew up in rural Kentucky, and my
loyalty and respect for those people that give us all the opportunity to
be where we are right now, here in Naples, Florida, wherever, is why
I love this veteran program and the outreach program and what we're
doing. Because I had lots of friends and family that grew up in
hollers that moved back there that were veterans that didn't want help
April 25, 2023
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or didn't want to accept help from the VA or whatever it is.
But here, with Journey Home, we're going to the streets.
There's so many missed numbers about how many homeless veterans
are here. VA says two, somebody says this, somebody says that. I
don't know what the quantifiable number is, but I know that as a
realtor I do an awful lot of rentals. I work with St. Matthew's House,
Shelter for Abused Women, and, you know, there's all these numbers.
But I see these guys come into these food lines. I see these
guys that need help; they just maybe need a hand or whatever, that
aren't being counted. And I think that that's probably one of the
most important things to me and my heart is that we take care of
those people that took care of our freedom. It's just that simple for
me, and that's why I'm passionate about this.
And ever how many homeless people are at risk here in Naples,
Florida, this Journey Home program, we're going to make sure that
we're going to give them help or access to care.
Our first part of our national mission is access to care. We have
vans here already that we're going to start in the end of May taking
these veterans to this care, whether it's mental health or prescriptions.
Whatever they need, that's going to be our first step into helping the
community resolve whatever issues there is with veterans that are out
there in the woods. Maybe they don't want to be counted or
whatever the case may be, but we've still got to go try to find them.
We've still got to make a grassroots program and get out there.
And one thing I've learned with this, veterans trust other
veterans. And with my relationships with VFW and all these other
groups, I am reaching out to get help to go get those guys that need
help. And I'm just blessed to be part of the Journey Home and
represent them, and I'm grateful for your time and energy in letting us
be in front of you.
Thank you so much.
April 25, 2023
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MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Michelle Avola-Brown.
She'll be followed by Craig Manchen.
MS. AVOLA-BROWN: Good morning. Michelle
Avola-Brown with Naples Pathways Coalition.
In 2018, we shared the vision for the Paradise Coast Trail, and in
January 2019, with assistance from Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, we
coordinated a kickoff meeting with members of their team, broad
representation from city and county transportation, our MPO,
members of local government, the TDC, Parks and Rec, public
transportation, and other community leaders to determine support for
a multiuse pathway system. The enthusiasm was overwhelming.
Fundraising began, and in April 2019, we hired Kimley-Horn to
help develop a strategic plan, map the study corridor in coordination
with Collier County Transportation and the MPO, and increase
community awareness.
A BCC resolution was passed later in 2019 in support of the
Paradise Coast Trail, and it was adopted in the county's bike/ped
master plan.
Senator Passidomo sponsored NPC's legislative funding request
for a feasibility study that was signed into the state's budget in
July 2020. The study was completed, submitted, and accepted last
summer.
In February, NPC board members and I met with Dan
Rodriguez, Ed Finn, and Trinity Scott to discuss next steps for getting
the Paradise Coast Trail built. We were advised of the need for a
workshop of commissioners and county staff, Transportation, Parks
and Rec, Tourism Development, et cetera, to take a deep dive into the
Paradise Coast Trail.
An action item from that meeting was the project list I received
from Trinity that I forwarded to each of you. It included numerous
projects that will ultimately become part of the Paradise Coast Trail,
April 25, 2023
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but it still won't be completed by 2045.
Our goal today is to schedule a workshop on the Paradise Coast
Trail with the results being a plan to have all 70 miles built and
connected within five to 10 years. We need to place its construction
high on the priority list so we can start reaping all the benefits that
we're missing out on.
The trail will broaden our tourism offering, spark new business
development along the trail, and increase our tax base, especially in
the eastern part of the county. More importantly, it will connect to
and greatly increase use of the new sports complex and enhance the
value of that investment. It will improve safety for walkers and bike
riders; enhance quality of life; provide safe, affordable fitness and
recreation for people of all ages and abilities; and help move
commuter cyclists off of our crowded sidewalks.
I sent you each an FDOT study on the extensive economic
benefits of trails that we're missing out on that would pay for a lot of
other great projects and programs, and the exciting news about the
$250 million of SUN Trail funding for the 2023/24 fiscal year.
NPC is requesting that our county grant writers apply for this
funding so we can catch up to the rest of the state's trail networks.
I'm happy to assist in any way I can.
This trail will be part of our shared legacy if prioritized
appropriately. Please schedule a workshop in the very near term,
and please encourage our county grant writers to apply for the
funding.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Craig Manchen. He'll be
followed by Nat Smith.
MR. MANCHEN: Good morning, Commissioners. My name
is Craig Manchen.
I want to draw your attention to a serious problem facing our
April 25, 2023
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community, the safety of pedestrians and cyclists on our roads.
Did you know that Florida ranks among the top three states in
the country for pedestrian and cyclist deaths? It's a shocking statistic
and one that should alarm all of us.
As an avid cyclist, I've seen the dangers first hand. I've had
friends who were seriously injured while riding and, tragically, I've
had two friends that were killed. Many of my friends are no longer
willing to take the risk of riding on our roads. And who can blame
them? With distracted drivers, speeding cars, narrow bike lanes, it's
simply not safe.
But there is a solution. In my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio,
we have miles and miles of separated paved trails for pedestrians and
cyclists to enjoy. These trails are a safe haven away from the danger
of the roads, and we can have the same thing here in Naples.
The Gordon River Greenway is a fantastic example of what's
possible. This separated trail is four miles long and provides a safe
space for people to walk, run, and bike without fear, but we need
more. We need the Paradise Coast Trail, a 70-mile paved trail that
stretches across our community.
The Paradise Coast Trail would be a boon for families and
outdoor enthusiasts alike. It would provide a safe space for people
to enjoy the beauty of our community without the fear of being run
over by a distracted driver. It would encourage more people, more
families to get outside, exercise, and explore our community.
So I hope that we can count on your support in the building of
the Paradise Coast Trail. It's an investment in our community's
safety and well-being and one that we can all be proud of.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Nat Smith. He'll be
followed by George Dondanville.
MR. DONDANVILLE: Good morning. Nat Smith, Naples,
April 25, 2023
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Florida, resident, taxpayer. I feel like I'm in a poker game, and I
didn't know which ace to play. I've got a whole handful of aces.
Let's see. Taxpayer, veteran, grandfather, father, husband, Naples
Pathways Coalition board member, City of Naples Community
Services Advisory Board member. You know, I'm feeling really
good here, really good.
We are asking for your help in getting Collier County's share of
the $250 million in funding that the state just approved for multiuse
trails. We are underrepresented compared to other counties within
the state in terms of the amount of current trails we have.
So now I'm putting on my retired businessman hat. How do we
get it? Well, boy, we start by asking for it. And we are in a
wonderful position given the support we have from State Senator
Kathleen Passidomo.
So then I'm thinking, okay, can we use this to enhance the value
of the investment that you-all have already approved in the Paradise
Coast Sports Complex? So that was looking pretty good.
Completely agree with Craig on the safety issue. I, until I became a
resident of Naples, Florida, did not personally know people who had
been either in serious accidents or killed as a result of cycling.
But -- so this, to me, just seems like a wonderful opportunity to
use -- and this is only the second time I've spoken in front of the
commission -- to use what we used to call OPM in the business, other
people's money. So the money's out there. It is a wonderful time to
take advantage of this.
I would appreciate your help. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is George Dondanville.
He'll be followed by Susan Sonnenschein.
MR. DONDANVILLE: Good morning, Commissioners. My
name is George Dondanville. I reside at 2460 14th Street North,
which is -- if you don't travel inside the city limits, it's just on the
April 25, 2023
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north side of Naples High School. I've lived there for well over 20
years, but I've been a resident of Collier County, but mostly all the
time in the City of Naples, since 1986 when I came here with a
bicycle shop that had moved and opened up business here. They
moved down from Lee County. I met Commissioner Saunders
during that period of time, I believe.
Anyways, I'm also a founding member of NPC, so I speak from
that. I'm back on the board again after having been off the board for
a little while. I'm here to reiterate the request to have that workshop.
It's high time that we have it for all the benefits that have already
been described and also to request that we apply for our fair
share -- Collier County's fair share, of that $250 million grant that's
out there to help build the Paradise Coast Trail.
I don't know what each of your habits are as far as exercise. I
know that in the past I've seen Mr. Saunders out riding his bike and
participating in bike rides and other athletic events. I know currently
that I ride with Commissioner Hall. I did so yesterday. Not for
very long, because I had to go attend a meeting. I'm on the CRA
Advisory Board in the city, and I had to go attend that meeting, so I
had to leave early. But I've ridden with him before that. During the
time that he was running for commission, he used that as a vehicle,
we'll say, his rides, to advertise throughout the northern part of the
county over on the west side that he was running for commission.
And, hence, I look to him to help lead this effort on behalf of
NPC, I would say, and some of the other shareholders, we'll call
them, like the Naples Velo, that you, in riding, realize the problems
that you have as a rider.
The rest of you, if you get out at all on foot in the community,
would realize very quickly the problems, but even just a driving your
car around the community. When I came in '86 there were -- you
could count them on your hands how many people went out on a ride,
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and there was basically one place to go ride, and it was up in Pelican
Bay. And we would sneak over into Pine Ridge and ride over there.
Riding through the city, you wouldn't see anybody hardly. I'd get up
early in the morning and go out before breakfast, and I could ride
from the bottom of Gordon Drive all the way up to Seagate and back
as many times as I want. And if I saw one car or two cars, that was
it. Well, we've become bigger, and we need off-road facilities in
order to make it safer.
So with that said, I'd just ask if you would see that we have that
workshop and that we apply for those grants.
Thank you very much for your time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Susan Sonnenschein.
She'll be followed by Tyler Wood.
MS. SONNENSCHEIN: Good morning. My name is Susan
Sonnenschein. German for sunshine. And I am on the board of
directors of Naples Pathways.
I just wanted to talk about the many reasons that we should
support the construction funding of the Paradise Coast Trails. But
the primary thing I want to highlight is the benefits to tourism and the
resulting economic benefits to our community.
In the news, nearly every day we hear about challenges on our
beaches, erosion, the giant seaweed thing that's coming to us, the
hurricanes, red tide. So how about we support an activity that
attracts tourists who have interests other than just going to the beach?
Since the beach could be problematic for us sometime in the future.
Bike trails are a huge economic machine in many, many
communities across the United States. Bike tourism is even bigger
in Europe. I have been traveling around the United States and in
Europe on -- just going on safe bike trails. It's kind of the thing I
love to do. And when I do that, I spend a lot of money on these trips
in the communities that I visit.
April 25, 2023
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On these wonderful trips that I take, one in three weeks to
Europe to bike in the Alps, we rent bikes, we stay in hotels, we eat in
restaurants, we visit museums, we buy stuff; in other words, we
spend lots of money on these bike trips. The one thing that we do
not do is get in a car.
Naples needs to have an alternative outdoor experience that
attracts tourists. The kinds of tourists cycling attracts are adults and
family who have money to spend.
In light of our ongoing beach issues, it makes a lot of sense to
invest in attracting a different type of tourist, one that will result in
many new small businesses aimed at servicing the cycling tourist
industry as seen across the country.
You don't have to travel very hard -- sorry, very far to see the
success of trails near by. The Legacy Trail, which starts in Venice,
was recently extended to downtown Sarasota. Sarasota was smart,
as they recognized the value of bringing bicyclists to downtown.
They don't need parking spaces, they like to drink a beer or two, they
like to eat meals, they buy gear. It's green and it's green; no
pollution and green dollars.
Naples and Collier County will -- sorry, will huge -- yeah,
will -- could reap huge benefits from the Paradise Coast Trails, so
let's get some of that grant money that's available.
Thank you for your support. It's a smart investment for our
community. Thanks.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Tyler Wood. He'll be
followed by Ashley Jenkins.
MR. WOOD: Hello, everybody. My name is Tyler Wood.
I've spoken to some of you and -- over the past couple of years.
I'm the director of ESG and sustainability with Gravitas
Infinitum. We're a sustainable impact holding company. We were
selected top 50 most innovative companies in the world about a year
April 25, 2023
Page 76
and a half ago. So I spent a lot of years kind of shaking the tin cup
looking for, you know, cash. And we got -- went through our
techno-economic due diligence with a multitrillion dollar sovereign
advisory group that's U.S. based. And, basically, they've provided
us a tremendous opportunity, both for here and around the world, to
talk about the trash and waste.
Also, we're members of the Solid Waste Association of North
America. I'm a member of their technical division for sustainable
materials management. There's an RFI that's coming out we'll be
participating in dealing with the waste in the landfill, the recycling,
the sludges, the -- you know, the various trash, especially from after
the storms and whatnot.
And I just wanted to share that we're going to be participating.
We'd like you to be aware of what we're doing. I've had some
conversations with, you know, Commissioner Saunders, and looking
forward to kind of sharing a little bit more and making you aware of
what we're doing not only here but around the world.
Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, could I ask a
question?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Sure.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I believe, Mr. Rodriguez,
you're going to in touch with --
MR. RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I just wanted -- because I
had mentioned that I would make sure that someone from staff did
talk to you about whatever that project was so we could get some
information on it. So just a reminder.
MR. RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely, Commissioner. In fact,
Dr. Yilmaz and Solid Waste -- Kari, the director of Solid Waste, they
have the RFI that he mentioned coming out. Great opportunity for
April 25, 2023
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this vendor to respond and provide his technology so we can take a
look.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Great. Thank you.
MR. WOOD: Wonderful. Thank you very much.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, your next speaker is Ashley Jenkins,
and she'll be followed by Shelley McKernan.
MS. JENKINS: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the
record, my name is Ashley Jenkins, 34102.
And I'm here to ask why we're reconsidering engaging the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers' feasibility study when it was a failure in
2018 and 2021 to adhere to the environmental compliance. The
study used an emergency supplemental bipartisan bill then, preceding
Irma, Harvey, and Maria, to go around being environmentally
feasible.
Studies could be conducted, then after be tested to be
environmentally compliant, which it was not. This is a gigantic
waste of resources from taxpayers. How do you propose to take
millions of taxpayer dollars to repeat a study that will not meet
environmental compliance another time and with a governmental arm
casually insinuating eminent domain? This is the definition of
insanity.
The county has paralysis analysis. In lieu of solutions, which
are cost-effective and have been emailed to each of you, now we
have more proposed research from engineers.
The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the pollution
from Lake Okeechobee. Their present proposals of flooding Eastern
Collier via the south-flowing storm ponds from the lake is deeply
concerning. The now-proposed concrete structures or manmade
natural elements pose a threat to water health; property rights;
endangered animals, and particularly our sea turtles which return
back to the very spot that they were birthed to mate and nest; tourism;
April 25, 2023
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and, essentially, create barriers to the Gulf of Mexico.
Zero person wants congested sea gates. It is clear that, should
these be closed by any facet of government like influence from elite
terrorists or foreign adversaries who have staged simulations of
another scam-demic in the name of climate change --
Let's think what the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and Colorado
River hold in common. Water crushes rock. Zero concrete or
structures will ever prevent the flow of water if forces behind it, such
as a higher-event storm, as we have experienced. We now know that
Marco Island, Pelican Bay, and Port Royal were left vulnerable in
this proposal. Water would still flood and, in this projection, other
areas would now be vulnerable.
The construction proposed would be a nightmare in our area,
and how does this fit with the backload of previous development
already in queue?
The last time that the county saw this type of surge was 62 years
ago in Hurricane Donna. The City of Naples just spent 5 million to
study the permit to pollute in lieu of solving the problem for pennies
on the dollar in storm ponds, and staff's recommendation was to do
more studies. Likewise, slap a filter on our polluting pipes, treat the
water, and dredge displaced sand contributing to tidal rises.
Re-nourish our beaches beyond the berms as Miami and numerous
other areas have done. Sand will always move around. And
instead, staff members are now recommending a feasibility study that
is a waste in lieu of solutions.
The Army Corps failed to answer direct questions in NEPA
scoping. There was zero posting of the public meeting on
April 18th. I have searched with tireless of aid [sic]. Hundreds of
questions were talked around and avoided. The public does not want
this. Adequate public notice is a joke, because less than .1 percent
of residents and stakeholders were initially there for the
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consideration.
Building a seawall is a fantasy being instigated in the name of
environmental concerns from the same enthusiasts who contributed to
the 4 billion-plus ineffective mass in our landfills daily. You are a
nonfederal sponsor, gentlemen. You will be held accountable if this
progresses instead of compelled solutions you have for public health
and safety.
I thank you for your consideration.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Shelley McKernan.
She'll be followed by Garrett Beyrent.
MS. McKERNAN: "Shello," Commissioners. My name is
Shelley McKernan, 34102.
I'm here to speak about the United States Army Corps of
Engineers' study. What an expensive study that actually doesn't
create a better solution that the public wants.
More concrete is not the answer in this once-failed study. We
have manipulated the land that used to be mangroves, polluted the
water, and now you are spending our tax dollars to consider putting
up concrete and steel blockades to our waterways that will cause
more harm to the environmental, wildlife, tourism, and real estate.
Plus, it looks like one would be capable of locking boats in if a
government agency chooses to do so.
For less than what you were spending on this once-failed study,
we could put filters on our existing infrastructure to remove nutrients
and other pollutants.
Please move forward with the filter from Flowclear. It can
remove nutrients, copper, PFAS, pollutants, and more. I kindly
emailed that information about the filter last month, which was
misrepresented by staff in a meeting, and heard nothing back from
staff or Rick LoCastro.
We are not utilizing a hydrogen peroxide real solution from
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BlueGreen Water Technology to address harmful algal blooms
because it may cause more harm. But this wall will cause much
more harm to the wildlife than trying to balance our waters out.
We have a nutrient problem and overgrowth of algae that
everyone acknowledges which, over time, will continue to decrease
oxygen in the water. The Army Corps of Engineers choose to
release Lake Okeechobee when it is a known fact every February we
have a major red tide bloom. What the shall?
You trust them to put this study together and have our
best -- you trust them to put the study together and have our best
interest at heart? We must have local representation and natural
solutions for this project. Why was the Coastal Advisory Committee
removed from all of the study? Why is the term "eminent domain"
being thrown around?
My question was not answered or addressed at the virtual call,
along with many other questions that were skipped over. I'm hoping
I'll have more luck tomorrow evening. I do not want what the
United States Army Corps of Engineers have proposed thus far.
Please, I beg you to address water quality.
Ashley and I have brought forth solutions for months. Please
have staff reach out to these companies to get the real answers that
would apply to our environment so we have a safer county for
humans and nature alike. We will be sending additional emails and
follow-up this week.
Thank you so much for your time. We want and need to stop
doing harm to our water. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Mr. Miller, before we go
to the next person, I mean -- and this might be a little bit out of
sequence, but I just feel the need to make a comment to separate
rumor from fact for you two ladies and anybody that's listening, and
I'll address specific statements that you said without getting into a big
April 25, 2023
Page 81
debate here.
We're not restarting a failed study; we're letting them finish one.
We haven't considered or agreed to anything by the Army Corps and
their -- they haven't made any proposals yet that we have voted on.
So nothing's been proposed. The walls are merely conceptual, or
cartoon drawings, as I've called them in my replies to citizens; not a
plan, not blueprints, and nothing that we voted on.
The April 18th meeting, that was posted. I was on it, and so
were 600 other people, so they must have found out about it
somewhere.
But that virtual call is the first of many public comments. The
next one's actually going to be in person at the East Naples Library,
so I expect -- I encourage you to be there. And public comment will
continue.
We don't expect to get the final report till possibly 2025. So no
walls, moats, you know, Game of Thrones castles, or any of those
cartoon drawings that you have seen have been anything that we have
considered, voted on, talked about, or anything like that.
And their final report will have all kinds of things in it. And I
will tell you, I think a big part of their report is going to be a natural
type of thing. So if you've ever worked with the Army Corps
before -- and I've said it in this room till I'm blue in the face -- they're
going to give us a proposal that's huge, and it's going to stem from
everything of "here's where you should add a little more sand and
maybe some more mangroves," to "if money was no object, you
could build castles, moats, and gigantic swinging doors and maybe a
couple of Panama Canals that would protect all of Collier County."
And those are obviously things that aren't realistic, aren't
affordable, but what the Army Corps does is they give you a plethora
of analysis and study. But we've voted on nothing, we've decided on
nothing, and nothing has been presented to us.
April 25, 2023
Page 82
So the cartoon drawings that I've seen on Facebook aren't a
proposal to county commissions and certainly is nothing that we've
approved or agreed to.
So I'll just leave it at that. And I welcome anything additional
that, you know, you send. I get 300 emails a day, so sometimes
when you just send me background information, it doesn't -- you
know, I appreciate it. If you need me to send a reply and, say "thank
you very much" -- but it doesn't necessarily sometimes say -- you
know, your email, here's some information I want you to consider.
So I did see the email. I think because it's so premature -- and I
would get ready for lots of public comment. I actually thought that
their first virtual public comment period was very useful. It could
have been better, but they have so many more that are coming, and
we'll have a bunch as well. So I'll just leave it at that.
Next.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, your final registered speaker for
Item 7 is Garrett Beyrent.
MR. BEYRENT: For the record, Garrett FX Beyrent. 87086,
that's my innate number while I was waiting for two years in that jail
to be deported to Guantanamo Bay, charged with urban terrorism.
The joke was, I actually am [sic], but then again, we were because we
were Army.
And I just happen to be like my father. My father joined the
Army in World War II, and he was an INS special agent. His job
was to go into all the ghettos in New Jersey, New York, and Chicago
and roust all of the suspect Nazis that were blowing up ships that
were sitting in harbors.
Needless to say, that was not a very pleasant job, but he did a
really good job. He was a special agent INS. When I joined the
army in 1968, I joined the Army National Guard, which at the time
Richard Nixon felt we were going to go into a nuclear war over the
April 25, 2023
Page 83
situations we were in with Vietnam.
Now, I never went to Vietnam. I cannot tell you that -- I did go
to the jungles. And I don't know where I was, but I wasn't legally in
any of these places, but I was there.
So the long and short is that the Army National Guard had
appointed me special -- I had secret clearance. My job was to
protect New York City from incoming MiG jets that were suspect. I
manned a radar unit on a hillside in Livingston, New Jersey, and I
had secret clearance.
So I was able to fire weapons into the City of New York. They
were -- they were nuclear capable, but we didn't have any nukes on
our rockets. Our rockets were defensive rockets, and we were
waiting for three MiG jets to actually come into New York; true
story.
As I was leaving, they were starting construction on the World
Trade Center. We were thinking at the time -- Nixon told us they're
going to take out the Empire State Building which, oddly enough,
back in World War II was my father's headquarters. He had an
office in the Empire State Building with INS, Immigration and
Naturalization Services. That was an offshoot of J. Edgar Hoover's
idea of trying to get all kinds of people out there looking for bad
guys, and that was our job.
So the bottom line -- oh, real quick -- is that when I got
together -- back in 1988, I got together with Jeff Ryan. I know he
was a combat veteran in the Air Force, and I'm a combat veteran, too.
But we got together and created what you guys know as St.
Matthew's House, but that's a half-hour trick to tell you how I did that
one, because I had help from a lot of people. Owning the land helps.
But trying to get all you guys -- they've got to give you a fire station
and all kinds of cool stuff. But it's there.
Thank you very much for letting me share that with you.
April 25, 2023
Page 84
Really quick, though, my business card says, "All that is
necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing,"
Edmund Burke. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, I was mistaken; hard to believe.
We do have someone on Zoom for this item, H. Michael Mogil.
Mr. Mogil, you're being prompted to unmute yourself at this
time, if you'll do so. And there he is. Mr. Mogil, you have three
minutes, sir.
MR. MOGIL: Thank you. Good morning, everybody. My
name is Mike Mogil. I'm a professional meteorologist, a critical
thinker, and a nearly 20-year Collier County resident.
Today I want to talk briefly about development in a general
sense. Mr. LoCastro has provided me my introduction; I thank him
for that. Earlier he noted that drainage at the sports complex and
other areas is not necessarily doing what it was intended to do. He
stated, quote, "beware, flooding." I've been stating that at Collier
County Commissioner meetings for several years.
He suggested that the drains might not be up to the current task.
For example, grading or drainage. I contend the issue goes far, far
beyond this. We need to be examining the impact of urbanization
and the paving over of Collier County and getting some statistics on
what our total impervious land cover is. We are also losing tree
cover.
So I ask, does Collier County have maps, tables, and other data
that defines the current and historical impervious cover over the
county? And if we can't do this countywide, maybe we can do it by
commissioner areas. If we don't look at the impervious cover we
have now and where we've come from, we may be reading about
Naples instead of Fort Lauderdale during the next heavy rainstorm.
Are we also looking at how development impacts natural areas?
I'm a member of the Audubon Corkscrew Preserve. I'm not a far
April 25, 2023
Page 85
right or left environmentalist, but I'm a pragmatist. So I queried the
folks about the encroaching development on Immokalee Road as the
road starts its northward curve. There's a huge shopping area being
put in there. They were emphatic that development is already
impacting the preserve and the animal life that's there, and
development is just getting started in earnest.
Finally, what are guidelines for community information
meetings? Who gets notified? How are the meeting times and
meeting locations determined? One meeting several months ago was
held almost 10 miles from the develop -- proposed development site
and would-be attendees had to travel Collier Boulevard during rush
hour during season. Further, notification seemed to be limited to the
area immediately adjacent to the development site, yet there are
systematic issues with how these meetings are publicized, the issues
among different communities, and nobody has any interaction of
what's going on across the entire county. Divide and concur is not
the way to ensure community involvement.
I would like to see technology put to work with an interactive
map showing all the areas where development is being planned and
being progressed, including meetings, reviews, et cetera, so
community members and organizations can fully be part of the
process of development in the county. This can be done. We have
the technology. All we have to do is make a commitment to share
the information so the community at large, not just the areas where
one piece of development is taking place, can be part of a larger
picture. I urge you to do that.
I will leave my comments concerning the Army Corps of
Engineers study and traffic until the meeting tomorrow night and the
meeting in two weeks, respectively. Thank you for your time.
MR. MILLER: That truly was our final speaker, sir.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So. Next?
April 25, 2023
Page 86
Item #9A
ORDINANCE 2023-21: AN ORDINANCE REZONING A
PORTION OF JUSTIN’S VILLAGE TO INCREASE DENSITY, BY
AMENDING ORDINANCE NUMBER 04-41, AS AMENDED,
THE COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE,
WHICH INCLUDES THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING
REGULATIONS FOR THE UNINCORPORATED AREA OF
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, BY AMENDING THE
APPROPRIATE ZONING ATLAS MAP OR MAPS BY
CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION OF THE HEREIN
DESCRIBED REAL PROPERTY FROM RESIDENTIAL MULTI-
FAMILY-6 (RMF-6) ZONING DISTRICT WITH A GATEWAY
TRIANGLE ZONING OVERLAY-RESIDENTIAL SUBDISTRICT
(GTZO-R) TO A RESIDENTIAL MULTI-FAMILY-12 (RMF-12)
ZONING DISTRICT WITH A GATEWAY TRIANGLE ZONING
OVERLAY-RESIDENTIAL SUBDISTRICT (GTZO-R), TO
ALLOW UP TO 28 TOTAL MULTI-FAMILY DWELLING UNITS
WITH AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING AGREEMENT ON 2.33±
ACRES OF PROPERTY LOCATED SOUTH OF LOTS 6 AND 18,
BREEZE OF CALUSA SUBDIVISION, ON JUSTIN’S WAY,
APPROXIMATELY 500 FEET SOUTH OF CALUSA AVENUE, IN
SECTION 11, TOWNSHIP 50 SOUTH, RANGE 25 EAST,
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA; AND BY PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE. [PL20220003739] (MIKE BOSI, PLANNING
AND ZONING DIVISION DIRECTOR) - MOTION TO APPROVE
BY COMMISSIONER HALL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER
MCDANIEL –APPROVED
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 9A.
April 25, 2023
Page 87
This item requires that all participants be sworn in and provide ex
parte disclosure by commission members.
This is a recommendation to approve an ordinance rezoning a
portion of Justin's Village to increase density by amending Ordinance
No. 04-41, as amended, the Collier County Land Development Code,
which includes the comprehensive zoning regulations for the
unincorporated area of Collier County, Florida, by amending the
appropriate zoning atlas maps or maps by changing the zoning
classification of the herein described real property from Residential
Multifamily 6 zoning district with a Gateway Triangle Zoning
Overlay Residential Subdistrict to a Residential Multifamily 12
zoning district with a Gateway Triangle Zoning Overlay Residential
Subdistrict to allow up to 28 total multifamily dwelling units with an
affordable housing agreement on 2.33 plus-or-minus acres of
property located south of Lots 6 and 18, Breeze of Calusa
Subdivision on Justin's Way, approximately 500 feet south of Calusa
Avenue in Section 11, Township 50 South, Range 25 East, Collier
County, Florida, and by providing an effective date.
Just for -- before we swear everybody in, I just wanted to let
everyone know that this item originally was scheduled for the
summary judgment due to it having a unanimous vote of the Planning
Commission and no public opposition at this time. But when we
were preparing the agenda, we did receive a request from the East
Naples Civic Association for this item to be pulled to the regular
agenda where it appears now.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Let's have Ms. Lewis
swear everybody in, and then I'll go for ex parte from all the
commissioners.
(The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal, do you have
any --
April 25, 2023
Page 88
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yes, I have meetings on the ex
parte.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Meetings, okay.
Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes. I've had some
meetings and correspondence concerning the project.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Just a meeting.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have meetings and emails.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. And I've had meetings and
emails. Okay. Let's proceed.
MR. NADEAU: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, good
morning. For the record, my name is Dwight Nadeau. I'm
providing urban land-use policy counsel to the petitioner, St.
Matthew's House, or SMH Properties of Southwest Florida, as well
as to the petitioner's agent, Hagan Engineering. I am a registered
lobbyist, as is Engineer Hagan.
As the manager identified, this petition was on the summary
agenda up until the printing of the agenda. It was recommended by
staff for approval. We did get a unanimous recommendation of
approval from the Planning Commission.
We are prepared to make a robust presentation for you this
morning if you choose to do so. Perhaps there may be some public
speakers that may want to present. So we really leave it up to you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. Let me jump -- let me
jump in here. First of all, as our County Manager said, anything
that's on the summary or consent agenda, if she gets opposing views
or the Planning Commission doesn't vote unanimously, then she
reserves the right to move it to the regular agenda, and then we all get
to meet with her yesterday, the day prior. So if we have an issue
April 25, 2023
Page 89
with it, any commissioner can have a conversation, and none of us
did.
You know, having said that, I actually was surprised that there
was opposition. So I guess, you know, unless it's out of order,
before you dive into a big presentation, I'd like to hear from the
people that suggested we pull it off of the -- what was it? Was it on
summary agenda? -- you know, if they're here.
MR. MILLER: I have no registered speakers for this item, sir.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I mean, you know, part of,
you know, county government is, you know, we're by the people, for
the people. They have time at the podium, and, you know, I guess I
open the floor up to my colleagues and see if any particular
commissioner maybe has issues, maybe that an opposing viewpoint
reached out to them and they thought it had merit.
So I see a couple lit up. So we'll start with Commissioner Hall
and then, Commissioner McDaniel, you're on deck.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I don't have anything in opposition
to it. I was going to make a motion to approve it. And it's -- the
petitioner owns all the property in the neighborhood. He's just
asking to put some extra -- extra density in the neighborhood, and I
thought it was a great idea.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was just going to second
the motion. They've got plenty of protection and separation from the
surrounding property owners, both vegetative and a fence, and it's
also a gated community. So the concern of some of the neighbors
was that there will be people wandering in and out of that project and
just wandering into the neighborhood's yards, and they'd have to
come out the front gate and walk around the street to do that, so I
don't have any issues with this.
April 25, 2023
Page 90
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: If I can ask the St. Matthew's
House CEO to come forward, Steve Brooder. I just have a question
for you, sir.
Something came to my attention from, I believe -- I don't know
if it was the folks or the person or whatever who had the opposition.
It may or may not have been. I got it sort of third person. But they
attributed an exact quote to you. And I think I've worked with you
long enough that I was flabbergasted if you would ever say this but, if
you did, I'd like you to correct the record.
But what they basically said was, quote, the reason why we need
all this additional density and we need to build all these additional
units is because we've been, quote -- this is the quote,
importing -- "importing homeless into Collier County." And so
we're not taking care of our own. We just have an influx of
homeless that are being imported here to use our services.
And although, even when I've -- you know, for four years I've
gone out with the Wounded Warriors out into the woods looking for
veterans and even civilian homeless people, you meet people that
have moved here from other places, but, you know, I never met
anybody that said, oh, they raced over here because they didn't have
any resources in Daytona and so they were coming here.
And I'm not saying that those people don't exist, but, you know,
somebody attributed the quote that you -- in saying that you said it,
and I -- you know, is that a true statement, or was that taken out of
context? Because, you know, I truly would like to know if we are
going to maximum density and being as supportive as we are at the
county because you feel like -- that the numbers here are artificially
inflated due to people that are racing to this area to utilize your
services as non-Collier County citizens. I mean, what's your
response to that?
MR. BROODER: Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Steve
April 25, 2023
Page 91
Brooder, for the record, CEO of St. Matthew's House.
I never would have said anything like that. That's not factual at
all. It's a misrepresentation. And when we talk about this project,
it's not for homeless individuals. It's for people that want to live and
work in Naples, so -- they pay rent. We manage the 11 single-family
homes that are there currently. We will manage the entire facility
and keep it really to, I would say, high standards for the community.
So, yeah, it's not for homeless people. It's for people that are
working. They have incomes. They have checking accounts.
They have savings accounts. They pay their rent. And we hope
that you'll vote in favor of this project.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. And I wanted to give you
the floor to clear that up and get it on the record because I think some
of the misconception out there by people that have maybe never liked
St. Matthew's House, it's easy to say you're a soup kitchen, you know,
you provide shelter for homeless people, which we all already know
that. You also don't provide shelter for people who are -- who won't
agree to live by your rules and be off of drugs and, you know, you
have a very specific filter. So it's not a matter of everybody just get
sort of a free lunch and walks in the door.
And I've gone on record before saying I lived all over the
country, and every place I lived would kill to have a St. Matthew's
House. So if we need to paint out of the lines a little bit or increase
density or do some things that are going to bring this very valuable
resource to our community to take care of our own, I'm a champion
for it.
So I already have -- I have a motion, and I have a second. All
in favor?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye.
April 25, 2023
Page 92
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously.
Thank you, sir.
MR. NADEAU: Thank you, Commissioners.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: What's next?
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, if -- before we go to the land use,
which I would suggest -- 9B is the East Naples Overlay and 9C is the
RFMUD -- we might take a couple of these agenda items that are
under 11, either the beach berm or the AshBritt contract. We can
knock those out before lunch and let those folks go.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Perfect. Yeah, let's take those just
in order as you gave them. Start with the berm.
Item #11A
TO RATIFY THE COUNTY MANAGER’S AWARDING OF
INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”) NO. 23-8111, “COLLIER 2023
EMERGENCY BERM TRUCK HAUL AND CONSTRUCTION,
REACH A” TO PHILLIPS & JORDAN, INC., IN THE AMOUNT
OF $6,723,041.50, “COLLIER 2023 EMERGENCY BERM TRUCK
HAUL AND CONSTRUCTION, REACH B” TO EARTH TECH
ENTERPRISES INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $8,422,934.50,
AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED THE
AGREEMENTS, APPROVE THE ATTACHED BUDGET
AMENDMENTS, AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THIS ITEM
PROMOTES TOURISM (HURRICANE IAN, PROJECT #50280)
(ANDREW MILLER, P.E., MANAGER, COASTAL ZONE
MANAGEMENT) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY
April 25, 2023
Page 93
COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO - APPROVED
MS. PATTERSON: All right. So starting with Item 11A is a
recommendation to ratify the County Manager's awarding of
Invitation to Bid No. 23-8111, "Collier 2023 Emergency Berm Truck
Haul and Construction, Reach A" to Phillips & Jordan, Inc., in the
amount of $6,723,041.50; "Collier Emergency Berm Truck Haul and
Construction, Reach B" to Earth Tech Enterprises, Inc., in the amount
of $8,422,934.50; authorize the Chairman to sign the attached
agreements; approve the attached budget amendments; and make a
finding that this item promotes tourism.
And Mr. Andrew Miller, manager of Coastal Zone Management,
will answer questions or present.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel, did you
want to open with some comments or --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I was going to make a
motion for approval.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And then I had a comment
once we got to a vote. If you want a presentation, that's fine, too.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: No, I would second the motion. I
got all the details I needed yesterday.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Does any other commissioner have
a question or anything?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I do have a comment, and the
comment is, is what I would like to see going forward is -- it's been
brought to my attention by several of the folks who actually live on
April 25, 2023
Page 94
the beach that maybe we engage with the Botanical Gardens as the
City of Naples has for recommendations and availability of plantings
for stabilization so that the sand doesn't just wash away. That was
the comment that I'd like to see. I know that this was a jam-up job to
get the beach renourished and protect us in the next upcoming
hurricane season, but I'd also like to see an influence of plantings to
better stabilize the beachheads as well. So with that, I'm good.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So 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.
Sir, while I've got you at the podium, you're our main button for
Coastal Zone Management, correct?
MR. ANDREW MILLER: That's correct. Andy Miller, for
the record.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: The citizens that were here before
saying you guys were scraped off of the committee that included the
Army Corps, was that -- were you in here? Is that a correct
statement? Were you part of a working group and somehow got
kicked to the curb? That's what they were inferring, and that's the
first time I had heard that.
MR. ANDREW MILLER: The Coastal Advisory Committee is
still going to be involved to some extent. I think there is a new -- a
new task force. I'm not exactly sure.
MS. PATTERSON: Let me help a little. So the Board gave
April 25, 2023
Page 95
direction a couple of meetings ago to form, essentially, an ad hoc
citizens group.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right.
MS. PATTERSON: It doesn't take away the things that our
Tourist Development Council or our CAC will see at the appropriate
time. They're also able to attend those meetings and get information
from staff and get updates from staff just like they would on any
project.
The other thing, just to correct the record a little bit, is
those -- those drawings that we're seeing out there -- I've seen them
on Facebook -- those were not generated by the Corps. So that's
some other groups that have been taking the old Corps -- some of the
old information from the Corps, the prior Corps project in the point
that it got to that had a lot of hard and structural features, and they
have animated those for effect.
The Corps is not proposing anything right now because they've
gone back and regrouped, and now we're coming forward and
looking at all of this work again. And they received the message
loud and clear from Collier County the last time that our tolerances
for large walls and floodgates is limited, if any. So this idea that the
Corps is generating this whole "we're going to wall off the whole
county" is not accurate.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I would just say that I attended the
Zoom meeting and was on it for pretty much the whole time. That
would have been really strong if they would have opened with that,
because the inference through the whole presentation -- I mean, and
the plethora of questions that people were typing were all about the
walls, the moats, the gates and all that. And if they would have
opened with that -- and even the slides that they used, if they would
have even shown that slide and say these are dated, these are old, and
separated rumor from fact quickly -- so I think we have another
April 25, 2023
Page 96
meeting coming up at the South Regional Library. That
should -- you know, that suggestion needs to go back to them
strongly. I'm sure that they would appreciate anything we can do to
tighten up their presentation with some less -- and especially since it's
going to be an in-person presentation.
MS. PATTERSON: We'll speak with them about that. And,
lastly, remember is that this isn't -- so while this is our money
collectively as taxpayers of the United States, there's not local
money.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: County.
MS. PATTERSON: This is not local money, but in the end, we
are the nonfederal sponsor, and nothing goes without your approval.
And all you've given them approval to do is start this back up to look
at it and provide information. In the end, there's a whole 'nother
pathway for a locally preferred plan that if we can't come to
agreement on the way that this -- the traditional method, there's a
whole 'nother path we can go down. No decisions have been made.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Great. So I think we had
a motion and a second. I think we approved this unanimously,
correct?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I just wanted to --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Oh, I'm sorry. And I do have two
people lit up. Commissioner Kowal and then Commissioner
McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I would just like to -- you know,
whoever's out there listening, is watching right now, that -- from my
constituents -- because I think either it was Wednesday evening or I
think it was Thursday morning, one of these independent groups that
had, like, an official name and made it look all official, they actually
took a full-page ad out in Naples Daily News. And when that hit
there with these drawings and these things that weren't really true
April 25, 2023
Page 97
that -- we've seen none of this, and they put it out that way in trying
to look official, my correspondences blew up. And I just want to
make sure that everybody understands that this is -- these people are
not -- affiliated in no way what we are dealing with right now.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Fake news.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So I just want to make sure that's
clear.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. And just to briefly
report -- or repeat what Commissioner Kowal has said, it's important
that folks be mindful of the information sources that you receive and
where that information, in fact, comes from. There's a lot of
competing factors out there and folks that are putting out a lot of
propaganda that just is not true.
So with that, be very wary of the information sources, and just
because it says it, it doesn't -- that's one of the reasons why we
established an advisory committee, an ad hoc committee appointed
by this board to officiate at these public meetings and to help herd the
information chain so that the truth is, in fact, told.
So I'm good. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Thank you.
MR. ANDREW MILLER: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: What's next?
MS. PATTERSON: Did they vote?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Did we get a vote on it or
not?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. So I've got a motion and a
second. All in favor?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye.
April 25, 2023
Page 98
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously.
Next?
Item #11G
THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 15-6365
FOR “FEMA ACCEPTABLE DEBRIS REMOVAL FOR DISASTER
GENERATED DEBRIS” WITH ASHBRITT, INC., D/B/A
ASHBRITT ENVIRONMENTAL, TO INCREASE THE FEE
SCHEDULE RATES 7%, EFFECTIVE ON THE RENEWAL DATE
OF JANUARY 12, 2023, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO
SIGN THE AMENDMENT. MOTION TO APPROVE BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL - APPROVED
MS. PATTERSON: If we can, let's go ahead and take the
AshBritt item. This is Item 16C5 now 11G. This is a
recommendation to approve the second amendment to Agreement
No. 15-6365 for FEMA-acceptable debris removal for
disaster-generated debris with AshBritt, Inc., doing business as
AshBritt Environmental; to increase the fee schedule rate 7 percent
effective on the renewal date of January 12th, 2023; and authorize the
Chairman to sign the amendment.
Ms. Sandra Herrera is here to answer questions or start the
presentation. We also have our staff from Public Utilities in the
room, depending on your questions.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders.
April 25, 2023
Page 99
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Just a couple quick
questions.
When Hurricane Irma came through, AshBritt requested a
substantial increase in the fees that they were under contract to
provide, and the -- we said no. And they went ahead and did all the
collections based on the contract that was in place.
And part of the rationale was that FEMA would not reimburse
the county for any increase in the fees once a storm has come
through. If we had increased those fees, the Collier County
taxpayers would have paid 100 percent of that increase in the cost
versus paying about 10 percent of the cost.
Hurricane Ian comes through, and I think AshBritt asked for the
same thing, and I believe we said no so there was no additional
burden on the taxpayers, and staff is to be commended for that
position.
This 7 percent only reflects the next storm going forward. It
has nothing to do with Hurricane Ian. I just wanted to make sure of
that. Then I'll make a motion to approve.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a motion to
approve. Do I have a second?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Do I have any public comments,
Mr. Miller?
MR. MILLER: We do.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Oh, okay. I'm sorry, sir.
MR. MILLER: Not time yet.
Did you want the public comment now, sir?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes.
MR. MILLER: Your speaker is Brittany Castillo.
MS. CASTILLO: Thank you, Chairman, Commissioners, staff,
and leadership that's here. I'm Brittany Perkins Castillo, for the
April 25, 2023
Page 100
record, chief executive officer of AshBritt.
And for just the record and those that aren't aware, so AshBritt is
a government solutions provider specializing in emergency
management logistics and disaster debris removal. We're actually
the national leader in disaster debris removal.
But even though we're a national company, we're South Florida
based. We've got team members, family members that are long-time
residents of Collier County, and we're a very proud partner of Collier
County particularly in disaster debris removal but certainly other
services since 2005.
I've been here today -- the board of our company, myself as
CEO, and the leadership of our company, it's important that Collier
County knows that this is a contract and a relationship that's of
utmost importance to our company.
I'm happy to answer questions on the CPI but, Commissioner
Saunders, if I may, respectfully clarify. You used the word
"substantial increase." I believe we asked for the CPI increase. So
looking just at Hurricane Ian, our contract allows for consumer price
index increases annually upon contract extension. Admittedly, our
company neglected to do that last year. So we asked for it when
Hurricane Ian was coming. It was an administrative error. Staff
held to the contract that you have to do it upon award.
We did work -- and the item that's here is per the contract that
allows for the consumer price index increase per the contract terms.
So I just wanted to clarify that.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thanks for that clarification.
MS. CASTILLO: Thank you, sir.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, I'm -- I'm the one that
actually asked for this to be brought up for discussion, and the
rationale for that was this is an after-the-fact adjustment to an
April 25, 2023
Page 101
existing contract that's in place. And we're -- I'm concerned that
maybe there should have been some kind of a rebid to go forward
with it. And I understand that you folks were remiss in renegotiating
in advance of Ian, but to come back to us after the fact and for us to
award this without going through the public processes is concerning
to me.
MS. CASTILLO: Absolutely. So I think a point of
clarification which I'll add -- and obviously staff can speak to -- yeah,
the contract allows for the CPI.
MS. HERRERA: Yes, I'll respond to that question. Yes, the
contract allows for that, so there's no need to rebid pursuant to the
ordinance, along with the contract that the Board had approved.
There is a mechanism to go through the renewal process and at that
time afford the contractor an opportunity to, per -- to request an
increase. Obviously, they requested an increased CPI at, I believe, a
9.9. We negotiated that down to 7 percent. So there is no need to
rebid.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
MS. CASTILLO: And, Commissioner, if I can respond. And
I know this is well-known by the commissioners, so it's primarily for
the record. In our industry and, of course, across -- since this is a
pre-COVID contract, I believe 2016, so it's customary in our industry
across the state of Florida. If you looked at your neighbor counties,
other cities within the state at the state level, CPI at minimum
modifications are happening for similar contracts across the county
and within the county on disaster and emergency management-related
services, and so that 7 percent is the year-over-year amount that's
allowed in the contract.
That said, if the contract were to be rebid at your direction or
staff's, we'd obviously be looking forward to the opportunity of
resubmitting.
April 25, 2023
Page 102
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. And I'm going to
second Commissioner Saunders' motion for approval with the
comment that, you know, this isn't a reflection of AshBritt or what
you folks have done for our community throughout the years. Both
he and I have been here through Irma and Ian.
The efforts that AshBritt has done for Collier County has been
stellar, to say the least. I mean, we couldn't hardly have asked for
much more. And your flexibility in how you've done what you've
done has been off the chart for our community.
The concern I had was the process. The after-the-fact, the
retroactive respects of this request is where I actually had concerns
when I was reading through the backup data, which is why I asked
for it to be brought up. And I appreciate you being here.
MS. CASTILLO: Absolutely, and very much appreciate those
words said. It's critically important that we are a great partner to
Collier County year-round, a good corporate citizen actively engaged
in the community beyond, obviously, planning for and responding to
disaster events. And I'd be remiss to not say that it's because of the
phenomenal staff that you have that manage this contract that we're
able to, first and foremost, safely and, secondly, very efficiently
manage cleanup after disaster events in Collier County.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a motion on the
floor 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.)
April 25, 2023
Page 103
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously.
MS. CASTILLO: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. What else can we
squeeze in before 12:30?
MS. PATTERSON: We could take Item 11E, which is the
Marco Island Conservation Collier parcel.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Sure.
Item #11E
AN AGREEMENT FOR SALE AND PURCHASE WITH WISC
INVESTMENT COMPANY, LLC, FOR 0.39 ACRES UNDER THE
CONSERVATION COLLIER LAND ACQUISITION PROGRAM,
AT A COST NOT TO EXCEED $432,600. MOTION TO APPROVE
BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS – FAILS (COMMISSIONERS
MCDANIEL, COMMISSIONER HALL & COMMISSIONER
KOWAL OPPOSED)
MS. PATTERSON: Okay. This item was Item 16C7 moved to
Item 11E. It was an item continued from the December 10th, 2022,
BCC meeting. This is a recommendation to approve an agreement
for sale and purchase with WISC Investment Company, LLC, for
.39 acres under the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Program
at a cost not to exceed $432,600.
This item did appear on the consent agenda originally; was
moved to the regular agenda at staff's request. This was one of the
parcels back in December that was discussed. It had some
environmental issues as well as some ownership issues, and thought
it would be prudent to bring it onto the top of the agenda here just to
have a little discussion.
April 25, 2023
Page 104
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: One of the things I asked
Ms. Patterson yesterday -- and if you remember at our last
commissioner meeting, I talked about a spreadsheet that -- and,
actually, I would hope -- I was hoping we would all have it by now.
So, Mr. Finn, that spreadsheet that you showed me that showed
all the parcels of land, let's get that -- remember, we made a couple of
tweaks to it. Let's get that updated and get it in the hands of all the
commissioners. I mean, I was remiss in sort of pinging you about it
a few days after the last meeting because, I mean, it just needed
minor changes.
But one of the things I said to Ms. Patterson is I'd really like
those parcels to be bundled for us, and we're not going to be
approving these onesie, twosie every time. This one, apparently, is
unique, so that's why it's on here. But what should be coming to us
in the future are big chunks of parcels which would be on the
spreadsheet that Mr. Finn's going to get to us by tomorrow, or as soon
as possible, because it will help us track and check off the ones we
are approving.
I know I got -- Commissioner McDaniel, do you want to talk
first, or do you want to hear his presentation? What works for you?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If you want a presentation, or
I'll just make a motion.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. Well, I guess, just give us
the short version. Why is this one unique? Where are we -- you
know, why was it pulled forward for discussion? I sort of know the
answer from yesterday's pre-brief, but for the record and for the
benefit of everybody, Mr. Finn, give us the short version as to why
this one's unique, if it is.
MR. FINN: Happy to do it, Mr. Chairman. Edward Finn,
Deputy County Manager.
I'm going to allow Summer to do the presentation, but I'm just
April 25, 2023
Page 105
going to have a couple of remarks. And, yes, that
spreadsheet -- spreadsheet is in process, being fact checked in terms
of the relative to the appraised amount. So we want to make sure
those are right.
That sheet does exist. There's a link currently to the current
version that's live on the Conservation Collier website. That covers
all the cycles that are currently in play, which is 10, 11A, and 11B.
So there's a large number of properties --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: The one that's on their site, did it
make the changes we talked about in my office that would make this
sheet a little bit more valuable to us?
MR. FINN: We're working towards that. I can't tell you --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Maybe just send us the link, you
know, and then as you continue to make changes --
MR. FINN: Happy to do it.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- and you say we bought it, we
didn't buy it, we bought it, we could always plug into that link
ourselves to get an updated sheet. So that works. Okay.
MR. FINN: Copy that.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All right.
MR. FINN: So if I may, just a couple of quick comments on
this property. What makes this property a little bit unique, one is the
environmental issues or the environmental desirability. So there's
gopher tortoises on this property, an extensive number. This came
before the Board once already in one form or another, and it was
delayed.
The -- what the Board probably wants to consider is the fact that
this is a relatively small parcel in a single-family residential area, and
it is one of, I think, a total of six Marco parcels that are outstanding
that are similar in characteristics in that they're all single-family
residential lots.
April 25, 2023
Page 106
With that, I'm going to allow Summer to come up and present
this item, if you don't mind, sir.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
MR. FINN: Thank you.
MS. ARAQUE: Hello. Summer Araque, Conservation Collier
program supervisor.
And before you today we have the WISC property.
Troy, I'm going to take it back to the first slide unless you had it
on this.
MR. MILLER: You can.
MS. ARAQUE: Okay. Thank you.
So I have the purchase agreement for your consideration for the
WISC Investment property on Marco Island. The property owner
applied to sell their property in July of 2021 as part of Cycle 10.
This parcel meets the criteria of the program in that it is urban and
environmentally sensitive.
The property has 56 potentially occupied tortoise burrows which
would result in approximately 28 actual gopher tortoises because
each tortoise uses about two burrows. And here is a picture of a
gopher tortoise hatchling that was right in front of the property.
Okay. So as you all know, there is some history to this
property, and I will review that right now. This property was on the
Cycle 10 list that came before you in January of 2022, and then by
July of 2022 there was quite a large list that we had. We obtained
the appraisal, made an offer, brought the purchase agreement to
you-all on December 13th; however, that was continued at the
request of two commissioners.
The feedback that we received in a companion item that was on
the agenda that day led us to believe that you needed some further
information regarding the appraisal.
The first appraisal that was obtained in July did include the
April 25, 2023
Page 107
gopher tortoises. Those were backed out of the appraisal; however,
we did obtain an updated appraisal, and since then the sales on Marco
Island have increased. So the appraisal went up $10,000.
So there is an adjacent property that may benefit from this
acquisition that is located on the back of the property on Dogwood
Drive, and it is owned by a relative of the seller. That was a concern
that you-all had in general discussions not related to this specific
property back in December.
And considering this information, staff offered the first
appraised value of 419,000 again. Recently, in the last month, the
lower of the -- that would be the lower of the two values; however,
the seller would not accept an offer of less than $429,000, and the
contract was prepared to present to you for consideration.
And that's why we are here today, to request you to approve an
agreement for sale and purchase with WISC Investment Company for
.39 acres. The total price including closing would be $432,600.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So we're getting it for 429-, but the
432- is the other added little extras, right?
MS. ARAQUE: Correct.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So -- okay. I've got three
commissioners lit up. I don't know if they're making a motion or
they have a question. But, Commissioner McDaniel, you're first, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm ready to make a motion
unless -- do we have public speakers?
MR. MILLER: I have someone online who said only if you
have questions of her. Catherine Read Noble -- Noblett.
MS. ARAQUE: She is one of the property owners that's part of
this investment company.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. The commissioners that
are lit up, Commissioner McDaniel, do you have -- besides a motion,
do you have any questions?
April 25, 2023
Page 108
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Hall, do
you have any questions?
COMMISSIONER HALL: No questions.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Saunders,
any questions?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: A quick question for the
County Attorney. This is obviously a very valuable piece of
property. It's important to all of Collier County, but especially to the
folks in Marco Island. But let's just hypothetically roll the clock
forward 10, 15 years from now. Let's just assume something
happens and those 28 gopher tortoises are no longer there and there's
no environmental value at that point. Can the county declare that as
property no longer needed and sell it?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay, fine. I just wanted to
just make sure that if that did happen -- and it probably would not
happen, but if it did, that we could determine that it was surplus
property for sale.
So, Mr. Chairman, it's probably -- your district. Probably you
should make the motion.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal, do you have
a question?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah. I just -- I remember back
in December, and a lot of things were raised and, you know, we were,
you know, venturing into this where, you know, we wanted to be
more diligent with the taxpayers' dollars.
And if I remember correctly, it was more -- to this particular
property, we wanted more answers on the history of -- you know, do
our due diligence, and this person that was selling or the previous
owner. And the questions I had was, like, did they ever have this on
April 25, 2023
Page 109
the market? Was there people ever interested? Was there bids in
the past, and then they realized it was too expensive to relocate the
turtles to viably use this for a home, you know, which typically is on
that street are homes, you know, and I don't think those answers were
ever really answered.
That's what we -- that's basically -- that's what I was seeking
back in December, you know, that type of investigation or that type
of due diligence to see, are they just dumping this lot that they know
they can't sell to anybody else? And every time we sit here, the price
keeps going up.
MS. ARAQUE: So I will defer to Real Property. I believe
that the appraisal did address that it may have been listed at one
point, is that correct, for actually a very similar value. I'll bring
Roosevelt up for that.
MR. LEONARD: Hi. I'm Roosevelt Leonard, the review
appraiser.
Typically, when a parcel goes out for appraisal, the appraisers
do a five-year history on sales agreements on previous, so -- and also,
too, sales history of a parcel may not be considered as part of the
appraised value because what you're doing is taking the current
market value of that particular parcel and comparing it against
comparables.
So it's just the same as if -- when people are flipping properties,
you look at the prior sale, but that has nothing to do with what the
current market is for that parcel.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Maybe you misunderstood my
question. I'm not -- I wasn't really referring to the process of finding
an appraised value of a property and what methods you use or don't
use. My question was, was there any due diligence on the history of
this ever being sold or maybe actually had a contract at one time, or
was it ever dropped because of the cost of relocating the turtles
April 25, 2023
Page 110
because it was such a burden for a developer or an investor to buy
this lot? I guess that's more what my question was, not so much how
you come to the actual price of the appraisal.
MR. LEONARD: Right. So that consideration may have been
taken into effect when Conservation Collier provides their screening
program. And that part of due diligence, I believe, is taken into
consideration during that part. But that's not part of the appraisal
function, so -- and, again, part of what the appraisal process was, to
start bringing right up front all the mitigation factors that contribute
to the value.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So in your part of it, you say you
go back five years.
MR. LEONARD: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Can you answer this: In five
years, has this property ever been on the market to sell, just --
MR. LEONARD: According to the history, that -- the parcel
was not as far as what the appraiser calls changed arms or changed
hands.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I didn't ask that question.
MR. LEONARD: Right. So as far as whether it was on the
market or not, I really don't know that. I can go by what -- the due
diligence of what the appraiser said as far as the five-year sales
history. That's usually what we go by.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I've got two other commissioners
lit up, I assume with questions. Commissioner McDaniel and then
Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I want Roosevelt back.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
MS. ARAQUE: To clarify real quick, the value -- the price that
you see here includes the mitigation of the gopher tortoises. So the
April 25, 2023
Page 111
actual value of the property is 625,000. Then you back out for the
gopher tortoises.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was exactly my
question. I wasn't able to -- there was an enormous amount of
superfluous information included in this appraisal. Well, I'm sure it
wasn't totally superfluous, but there was a lot of information, and I
wasn't able to see the estimate of the cost of the mitigation that was
appropriated for this site. Could you help me get there?
MS. ARAQUE: I was just going to say, it is in the executive
summary in the fourth paragraph under considerations, but I'll let
Roosevelt speak to the actual appraisal itself.
MR. LEONARD: So what happens is that the -- as previously
stated, the appraiser took into consideration the 28 gopher tortoises,
and with that amount, there was -- again, the mitigation was 196,000,
and that part was taken right off the top of the appraisal. So that's
where you get your adjustment for the value, which brought it down
to $25 per square feet.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And, Commissioner Hall, did you
have a question.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I have a comment.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HALL: So, basically, Conservation Collier
has taxpayer money to buy property that never will be -- that will be
preserved as conservation. And when I look at this lot, I look at it as
a conservation lot. There's 28 turtles. There's burrowing owls. It's
basically undevelopable very easily. If it is developed, it has -- all
those animals have to be, you know, remediated. They have to be
put into a safe place.
It's at the top of the market. The appraisal's high. It's gone
higher.
To me it looks like we have a property that's already acting as
April 25, 2023
Page 112
what we want to make with an extra half-million bucks. So I'm
sorry that the seller didn't want to sell at a lower offer, but, you know,
maybe they should have considered that. I'm not going to be a
proponent of passing this on this. I'm going to let it stay what it is.
This already is a conservation lot right there in the middle of town.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'll just add, so this is in my
district. Every lot that comes to us is going to be a conservation lot.
I mean, it's going to have something on it. So that's, you know -- I
mean, we would buy nothing then.
And I'll preface this by saying also whether I'm for or against
how the whole Conservation Collier program works, it's irrelevant,
because the taxpayers passed it by a unanimous [sic] decision. I
think we had, what, 25 million, more or less, to be spending on these
lots, and every lot that we are going to consider is going to be
something that you could look at the aerial photo and go, well, why
buy it? It's full of -- it's full of tortoises and burrowing owls. And
I'm not trying to be an advocate for Conservation Collier, but the way
that the program works is those are the lots that we buy, the ones that
are, you know, fully populated by endangered species.
So, I mean, you know -- you know, with -- just to comment on
your comment, you know, Commissioner Hall. It's like every lot's
going to be that way, then, and then we would buy nothing. Where
the thought is looking at the lot and go, wow, it's so populated by
endangered species. Let's lock this one into the Conservation Collier
program as the taxpayers said that they wanted to do, and let's buy it.
And, you know, I will tell you, 432- for a Marco lot is pretty
much fair market value. I know that seems like a lot, but -- and it's
not a waterfront lot or anything, but you could make a case it's plus or
minus. And I'm not a real estate expert, but it's plus or minus within
the window of all non-waterfront lots. And, you know, the way this
program is supposed to be supported by us is bring us lots that are
April 25, 2023
Page 113
fully populated with endangered species, and those are the ones that
we want to protect the most. I mean, at least that's my view. I don't
know if -- and then we've got somebody to chime in.
MR. MILLER: Well, yeah, Mr. Chair. Catherine Read
Noblett is online, and hearing your discussion, she would like to
make a comment, if you don't mind.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Sure.
MR. MILLER: Catherine, you should be being prompted to
unmute yourself, if you'll do so at this time. There you go. Go
ahead, Katherine.
MS. NOBLETT: Can you hear me?
MR. MILLER: Yes, ma'am.
MS. NOBLETT: Okay. I'd like to make a couple of
comments. First, I can answer the question that this lot has not -- we
had not placed it on the market in the last -- over the last 10 years.
And we've been waiting since 2021 because we are interested in
conservation. This lot does -- it has been undeveloped, and so it
has -- that's one of the reasons it was on the one -- the A1 list is it has
a lot of value for conservation.
It has a lot of -- people -- they call it tortoise hill. They come
and look for gopher tortoises on Marco at our property. And if -- if
the County Commissioners don't buy it, then we will be selling it.
The house to the -- as you're facing the lot to the right has been put
on the -- put up in about the last 10 years. And so this one
will -- there's the lot down in front on Barfield -- the houses are going
in, and so it will either go to conservation or it will go to housing.
So that's part of the decision that you as County Commissioners have
to make.
My parents are very involved. They're 95 and almost 96. So
they will not reap any benefit in their advanced age to -- whether this
house -- this lot becomes a house or stays conservation.
April 25, 2023
Page 114
I will say that they're very interested in conservation, and they
have made arrangements in their property for it to go to conservation
so, in essence, you would have two adjoining lots that would become
in conservation over time. I can't exactly, due to their wishes,
explain that a little further, but I can tell you that the agency has
paperwork that says that they will get it.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Ma'am, this is Commissioner
LoCastro. Can you hear me?
MS. NOBLETT: Do you have any questions for me,
Commissioners?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Can you hear me, ma'am? This is
Commissioner LoCastro.
MS. NOBLETT: Yes.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: If you-all are so -- and I mean this
with respect. I really just want to get a clear answer. If your family
is so environmentally focused, which I certainly applaud, why the
back-and-forth over $10,000? I mean, I think that the program made
a fair-market-value offer, and if -- you know, when we hear it's
rejected and then it comes back it's 10,000 more, you know, we sit
here as commissioners and we're trying to be good stewards of
taxpayer dollars -- and, you know, we don't want to gyp you out of
the value of that property. We realize you can say no and put it on
the market.
And I can tell you I live on Marco Island. There's a lot being
built down from me that has probably dozens of burrowing owls on
it, and they're about to all be scared off because a house is coming
there.
So I see it all the time that a homeowner that's about to build a
multimillion dollar house could [sic] care less about the nickels and
dimes, in their estimation, that it's going to take to relocate gopher
tortoises and burrowing owls, especially since lots are disappearing
April 25, 2023
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very quickly.
But why not just take the initial offer and, you know, we
wouldn't be sitting here right now with, you know, offers that all
seem to be within, plus or minus, a few dollars. But we're having a
debate because everything's been rejected initially, or do I have part
of that story incorrect?
MS. NOBLETT: I believe you have part of that story incorrect.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
MS. NOBLETT: The original appraisal which was done back
last -- in July was for 419,000, and it included property on its
comparables that were over -- slightly over a year old before that, and
you know the market went up a lot.
And on that 419- appraisal, there was a lot of weight given to the
older properties. And so then when Collier -- the County
Commissioners decided to -- in December to continue to, you know,
want to start changing the process and wanted to go back and
reappraise the property, and lo and behold, prices had gone up a lot,
and so now the appraisal is at 429-.
It's the appraisal that the commissioners asked for and got. And
why should we, as we are an investment company -- we are -- while
we are interested in conservation, we are an investment company.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: But was the 419- offered to you,
and you or your company said no to the initial 419-, or the ball got
dropped somewhere?
MS. NOBLETT: No, we -- we -- when we were offered the
419- back in October, we accepted it then, and the Board of County
Commissioners delayed and put it -- or, you know, paused, delayed at
the December Board of County Commissioners meeting when it was
on the agenda then. They said, no, no, everything's -- you know,
we're going to go relook at the process. We want all these properties
reappraised, and so that's what happened. You went and reappraised
April 25, 2023
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it, and it came in at 429-, and now you're saying, oh, well, we want to
go back to the old price because we don't like the new price that our
appraisal gave.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: No, we -- I wasn't saying we're
going back to --
MS. NOBLETT: Why should we suffer?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I was saying we're going back to
the old price. I'm just trying to understand how the history of this
transpired. We are the Board of County Commissioners, and I
would say, the way you characterized what we did in December isn't
anything that I recall doing, but that's water under the bridge. We're
here to decide 432- -- 432,600 on this property, and either we do it or
we don't.
I support purchasing it. And I don't know, does this take three
votes. I know we still have some more comment.
Commissioner Kowal, sir, do you have some comments?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: This is Commissioner Kowal. I
would just like to thank you, because you kind of answered the
question I've been asking for some time. So you said this property
hasn't been listed in the last 10 years or so, and thanks for clarifying
that for me.
You know, I just -- you know, the 419-, from your own
words -- from your own mouth said was accepted back in October.
And I'm trying to figure out -- I mean, it wasn't that we wanted to
reappraise properties to get different prices. We were -- in
December we were just saying that I think we have a position to
negotiate on these prices because it would be a good stewardship of
the taxpayers' dollars. It doesn't mean we're not going to purchase
the properties, but I think we should do our due diligence and, just
like anybody else, even in the private market, you know, sometimes
people get lowballed, and somewhere you meet in the middle, you
April 25, 2023
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know. So I mean, I think the offer's 419- on the table, so -- but...
MS. NOBLETT: Well, the reappraisal was 429-.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: That's fine. Something's only
worth what something's willing -- somebody's willing to pay for it.
MS. NOBLETT: And the appraisal is the appraisal, and that
was -- when we signed up, we said we would accept your appraised
price.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay.
MS. NOBLETT: And you appraised it 429- based on more
recent sales than sales from 2021.
COMMISSIONER HALL: We got that.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Well, I think we've -- your
feedback to us at least is giving me some takeaways on our process
over here, because that 419- should have been locked in. What we
discussed here was lots that were appraised but had a -- the same
owner had adjacent property, or if there were any sort of unique
circumstances on any of the properties, you know, that -- and this
would have been one of those where there's an adjacent property
owned by the same group, investment company, or family, so
the -- what we wanted as commissioners was consideration to say it's
not just a property out in the middle of nowhere; it butts up against
another property that the owner has. So they do get some advantage
by us turning it over to Conservation Collier, and now they have an
adjoining property that has just become a permanent park basically.
So if the appraisal is 419- to that family, because they get a
benefit from it, maybe they take 400- because they get a benefit as
opposed to a property that's in the middle of nowhere. That train
already left the station. So I think my takeaway here is, you know,
maybe there was some miscommunication on our part. I don't think
it was anything on yours. I think you were just playing a waiting
game.
April 25, 2023
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But do we -- unless we have any other questions, I mean, this is
in my district. I'm by no means a real estate agent or a property
appraiser. But this is what this program is supposed to protect, and
these are the kind of lots that we're supposed to purchase and, to me,
it makes it all that stronger that it's loaded with environmentally
sensitive and environmentally protected species that I can tell you
could easily be cleared if somebody wanted to buy that lot.
The more expensive thing isn't clearing the birds and the
tortoises. The more expensive thing is buying the lot.
So unless anybody has an objection, I'd like to make a motion on
this piece of property in my district that we approve the agreement
for 432- -- 432,600, which is inclusive -- 429-, and then it's inclusive
of other fees. Do I have a second?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second that.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a motion on the
floor and a second. All in favor?
Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. It failed -- Commissioner
Kowal, I didn't -- I don't know if I heard everybody. Your agreed or
disagreed?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I disagree.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. It fails 3-2.
Next?
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, you have time-certain
items starting at 2:30, so do you want to consider --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. I think we're at a 12:30
April 25, 2023
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break. So we want to come back at -- what do you-all think? Do
you think in an hour -- is an hour enough, 1:30? Okay. We'll come
back at 1:30. Okay, we're adjourned. Thanks.
(A luncheon recess was had from 12:33 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.)
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I know we've been
jumping around on the agenda, so...
Item #9B
RESOLUTION 2023-81: A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT
TO THE COLLIER COUNTY GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN,
ORDINANCE 89-05, AS AMENDED, SPECIFICALLY
AMENDING THE FUTURE LAND USE ELEMENT AND
FUTURE LAND USE MAP AND MAP SERIES TO ADD THE US
41 EAST OVERLAY TO ALLOW CERTAIN ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT USES WITHIN THE CORRIDOR SEGMENTS;
AND, ALLOW INCREASED HEIGHT AND DENSITY, AND
CERTAIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT USES IN REGIONAL
CENTERS AND COMMUNITY CENTERS THROUGH
INCENTIVES, AND AMENDING THE TRANSPORTATION
ELEMENT AND MAPS TO EXPAND THE SOUTH US 41
TRANSPORTATION CONCURRENCY EXCEPTION AREA, AND
FURTHERMORE DIRECTING TRANSMITTAL OF THE
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT
OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY. [PL20230000930] - MOTION
TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO; SECONDED
BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS - APPROVED
MS. PATTERSON: Yep. We're going to -- we're moving back
April 25, 2023
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to our land use. We're going to start up now with formerly Item 17E
that is now 9B. Just a reminder, we do have time-certain items no
sooner than 2:30, and then directly following that hopefully no
sooner than 3:00. But we'll get through -- try to get through these
land-use items and then move along.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
MS. PATTERSON: What we're working with here, 9B, is a
resolution of the Board of County Commissioners proposing an
amendment to the Collier County Growth Management Plan
specifically amending the Future Land Use Element and Future
Lands Map and Map Series to add the U.S. 41 East Overlay. And I
will turn to Mike Bosi to beginning the presentation.
MR. BOSI: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Mike Bosi,
Planning and Zoning director.
We're here today to talk about a project that is a long-tendered
project within the county. This is an initiative that started off in
2008/2009 with the East Naples Civic Association. It was an East
Trail study that was done, and there was some actions that
contemplated.
This -- the Board of County Commissioners directed a U.S. 41
corridor study. That was a visual preference survey analysis, talking
to the community, finding out what type of land uses, designs, overall
feel of the community that the East Naples community was trying to
support. And then we had -- another update of that study was the
East Naples development -- or the East Naples Community
Development Plan. It was accepted, I believe, in October of 2020 by
the Board of County Commissioners, and that development plan had
a specific do-out, and that specifically do-out was the development of
the U.S. 41 East Zoning Overlay.
We're not here to discuss the zoning overlay. What we're here
to discuss is the foundation for that zoning overlay as the GMP
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overlay subdistrict for the East Naples community plan.
The zoning overlay stretches from basically the edge of the
government center down to Port of the Islands. It implements -- like
I said, the East Naples Community Development Plan establishes the
design and development standards, promotes mobility options, allows
increased density and height in certain areas. And what we're going
to -- we're proposing today at the GMP level is to increase the
amount of land uses that are allowed related to Qualified Targeted
Industries as economic development instruments and tools to promote
a wider variety of land use with economic development ties as well as
increasing density within -- specific to the community and the
regional nodes -- commercial nodes within this -- within this corridor.
And that increased -- that increased height and increased density is
associated with trying to promote mixed-use development.
What we've heard from the community is there -- they want land
uses that provide more give to the individual neighborhoods that are
in close proximity, and they feel like mixed use really provides for
the greatest level of integration of the residential land uses and
commercial land uses that are directed to those households.
So mixed-use development will promote the type of commercial
land uses and development and promote commercial development
that really attends to the needs of the dwelling units that
surround -- not only within this corridor, but sits to the north and the
south of the corridor in terms of the residential neighborhoods that
border it. It also, like I said, allows economic development uses
within the urban area.
This is where I was talking about. Your corridor segments,
your regional centers, those are the centers that are being proposed to
be the increase to density from 16 units an acre to 20 units an acre
when they are providing for the design and the type of mixes that the
community is trying to promote.
April 25, 2023
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And then your green community centers are being suggested to
be up to 16 units per acre when they -- when an applicant is going to
provide for that mixed use -- mix of uses that the community is
looking for that gives more to the individual dwelling units that
surround the corridor.
As I said, within your regional subdistricts, it's 20 units an acre.
Within your community center, it's up to 16 units an acre. And none
of this is by right. This is just providing the eligibility for these to
come back to seek these type of densities and to seek these mixes of
uses and will have to come back through a rezoning process. So the
whole compatibility, the analysis, the neighborhood information
meetings, the input from the surrounding property owners, those will
all be provided for in the individual applications that would come
forward to take advantages of what the Growth Management Plan is
making these in terms of "eligible for."
Another thing is increasing the heights within your regional
community subdistricts to allow for up to 20 additional feet [sic]
when they're providing for the type of uses that the neighborhood and
the East Naples community is trying to promote.
The other aspect of what we're doing at the Growth
Management Plan is an expansion of the Traffic Congestion
Exception Area. The Traffic Congestion Exception Area means
when you are proposing a development within one of these -- a
TCEA, you do not go out and look link by link to see your
volume-to-capacity availability for your transportation analysis
because we know that those systems are constrained. It allows
for -- it's a little more permissive in terms of allowing development to
move forward even in the height of areas that may be deemed more
congested in terms of the overall volume of traffic. And we
are -- currently the TCEA area runs to Rattlesnake Hammock,
Thomasson Drive intersection, U.S. 41. We are suggesting or
April 25, 2023
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proposing to extend that down to the activity center at 951 and
U.S. 41.
As I explained, the TC -- the Transportation Concurrency
Exception Area allows for exemption from that link-by-link analysis
that's normally required for all other development order reviews.
And here's where we're at within the regulatory process.
March 16th of this year, the Planning Commission heard the GMP
amendments for the overlay. They unanimously supported the
recommendation and a recommendation to the Board of County
Commissioners. We're here today for the transmittal hearing. If the
Board decides to transmit this, we will send it to the state DEO.
They'll have 30 days for their expedited review. While that's going
on, we have a May 3rd meeting with the full DSAC. We've already
been to the subcommittees. What we're talking about there is the
zoning overlay. That's going to implement -- that's the regulations
that's going to implement the GMP that we are transmitting today.
We're going to go talk to the full DSAC about the design
standards that are being proposed related to the -- the U.S. 41 zoning
overlay. And then from the DSAC, we are going to the Planning
Commission July 6th of this year to get the Planning Commission's
full review of the zoning overlay. They'll make a recommendation
to the Board of County Commissioners.
The tentative schedule right now is August 22nd we would be
bringing the first reading of that zoning overlay back to the Board of
County Commissioners for you to hear the details and the specifics of
the development standards that are being created as part of the overall
project.
And then you will finally have a second hearing for the -- a
second hearing of the EZO, the zoning overlay, and that will be
married up with the adoption hearing of the GMP amendments. So
the GMP amendments and the final hearing for the zoning overlay
April 25, 2023
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are tentatively scheduled for September 12th, and that's the overall
timeline that we tentatively have scheduled for the -- for the program.
And staff is available for any questions. I also have Ms. Mosca,
who's been deeply involved with the community and at all the public
meetings, to answer any questions that maybe I can't field.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So, Mr. Bosi, remind us again how
long this has been, like, chatted about, talked about, kicked around,
how far --
MR. BOSI: 2009.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So here, one of the things
that -- and I appreciate it. We talked yesterday. And, you know,
what you just did, you know the old saying, "You just built us a
watch"? But let me just tell everybody the time, okay.
The bottom line is, the real travesty and disappointment here is,
God, I would have loved to have been sitting here in 2010 approving
all of this because then we would have a plan that would have
protected my entire district the way that the Golden Gate Master Plan
does so many amazing things to make sure that the right things are
built in District 3.
So it's a real value, you know, to Commissioner Saunders,
because it gives him a framework, and it gives us a framework. And
it would have been nice to have this framework in 2009. You know,
that being said -- and even as you and I talked, if this thing was
passed tomorrow, we can't undo the sins of the past, you know,
whether it's storage units or things that wouldn't have been allowed to
be built if these higher standards would have been enacted.
Having said that, what I just want to make sure my colleagues
understand -- and I'm sure they do -- today we're not -- we're
just -- and correct me if I'm wrong. Alls we're being asked to do
today is allow this analysis to continue to go forward and then, like
you showed on the timeline, we're not approving construction, we're
April 25, 2023
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not approving that we agree with everything in there. It's basically
going to the next step so that, then, eventually you can bring us back
something that's going to be sort of like the East Naples Master Plan,
you know, similar to how we used the Golden Gate Master Plan as a
really solid framework to guide our decisions, which is something
that District 1 has needed for a really, really long time.
There's going to be a lot of things, I think, that are eventually
going to come back to us that are going to be nice-to-knows, but not
things that we can implement.
I mean, I've sat in on some of the preliminary meetings and, you
know, we're not going to tear down all of U.S. 41 and make it look
like Fifth Avenue, although we might have been able to do a lot of
that in 2009, '10, '11, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16, '17, '18, '19, '20, '21, '22.
I mean -- you know -- and I say that for emphasis because, man, did
we waste a lot of time in District 1.
But having said that, I think this is really great work, and it will
give us a framework to go forward, albeit, you know, sort of late in
the game. There's only so much green space left to build on. But,
you know, having said that, can you more eloquently state what I just
did, what are you asking us to vote on today? Isn't it just to move
forward with the next steps of analysis that are helping to formulate
this East Naples/U.S. 41 Overlay Master Plan?
MR. BOSI: Yeah. And, Chair, I appreciate that. And today's
an action that's requesting you to transmit the GMP amendments
that's going to set the foundation, the permissions that's going to
allow for your staff to bring back the specifics of the zoning overlay.
The zoning overlay, the devil's in the detail always.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And if what you bring us back we
totally hate, then --
MR. BOSI: There were -- there's no obligation that you have to
agree with every and all aspects of the zoning overlay as it's brought
April 25, 2023
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back. What this does is simply allows for the extension of the
TCEA down to the U.S. 41 and Collier Boulevard intersection from
the Rattlesnake Hammock termination right now and increases the
density for your community and your regional centers to 16 and 20
units an acre.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: But as you said --
MR. BOSI: As eligibility.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: As you said, not automatically. It
allows --
MR. BOSI: It just creates the eligibility for it. So when
you -- the next step that you will have when it comes back to the
Board of County Commissioners will be the zoning overlay that has
the dos, the don'ts, the design standards, the specifics. And you can
take -- and you can adopt all of it, you can adopt none of it, you can
take pieces of it a la carte as you feel appropriate in terms of what
you feel is right for the community based upon the community --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: The big things I like in the early
versions -- and I think my constituents in District 1, like, are
the -- and you had it on your slide there. It establishes stronger,
better design and development standards as guidelines. It doesn't
mean we do it. I mean, if we think that it's overreach and we're
asking somebody to -- you know, that's trying to build something
that's basic and it doesn't mandate that everything looks like the Taj
Mahal, but it gives us much more options to consider to try to give
District 1 and this East Naples Trail more cohesion, even though it
might be -- I'll never say too little too late, but I would have liked to
have seen this a lot earlier.
But -- and then as I wrote down here, it also establishes the
community centers with a much stronger, better design, which is
basically concentrating sort of the industrial things in very particular
areas so they're not just sort of spread out in sort of a ragtag way, the
April 25, 2023
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way you find in a lot of portions of East Naples right now.
So it won't correct that, but it will make sure we don't continue
to do that or that we have the option or that, you know, it puts on the
radar better planning, better design, the same way that the Golden
Gate Master Plan does a lot of those things in so many ways, you
know. It's just that they've enjoyed that for many, many years. It's
now time for District 1 to play catch-up.
But I've got a couple people lit up here. Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you.
If I'm correct, this -- a portion of this, too, is also in my district,
right, from Pine Street up to Rattlesnake --
MR. BOSI: Correct.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: -- as you're traveling east.
Just kind of two things I wanted to ask. Are they going to take
into consideration the new affordable housing item that we just
passed in reference to the conversion of the C-1, C-2, C-3 in our
transit routes, which I believe some of this is along the transit route?
MR. BOSI: The transit -- density along transit lines, it was
specifically requested to be excluded from this corridor, by the -- by
the public that we've interacted with from the East Naples
community.
So that -- the GMP amendments for the transit -- for the transit
corridor do not apply to this segment, this -- it does not apply. It's
specifically written withinto that proposed -- the proposed GMP
amendment that we've transmitted that does not include this segment
because this -- because the segment has been set aside specifically to
craft the design standards and the characteristics of this corridor in
the way that the participants of this program -- of this study has
directed and has requested.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. I'm just trying to recall
the map we had of the overall when we passed that a few weeks back.
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I thought part of 41 had the red going along it.
MR. BOSI: Well, there's always activity centers. You've got
your activity centers. The density along your transit lines was for
your non-activity center areas.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay.
MR. BOSI: That's for any project that's along that -- any transit
line corridor has the ability to take advantage of the TOD, the
transit-oriented development. The increasing of the activity centers,
that's where you will find some overlap in terms of the 25 units -- the
25 units an acre related to your activity centers.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you for the clarity.
MR. BOSI: Sure.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. And my apologies to
Commissioner Kowal. You know, our districts do overlap, and after
the redistricting -- I think the majority of this was District 1 but it's
not now. So you and I will be, obviously, you know, tag teaming on
this and asking the same type of questions.
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My -- first of all, I'm in favor of this. I mean, this -- having this
plan allows us to not be zoning by moratorium. That was the poor
habit that previous boards had gotten into in the past, and having a
plan allows for all of us to go forth --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: God knows you hate that, right?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So all that notwithstanding,
one quick question: Does the proposed amendments take away any
of the available uses that are existent today?
MR. BOSI: No.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And does the expansion of
the TCEA segment allow for a development that would come that
wouldn't necessarily be supported by the existing infrastructure?
April 25, 2023
Page 129
MR. BOSI: No. What the TCEA does is it changes the way
the transportation analysis looks at your development -- your
development order, but it doesn't -- it doesn't alter what uses or the
type of development that can move forward. It just changes -- it
changes the analysis at your Site Development Plan or at your plat in
terms of where the analysis is focused upon.
If it wasn't in a TCEA, every link that would be affected has to
be satisfied in terms of traffic capacity. When you have a TCEA,
that analysis is not provided for. It's -- and Transportation maybe
wants to provide a more articulate description of it, but it really does,
it exempts a proposal or exempts an area from having to satisfy
certain components of transportation analysis.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Transportation's standing
behind you. You want to let the more articulate statement come in?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Bring in the brains.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Here she comes.
MS. SCOTT: For the record, Trinity Scott, department head,
Transportation Management Services.
The State of Florida has essentially usurped our authority with
regard to transportation concurrency anyhow. We have to allow an
applicant to do a proportionate share calculation. So transportation
concurrency, if they came in along this corridor and we did not have
adequate capacity, they can still move forward in a pay-and-go
situation.
They would still be required to do that same analysis here even
though they're exempt from link-by-link concurrency, but with the
establishment of Transportation Concurrency Exception Area, we do
have the ability to also require some additional items such as
bicycle-pedestrian connectivity, mixed-use, all things that help us
reduce the impact to the roadway.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So over -- because my
April 25, 2023
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concern was that we were -- because of the proposition of the
increase in height and the densities, and then grabbing additional
concurrency area to theoretically alleviate the lack of infrastructure to
support a project -- and I know that this board has, you know, made
adjustments in how we're doing what we're doing. I just didn't want
to -- I didn't want us to be leaning out too far and assimilating areas
that would provide for an approval that wouldn't necessarily be
supported by the necessary infrastructure that we have.
MS. SCOTT: So with the multi- -- with the increased density
and the multiuse nature of this, number one, we would be putting
density in areas where we would have shorter trip lengths. So
instead of that density moving further out east, we would have shorter
trip lengths. So instead of someone driving 10 miles to get to a
Publix, there may be one within two or three miles. So those are all
things that we're looking at when we're addressing the transportation
as well.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Very good. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I know we have public
comment. I kind of wanted to set the table just with conversation
between us, and so we'll -- let's -- I think this is a good time now to
transition. How many do we have, Mr. Miller?
MR. MILLER: I have two registered speakers on this item, sir.
Your first speaker is Jacob Winge, and he'll be followed by Gordon
Brumwell.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Wingy (pronunciation)?
MR. WINGE: Close, close, close. You get a gold star when
you get it right.
MR. MILLER: Winge?
MR. WINGE: Winge.
Thank you, Commissioners. For the record, Jacob Winge,
president, East Naples Civic and Commerce.
April 25, 2023
Page 131
Just want to show our support for this initiative. I think it's
something that, again, has been going on for, you know, almost two
decades and I think really, in a larger picture, much, much longer
than that as far as getting a plan established for the benefit of East
Naples. And I think, along with transportation, housing and other
elements, stormwater, environmental protections as you see coming
in with the full plan, that's really going to be beneficial to the county
as an overall.
But I just want to ask for your support in moving this process
forward, laying the foundation, and I think you're going to be very
happy with the full plan that comes back after we bring it to the
Planning Commission and DSAC.
So thank you. Thanks so much.
MR. MILLER: And your next speaker and final speaker on this
item is Gordon Brumwell.
DR. BRUMWELL: Hi. Dr. Gordon Brumwell from Crown
Point.
The U.S. 41 East Corridor Overlay -- we can call it the East
Naples Master Plan -- holds the promise of non-auto mobility and
maintaining some of the natural feel and function of East Naples.
With all the loss of forest cover, increased building, and more cars on
the road, the people who actually live here want that promise of the
overlay to be fulfilled. As we've heard, the overlay can't exist
without this amendment, so please transmit it.
Now let's get out of the details, out of the weeds, and talk about
vision. With a little planning, the non-auto paths of the overlay
could be integrated into the Paradise Coast Trail we were hearing
about earlier today; the surface streets to its highway, if you will.
Now, combine the overlay's promise of maintaining our natural
vibe with a safe, inviting network of trails, and our amazing
non-beach natural assets, and we could have the economic engine
April 25, 2023
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that other Florida beautiful trail towns are.
I know you wouldn't put all your financial eggs in one basket;
you guys are too smart for that. My vision diversifies us beyond the
beach basket we are too dependent on.
So please pass this amendment so the overlay can be worked on.
Schedule the workshop the Naples Pathway Coalition has asked for
so the Paradise Coast Trail can be finished sooner rather than later,
and please keep this trail town vision for the East Naples area in the
back of your head.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: That was your final speaker, Mr. Chair.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I make a motion to approve. Do I
have a second?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second that,
Mr. Chairman.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Second.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a motion to
approve 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.
I didn't cut off somebody's comment, did I? Please, if you had
something you wanted to say.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I just want to say something
to Mr. Bosi.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir.
April 25, 2023
Page 133
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yesterday I was talking
about you, and I was -- and I had just read something about Nancy
Pelosi, and I said -- and I called you Mr. Belosi, and I can't get that
out of my head. So I want to apologize in advance for any time I
call you Mr. Belosi.
MR. BOSI: Well -- and I will gladly accept that, because it
gives me an opportunity to -- I wanted to recognize Michele Mosca.
She's been working effortly [sic] with the East Naples Civic
Association, has really gone out of her way to go the extra mile to
make sure that this project arrived to this point as clean as possible.
I just wanted to -- I couldn't have a better staff than what Michele
provides to the community. Thank you.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You know, I just wanted to add, in
the end when we get the report, there's going to be a -- you know, I
mean, the reality is there's going to be a lot of nice-to-haves in there
or wish-we-could-have-had, but I expect that there's going to be a lot
of things that I want to make sure we aggressively do -- you know,
the things that are doable. And my expectation is that there should
be a lot of that as well.
Yeah, there'll be some things that might be sort of conceptual or,
you know, maybe a bridge too far a little too late, but there's going to
be a lot of other things.
So I look forward to working closely with you, as I know
Commissioner Kowal does, in figuring where we can make
immediate change and not sort of, you know, kick the can or have our
replacement sitting here in 10 years ago talking about this report that
nobody acted on. We're going to act. We're going to act.
So thank you very much.
I also will add is -- and only because I heard a little bit of
disjointed pieces, and it has nothing to do with the vote here.
April 25, 2023
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I want to make sure that when we talk about this, you know,
East Naples Overlay that we go all the way down to, you know, Port
of the Islands. And I think, you know, we have -- I made that
change early on that, you know, East Naples just doesn't end at the
intersection of Collier and U.S. 41, and I think we've made that
improvement. But let's make sure if we find an old file or old
reference somewhere that, you know, we get an eraser and make sure
that it's inclusive, because this is a big stretch that can benefit from
this analysis. And I know you-all agree, but thank you.
Okay. What's next?
Item #9C
AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS AMENDING ORDINANCE 89-05, AS
AMENDED, THE COLLIER COUNTY GROWTH
MANAGEMENT PLAN OF THE UNINCORPORATED AREA OF
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, RELATING TO THE RURAL
FRINGE MIXED USE DISTRICT RESTUDY AND
SPECIFICALLY AMENDING THE FUTURE LAND USE
ELEMENT AND THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP AND MAP
SERIES TO REQUIRE TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS
FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENTS FOR
INCREASED RESIDENTIAL DENSITY IN THE URBAN MIXED
USE DISTRICT AND THE RURAL FRINGE MIXED USE
DISTRICT; AMENDING THE URBAN MIXED USE DISTRICT,
URBAN RESIDENTIAL FRINGE SUB-DISTRICT TO REMOVE
THE DENSITY BONUS CAP ON RESIDENTIAL IN-FILL AND
REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT TO USE TRANSFER OF
DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS WITHIN ONE MILE OF THE URBAN
BOUNDARY; AND AMENDING THE RURAL FRINGE MIXED
April 25, 2023
Page 135
USE DISTRICT OF THE FUTURE LAND USE ELEMENT TO
CHANGE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS AND
REQUIREMENTS, INCREASE DENSITY ON RECEIVING
LANDS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, ADD TRANSFER OF
DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS CREDITS, ADD USES IN RECEIVING
AREAS, AND ADD A CONDITIONAL USE FOR RECREATION
IN SENDING LANDS, AND TO AMEND DEVELOPMENT
STANDARDS FOR RURAL VILLAGES; AND CREATE THE
BELLE MEADE HYDROLOGIC ENHANCEMENT OVERLAY;
AND TO CORRECT THE SCRIVENER'S ERROR FOR THE
IMMOKALEE ROAD RURAL VILLAGE OVERLAY ON THE
FUTURE LAND USE MAP; AND FURTHERMORE, DIRECTING
TRANSMITTAL OF THE ADOPTED AMENDMENTS TO THE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. [PL20200002234] -
MOTION TO CONTINUE TO THE MAY 9, 2023, BCC MEETING
W/MORE DETAIL BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL;
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO – APPROVED
MS. PATTERSON: Item 17F is now Item 9C, and this is an
ordinance of the Board of County Commissioners amending
Ordinance 89-05, as amended, the Collier County Growth
Management Plan of the unincorporated area of Collier County,
Florida, relating to the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District Restudy and
specifically amending the Future Land Use Element and the Future
Land Use Element use [sic] Map and Map Series.
Mr. Mike Bosi is here to answer questions or present.
MR. BOSI: Thank you, Amy.
Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning Director.
Normally I would start with a presentation, but taking the
queues from my County Manager, questions or presentation; what
April 25, 2023
Page 136
would your preference be?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Well, I know this one was moved,
so I don't -- you know, I don't know if the two commissioners that
had requests have -- want to start it off with maybe your analysis,
observation, question, anything...
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You know, a brief
presentation I wouldn't be opposed to --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- if you don't mind just -- I
mean, because this is another all-encompassing land-use overlay on
90,000 acres of our county.
MR. BOSI: And with that, I will point -- this is an adoption
hearing for the Growth Management Plan for the Rural Fringe
Mixed-Use District.
Just to give you a little bit of context, this was the first of the
four restudies that was directed by the Board of County
Commissioners in 2015. This is the last of the restudies. This
would close the loop on eight years of various planning efforts. So
this has been around for a while, so I will briefly refresh.
The Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District, 77,200 acres: 22,373 are
receiving. That's the area that we want to direct development to.
There's 45,400 acres of sending. That's the blue area, here, here,
here, and here (indicating). I'm sorry. That's the receiving. Your
sending is your orange, here, here, here (indicating), and that's
45,400; and your neutral is your crosshatched, which have various
areas here, here, and here (indicating), and that's just under -- that's
9,427.
The overall changes to -- and I won't read through all of these.
But, basically, what it allows for is changes to how we determine the
number of TDRs. The TDRs are calculated at four TDRs per five
acres. When we originally started the program, you had a base
April 25, 2023
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credit, you got a bonus credit, then there was a restoration and
maintenance credit, and then there's a conveyance credit.
The only thing we're changing related to those four credits is
we're changing their early entry to be part of your base. So to
participate in the program, you automatically get two TDRs per five
acres. That's a significant change. We've removed that.
We've also allowed for land to be conveyed to a non-profit or
a -- or a land trust within receiving areas. What we found, the State
of Florida doesn't really accept land anymore. So when we have
property owners who are looking to convey their property, they want
to -- to close the loop in the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District, the
sending areas is where we want to protect; they're environmentally
sensitive. We've got a conveyance to the last of the TDR credits.
Well, the problem is the property owners haven't been able to
find an entity that would receive those lands to take care of them in
perpetuity, because the state hasn't -- the state has basically taken the
stance that we will not accept any further state lands because of the
obligations related to the maintenance.
So we are allowing the program to be -- land to be conveyed to
not-for-profit entity or a land trust, also allow for the sending land
parcels to cluster development units while retaining their
one-to-four -- one unit to 40 acres, meaning that -- what it does is just
allows for the clustering of development in a much smaller footprint
to protect the larger environmental to lands.
Related to your receiving areas, we removed the maximum -- or
we removed the maximum within your rural villages. Your rural
villages are the highest intensity that you can get within your
receiving area. And your receiving area is where we said we want
development to go.
Right now you can have -- you can get up to three units per acre
within those receiving areas. We also -- but we have a limitation in
April 25, 2023
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terms of the acreage that can be developed to research and
technology. We, through the process, want to eliminate that
maximum and leave the market to decide, because those are all
related to economic development uses.
And the concept of the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District is exact
same concept that we had in the RLSA, the Rural Lands Stewardship
Area, where you've got your Longwaters, your Bellmar, your Ave
Maria. It's sustainability.
So we want them to have job creation within these areas at these
residential houses. We also want to have goods and services. So
the removal of that limitation makes sense to have more
sustainability, more economic opportunities, because what we want,
the development that moves forward, that they don't have to leave
their area to have to get all their goods and services and
economic -- economic opportunities. We want some of those to be
satisfied by the individual developments in which they live.
Also, we have an allowance for -- allow for workforce housing
outside of Rural Villages to be standalone at a higher density. We're
proposing the -- if you have a program that's proposing affordable
housing, you can get up to 12.2 units per acre. Right now the max is
three for a village, but because we're prioritizing affordable housing,
we're allowing for that to be at 12.2.
And I know Commissioner McDaniels [sic] has a point that
we're going to discuss in a little bit related to the affordable housing
provision as well.
Also, to promote economic vitality outside the Rural Villages,
allow business and industry uses such as qualified targeted industries
to be outside of your rural villages, that means job creation outside
your villages as standalone opportunities. And, also, there's an
allowance to increase the density from one to two units an acre, but
that's not along your Immokalee corridor.
April 25, 2023
Page 139
And then the amendments that were proposed in terms of
the -- at the time of the transmittal was allowed TDR credits for
existing agriculture and conservation uses are [sic] secured by
perpetual easements, but we've actually -- we've coordinated with
those -- I mean, that has been synthesized down to a development use
agreement.
We also removed the minimum acre size for cluster
developments. We've eliminated the requirement for TDRs to be
utilized within the urban area if you have infill development. Infill
development, by our Future Land Use Maps, says if you're under
20 -- if you're under 20 acres, you're adjoined by either side with
development, you get additional density. You can get three
additional units. And the current rule says you have to utilize a TDR
to utilize that. We're proposing to eliminate that. It's only been
utilized twice before. It just hasn't -- it hasn't found -- the market
hasn't been very receptive to it.
And increase TDR demand by -- one of the proposals -- by
adding a requirement that any GMP amendment that proposes to
increase residential density within your urban mixed-use district or
your RFMUD has to utilize -- or shall utilize TDRs to achieve that
density.
And this -- here's some of the recommendations that came from
the Planning Commission related -- and it was a 5-0 vote. For a
GMP amendment to increase residential densities and [sic] exception
to the proposal to require the use of TDRs -- if a public benefit. So
if there's an out -- you don't have to utilize TDRs if you're proposing
to increase density -- residential density if there's a public benefit,
and normally what that's saying is if you're providing for affordable
housing, TDRs would not be required.
They also recommended that we defer a proposal to require the
villages to develop. Anything over 300 acres we had suggested has
April 25, 2023
Page 140
to be a village. The Planning Commission said, let's study that a
little bit more. Let's defer that recommendation. They also deferred
a proposal to create an agricultural TDR credit.
One of the things we're recognizing in neutral or your receiving
lands that do not create TDRs, if an owner wanted to reserve a parcel
of land for perpetual or agricultural use for a 25-year period, they
would be eligible for -- to generate a TDR.
And there was a specific area within the -- the study area, the
Belle Meade area, to analyze it, do a study after the adoption of these
amendments to make a determination of the appropriateness of
allocation for a flowway TDR, which is an additional TDR that
would be added to the system for when property owners allow for
flowways to enter into their property and provide written
documentation and easements on their property that allows for such
use.
The request for the Board of County Commissioners was -- was
to remove the one to two units along the -- and this was from the
Planning Commission's recommendation -- to remove the units along
Immokalee Road because it was -- it was determined that the density
along Immokalee Road already has provided sufficient enough
traffic. Let's pull that back.
Let me -- and I know this -- we wanted to get a little bit quicker.
Here's where we're at. Like I said, if we -- if we adopt this, we're
done. We'll be finalized with the amendments, and then the next
step would be staff would be developing the Land Development
Code, but there's also a public study that we're going to initiate within
the Belle Meade area related to flowways and flowway TDRs.
And with that, I know it was pretty fast, and it was all over the
place, but any questions that you may have you related to the
proposal?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel.
April 25, 2023
Page 141
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, I -- well -- and I'll be
looking forward to hearing our public comment here, but the concern
that I've had with the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District for a long time
is the incentivization for people to participate in the program and
generate TDRs. And it seems -- it seems counterintuitive to me that
we're actually increasing densities and reducing sizes of property
requisites and eliminating the necessity of the acquisition of TDRs, or
at least that's what I understand. And that, to me, is counterintuitive
for a value base for the -- for the TDR program at large.
MR. BOSI: And I understand the concern. And one of the
things -- and I will put up on the -- and there is the lines that I want to
draw your attention to -- is this number here, and that number here,
down there, the 10,327, is what -- the number of TDRs we expect
will be demanded within the program.
And on the top, if you had 100 percent participation within the
program, you get to about 10,496, almost identical to what we expect
the demand to be. At 50 percent, you've got just under 6,000
TDRs -- you just have under 6,000 TDRs that we would expect to be
developed.
And at the transmittal hearing, one of the things that was raised
was a concern that we don't have enough TDRs. We don't have
enough TDRs to meet the eventual demand.
So one of the things that we are -- we're trying to recognize and
what we've done within the flowway, which is adding an additional
1,200 TDRs, and potentially an extra two TDRs per five acres for the
restoration and maintenance credits, is add some TDRs.
Eventually -- what that does, though, adding TDRs to the system can
devalue the -- it can devalue your existing supply. It's all about
supply and demand.
When you're adding more towards your supply, the price of that
supplies -- what the -- a person who is looking to acquire the TDR
April 25, 2023
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has more options to shop at and, therefore, it can lower the value of
the TDRs. So it is really a push and pull. We're trying to find that
balance. And we understand the concern.
One of the aspects that we do have is the potential to
eliminate -- there's currently a regulation that says, only one village
could be -- or could be developed as part of each of the receiving
areas. We have four receiving areas. The proposal is to eliminate
that restriction. So you have two of your receiving areas that are on
your southern portion that staff feels would be able to support,
potentially, two villages. So that has an off-setting way of creating
additional demand which will -- which will have a proportionate
effect toward the supply issue that we're talking about. So on one
hand there is a devaluation, but on the other hand we're trying to
increase the demand for those and, therefore, that helps the pricing
power for the individuals with the supply.
I know that was a long, economic way of getting around the
question, but...
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You did really well. And
you did get around the question. In my perception, by the -- by
the -- the creation of more TDRs on the basis of the environmental
cleanup and such, there has to be an economic value for that to, in
fact, transpire. And you, yourself, have said that the addition of a
TDR for the transfer of ownership from the owner to a not-for-profit
is virtually impossible nowadays.
And I think the compensation there was to move the base units
from one to two in order to help compensate for that, if I'm not
mistaken. And then you're adding two more on the cleanup side for
the environmental aspects?
MR. BOSI: Adding two more potentially for the restoration
of --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And did we do -- did we do
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an economic study or a study on a cost basis with regard to the
potential exposure there for a property owner to do -- and knowing
that everybody's different. You know, there's a certain amount that
you really can't encapsulate. But did we do a study there with regard
to that value for theoretical incentivization for more TDRs?
MR. BOSI: We didn't do a specific economic valuation of the
expected -- the individual action of the creation of the two additional
in terms of the impact in the terms of the price, but we did do an
update in terms of, as I've showed you, what we expect the demand
would be and what we'd expect the demand and the supply to be with
the additional units.
So we've just kind of at least tried to align them in more closer
proximity without getting into, really, an economic analysis to see
what's the effect of these changes on the value of a TDR.
Right now the value of a TDR is trading around about 15- to
16,5-. There used to be a requirement where $25,000 was the
minimum for a base credit. This Board of County Commissioners
directed us to eliminate that. Basically, TDRs now float at market
rate. That market rate turns about 15-, 16,5-.
We haven't done an analysis to see, are these proposed
changes -- is that going to increase the value or decrease the value by
any -- by any degree.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Now -- and then the other
question I had had to do with the affordable housing component and
the elimination of TDRs there. Does that not -- in my mind, does
that not devalue the market value of existing TDRs?
MR. BOSI: And as we discussed yesterday in your -- it has that
potential. Remember, though, the proposed density for an affordable
housing project is 12.2. Without the affordable housing, your
proposed -- your max density is three units per acre. So you're
potentially 9.2 units above what any TDRs could ever be expenditure
April 25, 2023
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[sic] under the current program.
What we did talk about was if you do have an affordable
housing project, we don't have it clarified that any market-rate units
that would -- that would be proposed as part of that development is
exempt from TDRs, and there was -- there was a possible discussion
of requiring those market-rate units to have some participation within
the TDR program.
We have had some conversation with Mr. Mulhere and his client
related to some of the projects they have moving forward, and we
recognize that we don't have a specific recommendation in terms of
what that number would be in terms of the market rate that's affiliated
with an affordable housing project.
We do recognize that because it's an affordable housing project,
there's only so much extra cost that you could add to the unit before
the -- before that subsidization is not realized by the project. But
what we were proposing in discussion with Mr. Mulhere and the
development community was to work on -- to maybe request for a
continuation till the next meeting and have a suggestion to the Board
of County Commissioners that we could arrive upon that
would -- that could address that very issue of making the market rates
at least participate in some way with the consumption of TDRs.
Because that's the -- I mean, the program is to preserve your
environmentally sensitive lands, to make whole the property owners
who had the development rights restricted; and the way that that is
done is having those TDRs -- the TDRs that those sending land
owners created to be consumed by the market.
So if we would have some -- some accountability for those
market-rate units within affordable housing projects to have to
participate in some consumption of TDRs, we understand that that
is -- that it furthers the overall goal of the program in a more holistic
way.
April 25, 2023
Page 145
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just as you and I talked
yesterday, that's one of the -- I'd like -- of course we want to hear
from the public, but I think that's a prudent move for us, because
that's -- that's -- and the other point that I made that I talked with you
about yesterday -- and I don't know if this is an appropriate
time -- although it seems like I'm adept at bringing things up at an
inappropriate time. But the -- you know, this is a closed-loop
system. And so one of the things I'd like to see explored sooner than
later is the availability of allowing TDRs to be transferred out and
even incentivize their utilization outside of the system. So I'm done.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Mr. Miller, how many public
comments do we have?
MR. MILLER: We have two registered speakers,
Mr. Chairman. Your first speaker is Lisa Lefkow. She'll be
followed by Bob Mulhere.
MS. LEFKOW: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the
record, Lisa Lefkow, CEO, Habitat for Humanity.
And I'm here to plead for you to be open to this amendment.
This has great benefit for Habitat for Humanity as it will incentivize
affordable housing. This is a key area for us as we look at how to
manage affordable housing. You've been tackling this intractable
issue for some time now.
We've made some great progress with some other incentivizes
and amendments to Land Development Code that you've passed
recently.
I think appropriate earlier today -- it seems like a long, long time
ago. But this morning we acknowledged April as Fair Housing
Month. And so here as we talk about how we manage our growth in
Collier County and particularly provide avenues for developers like
Habitat for Humanity, one more reminder that we are your sole
provider of access to affordable homeownership.
April 25, 2023
Page 146
Yesterday, in the newspaper, there was a front-page article about
cost of housing in Collier County continuing to escalate even as other
communities in Florida are leveling off or even going down, as our
neighbors in Lee County are experiencing. Median sales price last
month at $640,000. The influx of over-55 members of residents in
our community which, again, turns around and puts additional stress
on our workforce and our service industry.
So the issue of access to housing that is affordable is not going
to go away, but this is one thing that provides an incentive for
developers like Habitat for Humanity.
We do have opportunities to enter into partnerships that I think
would be, again, incentivized by this LDC amendment -- growth
management amendment. And so I urge you. We've been studying
this just like we identified in the previous issue, that we've been
studying this for a long, long time. We've put a lot of work, a lot of
effort into this, and this is a successful way for us to move into a
smart growth future.
So, please, let's pass this amendment and let it do its work so
that we can continue to make this community better and stronger.
Thank you for your time, and thank you for your service.
MR. MILLER: Your second and final speaker is Bob Mulhere.
MR. MULHERE: Good afternoon. For the record, Bob
Mulhere with Hole Montes.
I represent seven or eight, maybe 10 landowners in the Rural
Fringe collectively, upwards of 10,000 acres of land.
It has been a long time, because I finally remember working
with Bruce Anderson, who he and I -- and he was a great land-use
attorney. And Bruce and I together worked on behalf of a coalition
of landowners in the Rural Fringe, and we prepared a white paper.
We delivered it to the Board of County Commissioners, and that
became the basis for the Board's recommendation for a restudy. We
April 25, 2023
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thought we were going to be first of the four.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: How did that work out?
MR. MULHERE: We ended up being last. So it's been a long
time.
I just wanted to point out a couple of things. I think it would be
a good idea maybe to give us maybe till your next meeting to look at
it -- I can speak with my clients. I can speak with staff -- in terms of
addressing, Commissioner McDaniel, the issue you raised as it relates
to utilizing or not utilizing any TDRs with respect to an affordable
housing density bonus.
With respect to the cost of restoration, I have talked to a number
of my clients. We did provide staff with one actual analysis, but I
can tell you -- and this would be anecdotal, except for the one report
we did provide, which is factual -- the cost is anywhere from 5,000 to
maybe 7- or 8,000. It depends on the nature of the exotics and
whether you've got to move dirt, so on and so forth. So you can see
that on five acres you're really starting to approach the value.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Five thousand to 7,000 per
acre.
MR. MULHERE: Per acre. So I think that bonus makes
sense. You do want to slightly incentivize that. You want people to
go in there and be willing to spend the money to remove those
exotics.
These higher density -- this 12.2, I don't think you'll see a lot of
projects coming in at 12 units per acre because that would be almost
100 percent affordable housing. Typically, what you get is
somewhere between four and six units per acre.
Those also, at that density, will need to be in a location where
central water and sewer is available: Out on the East Trail;
obviously Immokalee Road for a certain distance.
I'm just looking to see -- you know, one thing that might be
April 25, 2023
Page 148
helpful, assuming in two weeks we come up with a resolution and
this is supported, is that we -- perhaps staff can provide the Board
with an annual or maybe biannual report about the utilization of
TDRs. We could monitor that, because there may need to be some
adjustments in that over time. I know what your concern is. Your
concern is that the sending land owners who lost their development
rights went one per five to one per 40, now 23 years ago. The way
that they were being legally compensated was through this TDR
program. So we do need to make sure that it works.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He doesn't have to be time
constrained.
MR. MULHERE: Sorry. Thank you. Any questions?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Did you get done what you
needed to say?
MR. MULHERE: That's it, yep. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Any questions by anybody?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I'd like to take -- I'd
like to make a motion, if you're ready.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Go ahead, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll make a motion to
continue this for two weeks and fill in those two gaps that we were
talking about with regard to the utilization of the TDRs for housing
affordability.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So we've got a motion to
not approve amending this ordinance but to delay it for two weeks
and bring it back with more details. Is that it in a nutshell?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I second that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's a nice nutshell.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All in favor?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
April 25, 2023
Page 149
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. This doesn't pass, but the
delay for two weeks to bring it back with more detail does, so...
Okay.
MS. PATTERSON: We'll move it to the next agenda.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you.
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us almost to
our 2:30 time-certain. So by the time I read these all in and make a
couple of opening comments, I think we're good to go.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
Item #11B
FIRST AMENDMENT TO DEVELOPER AGREEMENT WITH
RURAL NEIGHBORHOODS, INC., TO DEVELOP HOUSING AT
THE FORMER GOLDEN GATE GOLF COURSE. (COMPANION
TO ITEMS #11C & #11D) (CORMAC GIBLIN, ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING DIVISION DIRECTOR) -
MOTION TO APPROVE ALL THREE (#11B, #11C & #11D) ALL
AT THE SAME TIME, WITH THE CHANGES DISCUSSED
ALONG W/CLEAN UP ITEM BY STAFF AND THE COUNTY
ATTORNEY BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS - APPROVED
Item #11C
April 25, 2023
Page 150
TO APPROVE COLLIER COUNTY STANDARD FORM LONG-
TERM GROUND LEASE WITH RURAL NEIGHBORHOODS,
INC., TO DEVELOP HOUSING AT THE FORMER GOLDEN
GATE GOLF COURSE AND AUTHORIZE NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS. (COMPANION TO ITEMS #11B &
#11D) (CORMAC GIBLIN, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
HOUSING DIVISION DIRECTOR) - MOTION TO APPROVE ALL
THREE (#11B, #11C & #11D) ALL AT THE SAME TIME, WITH
THE CHANGES DISCUSSED ALONG W/CLEAN UP ITEM BY
STAFF AND THE COUNTY ATTORNEY BY COMMISSIONER
MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS -
APPROVED
Item #11D
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A STATE HOUSING INITIATIVE
PARTNERSHIP SPONSOR AGREEMENT BETWEEN COLLIER
COUNTY AND RENAISSANCE HALL AT OLD COURSE, LLC
IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,500,000 FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION
OF RENTAL HOUSING UNITS AT THE GOLDEN GATE GOLF
COURSE AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER OR
DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE ANY AND ALL SHIP-RELATED
RESTRICTIONS FOR THIS PROPERTY IN ACCORDANCE
WITH THIS AGREEMENT AND PROJECT. (COMPANION TO
ITEMS #11B & #11C) (KRISTI SONNTAG, COMMUNITY AND
HUMAN SERVICES DIVISION DIRECTOR) - MOTION TO
APPROVE ALL THREE (#11B, #11C & #11D) ALL AT THE SAME
TIME, WITH THE CHANGES DISCUSSED ALONG W/CLEAN
UP ITEM BY STAFF AND THE COUNTY ATTORNEY BY
COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS - APPROVED
April 25, 2023
Page 151
MS. PATTERSON: These are Items 11B, 11C, and 11D, and I
will read them in. First is 11B, is a recommendation to approve first
amendment to developer agreement with Rural Neighborhoods, Inc.,
to develop housing at the former Golden Gate Golf Course.
Its companion, Item 11C, is a recommendation to approve
Collier County standard form long-term ground lease with Rural
Neighborhoods, Inc., to develop housing at the former Golden Gate
Golf Course and authorize necessary budget amendments.
And, lastly, Item 11D is a recommendation to approve and
authorize the Chairman to sign a State Housing Initiative Partnership
Sponsor Agreement between Collier County and Renaissance Hall at
Old Course, LLC, in the amount of $1,500,000 for new construction
of rental housing units at the Golden Gate Golf Course, and authorize
the County Manager or designee to execute any and all SHIP-related
restrictions for this property in accordance with this agreement and
project.
You're going to have a number of staff people that are going to
come up to speak as well as other representatives and partners for this
project.
I'm going to move to the podium. Hello.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: State your name for the record.
MS. PATTERSON: This feels different.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And you have three minutes.
MS. PATTERSON: That's perfect.
So just before we get started with the presentations and the
conversation, I just wanted to position this a little bit for the Board.
We actually were working on these items for the last Board
meeting and at the last minute, literally, 5:30 on Wednesday night
before print, we noticed -- staff -- very diligent staff members noticed
some changes that we weren't sure had been thoroughly vetted by all
of our partners.
April 25, 2023
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And, of course, as you know, the partnership is incredibly
important to the success of this project. It's been a long time
coming. And while we are all incredibly frustrated with how long
it's taken, we do not want to put documents on the agenda that we are
not all comfortable with.
Fast-forward us to where we stand now. We have documents
on the agenda, and I think we're going to have a good conversation
about that. Our intent is -- we focused a lot on getting the very
important language squared away in these agreements and, frankly,
we have some housekeeping matters that need to be attended to.
There are two specific changes that Mr. Finn is going to cover
with you that are different than the document that is in the agenda
package as well as a number of cleanup issues, punctuation,
misplaced "ands," underlines, addresses, as well as any input that you
may have into these documents.
We will clean all of this up with the assistance of the County
Attorney and bring it back for final approval at the next agenda
meeting unless the Board feels strongly one way or the other that
we're going to take a different direction. But I wanted to get that out
there so that everyone feels free to give their -- their input to this. If
there are subjective changes, we'll address those, or if we arrive at a
different place when we get to the end of this conversation and feel
that we can make these adjustments and get a clean version, we'll
discuss that with the County Attorney.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: A quick question for the
County Manager and, I guess, the County Attorney. You've just
gone through that there's going to be some technical changes, some
addresses, "ands," and that sort of thing. We can make those
changes today. I'm not -- I don't want to start off with, well, we're
going to continue this for two weeks. I'd rather start off with, well,
April 25, 2023
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we've got some technical changes. If everybody's okay with
them -- and we've got all the parties here -- we just approve those
today with those technical changes, and the County Attorney can
draft up the document. So I don't think we need to continue this, and
I certainly would prefer not to continue it.
MS. PATTERSON: Certainly understand, sir, and obviously
we have two options on the table. Should the Board have additional
changes that they want to make after everything that they hear, we do
have Option 1, which is two weeks further, or if they are simply the
technical changes as well as the two -- which still are -- still
really -- they're not substantive changes. They're more clarifications.
They just have more words -- and we can make those changes. We
can make that decision when we get to the end of all these
presentations and conversations.
So we're prepared to go either way, but I felt like it was my
responsibility to come up here and let you know exactly how this had
transpired. We don't like messy agenda items and most certainly
don't like items placed on the change sheet with, you know, a dozen
"ands" and periods and question marks and things like that. It's
untidy.
All right. So with that, I will start this off. I believe
Mr. Giblin may be first up, or Mr. Finn. Mr. Finn's first up, and I
will sit down.
MR. FINN: Thank you, ma'am.
Troy, can you pull up that other one real quick.
MR. MILLER: Sure.
MR. FINN: I appreciate that. And Edward Finn, Deputy
County Manager.
This item's a little untidy. It is, however, kind of critical -- one
more -- critical to the financing on the project and the timeliness of
the project. So the Board's indulgence, if they feel like providing
April 25, 2023
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that, would be much appreciated.
MS. SONNTAG: Not that one.
MR. MILLER: I'm sorry. Which one is it, Ed?
MR. FINN: It's in Golden Gate Golf Course, Troy. It is the
one that deals with Item 11C, ground lease changes. Thank you, sir.
Outstanding.
So this item is actually the second one in this group. The first
one the Board's actually going to look at is going to be the developer
agreement.
Going through this, I'm going to just kind of give you a little
heads-up or advance look at what this lease does. It mirrors the
original Rural Neighborhoods developer agreement dated
November 10, '20, and it includes the amendments the Board's going
to see today.
The term of the lease is for 99 years. One of the slight
adjustments to this is to reduce the acreage from 25 to 23.36, and that
has to do with the greenway on the golf course. There's a nominal
rent of $10 a year.
The Rural Neighborhoods, in accordance with this agreement,
has 45 days to provide us a timeline after this is done. The county
can terminate the lease if Rural Neighborhoods is unable to secure its
financing. And, finally, Rural Neighborhoods is required to
diligently pursue construction once it commences, and have it
completed within 30 -- 30 months.
So relative to the published agenda, there's just a handful of
changes that need to be made, a couple of corrections, largely
spelling and scrivener's, nominal things. Of the couple of changes,
this is the one that could be considered a little bit material, and this is
just -- just designed to provide some further assurances relative to
financing and whatnot as to everyone involved in operating this
property being responsible for what's identified in this paragraph.
April 25, 2023
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And the same here with liens and mortgages. This is -- as
Attorney Klatzkow would say, is kind of a belt and suspenders. The
proposed addition, just belt and suspenders, the concept of the
exception, and this is to ensure that we have proper language in here
for our federal grants.
So as the Board goes through this, if there are some changes to
this item, we will, of course, incorporate those, and the Board will
have an opportunity to decide whether the changes that we've talked
about are of a nature that they're willing to allow us to make those
adjustments, of course, under the guidance of Attorney Klatzkow.
With that, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Giblin. Thank you.
MR. GIBLIN: Thank you.
And, Troy, could you bring up the original presentation.
For the record, Cormac Giblin, your interim Economic
Development and Housing director.
I'm going to be briefing you on the three companion items today
that are 11B, 11C, and 11D.
11B is the first amendment to the developer agreement with
Rural Neighborhoods, 11C is the long-term land lease that Ed just
gave some of the highlighted changes to, and 11D is the $1.5 million
SHIP sponsorship agreement that Ms. Kristi Sonntag will address
later in the presentation.
Just some history here. On December 13th, 2019, we publicly
advertised Invitation to Negotiate 20-7698, and on June 9th, 2020,
the Board selected Rural Neighborhoods and directed staff to begin
negotiations with the developer. And then on November 10th, 2020,
the Board approved that developer agreement.
The first of your items, which is 11B, is the first amendment to
the developer agreement. This amendment does basically three
things: It removes the 1.64 acre of greenway from the leased area.
It's basically the required greenway band. Rural Neighborhoods
April 25, 2023
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decided it -- and the county both feel that it doesn't make sense to
include the required greenway in the leased area that is going to be
Rural Neighborhoods' responsibility while we were already
maintaining the golf course and the other -- the other areas of
greenway around that area.
The second thing it does, it provides clarifications and
corrections to Exhibit B due to the proposed inclusion of federal
and/or state grant funding. It firms up the total number of units.
And the original developer agreement had a range of units. It had a
minimum and a maximum. Well, now that we're a couple years
down the road and the developer has done their site planning and
architectural work, the number of units is pretty firm at 252 ESP units
and 120 senior units.
It also adds lower-income units and eliminates those units that
have incomes above grant guidelines. When this project was first
conceived, it was not contemplated to include any federal or state
grant money in it. As times have changed, interest rates,
construction cost, et cetera, there has become the need to incentivize
it a little bit more with federal and state grants. Those grants do
come with strings attached and certain in-target incomes that can only
be used in the project. So what the developer agreement does is
basically lower some of those income limits.
And then it clarifies and accelerates the construction timeline.
As Ed mentioned, we will receive a schedule within 45 days of today,
and the developer has six months from then to secure financing.
This would be the unit affordability breakdown in the revised
developer agreement. The ESP housing section would have 22 units
at 50 percent area median income, 28 units at 80 percent area median
income, and 202 units at 100 percent area median income, for 252
total. And in the senior housing section, there would be 12 units at
28 percent AMI and 108 units at 60 percent AMI. The entire
April 25, 2023
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development would be 372 units total.
The terms of the ground -- the next Item, 11C, is the long-term
ground lease. As Ed mentioned, some of the technical changes that
we need to do. The highlights, again, are that it's a 99-year lease of
23.36 acres at the golf course.
The county can terminate the lease if Rural Neighborhoods
cannot secure a financial commitment for the initial phase within six
months of today, and Rural Neighborhoods is required to diligently
pursue construction and complete it within 30 months of the
commencement.
And then the third item in this package of combined items is
11C -- I'm sorry -- 11D, which is the SHIP sponsorship agreement for
$1.5 million. This project was reviewed or presented at the county's
county-wide application cycle that was made available between
January 6th and February 11th. It was reviewed and ranked by your
Review and Ranking Committee on March 10th and 11th, and it
received the highest ranking of all of the presentations that were
received in this cycle.
This agreement supports the permit fees, predevelopment and
construction costs to support 50 SHIP-assisted units within the
252-unit development. Twenty-two of those would be low income,
and 28 would be -- I'm sorry, 22 would be very low income, and 28
would be very low -- low income.
The property is income restricted through this agreement for 30
years, and Renaissance Hall at the Old Course, LLC, will be
responsible for providing and executing the land-use restriction
agreement, the promissory note, and mortgage.
So with that, that's our staff recommendation on all three items
is to approve the first amendment to the developer agreement,
approve the long -- the standard long-term lease agreement with
Rural Neighborhoods with the additional clarifications that Ed put
April 25, 2023
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into the record today, and approve the SHIP sponsorship agreement.
And that's what we've got.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Do we have any other speakers or
anything else?
MS. PATTERSON: Troy, do we have any on --
MR. MILLER: I have no registered speakers this item,
Mr. Chair.
MS. PATTERSON: We do have our representatives here, both
from the developer as well as from the Community Foundation.
They may want to make some comments.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let me go to my colleagues.
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. Just a -- just a quick
note. I had it in my brain somewhere that when the -- when Collier
County was contributing taxpayer values to a project that it was
going to be held in an affordable status in perpetuity. And I saw that
last bullet point flow through there that said we were only doing this
for 30 years.
MR. GIBLIN: That's with respect to the SHIP loan or just
the --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just the SHIP loan aspect.
MR. GIBLIN: The entire thing is locked up for 99 years.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Question answered. I'll
move for approval.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I've got a motion to approve. Do I
have a second or --
COMMISSIONER HALL: Second.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- or a question?
Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I just wanted to make -- we
have representatives here from the foundation, and we have
April 25, 2023
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representatives here from the developer. I think I saw Mr. Kirk. I'd
at least like to see a nod of the head of both that these agreements are
consistent with what you need. And it looks like, just for the record,
everybody's saying yes, this is what we need.
So if the motion was to approve all three of these items, then I'll
second that motion, if it hasn't been seconded.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It was.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. We've got a motion and
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: County Manager's flinching.
MS. PATTERSON: We need the motion to reflect that it will
be those -- including those two changes to the lease document as well
as the scrivener's error changes and anything else the County
Attorney feels -- we'll work that through the County Attorney, but if
you could amend that motion to include those changes that were
provided.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you have a question?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He's got a question.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I have a question for Mr. Kirk.
There's no doubt about it, we're all rooting for you but, you know, six
months to get your financing, and this project's been on and on and
April 25, 2023
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on again. And I know that the foundation has concerns, and they're
rooting for you as well.
So kind of fill us in where you're at, what your plan is, and
where you see yourself going forward from here, please, sir.
MR. KIRK: Yes. Steve Kirk, Rural Neighborhoods, for the
record.
Execution of the lease today and the financial grant
commitments are step one in the timetable. Firm commitment of
nearly $60 million worth of principal loans has not been possible in
the absence of site control and the commitment of the secondary
capital. So this is a big step today in terms of doing that.
You know, credit markets are in turmoil, as you heard this
morning, with the other portion of the golf course. But our
successful underwriting requires that we finish a couple of other
steps, but we're in good standing. So let me just walk through
several of those.
Probably one of the most important ones is the approval of the
ERP, the Environmental Review Permit, for the property, which the
county is scheduled to submit in the next several weeks on behalf of
the overall site. We have an interim ERP pending in our building
permit application. But we will end up deferring to the overall site.
We have invested $1.5 million to date in the project, so we're
fully committed. And for a charitable housing group, that's not for
the faint of heart. We have the preliminary indication from US
HUD, who is our loan guarantee, to Prudential Real Estate, who is
our lender. And so we are invited to submit our application for the
firm commitment approximately July 1st.
We are working with DeAngelis Diamond, who is our selected
contractor, to get their firm construction price in advance of that date.
And so from a timetable perspective, I think our hope right now
is to close in September and to try to commence construction in
April 25, 2023
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September/October.
But we are within striking distance. There are some additional
funding applications potentially coming to this board in a future
month from other applications that are being met that are passed
through to the county, and hopefully we're in good shape.
Architectural plans and Site Development Plans are in place in the
county and under review.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Perfect. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll amend my motion to
reflect the wishes of staff and the County Manager and the County
Attorney.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I think I made the
second, so I'll amend the second.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yep. Okay. I think we're all in
favor.
MS. PATTERSON: Thank you, Commissioners.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want us to vote
again?
Jeff, do they need to vote?
MR. KLATZKOW: No, we're good.
MS. PATTERSON: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I want to recognize somebody in
the audience here, and she just stood up.
We have the CEO of the Collier Community Foundation. Boy,
I tell you what, this -- their organization has just done so much good
since the hurricane, before the hurricane, after the hurricane.
So, Eileen, I just wanted to tell you it's an honor to have you
here. She and I, a few days back, were on Marco, and the JW
Marriott collected well over a hundred thousand dollars after
Hurricane Ian to give to Collier Community Foundation to support all
of the great philanthropic efforts that Eileen and her team support and
April 25, 2023
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lead and help. And so that was a great charitable donation by the JW
Marriott as they collected money from customers and helping their
own employees.
So I know you're a big piece also, too, of this affordable
housing. You've got your support and your hands in so many
different things. But before you exited, I just wanted to recognize
you. And it was an honor to be with you to watch you accept the
check, and I know you're going to put that money from the JW
Marriott out on Marco to such good work, and we look forward to
your leadership on this project as well. And you let us know if
something's sort of going off track a bit because, you know, we need
your help and guidance as well as we push this forward and have it be
another great thing for the county. But thank you, ma'am, and to all
of the people that you represent in your organization.
MS. CONNOLLY-KEESLER: Yes, thanks. Thanks to the
staff, too.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, ma'am.
Okay. This might be a good time for a break, and then let's
come back here -- let's just come back here right at 3:00.
MS. PATTERSON: Three o'clock.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
(A brief recess was had from 2:45 p.m. to 2:59 p.m.)
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic.
Item #12A
THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE A MEDIATED SETTLEMENT
AGREEMENT WITH LA MINNESOTA RIVIERA, LLC, AND
THE RIVIERA GOLF ESTATES HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION,
INC., FOR SETTLEMENT OF A BERT HARRIS CLAIM FILED
PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTES §70.001, RELATED TO
April 25, 2023
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APPLICATION OF THE COUNTY’S GOLF COURSE
CONVERSION ORDINANCE ON THE RIVIERA GOLF
COURSE.MOTION TO MOVE FORWARD AS WRITTEN IN THE
AGENDA BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO - APPROVED
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. First, all the citizens that are
in the audience that maybe you haven't -- you know, you haven't been
here since this morning, just to reiterate, please shut off your cell
phones, okay, or put them on silent so we don't have to hear, you
know, musical songs in between testimony from folks.
And also, too, we run a very professional meeting here, as I
know you would appreciate as well. So as I said at the outset of our
meeting when we had some other, you know, controversial topics that
came up, this isn't The Jerry Springer Show.
So when somebody comes to the podium, please give them as
much respect as you want when you come to the podium. So
cheering and hollering and things like that aren't helping anybody up
here. We want to have a professional conversation. We want to
hear from all sides.
And I've said before from this seat, and I know my colleagues
agree with me, public comment is the most important part of what we
do not only in this room but in America, right? There's places where
nobody gets to do this.
Having said that, let me set the table a little bit. We all got
probably all of your emails. I know I answered every single one.
And if you haven't heard from me yet, you will, okay. But I think
there's a little confusion in your neighborhood as to what we're doing
today, okay. So today we're not -- we're not -- you know, when we
all got an email saying, can't believe you commissioners are doing
this or -- we haven't done anything. You know, we're not -- we're
April 25, 2023
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not voting on doing something tomorrow. It's a process. And
although I don't think that's going to change anyone here wanting to
come to the podium, I'm going to ask our County Attorney to
summarize actually what we're doing today, because 95 percent of
the emails we got, you know, with all due respect, jumped to sort of
Step 99. We're not there yet, okay. Nothing has happened yet,
okay. We're just looking at possibilities and ideas and possible
proposals.
And your board's involved. And if you think your board's not
representing your position, then talk to the board you elected, okay.
And we can't. We can't be your board. We're the Board of County
Commissioners. You have a Riviera Golf Estates board. And
there's plenty of time to do all that. This isn't the final meeting.
This is the first meeting.
So I just want to say that so it might change a little bit of your
words of coming up here saying, please don't do this today or, you
know, I can't believe you're about to vote to do A, B, C, D, and E. It
will have these negative effects, or maybe you're for something.
That's not what today is happening.
So, you know, I know what you might have read on social
media, and we got all the feedback here. But I just said that to set
the table.
Having said that, our County Attorney is the one who's -- in this
room here who's been most involved in the process here. So I just
ask Mr. Klatzkow -- I think a good start would be, please separate
rumor from fact and summarize exactly what is on the agenda today
for us to vote on and what it would do if we voted yes on it and what
it wouldn't do. Is that -- is that a good setup?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Over to you.
MR. KLATZKOW: This is the first of a two-step process,
April 25, 2023
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potentially. This one is for the Board to review a mediated
settlement agreement that we have with the owner of a golf course,
the Riviera Golf Course Homeowners Association, for a Bert Harris
Claim that was filed by the owner against the county.
Ms. Patterson and I attended a mediation along with the HOA.
The vast bulk of the negotiations were between the HOA and the
developer.
The purpose of this mediated settlement agreement is to set up a
financing vehicle that the community can purchase this golf course if
that's what they want to. That vehicle would be either a special
district or an MSBU. I will be working with the attorneys for the
HOA to set up something that is acceptable to the community for
that.
Now, this is going to be a benefit unit, not a taxable unit, all
right. By that I mean that -- consider getting your typical -- the way
we do things is through taxes, MSTUs. This is going to be a benefit
unit so that there will be assessments because if you're living on the
golf course, you're getting a better benefit from this deal than if
you're not living on this golf course.
All right. It also brings in more people because a lot of these
homes have been homesteaded in Save Our Homes, and they don't
really pay very much in taxes.
If the Board approves this framework, Ms. Patterson will be
employing a professional who will go out and he will calculate what
the proper assessments should be from a house-to-house standpoint.
Now, there is the potential that these assessments might go beyond
the four corners of the Riviera Golf Estates because the Riviera Golf
Estates has a drainage system that benefits more than Riviera. It also
benefits some of the surrounding communities. How they benefit
will be calculated in this report. We obviously don't want to start
this unless the Board is comfortable with this process.
April 25, 2023
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There will come a point in time, hopefully in 60 days, where we
will have that information. I know Ms. Patterson is considering the
potential for Conservation Collier monies to come into this because
there is some really nice -- there's some really nice property here, that
it might be a benefit for Conservation Collier.
And we'll be coming back to the Board with the proposed
district, assuming that we get there. It could be that the HOA says
no, we don't want this; we've heard back from our community, and
it's too much money, and that will be the end of it, and that will be
the end of the mediated settlement, and then Mr. Yovanovich and I
will go back to doing what we do in court.
Again, this mediated settlement is almost exclusively for the
benefit of the community which gives them a financing mechanism
that they can utilize to purchase this golf course if that is what they
want to do, all right.
And, again, at the end of the day, if they say we don't want this,
that's fine. We'll just move on with the litigation.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So am I correct here in saying, to
use your words, the end of the day is not today?
MR. KLATZKOW: No, the end of the day is not today.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So if we voted -- I don't want to
get ahead of ourselves, and I'm not -- I want to hear from everybody.
But today alls we would be voting on is do we want to move forward
to continue to explore this option? It could -- it would come back to
us at some point with more detail, and we might hate it; they might
hate it. We might love it; they might love it. It doesn't matter, but
that's all we'd be doing today is to move forward on the -- on
exploring the possible proposal and bringing us more detail as to
what it would look like, correct?
MR. KLATZKOW: That's absolutely correct.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So everybody understand
April 25, 2023
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that? Okay.
The other thing, too, is -- and I will say this -- and it's sort of a
summary from sort of what I know my colleagues feel. The county's
not trying to force anything down your throat. We're trying to -- if
you hate it, this is totally up to you. And I say this as a summary of
a lot of emails that said, I can't believe the county is so stupid that
they're making us do -- we're not making you do anything. But just
remember what you're going to hear today, there's lots of options for
that property, and a lot of the emails that I know I personally got
thought it was this or nothing, and it's not. It's this or lots of other
things that you may or may not like.
So everybody just listen with an open mind. Let's all be
professional here, and let's just remember what would be decided
here would just be to either move forward to bring us more
information, and you, and explore one of many possible options, or it
could totally die today if nobody even wants to take the time to know
all the details and facts of this one possible option for your
community.
And, I mean, I feel really close to Riviera Golf Estates. You're
not District 1 anymore, but you used to be, and I see a lot of familiar
faces out here. Don't think for a second anybody up here is trying to
force anything down your throat. We're trying to think out of the
box and look at options. And if you think they're all the wrong
options, in the end the decision's yours. Nobody's going to force
feed something here. It's just that, you know, there could be other
options that happen that you don't have as much say in. So, you
know, I just say that to set the table.
So having said that, how do we want to proceed? Do we want
to -- I know I've got commissioners lit up maybe that want to make
some opening statements.
Let me go to Commissioner Kowal, since this is his district, and
April 25, 2023
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then I'll go to Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chair.
I just want to make it clear that, you know, I did receive a lot of
emails and correspondence in reference to this, and this is in my
district.
And I tried to convey the best I could -- I answered some of the
emails and some things, and I just was letting people kind of know up
front that this was not a vote today to purchase a golf course -- I just
wanted to make that clear -- and that this is a process. And part of
this process, like the attorney just said, is that we don't really know
the public benefit that purchasing this golf course can ultimately be.
There's other communities that -- for stormwater management, this
golf course does have some use for that.
And so we don't even know what the footprint would be and
how many rooftops. I know there's 690 rooftops in Riviera Golf
Estates, but that may be a larger number, and the whole burden may
not be upon Riviera Golf Estates when it's all said and done. And
until we know exactly what that footprint consists of and other
avenues like county management has been -- you know, the
manager's talking about with Conservation Collier maybe purchasing
parts of this, too, and that alleviating some of the cost on you as the
stakeholders here.
I just want to make sure -- and then I also said -- and I spoke to
the HOA at Riviera Golf Estates -- when it does get to that point
we're getting closer and closer for this to come back to this board up
here, this body, that I would feel comfortable if they go back to their
community, and whatever other rooftops that are included, if they're
part of that footprint, that they take a vote, and they bring that vote
back to us, and then we move on from there. So I just wanted to
make that clear.
Thank you.
April 25, 2023
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CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Well -- and
that -- thank you, because you shed light on something that I wasn't
able to get in this information, that there's 690 homes in Riviera as
we speak.
And, County Manager, without holding your feet to the fire in
any way, shape, or form, we talked a little bit yesterday about the
viability of this settlement agreement having positive impacts on a
larger area than the subdivision of Riviera. If you had to guess, how
many more homes would be included in that?
MS. PATTERSON: I couldn't even make a guess, but I think
the two prong is -- one is where the benefit may extend to, you know,
to the north, potentially. I don't know. We have to look at the flow
patterns of the water in this area, but the second that part we want to
look at also is how this system continues to interact with LASIP.
LASIP is -- it's central to this area. It's squeezed between two major
components of LASIP, and how this may benefit the LASIP system
long term is another avenue that we need to look at and pursue.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So, round numbers, you don't
know how many more homes could be brought into this overlay?
MS. PATTERSON: We don't, but we're going to engage with a
consultant, and whether it's that one or that one plus, the consultants
that designed the LASIP system originally and have done work for us
and on the LASIP since are still here. It's a firm we work with
regularly so I'm suggesting that we bring them on to help us with
looking at this area and what the potential benefits are.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And -- thank you.
And, County Attorney, has there been any discussion with the
secondary portion of this? If, in fact, we move through the
settlement and if, in fact, we go forward with the MSTU and the
non-ad valorem assessment, how long do we -- can we amortize that
April 25, 2023
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expense out in order to recoup it? Is there a --
MR. KLATZKOW: I would defer to Mr. Finn on this, but that
question we'll bring back to the Board whether or not the Board
wants to, in essence, hold the paper on this, you know, for a length of
time, or if we want to take out our position through commercial
paper, and --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Plus/minus, though, how
long can that amortization be?
MR. KLATZKOW: Well, if it's with the Board, it could be up
to 30 -- it could be 30 years. Commercial paper, I believe, tends to
be 10 or 15 years.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Forty years is not on the
realm?
MR. KLATZKOW: We just did a 99-year lease, so, yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Well -- and because
where I was going with this, with the process, if the mediated
settlement ended up being the 5.8 and it was only exposed to the
residents of Riviera, that's $8,500 plus/minus a home on a special
assessment and a 40-year amortization is $212 a year. That's --
MR. KLATZKOW: That's like a pizza a month.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's math. And so,
necessarily, somebody -- I see Amy's grabbing her calculator, so
she'll correct me if I'm wrong.
And that was no interest expense associated and so on and so
forth. But, necessarily, it will only go down from there if we're
successful in ascertaining that there's Conservation Collier value that
the settlement amount comes down. And then if there are other
folks -- I know we had a gentleman that spoke, Dan -- I don't know
where he's at. He was here before. Other communities that are in
proximity that can benefit from this via the LASIP program, which is
the drainage process in Lely.
April 25, 2023
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Was I fairly close? Okay. I got the thumbs up. I was fairly
close.
So the worst-case scenario, it's a $212-a-year exposure that gets
reduced as and if Conservation Collier comes in and as and if a
greater benefit area is determined, then we can defray that expense.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I've got a question, though, for the
County Attorney, and then we'll proceed, unless there's other
questions.
So before the mediation, one of the fears, one of the options that
was on the table is this current golf course owner didn't want to have
a golf course anymore, and so one of the options was could he build
houses, could he build apartments, and -- or what have you. That's
still a possible option, correct? I mean, that didn't get thrown away
and it's this or nothing, correct?
MR. KLATZKOW: This is a possibility for the future, yes.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right. Okay. So I just want
citizens to know that. I mean, I really -- I really salute the team that
got in a room and tried to come up -- and then mediated very
successfully an alternative option to that. But a real option that's still
on the table is if this totally fell through and we didn't allow it to
continue looking into it as a possibility and bringing us back
something with a little bit more meat on the bone, that option always
sits out there that that land could be developed. And, granted, there's
a lot of moving parts with it, but it's not -- it's not
undevelopable -- for lack of a better term -- land, correct?
MR. KLATZKOW: We're running out of land, so stuff that
used to never be looked at is being developed as we speak. And I
have no doubt that in the long term this golf course will get
developed into something unless a community wants to buy it.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: This possibility, then, it preserves
that land so, basically, the investment that would be being made by
April 25, 2023
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this community or a much larger community would trump a large
development that definitely could go on that property, correct.
MR. KLATZKOW: In the long term, yes.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It could be DeSantis.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: What's what? Oh, DeSantis. No,
I didn't mean President Trump, but -- okay. Let's proceed. Yeah, I
think everybody knows what the word "trump" means.
MS. PATTERSON: Speakers.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. Do we have anybody from
the county staff that has anything else to add, or did we do -- did we
sort of package it well?
MS. PATTERSON: Jeff and I are the two, and we'll continue
with -- as you hear the speakers, and if there's questions about the
stormwater aspects, Conservation Collier, any of those things -- we
do have the legal teams from both Riviera and from the golf course
ownership here in the room as well.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Mr. Miller, how many speakers do
we have signed up?
MR. MILLER: We have 16 registered speakers for this item,
sir.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Go ahead, sir.
MR. MILLER: I was just going to ask the speakers, please
queue up two at a time, one at each speaker [sic]. I'll call two names
so we can move through this expeditiously.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And if you hear somebody say
something that you were going to say almost verbatim, you can
always just raise your hand and say, "already said," and then move
on. But, you know, no pressure at all. We're here to hear from
public speakers. But you do have that option so that you don't come
up and say, well, somebody just stole my thunder. Then you don't
April 25, 2023
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have to say that if you choose not to.
Okay. Mr. Miller.
MR. MILLER: One final reminder to speakers, please start
your comments by stating your name.
Our first speaker will be Tricia Campbell, and she will be
followed by Alan Carpenter.
MS. CAMPBELL: Me again. Tricia Campbell, president,
Riviera Golf Estates Homeowners Association.
We, as the board of directors for Riviera Golf Estates, have a
fiduciary responsibility to abide by our governing documents and to
make the right decisions for the health, wealth, and safety of our
community.
At March 20th board meeting, the board secretary, Alan
Carpenter, and I informed the residents that we were invited to the
April 17th Bert Harris mediation between Riviera Golf Course and
county officials. The observation turned into participation.
After 15 rounds of discussion, the solution to the settlement was
brought to the table to form the independent special district. Again,
as I said before, we, as a board of directors for Riviera Golf Estates,
have a fiduciary responsibility for the health, wealth, and safety of
our community.
With that being said, the Riviera board of directors feels that this
settlement is in the best -- is the best option for Riviera Golf Estates
and our surrounding neighbors.
Is it without concern? No, it is not. Is it without questions?
No, it is not. But the land will be -- will not be developed. Free of
excess traffic, free of excess noise, free of years of disruption, and the
land will be free of work trucks and the unknown.
Our community and our surrounding neighbors will have the
peaceful area that we have had since 1973.
Thank you.
April 25, 2023
Page 174
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Alan Carpenter. He will
be followed by Richard New.
Mr. Carpenter's been ceded additional minutes from David
Bartos.
Can you raise your hand, sir?
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: Also Phyllis Bartos.
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: And George Danz.
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: So Mr. Carpenter will have a total of 12
minutes.
MR. CARPENTER: I won't take 12 minutes.
But I did want to say in more detail what the basis of our support
was in the community, which Patricia Campbell, our president,
discussed, why we support this agreement, in principle, the
framework of it, and, of course, what the details are going to be
downstream. We know this is just an agreement in principle or an
agreement with many conditions, but the devil is in the detail, and
there's a lot of work to be done still, and we are dedicated to work
with county staff in accomplishing that.
I think Tricia mentioned that we think this is the best outcome
for the community. As many of you know, we've been involved in
this discussion with the landowner for, oh, probably 15, 20 years now
overall and more intensely over the last five to six years.
I want to acknowledge a few people before we move on. I want
to acknowledge the fact that we've had a lot of input. Our board of
directors relies heavily on community feedback. We have formed a
working group. Our golf course work group consists of many
long-time residents of the community who understand some of the
issues and challenges both in terms of the stormwater issues we've
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been facing over years as well as the threat to the development and
the loss of peace and quiet in our neighborhood.
The directors themselves who are volunteers -- I think I can
appreciate more what you-all do as public servants having been on a
board for several years now. We do our best to try to represent the
majority opinion. We don't always please everybody.
We rely upon our HOA members to give us feedback. We
regularly poll them, provide opportunities for input at board
meetings. We allow open dialogue at every board meeting, which
are held at least monthly.
And, of course, our attorneys, Katherine [sic] Berkey from
Becker, and also Michael, who will speak today -- Michael Whitt,
who will speak today from Hahn Loeser.
I would like to also thank Collier staff and the legal group for
allowing us the opportunity to participate and also to the La
Minnesota representatives and Attorney Yovanovich who allowed us
to participate in the discussion because we know this is a very
difficult problem. There are at least three parties of interest here:
The landowner, the county, and our community. And it's hard
enough to negotiate a two-way agreement, never mind a three-way
agreement.
As Tricia mentioned, we have a fiduciary duty to do what's in
the best interest of our community. As you all know -- and I won't
spend a lot of time on this -- but we had a lot of turnout at our -- these
intent-to-convert stakeholder meetings which took place last year and
is associated with the intent-to-convert outreach.
Over 500 residents turned out to these meetings. At times they
were a little tumultuous only because people were crammed into a
small facility at the first meeting; frankly, it ended up being canceled
because we exceeded the capacity of the venue.
In any case, there was uniform agreement expressed at these
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meetings that we're all concerned about the future of the floodplain
and the drainage system as well as the peace and quiet and
how -- how it could be developed within our own community.
If you've ever been out to the property -- and I know
Commissioners Kowal and LoCastro have been out there, you can
see there's only one real road in there, and it's a -- it's a
25-mile-an-hour road. It's difficult. So it would be a difficult place
to develop.
On the other hand, we don't discount the possibilities that it
could be developed with enough engineering skills that exist today.
In fact, that opportunity still exists.
We conducted a survey of residents, and I say this only to
validate what our board's position is. We took a survey of our
residents as recently as six months ago, and we asked them who
would you like to ultimately control future of this land, and
virtually -- 60 percent of the people said Riviera, and -- well, that's in
the context of us not even owning the land. That's a pretty bold
position to take.
The other 25 percent, which was the county itself -- and I
think -- amongst those 85 percent of everyone felt at that point that it
was an opportunity for the county and the association to work a
solution.
That same questionnaire, which was taken, showed that
90 percent of respondents supported the concept of Riviera trying to
negotiate to acquire the property. The landowner did offer the
property to us at $6.5 million, which is beyond the reach of us alone,
realistically, both from a credit point of view as well as an assessment
point of view. That is why we believe that the current proposal and
opportunity of collaborating with the county and the current
landowner to try to develop a solution based upon the settlement
agreement -- our board voted 6-0. One of us was out of the town on
April 25, 2023
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a cruise; couldn't participate. We feel strongly this that is the best
resolution of this very difficult problem.
Our rationale is that it decreases -- it could decrease property
values if it were developed because of the proximity of the golf
course to the backyards of all the residents as well as the traffic
which goes through very small roads, and that affects everybody.
The dirt and the, you know, trucking that would have to be done
to raise up the land, which is Flood Zone AE/AH, would have to
be -- you know, several feet of dirt have to be brought in. And
there's a lot of noise and avoidance of difficult construction phase.
The other concern, of course, is that a development might
involve a non-age-restricted community within our age-restricted
community. School buses. Other types of activities that wouldn't
allow our community members to continue to enjoy the freedom they
have every morning to walk their dogs, to ride their bikes and so
forth. So there's a lot of loss in intangibles which come about as a
result of development.
Of course, the $5.8 million is a lot to people who are in a
somewhat-modest community in terms of income, and some are on
fixed income. But it is much less than the Bert Harris claim which
was made. So, indeed, it is a reasonable compromise given the
different interests that are involved here.
There's avoidance of continued and significant increases that
come about by a settlement, which, frankly, would be through
assessments on our HOA members, because if we continue legal
avenues, they'll be paying for it and that, of course, will come directly
out of our assessments.
We look for a resolution of long-term issues we have faced with
stormwater. South Florida Water Management District currently has
a noncompliance order, wants this system brought into its
specification based upon the original permits issued in 1978, and we
April 25, 2023
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feel that working with the county is the best avenue for that to occur.
We're not going to have our over-55 residents going out there
digging swales and cleaning up the drain pipes, right? We know the
expertise exists within the county. That's why we look forward to
this partnership.
Of course, we like the quiet enjoyment. We see a lot of
beautiful animals. Some of them endangered or threatened, such as
the Big Cypress foxtail [sic] squirrel, bald eagles -- you know, it's a
beautiful place -- limpkins. Can't name them all. There's a lot of
beautiful wildlife.
And, of course, the settlement agreement really is a fair balance
in our view, that is our board's view, based upon the interests of our
community and the feedback we've gotten from them through our
continued communications with them that this is a reasonable
outcome both for the landowner to recoup and perhaps make a gain
on this -- a modest game, perhaps, but a gain on the land they've held
for many years; that it avoids litigation, which is good for the county
and for us; and, finally, it gives Riviera and our adjacent communities
opportunities to preserve the stormwater and maintain it over a long
period of time along with the floodplain and open space.
So we want to thank the county staff and the legal department
for having proposed what we think is an actual win-win-win solution
for repurposing not only our golf course property but also those
perhaps of other communities who are facing similar challenges. It's
not without some concerns or unknowns, let me put it that way. The
boundaries of the district have to be finalized. There needs to be
discussion about whether there is public use or only use by those
within the district.
We need to understand what the duration of the special unit will
be. Is it in perpetuity? Is it until it's paid up? Who's the titleholder
to the property during that period, whether it's 15 years or 40 years?
April 25, 2023
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Who has management authority and responsibilities? I expect that
you-all have expertise in this, but we're babes in the woods, so we
look forward to learning more about how this works.
And, of course, the site improvement process -- because I know
a lot of people would like to use this for recreational purposes and
what is going to be an allowed use, what isn't going to be an allowed
use.
Tax assessments we hope will be in proportion to benefits, as
mentioned earlier, by Attorney Klatzkow. I think it's important that
people who have the greatest benefits are bearing the greater burden
and that those who feel that their benefits are lesser, that they will not
be shortchanged.
And, finally, we look forward to collaboration on finding
additional sources of funding. Collier Conservation, Brazilian
Florida, and other opportunities may present themselves as a means
of deferring some of the cost of this.
Thank you very much.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Richard New. He be
followed by Linda L. Pulver.
MR. NEW: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Richard New,
961 Charlemagne Boulevard in Naples.
I, along with my wife, came into this community just about two
years ago. And, you know, if you work your whole life, quality of
life for what you have remaining is really an important thing. And
we landed just about the time that this thing was really firing up
again, and it has caused a lot of consternation and concern about the
future.
We love our neighborhood. We have bonded with neighbors
like we never have before. We love walking through the
neighborhood. Shortly after we joined, I found out that there was a
Wednesday morning golf outing with a men's group, and we enjoyed
April 25, 2023
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golfing on that golf course. Wow, what an amazing environment
that we have had. It is the quality of life that anyone would enjoy.
And as we have gone through this journey, attended the different
meetings, the public hearings of what was transpiring, we have had a
level of anxiety with the possibility of that golf course being
desecrated and dedicated to a large population increase.
So I'm personally grateful for the work that is being done here,
that we are taking positive steps forward to secure that property, and I
am grateful that this pathway forward is a coalition including our
county Board of Commissioners that are making this a possibility.
I strongly recommend that the district be broadened in order to
share the costs equitably as much as possible. And my fondest hope
would be that there will be a way to reopen the golf course for public
use, whether the -- as in Lee County's example, whether there would
be some participation by the county to help open up that golf course
and use it as a revenue-producing unit.
So thank you again for the time and the opportunity to express
my opinion, and I just commend you. I am really hopeful that this
will go forward. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Linda L. Pulver. She'll
be followed by Kimber Perala.
MS. PULVER: Thank you, Commissioner LoCastro, for
allowing me to speak here today.
I am speaking in -- asking you to not let this move forward
today. And the reason I'm doing this is I read the agreement. I
listened to what you said. I've listened to what you said, sir.
There's certain things in there that don't jibe for me. It says,
Collier County -- Collier County will purchase this property -- it says
this in the agreement -- including incurred -- we, the community, will
be paying for the property including closing and current ad valorem
and non-ad valorem taxes. That's what's in the agreement.
April 25, 2023
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It's in the agreement that RGE will ultimately be responsible for
future and all maintenance of the property. How much is that
maintenance going to be? What's the property going to be used for?
This is an unknown amount.
Many in our community live on a fixed income. This could
become a burden of an unknown amount of money. I heard your
$212, sir. That's not the figure I came up with when you divide out
the money. If you add interest, if you add taxes, if you add closing
costs, then you add maintenance on top of that, that's not going to be
$212.
Yes, it would be nice if this could be expanded and Collier
Conservation would be involved, but this -- twice the community
voted no on the purchase of a golf course; two-thirds of the majority
said no. They said no to a 51 percent approval for this.
If the commissioners approve the agreement as it is written, as I
have read it, you will be circumventing the homeowners' right to vote
for our -- per our covenants. That's not right.
In closing, I want to thank you for your time. I want to thank
the board of directors for their time. But I think it's time that
everybody took a step back and need to have more details on this
before you move forward.
So I'm asking you to not move forward till those details are
known. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Ma'am, I appreciate that. I just
want to clarify something.
You know, just out of respect for your comments, do you realize
that everything that you said has 100 percent merit, and by moving
forward we would get those answers? We wouldn't be approving
this agreement today with all those unknowns. I just wanted to sort
of clarify that, because I respect so much what you've said, but I want
to make sure that you understand we're not voting -- we're not voting
April 25, 2023
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on anything that you just said. We're voting to try to get those
details to make a possible vote.
And so I agree with you; I've got those same questions. And if
we -- if we voted to move forward here, those answers would come
back to us. And if we all hated those answers, then nothing -- I
mean, am I wrong, County Attorney? Am I summarizing something
incorrectly?
MR. KLATZKOW: No, you're absolutely correct, sir.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So I just wanted to clarify
that.
MS. PULVER: There's a 60-day time limit on that agreement.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right.
MS. PULVER: And is 60 days fast for the county?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's light speed.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, really.
MR. MILLER: Before we move to our next speaker, one more
reminder. Please, silence your cell phones.
Your next speaker is Kimber Perala. She'll be followed by
Marianne Herndon.
MS. PERALA: Hi. I'm Kimber Perala. Thank you for the
opportunity. I live at 109 Bell Isle Circle, and I'm a board member
of Riviera Golf Estates.
And the opportunity that's being presented is an opportunity for
us to have a voice in saving this land. It's terrific.
We are retired. We're on fixed incomes. We bought our home
five years ago, but we've been engaged in this community for 15
years.
And when I say "engaged," I mean we volunteer, we attend
board meetings, we read the updates, we attend the social events and
do a lot more.
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The small minority group of residents that you are now being
bombarded hearing from are uninvolved and misinformed. They
don't get educated on the issues, and they need to be more informed
about how important this golf course land is to our community.
Rain is a given, hurricanes are possibilities, but this golf course
land was planned and developed not just for golf but also serves as
our floodplain. When in well-kept condition, it absorbed much of
our flooding, especially during Irma. I saw that.
Today, without proper maintenance, even during a regular
rainstorm, our roads, our yards, our driveways are all flooding. If
this land is raised and developed, there is no doubt that our
community will flood, our home values will fall, our insurance costs
will rise, and those costs are huge.
What this small minority is complaining about is money, and we
get that, but the majority of us understand this opportunity to work
with the county is brilliant. We will have a voice in its maintenance
and its use. We are committed to preserving this area for recreation.
We're committed to keeping the floodplain clean and operational.
We bought in a golf course community because we thought that
would be fun, and it has been fun. We're on the sixth green. And
the development plan as presented gives me a pond in my backyard.
That's not so bad for me. I'm one of the luckier ones. So I am not
selfishly fighting for my own view and my own best interests, but I'm
fighting for the best interests of my entire community and my
neighbors.
This possible sentiment is so beneficial to RGE, and it has the
board's full support. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Marianne Herndon.
She'll be followed by Peter Osinski.
MS. HERNDON: Good afternoon, Board members. For the
record, my name is Marianne Herndon. I am a member of the
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Riviera Golf Estates Homeowner Association, and I will be affected
by a 12A decision.
The homeowners association board of directors of Riviera Golf
Estates has taken it upon themselves to speak for 690 homeowners,
senior citizens, without conversations or vote.
This board assumes that they speak for us and, yet, they have not
consulted with us. This is in no way a community decision. This is
a Board decision.
If this settlement was to happen, it would greatly impact senior
citizens who live in the 55-and-older community. In the current
state of our economy, many of our residents cannot afford to take on
extra payments. This would force many senior citizens to sell the
retirement home that they planned to live in until they died to have
a -- and have a tax bill affecting the sale of their home.
I believe the county should be responsible for finding out if
these individual homeowners really want a voluntary taxing district,
or is this just the wish of an HOA board.
I believe this settlement mediation proposal should be tabled
until the community affected works through it and our board can
prove that they have the votes backing them. We have those that are
for it and those that are against it in our neighborhood, and it should
be held to a vote before the RGE board of directors can speak on our
behalves.
The homeowners were not made aware of this settlement until
this last weekend and have had no time to find out answers to our
questions. Our HOA board wanted control of this golf course for
many years. They lost the vote to purchase at two million five years
ago. They believe that they have found a loophole to make this offer
to the county without the permission and vote of the homeowners.
Our board is dug into this position and will not allow discussion out
of their narrative.
April 25, 2023
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Please help those who can't afford this to at least have a voice.
I have documentation validating my claims, if necessary. The way
our HOA board has handled this might be considered financial elder
abuse. By putting our community under this time constraint and not
getting a community-wide consensus through votes, they have forced
us to ask for the mercy of this board to stop this until it comes to a
vote in our own community.
Thank you, gentlemen, for your time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Peter Osinski. He'll be
followed by Debbie McDowell.
Mr. Osinski's been ceded three additional minutes from
Peter -- is this Ciarcin?
MR. CIARCIA: Rick Ciarcia.
MR. MILLER: Right there.
You'll have a total of six minutes, sir, and you will be followed
by Debbie McDowell.
MR. OSINSKI: Thank you.
Good afternoon, Commissioners. Before I say anything, I want
to point out that I was a volunteer at the US Open last week, and I
was glad to see some of you guys come by. It was a really beautiful
event. And I can see by what you're doing with resurfacing some of
the courts you're investing in a really worthy investment in the
county, and I thank you.
I am a member of the golf course study group and have been
wrestling with this on and off for a long time. And just to get some
perspective into how this happened, when our representatives last
Monday, a week ago yesterday, went to the Bert Harris mediation
meeting regarding the golf course property, they were confronted
with the realization that the property's fate was going to be settled
that day, there and then.
With that realization, there was a whole day of negotiation back
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and forth. And given the fast-evolving circumstances of that day, we
believe that we put into motion the basis for the best possible future
for the property.
And I have to say that this probably wasn't something created on
that day in people's minds.
I appreciate at least my belief that this kind of creative solution
was kind of crafted beforehand, and I appreciate that the people in the
county had our backs in starting to put this structure together. In
particular, because the county is fronting the purchase price that we
could never have secured a loan for, and it's diffusing the payment
and ongoing cost through a special taxation and management entity,
we now have a way to purchase the property and ensure a wonderful,
secure, and serene future for RGE and its residents, and that is really,
really the case.
But as Alan said, the devil is in the details. And since the
announcement of the proposed settlement was made just a few days
ago, we've seen many of our residents raise questions and voice
doubts about this proposed arrangement.
And given the limited information that's been put out so far, I
can't help but understand the fear and the skepticism that some of
them are experiencing, what I've just heard already, and you'll
probably hear more of. For example, my reading of it is, according
to the text of the settlement, the county will be -- will be reimbursed
for its $5.8 million purchase price by establishing a special tax
district, and once paid off, the property will be owned by a
special -- independent special district, not RGE. Wow.
Now, that may be a really good situation; we just don't
understand it yet. It may be like, well, instead of buying your car
personally, purchase it -- lease it through your company, but we don't
know that yet. We don't understand the nature of this ISD and
whether or not it will work for us.
April 25, 2023
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And along with being the vehicle to purchase the property, the
ISD will exist to effectuate the public benefits derived from its public
ownership. So if I read this -- maybe too quickly -- but if I read this,
so the residents who are on the property record will pay for the
property but not technically own it, and then will they have to pay for
its upkeep benefiting the public going forward?
I'm sure these questions are going to be addressed and answered
very well, but these are the kinds of things you get from a first
reading of a text like this.
And if the property provides public benefits derived from its
public ownership, how much investment and infrastructure and
amenities can we expect from Collier County going forward, or will
it be the sole burden of the ISD? Again, questions that need to be
looked at and answered going forward.
But in the final analysis, this settlement is averting a disaster for
us. The disaster would have been development, high-density
development, the loss of our floodplain and some other quality-of-life
issues beyond survival.
So I highly support your attitude that this is just the beginning of
a long conversation and a long exploration into how this thing might
work and how it might benefit.
But I thank you very much for starting the bones of this, and I
really look forward to it not only be a wonderful vehicle for us going
forward, but it may even be a template for how to deal with golf
course conversions in the future. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Debbie McDowell.
She'll be followed by Hans Johnson.
MS. McDOWELL: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My
name is Debbie McDowell. I reside in Riviera Golf Estates.
Most of my questions have already been answered. I just have
two items I would like to address. And the first is, you,
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Commissioner LoCastro, you, Commissioner Kowal, and the attorney
all mentioned the word "vote," and that is my problem. There has
not been or mentioned a community vote. This has been done
behind our backs.
We would like a community vote like before, and the
majority -- that's not too much to ask -- the majority of the votes,
according to our covenants, would be the proper way to handle this.
And the other thing I have is the cost of the maintenance. And I
know you said that we have to address that, but I need -- and so many
of my neighbors need to know exactly how much this is going to cost
us on a maintenance level, because I think that the figures you're
coming up with for the property tax yearly is not the problem. It's
the fear of all of this maintenance, especially what we just went
through with the pool in our development. It was a lot more than we
had anticipated.
That's all. Thank you for your time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Hans Johnson. He'll be
followed by Ruth Ellen Fiedler.
MR. JOHNSON: Good afternoon. Hans Johnson, 154
Versailles in Riviera Golf Estates.
One of the entities proposed in the document is an MSBU. The
county has a great pamphlet on how this is to be done. There are
seven steps, but the mediated settlement agreement appears to skip
the first six and goes right to your approval. If someone wants to
establish an MSBU or similar entity, then the procedures that the
county has outlined in this pamphlet should be followed.
I long advocated that the Riviera Golf Course become a
Conservation Collier property. Now that the owner has indicated his
willingness to sell, is it possible to restructure this agreement to do
that -- to do just that over of time, as a Conservation Collier property?
The stormwater issue would be addressed, and the property would be
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available for passive reaction.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Ruth Ellen Fiedler.
She'll be followed by William Cannon.
MS. FIEDLER: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name's
Ruth Ellen Fiedler. Some of you know me as Ellen. I live at 522
Charlemagne Boulevard.
And I moved down here from New Jersey, in case you couldn't
tell from the accent, nine years ago. I moved here because I felt like
Naples felt like home. I looked through a lot of different
communities. I chose Riviera Golf Estates because I suffer from
PTSD and severe claustrophobia. That community felt open. We
have double-wide roads. We've got the golf course, and so I always
felt kind of at ease there.
When I first moved down here, I couldn't get over the amount of
rain; I was shocked. And the water flowed through the swale. The
following year, it still flowed, but it was a little bit wider. And then
came Irma, 2017, where we had a deluge of water in August,
saturating the property. And so often the golf course did look like
a -- like a lake.
So come Irma, I evacuated. I went home -- I went up to
Georgia. And I got a text from my neighbor; he said that he would
go try to take a look and see how my house was the next day. He
texted me back. He could not get to my house because the water
from the golf course and the overflowing swale had met up with the
road -- because I have a storm drain next to my house -- had met up
with overflowing storm drain in the middle of my house. FEMA
came in, two foot of water. My house caved in. It was totaled. I
was a year homeless, which only brought my PTSD on a little bit
worse, making things not easy.
Now I have a new house. Yay me. And I am FEMA spec.
April 25, 2023
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Yay for me, but I also have a mortgage, which I didn't have before.
And I am concerned that if we do not do something like -- about
this, the next catastrophe of a hurricane or a serious -- even four
inches of rain like we had the other day where Marseille was flooded.
I am afraid if we don't do something about this, hundreds of homes
are going to be lost the next time around.
And because of that, I think that it could very well destroy
Riviera Golf Estates as we know it, especially if we have a
development behind us.
So be the heroes. Save this community. And whoever decided
to do this, you're brilliant.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is William Cannon. He'll
be followed by Carole Donovan.
MR. CANNON: Good afternoon, gentlemen. My name's
William Cannon. I live 169 Fleur de lis Lane, Riviera Golf Estates.
I first became involved in the difference between Riviera and the
golf course owners in 2006 when I bought my house. That was 17
years ago. I've been involved in every one of the actions we have
tried to take to resolve the differences between the owners of the golf
course and Riviera Golf Estates Homeowners Association.
We had many -- many attempts to find a solution that's
satisfactory to all involved parties. This recommendation today
seems to me to be the best solution I've ever seen of getting all three
parties to have an ability to say "I like it." And I do like it, and I
thank you very much.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Carole Donovan, and
she'll be followed by your final speaker, Attorney Michael Whitt.
MS. DONOVAN: Hi, guys. Carole Donovan. Of course, I
live in Riviera Golf Estates, and I'm the second generation to fight
this fight over this golf course. My parents are now in their late 80s,
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and they can't always get here. But they started with this -- they
were heavily involved back in the early 2000s -- and I've been
involved since 2017 on this fight.
I just want to give you a little bit of background. For fun, I
worked at the Riviera Golf Club a couple days a week the last two
years that it was open. It was really fun to work there. Everybody
loved golfing there, and they were very sad when it closed.
For the last two years, I've been part of the golf course working
group, so I'm very clear about how we got here today. Although the
community did not realize -- it was a surprise to all of us, but -- and
that's why the social media pages blew up, and nobody knows really
what was going on.
And I was also on the Board when we put it to a vote to our
community back in 2017 and '18. And in our community, you have
to win by, I think it's 67 percent, and we only lost by 50 votes. So
the majority of our community back then wanted us to buy the golf
course, because we all want to decide what goes on in our
community, right?
So I just want to tell you I support this first step. I think it's a
win-win for all sides. And I hope that you -- that we all come to the
details that continue to make it feel like it's a win-win for everybody,
including our community, because I think there are so many people
that have so many questions that they don't feel like it's anything
that's going to work for them.
But I just think it's something that needs to be cleared up in all
the details that we will work on as we move forward.
So, in closing, I just want to say, as I've gotten older, and
especially now that we're retired, that word "peace" means so much
to us. And we want to continue to live in peace in our
neighborhood, and having it developed would eradicate any peaceful
feeling. So I really commend everybody for working this through,
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and I think it's a really great idea.
Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your final public comment is from Attorney
Michael Whitt.
MR. WHITT: Good afternoon, Chairman, Commissioners. I
appreciate the opportunity to speak.
I represented Riviera in the mediation. I want to thank the
county for the opportunity to appear and have Riviera Golf Estates be
present.
And I think the result of that was a very creative resolution of
this that brought in probably, perhaps, the most important stakeholder
other than the golf course owner who's going to be bought out. It
resolves the Bert Harris Claim, which alleviates any potential burden
on taxpayers and the county, and allows Riviera Golf Estates really
two big benefits, and that is preserving property values in the
community without having to have the specter of future development
and also to gain some control through this independent special district
of the future of that property.
I want to address just a couple of the concerns that I heard where
people felt that they were kind of hoodwinked and this just fell out of
the sky on them. The mediation process is governed by Florida
Statutes Chapter 44 that provides that that process, the discussions,
and the agreement are all confidential, and the board agreed to that
term of confidentiality and the board, by law, could not "spill the
beans" to the residents.
The representatives of the board could talk to other board
members but could not just get this out to the membership without
violating Florida law until such time as the agenda came out from the
county to have this heard by the County Commission today. And
that's when the board immediately took steps to notify the residents in
the community. So I just wanted to make that clear.
April 25, 2023
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Another issue that's come up that I want to address -- and I think
it addresses some concerns of the residents but also I really think kind
of the practical concern that this board has that I heard when I was
here opposing the -- what's the word I'm looking for? -- rescinding of
the intent-to-convert ordinance a couple of weeks ago, and that is the
county has the opportunity to resolve this Bert Harris claim on its
own. It did not need to invite Riviera Golf Estates to the mediation.
It did, and we're thankful that you did.
But the county could take steps like this and, in essence, impose
things upon not only Riviera but others in this area by setting up
some type of district, take control of this property, get this property,
and tax you-all anyway.
So -- now, the county could do that. Would the county do that?
Maybe not, because you have these residents that, you know, you
also care about and look out for.
I believe, as part of this ongoing process -- if I could have just --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Take your time.
MR. WHITT: Okay, thank you.
As part of this process, I think the Board, your Board of
Commissioners, are going to want to know that the majority of the
residents are behind it. As we work with the county to produce an
ordinance to come before you-all to create this district, there is a lot
we have to cover. There's going to be a lot of details in there. We
knew that as we negotiated and as we brought this before you-all
today.
And those that say, hey, we haven't had a voice in this, my
understanding from the Board is --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Sir, remember you're talking to us.
MR. WHITT: Yeah, I'm sorry. My understanding -- yeah,
they have the same concern that it's just going to be a board vote; that
the board, indeed, will take this to the membership, which I think,
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then, also will -- yeah, will obviate some concerns that you-all have,
is this just, you know, five or seven people on a board that are
pushing this through, or do we have the majority of the owners in
Riviera behind this.
So one last -- one last point. One of the provisions in this -- I
believe it's Paragraph 7 of the mediated settlement agreement -- is
very, very important, and I believe it's time sensitive for the county
and for Riviera Golf Estates and surrounding communities, and that
is the state of the water management system basically served by this
golf course. It's not in good shape, and as part of this mediated
settlement agreement, the golf course owner -- once approved and
signed by all the parties, the golf course owner will provide a license
to the county to go in and start these much-needed repairs.
So we're fast approaching rainy season, and I would ask, on
behalf of Riviera Golf Estates, that the Board vote to approve the
mediated settlement agreement.
Thank you, and thank you for the extra time.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you.
Mr. Klatzkow, I've got a question for you. You know, one
thing I always -- and, obviously, I expect the other commissioners do,
too. One thing I always get concerned about is precedent, because
there will be people watching this and say, gosh, what a great idea.
The county should come in and buy our land. They should buy our
property. They should buy our golf course. They should -- you
know, we don't want that big condo development, so why doesn't the
county just come in and buy it?
Before we give all the -- you know, I really appreciated this lady
clapping and saying, wow, what a great idea. But before we pat all
the attorneys on the back and give them credit, correct me if I'm
wrong, Mr. Klatzkow, if this landowner didn't entertain the idea to
sell this property, if the landowner said, I'm not interested in that, I
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want to build my houses and I want to push -- I want to go to the max
level -- and it doesn't mean it would be automatic approval because
we all know there was a lot of moving points -- or parts, but if the
landowner wasn't open to entertaining this, then it would have been
dead in the water; is that true? Right? I mean, you needed the
landowner to be able to be open to this, correct?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. And I want people to
understand that, because it doesn't really matter to the folks in here,
because you're the benefit of this possibility, but there's a lot of
people that are sitting on very similar circumstances where the
landowner doesn't want to go into mediation.
So the one person that -- whoever that person is that should be, I
don't want to say thanked or cheered or anything, but the uniqueness
in this property is all parties came together and agreed to entertain
this option, and that's not the case in all communities. So that is a
big difference here. So I just wanted to make that clear.
Having said that, here we go. Commissioner Hall, and then
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chair.
First of all, I want you to know I understand exactly why we're
here. I understand that this whole process is to benefit you people.
I love the creativity of the deal. But as the county, I realize the only
reason -- the only reason why we are involved in this -- in this thing
at all is because of the Bert Harris Claim. And if the Bert Harris
Claim wasn't there, I wouldn't want any part of this. This would be
between the landowner and your group.
And my thoughts are, the landowner has really no claim -- valid
claim that I can see -- and I'm no crackerjack attorney, but I've got
great common sense, and I've been down this road before. There is
no case that he really has a great chance of winning against the
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county. This is an escape route for him that involved us, and then
we can benefit you.
It puts a tax -- it puts a burden on people that may not really give
a rip about -- you know, they just may be in the area. They may not
be in the floodplain, or they may -- you know, they may be, you
know, so-called beneficiaries of the deal, but they don't want to
participate financially in it. They don't have a dog in the hunt, so to
speak.
The landowner -- if we said no to this -- and I'm not saying I'm
saying no. I'm just saying -- I'm just bringing up things that I've
thought about. If we just said no, then the landowner would have to
take us to court. If he wins, he wins. If he doesn't, then he's going
to -- to do anything with it, he has to apply for rezoning.
If he gets the zoning, he can do what he needs to do. If he
doesn't get the zoning, then he's going to sell. He's going to be
looking for Conservation Collier. He's going to be talking to you
people. The value of that property is going to go (indicating)
because he now doesn't have an exit strategy.
If Conservation Collier gets in, I think that's a great -- you know,
that's a great option. I don't know the details of that, but there's tax
money that's available for that -- for that purpose.
I think knowing that if we go forward with this with today that
we're not bound by anything; we've got 60 days to answer some
questions, find out how much it would be for the people, find out the
maintenance. I certainly -- if we do this, I just want to be the bank.
I do not want be to involved in mowing grass, maintenance, doing
anything like that on the taxpayers' money. This would be just a
financing agreement that we would put ourselves into a position for.
Mention of a golf course by the county; there's reasons why that
golf course isn't -- there again, it's not there today. It's a profitable
thing. I probably wouldn't be a -- I wouldn't be a proponent of
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getting involved in that.
I said before I wouldn't want to be any part of maintenance or
benefits or management. I just want to be the bank.
And the comment about the template, that's really the main thing
I'm concerned about, because landowners that can't get their way with
zoning, then all of a sudden, the county's their exit strategy and the
taxpayers. I can take my money and run and don't have anything to
worry about.
So those are just some of my thoughts, okay. I just wanted to
say them out loud. I could probably be comfortable with moving
forward knowing that we're not bound by anything, that we have 60
days to get some real answers done. And I don't like the fact that the
landowner has an escape route on the backs of the taxpayers. I
just -- I don't like that. But if it is -- if it is that, then it is that.
So with that I'm finished.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel and then,
Commissioner Saunders, you're next, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I agree with Commissioner
Hall. I don't have any interest in running a golf course. I don't have
any interest in burdening the taxpayers of all of Collier County. We
talked about this at the beginning. And, I mean, at the end of the
day, we're going to start with the exposure here being borne by the
folks in Riviera. If we can defer that expense, with this information
we're going to accumulate in the next 60 days to -- a portion of it to
Conservation Collier and a portion of it to the greater watershed that
Riviera assists with, that -- totally fine with that.
But I have no interest -- just saying it out loud. I have no
interest in opening up/operating a golf course. It's a losing
proposition, and we don't need to expose ourselves to that.
I have an interest in being the bank. I told our friend George in
the back that five years ago when we -- when this first adventure
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started, right when I became a County Commissioners. So being the
bank is an okay way for us to go.
I do want to express a concern in that operating agreement or the
settlement agreement. It's not a concern. It's just an
acknowledgment. I read in there that the county, prior to finalization
of the settlement agreement, is allowed a license to go perform
maintenance and those things. If it's being done under a license, I'm
okay with that. I'm assuming we're going to document those
expenses and those will all -- because several of the folks that spoke
in opposition expressed concerns about the unknown costs.
There are going to be more costs than this $5.8 million
settlement agreement. So -- assuming those are all being brought
into the process, and the benefit associated with expensing those
funds in advance is going to help with potential of the flooding that
could, in fact, transpire through the upcoming rainy season.
So I'm -- I like the transaction as it currently sits, and moving
forward will give us a lot of answers to the questions that have been
raised.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders, and then
Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you.
I'm going to kind of ramble here a little bit and kind of jump
around. I've got some notes, and I want to kind of go through all of
these.
First of all, I do agree with what Commissioner Hall has said in
terms of I don't want the county taxpayers to be in a position to be
owning a piece of property and maintaining it under these
circumstances. That doesn't mean I don't support the idea of moving
forward with some type of a special taxing district or special
assessment district to assist in the community acquiring the property
and then assuming the responsibilities for maintenance.
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So the woman who spoke about the costs, it will be more than
just the cost of purchasing the property. There will be ongoing costs
to the community.
And so, you know, there's been talk about Conservation Collier
coming in. I don't know how Conservation Collier gets involved. I
don't know if that fits within the definition of properties that
Conservation Collier purchases or gets involved in. That's a
question for the County Attorney, and at some point I'll need some
assurance that we're not violating some policy or ordinance dealing
with the way we structured Conservation Collier, because that's a
willing buyer -- a willing-seller concept, and it's kind of hard to, I
guess, get -- have this fit into the willing seller coming to the county
to have the county purchase their environmentally sensitive lands,
and I just don't see how that fits, but maybe it does. So that's a big
piece for me.
My assumption is that this is not a Conservation Collier
property; however, it is a piece of property that has some value for
the general community for water management. So I can see how the
county would be responsible for or participate in that aspect of the
cost of maintaining that property, maintaining the water management
aspects of it. But the weekly cutting of the grass and trimming of the
trees and things of that nature, I don't see how that should be a county
taxpayer responsibility.
I would like to see some official polling of the members of that
community through some, just, informal polling to make sure that
more than 50 percent of that 690 homeowners -- more than 50
percent of them want to do this, because they're going to be assessed,
and that's generally how we create assessment districts in
communities. They come to us, and they say, the majority of us
want this, and we do some polling or whatever we need to do to make
that determination. And so I do want to see -- I do want to see that
April 25, 2023
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happen.
I will also say that there's been discussion about how the taxing
district or benefit district will be more than just the 690 homes, but
there are other beneficiaries around that because of the water
management. Well, I don't particularly buy that. I don't want
people outside of that community thinking that they're being assessed
so that people in Riviera Golf Estates can have beautiful views, have
open space. Granted, those people perhaps can come walk on that
property but, really, the vast benefit of something like this goes to the
Riviera Golf Estates owners. They have the water management
benefit. They have the views. They have the open space. They
have all of those benefits that people outside of that community don't
have.
The people outside of that community may have some small
water management benefit, but I think that's going to be really small.
I don't think that's going to benefit the Riviera Golf Estates in terms
of reducing that -- the total cost.
I don't want to see Collier County owning the property. I
would rather, as Commissioner Hall has said, that we work as -- we
serve as the bank. I don't have a problem with this interim financing
to make this happen, but I'd want to see it paid back, and I'd want to
see it paid back quickly, not a 30-year payment back to the county,
but the homeowners association using that property as -- perhaps as
collateral would have to find some way to develop some financing
through that district to pay the county back.
And so those are the kind of things that I'm going to be looking
for. I certainly feel your pain in terms of, you know, nobody wants
to have a bunch of houses out there, but, you know, that's -- that's the
world we live in. And I'd like to see us help you with that, but I also
don't want to see it become a burden on the taxpayers. I don't see it
as a template for other golf courses. You know, take that on a
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base-by-case basis.
And then I will say, since I see Mr. Yovanovich sitting here, I'm
not convinced either that this is a really stellar Bert Harris claim and,
you know, I hate to -- I don't want to see us going to court over it, but
I'm not so sure that -- I'm not in the position of wanting to move
forward with this because I'm afraid that we're going to lose a Bert
Harris claim. I don't think -- that's not my motivation, because I
don't really think that that's in the cards.
But what I do think is in the cards is that that -- there will be an
application for a development, and there will be houses there if we
don't move forward. So I want to help this community. But those
are my concerns and kind of my conditions on moving forward.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
I'd like to say I agree with the majority of my colleagues up here
on the dais on, you know, us being the bank and not using the burden
on the extra taxpayers here in the county to take care of this property
as if it's, you know, their burden. But that being said, I campaigned
in your area. I was running six months ago before I took this job,
and I can honestly say 90 percent of the people I spoke to in there, the
first thing that came out of their mouth is, are you going to stop the
buildings on the golf course? I can contest [sic] to that, because it
was personally told to me.
I was there at a forum, an open forum with candidates that I was
competing against, and the largest question in the room, the most
important question in that room out of 90 percent of the people that
packed -- 100-something people sitting in there was, are you going to
stop this building on our golf course? We want to know.
And you asked every one of candidates that they -- how they felt
and what they can do to help you, because you needed help.
April 25, 2023
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I did a town hall meeting where I invited everybody, and I went
to your community center, and we spoke about this, and at that
community center and that town hall, there was a lot of ideas
bounced around, different things and what to do. We talked about
the Bert Harris lawsuit. And in that open forum I discussed and I
gave ideas of possibly an MSTU, and your board -- and questions
were asked, and we moved on, moved forward. Now we're to today.
So we all agree, the biggest problem with your community is
that nobody wanted anything built on that golf course. We can all
agree on that. From what I saw, that definitely was the main
problem. So that's your problem.
As of right now, we're taking a step to possibly solving that
problem, but if we don't take that step today, you have that problem.
It doesn't change.
This is an opportunity to take a step in this 100-mile journey, the
one step, the first step everybody has to take. No matter how far you
walk in life, you've got to take the first one, and today's that first step.
So till we know what exactly you're going to be on the hook
for -- we don't know that today. We don't know that today, until the
staff does what they have to do, the attorney has to do what he has to
do, and then when we come back -- and if you heard my opening
statement -- because I know it was asked by a few people in
here -- they want a vote. And I expressed this on the telephone
yesterday -- telephone call yesterday. I want a vote, too, but I want
to know exactly who's involved. Who's the stakeholders? I don't
know if it's just the 690. I don't know that right now. We don't
know that right now.
So when we do find that out and when this comes to the 11th
hour and it's before us, I want you, your HOA, and whoever else may
be involved, at some point take a vote; we have a majority, and we
want to move forward. Because we have an answer to your
April 25, 2023
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problem, but we can't -- we can't get there unless we take that step
today. So I just want to make that clear.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Why don't you make the
motion?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Well --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'd like to make a motion to
move forward.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Wait, wait. Do I get a say? Do I
get a comment? I'm lit up over here. I'm lit up over here.
Remember, the county doesn't buy anything; taxpayers do. If I
lived in Lely, if I lived in Immokalee, if I lived in Golden Gate, I'm
not sure I want my taxpayer dollars to save your golf course from
being a condo.
On the flip side, the good news is you have a very unique
situation that other counties [sic] don't have. So I do agree that all
the right people came together to include the current landowner, who
is open to this.
You know, the bottom line is, I'm always open to getting more
information. So even the folks that came to the podium and said, oh,
I totally hate this because there's a million unanswered questions, you
know, I'll go back to what I said in the beginning, what we're about to
vote on is to explore those answers. And if we all hate them, then,
you know, we're no worse off than we were to begin with.
So I'm for maybe taking a smaller bite of the apple. I don't
want to make a leap and talk about being the bank or being the -- that
may or may not be how I feel, but I think what we're voting on here is
a much smaller piece, which is, do we want to get more information?
Do we want to explore this as a possibility, and do we want to get the
numbers?
April 25, 2023
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I don't want to do a rush to judgment. And I think what we're
voting on today is not doing a rush to judgment. Yeah, we're on a
little bit of a timetable, but I mean, you know, that's common
knowledge.
I'll close by saying, before we make a motion, that when this
was in my district as well, and I had town hall meetings, you-all tried
to buy the golf course. I mean, so it wasn't like you didn't make an
attempt to do it, so I'm a little bit perplexed when some folks think
this is a horrible idea. I'm like, well, then I guess you also hated it
when you were trying to use your own money to buy it. This is a
much better possible option.
And I got bombarded by the same things as Commissioner
Kowal, which is, God, if we could think of any way to not build
houses and build condos -- but, also, I'm a little concerned that there
will be some people that hear this and think this is the solution
anytime you don't want condos or houses in your backyard, and that's
not the case.
The uniqueness of this property is, the water piece that we talked
about, the possible Conservation Collier -- although I agree with
Commissioner Saunders, that might be a stretch. And I would also
be concerned of expanding the amount of people who could share the
load, because you start to force that on other folks.
First of all, I think they would storm this room with pitchforks
and lit torches and say, we have nothing to do with Riviera Golf
Estates. Why are we picking up a piece of the pie? But we're not
voting on any of that today.
So having said that, I mean, I defer to Commissioner Kowal.
This is his district, and, you know, I would like to second the motion,
because we both sort of share RGE a bit.
But, Commissioner Kowal, do you have a motion for us to move
forward?
April 25, 2023
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COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'd like to make a motion to
move in the way the agenda's written.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I'll second that.
So 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.)
Okay. It passes unanimously.
We'll be back in this room many times.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I will say, in addition, Tricia and
Mr. Carpenter and the board members, utilize this time wisely. This
is almost the exact same speech that was given to other communities
here that had kind of similar things, whether it was Isles of Capri or,
you know, the One Naples. I mean, I can historically point to
different things. Use this time wisely to speak with your
constituents, because when we come back in here, the more cohesion
we have, and especially the more understanding you can, you know,
impart on your citizens of your community, the better for us to be
able to decide something, and I know you'll do that.
Thank you.
Okay. County Manager, what's next?
MS. PATTERSON: Item 15, staff and commission general
communications.
Item #15A
April 25, 2023
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PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA BY INDIVIDUALS NOT
ALREADY HEARD DURING PREVIOUS PUBLIC COMMENTS
IN THIS MEETING
Item 15A. Public comments on general topics not on the
current or future agenda by individuals not already heard during
previous public comments in this meeting.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. We'll wait till the room
clears and then --
MR. MILLER: There are no registered speakers under 15A,
sir.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. We'll clear the room, and
then we'll -- I think we're in the final stages here. Thank you, all.
If you -- if citizens of Riviera Golf Estates either exit or take a
seat, because we have more meeting to go through. So if you'd
either exit or if you want to be part of the next topics, we'd appreciate
it.
Okay. Let's continue. Thank you.
Item #15C
STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
MS. PATTERSON: We have no staff project updates, so that
brings us to 15C, staff and commission general communications.
We do have a couple of items. First off, just a note that we
have received the information in our queue for approval regarding the
state veterans nursing home escrow, the $30 million. Just wanted to
bring that to the Board's attention that the -- it's -- we've received it in
the County Manager's Office for our sign-off from the Clerk's Office.
April 25, 2023
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CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Oh, okay.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm sorry. You've received
what?
MS. PATTERSON: Documentation for sign-off from the -- for
the County Manager's Office to sign off on the transfer for the
$30 million. It's moving its way through the approval process.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Wonderful.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Great.
MS. PATTERSON: Just wanted to advise you, at your
direction, that's moving along.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Mr. Finn, anything else
you need on that?
MR. FINN: (Shakes head.)
MS. PATTERSON: Okay. Thank you.
We also have an item to bring to your attention regarding the
sale of fuel at our marinas. Since we no longer have a vendor selling
the fuel, we need to bridge the gap between now and when we can
put an item on our Parks and Recreation fee schedule.
So our proposal is to continue to sell the fuel at a 30 percent
markup, which is what the vendor was selling it for up until now.
But we need, essentially, the Board's approval to continue with that
practice so we can provide the fuel until we get it -- we're not allowed
to sell things outside of our fee schedule, and we don't have it on our
fee schedule, so we need -- the next nine days -- your blessing to
continue that practice, and we'll get it moved onto the fee schedule.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: What are the marinas affected?
So it's Goodland and Port of the Islands. Is there another one I'm
forgetting?
MR. RODRIGUEZ: There is. It's Caxambas.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Well, Caxambas is still -- I mean,
we're not selling fuel, but once we get the pumps and everything, it
April 25, 2023
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would -- that would be rolled into the approval. But as of -- if we
give the thumbs up today, it would be Goodland, Port of the Islands,
and is there --
MR. RODRIGUEZ: Cocohatchee.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Oh, yeah. I knew there was
another one. I was sitting here thinking -- okay. And Cocohatchee.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Wiggins Pass.
COMMISSIONER HALL: So moved.
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 looks like we're selling gas.
MS. PATTERSON: Thank you. And we'll be back at the next
meeting.
And, lastly, Mr. Rodriguez may want to give you just an update
on where we are with our beach parking. We're -- go ahead, Dan.
MR. RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely.
The city did reach out to us, so their staff and our staff will be
meeting soon to put the paperwork together and kind of look at
their -- what they're offering, and then Commissioner McDaniel and
his counterpart at the City Council will review what staff has put
together and bring that to the Board.
Additionally, if I may, there's an update on the concessionaire
agreement. We did have a -- some proposals come in, and we're in
April 25, 2023
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negotiations with a concessionaire. That's probably going to take us
about two weeks to negotiate, and then we'll bring that to the Board.
And thank you for that transition plan.
Olema and her team, as well as their procurement staff, continue
to do good work to --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Did -- the proposals, they wanted
all of the -- all of what was available, or did many of them break it
out?
MR. RODRIGUEZ: The one individual wants all of the
concessions, yeah.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It did take all of them?
MR. RODRIGUEZ: That's correct.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So nothing's left out?
MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. And it's looking favorable to
retain the parking, the boat launch fees for the county for helping to
retire costs associated with maintaining those parks.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay.
MS. PATTERSON: That's all we have.
County Attorney Klatzkow?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, real quickly. There was an early
item that was continued by the Board. It was a land-use item, which
requires 15 days' notice. There's a court opinion that is out that
requires us to readvertise. Since it's 15 days' notice, it will not be
coming back at your next meeting but the following meeting. I will
tell you that there's a bill pending in Tallahassee that would do away
with that court decision retroactively. It has not been passed yet. It
has been passed by the Senate, not by the House.
So there is the possibility that it gets passed, and we can
continue. But at this point in time I will be readvertising. So you'll
see it, but you won't be seeing the next meeting. It will be the
meeting after.
April 25, 2023
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CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: All right.
Okay. I'm going down the line. Commissioner Hall, any
closing comments or --
COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes. With the previous public
comments regarding Naples Pathway Coalition, the workshop, do
you-all have any interest in doing that? I mean, I do because I'm a
bicyclist, and they're hammering me all the time, but I just wanted to
bring it up. I didn't want to --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I mean, one of the things I always
say is, similar to when we talked in here about, like, housing
workshops, I'm for anything that's going to bring information here,
but I just want them to be ready for prime time. So a lot of times
people in this room scream for a workshop, yet they have no,
like -- so, no cohesive framework. They don't have a short list of
homework assignments for us. So just to come in here and -- you
know, but if they're ready for that and there's some --
COMMISSIONER HALL: I can have them ready. I know
Craig well. I know Michelle well.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. I think, you know, it's a big
project, a lot of moving parts, it touches a lot of communities. I
mean, it's bigger than a breadbox. So something that brought us up
to speed here and also if it had some action items, definitely, I think it
would have merit.
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And in that light, I'm not
interested in having a workshop to sit around and talk about the
validity of pedestrian traffic.
COMMISSIONER HALL: No.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If there is specific direction
that we can -- because we do that all the time at the end --
April 25, 2023
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(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
COMMISSIONER HALL: I only want to be able to take
action.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. But my thought
is -- one of the things that I heard was making a special effort with
staff to make sure we're on top of the availability of the recently
bequeathed grant funds that could come to --
COMMISSIONER HALL: That was my next question.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- assist with those pathways.
COMMISSIONER HALL: How do we do that?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Tell staff to do that.
COMMISSIONER HALL: How do we -- there was a comment
about let's do what we can to take advantage of the 250,000 or --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Two hundred fifty million.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Two hundred fifty million for
that -- that the state funding had. So how do we do that?
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioner, while Trinity's making her
way up here -- keep coming, Trinity. She's trying to hide in those
seats over there.
I would suggest, back to the workshop, perhaps it would be a
good idea for you and some of those folks to get in the room with
Trinity and some of her folks, and have a smaller group conversation.
We also have a number of advisory committees through the
MPO process that work on these matters as well. So I think getting
everybody's collective thoughts in a small group, and then if we need
to work towards a workshop -- it's similar to, as you said, with the
housing issue, is coming in here and having to learn all of those
things while we're all sitting around a table is probably
counterproductive when, in a small group, you get a lot of stuff done,
and then come in here with the specifics.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Sure. I'm willing to take that
April 25, 2023
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mantle then.
MS. PATTERSON: Okay. Trinity will work with you directly
on that, and you get those folks together regarding grants.
Trinity, it's all you.
MS. SCOTT: Regarding grants, my department has, oh, yeah,
the most grants of probably anyplace in the county. We manage
over $160 million in grants. I have a team that can get grants.
So we monitor every grant opportunity that comes forward to us
to look to see if we have a project that is worthy of that grant. And I
would appreciate being able to sit down with you and talk to you
about the grant funds that are potentially available and if we have
projects that will fit the grant criteria.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. Good deal.
MS. SCOTT: Okay.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: One of the things I just wanted to
add was we have a workshop in this room every two weeks. It's
called the Board of County Commissioner meeting. So we're here.
Sometimes I like the idea of a smaller group because sometimes after
that small group meeting you realize we don't need a workshop. But
also, too, if it's a matter of bringing something to the commissioners
rather than just having us here for a special meeting and, as
Commissioner McDaniel said, just to sort of hear what we already
know and there really wasn't a lot of actions -- but sometimes, too, if
there's just a couple of things, it can just be added to agenda. I
mean, we're here.
And so, you know -- and also, too, you've got the whole staff
and everything. So, you know, a special workshop, if it looks like
that -- you know, we have to do something above and beyond a
commissioner meeting -- but that's where, like you said, a small
group will know that. Oh, we already fleshed out, you know, all the
major parts, and, you know, it's something that could be back briefed
April 25, 2023
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at a Board of County Commissioner meeting to give us an update on
something; or if there's one or two decision points, it could be added
to the agenda, and, you know, we infuse that workshop right into the
Board of County Commissioner meeting would be my thought.
So, Commissioner McDaniel, did you --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, just -- I'd like to support
the direction to staff to pursue those newly bequeathed grant funds
for the pathways that's direction from the Board -- as direction from
this board. That's all.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you.
Yeah, I just don't want -- I just want to get it out there, I'm not
anti-Conservation Collier. I just know it seems like I'm kind of, like,
the bad guy sometimes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You are the bad guy.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: But I just want to let you know, I
probably would have been the third vote today if they accepted the
$419,000, but it didn't sound like we had a person representing the
seller that really wanted to sell any property today, and that's all I'm
saying.
I think we probably could have acquired that property today, but
when I asked certain questions and I got certain answers, it kind of
swayed me at the end. And I have to be honest, you know, I was all
willing to buy that lot today but, you know, I'm not going to be held
at burden by the people that sell these properties and dictate what
we're willing to offer them.
I think -- you know, that's just part of the business. It's part of
doing business. And I think that's our responsibility to offer what
we think it's worth. So I just wanted to get that out there.
Second, I kind of agree. I was listening -- the $250 million
worth of grants, and then I'm sitting here, and I've got this map in
April 25, 2023
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front of me because we're getting ready to take this bombardment
with Riviera Golf Estates, because I knew it was coming at 3:00.
And I'm sitting here, and I got -- I got Kings Way, which is one of the
bike paths that already exists which runs from Davis down to
Rattlesnake Hammock. And lo and behold, it borders Riviera Golf
Estates, which we actually own two lots that we keep off to the side
for maintenance, I believe, on their property, which -- then we have a
proposed path that's already in the works on County Barn. Lo and
behold, what's on the east side of Riviera Golf Estates is that new
path that might be coming down the road in the future.
So there's some potential that we could use some of that grant
money, and we can actually do connectivity for some of these bike
paths through this property that is an urban green space which
Conservation Collier's, right in their title, preserving urban green
space, so which I think -- I know the commissioner was, you know,
kind of questioning if this was actually a property Conservation
Collier would probably be interested in.
But, you know, it fits their definition of what they're trying to do
is preserving some green space amongst our urban areas that they see
diminishing and we're losing. So -- and that being said, I just
wanted to kind of get it out there, there's a lot more ways to skin this
cat that we might be able to help this community offset some of the
costs down the way in the future.
And I just wanted to -- Mr. Rodriguez said -- gave me an update
that the parking down at Bayview, the boat ramp, I guess they figured
something out, right? They fixed that issue with contractor?
MR. RODRIGUEZ: They did, actually. Parks and Rec
reached out to the contractor, and they found a place for the
employees to get a ride over and get onto the barge, so...
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Good.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Great.
April 25, 2023
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COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That worked really well,
didn't it?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I want to -- just a couple
really quick notes. I want to thank Dr. Yilmaz. I had asked him for
a report on the progress being made in the Golden Gate City area in
terms of expanding water and sewer service. As everyone knows,
the county took over that privately owned system. And Dr. Yilmaz
has provided me a list of numerous projects out there, and so I want
to thank Dr. Yilmaz for doing that.
I also -- I don't know what the current status is with the veterans
nursing home, the transfer of funds. I see Crystal is in the back
there. If there's any other questions that she has, please let me know.
We're going to be running up against a May 1st deadline here pretty
quickly, and I don't know if that's -- if you feel comfortable yet, but
let me know if there's some discomfort, and we'll try to get you when
you need.
That's all, Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. And I've got a few closing
comments.
So concerning that environmental lot on Marco, first of all, no
apologies needed from anyone. They can always reattack with us
and counter. And so -- and I sent an email around to the appropriate
people that I know are passionate about that lot and said, you know, it
failed 3-2, but, you know, now the ball is back in your court.
I think the one thing that it showed, too, is -- and I think it might
have helped a little bit is, if you're supportive of something -- like,
Riviera Golf Estates is a perfect example. When you flood the room
with people, and the majority of them, you know, get it or have
something to say, it does help us here.
April 25, 2023
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So, I mean, if we would heard from five speakers that maybe
would have spoke more eloquently about the importance of that lot
and all that -- I mean, we don't have a crystal ball knowing every
moving part.
I actually was -- as the commissioner for District 1 was
disappointed that there wasn't sort of a bigger presentation about this
lot since it was -- it was kind of on the fence. But I've sent a note
back saying, you know, you can counter. And, I think, you know,
what we were all sort of implying here, if they put that lot on the
market to sell it to a developer who's going to put a house, they might
get more for it, but I don't think they're going to get 6-, 7-, 800,000
for it, and then they're going to pay a realtor and a whole bunch of
others things. So maybe this one will come back to us and be, you
know, on the list.
One of the things I talked to Parks and Rec about at one of the
breaks was you heard the paradise sports complex talk about the food
truck and how it sort of might just be sitting and collecting dust at
times. We actually might be able to use it at certain parks. At
Tigertail right now we don't have a concessionaire who's selling food.
We have vending machines, and we actually have brought in food
trucks.
And so I talked with Olema at the break and said, if you think
you can use that food truck elsewhere in the county, whether it's at
our parks or somewhere else -- so, you know, we're going to make
sure that if it's sitting and it could be utilized somewhere else and
provide a service, that we do that.
Jaime Cook and I went out to the rock crushing lot, just so you
know. So we got out boots dirty, and we sort of shocked all of the
people. I mean, they knew we were coming, but I'm not sure they
got much notice.
I hated what I saw out there a lot less, I'll just -- I'll put it that
April 25, 2023
Page 217
way. There was more equipment out there. You know, some of
the -- the spears that we're catching of, oh, there's no water truck,
there's no this, all that stuff is out of there. It's not awesome. It's
not great. But I hate it a lot less.
And we gave some direction out there as to, okay, you know,
can you start moving some of that crushed rock into this area here,
and we got a lot of yeses and a lot of positive things. So we'll
continue to watch that.
We know 1 May is going to come and go. There is not big,
giant boulders out there. So one of the things that -- I'll just throw it
on me -- that I proposed was get some trucks out there. And the
rock that's going to take six months to crush that are the biggest
pieces, they've already done all that. So that train left the station.
So what's left now is all equal size and effort.
But, Jaime, I appreciate all the effort you and the team has been
doing keeping us updated. We're going to continue to take that in
smaller chunks. So on 1 May, we're not going to give them three
more months. My expectation -- and I think it's shared up here -- is
that we continue on the path that we're on, continue to get updates. I
think once they start spreading around some of that crushed rock, the
area will aesthetically start to look a lot better, and then they can
finish the job.
At the next meeting -- you-all remember a couple meetings ago I
talked about a resolution for liens and fines and how we could
strengthen things? I didn't add it to this agenda here because I knew
we had Riviera Golf Estates and a few other things. And, actually,
Mr. Klatzkow and myself and Mr. French and his whole team, we
were sort of refining that resolution and the executive summary.
So we will send it out to you well before the next meeting.
Appreciate if you read it and -- so that when we vote on it, we either
make changes to it, you love it, you hate it, or what have you. But
April 25, 2023
Page 218
the end we're trying to put something that's not ramrodding
something in, but it's just reinforcing our expectation of liens and
fines.
And then Mr. Klatzkow did some great work on the liens
resolution that puts some verbiage in there that maybe should have
already been in existence. So more to follow on that in two weeks.
And then I just want to -- you know, we always like to recognize
people. I want to give a shout-out the somebody who maybe -- I
didn't know her until I just met her, but her name's Katherine
Chachere, right? Did I say that right? Chachere? Chachere?
Chachere.
So you-all know that we're putting in a stoplight at Treviso Bay,
and it's -- you know, we feel like we're building the Eiffel Tower
there. But there have been some challenges due to the hurricane and
materials. Long and the short of it is, we have a county employee,
Katherine here, where one of the issues that was slowing down the
installation was the dirt was too high of a pH, and everything came to
a screeching halt. And, oh, my gosh, you know, it's -- nobody can
figure out what to do.
This lady, like, got a bucket, put it in the trunk of her car, went
out there on her own accord, filled the bucket, drove up to Fort Myers
to get some other samples of dirt on her own, bought a kit to test the
dirt, I think -- and I might be oversummarizing, but I think the bigger
takeaway is, man, you know, this is an example of somebody on our
county staff who just went above and beyond, got totally out of her
area of probably responsibility but just wanted to get the job done.
And when that light gets activated, she more than maybe almost
anybody else gets part of the credit for keeping something that would
have had a whole bunch of people doing this (indicating). And, you
know, like she even told me yesterday, she goes, the bucket's still in
my trunk, and I learned so much about testing soil.
April 25, 2023
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So, Katherine, wherever you are, if you're listening, or people
that work with her --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Let's put a plaque on the --
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. We're going to put a
plaque on that -- when you push the button to activate the crosswalk,
there's going to be a little picture of Katherine there saying, "I tested
the dirt you're standing on."
But I wanted to just give her a shout-out, because when I heard
the story -- one of the things that I really admire -- and I always think
it's something you can't teach, but if people have it it's an incredible,
you know, positive attribute, and it's initiative, and that's initiative.
And so, Katherine, if you're listening, your initiative might have
seemed like it was unnoticed by a lot of folks, but it's not, and it's
certainly appreciated. And that is a big project out there that saves
lives, moves traffic. But you know what, if you don't have a
bucketful of dirt and a pH testing system and somebody who's willing
to do all of that, projects like that can come to a screeching halt.
So, Katherine, thank you so much for doing that, and it looks
like, you know, we're very close to activating that light.
Having said that, any other, you know, reattacks, as we used to
say in the military? You know, I used to be in the military. I don't
know if you know.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Really? What?
CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. We're adjourned.
*****
**** Commissioner Kowal moved, seconded by Commissioner
McDaniel, and carried that the following items under the consent and
summary agendas be approved and/or adopted ****
April 25, 2023
Page 220
Item #16A1
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES
AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE
SEWER FACILITIES FOR BAYSHORE FOOD AND WINE
VENUE, PL20220008943 – FINAL INSPECTION BY STAFF
FOUND THE FACILITIES TO BE SATISFACTORY AND
ACCEPTABLE ON FEBRUARY 17, 2023
Item #16A2
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER FACILITIES FOR EDGE 75 BY WATERMARK – PHASE
1, PL20210000049, 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 $32,107.76 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE
DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – FINAL INSPECTION
BY STAFF FOUND THE FACILITIES TO BE SATISFACTORY
AND ACCEPTABLE ON MARCH 12, 2023
Item #16A3
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER FACILITIES FOR EDGE 75 BY WATERMARK – PHASE
2, PL20210000986, ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF A
PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER
FACILITIES AND APPURTENANT UTILITY EASEMENT,
April 25, 2023
Page 221
AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR DESIGNEE,
TO RELEASE THE UTILITIES PERFORMANCE SECURITY
(UPS) AND FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL
AMOUNT OF $33,180.82 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE
DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT - FINAL INSPECTION
BY STAFF FOUND THE FACILITIES TO BE SATISFACTORY
AND ACCEPTABLE ON MARCH 6, 2023
Item #16A4
FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF
THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES
FOR ESPLANADE BY THE ISLANDS - PHASE 1C,
PL20200000680, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER,
OR DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE FINAL OBLIGATION BOND
IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $4,000 TO THE PROJECT
ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT -
FINAL INSPECTION BY STAFF FOUND THE FACILITIES TO
BE SATISFACTORY AND ACCEPTABLE ON MARCH 20, 2023
Item #16A5
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES AND ACCEPT THE
CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER
AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR VALLEY STREAM
SELF STORAGE, PL20220001872 - FINAL INSPECTION BY
STAFF FOUND THE FACILITIES TO BE SATISFACTORY AND
ACCEPTABLE ON MARCH 6, 2023
Item #16A6
April 25, 2023
Page 222
RESOLUTION 2023-71: A RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND
DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE
PLAT DEDICATIONS, FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF MAPLE
RIDGE PHASE 5B, SECOND REPLAT, APPLICATION
NUMBER PL20180000568 AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF
THE MAINTENANCE SECURITIES IN THE AMOUNT OF
$454,837.97
Item #16A7
RESOLUTION 2023-72: A RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND
DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT
DEDICATIONS, FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF SILVERWOOD AT
AVE MARIA (PHASE 1), APPLICATION NUMBER
PL20170002303, AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE
MAINTENANCE SECURITIES IN THE AMOUNT OF
$661,265.90
Item #16A8
RESOLUTION 2023-73: RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND
DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE
PLAT DEDICATIONS, FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF TREE FARM,
APPLICATION NUMBER PL20180003592 AND AUTHORIZE
THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY IN THE
AMOUNT OF $184,220.85
April 25, 2023
Page 223
Item #16A9
AWARD INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”) NO. 23-8077, “AQUATIC
VEGETATION MAINTENANCE,” TO DEANGELO
CONTRACTING SERVICES LLC, AS THE PRIMARY VENDOR,
AND SUPERIOR LANDSCAPING & LAWN SERVICE
INC., AS THE SECONDARY VENDOR AND AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENTS.
(ESTIMATED ANNUAL SPEND $350,000 STORMWATER
UTILITY FUND 103)
Item #16A10
AWARD INVITATION TO BID ("ITB") NO. 23-8069, "TREE
AND PALM MAINTENANCE," TO TREE SCAPING OF NAPLES
INC., AS THE PRIMARY VENDOR, AND SUPERIOR
LANDSCAPING & LAWN SERVICE INC., AS THE
SECONDARY VENDOR, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN
TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENTS
Item #16A11
APPROVE AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT
WITH AZT TECHNOLOGY, LLC, IN THE SUM OF $40,272.80
FOR INFRASTRUCTURE EXPENDITURE FOR A FLORIDA
POWER AND LIGHT TRANSFORMER AND FEEDER
CONDUITS, EQUIPMENT FEEDS AND GROUNDING FOR A
PRECISION METAL COMPONENT MANUFACTURING
FACILITY IN THE INTERCHANGE ACTIVITY CENTER NO. 9
INNOVATION ZONE AND AUTHORIZE FO REIMBURSEMENT
OF THESE EXPENDITURES
April 25, 2023
Page 224
Item #16A12
APPROVE AN AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF A
SIDEWALK, SLOPE, AND UTILITY EASEMENT (PARCEL
513SWUE) REQUIRED FOR CONSTRUCTION OF
IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE LOGAN BOULEVARD AT
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD INTERSECTION (PROJECT NO.
#60252) – FOLIO #29268000085
Item #16A13
AUTHORIZE A BUDGET AMENDMENT TO RECOGNIZE
REVENUE AND TRANSFER FUNDING FOR PROJECTS
WITHIN THE TRANSPORTATION SUPPORTED GAS TAX
FUND (313) AND TRANSPORTATION & CDES CAPITAL
FUND (310) IN THE AMOUNT OF $122,648.76. (PROJECTS
#60085, #60088, #69331, #69333, #69338, AND #69339) - AS
DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item #16A14
AWARD FIXED FEE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENTS
TO STEWART TITLE COMPANY, AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
SERVICES CORPORATION, AND GUARANTEED FLORIDA
TITLE, ESCROW & ABSTRACT, INC., (F/K/A TITLE
PARTNERS OF SOUTH FLORIDA, INC.,) UNDER REQUEST
FOR PROPOSAL (“RFP”) NO. 22-7997, “REAL ESTATE TITLE &
CLOSING SERVICES,” AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO
SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENTS
April 25, 2023
Page 225
Item #16A15
APPROVE THE SELECTION COMMITTEE’S RANKING AND
AUTHORIZE STAFF TO BEGIN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS
WITH KIMLEY-HORN AND ASSOCIATES, INC., RELATED TO
REQUEST FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”)
NO. 22-8053 FOR “DESIGN SERVICES FOR VANDERBILT
BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PHASE II,” SO THAT STAFF CAN
BRING A PROPOSED AGREEMENT BACK FOR THE BOARD’S
CONSIDERATION AT A FUTURE MEETING
Item #16A16
APPROVE THE COMMENCEMENT OF SERVICES UNDER
AGREEMENT NO. 21-7842, “ROADWAY CONTRACTORS,” TO
AUTHORIZE CONSTRUCTION OF THE RADIO ROAD AT
DEVONSHIRE BOULEVARD AND COUNTRYSIDE DRIVE
INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF
$773,114.25, AND TO AUTHORIZE ANY NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS (PROJECT #60016.47)
Item #16A17
PURCHASE A MACK MD6 CAB AND CHASSIS TRUCK
UPFITTED WITH A TRUCK MOUNTED TRAFFIX DEVICE,
SCORPION II TL-3 ATTENUATOR AND A MOBILE TRAFFIC
ADVISORY/DIRECTIONAL SIGNAL BOARD UTILIZING TWO
FLORIDA SHERIFFS ASSOCIATION (“FSA”) COOPERATIVE
AGREEMENTS FROM NEXTRAN TRUCK CENTER UNDER
FSA22-VEH20.0 “HEAVY TRUCKS & BUSES” (CAB AND
CHASSIS TRUCK) AND FROM STRIPING SERVICE AND
April 25, 2023
Page 226
SUPPLY, INC., UNDER FSA20-EQU 18.0, “HEAVY
EQUIPMENT”
Item #16A18
THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS APPROVE AN
ACCESS EASEMENT AND TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION
EASEMENT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN EIGHT-FOOT
CONCRETE NOISE WALL ON TWO COUNTY-OWNED
PROPERTIES TO ABATE NOISE FROM VETERAN’S
MEMORIAL BOULEVARD IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE 2006
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT FOR THE SANDALWOOD PUD
Item #16A19
RESOLUTION 2023-74: APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A SMALL COUNTY OUTREACH
PROGRAM (SCOP) STATE-FUNDED GRANT AGREEMENT
WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
(FDOT) TO RECEIVE REIMBURSEMENT UP TO $818,622 TO
CONSTRUCT PAVED SHOULDERS ON IMMOKALEE ROAD
(CR 846) FROM EAST OF MAIN STREET (SR 29) TO EAST OF
TRADEPORT PARKWAY (FPN 449668-1-54-01, PROJECT
#60253); TO EXECUTE A RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING
THE BOARD’S ACTION; AND AUTHORIZE ALL NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Item #16A20
APPROVE THE ATTACHED AMENDMENT NO. FOUR TO
AGREEMENT NO. 18-7382 – PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
April 25, 2023
Page 227
AGREEMENT FOR COLLIER AREA TRANSIT FIXED ROUTE,
DEMAND RESPONSE, AND TRANSIT OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT SERVICES WITH MV TRANSPORTATION,
INC., ALLOWING FOR AN EXTENSION OF AMENDMENT NO.
THREE TO ADDRESS STAFFING SHORTAGES THROUGH
AND INCLUDING THE CURRENT APRIL 30, 2024
TERMINATION DATE OF THE AGREEMENT, AND
AUTHORIZING THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED
AMENDMENT
Item #16A21
RESOLUTION 2023-75: APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT TO
THE LOCAL AGENCY PROGRAM (LAP) AGREEMENT WITH
THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT)
TO INCREASE ($125,000) THE GRANT AWARD FROM
$467,424 TO $592,424 FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF BIKE
LANE AND SHOULDER IMPROVEMENTS ALONG 111TH
AVENUE NORTH FROM THE BLUEBILL AVENUE BRIDGE
TO 7TH STREET NORTH; TO ADOPT THE ACCOMPANYING
RESOLUTION FORMALLY APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING
ITS CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE SAME ON BEHALF OF THE
BOARD; (PROJECT NO. #33620), FPN 441846-1-58-01
Item #16A22
RESOLUTION 2023-76: APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE A LOCAL AGENCY PROGRAM
(LAP) CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT)
April 25, 2023
Page 228
REIMBURSING THE COUNTY UP TO $983,670 FOR THE
CONSTRUCTION OF 5-FOOT BIKE LANES ON GREEN BLVD
FROM SANTA BARBARA BLVD TO SUNSHINE BLVD;
EXECUTE A RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE BOARD’S
ACTION; AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENTS (PROJECT NO. #33849), FPN 438093-2-58-01
Item #16C1
AN AGREEMENT FOR SALE AND PURCHASE WITH: (1) JOSE
F. CASTILLO AND JORGE F. CASTILLO; (2) ODALYS
QUEVEDO; (3) MICHAEL L. TORO AND PATRICIA M. TORO,
AS TRUSTEES OF THE MICHAEL AND PATRICIA TORO
REVOCABLE JOINT TRUST AGREEMENT, DATED APRIL 20,
2017; AND (4) FREDERICK P. TROFATTER, JR. AND
HEATHER B. TROFATTER UNDER THE CONSERVATION
COLLIER LAND ACQUISITION PROGRAM, AT A COST NOT
TO EXCEED $175,905
Item #16C2
ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGE ORDER NO. 8
PROVIDING FOR A 90-DAY TIME EXTENSION AND A
$111,552.00 INCREASE TO THE CONTRACT AMOUNT UNDER
AGREEMENT NO. 18-7469 WITH WSP USA ENVIRONMENT &
INFRASTRUCTURE INC., FOR THE BIG CORKSCREW
ISLAND REGIONAL PARK. (PROJECT NO. #80039.1.3) – SET
TO EXPIRE ON MARCH 10, 2023 AND EXTENDING THE TIME
TO MAY 31, 2023
Item #16C3
April 25, 2023
Page 229
PROPOSAL NO. 10795, 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 $397,226.27 TO REPLACE THE
PROPRIETARY N2 JOHNSON CONTROLS BMS WITH NEW
BACNET RELIABLE CONTROLS AT THE COLLIER COUNTY
EMERGENCY SERVICE CENTER (PROJECT NO. #52162)
Item #16C4
ACCEPT A PROJECT UPDATE TO NCWRF PRETREATMENT
FACILITY PROJECT NO. #70149 CURRENTLY IN DESIGN
WITH AECOM TECHNICAL SERVICES, INC., UNDER
AGREEMENT NO. 20-7722-NS
Item #16C5 – Moved to Item #11G (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
Item #16C6 – Continued from the March 28, 2023, BCC Meeting.
THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT AND ACCESS AND
UTILITY EASEMENT TO ALLOW VB BTS, II, LLC, ACCESS
TO ITS PROPOSED COMMUNICATIONS TOWER THROUGH
PALM SPRINGS NEIGHBORHOOD PARK AND AUTHORIZE
THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE SAME ON BEHALF OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS; 2) DIRECT THE
COUNTY MANAGER OR HER DESIGNEE, TO RECORD THE
ACCESS AND UTILITY EASEMENT IN THE PUBLIC
RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA; AND 3) DIRECT
STAFF TO ENSURE THAT ALL PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS
April 25, 2023
Page 230
DISCUSSED HEREIN ARE PART OF AND INCORPORATED
WITHIN THE SDP (PL20210000655)
Item #16C7 - Moved to Item #11E (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
Item #16D1 - Continued to the May 9, 2023 BCC Meeting.
BUDGET AMENDMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $100,000 TO
TRANSFER FUNDING WITHIN THE COUNTY-WIDE CAPITAL
FUND (301) TO CONTINUE FUNDING EBOOKCOLLECTIONS
TO MEET PATRON DEMAND FOR DIGITALRESOURCES AND
MATERIALS FOR COLLIER COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Item #16D2
A RELEASE OF LIEN IN THE AMOUNT OF $7,051.70 FOR
FULL PAYMENT OF AN IMMOKALEE AREA RESIDENTIAL
IMPACT FEE DEFERRAL APPROVED AS PART OF AN
IMPACT FEE DEFERRAL PROGRAM FOR PROPERTIES
LOCATED WITHIN THE IMMOKALEE ENTERPRISE ZONE –
LOCATED AT 1268 ALLEGIANCE WAY
Item #16D3
THE RESURFACING OF TWENTY (20) ADDITIONAL
PICKLEBALL COURTS AT EAST NAPLES COMMUNITY
PARK AND TO MAKE A FINDING THAT THIS EXPENDITURE
PROMOTES TOURISM. THERE IS NO ADDITIONAL FISCAL
IMPACT AS THE ORIGINAL FUNDED AMOUNT IS
SUFFICIENT TO INCLUDE RESURFACING OF THE
ADDITIONAL COURTS
April 25, 2023
Page 231
Item #16D4
AUTHORIZE STAFF TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION TO THE
FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
COMMISSION’S INVASIVE PLANT MANAGEMENT SECTION
TO BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE FUNDING ASSISTANCE
SERVICES, WORTH $280,000 IN FY 2024, FOR THE REMOVAL
OF INVASIVE EXOTIC VEGETATION WITHIN
CONSERVATION COLLIER’S NORTH BELLE MEADE,
WINCHESTER HEAD, AND RED MAPLE SWAMP
PRESERVES, AND TO AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ACCEPT SUCH
FUNDING ASSISTANCE SERVICES, IF AWARDED
Item #16D5
ACCEPT THE CONSERVATION COLLIER ANNUAL REPORT,
THE PUBLIC ACCESS AND PRESERVE AMENITIES REPORT,
AND AN UPDATE ON THE PROGRAM’S RECENT AND
PENDING ACQUISITIONS
Item #16D6
AN “AFTER-THE-FACT AMENDMENT 2 WITH AREA
AGENCY ON AGING FOR SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, INC., FOR
THE EMERGENCY HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
TO AUTHORIZE FY2022 FUNDING FOR THE EHEAP 203.21
AGREEMENT TO INCREASE THE AWARD AMOUNT OF
$100,000 WITH REVISION TO THE BUDGET SUMMARY FOR
FY21 & FY22 AND THE SUPPORTING BUDGET AMENDMENT
(HUMAN SERVICES GRANT FUND 707)
April 25, 2023
Page 232
Item #16D7
PROMOTE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN LOCAL
AGRICULTURE VIA A $5,000 SPONSORSHIP OF THE
COLLIER COUNTY FARM BUREAU 2ND ANNUAL
AGVENTURE AND RODEO EVENT ORGANIZED BY THE
COLLIER COUNTY FARM BUREAU. (ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT FUND 007)
Item #16D8
THE CONSERVATION COLLIER HHH RANCH
PRESERVE 2-YEAR INTERIM MANAGEMENT PLAN UNDER
THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PROGRAM AND TO NAME
THE PROPERTY NORTH BELLE MEADE PRESERVE –
LOCATED IN SECTION 33, TOWNSHIP 49, & RANGE 27
Item #16D9
THE “AFTER-THE-FACT” SUBMITTAL OF A GRANT
APPLICATION FOR A FOUR-YEAR BUREAU OF JUSTICE
ASSISTANCE (BJA) DRUG COURT DISCRETIONARY GRANT
IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,000,000
Item #16E1
THE ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT PREPARED BY THE
PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR VARIOUS
COUNTY DIVISION'S AFTER-THE-FACT PURCHASES
REQUIRING BOARD APPROVAL IN ACCORDANCE WITH
April 25, 2023
Page 233
PROCUREMENT ORDINANCE 2017-08 AND THE
PROCUREMENT MANUAL, AS WELL AS, TO APPROVE THE
PAYMENT OF $5,404.95 IN EXPENDITURES THAT HAVE
BEEN INCURRED THAT WERE OUT OF COMPLIANCE WITH
THE CONTRACTS OR PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR
ASSOCIATED INVOICES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN PAID
Item #16E2
AUTHORIZE ONE ADDITIONAL FULL TIME EQUIVALENT
(FTE) POSITION IN THE COLLIER COUNTY FLEET
MANAGEMENT DIVISION.
Item #16E3
AGREEMENT #23-001-NS WITH UNITED DATA
TECHNOLOGIES, INC., FOR ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES PERTAINING TO THE INSTALLATION OF THE
CISCO PHONE SYSTEM UPGRADE USING GENERAL
SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (“GSA”) CONTRACT #GS-35F-
538GA (PROFESSIONAL SERVICES)
Item #16F1
RENEW THE ANNUAL CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC
CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY (COPCN) AND PERMIT FOR
A CLASS 1 (ALS TRANSPORT/ALS RESCUE) AND CLASS 2
(ALS INTRA-FACILITY ALS AMBULANCE TRANSPORT) FOR
THE SEMINOLE TRIBE FIRE RESCUE DEPARTMENT WITHIN
THE BOUNDARIES OF THE SEMINOLE TRIBE IN
IMMOKALEE; AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE
April 25, 2023
Page 234
PERMIT AND CERTIFICATE; AND RECOGNIZE AND ACCEPT
THE $250 APPLICATION FEE WITHIN FUND 001.
Item #16F2
RESOLUTION 2023-77: 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 #16F3 – Moved to Item #11F (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
Item #16J1
A BUDGET AMENDMENT RECOGNIZING A FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, DIVISION OF ELECTIONS,
2022/2023 ELECTION SECURITY FUNDS GRANT AWARD IN
THE AMOUNT OF $118,610
Item #16J2
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 30, 2023, AND APRIL
12, 2023, PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06
April 25, 2023
Page 235
Item #16J3
REQUEST THAT THE BOARD APPROVE AND DETERMINE
VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND
PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF APRIL 19, 2023
Item #16K1
RESOLUTION 2023-78: REAPPOINT TWO MEMBERS TO THE
ANIMAL SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD – REAPPOINTING
JAMES RICH AND SHERRY REGO BOTH W/TERMS
EXPIRING ON APRIL 13, 2027
Item #16K2
APPROVE A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE TOTAL
AMOUNT OF $8,600 PLUS $8,513.36 IN STATUTORY
ATTORNEY FEES, LITIGATION COSTS, APPORTIONMENT
ATTORNEYS’ FEES, AND EXPERTS’ FEES AND COSTS FOR
THE TAKING OF PARCEL 1268RDUE REQUIRED FOR THE
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PROJECT NO.
#60168, AND AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $3,000 FOR
ADDITIONAL APPORTIONMENT COSTS IF NEEDED FOR
THE TAKING OF PARCEL 1268RDUE REQUIRED FOR THE
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PROJECT NO.
#60168
Item #16K3
A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE TOTAL
April 25, 2023
Page 236
AMOUNT OF $10,350 PLUS $7,655.92 IN STATUTORY
ATTORNEY FEES, LITIGATION COSTS, APPORTIONMENT
ATTORNEYS’ FEES, AND EXPERTS’ FEES AND COSTS FOR
THE TAKING OF PARCEL 1267RDUE REQUIRED FOR THE
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PROJECT NO.
#60168
Item #16K4
AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO FILE A LAWSUIT
ON BEHALF OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS AGAINST ROY GARCIA IN THE COUNTY
COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND
FOR COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO RECOVER $5,743.11 IN
DAMAGES INCURRED BY THE COUNTY FOR REPAIRS TO A
FOXTAIL PALM, PARK BENCH AND TRASH RECEPTACLE,
PLUS COSTS OF LITIGATION – FOR A VEHICLE ACCIDENT
THAT OCURRED ON OCTOBER 20, 2021
Item #16K5
AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO FILE A LAWSUIT
ON BEHALF OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS AGAINST ASHLEY ANGELICA
HERNANDEZ AND MARTA REBECA HERNANDEZ GARCIA
IN THE COUNTY COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL
CIRCUIT IN AND FOR COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO
RECOVER DAMAGES FOR THE REPAIR OF COLLIER
COUNTY PROPERTY TOTALING $7,710.14, PLUS COSTS OF
LITIGATION – FOR A VEHICLE CRASH THAT OCCURRED
ON APRIL 1, 2021
April 25, 2023
Page 237
Item #16K6
AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO FILE A LAWSUIT
ON BEHALF OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS AGAINST RACHEL JIMENEZ LOPEZ IN
THE COUNTY COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL
CIRCUIT IN AND FOR COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO
RECOVER DAMAGES FOR THE REPAIR OF COLLIER
COUNTY PROPERTY TOTALING $7,956.38 PLUS COSTS OF
LITIGATION – FOR A VEHICLE ACCIDENT THAT
OCCURRED ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2020
Item #16K7
AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO FILE A LAWSUIT
ON BEHALF OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS AGAINST MICHAEL LAVERY AND
MASON TYLER MORGAN IN THE COUNTY COURT OF THE
TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR COLLIER
COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO RECOVER DAMAGES INCURRED
BY THE COUNTY FOR THE REPAIR TO THE SECURITY
GATE AND FENCE AT THE SOUTH COUNTY REGIONAL
WATER TREATMENT PLANT LOCATED AT 3875 CITY GATE
DRIVE THE TOTALING $4,400, PLUS COSTS OF LITIGATION
FOR A VEHICLE ACCIDENT THAT OCCURRED ON JANUARY
7, 2021
Item #17A
ORDINANCE 2023-19: APPROVE AN ORDINANCE OF THE
April 25, 2023
Page 238
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
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] (SECOND OF TWO HEARINGS) (THIS
IS A COMPANION TO ITEM #17B)
Item #17B
April 25, 2023
Page 239
ORDINANCE 2023-20: ADOPT PL20190000821 -GMPA-
COLLIER BOULEVARD/INTERSTATE 75 INNOVATION ZONE
OVERLAY - AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS AMENDING ORDINANCE 89-05, AS
AMENDED, THE COLLIER COUNTY GROWTH
MANAGEMENT PLAN, SPECIFICALLY AMENDING THE
FUTURE LAND USE ELEMENT AND FUTURE LAND USE
MAP AND MAP SERIES TO ADD THE COLLIER
BOULEVARD/INTERSTATE 75 INNOVATION ZONE
OVERLAY TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN QUALIFIED
TARGETED INDUSTRY BUSINESS; TO CORRECT A
SCRIVENER'S ERROR IN THE ACTIVITY CENTER #9 INSET
MAP; AND FURTHERMORE, DIRECTING TRANSMITTAL OF
THE ADOPTED AMENDMENT TO THE FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY. THE SUBJECT
PROPERTY IS LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTIONS OF
COLLIER BOULEVARD AND INTERSTATE 75, AND COLLIER
BOULEVARD AND DAVIS BOULEVARD, IN SECTIONS 34, 35
AND 36, TOWNSHIP 49 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST, AND
SECTIONS 2 AND 3, TOWNSHIP 50 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST,
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, CONSISTING OF 1,236± ACRES
[PL20190000821] (THIS IS A COMPANION ITEM #17A)
Item #17C
RESOLUTION 2023-79: ADOPT A RESOLUTION APPROVING
AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING CARRY FORWARD,
TRANSFERS, AND SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE) TO THE
FY22-23 ADOPTED BUDGET. (THE BUDGET AMENDMENTS
IN THE ATTACHED RESOLUTION HAVE BEEN REVIEWED
April 25, 2023
Page 240
AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS VIA SEPARATE EXECUTIVE
SUMMARIES)
Item #17D
RESOLUTION 2023-80: PETITION: VAC-PL20220000374 TO
DISCLAIM, RENOUNCE AND VACATE THE COUNTY AND
THE PUBLIC INTEREST IN TWO UNIMPROVED 30-FOOT-
WIDE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAYS DESCRIBED AS AVENUE
“B” AND FIRST STREET, ACCORDING TO THE COL-LEE-CO
TERRACE SUBDIVISION PLAT, AS RECORDED IN PLAT
BOOK 1, PAGE 32, OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER
COUNTY, FLORIDA. THE SUBJECT PROPERTY IS LOCATED
ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF U.S. 41 BETWEEN FREDRICK
STREET AND PALM STREET IN SECTION 11, TOWNSHIP 50
SOUTH, RANGE 25 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA; AND
TO APPROVE A DEVELOPER AGREEMENT WITH TB EAST
TRAIL, LLC (DEVELOPER) AND COLLIER COUNTY
(COUNTY) TO PROVIDE $528,431.35 FOR A STORMWATER
MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT BETWEEN SPRUCE STREET
AND PINE STREET
Item #17E – Moved to Item #9B (Per Change Sheet)
Item #17F – Moved to Item #9C (Per Change Sheet)
*****
April 25, 2023
Page 241
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 4:44 p.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL
___________________________________
RICK LoCASTRO, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST
CRYSTAL K. KINZEL, CLERK
___________________________
These minutes approved by the Board on ____________________,
as presented ______________ 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.