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Agenda 08/08/2023 Item # 2B (July 11, 2023 BCC Meeting Minutes)08/08/2023 2.B COLLIER COUNTY Board of County Commissioners Item Number: 2.B Doc ID: 26242 Item Summary: July 11, 2023, Board Meeting Minutes Meeting Date: 08/08/2023 Prepared by: Title: Management Analyst II — County Manager's Office Name: Geoffrey Willig 07/31/2023 1:31 PM Submitted by: Title: Assistant Finance Director — Clerk of the Circuit Court Name: Derek Johnssen 07/31/2023 1:31 PM Approved By: Review: County Manager's Office Geoffrey Willig County Manager Review Board of County Commissioners Geoffrey Willig Meeting Pending Completed 07/31/2023 1:31 PM 08/08/2023 9:00 AM Packet Pg. 10 July 11, 2023 Page 1 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida, July 11, 2023 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners, in and for the County of Collier, and also acting as the Board of Zoning Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such special districts as have been created according to law and having conducted business herein, met on this date at 9:00 a.m., in REGULAR SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following Board members present: Chairman: Rick LoCastro Chris Hall Dan Kowal William L. McDaniel, Jr. Burt L. Saunders ALSO PRESENT: Amy Patterson, County Manager Edward Finn, Deputy County Manager Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations July 11, 2023 Page 2 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Good morning. MS. PATTERSON: You have a live mic. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. Good morning, everyone. AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Good morning. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Good to see you-all. All right. County Manager, let's roll. MS. PATTERSON: All right. Let's begin with our invocation and Pledge of Allegiance. Our invocation will be led by Father Joseph, Saint Ann's Catholic Church. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And our Pledge of Allegiance is going to be led by Collier County's finest, Sergeant Driscoll and Sergeant Tuff. When it comes ready for the Pledge, if you'd -- front and center. We'd like to see you in uniform. Thank you, sirs. Good morning, Pastor. Item #1A INVOCATION BY FATHER REJI JOSEPH, ST. ANN'S CATHOLIC CHURCH – INVOCATION GIVEN FATHER JOSEPH: As we are together, let us place ourselves in the presence of God. Dear Lord, we are here to discuss topics that will benefit the people in our community and country. We want to think about how we can make life easier for everyone. Come and give us the wisdom to make the right decisions. Let us not make biased decisions but decisions based on solving the problems of your children. Be our leader during this meeting. Show us the way because you have chosen us to be here. Give us direction and let us not think with our own selfish interests. Open our eyes to spiritual solutions July 11, 2023 Page 3 and help us make our country great. Reading from the Book of Psalms: I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, today we have come together to seek your direction as a team. We thank you for how faithfully you have carried us in the past through both the ups that included victories and growth and through the downs that included challenges and mistakes. Through all of it, you remained unchanged, and we are so thankful that we get to pray to you today. Though our vision only stretches so far, you see beyond what we can see, and your understanding goes farther than what our minds can comprehend. That is why we come to you in prayer asking that you go before us. Please grant us direction as we face different decisions that need to be made. If we settle on a decision, we ask that you grant us peace if it is what you will for us. We seek your counsel and wisdom and ask that you would show us the way. We pray for the vote of Collier County Commissioners and all its members for all the elected officials and those who are entrusted to God, our political welfare. We ask this as your sons and daughters, confident in your goodness and love. Amen. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Amen. Gentlemen. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, Father. Appreciate those inspiring words. After eight years of Catholic school and many years of being an altar boy, as Father Orsi always reminds us, amazing words, but it July 11, 2023 Page 4 doesn't count for Sunday mass unless you pass around a basket. So we'll see you in church on Sunday. This didn't count. But thank you, Father Joseph. Appreciate it. Okay. Next. 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 SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL - APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, we'll start with changes. We have just a time-certain item today. At 9:30 is a recommendation to hear a summary report of the Florida State Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability Study on exhaust system noise regulation for motor vehicles and motor-driven vehicles, and receive an update from Quiet Florida regarding reducing noise pollution from illegal vehicle modifications. Again, that will be time-certain at the 9:30. We do have court reporter breaks scheduled for 10:30 and 2:50. County Attorney. MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing this morning. Thank you. MS. PATTERSON: Chair LoCastro, let's start with any changes to the agenda and ex parte on the consent and summary agenda. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Kowal, do you have any changes to the consent, summary agenda, or any ex parte on the consent or summary? July 11, 2023 Page 5 COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No changes and no ex parte on either summary or consent. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I have changes. I did have some ex parte on one of the items on consent. And, yes, I believe that was 17C. Oh, no. I'm sorry, 17A. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER HALL: No changes and no ex parte. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No changes, and I, as well, had ex parte on 17A. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I have no changes. My ex parte is 17A, I had meetings and emails, and that was it. I just did want to -- before we ask for an approval on the consent or summary, I just wanted to make one note. It wasn't worth pulling it off, but it's more of an observation and also a thank you to our County Manager. If you happened to look at 16E1 and 16E2, you know, we continue to have some lessons learned on contracting and some after-action corrections. And our county clerk, you know, in her notes, she articulately points out that, you know, we've got some cleanup work to do. You know, it's not a gigantic number on 16E1, but any -- any number -- you know, $5,000 of corrections, more or less, is taxpayer dollars. But I'm really encouraged by what I'm seeing from the County Manager's team that these are starting to become minimalized in our agenda where maybe a year or two back or even further these seemed to be -- they popped up with more frequency. 16E2 is a little bit bigger of a number, but, there again, you know, we met yesterday. And you know, as -- like I said -- per Clerk of Courts, rather, as pointed out in her notes, things that we July 11, 2023 Page 6 definitely are going to -- are taking to heart. The other thing I just wanted to also mention is one of the things I haven't seen here in a long time is writing off very expensive equipment that nobody can find. It sounds like maybe those days are gone and, you know, writing off a rusted file cabinet is one thing, but night-vision goggles seem to be a thing of the past. So I really commend you and our Clerk of Courts and everybody that's doing a good job making sure that our processes -- you know, nobody's perfect, but as you point out in the notes here, you know, we look at history always to make sure we don't repeat poor history. So there's some really good things in here that are good lessons learned, and I thank you for your attention to detail, and the same with Ms. Kinzel in the back here. But if I have a motion to pass the regular -- accept the regular -- or the consent and summary agenda as is. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So moved, Mr. Chairman. COMMISSIONER HALL: Second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So moved 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. July 11, 2023 Page 7 Item #2B, #2C, #2D, and #2E JUNE 13, 2023, BCC MEETING MINUTES; JUNE 15, 2023, BCC BUDGET MEETING MINUTES; MAY 23, 2023, BCC MEETING MINUTES MAY 25, 2023, BCC WORKSHOP MINUTES MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL - APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: Item 2B is approval of the June 13th, 2023, BCC meeting minutes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Unless there's some indication from the Board, I'll make a motion to approve 2B, 2C, 2D, and 2E. They're all BCC minutes. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second that. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I've got a motion and a second to approve all four item minutes. 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: One quick question, if I may. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I walked -- I left my ex parte on my desk, and I knew I had 17A, but I also had meetings and July 11, 2023 Page 8 emails on B -- 17B as well. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Officer, please take Commissioner McDaniel into custody. Okay. We'll make that note for the record. Thank you, sir. Item #4A PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING JULY AS PARKS AND RECREATION MONTH IN COLLIER COUNTY. TO BE ACCEPTED OLEMA EDWARDS DIVISION DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION - MOTION TO ADOPT BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO - ADOPTED 5/0 MS. PATTERSON: Item 4A is a proclamation designating July as Parks and Recreation Month in Collier County. To be accepted Olema Edwards division director of Parks and Recreation. (Applause.) COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, while Olema's going to the podium, I think we -- most of us, I think, participated in the fireworks over at the Paradise Coast Park, and that was a really well-run program. And I know our Parks Department had a lot involved in that, and I know the manager did. But that was -- I think we had over 6,000 people there. And it was a little rough getting out of the park, but that was a job well done. So thank you for all of that. MS. EDWARDS: Thank you, Commissioners. I appreciate you recognizing us with this proclamation. Thank you for the words for the fireworks. I know Amy has some things that she would like to say, but it was a collaborative effort from the Paradise Sports Complex to our Sheriff, EMS, Risk Management. I July 11, 2023 Page 9 know I'm forgetting people, but it was a collaborative effort, and we appreciate you-all supporting us and coming out to visit the fireworks show. And we're just here to serve and happy to do so. Thank you. (Applause.) MS. PATTERSON: So, Commissioners, on that note, before we move on, we just wanted to bring the folks up that participated in getting ready for the fireworks and during the event for a quick photo and just a couple of statements. We did have approximately 7,000 guests. Activities and concessions were provided throughout the day. Fireworks and accompanying music started promptly at 9:00 and ran for the scheduled 20 minutes. The success of the event is particularly notable, considering the short time available for organizing this type of major community event. Thanks to great team work: Our Paradise Coast Sports Complex facility operators, Sports Facility Management; Paradise Coast Sports Complex staff; Zambelli Fireworks; Parks and Recreation; the Collier County Sheriff's Office; Greater Naples Fire; the Tourism staff; EMS, Risk Management; Solid Waste; Emergency Management; Allied Security; and Transportation, Road, and Bridge; and Facilities management. We are also -- as Commissioner Saunders noted, we are also working on an after-action analysis to identify areas where we can improve for future events. So if we could have all of our participants and folks that helped with the fireworks come up for a quick photo with the commissioners, I'd appreciate it. Come on up. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I saw all the postings, and it was awesome. Yeah, it was awesome. July 11, 2023 Page 10 (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You know what I just wanted to add was how impressive it was that the County and Paradise Coast Sports Complex staff and all the first responders, fire, how quickly everybody pivoted when -- you know, when we got the word that there weren't going to be fireworks on the City of Naples beaches down by the pier. You know, we normally do something at Sugden Park, and that's quite a bit different than hosting 7,000 people at the sports complex. And added to that -- and, you know, before the sports complex folks leave, literally, just a couple of days later, I was there to make a few comments on behalf of all the commissioners and the County staff at their Top Gun football event. You walked through those gates and you would have never known that 7,000 people just, literally, like a handful of hours ago were at the sports complex. It was squeaky clean, impeccable. All the same people that pulled all-nighters for the fireworks, you know, were out there for the Top Gun event. It was all this weekend. Thousands of people heard nothing but incredible comments from families and football players, middle school and high school, that came to the sports complex the entire weekend from all over the country, and then we had -- we had a good amount here from Collier County as well. But, you know, the events are just back to back to back, and, you know, you would never know it. So, you know, my hat's off to you guys and all the staff for what they did because, you know, it wasn't -- it wasn't that we just had fireworks and then they took a month off. I mean, it was, boom, next thing, you know. And you're only as good as your last thing, and the last things keep -- continue to get, you know, bigger and better. And as the County Manager said, yeah, some lessons learned, July 11, 2023 Page 11 you know. We have lessons learned here every day in how we spend money, how we write contracts, and, you know, how we host events at the sports complex. But you guys are on a good vector, and we all see it and are very appreciative of it. So, you know, keep pressing. Keep your foot on the accelerator. You know, it's noticed and appreciated. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Item #5A ARTIST OF THE MONTH - MR. BORIS DEIRY - PRESENTED MS. PATTERSON: Item 5A is the Artist of the Month. If we could turn your attention to the back of the room -- is artwork by Mr. Boris Deiry. He is a local artist that shows his art at the Border of Fine Art Gallery in the Naples Art District, and he is here to say a few words about his art. Thank you. You can take either podium, sir. MR. DEIRY: Thank you. MS. PATTERSON: Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Good morning, sir. MR. DEIRY: Good morning. Good morning, Commissioners. Good morning, everybody. It's such an honor to present my art here in Naples, especially when we celebrate the Centennial of Collier County. Thank you for the opportunity. I couldn't even dream about it some 30 years ago when me and my family immigrated to the United States. In my youth, I studied painting at School of Art in Siberia, when the opportunities of this country were a distant mirage. The Sunshine of Naples, which I now call home, could only be felt through the paints of my canvass. At that time, I got a Ph.D. in July 11, 2023 Page 12 biophysics and put my love of painting on hold. After moving to the United States, I worked as a scientist at Rush Medical Center in Chicago and later at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago; however, after work I would pick up the brush and some paint and lose myself in my basement in my home, often till the early morning hours. Painting became a language for me, for my self-expression, to compensate for deficiencies in my English. I used a number of different techniques and tried not to limit myself by a certain subject, theme, of style. The flow of energy between people and the material, shown as thoughts and emotions, seemed most mysterious and attractive for me to paint. My wife, Lucy, is not only a source of inspiration for many of my paintings, but she's also an interpreter for my work. I try to put meaning in every painting, sometimes obvious but sometimes hidden from anybody, including myself. In that case, Lucy interpret for me and makes it clear to understand. You can see some of her interpretations on the text tags near the paintings. One of my major interests in science has been to understand the mechanism behind learning and memory. This led me to create a series of paintings: "Learning to Fly," "Learning to Play," "Learning to be Beautiful," "A Taste for Learning," et cetera. I marvel at how kids start interacting with the world. My paintings are posted and sold on the art website on the Artmajeur, Saatchi, and others. I earned the Artist Certification in Artmajeur, France. "Learning to Play" was selected by St. Stephen's Lutheran Church in Wilmington, Delaware, for the events in 2019. My first exhibition here in Naples was in 2014. Since then, I have opened my own gallery in Naples Art District. It's a fast-growing area, but still more industrial than artistic. In other July 11, 2023 Page 13 words, it's not the same as Montmartre of Paris yet, but I hope it will become one soon. Please enjoy the art, and thank you again for this wonderful opportunity. My special thanks to Amy for her incredible help with the installation. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So, sir, you were born in Siberia and spent a lot of time in that part of your country before you came here? MR. DEIRY: Yes. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: When did you come to the United States? MR. DEIRY: 1991. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Wow. You know, a lot of times Americans who maybe don't travel as much, they hear Siberia and they think it's, you know, full of Russian prisons. I'll just only say that my military travels took me to some pretty interesting places that sometimes go unnamed, but the one thing I do know about Siberia, first-hand experience, it is one of the most beautiful places in the country of Russia, and people don't know that. Oh, it's cold. It's cold. You're in a definitely warmer climate. But it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, and most Americans don't equate Siberia -- they have some sort of negative connotation from the movies or James Bond movies or something. But that part of your country is just spectacular. So I'm sure that Siberia was very inspirational to you to, you know, have that sort of outside, you know, feel, because it is just such a beautiful picture as part of your country. But, you know, thank you for adding to our chambers. We really appreciate it. Thank you, sir, and welcome. You know, we're July 11, 2023 Page 14 so glad to have you not only in the United States, but I think we all appreciated your comments about the art district. Way to slip that in there. It wasn't missed. It wasn't missed. Thank you, sir. Okay. County Manager. Item #5B PRESENTATION OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BUSINESS OF THE MONTH FOR JULY 2023 TO NORMAN LOVE CONFECTIONS. THE AWARD WILL BE ACCEPTED BY NORMAN LOVE, FOUNDER AND CEO, AND YOSIE CRESPO, DIRECTOR OF SALES. ALSO PRESENT IS BETHANY SAWYER, VICE PRESIDENT OF MEMBERSHIP & INVESTORS, THE GREATER NAPLES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - PRESENTED MS. PATTERSON: Item 5B is a presentation of the Collier County Business of the Month for July 2023 to Norman Love Confections. The award will be accepted by Norman Love, founder and CEO, and Yosie Crespo, director of sales. Also present is Bethany Sawyer, vice president of membership and investors, the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce. Congratulations. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So Norman Love's a real person. Wait a minute. We have a celebrity in the house, right? Sir, if anybody would like to make a few comments, the podium's yours. I just want to go on the record, too. When Mr. Love shook my hand, I got a little mango passion fruit kiwi. I don't know if maybe -- he must have been working earlier this morning. Sir. MR. LOVE: Commissioners, thank you so much. To the July 11, 2023 Page 15 Chamber, also, thank you very much for acknowledging our business. We just turned 22 years old, which is quite hard to believe. It seemed like yesterday. We've been operating in Collier County since 2010, and for me, personally, it's been a privilege to have the opportunity to have a small business and run a small business here in the community, and we feel very, very blessed as our customers have embraced the things that we do. I started many years ago in the pastry and baking industry, nearly 50 years now, my last job with Ritz-Carlton as their corporate chef traveling globally 44 weeks a year, months at a time all over the world, which was certainly an accelerated growth for me. Having the opportunity to open a business with my wife in 2001, one month after 9/11, was certainly -- we faced some adversity initially, but I was very focused on creating something that was full of integrity, that was made with quality ingredients from my global travels. It was about artistic expression. It was about doing something right with a team of accomplished professionals that come to work every day to do something right. And after 22 years, on behalf of the 150 ladies and gentlemen that Norman Love Confections employs that come to work every day with purpose, we feel so honored to be part of this community. And, again, thank you so much for the honor. Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir. (Applause.) MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, we're about three minutes away from our time-certain at 9:30. I'd suggest we go ahead and get started with that. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, I agree. Item #10B July 11, 2023 Page 16 SUMMARY REPORT OF THE FLORIDA STATE LEGISLATURE’S OFFICE OF PROGRAM POLICY ANALYSIS AND GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY (OPPAGA) STUDY ON EXHAUST SYSTEM NOISE REGULATION FOR MOTOR VEHICLES AND MOTOR-DRIVEN VEHICLES AND RECEIVE AN UPDATE FROM QUIET FLORIDA REGARDING REDUCING NOISE POLLUTION FROM ILLEGAL VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS. (SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS) - MOTION TO AUTHORIZE COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS TO WORK WITH THE COLLIER COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT, CURRENT LOBBYIST, AND FLORIDA SENATE PRESIDENT PASSIDOMO TO IMPROVE FLORIDA STATUTE ON AUDIBLE STANDARDS AND FINE INCREASES; ALSO, DIRECT STAFF TO WORK WITH “QUIET FLORIDA” TO BRING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM TO EDUCATE REPAIR SHOPS ON ILLEGALLY MODIFIED MUFFLERS AND TO POTENTIALLY MAKE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL - APPROVED 5/0     MS. PATTERSON: Item 10B is a recommendation to hear a summary report of the Florida State Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability study on exhaust system noise regulation for motor vehicles and motor-driven vehicles and receive an update from Quiet Florida regarding reducing noise pollution from illegal vehicle modifications. This item is brought to the agenda at Commissioner Saunders' request. And Ms. Trinity Scott is here to begin unless, Trinity, you're starting with the Quiet Florida folks. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, I'd like to July 11, 2023 Page 17 make just a couple quick introductory comments as we get started, if that's -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. The floor is yours. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. I had brought this -- I brought this forward a couple of times. This noise issue is really a health issue and a quality-of-life issue, and there are a lot of citizens in Collier County that are really very upset, and rightfully so, because of the increasing levels of noise, and a lot of that noise can be controlled, and that's part of the purpose of bringing this forward. Senate President Passidomo has helped greatly in this effort, but there's a lot of work that needs to be done at the state level, and we're going to talk a little bit about that, and we'll be presenting that to Senator Passidomo. The Sheriff's Department has been very effective and very aggressive in citing vehicles and vehicle operators for excessive noise. I was looking at some of the statistics. We have, I think, twice as many citations issued over a period of about a year than they have over in Dade County. So if you look at, obviously, the difference in size and the difference in population, that's kudos to our Sheriff's Department for being very aggressive, but they need more resources, and we need to even be more effective in enforcement. We're going to hear from the proponents of Quiet Florida in just a minute, but part of what they're going to be talking about and part of what we're going to be discussing in a motion that, ultimately, I will make at some point is to have our lobbyist working on a couple things. I want to just kind of go through those real quickly. There's a standard in Florida where a vehicle noise that is being emitted from radios, that type of music noise, there is a "plainly audible" standard that law enforcement can use if a vehicle is emitting too much noise from music and that sort of thing. There is no "plainly audible" standard for emissions from exhaust. That's a July 11, 2023 Page 18 very simple fix. The legislature can fix the statutes so that officers could use the "plainly audible" standard that would make law enforcement much more effective. On Page 19 of the OPPAGA report, there's discussions about requiring the state agencies to provide more training to law enforcement on how to deal with noise issues. On Page 22, there's an update on some of the Florida laws that need to be improved upon, and that's something that Senator Passidomo perhaps can assist us with. On Page 23 of the OPPAGA report, they talk about the "plainly audible" standard, and it just seems to me an easy fix to make exhaust noise standard -- a "plainly audible" standard as well. And so we're going to hear from those folks at this point. And I'd like to invite -- I think Trinity Scott was going to make a presentation, but also Mary Tatigian has a PowerPoint and some comments as well. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. MS. SCOTT: Good morning, Commissioners. For the record, Trinity Scott, Transportation Management Services department head. A few months ago, the Transportation Management Services Department was tasked with looking at noise cameras. There have been a couple pilot projects that have been going on, quite frankly, around the world but also in our own backyard over in Miami-Dade. So our team has looked at the technology that's available. And so I'm going to give you a quick rundown and a quick update on the pilot projects and then a little overview on the OPPAGA study. So there are noise cameras that are available. They range somewhere from 7,000 per location to $25,000 per location. They require a trained analyst to review the data and make compliance decisions. July 11, 2023 Page 19 There are -- as I mentioned, there are several pilot programs, one within the State of Florida here at the City of Miami Beach, and Knoxville, Tennessee, New York City, London, and Paris. We did not go to London and Paris to check out their noise cameras. In Knoxville, Tennessee, they have deployed a pilot program. Their data is used to issue warnings using license plate numbers. They do not currently have state or county laws in place right now to issue a citation. What they have found within their pilot program is that large trucks and motorcycles were often the cause of the violation. And in what we have been able to ascertain from their data is that they haven't seen a noticeable change in the number of violations, but it's still a pilot program that they're continuing to move forward with. New York City, New York, has the most aggressive program that they have because they actually do have the opportunity to be able to issue fines. They started their program in February of 2022. They are expanding it in '23 and also anticipate expanding it in Fiscal Year '24. What they have found with their information is that it doesn't work well for highways; however, that wasn't necessarily their target audience either. So it is working well within the neighborhoods and where you have the slower speeds. The penalties under their program range from $220 for a first offense to $2,625 for repeated defaults. So that is something that's very important when they are progressing through their program. The City of Miami Beach has a pilot program as well. They instituted a four-month pilot program starting at about $50,000 for three cameras. They noted in their initial pilot that they had some technical issues with capturing the license plate information properly, but after three months, they augmented that system with a license plate reader camera. July 11, 2023 Page 20 The majority of the flagged vehicles are heavy trucks and high- performance vehicles with stock muffler systems that aren't illegal. They don't have a mechanism, obviously -- as Commissioner Saunders just alluded to, they don't have a mechanism to issue citations, but they are continuing their pilot program with a second-generation camera from the manufacturer. So the manufacturer's listening to the feedback that we're getting from the pilot programs and continuing to modify their equipment. So the technology to measure and capture excessive vehicle noise does exist. It's in its evolutionary stage at this time, and we're continuing to monitor the pilot programs. Commissioner Saunders discussed the Collier County Sheriff's Office. They have taken the approach of really working with their enforcement staff and getting that message out and really enforcing the existing law that we have -- the laws that we have. You'll see the total number of violations of 511 compared to Miami-Dade over the same given time as well as FHP with all counties combined, and then locally, just in Collier County, Collier County Sheriff's Office is leading the way in enforcement, head and shoulder above Lee, Hendry, and Charlotte Counties. The OPPAGA study -- OPPAGA, just for the audience, is Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability. It's the research arm of the Florida Legislature. They provide data and research to the Florida Legislature to assist them in budget and policy deliberations. What they noted was that between the Florida Motor Vehicle Noise Prevention and Control Act and the federal Noise Control Act is that it's complicated, and several of the laws compete with one another and that, in some instances, we are preempted by the Noise Control Act. The law enforcement practices varied by enforcement of July 11, 2023 Page 21 very -- for enforcement of state law for exhaust noise. Most citations were equipment related instead of decibel related, and several responses related to impracticality of the use of decibel meters. And then there were other options that they noted for noise enforcement, such as noise cameras. This really boils down to what the OPPAGA study says. The legislature -- they provide options to the legislature and what the legislature can do. The legislature can direct the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle to conduct -- or our local law enforcement agencies to conduct educational and enforcement campaigns on exhaust noise. We see that. They do a lot of educational campaigns. You see it on the variable message boards on I-75. We're actually working with "secure your load" kind of things to prevent litter. So those things do work. Direct entities to provide additional training for our law enforcement officers, expand the use of traffic cameras to include noise cameras, apply increased fines, direct DEP to review the federal preemption and recommend updates to Florida law to clarify exhaust noise provisions so that improved enforcement can occur. And then, as Commissioner Saunders discussed, create new approaches to enforce exhaust noise violations such as "plainly audible" that would allow violations if audible from a certain distance, nuisance noise standards based on an officer's opinion if noise is unreasonably loud, or establish a pilot program of probable cause vehicle testing. And I thank you, and I'm going to turn it over to Commissioner Saunders, and I think Ms. Tatigian has a presentation as well. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes, Mr. Chairman. I think this would be the right opportunity for the public comment from Ms. Tatigian to present her -- she's got a PowerPoint and a very lengthy video that we've agreed to limit to one minute, so... July 11, 2023 Page 22 MS. TATIGIAN: Yes. Good morning, Commissioners, and thank you. I appreciate your time. We appreciate your time. Quiet Florida wants to take this time to thank Commissioner Burt Saunders for putting this on the issue -- on the agenda and working with us for over a year and a half. Quiet Florida takes every opportunity possible to let your constituents know that you care about our welfare; you care about our quality of life. So thank you very much. Again, my name is Mary Tatigian, a 40-year resident of Naples, Florida, a wife, a mom, and a registered nurse of 30 years. Yep. So we're talking today about modified mufflers. Thanks, Troy. Troy's working the cameras for me. We started Quiet Florida almost two years ago due to the incessant noise from motor vehicles and aircraft traffic. Quiet Florida is a non-profit community organization working to preserve peace and quiet in our communities. We have over a thousand members and growing. Quiet Florida has members from many different counties in Florida as well. The last two or three years, Naples has seen a huge change. Some of the taxpaying residents in Naples have seen their lives do a 180 from having peace and quiet, which they enjoyed in their homes, to what seems like living in the middle of a racetrack or an airport. We ask commissioners to help us preserve our quality of life, our right to peace and quiet inside our homes and on our properties. The Board of County Commissioners -- I was on your website and found something very interesting. The Board of County Commissioners serves as the governing body of the County and has the responsibility of setting policies that protect the health, safety, welfare, and quality of life of residents and visitors. We have heard a lot about builders' rights in the last three years, but I want to mention resident rights. With growth comes traffic and July 11, 2023 Page 23 crime. We would like you to consider us in all your decisions about -- when you're making these decisions about the future of Naples. As well as working with Commissioner Saunders, we are very fortunate to be working with Collier County's finest Lieutenant Dave Breuning of the Sheriff's Department. He has been an integral part of our team, and more recently are working with Transportation Management, Tony Khawaja and Trinity Scott. We appreciate all their insight and their expertise. Slide 3, I just wanted to show -- this is probably a little loud, but I wanted to show a couple minutes of what we experience. One minute, is that what -- I thought it might be fun. I don't know. Okay, Troy. (A video was played.) COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That wasn't very loud. COMMISSIONER HALL: Somebody hit the mute button. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Where did it go, Troy? MS. TATIGIAN: I'll send them over your way. MR. MILLER: I don't know where it went. MS. TATIGIAN: Okay. Anyways, this wasn't Naples, but it's -- it was just examples of -- but we hear the same thing, and the sheriff can speak about that if you'd like to speak with him. Under federal law, no person shall remove their catalytic converters according to the EPA, while presently persons are removing their catalytic converters to modify their muffler. So at that time, that is another violation. Next slide. According to the World Health Organization, the quality of life depends on four things: Physical health and level of independence, psychological state and spiritual level, personal and social relationships, and environmental conditions. Three of those are July 11, 2023 Page 24 negatively impacted by the noise. Next slide. Health issues related to noise pollution. I know noise is subjective, but it's chronic, it's repetitive, and it's constant, and we cannot escape it. We cannot even go inside our home and close the door. The physical manifestations are some of these you can see here: Delayed cognition in children, psychological triggers, cardiovascular issues, anxiety, depression, changes in immune system. So those are quite serious. The vasculature of your blood vessels actually changes with chronic noise pollution, and they've studied this. There's many, many studies on this. Next slide. There is a statute that was established in 1979. Obviously, they didn't have noise cameras back then. So we are trying to speak with Senator Passidomo and see if the legislation can be tweaked in order for law enforcement to do their job a little bit more efficiently, and if we want to get ahead of the game, in 2026, the EPA is going to lower their legal threshold for vehicle noise. Next slide. Yes, speaking of -- Trinity had this on her PowerPoint as well. But the Collier County Sheriff's Department is phenomenal. They have been working with us for a year and a half and doing everything that they can do. Resources: More personnel would be great. They're outnumbered. They're out-staffed. The noise cameras would be great because the noise cameras could capture the images and the sound and issue a ticket, hopefully. This is where we're working for -- the police officer would not have to stop a vehicle and go to the vehicle and possibly be harmed. So that's just something to think July 11, 2023 Page 25 about. But, yeah, we are very, very grateful for law enforcement. Quiet Florida backs them 150 percent. We couldn't be where we were today either without them. Next slide. SoundVue is one of the cameras. He is actually -- I've spoken to him. He's in the United Kingdom. His company is Intelligent Systems. He'll be coming to Florida to work with Miami, and he's offered to come here tentatively July 28th, so we're hoping for that. Next slide. This is another company I've been in touch with called Not-A-Loud. There are issues. The noise cameras are in their infancy, but technology grows, so we're looking forward to that. Next slide, please. As Trinity had stated so well, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability has completed their study. Quiet Florida will be meeting with Senator Passidomo. Some of our solutions that we had thought of as a group, noise cameras, more education, basically everything the OPPAGA study had said, law enforcement to target car dealerships, body shops, car groups, schools, et cetera. Next slide. Perform more -- the Collier County Sheriff's Department performs modified muffler operations and tickets folks. The more they hear about it, the more that they will consider changing or remodifying their muffler back as it gets more expensive. We've talked about doing things on the streets that are like -- well, for instance, 951 is like a six-lane speedway where most people go 45 to 70 miles an hour. They're racing. We've talked about barriers or noise -- tried to do something with the noise during or through that area where it's most heavily populated; sound barriers, July 11, 2023 Page 26 if possible; opening up other roads, building other roads. I know that's a discussion to ease up some of the congestion. On Page 22 and 49 in the OPPAGA study, they had discussed California as a probable cause decibel testing program. Under this system, a law enforcement officer would ticket the vehicle, then the -- then the driver has to appear at a facility to have his or her car tested. That is something they're considering. The OPPAGA study mentioned, which we thought would be a great way to lessen the load on law enforcement, to give them a ticket, and then they have to follow up with hopefully remodifying their vehicle. Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles suggests the idea of having an independent inspection site for noise decibel detection. Like I said, it removes the technical barrier for law enforcement. So we're asking, yeah, again, for all of you to consider the residents of Collier County when you make your decisions moving forward with growth, et cetera. Thank you. Any questions? Thanks, Troy. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thanks, Chair. Ma'am, the one slide that had the federal regulations on the decibel, can you pull that back up again. I was just kind of making notes and it disappeared. I just wanted to -- was it, like, 72 decibels? MS. TATIGIAN: Yeah. Yeah. It's actually fairly lengthy. I took an excerpt out of it, but it is fairly lengthy, but that was the gist of what was being said. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: And I guess -- my follow-up question, does anybody know what -- the Miami program, what they set their cameras at? MS. TATIGIAN: They set it at 90. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: At 90. So it's well over -- July 11, 2023 Page 27 MS. TATIGIAN: Yeah. We're working with Commissioner Steve Meiner out of Miami Beach; been working with him since last August. And he -- he's been a huge proponent of this because he experiences it daily from his condo. So he's a huge proponent of this. He's been a great advocate for us of getting meetings with OPPAGA. Hopefully he can join us when we speak with Senator Passidomo next on this. Like I said, though, the law's in place. It's just enforcement and sometimes it's hard for people to really understand what we're going through if you don't experience it. The lack of empathy is there, and the lack of understanding. If -- like I had said before, if you cannot escape the noise even from your bed or your bathroom, some of your private places that you want to be to regroup -- we all have hard jobs. It's a stressful job as an RN. I'd like to come home and not listen to modified mufflers while I'm watching TV Friday night. So we're just -- you know, we're all about fun. I'd like people to have fun, too, but where does your fun end and my peace and quiet begin? Where is the moderation? This is not going to be perfect. We're not going to stop everybody, but could we try? Could we try to tone it down a bit? Like I said, nothing's perfect. With growth, there's always going to be change. So it's inevitable but, like I said, you know, if it wasn't a law already, you know, then we'd have to go about -- and Quiet Florida hasn't designed this law. It's been here since 1979, so... Thank you. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you. MS. TATIGIAN: Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Are there any other speakers? July 11, 2023 Page 28 MS. TATIGIAN: No, everybody -- a lot of people are out of town. It's July. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you for your comments. MS. TATIGIAN: Lieutenant Dave Breuning is here, if you have any questions for our -- for him. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: He might want to come forward. I've got a couple suggestions, and he may be helpful in terms of commenting on them. Mr. Chairman and Commissioners, what I'd like to see happen this morning would be for the Board to authorize me or some other member of the Board -- but I would volunteer to do this -- to work with our lobbyist and with Senator -- Senate President Passidomo to begin the process of tweaking our Florida statutes to accomplish a couple things: One, most importantly, to go to the "plainly audible" standard so law enforcement officers will have that ability, and you might want to comment on whether that "plainly audible" standard would be helpful. So that would be number one. Number two, again, to look at increasing some penalties and then have the County engage in an education program to educate the repair shops throughout Collier County as to what the law is -- because it is illegal to modify a muffler or to modify it to a point where it makes this much noise -- but to advise the shop owners that that's a violation. And maybe there could be some operations from the Sheriff's Department if there's a particular shop that is doing a lot of that type of modification, to put an end to it, and then also have the Commission consider the potential for more resources to the Sheriff's Department for enforcement. And so, perhaps, that would be a couple things you could comment on in terms of the "plainly audible" issue and the issue of more resources. LIEUTENANT BREUNING: Yes. Lieutenant Dave Breuning July 11, 2023 Page 29 from the Sheriff's Office. The plainly audible -- I think all of the recommendations from OPPAGA would help. "Plainly audible" would definitely help, so would the probable cause for inspections. I think those are -- would be paramount. Once you -- the problem that we're having is, is we're effective in citing people. We've -- I think I spoke last time. I think we're up to citing one guy 13 different times. So, you know, the -- and that gets expensive at $613 a ticket after the first one. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let me just ask, then, after the first or second time when he pays this big fee, it sounds like his vehicle, then, isn't fixed. It's not modified. So does he just say, I'll pay the $600 because, you know -- LIEUTENANT BREUNING: Yep. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- because I'm a millionaire or, you know, my daddy pays the fee for me? But, then, why are they allowed to continue to drive on, and then they're cited again. It's almost like, you know, if I hear somebody got 13 DUI's, I'd be like, after the second one, what happened? So what's the -- LIEUTENANT BREUNING: Well, there's no provision in the statute for anything beyond a citation or a fine. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So there's no -- as part of that fine, he doesn't get a directive that he has 30 days to modify his vehicle -- LIEUTENANT BREUNING: Correct. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- to a certain standard? LIEUTENANT BREUNING: Correct. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: That's the loophole, or that's the thing that's missing. LIEUTENANT BREUNING: Correct. And during my research in all of this, I actually found a -- it wasn't specific to modified exhaust. It was -- the form that I was reading on was on modified exhaust, but one of the -- one of the entrants on there July 11, 2023 Page 30 actually said -- he goes, you just need to factor it into our budget. He goes, I have tint on my front windshield, and I factor in $113 every month to pay a ticket because I know I'm going to get it. So that's kind of the mindset that we're up against. They know that they're going to get the tickets, and they're going to pay them. So at some point, legislation needs to look at, you know, maybe deadlining the vehicle or something like that. I don't even know how that would happen, but something along those lines, because we have multiple people who are paying these -- they're paying the tickets, and they're going on, you know, violating. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We could double the fine each time they get stopped. After about 13 times, they would no longer be millionaires. LIEUTENANT BREUNING: Yeah. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Do we know they pay the fine -- do we know they pay the fine? They don't challenge it and find a loophole somewhere and it gets excused? We get the cash. LIEUTENANT BREUNING: We're not -- we're not seeing a lot of challenges. And the ones that we are, we're being ruled in our favor. We've lost a couple. Most -- it was on our fault. You know, we charged -- if you look at the statute, we have a 5A and a 5B. 5A is the modification of it. 5B is the operation of the vehicle. A couple people have charged the 5A, which we can't prove that they actually did the modification. So we've lost those, but we've learned and moved on from that. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal's got a question for you, sir. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Good morning, Lieutenant. LIEUTENANT BREUNING: Good morning, sir. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Maybe you can refresh my memory or not. But I remember the "plainly audible" we used to use July 11, 2023 Page 31 with the loud radios, and I think it was 25 feet or 50 feet from a vehicle. But I do remember at some point it was challenged in the 20th judicial. I don't know that -- and I noted in the challenge, I think the ruling came down to us in case law that everybody's -- the way it was written was poorly, I'm just trying to say. And what happened was, from what I remember -- maybe it's changed since then -- but everybody's audible’s different. So you can't have a blanket audible. Like, I may have better hearing than you, or you may have worse hearing than me. And the courts said that you have to have something more specific because my audible's different than yours, and then how can that -- you can rely on that as your probable cause to actually fine somebody. LIEUTENANT BREUNING: They've recently revisited that. The legislation recently revisited that, and that is back in effect where we're 25 feet plainly audible -- COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. LIEUTENANT BREUNING: -- from the vehicle. So we're back to that standard. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: What about the issue of more resources for the Sheriff's Department? LIEUTENANT BREUNING: That would be -- that would be a question for the Sheriff. That's something that I don't deal with with manpower, so... COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Perhaps -- we're obviously in the middle of our budget cycle, and in September we're going to be setting the millage rate and setting the different programs. And your budget's already been reviewed, but it's not too late for us to tweak that a bit if the Sheriff feels that more resources would be helpful. LIEUTENANT BREUNING: I'll bring that forward. July 11, 2023 Page 32 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. Because I'm going to suggest -- and I'll make this as a motion, if it's appropriate, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to be authorized to work with the Sheriff's Department; with Lisa Hurley, our lobbyist; and with Senate President Passidomo to improve Florida statutes as it relates to this, in particular, to urge the legislature to approve the "plainly audible" standard just as it exists now for music, to increase fines. There's no reason why someone who gets 13 violations for this shouldn't be fined. Literally, by that point it should be multiple thousands of dollars, and it shouldn't be just you pay your 600 bucks each time. That's got to increase. And then also, as part of that, direct our staff to work with Quiet Florida and perhaps come up with a bit of an educational program so we can notify the repair shops in Collier County, put it on our web page, let the public know that it is illegal to modify mufflers to this -- to a point where they violate state law, and that -- that violation -- the Sheriff's Department is very capable of enforcing that if repair shops were violating that law, just like any others. So I'd like to make that as a motion. In reference to noise cameras, we're not ready, I don't think, to do anything with noise cameras at this point. They're being perfected, and perhaps in six months or a year from now, perhaps when there's better evidence of how they work, we can bring that back in our next budget cycle and take a look at whether we want to deal with noise cameras. But I think we can do a lot in this legislative session coming up, and now is the time for us to begin the process of us talking to our legislators and lobbyists about these issues. So, Mr. Chairman, I'll make that a motion. If someone else on the Board wants to take the lead instead of me, that would be up to the Board. July 11, 2023 Page 33 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll second the motion and keep you there. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'll third it. So we've got -- I wanted to say a few things, but let's at least vote on the motion. I think it's a smart way forward on an issue that we do care about that we want to -- we want to attack it correctly, and I wanted to say a few things after the motion. But we have a motion and a second. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. And, Commissioner Saunders, attack. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Could you say that a little bit louder? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: There we go. What I wanted to say, I think as part of the process as you follow up at the state level, if Miami is still in the test phase, really staying plugged in with them to see so we can learn from -- get their lessons learned. I do want to go on the record that my Harley and Commissioner Saunders' motorcycle, we're at 71 decibels. We just -- so we're just under. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So is mine. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right. And yours. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So is mine. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, we're at 71. We're going to check it as soon as we get home. July 11, 2023 Page 34 You know what I wanted to say to you, Mary, and as a closing comment, we get a lot of citizens that come up here that are really passionate about specific things, and we've got some meetings coming up where we'll have more. The one thing that I've always really respected about you is this is -- there's people out there that go, noise cameras, oh, violating my rights. Noise, go home. You know, there's no problem with noise. You come up here all the time, every single time, professional, prepared, and it allows us to have a healthy dialogue. And whether we agree or disagree, none of us wake up in the morning wondering how we could do bad things for the County, but sometimes we're reminded here, you know, that, you know, we're horrible people, and we've voted on the wrong thing, and, you know, we're all in this for the money as politicians. Every single time, you represent your organization with -- you do your homework, you come up here with details, you meet with us all privately, if needed, you know, so that we have -- we can digest things. And, you know, really, organizations need to take a page out of your book, because we're here to dialogue, not just to have people scream and yell at us or tell us that if we don't do all the things you just said, we're stupid and dumb and we've ruined the community and we've turned this place into Miami. You know, we're trying to work together but, also, we're under certain stipulations. You know, at times -- you know, we can do anything, but we can't do everything, or there will be things that sound great on the PowerPoint slides, and then Mr. Klatzkow says, you know what? That's illegal, immoral, or unethical. It's not going to float. And then, you know, we have to sit here and juggle. But, you know, my closing comment is just you come up here every single time and really set the bar of how to converse with us on July 11, 2023 Page 35 a topic, and there's so many controversial things that come up, and it helps us digest things. And also, you're -- the way you do it, it helps -- I won't say convince us, but if we don't have all the details, I can digest what you're saying and go, you know, maybe at the beginning of this meeting, I would have said, vote no in 30 seconds, and at the end, I'm like, you know, I'm not so sure. There's some merit, and it's because we're conversing. So I really appreciate that. And I think I speak for all of us here that, you know, you're relentless in this topic. You've been here before. But the way that you do it is really appreciated. And, you know, I know Commissioner Saunders will take this up. We won't let it die on the vine. But please keep us posted on what -- and we'll look in -- we'll stay plugged in as well, because when another county is doing a test case, boy, that's really good data for us so that we can take a look at their -- you know, their historical analysis, and if they got some takeaways that were awesome, great. And if there's some things that we're like, ahh -- if they had to do it all over again, what would they have done? And I'm sure that will be all part of the analysis. But thank you for the work you do. And I know you represent a lot of folks that are part of your organization. But, you know, it's really impressive and appreciated how you come here and really try to work with us. So, thank you. MS. TATIGIAN: Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Any other comments on noise? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No, sir. All set. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thanks. County Manager. MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, before we move on, if I could get a motion to accept the proclamation, Item 4A. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Oh, okay. Second. All in favor? July 11, 2023 Page 36 COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Accepted unanimously. MS. PATTERSON: Thank you. Item #7 PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA MS. PATTERSON: Item 7 is public comments on general topics not on the current or future agenda. Troy. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, we have nine registered speakers for this item. I'd like to ask the speakers to queue up at both podiums. Your first speaker is Tamra L. Mitchell. She'll be followed by David Silverberg. MS. MITCHELL: County Commissioners, my name is Tamra L. Mitchell. MR. MILLER: Can you pull that mic down. MS. MITCHELL: Here we go. I'm a Collier County resident and retired attorney, and I'm here to talk about a proposed ordinance that's being circulated purporting to declare Collier County a sanctuary from federal laws that it determines are unconstitutional, rendering them null and void. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: This is on the agenda in two weeks. July 11, 2023 Page 37 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I know, but then she's allowed to speak on it because it's -- maybe because it's not on the agenda. COMMISSIONER HALL: It's not on the agenda. MS. MITCHELL: This ordinance was already debated in 2021, and it was rejected by the Board at that time for good reason, because it was illegal and, guess what, it's still illegal. Under Cooper versus Aaron, a state cannot -- MR. KLATZKOW: This matter's coming back. I've already put the advertising in for the next meeting. It will be on a future agenda. The Board may hear the public speakers if that's your will, but that is not normally our process. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Well, this is the clarification I asked the -- I assumed we would have speakers here. Nobody's here to stifle anybody, but we do want to follow procedure. And I had asked the County Manager this weekend, I just said, I expect to hear some speakers on this. Possible. Nothing's on the agenda for the Bill of Rights, and, you know, there's plenty of stuff floating around in draft or otherwise. But if it's not on -- if something's not on today's agenda, can't anybody speak on it? MR. KLATZKOW: It's on the next agenda. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So clarify. I'm sorry? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It says on the current agenda or future agenda. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. MR. KLATZKOW: And the reason for that is that the purpose of public speakers is to influence a vote, which generally happens during a public hearing. Now, you're more than welcome to hear this person, because this is your process; this is your procedure. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. MR. KLATZKOW: But that is your procedure. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Well, I'll ask my July 11, 2023 Page 38 colleagues. Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. From what I understand -- I had heard this was going to be on the agenda today, and then I was advised that it was going to be put off for a couple weeks because of the advertising. So we all knew that it wasn't going to be on today's agenda. I don't think the general public necessarily knew that based on a lot of things that were circulating. I have no problem in listening to the folks this morning. I will say that the tradition of this board, for as long as I've been in Collier County, is not to hear and vote on controversial issues in the height of the summertime. So we're going to have this come up the second meeting in July. A lot of people on vacation, a lot of families taking their kids out just before school gets started again, a lot of folks up north. And so we've had that tradition. I think we should hear the folks this morning because if this is going to come back in two weeks, there are a lot of these folks that may be on vacation. But what I would urge the Board not to start the process of hearing very controversial things in the summertime. We've never done that before, and I think that's just not a very good trend in terms of public comment. But you do have a bunch of folks here that have traveled here to -- they're spending their time here. I have no problem hearing them even though this is going to be on another agenda in the future. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I mean, I'll echo that. I mean -- and I've gone on the record here several times where maybe I've broken protocol as the Chair but, you know, you do have some latitude. But I think when people come here -- and also maybe they get last-minute information or things like that. The bottom line is the chamber's here are for the people, and so we do want to follow July 11, 2023 Page 39 procedure, so I get that, but we do have some latitude. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: True. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And, you know, I think being able to sort of split hairs and say, well, you didn't get the message soon enough or you didn't understand the thing, okay, we don't have a thousand speakers. But I think everything that you said I would echo. If any other commissioners want to make a comment -- I would say that we hear from the handful of speakers that are here. But on the other issue -- and that's sort of a separate decision -- if this is going to be something that one of the commissioners here is going to put formally on the agenda next week, which would be July 25th, that's a separate discussion, and maybe we have it after we hear, you know, from the speakers who are here. So if there's any objection, I agree with Commissioner Saunders, I want to hear from the people that are here that maybe didn't get the word or didn't understand sort of the directions. And that's really, I don't want to say immaterial -- but, you know, unless there's any objection, ma'am, you know, continue, and then, Troy, please -- MR. MILLER: I paused the time when you started. Would you like me to reset the time? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, let's start fresh. And then we have how many people on this topic? MR. MILLER: Well, I think everyone here is on this topic or a related topic. It's not clear by all of their sign-ups, but I think it's all on this. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I don't think it's -- MR. MILLER: It's nine. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I don't think that's, you know, over-excessive or anything or we're all going to go to jail by July 11, 2023 Page 40 hearing nine speakers, so... MR. MILLER: Ms. Mitchell, please. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Go ahead, ma'am. MS. MITCHELL: Thank you for agreeing to hear me today. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Absolutely. MS. MITCHELL: I will be gone on the 25th, so this is my opportunity. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: You can always call. You can always call, you know. Mr. Miller's got Zoom. He's got phone calls, but anyway... Proceed, ma'am. MS. MITCHELL: Thank you for the opportunity. I do want to talk about it, because it's very important. Again, this is a proposed ordinance that was brought up in 2021. It was rejected by the Board, and it was illegal then. It's illegal now. Under Cooper versus Aaron, a state cannot nullify federal law by declaring it unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected nullification and held that only federal courts can decide whether federal laws violate the Constitution. Certainly, Collier County doesn't have that authority. If nullification by Collier County were allowed, every county in the country would render its own version of the meaning of the constitution, resulting in chaos and many problems. Under the ordinance, any resident could bring suit against any Collier official or law enforcement officer if the resident argues their constitutional rights are violated, and the county official would be personally liable for their own legal defense, paying attorney fees, court costs, and damages. How will that help Collier County retain and recruit employees? Another potential consequence of this ordinance will be to jeopardize all the County's federal grants and benefits, including July 11, 2023 Page 41 hurricane relief, since the County declares itself free from the commanding hand of the federal government. Under such a declaration, how can Collier County cases referred to federal court get resolved when the County doesn't recognize federal authority? How can federal enforcement of criminal investigations, immigration cases, even be possible in a county that doesn't recognize federal authority? How do businesses operate in a county that won't recognize federal rules on commerce, health, safety, labor, and taxes? What about administration of federal programs such as Medicare and Social Security in a county that doesn't recognize federal authority? All these questions need to be answered before even bringing such a proposal to the table. However, there's no reason to propose a Bill of Rights Sanctuary County in the first place since the United States itself, through its federal courts, is already a sanctuary for the Bill of Rights in every jurisdiction, including Collier County. The federal courts already serve as a forum to determine whether the federal government overreaches. It recently did this in the U.S. Supreme Court case involving forgiveness of student loans. This system already protects you and I and every Collier County citizen, so why waste time on a proposal that's clearly illegal, will create many serious problems, and is inherently unnecessary? I respectfully request that you forego putting this on your agenda and if by some chance it gets there, that you please reject it again as you did two years ago. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is David Silverberg. He'll be followed by Jane Schlechtweg. MR. SILVERBERG: Okay. Commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is David Silverberg. I'm a July 11, 2023 Page 42 resident of Collier County, District 2, and I want to very much associate myself with the previous speaker. And as Commissioner LoCastro said earlier, we don't have a need to repeat history. The very fact that there are nine speakers here today, I'm sure mostly on this topic -- and the ordinance hasn't even been brought forward -- shows that there's a deep concern -- a deep concern, I think, about -- among the majority of residents of Collier County with this proposal, and I would urge you all not to bring it forward and not to put it on the next agenda, because it has been rejected. It's been fully argued, and it's been shown, I think, amply to be unconstitutional, unworkable, unviable, and of great detriment to Collier County. As the lady said, you know, the sanctuary for the Bill of Rights is the United States of America. It's the only sanctuary, full stop. We don't need some kind of successionist proposal that's unviable, unworkable, and distracting and divisive in this county. So I would urge whoever was thinking of proposing this ordinance to simply drop it and perhaps put in a resolution. We already passed a resolution two years ago stating Collier County's commitment to the Bill of Rights and its intention to uphold it in perpetuity. I think that's more than adequate. That should reassure anybody who thinks that we weren't, you know, upholding the 10 first amendments to the Constitution. So let's save ourselves all a lot of time, save the County a lot of money, save everybody a lot of problems, and, you know, look forward to Collier County's next 100 years, not looking back. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jane Schlechtweg. She'll be followed by B.T. Esquivel. MS. SCHLECHTWEG: Yes. Good morning, County Commissioners. Thank you. July 11, 2023 Page 43 My name is Jane. I'm a resident of District 1. And so far I'm an American citizen. But if you propose -- this proposed ordinance were to go into effect, I will no longer hold that. The previous speakers have kind of taken the wind out of my sails, so I won't repeat everything that they had to say. But I do want to remind you that there is a Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution that establishes that federal law is the supreme law of the land, superseding conflicting state or local laws. So I also want to remind you that this morning we took a pledge to the flag to the country that we would be allegiant to our government. If you were to pass this ordinance, you would be in violation, ethically, of that ordinance. And, lastly, I'm sure you all know that there are legal mechanisms in place if you do not like a federal law, as seen by the recent Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action and student loans, to name a few. So seceding from the union is probably not the best choice. Perhaps the supporters of this ordinance who cannot look beyond the shortsightedness of the proposed ordinance, cooler heads will prevail, and we can put this all behind us. Thank you for your time and your consideration. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is B.T. Esquivel, and he'll be followed by Susan Cone. Sir, I hope I'm getting your name right. MR. ESQUIVEL: You're doing fine. Thank you. I'm going to make this quick. I know I've only got three minutes, so I'm going to get right to it. First of all, just for clarification, earlier, if you look at our background here, Collier County is in all capital letters. You look at the flag over there. All three of them are in gold trim. According to the national flag, Title 4, Section 1 and 2, a yellow fringe is not July 11, 2023 Page 44 authorized. It's a commercial entity. So when we did our Pledge of Allegiance, we did it to the commercial entity, not to the true American Republic, just so you know. The reason I'm here today is we strictly moved here to this community a couple years ago, almost three now, to investigate the County for corruption. We were welcomed here by open hands in the very beginning by Alfie Oakes, Patrick Dearborn, Bill, everybody. Once we started bringing out this information, I was blackballed by the Republican party and everybody within the situation because, again, there's a lot of interactions that are taking place. The first interaction that I'd like to bring to the attention here and finalize is with the county clerk: Failure to operate outside the corporate structure, which violates her oath of office she signed; failure to perform her duties as dual roles as a corporate entity and a constitutional officer; failure to perform recording documents, a violation of Federal Statutes 18 U.S.C. 2071, which I did sue the County as well as her. Instead of moving it outside of the county, which they should have done because there's a conflict of interest, they dismissed the case locally here in the county. So failure to perform her duties under the Homestead Act of Domicile, giving people a choice; failure to perform FOIA requests. This is the area of the Sunshine Law. When we asked for the names of each and every individual that works for the county clerk, position, salary, this is our response: As custodian of the public records for the Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller for Collier County, I'm in receipt of your public records request. In response to your request, I have forwarded a complete organizational chart of the Clerk of the Circuit Court Comptroller. She sent us an organizational chart with just the positions with July 11, 2023 Page 45 no names, no salaries, and said that she did not have to do this due to the fact that it was under a security statute, okay? Well, we did the same thing in several other counties throughout the State of Florida because -- again, because we sued here, I feel I'm being discriminated against because they're not bringing forth actual facts. So we asked Escambido [sic] County; Hillsborough County; Lee County; Manatee County; Miami-Dade County, which is the largest in our state; Pinellas County. Each and every one of them sent what we requested with no issues, no problems, no BS. So I'm here today to make you folks aware -- because you are operating as a commercial entity -- I am now a secure party creditor which allows me to face and put liens against the County if I choose to do so, just so you know. And the only way you can take those liens away is through a court process. And we're going to be utilizing all of the records that you've been doing here for the last two years. I've accepted each and every one of your oaths except for the new two people that have been here. I'm accepting your oath of office today on a public record. You will also receive information directed to your home. So, again, I'm asking for the immediate resignation of our county clerk for fraud and so forth. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Can you wrap up, sir. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Susan Cone. She'll be followed by Kate Tardif. MS. CONE: Good morning, Commissioners. For the record, my name is Susan Cone. I've been a resident of Collier County for 48 years. My three children were born and raised here, and I have owned two businesses here. And I am, too, here to speak against the proposed Bill of Rights sanctuary ordinance that we heard might come up later on in this meeting and maybe be put on the agenda for July 11, 2023 Page 46 the July 25th meeting. And I agree with Commissioner Saunders' comments that important matters like this should not be brought up in the dead of the summer, as it was in 2021 of July, when nobody is here to speak their thoughts about it. So I hope that you will have the wisdom and the foresight to not let this proposed ordinance move forward. It was voted against in 2021, and I ask you, what's changed since then? What has changed since July of 2021? I think we still have the same questions and concerns. For example, have we determined whether you or the Sheriff will be determining what is -- what federal law is constitutional or is not constitutional? And I know you're working on your budget. Have you budgeted for another County Attorney and all the legal fees that might be -- that will be associated with the actions that will be brought forth? Have you considered the economic consequences when businesses and tourists are hesitant to invest in a dysfunctional and lawless county? And will, quote, being free from the commanding hand of the federal government and refusing to cooperate with federal government officials jeopardize the County's federal grants or make the County ineligible for FEMA assistance? And have you researched the consequences of what happens in other counties that have passed such an ordinance and when law-abiding citizens are convicted of federal crimes because they're confused about what is legal and what isn't legal? So with all due respect, I don't think that any of the county commissioners or our county sheriff has the ability or the authority to interpret whether or not a federal law is constitutional. That's the role of the Courts. And here's how democracy works in the United States of July 11, 2023 Page 47 America: If we don't like a law, we work hard to elect people that will pass laws that we want, and we vote for those people, or we bring the matter to the court. We don't just say I don't like this law, and I'm not going to follow it. So I really hope you won't let this move forward. I worry what will happen to our beautiful county if it becomes chaotic and dysfunctional. And thank you very much for your consideration. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kate Tardif. She'll be followed by Todd Truax. MS. TARDIF: First I want to say thank you to Mr. LoCastro for your comments before we started today. It is -- it is -- I'm grateful to hear some of the expressions of concern about following the right order and for also your conclusion to respect that people did make an effort to get here. And it is hard to know which end is up when it comes to the structure of these meetings. So now I'm going to get right to it. If you've never seen one of these, it's the -- it's Key West's conch republic passport, and it's embossed with a motto: "We seceded where others failed." At least this one is tongue in cheek. Their 1983 secession lasted exactly one minute. If this deliberately anti-America ordinance is voted on -- voted in by our county commissioners today or any day, we may as well declare our succession from the United States of America, because this piece of work officially declares that Collier County and its citizens are above the laws of Florida and of the United States of America. We give ourselves the right to honor only those laws that suit our fancy. Furthermore, the body considering this is actually a little hypocritical. We launch every committee meeting with our Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and the republic for which it stands. We deliberately declare our first July 11, 2023 Page 48 allegiance to nation, our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our laws. Oaths that protect and defend those very things are taken by decent and honorable, current and former, American military, police, and elected officials. What does it mean to dishonor those oaths? Just because a band of noisy constituents and some bad-actor officials want a law to bless their constitution nose-thumbing, who are these patriots that would even propose Collier County literally take stands against our nation for which we stand one nation under God? "No" is the right answer to political pressures from the minority of Collier County constituents who propose such inflammatory anti-American lawmaking. Not for nothing. Claiming sanctuary status will certainly cost all Collier County taxpayers -- sorry -- obscene amounts of tax dollars defending lawsuits and challenges in county, state, federal, and even possibly in supreme courts. The Supreme Court already has history denying states and local governments the power to nullify federal law. The Constitution couldn't be plainer. It is clearly illegal. Saying it's legal don't make it so. So despite an outspoken minority's pressure to put this on the agenda, legally its discussion is pointless except for drama. The fact is, it's DOA, dead on arrival. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Could you wrap up, please, ma'am. Thank you. MS. TARDIF: So "no" is not just the right answer to supporters of this latest assault on American democracy; it's the only answer. Thank you, Commissioners, for your time and consideration. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Todd Truax, and he'll be followed by Katherine Cunningham. MR. TRUAX: Good morning. I'm Todd Truax. I'm a July 11, 2023 Page 49 resident of Bonita Springs, but my kids grew up with Burt's kids at Poinciana Elementary and Gulfview. So I've been down here, what, 25 years now. We've both gotten a little gray and thicker. I'm a nursing home administrator just up the street here on Airport-Pulling Road. We're in a nursing home and assisted living facility. I'm here to speak also on the Bill of Rights Sanctuary County ordinance. I'm not the wordsmith my predecessors are, but I still have some opinions to voice on that matter, which I hope you will bury. Just to clarify, will the ordinance disregard Amendments 11 through 27? And opposite of sanctuary, then will they be backwoods or imperiled amendments? I think the point of this ordinance is to perhaps own the libs, I'm guessing. Why on earth would you offer sanctuary to the Bill of Rights and propose the other 17 amendments are no longer your responsibility? Is your aim to create a lawless county? Just for the benefit of my residents at my facility -- there's about 100 of them that I'm responsible for -- we have to abide by CMS's rules, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services. So when they come for their annual inspection, can I disregard that? Will the body reinstate the poll tax? By owning the libs, does this also include owning slaves? Because I have some labor challenges in healthcare. So if you can help me recruit nurses and CNAs, I'd appreciate that. The justifications on this are just short on facts, and the conclusions are preposterous. It seems to me you're no more providing a sanctuary to the Bill of Rights than targeting the people of color, women, and other protected groups. It reads like a hate speech under the guise of a dusty proclamation. I had the July 11, 2023 Page 50 displeasure of reading it last night and again this morning. I suggest you reconsider this assault on democracy and stick to the position you've been elected to, public service for public benefits on a county level. Roads, bridges and utilities may not be glamorous to you, but your citizens are counting on you to focus there. Just practice beyond -- within your scope of practice. That's what our healthcare folks do. Roads, bridges, and drains and dumps fall within your purview of County Commission. Constitutional law, executive orders, and judicial decisions are not. Please -- here's my favorite part that plays back to the car. This noise ordinance would fall outside of the Bill of Rights. Would we as citizens then be able to file suit against the Commission and law enforcement for citations regarding noise violations? My noisy Orange Fury Mustang GT is my free speech. Thank you for your time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Katherine Cunningham. She'll be followed by Melanie Wicker. MS. CUNNINGHAM: Good morning. My name's Katherine Cunningham, and I'm a volunteer with Moms Demand Action. I also work as a trust and estates lawyer. And I'm currently taking unpaid vacation time in order to make this statement. On behalf of Mom's Demand Action, I'm here to oppose the sanctuary county ordinance that we understand may be introduced later today. We certainly hope that you'll reconsider. Everyone loves the Bill of Rights, and if you're just hearing about this ordinance for the first time, you might think it sounds like support for basic American principles. It isn't. This proposed ordinance is contrary to our constitutional system of government and is intended to allow the county sheriff to unilaterally override Congress and our judicial system. As you may recall, this ordinance was originally introduced two July 11, 2023 Page 51 years ago as the Second Amendment Protection Act and then broadened to the entire Bill of Rights, but the original focus was to prevent the enforcement of federal gun laws in Collier County. The same ordinance was rejected by the Board of County Commissioners in July 2021. What has changed in the past two years? This ordinance was introduced with the support of the American Constitutional Rights Union consistent with the national trend that we have seen pushed by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. These groups have names that sound good, but they've pushed an extreme antigovernment agenda. For example, they have argued that gun safety laws like background checks and Red Flag Laws are unconstitutional despite the clear evidence that these laws are effective at preventing gun violence and consistent rulings from the courts to uphold them under the Second Amendment. So I want to focus my remarks on Red Flag Laws in particular, which are also referred to as risk protection orders by the Sheriff. And this law was passed by the Florida Legislature and signed by the Governor following the Parkland shooting. In Collier County, we are fortunate that our Sheriff's Office has successfully implemented the Red Flag Law to temporarily remove firearms from individuals who pose an immediate danger to themselves or others pursuant to a court order. In contrast, many of the counties that have declared themselves to be a Second Amendment sanctuary, the sheriffs in these counties have refused to enforce Red Flag Laws based on the sheriff's personal interpretation of the constitution. In one recent and tragic example, the sheriff in Colorado Springs declined to pursue any protection orders and, subsequently, a shooter with a violent history killed five people and wounded many more at Club Q in a shooting that could have been prevented. More than 120 Americans are shot and killed on average every July 11, 2023 Page 52 single day, and guns have become the leading cause of death among children and teens in our country. This bill reflects an effort to block bipartisan gun safety laws enacted with overwhelming support of voters and to bypass the Court's interpretation of the Constitution to the detriment of public safety. Please vote no on the sanctuary county bill if it comes before you, and we offer to meet with each of you individually to share more about how you can prevent gun violence here in Collier County. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Melanie Wicker. She'll be followed by Kristina Hauser. MS. WICKER: Hello. I'm Melanie Wicker. I am a full-time Naples resident. I think a lot of us remember the TV show Gunsmoke. The show was set in the 1800s in a small Kansas town named Dodge. Matt Dillon, a brave man and a man of unwavering principles, was the town's marshal. Over and over again he found himself up against a hotheaded group of men who were ready to shoot or hang someone without a trial, and every time Dillon stood up to them, warning them in strong language that he would enforce the rule of law, which he did. When people feel threatened or angry, they can start acting like a posse in Dodge. They want to take the law into their own hands, declaring that this law is constitutional, but this one is not. The Bill of Rights does spell out a long list of our rights, but the Constitution also sets out a process for determining whether a law is constitutional or not. In the United States of America, the power to make that determination rests not with a group of people but with the courts. In other words, while claiming to value the Constitution, this ordinance, in fact, seeks to undermine it. Do we really believe that Sheriff Rambosk has the authority or July 11, 2023 Page 53 the time to enforce this law but not that one? As determined by whom? A small group of people who've made themselves judge and jury over the rest of us? That's not only dangerous for us, it's also dangerous for Sheriff Rambosk. According to a Harvard law professor, quote, when a sworn public official refuses to enforce the laws adopted by voters, that is arguably a dereliction of duty and a violation of a law enforcement officer's oath to obey the Constitution, unquote. Why would we put our own sheriff in legal jeopardy? Not only that, but why open the County to lawsuits? In 2021, when this ordinance was first proposed, Collier County Attorney Jeffrey Klatzkow said, the big issue is going to be attorney's fees. There is an incentive for attorneys to bring actions under this, unquote. In 2021, our own Councilman Burt Saunders voted against it. He said, quote, the solution to the concerns that the pro-ordinance folks have is really at the ballot box, unquote. Exactly. I hope this ordination -- this -- ordination. Yeah, ordination. I hope this ordinance will never come before this board, but if it does, please follow the examples of Marshal Dillon and Councilman Saunders. Stick to the rule of law and abide by the Constitution as it is written. Vote no to vigilantism. Vote no to the ordinance. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker and final speaker for public comment is Kristina Hauser. MS. HAUSER: Thank you. Good morning, Commissioners. I hadn't intended to address this matter today but rather to wait until it does appear on an agenda, which hopefully it will. But I just feel it necessary to respond to the many inaccurate comments that were made this morning. July 11, 2023 Page 54 It's a lot of hyperbole and fear mongering, so I want to define for you what the scope is of the ordinance that hopefully will come before you in two weeks, and it's much narrower in scope than the picture that's been painted this morning. The ordinance makes it unlawful for the County to help the federal government in carrying out or executing unlawful, unconstitutional mandates of the federal government. So it's not nullification, as we heard this morning. It's not rendering just, like, willy-nilly federal law to be unconstitutional in your view or that you're not going to -- we're not going to abide by federal law as a county. It's specifically saying that no local official or employee will participate in carrying out or executing unconstitutional federal orders or mandates. And this rests soundly upon well-settled law. It's called the anti-commandeering principle or doctrine, and it's been upheld by the Supreme Court over and over and over again. That's why we see sanctuary counties from immigration policies, the proliferation of that throughout the United States. More than half the counties in the United States currently are Second Amendment sanctuaries. So this concept has been tested elsewhere and upheld every single time by the courts, and I'll address the matter more fully in two weeks when hopefully the ordinance will be heard. Thank you. MR. MILLER: That is your final registered speaker on this item. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. We will take a break until 10:50. (A brief recess was had from 10:38 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.) MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So please show Commissioner McDaniel is absent. We will have his chair removed, and his July 11, 2023 Page 55 computer will be sold. Proceeds will go to the County. No. So, County Manager, we're at 10A, correct? MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. We're at 10A. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. All right. Item #10A DISCUSSION TO CLEAR THE RECORD CONCERNING LAST MEETING’S PUBLIC HEARING AND APPROVAL OF THE TREE FARM MIXED-USE PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (ITEM 9A). (SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS) - MOTION TO INCLUDE/ADD COMMENT LETTER PACKET TO THE RECORD BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL- APPROVED 5/0 MS. PATTERSON: 10A is a discussion to clear the record concerning last meeting's public hearing and approval of the Tree Farm Road Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development, which was Item 9A. This item is brought to the agenda by Commissioner Saunders. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders, sir, you have the floor. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman. At the last meeting we unanimously approved the application for the Tree Farm project. There was a little bit of a glitch. There were several speakers that were online waiting to make their -- or on Zoom waiting to make their comments, and we had a little technical glitch, and they were not able to be located and were not able to make their comments. Troy actually communicated with them to -- he actually July 11, 2023 Page 56 apologized. No apology was necessary, but he apologized on behalf of the County for the glitch. And we all know Troy does a wonderful job. So I started receiving some emails and some letters saying, clearly, the County intended to cut these people off so that they would not hear the negative comments on the project from the County. Obviously, that was not the case, and I knew that I was going to respond to that in some way. Initially, I was going to ask for a motion to reconsider for the purpose of clarifying the record and letting those folks speak, but I, subsequent to that, had a communication with Cheryl Ollila on the issue and received a letter from her. I'm going to read parts of this letter into the record. My purpose this morning is to clarify the record. I've spoken to the attorney for Tree Farm. He has no problem with modifying the record to reflect the comments of folks that wrote letters and wanted to speak on this. I delivered to each commissioner yesterday a copy of those letters, and I've got extra copies for the Clerk and whoever else would need that, of this little package. But I do want to read this one letter as we add these things to the record, and this is from Cheryl Ollila. And it says, Commissioner Saunders, thank you for getting back to me and your offer to place the amendment to the Tree Farm MPUD on the BCC meeting agenda for July 11th for reconsideration. We know it was not the BCC's intention to block anyone from speaking; rather, this was a mistake, and mistakes do happen. We want to be clear -- and this is what I think is important. We want to be clear that we are not opposed to the amendment and very much support the affordable housing that will be part of this development. We are focused on the resultant traffic from the increased density that was approved. July 11, 2023 Page 57 And so the letters are not necessarily in opposition to the project, but they have a lot of concern about traffic, and we all do. And so I have a package, Mr. Chairman. I'll make a motion to include this package of letters that's been distributed to all the commissioners to be added to the record, and that will conclude this particular matter. So I'll make that motion. COMMISSIONER HALL: Second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second it. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a motion and a second. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. You know, I -- we all had gotten emails from those folks, and although they weren't present here and whatever the glitch was, I remember in my comments, I sort of summarized what a lot of their emails were -- their concerns were, which was traffic, and I think we called either -- Mr. Bosi up to the podium, if I remember correctly, to address that exact issue, regardless if people were here. And I personally heard what I needed to hear from the County saying, well, of course, anything you build is going to increase traffic, but is it going to be over and above what those roads can hold, and I remember hearing, you know, that that wasn't the case. And so it wasn't that we ignored traffic. We did address it but, you know, now at least, for the record. And then, you know, we'll continue to work with those citizens to make sure that, you know, July 11, 2023 Page 58 their concerns are addressed. And, you know, traffic is part of the major issue that gets looked at, you know, with this particular area. Okay. So now we've already done 10B. I'm sorry. Go ahead, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We just have the motion. I'm not sure if we voted on it. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, we did. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We did. It passed 5-0. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Good to go. MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, in our 11 items, we do have four items, but the only item that has a speaker is Item 11D, and that speaker needs to leave by noon. So I'm just bringing that to your attention, if you'd like to take Item 11D ahead of the other three, which are staff items, so we can hear the speaker and be sure they're out of here by noon. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, that seems reasonable. Item #11D RESCIND THE CONTRACT AWARD OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (“RFP”) #22-8023, “OUTSOURCING OF COUNTY MARINAS,” TO BLUWATER FLORIDA, LLC (“BLUWATER”) AND RESOLICIT. (AMY PATTERSON, COUNTY MANAGER) - MOTION TO DENY RESOLICITING THE CONTRACT BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO- APPROVED 4/1 (COMMISSIONER KOWAL OPPOSED) MOTION TO ENTER AGREEMENT AS BID MINUS WATERCRAFT AND CASH SALES BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO – APPROVED 4/1 (COMMISSIONER KOWAL OPPOSED) July 11, 2023 Page 59 MS. PATTERSON: Okay. Item 11D is a recommendation to rescind the contract award for Request for Proposal 22-8023, outsourcing of county marinas to BluWater Florida, LLC, and re-solicit. Hello, Commissioners. You'll recall we did hear this item last agenda where some concerns were raised about the award of this contract at that time specifically related to the rental of watercraft. The direction of the Board was to go back and speak with BluWater to see if that item -- if that issue could be rectified, and in the process of doing so, unfortunately, some other inconsistencies and issues have arisen related to this contract having to do with the percentage of sales being included or being allowed as part of the negotiation as well as some issues that have arisen as part of the negotiation process. Because of that consideration, we are making the recommendation that we rescind the offer on this one, on the contract, and that we go to re-solicit the item, making sure that we have addressed all of those items that may have been unclear in the original solicitation so that all bidders that are interested in this particular contract would understand the terms that the County is looking for and the terms under which that they should propose. And so with that, I will to leave it to you if you have questions for me or if you want to hear the speaker, and then we can have a conversation. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Go ahead, sir. MR. DAVIDOW: Yes. Commissioners, thank you, and thank you for the time today. I'm here on behalf of BluWater. I'm an attorney here. I think -- MR. MILLER: Could you state your name, please, sir. MR. DAVIDOW: Sure. Joseph Davidow, for the record. I think most of you I've met before, and somewhere along the July 11, 2023 Page 60 lines. That being said, BluWater had come to me with regard to this. If we looked at the executive summary, I think this is important for procedures and process. And the executive summary says here in the middle paragraph under the considerations, the recommendation contract award was contested -- this is an important part -- and the Board requested changes to the contract to eliminate water services. And so what I want to do is run through. Because when we say that there's a contest to a bid or an approval of a recommendation, things aren't as, let's call them, ministerial as they may appear. On 4/13 of '23, there was a recommendation from Procurement Services to award the contract to BluWater. On 4/17, the contract was negotiated and reduced to writing and actually executed by BluWater. On 6/27 of '23, there was a Board meeting before you-all, and there was an approval at that board meeting if BluWater removed a portion relating to the watercraft water services -- watercraft services. The contest, I believe, that's being suggested was commentary made probably from this podium at that meeting on June 27th of '23. The problem here is that it doesn't follow our own municipal code under 2-208 for protest of bids. This is exactly what it was, but it wasn't done within the time period in order to protest a bid. In fact, under Subsection 3, you have three calendar days to protest the bid after an award. The award, again, was on April 13th of 2023. So the only thing that actually could have occurred was within the initial negotiation process that there was the issue relating to watercraft services. It didn't. The issue relating to watercraft services came from commentary here, which is essentially trying to bring in the back door what you couldn't bring in the front. The municipal code is, if I go forward under 2-208, Subsection 9, failure to file a formal protest within the time and July 11, 2023 Page 61 manner prescribed by this policy shall constitute a waiver of the right to protest by any protesting party as defined in Subsection A. So what I'm presenting to you is simply that we're stepping way outside of policies, procedures, and municipal ordinances that we're all supposed to follow in saying that we have to now put this contract back to bid. You guys gave a direction. And are you permitted to give that direction? I think that's a gray area, but possibly yes. But what can't come back from that direction is that the ministerial portion of that comes back and says now we rescind and then send it back out, because there are damages. This was a closed bid, and now that whole bid process is out there, and anybody can change it. And we wouldn't have these, as we do in federal law, to protest bids, so... CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So here's what I'll say to that -- because most of the marinas that are in question here are in my district, so this is very important to me. And the disappointing thing is who's losing here are our citizens, because we have marinas that, you know, have minimal services right now. I didn't look at this as a challenge or a protest is what killed this whole thing. The challenge and protest brought up some specific things that none of us were aware of, and even some of our County staff weren't aware of, that the initial RFP and then the later negotiations after your client was selected, the county was -- did not follow procedure properly. So it wasn't that whoever -- this is my interpretation. But the people that came up to protest or challenge, that's not what killed this and had us decide to possibly send this out for a rebid. It was in their testimony that we started peeling back the onion. Because I sit here and I go, you know, if a request for proposal goes out and it's very specific and then it picks one particular contractor, then that contractor doesn't sit down with the County or the company or July 11, 2023 Page 62 whoever and then say, okay, now that I've won the bid, now let's see what other extras we can put in there. And the County allowed your client to do that, and I think that's what the -- you know, when they wanted to add the addition of watercraft -- no, just hear me out. When they wanted to add the addition of watercraft, that's where we all took a pregnant pause and said, well, wait a minute. That wasn't in the RFP. So, technically, the other companies that wanted to make a bid, if they would have been able to negotiate after the fact, and that -- that was what really was the conversation here that there was negotiation by the county after the fact with your client. And, you know, your client has every right to try to, you know, throw something out and then -- and then see what happens but, you know, we were -- we were sort of smacking the hand of our own county employee saying, the minute your client wanted to negotiate additional things, even additional things that maybe would have been a benefit, our County staff should have said that window is closed. Those are all really great ideas that I wish we would have thought of in the original RFP. And we could have done -- the County staff could have done one of two things: Could have looked at your client and said, wow, we really like your ideas. You know what? Time out. We wish we would have put that in the original RFP or, hey, the door's closed. You've been selected with the verbiage of the current RFP as is. We're not here to -- there's no renegotiation after the company's been selected, and that's where the mistake was made, and that's totally on the County. And so, you know, we sat up here in good faith and thought, you know, if we really -- if we're trying to do this right, we're not going to try to, you know, salvage this. And I think the proposal was made to go back to BluWater and say, well, would you -- would you take the July 11, 2023 Page 63 contract and take out the watercraft? I think even that sat uncomfortably with some of us that, you know, we were trying to sort of, you know, lessen the air and the damage by at least just sort of salvaging, you know, the contract. And, you know, in the end, I think, after talking to our own County staff and admitting the error and not telling your client, hey, you can't throw a bunch of extras into the -- into the narrative of the RFP after the fact -- that's what -- that's what did it. You know, in my opinion it wasn't people who came to the podium and challenged it, and we accepted that challenge. It was their -- it was the details in their testimony that got our attention of possible county missteps or definite, you know, county missteps. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I -- I just -- you know, the representation that Joe's made with regard to the protest wasn't the consequences of my decision. I learned new information from the gentleman that was at the podium. I learned new information that representations were made to the public with regard to the bidding and their interpretation of the process by staff that leadership wasn't even aware of. That was consequently why I came up with the decision to go back to BluWater. I actually even expressed a concern because the Pandora's box had been opened. We knew what BluWater had offered. How are we going to go back into a fair process? And I actually even said out loud that when we -- if BluWater isn't interested in removing the watercraft rental out of their agreement, that we have to set the minimum bid parameters at that so that we're at least halfways coming in with a fair -- fairer playing field. Number two -- and I'm going to go to my County Attorney right now. My understanding is all contracts are this board's right to accept, reject, or not. County Attorney? July 11, 2023 Page 64 MR. KLATZKOW: That's why we come to you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. KLATZKOW: We always come to you with a recommendation to do something, and then it's the Board's prerogative whether to take that recommendation, change that recommendation, whatever. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Henceforth, it wasn't the normal process of a bid objection or a -- or -- whatever it was you said. It wasn't -- it wasn't -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Challenge or a protest. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It wasn't the challenge -- the protest. That's the word I was looking for. Thank you, Rick. It wasn't a normal protest process. The contract came to us, and the recommendations that we made were based upon that process and the suggestions that were made by a couple of the folks that had come to the podium with regard to that. So we thought -- I know, myself, I felt that that was the fairest way for us to move forward with this. Just for your -- and, again, we're not -- MR. DAVIDOW: I appreciate that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- here to debate that. You've expressed your -- you've expressed your client's opinions with regard to that. And, again, if they feel they've been damaged by this process, they certainly have a process of their own that they can, in fact, pursue. Do I have any questions for you? Because, I mean -- MS. PATTERSON: No. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- I spoke with the County Manager about this yesterday, and I felt that at our last meeting we were on a better path. And, again, I don't agree with the protest process at all. July 11, 2023 Page 65 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Hall, and then, Commissioner Saunders, you're on deck, sir. COMMISSIONER HALL: I will agree with Commissioner LoCastro and Commissioner McDaniel, this was not anything about a protest or a contest. It was strictly awareness that came forth again that the RFP process was ambiguous at best, and it wasn't offering a chance for the public to bid apples and oranges. So as far as the damages, I think -- I may be wrong, but I think the new process is going to come out and require some different criteria, like, you know, with specific items to be included and the services and the items for sale and maybe a straight fee to the County and -- in lieu of percentages of sales. So I think the -- if we do something like that, then that may not -- that may not damage your client as bad. They can refigure their numbers and, you know, their hand's not exposed, so to speak. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I think you made a really good argument, so I want to compliment you on that in terms of reviewing the ordinances and the processes. And it raises a question as to whether or not we actually awarded a contract when we sent this back to staff and said, if BluWater will do X, then go ahead and give them the contract. And I think that's really kind of the technical question. COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But going beyond that -- and maybe, you know, if a Court determines that we did, then, of course, there's all kinds of issues associated with that. I'm hopeful that we don't get to that point, because BluWater made a really good bid, great company, and there's a high probability, I would assume, that BluWater, if there's a rebid of this, will certainly be very favorably considered. July 11, 2023 Page 66 So I guess the question for the County Attorney is, did we actually award a contract? We haven't signed one. We just directed staff to sit down with BluWater and say, if they were willing to take the watercraft out of the contract, then go ahead and award the contract. But is that really an award? And I think that's a legal question that we're -- MR. KLATZKOW: Well, my recollection is the Board, in essence, modified the contract and then put it back on the bidder to see whether or not they would accept. My understanding was the bidder did not accept that. I could be in error. MR. DAVIDOW: The bidder accepted that. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The bidder did accept that. So it's really kind of a legal issue. I agree with my colleagues on the Board that we do need to rebid this, but I'm just kind of trying to ferret out whether there was a -- whether we've created a little bit of a -- MR. KLATZKOW: Well, you've created -- it's a little murky, I'll give you that. But, you know, I do think that the best recourse is simply to rebid it on a different structure so it's like an annual fee, and be done with it. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, then, I guess my final comment would be, it looks like that's the direction we're going to go in. I would ask BluWater to work with us. I certainly understand -- if BluWater wants to file a lawsuit, I understand all that. That's -- MR. DAVIDOW: I don't -- MR. KLATZKOW: And please, let me note, sir, that the contract is terminable by the County at will. So by the terms of the contract itself, even if you take the position that we do have a fully executed agreement, we could just terminate it, and that would be the end of it. July 11, 2023 Page 67 MR. DAVIDOW: And I don't think it's BluWater's intent to have me here to suggest that there's a lawsuit forthcoming against the County. BluWater cared about this enough to have me show up and demonstrate to the Commission that they want the contract enough that I'm here to demonstrate that I think there was a contract made. Ministerial, albeit. You do X, and we'll give you Y. Well, we accepted X, and that's the issue. And the only thing I just brought up as, let's say, for the Commission at large is that I understand everything that Commissioner LoCastro said, Commissioner McDaniel, Commissioner Hall, but it wasn't brought up within your own discussion with regard to the watercraft services. So, essentially, any protester has an opportunity to come in at the end well past the period to protest, bring up an issue of protest for which now you've learned about it, and we've now circumvented a portion of the protesting part in the code. So I think that's just something for the Commission at large to take a look at, because there are timetables and time periods when we're responding. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And as I said -- I appreciate that. As I said, you did a great job in terms of laying out the issue, and I just wanted clarification from the County Attorney before we move forward, because it's pretty clear we're going to move forward in a direction that you don't want us to, but I think -- I think we're on pretty good solid ground to do that. And I wasn't indicating that I thought BluWater would file a lawsuit because there's -- that would be a bit silly. And BluWater's a great company, and I know that that wouldn't happen. And hopefully we'll have an opportunity to work with BluWater going forward. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I've still got some commissioners. Commissioner Kowal. July 11, 2023 Page 68 COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chair. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And then Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'd just like to go on record also and say that, you know, the public comment, for whatever reason, whatever they brought up -- and, you know, the protest was not solely -- I did not base my decision on the way I looked at this. It gave me the opportunity, then, to question our own staff deeper. And even from this dais, I said -- I think I even quoted that we own this. This was our fault that this happened this way, and we have to rectify it, and that's when we moved forward, and I believe the way we did and the way I worded the motion, I think -- and that's why we voted the way we did. It had -- you know, it's noted -- it had no basis to do with anybody protesting this that swayed my decision to do what I did. It was purely on the questioning of our own staff for probably a lot longer than we thought we'd ever spend on that particular agenda item that day. But, you know, to get to the facts -- and I think we owe everybody that, you know, and I think we need to be fair and -- MR. DAVIDOW: Gotcha. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: -- you know, across the board for everyone. So that's our, you know, due diligence to do that. So that's the reason I did what I did. So just to go on record to make sure. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: What really generated the discussion -- then I'll go to Commissioner McDaniel -- was one of the vendors who didn't bid -- and, you know, I don't think you were here -- MR. DAVIDOW: I was not. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- but one of the vendors that didn't bid read an email to explain to us the feedback he got from the July 11, 2023 Page 69 County. That's what brought everything to a screeching halt. He wasn't protesting. He wasn't, you know -- and then there was a couple of other vendors. But that email just, to me, was the smoking gun. I hate to say this but, you know what? You call it like it is against the staff where we had conflicting, you know, feedback to vendors who, you know, were making bids with integrity and with the verbiage that they had, but it wasn't a fair and equitable, you know, type thing. And so that's when -- you know, in the end we want to do completely the right thing and not sort of cut corners and go, well, we made a mistake, but how can we salvage it, you know, and get sort of the 70 percent solution? And none of us were happy with that. But it was that email that went from the staff to one or two vendors that showed us that, at the county level, we colored outside of the lines a little bit. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I've got to say, I'm not all that thrilled about going out and rebidding this. I learned today that BluWater, after giving direction by this board to remove the watercraft rental out of their contract, which was the gray area, the subject matter for discussion -- when I voted for that, it was, ask BluWater if they'll remove the watercraft rental out, and if they will, we'll go forward with the deal that they presented with their proposal, but -- and I didn't see -- and I didn't ask you yesterday. I apologize for that. I just assumed that BluWater had rejected that request by the Board, and that was why staff was coming forward with a rebid, not a re-think of what was bid in the process. So I'm -- I've got to say out loud, I'm not -- I'm not all that thrilled about going back into a rebid process if BluWater did -- was asked to remove the watercraft rentals out of their deal -- or out of July 11, 2023 Page 70 their proposal, and I think we should honor that. Because I expressed concerns about the playing field in the rebid process on a closed bid -- on a closed-bid scenario. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And really -- Commissioner Kowal's lit up. But, I mean, I have the same question. The way I saw it was even after that meeting, I think quickly it was sort of whispered to us that, oh, we think BluWater's going to be fine with taking out the watercraft, and then, boom, we press forward. But then I saw an email from BluWater that went to a whole bunch of people, and maybe I read it too fast. It seemed to -- it was after the fact, and it seemed to raise some concerns from BluWater and then -- and maybe I draw a false conclusion. I thought -- and now I'm hearing something different -- that BluWater sort of rethought their concern, and it was like, now, wait a minute. So let me -- let's hear from Commissioner Kowal, and then the floor is going to be yours. Separate rumor from fact for us -- MS. PATTERSON: Of course. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- because that email we all got -- none of us commented on it. I don't think any of us hit "replay all" because we were just cc'ed. It was more to the staff. But I remember that I sort of scanned it. It seemed like an after-the-fact BluWater -- and they weren't saying no, but as I was reading through the lines, it was like, hey, wait a minute. We sort of have sort of circled our wagons, and we've got some concerns. We're not saying a hard "yes" like we might have said a couple of days ago. And then I remember when I read that, I was like, all the right people from the County staff are on it. None of us have to get into this discussion. We'll just let it flow and then see what comes to the July 11th, you know, county commissioner meeting, and now here we are. July 11, 2023 Page 71 So Commissioner Kowal and then, County Manager, the floor is yours. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman. I also was referring to the email I read and the way I saw it. And then I know that -- I don't really want to get in the weeds here with this, but I think through talking to staff and the County Manager yesterday in our meeting, that some other things came to light. And I'm not saying one way or the other, but from what I understand -- and, you know, I asked this question from the dais that day was, you know, what retail experience does this individual have from BluWater? Because I know initially that's not their business. Their business was rental, just like the other people that, you know, were here that day. And it was told to the staff that they reassured that the husband or ex-husband was going to -- who had this contract in the past was going to participate in helping BluWater with that aspect of it. And I don't know if this is true or not, but from staff, I believe a letter was sent, and this was found after the fact, after researching this, coming up to this conclusion today. So I don't know if the County Manager can -- MS. PATTERSON: So going back to the watercraft; that was the easy part of this conversation. When we left here, we all, I think, felt okay about the direction and potentially BluWater's position on removal of the watercraft. And while not ideal, it was a potential solution. Unfortunately, the series of events that unfolded over the next week is what made us feel uncomfortable enough to say we need to rebid this. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Did BluWater feel uncomfortable, or their position was still the same? It was more of the County? I think that's the -- July 11, 2023 Page 72 MS. PATTERSON: BluWater was agreeable to removing the watercraft from their conversations with Procurement. They had not actually executed yet. So, you know, it wasn't inked finally, but the issue became, then, that there were questions about the percentage of sales against a monthly. So how it was responded and bid and how it was ultimately negotiated became a question. And, still, did that mean that others might have proposed differently, or would additional people have proposed if they understood that there was options? So that was problematic, as well as our own internal process, excuse me, for negotiation at the table gave some concern to both Procurement and then as those facts became available to us to the County Manager's Office. At that point, being faced with a situation with a percentage of sale, which is not the easiest thing to administer or monitor, bringing cash into the equation and all of that, as well as continued questions arising, not in protest, but simply questions from people that were involved in this process, it appeared that the process was substantially -- I don't want to use the word "compromised," but substantially murky; that a rebid was in the best interest of the County, and that's simply how we arrived here. We have learned we need to be very specific. We have learned that we need to say exactly what it is we're looking for, and if there are things that should not be included, like watercraft, we need to specify that. We also need to specify the terms under which we're looking for a contract and not allow for, well, if you come up with a better idea, just throw it on the table, and we'll hit it at the negotiating table. It creates an inconsistency or the perception of unfairness that we're -- that's not what we want. We want a level playing field and a level of fairness to anybody that will respond to this type of proposal. July 11, 2023 Page 73 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So was -- did BluWater accept the arrangement that the Board had asked to remove the watercraft rental out of the agreement and go forward? Yes or no? MS. PATTERSON: I had an acknowledgment that they received it. I do not know that they actually signed that agreement. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Signed or not, did they accept that? MS. PATTERSON: That is my understanding. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Well -- because then there's a perception of an agreement. And, again, we have the right to cancel any contract. So then, as Commissioner Saunders adeptly stated, you know, the exposure for the County is limited to the timeline within which the perception is there for having an agreement. I like the discussions that we had yesterday. I wasn't happy with the original proposal for offering the marinas for rent. I had suggested that we divide them up and allow for individual operators to take different facilities. I thought that was a better idea. I think that the proposal that I heard yesterday with regard to the rebidding process is a cleaner methodology because we're not into a percentage of sales. We do have an issue with cash sales and collections and monitoring as to what our percentages of revenue typically should be or could be. I like those processes, but on the same token, we made -- I voted on making an arrangement with BluWater to deal with the subsequent issues of actability and so on based upon their proposal if they would remove the watercraft rental out. MS. PATTERSON: Understood, sir. And I think, in good faith, that's the way that we proceeded. And nobody anticipated the continuing challenges that -- and I don't mean from outside, but even July 11, 2023 Page 74 the internal challenges that have arisen. I think that when we left here last -- two Tuesdays ago, the marching orders were clear: Work with BluWater to deal with what we believed to be the primary issue. Unfortunately, what unfolded was additional issues that were equal in our concern and, therefore, to provide full transparency and full visibility, we'll be offering a solicitation that doesn't -- because we're not just putting the same solicitation out; therefore, everybody knowing what everybody thought. You'll be -- we'll be offering it in a different way and to address some of those concerns that were raised by the Board and others to be sure that we have an absolutely fair competition here. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Shouldn't we, though, have -- from a process standpoint, shouldn't we have canceled the contract then, or did you feel you didn't need to do that because it wasn't executed on the other side? MS. PATTERSON: Correct. We worked this with Procurement and with the County Attorney's Office so that we knew what exactly we needed to bring to you in what order. That's why we're here in the way that we are. So this is not -- we're not -- we did work through this process and did advise BluWater as soon as we came to that conclusion and had spoken with the County Attorney so that they understood what our position was and where we were going. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Gotcha. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: When you said there was -- and then I'll go to Commissioner Hall. When you said there were further concerns after our last meeting here, did BluWater share those concerns as well? Did they start to have concerns, or did they voice anything where they thought the percentages and whatnot were in question, or did they -- were they clean and said, we'll take out the watercraft, and we'll press forward with what's on there? So they had no -- when you keep saying, like, there were additional concerns, July 11, 2023 Page 75 it was only with the County staff? BluWater didn't raise any kind of concerns, correct? MS. PATTERSON: No, sir. Other people that had been participating in this process, as was alluded to by the other Board members -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right. MS. PATTERSON: -- had already provided, you know, some commentary. But our concern with our internal process actually probably floated to the top, is that, did we handle this in the best way? Was it the cleanest? Were the negotiations exactly the way -- did it provide that fair competition to everybody, or did we hit the negotiating table with one idea that kind of migrated to another idea? With all of that included, and the public input, it just murkied -- murked -- what would I say? It made the process murky. So we arrived here thinking that that is honestly the best way to just start clean. And I know it's disappointing. We're disappointed, too. Absolutely wish that this didn't come to this result, but, again, just accepting it and moving forward with all of those outlying issues does not seem to be the prudent process. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chair. When I'm thinking about treating others like I want to be treated, I concur with Commissioner McDaniel. When I voted to let BluWater have the contract if they were willing to remove the watercraft, that's what I meant, and I had peace about that. Sure, the process was ambiguous. It wasn't our best, but I don't think that we should try to correct that process at their expense. I think we can learn from that and move forward, but I don't think that we should do it at their expense because we have messed up, and it was not because of a protest. But when I left here the other day, at the last meeting, I was July 11, 2023 Page 76 resolved that if they -- if they have a contract and they're willing to forego the watercraft issue, I was good with it, and I'm going to stick with it. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. And as far as -- as far as the accountability goes with cash, just disallow cash transactions. COMMISSIONER HALL: Yeah. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's that simple. It drives me nuts. But I go to places all the time: "We don't accept cash." Boom. Then we don't -- we don't have to -- we don't have to deal with that ambiguity. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So -- and, you know, I know we have had in our prior life where we have -- I'm pointing at the Clerk while I'm pointing. I wasn't pointing at you. I was pointing at the Clerk, Commissioner Kowal. We had -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: He likes to point. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He gets nervous when I point at him. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Not really. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We have had issues over the accountability with regard to cash in the past, and if that becomes an issue going forward, we can adjust our contracts just to just eliminate the cash transactions, especially when we're dealing with a portion of our revenue being percentage sales. And there's -- and it's absolute, all. I mean -- so that would be my -- that would be my recommendation if we're going to go forward with that. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm beginning to feel a little bit like a flounder. I've been flip-flopping here as this debate has July 11, 2023 Page 77 gone on, and Commissioner Hall has convinced me of the merits of moving forward with BluWater; however, I guess I have a question for BluWater, and I assume that this is the principal of BluWater? MR. DAVIDOW: Ms. Winn, yes. MS. WINN: How are you? Yes, I'm Kim Winn. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. So are you authorized to represent the company -- MS. WINN: Correct. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- in terms of -- okay. Staff has come up with what is a better plan in terms of the way things are charged. I'm wondering -- and this is a question for the County Manager and the County Attorney -- are we able to amend that contract? Let's assume for a moment that we have a binding contract that we could terminate right now if we wanted to -- we don't want to do that -- can we amend that contract to provide the better method of charging so that there's no confusion? MR. KLATZKOW: I think the Board's choice at this point in time is to accept the amended contract without the watercraft or to put it back to bid. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well -- MR. KLATZKOW: I don't think you can -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Let me just ask you the legal question. Not what is the best procedure or anything, but just a legal question. MR. KLATZKOW: I don't think you can -- see, I hate saying that in case you do it anyway. But I'm suggesting you not do it that way. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. Well, I'm not asking for your suggestion. I'm asking you a straight legal question. MR. KLATZKOW: If you get challenged -- (Simultaneous crosstalk.) July 11, 2023 Page 78 MR. KLATZKOW: If you get challenged, you will lose. MR. DAVIDOW: I don't think so. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, if we amend the contract and they agree to it, I'm not sure who's going to challenge it, but -- maybe one of the other bidders might, but I don't think that's much of a risk. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: What's the amendment you're proposing? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. Well, here's what I'm trying to do. I mean, the County staff has decided that they want to rebid this because there's a better way to make it clear what the charges are and to avoid confusion. My question is, can we just go ahead and amend what is now an existing contract with a vendor to reflect that if the vendor is willing to do that? It's just a simple question. Would you be willing to change this contract to reflect some of those changes? Now, if the answer is no, that's fine, but -- MR. DAVIDOW: The answer for BluWater is yes. And if I could be heard, I believe you have a vote before you, right, and you have the power to amend what's before you. So from a procedural standpoint, you can change what you're voting on, but that's just one lawyer talking. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Let me just add something here that gives a little bit of a nuance to what everybody is saying here. It's one thing if you amend the contract and say, I want watercraft all in or I want watercraft all out. I think the things that we're talking about -- you know, "amendments" is a really strong word. What I see here are some nuances to finalize the contract. Like, if you say no cash or cash, I don't think all of a sudden we get 10 protests from people who didn't get the contract saying, oh, my God. I would have said no cash. MR. DAVIDOW: You can't. July 11, 2023 Page 79 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So I think these are nuances. And it might be a hairsplitter, but Commissioner Saunders is right, you know, that -- or I definitely agree that, you know, we're looking for, you know, is this illegal, immoral, or unethical? We're already a little bit out of our lane, you know, I will say, and -- but I think, you know, these are very fine-tuned amendments. It's more of like some small specifics to finalize the contract. But any kind of major, major big pendulum swings, then I think it has to be rebid. But if the County has got a couple of nuances and BluWater agrees, you know -- I mean, I don't think this is the best way, you know, to do a contract. We're trying to sit here and I'm not saying salvage it, but trying to see if there is a sort of common ground before we just go back to square zero. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And, Mr. Chairman, the reason I was suggesting this approach is I agree with Commissioner Hall. I like the comment we want to treat people the way we would want to be treated. I think that should govern everything we do, with certain exceptions perhaps. But if we assume that we have this contract, and we have -- and I don't know what all the details are and what can be changed -- and we have a party that knows that we can terminate this contract anytime we want, so that gives the other party a little bit of incentive to modify the contract in a way that's reasonable for both parties, if they're willing to do that, then I think we just approve this -- we ask staff to meet with BluWater and make modifications. I know Amy's giving me a look of some bit of distress, it looks like. MS. PATTERSON: No, sir. We're here because we knew that there was a chance that you would feel comfortable moving forward with BluWater. We're here to tell you our concerns and our recommendation. If your recommendation or your direction is to move forward with BluWater, that is absolutely what we're going to July 11, 2023 Page 80 do. I would -- the cash piece I agree with you. To say we're not going to accept cash is a pretty simple issue. To wholly change what has been negotiated and move back to a cost per month or a cost per year away from a percentage of sales is a large departure from what was negotiated, and so that -- those are the two things that were the big issues. One is the watercraft. We're settled on that. The second is, is it better to solicit -- and the third, is it better to solicit this as a percentage of sale or as a monthly or annual charge? And, lastly, is it a one vendor or a multiple vendor, which is an issue you-all talked about a fair amount -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Again, you're talking about a legal question. If we have an existing contract that provides for a percentage of sales and that contract has been in place for a while and we decide that we want to amend that contract to provide a fixed fee, my assumption is that we can do that without having to rebid an existing contract. COMMISSIONER HALL: We can. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I know Jeff's looking a little distressed as well. MR. KLATZKOW: No. What I'm saying is if you are challenged, you can lose. But, again, who's going to challenge you? I think -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, let me make a suggestion, then. There are -- and I haven't looked at the contract since it first came up, so I don't even know the details, and I'm not 100 percent sure what changes you would want. Why don't we have the staff meet and come back right after lunch with proposed amendments to an existing contract, fix this contract, and then move forward with it? July 11, 2023 Page 81 I'd hate to see us enter into an agreement -- or proceed with an agreement that we know is flawed when we have a party here that's willing to, perhaps, consider fixing that agreement. That's -- that would be my suggestion. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel, and then I have some comments. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And maybe my suggestion's a little simpler. We have a contract. We agreed to the terms of the percentage of sales. And if we're going to amend the agreement at all -- because, again, I personally like going to the fixed fee. I personally wanted us to be able to open it up to other vendors, but I made an agreement that if BluWater will accept the removal of the watercraft rental, do the deal that we have. I hadn't really given consideration to the accountability issue with regard to cash. So my suggestion is go forward with BluWater, eliminate the cash sales as a portion of that -- of the transaction, and be done. We don't have to -- we don't have to -- I don't want to -- because if we move into an amendment to a fixed fee like staff's recommending, we go out for a rebid, it brings up a whole -- whole 'nother issue of, well, I would have bid on it if that would have been the case. I'd rather just go forward with BluWater, eliminate the watercraft and the cash sales, and be done. COMMISSIONER HALL: Learn from our mistakes. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Here's the thing: The way contracts work is once you put out the RFP, somebody bids on it, and they get it, you can't -- the County can't figure out a better mousetrap and then go, oh, but, comma. So the County screwed this up, okay? We've got to eat the spinach, okay? Learn from this, much like we learned on all these after actions and everything that I said earlier. But if there's a big muscle movement disconnect, then I think this goes out for rebid. July 11, 2023 Page 82 And when you make -- when you make slight amendments, it's usually well after the fact. BluWater's had the contract for a year. We've discovered after 12 months of their performance that there's two or three things that aren't working well, so we bring them back to the table and go, you still have the contract, but do we both agree that we want to make some amendments to A, B, C, D, and E? That usually happens after the fact, and that is supported and legal. You make adjustments to an existing contract based on historical data that is not a positive experience for both parties, and then you agree, and then you make those changes, and so we always have that opportunity. But I think, you know, it's great after the fact we came up with 10 smarter ways to build the mousetrap. Too late. You know, too late. And so I say, in good faith, if BluWater removed the watercraft, if they are amenable to some small little movements but -- you know, small little tweaks like, hey, we both agree, the cash thing should have been in there, but it doesn't really change the flavor of the entire contract. But if there was anything that was a big, major muscle movement, then agreeing to the contract with BluWater, I think we would get pushback from some contractors. And this may be not be the most advantageous contract for the county, but I can tell you one thing with 100 percent certainty, it's way better than the previous one we had. Way better. And so, you know what? Eat the spinach. Go back -- and this is a lesson learned for our County contractors. I think BluWater's been patient, flexible, you know, and amenable to some different -- different things, small movements. But, you know, I think it's -- I echo the same thing, you know, if I was sitting here and I was BluWater, I'd be like, wow, so then after you thought about it a week, you came up with 10 other things that you want to do? It's too late. It doesn't work that day. July 11, 2023 Page 83 MS. PATTERSON: Sir, if I may clarify, the discussion about what we would do differently is not the basis for the re-solicitation. We're here to tell you that we are uncomfortable with the process as it's transpired from the last Board meeting, through our work with BluWater and information that's surfaced through that discussion. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, we agree, but it's too late. MS. PATTERSON: Understood. So -- but don't -- but I don't want it to be perceived out there that we're attempting to manipulate this process because we thought of a better way to do it. Nothing would please us more than to have a marina operator right now, obviously, to serve our people. This was a messy process. It was -- it was complicated and perhaps not our best work. That is our reason for the recommendation to re-solicit. We came here knowing that you may have looked at us and said, no, we still are comfortable with BluWater and we're going to move forward with that. So that's the bright line. If we were going to re-solicit, then, of course, we would hope that we would do a better job and not just put the same thing out to expect a different outcome. So I just want to make sure that we separate those two arguments, our rationale for re-solicitation and the hypothetical what we would do if we had a brand-new opportunity. Two different things. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: No, I think we made that assessment. MS. PATTERSON: Okay. Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I'm ready to make a motion, if you want. Let's move this forward. I'm going to make a motion to deny the staff's recommendation to rescind the contract on 11D. Let's start the process. Because we're here on 11D. Staff's recommendation is to rescind the July 11, 2023 Page 84 contract, and I'm going to deny the recommendation. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I'm going to second it. And so to be clear, we're denying the re-solicitation, and then we're going to probably have a -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I'm going to make a second motion here as soon as you get done. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: There you go. Okay. So we've got a motion and a second to deny a rebid, a re-solicitation of the contract. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So it passes 4-1. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm going to make a motion now to enter into an agreement with -- assuming BluWater is still amicable to the request of the previous -- of our last meeting, and that's to enter into the agreement as was bid and accepted minus the watercraft rentals and cash sales. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I second it. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. So that passes 4-1. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Next. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And then -- July 11, 2023 Page 85 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Let's go to lunch. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. And then, obviously, one of the things that Commissioner McDaniel, I believe, said is at any time -- nobody's signed anything. At any time during the negotiations here you have a different thing, then you might come back here and go, you know what? BluWater changed their mind, or we talked about some other subtleties, and it fell out. But no big muscle-movement changes -- MS. PATTERSON: Understand. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: -- is what I think we've all just agreed to, correct? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yep. MR. DAVIDOW: Commission, thank you for your time. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. Okay. No, we're not going to lunch. 12:20 is lunch break. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, I was joking. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. What's next? Item #11A BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, AS EX-OFFICIO THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE COLLIER COUNTY WATER- SEWER DISTRICT, AWARD INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”) NO. 23-8116, “NORTH COUNTY WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY (NCWRF) PRETREATMENT FACILITY" (PROJECT NUMBER 70149), TO POOLE & KENT COMPANY OF FLORIDA, IN THE AMOUNT OF $55,660,000, AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT AND APPROVE ALL NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS. (MATTHEW MCLEAN, PUBLIC UTILITIES ENGINEERING AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT DIVISION DIRECTOR) (THIS IS A July 11, 2023 Page 86 COMPANION TO ITEM 11B) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS - APPROVED 5/0 MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, Item 11A and 11B are companion items. Item 11A is a recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, as ex-officio the governing board of the Collier County Water/Sewer District, award Invitation to Bid No. 23-8116, North County Water Reclamation Facility Pretreatment Facility to Poole & Kent Company of Florida in the amount of $55,660,000, authorize the Chairman to sign the attached agreement, and approve all necessary budget amendments. Mr. Matt McLean, Public Utilities Engineering and Project Management division director, will present. I will read its companion item, because we'll move straight to that. Item #11B RESOLUTION 2023-135: RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE COLLIER COUNTY WATER-SEWER DISTRICT (“DISTRICT”) TO BORROW AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $50,000,000 UNDER THE FLORIDA LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE COMMISSION’S POOLED COMMERCIAL PAPER LOAN PROGRAM FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTING THE NORTH COLLIER WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY (NCWRF) PRETREATMENT FACILITY AND CONTINUATION OF PUBLIC UTILITY RENEWAL (PUR) PROJECTS; THIS LOAN IS SECURED BY A PLEDGE OF AND LIEN UPON THE DESIGNATED REVENUES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS OF THE LOAN AGREEMENT AND AS PROVIDED IN THE RESOLUTION APPROVING SUCH LOAN; AUTHORIZE July 11, 2023 Page 87 EXECUTION OF THE LOAN NOTE OR LOAN NOTES TO EVIDENCE SUCH BORROWING; AUTHORIZE THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF OTHER SUCH DOCUMENTS AS MAY BE NECESSARY TO EFFECT SUCH BORROWING; AND AUTHORIZE ALL NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS. (MATTHEW MCLEAN, PUBLIC UTILITIES ENGINEERING AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT DIVISION DIRECTOR) (THIS IS A COMPANION TO ITEM 11A) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS - ADOPTED 5/0 MS. PATTERSON: Its companion item, 11B, is a recommendation to approve a resolution authorizing the Collier County Water/Sewer District to borrow an amount not to exceed $50 million under the Florida Local Government Finance Commission's Pooled Commercial Paper Loan Program for the purpose of constructing the North Collier Water Reclamation Facility Pretreatment Facility and continuation of public utility renewal projects. This loan is secured by a pledge of and lien upon the designated revenues in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement and as provided in the resolution approving such loan, authorize execution of the loan note or loan notes to evidence such borrowing, authorize the execution and delivery of other such documents as may be necessary to affect such borrowing, and authorize all necessary budget amendments. Mr. McLean? MR. McLEAN: Thank you, County Manager. Matt McLean, your division director for Public Utilities. I do have a short presentation that was included in the agenda package for these two companion items. I'm happy to go through July 11, 2023 Page 88 that, or if you wish to just ask direct questions, I'm happy to entertain the questions now. Whatever's the pleasure of the Board. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: No. This is another one that's like, you know -- got a lot of notes from the Clerk of Courts on this one and a lot that I've written down here. I'd like to -- I'd like you to go through this for the record, unless there's an objection. This one's got a lot of sloppy moving parts that we're trying to correct, unless -- MR. McLEAN: We appreciate that opportunity. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Unless I'm wrong. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't concur with it being sloppy. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Muddled? I don't know. What's the word? Maybe that's a bad word. It's not our best work. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There again, everybody's entitled to their opinions as to how things, in fact, transpire. There is a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking that goes on. This is a direly needed facility for all of our utility recipients, people who snatch the spigot and turn on their water and flush their toilets. This facility -- we bought this piece of property when? MR. McLEAN: This particular property was developed back in the late '80s, early '90s. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. And so -- I mean, for us to be doing what we're doing here, this is -- this is basic government things that needed to be done that have needed to be done for quite some time. It's an integral part of all of our utility recipients. It's dire that -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: But would you agree, some lessons learned here, at least? Maybe that's a better way. And there's always lessons learned. So I'm not throwing rocks, but -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, of course. No one goes out on purpose. But, you know, nine times out of 10 we're July 11, 2023 Page 89 out -- decisions are made, expenditures are made of the taxpayers' money based upon whatever the particular priorities are of that time, and then deferral of necessary capital improvements and maintenance and so on is put out, is decided upon because of the priorities of that particular time. And this -- this particular borrowing is an integral part of what local government is supposed to be doing. And so -- there again, I mean, you -- there's a lot of different ways to go forward, and certainly people have opinions with regard to how things go forward. And is borrowing always the best? No. But when you make decisions to not take care of what's necessary, that's the position that you're put in. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: The thing that always just jumps out to me is when costs change in a big, huge, you know, way. And, granted, sometimes that's cost of materials. Hey, we had Hurricane Ian. It's whatever. But there's a few times here where we accept somebody's bid and then, you know, down the line after all the people who didn't get the bid go away, then all of a sudden the person that has the bid comes up with these, you know, very large increases. And, you know, some of -- a little bit of that was buried in here. But I think, for the record, you going through the presentation, you know, might help us formulate better questions for you. I don't think it's extensive. MR. McLEAN: Be happy to. It's about eight, 10 minutes, so we should be able to rip through it pretty quick. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. MR. McLEAN: Again, Matt McLean, your division director for Public Utilities. We have before you here today two items. One is the award of the construction contract for the North County Water Reclamation Facility Pretreatment Construction Project, as well as the companion July 11, 2023 Page 90 commercial paper loan financing resolution. Just a quick overview for the public and for the commissioners, a reminder of the physical location of our North County Water Reclamation Facility. It is along Goodlette-Frank Road. It's within the highlighted yellow area. This particular project for our pretreatment facility will be located where the red star is on the aerial on the left. There's a blowup of the construction plan on the right that identifies that area showing new buildings, above and underground infrastructure that will be associated with the project. And why are we here? Here's a picture of the existing pretreatment facility. We have significant degradation within that facility. We have some single points of potential failure in that. That particular structure has worked well for us over the years; however, it's reached and far passed its shelf life now. It was constructed in the early 1990s. There have been multiple repairs, maintenance efforts, as well as upgrades over those last three decades to this facility to continue to provide service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to our customers. So this is a 3D rendering, if you will, of the -- or 2D, I guess you would say, of a model outlet of the new pretreatment facility. Again, our goals with these particular projects, in being consistent with the strategic plan on investments and infrastructure as well as our asset management, is to continue to provide the reliable, sustainable regulatory-compliant projects now and into the future. There have been, over the last 30 years, significant changes in technology relative to pretreatment process, which we've been able to capture within this redesign of the project and now the construction recommended award before you today. Several of those things allow us the ability to eliminate potential single points of failures, provide additional operational flexibility and engineering resiliency. From a reliability perspective, we are setting July 11, 2023 Page 91 the stage for continued growth and increased capacity at our North County Water Reclamation Facility. We are eliminating those single points of failure, as I mentioned. Within the project, we have multiple unit process bypass features that have now been incorporated within the project, overall providing us that class-one reliability that we strive for on our utility projects. From a treatment perspective, this particular project now is going to include a two-stage screening process when the initial wastewater comes into the plants. The current headworks facility only has a single 6-millimeter screening process. This particular project now has the ability for that initial up-to-6-million -- 6-millimeter screening but also a secondary screening process to take it down to a much finer -- down to up to 2 millimeters of screening with the initial flow of wastewater that comes into the facility. Other improvements in technology that are included in this project is the grit removal. There's been some tremendous increases in technology over the last 30 years relative to grit removal. We do experience a lot of fine sugar sand that gets into our collections system, particularly in this sector of our north -- of our north part of the county. The grit removal system that we have is going to increase the overall efficiency to capture that right up front. What that means to us later on down the line in our treatment process is, is that we have much greater efficiency of the treatment as you go farther down the line. That allows us to continue to be able to provide an increased reliability overall within the system. And another area that's extremely important to us that's included in this project is the odor control. Our utility group strives for a no-offsite-odor goal. This particular project, we challenged July 11, 2023 Page 92 ourselves to do that. We have an increased amount of biotowers with carbon polishing to, again, provide that class-one reliability to be able to have sufficient biotowers to make sure that we're not having any odors go off site. This is an area within the county that has developed around a plant. It happens all the time to us. We end up trying to site plants in areas, but as development patterns start to grow, they kind of grow around us. And this particular area has pretty much boxed us in now, so it's very important for us to make sure that we have significant odor control, and this particular project has included that. We were here before you almost a year ago to the day where we made a pivot on the project. It originally was a design-build contract. There were several lessons learned, as mentioned, that we came through that, and we presented last year. At that time, we made the overall pivot with your support. There was a declaration of an existence of a valid public emergency to essentially retool and terminate the existing contract that we had and move forward with more of a traditional design-bid-build process. At that time, AECOM, the design engineer, was awarded that design project. Subsequent to that July Board meeting last summer, we did issue a notice to proceed in August with AECOM. At the initial design kickoff meeting with AECOM, County staff was not happy with the presented project schedule by our design engineer. They presented a project schedule that was going to take over a year to complete. We felt like there was a better way that we could challenge all of ourselves to fast track this particular redesign project, knowing the importance of the Board's continued support of the expedited public emergency declaration that was created there. So we challenged ourselves at that time to effectively put all the resources necessary, not only from our design professionals that July 11, 2023 Page 93 brought in folks from all around the country, design technical experts to the project team, as well as our own internal team, bringing together several project managers, several division directors, all of the operations appropriate staff members at the relevant plant, all committing to making sure that we are going to make this thing happen quicker than what we expected from a design schedule. That goal, effectively, was to complete that redesign by the end of February in 2023. I'm happy to report that we were able to achieve that goal, and that was certainly not by any means of myself here. That was the dedication of all the County staff members affiliated with that redesign effort, our design professional team, our procurement team, our County Attorney's Office members helping to facilitate making sure that we complete the design appropriately, efficiently, and were able to put it out on the street. Our procurement team worked very diligently with us from the end of February, even leading into before the end of February to make sure that we had all of the proper design documents, bid specifications, bid packages, et cetera, to put the item out on the street through BidSync, which occurred less than a week after we provided them all the documentation. So, again, I can't give enough kudos and thanks to the procurement team for all their extra efforts in getting it to that point. The initial project was put out to bid for the construction contract before you today for 45 days. Throughout the course of that initial 45-day review, we've received a tremendous amount of feedback, clarification questions, expressed interest in the project. That really got us excited and continues to get us excited about the interest in the project. With that, we ultimately answered over 100 clarification questions relative to the project, and in doing so, we wanted to make July 11, 2023 Page 94 sure that all the prospective bidders had ample time to make sure that they were receiving all of the additional information from the County and County staff, design engineers, project participants, et cetera, to make sure that we are getting the best bid possible for the County on the redesign. The bid opening, ultimately, was on May 16th of this year, and that's why we're here before you now today. We're happy to bring before you the recommendation of the award to the low bidder, Poole & Kent for $55,660,000 as presented in the agenda item before you, as well as the companion item relative to the commercial paper loan for borrowing up to $50 million as presented. This particular project is a two-and-a-half year build. We currently have the cash on hand to be able to finance at minimum up to about half of the project. We're going to continue to look at additional items as far as continued financing is concerned. The commercial paper loan is solely to allow us the ability to encumber the project and keep the project moving forward as swiftly and efficiently as possible. We do plan to continue to look at future fiscal year budgets and either -- include additional funds directly associated with this project in a cash form, like we have a designated item for Fiscal Year '24 right now, as well as in the future if there's a need to do any type of a conversion to a long-term more of a bond financing at a fixed rate. We're certainly going to continue to entertain looking at any potential options of that matter. And with that, I do have with me here today Joe Bellone, our finance director of Public Utilities, as well as our project manager, Wayne Karlovich, and we're here to answer any particular questions that you may have. But we look forward to your continued support and recommendation and hopeful approval of the two companion items. July 11, 2023 Page 95 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So, Matt, nobody disputes the importance of the project. What I've had in my notes from last week when I first got this agenda is what concerns me -- and then I've got Commissioner McDaniel lit up here -- is it always catches my eye when I see budget adjustments, cost increases of such a significant amount. So my question to you is, is that because the scope of the project changed or we learned some new things, or what I wrote down was, was it due to improper planning, improper execution, or lack of knowledge on our part? MR. McLEAN: I would say that several things occurred in order to increase the cost of the particular project. There were definitely increased scope changes from the original design-build concept. The original design-build concept ultimately came to play of having an outside dumpster area where we were going to be getting the grit as well as the removal of the fines and the large particulate material when it first came through. That creates a tremendous odor issue for us and a tremendous operational issue. So that was a significant change in scope in the project. We all know that the cost of construction has also increased over time. So I can't say that it's any one particular thing. I would say that it is a little bit of all of them. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I'm ready to make a motion unless there's any other questions. I'd like to make a motion for approval of 11A and B -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- as presented. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I've got a motion and a second. Nobody else is lit up. All in favor? COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye. July 11, 2023 Page 96 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. MR. McLEAN: Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Are we going to go to 11C next? Have we got time? Yep. Item #11C RESOLUTION 2023-136: RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING PROPOSED MILLAGE RATES AS THE MAXIMUM PROPERTY TAX RATES TO BE LEVIED IN FY 2023/24 AND REAFFIRM THE ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARING DATES IN SEPTEMBER 2023 FOR THE BUDGET APPROVAL PROCESS. (CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON, OMB DIRECTOR) - MOTION TO APPROVE AND SET THE MAXIMUM RATE AS PRESENTED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL - ADOPTED 5/0 MS. PATTERSON: That brings us to Item 11C. This is a recommendation to adopt a resolution establishing proposed millage rates as the maximum property tax rates to be levied in FY 2023/24 and reaffirm the advertised public hearing dates in September 2023 for the budget approval process. Mr. Chris Johnson, your director of the Office of Management and Budget, will present. MR. JOHNSON: Thank you, Ms. Patterson. July 11, 2023 Page 97 Good morning, I think, still, a couple minutes here, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners. For the record, Chris Johnson, your director of Corporate, Financial, and Management Services. We are here today as part of the formal truth in millage, or TRIM, process defined by Chapter 200 of the Florida statutes to adopt a resolution establishing the proposed millage rates as the maximum property tax rates to be levied in FY'23/'24 and to reaffirm the advertised public hearing dates in September for the budget approval process. The proposed resolution is included in your agenda packets on Page 171. The proposed millage rates are included as Exhibit A in the packet on Page 172. I have prepared a short presentation if you'd like, or I can take questions at this time. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I knew Commissioner McDaniel. Go ahead, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You knew? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, I knew. I could feel it. I could feel it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't have any questions. I'm -- I want to -- you know, I want to be very clear that this is the meeting where we set the maximum millage rate, and that's all we're doing today -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yep. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- is setting the maximum millage rate. I wanted to be very clear that that's what we're doing today. We're not -- we're not doing anything else. So I'd like to make a motion to go ahead and set that at a rate neutral that we have been at. MR. JOHNSON: And you are correct, we'll have -- your budget hearings in September will allow you to either maintain or July 11, 2023 Page 98 lower said rates. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So my motion is, is that we go as recommended setting the -- at a rate neutral. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I know we have public comment before we -- do you have somebody? MR. MILLER: Brad Cornell, who you all know was here, had an emergency, got called away. He just wanted me to say Audubon supports the proposed millage rate, so... COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. Let me add a little bit to that, Troy, if I could, because I got the letter as well. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: He did indicate that -- and said Conservation Collier is one of the most successful and popular programs the County manages. Unlike most programs, Conservation Collier has voted -- was voted by all Collier County voters three times, all approving the .25 mill ad valorem tax for buying and managing conservation lands in all parts of Collier County. So he just wanted to emphasize, I think, that he was supportive of the millage rate as well as maintaining the Conservation Collier program. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Hall. COMMISSIONER HALL: So just to be -- just so I'm clear, we're not adopting any rates? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Nope. COMMISSIONER HALL: We're just saying this is the ceiling only? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yep. COMMISSIONER HALL: And in the future we can't exceed that, but we can always lower it? I'm good to go. July 11, 2023 Page 99 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely. Under comment, I'll -- as soon as I -- do we have a second yet? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So we've got -- COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Second. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: We've got a motion and a second. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'll second it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I do have a comment. MR. JOHNSON: And if I may, Commissioners, before you vote, Commissioner McDaniel, you had stated "at the millage neutral rate." Some of our taxing districts are at different rates, so if we could just say at -- if we could just amend the motion to be "as presented in the resolution." COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: As recommended. I'm fine with that. MR. JOHNSON: Perfect, perfect. And then if I could -- if I could just, for the record, reiterate the public hearing dates for the public just so they're aware. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. MR. JOHNSON: The public hearing on the Collier County FY '24 budget will be held on Thursday, September 7th, 2023, and Thursday, September 21st, 2023, at 5:05 p.m., and that's right here on the third floor of this building. Thank you. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: And I'll second his motion. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: 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. July 11, 2023 Page 100 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: It passes unanimously. Any -- did you have a closing comment? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I had a comment, but you didn't go for comments. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Well, I didn't think it had to do with that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It does. It did. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Go ahead. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just to be clear, again, my moving this agenda item forward doesn't have any indication as to what our plans are through our summer months, what we're going to be talking about with our budget, what we're going to be doing with the individual rates and as we go forward. So just as a point of -- a reiteration of what Commissioner Hall was asking. This is a part of our process. We make the final decision, ultimately, at our last meeting in September there for the budget. MR. JOHNSON: Correct, correct. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Got it. MR. JOHNSON: Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: What's next? MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to 15. This is staff and commission general communications. 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 July 11, 2023 Page 101 MS. PATTERSON: Item 15A is public comments on general topics not on the current or future agenda by individuals not already heard during previous public comments in this meeting. MR. MILLER: We have no registered speakers at this time. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Mr. Miller, are you sure? MR. MILLER: Yes. In fact, I went and checked with the only member of the public here to make sure I wasn't missing anything and, no, we're good. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Sort of an inside joke but kind of not really. I just wanted to get your attention. MR. MILLER: By the way, it was one speaker on that item last time. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I think Ms. Kinzel wants to approach the podium. Ma'am. MS. KINZEL: Thank you, Commissioner, for recognizing me. I failed to submit a slip, but thank you. I just wanted to make comment to an individual that made some derogatory comments about our office, or me personally, previously. So I want to put on the record for the taxpayers that we follow the law. We record documents, and we respond to information accordingly the law, and we'll continue to do that. There are some specifics related to his court case previously. Those, as he indicated, were dismissed, and we'll -- I've offered to meet with him directly and address his concerns. And I wanted you to be aware that's always our position. I'll meet with individuals and directly address the issues. So thank you for the opportunity just to put that on the record. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Thank you. Okay. Item #15C July 11, 2023 Page 102 STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 15C, staff and commission general communications. Mr. Finn, anything? MR. FINN: No, ma'am, other than, perhaps, a discussion on our overall capital workload. It's probably an item that needs to be discussed at some point in the near future with the Board. We have several projects that need some evaluation of the direction the Board wants to take with those, and I just offer that as a comment at this point. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, can I comment on that comment? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Absolutely, yes, sir, commenting on the comment. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was going to comment on the regular time. But I had gotten from Mr. Finn kind of a list of projects and plans going forward. The list that I have excludes roads, stormwater, beach renourishment, and water and sewer, but the list I do have totals just north of $401 million of projects that are sort of in the works. Prior boards have approved some of these things. And, again, this excludes the most expensive items, which are roads, stormwater, beach renourishment, and water and sewer. So if you add all that in, we're really talking north of a billion dollars in projects. But I'm kind of focusing on this $401 million list. I think we need to have, as part of our budget process -- and I would suggest doing this in the fall. It was kind of a strategic planning session to go through a lot of these things and determine whether we want to really build some of the stuff we're talking about. I'm going to give you a couple of examples. The Paradise Coast park is something that I think we've all been able to witness, July 11, 2023 Page 103 and we know that it's moving along nicely, but there's another phase that has 11 more fields in it, and I'm not so sure that we need 11 more fields. And I think we need to have that conversation with our management team and with staff. The Big Corkscrew Park, the regional park, I don't know when this became part of the plan, but there's a lake out there. It's a shallow lake. And the plan that was approved at some point in time in the distant history was to fill in the lake or a portion of the lake to make ball fields. Well, that's extremely expensive. There's no point in filling in a lake to -- even though it's a shallow lake, to build ball fields. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I've been arguing that for -- forgive me for interrupting, Commissioner Saunders. I'll play on that after you're done. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. And so there's a whole lot of things on here that I think we really just need to spend some time, and I think it's the kind of thing that we need to really schedule a whole morning. I would suggest doing it sometime in the fall after staff's had some time to kind of go through the list and see what is really a priority and what really isn't, and then we can give staff some direction. So just a suggestion to schedule that sometime in the fall as part of Mr. Finn's comments. MS. PATTERSON: We can look for some dates and schedule that time. We have usually one meeting -- one Tuesday a month reserved for workshops. We could use a morning to do that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I comment on a comment? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. Go ahead. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Comments. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Go ahead. Commissioner July 11, 2023 Page 104 McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Number one. And you -- you're spot on. I've been arguing with staff with regard to that lake. We called it Big Jim's Bass Lake, by the way. And I've been arguing with staff since day one. For those of you who don't know, I used to dig holes for a living, and there's no economy in backfilling a lake that's already dug, especially to build ball fields. So there is an economy in excavating that lake because there's good rock in there, by the way, that can be utilized for County projects and so on and so forth and making it a recreational facility. And there is other property that's in close proximity for the construction of those baseball fields, just for your mind. My question -- and this is -- one of the -- one of the discussions that I've had with our senior staff was maybe we ought to have some of these discussions in our extra three meetings this summer. Conduct our business in the morning to take care of the affairs of our government and then individually bring some of these projects back while we're in an open stenographied meeting to have discussions and discuss the potential of some of these capital projects and maintenance and so on and so forth throughout the -- throughout the summer as opposed to a workshop setting where we get edified, but we technically, other than head nods, can't vote on anything. MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. We're looking at -- so you had given us some -- you-all had given us some homework assignments relative to the budget, which we're working on, to do with our unfunded requests list as well as some variations from guidance, so gathering all of that information. I know I talked to some of you also about -- which plays nicely into this, is some summer work on the AUIR process which helps establish some of these needs. So through that, we can look at some of these projects as well. And then if we still -- a planning workshop in the fall still might play July 11, 2023 Page 105 nicely into that as well because I think the planning process is one that is sometimes difficult to understand, and how we find ourselves building a road or a park isn't that we woke up yesterday and just decided to build one, that there's years of planning that goes into that. So that's probably a good piece for the public, moving into the AUIR in the later part of the fall. So all of that should time nicely together. So we will be putting our thoughts together on how to bring those, probably using the two August meetings, only because I believe the next meeting probably is going to be pretty full with potentially public comment as well as some other -- some other items that may take up time. But if we have a little bit of time, of course, we can be prepared for that discussion as well. That's all we have. Thank you. County Attorney. MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing. Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. MS. PATTERSON: Chair. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal, do you have any comments? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Just, you know, we always talk about, you know, we learn from our mistakes. And we sit up here and say, you know, that wasn't a great idea, and we somehow financially lose or gain or put a burden on the taxpayers because something was done or wasn't done right the first time. And I think we had the opportunity to take a second bite at the apple today on a particular item. And I'm not going to -- the BluWater item. And, you know, I got outvoted on it, but time will tell, and we'll sit back and see if we revisit it again. But I respect your guys' opinion on it, and -- but I personally felt -- I think we had an opportunity to do what was right again, because I think it was our position that failed the first time, and I July 11, 2023 Page 106 think it -- you know, we owe that to the citizens and the people that may have had the opportunity to bid on this that, you know -- because I remember distinctly that we were very, very adamant that this was supposed to be a retail operation, and that was what we wanted, the best of the best to operate these facilities to provide that service to our citizens and not so much having rental and other items that were, you know, brought up after the fact, and I think we all agreed on that when we left the meeting that day. And I think when we got the opportunity to take a second bite at the apple, we probably realized that we were not giving the best service to the citizens in that contract. So we are -- we'll -- I'll to leave it at that. Thank you. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I'm going to comment on that comment as well. I think we have an opportunity to fix that contract. I know we've talked a little bit about that as the folks were here. We want to do the work. They know they've got a contract that is flawed in some ways, at least in our opinion. And so I would -- that's what I was trying to accomplish this morning was let's go ahead and fix this. We can treat people the way we want to be treated ourselves, as Commissioner Hall had said, but at the same time, they seem to be willing to make changes. And so I would ask staff to -- let's fix this contract so that whether we made a mistake in terms of moving forward with the existing agreement, at least we can fix that if there's some problems with that. One of the things I think we need to talk a little bit about is the issue of controversial items in the summertime. I know we were -- that issue was raised a little bit when we were talking about the constitutional county proposal, the sanctuary county ordinance. July 11, 2023 Page 107 My understanding is that's coming up in two weeks. And I guess I'll just raise the question: Do we want to be hearing controversial issues when a lot of our residents are no longer here or are on vacation? And I'll just pose that as a question to the Board. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I'm going to go with everybody's closing comments, and they can comment on it then and, obviously, could reattack on a comment. But, Commissioner Hall, any closing comments. COMMISSIONER HALL: You know, as far as that Bill of Rights ordinance, I am going to bring it up. And I don't know -- do we need to direct it to be advertised? MR. KLATZKOW: No. You've asked me to advertise it, and it's being advertised. It's your item. COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. So that's coming up. And as far as the controversial time of the summer, we're going to work through the summer, and I want to work. I don't want to play what's -- you know, I don't want to play babysitter to the agenda items. People have every opportunity to send us emails, to call us, to write us, to Zoom in. I mean, just because they're not here -- and there's going to be other items that I'm going to be on the other side of that those -- that my people are still going to have the same opportunity. And so this whole thing is brought up -- you know, we heard comments today that we're looking to cherry-pick federal law, that we're looking to secede from the union, that we're looking to nullify federal law that we don't -- that's so much baloney. I don't know where all that started, but it's out there. I just want to publicly put an end to all of that, because this is an ordinance -- a sanctuary for the Bill of Rights. A sanctuary is just a safe place. So I'm bringing this up because in case things ever twist off in Washington, D.C., in case things ever twist off, God forbid, in July 11, 2023 Page 108 Tallahassee, we're going to have a sheriff that's going to back and honor the Bill of Rights that were given to us in the Constitution of the United States of America. We're going to have the right to bear arms. We're going to have the right for due process of law. We don't have to take soldiers and put them in our house. Every one of those Bill of Rights. The one gentleman said, well, what about the 11th through the 27th? We're not nullifying those. We just want to make it a safe place here. We're not looking to do anything other than live life happily ever after. But in case anything ever happens, I would like to have an ordinance that the Sheriff has the authority to enforce. So with that, I want to bring that forth on July the 25th. And I'm sure we're going to hear a million comments about it, but I think it's -- you know, when I ran for this office, I ran to protect and secure the rights of the people, and we're not looking to do anything other than to do that. We want to -- we want to enhance your rights and protect them even more than what you feel like you're already protected. So I just wanted to say that publicly because there's going to be those out there. I'm sure I'm going to get the emails. But flame suit on. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. A comment on the comments on the comments. Hopefully to make you feel a minute better, I don't disagree with you with regard to the marina agreement. I think it could have been done better, but I also was, you know, wanting to do what I felt in my mind had, in fact, happened. I think for solace for all of us, staff's going to be watching all of our contracts, all of our agreements on a lot closer basis so that we are made aware of discrepancies or things that could be done differently, even to the tune of canceling a contract if the vendor's not July 11, 2023 Page 109 doing what they're supposed to be doing, and doing it on a lot quicker basis. So could that -- could that agreement on our marinas have been done differently? Absolutely. I've expressed that multiple times, so -- but putting that also in my mind is putting all vendors on notice that transact business with us that we're -- our staff, our government, is going to be looking harder and closer at those contractual arrangements going forward. So -- and I support Commissioner Hall's efforts with regard to the sanctuary -- the Bill of Rights Sanctuary. I -- specifically, when I made the motion to adjust our schedule, that we would withhold contentious land-use items, not all contentious items. I wanted to be careful that a developer didn't come in and try to jam something in next to a neighborhood where a large portion of those people were not here. I really think that times have changed sufficiently substantively; that everyone has an opportunity to speak. And I know myself -- and I think you share the same opinion, Commissioner Saunders, that whether they're here at the podium or sending me an email or -- now, the people that hit that repeat button and send a thousand emails that somebody else has written, those people maybe get discounted a little bit, other than the fact that they're in one column or the other. But with the technology that we have -- except for Troy making errors. With the technology that we have, everybody has an opportunity to speak. So I don't think holding off on -- if Commissioner Hall wants to bring that item forward, I don't think that -- people have an opportunity to speak. The folks were allowed to speak today even though it was off agenda with regard to what our processes are, so... CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Hall, it looks like July 11, 2023 Page 110 you've got a reattack. COMMISSIONER HALL: Yeah. I did have just one thing I wanted to change on that, Jeff. There's Item 3A2 that's the sentence that's -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Not today. COMMISSIONER HALL: Not today? Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. COMMISSIONER HALL: I didn't know if he needed to advertise that or not. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. Advertise it as -- COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. Never mind. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Advertised it as it's advertised. COMMISSIONER HALL: Good. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have nothing further, sir. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a list here, okay. I want to make a comment on the contracts, okay. Agree with everything everybody said here. Here's why I voted the way I did, and this affects mostly my marinas, so trust me, I'm getting plenty of emails, and they're not robo emails. They're emails people actually wrote, long ones. But we can't have a double standard, and I'll give you an example here. If a contractor makes a bid and they do something wrong on the bid and it discounts them, then we say, oh, too bad, you know, you didn't read the fine print, so you're out the door. We messed up on this one, you know, I mean -- and so we've got to -- like I said, got to eat the spinach. So we put something out; we've got to stand by it. And the only thing I would add is nothing's been signed yet. So if you come back to us and say, wow, you know, the BluWater people sort of rethought it and, you know, there's two or three big pendulum July 11, 2023 Page 111 swings, not just small, little adjustments, then we might have to be back to square zero, and we might rebid it. And at any given time, you know, that could happen. But, you know, I look at it this way, as, you know, we could have done some things a little bit different. We shouldn't excuse ourselves and go, oh, we want to do a redo. We don't give a lot of other people redos that are outside of this, and so, you know, we have to follow the same standard when it comes to contracts. On the summer votes, I also agree that, you know, people use technology to send us, you know, 300 emails that one person wrote and talk about how they're using technology with robo emails, and that's great. But I look at all those emails, and I look at it as one petition. It's not -- it's not a personal email to me giving me your views. It's a petition. And that has merit, great. So the 67 emails that I got are all 67 people thinking the same four sentences. But it gets me back to my summer votes. People can email, they can call, and they can Zoom, but the one thing I also want to add is at any given time, if we're having a discussion here and any commissioner in the summer thinks, you know what? This is bigger than a breadbox, okay. I don't know that we've heard from everybody. I would have expected more input. I'm not comfortable making a decision, we could always -- and we do it all the time. We say, you know what? Let's have this, you know, slide back to September or October because I don't feel like we have all the moving parts. So we always have that. And I think if it's something that we see on the agenda that we know is huge, like a big land issue or something, we're going to push it. But if it's something that's a little bit gray -- and then we all see the agenda ahead of time. If at any given time you as a commissioner think, you know what? I think this is premature, I don't think it's going to be met, I think we would all support that. July 11, 2023 Page 112 So just -- you know, we'll keep that, and we'll -- you know, we're -- this is a little bit of an experiment, but I think, you know, we always have -- we always have an out. We always have an out to continue an item. Just on the Bill of Rights, correct me if I'm wrong, County Attorney, two years ago we approved the resolution but not the ordinance, correct? MR. KLATZKOW: That is correct. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Right. And the resolution was -- it was different wording, right? So, I mean, I'll paraphrase here. The resolution was a little bit more generic. Ordinance was -- had some specificity to it, or -- what's the best way that you can sort of remind us? And I would tell all five commissioners if this is coming back to us in two weeks, especially those that weren't here two years ago, dig up the history a little bit and some documents did go out that help us. But what could you say is the best way to -- because I remember I asked you this question two years ago, and I said, what's the difference between the resolution and the ordinance? And, you know, you very eloquently and succinctly described that, so... MR. KLATZKOW: The resolution and the ordinance are substantially similar. The resolution has no binding effect in that you can't violate a resolution. A violation of an ordinance has penalties associated with it. A resolution is simply the Board telling the public this is what we feel on a particular item in setting forth your position. An ordinance has a force of law. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: But if I did remember correctly, the resolution was something that a different commissioner, who's not here, put together sort of in the middle of the meeting, brought it at the end, right? Wasn't -- am I remembering that correctly? MR. KLATZKOW: No. July 11, 2023 Page 113 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: No? Okay. Well, we'll table this until -- this will be the discussion. MR. KLATZKOW: It will be in the backup to the next agenda item. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. And then just before I get off of that topic, you know, just for the record and whatever citizens might be watching, I was really encouraged by a lot of the emails that I got for people on both sides of the Bill of Rights issue, and I was really disappointed by some. I replied to every single person, even the robo emails. And some people really appreciated, although I did call it out. You know, I called -- you know, I called -- you know, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, swims like a duck, it's a duck. So in my opening comment when I said, you know, I got your -- you know, your cut-and-paste, you know, identical email, I appreciate your comments. And, you know, I tried to be honest. Some people actually sent me a really nice thank you note and said, wow, I never really ever heard back from an elected official. Other people said, oh, you know, you're being so condescending and this and that. And so, you know, I was disappointed and impressed. But, you know, I stand by everything that I said in case anybody is listening. But, you know, as I told a senior leader who -- in the community who represented that sort of identical robo email test, I said, you know, I'm just trying to help out here. That doesn't -- and I've said this here before. It doesn't do what you think it does. So I can tell you, I think when anybody gets that email, they might read the first one, and then when they see all those subjects are exactly the same, they know what it says, I'm not sure they read every single one to just see who the person was who said it. So it's really more of a petition and not -- and what I appreciate July 11, 2023 Page 114 more is when citizens send us personal emails with their own views, and sometimes even 10 people who support something or are opposed something, their emails are -- say 10 different things. And so it does help a bit more. I'd rather get 10 of those emails than 100 robo emails. So I'll just let that sit out there. A couple things just for the County Manager that I just -- as a reminder to make sure that they're coming back on an agenda sooner than later, and these are just things -- these are more bullet things. Conservation Collier lots. Remember, we've talked about it. There's one particular one that we voted down for the cost of it. It was on Marco. And some new things have come to light by the person who's trying to sell it. And the Marco City Council actually wanted to add some money to the pot. I'll just leave it like that. Let's not let that one die on the vine. And as I've said before, it's great if those Conservation Collier lots are grouped a bit, but we can also walk and chew gum at the same time. So if there's one that's a done deal, it's been appraised, the person has agreed -- what's that? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Neither one of us can walk and chew gum at the same time. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: That's true. I wasn't talking about you guys. So I've got three votes here. I can count on three fingers, so I know I can get everything passed with these three experts here, and we discount you guys. No, I'm just kidding, but you know what I'm saying. So the Conservation Collier lots, the unfunded list, sort of touched on it here. You know, that was a list that we were all, like, hey, every single thing on there is pretty darn important. If we need to cherry-pick a few things off or -- you know, that could be on the agenda at any particular time. You know, I worked with the County Attorney on an ordinance July 11, 2023 Page 115 on fines and liens and tightening up that process. So it's not for the next meeting, but just as a reminder, one of the things that I think we all were looking for is, you know, after a few months passed, a little bit of a report card, you know. Did -- you know, we collected 90 percent of what we had, and in the past we collected 2 percent, you know. Some sort of report card on did that stronger document really do anything different. I wrote down here Paradise Coast Sports Complex. A lot of big events, the fireworks, which, you know, that's not a moneymaker or anything, but it kind of was. You know, they have food operations there, food trucks. And I mentioned to the staff out there when I went for the Top Gun Football event, to not miss the opportunity to come to the podium here at some point in the future and not just give us a rundown of events that are happening in the next three or four months, but a report card of not only the events we had and the lessons learned and everything, but the finances. You know, did we break even? Did we make money? Did we lose a ton of money? You know, we're trying to run that sports complex like a business. And not that it has to be a cash cow, but I think all of us would like to get feedback after the event. Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We do that at the TDC. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That is a -- there is a -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So then you, as the TDC, can you report to us? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Would you like me to do that? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Absolutely. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I can bring that. July 11, 2023 Page 116 CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Absolutely. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd be happy to, or we can bring staff in to do it, whichever you would prefer. I can give you a brief excerpt, but they give a -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. I think anything that maybe comes out of that. You know, if you're a TDC representative and that's something that they do a deep dive, maybe give us the short version like, hey, you know, it's -- we're -- we were a C plus but now we're a B minus, you know, I mean -- but we're moving in the right direction. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's more detailed than that. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah, but something like that, that would just -- And then, lastly, I just wanted you to know that -- remember when we passed the panhandling ordinance and we sort of tightened that up? And even during the budget meeting I asked Sheriff Rambosk, and he said, oh, thank you. You know, it doesn't fill every hole, but it has helped us greatly. There's still a loophole, and I'm going to work with the County Attorney on this. So I have what we passed here, and here's the loophole that is being utilized in key areas of our district where we're still having significant people panhandling in very visible and unsafe areas. And the loophole is that one of the sentences says that they can't panhandle; can't. And it doesn't use the word "panhandle." You know, it's more of safety and things like that, but it does fall under that umbrella. But they can't be on a median that's six feet wide or more narrow. Six feet or less. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: So that sounds great, but the places where the medians are more than six feet are the busiest, unsafe areas. And I'll give you an example. So the biggest issue where July 11, 2023 Page 117 I've got panhandlers in my district is U.S. 41 and Collier Boulevard. That median is about 12 to 16 feet wide. So this ordinance allows them to stand there because they're on a wide piece of grass and they're not sort of in between cars. The negative is they've got three lanes on one side, three lanes on another, the light turns red, they run out in between the cars to get their 5, $2, $10, whatever, the light turns green, and they're dodging cars. So the wider median attracts the panhandlers, but it puts them in an area where traffic is significantly unsafe. A tiny little median somewhere that's on a corner where there's traffic -- so to me it's almost like this thing's reversed. It should be the bigger medians we should stay away from. Now, one of the things that -- and I'll talk with the County Attorney. And I don't even need you to say anything, Mr. Klatzkow, because there are some state things and some constitutional things that went into this. But I think there's a couple of paragraphs below what we passed that actually supersede the wideness of the medians. And I'll just give you a summary. After it talks about the wideness of the medians and what you would think would allow a panhandler to be in a super-wide median legally, you go down a couple of paragraphs, and then it says a person shouldn't willfully obstruct traffic and impede safety, blah, blah, this or that, and it doesn't talk about any of the widenesses or the distances or whatnot. So to me, I go, you know, medians notwithstanding, you know, we've got people in some very busy intersections, some very busy exits that, you know -- and I'll get a legal read. I also talked with Colonel Bloom this morning. But this will be one that I'll -- after I flesh it all out, if I think there's a possibility to tighten this even more or put just better clarification and still keep us in the legal lane, this will be one that I'm going to take a look at. July 11, 2023 Page 118 So, you know, I was just sort of looking. We've got -- Commissioner Saunders is working noise, Commissioner Kowal's got his hands full right now with Riviera Golf Estates; Commissioner Hall's bringing back the Bill of Rights, which is a deep dive; I'm working on the panhandle -- panhandler issue; and really the only one not doing anything is Commissioner McDaniel. So please get that for the record. He did dig some holes, though, he told us. He's dug some holes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And you remember that I do do that for a living. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I know you do. Have I got any other reattacks? I've got Commissioner Saunders, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I'm going to, I guess, make this a little bit personal and ask Commissioner Hall whether he'd be willing to put this constitutional county ordinance off until the second meeting in August. There's no real emergency. Congress is on vacation, I think, most of August, so we don't have to worry too much about that. I cannot make the next two meetings. I would like to participate in that discussion. I think the issue will pass, but I would like to participate, but I cannot make the next two meetings. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: In person or you won't be even Zoomed in? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I won't be able to participate at all. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And so the request would be just a personal request. I understand if you can't do it. That's -- I understand that, you know, you've got folks that are lined up for the second meeting in July. But if that could be put off till the second July 11, 2023 Page 119 meeting in August, I would appreciate that, and that's just a personal request. Again, I understand completely if you can't. COMMISSIONER HALL: No, I appreciate the ask. I do -- I have people lined -- I've got the ball in motion. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I will -- I mean, if we're just having open discussion, we talked about big contentious issues that we might float to the fall, or we could still hear it in the summer, but if we start to feel uncomfortable that we don't have everything, you know, we can always make a motion to sort of slide it. On any issue that I think is big and contentious, me, personally, I would like all five commissioners to be here. And so I'm not saying that you change the date or anything. We can -- if it's on the next agenda and we have a discussion -- but I can tell you it is going to be big and contentious, and even though I voted for it last time, just like Commissioner McDaniel -- but like I told citizens who sent me a note, every vote's different, okay. So I voted for it, it failed, okay, great. I support -- just like Commissioner Kowal just said, hey, I was on the failing end of it, but that's how government works. End of discussion. But it's not end of discussion now. It's coming back. So citizens have a chance now to give us new information or convince me that I was wrong or what have you. But I feel really strong that for anything that is big and contentious that has people on both sides, all five commissioners being here is a big deal. Commissioner Saunders -- or if it was Commissioner Hall and it was an issue, you're here representing a lot of constituents and the feedback you've gotten, as well as your own personal opinion. So it doesn't mean we can't hear it, but just -- that's the first I heard that you wouldn't be here for two meetings. I think that's huge, but it's certainly within, you know, your right. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I should have said that July 11, 2023 Page 120 sooner. But, quite frankly, I was a little bit surprised that we were going to be hearing it the second week in July. I didn't know that until yesterday. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Well, we'll see. I mean, you know, the ball's in Commissioner Hall's court. We all have equal positions here. So, you know -- no, and you don't have to make -- you don't have to tell us today. You know, you chew on that. If we see it on the agenda, we see it. It doesn't mean we can't hear it. But there again, just like if we were voting on a big construction project, if one of the commissioners wasn't here and one of us started to feel uneasy that we weren't getting the full input of all five districts or we were missing something, we could always say, this has been valuable information, but I'm not prepared to vote on it -- and I'm not saying in this particular case. I'm just talking more generically -- I would have a hard time voting on anything that was major without all five commissioners being here. I actually think -- when I had an emergency in the family with my mom, you guys remember, I missed a meeting, and I think you guys floated -- you moved something because somebody made the motion that they would -- it would be more advantageous if I was here. And I remember, I couldn't even Zoom in because I was with my mom with a medical issue. So, you know, I think it's a valid point. Commissioner McDaniel, and then Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I'm going to go along with what you were saying. My question is, from an advertising standpoint, if Commissioner Hall chose to acquiesce to Commissioner Saunders' statement about not being here on the 25th, does it -- does it pose a problem from an advertising standpoint? MR. KLATZKOW: No. We'll pull the ad and then put it back July 11, 2023 Page 121 in for whatever meeting you guys want to hear this on. So that's not an issue. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Or you could -- or we could hear the issue but then choose not to -- and I'm just talking hypothetically. MR. KLATZKOW: You're going to have five hours -- you're going to have five hours of public comment. I don't know how many times you want to go through that. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Yeah. Well, I know. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's the thing that -- you know -- and I don't know -- I don't -- I didn't know that Commissioner Saunders was not going to be able to be here, so -- COMMISSIONER HALL: I didn't either. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- and that's not an unreasonable request. So I'd be okay with hearing it in August. But if you've got the ball rolling, then we'll stay on and go. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We used to -- or still do. But in the Senate, every now and then a senator would rise for a point of personal interest, and the Senate President would tell all the senators to take their seats and for everybody to be quiet. And if the senators weren't in their seats, they would announce it so all the senators would be in the room and in their seats. They called it a point of personal privilege. And we don't -- we don't do that here, but I mean, that's kind of what I'm asking for is a point of personal privilege to consider putting this at a time when I know I can be here. Commissioner Hall, you've said you want to -- you want to treat people the way you want to be treated. COMMISSIONER HALL: Yeah. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I kind of feel the same July 11, 2023 Page 122 way. I agreed with you on that. I changed my position on that ordinance -- or that contract based on that comment. COMMISSIONER HALL: I'm not opposed -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I know there are going to be circumstances where some of us just can't be in attendance. And I really would like to be here for that. But, again, I understand if it can't be changed, but that's my point. COMMISSIONER HALL: It can be changed. You know, nothing's -- I've got things in motion that I can postpone and get them here in August. So with that, I'm -- I would rather you be here. I just didn't know that you weren't going to be here. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yep. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I appreciate that. And we'll all have these kind of circumstances that will come up, and it's -- we're working as a solid group. We have differences of opinion, but the great thing is that we are working as a group and working in the best interest of our citizens, and I appreciate your courtesy. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: I think also, too, like we talked about with contracts, we don't want to open ourselves up to something that could be a controversial decision. So regardless of how that vote or any vote went, if we made a vote on something that was pretty big with a commissioner missing, the people that disagreed with our vote then all of a sudden would throw back in our face, wow, you know, he could have been the deciding vote, or he could have asked the best question. He could have, you know, interrogated somebody at the podium that was not making sense. So, you know, I think that's also part of it as well. I don't know how this one goes. I know how the last one went, but I want a decision that's five voices on anything that's bigger than July 11, 2023 Page 123 just, you know, paying a bill or changing, you know, a contract a little bit or something like that, so -- but it sounds like Commissioner Hall's going to take another bite of the apple. Who said that? COMMISSIONER HALL: We're going to take another bite of the apple and move it to August the 22nd meeting. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Bite of the apple. The juice is definitely worth the squeeze. That's mine. Stop stealing it. Okay. Any other comments? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We're going to measure twice and cut once. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Cut once. No, that one's mine, too. That one's mine, too. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: August the 22nd is the second meeting in August for -- CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: August 22nd. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- the Bill of Rights. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: And then, you know what? That gives both sides more preparation time as well, because I want to hear from both sides equally, even though some people thought I didn't. Okay. Any other comments? County Manager? MS. PATTERSON: Commissioner, I just wanted to recognize we had four interns in the room. I believe there's only the two left, but I want to thank them for being here and observing the public process. COMMISSIONER HALL: Congratulations for maintaining. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Now, wait a second. You don't just get off by just sitting there and watching us do all the hard work. Come to the podium. Tell us where you go to school, what -- a little bit about yourselves and where you've been working, and if you've learned anything. This is part of the intern process. July 11, 2023 Page 124 You don't get just to be spectators. So who are you, what do you do, and where are you working? MR. TOTH: What do you mean? We're engineer interns. We don't have to do public speaking, right? CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Oh, no. This is part of it. MR. TOTH: My name's Ryan Toth, born and raised in Collier County, but right now I'm going into my senior year at Florida State University. I'm a civil engineer major. And the past couple weeks I've been interning under Matt McLean in Public Utilities and Project Management, and it's been really insightful. We've been able to see all the water treatment facilities, solid waste, everything that's done at the County in that area, and then also, you know, how the engineering world interfaces with public government. And it's been really enjoyable, and I've been learning a lot. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: When are you done? When is your internship complete? MR. TOTH: I believe August 11th is around when we're thinking. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: August. Okay. Sir, how about yourself? MR. SZITTAI: Hello there. My name is Logan Szittai. Also born and raised Collier County. I'm currently going into my senior year at Brown University studying engineering and political science. So it's been fun to be working for Engineering and Project Management and also being here. I loved this meeting. This was fantastic just to watch and everything. It's been a fantastic time learning about public utilities and watching the presentation that we had today. Just thank you for letting me be here. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Now, is this something you July 11, 2023 Page 125 volunteered to do, or it's part of your curriculum, part of your academics, you know, you have to intern, you know, at some county government or some level of government or -- MR. SZITTAI: Personally, I was looking to come home, and then I found out about this opportunity. And I was looking to work for the summer, so it just worked out perfectly. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Okay. Where'd the other two go? They had somewhere more important to be? Where'd they go? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Lunch. CHAIRMAN LoCASTRO: Hey, you know what? Thanks for staying here to the end. It really shows dedication and loyalty. We'll find out who the other two are, and we'll add another two weeks to their internship. Okay. With that, okay, we're adjourned. ******* **** Commissioner Saunders moved, seconded by Commissioner McDaniel, and carried that the following items under the Consent and summary agendas be approved and/or adopted **** Item #16A1 FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES AND APPURTENANT UTILITY EASEMENT FOR THE MEADOWOOD - PHASE 1, PL20200001183 AND AUTHORIZE 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 - A FINAL INSPECTION WAS FOUND July 11, 2023 Page 126 SATISFACTORY BY THE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW STAFF ON MAY 26, 2023 Item #16A2 FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES AND APPURTENANT UTILITY EASEMENT FOR THE MEADOWOOD - PHASE 2, PL20200001806 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 - A FINAL INSPECTION WAS FOUND SATISFACTORY BY THE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW STAFF ON MAY 26, 2023 Item #16A3 THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $156,928 WHICH WAS POSTED AS A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER PL20210001289 FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH ISLES OF COLLIER PRESERVE PHASE 16 - THE AS-BUILT LAKE CROSS SECTIONS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED AND THE LAKES WERE INSPECTED ON MAY 25,2023, BY THE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW DIVISION Item #16A4 RESOLUTION 2023-130: A RESOLUTION FOR FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE July 11, 2023 Page 127 IMPROVEMENTS AND PLAT DEDICATIONS, FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF FIDDLER’S CREEK PLAZA, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20160003105, AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $56,717.90 Item #16A5 THE CONSERVATION COLLIER OTTER MOUND PRESERVE 10-YEAR UPDATE UNDER THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PROGRAM MARCO ISLAND PARCELS FINAL MANAGEMENT PLAN - THE MOST RECENT UPDATE OF THE FINAL MANAGEMENT PLAN (FMP) WAS APPROVED BY THE CCLAAC ON MAY 3, 2023 Item #16B1 THE BOARD APPROVE A REQUEST TO ADVERTISE A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO COLLIER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 2006-56, THE ROCK ROAD IMPROVEMENT MUNICIPAL SERVICE TAXING UNIT (MSTU), TO CREATE AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO PROVIDE INPUT TO COUNTY STAFF ON MATTERS RELATED TO THE MSTU Item #16B2 A SECOND AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 17-7204, “LELY GOLF ESTATES MSTU LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE,” WITH SUPERB LANDSCAPE SERVICES, INC., TO EXTEND THE AGREEMENT’S TERMINATION DATE FOR AN ADDITIONAL 142 DAY PERIOD THROUGH AND INCLUDING DECEMBER 31, 2023 July 11, 2023 Page 128 Item #16B3 RECOGNIZE FY 2023/24 TRANSPORTATION DISADVANTAGED PLANNING GRANT FUNDING IN THE AMOUNT OF $29,265 TO THE COLLIER METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION FROM THE COMMISSION FOR THE TRANSPORTATION DISADVANTAGED AND TO AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT. (TRANSPORTATION SERVICES MANAGEMENT GRANT FUND 1841) - THE CTD GRANT FUNDING BEGINS ON JULY 1, 2023 Item #16B4 RESOLUTION 2023-131: AMEND EXHIBIT “A” TO RESOLUTION NO. 2013-238, AS AMENDED, THE LIST OF SPEED LIMITS ON COUNTY MAINTAINED ROADS, TO REFLECT SPEED LIMIT CHANGES AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS Item #16B5 THE BOARD APPROVES AND AUTHORIZES THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A COLLIER COUNTY LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY AND MARBELLA LAKES OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., FOR LANDSCAPE AND IRRIGATION IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY TRAFFIC CIRCLE AT MARBELLA LAKES DRIVE AND HERMOSA WAY - THE APPROVED PLANS MEETS FDOT AND COLLIER DESIGN REQUIREMENTS July 11, 2023 Page 129 Item #16B6 TO RESCIND LOCAL AGENCY PROGRAM (LAP) AGREEMENT 446252-1-58-01, BETWEEN THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) AND COLLIER COUNTY, WHICH WOULD HAVE PROVIDED UP TO $456,500 IN FEDERAL FUNDING TO UPDATE COLLIER COUNTY’S SCHOOL FLASHER SYSTEM; REVOKE THE RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE BOARD’S ACTION; AND PROCESS ALL NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS Item #16B7 AN AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF AN IMPROVED TRACT OF LAND (PARCEL 1464FEE) REQUIRED FOR THE VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PHASE II PROJECT (PROJECT NO. 60249) – FOLIO #405202800001 Item #16B8 THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN GRANT AGREEMENT NO. 23CO3, “COLLIER COUNTY – HURRICANE IAN AND NICOLE RECOVERY PROJECT”, BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND TO ACCEPT GRANT FUNDING IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,436,457.00 (PROJECT NO. 50280) Item #16B9 THE SELECTION COMMITTEE’S RANKING AND AUTHORIZE COUNTY PERSONNEL TO BEGIN CONTRACT July 11, 2023 Page 130 NEGOTIATIONS WITH JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP INC., CONCERNING REQUEST FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) NO. 23-8108, “DESIGN SERVICES FOR COLLIER AREA TRANSIT OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE FACILITY,” AND BRING A PROPOSED AGREEMENT BACK FOR THE BOARD’S CONSIDERATION AT A FUTURE MEETING - THE FACILITY SUPPORTS BOTH THE FIXED ROUTE AND DOOR- TO-DOOR PARATRANSIT SERVICES Item #16B10 RECOGNIZE AND APPROPRIATE REVENUE TO THE TRAFFIC OPERATIONS COST CENTER (163630) IN THE AMOUNT OF $101,908.03 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023 AND AUTHORIZE ALL NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS Item #16B11 APPROVE THE FY2023 ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT OF THE COLLIER COUNTY TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN INCLUSIVE OF THE ANNUAL PROJECT PRIORITY LIST AND AUTHORIZE SUBMISSION OF THE PLAN TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION - COLLIER COUNTY COMPLETED A COMPREHENSIVE OPERATIONS ANALYSIS (COA) IN JULY 2021 Item #16C1 THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, AS EX-OFFICIO THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE COLLIER COUNTY WATER-SEWER DISTRICT, APPROVE A WORK ORDER TO July 11, 2023 Page 131 QUALITY ENTERPRISES USA, INC., PURSUANT TO A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION (“RFQ”) UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 20-7800 FOR THE “EAGLE LAKES METER ASSEMBLIES REPLACEMENT AND IMPROVEMENTS” PROJECT, IN THE AMOUNT OF $599,123, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE WORK ORDER (PROJECT NO. 70166.20) Item #16C2 THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, AS EX-OFFICIO THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE COLLIER COUNTY WATER-SEWER DISTRICT, AWARD REQUEST FOR QUOTATION (“RFQ”) NO. 19-7622 (PS 305.12 REHABILITATION) UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 19-7622, THE “ANNUAL AGREEMENT FOR WASTEWATER PUMP STATION REPAIR AND RENOVATIONS” TO THE LOWEST BIDDER U.S. WATER SERVICES CORPORATION AND AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ISSUE A PURCHASE ORDER IN THE AMOUNT OF $685,929.12 FOR THE PUMP STATION 305.12 REHABILITATION PROJECT (PROJECT NUMBER 70141) Item #16C3 CHANGE ORDER NO. 2, ALLOCATING A PORTION OF THE OWNER’S ALLOWANCE TO COVER THE COSTS FOR WORK DIRECTIVE NO. 2 IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,224.00 UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 20-7800 WITH PWC JOINT VENTURE LLC FOR THE “CARICA HVAC IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT,” AUTHORIZE THE AFTER-THE-FACT PAYMENT OF THAT AMOUNT FOR WORK THE CONTRACTOR COMPLETED UNDER WORK DIRECTIVE NO. 2, SUBJECT TO IT July 11, 2023 Page 132 PROVIDING ALL REQUIRED BACKUP DOCUMENTATION PREREQUISITE TO PROCESSING PAYMENT, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER - THE WORK ORDER ISSUED ON THIS PROJECT EXPIRED ON FEBRUARY 23, 2023 Item #16C4 APPROVE EXPENDITURES UNDER AN EXEMPTION FROM THE COMPETITIVE PROCESS AND APPROVE ATTACHED AGREEMENT NO. 22-013-NS WITH MUELLER SYSTEMS, LLC, WITH THE INCORPORATED AMENDED AND RESTATED MUELLER SYSTEMS MASTER USE AGREEMENT, FOR THE PURCHASE OF SMALL RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL METERS, AUTOMATIC METER READING COMPONENTS, AND ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE DIRECTLY FROM MUELLER Item #16C5 THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE CERTIFICATION OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, AS REQUIRED BY THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, CERTIFYING THE ABILITY OF THE PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT TO FUND A POTENTIAL PLUGGING AND ABANDONMENT PLAN FOR THE DEEP INJECTION WELL SYSTEM AT COLLIER COUNTY’S GOLDEN GATE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT SHOULD THE WELL BECOME UNUSABLE OR IS NO LONGER NEEDED – A MECHANICAL INTEGRITY TEST WAS PERFORMED IN JANUARY 2023, THE TEST PRODUCED SUCCESSFUL July 11, 2023 Page 133 RESULTS Item #16D1 THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THREE (3) LANDLORD PAYMENT AGREEMENTS BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY AND MICHAEL AND MICHELLE NOJUNAS, RANDALL L. FREDRICKSON, AND KIRK SANDERS, ALLOWING COMMUNITY AND HUMAN SERVICES (CHS) TO ADMINISTER THE RAPID RE- HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION PROGRAM THROUGH THE EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS AND RAPID UNSHELTERED SURVIVOR HOUSING GRANTS PROGRAM. (HOUSING GRANT FUND 1835 AND HOUSING MATCH FUND 1836) Item #16D2 A BUDGET AMENDMENT TO ALLOW CONTINUOUS OPERATION OF THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM WITH AN ANTICIPATED AWARD IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,486,496 FOR STATE FY 2023/2024. (SHIP GRANT FUND 1053) Item #16D3 RESOLUTION 2023-132: APPROVE THE COLLIER COUNTY PY 2023 ONE-YEAR ACTION PLAN FOR U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT, HOME AND EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANTS PROGRAMS, INCLUDING THE REPROGRAMMING OF PRIOR YEAR FUNDS AND July 11, 2023 Page 134 ESTIMATED PROGRAM INCOME; (2) AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $3,776,300.43 FOR THE HUD PY 2023-2024 BUDGET; (3) APPROVE THE REVISED CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN; (4) APPROVE AND EXECUTE THE ATTACHED RESOLUTION, AND ASSOCIATED U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT CERTIFICATIONS AND ASSURANCES, SF 424S APPLICATIONS FOR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE; (5) AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN ANY REQUIRED HUD CERTIFICATIONS, SF 424 DOCUMENTS, AND FUNDING APPROVAL AGREEMENTS RELATED TO THE AFOREMENTIONED PROGRAMS AND PLAN, AND AUTHORIZE TRANSMITTAL TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT; AND (6) APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN FIVE (5) SUBRECIPIENT GRANT AGREEMENTS. (HOUSING GRANT FUND 1835 AND MATCH 1836) Item #16D4 ACCEPT THE FY22-23 STATE AID TO LIBRARIES GRANT FUNDING IN THE AMOUNT OF $161,047 AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT. (PUBLIC SERVICES GRANT FUND 1839) - THESE GRANT FUNDS CAN BE USED FOR ANY PUBLIC LIBRARY NEED EXCEPT FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Item #16D5 THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE SUBRECIPIENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COLLIER July 11, 2023 Page 135 COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY AND COLLIER COUNTY UNDER THE U.S. HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM TO UPDATE THE QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE REPORT. (HOUSING GRANT FUND 1835) - TO CONTINUE TO PROMOTE AFFORTABLE RENTAL ASSISTANCE SERVICES TO COLLIER COUNTY RESIDENTS 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 PROCUREMENT ORDINANCE 2017-08 AND THE PROCUREMENT MANUAL, AS WELL AS, TO APPROVE THE PAYMENT OF $4,714.74 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 AN AFTER-THE-FACT PAYMENT IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $47,494.24 TO PRESIDIO NETWORKED SOLUTIONS, INC., UNDER PURCHASE ORDER 4500222795, FOR A THREE-YEAR CLOUD INSIGHTS SUBSCRIPTION - PURCHASE ORDER WAS ISSUED ON DECEMBER 30, 2022 Item #16F1 July 11, 2023 Page 136 THE CHAIRPERSON TO EXECUTE DEED CERTIFICATES FOR PURCHASED BURIAL RIGHTS AT LAKE TRAFFORD MEMORIAL GARDENS CEMETERY AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER OR DESIGNEE TO TAKE ALL ACTIONS NECESSARY TO RECORD THE DEED CERTIFICATES WITH THE CLERK OF THE COURT’S RECORDING DEPARTMENT Item #16F2 RESOLUTION 2023-133: 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 AWARD INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”) NO. 23-8074, “ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS,” TO SIMMONDS ELECTRICAL OF NAPLES, INC., AS THE PRIMARY VENDOR, AND TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES, INC., AS THE SECONDARY VENDOR, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENTS – SIMMONDS ELECTRICAL OF NAPLES, INC. HAS BEEN IN BUSINESS SINCE 1982, IS A FLORIDA CERTIFIED LICENSED CONTRACTOR, AND HAS PROVIDED SERVICE FOR COLLIER COUNTY UNDER PRIOR CONTRACTS SINCE 2009. TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES, INC. HAS BEEN July 11, 2023 Page 137 IN BUSINESS SINCE 1983 Item #16F4 CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF TASK 3 - 30% CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $126,500.00 AND ADD A TIME EXTENSION OF 258 DAYS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT TASK UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 21-7911, FOR THE “DESIGN SERVICES FOR COLLIER COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY” PROJECT, WITH RG ARCHITECTS, P.A., AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER. (PROJECT NO. 50239) - THE PROJECT WAS VALIDATED BY THE INFRASTRUCTURE SURTAX CITIZEN OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON JUNE 23RD, 2021 Item #16F5 FIRST AMENDMENT TO LICENSE AGREEMENT TO CLARIFY THE TERM TO ALLOW COLLIER COUNTY WATER-SEWER DISTRICT CONTRACTOR DOUGLAS N. HIGGINS, INC. TO CONTINUE TO USE COUNTY-OWNED PROPERTY FOR THE NAPLES PARK PUBLIC UTILITIES RENEWAL PROJECT ON 105TH AVENUE NORTH AND 106TH AVENUE NORTH Item #16F6 THE TERMINATION OF THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY HAZARD MITIGATION GRANT PROGRAM SUB-RECIPIENT AGREEMENT H0600 WITH THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN THE July 11, 2023 Page 138 AMOUNT OF $1,931,593 AND APPROVE ALL NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS (PROJECT NO. 33744) Item #16F7 AN ALTERNATIVE IMPACT FEE DEMAND REDUCTION ANALYSIS RATE STUDY AND THE ASSOCIATED REDUCED ROADS AND PARKS IMPACT FEE CALCULATIONS FOR THE TOWN OF AVE MARIA, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 74-204 OF THE COLLIER COUNTY CODE OF LAWS AND ORDINANCES Item #16F8 CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 ADDING FIFTY-EIGHT (58) DAYS TO AGREEMENT NO. 21-7883-ST (CMAR), MAIN CAMPUS CHILLER PLANT UPGRADES, WITH O-A-K/FLORIDA, INC. D/B/A OWEN-AMES-KIMBALL COMPANY AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER. (PROJECTS #50214 AND #50189) Item #16F9 THE AFTER-THE-FACT PAYMENT OF WORK/PURCHASE ORDER NO. 4500223423 TO EARTH TECH ENVIRONMENTAL, LLD IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,033.00 (INVOICE NO. 9199), IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROVISION OF A PROTECTED SPECIES SURVEY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES UNDER CONTRACT 18-7432-EV, WHICH SERVICES WERE NECESSARY FOR THE COLLIER COUNTY RESOURCE RECOVERY PARK /GOVERNMENT OPERATION BUSINESS July 11, 2023 Page 139 PARK PROJECT, AND TO APPROVE AND ACCEPT STAFF’S FEBRUARY 15, 2023, EMAIL TO EARTH TECH TO SERVE AS THE OFFICIAL NOTICE TO PROCEED INITIATING SERVICES IN THE NOT TO EXCEED QUOTED AMOUNT OF $17,004.00 UNDER THE WORK/PURCHASE ORDER. (PROJECT NUMBER 70167) Item #16G1 THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, ACTING AS THE COLLIER COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY, APPROVE A FIRST AMENDMENT TO COLLIER COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY LEASEHOLD AGREEMENT FOR HANGAR CONSTRUCTION WITH THE COLLIER MOSQUITO CONTROL DISTRICT RELATED TO ITS CONSTRUCTION OF AIRCRAFT HANGARS AT THE IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT      Item #16J1 RECORD IN THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, THE CHECK NUMBER (OR OTHER PAYMENT METHOD), AMOUNT, PAYEE, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE REFERENCED DISBURSEMENTS WERE DRAWN FOR THE PERIODS BETWEEN JUNE 15, 2023, AND JUNE 28, 2023, PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06 Item #16J2 THE BOARD APPROVE AND DETERMINE VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF JULY 5, 2023 July 11, 2023 Page 140 Item #16K1 THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO FILE A LAWSUIT ON BEHALF OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGAINST JOHN CARROLL AND KACI RENEE CARROLL 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 $3,345.72, PLUS COSTS OF LITIGATION Item #16K2 THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO FILE A LAWSUIT ON BEHALF OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGAINST YORDANKA GONZALEZ TORRES 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 $1,875.52, PLUS COSTS OF LITIGATION Item #16K3 THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE IN THE CASE OF COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS V. RACHEL JIMENEZ LOPEZ (CASE NO. 23-SC-1174) NOW PENDING IN THE COUNTY COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, CONCERNING THE RECOVERY OF DAMAGES FOR THE REPAIR OF COLLIER July 11, 2023 Page 141 COUNTY PROPERTY TOTALING $7,956.38 PLUS $371.40 IN LITIGATION COSTS FOR A TOTAL SUM OF $8,327.78 Item #16K4 A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $65,000 PLUS $14,106.23 IN STATUTORY ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND EXPERT FEES AND COSTS, FOR THE TAKING OF PARCEL 1241FEE, REQUIRED FOR THE VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PROJECT, PROJECT NO. 60168 Item #16K5 A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $172,850 PLUS $36,438.24 IN STATUTORY ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS, AND EXPERT FEES AND COSTS, FOR THE TAKING OF PARCEL 107FEE, REQUIRED FOR THE VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PROJECT, PROJECT NO. 60168 Item #16L1 THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ACKNOWLEDGE AND ESTABLISH THE HISTORIC CEMETERY, 815 W. MAIN STREET (PID NO. 00127320003), AND THE ZOCALO PLAZA, 107 N. 1ST STREET (PID NO. 81681720003), AS “PUBLIC AREAS” AS IDENTIFIED IN SECTION FIVE OF ORDINANCE NO. 92-40, AS AMENDED, FOR THE PURPOSES OF ALLOWING THESE AREAS TO BE BEAUTIFIED AND MAINTAINED BY THE IMMOKALEE BEAUTIFICATION MUNICIPAL SERVICE TAXING UNIT July 11, 2023 Page 142 (MSTU) AT AN ENHANCED LEVEL OF SERVICE AND IN FURTHERANCE OF THE ADOPTED COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT PLAN Item #17A ORDINANCE 2023-36: AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE ROOST ROAD RPUD TO ALLOW UP TO 300 RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNITS BY REZONING MOBILE HOME (MH) DISTRICT AND ESTATES (E) DISTRICT LANDS TO A RESIDENTIAL PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (RPUD) ON 64.6+/- ACRES OF PROPERTY LOCATED ON THE WEST SIDE OF ROOST ROAD ABOUT ¼ MILE SOUTH OF THE INTERSECTION OF ROOST ROAD AND MANATEE ROAD, IN SECTIONS 10 AND 11, TOWNSHIP 51 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA. (THIS IS A COMPANION TO ITEM #17B) [PL20220000890] Item #17B RESOLUTION 2023-134: PETITION VAC-PL20220003815, TO DISCLAIM, RENOUNCE AND VACATE THE COUNTY AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE 60-FOOT-WIDE RIGHT-OF- WAY, DRAINAGE, AND UTILITY EASEMENT AS RECORDED IN OFFICIAL RECORDS BOOK 1639, PAGE 1551, OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 3/4 OF A MILE EAST OF STATE ROAD 951 (COLLIER BOULEVARD) AND A 1/4 MILE SOUTH OF MANATEE ROAD IN SECTION 10, TOWNSHIP 51 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA. (THIS IS A COMPANION TO ITEM #17A) July 11, 2023 Page 143 Item #17C RESOLUTION 2023-135: PETITION VAC-PL20220005685, TO DISCLAIM, RENOUNCE AND VACATE THE COUNTY AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST IN A PORTION OF THE PLATTED 10- FOOT DRAINAGE EASEMENT LOCATED ALONG THE EAST BORDER OF THE SOUTHERLY PORTION OF LOT 28, HOLLY TERRACE, AS RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 4, PAGE 64, OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, LOCATED IN SECTION 23, TOWNSHIP 50 SOUTH, RANGE 25 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, AND TO ACCEPT PETITIONER’S GRANT OF A 10-FOOT WIDE BY 53-FOOT LONG DRAINAGE EASEMENT TO REPLACE THE VACATED DRAINAGE EASEMENT July 11, 2023 Page 144 There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 12:41 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.