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Agenda 04/09/2024 Item # 2B (March 12, 2024, BCC Minutes)04/09/2024 COLLIER COUNTY Board of County Commissioners Item Number: 2.B Doc ID: 28443 Item Summary: March 12, 2024, BCC Minutes Meeting Date: 04/09/2024 Prepared by: Title: Management Analyst II – County Manager's Office Name: Geoffrey Willig 03/28/2024 9:47 AM Submitted by: Title: Senior Staff Assistant – Clerk of the Circuit Court Name: Jennifer Milum 03/28/2024 9:47 AM Approved By: Review: County Manager's Office Geoffrey Willig County Manager Review Completed 03/28/2024 10:14 AM Board of County Commissioners Geoffrey Willig Meeting Pending 04/09/2024 9:00 AM 2.B Packet Pg. 12 March 12 , 2024 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida, March 12, 2024 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: ALSO PRESENT: Amy Patterson, County Manager Chris Hall Rick Locastro Dan Kowal William L. McDaniel, Jr. Burt L. Saunders Daniel Rodriguez, Deputy County Manager Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations Page 1 COLLIE R COUN TY Board of County Commis sioners Community Redevelopment Agency Board (CRAB) Ai rport Aut hority AGENDA Boar d of County C ommission Chamber s Collier C ounty Gov ernment Center 3299 Tamia mi Trail East, 3rd F loor Naple s, F L 34112 March 12, 2024 9:00 AM Commissioner Chri s H a ll, District 2; -Chair Commissioner Burt Saunde r s, District 3 ; -Vice Chai r Commissioner Rick Locastro, District 1 Commis sion er Dan K owal, District 4; -CRAB C o-Chair Commission er William L. McDaniel , J r., Di strict 5 ; -CRAB Co-Chair NOTICE: ALL PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK ON AGENDA ITEMS MUST REGISTER PRIOR TO PRESENTATION OF THE AGENDA ITEM TO BE ADDRESSED. ALL REGISTERED SPEAKERS WILL RECEIVE UP TO THREE MINUTES UNLESS THE TIME IS ADJUSTED BY THE CHAIR. ADDITIONAL MINUTES MAY BE CEDED TO AN IN-PERSON SPEAKER BY OTHER REGISTERED SPEAKERS WHO MUST BE PRESENT AT THE TIME THE SPEAKER IS HEARD. NO PUBLIC SPEAKERS WILL BE HEARD FOR PROCLAMATIONS, PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLIC PETITIONS. SPEAKERS ON PRESENTATIONS ARE LIMITED TO 10 MINUTES, UNLESS EXTENDED BY THE CHAIR. ALL PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK ON A CONSENT ITEM MUST REGISTER PRIOR TO THE BOARD'S APPROVAL OF THE DAY'S CONSENT AGENDA, WHICH IS HEARD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING FOLLOWING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. ANYONE WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON PUBLIC PETITION MUST SUBMIT THE REQUEST IN WRITING TO THE COUNTY MANAGER AT LEAST 13 DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE OF THE MEETING. THE REQUEST SHALL PROVIDE DETAILED INFORMATION AS TO THE NATURE OF THE PETITION. THE PUBLIC PETITION MAY NOT INVOLVE A MATTER ON A FUTURE BOARD AGENDA AND MUST CONCERN A MATTER IN WHICH THE BOARD CAN TAKE ACTION. PUBLIC PETITIONS ARE LIMITED TO A SINGLE PRESENTER, WITH A MAXIMUM TIME OF TEN MINUTES, UNLESS EXTENDED BY THE CHAIR. SHOULD THE PETITION BE GRANTED, THE ITEM WILL BE PLACED ON A FUTURE AGENDA FOR A PUBLIC HEARING. ANYONE WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THIS AGENDA OR A FUTURE AGENDA MUST REGISTER TO SPEAK PRIOR TO THE PUBLIC COMMENT PORTION OF THE AGENDA BEING CALLED BY THE CHAIR. SPEAKERS WILL BE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES, AND NO ADDITIONAL MINUTES MAY BE CEDED TO THE SPEAKER. AT THE CHAIR'S DISCRETION, THE NUMBER OF PUBLIC SPEAKERS MAY BE LIMITED TO 5 FOR THAT MEETING. ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THIS BOARD WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDING PERTAINING THERETO, AND THEREFORE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED. COLLIER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 2003-53 AS AMENDED BY ORDINANCE 2004-05 AND 2007-24, REQUIRES THAT ALL LOBBYISTS SHALL, BEFORE ENGAGING IN ANY LOBBYING ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ADDRESSING THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS), REGISTER WITH THE CLERK TO THE BOARD AT THE BOARD MINUTES AND RECORDS DEPARTMENT. IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY WHO NEEDS ANY ACCOMMODATION IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCEEDING, YOU ARE ENTITLED, AT NO COST TO YOU, THE PROVISION OF CERTAIN ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT THE COLLIER COUNTY FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION LOCATED AT 3335 EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL, SUITE 1, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 34112-5356 , (239) 252-8380; Page2 March 12, 2024 ASSISTED LISTENING DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED ARE AVAILABLE IN THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION. LUNCH RECESS SCHEDULED FOR 12:00 NOON TO 1:00 P.M 1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE A. Invocation and Pledge by Scottlyn Hall, Daisy Hall, Sunee Hall, Shepherd Hall, and Miles Hall. 2. AGENDA AND MINUTES A. Approval of today's regular, consent and summary agenda as amended (ex parte disclosure provided by commission members for consent agenda.) 3. AW ARDS AND RECOGNITIONS A. EMPLOYEE B. ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS C. RETIREES 1) Recognize Nolan Sapp for his 46 years of dedicated public safety service upon retirement. D. EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH 4. PROCLAMATIONS A. Proclamation designating March 12, 2024, as Gentle'men Against Domestic Violence Day in Collier County. To be accepted by Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and other distinguished guests. B. Proclamation designating March 10 -16 , 2024, as Sunshine Week in Collier County. To be accepted by Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. 5. PRESENT A TIO NS Page3 March 12, 2024 A. Artist of the month B. Presentation of the Collier County Business of the Quarter for March 2024 to True Fashionistas. The award will be accepted by Jennifer Johnson, Owner, along with Kristina Park, CEO, and Bethany Sawyer, Vice President of Membership and Investors, the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce. 6. PUBLIC PETITIONS 7. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA 8. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 9. ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS 10. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS A. This item to be heard at 9:30 AM. Recommendation to submit a Community Project Funding application to Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart for $6 million to construct a Collier County Veterans Services Center and Museum at the previously proposed location for a Collier County Public Schools Career and Technical Training Center adjacent to the planned Golden Gate Parkway entrance to the State Veterans Nursing Home and Adult Day Health Care campus. (District 3) B. Recommendation to nominate and appoint five members to the County Government Productivity Committee. (All Districts) 11. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT A. This item to be heard at 10:30 AM. Recommendation to review a proposed amendment to Ordinance 2002-63, which established the Conservation Collier Program, which will be advertised for a future Board meeting. (Jaime Cook, Director, Development Review Division, Growth Management Community Development) (All Districts) B. This item to be heard at 1 PM. Recommendation to accept the after-action report for the 2024 Florida legislative session and provide guidance as preliminary planning begins for the next legislative cycle. (Bridget Page 4 March 12, 2024 Corcoran, Legislative Affairs Coordinator) (All Districts) C. Recommendation to accept a project update on the Collier County Behavioral Health Center and proceed with the design for 87 total beds ( 45 CSU, 30 adult Medicare/Acute and 12 ESAC) with an estimated construction cost of $49.9 million. (Project No. 50239) (Ed Finn, Deputy County Manager) (All Districts) D. Recommendation to Adopt the FY 2025 Budget Policy, and adopt a Resolution establishing a deadline of May 1, 2024, for budget submittals by the Supervisor of Elections, the Sheriffs Office, and the Clerk. (Christopher Johnson, Director of Corporate Financial and Management Services) (All Districts) E. Recommendation to approve the purchase of Property, Terrorism, Watercraft Hull and Boiler & Machinery Insurance effective April 1, 2024, in the estimated amount of $11,615,027. (Michael K. Quigley, Division Director, Risk Management) (All Districts) 12. COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT 13. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS 14. AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND/OR COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY A. AIRPORT B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY 15. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS A. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA BY INDIVIDUALS NOT ALREADY HEARD DURING PREVIOUS PUBLIC COMMENTS IN THIS MEETING B. STAFF PROJECT UPDATES C. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS Page 5 March 12, 2024 16. Consent Agenda -All matters listed under this item are considered to be routine and action will be taken by one motion without separate discussion of each item. If discussion is desired by a member of the board, that item(s) will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. A. GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT 1) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the sewer utility facilities for Naples Botanical Garden Horticultural Complex, PL20230015483. (District 4) 2) Recommendation to authorize the Clerk of Courts to release a Performance Bond in the amount of $123,880, which was posted as a guaranty for Excavation Permit Number PL20230002528 for work associated with Imperial Golf Club -Golf Course Renovation. (District 2) 3) Recommendation to authorize the Clerk of Courts to release a Performance Bond in the amount of $163,840, which was posted as a guaranty for Excavation Permit Number PL202 l 0002249 for work associated with Esplanade by the Islands Amenity Campus. (District 1) 4) Recommendation to authorize the Clerk of Courts to release a Performance Bond in the amount of $26,280, which was posted as a guaranty for Excavation Permit Number PL20220001584 for work associated with Winchester. (District 5) 5) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and sewer utility facilities for Pelican Marsh Golf Club -Golf Teaching Facility, PL20230018213. (District 2) 6) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and sewer utility facilities and accept the conveyance of a portion of the potable water and sewer facilities and appurtenant utility easements for Magnolia Pond Residences Phase 1, PL20230014175. (District 3) 7) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and Page 6 March 12, 2024 sewer utility facilities and accept the conveyance of a portion of the potable water and sewer facilities and appurtenant utility easement for Youth Haven Intake Cottage, PL20230011349. (District 1) 8) Recommendation to approve final acceptance and accept the conveyance of the potable water and sewer utility facilities for Esplanade by the Islands -Phase 2C, PL20230008069. (District 1) 9) Recommendation to approve final acceptance and accept the conveyance of the potable water and sewer utility facilities for Esplanade by the Islands Lucema Street, PL20230008065. (District 1) 10) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an amendment to an Affordable Housing Density Bonus Agreement for the Habitat for Humanity of Collier County, Inc., development within the Tree Farm Planned Unit Development to make an insubstantial change to the legal description. (District 5) 11) This item requires that ex-parte disclosure be provided by Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve for recording the final plat of Arthrex Commerce Park - Phase 2 (Application Number PL20230008595), approval of the standard form Construction and Maintenance Agreement, and approval of the performance security in the amount of $1,613,841.85. (District 5) 12) This item requires that Commission members provide ex-parte disclosure. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve for recording the amended final plat of Groves at Orange Blossom, Phase 3A, approval of the standard form Construction and Maintenance Agreement, and approval of the performance security in the amount of $72,483.95. (PL20230011875) (District 5) 13) Recommendation to authorize the Office of the County Attorney to initiate foreclosure proceedings pursuant to Section 162.09, Florida Statutes, in relation to $578,223.90 in accruing code enforcement liens for ongoing violations at 523 Eustis Ave., Immokalee, Florida 34142, arising from the Office of the Special Magistrate entitled, Board of Page 7 March 12, 2024 County Commissioners, Collier County, Florida, vs. Katrix, LLC. (District 5) 14) Recommendation to direct staff to advertise and bring back an Ordinance amending the Land Development Code to update the regulations relating to the removal of prohibited exotic vegetation. (All Districts) 15) Recommendation to approve the Conservation Collier Mcllvane Marsh Preserve Final Management Plan under the Conservation Collier Program. (All Districts) B. TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT 1) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chair to sign Amendment 3 to the Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) IX -Immokalee Complete Streets Grant Agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration Grant Award #693JJ32040007 updating the grant milestones and extending the project completion date to the agreement. (Companion to Item #16B2) (District 5) 2) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 1, adding two hundred thirty-seven (23 7) days under Agreement No. 20-7811 with Quality Enterprises USA, Inc., for the "Design-Build of the Immokalee Area Improvements -Tiger Grant" project, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Change Order. (Project No. 33563) (Companion to Item #16Bl) (District 5) 3) Recommendation to establish a policy and authorize the Chair to execute Easement Use Agreements for certain existing minor encroachments discovered as part of the 16th ST NE Bridge (Project No. 60212). (District 5) 4) Recommendation to approve the selection committee's ranking and authorize staff to begin contract negotiations with the top-ranked firm, Hardesty & Hanover Construction Services, LLC, concerning Request for Professional Services ("RPS") No. 23-8196, "CEI Services for 16th Street NE Bridge," so that staff can bring a proposed agreement back for the Board's consideration at a future meeting. (Project No. Page 8 March 12, 2024 60212). 5) Recommendation to approve a First Amendment to Agreement No. 18-7379, "Forest Lakes MSTU Landscape Maintenance," with Ground Zero Landscaping Services, Inc., to extend the agreement's termination date for an additional 180-day period through and including September 18, 2024. (District 4) 6) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign an amendment to its Landscape Maintenance Agreement with Marbella Lakes Owners Association, Inc., for additional landscape and irrigation improvements within Marbella Lakes Drive, Whippoorwill Lane, and Livingston Road public rights-of way. (District 4) 7) Recommendation to authorize electronic submission by staff of a Small County Outreach Program for Rural Areas of Opportunities application with the Florida Department of Transportation to fund the construction of a paved shoulder to improve safety on a segment of Immokalee Road (CR 846E) in the amount of $999,855.21. (District 5) 8) Recommendation to authorize a Budget Amendment to recognize revenue and transfer funding for projects within the Transportation Supported Gas Tax Fund (3083) and Transportation & CDES Capital Fund (3081) in the amount of $230,253.23. (Project Nos. 60085, 60066, 60088, 69331, 69333, 69336, and 69340) (All Districts) 9) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a Supplemental Agreement to the Local Agency Program (LAP) Agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to increase the grant award from $983,670 to $1,984,140.56 for the construction of five-foot bike lanes on Green Blvd; to adopt the accompanying resolution formally approving and authorizing the chairman to execute same on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners; and to authorize the necessary budget amendments, FPN 438093-2-58-01. (Project No. 33849. Fund 1841). (District 3) C. PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT 1) Recommendation to terminate for convenience Construction Page 9 March 12, 2024 Agreement No. 22-7953 with Douglas N. Higgins, Inc., pertaining to the "NCWRF Operations Building HVAC Maintenance" project. (Project No. 50196.2) (District 2) 2) Recommendation to approve administratively approved Change Order No. 3, providing for a time extension of 30 days under Construction Agreement No. 23-8058, with Accurate Drilling Systems, Inc., for the "Golden Gate City Transmission Water Main Improvements -Phase IA -Golf Course" project, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Change Order. (Project No. 70253) (District 3) 3) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, as Ex- officio the Governing Board of the Collier County Water-Sewer District, award Invitation to Bid ("ITB") No. 23-8187, "Public Utilities 33 Lift Station Panels Replacement," to Powerserve Technologies, Inc., in the amount of $3,112,404.29, approve an Owner's Allowance of $155,000, authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Agreement and approve the necessary Budget Amendment. (Project No. 50280.6.4) (District 2) 4) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 2, providing for a time extension of 4 days under Construction Agreement No. 22-7981, with OneSource Construction Company & Builders, Inc., for the "North County Regional Water Treatment Plant (NCRWTP) Storage Building" project, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Change Order. (Project No. 70136) (All Districts) 5) Recommendation to approve Cityworks License and Maintenance Agreement, Amendment No. 2 to Agreement No. 13-6064 (#Cl56213), with Azteca Systems, LLC, to renew the Agreement for one additional year, approve an expenditure in the amount of $111,228.00 for the renewal year, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Amendment. (All Districts) D. PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT 1) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign an Impact Fee Deferral Agreement in the amount of $281,589.12 with Casa Amigo EHT, LLC, for twenty-four (24) Multi-Family Affordable Housing Rental Housing Units. (Companion to Item Page 10 March 12, 2024 # 16F 1) ( All Districts) 2) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign eleven ( 11) mortgage satisfactions for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership loan program in the amount of $122,941.49 and authorize the associated Budget Amendment. (SHIP Grant Fund 1053) (All Districts) 3) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign one (1) release of lien for an Affordable Housing Density Bonus agreement for a unit that is no longer subject to the terms of the agreement. (All Districts) 4) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a Landlord Payment Agreement between Collier County and Clark Court Bungalows LLC, allowing the Community and Human Services Division (CHS) to administer the Rapid Re-Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program through the Emergency Solutions and Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing Grant Programs. (All Districts) 5) Recommendation to approve an Extension of Loan Agreement with the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology allowing the Collier County Museums and the Marco Island Historical Society to continue to exhibit fourteen (14) artifacts from the 1896 Pepper-Hearst Archaeological Expedition to display at the Marco Island Historical Museum. (District 1) 6) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign three (3) Releases of Lien for full payment in the amount of $57,427.98 pursuant to the Agreement for Deferral of 100% of Collier County Impact Fees for Owner occupied Affordable Housing Dwellings. (All Districts) 7) Recommendation to accept a donation of goods from The Benny Fund, an Ohio non-profit corporation, for the purpose of providing fenced astroturf play yards at the Domestic Animal Services Shelter of an approximate value of $58,155. (All Districts) E. CORPORATE BUSINESS OPERATIONS Page 11 March 12, 2024 1) Recommendation to approve the First Amendment to Agreement No. 18-7287, "Enterprise Asset Management Consulting Services," with EMA, Inc., Gray Matter Systems, LLC, and Stantec Consulting Services Inc., extending those agreements for one year under the same pricing, terms and conditions of the Agreement. (All Districts) 2) Recommendation to approve an Assumption Agreement assigning all rights, duties, benefits, and obligations to RVi Planning+ Landscape Architecture, Inc., concerning Agreement No. 18-7432-LA, "Professional Services Library -Landscape Architecture Category." (All Districts) 3) Recommendation to approve an Assumption Agreement assigning all rights, duties, benefits, and obligations to Grace Herbert Curtis Architects, LLC, concerning Agreement No. 18-7432-AR "Professional Services Library Architectural Study, Planning and Design Category". (All Districts) 4) Recommendation to approve an Assumption Agreement assigning all rights, duties, benefits, and obligations to Stantec Consulting Services, Inc., concerning Agreement No. 22-7973 "Independent Design Peer Review Services for Transportation Engineering Projects". (All Districts) 5) Recommendation to authorize expenditures for a single source provider for broadband internet services with Orlando Telephone Company, Inc., d/b/a Summit Broadband, with projected annual costs of not to exceed $100,000 per fiscal year for a five-year period, and to ratify the approval of attached Master Service Agreement No. 22-021- NS. (All Districts) F. COUNTY MANAGER OPERA TIO NS 1) Recommendation to approve a reimbursement in the amount of $281,589.12 to Casa Amigos EHT, LLC, for impact fees paid on Building Permit Number PRBD20201252841 and proposed to be deferred through an Impact Fee Deferral Agreement for a multi- family affordable housing rental project. (Companion to Item #16Dl) (District 5) Page 12 March 12, 2024 2) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid ("ITB") No. 23-8107S, "Purchase and Delivery of Plant Material for Pelican Bay Services - Supplemental," to Hannula Landscaping and Irrigation, Inc., and SiteOne Landscape Supply, LLC, as Primary and Secondary vendors. ( All Districts) 3) Recommendation to approve a quotation in the amount of $440,220 and authorize staff to issue a Purchase Order for a Request For Quotation, under Multi-Contractor Award Agreement No. 19-7525, to Capital Contractors, LLC, for repairs to five historic structures at the Collier Museum at the Government Center. (Project No. 50510) (District 1) 4) Recommendation to authorize the Chairperson to execute nineteen (19) 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. (District 5) 5) Recommendation to approve the Tourism Development Tax Promotion funds to support the upcoming April 2024 Sports Tourism Event, Naples Spring Shootout, paying up to $3,000 to Kickoff Soccer, and make a finding that these expenditures promote tourism. (All Districts) 6) This Item Continued from the February 13, 2024, BCC Meeting. Recommendation to award Fixed Fee Professional Service Agreement to Digitech Computer, LLC, under Request for Proposal (RFP) 23- 8098 EMS Billing Services and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached agreement. (All Districts) 7) Recommendation to award Construction Invitation to Bid ("ITB") No. 23-8182, the "Caxambas Park and Boat Rehabilitation Project" to Kelly Brothers, Inc., in the amount of $2,735,926.67, authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Agreement, and approve the necessary Budget Amendment. (Project No. 50280). (District 1) 8) Recommendation to donate two (2) surplus vehicles to Everglades City and authorize the Procurement Director, as designee for the County Manager, to sign for the transfer of the vehicle titles, pursuant Page 13 March 12, 2024 to Florida Statute Chapter 274.05. (All Districts) 9) Recommendation to adopt a Resolution approving amendments ( appropriating grants, donations, contributions, or insurance proceeds) to the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Adopted Budget. (The Budget Amendments in the attached Resolution have been reviewed and approved by the Board of County Commissioners via separate Executive Summaries.) (All Districts) 10) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Settlement Agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the amount of $5,000 based on the Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty issued to Collier County Helicopter Operations regarding an alleged violation of FAA regulations. (All Districts) 11) Recommendation to award Request for Proposal ("RFP") No. 23-8133 for Agenda Management Software to CivicPlus, LLC, and approve the related attached Agreement with Civic Plus, as well as approving Amendment Two, with Granicus, LLC pertaining to Agreement No. 15-6431, BCC Agenda Software Replacement ( extending the existing services thereunder for an additional six months). (All Districts) G. AIRPORT AUTHORITY H. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 1) Proclamation designating March 18 -22, 2024, as Government Finance Professionals Week in Collier County. To be mailed to Derek Johnssen, Clerk of the Court Director of Finance and Accounting; and Chris Johnson, Director of Corporate Financial and Management Services. 2) Proclamation designating March 16, 2024, as Save the Florida Panther Day in Collier County. To be mailed to Erin Myers, Refuge Manager, Florida Panther and Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge. 3) Proclamation designating March 2024 as National Athletic Training Month. The proclamation will be mailed to the Athletic Trainers' Association of Florida, New Port Richey, Florida. Page 14 March 12, 2024 I. MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE 1) Miscellaneous Correspondence March 12, 2024 (All Districts) J. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS 1) To record in the minutes of the Board of County Commissioners, the check number ( or other payment method), amount, payee, and purpose for which the referenced disbursements in the amount of $50,833,110.42 were drawn for the periods between February 15, 2024 and February 28, 2024 pursuant to Florida Statute 136.06. (All Districts) 2) Request that the Board approve and determine valid public purpose for invoices payable and purchasing card transactions as of March 6, 2024. (All Districts) K. COUNTY ATTORNEY 1) Recommendation to appoint two members to the Bayshore Beautification Advisory Committee. (All Districts) 2) Recommendation to appoint Mr. Richard Annis as a member to the Housing Finance Authority. (All Districts) 3) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Final Judgment in the amount of $117,100 plus $27,598 in statutory attorney fees, apportionment fees, expert fees and costs for the taking of Parcel 1114FEE required for the Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension Project No. 60168. (All Districts) 4) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Second Amendment to Retention Agreement for specialized FEMA legal services on an "as needed" basis with the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C. (All Districts) L. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY 17. Summary Agenda -This section is for advertised public hearings and must Page 15 March 12, 2024 meet the following criteria: 1) A recommendation for approval from staff; 2) Unanimous recommendation for approval by the Collier County Planning Commission or other authorizing agencies of all members present and voting; 3) No written or oral objections to the item received by staff, the Collier County Planning Commission, other authorizing agencies or the board, prior to the commencement of the BCC meeting on which the items are scheduled to be heard; and 4) No individuals are registered to speak in opposition to the item. For those items which are quasi-judicial in nature, all participants must be sworn in. A. This item requires ex parte disclosure be provided by the Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve a rezoning ordinance for the NBC RV Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development, a portion of which remains in the Rural Fringe Mixed Use District-Receiving Lands Zoning Overlay, to allow up to 356,000 square feet of commercial and industrial uses and 75 Travel-Trailer-Recreational Vehicle campground units on property located 450± feet northeast of the intersection of Basik Drive and Tamiami Trail East, 5 miles east of Collier Boulevard in Section 18, Township 51 South, Range 27 East, Collier County, Florida, consisting of 34± acres; and by providing an effective date. (Companion to Item #17B) (District 1) B. Recommendation to approve an ordinance amending the Future Land Use Element and Future Land Use Map and map series of the Growth Management Plan to create the East Tamiami Trail Mixed Use Subdistrict, to allow up to 356,000 square feet of gross floor area of heavy commercial and industrial uses, and up to 75 travel trailer-recreational vehicle campground units. The subject property is located 450± feet northeast of the intersection of Basik Drive and Tamiami Trail East, 5 miles east of Collier Boulevard, in section 18, township 51 south, range 27 east, Collier County, Florida, consisting of 33.523± acres. (Companion to Item #17 A) (District 1) 18. ADJOURN INQUIRIES CONCERNING CHANGES TO THE BOARD'S AGENDA SHOULD BE MADE TO THE COUNTY MANAGER'S OFFICE AT 252-8383. Page 16 March 12, 2024 March 12 , 2024 MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN HALL: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the commissioner meeting. And we have a big day today. A lot of --lots of things to talk about. So I just want to remind you, as we get started, please silence that cell phone because inevitably somebody will have that going off, and I'll be more interested in your ringtone than I will thinking about what I've got to do next. So with that, let's go with the Pledge and the prayer. MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, we have special guests today for our invocation and Pledge of Allegiance. We have Scottlynn Hall, Daisy Hall, Sunee Hall, Shepherd Hall, and Miles Hall here to join us. Item #IA INVOCATION AND PLEDGE BY SCOTTL YN HALL, DAISY HALL, SUNEE HALL, SHEPHERD HALL , AND MILES HALL - INVOCATION GIVEN SCOTTL YN HALL: I'm praying for Commissioner Big Daddy. Lord, I pray for Commissioner Big Daddy, that he will choose the right decisions in Naples; that he thinks --when he thinks of his ideas, they will come out bright, and he'll do everything great in Naples. DAISY HALL: I'm praying for Commissioner Locastro. I thank you that you put peace in his mind, Lord, and that you put angels around him in this year, and I pray for --that you give him the right decisions to make. In Jesus' name, amen. SUNEE HALL: I'm praying for Commissioner McDaniel. And, Dear God, I hope that he has the right decisions and knows Page 2 March 12, 2024 what he's doing and keeps on being a great commissioner. In Jesus' name, amen. SHEPHERD HALL: I'm praying for Commissioner Saunders, and I pray that he has wisdom to lead the county and that he is a really good commissioner and that he chooses right choices. In Jesus'name, amen. MILES HALL: I am praying for Commissioner Kowal. I hope he has a good life and a good day, and I hope he bes a good commissioner. In Jesus' name. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) (Applause.) CHAIRMAN HALL: Good job. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Just so you know, we call Commissioner Hall "Big Daddy" as well. I just want to get that out there. It's on his bio. And he makes us do that, actually. CHAIRMAN HALL: Call me Commissioner, call me Chris, call me Big Daddy, just don't call me late for supper. MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, agenda changes for March 12th, 2024. We do have an add-on item, 16H4. This is a proclamation designating March 21st through 31st, 2024, as the 48th anniversary of the Collier County Fair. The proclamation will be mailed to Rhonda Ward, Collier Fair manager, and this is added to the agenda item at Commissioner McDaniel's request. We are moving Item 3C 1 to the March 26th, 2024, BCC meeting. This is recognizing Noland Sapp for his 46 years of dedicated public-safety service upon retirement. It turns out Chief Sapp went to Disney World. Move Item 17 A to 9 A. This item requires the commissioner members to provide ex parte disclosure should a hearing be held on this time. This is a recommendation to approve a rezoning Page 3 March 12 , 2024 ordinance for the NBC RV Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development, a portion of which remains in the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District Receiving Lands Zoning Overlay, to allow up to 356,000 square feet of commercial and industrial uses and 7 5 travel trailer/recreational vehicle campground units on property located 450 plus/minus feet northeast of the intersection of Basik Drive and Tamiami Trail East, five miles east of Collier Boulevard in Section 18, Township 51 South, Range 27 East, Collier County, Florida, consisting of 34 plus/minus acres, and providing an effective date. Its companion item, 17B, is also being moved to the regular agenda to become Item 9B. This is a recommendation to approve an ordinance amending the Future Land Use Element and Future Land Use Map and map series of the Growth Management Plan to create the East Tamiami Trail Mixed-Use Subdistrict to allow up to 356,000 square feet of gross floor area of heavy commercial and industrial uses and up to 7 5 travel trailer/recreational vehicle campground units. Again, the subject property is located 450 feet plus/minus northeast of the intersection of Basik Drive and Tamiami Trail East, five miles east of Collier Boulevard, in Section 18, Township 51 South, Range 27 East. Both of these items are being moved to the regular agenda at Commissioner LoCastro's request. Next, move Item 16A 14 to 11 F. This is a recommendation to direct staff to advertise and bring back an ordinance amending the Land Development Code to update the regulations relating to the removal of prohibited exotic vegetation, and this is being moved to the regular agenda by Commissioner Locastro, Kowal, and Hall's separate requests. Move Item 16F7 to 11 G. This is a recommendation to award Construction Invitation to Bid No. 23-8182, the Caxambas Park and Boat Rehabilitation Project, to Kelly Brothers, Inc., in the amount of $2,735,926.67, authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Page 4 March 12 , 2024 agreement, and approve the necessary budget amendment. This is being moved at the separate requests of Commissioner Locastro and Commissioner Kowal. A couple of agenda notes: Item 16B7 should be corrected to read as follows: A recommendation to authorize electronic submission by the County Manager or designee of a small county outreach program for Rural Areas of Opportunity application with the Florida Department of Transportation to fund the construction of a paved shoulder to improve safety on a segment of Immokalee Road in the amount of $999,855.21. We'll cover this for Item 1 7 A when it is on the regular agenda, but there is an Attachment A, the revised ordinance for hours of operation. There's amended text. We'll address that when we get to that item, as it is on the regular agenda now. We do have a series of time-certain items, first of which is Item 1 0A to be heard at 9:30 a.m. This is a recommendation to submit a community project funding application to Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart for $6 million to construct a Collier County veterans services center and museum. The next is Item 1 lA to be heard at 10:30 a.m. to review a proposed ordinance amendment to Ordinance 2002-63 which established the Conservation Collier program. Item 1 lB to be heard at 1 p.m., which is the after-action report for the 2024 legislative session. And, Item 11 C, to be heard no sooner that 1 :30 p.m., which is a recommendation to accept a project update on the Collier County Behavioral Health Center and proceed with the design for 87 total beds. We have court reporter breaks scheduled for 10:30 and 2:50. And with that, County Attorney, any other changes? MR. KLATZKOW: No changes, ma'am. Page 5 March 12 , 2024 MS. PATTERSON: Chair, changes or ex parte on the consent agenda, as the item on summary is being moved to regular. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Kowal, any changes and ex parte? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I have no changes, and I have no ex parte. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, I have no changes and no ex parte as well. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Same for me; no changes, ex parte. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Two --I have two things. Number 1, thank you for the accommodation for the Collier County Fair that starts next week. That's a wonderful event. If you haven't ever attended, please go. It's --it supports our 4H. It's everything about what we do here in Collier County. And then on 16A12, I do have e-mails and phone calls. CHAIRMAN HALL: And I have no changes and no ex parte. MS. PATTERSON: Ifwe could get a motion to accept the agenda as amended. Item #2A APPROVAL OF TODA Y'S REGULAR, CONSENT AND SUMMARY AGENDA AS AMENDED (EX PARTE DISCLOSURE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR CONSENT AGENDA -MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO -APPROVED AND/OR Page 6 ADOPTED W/CHANGES COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. March 12 , 2024 CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. A motion and second. All approved, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: It passes. Page 7 Proposed Agenda Changes Board of County Commissioners Meeting March 12, 2024 Add-on Item 16H4: Proclamation designating March 21 -31, 2024, as the 48 th Anniversary of the Collier Fair. The proclamation will be mailed to Rhonda Ward, Collier Fair Manager. (Commissioner McDaniel's Request) Move Item 3Cl to the March 26, 2024, BCC Meeting: Recognizing Nolan Sapp for his 46 years of dedicated public safety service upon retirement. (Staff Request) Move Item 17 A to 9A: This item requires the Commission members to provide ex-parte disclosure . Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are required to be sworn in . Recommendation to approve a rezoning ordinance for the NBC RV Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development, a portion of which remains in the Rural Fringe Mixed Use District-Receiving Lands Zoning Overlay, to allow up to 356,000 square feet of commercial and industrial uses and 75 Travel-Trailer-Recreational Vehicle campground units on property located 450± feet northeast of the intersection ofBasik Drive and Tamiami Trail East, 5 miles east of Collier Boulevard in Section 18, Township 51 South, Range 27 East, Collier County, Florida, consisting of 34± acres; and by providing an effective date. (Companion to Item 17B) (Commissioner LoCastro 's Request) Move Item 17B to 9B: Recommendation to approve an ordinance amending the Future Land Use Element and Future Land Use Map and map series of the Growth Management Plan to create the East Tamiami Trail Mixed Use Subdistrict, to allow up to 356,000 square feet of gross floor area of heavy commercial and industrial uses , and up to 75 travel trailer-recreational vehicle campground units. The subject property is located 450± feet northeast of the intersection of Basik Drive and Tamiami Trail East, 5 miles east of Collier Boulevard, in section 18, township 51 south, range 27 east , Collier County, Florida, consisting of 33.523± acres. (Companion to Item 17 A) (Commissioner LoCastro 's Request) Move Item 16A14 to llF: Recommendation to direct staff to advertise and bring back an Ordinance amending the Land Development Code to update the regulations relating to the removal of prohibited exotic vegetation. (By separate requests of Commissioners Lo Castro , Kowal, and Hall) Move Item 16F7 to llG: Recommendation to award Construction Invitation to Bid ("ITB") No. 23-8182, the "Caxambas Park and Boat Rehabilitation Project" to Kelly Brothers, Inc., in the amount of $2,735,926.67, authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Agreement, and approve the necessary Budget Amendment. (Project No. 50280). (By separate requests of Commissioners Lo Castro and Kowal) Notes: Item 16B7 should be corrected to read as follows: Recommendation to authorize electronic submission by staff the County Manager or designee of a Small County Outreach Program for Rural Areas of Opportunities application with the Florida Department of Transportation to fund the construction of a paved shoulder to improve safety on a segment oflmmokalee Road (CR 846E) in the amount of $999,855.21. Item 17A, Attachment A -Revised Ordinance, Exhibit F, under "VL HOURS OF OPERATION" the following language should be added: "B. Every 5 years from the date of adoption of the Ordinance, staff will provide a report to the Collier County Board of County Commissioners on the hours of operation for loading and crushing of concrete, the impacts to owners and whether any complaints have been made to the County. Upon a finding of public purpose, the Board reserves the right to modify the hours of operation to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at such meeting without an advertised hearing." TIME CERTAIN ITEMS: Item lOA to be heard 9:30 AM: Recommendation to submit a Community Project Funding application to Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart for $6 million to construct a Collier County Veterans Services Center and Museum. Item llA to be heard at 10:30 AM: Recommendation to review a proposed amendment to Ordinance 2002-63, which established the Conservation Collier Program, which will be advertised for a future Board meeting. Item 11B to be heard at 1 PM: After-action report for the 2024 Florida legislative session. Item llC to be heard no sooner than 1:30 PM: Recommendation to accept a project update on the Collier County Behavioral Health Center and proceed with the design for 87 total beds. 3/12/2024 3:53 PM March 12, 2024 Item #4A PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 12, 2024, AS GENTLE'MEN AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DAY IN COLLIER COUNTY. ACCEPTED BY SHERIFF KEVIN RAMBOSK AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED GUESTS -MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS -ADOPTED MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us straight to proclamations, Item 4A. Item 4A is a proclamation designating March 12th, 2024, as Gentle'men Against Domestic Violence Day in Collier County. To be accepted by Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and other distinguished guests. Congratulations. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN HALL: Photogenic bunch. (Applause.) SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Good morning, Chairman and Board. Kevin Rambosk, Collier County Sheriff, as well as member of the shelter's board of directors and a member of Gentle'men Against Domestic Violence. Thank you for recognizing this day and this effort. You know, this group was established in 2008 and has been growing each and every year, and it really calls on all of us as gentlemen to stand as partners with women to stop domestic violence and human trafficking in Collier County. So we thank you for that. With me today are Founding Fathers Bob Connors, John Gordon, Jim Jessee, who were up here and recognized. We have other of our leaders, Ron Ciesla, Colin Estrem, and Corey Lazar who put an extreme amount of time and effort into not only creating the Page 8 March 12 , 2024 program but making it work year to year. Last year, unfortunately, we had 1,600 domestic-violence-related calls to 911. We have to do everything we can to continue to stop that. And, you know, it's not limited to any one neighborhood. It is throughout the county, and it costs us an estimated $30 million in impacts. So we're asking for all gentlemen in Collier County to stand with us and become a part of the solution to stopping domestic violence. And you might have seen in today's Naples Daily News there are 350-plus committed gentlemen throughout the county that have made that commitment and also did an awareness campaign last week that involved 60 people to go throughout the community and let potential victims know of the resources available to them through Collier County and by the shelter. So I'd like to thank all of those members, all those that are with us today that created the program that make it work, and all those throughout the county that help us to stop domestic violence each and every day. Thank you very much, everybody. (Applause.) Item #4B PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 10 -16, 2024, AS SUNSHINE WEEK IN COLLIER COUNTY. ACCEPTED BY CRYSTAL K. KINZEL, CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT AND COMPTROLLER -MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS -ADOPTED MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, Item 4B is a proclamation Page 9 March 12, 2024 designating March 10th through the 16th, 2024, as Sunshine Week in Collier County. To be accepted by Crystal Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, and members of the Finance and Board Minutes and Records. Congratulations. (Applause.) MS. KINZEL: Commissioner, just a quick note. Crystal Kinzel. I brought up some of the staff because many in the public may not realize your Board Minutes and Records, they take care of your information up on our third floor --fourth floor, and so they do that every day for the public's benefit, and so we want to celebrate them as individuals serving you guys. Thanks. (Applause.) MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, ifwe could get a motion to accept the proclamations. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So moved. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So moved. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. A motion and second. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. MS. PATTERSON: That brings us to Item 5. Item #5B PRESENTATION OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BUSINESS OF THE QUARTER FOR MARCH 2024 TO TRUE FASHIONISTAS. THE AW ARD WILL BE ACCEPTED BY JENNIFER JOHNSON, Page 10 March 12, 2024 OWNER, ALONG WITH KRISTINA PARK, CEO, AND BETHANY SA WYER, VICE PRESIDENT OF MEMBERSHIP AND INVESTORS, THE GREATER NAPLES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE -PRESENTED MS. PATTERSON: Item 5B is a presentation of the Collier County Business of the Quarter for March 2024 to True Fashionistas. The award will be accepted by Jennifer Johnson, owner, along with Brad Johnson and Kristina Park, CEO, and Bethany Sawyer, vice president of membership and investors, Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce. Congratulations. MS. JOHNSON: Thank you, Commissioners. And to the Greater Naples Chamber, it is an honor to be the Business of the Quarter. So I'm Jennifer Johnson. My husband Brad and I started True Fashionistas 13 years ago. We are off of Airport and Vanderbilt in North Naples. And we started out 13 years ago with an 1,800-square-foot store, and we grew that to the point of becoming the largest lifestyle resale store in the state of Florida. We have 13,000 square feet in the same plaza that we started in, and we have between 45 and 50 employees. And we sell online as well as in our store, and it is a great honor to have started here in Collier County and grown our business with our community here in Collier County. So thank you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you. (Applause.) MS. PATTERSON: That brings us to Item 7, public comments on general topics not on the current or future agenda. MR. MILLER: We have three registered speakers this morning. Your first speaker is Richard Schroeder. He'll be Page 11 March 12, 2024 followed by Mary Davies Pitsy. No, she does not want to speak. I'm sorry. So Mr. Schroeder will be followed by Dr. J.B. Holmes. DR. SCHROEDER: Richard Schroeder, Naples resident, retired physician. I want to speak just a little bit today about health risks of wireless radiation technology. And I may be a little out of my lane to be talking about wireless communications, so just consider this a mutual learning experience. But the fact is, there's been mounting evidence for decades that we humans in the plant and animal kingdom we depend on for our continued survival are at considerable risk from manmade radiation of many kinds. We're bathed in an electromagnetic smog 24/7 as a result of all the electronic goodies that we have adopted. With wired communication, like Ethernet communication for our computers or old-fashioned phone lines, so to speak, information is transmitted via the wires, and the electromagnetic fields and radiation are unintentional. They're not desired. Proper engineering can reduce these unwanted fields and radiation to a minimum. By contrast with wireless communication, the radiation is the product that actually does the job of transmitting the information. Wireless means radiation. We already know the dangers of radiation. I mean, picture your --picture your radiologist scampering behind the screen when they snap your X-ray or the dental technician and so forth. The problem is, the ability to use wireless devices everywhere on earth means that every square meter of the earth must be eradiated at all times. Our mobile phones operate in what's called a microwave spectrum with the result that the entire planet is now swimming in a sea of microwave radiation that's millions to, perhaps, even billions of times stronger than the radiation from the sun and the stars from Page 12 March 12, 2024 which life evolved. And life is based not only on chemistry, the way we think of it as being in our cells and so forth, but more fundamentally on electricity, the unimpeded flow of electrons is essential to the functioning or our nerves, our metabolism, and even our heartbeat. Interference with these electric currents can therefore cause neurologic diseases, heart disease, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and damage to germ cells that result in infertility. Maybe even more importantly, organisms that we depend on in our food chain that have a very high metabolism, such as bees and other insects, are being wiped out. Thousands and thousands of studies document the devastating effects of wireless radiation on mammals, birds, insects, amphibians in forests. The finding that only a single two-hour exposure to a mobile phone during their lifetime, even when the power of the phone was reduced 100-fold caused permanent damage in young rats makes it likely that we are raising and perhaps have already raised a generation of children with brain damage, and there's a ton more evidence of cell phone risk from the government itself we don't have time to get into. There's no question that cell phones are not safe at any power level at any distance from the head or for any duration, but what do we do? Well, one thing we need to do is understand a bit more about the telecom industry. Just suffice it to say for now that the guidelines that are used for safety in this industry are very industry friendly and not based on science. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thank you. DR. SCHROEDER: So we'll talk more about that at a later date. Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next and final speaker for Item 7 is Page 13 March 12 , 2024 Dr. J.B. Holmes. DR. HOLMES: Commissioners, Chairman Hall, my name is Holmes, Dr. J.B. Holmes. Thank you for having me speak today, or allowing me to speak. One, I would like to invite again --or reinforce my invitation to all of you to attend the Vietnam Veterans Day recognition at Golden Gate VFW Post 7721 on Friday, March 29, 1800 hours. I'll leave that up to Commissioner Lo Castro to translate the time for the civilians. But what I'd like to do is briefly, again, discuss the VA nursing home property, that legislation has been passed in the state legislature. Last Friday it was voted on just after noon. And the language provided to me from that bill by Senator Passidomo's office is the department is authorized to submit an application for federal funds to construct a new veterans home and adult day health care center in Collier County. The source of the state funds is based on a memorandum of agreement between the department and the Collier County Board of County Commissioners to commit the necessary funds to be used as matching funds towards the construction and development costs of the new veterans nursing home and adult daycare center. So it's gotten that far. It goes to the governor now for signature. Commissioner Saunders has spent, what, about a thousand years up in Tallahassee, Commissioner. So you know how that process goes, and I ask that you would keep us well informed of the process and progress on that. Then I'd like to also speak --and I know it's coming up later in the program --on the recommendation to submit a Collier County project funding application to Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart for $6 million to construct a Collier County veterans service center and museum at the previously proposed location for a Collier County Page 14 March 12 , 2024 Public Schools career and tech center adjacent to the planned Golden Gate Parkway entrance to the state veterans nursing home and adult day health care campus. So I want to say that, one, we support that and --we vigorously support --we vigorously support that. The veterans community will support that, and I ask that the County Commissioners please support that $6 million proposal. And I understand there's $6 million set aside for development of the golf course already at this time. I ask that that $6 million stay there, because I understand if that is pulled, Arthrex may pull their $20 million set aside for the golf course. So to leave that and vigorously, vigorously pursue the $6 million from Congressman Diaz-Balart, and I promise you the Collier County veterans will vigorously support you. Just advise me on what you would like us to do to support that proposal. Thank you, Commissioners. Item #l0B RESOLUTION 2024-41: NOMINATE AND APPOINT FIVE MEMBERS TO THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT PRODUCTIVITY COMMITTEE. (ALL DISTRICTS) -MOTION TO REAPPOINT JAMES CALAMARI, GERALD GODSHA W, MELANIE MILLER, JOHN SYMON AND APPOINT BRUCE HAMMELS BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL -ADOPTED MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, we have about six minutes until we start our 9: 3 0 time-certain. We could take Item 1 OB, which is a recommendation to nominate and appoint five members to the county government Productivity Committee. I think Page 15 March 12 , 2024 we can take care of that one. CHAIRMAN HALL: Great, yes. MS. PATTERSON: Anybody --want to start with that, County Attorney, and guidance for the Board before we get started on the nominations? MR. KLATZKOW: Multiple approaches to this. One approach that's been used in the past is since we five vacancies, each commissioner, by district number, would nominate somebody to the Productivity Committee. So we'd start with District 1. CHAIRMAN HALL: I may have a recommendation. If --we have recommendation from staff for all five of these positions. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I don't think we had any objections. CHAIRMAN HALL: If there's no objections. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, may I make a comment before we begin that process? CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Because I sit with that committee every month when they meet, and they've got subcommittees, and they work very hard. It's a really good group. There are five openings, but there are five members of that committee that are reapplying for re-appointment. And I know the general policy has been, or at least there's been some interest in, rotating these types of memberships. But I would ask that the Board consider the re-appointment of these five. Again, I work with them. I know how hard they work, and they dig into this budgeting process and our expenditures, and I think maintaining that group would be most effective. So that would be my recommendation, Mr. Chairman and members of the Board. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I just --Bruce Page 16 March 12, 2024 Hammels is a very involved individual in the community from Eastern Collier County. He's semiretired, if not completely retired, and I would really like to see him take a position on there. And, Commissioner Saunders, your comment with regard to the re-appointment, there's four with dots that are re-appointees, and then a fifth, necessarily, one that's open. So if --I'd be happy with the re-appointment of those that are reapplying and adding Bruce as the fifth and simply --because he's the only one from District 5. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I thought there were five but, you're right, there are four that are reapplying. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Did you get that, that he said I was right? I just wanted to make sure that that made the record. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah, but just for the record, I'm trying to get his vote on the other four, so I had to say he's right. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. I got you. So Mr. Hammels is who you would like to see on there? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I would. CHAIRMAN HALL: Neil Schmidt had approached me and had great interest in doing this but, in all fairness, three out of those four are District 2 representatives, so I'm good with that. I'm good with that. I think he'll understand that as well. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So with that --do you want to make the motion, or do you want me to? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Well, I still have my --I'm lit up. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I know --give me a chance, all right. No, you brought up the same point I saw. When I did my research, I found out there was only four that reapplied. But my other question was that we actually had six at-large. Are we Page 17 March 12, 2024 reducing the number now? Because now we only have five at-large. Because that's all we're speaking about is the at-large positions, not the district representatives. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think only five of those seats expired. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No. I got the list right here, 2024, unless they go by months, but --or they go by the year? MR. KLATZKOW: No, just --that's what we have. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was just reading the executive summary. It says five at-large seats had expired, but that must be incorrect. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Unless this is incorrect. I don't know. But regardless, so we have one open if we don't reelect the three --the four that reapplied. So we have an open seat. And it seems like we've got a lot of representation from District 2 already between the two that already reapplied. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And, quite frankly, I was looking just at the amount of work that we do and the quality of their work, not the district that they reside in. CHAIRMAN HALL: Right. And Neil Schmidt, well, he was recommended by the committee, but I'm good to go with Commissioner McDaniel. So that would be the only --that would be the only change to the recommendation. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So that would be Bruce? CHAIRMAN HALL: Bruce Hammels. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: All right. Well, I just needed clarity because, like I said, I saw on the list that we had six, and I didn't -- MR. KLATZKOW: You do have six, but the sixth member's term is not expired yet. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. Because they had the Page 18 March 12 , 2024 same dates on my list. That's why I was wondering. I stand corrected. So we only have one, then, open if we elect the other four. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So the motion would be to appoint the four that are up for re-appointment and appoint Bruce Hamme ls as the fifth vacancy. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll make that motion, unless you want to, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: Motion by Commissioner Saunders, second by Commissioner McDaniel. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Item #l0A SUBMIT A COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING APPLICATION TO CONGRESSMAN MARIO DIAZ-BALART FOR $6 MILLION TO CONSTRUCT A COLLIER COUNTY VETERANS SERVICES CENTER AND MUSEUM AT THE PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED LOCATION FOR A COLLIER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS CAREER AND TECHNICAL TRAINING CENTER ADJACENT TO THE PLANNED GOLDEN GATE PARKWAY ENTRANCE TO THE STATE VETERANS NURSING HOME AND ADULT Page 19 March 12 , 2024 DAY HEALTH CARE CAMPUS. (DISTRICT 3) -MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HALL -APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, right on time. That brings us to our 9:30 time-certain, Item l0A. This is a recommendation to submit a community project funding application to Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart for $6 million to construct a Collier County veterans services center and museum at the previously proposed location for a Collier County Public Schools career and technical training center adjacent to the planned Golden Gate Parkway entrance to the state veterans nursing home and adult daycare campus. This item is brought to the agenda by Commissioner Saunders. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. We've all talked about how important our veteran community is here in Collier County. I mentioned once before that Governor DeSantis had said that he wanted to make Florida the most veteran-friendly state in the country, and I've said many times I want to make Collier County --I know the Board wants to make Collier County the most veteran-friendly county in the state, and this is part of that puzzle. We have the veterans nursing home with the adult day health care, and as J.B. Holmes had pointed out a few moments ago, we've got funding for that from the state, we've got the language we needed from the state, and that project is moving along very nicely. And I think this is just another part of that campus concept that we've been talking about where we have all of the veterans offices, all the veterans service offices in one location. This building that we're talking about this morning could Page 20 March 12 , 2024 serve --would serve a multiple purpose. It's not just a military museum. That's not even really the main function. The main function of this building would be to provide space for all of the veterans service offices here in the county in one location so that veterans, members of the military that are here, can, at one location, meet with all of the people that they may need to meet with for their various needs. The upstairs portion of this building has already been designed for offices and for meeting space, which would be perfect for that. So we can move all of our veterans services there and also provide space for other veterans organizations. One of the things that came up was, how did this building even become part of the concept? And I guess it was probab ly --probably eight months ago David Hines approached me and said this would be a wonderful location for a military museum. And I said, well, I can't disagree with you, but the building's already, really, committed to the school district. And as I advised the Board a few weeks ago, the school district changed their mind; decided not to occupy that space. I contacted David Hines and said, good news, the building's available. I'm going to put this on the agenda and ask the Board to consider moving forward with this concept of a veterans services center and military museum. In addition to that, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart happens to be a good friend. He and I served together in the Florida Senate. And I brought this subject up with him, and he thought this would be a wonderful idea as part of the campus that we're designing for our veteran community and suggested that we do what used to be an earmark application. It's a community services type of an application for federal funding. We had estimated that the cost to reconfigure and construct this Page 21 March 12, 2024 building, remodel this building, would be about $6 million. That was an estimate that was developed when the school board was looking at this building. And so the request would be, this morning, that the Board authorize our staff to apply for community project funding from the federal government for a military museum but, more importantly, for a veterans service center to be located at that --at that location. So, Mr. Chairman, that's the request. And I know there are several people that are interested in speaking on this topic. CHAIRMAN HALL: Public speakers. MR. MILLER: I actually only have one registered speaker. CHAIRMAN HALL: Let's do that. MR. MILLER: Lois Bolin. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: As she's coming up to the podium, I'd like to recognize that the members of the board of directors of the museum are in the back there. And I don't know if Mr. Hines would like to come up at some point. I think I'd like to ask him a couple questions about this as well. So, Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I would like to have a couple other speakers that I'd like to ask a couple questions of. CHAIRMAN HALL: No worries at all. MS. BOLIN: Grandpa, what's for supper? That's from Hee Haw, in case you youngins don't remember that. I'm here to speak in favor of -- MR. MILLER: Your name. MS. BOLIN: What? Oh, I'm sorry, Lois Bolin. Dan Kowal's my County Commissioner. 5009 --do I need to give my address? I don't have to do that, right? Okay. So why am I dressed the way I'm dressed? On March the 21st is the official Rosie the Riveter Day, and we know how important Rosie the Riveter was to winning World War II. Page 22 March 12, 2024 I'm here to support this because I can't tell you how excited I am that there's a possibility that we could get all the veterans' needs in one area, because it is so hard for them to travel around to all these various locations. And, as importantly, I'm thrilled about the assisted living --I'm not sure if I'm saying the right name --and I'm equally excited about having the military museum there, because a lot of people over the years have given a lot of archives. And it's just a perfect --it's just a perfect storm, so to speak. It probably will be a storm. Some people aren't going to be happy about it, and why I don't know. But if you really study the value --what role Florida played --the role that Florida played in winning World War II is tremendous. I have some books, Troy, I'm going to give to you to give to the commissioners. It's not a gift. It's from Tallahassee, so there's no worry about that. But this is so important. I mean, Collier County is rich in so many resources, and they're rich because of the World War II veterans and those that followed in their footsteps. So, Commissioner Saunders, and to the rest of the commissioners, I thank you for considering this. This would be a tremendous asset for our veterans. And so on behalf of all the Rosie Riveters and Rosebuds around the country, I want to thank you for entertaining this motion, or whatever it's called. Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thanks, Lois. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And, Mr. Chairman, David Hines, I think --I wanted to ask him just a couple quick questions. Your current location, if you could describe where you are currently and what your operations are. MR. HINES: Yes, my name is David Hines, and I'm president of the America's Military and 1st Responders Museum. We are located at the North Road terminal at the Naples Airport. We have had two rooms out there since 2011 but, unfortunately, Page 23 March 12, 2024 the airport did some remodeling, and after they remodeled half of the building out there, that --we never got it back. And we have put approximately 5,000 World War II artifacts in storage in 2020, and they're still in storage. We had one other room, 800 square feet, which we presently have the museum now. It is packed solid. And any donations we get, which we get two or three a week, they go into storage because there's no place to put them. So when Mr. Saunders contacted me about a space available, we couldn't wait to take a look at it to see. I think it is approximately 8,000 square feet from 800 square feet. We could make a museum setting instead of a display area now. Right now we have glass cases. Case after case after case and everything on the walls and stuff that --people enjoy it, but they say, "You don't have a museum; you have a display area," which I totally agree with them. But we have plans on making this a first-class museum for the military and also for the first responders in Collier County. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. And then, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to ask Mr. Mullins to come up --he's got a couple images --because I think it's important for the Board to know that the county had already done some preliminary architectural and design work for the vocational educational facility, and it just turns out that those plans are really almost perfect for being converted into this type of a use, and I think it would be helpful for the Board and for the public to see what this building would look like. MR. MULLINS: Yes, thank you, Commissioner Saunders. For the record, John Mullins, your director of Communications, Government and Public Affairs, and with apologies to Harvard Jolly Architects, because I'm sure this first slide is some level of architectural copyright infringement, this is kind of a redo of the Page 24 March 12 , 2024 facade of the veterans services center and military museum proposal. As mentioned, this is the existing floor plan --it has not been modified at all --showing how it was supposed to be designed as a career center. The upper floor being some office space. Lower floor being congregate meeting room space plus an open-air area for training and different technical pursuits. And with that, I am happy to answer any questions. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. And just one other comment. I believe on the other end of the building , there's an elevator, so it's already accessible. MR. MULLINS: Uh-huh. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So thank you. So, Mr. Chairman, if there are no other questions, my motion is simply for the Board to direct staff to make application for a community project through Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart with the idea that this would serve as a veterans service center and military museum. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, I just wanted to make a couple comments. I think --first of all, I really appreciate you showing the photos because we got --I'm sure we all did, I certainly did, got e-mails from people that weren't supportive of this and had all these great ideas for it but don't even know where the building is and hadn't even seen it. So turning this into affordable housing is, you know, not a --you know, an efficient use of this space, and we got some of those suggestions, and that's fine. I mean, I appreciated feedback from a lot of citizens. I don't think it matters if you're a veteran or not to support this project. I like what Dave said is, "We don't have a museum; you know, we have a display area," and it just got shrunk by 50 percent a Page 25 March 12, 2024 few years ago. We talk about being a veteran-friendly, you know, town. I've been in towns that are less veteran friendly and have amazing veteran museums. We have no shortage of stuff on display. So, I mean, I think most people know I'm a veteran, Dan's a veteran, Dan Kowal. It doesn't really matter. This is a veteran and first responder museum, and I think it's a perfect location. It's unfortunate we lost the technical school, which would have also been a positive but, you know, things change all the time. Just some last-minute notes that I made here is the display center, it's on borrowed time. So if this isn't the location, we --then we need to keep talking about something else. So if somebody's got a real heartburn with this location --but I sort of think forward as to once that whole footprint is finished, we do have a big affordable housing project. We have the golf project. We have the veterans' nursing home. Then to have a veterans museum, it just seems like, you know, we're not just plopping stuff arbitrarily, but it has some cohesion to it that I --you know, that I fully support. And to those people that maybe have an issue with it, well, then, rather than just, you know, put up your hand and saying it's a bad idea, well, then help us with another location. You know, somebody donate some land. Somebody tell us what we're missing. But I think this is a great idea. Fully support moving forward on it. If we wind up not getting some of the money from the state or some of the other grants that we're applying for, I don't think it should kill this project. I think we should, you know, think loud and proud and figure out, you know, some other things. And then, Dave, I'll challenge you in public here. Help meet us in the middle. You know, there's a lot of people that say they love veterans, they love coming to the display area and all this. Well, we need funding from lots of different sources. So even if we get the Page 26 March 12, 2024 big number, you're going to need money to move things to take stuff out of the storage to maybe redo this inside a little bit, and there's always something that sort of falls through the cracks. So, you know, I would say as this starts to maybe move forward, if it did, I would just challenge you, and I'm --I'd be here to help you. I know, J.B. Holmes would help and, you know, all the famous veterans in the office. I mean, you know, we'll energize Wayne Smith --and you don't have to energize him. Wayne Smith's always here, right --to get the community to be a part of this with philanthropy investment, and so it's not a matter ofus just waiting for Tallahassee to write us a check. And so, you know, I certainly --and I know all the commissioners would be --if they support this project, I would hope would be instrumental in helping to drive that and advertise it and let the community know that if this is taking shape, you know, we need investment from all sides, not just waiting for Tallahassee to do our homework for us. But that would be a big help. So I fully support this project. MR. HINES: Well, we opened up at the airport in 2011. And any large donations that we've got since then has been going into a building fund. We haven't spent any of it. So we do have money to help, and we are contacting some influential people here in Naples to make some big contributions. And I forgot to mention, even though we're in a small 800-square-f oot area, we have been advised by the airport that they are going to remodel the other half. So that means we pack up everything, and we move it out. We presently have three storage hangars and three temperature-controlled units that we are storing items in now. So if we have to close the airport, we're out of business. And that's coming this year. I can't get a definite answer when, but we're in the Page 27 March 12, 2024 process of trying to clear the clutter out of the museum in preparation for this closing of the museum. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thanks, Dave. Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman. I have to say, probably one of the first meetings I had when I became a commissioner last year was with your organization. And, you know, I really believe in what you guys are doing, and you really need, you know, somewhere, because you were telling me the horror stories of being moved around and losing square footage and the amount of stuff you guys have in storage and what that costs you every month to just keep them and keep them in an area that they're not going to deteriorate or get damaged. You know, and I was trying to look myself, and deputy --or assistant manager was also --and I reached out to several different things, and I was thinking about the train station. I don't know if I mentioned it at one point, you know, being a possible location, but then come to find out, I didn't even realize it, we don't even own that property. The county maintains it as a museum, but we don't own it, so that would probably be a hard sell, and then --I didn't even think about this project. But then I have people that approached me, and probably just like some of the other commissioners, in casual conversation in reference to affordable housing for this building after the school bowed out, but, you know, similar to something like the Stix project, but then at the same time I had to, you know, let them know that these are two different things, because Stix is a --we changed some things around for Stix and made it certain to only convert a hotel or motel deeded property and use that type of LDC, that development code for the smaller units, which I said, this doesn't apply to this building because it was never a hotel or motel. So it would --we'd Page 28 March 12 , 2024 have to actually go in and change our own rules that we did just for Stix to basically exist in the way they are now and operating. So, you know, I --you know, there's probably other spots on the property to maybe build something, but cost efficiently and the way this building's already laid out, I would have to try to support --I would probably support this project moving forward or at least attempting to find out if we're going to get --the ability to get the money from the federal government to move forward, so ... MR. HINES: Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just --how much money do you have; do you remember? MR. HINES: We probably have approximately $110,000. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. HINES: And we have been approaching several influential people and making presentations to them hoping that they will step up for it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think I talked to you back in the day when they cut you in half -- MR. HINES: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: --with the location that you currently have now. MR. HINES: Right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I love the idea of the veterans services center becoming right there. I mean, that flows with the entire facility with the veterans nursing home and what we have going on. I have reservations with regard to the draw on our community funds with regard to our museums at large. Just --I'm going to say it out loud. It's been brought up several times. At some particular stage, we need to have a discussion about how we're managing five Page 29 March 12, 2024 museum systems currently right now. And today is not the discussion point. We'll have that discussion when we move into our budget. I'm absolutely in favor of moving this forward and having a look-see as to the overall intention and expense in operations. Those are --those are the things that are going to ultimately sell me with regard to how we're going to move this forward. But the advent of having a central location for veterans to --don't have to travel everywhere, all over the county to different locations, in combination with the museum, I think it's a wonderful idea and a wonderful approach. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thanks, Commissioner McDaniel. You know, I'm going to agree. I love the --I love this concept. Pictures --I'm a picture guy. That helps me. And so I know that we can --you know, we can remodel that a lot --a lot less expensively than we could build it. So this is --this is, like, a great spot; however, with regard to what Commissioner McDaniel said, the expense on the people --whenever I wanted something, if I wanted a truck, I would purchase an asset. Just say, for simple reasons, I'd purchase a mobile home, and I'd rent the mobile home, and the cash flow from the mobile home I would use to purchase my truck. So when the truck was paid off, I still had the mobile home still paying income. So with that concept in mind, I've been --Commissioner Saunders, I've been notified by some people who love the idea of this building and as it's --you know, we're operating at a thousand square feet now. I think there's almost 9500 square feet in here. And I'm just going to throw this out there, but this --they've approached me as a place to include not only veterans services, but financial education, counseling, career development, economical development, social case management along with veterans services. Page 30 March 12 , 2024 So my thoughts are, if we do this, could we lease space to these people? Because they have partner agencies who have committed support to their cause. Could we lease space to them that would help us with maintenance and operation? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think there's a couple points I'd like to make. First of all, yes. There is a limited number of veterans services offices that are going to be needed, and I think that there's --there would be space available for other types of services like the financial services. I have no doubt of that. I've been in this building. I've looked at all the design work, and I'm very confident that there would be enough room to accommodate the museum, certainly, and then all of the offices that we're talking about. But for federal funding, the emphasis has to be on this is a military --a veterans services center. But we can configure this any way we want to. So that's one point. So the answer to that question 1s yes. Secondly, the way we pay for our museums, we have a line item in our tourist development tax collection for operations of museums. I believe that's set at, I think, $2 million. That may be a number that may have to be adjusted at some point. It hasn't --I'm not sure when it was last adjusted. But that's how these museums are generally operated. They're operated out of tourist taxes as well as donations and contributions from the community. The other aspect of this is that there are artifacts in some other museums like the one here on campus that could be moved there. There are artifacts in the campus museum here that could be moved to other museums, and the thought is for the long-range planning --and that's not anything for today, but just for long-range planning, that site where we have our county museum is probably going to be needed for other governmental buildings of some sort in the long-term future. And so this will give us an opportunity to Page 31 March 12, 2024 begin that process if we need to to move artifacts from this museum to a different location. But all of those issues that you've raised, Mr. Chairman, can be accommodated in this building. CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. I don't know if this is the right time to discuss this, but since we are talking about it, there's also --this is not a good spot for housing because it's only --it's less than half an acre, and you can only put, you know --if you did want that. But there are, next door to it, 8.3 acres that's zoned --I think it's community facilities. And I don't know if the golf course --I don't know if Arthrex is planning on using all or a portion of that. I know that I spoke with staff this week, and they said that that --part of that 8.3 acres is not being targeted for housing right now, but it's a good spot to --you know, when I start thinking creating cash flow or creating income for the county, instead of just giving it all away at the taxpayers' expense, maybe we could take a portion of that along Golden Gate Boulevard and look at some mixed-use with some housing. I don't know ifwe can talk --I don't know if this is the right time to talk about that or not, but just --real briefly, just throwing it out there. MS. PATTERSON: Sure. Commissioners, of course. So there are --there is that parcel you're referring to. What we're in the process of doing now, with the configuration of the golf course, is making sure we understand all of the stormwater needs. The Golden Gate Golf Course currently serves and will continue to serve as a flow-through for a huge portion of Golden Gate City on the other side. So making sure that as we develop the veterans nursing home, the already slated housing, workforce housing, as well as the configuration of the golf course, that we have adequate both dry and wet retention as well as capacity to handle the stormwater. Page 32 March 12, 2024 Once that's determined --and we're getting close --then we would be able to talk about the uses on any other remaining property that isn't required for the golf course or for green space, and then absolutely appropriate conversation at that time to have about the future of that property. It was originally slated, potentially, to be a government services center, and I think we're really moving in a different direction. So that leaves it kind of up to the Board on what they see as the future for that property. CHAIRMAN HALL: Great. So if you could keep that in the front --not in the back of your mind, but in the front of your mind -- MS. PATTERSON: Of course. CHAIRMAN HALL: --that would be great. I'll second the motion. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Third. MR. HINES: And, Mr. Hall, you stated that you like pictures. If you would contact Mr. Rodriguez, I've sent him a whole bunch of pictures of previous displays that we have had at the museum before we lost the space and also some upcoming thing. You know, one good example is a 95-year-old gentleman came in and donated a Nazi submachine gun. He wanted it for tax purposes before he died. But, unfortunately, we had to take it to a gunsmith and get it welded because we can't have any live weapons in there. But things like this are very unique. And this thing's valued at $30,000. And we have a Harley-Davidson bicycle that's made into a carrier on the back of it to carry pigeons in. We have some very unique items that --some of them's on display. Some of them's in storage. So we feel this is a time, if you approve this, that we will make very good use out of it. CHAIRMAN HALL: I think we're trying to. Page 33 March 12, 2024 MR. HINES: Thanks. CHAIRMAN HALL: So I have a motion and second. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: There you go. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Can I just add one thing? CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Dave, you know, you and I have had this conversation before, if it looks like this is starting to move in a favorable direction, I'll just plant a little seed in your back pocket, which you and I have talked about before. You know, these storage units that you have --and, you know, your exact quote to me one time was every time somebody passes away, their spouse comes and then drops off, you know, 80 sets of fatigues that husband had in Vietnam. You really need to start thinning out that inventory, you know. I mean, like I said to you, pick the 10 best things, you know. That's what a museum does. A museum isn't a storage house for --it's not a thrift shop and you have some stuff in storage. You know, we want to be able to see the Harley-Davidson bicycle, we want to be able to see those things that truly are historical items. But, you know, like you were telling me, one of the hangars is filled with nothing but just old uniforms. You know, pick the 10 most historic ones and --you know, we can't save everything, because you'll even outgrow this space if it turns out that, you know, this becomes --you know, we cut a ribbon on this. Page 34 March 12 , 2024 And so, simultaneously, this is a good time to start doing a little bit of spring cleaning. And it means making tough choices. Maybe another museum wants some of those uniforms. Maybe some of those uniforms could be, you know, donated to, you know, something else or, you know, a thrift shop that would --you know, people would buy them or whatever, or sometimes things just need to be disposed of that are sitting in storage and are moldy and aren't going to be used for anything. So, you know, you and I talked about that a few times, and your --that storage space, I think you're paying for it, correct? MR. HINES: Yes. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So it's, like, the money that you have is also leaking out the back door for storage of things you probably will never display, and that's not the business you want to be in. MR. HINES: As per our conversation, it's been about eight months ago, we no longer accept any uniforms unless they're from a -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Got plenty of them. MR. HINES: --four-star general. So we stopped taking uniforms, and we are sorting through that now. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Right. MR. HINES: Plus, you had mentioned --I told you we had approximately 10,000 books, and we've been giving books away free and for donation, and we probably have given out, in a year's time, over probably 2-or 3,000 books. And the donations have been a source of income for us. And it's been profitable. And I thank you for that idea, because we're moving a lot of books, and we've contacted veterans organizations. Pass the word around. Anybody's interested in military history, we've got the books, from Civil War to today's complex. Page 35 COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir. MR. HINES: Thank you. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: County Manager. Item #5A March 12 , 2024 ARTIST OF THE MONTH -MARINA LOUNIS -PRESENTED MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, just going to jump back briefly to Item 5A, Artist of the Month. I have the information on our Artist of the Month. Our artist --let me direct your attention to the back of the room. Our March Artist of the Month is Marina Lounis. Art enthusiasts can immerse themselves in Ms. Lounis' latest collection titled "Naples Beaches." Her art embodies her constant inspiration drawn from our amazing sunshine state. She has been sharing her creations with Floridians since 2015, bringing joy to more than 300 Florida homes and private collections across the United States. In addition to her gallery, she is the proud proprietor of Naples Frame Up, the City of Naples' longest standing custom framing establishment. Both the gallery and her store are located on 10th Street North. With that, we have enough time, if it pleases the Board, let's take our two advertised public hearings that moved from the summary agenda. We can get a court reporter break, provided that goes along, and then we can start --go to our 10: 3 0 time-certain. Item #9A APPROVE A REZONING ORDINANCE FOR THE NBC RV Page 36 March 12 , 2024 MIXED-USE PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT, A PORTION OF WHICH REMAINS IN THE RURAL FRINGE MIXED USE DISTRICT-RECEIVING LANDSZONING OVERLAY, TO ALLOW UP TO 356,000 SQUARE FEET OF COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL USES AND 75 TRAVEL-TRAILER RECREATIONAL VEHICLE CAMPGROUND UNITS ON PROPERTY LOCATED 450± FEET NORTHEAST OF THE INTERSECTION OF BASIK DRIVE AND TAMIAMI TRAIL EAST, 5 MILES EAST OF COLLIER BOULEY ARD IN SECTION 18, TOWNSHIP 51 SOUTH, RANGE 27 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, CONSISTING OF 34± ACRES; AND BY PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (COMPANION TO ITEM #17B) (DISTRICT 1) -MOTION TO CONTINUE TO APRIL 9, 2024, BCC MEETING BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS -APPROVED Item #9B APPROVE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE FUTURE LAND USE ELEMENT AND FUTURE LAND USE MAP AND MAP SERIES OF THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN TO CREATE THE EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL MIXED USE SUBDISTRICT, TO ALLOW UP TO 356,000 SQUARE FEET OF GROSS FLOOR AREA OF HEAVY COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL USES, AND UP TO 75 TRAVEL TRAILER-RECREATIONAL VEHICLE CAMPGROUND UNITS. THE SUBJECT PROPERTY IS LOCATED 450± FEET NORTHEAST OF THE INTERSECTION OF BASIK DRIVE AND TAMIAMI TRAIL EAST, 5 MILES EAST OF COLLIER BOULEY ARD, IN SECTION 18, TOWNSHIP 51 SOUTH, RANGE 27 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, CONSISTING OF 33.523± ACRES. (COMPANION TO ITEM Page 37 March 12 , 2024 #17A) (DISTRICT 1) -MOTION TO CONTINUE TO APRIL 9, 2024, BCC MEETING BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS -APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: So that would be Items 17A and 17B, now Items 9A and 9B. These items do require the commission members to provide ex parte disclosure, and we will require all participants to be sworn in. This is a recommendation to approve a rezoning ordinance for the NBC RV Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development, a portion of which remains in the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District Receiving Lands Zoning Overlay, to allow 356,000 square feet of commercial and industrial uses and 7 5 travel trailer/recreational vehicle campground units on property located 450 plus/minus feet northwest of the intersection of Basik Drive and Tamiami Trail East, five miles east of Collier Boulevard in Section 18, Township 51 South, Range 27 East, Collier County, Florida, consisting of 34 plus/minus acres. And its companion item is a recommendation to approve an ordinance amending the Future Land Use Element and Future Land Use Map and series --map series of the Growth Management Plan to create East Tamiami Trail Mixed-Use Subdistrict to allow up to 356,000 square feet of gross floor area of heavy commercial and industrial uses and up to 7 5 travel trailer/recreational vehicle campground units. Also, let me just read into the record --and I'm sure Mr. Davies will cover this --but we do have an adjustment to Attachment A, the revised ordinance, Exhibit F, under hours of operation, which is Item 6. The following language should be added: Every five --B, every five years from the date of adoption of the ordinance, staff will provide a report to the Collier County Board of County Commissioners on the hours of operation for loading and crushing of Page 38 March 12 , 2024 concrete, the impacts to owners, and whether any complaints have been made to the county. Upon finding of public purpose, the Board reserves the right to modify the hours of operation to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at such meeting without an advised hearing. With that, we need to have participants stand up to be sworn in by the court reporter. THE COURT REPORTER: Do you swear or affirm the testimony you will give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) MS. PATTERSON: Before we got started, ex parte from the comm1ss1oners. CHAIRMAN HALL: Ex parte on 9A and 9B, Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, I do have e-mails on this subject matter. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I've had e-mails and meetings. CHAIRMAN HALL: I have no ex parte. Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I had some e-mails on this. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I have no ex partes on this. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right, great. MS. PATTERSON: All right. With that, we'll tum it over to the applicant, Mr. --the applicant's attorney, Mr. Davies. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner LoCastro may have -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. Mr. Davies, let me just make a couple of opening comments. I pull things frequently off of the consent and summary agenda Page 39 March 12, 2024 for different reasons. Sometimes because I'm like, hey, this thing needs to be talked about, and I don't want it to --you know, consent and summary, one vote approves 50 things, and then, you know, we often hear from citizens who read a couple of sentences and think we sort of snuck it in type of thing, and I thought this was worthy of discussion. I want to make sure that --you're at the podium here --you're going to separate rumor from fact. You know, Jaime Cook and I spoke about this one quite a bit. You know, when I see the term "rock crushing lot" in here, it's like, okay, I start to cringe, right? We just solved that. Now we're creating another one. But to separate rumor from fact, you know, the one on Santa Barbara and Davis was in a very visible spot. And I've told citizens before when they were up in arms over a rock crushing lot on Santa Barbara and Davis, rock's being crushed all over the county. You just don't see it because sometimes it's, you know, knee deep, you know, off of the main road, and it's being done for a reason. I want to hate this one a lot less; that's why I pulled it. I have a lot of concerns about how something like this on the surface could get approved today and sound just fine, but it can take a really nasty tum where --you know, as Ms. Cook and I were talking about, you approve something, and then, you know, when nobody's looking, it starts to morph into something else, and then all of a sudden to try to pull it back becomes very, very difficult. So there's a lot of things being requested in here, and I just thought it being sort of, not hidden, but just being on the summary agenda wasn't something that --and it looked like maybe my colleagues agreed. I don't know if it was just me that pulled it. I can't remember. But, certainly, I want to do a deeper dive, and I expect that's why you're here. And then, you know, I invite county staff to also Page 40 March 12, 2024 come up and explain what we're approving, what we're not approving, and why we really should approve it or not and make any changes. So that's why I pulled it, because it was a more complicated type thing than just a thumbs up, thumbs down, which normally the summary agenda and consent agendas usually are those type of things, paying bills, changing an ordinance of something that's favorable to everyone. This one's got a lot of moving parts. And it's in my district, you know, and --anyway, so I look forward to hearing your presentation. MR. DA VIES: Absolutely, and certainly appreciate that, Commissioner Locastro. Good morning, Commissioners. Noel Davies with the law firm of Davies Duke on behalf of the applicant. We do have the full presentation ready today, Commissioner Locastro and the Board. I'm going to run through that. My client representatives are here as well as the full team. So I look forward to answering your questions. And to your point, Commissioner Locastro, giving this project the deep dive that you're requesting, and we're happy to do that today, so thank you for the community. Keith Basik and JeffBasik are here this morning, my client representatives; Bob Mulhere and Ellen Summers, from Bowman, are the professional planners on this project; and Norman Trebilcock is also here today with Trebilcock Consulting Solutions. Mr. Trebilcock is our transportation engineer. The project site is located approximately five miles east of the intersection of Collier Boulevard and the East Trail. Our pending applications include a rezone to PUD with the corresponding Growth Management Plan amendment. The property's size is approximately 33 and a half acres. We are proposing approximately 356,000 square feet of commercial and Page 41 March 12, 2024 industrial uses as well as 7 5 travel trailer/recreational vehicle spaces. We are currently zoned as three conventional zoning districts today: I, or industrial zoning district; ag, agricultural zoning district; and TTRVC, which is travel trailer/recreational vehicle zoning district. Our proposed PUD has three tracts. You'll see the master plan on your screen. Tract I, is the industrial tract; Tract C is our commercial tract; and Tract TC is an either/ or tract. We would have the option to put either more commercial there or to do the TTRVC uses. We've shifted the industrial uses as far north as possible. Our industrial uses are immediately adjacent on the west to other existing industrial uses. For example, there is a concrete batch plant right next door. I can assure you, to your points, Commissioner Locastro, this is the appropriate area in the county for a project like this. We have worked closely with our neighbors throughout the process. We've had two neighborhood information meetings, and we have agreed to provide our neighbors with a IO-foot-high concrete wall all along the eastern perimeter of the property. That's going to extend well over 2,000 linear feet. This is way beyond what your code requires, which is only a 6-foot high fence or berm. We've limited our industrial uses as well as our commercial uses. We've eliminated a number of industrial uses that we are allowed by right today based on the industrial zoning. We also picked only a small section of the C-5 uses in your code, 28 of the 183 C-5 uses. I do want to point out what we're not doing as much as what we are requesting today. We do have a small concrete crushing use, but we are not doing, to your point, Commissioner LoCastro, the type of crushing that occurred on the Davis and Santa Barbara site. I do want to be very clear about that and how we are different. We are Page 42 March 12, 2024 proposing a very limited and heavily conditioned crushing operation, which we are allowed to do by right today based on the industrial zoning, but it's going to be limited to the three and a half acres on the very north end of our property, and we have agreed to a number of conditions both from staff and from the Planning Commission, including the use of state-of-the-art water spray systems and dust control as well as an agreement to come back every five years to have the Board reassess our hours of operation, which we are more than happy to do that as the condition that County Manager Patterson referenced at the opening. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Mr. Davies -- MR. DA VIES: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: --let me just ask you a quick question. The difference in rock crushing, it's still a commercial operation that will bring in rock from other companies that has nothing to do with this site, and this is just going to be a --sort of a clearinghouse, sort of --you know, a ground zero, if you will, for other companies to have their rock crushed, correct? MR. DAVIES: That's correct. Essentially, the concrete aggregate comes to this site, and it's crushed. It's reduced in size to some other form, like 50 -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Oh, trust me, everybody up here is very familiar with how to crush rock. MR. DA VIES: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: My concern with the Santa Barbara/Davis lot, all of our concern was, rock comes in faster than it's being crushed. So you have small operations, and you're like, oh, it's going to be a small --you know, it's minimal machinery. It's not going to be as loud. We've had NIMs. Everybody's sort of happy with it. But then, you know as we hear, track --and, you know, I'm just looking into the future of what possibly could go wrong. Page 43 March 12, 2024 You have, you know, a huge operation somewhere and --you know, in Fort Myers that was torn down. All those tractor trailers with the concrete come, you know, to this site and, you know, it takes a year and a half to crush all that rock. I mean, that's the problem we had on Santa Barbara and Davis. And even though --it was a visible spot it so it made it worse, you know, having this be about a huge, giant --or it could turn into that operation. So I'd just --you know, I'd like assurances that it's not that. And we'll to it, but I think every five years is not frequent enough, but we'll get to that part as well. I think we should reserve the right to analyze something. If something comes to my attention six months into this, I should be able to raise it and say, time out, you know, this thing's not going the way it should. So I don't know, the five years part sounds like a nice little line item, but I think as commissioners we can raise anything at any time, I would hope. But we'll get to that, and I'll get clarification from the County Manager. But those are some of my concerns as you're starting to explain, hey, this is totally different. You know, that's what the last guy said, on Santa Barbara and Davis, and then, of course, it got out of control. So I want to hear more assurances. So --right, Commissioner McDaniel, so I hate it less, maybe? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't know if you will or not, sir. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I mean, I know by right you're allowed to do these things, and that's why I wanted you at the podium so, you know, maybe citizens that don't love this realize that there's only so much we can do as commissioners, you know, when it comes to property rights and the law, but we also can make sure that, you know, we're not just, you know, rubber stamping something and then, you know, we're here six months from now, and it's some big, giant headache that we can't pull back. Page 44 March 12 , 2024 MR. DAVIES: Absolutely. And if I may, let me make those assurances now and answer any additional questions. Like I mentioned, this is limited to the three and a half acres on the north end of the site, okay. I think it's 16 or more acres that you were dealing with at the Davis and Santa Barbara site, right? Everyone knows how large that was. This is a portion of the site at the northern end, okay, north of the East Trail. That's one item. And so you know, Commissioner, I mean, this is something that we've worked closely with your staff on to try to make sure that all the proper mitigations are in place. The most important one, in my mind --well, two, really. One is that we're building a IO-foot wall, okay, so the eastern perimeter of the property. This is slated to the north and west side of our project site. The eastern property has Estates lots, and we've agreed to build a IO-foot-high concrete wall to prevent adverse impacts on those property owners. We've also worked with staff on having water systems. A water system's going to be running any time this crusher's going to be --going to be in use, and that's a requirement, condition of -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: How about noise? You know --and pardon me, Mr. Chairman. I don't mean to be chiming 1n. And this will be my last thing, and then I'll -- CO MMIS SI ONER McDANIEL: Let him finish. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: But the wall doesn't --so it's an aesthetic, so I'll just -- MR. DA VIES: Yeah. And it's a long way away to actually get to those homes, so it's been spaced appropriately. And my understanding is that the technology of this machine is not significantly loud, especially with the water consistently running and then the hours-of-operation limitations that we've made as well. Page 45 March 12, 2024 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I ask one quick question? Put the aerial back up --or the map back up, please. MR. DA VIES: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's the site that's I'm --that's what I'm wanting to see right there. And do we already own the auto recycling plant that's there? There's an auto --there's an auto recycling facility up in that area. MR. DA VIES: That's not my client, no, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. DAVIES: I think that's one of the industrial uses that immediately abuts the site owned by a different group. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you. MR. DA VIES: So happy to answer additional questions about the crushing use or about any other elements of this projects --project. Your staff is recommending approval. We did have our hearing with the Planning Commission. It was a unanimous recommendation of approval from Planning Commission. There were no public speakers at the Planning Commission hearing. And with that, we request your vote of approval today but, as I mentioned, the full team is here to answer your questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Commissioners. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman. I know we keep talking about the crusher and crusher noise, but I think what we experience a lot is not so much the crushers. It's the dump trucks. When they're dumping the bulk material, when the tailgates are banging and the loud noise of the large rocks coming out of the metal dump trucks, and that has a tendency to be the loudest part of this process. But this 10-foot wall --just entertain me here. Page 46 March 12 , 2024 Is it a solid wall, or what kind of material is it made out of? MR. DA VIES: Concrete wall. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So it's a concrete wall? MR. DA VIES: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: All right. So it will have sound barrier to it? MR. DAVIES: Over 2,000 linear feet, the entire eastern perimeter. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: When I look at that aerial, I mean, I don't see any, really, residential homes within the eyeshot of the aerials. MR. DAVIES: They're large --these large lots here, Commissioner, on the eastern perimeter between what you see as the --marked as the subject -- CO MMIS SI ONER KOWAL: The eastern side, to the -- MR. DA VIES: So there's a bunch of existing industrial to the west side of us to the east side of those large ranch-style lots. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So the site you're talking about is going to be the northeastern comer of that? MR. DAVIES: Northwestern is where the three and a half acres is of this blue. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: That arrow that says "subject site." CHAIRMAN HALL: Top left comer. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So this is next to the concrete plant, the Cemex plant? MR. MULHERE: Right there. MR. DA VIES: Yes. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I thought the Cemex plant set to the east of 41. MR. DAVIES: North of the East Trail. West ofus. Page 47 March 12 , 2024 COMMISSIONER KOWAL: All right. I understand what you're saying. MR. DA VIES: Right in here, isn't it? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah, that's it right there. So your furthest part, where it says "subject site," that would be east of the Trail? MR. DA VIES: Yeah. So the subject site's everything in blue, okay, the full 33 and a half acres. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Would be the northeast comer of the property. MR. DAVIES: The proposed crushing is in here, and these are the other industrial uses, all on the western side. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah. MR. DA VIES: So the wall extends along the full eastern perimeter. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Two things: I share Commissioner LoCastro's concern about a five-year review. I'd be happy with shortening that up on an annual --or to an annual --minimally to an annual basis, and then --and then certainly the Board can pull anything if it becomes substantive. One of the things to be aware of, we need to be aware of, is those --those that look like farm fields today are not going to be farm fields forever. That is Lipman Farms. That's part of the --or that's part of the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use Development. That's developable land that is, in fact, coming forward. There's a structure that's being built. They call that the northeast structure with regard to outfall from the Picayune State Forest with water. So what is there today isn't going to be that way forever. It's not --it's not a remote location. Page 48 March 12 , 2024 Number two, I concur with Commissioner Kowal with regard to the dump trucks and the in-haul of the aggregate. Stockpiling is --does, in fact, become an issue. Is there a limitation? And maybe our staff can tell us this when they're coming forward. Is there a limitation on the height of the stockpiling? That can be --that can become --a 10-foot wall's nice. I know it's above our --above our code, but when you have an exceptionally high piece of --or stockpile, then you have equipment going up on it and everything else. MR. DAVIES: Yeah. It's not our intent, Commissioner, to have a high stockpiling. I'm not sure what the current regulations are or requirements on that. Certainly, we'll abide by the governing regulations on that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Let's find out what those are, please. Intent's all that and a bowl of cherries, but I want to make sure that we're not walking into a trap here that we ran into. And, again, Commissioner Locastro spoke a lot about development or a project that became out of hand, but I want to know what those limitations, in fact, are. MR. FRENCH: Thank you, Commissioners. For the record, my name's Jamie French. I'm your department head for Growth Management and Community Development. There is no limitation on this --on the height of this location. And the reason why we had that conversation with Mr. Davis was exactly what you and Commissioner Kowal said with regards to that, that property is going to develop, and we felt like five years out, even though our crystal ball is more like a magic eight ball with this market, we don't know when it's going to develop. We just know that it is part of the RLSA and trying to read the community. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District. Page 49 March 12, 2024 MR. FRENCH: I'm sorry, the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District. Thank you, sir. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman. The other thing we haven't talked about --and Mr. French or either --Ms. Cook can comment on it. So it's great it's in the far northwest comer, you know. It's away from all these houses or away from, you know, houses now, as Commissioner McDaniel says, and that's going to change. But the other thing we haven't talked about is traffic. So those trucks have to go down Tamiami Trail, and then, yeah, they disappear into the woods and crush rock and, you know, nobody hears it and no houses there, but, you know, this is the same issue we've had in other places where, to get there, you know, they're going down a very busy road right now that has a lot of other things already on it and, you know, I just don't want to --you know, I'm just --I know there's no assurances, but they have to get to the site. And, you know, a long line of trucks filled with, you know, construction debris that are headed to this --this site is of great concern to me. It's not like they're taking back roads or they're sort of sneaking their way into the lot. They're going down a main thoroughfare that has a lot of traffic, that has a lot of --we've had a lot of safety issues and accidents and things there. We've been working with FDOT to get stoplights in really critical locations to maybe help the traffic and the safety. So, Ms. Cook, what can you tell us about --it's a much smaller footprint, as Mr. Davies said, than what we had at Santa Barbara, but still, you know, those big semis that Commissioner Kowal talked about, before they start banging their lids all the way in the back north here that nobody's maybe going to hear, they still have to get there, and that's --you know, that's adding a lot of stuff to the road of Page 50 March 12 , 2024 an industrial, you know, nature that, you know, I'd just like some assurance that it's not going to be the Indy 500 there every day as, you know, these trucks make their way to this site. MS. COOK: Jaime Cook, director of Development Review. Thank you, Commissioner. So as this would be a legal operation, should the PUD and GMP amendments be approved, the next step for them would be a Site Development Plan. And as part of that process, they will have to submit a Traffic Impact Statement to our office for review, which would include the types of vehicles. It would look at an analysis of both the roadway, Basik Drive, as well as Tamiami Trail. And then if any coordination is needed with FDOT, that would be required prior to them even being able to begin the operation. Does that answer your question? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yes, ma'am. MS. COOK: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: And they have that by right right now; is that correct? MR. BOSI: The --their current designation is industrial, but I believe it was 2021, the Board did restrict the rock crushing aspect from an industrial to not being a permitted use but requires approval from the Board of County Commissioners. CHAIRMAN HALL: So they have to have the approval now to rock crush. They don't have that by right as it exists today, right? Is that what you're saying? MR. BOSI: Yes. CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. Thanks. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have two points. Number 1 --Ms. Cook, do you want to come on back --and that has to do with water quality. Does the water-quality testing and monitoring Page 51 March 12 , 2024 come in after the --after the approval and during their SDP process? MS. COOK: Yes. They will have to go through permitting both with the county and the Water Management District as well. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the other thing I want to bring up to my colleagues, there are a multitude of factors that have to do with the in-haul of aggregate from construction debris. There is an excessive fee, a very, very high fee that's currently being charged by our receiver at the landfill with regard to construction debris. And I know that --I know that precipitated a lot of debris coming to that site at Davis and Santa Barbara. The disparity was close to a thousand dollars a load just to dump construction debris at our landfill facility, and that operator that was at Santa Barbara and Davis, he was at 200, and then he went to 400 and was --still couldn't bring it in quick enough. So that brings me back to --and this may be a question for the operators. I understand what it is that you're going through. Height limitations with regard to the stockpiling. This is a constrained site. Do we have an opportunity to reduce that stockpiling so that it is kept --we keep that obstacle above the 10-foot wall? MS. COOK: Commissioner, I would believe that that would be part of the PUD if the Commission wished to make that. The code doesn't have a height restriction. It has slope requirements currently. So as long as they can meet the slope requirements within the LDC, currently they can go as high as they want. But if you wanted to put a height restriction on, you could --you would be free to do so as part of this approval process. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do they have a capacity to store elsewhere on this site until the crushing actually transpires? MS. COOK: I'll leave that to the applicant to answer that question. Page 52 March 12, 2024 MR. DA VIES: One more time, please, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I forgot what I asked. You've got to be paying attention. I'm joking. The question I had is the height limitation with regard to stockpiling. Do they have the capacity to store elsewhere on the site in order to keep the limitation, to keep the height down? MR. DAVIES: As far as the storage -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. MR. DAVIES: --or the stockpile? I believe so, yeah. Within that --within that three and a half acres that's designated for this use. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: But the entire site's 33 and a half acres. Do they have the capacity to store elsewhere on the 33 and a half acres in order to keep the height down? Again, I'm --we ran into an issue with a --with excessively high --it was represented to be considerably higher than it really was. But a 20-foot stockpile is 10 foot above the wall. MR. DA VIES: Understood. My client's confirming that there's additional space on the 33 and a half acres for that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can we be happy with --can we get happy with a limitation on the height of the stockpiles? MR. DA VIES: As far as the height, Commissioner? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. MR. DA VIES: If I --I think the question is, are we willing to limit the language in the PUD to some sort of height for the stockpiling of the concrete; is that correct? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's a proper way of saying can you be happy with a height of the stockpiles, yes, sir. MR. DAVIES: If I could just have a moment with my client. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. DA VIES: Thank you, sir. We'd be agreeable to a 40-foot height limitation. Page 53 March 12 , 2024 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, that --that doesn't say much for your 10-foot wall. MR. MULHERE: I guess --for the record, Bob Mulhere. I just want to point out a couple of things. If we don't allow this somewhere, we're going to be seeing all those trucks from Collier County going up to Lee County and driving on roads throughout Collier County to get to Lee County to do this crushing. This is an appropriate location. It's already got industrial zoning. We do have an SDP approved to allow this. And I understand your concern. I don't think you'll be able to see a 40-foot stockpile with a IO-foot wall from those residences. You're going to be looking up over a 10-foot wall. You are not going to see that. If you're standing in your backyard looking up over a 10-foot wall, you won't see that. So I think with sufficient room to stockpile --I don't think the intent is to have these huge stockpiles, but I understand that could be an unintended consequence. You have a --but if we go for a Board review , if something happens that isn't right, you can have an opportunity to address that. I think we'll run this responsibly. We won't have issue. But if you do have that issue, we're agreeing to the review of the Board, albeit, when talking to the staff we had said five years, and I understand there's probably a majority opinion that that should be sooner than --maybe more like every year, so ... CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Sometimes when we pull stuff off of consent or summary, then, you know, we wind up sitting here overanalyzing it, and it's becoming a more complicated discussion than it needs to be. But in this case, I think this one needs to be a complicated discussion. From everything I'm hearing now, I don't support this the way it's written, and so I'm not saying I wouldn't be supportive of it, but I Page 54 March 12, 2024 think, because we've raised so many changes and you-all have had to huddle, you know, once or twice, and --I'm not comfortable approving this thing on the fly. So my question to you is, is there some sort of time-sensitive thing? You know, my motion off the top of my head would be, you know, come back to the next commissioner meeting, and I'd like to see something much more detailed that didn't just have you saying, you know, yes, after you huddled and, yeah, we kind of do it and, yeah, a 40-f oot pile, you know, really can't be seen from, you know, houses --I mean, I like to --I like to vote on something that's already in writing and a sure thing, not a bunch of, yeah, we can do that, we can do this, we can do that. And, you know, unless there's some sort of gigantic time-sensitive issue --which sometimes, too, that doesn't matter to me. I mean, I want to be confident and happy and concise with my vote. Right now I wouldn't be. I think this --I'd like to hear much more analysis from the county staff and see much more detail in the plan presented to us before it would get my vote. It doesn't mean --I get all the positives. And, you know, Mr. Mulhere's saying trucks, you know, trucks are going to be going somewhere, and they're going to be headed north. And to Commissioner McDaniel's point, you know, we all hated the rock-crushing lot at Santa Barbara and Davis. But the reality is, all that stuff would have ended up in our landfill. But on the flip side, they would have paid for it, and so there were some pluses and minuses, you know, there, as well. But I don't like doing these things on the fly. This is bigger than a breadbox. This is a major thing and a major --in a major area. Yeah, it's tucked way back, but to get there and some of the other issues that we're raising, I would just like to see those things in writing, not just sort of agree to them verbally and move forward Page 55 March 12, 2024 would be --is my initial thought, and it's a strong one. MR. DAVIES: And if I may respond, Mr. Chair, my client would be agreeable to continue this matter to your next meeting or to a meeting that you have availability per your County Manager, and we will do that. We will work with your staff. We will also huddle with our team and provide you that additional detail. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: That would be my --that would be my request and maybe even my motion, if I would, or maybe it's not required if you're agreeing to, you know, come back. And it's --and, Mr. Davies, it's not that, you know, we don't sort of get it but, you know, Commissioner Hall likes pictures. I like pictures. And I think we both like stuff in writing, you know, when --because that is what comes back to bite us. So give us the insurances --and we might be jumping ahead. I think, you know, if I brought Mr. Bosi or Ms. Cook to the podium, they'd reiterate that, oh, those discussions would happen. You know, they're not --this isn't approved. It still has to go through, you know, several other vetting things. But for something this sensitive, I'd like to see all that stuff happen ahead of time to give me confidence that I'm voting for something to move forward that has even --that has the most detail possible. And I think you're going to be --it sounds like you're agreeable to a lot of the things that we're proposing here off the fly, but I'd rather do it in a much more cohesive way at a future meeting, unless there's some sort of big-time sensitive issue. And even if there is, I --you know, that --an emergency on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on my part, so --but it sounds like there isn't one. So if you're agreeable to bringing it back to a future meeting, I would ask my colleagues to support that so we can flesh this one out a little bit more, and between that time, also, you can meet with us in Page 56 March 12, 2024 more detail. I don't think a lot of us have had deep discussion, you know, over this, yet we're about to vote on it, and I'm not comfortable doing so even though I have had some discussions, you know, over it. MR. DAVIES: Understood, agreed, and we'll absolutely do that. Thank you, Commissioner. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I've raised some issues over --in the past about projects in a particular district with the district commissioner raising concerns, and I think it's important that, since the District 1 commissioner has raised an issue on this, that we do continue it, so I support that. But I think it's also a good message in other projects that come forward, that the district commissioner generally has a good handle on what the negative impacts, positive impacts are of projects. So I support Commissioner LoCastro in his request to continue this so we get a little bit more information. MR. DA VIES: Thank you, sir. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I'll support the continuance, but I off er a suggestion, and this --this development, this request isn't willy-nilly. It was on our summary judgment. It did go through the Planning Commission. It did go through the DSAC. It did go through all of our normal processes, and short of the height restrictions on the stockpiling and the adjustment for time, I don't see an enormous --so my thought was --and this is --if you want to continue it, I'm good with that, but my thought was let's shorten the time frame up from five to one and limit the stockpiles to 40 and allow this to pass on through, because it's already --in my personal opinion, I reviewed it. I was --I was basically --I saw that you had already pulled it by the time staff came to me, so I knew we were going to have a discussion about it. But I reviewed everything Page 57 March 12 , 2024 that was there. And if we made those two modifications, we could --I think this request could go forward. But I'll stand with you if you want to push it. I'm fine with that, too. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. I'll just make a quick comment on that. I respect all of that, but I will also add a lot of things have gone through the review of the county over the years, and it's gotten unanimous approval and then, you know, we sat here six months later with 70 citizens here that were up in arms that, you know, that it grew out of proportion. So, you know, to me, you know, just because it's been vetted up to this point or it got unanimous approval from the Planning Commission doesn't rubber stamp it for me. And I don't think we lose anything by you doing a little bit of a deeper dive and bringing us back more detail so that we're not doing something on the fly. I agree, yeah, maybe there's just two other things, but I actually --me, personally, I want the ability to talk about this one a bit more . Yeah, I saw it on the summary agenda and I, you know, got your voice mail and I, you know, looked at all the attachments and whatnot. And I just feel like we're debating it here, and it's still something that I think should be continued. And I'll just end it by saying, I'm not trying to kick the can or stall this one, but in the end, you know, once it's approved, it's there. Once --you know, once you build the pyramids, they're there for thousands of years. And I'm not saying this thing is overly complicated, but I want to know for sure that it's not, and I want to see pictures and words that are a lot more detailed than what I'm seeing now. MR. DAVIES: Absolutely. We will do that. Thank you, sir. CHAIRMAN HALL: You know, I think we don't --I don't Page 58 March 12, 2024 think we're opposed to the project, but we had healthy conversation today just to address those few issues. You were just kind of a victim of the scab being a little soft from the big one. So we'll look forward to discussion when you come back. MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, before you vote, County Attorney, if we continue this date specific to the first meeting in April, does that work, or does it have to be readvertised? MR. KLATZKOW: No, that works, especially now that the Clerk has instituted her own system now, which is far better than the Naples Daily News . MS. PATTERSON: Does the first meeting in April work for the applicant? Because the next agenda is heavy with already scheduled land use. MR. MULHERE: Absolutely. For me it does. MR. DA VIES: It works for us. MS. PATTERSON: So we'll schedule date --well, upon your vote, we'll schedule this for date certain on the first meeting in April, April 9th, pending your vote. CHAIRMAN HALL: So you want to move to postpone it till April 1st [sic]? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So I don't know if we need a motion, but I would make a motion that we postpone it to the first meeting in April, and I really appreciate all the hard work and due diligence not only of Mr. Davies and his staff, but our staff, and as Commissioner Hall said, nobody's up here shooting something down, but we want to feel a lot better about it and not sort of feel like we're doing a few things on the fly. There might be even a few other things we're missing so I think we'll all feel, you know, better about it, so I appreciate your, you know, willingness to come back in April and work this with a little bit of a deeper look -- MR. DA VIES: Absolutely. Page 59 March 12, 2024 COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: --before we approve it. So that would be my motion. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second that, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Motion and second to move it to April 1st [sic]. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. With that, we'll see you April 1st [sic]. And this is a good time for a court reporter break? MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. Just to be advised, we do have 50 speakers on the next item. MR. MILLER: Over 50 now. MS. PATTERSON: Oh, I'm sorry. Over 50 now, and we do have our time-certain items coming up in the afternoon. So just think about where we're going to take the lunch, where it makes sense. But definitely court reporter break now. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Why don't we --Jaime [sic], is seven or eight minutes good enough for you, or you need longer than that? THE COURT REPORTER: That's fine. CHAIRMAN HALL: How about we just come back at 10 till, 10 till 11, 10:50. (A brief recess was had from 10:38 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.) MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, you have a live mic. Page 60 March 12, 2024 Item #1 lA REVIEW A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ORDINANCE 2002- 63, WHICH ESTABLISHED THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PROGRAM, WHICH WILL BE ADVERTISED FOR A FUTURE BOARD MEETING. (JAIME COOK, DIRECTOR, DEVELOPMENT REVIEW DIVISION, GROWTH MANAGEMENT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT) (ALL DISTRICTS) -PLEASE NOTE THAT MULTIPLE MOTIONS WITH VOTING RELATED TO SPECIFIC LANGUAGE AMENDMENTS OCCURRED DURING THE DISCUSSION OF THIS ITEM; MOTION TO APPROVE AMENDMENTS W/CHANGES FOR THE NEXT MEETING BY COMMISSIONER HALL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS-APPROVED CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. We have a pretty passionate subject to talk about this morning, and we've got a lot of speakers to speak. You know, we've got the e-mails, and I think that there could be some miscommunication, and I want to clear that up right now. As we get started, everybody in the room is compassionate [sic] about Conservation Collier, including us. A lot of you don't like what we did as a Board with the budget money, and that --that's not what we're talking about today. We've always had control to do what's best --what's the best interest of the county with the Conservation Collier funds. We've always had the ability to levy up to the .25 mills. It's not a .25 mill only thing. It's up to, of which we've always funded that much. We've always collected that much. Each person has three minutes. We have SO-something Page 61 March 12, 2024 speakers. And the 17th time that we hear "I voted overwhelming for Conservation Collier," you're going to lose us. We know that. Seventy percent of the people overwhelmingly voted this program in. That's why it's in effect. So if someone is saying the same thing that you want to say, please be respectful of us. We get it. The 19th time we hear it, it's not going to change our mind, or it's not going to convince us. Actually, you can take that time and talk us out of anything. We do have interest in hearing what you have to say. We're here to talk about a change of ordinance this morning to make this program function better, to take the limiting factors out of the ability to purchase property for the program. We want to streamline that. That's what we're here to talk about. So with that, we're going to welcome your comments. Please be respectful. If you're opposing this, I do not want to hear "boo" or a comment or anything like that. If you're in favor of it, I don't want to hear your "yeah, way to go" or your clap. This is a professional meeting. Respect everybody's time and ours, please. With that, Ms. Cook. MS. COOK: Good morning, Commissioners. Jaime Cook, again, for the record, director of Development Review. So in the fall, you had requested staff --Troy, assistance, please. It's not moving. Okay. In the fall you had directed staff to come back and look at the ordinance to --mostly to expedite the acquisition process. In January, we presented some recommendations to you for consideration and also asked for your feedback. And since that time, there's been some additional considerations both by staff and by the County Attorney's Office that have been included into the revised language changes. That revised language was presented to the CCLAC last week at their monthly meeting, and today we are Page 62 March 12, 2024 presenting those to you with a request to advertise these changes for formal adoption at your next board meeting. So the major ordinance changes --and some of these were previously discussed. But, again, as we made some changes, I wanted to go back through them and make sure that you had full visibility on what staff was requesting to be changed --were the funding of the Conservation Collier program, the properties that are eligible for acquisition and maintenance, the nomination proposal process, as well as procedures for selection and purchase. And, again, these are the major changes. There's some minor tweaks in there, but we won't cover those because there's not too much issue with those. So the first section that staff is proposing to amend is the funding of the Conservation Collier program. And with this change, the Board would be codifying that each year, through Fiscal Year '31, which is when the program is currently scheduled to sunset, that the Board will set the millage rate for the Conservation Collier Program not to exceed the .25 mills and set the percentage split between both the acquisition and the Maintenance Fund for each fiscal year. The reason that staff is requesting this change --previously it was 7 5 percent to acquisition, 25 percent to maintenance. But as we've seen over the --over the years, the cost of maintenance operations have increased or fluctuated, even. The changes in interest rates that that Maintenance Fund is accruing have changed over time. So we feel that it's best to have a conversation with you each year at the budget, talk about what those interest rates are, talk about what those maintenance needs are, and adjust the funds as needed for the upcoming year. Traditionally, with the Maintenance Fund, the interest that is received from the fund is what has paid for all the maintenance Page 63 March 12, 2024 activities. And so we haven't had to bum into the principal of the fund. And staff, again, would like to keep having those conversations with you so that what we are paying for maintenance and management activities each year is being drawn from the interest, not the principal. Properties eligible for acquisition and maintenance, one of the things that you had directed us to do was look at alternative ways to acquire properties, both through the TDR program and the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District as well as conservation easements. And as I mentioned to you in January, staff did have some concerns with how a conservation easement program would work. So we did come up with some suggestions of language that staff would recommend incorporating. Again, the property will retain the development rights, so if a landowner wishes to put a portion of their property into a conservation easement to Conservation Collier, they would still have the right to develop on the other portion of their property that they are not proposing for the easement, but that the easement would be maintained by the property owner. Similar to other conservation easements all over Collier County, they are dedicated to the county but without responsibility for maintenance. We don't maintain them, so they are not coming out of Conservation Collier funds or general maintenance --General Fund monies to maintain conservation easements. And the third part is that the conservation easement shall not be vacated nor receive an easement-use agreement. If we're buying property, we wouldn't want to see it vacated but, additionally --the county has a process that if a structure needs to be built, for whatever reason, or it was built mistakenly into a drainage easement or right-of-way easement, the county has an easement-use agreement process that can --depending on the structure, can either be approved Page 64 March 12, 2024 administratively or by yourselves to allow that structure to remain in the easement given that if the county ever needed to go in and remove it for any reason, we would have the right to do so. We would not want to see structures being built in the preserves that don't already meet structures that are allowed by code to include, like, viewing platforms, walkways, open-air shelters, things like that that are already allowed in preserves. As far as the TDR program in the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District, the purchasing policy that currently exists already allows for owners to sell their TDR credits prior to conveying the property or selling the property to Conservation Collier. So staff would recommend that that policy just be retained and followed; that if a property owner wanted to --wanted to take their TDRs and be able to sell them, they would already be able to do so. The next policy that was added in this section was that the Board may sell Conservation Collier lands provided that the proceeds of the sale are put back into the Conservation Collier Program and can be used for additional purchases of land or maintenance activities. Staff doesn't have an opinion on this additional language either way because there's already language in the ordinance that would allow for this. So this is, I think, just making it more explicitly clear that it's already an allowed activity by the Board. In the nomination of acquisition proposals section of the ordinance, staff is --in an effort to expedite the acquisition process and review by the Board, staff would like to basically not have the very large cycles that we had before where you were looking at 20 or 30 properties and trying to evaluate which ones you would want staff to acquire. So we'd like to bring these to you as they are --as the applications are received. We may get two or three a month. We may get five or six a month, but that would speed up the acquisition process rather than waiting five or six months to have a full list. Page 65 March 12, 2024 Staff also updated the criteria for property selection to include some critical habitats that --of lands in Collier County that staff is looking to acquire as well as properties that are larger than 20 acres and properties that are within the target protection mailing areas that you approve as part of those cycles each year. Properties that would --because we are changing some of the criteria, we're adding several criteria, so we are recommending that the procedures for selection be updated, that instead of meeting two of the criteria, it would meet three of the criteria and be --to be considered by the CCLAC for review and potentially being forwarded to you for consideration, and that six out of the nine criteria --if a property met six out of the nine criteria, it would forego the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Advisory Committee and come straight to you for consideration to expedite the review. Now, CCLAC, both during their January meeting as well as the March meeting, did not support this language because they felt that by going to CCLAC, it provided greater transparency as well as greater public input. Residents would have the opportunity to speak on the parcel. And if there were any other considerations or concerns about the property, those could be discussed at CCLAC rather than in front of you. The next one is the procedures for selection and purchase. Currently, the way the program operates is that once you have approved for staff to move forward with appraisals and looking to acquire a property, the purchase agreement --after we've gone through the appraisal process and we've made an offer, if it's accepted, it currently goes to CCLAC and then to you for final approval. So staff is recommending that we bypass CCLAC for the purchase agreements, once they have been approved by the property owner, and it comes straight to you. CCLAC did not have any concerns with this change. Page 66 March 12, 2024 Some additional CCLAC recommendations were to add "in perpetuity" to the definition of management in the definitions section. They also requested that any voting of funding percentages allocating money or extension of the program only be approved by a supermajority vote. Staff didn't support this because we felt that it would make anything in the program more difficult. And the third thing that they asked was for a --if properties were to be considered to be sold, that --a list of criteria for how a property could be considered or some type of threshold that had to be met for a property to be considered for sale. Next, that if funds were transferred from one of the accounts, they requested that language be added that those funds would be repaid. And, finally, to remove Stewardship Sending Areas within the RLSA program from the list of properties that would not [sic] be considered for acquisition. For those of you who may be slightly unfamiliar with the RLSA program, developers establish their development through Stewardship Receiving Areas and set aside lands in Stewardship Sending Areas, or SSAs, to help entitle that development. As part of the state and federal permitting, some of these SSAs are used as mitigation areas and have some legal management obligations through their easement agreements. And so staff would not recommend acquiring SSA lands unless funding for those legal management obligations was provided to ensure that we can meet those obligations. Additionally, the premise of the RLSA program is that environmentally sensitive areas are set aside at no cost to the taxpayer in order to entitle development within that area. So staff wouldn't recommend including this because that is the premise of the program. So with that, staff is asking you to --request any feedback from Page 67 March 12, 2024 you to address any concerns you may have beyond what was presented today, and approve us moving forward with advertising the ordinance to bring back at your next meeting. And with that, I'll take any questions. CHAIRMAN HALL: I have a question for Commissioner McDaniel just to get me clarified, because I know that you're well versed in this. So to remove Stewardship Sending Areas for properties that would not be considered for acquisition, what does that mean in Texican? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It means we don't need to buy it twice. The lands have already been set aside in perpetuity. The development rights have been stripped off and converted to credits that can be utilized in other less environmentally sensitive areas --it's important to hear "less environmentally sensitive" --at no expense to the public treasury either in acquisition and/ or perpetual maintenance. So there's no reason for Conservation Collier to give consideration to an acquisition, necessarily, unless there's sufficient --and we have some discussion points that we're going to talk about --unless there's sufficient funding set aside or contributed with that acquisition for that ongoing maintenance, perpetual maintenance. CHAIRMAN HALL: So we would be purchasing something that's already accomplished, what we would be doing in the purchasing? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's correct. CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. That clears it up for me. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There may --now, on that note, there may be --and I'm not totally sure that not considering it at all --because there may be a piece of property that's within the RLSA that is --that is critical to flowways, retention, water quality, so on Page 68 March 12, 2024 and so forth that we need to give consideration to the acquisition thereof, as long as it comes with sufficient revenues to support its maintenance aspect. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman. My question's for staff. I was looking at the section where we were talking about the six out of nine, because there's nine line items. If they meet the six, we're kind of foregoing the CCLAC and, it's coming right to us to kind of streamline the process of going. I guess my question was --I had this question earlier of staff --do we take into consideration the weight of that particular line item, the weighting of it? Because this particular --like, say one line item is a targeting mailing area that's a sensitive area that, you know, we're trying to target because of the reason --you know, or reasoning why is because it's a sensitive area, and we feel it may fill a hole in the doughnut, but if it's not one of the six, doesn't that carry a lot more weight than just having six out of nine? Are we weighting each requirement to, like, it should include this one plus five more, or --that's what I'm trying to get at is how do we distinguish, you know, just pushing these forward just because they met the six out of nine, but then they didn't meet, like, very sensitive ones like that particular line item? MS. COOK: So the way staff was envisioning it, it would be six of the criteria, that it would automatically come to you. Now, if there are certain ones that you feel are more --more important for us to consider, such as target mailing areas or large tracts of land, we can certainly adjust our weighting to meet that; that would make it more of a priority to bring forward to you sooner. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. Thank you. MS. COOK: Sure. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Because that was kind of Page 69 March 12 , 2024 concerning me because, just --you know, just willy-nilly saying, all right, we've got six of them, let's shove them up to the Board of County Commissioners, and then we have to discuss it here on the dais, and it would probably slow the process down of finding those facts, you know. So I'd appreciate if we take a deep dive into that. So thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to make a statement first off. And I really like what Commissioner Hall opened up with. There's so much misinformation on Conservation Collier with what we did previously and didn't do, and we can debate that forever. But the one thing that is a fact are the aggressive steps we took to make sure the program was managed, not just watched, but it was aggressively managed resulted in the last six months us approving more Conservation Collier purchases of lots in this very room than had been done in years. Years. Maybe a lot of years. And, you know, I say that to really thank you and your staff, Ms. Cook, because some of the direction that we took a lot of heat for that maybe people misunderstood or they fully understood it and just disagreed with it, the end result was, are we buying more land with the money that is sitting in the bank that was --at the time was very dusty or not, and you can't dispute the fact that in this very room, in a very short amount of time, we've purchased more Conservation Collier lots, which is what the voters said they wanted, and it wasn't happening. Okay. So that's just a statement. I know we might jump all around a little bit on some of these highlighted and crossed-off things. The one thing that I heard in your official presentation that I'm not in favor of is skipping the CCLAC. It's one thing to streamline a process --and if I'm convinced that that's what it would do, great, you know, but my Page 70 March 12, 2024 initial dive before this meeting and then just hearing --it's another thing if you're artificially expediting something. And Conservation Collier is such a sensitive project --program, also one that we're talking a lot of dollars and cents, taxpayer money being utilized, things being purchased in perpetuity. I like the idea of vetting --we get a lot of good information from the CCLAC, the same way we get great information from the Planning Commission and other steps that are taken before it comes to us. But just leaping to us with some of those steps miss---I would need to know a little bit more about it. And I saw what you said on there. Wow, if it meets six of the nine, it just seems like a no-brainer, just bring it to the commissioners. I still think there's an advantage to, you know, other groups that are part of the process. And, yeah, if they unanimously think it's a great idea, then it makes our job a little bit easier at times because they have asked some questions we've already asked. But, you know, sometimes there's a difference between streamlining something and artificially expediting it, and this program is so sensitive, I like that there's many steps. If we're going to vote to eliminate some of those steps in certain instances, I'd just like to hear a little bit more about why that's a smart thing to do. So that's sort of my --after hearing you just go through that, that was the one nugget that jumped out at me as, eh, not in huge favor of it. But I thank you for what you've done in a short time to preserve --and a lot of them in District 1. I mean, how many times have we bought lots in District 1 over the last 10 years on Marco Island, especially? You can count them on maybe one finger. Now you can count them on two hands. So thank you very much. MS. COOK: Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. Page 71 March 12, 2024 I'm going to ramble a little bit. I apologize to the Board and the public for that. But I want to make a few comments that are a bit outside of the subject of the ordinance itself, but then I want to get into the ordinance itself. I think there's a misconception on the part of the Board as to what this program really is. And, you know, the idea is that we would collect revenue for 10 years. It's a 10-year program. Well, it's not a 10-year program. It's a perpetual program. And the idea was that we would collect revenue, .25 mills or whatever millage rate was set by the Board, but up to .25 mill. We would collect those funds over a 10-year period. We would immediately begin to spend those funds, but those funds weren't expected to be spent in that 10-year period. Those funds were expected to be collected and properties to be acquired, and then if it took 15 years to buy certain properties, the funds would be there for that. And the reason I mention that is I want to --I went back and got the transcript of our September 21st, 2023, second bearing budget hearing. And, Commissioner Locastro, I think you may have really highlighted this unintentionally, but I think you highlighted it. And you pointed out that one of the things that came out tonight is in the last two years they've spent $5 million on properties, correct? And, of course, Commissioner McDaniel says, plus/minus, and staff acknowledges that that's about what's been spent. Well, that doesn't mean that in that particular year it was a $5 million program. It just means we spent $5 million of the 30 million that had been collected and that that other money would be available. So, for example, in Year 11, if there was a 2,000-acre tract of land somewhere that became available for purchase, we would have the funds available for that. Page 72 March 12, 2024 And so to say --you went on to say, well, now they have $27 million for acquisition and $10 million for maintenance. Staff, is that correct? And staff acknowledges that's correct. That 27 million plus the 10 million was what was left of the program after a substantial amount was removed for other budget purposes. So I mention that only to emphasize that this is not a 10-year program. This is a perpetual program, and the idea is to collect money during that 10-year period. But the acquisition of properties may go way out into the future. I'll just throw out as an example, in Lee County, there was a purchase of a large tract of land a few years back, and they had the foresight to have the money available for their environmental program that had been collected over the years for that purpose --that purchase. So that's No. 1. And then No. 2, I think what's got people really energizing here is that in this ordinance --and I think this may eliminate a lot of the conversation --in this ordinance, on four different pages of the ordinance, 2, 3, 4, and 6, it says that funds can be withdrawn from this program for any purpose, any governmental purpose. Now, the County Attorney had opined at that budget hearing that the Board could pull those funds out, that 5 3 million out for other government purchases, and I think we need to eliminate all of these repetitive statements in here that funds can be pulled out for any purpose, because that is just emphasizing the fact that we really don't have an environmental program. We just have a line item in the budget that we can alter anytime we want to, and it says that over and over and over again, and I think that sends the wrong message. I think the other issue --I think --I think the bulk of the people in this room are probably here to talk about how important this Page 73 March 12, 2024 program is for the future, and that's what I'm doing right now and, perhaps, if that's what someone wants to talk about, then perhaps they can simply stand up and say, yeah, we agree that that is a very important program for the future. But I think it's absolutely critical that the Board understands that this is not a IO-year program, and these funds are really designed for the long-term future to buy properties on Marco Island or anywhere into the long run. And, Mr. Chairman, I think the other issue that perhaps Brad Cornell is going to talk about is the issue of the easements. And I think we should provide him, with the Board's indulgence, a little extra time to go through the changes that the environmental community is recommending, because I think he speaks for a lot of the folks that are here in the room. I think if we acknowledge those couple of things, especially the point that this is a multi year program and funds are set aside for long-term future, I think that might alleviate some of the concerns of the public. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I want the record to reflect that Commissioner Saunders and I agree with regard to the term "Conservation Collier." It is, in fact, perpetual. It's important for folks to understand that the maintenance that goes on with the acquisition of any piece of property goes on forever, and it has to be accounted for. It has to be paid for. I have a concern with the statements that are made that it was always intended that the reserves that were accumulated --the interest off those reserves was going to pay for the maintenance. At some stage, that reserve's going to be extinguished through acquisitions. At some stage, if funding isn't set aside at a later date to accommodate for the perpetual maintenance of the land holdings Page 74 March 12, 2024 that Conservation Collier has purchased, the funds will expire. It was a misnomer early on in Conservation Collier that a perpetual Maintenance Fund was established because it had a bum rate. It might have been 30 years or whatever at that particular point in time. I think it was 750,000 when Commissioner Saunders and I first came into office. Now it's up double that. I think we're close to 1.5 million a year in our ongoing maintenance reserves. And so my thoughts are, this needs to be addressed at some stage, maybe not today, but we have to plan for the expiration of Conservation Collier as was written with the referenda, and then a hard look at --a hard look at how we're going to accommodate for those perpetual maintenance expenses that are going to travel forever. They don't go away. Unlike the RLSA, those maintenance requisites are put upon the landowner that extinguishes the development rights and holds those lands in perpetuity and maintains those lands in perpetuity. So I think at some stage we need to have a discussion with regard to maybe continuance for longer than the 10 years of the Conservation Collier as a taxation, but specify for maintenance based upon what the maintenance actually is. It certainly travels along that as we acquire more lands, those expenses are going to rise as well. So that consideration has to be addressed at some particular point in time. My two points are, I would like for the RLSA, the SSAs, to be added back in and given consideration to acquisition. Just --I would like to see that. I don't think we should extinguish or not give consideration to the purchase of an SSA if, in fact, it's determined by our staff, by the CCLAC. I agree with Commissioner LoCastro that having the CCLAC review --as long as it's not --as long as it's not holding up the process. We're all looking to move these things through. And I Page 75 March 12, 2024 think if we add that into our processes for the review of those land holdings that it won't hold it up. We're not going to hold these for long cycles to accumulate 10, 15, 20 of them at a time. We're going to be bringing them through as they go. So I think adding back the SSAs into the lands that could be accumulated or acquired, as long as there is sufficient --justifiably sufficient reserves to attend to the maintenance, I think that would be a fine thing to do. I have advocated all along that the property rights, development rights, that travel with the ownership of a piece of property need to enure to the benefit of Collier County. And if there is revenues that are derived from the disposition of or the removal of those property rights, such as the credits that can be generated via an SSA that hasn't had the credits already removed or a piece of property within the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District that has the potential --the potential of TD Rs, for those transferable development rights to enure to the benefit of the county to be utilized back into the fund to assist with the offset of the ongoing maintenance that's going to transpire, that is transpiring now --it's not going to end. That maintenance is --has to be accounted for at some --at some stage. And then last, but not certainly least, with regard to our budget discussions last year, I found it rather distressing in my communications with staff yesterday, there really wasn't a plan for the replenishment of the funds that were utilized last year for other expenses within our particular budget. And I want --if, in fact, we do leave the language in there that this board or a future board may utilize those funds for something else, I want that to come with a definitive plan for payback, not just plan on the continuance of the taxation at the .25 mills and assume that that is --because that's money, necessarily, that Conservation Collier was already going to get in the first place. We removed some of those monies last year to Page 76 March 12, 2024 allow for accommodations in other portions of our budget. I want a definitive plan to replace those funds and a set time frame for the replacement of those funds. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'll try to be brief, because I know we've got a lot of citizen speakers, and that's what we're here for. But just to get back to Commissioner Saunders, you know, comments about some of the things that I said at the budget meeting, I agree with everything you said that collecting money for Conservation Collier is --you know, it goes into a bank account, and if we have property to buy, we buy it, and, if not, it sits there until something appropriate comes up. My frustration during the budget meetings is I think we had significant --I was significantly disappointed in the inefficiency of the program; that I talked to landowners in my district who were waiting for Conservation Collier, waiting for the appraisal, had heard from the Conservation Collier leadership team 10 months ago and then never heard back. Some of those properties were lost. Some of those properties now have three-story homes on them and, you know, all the burrowing owls were moved, all the tortoises were moved, and it could have been --you know, it was a piece of property that really fit the Conservation Collier, you know, eligibility requirements. It doesn't mean everything that's eligible gets purchased, I mean, but there were quite a few properties that never got considered. And to your point, Ms. Cook, that I really appreciated is I felt even in the short time I had been a commissioner, why at almost every meeting aren't we voting on one tract of land, if there is one eligible? And there were plenty, because when a list finally came to us, and it was filled with a whole bunch of lots at that time, that, to me, was a very Page 77 March 12, 2024 inefficient process. And talking to some of those landowners, like I said, again, we lost some of those lots because we were slow to move, slow to react. You know, as you said, the improvement that the new team has made is no longer holding onto these properties and then coming to us, you know, twice a year for consideration. You know, the purchase of property moves very quickly, and just because it's filled with owls and tortoises doesn't mean somebody who wants to put a house on it will be scared off. I mean, I see it all the time in my district. So I like the improvements that we made, and that was more of my point is that we had the money in the bank. I believe we had plenty of lots for consideration. They just seemed to --they weren't coming here fast enough the way they are now. Like you said, I do want to be onesie'd, twosie'd because it's a quick vote. Yeah, this lot, here's where it sits. Yes or no? Boom, we move onto something else, instead of, well, you've got List A, you've got List B, you've got List C. Here's the priorities. I mean, I think in my first year or two as a commissioner, we voted once or twice maybe on Conservation Collier lot purchases, and some of those lots were lost because they had been on that list for a while with minimal contact to the landowner. And I know that because the landowners talked to me and said, oh, I already sold it to somebody else. You know, I wanted to do the right thing; never heard back. And, you know, that's the part that I think that we've improved upon. But I agree with Commissioner Saunders, I don't want to waste the money, and the money is sitting there for when it's needed. But I think that we found out --we've discovered there's plenty of lots that are eligible for consideration, but if they don't come to us, they sit and collect dust and sometimes disappear, and I'm really proud that you have fixed that. So I'll just end by saying that, but. .. Page 78 March 12 , 2024 MS. COOK: Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. And I appreciate what Commissioner McDaniel said in terms of having some definitive plan to replenish those funds. My guess is that we haven't received that definitive plan for replenishing those funds from staff because it would be very difficult to come up with a plan to do that. The only way those funds could be replenished would be to extend the time period for putting funds into that account. So instead of a 10-year program, if we made this a 15-year program, for example, and collected money for an extra five years, we could replenish what we took out. But it's going to take something like that. It's not going to be how do we take $53 million in our current budgeting situation and replenish those funds over the next several years or for the remaining of the 10 years of the program. That, I believe, would be impossible. But it would be possible to make this a 15-year program instead of a 10-year program, and that would help generate the money that was pulled out. But I think --I think with those types of changes, maybe that will alleviate some of the concern the public has. But I will tell you, the big concern, I believe, of this audience --and I can't speak for you, but I'm guessing that the big concern is making sure that the .25 mills goes into this program and stays in this program some way or another. And if the Board is willing to continue to make that commitment, that the funds will be replenished in some way, then I think that that will alleviate some concern. And I also think, as I said, taking out this repetitive language about pulling money out and using it for any other purpose, I think that will alleviate some concern. And then, as I said, also, having Brad Cornell go through a couple of the issues that are troubling the environmental community, Page 79 March 12, 2024 I think, will save us a lot of time. So that's kind of the thing I'd like to see coming out of this hearing, just this continued commitment to replenish those funds and to maintain this program for long-term future, and I think that's what we're starting to get. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And just as a point, Commissioner Saunders, just to clarify what it was that I was talking about, the extension of the tax certainly needs to be reviewed, but only, in my personal opinion at this stage, to accommodate for the ongoing maintenance. Because, again, Jaime mentioned today that it was always perceived that the interest derived from the accumulated funds was going to be utilized to offset that maintenance expense. They're diminishing funds. Both the acquisition and the Maintenance Fund are continually diminishing. As we buy more properties, there's less money in the fund. As we spend more money annually on the ongoing maintenance, there's less money in the fund to accumulate interest. And so the addressing of the continuation or not of the tax has to come at some point in time and well in advance --I would pref er well in advance of the current expiration that we have today. The replenishment of what was utilized last year to support last year's budget by our staff could come in a myriad of ways. We've engaged a consultant to give consideration to the priority-based budgeting that we're currently going through, and hopefully, hopefully, savings can be accommodated and the re-appropriation of those monies that were utilized elsewhere in the budget last year can begin that process. So I just want to make it clear that we establish a repayment plan and not just say that .25's going back in and going to replenish --replenish the Conservation Collier Fund. Page 80 March 12 , 2024 CHAIRMAN HALL: Let me make a comment or two about the concerns about the commissioners being able to use that money. You know, motive is a big thing, and rationale is another big thing. And last year at our budget hearing --we have this giant thing called Collier County Government that we've taxed the people 14 years in a row increasing those taxes. So at some point in time we, as commissioners, we had to take a look at a spot in time to stop that ship from just expanding and expanding. We had to take some kind of measure to take steps to shrink that government monster and to shrink the need for that. So the Conservation Collier funds that were available, we didn't just look at this as a slush fund or something that was a savior fund for our budget. That's what's been communicated back to us, and that's not true. Just like Commissioner McDaniel says, we implemented --at that point it time, it was our interest to shrink the government monster, to shrink the spending. And so to do that, we funded our budget with those funds because they were not usable in our case. Now, Commissioner Saunders makes a great point. It doesn't matter if they weren't used in the last two years or three or four or five years. I understand that, but we took those funds to fund our budget with the intention and the sole purpose of reducing the expenses enough, far greater than the 53 million, so that we could not tax the --not tax --not do an increase on the taxpayers who have experienced higher-than-normal rents, higher-than-normal expenses, you know, inflation that's out of control. You may not appreciate those tax savings because you're well to do, but I can tell you that we've had countless of people tell us thank you for that. With saying that, that was a one-time --in my mind, that was a one-time thing we did never to be done again, and that was my Page 81 March 12 , 2024 commitment when we did that. We wanted to fund our budget with the intention of cutting our expenses with our --he mentioned ResourceX --with our third party, that that's well in process right now. So it's never our intention or our motive to rob Conservation Collier and use it as a slush fund. Commissioner, you shouldn't do that. Monies --monies collected should be money stayed. Yes, it should, but at the same time, it's halfway selfish of the program to have to have $53 million that's not usable. This program is still subject to willing sellers. What if you had a 100 --what if you had a billion dollars in the bank and no willing sellers? What good is the money? So there is a balance in it. But I want to --I want to let you know here in the room that our motive was not to do that and do it again and again and again. When it comes to we may sell Conservation Collier lands and replenish the program with it, let me give you a great example of that. We're extending Veterans Memorial highway all the way from Livingston all the way to 41. There is a small portion of Conservation Collier land that we need to purchase to make a retention pond. Not that we need to put C-5 commercial on. We just need a retention pond. That's a good example of us being able to sell Conservation Collier land for the better use of the community. So, you know --and with regard to Commissioner LoCastro's, you know, bypassing the CCLAC and Commissioner Kowal's comments about putting weights on some of the criteria, if we put heavier weights on some, and six out of 10 --six out of 10 [sic] of the criteria, you're well on your way to approval, you know. And so it could go to the CCLAC. I have no problem with that. But if it bypasses the CCLAC and comes to me and it makes good sense to do it, let's buy it; that's what we're here to do. Page 82 March 12, 2024 And that was the reason why the money was in the bank previously, because it was basically not usable, though it's usable in the future. I understand that's a good point. But that was our rationale. It wasn't to rob the --rob the funds or use it to our best interest or just because --you know, just because we could. That wasn't the point at all. It was a one-time special-cause event that I hope we never look at again, because I hope we can reduce our expenses government-wise, and we can actually increase the money, like Commissioner Locastro says, and pay it back. When it comes to the CCLAC, I value their opinion, but there's an old adage in business that says you can have control or you can have growth, but you can't have both, and it remains pretty true. So there are things that I think we would benefit from the CCLAC, but just automatic --you know, everything that needs to go there, I'm all for supporting six out of 10 criteria that are weighted and make good sense to come straight to us and purchase it. I don't want to send the wrong message like Commissioner Saunders is talking about. We just need to say it one time. We don't need to say it four, because it's not our intentions. It's not our motive. So I'm good just to say it one time where we can use the money in the best interest, if it ever happens again, because I think you've got --you've got voted elected officials up here who do care. They listen to you. We --it matters to me what you say. It matters to me the e-mails that I get, but it also matters to me when the e-mails that I'm receiving are not based on true information. You know, the information that you got from Naples News or the information you get from Next Door app or from Facebook may not necessarily be all accurate. There's a motive in their message, so I hope that I can clear that message --that motive up for you this . morning. Page 83 March 12 , 2024 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, I know I'm not the next speaker on your list -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Go ahead. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: --but you made a comment that I think is really important to the point that I was making and I think will satisfy a lot of folks here in the room. You indicated that we don't need to repetitively say it, that those funds can be taken out for any other purpose; we need to say it once. I think if you add to that that those funds can be taken out for other governmental purposes as determined by the Board; however, those funds must be replenished as expeditiously as possible and --at least that sends a message that we intend to keep funding this program. And I'd like for that, quite frankly, to be retroactive to that 53 million that came out, that those funds and any future funds that are withdrawn have to be replenished as expeditiously as possible. I think if we can make a statement like that, I think that goes a long way to at least solving some of the --or eliminating some of the concerns. So at some point, we'll talk more about that. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'd strongly agree with, strongly. I like the way you worded that. I'll just throw that out there. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We'll come up with some wording, but that's something I think will help. CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But the Board, then, will have to be very conscientious in replenishing those funds. It can't be just a statement, well, we're going to do this and then not do it. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yep. CHAIRMAN HALL: Along that line --and, Commissioner Kowal, I'll get to you. But along that line, when we adjust the Page 84 March 12 , 2024 ordinance to where we have the ability on a yearly basis to adjust the acquisition funds and the maintenance funds, it may get to the point near the end where we take 95 percent of the funds that are available and put it in the Maintenance Fund because the acquisitions aren't there, which would be --to Commissioner McDaniel's point, there's a burn rate on the maintenance, because that goes in forever. So 100 years from now when we're still doing this, that money needs to be --that fund needs to be big enough to where the interest on it can handle it. And so I hope the conversation this morning is a little more comforting than when you got here. But with that, Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman. I just --I agree with a lot of things that were said up here. And, Commissioner Saunders, the language that you're using, you know, I agree with you. But I just want to remind people that, you know, we keep referring to this 10-year program. This is actually the second 10 of a 20-year program. It was already in effect 10 years prior. It was voted back, I think, in 2020, so we're three years already into it, so we've got seven left. You know, I just think what we're doing --I think, ultimately, everybody in this room has --the same goal in mind of finding properties that fit the bill and are sensitive to the --and important to preserve, you know, into this program. And I think everyone up here agrees, and we have done --in my one year being on the Board, I think we were pretty proficient in purchasing these properties over this past year. And I know if you were here for the first 10 or not, but, you know, there's always a different way. You know, you learn from mistakes, and you learn to be more efficient at times, especially when it comes to using money and purchasing properties, because Page 85 March 12, 2024 even the year I was here, I believe one of the properties that we just approved on Marco, it was just --we approved it, we had a check in hand ready to buy it, and they backed out the last minute because of timing issues or --you know, because it's been happening, because when we get these lists, we get an A list, and we're supposed to get another six months later, and then we're looking at these properties. A lot of these properties aren't even available anymore. So I think what we're doing is much more efficient, and I think putting this language together, moving this ordinance forward to make it more efficient is only going to achieve the goal that I think everybody in this room is trying to achieve, is to get these properties when they're available and be able to purchase the ones that make sense. And I think that's ultimately what everybody wants to do. But when it comes to the part, which I agree 100 percent with, that we should have that flexibility to adjust the percentage because it's --over that 10-year period prior to this 10-year, everybody just set this number saying, oh, it's 25 percent goes into maintenance. Well, we know interest rates fluctuate. We're not making as much one year as we may on the next years, and maybe we're going to make more next year. So it makes sense for us to project that out and say, well, maybe 35 needs to go in this year or 45, or maybe only 15 because we're --you know, the feds have got the interest rate at 10 percent, and we're making a lot of money on what we have. So it's good to be flexible that way, and then that will leave more money in the purchase side. So I think having that in our toolbox will make it more efficient also. And I just want to set the record straight. Back when we did the budget, you know, my mindset was that we had an emergency fund, and when Hurricane Ian came, we had about $3 8 million in there, and after cleanup --and a lot of those properties were very sensitive properties that were, you know, beach berm work, areas that Page 86 March 12, 2024 were protected, you know, waterways, you know, we went out in the forest and cleaned these things up, and part of that emergency fund we used was that monies. And we were down to about 100-and-some thousand dollars in the emergency fund after the fact, but we had $40 million in the Maintenance Fund in Conservation Collier, and we had to take --in that budget we had to put money back into that fund because we were looking at another hurricane season coming up. Thank God we did not have a hurricane this past season. But if we would have --and we wouldn't have thought forward and had the ability to say, all right, well, we used a lot of this money out of the General Fund, the Emergency Fund to fix properties more than likely maintenance should have went to anyways out of the Maintenance Fund, you know, we had to put money back in there. And that's why I agreed with --that moving some of this money around was best for the citizens of Collier County in the long run. Because if we got hit with another storm, we would be dependent on the federal government and FEMA to come and clean this place up and fix these properties. So we did it without their help. Now we're waiting for the checks, you know, to backfill. And I always thought that that would have been a way to put some money back into the fund. But, you know, that's up to staff, and if that's even possible, to --you know, if we ever get some more checks from FEMA from Hurricane Ian, to take them checks and move them back since we already used the money from the Emergency Fund to fix these properties up. So that was one idea. But I think, what you see here before you and us creating this language and streamlining it, I think it meets the ultimate goal for all of us is to get these properties, the ones that make sense, and purchase them in a more efficient way. Page 87 March 12, 2024 So I think I'd have to agree with the language and some of the comments we made up here today, so I'd support that. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, we have 55 registered speakers. Fifty-four of them are here. One is on Zoom. And with your permission, I'd like to call her first. She's been in the Zoom meeting since way early this morning. And then to facilitate, I think what will be quicker and get to Commissioner Saunders' wishes, I'll call Brad Cornell second. Brad's been ceded time from 34 people, which will give him 105 minutes or, put another way, an hour and 45 minutes. He assures me he's not going to use all of that, but that will give him all the time he needs. So first up, let's go to, on Zoom, Meredith Budd. Meredith, you're being prompted to unmute yourself at this time. Wait a minute. My Zoom person seems to be --oh, there she is. Meredith, you're being prompted to unmute yourself. And is that you, Meredith, on the phone? MS. BUDD: Can you hear me? MR. MILLER: Yes. You have three minutes. MS. BUDD: Are you able to hear me? MR. MILLER: Yes. MS. BUDD: Thank you so very much. Good morning, Commissioners. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak and for being able to go at this time. So, again, thank you for that. My name is Meredith Budd. And I am not representing any organization today, but I have spent my career in conservation looking for ways to have win-win: Balance economic development, development of the county, and the needs for conservation across Florida and in Collier County specifically. And, of course, protecting the environment, as you all know, in turn, really does help Page 88 March 12 , 2024 our economy. I've heard the dialogue today, and I really appreciate the conversation you've had up on the dais about this program and your support for the program. Collier County has a long and proud history of conservation, and the natural beauty that you-all, as leaders, have really helped to preserve, it's not a surprise that people continue to flock to Collier County. We have over a thousand people coming to Florida every single day, and Collier County remains one of the most popular places for people to relocate. There are other revisions that you're discussing, and some of them are good. And I'm --I commend Commissioner Saunders. I appreciate you for directing staff to work with stakeholders to take a look at these changes. And the changes to make sure the process is moving, seeing all the purchases that you-all have talked about today moving forward in the process, those are good. But some changes are, quite frankly, a bit inappropriate. I was not yet living in Collier County or even out of schooling in 2002 and 2006 with the ballot referenda, but I know the history. And then in 2020, I had the privilege of being an active lead in helping spread the word about re-authorizing this popular program. And I don't have to remind you that 77 percent of the electorate approved spending tax dollars on conservation, the straw ballot. And so without bond covenants, there is nothing binding you to actually follow the will of the voters, only your promise and duty as an elected official. So I'm asking you today to keep that promise and reject any proposed change in the ordinance to spend the tax money approved by voters for conservation and any other county purpose. It's inappropriate and directly in opposition to what your constituents voted for. Page 89 March 12 , 2024 I know you'll hear from my colleagues today, and we've worked with staff for many, many weeks to also urge you to consider inserting language about repaying or replacing Conservation Collier funds that I heard you talk about today and appreciate you speaking to that and putting effort into replacing those funds. And putting language in of promising to replenish, this will ensure robust funding for the program, continued management, and, of course, (unintelligible) need, acquisition opportunities, and also to help reinstill faith in your constituents that you are able to keep your promises. Conservation Collier can be your legacy, and the decisions that you make today on these ordinance changes determine that that's a legacy that you'll want to be remembered for. So I really appreciate the dialogue and appreciate your consideration of spending the money as it was intended by the voters, replacing the money that has been taken to spend on other things, and also moving the programs forward in a very expeditious and effective way. So, again, thank you for the time and the opportunity to speak. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is going to be Brad Cornell. I'm not going to ask the next person to queue up, but I do need to call everyone that ceded time. When you hear your name, please raise your hand. Anita Sargese? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: I hope I'm saying that right. Thank you. Steven Sargese? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Linda Roth? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Sallyann Ferrero? (Raises hand.) Page 90 MR. MILLER: Sharon Epple? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Andrew Sillin? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Candace Forsyth? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Juliet Gross? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Augusta Rosenauer? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Thank you. Mary Aronin? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Lori Beall? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Darryl Manning? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Wendy DeSilva? MS. HELD: She went to the lady's room. MR. MILLER: Pardon me? MS. HELD: She went to the lady's room. March 12, 2024 MR. MILLER: Okay. I'll take your word that she's still here. Jean Held? MS. HELD: Me. MR. MILLER: John Forsyth. Oh, back there. Thank you. Roberta Burglund? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Marshall Olson? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Linda Denning? (Raises hand.) Page 91 MR. MILLER: Jan Williams? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Sue Heckman? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Paul Bishop? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Yuki Bourdeau? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Diane Shanley? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Elizabeth [sic] Arsenault? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Martha Bantz? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Lois Kelley? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Ann Keller [sic]? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Jeanne Tucker? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Rose Burke? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Lindsey McCaskey? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: Deb Angelis? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: I'm sure I butchered that. Dianne Rhodes? (Raises hand.) MR. MILLER: And, Gary Bromley? (Raises hand.) Page 92 March 12 , 2024 March 12, 2024 MR. MILLER: Wow, a record 33 people. We have the timer maxed out at 99 minutes, Brad. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: You know, just out of tum, I want to just say how impressed I am with citizens --you know, we've said this before from our seats here, that, you know, get the most eloquent speaker rather than 50 people getting three minutes. Sometimes that's not the most powerful thing. And for all of you, the most eloquent speaker on this topic is standing at the podium right now. And so I really commend you-all for giving him maximum time so that we can make the best decision possible. That frequently happens. I think, like Troy just said, we just broke a record. And so I'm encouraged to hear from Brad, who we respect deeply, and Meredith as well. You know, she's very close to this issue as well. But oftentimes citizens don't take our advice. And they deserve their time at the podium, but it could have been used more, you know, judiciously. And today is a perfect example of how you-all have really come together as a group, and, you know, nominated the top speaker. So, Brad, don't disappoint the 33 people in the audience, or else --or else they will meet you out in the hall. MR. CORNELL: Thank you, Commissioner. Good morning, Commissioners, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to address you, and I appreciate my colleagues in ceding time to me. I won't --as Troy said, I won't use this full time. But I do have some slides I'd like to share with you and a couple of points I'd like to make. I appreciate very much the conversation that you-all have had this morning. It has been encouraging and insightful, and so I think you'll recognize some of the themes in what I'm going to share with you as well. And I also want to commend you on making the direction last fall to staff, to the County Attorney, and to stakeholders, NGOs, and Page 93 March 12 , 2024 the public and your CCLAC, your advisory committee, to work on ways to expedite and improve the process to accelerate land acquisition, which is the point of the program, and then to manage it. So thank you for that direction. I think we have made a lot of progress, as Jaime Cook has outlined. We have some additional points to make on those, but definitely great progress. So I will --oh, good. This worked. I first want to offer Audubon's support, and many others here in the room support, for the revisions that accelerate land acquisition. And I'll just identify three important spots on there. Section 11, No. 5, is where the applications are evaluated as they are received, and that's going to save months in the process. As you-all already discussed, that's a really important amendment. Section 12, No. 1, where you have updated criteria, those new nine criteria are from staff, and they are --I think they're wonderful. The CCLAC has looked at those, the public has looked at those, the NGOs, Audubon, and the Conservancy, we've all had a look at those, and we think those are much clearer and that that clarity's going to help speed up the evaluation process. And then in Section 12, No. 8, the signed contracts that would be sent to the Board directly, rather than to CCLAC, that's always been a perfunctory meeting which delayed the provision to you for that final decision, that's going to save a month so --at least a month. So that's a really good one. So we support all those changes and hope they will move forward with the amendments when you vote on these. Next, I want to address the issue that you-all were addressing in your conversation, and that is the references --the four references you have to deleting --or to diverting funds. We believe that that is unnecessary, as the budgeted authority for doing that is with the Board of County Commissioners, as has already been confirmed by Page 94 March 12, 2024 your County Attorney several times. And you also have a precedent where, after Hurricane Irma, you went to the Conservation Collier Land Management Fund to clean up after that huge hurricane. This was before Ian. This was in 2017. So you have a precedent of exerting your authority to use those funds in Conservation Collier basically as an emergency reserve for emergency purposes, and you replaced those funds, which was important. I also want to point out that including text in the ordinance that says the Board has the authority to do this is unnecessary, and it conveys the sense to the public or anyone reading the ordinance that you don't support the program. And we know that's false, and we've listened to your conversation today. We know that's not true. So say what you mean in your ordinance. Don't say that you intend to or you have the authority to divert the funds. You already have that authority. You don't need to put it into the ordinance any times. Alternatively, Audubon recommends adding to one or all four of those diversion references --if you insist on putting those forward --replacement language, and you guys have already brought that issue up. I think it's a good idea. We would support that. Something that goes along the lines of, if we need to use this for emergency purposes, then "provided all such diverted funds are replaced in the respective trust funds as soon as practicable" or something like that. And I want to note that the land management trust fund --this land management function is a perpetual long-term obligation, as you have discussed, and that the 20-year model that Conservation Collier has used depends on that trust fund principal model that generates interest to fund the annual management. And the fund had been up to the point with $42 million last fall where you were generating Page 95 March 12, 2024 about $1.2 million a year with that interest. The budget was 1.4 million. We were just $200,000 away from fully funding, with interest, your annual obligations for management. And I want to note that when you voted on your budget decision in the fall, $38 million of that $53 million diversion was to come from the land management trust fund, which was supposed to stay there. That's not gathering dust. It's working by generating interest. So we --and I will also note, if I understand this correctly, that that money has not yet been moved. It's still sitting there, and it's still generating interest, and we would encourage you and recommend that you do leave that there now. So here are those spots where we recommend deleting these four references. So it's in Section 6, Lines 153 to 155, Lines 183 to 186, Lines 238 to 240, and Lines 278 to 280, we recommend you delete all those. You don't need them. You already have that authority. But if you insist on keeping them, then add some sort of language as --that we show in red here. "Provided all such diverted funds are replaced in the respective trust fund" or "the named trust fund as soon as practicable." And your conversation was leading us all in that direction. We appreciate that. We would like you to fully delete those references and consider that as your primary objective in this ordinance. Now, we have some other revisions that we'd like to highlight for you. I'm not going to go through the details. As Jaime Cook pointed out, too, there are several things that are just minutia, but there's a couple substantive things that I want to address, and these are policies that kind of fall into the area of omissions or deficiencies or problems that you can address with these revisions, an opportunity, if you will. And so the first one is, on Lines 363 to 364, Section 8, No. 1, has to do with those SSAs, the Stewardship Sending Area. There's a Page 96 March 12, 2024 distinction when you talk about Stewardship Sending Areas. They're not all the same. Some of them are provisional. In other words, they haven't sent any credits --or no credits have been used. Those SSAs can be reversed by the landowner. They can change their mind five years down the road and say, oh, on second thought, we're going to undo this SSA, and we're not going to generate any credits. We're not going to use any credits. Forget the whole thing. And that's actually already been done. And so those kinds of SSAs would --could be beneficial to make sure they don't get used for development or one house on every five acres or roads or something like that. So that is a reason to consider putting in the word "permanent Stewardship Sending Areas." As soon as an SSA generates a credit, one credit, and it's used to entitle anything, like Ave Maria or a Big Cypress town or anything, Neal Communities project in that area, that SSA becomes permanent. It's in perpetuity. And so that's --those are the SSAs that have already accomplished the mission of Rural Lands Stewardship of protecting these resources without public dollars. And so putting that "permanent" adjective in there would be the way to accomplish that. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, if I might interrupt here for just a second. Pardon me. Just to facilitate this, I would suggest that there's a --the proposed change here --I don't think anyone's going to have any particular objection to it. I think if the Board acknowledges that --because when he's finished and we start talking, we're going to have to go back and figure out what changes he's made. If this is an acceptable change, why don't we agree to it as he's going through these, as opposed to having him finish and then we try to come back with what he's recommended? Is there any objection to trying to do that that way? Page 97 March 12 , 2024 (No response.) COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Or let me rephrase that. Is everybody in agreement with doing it that way? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are you asking specifically about the -- COMMISSIONER KOWAL: It is eating his time? I mean -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: He's got another hour, so I don't think he's worried. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are you talking -- MR. CORNELL: I've got all day, guys. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Commissioner Saunders, are you talking specifically about the stewardship --the SSAs? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Just this one change right now. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The SSAs? And that's on Section 8, No. 1 you're talking about? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The one he has on the screen. If it's agreed to by the Board, let's say so, and staff will have that --will make a note of it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, since we're talking about it, I wouldn't specify that it be permanent --be a permanent SSA. I mean, our staff gave us language --or talked about the potential --I mean, you said it at the beginning when you started talking about SSAs, they're not all the same. And there may be a time when one that isn't permanent or is permanent, as the case may be, should be accumulated by Conservation Collier. As long as it comes with the sufficient reserves for the --for the ongoing maintenance, I wouldn't be opposed to that acquisition. MR. CORNELL: The point that we were --Audubon was trying to make, and in discussion and CCLAC and staff, the permanent Stewardship Sending Areas are the ones that have the Page 98 March 12 , 2024 dedicated --they should have a dedicated endowment fund for management, and they should --that should --if you were to buy something like that or if the state were to buy or anybody were to buy that for conservation, that needs to come with -- CO MMIS SI ONER McDANIEL: Agreed. MR. CORNELL: --management money. The temporary ones also have management money, but if they undo that, then that all goes away. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And so --and maybe I misunderstand the statement, but my suggestion was to add back the opportunity on all SSAs as they come to us, we're going to look at all of the variables that are there, but not preclude it strictly to permanent. MR. CORNELL: And I think your staff, Jaime Cook, pointed out there's much less value in the permanent SSAs because they're already protected. Now, there is one issue that you didn't talk about yet, and I was going to bring it up on the next one because I have a related comment on that, and that is public access. Nobody has public access on any of these private conservation easements. And so it could be that there would be a piece of land that has a permanent easement on it, whether it's an SSA easement or, you know, a federal Endangered Species Act easement or a wetlands protection easement, anything. If it's a private easement, no one from the public can get on there to see whatever those resources are, or if you had a trail and this parcel interrupted it. So that would be one rationale to buying something that had easements on it. You start to get into some complicated issues when you look at that ball of wax. So you see in the next recommendation we have is in Section 8, No. 4, which is the section about conservation easements generally and transfer of development right credits. That's a complicated issue. Your Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District's Page 99 March 12 , 2024 TDR credits, other TDR credits and conservation easements which come in many, many different varieties, we feel like staff has started that process of evaluating that complex issue. We still think it's premature to put it into this ordinance and that if you want to be buying easements and TDR credits, there's more discussion that needs to be had with your staff, with the public, with your Conservation Collier advisory committee, and some of the other advisory committees that would have an opinion about this. So we were recommending you delete that whole section, Section --No. 4 in Section 8 just because the conservation easement is complex. There's value in considering it. Like I just said, maybe there's some public access you really want to make sure you get so you can complete a trio or for flowway or something like that. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, on that particular issue, I actually raised the issue of purchasing easements, and I would agree with Mr. Cornell that perhaps we have language in here that needs to be worked on a little bit. Ifwe delete this now, we can always come back and amend this ordinance at a future date to include that. So if the Board is in agreement, I would suggest that we delete that section for now, have staff come back sometime in the future after it's been, perhaps, debated and reevaluated. MR. CORNELL: That was our recommendation. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm not interested in that. I'm not interested in deleting that opportunity at this stage. It's not brain surgery. Buying an easement has a value. Buying TDR --buying land that already has TDRs or credits on it has a value. Those values can be attributed at the time of acquisition whether they've been already stripped of an SSA that's already been established in perpetuity or whether they haven't --the credits haven't been stripped off. Page 100 March 12, 2024 So I don't have an interest in limiting our opportunities here. I feel that these statements are limiting to the program and diminishing the opportunity to buy a viable piece of property that does have public access, that is a connection to a particular flowway that we wish to enhance --staff believes that it wished to be enhanced. So, personally, I wouldn't be interested in making that adjustment at this stage. It may be on a case-by-case basis that we determine that the asking price inclusive of or not of the TD Rs or credits isn't a sufficient value, but we'll make those decisions as we come along. We'll make a decision as the properties come to us with regard to the value of a purchase of a Conservation Collier easement and/or fee simple ownership. I think that was one thing Commissioner Saunders suggested we could acquire and protect, environmentally, the development of a piece of property by buying an easement. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, we don't always get unanimous votes. So I think, again, to help facilitate this, I would make a motion that we delete that provision. If there's three commissioners that support that, then we'll delete it. If there's not, then we'll leave it in and move on. So I'll make that motion for today and that this be reevaluated by our staff and brought back to us at a future date. Okay. I'm getting used to the no seconds to some of my motions. CHAIRMAN HALL: Well, it just goes back to, I'm not --I'm not interested in limiting us. We can look at everything on case by case, but you can have control, or you can have growth. I would much rather lean on the growth side on this area, so ... MR. CORNELL: Shall I continue? CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Please. Page 101 March 12, 2024 MR. CORNELL: Okay. Next issue is the sale. And when you're --Mr. Chair, you brought this up relative to the Railhead Scrub parcel, which is in the path of the Veterans Parkway. So this is Line 338, Section 8, No. 5, the Board may sell Conservation Collier lands, and we're suggesting that this needs criteria. What lands would you sell? What would you consider selling? And that would be lands that no longer met the purpose of the program, and that would be the criterion that we recommended in red inserting into this to have --you know, and all the other policies were fine with us, but that seems like, rather than just saying we can sell land, well, why would you sell it? Under what circumstances? And so that seemed like a reasonable bottom-line criterion. Lines 440 to 442 is Section 9, No. 1D. This is similar to that SSA recommendation I had above, which is to describe the kind of SSA, the Stewardship Sending Area, that would be excluded from consideration, and that would be the permanent ones, the ones that have already been protected, that the mission has been accomplished. The next recommendation is Lines 580 to 581; that's Section 12, No. 5. So this is a process one. We're not objecting to the streamlining of the process as is laid out in the draft ordinance that you've got, but what we're saying is you're missing a little piece. How does the Active Acquisition List actually come to be? And so this sentence that we've added here in red basically lays out the quick way to describe the creation of the Active Acquisition List, the AAL. It needed that one sentence that --there was a lot of strikethrough and underlines. It got really confusing. And as you read it, it seemed like it was missing this one sentence, so that's why we are recommending that, just as a process thing. Not super substantive, but needed for the process. So those are my substantive recommendations for you. I do want to share a little bit of good news. So last fall you-all approved Page 102 March 12, 2024 the purchase off our lots that were contiguous on South Barfield on Marco Island. Those lots have something like 90 gopher tortoises on them, a pair of burrowing owls, and a nesting pair of bald eagles. And you may remember that right after you did that, Rosemary Tolliver, who is Audubon Florida's --Audubon --eagle watch volunteer who monitors that nest, sent pictures of little baby eagles that had just hatched after you approved that purchase. Those eagles now are doing what she called --I never heard of this term. They're branching. And, apparently, eagle chicks that branch have gotten so big that there's not a whole lot of room left in the nest. They're not able to fly yet, but they're walking out on the branch. And so that's good. So this eagle's nest is now permanently protected thanks to your purchasing and approving that purchase. So that's a little bit of good news. And that's a picture of a bald eagle taken by my friend, Jean Hall. It's carrying sticks for a nest, and that's on Marco Island. Oop, sorry. There we go. And last, I just want to thank you again for making the direction to streamline the process and understand our criticisms of the diversion language and the solutions to that and then some of our detailed recommendations for improving the draft that you have in front of you. I know you're bringing this back for voting, but this is a really substantive conversation that you've entertained today. Thank you for that engagement, and we would like to remain engaged, and we will continue to participate, as everyone in the room is very, very supportive of the program and of your leadership of it as best we can implement this program for conservation purposes. And to finish, I just wanted to share a picture that I took. So Michelle Leonard and Meredith Budd and I were out walking on the Panther Walk Preserve. This was a couple of years ago. This is in Golden Gate Estates right off of Everglades Boulevard. And we were walking along --and it's a very short trail --and all of a sudden, Page 103 March 12 , 2024 we had to stop really fast. There was a huge mama bear right in front of --well, I don't even know if it was a mama. I can't tell. But it was a big black bear, and you can --it was surprised by us, and we were --it's --and we surprised it. So we retreated because that was the smart thing to do. CHAIRMAN HALL: Good choice. MR. CORNELL: And then it ran off another 20 yards into the bushes and stayed there and watched us, and that's it watching us as we walked by very gingerly. And so, anyway, this is what Conservation Collier is all about. This preserve, you are now --it's part of a multi-parcel project. You're expanding it through the process, and we encourage you to keep this up. Thank you very much for your consideration. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thanks, Brad. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Don't go away. Brad, Brad, Brad, don't go --Brad, don't go away. MR. CORNELL: I'm here. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Will you go back to your first couple of slides with the language. You suggested removing the language --those, right there. MR. CORNELL: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll --if it pleases the Board, I'd make a motion to accept this language. I would like to leave the language that's in the proposed resolution to allow for flexibility of future boards but put the suggested language here in red in each one of those places just to specifically delineate the repayment of those funds, and I like "as soon as practicable." I like this language in leaving that flexibility, because it may --inevitably will not always be us up here. And so having this specific language added in, I'd be happy with that language in red being added to the proposed Page 104 March 12, 2024 ordinance changes, so I'll make that motion. CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. So ifwe took money from Acquisition Fund to the Maintenance Fund, are you saying we would have to replace that Acquisition Fund as well even though we kept it in the program, or just ifwe had any other county purpose? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, that's the intent of this. It can be transferred between the two funds. Another one talks about moving it out of the fund eventually. What I --I'm pleased with this addition of language that specifies that if the money is moved, then it is replaced as soon as practicable. I like that. That specifies that it is to, in fact, be replaced if it's utilized for --from one fund to another or for other government purposes, as the case --as Brad said, we have the opportunity to do that now. We have the authority to do that now, but we don't want to have to administer --I don't want to have to adjust the ordinance every time that that's, in fact, done. So I'd accept that language to be added in here. CHAIRMAN HALL: I just wanted to make sure that it was what --if we used the funds for any other purpose, yes, I'd say replace it. But if we had to make an adjustment between Acquisition Fund and Maintenance Fund in the future, and let's just say it's after sunset, then there's no way to replace that money if we --as long as the money stays in the program, whether Acquisition or Maintenance, I'd be good with that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: But ifwe borrowed from the Acquisition Fund to put in Maintenance or borrowed from the Maintenance Fund that was fat to buy some property, I wouldn't want to necessarily say we had to do that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I see your point. I'm actually looking at the end of this tax. I'm looking at the --at the end of the --of the 10-year program. Conservation Collier --this Page 105 March 12, 2024 board's going to have to either continue on with some form of taxation to support the ongoing maintenance, or it's going to be consumed into our General Fund or paid for out of our General Fund. So I didn't have --I don't have a problem with a plan --plans are adjustable --but allow for the funds to be replaced as soon as practicable. I didn't have a problem with that language. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I'd like to focus on that section as well, or those four sections. I think stating it once, I think we all agree that that's all that's necessary, but I'd like to break it up, I think, into two sentences, and this is sort of a suggestion. "At the direction of the Board, funds may be transferred between the two funds," period. Funds -- CO MMIS SI ONER McDANIEL: If used. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: "At the direction of the Board, funds may be transferred between the two funds," period. "As determined by the Board, funds may be removed in emergency situations but shall be replenished as" practical --"as soon as practicable" so that it's clear that we can take the funds out but only if there's an emergency that we determine, and that those funds have to be back in. If we need to have that language in there, that's what I would recommend. I think that sends a message that we're going to be very judicious in taking funds out of the program. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yeah. And to my point --I can sum it up. Let me communicate a little better. "At the discretion of the Board, funds may be transferred between the two funds," period. "If used for any other county purpose and found to be in the best interest of the public, then we replace the respective trust funds as soon as practical [sic]." So we still have the ability to transfer money between the two funds, but if it's --we take it out of the program for any other use, Page 106 March 12, 2024 then we promise to pay it back. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I'm in --I agree with that. I'm just trying to tighten it up a little bit that we determine there's an emergency --now, that's --the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so we determine when there's an emergency. CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And that the funds --and I like to use the term "shall" to make it clear that we are serious about it. "Funds shall be replaced as soon as practicable." We're saying the same thing, but I'm just tightening it up a little bit. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm okay with "shall." CHAIRMAN HALL: I'm okay with "shall." Shall's King James. MR. CORNELL: Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. I'm not going to interrupt. You can keep this conversation going. I just want to note that I really do not have any control over the people who have attended here today, and I know that not everybody's ceded their time to me. So I just want to note that you probably have some other perspectives out there. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes, we do; 17. MR. CORNELL: So just -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: This is tangible here for right now, Brad. I appreciate you sharing that. MR. CORNELL: No, I didn't want to interrupt. I just wanted to note that. MR. MILLER: I should probably interject. I blew the count. We have 27 people left. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I think I'm next. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes, go ahead. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: My light went back out again. I just wanted to --I just wanted to preface, the importance of the Page 107 March 12, 2024 period, not the comma, because we learned that two weeks ago. The comma, it definitely has a unique bearing on the way you're writing your sentence. No, I agree, because I don't want us to have the idea that people think, well, traditionally, we always took 25 percent, put it in the Maintenance Fund, 25, 25 --over the last 13 years, that was traditionally the number. But ifwe project something and we need 3 7 percent to go into the Maintenance Fund because interest rates are low and we want to get to a certain point where we know we can maintain, I don't want that to be confused with us taking money out of one fund to the other. That's just us managing the fund and having the ability to manage the fund. And I just want to make that clear. This is only if for some reason outside of what we typically move over --because it's only collected in the one, then we move a percentage over. So that's always taking one out of the other. We do that normally. So I don't want anybody to get confused that we're taking money out; we didn't repay it. No, we're just managing the percentage at this point. And then, yeah, I'm fine with my colleagues up here and the kind of language we're going at with the rest of the meeting, and "shall." COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So would it be appropriate for me to reiterate what that proposed language is and see if the Board agrees? CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So it will read, in one location only, "At the direction of the Board, funds may be transferred between the two funds," period. "In an emergency, as determined by the Board of County Commissioners, funds can be removed for other governmental purposes but shall be replenished" in Page 108 March 12, 2024 the respective trust --"shall be replenished as soon as practicable," and we'll have some flexibility as to where it goes. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: The word "emergency," it just leaves it so open to so many different --you know, like, how about "for the betterment of the citizens of Collier County" or something more --more of --because there's ultimately more --the county's made up of a lot more people than just the people that are concerned about this particular fund, and you're locking it to an emergency. I mean, who defines emergency? A brushfire? I mean, that's an emergency out in the Estates. So we can take money, then go help pay the firefighters and all that? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, that's why I was saying, the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. If the Board says this is an emergency, it's an emergency, period. It would be our determination. So if there's a hurricane and we need to take funds out, if there's a brushfire, we need to take funds out, if a bridge fails and we need to take funds out, that would be an emergency situation that we would determine, and we would have --and this would be a question for the County Attorney, but I'm sure he will agree, that whatever emergency we determine, that's going to justify removing the funds. So we'd have tremendous flexibility, but I think it sends a message that, you know, we can't just take it out because we want to buy flowers for staff. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Well, I don't think that would ever happen. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't think it would either, but. .. Mr. Klatzkow, am I overstating what the flexibility would be with the Board if we used the word "emergency" in there? MR. KLATZKOW: No. I mean, emergency would be defined by the Board. Three votes, it's an emergency. Page 109 March 12 , 2024 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So I think --but I think it puts a little bit of pressure on us to have it be a legitimate emergency, and then having the language "shall be replaced," I think, also puts a little pressure on us as we get into the budget. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I guess my thing is saying, like --my example. Like I said, we have brushfires a lot out in the Estates, and we can all agree that we have a state of emergency at a countywide level, you know, and then we get some things burned out, and the monies we spend on that to fight those fires , probably three of us would agree that's an emergency. Now, we'd be taking money out of this fund? That's what I'm saying. I want to kind of protect it, because you can articulate emergency in a lot of ways, and if all you need is three votes, then, you know, then that -- CO MMIS SI ONER SAUNDERS: I certainly would support being more restrictive, but I don't know how you do it. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I guess that's what I'm trying to look for, a language that says --you know, just kind of like anything else, you know, "the betterment of the citizens of Collier County." It takes a lot of weight to say --like with eminent domain or something, to come over and take people's property for the betterment. It takes a lot more weight to do that than it does just declare an emergency. That's all --I'm just trying to find the right language, I guess. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And maybe that's --maybe we need to put some language in here today, and we can kind of work on that over the next several days to be more restrictive. But either way you want to say it --if you want to say it that way, that's fine, and then we can massage that over the next couple of weeks as this comes back. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'm just throwing it out. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We're trying to accomplish Page 110 March 12, 2024 the same thing. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah, I think so. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We're trying to make it more restrictive but recognizing that the Board does have to have some flexibility. That's why I was using the term "emergency," because that just seemed to narrow it to some extent. When you say "to the betterment of the county," that's --I think that's -- COMMISSIONER KOWAL: That's ultimately our goal. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yep. So either way for right now, but I think we'd need to --probably need to work on it a little bit. CHAIRMAN HALL: Three board members have to approve whatever purpose it is, so that's going to make it important anyway. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. And I agree with saying it four times. I even mentioned that when it came before me before. Saying it four times that it can be utilized for other purposes was a bit repetitive. So saying it once is fine. Pick one of the places that it says it. I wouldn't --I like the language that's in here now with regard to the flexibility that the Board has to utilized the funds. If it's deemed to be by majority vote in the public interest, whether it's buying flowers for staff or a fire in Golden Gate Estates, I don't think having to delineate it as an emergency is a requisite. I think that the language that's up --pick one of these places. 183 through 186, 153 through 155 stipulates what the intent is. I think it's most important --and we all talked about it at the beginning of this, that we have language --whether we say it four times or say it once, we have specific language that says that the funds shall --that's restrictive enough --"shall be replaced as soon as practicable," period, and don't make any adjustments to what's already in print and Page 111 March 12 , 2024 been advertised. Pick one place that best typifies that intent, and put it in there, and then we're good. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I think you-all are saying very similar things the same way. You know, we were guilty, what, at our last meeting --I say "guilty," but, you know, having a three-hour meeting over a comma I thought was kind of embarrassing when, you know, we're here to do the work of the people. I think --let's all try to combine the best verbiage, but we're trying to make this more restrictive, I think --I am, anyway, more specificity. But, you know, in my previous life, I've sat in meetings like this where we talked for two hours because, you know, it had the word "small dog" and somebody wanted to change it out with the word "puppy," and it's like we're saying the same thing. So I think everything you all have said accomplishes the same thing. We got off the rails a little bit, I think, where --and I know what Commissioner Kowal was saying, but I think that was a little less specific than I'm happy with about just, you know , being a little too --I like the word "emergency." And also, too, we have to be held to this. So it's not like this automatically rubber stamps approval. It would come to us and, you know, if we thought something was an emergency, and after discussion we felt like it wasn't, then we wouldn't touch this money. But --and I also agree that it doesn't need to be in every paragraph. But, you know, let's get down to brass tacks here and not have a three-hour conversation on where a comma should go. It does matter, but let's make some command decisions here. I mean, we're looking at three sentences, and we shouldn't have to be here for three hours. All the right words are in there. It's just a matter of moving it around. The sentences I heard that made the most sense to me is the way Page 112 March 12, 2024 Commissioner Saunders summarized it. It just seemed like where to put the period, the word "emergency," and, you know, I think, you know, to sit here and debate a word or two or whatever, you know, in the end it comes down to intention, and the intention, in my book, is to make this more specific and, yes, more restrictive so it's a very unique circumstance where we do anything with this money. I think last fall it was a unique circumstance, but I think if those words are in there --and there --maybe only in one paragraph, or if it needs to be in another paragraph for more impact, okay. But somebody summarize this paragraph and, you know, let's make some decisive decisions here rather than wordsmithing this thing to death, and staying very specific and restrictive which is, I think, what we're all wanting to do with this for the betterment of this program. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I will go ahead and make a motion on this language just to see if there's consensus here. "At the direction of the Board, funds may be transferred between the two funds," period. "In the event of an emergency as determined by the Board of County Commissioners, funds may be withdrawn provided all such diverted funds shall be replaced as soon as practicable." aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: Motion and second. All in favor, say COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And this will be in one place. Page 113 March 12, 2024 CHAIRMAN HALL: That's just one place. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And we can massage this a little later on when it comes back. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Brad, what else? MR. CORNELL: Commissioners, I've actually completed my presentation to you, and so you may want to hear from some others in the public before you vote too many more times. The issue of the emergency fund, I'll just --since that was such a big issue in people's comments and our view of this, one of the main objectives that our recommendations are steering towards is the --and this goes back to your budget hearings in the fall --is the relative lack of a reserve fund. And, Commissioner Kowal, you were mentioning this as well. The Conservation Collier Management Trust Fund has been a de facto reserve fund for your programs, all your programs, and so the --I guess I would just encourage you, as you look at this language and when you finalize it, when you vote on it in the end, March 26th, or whenever you bring this back for the final vote, consider perhaps how that helps achieve that so that you're doing double duty. You're providing the management income annually for Conservation Collier at a really robust level, one and a half million dollars a year or more, and it's a de facto reserve fund. So that concept was what we were driving at in saying "replenish the funds," and it's what attends [sic] some of the comments were made. But that's --if I can just lay that out there. So thank you for listening to my longer-than-usual comments but appreciate the conversation. CHAIRMAN HALL: Lunch. MS. PATTERSON: Chair, we are definitely due for a court reporter break. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes. It's a good time for lunch. I Page 114 March 12 , 2024 apologize to the other 27 but, you know what, we have a 1 :30 time-certain. This is county business. It's not all about Conservation Collier. We have a lot more to do today. So let's get back here at 12: 15. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Really? CHAIRMAN HALL: What's that? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: We can't go back in time. CHAIRMAN HALL: Oh, excuse me. 1:15. 1:15 be back. (A luncheon recess was had from 12:34 p.m. to 1: 15 p.m.) MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. I guess we can continue with our public speakers. And before --how many are still here? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: There's three of us. MR. MILLER: I have no idea how many. I know I've had at least three people that have pulled out. CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. So let's just remember on our comments, three minutes, yellow light at the 2:30 --at the 2:30 mark, red light at the three-minute mark , and let's land the plane. MR. MILLER: I'm going to remind you to queue up at both podiums so we can do this as quickly and efficiently as possible. Your first speaker is Bobbie Davenport. She'll be followed by Janet Hoffman. MS. DAVENPORT: Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. Hi, Bill, over there. I'm in Bill's district. I wanted to start by saying it was very enlightening, you know, listening to all of you this morning. I kind of came away with a little different view than when I came in here today. But first of all, Bill, thank you for, you know, really fighting to get funds replenished that were taken. We like that. And, you know, Rick had spoken to accelerated land purchase so, you know, that's something I had wanted to talk about, getting Page 115 March 12, 2024 land purchased quickly. I actually know owners what had put property up for land purchasing in the past. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Would you please share with my colleagues what you do do, because I know what you do do. MS. DAVENPORT: I was going to bring that up at the end, but we'll share it now. Okay. So I'm a well-known environmentalist in the area. I've been involved with a lot of groups over the years. I still am, but I really, you know, came in here. I gave a presentation to the county a couple years ago back now and got the Gore property purchased. That's in Bill's district. It's a 200-acre preserve out there. And, you know, that really showed what Conservation Collier funds can do. We got that land purchased. We've got wildlife cameras out there. Regularly there's bears and panthers seen. It's a beautiful wildlife crossing. It's also in the groundwater recharge area for the county. So that's what I do. I, you know, was responsible for starting that nature preserve and working with the county, and I really, really, appreciated the funds being used for that. It's a wonderful thing out there off of DeSoto. Burt, thank you for all your comments. You know, there's some line items that need to be looked at and changed, and really, really appreciate that, that someone's kind of scrutinizing that and looking at that. And, you know, we'd like to see some wording put in there where funds will be put back. There was also mention of a --that I guess you-all can possibly sell conservation lands. And, you know, I wouldn't like to see that, that --where lands that had been previously purchased for conservation would be sold. I'd like to see that taken out of there. You know, it's --Conservation Collier's a wonderful program. We'd like to see it go on and on and funds be always put back that are taken and only taken for emergency use. You know, I think that's Page 116 March 12, 2024 extremely important to have that done. And Brad made a lot of good comments in here today about some line items, so I wanted to kind of reiterate, you know, that I support that. And there was some talk about the sunsetting of the Conservation Collier Program. So I think, you know, if that was put back on the ballot, people would, hands down, vote for that again. I don't think, you know, the program should ever be sunsetted. It's so important. And, you know, as someone who lives in Rural Golden Gate Estates, I see what the development is doing out there. So, you know, there's no place for the wildlife to go. I regularly have bears in my yard with cubs. I see the red light going off. I just wanted to say that the program's extremely important. We need to have less development and more conservation land in Collier County. We don't have the infrastructure for a whole lot more development here, or the water resources. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker's Janet Hoffman. (No response.) MR. MILLER: I do not see Janet. Reverend Tony Fisher will be followed by Kate --Katie Tardif. (Raises hand.) REVEREND FISHER: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Tony Fisher. I serve the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples as its minister. Grateful for --always for your time and your talents towards the benefit of this county. I just wanted to take one minute to suggest that there are --and lift for the public record, my understanding that there are two moral issues that we're facing right here. One is the issue of the expressed will of the electorate of Collier County, twice, to create a program for Page 117 March 12, 2024 which they wish to give their money to maintain the beautiful land that we have, the biodiversity that we have, and that for you, for all of us, for our future commissioners, I believe that is a moral responsibility to lean into that and to understand clearly that mandate for doing whatever you can to expand the program even, and extend it beyond its current life, even if that requires another vote which, as the previous speaker said, would likely take place. Second, my faith tradition teaches that we are all a part of an interdependent web of creation and that we have a responsibility, a moral responsibility to balance our work of development with a really strong sense of stewardship for this planet. So from a moral perspective, we have that responsibility, all of us, to maintain this planet and all its creatures as best we can and to maintain the buffer zones we have here. The development here in Collier County has gone on quite --we've only been --I've only been here 10 years, and it's been incredible to see what's gone on here. And we do not have the ability, as I understand it, to really create buffers, to create a balance to that development unless we really are very intentional about it. So I believe these are two moral issues that you were charged as well as your --the people who sit in those seats in the future to maintain this program, to do this important work for the people of Collier County. There can be nothing more important than that. Thank you so much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Katie Tardif. She'll be followed by Michele Leonard --Lenhard, excuse me. Katie. MS. TARDIF: Thanks. Good afternoon. What a morning. I had several prepared speeches, and I am --I am modifying as the meeting and the morning went on. I'm going to start by saying trust is a non-fungible mandate of Page 118 March 12 , 2024 being a public servant. And I have to express, it was a little disturbing to see what looked like rancor amongst the guys, and hopefully that was just creative self-expression and not a meaningful --or an un-meaningful dialogue. So trust is not fungible. And --gosh, you know, I rewrote this so damn many times, I don't even know what I want to say anymore. What I'm going to go to saying is --what I'm going to go to say is, the --we take this matter of truth very seriously. We hope for truth from each of our commissioners, and especially our very own dedicated commissioners. We want to see water quality --why am I saying water? That was the last thing I was talking about. We want to see the preservation conservation programs to continue in a way that protects the investments that you-all are making in it and preserves the trust --preserves our trust in you making decisions that most of us would agree with when you see percentages like 70 percent of Collier County voters voting with in the past and hoping that that would be our future as well, but it's gotten a little tricky. And --you know what, I'm going to stop right there. I'm rambling. I'll get my thoughts together, and I'll save it for the end. So sorry. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: There's nothing to be sorry for. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Michele Lenhard. She'll be followed by Ruth Nichols. MS. LENHARD: Good afternoon, Commissioner. Michele Lenhard, chair of your Conservation Land Acquisition Committee. I, too, have to amend my comments. I appreciate your conversation today and the work that's been done so far. I appreciate the input from the community. And I guess I wanted to --I'm going to use a little bit of my Page 119 March 12, 2024 prepared remarks to stay focused. I think from the committee's perspective, we really feel that the public's expectations was established through ballot language and voter education on this program, and that we would like the ordinance revision to sort of reflect those goals and long tradition that this program has held to date. But we also respect and appreciate your perspective on fund balance management and sort of the challenges that come with that. And with the budget funding levels and proposed amendments bring into question the viability of trust fund balances and acquisition balances. So those are certainly serious concerns for all of us in this community. And since you have not finalized decisions today, I will offer the following ideas: So we agree with the vote you took today in terms of new wording on the fund balance and in terms of repaying fund balances that might be used in an emergency situation. With the sale of properties, the committee felt only properties --they wanted additional criteria "no longer meet the program's criteria," something additional into that. The Veterans Boulevard point you brought up, that would be under --in my opinion, in the exception benefits ordinance, you would be able to use that for another benefit to the community. So I see that in a different place than just selling property. We support all the revisions which streamline the process. We would like --the only exceptions we sort of had was we do feel properties with SSAs should just be blanket excluded because, as you've all pointed out in your discussion, there are a lot of nuances there, and I think the process of coming before CCLAC and then going before you would vet that out, and you wouldn't acquire things that were not appropriate. We are not in favor of transferring development rights. We feel that's contrary to the intent of the program. Page 120 March 12, 2024 We're not in favor of skipping the CCLAC review, which I know was conversation today. We feel we off er a vetting process and another set of eyes and ears on this and that the holdup now with all the streamlining would be very minimal. And then I guess the only other piece I wanted to off er is that property sizes vary, and acquisitions that come to us, total dollar amounts vary over time. And I know you're familiar with the Owl Hammock application that the state might fund. But if that had come to us, that was a significant chunk of change. So having money in the future is very important. Thank you so much for your time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Ruth Nichols. She'll be followed by Andy Wells-Bean. MS. NICHOLS: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name's Ruth Nichols. I'm from North Naples, and I've lived here for 25 years, so I've seen a lot of changes. One of the most disturbing, actually, is taking place right across from where I live where seven --170 acres were just cleared to make way for a golf course. There was --this was habitat for a bear, bobcat, gopher tortoises, raccoons, and this is right near Barefoot Beach Preserve, Wiggins Pass. So it's very sad to see our forested lands disappearing. So Conservation Collier, in my opinion, is our last best hope. So I am very concerned that the opinion of the County Attorney, no offense, is that you have such broad budgetary powers that you are allowed to divert funds from a dedicated trust fund that was voted for by the public, created by referendum to establish funds for acquisition and maintenance. So I do have a serious issue with including language in the resolution that gives you the explicit power to use those funds. And then I also do have a problem with the red language in Page 121 March 12, 2024 "replacing funds as soon as practicable." I think that is way too ambiguous. I'd like to see it say "within one fiscal year," something like that, or have a monetary limit wherein when a certain amount has been taken from the fund, that that needs to be returned before you are ever able to touch the funds in Conservation Collier. And, sorry, my brain is fried, like so many other people's right now. I've got notes all over the place. I am wondering why you can't consider a separate resolution that would change the terms of Conservation Collier to allow access to those funds if that is what the county feels it should be allowed to do. And one of my concerns is there's so much complexity and conversation involved about how to return the 53 million that how is it going to go if this happens in a recurring fashion? It's going to get even more complicated. The last point regarding Railhead Scrub Preserve, since you brought it up, Commissioner Hall, can't we use Conservation Collier funds to protect that property instead of having Veterans Memorial bisect that preserve? How about we fund an overpass and protect that land in perpetuity? We've got bears in there. We've got all sorts of wildlife that needs to be protected. So again, to me, this is a moral issue. You know, it's public trust that I --my tax dollars went into Conservation Collier, and that's where that money should stay. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thank you. MS. NICHOLS: Thank you very much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Andy Wells-Bean. He'll be followed by Julianne Thomas. MR. WELLS-BEAN: Good afternoon. I wanted to start by introducing myself. My name's Andy Wells-Bean. I'm the executive director of Audubon Western Everglades. And I wanted Page 122 March 12 , 2024 to make sure to thank you-all for your time and careful attention to this issue. I know that Conservation Collier Program is only one part of a very large portfolio at the county, and it's taking up a lot of your time, so I appreciate your attention to it and your care with this really important program. One thing that I wanted to mention, you're all well aware of the public support in the Conservation Collier votes, but also there was a recent survey done by the Community Foundation that found that the environment, and that included things like preservation and resilience, that support for the environment, as people's number-one issue in the county, doubled since the last time they did the survey a couple years ago. So over 40 percent of respondents said the environment was their number-one issue in the county. And I know that that enthusiasm is real. We have 110 households who participated in the Starter Burrow program for burrowing owls. We have countless volunteers in our Shorebird Stewardship program with our burrowing owl --owl watch program, and that's not to mention all the folks who give their time at the Conservancy, Sierra Club, Rookery Bay, Cypress Cove Landkeepers, and many more. That's why we need the county to keep doing its part to protect wildlife and wild places as well, and that's why Audubon Western Everglades, as Brad eloquently mapped out line by line, supports the efficiency revisions and opposes codifying any diversion of conservation funds for other purposes except possibly in the case of an emergency. So I wanted to say thank you again for your time and attention to this vital issue. It does not go unnoticed the care that you're putting into thinking through these really big issues. Thank you. Page 123 March 12, 2024 MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Julianne Thomas. She'll be followed by Bebe Kanter. MS. THOMAS: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Julianne Thomas. I am speaking on behalf of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and our over 6500 supporting families. Last fall, we were here asking you to support full funding of Conservation Collier. When we made those comments, we had not anticipated that the direction the Board would ultimately take would be to take $53 million of the Conservation Collier funding to help plug gaps in the proposed budget. We were disappointed, to say the very least. Today we are --we're here to talk about the amendments to Conservation Collier, and like everybody else, my comments had to be revised because of your very good and welcomed conversation this morning and the actions you took prior to lunch. Like Audubon, we support the measures that are going to increase efficiency in this program, and we support the language you voted on, which makes clear that any diverted funds --that will only happen in an emergency and that the intent is to pay it back and that, you know, this is not being looked at or considered by you as anything more than emergency funds in emergency measures, not a slush fund for county --for holes in the county budget. And I wanted to thank you for your conversation and, you know, just let you know that your conversation was heard and appreciated very, very much. I'd like to just say a few words about conservation lands in general because, as you know, conservation lands pay us back exponentially. There's a tendency to look at natural undeveloped lands and assume that they're not doing much outside of perhaps providing a home to wildlife or looking more visually appealing than a strip mall. But, in fact, natural lands are some of the lowest cost, Page 124 March 12 , 2024 most effective, and hardest working infrastructure we have. Natural lands, especially wetlands, store floodwater during tropical events and even heavy rain days. The more wetlands saved, the more water that can be held there, and that means less flooding on our roads, in our homes, and our business, not to mention that --the amazing job that natural lands do in filtering out pollutants from runoff. In Collier County, the environment is the economy, and the natural areas and preserves that we are fortunate enough to have are foundational in making Naples the economic generator that it is. There are many warm, sunny, and attractive coastal communities. What makes Naples a cut above the rest is our environment as a whole, and Conservation Collier is an integral part of this. Thank you again for your time and interest in the Conservation Collier Program. We really do appreciate that and the conversation this morning. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Bebe Kanter. I don't believe Bebe is here. She is not. Brittany Piersma. She'll be followed by Gerry Manning. Brittany's been ceded three additional minutes or --excuse me. Brittany's been ceded three additional minutes from Emily, is it Reisinger. MS. PIERSMA: She's not here. MR. MILLER: Oh, she's not here. Okay. Then you'll have three minutes, Brittany. MS. PIERSMA: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Brittany Piersma. I'm the field biologist for Audubon Western Everglades. We did have two high school students here today, so --they couldn't stay, but I wanted to appreciate their support for coming Page 125 March 12, 2024 along. I was actually initially hired for Shorebird Stewardship by Brad five and a half years. So I've had him as a great leader throughout all of my time. My position now is a field biologist currently managing three main programs: Burrowing owls, gopher tortoises, and nesting migratory shorebirds. The common drive for each of these is conservation. The scientific data I compile with my amazing army of now 96 volunteers backed by the support of hundreds of local citizens is vital for the fast-growing urban area that we live in now. Our surveys are directly used for all of the recommendations for Conservation Collier purchases. We do most of our work on Marco Island, but we do extend our support to research and knowledge to all of Collier County. Both preserving conservation lands and educating how to coexist with wildlife in our own yards is needed more than ever, and that is my main focus of most of my education nowadays. Once altered, it's much harder to restore the native landscape so vital to the health of our ecosystems. This is apparent in one example of the millions of dollars that we are now spending trying to find ways to fix the water flow and restoration within our state. We are facing growing erosion, water-quality concerns, lack of native vegetation, and displaced wildlife searching for habitat. We have the ability now to make changes before it's too late. I appreciate all the conversations I've heard throughout this entire morning. It's given me much more hope. Two main things that I wanted to talk about today was really just to promote that this land management trust fund is vital to the existence of this program. As you-all mentioned, your incredible staff and land managers are working endlessly to not just restore and maintain and preserve these lands but enhance all of the purchases Page 126 March 12, 2024 that you make. Whether it be urban or rural, whether it be one acre or a thousand or whether it has public access or not, each of these need constant management. This includes vegetation, both manually, with equipment, prescribed bums, clearing pathways, providing shelter, installing signs, managing cameras; that endless list is supported by the stored money that would hopefully grow to continue this program. Land does not manage itself, and especially in our area when we're trying to prevent wildfires, this is essential. Number two, I really urge you to continue supporting both urban and rural properties as you move forward, looking at the list of properties that you have and decisions to be made. As we continue to track endless wildlife mortality from road strikes and influences of poisons and toxins, we need both of these types of property purchases to create the wildlife corridors within the state. The public needs these areas to view and learn about wildlife and how to coexist to protect them. During the season, I heavily do a lot of presentations year round as well, but I'm presenting to groups, programs, schools almost weekly. The common theme I hear from the public is wanting to keep their hope alive within this program. They want to see this succeed for years to come for the future generation of all the children that are coming behind us. you. So I hope we can all be united on this common goal. Thank MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Gerry Manning. (No response.) MR. MILLER: Ray Bearfield. (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: Susan Calkins, who is right there. She'll be followed by Nancy Rose Spector. Page 127 March 12, 2024 MS. CALKINS: Well, one advantage of the iPad is to be able to revise without a great deal of confusion. So let's --here goes. I'm Susan Calkins. I've been a full-time resident of this county for 25 years, and today I'm speaking to you as a past member of the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Advisory Committee. I have a few comments and some concerns regarding this proposed ordinance. But first, thank you for removing the multiple times the statement that these funds can be used for any other county purpose if found to be in the best interest of the public. I think including such a statement in the ordinance, even once, implies that it's kind of business as usual to do that. And as such, it violates the public trust that people have already spoken quite eloquently to. My second comment has to do with having served on the committee before prior to the time that the referendum was --the 2020 referendum. We reviewed the ordinance. And one of the things that came up was that members of the committee as well as the staff recognized that the 10 percent set-aside for management, which existed at that time, was inadequate to cover the management costs, and we decided to add to the ordinance a comment that said --not just a comment, but it was a statement that 25 percent --up to 25 percent of the purchase would go for land management. This 25 percent was stricken from --and if you read over the current ordinance, you'll see this 25 percent was stricken from the ordinance. My concern is that what --does that mean we're going to have to sell conservation lands in order to cover the costs of management at some point? Item 5 of Section 8 does allow for the selling of land in order to add to the management. I would say that the proposed ordinance needs to make clear that lands cannot be sold to raise money for land management and that, moreover, land can only be sold after it's clearly been demonstrated Page 128 March 12, 2024 that it no longer meets the criteria of the program, which has already been discussed. I also, as someone who spent quite a bit of time with the RLSA program, I do believe that it is important that we clarify any land that's permanently assigned as a sending area within the RLSA should not qualify for purchase. That land has already been permanently set aside, and the owners have been adequately compensated. I support Brad Cornell's suggested revision to Section 8, Item 1. And, finally, I would agree with Audubon's recommendation regarding one of the items in Section 8. He has been with that program since its inception. He knows it very well, and I would encourage you-all to seriously consider his comments and his suggested revisions. Thank you for your time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Nancy Rose Spector. She will be followed by Richard Grant. Is Nancy here? (No response.) MR. MILLER: No. Richard Grant? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Katelin Reisinger? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Jay Kohlhagen? Uh-oh. CHAIRMAN HALL: We have a bingo. MR. KOHLHAGEN: Commissioners --hey, Dan, Troy. My name's Jay Kohlhagen. For the record, Jay Kohlhagen. And I've been down here since I-7 5 stopped at Immokalee Road, about the same time you got down here, Bill. I've been here a long time. Page 129 March 12, 2024 Anyway, I wasn't planning on speaking today, but I decided to stick around and see what's going on here. And I --I came up with something I'd like to add possibly to here. It's for the people that have a hard time getting around, like me. We really can't enjoy the parks, you know, the pickleball because it's just hard to get around. I'm thinking ifwe can add a community garden or something like --I'm part of one right now, and I've got a little plot, you know, 20-foot long, 3-foot wide. You know, I grow peppers, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, and --well, the eggplant's not coming up yet. But what I'm saying it gets --it gets people out there to do things that they --like, walking's hard for people. You know, but going out and doing a little gardening, get out in the sun and enjoying nature. I mean, at our garden, we've got butterflies. We have all kinds of birds. We've got all kinds of little wildlife around there. So I'm thinking there's got to be a spot here where we can do something like that. I mean, I'm just bouncing it off you guys, everybody here, because some people don't really have --you know, they've got their little condos. They don't have any place to do this, kind of. But like I said, 120 feet by 120 feet gives you 125 plots, you know, with little walkways and stuff. And you need a little bit water, you know, but it gives people something else to do beside drinking in a bar. Anyway, that's it. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Judy Freiberg. (No response.) MR. MILLER: Sharon Sanders? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Gaylene Vasaturo, and Charlotte Nycklemoe. MS. V ASATURO: She's not here. MR. MILLER: She was ceding time. She's not here. Page 130 March 12 , 2024 MS. V ASATURO: Don't need it anyway. MR. MILLER: Gordon Brumwell. Gordon, you'll be after Gaylene. MS. V ASATURO: Okay. Good afternoon, Commissioners. I'm Gaylene Vasaturo. MR. MILLER: Pull the mic down. MS. VASATURO: I'm Gaylene Vasaturo. Thank you, again, for that discussion this morning, especially, Commissioner Saunders, for your additions and comments. I have my comments here, and I'm setting them aside. I did --as what Ruth said, I don't think --I still object to --or I don't agree with the Board diverting funds from Conservation Collier for non-conservation purposes, but I've put those comments aside. And also, I have concerns about the language "as soon as practicable" that was added, because I think the Board could easily find reasons why it wouldn't be practicable. It's just one of those loose words. But that aside, I just want to add a couple comments to issues --matters raised by Brad Cornell and to emphasize them. One is Section 8, No. 1, if I can get that here. It's about the --I agree, this is --this is on property eligible for acquisition. This should be revised to prevent --to prohibit acquisition of permanently designated SSAs. And I have a reason to add to what Brad said. He gave you one reason. It's --they have the responsibility for management, and we shouldn't be taking that over as a county. But second of all, Conservation Collier funds should not be used to buy these SSAs because the landowners have already received compensation for this land in the form of development credits, and it would be a double dipping, a double payment to them for them to also get money from Conservation Collier. If they want to donate the land with management funds, then that's something that could be Page 131 March 12, 2024 considered. Second of all --second, Section 8, No. 4, which has to do with the easements and the TDR credits, I oppose that --allowing Conservation Collier to acquire conservation easements primarily because I have been here, and I've seen the Board of County Commissioners do away --release conservation easements when a landowner comes back years later and wants the development. The conservation easements say "in perpetuity," but guess what --the Board then says nope, guess what, it's not in perpetuity. And I'm just concerned that that doesn't give the security of us owning the land. And I also agree with Brad on you should delete this provision until you can work out the wording, because it's very complicated, and you don't want to have language that's going to cause unintended consequences, which can happen if people haven't gone around and really figured out what needs to be done. So I ask that you reconsider doing that on that Provision 4. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Gordon Brumwell. He'll be followed by Ellin Goetz. MR. BRUMWELL: Hi. Gordon Brumwell, District 4. We are for streamlining and speeding the process. Thank you very much. There is still problematic language in the draft, but the language you've added about paying back borrowed funds is promising. I'm going to propose that Conservation Collier be fully funded to the .25 mill level, which we haven't talked about much today. That level has not come up much. Why should it be? Because of the broad and deep support for conservation in our county. First, Conservation Collier had been voted in twice in the earlier 2000s. And next, please --well, I'm sorry. Nope, you're right. Parks and Rec, the 2018 master plan survey results show we Page 132 March 12 , 2024 want preserves, the upper right. What needs should be prioritized? The lower left, that huge bar, is enjoy nature, slash, green space. It's the highest priority by far. And next, please. The East Naples Community Development Plan is for just a part of the county, but let's look at it. From its green space section, quote, preservation and increases in green space were noted often and public engagement, end quote. And next, please. A recent community assessment found environment was ranked third by residents, and managing growth and development ranked second. There's a big overlap here. The quality-of-life benefits that land preservation brings are all wrapped up in managing growth, meaning managing growth ranking second is bound to be partly due to voters' reactions to this place dying as trees go down and concrete goes up. Of course, tax revenue must be dealt with responsibly. No one wants you guys buying $300 toilet seats. That's true. But back to the early 2000s, up to now, select groups, the electorate at large, there's no denying your constituents want our beautiful land woven into the fabric of our future. So we the people are literally asking you to deliver a fully funded Conservation Collier funded to that .25 mill level. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Ellin Goetz. She'll be --is Ellin here? (No response.) MR. MILLER: No, she's not. Sarah Werder? (No response.) MR. MILLER: That is all of our public speakers. CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. Page 133 March 12 , 2024 MS. SANDERS: Did you mention Sharon Sanders? I heard you mention my name. MR. MILLER: Oh, yeah. What happened to you? MS. SANDERS: I'm invisible. CHAIRMAN HALL: You called her. MR. MILLER: Sharon Sanders, yes, I do have a slip for her. MS. SANDERS: It's Sanders. Burt, it's Sanders. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: You said it, the wrong name. CHAIRMAN HALL: That's understandable. MS. SANDERS: Sanders, like the Colonel. MR. MILLER: Here you are. MS. SANDERS: Okay. I'm Sharon Sanders. I'm --I've owned property in Collier County for 13 years. I have a lifelong commitment to conservation. Regarding the language in the ordinance, you voted to replenish funds withdrawn for other purposes. I'd like the trust to be funded to the 2.5 [sic]. Many of us will attend the March 26th meeting, and even more will be monitoring the actual replenishment of funds diverted from the trust over time. But, in closing, I want to say I really appreciate the work of this board. It's a thankless job. MR. MILLER: Fairly confident that was your last speaker. CHAIRMAN HALL: So we have --we had staff's recommendations. We've heard Audubon's recommendations, CCLAC's recommendations. So, basically, we're at --with what we have proposed, still to discuss CCLAC involvement, the sale of Conservation Collier land, whether it's going to be with criteria or no criteria, and then we've already dealt with the change of replenishment. I would like to say and be on record that I don't want to be Page 134 March 12 , 2024 retroactive. That's going to be counterintuitive of what we did last fall. We fully funded the program. There's $31 million in it this year with limited access to acquisition. We're going to fully fund it again next year, and I think the program is alive and well as we are right now. In the future, in emergency, if we have to do something, I'm all about it. But retroactive, I'm not going to support that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I make a suggestion that maybe Jaime come back up with the staffs recommendations and we go -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: --through those, if you want, point by point just to clarify -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: --our thoughts on those things. MS. COOK: Again, Jaime Cook, director of Development Review, for the record. So this was the first major change to the ordinance which would allow you to establish the millage rate every year as well as set the percentages for each the Acquisition and the Maintenance Fund. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want to vote on these individually, or do you want to -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: That's what I think. I mean -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I make a motion to support the staffs recommendation here. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I second it. CHAIRMAN HALL: Motion and second for this particular one right here. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. Page 135 March 12 , 2024 COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And, Mr. Chairman, may I ask a question as we go forward with these? CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We still have the opportunity to make changes even though we're sending this forward for Advertising? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Of course. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Oh, absolutely. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: These are --my perception here now is that these are our suggestions for the final vote coming up on the 26th. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I just wanted to make sure. MS. COOK: Okay. This was a second part, which talked about Conservation Collier easements as well as the TDR credits. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And this is the language that I thought we should delete temporarily until we kind of fleshed this out a little bit more. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: This --personally, this kind of addresses one of the issues that I wanted to address, and that was allowing the property rights that were on lands that were acquired by Conservation Collier to enure to the benefit of the county, which I think is a benefit to the program as well. Those are TDRs that can be utilized/purchased, credits that can be utilized/purchased, and then those monies go back --you have something to say, Michael? MR. BOSI: Yes. Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning director. Page 136 March 12, 2024 One of the things that we have within this program is the government is not eligible to participate in the TDR program. So we will need to modify the GMP, so it will be contingent upon modifications to the GMP to allow for such availability. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was going to be --thank you for bringing that up. That's on my notes here, that we need to --if it is the will of the Board, to make that recommendation to you to adjust the GMP to allow that to transpire. MR. BOSI: And that would --it would be full-scale amendment, so that would be hearings with the Planning Commission, the Board of County Commissioners, send it off to the state to the Department of Commerce. They would have to bless it, and then we'd be back for adoption. But I just wanted to make the Board aware of those additional steps. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So I'll make a motion of approval of this to be added in, as staff has recommended. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, on the motion -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes, go ahead. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: --could I ask the indulgence of the Board. I'm assuming that this motion will pass, but I'd like the Board to concur in having staff work with Brad Cornell in the interim to see if there's issues that need to be clarified in this. If we're going to put this language in here, I just want to make sure that there's some more communication between our staff and Mr. Cornell to see if there's some clarification or other language that needs to be added to it. Is there any objection to doing that? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think they should communicate with him. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So that will sort of keep the issue alive. Page 137 March 12 , 2024 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm fine with that. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Well, I'll second it, then, if you're fine with that. CHAIRMAN HALL: So we have a motion and second to include this with the addition of the Growth Management Plan change where we're going to --where government can participate ln -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. CHAIRMAN HALL: --the TDRs. So I have a motion and second. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. You're doing good, Jaime. You're winning. MS. COOK: Thank you. So the next one was the language about selling Conservation Collier properties and that funds would be used to purchase additional lands or maintenance of existing parcels. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And, Mr. Chairman, I think the issue here was making sure that if lands are going to be sold, it's because they don't meet the criteria. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And so would there be any objection to adding that language to -- CHAIRMAN HALL: You know, I don't --there are --there Page 138 March 12, 2024 could be lands that still have criteria that we could amend. It still takes three votes to change this to agree to sell any property. I have no problem with the way that it reads right there. We don't know what the future holds, and we don't want to bind our own selves with our own --it's not the will of the Board --it's not our will to go out and sell Conservation Collier programs. We work hard to get it, but we don't want to limit ourselves in case something happens that's a special cause that we may need to look at, so ... MS. COOK: So, Commissioner, for the record, if I may. There is a separate exceptional benefits ordinance that if property needed to be sold to the county or someone else for any particular reason, it would have to go through that exceptional benefits process, including a hearing by the CCLAC as well as you for final approval. So there would not be land disposed of just arbitrarily. It would come through a public hearing. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Good enough. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll move for this to be approved. CHAIRMAN HALL: I'll second it. Motion and second for this particular one right here to be approved. All in favor? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) MS. COOK: Okay. The next one is that parcels will be evaluated as they are received instead of having large lists for you to review all at once. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Put that in bold print. Move Page 139 for approval. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All in favor? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. March 12, 2024 MS. COOK: The next is the addition of additional criteria for lands in the consideration, and, specifically, the ones that are highlighted are the ones that are being added. D through G are already in the ordinance. CHAIRMAN HALL: Go ahead. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Go ahead. I'll go after you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Do you think it's too early to bring back or to advertise or to come up with a weighted figure on these, you know, kind of like we did for the -- MS. COOK: No. I think we can absolutely do that. CHAIRMAN HALL: Because I think of points. You know, instead of just number of criterias, a points system relating to the criteria would be really valuable to have. MS. COOK: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: My --is it that important that we get hung up on size of the land? MS. COOK: I would be --I wasn't here back in 2002 when this program was established, but I believe the intent of the program was to acquire larger parcels of land, not to try to piecemeal parcels together to make a larger preserve. So that's why staff wanted to consider larger tracts of land as a benefit. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I would rather not, to be honest with you. My personal opinion was the --and since we're Page 140 March 12, 2024 going to sit around and talk about intent, the intent was to be purchasing environmentally sensitive lands within the urban area. I remember early in my tenure as commissioner, that was some of the discussion that we talked about. So I would be less --I'm not all that --I'm not all that happy about the 20 acres or larger having a greater priority over an extremely environmentally sensitive one-acre piece that could be --that could be added. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Me, either. MS. COOK: And I think, maybe to go to Commissioner Kowal's point, if we provide you a weighting scale at the next meeting, that's something that we could give a lower weight to. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Let's just take it out. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. I don't like it. Don't need it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll make a motion for these being approved except for the size stipulation. Take out "lands 20 acres or larger." COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All in favor to remove the 20 acres or larger, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Opposed? MS. COOK: Okay. So these next two --since we're going down to eight criteria, I don't know if that would change your numbers or not. But this says --currently says three out of nine but, obviously, we're reducing that to eight total criteria. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I thought that was the six out of Page 141 March 12, 2024 . nine. MS. COOK: So the three criteria would go to CCLAC for consideration. Six would come directly to the Board. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: I move to approve this as the way it reads with three out of --or three out of eight now. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And can I ask --this is a question of semantics. I'm not --we're all about expeditious process enhancements, but since we've already decided to take these on an as-come basis, why can't we just, on an as-come basis, take them to the CCLAC and then have them come to us, irrespective of how many of the criterium they met? Are we adding that much time by going to CCLAC first? MS. COOK: No. But currently in the ordinance --so CCLAC would --currently, the way the ordinance reads is if it meets two of the criteria, it's forwarded to CCLAC. If it doesn't meet two of the criteria, we notify them that we received an application but that it doesn't meet at least two of the criteria. So unless the CCLAC wants it considered, it kind of dies at that point. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, aren't we setting a prejudice against any acquisitions if they don't --I mean, certainly, we have to have some level of criterium to be met, but that criterium --if all of the --if all of the applications are submitted to the CCLAC with a delineation of how many of the criterium that we've established are met, then that recommendation can come to the CCLAC, has met none, and then the CCLAC can come to the Board and say, this piece --this piece of property met none, so you don't --we don't recommend that you purchase it, and move --just have everything that comes in go to the CCLAC as opposed to bypassing the CCLAC. Page 142 March 12 , 2024 MS. COOK: Okay. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And when it goes to the CCLAC, that allows for more public comment or --correct? MS. COOK: There's opportunity for public comment. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: That's why --and I don't mean to speak out of turn here or anything, but we're all --we're talking. I just --I'm not looking for an expedient --a sense of urgency on the properties, and that's what I think we have now, and we've seen the benefit of that. But I think the CCLAC serves a purpose, and it also allows for more public comments and it gives us --then when it comes to us, it gives us the best amount of information, I think. And so I just don't see an advantage of trying to over-streamline this. It doesn't add six months to --you know, some of the things we've streamlined made perfect sense. I don't think --I think this one's --we're overengineering it too much, and maybe at the detriment of the program, would be my thought, but -- CO MMIS SI ONER McDANIEL: So I'm going to make a motion that we don't approve this, and everything goes to the CCLAC --every application goes to a CCLAC with the criterium that's met, and then we get a recommendation from the CCLAC as to whether or not we make the acquisition or not. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: How's that streamlining? I mean, that's exactly what we do now. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do what? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: That's exactly what we do now. How's that streamlining it? I mean, the whole idea of having six out of nine, it doesn't have to go to the CCLAC. It goes to us. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The streamlining transpires by not stacking up applications for six months. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: CCLAC don't meet every day. Page 143 March 12, 2024 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: They meet once --how often does CCLAC -- MS. COOK: Once a month. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Once a month. CCLAC meets once a month, so why -- CO MMIS SI ONER KOWAL: We could have --and what I'm trying to say is we have two meetings a month. So if it meets the six out of nine, it doesn't have to go to the CCLAC. As long as it's weighted, like I was talking about, so it gives it more validity that it's really an important piece of property, we could see two of them within one month while the CCLAC is still working on the other ones that only meet three out of nine. That's all I'm trying to say is are we talking about both the six and nine or the three out of eight, or whatever? MS. COOK: Right at the moment, we're trying to figure --I'm trying to understand if it meets three out of the criteria, do you want it to go to CCLAC? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: It still goes to the CCLAC. MS. COOK: If it meets less than three, do you want it to go to the CCLAC? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I think that's a game-time decision. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Personally, I think the streamlining is --we've addressed a large portion of the streamlining by not accumulating for A List, B List, C List, and so on, and everything going to the CCLAC with a delineation of how it --how it meets the criterium that we've got established. I don't think --I don't think. I don't want to bypass CCLAC at all. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I think we're talking about two different levels. I think this particular level is saying it's the three out of eight now, because we removed one. That's more likely going Page 144 March 12, 2024 to go to the CCLAC. MS. COOK: Correct. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: If something comes in that's under the three out of the eight, that would be kind of like a decision if the CCLAC wants to even look at it or not. But the six out of nine should just bypass CCLAC, come to us with the stronger weighed, you know, provisions in there out of the eight that's left. That way we could be seeing them every --twice a month while the CCLAC's working on the ones that are only meeting three criteria, and then they can give us that list as it comes in. I'm just trying to think of --because if we just --everything goes back to the CCLAC again, I think we're right back where we started from. We're not streamlining nothing. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't agree with that statement. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Because they're going to form a list. We've got to wait a month, and it will be 30 days, and then we've got to do it on a meeting, the next two weeks. So we're getting a list again of A Lists, however you want to call them, whatever the CCLAC's giving us, and it's not really streamlining when we could have probably heard one or two properties in the two meetings we already had that month because it bypassed the CCLAC. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll say it again: I would rather not bypass the CCLAC. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'm just giving my opinion why I think --to streamline something, I think we need to take it seriously. CHAIRMAN HALL: I'm going to agree that if something comes along that has six out of eight, that's going to be the exception and not the rule. So by bypassing the CCLAC and coming straight here, I think it's well on its way to approval, so I don't think we --I think we have everything to gain, absolutely nothing to lose if Page 145 March 12, 2024 something six out of eight meets the criteria. I'm all --I'm all for keeping it, if it meets three out of eight and the CCLAC wants to look at it, they could --they can bring it to us, I'm fine with that. Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Ms. Cook, let me ask you this: Did anything --historically, and you may not know how deep you can go historically. If something met six out of nine and it went to the CCLAC, did the CCLAC ever disagree with the six and said, well, actually, in our opinion it doesn't meet six, in their discussions, they thought it was less valuable? MS. COOK: There have recently been some that --currently in the ordinance there's, I think, six criteria, and there's some that have met five or six of the criteria that because of location, because it was behind the owner of the property's house, it would have been very difficult to develop in the first place. There was no access to it other than through the seller's yard, that they didn't recommend those to move forward, but we've had a couple instances of those, but -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I understand what --and Commissioner Kowal's --there's nothing that he has said that doesn't have merit saying, hey, if it's six, hey, bring it to us, you know, right away, but it's not just about a numbers game or an algorithm. It's also getting their input and their discussion and also the value of citizens being able to come to the CCLAC. And so it still might come to us and it might be six of nine, and maybe it's a slam dunk, but it's also packaged with a bunch of discussion and other things and maybe the CCLAC going, it's not six of nine, so it's not a slam dunk. And so if it would have bypassed the CCLAC, it might have come to us with --say, with six of nine, we might not have been astute enough to realize that it was only four of nine. We wouldn't Page 146 March 12 , 2024 have had the benefit of, you know, public comment. And I already think you've done so much to streamline the program that I'll go back to what I said before, I think we're overengineering this. I already think we've done so many things to streamline, tighten, restrict that --I mean, I bet if we had every member of the CCLAC here, none of them would stand up and give us a standing ovation that they were being bypassed. I think they have a role, and I want the benefit of their feedback. And I don't think it's --we're not talking about a hundred, you know, pieces of property a month. This is a small amount. Like you say, Commissioner Kowal's right, we meet twice, they meet once, but they don't meet once a quarter, and I already think things are coming to us at light speed compared to what it was way back when. So, you know, I lean towards what Commissioner McDaniel is saying which is, why are we going out of our way to bypass the CCLAC when it will come to us quicker than it ever has anyway in the past from some of the other changes you've made? But, yeah, you've answered my question. There has been some discussion sometimes where the staff has said six of nine, and after CCLAC discussion, it wasn't two of nine, but a couple of things were --and I want the benefit of that discussion for the parcels that we're going to use taxpayer, you know, funds for. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, I'll break the tie and say I agree and Commissioner McDaniel and Commissioner Locastro that --just send them to the CCLAC. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And we can always change it. CHAIRMAN HALL: Do you want to make a motion to strike this one and strike the next one, which is six out of eight? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. And we can always Page 147 March 12, 2024 change it. CHAIRMAN HALL: Send them all to the CCLAC? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. I mean, ifwe sit here go, wow, that wasn't a smart decision -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Fine with me. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: --you know, we think, you know, we're not getting the benefit, but. .. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And --my light's on. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If, in fact, we find that this adjustment is adding to a backlog that's unnecessary, we'll make an adjustment, because I really think, like Commissioner LoCastro said, we've done enough to --we've done a lot of things to help streamline the process. I'll make a motion to not accept these next two. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: And send it all to the CCLAC? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. We have a motion and a second to strike these two, send it all to the CCLAC and come back to us. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. MS. COOK: Okay. The next one is for purchase agreements that have been accepted by the property owner. This would bypass CCLAC and come straight to you guys for a final approval and actual Page 148 March 12, 2024 purchase. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, I don't see any reason why a signed contract would have to go back to CCLAC. They will have already reviewed the property and recommended it, so I think that should be withdrawn. CHAIRMAN HALL: I move to approve as it says. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: And I'll second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Motion and a second to approve as it says. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) MS. COOK: And then these were some of the additional recommendations from CCLAC, and I only wanted to bring these up because a few of them were in your discussions today, specifically the last one about --or the last two, which I do have Commissioner Saunders' recommended language and what you-all voted on. But then the last one regarding Stewardship Sending Areas within the RLSA. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. CHAIRMAN HALL: I thought you had --I must have just missed you lit up. So we've dealt with the fourth one. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. So we're looking at the last one. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yeah. Page 149 March 12 , 2024 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct. And I don't think we should preclude SSAs at all. We may not buy them if they're not fitting --if they're not fitting the puzzle, but I don't think --I don't think we should preclude them. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah , I agree. CHAIRMAN HALL: So we basically did the No. 4, and I don't hear any support for the others. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So --and I think we pretty much already addressed the other ones. CHAIRMAN HALL: Right. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So we're removing No. 5? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, remove No. 5. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: We don't agree with removing the SSAs is what should happen. Do you want to make a motion? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I'll make a motion that we approve the first four and remove 5. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Four and removing --I second it. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. We have a motion to approve it except for the No. 5. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: What didn't you like? CHAIRMAN HALL: I don't like a list of criteria for how property would be considered to be removed, I don't like the supermajority vote, and I didn't think perpetuity --I think it's already Page 150 March 12, 2024 in perpetuity. That's the intent of the program. MS. COOK: So what I'm understanding, Commissioner Hall, 1 through 3, do not add. No. 4 we've already addressed. CHAIRMAN HALL: They voted --they voted to approve everything except for the last one. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Except for No. 5, except for the fifth one on this list. MS. COOK: I think Commissioner McDaniel only voted on No. 5. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. My motion was to approve the first four -- MS. COOK: Okay. But -- COMMISSIONER KOWAL: --not No. 5. CHAIRMAN HALL: So the first four live, the fifth one dies in this. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And -- MS. COOK: So we're adding supermajority vote and criteria to sell a property? That's just what I want to make sure of. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Forgive me. I didn't see the supermajority. MS. COOK: Okay. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's not listed there. MS. COOK: That's No. 3. CHAIRMAN HALL: It's No. 2. MS. COOK: Or No. 2, I'm sorry. Number 2 is the supermajority. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I missed the supermajority vote. And, Commissioner Hall, to your point, I think we already talked about this, that there's another provision in the ordinance that we're not --that's not being addressed today that talks about the Page 151 March 12 , 2024 criterium, special --what'd you call it? MS. COOK: Exceptional benefits ordinance. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Exceptional benefits clause that's already in there. So that part pretty much is already in the ordinance that we have to go through to be able to dispose of a piece of property. I wouldn't be in favor of a supermajority vote on No. 2, so I'm going to withdraw my first motion. MS. COOK: That's what I wanted to clarify. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you. If you wanted -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Why? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: --to change that just to a regular majority, I'm fine with that. CHAIRMAN HALL: Three out of five. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah, that's what I thought it --I'd missed that, so I agree with you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. So my motion is to approve the first four with the change in the language to "simple majority." CHAIRMAN HALL: Which is the way it is now already, right? MS. COOK: Correct, simple majority. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are you clear on that? CHAIRMAN HALL: So we're going to approve 1 --we're going to approve 1, 3, and 4, because it already is simple majority. MS. COOK: Maybe, just for clarification, we can do these one at a time. So if you want to add the definition --or add "in perpetuity" to the definition of "management." COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes. Page 152 March 12, 2024 MS. COOK: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. CHAIRMAN HALL: Seconded. All in favor to add "in perpetuity," say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. MS. COOK: Okay. And then for the supermajority vote. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Simple majority. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Simple majority. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Change the language to simple majority. CHAIRMAN HALL: Simple majority. MS. COOK: Correct. Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All in favor of "simple majority"? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. MS. COOK: Adding a list of criteria for how a property would be considered for removal from the program. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Is this not duplicative of what's already in there because of the special exceptions clause? MS. COOK: The exceptional benefits isn't included in this ordinance. It's a separate document. CHAIRMAN HALL: So in this ordinance, we're not changing Page 153 anything about -- MS. COOK: Correct. CHAIRMAN HALL: --how property is sold? MS. COOK: Correct. CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. March 12 , 2024 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are we going to develop a new list someday that we're going to have to approve to hit the criteria? MS. COOK: Ifwe were to need to do that, we would either bring back this ordinance or the exceptional benefits ordinance. CHAIRMAN HALL: I just say do without this. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Then let's just do without this. So I'll make a motion to not include that. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'll second it. CHAIRMAN HALL: All in favor to not include the list of criteria to sell, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? MS. COOK: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We already took care -- MS. COOK: The fourth one you've already voted on, and then the last one would be to remove the SSAs from the list of consideration -- CHAIRMAN HALL: So moved to -- MS. COOK: --so we would -- CHAIRMAN HALL: --remove it. MS. COOK: --actually strike the language that's currently Page 154 March 12, 2024 proposed. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We're going to --we're not going to -- CHAIRMAN HALL: To keep it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: --take away SSAs. So we're voting against -- CHAIRMAN HALL: To remove from this list. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. Remove from this list, not from -- MS. COOK: Striking the language that's in there. Got it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Second. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. MS. COOK: And then that was the last of the suggested changes. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: You got all that? MS. COOK: I got all that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I have one quick question for staff, and that has to do with the GMP amendment on TDRs. Will that be inclusive of any and all property rights that travel with a piece of property that Conservation Collier buys, or do we have to specifically amend for credits or conservation easements or conservation credits? MR. BOSI: Well, all of those things are going to have to be looked at. Currently, we have a prohibition about government owning and exchanging credits, so that's one of the things that we'll have to address, and then the conservation easements or the Page 155 March 12 , 2024 mechanisms that we have to restrict development will have to be looked at as well. So we're going to have to analyze the specific words within the GMP to see where --what changes we're going to need to fix where you guys want to go with this program. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Well, I think we're sharing with you where we want to go. MR. BOSI: Yep. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the ultimate goal is for that acquisition --for those benefit --for those property rights that are already existent to enure to the benefit of the county. MR. BOSI: Sure. Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN HALL: So I make a motion to -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Bless you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Was that on Zoom? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. She was right down there. CHAIRMAN HALL: Oh, okay. I'll make a motion to approve the changes as amended to this ordinance for advertising coming back to us. MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, ifwe could get clarification on timing. Now, we had originally planned to bring this ordinance back at the next meeting. I just want to make sure that timing-wise that's what you-all are looking for. It's going to be a --and also check with the County Attorney that we can meet that timing. If not --for advertising. MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, we can meet that time. MS. PATTERSON: Okay. It's going to make the next board meeting a little bit hectic, but I know that this is a high-priority topic for you-all. So if you are planning for the 26th, we'll continue on that path. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. So the motion to approve the Page 156 March 12, 2024 ordinance with the amended changes that we've all agreed on. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: With the understanding that we can make changes. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yep. I'll second that. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Motion and second to approve it as amended. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? MS. COOK: Thank you. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to make a quick closing comment, if I would. I'm lit up here. CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: First of all, Ms. Cook, you and your team, I wanted to just thank you again for how much this program's been improved. And, you know, to Mr. Cornell, you know, you represented quite a lot of voices at the podium very eloquently, you know, there again. Thank you so much. It makes our job much easier. The last thing I would just say is, you know, do you know how many people have reminded us about the 77 percent and this is a program everybody loves and all of that? Yet, as a citizen, my biggest disappointment is why weren't people storming this building when lots weren't being purchased? You know, in my own --in my own district of Marco Island, lots were coming and going. They were sitting on the list forever well before I was a commissioner. Page 157 March 12, 2024 And so I just say that as a statement, not to be, you know, directional to any citizens. But what I would say is, help us really keep this program clean and moving forward. And if you see it stalling out --it seemed like, you know, more citizens were concerned about their money being collected for Conservation Collier, yet when it wasn't being spent or invested and we lost out on a lot of lots that now contain houses instead of habitats, you know, the former --you know, some of the former commissioners that were up here, and even some of the current ones, weren't getting 500 e-mails saying, oh, my God, we can't believe what's going on with the program. So part of what we've done to really put a bigger spotlight on the program, we also need citizens to watch it closely, and they are. You know, one of the things I'll say about what we did last September during the budget, you can agree or disagree, but you know what it did? It caused a lot of conversation about Conservation Collier, some of it that was way overdue. So, you know, Brad, you work with us so closely. Please continue to do so and, you know, if there's lots that are on your radar that you think aren't getting the attention they need, the money's there. We don't want to waste it. And, you know, my final comment will be, the success of Conservation Collier isn't collecting .25 mills and putting it in the bank somewhere. It's utilizing that money to buy environmentally sensitive lots and to keep them protected in perpetuity. And if we're not doing that, it doesn't matter how much money we collect. It doesn't matter if we don't move the money around to emergency funds. It's not a program that is doing anything. And I'm so proud of what we've all done, citizens definitely included, who, you know, storm these podiums because they thought we raided Conservation Collier when, in reality, we put a spotlight on Page 158 March 12, 2024 it, overhauled the program, and did a lot more good things today. But, you know, we continue to really value when your radar's on. And Brittany as well. You know, she hears about a lot of things. She's been very beneficial on Marco on lots that sometimes went overlooked and --because she was very vocal and got other people vocal. And so, you know, we need more of that, you know. These are tough jobs up here. You know, we heard that from a couple of people. You know, it's tough to speak for three minutes at the podium. Sometimes we sit up here till midnight. And so we know it's all tough. But continue to keep us --keep a spotlight on this program so that we can ensure the purchase of lands is successful, not just the collection of taxes. That doesn't make anything successful. But thank you so much. And to the citizens that gave a lot of their time to you, it made the discussion very, very valuable today. And so really appreciate it. And continue to look forward to working with you on making sure we're buying things that are worthy of spending taxpayer dollars on, and we're doing it with a sense of urgency. Thank you, sir. MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to our 1:00 time-certain, a little bit late. Immediately following this, I would suggest that it's time for a court reporter break before we pick up with our next time-certain. Item #1 lB ACCEPT THE AFTER-ACTION REPORT FOR THE 2024 FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE SESSION AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE AS PRELIMINARY PLANNING BEGINS FOR THE NEXT LEGISLATIVE CYCLE. (BRIDGET CORCORAN, Page 159 March 12 , 2024 LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS COORDINATOR) (ALL DISTRICTS)- PRESENTED; DIRECTION GIVEN TO THE COUNTY MANAGER TO PREPARE LETTER(S) FOR HAND DELIVERY TO THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE ESPECIALLY REGARDING THE VETERANS NURSING HOME This is Item 1 lB. It's a recommendation to accept the after-action report for the 2024 Florida legislative session and provide guidance as preliminary planning begins for the next legislative cycle. Bridget Corcoran, legislative affairs coordinator, is here to present, and I believe we do have our lobbyist, Lisa Hurley, by Zoom. MS. CORCORAN: For the record, Bridget Corcoran, legislative affairs coordinator. Is Lisa unmuted or -- MR. MILLER: She is muted at this time. If you --there, she's unmuted. Lisa. MS. HURLEY: Good afternoon. MS. CORCORAN: Unfortunately, Lisa couldn't be here in person. Okay. I just wanted to give a quick overview. Session ended on Friday, so there's a lot of moving pieces still. Governor has 15 days for line-item veto for the budget and also for any of the bills that have been proposed. This session we had 1,957 bills proposed, 2,200 amendments, and we were --at Collier County we were monitoring 682 of them. Ultimately, 324 passed. All right. Okay. And then just some budget items. Again, the Governor has line-item veto still. Total budget is very similar to last year. It's less than a Page 160 March 12 , 2024 1 percent increase. So I'm not going to go line by line for all the slides. I'm just going to give you an overview of the highlights of it. So the total budget was 117 .46 billion, total reserves in this budget is 10 billion, and included was 500 million authorized to retire some outstanding state debt. Again, not many changes in the budget for emergency preparedness, and I will provide all these slides for you as well. Economic development, similar to last year. And then just to point out a few things on this slide for affordable housing. SHIP funding, SAIL funding, all of that included, the Hometown Heros program was funded at 100 million; My Safe Florida Home program, that was funded at 200 million; and new this year is My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot program. That was funded at 30 million. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: What is --what is that? I hadn't heard of that before. MS. CORCORAN: So this is new. It's a new program that they're --you know, a lot of the representatives that have, you know, high density of condominiums was very interested in expanding the My Florida Home [sic] program to condominiums. So for every dollar the association spends, the state will spend $2. The state will cover up to half the cost of a roof replacement, 1,500 per unit for doors and windows, and it is capped at 175,000 per association. So I can get that information for you. Like I said, that's a new pilot program. You know, definitely looking forward to seeing the results on that. For environment, the one that I wanted to point out, the water-quality improvements new this year. One point 7 billion is --the Seminole Gaming Compact is now the dedicated funding stream for this program. So the funding levels are similar. It's just Page 161 March 12 , 2024 now it has a dedicated funding stream. Transportation, like I said, all the programs that were funded last year. And then onto the tax package. So these are always very popular. The Back to School program, last year there was two of them. This year there's one, one week --or I'm sorry, 14-day program. So that's changed from last year. We also have two 14-day disaster preparedness holidays. Last year, it was the Freedom --I think it was the Freedom Summer. This year it's Freedom Months. It's the month of July for all the recreational items, so that has changed. Like I said, last year it was from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Now it's simply the month of July. And then we also have the one day seven --or I'm sorry, one 7-day Tool Time holiday for tools and equipment for skilled trades. So that hasn't changed. Toll relief is back. There's also some initiatives for property insurance tax relief for homeowners. The premium is deducted from the homestead property, property owners. Small business, tax relief. And now for the good part, appropriations. So 10 million --thank you to everybody who went up to Tallahassee. That was --you know , Lisa did an amazing job with getting us in to see all the right appropriations people, so we have the 10 million dedicated for the veterans nursing home. This is matched surplus tax funds for the adult day health center. The Fire Station 74, 3.6 million. This is the one in Golden Gate Estates. It will also serve as forward command for Florida Forestry Service and Fire Suppression. The next one is the West Goodlette-Frank stormwater improvements. We received a million dollars for that. This is the joint project with Naples. It's Phase 2 of that. Page 162 March 12, 2024 And then the next two are the public utility renewal projects that have previously been approved by this board. We got 4.5 million for the Naples Park project and 3 million for Palm River. And, of course, we want to thank our state delegation for all the work that they did. 22.1 million is the total for all those projects that has been allocated. We are also working with Senator Passidomo's office to try and schedule a time for her to come in to thank her for all of her efforts as Senate President. And right before I came up, I received a letter from Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart's office confirming that we received the 4.190 million for the Collier Area Transit maintenance facility. So it's official. I have it in writing. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I interrupt -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: --or add to? If I may. I was going to bring it up under commissioner comments, but the 4. --4, 190---4,190,000 got approved for our transit maintenance facility. We also got an approval for the police equipment upgrades in the amount of a million dollars. That was done on March the 9th as well. We also got approval for Copeland pump station rehabilitation for $450,000. We also got approval for the city pump station in Everglades City for $1,125,000. So you had the first one of the four. It's going to save time at the end of the meeting under commissioner comments, because I was going to -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Good job. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I was going to share all those. And I did, by the way, let his office know that we voted in favor of moving forward on that 6 million appropriation for the Veterans Administration building. MS. CORCORAN: Okay. So next is general legislation of Page 163 March 12 , 2024 interest. These items are awaiting presentation and action by the Governor. So there's a few that --of interest that did not make it to the finish line. County Commissioner term limits, and Lisa can attest to this. We thought for sure this was going. Both the bills were amended to eight years , and then it just died. The next one is sovereign community. Again, they were moving forward and at end of session, that one died, and then the last one is the transportation. This was one that specifically mentioned Lee and Collier County required a feasibility study to report regarding consolidating Lee County MPO, so I wanted to mention that this did not pass. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So the MPOAC is going to stay in existence for another year? MS. CORCORAN: (Nods head.) COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: It lives. MS. CORCORAN: And then Collier County specific, as Senate President Passidomo had said during our meeting here in September when we presented our priorities to her, she did commit to working on the Mile Marker 63 public-safety facility. So she did deliver on her commitment. This year, in the language of the budget, it guarantees 2.31 million for Fiscal year '24/'25. The current level was 1.4 million, and then also she set the framework for language for negotiating the next contract that would be up in June 2027. So I included the language in the slides. I will get that to you. And then the other one that's specific is the Collier County Mosquito District, the expansion of that. Representative Melo presented that legislation. That was approved as well. The next two I'm mentioning just because it does have an impact with Collier County. This one for fentanyl, for exposure for first Page 164 March 12, 2024 responders, there was a Collier County sheriff who testified during committees, and his testimony was very powerful. He was exposed at a domestic violence call, and they had to give him two doses of N arcan to bring him back. The person testifying behind him was actually going to testify in opposition to it and changed her testimony because of his testimony. So I just thought it was definitely worth mentioning. So this was approved. The other one that has a Collier impact is the veterans long-term-care facility. This was also something that we were advocating for when we were at the capitol. So it expands the eligibility for residency and prioritizes admittance of veterans long-term-care facilities to include spouses and surviving spouses of veterans. So the focus this year was also --the hallmark legislation was really the Live Healthy Act. Last year was the Live Local. This year is Live Healthy Act. It addresses shortages in healthcare industry as our population continues to grow. So this was something that was a priority of Senate President Passidomo's. It provides, you know, funding, and also streamlines processes for the healthcare industry. The other was Learn Local. This one deregulates schools. Cuts some red tape, some bureaucracy, and it also provides 200 million in teacher salary increases and $240 increase per student spending. Okay. The next legislation of interest is affordable housing. This was a Live Local glitch bill. So it addresses some of the, I don't want to say disputes, but some of the discrepancies that there were with density, height restrictions, you know, industrial land, parking requirements, cleans up some of the finance corporation language as well. Okay. Alternative mobility funding systems and impact fees, Page 165 March 12, 2024 this is something that proponents stated would make fees predictable and assures there's no double jeopardy for builders. The language makes it so that the --only the government issuing the permit can charge the impact fees. So we currently have agreements with the City of Naples and with Marco Island, so that's something I've been working with Ian. We'll have to make some adjustments there. And expedited approval for residential building permits, this is almost like a bulk approval for housing developments that they can approve up to 50 percent of the housing units in an expedited procedure prior to the final plat being recorded. Let's see. Employee regulations. So this addresses heat exposure. It prohibits local governments from preferring contractors and mandating pay benefits and heat-exposure requirements. Annual adjustment to homestead exemptions; this is something that's a joint resolution that will go to the ballot in November. It proposes an amendment to the constitution requiring 25,000 of assessed value currently exempt from ad valorem taxes other than school district to be adjusted annually for inflation growth, and this will require 60 percent of the votes. This was one that was on our priority list, energy resources. So this --there is federal legislation that exists currently that prohibits construction or expansion of offshore wind energy. So this also now at the state level, it prohibits wind energy facilities within one mile of the coastline. Sampling of beach waters, this mandates the Department of Health to sample waters and issue health advisories within 24 hours of closure is required. The counties must notify the Department of Health of any incidents that could have a negative impact on water quality and, also, the county must maintain beach signage. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Don't we already do that? Page 166 March 12 , 2024 What's different about this one? What did it add or tighten? Do you know offhand? Because, I mean, as I'm reading that, I thought we already did all that. MS. CORCORAN: That I'm not sure. I can get back to you. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'm just curious. MS. CORCORAN: Let me find out what the difference is, and I'll get back to you with the differences. And then vacation rentals. This one was actually on my slide of items that did not make it, and it was approved at the last minute. So they're trying to strike the right balance between property rights of your right to rent your property but then also the rights of your neighbor to have --you know, not have a party next door every night. It addresses maximum occupancy, the designated responsible-party owner, also owner identity. They have to be able to have all of that information. Addresses registration fees, fines, suspensions. It's something that the Governor has stated --is micromanaging, and it could be vetoed, so we're not sure what the status of this will be at this point. Nobody seemed to be happy with it, but they all seem to think that something needed to be done. So if it does continue, chances are it would be amended next year. Next one, this is kind of one worth mentioning. It's unauthorized public camping and public sleeping. So this was an initiative that the Governor was in favor of. He did a press conference in Miami supporting this. They don't want to see, you know, tent cities/encampments in the communities. You know, business owners are not happy. This is a model that they use in Miami that they say works, so it would be --it provides authority for the counties to establish a designated camp for up to a year, and at that camp, they would have to have security, restroom, you know, sanitation. They would also have to have --you know, provide services. So, basically, what they're saying is, it's easier to provide Page 167 March 12, 2024 the services. Instead of people sleeping, you know, throughout the community, to try to bring them to one location. And this is really communities that don't have the capacity, you know, enough beds for the folks that are homeless. Okay. And then this one --there was a big push this year for oversight and accountability and reduction of fraud with a lot of the associations. So the homeowner associations, mobile home tenancies, community associations, really trying to put some teeth to enforcement, like I said, to reduce fraud. So this is something that I will get --your offices, I'll get you all the information, because you're going to be hearing about it in the community that it's something that --you know, with all the condominium associations, homeowners associations. So it really --like I said, there was a big push for accountability. And I am working on the bills of potential impact, so this will outline everything that's been passed during this session and how it impacts the county. So that will be coming soon. And then, of course, I want to thank Lisa Hurley, and she'll give an overview as well, you know, from Smith, Bryan & Myers, who's our state lobbyist, and then also, of course, Amanda Wood and Omar Franco from our federal team, and we also did have some folks in the departments helping out, monitoring all the moving pieces this year. So with that, I can answer any questions or, Lisa, if you want to kind of give an overview. MS. HURLEY: I'd be happy to. Good afternoon, Chair Hall and Commissioners and the entire Collier team. Lisa Hurley from Smith, Bryan & Myers reporting live from Tallahassee. Let me first start by thanking you for allowing me to appear via Zoom today. Just could not --with session ending on Friday and other prior commitments, just couldn't make the travel work out to be Page 168 March 12, 2024 with you in person today. But I do have plans to be down there in just a couple of weeks. So, you know, Bridget did a great job of giving you an overview of those bills that we think are of particular interest to the county. From a budget perspective, you know, what I want to make clear is with regard to the funding for the next veterans nursing home in Collier, in addition to the $10 million that was put in the budget, we also got the necessary, equally as necessary, language in the budget that authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to submit an application to the federal government to pull down the necessary federal funds to make sure that this home gets constructed in Collier County. So we had some last --you know, some changes to the language that we got in, the necessary changes, to make sure that in addition to the nursing home, we encompassed the adult day health center component to it. So that's in there. Congratulations on the state appropriations that the legislature funded. It's not over yet, of course, because of the Governor's line-item veto authority. It's the general discussion up here not only with the speaker and the president, but the Governor on the need to trim back our spending. So I do expect some sizable vetoes coming. So your team up in Tallahassee will be working --continuing to work with the Governor's office and his staff on the items that were funded, your projects, to ensure against any vetoes. From a timing perspective, I wish I could give you some more guidance, but Bridget said it earlier, from here on out, once a bill or the budget gets sent over to the Governor, he's got 15 days to act on it. I think you guys are aware of this. But not all bills automatically go to the Governor, that's --or the budget, just because they're passed. It's a coordinated effort between the president and the speaker and the Governor, and it's, typically, that they agree upon Page 169 March 12 , 2024 what bills will go over and when. It's a timing. As you can imagine, with over 300 bills that were passed this session, you can't send them all over to the Governor at once and have him or her act on it in 15 days. So --but what I will keep your team apprised of is when the bills that we're tracking for you do get sent over to the Governor --and that necessarily includes --includes the budget. So really happy that, you know --it was --it was a fight to the end on commissioner term limits. I have no doubt that it will be back again next year. I think the fight will probably be a little harder next year. I think that there are --some of the --the reason why the bill didn't pass this year is just, you know, there are some elected members that see the unintended consequences that come with term limits. They are uncomfortable with deciding between eight years or 12 years, what's the proper balance, and thought best that local communities should decide for themselves. But some of those folks won't be here next year, so I do expect to see that one come back next year. Something that you didn't see in the presentation today but I wanted to make sure, you know, it got addressed, because we had the conversation when you traveled to Tallahassee, and that is the issue of the modified mufflers, the exhausts. Didn't get any traction on that this year, but I know you guys have a task force that's in place. Look forward to kind of the recommendations that come out of there, and maybe from your sheriff, and if that is something that is very much a priority for the county, would like to get working on that this summer. We kind of have --we have a long summer as opposed to last summer. Because of the elections in November, we won't --we won't have committee weeks until after the general election in November. So a lot of time to work this summer while everyone's Page 170 March 12, 2024 on the campaign trail, but it's never too soon to go out and secure bill sponsors for the county's priorities. And then I think the last thing I want to mention --and it's mainly because of your Agenda Item 11 A, I thought this would be of particular interest to any of those residents that may still be listening or still be there in commission chambers with you, and Bridget did mention this before, but specifically it's Senate Bill 1638. And it's --and it's funding for environmental resources. Again, she mentioned it, but it is the use of the funds that are generated from the gaming compact with the Seminoles. For the next five years, it's the expectation that that will generate 2.5 billion, with ab, dollars. In this year, the legislature placed into statute how those funds are to be distributed. And so going forward on an annual basis, it's $100 million for the Florida Wildlife Corridor, $100 million for uplands management and invasive species removal, $100 million for the Resilient Florida Trust Fund, and then the remainder goes to DEP for the water-quality grant program. So always wonderful to have a dedicated funding source for those very important land management conservation priorities and water-quality priorities. And so I think --I think there --I mean, obviously I can't thank Senator Passidomo, Rep Melo, Rep Botana and Rommel enough for all their hard work, particularly your funding priorities this year. And I will say the Mile Marker 63 was a great bonus. That's an issue that our firm worked on for you guys back in 2018 and 2019 when we had to pass a bill two years in a row to keep that funding extended but, you know, all the credit to Senator Passidomo and Representative Melo and the Greater Naples Fire Department on that issue. They picked up the ball and ran with it. So congrats on that one. So I'll pause there and open it up for any questions. Page 171 March 12, 2024 CHAIRMAN HALL: Lisa, this is Commissioner Hall. As far as veto attention, do you have any grid or any ear to the ground which area is being focused, whether is SHIP /SAIL funds, transportation, education, on other -- MS. HURLEY: Yeah. No, where I expect it, Chair Hall, is local --local projects, right? So I don't think --you know, I think transportation's going to be fine. Like, big state appropriations for state agencies. Like, transportation's going to be fine. Water's going to be fine. The big buckets --the funding buckets that Bridget mentioned in the PowerPoint. So where you'll see, you know, the bigger cuts is local government projects, so --and that's --and that can include road and water. But I can tell you in years past, working with the Governor's office, you know, the criteria --and they look at every single local project. And the criteria is in valuing whether to, you know, keep the funding or not, is first and foremost, is this project shovel ready. That's first and foremost. Second is can the local government that's requested the funding, can they actually complete the project with the amount of funding that the legislature appropriated? CHAIRMAN HALL: Gotcha. MS. HURLEY: So --right? So those are the things that they look like. And so --you know, and just being --being candid, out of all of the projects that, you know, were funded, I have some concerns about the Goodlette-Frank project because it was only funded at 1 million. You know, I've already had conversations with your staff on whether, just with $1 million, is that something the county can still move forward on, complete the project? And so, you know, the preliminary answer back to me is yes, but I'm thinking on that one we'll probably need --we'll probably need a letter from you, Chair, and the rest of the commissioners affirming as much to protect against a veto on that one. Page 172 March 12 , 2024 CHAIRMAN HALL: Thank you. Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. Lisa, first of all, well done. You've been an incredibly effective lobbyist for us, and I just want to pass that on, that we really appreciate it. I certainly really appreciate it, because I know how hard you work for us. I'm assuming --and you may have covered a lot of this. I'm assuming that you'll be interacting with the Governor's staff on some of these --some of these budget items. The question, I guess, is in terms of, say, the funding for the adult day health care facility as part of the veterans nursing home, the $10 million. We obviously have $10 million in matching funds, and I think that that probably would be somewhat significant along with the other 30 million for the Governor's staff to be fully aware of, and I assume that you'll be meeting with someone from the Governor's office to relay that information. And do you know who that person might be in the Governor's office that handles military-type appropriations? MS. HURLEY: So --yes. So the short answer is absolutely. I will tell you, I've been in the Governor's office numerous times on this particular item and have had nothing but positive feedback. In fact, I mean, they're just so --so thrilled with the county's level of commitment to the nursing home and to the veterans. And so I don't really have concerns there. Having said that, you know, we will be back in. And it's actually --it's Katie Strickland in the Governor's office who oversees this budget silo. And just so you know, that's health and human service. That's where DBA's budget is. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Then in terms of --is there anything that we should do? Should the Chairman write a letter to Ms. Strickland or any interactions that we should have from the Page 173 March 12 , 2024 county on that? I know you're handling it. MS. HURLEY: So I --no. Listen. No, I --thank you. I always am a proponent of additional support. So if the Chair and the Commission would like to pen a letter in support, that would be wonderful; I will hand-deliver it. But any letters on any of our funding priorities should be addressed to the Governor. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. MS. HURLEY: But I will get those delivered. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. So I think that covers --I may have something else, Mr. Chairman, but I think for right now that covers it. Again, thank you, Ms. Hurley, for all that you do for us. MS. HURLEY: My pleasure. CHAIRMAN HALL: Great. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Chairman, on this particular item, I'd like to suggest that we do write letters on each of the appropriations and have them hand-delivered by Ms. Hurley, and she can make a determination , like, on the $1 million issue, maybe a letter's not worth the time or may not be of any value. But I think a nice letter from the Chairman, especially on the nursing home and --would be really appropriate. So I'd like to suggest that, and -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. MS. CORCORAN: We'll get that prepared. CHAIRMAN HALL: That was the nod I was looking for. MS. CORCORAN: You got it. MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, a court reporter break is due at this time, and we'll come back to begin our no-sooner-than 1 :30. CHAIRMAN HALL: Great. We'll do our 1:30 at 3:10. (A brief recess was had from 3:01 p.m. to 3:10 p.m.) MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic. Page 174 March 12, 2024 CHAIRMAN HALL: That's going to bring us to our 1 :30. MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. Item #1 lC ACCEPT A PROJECT UPDATE ON THE COLLIER COUNTY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CENTER AND PROCEED WITH THE DESIGN FOR 87 TOTAL BEDS (45 CSU, 30 ADULT MEDICARE/ACUTE AND 12 ESAC) WITH AN ESTIMATED CONSTRUCTION COST OF $49.9 MILLION. (PROJECT NO. 50239) (ED FINN, DEPUTY COUNTY MANAGER) (ALL DISTRICTS) -MOTION TO ACCEPT PROJECT UPDATE BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS -APPROVED That brings us to Item 11 C. This is a recommendation to accept a project update on the Collier County Behavioral Health Center and proceed with the design for 87 beds, 45 CSU, 30 adult Medicare acute, and 12 ESAC, with an estimate construction cost of $49. 9 million. Mr. John McCormick, your director of Facilities Management, is here to begin the presentation. MR. McCORMICK: Okay. Thank you, Ms. Patterson. Chair, Commissioners, good afternoon. I'll try to be brief. This is an update on our behavioral health project, and it's also a chance for me to solicit your input and maybe receive some direction. This is a CMAR project that affords us some opportunity to periodically check budgets and step back and look at scope, all those kind of things, and that's where we're at right now. We just recently finished our design development in December. We've been scrubbing it for the last two months trying to Page 175 March 12 , 2024 value-engineer it, and we thought it would be ready to update you with where we're at. I have with me --actually most who are here represent our project team here from DLC; RG Architects, their sub-consultant; and DeAngelis Diamond, who's our CMAR contractor. We also have some of our advisory committee in the room as well. So we've got the whole team here. If there's any questions, we could certainly tap them for some input. Just to remind you what this building's going to look like, this is the rendition from the architect. And the objective, and some recent history. Here to provide a project update to the Board for 87 beds at $49.9 million. The 87 beds was determined to be the program that is needed by the community and developed by our team. On June 27th last year, we were here for the same 87 beds, under a schematic design only, and that was at $44 million. December of this year --of last year, we completed our design development, and we put all the pieces together and did some heavy estimating, re-estimating, and it came out to be 53 million. And so we went back to the drawing board and for the last two months have been value-engineering this thing to a $49 million figure. This is the basic layout floor plan of the 49 .9 million, 87 beds, and a little chart here showing that, look, it's not in line with the 6/27, budget; however, it is in line with the program. It is value-engineered. It does meet the current community needs and future, and we will have some money in there for design Change Order 4 of the value-engineering, and I've got a chart here showing you what we've done the last two months. So here's a side-by-side comparison that shows from the 6/27 to the 3/12/24. It's still 60,000 square foot. We're still in a good range, I feel, from a --it's a lot of money, but dollars per square foot Page 176 March 12, 2024 that --the $800, plus or minus, is kind of a sweet spot. Quite frankly, the V A's kind of in the same zone right now for a very similar type of structure, although it's going to be more than one story. Some of the value-engineering ideas we had, you know, we had to go to --we're doing tilt-wall in lieu of the CMU unit, and you can see a list of several things there, and that all totaled to about a $3 .2 million VE savings. So, again, this meets the current program, and that would be our recommendation at this point. Project timeline, where we're at here, March 12th, we're on a fast track. I want a GMP by the end of the year. We've got to make some construction drawings. Design development's done, but we've got some work to do. And it's a pretty aggressive schedule but, you know, time is money, especially in this business. And we're anxious to tum some dirt. So we're hoping for a Q4 GMP. Hopefully I'll be back to you with that in the last quarter of this year. So, again, the recommendation would be to accept our current project update, and if you think we're in line and I'm directing this team in the right direction or if there's a change to be needed, right now's the time to do it, okay --and but I think the 87 beds meets the criteria. I've got all the experts behind me to back that up. And 49 ,9-is a realistic construction number. So with that, I'll open it up for questions. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I don't have any questions. I'd like to exceed the need, not meet it, but I definitely don't want it to be underserved. So hopefully these numbers will hold tight. Who's here from DeAngelis Diamond? Hey, come on, you guys can't give us a better deal? I saw your two Ferraris out there. Page 177 March 12 , 2024 What's the deal? Huh? Come on, sharpen your pencils. No. Unless somebody --and I saw Commissioner McDaniel probably has a question, but I'm a strong supporter of this program, as I think we all are. We've seen construction costs go up, so, you know --and, you know, all joking aside, you know, we realize the issues here and how you value-engineered this. And, you know, I see Scott Burgess in the back, who's been an incredible leader in this entire program and making sure that continues to move forward and working closely with us. So, you know, we have the team. We have, you know, a construction company here that we value greatly in our community who measures twice, cuts once , doesn't let us down. So, you know, I'm all for a full speed ahead Mach 10. Let's go. The longer we wait --like you said, time is money. We're going to be sitting here if we stall on this thing, and it's going to be 67 beds for 55 million. MR. McCORMICK: Right. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And we're going to be going backwards. So I saw Commissioner McDaniel light up. He might have a question. I don't. I'd make a motion to approve, but I'll defer to my colleagues. MR. McCORMICK: Appreciate that, yes, sir. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, time is money. There's no --there's no argument --I can't disagree [sic] more about the need. There's no argument that there's a need. But talk to me about the money. How much money do we have appropriated in the sales tax referenda to support this development? MR. McCORMICK: Well, I'm not sure if Ed's here, but we fenced in enough money for this project, forensic. And I also act as Page 178 March 12 , 2024 surtax liaison, so I'm kind of in tum with that budget and how much money we have. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. That's what I'm wanting to hear. Talk to me. MR. McCORMICK: So this is fully surtax funded. Oh, there's Ed. Sorry, Ed. Ed has the real raw numbers, and maybe if you want to share some of that with them to make you feel a little better. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Either --somebody talk to me. That's all. I'm okay with --here we go. There we go. MR. FINN: Thank you, John. Thank you, Commissioner. Edward Finn, Deputy County Manager. I just put together a quick update on the surtax just to indicate where we are with it. You can see here there's kind of some of the back story on the surtax. Most recently the Board authorized us to tum that off as of December 31 of this [sic] year, having achieved and exceeded our goal of $490 million. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: December 31 of last year? MR. FINN: '23, yes, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: There are a lot of people listening. MR. FINN: I apologize. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: All three of them. MR. FINN: Collections to date are shown at the top of this table, the validated projects to date are shown here, and the surplus balance is provided in the lower box, approximately $96 million. The additional funding needs that thus far have been identified are about $76 million. And if I go to this sheet, this shows you where the 7 6 million is coming from. The forensic evidence building for the Sheriff has been a subject of discussion with the Board. We enhanced that project significantly Page 179 March 12, 2024 from the concept included in the surtax original program plan. That one is moving forward. And, in fact, we have received a bid for that that we actually had to tum down and go back out to bid, so that will be coming back to the Board. The state veterans nursing home, that is shown there because there is a possibility of attempting to recover the land value from surtax. That would also be covered by the surplus if the Board were to move in that direction. And then, finally, at the bottom is the Collier County Behavioral Health Center that we're talking about today. The original programmed amount in the surtax program was $25 million. As John mentioned, we were to the Board in June. And given the program needs of the project, and at the schematic design stage we were at at that point, we came to you with roughly a $44 million construction budget that John is now reporting to achieve the same goals that the Board approved in June is going to be about 49 .9-to achieve the same construction. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Forty-nine point --say 50 million for today's discussion. Go to the previous slide, if you would, please, and the excess funds. MR. FINN: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Total surplus was 96, and per the --per the previous slide, which is the one after this one, that still leaves 20 million, 21 million left over in those surplus funds, and that funds the construction of this 87-bed facility actually to a 5-million-plus. MR. FINN: Yes, sir. Fifty-million-plus. So what we've been doing since is we've been talking about the construction budget. There's approximately 3 million in soft costs that have also been incurred. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Go to the next slide --the Page 180 March 12, 2024 slide you just had. So there you go. So per this, there's 55 million appropriated for an estimated $50 million cost, right? MR. FINN: Uh-huh. This is, essentially, a stress test on the surplus so that we have a sufficient amount. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I wanted to hear the stress test. Ed, you and I talked about this yesterday, and it's been something that's been troubling me since this came along as to how this was going to be funded and how it's going to be paid for. So this is --this is good for me from a construction standpoint. Now, talk to me about the 4.2 FF&E. MR. FINN: Yes, sir. As is mentioned in the executive summary, the furniture fixtures and equipment, as well as the operating margin that might come back to the county on this project, has been a matter of some discussion between county administration, David Lawrence Center, and the constituency group that represents this behavioral health center. They have, in fact, designed a campaign to provide for naming rights for the building to generate some funds. That would include the FF&E and, presumably, a portion of the operating budget. That is a matter that will be brought back to the Board in the form of an executive summary and an agreement with David Lawrence Center covering those naming rights. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I --and then --and then the estimated --the estimated O&M. Now, you basically --you've talked about the one-time --relatively speaking one-time expense of the FF&E funding. Now I need to hear about the ongoing O&M, operations and maintenance. MR. FINN: And let me try to respond to that. And Mr. Burgess is here, and he could respond, perhaps, in a little more depth than I. He did share with me an updated pro f orma on this project, and Page 181 March 12, 2024 that indicates that the bottom-line funding they would need, on an annual basis, ranges between three --peaks up to about $3 .9 million as it comes fully up to staffing. And then as billings and staffing kind of come together and coordinate, reach some level of equilibrium, that will ease back down to a net cost above and beyond what we're currently providing of approximately 3.4 to $3.5 million a year. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's a hole in the doughnut. MR. FINN: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: From my perspective, that's a difficult --I mean, I'm having trouble authorizing the construction of this facility without certain --without certain timelines, without certain --without certain measurables and milestones in place to cover these known deficits. These are front-end --walking in the front door known deficits. MR. FINN: Well, let me address it two ways. Perhaps we could hear from Mr. Burgess. And I will say that John --John's presentation today is about obtaining direction on moving forward with the balance of design. Once that design is complete, John also referenced his guaranteed maximum price that's going to be generated by DeAngelis Diamond based on those final designs. That contract on the guaranteed maximum price, of course, comes back to the Board for final --final action to proceed, and that would include authorization on the funding as well. So there's still some steps that the Board is going to have. And with that, Mr. Chair, if it pleases the Board, I could ask, perhaps, Mr. Burgess to come up and -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I certainly wouldn't mind hear --I mean, Mr. Burgess is more than welcome, but the bottom line is he isn't going to tell me anything you haven't already told me, Ed, and that is there is a deficit in the O&M -- Page 182 March 12, 2024 MR. FINN: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: --that David Lawrence is going to be looking to the county to make up, and potentially a deficit in the FF &E if the naming rights and the fundraising efforts aren't sufficient to cover those expenses. And -- MR. FINN: And if I may, I think it might well be a good opportunity to let David Lawrence Center respond to that. They, in fact, are the ones that design their campaign. They have been our partner in trying to cover this FF &E issue and the operating expense issue since the early stages of this project. So I think --I think it might be better to have Mr. Burgess response to that than me. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. I'm sure. MR. FINN: Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Before we get to Mr. Burgess, Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes, I had a question for staff. I think I heard you indicate the cost per square foot, if I'm not mistaken. What was that number? I think --I thought I heard 800. MR. McCORMICK: About 830. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: $830 per square foot? MR. McCORMICK: Yes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I know Mr. Mullin's is in the back corner there. John, if you could come on up, I may have to ask you a question, not necessarily on the microphone, just off the side there. Because we're doing all of the estimates for the construction costs for the veterans nursing home, and the architects and engineers have come up with a number, and I think it was less than the 830. These are similar --probably similar structures except yours --the David Lawrence facility's two stories, and this is just one. MR. McCORMICK: David Lawrence is one story. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Oh, is it one story? Okay. Page 183 March 12 , 2024 MR. McCORMICK: That typically runs a little higher per square foot. And the VA -- CO MMIS SI ONER SAUNDERS: So that's what we're talking about with the veterans nursing home. And I know this is not related to David Lawrence. But, Mr. Mullins, what number are we using? MR. MULLINS: Yes, sir. John Mullins, director or Communications, Government and Public Affairs. The last draft --and this floor plan does change by the week as they try to make tweaks to it, as you well know. Right now I think the long-term-care facility is at about 115,000 square feet total. That includes the adult day health care portion as well, and I think the last estimate was about $766 per square feet, currently. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: You might want to talk to the folks on the next phone call. Thank you. I just wanted to clarify that. I appreciate that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And if I can, Mr. Chair, just to --in all sincere---I mean, there's a hundred-dollar difference in estimation of cost for veterans nursing home and this facility, which is equivalent to a hospital. This facility that we're proposing here, there's not that large of a disparity in cost. The --and the --you did very well as far as answering my concerns with regard to the actual construction costs. Now we're going to hear from Mr. Burgess with regard to the large number, because it doesn't take but about 10 years at 4, 4 and a half million dollars a year, and you're at another 45 million in O&M. MR. BURGESS: So good afternoon. Thank you very much for allowing me to be here. Scott Burgess, David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health CEO. Appreciate, as always, the support of the Commission related to this important project for our community. It sounds as if you want Page 184 March 12, 2024 me to specifically speak about the gap in the operations cost for this facility. Related to that, I think it's really important to kind of set the --you know, set the understanding that about 70 percent of those that come to David Lawrence Centers are either uninsured or underinsured. So there is a significant issue related to payer mix as far as what can be generated through the services that we provide. These issues continue to grow and grow in our community. It's desperately needed for us to attend to these needs. And as we ran out our fiscal proforma associated with this project, we --I think we've been very clear from the beginning of all this, including the time that we put together the Collier County Strategic Plan that was unanimously supported, as a coalition, that there is going to need to be some sort of operational assistance related to this, as there has been operational assistance from Collier County Government to help support our operations year over year under the state-mandated agreement that the state requires. We know that there are individuals that will be coming to us that are going to have some level of funding. They're going to have some insurance, whether it's Medicare or Medicaid. Medicaid pays for about 50 percent of what it costs to provide the service, which is, you know, kind of the actuarial study related to that. So even the folks that come to us that have some form of funding, if it's Medicaid funding, which is 40 percent of those that come to us, there's a significant gap in funding with that. So --and then 20 to 25 percent have absolutely no income and no insurance whatsoever. So those are --from a business model standpoint, it's very hard to be able to break even on operations when you have that level of funding challenge. That being said, we have about 10 percent of our budget --even a little less than 10 percent of our budget that is supported through Page 185 March 12 , 2024 Collier County Government. The remainder of that is supported through --whether it's state funding, federal funding, or donor funding. So we've --I don't think we've ever said that we fully expect the county to pick up the full gap of what's being estimated at about 3 to $3.8 million year over year. We understand that that's something that we need to work together to try to fill that gap, whether that's through federal funding, whether that's through state funding, whether there's other sources of funding that we can find from the community, our donor support that we have been blessed to have in this community. It would be a very different community without donor funding to help support our --not only our mission, but other missions in this community. So we're very much wanting to be a partner with that. We've already had at least, you know, one meeting with other community partners with the county staff to try to encourage others like hospital --the hospitals in the area that don't provide anything related to detox or psychiatric services to help us with this as well. We'll continue to do that. And at the end of the day, while we also believe there's tremendous cost savings and cost avoidance with a program like this when you look at what we've already done with decreasing the census, in partnership with the Sheriffs Office in partnership with the treatment --specialty treatment courts, we know that there's been a tremendous annual savings to the taxpayers associated with diverting individuals into treatment, which is really helping them, versus --versus law enforcement which might not necessarily be the right treatment approach. So with that, I hope that helps. I'm happy to answer any additional questions that you have. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thank you, Scott. Page 186 March 12 , 2024 Besides basing the success on the number of beds, is there any other data that we have to justify the operating --you know, this 3.4 million? You know, have you got a figure of how many patients or how many people leave your facility, never do drugs, never do alcohol again, or get actual help, provide --you know, they go back to society as a normal person, or is there --you know, is there any other substantial data that we have other than number of beds? MR. BURGESS: Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's an outcomes report that we provide which demonstrates a number of different metrics that we're measuring ourselves against benchmark, and I can certainly -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Yeah. I'm not interested in benchmark. I'm interested in what "success" means. Others benchmark may not mean success. MR. BURGESS: Correct. So, you know, traditional outcome measures are things like recidivism rates. And we've been able to demonstrate that people are doing well when they discharge so that they're not coming back as frequently -- CHAIRMAN HALL: That's what I'm looking for. MR. BURGESS: Yeah, exactly. So those --so when I use that as a benchmark, we're comparing against other agencies that also recognize that as a measure of success, and we do better than that. CHAIRMAN HALL: What is the recidivism? MR. BURGESS: The recidivism rate? Well, we've got it for multiple --we've got a recidivism rate for multiple programs. So it all depends on which program you're talking about. CHAIRMAN HALL: I'm just looking for a rule of thumb, like, you know, seven out of 10 guys don't come back, or just on average. MR. BURGESS: Well, it's about seven and a half out of 10 don't come back. So about 24 percent recidivism rate. If you're looking at other types of programs which would be --you know, Page 187 March 12, 2024 we've got outpatient programs where --our partial program, we've got about an 8 percent recidivism, so 92 percent don't come back. CHAIRMAN HALL: I'm asking these questions not because I'm opposed to it. I love the --I want to move forward with this, but at the same time, we're at 60 percent design, which means we have 40 percent to go, and now is the time to have these discussions. And just like the sports complex --did I say that out loud? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You did. CHAIRMAN HALL: I want to learn from those mistakes. I don't want to get to the point we just have to keep going because we're that far --we're so far along. Ifwe need --you know, I don't want to encumber the taxpayers on somebody else's business. I want that business to --I want to build an asset and let it be operated without taxpayers being on the hook for what's going on. Whether we need to take a hard look on our budget --I don't want to be 49 million now, and by the time we get our GMP stuff done and we're looking at the first quarter of next year, oh, now all of a sudden, it's 59 million. I don't want to be there. I want to say, this is the amount of money the taxpayers have to use. Get 'er done, period. And I don't want to move forward with what if this or what if that. I don't want to buy furniture and fixtures for somebody that's going to operate. They need to buy their own furniture and fixtures. I don't want to have the taxpayers on the hook. I need to get something solid that we can hang our hat on that we can be proud of moving forward and that we're not just having to continually feed --feed this monster. Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. Commissioner Hall, all really good points, and I think we all feel the same way, that we don't want to get involved in a project that Page 188 March 12, 2024 is going to be a taxpayer cost, increasing cost. But I think there's --another --the rate of recidivism and all of that, the success of that program is all very important. But I think we have the Sheriff here, and I think this is an appropriate time for Sheriff Rambosk to come forward, because there's another aspect of this that we're all talking about, but it's part of the equation, and that is you've got funding in the Sheriff's Department, in the jail, where they're treating patients with mental health problems or housing them at a particular cost, and a lot of that cost will be eliminated by having this. So I think that's part of the equation also is how much are we saving on one end and how much more are we spending on the other end. And perhaps, Sheriff, you can elaborate on that, because I know you were instrumental in making that point to this commission back when we were looking at putting this in the sales tax, that this is --this is a --though there's going to be a line item for operations in the net of this, there's a savings to taxpayers because of what we're saving in the jails and in law enforcement. So I think --I think some elaboration of that would be helpful. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Thank you, Commissioner. Kevin Rambosk, Collier County Sheriff. You know, the cost of incarceration is dependent upon the day and the number of people in the jail, but anywhere between 160 to $180 a day, typically, is what is expended. And ifwe look over the past year, as an example, our behavioral health unit has worked with 2,000-plus individuals in the community. I will reference that relative to our current jail population which is about 40 percent lower than it was 10 years ago. We are at about 750, give or take, each and every day. We were pushing 1,300 at that time. Part of that has to do with our behavioral health unit, our mental health court, our drug court, our 287(g) program all put together to Page 189 March 12 , 2024 lessen those dollars and that cost for us. So we are definitely saving money. If we think back --so that would have been four or five years ago when I was up here. We have dramatically increased the amount of people that we have ref erred to the David Lawrence Center under the Baker Act rather than housing them in the jail facility. So specific dollars, you'd have to give me an opportunity to take a look at those dollars. But I can tell you the cost of operations due to the number --the less number of individuals that are referred to the David Lawrence Center, we absolutely are saving on those. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, the one thing that --or there were multiple things. But one of the things that sold me on putting this into the sales tax and continuing to support this project is the fact that we are saving a tremendous amount of money. And my assumption is that with the completion of this building, we will enhance those savings going forward, from your operation. And I know you can't give us a number, but -- SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Yeah. CHAIRMAN HALL: There is a number. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Huh? CHAIRMAN HALL: This is a number. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: There certainly is a number, and any of those individuals in crisis that we can refer to the David Lawrence Center rather than house in our jail facility will save us those operating dollars at the very least, which I just mentioned to you, but there are other dollars as well because there's an impact on deputy and their individual responses. There are impacts to our behavioral health unit who stay in contact with all of these individuals, and if they're being assisted by the David Lawrence Center, none of our staff is impacted in that way, and we can def er those resources to Page 190 March 12, 2024 other individuals that need them. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. I guess what I would suggest --I'm fairly confident this will be approved today, and assuming that to be the case, at some point we're going to have to vote on whether to proceed with construction. And so I think at that point, which will be a year from now, it would be very helpful to have an analysis done as to what the real impact will be on other county operations. Law enforcement, certainly, is No. 1. What are the benefits to the community at whole --as a whole in terms of having folks with mental illness being treated properly as opposed to being convicted of trespassing, serving 90 days in jail, getting released, and trespassing again on somebody else's property? What are the real benefits? I think we're going to need that analysis to be able to justify going forward. And I know those numbers are going to be positive for us in going forward. But that will help, I think, convince the public that this is really the right project. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: I would agree with that. I would ask though, that --you know, there are numbers that we're not going to be able to quantify, because one of the things that we had hoped when we first developed this discussion of having this facility was not only to defer individuals from coming to our jail, but to encourage families and those in crisis to go directly to the facility thereby saving all impact and contact, and certainly that may be extrapolated through Dr. Burgess and the David Lawrence Center in assistance. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you. Because when I was making eye contact with you, that was what I was going to ask is --it's going to be really important for me to know the referrals that physically come from our Sheriffs Page 191 March 12 , 2024 Department and then be able to look at the outcomes of those referrals, and then correlate that back. Again, this doesn't have to be --it certainly isn't even implied to be a money-maker, per se, because we all know the community benefit that comes from proper treatment, proper programming, re-institution back into society and not the recidivism aspect is imperative, and that's --and that's a game we can't even quantify. We can't even quantify that, so --but we can quantify numbers, the people, the cost associated with the --you and I agree on several points, but there's little to no rehabilitation that comes with incarceration. And so if we can --if we can divert people over there to seek the proper assistance, come up with necessary programming and have them integrated back into our community, the value --it's valueless [sic]. You can't even --you can't even quantify that value. But it will help me from a --from a moving of expense standpoint, if you will, to be able to show that we diverted --and I'm just going to use a hypothetical number. We diverted 200 people out of the jail system and into effective programming , and then we can look at David Lawrence Center's capacities, which they do track and they do document the recidivism that comes from their different types of programming so that we can --so that we can better quantify the reality of the expense associated with it. I don't want to --I don't want to sound harsh when I start talking about the --you could say 3.8 million, $4 million O&M deficit. It's not really a deficit if we can at least come up with a quantification of what we're not spending over here in the jail and then add to that the benefit to the community for the re-initiation of these folks back into society. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: I think you bring up a very good point, and I think that goes to the Chairman's question about what are the positive outcomes with this type of programming. I'm going to tell Page 192 March 12 , 2024 you --and I have nothing to do with the David Lawrence Center budget and operations today. But I will agree, it is not a money-making proposition. We are investing in the community to make a safer community. What I can tell you is that when we release individuals from the jail system, we have a process to try and get them referred to whatever assistance they may need just to reduce the potential for them returning. And I know the David Lawrence Center has the same philosophy in doing that. So we are making an investment in that. I mean, if you think about --and these are probably older numbers, individuals who not only are involved with mental health crisis but typically have a substance abuse problem --because we see a lot of individuals that come into the jail that we're treating for that. To treat for that today, you're talking 30-to $50,000 a month in a facility, and then --you know, then try and return back into the community, and is there a good strong program? Is there follow-up? Which I can tell you that we have follow-up with our behavioral health unit for a lot of these things, because once we've made that investment either in the jail or in the future through the David Lawrence Center and their operation, we don't want to be repeating and re-spending those dollars. But the medical staff and clinicians, better than I, will tell you that not everybody gets the ability to reintegrate after their first 30-day rehab. In fact, it's probably two or three by the time they go through. So there are a lot of factors in it. I think we can give you a lot of information to utilize. The other thing is, from what I recall, there are a lot of our residents who want to support the operation of the David Lawrence Center and a new facility, and I know a number of them personally. They're just waiting for the opportunity to do that. So I think we're at this Catch 22. And I agree with you that --because we're going Page 193 March 12, 2024 through it with the CSI building. I would have much preferred to see that two years ago built than have to deal with it today and having to rearrange things that we thought we were going to be able to do, and build a building for the next 50 years. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you. That will be very helpful for me just from a --from a count standpoint. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Thank you. Any other questions? CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman. And I guess I'll piggyback along with Sheriff and what he's saying. I had the opportunity to chair the Public Safety Committee last year, and I have the honor of doing it again this year. And one of the big subjects we talk about a lot is the MAP program with the Sheriffs Department and the jail. And to understand that MAP program, it --basically, these are the people that are addicted to these opiates that are on this --you know, that may have some mental health issues, you know, attached to it. And it's very expensive, like the Sheriff said. We look at sometimes some of these treatments with these subcutaneous shots now that we're moving towards. It's 25-, $2200 a dose, you know, but at least they're only getting it once a month. But the big problem we discuss a lot in there is, where do they go when they no longer are serving their time in the jail? And it's funny because some organizations here in town won't accept them, but David Lawrence, I think, is going to be helpful in the future, you know, of getting these people back when they're outside and staying on these programs so they're successful on the outside of the jail. And, you know, we have monies that come in. We have the state opiate settlement money. You know, that's about a million-plus a year that comes through this county that's funneled into these programs, and I think some of those monies maybe could follow Page 194 March 12 , 2024 some of these people over to the center and help offset some of the, you know, cost of operation, you know, because I think we have the ability to do that. And there's another program I think we're trying to enter into right now to get some more money that I had a bunch of papers to sign. But there is some monies outside of just, you know, what we talk about in here that can follow some of these patients as they leave the jail program, with the MAP program, that, you know, will maybe offset some when they are on the outside or getting extra treatment through the David Lawrence Center in the future when we build it. So I think we'll find ways to do it. I'm sure there's monies out there, you know, to keep the programs going. Because if we can treat them on the outside, they typically won't return. And then, you know, the housing part and then the feeding and the clothing, and, you know, the daily care of the inmates is a big cost, a big burden on the taxpayers. So, you know, ifwe can nip it in the butt [sic] and get these guys from returning back to the jail and have a good program on the outside they can follow up on and have this money follow them that we do get in these programs may offset some of the care [sic] of operations. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: And I agree with you completely, Commissioner. And just to reemphasize for the public that is watching, that 2,000, $2200 per treatment, that's not tax dollars. We have a --that's fully grant funded through opiate dollars and other sources. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman. A couple of my colleagues are, you know, implying, and in conversation with the Sheriff, the savings that he will benefit from if this facility is built as-is. I guess to just alleviate any ambiguity, are Page 195 March 12 , 2024 any of you implying that part of his budget should make up the delta that's on here because he's going to be saving some money? I mean, nobody --nobody asked that, but as I was sort of following the conversation, it was almost, you know, like you were kind of maybe leaning that way, or maybe I was just connecting dots that weren't there. But, you know, if you ask him, wow, if we build this as-is, you'll save a bunch of money, right, Sheriff, and then he says, yes, I will, then the last part of the conversation is, are we looking for him to make up the delta? And I think the answer's no, but I just want to --I want to get some clarity here that we still have a delta that Commissioner McDaniel is concerned about and that I think none of us are ignoring, but we're not looking for the Sheriff to be the answer to that. CHAIRMAN HALL: You're connecting dots that are not there. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Right. Yeah. Well, I just wanted to make sure we're --that there's a couple of us that might not be saying that. So I want the Sheriff to leave here knowing that, you know, we're not going to --we're not looking to pick his pocket, unless, Sheriff, if you think you're going to save $3 million, then, you know, we'll take it and put it into the project. But I don't think that's what any of us are saying. But also, too, people are watching this, and so I want to just make sure that we --there's no ambiguity in, you know, what's --what money we're missing and where it's coming from and where it's not coming in. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Well, I was referring to is exactly what the Sheriff said. The monies that we're getting in these programs, they're not coming from the taxpayers. These are grants coming through different --the opiate settlement, which is a big thing in the state of Florida, and they distributed that money out. You Page 196 March 12 , 2024 know, a portion of that can follow these patients when they're on the outside now getting their treatment when they're in the facility at David Lawrence to offset the cost that they're receiving, which doesn't come from the taxpayer or the Sheriffs budget, but it's just monies that's there that --you know, to keep these people from, you know, revisiting the jail. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: But DeAngelis Diamond could always make up that delta, right? Absolutely. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Hey, sell one of them Ferraris. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I just wanted to go on the record, gentlemen. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Last point. I would like to agree with all of you in that the facility is absolutely needed, but we need to operate it in a professional fiscally responsible manner, and we need to know where that's going to be. So I agree. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yep. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And that brings up the point that I wanted to ask our staff, because I remember when Commissioner Solis was here. We whipped up a mental health committee that studied mental health. He worked --they worked diligently on that. Is that committee in existence today? I'm going to call it a mental health --a mental health commission. Is it in existence today? MR. BURGESS: It is. It was a formal task force of the Commission to the point where the strategic plan was then presented to the commission. That commission unanimously supported that. At that point the commission formally sunsetted. That was now four years ago, and that has been continuing to meet, though, as a group. All of those task force members have continued to meet under kind of this moniker of Collier County Healthy Minds Coalition. And those Page 197 March 12 , 2024 group --those group members are still coming together with regularity, and we are in the process --if you can imagine. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but it was preCOVID, so --that strategic plan is now in the process of being updated. So now we're meeting. We have been meeting consistently. We're going to update what are the outcomes and what we've made progress on as a community and as a group, and then what are the continuing issues so that we can update that strategic plan. So that group does meet monthly, yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I'd like to make a suggestion. Maybe not today, but consideration for us to reconvene a commission, if not a portion embodied of the group that's already meeting as a --as an oversight mental health commission to oversee all of the institutions so we have comparison as to results as far as the rates of recidivism goes, as far as just, in fact, what savings are accommodated with the diversion from our jail system into rehabilitation centers throughout the community. There is a myriad of providers that do off er assistance for those suffering from substance abuse and mental issues. And so I think oversight coming to this board will be --will be a great benefit, at least to me. MR. BURGESS: Absolutely. Our intention was to try to have another county workshop where we could lay out that information which we had done under Commissioner Solis a number of times, and we would like to have that opportunity to do that before the Commission to give you the data, the tracking, the progress and, quite frankly, where we're really falling pretty significantly short in this community related to the needs of those that are struggling. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I already made a motion to accept the project update, and I'll just restress that. Page 198 March 12, 2024 But I did want to add one little thing, in fairness. Former Commissioner Andy Solis, he actually still is very involved. So I attended --I don't think it was at the last meeting, because I was out of town, but I was at the meeting prior, and he Zoomed. And so just to give him a little bit of a shout-out, you know, this is still something that's a passion of his, and he has helped --you know helped put some things on the map, and he has not disappeared. And so, you know, I just thought --I'm sure he's not listening, but it's important that. .. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He's listening. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah, I'm sure he is. But, you know, if there's no other questions, I just wanted to reiterate the motion to accept this project update and hope there's a second. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll second that. CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. As far as direction, you've heard the conversation. MR. McCORMICK: Yes. CHAIRMAN HALL: I just want to reiterate, I would like to see the project meet the budget instead of the budget meeting the project, or some balance thereof. And with that, we have a motion and a second. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: Good job. MR. McCORMICK: Thank you. Page 199 March 12 , 2024 MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, with your indulgence, we have two items that were pulled off of the consent agenda by Commissioner LoCastro and a couple of others, probably quick items that we could take before we got --we're going to spend a little time on the budget policy, if you would be okay with that. Item #1 lF DIRECT STAFF TO ADVERTISE AND BRING BACK AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE TO UPDATE THE REGULATIONS RELATING TO THE REMOVAL OF PROHIBITED EXOTIC VEGETATION. (ALL DISTRICTS) -MOTION TO CONTINUE TO A FUTURE MEETING BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL -APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: The first item is now Item 1 lF, formerly --hold on. I've got to get organized. Ha --formerly 16A14. This is a recommendation to direct staff to advertise and bring back an ordinance amending the Land Development Code to update the regulations relating to the removal of prohibited exotic vegetation. Ms. Jaime Cook is back again to answer questions or present. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Mr. Chairman, I'll just say these two items are --they're good-news things. So this is another example of where let's not let it get buried in the consent or summary agenda. You know, these are things we had previously talked about and, you know, you leave it in the consent or summary agenda and it gets passed, and maybe it doesn't get the spotlight it deserves, especially from the hard work from the staff here. So give us some good-news stories on 1 lF, and then also we'll Page 200 March 12, 2024 get a good update on what's actually going on at Caxambas. You know, a lot of misinformation out there as well, so ... MS. COOK: Jaime Cook, your director of Development Review. So in 1979 the first exotic vegetation removal ordinances were passed in Collier County except for lots that are platted single-family and ag-zoned properties. Between 1979 and 2004, there were various iterations. Sometimes those requirements were removed; sometimes they were put back in. But, ultimately, in 2004 the requirement for exotic removal for new principal and accessory structures was required prior to a certificate of occupancy. In 2005, an exemption was added specifically for certain accessory structures, including screen enclosures, tents, awning, and other similar smaller structures. Back in December during your board meeting, during the commissioner comments toward the end of the meeting, I believe, Commissioner Hall, you raised this issue, and all of you had various circumstances that you brought forward of homeowners with this situation where they were being required to remove exotics, mostly for accessory structures, and directed us to take a look at the language and provide you with some potential updates. We've worked through that process and presented our proposed changes to the DSAC subcommittee in January, the full DSAC in February, and the Planning Commission last week. DCA recommended approval as long as we approved the proposed language, and both DCA and the Planning Commission recommended denial mostly because they felt that removal of exotics was for betterment of the community as well as that it created confusion in the instances where the homeowners may have to get state or federal permits for impacts to wetlands or other things where they're being required to remove exotics. Page 201 March 12, 2024 So the proposed language that we were presenting to you today is in Section 3.05.08 of the Land Development Code. And in Section A, staff is proposing to add that "except for Estates-zoned lots as described further below," which I'll get to in a minute, "prohibited exotic vegetation is required to be removed." And this section of code specifically refers to subdivisions or commercial developments. So we were making it clear so that there was no confusion that these requirements would not apply to Estates-zoned properties. But the meat of the change is that in 3.05.08.C --and the new additional language is highlighted in blue for you --that for new structures and additions on Estates-zoned lots, after the effective date of this ordinance, which we're proposing to bring back to you the next meeting, prohibited exotic vegetation shall be removed only from the county-approved cleared areas and also within seven and a half feet from all property lines excluding rear yard electric service utility easements. And, again, it would not apply to some of those structures that were exempted back from 2005. So what staff is trying to envision, if you look on this aerial, the property on the top is one that has a house. It's been permitted. They've cleared about a half an acre. They haven't cleared a full acre, but they've requested to clear about a half an acre. So staff would recommend that exotics within that half acre, that shaded red area, would remain clear of exotic vegetation as well as the highlighted blue, which is about seven and a half feet around that property line. The property below has not been developed yet, but if it were to move forward with a building permit of some kind, that purple area is about one acre of clearing that they could do under their building permit as well as the seven and a half feet around the property, which is highlighted in yellow. Page 202 March 12 , 2024 And the reason staff is recommending this seven and a half feet is because smaller zoned Estates lots, which are a little over an acre in size, their minimum setback from their property lines is seven and a half feet for all of their structures. This seven and a half feet on all property lines would give Fire the ability to get through in the event of a fire. For example, if there was a fire in the rear of the property, you can see that to the left of the screen, those properties are also vegetated in the rear, so that would make it difficult for Fire to get through. Additionally, it provides a fire break, that if there is a fire, there is some sort of break --break line that fire would not necessarily be able to jump and impact any existing structures. Additionally, staff considered that these homeowners are able to put fences on their property lines. Most put it right at their property line. And if their neighbor isn't required to remove their exotics from their property line as well, it could impact their fence, potentially damaging it and costing that homeowner money to replace or repair their own fence. So with that, staff is recommending that you direct us to advertise the ordinance amending the Land Development Code with these changes, but I will tum it over to you for any questions or comments. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thank you, Ms. Cook. When I brought this up, I felt like this ordinance was onerous and cumbersome for the landowners, especially if they just wanted to add something. And my intention was if you want to build a new house, you've got to clear your exotics, clear them out in the beginning. We've had this --we've had this ordinance 30 years, and it has not helped the exotics at all. They're still out there growing like wildfire. Page 203 March 12, 2024 But to require someone --when would the seven-and-a-half-foot buff er --that would come --if we pass this like it is, people would be required to remove their exotics seven and a half feet on their property all the way around? MS. COOK: With the --with this effective date, yes. But for --but this --the way the language was written, it would apply to --for new structures and additions. CHAIRMAN HALL: And additions would be an addition to their home and not -- MS. COOK: So accessory structures; a garage or pool or something like that. CHAIRMAN HALL: So if somebody wanted to put a tool shed, they'd have to clear their exotics? MS. COOK: Only in the approved cleared area as well as the seven and a half feet, yes. CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. I don't like it. I don't like it because I think it's not --it's not doing what we want to do. We want to get out of the way for people. This is only the Estates. And if we approve this, I want to add Pine Ridge Estates in there as well. I don't want --I mean, I take care of my exotics, and it's a lot of work, and I don't want to put that on people that don't want to do that. My neighbors, they don't take care of anything, and that's their business. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: They're listening. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You've got to move to a new hood. CHAIRMAN HALL: They're not listening. Trust me, they're not listening. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I love my neighbors, by the way. I just want to go on the record. Page 204 March 12, 2024 CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I agree with Commissioner Hall. You know, when this came to us, he brought up an example that I had cross my path a couple times, too. And I don't want to oversummarize, but someone's trying to build a shed, the shed's --and I'm just making up numbers. The shed's $2,000. Removing all the exotics is 10,000 or --there was some crazy example. And I was hopeful that we would update a dated, dusty ordinance and have the legal authority --you know, I realize that there are some standards when it comes to exotics and things, but I remember the open conversation was, let's do a deep dive. Let's blow the dust off this. Let's have, you know, government get out of the way. Let's let somebody buy a shed and not have the greatest expense be the removal of the exotics, and it's four times the price of the cost of the shed. You know, there was a couple of weird examples out there, and I can't remember if it was you, Ms. Cook, or somebody from the podium that said, yeah, that example pops up more often than you think. And our direction was, do we have the ability to fix it? Come back to us with something that fixes it. I don't think this does. It's got some new verbiage in it now. If the answer is, Commissioner, you really can't do --you can't just make stuff go away, okay, well, then that's what I was expecting to hear, that, you know, we had a great idea, but it wasn't doable due to state statute something that governs exotics. But I was looking for something much more robust that would, you know, help the average citizen who wanted to put a shed in their backyard and not have to overly pay, you know, to remove exotics. I didn't know what the answer was, but I was hoping the answer would come to us and it would be aggressively different and more Page 205 March 12, 2024 supportive of the average citizen who was trying to do something and didn't have to go above and beyond and excessively pay for something. I don't think this does it either. So I concur with, you know, Commissioner Hall. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Is there a statute that requires us to impose exotic removal on the private sector? MS. COOK: Wetlands. Properties that have wetlands on them. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Only on wetlands. This isn't --this doesn't have to do with that, because that's a separate permit for exotic removal in a wetland area. So this has to do with new construction. MS. COOK: Correct. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I agree, this doesn't help. I have struggled with exotic removal on the private sector all my life --in the private sector. I actually shared with you, and I'll say it out loud, it would be my --it would be my wish to stop this imposition at all on the private sector until the government actually takes care of its own. I can drive up and down any right-of-way that's managed by the Florida Department of Transportation, the federal highway systems, even so far as our park system at the federal and state level that are fraught with exotics. And so this --I consider this an imposition on the private sector far and above. I mean, I'll say it as well. We've just come off of this last legislative session, but one of my hopes is to convene a study to actually have a look at the environmental impacts that the existence of exotics have contributed to habitat, because we all know that the birds and the bears and panthers live in these pepper hedges. I use pepper as the primary example. CHAIRMAN HALL: That's the primary. Page 206 March 12 , 2024 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: But I don't think this gets us to where we want to go. I mean, it's --even though there's consideration given for a firebreak, exotic removal is not a clearing of the entire seven and a half foot so that a truck could get down that fence line to be able to fight a fire in the back. There's still going to be natural vegetation that's still in that seven and a half feet, even if the --even if the exotics are removed. My thought would be --if you go back to where you had the picture up here --if we eliminated the seven-and-a-half-foot perimeter and just asked for the clearing of the exotics out of the area where the home was going to be, I'm just --I'm just throwing that out as something. CHAIRMAN HALL: I guess my point was, just to make it simple, that if you're going to build a new home, if you're going to tear down a house and rebuild another one, you've got to clear your exotics. That's a one-time deal. You've got equipment out there. It's a no-brainer. But if you're existing and you've lived there for 30 years and you want to put --you've got your mom that you want to move in and you're going to add a bedroom on, leave the shade. You know, just --that's cumbersome and onerous to add a bedroom and have to remove all exotics again. So it's just --for new construction or a new lot, I can see it's beneficial, and it's known, it's known what's expected, and there's no surprises in the end if you want to do something --if you want to put a tool shed on it. So that would just be my plain and simple. I understand the rationale, I really do, and the rationale's worthy. But for what I want to accomplish, it's just getting us out of the way and it not being ownersome [sic]. And I understand DSAC, and I understand the Planning Commission, because for new construction that's going to be on the builders, and that's going to be an expense Page 207 March 12, 2024 that they're going to have to --but that's what they get paid the big bucks for. Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I live in the Urban Estates, and I go around cutting some of the pepper plants and things like that, and two years later they've all grown back. So it doesn't really help to clear the property line and then --because you've got to keep doing it year after year, and people aren't going to do that. And I would think even for new construction, to clear the whole property line, that would be a --I think would be a rather expensive proposition. CHAIRMAN HALL: No, it's just the acre or half acre. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. So I would agree that clearing the exotics out of --either the acre or the half acre, that makes all the sense. But I would eliminate all of the other clearing, and --because I just don't think it's effective, and even if you do it, it's going to --they grow back pretty fast. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yep. Commissioner Kowal. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman. Yeah, I was under the impression that this was going to the drawing board, and you guys were going to come --something back with us. It was going to be like --you know, this was more on the lines that, you know, the gentleman that wanted to put the tool shed on his property. He had a $2,000 tool shed and spent $8,000 to clear the exotics before he's allowed to go out there and cut some wood or hammer some nails. You know, I was assuming you were going to come back with something saying, all right, well, if you're going to put a structure like a lanai, a fenced-in or an extra garage on the property, it would be certain buff er around that that would be required to clear the exotics, Page 208 March 12 , 2024 because now it's a new structure, and keep a little fire barrier away from it, but not 600 feet down one side, 600 feet down the other side, and 140 feet across the back and a 7 -foot swath. And, you know, it just seemed like a lot more than I thought that we were really looking for or trying to achieve with the whole idea of going to the drawing board with this. And --so that's what I was more or less looking for, you guys coming back saying, yeah, it makes sense. You've got a structure, you want to add a structure, we'll figure out a ratio how far out you've got to take the exotics and clear it, and then we're good to go. You get your occupancy permit. You're not clearing the 600 feet to the back, like it was before. You know, you've got to clear the whole lot every time you apply for the permit. But how ironic it is that we just spent hours today with Conservation Collier and about the Maintenance Fund and how important it is to have, and the first things we do is we go in and clear the exotics. It's our biggest expense of the Maintenance Fund is clearing exotics on property that we buy with that money, and we maintain it on a yearly basis. We revisit it and cut it out again and cut it out again and cut it out again, but then we're talking about here we don't want to, you know, put that burden on the citizens, but then we don't have the problem putting the burden on the overall taxpayers. So, I mean, sometimes we need to re-think the game here, you know. So ... CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Which part of the game do you want to re-think? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'm just saying, we just talked how much money we're going to need for maintenance into perpetuity, and the biggest part of that money we talk about is the clearing the exotics. That's the biggest part of the maintenance -- Page 209 March 12, 2024 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm aware. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: --is clearing the exotics. But then you're saying they like to hide in the pepper bushes. I don't know. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well --and that is a fact. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So ... COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There's no magic wand for this. I mean, if --you know, I'm sure at the beginning of time when pepper bushes and Melaleucas were first introduced, there was a reason for them to be here, but now they're everywhere, and they've actually become a part of our ecosystem from a habitat standpoint for the wildlife. I think if we were --to accomplish what we're looking to do, if we go back to the language portion of the suggestion here, if we make it for new structures, not additions, make it for the whole county, not just the Estates, and eliminate the seven-and-a-half-foot perimeter buffer, we at least get a start on relief on the community from the imposition of the clearing. I see the two gentlemen standing up. MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning director. Just a clarification. So you're talking Estates-zoned lots, single-family lots, any residential properties would be exempt from what we were proposing, and PUDs? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Residential and commercial. I don't think it's --I don't think --I mean, if you need to have two acres for a commercial building, then you clear the two acres. If you need a half an acre for your house, you clear the half an acre. If you want to put an addition on a home that's already there, you shouldn't have an additional imposition of a seven-and-a-half-foot perimeter clearing that as --I shared with Commissioner Saunders, I spent --I spent four hours on the wrong Page 210 March 12 , 2024 end of a chainsaw Sunday taking care of exotics at my house and didn't even touch them, so --because it's a never --it's a no --it's a zero-sum game. There's --there's no beating them. Because if I live next to Commissioner Saunders, my cardinals fly over and eat his pepper berries and then come over and go to the bathroom on my property, and I'm propagated because you weren't cleaning your pepper bushes. CHAIRMAN HALL: You got fresh peppers. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I get fresh pepper berries. So --and I don't know --if the goal here for us is to lift the imposition on the private sector with regard to this, then let's minimize the exposure they have for --to whatever it is that they're looking to actually build and let them be, both residential and commercial. MR. BOSI: Residential and commercial. Industrial as well? I mean, all -- CO MMIS SI ONER McDANIEL: Yes. MR. BOSI: All land uses. All land uses, they are only to clear the exotics from their clear area for where their proposed buildings are and not along the perimeter. CHAIRMAN HALL: On brand-new construction. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And additions. CHAIRMAN HALL: So if I want to add a bedroom so my mom can move in, now I've got to redo all my exotics? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. Just on the area that you're going to build on. CHAIRMAN HALL: So if I have a half acre and lived there for 30 years and I got exotics that are on the side of me now -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: On the back 40. CHAIRMAN HALL: Backyard, front yard, whatever, and now Page 211 March 12, 2024 I want to add a bedroom for my mom to move in, now I've got to tum around and remove all the exotics again? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, sir. That's what I'm saying is eliminate that provision. CHAIRMAN HALL: Oh, okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The example that I cited last year when we were talking about this was with a young lady that works for me lives in the Estates in a Jim Walters home that was built back in the '80. They put a mother-in-law quarter on the house, on a 75-foot tract, and it cost them $4500 because we required --Environmental Services required exotic removal on the entire property before they could get a CO and legally occupy that addition that they put on their home. And so my thoughts were, only require the exotic removal on the new structure for the area that they're actually going to use and eliminate the buffer, and include the entire county, and not the perimeter clearing. CHAIRMAN HALL: Troy, we have a comment? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Could I just say one more thing? CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. Go ahead. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Just for understanding that, you know, if you are going to put this additional structure or this addition onto the home, I think there should be some sort of ratio out so far the exotics need to be cleared, just because you want to have that buff er for your own protection. But I don't want to see the whole lot having to get, you know, redone again, because I think that's senseless. Because you go out, and four, five years down the road, everything' s back again. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: It's the same exact condition it was when you originally built your house. But if you're adding a structure or you're adding something on the property, I think there Page 212 March 12, 2024 should be some sort of ratio figured out how far out from that new structure, that new footprint you should clear it, you know, but not the whole perimeter around the edges of the lot and all that stuff. So I'm just trying to just --you know, you don't want to build it right up to, you know, a fire hazard. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If I may, the recommendation is 30 feet from your structure on the perimeter of your home. That should be -- COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Suffice. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That is what the fire departments recommend, that you have that 3 0-foot buff er on the perimeter of your home. That allows them to safely get in, park a truck between your house and the fire and be able to fight the fire off your home. So that 30-foot perimeter from the home is what the fire department recommends. And I'm not necess---I'm not proposing that today unless we --unless we can devise some sort of an incentive program to incentivize people to actually partake in that. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So you assemble a $2,000 shed, and you'd have to go 30 feet? I mean, that's one of the examples, you know --okay, yeah. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If you don't want it to bum. CHAIRMAN HALL: I'm going to make the motion here to just have this say, "Exotic removals are required on new construction for the county cleared area," and other than that, we're good to go. Countywide. MR. BOSI: It's countywide. CHAIRMAN HALL: Industrial, residential and -- MR. BOSI: The clear area for new construction. CHAIRMAN HALL: For new construction only, if you need a half acre, you clear your half acre. Page 213 March 12 , 2024 MR. BOSI: So if that addition was going on, that addition would not be subject to --only --only your --the principal structure. CHAIRMAN HALL: Only on new construction on brand-new structures. MS. COOK: So just for a point of clarification, we have another section of our code, 3.05.07, that deals specifically with preserves and conservation easements that if we do countywide, this may conflict with that if we're not going to require exotic removal in Conservation Collier easements and preserves, which would also conflict with the state. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We do want to do that. MS. COOK: So I just want to be sure that -- CHAIRMAN HALL: I'm just talking about for homeowners who are building stuff. MS. COOK: Got it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We're talking about new construction. We're not talking about another section of the -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Correct. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Excuse me, sir. I can hit my light. I jumped in front of Commissioner LoCastro, so ... CHAIRMAN HALL: He's full of grace this afternoon. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Go ahead, please. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No. I was just going to say --and not in the interest of time, but in the interest of getting this right, I think you've heard all of our concerns here. I'd make the motion that you guys go back to the drawing board, that this does not meet our requirement, because the other thing here is, we're brainstorming a lot of stuff up here, and I was just about to say that I bet this conflicts with something, and then you said it does. So I think this is the time to take a pause and go, thanks for doing a dive, but it's not a deep enough dive. Keep us out of trouble. Page 214 March 12 , 2024 We don't want to put something in writing that then, you know, conflicts with something else. And we want to make sure also, too, that all the --all the right examples are covered. You know, the new construction sounds great, but then, you know, it might leave a loophole that, okay, so then if somebody wants to add a mother-in-law bedroom, then they don't have to do anything. But then, Commissioner McDaniel says, yeah, but then there could be a fire hazard, and, you know --and so it's like I don't want to sit here and dissect this thing in this meeting. It's already not what I want. And I just think that this is --you've gotten enough input from us to go back and bring us something that you can explain better that meets our --the criteria we originally had said, or you tell us why it's impossible and give us something that at least is as aggressive as possible to meet, you know, what our intention is, and it's something that's also enforceable. We could say --we could pat ourselves on the back here and pass something, and then in the end it is a whole lot of nothing. So I don't think we're ready to talk --you know, wordsmithing this thing on the fly isn't something I'm ever hugely supportive of unless it's something, you know, a happy to glad or something really small. But I don't think this is close to what we would like, and there's also other moving parts that you just brought up with other ordinances out there that I think make this whole thing a little bit sloppy. So my recommendation would be, come back at the next meeting. And it also gives you a chance to talk to us all one-on-one between now and then, too, to make sure that we're all paddling in the same direction. I don't think we are right now. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm okay with that. Page 215 March 12 , 2024 CHAIRMAN HALL: Me, too. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Let's continue it. CHAIRMAN HALL: You get the point. You know what we want. MS. COOK: We got it. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Do we have to make a motion to continue it? CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yep. I make a motion we continue it to -- MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. I don't believe this gentleman's here, but I don't know. Steve Matteau. (No response.) MR. MILLER: Just had to do that for the record. Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Okay. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Make a motion to continue and bring it back at your earliest convenience. I don't even know if we have to set a date, because we've got kind of a complicated agenda coming up over the next couple, but, you know, this is one that --sooner than later, but we'll let you figure out the date. So that's my motion. Do I have a second? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Motion and second to postpone it. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) Page 216 March 12 , 2024 MS. COOK: Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Can we bring it back on the consent? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If we get it right. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'd suggest that sometime in 2028 will be a good time to bring it back. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: With the what? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Sometime in 2028 would be a good time to bring it back. MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Could I just say one thing, though? Commissioner Kowal really did bring up a really important point, that we sat here and we dissected this thing for sheds and mother-in-law homes, but we are paying through the nose on property in Conservation Collier. So maybe that's a separate thing, and maybe I'll just let it sit there, but that resonated with me, and I think it's very --it's a very astute observation that you made. And, you know, we want to make sure that we're consistent. So here we are, you know, helping the taxpayer with their shed and their mother-in-law home, but then, you know, it's a much bigger number on lots that aren't really infringing on anything that we bought under Conservation Collier. So, you know, maybe that's for another day, another time, but not 2028 , so ... CHAIRMAN HALL: Brazilian peppers puts a new perspective on "in perpetuity." COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah, absolutely. So maybe --Commissioner Kowal, maybe that's something that, you know, you champion or talk with the County Manager, but I think bringing that back and seeing what we could really do to save --and anything we save from Conservation Collier allows us to buy more properties, which is --you know, when I made the motion to say, let's negotiate with some of these property owners, and then Page 217 March 12, 2024 what, the next 10 properties, most of them we bought under the appraised value saving money. This now --now we're talking really significant dollars if we made some sort of aggressive change. And, you know, lastly, to Commissioner McDaniel's point, drive down any part of I-7 5 or anywhere in the county, right, they're everywhere, you know, so -- CO MMIS SI ONER McDANIEL: U.S. 41. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: --anyway, I'll just end with that, but that was a --I hadn't really made that connection until he mentioned it, and then I started, you know, adding up the dollar figures, and that's a significant amount. So maybe we can combine the two, and when it comes back to us, it talks about both. Just a thought. MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: We ain't got kudzu, right? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: What's that, sir? COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Kudzu. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah, yeah, kudzu. Yeah. Kudzu, yeah. CHAIRMAN HALL: We have air potato. Item #1 lG AW ARD CONSTRUCTION INVITATION TO BID ("ITB") NO. 23-8182, THE "CAXAMBAS PARK AND BOAT REHABILITATION PROJECT" TO KELLY BROTHERS, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,735,926.67, AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT, AND APPROVE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT. (PROJECT NO. 50280). (DISTRICT 1) -MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO; SECONDED BY Page 218 March 12, 2024 COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL -APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 16F7, now Item 1 lG. I hesitate to call this a good-news item. We'll see what happens. Recommendation to award construction Invitation to Bid No. 23-8182, the Caxambas Park and Boat Rehabilitation Project, to Kelly Brothers, Inc., in the amount of $2,735,926.67; authorize the Chairman to sign the attached agreement; and approve the necessary budget amendments. This is being moved to the regular agenda by the separate requests of Commissioner LoCastro and Commissioner Kowal. And Mr. Tony Barone, from Facilities Management, he'll tell you his title, is here to present. MR. BARONE: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the record, Tony Barone, principal project manager, Facilities Management Division. I am very excited to bring to you today our recommendation to award the construction contract for Invitation to Bid 23-8182 that is for our Caxambas marina seawall and dock replacement. It is the large-scale replacement of the seawall and docks, much of which were damaged by Hurricane Ian. This contract moves us forward into the construction phase of that project. I also brought for you today two other projects just to quickly highlight those projects and show you some other things we have going on on the site both in parallel with this project and as a follow-on, if you'll indulge me. So first we have our seawall replacement project. That is the full replacement of the entirety of the seawall and boat ramp at that facility. It also includes a full replacement of all the docks, the floating docks, the fixed docks, and the resetting of the Marco Police Page 219 March 12, 2024 Department boatlift as well. In parallel with that project, we are replacing the entire fuel system down there. The fuel system is running as a separate project. It was a bit of a separate inspection process and determination that that system was actually out of commission. We found some fuel that had leaked out of that. We had to get into cleaning that up and working with DEP on that, and we have a team following up on that to make sure that's fully cleaned up. But now we have the opportunity to design and construct an entirely new fuel system down there and dispensing system that will be away from the water. It will be above ground. It will be more resilient and protected from future storms as well. Those two projects, both, we are seeking the maximum reimbursement we can get through our insurance policy and coordinating with FEMA to effect reimbursement there as well. A lot of that depends on the total costs and how things shake out with the validation process with FEMA, but everything we're doing, we're doing in a way that effects maximum reimbursement where we can get it. As a follow-on project, we do have the Sheriff's Office boatlift. We've been working with the Sheriffs Office and the Parks folks to broker a deal to get them down there and provide a boatlift at that location as well so they can provide their service there at Caxambas Pass. I also have here a coordinated schedule that shows the seawall dock replacement project, which would start in the next few weeks getting the contractor mobilized out there, provided you approve this contract. It additionally shows the Hurricane Ian schedule and, you know, all the work related to Hurricane Ian in terms of us getting hit with that storm at this location, getting out there, cleaning up, doing Page 220 March 12 , 2024 damage assessments, doing the emergency seawall stabilization that we had to do out there, effecting the repairs out there at that site to get it open. Even in the temporary way that it is open right now for residents to put small craft in, we did our due diligence out there to do our best to get it open in as safe a way possible. But now it's time --this project will shut it down for approximately seven or eight months to get it done, to get it reopened for the public and to have it fully restored. The fuel system replacement project, given it is a parallel project and depends a little bit on City of Marco permitting, we're trying to catch that one up to the seawall and dock replacement project and get that going. That way that fuel system is opening and for the public's use as soon as possible, either aligned with or just after the completion of the overall park. And with that, if you have any questions on this project or -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: What I didn't hear you mention was the marine store. Is that going to be addressed at all? That marine store was totally destroyed. So is that part of this project? MR. BARONE: Yes, sir. The interior --that's part of our overall hurricane -- CO MMIS SI ONER LoCASTRO: Restrooms as well? That's all part of it? MR. BARONE: Restrooms, the marine store, the -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So this is completely inclusive? There's nothing that's --I mean, I heard all the big things, but I know there was a bunch of little things. Is there anything that's not inclusive? MR. BARONE: Those smaller-scope items happen to not be in this marine contract. This is a specialty marine contract that's really Page 221 March 12, 2024 targeted at those docks and the seawall. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Are we working a separate contract for those other things? MR. BARONE: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And, you know, I would just say, it goes without saying, anything we can do in tandem, you know. I mean, because if we're going to close it for seven months, it would be great to have two or three contractors out there all doing their thing rather than, yeah, great, the docks are open and the fuel's open, but, you know, you can't go to the bathroom and you can't buy ice, and we can't buy bait and, you know, we don't want to have that happen. And I know that sounds obvious, but we've done some things in this county before that weren't obvious, you know. We didn't measure twice and cut once. You know, we cut and then we stopped and we cut. This has already been, you know, closed for longer than any of us wanted. But what the average citizen didn't realize was the level of destruction of Caxambas. I deal with this --every single day I get e-mails on Caxambas, and I try to explain to folks, it's not us driving to Lowe's and getting a little bit of plywood and a little bit of spackle. You know, if you think everything's been fixed --I've said this before in my newsletter, if you think everything' s been fixed in Collier County except for Caxambas, let me know how the sunset looked from the Naples Pier last night. You know, that was a total destruction, and the reason they haven't moved forward at light speed is it's a little bit more complicated than just calling Allstate and having your roof repaired. This one has dragged out, you know, because of some starts and stops that probably could have been prevented. And I don't want to go backwards, but I want to make sure if we're at --we're at the point now where we've done all of our due diligence, that some of those Page 222 March 12 , 2024 smaller things that actually would allow us to cut a ribbon and reopen the marina actually would include everything, and it wouldn't be another sort of half/partial open, and then it has to be closed again for the restrooms. So I think all of us would like to continue to hear updates on the other contracts that are --also be --that are also being worked simultaneously to marry up with this one. So like you said, this one isn't fully inclusive. You've got some other ones behind this. But I hope the timing is all being worked in unison; is that a true statement? MR. BARONE: That is a true statement. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay. MR. BARONE: Our intention is, at the completion of this project, the ship shore, any of the other miscellaneous damages around there at that site would be completely restored. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: What do you see as the total investment? So this is two-point-something. You know, when you add in all the other things, do you have a guesstimate as to what the total investment would be in restoring Caxambas back to --it will actually --it won't restore it. It will make it better than it was, because it was in disrepair in some places. Those seawalls were about to --had serious damage even before Ian. But do you have a round figure as to what our total investment would be? MR. BARONE: Top end of the range on the fuel system was approximately three-quarters of a million. So if you add that to this, additionally, the ship store could range anywhere from 100-to 150,000 to restore that. There's some various things that Parks has had to replace out there as well. I mean, we could compile all that. We're certainly at --part of our FEMA reimbursements process, we've got a system where we're compiling all those costs, all those Page 223 March 12 , 2024 out-of-pocket costs so we can tum them in to insurance and to FEMA. And so we could pull that information. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Let's just say it was --it was shy of four million, we'll just say. I'll just sort of throw a number out there. You know, we know it's not 10-, and we know it's not 3-. It's a little more, 3 and change or a little less than 4-. Do we have an idea of what FEMA --the FEMA reimbursement could be in a perfect world? Do we get all of that back? Seventy-five percent of it back? MR. BARONE: The FEMA public assistance grant program typically provides a 70 or 80 percent --sometimes that amount is changed as we go through that process --reimbursement after our insurance reimburses. And so we are responsible for our deductible, then we seek money from our insurance company, depending on what they fund us, then we get a percentage back from FEMA --a percentage approved from FEMA of our remaining out-of-pocket costs. So it's approximately 80 percent of our out-of-pocket costs that we'll be seeking. But how much of that we could get really depends on the process. And we continue to move forward with design, engineering, and construction as that FEMA process and FEMA coordination is going on. So we don't wait --we would still be waiting, ifwe were waiting on FEMA, to fully validate this project. We are just doing everything in a way that's compliant with federal procurement guidelines and consistent with the rules and the guidelines associated with that FEMA public assistance. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. I mean, I really wanted citizens to hear that. You know, the county and Parks and Rec haven't been sitting on their hands. I mean, like I said, there's a couple things that we did that moves a little slower than I thought Page 224 March 12, 2024 they should have, and I think we would all agree with that. But here we are now. And it --because it's more complicated than just, you know, repairing the roof on your house after a hurricane. As you said, FEMA, insurance, finding the money, making the assessment. And there's, you know, a dozen different things down there that got --that got damaged. It wasn't just, you know, seawall and docks. And I've gotten a lot of feedback from citizens that all have really quick, easy ideas. You know, put three floating docks out there and get that place reopened, and, you know, it's not as easy as that, and nor would that be an approved solution. You know, we want to do this right. So --okay. I just --I knew those --I wanted to just get that on the record as, you know, somebody that might be listening or somebody that goes back through the minutes understands that we have the big nuggets covered and it's just more complicated than a lot of people think. It was the same thing with the Tax Collector's Office. You know, I heard for six months we were all sitting on our hands doing nothing, and then, you know, our tax collector, Rob Stoneburner, then released an artist's rendering, he rented space on Marco, and everything was announced, and then everybody was flabbergasted who was all --who were all screaming that we were doing nothing. And so maybe sometimes as you drive by Caxambas from, you know, 500 feet away, it looks like there's been no activity out there, but I know you-all have been working really hard trying to not only assess the damages, but also there's not as many contractors out there that were screaming for the work, you know. They were all up in Fort Myers making money hand over fist. They were over at the Ritz-Carlton making money hand over fist. So even though some citizens said, "I have a few friends that Page 225 March 12 , 2024 would take the contract in a heartbeat," they have to be approved contractors in all the things that you're doing. So thank you for your due diligence. And, you know, this is one that I know we all have been working closely, even if the average citizen doesn't think so. MR. BARONE: Thank you, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want to make a motion for approval? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'd like to make a motion for approval. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Motion to approve. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) MR. BARONE: Thank you very much. We'll go to get it done. Item #1 lE APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF PROPERTY, TERRORISM, WATERCRAFT HULL AND BOILER & MACHINERY INSURANCE EFFECTIVE APRIL 1, 2024, IN THE ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF $11,615,027. (MICHAEL K. QUIGLEY, DIVISION DIRECTOR, RISK MANAGEMENT) (ALL DISTRICTS) MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL; Page 226 March 12, 2024 SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL -APPROVED MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, working backwards, Item 11 E is a recommendation to approve the purchase of property, terrorism, watercraft hull, and boiler and machinery insurance effective April 1st, 2024, in the estimated amount of $11,615,027. Mr. Michael Quigley, your division director for Risk Management, is here to answer questions or present, at your pleasure. MR. QUIGLEY: Could we get the mouse to work here? Michael Quigley, risk manager. I'm thankful I get to come before you today. Our original agenda item for the property renewal we had best guessed, if you would, not to exceed about $11.6 million. Since that time, we've recently been able to come to an agreement and get a proposal through Brown & Brown with a renewal of 10 million --just a little over $10 million with a savings of about $1.5 million. With what we're finding, there's no changes in coverage, no changes in deductibles or anything. So the only increase would be the cost in the values of our buildings and our pump stations. So, really, it's almost a flat renewal, if you would. What I'd like to do is both myself and Keith Solkol (phonetic) from Brown & Brown, we're here to answer any questions. I put up a slide to assist with that. Any questions? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Are there any questions or comments from the Commission? (No response.) COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Any registered speakers? MR. MILLER: No. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Then we need a motion to approve. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So moved. Page 227 March 12, 2024 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved --second. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: We have a motion --we have a motion and a second to approve. All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: (Absent for the vote.) COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. MS. PATTERSON: Thank you, Commissioners. First, let me just check with the court reporter. We have one more item to go plus communications. Do you want to take a break, or we ready to go? THE COURT REPORTER: (Indicating.) Item #1 lD RESOLUTION 2024-42: ADOPT THE FY 2025 BUDGET POLICY, AND ADOPT A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A DEADLINE OF MAY 1, 2024, FOR BUDGET SUBMITTALS BY THE SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS, THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, AND THE CLERK. (CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON, DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES) (ALL DISTRICTS) -MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO -ADOPTED MS. PATTERSON: Okay. All right. Item I ID, our favorite Page 228 March 12, 2024 topic of the day, recommendation to adopt the FY'25 budget policy and adopt a resolution establishing a deadline of May 1st, 2024, for budget submittals by the Supervisor of Elections, the Sheriffs Office, and the Clerk of the Courts. Mr. Chris Johnson is here to start the presentation. He is --I'm sorry. He's your director of Corporate Finance and Management Services. Mr. Johnson. MR. JOHNSON: Thank you, Amy. Good afternoon, Mr. Vice Chairman and Commissioners. As Amy stated, I'm Chris Johnson, your director of Corporate Finance and Management Services, and I'm here to present the highlights of the FY'25 budget policy. What we're going to be doing today is I'll go over the requested action today. I'll be going through the FY'25 budget schedule again, and we'll discuss, again, the priority-based budgeting approach and kind of where we're at at the moment with ResourceX. We'll do a briefFY'24 budget overview, we'll go through the FY'25 budget policy highlights and, finally, provide you with a recommendation for approval today. All right. So what are we doing today? Today we are seeking the Board's approval to adopt the FY'25. This budget policy will serve as our foundation for developing our priority-based budget utilizing the ResourceX tool. Additionally, we aim to have the Board set dates for the June workshops and the September public hearings. Finally, we request that the Board approves a resolution that sets the deadline of May 1st for budget submissions for the Supervisor of Elections, the Sheriffs Office, and the Clerk of Courts. Briefly, I know you guys are familiar with this; this is our FY'24/'25 budget schedule. As you can see, we had our strategic plan AUIR budget workshop on February 6th, and now we are here Page 229 March 12, 2024 to adopt the FY'25 budget policy. Some of the dates on here that we'll be looking at today, the tentative dates for the priority-based budgeting workshop in June is June 20th and June 21st, that's a Thursday and a Friday. When we get to September for public hearings, the tentative date is --the tentative date for the first public hearing is September 5th, and the second public hearing is September 19th. Those dates do not overlap the school board, as they have priority with their budget hearing, which I believe is on September 10th this year. Moving on, let me just talk a bit about the priority-based budgeting. For FY'25, the county will be employing a priority-based budgeting approach allocating resources based on the strategic importance and financial impact of our individual programs. This method emphasizes the alignment of financial allocations with the organizational goals and priorities that we outlined in our FY --I'm sorry, FY'24 strategic plan. Identifying and ranking priorities will ensure that limited resources are directed towards initiatives that deliver the greatest value for our community. Looking at this slide here, you'll see this is the ResourceX approach to priority-based budgeting. It kind of starts from the bottom and goes up. We start with our program inventory, identifying our programs that we off er throughout the county. We are currently working on this with ResourceX on updates since the 6th. We had a countywide workshop, if you will, with all of the department heads and division directors to introduce the product, and ResourceX came in to kind of go over what the expectations are moving forward as we --as we utilize this product to streamline our priority-based budget. Currently, staff are working on identifying those programs and working on that program inventory. Page 230 March 12, 2024 With the approval of the budget policy today, we will start kind of Step 2 here, which is --which is putting together the line-item data. So that's kind of what we do --typically we've done in years past. We've put together budgets based on cost centers, line items. This is our postage, this is our contractual services, et cetera. What we'll be doing with that line-item data is identifying which programs it belongs to, and then utilizing Step 3 here, we'll be programming basic attributes and kind of impacts on what those programs have with the community, our strategic plan, and, you know, the cost associated with those programs. We will be bringing those programs --prioritized programs back to you in June with the County Manager's recommended budget. Any questions on that process and kind of where we're at? We've also been working with the constitutional officers to set up meetings to go over this process with them as well and see if they want to follow along with this process. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't see any questions. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have one, and it has to do with ResourceX. Are they going to reach out to us individually, or are we going to wait till we have a pep rally and we're all in here together? MR. JOHNSON: I believe it will be while we're in here together. If the Board would like them to reach out individually, I can work with Chris and Eric and see if that's something I'm sure they'll be willing to do. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd like to. I don't know about my colleagues, but I'd like to have a shot at them alone before we all come together, and maybe they can assimilate some similarities from those individual conversations so they can be a little more succinct when we do have the workshop. MR. JOHNSON: And program our attributes and everything as Page 231 March 12, 2024 well. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sir? MR. JOHNSON: If that's the Board's direction, I can try to facilitate that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd like it, myself. CHAIRMAN HALL: Talking with ResourceX? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Because other than engaging them and hearing their presentation, I haven't heard from them. So I'd like to have a talk with them. CHAIRMAN HALL: I've been in contact with them a little bit but, yes, I encourage everyone to -- CO MMIS SI ONER McDANIEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: --talk to them. MR. JOHNSON: All right. We'll go ahead and do that, then. All right. Moving on to a brief overview of the FY'24 budget. Again, I went through most of this at the workshop; just wanted to go through it one more time really quickly. The net adopted budget for FY'24 was $1.995 billion. As you can see here, this breaks it down by kind of the uses of the funds. Where does the money go? Public safety; physical environment, which includes our water/sewer districts, solid waste, stormwater, beach renourishment, et cetera. General governmental services, over there at 10 percent. Culture and recreation, debt service, and, of course, our reserves. Moving on to the General Fund, General Fund total budget for FY'24 was about $687 million. As you can see there, 56.1 percent of General Fund expenses are for health, safety, and welfare; 30 percent for general governmental; 12.6 percent for mandates; and 1.3 percent for debt service. Following on with the Unincorporated Area General Fund, $83.7 million; general governmental services, approximately Page 232 March 12 , 2024 70 percent; health, safety, welfare, 17 .5 percent; and mandates, 12.3 percent. This slide here depicts our sources of revenue. As you can see, the ad valorem, in other words, your millage rates and your tax base, is the majority at 47 percent. And here's the ad valorem breakdown, the 554. 7 million last year. Of that, 80 percent of the ad valorem went to the General Fund. Any questions on any of those slides at all? (No response.) MR. JOHNSON: All right. I'll move on to the FY'25 budget policy highlights, then. Today we're going to talk about the operating control lines; mission critical program enhancements; new language for our expanded requests. I guess this is the second year of that; millage rate policy; Conservation Collier; employee compensation; health insurance; capital allocations; and, finally, reserves. Starting with the General Fund and Unincorporated Area General Fund operating control lines, the recommended policy here, as we discussed in beginning of February as well, is to establish a control line of 3 .5 percent for operational increases at the department level. What this means is that each department for FY'25 which rely on the General Fund and/or Unincorporated General Fund for funding will be restricted to a 3.5 percent increase in their current programs and services. And this is obviously going to be subject to the prioritization through ResourceX. This gives us a baseline moving forward for departments to kind of program through. Any questions or concerns on that? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: No. Go ahead. MR. JOHNSON: All right. Mission critical program Page 233 March 12 , 2024 enhancements or expanded requests, these expanded requests will be limited to Board-approved capital facilities openings --I'm sorry --capital --yeah, capital facilities openings, priority-based service-level adjustments, and/or historically strained mission critical imperatives. What happens with this is the departments will provide us with these requests. They'll be vetted through the County Manager's Office. We will put these into ResourceX as well as prioritized enhancements. These enhancements are above and beyond the 3.5 percent. That's kind of how we move them out as, hey, these are additional program enhancements, but they will all be prioritized through the software as well. Any questions on that at all? (No response.) MR. JOHNSON: All right. Millage rate policy. For the General Fund and Unincorporated General Fund, we are going to be utilizing the priority-based budgeting approach. The recommended millage rates will be calculated utilizing preliminary taxable value, which we get in June, and the prioritized budget requirements within the established control lines that we're establishing today. Program adjustments or funding realignment may result in changes to these millage rates as we go to June and discuss them. It doesn't look like there's any questions on that. MSTU millage, for FY'25 it's suggested that MSTUs be limited to a millage rate sufficient to cover their current-budget-year operations and any planned capital allocations. A lot of times in the MSTUs we will build up to a project, so those allocations we want to make sure we're covering as well. Again, these adjustments will be subject to prioritization. Conservation Collier. The planned allocations as --we've talked about this a lot today. The planned allocations will be consistent with the approved Conservation Collier ordinance, which Page 234 March 12, 2024 will be coming back to you shortly, and any direction we get from that as well. Any questions on that at all? (No response.) MR. JOHNSON: No? No? All right. Employee compensation. The recommended budget policy for employee compensation is to appropriate the equivalent of 3 percent for base wages, 1.5 percent for a merit-based incentive program, and a half of percent for pay plan maintenance to strengthen certain classifications and pay grades that are currently below market. The total cost of this for the County Manager's agency is about seven and a half million dollars. Keep in mind that about 10 percent of our employees, this would not affect them because they're under collective bargaining agreements. Questions on that at all? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: Health insurance, for 2025 we're recommending a 7 percent rate increase to the existing rate structure. This increase would cost the County Manager's agency approximately $2 million. As far as it goes for the individual employees, the bi-monthly health cost would increase between $4 and $7 for those with single coverage, and $10 and $16 for those with family coverage. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I do have a question there. CHAIRMAN HALL: Go ahead. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Did we do any exploration on the raising of the percentage of our participation with regard to that offset in comparison to the straight-across 3 percent? MR. JOHNSON: We did. And in the private sector, that works out because you have --you have a tax burden to the federal government and to the state government, depending on where you're Page 235 March 12 , 2024 at. In this case, if you were to increase the healthcare cost on our end, you would then decrease the healthcare cost on the employee's end, therefore creating Social Security and Medicare tax that they would have to pay that we would have to match. So it balances itself out. And in addition, with those folks that are under those collective bargaining agreements, they wouldn't be subject to the raise that we were talking about, but they would be subject to the healthcare increases. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. And I'm not talking about unions or collective bargaining agreements. I'm talking about --because I think --I don't want to misquote, but I recall that there are at least two constitutionals that pay a higher percentage of their employees' health benefits. MR. JOHNSON: You are correct. I believe the Tax Collector -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Tax Collector and tax assessor. MR. JOHNSON: And it might be the Property Appraiser. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Tax assessor. Yeah, Property Appraiser's Office, and they're in the --they're in the 90 percentile. Can --sometime between now and when we get back together again, I'd like to hear their rationale as to --as to how that benefits their department. They're constitutional officers, but they come to us with their funding requisites. So I'd like to hear their rationale. I certainly don't want to --I don't want to burden our employees with an additional taxation that they may have to make up. It was my impression that we paid those FICA, MICA, and those withholdings. MR. JOHNSON: We split it. It's split between the employee Page 236 March 12, 2024 and the employer. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. JOHNSON: But we can do that. We have a meeting with the Tax Collector here at the end of the month, so ... COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. JOHNSON: Any other questions on that? (No response.) MR. JOHNSON: All right. Planned General Fund capital allocations, as you can see here, this total is --and then, again, this is the planned total --is $71.4 million. Of that, we're planning to augment the long-term capital reserve by $5 million. The transfers to stormwater, the road network and parks were increased by the 5 percent that we discussed during the budget workshop. The countywide capacity, that's the number available in this planning scenario to be utilized for our facilities --Sheriff's facilities and named projects, and then we have our debt allocations over on the other side. Any questions on that? (No response.) MR. JOHNSON: Planned Unincorporated Area Capital Fund allocations, again, transfer to parks, road, and storm water. The total is about $24.1 million in the planning scenario. Finally, we'll talk about reserves. General Fund, the floor, 8 percent of operating revenues or 44.9 million; the ceiling, 16 percent of operating revenues are 89.9 million. That's one to two months, give or take. For FY'24, the budgeted reserve was 72.2 million. The planning scenario puts that reserve at about $77 million. For the Unincorporated Area General Fund, the target is 8.3 percent of operating expenses, approximately one month of expenses, or 6.6 million. For FY'24, the budgeted reserve was 6.8 Page 237 March 12 , 2024 million. The planning reserve is --this year, for 2025, is $6.6 million. Other general governmental funds that receive transfer revenue from the General Fund will have reserves sized to cover the first month of operations or until we put the first transfer into the fund. Any questions on general governmental reserves? (No response.) MR. JOHNSON: Enterprise reserves, the Collier County Water/Sewer District user fee reserve established minimally between 5 percent and 15 percent of revenues with working capital resources set between 45 to 90 days of coverage. Solid Waste reserves are set between 45 and 90 days based on the FY'24 operating expenses, and we're also going to continue to reestablish --the reestablishment of a solid waste restricted reserve for disaster response. Basically, we want to size that around 10 percent of the budgeted charges. And then targeted reserves within GMD building permit fund --and I see I haven't updated these fund numbers. That's 1013, and the Planning Fund has changed to 1014, will be set at 12 months and 24 months of the total budget appropriations respectively. Any questions on that? (No response.) MR. JOHNSON: And this is just a chart to kind of show you the history of that capital --countywide capital reserve that started in FY2020. As you can see, currently in '24, we're at 22.5 million. The planned amount would bring us to 27.5 million in FY'25. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have a question there. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: How far along are we with the data input in calculation as to what that number actually needs to be? Ultimately, the --it needs to be --it needs to be a number Page 238 March 12, 2024 attributable to the actual amount of repairs and maintenance and ultimate replacement of our asset base. MR. JOHNSON: We worked on it a little bit. We'll have something for you by June. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Because I --I remember in a previous life that that number was significantly higher than the 5 million contribution this year. So I would like to, at some point --and, again, I realize that this is a pretty big lift for how we've been conducting business forever. But I would like to be able to correlate that contribution to actual assets and the useful life of those assets with regard to their --interim repairs and ultimate replacements and have that --have that be --have that be less of an arbitrary number and more of a fixed number attributable to proper maintenance and upkeep and ultimate replacement of our assets. MR. JOHNSON: All right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. JOHNSON: Got it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, sir. MR. JOHNSON: Thank you. Any other questions on that capital reserve? (No response.) MR. JOHNSON: All right. And with that, the recommendation today, to adopt the FY2025 budget policy, establish June budget workshop dates of the 20th and the 21st, and September public hearing dates, and adopt a resolution establishing a deadline of May 1st, 2024, for budget submittals by the Supervisor of Elections, the Sheriffs Office, and the Clerk. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want me to make a motion? I'll make a motion for approval. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Motion to approve the budget Page 239 policy, seconded. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: All opposed? (No response.) March 12, 2024 MR. JOHNSON: Thank you very much, gentlemen. CHAIRMAN HALL: I do want to make a comment regarding that. I read through all those 52 pages. MR. JOHNSON: Oh, good deal. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: How long did it take you? CHAIRMAN HALL: Too long. And by the time I was a third of the way through, I felt like I was being sold. And there was a lot of focus on revenue deficit, competition for revenue, requirements, and there wasn't a whole lot being said about a posture of reducing expenses or being excited about reducing expenses. And I would like to see that posture change, especially as we get ResourceX in here, because that is something --you talk about mission critical. That is mission critical to me. And I didn't want that --I didn't want you to go without that being said, because I read through every single page. So thank you. MR. JOHNSON: I appreciate the feedback. Thank you, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And as a public service announcement, if you haven't read it yet, it's a deep dive. And I highly recommend to anybody that's interested in our upcoming conversations as to how and what we're going to be doing with regard to the expenditure of our taxpayers' money, I highly recommend that you read that document, as we all have. Page 240 MR. JOHNSON: Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thanks, Chris. Item #15A March 12 , 2024 PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA BY INDIVIDUALS NOT ALREADY HEARD DURING PREVIOUS PUBLIC COMMENTS IN THIS MEETING MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 15. 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. JOHNSON: We have one, Katie Tardif. MS. TARDIF: I'm going to pass. MR. MILLER: She is going to pass. CHAIRMAN HALL: You might have agreed with Bill. Item #15B STAFF PROJECT UPDATES MS. PATTERSON: Item 15B, we have no staff project updates on this agenda. Item #15C STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS MS. PATTERSON: So that brings us to Item 15C, staff and Page 241 commission general communications. I have no --nothing today. County Attorney? MR. KLATZKOW: Nor do I. CHAIRMAN HALL: Topics for us, closing out. Commissioner Kowal. March 12, 2024 COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman. I'd just like to announce that Collier County's population grew last night by two. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Hey, congratulations. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Grandpa. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah. We had two new grandsons last night, Kane and Steel. They were big boys, seven plus, six plus. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Nice. COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So they were cooked --cooked in that oven pretty well. But that's why I'm a little tired. I was up pretty late last night, but --and, no, I think we had a great meeting today. I like the light agenda and us getting through it, so ... COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, 5:06. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Just as a --just as a repeat, I mentioned it earlier when Bridget was up here, but we did get approved for that 4,190,000 for our --for our transit maintenance facility. We did get approval for the million dollars in police equipment. These are federal appropriations coming to us from Mario Diaz-Balart. Everglades City, Camestown, our Copeland pump station rehab for 450,000, and then another one in Everglades City for 1,125,000 for the city pump stations as well, and those are really important. I'm going to supply that information to the County Manager to get to you-all just so you're aware of it as you're going Page 242 March 12, 2024 with your travels, if they haven't already got to you, so ... MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir, thank you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And that's all I have, sir. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Locastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Klatzkow, we were talking about it before we started here, but just for the sake of my colleagues here, because they might have a house of horrors in their district like I have in Goodland that's been there for many years, we finally took some aggressive action, you know, led by you and your team. Give us the short version of where we are on the lien that we put on this house that is basically one big, giant junkyard in a very visible part of Goodlette that they've been complaining about for years, and, you know, finally it sounds like we're turning the comer on it. Give us an update, if you would. MR. KLATZKOW: We filed a complaint for foreclosure. The homeowner didn't appear, so we got a default judgment. They're just walking away from their property. And we're --next step, we have to wait for scheduling with the Court, is to actually have a foreclosure sale. It used to be on the courtroom steps. I don't know if they still do it that way. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So the bottom line is the county will own it, then the county will sell it. MR. KLATZKOW: There will be a sale. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Right. MR. KLATZKOW: All right. And whoever purchases that property will get it, and our code lien will be satisfied out of the proceeds. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay. Thanks. Appreciate all that hard work. We'll continue to follow that one closely. And I know some people in Goodland who are interested who Page 243 March 12, 2024 are following it closely because there are citizens there that are interested in buying that corner lot and making sure that it gets cleaned up and upgraded and, you know, it's turned around. And then I just had two quick comments. It's --if I was Chief Sapp, I'd probably want to be at Disney World as well. But for those of us that went to his retirement --46 years of service --our County Manager really represented us well. I was telling her she said some great comments up at the front, very meaningful, and I know he appreciated it. The comments that touched me the most, just being a dad, and we can all relate to it, is it was great that he got all these plaques, you know, and all kind of loot, but if you were there, what you would have really been emotionally hit by a little bit more was his daughter. You know, he has an adult daughter who went up there and talked about her dad, you know, not just the fire chief and not just the leader, but not only was he a hero, but he was hardly ever home, but they had a family that understood why. And a lot of us have been in jobs where we're hardly ever home, and sometimes family understands it, sometimes they don't. It was really impressive to hear his daughter sort of talk about her dad, and that really sort of got me. And then, lastly, you know, I hope this is never really lost on us. Sheriff Rambosk, you know, he's a constitutional officer. He can kind of fly on autopilot and sort of --I don't want to say do whatever he wants, but, you know, he's always here and sits quietly in the back to make sure that he's representing not only his department and his men and women, but his mission. And, you know, he doesn't have to do that. He could send somebody or say "I can't make it" or, "if you've got a question for me, send me an e-mail." And, you know, I'm just always really impressed by that. You know, we don't get that across the board Page 244 March 12 , 2024 from everyone. And, you know, if he's out there listening --and I know he's not at Disney World, but I think I speak for all ofus when --you know, he's always at the ready, and if he has to talk to us for two minutes but sit here for two hours, that's probably not the best use of his time, and I like how at times we sort of move him a little bit more towards the front so we're not wasting his time. But I'm always really impressed that he's a man who leads from the front. And so today was no exception. But having said that, you know , there again, Mr. Klatzkow, thanks for all your work in Goodland, and looking forward to the ribbon cutting of that pretty new house, whoever buys it, and it will definitely look better than it does now. MR. KLATZKOW: It may wind up with us. We'll see. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Possibly, possibly. But that's all I have. Thank you. CHAIRMAN HALL: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. The only thing I would add is we have our Clerk who sits with us all the time also. I saw her smiling when Commissioner Locastro was mentioning the other constitutional officer. So thank you for everything that you do as well. And other than that, I have nothing to add other than everybody have a nice evening and, staff, go home and get some sleep. CHAIRMAN HALL: I have no further comments. Great meeting today. Thanks. We're adjourned. ******* Page 245 March 12 , 2024 ****Commissioner McDaniel moved, seconded by Commissioner Locastro and carried that the following items under the consent and summary agendas be approved and/ or adopted**** Item #16Al APPROVE FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN HORTICULTURAL COMPLEX, PL20230015483. Item #16A2 AUTHORIZED THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $123,880, WHICH WAS POSTED AS A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER PL20230002528 FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH IMPERIAL GOLF CLUB -GOLF COURSE RENOVATION. Item #16A3 AUTHORIZED THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $163,840, WHICH WAS POSTED AS A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER PL20210002249 FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH ESPLANADE BY THE ISLANDS AMENITY CAMPUS. Item #16A4 AUTHORIZED THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $26,280, WHICH Page 246 March 12 , 2024 WAS POSTED AS A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER PL20220001584 FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH WINCHESTER. Item #16A5 APPROVED FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR PELICAN MARSH GOLF CLUB -GOLF TEACHING FACILITY, PL20230018213. Item #16A6 APPROVED FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER FACILITIES AND APPURTENANT UTILITY EASEMENTS FOR MAGNOLIA POND RESIDENCES PHASE 1, PL20230014175. Item #16A7 APPROVED FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER FACILITIES AND APPURTENANT UTILITY EASEMENT FOR YOUTH HAVEN INTAKE COTTAGE, PL20230011349. Item #16A8 APPROVED FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE Page 247 March 12 , 2024 CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR ESPLANADE BY THE ISLANDS - PHASE 2C, PL20230008069. Item #16A9 APPROVED FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR ESPLANADE BY THE ISLANDS LUCERNA STREET, PL20230008065. Item #16A10 APPROVED AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE AN AMENDMENT TO AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING DENSITY BONUS AGREEMENT FOR THE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF COLLIER COUNTY, INC., DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE TREE FARM PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT TO MAKE AN INSUBSTANTIAL CHANGE TO THE LEGAL DESCRIPTION. Item #16Al 1 APPROVED FOR RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF ARTHREX COMMERCE PARK -PHASE 2 (APPLICATION NUMBER PL20230008595), APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT, AND APPROVAL OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $1 613 841.85. Item #16A12 Page 248 March 12 , 2024 APPROVED FOR RECORDING THE AMENDED FINAL PLAT OF GROVES AT ORANGE BLOSSOM, PHASE 3A, APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT, AND APPROVAL OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $72,483.95. (PL20230011875) Item #16A13 AUTHORIZED THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO INITIATE FORECLOSURE PROCEEDINGS PURSUANT TO SECTION 162.09, FLORIDA STATUTES, IN RELATION TO $578 ,223.90 IN ACCRUING CODE ENFORCEMENT LIENS FOR ONGOING VIOLATIONS AT 523 EUSTIS AVE., IMMOKALEE, FLORIDA 34142, ARISING FROM THE OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL MAGISTRATE ENTITLED, BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, VS. KATRIX LLC. Item # 16A 14 -Move to Item # 11 F (Per Agenda Change Sheet) Item #16A15 APPROVED THE CONSERVATION COLLIER MCILVANE MARSH PRESERVE FINAL MANAGEMENT PLAN UNDER THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PROGRAM. Item #16Bl APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIR TO SIGN AMENDMENT 3 TO THE TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENTS Page 249 March 12 , 2024 GENERATING ECONOMIC RECOVERY (TIGER) IX - IMMOKALEE COMPLETE STREETS GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION/FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION GRANT AWARD #693JJ32040007 UPDATING THE GRANT MILESTONES AND EXTENDING THE PROJECT COMPLETION DATE TO THE AGREEMENT. Item #16B2 APPROVED CHANGE ORDER NO. 1, ADDING TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-SEVEN (237) DAYS UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 20-7811 WITH QUALITY ENTERPRISES USA, INC., FOR THE "DESIGN-BUILD OF THE IMMOKALEE AREA IMPROVEMENTS -TIGER GRANT" PROJECT, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER. (PROJECT NO. 33563) Item #16B3 ESTABLISHED A POLICY AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIR TO EXECUTE EASEMENT USE AGREEMENTS FOR CERTAIN EXISTING MINOR ENCROACHMENTS DISCOVERED AS PART OF THE 16TH ST NE BRIDGE PROJECT (60212). Item #16B4 APPROVED THE SELECTION COMMITTEE'S RANKING AND AUTHORIZE STAFF TO BEGIN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE TOP-RANKED FIRM, HARDESTY & HANOVER CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, LLC, CONCERNING REQUEST Page 250 March 12, 2024 FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES ("RPS") NO. 23-8196, "CEI SERVICES FOR 16TH STREET NE BRIDGE," SO THAT STAFF CAN BRING A PROPOSED AGREEMENT BACK FOR THE BOARD'S CONSIDERATION AT A FUTURE MEETING. (PROJECT NO. 60212). Item #16B5 APPROVED A FIRST AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 18- 7379, "FOREST LAKES MSTU LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE," WITH GROUND ZERO LANDSCAPING SERVICES, INC., TO EXTEND THE AGREEMENT'S TERMINATION DATE FOR AN ADDITIONAL 180-DAYPERIOD THROUGH AND INCLUDING SEPTEMBER 18 2024. Item #16B6 APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN AN AMENDMENT TO ITS LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT WITH MARBELLA LAKES OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., FOR ADDITIONAL LANDSCAPE AND IRRIGATION IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN MARBELLA LAKES DRIVE, WHIPPOORWILL LANE, AND LIVINGSTON ROAD PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF WAY. Item #16B7 -Language Added (Per Agenda Change Sheet) AUTHORIZED ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION BY ST1\:FF THE COUNTY MANAGER OR DESIGNEE (Per Agenda Change Sheet) OF A SMALL COUNTY OUTREACH PROGRAM FOR RURAL AREAS OF OPPORTUNITIES APPLICATION WITH THE Page 251 March 12 , 2024 FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO FUND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PAVED SHOULDER TO IMPROVE SAFETY ON A SEGMENT OF IMMOKALEE ROAD (CR 846E) IN THE AMOUNT OF $999,855.21. Item #16B8 AUTHORIZED A BUDGET AMENDMENT TO RECOGNIZE REVENUE AND TRANSFER FUNDING FOR PROJECTS WITHIN THE TRANSPORTATION SUPPORTED GAS TAX FUND (3083) AND TRANSPORTATION & CDES CAPITAL FUND (3081) IN THE AMOUNT OF $230,253.23. (PROJECTS NOS. 60085, 60066, 60088, 69331, 69333, 69336, AND NO. 69340) Item #16B9 RESOLUTION 2024-37: APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT TO THE LOCAL AGENCY PROGRAM (LAP) AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) TO INCREASE THE GRANT AWARD FROM $983,670 TO $1 ,984,140.56 FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIVE-FOOT BIKE LANES ON GREEN BLVD; TO ADOPT THE ACCOMPANYING RESOLUTION FORMALLY APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE SAME ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS; AND TO AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS, FPN 438093-2-58- 01. (PROJECT NO. 33849. FUND 1841). Item #16Cl Page 252 March 12, 2024 TERMINATED FOR CONVENIENCE CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT NO. 22-7953 WITH DOUGLAS N. HIGGINS, INC., PERTAINING TO THE "NCWRF OPERATIONS BUILDING HVAC MAINTENANCE" PROJECT. (PROJECT NO. 50196.2) Item #16C2 APPROVED ADMINISTRATIVELY APPROVED CHANGE ORDER NO. 3, PROVIDING FOR A TIME EXTENSION OF 30 DAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT NO. 23-8058, WITH ACCURATE DRILLING SYSTEMS, INC., FOR THE "GOLDEN GATE CITY TRANSMISSION WATER MAIN IMPROVEMENTS -PHASE IA-GOLF COURSE" PROJECT, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER. (PROJECT NO. 70253) Item #16C3 THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, AS EX-OFFICIO THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE COLLIER COUNTY WATER-SEWER DISTRICT, AWARD INVITATION TO BID ("ITB") NO. 23-8187, "PUBLIC UTILITIES 33 LIFT STATION PANELS REPLACEMENT," TO POWERSERVE TECHNOLOGIES, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $3,112,404.29, APPROVE AN OWNER'S ALLOWANCE OF $155,000, AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT AND APPROVE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT. (PROJECT NO. 50280.6.4) Item #16C4 Page 253 March 12 , 2024 APPROVED CHANGE ORDER NO. 2, PROVIDING FOR A TIME EXTENSION OF 4 DAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT NO. 22-7981, WITH ONESOURCE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY & BUILDERS, INC., FOR THE "NORTH COUNTY REGIONAL WATER TREATMENT PLANT (NCRWTP) STORAGE BUILDING" PROJECT, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER. (PROJECT NO. 70136) Item #16C5 APPROVED CITYWORKS LICENSE AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT,AMENDMENTNO. 2 TO AGREEMENT NO. 13- 6064 (#C156213), WITH AZTECA SYSTEMS, LLC, TO RENEW THE AGREEMENT FOR ONE ADDITIONAL YEAR, APPROVE AN EXPENDITURE IN THE AMOUNT OF $111,228.00 FOR THE RENEWAL YEAR, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AMENDMENT. Item #16Dl APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN AN IMPACT FEE DEFERRAL AGREEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $281,589.12 WITH CASAAMIGO EHT, LLC, FOR TWENTY- FOUR (24) MULTI-FAMILY AFFORDABLE HOUSING RENTAL HOUSING UNITS. Item #16D2 APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN ELEVEN (11) MORTGAGE SATISFACTIONS FOR THE STATE Page 254 March 12 , 2024 HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP LOAN PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF $122,941.49 AND AUTHORIZE THE ASSOCIATED BUDGET AMENDMENT. (SHIP GRANT FUND 1053) Item #16D3 APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN ONE (1) RELEASE OF LIEN FORAN AFFORDABLE HOUSING DENSITY BONUS AGREEMENT FORA UNIT THAT IS NO LONGER SUBJECT TO THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT. Item #16D4 APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A LANDLORD PAYMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY AND CLARK COURT BUNGALOWS LLC, ALLOWING THE COMMUNITY AND HUMAN SERVICES DIVISION (CHS) TO ADMINISTER THE RAPID RE-HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION PROGRAM THROUGH THE EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS AND RAPID UNSHELTERED SURVIVOR HOUSING GRANT PROGRAMS. Item #16D5 APPROVED AN EXTENSION OF LOAN AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY ALLOWING THE COLLIER COUNTY MUSEUMS AND THE MARCO ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO CONTINUE TO EXHIBIT FOURTEEN (14) ARTIFACTS FROM THE 1896 PEPPER- Page 255 March 12 , 2024 HEARST ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO DISPLAY AT THE MARCO ISLAND HISTORICAL MUSEUM. Item #16D6 APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THREE (3) RELEASES OF LIEN FOR FULL PAYMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $57,427.98 PURSUANT TO THE AGREEMENT FOR DEFERRAL OF 100% OF COLLIER COUNTY IMPACT FEES FOR OWNER OCCUPIED AFFORDABLE HOUSING DWELLINGS. Item #16D7 ACCEPTED A DONATION OF GOODS FROM THE BENNY FUND, AN OHIO NON-PROFIT CORPORATION, FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING FENCED ASTROTURF PLAY YARDS AT THE DOMESTIC ANIMAL SERVICES SHELTER OF AN APPROXIMATE VALUE OF $58,155. Item #16El APPROVED THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 18-7287, "ENTERPRISE ASSET MANAGEMENT CONSULTING SERVICES," WITH EMA, INC., GRAY MATTER SYSTEMS, LLC, AND STANTEC CONSULTING SERVICES INC., EXTENDING THOSE AGREEMENTS FOR ONE YEAR UNDER THE SAME PRICING, TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE AGREEMENT Item #16E2 Page 256 March 12 , 2024 APPROVED AN ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT ASSIGNING ALL RIGHTS, DUTIES, BENEFITS, AND OBLIGATIONS TO RVI PLANNING+ LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, INC., CONCERNING AGREEMENT NO. 18-7432-LA, "PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LIBRARY -LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE CATEGORY." Item #16E3 APPROVED AN ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT ASSIGNING ALL RIGHTS, DUTIES, BENEFITS, AND OBLIGATIONS TO GRACE HERBERT CURTIS ARCHITECTS, LLC, CONCERNING AGREEMENT NO. 18-7432-AR "PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LIBRARY ARCHITECTURAL STUDY, PLANNING AND DESIGN CATEGORY". Item #16E4 APPROVED AN ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT ASSIGNING ALL RIGHTS, DUTIES, BENEFITS, AND OBLIGATIONS TO STANTEC CONSULTING SERVICES, INC., CONCERNING AGREEMENT NO. 22-7973 "INDEPENDENT DESIGN PEER REVIEW SERVICES FOR TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING PROJECTS". Item #16E5 AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES FOR A SINGLE SOURCE PROVIDER FOR BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICES WITH ORLANDO TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC., D/B/A SUMMIT BROADBAND, WITH PROJECTED ANNUAL COSTS OF NOT Page 257 March 12 , 2024 TO EXCEED $100,000 PER FISCAL YEAR FOR A FIVE-YEAR PERIOD, AND TO RATIFY THE APPROVAL OF ATTACHED MASTER SERVICE AGREEMENT NO. 22-021-NS. Item #16Fl APPROVED A REIMBURSEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $281,589.12 TO CASAAMIGOS EHT, LLC, FOR IMPACT FEES PAID ON BUILDING PERMIT NUMBER PRBD20201252841 AND PROPOSED TO BE DEFERRED THROUGH AN IMPACT FEE DEFERRAL AGREEMENT FOR A MULTI-FAMILY AFFORDABLE HOUSING RENTAL PROJECT. Item #16F2 AWARDED INVITATION TO BID ("ITB") NO. 23-8107S, "PURCHASE AND DELIVERY OF PLANT MATERIAL FOR PELICAN BAY SERVICES -SUPPLEMENTAL," TO HANNULA LANDSCAPING AND IRRIGATION, INC., AND SITEONE LANDSCAPE SUPPLY, LLC, AS PRIMARY AND SECONDARY VENDORS. Item #16F3 APPROVED A QUOTATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $440,220 AND AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ISSUE A PURCHASE ORDER FOR A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION, UNDER MULTI-CONTRACTOR AWARDAGREEMENTNO.19-7525, TO CAPITAL CONTRACTORS, LLC, FOR REPAIRS TO FIVE HISTORIC STRUCTURES AT THE COLLIER MUSEUM AT THE GOVERNMENT CENTER. (PROJECT NO. 50510) Page 258 March 12 , 2024 Item #16F4 AUTHORIZED THE CHAIRPERSON TO EXECUTE NINETEEN (19) 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 #16F5 APPROVED THE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TAX PROMOTION FUNDS TO SUPPORT THE UPCOMING APRIL 2024 SPORTS TOURISM EVENT, NAPLES SPRING SHOOTOUT, PAYING UP TO $3,000 TO KICKOFF SOCCER, AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THESE EXPENDITURES PROMOTE TOURISM. Item #16F6 AWARDED FIXED FEE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT TO DIGITECH COMPUTER, LLC, UNDER REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) 23-8098 EMS BILLING SERVICES AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT. Item # 16F7 -Move to Item # 11 G (Per Agenda Change Sheet) Item #16F8 Page 259 March 12 , 2024 DONATED TWO (2) SURPLUS VEHICLES TO EVERGLADES CITY AND AUTHORIZE THE PROCUREMENT DIRECTOR, AS DESIGNEE FOR THE COUNTY MANAGER, TO SIGN FOR THE TRANSFER OF THE VEHICLE TITLES, PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE CHAPTER 274.05. Item #16F9 RESOLUTION 2024-38: ADOPTED A RESOLUTION APPROVING AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING GRANTS, DONATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS, OR INSURANCE PROCEEDS) TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2023-24 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 #16F10 APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA) IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,000 BASED ON THE NOTICE OF PROPOSED CIVIL PENALTY ISSUED TO COLLIER COUNTY HELICOPTER OPERATIONS REGARDING AN ALLEGED VIOLATION OF FAA REGULATIONS. Item #16Fll Page 260 March 12 , 2024 AWARDED REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL ("RFP") NO. 23-8133 FOR AGENDA MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE TO CIVICPLUS, LLC, AND APPROVE THE RELATED ATTACHED AGREEMENT WITH CIVIC PLUS, AS WELL AS APPROVING AMENDMENT TWO, WITH GRANICUS, LLC PERTAINING TO AGREEMENT NO. 15-6431, BCC AGENDA SOFTWARE REPLACEMENT (EXTENDING THE EXISTING SERVICES THERE UNDER FOR AN ADDITIONAL SIX MONTHS). Item #16Hl PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 18 -22, 2024, AS GOVERNMENT FINANCE PROFESSIONALS WEEK IN COLLIER COUNTY. TO BE MAILED TO DEREK JOHNSSEN, CLERK OF THE COURT DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING; AND CHRIS JOHNSON, DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES. Item #16H2 PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 16, 2024, AS SAVE THE FLORIDA PANTHER DAY IN COLLIER COUNTY. TO BE MAILED TO ERIN MYERS, REFUGE MANAGER, FLORIDA PANTHER AND TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE . Item #16H3 PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 2024 AS NATIONAL ATHLETIC TRAINING MONTH. THE PROCLAMATION WILL BE MAILED TO THE ATHLETIC TRAINERS' ASSOCIATION OF Page 261 FLORIDA, NEW PORT RICHEY, FLORIDA. March 12 , 2024 Item #16H4-Add-On Item (Per Agenda Change Sheet) PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 21-31, 2024, AS THE 4gTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COLLIER FAIR. THE PROCLAMATION WILL BE MAILED TO RHONDA WARD, COLLIER FAIR MANAGER. Item #1611 MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE MARCH 12, 2024 Page 262 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE March 12, 2024 1. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS TO FILE FOR RECORD WITH ACTION AS DIRECTED: A. DISTRICTS: 1) Greater Naples Fire Rescue Ochopee Fire Control District Advisory Committee: 12/11/2023 Signed Minutes 2) Terreno Community Development District: 02 /15 /2024 Agency Letter, Proposed Budget for FY 2024 /2025 (October 1, 2024 -September 30, 2025) 3) Quarry Community Development Committee: 02/16/2024 Agency Memo, Signed Minutes, & Agency Minutes 09/18 /2023 Agency Mailing and Signed Minutes 10/09 /2023 Agency Mailing and Signed Minutes 11 /13 /2023 Agency Mailing and Signed Minutes 4) Cedar Hammock Community Development District: 11 /14/2023 Agency Mailing and Signed Minutes March 12, 2024 Item #16Jl RECORDED 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 IN THE AMOUNT OF $50,833,110.42 WERE DRAWN FOR THE PERIODS BETWEEN FEBRUARY 15, 2024, AND FEBRUARY 28, 2024, PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06. Item #16J2 THE BOARD APPROVED AND DETERMINED VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF MARCH 6, 2024. Item #16Kl RESOLUTION 2024-39: APPOINTING TWO MEMBERS TO THE BAYSHORE BEAUTIFICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE - APPOINTING JAMES CASCONE AND REAPPOINTING SUSAN J. CRUM BOTH WITH TERMS EXPIRING ON MARCH 3, 2028 Item #16K2 RESOLUTION 2024-40: APPOINTING MR. RICHARD ANNIS AS A MEMBER TO THE HOUSING FINANCE AUTHORITY - W/TERM EXPIRING ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2027 Item #16K3 Page 263 March 12 , 2024 APPROVED A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $117,100 PLUS $27,598 IN STATUTORY ATTORNEY FEES, APPORTIONMENT FEES, EXPERT FEES AND COSTS FOR THE TAKING OF PARCEL 1114FEE REQUIRED FOR THE VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PROJECT NO. 60168. Item #16K4 APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE A SECOND AMENDMENT TO RETENTION AGREEMENT FOR SPECIALIZED FEMA LEGAL SERVICES ON AN "AS NEEDED" BASIS WITH THE LAW FIRM OF BAKER, DONELSON, BEARMAN, CALDWELL & BERKOWITZ, P.C. Item #17 A-Moved to Item #9A (Per Agenda Change Sheet) Item #17B -Moved to Item #9B (Per Agenda Change Sheet) Page 264 March 12 , 2024 There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 5: 11 p.m. ATTEST BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL CHRIS HALL, CHAIRMAN 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 TERRIL. LEWIS, REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL COURT REPORTER, FPR-C, AND NOTARY PUBLIC. Page 265