Agenda 04/22/2025 Item # 2A (BCC Regular Meeting Minutes 03/11/2025)March 11, 2025
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TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Naples, Florida, March 11, 2025
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: Burt L. Saunders
Dan Kowal (telephonically)
Chris Hall
Rick LoCastro
William L. McDaniel, Jr.
ALSO PRESENT:
Amy Patterson, County Manager
Ed Finn, Deputy County Manager
Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney
Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller
Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations
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March 11, 2025
COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Community Redevelopment Agency Board (CRAB)
Airport Authority
AGENDA
Board of County Commission Chambers
Collier County Government Center
3299 Tamiami Trail East, 3rd Floor
Naples, FL 34112
March 11, 2025
9:00 AM
Commissioner Burt Saunders, District 3; – Chair
Commissioner Dan Kowal, District 4; – Vice Chair
Commissioner Rick LoCastro, District 1
Commissioner Chris Hall, District 2;
Commissioner William L. McDaniel, Jr., District 5;
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.
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March 11, 2025
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.
LUNCH RECESS SCHEDULED FOR 12:00 NOON TO 1:00 P.M.
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March 11, 2025
1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
A. Invocation: Pastor David George, First Naples Church ||| Pledge of
Allegiance:
2. AGENDA AND MINUTES
A. Approval of today's Regular, Consent, and Summary agenda as amended
(ex-parte disclosure provided by Commission members for Consent agenda.)
3. AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
4. PROCLAMATIONS
A. Proclamation designating March 11, 2025, 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 15, 2025, as Save the Florida Panther Day
in Collier County. To be accepted by Erin Myers, Florida Panther National
Wildlife Refuge Manager.
C. Proclamation designating March 20 through March 30, 2025, as 49th
Anniversary of the Collier Fair. To be accepted by Pat Cookson, Fair Board
Secretary.
D. Proclamation designating March 2025 as National Nutrition Month. To be
accepted by Nadia Heinz, Clinical Nutrition Manager, Naples
Comprehensive Health.
5. PRESENTATIONS
6. PUBLIC PETITIONS
7. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT
OR FUTURE AGENDA
8. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
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A. This Item Continued from the February 11, 2025 BCC Meeting. 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 a Resolution of the
Board of Zoning Appeals of Collier County, Florida, providing for the
establishment of a conditional use to allow a 150-foot tall monopole
communications tower that deviates from the required 150-foot separation
from residential property by providing an 84-foot separation from residential
property to the north on lands zoned Estates (E) and designated Residential
Estates Subdistrict within the Rural Golden Gate Estates Sub-Element of the
Golden Gate Area Master Plan of the Collier County Growth Management
Plan pursuant to sections 2.03.01.B.1.c.12 and 5.05.09 of the Collier County
Land Development Code, located on approximately 613+ square feet of a
4.99+ acre tract located at 191 Weber Boulevard North, in Section 2,
Township 49 South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida.
(PL20230004408 - FPL Summit Tower Conditional Use)
9. ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS
10. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
A. Recommendation to hear a presentation on the value of direct participation
in the state and federal legislative process, evaluate its return on investment
in securing project funding, preservation of local funds, advancement of
Board priorities, and advancing issues that serve and protect the public.
11. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT
A. Recommendation to Adopt the FY 2026 Budget Policy, and adopt a
Resolution establishing a deadline of May 1, 2025, for budget submittals by
the Supervisor of Elections, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Clerk. (Christopher
Johnson, Division Director - Corporate Financial & Management Services)
B. Recommendation to provide staff direction pertaining to the Board of
County Commissioners' request for modifications to the existing Land
Development Code 5.05.15, Golf Course Conversion process to minimize
the County’s exposure to Burt Harris claims associated with the current
codified conversion process. (Michael Bosi, Division Director - Planning &
Zoning)
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C. Recommendation to direct staff to advertise and bring back an Ordinance
amending the Land Development Code to modify the prohibition of renting
guesthouses on lots zoned Estates (E), located west of Collier Boulevard, to
allow for such rentals if all new requirements are met. (PL20240009067)
(Michael Bosi, Division Director - Planning & Zoning)
12. COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT
13. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
14. AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND/OR 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
1) Broadcast Control room / Boardroom Renovation
C. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
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16. All matters listed under this item are considered to be routine and action will
be taken by one motion without separate discussion of each item. If discussion
is desired by a member of the Board, that item(s) will be removed from the
Consent Agenda and considered separately.
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A. GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the sewer utilities
facilities and accept the conveyance of the sewer facilities for Arthrex
Academy, PL20240013449.
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2) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and
sewer utility facilities for Wyndemere Country Club,
PL20240011683.
3) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance of the
private roadway and drainage improvements and acceptance of the
plat dedications for the final plat of Crane Point & Bimini Isle,
Application Number PL20180001005, and authorize the release of the
maintenance security in the amount of $365,455.27.
4) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance of the
private roadway and drainage improvements and acceptance of the
plat dedications for the final plat of Greyhawk Model Center Replat,
Application Number PL20200000169, and authorize the release of the
maintenance security in the amount of $9,185.
5) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and
sewer utility facilities, accept the conveyance of the potable water and
sewer facilities for Greyhawk at Golf Club of the Everglades – Phase
4, PL201900002639, authorize the County Manager, or designee, to
release the Final Obligation Bond in the amount of $4,000, and
authorize the transfer of the Final Obligations Cash Bond to the
Collier County Public Utilities Department (CCPUD).
6) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance of the
private roadway and drainage improvements and acceptance of the
plat dedications for the final plat of Isles of Collier Preserve Phase 15,
Application Number PL20200002649, and authorize the release of the
maintenance security in the amount of $638,231.
7) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance of the
private roadway and drainage improvements and acceptance of the
plat dedications for the final plat of Naples Reserve, Phase III,
Application Number PL20170002678, and authorize the release of the
maintenance security in the amount of $74,492.25.
8) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance of the
private roadway and drainage improvements and plat dedications for
the final plat of Sutton Cay, Application Number PL20180000116,
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and authorize the release of the maintenance security in the amount of
$60,655.88.
9) Recommendation to approve for recording the amended plat of
SkySail Phase 4 Townhomes (Application Number PL20240006691),
approval of the standard form Construction and Maintenance
Agreement, and approval of the performance security in the total
amount of $3,679,937.80.
10) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and
sewer utility facilities, accept the conveyance of a portion of the
potable water facilities for Vio Center, PL201800002413, authorize
the County Manager, or designee, to release the Final Obligation
Bond in the amount of $4,000, and the 10% Utility Performance
Security in the amount of $1,714.43 to the Project Engineer or the
Developer’s designated agent, and authorize the transfer of the Final
Obligations Cash Bond to Collier County Public Utilities Department
(CCPUD).
11) Recommendation to authorize the Clerk of Courts to release a
Performance Bond in the amount of $615,468, which was posted as a
guarantee for Excavation Permit Number PL20220003203 for work
associated with Bonita Bay East Golf Club – Sabal Golf Course
Redesign.
12) Recommendation to approve for recording the plat of Cadiz at Ave
Maria (Application Number PL20240011531), approval of the
standard form Construction and Maintenance Agreement, and
approval of the performance security in the amount of $2,010,837.68.
13) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid 25-8332, “Purchase of
Mulch and Pine Straw,” to Forestry Resources, LLC, d/b/a The Mulch
and Soil Company, and authorize staff to issue a standard County
Purchase Order for the procurement.
14) Recommendation to adopt a Resolution of the Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, amending the
Administrative Code for Land Development, which was created by
Ordinance No. 2013-57, by amending the administrative procedures to
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create an application for Mobile Food Dispensing Vehicles,
Permanent, Permit.
B. TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to authorize County Manager or designee to
electronically submit 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) for
approximately 0.66 miles, from east of Dupree Grade to west of
bridge 034833, in the amount of $995,932.13.
2) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a
Local Agency Program (LAP) Agreement with the Florida
Department of Transportation (FDOT) reimbursing the County up to
$311,562.00 to purchase 10 (ten) vehicle count stations; execute a
Resolution memorializing the Board’s action; and authorize all
necessary Budget Amendments. FPN 446254-1-98-01. (Project
33937, Fund 1841)
3) 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 grant funds from $2,383,352 to $3,023,352 ($640,000
increase) for the construction of a ten-foot multi-use path on County
Barn Road from Rattlesnake Hammock Road to SR 84 (Davis Blvd.);
to execute the accompanying Resolution; and to authorize the
necessary Budget Amendments, FPN 438091-2-58-01. (Fund 1841,
Project No. 60254)
4) Recommendation to approve the Resolution authorizing the Chairman
to execute Section 5310 Public Transit Grant Agreement (FPN
448810-1-94-24) with the Florida Department of Transportation to
accept Federal Transit Administration grant funding in the total
amount of $640,315 for the purchase of four paratransit cutaway
vehicles, four radios, four vehicle electronic inspection systems, four
wireless routers and four tablets, and to authorize the necessary
Budget Amendments. (CAT Grant Fund 4034)
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5) Recommendation to approve an Agreement for the purchase of right
of way (Parcel 1302FEE) required for the Vanderbilt Beach Road Ext
– Phase 2 Project (Project No. 60249). Estimated Fiscal Impact:
$32,625
6) Recommendation to approve Budget Amendments for the landscape
and irrigation portion of Transportation Engineering and Construction
Management in-house turn lane and directional median modification
projects (Projects No. 60016).
7) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
Amendment No. 3 to Agreement 20CO2 with the Florida Department
of Environmental Protection Bureau of Beaches and Coastal Systems
Beach Management Funding Assistance Program and make a finding
that this item promotes tourism.
8) Recommendation to ratify administratively approved Change Order
No. 1, adding a total of fourteen days to the contract time under
Agreement No. 23-8150 with Thomas Marine Construction, Inc., for
the “Bike Lanes 111th Ave N.E. Bluebill Ave Bridge to 7th Ave N –
LAP” project, and authorizing the Chairman to sign the attached
Change Order. (Project No. 33620)
9) Recommendation to ratify administratively approved Change Order
No. 2, adding sixty-five (65) days under Agreement No. 19-7599 with
Capital Consulting Solutions, LLC. for the “Bike Lanes Along 111th
Avenue North, east of Bluebill Ave. Bridge to 7th Street North (LAP)”
project, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Change
Order. (Project No. 33620)
10) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
Amendment No. 1 to Agreement No. 24CO1 between Collier County
Board of County Commissioners and the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection to provide additional State reimbursement
funding in the amount of $229,699.60, for a total amount of
$810,305.60, and to extend the agreement for twelve months for
Collier County Beach Renourishment and Inlet Management
Projects.
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11) Recommendation to accept the award and authorize the Chairman to
execute Grant Agreement No. 25CO1 between Collier County Board
of County Commissioners and the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection for funding reimbursement and support for
Collier County Beach Renourishment and Inlet Management Projects
in an amount not to exceed $90,000.
12) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 2 to Agreement No.
22-7944, “Professional Design Services for 16th Street NE Bridge,”
with Kisinger Campo & Associates, Corporation to provide additional
design services and add 240 days and $21,735.94 to the Contract
(Project No. 60212).
13) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid (“ITB”) No. 24-8316,
“Landscape Maintenance for Work Areas 18B, 20B, 21B, 23, 27,” to
Mainscape, Inc., Superb Landscape Services, Inc., and Superior
Landscaping & Lawn Service, Inc., on a Primary/Secondary basis,
and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached agreements.
14) Recommendation to approve the award of Invitation to Bid (“ITB”)
No. 23-8158, “Vanderbilt Drive Sidewalk (LAP),” to ZEP
Construction, Inc., in the amount of $1,105,441.01, approve an
Owner’s Allowance of $100,000, and authorize the Chairman to sign
the attached Agreement. (Project No. 60255, Funds 1841 and 3081).
15) Recommendation to approve a Traffic Signal Agreement with
Cameron Commons, authorize the Chairman to sign a traffic signal
agreement with Cameron Commons Unit Two Property Owner’s
Association that will authorize the construction of a traffic signal at
the intersection of Immokalee Road and Bellaire Bay Drive and
memorialize that the signal may be removed at the County’s
discretion.
C. PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, as ex-
officio the Governing Board of the Collier County Water-Sewer
District , approve a Third Amendment to Agreement No. 13-6064 with
Azteca Systems, LLC, to extend the schedule of payments and fees
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for support services under the Agreement for three additional years,
approve an expenditure in the amount of $671,250 over three years for
the updated pricing, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached
Amendment.
2) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, as ex-
officio the Governing Board of the Collier County Water-Sewer
district, approve a Ninth Amendment to Agreement No. 04-3673,
“Professional Engineering Services for Design of the Northeast Water
Reclamation Facility and Water Treatment Plant,” with Carollo
Engineers, Inc., for additional services during construction of the
Deep Injection Wells, an increase of $1,004,658 to Purchase Order
No. 4500205004, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached
Amendment. (Project No. 70194)
3) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, acting as
ex-officio the Governing Board of the Collier County Water-Sewer
District, direct the County Attorney to advertise, and bring back for a
Public Hearing, a Resolution amending the Collier County Utilities
Standards and Procedures Ordinance and the Collier County Water-
Sewer District Utilities Standards Manual.
D. PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to recognize carryforward interest earned from the
period of October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024, on advanced
funding received from the Treasury from the following grant
programs: Emergency Rental Assistance Program 1, Emergency
Rental Assistance Program 2, Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal
Recovery Fund, and the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency
Fund in the amount of $1,078,237.95
2) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign the
First Amendment to the Subrecipient Agreement between Collier
County and Baker Senior Center Inc. to amend Community
Development Block Grant Agreement #PS24-04. (No Fiscal Impact)
3) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a
Memorandum of Understanding between Collier County and the
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David Lawrence Mental Health Center, Inc., to support the state-
mandated/low-income pool local match requirement for mental health
and substance use services. (General Fund (Mental Health), 0001)
4) Recommendation to approve a Resolution to 1) accept the distribution
of funds from the Coyeen R. Lawton Estate and Lawton Family Trust
Agreement dated 12/28/99, for use by the Naples Regional Library; 2)
authorize the County Manager or designee to execute all documents
required to accept a future distribution from the Estate and take all
actions necessary to accept any such future distributions; and 3)
approve any future necessary Budget Amendments.
5) Recommendation to authorize a Budget Amendment to recognize
$102,294.69 in program income from Overnight and Investment
interest for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program Fiscal
Year 2024-2025 (SHIP Grant Fund 1053).
6) Recommendation to approve a Memorandum of Understanding with
the Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida, Inc., and the Florida
Department of Children and Families for Adult Protective Services
Referrals to ensure the timely delivery of services to victims of abuse,
neglect, or exploitation. (Human Services Grant Fund 1837)
7) Recommendation to approve a revised Memorandum of
Understanding with the Agricultural and Labor Program, Inc., as the
provider of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program for
Collier County for the Emergency Home Energy Assistance Program
to coordinate referrals and prevent duplication of benefits. (Human
Services Grant Fund 1837)
8) Recommendation to approve an after-the-fact electronic grant
application in the amount of $78,000 to the Collier County
Community and Human Services PY 2025/2026 Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) Grant Cycle for Community Development
Block Grant funds to support the Immokalee Pioneer Museum Garden
and Grove Project. Housing Grant Fund (1835).
E. CORPORATE BUSINESS OPERATIONS
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1) Recommendation to approve an Assumption Agreement assigning all
rights, duties, benefits, and obligations to WSP USA Inc., concerning
the following Agreements: (1) No. 18-7469, “CEI Services for Big
Corkscrew Island Regional Park,” (2) No. 18-7432-CE, “Professional
Services Library – Civil Engineering Category (Fixed Term
Continuing Contract),” (3) No. 18-7432-SW, “Professional Services
Solid & Hazardous Waste Management (Fixed Term Continuing
Contract),” (4) No. 18-7432-AR “Professional Services Library
Architectural Study, Planning & Design (Fixed Term Continuing
Contract)”, and (5) No. 18-7432-ME “Professional Services Library
Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing & Technology Engineering
Category (Fixed Term Continuing Contract).”
F. COUNTY MANAGER OPERATIONS
1) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid (“ITB”) No. 24-8243,
“Hurricane Ian Repairs – Naples Depot Museum,” to Panzica
Construction Co., in the amount of $1,268,689.10, authorize the Chair
to sign the attached Agreement, and approve the necessary Budget
Amendment (Project No. 50280).
2) Recommendation to ratify administratively approved Change Order
No. 6 under Agreement No. 20-7680 for the Pelican Bay Sidewalk
Improvement Design with LJA Engineering, Inc. (f/k/a Agnoli,
Barber, and Brundage, Inc.), adding $14,747.00 for additional
engineering services and 365 additional days during the extended
Phase 2 construction period, authorize the Chair to sign the attached
change order, and approve the necessary Budget Amendment. (Project
No. 50178)
3) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid No. 25-8328, “Sun-N-
Fun Slide Pool Renovation,” to Electro-Mechanic Industries, Inc.,
d/b/a Vermana, in the amount of $164,964, with an Owner’s
Allowance in the amount of $13,700, authorize the Chair to sign the
attached Agreement, and approve any necessary Budget Amendments.
(Project No. 80421)
4) Recommendation to approve a Lease and Service Agreement between
the Board of County Commissioners and Safe Haven Baby Boxes,
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Inc., for the implementation and installation of a newborn safety
device at Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Station 76, located at
790 Logan Boulevard, Naples, FL 34119.
5) Recommendation to accept the report from the City of Naples
Tourism Impact Study for the Stormwater Outfall Pipe Removal and
Water Quality Project and make a finding that this project promotes
tourism.
6) Recommendation to approve an after-the-fact payment in the amount
of $65,000 to Paradise Advertising & Marketing, Inc., for the Tourism
Division for the Sponsorship Campaign for FY25 Imagine Solutions
Conference-Media Buy and make a finding that this expenditure
promotes tourism.
G. AIRPORT AUTHORITY
1) Recommendation to approve the Closing of the Public Transportation
Grant Agreements (PTGA) for the Public Aviation Grant Program,
Contract No. G2K13 (FM 446361-1-94-01) and G2J86 (FM 446362-
1-94-01) between the State of Florida Department of Transportation
(FDOT) and the Collier County Board of County Commissioners (the
"Board"), and to authorize the County Manager, or her designee, to
perform the ministerial function of executing future Closing of the
Public Transportation Grant Agreements.
2) Recommendation to authorize staff to engage the Federal Aviation
Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation to seek
guidance and information regarding the potential deactivation of
Everglades Airpark (X01) as a public airport.
H. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
1) Proclamation designating March 17 - 21, 2025, as Government
Finance Professionals Week in Collier County. The proclamation will
be delivered to Derek Johnssen, Director of Finance & Accounting,
Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller.
I. MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
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1) Miscellaneous Correspondence March 11, 2025
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
$38,055,341.33 were drawn for the periods between February 13,
2025 and February 26, 2025 pursuant to Florida Statute 136.06.
2) Request that the Board approve and determine valid public purpose
for invoices payable and purchasing card transactions as of March 5,
2025.
K. COUNTY ATTORNEY
1) Recommendation to appoint Ronald Fowle Jr. and reclassify Allen
Schantzen to a Bayshore Resident category on the Bayshore/Gateway
Triangle Local Redevelopment Advisory Board.
2) Recommendation to appoint six members to the Pelican Bay Services
Division Board.
3) Recommendation to reappoint a member to the Bayshore
Beautification Advisory Committee.
4) Recommendation to approve a Settlement Agreement with Quality
Enterprises USA, Inc., concerning Design-Build Agreement No. 20-
7708, pertaining to the incorporation of additional embankment fill
material during the construction of the Veteran’s Memorial Boulevard
Extension Phase I project, and to authorize the Chair to sign the
attached settlement agreement.
L. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
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17. SUMMARY AGENDA - This section is for advertised public hearings and
must meet the following criteria: 1) A recommendation for approval from
staff; 2) Unanimous recommendation for approval by the Collier County
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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.
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A. This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by Commission
members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are
required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve an amendment to
Ordinance Number 20-51, Naples Senior Center Community Facility
Planned Unit Development (CFPUD), by modifying its programs offered,
hours of operation, and operational characteristics, traffic control
commitment, and renaming the CFPUD to Baker Senior Center Naples
CFPUD, for property located on the southeast corner of the intersection of
Oakes Boulevard and Autumn Oaks Lane, approximately 350 feet south of
Immokalee Road, in Section 29, Township 48 South, Range 26 East,
consisting of 13.6+ acres; by renaming the Ordinance to Baker Senior
Center Naples CFPUD; and by providing an effective date.
18. ADJOURN
INQUIRIES CONCERNING CHANGES TO THE BOARD’S AGENDA SHOULD
BE MADE TO THE COUNTY MANAGER’S OFFICE AT 252-8383.
March 11, 2025
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MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. Good morning.
Welcome. Let's start off with the Pledge -- or the invocation first
and the Pledge, and then we'll get down to business. Help us get
started on the right path, sir.
Item #1A
INVOCATION BY PASTOR DAVID GEORGE OF FIRST
NAPLES CHIRCH – INVOCATION GIVEN
PASTOR GEORGE: Thank you.
Let us pray. Lord, we come before you this morning with an
agenda full of items, Lord. You teach us in Proverbs 19 that many
are the plans in the mind of a man, but it's the purpose of the Lord
that will stand. And so, Lord, I pray you will give them great
wisdom and direction, Lord, as they continue to govern and lead this
great county, Lord. You say that if any of us lacks wisdom, let them
ask of you who gives generously without reproach, and it will be
given. So, Lord, give them wisdom, grace, and strength to do what's
right, Lord, even in the face of opposition, for it is your purposes that
will stand.
It's in the name Jesus we ask. Amen.
(The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Before we start with our business,
Jeff Morris has a few words to say. He was a North Collier Fire
battalion chief and served with Jerry Sanford --
MR. MORRIS: Correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- and is here to help honor his
memory, so...
MR. MORRIS: Thank you, Commissioner.
March 11, 2025
Page 3
I'm here today to honor Jerry Sanford. Jerry Sanford had many
years in the fire service. He started many events locally, many
committees, many programs, and I was proud to serve with Jerry with
North Naples Fire Department for many years.
And the attributes that he had and he was able to instill in many
of us that worked there was amazing. But I would say his biggest
attribute he always had was -- I don't care what rank you had, what
your issue was, when you went by his office, he would stop
everything and welcome you into his office and treated you like you
were the most important thing he had going that day. And I think
that's something we could all strive to emulate in our lives. And I
learned so much from that man. It was an honor to serve with him,
and I'm here just to honor him.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I believe Deborah Silver also has a
few marks.
MS. SILVER: Hi. I'm Deborah Silver from Gulf Coast
Veterans and Friends. I had the pleasure of working with Jerry since
2013 on various non-profits. Our latest endeavor was Gulf Coast
Veterans and Friends, which we've been doing since 2017. And I
just wanted to share when his memorial will be. It's going to be at
Hodges on Wednesday, March 12th from 5 to 8; at Hodges on
Thursday, March 13th from 3 to 5; and again at 7 to 9; and there will
be a mass at St. John's on Friday, March 14th, at 10 o'clock.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. And I want to take a
special moment to thank you and your husband for what you do for
veterans.
MS. SILVER: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Every Saturday you put on a nice
March 11, 2025
Page 4
breakfast for veterans in Collier County. I've attended a few of
those. I think last week you had about 85 veterans there.
MS. SILVER: Ninety.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So thank you for all that you do
for the community and for our veterans.
MS. SILVER: Thank you, Burt. Appreciate that.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Ms. Patterson.
Item #2A
APPROVAL OF TODAY’S REGULAR, CONSENT, AND
SUMMARY AGENDA AS AMENDED (EX-PARTE
DISCLOSURE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR
CONSENT AGENDA) – MOTION TO CONTINUE ITEM #17A
TO THE MARCH 25, 2025, BCC MEETING BY
COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO (MOTION FAILED DUE TO THE
SECOND BEING WITHDRAWN; MOTION TO APPROVE BY
COMMISSIONER HALL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER
LOCASTRO – APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, agenda changes for
March 11th, 2025. First, move Item 16G2 to 11D. This is a
recommendation to authorize staff to engage the Federal Aviation
Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation to seek
guidance and information regarding the potential deactivation of
Everglades Airpark as a public airport. This is being moved at all
five commissioners' separate requests.
Second, we have an add-on Item 10B. This is a request
that -- the Board to hear -- to appeal the Hearing Examiner's decision
March 11, 2025
Page 5
in Hearing Examiner Decision No. 2025-02 denying an application
for an insubstantial change to Ordinance No. 18-49, the Seed to Table
Commercial Planned Unit Development, which sought to amend the
CPUD to remove the required gate control system at the Piper
Boulevard access to the parking lot. This is being added at
Commissioner Hall's request.
Next, continue Item 16B13 to the March 25th BCC meeting.
This is a recommendation to award Invitation to Bid No. 24-8316,
landscape maintenance for work areas 18B, 20B, 21B, 23, and 27, to
Mainscape Inc., Superb Landscape Services, Inc., and Superior
Landscaping and Lawn Services, Inc., on a primary/secondary basis,
and authorized the Chairman to sign the attached agreements. This
is being moved at Commissioner McDaniel's request.
Also, continue Item 16B15 to the March 25th BCC meeting.
This is a recommendation to approve a traffic signal agreement with
Cameron Commons, authorize the Chairman to sign a traffic signal
agreement with Cameron Commons Unit Two Property Owners
Association that will authorize the construction of a traffic signal at
the intersection of Immokalee Road and Bellaire Bay Drive and
memorialize that the signal may be removed at the county's
discretion. This is being moved at staff's request.
With that -- I'm sorry.
ADDED
MOTION ALLOWING COMMISSIONER KOWAL TO
PARTICIPATE THE MEETING TELEPHONICALLY –
APPROVED
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And before we proceed any
further, I failed to mention Commissioner Kowal is on the phone.
March 11, 2025
Page 6
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So let's welcome him, and we
need a motion to approve his participation via phone.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second.
All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: (No verbal response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
Commissioner Kowal, can you hear us?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah, I can here you loud and
clear, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You heard all of the changes to
the agenda?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yes, yes. I've been tuned in
since the Pledge.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Ms. Patterson.
MS. PATTERSON: Yes. We have court reporter breaks set
for time-certain 10:30 and again 2:50, if necessary.
With that, County Attorney.
MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing this morning. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall, do you have
any changes to the agenda and also any ex parte?
COMMISSIONER HALL: I have no changes to the agenda. I
do have ex parte on 17A. I have meetings, emails, and calls.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Good morning, Mr. Chair.
March 11, 2025
Page 7
I have two. First, I do have ex parte on 17A, but I'm -- and I'm
going to suggest that we continue that item for one meeting. I had
the opportunity -- it was represented that -- and the only reason that
I'm continuing it and not asking for it to come forward is the
representatives of the project are not here to hear what I have to say.
I had an opportunity to review -- oh, well, Rich is in the back, but we
don't need to have a hearing on this today.
I read -- I read the transcript from the NIM, the neighborhood
information meeting, and though it was represented that there weren't
any issues, I read a lot of issues that I didn't feel were properly
addressed. And so I'd like to continue this item one more meeting
and do a little further investigation. And do we need to make that as
a motion or --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It's on the agenda. To remove it
would require a motion and a vote to remove it.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So I'd like to make
that motion to continue it for one meeting.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'll second it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and a second.
Let me -- I know Mr. Yovanovich is here. I just want to make sure,
as we get ready to vote on this, if that's going to create any problems
for the Baker Senior Center. I'm assuming that it will not.
Mr. Yovanovich, just real quickly, because the question is
whether this two-week continuance is going to create a problem. It's
your client, and I think you have the right to at least mention it.
MR. YOVANOVICH: My calendar's clear. I'm just going to
look back and make sure it's clear for -- are we clear? You good? I
guess if we don't have a choice, we'll -- it will be continued for two
weeks, I guess.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, we'll see. There's a motion
and a second.
March 11, 2025
Page 8
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We haven't voted yet.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I mean, we can continue it, but
some of the meetings that I've had are people that live right there, and
they're all good. They're all good with everything. So if we want to
continue it, I'm good. If we don't, still good.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Can you just elaborate a little
bit more on your concern? I want to hear it.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And my concern is
several things. Number one, originally -- and again, I don't want to
go back a whole bunch in history, but we did very specific things
with this -- with this organization and this location to try to maintain
the quality of life for the people in the Oakes Boulevard area,
directing traffic, having sheriffs there for traffic control, hours of
operation, so ons and so forth, and now here we are coming right
back with a change in the hours of operation, traffic control, and so
on.
And when I read the transcript -- and I didn't get the transcript
until -- well, it came through my email sometime. I didn't see it until
this morning right before this meeting, and in a pre -- in a brief
review of that transcript, there were concerns that were raised by the
residents in close proximity to the -- to this particular project that I
didn't feel were properly addressed.
And so that's my -- you know, I certainly don't have an issue
with the renaming of the facility, but the other circumstances are
what I have a concern with, and that's the reason that I -- that's the
reason that I raised it.
I raised it yesterday with our senior staff when we were having
our one-on-ones, and they were like, well, it's on the consent because
there wasn't any dissenting community members at the NIM. Well,
March 11, 2025
Page 9
they referred to them in the transcript of the NIM as issues, but then
there was never any address -- addressing of those issues that were
raised with regard to the traffic or the Sheriff or anything along those
lines, and that's the reason that I'm asking for the continuance.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So I'll just clarify my second.
I'm -- you know, I feel like I'm always supportive of every
commissioner up here if they have some concerns that maybe I didn't
see or I don't know. I'm 100 percent supportive of all the things that
are on the list, and if people have significant issues, much like
Commissioner Hall, I didn't hear any of them. It doesn't mean, like
you said, they didn't raise it at the HEX [sic] or something of that
nature. I'm sure we want to get all these things approved, you know,
immediately. But we're up here to represent all citizens pro and con.
But like you had said, as long as Mr. Yovanovich -- I mean, if
he says it's going to create some sort of other issue, it doesn't mean
we don't vote to delay it, but then we at least know there's some other
moving parts.
And so what I heard you say is, "Hey, we were hoping it was
going to get rubber stamped and approved today because it
wasn't -- it didn't seem like it was that many moving parts and there
was no opposition." Is there something you want to clarify just so I
can feel good about my "second" motion or not. Or not.
MR. YOVANOVICH: If I may.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, you're recognized.
MR. YOVANOVICH: In response to Commissioner
McDaniel, I don't know if you're aware, but after the -- after the
neighborhood information meeting, we had another meeting with the
residents inclusive of the nearby residents prior to the Planning
Commission meeting, and as a result of that meeting, there were
changes made to the original request to address the concerns that
were raised at the neighborhood information meeting. So that's why
March 11, 2025
Page 10
there was nobody there, in my opinion, at the Planning Commission
meeting, and that's why we're on the summary agenda. So I don't
know if you knew that or were aware of that as to what did transpire
historically.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Don't go away, Rich, please.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Hang on a second. Let me make
sure that -- Commissioner Kowal, do you have anything to add?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No, I'm just -- other than like
Commissioner Hall said, I met with a few different people, and I
actually went to a few events there after the fact, and I think some of
the people that may have been against it originally realized that there
was things that were there they were actually participating in, and I
think it -- you know, over time, sometimes people's opinions change
over things that initially were an issue at one point. But that was the
feeling I was getting, but other than that, you know, I'm like
Commissioner LoCastro, too. If one of the commissioners has an
issue that's something I didn't see or I don't understand, I'm more than
happy to stand there and make sure we cover all our -- cross our Ts
and dot our Is to make sure we are doing something right, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. I'm going to -- I'm
going to pull my seconding of the motion because here's what I
would say as well. This is a fluid process, so if we unanimously or
the majority approves this and it turns out that the changes that they
want to make, which I think are acceptable and I heard nothing but
positive things, turn out to create all kinds of confusion, we can
always readdress this. So it's not like this approves it in perpetuity.
And if there are citizens that maybe were a little more quiet or
raised some issues but then, like Mr. Yovanovich says, they've
addressed those, you know, then I'm satisfied. And if we're wrong,
March 11, 2025
Page 11
you know, this is an open forum. We can always readdress it and
make adjustments. So I'm not as hard over now that I've heard sort
of the back and forth.
And like Commissioner Hall and Commissioner Kowal said, I
sort of was overwhelmed by people that said, you know, "Thank you
for the small changes that you're making." If it turns out that they're
more negative on the community than possible -- than we thought, we
could always address it. So I'm going to withdraw my second of the
motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner, you've withdrawn
your second to the motion.
I support moving forward with this today. I've been to that
center numerous times, and I typically will go during their
Wednesdays when they have their luncheons. And there's also a
highway patrolman there or deputy there.
Typically, the officer is sitting in the car because there is no real
traffic. And when the -- when the luncheons end, there's really no
traffic problems. There's no real need to direct traffic. Plus, there's
very little traffic on that main road at noon or 1 o'clock.
And so I don't have any issues with moving forward today, but it
does take four votes. So right now we have a motion and a second.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I pulled my second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Or we have a motion with no
second.
Commissioner McDaniel, you're lit up here.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, sir. Thank you.
This isn't -- this isn't a sword that I'm going to fall on. How
would I have been privy to a separate meeting in front of the
Planning Commission? Was it part of the minutes --
MR. YOVANOVICH: It was.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- of the Planning
March 11, 2025
Page 12
Commission?
MR. YOVANOVICH: It was. As part of my presentation, I
said we met with -- since the NIM, we met with a group of residents
to go over -- a smaller group to go over their concerns, and as a result
of that we had -- we had made some clarification on the hours of
operation that we were requesting. We also had made clarifications
on -- although we're asking to not be required to have a police officer
and monitor it ourselves, if that remains a problem or if it becomes a
problem, the police officer can be required, just like churches.
So we had -- we had -- so we did have a meeting, and it was -- it
was -- I know you just got the minutes, so it's kind of hard to catch
everything. But yes, I did say that we had a meeting with the
residents after the neighborhood information meeting.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: This wasn't new news to me.
When I read this agenda item over the weekend in preparation for
today's meeting, I expressed a concern to my senior staff. I said,
why is this happening without a NIM? Because I -- and then we
found the information about the NIM. But the transcript of the NIM
was not in there. Then that was forwarded to me today.
MR. YOVANOVICH: Sure.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And, of course, obviously, I
didn't read all of the minutes with regard to the Planning Commission
and so on and so forth.
So I still stand where I stand, but I can count noses, and we can
move forward. I don't need to -- we don't need to belabor this. I do
want to make a suggestion, though, that it -- it is harder after the fact
for citizenry to bring back concerns with regard to a theoretical
insubstantial change to a PUD. So we'll let that ride.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: But we can make it less hard.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll withdraw my motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
March 11, 2025
Page 13
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have one other one, though.
Since I beat -- since I beat that one.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want me to light
again?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, sir. No, you don't need to
hit the button. But go ahead.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Consent Agenda 16D8 is a
grant funding for the museum in Immokalee that encompasses a
full-time employee with regard to community gardening and so on
and so forth. I just want to ensure that this is not going to just evolve
into another FTE for the county; that this employee is going to be
hired for and utilized with these grant funds, but I just don't want it to
evolve into another full-time employee taking actions or doing things
with regard to the museum. And I think I've done enough for now.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro, changes
or any disclosure?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No changes.
On 17A, I had emails and calls.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I have no changes, and I do have
some disclosure on 17A; just meetings and emails and telephone
calls.
Commissioner Kowal, any changes to the agenda and any
disclosure?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No changes.
I do have emails and meetings on 17A also.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Then we need a motion
concerning the approval of today's regular, consent, and summary
agenda as amended.
COMMISSIONER HALL: So moved.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
March 11, 2025
Page 14
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and a second.
Any discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: (No verbal response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
*****
March 11, 2025
Page 15
Item #4
PROCLAMATIONS – ONE MOTION TAKEN TO ADOPT ALL
PROCLAMATIONS – ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 4,
proclamations.
Item #4A
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 11, 2025, AS
GENTLE’MEN AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DAY IN
COLLIER COUNTY. ACCEPTED BY SHERIFF KEVIN
RAMBOSK AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED GUESTS – MOTION
TO ADOPT BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS – ADOPTED
Item 4A is a proclamation designating March 11th, 2025, as
Gentle'men Against Domestic Violence Day in Collier County. To
be accepted by Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and other distinguished
guests. Congratulations.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Gentlemen, if you'd like to make a
few comments.
SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Good morning. Kevin Rambosk,
Sheriff of Collier County and a proud member of the shelter board for
directors and supporter of Gentle'men Against Domestic Violence.
Thank you very much for this proclamation this morning.
You know, this group was founded in 2008 by Bob Cahners and
Jim Jordan. Bob was just standing up there with me. And they
have been growing that organization along with other key members
of the organization, including Dan Benowitz and Colin Estrem.
March 11, 2025
Page 16
And, you know, this continues to be an important element for
our community as well as the rest of the nation. Unfortunately, last
year alone, there were more than 1,400 calls for service on 911
related to domestic violence. And it doesn't matter what
neighborhood you might live in. It has spread throughout the
organization. And you know, we have an estimated cost to the
community of $30-plus million when it's all said and done.
So that's why this organization is so important. It really
encourages men to take a stand with women to stop violence in our
community. And as of today, we're recognizing 350 men in the
Naples Daily News for the stand that they have taken.
We also did an information and awareness campaign last week
with GADV, the Naples Police Department, and the Collier County
Sheriff's Office throughout the county in different locations really to
provide information and awareness of what the shelter can do to
support individuals who are victims of violence.
So on behalf of the Shelter, I'd like to thank you again, and I
would really like to thank the 350 men who have taken a stand
against domestic violence in this community. Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
Item #4B
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 15, 2025, AS SAVE
THE FLORIDA PANTHER DAY IN COLLIER COUNTY.
ACCEPTED BY ERIN MYERS, FLORIDA PANTHER
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE MANAGER – MOTION TO
ADOPT BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS – ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Item 4B is a proclamation designating
March 11, 2025
Page 17
March 15th, 2025, as Save the Florida Panther Day in Collier County
to be accepted by Erin Myers, Florida Panther National Wildlife
Refuge manager.
MS. MYERS: I just want to say thank you for this opportunity.
This proclamation, again, is supporting Save the Florida
Panther, which is one of our -- is our state mammal, the Florida
panther, and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge was
brought into existence for the purpose of supporting the Florida
panther and its habitat. So everything we do is basically for the
panther and all the species that also use the same habitats.
We will be celebrating this, Save the Florida Panther Day this
Saturday at the National Wildlife Refuge, and everyone's welcome to
attend. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: What are the hours for that?
MS. MYERS: It will be 9 to 1.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Nine to 1. Thank you.
MS. MYERS: Yep. And on our Facebook page, the refuge's
Facebook page, there's information about the event.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
(Applause.)
MS. MYERS: Thanks.
Item #4C
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 20, THROUGH
MARCH 30, 2025, AS 49TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COLLIER
FAIR. ACCEPTED BY PAT COOKSON, FAIR BOARD
SECRETARY – MOTION TO ADOPT BY COMMISSIONER
MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS –
ADOPTED
March 11, 2025
Page 18
MS. PATTERSON: Item 4C is a proclamation designating
March 20th through March 30th, 2025, as the 49th anniversary of the
Collier County Fair. To be accepted by Pat Cookson, fair board
secretary. Congratulations.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Why don't you tell us the dates of
the fair and a little bit about it.
MS. COOKSON: Okay. The fair starts a week from this
Thursday, March 20th through the 30th. I invite every one of you
guys to come out. Gotta eat your way around the fair. A lot of
entertainment going on. And like I said, this is the 49th year of the
fair. So please come on out and help us make it very successful.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
(Applause.)
Item #4D
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 2025, AS
NATIONAL NUTRITION MONTH. ACCEPTED BY NIDIA
HEINZ, CLINICAL NUTRITION MANAGER, NAPLES
COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH – MOTION TO ADOPT BY
COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS – ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Item 4 is a proclamation designating
March 2025 as National Nutrition Month, to be accepted by Nadia
Heinz, clinical nutrition manager at Naples Comprehensive Health.
Congratulations.
MS. HEINZ: Just a little bit about National Nutrition Month.
It is an annual campaign celebrated each year during the month of
March 11, 2025
Page 19
March focusing attention on the importance of making informed food
choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.
And so thank you for your support.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And I believe we need a motion to
approve the proclamations?
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and
second -- I'll second that. We have a motion and second to approve
the proclamations. All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It passes unanimously.
Item #7
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 7,
public comments on general topics not on the current or future
agenda.
MR. MILLER: I have two registered speakers at this time.
Francis Cook will be followed by Garrett FX Beyrent.
March 11, 2025
Page 20
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good morning.
MR. COOK: Good morning, Mr. Chair, Commissioners.
Weak men create hard times, but as you know, hard times do
create strong men. And so glad to stand here and say that I am
choosing to stand here as a strong man today, strong because I'm
taking my awareness of certain limiting beliefs that used to
hold -- that I used to hold, and I'm taking action to make changes in
my life.
I'm strong because these actions are developing resilience within
me, and I'm strong because I'm choosing to put my responsibilities as
a man over my ego and my feelings.
So you might be wondering why am I here expressing this?
What is the purpose of these comments? Well, I believe that
cultivating strength is important for our community, for myself and
for men. We need more men to step up in our communities. You
know, you just had the proclamation about domestic violence. And
in my experience -- and I'm not an expert on that subject, but I
believe that it's impulse -- maybe a lack of impulse control that might
cause people to partake in that.
And so one aspect maybe of being a strong man is not giving
into impulsive behaviors. And I've learned in my life that having a
lack of self-discipline might allow me to make impulsive choices just
in my life, and gaining an awareness of, like, why we do what we do,
I think, is important.
And I don't have my comments written out here today, so I'm
kind of just trying to speak from the heart about why I think it's
important for our community to support -- support this opportunity
for me to come forward and, you know, share my feelings about
why -- you know, last time I was here speaking, I was talking about
men's mental health, and I was talking about my own personal
journey where I felt like I've been weak and making mistakes in my
March 11, 2025
Page 21
life, and I'm -- I'm sorry.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Take your time.
MR. COOK: Just a moment.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Take your time. We'll give you a
little extra time at the end, so you'll -- don't feel rushed.
MR. COOK: Thank you. I appreciate that, Commissioner.
Let me -- let me just come back to why I think it's important to
look inwardly to cultivate strength. Because you gentlemen are
leaders here. Our community needs leaders. I've, in my journey,
been a leader in some regards. I try to lead myself. I try to lead my
family. I try to lead my community, but sometimes I fall short.
Other men have fallen short. Everybody falls short from time to
time.
And so why I'm here is I just seek to open up a dialogue of how
to face challenges and -- you know what, next time I'm going to write
my speech out. This isn't coming out well, is it?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: No, it's coming out very well. I
think a lot of things you're saying are things that all of us should take
to heart in terms of why we do the things we do and to think things
through. So I want to thank you for that, and you're also welcome to
come back next time with a few notes.
MR. COOK: I appreciate that. I think I will do that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Francis.
MR. MILLER: Your next and final speaker on this item is
Garrett FX Beyrent.
MR. BEYRENT: For the record, Garrett FX Beyrent. I'm
representing my son, Maximilian X. Beyrent.
And I want to thank all you board members, but I want to also
thank two other people: Mike Bosi, who's worked on a project with
me for 10 years. I don't think people realize it takes 18 months to do
March 11, 2025
Page 22
anything. That's standard procedure, no matter what you think your
zoning is. And I learned a tremendous amount from Jeff Klatzkow
who taught me that easements -- you know, you may think you own
them, but you don't. And you might have to buy them from
somebody to use them.
But in this case, this has taken 10 years of Mike Bosi's time to
get the tower approved and built, the initial tower, on the Palm
Springs Park subdivision, which they had to build a road in
eventually to get to the site, but it was a site that I had acquired on the
other side of the interstate many years ago.
Long story, we want to thank, in particular, Mike Bosi for his 10
years working on this to make the tower site real, which it's -- it will
probably be totally finished in the next 30 days, I'm guessing.
But the tower is up. It's standing there, and everybody's going
to get to use it. And it's not going to be as ugly as I thought it was
going to be. And the neighborhood is happy. They're going to have
better service. And emergency vehicles will probably use it more
than ever because it's right there at the off-ramp of the interchange
where they're building sky bridges. I don't get out there that often,
but it's an interesting thing.
And thank you all, and particularly your staff, because spending
10 years, like Mike Bosi did, is just standard. I mean, it's
gotten -- you've got great staff. They've been here a long time, and
they're all hard workers. They're not like federal employees, you
know. That's it. Thank you very much. Have a good day.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Thank you.
Speaking of towers.
Item #8A
RESOLUTION 2025-61: A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF
March 11, 2025
Page 23
ZONING APPEALS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA,
PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CONDITIONAL
USE TO ALLOW A 150-FOOT TALL MONOPOLE
COMMUNICATIONS TOWER THAT DEVIATES FROM THE
REQUIRED 150-FOOT SEPARATION FROM RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTY BY PROVIDING AN 84-FOOT SEPARATION FROM
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY TO THE NORTH ON LANDS
ZONED ESTATES (E) AND DESIGNATED RESIDENTIAL
ESTATES SUBDISTRICT WITHIN THE RURAL GOLDEN GATE
ESTATES SUB-ELEMENT OF THE GOLDEN GATE AREA
MASTER PLAN OF THE COLLIER COUNTY GROWTH
MANAGEMENT PLAN PURSUANT TO SECTIONS
2.03.01.B.1.C.12 AND 5.05.09 OF THE COLLIER COUNTY
LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, LOCATED ON
APPROXIMATELY 613+ SQUARE FEET OF A 4.99+ ACRE
TRACT LOCATED AT 191 WEBER BOULEVARD NORTH, IN
SECTION 2, TOWNSHIP 49 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST,
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA. (PL20230004408 - FPL SUMMIT
TOWER CONDITIONAL USE) – MOTION TO APPROVED BY
COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER HALL – ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 8A.
This item was continued from the February 11th, 2025, BCC
meeting. This item does require ex parte disclosure be provided by
commission members.
This is a recommendation to approve a resolution of the Board
of Zoning Appeals of Collier County, Florida, providing for the
establishment of a conditional use to allow a 150-foot-tall monopole
communications tower that deviates from the required 150-foot
separation from residential property by providing an 84-foot
March 11, 2025
Page 24
separation from residential property to the north on lands zoned
Estates and designated residential estates subdistrict within the Rural
Golden Gate Estates sub-element of the Golden Gate Area Master
Plan of the Collier County Growth Management pursuant to Sections
2.03.01.B.1.C.12 and 5.05.09 of the Collier County Land
Development Code, located on approximately 613 plus/minus square
feet of a total of a 4.99 plus/minus acre tract located at 191 Weber
Boulevard North in Section 2, Township 49 South, Range 26 East,
Collier County, Florida.
Before we get started, we need all participants to stand up and
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: And, Commissioners, we need ex parte as
well.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I have no ex parte.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: As well.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I got one email.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I've got emails as well.
And, Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No ex parte on this item.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Thank you.
MS. PATTERSON: All right. Very good. If we can start
with the applicant.
MR. JOHNSTON: Hi. Good morning. James Johnston with
Shutts & Bowen, 300 South Orange Avenue in Orlando. It's good to
March 11, 2025
Page 25
be back.
As mentioned, this -- and as you guys will remember, this was
continued from the February 11th meeting. I know the Commission
had some questions, and we didn't -- unfortunately did not have an
FP&L representative here, because the questions were centered
around the tower structure and things of that nature.
And so we do have with us Tim Young, who is a representative
for FP&L. I also have Mark Bashe and Bill Compton with Verizon
also.
And so I have a presentation, but I know we gave the full
presentation last time. So I'm just going to skip ahead to the
point -- to the part where Tim's going to come up and talk about some
of the issues.
I'd also submitted a letter to staff yesterday that was responding
to some of those, which I'll turn in as well.
But let me just get forward. These were all slides that were
discussed at the last meeting.
So at this point I'm going to ask Tim Young to come up and
address some of your questions, and then I'll get back up to wrap up,
and then, you know, of course, we'll request some time, if there's
anyone from the public, to come back for rebuttal. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
MR. YOUNG: Hello. Tim Young, 8801 Via Brilliante,
Wellington, Florida. I represent Florida Power & Light. My
employer is Crown Castle International.
I was given a list of questions from the last meeting, so I'm not
sure if it's appropriate to go through those questions or just have you
ask me questions about the construction.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That might be appropriate to go
through your list of questions. That will help refresh our
recollection a little bit as well.
March 11, 2025
Page 26
MR. YOUNG: Fair enough. Yes, sir.
So the first question I was provided was "Can the
communication tower be moved south, closer to the electric
substation, in order to reduce the amount of separation waiver
request?"
So I'm going to try and maneuver this. So I'm going to go to
this slide here. The answer to that question is yes. What we can do
is there's a minimum separation from each fence to the substation
fence. That minimum distance is 20 feet.
So as you can tell, there's the pole, which is set about midway to
a little bit more than midway into the ground compound. So we can
move that or shift that pole location about 10 to 12 feet to the south,
because that fence then will still maintain the 20-foot separation that
we require around our substation. That 20 feet from the substation is
required for trucks and maintenance vehicles to go around it. Also
to keep separation from our grounding grid which lies under the
ground underneath the substation.
So we can move it. Again, conservatively, I'd say 10 feet,
maybe as many as 12 feet to the south. So that would reduce the
distance to the --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: What would that reduce the
distance to, to the nearest --
MR. YOUNG: I believe, if I remember correctly, the overlap
to the adjacent property to the north was 66 feet. So again, assuming
10 feet, that would reduce the overlap to 56 feet, if I have my
numbers correct.
Okay. The second question, "What are the general design
specifications of the proposed communications tower?"
So just to take a step back, I'm not sure exactly what was
discussed in the last meeting, but this is 150-foot steel galvanized
tower. It's comprised of four sections. The bottom two
March 11, 2025
Page 27
sections -- it's sleeves. So the four sections slip over each other like
a sleeve.
The bottom two sections are 49 feet in height, then there's a
42-foot section, and then a 24-foot section at the top. It's a tapered
structure, so it's smaller at the top in diameter than it is at the bottom.
The width of the steel at the bottom is roughly
three-quarters-of-an-inch thick. The width of the steel at the top is
roughly a quarter-inch thick. So obviously, because of the weight
and the structure integrity, the width of the steel, the size of the
diameter needs to be larger at the bottom to handle the weight.
There will be a -- what we call a concrete pier, or a foundation,
which will be drilled, a hole into the ground, and we will put
reinforced concrete with rebar into the ground. We've done several
of these sites, and we don't know until we actually go out and do a
soil boring of the site to know exactly how deep that will be. But in
this general area, we've been looking at anywhere between a 45- to
60-foot-deep pier that will be under the ground, rebar enforced
concrete. I'll get into the concrete in a second, but I will just
mention that FPL requires kind of a -- kind of a stringent requirement
of concrete that rates to 4,500 PSI, which is quite a bit more than
what the TIA standard requires. But we can get into that here in a
second.
I think there were some questions about, well, how does this
differ from a normal communications structure, because FPL
considers this to be a transmission structure. So since this structure
is sitting on a substation property, it cannot be any weaker than any
other structure on the substation. So it has to be designed to the
exact same specifications as all other structures on the property, in
essence, to protect the substation and to protect the workers and
residents, local residents.
So what does that mean? So the TIA standard, which is kind of
March 11, 2025
Page 28
the standard for constructing and designing radio towers, clearly
states in this area that a commercial communications tower should be
what they call Risk Category 2 per the standard, and that's roughly
peak wind speed of about 155 to 160 miles per hour. It has to be
rated for that wind speed.
FPL bumped it up to a Risk Category 3 for all of their structures
on their substation, which means it has to meet 172 peak wind load,
and what that means is it's a three-second gust of 172 miles per hour,
which basically qualifies it, I'll say, for a Cat 5, a strong Cat 5, if not
I'll say Cat 5 plus, if you want to refer to that. And again, that's a
three-second gust of a 172 miles per hour that it's rated for.
That's one change that FPL made to their standards coming from
a communications tower to a transmission structure.
The other significant change is there's something called an EPA.
That stands for effective projected area, and this is also in the TIA
standard. And basically, if you can picture a sail like on a ship, the
larger the sail is, the more wind it's going to catch, which means the
more forces it's going to pull -- push on the ship. So EPA is
basically a measurement of any antennas that are installed on the top
of that tower, what's the surface area that that wind's going to hit and
create force on that tower to eventually, you know, create a moment
and torque it, if you will, or bend it over, if you will.
So a standard for a tower like this, what they call a tubular
design, would be about between 135 square feet and about 150 to 155
square feet. The difference between those two numbers is, one,
whether there's ice on the tower. So 155 square feet would be the
maximum. That would be sort of the standard that most people
would design to in terms of the area of that antenna base. And we're
talking about one side.
Typically, carriers will design their structures to be in sectors.
So they'll have typically three sectors. So I'm talking 155 to 150 feet
March 11, 2025
Page 29
on each side. So we kind of model it to be almost like a flag, if you
will. But it's 150 feet square.
So FPL, they do not treat it that way. They treat the
entire -- they don't treat the equipment as having any gaps between it.
They treat it as a solid flag. So they go up to 250 square feet of
surface area.
So they've increased its wind speed to 172 miles an hour, and
they've increased the effective projected area to 250 square feet,
which is about 100 feet square feet more. What this ends up doing is
it ends up putting more force on the top of the tower so it's rated to a
higher degree, if you will.
And the way the design sits today is it's not just Verizon we
have to plan for. We plan for other carriers. So we've planned for
three carriers, so that calculation I just mentioned is replicated three
times at the three different levels on the structure. So it's -- we're
estimating quite a bit of force on this structure, if you could imagine,
so...
And then, finally, the last thing I'll mention is the concrete. I
did mention that FPL requires that we design to 4,500 PSI, that type
of concrete that can be cured to that level. The TIA standard is
3,000 pounds per square inch for a foundation of this type for a
commercial structure. Again, this is all about meeting the
requirements of the transmission structures, not adhering to the
commercial radio tower specs, if that makes sense.
So this thing, I would say, is -- I don't want to be overzealous
about it, but this thing usually -- we've had many of these things go
through hurricane winds before, and we've had no damage, no tilting,
nothing, on any of these structures to date, and some of them have
been hit by -- you know, directly by 3s, a straight -- a straight hit by a
3 going through the eye wall. So we've had no damage to any of
these structures to date, so...
March 11, 2025
Page 30
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Young, let me ask you a quick
question so I understand. When you design this to withstand a wind
speed of 172 miles per hour for three seconds, a gust, that's assuming
a 200-square-foot face to that wind?
MR. YOUNG: Two hundred fifty, yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Two-hundred-fifty-foot?
MR. YOUNG: Correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
MR. YOUNG: Yep.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And that's -- typically you would
expect more like 155 feet -- 135 to 155 feet of structure if you count
the gaps?
MR. YOUNG: Correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: But FP&L constructs this
assuming no gaps, 200 square feet of surface, 172 miles an hour for
three seconds?
MR. YOUNG: Yeah. If you can picture -- and James brought
a good point. If you can picture the pole up there, again, we're
designing this not just for Verizon but for two other carriers;
basically the three big carriers. So each one of those are what we
call rad centers or each one of those heights is mimicking that exact
same calculation on every side of the pole.
So, basically, as I mentioned, the carriers have what they call
sectors, and they'll be like a triangle. It will have three sectors. So
we mimic that in every direction at that sector and in each one of
those elevations there. So we assume that it's wind constantly hitting
it at all three heights at that level you're talking about 172 and 250.
So it's -- again, it's an incredible amount of force that's being pushed
at the top of that 150-foot structure.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Have you ever had one of those
towers fail?
March 11, 2025
Page 31
MR. YOUNG: No.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: How many towers do you have
up?
MR. YOUNG: Like this one, a monopole with no conductors
on it, we probably have 50 to 55.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All across the state or --
MR. YOUNG: In Florida -- in FPL service territory. So not
necessarily in the Tampa area, but Fort Myers south and then up and
down the east coast, yeah.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I don't see anybody lit up here.
Let's -- any more to your presentation?
MR. YOUNG: There were just a few more questions, if you
want me to continue.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah -- no, go ahead. Sorry.
MR. YOUNG: "Is the 100-foot radius setback from the
electrical substation control house a federal/state rule or an FPL
requirement?" This structure has to be 100 feet from what they call
the relay vault of the control house which is on the substation
property. And let's see if I can find -- that little -- if you see the
substation up toward the top there, that little building which is right
there along the drive is what we call the relay vault and the control
house. There is very sensitive equipment in there in terms of
switching and relays.
So this structure has to be 100 feet away from that because
FPL's decided -- this is an FPL requirement -- that it has to be about
roughly 100 feet away, at least 100 feet away, because when that pole
gets hit by lightning -- and it will get hit by lightning -- there are
typically secondary and tertiary, you know, lightning, like a
spiderweb that will come down, and they need to make sure that none
of those strikes will hit that relay vault and trip any of that equipment
or compromises the substation, so -- and they've come up with 100
March 11, 2025
Page 32
feet because that seems to be the safe average but yet being
reasonable to protect their substation, so...
I think there was two more questions here. So, "Can the
proposed communication tower be designed with an engineering
breakpoint?" FPL doesn't allow that on their substations because,
frankly, they consider that -- some people call them breakpoints, fault
lines. They're basically a failure point. So they don't design
failures into their structures. They actually build them to withstand
anything that the substation is going to withstand, obviously for the
integrity of the substation. So they don't allow us to put anything
that has breakpoints.
As a sidenote, some people have come to ask us, "Hey, can you
make this thing look like a tree?" You've seen some of the cell
phone towers that look like a tree or like a monopine, they call them.
They don't allow those either because those limbs are not rated for
Category 5 hurricanes. They fly off; I wouldn't say relatively
quickly, but certainly at a Cat 1, Cat 2. And again, that just
compromises the integrity of the substation. So they've very
particular about what types of structure they allow on their substation
properties.
Number 5 question was, "In the event that the proposed
communication tower failed, could it fall outside of the parent parcel
onto the property to the north?" I'm going to take an educated "yes,"
because again, we've never had one of these fail. And I did do some
looking online to see when these do fail, what do they look like,
frankly.
Anything's possible. It would have to fall over from the very
base of the tower, over, and that's 150 foot. So with that said, it
would fall onto the property that's adjacent because it is a 150-foot
tower, and I think we're roughly 80, 90 feet away from that property.
So yes, it is a possibility. I would say it's highly unlikely. In my
March 11, 2025
Page 33
educated guess, I would say if it is going to fail, if you have, say,
200-, 250-mile-an-hour winds, more than likely, since the steel at the
top is the thinnest steel, and that's where the wind is really going to
be impacting it --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Hang on just for a second. If you
could silence your phone. Thank you.
MR. YOUNG: Sorry. I wasn't even hearing it.
So, again, my best educated guess -- and this isn't an official
FPL position. This is just Tim Young's educated guess -- since that's
the thinnest steel on the structure and that's the least amount of
overlap, I would expect that top section would be what would kind of
give first or start to bend, frankly, if it was going to fail, and then it
would start to crumble. But that's not with a fail point. That's just
the way it's built today. It just happens to be the steel at the top is
the thinnest.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. And the steel at the
bottom, that thick base at the bottom, is 49 feet?
MR. YOUNG: It's 49 feet in length. I believe it's roughly
eight feet to eight and a half feet in diameter, and it's
three-quarters-of-an-inch thick all the way around. And not -- you
didn't ask this question, but I'll answer the question that wasn't asked.
It mounts itself to the concrete base with 40 two-and-a-quarter-inch
rods, which are anchor bolts, and they're in a circular pattern, and
they're bolted down, and they're bolted on top and bottom so you can
level the tower as you put it up, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, if it's going to break, it's
going to break somewhere above that base.
MR. YOUNG: Right. Again, probably in the weakest
steel -- the thinnest steel, I'll say, right, so -- would be my educated
guess.
And I think that's all the questions I had that were asked.
March 11, 2025
Page 34
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
Originally I was concerned. I even made a comment about the
Titanic was, you know, created not to fail. But knowing what
this -- you know, what the design is and being familiar with wind
turbines and the winds that they can -- you know, this thing is way
stronger than that.
And in talking with staff yesterday, Mr. Bosi also explained to
me that the structure that I was concerned about the tower maybe
falling on is not the homestead. It's actually an outbuilding, and that
helped me, because in the case of "what if," which is highly, highly,
highly unlikely, that wouldn't be as catastrophic.
The other thing that was brought to my attention that made me
feel a lot better was that FPL actually has the right to build this tower
if they built it, but because someone else is building it, we're having
this discussion.
So I'm comfortable with -- you know, with the safety that's gone
into it and the thought and the engineering, and I have no problems
with this.
MR. YOUNG: If I can just -- I think I --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes.
MR. YOUNG: -- mentioned this, but just to make the point to
make -- I think you understand this, but FPL owns this structure at
the end of the day. They hire us to construct it on their behalf. But
it's handed over to them at the end, so they -- that's one of the reasons
they put such stringent requirements on it, because it becomes part of
their asset base at that point.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal, do you
have any questions or comments?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No. I think they answered
anything that I was concerned about.
March 11, 2025
Page 35
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Thank you.
No one else is lit up. Mr. Bosi, do you have anything to add
before we go to public comment?
MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning director. And
this --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You don't have to add anything.
MR. BOSI: I was just going to say, staff will work with the
applicant to have the revisions -- the 10-foot shifting further south
that was required, and it won't take 10 years to get it done.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's move to public
comment.
MR. JOHNSTON: If I could -- sorry -- just add one thing just
to Commissioner Hall's comment. We added -- with the letter we
provided, we had our -- our engineer go out there, and it's actually
280 feet from the base of the tower, the old location, to the residential
structure on that property to the north. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Miller.
MR. MILLER: We have one registered speaker; Jill Snyder.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good morning.
MS. SNYDER: Good morning. Thank you for letting me
speak. My name is Jill Snyder. I live on 3rd Avenue Northwest
where in previous presentations you'll see what areas of -- this area of
the Estates has no cell connectivity, and I'm right in the middle of it,
so this tower's very important to us.
In 2022, I filed a complaint, along with somewhere between 700
and 2,000 people in this area, to the FCC to complain about the lack
of cell coverage in this area. So we've been -- many of us in this
area have been waiting anxiously for this partnership between
Verizon and FP&L because the need for cell coverage in this area is,
to me, a public-safety issue, which we all know.
If we can make a cell phone call in our house, which is a big if,
March 11, 2025
Page 36
there's about a 50 percent chance that it can stay connected. Of
course, with today's workplace, we work from home. We have one
corner in our upstairs house that my husband and I fight for because
it has the highest probability of keeping a cell phone call connected.
So that's not -- not the best situation.
We do WiFi calling as well to alleviate the poor cell coverage,
but WiFi calling, as you know, is only as good as your Internet
provider, which is a topic for another day, as the Internet technology
in that area is not the latest in technologies as well.
One of the most important things I'd like to say and I have said
in the past about the lack of cell phone connectivity is public safety
and the ability of whether or not if you dial 911, if that cell call is
going to be connected. Personally, last year our family had a
situation where it was a matter of life and death for that 911 call to
stay connected, and it's very frightening and horrifying to know that
when you dial 911, that that may or may not go through to the people
you need to help you.
So I ask you to please support this partnership between Verizon
and FPL and to get this cell tower as soon as feasibly possible.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MS. SNYDER: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have no other
speakers. We'll close the public hearing.
Any questions or comments from the Commission?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Is there a motion?
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm going to make the motion
for approval, sir.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I will second it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and
March 11, 2025
Page 37
second. Any discussion on the motion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, all in favor, signify
by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: (No verbal response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
Commissioner Kowal?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'm for favor -- in favor of it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. It passes unanimously.
Thank you.
MR. JOHNSTON: Thank you.
Item #10A
A PRESENTATION ON THE VALUE OF DIRECT
PARTICIPATION IN THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE
PROCESS, EVALUATE ITS RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN
SECURING PROJECT FUNDING, PRESERVATION OF LOCAL
FUNDS, ADVANCEMENT OF BOARD PRIORITIES AND
ADVANCING ISSUES THAT SERVE AND PROTECT THE
PUBLIC – PRESENTED
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 10.
Item 10A is a recommendation to hear a presentation on the value of
direct participation in the state and federal legislative process,
evaluate its return on investment in securing project funding,
March 11, 2025
Page 38
preservation of local funds, advancement of local priorities, and
advancing issues that serve and protect the public.
Mr. John Mullins, your director of Communications and
Government Affairs, is here to present.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Mullins, before you jump in, I
asked that this be placed on the agenda, just something very brief.
We do get comments from the public from time to time as to why are
we spending public money to lobby the federal government and our
state government. And so I wanted to put something on the record
so all of us would have that. In case it comes up, you'll have a
document that reflects the cost-benefit analysis, the return on
investment, if you will, Commissioner McDaniel, and I think this will
help answer some of those questions. So just very briefly.
MR. MULLINS: I'll try to be as brief as humanly possible.
For the record, John Mullins, your director of Communications,
Government, and Public Affairs.
And as the Chair said, at the last meeting you requested an
update on your recent legislative trip and the value of direct board
participation in the state and federal legislation process.
I'm going to start with a brief recent history and value analysis
of your legislative participation, and Ms. Corcoran will conclude with
a recap of your recent efforts.
Now, the period, as you can see on the screen of history being
used is from 2018 to 2024 [sic], the duration of which I, and as of
July of 2023, Ms. Corcoran, has been affiliated with the program, and
between the two of us, we have all the records.
First, it's very important to point out you all are leading by
example with the ResourceX project that went into effect during the
last budget cycle. Their return on investment report, that kind of
kicked the whole thing off, mentioned that one of the key strategies
was securing grants to offset cost at the county level, and that's what
March 11, 2025
Page 39
you have done.
Your direct pursuit of state and federal legislatively directed
grants is but one way you ensure that we're not relegated to being a
donor county for other projects around the state.
And particularly at the state level, there are billions of dollars in
requests submitted each year for the legislature, and specifically for
the appropriation chairs to sift through, and last year alone there were
over $7 billion in requests submitted in Tallahassee for project and
program funding, and only 2.7 billion of those were funded. So
they're always going to be looking for ways to pare down these
requests, and your direct advocacy demonstrating the importance and
need of your request goes a long way in staying alive in the process.
Of course, your direct advocacy also comes by way of the
partnerships that you have with our local and state, federal -- state
and federal delegation members. They sponsor our requests and
work with you and our staff to educate the legislative leadership on
the merits of the projects. And we are blessed to have a great
partnership with our delegation members and their staff, and we
thank them for working with us for the betterment of our community.
Now, don't panic. I'm not going to go project by project from
2018 on, but the next several slides list all of the projects and a few of
the policy initiatives for which you've played a vital role in securing.
They're part of the public record, and I will send each of your offices
this slide show for your reference and use.
Mark Twain once said, "There are three types of lies. Lies,
damned lies, and statistics." And I wouldn't want any of us to be
accused of employing any of the three. So I wanted you and the
public to know that these numbers that I'm about to share with you
are a tally and average of these projects, and they're easily verified
and quantified items.
And these projects and initiatives over a seven-year period total
March 11, 2025
Page 40
over $76 million plus an unquantifiable life-safety value. Now,
what's not included in that number are the pending federal requests
that we have in and the state appropriation requests that were recently
filed for the session that started in Tallahassee last week.
And this comes to an average of nearly $11 million per year in
state and federal funding. And if you do include the $11 million that
may still come our way in the next few months, that average actually
increases to nearly $12 and a half million.
And this culminates in a return on investment of nearly 575
percent largely due to your direct participation and influence at the
state and federal legislative levels.
So to put it in Shark Tank terms, you're making a 15 percent
investment in staff and contractor facilitation, you're taking one
annual trip to Tallahassee and D.C., and you're realizing an
85 percent profit for your efforts.
And unless you have any questions about the return on
investment, I'll hand it over to Ms. Corcoran, who will talk about
your latest trip to Tallahassee.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I don't see any questions, so,
Ms. Corcoran.
MS. CORCORAN: Good morning. Bridgette Corcoran,
legislative affairs coordinator, for the record.
So Lisa Hurley, our state lobbyist, has a great saying, and she
goes, "You must be present to win," and I think that is, you know,
something when we go to Tallahassee, when we go to Washington,
we have an opportunity that we're able to speak with one voice and
say what our concerns are and what our requests are.
So this last visit to Tallahassee, we were able to meet with the
Department of Veterans' Affairs, get an update on the nursing home,
and were able to immediately, you know, spring into action, really, to
be able to coordinate with our federal delegation members and say,
March 11, 2025
Page 41
"Okay, here's what we need from you." We all, you know, sat at the
table and reached out. We're texting, getting information.
We're also to, you know, touch base with them regarding the
proviso language in the state budget this year that we were able to
convey to all of our members there and ask them to make sure that it
is passed and that they help shepherd it through the process.
After that, we were able to meet with the representative who was
sponsoring the hands-free legislation. It is moving this year in the
Senate. And unfortunately, it is being held up in the House. So
we're working on that. We have formed coalitions with pathway
coalition, working with local groups to be able to try and move this to
be able to see some progress this year.
Meeting with our delegation members, you know, this year we
kept hearing every meeting that, you know, any of the leadership is
saying that there's not the money there's been in the past years.
There's not that COVID-19 money. That's been completely
exhausted. And we also don't have Senator Passidomo as president
anymore. You know, luckily, she's still there for us, but, you know,
without her being in that position, it's a very competitive process.
So we were able to meet with all of our members, discuss the
appropriation requests, you know, thank them, and just try to
coordinate what our requests were and provide extra information for
them.
We're also able to discuss the immigration bill and what that
has -- you know, the implementation in Collier County.
So, you know, then from there, we're also to meet with
Representative Esposito, who's the chair of the Ag and Natural
Resources Committee. One thing that this county, we are working
on is trying to secure funding for water projects.
You know, last year, all the water projects were vetoed in the
governor's budget, and they were -- everybody was told to go through
March 11, 2025
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the FDEP process, which we had already done with our project.
So in the end, there was 400 applications totaling 2.2 billion
with 200 million in funding. So it's incredibly competitive. It's
good that we're there. It's good that we're able to say, you know
what, here's our local share, we have skin in the game, and really be
able to highlight our projects as shovel ready, ready to go, you know,
well funded.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
MS. CORCORAN: So if there are any questions, I'm happy
to --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't have a question. I
have a comment. And it -- and it is to thank you, Mr. Chair, for
bringing this forward, No. 1, because we're always talking about rate
of return on our investment and how we're managing our taxpayers'
money, No. 1.
Number 2, you led the charge, I think, in '17 or '18 to move to a
new lobbyist for us in Tallahassee, and that has been enormous for
our opportunities and our -- and our visits going forward with our
representatives in Tallahassee. So from me to you, thank you. You
led the charge on this with the direction on our -- on our new
lobbyist, and this quantifies, quite clearly, the rate of return for our
investment.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I don't see any other
questions. No one's registered to speak, I assume. All right. Then
we'll -- thank you.
MS. CORCORAN: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And again, thank you for your
efforts in helping us get everything organized -- or not helping us get
organized. Getting us organized, so thank you for that.
March 11, 2025
Page 43
ADDED
ARTIST OF THE MONTH – GIL SANCHEZ
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, before we move on to the
add-on Item 10B, I do need to direct your attention to the back of the
room for the Artist of the Month.
The March Artist of the Month is Gil Sanchez, a self-taught
artist born in El Salvador. He moved to California in 1990 and
learned English. In 1993, he moved to and established his home in
Naples.
Initially only a hobby while employed as a carpenter, artistic
skills come naturally to Gil. In 2016, he suffered a life-threatening
construction-related injury. As a result, Gil remains physically
limited with ongoing pain.
During recovery, he began painting and now works on his craft
every day, pushing the limits of his body and imagination. A unique
feature of his art is the use of Bondo, a material known for its use in
auto body and wood repairs.
You can see more of Gil Sanchez's art in the Trillium Gallery in
the Naples Art District and at the Coco Art Gallery in the Coastland
Mall.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I was -- before the meeting
started, I went around and took a look at each one of those items up
there, and it's some pretty amazing stuff. So interesting story and
some beautiful artwork.
Item #10B (Added Per Agenda Change Sheet)
APPEAL THE HEARING EXAMINER’S DECISION IN
HEARING EXAMINER DECISION NO. 2025-02, DENYING AN
March 11, 2025
Page 44
APPLICATION FOR AN INSUBSTANTIAL CHANGE TO
ORDINANCE NO. 18-49, THE SEED TO TABLE COMMERCIAL
PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT, WHICH SOUGHT TO
AMEND THE CPUD TO REMOVE THE REQUIRED GATE
CONTROL SYSTEM AT THE PIPER BLVD. ACCESS TO THE
PARKING LOT. (COMMISSIONER HALL’S REQUEST) –
MOTION TO APPEAL THE HEARING EXAMINER’S DECISION
BY COMMISSIONER HALL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER
MCDANIEL – APPROVED
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir.
That brings us to Item 10B, which is an add-on item. This is a
request that the Board -- to appeal the Hearing Examiner's decision in
Hearing Examiner Decision No. 2025-02 denying an application for
an insubstantial change to Ordinance No. 18-49, the Seed to Table
Commercial Planned Unit Development, which sought to amend the
CPUD to remove the required gate control system at the Piper
Boulevard access to the parking lot.
This item is brought to the agenda at Commissioner Hall's
request.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
I wanted to bring this forward because back when the CPUD
was originated, there was a requirement for a gate to be installed in
between Piper Avenue and the Seed to Table parking lot there just
west of Livingston, and it was a novel -- a novel thought, and all
intentions were well; however, through the years, this gate was
installed in the FPL easement, and FPL has removed this gate
repeatedly, like 50 times.
And so, basically, in all of the years, the gate has been
non-operable. But since the gate has been down and Seed to Table
March 11, 2025
Page 45
is the lessee to the county, code enforcement violations have been
installed against Seed to Table for the removal of the gate in violation
of the CPUD requirements.
So he's -- Mr. Oakes is getting violations on things that he's not
doing. And he'll put the gate back up. FPL will take it back down.
CAT also operates through that gate.
And so basically the concerns that the public had and the fears
that people were just going to flood Piper Avenue and go through
there repeatedly, skipping that intersection, that does happen, but it's
not to the point to where it's important at all.
So I brought this forward. The Hearing Examiner, he denied
the application to remove the gate based on an insubstantial change,
because I feel like it is a substantial change. So I'm going to make
the motion to appeal the Hearing Examiner's decision with a
requirement to change the CPUD to remove the gate requirement so
that everyone can live happily ever after.
So I'll move to appeal that decision.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: There's a motion and second.
Just a quick question. There is a fee for the petition. I assume that
Seed to Table would pay the fee for the appeal and we would hear the
appeal. Is that --
COMMISSIONER HALL: Correct. We have not talked about
that, but I don't think that Mr. Oakes would have any problem at all.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. The only reason I
mention that is if we waive fees for these types of appeals, it becomes
a precedent, and I think we'd have to waive all those fees going
forward, and that's why I brought that up. Just to --
COMMISSIONER HALL: Sure.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and
second. Any discussion?
March 11, 2025
Page 46
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I've got a question.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm sorry. Commissioner
LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I mean, I've got a question
for Commissioner Hall just to clarify something. So if FPL has
removed the gate 50 times, if we vote on this unanimously, do we
expect to hear back from them, or behind the scenes has this been
coordinated with them to separate rumor from fact, or we're going to
pass this and then see what happens? Is that --
COMMISSIONER HALL: We're going to pass this, the gate
goes away, and everybody lives happily ever after. They don't have
to take it down anymore, and Alfie's not required to put it up.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And FPL's not going to
go -- I gotcha, okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Miller, no registered
speakers?
MR. MILLER: No.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a -- I'm sorry.
Mr. Bosi.
MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning director.
Just further clarification for the process, when we file the appeal,
we will bring back an executive summary to this Board of County
Commissioners framing the issue, framing the whole case that was
heard before the HEX will be brought to you. You'll be able to
review it. Then in the public hearing, you will either -- you can
reverse the decision of the HEX, you can affirm the decision of the
HEX, or you can go in an alternative direction. But we will have to
bring it back to you, and there will have to be a formal action at an
advertised public hearing for that appeal. But we will have that in
short order.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Are you saying that I got the cart
March 11, 2025
Page 47
before the horse?
MR. BOSI: Just -- I think you were just a little anxious.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: He's been working on it for
10 years, so he has all the -- he has all the details.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a -- I believe
we have a motion and a second, if that's correct. Any further
discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, all in favor, signify
by saying eye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
Item #11A
RESOLUTION 2025-62: ADOPTING THE FY 2026 BUDGET
POLICY, AND ADOPT A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A
DEADLINE OF MAY 1, 2025, FOR BUDGET SUBMITTALS BY
THE SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS, THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE,
AND THE CLERK. (CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON, DIVISION
DIRECTOR - CORPORATE FINANCIAL & MANAGEMENT
SERVICES) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER
MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HALL –
ADOPTED
March 11, 2025
Page 48
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 11.
Item 11A is a recommendation to adopt the FY 2026 budget policy
and adopt a resolution establishing a deadline of May 1st, 2025, for
budget submittals by the Supervisor of Elections, the Sheriff's Office,
and the Clerk of the Circuit Court.
Mr. Chris Johnson, your division director of Corporate Financial
and Management Services, is here to present.
MR. JOHNSON: Good morning, Commissioners. For the
record, Chris Johnson, your director of Corporate and Financial
Management Services. And as Ms. Patterson said, today we're here
for the Collier County FY '26 budget policy.
Today we're going to discuss the requested action, we're going
to discuss the FY '26 budget schedule, we're going to dive into
the -- briefly into the FY 2015 budget, we're going to talk about our
ad valorem history, we'll go into the FY 2026 budget policy
highlights before ending on the recommendation today.
So I'll start with the requested action or what we're doing today.
Today we're going to adopt the FY 2026 budget policy. We're going
to establish June budget workshop dates and September public
hearing dates, and then we're going to adopt a resolution establishing
a deadline of May 1st, 2025, for budget submittals by the Supervisor
of Elections, the Sheriff's Office, and the Clerk.
I'll start off here with the budget calendar. So far this year we
have had our FY '26 budget policy discussion, and last week we had
our strategic plan and priority-based budgeting workshop. Today,
again, we're here to adopt the FY '26 budget policy. I won't go
through this whole thing, but there are some dates highlighted in
yellow there that we'll also be setting. The June priority-based
budget workshop on June 19th, and June 20th, if necessary, and then
the public hearing dates. The first public hearing date of 9/14/2025,
and the final public hearing date of 9/18/2025.
March 11, 2025
Page 49
Any questions on the schedule at all?
(No response.)
MR. JOHNSON: All right. From there, I'm just going to
briefly go through the FY 2025 budget highlights. And you guys
have seen these before. I'm just going to run through them quickly
today.
The net adopted budget for 2025 was about $2.1 billion. Of
that, we had 691 million in reserves and 442- in our physical
environment, which includes our water/sewer district, solid waste,
stormwater, beach renourishment, and dredging; and then public
safety at about 18 percent, or 382 million. That's the Sheriff, EMS,
Code Enforcement, and Permitting.
Moving into the sources of the current revenues for all funds.
As you can see here, ad valorem is our number one source of revenue
at 46 percent. The total ad valorem budgeted last year was
$573.5 million. That is followed by service charges, charges for
services, at 30 percent, or about $381 million.
The FY '25 ad valorem and property tax by fund, as you can see
here, the ad valorem collected for the General Fund is about
80 percent of all ad valorem collected by the county. In second
place there you have the Unincorporated Area General Fund with
11 percent, or $66 million.
This slide here depicts the ad valorem by category within the
General Fund. The total ad valorem, again, for the General Fund
was 458.4 million, approximately; 58.3 percent of that goes into
health, safety, and welfare, with 122.9 million going to general
governmental functions.
This slide here is the Unincorporated Area General Fund, about
$66 million in ad valorem revenue, with 47.3 million going into
general governmental activities and 11 million going to health,
safety, and welfare.
March 11, 2025
Page 50
Any questions on the budget slides before I move forward?
(No response.)
MR. JOHNSON: All right. I'll go into a little brief ad valorem
history. This chart here depicts the historical changes in Collier
County General Fund taxable value. As you can see here, we had a
dip in the recession in '08 to -- coming back up starting in '13. Since
then, if you look at the last three years, we've had very large increases
in taxable value: 16.9 percent in '23, 13.5 in '24, and 10.3 last year.
The planning scenario for this year is based on a 5 percent
estimated taxable value increase. I will say -- and I know I said this
a couple weeks ago and probably last week as well -- the state is
estimating that to be at 12.3. We -- our planning scenario is
conservative. Again, the last ad valorem estimating conference that
had results was from July, so we're waiting for the results of last
week's ad valorem conference to get a better understanding of taxable
value and the estimates moving forward.
Here is a chart of the General Fund tax rate over the last 10
years. As you can see, in FY '24, we departed from the business as
usual of 3.5645, adopting the rolled-back rate of 3.2043, and then in
'25 as well at 3.0107.
This is the Unincorporated Area millage history. Again, we
had established a rate of 0.8069. In 2024, we went to the rolled-back
rate of 0.7280, and then in '25, 0.6844.
I wanted to show this slide again. I know I showed this to
everyone two weeks ago as well. Based on that reduction in tax rate
over the last two years, we've saved the taxpayers -- or you have
saved the taxpayers $152.7 million. That's the top table there.
If you look at the bottom table, that is an estimate at the current
planning scenario at millage neutral. The additional savings from
the FY '23 or 2022 tax year rate would be $101 million based on that
2023 tax rate.
March 11, 2025
Page 51
Any questions on that?
(No response.)
MR. JOHNSON: All right. Now the fun part. We will get
into the FY '26 budget policy highlights. I'm going to discuss briefly
the priority-based budgeting; operating control lines; capital
allocations; mission-critical program enhancements, otherwise known
as expanded requests; millage rate policy; employee compensation;
health insurance; and finally, we'll talk a little bit about reserves.
So first off, priority-based budgeting. We had our workshop
last week with Mr. Fabian who kind of talked about where we're
going with this. The recommended policy is to utilize a
priority-based budget approach which will allocate our resources
based on strategic importance and impact of individual programs.
For your Year 2, we will involve -- sorry. Year 2 will involve
continued implementation of our cost-saving and revenue-generating
program insights and a deeper dive into program processing utilizing
benchmarking of other communities to ensure efficient and
cost-effective processes.
Any questions on that?
(No response.)
MR. JOHNSON: All right. General Fund and Unincorporated
Area General Fund operating control lines. This kind of sets the
framework for the departments to build their budget around, and what
we're recommending for this year is establishing a control line of
3 percent for operational increases at the department level, meaning
any department that relies on General Fund and Unincorporated Area
General Fund for dollars would be restricted to a 3 percent increase
for current programs, services, and operating transfers.
The second part of our control line is for capital, and we're going
to -- the recommendation is to establish a control line of 5 percent for
General Fund and Unincorporated Area General Fund capital
March 11, 2025
Page 52
maintenance transfers. And again, all of this will be subject to
prioritization when we bring the budget to you in June for the
workshops. That is when we will be going through this and setting
the millage rate, which I'll discuss in a minute.
Any questions on operating control lines?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just one quick question.
Does this also include the constitutionals with the O&M?
MR. JOHNSON: In the -- in the scenario, yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
MR. JOHNSON: Now, again, I don't -- they will submit their
budgets. But in our scenario, yes, we did use those control lines.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understand.
MR. JOHNSON: Any other questions on the control lines?
(No response.)
MR. JOHNSON: All right. And with those control lines, this
chart here depicts the General Fund capital allocations. The total
allocation there is 67.6 million. This consists of 8 million in debt
service; investment and impact fee debt of 2.1 million; countywide
capital of 27.2; transfers to other capital, that includes, like, IT and
some of our emergency services capital, 8.5 million; transfer to parks
of 3.3; transfer to the road network of 10.1 million; transfer to
stormwater of 3 million; and again, our long-term replacement capital
reserve, a transfer for that of $5 million. And we'll have a slide on
that at the end of this presentation.
Unincorporated Area General Fund capital allocations, we have
a transfer to parks of 4.3 million, a transfer to roads of about
15 million, and a transfer to stormwater capital of 6.2 million, for a
total of 25.6 million approximately.
Moving on to the mission-critical program enhancements, or the
expanded requests. The recommended policy for FY '26 for
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expanded requests will be limited to Board-approved capital facility
openings, priority-based service-level adjustments, historically
strained mission-critical imperatives, and new capital projects within
the county -- with final County Manager recommendations presented
in June.
What we'll do with this this year is any expanded requests
coming to the Board in June will include the incremental millage rate
required and the funding sources for that expanded request.
Any questions on the expanded requests?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes, I do.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Historically strained
mission-critical imperatives is a mouthful.
MR. JOHNSON: It is.
COMMISSIONER HALL: What is it?
MR. JOHNSON: Essentially, if we have -- if we determine
something has been historically underfunded. Let me just give a
hypothetical example. Let's say -- let's say our parks maintenance
was historically underfunded, we can't fit --
COMMISSIONER HALL: That would be true.
MR. JOHNSON: -- what we're going to do in the 3 percent, we
would come forward with a request that would be above and beyond
the 3 percent outside of that.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you.
MR. JOHNSON: You're welcome.
COMMISSIONER HALL: And if I may, going back to the
3 percent operational and the 5 percent capital maintenance increase,
I caught myself trying to figure out in my brain, with the 5 percent
proposed increase in taxable value up to the 12 that the state may
think, does that cover -- does that cover those terms, or do those not
convert into actual dollars?
March 11, 2025
Page 54
MR. JOHNSON: So the scenario that we built in my office was
based on a 5 percent increase, and that does cover all of that. We ran
that scenario with the 5 percent, and that covers those -- those
operating control lines. Now, when you get into these
mission-critical program enhancements, those were not included in
that -- in that initial scenario.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. Thank you.
MR. JOHNSON: You're welcome.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So I have a question, then. If the
revenue estimated conference, or whatever it is that comes in and
tells you what these values are, if it turns out to be, you know,
8 percent or 10 percent, based on the model you're putting together,
the 5 percent, would that result in a millage rollback, not to -- not
necessarily to the rolled-back millage rate, but would that result in a
millage rollback?
MR. JOHNSON: It -- okay. So let me just try to --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If we adopted your numbers.
MR. JOHNSON: If it was higher and you adopted that number
without any of these mission-critical program enhancements or any
other addition to reserves, it would result in a lower millage rate than
millage neutral, correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
MR. JOHNSON: Any other questions on these?
COMMISSIONER HALL: No. You're doing good. Keep
going.
MR. JOHNSON: All right. Millage rate policy. So the
millage rate will be calculated with preliminary taxable value which
we receive in June, and that will be based on the budget -- the budget
requirements that we -- that we bring forth in June as well. Program
adjustment or funding alignment will result in changes to that millage
rate -- or may, I should say, but it probably will.
March 11, 2025
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And again, expanded general governmental capital and
operating budget proposals will include funding sources and the
required incremental millage to move forward with those, and those
will be presented in June as well.
MSTU millage, for FY 2026, it suggested that MSTUs be
limited to millage rates sufficient to cover current budget year
operations and plan capital program allocations. These operational
budgets will be determined utilizing pertinent historical information.
Again, program adjustments or funding realignment may result in
changes to these millage rates as well.
Any questions on that at all?
(No response.)
MR. JOHNSON: All right. Employee compensation. The
recommended policy is to appropriate dollars equivalent to
2.5 percent of base wages to all classifications and half a percent for
pay plan maintenance to strengthen certain targeted classification pay
grades where market balance exists.
Any questions on this at all?
Again, the CPI that we went over last time was 2.8 percent for
year over year December.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sir?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And on that, you've heard me
harping for quite some time about the merit pay institution. And it
was -- I was informed that there's a new term. It's called
performance-based bonus pay. And it's something that I would like
to see us move towards sooner than later. I perceive it to be very
much a team-building effort with regard to potential savings that can
be generated by our staff. And so I'd like further exploration in that
performance-based bonus pay program, which will do -- which will
do a lot for us as we go forward.
March 11, 2025
Page 56
To cite -- if I may, just to cite a little example. Last year we
learned that there were credit card fees that were being paid for out of
the ratepayers' revenues that were derived from our ratepayers at the
water utility, and we were -- we were offsetting almost 1.8 -- almost
$2 million a year in credit card fees out of the entire ratepayer base,
and that savings now is -- is being accumulated in our ratepayers -- in
the overall -- in the overall water bills. And I think that if somebody
that worked for the county actually comes forward with an idea and
can accumulate a savings for the taxpayers, then bonuses should, in
fact, be paid on some kind of a basis -- some kind of a percentage
basis.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
MR. JOHNSON: All right. Thank you, Commissioner.
Moving on to employee health insurance. The recommended
policy for FY '26 -- and I know we discussed this kind of in detail last
time as well, is a 9 percent increase to existing rate structure.
Additionally, there's -- we're monitoring this fund, but there's a
potential that we may recommend, in June, a one-time fund-level
allocation to the health insurance fund.
The 9 percent will result in bimonthly nonsmoker employee cost
increases between $5 and $9 for single coverage and 14 and 21 for
family, and smoker increases between 10 and 16 for single, and 18
and 19 [sic] for family coverage. Again, that's bimonthly.
Any questions on that?
(No response.)
MR. JOHNSON: All right. Reserves. General Fund
reserves. We're looking at a floor of 8 percent of operating revenues
or 50.1 million and a ceiling of 16 percent. That's kind of the
benchmark, which is 100.2 million for FY '26. FY '25 budgeted
reserves were 77.6 million. This planning scenario puts reserves at
around about -- up about $2 million, at around $79.6 million.
March 11, 2025
Page 57
Unincorporated Area General Fund, a target of 8 percent of
operating expenses or one month of expenses, approximately
6.5 million. The FY '25 budgeted reserve is 6.2. The planning
reserve is right around that $6.5 million mark.
Other general governmental funds that receive transfers from the
General Fund will have reserve size to cover the first month of
operations or until we have the ability to transfer into those funds
based on our schedule.
Questions on that at all?
COMMISSIONER HALL: I do. I do.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
MR. JOHNSON: Oh, okay. Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: So if I look -- in looking at the pie
earlier, it looked like our capital reserves were 690-something
million, or up there in the 600-plus million. So what you're saying is
this is going to -- we're going to add 100 million to that 600 million
for a total of --
MR. JOHNSON: No. We're going to add 2 million to it,
because those reserves don't get spent. So, essentially, next year
we're going to take the General Fund portion of that pie from 77.6 to
79.6. So it will go up the increment of 2 million, and then the
increment in the Unincorporated will be about $300,000 based on
planning.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. I'm glad I asked.
MR. JOHNSON: Now, the other reserves that we'll talk about
as well will increase by those amounts as well. So, incrementally,
though. It won't be an additional 100 million going into reserves. It
will be whatever that increment is year over year.
And on that note, I'll talk about some of the other reserves here.
The Collier County Water/Sewer District user fee reserves are
established minimally between 5 and 15 percent of revenues with
March 11, 2025
Page 58
working capital resources set between 45 and 90 days of operation.
Solid waste reserves are set to be between 45 and 90 days based
on the FY '25 operating expenses. And next year it's recommended
that we continue to reestablish the solid waste restricted reserve for
disaster response. They have their own reserve for disaster response
for the debris mission. Last year we put -- we allocated $7 million
into that. The recommendation is to continue to add funding into
that reserve as well.
Targeted reserves within Growth Management Building Permit
Fund 1013 and Planning Fund 1014 are set to three and nine months
of total budget appropriations respectively. So, again, any increase
in those reserves will add to that total as well, but they won't be
substantial.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Johnson, let me ask, how
much longer do you think you're going to take?
MR. JOHNSON: I have one slide left.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Good. Because we need
to take a court reporter break, but we'll finish this item.
MR. JOHNSON: Okay. And then this is just your countywide
capital reserve, the history of this. As you can see, in '23 we reached
a peak of $35.8 million. We used that for the -- a lot of that to fund
hurricane recovery. Moving forward into this year, we currently
have $7.6 million in that reserve. The plan -- the planning scenario
puts 5 million in there. Again, that's something that we can look at
and adjust accordingly and bring to you guys in June.
So any questions on that at all?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: (Shakes head.)
MR. JOHNSON: All right. Well, with that, I have a
recommendation to adopt the FY '26 budget policy, establish the June
budget workshop dates of June 19th and June 20th and September
public hearing dates of September 4th and September 18th, and adopt
March 11, 2025
Page 59
a resolution establishing a deadline of May 1st, 2025, for budget
submittals by the Supervisor of Elections, the Sheriff's Office, and
the Clerk.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Before we take up a
motion on that, Mr. Miller, do we have any registered speakers on
this item?
MR. MILLER: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And you're ready for a
motion.
MR. JOHNSON: I'm ready for a motion, if you guys are.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Does anybody need
that repeated in terms of what the motion is?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm looking for a motion and a
second.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Mr. Chair, I have some
comments.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And if you wish to take the
court reporter break, we can do that, and then I can do the motion and
comments afterwards.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's see if we can finish -- let's
see if we can finish up. Are your comments going to be lengthy?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It depends on whether you
have any questions on my comments, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's see.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Number 1, my -- this
53-page document that was part of our board package is very intense,
and I highly recommend that everybody read it if you haven't. It's
quite an education.
It's my suggestion that prior to the Board workshop that we have
March 11, 2025
Page 60
scheduled in June that we come back with some analysis on the
replacement of the ad valorem contribution to stormwater with a
stormwater utility fee. You recall many years ago that I led the
charge to put down a stormwater utility fee that was brought forward
just because of the inequitableness that transpired around it. And my
suggestion is to revisit that with specifics on -- on a non-ad valorem
assessment and a commensurate ad valorem reduction so that it's a
net-neutral for our taxpaying base. I don't want it to be an additional
fee associated or increase in taxation.
And then No. 2, I want to put it on record I am still direly in
opposition of a discussion or institution of a franchise fee, which has
been talked about ad nauseam since I became a County
Commissioner, which is an additional tax put upon our taxpaying
base based on their electrical bill or utility bills.
And then No. 3, at what stage are we going to have some
discussions about the level-of-service requisites that are part of our
AUIR that feed into the five-year CIE?
MS. PATTERSON: We'll have that conversation as part of the
workshop that we're going to have regarding the AUIR as requested
by this Board, and also part of that conversation will be addressed
when we talk about the impact fees which is coming to you shortly.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want to wait on the
stormwater utility fee until the workshop, or do you want to have a
brief discussion now?
MS. PATTERSON: It would probably be better to gauge the
Board's interest in the stormwater utility, if that's the Board's
pleasure. It does require intensive consulting effort and cost
associated. So if we're going to go down that road, we just want to
make sure that the Board understands that would involve hiring a
consultant as well as a statutory process that we'll go through to
establish that utility.
March 11, 2025
Page 61
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I think the question would be if
you're going to explore that, we'd have to have final answers, what
the fees would be, how they would be applied, the consultant giving
their report. We'd have to have that done by June.
MS. PATTERSON: It won't be one for this year.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Is that possible? Okay. So we're
really talking about next year.
MS. PATTERSON: But it does -- not to interrupt, I'm sorry,
but it does involve hiring a consultant --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Understood.
MS. PATTERSON: -- and the price tag -- it probably won't be
as large as last time, which was nearly a half a million dollars, but it's
going to be not something that's insubstantial.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So Commissioner McDaniel will
be looking at that at our next budget cycle.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And that will be fine.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So we need a motion,
then, to --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll then make that motion as
is recommended.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and
a -- do we have a second?
COMMISSIONER HALL: I'll second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and
a second to approve the recommendation from our staff.
Commissioner Hall, do you have any comments -- I mean,
Commissioner Kowal, do you have any comments to add?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and
second. All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
March 11, 2025
Page 62
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed, say nay.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
Let's go ahead and take a break till about five minutes to 11.
Will that give everybody enough time? All right. We're going to
break until five minutes to 11.
(A brief recess was had from 10:37 a.m. to 10:54 a.m.)
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll
please take your seats, we'll convene [sic] the meeting.
Ms. Patterson, we're moving on to 11B?
Item #11B
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' REQUEST FOR
MODIFICATIONS TO THE EXISTING LAND DEVELOPMENT
CODE 5.05.15, GOLF COURSE CONVERSION PROCESS TO
MINIMIZE THE COUNTY’S EXPOSURE TO BURT HARRIS
CLAIMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CURRENT CODIFIED
CONVERSION PROCESS. (MICHAEL BOSI, DIVISION
DIRECTOR - PLANNING & ZONING) - MOTION NOT TO
CHANGE THE ORDINANCE WITH DIRECTION TO STAFF TO
LOOK AT POTENTIAL CHANGES TO THE LANGUAGE
RELATED TO BUFFER WIDTH BY COMMISSIONER
SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL -
FAILED 2/3 (COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL, COMMISSIONER
LOCASTRO, AND COMMISSIONER HALL OPPOSED);
March 11, 2025
Page 63
MOTION TO LEAVE THE ORDINANCE AS IS BY
COMMISSIONER KOWAL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER
SAUNDERS – APPROVED
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. Item 11B is a recommendation
to provide staff direction pertaining to the Board of County
Commissioners request for modifications to the existing Land
Development Code 5.05.15, golf course conversion process, to
minimize the county's exposure to Bert Harris claims associated with
the current codified conversion process.
Mr. Michael Bosi, your division director for Planning and
Zoning, is here to present, maybe.
MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning director.
First, I'm going to address the issue -- or the golf course
conversion direction we're seeking from the Board of County
Commissioners, but first I have two items of housekeeping. I did
receive a -- and I believe the Board received it as well. Mr. Tony
Pires, representing Lakewood Golf Course, objected to any
modifications to the current ITC process that's contained within the
LDC.
And a further clarification from a Mr. Michael Fernandez. He
was the project lead on the Evergreen's intent-to-convert process, and
he wanted the clarification that that process has been satisfied. They
haven't sought a rezone, but they've went through the
intent-to-convert process as required by the Land Development Code.
I wanted to get that on the record.
As well as the third attachment that was within your executive
summary was objections from the Riviera Golf Estates, and I believe
you have a number of representatives here as well that are also
objecting to the modifications to the current golf course conversion
process.
March 11, 2025
Page 64
At the end of 2023, the Board of County Commissioners
directed staff to provide a clarification to the existing golf course
conversion process stating that we wanted to clarify that the Board
has discretion to modify the minimum average width with the 75 feet
for buffers when a golf course is adjacent to a -- when a golf course is
adjacent to a residential community.
Further, the Board clarified that based upon Bert Harris claims
that had been received related to the golf course conversion process,
that the direction to staff was amend the conversion process to make
it the most defensible against Bert Harris claims. Well, staff took
that direction to heart, and -- let me see. What staff did was -- the
intent-to-convert process has a number of prerequisites within it that
are -- that are above what any other rezoning process would be
required.
And if we can just leave it on this screen, Troy, that would be
great.
And what we said, we had to eliminate the prerequisites that are
above and beyond what any other rezoning request would be, because
that separates the golf course conversion from any other rezoning,
and that was the trigger for the Bert Harris claims, that this was
something that was separate from any other rezoning that you had to
go through. And the reductions were pretty dramatic.
We also clarified that -- what the exemptions would be for golf
courses, specifically that are zoned -- that are in an agricultural
zoning district that were approved by conditional use, those should
not have to go through, so we provided for the cutouts for which golf
courses would have to and would not have to go through the
conversion process.
What we arrived upon was a simple process, and we called it the
"simple version." Before an application could be submitted but after
a pre-application meeting was held for a golf course conversion, the
March 11, 2025
Page 65
requirement is the applicant would have to have a neighborhood
information meeting prior to the submittal of an application for a
rezoning, and that would be in -- and the thinking behind that, that's
to promote some discussion and dialogue between the existing
residents and the developer and try to find some area of compromise,
the whole basis of what the golf course conversion process is
intended to do.
And also we clarified that the greenway would be required but
that the Board of County Commissioners, at the end of the day, had
ultimate -- ultimate decision-making over whether the deviations
could be granted all the way from the 100-foot greenway buffer that's
suggested all the way down to zero in case a special circumstance had
existed where it seemed like the justification was there. Like I said,
that was a pretty dramatic -- pretty dramatic reduction from what the
ITC process currently is.
We took that to the Planning Commission this year, and the
Planning Commission rejected what we had proposed. What the
Planning Commission's response was, we felt you've taken away too
much. They said, "You've taken a hatchet to something that really
just needed a scalpel."
We expressed that the reason why we did that was specifically
under the direction to try to make this Bert Harris proof, to try to
eliminate the Bert Harris claims related to the golf course conversion
process.
To show you what we -- the staff was suggesting, we eliminated
the stakeholder outreach process. The stakeholder outreach report
was eliminated. The compatibility design review was eliminated.
The requirement to satisfy the intent-to-convert process was modified
substantially. The requirements to provide a developer's alternative
statement was eliminated. The option for the county to purchase the
golf course was eliminated.
March 11, 2025
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The requirement for multiple conceptual development plans
associated with that intent-to-convert process requirement was
eliminated. The requirement for a visual -- web-based visual
preference service -- surveys were required. And finally, the
requirement for pre versus post development stormwater runoff
analysis was required, and that is something that would be deferred to
at the rezoning.
The Planning Commission rejected that, said modify it under
these seven points: Eliminate the average greenway width, ensure
the intent of the greenway is preserved, eliminate the sole discretion
language related to the Board eliminating the greenway, clarify that
the process only applies to golf courses that are zoned residential
rather than -- than residential use. The conversion process can't be
utilized for a golf course and be counted as open space. The
conversion must meet all federal and state requirements and eliminate
the terminology of the stakeholder outreach meeting.
The direction we received from the Board of County
Commissioners was make it as Bert Harris defensible as possible.
The direction we received from the Planning Commission was pull
back on a lot of these eliminations but modify it in certain ways.
What we're here today to do is to seek direction from the Board
of County Commissioners. When we were discussing this in 2023,
there was some discussion from the Board of County Commissioners
to eliminate the process altogether. That was never a direction that
was provided to us. It was just discussion amongst the Board of
County Commissioners itself.
So today we are seeking -- we are seeking direction from the
Board of County Commissioners to either move forward with the
simplified version, to go back to the Planning Commission's
recommendations, modify it, take those back to the Planning
Commission, then ultimately get a recommendation from the
March 11, 2025
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Planning Commission, bring that modification back to the Board of
County Commissioners, or at the end of the day, the other potential
option is the elimination of the golf course conversion process.
So that is what we are seeking from the Board. And I know
that there is a tremendous amount of public here to -- that would like
to provide comment. But that's the overview of what staff is seeking
to do with the agenda item today.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's see if there are
any comments or questions from the Commission. Commissioner
Kowal, do you have any questions or comments?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yes. Yes, I do. Thank you,
Chairman.
You know, I've had direct working knowledge because, since I
came onto the Board of County Commissioners, you know, I
inherited the Riviera Golf Estates, and, of course, the Lakewood
communities were, in the past few years, these have been the two
areas that have actually come into question with developers wanting
to take properties that weren't [sic] particularly belong to the
individuals that actually live around them, which I've found out
through the process of being involved in this that, you know, the
county only has about eight properties or nine maybe at the most that
actually qualify to where the people that live around the golf courses
don't own the golf course, and two of those are actually gated
communities where there's a separate LLC that owns the golf course
within these communities.
And we've already had two in our recent history that have
challenged the ordinance. And the ordinance itself was put in place
and the language -- and the whole idea of this whole meeting today is
to make it Bert Harris proof. And the reality is that even the Riviera
Golf Estates have twice had letters to threaten the Bert Harris, and
nothing's ever come to fruition because I believe that they realized
March 11, 2025
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that they didn't have a Bert Harris lawsuit by the end of the day.
And where we sit now, Riviera Golf Estates is basically -- you
know, it's still the golf course. It's still there. The county has not
suffered any loss due to a Bert Harris lawsuit. And the odds of
maybe four or five of these other communities ever even coming to
this point, I think, are probably none to nil to the possibility to even
get to this point. And I don't know what we're trying to Bert Harris
proof if it hasn't ever been successfully done as of right now.
Now, we can't take into consideration the Links because that
was a misunderstanding and maybe some fault of our own that we
assumed that that was a golf course property, but it was not. It was
deeded agricultural with a golf course use. And that's the only thing
the county's ever had to really settle at this point where this ordinance
didn't even apply. It was assumed it applied, but in court in
testimony realized it didn't apply.
So I don't even know why we're here, to be honest with you,
because it's already Bert Harris proof, from what I understand. So
until it's proven not to be, then maybe that's the reason to look at it.
But that's my stance on it, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman. The way
that I understand the golf course conversion -- of course, this was
done before our time, mine and Commissioner Kowal's, it was to
prevent [sic] dialogue between the developer and the community, and
that was one of the original intents of this. Well, that hasn't worked.
And I know that there's protections built in for the public, which if I
ever lived on a golf course, I would want those protections protected
by all costs.
And I'm not sure that the golf course conversion policy does
everything or it gets -- you know, it addresses everything that we
want it to. So I asked the question, what happens if we just do away
March 11, 2025
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with it? What would happen? And the answer was, it would just
come back for a regular PUD application process with, you know, the
things that all PUDs have to meet. And knowing how I feel, I want
to -- I'll protect the public in these situations. If I ever lived on a
golf course, I would want to protect those views. I wouldn't want
people -- you know, I wouldn't want to see another neighborhood
built right in the middle of my -- of where I purchased my property.
So I guess the protections that the public perceives that they get
from the golf course conversion are actually still there. They're there
through the PUD process. There's actually stricter water
management requirements now and probably going to get stricter.
You know, for anybody that would want to develop an old golf
course, they would have to meet those things, and that's -- that's a big
hurdle to climb.
There's also an issue that we got from the County Attorney
yesterday where somebody said, you know, that procedurally, we
need to kick this back to the Planning Commission for a 5 o'clock
meeting.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, that's different -- that's a
different item.
COMMISSIONER HALL: That's a different item?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. But I was -- I would be a
proponent, if it's the will of the Board, just to discuss it going away in
particular.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner
McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Did I understand you to say that -- I mean, that the ultimate
decision -- no matter whether there's a golf course conversion
ordinance or not, the ultimate decision comes back to the Board of
March 11, 2025
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County Commissioners?
MR. BOSI: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. I also wouldn't be
opposed to the elimination of the ordinance. I can recall -- I was
here. Commissioner Saunders, you and I were on the Board when
that was brought forward, and I wasn't in favor of it at the time
because I felt there were sufficient protections in place.
The understanding -- we had three golf courses. The Golden
Gate Golf Course was the first one to come about. They had a
99-year deed restriction on it, and a lawyer took it to court and
overturned a 99-year deed restriction. Who would have -- who
would have thought that that was even possible? But they did it.
And we ended up buying that golf course and are doing wonderful
things with housing and our veterans nursing home and so on.
And then, of course, we have Riviera, and then we have the
Lakewood facility. I think if -- just because of what I know with
regard to the restrictions that are, in fact, there, the processes for a
rezone that are requisite to -- for a developer to reutilize a piece of
property that has underlying densities that travel along with it. I
think -- personally, I believe there's sufficient protection within our
Land Development Code, within the PUD amendment process and/or
rezone process necessarily, that we don't have to -- first, we don't
have to Bert Harris proof an ordinance because there's no such thing
as Bert Harris proof. At the end of the day, if a property owner feels
that their underlying property rights have been restricted by a
government imposition, they have a right for a Bert Harris claim.
And on that note of a Bert Harris claim, I would, from a policy
standpoint, like to give direction today that going forward, top line in
our -- in our board agenda, any Bert Harris claim that comes to the
county is brought up at the next available county commission
meeting so that we can have an open public discussion with regard to
March 11, 2025
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the parameters of the claim itself.
It hasn't always happened that way. Our County Attorney's
Office does a good job in notifying the community as to what's, in
fact, going on. But sometimes those notifications haven't come
through in what I perceive to be as a public -- enough of a public
format for us to have a viable discussion as to what our parameters
are. And I'm not going to belabor the point and talk about specific
subjects, but I would like to see that as a policy going forward with
regard to any -- any future Bert Harris claims at all, wherever they
come from, whether this ordinance -- if, in fact, this ordinance stays
in place, or any other Bert Harris claims.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I wrote down my comments
here. I don't want to think -- that I'm stealing your thunder or
copying what you said.
The first thing I wrote down is there's no such thing as Bert
Harris proof. As Mr. Klatzkow has often said, Bert Harris claims
happen. We need to be ready for them, and often they have less
strength than what the person who's bringing it forward thinks. And
so, you know, Mr. Klatzkow said before, we should never be afraid
of lawsuits. We don't want to welcome them, but at times we need
to stand our position. So my position hasn't changed, and I wanted
to make sure I got my words correctly.
I'm all for protecting the county from frivolous Bert Harris
claims but never at the expense at overly streamlining a process and
possibly making communities unnecessarily vulnerable. So that
would be, you know, my position, and I think it's been sort of
summarized here that if we took these one at a time, I think we have
enough authority and enough strength here to take any cases, you
know, one by one. And some of the things that I saw of "remove
this, remove that, remove that," I think that's -- that makes us more
March 11, 2025
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vulnerable and makes citizens a little bit more nervous. It would to
me, so that's my stance.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I have a couple of questions for
the County Attorney and then a comment as well.
Mr. Klatzkow, the idea of we need to take some action because
we're getting Bert Harris claims, tell me what claims in terms of this
golf course conversion we've had, the result of those claims, and
whether we have to be worried about future claims.
MR. KLATZKOW: The core issue on all these claims is the
100-foot buffer, because you put a 100-foot buffer around a relatively
narrow golf course, and it makes it undevelopable so that -- my office
feels that you just simply put a provision in this ordinance that states
that the Board of County Commissioners has the discretion to change
those buffers, and I think that would pretty much end the issue.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. All right. We changed
the buffers on the Golden Gate Golf Course.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, you did, but it's not expressly in the
ordinance.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Understood. But we exercised
discretion. Maybe we didn't have it, but we exercised discretion to
do that.
So the point of all that is I don't think we need to change this
ordinance in any substantial way. And I'm not concerned about a
Bert Harris claim from a golf course -- golf course owner. The ones
we've had, I think, have been handled in a very efficient way.
You know, maybe we need to put something in the ordinance
dealing with the discretion in terms of the buffer, but other
than -- other than that, I don't see the need to change this.
Now, that's three of us that have said that and so, obviously,
there's not a majority here to change the ordinance at this point,
unless I'm misreading what Commissioner LoCastro said.
March 11, 2025
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Commissioner Kowal, I think that's clearly what you said, and that's
kind of -- that's where I am.
So the -- we have a lot of people that are registered to speak.
Let me ask just by a show of hands, all of you that are here to speak,
are you here to speak in support of keeping the ordinance the way it
is? If you are, just raise your hand.
Okay. Now, if you're here because you want to repeal this
ordinance, if you'd raise your hand.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So everybody that
wants to speak, I'm assuming, wants to speak in support of keeping
the ordinance as it is.
I don't know that we need to conduct a lengthy public hearing to
hear all of you say that, if that's what the majority of the Board feels
at this point.
Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
I just want to let you know, I never mentioned it, but I am the
least worried about being sued. That has nothing to do with me. I
mean, I could care less about that.
I just wanted to make sure that the public was protected, and I
didn't know that the golf course conversion -- my thoughts are, what
if there's a golf course that can deal with the 100-foot buffer and they
can meet all the criteria that we've established, that, boom, there's the
development right in between everybody.
So that was -- that was the reason why I was just considering
just doing away with the ordinance and presenting it as a PUD
application altogether.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner
LoCastro, you're lit up again.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Well, I like how you
March 11, 2025
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addressed the public and asked them to raise their hands. So I would
just add -- and we do this from time to time, and I think
Commissioner Saunders is the one that's done this at a few meetings.
So listen to what we're about to do. Sometimes it's better to not
say anything if it looks like it's -- you know, if you can count noses.
I think you've got a lot of support up here. So I didn't see one hand
get raised who was wanting the change.
Did I miss anything? Did we see a hand raised?
But I think we would all agree, citizens are allowed to speak up
here, but it sort of looks like it's going in a certain direction, you
know, let us do the will of the people is what I would say.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And just to be clear,
I'm not in support of this ordinance, but I'm not -- I'm not in
opposition of it either. I think there's sufficient protections within
our Land Development Code with our rezoning processes and PUD
amendment processes to protect the community. Property rights are
sacred to me. The developer's property rights and development
rights that are underlying in an existing golf course as well as the
homeowners that live around that golf course. I think I shared that
example back in the day when this ordinance came forward.
I personally had sold two homes on the Golden Gate Golf
Course. Being a diligent Realtor, I'd done the research, saw there
was a 99-year deed restriction, shared that with my customers that
were buying those homes. And as I said earlier, who would have
thunk that you would be able to overturn a 99-year deed restriction?
It was done. And so that lesson -- that lesson was, in fact, learned.
So to me it's irrelevant. Again, I think we have sufficient
protection within our existing codes. If we want to -- if it is the will
of the Board, which it seems to be, that we keep the ordinance as-is,
then fine, as long as we, by policy, ask that more notification be
March 11, 2025
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brought forward with regard to a Bert Harris claim so that we have
greater visible. I think we can overcome a lot of circumstances that
were prevalent in that last one.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm going to ask the County
Attorney another question before I entertain a motion.
In terms of the discretion to change the boundary, the buffer, we
have exercised that discretion on a golf course that we owned. I'm
assuming that we have that discretion in the way everything is
worded right now, because we've done that ourselves.
MR. KLATZKOW: You have that discretion, but putting it
into the ordinance would, I think, kill the Bert Harris claims.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So I'm going to -- I'm
going to make a motion -- I'm not going to entertain a vote on a
motion, but I'm going to make a motion, and we'll have a vote on it, if
there's a second, to see if there's any public comment.
The motion I'm going to make is that we keep the status quo
with the golf course conversion ordinance; however, we ask our staff
to go back and take a look at whether or not we need to change some
language dealing with the discretion in terms of changing the buffer
width. That would be subject -- a subject of a future public hearing.
I'm going to make that motion. We'll see if there's a second. If
there is, then I'm going to make another comment about the public
comment. So is there a second to the motion?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'll second it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. We have a motion and
second.
For folks in the audience that want to speak, I'm going to kind of
echo what Commissioner LoCastro said. This is the motion that
may pass. If you're okay with that, there's no need to speak, but
we're going to go ahead and see if anyone does want to speak on this
issue.
March 11, 2025
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Mr. Miller.
MR. MILLER: We have 11 registered speakers. Quite a few
have ceded time. Your first speaker is Peter Osinski, ceded time
from Tricia Campbell.
Tricia, can you raise your hand as I call these people.
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: Dwight Delahunt?
MR. DELAHUNT: Delahunt.
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: Sorry. Handwriting issue.
And John Carper?
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: And Mr. Osinski would be followed by Alan
Carpenter.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Do you want to waive your time,
just simply -- you can indicate that you're waiving your time.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And the question is if you
want to speak or not.
MR. MILLER: Yeah. The question is, do you want to
continue to speak or you'll waive your time?
MR. CARPENTER: Waive.
MR. MILLER: You're in support of the motion?
MR. OSINSKI: Would that be before the motion is --
MR. MILLER: Yes.
MR. OSINSKI: I would like to speak quickly on behalf --
MR. MILLER: Great. Are you Mr. Osinski?
MR. OSINSKI: Yes.
MR. MILLER: Okay. He will be followed by Alan Carpenter.
We'll check in with Alan after this speaker.
MR. OSINSKI: Thank you, Commissioners. Good morning.
Good to see you all. My name is Peter Osinski. I serve as the vice
March 11, 2025
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president of the RGE board of directors and of -- the chairman of the
Golf Course Work Group. And I've spoken with you-all
individually. You have -- you're very consistent in your points of
view about it, and I totally respect it.
I was going to spend part of my presentation setting the whole
thing up, but I think between Mr. Bosi and Mr. Kowal, it's been -- the
issue has been framed very well. I just want to give some other
insights into it.
The golf course conversion regulations were a very thoroughly
researched and well-conceived approach to making these conversions
less contentious, less litigious, and less damaging to the surrounding
community. And when they did it in 2017, they took a lot of
experiences from other areas in Florida that went through these
difficult things. So these regulations are -- are there for a very good
reason. Obviously, you've seen some problems with Bert Harris
type claims challenging them, but I think we all agree most of those
claims are pretty much resolved.
Also, the fact that the Bert Harris -- that the conversion
regulations were enacted in 2017, there are eight or nine particular
properties that were subject to them, actually. According to Bert
Harris, you have to file intent to claim within a year of the Bert
Harris -- within a year of the offending regulations. You have a
couple of them now, but there are no other -- no other eligible
properties that have filed to -- with an intent to challenge on a Bert
Harris basis.
So again, somebody asked, "Why are we here? Is there really a
problem?" I agree with their sentiment.
But there are negative consequences. Keep in mind that the
Planning Commission itself back in August said that changing the
regulations could lead to Bert Harris claims from neighboring
landowners. For example, there's 200 homes purchased in Riviera
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Golf Estates since these regulations were enacted. And they -- I'm
one of them -- purchased their properties understanding that I was
protected by the greenway and all the other things in this -- in this
particular regulation.
If changed, homeowners like me could bring Bert Harris claims.
It's a two-edged sword. We could say, well, you know, we -- our
property value now is decreased, and your own -- your own studies
have indicated it could be as much as 31 percent because of the loss
of the golf course abutment. So that is something -- something to
consider.
I think all of the other points that I was going to make are made
already. If we're going to -- you talked about a scalpel instead of a
hatchet. It really boiled down to whether or not you need more
clarification as far as your discretion over the greenway size, and
there is already precedent that you have that already.
So we say don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. We say
leave the baby as it is and recommend that there's no reason to
change, and there's also a consideration that you may open a
Pandora's box of new Bert Harris suits if you do.
But again, I thank you for listening to me, and I appreciate your
deliberation. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Alan Carpenter, and he's
been ceded time from Kimber Perala.
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: And Michael Brazil.
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: He's here. And, Mr. Carpenter, do you wish to
speak still?
MR. CARPENTER: No.
MR. MILLER: Okay. You'll waive your time.
Your next speaker is Ron Flock. Mr. Flock, are you here?
March 11, 2025
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MR. FLOCK: Yep.
MR. MILLER: Do you want to speak, sir?
MR. FLOCK: I do.
MR. MILLER: Okay. Come to the podium. You'll have
three minutes. He will be followed by David Bartos.
Oh, David was actually ceding time, sorry.
MR. FLOCK: I guess good afternoon, Commissioners, maybe.
My name is Ron Flock. I live at 130 Belle Isle Circle in Riviera
Golf Estates.
And I had a whole thing written up, and what you're doing, I
appreciate that. But I just want to point out one thing. And I don't
know the fact -- I've only lived here -- I haven't even been here a
year.
But you talked about discretion in another golf course on the
greenways, and currently it states it's 100-foot average, but not within
75 feet. That little section is what concerns me, that if you can
change that mandate minimum is my concern. In the new wording it
says "an average of 50 feet." So my backyard it could be five feet if
it's 100 feet down the street. That's the only thing that really
concerns me right now.
Thank you for your time.
MR. MILLER: The other speakers I had were incorrectly filed.
They were ceding time as well, so that should do it, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So we'll close the public
hearing.
We have a motion and a second.
Commissioner McDaniel, on the motion.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm not going to support the
motion. I think we ought to leave it alone. I've already expressed I
think we ought to eliminate the ordinance in the first place, but I don't
think that a reaction to an adjustment in the setback to theoretically
March 11, 2025
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nullify a potential future Bert Harris claim is requisite, and it adds a
lot of discontent amongst the folks that had the ordinance and know
what the ordinance, in fact, says. So that's my rationale for not
supporting the motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So we have a motion and
second. Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, I'll call for the
question. All in favor, signify by saying aye.
Aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Well --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm sorry. Commissioner Kowal,
I didn't hear what your vote was. Are you --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Hold on. I muted myself again.
Sorry about that. What was the motion?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The motion was to leave things
alone but for staff to come back later on and tell us what we need to
do, if anything, in terms of the setback discretion.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So having the discretion, so that
would be the only difference other than leaving the rest of it alone?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, there would be no changes
at all in terms of the ordinance as it exists today, but the County
Attorney has said that we may need to take a look at that language
dealing with the discretion. So I wanted to authorize the
Chairman -- the County Attorney to take a look at that. But that
would be something that would have to be brought back to us. So
nothing would change --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. So I'll vote in favor of
your motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And, Commissioner
March 11, 2025
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LoCastro, I didn't hear your vote.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Well, I'm hearing
Commissioner McDaniel down here trying to --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, then -- okay. The motion
fails because there was only two votes in favor of it.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Very good. And I
was down here clicking my button because I am --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So can I make a motion?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Just as soon as Commissioner
McDaniel is finished.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understood that --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understood one thing that
you said with regard to your motion that I was voting against, and
then I heard you say something different when we were talking about
actually voting on it, and so I just wanted a point of clarification.
But the motion failed that you -- whatever it was that you made, it, in
fact, failed, and we're going to leave the ordinance alone.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We're not finished yet.
Commissioner Kowal is --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understand that. For now,
though.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: At the moment.
Commissioner Kowal, I think you're probably going to make a
motion that probably doesn't have any language about the setback,
which I would support.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yes, Chairman, that's -- if that's
the way Commissioner McDaniel -- and I kind of agree with him,
too. I mean -- you know, I think that's the one thing that sticks in the
craw of most of our citizens in these communities, and, you know, it
seems like if we just make a motion now and just leave it the way it is
March 11, 2025
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and vote on it and put it to bed.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If that's a motion, I'll second it.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: That's my motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I'll second that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the motion was to leave
it alone?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Leave it alone.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Third.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and
a second. All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. All
right.
So we'll move on.
(Applause.)
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to
Item 11C. This is a recommendation to direct staff to advertise and
bring back -- sorry, I lost my place.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let me see if I can interrupt for a
second. I think we have a lot of people here in reference to the
airpark. And so why don't we -- if you don't mind --
MS. PATTERSON: Sure.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- if it's okay with the Board, why
don't we see if we can finish that so we don't have them waiting.
MS. PATTERSON: Yep.
March 11, 2025
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CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So let's move on to Item 11D.
Item #11D
AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ENGAGE THE FEDERAL AVIATION
ADMINISTRATION AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION TO SEEK GUIDANCE AND INFORMATION
REGARDING THE POTENTIAL DEACTIVATION OF
EVERGLADES AIRPARK (X01) AS A PUBLIC AIRPORT -
MOTION TO APPROVE W/CLARIFICATION AND DIRECTION
GIVEN BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS – APPROVED
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. 11D, formerly 16G2, is a
recommendation to authorize staff to engage the Federal Aviation
Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation to seek
guidance and information regarding the potential deactivation of
Everglades Airpark as a public airport. This item was moved from
the consent agenda by the separate requests of all five
commissioners.
Ms. Trinity Scott, your department head for Transportation
Management Services, is here to present or answer questions.
MS. SCOTT: Good morning. Sorry, my papers were all over
the place. I wasn't expecting to come up so soon.
For the record, Trinity Scott, Transportation Management
Services department head.
Today I'm also joined with Darren Hutton, our director of
Operation and Performance Management in TMSD, as well as Brian
Garrett, our executive manager for the airports.
So today we are here to request authorization to engage the
Federal Aviation Administration and the Florida Department of
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Transportation to seek information only regarding grantor
requirements and obligations associated with our prior acceptance
and expenditure of grants for the Everglades Airpark.
Some items to consider. For our airports, most of our revenues
are generated mainly from fuel sales as well as rent from our
facilities. And the Everglades Airpark has operated at a net
operating loss for many, many, many years. And we are now facing
substantial repairs due to storms and just maintenance. The facility
is starting to age, and we wanted to come have a conversation with
the Board and do some fact-finding so that we can come to the Board
and bring this to light.
You've really challenged us to start thinking about things
differently and how we're budgeting and not just looking at programs
and just to do business as usual how we've always done it. And so
these are some of those conversations that we want to start being able
to look at a little bit differently.
The Everglades Airpark is unclassified; therefore, right now it is
not eligible for annual entitlement grant funding based on there's lack
of developable land for -- and our runway is short. And
opportunities are limited because we're not eligible right now for
those annual entitlements with FAA and FDOT because we are
unclassified.
In the past, we have looked at opportunities to be able to expand
some revenue sources such as a seaplane operation back in 2017, and
we were unable to do so because Fish and Wildlife had concerns with
regard to manatees.
Our existing facility, we've had -- our hangars have been
damaged since Hurricane Ian. We're facing about -- the estimate
right now is $1.2 million to repair those hangars. The fuel farm has
been inconsistent. It's -- our runway's gone under water multiple
times in the last year, so -- and it's saltwater. It's -- so all things that
March 11, 2025
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are challenges for us within this airport area.
Just to give a little oversight of what our summary of our airport
operations are, these are the operations. The top line is Marco
Island, the second line is Immokalee, and the last one is Everglades.
And it, last year, had 3,569. Going back to pre-Ian, we had
6,664 operations.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Quick. Mr. Chair?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just a point of clarification
on that previous slide. Are those the trips -- those are the aircraft
documented trips in and out of the airport?
MS. SCOTT: Yes. This is based on our electronic system,
yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understand. You and I
talked -- from a historical standpoint, data -- we only started doing
the digital calculations.
MS. SCOTT: In 2020.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, five years ago, four
years ago. So -- okay. Thank you.
MS. SCOTT: Our net operating just, as I said, to give a
comparison of our entire system, last year for Fiscal Year '24 was
$2.5 million in profits for the Marco airport, 130,000 for Immokalee
airport, which we've had a lot of conversations about Immokalee
airport. We have a lot of developable land in that area, so -- and
we're working through an ITN process on that. And the Everglades
Airpark last year was at a $150,000 deficit.
So what we're asking is -- many of these things are things that
we can just do within our own area.
So public engagement and input from our aviation commission
and reviewing our rates and charges and trying to look at some
different revenue opportunities. The ResourceX report did point out
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grants, which we've already discussed grants and some of our
limitations with regard to grants, and also our rates and charges,
which we do update on an annual basis.
We'd like to bring back a report regarding the repairs necessary
to operate the airport, so that's the hangars, which, as I noted, right
now the estimate is $1.2 million. We're getting -- we were getting
ready to put that out to bid.
Our FBO is about 30 years old. It did sustain some damage
from the storm, but we were able to get some repairs made by
Facilities. But certainly, it's an aging facility as well, and we'll need
some significant modifications over time.
And we are continuing to work on our fuel farm. In fact, I was
just told we just had electricians out there last week. It's -- it's just a
challenge.
But what we're asking today is for you to authorize our
discussions and information gathering with FAA and FDOT with
regard to that prior acceptance of grant. And then we'll be seeking
further direction at a future board meeting based on the information
that we've received. So bringing all of this back and really having a
good conversation about the airpark altogether.
So just to sum it up, our recommendation is to authorize us to
engage in those conversations to -- for fact-finding as it relates to our
grant obligations and assurances and request us to bring that
information along with lots of other information that we're gathering
as well back to the Board for future discussion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman.
See, I like this recommendation. The reason I pulled this -- and
maybe it was just poor wording, and I mentioned that to
Ms. Patterson. But I think you've got to take some baby steps.
So I'm always for a study to give us more information and bring
March 11, 2025
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us the pros and cons and maybe some ideas, but what I didn't like in
the agenda is it sounded like it was taking a leap and saying, "Do a
study for potentially deactivation." I don't know if I'm going to
potential deactivate it. The study might come back and say, you
know what, you can turn that 150,000 around if you make an
investment in the fuel. If you fix this, if you fix that, it might not.
So I don't have a crystal ball.
So I think a study's a great idea to analyze any business. You
know, it's -- like you said, we've challenged the staff to take a look at
things and make sure we're not just writing checks or patting
ourselves on the back for something that either needs repairs and
needs investment or, you know, it's a sucking chest wound, and it's
ridiculous to just keep doing business the way we've done. It's not as
advantageous to sort of keep it going. But I personally don't know
what that answer is until there's a study.
What you've written here is more what I would like to see. So
I'm all for this recommendation, which is get the FAA out here.
Let's get a third party who's an expert in airparks, airports, landing
strips to tell us the pros and the cons, give us their recommendations.
Maybe there's something we haven't thought about. Then we'll
decide, you know, if we should -- we should lean towards
deactivation or improvement of that area and bring it up to speed.
And not every airpark's a cash cow. You know, when you
show the three -- we lose money on plenty of things that provide a
service. And so when we have three locations -- and, you know, the
one in my district makes, you know, over $2 million, you know, one
of the things that the report might say is, you know, when you add
them all together, you know, the total is keeping everything sort
of -- and you also have the advantage of an airpark in a place like an
Everglades City that is a little bit out of the way, and there could be
some advantages there.
March 11, 2025
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So I think -- you know, what I was prepared to do today is just
vote on the study, and then let's see what it says, and that's it, and not
take that leap of, well, we assume the study's going to "Close it
down."
And I think that's what got a lot of citizens nervous, because it
sounded like it was already a predetermined -- but you've written it
much better, Trinity.
MS. SCOTT: Yes. And it's not about whether to
decommission the airport, but there are financial obligations if,
ultimately, that's what the Board wanted to do, and that's going to be
a lengthy process to even find out what that number might be through
FAA, and that's why we want to talk to them so that you have all the
cards on the table, and the Board can make the decision that they
want to make.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Absolutely.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I guess I'm confused, Trinity,
because the airport's unofficial and not available for grant funding,
but then there's going to be financial circumstances if this thing goes
away. I didn't -- I didn't understand the difference there.
And then the other question I had, as far as operational count,
this electronic -- the way the electronic count works, could somebody
do stop-and-goes 10 times a day? Could that count as 10
operations?
MS. SCOTT: So the answer to the last question is yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay.
MS. SCOTT: And with regard to your first question about the
funding aspect, so because we have accepted federal grants and state
grants and used them on the airport --
COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay.
MS. SCOTT: -- if -- once we bring back all of this information
March 11, 2025
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to the Board, if the Board said, "You know what, we want to
decommission that airport," there may be some financial obligations
as far as paying back a portion of those grants or all of those grants.
We don't know that answer unless we go talk to FAA and FDOT.
And so that is the conversation, because that is very key to what your
decision-making may be in the future. But I can't give you that
number today.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. And then lastly, if this
thing -- if the study does come back and the Board does make a
decision -- I mean, I'm a pilot, so airports are precious to me,
and -- but there's also another one 20 miles away. And with the
slowest flying aircraft out there, that's a 10- or 12-minute flight
difference to land in Marco versus Everglades.
If you want to go to the Everglades and the closest airport is
Marco, I'll fly into Marco and get a car to go over there. I don't think
that's going to deter -- if you want to go Everglades City, you're
going to Everglades City no matter how you get there, whether you
drive or whether you fly and land there.
So what are the plans with this property? It's been said in an
email that we have the desire to develop it. And I wrote them back
and I said, "You're grossly mistaken. We have no desire." I didn't
even know this was coming up.
But what are the plans, or has there been plans talked about with
this property?
MS. SCOTT: There -- that would be a decision by the Board in
the future. So we would -- essentially, this is -- you know, when I'm
looking at across my operations, I have something that is consistently
coming up in the negative every single year.
We have hired an airport manager who has decades of
experience with running airports and making airports profitable. So
we want to analyze this airport as much as we can and bring all that
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information back to the Board. If the Board decides that they want
to decommission it, that would be a Board of County
Commissioners -- and as the Airport Authority -- decision in what
they would do in the future with that property.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. Great. Well, I'm in total
concurrence with Commissioner LoCastro on just voting for the
study. Just get the information. I think we're capable of making a
great decision and -- but without that information, we're not capable
of that. So thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And as a point of
clarification -- and maybe I misunderstood you. We have to ask
permission to decommission the airport, correct? We have to ask
permission to do that.
MS. SCOTT: If the Board decides that in the future, yes, we
will have to do so.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If the Board chooses to do
that. So in the process of this study to look at our trips, look at our
fuel sales, look at the expenses associated with the repairs and
ongoing maintenance, we also have to -- as a portion of the overall
decision, have to ask permission, because it could be, like, a total
nonstarter if we're told by the FAA that we can't do it.
And so asking that -- and that's what bubbled up in the actual
agenda item was the deactivation or decommissioning of the facility.
We have to ask that permission as a portion of -- I think we need to
ask that question so that when we come back with the data, we
have -- we have permission to or not, if we choose to, and then we
look at the data associated with this operations to go forward.
MS. SCOTT: We will not be making a formal request of that,
but we will -- in our conversations with them, it would be, if the
Board were to, is it something that they would even be interested in.
March 11, 2025
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Because you're right, they could come back and tell us it's a hard no,
or they could come back and say, "If the Board was interested, these
are what your financial obligations may or may not be."
So this is just fact-finding at this point. Nothing definitive. It
is, like I said, just so we can give you all of the cards to be able to
make an informed decision in the future.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And so, therefore, then, I
think that's where it got misconstrued that we were going to close it
down and do all these other things. And so doing the study is where
we're at.
Mr. Chair, after the public comment -- and there are several.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I've got some other commissioners
that want to --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have other comments as
well.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
Well, you answered some of my questions through
Commissioner Hall with the -- coming down to the FAA and FDOT.
Because there's a chance that -- even if, let's say, everything aligned
and for whatever reason we wanted to close this airport, we'd
still -- there may be a financial burden that we'd have to pay back, but
we don't know exactly what that is, because we have accepted money
in the past. That's correct, right?
MS. SCOTT: That is correct. Typically, when you accept
grant funds, that there is a time frame that's associated with that.
And so if, you know, those facilities were no longer used for that use,
then the grantor agency could ask -- could seek partial or full
reimbursement of those funds.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So the possibility that we may
have to pay money back to them could almost be just as much as
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what we possibly could invest in to -- well, I'll just preface this, and
somebody else can correct me. But from what I understand, for
airports, they make profits typically on fuel sales and rental space.
Those are the two big drivers. And it seems like those are the two
things that have been in disrepair recently. So that could be showing
why our numbers of profitability could be off a little bit, because
those are the two drivers of profit is fuel sales and rental space. And
if our T hangars aren't up to snuff, we can't rent them. And if our
fuel sales aren't working, we can't sell fuel.
And in reality, I think we only fell off the mark this year, right?
Did we qualify to be recognized -- I don't know that exact acronym.
But I think it's, like, 5,000 operations keeps us recognized; is that
right?
MS. SCOTT: I think it's also about based aircraft, which we
have not had since at least Hurricane Ian and possibly prior to that,
because the hangars did sustain damage in Irma as well and were
repaired, and then they've been damaged since Ian.
And also, with regard to the loss, you're correct in the loss right
now of $150,000. And going back to pre-Ian, we were at about
negative $60,000, give or take, during that time frame.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. So even when we were
in operational that was sufficient to be recognized, we still had a little
bit of a loss --
MS. SCOTT: Correct.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: -- in operations?
MS. SCOTT: Correct.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. I'm sorry. What was
your last statement, Trinity?
MS. SCOTT: I just said correct, that you're correct in that
statement.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Oh, okay. I thought you said
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"current." I'm sorry.
No, I'm all about -- like I said, it was amazing how many calls
and emails I got on this when it hit the newspapers. But, yeah, I
mean, everybody jumps the gun sometimes and they assume we're
shutting something down.
But I think this is a step in the right direction for us to actually
find out fact, and facts help us make good conscious decisions. So I
support, you know, what we're doing here today, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And just for some
clarification, Ms. Scott, the recommendation is to authorize staff to
engage with the FAA and the DOT for fact-finding as it relates to
grant obligations and assurances.
I support doing a study, but I'd like for the study to emphasize
not that but emphasize what needs to be done to make the airport
usable again the way it was prior to Hurricane Irma, and that would
require, you know, an upgrade, obviously, to the fuel sales and then
the hangar situation.
So for me, it's kind of important that if there's going to be a
study, I have no problem with engaging with the FAA to find out
what our obligations would be if at some point in time the airport was
closed. But I think the emphasis of the study shouldn't be what
you've got here but should be, "What do we do to keep that open?
What would that cost? What would be the investment? And oh, by
the way, here's what the FAA says in terms of our obligations if we
can't keep it open."
So I think it's important in terms of -- for my -- from my
perspective, I'd like to see this airport stay open, but if it turns out
that because of the fuel sales, the cost to repair that, and the T
hangars and that sort of thing, that it's just impossible, that's a whole
different ballgame. So emphasis on the study is important to me.
No one else is lit up. Let's go to the public.
March 11, 2025
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MR. MILLER: We have fifteen registered speakers, some here
in person, some on Zoom. I'm going to ask the speakers to queue up
at both podiums in the interest of time.
Your first speaker is Stacey Heaton. She'll be followed by
Harry, I think this says Henkel.
MR. HENKEL: Correct.
MR. MILLER: And Stacey has been ceded three additional
minutes from Michael Dowel.
(Raises hand.)
MR. MILLER: He is here.
Stacey, you will have six minutes.
MS. HEATON: Thank you, and good morning. Can you hear
me okay?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes.
MS. HEATON: All right. Thank you.
Last evening you guys should have had received a copy of a
letter, and I'm pretty much just going to read out loud into the record
so that also the folks that are watching online and here can hear some
of the things that I have expressed to you guys in previous meetings.
So again, my name is Stacey Heaton. I serve as the southern
regional manager for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
We represent hundreds of thousands of pilots and aircraft owners in
the U.S. and around the world. Our members are the backbone of
the general aviation industry, and we oppose any efforts to study the
closure of Everglades Airpark.
Firstly, I want to express what is general aviation for those that
might not be fully understanding it. So when the general public
hears the word "airport," they typically think of airports with airline
service. It's important to know that there are over 5,000 public-use
airports across the United States, and air carriers actually operate at
less than 10 percent of those airports.
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The remaining public-use airports support general aviation
operations, including smaller aircraft largely conducted by
individuals, small and medium businesses, and government agencies.
General aviation, by definition, is all aviation operations except for
those that are conducted by air carrier and the military. Many
individuals underestimate the value of the critical infrastructure of
general aviation airports until it's too late.
General aviation is a form of transportation to get people and
cargo from one point to another when other transportation paths are
challenging, a way to increase business efficiencies of both
government agencies and companies, a way to connect the world
with smaller or more remote communities that would otherwise be
forgotten, a way to protect life and property, a way to move special
cargo like injured wildlife and sick passengers, a way to ensure
rescue and recovery operations are successful, a way to open the
minds of youngsters to a future with STEM technology, a way to
deliver critical parts and personnel just in time, the only path to train
air carrier pilots who fly you to your vacation destinations and deliver
your Amazon packages and more.
During COVID, general aviation moved critically needed
supplies to all sized communities. During the last hurricane season
when North Carolina was inundated with flooding and landslides
which knocked out the roads, the only way to get water and supplies
was through general aviation airports.
The recent California wildfires were mitigated through the use
of community airports and would have been significantly worse if
those airports were not there to support fire missions and evacuations.
So beyond what general aviation is today, I want to turn your
attention to the future. The State of Florida is paying particular
attention to the development of advanced air mobility and what it
means for citizens and businesses in the state. General aviation
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airports, like Everglades Airpark, will play a significant role in AAM.
A NASA study identified the infrastructure needed to support AAM,
and general aviation airplanes are a key to that solution, benefiting
the communities in which they are located.
Now, I did mention that I took a survey to take the pulse of my
folks -- of our members, so I'm going to share a little bit about that.
When we heard the plan to close the airport, I surveyed Florida
members, seeking their thoughts of the airport. At this date, nearly
3,500 pilots completed the survey with over 1,100 specific stories and
comments about what Everglades Airpark means to them. And it's
obvious in the comments that the airpark has deep significance for
pilots, tourism, and the local community.
Emphasis was placed on historical value, its roles as a
convenient weight point for flights to and from the Florida Keys, and
its importance for pilot training, especially in less-crowded airspace.
The airport provides crucial access to emergencies and enhances
safety during flight training over water. Everglades Airpark is the
only airport at the crossroads of alligators and pythons and overwater
operations and remains vital to the safe operations of aviation.
Another key takeaway was that nearly 2,500 pilots indicated
they would fly into Everglades Airpark either more or for the first
time, if fuel was available and more reliable.
The airpark contributes to local tourism by attracting visitors to
the restaurants, museums, boat tours, industry, the bike paths in
Everglades City, and more. It is a hub of events for, like -- for items
such as the Seafood Festival.
Locals are against the potential redevelopment of the airport,
which could harm the community, the environment, and its unique
character and landscape.
Overall, between the pilot survey and the community members,
which you'll hear from some today, there is a strong sentiment in
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favor of keeping the airpark open and emphasizing its multifaceted
value to both the aviation community and the local economy.
Now, I'm going to skip a little over the financial and the grant
issues, but rest assured that because it's an unclassified area, it does
not have one foot in the grave. There are 14 airports across the
United States within the last two years that were raised to higher
levels because they were able to figure out a way to get that based
aircraft numbers. They say it's the magic number of 10.
You have 8 T hangers out there and two tie-downs. So, clearly,
you guys were working for that minimum to maintain the
entitlements, but you can't get those annual entitlements at an
unclassified.
So beyond the financial -- excuse me. Beyond the financial, I
urge the Commission to direct staff not to study the closure, sir,
as -- Mr. Saunders, as you had indicated. We need to look at this as
all the benefits, too.
So direct staff to not just study the closure but to create an ad
hoc committee to drive improvement ideas to the table for evaluation.
AOPA members are prepared to share their time to participate. Too
often, public input, as you noted in the original executive summary, is
simply too little too late. And an active engagement is really what
we need to see.
So in closing, I'm asking you to make every effort to preserve
and enhance the airport. There are better benefits than just the
bottom line. So, again, we do not want you to focus on closing.
We do not even want you to ask the question of the FAA to see what
it would close [sic], because that, then, means to us that you are only
looking at the bottom line.
Thank you for your time.
MR. MILLER: Harry Henkel. He'll be followed by Michael
Sherman.
March 11, 2025
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(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you can
hold your applause. We're here to just hear facts, and the applause
doesn't help anything.
MR. HENKEL: Hi, there. My name's Harry Henkel. I'm
doing a favor representing a little bit of Everglades City. I
gave -- tried to give each of you guys a letter from the mayor and a
signed letter from each of the county -- city commissioners -- city
council members.
I first learned about this through Craig Woodward, a local
retired attorney down in Everglades City.
It's a small town down there. Every piece of it matters to our
economy. You take this airport from that community, you're kind of
driving a little nail into it.
We're the last of the Olde Florida towns, one of the few left.
Pull the airport out, start considering what to do with the land. Bill
McDaniel kept repeating to me to that it's a valuable piece of land.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It is.
MR. HENKEL: That's not the way to look at the airport. It's a
valuable asset to the community as it is.
Please don't -- remember, you guys, you're elected officials.
You're here for the will of the people. The will of that town is to
keep this airport alive.
So please consider that, and I don't want to hold your time up.
Please read those letters. Your attorney said it would have been nice
for me to have gotten these letters to you sooner. We didn't know
about this soon enough to get these letters to you.
Our town meeting was the 4th. We've been under stress trying
to get as many people -- this lady, Patty Huff, when she comes up,
she'll tell you. We've gotten a lot of people to sign a petition.
And, Bill, if you're so in favor of doing studies and finding out
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what to do with the airport, the Lion's Club has a turkey shoot down
there. We're looking for a target.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, quit.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Wow.
MR. HENKEL: Anyway, thank you-all. Appreciate your
time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Michael Sherman, and he
will be followed by Patty Huff.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If I didn't know Harry better,
I'd consider that a threat.
MR. SHERMAN: I can say good afternoon now,
Commissioners. It's 12 o'clock. As he said, I'm Michael Sherman.
I'm a former U.S. Navy pilot and a retired Delta Airlines captain.
Now I fly in general aviation, my single-engine airplane.
So the Everglades Airpark was very important to me about a
year ago when myself, my wife, my son, and his fiancée were flying
down to Key West. We had a -- I had a rough-running engine about
15 miles southeast of Everglades, and the airplane started shaking.
The engine overheated. I reduced power immediately. It improved.
I made an immediate turn to the left to go back to Everglades because
I knew that's where it was. I was trained both in Navy and at Delta
to always know where your best field is for landing.
I called Miami's Air Traffic Control Center. They suggested
Marco Island airport's another 20 miles. I said, "We may not have
20 miles to make it," so we -- I stuck with Everglades.
I stayed up high, I took it over the airfield, and then I started a
rapid descent to land safely on the brand-new runway they have
there.
So that was -- I feel like it could have been a lifesaver for us that
day.
I got great support when I got there from the manager. He
March 11, 2025
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called Miami and told them we were safely on the ground.
And the mechanic there, George, helped me figure out what the
problem was with the plane, and we lived to see another day.
The only other comment I want to make not related to that is
you're talking about the fuel and the hangars, yes, we need all that,
but the third thing is, you know, it's about a half mile to a mile to get
anywhere in Everglades into the town for a restaurant, for the $100
hamburger. And bicycles. I know they've had bicycles in the past,
but when you read the comments on For Flight from other pilots who
fly into these airports, sometimes the bikes are available, sometimes
they're not. Same thing with the fuel, but we already talked about
that.
That's all I have. Thank you very much for your time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Patty Huff, and she will
be followed by Dwight Bowden.
MS. HUFF: Thank you for the opportunity for -- to allow me
to speak today. I appreciate that.
I'm going to give you a different perspective on this, and then I
wanted to comment on some of the comments that have been made.
You know, it was 100 years ago that Barron Gift Collier
discovered something really special in Southwest Florida, and he
created a city in the middle of a swamp. And he had a vision for our
town. He saw the potential for a vibrant community, and he
provided the infrastructure for the city to thrive.
He opened a bank building in 1923. It was the first bank of
Collier County and the only bank of Collier County for 26 years until
Naples was established as a city in 1949.
He opened up a hospital with doctors, nurses, and even dental
facilities. He expanded the train service from Deep Lake to
Everglades City in 1928. He provided a streetcar for local
transportation and a bus line, the Tamiami Trails -- Trailways for
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public transportation to Naples and Fort Myers. That was in 1922.
Since the county seat was moved to Naples in 1962, things have
changed a lot. We've lost a lot of our infrastructure. The airport
was built in the 1940s by the Collier family, and it was approximately
20 years before the county seat was moved. But once the county
seat was moved, the bank charter moved its -- the bank's charter was
moved to Immokalee in 1962, the hospital closed in 1964, and we
still do not have any public transportation. Our infrastructure has
been -- no longer exists really. We're basically going backwards.
And all during that time that Everglades City was the county
seat, all of the people in Naples, Marco, and Immokalee, they had to
come to Everglades City. So if you can imagine what it was like for
those years between 1923 and 1962 where everyone had to go there
to the county commissioner meetings, go there to do any of their
banking. They didn't have online banking. So there were a lot of
services that were going -- people were coming from here to go to
Everglades City. So we do the same thing now. We drive here, and
that's fine, but we don't want to lose our infrastructure.
I wanted to comment on a couple of things people said. One
reason -- is my time up?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, it is.
MS. HUFF: Oh, it is.
MR. MILLER: Thirty seconds.
MS. HUFF: Do you want me to say anything more?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Go ahead and wrap up.
MS. HUFF: Okay. I'll just wrap up real quick.
COVID -- when COVID struck, we lost some of our pilots that
were doing air service there. John App (phonetic) was one of them.
They were taking people up on rides.
So one reason our numbers are down is because during that time
period, John and Chuck decided not to come back.
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So people have talked about bringing back the pancake breakfast
in the mornings every -- once a month, and that would help. I got a
call this morning that someone wanted to fly into Everglades City but
wanted to make sure they had transportation.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We're going to need you to wrap
up.
MS. HUFF: Okay. And that's it. I just wanted to thank you
for looking at it in a positive light, and I want us to try to bring back
Barron Collier's vision. So thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Dwight Bowden. He'll
be followed by Paul Sims.
Just a reminder, speakers. You'll hear a single beep at 30
seconds remaining.
MR. BOWDEN: Good afternoon. My name is Dwight
Bowden, and I'm here to support the AOPA position that -- that the
county commissioners or the airport authority not approach the FAA,
but rather that perhaps you can follow the lead of the Northeast Ohio
Regional Airport of which I've been a member of for probably 18
years, been a president for majority of that period.
We were not dissimilar to Everglades in the standpoint -- from
the standpoint that, you know, we have bad pavement, fuel farm
issues, hangar issues. We had a wastewater treatment plant that no
one actually knew who owned, and it was not permitted. And we
also had the reference to a minimum of 10 based aircraft, which made
us a local airport, basic, actually.
And back in 2012, with private support, we created both a
marketing and business plan, and that was put together by R.A.
Wiedemann & Associates. And that is public domain. And I'd be
pleased to share that with everyone -- interested parties.
You have to have the plan before you go pushing the panic
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button.
And going back to the comments about the significance of
infrastructure, our issue we were trying to address is we had Spire
Institute, which was a sports complex that was being built for about
$90 million, and it was similar to International Management Group's
facility up in Sarasota. And we wanted to make sure that the airport
was there as a jet-capable facility to service their clients.
Stacey is exactly correct about this advanced air mobility
component. This is going to be huge. Northeast Ohio Regional is
involved in an Appalachian Regional Commission Study making sure
that we have the infrastructure, i.e., electrical grid to support
advanced air mobility.
In terms of finances, our current -- for 2025 our projected deficit
is $518,000. And of that, the county's offered us an allocation of
330-, and the balance historically has been funded by both -- private
donations, which has led us to basically a mix of revenues of
30 percent private, 60 percent grants, and 10 percent county
allocations.
So to make money on hangar rents and fuel is very, very
difficult, so -- but the infrastructure is still there, it serves a broader
need, and that's what I think you should support.
Thank you for your time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Paul Sims. He'll be
followed on Zoom by Dale Schoeneman.
MR. SIMS: Yes. Hi. I'm a pilot, and I have a house in
Everglades City. Actually, aviation has been my career in the Air
Force and airlines and small airplanes. And, actually, about 15 years
ago, my wife and I, on a flight from our home in Central
Florida -- someone mentioned that there's seafood down in a place
called Everglades City, and so we flew down. Had a great dinner
and also bought a house.
March 11, 2025
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We kind of fell in love with the area, in fact. Thought we were
just buying it for our grandkids to use and kids. I have two
grandkids, too, that are pilots, and they use the airplane also that I
have now, a Cessna 177, to fly from the Auburndale area down to
Everglades.
I disagree with one thing you said there, Chris, and that is if
someone was coming down to Everglades City and Everglades is not
there, they would just fly into Marco and take a car over. You know,
we would have never come down to go to Marco and then over to
Everglades City unless Everglades City airport had been open. It's a
unique place. For a pilot, the small airport is nice. The short
runway is very nice.
You mentioned one thing over there on touch-and-gos. Unless
there is a sensor that measured touch-and-gos -- is there?
MR. GARRETT: Yes.
MR. BOWDEN: There is?
MR. GARRETT: Per tower.
MR. BOWDEN: Well, that's good, because I was going to say,
I know a lot of the training schools around use the airport. And on
weekends, of course, no one's at the airport. It's just during the
week.
But, you know, the one main thing that I think should be a
reason to keep the airport open, in case of a disaster. You know,
you've got one road into Everglades City, and if that shuts down, you
know, you're cut off. That's it. And the airport out there would be
the only means of bringing supplies in or taking people out. So I
think that should be very much a consideration of what you're
looking at if you're thinking about, anywhere downstream, shutting
the airport down.
But Everglades City is a treasure and, you know, we feel very
deeply about it. Pilots in general that use the airport, they would say
March 11, 2025
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the same thing. Leave it to be.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, the rest of our speakers are on
Zoom. Your first speaker on Zoom is Dale Schoeneman, and he
would be followed by Dirk Leeward.
Mr. Schoeneman, you're being prompted to unmute yourself, if
you'll do so at this time.
A little delay on our end on the Zoom line here.
Mr. Schoeneman, you should be getting prompted to unmute
yourself. There it is. If you'll do so at this time, sir.
Mr. Schoeneman, you have to unmute on your end. The little
microphone icon on your screen.
All right. Let's move on. We'll move on to our next speaker
on Zoom, Dirk Leeward.
Mr. Leeward, you should be getting prompted to unmute
yourself, if you'll do so at this time. And there you are.
Mr. Leeward, you have three minutes.
MR. LEEWARD: This is Dirk Leeward.
I am not going to take my whole three minutes, but I just wanted
to, you know, support the AOPA's position that we -- instead of
going to the FAA and asking them -- and the State of Florida and
asking them what it would cost you to shut down the airport, I think
that it would be a much better tact to do some -- get a committee of
interested persons and work it that way first, and then if for some
reason the Board after that does want to look at the cost of closing
down the airport, then that would be the time to approach the FAA
and the state.
I also want to say that my family has been to Everglades City
before, and we're planning a trip in a couple weeks down there
to -- with about -- oh, typically, it's 50 to 75 other pilots and
airplanes, for lunch. And I think that's a big plus for the community
from a tourism standpoint. And I think it would be -- send the
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wrong message to your community to be thinking about closing it
down.
Thank you very much.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker on Zoom is Kathryn Slye,
and she will be followed by Patrick Karr.
Kathryn, you should be getting prompted to unmute yourself.
There, you've unmuted. Kathryn, you have three minutes.
MS. SLYE: Hi, good afternoon. Thank you very much to all
of the commissioners for taking the time to listen to all of us today.
It really means a lot.
As you said, my name is Kathryn Slye. I'm a pilot as well.
I've been a pilot for about 17 years. I'm currently based in Palm
Beach County but regularly enjoy flying into Everglades City,
spending some time there at the Seafood Festival, just going for the
$100 hamburger. It's really a truly exceptionally wonderful airport.
It has all been a weigh point for me coming out of the Keys one time
in the Bonanza [sic] where we had some severely bad weather that
popped up, and it ended up being a diversion point for us that we
think, you know, really contributed to our safety that day.
But in addition to flying in South Florida, I also happen to be
based out of a little airport up north called the East Hampton Airport.
I'm the president of the aviation association up there with over 60
pilots in our group. If you're not familiar with it, which I'm sure you
might be, I strongly encourage you to look up the -- and research the
saga of the East Hampton Airport over the past decade and its board's
attempts to close its airport.
There the town board decided that it wanted to close the local
airport and sell off that valuable land or redevelop that valuable land
based on what the developers told them and based on what a pair of
attorneys -- who you might be familiar with as well out of California
and Colorado. They're the same two attorneys I know in the past
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who have advised this board on other matters involving airports,
those same two attorneys who have made a career out of attempting
and failing to close airports around the country at the expense of
boards and the taxpayers in those communities.
And in East Hampton, where I'm also based, they spent over
$20 million in legal fees paying the attorneys attempting to close the
airport, only to fail in all levels, in all courts, state and federal, all the
way to the Supreme Court of the United States. You don't want to
follow in their footsteps.
I think what I've heard today has been incredibly enheartening to
listen to what you have each said. You guys have all been -- have
quickly grasped the importance of keeping this airport and not
coming from the aspect of, "Well, we want to close it. Let's see how
best we can go about closing it," and instead flipping that around and
going, "Wait, we want to keep it open. How do we best keep it
open?"
And I can tell you from my experience in being in East Hampton
the difference in what I'm seeing from this board here today and from
our own board up in New York.
So I would just encourage you to continue that line. If you are
considering, you know, reevaluating this airport, do the research to
determine, you know, what does it take to keep it open? What can
you do it improve it? What can you do to bring more aviation to it?
What can you do to help out this airport rather than just shut it down?
I see firsthand what happens when a board puts money in the
(unintelligible) songs of developers' promises before the needs and
desires of their actual community that they are dedicated to serve, and
I don't want to see that happen here.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah, if you could wrap up.
MS. SLYE: Certainly. I would just ask, don't close the
Everglades airport. Improve it. Fix it. Don't put, you know, a
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bottom line before the benefits that this airport -- which we all know
what they are -- do for this community.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MS. SLYE: So again, just take your time.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MS. SLYE: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker on Zoom is Ray Schooley,
and he will be followed by Steven Fults.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Chair?
MR. MILLER: Oh, Commissioner Kowal, I think, wants to
interject at this point, Commissioner Saunders.
If you'll stand by, Mr. Schooley.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Chairman, I just -- if it's okay, I
just want to clarify that -- the last speaker. I just don't want the
public or the people in the room or the community out there that
might be watching this on TV, I don't want them to be
confused -- confusing us with the mayor and the city council that has
hired the services of those attorneys in California. This board, as far
as I know, has never hired the services of those attorneys in
California to shut down an airport.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I thought she was talking
about -- I thought she was talking about the Naples Airport Authority.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah, that's what she is. She's
referring to that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: No, I think it was pretty clear, but
I'm glad you clarified that, that it's not us hiring those folks.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Back on Zoom, Ray Schooley, you're unmuted.
You have three minutes.
MR. SCHOOLEY: Hey. God job with my name. Most
people mess it up.
March 11, 2025
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Thanks to all the commissioners for moving this into a
discussion. It shows you care. I'd also like to acknowledge that the
Everglades airpark is located in District Commissioner 5, and I
recognize that there are usually -- there's a deference to that district
commissioner, but since this is really a countywide and even a
regional issue, that's why I'm speaking in front of you today.
I strongly recommend the Commission forming an ad hoc
committee composed of local residents and airport users to explore
ways to improve the airport rather than focusing efforts on its closure.
I know that there's one gentleman in Everglades City now that
will bring rental golf carts out to the airport to wait for you, and you
rent the golf carts. You can drive anywhere on the island you want
to.
I know that that airport contributes $2 million to the local
economy, and it serves as a valuable resource for the pilot
community. Personally, I fly to Everglades City about four times a
month. I like the dining and the shopping and the national park.
There is no way I will fly to Marco Island, rent a car, take a
50-minute car ride down to Everglades City. If I'm in Marco Island,
I would probably rent a car and drive on to the island itself. So the --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Right.
MR. SCHOOLEY: I kind of agree but I don't agree that I'm
going to drive an hour -- that's a two-hour out-and-back trip with a
car rental -- when I can just land like I do four times a month to eat in
Everglades City.
The consideration of repurposing the airport, I want you to also
consider that demolishing the airpark and building a marina could
conflict with the Collier County Manatee Protection Plan and that
same area around the airports and the critical habitat for the
endangered small-toothed sawfish.
And, yeah, the airport's got a little bit of neglect. The
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infrastructure and the ability to have hangars and tie-downs and the
fuel service, it's usually a credit card issue with the fuel service. A
lot of times I do go to Marco Island to get fuel only to return back to
Everglades City, and that's also an irritating thing to do to visit
Everglades City.
So there's a brand-new runway and taxiway at Everglades City.
It would be a shame to just go ahead and, you know, tear that up.
You need to mitigate whatever type of floodwaters are damaging the
hangars by building them so that they can get wet after a tropical
event.
There are ways to increase the operations, so bringing in more
revenue and patrons. That committee that I was talking about, you
know, come up with a business and marketing plan to bring the
airport into profitability. It's also going to help the local
communities.
So please, I urge you to consider the needs of the residents, the
tourists, the seasonal visitors, the national park employees, all the
emergency responders, the humanitarian and volunteers who rely on
this airport.
Additionally, its presence will support the newly remodeled --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ray, I'm going to --
MR. SCHOOLEY: -- opening at the end of the year, Marjorie
Stoneman Douglas Visitors Center --
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ray, you're going to need to wrap
up. Your time's up.
MR. SCHOOLEY: I did. You have two new centers, the
visitors center for the Everglades and the fire operations. Thank
you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker on Zoom is Steven Fults.
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I'm sorry. Hold on.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I just want to be first when
they're done.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker on Zoom is Steven Fults,
and he will be followed by Laura Arias.
Steven, I see you've unmuted yourself. You have three
minutes.
MR. FULTZ: Honorable Commissioners, good afternoon.
I very much appreciate the opportunity to express my concerns
in opposition to even consider decommissioning the airport.
I do acknowledge and understand the challenges facing X-Ray
01. Normally, when solving a problem, I seek any and all solutions.
In this very rare case, and especially in light of the revolution
currently underway with the future of transportation in Florida, I very
respectfully request the focus shift from decommissioning the airport
to education related to AAM, or advanced air mobility. It's been
mentioned previously.
AAM has multiple facets, including support of drive/fly
technology which now exists and is being implemented worldwide.
As a matter of fact, the FDOT aviation recently sent multiple emails
that all of you should have received.
They read in part, and I quote, "The Florida Department of
Transportation Aviation Office, FDOT, is pleased to announce local
government training for advanced air mobility, AAM. Florida has
been a global leader in the planning and integration of this new form
of transportation into our multimodal transportation system. Please
see the email invitation below that was sent to all local government
planning staff and elected officials on February 5, 2025. This
invitation is to invite these officials to the statewide AAM training.
All public-use airports are also invited to participate in the local
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training sessions.
"Please encourage the cities, towns, villages, counties, and
applicable stakeholders that you work with to participate in the
training closest to them. It is our goal to provide as many local
governments with this valuable information and engage them on the
statewide efforts to safely integrate AAM into our aviation system,"
end quote.
There is simple no way for me to explain AAM in three minutes,
but I am extremely confident, though, that once AAM is understood,
especially with respect to the drive/fly technology -- and I'm going to
reiterate the drive/fly technology for this particular airport -- that this
board will embrace the Everglades City Airpark and authorize the
hard work needed to recover and make resilient this extremely
valuable county asset.
Lastly, it's my understanding, and I may be wrong, but for
decades an airport advisory board existed. I believe Ordinance
2013-54 abolished the airport advisory board. I would like to
request the consideration you be given to potentially reinstate the
airport advisory board in some form or fashion compliant with the
special dependent district.
Additionally, the AAM technology that we're talking about with
respect to drive/fly, there is no need for fuel, there is no need for
hangars, there is no need for additional parking at the airport, and
short runways are actually preferred.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Steven --
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
MR. FULTZ: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Laura Arias, and she will
be followed by Stuart Grant.
Laura, you're being prompted to unmute yourself. I see -- well,
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you have not done that yet. Ms. Arias -- there you go. You have
three minutes Laurie -- Laura.
MS. ARIAS: (Unintelligible.) Thank you for hearing us
today.
I want to reiterate and question a few things at the beginning of
this agenda matter. The woman who presented suggested there were
so few fly-ins over the course of the last year, but like
Mr. Schooley -- and I apologize if I butchered your last name -- also
pointed out that the airport underwent a renovation during that year,
so there was not a lot of fly-ins predominantly because the airport
was closed.
As an aviator myself, someone who joined aviation much later
in my life, becoming a pilot at 49 years old, I made over 200 randoms
at TNT before my instructor was like, "You're ready to land at
Everglades City."
Given the recent events, especially in the FAA and governing
the way we fly in, the way we fly out, your aviators need airparks like
Everglades City. It makes pilots who would otherwise be exposed to
that kind of a runway only in simulations.
I happened to be standing in a tower when Sully landed on the
Hudson. I watched that. And every single person walked off that
aircraft not because he trained in a sim, not because he had hundreds
of hundreds of hours in that aircraft, but because he flew gliders,
because he had experience beyond the commercial -- the commercial
agency for which he worked.
Everyone knows in aviation training is everything. Everglades
City gives us the opportunity to land on (unintelligible) short runway
with water on both sides. It's psychologically intimidating, but I can
tell you this: The feeling of satisfaction when you put your wheels
down and when you pick your wheels up.
Aside from that, that airpark makes Collier County important in
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a natural disaster. Certain things are definitely maintained and
focused on after a hurricane. If you have an airport, the people who
live in Everglades City, the one road in and one road out, become a
priority. You know, if you're going to land 10 kilos [sic] to address
a situation like -- that happened with Maria in the Bahamas, that's
your airport. There's just so much that's important there.
So I just wanted to take a moment, as an aviator, as an
enthusiast, as someone who did this late in life and understands the
risks, how important this airpark truly is.
Thank you for your time.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
Troy, how many more speakers do we have?
MR. MILLER: I have -- let's see -- two more to be heard
here -- or one more, and then I was going to try to circle back for
Dale Schoeneman.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Do we need to take a break,
or -- all right. Let's go ahead with the rest of the speakers.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Stuart Grant on Zoom,
and then we're going to -- I'm sorry. After Mr. Grant is Patrick Karr.
He has just come back online.
Mr. Grant, you have three minutes.
MR. GRANT: Good afternoon. I've flown into Everglades
Airport dozens of times in the last 25 years to purchase stone crabs,
enjoy a seafood lunch at one of the restaurants, and to attend the
seafood festivals. I've flown friends and relatives over from Miami
for boat tours and attended pancake breakfasts at the airport.
The airport makes Everglades City an easy place to visit for me
and many other pilots. Why is Collier County considering closing
this irreplaceable public asset? Yes, it was damaged by recent
hurricanes, and this damage has cut off the income that supported the
airport operation. All low-lying areas of Florida are vulnerable to
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storms, but that doesn't mean that we abandon them if they are
damaged. We don't close, abandon, and sell public parks, public
marinas, or public roads that are damaged.
As a pilot and an architect and a construction manager who's
worked on many airport projects, it seems to me that the facilities at
Everglades Airpark are intact, but since no repairs have been made,
they are unusable. They can be repaired and made even more
resistant to future storms.
Four or five more T hangers could be built. Repaired and
expanded facilities could easily generate the income needed to run
the airport. Public airports all over Florida have multiyear waiting
lists for hangar space. Has a business plan or marking plan for
Everglades Airpark been done?
Maybe pressure to close the airport is coming from the owners
of vacant land purchased in 2023 on the east side of the airport. That
private 52 acres is being called the Everglades Outpost Resort and
Marina and is currently listed for sale on the LS company's website
for $9 and a half million.
In my opinion, there is a great opportunity to have a
public/private partnership where homes there can have
through-the-fence access to the airport.
Vacant lots on airparks in Florida's Keys 1/8th of an acre in size
are currently valued at half a million dollars. Doing the math, if 30
of the 52 acres were developed as 150 homesites with private
hangars, located adjacent to the airport, this could easily generate
75 million in value to the developers.
This would still leave plenty of space for lodging, resort
facilities, and boat docks. It could be a small version of the
prestigious Ocean Reef Club on Key Largo.
I'm not advocating that this be done, but it is an example of how
a fully functioning public Everglades airport can add value to
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landowners while still providing public access to the Everglades City
and Chokoloskee community. With the airport open, people can fly
in from all over to fish with many of the local guides, tour Everglades
National Park, stay at nearby hotels, and eat at local restaurants.
No matter what, I urge you to keep the airport open and make
the relatively modest repairs and improvements necessary to make it
self-sustaining in the long run. If the airport is gone, it will be gone
forever. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Patrick Karr, and then
we'll circle back and try to connect with Mr. Schoeneman one more
time.
Patrick, you're being -- oh, you've unmuted. Sir, you have three
minutes.
MR. KARR: Thank you. First of all, thank you for allowing
us to speak.
I really -- as a pilot, I really have nothing to add. All of the
comments that I was going to make have been covered.
I do have one question, though. After the study is completed
and you get all the information, will there be public input allowed
after that time if a decision is made to close the airport?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Any decisions that are made by
the County Commission will be subject to public input and a public
hearing, so, yes.
MR. KARR: All right. Thank you very much. That's all I
have.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. KARR: I urge you to consider keeping the airport open.
It's a very valuable resource. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Schoeneman, Dale Schoeneman, you
March 11, 2025
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should be getting prompted to unmute yourself, sir. We're going to
try this one more time for you. There you go. You have three
minutes, sir.
MR. SCHOENEMAN: Thank you very much for the
opportunity to address the Board of Commissioners.
I'm a resident, pilot owner -- a resident of Collier County, an
airplane owner.
And I'll not repeat everything that's already been said but simply
offer an invitation to you to see first hand some of the members of a
club that I belong to called the Florida Old Farts Flying Club. Next
Thursday -- correction. March 20th we will have a fly-in at
the -- our annual fly-in to the Everglades Airpark from 10 till 2
o'clock. In that period of time last year we had 42 aircraft arrive.
And we provide local transportation to all the restaurants in town,
thereby exposing the merchants opportunities to serve people from all
over the county -- all over the state who come here to enjoy the great
food that we have.
But it gives you an awful -- same opportunity to see the
popularity of this airport, which has already been evidenced by the
earlier speaker.
On that, I'll close. Remember that we appreciate the county
commissioners' support for operating such a beautiful airport
convenient to the remote area of our county.
Thank you again for this opportunity.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: And that completes our public speakers, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Let's start at the top.
And No. 1 -- I don't know who's buying those $100 hamburgers, but
to me they're $500 hamburgers every time I fly in someplace to get a
hamburger, just to put that on the record. Those $100 hamburgers
March 11, 2025
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went away a long time ago, No. 1.
Number 2, what are you --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Go ahead.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. In order -- and until
today, I didn't know what the losses that we have been incurring with
regard to this facility had been. I think Trinity shared that it was
effectively, right now, about -- or had been historically about 150,000
or so a year. There's no argument that this airpark is an icon of the
community. It's been there forever. But we have to do a study.
We have said -- who's ringing the bell on me, Troy?
MR. MILLER: That would have been, sir, accidently. I'm so
sorry, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, okay.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thirty seconds.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Your time was up, Commissioner
McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Mr. Chairman, did you tell
him to do that?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I've been trying to tell him to do
that.
MS. SCOTT: We all voted, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, we all voted.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We have tasked -- this board
has tasked our staff to not just bring agenda items to us because
something needs repair. We have tasked them to come to us with
recommendations such as this to study everything that we're doing.
We're not investing our money. We're investing the taxpayers'
money. This is an asset of Collier County at all. And in order to
do -- to make an intelligent decision, you have to ask all of the
questions. A portion of that is can we or not decommission this
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facility? Yes or no. If the answer's no, then it's a nonstarter. So
we have to ask that question.
Along with that, we have to know what we have to repay, if any,
of the grant monies that we've, in fact, received over the years one
way or the other.
So to me doing this -- asking for this agenda item to come
forward to perform this study to look at the historical data and not
just five years, not just four years. I've been a commissioner for
eight now. We took 11-, 12-foot of water in Everglades City during
Hurricane Irma. We took another five or six during Hurricane Ian,
and we repaired and replaced and repaired and replaced.
And so I would like for us to have data for 10 years' worth of
information with regard to the operations of this airport, both -- and I
know that we've only had digital recordation for five years, but we
also -- we have manual recordation of the trips that came in and out.
And we -- and it isn't spending any money on a study. That's
something I really want to make clear. This is something that our
staff can, in fact, do.
Today I learned that the estimated cost for the hangars that we
know of for so -- for now is about $1.2 million. The losses that have
been attributable to this facility are about $150,000 a year for some
time, but we don't know how long that some time is.
So in order to make an intelligent decision, we need to have all
of the data. Then we need to look at alternative uses. Ms. Stacey
suggested when I spoke with her -- I think it was last week I spoke
with her -- that her organization would whip up an ad hoc committee
to give recommendations to this board along with this information
that we have from this study as to efforts that can be done,
utilizations for this asset that can be done to enhance its operations, to
enhance its revenue, to make it a more viable facility. And I would
certainly welcome that. And I want that to be part of my motion or
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the motion if, in fact, this board goes forward that we do, in fact,
engage with them for that ad hoc committee to receive that
information.
I did say the 10-year -- if you want, Mr. Chair, I can make a
motion, if you want.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We've got a couple commissioners
lit up.
But let me ask the court reporter if you can go a little bit longer.
You going to be okay?
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
THE COURT REPORTER: (Nods head.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We'll try to wrap this
item up. Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And just on the note from the
letter that -- I think Henry brought it from -- from our mayor in
Everglades City. Just to remind him and the community, I spoke to
Howie back in January about conducting this study. His actual
response to me was -- when I spoke to him was that the previous
mayor had given the airport to Collier County because the city didn't
wish to continue to -- couldn't support its operations, so they gave it
to -- the City of Everglades gave it to Collier County.
So I apologize if there was not sufficient communication, but we
have been talking about this for some time, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman.
Trinity, a few people have said -- they keep calling it the "new
runways." When were those runways redone?
MS. SCOTT: 2022.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Were they just repaved, or
was there significant repairs done?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You're going to need to come to
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the microphone, please. And state your name, if you would, just for
the record.
MR. GARRETT: Brian Garrett. I'm your airports manager.
They were completely reconstructed, which is the subbase on up
to the asphalt.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Oh, wow. Okay.
MR. GARRETT: It is just a runway, not the taxiway.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Right. Okay. And paid for
by the county, obviously? There was a --
MR. GARRETT: That was a grant: A 90 percent, funded by
FAA, 5 percent FDOT, and 5 percent local funds.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay.
I've just got a couple of short comments. I go to Everglades
City a lot. I don't know why you guys are paying $100 for burgers.
Go to Camillia Street Grill. There's nothing that's $100 there, and
it's all homemade. It's awesome.
I'm retired Air Force. So one thing I can tell you, Navy guy,
our two Air Force guys here, we could have made it to the Marco
Airport. I don't know -- and we might not have even had an
aircraft -- I'm just kidding you.
Just very briefly, my take would be I think the ad hoc
committee's great, but I think -- just my recommendation -- some
people are doing it backwards. I think a neutral FAA study where
we don't steer them. If you ask for a study, you know, it's not a great
idea to say, "So give us a study but, you know, tell you whatever you
can do to close the airport or to keep it open."
We should just have them come in here and just do analysis.
Then you take that study and you give it to an ad hoc committee so
they can dissect it and say, "Wow, the FAA said this, but this is why
we disagree with it. Wow, the FAA said this" -- because I can tell
you one of the things the FAA's going to say, "Wow, 3,000, 4,000
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pilots all say the Everglades City Airport" -- and it's not an airport.
It's a -- they don't sell fuel. They don't have hangars, so it's a landing
strip for touch-and-gos.
But I can tell you what the FAA is going to say, "Wow, you've
got thousands of people that think it's an unbelievable asset. Your
numbers show that you only have 3,000 touch-and-gos, you know, in
a year." Right? Isn't that what you showed? So that's going to
have to be explained.
That's why I think the FAA first, or some organization, then you
give it to the ad hoc committee, and then they're able to dissect it for
us, and it's local people that can do a different dive than the FAA, and
that's what -- that would be my guidance.
And I'd be all for some sort of study and then -- you know, we
don't want to belabor the point, but you can get a deeper different
dive from the locals. But you know, just remember a lot of people
are throwing a lot of numbers around, and some of those numbers are
going to work against, it's not the best form of evidence saying that,
you know, thousands of people love the airport. Well, why aren't
they landing there? The numbers don't show it unless the numbers
are suspect.
But the improvements, I actually thought you were going to say
it wasn't as recent to the runway, and that's a favorable thing.
But from my experience in the Air Force, if you don't sell gas,
then that's why you lose a ton of money, and that's what makes you
an airport. Yeah, hangars are great and the golf carts are great, and
all that, but you've got to sell gas.
And you know, I don't know if we -- did we say, Trinity, what
we -- like, you had said, "Oh, an electrician was out there." Do we
have a ballpark if, you know, everything was possible, what it would
cost to get that -- that fuel operation up and running again? It sounds
like there's some significant damage, and the stuff's a bit dated. Do
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we have a number, or is that something that we'd have to have come
out of the study?
MS. SCOTT: It's something that we're working on. One of
the issues -- and it was brought up during one of the -- from one of
the speakers is that it's a credit card operation, and sometimes the
connectivity for service to be able to make that connection is an
issue. So they're not able to pay with the credit card. So those are
things that we are working through to try to get fuel back open --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: But is fuel delivered out
there? Are the tanks full?
MS. SCOTT: Brian is our resident expert out there, so...
MR. GARRETT: There's a 10,000-gallon AV gas tank. It's
about a quarter full because we can't sell it.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I gotcha. Okay. Thank
you, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Well, my view is that
we should do a study. That study should be geared towards what do
we need to do to make that airport operational again? What will it
cost to fix the fuel situation? What we can do to develop more
hangars out there; what we can do to fix the connectivity issue with
the gasoline charges. I'm sure there's got to be a technical solution to
that that -- and so, I also believe that simply going to the FAA and
saying, "Hey, we need some guidance on how we can make this a
more profitable airport," I think you'll sit back for the next couple
years waiting for something from that.
I don't think the right direction. I think the right direction is
that we do the evaluation on what we need to do to make this a viable
airport, to get the fuels sales going, to get the hangars back up to
snuff.
And, oh, by the way, if you wanted to ask the FAA at some
point in time, you know, we've come to the conclusion that it's going
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to be too expensive to do those things, that's the first study we'll do,
then we'll go to the FAA for issues in terms of what steps we have to
take to close.
But in the meantime, I think it would be -- as you're doing that, I
think it would be smart to go to the FAA and suggest that we were
going to make these repairs. We want to get this airport back up to
where it is one that is eligible for grants. What can we do to make
that happen? Take it as a positive approach to the FAA, not a
negative approach.
And so I'll support a motion that does that. I will not support a
motion that says, "Let's go to the FAA and find out what we need to
do to close this thing." I just think that's the wrong approach. So
that's my view.
Commissioner McDaniel, you're lit up again.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. Well, as a point of
clarification, Mr. Chair, we're not going to the FAA for advice with
regard to what to do with this airport. We're -- a portion of the study
will be to go to the FAA to ask for permission or find out if we can
even decommission the airport at all, No. 1. Then look at the study,
have the study performed by our staff with regard to the cost for
reparations, the cost -- the historical landings, the historical sales with
regard to the fuel, so on and so forth. We're doing it all in one shot.
We're not going to the FAA for advice. Actually, the AOPA is
the organization that has offered up the ad hoc committee to give us
advice on what we can do with this facility to enhance its revenue
streams.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall -- let's see if
we can wrap this up as well.
Commissioner Hall, and then we'll see if Commissioner Kowal
has any comments.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
March 11, 2025
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I just want to let the public know that the train -- we have not
cranked up the train to close this airport.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
COMMISSIONER HALL: That's not our intention. The
intention is is we have an airport that we can't use. If it was being
used, it wouldn't be losing money every single month. If the
overwhelming support from the pilot community was flocking into
Everglades City, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
So it's fair to the public who funds this to have all of the
answers, to find out what would take place to fix it all up, to get it
operational again. Have AOP support behind it. I'm a Beach Talk
member. I frequent the website. Stacey's email was put in the trip
talk on there. I read it all, and it's warranted.
But I just want to let you know that we are not up here trying to
justify closing anything. We just want the information to where we
can make a good, solid decision based on the public. That's it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
It sounds like we need to bring the pancake breakfast back,
because that sounds like everybody wanted to come for that.
But other than that, I guess I've got a technical question to ask of
Trinity and someone at the county management.
Could tourism dollars be used? Because it sounds like
90 percent of the people fly into that airport to take advantage of
tourist-type attractions to make these improvements. Is there an
answer for that?
MS. SCOTT: Sir, there's not an answer -- this is Trinity Scott,
for the record.
There's not an answer, but it is something that we can look on as
a potential opportunity as we are going through this analysis and then
bringing that back in front of the Board of -- if that is a funding
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source that could be utilized.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: And the second part is, I know in
Stacey's survey I think at one point she did mention that there was a
large group of probably 3,500, and she said that there was a section in
there that made comments. About 90 percent said that they would
go there more often if they had the ability to access to the fuel.
So it sounds like fuel's the main driver for some of these people
to utilize it, and -- because you don't want to fly somewhere, you
know, hours and hours to get there, and then you can't refuel to get
back to your original starting point, you know, to enjoy what's there
to offer.
So, you know, that might even be an easier fix than we think. If
we're up and running and people know we have fuel access again,
that they can use their credit cards, they can fuel the planes up, that
might even just be a game-changer in the short-term. Because it
sounds like we have a pretty nice runway just got built two and a half
years, or two to three years ago.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: But that's pretty much my
comments. I don't know if that's a possible funding source or not,
but it sounds like tourism is the main driver for a lot of these pilots.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And we can ask the County
Attorney to opine on that when this comes back.
Commissioner McDaniel, let's see if we can -- if we can get a
motion and see if we can get this wrapped up.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's what I'll do. I'll make
the motion to go forward with the study inclusive of the discussion
with the FAA and the ad hoc -- creation of the ad hoc committee for
potential utilizations for the airport facility.
And I just want to specify that we have at least 10 years’ worth
of history with this asset and its utilization so that we're not looking
March 11, 2025
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at particular downturns that have happened because of some natural
event.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I will second that
motion if you'll consider adding to -- just a clarification. You said as
part of the motion to conduct the discussion with the FAA.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The implication, I think, is that the
questions to the FAA would be "Can we close this?" I would like to
have the FAA opine on two things. One is what can we do to make
this airport eligible for grants and if not -- or in addition, your request
about the cost to close it.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sure, and that's fine. I
mean, I don't know that -- I think we already know those rules from
the FAA, but if you want to make that a part -- I'll make that part of
my motion, if that will help you with your second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, I'll second it with the
understanding that we're going to approach the FAA really with two
questions: One being what we can do and the other is what the
alternatives are.
MS. SCOTT: If I could ask for a point of clarification. On the
ad hoc committee, would that be a county ad hoc committee, or this
would be with the AOPA, that they would kind of convene a
committee and be conversing and sharing information; we would be
sharing information back and forth, correct?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct.
MS. SCOTT: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And we do have someone from
the AOPA that wants to comment on that. Come on up, if you
would.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are you still willing to do
that, Stacey?
March 11, 2025
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CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Trinity, part of that motion
was to evaluate what we can do to fix this airport.
MS. SCOTT: Absolutely.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's correct.
MS. HEATON: Is this on?
Hi. For clarification, in my mind, the ad hoc is a working
group where we partner with the county and their staff. First
meeting -- it would be a couple meetings. First meeting would be
them coming, airport layout plan, history of operations, history of
issues there, have everybody that's volunteering their time to be on
this ad hoc listen to what the county has, what their background is,
what the issues are.
Meeting No. 2 would be the ad hoc committee members coming
back, throwing all ideas on the table, and then the county would take
those ideas, evaluate them, see what they can do, what they can't do,
maybe culminate a third meeting where they come back. So that's
kind of where I was seeing it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel, is that
consistent?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's fine. My question
was: Are you willing to do that?
MS. HEATON: I'm absolutely willing to get -- ping my
members to volunteer, absolutely.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Perfect, perfect.
All right. We have a motion and a second. I think it's pretty
clear that the direction of the Board, or at least members of the
Board, is we're looking to kind of keep this airport open, but we're
willing to take a look at the study as to what has to be done if we
have to close it.
All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
March 11, 2025
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COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. It passes unanimously.
Thank you.
All right. We have really only one item left. We need to take
a break.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Two.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: But do you want to take a break
for lunch?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Just a short one.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Let's make Terri work.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Why don't we come back at
quarter after 1 and give everybody a good opportunity to take a
break. We're in recess till 1:15.
(A brief recess was had from 12:54 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.)
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's move on to Item 11C.
Item #11C
DIRECTING STAFF TO ADVERTISE AND BRING BACK AN
ORDINANCE AMENDING THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE
TO MODIFY THE PROHIBITION OF RENTING GUESTHOUSES
ON LOTS ZONED ESTATES (E), LOCATED WEST OF COLLIER
BOULEVARD, TO ALLOW FOR SUCH RENTALS IF ALL NEW
REQUIREMENTS ARE MET. (PL20240009067) (MICHAEL BOSI,
March 11, 2025
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DIVISION DIRECTOR - PLANNING & ZONING) - DISCUSSED,
NO BOARD ACTION
MS. PATTERSON: Item 11C is a recommendation to direct
staff to advertise and bring back an ordinance amending the Land
Development Code to modify the prohibition of renting guesthouses
on lots zoned Estates located west of Collier Boulevard, to allow for
such rentals if all new requirements are met.
Mr. Mike Bosi, your division director of Planning and Zoning, is
here to present without a presentation because our --
MR. BOSI: And thank you, County Manager.
I mean, there's no need for a presentation. There was no
material that was in the request. It was simply a request to advertise
to bring back a potential amendment to allow for guesthouses to
be -- to be rented, a prior Board direction to staff.
So with that, I think I would turn it to Commissioner Saunders
as to the specifics of what you wanted to discuss on this particular
item.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, actually, this item was
brought to the Board by Commissioner McDaniel. I'm opposed to
the concept at this point, the reason being is that once we open this
door up to legalize the renting of guesthouses, the next step is going
to be that people are going to be renting those out as Airbnbs. And
when the neighborhood folks were polled about whether they
supported going this route -- I was at one of the meetings. The
majority of folks that were there -- and it was a very small number,
but the majority were in support of renting guesthouses to the general
public, but when they were advised, "Oh, by the way, we can't really
control that. Once that door is opened, we can't restrict someone
from renting on a short-term basis," then the sentiment changed.
And so I think that going forward and doing this is a mistake. I
March 11, 2025
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think the next step is if we do this in the Urban Estates, we're
certainly going to do it in the Rural Estates, and I just think that that's
creating more traffic on these very narrow roads, and it's also, I think,
destroying -- potentially destroying quality of life of people that live
in those urban dwelling -- Urban Estates dwellings. So I was
opposed to this.
But Commissioner McDaniel, this was something that you had
brought up.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, it is. I brought it up
quite some time ago.
And, Mike, if you don't mind going through some of the data
that was new news to me. How many -- how many total pieces of
property are there in the Urban Estates?
MR. BOSI: Urban Estates lots, 3,558, and roughly about 400
of them have guesthouses on them currently.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. And, Commissioner
Saunders, I understand your concerns that you've brought up with
regard to this, but the rationale that I had behind this suggestion was
simple supply and demand with available properties for lease. If you
increase the supply, over time you'll theoretically have a reduction in
the expense associated with the available rentals.
I also talked specifically about allowing for this on homesteaded
properties so that we didn't have commercial developers or rental
companies buying properties and turning around and renting these
properties where we didn't have a say-so with an owner that could
actually stand responsible.
So the -- I did want to -- I did -- and I think we have some ladies
from the Property Appraiser's Office who have been dutifully sitting
here all morning. I'd like to hear from them, if I may, with regard to
the -- because I had -- I had a thought in my mind that isn't how we
have been conducting business as far as -- because one of the things,
March 11, 2025
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if you'll recall, we need to -- we need to pull a portion of the
homesteaded property out of the homestead exemption to allow for
legally renting a guest home, and if you don't mind, if you would
share with me the particulars on that.
MS. BLAJE: Sure. Hi. I'm Jennifer Blaje. I'm the tax roll
analyst for the Collier County Property Appraiser's Office.
So we do have some properties in the Estates that are already
renting their guesthouses that we've found through investigation or a
neighbor called or whatever the situation may be. So what we do
right now is no matter how much acreage or land they have, we allow
all of the land for the homesteaded portion, and we will pull out the
value of the square footage of the guesthouse that they're renting.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
MS. BLAJE: Guesthouse, if the guesthouse has a pool, screen
enclosure, all that, all of it. Whatever they're using in that building
footprint, the value of the improvements, the building will be pulled
out and not included in their homestead protection.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. And that -- thank
you. That is a very nice quantification of how we could actually
delineate this if, in fact, we go forward. I suppose -- because I had a
different way, and then I have learned subsequently that that's not
how we have been managing these rental properties in regard to the
homesteaded -- to the homesteaded properties that we have.
So I'm still in favor of doing this. I'm still in favor of increasing
the availability of housing units, especially in the urban area where
we do, in fact, have infrastructure, where we -- where the trip
distances are less and closer to -- in closer proximity to employment,
all of the benefits that come along with that. I think this is -- this is a
fine way for us to explore that opportunity.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
March 11, 2025
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You know, when this idea first came out, I was so interested in
affordable housing for the workforce, so I thought this is great way to
increase the inventory for our workforce.
And one of my ideas -- because it was an idea -- was to limit the
terms of the leases so that we could ensure that workforce people
were getting these properties instead of VRBOs or Airbnbs; however,
state statute says we can't do that. We can't limit how people -- you
know, the terms that -- people can rent there for three days or they
can rent there for three years. We don't have the right to limit that.
So that kind of squashed the purpose of my interest in that.
And if we can't ensure that these properties are going to increase
inventory for our workforce, I'm all about not doing it at all. I don't
think that -- I've seen what happened to Naples Park in my district,
the Airbnbs, the music, the interruption, the short-term leases. It's
people's right to do it there because there are no restrictions, but I'd
hate to lift that restriction in the Urban Estates because I really do
feel like that's the way that the market will move because that's the
way that they can maximum their property and maximum their dollar,
leaving the workforce behind.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Do we have any
registered speakers? No one else is lit up here.
MR. MILLER: Yes, we do, sir. We have one here in the room
and one online.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's go ahead and do that, and
we'll see if anybody else have any comments.
MR. MILLER: Albert Benlolo. You've put that you're ceding
time to Luis Nino. One or the other of you have to speak.
MR. BENLOLO: Well, my English is better.
MR. MILLER: There you go.
MR. BENLOLO: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Thank
you for hearing us. The concern here is Luis has built a guesthouse
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based on a little research that he did that, "Okay, am I going to be
able to at least recoup, you know, let's say, the expenses of the
house." He has plenty of family that comes to visit. So the main
purpose of the guesthouse is for guests, for nonpaying guests. But
he figures, you know, if during the season I can do short-term, okay,
then, you know, my taxes, my insurance, my WiFi, and my electric, I
can recoup that. And so the purpose was that.
In addition to that, you know, he builds, so he goes to the county
for permitting, and no one ever mentions, "Listen, you have a
limitation of use here. You cannot ever rent a guesthouse," because
then you would have -- reconsidered and say, "Okay. I'm not going
to invest $250,000 and not being able to even recoup my expenses,
you know."
And so he decides to build a guesthouse. You know the
process, permitting, he puts the plan in as a guesthouse for
permitting, and no one ever mentioned, "Listen, there is a limitation
of use," particularly because it's in Golden Gate Estates where you
don't have a choice where, you know that, you know, there are
businesses. There's all kinds of things because of no limitations in
use.
So he goes ahead, and he builds the guesthouse. And this
season, you know, he gets -- plus, he looks into those platforms that
you mentioned, okay, and he sees that people are actually renting
guesthouse. They advertise it as a guesthouse.
It's also an income for the county because, those platforms, they
have to charge tourist tax. So he goes ahead, and then there's a
complaint about the -- by the neighbor about that, and they come and
tell him, "Sorry, you can never -- you can use it. You can do
whatever you want. You cannot charge."
And he said, "But I'm charging" -- I mean, this is, like, a two,
three months a year. Those people are not really an impact to
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schools or, I mean -- sorry. Am I done?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Go ahead and wrap up. Take --
MR. BENLOLO: Okay. So, yeah, there is really no impact
because if somebody's living in that house, okay, you're going to
drive, you already pay $25,000 in impact fees also. So that's the
concern. It feels like it's selective.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Understood, thank you.
MR. MILLER: Our second speaker and final speaker on this
item is on Zoom. Jill Rosenfeld. Jill, you should be getting
prompted to unmute yourself, if you'll do so at this time. And you're
unmuted, Jill. You have three minutes.
MS. ROSENFELD: Thank you.
Good afternoon, Commissioners. I'm going to talk procedurally
about this. Currently rental of guesthouses is prohibited -- is a
prohibited use under the LDC. The proposed ordinance seeks to
modify this prohibited use.
The LDC administration procedures state that any change in a
permitted, conditional, or prohibited use in a zoning district requires a
public hearing before the Planning Commission which can determine
whether it should be heard over one or two hearing dates, one of
which must be after 5 p.m. Thereafter, the BCC shall have two
hearings, one of which must be after 5 p.m.
The Planning Commission heard this matter at a meeting
scheduled for 9 a.m. on January 16th, 2025, yet there was no
discussion or vote to hold the required 5 p.m. public hearing.
The request today is that if the BCC agrees to advertise and
bring the proposed ordinance back, that the proposed ordinance
modifying a prohibited use in a zoning district be advertised for a
Planning Commission meeting after 5 p.m., to be in compliance with
the LDC administration proceedings before advertising for the BCC
hearings.
March 11, 2025
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I think that there's still a lot of confusion about this topic, and I
think the more meetings that we have and the more public interaction,
you know, that's better education for the public.
So I thank you for your time.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: And that was all of our speakers, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
Yeah, I think this was the thing that the County Attorney
brought up, you know, in an email in the one-way communication, I
think, earlier was referenced to what I think the last individual just
spoke about. If this is a procedural thing or not, is this something we
should look at having an additional meeting with the Planning
Commission in the evening.
But this is just one of those situations, this government
overreach, either way you look at it, it's a double-edged sword. It's
like, you know, earlier we talked about how important people's rights
are to own property and -- but then at the same time we restrict
people that invest their own money and buy property in an area,
builds a guesthouse with their own money, but then the government
tells them what they can do or can't do with it.
It's another one of those within the boundary of their -- probably
their most -- second most sacred right is their property and their home
and what they do on their property other than your personal rights.
You know, I don't know if there's an easy fix. Maybe we're
looking at this the wrong way. I was along the line with
Commissioner Hall initially when Commissioner McDaniel brought
this up. You know, inventory is the only way to really fix the
problem. Flood the inventory with properties -- available properties
that, you know, automatic -- that will have an effect of lowering the
cost of rentals in our community, which we all know that's typically
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how it works. This is Economics 101.
But I think what's -- there's only, what, 400 properties out of the
3,000 or so that even have this -- the ability to do it if they wanted to
do it. And I know state statute restricts -- like, if we put a 31-day
moratorium -- like, you can't lease less than 31 -- 30 plus one day,
you know, type lease.
But is there a possibility that people want to participate, we
create some sort of special permitting for these properties, within the
properties, like a special permit, that if they apply for a special
permit, that they have to adhere to the boundaries of the permit?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, we can ask the County
Attorney that question.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So that will eliminate --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. We can ask the County
Attorney that question. I suspect that we can't avoid state law by
creating some permit process, but I'll ask Mr. Klatzkow if he could
answer your question there.
MR. KLATZKOW: No, you can't get around the state
restrictions by a local permit.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. You answered that
question.
And I don't know -- like I said, I'm -- I'd like to -- I think we've
been kicking this can around a little while now. I know it's been
brought up at the beginning of my initial term as a commissioner
probably about a year and -- almost two years ago.
I mean, I just -- I've just got to kind of yield to the rest of the
members of the Board with how they feel, if this is worth something
going forward with, or is there more provisions we need to provide to
make it legal so we don't do something -- that we're not doing
something outside the boundaries of what we can do --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. We can't --
March 11, 2025
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COMMISSIONER KOWAL: -- when it comes to public
hearings.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. We can't make a decision
today. The only decision we can make today is either not to move
forward or to move forward and ask staff to go through the
procedural steps to make it work.
So today is just a question of do we direct staff to come back
with the appropriate LDC amendments and zoning amendments and
public hearings to make this work.
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Let's carry this discussion
amongst us.
If three of us say yes, go forward and produce an ordinance or
an adjustment to the ordinance to allow for the renting of
guesthouses, it requires four of us to pass it. And so if four of us
aren't willing to give consideration to that, then we don't need to
waste staff's time, money, and energy to go forward with it.
I thought we had, necessarily, addressed the concerns with
regard to the potential lack of control by delineating it to the primary
residence, the homesteaded properties, so we had a body to talk to.
I haven't changed my position, but I think we all -- we need to
have a discussion as to whether or not we support this endeavor or
not. And if it is not the will of four of us to ultimately see this
through, then we don't need to -- we don't need to engage staff
to -- just because of a majority of us today think we should explore it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro, you're
next. But let me ask a question to the County Attorney, if you don't
mind, because Commissioner McDaniel raised a question about the
homestead -- homesteaded property owner is in control and,
therefore, is going to be a better landlord than, you know, some --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: In theory.
March 11, 2025
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CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah, in theory.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: In theory.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And you're probably right. But I
guess the question is, let's say you own a single-family home in a
district like this, and you sell it to XY Corporation that's buying up
houses and renting them out. So XY Corporation buys the house
and the guesthouse. What keeps XY Corporation from renting the
house and the guesthouse as an Airbnb?
MR. KLATZKOW: Under state law, nothing.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So I wanted to ask that
question -- I already knew what the answer was -- because I think
that goes to the heart of what you're saying. "The landlord could
take care of this." Well, the landlord may be, you know, some
land-owning -- REIT or some other organization that's just buying
these up and renting them out. That's really my major concern.
Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. I'm -- you know -- we
typically send stuff to the staff so that they can bring us back more
information, but I think we've really been smart these last few years
using our due diligence and say, "Are we really wasting the staff's
time?" You know, we're sending them down, you know, a rabbit
hole, but we have a lot of concerns.
You know, Commissioner Hall really echoed what I feel as well,
is if it -- if these guesthouses can be regulated a certain way, then
maybe there's some meat on the bone, there's a way to do this. But if
it can't, I'm all for short-term rentals. I think, you know, when
somebody rents their house and there's a problem and there's noise
and all these things, that's -- I've said this before in public and in my
newsletter and whatnot, that's not a short-term rental problem.
That's a bad landlord. And then you call the police, and there's noise
and this and that.
March 11, 2025
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But I think, you know, somebody that builds their house and
then rents it out to somebody during season or offseason is one thing,
but somebody that builds a house and then builds a bunch of hotel
rooms in the back -- you know, we call them guesthouses, but as
we're saying up here, they kind of could turn into Airbnbs and
whatnot.
I've got a lot of concerns that that really can open up some
issues, especially if we can't regulate it the way -- or we can't get our
arms around it. If it's going to be an all or nothing thing, I'm not so
sure I'd be, you know, bigtime in favor of somebody's living in the
house, and then they've got a bunch of renters in the back, and we'd
be passing an ordinance that would allow that with minimal
regulations.
So unless I hear something, unless I'm wrong, or -- you know,
I'm kind of like Commissioner Kowal, I want to hear maybe what
you-all think or correct what my concerns are.
But you've kind of already done that, so I don't know that I'd be
in big favor of redoing the -- redoing this to allow guesthouses to
have more flexibility to be rented, because I'm sort of the thought of
Commissioner Saunders, that I think people will run with that and
turn it into whatever they want, and I think in a lot of neighborhoods
it's going to be a problem. But maybe I'll hear something different
before we vote.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
That was the perfect time to use the juice and squeeze comment.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah, yeah. I'm not sure
that the juice is worth the squeeze, yeah.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Just a couple of thoughts. I'm
with -- I feel the same way as Commissioner Kowal. You know,
land rights, the -- I ought to be able to rent my property if I want to,
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blah, blah, blah.
Is there a state statute that says that we can allow homestead
people to rent their units, but if you're a corporation and you're not
homesteaded then you can't do that?
MR. KLATZKOW: No.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: There's no loophole.
COMMISSIONER HALL: So we couldn't make that a
stipulation.
MR. KLATZKOW: No. What you're trying to do is get an
end to run around the statute, and I appreciate that.
COMMISSIONER HALL: No, it's just a thought.
MR. KLATZKOW: You just --
COMMISSIONER HALL: What about if we -- if we
allow -- if we allowed this -- here's what I'm trying to get away from.
I'm trying to get away from the assumption -- the assumption that if
we did this, it's automatically going to be Airbnb City. The
assumption that if we did this, it's going to ruin the people's lives in
the neighborhood, it's going to increase their traffic, you know, it's
going to overwhelm them with trash, blah, blah, blah. I mean, those
are concerns that need to be considered, but the assumption is a
different level.
Is there anything that -- like if we said we -- if we did this, we
could do it for a year and then reassess it and see how things are
working?
MR. KLATZKOW: No, I just think once you -- once you open
this up, it's done.
COMMISSIONER HALL: These are just questions, so...
MR. KLATZKOW: You've got -- you've got restrictions that
predate the statute. That's why you have these restrictions.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Well, in all fairness, in treating
people like I would want to be treated, those people moved there and
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built multimillion dollar homes in those Urban Estates with the
quality of life that they want. And to make -- to make an allowance
that allows people to rent their -- you know, rent their guesthouses
and it not be able to benefit what we want to benefit, which is our
workforce and increasing our inventory, to take the chance on the
Airbnb crowd, I -- you know, you can call the Sheriff with noise, but
I get complaints constantly from Naples Park, and it's a problem.
People come over from my Miami. They spend two or three
nights. There's a million cars there. The trash is over -- I mean, it's
not good. So if we can't get by that, then I don't think that juice is
worth the squeeze.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So Commissioner
McDaniel and then Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I can count noses. If you
want to discontinue this discussion and go have lunch, we can do
that. I don't want to send staff on a mission to open this up. I feel
for the gentleman that was here today that, unbeknownst to him, built
a guesthouse and now can't recoup those expenses.
I thought this notion was a good idea to open up the inventory,
allow for more affordability, have a little more say-so with regard to
the bad landlord, as you referred to it, Mr. LoCastro, but I can also
understand your perspective, Commissioner Saunders. I don't
necessarily concur with the overall changing of the -- of the dynamics
of the Estates, but nonetheless, I think we can -- we can discontinue
this. I don't see a reason for us to go forward.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
I'm going to say a few things just to kind of tweak everybody's
thought process here. It's just -- it came to me.
Now, the young lady from the Tax Collector's Office, she made
a comment that I kind of picked up on that -- I was curious. She
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says what they've done in the past is estimated the value of the
guesthouse and whatever properties that guesthouse used on that and
removed that from the portion that is protected by the homestead.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So is she saying that there's
people already doing this?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So it's already happening right
now. So back to the attorney, you keep telling us we can't restrict
the amount of days somebody can rent a house because it was state
statute. Now, the only thing that keeps these people from renting
these homes is the local law. So is this an opportunity for them to
have a Bert Harris lawsuit and say, "Well, the state allows me to rent
my guesthouse for any amount of days to anybody, and you don't
have any restriction over that"?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Klatzkow --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: "And now you're denying me the
ability to use my property in ways other people" -- I can go out and
buy a duplex tomorrow in Collier County and rent the other half out
to subsidize my investment. Why do I have that right where
somebody doesn't have that right just because they live in a certain
section of Collier County? And that's -- I'm just throwing out there
some thoughts.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah, we'll have Mr. Klatzkow
answer that. But, Mr. Klatzkow, do you have a comment on --
MR. KLATZKOW: Again, we have LDC restrictions that
predate the state statute. That's the only reason why we have them.
And we can do code enforcement if people are renting out their
guesthouse if we so desire.
But anything passed now, it's past the state statute. So
it's -- you're bound by the state statute now. So we were
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grandfathered -- what I'm saying is we were grandfathered in with
these regulations, but if we start changing the regulations, you lose
that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: That still doesn't answer my
question. So --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal, go ahead.
I'm sorry. I thought you were finished.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah. I mean, in a way it
doesn't really answer my question. Are we restricting these people
just because something predated the state statute or vice versa, or the
state -- before the state statute, the restriction was you couldn't rent
your guesthouse, but now state statute says we can't -- we can't
govern on how somebody rents their property out if we allow it as a
local government?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Klatzkow.
MR. KLATZKOW: People bought their homes in these Estate
lots with the understanding that guesthouses could only be used for
guests, all right. If we decide to change that and let people just rent
them out, then that's what will happen.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: My question is that's a local
rule --
MR. KLATZKOW: It's a local rule, yes.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: -- not a state rule. Okay. But
the state doesn't have jurisdiction over that. It's just a local rule.
MR. KLATZKOW: It's just a local rule. And the only reason
it survives is that it predates the statute. We were grandfathered in.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
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Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. And just as a point of
clarification, Commissioner Kowal, the -- our ordinance that
prohibits the renting of a guesthouse is -- it predates the state statute
where they took away, preemptively, our local control on these
rentals as far as a term goes. So people that bought the homes to
build a guesthouse knew that they were not legally allowed to do it,
the current practice -- to rent the guesthouse.
The current practice is if someone is found to be renting the
guesthouse, our tax assessor's office removes that portion of the
property that's being used as a rental out of the homestead portion.
So it -- all of these -- the current ordinance that we have in place
is the one that was I looking to make an adjustment. And I don't
disagree with Commissioner Hall, it's kind of sort of sad that we can't
have a say-so on those term of leases which would, I think, make us
all feel a little bit better and maybe be able to direct towards the
workforce housing aspect. But once we open up Pandora's box, it's
open.
There's nothing stopping a corporation, Marriott or any of these
companies that are buying these homes, from buying homes in Urban
or Rural Estates and renting them. They're certainly allowed to do it
under whatever pretense that they can and for whatever term that they
can. We do have a say-so on those sort of things.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Is there a motion to
move forward with this?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want to make a
motion to not talk about it anymore?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I don't think we need to -- I don't
think we need to do anything, just --
March 11, 2025
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COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You know, there's no motion to
move forward with it.
I know the young man has a -- I know this is disappointing, but
that's what the -- what the ordinance has said from the very
beginning.
So we'll move on to the next item.
Item #15A
STAFF AND COMMISSIONER GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
– PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NO ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA BY INDIVIDUALS NOT
ALREADY HEARD DURING PREVIOUS PUBLIC COMMENTS
IN THIS MEETING – NONE
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. MILLER: We have none of those.
Item #15B
STAFF PROJECT UPDATED – BROADCAST CONTROL ROOM
AND BOARDROOM RENOVATIONS – MOTION TO CANCEL
THE JULY 22, 2025, BCC MEETING FOR THE RENOVATIONS
TO BE COMPLETED – CONSENSUS
MS. PATTERSON: All right. Item 15B, staff project updates.
We do have one. This is the broadcast control room and boardroom
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renovations. Mr. John Mullins, your director of Communications
and Government Affairs, is here to give you the details.
MR. MULLINS: If you'll bear with us for just one moment.
Actually, Troy, it's on the desktop on the right side of the screen.
MR. MILLER: You're right.
MR. MULLINS: Up one more.
Thank you. For the record, once again, John Mullins, your
director of Communication, Government, and Public Affairs.
And as the County Manager stated, we're here to talk about,
briefly, the control room and boardroom broadcast technology
overhaul. A very needed project.
This county rightfully prides itself on the level of transparency
that we provide to the public, and one of the cornerstones of that
transparency is our ability to broadcast the meetings from this room.
And over the past 20 years, we've gone from standard definition
television to high-definition television to streaming online on social
media platforms and hand-held devices, and we've kind of come that
way over about 20 years of doing minor renovations to the broadcast
signal chain and equipment.
Now, over time, what that has caused is a little bit of a lack of
communication between components. Things start to age. They
don't talk to each other anymore. I would imagine your iPhone that
you have today would not speak to your Blackberry from the early
2000s. It's just one of those things. But it also makes it very hard
for us to diagnose problems.
And the other thing that we're finding with this is that the
experience with some of these older components is kind of dying off
with those components. So when we now have an issue, we have a
hard time finding someone that can come in and help rectify the
situation. In fact, we're down to one group right now out of Tampa
that routinely helps us with issues like we were experiencing just a
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little while ago, and I promise you that was not planned.
So what we have planned is a complete overhaul of the facility.
And I wanted to give you kind of a visual of what we're up against.
It starts in the maintenance room behind the control room. It goes
into the control room where you can see the myriad components that
comprise the broadcast signal. And I had to shoot it from a different
angle just to get the whole thing because it's a pretty small room.
That's kind of the behind-the-scenes look of how some of these
things are all stitched together, and that's a little bit of a better idea of
some of the cable management that we're up against in trying to solve
some of these problems.
Once we come out of the control room, we go up into the
ceilings. Once we get into the ceilings, we get into a whole other
patchwork of problems. Those aren't all our lines. Some of those
are HVAC, some of those are IT. We pull on the wrong one, and
your computer dies in your back office, and we wouldn't want that to
happen.
There's also electrical systems and other components in there
that we have to be careful of as we are taking care of this project.
Now, that continues through the hallway section into the
boardroom where we still encounter more things that we have to try
to get around. And this kind of culminates into the conduit piping
that's behind that dais wall that goes into that rack that you walk by
every time you come out here. And if you were to pick your -- poke
your head behind that, you'd probably see some more cable fun that
we have to deal with from time to time in stitching all of this
together.
Now, the reason for that is because it's coming from a couple of
directions. This podium computer also has cabling that goes
underneath the County Manager's feet and Deputy Director Finn's
feet into your dais and then below your feet, under each of those
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compartments, is even more component cabling that we have to
decipher, remove, and replace.
Now, here's the thing. This type of renovation we would have
always planned for the summertime because there's not as much
land-use -- well, there's no land-use issues. The Planning
Commission over the last couple of summers has canceled seven
meetings in total over the last two years during the summer months.
So the demand for the boardroom and this technology is a little bit
lower in the summertime automatically.
And although they've already started purchasing the components
for the overhaul, our installation contractor's availability is not until
July 22nd, which is your board meeting at the end of July. So that
week becomes the five days that they have to be here, five
consecutive days, because again, they're coming from out of town.
They'll be staying here for the duration of the project. Five days for
their portion of the project.
And that, again, is to uninstall the current equipment, identify
and remove existing cabling in and around the boardroom and control
room, the five days for the installation, and if the installation ends on
time -- and when was the last time you ever updated a computer or
built something from IKEA that everything worked per the
instructions? This is a technological project. There will be some
issues that we have to work through.
So until we can complete these tasks, we're at the risk of
component failure, like we experienced just a little while ago, and so
we want to get started as soon as we can, which, again, is in July.
Now, those were the project tasks that I was rattling off. All of
those have to be taken care of within the timeline specified on this
calendar. And what we are really looking for right now is Board
direction on how much time you can give us. As of now, it is pretty
apparent that your July 22nd meeting is overlapped by the
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installation. We would need to take that meeting off, if at all
possible, to accommodate the contractors.
That all being said, if you look at the rest of that -- and keep in
mind, that little blue box there is a bonus week. That is to our
benefit. There's one extra week between your second meeting in
July and your first meeting in August. That helps us out.
But once again, if the contractor runs over for any reason, it then
puts us behind the eight ball, because after they're done, we have to
come in, we have to troubleshoot the system, we have to learn the
system, we have to train our staff on the system. And that's not just
Mr. Miller and Mr. Eble. That's some of the other entities that come
into this room and use this facility. And then on the back side of
that, we need to do a few dry runs to make sure that we're ready to go
before your next live broadcast, because we don't want any failures to
occur then.
So even with that bonus week there, you'll see that we're coming
up really through that Friday, the 8th of August, and your next
meeting is scheduled the 12th. So can it be done? Yes. My
ever-expanding gut tells me it's cutting it close.
So I'm deferring to the Board for your guidance on what you
think that we can do. We will work within whatever time frame you
prescribe, but that's what we're up against, and we look forward to
your support.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Well, I don't think the
discussion is whether to or not. It's past due. It needs to get done.
Did you explore any other locations for us to hold our Board
meetings?
MR. MULLINS: No. From a broadcast standpoint -- and Mr.
Miller could probably clarify this, there may be some limitations as to
what we can do at least from a Comcast or cable television streaming
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ability.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: One suggestion is a very
high-tech, very well-operated school district that isn't operating
during these times. Their boardroom is all that and a bowl of
cherries with all of the tech things that we would require.
So before we pull the trigger on Commissioner Saunders' idea of
canceling our meetings in the summertime -- because I know that's
what he wants to do -- let's have -- I'm making a joke.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's be very accurate about
the -- words matter.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, yes, they do matter.
Forgive me.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I never said -- I never suggested
that we cancel our meetings in the summertime. I suggested that we
have a meeting in August -- in the July -- I mean, I'm sorry -- yeah, in
July, and then reconvene in September -- that's about a month -- to
give our staff a real break to do the studies and things that we have
encouraged them to do all year long. That did not -- was not
successful, and fine. I'm not looking to have --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I was making a joke.
Forgive me.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I know you were. I know you
were.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Check with the school district
to see if we could use their facilities. That's a simple answer to this
circumstance, and then we're not locked into having to do anything
except for stand on the people that are doing the work to do it in a
timely manner. That's number-one suggestion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: If there's not an alternative
site because, like you say, we could meet anywhere, but we can't
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accommodate, then, all the things that citizens require, which is are
you going to be able to call, and -- why couldn't they just start on the
23rd? And if they started on the 23rd, they wouldn't be done by the
12th? It seems like if you just slide it one day, we don't cancel the
meeting on the 22nd. And like you said, you've got some cushion
time in there. Our next meeting isn't till the 12th. So they'd have
from the 23rd to the 11th. Is that not enough time?
MR. MULLINS: Well, again, a lot of this was based upon the
contractor's availability. It is a team of contractors that come in.
They actually had to pole their team to ensure everyone was available
at the same time. We even looked at holiday weeks. Let's say we
could string this system along until November or December, could
we get by with doing it during a holiday break? And, of course, they
celebrate holidays, too. They could not get a team assembled for
those times.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: But I mean, there's -- they
could be here -- they're going to be here on the 22nd, right?
MR. MULLINS: They're going to be here on the 22nd. And
again, it's looking for five consecutive dates, because they're out of
Tampa. They're going to be staying here for the duration of the
installation.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Right. But I'm just saying,
on the 22nd when they arrive, for that one day they can't sort of
assess or look in other areas so we can have a very short meeting on
the 22nd, and the minute our meeting's over, then this whole place is
theirs, and they have it until the 11th.
MR. MULLINS: The whole project is contemplated upon the
wiring being pulled and things being disconnected by the 21st so the
installation contractors can start their job of putting the new things in.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: It seems to me, then, maybe
we just consider canceling the meeting on the 22nd, doing this right,
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not tightening them up. And if there's no other alternative location, I
mean, we're canceling one meeting, which would probably be a
shorter meeting anyway because it's in the summer, and then we
reconvene on the 12th.
I mean, like you said, this has to be done, so -- and I don't think
we want to shortchange them if -- like you said, if they're up against a
tight timeline. So I don't know that there's any other option. I'd be
for that, cancel that one meeting on the 22nd, and just load up on the
12th.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. We could actually have a
substitute meeting on the -- meet on the 12th, we could meet on the
19th and the 26th.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah, if there's stuff. Yeah,
absolutely.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: That was my thoughts exactly.
We cancel the 22nd. That creates the whole hole that they need. If
we run into trouble on the 12th, we move that meeting to the 19th.
We'll let the Chairman make the call. I mean, we're all here. We're
ready to work, but it's the path of least resistance and what makes the
most sense to me.
MR. MULLINS: And one of the reasons why we're asking for
this now is to make sure that other entities that use this room can go
ahead and make alternate arrangements themselves for their
meetings, change their dates, et cetera. So that's why we wanted to
try to get a decision today. And I appreciate that thought of, you
know, maybe kind of keeping the 12th flexible in case we do run into
problems and have to go a little long.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So is there a consensus,
then, as to what we're going to do? We're going to -- we're not going
to meet on the 22nd, but we may meet -- we may substitute another
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meeting if needed.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Shouldn't we explore as to
whether or not we could use the school district's facilities? I mean --
MR. MULLINS: We can still inquire of the school district as to
the availability of their room and to the broadcast capabilities and to
make sure that -- you also have to relocate the people that are coming
to the meeting to the School District office and get that word out, et
cetera. Not a problem. Just saying some of the logistics that we'll
have to research.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think that would be a
prudent path for us to try. I think, anyway. That would be what I
would do.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. You know, I hate to be
someone that cancels meetings, because it's important that we meet,
but I don't think we're going to lose anything if we cancel a meeting
on July -- let's see. We'd cancel the meeting on July 22nd. We're
doing our budget stuff on July 8th, is that correct, or is it --
COMMISSIONER HALL: That's in June.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm sorry. That's -- oh, no. We
have a --
MS. PATTERSON: We have workshops in June. We'll set
the maximum millage rate. Then that first meeting in July.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So we can do that in July,
on July 8th. Cancel the meeting on July 22nd. If there is a need to
meet before August 12th, then we'll schedule a meeting that -- in the
meantime, check with the school board and see if we can have our
22nd meeting at the school board.
MS. PATTERSON: We could also hold an absentia meeting,
which we've done in the past in the summer. So that's not -- you're
only canceling the in-person board meeting. We'll still -- we can
still have an abstentia meeting to conduct all of the regular business.
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So that's virtually everything that was on today's agenda, other than
the regular agenda things, could be approved in absentia and then
ratified when you come back either -- at that meeting in August.
MR. MULLINS: And if there was an overrun on the
installation side, we would probably know by Friday, the 25th of
July, which would give a lot of lead time for a decision on
August 12th.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. It looks like we
just -- we'll cancel the meeting on the July 22nd. We will, if
necessary, schedule a third meeting in August, if it's needed, and I'll
work with the Manager on that. My gut feeling is it wouldn't be
needed, but we can explore that.
And, Commissioner McDaniel, to answer his question, let's just
see if the school board will let us meet there. But I think -- I think
canceling the meeting is the way to go. I don't think trying to
schedule it someplace else is the way to go.
How does everybody else feel?
COMMISSIONER HALL: That's exactly what I was going to
do.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Well, Commissioner
LoCastro, do you have a --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I think cancel it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So, then, we'll cancel
the meeting on the 22nd.
MR. MULLINS: Understood.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
MR. MULLINS: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Is there a possibility to meet
at -- where we do AHAC? Do they have TV capability?
MS. PATTERSON: North Horseshoe.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Boy, there's been a lot of --
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MR. MILLER: 609 and 610 is being remodeled right now for
television coverage.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: There's been a lot of those types of
meetings where -- and it's a real nightmare for staff to be setting up in
a remote location. Yeah, that --
MR. MULLINS: Thank you, much.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
Item #15C
STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to
Item 15C, staff and commission general communications.
I will continue to work on getting our remaining workshops
scheduled. One will be the mental health workshop, which we've
been working on. Likely, that one is going to be in an afternoon
where we have a lighter agenda, but we're juggling some other David
Lawrence items as well to get them slated into these upcoming
meetings. So we'll keep working on that.
And the second one, before we go to the budget workshops in
June, will be to schedule our AUIR workshop. So looking probably
towards that first Tuesday in June. We'll check with your aides and
see what your calendars look like on that.
Other than that, I don't have anything else.
County Attorney.
MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
I just want to take the time to publicly, from the dais, recognize
staff in the work that they did from Growth Management,
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Transportation, Public Utilities, Parks and Rec, I mean, everybody
that was involved in bringing Sun-N-Fun to life. How many people
did we have Sunday? Over 700. It was -- it was phenomenal. I
mean, the place looked like a resort.
And it was one big collaborative effort from staff, and I just
want to say thank you one last time.
Go ahead, Mr. French.
MR. FRENCH: Thank you. Jamie French, for the record.
We were a little over 300 on Saturday even though we
announced the heck out of it, but Sunday there was better than 700.
So we were way over 1,000 people over the weekend. I think
yesterday's rain -- and we did have Slide 5 -- because it was not part
of our initial scope, one of the pumps had failed, but we got Mater
back out there. We had a backup pump, and they did replace that.
So turned the thing back on after four years, then all of a sudden we
find out that other stuff -- we'll get there.
But I was there both days, interacted with a lot of the
community. Kids were having a great time, families, parents, even
visitors running through and jumping in those cold pools. No one
really complained about the pool being a little cold.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Great. And in addition to
Sun-N-Fun, we got to experience the first soccer game at Paradise
Coast Sports Complex. That place looked like a major stadium. I
mean, the soccer players that came could not believe that they were
playing in that venue, it was so nice.
And then lastly, I had a little visit to DAS last week, and that
place is a different place. I mean, it's not finished yet, but wow,
what a difference that staff has done there to turn that place around.
So things are moving along, and I'm really proud of the way Collier
County is shaping up.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
March 11, 2025
Page 158
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, Mr. Chair. Just -- I
only have one point.
I wasn't at the soccer game on Saturday or Sun-N-Fun. I was in
Immokalee at the cattle drive, and I just want to -- we have it every
year. It's in the early part of March. If anybody -- all three people
that are watching. If anybody hasn't ever been before, please come
to Immokalee. It's a wonderful event. It's really truly a community
event that shows the heritage of the cattle industry in South Florida.
That's it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Did you fly in and use the
airport at all?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Not that day, sir.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I just got two things.
I want to publicly acknowledge Amy Patterson for the work that
she's done behind the scenes correcting rumor from fact concerning
EMS. You know, there was a lot of misinformation floating around,
a lot of citizens spun up for no reason and incorrectly. And rather
than us having to do a bunch of damage control -- and we had to do a
little bit of it. But it was really Amy and her staff that led the charge
to reach out to people who are stirring the pot with a lot of incorrect
information. You know, calling those people in and meeting with
them.
And I had a meeting with Paul Hiltz not too long ago, and the
first thing that he said to me was he had had a one-on-one with Amy
in person, and just how impressed he was with all that she had done
and that she is doing. So I just wanted to say that.
And also she's doing a lot with the fire department, taking a lot
of things, you know, and working a lot of issues that are improving
things, and -- so we don't have to because we've got a great, you
know, leader at the helm working those two issues with EMS and
March 11, 2025
Page 159
Fire.
And I'll also echo I was at the soccer game and, you know,
Jamie French has spent a lot of time out at the stadium and directing
some traffic, you know, "cracking some skulls," as we used to say in
the military, and redirecting a few things, and it showed. You know,
he's not going to be able to be out there permanently, but I think he
has set enough things into motion.
And, of course, he represents a whole lot of people, to include
the FC Naples ownership. They certainly stepped up. I mean, look
how many sponsors they've gotten in such a short time. A lot of
people commented on that to me, that sometimes a team that is well
more established after many years has the look of what our team has.
So certainly a shout-out to FC Naples.
And then lastly, we kind of have an unofficial fan club, Bar 239.
And I think, you know, there again, Jamie worked a lot to try to get
that unofficial fan club situated and where they wanted to be and get
their banners up and everything. But I can tell you, they really
added to the fanfare of the game, and they were very happy. And so,
you know, take those guys away, and their drums and all the flags
and everything, and it's not the same kind of venue.
So it was a little bit of everything. But, you know, well done
across the board. And a lot of those same people that made FC
Naples' first game great, like Commissioner Hall said, a lot of those
were the same people that were turning around in Sun-N-Fun.
So it was a lot of heavy lifting, but thanks to all of you and to
Ms. Patterson.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
I'd like to just thank the staff and everyone, and Troy and all the
guys behind the scenes that make it possible when we have other
pressing things, like I'm out of town helping family with some family
March 11, 2025
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business, taking care of some things, and make it possible for me to
be there and participate within the meeting.
It's not the same as being there. I like being there because I like
to read the room. It's hard to do it because all I see is your guys'
faces in the screen, but I don't get to see the crowd's faces, and that's
important.
But I also want to piggyback on what Commissioner LoCastro
said about our County Manager, Ms. Patterson. Yeah, I have a lot of
respect for what she did because I think the former commissioner that
held my seat before had put out a newsletter and using a large amount
of emails that may have been acquired some way or another, but put
out basically a false news article to a lot of people, and I was getting
a lot of feedback, and a lot of rumor control I had to do. I had 100
people in the room in a conversation with a commissioner's meeting,
and I had to lay out the facts and not rumor because a lot of people
were asking me a lot of questions pertaining to that particular
newsletter that was blasted out.
But kudos to the County Manager for stepping up and, you
know, taking the lead on rectifying some of those rumors and -- you
know, and the source, from what I understand.
Other than that, I feel bad I had to miss the soccer game because
I was out of town, too, because I was looking forward to it, and I
heard it was a success for our very first professional athletic event
within our own stadium there, and I look forward to us not tying the
next game but winning the next game. I don't understand soccer that
much, but I guess you play. When you get additional time, and if
nobody scores, it ends in a tie. So I guess that's -- I've got to learn
this European football. I'm an American football player by heart.
But I definitely want to take part in the next one and be there.
But once again, thank you, guys, and thank you, the support, the
commissioner -- my fellow commissioners allowing me to Zoom in
March 11, 2025
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today to participate.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I think if it were not for a bad call
by one of the refs, I think FC Naples would have won. They were
ahead by 2 to 1 for about 12 seconds until the umpire called it back.
But I think it was mistaken call. But better score next week. There
is going to be a game next Saturday night.
I'm going to go ahead and echo what everybody has said about
our staff. The manager and the manager's team, all of the folks that
sit in the back of the room there, you do a great job, and it's -- it's not
going unrecognized. It may be going somewhat uncompensated, but
it's not going unrecognized. You do a great job.
There were a couple problems at the Paradise Coast on Saturday
that I think staff is going to be able to rectify. Getting people to
come -- getting people in, we didn't have some of the screening
equipment that would be necessary, so they were wanding people,
and that caused a bit of a delay that was really too much of a delay.
And so I know staff's working on correcting that.
We also had some issues with people coming into the parking
lot. People that had prepaid were in the same line to get into the
parking lot as people that were paying, and so that delayed those
folks getting in. And so next time -- again, lesson learned. So those
little things are easy to correct and are understandable since that was
certainly our first soccer match.
But one thing that was, I think, a little bit troublesome -- and I
think the Board at some point in time is going to need to kind of look
into this a little bit, and I'm going to start that process in a couple
weeks. We had our staff out there for, I don't know, 10 days, two
weeks, whatever the time period was. The stadium looked
magnificent on game day. A week prior to that, maybe not quite so
up to snuff. And that stadium should look like it did all the time.
March 11, 2025
Page 162
And so, you know, maintenance is, I think, going to be an issue that
we're going to need to address.
I'm going to get a group together in two weeks to talk
about -- some of the stakeholders to talk a little bit about what we can
do to make this park really a park that we can be very proud of all
year long, all the time.
And also, I'm going to be pushing the concept of getting more of
those fields built. We're going to get the Hunden study back in a
few weeks. That will tell us, you know, should we build some more
fields? And if we are to build some more fields, what kind of fields
they will be.
But I will tell you, I spoke to the folks at FC Naples, and they're
begging for some more fields. Our management company is
begging for some more fields, but more importantly, we're not getting
the community use of that park that was initially envisioned. If you
remember, this park was to promote tourism but also to provide a
regional park facility for our citizens, and we just need more fields in
order to be able to accommodate that.
To put that in perspective, just so you know, on some of these
tournaments, when more fields are needed, those fields are being
used at our North Collier Park to the detriment of our citizens that
already scheduled games there. So we need to -- we need to find a
way to solve that issue.
And so I'm going to be working with some folks, and I'll be
bringing back some ideas. Hopefully there'll be something that's
constructive that we can -- we can work with. But just a wonderful
evening at the sports complex.
We have a lot of things in this community to be proud of, and
one of them is our staff, because you do a great job. And I don't hear
complaints about our staff. I may hear complaints about some of our
facilities and things of that nature, but we don't hear complaints about
March 11, 2025
Page 163
our staff.
With that, unless there is something else, we are adjourned.
*****
****Commissioner Hall moved, seconded by Commissioner
LoCastro and carried that the following items under the consent and
summary agendas be approved and/or adopted****
Item #16A1
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE SEWER UTILITIES FACILITIES
AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE SEWER
FACILITIES FOR ARTHREX ACADEMY, PL20240013449 -
STAFF CONDUCTED A FINAL INSPECTION ON JANUARY 8,
2025, IN COORDINATION WITH PUBLIC UTILITIES TO
DISCOVER DEFECTS IN MATERIALS AND WORKMANSHIP
Item #16A2
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER
UTILITY FACILITIES FOR WYNDEMERE COUNTRY CLUB,
PL20240011683 - REVIEW AND INSPECTION FEES IN THE
AMOUNT OF $1,110.48 WERE PAID UNDER THE ORIGINAL
APPLICATION, SDPA PL20230012726, AND DEPOSITED IN
PLANNING FUND (1014)
Item #16A3
RESOLUTION 2025-48: RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE
March 11, 2025
Page 164
IMPROVEMENTS AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT
DEDICATIONS FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF CRANE POINT &
BIMINI ISLE, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20180001005, AND
AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE
SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $365,455.27 - ON JANUARY
22, 2021, THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
GRANTED CONDITIONAL FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE
ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS IN CRANE
POINT & BIMINI ISLE
Item #16A4
RESOLUTION 2025-49: RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE
IMPROVEMENTS AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT
DEDICATIONS FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF GREYHAWK
MODEL CENTER REPLAT, APPLICATION NUMBER
PL20200000169, AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE
MAINTENANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $9,185 – THE
GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT HAS INSPECTED
THEM AND IS RECOMMENDING THEIR FINAL ACCEPTANCE
Item #16A5
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER
UTILITY FACILITIES, ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE
POTABLE WATER AND SEWER FACILITIES FOR GREYHAWK
AT GOLF CLUB OF THE EVERGLADES – PHASE 4,
PL201900002639, AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR
DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN
THE AMOUNT OF $4,000, AND AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER
March 11, 2025
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OF THE FINAL OBLIGATIONS CASH BOND TO THE COLLIER
COUNTY PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT (CCPUD) - THE
POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES HAVE
BEEN OPERATED AND MAINTAINED DURING THE
REQUIRED ONE (1) YEAR WARRANTY PERIOD FOLLOWING
PRELIMINARY ACCEPTANCE
Item #16A6
RESOLUTION 2025-50: RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE
IMPROVEMENTS AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT
DEDICATIONS FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF ISLES OF COLLIER
PRESERVE PHASE 15, APPLICATION NUMBER
PL20200002649, AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE
MAINTENANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $638,231-
ISLES OF COLLIER PRESERVE PROPERTY OWNERS’
ASSOCIATION, INC. WILL MAINTAIN THE ROADWAY AND
DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS. THE EXISTING SECURITY IN
THE AMOUNT OF $638,231 WILL BE RELEASED UPON
BOARD APPROVAL
Item #16A7
RESOLUTION 2025-51: RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE
IMPROVEMENTS AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT
DEDICATIONS FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF NAPLES RESERVE,
PHASE III, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20170002678, AND
AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE
SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $74,492.25
March 11, 2025
Page 166
Item #16A8
RESOLUTION 2025-52: RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE
IMPROVEMENTS AND PLAT DEDICATIONS FOR THE FINAL
PLAT OF SUTTON CAY, APPLICATION NUMBER
PL20180000116, AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE
MAINTENANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $60,655.88 -
ON JANUARY 22, 2025, THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT INSPECTED THEM AND RECOMMENDED
FINAL ACCEPTANCE
Item #16A9
APPROVE FOR RECORDING THE AMENDED PLAT OF
SKYSAIL PHASE 4 TOWNHOMES (APPLICATION NUMBER
PL20240006691), APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM
CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT, AND
APPROVAL OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY IN THE
TOTAL AMOUNT OF $3,679,937.80 - THIS PROJECT IS WITHIN
THE HIDE PARK VILLAGE SRA, ORD. 20-102. ALL FEES HAVE
BEEN PAID
Item #16A10
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES, ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE
OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER FACILITIES FOR
VIO CENTER, PL201800002413, AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY
MANAGER, OR DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE FINAL
March 11, 2025
Page 167
OBLIGATION BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,000, AND THE
10% UTILITY PERFORMANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT
OF $1,714.43 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE
DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT, AND AUTHORIZE THE
TRANSFER OF THE FINAL OBLIGATIONS CASH BOND TO
COLLIER COUNTY PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
(CCPUD)
Item #16A11
RELEASE A PERFORMANCE BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF
$615,468, WHICH WAS POSTED AS A GUARANTEE FOR
EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER PL20220003203 FOR WORK
ASSOCIATED WITH BONITA BAY EAST GOLF CLUB – SABAL
GOLF COURSE REDESIGN - THE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW
DIVISION RECEIVED THE AS-BUILT LAKE CROSS-SECTIONS
AND INSPECTED THE LAKES ON JANUARY 31, 2025
Item #16A12
APPROVE FOR RECORDING THE PLAT OF CADIZ AT AVE
MARIA (APPLICATION NUMBER PL20240011531), APPROVAL
OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT, AND APPROVAL OF THE
PERFORMANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF
$2,010,837.68 - THIS PROJECT IS WITHIN THE AVE MARIA
SRA, AND ALL FEES HAVE BEEN PAID
Item #16A13
March 11, 2025
Page 168
AWARD INVITATION TO BID 25-8332, “PURCHASE OF
MULCH AND PINE STRAW,” TO FORESTRY RESOURCES,
LLC, D/B/A THE MULCH AND SOIL COMPANY, AND
AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ISSUE A STANDARD COUNTY
PURCHASE ORDER FOR THE PROCUREMENT - THE NEW
PURCHASE ORDER ISSUED FOR THIS AWARD WILL BE FOR
THREE YEARS WITH TWO ONE-YEAR RENEWAL OPTIONS
Item #16A14
RESOLUTION 2025-53: RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA,
AMENDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE FOR LAND
DEVELOPMENT, WHICH WAS CREATED BY ORDINANCE NO.
2013-57, BY AMENDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE
PROCEDURES TO CREATE AN APPLICATION FOR MOBILE
FOOD DISPENSING VEHICLES, PERMANENT, PERMIT
Item #16B1
AUTHORIZE COUNTY MANAGER OR DESIGNEE TO
ELECTRONICALLY SUBMIT 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) FOR APPROXIMATELY 0.66
MILES, FROM EAST OF DUPREE GRADE TO WEST OF
BRIDGE 034833, IN THE AMOUNT OF $995,932.13 - THIS
PROJECT INCLUDES THE WIDENING OF IMMOKALEE ROAD
FOR APPROXIMATELY 0.66 MILES - FROM EAST OF DUPREE
March 11, 2025
Page 169
GRADE TO WEST OF BRIDGE 034833
Item #16B2
RESOLUTION 2025-54: EXECUTE A LOCAL AGENCY
PROGRAM (LAP) AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) REIMBURSING
THE COUNTY UP TO $311,562.00 TO PURCHASE 10 (TEN)
VEHICLE COUNT STATIONS; EXECUTE A RESOLUTION
MEMORIALIZING THE BOARD’S ACTION; AND AUTHORIZE
ALL NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS. FPN 446254-1-98-
01. (PROJECT 33937, FUND 1841) - IN-HOUSE STAFF WILL BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR FEDERAL AND FDOT GRANT
COMPLIANCE
Item #16B3
RESOLUTION 2025-55: 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 GRANT FUNDS FROM $2,383,352 TO $3,023,352
($640,000 INCREASE) FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A TEN-
FOOT MULTI-USE PATH ON COUNTY BARN ROAD FROM
RATTLESNAKE HAMMOCK ROAD TO SR 84 (DAVIS BLVD.);
TO EXECUTE THE ACCOMPANYING RESOLUTION; AND TO
AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS, FPN
438091-2-58-01. (FUND 1841, PROJECT 60254)
Item #16B4
March 11, 2025
Page 170
RESOLUTION 2025-56: RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE
CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE SECTION 5310 PUBLIC TRANSIT
GRANT AGREEMENT (FPN 448810-1-94-24) WITH THE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO ACCEPT
FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION GRANT FUNDING IN
THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $640,315 FOR THE PURCHASE OF
FOUR PARATRANSIT CUTAWAY VEHICLES, FOUR RADIOS,
FOUR VEHICLE ELECTRONIC INSPECTION SYSTEMS, FOUR
WIRELESS ROUTERS AND FOUR TABLETS, AND TO
AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS.
(CAT GRANT FUND 4034)
Item #16B5
AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF RIGHT OF WAY
(PARCEL 1302FEE) REQUIRED FOR THE VANDERBILT
BEACH ROAD EXT – PHASE 2 PROJECT (PROJECT NO.
60249). ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT: $32,625 - NO
MAINTENANCE COSTS ARE ANTICIPATED UNTIL SUCH
TIME AS THE PROJECT IS CONSTRUCTED
Item #16B6
APPROVE BUDGET AMENDMENTS FOR THE LANDSCAPE
AND IRRIGATION PORTION OF TRANSPORTATION
ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT IN-
HOUSE TURN LANE AND DIRECTIONAL MEDIAN
MODIFICATION PROJECTS (PROJECTS 60016) - THE
SOURCES OF FUNDING ARE UNINCORPORATED GENERAL
FUNDS AND GENERAL FUNDS
March 11, 2025
Page 171
Item #16B7
APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE
AMENDMENT NO. 3 TO AGREEMENT 20CO2 WITH THE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
BUREAU OF BEACHES AND COASTAL SYSTEMS BEACH
MANAGEMENT FUNDING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AND
MAKE A FINDING THAT THIS ITEM PROMOTES TOURISM -
FDEP’S FINANCIAL OBLIGATION SHALL NOT EXCEED THE
SUM OF $833,434.75 FOR THIS PROJECT
Item #16B8
RATIFY ADMINISTRATIVELY APPROVED CHANGE ORDER
NO. 1, ADDING A TOTAL OF FOURTEEN DAYS TO THE
CONTRACT TIME UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 23-8150 WITH
THOMAS MARINE CONSTRUCTION, INC., FOR THE “BIKE
LANES 111TH AVE N.E. BLUEBILL AVE BRIDGE TO 7TH AVE
N – LAP” PROJECT, AND AUTHORIZING THE CHAIRMAN TO
SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER. (PROJECT NO.
33620)
Item #16B9
RATIFY ADMINISTRATIVELY APPROVED CHANGE ORDER
NO. 2, ADDING SIXTY-FIVE (65) DAYS UNDER AGREEMENT
NO. 19-7599 WITH CAPITAL CONSULTING SOLUTIONS, LLC.
FOR THE “BIKE LANES ALONG 111TH AVENUE NORTH,
EAST OF BLUEBILL AVE. BRIDGE TO 7TH STREET NORTH
(LAP)” PROJECT AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN
THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER. (PROJECT NO. 33620)
March 11, 2025
Page 172
Item #16B10
EXECUTE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO AGREEMENT NO. 24CO1
BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL
STATE REIMBURSEMENT FUNDING IN THE AMOUNT OF
$229,699.60, FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $810,305.60, AND TO
EXTEND THE AGREEMENT FOR TWELVE MONTHS FOR
COLLIER COUNTY BEACH RENOURISHMENT AND INLET
MANAGEMENT PROJECTS
Item #16B11
ACCEPT THE AWARD AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO
EXECUTE GRANT AGREEMENT NO. 25CO1 BETWEEN
COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION FOR FUNDING REIMBURSEMENT AND
SUPPORT FOR COLLIER COUNTY BEACH RENOURISHMENT
AND INLET MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN AN AMOUNT NOT
TO EXCEED $90,000 - THE LGFR FOR THIS AWARD WAS
APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
(THE "BOARD") AS AGENDA ITEM 16B4 ON JULY 25, 2023
Item #16B12
APPROVE CHANGE ORDER NO. 2 TO AGREEMENT NO. 22-
7944, “PROFESSIONAL DESIGN SERVICES FOR 16TH STREET
NE BRIDGE,” WITH KISINGER CAMPO & ASSOCIATES,
March 11, 2025
Page 173
CORPORATION TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL DESIGN
SERVICES AND ADD 240 DAYS AND $21,735.94 TO THE
CONTRACT (PROJECT NUMBER 60212) - THIS UPDATE WILL
SPECIFICALLY CONSIST OF ADDITIONAL STRUCTURAL
AND GEOTECHNICAL ANALYSIS, PAY ITEM REVISIONS AND
PROBABLE COST ESTIMATE REVISIONS
Item #16B13 – Continued to the March 25, 2025, Meeting (Per
Agenda Change Sheet)
RECOMMENDATION TO AWARD INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”)
NO. 24-8316, “LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE FOR WORK
AREAS 18B, 20B, 21B, 23, 27,” TO MAINSCAPE, INC., SUPERB
LANDSCAPE SERVICES, INC., AND SUPERIOR
LANDSCAPING & LAWN SERVICE, INC., ON A
PRIMARY/SECONDARY BASIS, AND AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENTS
Item #16B14
AWARD OF INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”) NO. 23-8158,
“VANDERBILT DRIVE SIDEWALK (LAP),” TO ZEP
CONSTRUCTION, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,105,441.01,
APPROVE AN OWNER’S ALLOWANCE OF $100,000, AND
AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED
AGREEMENT (PROJECT NO. 60255, FUNDS 1841 AND 3081)
Item #16B15 – Continued to the March 25, 2025, Meeting (Per
Agenda Change Sheet)
March 11, 2025
Page 174
RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE A TRAFFIC SIGNAL
AGREEMENT WITH CAMERON COMMONS, AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A TRAFFIC SIGNAL AGREEMENT WITH
CAMERON COMMONS UNIT TWO PROPERTY OWNER’S
ASSOCIATION THAT WILL AUTHORIZE THE
CONSTRUCTION OF A TRAFFIC SIGNAL AT THE
INTERSECTION OF IMMOKALEE ROAD AND BELLAIRE BAY
DRIVE AND MEMORIALIZE THAT THE SIGNAL MAY BE
REMOVED AT THE COUNTY’S DISCRETION
Item #16C1
APPROVE A THIRD AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 13-
6064 WITH AZTECA SYSTEMS, LLC, TO EXTEND THE
SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS AND FEES FOR SUPPORT
SERVICES UNDER THE AGREEMENT FOR THREE
ADDITIONAL YEARS, APPROVE AN EXPENDITURE IN THE
AMOUNT OF $671,250 OVER THREE YEARS FOR THE
UPDATED PRICING, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO
SIGN THE ATTACHED AMENDMENT - THE FUNDING FOR
2025 IS AVAILABLE IN THE WATER SEWER OPERATING
FUND (4008). FUTURE YEARS WILL BE BUDGETED IN FUND
4008, SUBJECT TO BOARD APPROVAL
Item #16C2
APPROVE A NINTH AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 04-
3673, “PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR
DESIGN OF THE NORTHEAST WATER RECLAMATION
FACILITY AND WATER TREATMENT PLANT,” WITH
CAROLLO ENGINEERS, INC., FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICES
March 11, 2025
Page 175
DURING CONSTRUCTION OF THE DEEP INJECTION WELLS,
AN INCREASE OF $1,004,658 TO PURCHASE ORDER NO.
4500205004, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE
ATTACHED AMENDMENT. (PROJECT NUMBER 70194) - THE
SOURCE OF FUNDING IS THE WATER AND SEWER
REVENUE BOND, SERIES 2021
Item #16C3
RESOLUTION 2025-57: RESOLUTION AMENDING THE
COLLIER COUNTY UTILITIES STANDARDS AND
PROCEDURES ORDINANCE AND THE COLLIER COUNTY
WATER-SEWER DISTRICT UTILITIES STANDARDS MANUAL
– THIS PROJECT MEETS CURRENT GROWTH MANAGEMENT
PLAN STANDARDS TO ENSURE THE ADEQUACY AND
AVAILABILITY OF VIABLE PUBLIC FACILITIES
Item #16D1
RECOGNIZING CARRYFORWARD INTEREST EARNED FROM
THE PERIOD OF OCTOBER 1, 2023, THROUGH SEPTEMBER
30, 2024, ON ADVANCED FUNDING RECEIVED FROM THE
TREASURY FROM THE FOLLOWING GRANT PROGRAMS:
EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 1,
EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 2,
CORONAVIRUS STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL RECOVERY
FUND, AND THE LOCAL ASSISTANCE AND TRIBAL
CONSISTENCY FUND IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,078,237.95
Item #16D2
March 11, 2025
Page 176
APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE
FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE SUBRECIPIENT AGREEMENT
BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY AND BAKER SENIOR CENTER
INC. TO AMEND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK
GRANT AGREEMENT #PS24-04. (NO FISCAL IMPACT) - THE
FUNDING FOR THIS AWARD IS BUDGETED IN HOUSING
GRANT FUND (1835), PROJECT 33915
Item #16D3
APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN COLLIER
COUNTY AND THE DAVID LAWRENCE MENTAL HEALTH
CENTER, INC., TO SUPPORT THE STATE-MANDATED/LOW-
INCOME POOL LOCAL MATCH REQUIREMENT FOR MENTAL
HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE SERVICES. (GENERAL FUND
(MENTAL HEALTH), 0001)
Item #16D4
RESOLUTION 2025-58: A RESOLUTION TO 1) ACCEPT THE
DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS FROM THE COYEEN R. LAWTON
ESTATE AND LAWTON FAMILY TRUST AGREEMENT DATED
12/28/99, FOR USE BY THE NAPLES REGIONAL LIBRARY; 2)
AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER OR DESIGNEE TO
EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO ACCEPT A
FUTURE DISTRIBUTION FROM THE ESTATE AND TAKE ALL
ACTIONS NECESSARY TO ACCEPT ANY SUCH FUTURE
DISTRIBUTIONS; AND 3) APPROVE ANY FUTURE
NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS
March 11, 2025
Page 177
Item #16D5
AUTHORIZE A BUDGET AMENDMENT TO RECOGNIZE
$102,294.69 IN PROGRAM INCOME FROM OVERNIGHT AND
INVESTMENT INTEREST FOR THE STATE HOUSING
INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM FISCAL YEAR 2024-
2025 (SHIP GRANT FUND 1053) - THE PROPOSED BUDGET
WILL BE USED TO IMPLEMENT SHIP STRATEGIES AND
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AS IDENTIFIED IN THE 2022-
2025 LOCAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE PLAN, APPROVED ON
APRIL 26, 2022, AGENDA ITEM #16D3
Item #16D6
A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE AREA
AGENCY ON AGING FOR SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, INC., AND
THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
FOR ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES REFERRALS TO
ENSURE THE TIMELY DELIVERY OF SERVICES TO VICTIMS
OF ABUSE, NEGLECT, OR EXPLOITATION. (HUMAN
SERVICES GRANT FUND 1837) - THERE IS NO FISCAL
IMPACT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ACTION
Item #16D7
A REVISED MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH
THE AGRICULTURAL AND LABOR PROGRAM, INC., AS THE
PROVIDER OF LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM FOR COLLIER COUNTY FOR THE EMERGENCY
HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TO COORDINATE
March 11, 2025
Page 178
REFERRALS AND PREVENT DUPLICATION OF BENEFITS
(HUMAN SERVICES GRANT FUND 1837)
Item #16D8
AN AFTER-THE-FACT ELECTRONIC GRANT APPLICATION IN
THE AMOUNT OF $78,000 TO THE COLLIER COUNTY
COMMUNITY AND HUMAN SERVICES PY 2025/2026
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD) GRANT
CYCLE FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT
FUNDS TO SUPPORT THE IMMOKALEE PIONEER MUSEUM
GARDEN AND GROVE PROJECT, HOUSING GRANT FUND
(1835)
Item #16E1
ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT ASSIGNING ALL RIGHTS,
DUTIES, BENEFITS, AND OBLIGATIONS TO WSP USA INC.,
CONCERNING THE FOLLOWING AGREEMENTS: (1) NO. 18-
7469, “CEI SERVICES FOR BIG CORKSCREW ISLAND
REGIONAL PARK,” (2) NO. 18-7432-CE, “PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES LIBRARY – CIVIL ENGINEERING CATEGORY
(FIXED TERM CONTINUING CONTRACT),” (3) NO. 18-7432-
SW, “PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SOLID & HAZARDOUS
WASTE MANAGEMENT (FIXED TERM CONTINUING
CONTRACT),” (4) NO. 18-7432-AR “PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
LIBRARY ARCHITECTURAL STUDY, PLANNING & DESIGN
(FIXED TERM CONTINUING CONTRACT)”, AND (5) NO. 18-
7432-ME “PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LIBRARY
MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, PLUMBING & TECHNOLOGY
March 11, 2025
Page 179
ENGINEERING CATEGORY (FIXED TERM CONTINUING
CONTRACT).”
Item #16F1
AWARD INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”) NO. 24-8243,
“HURRICANE IAN REPAIRS – NAPLES DEPOT MUSEUM,” TO
PANZICA CONSTRUCTION CO., IN THE AMOUNT OF
$1,268,689.10, AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE
ATTACHED AGREEMENT, AND APPROVE THE NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENT (PROJECT 50280). - ADDITIONALLY,
THE MUSEUM CAPITAL FUND (3026) WILL FUND $20,064 OF
THE PROJECT FOR NON-HURRICANE RELATED COSTS
Item #16F2
RATIFY ADMINISTRATIVELY APPROVED CHANGE ORDER
NO. 6 UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 20-7680 FOR THE PELICAN
BAY SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENT DESIGN WITH LJA
ENGINEERING, INC. (F/K/A AGNOLI, BARBER, AND
BRUNDAGE, INC.), ADDING $14,747.00 FOR ADDITIONAL
ENGINEERING SERVICES AND 365 ADDITIONAL DAYS
DURING THE EXTENDED PHASE 2 CONSTRUCTION PERIOD,
AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE
ORDER, AND APPROVE THE NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENT (PROJECT 50178)
Item #16F3
AWARD INVITATION TO BID NO. 25-8328, “SUN-N-FUN SLIDE
March 11, 2025
Page 180
POOL RENOVATION,” TO ELECTRO-MECHANIC
INDUSTRIES, INC., D/B/A VERMANA, IN THE AMOUNT OF
$164,964, WITH AN OWNER’S ALLOWANCE IN THE AMOUNT
OF $13,700, AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE
ATTACHED AGREEMENT, AND APPROVE ANY NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS. (PROJECT 80421) - THE POOL
FLOOR IS TO BE DEMOLISHED IN THE AREA OF THE DRAIN
REPLACEMENT, AND A NEW FLOOR AND POOL FINISH
WILL BE INSTALLED
Item #16F4
A LEASE AND SERVICE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND SAFE HAVEN
BABY BOXES, INC., FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION AND
INSTALLATION OF A NEWBORN SAFETY DEVICE AT
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES (EMS) STATION 76,
LOCATED AT 790 LOGAN BOULEVARD, NAPLES, FL 34119 -
COLLIER COUNTY EMS WILL PROVIDE COMMUNITY
AWARENESS AND EDUCATION THROUGH OUTREACH
PROGRAMS AND CLEAR COMMUNICATIONS TO ENSURE
THAT PARENTS ARE AWARE OF THE SAFE AND LEGAL
OPTIONS
Item #16F5
THE REPORT FROM THE CITY OF NAPLES TOURISM IMPACT
STUDY FOR THE STORMWATER OUTFALL PIPE REMOVAL
AND WATER QUALITY PROJECT AND MAKE A FINDING
THAT THIS PROJECT PROMOTES TOURISM - THIS PROJECT
COMPLEMENTS OTHER PROJECTS IN THE AREA THAT WILL
March 11, 2025
Page 181
ATTRACT AND SUPPORT TOURISM SUCH AS THE MIRACLE
MILE PROJECT, NAPLES PIER RENOVATION, AND THE
NAPLES BEACH CLUB, A FOUR SEASONS RESORT
REDEVELOPMENT
Item #16F6
APPROVE AN AFTER-THE-FACT PAYMENT IN THE AMOUNT
OF $65,000 TO PARADISE ADVERTISING & MARKETING,
INC., FOR THE TOURISM DIVISION FOR THE SPONSORSHIP
CAMPAIGN FOR FY25 IMAGINE SOLUTIONS CONFERENCE-
MEDIA BUY AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THIS
EXPENDITURE PROMOTES TOURISM - UNDER AGREEMENT
NO.4500005257 PURCHASE ORDER 4500235104 AND MAKE A
FINDING THAT THIS EXPENDITURE PROMOTES TOURISM
Item #16G1
APPROVE THE CLOSING OF THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
GRANT AGREEMENTS (PTGA) FOR THE PUBLIC AVIATION
GRANT PROGRAM, CONTRACT NO. G2K13 (FM 446361-1-94-
01) AND G2J86 (FM 446362-1-94-01) BETWEEN THE STATE OF
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) AND
THE COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS (THE "BOARD"), AND TO AUTHORIZE THE
COUNTY MANAGER, OR HER DESIGNEE, TO PERFORM THE
MINISTERIAL FUNCTION OF EXECUTING FUTURE CLOSING
OF THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION GRANT AGREEMENTS -
FUNDS FOR G2J86 AND G2K13 WERE BUDGETED IN
AIRPORT GRANT FUND (4093), PROJECTS 33860 AND 33861
RESPECTIVELY
March 11, 2025
Page 182
Item #16G2 – Moved to Item #11D (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
Item #16H1
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MARCH 17 - 21, 2025, AS
GOVERNMENT FINANCE PROFESSIONALS’ WEEK IN
COLLIER COUNTY. THE PROCLAMATION WILL BE
DELIVERED TO DEREK JOHNSSEN, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
& ACCOUNTING, CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT AND
COMPTROLLER
Item #16I1
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE MARCH 11, 2025
March 11, 2025
Page 183
Item #16J1
TO RECORD IN THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS, THE CHECK NUMBER (OR OTHER
PAYMENT METHOD), AMOUNT, PAYEE, AND PURPOSE FOR
WHICH THE REFERENCED DISBURSEMENTS IN THE
AMOUNT OF $38,055,341.33 WERE DRAWN FOR THE
PERIODS BETWEEN FEBRUARY 13, 2025, AND FEBRUARY
26, 2025, PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06
Item #16J2
DETERMINE VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR INVOICES
PAYABLE AND PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF
MARCH 5, 2025
Item #16K1
RESOLUTION 2025-59: APPOINT RONALD FOWLE JR. AND
RECLASSIFY ALLEN SCHANTZEN TO A BAYSHORE
RESIDENT CATEGORY ON THE BAYSHORE/GATEWAY
TRIANGLE LOCAL REDEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD -
TERMS ARE THREE YEARS
Item #16K2
RESOLUTION 2025-60: APPOINT SIX MEMBERS TO THE
PELICAN BAY SERVICES DIVISION BOARD - TERMS ARE
FOUR YEARS FOR REGULAR MEMBERS, AND ONE YEAR
FOR THE NON-VOTING FOUNDATION MEMBER
March 11, 2025
Page 184
Item #16K3
RESOLUTION 2025-61: REAPPOINT A MEMBER TO THE
BAYSHORE BEAUTIFICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE - AT
ITS MEETING ON FEBRUARY 5, 2025, THE COMMITTEE
REVIEWED THE APPLICATION AND VOTED UNANIMOUSLY
TO RECOMMEND BRANIMIR BRANKOV BE REAPPOINTED
TO HIS SEAT ON THE COMMITTEE TO A FOUR-YEAR TERM
EXPIRING ON MARCH 3, 2029
Item #16K4
APPROVE A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH QUALITY
ENTERPRISES USA, INC., CONCERNING DESIGN-BUILD
AGREEMENT NO. 20-7708, PERTAINING TO THE
INCORPORATION OF ADDITIONAL EMBANKMENT FILL
MATERIAL DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE
VETERAN’S MEMORIAL BOULEVARD EXTENSION PHASE I
PROJECT, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE
ATTACHED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT - THE PRIMARY
SOURCE OF FUNDING FOR THE SETTLEMENT IS ROAD
IMPACT FEES. SHOULD IMPACT FEES NOT BE SUFFICIENT,
THE SECONDARY SOURCE WILL BE GAS TAXES
Item #17A
ORDINANCE 2025-10: APPROVE AN AMENDMENT TO
ORDINANCE NUMBER 20-51, NAPLES SENIOR CENTER
COMMUNITY FACILITY PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT
(CFPUD), BY MODIFYING ITS PROGRAMS OFFERED, HOURS
OF OPERATION, AND OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS,
March 11, 2025
Page 185
TRAFFIC CONTROL COMMITMENT, AND RENAMING THE
CFPUD TO BAKER SENIOR CENTER NAPLES CFPUD, FOR
PROPERTY LOCATED ON THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE
INTERSECTION OF OAKES BOULEVARD AND AUTUMN
OAKS LANE, APPROXIMATELY 350 FEET SOUTH OF
IMMOKALEE ROAD, IN SECTION 29, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH,
RANGE 26 EAST, CONSISTING OF 13.6+ ACRES; BY
RENAMING THE ORDINANCE TO BAKER SENIOR CENTER
NAPLES CFPUD; AND BY PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE -
PUDA-PL20240007860
*****
March 11, 2025
Page 186
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 2:15 p.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL
___________________________________
BURT SAUNDERS, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST
CRYSTAL K. KINZEL, CLERK
___________________________
These minutes approved by the Board on ______________________,
as presented _________ or as corrected ________.
TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF FORT MYERS
COURT REPORTING BY TERRI L. LEWIS, REGISTERED
PROFESSIONAL COURT REPORTER, FPR-C, AND NOTARY
PUBLIC.