BCC Minutes 04/22/2025 RApril 22, 2025
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TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Naples, Florida April 22, 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
Chris Hall
Rick LoCastro
William L. McDaniel, Jr.
ALSO PRESENT:
Amy Patterson, County Manager
Ed Finn, Deputy County Manager
Trinity Scott, Transportation Management Services
Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney
Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court
Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations
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April 22, 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
April 22, 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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April 22, 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; ASSISTED
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April 22, 2025
LISTENING DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED ARE AVAILABLE IN
THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION.
LUNCH RECESS SCHEDULED FOR 12:00 NOON TO 1:00 P.M
1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
2. AGENDA AND MINUTES
A. Approval of today's regular, consent and summary agenda as amended (Ex
parte disclosure provided by Commission members for consent agenda.)
B. March 11, 2025, BCC Meeting Minutes
3. AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
A. EMPLOYEE
1) 20 YEAR ATTENDEES
a) Shirley Garcia - Community Redevelopment Area
b) Ramiro Jurado - Pelican Bay Services
2) 25 YEAR ATTENDEES
3) 30 YEAR ATTENDEES
4) 35 YEAR ATTENDEES
a) Ernst Augustin - Road, Bridge & Stormwater Maintenance
B. ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
C. RETIREES
D. EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
4. PROCLAMATIONS
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April 22, 2025
A. Proclamation designating May 1, 2025, as National Day of Prayer. To be
accepted by Pastor Jesse Barrett.
B. Proclamation designating April 13-19, 2025, as National Public Safety
Telecommunicators Week. To be accepted by Sheriff Kevin Rambosk, Chief
Greg Smith, Captain Chris Gonzalez, Manager Amy Tuff, and several
members of the 911 Telecommunicators.
5. PRESENTATIONS
6. PUBLIC PETITIONS
7. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT
OR FUTURE AGENDA
8. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
9. ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. This Item has been continued to a future Board of County Commission
meeting, TBD. Recommendation to approve a Collier County Growth
Management Plan Amendment to the Urban Golden Gate Estates Sub-
Element to create the Hope Home II Subdistrict to allow a recovery
residence limited to 23 residents and three (3) resident supervisors, or in the
alternative, a single-family dwelling, and a family care facility. The subject
property is ±4.47 acres and is located at 3150 62nd Street SW in Section 29,
Township 49 South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida. (Companion to
Item 9.B.) [PL20220005195]
B. This Item has been continued to a future Board of County Commission
meeting, TBD. This item requires that all participants be sworn in, and ex-
parte disclosure be provided by Commission members. Recommendation to
approve an Ordinance rezoning property from an Estates (E) zoning district
to a Community Facility Planned Unit Development (CFPUD) zoning
district for the project to be known as the Hope Home II CFPUD, to allow a
recovery residence limited to 23 residents and three resident supervisors or,
in the alternative, a single-family dwelling and a family care facility for
property located at 3150 62nd Street S.W. in Section 29, Township 49
South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida, consisting of 4.47± acres.
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April 22, 2025
(Companion to Item 9.A.) [PL20220005096]
C. Recommendation to approve an Ordinance amending the Pedestrian Safety
Ordinance providing for a new section establishing requirements for the
operation of bicycles on sidewalks, crosswalks, and in intersections within
the unincorporated portions of Collier County, Florida.
D. This Item requires that Commission members provide ex-parte
disclosure. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are
required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve an Ordinance
amending the Sierra Meadows Mixed Planned Unit Development (MPUD)
by changing the floor area ratio for group housing on Lots 8 and 9 of the
Sierra Meadows Subdivision from .45 to .60. The subject property,
consisting of 14.3+/-acres of a 90.8+/- acre MPUD, is located at the
southwest quadrant of the intersection of Rattlesnake-Hammock Road (C.R.
864) and C.R. 951, in Section 22, Township 50 South, Range 26 East,
Collier County, Florida.
E. This Item requires that all participants be sworn in and ex-parte
disclosure be provided by Commission members. Recommendation to
approve an Ordinance amending Ordinance Number 04-29, the Immokalee
Senior Housing Residential Planned Unit Development (RPUD), and
Ordinance Number 2004-41, the Collier County Land Development Code,
by amending the appropriate zoning atlas map or maps by changing the
zoning classification of an additional 0.55+/- acres of land zoned Residential
Multi-Family-6 (RMF-6), with a wellfield Risk Management Special
Treatment Overlay Zone W-4 (ST/W-4) for a project to be known as
Immokalee Senior Housing Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development
(MPUD), by reducing the number of multifamily residential dwelling units
from 119 to 30 units, and allowing a 5,000 gross square foot 200-seat
church, and up to 50,000 square feet of certain community facility and
educational services uses; updating the Master Plan; and rescinding the
affordable housing density bonus agreement on 7.99± acres of property
located on the east side of 11th Street North, just south of Lake Trafford
Road and Highland Elementary School in Section 33, Township 46 South,
Range 29 East, Collier County Florida; and by providing an effective date.
[PL20240005475]
10. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
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April 22, 2025
A. Recommendation to approve a Resolution of the Board of County
Commissioners supporting the EOG DOGE Team effort and (1) commit
Collier County to collaborate with the EOG DOGE Team; (2) direct the
County Manager to transmit the Resolution to the Governor, and (3) appoint
the County Manager as liaison to the EOG DOGE Team and provide regular
updates to the Board regarding relevant EOG DOGE activities.
11. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT
A. Recommendation to authorize the County Manager or designee to execute
and transmit a Notice of Termination to cancel the sale under the Agreement
for the Sale and Purchase of the Williams Reserve Property. (Trinity Scott,
Department Head - Transportation Management Services Department)
B. Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners approve a
Resolution, amending Resolution No. 2007-300, as amended, the Purchasing
Policy for the Conservation Collier Program, for the purpose of including
mitigation expenses and adjustments within the appraised value of the
property. (Jaime Cook, Division Director - Development Review)
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
C. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
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April 22, 2025
16. CONSENT AGENDA - All matters listed under this item are considered to be
routine and action will be taken by one motion without separate discussion of
each item. If discussion is desired by a member of the board, that item(s) will
be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately.
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A. GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT & COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve and execute an Agreement for the Sale
of Culinary Kitchen Equipment with Core Health Partners
Incorporated related to Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) No. 24-8291 and
authorize the necessary Budget Amendment. (Companion to Item
16.G.1.)
2) Recommendation to approve the release of two code enforcement
liens with an accrued value of $286,200, for a reduced payment of
$43,960.20, in the code enforcement action titled Board of County
Commissioners vs. Nicholas Ballo in Special Magistrate Case
Nos. CEPM20190011873 and CEV20220000047, relating to property
located at 807 108th Ave. N., Collier County, Florida.
3) Recommendation to authorize the Clerk of Courts to release a
Performance Bond in the amount of $25,000, which was posted as a
guaranty for Excavation Permit Number PL20230005149, for work
associated with Moorings Park at Grande Lake Phase Two – Lake #7
Modifications.
4) Recommendation to authorize the Clerk of Courts to release a
Performance Bond in the amount of $36,040, which was posted as a
guaranty for Excavation Permit Number PL20230004543 and PL
20240005867, for work associated with SkySail Phase 4 Townhomes.
5) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and
sewer utility facilities and accept the conveyance of the potable water
and sewer facilities for Majestic Place, PL20240011370.
6) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and
sewer utility facilities and accept the conveyance of a portion of the
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April 22, 2025
potable water and sewer facilities and appurtenant utility easement for
Terreno at Valencia Golf and Country Club – Master Amenity Center,
PL20240011282.
7) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and
sewer utility facilities for Hammock Park Phase 2B, PL20240013585.
8) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance of the
private roadway and drainage improvements, and acceptance of the
plat dedications, for the final plat of Montiano, Application Number
PL20140002750, and authorize the release of the maintenance
security in the amount of $168,017.50.
9) 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
10, Application Number PL20160001842, and authorize the release of
the maintenance security in the amount of $549,724.13.
10) This item requires that ex-parte disclosure be provided by
Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all
participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to
approve for recording the minor plat of Del Webb Naples Parcels 304-
306 Parcels 305-306 Replat, Application Number PL20240013991.
11) Recommendation to waive the nighttime hearing requirement and hear
a Land Development Code amendment related to housing that is
affordable, at two regularly scheduled daytime Board of County
Commissioners meetings and approve a request to advertise the Land
Development Code Amendment.
12) Recommendation to waive the nighttime hearing requirement and hear
a Land Development Code amendment related to the Immokalee
Urban Area Overlay District at two regularly scheduled daytime
Board of County Commissioners meetings and approve a request to
advertise the Land Development Code Amendment.
13) Recommendation to authorize the County Manager, or their designee,
to submit an application to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
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April 22, 2025
Commission's Invasive Plant Management Section to be eligible to
receive funding assistance services worth $300,000 in FY 2026
through the Upland Invasive Exotic Plant Management Program for
the removal of invasive exotic vegetation within Conservation
Collier's Dr. Robert H. Gore III, North Belle Meade, McIlvane Marsh,
and Shell Island preserves, and to authorize staff to accept such
funding assistance services if awarded.
14) Recommendation to approve the properties on the January 2025
Conservation Collier Active Acquisition List (AAL) and direct staff to
pursue the projects recommended within the A-Category, funded by
the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Fund.
15) Recommendation to approve the properties on the February 2025
Conservation Collier Active Acquisition List (AAL) and direct staff to
pursue the projects recommended within the A-Category, funded by
Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Fund.
16) Recommendation to approve an Agreement for Sale and Purchase
under the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Program with
Hendrix House, Inc., and Restoration Church, Inc. (“Hendrix House”),
for a 17.66-acre property at a cost of $502,500, for a total cost not to
exceed $507,870, inclusive of closing costs.
17) Recommendation to approve First Amendment to Agreement for Sale
and Purchase for the Cypress Cove Landkeepers, Inc., f/k/a Cypress
Cove Conservancy, Inc., a Florida not-for-profit Corporation (Cypress
Cove), to extend the due diligence period to August 12, 2025, and the
closing date deadline to October 11, 2025, or within thirty days of the
Purchaser's receipt of all closing documents, whichever is later, to
provide additional time for the County to complete the environmental
investigations of the Property.
18) Recommendation to approve a Second Amendment to Agreement No.
22-7966, “Baseball and Softball Officials,” with the Collier
Recreation Baseball/Softball Umpire Association, Inc., for a one-year
renewal and a price increase for the remaining renewal terms.
19) Recommendation to approve a Resolution relating to the Stewardship
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April 22, 2025
Sending Area 14 - Restoration Credits (CLH SSA 14) in the Rural
Lands Stewardship Area Zoning Overlay District (RLSA) and to
award Restoration II credits to Collier Land Holdings, Ltd, in
accordance with the approved restoration plan.
20) Recommendation to formally waive contractual payment obligations
for Revenue Generating Agreement #22-8023, with Parks and
Recreation Division concessionaire BluWater, LLC, for the retail
sales of bait, drinks, food, and minor sundries at Caxambas Park until
the park’s Fuel Delivery System renovations have been completed,
and retail fuel sales can be reinstated.
21) Recommendation to approve Budget Amendments totaling $585,000
from the Park Bond Fund (3063) and Parks AD VAL CIP (3062)
reserves and appropriate these dollars within Park Bond Fund (3063),
RegPK Sun-N-Fun Project (80421), and Parks AD VAL CAP (3062),
RegPk Pool Pump Rpr Project (80384) to make further repairs and
renovations at Sun-N-Fun Lagoon.
B. TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid No. 24-8319, “Collier
Blvd (CR-951) & City Gate Blvd North Intersection Improvements,”
to AJAX Paving Industries of Florida, LLC, in the amount of
$1,966,506.61, approve a $167,153.06 Owner’s Allowance, and
authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Agreement.
2) Recommendation to authorize the Chairman to execute twenty (20)
Deed Certificates for purchased burial rights at Lake Trafford
Memorial Gardens Cemetery and authorize the County Manager or
designee to take all actions necessary to record the Deed Certificates
with the Clerk of the Court’s Recording Department.
3) Recommendation to accept a report on the status of Golden Gate
Estates Land Trust and authorize the County Manager or designee to
begin the disposition process for the remaining parcels.
4) Recommendation to approve an Agreement for the donation of a
drainage easement (Parcel 119DE) required for Everglades City
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April 22, 2025
stormwater drainage improvements.
5) Recommendation to ratify the administratively approved First
Amendment to Agreement No. 21-7902 with AIM Engineering &
Surveying, Inc., adding $42,660.00 and extending the days for tasks 2,
5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 for the “Goodlette-Frank Stormwater & Ditch
Improvements (Section B)” project (60102).
6) Recommendation that the Board, as the Governing Body of Collier
County, and the Ex-Officio Governing Board of the Collier County
Water-Sewer District, to approve the termination of two inactive
easements – one being an Exclusive Well, Well Pump, and Water
Pipeline Easement and the other being a Utility Easement to support
the development of The Gate, Collier County’s contractor developing
and operating the Golden Gate Golf Course, and the State Veterans
Nursing Home.
7) Recommendation to amend Exhibit “A” to Resolution No. 2013-239,
as amended, the List of Speed Limits on County Maintained Roads, to
reflect speed limit changes at various locations.
8) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 1 for Agreement No.
22-8053, “Professional Design and Related Services for Vanderbilt
Beach Road Extension Phase II,” with Kimley-Horn and Associates,
Inc., reallocating funds from Tasks 6 & 7 to a new Task 10 for Right
of Way Acquisition Support. (Project Number 60249)
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 Change Order No. 2, providing for a time extension
of ninety-seven days to Agreement No. 23-8112, with Accurate
Drilling Systems, Inc., for the “Western Interconnect Forcemain
Phase 7” project, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached
Change Order. (Project No. 72009)
2) Recommendation that Board of County Commissioners, as ex-officio
the Governing Board of the Collier County Water-Sewer District,
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April 22, 2025
ratify administratively approved Change Order No. 1, providing for an
increase in the contract amount of $178,222.50, from $1,817,423.25
to $1,995,645.75, a time extension of 135 days, the reallocation of
funds within existing Tasks under Agreement No. 22-8042, “CEI
Services for Golden Gate City Transmission Water Main
Improvements” with AIM Engineering and Surveying, Inc., and
authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Change Order. (Projects
51029 and 70253)
3) Recommendation to approve the Fourth Amendment to Agreement
No. 15-6365, “Disaster Debris Management Removal and Disposal
Services,” with AshBritt, Inc., to increase the fee schedule rates 2.7%,
and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Amendment.
4) Recommendation to approve the selection committee’s ranking and
authorize staff to begin contract negotiations with LJA Engineering,
Inc., related to Request for Professional Services (“RPS”) No. 25-
8336, “Design Services for Tamiami Wellfield Improvements – Wells
41-49,” so staff can bring a proposed agreement back for the Board’s
consideration at a future meeting.
5) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, as ex-
officio the Governing Board of the Collier County Water-Sewer
District (“CCWSD”), approve the addition of seven Full Time
Equivalent (“FTE”) positions in the Public Utilities Department,
including seven vehicles and associated equipment based on
cumulative asset acquisitions as approved in the CCWSD Operations
Resourcing Strategic Plan, and authorize the associated Budget
Amendments.
6) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 16 and its associated
Work Directives allowing for payment of up to $797,161.24, and
adding 74 days to Agreement No. 18-7474 with Mitchell & Stark
Construction Co., Inc., pertaining to the "Design-Build of Northeast
Service Area Interim Wastewater Treatment Plant, Storage Tanks and
Associated Pipelines,” and approve an after-the-fact for deficiencies
found with Change Order No. 16, authorize the Chairman to sign the
attached Change Order, and approve the necessary Budget
Amendment. (Project 70194)
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April 22, 2025
7) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, as ex-
officio the Governing Board of the Collier County Water-Sewer
District, authorize an increase in expenditures for the single source
purchase of mixers, pumps and related equipment, products, and
services," with Xylem Water Solutions USA, Inc., in an amount not-
to-exceed $2,360,000 per Fiscal Year (increasing the expenditure by
up to $860,000 per Fiscal Year), and approve the attached Second
Amendment to Agreement No. 24-029-NS.
8) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, acting as
ex-officio the Governing Board of the Collier County Water-Sewer
District, authorize an increase in expenditures for the single source
purchase of "ProMinent Equipment, Parts, and Services,” from
TriNova, Inc., in an amount not-to-exceed $185,000 per Fiscal Year
(increasing the expenditure by up to $85,000 per Fiscal Year) and
approve the attached Second Amendment to Agreement #24-056-NS.
D. PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1) This Item continued from the April 8, 2025, BCC Meeting.
Recommendation to award the Request for Proposal No. 24-8280,
Services for Seniors, to Southern Home Care Services, Inc., d/b/a All
Ways Caring Homecare; Personal Response Corporation; Eleven Ash,
Inc., d/b/a Health Force; Home Health Care Resources, Corp.; and
Always There Home Healthcare, Inc., and authorize the Chairman to
sign the attached Agreements. (Human Services Grant Fund 1837)
2) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign thirty
(30) mortgage satisfactions for the State Housing Initiatives
Partnership loan program in the amount of $288,311.92, and to
authorize the associated Budget Amendment to appropriate repayment
amount totaling $113,207.95. (SHIP Grant Fund 1053)
3) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign three
(3) mortgage satisfactions for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership
loan program in the amount of $22,500.00 due to the death of the
borrower(s). (SHIP Grant Fund 1053)
4) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign three
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April 22, 2025
(3) Releases of Lien in the amount of $18,072.14 for properties that
have remained affordable for the required 15-year period set forth in
the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Impact Fee Program
deferral agreements.
5) Recommendation to authorize the Chairman to sign one (1) Release of
Lien for an Affordable Housing Density Bonus for a unit that is no
longer subject to the terms of the agreement.
6) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Board of County
Commissioners to accept the Year 3 allocation of Opioid Settlement
Funds in the amount of $1,942,240.64 ($399,277.79 City/County and
$1,542,962.85 Regional Abatement) and authorize the necessary
Budget Amendment. (Opioid Abatement Grant Fund 1850 and Opioid
City/County Subdivision Grant Fund 1852)
E. CORPORATE BUSINESS OPERATIONS
1) Recommendation to approve an Assumption Agreement assigning all
rights, duties, benefits, and obligations to Tigris Aquatic Services,
LLC.
2) Recommendation to approve modifications to the 2025 Fiscal Year
Pay & Classification Plan, which consists of one reclassification and
removal of one obsolete classification from January 1, 2025, through
March 31, 2025.
F. COUNTY MANAGER OPERATIONS
1) Recommendation to approve a Second Amendment to Agreement No.
20-7753, “Design Services for Collier County EMS Stations,” with
Schenkel & Shultz, Inc., adding 180 days to the project time, and
authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Amendment. (Project
55212)
2) Recommendation to approve a Third Amendment to the Collier
County Emergency Services Deputy Medical Director Agreement to
name Douglas S. Lee, M.D. the Interim Medical Director, increase his
compensation to that of the Medical Director, extend the Agreement
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April 22, 2025
term, and authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Amendment.
3) Recommendation that the Board accept notification of the issuance of
a Collier County Emergency Purchase Order issued to Cintas
Corporation and authorize payment for the repairs services provided.
(Project No. 52163)
4) Recommendation to ratify administratively approved Change Order
No. 1, adding 24 days to the project time under Agreement No. 24-
8250, Golden Gate Golf Course Outfall Swale, constructing
approximately 2,400 linear feet of a 35-foot-wide lined swale and a
300 linear foot outfall pipe at the Golden Gate Golf Course, and
authorize the Chairman to sign the attached Change Order. (Project
No. 80412)
5) Recommendation to authorize an after-the-fact payment for Purchase
Order No. 4500234864 in the amount of $107,562.50 to Earth Tech
Enterprises, Inc., under Contract 21-7885, “Beach Maintenance and
Related Services,” for Pelican Bay emergency beach debris cleanup
following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
6) Recommendation to adopt a Resolution approving amendments
(appropriating grants, donations, contributions or insurance proceeds)
to the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Adopted Budget. (The Budget
Amendments in the attached Resolution have been reviewed and
approved by the Board of County Commissioners via separate
Executive Summaries.)
G. AIRPORT AUTHORITY
1) Recommendation to approve and execute a Collier County Airport
Authority Standard Form Lease with Core Health Partners
Incorporated for the Immokalee Airport Culinary Accelerator related
to Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) No. 24-8291. (Companion to Item
16.A.1.)
2) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 1, deducting
$12,626.46 from Agreement No. 20-7806 (Purchase Order
4500230969) with Bowman Gulf Coast, LLC., (previously Hole
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April 22, 2025
Montes, Inc.), for post design engineering services on the “Bulk
Aircraft Hangar at Marco Island Executive Airport” and authorize the
Chairman to sign the attached Change Order. (Project No. 33822)
H. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
I. MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
1) April 22, 2025, Miscellaneous Correspondence
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
$60,944,333.49 were drawn for the periods between March 27, 2025,
and April 9, 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 April 16,
2025.
3) Recommendation to approve after-the-fact use of $1,000 from the
Confiscated Trust Funds to support the Florida Agricultural Crimes
Intelligence Unit, Inc.
K. COUNTY ATTORNEY
1) Recommendation to appoint two members to the Emergency Medical
Authority.
2) Request by the Housing Finance Authority of Collier County for
approval of a Resolution authorizing the Authority to issue revenue
bonds for the acquisition, construction, equipping, and development
of a 230-unit multifamily residential housing facility known as Wave
at Rose, and located at the northeast corner of Rose Avenue and
School Drive in Immokalee, Florida.
3) Request by the Housing Finance Authority of Collier County for
Page 17
April 22, 2025
approval of a Resolution approving a plan of financing involving the
issuance by the Authority of single-family mortgage revenue bonds in
an amount not to exceed $50 million or, in the alternative, to use
volume cap allocation for mortgage credit certificate programs or for
multifamily housing for persons of low or moderate income.
4) Recommendation to approve an Agreement for the purchase of right-
of-way (Parcel 1274FEE) required for the Vanderbilt Beach Road Ext
– Phase 2 Project (Project No. 60249). Estimated Fiscal Impact:
$140,500.
5) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Order of Taking and Final
Judgment in the amount of $99,000 plus $11,886.90 in statutory
attorney and experts’ fees and costs for the taking of Parcel 1311FEE
required for the Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension Project No. 60249.
6) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Order of Taking and Final
Judgment in the amount of $99,000 plus $11,791.28 in statutory
attorney and experts’ fees and costs for the taking of Parcel 1307FEE
required for the Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension Project No. 60249.
7) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Order of Taking and Final
Judgment in the amount of $103,000 plus $18,379 in statutory
attorney and experts’ fees and costs for the taking of Parcel 1359FEE1
required for the Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension Project No. 60249.
8) Recommendation to approve a Resolution to delegate authority to the
County Project Manager, Robert White, P.E., and County engineer of
record, Richard Arico, P.E., from Kimley Horn, to testify at the
Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension Order of Taking hearing as to the
project construction plans and bind the County to the plans. (Project
No. 60249).
L. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
1) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners authorize
the County Attorney to advertise an Ordinance creating the
Immokalee Community Redevelopment Advisory Board to replace
the CRA-created Immokalee Local Redevelopment Advisory Board
Page 18
April 22, 2025
and the Immokalee Beautification Advisory Committee and repeal
Ordinance No. 22-52.
2) Recommendation to authorize a representative of the Collier County
Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) to bid on behalf of the
County at one code enforcement lien foreclosure sale scheduled by the
Clerk in COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA v. Katrix LLC, et al.,
Circuit Court Case No. 24-CA-2591, in an amount not to exceed the
value of the County’s in-house appraisal (approximately $65,000.00
for one parcel), and authorize necessary Budget Amendments.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. SUMMARY AGENDA - This section is for advertised public hearings and
must meet the following criteria: 1) a recommendation for approval from
staff; 2) unanimous recommendation for approval by the collier county
planning commission or other authorizing agencies of all members present
and voting; 3) no written or oral objections to the item received by staff, the
collier county planning commission, other authorizing agencies or the board,
prior to the commencement of the bcc meeting on which the items are
scheduled to be heard; and 4) no individuals are registered to speak in
opposition to the item. For those items which are quasi-judicial in nature, all
participants must be sworn in.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. A Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County,
Florida, closing the approved Terafina Planned Unit Development, which
has fully completed all its development pursuant to its Development
Order(s) and has been found by Collier County to have only one
Transportation Commitment remaining. (PL20240012112)
B. Recommendation to approve an Ordinance establishing the Horse Trials
Community Development District on 1,767.35± acres located north of
County Road 858 (Oil Well Road), west of State Road 29, and east of Ranch
One Road in Sections 7, 8, 17, and 18, Township 48 South, Range 30 East,
Collier County, Florida. [PL20250000514]
C. Recommendation to adopt a Resolution designating 3,912.41 acres in the
Rural Land Stewardship Zoning Overlay District as Stewardship Sending
Area with a designation as “BCP SSA 21”; pursuant to the terms set forth in
Page 19
April 22, 2025
the Escrow Agreement, Stewardship Sending Area Credit Agreement for
BCP SSA 21, and Stewardship Sending Area Easement Agreement for BCP
SSA 21; approving a Stewardship Sending Area Credit Agreement for BCP
SSA 21; approving a Stewardship Sending Area Easement Agreement for
BCP SSA 21; approving an Escrow Agreement for BCP SSA 21; and
establishing the number of Stewardship credits generated by the designation
of said Stewardship Sending Area. The subject property is located in parts of
Sections 4, 5, 11 and 15, and all of sections 8, 9, 10, and 12, Township 48
South, Range 30 East. [PL20240004704]
18. ADJOURN
INQUIRIES CONCERNING CHANGES TO THE BOARD’S AGENDA SHOULD
BE MADE TO THE COUNTY MANAGER’S OFFICE AT 252-8383.
April 22, 2025
Page 2
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. Good morning.
Welcome.
We're going to start off with the invocation and the Pledge.
Ms. Patterson.
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. We have the invocation by Pastor
Glen Wiggins, Seagate Baptist Church, and our Pledge will be read
[sic] Tim Guerrette, U.S. Air Force veteran, retired Collier County
Sheriff's Office.
Item #1A
INVOCATION BY PASTOR GLENN WIGGINS – SEAGATE
BAPTIST CHURCH. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE BY TIM
GUERRETTE – US AIRFORCE VETERAN AND RETIREE FROM
COLLIER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE – INVOCATION GIVEN
PASTOR WIGGINS: Good morning. Let us pray together.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the honor of living in the
great state of Florida, for the blessing of being in this wonderful,
beautiful City of Naples. As we gather here today, we acknowledge
our need for your guidance and seek your hand of blessing upon this
County Commission. Your word declares that all authority is
established by you.
And we recognize these men and women have been placed in
their positions for your divine purpose. We pray that you would
grant them wisdom to lead with integrity, justice, and compassion.
May their decisions reflect truth and righteousness. May they always
seek the greater good for the people they serve.
Bless each commissioner and their families, strengthen them,
enlarge their influence for good. Please, Lord, place a hedge of
April 22, 2025
Page 3
protection around them. May they sense your presence as they carry
out their duties.
Lord, may everything that's said and done in this meeting today
be under your direction. We need your wisdom. We need your
strength. We need your power.
We thank you for the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ who
died and was buried and rose again the third day, giving us hope and
life eternal through him. We ask your blessing on this day you've
given us. May we live it well, and may we serve you faithfully.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
(The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.)
Item #2A
APPROVAL OF TODAY'S REGULAR, CONSENT AND
SUMMARY AGENDA AS AMENDED (EX PARTE DISCLOSURE
PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR CONSENT
AGENDA.) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER
HALL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL - APPROVED
AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES
MR. GUERRETTE: I just want to make sure Lois -- I got the
order correctly.
It's an honor to do the Pledge. For everybody here, just a little
reminder, Collier County and the Board is so wonderful to our
military members, and our law enforcement professionals here in our
county and throughout the state.
Just wanted to give everybody a reminder that May is our
National Military Appreciation Month and, also, Law Enforcement
Appreciation Month. May 15th is a big week as far as remembering
those who have served and then sacrificed their life.
April 22, 2025
Page 4
Also, a big thank you to the Robert L. Zore Foundation for
everything they do. And there's many other ones out there that I do
not have time to, obviously, bring up.
But thank you, Board, for all you do, for your support. Being in
the military, being in law enforcement here for a long period of time,
our county and our Board is second to none anywhere in the state and
thank you so much. I appreciate everything.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you and thank you for your
service.
MR. GUERRETTE: Thank you.
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, agenda changes for
April 22nd, 2025. We have several.
First is to continue Item 11B to the May 13th, 2025, BCC
meeting. This is a recommendation that the Board of County
Commissioners approve a resolution amending Resolution
No. 2007-300, as amended, the purchasing policy for Conservation
Collier program for the purpose of including mitigation expenses and
adjustments within the appraised value of the property. This is being
moved at staff's request.
Next, move Item 16A14 to 11C. This is a recommendation to
approve the properties on the January 2025 Conservation Collier
Active Acquisition List and direct staff to pursue the properties
recommended within the "A" category funded by the Collier County
Land Acquisition Fund. This is being moved at Commissioner Hall's
request.
Next, move Item 16A15 to 11D. This is a recommendation to
approve the properties on the February 2025 Conservation Collier
Active Acquisition List and direct staff to pursue the projects
recommended within the "A" category funded by Conservation
Collier Land Acquisition Fund. This is being moved at
Commissioner Hall's request.
April 22, 2025
Page 5
Withdraw Item 16A18. This is a recommendation to approve a
second amendment to Agreement No. 22-7966, baseball and softball
officials with the Collier Recreation Baseball/Softball Umpire
Association, Inc., for a one-year renewal and a price increase for the
remaining renewal terms. This item is being withdrawn at staff's
request.
Finally, continue Item 17C to the May 13th, 2025, BCC
meeting. This is a recommendation to adopt a resolution designating
3,912.41 acres in Rural Land Stewardship Zoning Overlay District as
Stewardship Sending Area with a designation as BCP SSA 21;
pursuant to the terms set forth in the escrow agreement, Stewardship
Sending Area Credit Agreement for BCP SSA 21; Stewardship
Sending Area Easement Agreement for BCP SSA 21; approving a
Stewardship Sending Area Credit Agreement for BCP SSA 21;
approving a Stewardship Sending Area Easement Agreement for
BCP -- BCP SSA 21; approving an escrow agreement for BCP SSA
21; and establishing the number of stewardship credits generated by
the designation of said Stewardship Sending Area.
The subject property is located in parts of Section 4, 5, 11, and
15, and all of Sections 8, 9, 10 and 12, Township 48 South, Range 30
East. This is being moved at staff's request.
With that, we do have court reporter breaks scheduled at 10:30
and again at 2:50 if necessary.
County Attorney.
MR. KLATZKOW: No changes. Thank you.
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, any changes or ex parte on
the consent or summary?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No changes and no ex partes on
consent or summary.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
April 22, 2025
Page 6
COMMISSIONER HALL: Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
I have no changes and no ex parte.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. Good morning,
Mr. Chair.
No changes and no ex parte.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Same for me. No changes, no
ex parte.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I have no changes and no ex parte
as well. Any objections to the proposed changes that have been
presented?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, we're ready for our
motion to approve today's regular, consent, and summary agenda as
amended.
COMMISSIONER HALL: So moved.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: 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.
SEE REVERSE SIDE
Proposed Agenda Changes
Board of County Commissioners Meeting
April 22, 2025
Continue Item 11B to the May 13, 2025, BCC Meeting: Recommendation that the Board of County
Commissioners approve a Resolution, amending Resolution No. 2007-300, as amended, the Purchasing Policy for
the Conservation Collier Program, for the purpose of including mitigation expenses and adjustments within the
appraised value of the property. (Staff’s Request)
Move Item 16.A.14 to 11.C: Recommendation to approve the properties on the January 2025 Conservation Collier
Active Acquisition List (AAL) and direct staff to pursue the projects recommended within the A-Category, funded
by the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Fund. (Commissioner Hall’s Request)
Move Item 16.A.15 to 11.D: Recommendation to approve the properties on the February 2025 Conservation
Collier Active Acquisition List (AAL) and direct staff to pursue the projects recommended within the A-Category,
funded by Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Fund. (Commissioner Hall’s Request)
Withdrawal item 16.A.18: Recommendation to approve a Second Amendment to Agreement No. 22-7966,
“Baseball and Softball Officials,” with the Collier Recreation Baseball/Softball Umpire Association, Inc.,
for a one-year renewal and a price increase for the remaining renewal terms. (Staff’s Requests)
Continue item 17C to the May 13, 2025, BCC Meeting: Recommendation to adopt a Resolution designating
3,912.41 acres in the Rural Land Stewardship Zoning Overlay District as Stewardship Sending Area with
a designation as “BCP SSA 21”; pursuant to the terms set forth in the Escrow Agreement, Stewardship
Sending Area Credit Agreement for BCP SSA 21, and Stewardship Sending Area Easement Agreement
for BCP SSA 21; approving a Stewardship Sending Area Credit Agreement for BCP SSA 21; approving a
Stewardship Sending Area Easement Agreement for BCP SSA 21; approving an Escrow Agreement for
BCP SSA 21; and establishing the number of Stewardship credits generated by the designation of said
Stewardship Sending Area. The subject property is located in parts of Sections 4, 5, 11 and 15, and all of
sections 8, 9, 10, and 12, Township 48 South, Range 30 East. [PL20240004704] (Staff’s Requests)
Notes:
TIME CERTAIN ITEMS:
4/21/2025 8:29 PM
April 22, 2025
Page 7
Item #2B
MARCH 11, 2025, BCC MEETING MINUTES - MOTION TO
APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO - APPROVED
Item 2A, the minutes from our March 11 commission meeting.
Any comments concerning the minutes?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Move for approval.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: 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: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
Ms. Patterson, we'll move on to the awards and recognitions.
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir.
Item #3A1
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS - 20 YEAR ATTENDEES -
SHIRLEY GARCIA, COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA
AND RAMIRO JURADO - PELICAN BAY SERVICES
First up we have our 20-year attendees. Shirley Garcia,
Community Redevelopment Area. Congratulations.
April 22, 2025
Page 8
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Hey, hey, hey. No hugging
the communications guy.
MS. GARCIA: Can we bring up --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Wow. Holy mackerel.
MS. GARCIA: It's only part Bayshore.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Mr. Chairman, can I just say a
quick word?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, sir. Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I just want to thank Shirley and
all the work she does for CRA down in East Naples, that area,
Shirley, because you do a great job. I know I've only been part of it
for two years and a few months, but you're a great asset. I appreciate
it, thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MS. GARCIA: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And I'll add to that that the CRA
has done remarkable work in East Naples. It's unbelievable. I was
out there just the other night, and a lot of people coming there, a lot
of people having a good time, and it's just remarkable what you've
accomplished -- what the CRA's accomplished out there, so thank
you.
MS. PATTERSON: Next 20-year attendee is Ramiro Jurado,
Pelican Bay Services. Congratulations.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Got to get your hardware.
MR. COLEMAN: Let me get one with him, he's so good
looking.
MR. JURADO: Thank you.
(Applause.)
April 22, 2025
Page 9
Item #3A4
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS - 35 YEAR ATTENDEES -
ERNST AUGUSTIN, ROAD, BRIDGE & STORMWATER
MAINTENANCE
MS. PATTERSON: Going all the way to 35 years now, Ernst
Augustin, Road, Bridge, and Stormwater Maintenance.
Congratulations.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Oh, the crew. The crew.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: You are not centered. You're
way off.
(Applause.)
Item #4A
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 1, 2025, AS NATIONAL
DAY OF PRAYER. ACCEPTED BY PASTOR JESSE BARRETT -
MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL;
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO - ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 4,
proclamations. Item 4A is a proclamation designating May 1st, 2025,
as National Day of Prayer. To be accepted by Pastor Jesse Barrett.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Go.
(Applause.)
PASTOR BARRETT: Thank you all so much for this. The first
Thursday of May every year is the National Day of Prayer, and we
are hosting the event at 7 p.m. at Naples High School on the football
field. And I'm expecting a good turnout. We pray for the
April 22, 2025
Page 10
government and the leaders, you know, state, local, federal. We pray
for schools, families, churches, businesses, the media, all sorts of
good stuff. So I know you-all have been invited. Commissioner Hall
will be there. He'll be praying. And so I just thank you guys so
much.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
PASTOR BARRETT: Thanks, guys.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, sir. Good seeing
you, Jesse.
PASTOR BARRETT: You, too.
(Applause.)
Item #4B
PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING APRIL 13-19, 2025, AS
NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATORS WEEK.
ACCEPTED BY SHERIFF KEVIN RAMBOSK, CHIEF GREG
SMITH, CAPTAIN CHRIS GONZALEZ, MANAGER AMY TUFF,
AND SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE 911
TELECOMMUNICATORS - MOTION TO APPROVE BY
COMMISSIONER KOWAL; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER
LOCASTRO – ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Item 4B is a proclamation designating
April 13th through 19th, 2025, as National Public Safety
Telecommunicators Week. To be accepted by Sheriff Kevin
Rambosk, Chief Greg Smith, Captain Chris Gonzalez, Manager Amy
Tuff, and several members of the 911 telecommunications.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Sheriff, if you could tell us a little
bit about what the team does. And as you get to the podium, I just
want to thank the Sheriff and all of the folks that work in the Sheriff's
April 22, 2025
Page 11
Department. We have a very safe community. It's not an accident.
It's because we have a wonderful Sheriff. He has a wonderful team.
This County Commission has always fully supported the Sheriff.
When he's needed money for anything special, we've always been
here to provide that because we all believe that the most important
function of government is to keep us safe.
It doesn't matter how wonderful the beaches are and everything.
If you don't feel safe in your homes, if you don't feel safe when
you're out on the streets, your quality of life is not very good. We
don't have that problem here in Collier County because of our Sheriff
and the wonderful people working with the Sheriff. So thank you.
SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Good morning, Chairman and
Commissioners. Thank you on behalf of all the members of the
Collier County Sheriff's Office and today our communications staff,
who do an absolutely fabulous job. You know, they are not only
multi-taskers, but they are technologists, when you see the electronics
that they're using to reduce the emergency response times in our
community and save lives. They, in most cases, are the very first
critical element of the crime prevention and crime apprehension
element, the life-safety element, and the information element. So
they get it started, and they make sure that the rest of our deputies are
informed and safe as they can be.
To give you some sense in what they're doing, there were over
512,000 calls for service last year. There were about 200,000 911
emergency calls. As you know, we were the first to text emergency
calls in Collier County, and we get those as well. And there are over
one million radio transmissions that the staff takes cares of.
So on behalf of everyone, thank you very much. Thank you for
your support, and we are committed to keeping Collier County the
safest community in the nation. Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
April 22, 2025
Page 12
(Applause.)
MS. PATTERSON: If we could get a motion to accept the
proclamations, please.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So moved.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. We have a motion.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And we have 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.
Item #7
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA
MS. PATTERSON: That brings us to Item 7, public comments
on general topics not on the current or future agenda.
MR. MILLER: Good morning. We have five registered
speakers on this item. I'll remind the speakers you'll have three
minutes. You will get a beep at 30 seconds to remind you when your
time is winding down.
Your first speaker is Laurie Harris, and she'll be followed by
Patty Teulet.
Did you want that video now?
April 22, 2025
Page 13
MS. HARRIS: Yes. Good morning, Commissioners. Laurie
Harris, Marco Island.
This is a very short video that I'd like you to watch, and then we
can discuss.
(A video was played.)
MS. HARRIS: This is pretty much a normal day in Immokalee.
In the video, you can see there was two sets of dogs that had just
mated and are actually still hooked up in the video, so in a few
months we should have around 12 more puppies. This is a normal
day, as I said.
It's in Immokalee. Immokalee has the reputation, but it's
prevalent in Collier County. It's in the Estates. It's in East Naples.
There was a pack of dogs running, so that was four dogs
running. They find a female in heat. They will get aggressive.
What we've heard is it's culture. While that might be true, we
live in the greatest country that is made up of the rule of law. So
unless there are "no go" zones, someone needs to address the dogs
running at large, which is illegal.
This video has triggered quite the backlash on social media and
specifically towards the animal control officers. I personally believe
they are stretched quite thin.
There are about three of them now who can, on their own, go
out in the field, who are fully trained, and issue citations. There are
several more going through training right now, and that will bring us
to about seven, and there should be 10 full-time positions.
And while the population in Collier County has exploded, the
number of ACOs has remained the same, and, sadly, we can't even
fill those 10 positions. The posting was up for -- to hire for two
weeks, and only five applicants applied for three open positions. I'm
going to guess it's salary related. Imagine rolling up on a scene with
little to no personal protection, no indication of any potential
April 22, 2025
Page 14
violence, either human or animal, and have to issue citations.
These ACOs, to me, are our first responders for the dogs. They
have to get their reports right the first time when they issue a citation,
or it will get kicked from the magistrate. We are -- and they would
then be issuing citations for absolutely no reason.
They must be trained properly to issue those citations that we
can actually collect on them. There's tens of thousands of dollars a
year of citations issues that have gone uncollected. I was told that
there is no collection for citations that go unissued [sic].
You know better than most how large Collier County is. The
ACOs drive all over the county. We could be creative, potentially get
somebody to drive for them so they could do their reports while in
the car, potentially create someone who can pick up strays that are
held.
Since moving the ACOs to Code, enforcement has declined, and
I do not believe it is the fault of the ACOs. There are contributing
factors.
Enforcement with dogs running at large is nonexistent. The
ACOs can only pick up a stray that is contained. There is no one out
there who is picking up a dog at large. No one. They're running
wild.
I would like to see a similar commitment made to the animal
control officers that was made to DAS. This includes salary
structure, ongoing training for dangerous dogs, and continued
education seminars to identify and document cruelty and neglect.
I've heard for the last 10 months or so we will revise the
ordinances and the hobby breeder ordinance. Even after repeated
attempts to get this done, it has fallen by the wayside. Until we can
get control of the spays and neuters, we will never get control over
the population anywhere. We are their voice.
I respectfully request you make this commitment. Thank you
April 22, 2025
Page 15
for your time.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you, Mr. Harris. And, also I
want to thank you for your service as chair of the DAS advisory
board. I understand that you have resigned from that. And I think
everyone on the commission perhaps would like to hear from you as
to -- not now but in meetings -- as to what prompted you to do that,
because I know of your dedication to DAS. So I think it will be good
information for everyone.
MS. HARRIS: Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Patty Teulet. She'll be
followed by Al Schantzen.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good morning.
MS. TEULET: Good morning. My name is Patty
Teulet -- pardon my voice -- and I've been a volunteer at the DAS
shelter for 13 years.
Two subjects I'd like to talk about. Collier County has an
abundance of domestic animals running at large daily, most prevalent
in the Immokalee and the Golden Gate Estates communities yet
occurring throughout Collier County. Dogs have been observed
breeding in the middle of the streets throughout the day. The last
thing the county needs are their offspring running at large,
perpetuating a never-ending cycle.
At the rate at which Collier County is growing, so too will the
pet population. Collier County has an opportunity to mitigate this
very serious issue by increasing and improving ACO coverage.
ACOs do not have to look for the stray animals, trap stray animals, or
knock on the doors to find the owners, if any. Just drive there, which
should be scheduled daily, knowing and seeing the problem, captured
by Tom Kepp's video, which I believe you have seen. ACOs can put
them in the van the same way Tom Kepp does every single day. If
April 22, 2025
Page 16
hiring and retention is the issue, perhaps the starting pay and hourly
wages need to be more competitive.
The second subject is the decision by the county to put
aesthetics ahead of safety and functionality at the DAS shelter.
Housing large-breed dogs in a 4-by-4-foot space with an opening
designed for small/medium dogs is inhumane. This was obviously
not addressed in the renovation. This was not the appropriate use of
the $6 million surtax earmarked for Domestic Animal Services.
It is evident that the building should have been completely
demolished. Instead, it took some eight months to fix everything by
preparing and painting the walls and laying down new floors.
Problems are still being addressed, including the new floors, which
are too slippery for safety.
The building could have been rebuilt in less time with secure
fittings, expanding the kennel size for large dogs, and adding outside
runs like most shelters have in place. My suggestion would be to
demolish the building and build one that is appropriate for a dog
shelter. If not, the hope would be to revisit the plans for the other
two buildings before deciding on remodel instead of replacements.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. And thank you for
your volunteer service at DAS.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Al Schantzen, and he will
be followed by Tom Kepp.
MR. SCHANTZEN: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Al Schantzen, for
the record.
Commissioners, I'd like to right off with a thing from Amos
6:12. It says, "Do horses run on rocks?"
At DAS we have an issue where the ACOs went over to Code
Enforcement, and the responsibility for Code Enforcement over the
ACOs and the regulations all are housed there, and those are where
April 22, 2025
Page 17
the Special Magistrate is and all of the legal action that goes on,
including the ordinance rewrite requirements and stuff fall under
Code now instead of DAS.
What happens at DAS board is we end up in a quagmire because
we're trying to solve regulatory issues that are not in our venue at the
board. And forgive me for not following up with that. I am on the
DAS board. I'm on the CRA board. And I'm an animal activist in
that aspect.
The one thing I'd really like the Council to -- the Commission to
consider is moving the two or three seats that are available on Code
Enforcement into the animal area and let people that have the passion
and stuff go on the Code Enforcement Board to help guide Code
Enforcement on the need for however many ACOs, the training, the
specialty of what the animal control environment is, because in the
way the ordinance is written domestic Animal Services Advisory
Board does not have any ability to do these things unless we branch
off into a subcommittee.
So I'd like you to consider rearranging, as you did for the DAS
board, to get board members on there. You manipulated the positions
to let them get in. I don't recall if you did it through regulation or
through the Board itself on a majority vote, but I'd like you to do the
same with Code Enforcement to get some animal specialty on the
Code Enforcement Board.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Al, thank you for serving on
the DAS advisory board as well. Thank you.
MR. SCHANTZEN: One more thing, flash news, it's the first I
heard that you've resigned. And I bless your heart.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you, sir.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Tom Kepp. He'll be
followed by Tom Despard.
April 22, 2025
Page 18
MR. KEPP: Tom Kepp. I started SNIP Collier, as most of you
all know. I've been coming up in front of this commission, and I
have minutes from a lot of the meetings since about 2003. And
we've -- if I add up the budget of the enforcement and DAS, it -- you
use $3 million a year, which I think is very low. That's about
$60 million we've spent since I've been talking about this.
And these videos are ones I've taken. The next day after that
video was taken, I have -- well, the still shots in there were of that,
there was probably 15 dogs in one street. They were mating. Like
Laurie says, it was just -- you know.
But I want everybody to understand, this is not just Immokalee.
I saw some of the comments made. And it's Bill's district, but
everybody up here is a commissioner for the whole county.
And this is a problem. There's a cruelty case. I used to live in
Livingston Woods. Right now, there's a cruelty case from the
Sheriff's Department going on from there. That's right downtown.
There's a place in Golden Gate City that is -- I know they're dog
fighting. And if you read the case, you will go, "Are you kidding
me?" Because actually -- now, I don't know whether they ever did it,
but the Code Enforcement actually said to me, "Well, Tom, we're
going to make him get a breeder permit," because there were puppies.
And I said, "Seriously? What are you going to do if they tell
you, you can't come in to inspect?"
"We'll pull their permit."
Think of that. I mean, they don't want a permit in the first place.
Naples Park has a cruelty case going on. I don't know much
about it. That's with the Sheriff's Department. So this is -- this is all
over the county. And we're getting ready to -- like I said, I just
signed a contract with Benchmark Builders to start our facility in
Immokalee. I do want to thank the Board for all the years that
we've -- you know, it's been six years since we've had that lease.
April 22, 2025
Page 19
Thank you. We're going to actually start building probably the first
of May, as soon as my last permit's out. And so this is going to help
it.
But the problem is, our organizations, DAS, Humane Society,
us, we can all do rescue. We can do spay and neuters. We've
done -- SNIP Collier's done about 16,000 spay and neuters since
2015 is when we turned into a 501(c)3. I've been doing it a lot longer
than that.
Just this year alone, I've either trapped stray dogs or got owner
surrenders, over 80 dogs already this year. And the ones that were
owner surrenders and the puppies under three months, I've taken
them to Cape Coral and Gulf Coast. So I've kept those out of your
facility.
And the other close to 50 that I've probably brought into DAS,
we brought them in off the streets. So they're out there, and this is all
over the county.
So once we get this built and then we're going to start on
our -- about a 4,000-square-foot medical rescue facility. So this is
going to help a lot in the county, but we can't do -- we can't fix this
problem until we go after the bad players, the bad actors, and that's
what we're not doing.
I just turned somebody in just recently, and it took them over a
month to go there, and I have an eight-year history of turning them in
for having puppies. So anyway, I guess my time's up. Any
questions?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It is.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I don't see any questions. Thank
you, Tom. Thank you for all that you're doing.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: As he's going away, I just
want to say thank you to Tom, his efforts. Again, Immokalee is an
aggregated community. It's easy to go over there because of the
April 22, 2025
Page 20
urbanization of the town and see where strays are. This issue is
prolific throughout the entire county and needs to be addressed, and
I'm sure, as we move forward, we'll be taking these issues up.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker and final speaker for Item 7
is Tom Despard.
MR. DESPARD: Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
Commissioners.
A small problem for the county. There's a hole in the fence. I
live at the Isles of Collier Preserve, and I'm sure you're familiar with
the stormwater channel between Isles of Collier Preserve and Treviso
Bay.
We have a situation where -- and I have drawings and I have
notes here where there's a hole in the -- there's no fencing between
the fencing that the developer put in several years ago on our
property line, and there's a gate that needs to be repaired. This is on
the west side of the canal. There's two roads, the county roads, one
on each side of the canal. They're gravel roads, and that's fine.
They're for service vehicles.
What happens is, on the west side, people have been coming in
on their bikes and walking in as if it was a public park. And the way
their fencing's set up for the Isles is that we have a Florida Power &
Light easement, we have other openings where they can actually
walk right into our development. I've seen someone in my backyard.
So I would like to see this addressed. And I can give you the
drawings of the -- if you're familiar. Any questions? It's District 1.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: We'll take the drawings.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Is it your side or my side?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I don't know. That's what I
was going to see.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah, I'd have to look at it.
MR. DESPARD: It's -- I think it's -- it's right next to -- or right
April 22, 2025
Page 21
outside of Isles of Collier Preserve on the east -- on the --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Commissioner Kowal and I
will work together on it, because I think it's, like, right on the line.
But we could care less. We want it fixed.
MR. DESPARD: Appreciate it. Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If you'll give the drawings to
Ms. Patterson, she'll get them distributed.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, sir.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ms. Patterson, before we move on
to the next item, I want to talk for just a moment about animal
control, because this has been a really difficult issue for -- certainly,
I've been kind of involved with it for a year and a half now. That was
at the beginning of the repairs to the buildings and the problems that
were brought to my attention.
We do need to get kind of a handle on what's going out there.
There was some discussion about the cages not being big enough and
things like that. I don't want to get into a discussion of all that, but
perhaps you could at some point in the not too distant future kind of
give us a report on where we need to go with this to solve this
problem. You've got some real experts here that have been working
with DAS for -- literally for decades, and so I'd like to --
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- get some guidance from you and
see if we can start solving some of these problems.
MS. PATTERSON: We can bring something back pretty
quickly and give you an update on not only the facility, but the
situation with the animal control officers, as well as some of the plans
we've been talking about to address these issues with the animals
running at large and a more aggressive education campaign, because
a lot of this -- there are people that mistreat animals, absolutely, but a
April 22, 2025
Page 22
lot of it is people that don't know better or, you know, they come
from places where it's okay for animals to run around.
And so we do need to work on that. I've been talking to Mr.
Dunnuck about Immokalee specifically and partnering with the CRA
on some activities out there that would help the animal owners.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel, would
you be willing to kind of help out in terms of the Immokalee area?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, absolutely. And, you
know, I spoke -- I speak to Mr. Kepp on a regular basis.
You know, we've gone without a board at Farmworkers Village
for almost three years, and we just recently got four new appointees
to that board. There are lease arrangements that the folks at the
Village -- Farmworkers Village -- we call it the Village -- can put in
effect to manage -- better manage that from their tenancy for the
people that live there and promote the educational aspect as well.
So along with what Tom's doing with SNIPs, over at our old
DAS facility that had been shut down for years -- I mean, when I
became a commissioner eight years ago, DAS was virtually
nonexistent in Eastern Collier County, at large. And it -- again, it's a
matter of semantics. It's a matter of budget with regard to your asset
base, what you can and can't do.
But I'd be more than happy to work. If I may, I kind of jumped
out and then jumped in in front of Commissioner LoCastro. But one
of the things that really needs to be addressed by this board -- and I
had hoped that the DAS board was, in fact, going to take it up -- and
that's the actual ordinance of DAS with regard to enforcement, with
regard to care of the animals, with -- I mean, it was brought up years
and years ago, if you'll remember, when we had the issue with
illegalization of retail sale of dogs and cats, and it was talked about
then, but then nothing ever, in fact, transpired with regard to the
adjustments in that ordinance that I think would be a huge
April 22, 2025
Page 23
enhancement to give our staff more support, give our enforcement
officers a better capacity to do their job.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel, then, it
sounds like you'd be willing to kind of work with the staff and all in
terms of how to deal with some of the problems, especially those in
the Immokalee area and with Tom Kepp and the --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Not Mr. Kepp, but everybody
else, yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And I see that he is really grateful
that you've excluded him from your list of people that you're going to
talk to.
Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman.
I just want to add to that list, that when we have deeper
discussion, after you do a little bit of a deeper dive, to not overlook
the fines that have been given. I mean, the ACO officers that are out
there actually have given fines; maybe not as aggressively. I don't
disagree with some of the statements here. But I got a list yesterday
of some people that have been -- you know, gotten citation after
citation, and they blow it off.
And so this might be something more for Mr. Klatzkow. But it
reminds me of when I wasn't happy with Code Enforcement fines for
nonanimal things, people that were getting these fines that were
running up tens of thousands of dollars, and they were blowing us
off. And if you remember, we all voted unanimously to put a little bit
more teeth in the language.
I think we pulled more people into this room, and our Code
Enforcement Board, you know, handled them in a little bit more of an
aggressive way. We stopped going from, you know, the fines of
$10,000 and then lowering it to zero because they finally were in
compliance. But I think we have a similar thing here.
April 22, 2025
Page 24
And these fines aren't huge, but when, you know, 100 percent of
the people seem to be not paying them and blowing them off, then,
you know, it reflects poorly on us.
So I don't know -- I know you can't drag these people off the
street and throw them in jail because they owe us $200 in fines, but
there's -- obviously, that's part of the problem as well.
So these ACOs, I'm sure, are frustrated that the ones that are
doing the work and then give out the fines and then nothing happens,
they probably feel like they're just spinning their wheels. So that's a
hot topic as well, obviously.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Mr. Klatzkow, you and I have
talked about hobby breeders for quite some time now. I mentioned to
you yesterday that there's a proposed bill before the Florida
legislature to deal with hobby breeders. So I'd like for you to pull up
that proposed legislation, because there may be some stuff in there
that would be helpful to you.
But when are we going to have our hobby breeders ordinance
advertised and before the Board?
MR. KLATZKOW: You're going to have that done at your next
meeting, if that's --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We've been looking for this --
MR. KLATZKOW: -- your desire.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- for a while. So if we can -- if
you could move that along.
MR. KLATZKOW: But I will tell you that if those bills pass,
we're preempted. They are extensive.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Well, in the meantime --
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- let's -- we don't know what's in
those bills. We don't know if we'll be preempted. We don't know, if
there is a preemption, if it will be prospective as opposed to
April 22, 2025
Page 25
retroactive. So let's get our ducks in a row on that. Thank you.
Ms. Patterson, we'll move on.
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. That brings us to -- Items 9A and
9B are continued, as noted on the agenda.
Item #9C
ORDINANCE 2025-22: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE
PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR A NEW
SECTION ESTABLISHING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
OPERATION OF BICYCLES ON SIDEWALKS, CROSSWALKS,
AND IN INTERSECTIONS WITHIN THE UNINCORPORATED
PORTIONS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA - MOTION TO
APPROVE WITH CHANGES BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL;
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL - ADOPTED
So that brings us to 9C. This is a recommendation to approve an
ordinance amending the pedestrian safety ordinance providing for a
new section establishing requirements for the operation of bicycles
on sidewalks, crosswalks, and in intersections within the
unincorporated portions of Collier County, Florida.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal, this has
been your effort. Do you want to lead off?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yes, Chairman. Thank you.
Yeah, this is something -- you know, I've noticed the past few
years an uptick in the use of these electric motor-assist bicycles.
And, you know, in the past they were typically bicycles with pedal
systems on them that had a little assist motor on them, but now
they're being actual modes of transportation that are similar to
motorcycles in some cases. I mean, some of the ones that we've seen
out there.
April 22, 2025
Page 26
And now they're classified. They're classified from Class 1,
Class 2, Class 3, and then they have the Class 4 and unclassified,
which some of those things, they go up to 50 miles per hour. And, I
mean, the Class 3s can go up to 30 miles per hour, 28 to 30 miles per
hour.
And they're being driven on our sidewalks. They're being
driven, you know, in areas that typically are not used to having a
vehicle travel that fast, especially intermingled with the pedestrians
that are just trying to navigate throughout our county.
And we're seeing an uptick in accidents. So I felt that -- you
know, visiting this, I met with a few different groups; Sheriff's
Department; the bike pedestrian community, the chairman, and we
sat around and discussed some options to bring forth to maybe
strengthen the ordinance we already have to include the bicycle
portions of it, including with the electric-assist motors and the
electric motor bikes.
So this is pretty much a combination of all that, and this is what
we kind of came up with. And the County Attorney's Office assisted
us in getting this prepared properly to make sure we weren't outside
any statute or Florida Statute or standards or overreaching anything,
so this is what we've come up with, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner
McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm in complete support of this. This is the beginning of a
process for us as a community to address a new issue.
Who would have thought five years ago that folks would be
riding around at 30-plus miles an hour on our sidewalks and on our
streets without any kind of regulation. And I know it's been -- it's
been an arduous trip for you.
I have two comments and then a question. I'll ask the question
April 22, 2025
Page 27
first. How are you -- how are you working -- how is the cooperation
with the Sheriff with regard to the enforcement of this? Because that
seems to be a revolving door as to who's responsible for upkeep on
this, and then I have a couple of statements about your -- about the
ordinance.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah. Initially the traffic, the
STEB unit, which is their traffic enforcement safety unit, I met with
them, the lieutenant and the sergeants, and they were part of the
process of looking at different ways to attack it.
And then after the fact, chief -- Undersheriff Bloom, we've had a
couple conversations. And, you know, he gave me his word, his
support that, you know, they believe it is an issue and that it's
something that has to be addressed.
So, you know, they were more in -- you know, definitely were
motivated to have some other tool in the toolbox. Because right now
they're kind of handcuffed, because by state statute -- even at an
accident scene where you have an individual on a bicycle that leaves
the sidewalk area of safety and gets struck by a car, there's no
language in the state statutes that -- to distinguish that person from a
pedestrian.
And then the state leaves it up to the counties because they don't
have jurisdiction over your sidewalks. So they leave it up to the
county to create some sort of ordinance to address these problems.
And they've always been handcuffed by that because, in the past, they
have to act as a pedestrian, not a -- not a person on a bicycle or a
bicycle that's traveling 20 or 30 miles per hour. So it's a
game-changer. So now they have -- they'll have a tool to actually use
when it comes to investigating these things or enforcing it. So I think
they have a positive avenue so far.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel, did you
want to make your comments now?
April 22, 2025
Page 28
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I would like to, if I may.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The bullet points that are here
listed in the -- in the proposed ordinance -- and you would make -- I
know your goal is to make my life easier, but if you number those
bullet points so that we could talk about them specifically. But the
two -- the two that are three-quarters of the way down that are
addressing bicycle operations, they seem to -- if I'm not mistaken,
there's already law in place with regard to the use of a pedal bicycle.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No, there's not. Not on a
sidewalk.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There isn't?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: No.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: That's why even with a bicycle
accident involving a motor vehicle, we didn't have anything to label
the bicyclist separate than a person just walking on the sidewalk.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So this, in fact, addresses that.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: It addresses it.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It was in my understanding
that the bicyclists had laws already. They're supposed to stop at the
intersection. They're supposed to walk their bike across the street.
They're supposed to abide by the traffic laws at large. I didn't realize
that we actually had to distinguish about a bicycle who's going in the
opposite direction of traffic. That was a -- that was another new one
for me.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah. And that's -- like an
example is Airport Road. Airport Road does not have a designated
bike lane, so all your traffic, bicycle, electric bike, all that, is going to
be on the sidewalks because they're not going to go out in that traffic
and try to traverse it without a safe bike lane being designated.
April 22, 2025
Page 29
And what happens is that's a positively divided road, which a
divided road means there's a median that you can't just cross to go the
opposite direction. So a lot of these intersections where they don't
have cut-throughs, the individual's not looking to their right. They're
looking to their left because that's where the traffic, the danger of
entering into traffic is. And then you have a bicycle coming 25 miles
per hour, 20 miles an hour from the right. They can glance that way
once in a while, but it's on top of them before they get a chance to
react and, you know, that's where we see a majority of these
accidents at those type of intersections.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We had that --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So controlling them by -- when
they have to be put in that situation with, you know, stopping at the
intersection is, you know, what I think would help us.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
MS. PATTERSON: Thank you, Chairman.
This definitely needs to be addressed and definitely needs to be
looked at, but there -- there are some of the things within this
ordinance that I think we need to have a conversation about, and one
of them is with everyone over the age of 16, we force them into the
bike lane. And while I personally would love that, there's a lot of
elderly people who ride e-bikes that are pedal assisted. They're not
riding those -- they're throttle bikes. But they don't want to be forced
into a bike lane because it's -- they're not comfortable. It's not safe
for them. And by forcing them out there, they're basically just going
to say, "You know what, we're not going to enjoy our e-bikes or our
pedal-assisted bikes."
I know that this -- when this came up earlier, the Sheriff took
issue with something and didn't -- didn't like it. Do you
remember -- can you -- do you remember what that was?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I never specifically -- the Sheriff
April 22, 2025
Page 30
didn't specifically say anything in particular. I know when it went
through the motion -- when it went through the process, at one point
it got to the legal department -- the County Attorney could probably
help me on this, because it didn't really -- we didn't really get an
answer, so we didn't know what happened, but if you can --
MR. KLATZKOW: One of the things that my office has
traditionally done is worked with the Sheriff's Office on anything that
would require his enforcement. And I was told by his counsel that
there was no interest for this ordinance.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Right. Well, we owe it to the
people to do something and do something that's for benefit of
everyone. And one of the things -- there's different classes of bikes,
and there's Class 1s that's pedal assisted with no throttle, and then
there's Class 2 that's pedal assisted with a throttle, then there's Class 3
bikes that are just -- you can just run them like a motorcycle.
And I -- I would like to see us address or talk about maybe
banning those Class 3 bikes from any sidewalk because -- or limiting
any speed that's over 15 miles an hour. The other bikes can't go that
fast. And the people that want to remain on the shared paths, they are
wanting to be safe. They are wanting to be considerate to others. It's
the people that are going against the traffic. It's the people that are
going to work.
I love the fact that they have these e-bikes that they can use for a
cheaper mode of transportation. I just want to see this ordinance
force those people to obey the traffic laws, to have consideration for
pedestrians on the sidewalks, not to go fast, and not to be able to put
other people in danger or even make them feel uncomfortable.
I've been on those shared paths, and I've had people just blow by
me when I'm walking, and it makes me mad. It makes me mad. It
doesn't make me mad because they're going fast. It makes me mad
because of the inconsideration of it. And you don't expect it. And,
April 22, 2025
Page 31
you know, I'm out there with my grandchildren. I've got my
grandchildren on bicycles. We've got helmets. We've got lights.
We're trying to -- I'm trying to teach them everything, how to be
courteous, how to announce traffic, how to point where they're going,
and how to be a good, responsible cyclist, and yet we have these
e-bikes coming against us, and we just basically have to get off of the
path to make room for them, and that's not right. And so
what -- however we come about this, I'd like to see us address those
issues.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I think part of the bad news is the
legislature's gotten involved in dealing with e-bikes and all, and so
we have some limitations.
Mr. Teach, can you --
MR. TEACH: I would -- Scott Teach, Deputy County Attorney.
I just want to address Commissioner Hall's comments. And I'm
actually in agreement. I was going to raise this today.
When I explored and researched this, I looked at chartered,
non-chartered counties, and municipalities and saw what they were
doing. Some of them addressed -- very restrictive. Our
ordinance -- proposed ordinance isn't very restrictive compared to
some other jurisdictions. It's a very reasonable ordinance, I think.
But some address speed limits.
Now, Chapter 316 of the Florida Statutes allows the county to
do what you want to do as far as an ordinance, implementing it;
however, you really should limit -- and I think -- I would suggest to
you that they add a Subsection I to the ordinance that's proposed
today that simply says, "The operation of all devices allowed under
the ordinance on any sidewalk shall not exceed 15 miles per hour."
That addresses the issue, because Class 2 bikes can go up to 20 miles
an hour. You're under 15 now. And I think if you put that in there,
you're unassailable.
April 22, 2025
Page 32
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Great.
Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman.
Really, the meat of this is A, B, and C that's going to cause a lot
of questions. And if I understand C correctly, it says, "Any person
under the age of 16 is prohibited from riding a Class 3 electric bike
on public roads, bicycle paths, and shared roadways." So like
Chairman -- or like Commissioner Hall was saying, Class 3 are the
fast ones, right?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: They're all fast.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And that's what I have a lot of
in Marco Island. So if I look at C, if I'm 15, 14, 13 -- hell, we have
10-year-olds that are operating Class 3 bikes. They can still operate
them, but they would have to be on the sidewalk. They couldn't be
on the -- on the roads and whatnot.
And, you know, that's where I think -- you know, I don't think
any ordinance is going to be perfect, but we don't want to create more
confusion out there, and that's the one that I think is going to give us
a lot of pushback because it's -- we're putting the fastest
bicycle -- unless I'm misunderstanding it.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: You're misunderstanding it.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So explain it to me. If -- are
we putting the fastest bicycles with the youngest kids on sidewalks,
or were -- or were -- so what are we doing?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: We're eliminating totally.
They're not allowed to operate Class 3 in Collier County --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Totally. Maybe the wordage
just needs -- you know, I mean, we've got to be able to send this out
to citizens who haven't been part of the discussions we've had and
make it crystal clear. And I like what Scott said about the miles per
hour. Although, I'm sure if the Sheriff was standing here -- and we
April 22, 2025
Page 33
have a sheriff right here. You know, I mean, Dan, you probably
would sit here and say, "What, is the Sheriff going to be out there
with a speed gun?"
No, of course not. So it's more of guidance to citizens. And
that's not bad. It's better than what we've got up to now, but I think
we have to be very clear in the wording. And the fact that we've been
talking about it -- and I'm sitting here trying to ask a question and
understand it perfectly. I'm not sure that if we shoot this out to the
world it's got, you know, the most specific wording, and it might be
missing a few things, as our attorney was saying. So these are my
concerns.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yeah. I would
just -- Commissioner LoCastro, I would just --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: -- say that the C -- yeah, just to
clear that up. That anyone under the age of 16 is prohibited, I mean,
not allowed to operate a Class 3 or higher bicycle, electric-assist
motor bicycle in Collier County.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: In public roadways, shared paths,
all that.
To address the other thing, we talked about the speed limits. I
believe the PUD -- ped community board with the MPO had brought
that up, and their chairman brought that up to me that they -- it was
one of their ideas to have posted speed limits or a speed limit set on
the sidewalks. And then when the sheriffs were like, it's almost
impossible to enforce that, they would -- you know, you would
almost have to have guys running their radar and laser. And if it's not
posted, then they have nothing, you know, to articulate the area.
You know, just -- to them they thought it was a harder thing to
April 22, 2025
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enforce than just visibly seeing somebody that looked to be 25 years
old or 30 years old operating a bike on a sidewalk.
MR. TEACH: Commissioner Kowal, the only thing, when I
said I looked up jurisdictions and some did restrict and some didn't, I
went back to the enabling statute that allows the county to do this,
and it's 316.008(7)(a), and the last sentence of that says if you're
going to restrict anything on the sidewalks, "The ordinance must
restrict such vehicles or devices to a maximum speed of 15 miles per
hour." So I believe it needs to be in there.
And as far as Commissioner LoCastro's comment and consistent
with like Commissioner Kowal just said, you could change "C" to
any person under the age of 16-year-olds is prohibited from riding a
Class 3 electrical --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Period.
MR. TEACH: -- bicycle, period, if that's what the Board
wishes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah, that would be my
suggestion.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- and I like that
suggestion, and I like the speed limit suggestion.
And at the end of the day, this boils down to enforcement, and
we have an issue with our Sheriff's Department. If they don't
physically witness an infraction, it's not enforceable. But to
Commissioner Hall's point earlier, if -- as is with virtually all of our
traffic circumstances, the Sheriff has a limited amount of assets and a
limited amount of capacity to be everywhere, so they end up hitting
hot spots.
So when reports come in similar to what we do with traffic
infractions, intersections that are bad, code enforcement, citizens can
call and say that on whatever -- Commissioner Hall, what path was it
April 22, 2025
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you were walking on when that person --
COMMISSIONER HALL: I was on the Vanderbilt Road shared
path.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So there's
a -- we're -- and, Commissioner LoCastro, you have areas in your
district where the bikes are heavily used. That can be a notification
over to our sheriff's department. And is it worthwhile for us to send a
deputy out there with a radar gun checking the speed on these things?
Probably not. But it also is a mechanism that we have to start to
bring down the level of danger that's -- that's actually impacting all of
our community all the way across the board.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Miller, do we have any
registered speakers?
MR. MILLER: We do have one registered -- or excuse me, two
registered speakers for this item. Your first speaker is Brian Lynch,
and he will be followed by Susan Sonnenshein.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. If the speakers could come
up on the microphones.
Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I just -- I just want to put
something out to my board members here, because there was two
things, and Commissioner Hall brought it -- kind of brought it to
light, and these are two things I was discussing last night with a very
close friend, Captain Lee with the Sheriff's Department, who's been
retired, Drew, for many years.
We had a nice conversation last night, and we were talking
about the Class 1 and the Class 2 bikes, and then if we have what the
attorney's saying with the -- it's just understood that 15 is the
maximum speed limit on the sidewalks; that then if you have people
that are a certain age, elderly groups and things like that, it wouldn't,
you know, affect them if they're on those type of bikes, and, you
April 22, 2025
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know, of staying on the sidewalk.
Now, there's two different things we're talking about, a shared
pathway and a sidewalk. Shared pathways are designed to handle
both bicycles, pedestrians because they're wider, they're designed,
they have bigger buffers.
But you can understand, we have sidewalks in this community
that are here for 30, 40 years and never expected -- they're very
narrow, you know, along some of our roadways. So those are the
ones more of being addressed.
And I felt those were two things that I think up here that we
could have a healthy discussion on maybe cleaning those up, you
know, because on the shared pathway or bikeway, I wouldn't force
people on the roadway because I think that would -- it could
accommodate both bicycle and people on there as long as they -- and
there's more in the ordinance, if you read on, about the early warning,
you know, when you're on a bike versus people and things like that.
I think there's a lot of things that people have questions that are
already in there that -- you know.
And just to address the ones that are extremely fast that go
30-plus miles per hour, those are -- those are the ones that are over
the 750-watt. Now, we have a provision in the ordinance to say those
are just banned completely in Collier County in public.
Now, if somebody wants to buy them for their children on their
own property to ride around like a dirt bike or something,
that's -- that's fine. But the minute they come out on the roadways,
they're jeopardizing theirselves, you know. And that's why that's in
there. And that's actually a state statute. The state doesn't recognize
electric bikes over 750 watts.
And we have -- I have a video right now -- I should have put it
on there. I showed the County Manager yesterday. Three kids on the
seventy fifty [sic] plus watt bikes on Goodlette-Frank Road going
April 22, 2025
Page 37
60 miles per hour, and the constituent's driving next to them the
whole time trying to keep up with a video camera; 14 years old. So it
is what it is.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's go ahead and hear the public
comment, and then we'll get back to the --
MR. MILLER: Your first speaker is Brian Lynch, followed by
Susan Sonnenshein.
MR. LYNCH: Hi, Brian Lynch. Marco Island.
I just wanted to bring up the shared path versus the bike lane. I
just want to make sure that there is an option for us to use the shared
path or the sidewalk, because sometimes those bike lanes -- I mean,
they're not -- sometimes they're not wide enough. Cars are not
moving over, but if they can't get over, they're riding the white line so
you're right next to the car. Very uncomfortable sometimes
because -- I mean, you guys, I don't know if you've been on those
bike paths and cars riding right next to you. Sometimes it doesn't feel
like there's that much space.
So maybe the width of that will need to be addressed for new
roads if you're going to incorporate moving everybody over to give
them more space.
In regards to that, on 951 going towards Marco, I think they did
a good job. They put in double white line, I think, on some of the
951 road, and then also there's reflectors. So that makes people see
that there is a bike lane there so people will -- I think, are more
cautious on that -- riding that lane.
So I just -- thank you very much for your time.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your final speaker on this item is Susan
Sonnenshein.
MS. SONNENSHEIN: Good morning. My name is Susan
Sonnenshein. Thank you for pronouncing that correctly. And I'm on
April 22, 2025
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the board of Naples Pathways Coalition, so I'm in safety, et cetera.
And I ride an e-bike, and I have for several years. I gave up my
road bike because it's too scary here in Collier County.
But I'd like to address the confusion around e-bikes. E-bikes are
bicycles that require pedaling. If you are not pedaling, you're not on
a bicycle. It's as simple as that. Rather than those speedy machines
that we see, they really should be licensed, registered and insured,
and controlled by the Department of Motor Vehicles. They're not
bicycles.
I've ridden thousands of miles responsibly here in Collier
County, and I love biking safely, but I have to pedal to make my
bicycle go. I frequently meet these throttle bikes, these motor bikes,
and they zoom by me, and they are dangerous, but they should not be
classified as e-bikes.
They -- these motor bikes don't require a person to pedal. We've
heard that a million times. And I have seen them go 30, 40, and 50
miles an hour. One example is that that kid that was killed recently
in Palm River, he was 14 years old. He was going way over the
speed limit of 15, and by the way, he was not wearing a helmet,
which is required by law. I mean, we can't -- we can make the
regulations, at least we have them on the books, but we can't police
everybody. We know that.
What we need is a big investment in education, the schools, the
Sheriff, Naples Pathways, bike shops, we all need to be involved in
teaching people how to safely ride these various pieces of equipment,
whatever we call them. If we don't educate on safety and we don't
enforce these rules, nothing's going to improve. There will be more
accidents and more deaths.
Those of us pedaling on e-bikes are mostly not dangerous.
They're senior citizens like me, and we mostly obey the traffic laws.
Pedal-assist bicycles are not the people that are the problem. The
April 22, 2025
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problem are those throttle bikes or motor bikes or whatever you want
to call them. Terminology is very important here.
So please don't punish those of us who want to enjoy safe biking
in Collier County. Instead, address the unsafe conditions created by
these zooming motor bikes are on both the roads and the sidewalks,
and please recognize these as two separate and distinct group of
recreational riders, whatever you want to call them.
And thank you so much for addressing this. We're going to see
a lot of this in the future, and Naples Pathways is also working on
trying to figure out where we fit.
I believe Michelle Avola forwarded all of you a copy of the little
sign that I just saw on Sunday at -- on Sanibel that differentiates who
can come on their paths and who can't and what the rules are. I know
we can't police it, but at least let people know.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman.
First, I think our two speakers brought up two really critical
points, and I think this is -- this is very close, but it needs a little bit
more specificity. We already talked about shortening C to just
basically saying, you know, if you're under 16, Class 3 bike is a
no-go. The miles per hour that Scott mentioned, I think, is a good
add, so I'm summarizing there.
But I think more clarity. And the first speaker talked about this.
There's a difference between sidewalk, shared path, and bike lane.
And even though it might seem obvious to us because we've been
talking about it and whatnot, when we shoot this out to the world,
there's some ambiguity in there. So I think if there's more specificity
where we can say a sidewalk is yay wide, a shared path is yay wide,
bike lanes are, obviously, the lanes on the side of the road or
April 22, 2025
Page 40
whatever the right verbiage is, I think this would benefit from a little
bit more specificity there.
And as the last speaker just said, there's different classes of
bikes. I don't know how deep we can get into the specificity. But as
I read this, it sounds like it could benefit from more specifics on the
types of bikes. You brought up some really good points.
And then unless I missed it in here, did we talk at all about
safety gear that anybody on any of these classes of bikes require a
helmet, require a headlight, or anything like that?
And I don't know if in your discussions, Commissioner Kowal,
you got into that. I mean, I know we can only drill down so deep.
But, you know, we do have safety expectations for other things. Is
that something that was ever talked about, you know, that anybody
on -- regardless of the class, has to have a helmet, or regardless of the
class, has to have a headlight? Anything like that that was --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: There's already state statute that
covers that.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: The problem is the jurisdictions.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: We're talking about two different
jurisdictions. The state can control, you know, any person under 16
years of age has to wear an approved bicycle helmet. That's already a
law. Any bicycle that operates after hours has to have a white visible
light up to 600 feet and a red visible light in the rear up to 300 feet.
These are already in state statute. They're already in Florida that
already govern these type of vehicles.
The problem is when you take the vehicle off the roadway, the
state statute doesn't enforce how they act. Once you put them on the
sidewalk, then the state doesn't want to take jurisdiction over the
county's property. We own the -- we own the sidewalks, the shared
April 22, 2025
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paths, the parks, the stuff like that. The state's not going to come in
and govern them. That's why they leave it up to the county to make
their own ordinance.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: But when it comes to safety,
we support the state statute, you know, correct?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Well, yeah, that's automatic. Just
to have the bike --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I just didn't know there will be
a lot of people that will take this as the Bible. And I don't know if it
behooves us to reiterate in that paragraph somewhere what the state
statute also includes because we're assuming there's some additional
things that are in the state statute that are already -- like you said,
they're already enacted.
Maybe if it's not, you know, reiterated in here -- and it might be
overkill, but a lot of people are going to read this word for word, and
whatever's not in here, they may not have a state statute in their back
pocket, so they might not be able to fill in the gaps.
And when it comes to safety equipment and lights, like you say,
those things are already in print somewhere. But I think this is a
document that, once we finalize it, is going to fly off the shelves
quickly where, I think, most people probably are not aware of the
state statute and how it complements this.
So I don't know the -- I'm not saying I have the exact answer of
how to combine the two, but it would be nice to have one document
that that stood on its own and reiterated the big main points. And I
think we've addressed some of them, but just a thought.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
Really, as I think about it, the problem areas in the county that
I'm aware of -- and I'm not familiar with out east and down in
Commissioner LoCastro's district, but around mine and
April 22, 2025
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Commissioner Kowal's district, the problems are on 41, and the
problems are on Pine Ridge Road and Airport Road because there's
not -- there are not bicycle lanes on those roads. So people zoom in
both directions on the sidewalks, darting through the intersections.
Like Commissioner Kowal was mentioning, if I am turning
right, I am only concerned about traffic from the left because I'm
going to merge into the right.
I have nearly -- I had nearly ran right over one guy right there on
Pine Ridge Road across the street from Five Guys burgers. When I
was looking left, I turned right, and as I did, I have no idea how I
missed this guy coming from the right in front of me going against
the -- against traffic.
So I'd like to see this ordinance really either address that and
educate people that we need you going in the direction of traffic -- I
know that on 41 right as you leave downtown as you head east,
there's not a -- there's not a sidewalk on the left-hand side. There's
only one going across the bridge on the right. So there's probably
areas in the county that people, you know, have to -- they have to
come the opposite direction.
So if -- but I want to make it plain and simple where we need to
blend these bicycles, these e-bikes, these motorcycles, whatever we
call them, to blend in with the traffic, obey the traffic laws, and limit,
you know, the -- limit their ability to fly on the sidewalks where
there's not a bike lane. And with those two little adjustments, I love
the way the ordinance reads.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I'm going to -- I'm going
to second the motion once Commissioner Kowal makes it to make
those two adjustments to the period, I think you said in Item No. C,
and the adjustment of Item No. I for the added speed limit, and I'm
going to second the motion for passing this.
April 22, 2025
Page 43
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Let's get a motion on the
floor here and also add to that the changes that are going to be made
to this. We have two or three that have been described.
Mr. Teach, you might have to help us out with that.
Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Yes. All right. So, Mr. Teach, I
know you had discussed the -- because by statute, once we start a
restriction for the sidewalks, we'll have to implement some sort of top
speed.
MR. TEACH: What I would suggest is we have a Subsection H
right now. Make a Subsection I that simply says --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I.
MR. TEACH: -- the operations of all devices allowed under this
ordinance on any sidewalk shall not exceed 15 miles per hour, and
that would cover that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: One five. Say 15.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: And then, Commissioner
LoCastro, I think on Page 5 of 6 --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay. I'm on it right now.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: -- if you look at C, C says, any
person under the age of 16 --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: -- will be prohibited to ride Class
C electric bike on public roadways. Were you looking at the
description one or that one?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Well, I think we were all
saying that we thought it might be more clear if it ended sooner and
just said, "Any person under the age of 16 years old is prohibited
from riding a Class C electric bicycle," period. That, you know, the
other stuff is not necessary, and it makes it very clear. Because you
made it clear when -- when I was trying to understand that, and you
April 22, 2025
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said, oh, under 16. And then like Scott said, maybe just put a period
after the word "bicycle."
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I think the only reason we have
those designated, because those are the ones that are public. You
know, we can't restrict somebody on private property if their kid
wants -- if they want to buy a Class C -- 3 bike. That's why we have
that in there to say, "on public property", on these type of things.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm okay with that.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: If you have a farm and you want
a kid to ride around on a Class C bike, that's up to you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So we have an ordinance.
We have two amendments to the ordinance at this point that I think
are pretty clear; is that correct?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Any other amendments to what's
before us?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER HALL: So when we see A, it says, "Any
person over the age of 16 must operate their pedal-assisted
bicycle/electric bicycle in the bicycle lane when available," that's
going to force -- that's going to force elderly people into the bike
lane, and that's the main feedback that I've gotten is, "Commissioner,
please don't force us into the bike lane," because basically, we're
going to say we can't ride that bike.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: And originally the ordinance was
what you just discussed earlier about having -- you know, controlling
the flow and which way people are going when they're using the
sidewalk.
But we were getting such a complaint about e-bikes being
April 22, 2025
Page 45
intermingled with other people, pedestrians walking. And I started
visiting and talking to people about, well, how can we kind of remedy
it? Because it -- you had -- I was trying to draw a -- I think we drew
a line, like, saying, all right, what's the age cutoff? Well, with drivers
it's 16. You can drive a moped. You can get a motorcycle only
license. You can operate on the roads at 16 and above, but -- and
that -- the reason that came up was if you've ever been at 6 o'clock in
the morning -- a.m. in the morning going down Vanderbilt Beach
Road, and everybody's riding down to the construction sites, which is
the giant Ritz-Carlton, there's 30, 40 of the workers -- because they're
circumventing the system. We have to be honest. They don't have a
driver's license. They're circumventing the system. They're using the
sidewalks. They're using these e-bikes.
And we've got children intermingling with them, going to
school, we've got school buses stopping. We've got -- it's like a
highway for them coming down through there.
And so I had to say, somewhere, where do we draw the line, like
an age? You know, I've got a 30-year-old going 30 mile an hour on a
bicycle going to work on a sidewalk, you know, when kids are going
to school. I mean, you know, that was the only reason we had to,
like, say, all right, let's -- how do we appease the people that don't
like them on the sidewalks? How do we appease the people that want
to ride on the sidewalks?
But like I said, my discussion last night, I started thinking
about -- I don't know if it's -- if we could say only Class 3 bikes that
adults are operating would have to go in the bike lane because they're
faster, because now we have a restricted speed in the ordinance.
COMMISSIONER HALL: We had a restricted speed --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So if we don't do the 1 and 2s can
remain on the sidewalk, but once you go from Class 3 or above and
you're over 16, you have to go on a bike lane, because those travel at
April 22, 2025
Page 46
30 miles per hour, so they could travel with the vehicles.
MR. TEACH: So are you suggesting, for example, this
Subsection A on Page 5 of 6 say, "Any person over the age of 16
years old or who is operating a Class C bicycle must operate" --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Over 16. Still keep it 16
operating a Class C bicycle, because nobody's going to be allowed to
operate a Class C -- 3 bicycle under 16.
MR. TEACH: Over the age of 16 years old operating a Class C
bicycle --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Three.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Three.
MR. TEACH: I'm sorry. I'm saying C but I'm thinking 3 --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Or above.
MR. TEACH: -- because A, B, C.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I hear you.
MR. TEACH: Operate -- over the age of 16 years old operating
a Class 3 bicycle must operate the electric bicycle in the bicycle lane.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Off -- because of the legal off
built -- because I know -- I understand what this gentleman was
saying, too. I've seen -- I ride my bike, too, every weekend. I've seen
some of these bike lanes. I don't think they meet the standards for
FDOT's -- you know, in some of these secondary roads, and then you
have the shared where they're called the chevron roads, which are
shared roadways.
MR. TEACH: And that would limit the excessive bikes to the
bike lane.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Exactly.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So we have a motion to
approve an ordinance that's going to be amended.
Just for clarification for the record, would you state what the
three amendments are so far.
April 22, 2025
Page 47
MR. TEACH: We have new Subsection I, "the operation of all
devices allowed under this ordinance on any sidewalk shall not
exceed 15 miles per hour."
We're going to go to C, Subsection C, and say, "Any person
under the age of 16 years old is prohibited from riding a Class 3
electrical bicycle." We know we can't regulate them on private
property.
And the last one would be, "Any person over the age of 16 years
old operating a Class 3" --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Or above.
MR. TEACH: -- or above, and those are prohibited anyways.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Because they have the -- they're
prohibited anyways, but they're still going to be out.
MR. TEACH: Yeah -- must operate an electric bicycle in the
bicycle lane when available.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So, Commissioner Kowal,
you have the motion that incorporates those three amendments. Are
there any other amendments?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Then we --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Can I just add something?
Is there any appetite up here to feel there isn't enough specificity
in here about difference between sidewalk, shared path, and bike lane
and not enough specificity in here about safety equipment?
MR. TEACH: We do have some new definitions for those
various things. They don't talk about the size or whatnot, but they
provide the specificity as far as what is a sidewalk, what is a bicycle
lane, what is a pathway, and those appear in Section 3, definitions, of
the ordinance, including bicycle lane. And it just -- for example,
"Bicycle lane means any portion of a roadway or a highway which is
designated by pavement markings and signs for preferential or
April 22, 2025
Page 48
exclusive use by bicycles," and we do that for each of those various --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And clearly, we can't give the
dimensions because they're different sizes all over the --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, sure, of course.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So we have a -- we have a motion.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: We have a motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Do we have a second?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel
seconded.
That incorporates those amendments. Everybody's clear on
that?
(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: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
Thank you. And thank you, Commissioner Kowal, for
shepherding this through.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you.
MR. KLATZKOW: Mr. Chair, if it pleases the Board, what we
will do is Scott will amend the ordinance, send each of you a copy of
it for your review to make sure that it encompasses everything you
wanted, and if we don't hear from you by Friday, we'll file the bill.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well -- okay. But let's clear about
something. We only -- we have three amendments.
April 22, 2025
Page 49
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So if there's something else in this
ordinance that someone's uncomfortable with, we're going to have to
amend the ordinance again. That will require another public hearing.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: What you're talking about is
making sure the language on those three amendments is consistent
with what we think it is.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Voted on.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I ask a question, sir?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Is this the -- doesn't this
ordinance have to come back for final adoption, or is this it today?
MR. KLATZKOW: No. What I'll do is I'll send each of you a
copy of it, and if there's no objection, we will file it with the state on
Friday.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm fine with that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Can I ask --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So as we all advertise this in
our different forums, newsletters, town halls, or this gets out on the
street and we start to get some feedback, if there's something, then,
specific, we -- I mean, we make it clear to citizens we could always
amend this if we hear --
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
MR. KLATZKOW: Any commissioner can make a motion for
reconsideration, and we can bring it back.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. Because, you know,
we're wide-open listening to citizens. We have several that came to
April 22, 2025
Page 50
the podium here. No ordinance is going to cover everything, but if
there's something major that we missed or is ambiguous, you know,
we want to know. So we'll work hard to get this out on the street
when we see the final version and get feedback.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I hate to beat the dead horse.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: No, that's all right.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: But, yeah, I think -- I think a
major portion of this ordinance, too, is -- and by us doing what we
did today is, I think there's got to be a period of education before
enforcement.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: And when I talked to
Undersheriff Bloom, they understand that, you know, that -- and I
think even including the school resource officers, you know, holding,
you know, seminars with these children, advising them of how the
ordinance works, you know, the safeties and the pros and cons, you
know, just in general. You know, so I think it's going to be a big
public push for, you know, many months until we actually have
somebody that has to actually be, you know, monetarily fined for it, I
guess you would say. But it has to be an educational period, and I
think everybody connected to it understands that, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Ms. Patterson.
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir.
Item #9D
ORDINANCE 2025-23: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE
SIERRA MEADOWS MIXED PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT
(MPUD) BY CHANGING THE FLOOR AREA RATIO FOR
GROUP HOUSING ON LOTS 8 AND 9 OF THE SIERRA
April 22, 2025
Page 51
MEADOWS SUBDIVISION FROM .45 TO .60. THE SUBJECT
PROPERTY, CONSISTING OF 14.3+/-ACRES OF A 90.8+/-
ACRE MPUD, IS LOCATED AT THE SOUTHWEST
QUADRANT OF THE INTERSECTION OF RATTLESNAKE-
HAMMOCK ROAD (C.R. 864) AND C.R. 951, IN SECTION 22,
TOWNSHIP 50 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA - MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER
LOCASTRO; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL -
ADOPTED
That brings us to Item 9D. This item does require ex parte
disclosure. This is a recommendation to approve an ordinance
amending the Sierra Meadows Mixed Planned Unit Development by
changing the floor area ratio for group housing on Lots 8 and 9 of the
Sierra Meadows subdivision from .45 to .60, the subject property
consisting of 14.3 plus/minus acres of a 90.8-plus/minus-acre MPUD
is located at the southwest quadrant of the intersection of Rattlesnake
Hammock Road and County Road 951 in Section 22, Township 50
South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida.
Let's do your ex parte disclosures first, and then we'll swear
everybody in with the court reporter.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I have meetings -- yeah,
meetings. That's it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
No, I have no ex parte.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Meetings.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I had meetings as well.
April 22, 2025
Page 52
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I had meetings, and I had emails,
so I feel special.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Whoa, whoa.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Commissioner Hall's left out.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Purposely.
MS. PATTERSON: If all participants could stand up, please, to
be sworn in by the court reporter.
THE COURT REPORTER: Do you swear or affirm the
testimony you will give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth?
(The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Before we start, this is
clearly going to take more than eight minutes, and we are going to
take about a 15-minute break. We can do that break now, and I'll just
ask the petitioner, do you want to start, and then we'll break, or do
you want us to go ahead and take a break or --
MS. PASSIDOMO: It probably makes more sense to take your
break first.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So why don't we come
back at about -- what, about 20 minutes to 11. Would that work for
everybody?
(A brief recess was had from 10:22 a.m. to 10:40 a.m.)
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
Okay. We'll get back to the public hearing and the...
MS. PATTERSON: Whatever you want to do, it's fine. We're
going to start with the applicant.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. We generally, here, start
with the applicant.
MS. PATTERSON: I already -- yes, I already read the title in
before the break.
April 22, 2025
Page 53
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, we've already done the
disclosure, and we're all set to go.
MS. PASSIDOMO: Thank you. Francesca Pass --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We did that all ready.
MS. PASSIDOMO: Good morning. My name is Francesca
Passidomo. I'm an attorney with Coleman, Yovanovich & Koester
here representing the applicant, the Morgan companies.
With me today is Patrick Vanasse, the project planner, and the
project civil engineer, Andrew Rath.
I'll walk you through the scope of this petition, the purpose of
this petition, and the location. Mr. Vanasse will explain in greater
detail the planning principles in support of this petition.
In summary, this is a request to allow for a floor area ratio of .6,
which is a technical deviation to your Land Development Code.
Sierra Meadows is an existing PUD. I will show you its location in a
moment. When the PUD was approved in 1999, it adopted the Land
Development's Code -- excuse me -- the Land Development Code
standard of .45. An assisted living and independent living facility
was constructed in accordance with the .45 floor area ratio, but that
had an unintended consequence. Again, I'll walk you through in
greater detail.
This request will have no impact in terms of the actual
commercial entitlements and commercial uses allocated to the PUD
nor an impact on the location of those uses, external drives, preserve
areas. The preserve and all of the access to the project was already
approved as part of the PUD, platted and is developed.
This is the location of the subject property. On the north side of
the project is Rattlesnake Hammock Road. On the east side of the
project is 951. Physicians Regional is caddy corner to the southeast.
The assisted living facility is shown in yellow. The -- this facility
was constructed in compliance with its approvals, as noted. The
April 22, 2025
Page 54
approvals complied with a .45 floor area ratio standard, but through a
somewhat unique mechanism of including lot six, also shown on the
screen, it's that red box south of Sequoia Drive.
Lot 6 was included as part of the gross floor area ratio for the
assisted living and independent living facility in its Site Development
Plan. The purpose of this PUD amendment is to allow a FAR
standard of .6 in lieu of the .45 through the deviation process.
A .6 FAR, as Mr. Vanasse will explain in greater detail, has
become the current standard for independent living facilities and
assisted living facilities, but in each case, a technical deviation is
required, and that is the process that we are with you -- in front of
you today.
Staff and the Planning Commission support the deviation. There
has been no public opposition to this request to date, to my
knowledge.
In terms of the result of this request -- so, really, the narrow
question before you today is a rezone for the deviation from .45 to .6,
and that is the standard of approval. That is what you are approving.
But I think there's been a little bit of, perhaps, confusion on the result
of that request.
So as I -- as I explained, the two yellow pieces of property and
that red piece of property, Lot 6, are in one Site Development Plan.
In that Site Development Plan, Lot 6 was noted, as will at this -- will,
at the time of Site Development Plan, remain unimproved. That
allowed for a total project acreage of including Lot 6, but the facility
was actually constructed on the yellow.
The outcome, in our opinion, and I believe in staff's opinion, is
the antithesis of the purpose of this location which is, in fact, in an
activity center that is intended to accommodate a mixture of uses
including commercial services proximate to those project -- excuse
me -- those job employment centers and residential properties near
April 22, 2025
Page 55
by.
Lot -- Lot 6 is a relatively small lot. The maximum square
footage that we could potentially put on Lot 6 through various
assignments of intensity that we'll receive is 10,000 square feet. So
this is not necessarily a huge generator in terms of impacts. All of
those commercial square footages already exist in the PUD, so it's
assigning it to this property, which was always intended to be
developed as commercial but for that kind of odd Site Development
Plan process that occurred with the assisted living facility.
The commercial uses that exist in the PUD, as you can see the
screen, are self-storage. Gas station. This is not intended to be
duplicative of those. Right now they're talking to a coffee shop and
maybe a small other retail store. But this, again, is not intended to be
something that is hugely intensive. Certainly consistent with the
square footages already allocated to the PUD.
So in short, what we're attempting to do is look at the FAR,
determine whether the deviation from .45 to .6 makes sense in this
location. We believe it does because the assisted living facility is
constructed, developed, and Lot 6 was intended to be a commercial
piece of property.
This process is usually contemplated at the time of PUD, but
because the PUD is so old, that's likely why they did this through the
Site Development Plan process rather than coming before you
through what we're doing today.
So we're here today. I'll turn it over to Mr. Vanasse to walk
through, again, the planning principles in greater detail.
MR. VANASSE: Thank you.
Good morning. My name is Patrick Vanasse. I'm a certified
planner with The Neighborhood Company. It's a pleasure to be here.
Francesca did a good job giving you a good summary of what we are
requesting. I'll just back things up a little bit, give a little context.
April 22, 2025
Page 56
So the subject property, subject to these deviations, are Lots 8
and 9 within the Sierra Meadows PUD. What you see here is the
boundary of Sierra Meadows. It's plus or minus 90 acres. Within
that PUD, you've got a large conservation tract when you start from
the west side going east, so that's on the left of the screen.
Conservation tract, multifamily tract, and then the commercial
tract towards the intersection.
The property is bounded by Collier Boulevard and Rattlesnake
Hammock. And as mentioned, the deviation would apply to Lots 8
and 9, which is where Discovery Village currently exists.
The PUD was approved in 1999. Sierra Meadows started
working on their SDP -- not Sierra Meadows -- Discovery Village on
their SDP in 2014/2015. As mentioned, I can only assume -- I don't
know all the answers. I haven't talked to the original developers,
but -- other PUDs I've worked on, typically, you either start with
what's allowed currently in the code -- and the standard in the code is
.45 for assisted living facilities -- or you ask for a deviation, and the
standard deviation that's been given to most ALFs in Collier County
is a .6 FAR. Personally, I've worked probably on half a dozen to a
dozen PUDs through the years that have requested that increase in
FAR for assisted living facilities. And I think on all those projects
that I was involved, it was granted at .6.
So, again, here just to reiterate, Discovery Village in yellow,
when they came in with the SDP, they utilized the area of Lot 6 to be
under the .45 FAR. Without Lot 6, they would have been at .51. Just
a slight increase.
So this is the SDP. Again, Lots 8, 9, and Lot 6 over here. That
entire area was utilized to calculate the FAR. Unfortunately, the
unintended consequence is that a lot -- the Lot 6, which was always
intended for commercial, always intended for future development, is
now rendered undevelopable because it's encumbered with this FAR
April 22, 2025
Page 57
calculation. So by granting the deviation, Lots 8 and 9 can stand on
their own, and they meet -- they would meet the zoning FAR
maximum, and Lot 6 could move forward with its own SDP.
So this is just a slide reiterating what I just said.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Just a moment.
Commissioner Hall, you have a question?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes.
Mr. Vanasse, yeah, I have a question. So what we're talking
about is just granting the .6 on what's already built?
MR. VANASSE: Yes, correct.
COMMISSIONER HALL: And then Lot 6 would stand alone at
the same .45, or would the whole PUD be .6?
MR. VANASSE: The deviation as it reads right now just
increases the FAR max at .45 to .6. So, technically, it would apply to
the entire PUD, but we --
MS. PASSIDOMO: No. I was going to speak to that. The FAR
is only for Lots 8 and 9, so it's a deviation only --
COMMISSIONER HALL: The deviation is, since you've
already counted Lot 6, you need the increase for what you've already
built and then to still be able to do the commercial on Lot 6;
otherwise, you can't do it at all?
MS. PASSIDOMO: Well, just to address the question, the
deviation is not PUD-wide. It is solely with respect to --
COMMISSIONER HALL: That's what I was really asking.
MS. PASSIDOMO: -- the two yellow lots.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. Good. Thank you.
MR. VANASSE: So -- but correct, by having -- granting that
deviation to Lots 8 and 9, it then allows Lot 6 to move forward for
development.
Also our understanding is Discovery Village has been there for
close to 10 years. There's been no issues, no concerns with that
April 22, 2025
Page 58
project. And no, we are not aware of any future plans for that
community.
So this slide simply shows what the FAR with that Lot 6 would
have been. It would have been .51, slightly greater than what was
allowed in the PUD of .45, and just reiterating that .6 is almost a
standard deviation approved for many ALFs.
Interestingly, when we went before the Planning Commission
and we had a bit of a discussion about this, I think one of the
members suggested that maybe the county would like to look at that
.6 FAR because it is commonly approved by -- for most ALFs
through a deviation process with the PUDs.
This is a slide simply showing the PUD master plan. What I'd
like to point out is this entire area is identified as commercial. There
is a total commercial square footage allowed within the PUD of
260,000 square feet. With the planned 10,000 square feet on Lot 6,
that would still leave about 76,000 square feet of commercial
undeveloped.
This is the plat of that area just showing the various parcels,
Lots 8 and 9 and Lot 6 over here along 951. This is the rest of the
PUD, the commercial tract and the multifamily tract.
This summarizes the commercial cap within the PUD, 260,000
square feet. Built to date 173-; unbuilt 86-. We're planning
plus-or-minus 10,000, and that would be the remainder.
So to summarize, this is an activity center where we identify
those locations for our most intense commercial uses. Lot 6, what is
planned for that lot is commercial neighborhood type of uses to really
address goods and service needs and local community.
Also would like to point out that we sent out notices, held our
NIM. No one showed up. We had no objections. I haven't received
any comments or -- and I received one call. We had a neighbor call,
ask what was planned for Lot 6. He had heard that there might be a
April 22, 2025
Page 59
national chain going there for a coffee shop. I said, "Yes, that is the
plan," and the gentleman was very happy. He's looking forward to it.
So that's the only public comment that I've received.
So with that said, we believe that the deviation which will then,
in turn, allow development of Lot 6 will not be harmful to
neighboring properties. I think it advances the intent of the activity
center.
And with that said, we respectfully request your approval, and
we stand for any questions.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman.
Obviously, this is in my district. Maybe just to speed things
along. This is a small correction. I obviously had a deep dive with
everybody that's here, to include our county staff. I have no issues at
all. I got the same feedback from some citizens that are looking
forward to something small and manageable being put on that lot, and
it sounds like we're just taking something from 1999, catching it up to
current day.
I mean, I don't want to put off Ms. Cook or Mr. Bosi, but they
both spoke to me in great detail yesterday, and they would come up
here and reiterate what the group would say. So unless there's some
questions or something that we're missing, I would make a motion
that we approve.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's hold off on the motion until
we hear the staff report and the public comment.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We're in a quasi-judicial
proceeding, so we need to make sure we make the complete record.
MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, zoning director.
Yes, this is a deviation request. The current PUD has a .45 floor
area ratio allocation for group care facilities. This is requesting to go
April 22, 2025
Page 60
to .6. So it is a formal request to deviate from our current LDC
standard. It's a deviation that is -- typically has been provided, and
actually, we've coordinated with the Collier County Planning
Commission, and they've asked staff to propose a modification to
the -- to the Land Development Code to make .6 the new standard
moving forward because this is such a frequently requested deviation.
I can also let you know that within the proposed ordinance, it is
specifically only for 8 and 9 where the .60 floor area ratio would be
applied.
Staff is recommending approval. It has been reviewed by all the
divisions that review PUD amendments, including Transportation. It
was heard by the Planning Commission. There was no opposition. It
was unanimously recommended. As I said, staff is supporting, and
we would answer any questions that you have regarding the proposal.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I don't see any lights up -- oh,
Commissioner McDaniel. I wasn't fast enough.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I was multitasking.
And just as a point of clarification, I'm in support of the
proposed -- or the to-be announced motion. But we're not increasing
density. We're not increasing allowable square footage. We're just
redistributing what's already approved.
MR. BOSI: Correct. There are no deviations or no additional
uses. There's no additional square footage. There's nothing other
than the modification that requested the deviation from .45 to .60.
That's the only request that's being made to the PUD.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Very good.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Miller, any registered
speakers?
MR. MILLER: We have none, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. We'll close the public
hearing. We're now ready for a motion.
April 22, 2025
Page 61
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. I make a motion to
approve.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and a 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: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
Item #9E
ORDINANCE 2025-24: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
ORDINANCE NUMBER 04-29, THE IMMOKALEE SENIOR
HOUSING RESIDENTIAL PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT
(RPUD), AND ORDINANCE NUMBER 2004-41, THE COLLIER
COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, BY AMENDING THE
APPROPRIATE ZONING ATLAS MAP OR MAPS BY
CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION OF AN
ADDITIONAL 0.55+/- ACRES OF LAND ZONED RESIDENTIAL
MULTI-FAMILY-6 (RMF-6), WITH A WELLFIELD RISK
MANAGEMENT SPECIAL TREATMENT OVERLAY ZONE W-4
(ST/W-4) FOR A PROJECT TO BE KNOWN AS IMMOKALEE
SENIOR HOUSING MIXED-USE PLANNED UNIT
April 22, 2025
Page 62
DEVELOPMENT (MPUD), BY REDUCING THE NUMBER OF
MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNITS FROM 119
TO 30 UNITS, AND ALLOWING A 5,000 GROSS SQUARE
FOOT 200-SEAT CHURCH, AND UP TO 50,000 SQUARE FEET
OF CERTAIN COMMUNITY FACILITY AND EDUCATIONAL
SERVICES USES; UPDATING THE MASTER PLAN; AND
RESCINDING THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING DENSITY BONUS
AGREEMENT ON 7.99± ACRES OF PROPERTY LOCATED ON
THE EAST SIDE OF 11TH STREET NORTH, JUST SOUTH OF
LAKE TRAFFORD ROAD AND HIGHLAND ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL IN SECTION 33, TOWNSHIP 46 SOUTH, RANGE 29
EAST, COLLIER COUNTY FLORIDA; AND BY PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE. [PL20240005475] - MOTION TO APPROVE
WITH CHANGES BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL;
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HALL - ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 9E.
This item does require that all participants be sworn in and ex parte
disclosure be provided by the commission members.
This is a recommendation to approve an ordinance amending
Ordinance No. 04-29, the Immokalee Senior Housing Residential
Planned Unit Development, and Ordinance No. 2004-41, the Collier
County Code Land Development Code, by amending the appropriate
zoning atlas map or maps by changing the zoning classification of an
additional .55 plus/minus acres of land zoned Residential
Multifamily-6 with a wellfield Risk Management Special Treatment
Overlay Zone W-4 for a project to be known as Immokalee Senior
Housing Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development by reducing the
number of multifamily residential dwelling units from 119 to 30 units
and allowing a 5,000-gross-square-foot 200-seat church, and up to
50,000 square feet of certain community facility and educational
April 22, 2025
Page 63
services -- services uses, updating the master plan, and rescinding the
affordable housing density bonus agreement on 7.99 plus/minus acres
of property located on the east side of 11th Street North just south of
Lake Trafford Road and Highland Elementary School in Section 33,
Township 46 South, Range 29 East, Collier County, Florida, and
providing an effective date.
So ex parte.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I have no ex parte on this item.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: No ex parte.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Meetings, emails, and
phone calls.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I have no ex parte.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And I have no ex parte as well.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You guys have all been left
out.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: You got the trifecta.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Again.
MS. PATTERSON: If all participants could please stand 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: Very good. We'll begin with the applicant.
MR. ARNOLD: Good morning. Wayne Arnold here
representing the Immokalee Foundation and the Friendship Baptist
Church.
This is an amendment, as you heard Ms. Patterson say, to an
April 22, 2025
Page 64
existing PUD, and we're also adding about a half an acre of land to
the PUD.
Friendship Church has owned the property for some time. This
is the property that's been built or developed with 30 of the affordable
senior housing units. They didn't exercise their ability to purchase
the rest of the land many years ago, so the Friendship Baptist Church
is going to retain a portion of it to build a church for themselves and
also a new educational facility for the Immokalee Foundation.
And we had a neighborhood information meeting, and we
obviously had a Planning Commission meeting. We had two people
who spoke in opposition primarily because we also, as part of the
church, asked for a childcare facility, 100-student childcare facility.
That seemed to be the issue, because, as you can see, the property's
located here, but it's also just south of Highlands Elementary, and
some of the neighbors felt that there might be competing traffic
between a childcare center and the existing elementary school.
So the change we did make after the Planning Commission
hearing -- I'll go right to that slide. And I did have a conversation
with Mr. McDaniel about this. What we've done is we've taken the
childcare use out as an independent use, and we've made it as a use
that can only be held during a religious facility [sic]. So I think most
churches by right have childcare facilities during their services.
In talking to Mike and his staff, we've agreed that we should
probably put it in there just to make it clear that you could have
childcare during religious services.
That's kind of, in a nutshell, where we are. Noemi Perez is here
from the Foundation, if you have any questions about the Immokalee
Foundation and what they're doing. And Mike Facundo, who's on
your CRA Advisory Board for Immokalee, is also here and is a local
architect that's been working on the project.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Are there any questions or
April 22, 2025
Page 65
comments from the Board before we move on to staff report?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Bosi.
MR. BOSI: Thank you, Chair. Mike Bosi, Zoning director.
Again, this was unanimously recommended by the Planning
Commission. We did have a couple individuals speak in opposition
at the Planning Commission regarding traffic and concerns, and I
believe the removal of the 100-seat daycare facility probably
addresses the area.
I did want to bring up one area that's being requested from a
staff perspective and let me get to this section. And here it is.
It's the first -- it's 5.13, planning. And it reads, "The proposed
educational use is not a traditional educational facility and serves the
neighboring schools with after-school learning opportunities per LDC
4.05.04.F.4. 'The County Manager or designee may determine the
minimum required spaces for uses not specifically referenced';
therefore, the educational, social service, and skill training uses shall
provide minimum parking at the following standards: One space per
one staff member and one space per seven students."
What staff would request from the Board of County
Commissioners is to eliminate from -- at the beginning "per LDC
4.05.04," and then all the way to here, remove that, because that
seems like it gives, like, some sort of a discretion to staff to modify
your parking standards. And what that does is it basically says, the
educational, social service, and skill training uses shall provide a
minimum parking of the following standards: One per staff member
and one per seven students.
So that's what -- that clarification, it's a small clarification, but
staff just wanted to provide some -- or remove any ambiguity as to
suggest that staff was going to deviate from what was adopted within
the existing PUD. That's -- that would the one request that staff is
April 22, 2025
Page 66
making for a modification to the existing ordinance, or proposed
ordinance.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We -- I'll wait till after the
public speaks, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Thank you.
Any public speakers?
MR. MILLER: No, we don't.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Close the public hearing.
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Well, I'll -- with that
adaptation, I'll make a motion for approval.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. And you're talking about
the clarification at Section 5.13.A?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Eliminating the language that
Mr. Bosi had indicated.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That is correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Is there a second?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Motion and 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: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
(No response.)
April 22, 2025
Page 67
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously.
MR. ARNOLD: Thank you very much.
Item #10A
RESOLUTION 2025-89: A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SUPPORTING THE EOG DOGE
TEAM EFFORT AND (1) COMMIT COLLIER COUNTY TO
COLLABORATE WITH THE EOG DOGE TEAM; (2) DIRECT
THE COUNTY MANAGER TO TRANSMIT THE RESOLUTION
TO THE GOVERNOR, AND (3) APPOINT THE COUNTY
MANAGER AS LIAISON TO THE EOG DOGE TEAM AND
PROVIDE REGULAR UPDATES TO THE BOARD REGARDING
RELEVANT EOG DOGE ACTIVITIES - MOTION TO APPROVE
ADDING LANGUAGE ADJUSTMENT (COUNTY MANAGER
OR DESIGNEE) BY COMMISSIONER HALL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER KOWAL - ADOPTED
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 10.
Item 10A is a recommendation to approve a resolution of the Board
of County Commissioners supporting the EOG DOGE team effort
and, 1, commit Collier County to collaborate with EOG DOGE team;
2, direct the County Manager to transmit the resolution to the
Governor; and, 3, appoint the County Manager as liaison to the EOG
DOGE team and provide regular updates to the Board regarding
relevant EOG DOGE activities. This item is brought to the agenda
by Commissioner Hall.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall, you're
recognized.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you.
I wanted to make a resolution between us and send it to the
April 22, 2025
Page 68
Governor's office to let him know that we're fully behind his efforts
to eliminate any kind of wasteful government spending.
And we actually have been doing this. We were doing DOGE
when DOGE wasn't cool, and we're in our third year now. But it
would be a resolution from us saying to the Governor, "We're behind
you, and we're going to participate in any way that you want us to,"
and all of the questions have to go the County Manager, and she'll
have to handle the whole load.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And you're absolutely
correct. We've been doing it since way before it was cool.
My only comment that I had was allowing for County Manager
or designee to be the facilitator between the state's DOGE team and
ours. And when I read that, it specifically said the County Manager.
And typically we include "or designee." Would you be okay with
that?
COMMISSIONER HALL: I'd be fine with that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Do we have any registered
speakers?
MR. MILLER: We do not, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Then, unless there's
further -- Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman. I was
just going to ask the County Manager, when's our next ResourceX
update? Do we have something on the books, or are they -- we're
bringing them back to --
MS. PATTERSON: They'll be participating in our June budget
workshop.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay.
MS. PATTERSON: We regularly collaborate with them, but the
next time they'll be here will be for the June workshops.
April 22, 2025
Page 69
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay. Like we're saying, that
was sort of our DOGE before DOGE was a word, so it's good that
we'll be hearing from them in June. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Any further comments?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Then we need a motion.
Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I move to approve.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and
second.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Does that include that
adjustment?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes, that includes that adjustment.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: 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.
MS. PATTERSON: Very good.
Item #11A
THE COUNTY MANAGER OR DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE AND
TRANSMIT A NOTICE OF TERMINATION TO CANCEL THE
SALE UNDER THE AGREEMENT FOR THE SALE AND
PURCHASE OF THE WILLIAMS RESERVE PROPERTY.
April 22, 2025
Page 70
(TRINITY SCOTT, DEPARTMENT HEAD - TRANSPORTATION
MANAGEMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT) - MOTION TO
PROCEED WITH THE PROPOSED PURCHASE AGREEMENT
WITH ACCEPTANCE OF THE SELLER’S AMENDMENT #4 BY
COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER HALL - APPROVED (COMMISSIONER
SAUNDERS AND COMMISSIONER KOWAL OPPOSED)
That brings us to Item 11. Item 11A is a recommendation to
authorize the County Manager or designee to execute and transmit a
notice of termination to cancel the sale under the agreement for the
sale and purchase of the Williams Reserve property.
Trinity Scott, your department head of Transportation
Management Services, is here to present.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good morning.
MS. SCOTT: Good morning. Hold on. I'm trying to find my
presentation. I don't see it, but I can get there quickly. For the
record, I'm going to dock Troy's pay, because usually he has my
presentation up.
MR. MILLER: It was being updated.
MS. SCOTT: So for the record, Trinity Scott, department head
for Transportation Management Services. And I have multiple folks
in the room with me today that have been involved in this with our
real property as well as County Attorney's Office -- oh, she just
walked in -- as well as Growth Management and Community
Development, as well as the County Manager's Office.
So just a reminder, this is the Williams Reserve property. On
the right -- I want to point out a few areas because I'm going to talk
about them specifically.
This particular area here, we refer to this as the boot, like your
shoe; the yellow hashed area is the slough area, is how we refer to
April 22, 2025
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that; and then the south area are kind of the farm field area. So you'll
hear me reference that as we go forward in the presentation.
Just a little bit of background, our initial -- the seller's initial
asking price was $23 million for 2,247 plus-or-minus acres. Back in
May of 2024, the Board approved a sale and purchase agreement.
This was prior to our pre-environmental investigation, our due
diligence period.
The purchase price in the sales contract is $20,770,000, and that
was -- the basis of that was the average of two appraisals. The
property, the boot, 168 acres, give or take, approximately 5.9, that
was the average of the two appraisals, and then the remaining
acreage, which included the slough and the remaining fields, the
average of the two appraisals was $7,100 per acre.
The due diligence period has been extended multiple times to
conduct environmental investigations. Results of those
environmental investigations include some soil contamination that
exceed allowable thresholds that will require remediation, as well as
groundwater contaminants that exceed these allowable thresholds as
well. At this time, from a county perspective, we are unaware that
the full horizontal area of the groundwater contamination has been
defined; however, this will require remediation.
The seller is not obligated to involve the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection in their remediation process; however,
when the -- when the property is developed, the Collier County Land
Development Code requires the county to complete a predevelopment
sampling and coordination with the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection.
The seller's approach may or may not satisfy the agency's
expectations, and this may result in additional assessment and
remediation that would be the financial responsibility of the county.
This may result in development delays or underutilization of the
April 22, 2025
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public investment.
At the last meeting, the Board directed us to go back and see
how we might be able to be -- find ourselves where we're okay
without having FDEP involvement in this initial phase, and I
remember Commissioner Saunders asking Ms. Ashkar, "How would
this typically be done in a private transaction?" And the response
was, "Typically there's an adjustment in the sales price."
So following the Board meeting, we spent over four hours
debating this with our staff, and our team came together for over four
hours after the Board meeting to really talk about this and talk about
pros and cons, and these are the key terms that were proposed by the
county to the seller prior to that Friday deadline that we had given
ourselves.
And our first item was a purchase price adjustment. To mitigate
the county's risks of not having DEP involvement, the seller would
choose to either, one, accept a reduced purchase price of
$18,693,000, or agree to escrow 10 percent of the purchase price, just
over $2 million, which would be used by the county should further
remediation post closing be necessary, with the balance being
returned to the seller upon successful determination from DEP that no
further remediation would be necessary.
We also committed to no DEP review would be required in that
slough area and that the county must initiate that coordination with
DEP within 36 months; otherwise, the funds would be released to the
seller. Both of these proposals were rejected by the seller.
Other key terms of the fourth amendment -- by the way, every
time I say "fourth amendment," I don't think of this. I think of the
Constitution. So sorry about that. I go a different way.
But inspection period waiver, that it would expire upon the
execution of the fourth amendment. Both the seller and the county
were -- county staff were in agreement with that. The environmental
April 22, 2025
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waiver indemnification, that they would not be held liable.
The remediation, the seller would decide whether or not they
choose to remediate. Now, this was a new term. If the seller
remediates -- not this particular one. But if the seller remediates, they
cover the cost of the remediation. If the seller chooses not to
remediate, the agreement would automatically terminate.
If the remediation is completed, the lab results confirm the
cleanup levels are met, then the county would proceed to closing. If
the seller cannot achieve those cleanup levels, they may stop the
remediation, and the agreement would also automatically terminate.
Liquidated damages is how this term is noted in the sales
agreement. When I'm talking about it and when I was talking with a
few commissioners, I really look at this as kind of earnest money, is
how I would look at it. But if the seller remediates and the county
fails to close, the county would have to pay the seller liquidated
damages of $500,000. This is part of fourth amendment. Currently
that amount is $70,000.
We would be allowed to do limited surface-water testing,
but -- and then that was specifically to the slough area. These would
be for informational only, and that as part of this, we would not
obligate the seller to remediate those.
And then the existing leases, that the seller could extend those
existing agricultural leases on the property for one year due to the
proposed closing date extension, but that they couldn't continue those
for anything further once we had finalized the amendment.
Based on the existing sales agreement in place today, the due
diligence period expires tomorrow, so we need to make a decision
today. If the county does not terminate or extend the date, the county
is expected to close on the property. If the county does not close on
the property, based on the existing sales agreement, we would be
obligated to pay $70,000 in liquidate damages if we do not proceed to
April 22, 2025
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closing.
Based on all this information, our staff recommendation is to
authorize the County Manager or designee to execute and transmit a
notice of termination to cancel the sale.
And with that, I'll ask [sic] any questions or allow for your
discussion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
Ms. Scott, was there -- in the option that we gave the seller to
reduce the sales price, was there any discussion, if he reduces the
sales price, not to hold his feet to the fire to any remediation,
environmental remediation?
MS. SCOTT: No. They would still be required to remediate for
what has been identified today, but that they would not be -- they
would not be required to remediate anything further with our -- with
our participation with DEP in the future.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Sure. No. I agree with protecting
the public's money in that regard, but I was just curious as, you know,
if I was the seller and I needed to reduce my sales price without any
consideration for other terms, it's an automatic no for me because,
why? But I was just -- I thought he's -- I think -- do you have any
idea of what the cost could be for what's been known so far?
MS. SCOTT: We do not have those yet because at this time we
do not know the extent of the horizontal for the groundwater, and
there have been no costs that have been shared with us to date.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Okay. No, that's understandable. I
think the seller's pretty much forced us into terminating this
agreement with the terms that he's requesting.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I don't see anybody else
lit up. Do we have any public comment?
MR. MILLER: Yes, sir. William Rollins is your only public
April 22, 2025
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comment for this item.
MR. ROLLINS: Good morning.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good morning.
MR. ROLLINS: Good morning. For the record, my name is
William Rollins. I'm the senior broker at LSI Companies.
On behalf of the family, they asked that I come here today and
share with you a letter, a comment.
(As read:) Dear Commissioners, when Collier County
approached us to acquire the property, we were thrilled at the
opportunity to contribute to the community's future. We believe that
our lands offer tremendous potential in workforce housing, parks,
recreation, conservation, and watershed improvements from
Immokalee to Lake Trafford. Our family has worked diligently to
bring this transaction to a conclusion. At the county's request we
have agreed to conduct additional testing related to the known
environmental issues, the condition causing -- and
condition -- closing to remediate these areas of state, residential, and
groundwater target cleanup levels without relying on institutional
controls or recorded restrictions.
Additionally, we agreed to extend the closing date until
remediation is complete.
At the most recent Board of County Commissioners meeting,
James Williams clearly stated our position against involving the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection, as this is neither
required nor customary of the sale of the vacant property. We
expressed our willingness to extend and inspect the inspection period
to address minor cleanup items in the fourth amendment provided
there are no DEP involvement.
The agreement presented to us following the last meeting
included significant changes including DEP involvement which
diverged from our prior discussions.
April 22, 2025
Page 76
We believe the fourth amendment we proposed aligns with the
discussion at our BOCC meeting. It includes extending the closing
date, removing unworkable short-term timing triggers, and
maintaining the condition of the environmental issues be remediated
prior to the county's obligation to close on the property.
The Williams family respectively submits that our proposal, the
fourth amendment, is fair and reasonable. We hope the
Commissioners recognize the value the property brings to
the -- brings to Collier County and agree that our proposed terms are
appropriate for the state.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, the
Williams family.
I've been doing this for a long time, and I don't know of any land
transaction that hasn't had any kind of an environmental issue on it.
These issues are resolved by -- through remediation. A lot of times
you do nothing. Sometimes you put a parking lot on top of it. It
really is dictated by, one, your engineer that's doing the work, and
then, of course, what DEP wants you to do.
The next thing is the opportunity. This is a piece of property
that I'm not sure exists anywhere around Immokalee or in East
Collier County that could be acquired by the -- by the county and that
could be turned into some really magnificent things. Today your
decision is going to reflect what this property's going to be in 20, 30
and even 50 years from now. Our generation won't be here, but there
will be other generations to enjoy this: Parks, recs, education, and
also housing that people can afford.
Yes, I mentioned there are risks, but risk comes with every
property. Real quick, just one --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Don't worry about the timing, just
whatever time you need.
MR. ROLLINS: Okay. Thank you.
April 22, 2025
Page 77
One thing I thought about was, is there a property that does not
have risk? And I thought about the Garden of Eden, but the Garden
of Eden also has risk. There's a serpent.
So, I mean, you guys, you five gentlemen are going to make a
big decision today that's going to impact Collier County for a long
time and, quite frankly, I think not everybody in the Collier County is
going -- let me back up. Not only the residents around Immokalee
are going to benefit this. The entire county will benefit from it, and
other counties. You're going to have people from other counties
come and enjoy this educational and recreational parks and things.
Look at the City Gate, people from all over come and enjoy that park.
So, gentlemen, it's up to you guys, but I think this is a -- this is a
big, big decision.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you.
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
MR. ROLLINS: Oh. And I'm open for any questions.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes. Hang on just a minute,
because there may be a few.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't have any questions of
him. I'm okay right now, Billy.
MR. ROLLINS: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Trinity, do you mind coming
back up and putting up the aerial of the entire site. There you go.
It's been mentioned -- and I guess my -- I have a couple of
technical questions. We can -- oh, there we go.
We can certainly -- we can certainly cancel the agreement today.
My question for you is, how much -- how much study in the Phase 2
environmental inspection was accomplished? Do we have a map that
shows where the drill holes were and the amount of contaminants that
April 22, 2025
Page 78
were included?
MS. SCOTT: I don't have a map in my presentation, but I do
have Brian DeLony who's sitting behind me who can answer your
question.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. I saw you looking at
him.
MR. DeLONY: Brian DeLony, Facilities director, for the
record.
Yeah, we do have the map of the Phase 2 and what was tested. I
mean, the main focus on the testing was focused on current farm
operations where tanks were located, where they actually move
vehicles and store stuff. That's where the main focus of the testing
was.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
MR. DeLONY: But it's mostly of the south -- southern side of
the property.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Mostly on the farmlands. I
think we all pretty much agreed that the slough area -- and from what
I did see, there was one hole up in the -- one drill hole up in the boot
area that found no contaminants. There was no issues with that.
MR. DeLONY: Correct. In the area where we were looking at
the affordable housing, there was no contaminants. We did find
some contaminants over there on the northern side, in this area right
here.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Uh-huh. And -- okay, that
was my question for you.
MR. DeLONY: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the seller -- if I'm not
mistaken, the seller -- if we were to consummate the transaction or
extend the due diligence period for a final agreement -- I don't know
what the process is right now. Are we forced into either doing this
April 22, 2025
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deal as it is, or do we have to physically cancel the agreement?
MS. SCOTT: I would defer to the County Attorney, but the
seller -- the county's proposed fourth amendment, which as I noted
the seller will not -- would not agree to the reduction in the purchase
price, was included as backup in the documentation, as well as the
seller's redline version of the county's fourth amendment is also
included in the backup of the documentation.
I would defer to the County Attorney if the Board is able to
accept the terms of the seller's fourth amendment or if they need to
proceed -- if they could proceed forward with the existing, or if their
only option is to terminate.
MR. KLATZKOW: The Board can approve if it's the will of the
Board, terminate if it's the will of the Board, or seek additional
changes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So I guess my
question -- or my suggestion for my colleagues here on the Board is
to give due consideration to the opportunities that we, in fact, have
here.
You know, Billy Rollins said it best. There is -- there's no such
thing as a free lunch. There's risk involved with everything. And I
think we really need to give due consideration to the greater good that
can transpire if we go forward with this transaction. There is a
housing component which provides for housing affordability.
We have -- and the County Manager can affirm this. We have
long sought the acquisition of that slough area. If you'll notice to the
west of that -- of that yellow hash mark there on the map, that's
the -- that's the headwaters of Lake Trafford. That's a huge basin of
heavily environmentally -- heavily environmental sensitive land.
And out of Lake Trafford then flows -- out of it over into west of that
into the Corkscrew Sanctuary area and the CREW'S lands.
We have an enormous opportunity with this acquisition to
April 22, 2025
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acquire this piece of property, facilitate health, safety, and welfare
issues with the extension of Little League Road south all the way
down to Immokalee Road for another ingress and egress for the
residents of Immokalee.
The acquisition of this slough property and these farm fields, we
have ultimate plans for parks and rec and fields and all kind of
wonderful things that are very much necessary for all of Eastern
Collier County. We have the potential of really doing something
wonderful.
I mean, talk about -- talk about doing something wonderful for
the environment with regard to the water quality that's coming
through that slough. We all know what's to the east of that slough.
There are other developed lands. There's a landfill -- there are two
landfills that are over there that are basically unprotected, unlined
landfills.
We have an opportunity for retention, detention, and water
cleanliness for water that's transferring over to Lake Trafford. We
have a huge, huge value for flood protection for our residents,
especially in the southern end of Immokalee, to be able to take on
excess flooding water that is coming into those communities. You
can see right there on the map the densities that are over there.
I -- I've looked -- I've looked at the original contract for
purchase. I saw the deficiencies in our contract that we had.
Commissioner Saunders, you asked a while ago about deviating
from normal business practices. Our original contract had the county
being responsible for the ultimate determination of the -- of the
plume of the existent contaminants that are on this piece of property.
And to my knowledge, none of these contaminants exceed the levels
of requisite to notify the Department of Environmental Protections.
We then came back, entered into -- and performed the Phase 2.
The seller necessarily has agreed to do the remediation on those
April 22, 2025
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specific areas where it was -- it was -- where drilling occurred and
where contaminants were, in fact, found. If they don't do it, we don't
buy the property.
But now we're coming back and asking the seller to put up even
more money, and we haven't even given a -- done a site plan as to
what we're going to do from a development perspective with the
southern portion of this piece of property. And it is outside of normal
business practice to hold a seller responsible for something that's
necessarily out of their control. If they -- if we can't tell them what
we're going to do, I don't find it -- I don't find it a good business
practice for us to -- to be asking for exposure for the seller on that
piece of property after the closing.
The suggestions of potential contaminants coming from the
ongoing farming operations -- there was a discussion about the
extinguishment of the farming leases on this piece of property and the
agricultural uses that are there. We really can't do that without
actually going forward and closing on the property. If not, then
exposing ourself to the loss of revenue that the property owner, in
facts -- in fact, has.
So my suggestion is buy the piece of property, assume the risk
associated with it -- with any potential remediation that is necessary
after the fact -- after -- after the remediation has been completed and
we get the clean bill of health from the seller, which they say they are
willing to do, utilizing an engineer that we, in fact, use. I think it's
Stantec, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. It's Stantec. Stantec -- we use
them all the time. They're a licensed professional engineer. They're
going to give us a clean bill of health that says this property is
developable to a residential state.
Now, in business practice, as was mentioned, if you're going to
put a building in one particular location, you have to do testing there
to ensure that there are no negative impacts that come from that, but
April 22, 2025
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on the other side of the equation, you adapt your Site Development
Plan based upon those necessary remediation efforts that could
technically transpire.
So my inclination with this transaction is the risk is there.
There's no argument that there is potential risk with this piece of
property in the future, but that determination of that risk is very
difficult to ascertain given the fact that we don't have -- we don't have
a site plan. We don't have any description of what we're, in fact,
going to do with this piece of property.
The benefits that transpire with this transaction far outweigh
what I believe to be those risks, in fact, are. I've already stated that
one of my first -- one of our first actions should be to replace the
farm fields which are now currently included in Rural Land
Stewardship Overlay for credit development and replace those lands
with the slough area, and then allow for Conservation Collier to be
able to do the cleanup of the slough and the water cleanliness
circumstances that are involved with the slough and generate
restoration credits which can then be a benefit to the overall
Conservation Collier effort as well.
Did that all come out okay?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Perfect.
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Everybody's lit up here.
Let's go -- Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
I'm a deal maker, and I did not want to see this deal go south,
and that's why I asked the question about if we reduced the sales
price, were other terms.
When I just saw that the boot was where we are actually going
to think about development and that there were no issues
environmentally with that, that changed everything for me because
April 22, 2025
Page 83
the DEP involvement -- the only involvement -- or the only hindrance
is they take so long to stop any kind of development. Well, that's
excluded.
And so then -- and the seller saying that, well, we may remediate
or we may not, that bothered me at first. But I don't think they're
going to let -- you know, since the things that are found are actually
less than what would be required for the DEP, I don't think the
seller's going to say, "No, we're not going to remediate." I think
they're going to do what they need to do to consummate the deal.
I'm all about the risk without being risky. And I know that that's
a play on words, but there -- you can do that. We can take the risk
with the southern ag fields. But what we really want and the real
value to us is up there in the boot, and we can deal with whatever we
have to down in the southern fields. But the benefits to the whole
property and the deal overall, I think, far outweighs what
this -- what's being concerned.
And I know that we're concerned. I was concerned. The scab of
the Golden Gate property is still a little bit soft. And we wanted to
learn from our mistakes, and we just wanted to make sure that we
weren't entering -- doing the same thing here, and I don't think that
we are. So I'm willing to -- I'm willing to do this.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
That word "risk" has been thrown around a lot in business, as an
investor, a visionary.
COMMISSIONER HALL: What else?
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: The problem is individuals make
those decisions to take risk when they can see a vision what they can
do with something or can't do with something. And if it doesn't
transpire and it doesn't prosper to whatever their vision might be and
the risk goes the other way, they're the only one that pays for it.
April 22, 2025
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The five of us today are going to be asked to make a decision
where we have -- we know there's risk, but the five of us -- when the
risk comes up to the point where it's riskier than we thought, the five
of us personally are not going to be punished by it. We're not going
to be diminished by it. In the private sector you are. That's the risk
you take.
The problem is, the only people that are going to suffer is the
taxpayer, because we're going to make the decision. Nothing's going
to happen to us risk-wise, but the taxpayer will bear that risk.
When I look at this property, I see two pieces that I think have
any value to it, and being a person that knows there's a risk already
going into it, I would feel more comfortable if we renegotiate this and
try to purchase the slough and the boot, and the rest of the property,
we already know there's a risk. And in good conscience, I don't want
to go into a project knowing there's a risk. Because it's not my risk.
It's the taxpayers' risk of Collier County. And that -- that's just kind
of my position on it, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I think we have the
opportunity to obtain a very large and valuable piece of property. I
believe we've taken greater risks on things here. And, you know, we
always have to weigh that. In my notes here, and that's already been
repeated, I said "In my opinion, the gain outweighs the risk."
They've already accomplished environmental testing in the most
risky area, and it hasn't exceeded any kind of, you know, standard or
whatnot. And I think further -- as you go further north, there's going
to be even less environmental issues, as has been stated.
If we're blindsided a little bit by something, I don't think it's
going to be, you know, overwhelming. And the gain to obtain this
large of a footprint that surrounds so many other things, as
Commissioner McDaniel was saying, I just -- I think the opportunity
April 22, 2025
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to gain this parcel would be a big win for the county and also the way
we're paying for it -- you know, the briefing I got yesterday, you
probably all did as well, I just wanted to reiterate where the funds
were coming from. And a lot of smart things are being done to pool
funds together to obtain this large parcel. And I think it's a smart
move. I'm going to support the purchase.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. I have a couple questions
for our staff. In terms of the boot area, from what I understand, there
is no environmental issues there. That property will be ready for
development?
MR. DeLONY: Yeah. We did one sample up at the boot and
did not find anything in the boot area.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So will there need to be any other
sampling, or does that take care of it?
MR. DeLONY: It would be based on FDEP'S input when we go
to develop it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So is there any way to
determine in advance of closing as to whether there are
environmental problems there? One sampling site doesn't sound
sufficient, but I don't know. That's the question.
MR. DeLONY: I mean, you know, all the sampling here is just,
you know, maybe 50 sampling sites across 2,000 acres. It's all kind
of just pinpoint testing.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So we have one sample
there that was clean. You can't indicate whether or not there were
any other issues there with that site. But as far as you know, that
site's ready to go?
MR. DeLONY: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Then in the slough,
we're not going to do anything with the slough in terms of
development. So if there's pollution there, it stays there? We don't
April 22, 2025
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have an obligation to clean the slough --
MS. SCOTT: Actually, we would through Conservation Collier.
We would go in and, essentially, we want to restore our water quality
through there. As Commissioner McDaniel noted, with regard to
this, these are waters that go to Lake Trafford, so we would certainly
look to attempt to clean this area up as best as possible. And I see the
County Manager. I know this has been -- this has been the area that
she has been most passionate about has been the slough.
MS. PATTERSON: So we've, as Trinity said, been working to
acquire the slough various ways for probably a decade now.
So we know there's some issues in the slough leading to issues
in Lake Trafford, but that's -- really, the slough takes water from
large segments of Immokalee Road, so the goal is to get in and clean
the slough, not as -- I guess what I'm trying to say is not -- it not
being a part of this as the responsibility of the Land Development
Code. This was something that we always were willing to embark
on, and if it makes it better, we have already -- I already lined up
partners that are keenly interested in assisting us with that cleanup,
including the Water Management District.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So in terms of the slough,
regardless of the environmental issues there, we want to acquire the
slough. That's important for Lake Trafford and that whole area.
MS. PATTERSON: And Immokalee, yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And then on to the farm fields. So
what do we know about the farm fields at this point?
MR. DeLONY: That -- you know, there's been testing around
the areas where the farm operations are, where they fill up the
vehicles, and there's been contamination found in both the soil and
the groundwater.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Can you describe that a little bit
more than just contaminants found? What kind of contaminants are
April 22, 2025
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you talking about?
MR. DeLONY: Yes, sir. There's both hydrocarbons in the
groundwater, there's both arsenic. We found lead in the upper
portion in the groundwater. The main concentration is around the
farm operations area where there's arsenic above the natural
attenuation level for DEP, so there'd have to be active engineer
controls to mitigate that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So in terms of the -- and
we don't know the extent in the farm fields, but there's been testing
around where there's been parking of vehicles, fueling of vehicles?
MR. DeLONY: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: But the whole -- the whole area's
not been evaluated?
MR. DeLONY: The focus was on the current operations of the
farm fields and where there was most likely to find contaminants.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Would you just, in your
experience, expect problems outside of those particular areas?
MR. DeLONY: I mean, just over the years, right, this has been
farmland for many years. I expect operations out there has changed
from time to time, where they're doing fueling, where they're not
doing fueling. We're talking all, you know, above-ground tanks of
500 gallons. So they can pick them up and move them anywhere at
any time. So I would expect, you know, there to be other locations
within that area that that's occurred.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Will we have an opportunity to
have some evaluation prior to being obligated to close?
MR. DeLONY: My understanding is no.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Then in terms of if we want
to do anything with those fields, if we want to turn them into football
fields, you know, a passive park or recreational facility, an active
park, we would have to remediate, and we just don't know what that
April 22, 2025
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remediation would be?
MR. DeLONY: Correct. I mean, we'd have to find it first,
right? We don't -- we don't know where it's at. Then we would have
to remediate.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And if we decided not to
do anything with those fields, continue it to be farming into the
distant future, would we have to remediate anything at that point?
MR. DeLONY: If we know about it, if we find it, then we
would have to remediate.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. And we have no way of
knowing what that remediation cost would be?
MR. DeLONY: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Once we buy the property, it's our
problem?
MR. DeLONY: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. And we don't know
the -- we don't know the scope of that problem. And is that partially
because there hasn't been enough testing in enough locations to
pinpoint it to test, or why don't we know?
MR. DeLONY: I mean, it's hard over a large parcel like this. I
mean, you could go and spend, you know, $2 million in testing and
still not know. So you've kind of got to throttle how much testing
you do versus how much you don't -- you don't do.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Well, once we buy this
property, are we going to spend $2 million doing the testing you just
described, since it's now our property and we need to -- we'll have to
clean it? I'm just trying to get a --
MR. DeLONY: Yeah. It would be -- it would be really based
on DEP's recommendation when we go to do our development -- to
target the amount of testing that would be needed.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I see the value of this property
April 22, 2025
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from an environmental standpoint and from the community, but I'm a
little concerned about how much risk we really are assuming.
If you're even suggesting that it could cost millions of dollars
just to test, that doesn't even get into the cleanup. And then I think
what you're suggesting is that if we do acquire the property, we are
going to test, and we are going to clean it up.
MR. DeLONY: I wouldn't expect we would do $2 million in
testing, sir. I'm just saying that due to the size of the land, right, you
could -- you could do all the testing out here and maybe not find
everything. It's a large -- it's a large parcel, and you can -- you have
to kind of target the areas you're testing where you expect
contamination. Typically, how that's done is by looking at historical
photos, trying to figure out where operations occur, interviewing the
existing operations out there, asking them what has changed since
they've known the land, and then looking for, like, low-lying areas
where water would have stored in concentrated contaminants.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, we've been dealing with this
piece of property for I don't know how many -- a year, year and a
half, whatever the time period has been. That testing has not
been -- those specific points that you're talking about from the aerials
and the history of it, has there been testing in those specific sites as
far as you know?
MR. DeLONY: Again, I'd say the testing was focused in the
existing operations, where there's current operations. Now, we did do
some additional testing in lower-level areas, and you know, most of
what we found was, you know, one, the lead up in the northern
portion that I've previously indicated, and then we found a location of
arsenic in the soil.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And one of the
things -- and this is just for your thought process, Commissioner
April 22, 2025
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Saunders. When we bought the Golden Gate Golf Course, and as
Commissioner Hall mentioned, that, you know, the wounds from the
Golden Gate Golf Course are, relatively speaking, fairly fresh, we
had -- we had a Site Development Plan. We knew where the
residential was going to go, we had a decent idea that we were going
to do a center for The First Tee, we knew where, predominantly, that
we were ultimately going to do a veterans nursing home on that piece
of property, we knew that a portion of it was going to be redeveloped
into a golf course, and we also knew that there was going to be,
inevitably, remediation requisites once we actually determined what
we were going to do and where we were going to, in fact, do it.
This piece of property -- in comparison, that was 169 acres.
This is in excess of 2,000 acres. And so -- and without a Site
Development Plan, only conceptual thoughts as to what we can do
with it with the -- with the location of the road, with the location of
the fields, with the location of particular buildings, as the case may
be, it would be impossible to do enough testing today to ascertain that
we could do whatever we want wherever we want because we don't
know what we want to do just yet.
In the event -- and I'm going to offer this up to you. I mean, if
you'll recall, I -- hydrocarbons that are found on a farming operation
oftentimes come from fuel splashes and things, and those are de
minimis remediation efforts unless someone were to have a tank
rupture or something along those lines.
We have been assured that the lessees that are on this piece of
property operating these farming operations do have
accountability -- I'm sorry -- do have accountability with regard to
potential contaminants that could, in fact, transpire from those
operations.
So, again, I go back to the ability to ascertain the exposure, if
any, is actually dictated by the county at all with regard to what we
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do with the piece of property. If we -- if we find -- if we find -- as
was stated, if we find a contaminant in a particular area, we will be
required to clean that up. It's that simple.
Right now there are 50-some holes. And I call them holes.
Those are drill holes that they do the sampling from. And if you've
ever done any kind of drilling or testing, all you actually know is
what comes out of that 4-inch hole. That's all you know. And until
the perimeter holes are actually done and the plumes are ascertained.
That's what comes after the -- within the Phase 2 process, and then
the, in fact, remediation is completed.
So for and until we know what we're going to put where -- and
we do have the capacity to manipulate the construction and what we
plan on utilizing this piece of property for. Did we lose the picture?
So that's just -- that's just me trying to share with you the
169-acre piece of property where we -- where we got exposed heavily
for a lot of -- relatively speaking, a lot of remediation, it would be
very difficult to determine what the actual exposure is here for this
piece of property, especially when we have a chance to maneuver the
Site Development Plan to be able -- to be to our benefit and mitigate
that exposure as much as is physically possible.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
I just -- two things. I'd like to just revisit the boot a second,
because there was a comment made that we did one core sample, and
I think Commissioner Saunders says will that be -- will we be able to
proceed? And we know what we kind of want to put up there is
basically affordable/workforce housing, that type of project in that
area, but that's not factual because we still have -- once we do a site
plan and we have to develop it, then we're held to DEP to test it
again, correct?
MR. DeLONY: Again, I can't -- I can't speak to what DEP's
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going to want or not want. They could ask for additional testing.
They might not. There's no -- I mean, from our environmental
consultant that went out there, I mean, the only reason they did
testing up there is because we knew we were looking at putting
housing up there and asking them to do testing. There was no
indicator that there would be contamination in that area.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Because the seller was adamant
that he doesn't want to be involved when DEP does participate in
anything we do in the future. You know, that's kind of like -- to me,
like, it gives me a red flag to think that -- does he know something I
don't know, or you know -- because it was even in the amendment
four of having money taken into escrow.
And if there's no issue, you know, he basically got the balance
back if we didn't have to remediate anything else other than what the
known risk is. And it was a cold hard no to even participate in that.
So these are just red flags to me, you know, that I -- you know,
because now I've got to enter into risk, unknown risk, which we
know is the farmlands.
And I'll just go -- touch on the farmlands. We keep referring to
the Golden Gate Golf Course project, and we did find some
contaminants, probably more than anybody thought we'd find there.
And that was a farmland decades ago. This is still an active
farmland. That was decades and decades ago. That was a golf
course when we purchased it. It was a golf course for decades for
before that.
So we can only imagine what else, on an active farm, the
amount of contaminants can be let alone one that was buried
underground for 30 years, and we still found contaminants.
So I think you've got to take all these things kind of into
consideration that, you know, we're -- you know, what is the true
risk? We already know factually today. And that's what I'm trying to
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say. I'm trying to wrap my head around me being part of that risk.
And when it's not my money to risk, it's a hard pill for me to swallow.
I think the slough's important, and I think the boot would be
important, but it doesn't sound like the seller just would want to sell
us just those two parts. I mean, I just -- it's just -- I can't get myself to
that point.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You know -- well, you know
what, I'll hold my comments till I hear from the rest of you. I thought
we were pretty much done discussing it, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Thank you, Chairman.
You know, I looked at the seller in the eye and I said, because
you're not willing to let the DEP in, that's -- you know, it seems to me
like you would be hiding something.
And he said, "I would think the same thing if I were you." He
said, "But the reason we didn't want the DEP involved was the time
issue of closing." So there's a big difference between having the DEP
as an agency involved and then DEP standards for remediation. And
they have -- they have promised us that they would remediate what's
known. If they -- if they choose to do that, to the standards of the
state. And so that to me is -- we can take a risk, but it's not risky.
And that's --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Can I have a direct comment to
that, since it was kind of a piggyback on back on my comment?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Now knowing what was
proposed to the seller with the money in escrow, wouldn't it change
the closing date? The money would be there. And if there wasn't an
issue, like he said, by looking you in the eye, would that change your
opinion now knowing he still turned that down?
April 22, 2025
Page 94
COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes, because of the timing that it
would take. That money could be held up for two or three years or
longer before we decide what DEP's going to ask us.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I was just going to make a
comment. I think we're trying to learn some lessons from the golf
course, but it isn't quite apples to apples. You know, Commissioner
McDaniel frequently refers to his other life and his experience.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I do have a bit of experience
building on top of golf courses in my previous life, and it's usually
the golf course fertilization which has -- contaminants the property.
So, you know, I didn't do the testing on Golden Gate, but I
would venture to say that the 30 years of farming prior to it being a
golf course was probably less of an issue as the fresh golf course and
the years and years of fertilization and other things that were done.
That's what I primarily -- in my experience, when we built on top of
some golf courses in the military that weren't farmland prior,
they -- they exploded with DEP testing, and it was because of the
fertilization and other things that we had done, you know, on the golf
course.
So this one's a little bit different. And I'll echo what
Commissioner McDaniel says. We have a lot of flexibility and
latitude, and me, just as a -- to environmentally protect this big parcel
of land and then maybe do something with pieces of it, I still say that
the gain outweighs the risk.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Now I'm ready.
I'd -- I think, as Commissioner LoCastro just said, I think it's
important that we -- I'm going to paraphrase what he said, and it's not
"we throw out the baby with the bathwater." I think the greater good
April 22, 2025
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being served here from an environmental perspective is -- how come
every time I'm talking a whole bunch of technological things go
south?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Somebody may be trying to tell
you something.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Exactly. I've got a lot of
things being told to me.
The bottom line, I'm going to -- I'm going to make a motion that
we go forward with this transaction as it was -- what?
MS. SCOTT: Go ahead.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. You were going like
this (indicating).
I'm going to make a motion that we go forward with this
transaction as it was proposed for the original purchase price that we
agreed upon, that the remediation be completed by the seller, that it
be -- receive the clean bill of health, that we put up the 500,000
earnest money that secures the seller's position to go ahead and take
on the risk of the -- of the remediation expense. Because they are
bearing that expense themselves. And the way our current contract
reads -- I've said this regularly, but our current contract reads "if my
shoes come untied the third Thursday of the month, we have the right
to walk away from this transaction," and they're exposed for that
expense. So I'm going to make a motion that we go forward with the
transaction.
MR. KLATZKOW: Commissioner, just for clarity, are we
going forward with the seller's fourth amendment, or are we going to
simply stick to the third amendment?
MS. SCOTT: Sir, what you've described is the seller's fourth
amendment.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. So specially, then, the
seller's fourth amendment is adequate for my satisfaction.
April 22, 2025
Page 96
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, I did have one other person submit a
public comment slip. I didn't know if you wanted to hear that or not.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Oh, absolutely. Let's --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Public hearing's been closed.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's hear the public comment.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, I'm joking. It's Cliff.
MR. MILLER: Cliff Donenfeld.
MR. DONENFELD: Hello, everyone. Cliff Donenfeld,
speaking as a private citizen who has heard a lot about this property
for -- is it two years now? A year and a half?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: A year.
MR. DONENFELD: Okay. And what I haven't heard at any of
these discussions is -- and I'm sure all of you guys are aware of the
big lawsuit with the Collier family and the state for spending
30 million on 11,000 acres that -- even though it -- the long-term
exposure to creosote would cause birth defects, blah, blah, blah,
it -- it's still in the courts right now. The Collier family sold it to the
state.
It was then realized that it was contaminated lands. And per the
many articles, it did have the standard environmental reviews and
what have you. It was a huge error. So I hear a lot talk about the
error in the golf course, and maybe because this was a state purchase,
but it's in Collier County. It is Collier family that sold it. And I
haven't heard anybody, pro or con, referring to this case, which this
land was purchased about one year ago, and it's going on.
And I do think that more due diligence and exploration of the
mitigation factors -- because I appreciate Commissioner Kowal's
responses about the riskiness and risking other people's money, but
it -- you also may be risking other people's health issues in a big, big
way, and this is a big, big purchase. And I think you should really,
you know, be careful about the risk before you move ahead.
April 22, 2025
Page 97
And nothing against conservation. Nothing against all the great
proposed uses. But it's one thing for the state to defend itself in a
$30 million lawsuit. It's another thing for the county to. So that's all.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have no further speakers. Let
me ask a question, because this gets to be a little bit confusing. We
have an existing contract right now that expires tomorrow; is that
the --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Tonight at midnight.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And so --
MR. KLATZKOW: And then you have proposed amendments.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The motion is to approve
Amendment No. 4 --
MR. KLATZKOW: The seller's version.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- as presented by the seller?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Can you go through what the
existing agreement does and what these things do so that everybody
on the Board understands what we're voting on, because I'm not sure
I fully understand?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah. I'll let Sally take the lead on this.
MS. ASHKAR: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Sally
Ashkar, Assistant County Attorney.
I'll walk you through some of these changes that are up on the
screen right now. Primarily, the biggest change is that the seller is
going to be responsible for the remediation in this case. The county
doesn't have a say over that remediation. The county doesn't have the
ability to get DEP approval, but the seller will be completing that
remediation. The remediation will be done to residential state
standards. That is the standard that's outlined in the agreement.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Which portion of the property
April 22, 2025
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would be subject to that remediation?
MS. ASHKAR: Trinity, do we have the map that was shown?
So the map that you see up on the screen right now, I believe it
is everything except the hashed area will be subject to that
remediation protocol that will be set by the seller.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So that would include all of the
farm fields?
MS. ASHKAR: Yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: But could --
MS. SCOTT: For the areas that were identified in the Phase 1
and Phase 2 environmental. So those areas where we -- where we
and the seller conducted those investigations. So for those specific
areas only, they would go in and remediate those areas.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I -- can I say something?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Have you ever done
remediation before?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I haven't personally.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. You drill a 4-inch hole
here, and then you drill out from there to determine where the plume,
in fact, goes, and then the -- and once you reach the point where the
contaminants no longer exist, then you have to remediate from here
back to here.
And so there were 50 holes drilled on this piece of property, and
where there were contaminants found, they will spread out from there
to develop the ring of the plume and then remediate back to clean
that -- clean that area up.
So it will consume -- not all of the farm fields, but it will
consume larger areas than the -- than the actual 4-inch hole.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And they'll pay for it.
MS. ASHKAR: So what Trinity is putting up on the screen
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right now is those testing areas where the testing has been completed,
and that will be the location of that remediation and that remediation
protocol.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Can I ask a question?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
So from what I understand is -- so how many actual holes were
drilled in the farm portion? Because I know you drilled some in a
portion of the slough, portion of the boot.
MR. DeLONY: I mean, I don't have a specific number, but it
was around about 50.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So 50 is the number for the farm,
not counting the others?
MR. DeLONY: Over the entire property. There was only
probably -- you know, up north there was -- I think we only had three
or four.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. So let's say -- let's say 45
or whatever. So out of 45 on the farm property, did every one of the
45 have contaminants of some type?
MR. DeLONY: No, they didn't all have contaminants.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So how many do you recall?
MR. DeLONY: I mean, I'd just be giving you a number off the
top of my head, but I want to say probably about 50 percent to
25 percent had some kind of contaminant.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay. So 50 percent. So if you
just do simple math, we're talking -- how many acres is that? About a
thousand-some acres?
MR. DeLONY: I mean, I would point out that these tests --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: The farmland I'm saying.
MR. DeLONY: -- were done where we expected to find
April 22, 2025
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contaminants.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I understand. But you also made
the statement that that was a mobile fueling site. They can move it
anywhere on the farm where they had the fuel equipment.
MR. DeLONY: Yeah. They were --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: They can bring it to where they're
working on the back 40 if they had to for a week or two.
MR. DeLONY: They could. They were typically, you know,
500 gallon fuel tanks that could be moved.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: They were mobile. Yeah. They
weren't stationary.
MR. DeLONY: They were on -- they were on skids. They
weren't, like, you know, trailers.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I know exactly what they are.
I've used them before.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, mathematically, you could say
that 50 percent of a thousand acres is possibly contaminated.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, that's not --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Well, 50 percent of the holes
were contaminated.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's not a -- that's not a fair
assumption.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I don't know. I mean, I'm just
looking at the sample size. I'm just -- I'm just throwing a spitball, and
the sample size is, say, 50 holes. So 25 of them had contamination.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'm just -- I'm just -- never mind.
I already know how I'm voting, so let's just --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So I'm just trying to -- I'm
just trying to make sure we understand what the contract is that we're
voting on, so that -- because that -- and I think Ms. Ashkar was in the
April 22, 2025
Page 101
middle of you outlining what the changes are that will be the vote on
this.
MS. ASHKAR: Yes, Commissioner. Thank you.
So in addition to the seller completing the remediation that we
just showed up on the screen, there -- it's a waiver of the
indemnification provision in the contract. And so our existing
standard form contract has an environmental indemnification
provision. This amendment would strike through that.
So it means once we close, the seller has no further liability
related to any environmental contamination on the property and, of
course, that's due to the fact that they're going to be remediating it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. And so there's going to be
some remediation.
MS. ASHKAR: Yes.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: From this point forward -- if we
adopt this amendment, from this point forward, we can still terminate
the agreement, but we have to pay a half a million dollar --
MS. ASHKAR: Correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- liquidated damages.
MS. ASHKAR: So once the -- the liquidated damages goes up
from 70,000 to 500,000, which is effective following the seller's
election to remediate. So once the seller elects to remediate the
property, now that -- those liquidated damages go up to a half a
million dollars.
So if the county fails to close on the property after the seller has
agreed to conduct that remediation and complete that remediation,
we're on the hook for half a million.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Well, I would be
supportive of this if we didn't have to risk the half a million.
Now, the property owner -- and this is a question for
Mr. Rollins, I think. The property owner is going to have to
April 22, 2025
Page 102
remediate whether he sells the property or not. At some point in
time, the property owner's going to have to remediate.
MS. ASHKAR: The seller has the option to remediate. So
that's an important piece of this contract that was discussed earlier.
Once the seller gets all of the information for remediation, the seller
may exercise its option to remediate.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Understood. But I'm saying in the
real world, when this property is sold, whether it's to us or to
somebody, the buyer's going to require remediation. And so I guess
my question is, to Mr. Rollins -- and I hope I'm saying that properly,
correctly -- any consideration for keeping the -- you're going to make
the decision as to whether you're going to remediate. You have that
total option.
MR. ROLLINS: Okay. In the real world, you have a property
owner. They sell their property to a developer. The developer does
the Phase 1. If there's a Phase 2 required, they'll -- they can elect to
do that. But the Phase 1 basically identifies everything that's there,
areas of interest.
The developer would then make up their mind, okay, I'm going
to acquire the property, and I'm going to decide on
whether -- whether or not I'm going to remediate or I'm not going to
remediate. And then they're going to take their site plan and design
that around the areas that need to be remediated, because they might
put a building or a parking lot over an area. If they decide to put a
ball field over an area that's been -- that's contaminated, then they
would go and they would remediate. Typically the sellers are not
required to remediate the properties.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Would you be willing to consider
reduction of that liquidated damage number from a half a million to
something --
MR. ROLLINS: I think what you have on the table is what the
April 22, 2025
Page 103
sellers are willing to do.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. All right.
MR. ROLLINS: Yes, sir. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And, Commissioner Saunders,
that 500,000 is a protection for the seller. After they've made the
choice to do the remediation, they're going to bear that expense. Our
contract that we have -- all of our contracts that we have allow us to
cancel without cause, and we would only have 70,000 exposed. And
the 500,000 is for us to have skin in the game to show that we are
interested in acquiring the piece of property and mitigate the risk for
the seller and the burden of that expense of that remediation, whether
it's 100,000 or whatever the actual expense is. So we're not losing
that money unless we chose to not buy that -- we're not exposed for
that money unless we chose to not buy that piece of property.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. All right. I think we have
a --
MS. KINZEL: Commissioner, I'm sorry. It's Crystal.
I do have some questions that I'd like to clear up just from a
contractual standpoint. When we say remediate, are you only talking
about the designated areas where they've done the preliminary? Are
you talking the whole area?
Obviously, we've all been around for the golf course. It took
seven years. We had many issues of what went where.
One of the things that struck me from the whole conversation is
that we don't really know all the things we're buying it for and
planning it; and therefore, even to get to the level of remediation
that's required, we don't seem to know that. We've talked about more
ball fields, more parks, affordable housing, different levels of
contamination, what are those things.
And the protection in the contract -- I see the red flags also. As
April 22, 2025
Page 104
your comptroller, the price in the appraisals -- which we're reviewing
a lot of appraisals right now, and I think we have noticed you on that,
for some of the things that we have already purchased and we intend
to purchase. And it just does concern me, as comptroller, that
without a guarantee of remediation or even is EDP [sic] the one that
is going to come in, or no, EDP's, totally off the table. Because
you're taking a risk that you don't even know what the risk is, and yet
we're paying a price that was from an original appraisal amount that
may or may not have taken those factors into account when the value
was determined.
So sloughs, I know the importance of the water, but weighing an
unknown to a 20-million-plus pricing, we've done that before, and it
did not turn out well for the taxpayer. So I just wanted to get that to
your information. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Any
other -- Commissioner McDaniel, anything else?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are you okay with my motion
per amendment four?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm okay to vote on it. I'm not so
sure I'm okay to vote positive.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understand. But I'm going
to make a motion to accept the amendment four.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I second it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and
second. Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
April 22, 2025
Page 105
Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I believe that passed 3-2; is that
correct?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You are correct.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro, you
voted in the affirmative?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I think we need to take a break.
Come back at 1:15? Is that satisfactory? All right. We are in recess
until 1:15.
(A luncheon recess was had from 12:13 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.)
MS. PATTERSON: Chair, you have a live mic.
Item #11C
THE PROPERTIES ON THE JANUARY 2025 CONSERVATION
COLLIER ACTIVE ACQUISITION LIST (AAL) AND DIRECT
STAFF TO PURSUE THE PROJECTS RECOMMENDED WITHIN
THE A-CATEGORY, FUNDED BY THE CONSERVATION
COLLIER LAND ACQUISITION FUND. (COMMISSIONER
HALL’S REQUEST) - MOTION TO APPROVE BY
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS; SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO - APPROVED (COMMISSIONER
HALL OPPOSED)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll head over to Item 11C. I
think that's where we are.
MS. PATTERSON: Yes, sir. Item 11C is a recommendation to
approve the properties on January 2025 Conservation Collier Active
Acquisition List and direct staff to pursue the projects recommended
April 22, 2025
Page 106
within the "A" category within the Conservation Collier Land
Acquisition Fund. This item is moved from the consent agenda at
Commissioner Hall's request.
And we have Jaime Cook, your director of Development
Review -- I always I get it wrong -- here to present.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall, did you have
anything specific?
COMMISSIONER HALL: No, we'll listen to Ms. Cook a little
bit.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
MS. COOK: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Jaime Cook,
your Development Review director, for the record.
The January 2025 list consisted of three properties. Two were
recommended for the A list or to pursue acquisition by both -- by the
Conservation Collier Land Advisory Committee, and there was one
property that was proposed for the C list, which would mean that
staff would not pursue acquiring this.
The first property -- properties are the Edwards Trust properties.
This is nine parcels consisting of 65 total acres. It does contain
wetland and more upland habitats. It does expand existing
conservation lands both with Picayune Strand to the east and
Hacienda Lakes and the San Marino PUD conservation lands to the
west.
The site is utilized by both Red-cockaded woodpecker and
Florida panthers; however, this area is in the Transportation
Management Benfield Road extension study area, and there is limited
access. There is no vehicles access, and there is only access through
an existing trail from Picayune Strand that would cross other
privately owned parcels. Management activities for these parcels,
which by the way, are shown in red on that map below, would
include some cabbage palm thinning, restoration, as well as exotic
April 22, 2025
Page 107
removal.
The Golden Land Partners is adjacent to the Edwards Trust
parcels. It's shown in yellow on the map on the bottom of the screen.
It is 20 acres. It is entirely wetlands. Again, expands existing
conservation lands and is utilized by cockaded woodpeckers and the
Florida panther.
Again, this one is in the Benfield Road extension area, and we
would have the same access issues; however, this parcel is different
from the others in that the first two -- the first two TDRs have already
been stripped from the property, so no development is allowed
already. The third and fourth TDRs would still be available if a
restoration and maintenance plan were established as well as
conveyance through the fee simple to a state or a federal agency.
And the third parcel which was on the C list and is not
recommended for acquisition is adjacent to the Gordon River
Greenway in the urban area. It is about a third of an acre of disturbed
mangrove habitat. It does provide storm surge protection from the
Gordon River. But again, there is limited access, and a parking area
off of the Bembury Drive where this is located would not really be
feasible.
Some of the other concerns and issues are it appears that the site
was used as a construction debris site where there's been a lot of
debris dumped over the years, so that would require significant
cleanup. We did discuss with the owner if he would be interested in
doing it, and he declined. He also does have permits to build a
single-family home on this property currently.
So the cost to Conservation Collier, this -- again, the two
projects that staff would recommend approval of total 85 acres, and
the estimated value for these two properties is just under $500,000
with about $100,000 in initial maintenance activities.
And with that, staff would recommend approval of the
April 22, 2025
Page 108
January 2025 Active Acquisition List and request that you would
direct staff to pursue appraisals as well as the due diligence periods
that we typically go through with any other properties.
With that, I would take any other questions or comments.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes, Chairman.
I pulled these because it looks -- it appears that we're already
going to accomplish greatly what we would be doing by spending
half a million dollars of Conservation Collier money.
The Edwards Trust, the 65 acres, it's basically landlocked,
wetlands, but the Gordon -- the other property was 20 acres. The
TDRs have been stripped. It's not -- two of them have -- half of them
have been. It's landlocked as well. There's no public access.
And, you know, CCLAC recommended them. They clicked the
boxes on them, but they were so low. I think that we're basically
accomplishing really what we want to accomplish with these
properties without having to spend additional money or incur further
expense in perpetuity with our Conservation Collier funds.
So I would recommend not going forward with these two
properties. If there's any other discussion...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. We do have some lights lit
up, and I don't know if we have any public speakers. Commissioner
McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. This is a technical
question. I thought that the -- to acquire the additional restoration
credits, that the restoration had to be completed and the land
transferred to a government agency. I didn't remember it having to
be a state or federal agency.
MS. COOK: It could be county, state, or federal. Sorry.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. That's all right. So we
could -- if we did buy this land and we did the restoration, we could
April 22, 2025
Page 109
strip those credits off and have them available for future disposition.
If I recall, we amended the ordinance to allow for Conservation
Collier to be the -- or Collier County to be the beneficiary of those
credits.
MS. COOK: Correct. It was in the program ordinance to allow
it. It hasn't been updated in the purchasing policy yet, that we
continued this morning.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And so it wasn't
addressed in the purchasing policy at all.
MS. COOK: TDRs are in the purchasing policy. Because right
now the purchasing policy resolution states that the owner has to strip
the TDRs before the program buys it.
The recommendation that you've made previously is that we
don't strip the TDRs, so we haven't. They're still on all of the
properties that we've acquired within that last year or so. But we still
need to amend the Growth Management Plan to allow Conservation
Collier to then sell those credits.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. To receive them. So
the correction, then, for my brain is we still have the capacity to
develop the TDRs and strip them for the benefit of Collier
County/Conservation Collier?
MS. COOK: Yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a couple registered
speakers.
MR. MILLER: We have one, sir, Brad Cornell.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good afternoon.
MR. CORNELL: Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and
Commissioners. I'm Brad Cornell, and I'm here on behalf of
Audubon Florida and Audubon Western Everglades.
So Audubon strongly supports the staff recommendation and the
April 22, 2025
Page 110
CCLAC recommendation to approve this Active Acquisition List
from January.
This is -- I remember the review and the ranking that they did.
And I want to flag -- so these are really an opportunity to
complement and add to the Picayune Strand State Forest, which is an
amazing resource. It's the western half of the CERP, the Everglades
restoration project, which is south Golden Gate Estates. This is the
South Belle Meade part of the Picayune Strand State Forest.
Important panther habitat, Red-cockaded woodpecker habitat,
watershed for Rookery Bay. Really important for all kinds of Collier
County interests.
To the question about restoration, the problem with the
restoration is that you only will get that if the landowner does that by
stripping the third and fourth credits, and they're dis-incentivized to
do that because restoration is very expensive. So nobody -- that's
why you often see the first two credits in the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use
District, they strip those two credits off and sell those, but they don't
do the third and fourth because restoration is tough, and also donation
is tough because many of the agencies don't want to take it because it
comes with a land management obligation.
And so if -- that's the advantage, Commissioner Hall. If you
want to have restoration of these parcels, you're going to have to
acquire it or change the policies to incentivize the landowner to
restore it; otherwise, you're going to end up with a lot of cabbage
palms that are a fire risk that kill pines, that destroy habitat.
So restoration is important. The only way you're going to get
that done is by acquiring it yourself and working out something that
way, and then you would have those TDR credits to discuss
how -- what the eventual fate of those is; otherwise, it's not going to
happen. So that would be an important reason to buy these.
Thank you.
April 22, 2025
Page 111
MR. MILLER: That's it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Nobody else is lit up, so -- no other
speakers. Any other comments?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm just going to make one. I've
been supporting the CCLAC and their recommendations, and I'm
going to -- I'm going to continue to do so. So I'm going to support
the acquisition.
MS. COOK: Can I just note that this doesn't actually acquire the
properties. This just allows staff to move forward with the appraisals
and the due diligence.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm assuming that it ultimately will
lead to that. That's --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Can you go back to the slide
that had the dollar figures on it real quick.
MS. COOK: Sure.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro, anything
else?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I guess I just would have one
question. When you have -- on that one slide when it says "no
development is possible" and -- which is -- there's always a way, you
know, but, you know, the way it sits now -- and maybe this is a
hypothetical -- then why would we buy it? You know, because we
buy property to preserve it in perpetuity. And if that property
preserves itself, it's not going to be built on.
So I just -- I want to hear a really good answer to this because
I'm in line with Commissioner Saunders, when stuff comes to us as a
recommendation -- and like you said, it's just moving forward. It's
not necessarily purchasing it. We assume it's going to come to us
with all the positive type things, but it's not a foregone conclusion.
April 22, 2025
Page 112
But if it's a piece of property that's not buildable -- and I realize the
TDRs and all that and how we can manipulate that, but what would
be the reason for acquiring it if it seems like the land already
preserves itself if we don't spend the money?
MS. COOK: So -- a couple things. This is in the Rural Fringe
Sending District area, which the sending area is designated and -- I
don't know the word -- but it's designated so that
agencies -- conservation agencies buy those lands and keep them in
conservation forever.
The other thing, as Brad mentioned, that this area is just east of a
lot of development. Hacienda Lakes, the Caymas development. That
if it isn't maintained, there is the potential for more wildfire risks on
those properties that staff would be maintaining those properties
better than if they're left in an --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: We just leave it. Okay. No,
that's fair. I wanted to hear -- that's what I wanted to hear, something
like that. So I mean, I'm supportive of purchasing both these
properties.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We're ready for a
motion. I'll make a motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'll second.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All in favor of the motion, signify
by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Me.
April 22, 2025
Page 113
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. It passes 4-1.
Item #11D
THE PROPERTIES ON THE FEBRUARY 2025 CONSERVATION
COLLIER ACTIVE ACQUISITION LIST (AAL) AND DIRECT
STAFF TO PURSUE THE PROJECTS RECOMMENDED WITHIN
THE A-CATEGORY, FUNDED BY CONSERVATION COLLIER
LAND ACQUISITION FUND. (COMMISSIONER HALL’S
REQUEST) - MOTION TO APPROVE WITH THE EXEMPTION
OF THE LUCARELLI PROPERTY BY COMMISSIONER HALL;
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER KOWAL - FAILED
(COMMISSIONERS SAUNDERS, MCDANIEL AND LOCASTRO
OPPOSED) - MOTION TO APPROVE THE LIST AS
PRESENTED BY COMMISSIONER MCDANIEL; SECONDED
BY COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS - APPROVED
(COMMISSIONER KOWAL AND COMMISSIONER HALL
OPPOSED)
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 11D,
formerly 16A15. This is a recommendation to approve the properties
on the February 2025 Conservation Collier Active Acquisition List
and direct staff to pursue the projects recommended within the "A"
category funded by Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Fund.
This item was also moved at Commissioner Hall's question.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I pulled this one because there was
one of the properties that I took exception to, and that was the
Lucarelli property. If you take a look at the top picture right there,
that's five acres that are right in the middle of urban land. And to
spend two and a half million dollars on that piece of property to put it
April 22, 2025
Page 114
in conservation, I didn't see the value of it. I didn't see what the
purpose of it was.
There's a large code case with exotics already existing on the
property. And for two and a half million dollars, that -- this is
basically an exit strategy for these owners. They have no other thing
that they can do with it. They have talked about selling it and
remediating the exotics and fixing the code case and selling it to a
developer, which, in that case, would be the obvious thing, because
it's surrounded, and I just don't see -- I just didn't see the value of it,
including this on an "A" list for us to come back and say, no, this is
not worth it in the end. So that's why I pulled it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Any comments?
MS. COOK: No. The Commissioner is absolutely right, there's
been an existing code case since 2018 for exotics on this property.
They have also been through four reviews of -- for a subdivision plat
plan to develop eight single-family homes on this lot. So there's a
multitude of development options on this property other than just
conservation; however, again, they did apply to the program. It does
meet the criteria of the program, so it was brought forward to the
CCLAC and ultimately to you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Any public comment?
MR. MILLER: Yes, Brad Cornell.
MR. CORNELL: Good afternoon, again, Commissioners,
Mr. Chair. Brad Cornell with Audubon.
I share your skepticism about this parcel because of its -- the
context of the urban place that it is, but you'll notice that it's adjacent
to conservation easements and some waterways. And I want to make
a point that Conservation Collier's role in Collier County has some
purposes that no other agency is going to pursue. You're not going to
see the federal government come in after this or the state government,
Florida Forever. Nobody wants this except for possibly Conservation
April 22, 2025
Page 115
Collier, and the reason it's got value is think about Hurricane Ian just
a couple of years ago, and what we lack is a place to put stormwater
and -- in urban areas.
And so there's a really -- whether you're talking about the East
Coast or our coast or even in Central Florida where they suffered
some significant flooding in urbanized areas that they did not realize
they had built in floodplains, you need to have a place to put
stormwater. That's the value of this parcel, because it's in the midst
of urban development. It's a place to put water that's not in people's
houses.
So I know it's expensive. It does give you some pause, but
that -- if I may suggest, that would be the value of places like this in
an urban setting.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Is that a proper function of
Conservation Collier?
MR. CORNELL: I think not -- not as an engineering strategy
for stormwater, but as a natural -- they call it nature-based solutions
where you use natural wetlands. Yes, restore that, get rid of the
exotics, but keep the capacity for storing rainwater, precipitation
naturally the way wetlands normally do. They cleanse the water, and
they hold the water, attenuate it so that's not running off immediately
into people's streets and houses and those kind of situations.
Nature-based solution is the term.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman.
Ms. Cook, I was surprised this one was on the "A" list. I mean,
what's the big thing that we're missing here? The pros are, in my
opinion, kind of thin. I mean, that -- you know, I hear what
Mr. Cornell says, but I can't imagine that this one little plot saves this
whole area -- and I know he's not exactly saying that -- from
flooding, that sort of thing.
April 22, 2025
Page 116
But is there anything that we're missing, or is one of the pros a
really strong pro that I'm missing? Because you can always say,
aquifer recharge, stormwater storage. I mean, you probably almost
call any piece of land that, as a pro. And from what we hear, the
woodpecker's everywhere, the panther's everywhere. You know,
that's not the case here. But is it something that we're missing that is
a stronger pro than maybe what we're seeing on this slide?
MS. COOK: I would say that going back to we have eight
criteria that we look at when we look at properties: Native
vegetation, listed species, stormwater recharge, opportunities for the
public. This does meet the habitat, it does meet the ability for
stormwater storage, and it also is within the target protection area
being an urban area preserve. So that's why it was -- it was brought
forward.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner
McDaniel, I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. My question is, are we
agreeing to pay these monies for these properties now, or is this
authorizing you to go forward and negotiate with the purchasers?
MS. COOK: This is -- this is the same where we would go get
appraisals and do due diligence and then move forward to make
offers. This is not a set purchase price.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And then maybe with
Mr. French standing behind you, it was mentioned that there were
code enforcement liens that are out here on this property. What
happens to those?
MS. COOK: So they have not actually gone to hearing yet. If
the county were to buy it before it would be resolved, which I -- I'll
have no opinion on, then everything would disappear, and it would be
up to Conservation Collier to mitigate. Conservation Collier staff
April 22, 2025
Page 117
would highly recommend that be addressed and that code case closed
before an actual closing date.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the code case has to do
with exotic removal?
MR. FRENCH: Yes, sir. Commissioner, for the record, Jamie
French, your department head for Growth Management and
Community Development.
This has actually appeared before your Special Magistrate on
numerous occasions, and Mr. Lucarelli has asked for continuances,
which he has been granted. He's made obligations to your Hearing
Examiner -- I'm sorry -- to your Special Magistrate that this would be
cleaned up, as well as obligations to the community, and that's why
this continuance. Some of those have been hiring staff, getting an
engineer, which he has come back, and he has given reports to Mr.
Neale.
Although it's not discussed and it's not identified within your
Conservation Collier ordinance purchasing policy, one consideration
that we might ask is that you give, on -- if the Board were to move
forward with this property, that he would have to satisfy all the code
issues, which would be the removal of the exotics; otherwise, if this
remains, that code case transfers over to the county.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: My question in regard to the
exotic removal, it was my understanding that a property
owner -- private property owner wasn't required to do exotic removal
unless they were coming forward with a development order.
MR. FRENCH: That would be in the Estates. In your Estates
subdistrict, you're absolutely right. But when you have development
that is within 250 feet, we have this throughout the county, and in
many cases this is where we would work with the Sheriff's Office to
disrupt homeless activity.
I would point to Texas Tony's just down the road where they
April 22, 2025
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endured that, and that's the code we used, and that's where your
exotic ordinance does help with law enforcement and help keep the
quiet enjoyment of communities to keep that type out of there, and so
this was a legitimate code case that was called in.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
MR. FRENCH: There's been obligations made by this property
owner. And apparently unbeknownst, I would imagine, to Code
Enforcement, he has chosen a path to nominate -- have this property
nominated for a Conservation Collier purchase. We do think that
there's adequate benefit. It does meet the criteria, stormwater
recharge, as Mr. Cornell said. As your floodplain administrator, I
would totally agree with that.
But with these hardwoods and the exotics that are in there now,
it would not perform in the ideal fashion, as a conservation easement
that was well maintained.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
Some of my questions got answered through your questions
already. But I'm just trying to figure out exactly where this is along
Immokalee Road. What is that community that it's --
MS. COOK: Sir, it's part of Willoughby Acres.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Oh, okay.
MS. COOK: This is Airport Road right here -- or I'm sorry,
Livingston and Immokalee, and then this is Willoughby Acres.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So I know there was mention of
Hurricane Ian. So I don't believe we have flooding -- did we have
flooding in that community during Hurricane Ian?
MS. COOK: Not that I'm aware of.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Not that I'm aware of either. It
was in an A zone?
April 22, 2025
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MR. FRENCH: It is not within an A zone. It would be in the
AH for ponding.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: This isn't Willoughby Acres.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Huh?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's Palm River, isn't it?
MS. COOK: It's off of Erie Drive.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Off of Erie, oh, in the back of
Willoughby. Okay.
MS. COOK: Yes.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: It's in the back of Willoughby,
yeah. All right. I was just curious. I was just -- you know, I'm just
trying to figure out how would -- how would the water -- because I
assume they have a stormwater plan in that community already that
takes their stormwater. How would the water make itself to this
isolated piece of woods within the community, help the community
somehow?
MR. FRENCH: The natural attenuation of that area, it is an AH,
so it's going to be subject to ponding. It would not be subject to
either rivering or coastal surge.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I was going to make a motion to
approve, on the A list, all of the properties with the exception of this
one. The --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, sir.
Would an appropriate course of action, like you said -- we're
voting to move forward and get appraisals and things like that. But
because this one is unique, it has, you said, liens against it, right?
MS. COOK: No liens.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: What is it -- what was the
April 22, 2025
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issue?
MS. COOK: There's an existing code case that --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, the code case.
MS. COOK: -- the property owner has continued to request
continuances.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So then -- so we have that,
and then we have the removal of exotics. And so I'm never a huge
supporter of creating extra work for you-all, but also, I'm not a
supporter of holding up something to give us more information, and I
don't think this is -- we're not launching the space shuttle here.
You're going to do a real estate assessment and come back to us with
some information.
Would it be appropriate to move forward? But then the only
way I would vote on this would be if you came back with the
appraisal and we went to the owner and made an offer that would say,
"You have to clear the exotics, you've got to, you know, clear the
code case and all those things," then if they said no, I don't know that
I would spend $2.5 million for this piece of property.
But we couldn't -- could we make that offer now to the person?
And I think that answer's no, we have to move forward first with an
appraisal and all that and then negotiate with the landowner, correct?
I mean, that's the right course of action?
MS. COOK: Correct, it would -- staff would recommend that if
that were your -- were your decision, that it would be subject to
resolution of the existing code case.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. I mean, that's the only
way I think that I would support it. I would say bring us back some
of the information, and then let's see if we can, you know, negotiate
aggressively and not take all the liability for the exotics and the code
case and all that and have that, you know, jump on the county, if
that's an option. So I'm just trying to throw out some things here
April 22, 2025
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without totally killing it. But I certainly wouldn't want to take up all
the extra expense. I don't think it's that valuable of a piece of
property.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, just one little point.
And, Commissioner Kowal, this is all part of Palm River watershed,
and it did receive extensive flooding during the Ian event and the
Irma, because we had issues getting water out from the Irma event
with Palm River and the weir system. So this -- if you look at the
aerial photo, the big aerial photo of this, that little crick bed that goes
up along the north end here is the extension of Palm River's basin all
the way up through, so...
MS. COOK: The other option, Commissioner -- and we didn't
discuss it earlier, but would be to put this property on the B list,
which would mean that staff would reevaluate it within a year and
bring it -- re-rank it and bring it back to you. We could see -- if we
put it on the B list, we could see if they've made any resolution
towards the code case. If not, we may have a different overall
ranking.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, the only -- I guess the only
problem with that, if there is a problem, is that the property could be
sold for development between now and the time the B list is
evaluated, but that's --
MS. COOK: Absolutely. But it's been going through a
subdivision plat review for a couple years anyway.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. Well -- and that was
my question is, what is our benefit for belaying this? If we do move
forward, we still will have an opportunity to review all of the
extenuating circumstances and make a decision as to whether or not
we wish to proceed with the transaction based upon everything that
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you've just outlined, correct?
MS. COOK: Yes, absolutely.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
Anybody else? Any additional speakers?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We just had the one.
All right. So we have a -- I'm not sure if there was -- I think
there was a motion to approve the whole list with the exception of the
Lucarelli property. There has not been a second to that motion yet.
If there is no second --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I'll second it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and a
second to approve the list with the exception of the Lucarelli
property. We're going to call for the vote on that. If that vote fails,
we'll take another motion then.
All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
Now that motion fails 2-3.
Is there another motion?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll make a motion.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion to
approve the whole list as --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want to make the
motion, and I'll second it?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: No. Go ahead. You've got the
floor.
April 22, 2025
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COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We'll make a motion to
approve the list as presented.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'll second that.
Any further discussion?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'll just say when this comes
back, I would -- the aggressive negotiation would be something I
definitely would be looking for.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. If it really has the water
management type or stormwater management value, you're going to
have to do some convincing on that.
MS. COOK: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and a
second. I don't believe we voted on that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We haven't voted yet.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All in favor of the motion, signify
by saying.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye.
All opposed?
COMMISSIONER HALL: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes 3-2.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Did anybody change their mind?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I came close.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Come back with a
deal -- come back with a deal, Jaime. Come back with a deal.
MS. COOK: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I've got two houses on Johnny
Cake that didn't get a drop of water two streets down.
April 22, 2025
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CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Ms. Patterson.
Item #15A
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA BY INDIVIDUALS NOT
ALREADY HEARD DURING PREVIOUS PUBLIC COMMENTS
IN THIS MEETING
MS. PATTERSON: Commissioners, that brings us to Item 15,
staff and commission general communications.
Item 15A is public comments not on the current or future agenda
by individuals not already heard during previous public comments in
this meeting.
MR. MILLER: I have no additional comments at this time.
Item #15C
STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
MS. PATTERSON: Very good. That brings us to Item 15C,
staff and commission general commissions.
We do have a workshop scheduled for the first Tuesday in June.
We've confirmed that with each of your aides. That will be a shared
workshop between mental health in the morning, and then we'll start
the AUIR, and we may be able to get it done by lunchtime;
otherwise, we have the afternoon reserved for the AUIR.
And with that, I have nothing else.
County Attorney.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Nothing else.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Kowal.
April 22, 2025
Page 125
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
I would just like to thank the gentlemen sitting on the Board up
here with me in brainstorming and, I think, making a much stronger
ordinance than the original one that I presented. So I think the
language changes and things like that, it did shore it up a little bit
more. But I do appreciate you guys' support, so...
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You did a good job.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Yes, you did.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I do have -- I do have one thing that
I want to bring up. It came to my attention that the military museum
was not going to get to go into the building that we wanted it to.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And I can explain what the
situation is there.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I know. I understand what the
situation is about the -- with the funding and the appropriations and
the limitation of a museum versus veterans service center. But we
have 30,000 veterans in Collier County, and they have some amazing
artifacts. I mean, stuff that dates back to the Spanish American War.
So did -- did everybody get the email from Joe Algers? Okay.
When I got the email, I was -- I thought, "Doggone, we have got to
work this out."
So I had a thought, and I talked to the County Attorney and the
County Manager yesterday about it. And my thought was, what if we
put the military museum in that building with TDC funds, and then
when and if we ever get ready for the veterans services, we can put
them in there like we were going to, and in the meantime, because it
would take so long to do and that doesn't fix their immediate
end-of-the-year problem, we could allow them some space at the
museum over here to exhibit their stuff and function for two years
until we get that building over there in Golden Gate ready, and then
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they could move over there on a permanent basis. And that's -- I
thought that that might be a win-win situation for them and for us,
and, Commissioner Saunders, you probably know a whole lot more
about that.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, let's talk about that particular
building for just a moment. Structurally, it's sound, but it's going
to -- I think the estimate is probably going to cost 6 or 8 or $9 million
to get it into a position where it can be occupied.
Are you -- if the Board wants to use TDC funds for all that -- I
don't know that anybody would complain -- that would limit any
potential of getting any federal money; that would be the only thing.
In terms of the potential for federal money, we cannot commit to
space for a museum in there if we're going to use federal money.
Mario Diaz-Balart -- Congressman Diaz-Balart has put into
the -- will be putting into the next budget a request for $9 million. He
already did that for this year, but as you know, Congress went with a
continuing resolution. They went back to the 2024 budget which did
not include our $9 million.
So we're going to be delayed, I would guess, another year before
we really know if we have federal funding. But I think if we -- if
we're not careful, we would eliminate that potential.
But that's what -- if the Board wants to put the museum in there,
we can certainly do that. And I'm not sure what you'd want to do
with all of the other office space that would be available there.
There's more space there than the museum would need. It's about
17,000 square feet.
And Mr. Mullins is back there. He knows all of the details. But
the thought was that there would be all the offices for all the veterans
services organizations and for the county's veterans operations, and
that would take up the bulk of the building, but then there would be
an open area where different things could be placed.
April 22, 2025
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COMMISSIONER HALL: If we could fix the building, if we
could put it in there with tourism money, showing that it benefits
tourists, and then if we don't have to rely on federal funds, then that's
savings to the American taxpayer.
MR. MULLINS: For the record, John Mullins, your director of
Communications, Government, and Public Affairs.
To the Chair's point, the veterans community center, as
rebranded during this process, does provide space for some different
veterans organizations that we had been serving over the last several
months. Those include not only our own veterans services division
but also home base of Southwest Florida the Naples Vet Center, who
I think may have met with another one of our commissioners about
some needed space; Gulf Coast Veterans and Friends; and the
Warrior Homes of Collier County.
So the thought was trying to put all of these services in one
one-stop-shop location for veterans to make easier for them to
coordinate all the different benefits and programs that are available to
them.
So whether or not you want to use this space for the museum
using TDT or use this space for the veterans service center
which -- or veterans community center, apologize, which the
Commissioner's correct, we're at least six months away from another
federal budget being adopted if they're on time, and the last few years
they've not come close. So it could be closer to a year before we
have the 6 to $9 million available.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And as you noted, there are close
to 30,000 veterans in the community, and right now there is no
central place for them to go to access services. With the nursing
home there, there would be a veterans service officer at the veterans
community center, and then there'd be other services available. So
that was sort of the idea was to have this campus where we could
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have everything. The hope was that we could have a museum there
sort of in the center and -- but that became a bit complicated.
MR. MULLINS: That's the appropriations subcommittee rules.
This is community project funding, otherwise known as earmarks.
It's legislatively directed spending. And the subcommittee sets the
rules, which is what preclude museums from being a part of it,
because it's not considered economic development.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: What we could do -- and I
apologize. I'll go down the list here.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: What we could do is use TDC
funds for the portion of this building that would be used for the
museum, which would not be the entire building, and then use
general revenue of the county to finish off the building for those
veterans organizations. Because there's about 17,000 square feet. I
think the museum probably needs 7- or 8,000 maximum, maybe a
little less.
MR. MULLINS: And yes, that square footage depends upon
whether or not you complete the second floor. I think it goes
between 14- and 17,000 square feet depending upon that component.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. So there are options, but
we'd have -- we'd be digging into the general revenue.
Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, Chairman.
Regardless of what kind of money that we use for the veteran
community center and if it does or doesn't fit the museum, whether
it's tourist dollars or not, they need a home now. And a lot of the
emails that I saw, I saw you, John, and even Ms. Patterson offered
them space here on the -- at the government center footprint. And it
wasn't optimum, and it didn't give them 20,000 square feet, but all the
emails I was seeing was, "Hey, we're being thrown out of the airport.
April 22, 2025
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We need a place, like, yesterday."
And then I saw answers to those emails from you-all, and then I
saw emails then more from that group because then they got all
salivating about the big museum that was going to be built. And
there's many ways that that pie can be cut, but it's not going to be
done today.
We could -- we could figure out some unique ways of funding,
and we've just heard a few. But for the space right now, I thought we
had offered them something that at least allowed them to maybe
display their most valuable items and at least have something on
display while we worked out the uniqueness of the money. And I
think we've all brainstormed a couple of different possibilities that I
think we would all support. But what happened to the footprint that
we offered them to at least move now?
MR. MULLINS: We had looked -- and we still look at options
for them to try to accommodate them. One of them was the facility at
Freedom Park. Of course, because it is Freedom Park, it has the first
responders memorial, it has the freedom memorial. There's a natural
synergy and topical alignment between what they would be offering
as a museum and what's already there on that location.
It would also provide us the opportunity to maybe move some of
the items that we have here on campus to that location. The only
problem is that facility, those grounds of that park, were also paid for
with state Florida's Community Trust Fund money, which in the
agreement says we cannot lease that space to a private sector entity,
which means they would have to become a part of the museum
system. Now, that was one thing that they had approached us with at
the outset, too, was what were the steps to become part of the county
museum system? And we led them to those, and to your point it
looked like it was going in a positive direction, but then the tides
turned, not exactly sure why, and now we're looking at other ways to
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accommodate them, potentially with the actual museum here on the
main complex, which was not constructed with Florida Communities
Trust funds, which means there are no strings attached.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: See, I actually think that's the
priority right now, and to try to encourage them to take the keys to
that space. Whether it's perfect or not, they need an interim place
now that -- you know, nothing's going to be built at the veterans
center. But like I said, I saw a couple of emails, and then it seemed
like they stopped talking about it.
MR. MULLINS: And keep in mind, part of their issue is a lot of
the stuff that they have in storage, too, which has never really been a
part of this conversation because we don't really have the space to
take care of all their wares that they have in storage units and other
hangars at the airport.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Part of the complication,
Commissioner LoCastro, with that concept was that in order to be
part of the museum system, they would have to provide to the county
in the form of ownership those materials that the county would
determine would be appropriate for a museum. And so they
didn't -- they didn't want to give up control over the inventory.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: They had to do that for even
the space that was here?
MS. PATTERSON: No.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Only at Freedom Park.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Right. So that's -- I agree.
That's why that fell out. But we did have some square footage right
here within walking distance of this building. I'm wondering why
that fell out. Because as you just said, John, they didn't have to go
through all those gyrations.
MR. MULLINS: Well, because there was initially a lot of
interest from the representatives of the Naples Military Museum in
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Freedom Park, we've annually submitted a land management plan
proposal to FDEP that administers the Florida Communities Trust
program to get permission to have a military museum on those
grounds should we wish to. So we're still doing all of that due
diligence to have that option available, but we only did so because of
their sincere interest at the outset.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If we refunded the state grant -- I'm
not sure how much that is -- but then that would eliminate all of the
roadblocks.
MR. MULLINS: Upwards of $12 million.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, no.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Twelve?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, ma'am.
MS. KINZEL: Commissioner, I hate to interrupt, but last week I
was at a presentation of the Airport Authority director, and he openly
committed that they had the space at the airport for as long as they
wanted it. So I'm -- I mean, that was just him verbally, obviously,
but maybe that's why you're no longer seeing the letters. He
definitely committed to the audience that, no, the veterans are good at
the airport. So I don't know how recently you checked with them, but
I just want to say that came straight from the director.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I think part of the problem is they
only have, I think, 800 square feet there.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So it doesn't do much for this one.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Do we have more than 800
square feet? And what we were offering them on the footprint here
was more, wasn't it?
MR. MULLINS: Yes, it would be more here. It would be about
1,400 square feet if it was at Freedom Park, internally, in the
building.
April 22, 2025
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MS. KINZEL: And I guess that would just give you a little bit
more time that -- if they have the existing.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro had
mentioned the potential for here on -- our museum here on this
parcel, on this site. What's the story there?
MS. PATTERSON: So we have -- over in the museum, we have
the room where we hold trainings and different things. The
idea -- and then it has a little gallery in the back. The idea was to
allow them to use that space. We would give it up for our exhibits
and other things and allow them there.
It also would allow them potentially to use some of the grounds
around there as well. We have a beautiful but underutilized garden in
the back where we have some -- a train and some other things, as
well as the tank that's there, so there may be a way to integrate things
in over there and possibly attract more people over to that museum.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: How big is that space?
MR. MULLINS: If I had to ballpark it -- we measured, I think,
the gallery component at one point to see if it was an option. I think
it was around 600 feet. If I had to ballpark the other part, I'd say it
was an additional maybe 1,200 square feet. So I'm thinking 1,800 to
2,000 square feet maybe. And that's napkin math.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That would be a nice --
COMMISSIONER HALL: Temporary fix.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I mean -- Mr. Chairman, if I
may.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Those were the numbers that I
think you had given to me, John, when I was talking to them sort of
like one-on-one trying to work a deal, and then they got very excited
about the vet center but got ahead of the headlights is what I actually
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told them. I said, "Listen, you're speeding."
And not only did I love the option that you offered them
here -- because it didn't come with all the strings of Freedom
Park -- but also, too, they -- by their own admission, a move would
help them sort of go through all their inventory. And one of the
things that I told them is, look -- and what our Clerk of Courts said
might be true and -- or it is true. She heard it. But that's not anything
that I've seen, you know, in writing. But it's still not a permanent
home for them, and I think at least putting them here -- I said the
same thing. I thought it put them in a more visible place. There's a
lot of people that don't even know there's a backside of that airport
unless you're -- you know, you're using it.
But then, you know, in my final sentence I said, "Guys, it's more
square footage than you have now, and I betcha the move would help
you shake the dust off of some things that maybe aren't as displayable
as you think, and you'd get a better feel for what you really have, you
know, to display."
So, I mean, I thought that was the winner. Maybe we need to
reengage with them and say, "Hey, for the interim, we might be able
to do some magical stuff with money, but it's not going to happen
today." And the offer of what's on the footprint here, hey, bring over
what fits. We'll make it work, and then at least you have a home
closer to the county, a more visible spot, and then we'll continue to
brainstorm, you know, unique funding and -- for some possible
space, you know, eventually at the veterans community center. That
was, you know, my thought. I think we should reoffer that and try to
convince them to take that, because I think it's the best interim
option.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
Just as a -- just as a point, this issue with the veterans museum's
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been going on since I became a county commissioner and they started
getting squeezed at the Naples Airport in that facility. And as an
organization, their leadership changes, and so then there does their
direction changes.
And I don't think any of us can argue how important having a
military museum or a veterans museum is for our community, but I
just want to -- I want to caution us with these potential discussions of
TDC money funding up a veterans museum. I think there are real
complications if we start moving them over to the veterans nursing
home facility and our capacity to receive federal money.
There is legislation going on in Tallahassee right now that
maybe allow -- hopefully will allow us to manage the TDT revenues
for the benefit of the whole community in offsetting ad valorem
expense and maintenance and capital expenses and all kinds of nifty
things.
So I would caution us at this stage to stay put. I'm really happy
with this particular site here at campus. The tank is over there. It
was donated by one of my friend's fathers to the county. It is the -- it
is a -- it is a nice happy home without a lot of management, without a
lot of fuss.
And then as evolution transpires -- Collier County has five
museums already that we're tending. So adding another one into the
mix is not, I don't think, an appropriate discussion for us to be having
right now.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So it sounds
like -- Commissioner Kowal.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Thank you, Chairman.
I was under the same impression. I knew there was a lot of
strings, especially with the federal funding coming from D.C., and
then, of course, the park down on Goodlette -- or not
Goodlette -- yeah, I guess it would be Goodlette -- so I thought for
April 22, 2025
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sure they were already coming here. I don't know why I thought -- I
thought this was a good fit for them here on campus for what they
have right now.
And I know a little history because I went down there, and I
talked to the director of the airport about a few things. And what
happens, every time they remodel another section of the terminal,
they keep squeezing them smaller and smaller and smaller. Like,
right now they're, like, in this little cubicle basically, and everything's
just shoved in there. You can barely get around.
But I told them they need to start taking things a little bit more
seriously. They probably need to think about getting, like, one
individual, like, a curator or something that actually can look at their
inventory, see what they have, and they can -- you know, like
Commissioner LoCastro said, you don't need 500 uniforms of, you
know, desert fatigues or something. You know, you can find one or
two that are unique. You have them as display items. You know,
they have tons of stuff in storage. It's just a duplicate of things.
So I think that gives them a little more legitimacy if they have
somebody like that. And I also told them, I says to the board, I says,
"What you need to do is research Collier County's military history."
Our airport was a training facility for the Army Air Corps. They
trained there, and, you know, before they gave the airport over to the
county in 1971, that was a military base. And if you can get more on
the lines of you start on the base of what our military history here is
in Collier County, then you feed off of that. And it gives you a little
more legitimacy to be part of the county government while you
occupy a space here.
And I don't know if they're going to take any of these
recommendations, but I think that would make it an easier pill for the
community to swallow to see that, you know, there is a history of
military activity here in Collier County. There is -- you know, in
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having it part of our system here. Not necessarily saying we absorb
it, but, you know, while they occupy our property, I think it would be
a good idea.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I think the -- I think the consensus
is that let's see if we can move them into the museum here. That's
close to 1,400 square feet with some outdoor space. That may be --
MR. MULLINS: That would have been Freedom Park.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: No.
MR. MULLINS: We're talking 2,000 square feet here on
campus.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Oh, 2,000. I thought you
said -- yeah, I'm sorry. Okay.
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
COMMISSIONER HALL: That's even more better.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. It's a whole lot more better.
So let's -- I think the consensus is we'd like to see them move
into our space, the 2,000 square feet, which should be sufficient, that
way -- and we have someone who can curate those types of things as
well.
MR. MULLINS: Well, to Commissioner Kowal's point, the
museum does have standards for things that are allowed into the
museum setting, and one of the things that we were looking at, should
they have been acquired by the county museum system, was bringing
on an actual professional museum curator that has experience in
military history. Because the Commissioner is correct, these things
really do have to have a little bit of a nexus to Collier County itself.
So that museum curator would be going through a lot of their
wares over there, seeing what is appropriate to be placed here,
whether it be Freedom Park or on this campus, as part of the museum
display.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Do you need anything else
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from us to move forward?
MS. PATTERSON: No, no. We'll chat with the military
museum folks, and we can update you.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you, Commissioner Hall,
for bringing that up.
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, sir.
Number 1, I want to have a -- we had a discussion today about
the floor area ratio that's currently set by our LDC a .5. How do
you-all feel about making a move to .6 on ALFs alone? I don't want
to do it on all development, but just for assisted living facilities,
because that seems to be the trend. You feel okay about giving staff
direction to look into that and amend our --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Blanket approval, is that what
you're saying?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, blanket approval. I
mean, amend the LDC. It's not a blanket approval, but it's an
amendment to the LDC. The -- what was shared with me was the
trend is .6 FAR, and it's been the case, and to not have to require the
deviations and such. If you're okay with that, carry on.
Number 2, I learned of another deficiency in our Land
Development Code with the notice processes for agriculturally zoned
lands. Agriculturally zoned land only requires a thousand
foot -- lineal foot notice to property owners of a use change.
We have a big one coming up in May, I think, is when it's
coming to us, out off of Sabal Palm Road, fairly large subdivision.
It's in your district. And it's an orange grove that's being converted.
The request is for close to 400 units, and they only had to notify a
thousand feet in each direction from where it is on a single-use road
with a lot of people between them and 951.
And so my suggestion is we amend -- we ran into this in Golden
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Gate Estates. When I first came into office, it was 500 feet, and that
required [sic] two property owners maybe. And then we went to a
quarter mile, half mile. Now it's a mile ring.
So my suggestion is we go to that mile ring across the board
with rezones, conditional uses, and use changes just to better edify
the community as to what the neighbor's planning on doing,
specifically on that one on Sabal Palm.
You know how folks are, if you -- if you live out towards 951,
you go to 951, go to the store, you come back, you go home. You
don't ride down -- you don't ride down Sabal Palm for fun. And so
the sign was posted legally out on the front of the property, but
nobody even knew about it.
Planning Commission meeting, NIM meetings were held.
Nobody -- nobody showed up, and now they're -- now -- now
everybody's showing up. So my suggestion is we elevate everything
for a notice process to a mile ring.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I'm good with that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Mr. Bosi's jumping out of his
seat.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Like he doesn't have anything
else to do.
MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, Zoning manager.
Just to clarify, you're -- agriculture. You're not talking about a
mile for the urbanized area? You're talking about agriculturally
zoned property that you want to increase it from a thousand feet to a
mile, correct?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Specifically on agriculture,
but I wouldn't be opposed to all rezoning requests.
MR. BOSI: In the urbanized -- just as a heads-up, in the
urbanized area, you're talking thousands --
April 22, 2025
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COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Big number.
MR. BOSI: -- thousands within a mile of some of these
locations, especially within a coastal area.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm not
suggesting -- specifically for ag lands.
MR. BOSI: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We did it for -- we have
already done it for Estates-zoned property. I'm trying to weigh the
benefits to the notification to the neighborhood of a use change in
relationship to the expense for the developer, because that -- that
notice process is an expense to the developer to let the world know
they're changing something from A to B.
And I haven't -- I haven't ascertained whether the public benefit
of the increased notice is worth it for us, but I'd like that to be
explored, but minimally on agriculturally zoned lands, that that be
extended to a mile.
We may give consideration to it on everything. It could be very
voluminous, but I -- here again, you weren't always negatively
impacted -- or you weren't always impacted by somebody that's on a
pass to you with a use change until you happen to go down that road.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I mean, I totally agree. I've got a
seven-acre ag ask coming up in Pine Ridge Estates, and a thousand
feet's going to reach one neighbor.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. And so for ag
specifically, I want to go to the mile ring, similar to what we've done
in the Estates.
And then we can debate, talk, hear from the community as to
whether the entire county needs to go to a mile ring or not. It's going
to -- it's -- you know, at the end of the day, it's government of and by
and for the people, and it's letting the folks know what's, in fact,
happening in the area.
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CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I'm not in opposition to
that, so...
There is another LDC amendment coming forward. From my
understanding, the current Land Development Code allows for an
unlimited amount of commercial vehicles to be utilized at a
residence, if I'm not mistaken.
MR. BOSI: The Code of Laws is where we have commercial
vehicle restrictions, and it does not have a number. It only has
conditions towards where -- how commercial vehicles could be
stored on residentially zoned properties, but it doesn't have a specific
number, and it does not apply to the Estates properties.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So therefore, then, there is no
limit on commercial vehicles in the Estates or on a residential piece
of property. I would like to -- I understand that that's up for review,
and my suggestion is is that it be limited to one in the Estates as well
as residential.
MR. BOSI: In residential, you're allowed to do it, but it has to
meet certain conditions. It has to be screened. It has to be an
enclosure. If it's a truck for a temporary duration, it could only be for
a short period of time.
So you want this -- the limitation of commercial vehicles to be
one per lot? So that would mean if you had a roofing company
that -- you're in the urbanized area, you're in Pine Ridge subdivision
and you had a roofing company, they could only have one
commercial truck at that location.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct.
MR. BOSI: So they couldn't bring -- there couldn't be two
trucks there to do the roof install.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, if they're coming to a
house to do a job -- I'm talking about being utilized as --
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MR. BOSI: You want an exception for active --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Forgive me for my tone of
voice, sir. You misinterpreted where I was going.
What's happening -- I'm not trying to limit 10 commercial
vehicles going to his neighbor's house to fix a roof, but because
they're only -- I'm pointing at you, Chris, because you're in Pine
Ridge. Well, they can't do that in Grey Oaks.
But I'm not talking the action of coming to a property and doing
work. I'm talking about the utilization of a residential home for a
commercial storage facility and/or to and from for operation of a
business.
MR. BOSI: Okay. So you want -- and this is -- when you
construct regulations, as you know, you've got to make sure that all
these exceptions that you're thinking have to be expressed to the
people who are writing them so we can understand what the intent
was. So this is -- this is for, say, a take-home vehicle?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct.
MR. BOSI: So this would exclude -- you know, this would
exclude home improvements or -- this limitation wouldn't be imposed
upon a parcel that was -- had an active -- an active building permit for
an improvement.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely not. This has to
do with the utilization of a residential property for a commercial
operation to utilize to-and-from commercial vehicles for the business.
MR. BOSI: You keep -- and I keep hearing the term
"residential," but then I hear "Estates." Because residential and
Estates are two separate properties. The Estates are an ag zoning
district and is not considered by our commercial vehicles [sic] a
residential district.
So your request -- and we have a restriction upon commercial
properties within residential districts. It doesn't have a number, but it
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just talks about if you do have it, they have to be enclosed, have to be
screened, those types of things. I think what you were describing is
you want a specific program about commercial take-home vehicles
within the Estates zoning district.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And residential, yes, both.
MR. BOSI: Oh. So you want to include all -- you want to open
up residential districts as well.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely.
MR. BOSI: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HALL: So if a guy has a handyman
business with a handyman sign, is that excluded?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He can take his home -- he
can take his truck home.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: One truck.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: One truck.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: What if his son works for Aztec
Plumbing, and he brings his truck home?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: He better hide it.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Oh.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I tell you what's generated
this -- because there's a gentleman in the audience, I think, that you
may have spoken with, and I have as well. There's a -- like, a
two-parcel area in Golden Gate Estates and a gentleman that has a
tree -- a landscaping business is renting that space to other
landscapers to park their trucks overnight.
And so at 6 o'clock in the morning, there's a half a dozen, or
whatever, landscaping companies coming out and grabbing their
trucks, and, of course, that's disruptive, and I think that's what you're
trying to get at. You just --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's not just landscaping.
That --
April 22, 2025
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CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: No, no, no. I'm using that as an
example.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Tim's neighbor's there. But,
you know, in Golden Gate Estates, we have -- we have a dump truck
driver that buys a house in Golden Gate Estates. He's allowed to
have -- he's allowed to bring his dump truck home, or an on-road
truck. But then the next thing you know, there's two dump trucks,
then there's four dump trucks -- four dump trucks. Then there's two
on-road trucks. Then there's a shop being built. Then there's
maintenance being done. And then you have an industrial operation
transpiring in a neighborhood that was never intended to be an
industrial use. And it is everywhere, especially the further east you
go.
And so this -- this may sound -- this may sound -- and we can sit
here and pick this apart all we want. I'm looking to come up with
some limitations to provide for the property owner to be able to
utilize their commercial vehicles. And, Commissioner Kowal, you
know, what are you going to do with a son that works for a different
company and -- those are, in my mind, special exceptions. What I'm
looking to do is protect the neighborhoods that we, in fact, have that
are residential. Even though Mr. Bosi sits there and argues with me
that the Estates aren't residential. It's agricultural with an Estate
overlay on top of it, which has a residential component.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I like case by case.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No?
MR. BOSI: No. The Estates is a zoning district. It's not an
overlay. It's a zoning district. It's a zoning district within the
agricultural zoning district.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct, but there are -- it is a
residential zoning.
MR. BOSI: The primary purpose is for low-density
April 22, 2025
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single-family residential development with ag -- with limited
agricultural activities.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So the limitation is one
truck.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: But you're allowed to have a
business on your property in the Estates as long as you don't service
more than one person at a time on the property at any one given time,
right?
MR. BOSI: You're allowed to have a home occupation within
any of our residential zoning districts.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: So if that's four roofing trucks
and you have a warehouse in the back, I mean, that can exist, right,
the way it is now?
MR. BOSI: The way that it's currently --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: There's no customers that are
coming to the property to purchase or exchange, but he keeps his
roofing materials, his tools in his workshop, he has three, four trucks,
and they go out to work every day from there. Is that allowed? I'm
asking him if that's something that's allowed now.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I make a suggestion,
Mr. Chair?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I would like to have -- to give
direction to staff to make the amendments as we are -- not debate it
today. This has to be -- this has to come through --
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: I wasn't debating. I was asking
for more information, that's all.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understand. But this is
going to come back to us. And rather than us -- I mean, you can
certainly ask all the questions that you want.
I didn't mean to take an enormous amount of time. I just -- I
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would like to put the limitation of one commercial vehicle on the
residence. And we can still debate that when it comes back to us. If
you-all think it needs to be five, then --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So, Mr. Bosi and Commissioner
McDaniel, I think -- correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is what
you're trying to accomplish, because I've had the same conversations.
You have some homeowners or property owners -- sometimes there's
not even a house on the property, but you have some property owners
that are parking their commercial vehicles in the Estates, and
they're -- they have multiple vehicles. It's not just their vehicles. It's
other people's vehicles. And so there's got to be a way to control that.
The one gentleman I spoke to talked about a half a dozen or
more landscape companies that are paying to park their vehicles on
somebody's property and picking them up in the morning and
bringing them back in the afternoon, and that's creating tremendous
havoc.
Commissioner McDaniel's talking about a little -- a broader
situation than that, but that's the problem we're trying to address; how
to protect the communities from having commercial vehicles parked
on their property.
One vehicle is what Commissioner McDaniel has recommended.
Maybe it's two. But whatever, you can come back with some
solutions to that problem.
COMMISSIONER HALL: You could include a gross weight
limitation. That only eliminates pickups, but it includes the dump
trucks and the --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So there's a way -- there's got to be
a way at least to address that.
COMMISSIONER KOWAL: Trucks --
MR. BOSI: And just to provide for a little bit more
complication, though, there's two different issues we're talking about.
April 22, 2025
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Your home occupation -- your home occupations allowances within
the Estates, the number of trucks associated with that, that's one
thing. The amount -- just an individual taking their landscaping or
taking their plumbing truck home with them, that's a different issue.
That's not a home occupation. That's an individual who works for a
plumbing company that takes their plumbing truck home with them.
From what I'm understanding, we would like to limit that
individual to one -- to one commercial vehicle per Estates lot as an
allowance with some other -- some other conditions we talked about,
screening of those vehicles from the right-of-way or from neighbors.
Is that something that this Board of County Commissioners would be
interested in as well, or do you just want us to come back and then
you guys can sort through?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Come back. I mean, as
Commissioner McDaniel said, we're not trying to debate this. He just
wants to get the ball rolling on trying to control that problem.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Because, again, it's -- it's
prolific throughout Golden Gate Estates, and the problem with the
buffering aspect, Mike, is what's satisfactory to us for buffering isn't
satisfactory to you when there's a dump truck firing up at 3 o'clock in
the morning and running for two hours before he hits the road and
runs all day long. Those guy crank those motors early on, let them
run for some time, and that's not really a sufficient buffer. How do
you mitigate those things? So those are all things that we can have
discussions about.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, if I might, I think a couple of you
referenced the gentleman in the audience. I know we don't normally
take speakers here. He did submit a slip. Did you want to hear from
him, or are you good?
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, did he want to speak on
the --
April 22, 2025
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MR. MILLER: He wanted to speak during commissioner
comments, and I gleaned that this is the item.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, we missed him. You've got
to -- come on up.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He sat out there all afternoon.
MR. MILLER: He indicated this item and not 15A, and I was --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Oh, okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I do have one more thing after
we're done with Tim.
MR. MALONEY: Good afternoon. Tim Maloney, for the
record. John Q. Citizen for everybody else.
We appreciate -- we want to express our gratitude for potentially
taking the steps forward by staff and commissioners to address this.
And whether I'm in an ag district with "E" Estates zoning, or you can
call me whatever you want, but I've lived in the Estates for my entire
adult life, and we have a -- we have a big problem.
And these operations -- they're trying to convert the Estates into
more commercial activity. And mostly, you know, Mike pointed it
out, when you read the purpose and intent of the Estates, it never
intended to be a lay-down area for commercial activity. It never -- it
never really mentions commercial parking for commercial vehicles.
It's low-density residences. And, you know, that's where we
live. So this is our -- this is our -- these are our homes. And I think if
we go unchecked, we're going to lose the entire Estates. I mean,
you're talking about 177 square miles of neighborhood here, and it's
already out of hand. I think COVID, and I think the home occupation
statute that's been abused and distorted has probably added to the
problem.
But if -- we need to get a handle on this, and we really, really
would appreciate addressing this. I'm hoping -- you know, obviously,
we're hoping for one. You know, that would be -- I guess from my
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standpoint, if it truly is unlimited, which I'm on the fence about
that -- I mean, I'm not sure that's been proven to me, but if we go
from unlimited to one, that's a bone. But if we're at one, we should
stay at one, you know. And if we're at unlimited and we're not at one
and we go to two, well, you know, we could probably live with that.
But our experience is, right now, five to seven rigs 5:30 in the
morning. And I've shown the video to a couple of commissioners.
And I just don't think it belongs here. I have a -- we have a son who's
got a future here, too. I may not have, you know, too many years left
living in the Estates, who knows, but I mean, my son's 30 years old,
and what's going to be left for these young guys that -- you know,
people that choose to live out here? So...
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's the goal. Thank you
for sharing.
MR. MALONEY: Thank you for listening.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel, did you
have --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's being abused. There's no
argument that it's being abused. How we ultimately get there -- you
know, I'm the first one to argue for property rights for you to utilize
your property as you see fit, but you also have the responsibility with
those property rights to not negatively impact your neighbors, period.
So last but not least -- and this is for us to have a chat about.
You don't know this is coming as of yet, and so I'd like to maybe
engage with the County Manager, and that is our staff, at least my
staff, my executive coordinators received an email from HR that
seems to be a minute cumbersome with regard to time calculations,
so on and so forth.
And I would -- I would like for this board to be able to
necessarily -- and I don't know how we're going to manage this. This
just came to me, I think, yesterday, and so I -- you know, not -- our
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executive assistant coordinators don't work 9 to 5. They don't work 8
to 5. They don't punch in. They don't punch out. They work all of
the time. And I -- and I foresee an opportunity for me to have to be
signing off on a time sheet where I have no -- I have no clue about
what it is that I'm actually theoretically ratifying.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I gave my -- I gave my assistant
some very sage advice.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You did? Well, share it.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And that advice was, "Just ignore
it," which she is doing.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I was told that there was a
system change over at HR.
MS. PATTERSON: This has to do with the SAP upgrades, and
this is something that we've been wrestling with as well. So that's --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: SAP stands for?
MS. PATTERSON: That's our financial system. And
time -- and so it's a timekeeping issue as well. So it's something
we've been wrestling with because we have a lot of people that don't
work a traditional work schedule. If you think about people that
work shift, think about people that work, like, EMS, 24 hours on and
48 off. So we can chat about it and see what solutions we can come
up with. We knew that there was going to be some bumps over some
of this, and we've been -- we've been working through it as we go
along.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I started doing a little bit
of exploration, and that's quite sage advice, Commissioner Saunders,
but I saw a potentiality where a superior was maybe having to sign
off on something that could put that superior and/or the employee in a
liable position. We don't need to do that.
MS. PATTERSON: No, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's all I have.
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CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Oh, mine should be fast
compared to that.
First of all, I didn't hear any debating or arguing. It was good,
healthy exchange is what I heard.
I'll just add one little thing, though, on the executive assistants. I
just think everybody who works behind this wall is very unique.
Like you said, Amy, there's other unique positions, but you can sort
of count their hours, you know. The five of us and the five of them
are salaried employees, and sometimes they're working all day
Saturday and Sundays, and then other days, you know. So when I
read it -- I didn't tell her to ignore it, but I read it, and I said, "I don't
think that you should have gotten this because it doesn't seem like it
applies to you." But like you said, you'll work it out.
Just a couple of quick comments. Just a healthy reminder that
there were some DAS homework assignments that we talked about
here, so I just want to make sure those don't get forgotten.
I really also want to thank Commissioner Kowal for his sense of
urgency pushing forward, you know, the e-bike ordinance, and then
we'll all see in our inboxes, if you haven't seen already,
Mr. Klatzkow's office has already quick turned it with the changes.
The only thing that I would say is let's really now get that
ordinance out there. None of us are e-bike experts. And I actually
talked to somebody on Marco who's probably one of my biggest
e-bike riders. And I know that when I show him that
ordinance -- and it's a very professional person that -- I know I'm
going to get some feedback where he's going to say, "You might have
a couple of holes here." So just -- we've got to just be open to that. I
know none of us are going to shoot it out and go, "Here's the law.
This is it." You know, it's -- it might be Draft No. 5, and Draft 6
could be coming. So we all just, obviously, need to be open to that.
April 22, 2025
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And then I'm going to -- Dan, I'm going to send it to the City of
Marco. I don't know if you need to send it to the City of Naples, but
the last time I compared -- okay -- notes with the City of Marco, they
said, we're not waiting on the county. We're going to do our own
thing. And then we, obviously, have something out now.
So hopefully they can -- they can do their own thing, but I'd like
to see some cohesion, so I'll be very impressed if they say, "Wow, we
like that as a start, and, you know, we have something that's very
similar."
And then lastly I always like to use this time to, you know,
thank people where thanks are due. And Jamie French and Jaime
Cook -- and they also represent a whole bunch of people whose
names I don't have written down here, but there's just been heroic
efforts at Caxambas and at the 951-boat ramp, heroic efforts working
with the City of Marco and catching a few stones and some spears
but doing it so professionally and marching forward. So I just
wanted to go on record. They already know that I can't thank them
enough.
You know, last night the two Jamies were at the Marco City
Council meeting, and I think just by your presence, it -- it made it a
valuable minimal discussion because it shows that we're not just
operating on autopilot and doing our own thing, and we're trying to
be as cooperative as possible.
And, you know, I've had to work with the two of you. And then,
like I said, I know you rely on some other teams. But thank you so
much for all the work that you've done behind the scenes and how
responsive you've been to me so I could be responsive to my
constituents when it came to Caxambas, 951, and a few other things.
And lastly, I'll just say to Mr. French -- and I think we've all
been attending the FC Naples soccer games. Game one was a little
bit of a fiasco as we were sort of learning a few things, but you know,
April 22, 2025
Page 152
now it is such a polished event, people getting in and out.
And, Jamie, I know that, you know, you went over there as sort
of our field general and sort of directed the traffic with the staff there
and really took charge, and you can -- you can tell not only
aesthetically, but logistically how different it is now and how much
of a big impact you made. And people just sing your praises over
there from the staff, from the FC Naples staff to Adrian's staff as
well, that -- how valuable your leadership was over there. So thank
you. It's noticed and appreciated.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. I think I'm going to tag onto
that discussion for just a moment. I was at the soccer match, the FC
soccer match this past Saturday, and I've been to two other ones.
And it was good seeing other county folks there, other commissioners
there. I think it's important -- if a commissioner hasn't been to one of
those games, I think it's important to go to one.
There's going to be another one, I think, on Saturday night. And
it's -- it's really a nice experience. You see 3- or 4,000 people having
a really good time. All the kids are having a great time. It is really a
nice operation out there, and that is to be credited to our staff
because, as you said, Commissioner LoCastro, the first night was
maybe a little rough. Lessons learned. But leading up to that first
night, there were some problems at the park in terms of the just
needing cleanup, needing new vegetation, new painting, things like
that.
So the park is in tiptop shape. It's absolutely beautiful. So if
you get a chance, if you haven't been out there for a soccer match, try
to get out there on Saturday and just witness that.
In addition, there's another company that's having a huge soccer
tournament in Collier County. I think they're using all of Collier
County's soccer fields for this. Literally thousands of people are
going to be involved in that, plus all the facilities at Paradise.
April 22, 2025
Page 153
So Hunden Partners -- this board directed staff to have Hunden
Partners freshen up their pro forma, their proposal that went back
when we first started developing this park. They've issued their
preliminary findings, presentation. That's available. I assume the
Manager has that if anybody wants to take a look at it.
This first report deals with facilities, and they're going to come
out in the next week or two with some information about what -- if
the park is continued to be developed, what the financial situation
would be in terms of the different types of tournaments.
I've been meeting with all of the stakeholders. I say "all of the
stakeholders," but I'm sure I've missed a few. But I've been having a
fairly large group meeting with me to go over issues dealing with
how to improve operations, how to make things a little smoother.
I think that the -- we've gotten a lot of good information. And
I'm going to be coming back to the Board starting in May, but the
first couple meetings -- the first meeting and second meeting of May
with some information about the facility and the reports.
And it would be nice if you're able to -- if you haven't been to a
soccer match, it would be nice if you could see one or just make sure
to be out there this Saturday during the day when there are literally
thousands of people out there enjoying that.
So I don't have anything else.
COMMISSIONER HALL: I've got one last thing.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Hall.
COMMISSIONER HALL: Our next meeting, I'm going to get
to fly to San Antonio and receive an award on behalf of Collier
County from Tyler -- from the ResourceX people, so I will not be at
this meeting. We're not going to handle any big land issues, so...
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I don't know what the agenda's
going to look like, but the Manager's very accommodating if we're
not going to be able to make meetings.
April 22, 2025
Page 154
MS. PATTERSON: Yep. So we'll leave it to the applicant. But
we had scheduled for that meeting NC Squared [sic]. So we'll reach
out to them and see if they want to push that land use to the second
meeting in May.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Is there a -- you're going to be out
in San Antonio. That's three hours, or is it two hours’ time
difference? I think it's two hours.
COMMISSIONER HALL: It's just an hour difference.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: An hour. If we set that for a
time-certain, would you want to -- I don't care if FC -- if NC Naples
[sic] gets continued. It's just --
COMMISSIONER HALL: If we set it for time-certain -- I'm
traveling back that day, so I don't know if I'm going to be on the
airplane or not.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah, okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: My only thought -- I mean, it
was Commissioner Hall that had the issues with NC Squared [sic]
and --
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That's true.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- I certainly -- even though --
COMMISSIONER HALL: I'd rather be here.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And the folks at NC Square know
how to count to four.
MS. PATTERSON: They do.
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So they're going to want
Commissioner Hall to be here. I doubt that they're going to object to
a continuance.
MS. PATTERSON: I would imagine that they'll be amenable.
(Simultaneous crosstalk.)
CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, that's true. That's true. If
there's nothing else, we are adjourned.
April 22, 2025
Page 155
*****
****Commissioner Hall moved, seconded by Commissioner Kowal,
and carried that the following items under the consent and summary
agendas be approved and/or adopted****
Item #16A1
AN AGREEMENT FOR THE SALE OF CULINARY KITCHEN
EQUIPMENT WITH CORE HEALTH PARTNERS
INCORPORATED RELATED TO INVITATION TO NEGOTIATE
(ITN) NO. 24-8291 AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENT (COMPANION TO ITEM #16G1) –
TERMINATING THE COUNTY’S MANAGEMENT OF THE
ACCLERATOR AND EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT FOR THE
SALE OF THE CULINARY KITCHEN EQUIPMENT
Item #16A2
RELEASE OF TWO CODE ENFORCEMENT LIENS WITH AN
ACCRUED VALUE OF $286,200, FOR A REDUCED PAYMENT
OF $43,960.20, IN THE CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTION
TITLED BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS VS.
NICHOLAS BALLO IN SPECIAL MAGISTRATE CASE
NOS. CEPM20190011873 AND CEV20220000047, RELATING TO
PROPERTY LOCATED AT 807 108TH AVE. N., COLLIER
COUNTY, FLORIDA – FOR A POOL BARRIER VIOLATION
THAT WAS BROUGHT INTO COMPLIANCE BY THE OWNER
ON NOVEMBER 6, 2024
April 22, 2025
Page 156
Item #16A3
THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE
BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $25,000, WHICH WAS POSTED AS
A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER
PL20230005149, FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH MOORINGS
PARK AT GRANDE LAKE PHASE TWO – LAKE #7
MODIFICATIONS – THE COUNTY HAS RECEIVED THE AS-
BUILT LAKE CROSS-SECTIONS AND THE LAKE INSPECTED
ON FEBRUARY BY STAFF
Item #16A4
THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE
BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $36,040, WHICH WAS POSTED AS
A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER
PL20230004543 AND PL 20240005867, FOR WORK
ASSOCIATED WITH SKYSAIL PHASE 4 TOWNHOMES - THE
COUNTY HAS RECEIVED THE AS-BUILT LAKE CROSS-
SECTIONS AND THE LAKE INSPECTED ON FEBRUARY BY
STAFF
Item #16A5
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES AND ACCEPT THE
CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER
FACILITIES FOR MAJESTIC PLACE, PL20240011370 – FINAL
INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED BY STAFF AND FOUD
THESE FACILITIES SATISFACTORY AND ACCEPTABE ON
JANUARY 22, 2025
April 22, 2025
Page 157
Item #16A6
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES AND ACCEPT THE
CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER
AND SEWER FACILITIES AND APPURTENANT UTILITY
EASEMENT FOR TERRENO AT VALENCIA GOLF AND
COUNTRY CLUB – MASTER AMENITY CENTER,
PL20240011282 - FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED BY
STAFF AND FOUD THESE FACILITIES SATISFACTORY AND
ACCEPTABE ON JANUARY 3, 2025
Item #16A7
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR HAMMOCK PARK PHASE
2B, PL20240013585 - FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED
BY STAFF AND FOUD THESE FACILITIES SATISFACTORY
AND ACCEPTABLE ON FEBRUARY 24, 2025
Item #16A8
RESOLUTION 2025-79: A RESOLUTION FOR FINAL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND
DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE
PLAT DEDICATIONS, FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF MONTIANO,
APPLICATION NUMBER PL20140002750, AND AUTHORIZE
THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY IN THE
AMOUNT OF $168,017.50
April 22, 2025
Page 158
Item #16A9
RESOLUTION 2025-80: 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 10, APPLICATION NUMBER
PL20160001842, AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE
MAINTENANCE SECURITY IN THE AMOUNT OF $549,724.13
Item #16A10
RECORDING THE MINOR PLAT OF DEL WEBB NAPLES
PARCELS 304-306 PARCELS 305-306 REPLAT, APPLICATION
NUMBER PL20240013991 – LOCATED IN SECTION 17,
TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 29 EAST
Item #16A11
WAIVE THE NIGHTTIME HEARING REQUIREMENT AND
HEAR A LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AMENDMENT
RELATED TO HOUSING THAT IS AFFORDABLE, AT TWO
REGULARLY SCHEDULED DAYTIME BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS’ MEETINGS AND APPROVE A REQUEST
TO ADVERTISE THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE
AMENDMENT - TO INCREASE THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING
DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM
Item #16A12
April 22, 2025
Page 159
WAIVE THE NIGHTTIME HEARING REQUIREMENT AND
HEAR A LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AMENDMENT
RELATED TO THE IMMOKALEE URBAN AREA OVERLAY
DISTRICT AT TWO REGULARLY SCHEDULED DAYTIME
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONER’S MEETINGS AND
APPROVE A REQUEST TO ADVERTISE THE LAND
DEVELOPMENT CODE AMENDMENT – FOR THE
IMMOKALEE URBAN ATEA OVERLAY DISTRICT
Item #16A13
THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR THEIR DESIGNEE, TO SUBMIT
AN APPLICATION TO THE FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE
CONSERVATION COMMISSION'S INVASIVE PLANT
MANAGEMENT SECTION TO BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE
FUNDING ASSISTANCE SERVICES WORTH $300,000 IN FY
2026 THROUGH THE UPLAND INVASIVE EXOTIC PLANT
MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR THE REMOVAL OF
INVASIVE EXOTIC VEGETATION WITHIN CONSERVATION
COLLIER'S DR. ROBERT H. GORE III, NORTH BELLE MEADE,
MCILVANE MARSH, AND SHELL ISLAND PRESERVES, AND
TO AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ACCEPT SUCH FUNDING
ASSISTANCE SERVICES IF AWARDED – THROUGH AN
APPROVED CONTRACTOR UNDER AN EXISTING STATE
CONTRACT
Item #16A14 – Moved to Item #11C (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
Item #16A15 – Moved to Item #11D (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
Item #16A16
April 22, 2025
Page 160
AN AGREEMENT FOR SALE AND PURCHASE UNDER THE
CONSERVATION COLLIER LAND ACQUISITION PROGRAM
WITH HENDRIX HOUSE, INC., AND RESTORATION CHURCH,
INC. (“HENDRIX HOUSE”), FOR A 17.66-ACRE PROPERTY AT
A COST OF $502,500, FOR A TOTAL COST NOT TO EXCEED
$507,870, INCLUSIVE OF CLOSING COSTS – FOR THE
FOLLOWING FOLIOS #41711000002, #41770040003,
#41770080005, & #41770120004
Item #16A17
FIRST AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT FOR SALE AND
PURCHASE FOR THE CYPRESS COVE LANDKEEPERS, INC.,
F/K/A CYPRESS COVE CONSERVANCY, INC., A FLORIDA
NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION (CYPRESS COVE), TO
EXTEND THE DUE DILIGENCE PERIOD TO AUGUST 12, 2025,
AND THE CLOSING DATE DEADLINE TO OCTOBER 11, 2025,
OR WITHIN THIRTY DAYS OF THE PURCHASER'S RECEIPT
OF ALL CLOSING DOCUMENTS, WHICHEVER IS LATER, TO
PROVIDE ADDITIONAL TIME FOR THE COUNTY TO
COMPLETE THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF
THE PROPERTY – FOR FOLIO #41501440005
Item #16A18 – Withdrawn by Staff (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE A SECOND AMENDMENT
TO AGREEMENT NO. 22-7966, “BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL
OFFICIALS,” WITH THE COLLIER RECREATION
BASEBALL/SOFTBALL UMPIRE ASSOCIATION, INC., FOR A
ONE-YEAR RENEWAL AND A PRICE INCREASE FOR THE
April 22, 2025
Page 161
REMAINING RENEWAL TERMS – FOR ELEVEN PARKS AS
LISTED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKUP
Item #16A19
RESOLUTION 2025-81: A RESOLUTION RELATING TO THE
STEWARDSHIP SENDING AREA 14 - RESTORATION
CREDITS (CLH SSA 14) IN THE RURAL LANDS
STEWARDSHIP AREA ZONING OVERLAY DISTRICT (RLSA)
AND TO AWARD RESTORATION II CREDITS TO COLLIER
LAND HOLDINGS, LTD, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
APPROVED RESTORATION PLAN
Item #16A20
FORMALLY WAIVE CONTRACTUAL PAYMENT
OBLIGATIONS FOR REVENUE GENERATING AGREEMENT
#22-8023, WITH PARKS AND RECREATION DIVISION
CONCESSIONAIRE BLUWATER, LLC, FOR THE RETAIL
SALES OF BAIT, DRINKS, FOOD, AND MINOR SUNDRIES AT
CAXAMBAS PARK UNTIL THE PARK’S FUEL DELIVERY
SYSTEM RENOVATIONS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, AND
RETAIL FUEL SALES CAN BE REINSTATED – ENSURING
UNINTERRUPTED PUBLIC ACCESS
Item #16A21
BUDGET AMENDMENTS TOTALING $585,000 FROM THE
PARK BOND FUND (3063) AND PARKS AD VAL CIP (3062)
RESERVES AND APPROPRIATE THESE DOLLARS WITHIN
PARK BOND FUND (3063), REGPK SUN-N-FUN PROJECT
April 22, 2025
Page 162
(80421), AND PARKS AD VAL CAP (3062), REGPK POOL
PUMP RPR PROJECT (#80384) TO MAKE FURTHER REPAIRS
AND RENOVATIONS AT SUN-N-FUN LAGOON
Item #16B1
AWARD INVITATION TO BID NO. 24-8319, “COLLIER BLVD
(CR-951) & CITY GATE BLVD NORTH INTERSECTION
IMPROVEMENTS,” TO AJAX PAVING INDUSTRIES OF
FLORIDA, LLC, IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,966,506.61, APPROVE
A $167,153.06 OWNER’S ALLOWANCE, AND AUTHORIZE
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT
(PROJECT #68056)
Item #16B2
THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE TWENTY (20) DEED
CERTIFICATES FOR PURCHASED BURIAL RIGHTS AT LAKE
TRAFFORD MEMORIAL GARDENS CEMETERY AND
AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER OR DESIGNEE TO
TAKE ALL ACTIONS NECESSARY TO RECORD THE DEED
CERTIFICATES WITH THE CLERK OF THE COURT’S
RECORDING DEPARTMENT
Item #16B3
A REPORT ON THE STATUS OF GOLDEN GATE ESTATES
LAND TRUST AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER
OR DESIGNEE TO BEGIN THE DISPOSITION PROCESS FOR
THE REMAINING PARCELS
April 22, 2025
Page 163
Item #16B4
AN AGREEMENT FOR THE DONATION OF A DRAINAGE
EASEMENT (PARCEL 119DE) REQUIRED FOR EVERGLADES
CITY STORMWATER DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS – FOR
FOLIO #84090400047, PROJECT #77777
Item #16B5
RATIFY THE ADMINISTRATIVELY APPROVED FIRST
AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 21-7902 WITH AIM
ENGINEERING & SURVEYING, INC., ADDING $42,660.00 AND
EXTENDING THE DAYS FOR TASKS 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, AND 9 FOR
THE “GOODLETTE-FRANK STORMWATER & DITCH
IMPROVEMENTS (SECTION B)” PROJECT (#60102)
Item #16B6
THE TERMINATION OF TWO INACTIVE EASEMENTS – ONE
BEING AN EXCLUSIVE WELL, WELL PUMP, AND WATER
PIPELINE EASEMENT AND THE OTHER BEING A UTILITY
EASEMENT TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
GATE, COLLIER COUNTY’S CONTRACTOR DEVELOPING
AND OPERATING THE GOLDEN GATE GOLF COURSE, AND
THE STATE VETERANS NURSING HOME
Item #16B7
RESOLUTION 2025-82: AMEND EXHIBIT “A” TO
RESOLUTION NO. 2013-239, AS AMENDED, THE LIST OF
SPEED LIMITS ON COUNTY MAINTAINED ROADS, TO
April 22, 2025
Page 164
REFLECT SPEED LIMIT CHANGES AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS
– CHANGING THE SPEED ON JOSEPH LANE FROM US41 TO
ISLAMORADA LN FROM 30 TO 25 AND FOR ANDREA LANE
FROM JOSEPH LANE TO THE END OF THE ROAD FROM 30
TO 25 MPH
Item #16B8
CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 FOR AGREEMENT NO. 22-8053,
“PROFESSIONAL DESIGN AND RELATED SERVICES FOR
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PHASE II,” WITH
KIMLEY-HORN AND ASSOCIATES, INC., REALLOCATING
FUNDS FROM TASKS 6 & 7 TO A NEW TASK 10 FOR RIGHT
OF WAY ACQUISITION SUPPORT (PROJECT NUMBER
#60249) – FROM 16TH ST. NE TO EVERGLADES BOULEVARD
Item #16C1
CHANGE ORDER NO. 2, PROVIDING FOR A TIME
EXTENSION OF NINETY-SEVEN DAYS TO AGREEMENT NO.
23-8112, WITH ACCURATE DRILLING SYSTEMS, INC., FOR
THE “WESTERN INTERCONNECT FORCEMAIN PHASE 7”
PROJECT, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE
ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER (PROJECT NO. 72009)
Item #16C2
CHANGE ORDER NO. 1, PROVIDING FOR AN INCREASE IN
THE CONTRACT AMOUNT OF $178,222.50, FROM
$1,817,423.25 TO $1,995,645.75, A TIME EXTENSION OF 135
DAYS, THE REALLOCATION OF FUNDS WITHIN EXISTING
April 22, 2025
Page 165
TASKS UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 22-8042, “CEI SERVICES
FOR GOLDEN GATE CITY TRANSMISSION WATER MAIN
IMPROVEMENTS” WITH AIM ENGINEERING AND
SURVEYING, INC., AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO
SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER (PROJECTS #51029
AND #70253)
Item #16C3
FOURTH AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 15-6365,
“DISASTER DEBRIS MANAGEMENT REMOVAL AND
DISPOSAL SERVICES,” WITH ASHBRITT, INC., TO INCREASE
THE FEE SCHEDULE RATES 2.7%, AND AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AMENDMENT
Item #16C4
SELECTION COMMITTEE’S RANKING AND AUTHORIZE
STAFF TO BEGIN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH LJA
ENGINEERING, INC., RELATED TO REQUEST FOR
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) NO. 25-8336, “DESIGN
SERVICES FOR TAMIAMI WELLFIELD IMPROVEMENTS –
WELLS 41-49,” SO STAFF CAN BRING A PROPOSED
AGREEMENT BACK FOR THE BOARD’S CONSIDERATION
AT A FUTURE MEETING
Item #16C5
THE ADDITION OF SEVEN FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (“FTE”)
POSITIONS IN THE PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT,
INCLUDING SEVEN VEHICLES AND ASSOCIATED
April 22, 2025
Page 166
EQUIPMENT BASED ON CUMULATIVE ASSET
ACQUISITIONS AS APPROVED IN THE CCWSD OPERATIONS
RESOURCING STRATEGIC PLAN, AND AUTHORIZE THE
ASSOCIATED BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Item #16C6
CHANGE ORDER NO. 16 AND ITS ASSOCIATED WORK
DIRECTIVES ALLOWING FOR PAYMENT OF UP TO
$797,161.24, AND ADDING 74 DAYS TO AGREEMENT NO. 18-
7474 WITH MITCHELL & STARK CONSTRUCTION CO., INC.,
PERTAINING TO THE "DESIGN-BUILD OF NORTHEAST
SERVICE AREA INTERIM WASTEWATER TREATMENT
PLANT, STORAGE TANKS AND ASSOCIATED PIPELINES"
AND APPROVE AN AFTER-THE-FACT FOR DEFICIENCIES
FOUND WITH CHANGE ORDER NO. 16, AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER,
AND APPROVE THE NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENT (PROJECT #70194)
Item #16C7
AN INCREASE IN EXPENDITURES FOR THE SINGLE SOURCE
PURCHASE OF MIXERS, PUMPS AND RELATED
EQUIPMENT, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES," WITH XYLEM
WATER SOLUTIONS USA, INC., IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-
EXCEED $2,360,000 PER FISCAL YEAR (INCREASING THE
EXPENDITURE BY UP TO $860,000 PER FISCAL YEAR), AND
APPROVE THE ATTACHED SECOND AMENDMENT TO
AGREEMENT NO. 24-029-NS
April 22, 2025
Page 167
Item #16C8
AN INCREASE IN EXPENDITURES FOR THE SINGLE SOURCE
PURCHASE OF "PROMINENT EQUIPMENT, PARTS, AND
SERVICES,” FROM TRINOVA, INC., IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-
EXCEED $185,000 PER FISCAL YEAR (INCREASING THE
EXPENDITURE BY UP TO $85,000 PER FISCAL YEAR) AND
APPROVE THE ATTACHED SECOND AMENDMENT TO
AGREEMENT NO. 24-056-NS
Item #16D1 – Continued from April 8, 2025, BCC Meeting
AWARDING THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO. 24-8280,
SERVICES FOR SENIORS, TO SOUTHERN HOME CARE
SERVICES, INC., D/B/A ALL WAYS CARING HOMECARE;
PERSONAL RESPONSE CORPORATION; ELEVEN ASH, INC.,
D/B/A HEALTH FORCE; HOME HEALTH CARE RESOURCES,
CORP.; AND ALWAYS THERE HOME HEALTHCARE, INC.,
AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE
ATTACHED AGREEMENTS (HUMAN SERVICES GRANT
FUND 1837)
Item #16D2
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THIRTY (30) MORTGAGE
SATISFACTIONS FOR THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES
PARTNERSHIP LOAN PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF
$288,311.92, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE ASSOCIATED
BUDGET AMENDMENT TO APPROPRIATE REPAYMENT
AMOUNT TOTALING $113,207.95 (SHIP GRANT FUND 1053)
April 22, 2025
Page 168
Item #16D3
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THREE (3) MORTGAGE
SATISFACTIONS FOR THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES
PARTNERSHIP LOAN PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF
$22,500.00 DUE TO THE DEATH OF THE BORROWER(S) (SHIP
GRANT FUND 1053) (PROJECT #33863)
Item #16D4
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THREE (3) RELEASES OF LIEN IN
THE AMOUNT OF $18,072.14 FOR PROPERTIES THAT HAVE
REMAINED AFFORDABLE FOR THE REQUIRED 15-YEAR
PERIOD SET FORTH IN THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES
PARTNERSHIP (SHIP) IMPACT FEE PROGRAM DEFERRAL
AGREEMENTS
Item #16D5
THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN ONE (1) RELEASE OF LIEN FOR
AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING DENSITY BONUS FOR A UNIT
THAT IS NO LONGER SUBJECT TO THE TERMS OF THE
AGREEMENT – LOCATED AT 4430 BOTANICAL PLACE
CIRCLE #204
Item #16D6
ACCEPT THE YEAR 3 ALLOCATION OF OPIOID
SETTLEMENT FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,942,240.64
($399,277.79 CITY/COUNTY AND $1,542,962.85 REGIONAL
ABATEMENT) AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET
April 22, 2025
Page 169
AMENDMENT (OPIOID ABATEMENT GRANT FUND 1850
AND OPIOID CITY/COUNTY SUBDIVISION GRANT FUND
1852)
Item #16E1
AN ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT ASSIGNING ALL RIGHTS,
DUTIES, BENEFITS, AND OBLIGATIONS TO TIGRIS
AQUATIC SERVICES, LLC – STAFF WAS NOTIFIED OF THE
ACQUISITION ON JANUARY 29, 2025, AND THAT TRGRIS
ASSUMED ALL RESPONSIBILITIES, OBLIGATIONS AND
DUTIES UNDER THE DEANGELO’S AGREEMENT WITH THE
COUNTY
Item #16E2
MODIFICATIONS TO THE 2025 FISCAL YEAR PAY &
CLASSIFICATION PLAN, WHICH CONSISTS OF ONE
RECLASSIFICATION AND REMOVAL OF ONE OBSOLETE
CLASSIFICATION FROM JANUARY 1, 2025, THROUGH
MARCH 31, 2025
Item #16F1
SECOND AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 20-7753,
“DESIGN SERVICES FOR COLLIER COUNTY EMS
STATIONS,” WITH SCHENKEL & SHULTZ, INC., ADDING 180
DAYS TO THE PROJECT TIME, AND AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AMENDMENT
(PROJECT #55212)
April 22, 2025
Page 170
Item #16F2
THIRD AMENDMENT TO THE COLLIER COUNTY
EMERGENCY SERVICES DEPUTY MEDICAL DIRECTOR
AGREEMENT TO NAME DOUGLAS S. LEE, M.D. THE
INTERIM MEDICAL DIRECTOR, INCREASE HIS
COMPENSATION TO THAT OF THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR,
EXTEND THE AGREEMENT TERM, AND AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AMENDMENT
Item #16F3
NOTIFICATION OF THE ISSUANCE OF A COLLIER COUNTY
EMERGENCY PURCHASE ORDER ISSUED TO CINTAS
CORPORATION AND AUTHORIZE PAYMENT FOR THE
REPAIRS SERVICES PROVIDED (PROJECT NO. 52163) – FOR
FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS REPLACEMENT
Item #16F4
RATIFY ADMINISTRATIVELY APPROVED CHANGE ORDER
NO. 1, ADDING 24 DAYS TO THE PROJECT TIME UNDER
AGREEMENT NO. 24-8250, GOLDEN GATE GOLF COURSE
OUTFALL SWALE, CONSTRUCTING APPROXIMATELY 2,400
LINEAR FEET OF A 35-FOOT-WIDE LINED SWALE AND A
300 LINEAR FOOT OUTFALL PIPE AT THE GOLDEN GATE
GOLF COURSE, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN
THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER (PROJECT NO. 80412)
Item #16F5
April 22, 2025
Page 171
AN AFTER-THE-FACT PAYMENT FOR PURCHASE ORDER
NO. 4500234864 IN THE AMOUNT OF $107,562.50 TO EARTH
TECH ENTERPRISES, INC., UNDER CONTRACT #21-7885,
“BEACH MAINTENANCE AND RELATED SERVICES,” FOR
PELICAN BAY EMERGENCY BEACH DEBRIS CLEANUP
FOLLOWING HURRICANES HELENE AND MILTON – UNDER
PROJECT #50320
Item #16F6
RESOLUTION 2025-83: A RESOLUTION APPROVING
AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING GRANTS, DONATIONS,
CONTRIBUTIONS OR INSURANCE PROCEEDS) TO THE
FISCAL YEAR 2024-25 ADOPTED BUDGET. (THE BUDGET
AMENDMENTS IN THE ATTACHED RESOLUTION HAVE
BEEN REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS VIA SEPARATE EXECUTIVE
SUMMARIES)
Item #16G1
A COLLIER COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY STANDARD
FORM LEASE WITH CORE HEALTH PARTNERS
INCORPORATED FOR THE IMMOKALEE AIRPORT
CULINARY ACCELERATOR RELATED TO INVITATION TO
NEGOTIATE (ITN) NO. 24-8291 (COMPANION TO ITEM #16A1)
Item #16G2
CHANGE ORDER NO. 1, DEDUCTING $12,626.46 FROM
AGREEMENT NO. 20-7806 (PURCHASE ORDER #4500230969)
April 22, 2025
Page 172
WITH BOWMAN GULF COAST, LLC., (PREVIOUSLY HOLE
MONTES, INC.), FOR POST DESIGN ENGINEERING SERVICES
ON THE “BULK AIRCRAFT HANGAR AT MARCO ISLAND
EXECUTIVE AIRPORT” AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN
TO SIGN THE ATTACHED CHANGE ORDER (PROJECT NO.
33822)
Item #16I1
APRIL 22, 2025, MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
April 22, 2025
1. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS TO FILE FOR RECORD WITH ACTION AS
DIRECTED:
A. DISTRICTS:
1) Quarry Community Development District:
01/13/2025 Agency Memo, Signed Minutes, & Agency Mailing
2) Immokalee Fire Control District:
9/30/2024 FY 2024 Annual Audit Report
April 22, 2025
Page 173
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 $60,944,333.49 WERE DRAWN FOR THE
PERIODS BETWEEN MARCH 27, 2025, AND APRIL 9, 2025,
PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06
Item #16J2
REQUEST THAT THE BOARD APPROVE AND DETERMINE
VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND
PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF APRIL 16, 2025
Item #16J3
AFTER-THE-FACT USE OF $1,000 FROM THE CONFISCATED
TRUST FUNDS TO SUPPORT THE FLORIDA AGRICULTURAL
CRIMES INTELLIGENCE UNIT, INC.
Item #16K1
RESOLUTION 2025-84: APPOINTING TWO MEMBERS TO THE
EMERGENCY MEDICAL AUTHORITY – APPOINTING DAVID
LINDSTROM AND BARRY CONTEE BOTHFILLING VACANT
TERMS EXPIRING ON DECEMBER 31, 2026
Item #16K2
April 22, 2025
Page 174
RESOLUTION 2025-85 AND RESOLUTION 2025-86: THE
HOUSING FINANCE AUTHORITY OF COLLIER COUNTY FOR
APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE
AUTHORITY TO ISSUE REVENUE BONDS FOR THE
ACQUISITION, CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPPING, AND
DEVELOPMENT OF A 230-UNIT MULTIFAMILY
RESIDENTIAL HOUSING FACILITY KNOWN AS WAVE AT
ROSE AND LOCATED AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF
ROSE AVENUE AND SCHOOL DRIVE IN IMMOKALEE,
FLORIDA
Item #16K3
RESOLUTION 2025-86: THE HOUSING FINANCE AUTHORITY
OF COLLIER COUNTY FOR APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION
APPROVING A PLAN OF FINANCING INVOLVING THE
ISSUANCE BY THE AUTHORITY OF SINGLE-FAMILY
MORTGAGE REVENUE BONDS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO
EXCEED $50 MILLION OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, TO USE
VOLUME CAP ALLOCATION FOR MORTGAGE CREDIT
CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS OR FOR MULTIFAMILY HOUSING
FOR PERSONS OF LOW OR MODERATE INCOME
Item #16K4
AN AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF RIGHT-OF-WAY
(PARCEL 1274FEE) REQUIRED FOR THE VANDERBILT
BEACH ROAD EXT – PHASE 2 PROJECT (PROJECT NO. 60249)
ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT: $140,500 – FOR FOLIO’S
#37392080002 & #37392080109
April 22, 2025
Page 175
Item #16K5
A STIPULATED ORDER OF TAKING AND FINAL JUDGMENT
IN THE AMOUNT OF $99,000 PLUS $11,886.90 IN STATUTORY
ATTORNEY AND EXPERTS’ FEES AND COSTS FOR THE
TAKING OF PARCEL 1311FEE REQUIRED FOR THE
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PROJECT NO.
60249
Item #16K6
A STIPULATED ORDER OF TAKING AND FINAL JUDGMENT
IN THE AMOUNT OF $99,000 PLUS $11,791.28 IN STATUTORY
ATTORNEY AND EXPERTS’ FEES AND COSTS FOR THE
TAKING OF PARCEL 1307FEE REQUIRED FOR THE
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PROJECT NO.
60249
Item #16K7
A STIPULATED ORDER OF TAKING AND FINAL JUDGMENT
IN THE AMOUNT OF $103,000 PLUS $18,379 IN STATUTORY
ATTORNEY AND EXPERTS’ FEES AND COSTS FOR THE
TAKING OF PARCEL 1359FEE1 REQUIRED FOR THE
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION PROJECT NO.
60249
Item #16K8
RESOLUTION 2025-87: A RESOLUTION TO DELEGATE
AUTHORITY TO THE COUNTY PROJECT MANAGER,
April 22, 2025
Page 176
ROBERT WHITE, P.E., AND COUNTY ENGINEER OF RECORD,
RICHARD ARICO, P.E., FROM KIMLEY HORN, TO TESTIFY
AT THE VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION ORDER OF
TAKING HEARING AS TO THE PROJECT CONSTRUCTION
PLANS AND BIND THE COUNTY TO THE PLANS (PROJECT
NO. 60249)
Item #16L1
THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO ADVERTISE AN ORDINANCE
CREATING THE IMMOKALEE COMMUNITY
REDEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD TO REPLACE THE
CRA-CREATED IMMOKALEE LOCAL REDEVELOPMENT
ADVISORY BOARD AND THE IMMOKALEE
BEAUTIFICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND REPEAL
ORDINANCE NO. 22-52
Item #16L2
THE COLLIER COUNTY COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT
AGENCY (CRA) TO BID ON BEHALF OF THE COUNTY AT
ONE CODE ENFORCEMENT LIEN FORECLOSURE SALE
SCHEDULED BY THE CLERK IN COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA V. KATRIX LLC, ET AL., CIRCUIT COURT CASE
NO. 24-CA-2591, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED THE
VALUE OF THE COUNTY’S IN-HOUSE APPRAISAL
(APPROXIMATELY $65,000.00 FOR ONE PARCEL) AND
AUTHORIZE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Item #17A
April 22, 2025
Page 177
RESOLUTION 2025-88: A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA, CLOSING THE APPROVED TERAFINA PLANNED
UNIT DEVELOPMENT, WHICH HAS FULLY COMPLETED
ALL ITS DEVELOPMENT PURSUANT TO ITS DEVELOPMENT
ORDER(S) AND HAS BEEN FOUND BY COLLIER COUNTY TO
HAVE ONLY ONE TRANSPORTATION COMMITMENT
REMAINING (PL20240012112)
Item #17B
ORDINANCE 2025-21: AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE
HORSE TRIALS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT ON
1,767.35± ACRES LOCATED NORTH OF COUNTY ROAD 858
(OIL WELL ROAD), WEST OF STATE ROAD 29, AND EAST OF
RANCH ONE ROAD IN SECTIONS 7, 8, 17, AND 18,
TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 30 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA [PL20250000514]
Item #17C – Continued to the May 13, 2025, BCC Meeting
(Per Agenda Change Sheet)
RECOMMENDATION TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION
DESIGNATING 3,912.41 ACRES IN THE RURAL LAND
STEWARDSHIP ZONING OVERLAY DISTRICT AS
STEWARDSHIP SENDING AREA WITH A DESIGNATION AS
“BCP SSA 21”; PURSUANT TO THE TERMS SET FORTH IN
THE ESCROW AGREEMENT, STEWARDSHIP SENDING AREA
CREDIT AGREEMENT FOR BCP SSA 21, AND STEWARDSHIP
SENDING AREA EASEMENT AGREEMENT FOR BCP SSA 21;
APPROVING A STEWARDSHIP SENDING AREA CREDIT
April 22, 2025
Page 178
AGREEMENT FOR BCP SSA 21; APPROVING A
STEWARDSHIP SENDING AREA EASEMENT AGREEMENT
FOR BCP SSA 21; APPROVING AN ESCROW AGREEMENT
FOR BCP SSA 21; AND ESTABLISHING THE NUMBER OF
STEWARDSHIP CREDITS GENERATED BY THE
DESIGNATION OF SAID STEWARDSHIP SENDING AREA.
THE SUBJECT PROPERTY IS LOCATED IN PARTS OF
SECTIONS 4, 5, 11 AND 15, AND ALL OF SECTIONS 8, 9, 10,
AND 12, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 30 EAST
[PL20240004704]
April 22, 2025
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 2:36 p.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL
Ag,t,z€44.40--
B U RT SAUNDERS, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST
CRYSTAL K. KINZEL CLERK
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4.
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These minutes appro ed by the Board on / l 3 J�S
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.
Page 179