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Agenda 07/11/2017 Item # 2C07/11/2017 COLLIER COUNTY Board of County Commissioners Item Number: 2.C Item Summary: June 13, 2017 - BCC/Regular Meeting Minutes Meeting Date: 07/11/2017 Prepared by: Title: Executive Secretary to County Manager – County Manager's Office Name: MaryJo Brock 06/30/2017 10:32 AM Submitted by: Title: County Manager – County Manager's Office Name: Leo E. Ochs 06/30/2017 10:32 AM Approved By: Review: County Manager's Office MaryJo Brock County Manager Review Completed 06/30/2017 10:32 AM Board of County Commissioners MaryJo Brock Meeting Pending 07/11/2017 9:00 AM June 13, 2017 Page 1 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida, June 13, 2017 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 members present: CHAIRMAN: Penny Taylor Andy Solis Donna Fiala (via speakerphone) William L. McDaniel, Jr. Burt L. Saunders ALSO PRESENT: Leo Ochs, County Manager Nick Casalanguida, Deputy County Manager Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney Crystal Kinzel, Director of Finance and Accounting Troy Miller, Television Operations Manager June 13, 2017 Page 2 MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, you have a live mike. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning. Thank you very much. It's wonderful to see so many people here. It's a sunny morning, at least I saw the sun, so it's a good day. And at this point we are going to ask Pastor John (sic) Perez of Livewire Church to come forward and give us the invocation, and then I'd like to ask Commissioner Saunders to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please. Item #1A INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PASTOR PEREZ: Let us pray. Father, we come before you in the name of Jesus. And, Lord, I just thank you for every single person that's in this room, every person that might be watching, Lord, and every person that will be here today. Lord, just be a life and blessing over every single one of them, God. And, Lord, we just pray that you would just lead this time that we have together, Lord; that your presence would be in this place; God, that you would fill us up with the knowledge of your will, Lord, and all your understanding and all your wisdom; God, that it would not be about us, it would not be about our agenda, not what we want to do, what's right for ourselves but, God, that we would do what's right in your eyes; that we would do what is good, what's pure, what is right for Collier County. And so, God, we just pray that you would lead every aspect of this meeting, Lord, everything that takes place, every word that is spoken, Lord, and we give you the praise, the glory, and the honor. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) June 13, 2017 Page 3 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning. If you notice, and I think we all do, that our dear Commissioner Fiala's not with us, but she is with us by phone. And in order to make this possible, we have to have a motion to allow this to go forward, that Commissioner Fiala can enjoin this meeting by telephone today. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: (Abstains.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning, Commissioner Fiala. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Good morning. And thank you, everyone, for allowing me to participate. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Glad you're here. So we'll have the approval of today's regular, consent, and summary agenda as amended. Item #2A TODAY'S REGULAR, CONSENT AND SUMMARY AGENDA AS AMENDED (EX PARTE DISCLOSURE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR CONSENT AND SUMMARY AGENDA.) - APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, may I go through the change sheet. June 13, 2017 Page 4 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Of course you can. MR. OCHS: A couple of changes this meeting this morning. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Of course you may. MR. OCHS: Thank you. Good morning, Commissioners. These are the proposed agenda changes for your Board of County Commissioners' meetings of June 13, 2017. The first proposed change is to move Item 16A15 from the consent agenda. That will become Item 11F under your regular agenda. This move was made at Commissioner McDaniel's request. The next proposed change is to move Item 16D13 from your consent agenda to become Item 11G. This item was moved at Commissioner Taylor's request. We have two minor agenda notes this morning, Commissioners. The first relates to Item 11E. This is the item that will be presented later this morning relative to the EMS write-off of bad debt. There was a resolution accompanying that item that was inadvertently left off the agenda. We have since gotten that to the commissioners and to our minutes and records staff. I just wanted to mention that for the record. And with regard to Item 17A on your summary agenda, there was a sentence left off of the title of the summary that has since been added in through this agenda note on the change sheet, and it's underlined on your change sheet. Commissioners, we have a couple of time-certain items on today's agenda. Commissioner Taylor has deemed that Item 7, public comments on general topics, will be heard at 1 p.m., and that will be followed immediately by discussion of Item 11A. That's the discussion on your amateur sports complex proposal. And that will be followed immediately by Item 10B. That is the planned joint meeting between the Board and the Tourist Development Council. Also, with respect to Item 11G, that was just added on this change sheet from the -- as a regular agenda item. I'm requesting that that be June 13, 2017 Page 5 heard immediately following 11B, since both of those relate to our housing programs, and Ms. Grant is here and has to get to another appointment later this morning. So if the Board will indulge that, we'd like to hear 11G immediately after 11B. Those are the changes I have, Madam Chair. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Very good. County Attorney? MR. KLATZKOW: No changes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Ms. Kinzel? MS. KINZEL: No, thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: One question on the change to the agenda. What was the rationale for moving the items not on today's agenda under No. 7? Did I understand that to be the case, that we're moving that to a time-certain of 1 o'clock? MR. OCHS: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Public comment? MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: For items not on the agenda. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right, right. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: But -- well, you know, we didn't advertise that, and if I were a member of the public that were reading this agenda, I would assume that item would come right after our proclamations and declarations. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: What we can do is, if that's the case, we'll have it twice. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. I just don't want to shy anybody that made arrangements to be here. And are we doing ex parte right now as well? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, we are. Yes, because the -- yes, June 13, 2017 Page 6 we are. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. I'm okay with the changes to the agenda. And ex parte, I have only one on Item No. -- excuse me -- 17A. I received emails. Other than that, no ex parte. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you. By the way, thanks again, everyone. It's nice to see you in person, even though I'm not sitting with you; but thank you for allowing me to participate. As far as disclosures go, the only disclosure I have -- everything else I have not participated in, but 17A, I've had a lot of involvement with that through the Bayshore CRA. I go to their meetings and so forth. I've had calls. I've called -- I've talked with planning commissioners, I've read the staff report, I've talked to staff about it, I've talked with Wayne Arnold and Matt O'Brien from Mattamy Homes. And as far as corrections or additions, I have nothing to add or delete on this agenda. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No changes and nothing to disclose. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, no disclosures and no changes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And I do have a disclosure -- no disclosures except on the 17A, and I, like Commissioner Fiala, have many meetings, conversations, correspondence, and emails regarding this property of Mattamy Homes. And just to -- I guess this is the time; is that correct, County Manager? This is what I'd like to discuss how we're going to conduct this meeting today. And what we're going to do, because Commissioner Fiala is not with us and very difficult for her to light her June 13, 2017 Page 7 button from her home -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Really? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- we're just going to go through and I am going to methodically ask each of you to ask questions and then go to the next one. And we'll do it that way. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's a good idea. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. Just easy, and hopefully help keep me in order. So sometimes you may be first and sometimes you may be last, but it's not by my will. It's just by the order. All right. MR. OCHS: Do you need a motion to approve today's agenda as amended? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any other changes? We happy? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Carries unanimously. Thank you. June 13, 2017 Page 8 Item #2B MAY 9, 2017 - BCC/REGULAR MEETING MINUTES - APPROVED AS PRESENTED MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, Item 2B is a recommendation to approve the meeting minutes from the Board of County Commissioners' meeting of May 9, 2017. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do I hear a motion? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, so moved. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Motion by Commissioner McDaniel, second by Commissioner Solis. All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. Item #2C MAY 11, 2017 - BCC/CITY OF MARCO JOINT MEETING MINUTES – APPROVED AS PRESENTED MR. OCHS: Item 2C is a recommendation to approve the minutes of the joint meeting with the City of Marco Island held on May 11, 2017. June 13, 2017 Page 9 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Move to approve. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Second. All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Item #2D MAY 11, 2017 - BCC/MASTER PLAN UPDATE/RURAL FRINGE WORKSHOP MINUTES – APPROVED AS PRESENTED MR. OCHS: Item 2D is a recommendation to approve the minutes from the workshop discussing the update to the Rural Fringe Mixed Use Development Restudy Plan that was held on May 11, 2017. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Motion to approve. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So moved. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) June 13, 2017 Page 10 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Item #3D1 RECOGNIZING ALBERTO SANCHEZ, SENIOR INVESTIGATOR, PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT AS THE MAY 2017 EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH – PRESENTED MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that takes us to Item 3 on today's agenda, awards and recognitions. Item 3D1 is a recommendation to recognize Al Sanchez, our Senior Investigator with Public Utilities Department, as the May 2017 Employee of the Month. Al, if you'd step forward and be recognized. (Applause.) MR. OCHS: Stand right there and get a picture while I tell the audience a little bit more about you. Commissioners, Al has been a member of the county staff for more than 17 years working currently with our Public Utilities Department. He represents our Utilities Customer Education and Compliance Section in charge of enforcing our solid waste mandatory collection ordinance as well as our recycling ordinances. Allen and his team are also very heavily engaged in the conduct of vehicle inspections for our hauling contractors in town to ensure that those vehicles are operating safely on county roads. He and his team also work with locating and identifying improper water system connections and working to bring those connections into compliance with our utilities standards ordinance. Very important works. Al consistently embodies the values of Collier County. His leadership's evident in the work that he does not only on his own but with his team and with the members of our community, and he is most June 13, 2017 Page 11 deserving of this prestigious award. Commissioners, it's my privilege to nominate Al Sanchez as your May 2017 Employee of the Month. Congratulations, Al. (Applause.) Item #5A PRESENTATION OF THE COLLIER COUNTY BUSINESS OF THE MONTH FOR JUNE 2017 TO PRESTIGE INSURANCE CONSULTANTS, INC. ACCEPTED BY SHANNON MORGAN AND SONIA VARGAS, OWNERS, PRESTIGE INSURANCE CONSULTANTS, INC.; MICHAEL DALBY, CEO AND DIRECTOR, GREATER NAPLES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE; AND BETHANY SAWYER, MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST, GREATER NAPLES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE – PRESENTED MR. OCHS: Item 5A is a presentation of the Collier County Business of the Month for June 2017 awarded to Prestige Insurance Consultants, Incorporated. To be accepted this morning by Shannon Morgan and Sonia Vargas, owners of Prestige Insurance Consultants; Susan Kuhar with the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce; and Bethany Sawyer, our Membership Engagement Specialist with the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce. If you'd please step forward and receive your award. (Applause.) MR. OCHS: And I see Michael Dalby is also here this morning. MR. DALBY: Poor substitute for Susan Kuhar. MR. OCHS: CEO and Director of the Greater Naples Chamber. MS. VARGAS: Good morning, everyone. We feel honored to June 13, 2017 Page 12 be receiving this award this morning. If I had to say 11 years ago, we would have never imagined we'd be where we're at today. The success of our agency has not only provided a good life for our families, but back to our staffs. And it also has enabled us to give back to our community and be engaged with multiple charities. MS. MORGAN: Thank you very much. MS. VARGAS: We'd like to thank the county commissioners, the Naples Chamber, and all the members of our community that make Naples a wonderful place to live, work, and raise our families. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I just have a question. MS. VARGAS: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It seems like you're a women-owned business; is that right? MS. MORGAN: That is correct. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Congratulations. MS. VARGAS: Thank you. (Applause.) Item #5B PRESENTATION REGARDING THE 2017 US OPEN PICKLEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP – PRESENTED MR. OCHS: Item 5B is a presentation regarding the 2017 US Open Pickleball Championship presented this morning by Terri Graham. And I'm assuming Jim Ludwig will jump in at some point. MS. GRAHAM: Probably not. MR. OCHS: Terri, good morning. MS. LUDWIG: She handles it all. MR. OCHS: Ah, great. MS. GRAHAM: Good morning. June 13, 2017 Page 13 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning. MS. GRAHAM: My name is Terri Graham, and on behalf of the US Open Pickleball team, Chris, Jim and Carol, we're very happy to be here today to present to you kind of a little post US Open wrap-up. Many of you think the US Open is a seven-day event and, in essence, it is a seven-day event, but really we're promoting the US Open and Naples, Florida, 12 months out of the year. A couple ways we do that is one is we have our website. Our website has thousands of hits every week throughout the year. Naples is front and center. Our Facebook page, again, very popular in the pickleball world. Naples, Florida, is right there front and center as well. And, finally, an email update, which Chris does twice a month, and this goes to anybody who goes on our website and signs up. We have about 5,000 people. And, again, Naples is front and center right there. So it really isn't just a seven-day event. It's something we promote year-round. So what happened in the 2017 event this year? Well, we had the largest pickleball tournament in the world for the second consecutive year. We had -- (Applause.) MS. GRAHAM: Thank you. We had close to 1,300 participants. Last year we had 800. So we were up substantially. We had 42 states and 14 countries. And I've been involved in the sporting goods business for over 30 years, and I have never been involved in an event like we had Saturday night with our flag ceremony representing the countries. And it was kind of a last-minute thing that we all put together. Anybody that played in the tournament from another country, we had their flag with them. We had some great music. This big party broke out. We almost didn't get back to pickleball that night because it was so much fun. And I thought it was going to be a one and done, but June 13, 2017 Page 14 it will be a regular that we do going forward. We had 64 pros, we had 10,000 spectators, and then the heads and beds, which you all want to know about, 3,000, and then I'm going to talk a little bit more about the economic impact later on. I mentioned the pros. You have to realize, two of the best, if not the best, players in the world are right from this area. Simone Jardim lives in Naples, Florida, and she heads up our US Open Pickleball academy. She's the best player in the world hands down. And to refresh your memory, last year she came from Michigan. She was a Michigan State tennis coach, and she flew down just to play in singles. She won singles. She had her husband come down the next day to go to the beach. She's from Brazil. And she said Naples Beach is the closest thing to the Brazil beach I've ever seen in my life. Two weeks later I was back in Chicago. I get a call from Simone saying, we're in love with Naples. We want to move. Can you help? Two weeks later the US Open Pickleball Academy was formed, and her and her family moved down here to run the academy, which is a 12-month academy. It's just taken off. It's incredible. Jim works with it as well, and it's really done an incredible thing for Naples, Florida. Kyle is from Fort Myers; best male player in the year -- or in the world. So these people are right here in the Naples area. And then we had a couple guest pros. We weren't expecting them to show up, but they did. This was very exciting. Margaret and Nick show up for our media day. Margaret's form's outstanding. Nick needs to consult the academy, I think. But, you know, this event wouldn't have happened at the level it did without these two, because that shade structure made the event what it is, what it ended up being. And Margaret was hands on. Any time Jim was at the park and needed somebody to come over and give a helping hand, Margaret was there, and Nick wasn't far behind. So June 13, 2017 Page 15 thank you both very much and for the county for that shade structure. It really put us at a level above everybody else. So the event itself, we had media day. There's Simone again. Anything you ever ask of this lady, she shows up and helps. We had the Manatee Middle School, about a hundred kids come over to play pickleball. The media showed up. Commissioner Taylor and Commissioner Fiala showed up. They continued to show up throughout the entire event. The way you two represent this county is just unmeasurable. And thank you very much for your support. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MS. GRAHAM: The first date of event we had rain. Not very good when you're doing an outdoor tournament. But it was singles Sunday, the clouds rolled in, the skies opened up. It was wonderful for all the wildfires. Everybody was very patient. We ended up starting the tournament about 2 o'clock that day, and we changed the format. No problem at all. And as you can see there, that's what the park looked like. And then the Zing Zang championship court, we sold out Friday and Saturday nights. Over a thousand people were jammed into this court; music rocking, players going nuts. We had the TV cameras there in the background. Pickleball Channel started saying the only outdoor pickleball arena in the world is in Naples, Florida; they just kept plugging that over and over again. This was just a beautiful, beautiful venue. CBS Sports Network, Digital Wave TV was here. They ended up recording and then later on putting on CBS Sports. We were supposed to get four broadcasts on CBS Sports. We ended up with seven, and the reason was they had thousands of people calling in to CBS Sports saying, will you play pickleball again? I heard it was on, and I missed it. So they ended up giving us three June 13, 2017 Page 16 bonus shows, and then Pickleball Channel, seven people flew in from LA and were on there all day long. Still to this day -- they run a little differently where they record a ton of stuff, and then every week for the next six months they'll release something new to keep the activity coming back. And then, you know, we end up hiring our play-by-play folks and our announcers. And Dave Benz, who is the voice of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is our play by play, and he's constantly plugging Naples. This is just one of the shots coming from the beach. Dave, you know, he starts out by saying, hey, great Chamber of Commerce day here in Naples, Florida. You've got to come visit. Dave's a great person for us. We just have to keep hoping that the Timberwolves don't make the playoffs so he can come back year after year. And this year we invested in live streaming. And this wasn't your -- you know, your iPhone, holding up the iPhone and doing some commentating. We had Digital Wave do this. We had five TV cameras, very professionally done. We plugged in commercials. It was great. Two days of live streaming. Pickleball Channel ended up doing three days of live streaming. Very successful for the first year of hitting another audience altogether. And this is the latest Pickleball Magazine. It's out. The hard copy isn't out yet. The digital gets released first. And here it is, Simone and Naples, Florida, on the cover. So this will be mailed out next week to everybody, and there's a great article in there. Collier County is talked about, a lot about how supportive Collier County is to pickleball. And these are the numbers that you really want to see are the survey numbers. And we hired a third party this year to do this. And this company does surveys for Hefty Trash Bags and Pepsi and all kinds of major companies. So the first one is what does the survey say on how did we do? Well, 86 percent of people out there were happy with their experience, June 13, 2017 Page 17 either very or somewhat satisfied with the experience. And then as you look down through, you know, you can see -- we break it down just because we want to know what we need to do better specifically to the event. But, overall, the number is 86 percent, which is outstanding. Where do they stay? Three out of four players stayed in Naples. And if you put all this together, you know, it's 76 percent that were staying in Naples. The RV park is added in there as well. Good and bad, our event's seven days long now. So a lot of people end up coming to town, and 10 people rent a VRBO or Airbnb house. A ton of them are being rented, as you can see there. Thirty-two percent are renting on VRBO and 17 on Airbnb. But the average night's stay is -- you know, you're up around seven nights. What do they do when they were here? 86 percent went out to dinner. You know, they do shop. They shop at the US Open, but they go out shopping around the community as well. And this one breaks it down a little more; spectator, player, referees. And one thing that I see in there that is kind of ironic is how many people went to your beach. And, you know, these are people coming from all over the country and all over the world. And it goes to show you when people come into town -- I know this is a conversation for later, but when they come into town, this group may not really care about your crown jewel. They want to go shopping, they want to go to dinner, and they want to play sports. And the beach isn't -- maybe not as important as some people may think in Naples. I was shocked at how many people went or didn't go to the beach. And then our overall satisfaction. I mean, you look at this, 8.81 percent. The volunteers 9. I mean, companies would kill for this. And this is -- this is nice for our organizing committee, for the four of us on the US Open Organizing Committee, but this says more about your town. This says a lot about Naples and East Naples Community Park and our volunteers that we end up having. June 13, 2017 Page 18 So when people go back and they start talking about the US Open, it isn't just about a seven-day pickleball event. It's Naples, Florida, and what they get when they come to Naples, Florida. It's just a wonderful, wonderful event for everybody in the world. And we're already starting on 2018. So here's the Pickleball Magazine. We've purchased an ad in there already announcing next year's date, save-the-date type ad, and that will be in the next two issues. Speaking of 2018, we're expecting more room nights. We are doing our party in the park again. We're increasing prize money. Depending on the court situation, we may have a few more participants, spectators, more CBS Sports, more live streaming. It's more, more, more, and it's more money coming into Collier County. Now, one of our sponsors that came on board this year was Margaritaville. And many people say, what's Margaritaville? Well, everybody knows Margaritaville with Jimmy Buffett, but these guys sell so much stuff. They sell blenders and Adirondack chairs. And you go into Bealls and you can buy towels or whatever. So they came on as our host of the VIP lounge that we had. This video they put together reached over three million people around the world. They ended up doing a social campaign. We didn't even know this when we negotiated the contract. We didn't know they were going to do all this social marketing with us. But when they did this video during -- I mean, they did stuff on Radio Margaritaville before and during the event that reached their -- I mean, they think they have over 10 million people listening to Radio Margaritaville, and they plugged the US Open and Naples, Florida, all the time. And they will be back next year. So to end everything -- first of all -- lastly, I should say, thank you very much for your support. I do have programs here for those of you who weren't able to make it out, that you can check out our programs, June 13, 2017 Page 19 and here is just a little three-minute video to get us up moving this morning. (Video being played.) MS. JARDIM: It got intense. What is pickleball? MR. WEINBACH: What is this game? This is pickleball. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Welcome to the Minto U.S. Open Pickleball Championships. I am here with Margaritaville. We have the VIP License to Chill lounge, we have the Land Shark Beer Garden, and we're sponsoring this game that this is buzzing all over Naples, Florida, right now. MS. GRAHAM: This year's on fire. You know, last year on a scale 1 to 10, say we did a 4. This year it's a 12. We have 19 countries represented. We have 42 states represented. So they're coming from all over the world. MS. JARDIM: You unite people from all different backgrounds, all different ages. I mean, anywhere in the world at this point. MR. WEINBACH: And these guys brought me on the court, showed me how to play. I was addicted in 10 minutes. MS. GRAHAM: Pickleball is a sport that's a cross between ping pong, because the paddle is like an oversized ping pong paddle, badminton; because the court is the same size as a badminton court; and a little bit of June 13, 2017 Page 20 tennis thrown in because you play with a net in front of you. The thing that makes this sport grow so much is the social element of it. It's competitive, so don't get me wrong, but it's the social element. MR. WEINBACH: It's not like tennis where you're standing so far away from all your other playing competitors. Everyone's close in. You can talk. It's so easy to play. It's cheap to get started. All you need is a paddle. MS. JARDIM: And I think the sound of it. I really do believe that has something to do with it. That plock, plock, plock that a lot of people get annoyed by, I think that has some to do with the addicting part of it, too. MR. WEINBACH: This game is the fastest growing sport in the world, fastest growing sport in America. It's just a craze. And I don't think it's going to be a fad. MS. GRAHAM: License to Chill VIP lounge is on fire, because everybody's in here to socialize, to have a drink, and to just hang out and visit with each other. MS. JARDIM: With the Margaritaville, just having this spot where all the -- you know, not just the players, but a lot of the people are having a good time. It's a party central, really. You know, the background is June 13, 2017 Page 21 awesome. I mean, everything about it is unbelievable. This is something that if you didn't do it this year is a must for next year, and we hope the Margaritaville will be involved again next year. Ah, you like my pitch there, ha? And, you know, Minto, of course, and all the sponsors because this event is what it is because of all the sponsors and all the support from the community. (End of the video.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Commissioner Fiala, anything to say? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, thank you so much for asking. What a joy it was to watch all of this. And I know you and I, too, were at the game. Terri and Chris, you do outstanding work, just -- I mean, because of their leadership -- of course, Terri, Chris, Jim and Carol. The four of them together make a dynamic four-pack. And I just want to thank you for bringing such recognition to our little part of the country. Thank you so much for everything you've done. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Just a quick question, if I might. In terms of the facilities and all, do you have enough courts? Do you have enough facilities, or is there a need for some growth? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Don't -- let Jim answer that one. MR. OCHS: That's fine. MR. LUDWIG: We're going to be working on that. Tomorrow June 13, 2017 Page 22 we're going to be working on that. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Come on up to the -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: In tennis terms that would have been called a sitter. MR. LUDWIG: Commissioner Saunders, we've been discussing it for some time and looking at improvements in the park, and tomorrow we're going to get down to the park and see what we can do for overall improvements and how we can keep it within budget, relatively speaking. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Can you kind of give me a little bit of an idea? We're going to -- we'll help determine the budget, so we might be more liberal than staff may be. MR. LUDWIG: Well, one of the issues is over Avalon school. We had some courts over there. There were eight courts, temporary courts we had set up, and that has been a sore in our -- or a thorn in our sides for the past couple years from a lot of players because it quite wasn't up to par to the caliber of the US Open and Naples and Collier County. So we're going to be eliminating those eight courts next year. We're not going to use them at all because we're above and beyond that now. So one of the things we need to do is look how we replace those but also, as Terri alluded to earlier, is to keep in the frame of mind how many people can we get in, because we only have a certain time frame. Every day we start at 8 o'clock, and we work until 10 o'clock at night. So if we don't have the court space, if we're losing eight courts and we're trying to add more people to bring more people in, there's still a time constraint. So right now we're at seven days. I, personally, because of all the volunteers I work with, think that we don't want to stretch beyond that and add it to eight or 10 days, because we really push our volunteers to June 13, 2017 Page 23 the max right now. So we're all going to work together with it. We have a meeting down in the park, and we're going to get there and come up with a good plan for all of us. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Great. Thank you. MR. LUDWIG: Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Just a quick question. Do you use any of the other pickleball courts in the county, or is it just the East Naples courts? MR. LUDWIG: Commissioner Solis, not just yet. We've looked at that possibility. One of the issues is that if you're running a tournament, then this becomes a whole separate tournament, if you're going to go to other courts. And that means that we've got to have a separate tournament desk, we'd have to have separate venues for food, because you still have to treat those people the same as you're treating them down in East Naples Community Park. But that is one of the thoughts for the future as well, and Veterans Park is one -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah, Veterans. MR. LUDWIG: Yeah. They've got eight big, beautiful courts up there. Possibility of just some primary type things. So that will be part of the discussion as well. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Qualities right? You have a qualifying tournament, too? MR. LUDWIG: Well, that's part of it. This is all new. I mean, for two years we've been into it, and I think we're doing a fabulous job. The county is doing a great job as well. So we're getting there. All of those are possibilities. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Congratulations. MR. LUDWIG: Thank you. June 13, 2017 Page 24 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Can I ask just another quick question. Are you finished? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: In terms of the numbers of pickleball players that live in Collier County, do you have any idea how many pickleball enthusiasts there are actually in Collier County live here? MR. LUDWIG: That's an interesting question. I try to constantly keep up with that, because I've got my finger on just about everything that's going on, in not only Collier County, but in the area. A good example is about four or five years ago, we had 48 people playing at East Naples Community Park. Now we have 1,300 people registered within that period of time just at East Naples Community Park. Veterans, Park there is somewhere in the vicinity of about 800 people registered. There are so many communities now, the likes of Minto, in Pelican Bay that are all putting in pickleball courts. So it's very difficult to find out how many people. A guesstimate on my part is somewhere in the vicinity of 5- to 6,000 people in Collier County that are playing pickleball right now. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. I didn't have my hand up. Congratulations. Thank you. MR. LUDWIG: Thank you. Thank you all for your help. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. MR. OCHS: Madam Chair? COMMISSIONER FIALA: If I could say one more thing. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Of course. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, great. One of the things that I was surprised to learn and that was at our first tournament last year, and that was that -- I thought, oh, my June 13, 2017 Page 25 goodness, this park is never going to be big enough. We need to go to other parks. And as I was talking to people, I -- you know, no special people, just anybody who would talk with me, I started asking the question. What they said was, they liked it all in one area, because then it doesn't break apart all the excitement. Everybody is together and they're cheering for each other and they're able to attend everything. They didn't even like to go next door to Avalon school because that's a few steps away, and it felt like they were out of the circle of excitement. That was a very interesting thing to learn. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Okay. One -- okay. So one thing I forgot to do, and it's probably a good time to do this, is to talk about the artist whose work is in the chambers right now. His name is Juan Diaz, and he's a Collier County resident. He's been involved in art and creating art since his childhood, and his artwork concentrates on themes of human freedom, respect, equality, life, and death. Thank you very much, Mr. Diaz. MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, are you going to take public comment twice? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do we have any -- yes. Do we have any -- MR. MILLER: I don't have anyone registered for public comment at this time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Very good. Item #10A THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO ADVERTISE AN ORDINANCE FOR FUTURE BOARD CONSIDERATION THAT WOULD ESTABLISH A PILOT PROGRAM IN IMMOKALEE TO June 13, 2017 Page 26 ASCERTAIN WHETHER ALLOWING THE PAYMENT OF IMPACT FEES BY AN INSTALLMENT PROGRAM, AS A VOLUNTARY ALTERNATIVE TO PAYING THE FEES IN A SINGLE, UP-FRONT PAYMENT, WILL HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON BOTH THE COSTS OF HOUSING AND ECONOMIC GROWTH - MOTION TO ADVERTISE AN ORDINANCE FOR THE JULY 11TH MEETING – APPROVED MR. OCHS: That would move us to Item 10A on your agenda this morning, Commissioners. This is a recommendation to direct the County Attorney to advertise an ordinance for future board consideration that would establish a pilot program in Immokalee to determine whether allowing the payment of impact fees by an installment program as a voluntary alternative to paying the fees in a single upfront payment will have a positive effect on both the cost of housing and economic growth. And Commissioner McDaniel has brought this item forward. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel, you have the floor. You're presenting. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Good morning. Thank you. Ms. Amy, will you help push buttons over there? MS. PATTERSON: Sure. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just as a forefront here, you folks have heard me speak quite regularly, personally, how I feel about impact fees and the structure, the forces that work with regard to one of the issues -- one of the main issues that we have in our community, and that's housing affordability, how these fees have been charged over the years. And as a point of discussion -- and I don't mean to jump around too awfully much, but I think it's important to note on the onset here, I'm not suggesting -- or I'm not bringing forward any adjustments in June 13, 2017 Page 27 the calculation, the metrics of calculation that's utilized for what the impact fees, in fact, are. I'm just suggesting a methodology, a change of how we're allowing these impact fees to be collected. It's my personal opinion -- and it's not a matter of personal. It's actually a fact -- the current structure puts the onus and burden of these impact fees on the first person coming in, whether it be residential or commercial. The proposition that I've brought forward is the same metrics of calculation for the fee and an amortization of that fee over a 30-year period and attaching the fee then to the real estate taxes so that the fee actually charges -- or actually travels with the property and not the first person coming in. And I -- you know, you can read through. I think -- did Sue send to you folks the -- in a one-way communique this PowerPoint prese -- okay. So you've actually had the opportunity to see this. Just to briefly go through it. Again, we're changing the payment mechanism. One of the rationales that I have -- and, statistically, I've worked with our Naples Area Board of Realtors, and the average home ownership period in Collier County is seven years. By shifting this burden over to the property itself, allowing it to travel, there's still a remedy of paying -- growth paying for growth. We're just shifting the burden off the first person in. I believe over time we will see a value increase, and I'm certain that, you know, there will be some developers that will run out and take advantage of people that are, in fact, buying homes. My goal here today is to do a pilot program. That's the reason we have suggested that we do it in the Immokalee CRA area as the geographic bound. It has been determined by our staff that that particular area is de minimis to our operational budgeted revenues that Collier County plans on and utilizes as its going forward. It's an extremely small microcosm of what we have going on in our community. And as with June 13, 2017 Page 28 every new decision, there are unintended consequences, both positive and negative. And my rationale for a two-year pilot program was in the Immokalee area. We already have baseline information you're going to see here in a moment. We have measureables and milestones that will be able to track this program and determine if, in fact, it's valid and if, in fact, it's working. The historical information for the already assessed valuation for this area is completed because of the CRA that is existent. We've got historical data to show what the appreciation -- or the assessed valuations are. This particular slide here talks about the permits. These are the building permits that have been pulled for the CRA area, which we'll then be able to monitor and then come back to the Board with reports on the progress of this methodology and the change. And this, again, is the slide of three-year, I believe -- yeah, since '14. Put my glasses on -- since 2014 through the CRA. This is another measurable and milestone that will track the validity of this opportunity. I think -- she's flipping back and forth between the two. That's the assessed valuation, and the other is the actual amount of the TIF money that's created with the existence of the CRA in this particular area. I'm proposing this to do blanket, both residential and commercial. I'd like to give you a couple of thought processes on my rationale. You're a $200,000 home buyer. Under the current structure, the impact fee is included by your builder in the price of your home but, in actuality, when you're paying $200,000 for your home, you're actually getting 175,000 -- currently our impact fee structure is about 25,000. It varies depending on size, shape, and such. But round numbers, you're getting $175,000 home minus the builder's profit. June 13, 2017 Page 29 This methodology would allow that front-end statutorily regulated expense to be spread out and attached to the real estate and shared by multiple owners. And please understand, this is not a cure-all. This is not an aggregate fix. This is an adjustment in how we're transacting business. And when you move this program over into the commercial arena, we have a vacant tract of land that's zoned commercial, and if you're going to build a 10,000-square-foot facility -- I know there's recently a bank that just got constructed over in Immokalee, and their impact fees pushed $200,000 up front. Now, you're an investor, you have this expense, and you believe that a cap rate, which is your rate of return on your investment, a fair rate of return, is 10 percent for that $200,000. That's $20,000 a year. And if you apply that cap rate, that rate of return back to your 10,000-square-foot building, you have to ask an additional $2 a square foot in order to attain your rate of return not even talking about the opportunity to receive the return of that investment. The rationale that I've proposed here is we're going to take that expense, spread it out over a 30-year period, allow it to travel with the real estate taxes. It can then be paid by the tenants over time with common area maintenance taxes and insurance. We're not avoiding any expenses here. We're just changing how we're doing business. And looking to -- the rationale behind it is to incentivize development in an area that direly needs it. So that's my -- that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anybody have any questions? Amy, do you have anything to add? Did I forget anything? MS. PATTERSON: No, sir. We can walk through the next steps after your questions, if that would be helpful. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. And she brings up a good point. Two things. This is just for your additional explanation. June 13, 2017 Page 30 By attaching these impact fees to the real estate taxes, we are creating a bondable instrument. So we won't be shy of money as it comes forward. We're actually going to be able to better ascertain the capital expenditures through this program. We'll be able to have a definitive known of revenue streams that we can utilize and bond against a known revenue stream that is secure and does provide us with the money up front as currently it exists. If you read through the ordinance, the executive summary and the actual ordinance, I put in a lot of discretion for our board, to allow for input from our board. I'm not the beginning and the end on this. I'm sure you folks are going to hear people's opinions as well. And I wanted to ensure that the Board had ongoing, continued input on this process, so... CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'd like to see if staff can weigh in on this, and then we'll get management's -- MR. OCHS: Sure. We'll be happy to. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. OCHS: First of all, I wanted to thank Commissioner McDaniel. He has invited the staff in to discuss this concept on several occasions, so we have had an opportunity to exchange thoughts on this and go over the potential benefits and disadvantages. So we appreciate the opportunity to work with the Commissioner on that. Having said that, I did tell him -- and this isn't a surprise to him -- that I prefer that we don't change the collection methodology for our impact fee program. As the Board knows, impact fees are used to pay for growth-related capital improvements. We're currently taking in about $40 million a year, which is not sufficient to cover the current debt on all of your impact fees as well as pay for new capital improvements related to growth. Having said that, and in fairness, I also need to tell you that the June 13, 2017 Page 31 amount of impact fees that we collect annually in the Immokalee CRA area is essentially de minimis as it relates to that $40 million. So if the Board is inclined to move forward with this pilot program, we don't anticipate that financially it will have too great of an impact on the overall collection of your impact fees and your revenue stream. If you were to extend this across the county, we'd be having a whole different discussion. The only other thing that I do want to add for the Board's edification, and I'll ask Ms. Patterson to go into a little bit of explanation on this, is when you change the methodology from an upfront payment to spreading out in installments over 30 years, it does create potentially some additional burden on the staff for monitoring and administration of a program like that, particularly as the obligation moves from one owner to the next. So I would like Amy -- again, just in terms of full disclosure. None of this is a surprise to the Commissioner -- to give the board, the rest of the board a little bit of an explanation on some of the potential consequences to this program on the staff administrative side. Amy? MS. PATTERSON: Sure, thank you. Amy Patterson, for the record. We have been looking at our current staffing levels versus the potential need to be created by an implementation of a program like this. And we do anticipate that we are going to need to dedicate resources to the program to ensure not only that we're able to stand the program up, if that's your desire, to administer the program properly, and then to see for the monitoring of the program. We have done this off and on with different programs, so we're fairly familiar. But even if there's a limited participation, which is not what the wish is -- obviously, we want to see great participation in the Immokalee area. Even at a low participation level, it's a pretty June 13, 2017 Page 32 intensive process for the staff to get this up and running and then to keep it going and ensure the proper monitoring. In addition, there are a few next steps, should you decide to move forward, that we need to address. One is coordination for the program participation with the school board and the Immokalee fire district. We collect impact fees on behalf of both those entities through interlocal agreements. The school impact fees are actually a county impact fee collected on behalf of the school district, while the Immokalee fire district has impact fees that we collect just through an interlocal agreement. So we would need to go out and coordinate with those two entities to determine their interest in participation and then how to make that happen, if there's changes needed to the interlocals or anything like that. Secondly, we would need to go and speak with the Property Appraiser and Tax Collector to identify their ability to assess and collect this on our behalf and also administrative charges that may be required, because there are charges that they pass through. And that brings us to No. 3, which is to identify the other administrative costs, including interest and fees, that will be passed on to the participants so that when somebody comes in to participate in this program, they understand whatever additional charges that they're going to incur by their voluntary participation. And that's all I have. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to -- MR. OCHS: What's the estimate on additional staffing requirements? Too early to tell? At least one? MS. PATTERSON: At least one now, and then it would depend on how successful the program is and how it moves forward. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Commissioner Saunders, any questions? Any comments? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: In terms of bond covenants June 13, 2017 Page 33 and all of that, this is such a small amount, I'm assuming it doesn't impact our bond covenants for impact fees that are already bonded out. MR. OCHS: No. I don't believe that it does, sir. Although, I will tell you that the idea, I think, as I understood it, was this creates the potential to borrow against this long-term obligation so we can fund our upfront capital needs. In reality -- I'll let Mr. Isackson speak to that. This probably will be getting into more of a short-term borrowing, either through a bank loan or commercial paper, because some of the amounts of the improvements that we would do probably wouldn't rise to the level of an extended bond issue. Mark, do you want to elaborate a little bit? MR. ISACKSON: Just to -- Commissioners, for the record, Mark Isackson with the Office of Management and Budget. To Commissioner Saunders' question, impact fees are not a pledged source of revenue in any one of our debt issues. They're just a source of repayment. Most of our debt is a covenant to budget and appropriate all legally available non-ad valorem revenue. We got rid of our pledged sales tax debt when we refinanced a lot of our debt over the last five or six years. Again, as Leo pointed out, the pilot program isn't going to make a big difference in our revenue streams coming in, but if there is a transition between this pilot program and something more county-wide, then we're going to have to have a conversation, I think, as the County Manager said. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Thank you for bringing this forward. I think this is a -- I think it's a good starting point. The only question I have is, are there any other ways for collecting it? And the reason I say that is, I have some experience with June 13, 2017 Page 34 non-ad valorem special assessments specifically and how those are collected. And if anyone, you know, is in need of a cure of insomnia, I wrote a law review article once on these, and my concern is that I think when we talk to the Tax Collector there may be an issue with using that methodology. I mean, I think this is a great idea, and it certainly is something we should try. I'm just wondering if there's -- is there any other possibilities for collecting or managing this in some other way? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If I might, Madam Chair. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Of course. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And, again, I said this in my opening statements. I'm not the beginning and the end on this. I left a lot of room for our Board's communication and comments with regard to this. If there is a better mousetrap, I'm in. This was a -- this was the process that I felt offered us the most amount of security. I think you and I even spoke about this last year during the campaign. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You know, I had this idea from my real estate days. You know, I've only owned real estate companies since 1987. Willoughby Acres -- water and sewer was put into that subdivision of Willoughby Acres, and the government financed the connection, amortized it, attached it to the real estate, provided for subordination agreements so it was readily transferable from one property to the next; didn't jeopardize the first mortgage position and the like. And that was where I conceptualized this as a thought process. What I'm proposing today is not dissimilar to ongoing business practice in government called a CDD. Very similar as well. So I'm certainly open to suggestion. Today I'm suggesting that we move this forward as a pilot program. It's one of the reasons why June 13, 2017 Page 35 we limited it all the way back to the Immokalee CRA area. As our staff has shared, it's de minimis from a revenue standpoint to our overall budgeted revenues and the like, so... COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Just as a follow-up. The idea is at this point, then, to take these next steps, not to necessarily approve the ordinance as it's written in the packet now, but -- because I think to contact the Property Appraiser and the Tax Collector -- and I guess we have the other districts as well, the school district and the fire district, to make sure they're all on board, and then it would come back -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's correct. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- with the ordinance? Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The way this -- the way this process works is we vote to move it forward, then we develop the formalities of the overall program. We'd come back to you. You know -- and from a staffing standpoint, I'm going to be watching this like a hawk. I will make regular reports to our board and the community under commissioner comments as to the progress, positive and negative. And I said this earlier, and it's worth repeating. Every new decision comes with unintended consequences. It happens, both positive and negative. And one of our rationales, as I was working with staff, was to keep the microcosms small, manage the unintended consequences, exemplify the positives, reduce the negatives, and try to make the program a success and help the community at the same time. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I think this -- you know, I keep saying I think we need to start thinking out of the box on a lot of things. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Bless you, Nick. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Thank you. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Bless you. We need to start thinking outside of the box on some of these June 13, 2017 Page 36 things, and so I commend you for bringing this forward. I think it's certainly something we need to consider. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Whoopsie; I'm sorry. Thank you so much. First of all, this only is targeted toward new construction; is that correct? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Am I allowed to answer her? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, ma'am. Impact fees are only charged on new construction. And, as a matter of fact, you brought forward a very positive initiative several years ago with regard to the change-of-use impact fees, and we discontinued those and found some very positive results incentivizing people to redevelop and change the use of their properties, and I commend you on that, by the way. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh. Well, thanks. I hope this helps everybody. I don't know if it's ever been used in Immokalee, by the way, which is a big savings as far as impact fees go because there aren't any on properties that have already been built. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. COMMISSIONER FIALA: What will happen to the buyers and sellers? For instance, whether it be a single-family home or whether it be a business that has, you know, just has not flourished very well and so they decide they wanted to sell it, but now comes with still the rest of the 30-year mortgage or -- well, payment structure attached to it. Will that be -- will that be something that would possibly encourage people to go elsewhere rather than buy that extra load of money on there? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- and if I might -- am I June 13, 2017 Page 37 allowed to address her questions? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're presenting. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm sorry? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're presenting, yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, okay. Commissioner Fiala, the fee is the same with an increase, you know, once we work with the Tax Collector and determine the -- a nominal interest rate and the Tax Collector's fees that are associated. The fee is the same as it is on a newly constructed home that someone would pay up front and finance in their mortgage. So there is no, necessarily, increase. We have -- I have proposed that this is -- can be paid off. There is no first right -- or there is discretion to pay this off. A prepayment -- there is no prepayment penalty, and they do have the right to, upon the sale of the property. If the next person coming along chose to, they could pay that off -- put it in their mortgage as is done currently under the current program. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Now, maybe I didn't make myself clear. If you've got House A and House B, and House A was a brand new home, and you built it but, of course, you had your impact fees on then, and House B went -- did not have their impact fees paid up front but instead had a 30-year trailer behind it. Now, if you're going to go buy House A or B, which one are you going to want to buy? I'm just worried about what that might do to the sale of new constructed things where the impact fee is becoming an extra charge for the next sale. And also, by the way, there's nobody -- well, I should not say that. Let me just correct me and say, when it comes to Immokalee, they desperately need the things that impact fees pay for, such as sidewalks, stormwater, roads. Those are all things that are needed and needed tremendously. June 13, 2017 Page 38 Are we supposed to -- how are we supposed to pay for it at 1/30th per year? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. You asked, like, three questions. So I'm going to go back. Let's go to Question A and B, the Homes A and B in your comparison. Now, you've moved off to the resale of a newly constructed home, correct? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. I'm just focusing on new sales, right, one that's built with impact fees or sold with impact fees paid in the final number and one without. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, ma'am. So as my -- in my original example, you are buying -- you have two home builders. One is a -- and you're -- I used the example of a $200,000 home price. One includes the impact fees; one allows for the impact fees to be amortized and attached to the real estate. There is a rationale that the -- and to utilize your questions, A and B, Homes A and B, the one where the impact fees is included in the $200,000 home price -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- B where the fee is amortized and attached to the real estate. There is rationale that there is a better value in that $200,000 purchase. You're more inclined to, from that home builder, to get the upgrades that would typically be valued at that $25,000 current impact fee that we have for a single-family home. So you've got a better value added, which then, in turn, theoretically -- again, this is a test. This is only a test. But the rationale is we're adding value over a period of time, and the marketability of that home in the future will come at the beginning because it's a better value than the one that's paying these impact fees up front. That's your first question. Did I answer that sufficiently? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Somewhat. June 13, 2017 Page 39 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Secondarily -- and as an assurance, I could not concur with you more that the Immokalee overlay area, the Immokalee area in general, is in dire need of additional revenues coming at it to service the residents that these impact fees can, in fact, pay for. We are not shying that revenue at all. We're taking that upfront burden and expense and amortizing it over a 30-year period. We are creating an instrument that will allow us in the need -- in the necessity -- if our staff determines that there is, in fact, a need, we will be able to get at those monies up front and have that be paid for over that 30-year period of time. As you know, there are multiple impact fee districts within our community. As you know, those districts statutorily require the monies to be spent on certain things for capital projects alone and certain items within a time frame that will -- we also have the capacity to move impact fees that are generated from one area to another as it's determined on a need basis for the aggregate Collier County benefit, so... COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, like, for instance, fire department. Now, fire department, their source of -- one source of revenue is the impact fees, and they need that up front because they're not a wealthy fire department. Yet, do they have to wait 30 years to get that yearly impact fee or whatever it is? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. I'll just -- I'll tell you something. I realize we're not talking about a great deal of money here at all. I'm thinking of the consequences to the community itself, and that's where I'm going. I just -- I want so badly to see them thrive and to make a go. I love when we put some sidewalks in. I love when we are fixing their stormwater. And thank heavens we have impact fees from every place else to pay for those things, and that's what happens. June 13, 2017 Page 40 I just -- I can't seem to warm up to this particular item. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's just me. Don't, you know, that's -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You know what, there again, Ms. Fiala, you're certainly entitled to your opinions. This is a shift on how we're doing business. It's one of the reasons why -- that I've proposed that we do it in a very small microcosm. I think there are a couple of things -- and, again, who's in Immokalee more than I am, other than the residents? I've been approached on numerous occasions, both residential and commercial builders. One of the bail bondsmen over there that attends my Rotary Club that I'm at every Wednesday when I'm in town every Wednesday, Ms. Fiala. I said, geez, you know, I've got this vacant tract of land over on 5th Street. I'd love to build a home. I'd love to be able to rent that home. But, you know, $25,000 up front for me to have to pay as an impact fee in order to get my building permits to be able to provide additional housing for our community, it's a very prohibitive expense. And he liked the proposal that I have -- that I've brought forward today, and that's just one example. And I think -- you know, if I can pull on one statement that you've made, there's none of us that don't care about what's, in fact, going on in our community. And the rationale here, this is a two-year pilot program to try to stimulate economic growth in Immokalee. I think one of the -- and I haven't even shadowed on it today, but I used an example of that $200,000 impact fee for a commercial piece of property. We haven't even taken into account the perpetual ad valorem tax increase that comes through the development of that commercial piece of property. If that vacant tract is sitting there today as a vacant commercial tract of land, we're collecting X in perpetual ad valorem taxation. If June 13, 2017 Page 41 we promote -- if we incentivize the development of that tract through a different process, the one I'm proposing today, necessarily, we definitely increase the assessed valuation and the perpetual ad valorem revenues that our community can, in fact, experience. So if you can warm up -- well -- and just -- warming up or not -- it's certainly up to you -- I want to promise you all something. I'm going to watch this like a hawk. I will pull it if I see it heading in the wrong direction. If I -- if I see that it's not functioning as was, in fact, attended -- intended, I'll pull it myself. There's no ego with this. This is -- this is just something that I think our community can test to -- and it's certainly being proposed in an area that could use some help. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala, any other remarks? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. I have a question of staff, and I'd like Mr. Isackson to come to the podium, please. So let's look at what impact fees have done to the General Fund since 2005, and that's where I went. I wanted to see what the track record of impact fees are, its relation to the General Fund, if growth is paying for growth. And the expert is standing at the podium. MR. ISACKSON: I don't know about expert, ma'am, but -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, you keep the numbers. MR. ISACKSON: I've got a few years under my belt dealing with this stuff. Yeah, the General Fund has been a contributor to the Impact Fee Trust Funds since 2005. The General Fund has loaned the Impact Fee Trust Funds just south of $100 million -- I think it's, like, 98-and-a-half million, at last check. Now, are we ever going to see that money again? Probably not. But the -- there is certainly an impact on the General Fund. I'm going to fish for a slide here. Maybe the boss can put it up on the visualizer. June 13, 2017 Page 42 Here we go. Throw that one up there. MR. OCHS: Got it. MR. ISACKSON: If you can look at it -- and the loans are primarily in the areas of EMS, in the areas of general governmental facilities, and libraries. Unfortunately, those are the areas where we've issued the most debt. You've got two beautiful regional library facilities. Every time we put an EMS facility in place, there's a loan to the Impact Fee Trust Fund because EMS impact fees aren't sufficient to pay the debt on those. So right now there's no -- there's no problems with parks. There's no problems with roads. There hasn't been ever any growth-related debt connected with our transportation network, although that might change in a couple of years. So you can see that the skinnier ones, the slivers up there on top of that bar chart, are the ones I had just mentioned earlier in terms of EMS. Law enforcement and jails have come out of the trough of money going from the General Fund just recently, due to an uptick in their particular fees, but I don't know how long that will last, to be honest with you. So right now in '18 we're budgeting about $5.2 million in loans from the General Fund into those specifically, those three areas that I just mentioned. And that gives you a little sense for the complexity that's involved with this particular area. And, again, as we mentioned, as the Commissioner mentioned, you do a pilot program in Immokalee, it's not going to affect that -- that genre there, but it's going forward into a larger scheme that we'd have to have some additional conversations about that. But to give you some perspective. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. When I looked at these numbers and I heard the $100 million loan from the General Fund, which means that every taxpayer in Collier County is loaning to the June 13, 2017 Page 43 impact fee fund to develop libraries and roads and parks and EMS stations, it gave me pause. I'm not sure this is a program that needs to go forward. We've always heard that impact fees are too high in Collier County, yet it does appear that the Collier County citizens and the taxpayers are subsidizing that fund. Since 2014 about, the General Fund has loaned the impact fees for various things, including an EMS station, sheriff's substation, to the tune of $18-and-a-half million. Those are located -- the growth in the east; that's where the growth is. And I really feel that it's a wonderful concept, but I just don't think it's fiscally responsible. I think -- I'm not advocating -- and I see Ms. Curatolo here, so I want her to know I'm not advocating for higher impact fees, but what I am saying is, I'm not sure this is a program that's going to be beneficial to the taxpayers of Collier County, to the General Fund, and to the growth that we're anticipating in the east. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And if I might say -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- just to you -- and this is a -- you have advocated for an increase in impact fees. You did vote for that last month to raise them another $1,500. You have advocated for housing affordability, which I know is near and dear to all of our hearts. One of the things that I would like to give you a thought process on, which is why I've proposed this as a two-year pilot program for a de minimis impact to how our community and county is conducting business, give this a try. The impact fee revenues that our community has relied upon are an addiction. They are an unsustainable revenue stream. There is -- it is budgeted money that we collect on an annual basis that we utilize for growth, but what we -- the proposition here will allow for an increase June 13, 2017 Page 44 of ad valorem taxation. Theoretically, if the pilot is, in fact, successful, we will have perpetual ad valorem's revenue that can help satisfy the debt and the ongoing maintenance that's -- that transpires with growth paying for libraries and fire departments and roads and the things along those lines. So it's -- this is -- if we continue to do what we've always done and expect magnanimously different results, we're always going to have what we had before. We know that there -- the discussion that you brought Mr. Isackson into today with regard to the impact fees and how we're budgeting and how we're maintaining and how we're paying for what we have is an entirely separate agenda item we could spend an entire day on. So today -- the discussion today is just, in fact, that. I would like to try this. I believe it will assist us with the issues that our community, in fact, has and -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'm sorry. I agree. I think it's very germane when the General Fund is loaning the Impact Fee Fund $100 million in 12 years. I think that's part of this discussion. I do have a question of staff. County Manager, if the school board disagrees with this, then the school -- then the school board impact fees will be assessed regardless; is that correct? MR. OCHS: Amy? MS. PATTERSON: Amy Patterson, again, for the record. We would need to consult with our County Attorney on how to handle the school district, because it is a county impact fee that's assessed on behalf of the school board, and the money is passed over to them. The Immokalee fire district is a different matter because it's their own stand-alone impact fee that we just collect through an interlocal, so that would be -- if they wanted to opt out, that's the easy one. The June 13, 2017 Page 45 school district is a little bit more difficult. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All right. Thank you. Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Do we have any registered speakers on this? MR. MILLER: I do not. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, I'll second Mr. McDaniel's motion to approve directing staff to move forward with this. If he's still convinced we should do this, I'll second your motion if you make the motion. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Consider the motion made. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, I'll second that motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And just to make sure that I -- I mean, moving forward means we're going to then go to the next steps up there, and we're going to talk to the -- not to advertise this particular ordinance as it's written now. We're going to continue the process. Because I think the outcome of the discussions with the fire district and the school board's got to be factored into it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the fees associated and the interest. And I'll bring it back, and we'll talk about it some more. And whatever particular time that we do -- that we do vote on it, I mean, you're certainly going to have, as Commissioner Taylor likes to say, multiple bites at this apple. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well -- and I -- again, I think we need to start being creative. And, if anything, this starts us down a process of thinking outside of the box and figuring out how we can deal with these issues, I think it's good, and I would support it as well. I do have one question for Mr. Isackson. The 100 million loan is a product of what? Is that five million a year loaned over a number of June 13, 2017 Page 46 years? What is that a product of, just because I'm curious? MR. ISACKSON: We calculate that every year. We look at what we have to pay in debt service that's growth related connected with each impact fee trust fund. There's about 10 of them. And then we decipher how much impact fees are coming in, and we true this up during the course of the year, obviously. But that's how it's calculated. It's not a -- it's not a -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It's not something that's built up over time. MR. ISACKSON: That's right. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It's every year you look at what the service needs to be. MR. ISACKSON: Exactly. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And a lot of that debt was accumulated by prior boards well in advance of even Commissioner Fiala who were somewhat remiss in their infrastructure construction, and that -- when Donna came on, the Board went out and borrowed a bunch of money and provided the necessary infrastructure that we had been somewhat delinquent on, as a matter of opinion, and these are the consequence thereof. So... And I concur with Commissioner Taylor, this is obviously a future discussion point that we can have when we have more time overall. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. We have a motion on the floor and a second. MR. KLATZKOW: And just for clarity, we are not advertising this ordinance at this time? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. Is that what we're -- is that the -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Right. We need more information is June 13, 2017 Page 47 what I'm hearing; is that correct? MR. KLATZKOW: Oh, that's fine. I just have it ready to go with Naples Daily News where you have to say yes or no. If we're not advertising at that time, that's fine. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't have any -- of course it's your motion. I don't have any problem with an advertising and bringing an ordinance back. We're going to have that information. The advertising aspect of it is de minimis as well. And so if you want to move things along a little more quickly, if that's your motion, then that would be my second. But this does come back. Everything comes back. There's no decision that's being made now. It's just directing staff to move forward with the process. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's correct. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But it's up to you as to whether you want the advertisement. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That would be my preference. I mean, we have an ordinance, and we're certainly going to have an opportunity to make adjustments to it as we learn more information, so... COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I think the exercise -- quite frankly, I agree with Commissioner Solis. The exercise here is valuable, because we're going to be talking about impact fees as it relates to workforce housing. We've all talked about the need to try to find a way to incentivize that through more density, through impact fee reductions, or spreading out those payments. So I think the exercise is good, and I don't have any problem with the advertisement. MR. KLATZKOW: Normally I don't get into this discussion, but do you want us to advertise for the next meeting or your meeting in July? Because I know what your next meeting looks like. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Next meeting -- or July is fine. Again, there isn't -- June 13, 2017 Page 48 MR. OCHS: Yeah. We need some time on the staff end, please. I'd like to target July, if we could, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's fine. This isn't a rush. This is a want to. This is not a have to. This is a want. So I'm good with July. MR. KLATZKOW: This is just nuts-and-bolts talk, sir, trying to get an ad into the Naples Daily News. That's all. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Gotcha. COMMISSIONER FIALA: And I just wanted to make a comment. As I said before, this one I just can't seem to warm up to. But it is not going to hurt us. There's not that much impact fee collected in Immokalee anyway. It won't change our status or anything. It won't hurt our impact fee funds or change the way we do business. I'm willing to let Commissioner McDaniel, with my vote, try this, and I'm glad he's going to watch it like a hawk, just to see if it would work. Who knows? You know, it might surprise all of us. But the other thing -- well, anyway, so I would vote for it to give him that opportunity just because it will not hurt the rest of us, the rest of our county. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. We have a -- are we okay? MR. OCHS: Yeah. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are we clear on the motion, County Attorney? MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. It will be brought back at your July 11th meeting. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Very good. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good. All right. We have a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. June 13, 2017 Page 49 COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed? Aye. It passes 4-1. Again, it's the fiscal aspect of this. I don't think it's fiscally responsible, and I think when we look at 100 million since 2005 and 19 million since 2014 of loans of the taxpayers of the City of Naples to the Impact Fee Fund, I think this is a nonstarter. Thank you. Item #11B PREPARE FOR CLOSEOUT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION PROGRAMS (NSP) 1 AND 3 BY AMENDING THE ASSOCIATED DEVELOPER AGREEMENTS WITH HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF COLLIER COUNTY INC. TO EXPEND REMAINING FUNDS IN EACH LINE OF CREDIT RESULTING FROM THE GENERATION OF PROGRAM INCOME - MOTION TO APPROVE STAFF’S RECOMMENDATIONS – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, Item 11B is a recommendation to prepare for closeout of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Ms. Kim Grant will make the presentation. MS. GRANT: Good morning, Commissioners. Kim Grant, Director of Community and Human Services. And I have a brief presentation for you on the history of the program and where we're at and what our recommendation is for you today. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program was a federal funding June 13, 2017 Page 50 program in response to the foreclosure crisis. Collier County received almost 11 million in funds between NSP1 and NSP3. There was also an NSP2 program in there, but counties were not eligible for that. The purpose of the program was to go into foreclosed areas or areas where there was a great deal of foreclosure, purchase those homes, rehabilitate them, and resell them to an income-qualified buyer. And, again, the concept was to stabilize the neighborhoods. And the census tracts that we were allowed to do this in were defined by HUD. In July of 2011, the BCC directed staff to find an alternative by which to administer the program. Up to this point, this had been wholly administered internally by staff. So there was a lot of discussion and options looked at, including a great deal of conversation with HUD, and eventually a strategy was identified that was approved by the Board. The intent of the strategy was to eliminate BCC ownership in properties, get the staff out of the business of doing construction and selling properties, obviously to remain compliant and, ultimately, to partner with an organization that was experienced who could carry out these activities. So the approved strategy broke down into two components for each of the programs. In an NSP1 program, which had already been under operation, the county had purchased a number of properties. So those that were already rehabilitated, the BCC directed that the county staff sell those properties and divest, which we've done. The other part of the recommendation for NSP1 was properties that the county had purchased but had not yet been rehabilitated were transferred to Habitat for Humanity, and they bore the cost of rehabilitation and sale and eventually put an income-qualified buyer in the home. For NSP3, it was similar. We had not yet begun program operation, so the funds were transferred to Habitat for Humanity. They June 13, 2017 Page 51 purchased homes, rehabilitated, and resold those homes. As a component of that NSP, when properties are resold, there is money that comes back into the fund called program income. I'm going to talk more about that later. But we knew at the time we would generate program income. At the time the Board gave us no authority to spend that. So we're coming back really at this point asking for the authority. Why did we select Habitat for Humanity? They had the experience, capacity, and readiness to partner with the county and make all of this happen. They had experience already in an NSP program. They, obviously, had already been in the business of identifying properties for lower-income folks, rehabilitating, and reselling. So there were other strategies presented, but Habitat for Humanity was selected as the partner. Now, the major advantages of the divesture strategy were that we would receive an infusion of capital by whoever took on these properties to rehabilitate and sell them, all the construction would be completed, we'd ensure compliance, the dollars would remain in Collier County. The reason that's important is because one of the alternatives was to just give the funding back to the Feds. And it also was a strategy that supported our local community economically. We are done with the program. There is only one property under NSP3 that is in permitting and we'll be completing very soon. So we have been contacted by HUD -- I'm sorry. Let me go to one more thing. So we're done with the program, but I want to highlight a few of the successful elements of the partnership we've had with Habitat. We did do this in a timely and compliant manner. We've served in this program, the properties that were transferred to Habitat or that Habitat purchased, 270, I think, participants; 154 children and 113 adults. By virtue of the entire program, millions of dollars of property June 13, 2017 Page 52 value want back on the tax rolls out of foreclosure, generating tax revenue of about $80,000 annually. We created -- we circulated millions of dollars in the community, jobs, materials, and when Habitat agreed to take this on with us several years ago, they actually agreed to sell some of the properties above their typical income limit, and they did accomplish that objective. The Board asked for that, and they asked to do that. And in whole, Habitat put in almost $4 million in rehabilitation costs. So there was really a substantial commitment on the part of Habitat. So it's really -- it's been -- from our perspective, staff perspective, and from the county perspective, it's been a successful partnership. So why are we here with you now and talk a little bit about program income. HUD is ready to close out the program. HUD's process for closeout involves issuing close-out instructions, which they did last year, and they are also identifying and sending out to each community a technical assistance provider that will review all of your documents and so forth and assure that you're ready for closeout. This is also the time when you look at what, if any, unexpended funds are available, and what are you going to do with them. So when HUD contacted us recently, they said, you have some money left over, about $850,000. You have that money because you generated program income, but that money is still sitting in the line of credit. Let me explain that very briefly. HUD issued the awards. We have a line of credit of $11 million. As properties sold, money came back in. We're required to use that money first. So program income that had come in to the point of this divesture plan had already been used. Because you have to use your program income first, we're actually left right now with a balance in our line of credit of approximately $800,000. So HUD has said, you can not spend it, and it June 13, 2017 Page 53 will be swept back to the treasury, or you can spend it; however, the information I received from our representative in Miami is that they are unsure how long the county will be able to retain those funds and use them, meaning tomorrow Washington could decide to sweep them back if they haven't been used. She thinks we have a little bit of time, so in talking with her we created a strategy whereby we would look to spend these funds in our community with a partner -- and we're recommending Habitat -- that will be able to fulfill the obligations of the program, meaning we'll have to find properties that are still in the census tracts that were identified initially, then they'll have to be rehabilitated and resold. But whatever partner that takes it on with us would need to accept the risk that there is a chance that HUD will sweep the funds back before they're able to be reimbursed. So we are recommending that these funds be awarded to Habitat because we already have an active agreement with them, we've already had a successful program with them, and they are most likely the most capable organization to be able to do this in a fairly fast amount of time, and they have been willing to accept the risk that should, between now and the time that they can close on properties, that HUD sweeps the funds back to the treasury, they will accept the risk of not being reimbursed. Now, one other component is that the current amendment that we've offered for your consideration indicates that the parcels can be resold to individuals from 0 to 120 percent AMI. So we've opened up the entire spectrum, and that's the highest AMI level allowed under the NSP program. So we're really at a crossroad. Do we send the money back to HUD, or do we find a way to keep it in our community, and I've articulated our recommendation that we keep it in our community, amend our agreements with Habitat, and they would quickly acquire a June 13, 2017 Page 54 few parcels, we would do the reimbursement, assuming the money was still there, and then they would go on and rehabilitate and resell, after which time we would do the official closeout with HUD. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll make a motion that we follow staff's direction. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll second it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. There's a motion on the floor and a second, but let's -- we're going to have some discussion here. Commissioner Fiala, do you have anything to discuss or to bring to the table right now? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, one of the types of housing we've all known is desperately needed is say, that housing between, say, 80 percent and 120 percent. Can Habitat target that group in -- with receiving this money and making sure we build some of those kinds? Because we don't fill that need at all. We all know that. And I'm hoping that if they get this -- because we give them millions every year. We all know that. And I'm hoping that they can take some of that now and target that -- that market that we seem to shy away from. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Ms. Grant? MS. GRANT: Commissioner, Nick Kouloheras from Habitat is here today if you would like him to address that question. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think that would be very helpful. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely. MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, I do have him as a registered public speaker. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Thank you. Commissioner Fiala? This is -- you're pleased with this, right? Mr. Kouloheras is coming to the podium. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, that's great. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Thank you. MR. KOULOHERAS: All right. Well, good morning. Nick June 13, 2017 Page 55 Kouloheras, President of Habitat for Humanity. And I pretty much registered to speak just to let everyone know that I'm here to help answer questions. So to answer Commissioner Fiala's question specifically, in NSP1 and NSP3 we agreed to do a certain amount of dollars spent towards people that typically Habitat is not privy to do through our charter. That being said, for this particular agreement, we're not against that. I do have, though -- I will strongly say this. I have genuine concerns about guaranteeing a certain percentage to a certain income bracket, and the reason for that is this: When we jumped off into this program in 2011, foreclosures were everywhere, and they ranged in price from as low as 30,000 on up to millions. So we had a really wide spectrum of homes to go after and a really big -- a broad spectrum of applicants to choose from. The number of applicants that need housing in Collier County are still there. And as -- and it ranges the entire income bracket from 0 to 150 percent AMI. This program's allowed to go up to 120. The problem I have with saying, yes, we will absolutely guarantee a specific income bracket is the risk that Kim just talked about. Habitat has taken a significant financial risk here by potentially spending $800,000 on properties we may not get reimbursed. And so we would like the flexibility to be able to get that money spent, spent well, and as fast as we possibly can. Now, that being said, maybe to help Commissioner Fiala a little bit, we obviously, in preparation of this, have started doing some research into the real estate market into foreclosures, and I still laugh that our realtor keeps sending me foreclosure listings in, like, Grey Oaks, and I said, well, we're not really there. But the number of units this agreement suggests is the price point of $250,000 or less, there are not many out there. And, by virtue of that price alone, that might be driving our end user here to that higher June 13, 2017 Page 56 income bracket anyway, because when we sell it, it has to be affordable to that person per HUD guidelines. So although that's no guarantee, but I think it is an assurance that Habitat is truly going to be looking at the full spectrum when it comes to this program to do it appropriately, to do it within compliance, and to do it as fast as possible. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala, any other questions? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No. That was the only thing. I was just hoping to hit that market that we seldom get in to. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Thank you. Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't have any questions at this point. I do want to thank and congratulate Habitat for Humanity for the effort that you've put into housing here in Collier County. MR. KOULOHERAS: Thank you. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I know the Collier County Habitat for Humanity, I think, is either the most successful in the country or the second-most successful in the country. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The most. MR. KOULOHERAS: We like to say the most. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The most. And you've done tremendous work to solve some of the housing issues. When this comes to a vote, my recommendation to the Commission is that we don't impose any types of restrictions or conditions; we let them do what they know how to do best and just approve this. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I would just echo what Commissioner Saunders has said. I mean, if they're willing to take the risk, we need to let them have the flexibility to make it work, so... June 13, 2017 Page 57 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And, you know, first of all, I want to say what an extraordinary organization Habitat for Humanity is; truly is. And the outreach into this community has been profound; it's been life changing. So thank you for what you do. But I do agree with Commissioner Fiala that we need to target, if possible -- right now the beginning salary for a teacher is 40 thousand 687 thousand dollars (sic) a year; for a Sheriff's deputy trainee is 40,807; for a firefighter, it's 44,180. Can we not outreach to those -- to those professions through the school board, through different things to see? We've heard testimony that deputies come here to work for the Sheriff's Department, leave again because they don't want to commute from Lehigh. We need these people. Not that we don't need all the people that you're serving, but this is -- this is an underserved area. So if there was any way -- understanding there's a pressure of time, and I can respect that. But, gee whiz, it would be great to be able to target those areas. MR. KOULOHERAS: Madam Chair, may I speak? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, of course. MR. KOULOHERAS: I couldn't agree with you more. As someone that sees the need in this county being as tremendous as it is, I agree 150 percent. That being said, we're going to -- our intention is to take the same approach on this (sic) funds as we did in the first round, and we actively reached out to all those organizations you just talked about and said, hey, we've got this coming down the pipeline. Send it out to your people. And if there's availability there, if there's product there, whatever it may be, we're going to work with everyone the best we can. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. KOULOHERAS: So we'll absolutely take the same June 13, 2017 Page 58 approach. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. All right. We have a motion on the floor and a second to -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And Commissioner McDaniel's light has been on since she was speaking. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We're not doing lights. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, we're not doing lights today? You didn't even call on me to speak. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, I did. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, you didn't. You went to Commissioner Fiala first, then you went down there. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I've had my light on since she was speaking. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel, I apologize. That's why I said just -- I apologize. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's okay. That's all right. I'll remind you. If we're not doing lights today, then I'll quit hitting my button. I've been down here pushing the button. I concur with Commissioner Saunders and Commissioner Solis and Commissioner Fiala and Commissioner Taylor on different subject matters, of course. I was prior chairman of the board of the Collier County Housing Authority. I oversaw Section 8 housing here in Collier County. I know the stipulations and the whimsical attitudes of HUD and their time frames and their capacities to pull funds and manage funds and dictate policy on a far too regular basis. And so I would concur with two of the -- three of my -- two other of my colleagues here, Commissioner Saunders and Solis, in that we not put any specificity on Habitat for the utilization of this money. That reduces the risk and gets us through the process for proper June 13, 2017 Page 59 utilization of those monies. Obviously, I do concur with Commissioner Taylor and Fiala as well, in the event that we can use it for the known needs for our community, the income-restricted housing deficits, Commissioner Taylor, that you and I have spoken on regularly throughout our housing affordability processes, so much the better. So I wanted to say that I was in support of -- you know, I made the motion to move it forward as the staff's recommendation, but I don't want to put any stipulations on how they can be used just to further jeopardize those funds. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. I don't think we did. I think the motion stands as it's said, and there's a second on the floor. All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. And, Ms. Terri, it's your break. MR. OCHS: How long, ma'am; 10 minutes? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Ten minutes. (A brief recess was had.) COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Madam Chair, you have a live mike. MR. OCHS: Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. Madam Chair, you do have a live mike. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Mr. Miller, I didn't -- I failed to ask, but you would have June 13, 2017 Page 60 reminded me, we didn't have any speakers on that last item. MR. MILLER: Just Nick Kouloheras, ma'am. That was it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Item #11G STAFF’S ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP (SHIP) PROGRAM AS ADMINISTRATIVE AND MINISTERIAL, ACCEPT MINOR CHANGES TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGRAM, DIRECT STAFF TO AMEND THE LOCAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE PLAN (LHAP) ACCORDINGLY, AND REAFFIRM SUFFICIENCY OF SEVERAL EXISTING ADMINISTRATION ELEMENTS - JAMES MOLENAAR, INTERNAL AUDIT MANAGER WITH PRESENTED AUDIT FINDINGS OF THE SHIP AND LHAP; MOTION TO CONTINUE THIS ITEM TO A FUTURE BCC MEETING – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that takes us to Item 11G on this morning's agenda. This was an add-on or move, I should say, from your consent agenda. It was previously 16D13. And this is a report back as directed by the Board on the administrative elements of your State Housing Initiatives Partnership, commonly known on as your SHIP Housing Assistance Program. Ms. Grant can begin the presentation. I should say that I was just handed a 63-page report or PowerPoint from Mr. Molenaar from the Clerk's agency. I haven't seen this. So I'm not sure what that format's going to be, ma'am, but we're ready to make our presentation briefly, if you'd like us to proceed. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Thank you very much. Ms. Grant? June 13, 2017 Page 61 MS. GRANT: Good morning, Commissioners. Again, Kim Grant, Director of Community and Human Services, for the record. I am here to give a brief report on some of the administrative elements of the SHIP program. First I'd like to remind you that we've had SHIP funding in our community for 22 years, and the SHIP program which, as Mr. Ochs said, stands for State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program, operates under the authority of the State set forth in state statutes and also as it relates to eligibility and income determination, which is a lot of what we'll be talking about today. They are also couched in the HUD federal regulations as to how to perform those elements. I want to let you know that over the last six years we really -- for longer than that, but over the last six years we really had to focus on the Purchase Assistance Program, which is just one of the SHIP programs allowed and, in fact, 80 percent of the funding, or well over $6 million, has gone towards purchase assistance just in the last six years. Now what is the purpose? The purpose of the SHIP program is to produce and preserve housing that is affordable. The 2017 allocation is $2.1 million. I believe that's the highest we've ever received, and we've had a steady increase over the last several years. In fact, that amount of money rivals what we're getting in our Community Development Block Grant from the Feds. So it's a substantial revenue source in our community for things that are related to housing that is affordable. Just a brief reminder, Commissioners, about the limits and restrictions we have on this program. Seventy-five percent of the funds have to be spent in construction which can be new construction or rehabilitation. Sixty-five percent of the funds have to be spent on home ownership. What that means is that you are limited on how much you can spend on rental activities. June 13, 2017 Page 62 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Wow. MS. GRANT: Sixty percent of the money has to be spent on low-income households. Those are households earning 80 percent of the area median income or less, and half of that has to be spent on very low. So that leaves us, after administration, with about 20 percent of the funds that can be used to serve that 80 to 120 category that we talk so frequently about. So just a reminder that we do have very strict program limits on how we can spend these funds. Since 1995, I'm really happy to report that you, here in county government, have helped over 3,000 homeowners realize the, you know, dream or desire to be a homeowner, to protect their families, to live in a stable environmental. Now, I'm going to move towards the administration, because that's really the crux of the issue here. I wanted to let you know that there is a very rigorous evaluation process that staff goes through, and it is dictated largely by the SHIP manual, which is a 200-page manual or so on how you calculate income, determine household assets, all the eligibility requirement. We also have to follow our local Housing Assistance Program which has a couple parameters such as the highest housing unit cost that we will entertain, which is 300,000 at this time. And also, as I mentioned before but I want to emphasize, the SHIP manual directs that the income qualification, income determination, asset calculations, those kinds of things, are governed also by the HUD handbook on how you make these calculations and determinations. Within at least the last six years, we have not received any monitoring findings from the SHIP organization or any single audit findings as it relates to income determination or eligibility. Now, who are we serving with the SHIP program? You've all seen the ALICE report. This is put out by the United Way. And I June 13, 2017 Page 63 think it's a really good frame of reference for this discussion. You've also heard us talk in our housing affordability discussions about the term called "cost burdened." Well, this is a similar construct. In the ALICE construct it stands for Asset Limited Income Constrained, Employed. According to the ALICE study, 38 percent of the households in Collier County either live below the poverty line or above the poverty line but barely make enough to meet basic expenses. These are the people very frequently served by the SHIP program. Now, we're going to discuss here today whether there should be an asset limit set for persons applying for the SHIP program. And the reason that we're talking about that is because there's a potential implication that if you have sizable, whatever you believe that to be, a level of assets available to you, you may not need the assistance or the programs that are provided such as the Purchase Assistance Program, and it's certainly fair to hold that position. However, I believe that's somewhat contrary to what's emerging in our community, which is a focus on the ALICE households, a focus on the cost-burdened household, a focus on the workforce households, which are the folks that we're serving in this program. We do want our applicants to be vested, all right. We want them to have a mortgage. We want them to do the things associated with home ownership. But we believe it's better policy to set up a system where we're not going to -- where we're going to encourage and support people who already have the habit of saving, either cash savings or retirement savings, because surely, in addition to their homes, they're going to need money for other things: Kids go to college, roofs, all those kinds of things we're all aware of. So now let's get into a couple of the specifics. Taking a step back for just a moment. The reason that we're here today is that I think in March of this year there was an item brought to the Commission regarding a particular purchase-assistance client who had assets of June 13, 2017 Page 64 about $50,000, and that led to some discussion, very healthy discussion, about should we have an asset limit. If so, how much, and what are other communities doing. So staff took the initiative to work through Florida Housing Coalition, who is the technical-assistance provider for Florida Housing Finance Corporation, the funder, to survey as many of the communities in Florida that have this program as possible to identify what their practices are. And along with our Finance Department, we identified 13 different areas of interest, and those were all in your executive summary. But just as a reminder, you know, that's why we're back here. So what did we find? We found that only about half of the constituencies in Florida set a limit on cash assets. Of those that do, about 76 percent have a limit of 30,000 or less. So we're actually going to recommend to you that 30,000 limit. But I want to emphasize before I go on and show you the next slide that, again, from a policy perspective or at least a staff recommendation for policy, we believe that it's appropriate that people have assets. Anyone who's owned a home has probably had to do a roof or an air conditioner; $20,000, boom, out the door. A little detail here. I took a look at the loans that have closed in the last year; 34 closed files. And here's the level of assets that these folks had. Now, I want to be clear, what does "assets" mean here? This means cash assets and income derived from other assets as prescribed in the SHIP manual and in the HUD documentation in terms of how you calculate those things. So 30 out of 34 had less than $20,000 of assets, and this was before closing. They may have been using some of these funds to help in their closing. Four clients had above $20,000 in assets prior to closing, and of note, three of the four who had assets above 20,000, two were teachers and one is an employee at NCH. So those are, June 13, 2017 Page 65 again, the kind of people that we are -- that we've frequently heard are of interest in our community in terms of meeting their housing needs. Staff is recommending that if it's of interest to the Board of County Commissioners that we set it -- if we're going to set an asset limit, we set it at 30,000, but we set it at 30,000 after funds used for closing. So if someone is bringing money to the transaction, we would identify what that was in the closing documents, and we would know what their assets were after that. So that is the recommendation for the Board to consider. Another element of this is liquid assets that are not cash assets, such as a 401(k) or an IRA. Most of us are aware that they're liquid in the sense that you can pull funds out, but you, depending on your age and circumstances, will have to pay penalties, et cetera. We are not recommending, staff is not recommending, that we require people to liquidate those assets prior to entering into a home loan with us. The next topics I wanted to talk about are identity validation and citizenship validation. You know, I'll let you know that it might seem simple, without living in the world I live in, to be able to identify or validate someone's identity. But when you start looking at multiple sources of documentation, the Social Security card, their Driver's License, a passport, whatever it is that we ask for or is being presented, you will sometimes find discrepancies. One of the most common discrepancies you'll find is names. People got married or divorced and they haven't changed their names, or things were done at certain points in time and there hasn't been a change. We found other issues. We had an issue one time where there was an error on -- what appeared to be an error on the passport. Now, that individual isn't responsible for issuing their own passport, so somewhere along the line there was an issue. So what staff -- the position staff has taken is, if we see a discrepancy, we look to June 13, 2017 Page 66 understand what is it, why it might have occurred, we frequently will gather additional documentation, divorce papers, marriage papers, et cetera. And if a preponderance of evidence is that we believe we have in front of us the person who is presenting themselves to be, then we recommend that this be funded. Regarding citizenship, the State and the SHIP program not require -- do not have any citizenship requirements; however, the county adopted a citizenship requirement in its Local Housing Assistance Program some years ago. I didn't go back to look when we did that. So the county's -- the Board-approved LHAP citizen requirement for this program is that the applicants, not all members of the household, but the applicant or applicants must be either U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and we have defined how we confirm that. Our recommendation is to maintain that and not do any further restricting of that requirement that is in existence today. Let me move on to general application completeness and income validation. When we talk about application completeness, the big issue here is related to income sources. This program -- let me take a -- go sideways for just a moment. The fundamental eligibility criteria for this program is your prospective income. So it is important that we invest a lot of time in determining what your prospective income is for the next 12 months. We do run across circumstances where, when people initially fill out the application, they do not disclose all their income. Now -- so how would we find that? Well, I want to remind you that there's a very rigorous process we have to go through. For example, we are required to look at bank statements. The State requires we pull one month of bank statements. We actually have a more restrictive standard. We pull six months of bank statements. That's one of the ways we look for additional income. If you see deposits in the bank statements that don't June 13, 2017 Page 67 match up with other income information provided to you, you need to start asking questions, and you need to determine whether they're not -- whether or not there may be more income. The vast majority of these circumstances are where people have part-time jobs either that are W2-type jobs or self-employment part-time jobs. I'm not going to try to get into the heads of why people do or don't disclose it, but I believe our process is sufficient at identifying those items. Now, on the application there is a statement that says, if you do not disclose all your income and all your household income willfully, there are penalties. The way the staff has approached this is, if we identify an issue, we work with the client; typically we get additional documentation. Ninety-nine percent of the times they say, oh, we didn't think you would need that or care about that. Okay. You don't know exactly what we need. We're telling you what we need. Provide us the information, and we go forward. So that is how we have been handling that. Now, I want to point out, however, for approximately every four files that have closed in the last year, one file has been denied for eligibility or income issues. So that's 20 or 25 percent. So there are cases that are not getting past us where we feel that the people have willfully misstated or, in other manners, not met eligibility or provided information. Okay. The last two items I want to talk with you about briefly is the level of assistance and the level of audit. About a year ago this commission approved that for the SHIP Purchase Assistance Program we do a tiered award. The less you make, the more award you receive. The more you make, the less award you receive. And we offered you a plan of approximately how many people would be assisted, and we've almost identically come to that plan, which is what we anticipated. This is an appropriate approach. It is used by a lot of other June 13, 2017 Page 68 jurisdictions, and it is supported by Florida Housing, who helped us develop it when we looked at it. There are other options. For years and years and years, we offered a level award. If you qualify at whatever income level, you get $20,000. You could also look at a gap award. A gap award is a much more detailed calculation with additional steps but determines exactly what you need to subsidize you personally to get into that particular piece of property. We are not recommending shifting to gap. We believe tiered is an appropriate, effective approach with a level of administration that we can manage. You may hear today that there is an interest in gap, or you may have an interest in gap yourself and, if so, then we would ask that you give us a chance to go and really look at that and give you a more firm recommendation. Regarding levels of audit, we understand that -- at least I understand as a staff member in the County Manager's agency, I don't have any authority to determine what level of audit occurs. But when we did our survey, we discovered that about 52 percent of the jurisdictions do not do any audit. Now, it's been pointed out to me by my associates in the finance in the internal audit area that it could be that some of those jurisdictions have different requirements. That's okay. But just approximately half don't require any audit, 37 -- 31 percent do a minimal audit, and 17 percent do a full audit. I'm not an auditor. I do not work in the Clerk's Office. My common-sense view of the audit today is that it's a full audit. So just because it appears to me that we do something different than the majority of jurisdictions, staff recommends that there be less of an audit before the checks are cut; however, again, you know, that may not be within our purview to offer, but that is one of the results of the survey. So in closing, after looking at the 13 elements that were on the June 13, 2017 Page 69 survey and other elements I have included in our presentation today, staff is recommending minimal changes; that we offer to you considering set an asset limit of $30,000 after closing and that you consider recommending or discussing a different audit level. And, finally, my understanding of our current practices is that everything that we've been doing is compliant, and so what we have here are options for local program design that may suit what this commission and what this community would be best served by. And I will be happy to take any questions. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala, we're going to go to you, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: No. I'm going to wait till I hear the whole presentation. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think I'll do the same thing. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I also want to, obviously, hear the full presentation. I am a little -- I will make the comment that in terms of less audit, I would steer away from that. I think that the auditing process should continue to be robust. I don't want to see that change. I don't have any particular problem with the $30,000 level. So we'll have that conversation as well, but I just wanted to let you know I think we need to stick with a robust audit. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll wait till the -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And I'll wait also. So I understand the Clerk's Office would like to present? MR. MOLENAAR: Yes, ma'am. That's correct. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Ten minutes? MR. MOLENAAR: I'll do my very best. June 13, 2017 Page 70 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. MOLENAAR: Did the Housing Department have 10 minutes? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: They had 15. MR. MOLENAAR: I'll do my very best, Commissioners. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. OCHS: We haven't seen this information, so it's a little difficult to know what we're going to see. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Madam Chair, while he's hunting buttons, I mean, would it be prudent for us to reschedule this so that we have an opportunity to see both the presentation that's being presented today by video and digest a little bit more? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think we need to have it presented, and then we can make a decision. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. I know I personally don't like to see things for the first time when we're here and then asked to vote on them. So the information that was provided to us in advance -- go ahead. MR. MOLENAAR: Ladies and gentlemen, my name is James Molenaar. I work for the Clerk of Court. I'm the Manager of the Internal Audit Department. I'm an Attorney Certified Fraud Examiner. What I'd like to do is very briefly show you what we have seen in the Clerk's Office. And we've had the opportunity to meet with Ms. Grant -- Mrs. Grant, and Ms. Sonntag behind ourselves -- behind me. We've talked this through. We've met several times. We've had phone calls. We've worked on this administrative item that she's brought before you for hours, hours together. But we still have some things that we think that you need to understand as leaders of our community and what the Clerk's doing. There were 91 counties and cities that were surveyed, as Ms. Grant correctly pointed out to you; 34 of them were cities. They don't June 13, 2017 Page 71 have an audit function. Many of the counties also don't have a clerk who audits. Our clerk audits, and our clerk will continue to audit. What I've attempted to do is to follow her executive summary. I've given you a copy of the executive summary. And I'm going to point/counterpoint as they do on TV, and we'll move forward. At a high-level overview, what I'm going to ask you to consider is an asset cap, how much money do we want people to have in the bank at the time they close. We are also here today to ask you to consider gap financing. It was brought up before some of you, I think, back in November. We'd ask you to re-examine that and look at that again. We also are concerned about records retention and the Sunshine Law. I think Ms. Grant has covered that nicely in her recommendations, and I don't know that we need to spend much time on that today. And also consider an increase in the scrutiny of client files. What I am asking for is for Housing to spend the time that we spend vetting the clients and scrutinizing the documents. In response to Item No. 1, cash assets, we do think there needs to be a cap. Many assets are easily converted into cash. Presently there's an unlimited basis, unlimited amount of money that you can have in the bank. Theoretically, it's been told to us, by one of the trainers of Florida Housing Corporation, you could have a million dollars in the bank and a Bentley and still receive SHIP funding. So I'd like you to think about that and consider that as you make your decisions today. We require all copies of any documents that have been touched, received, looked at, relied upon, in any way used in the decision-making process be retained and kept by the Florida -- sorry -- by the Collier Housing Department, so if any member of the public can look at it, of course, properly redacted, or we can use it in our audits. This includes bank accounts, tax statements. And, finally, I would also ask that they scrutinize proper client June 13, 2017 Page 72 documentation; really look at it. They're sending -- I'm going to give you examples as we go through in a minute of things they've sent over to the Clerk to ask him to make payment on when they're incorrect, and they're clearly incorrect; that should have been stopped. We shouldn't have to use our staff time for that. Next, Consideration No. 5, if you see a false tax return, we're asking the county staff deny the application. They're given a warning. They're given -- they sign their name twice that say they understand, under the penalties of perjury, that they will not be giving false statements. If they do, there needs to be consequences. Whether you turn them into the State Attorney's Office, the Sheriff's Office, or deny their application, it doesn't matter, but something needs to happen. It doesn't need to be sent to the Clerk's Office to see if it slides through. Consideration No. 6, sometimes people get divorced; 50 percent of the people get divorced is what I'm told. We need to look at the court records. We need to find out if there's gifts, jointly-owned assets, alimony, child support. These all need to be figured when doing asset-calculation income. Now, not all of them may get qualified, but you need to look at it, you need to go to the Court files and do it. Presently, I've looked at three or four or five applications, and now the only -- the time period we're talking about today is only 18 months. And I have found many things in court records. I've found property that's been owned. I've looked at the recorder's office. I've found that some of the people have owned properties together. So it's very interesting what county staff has not picked up on but just the lowly clerk has. BCC recommendations -- for Executive Summary No. 7, we consider this a high-risk program, and the Clerk is going to continue to audit as much as he does today. Now, if risks change and we decide that it's not a high-risk program, things get better, we may randomly pull audits, and we may change the way that we do audit, and we may June 13, 2017 Page 73 not audit every single file. But presently we're auditing every file, spending anywhere between four hours to eight hours or more per file finding inconsistencies, looking for things. Now, many of them do get paid; some of them don't. But I can tell you that there's an awful lot of volleyball questions back and forth, ping ponging back and forth, do they have this, do they have that. Lee me see, let me find out, let me get back to you. So the Clerk keeps asking questions. Ultimately, as Ms. Grant said, many of them do close. Many of them do not. Number 9, Mrs. Grant is right, there's flat financing, and I will also add that some people who, if they qualify, could get an extra $5,000 if they're teachers, firefighters, and essential personnel, even hospital workers, but we think best practice would be gap financing. Number 10, as we know, Habitat -- I'm not going to spend a lot of time on Habitat. We had a nice presentation about Habitat this morning. But Habitat only requires $1,000 and a fixed amount of sweat equity. You come, you show up every Saturday, every Sunday, whenever it is, with a hammer and some nails, some paint, and a paintbrush, and you put that in. Your sweat equity helps you allow (sic) that house. Perhaps we don't need to be subsidizing everybody 20-, 30-, $50,000 to get into a Habitat house who asks. Sometimes it only may take $1,000. It might only take $3,000 and 400 hours of sweat equity. I don't know what the calculation is, but I'm not sure that we are not always -- we may be over-subsidizing people. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Can I just -- I mean, that's not an accounting question that you're posing. That's a policy -- MR. MOLENAAR: That's right. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- issue, right? MR. MOLENAAR: That's right. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I mean, that's for us to decide, right? MR. MOLENAAR: Absolutely. I'm not asking -- I'm not June 13, 2017 Page 74 making a suggestion to you at all. I'm responding to No. 10 and No. 11, what kind of financing do you want. And as we go through, I'm going to show you why I'm going to say this, and I'll jump right to the point, if you'd like, Mr. Solis. First of all, the trainer from Florida Housing Coalition, she says a lot of local governments cap assets at 25,000. Now, this is a training that I went to. So that's a little less than 30-, but this is what the Florida Housing Coalition trainer, Aida, says other cities do. The next one we have here is -- this is what really started it. You'll remember last month we came forward, the Clerk did, with an item. This woman was divorced. She worked at NCH. She takes a couple weeks off at Christmas. She takes time off to visit her family in Europe. She had over $51,000 of money in the bank. She was awarded 30,000. She didn't put in for the extra 5,000 as a hospital worker, but she was awarded $30,000; $51,000 in the bank. Next one was a young couple, a woman fiancee, boyfriend/girlfriend, her father owned a construction company, her mother was a realtor. They were awarded $20,000. They had $32,000 in the bank. They had -- Fifth/Third had $17,000. Another Fifth/Third account had $13,000. So this is kind of the things that we're seeing. So this woman -- we have another couple who is -- they had $24,000 in cash assets. They're awarded $25,000. This woman happened to be a local Collier County teacher. Next one was $26,000, and they were awarded 20-. I can give you several other examples. Most of these people were awarded $20,000. Mrs. Grant's right: Last fall this board opted to have No. 2; however, there were three options which were laid before the Board. Mrs. Grant said that Option No. 1 or 2 looked pretty good to her; that's what she recommended. The Florida Housing Coalition, the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, one of the Florida bankers June 13, 2017 Page 75 said Option No. 3 is good. And I'll give you their exact words. So I'm hearing you say, ma'am, the banks would prefer No. 3, said Mr. Nance. Gap financing has a lot of moving parts, but Mrs. Grant says we can do it. The Florida Housing Coalition woman says, Option No. 3 assists with spending the money appropriately. Of course, we know what went on is it went before the Board, and it was a majority vote, and Option No. 2 was selected. What does Florida Housing say about Option No. 2? Well, I don't know, but what I can tell you is after -- they recommend Option No. 3. State does not recommend flat financing. They recommend gap financing based upon client need. She said Habitat houses, you may be way over subsidizing. And, again, on a $211,000 house, when people have a job, they're putting $1,000 down, doing sweat equity, they may not need $50,000. Not everybody's that destitute where they need it, but they qualify, so we give it to them. Homeownership went down 1 to 3 percent, she said. You don't want to over-subsidize. MR. OCHS: Who is this, ma'am? MR. MOLENAAR: This is Aida Andujar. MR. OCHS: The supervisor or director of HUD or SHIP? MR. MOLENAAR: No. She's just Florida Financing. She's a trainer. She's been there 25 to 30 years. MR. OCHS: So this is one trainer's opinion. MR. MOLENAAR: That's her statement. MR. OCHS: Okay. MR. MOLENAAR: She said the State doesn't recommend it. I don't think that's an opinion. MS. KINZEL: And that is the trainer that you brought in to train staff. June 13, 2017 Page 76 MR. OCHS: Our staff. MR. MOLENAAR: This was your housing staff. I was invited with another one of my auditors to come and listen to what Housing does, and so I took that opportunity. It was great to be there. Okay. The next case we're going to look at -- I'll be very brief here -- is a -- Mrs. Grant says they rely upon the names that are given to them by the financing agency, whether it's a bank or a financing agency. In this particular case, this woman was divorced. I went through the court records with the County Attorney a little bit, and what we discovered was that, in fact, the name she was using was not her name. She had gotten divorced several years earlier. The judge said, you shall be known as Jane Doe, not Jane Smith. She was using Jane Smith when she was married; now it's Jane Doe. So this entire time she was using the wrong name. I went to the Court file and found this. These are things that Housing needs to be doing. They need to be asking questions. Is there anything -- are there any legal holdups? Is there anything here we need to know about your case? No. She at least -- she didn't report it if that question was asked. We caught it -- she was paid $20,000, but all the documents had to be corrected. Next case was a 73-year-old woman. She needed an emergency subsistence grant. This is not a SHIP matter, but it's the same type of program. You need to validate people's income. She was renting an apartment from her niece. She was living with another niece, not sisters, who did not have a job. The Clerk denied payment because we were able to determine who she was. Mrs. Grant, in her opening presentation, talked about, oh, a little difference, you know, in the driver's license and the passport. Well, here I've given you the passport and the driver's license. One says 1942; one says 1944. I've done my best throughout this entire presentation to block people's identity, to block their faces. We don't June 13, 2017 Page 77 want to embarrass anybody, county staff, anybody. I've tried to take all names out. So if you see something, I apologize. I think we got them all, though. But you can see right there the dates are off. Now, they're only off by two digits, but they're still off. They don't match. Nobody bothered to go back and have them corrected. The Clerk did not make payment. Mrs. Grant, perhaps, or somebody from her office asked for a little more information. This lady provided a Social Security card and a W-2. The Social Security card ended in 26, the W-2 ended in 24, the intake form that Housing providing ended in 26. Again, these are all things that were sent to the Clerk asking for payment. We don't know who this woman is. We can't validate it. The Clerk's mandate is look at all documents and make sure that they're legally valid and sufficient for him to make payment, rightful payment. We couldn't do that. I want to look at this document. This was another document of her W-2 just to show we, in good faith, tried to correct it. She worked for a mechanical and manufacturing -- and fabricating company. The name was spelled wrong. The employee's address is her husband's name. She wanted -- it was the wrong year. It was 2013. This is 2014. She says she was living in Collier County '13 but provides a '14 out-of-state W-2. And then when we said we weren't going to make payment, the Housing Department demanded to know why we wouldn't make payment. We told them why we wouldn't make payment. They wanted it in writing. We still told them we wouldn't make payment. But this is why the Clerk thinks all documents should be retained. Now, I took one step further. I even called the company. I spoke to the owner on the phone. I said, I want to talk to you about this woman. He said woman -- I've never employed a woman here in my whole life. June 13, 2017 Page 78 Again, what your trainer has told you -- said tax returns provide information that they would not already know. The reason to double-check and look at tax returns is as a check and a balance. I think it is best practices. We do not want to benefit people who are not entitled. On Page 28, the Clerk agrees. Here is a copy of the application page. The people understand on Page 3 that false statements or misrepresentations may lead to a misdemeanor. They do this at the beginning, they do this out towards the end, they sign a similar form. The same penalties. But the Clerk wants to know, when is enough enough? When will Housing not forward these files that haven't been properly vetted, scrutinized, and audited -- I'm not going to use the word "audit" -- scrutinized and vetted it to us? Another ESG grant. They use Whiteout. Whiteout's not acceptable. We'll move on. We did not pay after audit. This one was 773 days old. So the effective date of the lease and the signature of the date of the lease was 773 days in between. Impossible. But, again, this slid through, and we were asked to make payment. A separate case, we have a start date of the lease of 6/15 -- 6/5 of '15, end date of October 5 of 2015. One of the staff members asked, how is this enforceable on 6/5 of 2015 if it was not executed until 10/5 of 2015, 123 days later? And they scratched their head. Housing came back on Page 34 with an amended cross-through lease, a new lease, same signatures. The Clerk did not pay. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Molenaar, can we move this along a little bit? MR. MOLENAAR: Yes. I think you've gotten a flavor of what we're looking at here. I mean, it's not limited to just that. We've also had other court orders. This case was an ESG grant. They -- staff's accountant asked for June 13, 2017 Page 79 1,140 a month. The court order said it should only be $950 a month. The monies should be deposited in the registry of the court. Instead they wanted the money to go directly to the home, to the managing company. So it's really curious to us, you know -- you know, I hate to use the term "lie," but was it at the court level or was it the county staff? When did these people, you know, make this misstatement? Here's what Mrs. Grant -- she showed -- you've seen this before. She's asked us to audit less. We're not going to audit less. I do want to spend a moment on this particular slide. These are the things that she'd like us to audit less or not look at at all: Lender documents, appraisals, applications, client evaluation forms. By now you should be asking yourself, why doesn't the Housing Department want us to audit? Why don't they want us to look at these things? What are they worried about us finding? Does this mean that we're finding things that they're not finding? This document tells the story of what we should be doing. We should be auditing these particular things more. I'm now going to move on. Public records seems to be resolved from your original summary. We did find some houses. When we did a search this past week, my auditor Gabriela Molina -- Molina, I think is her name. I gave it the court reporter, so it's spelled. In any event, we found plenty of houses which were under $160,000. We've passed those along. You can see the average sales price of the homes is somewhere between 207- and $240 (sic), and people get awards of roughly $20,000. So maybe they're looking in the wrong areas. Maybe they're not thoroughly looking on Zillow, wherever they need to be looking for it. But there are other options. Not every house in Collier County is 300,000, which is the cap of what your program is. Here's just a list of Habitat homes. You can see that we've given June 13, 2017 Page 80 Habitat almost a million dollars in the past year. Just a fact. Nothing more than that. They've received -- Habitat has received about 63 percent of the money that's gone out for SHIP, and the remainder of the people who -- have received about 29,000. We had another trust which got 3 percent. These are all percents. Fannie Mae got 2 percent; HUD got 2 percent. I'll probably leave you about here. This is a man who moved into a Habitat home. He moved in before closing. Habitat allowed him to do that. We continue to look at the Clerk, who was given financial statements. The Clerk noticed that the only thing that was deposited from his business were ACH and checks. We found out that he worked as a cigar maker. He makes the cigars in his house. He sells them at a local flea market. I went to the local flea market, and I said, I've got this auditor, he's retiring, I don't know anything about cigars, but can you tell me about cigars. He told me two cigars I should get. He said if I pay cash, it would be cheaper. He had the cash register drawer open. I gave him $20. He gave me $14 back, then he gave me a nice bag with no receipt with two little cigars. So these are the cigars. I didn't give them to the guy. He said he didn't smoke. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are those less than $4 apiece? MR. MOLENAAR: I'd have to ask Mr. Casalanguida. I have no idea. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I like cigars, that's all. MR. MOLENAAR: So, again, we didn't pay on this. Talked to you about this place. This is another woman who needed financial assistance for her rent. There's a court order. She didn't need financial assistance. She needed to be in St. Matthew's June 13, 2017 Page 81 House. She was just released from prison. She was on county probation -- or state probation. Twelve -- she had 12 a/k/a's. The only place she was allowed to live was in St. Matthew's. She came and said she'd like to live at a house over in East Naples. But I found a court order which said the only place she could not live -- which, if she couldn't live in St. Matt's, but the only place in the entire county she could not live is the place that she wanted to live, which is at her mother's house. She couldn't live their because this was a permanent injunction, and she couldn't talk to her mother, go within 500 feet of her house or her body. Again, this is what we found, the Clerk found, not county staff. You can see the zoning. There were zoning violations where she wanted to live. It wasn't properly zoned. They wanted to move her into a mother-in-law house. East Naples doesn't allow mother-in-law houses. So I'm suggesting that, perhaps, county staff should be a little more vigilant and aware of housing violations, code violations, and land regulations. This is a house in East Naples. I'm almost through here. I worked with one of the deputy administrators. He was able to talk to me about the code. We got -- the hot water heater has been moved, but you can see from the top of your page there the hot water heater was too close to the electrical panel box, and a recommendation that it be moved, and it got moved. Now, that's also a converted carport into a room. That wasn't a health, safety, welfare issue, so county staff didn't think it was necessary to have that corrected. It has not been corrected. The new tenants did move in. I did check. This was a $211,000 home. I've given you considerations. I'd ask you to use the front-page test. All the things I showed you today, what would it look like on the front page of the Naples Daily News? Is that really the type of stories June 13, 2017 Page 82 we want coming out of Collier County? Out of Naples? And you can read the other recommendations. What we're always looking for is to verify child support. If you hear your client say something, Aida says, don't lose your job over a poor decision. Thank you very much. If you have any questions, I'm happy to take them. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. In relationship to the applications -- and forgive me. I've forgotten how many applications did we actually service through the SHIP program on an annual basis; do you recall that amount? I think Kim shared that at the beginning. MS. GRANT: Commissioner, it depends on the level of funding. But I can tell you that we've closed about 75 in the last 18 months -- 18 months to two years. We've had -- did I say how many? About seven. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Stay on an annualized basis, Ms. Kim. MS. GRANT: On an annualized basis, for round numbers -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thirty, 35? MS. GRANT: -- fifty. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And it's about two million or so on a funding basis? Did I see a number come through, 2.1 or so? MS. GRANT: Two million is what we're awarded for this coming here. We haven't had as much in the past year, and not all the money goes to this program. But I'm trying to help you where you're going. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, ma'am. And then on an audit trail, how many often -- of the applications that we actually service, how many do you audit? MR. MOLENAAR: How many do I audit? I only audit -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Not you personally; the Clerk's Office. June 13, 2017 Page 83 MR. MOLENAAR: I probably audit six a year. The Clerk's Office probably audits 30 a month maybe. It depends. MS. KINZEL: Different programs. MR. MOLENAAR: Different programs, different things. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: For the SHIP program, which is what we're here to talk about. MR. MOLENAAR: I'll let Ms. Kinzel address that. MS. KINZEL: We audit everything your Housing Department submits to us on these programs because we consider them higher risk. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. And on a percentage basis, of those that are audited, how many in the last 12 months did you find discrepancies and/or denied payment on? MR. MOLENAAR: Well, the majority -- to begin with, the majority we found discrepancies. How many did we close on, probably -- certainly more than half we closed on, much more than half. But there were -- I showed you several that we denied. There are others which I haven't brought here that you've (sic) denied. But the majority, I suppose, have been closed upon. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: What's the percentage? MR. MOLENAAR: We can come back with a percentage if you'd like one. We can't provide a percent to you today unless Ms. Grant knows. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's kind of where -- MS. GRANT: By to my count, in the Purchase Assistance Program, there's only been one loan that did not close that was presented to Finance in the last year, year and a half. MS. KINZEL: And we showed you several others. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- and to help our court reporter, I'm the one asking the questions, and if everybody takes their turn. I would like specific information with regard to the numbers. June 13, 2017 Page 84 This is going to help us ultimately establish policy. If you'll recall, I served -- I started a bank. I served on two different bank boards for 10 years. I've had internal auditors and external auditors all around me. And there are trigger points -- when you're going through an audit process, there are triggers points that delineate policy issues that need to be addressed by the staff. So I would like to know, definitively, on a percentage basis or the actual number in -- that's where I was trying to get to -- the number that we do on an annual basis, the amount of funding that we provide, and then where there are denials based upon audits that are performed, both internally and externally. I need to have that information so that we can help direct the policy to get us to a point to help. I mean, I don't think there's any argument by any of us that the SHIP program is a valuable program and offers assistance to folks. It's just how it's, in fact, administered and managed and on the rationale that the more efficient we are with the dispersal of these funds the more people we can actually, in fact, touch. MR. MOLENAAR: That's what the Clerk would like to do. We would like to be able to say, yep, you're right, everything is correct, let's write the check and move on. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Gotcha. I do have a couple of questions for Ms. Grant, if you may. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. You know -- okay. That's fine. We have 20 minutes before we break. So go ahead. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I am anticipating we're going to bring this back, so... COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, I would have made that motion at the beginning if you would have let me, but... CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think it needed to be heard, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. June 13, 2017 Page 85 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Are you -- would you like to ask Ms. Grant a couple? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If you want, I'll make a motion that we continue this and bring it back. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I want to hear from everybody, but would you like to -- do you want to ask her? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I do have questions for her. I'm just trying to get to where you want to go with regard to the time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It's your preference. If you'd like to ask the questions or if you could save it for when we bring it back, that's fine with me. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Or ask her after the meeting's over. It's up to you, sir. MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, if I might, please. This report was precipitated by a previous direction by the Board to come back and make a recommendation on whether or not the Board should establish an asset limit for the SHIP program. We probably should have stopped right there, but we went ahead and did a further review on 13 components. But the primary directive from the Board was to come back and tell us whether you wanted -- or give a recommendation on whether or not asset level should be established. The staff is recommending an asset level be established at $30,000. That is the crux of the report from us today. If you want to continue or you want us to follow up on subsequent discussion, we're happy to do that. There's no time constraint here. We're just reporting back to the Board as directed. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Making a better program better. MR. OCHS: That's the idea. June 13, 2017 Page 86 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: If we were to bring this back, sir, when would we be able to bring it back; in July? MR. OCHS: Yeah. We're not going to bring you back anything new. We've made two recommendations. The Board simply needs to tell us whether you want one or both of those recommendations implemented or if you want something different. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So what I'd like to ask my board right now, if -- and, Commissioner Fiala, we include you, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do we -- you know, in the understanding that at this point we are going into after dinner meeting at this point, given the progress of our meeting this morning, shall we bring this back, allow us time to digest what's been presented, ask staff questions, and then bring this back, perhaps, in July for some decision making, or shall we proceed at this point and go forward and answer that one question about the assets? Commissioner Fiala, I'm going to ask you first, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. First of all, I think that the staff recommended they didn't want -- they didn't want much of any auditing to take place anymore, and I do not agree with that. I'm thankful that the Clerk's Office has discovered this before the government discovers it and we could really look bad. So I think that it's important that we have that look-see to make sure that what we're doing is legitimate and above board. And the second thing is, there should definitely be an asset limit. When somebody earns 52 -- when somebody has a savings account of $52,000 and the only way they raise money is to babysit, it does leave a question in my mind as to where did all of that money come from. I think there's so much on this program that would -- everyone would like to just put under the rug, sweep under the rug so that nobody looks too closely, and we ought to be saving every bit of June 13, 2017 Page 87 information that we get, whether it be driver's license or credit cards or W-4s or W-9s or whatever income tax information. Everything ought to make up a full package so that anybody can look and see for themselves what we have. We want to make sure that we disclose everything so that we don't look like a bad guy. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So would you agree, or how would we proceed, Board, because -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, if you want to -- if you want to continue this -- I'm not quite sure why you want to continue this. (Simultaneous speakers.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We have 13 questions to answer. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. We're right in the middle of a subject, and now we're going to continue it, but maybe -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's fine. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Maybe if somebody could point that out to me. I don't understand. Or did you -- for the sake of time you wanted to continue it. But then, when we do continue it, we need to give it all the time it needs in order to make sure that we come out of this -- we, the county, comes out of this so that there are no suspicions on the part of the State, the Feds, the newspaper, and certainly on us because we, the five commissioners, are responsible for whatever happens from this day forward. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well said, Commissioner Fiala. And I would agree, I think we need to decide on 13 issues now, yes or no, as we go through it based on what's been presented. But I'm one person. Commissioner Fiala said yes. Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't think we need to continue this. I think we've got three or four simple policy decisions to make, which I think we can do, I think, fairly quickly, and then I think we just need to make sure that our staff and the Clerk's staff are June 13, 2017 Page 88 working together on this. So let me see if I can just boil this down, because I don't think that this is difficult stuff. One issue is the asset limit, and staff has recommended $30,000 after closing. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't have any issue with that. That's a policy issue. And then, No. 2, the type of program that we're going to have. It appears to me that the State recommends the gap funding program, and so that's a policy issue that I think we can decide fairly quickly as well. Either we go with that option, which would have been Option 3, or we stick with Option 2. I think the Clerk has recognized that that's a policy issue, but I -- MR. MOLENAAR: Yes, absolutely. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- would tend to lean towards the gap financing because of the recommendations. The third issue is just to make sure that our County Manager has the sufficient staff, and if he needs additional staff, you know, this is a $2 million program. This is not a $100,000 program; it's $2 million. It needs to be done right. And so if we need some additional staff time to make sure that the documents are checked, that's another simple thing. We simply just tell staff that we want to make sure that the documents are reviewed. Obviously, you need some assistance in doing that. I think those are the three issues, and I don't think we need to bring this back. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, we do have the self-employment income support. We have the federal tax lien. We have divorced applicant assets. Now, are you putting that under the umbrella of this needs to be audited, or how do we move forward on this? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I want to maintain the robust auditing that's taking place. Hopefully, with the passage of time, that June 13, 2017 Page 89 audit responsibility will be reduced because the manager will have sufficient staff -- Ms. Grant will have sufficient assistance to make sure that those documents are checked. We owe it to the taxpayer, whether it's the federal taxpayer or the local taxpayer, to make sure that the documents are right. So I'd like to make a motion, perhaps, for at least to get this on the floor for discussion. But I think we can resolve this today. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I do have one more question also when it's my turn. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner Solis, and then Commissioner Fiala, then Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I just have a couple of questions. One is, what is specifically the State's position on whether it should be gap financing or tiered financing? MS. GRANT: My understanding is that the State provides options, and it becomes a local decision. Excuse me. I understand that Mr. Molenaar put up a slide with some notes he took in a trainer presentation. I don't know whether we should rely on that as really being the State's position. Again, my understanding is that it becomes a local decision as to -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: There are three options? MS. GRANT: Fundamentally, yeah: Level, tiered, or gap. And I suppose you can invent something else if you wanted to, but yes. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And just for my information, where do those three tiers come from? What -- I mean, is that the ones that are offered or suggested by the State, or where do they come from? MS. GRANT: It's our understanding that those are recommended approaches from the State. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. MR. MOLENAAR: Kim, if you could put up Slide 19. June 13, 2017 Page 90 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, I have questions. Can I finish my questions? MR. OCHS: Please. MR. MOLENAAR: I was going to show you the options. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, I'd like to finish my questions, thank you. You know, I think the staff is recommending the asset level. I think there's nothing wrong with that. I think -- and I was involved when this issue first came up, and the question to me was, well, why would you, you know, approve somebody in a program like this that has any assets at all? I mean, I think if they don't have any assets, that's a sure way for them to go into default, and then we've really thrown money, you know, down the drain, so to speak. So I think if staff is recommending a certain asset level, that's a policy decision for the Board, and I would support that. I think the current level of auditing is probably what we should stay with. The third issue, the financing. You know, if there are options provided by the State and there's no requirement that we do one or the other, if the staff, I think, is recommending that we use the tiered one because that works -- and it doesn't sound to me that there are a lot of these applications that are going to the Clerk's Office that then are denied for some reason. I mean, I heard one. MS. GRANT: There are certainly a lot of back and forth on many of them, but only one last year has been denied. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Sure. I mean, if that's -- the proof is in the pudding. If there's back and forth, that's probably good because that means the system is working. You know, I don't think it's fair to say that, you know, what we're trying to do is send things to the Clerk's Office with the hopes that they'll slide through. I mean, I think that's just not a fair statement, in my opinion, because I don't think that's what's going on. June 13, 2017 Page 91 MR. MOLENAAR: The Clerk would like to be able to rely on the application that's received, that it's correct, and ultimately, what -- we'd like to be at the point is where we make sure the names line up with the amount, and the amount of the check is correct. We don't want to be spending accountants' time, which are expensive people, four or eight hours per application, or more. That's kind of where we're at here today. And if you go with gap financing, you're going to be able to help more people. We're not going to be over-subsidizing. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Are you finished? MR. MOLENAAR: Sure. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'd like to finish what I was going to say. So I don't think that's a fair assessment. I think the program, yes, we need to audit it. We need to make sure that the documents are right. I think the level of auditing that's being performed is fine. I don't know that we need to continue it today either. I think this is an ongoing process of communications, hopefully, between staff and the Clerk's Office to make this work better and to ensure that the tax dollars that are being used are being used wisely. I mean, I don't know that -- and it doesn't seem to me that at this point there's a problem. We seem to be talking about something that doesn't appear to be a problem because, as far as I can tell, there's only been one that was actually sent, audited, and was then denied because there was something wrong with it. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't have any issue with Option 2, and that's fine. I think we're all in accord in terms of the audit level. The problem appears to be that staff doesn't have the support necessary to make sure that the applications, when they're sent over to the Clerk, are adequate. And if that's the case -- and I have no doubt June 13, 2017 Page 92 that based on what we've seen, that there is some problem with that -- let's fix that problem. We shouldn't be relying on the Clerk to determine whether dates are accurate and names are accurate. That's something that we should do, and it should be sent over. So in terms of the -- moving forward, we can do this in two or three separate motions, but I think we can resolve all three of these issues this morning. But I think staff does need to have a little more careful review of some of the documentation, and that's all. We're all working together as a team. It's not a criticism at all on anybody's part. I'd like to make sure that we have the sufficient staff support to make sure that the applications are in a little better shape when they go over. That's all. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis, no more? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No more. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, yes. Thank you very much. What I wanted to comment on was -- and now don't forgot, I was born and raised a Republican, so maybe I look at things a little bit differently. But, you know, when I was young -- that was, like, back in the Dark Ages -- what we did was we worked and worked and husband and wife and saved until we could get together a down payment and a little bit extra for whatever we need for moving expenses and so forth. We never had anybody hand anything to us. In our case right here, we're not only -- like, for instance, Habitat says all they have to do is come up with $1,000 and sweat equity, and they can have a house, yet we anxiously want to give them $30,000 extra. I'm not quite sure, when they already have a house at $1,000. I don't know why that -- that just doesn't seem -- to give taxpayer dollars away like that doesn't seem right. That's just a Donna Fiala opinion. Anyway, I just feel that we're giving way too much. As the June 13, 2017 Page 93 trainer had said, somewhere in what you were just talking about, something about we seem to be directing too much money into one direction, and she didn't see that that was right either. I think that -- I think 30,000 is way too much. If we want to give 15,000 -- heck, that's $15,000 they don't even have to earn. That is like a gift, and it's taxpayer gift that we're giving them. So I think 30,000 is way too much. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. We are going to continue this until after our 1 o'clock, but we -- Commissioner McDaniel we haven't heard from yet. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, thank you. And, Commissioner Fiala, it wasn't that far back in the Dark Ages when we all worked and earned what it was that we received. I would like to know, from a private sector standpoint, if anybody happens to know -- I already do know the answer to this question -- the asset requisites that are a qualifier for a conventional loan. They're not there. They're not there. You have to show the capacity to be able to make the payment. You work hard, you save all your money, you take all of the money that -- there's no limit in the bank that says you have to have $30,000 in assets or liquid assets or non-liquid assets. And you take -- as Mrs. Fiala said, you take all the money that you've worked for, saved for, and put it down on your home; your qualification was the purchase -- the capacity to continue to make that payment. Now, I don't think it's imprudent, as Commissioner Solis has said, that we have some sort of liquid basis, liquid asset basis for us to be looking at if we're going to -- if we're going to be making these bequeaths along the way. So I would suggest -- I concur with Commissioner Fiala, I think the $30,000 amount that's left in the bank is entirely too high. I would actually make a suggestion of incentivization of investment of these June 13, 2017 Page 94 already-saved funds like the rest of the planet does when they're buying a home, that those get invested into the actual purchase over and above the SHIP subsidation (sic) for the down payment. When you look at the information that's been provided -- and, again, we just got this today, but the price ranges of these homes then, in turn, the amount of the down payment does what to your mortgage amount? Reduces it. When it's reduced, then your payment is less, which then increases the qualifications. And there's a lot of moving parts to this. And I concur with my colleagues here on the Board; the more robust the audit process, I think, the better all the way -- all the way through. I'm not -- I don't personally agree with the 30,000 limit there as far as -- or the $30,000 asset thing. How come you always hurry me along? Let's go eat, if you're hungry. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, no. It's just so -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm done. I'm done. Somebody make a motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. So we will continue this once we finish the 1 o'clock time-certain, and thank you very much. And we are going to reconvene at 1 o'clock. MR. MOLENAAR: Thank you, Commissioners. (A luncheon recess was had.) MR. OCHS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd please take your seats. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Madam Chair, you have a live mike. MR. OCHS: Thank you very much. Madam Chair, you have a live mike. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much, County Manager. I think you wanted to add something on the item that we June 13, 2017 Page 95 were discussing previous to lunch? MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. Before you begin your agenda for the afternoon, I would like to request that the Board consider continuing Item 11G. That was discussion that you had just previous to the lunch break to allow me some time to go over the report that was submitted earlier today by the Clerk, and then to have a subsequent sitdown with their office to see if we can't further resolve some of the outstanding items at this point. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do I have a motion to that effect? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So moved. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, you bandwagon jumper. I already did that two hours ago, so, yeah, second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner Fiala, I want to make sure you're there, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, thank you. I'm here. I couldn't get any sound. I just got it in now. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Maybe our County Manager could repeat his direction at this point. MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. Commissioner, I was requesting, on the staff's behalf, that was Board continue Item 11G -- that was the subject of your discussions just before the lunch break this morning -- to give me an opportunity to go over and evaluate the information that was presented this morning and have a subsequent follow up meeting with the Clerk's Office. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, great. And you know what, I'd like to meet with you also. That would be great. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: On the motion, which I support, I think we've all said that we want to maintain that kind of robust auditing function. And so when you come back, if you need June 13, 2017 Page 96 some additional staff to make that happen, I think we all agree with that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's really good direction. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And perhaps we're going to -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Great. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- anticipate for a July meeting, perhaps, or the very latest will be the first meeting in September. Is that what we're looking at? MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. September on the outside. July if we can make it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. If there's no objections to this, we have a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. MR. OCHS: Thank you, Commissioners. That takes us to your 1 p.m. time-certain. Excuse me, Commissioner Taylor had asked that we first hear public comments on general topics. So we'll go to that item. Mr. Miller, do we have any registered speakers? Item #7 PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA June 13, 2017 Page 97 MR. MILLER: We have four registered speakers for public comment. Your first speaker will be Diane Flagg. She will be followed by Graham Ginsberg, who has been ceded additional time from Ethan Ginsberg and Max Ginsberg, and they are all present. Ms. Flagg? MS. FLAGG: Good afternoon, commissioners, CDC members. I'm Diane Flagg, Chair of the Economic Recovery Task Force. And I'm going to give you a very brief overview of the artificial reef project and then a new deployment that we have coming up the end of this month. So, as you know, the artificial reef project, one of the largest projects that was preplanned in the western hemisphere, made possible through community partnerships. The plan was executed. We have deployed 36 artificial reefs. Each reef is 500 tons. We've deployed more than 100 artificial reef modules, and this has been done with the mix of grant funds and private donor funds. No taxpayers' funds have been utilized. The first deployment was January 9th, 2015. And if you will look at the box culverts there on the barge, this is what they look like now. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh, wow. Oh, look at the fish. You didn't stage those fish, right? MS. FLAGG: No. They just kind of hang out there. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's wonderful. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's amazing. MS. FLAGG: All right. So this is an artificial reef module. It's an underwater habitat. For a donation of $3,000 you can put your name or whatever you want on the marble plaque, and then the Goliath grouper, which is on your right, this is a habitat that's been deployed, and they love these artificial reef modules. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Grouper condo. June 13, 2017 Page 98 MS. FLAGG: So our previous coastline was sandy, had little food or habitat for our marine life. The local reefs have been beat up by the storms, and most of them had just disintegrated over time. So the science behind it was Dr. Matthews, who is an oceanographer in St. Pete, donated his time and resources, explained that if we deployed these reefs in a certain way, that we would create a larger total fish population and increase total food production of the water column for hundreds if not thousand of years. This is another example of what the culverts look like now, and some additional examples of what the reefs look like now. So the eco conclusion, Dr. Matthews told us within two hours we'll have fish on the reef, and sure enough we did. Within six months, we would see species we hadn't seen before, and sure enough we did. We talked to some charter fishermen who had never seen a whale shark. They had been on these waters for 30, 35 years, and now it's not uncommon to see whale sharks on the reefs. Whale sharks eat plankton, not people. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Good clarification. MS. FLAGG: Yeah. Important one, because they're about 30, 35 feet long. Okay. So the Sea Grant 2011 study showed us that they studied six Southwest Florida counties and said that artificial reefs generate 2,600 jobs and 253 million in that southwest region annually. And the sport -- American Sport Fishing Association said if sport fishing was a corporation, it would rank 51st on the Fortune 500. So the funding, we took 1.3 million through BP promotional fund, received 650,000 in donations. And through an agreement with the Community Foundations, all donations are tax deductible. The project is self-perpetuating. The permits are good for 10 years. The reef construction contract expires in 2020 if we take advantage of the renewals. The agreement with Community June 13, 2017 Page 99 Foundation has no expiration date, and we have lots of free material out there. This is the reefs. There are six permitted areas called a legacy reef. If you want to get the GPS coordinates, which I recommend for fishing -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Don't give those out. MS. FLAGG: No, they're out. They're out, available for everyone. It's at SeaofCollier.org, and you just do a search, Paradise Reef. So Wasmer family and Foote family donated two legacy areas. There are six reefs within each of the legacy areas. The Rooney family and Haunschild family donated a hundred thousand. There are four to six reefs within their areas. And Tod Sirod is a local business. Jackson's Fish Camp Memorial, they donated. And there are seven reefs within their areas. We have lots of turtles out there now. We didn't see these -- lots of turtles like we're seeing now. There's also a documentary film through the partnership with the TDC and the Board of County Commissioners, and you can see that on video.WGCU.org. It's about an hour long, incredible underwater footage. The big news: At the end of this month, we had an internationally acclaimed designer, Vito Di Bari, contact us and say that he has done projects all over the world. He is an innovative designer for the Expo 2015 in Milan. He was the executive director of UNESCO. The Financial Times defined him as the new European guru of innovation. He designed a reef. The reef will be comprised of 34 modules, each module being a habitat. There will be six divers that will individually place the modules to create the turtle design. Each module weighs 6,000 pounds, a height of eight feet, a footprint of 10 feet on the bottom, and it will be located 17 miles from Gordon Pass. This is what -- so when you dive off the boat to go see it, that's what you'll see. And remember, each of those little triangles is an individual June 13, 2017 Page 100 underwater habitat. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Grouper condo. MS. FLAGG: Yes. So this is what it will be. These are pictures from the current reefs out here now. So each reef, they're about a football field apart. And then we're going to put the turtle design -- deploy that turtle reef right in the center of it, and that will be part of the Paradise Reef project. Any questions? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's just extraordinary. Thank you so much. MS. FLAGG: You're welcome. I have Peter Flood here; just wanted to say one thing. MR. FLOOD: Just a -- I'm glad there's a lot of people here today -- that I follow the NOAA and all the fish and wildlife here in Florida. And it's now been -- 90 percent of the fish that we eat in this area come from outside the United States. So projects like these are important throughout Florida to sustain the fish population. I just hope Collier County continues on with it. I see some great culverts coming out of the ground over off Immokalee Road. I hope the landfill continues to accept the concrete, and I hope we keep deploying it, because I fish these reefs, I have friends that dive them, and they're just exactly how they look, and they're full of fish, and it's great for the community. So let's continue it on and keep enjoying it for everybody. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for bringing this possible and just -- I mean, it's just extraordinary partnership where we take landfill and make -- and create this. It's just a wonderful partnership between Collier County and the private sector. Thank you so much. MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, your next public speaker is June 13, 2017 Page 101 Graham Ginsberg. And he's been ceded additional time from Ethan and Max Ginsberg, for a total of nine minutes. MR. GINSBERG: Good afternoon. Graham Ginsberg. My sons, Ethan and Max. I'm a real estate agent in Naples, and I got a diploma in civil engineering, and I was on the Coastal Advisory Committee for a period of time. I've come here today to speak about beaches and beach access as well as what I consider an unfortunate situation where people are constantly, throughout the years, been kicked off public beaches. A lot of information I have is from around about 2010, but the situation hasn't changed. It's just that I was very involved in the beaches at that time as well as Coastal Advisory Committee. I asked a couple of the commissioners to look into what I will call an open beach policy where the beach isn't divided into a private and a public sector but an open area that is, like, basically an easement that the upland owner or the beachfront owner cannot kick people off the beach, which is a constant theme. The beachfront owners are utilizing the police to approach people, tourists, myself, my children, on the beach and asking them to leave, and if you don't it's criminal. It's a criminal event, basically. I don't know what you would want to call it. But, anyway, the police seldom side with the visitor. They always tend to side with the upland owner. So you're in a very difficult position with these grumpy property owners along the beach who are a very small minority of our population. We have about 220,000 properties in Collier County. Probably a couple thousand of them are along the beach, yet they are the ones screaming for more sand. You had the Ritz-Carlton here several months ago asking for more percentage of the TDC funds to be used for sand. I refer to a June 13, 2017 Page 102 2009 article in Florida Weekly, and Mr. Staros, the vice president and managing director of the Ritz-Carlton, said the following: I'm trying to be a good neighbor, but it backfires when I need the beach. I have always welcomed the public to my beach, my sand. I don't own the beach. I own the sand, he explained. However, on those 30-plus days a year when I have to -- when I have to have the beach for our guests, people say, what the hell are you doing throwing me off the beach. That was Ed Staros. He says, yeah, well, I'm not -- I'm using my beach, my sand. For 25 years I've been more than gracious. Let's look how gracious Mr. Staros was to me. Can you flip the page. This is a letter from Harold Vilhauer, deputy -- or general counsel for the Department of Environmental Protection. They took issue with the Ritz-Carlton for having kicked myself and my children off the beach while on public property. It says, the complainant, Graham Ginsberg, asserts that he and children were enjoying a day at the beach in December 2008 when they were approached by security staff from your hotel. The hotel employees informed Graham Ginsberg that the entire beach in front of the Ritz-Carlton Naples Beach Resort was private beach, and since and he and his family were not guests of the hotel, they had to leave. Graham Ginsberg and his family were on state-owned public beach at the time. The letter goes on to say, which is a letter that was addressed to Lawrence McFadden, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton, says any attempt by private parties to restrict public access to public lands is prohibited. It was a stern warning to these beachfront owners that are abusing their power and kicking people off the beach that has gone on since I've been here since 1993. It hasn't changed. Our attorney has asked for more information, meaning Jeff, has June 13, 2017 Page 103 asked for more information. I believe it's a strawman argument. We don't need more information. The information's out there. People have been kicked off. I've got several examples of people over the years that have been kicked off beaches. The problem is that you are dealing with an imperfect solution, if you will, that the State provided you for beach rebuilding or beach renourishment. The State has said that you can use TDC funds to rebuild beaches but there's an imaginary line. And if you consider the commissioners being the ocean and the guests being the beach, somewhere in between there's a dividing line. It splits private from public, and it's invisible. So you're playing a game with tourists because you're saying that the beaches are the tourists; they are the tourists that are coming here. Heaven forbid the tourists don't have a little strip of sand on the beach, so we've got to make it a hundred feet wide. The tourists come down onto the beach, and there's no indication as to what is private and what is public because it's an invisible line, and that's what you've been working with since the '90s. Before that you didn't -- you didn't renourish beaches. This is all new since the '90s. So how do you expect the public to work with that situation? You're basically giving private landowners extra beach, and you're allowing them to use law enforcement to kick people off. I say that's grossly unfair. I've been affected by it. My children are affected by it. Not once, but twice. One time just about two years ago, my son and Ethan and I were in front of the Ritz-Carlton with a TV crew, WINK TV, and we were asked to leave. We were standing on the beach. We weren't even sitting on the beach. This has gone on and on and on, and I'm telling you now it needs to stop. You either need to stop spending money on rebuilding these beaches that you cannot control and you have no control over the June 13, 2017 Page 104 upland owners calling the police and forcing them off -- just like Moraya Bay has done within the last six months, and just like the Ritz-Carlton did prior to that. So you need to decide, are you going to put signage along the length of the coast that indicates clearly to a visitor what is private and what is public so that when they put their beach towel down, you don't have a police officer coming up to them and saying, please get off the beach. Because it's embarrassing. They're not going to come to you. You're not going to hear the story about it. The evidence is gone. The insult is there. So what do you do? You either put your signs out that clearly say "private beach," "public beach" along the length of Collier County or you create an easement that says anywhere on the beach between this area and that area, the seawall, the building structure, the vegetation, and the ocean is an easement where public can go and sit and put their towels down and enjoy the beach like normal people would. You have that choice, or you need to just stop building these beaches. If you look at aerial photographs going back to the '40s, the beaches rebuild themselves. It's not like the beach has ever completely disappeared. And I don't think anyone here wants to pay for any of the coastal properties to protect their property. If they are in fear of losing their property from a storm, they have every right to build a seawall. We don't have to be putting millions and millions of dollars of sand where people are screaming for payment to -- funds to go to museums, sports complexes, ATV parks. There's so much more need out there than this small minority of people along the beach. Am I up? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ginsberg. MR. GINSBERG: Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. MR. MILLER: That was your final speaker for public comment, June 13, 2017 Page 105 Item 7. Item #11A REVIEW OF THE UPDATED CONCEPTUAL SITE PLANS, COST ANALYSIS, AND FUNDING ALLOCATION PLAN ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REGIONAL TOURNAMENT CALIBER SPORTS FACILITY AND APPROVE THE RECOMMENDED FUNDING ALLOCATION, PROJECT DELIVERY PLAN; AND DIRECT THE COUNTY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE PLAN AS SUBMITTED OR AS AMENDED BY THE BOARD - TDC: MOTION TO APPROVE THE SPORTS COMPLEX AND THE 5TH PENNY TAX APPROVED; THE MUSEUM ALLOCATION WILL BE DISCUSSED FURTHER PRIOR TO THE NEXT BCC MEETING; BCC: MOTION TO PROCEED WITH INCREASING TOURIST TAX TO 5% AND APPROVE THE SPORTS COMPLEX – APPROVED; FREEZE THE MUSEUMS AT THE 2014 RATE AND STAFF TO CONSIDER THE OPERATIONS WITH DIFFERENT CONCEPTS FOR REVIEW, ALONG WITH THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE TO BE REVIEWED BY THE TDC PRIOR TO BOARD ADOPTION – APPROVED Item #10B JOINT MEETING BETWEEN THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND THE TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL TO DISCUSS ALLOCATION OF TOURIST DEVELOPMENT TAX REVENUES - DISCUSSION CONSISTED OF ITEM #11A June 13, 2017 Page 106 MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, Commissioners, that takes you to your time-certain hearing items this afternoon. Item 11A is a recommendation to authorize staff to proceed with the development of a regional tournament-caliber sports facility, and Mr. Nick Casalanguida, your Deputy County Manager, will make that presentation. And that discussion will then be immediately followed by a joint meeting between the Board and the Tourist Development Council. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, I think, Board, if it's okay with you, I think we'll move on down. It is a joint meeting, and I think it would be beneficial for us to be down there and start the process. Thank you. MR. OCHS: We're going to do the staff presentation first, correct? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We can move down. MR. OCHS: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We can see from our screens here. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do you think it's better? It's fine with me. MR. OCHS: It's probably a little easier for the Board to see the presentation there and then move down. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, just again, for point of order, we're going to take this item, I imagine you're going to hear the speakers on this item, and then reserve your vote on this item till after you have your discussion with the TDC. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: My thought was is that we're going to hear from staff, and then if there's any questions of us or of the TDC to staff, then we take public comment, and then we come back, ask the Tourist Development Council to make a recommendation to us, and June 13, 2017 Page 107 then we will deliberate. MR. OCHS: Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Fair enough. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, Mr. Manager. Good afternoon, everybody. Okay. Set the right tone. First I want to thank the County Manager for putting me on point on this project. It's something I truly have enjoyed. It's been two years to work with both the tourists development team, the beach team, the folks that are working on sports development, the folks on the TDC, and the members of the audience and the property owners. Gone through all the four phases of team development. As you know, we formed, we stormed, we normed, and we came together as part of this project to give you what we think is a cohesive package that everybody's agreed on. Definitely want to acknowledge Jack Wert and Gary McAlpin. They came forward and worked on the program with the budget to develop this. Gary, a 25-year beach plan in about three weeks, that laid out everything that he thought he'd need for beach resiliency. Jack, recognizing the funding, looked at ways to, you know, minimize the impact of tourism development and tourism promotion. And I also want to thank City Gate folks. We went through that same phase of our forming, storming, norming, and performing. There were quite some heated meetings talking about the land values, but they also worked as part of the team to develop this site. A couple corrections for housekeeping. On your executive summary on the first page at the bottom I have a date labeled 2018. It's meant to be 2017. And then also on your delivery plan for funding allocations, Items 3 and 4 are meant to be 2017. For the purpose of this presentation, I'm going to try and cover a little bit of everything just to make sure that the Board and the public, June 13, 2017 Page 108 members of the TDC, anybody that's interested gets a good feel for what we've been doing for the past two years and what brought us to today. So going back to May of 2015, I know Jack and his team at the time -- we didn't have a sports tourism development director. They just had a sports crew light (sic). Parks Department was struggling. They were booking field events. Tourism was taking them up. Utilization rate for the fields was over 100 percent. I play ball on Tuesday nights. I know some of our league times were getting cut when the fields were beat up. And obviously staff recognized they needed to do something different. So they put out an RFP for professional services. October 27th, they selected Hunden Strategic Partners. These folks were out of the north; Chicago, I believe. They work from New York to California, from Chicago down to Texas and Florida. And they evaluate everything from convention centers to sporting facilities. So they do a needs assessment, look at the market, and make recommendations on where to go next. Going forward, we met with the Board, the prior board, some different members that were there. They reviewed the marketing analysis, and it was important to point out that Hunden came out with a couple key points; and things that we knew innately, but they were very keen to point them out. First and foremost, they said, your facilities are overtaxed, you have more demand than you have facilities, and you also need to look at what you're doing with your sports tourism going forward. Multiple large events are coming to Collier County, and you're starting to outgrow them. We heard from pickleball this morning. Commissioner Saunders, you had asked, what do you need, and they said more fields, more facilities. We've had to turn away a couple of events that we couldn't accommodate. And, again, our field utilization June 13, 2017 Page 109 is over 95 percent. They have ranked outdoor facilities as first, but they noted indoor facilities would do well in Southwest Florida, and they looked at North Collier and said that was an ideal location for an expansion. The Board of County Commissioners at the time unanimously approved and accepted the study and directed us to move forward. We looked at six sites as part of the first analysis, as far south as Manatee Elementary School, North Collier Park, and obviously four locations very close to the highway and Collier Boulevard. The Board was interested in North Collier. They asked us to do a public meeting. We went to North Collier Park. The citizens unanimously requested it be pulled off. They liked the park the way it was. That was an opportunity for us to move quickly, because we had four existing fields. We had the opportunity there to do that. But, again, unanimously, the sentiment from the community and the Board was let's take this project off. During that time frame, as we joked about a little bit at one of the meeting, we got approached by the Braves twice; once to do a facility off Collier Boulevard at a private location, and then they looked at working with the county at a county facility and with City Gate. That was about a six-month interlude that we spent some time on, because we tried to see if we could collate -- locate (sic) a sports facility with a professional team. The Board unanimously voted to reject that proposal. About November of that time period, you also approved hiring a deputy director of sports tourism. You received a bunch of comments that, you know, we had significant events going on, and you wanted a bigger focus on sports tourism. So Item 11B, again, unanimously said, let's bring someone on board to focus on sports tourism. We came back, and we looked at three sites. That was the focus area that was there. Obviously, City Gate, Collier County 305, and June 13, 2017 Page 110 Magnolia Pond at the corner of I-75 and 951. At that meeting the Board agreed that the Magnolia Pond site was not going to be viable due to the complications with multiple owners, and they said, take a harder look at Collier County 305 and the City Gate site. And there were a couple key take-aways from the board members, and I remember taking notes reviewing the meeting minutes. Commissioner Fiala asked that we explain the public benefit and tourism benefit; Commissioner Taylor pointed out that the City Gate initial price was significantly too high at 350- to 400,000 per acre; Commissioner Solis, you pointed out that this is industrial land. You had some concerns about the 110 acres, the takedown that was there and were concerned about the use of that property; and, Commissioner Saunders, you talked about cost containment to see if we could -- if we're going to move forward with the fifth penny, if we could do something a little different and knock that price tag down a little bit and go forward; and, Commissioner McDaniel, you were very clear about establishing a financing and funding plan. So I think as we go through the rest of the presentation, hopefully we'll address everything that was brought up by the Commissioners and the public going forward. We came back on March 28th again, and we presented a financing plan that talked about a 60- to $80 million, depending on land cost, up to $100 million project. We talked about collocating the site. There was a discussion about collocation with City Gate; could you do it phased because of the timing issues with Collier County 305. And we asked the Board if we could get into earnest discussions with City Gate about price, because we were not going to get to a point we could bring you a project without really sitting down with them. We also hired the firm of ABB and Davidson Engineering to work with us to do some evaluations on acreage. So let's get into some of the discussions we have about the project June 13, 2017 Page 111 and what it means. Your operation and maintenance cost, like a typical park, we asked your Parks Department to look at similar park field facilities that we have and evaluate the cost to run these things typically on a yearly basis; 2 to $2.5 million, and that depends a little bit on the management structure. Your typical park models around Florida usually have a 50 percent cost recovery on -- they call it lease fees, but we'll call them league fees and rentals. And your management and marketing model's to be determined. We've talked a lot about, through the Hunden study, if we should use some sort of public/private partnership and treat this more like a business entity as well as a local amenity to the folks that live here. We're going to talk a little bit more down the road about the Wiregrass model, weekend tourism events and midweek local league play, and you'll get a little bit -- a taste of that at the end of the presentation. A lot of discussion about room nights. And, you know, I always worry about forecasting in models, but just to give you a feel, this is on the fields, not the indoor facility. In the Year 10, the stabilized year, they talk about 41,000 room nights, and then Hunden went on to evaluate the benefits on an economic model. New spending, direct spending of 320 million, total spending, 468-; by your stabilized year, 22 million. Talk about TD taxes collected in five years -- 20 years, five million. What that -- when you back calculate it, that's 132-plus million dollars in hotel spending that comes in. And, obviously, spending on an annual basis, direct, 14.8. So they've done this quite a bit of time. I'm not an economist. Jack's looked at it. Jack says it can be conservative or aggressive. It definitely generates room nights, and I think you heard this morning from the pickleball folks what types of events they attract and how June 13, 2017 Page 112 much time people spend here when they attend these events. Looking at today. We moved into an evaluation of the sites again. And to look at Collier County as a whole, I want to emphasize -- because we've looked around the state what other people have done. This is at the corner of Collier Boulevard, your urban line, and I-75. In the future, you've identified the Wilson/Benfield corridor study that's part of the analysis that we've done here where Wilson connects to Golden Gate Boulevard and Benfield Road parallels Collier Boulevard going north/south. Focusing at these locations, again, back to City Gate and Collier County 305. Two sites are side by side; 305 acres that we own to the right. City Gate, the site as a whole started at 110 acres, and we'll knock it down to a tighter location. This was the 110-acre analysis on City Gate. We quickly put this aside and said, this is not going to work due to the fact that even with the reduced land cost, you're spending quite a bit up front, and it would buy into the cost of developing the site. And there was the concern that Commissioner Solis pointed out, as well as the Chamber, this is prize industrial land, so can we scale this thing back a little bit. We looked at Collier County 305. You've got about 195 usable acres. This is about an 110-acre location. And really important to the audience -- and every time I've presented this I've told people -- these are mass-scaling diagrams. They're intended to show what type of size it would take to build a site like this. A lot of folks say, well, you know, can you move the fields? Can you do this? I said, that's not the intent. It's not a final design. It's just to give you a feel for it. The Collier County 305 site, while we picked it up at a very cheap price, there was a reason for it. It has to go through U.S. Army Corps, Fish and Wildlife, and Federal Highway permitting process. That would take approximately three to five years. And the crossing of I-75 is a complicated process because you've June 13, 2017 Page 113 got to make a decision on impacting the folks to the south of that as well, too. That RFP is about to go on in the street this next month, and we'll be able to fast track. And that is to zone that site, determine the roadway alignment, and begin the permitting process for Collier County 305. We looked at the phased approach and the collocated approach, and this obviously made a lot of sense to us with part of the site being constructed on City Gate and part of the site in Collier later, working with the engineers on the water management, the access points provided a lot of opportunity this way. And then I want to spend a little time focused on City Gate, the 60 acres that's there. In developing this, we talked to the City Gate owners quite a bit, went back and forth, trying to minimize the land we would take down. We have a temporary parking location on the north part of this diagram to the west of the field house that's five acres. The price went from 350- to 400,000 an acre all the way down to 200,000 an acre. And there was a reason for that. One, they recognized this could be potentially a loss leader for them in developing that site and getting it going forward, but also they asked us to work on water management. Now, without going into great detail, they have 44 acres north of this diagram that they treat the water on their site. We can take that 44 acres of water management and move it over to Collier County 305 when we develop it with minimal impact to us, because we'll have a water management area that can accommodate that. That gives them back about four useful acres that they can develop. We'll also build the City Gate south site. We evaluated this in terms of construction costs, and some of the variables that came in here -- because people keep saying, I need a final construction number. You've obviously got the fill material. Can we dig out that lake and use it? What elevation are we going to set the fields at? That was June 13, 2017 Page 114 one variable. Can we permit Collier 305 and take dirt off of that and move it back onto City Gate? So that's a variable that, you know, moves a delta around of several million dollars. We also looked at the amenity and design of the stadium and the field house. That's going to vary this project by 5 to 10 to $15 million depending on size. And, obviously, the model I'll show you going forward will allow us to manage that risk going forward when we do that. So we've developed a concept that takes you down to 200,000 an acre. We could start on this fairly quickly, and we can make it fit in that footprint and then work on Phase 2. Okay. Let's talk about a go-forward plan only on the site construction and site development side so you get a feel for it, and then we'll get into the funding allocation discussion to clear that up. This is definitely an opportunity for a construction manager-at-risk project so we can cost contain this project, so that's my recommendation to the Board. You actually solicit the contractor up front, you hire them, and then you hire your design professionals. The contractor works for the county, and sometimes they call it an adversarial relationship with the designer but, really, they're designing it with your cost in mind. So their up front -- by the time you get to 100 percent plans, your contractor gives you a guaranteed maximum price. So we would solicit the project starting now for a contractor, and also the firm that would design this site. The design would come right behind that, take you about 12 months to go through the design process, and then about 16 to 24 months to construct this. And that would be for the verticals. The fields would be done much sooner. You might get a year ahead on that. Concept review team -- and I think this is really important. I think you want to get another firm similar to Hunden as well as all the stakeholders that are involved in this to look at the concept of this June 13, 2017 Page 115 field, this complex. What we found around the country, whether it's Frisco or Rockford, Illinois, they've spent quite a bit of time designing the site, working with the demand in the local area to figure out what's really there. I think our goal would be to put a team together, visit some locations, really work with the end users, and then move forward with that. We would have to develop a purchase and sale agreement with City Gate, bring that back in September for an anticipated closing in January. One project that Jack and his team would work on right away would be naming rights, policy, and solicit funds. There's a lot of folks that are interested in putting their name on the stadium or the field house. We've known that's been very successful, and we know that pickleball's done the same thing, Minto. This morning you saw it with Margaritaville. So we can see we can get some cost reduction by doing some naming rights on the facility. We would work on a fast track, the zoning of Collier County 305. We would shoot for three years. Most likely you would probably be a year behind that. And, again, we would try and get the entitlements done. We could obviously work on permitting some of the water management, because that would not require an entitlement or a full permit of the project. And we would evaluate public/private partnership in donations. We've had some discussions with folks that want to do a baseball portion of this thing. We've had some folks that want to work on the indoor facility, and we would firm those up. This is probably one of the most important ones. We would review successful management marketing models. This is not your typical county park. And what you'll see towards the end of the presentation and you'll see -- as you've seen from properties, there's usually a public/private partnership that manages these facilities where June 13, 2017 Page 116 they solicit, market. Their goal is to bring in and use this place 365 days a year in terms of trying to drive folks that are here. Okay. From the project delivery, we talked a lot about money. I want to thank Geoff Willig in our office who spent quite a few weekends and nights working with me on charts and graphs to develop some of the concepts here. A lot of discussion from the community about TD allocation, which penny goes where and how much and how much is enough. And I think when you see this, it's going to be a little bit eye opening. Going back to 1993, when there was 2 percent, you can talk about the money that was raised, 60/40 split. That's been talked about a lot: 1.6 million to beaches; 1.1 to tourism promotion. Fast forward to '96, you raised it to 3 percent: 73 percent to beaches, 27 percent; 4.5 million, and 1.6 million respectively. Fast forward to 2006. You're up to 4 percent of collections: 50 percent to beaches, 30 percent to promotion, and you brought museums in at the time; 6.8, 5.0, and 1.8 million respectively. You did a reallocation in '14. This is when we did a big boost to the tourism. Jack's went to 47 percent; beaches went to 41 percent. But you notice the trends are still going up, because the revenues started to go up significantly at that time period. And then our proposal, when you get over here, we talk about 43 percent to beaches. And we heard the Board loud and clear and the community loud and clear; they wanted to make sure beach renourishment and beach resiliency was a high priority. Gary, to his credit, in a fairly short amount of time, working with Coastal Planning and Engineering, put together a 25-year plan for beaches to do higher, wider beaches and hard structures to the tune of almost $300 million. So when you look at $11 million a year, 11.2, and you start to put some inflation in there, he gets that $300 million number. That's a big commitment to beaches. So I want to make sure June 13, 2017 Page 117 the community knew that. And then Jack, as well, too, he's only going back several years in historical tourism promotion when you'll see where there was some carryforward, you'll see that it's actually not that much of a difference from one year to another. I give him a lot of credit. He says, I can make this work with a million dollar cut. And I don't want to quote Jack. I'm not happy about it, but I can make it work. And then 3.7 to the sports package, and then you have 1 million -- 2.5 at 10 percent, museums. And this just starts to forecast out at only 3 percent growth the years that go out. Within four years, your promotion's already back to where it was if you leave nothing unchanged. And the most important thing to get, Commissioners, and for the audience and the TDC members, your budget director, who's worked quite a bit on this, says, between the county budget and the program here that we have with the TDC allocation, you have flexibility every year. You can make adjustments going forward based on the project, based on what you see in tourism. We looked at museums at the bottom. Even one idea was to flatten the museums out right now. Do not give them 10 percent of the gross. Give them a number that matches the County Manager policy and allows them to grow the way we would grow, roughly two-and-a-half percent a year. Talked a little bit about the Category B promotion funding and what's going on with the carryforward, so I want to eliminate some myths and also let the public be a little bit comfortable. While Jack was getting additional budget in '13, '14, '15, he was ramping up the program. And at the same time, there was a significant amount of revenues coming in. You never let any department budget above forecast revenues. You always go under, and then when the forecast revenues are coming in much higher, you're going to have a June 13, 2017 Page 118 carryforward. Talk a little bit about the carryforward and where it went. These are your carryforward numbers, and this is money that was not budgeted that was accumulating in that Fund 184 as carryforward. But where has it been going? In the last couple years, the Board has voted to do the pickleball shade structure, which paid off huge dividends in terms of what the event meant to the tune of 755,000. We put a million dollars in catastrophe reserves for advertising, the visitors' center for 600,000, and you've moved forward as an interim step to turf the North Collier fields to the tune of $3.9 million. So what you've left over in 184 reserves is about 274,000. Now, again, you're already above plan a little bit this year. By the time we get to this fiscal year, you're potentially about a million above that in carryforward above budget. So you're trending definitely in the right direction to make these decisions. We talked about the net changes. So for transparency purposes, for the first and second penny, you would be doubling the amount of beach renourishment to the tune of $2.5 million dedicated. To the first and second penny you'd be eliminating $2.5 million from the tourism promotion. Out of the fifth penny, you're adding 1.5 back for a net reduction of one, and you're putting $3.75 million towards the sports tourism amateur sports complex. Proposed allocations; and your executive summary identified this as well, too. The percentages, the total: Beaches, 11.1; 3.7 assigned to the complex; 8.8 to Jack and tourism to promotion; 2.5 million to museums. And those are your allocation models that would come out of that. And that's on the conservative or, I would say, below planned funding model of $26.25 million. To deliver the go-forward plan, this is important, because we've got a pretty tight schedule if we want to move this thing aggressively along. You would have to amend the TDC ordinance and bring back June 13, 2017 Page 119 the first hearing at your next meeting, and then go forward in July to get that modification, as suggested, adopted. The budget, you have a tentative budget hearing this Thursday. We'd make the final budget consistent with what's been presented for September to be adopted. Over the summer you would do your bond validation process; about six months to do that. We would come back for a resolution for the Board authorizing the bond validation. Bay County just did a similar validation for their sports tourism, and they were successful in about six months. As a bridge financing plan, as you know, the hard cost is the land acquisition, about 12 million; the soft costs, about three million for design to kick that off. And so we would look at a commercial paper loan program. Mr. Isackson's office would be coming back at the next meeting for authority to use the commercial paper loan program as a bridge financing method as we go forward. And, obviously, what we built into the schedule is the acquisition of City Gate would be subject to the bond valuation, so we wouldn't get ahead of ourselves as well, too. And then at the end, when we're ready to go forward at the end of '18 or into '19, when we're ready to come out of the ground with construction, we'd convert the short-term debt to long-term debt. And part of this is predicated on a kind of pay-and-go plan as well, too. While we don't need a lot of money up front, the revenues you'd start to collect would start to buy down the cost, so your debt service for the project would be contained. And then to meet that number of 60- to $80 million, your debt service for 3.75 million buys you about 50- to 55-. So you're looking at some pay-and-go, some commercial paper in there, and then, obviously, if we can get some naming rights to buy down the cost as June 13, 2017 Page 120 well, too. And with that construction manager at risk, we can cost contain this thing and, you know, every three to six months update the Board on where we're going and if we're going in the right direction. Interestingly enough, I thought this was interesting as we poked around. Two-and-a-half hours to your north in Pasco County, the Wiregrass model popped up in review. Just two months ago, Pasco County voted unanimously to double their TD tax, and they're doing almost the exact same thing we are, an indoor facility, with a hotel on site and a public/private management model. And same concept we have. In other words, you'd have some sort of private entity marketing and managing the site, O&M covered by the county, and same concept we proposed they do, which is predominantly on weekends there would be tournaments, and then the locals would get to use the facility as well, too. I'll quickly jump. You can get a feel for it, if it works. And these are a couple of conceptuals of the site, eerily similar to some of the things we talked about. Ninety-eight thousand square foot indoor facility; the one we're proposing is 125,000 for facility. In this one they have a hotel -- Marriott-branded hotel on site, and they have the fields located around. And the indoor concept, that's the site plan with the fields. And then they have a floor plan where they have four basketball, eight volleyball, two turf areas in the middle for gymnasium-type events. So very similar to what we're proposing here. At that location, it works perfect; two-and-a-half hours is that demographic model we talked about with Hunden. We would have the southwest corner. We'd have the east coast connection, and we have a much better location than they do and I think much better business plan than they do, but we won't tell them that. So with that, I think I've covered a lot of the concerns that have June 13, 2017 Page 121 come up, and we'll open it up to maybe speakers or questions, whichever you'd like, Commissioner. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think I'd like to do questions, and I think I'd like our guest to start off. Mr. Hill, any questions of staff at this point? MR. HILL: I'll address some questions. I'm registered to speak when I do that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. More questions now than statements, if we could do that. Ms. McLeod? MS. McLEOD: I have no questions at this time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Sullivan? MR. SULLIVAN: Just a quick question. Is there an incentive to move forward, fast track this, and get it going right now? MR. CASALANGUIDA: The way this is laid out, if the Board approves this today, you're at the next few meetings with the ordinance amendment, I am going to work with our procurement folks to do an RFP to solicit the construction manager. It will fast track. That's the intent. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Miller? MR. MILLER: Nothing right now. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Ms. Becker? MS. BECKER: I'll wait. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Ms. Kerns? MS. KERNS: I'm just curious -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Try to speak in -- I'm sorry. Try to speak in, yeah. Thank you. MS. KERNS: Yeah. I was just curious about when you did the funding and forecasting and so forth, like, excluding the county museums or is that -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: It's included in there. June 13, 2017 Page 122 MS. KERNS: I know. I know the funding is included now, but if we didn't fund the county museums out of TDC or tourist -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: You'd have an extra $2 million, roughly. MS. KERNS: Okay. So we can consider that as well, correct, Nick? MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's certainly an option you can recommend to the Board. And I think the goal here is to have you folks talk with the Board and then make a recommendation to them. MS. KERNS: Okay. Thank you. MR. CASALANGUIDA: You're welcome. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Rios? MR. RIOS: Thank you very much, Chairwoman. It's the same question I've always had is, we're going to borrow the money. We're going to use tourists tax money to guarantee the bonds; is that correct? MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's correct. You're pledging two pennies, sir. MR. RIOS: Okay. And it's the same concern I have before, at some point we could have a bad year either because of the economy or a year where we have very bad storms, okay, and our tourist tax decreases to such a point that what you collect is not enough to pay the bond, okay, with that 1 percent. Where is the money to come from and how are you going to guarantee that to the bondholders? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sir, no different than any of the projects we've done in Collier County. The Board always backs it up with General Fund or other available funds that are there. And Mark can probably elaborate even more. MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, Mark Isackson, your Office of Management and Budget. June 13, 2017 Page 123 If you take into account that 2 percentage points, two pennies raises roughly $10 million, and you pledge the fourth and the fifth cent, and your debt service is only going to be three-and-three-quarters million dollars, I don't see where that's going to be a real big issue. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Hill, hang on for one second. Mr. Rios, are you finished or -- MR. RIOS: No, I'm not finished. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Finish, yes. MR. RIOS: I wanted to make sure I'm hearing this correctly. So you meaning to tell me if in one year you don't get the five-and-a-quarter million dollars that you anticipate you need for the sports complex, okay, that if you don't collect that much money with the 1 percent, the General Fund is going to guarantee it; is that correct? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Another thing I want to be clear, you've already got $1 million in this year that's going to be un- incumbered. Those cash reserves you saw on that chart I provided you was $10 million in cash reserve. You have 1 million in catastrophic reserves. I think one thing I'll give Mr. Isackson, as grumpy as he can be, a lot of credit, is he's a reserve balance manager, which means he prefers to put a significant amount of funding in reserves for issues that come up. And for the past 10 years, through the recession, we didn't cut any front-line services. He was able to maintain all the operations as were. MR. RIOS: I'm still not convinced, okay? Unfortunately, I'm not convinced of that. MR. ISACKSON: Let's be clear. The -- there's a component of this that will be funded exclusively from tourist development taxes. Nick mentioned that under the proposed reallocation formula, that $3,750,000 will be set aside to pay for debt service. There's no General Fund infusion in that. None. Zero. That's for the vertical structure and the improvements to the field and the related June 13, 2017 Page 124 appurtenances, period. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Okay. Other questions that you have? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Rios? MR. RIOS: Yeah. The assumption is what, is that going to be a $60 million complex or an $80 million complex? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sir, as I pointed out earlier, until you design the field house and you design the stadium, I don't know that yet. But I'm going to cost manage it to whatever the budget allows. My plan is to come back to the board when we get to 30 percent plans, you know, let the community see it before we go along on debt service. With a contractor on this model, I'll have the price before I go forward. It's a guaranteed maximum price project. MR. RIOS: But if you go from 60 to 80 million, that's a 33 percent larger requirement, okay. That's a big chunk more money if it comes out to 80-, and I don't think the same calculation of guaranteeing the bond is the same, okay, unless you know some math that I don't know. MR. CASALANGUIDA: No. We talked about, with Mr. Isackson, the pay-go process as well as the commercial paper to get us to that point. And then you also looked at -- when I forecast out at a minimum of 3 percent growth, the funding grows pretty quick. This also doesn't even take into consideration from a conservative perspective the additional room nights it would generate in TD tax. I flat-lined that purposely. So if you can see what happened with pickleball this morning where they said they brought in 10,000 visitors, if this stadium is turning and there are eight hotels around there, in none of the pro formas of the forecast did I include in any of those room nights in the money coming in. So we've built a lot of buffers into the project, sir. MR. RIOS: Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. June 13, 2017 Page 125 Mr. Olesky? MR. OLESKY: No, I have nothing at this time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Hill? MR. HILL: Yes, please. Please clarify the amount of money that the tourist development tax is committing in bonds. MR. CASALANGUIDA: If Mark wants to address that, it's 3.75 million, but you're pledging to get the bond rate two pennies. MR. ISACKSON: There's a couple of nuances that everybody needs to understand. Number one, if any one of us was wanting to purchase these amateur sports complex bonds, there's a process that we go through in the bond marketing process that's called a pledge. And the pledge is going to be two pennies, a fourth and a fifth cent. Now, before that occurs, we have to validate that debt. In other words, bond counsel is not going to sign off on the pledge of the fourth and the fifth cent until we go through the validation process, which is what Nick was talking about earlier in his presentation. Now, if I'm going to be purchasing those bonds, I want some assurances that that money's going to come back to me based on my investment. So all the pledge is, is an assurance in the bond documents that says that there is going to be two pennies that are going to be associated with the repayment of debt. That's all that -- all that says. Now, there's a second component of the pledge, and that is to guarantee a level of coverage. That's the other component of this thing. And all the coverage does is it allows us to get a better interest rate on the bonds. Now, if we're only planning on issuing, let's say, 55 million to be -- to round it up at this point, we think that $3,750,000 is more than adequate over a 25-year period at a general interest rate of 4 percent to offset and pay debt service on that $55 million number. Now, Nick tells me that we're going to scope manage the project on the vertical side of the house so that that particular debt is paid off June 13, 2017 Page 126 and the project is brought within those particular parameters. Now, there's a second component of this. Nick just mentioned that during the course of the week folks in Collier County are going to be using this facility and, as a result of that, there's an expectation that there will be a general corporate purpose, a General Fund infusion, of dollars to support the effort. We're thinking that that would be the land cost; roughly $12 million. And that would be due on or about that 1st of January of '18, depending on when the land deal is negotiated. Now, how do we do that? We can go out and get commercial paper real easy for $12 million. That's separate and distinct from the tourist development tax component of this particular initiative. That's the General Fund's contribution to this. Now, that short-term commercial paper will be paid off relatively quickly; it has to be paid off within five years based on the commercial paper program that Collier County was a founding member of -- help me, Leo -- back in '98 or '97, whatever the date was. So that's, in generality, the mixes of financing that this particular project is going to see. MR. HILL: So there's no guaranteed amount that the tourist development tax is being encumbered for? MR. ISACKSON: We're probably not going to go long, Mr. Hill, on this debt for probably a couple years until we know where we're going to be structurally based on Nick's schedule. At that point in time, based on market conditions, we know what we think we could pay right now for debt on a tourist development tax pledge, but we don't know what it's going to be like two years from now or a year and a half from now. At that time we'll size the bond. But we're saying that we think we can do this based on a $3,750,000 allocation to pay debt service on that issue. I don't know if that answers your question, but that's -- I think I'm getting to it. June 13, 2017 Page 127 MR. HILL: So the three and a half million would fund 55 million? MR. ISACKSON: Roughly 55 million over 25 years. MR. HILL: What if it's 80 million? What if the cost is 80 million? MR. ISACKSON: Well, I'm hearing from my colleague to my left that it isn't going to be that. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Let me bring up another chart. And yes, the question is, is it going to be 60 million or 80 million. We'll make that decision before we decide on executing the construction contract. Let me see if I can take you back to one chart that gives you a little bit of clarity as well, too. That tells us a lot as well, too. When we go out in '20 to go vertical, if we continue to see what we're seeing, if we continue to be successful, these hotels do well, you're going to have some additional funding both for tourism as well as the sports complex at that time when you go vertical. But my plan to do a construction manager at risk, this is a unique job, and that's the way to do this job without question, is you get the contractor on board, you give him a price, you get the designer on board, you design the fields, the parking lots first, you do the championship stadium second, you do the field house last. And if the field house drops from 125,000 square feet to 75,000 square feet like Wiregrass to meet that number, that's what we do. And at that time we make that call, and that's when we'll come both to the TDC and the Board and say, you know, this is where we're at, this is what the field house will generate, and where do you want to go. MR. HILL: So are we saying that we are committing two pennies, let's say, of the five pennies towards this project, and it won't be used for anything else? MR. CASALANGUIDA: It's not two pennies of a bond June 13, 2017 Page 128 validation commitment, two pennies; 3.7 million, which is 34 percent -- I'm sorry; 13 percent of your TD. So if it's 3.75 now and you say 13 percent will go to sports and sports-related complex, if we grow that out a couple years, that might get to 4 million. Jack might be back up to 11 million. Beaches may go to 14 million at that time if we continue to go forward. When we go vertical, what we'll do is as I get closer, at each phase of the construction schedule -- again, that field house will be the last phase I would do in a design -- we'll make that call. MR. HILL: So we're not going to know how much money is going to be spent on this project when we commit to this project? MR. CASALANGUIDA: The commitment that we're bringing in front of the Board is this allocation model is what it would be, the 3.75 or 13 percent of the TD allocation. MR. HILL: But it's not capped at 3.75; is that correct? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Well, I think if you were to grow everything, it would be the same thing as saying is beaches capped or is promotion capped. MR. HILL: I'm sorry, but, yes or no, is it capped at that? MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's a Board decision. It's proposed to be 3.75 in FY18. If in FY19, similar to what you'd done in FY14, you changed the allocation, and if you asked back then would it be capped, you know, the answer is that the board changes it depending on market needs. I think what we talked about to Jack is he's going to report back to us as well as we report during the construction, give the Board, where are we? Is tourism dropping or going up? Do you want to change this allocation model? I can see two scenarios. One, tourism drops off and they want to put more money toward it and we put the field house off for two years or, two, we continue to be uber successful and they say, go with a June 13, 2017 Page 129 Class A field house, and that decision will be made depending on the economy at that time. And I think that's a good way to run the project and the program. MR. HILL: I'm not so sure, because we're leaving a lot open for question and for the future, aren't we? I mean, if we're saying this is an evolving project with tourist development funds continuing to fund this evolving project, it's kind of difficult for me to understand how we're going to allocate the funds otherwise. I mean, I understand that -- the 2.75, and that's what you anticipate, but that may not be what it really is. Let's say that we spend $100 million on the project; then we're at six-and-a-half million in the debt. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sir, I don't plan on being anywhere close to that. I plan on carefully staying with the guidelines I've laid out to the Board. MR. HILL: Which are what? I don't know that. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sixty to 80 million dollars. MR. HILL: Sixty to 80. What would the debt service on 80 million be? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Closer to 4.2 million. MR. HILL: For what length of -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: Twenty-five years. MR. HILL: Twenty-five. Okay. Thank you. MR. CASALANGUIDA: You're welcome. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, I'd like to just kind of respond to the questions from Mr. Hill, because those were very good questions, and those are issues that we were very concerned about. And as this item was being discussed by the Commission, we made it perfectly clear to the county staff that this fifth penny will June 13, 2017 Page 130 generate somewhere around five-and-a-half million dollars, whatever that number is; hopefully it will continue to go up. But we wanted to make sure that we did not commit all of that; that we wanted 25 or 30 percent of that, at least, left over for other purposes. That's where the 3.75 million came from. I can tell you that in six months from now or a year from now if Mr. Casalanguida comes back and says we want to do an $80 million bond issue, it's going to cost $5.5 million in debt service, we're going to say no. We're going to stick with making sure that this comes in at a level that we can afford, and I believe we can afford 3.75 million for debt service even if there's a downturn in the economy. And so that's where that number came from. MR. HILL: Thank you. MR. RIOS: Excuse me. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, no. Hang on for a second. Anything else, Mr. Saunders -- Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The only thing I was going to add was, we're also talking about phasing it. So the concerns about the cost escalations and all that, we can also deal with that in the process of constructing it as well, right? We don't have to necessarily wait until the field house, which would be the last thing constructed. But, I mean, we're going to have some flexibility throughout the whole process. MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's the whole point of the way I've laid out this project is you're going to get a lot of visibility and a lot of flexibility to do this. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala, any comments or questions? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No. But I find it very interesting and June 13, 2017 Page 131 rather exciting as this new chapter in our tourism -- sports tourism begins to move forward. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you, ma'am. Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I just want to make a comment. Mr. Casalanguida said something, you know, and I had talked specifically about the financing mechanism and the capacity -- I wanted to see that there was sufficient monies there to be able to securitize the debt and not endanger what we had going on, but I also talked about sustainability with regard to this facility, and that's something that he -- we have spoken at length about over this -- over this last few months that this subject matter has come up and to ensure that the public/private partnership aspect of this is brought forward and utilized. I had a question, but along your lines of what you were discussing, I wanted you to know that there was two points of interest there. MR. HILL: Thank you very much. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Nick, when you were speaking earlier, I've got to -- I've got two points, and one I want to talk about, and that's do we have specifics with regard to measurable milestones in regard to the reduction in the advertising dollars currently allotted? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yeah. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I want to delineate those sooner than later with specificity so that -- again, in a prior discussion we had today, every new decision, there are unintended consequences that come about, and it's imperative that we, as an organization, can get at those unintended consequences. We are talking about a reduction in destination advertising. That is a portion of the discussion that we're having today. And I want to ensure that we've got some specified measureables June 13, 2017 Page 132 and milestones that we can track to make sure that the decisions we're making today are managed in as close a proximate time frame as is possible; close. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sir, let me let Jack elaborate, but he looks at his REVPAR numbers, I think, monthly or quarterly, and he looks at these things, so he's tracking this thing and coming back to the TDC every time they meet, and those are measurable. MR. WERT: For the record, Jack Wert, your Tourism Director. Nick is correct, every month we are tracking occupancy, average daily rate, the revenue per available room, visitors' spending. So we track all of those things and watch for trends up or down, and we've seen some ups and downs this past year. That has been a cycle that we've certainly seen. I think the good news is we are back up. April was our record month again, and we're really seeing March and April really showing us some increases again. I think what I can tell you is over the last 15 years that I've been here, we have seen steady growth virtually every single year in visitation and visitor spending, in the number of jobs in the hospitality and tourist industry, and in tourist tax revenue. So I think we can continue that. Yes, we've got some fewer dollars to do that, perhaps, this next year, but we've been through this before, and I can assure you that we will give our best effort to keep the visitors coming, and we'll keep you informed every single month how we're doing. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, Jack. And there again, I wanted to ensure that that was something we were going to watch on a regular basis. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I did have one other quick point, and that had to do with the museums. June 13, 2017 Page 133 MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sure. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I would -- as we go forward, I would like to have a discussion about leveling off the museums similar to what we do with the balance of the County Manager's departments and not be -- just be a percentage of the revenue that's generated. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Very good. Ma'am, I left one thing out, and I'll just -- what you heard this morning with pickleball and what you'll hear probably from FBU and something else is the marketing offset that -- the folks that come here to do these sporting events, they spend money. We didn't include that in the tourism promotion valuation either. These folks spend their own money to market the event as well, too. So that's important to note. You're getting marketing offsets from sports tourism. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Rios? MR. RIOS: Yes. Thank you. Thank you again. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're welcome. MR. RIOS: You mentioned that there's about two-and-a-half million dollars yearly for the maintenance fee for the facility. MR. CASALANGUIDA: O&M. MR. RIOS: And about half of that will come off on fees, rentals, et cetera. MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's right. MR. RIOS: Where's the other half coming from? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Typically, the General Fund is any complex. That keeps your rational nexus for why we can play at nighttime. The folks in the audience can use the fields at night and weekends that it's not booked. We plan to make this an active park; running trails. The facility probably will have some sort of training facility that's in there that will be open to the public. They'll have a world-class premium facility they June 13, 2017 Page 134 can use. So if the O&M cost is 2.5, you generate 1 to 1.3 in revenues, the General Fund usually covers the other end of that, and that keeps that rational nexus back and forth to say why our residents can use it without being charged for it. MR. RIOS: Okay. Thank you. MS. McLEOD: Madam Chair? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And just -- I'm trying to understand the process we're going to go through here. The discussion we're having is on this allocation and whether to move forward with the program as proposed? MR. OCHS: Two items. The fifth penny -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right. MR. OCHS: -- and then the allocation of the pennies. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. Well, I was just going to say a couple things: One is, I was very concerned about using so much of the City Gate property. You know, from an economic development standpoint I thought that was concerning just because it seemed to be the opposite; taking it off the tax rolls, all that. I think this is a good compromise, and I like to see that we are going to use some of the county's land to do this. The cost number, the 200,000 per acre that it's going to cost to purchase the property, that number is all in? That includes whatever the costs would be of handling water management and all that for the City Gate? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, straight land acquisition costs. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: That's just acquisition costs? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir, that's just to buy. And what we did -- I think you had talked about, in the executive summary, the last analysis, based on what they were selling for an average selling June 13, 2017 Page 135 price, was 294-, closer to some of the recent prices, 4- or 500,000. The water management, to do it on 305 -- and without getting in detail, Water Management 101, City Gate's going to do water quality. In other words, all their lots have to clean the water. The water quantity goes into our preserve area. We're going to have about 70 acres proposed, and putting in 44 acres of quantity to pass through almost has no impact to us. So it's piping it over. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. The other thing I want to keep on the table, and Nick just mentioned it, is as we go forward with this, I want to make sure that this is going to be a facility that our kids can use. MR. CASALANGUIDA: No question. I want to use it. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I mean, you've got kids. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll give you a big "amen" on that one. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I mean, mine are all grown up, but certainly it's something that we need to -- as much as we want to use it for sports tourism generating revenue, equally important, I think, is our kids because, obviously, if we're going to use the funds here to create a big facility, then we're not going to be building smaller facilities in other places, I'm assuming. So I just want to make sure we keep our eye on that, because I think that's also important to the community. MR. CASALANGUIDA: And, Commissioner, the Pasco County board had the same concern. That was why that model came into play is that we want to make sure week nights and even they can participate in the tournaments and events, that they would have equal access to the facility. Same discussion. Yes, sir, that's the plan. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. That's all. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Ms. McLeod? MS. McLEOD: I was going to share the same concern, too, that I've been hearing in the community that Collier County is not, perhaps, June 13, 2017 Page 136 diversifying itself enough in the economy. And this land was -- could have been to help promote some business projects that we could have brought here. I've heard different things like is there space on this -- this land for additional business projects, and are we maybe looking at that in the future? If we're going to -- I know the purpose of this meeting is to really look at this parcel for the sports complex, but just to address that, because that is a concern in the community. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Great question. There's 154 usable acres left almost for five Hertz development sites on City Gate that's left over. Your Hacienda Lakes has development pods, your Benderson across the street does. Not a big surprise, I was able to work with the Chamber when they did the Hertz site selection. I drove around with the site selector and said, we've got sites here. So I was really surprised to read when they said we went to Lee County because of lack of available land. They cut a better deal. We had plenty of property that was here that was -- we didn't even get a chance to sit at the table and meet with them other than to say we have available property. So we've got 154 acres on City Gate alone. MS. McLEOD: Good to know. Thanks. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Hill? MR. HILL: Yes. While Nick is still present, I'll ask about the park that was approved for Golden Gate. What is the status of that park? MR. CASALANGUIDA: You mean Corkscrew? MR. HILL: Yes. MR. OCHS: Yes. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yeah. That park is going through design. It won't get constructed until -- the first phase until 2019. So that's moving forward. June 13, 2017 Page 137 MR. HILL: That's a 150-acre park, correct? MR. CASALANGUIDA: I think, all in, it is, yeah. MR. HILL: All right. Is there no redundancy there with what we're planning here for the two parks? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Not at all when you go forward. And the challenge is, that place -- that area is growing like crazy, as they say. They've been waiting 10 years for a park. Fortunately, you're going to turf those fields in North Collier, which will buy about two, three years, and that is hopefully enough to bring this online. The idea is we'll achieve some equilibrium with this with North Collier. We can start pulling some of the stress that that park is receiving with this location. And Corkscrew, just not located near highway and hotels to make it a tournament caliber facility. And the community was very clear out there; this is a community park/regional park, and they didn't want to mix tournaments over there. MR. HILL: I'm thrilled that the county is moving forward with that, because I agree, this is something that the community needs. There's nothing better. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. -- oh, Mr. Rios? MR. RIOS: Yes. This came up at a previous TDC meeting two meetings ago, and I think Commissioner Fiala said that we need to do a better job of explaining to our taxpayers infrastructure. Here we're developing a sports complex which, by the time you finish with acquisition cost, cleanup costs, they said that's going to push a hundred million dollars no matter how you paint it. And where is the infrastructure money that's going to be needed for roads, access, et cetera going to come from? And are we planning that? Is that in the budget? Because I get calls -- for better, for worse, I happen to be a City Councilor for Marco Island, as you know, and a lot of my taxpayers June 13, 2017 Page 138 ask me, what's going to happen to infrastructure that, you know, Collier Road -- Collier Boulevard access? It's a straight ride to Marco Island, okay. And how is infrastructure going to change to facilitate bringing in a significant additional number of people which would be good for the economy year-round but will also impact the people that live here year-round. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You mean the location of this complex? MR. RIOS: No, no. I know the location. But they said, are we doing anything about roads, access? That's what I call, you know, infrastructure, besides the building itself. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, sir, you are very lucky, because we have our former Growth Management director and our Assistant (sic) County Manager that will be more than happy to answer that in great detail. MR. CASALANGUIDA: This is one of the most heavily invested areas of infrastructure. We just finished the south leg. We're doing the north leg. DOT's got a $40 million interchange improvement. We're working on Wilson/Benfield. The best part about this, when you do site selection, you are literally 30 seconds off the highway into this park, and 30 seconds back on. So you are not -- in a lot of community meeting we had -- Commissioner Saunders had one, they said, well, that's great. You're going to bring all these visitors. They're within a three-mile radius, and all the infrastructure's in place at this location with a new highway interchange that's planned by DOT. So well planned, great location in terms of infrastructure. I wouldn't recommend it almost anyplace else in the county. MR. RIOS: Okay. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, we heard from Mr. Wert, who said he could make it work, but we haven't heard from Mr. McAlpin to June 13, 2017 Page 139 see if he thinks he's getting enough money from this, and I think that's very important because the -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: Ma'am, he's smiling. MR. OCHS: His answer's yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I don't think I've ever seen him smile as much as I've seen him in the last month or so. MR. OCHS: We call him Daddy Warbucks. MR. McALPIN: I don't have that much money. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We've got Grumpy and Daddy Warbucks. MR. McALPIN: But thank you. For the record, Gary McAlpin, Coastal Zone Management. So Leo and Nick asked us to look at this and come up with a 25-year plan, and the 25-year plan was independent of whether it was a four penny or five penny, but what would it take in terms of dollars for us to continue with our beach renourishment program and also go into a resiliency program so that we can protect the infrastructure and beaches against storm surge. And that's primarily what we're looking at is what would storm surge do for us. And we've got a very successful program, but if we take the next step with our program and look at if we could build wider and higher beaches and plant dunes on top of it, it would take care of a lot of our concerns relative to beach resiliency. So we looked at this. We developed a 25-year plan. We started at two thousand -- two years from now when we had our permits in place. It will take us about two years to do that, to get our permits in place. We'd have a one million cubic yard beach renourishment for all of the currently renourished beaches that we have within Collier County, which is Vanderbilt, Park Shore, Naples beaches. Then on a six-year interval, we would go back to a six-year interval using a hopper dredge. We would do maintenance June 13, 2017 Page 140 renourishment. So it wouldn't just be a one-time event, but it would be a maintenance interval as we move forward. We also looked at with the second phase -- that would be the first phase. And over -- and over 25 years, that would be about $130 million that we would look into that, and that would include everything we do relative to -- we would also have our inlet dredging in there and our regulatory fees and everything that we deal with in our maintenance to the beaches. The second phase of that we looked at, Commissioner, would be there's going to be some places along the coast where you just can't protect it with sand and you have to do a hardened structure, and we think that that's about 15 percent of our coastline we would have to do something in terms of hardening. That could be breakwaters. It could be seawalls that are encased in sand dunes. It could be more plantings. It would be a variety of issues that would protect us where we had to do something more than beach renourishment. The third piece of that that we looked at would be a private/public partnership for the face of the beaches where we got into hotels that are maybe too close to the water where we would have to build up their seawall so we wouldn't have sand that would roll over onto the private property. We would have to do sand fencing and an increased vegetation planting. And the last piece that we looked at over the 25 years would be the back bay, because once we get a storm, the storm comes in, it has to come back out again. And all of our back bays are protected by seawalls by and large, and they have docks, but those seawalls are at different heights all throughout the county. Some of them will protect; some of them won't. So we'd have to look at that, come up with a standard seawall height, do something with the tow to protect the tow of the seawall from erosion. And those are our four phases of this project, and we would June 13, 2017 Page 141 accomplish that over a -- every five years we would develop it on a five-year program. So we would have five five-year programs where we went through with that. We believe with the 25 -- with the $2.5 million, that we would have enough money to deal with all the beach renourishment issues. We would have enough money to deal with the structural issues, and we would start to do the design and the permitting for the private/public partnerships, which would be Phase 3 and Phase 4, which would be what we do with the seawalls. As we go through this program, we're going to get smarter; we're going to learn more. We're going to integrate what we have learned into our program, and I believe that the 2.5 million a year is -- in addition to what we have for beach renourishment right now, is successful enough to run the program. So, yes, ma'am, we have looked at it, and we did a number of peer reviews relative to the plan. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. McALPIN: Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner Fiala, any questions for you, ma'am? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No. This is -- very good presentations, though. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, I think -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You've got McAlpin. COMMISSIONER FIALA: It kind of sounds like it's all thought out, doesn't it? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Did you have a question? No, that's why I turned to you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I thought you were just looking at me. I do have a question of Mr. McAlpin, if I may. June 13, 2017 Page 142 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Yes, you may. Okay. So Commissioner McDaniel, and then Ms. Becker, and then we are going to give our hard-working, lovely Terri a break, and we're going to break for 10 minutes. But let's get some questions out here. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: On the 25-year plan -- and I read through this -- there were -- in Year 6 and 10 there are deficits that are showing up in the funding program. I was wondering if you contemplated how -- where are we making up the deficits in that plan? MR. McALPIN: Well, the deficits would be from previous years. I mean, we're going to -- the whole plan balances in 25 years. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, within a million dollars -- MR. McALPIN: So there's going to be -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- and it was -- but there was deficiencies from one through -- and I'm just asking. I know this is very general. And you and I have talked about this at length. I just wanted to ask the question out loud about the contemplated -- making up of the deficiencies that are within the program. MR. McALPIN: As we went through this and we continued to plan and develop and design, we'd work through those issues, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: During -- in the latter portion under the critical assumptions, I believe No. 4, you mentioned something about a more flexible timing for renourishment. MR. McALPIN: What I'm looking at there is that we could save more money if we went into a situation where we would be more flexible and renourish the beaches, have the ability to renourish the beaches year round. We typically renourish our beaches during non-turtle nesting season periods of time. That's the most expensive where everything has been -- everybody's trying to do the work at the same time. If we June 13, 2017 Page 143 had flexibility to work on the edges, we could save more time but that's -- we could save more time and we could save more money. That's -- I wanted to point that out because that's an option that I had not plugged into the plan but we could additionally save that if that's the will of this commission. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And just as a point of reference, on the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council -- and I think I've shared it with this board, but not maybe everyone here. You know we are working on -- I've established a consortium of elected officials all the way up through Sarasota, and my rationale is, it's one big pond. We all have beach renourishment issues. Why aren't we working together in a more collaborative manner in order to effectuate the need for everybody, all of the communities, all the municipalities all the way up through Sarasota? So starting in October, we're having our first meeting of elected officials through that council just to talk specifically about this circumstance. MR. McALPIN: Thank you, Commissioner. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Ms. Becker, a question for Mr. McAlpin or just a question? MS. BECKER: A question for everyone. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. MS. BECKER: This is a question that I have been asked by residents in Naples. If a sports tourism venue is sponsored through the tourist tax, how do residents qualify to use that venue and, if they're being charged, how can they afford it? I do not know how to answer that question. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sure. Built into -- as Mark Isackson pointed -- your upfront buy down, so there's a General Fund component that goes into the land acquisition. Also in the O&M costs. The O&M costs are roughly 2 to 2.5 million a year, and you're getting June 13, 2017 Page 144 league fees and rental fees coming from sports tournaments and things that come in. The General Fund is participating in that O&M. That allows the residents to go over and use the park anytime they want, just like North Collier Park. So right now we lease out those facilities for sports tournaments. And on a Tuesday night, I get to play with the young kids. I pay my league fees, and I get to use the facility as well, too. So it would be open to both residents and folks that wanted to have events. MS. BECKER: Open, but equally so? For example -- this is not the same kind of facility as the North Collier Park, so would the participation fees be higher? MR. CASALANGUIDA: You know, I haven't set the fees, but I would imagine that's one of the things I've seen in other complexes is that the locals get a big discount, and that's the benefit of using it as a sports tourism facility. MS. BECKER: That makes sense. MR. CASALANGUIDA: That makes sense. MS. BECKER: That's what I would like to reply to that question. Thank you. MR. CASALANGUIDA: You're welcome, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. We are going to take a break now, and we will be back at -- MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, are you going to take public speakers when you get back? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: When we get back, we will take public speakers, yes. COMMISSIONER FIALA: 2:46. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So 10 minutes. How much is that, guys? (A brief recess was had.) June 13, 2017 Page 145 MR. OCHS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you would please take your seats. Please take your seats. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Miller? MR. MILLER: Yes, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We have speakers. How many speakers do we have, sir? MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, we have 31 registered public speakers for this item. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So this is a very exciting time. We'll see how this goes. It could be at some point we're going to ask the folks who support it to stand up. We'll see how our time goes. And those who don't support it to stand up, but let's start with the speakers. Mr. Miller, who's -- MR. MILLER: We will call two names at a time. I would ask the first speaker to come to one podium. The second speaker to go to another podium. Your first speaker is Garrett Richter. He will be followed by Ian McKeag. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: How'd he get to go first? MR. RICHTER: They did it alphabetically. Good afternoon, Commissioners. It's a pleasure for me to meet with you. Many have heard me say over the years that there's two reasons that most people run for public office. They either want to be something, or they want to do something. And when I entered the public arena I was told if I want to be something, to rethink it, and if I wanted to do something, to go for it. And having known each and every one of you commissioners and you, Commissioner Fiala, on the phone line, for many, many, many, many years and having had the opportunity to meet with each of you one on one, I know that your service is motivated to do something, and I want to thank you for that, what you do, for Collier County. June 13, 2017 Page 146 It struck me at the beginning of these comments when we had the -- before this time-certain agenda was put on the place, we had a presentation about the Paradise Artificial Reef. And when I think about Collier County as a destination, I'm staying right now -- the Florida Bankers Association had their annual meeting at the Ritz-Carlton. The Ritz-Carlton's been here for roughly 30 years. And I happen to be one that contends that Ritz-Carlton is one of the key attractions that has caused Naples, Florida, and Collier County to flourish, to grow, and to enjoy a great quality of life. It has attracted just a lot of people that otherwise would have never come to our great county and seen it and moved resources and moved capital into this community, much like the artificial reef is doing for fish. With that in mind -- so this morning, I woke up, and at the Florida Bankers meeting there was a keynote speaker, and he started his comments off talking about pickleball. Ironically, he was probably talking about pickleball at the Ritz-Carlton at the same time you were talking about pickleball here. And he indicated that currently there are over two million people that are playing pickleball right now in this country or in the world. And he has said that that number's projected to be three million people. Well, pickleball, those courts, the investment that this county made in those pickleball courts -- and, Leo and Nick, congratulations to you and to you, Commissioners, that promoted that; that's a decision that worked out really, really, really well for the county, for revenue for the county, to attract people to the county. I believe that the decision that you're pondering right now can have the exact same impact. If you think about it, we have an opportunity for a five-win situation. We've got a win for the kids, we've got a win for counties, we've got a win for people coming here, activities, and things of that June 13, 2017 Page 147 nature, reduce juvenile delinquents, kids that play on that. I talked to a gentleman out here earlier today that's probably going to get up here -- and I'm taking his time now, because I heard that thing beep -- that says -- that does these softball tournaments. Our bank, since 1987, has sponsored senior softball teams in the county, and they do tournaments throughout the state of Florida. There's no reason that those tournaments can't come here. And with that, I'll conclude my comments. Thank you for your service, and I hope that we go forward with this good stadium. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And, Madam Chair, if I could say to Senator Richter, thank you for your service, and I look forward to continuing to work with you. MR. RICHTER: Thank you. We didn't have bells in Tallahassee. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No poem for us today? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you, Senator. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Ian McKeag. He'll be followed by Lori Waddell. MR. McKEAG: Good afternoon. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good afternoon. MR. McKEAG: Ian McKeag, proxy for the Collier Citizens Council. Perhaps a different perspective. Why does the tragic hero Achilles, the bravest warrior of Homer's Iliad, now resonate in my mind? Achilles, doomed by his Achilles heel, a fatal vulnerability presaging failure; such doom and gloom. So is there a fatal weakness in staff's plan for adequately funding beach renourishment and comprehensive coastal resiliency? Indeed, the untenable assumption that there will be zero storm damage over 30 years; zero over 30 years, which then justifies raiding all catastrophic reserve funds. This no-storm postulate is disproven by history and common sense and only hedged by reliance on FEMA. FEMA? June 13, 2017 Page 148 Attracting and keeping dollars from FEMA is certainly not equivalent to insurance from Lloyd's. Previously the CCC has endorsed both the Staros and Taylor plans, respectively providing 60 or 62.5 percent from TDT Tax Tiers 1 through 4. In contrast, the staff plan allocates only 53 percent or a comparative annual deficit of almost a million and a half to $2 million. A partial fix? Easy. Shift one-and-a-half million of tourist promotion now within Tiers 1 and 2 to Tier 5, which is permitted by statute. That 1 million 5 plus staff's 3 million 750 allocation for sports tourism debt service equals the conservative 5 million 250 annual dollars within Tier 5. Again, a million five plus 3 million 750, equals 5 million 250. This is only a Band-Aid approach. Our catastrophic reserve funds only improve from zero to deficient, but the easy way to improve staff's plan with our available TDT resources. What if staff asserts that more cushion is needed? Adjust the spreadsheet; move the numbers around; do more phasing. Three brief personal comments on the sports facility project. HSP does not quantify the project's economic leakage to Lee County or other venues. It will be material, it will be significant, and it may be substantial, the looming forecasted operating losses, especially without the requisite hotels and restaurants nearby. Second, competition is keen in the amateur sports industry. Do not underestimate it. Third, voters, taxpayers, and media love to second guess. Let this freight train for project approval slow down. Do not be rushed and defer to -- but do defer to a future meeting. I recommend taking the Deputy County Manager's second opinion, comment and putting an exponent next to it. Do a full economic and financial review of this major project. Select HVS sports and global hospitality, two or three offices, Ian Why (phonetic) June 13, 2017 Page 149 or some other party to validate any decision. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you, Mr. McKeag. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Lori Waddell. She'll be followed by Dwight Morgan. MS. WADDELL: Good afternoon, everyone. For the record, Lori Waddell, Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce Visitor Information Center. As we collectively discuss the addition or reallocation of tourism tax dollars, my request is that we first take a moment to realize that the livelihood of a significant percentage of our population is tied to tourism and hospitality and their hard work makes it possible for us to market Collier County as a premiere destination for visitors. Large corporations and small companies understand the complexity and competitive nature of marketing, branding, promotion, and advertising. They understand the positive relationship that exists between marketing and the success of an organization. Corporations like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Cadillac, General Mills, and so on never take their foot off the gas when it comes to marketing their brand and promoting their products. They know that to stop aggressively promoting themselves to an ever-changing consumer population will mean one thing: Lost sales, lost consumers, and an uphill climb to reposition themselves in a forward moving marketplace. We are here today precisely because of the effective and successful marketing efforts approved by the TDC. We can deliberate on a fifth cent because our branding commitment is successful and visitors come here. Overall, Collier County visitor statistic are higher than we could ever have imagined 20 years ago, and it is because we have determined that our positive economic growth is tied to tourism and the continued uncompromising promotion of this area. Every Collier County hospitality- and tourism-related business June 13, 2017 Page 150 depends in whole or part on the marketing efforts we have so successfully developed. I ask you -- I ask you to consider our competitors who never reduce their marketing and promotional budgets, that you allow us to stay the course with ours. Thank you for your time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Dwight Morgan. He'll be followed by Mary Shea. MR. MORGAN: Good afternoon. Once again, I'd like to -- I'm very pleased to be here today. Just actually taken a bit aback. I've grown up in Naples. Moved here in 1981. I'm a proud Director of Operations for the Florida Fire Juniors Youth Soccer Club, and we are bursting at the seams is to say the least. But, you know, hearing how far we've come along with the entire park project, you know, I'm very pleased to be standing here today, and, you know, can't wait to hear what the other speakers have to say as well. For those that don't know, the Florida Fire Juniors is a part of the Major League soccer, so the Professional Soccer Organization, and we're located here in Naples, Florida. And one of the reasons that they looked at Naples, Florida, not only because of the marketing, but the beautiful beaches, the beautiful weather year-round. And, you know, I think we are in a very special market in the United States. The Fire -- a lot of Major League soccer teams used to go out to Phoenix, as well as baseball, as many of you are aware, but now they're all coming to Florida. Miami is starting their Major League soccer program. They've just finalized purchasing land. Orlando City has a Major League soccer program, and as well as Tampa and Clearwater are looking at adding a Major League soccer program. So now when you're looking at the overall aspect of what that could bring to Collier County in preseason preparation, teams coming June 13, 2017 Page 151 here to train, even from Europe, you know, national teams coming into Florida to train, you know, it really -- the youth soccer piece of it is phenomenal because, for me as a coach, it's hard for me to tell kids, turn on the TV and watch it on TV. If they can walk -- drive -- if the parents can drive down the street, you know, and watch their -- you know, their superstar player, you know, playing right down in Naples, Florida, I'm sorry, but, I mean, that to me is phenomenal. For somebody that grew up here in 1981 and had to sit there with his grandfather from Jamaica and listen to it on the radio to now seeing a professional player standing on a field in Collier County, you know, it's above and beyond. So I had a whole list of stuff to talk about, but I just wanted to kind of go off on that, because, you know, being a long-term resident -- and I'll say it again, you know, it's very passionate to see something like this actually coming to fruition, and I hope it really goes through. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Mary Shea. She'll be followed by Tom White. MS. SHEA: Hello, everyone. My name is Mary Shea. I'm the President of the Sports Council of Collier County. We represent a diverse mix of hospitality professionals, and that is include -- that's including hotels, restaurants, country clubs, attractions, and other providers such as Enterprise Rental Car and Naples Transportation. Our sole mission is to promote sports to Collier County. The Sports Council is 100 percent behind the amateur sports complex, as many speakers are here to share the same thought today. There's a handful of us that worked pretty hard on getting all these speakers here today, and for those who I haven't met, I can't thank you enough. And the room looks great. And we worked hard, and it's great to see you all. Thank you very much. June 13, 2017 Page 152 MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Tom White. He'll be followed by KP Pezeshkan. MR. WHITE: Hello. My name is Tom White. I'm the Managing Partner of the Hawthorne Suites located on Pine Ridge Road just off I-75. I've been the manager there for 16 years. I've been with the Collier County Tourism and Lodging for 15 years. I'm speaking on my own beliefs here today. First off, I wanted to thank Jack for all the wonderful marketing he's done, and I hate to see any of it cut, because I think that's really what's brought Collier County to where it is. I think that's very important to maintain it. Anything we can do to reallocate the museums I think would be great. But mostly what I wanted to talk about here was that I've had the unique perspective of being in -- also managing a hotel in Sarasota and seeing firsthand the number of visitors that come to that county because of the sports there. I mean, I'd go up there every week for seven years out of the last eight years, and the hotels up there would be so much busier on the weekends than we were here because of the sporting events that were going on. And in the summer they'd have two week-long tournaments that would fill the restaurants, the gas stations, you know, employ all the people of Sarasota. And I think this is a tremendous opportunity for us, I think this will be a great benefit for Collier County and its citizens, and I just wanted to express my support because of what a great idea you've done. And thank you, Nick, for putting it together. That's all. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is KP Pezeshkan. He'll be followed by Bill Birdsall. MR. PEZESHKAN: Good afternoon, Commissioners. I'm KP Pezeshkan. I've lived in Naples for 39 years. I have two boys, 13 and 15. You know, a healthy community is much like an ecosystem in June 13, 2017 Page 153 that it requires balance. While the roots of our communities date back to the 1980s, today we're over -- well over 360,000 people and have become not only a destination, but we're also making headlines. As more and more tourists come to visit our great community, we must continue to find and develop new ways and places to entertain them and ourselves. We've built piers, boardwalks, theaters, museums, Botanical Garden, zoos. We have countless golf courses in this community, shopping centers, and restaurants, and so on. And many of these visitors that come here oftentimes decide to move here. As more and more people move to Collier County, they need more communities and homes to live in. Those people have cars and more cars and more traffic, and that means Nick has to build new roads and bridges and then, of course, healthcare increases, more beds, more libraries and parks. And, of course, many of us have children. And to me, it's all about the kids. Children that need an education, so we continue to build schools. We have over 56 schools in town; 47,000 students. We've all been children at one point in our lives, and many of us were children growing up in Collier County, as was I. I've lived here since I was nine. I've seen the growth. I've experienced the changes. As a community matures and continues to grow, it needs to meet the needs and requirements of its inhabitants, us, to sustain a healthy community. You know, I read an article Brent Batten wrote about a 2016 consultant that said, you know, we have a high need for more soccer, lacrosse, and football fields, and I think, Nick, you mentioned that earlier. Our children need a place to go, something else to do after school besides play video games and run around the neighborhood and get in trouble like I did. They need to feel they have a purpose, be challenged, learn discipline, practice their social skills, make new friends, exercise -- I June 13, 2017 Page 154 need to exercise -- coordination and, most of all, understand the power of team work and respect. I've been a coach. I've seen the positive influence that these local youth sports programs have on our children. And this is the case, as I believe it is. This is a great opportunity to continue to keep the balance in our community. Let's agree today to give our children that opportunity and our visitors a taste of why Collier County is an amazing place to live. Let's not live in the past; rather, look towards a healthy balanced future. Let's agreed today to build a sports complex for our youth who are, in essence, the future taxpayers of this community. Thanks. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Bill Birdsall. He'll be followed by Dennis Barber. MR. BIRDSALL: Good afternoon. Bill Birdsall. I am the General Manager of the Courtyard Marriott here in Naples on U.S. 41. Now, I heard all the groans when we mentioned 31 people will be talking, so I canceled the PowerPoint presentation that I had, though it was pretty exciting and riveting. And I think that we've had so many people already add so much intelligence to this conversation, so it really puts me at an advantage to come in at this point and maybe say that my unique perspective is that I've been in the hospitality industry for 25 years now. But I have been fortunate to live in Naples for just going into my second year, all right. So I haven't been here for decades but have been here for long enough to see what the ebb and flow of the market is. As Jack talked about before, we've been fortunate here to see our demand grow for this area year over year, though there have been some ups and downs in that. I think that it's always smart to invest in initiatives that can benefit our community, not just for the short term but the long term, and especially when things occur that may impact sort of the core of the economy here, which is that travel and tourism June 13, 2017 Page 155 part. Those things like Zika scares or perhaps storms or maybe unseasonably warm winters up north, I don't know what's going on with that, but it hurts my business. It is smart to invest in things that give us a sense of control over our future and our ability to continue to grow this economy, because that impacts all of us so positively and supports all of the businesses, like my own, and the small businesses around this community, the restaurants, the hotels. Everyone really benefits here from that growth. So I think that it's only smart for us to look at the upside that's involved with this project, the additional demand that it brings to the market, you know, having come from outside of this market, Cincinnati area, in Michigan, other markets like that. I've had the opportunity to work in some communities that did not seek opportunities to invest in something like this that can help to generate future demand and additional demand and continue to grow. They thought the good times would always roll, and so they kind of missed the mark on that, and I saw what the impact on that was from fewer visitors to those areas, which means declining dollars for everyone, and that impacts, again, those businesses and services that we all enjoy as part of this community. I appreciate having the time today to speak. I know I'm not the smartest person in the room, but I hope that I add to the conversation in some way and some form. So thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Dennis Barber, and he'll followed by Emilio Sanchez. MR. BARBER: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Good afternoon, City Managers (sic). It's a pleasure to be here. I represent Chartwell Hospitality. We manage 23 hotels around the U.S., two of which are at City Gate. We manage the SpringHill Suites and the Fairfield Inn. June 13, 2017 Page 156 So earlier we heard about the Pasco County development that needs to develop a 100-room hotel as a part of that. Well, we don't need to do that. We are doing that for you. We exist there. We've operated since 2008 at City Gate location. We did expect City Gate to look a little different at this time than it does, but at this point we are very excited to have this potential development project. So I can tell you that -- things you already know. I am sure you're aware that two-thirds of the hotels in Naples or in Collier County are non-beach. Two-thirds of the rooms are non-beach; 88 percent of the hotels are non-beach. We were always happy to collect taxes and never challenged any of the tax allocation that might have funded the beach. We have collected about two million in taxes over our 2008 to 2017 operation period. So the math would say about a million dollars of our collection went toward the beach. I can tell you about that. But I think I'll tell you a story about Nashville where we're based. Nashville had a hockey team in Stanley Cup. Nashville had an NHL franchise awarded to it about 18 years ago in Nashville, Tennessee. And what happened in Nashville was we have three to four, now currently four youth ice rinks that are -- exist in Nashville. One of our hotels does a thousand rooms a year for youth hockey, for hockey-related travel. If you would have told people 20 years ago in Nashville, Tennessee, that we were going to do a thousand rooms at our location -- not to mention the thousands that are generated in and around Nashville, Tennessee -- hockey-related travel, they would have said bless your heart. Bless your heart, y'all. This is not going to happen. So that's where I heard catfish, out there. So came up a little short in the Stanley Cup, but youth travel is a huge economic impact generator, and we know it. It benefits -- as a dad of two boys that did it and as a happy traveling dad and then as a June 13, 2017 Page 157 happy host for visiting teams, we -- it's such an important part of our community. I assure you that our two hotels will take great care of our visitors. I assure you that we have wonderful leadership, and the two brands, the SpringHill Suites and the Fairfield Inn, they were -- they're purpose built. They're perfect for youth. Free breakfast, oversized guestrooms, and newly remolded this year. And we have Tracy leading us, and Liz selling us. So we have a wonderful team here. We love doing business in Collier County, and I hope you support this. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Emilio Sanchez, and he'll be followed by Kathleen van Bergen. MR. SANCHEZ: Commissioners, good afternoon. I'm Emilio Sanchez. I'm the Founder from the Sanchez-Casal Academy here in Naples but originally first in Barcelona. We are the biggest academy in Europe, number one. We dedicate ourselves to tennis and education at the same, but also on tourism, tennis tournaments. I was, last week, just awarded in Paris with the biggest award in the tennis industry, the Philippe Chatrier award. Not for my result as a player, which I try my best, but there were not on the same level as others, but because of the capacity of improving the industry of the tennis worldwide. We have the center in Barcelona, we have a center here in Naples that we came and we got in love with the city, and we have another center in China with the Chinese government. And what I want to say is that I congratulate the change that is happening here in Naples, because the biggest cities and the most important cities in the world, like Barcelona, are starting to become more wide known thanks to the sports and investing in sports. They got a big event, the Olympics, and they put themselves on the map June 13, 2017 Page 158 thanks to that. But if we take other cities like Singapore -- Singapore was to become in 2030 the sports city hub in Asia of the world. If you take another city like Nice, they invest a multi-million-dollar center for Patrick Mouratoglou, who's doing tennis as well, like -- they spend, like, $40 million. Rafael Nadal, which is like the number-one player now in the world, he puts himself in his city in Mallorca, and they invest more than $30 million in sports as well. So sports and tourists goes together. When these people are talking about tourists and sports separately, they go together. If you want to become a tourist city today, you have to have infrastructures and sports. And if Naples is the best -- one of the best cities, and they said top five -- are the best city of tourism, they have to have infrastructures. That's why we came here. That's why we didn't have any funding from the Collier County or no one. We did it privately. But we are believing in this place, and we are trying to build the sports up for ourselves (sic) because we believe in this place. So I think there's no discussion. I think that this should be happening. This sports complex doesn't have tennis; that's a mistake. It should have some tennis. But anyway, soccer and lacrosse and all the sports is amazing, and I hope that this thing happens. So thank you so much, and congratulations. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kathleen van Bergen, and she will be followed by Jacob Damauri. MS. van BERGEN: Hello, everyone. Thank you very much for your continued work for the betterment of our community. It's wonderful to see such public engagement today. Again, my name is Kathleen van Bergen, and I'm here with some of our community's cultural leaders to advocate continued support, especially for noncounty museums. Arts and culture are crucial to a well-rounded community, and culture is equally important to a vibrant June 13, 2017 Page 159 tourism economy. To know the value of arts tourism, we need look not further than Palm Beach, which is heavily marketing itself as a cultural destination. Cultural tourism rivals spring training baseball in Lee County, and we believe a soon-to-be-released study by the Americans for the Arts as well as the United Arts Council will show it has significant nine-digit impact locally. We do not deny the importance of beaches as a driver for our economy, but we do believe that beaches alone are not enough. Tourism resources should be used to enhance and promote all areas of the visitor economy, including dining, shopping, cultural attractions. Our organizations have used the TDC funding in the past few years to create community-wide exhibitions and market them throughout the state, which is the largest source of our visitors to our area. We believe that a continued allocation of TDC resources to cultural endeavors is a wise use of bed tax revenue and a prudent investment in the future of our well-rounded region. Again, we are grateful for the continued support of our growing cultural community. We thank you for your time and dedication. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jacob Damauri, and he will be followed by Steve Dorcy. Steve Dorsey? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. We'll move on to Greg Garland (sic). And Greg will be followed by Terry Dean. MR. GARGAN: Good afternoon, Commissioners, and members of the audience. My name is Greg Gargan, and I'm a member of the Collier County Senior Softball Organization, and I sit on its board of directors. June 13, 2017 Page 160 I assume that you received an email letter from Dan Balagna, our commissioner, that spoke about what I will kind of summarize from here on. I'm here along with a small group of our 220 senior softball members. These are the older children. We had to take them off the field to bring them here today. Are you guys still awake? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Would you ask them to stand up, sir. MR. GARGAN: Pardon? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Would you ask them to stand up. MR. GARGAN: Yeah. Could you guys stand up. (Applause.) MR. GARGAN: We are accustomed to traveling throughout the state of Florida to play softball tournaments. So this complex that we're talking about, we'd like to see tournaments down here. We don't get a chance. The closest tournament we play is at the Twins complex or in Cape Coral, and that's as close as you come to Naples. Those people could travel down here if we had this complex. First, we want to show our support for the proposed new sports complex which would add athletic fields and softball diamonds to Collier County. We applaud the Commission for its forward thinking to address the need for more athletic facilities and to keep pace with the growing active population. Our league has doubled in the last five, six years since we've been down here. However, our second and more pressing concern today is to voice dismay over the proposed plan currently in place to close all softball fields during the month of December this year. In the past we've moved from park to park and even split our group between two parks to accommodate staggered field maintenance during the summer months when our field utilization isn't as great. We understand the need for field maintenance and truly appreciate the fine condition of the fields we've been playing on with June 13, 2017 Page 161 the staggered maintenance summer closing schedule used in the past. The proposed closing of all fields in December would be a devastating blow to our league at a time when our needs are at their highest. It should be noted that our organization is quite unique. We've been around for 27 years in Collier County. We play 12 months a year. We use two to five fields on every Tuesday and Thursday mornings only. We want to acknowledge the work of Jean McPherson of the Parks Department in trying to come up with a solution to this December closing issue. But up until today, we don't have a workable solution. In summary, we support and encourage the commissioners to move forward with the proposed sports complex, and we ask the commissioners to direct the Parks Department to adopt a staggered field closing maintenance schedule that would be less impactful to our softball league. Thank you for allowing us to express our support and our concerns. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Charlie Hart. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Maybe -- in the interest of time, maybe we could ask speakers if they are supportive when their name is called. If they could just stand and say they're waiving their time in support. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think some of our speakers have flown in from other states, so... COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, I understand. There may be some that are willing to do that just in the interest of time. MR. MILLER: Your next registered speaker is Charlie Hart. I do not see him responding. Steve Quinn? Steve Quinn will be June 13, 2017 Page 162 followed by Douglas Berman. MR. BERMAN: With permission, Commissioners, I'm going to jump my colleague, Steve Quinn, here. Steve works with me. I'm the Chairman of All American Games. I'm from New Jersey; not local. But I'm speaking in two capacities. One as who is the All American Games. We produce the U.S. Army All American Bowl on NBC television every year, the largest high school sporting event, and to have been bringing the football university national championships here, but I'm also the former state treasurer of New Jersey, and in that capacity, I just want to say, I ran an $18 billion budget, and we did billions of dollars of financing. The presentations you all received here this morning were outstanding. I mean, I wish I got that when our staff would walk in and suggest how we refinance something. Beyond that, it's well known All American Games is in favor of moving forward with the sports complex. I'd like to just share a few key observations. It is -- sports tourism is a large competitive business, so as you move forward you've got to be aware of what attributes you will bring to that table in that marketplace. So a key to attracting rights holders like us is having the right facilities to complement all the other community assets. As we have grown this football university national championship event over the past four years, it's now really a physical challenge to find enough facilities to play all the games that we're bringing, particularly with trying to adapt to the school calendars. Right now -- this year we'll be bringing altogether 42 teams, almost 5,000 people to Naples for probably seven days. So if Naples is going to attract sports things in the what I would call the shoulder season, it can't rely on the school facilities anymore. All right. And we know from the feedback from our parents who come June 13, 2017 Page 163 from all over the country, because this is a national tournament -- we had teams from Boston to Seattle to Phoenix last year here -- that the parents and the kids love coming to the Paradise Coast. You guys all know that. So it is a great place to bring sporting events to. I'm going to make one last observation, though, and this goes back to, as you go forward and think about the competitive marketplace, because I've spoken to media companies and other rights holders. You know, it's good to have field sports. It's not just football. It is soccer, it is lacrosse, it is rugby, it is field hockey that will be able to use them. But having a smaller, flexible state-of-the-art stadium as an integral part of this sports complex is what will give the uniqueness in that competitive marketplace beyond just beaches. So with that, we hope you move forward, and thank you for your time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Steve Quinn, and he'll be followed by Beth Swiderski. MR. QUINN: Good afternoon. My name is Steve Quinn. I'm actually the Vice President of All American Games and work with Doug Berman. First of all, thank you for allowing me to come here and speak today. Obviously, I concur with my colleague and chairman of All American Games. Over the past three years, we've gone from 12 teams here to this year, as Doug said, 42 teams, and over 5,000 people will be invading Southwest Florida this December. But really, beyond my work with All American Games, I wanted to speak today as a 22-year resident of Naples, Florida, and about what this complex will do for our community. I have run leagues and tournaments and events near Naples, Florida, for the past 13 years. Our 501(c)3 that we have non-profit has raised over a quarter million dollars for athletes to travel nationally all June 13, 2017 Page 164 across the country to participate in events from a cheering parent to a coach on the field to a founder of a local and a regional football and cheerleading league that has 1,500 participants right now. I have personally seen what sports has done for athletes here in Collier County. Many have gone on to be great leaders in our community. Sports has kept our athletes off the streets, and because of these volunteer coaches and team moms, a lot of them that are here today supporting this, preaching faith and family, it has kept many where they should be, in school and getting an education. Many have gone on to receive college scholarships, I'm looking at one right now that was in our leagues and went on to a college scholarship. And they say four years will get you 40 years. And that's the power of sport. Unfortunately, for many of our youth organizations, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to keep up with the rising costs of high school fields and other space around the city and the county. And the bottom line is simply that we don't have enough field space and affordable space for our youth leagues right now. More local leagues and teams need to leave Collier County in order to play in regional and national events, which means more time away from family and more time away from school. But built and run correctly, this sports complex will enable our local athletes and leagues to have access to affordable field space and attract great regional and national events. Better youth sports programming improves the overall quality of life, helping to draw additional economic activity throughout the county. We hope the commissioners move forward today for our children, for their children, and for the children of the next several decades because really, in the end, this should also be about helping kids succeed in life. June 13, 2017 Page 165 So thank you, Leo and Nick, and the Board, and hopefully we will be moving forward. Thank you for your time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Mitch Norgart. Mitch Norgart? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Jim Ludwig? MR. LUDWIG: I'm a pickleball ball guy and, in the event of saving time, I'm for it. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Jennifer Wallace. Jennifer Wallace will be followed by Sean Phillips. MS. WALLACE: Good afternoon. I'm going to follow his lead. I'm with the Doubletree. MR. MILLER: Ma'am, you'll have to come on mike, please. Thank you. MS. WALLACE: So much for saving time. It's hard for any hotelier to yield any kind of time to advertise, but I'm just going to say that Doubletree is in support and just wanted to lend our voice to that. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Sean Phillips. And Sean Phillips will be followed by Lee A. Lane, III. MR. PHILLIPS: Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Sean Phillips. This is my son Sean and my son Jaydan. I'd like to start off by saying that you'll probably notice my accent. I'm not a Floridian native. We're from New York. I was a New York City police officer, and when I retired, we decided to relocate my family, and we literally scoured the country, if not the globe, looking for a place to relocate. We were in Collier County for about three hours before my wife told me we had found a new home. June 13, 2017 Page 166 It was a very scary move for us. We grew up in a small town, and my children knew everybody in town, and we moved to a place where they literally knew nobody. At that point, the first thing I wanted to do was get them involved in youth football. I've been playing football since I'm eight years old. I've been coaching for about 12 years now. I was introduced to Steve Quinn. Steve Quinn asked me if I'd like to start a new football league with him, the Golf Coast Sharks youth football league. And in conjunction with our support from Coach Pete Fominaya of Gulf Coast High School, we were able to start a program. We started off with about 50 children, cheerleaders and football players. We've grown to about 125, and we're still growing. Our expenses are astronomical. It is very hard. Field availability is always an issue. Sometimes we'll travel as far as an hour -- well, actually longer than that. Our furthest game is in Sarasota, and when we have some children that, at the six-year-old division, their game is only an hour, and parents are traveling that far just to play a game. And we appreciate your support in regards to this project. And I'd like to just say that because we have these kids on the fields, we're keeping them out of trouble. A lot of the values and ethics that I was taught was taught on a football field by coaches and volunteers, and I continue to use those in my daily life today. And I enjoy, and I know the rest of the coaches do as well, just paying it forward to the children in our community. So with that, I'd like to say we appreciate your support, and thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. (Applause.) MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Lee A. Lane, and he will be followed by Kimberly Barrett. MR. LEE: Hi, my name is Lee. I'm representing two La Quintas here in town. One on East Davis and one on West Davis, I guess; I June 13, 2017 Page 167 don't know if they separate themselves that way. But I'm also a serving member of the Collier County Sports Council. I've also operated hotels in Lee County, and I come from the Midwest. I've operated hotels from Michigan, Illinois. I'm not very old, so I haven't operated many hotels, but I've been in long enough to be able to read a market. My first question I ask is, outside of the beach industry, what industry affects Naples? And it's obviously sports. So with that being said, with the scare about the beach renourishment and what if a so-called storm should happen? Storms are due, and they may happen. The first year the storm happens, what happens? You have to go into your renourishment and your enhancement. It's going to take time. During that time you're not raising any money. That TDT tax dollar is disappearing because no one's coming down here to visit beaches that don't exist. What will exist is a sports complex, a sports complex where sports is always going on. People aren't running down to the beach to play their soccer. They're playing in a field, a field house that's covered that doesn't have the drainage that the other open fields are going to need. That field house is going to generate the dollars to renourish the beach. But say a second year another storm hits. You've spent a year renourishing the beach, and then the second year another storm comes and takes away all that. So that's two years that you go without that tax dollar; whereas, the complex, the complex is generating. I know there's a scare as far as the debt's considered, but what if it doesn't reach all the debt and we do have to come from whatever other funds? Is it going to be 100 percent? No. 100 percent is the beach failing. This is a backup plan. I look at it and I say, as running the hotels from the marketing standpoint, what other draw -- what's our biggest source of business? June 13, 2017 Page 168 And it is just beaches. We don't have another industry down here. There's not a lot of building coming out of here. We don't have the number-one this or number-one that. We have great sports climate, greats sports, you know, enthusiasts, and we also have tourism which, as one guy said, they're one and the same. So with that being said, of course I'm for it, but I just ask that question. I pose that question to someone. This is going to be a residual; residual benefit to the community, even in the times of storms or, you know, anything that could come about. So I just ask that you keep that in mind and everyone vote for it, so... CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, your final registered speaker on this item is Randy Smith. MR. SMITH: Good afternoon. Randy Smith. I am the President of the Collier County Lodging and Tourism Alliance. We are comprised of about 80 members, half hoteliers in the area and about half local tourism related businesses. Our industry has over 30,000 employees in the area, and obviously is heavily reliant on tourism. So we surveyed our members recently of what they thought about the proposed sports complex and the reallocation of the bed tax, so I just wanted to share those results and some comments. So the sports complex, our members are in favor of the sports complex. We think it will add a nice, new additional type of tourist to the area, and after reviewing the numbers with Nick, the numbers work great. We think, financially, this is very reasonable and fiscally responsible. Marketing; you know, this area -- we rely heavily on marketing this area. The vast majority of our membership is against decreasing marketing, tourism marketing at the expense of increasing the beach renourishing. Marketing is so important to the area. You know, we June 13, 2017 Page 169 start -- Naples/Marco Island starts at a huge name disadvantage throughout world -- throughout the country and the world for our competitors. You go anywhere up north, you know, you ask about Naples and Marco, you're going to get a very low response compared to our competitors. So how do we overcome that? Through marketing. We need to market the area. And if you add the sports complex, you're going to have to increase the marketing to obviously make that successful. So decreasing the marketing does not make sense at all. You know, just to give you a comparison, our neighborhoods to the north, you know, Lee County, they've got a marketing budget of 18 million, and they spend 13 million a year on actual marketing spend; 13 million. We have a $10 million budget, and we spend five million on spend. They're spending two-and-a-half times as much as we do. Most of our competitors far outspend our area, and that's got to change. We have a lot of room to grow. If everybody thinks that the tourism business or the tourism industry is fat and happy, that's wrong. We have a lot of room to grow, and we can't afford to see marketing decreased and see tourism go down. You know, in 2013 our organization came to the Board and said, hey, you know, we'd like to see a reallocations change to put more into marketing, and we actually put more into beaches with our reallocation as well, and the Board adopted it, and what we said would happen actually happened. You put more into marketing, and the whole bed tax rises, and everything rises; beach renourishment, marketing, museums, everything rose because we marketed more. How we can market less going forward does not make sense. So then you get to the reallocation now. You talk about museums. You know, visitors visit county-owned-and-operated parks, visitors visit county-owned-and-operated libraries, visitors visit June 13, 2017 Page 170 county-owned-and-operated museums, a lot of different complexes owned and operated by the county. All of them are in the General Fund except for museums. We've got nothing against museums. They're a vital part of the area and the culture, but why they are in the bed tax and not in the General Fund makes absolutely no sense at all. Commissioner Taylor's plan to phase them out over five years, we're very happy about that. That money -- if you take that money and you put it into marketing, everything works, everything works. The general marketing concept, our luxury brand, and then also additional money for the sports complex. If there's any way to start cutting that, put it in the General Fund, take that money, put it into marketing, everybody wins. So with that, I just want to also say that our group would love to propose an advisory board for CVB. We'd like to work more with the CVB to help guide the direction. We've got a lot of brainpower in our tourism community with our hotel general managers and different sales managers, directors of sales, and different people who are fighting every day for tourism. I mean, they're out there every day. These are the experts. I'm not an expert. I live off the hotels. If they do great, we do great. When they're down, we're down, and that's the whole community. So I would love to see some sort of advisory board for the CVB to help even more. We do work already with Jack. They do a great job, but I think we could take it one, two steps more. So that's it. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, as it turns out, I had a slip misfiled. Cecily Lancit will be our final speaker on this item. MS. LANCIT: Hello, everyone. Good afternoon. I'm Cecily Lancit. I'm President of Lancit Digital Media. We are a television production company that is residing here in Naples. We've been living here for 15 years, operating our company for seven. We own and operate the hotel channel, Paradise Coast TV, which June 13, 2017 Page 171 is seen in 4,000 hotel rooms from Marco to Bonita. We also provide video production services and come from a 30-year history of long, strong broadcast television for PBS, Discovery Channel, and Fox Family, and we currently have an expertise in social media marketing specifically using video to engage people who are on social media and target them by interest. So we were asked in this project to determine if the Paradise Coast destination can effectively be marketed through sports interests on Facebook and we have 293 million users in North America alone and 1.8 billion users on Facebook worldwide. It is a very, very exiting marketing opportunity. So we were engaged by the CVB to conduct a nine-week Facebook campaign leveraging the US Open pickleball championship as a lure, specifically that one thing, to see if that could get the attention of people and introduce them through their interest in pickleball, and other racquet racket sports, to our destination assets, and the other destination assets included fishing, dining, beaches, hotels, shopping, and so forth. And then over the course of nine weeks, we would fine tune our targeting. This is real-time market research. This was not a promotion campaign. This was a campaign to evaluate consumer behaviors and whether sports interests can be leveraged to bring business to Collier County. Did we miss something? So the CVB engaged us to do this, and we were very -- we are currently in Week 6. So we have some very compelling interesting data for you as of Week 6. If you look at the screen on the right-hand side, those who are using Facebook can be familiar with the format where you check in on friends and family. This is what shows up. You get a little descriptor at the top. There were links to the pickleball Facebook website, the CVB Facebook website, and to the CVB hotels and accommodations websites, and the content was video. June 13, 2017 Page 172 Here's what people saw when they were scrolling through their timelines. MR. ROMARY: Video? I don't see it in here. MS. LANCIT: Oh, it may have come out because the system couldn't handle it, but those are easily seen. We'll be glad to make those available for anyone who wants to see them. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: How long were they? MS. LANCIT: They were 30-second videos, no longer. Some were even shorter. Very hot, very sizzly pickleball action. And at the -- toward the end of that we would include visuals of beaches, and the invitation at the top of the presentation was, come and see pickleball for 2018. This is exciting, and we also have the most beautiful hotels in the world. The next week, pickleball, we also have the most beautiful beaches in the world. That's how it ran. So let's look at what happened as a result of this. We were stunned. The content was extremely effective. By marrying sports interests with destination attributes, we had tremendous engagement, an average to date of 84.5 percent engagement. That means views on the videos for at least three seconds or more, that means clicking, responding, commenting, sharing, and liking. MR. ROMARY: If I could make a comment. Hi. I'm Matt Romary. I'm stepping in for our social media director who couldn't be here. But an important thing to note is that the engagement rate is the amount of people who were reached compared to the people who engaged with that ad, as she was just mentioning. And that engagement rate was reached. It shot through the roof once we added a filter that required people to make an income of at least $75,000 or more. Once we did that -- I've never -- we've been running Facebook campaigns for a long time. We've never seen numbers like that. It usually averages around 50 percent; 84.5 percent is unheard of in our experience. June 13, 2017 Page 173 MS. LANCIT: So what we discovered so far is sports marketing is a home run when married with our other beautiful destination opportunities. So here are the other observations that we came to. Micro-niche marketing on Facebook using sports and sporting events interests paired with our unique destination attributes is a highly effective means, we believe, of targeting and reaching potential visitors to Collier County. Very exciting discovery. Next, Facebook is a very powerful tool for engaging potential tourists who may never have known about our destination, but now we're getting into their Facebook timeline with our messages because of their interest in sports. And, furthermore, the granular data that comes back from Facebook in their statistics reveals real-time real consumer engagement which can be utilized by our marketers of our destination in their other marketing activities. So here are our statistics to date. We still have three more weeks to go. We will be filtering by 125K in income, because that's the sweet spot for our destination. But our total reach to date was 218,400 and some folks. Actual views, 128,212 people viewed our videos. The total engagements to date, 130,212 people. That's pretty amazing to us. The average engagement rate after including the 75K filter was still 84-and-a-half percent. And if we look at a theoretical -- this is a market research study. It's theoretical, although it's based on actual behaviors. Wordstream reports that an average conversion rate in the travel and hospitality industry on Facebook about 2.82 percent. So if we take our numbers and we combine it with the 2.82 percent, we extrapolated that there is a potential for 3,616 visitors out of the reach of this campaign, and that's a theoretical number. That's not an actual number. That just gives you a sense of the opportunity June 13, 2017 Page 174 here. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any questions? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. I think it's time for a break, is it not? MR. OCHS: No. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: What we'll do is -- I think it is time for a -- no, you're okay? MR. OCHS: No, ma'am, you have some time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All right. So at this point what we're going to do is probably move down at Commissioner Saunders' suggestion or -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, I don't know that it's necessary. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't know how they all feel about it. But this feels pretty comfortable from up here. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: My chair's a lot softer than those. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And I think what we'll do is we'll go around, open it up and ask folks to -- we've asked our questions, and so now it's time for statements. This is an open forum, but I think I'll try to do it very methodically and then ask the TDC to make a recommendation to us, and then we will go and deliberate. So we'll start with Mr. Olesky. MR. OLESKY: From what I understood here today, I think it's a very, very good idea that we proceed. I would like to see us proceed, yes, and keep going with it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. OLESKY: I think it's going to be necessary throughout the June 13, 2017 Page 175 upcoming years to do something like that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Mr. Rios? MR. RIOS: Thank you very much. And you know I'm always the skeptical one. I look at the numbers, and provided that what I heard that the -- as the program gets implemented, okay, you're going to bond it that. If it's at six -- see the amount of money that you need to borrow, that would increase the money that could be generated by the 1 percent and the payment of the bond at three and three-quarter million dollars, I think, is the number, right? MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. MR. RIOS: If you bond it at that, I have no problem with it. I think it's a positive, okay. But make sure that it's managed properly. That's my recommendation. And I will support it. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Ms. Kerns is not here. Ms. Becker? MS. BECKER: Yes. As I study and have studied the plan, I find that I have been won over to increasing the percent to the 5 percent because of the amateur sports venue, but I'm not sold, necessarily, on this model on Page 39 of the allocations. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And how do you want that? MS. BECKER: I would like to reconsider the museum part. This is the model on Page 39. So I would not accept this proposed TDT allocation that I see. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Page 39 of what? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We don't have that. It's not -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. That's the chart. The page with two parts on it. Page 39. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It's 20 of the executive summary. June 13, 2017 Page 176 MR. OCHS: I have it up on the visualizer. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Nick's presentation? MR. OCHS: It's on your viewer. MS. McLEOD: Which line item? MR. CASALANGUIDA: I think she's asking -- she's referring to what's on the viewer right now, which is the museum portion allocation. It's also in the executive summary. It's your final chart in the executive summary. So if you flip to that, it should be the same thing. MS. BECKER: But that's all I have to say at the moment. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: At the moment, okay. Mr. Miller? MR. MILLER: I think the staff did a great job putting this together. When I first heard it, I wasn't too keen on what they were doing. But after you put all the figures together, I think they're going in the right direction. I think they did a great job of what they did putting this together, and I think that, as far as I'm concerned, I'd go forward with it. I think it's a great idea. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Mr. Summers (sic)? MR. SULLIVAN: I'll echo Bob. I think it's really well put together, and it makes a lot of sense. I would say one of the things that we would take a look at, pose a question, if in 2017, as a TDC and as a BCC, would we vote to give two-and-a-half million dollars out of tourist development tax money that was coming in to the museums flat out if this was the first time we looked at that time? Probably not. That's one of those things. And could we take that monies back to the 2006 date of maybe 1.1 million to get Jack his money back for marketing? And that would be the extent I would recommend. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So what are we doing with -- I didn't June 13, 2017 Page 177 quite understand. MR. SULLIVAN: Well, the question is, would we vote at this point in time, if we didn't have marketing dollars put together for the museums, would we have voted it today to put it in there? Henceforth, would we start from square one? And I'm guessing probably not. So what I'm thinking is we could take it back to 1.1 million where we started at 2006. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: The museums, to the museums? MR. SULLIVAN: The museums, right, to put back into the marketing and to go forward with the sports complex. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Cut it more than half, okay. Okay. Ms. McLeod? MS. McLEOD: So I wanted to hear from the hoteliers on how they felt about these issues, so I had asked Jack to somehow do a survey, and he reached out to Randy Smith to get a feel from the Collier County Tourism Alliance Group. And so -- and what I heard Randy say, the hoteliers are in favor of the sports complex, so I would support that. And we know that the only way that this can happen is with the fifth-cent tax, so I will support that. They also said that they do not want to see promotions decreased, and I support that as well. I also support increased funding to beaches, because I do believe that that's very important and that the community feels very strongly about that. So I support increasing the beach funding, and I guess the way we do this is to somehow phase out the museum funding so that that can go towards promotion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So phase out -- phase out museum funding, okay. MS. KERNS: I'd agree with Michelle. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So everything she said? June 13, 2017 Page 178 MS. KERNS: About phasing out the museum funding. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. But she said more. MS. KERNS: I'm sorry. I missed that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: She wasn't here for that. MS. McLEOD: It was genius. You missed it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. We'll hear from Mr. Hill, and then we'll ask you, because you're kind of deciding what -- how you want -- whether you want the sports complex and the reallocation as presented. MR. HILL: Thank you. I was actually in Lee County, and I was the founding president of the Sports Council there in the early 1990s. So I have a little insight into why and how that started. And the reason that we started that Sports Council in Lee County was because the inland properties were paying part of tax and they weren't -- they didn't feel that they were being represented in the advertising marketing. The inland properties didn't have a product. Our product in Lee County was the beaches and the islands, and that's what was promoted. Now, there is a difference. Unlike Lee County, Collier County has hotels and lodgings that's proximate to the beaches. In Lee County they're on barrier islands and so forth, so that was almost impossible. So what happened in Lee County was that their -- you know, the market was split in half. And that worked in Lee County, but I'm concerned about doing that here because I'm concerned about jeopardizing what we've built as a really great upscale-to-luxury core brand. The -- in the proposal that I read that the County Commission has presented, I see considerable cuts in promotion and marketing, particularly in that marketing that's targeting our core customer. And that's a concern and I think should concern all of us, because when you look at the rate and you look at the contribution to the tourist June 13, 2017 Page 179 development tax revenue, it's going to take two to three room nights for every -- inland property room nights for every one room night that's at a beach resort. We need to continue to drive that upper, upscale, and luxury business our way. So where it would be necessary to heavily promote our sports facility, it's -- and that's great, just remember that it's going to take three room nights for the rooms generated as a result of the sports facility to equal the tax revenue generated by one room night by an upper, upscale, or luxury property. So where I reviewed the proposal, that would be -- that would be my biggest concern. And I've said this in other meetings, and I'll repeat it here at the risk of sounding self-serving. But if the park is going to be utilized 25 percent of the time for tourism purposes, 75 percent of the time for community purposes, should we not split the expense that way? And in order to do that -- and I think this would work, and I think that possibly it was the original thinking when I first saw the proposal, the way to do that is to move the county-owned museum operations back to the General Fund. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So if we moved county-owned museums back to the General Fund, you would agree to this? MR. HILL: I would. That would give us that -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And would you agree to a phased approach, as Ms. McLeod -- MR. HILL: Well, I have -- I just want to be sure that -- and I hope that everybody agrees with me that if we reduce the -- if we reduce the promotion of our core brand and let that get away from us, if we dilute that, then I don't want -- then we're not going to be able to sustain any of it in my opinion. So as far as the phases approach to building the facility, I would June 13, 2017 Page 180 say as long as we're capping it at one percent or the fifth penny or the 20 percent increase, as long as it's capped at the 1 percent, I think it would be fine. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Are you aware of the carryforward of promotion and administration in the last five years? MR. HILL: I am, and I don't understand why that hasn't been spent, but I know it's there. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Could we put the carryforward up, please. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Wasn't that -- that's been spent, hasn't it? There's only 200 some odd thousand dollars left after the -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: It's programmed. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah, it's programmed. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It's programmed now, but it hasn't been programmed all along. That's the amount of money that -- it's un- incumbered carryforward. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: It's no longer un-incumbered. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Since pickleball, yes, but prior to that, it's un-incumbered, almost a million in '12, a million and a half in 2013, 2014. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Commissioner, that's your carryforward right now that's programmed for FY17. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Correct. MR. CASALANGUIDA: There's only 274,000 that wouldn't be un-incumbered. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's as of today, yes. But what -- the point I'm making is the budget -- the promotional budget has had a carryforward for the last four years. I think you have it, Nick, on one of your slides. MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's the slide, yes, ma'am. And part of that is he's getting more money, he's ramping up. And I think in '16 June 13, 2017 Page 181 it shows that he met his numbers. And, again, I hate to refer to Mr. Isackson as a grumpy guy, but he's very conservative in terms of the budget the way we structure this. We never try to allocate as much as the revenue coming in because we're conservative. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's right. To your credit. To your credit. MR. CASALANGUIDA: It's the plan we run through all the county models, so I think that has served us well. But right now there's not much of a carryforward left over after the programming of this. A million in catastrophic reserves, and 274,000. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Ms. Kerns? MS. KERNS: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So we're kind of making statements. We've all asked questions, so we just need to hear from you, ma'am. MS. KERNS: Yes. Again, my name's Nancy Kerns. I'm with the TDC, and I'd like to applaud the job that the county staff has done on these reports. I think they're outstanding reports. I'm in full support of increasing the 1 cent tax to fund the stadium, and I'm also in favor of the 60 percent/40 percent allocation. Jack just mentioned earlier that he's not happy with the $1 million reduction, but he can make it work. And I know Jack, and he will make it work. I also support the stadium being done in phases. I think that's the way to do it. And somebody else kind of mentioned this before, but, you know, the families that come to these things in the summertime, they're going to come at Easter, they're going to come at Christmas, the kids grow up, the parents want to retire. I mean, it's just a trickle effect. I have a friend who's up in Cooperstown right now at their sports event, and it's like -- he said it's the Disney World of sports complexes, and he's going to bring back pictures to share. And so it's just huge; June 13, 2017 Page 182 the economic impact is huge. So that's what I'm in favor of. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Ms. Commissioner Fiala, you are the chair of the TDC, and you're going to wear two hats here, ma'am. So we're going to hear from you now and then hear from you when we deliberate. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Very good. Thank you so much. This has been awfully interesting, very, very. I think I'm just with the rest of the crowd. I don't march in a different direction. I definitely feel we need to put this money forward for a sports complex. I think it will bring a whole new segment of tourism to our county. And I know when Jack says, I can make it happen, not that I'm happy with it, but I can make it happen, just like Nancy, I agree. Jack can -- Jack can work wonders and, he has done so, and he's shown us over the last 10 years. The only problem I don't like, when we bring the sports here, we're going to be bringing a lot of young people. They can only play sports for so long, but there are other things to do, whether it be a rainy day, whether it be too sunny day, or whether their games are finished. I think that parents, the world over, like to take their kids to museums. Now, we don't have a very big allocation to go to our museums, but I think it's a good thing not to take that part of tourism away from them. So I do not like seeing that tourism money go for the -- for the -- to go -- rather the money from tourism that is now dedicated to museums. There's going to be a big deal happening next year with the Marco museum, and it's going to have all kinds of security and everything involved, and people are going to want to see it from many, many areas just to come in here. And it's called the Marco Cat, and they're bringing it in from the Smithsonian. It's a really big deal. And I just think this is not the time to cut our museum funding. June 13, 2017 Page 183 It's only a smidgen of an amount, and I think we should keep it going because that should round out the family experience here in Collier County. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Thank you. So I'm told it can't be done, but I bet Commissioner Fiala can do it. Commissioner Fiala, I think it's time that your board makes a recommendation to the BCC, ma'am. So I'm going to let you lead this. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Well, my tourism board, and here I am sitting here watching you, but you can't watch me. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's probably a good thing. COMMISSIONER FIALA: But I've heard about what they've said, and I think they all stand in support of the sports museum or sports facility. Am I wrong about any of that? (No response.) COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think they all do want to continue with the promotion. I think sports is going to be -- what's interesting about sports compared to the promotion in other places -- we saw it happen with pickleball. I went a few days early, so did Penny, went a few days early to watch how the pickleball was going. They were just progressing before they even started, and that social media was going like crazy. People were coming in from all over because they wanted to see the new shade structure. And I was saying, well, how do you even know? They said, oh, it's on social media. You know, a lot of times you don't need money to promote something. They do it for you with their astounding new adventures like the shade structure. So I think social media is going to help us a lot and not cost us much of anything, so that's my opinion. But my board members, this is now TDC board members, how would you want to vote? Can you -- you-all are in favor of the sports complex, right? June 13, 2017 Page 184 (Multiple affirmative responses.) COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. You're all in favor of the beach renourishment, right? (Multiple affirmative responses.) COMMISSIONER FIALA: You're all in favor of the -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The fifth penny? COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- promotion, right? And Jack says he can handle it with a little bit less, right, or are you not? MS. McLEOD: I'm not sure about that. MR. HILL: Well, yes. I disagree that we can accommodate this kind of debt with a reduction in the marketing, especially the marketing that's applied to our core brand, and that's what is going to happen, at least that's what was going to happen within the distribution that's in the packet today. COMMISSIONER FIALA: You mean the one with the museums? MR. HILL: Right. Now, I understand that the recommendation is that the museum dollars continue to exist and the museums continue to flourish but the operations, the daily operations be paid by the General Fund of the county where they were previously and not by the Tourist Development Council. Now, all of the other museums and culture and special events, funding remains intact within the promotional fund. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Now, how would you like to do this, Mr. Hill? My good friend, Mr. Hill, why don't you make the motion? MR. HILL: I'll make a motion that the -- I'm going to have to think about it a minute. Allow me to give it some thought. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Unless somebody else would like to. MR. HILL: Okay. Hold on. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. June 13, 2017 Page 185 MS. BECKER: I might say that it does appear as if we TDC members concur on the amateur sports complex, which would mean we concur on the fifth penny. We are in disagreement over the allocation, and we feel that needs more discussion. MR. HILL: I would agree with that. Let's discuss that then, shall we? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Why don't we -- MS. BECKER: That would be the motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- get a motion. Can we get a motion regarding the sports complex. I'm sorry, Commissioner Fiala. I'm sorry. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, no. That's all right. That's all right. But that's a good point. So, okay, then. Let's make one solid motion, and that is, is everybody in agreement to move forward with the sports complex? (Multiple affirmative responses.) COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. So would somebody make that motion. MR. SULLIVAN: Make a motion to move forward with the sports complex and the fifth penny. MS. BECKER: Second. COMMISSIONER FIALA: And do I hear a second, please? MS. BECKER: Second. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Very good. All in favor, signify by say aye. MR. OLESKY: Aye. MR. RIOS: Aye. MS. KERNS: Aye. MS. BECKER: Aye. MR. SULLIVAN: Aye. MS. McLEOD: Aye. June 13, 2017 Page 186 MR. HILL: I have a comment or a question. I would like to discuss the distribution of the additional revenues before we close this issue. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Before we close the sports complex issue you mean? MR. HILL: Yeah, the fifth-penny issue. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Now -- well, we were just making a motion on the sports complex. Am I wrong about that? MR. RIOS: Well, the problem is, is the distribution is part and parcel of the whole decision. So you cannot separate -- you know, nit-pick each vote separate. We have to vote for the whole package, okay, how we like it. And my comment I will make as a compromise, okay, is that we give Jack the million out of the museums, and then we maintain the museum flat from now on. MS. KERNS: I'd agree with that. MR. RIOS: In other words, doesn't increase. That would be a compromise that I would offer, and I can make it as a motion, okay. But Jack give -- immediately gets a million dollars, the museum go to one-and-a-half million, round numbers, okay, but they remain at the one-and-a-half million dollars from now on, which means any growth could go towards promotion and of beach renourishment as the conditions demand. MS. KERNS: Or if the General Fund covers the museums, that's two million, right, Nick? MR. CASALANGUIDA: If they cover the whole museums, it's 2.5. They take out -- MS. KERNS: Okay. So if we get the General Fund to cover the museums, then that's the 2.5 million, Jack isn't hurt, and then there's a little buffer in there, correct? MR. OCHS: Just the General Fund is hurt. That's where I come June 13, 2017 Page 187 in. Yes, Nancy, that's where I come in. MS. KERNS: That's your job, Leo. MR. OCHS: Yeah. MS. KERNS: We're passing the buck here. MR. OCHS: Commissioners and Members, if I might, and this is something you may or may not be aware of, but, you know, the allocation for museums comes in two buckets; the county-owned museum and the non-county owned museum. Right now in the non-county owned museum buckets, there's $2 million of untapped reserves. There's also about $625,000 that goes every year into that non-county museum bucket. For whatever reason, you know, we have not been able to award that amount of money every year. Now, you know, I see Jack Movena (phonetic) and some of the others sitting in the back sharpening their pencils, but the fact is that the TDC has limited those grants to marketing, not brick and mortar. So I guess where I'm going with this, Commissioners and Members, is that, you know, if you somehow took that wall down and just left museums to be one category of allocation, you could continue to fund the non-county museums request at the historical levels that you've been funding and still have that reserve -- that $2 million of reserve now available to use, perhaps, to balance your tourism issue. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: County Attorney, you were speaking to me before. MR. KLATZKOW: I think we have clarity that the TDC supports both the sports complex and the fifth penny. The issue that's still open for debate is the reallocation of the entire TDC funds. This is coming back to the Board at your next meeting anyway, a proposed ordinance, and my understanding the TDC meets the day before so that I understand that there's still some discussion that the TDC might want to have as to reallocation. June 13, 2017 Page 188 So one approach would be that the staff brings back the proposed ordinance to the Board, the TDC will have a chance to weigh in on it on their meeting, make a recommendation to the Board for your first reading. Quite frankly, if there's still a little bit of hodging (sic) about this, you do get two readings at it anyway. And I think that will give everybody a chance to really sit back, think about how you want these allocations to be. But the primary thing of moving forward with the sports park and the fifth penny, I think you're done on that, from what I hear. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I agree. That's what I heard as well. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And just as a point of reference, does the TDC have to be in a majority in order to vote? I can sit here and count noses around this table, and there is a majority of people that are in consent in moving one particular direction. Some want more discussion on certain line items than others, but the discussion is arguably leaning for -- there is a majority of those folks around that table that don't necessarily have an issue with the reduction in advertising, don't necessarily have an issue with the management of the museums and the like. And I think, just as a point of order, we just segregate the individual issues and vote on them. MR. HILL: Let's vote. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. MS. BECKER: I beg to differ. I think we do have quite a bit of this to discuss, and we have a meeting on the -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Susan, I can't hear you. Could you say that a little louder? MS. BECKER: Yes; sorry. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think her microphone's broken. We've been having a tough time hearing her. June 13, 2017 Page 189 MS. BECKER: Okay. Yes. Is this better? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, yeah. MS. BECKER: Yes. It appears that the TDC members do have a number of differences about the allocation. We have a meeting on the 26th of this month which, according to the attorney, would be a good time for us to go over these issues, more time to think about it. I do not want to be pressed into making a decision today on that allocation issue. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Other board members, would you agree to that? MR. HILL: I agree with that. Yes, I also agree with that. MS. KERNS: I'd agree. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Can I hear from a couple more people? MS. McLEOD: I support that. MR. RIOS: I agree. I agree. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. So it looks like everybody is in agreement with you, Susan, and I'll be there also. I'm going to be able to walk again pretty soon, so that's a good thing. I will see you then. That's two weeks from yesterday. MR. SULLIVAN: But we are in agreement. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll see you then at that meeting, and then we'll make our final decisions then, if that's all right with all the TDC board members. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala, we have a question. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. Just as a point of order, I thought that there was a motion and a second. MR. OCHS: There was. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Right, there was. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And then there was some discussion. June 13, 2017 Page 190 I think we have to deal with the motion. MR. MILLER: The motion was passed. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I thought you voted and it was passed. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Was there a vote on that? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I started to vote, and then somebody said, well, they didn't want to vote on it and then we started talking all over. So nothing -- you're absolutely right, Commissioner Solis, or Commissioner Saunders, whoever said that. We started to vote on it, didn't really complete that vote. So should we then pull that vote, or how would we do that? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I think you have to vote on it one way or the other. MR. RIOS: Or pull the motion. MS. KERNS: We voted on it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You voted on it. MR. MILLER: Dan made the motion, and Susan made the second. The only issue we got -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Is the allocation. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: But did you vote on it? MR. OCHS: No. MR. MILLER: -- is the allocation only of the museum. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes. MR. OCHS: No. MR. SULLIVAN: That's the only allocation. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: They were unanimous in that. MR. MILLER: So that's the only -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: They have to vote. MR. OCHS: No. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: They haven't voted on it. MR. HILL: With the caveat that the allocation is still under June 13, 2017 Page 191 discussion and with the recommendation to the BCC forthcoming. MR. KLATZKOW: For clarity, I'd recommend you make a motion whether or not you support the sport complex and whether or not you support the fifth penny, and that will put an end to this. MR. MILLER: We did that already. MR. KLATZKOW: I don't know that you did. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Let's do it again. MR. KLATZKOW: For absolute clarity. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Let's do this. Let's have a motion. Let's -- I don't know what the procedure is to withdraw the motion that was on the floor, but just withdraw, whoever the motion maker, withdraw it -- MR. SULLIVAN: Withdraw the motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: The seconder withdraw it. MR. SULLIVAN: Susan, you need to withdraw. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, is that what you want to do is withdraw it? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And now we're going to -- and now, Commissioner Fiala, we're going to vote on this again for absolute clarity, and we're going to do a roll call vote. All right. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Are you now conducting this meeting? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, ma'am. You'll have it, but we have some confusion here, so we need some clarity here. And it's not because of you, ma'am. It's just we're all busy with this, that's all. MR. SULLIVAN: So we'll recall the first motion that we voted on before, and Susan, you'll recall the second, your second. MS. BECKER: Yes, I seconded the motion. MR. MILLER: You're recalling it. MS. BECKER: Oh, recall it, yes -- MR. RIOS: What is the motion? June 13, 2017 Page 192 MS. BECKER: -- if I must. MR. SULLIVAN: And the motion for this Tourist Development Council is to recommend that we move forward with the sports complex and we move forward with the addition of the fifth percent. MS. BECKER: And I second. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Any further comments from anyone? (No response.) COMMISSIONER FIALA: All in favor, signify by saying aye. MR. OLESKY: Aye. MR. RIOS: Aye. MS. KERNS: Aye. MS. BECKER: Aye. MR. SULLIVAN: Aye. MS. McLEOD: Aye. MR. HILL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: And opposed, like sign. (No response.) COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. That's unanimous. Okay. So thank you, Commissioner Solis or Commissioner Saunders, for straightening that out. It sounds just like a repeat of what we did before, doesn't it? Okay. Thank you. And so now the rest of it we will address at our TDC meeting on the -- what is that date? MR. RIOS: Monday the 26th, right? MS. BECKER: Twenty-sixth. I already said that, too. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Very good. All right. Thank you very much, Board Members. I will now bow out, although I'm staying right here close to this telephone. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do you want to have a break? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No. June 13, 2017 Page 193 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You don't want to have a break? Finish this part? All right. Make a motion. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: First of all, I want to thank the Tourist Development Council for being with us, because I think this was a very good session. You got to hear all of the details as we were hearing them, and I think that that was very positive, as opposed to reading about it or trying to figure out what the story was, and I think that was very positive. I'd like to make a motion -- it's got three or four parts to it. One is to proceed with increasing the tourist tax to the 5 percent and directing staff to proceed with the development of the amateur sports facility as outlined in their report. And this may be best in two motions, since they basically have done this in two pieces. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So let's do that as a motion. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: There's a motion on the floor and a second. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: On a second motion -- and this will get a little bit more tricky, but I don't want to see the $1 million June 13, 2017 Page 194 cut to the promotions. And so what I'd like to suggest is that, you know, staff, you go back and sharpen your pencil. The museums have gotten -- I think last year they got 2.3 million, and this year it would be 2.5 million. I don't know why there would be an increase other than the fact that there will be more tourist taxes collected. That doesn't necessarily mean their operating expenses would be higher. I'd like to keep museums in the TDC formula, but the motion would be for staff to develop a more rigorous approach to the way their budget is set up as opposed to just an annual increase. And the -- we would also consider the TDC's recommendations on the allocation when they come back, when they finish their deliberations. But I wanted to send the message that we would keep the museums in the funding package at this point in time and try to find a way not to reduce the advertising by the one million. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll second. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: There's two different numbers that we have -- there's two different numbers that we have. One is that there's some funds that are already in the count, $270,000 plus or minus. We're projecting an increase of $200,000 by going to the fifth. That increase does not need to go to the museums, so that's almost $500,000 right there. So just sharpen your pencils is what I'm suggesting. MR. OCHS: Sure. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And for seconding for purposes of discussion, I have an idea that -- if you would like to hear. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. We're discussing now. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. If the motion maker would entertain it, my suggestion with regard to the museums is to freeze the museums at the 2014 rate that was -- that was on there and/or '16. I'm not stuck on an actual number, but freeze the revenues June 13, 2017 Page 195 that are going to the museums and give direction to staff to give some consideration on how we can manage the operations of the museums in a different process. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I certainly would agree to that as part of the motion. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was why I seconded for discussion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Would the motion maker agree to, perhaps, suggesting that if, indeed, we freeze the amount for the museums and we ask staff to sharpen their pencils, that part of that process might also be to be able to have a cushion that would either go to marketing if they need it -- because we've heard testimony that they don't -- or go to the debt service depending on what -- where we're going with that? Now, I'm not suggesting that we're going to make a decision on that now, but I know that the debt service, you know, that could be -- that could be some consideration. So in the grand scope of things, before -- when they come back to us in two weeks with this ordinance -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: You're talking about -- when you say debt service, you're talking about the 3.75 million? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: It may be a year-and-a-half before we know what that debt service it going to be. It may even be longer than that. MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's correct. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So I don't know that that would be necessary to do that at this point. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If I'm not -- if I'm not mistaken, we have discretion on managing these funds at the action -- by the action of this board as we go forward with the information that's going June 13, 2017 Page 196 to come to us. So at this process I think it's a bit premature to start to try to tweak where the excess money, if there is any excess money, can, in fact, be utilized. You know, staff -- again, like a lot of folks, I want to compliment staff on the presentation. I think that Mr. Casalanguida gave us a very nice delineation that's still up for discussion with regard to the allocations, per se, but as far as -- and we've got more information coming back to us. So I think if we just take care of the motion and the second that's been made, if you're amiable to an adjustment to that motion for the -- regarding the museums to fix them. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's what I had intended, that we stick with the 2014 level of funding for them for this year, which was 2.3 million. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. And that gives direction to staff to then come back to us with -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: The concept of how to -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Going forward. I mean, we're going to have more information. We're going to have new -- as one of our staff said, we're going to get smarter -- imagine that -- as far as the information that we accumulate in the revenue stream, so... CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So point of order, County Manager -- or County Attorney, can we -- should we even be talking about the allocation until the TDC makes a recommendation? MR. KLATZKOW: Oh, no. You're fine. I mean, staff's going to come back with an ordinance. They need some guidance from you. That ordinance will be vetted by the TDC; they will make their recommendation to you. You'll take that into consideration, and then you'll vote. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Great. All right. We have a motion on the floor and a second. June 13, 2017 Page 197 MR. OCHS: Excuse me. Hold on. Is part of the motion to restore the million dollars to the tourism? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's not really part of the motion, but part of the instruction is for staff to kind of sharpen their pencils here a little bit and see if you can get that back -- that million dollars back. We know there's 500,000 that we've already talked about, so it's not going to take a whole lot of sharpening. MR. OCHS: We just have to bring back a draft ordinance that has percentages for every category so I -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, that's right. MR. CASALANGUIDA: And, Commissioners, for clarity, you talked about the reserve. So if it was using one-time money, and then see what FY18 or '19 looks like, then I think, Commissioner, what you've said is that 500,000 could be brought in with going back to the 2'14 rates, taking the reserves that are shown as un-incumbered, putting it in. That gets you that half a million back in. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's what I intended. I may not have been very clear in it, but that's what I intended. MR. OCHS: That doesn't adjust the percentage that we've laid out right now. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No. And the percentage that you have for the museums is based on the 2.3 million from 2014, so you know what that percentage is. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner Fiala, any discussion? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No discussion here. I like what Commissioner Saunders said before, I also like what Commissioner McDaniel said, and if that's what it's winding up to be, I'm all for it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Good. I've got a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, say aye. June 13, 2017 Page 198 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you very much. We're going to take a 10-minute break. (A brief recess was had.) Item #11C REPORT ON A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PROGRAM, CURRENT ACTIVITIES, AND PLANNED FUTURE ACTIONS - MOTION TO ACCEPT THE REPORT – APPROVED; CONSERVATION COLLIER TO CONTINUE WORKING IN THE SAME MANNER AS CURRENTLY WITH A REVIEW OF THE ORDINANCE AFTER SUMMER BREAK MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that moves us to Item 11C. This is a recommendation to accept a status report on the -- an historical overview of the Conservation Collier program. This was previously requested by the Board. Barry Williams, your Director of Parks and Recreation, will present. MR. WILLIAMS: Thank you, Leo. Commissioners, Barry Williams, Parks and Recreation Director. I just had a few slides to go over with you, if I may, regarding June 13, 2017 Page 199 Conservation Collier, the history, and kind of what actions have been taken since you asked us to look at re-implementing the acquisition program. So, as you know, Conservation Collier's objectives are acquire, preserve, restore, and maintain vital and significant threatened natural lands, forest uplands and wetland communities, and certainly that's what they've done during the last 13, 14 years they've been in existence. Just a couple of milestones. And you can see there some of the things that have occurred during this time. Currently under management there is actually 4,090 acres that is in preserve that's being managed by the program. Alex Sulecki is the program coordinator, and she's here with us as well this afternoon. And Alex has been with the program since its inception. You can see a couple others things. The BCC, in February, the Board asked to reinstate the acquisition portion of the program authorizing up to 17 million and directed that ongoing funding be brought to referendum in 2018. Just one other budget note. And I know that we're going to be talking to you Thursday about the budget. That has been included, that .25 mill for next year FY18. So with that said, the next slide. This is a -- just a graphic overview of the properties that are currently in preservation. You can see them throughout the county. With that, you can see just the breakdown of funding that has occurred over the last 13, 14 years. The one thing I'll point out, the Board directed a trust fund to be in existence for perpetuity for management of the funds. That request was a $32 million amount. Our in-cash as of today is 34,941,000 with all in, with the trust fund, the operating budget that we have. So we're well within what's considered financially (sic) sustainability for the program. June 13, 2017 Page 200 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: As it stands now? MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir, that's correct. Just a couple of other slides, and I'll stop and see what questions that you have. Just since February 14th, I wanted to kind of go over a couple things that have occurred and, again, just in the spirit of reauthorizing the acquisition program. And April 10th, CCLAC actually restarted in their land acquisition mode. In the past couple of years after they stopped -- we stopped acquiring lands, we're in management mode, we actually have increased the size of CCLAC. We brought an item to you April 11th to increase the board size for acquisition from seven members to nine members, so that is where we are today. Since that time, we've received one new application, one you're very familiar with, the Hussey property. We've received that application, and we're working very closely with the County Manager's Office in terms of looking at that property and the possibilities of that property. So just to mention that. We did have four other properties that are coming to CCLAC for consideration June 12th. And they're identified in red in this map. And you can see Romak property, the Gore property, Hach Living Trust and Green & Green properties. And if you have specific questions about any of those properties, Alex can walk you through those discussions. So with that, we also have added a staff member, a job banker, to help work with the acquisition phase. It's much different than the management. We anticipate requesting two FTEs to begin working with the program starting October 1st of 2017 if approved through the budget process. We do have a job banker that's working with us, Mr. Bigelow, who's with Alex this afternoon; is working with her in terms of the administrative components of that. June 13, 2017 Page 201 So with that, the only other thing I would mention to you that you've asked in terms of this restart is looking at a referendum and language related to that referendum. That would be brought forward in the cycle in 2018. So let me see if I have any more slides. I don't think that I do. I think that I've talked to you about all of those items. So with that, what I would just say, if you have questions, we have Alex here that can answer. If you have any questions for me, happy to answer them. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Bring back that slide for moving forward, please. MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. Would you like me to go over those? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, no, no. I just wanted to go -- the resolution that was in front of us had to do with where we have been, what we have been doing, and what we're going forward -- and I wasn't -- I wasn't coming up with this information when I was looking at this agenda item over the weekend, so... MR. WILLIAMS: Absolutely. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Because I had a specific question about some of the discussions about the lack of information on things going forward; what the Conservation Collier's going to, in fact, do. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No questions now or -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I really -- I think we need to -- I would like to make a suggestion that we have some further review of Conservation Collier, the program, as it was created by a prior board. And I don't know that now is necessarily the time to do that. I don't know specifically the process to go through that, but there are -- there are issues in the article of the Conservation Collier program that I think we need to make some adjustments to. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All right. Thank you. June 13, 2017 Page 202 Commissioner Fiala, any comments? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, ma'am; no comment. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, I have a comment because as -- I think we've all met with chamber -- learned that they are considering a sales tax -- and if we haven't, you will be -- a sales tax initiative which they want to take to the voters. And from their polling -- and it's been a very careful and executed polling effort by the chamber and the stakeholders that are involved in this -- Conservation Collier, green -- a green tax for sales tax is highly supported. I know they're looking at infrastructure. I know they're looking at workforce housing initiatives. And this contract would be a contract with the voters, and it would go to an election, would go to referendum. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: On the 18th. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Right. And so I'm -- I've thought, when we voted for this -- and, Commissioner Fiala, you and I -- I don't know what -- Commissioner Saunders isn't here. He's on a conference call, but he'll be back. It was my understanding that if we raised the folks' taxes, that if the people in 2018 voted against Conservation Collier, then that quarter mill would be refunded on the next year's taxes. Apparently that's not -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: I don't remember the refunding part, but I knew that -- I was a little hesitant about the .25. I was motioning more toward the 1.0, because I felt that that would carry on longer and people would accept that easier. So I was kind of moving toward that. But, to be honest with you, I voted with everybody else for the .25. But in '18 I was going to suggest to move it back to .10, because then we might be able to make it a sustaining number from there on in. June 13, 2017 Page 203 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. And I'm having a little heartburn about this whole thing at this point, too. So it doesn't -- it doesn't mean that staff hasn't done exactly what you were directed to do. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Right. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: But I do believe -- and Commissioner Saunders -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We really need to wait for him. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- mentioned this. We will be discussing this on Thursday in our budget, so perhaps that's the place for the discussion. I don't know. Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And Commissioner Fiala is correct, there was no discussion about a repayment. If it didn't pass through on referendum, Commissioner Saunders made the suggestion when he made the motion. I remember I was not -- I did not vote in favor of increasing the ad valorem. I'm actually the one that made the proposition of utilizing a portion of the up to the 17 million out of reserves to support the acquisitions interimly until we could take this to a referendum vote. And then the .10 came from me because that was a suggestion that I made; we divide the tax increase up by .10 for Conservation Collier, .10 for roads, and .10 for parks on a referendum vote and creating binding referendums. That was a -- I believe that was a portion of what I presented in an alternative to actually raising the taxes strictly for Conservation Collier. So -- but, I mean, what are we here to vote for today? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Nothing. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just accept this report. MR. OCHS: Just accept staff's report. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. June 13, 2017 Page 204 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So there's a motion. Do I hear a second? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. And the motion is to accept the historical overview of Conservation Collier. No discussion? All those in favor -- MR. MILLER: Madam Chair -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: So what does that mean, overview -- MR. MILLER: -- I'm sorry. I do have -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- to accept the historical overview? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's the way the agenda item is written. So recommendation to accept a report on the historical overview of the Conservation Collier program, its current activities and planned future actions. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, okay. Fine. So that's the report that Barry just gave us, correct? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's correct. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's correct. MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, I do have five registered speakers. I'm not sure they're still with us. Nancy Payton? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: She's not here. MR. MILLER: Franklin Adams? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: He's not here. MR. MILLER: Nicole Johnson? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Brad Cornell? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Wayne Jenkins. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Beg your pardon, Mr. Jenkins. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think all that thunder scared most of them out. June 13, 2017 Page 205 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We have Mr. Jenkins with us. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are you here to talk about Conservation Collier or the agenda item that we pulled? MR. JENKINS: Conservation Collier. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. JENKINS: I'll be real brief. I really was not aware this item was on the agenda. I came to speak on another topic this morning, and I'd just like to quickly make a couple points to you. I served on the Conservation Collier Committee for, I believe, approximately eight years from the time of its inception; was involved in the great -- in most of the purchases. So I just want to make you aware of a couple things that came to my mind that I've seen through my eyes of the program, and one of them that concerns me is the politics of this program. When I say "politics," as a board, we were looking -- measuring and looking at several different concepts to it and evaluating the property. And one of the interesting things that came up was that we felt that they were supposed to kind of spread the issue of buying this property within all the districts. And as time went along, we started realizing that in certain districts, there was very little extremely sensitive land. And to me it was interesting -- I wish Commissioner Saunders was here, because he's the one that proposed this to come back, and I commend him for it. (Commissioner Saunders is now present.) MR. JENKINS: But District 3 is one problem we had of finding really -- welcome -- of sensitive lands. And what this creates for his constituents along the line is they start to say, well, we're paying this tax. How come we're not getting the benefit out of this? So you've got to realize that this is countywide benefit. There's no way it can be spread among the districts evenly, and that's just the point I want to June 13, 2017 Page 206 make to you. And the other thing that -- maybe I was in the minority opinion on it, but occasionally we bought a piece of property, and as time went on, I viewed it as being less environmentally sensitive as to initially looking at it. And to give you an example, out on Immokalee Road close to Friendship Lane, we bought 10 acres, or which is -- my opinion is nothing but pine woods and palmettos. It's not really environmentally sensitive. Later on we were fortunate enough to get into buying Pepper Ranch, and we also bought some property on the other side of Immokalee Road. In my opinion, that property really didn't fit the bill that we originally bought it as one of the first pieces of property. And I'm just suggesting that, as you go forward in looking at this, that you might look at a way of providing for surplussing of these lands, that we -- it might be determined that are really not what they were initially purchased for. And with that, I thank you for your time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you for staying with us for so long, Mr. Jenkins. MR. JENKINS: Thank you. COMMISSIONER FIALA: May I mention something? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, of course. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, okay. Thank you. I really agree with Mr. Jenkins. We started buying up big things in Winchester Head and a couple of red -- whatever it is -- MR. OCHS: Naples swamp. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, thank you. But some of the things that we had inland, which we really should get ahold of but they're very environmentally sensitive land, are things right along SR951, which is the stuff that butts right up against Rookery Bay; all environmentally sensitive lands, but now they've got "for sale" signs June 13, 2017 Page 207 up there. And I'm thinking, oh, my heavens. That -- you know, that would just be an awful thing to see all of those environmentally sensitive lands and all the animals out there and everything just go, and maybe we should be reassessing what properties we have inland while we can still catch them before they're gone forever; whereas, the ones over at Winchester Head, there's nobody's really going to really buy them too much, you know, I don't think. We probably could keep them for a little bit longer and at bay. But anyway, that's -- I'm just adding that little thing there. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Okay. So any other discussion? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I would like to give some direction, if we can -- and I could do it under commissioner comments, or since we're on Conservation Collier now, I really think we need to have a discussion about the operational aspects of Conservation Collier, go through line item by line item the actual agreement that created Conservation Collier with the prior board, have some discussions about those, and give better direction to our advisory committees. I have friends that served on those acquisition committees and friends that are on them now. And I think we can offer some input into the organization, its structure, better give direction to staff with regard to the priorities of Conservation Collier both from an acquisition standpoint and an operational standpoint, develop more of a plan for what it's going to look like when it grows up and so that we're not, as Commissioner Fiala stated -- I mean, all of our environmental lands are important. MR. WILLIAMS: If I may, Madam Chair. Commissioner McDaniel, I would point out the ordinance that created Conservation Collier does a pretty good job in terms of kind of giving direction to staff on how properties are nominated, ranked, June 13, 2017 Page 208 selected. You know, there's a process in terms of a site management plan and a list of allowable user (sic) of environmental sensitive lands. So you do have a pretty robust process in place. I think, though, any process is worth improving and can be looked at, but that ordinance, if we roll that out and share that with you and look at that and see if there's some improvements that you can make -- the other thing I would say to you is that your advisory committee is comprised of people of high regard in terms of environmental issues, and so you do have a very good group on your committee that's helping guide you and providing recommendations to you. So I just wanted to mention that. MR. OCHS: So, Commissioners, though, you know, with that in mind, if you look at this moving-forward plan that's on your screen, if, in fact, there's a majority of the Board that want to look at making tweaks in the ordinance or amendments in the way that the Land Acquisition Committee evaluates properties or ranks them, I would recommend that we suspend activity until such time; otherwise, you know, the plan in front of you is over the next 30 to 90 days for the Land Acquisition Committee to do a fairly thorough review and also look at adding other properties to the acquisition list. If the Board's not comfortable with the current criteria that's in the ordinance that governs that, we probably should need to know that sooner than later as a staff and as an advisory committee. Now, I know that's Commissioner McDaniel making that statement, and I'm just looking for some majority consensus here, if there is one. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I agree with that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'd agree. Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't have any problem with that. I think the ordinance is broad enough, though, that it does June 13, 2017 Page 209 provide some guidance for the committee. MR. OCHS: Well, it provides fairly specific guidance. I think what I was hearing from Commissioner McDaniel was that he had some different ideas on how that might be recast. And maybe I'm not hearing you correctly, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It wasn't -- it wasn't that I was looking to recast. And you referred to some of the things that I talked about as tweaks, and they maybe necessarily are more that. I don't know that we need to suspend the operations of the acquisition committee. I think that they have a fairly robust, well-laid-out process that they have to go through. And they're not really wasting their time. They're -- they have got submittal of some additional properties that weren't on their A list that have crept up with the advent of this new influx of money. But they're not wasting their time, and it's still, ultimately, going to come back to us. MR. OCHS: Oh, absolutely. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And so we could then -- given an appropriate -- and I'm not talking about wholesale changes here. I'm just -- I'm looking at putting in some things that I think that would be of a community benefit along with this program. MR. OCHS: So would you like the staff to schedule that type of review of the entire ordinance at some future date? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I think coming back after our summer break is sufficient time for us. I mean, we're going to have some more discussions with regard to the budgetary processes here coming up Thursday and Friday. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And then we can have -- you know, and I can get with staff and offer up my suggestions, and then we can bring it back after the summer break. I'd be good with that. Conservation Collier's not broke. It's not broke. Just, I think it June 13, 2017 Page 210 can be enhanced. You okay with that? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So the bottom line would be that the committee will continue to evaluate properties as they've been directed to do, and then we will consider changes to the ordinance as we deem appropriate during the summer and early fall. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And we -- I would suggest that we actually review the ordinance of the Conservation Collier's creation, go through that, and then -- and make some specific recommendations to staff as far as our suggested -- or suggested -- because there's several people here that signed up to be public speakers that aren't here today, so... CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: They're the environmentalists. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I know who they are. But I just -- I think -- you know, I think Conservation Collier can function under its current processes until we come back from -- in September/October and have a hard -- have a look at operational aspects and acquisition aspects. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. I just wanted to know if there were some expectations from the staff to make those recommendations or if you, as the Board, were going to make those recommendations and direct those to us when we come back. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, sir. MR. OCHS: So I'm just going to put the ordinance on the agenda and let you all -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely. I've read it. MR. OCHS: -- tell me what you want to do with it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. MR. OCHS: Roger. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: What month are you doing that, July or September? MR. OCHS: No. June 13, 2017 Page 211 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: July? Or September? MR. OCHS: What year? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I think the gentleman that spoke, I think, raises an interesting issue that maybe there's properties that, for whatever reason, we don't want in Conservation Collier anymore or maybe they're -- we'd be better off buying some other land. So I think it's a good time to revisit that and look at the ordinance. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, you know, there is -- and there is -- and Wayne -- I read the articles here of Conservation Collier's program, and it doesn't just specify environmentally sensitive wetlands. There is an ecological value that travels along with upland properties as well. And the piece -- I live out by the piece that Wayne spoke of specifically. So -- but, again, I think if we as a board have a conversation and actually devote some time to the ordinance of Conservation Collier's existence, I think we can give staff some better direction. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: But to go ahead and start reviewing on a base -- what the ordinance says right now? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sure. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Okay. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. We have a motion on the floor and a second to accept the report on the historical overview of Conservation Collier program. All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. June 13, 2017 Page 212 (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It's accepted. Thank you very much. MR. WILLIAMS: Thank you, Madam Chair. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Clear as mud, right, so to speak? MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, given consideration that Mr. Jenkins has waited patiently all day, perhaps we could move his item up next. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm all over that. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. Item #11F DIRECTING THE COUNTY MANAGER TO BRING BACK TO THE BOARD AN AGREEMENT AMENDING THE SEPTEMBER 24, 2003 AGREEMENT AMONG COLLIER COUNTY, THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT, AND THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF FORESTRY SERVICES, WITH REGARDS TO HOW THE PRIMARY ROADWAYS WITHIN THE PICAYUNE STRAND STATE FOREST, SOUTHERN GOLDEN GATE ESTATES AREA, WILL BE KEPT IN ACCORDANCE TO THE POST-CONSTRUCTION CONDITIONS, AS PERMITTED BY THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND MAINTAINED BY THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF FORESTRY SERVICES - MOTION TO BRING BACK THE AMENDED AGREEMENT – APPROVED MR. OCHS: That is Item 11F on your agenda that was previously 16A15, and this is a recommendation for the Board to direct the County Manager to bring back an agreement amending the September 24, 2003, agreement between the county, South Florida Water Management District, and the Florida Division of Forestry June 13, 2017 Page 213 Services with regard to the roadways within the Picayune Strand State Forest and the southern Golden Gate Estates area. Mr. French will make a brief presentation. MR. FRENCH: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the record, Jamie French, I'm the Deputy Department Head for the Growth Management Department. Happy to answer any questions you might have on this item. I am joined by the Director of the Big Cypress Basin. Appreciate her waiting around all day. So we're here together to answer any questions that you might have or to, perhaps, give you an update on any of the roads that were identified previously in either the 2003 or 2007 amended agreement. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I'm the one that pulled this agenda item. Just -- I received a lot of -- a lot of folks called me and talked to me about it, emails along the way. And I was asked to pull it for discussion just to make sure that we are clear in giving staff our recommendations as to how, in fact, we're going forward, and to get some information from the folks that are working on it to assure the public, with more certainty than currently exists in those agreements from 2003 and 2007, what that particular area of the forest is going to look like. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And I know this is -- I'm sorry. I know this is a new commission, but didn't we discuss this less than six months ago? MR. CASALANGUIDA: You did, and the direction you gave staff was to have staff member, which was David at the time -- Wilkison -- Jamie's taken that on -- to work with BCB and Forestry to try and come to some sort of collective agreement. A little bit of color, a little bit of history. And I think Ms. Koehler can also talk to you a bit. These roads were permitted back in the 2000 period. They June 13, 2017 Page 214 weren't permitted to quite meet that agreement, clearly. We all know that. The question is what do you do when you've inherited a project that's been permitted, gone through Army Corps. You try and readjust these roads to some other different level? I think the collective desire from the Board last time was to try and get an understanding that the public will have some access to it consistent what the Forestry manages a lot of their roads. Then it was probably unrealistic to have the roads raised. And I think that's where they're at right now, is just to get confirmation, because they're at the phase where they're going to develop these maintenance agreements with Forestry and the county signing off. Any if there's any objection from the Board, the new board, that they want to see something different, now would be the time to tell us. And that's the position we're in today. MR. FRENCH: And before Lisa speaks, to let you know that we are currently working with Forestry as well as the Big Cypress Basin on an agreement. We've just not quite got it finalized yet. But we did owe the Board a report. And we will be bringing that report back, or the agreement back, for future consideration before the end of the year. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So it's not all over today, and that's another thing I wanted folks to hear. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Well, you're basically getting guidance that, you know, the agreement is going to come back to you, but it's almost in a form that everybody's kind of signed off on with the understanding the Board today is kind of giving staff a little bit of direction is that the roads as permitted with the Forestry management plan is what you're going to come back with an agreement on. MR. KLATZKOW: The agreement's going to take away the obligation from the State in whatever capacity it is running it, to have you have certain roads there to be 24/7 type all-season roads. They've scraped the roads down. I know. I drove it. All right. They don't June 13, 2017 Page 215 exist anymore. So the -- whatever agreement that comes back is going to have to remove that obligation by the State so we don't get into another dispute when there's a new board, and that's pretty much it. I mean, we're just basically saying, okay, and we're waving the white flag, and that's it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And determining who's going to be paying for the maintenance. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes. MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. MR. FRENCH: That's correct. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And determining who's going to be -- and there is additional cost analysis coming back to us to bring these roads up to the condition that we're in the post 2007 construction process, that is -- hasn't been done. The maintenance hasn't been done interimly. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Not to that extent, sir, because I think that the challenge -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Why are you saying no, Commissioner? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Because we discussed it six months ago. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: This is a new commission, but that's -- but that was the agreement. We can't -- we're not bringing the roads back to. We're saying that this whole project, the Picayune Strand, is designed to -- as a wetland. It's rehydrating an area. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So we're giving a pass. MS. KOEHLER: Madam Chair, perhaps -- let me take a stab at clarifying that just a little bit. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And that -- MS. KOEHLER: Lisa Koehler, Big Cypress Basin, South Florida June 13, 2017 Page 216 Water Management District, for the record. The roads were -- I'm sorry. As Mr. Klatzkow had stated, the blacktop was removed as per the DEP permit for that restoration project in 2007. One of the things that we're talking about right now and proposing is that we accept that road condition in 2007. Now, today those roads do need some work. They have fallen below that condition, because there hasn't been any maintenance for the last 10 years. So when we're talking about bringing them back up, it's only bringing them back up to that 2007 post-construction condition. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Not the condition they were when they were paved, but the post construction -- MS. KOEHLER: Exactly. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- per the permit, 2007 condition. Because there's milestones there, the survey work, the elevations, and the like, that we can ascertain the differentiation between the condition today and what was then. MS. KOEHLER: We'd like to see them consistent with the DEP permit for restoration. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. MR. OCHS: Which is not consistent with the language in the agreement, just so everybody knows. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Agreed. And the inconsistency with the language within the agreement, per my understanding, is the accessibility with regard to the 24/7 -- MR. OCHS: 365. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- process, which we know when it was, in fact, put in place, was not going to be attainable. There are certain times of the year Jane Scenic Lane, even back in the days when we were trespassing down there -- I never trespassed down there June 13, 2017 Page 217 -- but there were times that that road became impassible. So how do we get there from here? MR. KLATZKOW: We're going to bring back an agreement that relieves the state of its responsibility for giving you 24/7 all-season roads. That's what we're going to do. And that will end the discussion permanently. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So we need a motion to that effect? MR. OCHS: That would be good. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I will make that motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'll second it. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I would like to hear from our public speaker who's been here quite patiently, and then we have -- MR. MILLER: I do have to read off all the names. Michael Ramsey? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He left. MR. MILLER: Franklin Adams? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Wayne Jenkins. And he will be followed by Marielle Kitchener. MR. JENKINS: Thank you. My name's Wayne Jenkins. I'm President of the Collier Sportsmen and Conservation Club. We're a local sportsmen's hunting organization that has been in existence since, I believe, 1985. We were involved in the Picayune Strand discussions as they came about. I'm sitting there thinking, I guess I'm becoming a has-been. I sat on this committee for about six years as the advisory committee for the Picayune Strand. And I'm not trying to stir a problem up, accuse anybody, but I'm going to talk about some broken promises. From the time of this project going forward, there's been a continual process of broken promises. I can refer you to 684 -- 640-acre ATV park that never June 13, 2017 Page 218 materialized. I can tell you we let Water Management District off for a fee of $3 million which will no way buy us an ATV park anywhere. When I -- when we first started the advisory committee, it was wide open. And I'm sitting here talking to forestry officials. We were talking about a shooting range, hang gliding on Everglades, dirt bike and ATV trails, designated ORV trails, a remote control radio track for small cars. It was mentioned that Collier County was going to have a new water source for drinking water. Later that was told you would not. That's going -- the water designated for the estuaries. Horseback riding, maintaining the primary roads. These were all promises or -- in discussions various forms. Today we have been given $3 million and no ATV park. There are no ORV trails in the Picayune. The all-weather roads were being removed. Now, as sitting on this committee, I agree with you, we knew when we were going into this the concept of it was to rehydrate this area, and we knew that as water travels farther south, gets down closer to 41, it's going to pool. Supposedly, the culverts -- additional culverts was going to help that, but it still gets deeper the farther you go. Stuart was early discussions that at times that would be under water. So we understand that. What we don't understand, and just like you admitted -- someone admitted a little while ago, we're 10 years behind in maintaining these roads. I wish Franklin Adams was still here. He and I were talking earlier today. This past December he was coming back from Everglades City and decided to come through the Scenic Drive about 5 p.m. in the evening in December. His vehicle got stuck in the middle of Stuart Boulevard, and he was -- worked and worked to get the vehicle out -- to get out that night. These things -- there are still recreational aspects going on. Hunting is still allowed, wildlife viewing; you can ride through and June 13, 2017 Page 219 look. But I think we give 140 permits for different phases of the hunting season, and if we're going to degrade all the road and not maintain them, we're not serving the interest of what was promised to us. And you have a difficult job, I understand. I can even understand the removal of the asphalt, but we need to have something maintained that we can travel on. And I know you've got the picture from there. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, Wayne. MR. MILLER: Your final speaker on this item is Marielle Kitchener. MS. KITCHENER: Hi. Marielle Kitchener with Big Cypress Basin, Board Member. I'm really just here in case you had environmental questions, because that's sort of the task I serve on Big Cypress Basin. So I was just really here if you had any questions. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala, any questions about the environmental aspect of the Picayune? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, no, not really, except that's usually under water at this time of year anyway, isn't it? MS. KITCHENER: Yes. Yes it is. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Uh-huh. Which is, historically, the way it's always been. You know, I feel so bad. Wayne Jenkins was absolutely right. That's what happened. You know, things never materialized from the promises that were made, but that's -- there's nothing we can do about it. I think we just need to pick up our marbles and move on, sadly; but that's what we're going to have to do. So that's all -- that's the only comments I really have to make. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you, ma'am. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have a comment. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I would -- you know, June 13, 2017 Page 220 there's more to this than giving the State a pass. It's a discussion about the upkeep of these facilities, the access of these facilities. They're -- you think, if you read through these agreements, my two colleagues down there on the end that like to read legal documents, there is -- as has been represented, there was a lot of promises made as to who was going to take care of this thing. I would like to see -- if we're going to make adjustments in the agreement for the upkeep of this facility, it's a fairly well-known fact we're not going to be able to get it to the 24 hour, seven-day-a-week access process, but I would like to see our basin not burdened by the expenses associated with the upkeep of these roads. I would -- I don't believe that it is -- you know, this facility was purchased, brought into the State Forestry Department as a district-wide facility, statewide facility, and I would like to -- if we can give some staff direction to at least point in that direction -- I know it's going to come back to us at some stage as to the -- am I being beeped? I should be beeped per the -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Almost. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- per the chair, I should be beeped, so -- but I would like to give some direction to staff to not obligate our Big Cypress Basin for the upkeep -- or the maintenance of that facility. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Commissioner, that's the plan. It is Forestry. So there's no obligation now for the Big Cypress Basin to do that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I see them all piling up now behind the microphone. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So I can support the motion, then, to -- as long as that's a precept of that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So there's a motion to -- do we June 13, 2017 Page 221 have a motion? I don't think. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: There's a motion and a second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's been motioned and seconded. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It's been so long. Okay. So we have to motion to ask the County Manager to bring back the agreement for the Picayune Strand management, State Forest management. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And there's a second on that. All those in favor, say aye, COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. MR. OCHS: Thank you. Item #11D RESOLUTION 2017-107: AMENDING THE COLLIER COUNTY GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FEE SCHEDULE, WITH AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF OCTOBER 1, 2017 – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: Item 11D is a recommendation to approve a resolution amending the Collier County Growth Management Department Development Services fee schedule with an effective date June 13, 2017 Page 222 of October 1, 2017. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, does anyone have any issues with any of this? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I discussed my issues. I have no issues except a consideration that we might change that "six-month" to a year, which I spoke to Mr. French about, so that you evaluate not on a six-month period, you would evaluate it within a year. MR. FRENCH: So that if I could, just to put it on the record, the Commissioner had asked why we come in on an annual basis to adjust these. And we explained that based off of the way our fee schedule is designed, we originally set it up to carry six months of reserves of our total operating, of our total budget. And so we're forced, if we have really great, efficient processes in place where we're keeping some of that money versus spending it, what happens is that once we get to that six-month marker, we get real close to it, we would have to adjust down. Now, the inverse would be is that if we fall way below that, we would be asking for a fee increase. So far we've never asked for a fee increase since 2010, and this is our largest fee decrease of $1.6 million ever as far as I know my 14 years with Growth Management. And so the last thing, if you would allow me to, County Manager and Chairman, the -- MR. OCHS: Wait a minute. Jamie, let's get some closure on this six-month issue. MR. FRENCH: Okay. My apologies. MR. OCHS: What is the -- what's the recommendation? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He wanted to make his presentation. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, we just talked, but basically to not do the six-month evaluation, do it in a year evaluation, which is a broader scope to evaluate, actually, the market of your application fees, June 13, 2017 Page 223 if I may say so, but that's probably the wrong word. MR. FRENCH: So your question to me was, how long do these commercial projects typically last about two years. Single-family home run typically about six months. So the six month at the time, it still suffices. It's really the pleasure of the Board as to whether or not you'd have us revisit that. It is something that we work very closely with the industry. And as I told the Commissioner, I feel very confident in the way the program is written today, but we'll continue to come back with updates based off of our income. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And are you proposing moving it from the 12-month to a six-month, or from six months out to 12? MR. FRENCH: It's currently at six months. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That's the way it's been? MR. FRENCH: That's the way it's been since 2010. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd leave it alone. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't see any need to change that if it's working well. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'm not sure it's working as well as Mr. French said in the quiet of the office. MR. FRENCH: It takes a good deal of, if you can imagine, some financial assistance from Mr. Kovensky's office and our staff members, but we've made do, sir, since 2010. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And the industry, your customers, should be very happy. A million dollars in fee reductions is extraordinary. MR. FRENCH: 1.6, ma'am. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: $1.6 million. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Your future customers. MR. FRENCH: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And that's future customers. June 13, 2017 Page 224 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: You can thank the old customers for $1.6 million. MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's right. MR. OCHS: There you go. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'll move to approve the staff recommendation. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second for discussion. MR. OCHS: Jamie, do you have anything else? MR. FRENCH: Yes. Last thing is -- and we typically bring this back on a -- just as a notice to the Board, but we decided to include it. We were recently contacted just a few weeks ago by the National Association of Counties. We were selected for having the top 100 genius ideas in the country for online permitting system, and I'd be remiss if I did not mention that to you. It's something that I am truly proud of our staff. It's not me, clearly. It's a team of individuals in Mr. Kovensky's office as well as Mr. Long, your Building Director's Office, and staff throughout that entire Growth Management Department that make this happen every day for you and for our community. So thank you for your continued support, and we're going to continue to impress you going forward. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. All right. There's a motion on the floor and a second. Any discussions? Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, no discussion. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. Just, I want to commend Jamie and County Manager. You know, I've served as your County Commissioner now for five-and-a-half months, and this is, in my recollection, the first cost savings that's been brought forward. We sit up here regularly -- there's been others that have been suggested. But June 13, 2017 Page 225 we sit here regularly and figure out how to spend taxpayers' money, and I commend you on effectuating the savings, you and you and you, on doing that, and the County Manager. I don't mean to take it away. They're the ones that do all work. You get the glory. MR. OCHS: That's right, sir. That's absolutely right. Thank you for that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. There's a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. MR. OCHS: Thank you. Item #11E RESOLUTION 2017-108: AUTHORIZING THE REMOVAL OF 7,185 AMBULANCE SERVICE ACCOUNTS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE UNCOLLECTIBLE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE BALANCES WHICH TOTAL $5,627,794.58, FROM THE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE OF COLLIER COUNTY FUND 490 (EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES) FINDING DILIGENT EFFORTS TO COLLECT HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED AND PROVED UNSUCCESSFUL – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: Item 11E is a recommendation to adopt a resolution authorizing the removal of 7,185 ambulance service accounts as June 13, 2017 Page 226 un-collectable accounts receivable balances with a total balance of $5,627,794.58 from the Collier County EMS Fund. And who's going to present? One of the ladies jump up there. Chief Butcher will make the presentation. Commissioner, I just will add real quickly, this is something that we do routinely, but it is a large number, and I thought with some of the new board members it might be beneficial just to go through this real quickly so you have some visibility on it. CHIEF BUTCHER: Good afternoon, Commissioners. I'm not sure I want to follow up the cost savings item with this write-off item, but I do appreciate you giving me a few minutes to speak. For the record, Tabitha Butcher, Chief of Emergency Medical Services. I just have a brief overview of our billing process and how it works and a little bit of historical data on the write-offs that we have done in the past. So as you know, Collier County EMS is a countywide consolidated service. We've been in business here for 35 years, so we're very proud of that, and we are very grateful for your continued support of our EMS system. We do cover over 2,000 square miles of Collier County with 25 ambulances and one medical helicopter, and our responsibility is to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. So when somebody calls 911, we want to make sure that they get an ambulance to them right away. We have approximately 180 professionals providing that care day in and day out, and we are grateful that we have the ability that we can bill for services and not to place that full burden on the taxpayers. So the anatomy of an EMS bill, when someone calls for service for EMS and they are transported, we actually have an EMS billing resolution that was sent to you, and that outlines what the rates are that we charge for an ambulance bill. From there, once that bill is -- once June 13, 2017 Page 227 that report is generated, we actually have to take a look at that and make any contractual adjustments that may apply, and those contractual adjustments may be for Medicare, Medicaid, any type of victims' compensation or Railroad Retirement. And what those adjustments are is that Medicare actually sets a schedule of what they will actually allow that we can bill for those services. So that's where some of those contractual adjustments come from. One thing I'd like to point out is that last year we were able to take benefit of a state program that's actually a public expenditure that allowed for ambulance companies to get some reimbursement on the Medicaid transports. So we took advantage of that. We did collect about $130,000 worth of revenue, which is a small amount, but we're hoping that that will be more in future years. So once we make those contractual adjustments, we actually get the amount of net revenue that we can actually bill for in addition. So the bill goes out. It is billed to any kind of insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, commercial insurance, and we do have a certain percentage of patients that are self paid. If that balance does not get paid, the billing company will actually send out a second invoice within 60 days asking for that bill to be paid. If that does not happen, then a third demand is sent out with a notice that this would actually be sent to a collection agency if unpaid. It is then followed up with phone calls by the billing company. And once that billing company has exhausted all efforts with the invoices, they will actually -- we will send those to the collection agency. But at some point we do have to come forward and say that we just simply cannot collect the fees. So in most businesses, there is an accounts receivable log, and there is a certain amount of bills that we just simply cannot collect on, and the reason that we cannot collect on those is maybe we cannot locate the patient. There are a lot of transient patients that we take. June 13, 2017 Page 228 Some people just simply don't have insurance and don't have the means to pay those bills or maybe they filed for bankruptcy or they're deceased. So those are the items that we're bringing before you today; those bills that we've just simply tried to exhaust all efforts and, for whatever reason, we just simply cannot collect. MR. OCHS: And, Chief, this is what period of time? CHIEF BUTCHER: This is for 2013. MR. OCHS: Fiscal Year 2013? CHIEF BUTCHER: Yes. And the reason it's so long ago is because, like I said, we do try to exhaust every effort before we bring this before you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Is that why some of the constituents have been calling up and wondering about ambulance bills from five years ago that didn't get paid? CHIEF BUTCHER: Yes, because the -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I've had several people -- CHIEF BUTCHER: Yeah, and we have handled some of those. Some of those have just been oversights and have been billed a second time, by mistake, which we've handled those. But, yes, the collection agency will continue to try to get those funds paid. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The folks I were talking to, they were actually being contacted by Collier County. It might have been a representative of Collier County as a collections. CHIEF BUTCHER: It may have been the billing company. So what I have here in front of you, it is a little difficult to see, is the 2013 uncollectible write-off summary that we're talking about today. And what this outlines is the gross charges which I had mentioned earlier. This is what the bill would look like based off of our EMS billing resolution. After the contractual adjustments of about 6.5 million, we came to a figure of about 16 million that we were June 13, 2017 Page 229 actually able to bill out to be collected. We did collect about 10.3 million from that 16 million, which was about 65 percent, and the write-off amount that we're bringing to you today on those 7,000 cases is about 5.6 million. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, if might ask just a couple quick questions. I know in the past, or at least I believe in the past, there may have been some issues with coding that may have resulted in some Medicaid and/or Medicare billings going uncollectible. You have -- I think if you have a Medicaid patient, say, in November, you have until the end of December of the following year to collect that. Are we missing out on any of those types of payments? I know in the past there had been some of those that kind of fell through the cracks. CHIEF BUTCHER: Not to my knowledge. We do also undergo a Medicare/Medicaid audit each year to pick up some of those things. I do also have Darryl Hartung from our Intermedix Billing Company that may be able to chime in on some of that as well. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: That may be helpful. I'm just kind of curious as to whether or not we're missing out on any of that at this point. MR. HARTUNG: Good evening. Darryl Hartung, Vice President, Intermedix. So just to add to Chief's comments, there's all kinds of different coding rules around Medicare or Medicaid but, like she said, we go through a pretty thorough audit process on accounts on a regular basis to make sure we capture all the revenue that's possible. The collection rates with the insurance companies, Medicare typically is 90, 95 percent. Medicaid is right in the same area. The area that really brings down your collection rate is the self-pay or the uninsured portion, which is really what makes up the write-off after the efforts of the collection agency. June 13, 2017 Page 230 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. CHIEF BUTCHER: And this slide outlines for you just in the past five years from 2013, so from '09 to '13 what the write-off amount looked like. And as you can see, it's been pretty consistent each year, as well as our payer mix has stayed pretty consistent throughout those years as well. So I'll be happy to answer any other questions that you may have. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Go ahead. You can go first. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I just -- I was going to echo what Commissioner McDaniel had brought up. I mean, I've received some calls, and it just -- suddenly, you know. It seems like since I took office that, you know, you get regular calls about things, but to have them all come up at once from several different people, I just want to make sure -- and, you know, are we doing everything we can to make sure that things are being billed as well as they can be? Because one of the calls I got was, you know, it was clearly something, according to them, that would have been covered by insurance but now they're getting a bill that they hadn't got before, and, you know, they can't submit it to their insurance three years later. I just want to make sure that -- are we doing everything we can to make sure that we're being as efficient with that as possible, because it's just strange that I've gotten a handful of those in the last couple weeks. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: As I have. CHIEF BUTCHER: I'm going to let Darryl here speak about how they go about finding insurance on patients. MR. HARTUNG: Yeah. I think -- probably in some of those situations it's more than likely accounts that we haven't had success with, and we're sending them to the collection agency. And we typically do that once a month, so you probably get a bulk of accounts at one time going to a collection agency, and then they get a collection June 13, 2017 Page 231 agency notice, which is a little bit more serious than what we send as a billing vendor, kind of threatening maybe it will hurt their -- impact their credit report, et cetera and so forth. So, you know, that could be related to some of the phone calls that you receive. And, you know, any other questions? MR. OCHS: Commissioners, if you want to forward those to me, I'd be happy to get you the billing history and the collection-attempt history, and we'll be able to maybe run those to ground, make sure that we're not missing something. CHIEF BUTCHER: And I've dealt with, I think, three or four of those already. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think I did send them, or Sue sent them over. CHIEF BUTCHER: So we have been handling those. So, yes, please, like County Manager said, we will absolutely look into those. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: They always think the County Commissioner can make it all go away. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. I did have one question. There was -- during the FAC conference I ran into a vendor that said that they had some successes in assisting with these types of collections and things, and I just wanted to know -- I forwarded that information on to your office. Have we contacted those folks or found there to be any validity in that? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sir, I think it's two vendors that you forwarded on. I think there's -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. MR. CASALANGUIDA: -- a lot of firms that come in and do pro bono collections, and I think we work with our firm for a procurement to evaluate if they're just sales calls or if they could go through the normal procurement office. So we did look into those. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. So we are looking into June 13, 2017 Page 232 those, or we did and we're not interested. MR. CASALANGUIDA: No. One of them we are going to probably solicit to see if they want to come in. The other one I think we said, you know, we already have that covered. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Gotcha. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. CHIEF BUTCHER: Well, thank you very much. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, Chief. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do we need to accept this report, sir? MR. OCHS: Yes, please, to adopt the resolution for the write-off of bad debt. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do I hear a motion to accept -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I vote for that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- resolution? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So moved. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you, Commissioner Fiala. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Consider it accepted. Thank you for your patience today. CHIEF BUTCHER: No problem. MR. HARTUNG: Thank you. June 13, 2017 Page 233 Item #15 STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that takes us to Item 15, staff and commission general communications. I just have a couple. Again, quick reminders of upcoming workshops, not the least of which is this Thursday and Friday is your budget workshop beginning at 9 a.m., and then on June 20th we have a continuing workshop or a third one on the rural fringe mixed-use district master plan update, and that also begins at 9 a.m. So we're looking forward to that. That's all I have. MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: County Attorney? Ms. Kinzel? MS. KINZEL: No. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You want me to go first or Commissioner Fiala? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I do. No. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have two under commissioner comments, and I'd like to address my colleagues, if I may. We have an issue in Eastern Collier County -- I've talked to Jamie about this -- and it has to do with the building permit process and site construction. There are several renegades, we'll call them that for now, that are out doing -- not necessarily in line with permitting requisites for site clearing, excavation burying on site, and some things. June 13, 2017 Page 234 And Mr. French and I have spoken about this and believe that a licensing process for site contractors within the permitting of a single-family home will accomplish where we're looking to go. It will provide for some health, safety, and welfare issues for our community, ensuring that the house pads are being done by professionals and the like, and I need a head nod from you to work with staff to direct -- to come up with a licensure process for that. Did you hear that? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala, are you nodding your head? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Pardon me? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Are you in agreement? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, that's fine. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. We can do that. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Sorry. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the other issue is, we had a person from the public speak to us today about the beach access, and I'd like to find out if you -- I don't want to just take one person's representation as to whether there's, in fact, an issue or not. There are -- there are other enforcement agencies. There are other beaches up and down the coast. One of the points that he brought up today that I found very interesting was this erosion control line that the State has delineated as the differentiation between private and public, and I just would like to reach out to some other enforcement agencies to find out whether there is validity in the beach access or not. You know, there's an enforcement agency down on Marco, there's an enforcement agency in the city. Maybe even talk to the folks in Fort Myers to find out whether there are -- there's a different way for us to approach the delineation between public and private on our beaches. June 13, 2017 Page 235 COMMISSIONER FIALA: May I ask is that what -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Please go ahead, Commissioner Fiala. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. When you're talking about that, you're talking about when the group of people, the man and his two sons came up, and they said there should be a mark between where it's state land and privately owned; is that what you're saying? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, Commissioner Fiala. You know, there was one of the pictures that came -- one of the -- on a slide presentation that came out to us that was a really, really interesting delineation. You could literally see the two lines, the vegetation line that's up where the dunes and such are, and the water line. Those are two easily discernible lines that are -- that are out there. The State has relegated us for this erosion control line for our beach renourishment processes and then also as the separation between public access where you can go all the time no matter where you are and where a property owner that owns beachfront property has the right to ask you to leave their property. And there's no -- there's no clear delineation of that erosion control line. And I would like to just do a little further investigation with some enforcement agencies -- there are folks that do beach enforcement -- to find out if there are other complainants that have -- or complaints that have been filed about trespass issues on our beaches. MR. OCHS: Sir, are you suggesting we would mark that? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, no, no, no, no. What I want to do right now is get some additional information about the potential complaints. I mean, Mr. Ginsberg represented one himself and then another one there that was certified and notarized by someone else. So we know there's two. Is there two or 200 or 20? And I think a brief request with some of the enforcement agencies will get us to where we're going. And I'm really -- you know, we all got the -- you're making a June 13, 2017 Page 236 face. I'm really not in -- looking to -- you know, to develop an ordinance here that is prohibitive or takes away property rights and that sort of process. I just want to find out if there's a clearer way to delineate the separation between public access and private ownership. MR. KLATZKOW: Well, you're saying two different things. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, I'm not. MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah, you are. There's one thing for the County Manager to find out whether Mr. Ginsberg is the only person involved in this. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: One. MR. KLATZKOW: You can do that. And then you want the County Manager to do what? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Nothing. Bring that information back, and then we'll have a discussion. MR. KLATZKOW: That's fair, yes. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I think the issue, at least -- as far as I understand the issue, unfortunately, it's not as simple as there's going to be a line that can be drawn along the beach from one end of Collier County to the other because a lot of it has to do with historical uses, historical access. So who knows where this line could be? I mean, I think there's -- you know, we've had the situation with Moraya Bay; we've had Mr. Ginsberg. I think we've taken care of the Moraya Bay situation pretty well, and that's no longer an issue. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Basically we have, yes, sir. It rises up, you know. Private residence in the City of Naples. So -- and my thoughts are just to reach out to some other authoritative folks, people that do these things to find out if there is a sufficient amount of complaints to warrant some action. And whether we take action or not, that's another discussion. But today I just wanted to suggest that we do that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. June 13, 2017 Page 237 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Is that okay? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. Head nod. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Is that it? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm done. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: My head is nodding. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Are you -- is there anything you'd like to discuss right now? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No. I'll tell you, I just want to thank everybody, number one, for allowing me to participate today. You could have said no, but I'm glad you didn't. Secondly, I'll be back -- I should be back fit as a fiddle next week, which is kind of nice. I'm walking already, but it's -- you wouldn't want to see it. Anyway, so thank you very much for all of your patience with me, and I appreciate it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, frankly, ma'am, I was very concerned about how in the world are we going to accommodate you with your leg straight out here. You'd have to be wheeled in to talk to the microphone. So I think you chose the best option. But thank you very much -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- for sticking with us and being so -- just, as always, so congenial and so positive. Thank you. And we look forward to you coming back, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, that's so nice of you. Thanks so much. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Nothing other than to commend staff on the presentations today on a very complicated subject. I think it was very, very well done, and to Jamie for the award from the June 13, 2017 Page 238 Association of Counties. It's great stuff. So congratulations. And, lastly, also thank you for all the help that staff provided in getting us ready for the workshop that we had last Tuesday. I think it was really helpful, and I think it showed. And all of the comments I've gotten back from the community was that it was very timely and very well done. So thank you to Steve and everybody that helped. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I only have one thing. I also want to congratulate staff on the presentation. That was a difficult topic on the youth facility. And I think having everybody here really clarified for everybody what we were doing. And I also want to congratulate staff on that 100 best geniuses in the country award or whatever. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Genius ideas. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Genius ideas. MR. OCHS: I think we're 99. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Ninety-nine. I tell you, you're in the running. That's all that matters. MR. OCHS: We're in the top hundred. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I do want to publicly thank the County Manager and also Mike Toolan over at the Sugden Park. We had a very nice event on Sunday to thank the people that were involved in fighting the forest fires. And we did raise some money. I don't know how much. I've never seen so many $1 bills in one place in my life, so we're still counting those. And -- it's just went really well. And I know Bill McDaniel was there. And, Andy, unfortunately, you were out of town. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I could not make it. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But they both were sponsors. And it was just a really nice event, and I just want to thank staff and Mr. Toolan for that. June 13, 2017 Page 239 MR. OCHS: You're welcome. And thank you for your initiative on pulling that event together. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Agreed. Well, it's not you. It's Daphne. But if it hadn't have been your initiative, that probably wouldn't have been accomplished, so thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, I just wanted to thank Commissioner Solis for suggesting and working so hard on the mental-health workshop. I, too, have received many comments, positive comments on it, and a spring in folks' step, you know, that finally we're recognizing this on a public venue. And so now the work is before us, I would think. You know, how do we bring everyone into a functioning organization so that we can address these problems effectively? But thank you for your initiative. And thank you very much, staff, for many hours of questions and the presentation and the work that went into today. It was unanimous both times for an advisory group that was not really sure they even wanted to go ahead with it. So it speaks volumes to the communication and the level of expertise and the complements of the financial aspect of it. And our grumpy old finance director is not here anymore but, indeed, it was a stellar day. It is a day that we'll remember because we are changing but not obliterating what we've done in the past. We're changing it and moving into the 21st Century, and congratulations on that. MR. OCHS: Thank you. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And you guys should take the rest of the day off. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Ma'am, if I just could recognize Geoff Willig, ma'am, behind the scenes, who worked -- he's not here, but he came in on weekends with me, worked nights. I had all these crazy June 13, 2017 Page 240 ideas, and he just typed away. And he put together that presentation, and he works really close with us. And Geoff's one of those quiet guys that just does a yeoman's job, so kudos to Geoff. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Well, on that note, we will adjourn. **** Commissioner McDaniel moved, seconded by Commissioner Solis and carried unanimously that the following items under the Consent and Summary Agendas be approved and/or adopted **** Item #16A1 RESOLUTION 2017-100: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF CANWICK COVE, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20120001486 WITH THE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS BEING PRIVATELY MAINTAINED; ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT DEDICATIONS, AND AUTHORIZING THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY Item #16A2 RESOLUTION 2017-101: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF HERITAGE BAY COMMONS – TRACT D REPLAT APPLICATION NUMBER PL20130002392 WITH THE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS BEING PRIVATELY MAINTAINED; ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT DEDICATIONS, AND AUTHORIZING THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY June 13, 2017 Page 241 Item #16A3 THE FINAL PLAT OF THE FRONTERRA PHASE 1, (APPLICATION NUMBER PL20150001982) APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY – W/STIPULATIONS Item #16A4 THE FINAL PLAT OF THE DEL WEBB NAPLES PARCELS 209- 212, (APPLICATION NUMBER PL20170000434) APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY – W/STIPULATIONS Item #16A5 MINOR FINAL PLAT OF THE COQUINA AT MAPLE RIDGE - PHASE 3, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20170000773 – LOCATED IN SECTIONS 4, 5 AND 8, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 29 EAST Item #16A6 MINOR FINAL PLAT OF THE TERRACINA GRAND, APPLICATION NUMBER PL20160002326 – LOCATED IN SECTION 5, TOWNSHIP 50 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST June 13, 2017 Page 242 Item #16A7 RELEASE OF A CODE ENFORCEMENT LIEN WITH A VALUE OF $70,179.18 FOR PAYMENT OF $579.18 IN THE CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS ENTITLED BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS V. DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS, AS TRUSTEE FOR RALI 2006-QS4, CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD CASE NO. CEVR20150017400 RELATING TO PROPERTY LOCATED AT 6157 GOLDEN OAKS LANE, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA – FOR CODE VIOLATIONS CONSISTING OF PROHIBITED EXOTIC VEGETATION THAT WAS BROUGHT INTO COMPLIANCE ON MARCH 31, 2017 Item #16A8 A TEMPORARY LICENSE AND RIGHT OF ENTRY ONTO COUNTY-OWNED PROPERTY TO SIMMONDS ELECTRICAL OF NAPLES, INC. TO BE USED AS A STAGING AREA IN CONNECTION WITH THE SIGNAL UPGRADE WORK TO BE CONDUCTED AT THE INTERSECTION OF 50TH STREET SW AND GOLDEN GATE BOULEVARD Item #16A9 RESOLUTION 2017-102: A LOCAL AGENCY PROGRAM SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT (FPN 433177-1-58/68-1) WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR CONSTRUCTION AND CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING INSPECTION (CEI) FOR INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS ON GOLDEN GATE PARKWAY AT LIVINGSTON ROAD June 13, 2017 Page 243 (PROJECT NO. 33431) Item #16A10 THE COLLIER METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION’S (MPO) PLANNING (PL) GRANT FOR FY 17/18 AND RECOGNIZE THE MPO BUDGET IN THE AMOUNT OF $671,205, EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2017 Item #16A11 FLORIDA LEVEL & TRANSIT COMPANY D/B/A FLT GEOSYSTEMS AS THE SOLE AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR OF LEICA GEOSYSTEMS SOFTWARE AND EQUIPMENT – FOR CONTINUED SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT OF THE SURVEYING AND GIS POSITIONING SYSTEM Item #16A12 STAFF TO PROCESS A FEE REDUCTION FOR A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT TO THE CALUSA ISLAND VILLAGE PUD – A FIFTY PERCENT REDUCTION IN THE APPLICATION FEE ALLOWING FOR TWO SINGLE- FAMILY RESIDENTIAL UNITS IN LIEU OF FOUR MULTI- FAMILY UNITS CURRENTLY PROVIDED IN THE COMMERCIAL/MIXED USE PORTION OF THE PUD Item #16A13 THE RANKED LIST OF DESIGN PROFESSIONALS PURSUANT June 13, 2017 Page 244 TO RFP NO. 17-7128 “ENGINEERING FOR DOCTORS AND WIGGINS PASS DREDGING” AND AUTHORIZE STAFF TO NEGOTIATE A CONTRACT WITH THE TOP RANKED FIRM CB&I ENVIRONMENTAL & INFRASTRUCTURE, INC. FOR SUBSEQUENT BOARD APPROVAL, AND IF CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL WITH CB&I, THEN TO AUTHORIZE STAFF TO COMMENCE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE REMAINING RANKED FIRMS, AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THIS ITEM PROMOTES TOURISM Item #16A14 STAFF TO: (1) DEVELOP AND BRING FOR WARD AMENDMENTS TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE CODES, TO PROVIDE FOR BOARD AFFIRMATION OF THE COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION (CCPC) OR HEARING EXAMINER (HEX) APPROVAL OF INSUBSTANTIAL CHANGES TO PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENTS (PUD); AND 2) PROCESS PDI APPLICATIONS FOLLOWING THE PDI PROCESS PROPOSED IN THE INTERIM – THE BOARD IS TO THEN AFFIRM THE DECISION AND AMEND THE ORDINANCE TO COMPORT WITH THE CHANGES Item #16A15 – Moved to Item #11F (Per Agenda Change Sheet) Item #16B1 AMENDMENT #1 BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD AND T.T. OF NAPLES June 13, 2017 Page 245 INC. FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1991 TAMIAMI TRAIL EAST FOR VEHICLE STORAGE Item #16B2 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (BCC), ACTING IN ITS CAPACITY AS THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY (CRA), APPROVE THE ATTACHED AMENDMENT TO THE LEASE AGREEMENT FOR OFFICE SPACE, EXTENDING THE TERM OF THE IMMOKALEE CRA'S EXISTING LEASE FOR AN ADDITIONAL FOUR MONTHS (FISCAL IMPACT: $7,255.44) – ALLOWING FOR STAFF TO NEGOTIATE A NEW SITE IN IMMOKALEE Item #16C1 A $506,246.97 WORK ORDER UNDER REQUEST FOR QUOTATION NO. 14-6213-96 TO MITCHELL AND STARK FOR PROJECT NUMBER 50101, “UTILITIES INSTALLATION FOR BIOSOLIDS FACILITIES” – FOR SEPTIC TANK WASTE, HIGH STRENGTH WASTES E.G., FATS, OILS AND GREASE, SEPTAGE AND EVENTUALLY RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIC WASTES GENERATED IN THE COUNTY Item #16C2 THE REVENUE EARNING FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (FDEP) CONTRACT NO. GC919 AUTHORIZING COLLIER COUNTY TO ADMINISTER FDEP’S STORAGE TANK SYSTEM COMPLIANCE June 13, 2017 Page 246 VERIFICATION PROGRAM – WHICH PROTECTS THE GROUNDWATER, FRESHWATER, SURFACE WATERS, AND OTHER NON-TIDAL WATER RESOURCES FROM ALL SOURCES OF POLLUTION IN THE COUNTY Item #16C3 INVITATION TO BID #17-7096 TO ONE SOURCE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY & BUILDERS, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $197,675, FOR RENOVATION OF THE SOUTH COUNTY WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY CONTROL ROOM AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT (PROJECT #70119) Item #16D1 RELEASE OF LIEN FOR THE COMBINED AMOUNT OF $113,956.08 FOR 29 PROPERTIES DEVELOPED BY IMMOKALEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, INC. THAT HAVE REMAINED AFFORDABLE FOR THE REQUIRED FIFTEEN- YEAR PERIOD SET FORTH IN THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP (SHIP) IMPACT FEE PROGRAM DEFERRAL AGREEMENTS – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Item #16D2 THE COMMUNITY RESOURCE NETWORK (CRN) AGENCY PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COLLIER COUNTY HUNGER & HOMELESS COALITION AND COLLIER COUNTY June 13, 2017 Page 247 Item #16D3 YEAR THREE OF THE RETIRED AND SENIOR VOLUNTEER PROGRAM (RSVP) GRANT AWARD IN THE AMOUNT OF $54,522 FOR OPERATION OF THE PROGRAM FROM THE CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE (CNCS) – PLACING SENIOR VOLUNTEERS IN VARIOUS NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND COUNTY AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND COMMUNITY SERVICE Item #16D4 VICTIMS ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION RELATED GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (DCF) TO IMPLEMENT A THREE- YEAR CRIMINAL JUSTICE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE (CJMHSA) REINVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,042,506 – PARTICIPANTS WILL BE OFFERED BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO PEER SUPPORT, CASE MANAGEMENT, AND INCIDENTAL EXPENDITURES FOR FOOD, MEDICINE, CLOTHING, HOUSING AND COUNSELING SERVICES Item #16D5 A BUDGET AMENDMENT TO ALLOW FOR AN INCREASE IN THE QUANTITY OF MEALS SERVED FOR THE 2017 SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM (SFSP) – PROVIDING NUTRITIONAL BREAKFAST AND LUNCHES DURING THE June 13, 2017 Page 248 SUMMER FOR CHILDREN EIGHTEEN YEARS AND UNDER; IN NEIGHBORHOODS THAT QUALIFY (DETERMINED BY CENSUS INCOME DATA) THAT AREN’T ABLE TO GO TO SITES OFFERED BY THE SCHOOL BOARD Item #16D6 RESOLUTION 2017-103: A JOINT PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT (JPA) BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) TO ACCEPT FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION (FTA) SECTION 5339 BUS AND BUS FACILITIES FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $253,000 FOR THE NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS TO BUS STOPS IN THE RURAL AREA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA); APPROVE A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CHAIRPERSON TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT; AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS Item #16D7 RESOLUTION 2017-104: REPEAL AND REPLACE RESOLUTION NO. 96-63 TO ALLOW FOR THE USE OF FUNDS FROM THE ANIMAL CONTROL NEUTER TRUST FUND TO PROVIDE FREE OR LOW-COST SPAY AND NEUTER FOR THE PUBLIC WHO OWN BREEDS AND TYPES OF ANIMALS MOST OFTEN RELINQUISHED TO DOMESTIC ANIMAL SERVICES (DAS), AND TO DECLARE A PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR THE SOLICITATION, RECEIPT, AND EXPENDITURE OF DONATIONS AND GRANTS June 13, 2017 Page 249 Item #16D8 BUDGET AMENDMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,227,180.44 TO ALLOW CONTINUOUS OPERATION OF THE COMMUNITY CARE FOR THE ELDERLY, ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE INITIATIVE, AND HOME CARE GRANTS FOR THE COLLIER COUNTY SERVICES FOR SENIORS PROGRAM FROM THE AREA AGENCY ON AGING FOR SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, INC. PRIOR TO THE EXECUTION OF FUNDING AWARD (NET FISCAL IMPACT $1,227,180.44) – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Item #16D9 A GRANT APPLICATION TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL RESOURCES IN THE AMOUNT OF $480,150 FOR STRUCTURAL STABILIZATION AND REHABILITATION OF THE HISTORIC ROBERTS HOME AT THE IMMOKALEE PIONEER MUSEUM AT ROBERTS RANCH WITH A REQUIRED MATCH OF TEN PERCENT – WORK TO INCLUDE HVAC, FOUNDATION WORK, CHIMNEY REPOINTING AND STABILIZATION, SECOND FLOOR STRUCTURAL STABILIZATION, TERMITE-DAMAGED WOOD SIDING, WINDOW AND DOOR TRIM, HURRICANE PROTECTION, ROOF REPAIRS, HURRICANE TIE-DOWNS AND ADA COMPLIANT RAMPING Item #16D10 DECLINE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE THE BANK OF THE EVERGLADES BUILDING – THE ASKING PRICE WAS IN June 13, 2017 Page 250 THE RANGE OF $500,000 TO $750,000; STAFF COMPLETED AN INSPECTION REPORTS, CONDITION ASSESSMENTS AND CONCLUDED THAT THE RENOVATIONS ARE ESTIMATED AT $1,032,400 Item #16D11 AN EXHIBITION LOAN AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA KEYS HISTORY AND DISCOVERY FOUNDATION, INC. IN ISLAMORADA, FLORIDA TO TEMPORARILY DISPLAY COLLIER MUSEUM'S ROB STORTER ART COLLECTION, AND APPROVE THE EXHIBIT USE FEE OF $2,500 – FOR TWELVE WEEKS DURING THE SUMMER OF 2017 Item #16D12 A LANDLORD JOINDER AND CONSENT AUTHORIZING THE NAPLES ZOO TO ENTER A SOLAR LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT (FPL) COMPANY – WHICH INCLUDES AN ANNUAL RENT PAYMENT OF $4000 FROM FPL TO NAPLES ZOO Item #16D13 – Moved to Item #11G (Per Agenda Change Sheet) Item #16E1 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS PREPARED BY THE PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR CHANGE ORDERS AND OTHER ITEMS AS IDENTIFIED Item #16E2 June 13, 2017 Page 251 RESOLUTION 2017-105: REPEAL RESOLUTION NO. 2017-83, WHICH IMPLEMENTED IMMEDIATE LIMITATIONS ON OUTDOOR BURNING DUE TO EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS, THEREBY ENDING THE “BURN BAN” IN ACCORDANCE WITH ORDINANCE NO. 2009-23, AS AMENDED Item #16F1 TOURIST DEVELOPMENT TAX CATEGORY “B” FUNDING TO SUPPORT THE UPCOMING JUNE 2017 GULF COAST CLASSIC LACROSSE SPORTS EVENT UP TO $4,700 AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THE EXPENDITURES PROMOTE TOURISM – TAKING PLACE AT THE NORTH COLLIER REGIONAL PARK ON JUNE 17-18, 2017. A BOYS LACROSSE EVENT FOR AGES 9-19 FROM ACROSS THE STATE OF FLORIDA Item #16F2 REPORT TO THE BOARD AN OFFER RECEIVED FROM DEL AND NANCY ACKERMAN FOR THE SALE OF PROPERTIES LOCATED ON THOMASSON DRIVE AND BAYSHORE DRIVE AT AN ASKING PRICE OF $2.9 MILLION AND RECOMMEND THE OFFER BE REJECTED – COLLIER COUNTY’S IN-HOUSE APPRAISER PREPARED A VALUATION ON MAY 11, 2017, DETERMINING A FAIR MARKET VALUE OF $1,872,000 FOR THE PROPERTIES Item #16F3 June 13, 2017 Page 252 BOARD AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN, AS A MEMBER OF THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA JOB TRAINING CONSORTIUM, TO APPROVE THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD, INC., PROPOSED FY 2017/2018 BUDGET Item #16F4 TOURIST DEVELOPMENT TAX CATEGORY “B” FUNDING TO SUPPORT THE UPCOMING FY 17 SPORTS EVENT OF UP TO $6,400 AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THESE EXPENDITURES PROMOTE TOURISM – HELD AT THE NORTH COLLIER REGIONAL PARK, VETERANS PARK AND GOLDEN GATE COMMUNITY PARK ON JUNE 30 – JULY 2, 2017 FOR THE FAST-PITCH SOFTBALL EVENT FEATURING 8U-18U ATHLETES Item #16F5 RESOLUTION 2017-106: A RESOLUTION APPROVING AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING GRANTS, DONATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS OR INSURANCE PROCEEDS) TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2016-17 ADOPTED BUDGET Item #16F6 A REPORT COVERING BUDGET AMENDMENTS IMPACTING RESERVES AND MOVING FUNDS IN AN AMOUNT UP TO AND INCLUDING $25,000 AND $50,000, RESPECTIVELY – FOR JET FUEL EXPENSES AT THE MARCO ISLAND AIRPORT June 13, 2017 Page 253 Item #16F7 BUDGET AMENDMENTS TOTALING $70,300 THAT WILL PROVIDE FUNDING FOR VARIOUS AGENCIES WITHIN THE COURTS SYSTEM TO COVER ARTICLE V REVENUE SHORTFALL FOR THE BALANCE OF FY 2017 – FOR TEEN COURT, LAW LIBRARY, LEGAL AID SOCIETY AND COURT INNOVATIONS (PUBLIC GUARDIANSHIP) Item #16G1 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS NO. 16-7031 “AVIATION FUEL PURCHASE AND DELIVERY” AND APPROVE THE CONTRACT WITH EASTERN AVIATION FUELS, INC. FOR THE PURCHASE AND DELIVERY OF AVIATION FUEL TO THE MARCO ISLAND EXECUTIVE AIRPORT, IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT AND EVERGLADES AIRPARK Item #16G2 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ACTING AS THE AIRPORT AUTHORITY APPROVE AMENDMENT #4 TO COLLIER COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY CONCESSION AGREEMENT FOR CAR RENTAL SERVICE WITH ENTERPRISE LEASING COMPANY OF FLORIDA, LLC – AT THE MARSO ISLAND EXECUTIVE AIRPORT, IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT AND EVERGLADES AIRPARK Item #16G3 AN AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (AIP) GRANT June 13, 2017 Page 254 APPLICATION TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION REQUESTING AN ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF $5,337,000 FOR CONSTRUCTION OF AN AIRCRAFT APRON AND AIRFIELD SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS, INCLUDING THE DEMOLITION OF THE EXISTING GENERAL AVIATION TERMINAL, AT THE MARCO ISLAND EXECUTIVE AIRPORT, WITH A TOTAL ESTIMATED PROJECT COST OF $13,780,000 Item #16G4 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (BOARD) APPROVES AND AUTHORIZES THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE ATTACHED DEED OF RELEASE FROM THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION TO ALLOW CERTAIN NON- AERONAUTICAL LAND USES AT THE IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT – CURRENTLY THE LOCATION OF THE IMMOKALEE CULINARY TECHNOLOGY CAMPUS Item #16G5 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ACTING AS THE AIRPORT AUTHORITY APPROVE THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION CONSENT ORDER OGC CASE NO. 17-0712 TO RESOLVE VIOLATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT AT THE MARCO ISLAND EXECUTIVE AIRPORT – FOR THE TRANSFER OF 2.07 ACRES OF MANGROVE HABITAT Item #16J1 June 13, 2017 Page 255 PURSUANT TO THE BOARD’S PURCHASING ORDINANCE 2013-69, AS AMENDED, REQUEST THAT THE BOARD APPROVE AND DETERMINE VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF JUNE 7, 2017 Item #16J2 TO RECORD IN THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, THE CHECK NUMBER (OR OTHER PAYMENT METHOD), AMOUNT, PAYEE, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE REFERENCED DISBURSEMENTS WERE DRAWN FOR THE PERIODS BETWEEN MAY 11, 2017 AND MAY 31, 2017 PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06 Item #16K1 THE BOARD TO APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO EXECUTE THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS LAWSUIT STYLED DION JACKSON (“UBER-G”) VS. CITY OF NAPLES AND COUNTY OF COLLIER, ET AL., CASE NO. 2:15-CV-666-FTM-99CM, NOW PENDING IN THE U.S. MIDDLE DISTRICT COURT OF FLORIDA (FISCAL IMPACT $11,000) – FROM AN ALLEGED UNLAWFUL DETENTION THAT OCCURRED ON FEBRUARY 7, 2017 FOR THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF $11,000 Item #17A ORDINANCE 2017-18: AN ORDINANCE, AMENDING June 13, 2017 Page 256 ORDINANCE NO. 2004-41, AS AMENDED, THE COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, WHICH ESTABLISHED THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING REGULATIONS FOR THE UNINCORPORATED AREA OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, BY AMENDING THE APPROPRIATE ZONING ATLAS MAP OR MAPS BY CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION OF THE HEREIN DESCRIBED REAL PROPERTY FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL SUBDISTRICT OF THE BAYSHORE DRIVE MIXED USE OVERLAY DISTRICT OF THE RESIDENTIAL MULTI-FAMILY-6 ZONING DISTRICT (RMF-6-BMUD-NC) AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL SUBDISTRICT OF THE BAYSHORE DRIVE MIXED USE OVERLAY DISTRICT OF THE COMMERCIAL INTERMEDIATE ZONING DISTRICT (C-3- BMUD-NC) TO A RESIDENTIAL PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT ZONING DISTRICT (ADDITION LANGUAGE OMITTED IN THE DRAFT ORDINANCE PER THE AGENDA CHANGE SHEET: WITHIN THE NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL SUBDISTRICT OF THE BAYSHORE DRIVE MIXED USE OVERLAY DISTRICT) FOR THE PROJECT TO BE KNOWN AS MATTAMY HOMES RESIDENTIAL PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT, TO ALLOW CONSTRUCTION OF A MAXIMUM OF 276 RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNITS ON PROPERTY LOCATED IN THE NORTHWEST QUADRANT OF BAYSHORE DRIVE AND THOMASSON DRIVE IN SECTION 14, TOWNSHIP 50 SOUTH, RANGE 25 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA CONSISTING OF 37+/- ACRES; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE [PL20160000183] Item #17B June 13, 2017 Page 257 ORDINANCE 2017-19: AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE COLLIER COUNTY CODE OF LAWS AND ORDINANCES TO REDUCE THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE OFF-SITE STORMWATER DISCHARGE RATES IN SIXTEEN (16) ADDITIONAL BASINS, AND TO MODIFY THE NAMES OF FIVE EXISTING BASINS WITH RESTRICTED DISCHARGE RATES Item #17C ORDINANCE 2017-20 (CCME); ORDINANCE 2017-21 (CIE); ORDINANCE 2017-22 (FLUE); ORDINANCE 2017-23 (GG MP FLUM); ORDINANCE 2017-24 (STORMWATER) AND ORDINANCE 2017-25 (TRANSPORTATION): COUNTY- INITIATED AMENDMENTS TO THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN, ORDINANCE 89-05, AS AMENDED, TO AMEND THE AREA OF CRITICAL STATE CONCERN OVERLAY WITHIN THE FUTURE LAND USE ELEMENT TO PROVIDE FOR AN AGREEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 380.032(3) FLORIDA STATUTES; AND TO UPDATE AND CLARIFY TEXT AND CORRECT MAP ERRORS AND OMISSIONS SPECIFICALLY AMENDING THE CONSERVATION AND COASTAL MANAGEMENT ELEMENT; FUTURE LAND USE ELEMENT AND UTURE LAND USE MAP AND MAP SERIES; GOLDEN GATE AREA MASTER PLAN FUTURE LAND USE MAP; STORMWATER MANAGEMENT SUB-ELEMENT OF THE PUBLIC FACILITIES ELEMENT TO REMOVE THE DISCHARGE RATES; TRANSPORTATION ELEMENT AND TRANSPORTATION MAP SERIES; AND THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT ELEMENT, FOR TRANSMITTAL TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC June 13, 2017 Page 258 OPPORTUNITY FOR REVIEW AND COMMENTS RESPONSE (ADOPTION HEARING) (CPSP-2013-11/PL20130002637) ***** There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 5:36 p.m. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL __________________________________ PENNY TAYLOR, CHAIRMAN ATTEST DWIGHT E. BROCK, CLERK ______________________________ These minutes approved by the Board on ____________, as presented ______________ or as corrected _____________. TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT, INC., BY TERRI LEWIS, COURT REPORTER AND NOTARY PUBLIC.