BCC Minutes 05/23/2006 R
May 23, 2006
TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Naples, Florida, May 23, 2006
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 district as has 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: Frank Halas
Jim Coletta
Fred W. Coyle
Donna Fiala
Tom Henning
ALSO PRESENT: Jim Mudd, County Manager
David Weigel, County Attorney
Crystal Kinzel, Office of the Clerk of Court
Page 1
COLLIER COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
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AGENDA
May 23, 2006
9:00 AM
Frank Halas, Chairman, District 2
Jim Coletta, Vice-Chairman, District 5
Donna Fiala, Commissioner, District 1
Tom Henning, Commissioner, District 3
Fred W. Coyle, Commissioner, District 4
NOTICE: ALL PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK ON ANY AGENDA ITEM
MUST REGISTER PRIOR TO SPEAKING. SPEAKERS MUST REGISTER
WITH THE COUNTY MANAGER PRIOR TO THE PRESENTATION OF THE
AGENDA ITEM TO BE ADDRESSED. ALL REGISTERED SPEAKERS WILL
RECEIVE UP TO THREE (3) MINUTES UNLESS THE TIME IS ADJUSTED BY
THE CHAIRMAN.
COLLIER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 2004-05, AS AMENDED REQUIRES
THAT ALL LOBBYISTS SHALL, BEFORE ENGAGING IN ANY LOBBYING
ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ADDRESSING THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS), REGISTER WITH THE CLERK TO
THE BOARD AT THE BOARD MINUTES AND RECORDS DEPARTMENT.
REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON SUBJECTS WHICH ARE NOT ON
THIS AGENDA MUST BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING WITH EXPLANATION
TO THE COUNTY MANAGER AT LEAST 13 DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE OF
THE MEETING AND WILL BE HEARD UNDER "PUBLIC PETITIONS."
ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THIS BOARD
WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS PERTAINING THERETO,
AND THEREFORE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD
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May 23, 2006
OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE
TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED.
ALL REGISTERED PUBLIC SPEAKERS WILL RECEIVE UP TO FIVE (5)
MINUTES UNLESS THE TIME IS ADJUSTED BY THE CHAIRMAN.
IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY WHO NEEDS ANY
ACCOMMODATION IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCEEDING,
YOU ARE ENTITLED, AT NO COST TO YOU, TO THE PROVISION OF
CERTAIN ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT THE COLLIER COUNTY
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT LOCATED AT 3301 EAST
TAMIAMI TRAIL, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 34112, (239) 774-8380; ASSISTED
LISTENING DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED ARE AVAILABLE IN
THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' OFFICE.
LUNCH RECESS SCHEDULED FOR 12:00 NOON TO 1:00 P.M.
1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
A. Reverend Dr. Craig W. Nelson, East Naples United Methodist Church
2. AGENDA AND MINUTES
A. Approval of today's regular, consent and summary agenda as amended. (Ex
Parte Disclosure provided by Commission members for summary agenda.)
3. SERVICE AWARDS: (EMPLOYEE AND ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS)
A. 20 Year Attendees
1) Peter Bolton, Helicopter Operations
2) Walter Kopka, EMS
3) Richard D'Orazio, EMS
B. 25 Year Attendees
1 ) Jeff Page, EMS
2) Paul Joseph, EMS
3) David Kitchen, EMS
4) Ricardo Garcia, EMS
5) William Peplinski, EMS
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May 23, 2006
6) Thomas Maguire, EMS
7) Mark Willis, EMS
8) Martha Ginter, EMS
4. PROCLAMATIONS
A. Proclamation proclaiming May 23,2006 as South Immokalee Community
Unity Day. Proclamation to be accepted by Sharon Tims, Chair of the
Greater Immokalee Southside Front Porch Community and Vicki Jenkins,
Community Liaison.
B. Proclamation recognizing National Association of Insurance Women and
proclaiming May 23-27, 2006 National Association of Insurance Women
Week. Proclamation to be accepted by Allie Ellis, Vice President, President-
Elect of Insurance Professionals of Collier County.
C. Proclamation recognizing and commending the volunteer Florida airboaters
who saved lives in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Proclamation to be
accepted by volunteer airboater, Eddie Raymond Rewis, Jr. of Chokoloskee,
Florida.
D. Proclamation bestowing gratitude and esteem upon the Friends of Barefoot
Beach Preserve for unfailing dedication to Barefoot Beach County Park. The
proclamation will be accepted by Mr. Harold Sayer, President of the Friends
of Barefoot Beach Preserve.
5. PRESENTATIONS
A. Recommendation to recognize Emergency Medical Services' MedFlight for
the receipt of the Helicopter Association International Platinum Safety
Award.
6. PUBLIC PETITIONS
A. Public Petition request by Ernest N. Freeman, Jr., to discuss waiver of
property liens in Immokalee.
B. Public Petition request by Marcia Breithaup to discuss pet friendly
emergency evacuation shelters in Collier County.
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May 23, 2006
Item 7 and 8 to be heard no sooner than 1 :00 p.m., unless otherwise noted.
7. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
8. ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. Public Hearing to consider adoption of an ordinance establishing the
Parklands Collier Community Development District (CDD) pursuant to
Section 190.005, Florida Statutes.
B. Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners adopt an
Ordinance amending Schedule Ten of Appendix A of Chapter 74 of the
Collier County Code of Laws and Ordinances (The Collier County
Consolidated Impact Fee Ordinance) providing for the incorporation by
reference of the impact fee study entitled Collier County Law Enforcement
Impact Fee Study Cost and Credit Update dated May 5,2006, amending the
Law Enforcement Impact Fee Rate Schedule to reflect the amended rates set
forth in the impact fee study and providing for an effective date and a
delayed implementation date of June 30, 2006.
C. Recommendation that the Board approve an increase to the Collier Area
Transit (CAT) bus fares.
9. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
A. Appointment of members to the Immokalee Enterprise Zone Development
Agency.
B. Appointment of Commissioners to serve on the Value Adjustment Board
and set the Date for the Organization meeting.
C. Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners to consider and
approve an employment agreement with the Executive Manager to the Board
of County Commissioners and readopt and approve the current pay plan for
administrative staff reporting to the Executive Manager.
10. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT
Page 4
May 23, 2006
A. Request additional Board direction regarding whether to further investigate
possible amendments to Collier Countys Noise Ordinance. (Joseph K.
Schmitt, Administrator, Community Development)
B. Request by the Petitioner that this item be continued to the June 20, 2006
BCC Meeting. Report on the drainage issue associated with Quail Hollow
subdivision as requested by the Board. (Joseph K. Schmitt, Administrator,
Community Development)
C. Report to the Board of County Commissioners summarizing the April 13,
2006 Immokalee Housing Workshop and request that the Board of County
Commissioners provide direction to the County Manager, or his designee,
regarding enforcement of the existing Minimum Housing Standards
ordinance as it relates to the Immokalee area (Joseph K. Schmitt,
Administrator, Community Development and Environmental Services)
D. Recommendation to approve a scope of services required to procure
professional consulting for the implementation of the Proportionate Share
Ordinance as required under Section 163.3180 of the adopted Growth
Management Bill SB 360. (Norman Feder, Administrator, Transportation
Services)
E. Report to the Board of County Commissioners on the uses of a remainder
property purchased by Collier County as part of a global settlement on the
full compensation due the property owner for the taking of right-of-way at
the southwest corner of the intersection of Vanderbilt Beach Road and
Collier Boulevard. (Norman Feder, Administrator, Transportation Services)
F. To seek Board approval ofa Locally Funded Lump Sum Agreement,
Memorandum of Agreement and Resolution authorizing the Chairman to
enter into and execute the agreements with the Florida Department of
Transportation to fund the I-75/Immokalee Road Overpass Interchange
Project at a cost of$16,52l,450. (Norman Feder, Administrator,
Transportation Services)
11. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS
12. COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT
Page 5
May 23, 2006
A. Provide a Status Report on F.S. Chapter 164 Proceedings in Reference to the
Inverse Condemnation Lawsuit of Bernard J. and Helen R. Nobel, and
Vincent D. Doerr vs. Collier County, in Case No. 05-0064-CA and describe
further attempts by the Staffs of the South Florida Water Management
District, The State of Florida Division of Lands, and the County to reach an
Agreement in the Matter.
B. This item to be heard at 12:00 noon. Notice is hereby given that pursuant
to Section 286.011 (8), Fla. Stat., the Board of County Commissioners will
meet in executive (closed attorney-client) session on TUESDAY, May 23,
2006, in the Commission conference room, 3rd Floor, W. Harmon Turning
Building, Collier County Government Center, 3301 East Tamiami Trail,
Naples, Florida. In addition to Board members, County Manager James
Mudd, County Attorney David C. Weigel, Chief Assistant County Attorney
Michael W. Pettit and Assistant County Attorney Jacqueline Williams
Hubbard will be in attendance. The Board in executive session will discuss:
Settlement and strategy relating to litigation expenses in the pending
litigation cases of Board of County Commissioners of Collier County,
Florida vs. Dwight E. Brock, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Collier County,
Florida Case Number 05-953-CA consolidated with Case No. 05-l506-CA
and Dwight E. Brock, Clerk of Courts v. Collier County, Florida, Board of
County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, as Ex-Officio Governing
Board of The Ochopee Area Fire Control & Emergency Medical Care
Special Taxing District, A/KI A The Ochopee Fire District; Linda T. Swisher
and Paul W. Wilson Case No. 04-94l-CA.
C. This item to be heard at 1:00 p.m. For the Board of County
Commissioners to Provide Direction to the Office of the County Attorney as
to any Settlement Proposal/Litigation Expense Issues in Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County, Florida vs. Dwight E. Brock, Clerk of the
Circuit Court of Collier County, Florida Case Number 05-953-CA
consolidated with Case No. 05-l506-CA and Dwight E. Brock, Clerk of
Courts v. Collier County, Florida, Board of County Commissioners of
Collier County, Florida, as Ex-Officio Governing Board of The Ochopee
Area Fire Control & Emergency Medical Care Special Taxing District,
A/KIA The Ochopee Fire District; Linda T. Swisher and Paul W. Wilson
Case No. 04-94l-CA, now Pending in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit in and
for Collier County, Florida.
13. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
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May 23, 2006
14. AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND/OR COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT
AGENCY
15. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
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16. CONSENT AGENDA - All matters listed under this item are considered to be
routine and action will be taken by one motion without separate discussion of
each item. If discussion is desired by a member of the Board, that item(s) will
be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered separately.
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A. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
1) Recommendation to approval final acceptance of the water and sewer
utility facility for Delasol, Phase 1 and Delasol Recreation Center
single water service.
2) Recommendation to approve an Agreement for Sale and Purchase
with George McBean, Natasha McBean and Kasandra McBean for
5.00 acres under the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Program,
at a cost not to exceed $181,650.
3) Recommendation to approve an Agreement for Sale and Purchase
with Gustavo A. Petisco and Rose Petisco for 2.73 acres under the
Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Program, at a cost not to
exceed $10l,250.
4) Recommendation to approve for recording the final plat of Palazzo
Village.
5) Recommendation to approve for recording the final plat of
Veronawalk Phase 4B, approval of the standard form Construction
and Maintenance Agreement and approval of the amount of the
performance security.
6) Recommendation to approve submission of the 2006 Continuum of
Care (CoC) Homeless Assistance Consolidated Grant Application to
the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
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May 23, 2006
(HUD), and authorize the Chairman to sign the application on behalf
of Collier County and the Board of County Commissioners. Back-up
material available for review in the Operations Support and Housing
Department, 2800 North Horseshoe Drive, Naples, FL.
7) Recommendation to approve a Budget Amendment recognizing the
Fiscal Year 2007 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) entitlement funding, State Housing Initiatives
Partnership Program (SHIP) allocation and corresponding budgets.
8) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners enter into
a cooperative agreement with the Governors Office of Tourism, Trade
and Economic Development for the purpose of implementing the
Rural Area of Critical Economic Concern Designation for the
Immokalee Urban Area and surrounding lands located within the
Round II Federal Rural Enterprise Area.
9) Recommendation to approve for recording the final plat of Heritage
Bay, Gator Bay Court Replat.
10) Recommendation to approve the request from the Oakes Boulevard
Community to name their neighborhood park Oakes Neighborhood
Park.
11) Recommendation to authorize the Chairman to sign a $2,000 Florida
Humanities Council Grant Agreement that will fund a portion of the
$5,002 interpretive trail project at Otter Mound Preserve.
B. TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
1) Recommendation to approve a Budget Amendment for Work Orders
to Q. Grady Minor & Associates, P.A. to provide Professional
Engineering Services for the Pine Ridge Area Drainage System
Evaluation in an amount of $10 l, I 00 and approve the Work Orders.
2) Recommendation that the Board review and approve a status report
for the restoration of the lake between l07th Avenue North and l08th
Avenue North, the Naples Park Lake Special Assessment District, to
improve stormwater management for the surrounding properties and
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May 23, 2006
approve a budget amendment in the amount of $13,256.44 to increase
the project to $30,256.44.
3) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners approve
budget amendments to recognize the insurance reimbursements from
Hurricane Wilma from Landscape Fund (112) revenues in the amount
of$269,068.87 and appropriate within the Fund (112) budget and
Fund (111) MSTD General Fund Road & Bridge Limerock
Conversion budget.
4) Recommendation to approve a budget amendment to transfer funds in
the amount of $300,000.00 from Capital Outlay to Operating in the
Road Maintenance MSTD General Fund (111).
5) Recommendation to approve a one year traffic reservation extension
associated with the approval of the TIS submitted with the Mirasol
SDP AR# 7623.
6) Recommendation to approve a Developer Contribution Agreement
with Caloosa Reserve, LLC, to continue to accumulate right-of-way
and commitments for the Tree Farm Road, Woodcrest Drive and
Massey Street alternative roadway project.
7) Recommendation to endorse the appointment of Dexter R. Groose to
the Collier Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) Citizen
Advisory Committee (CAC) as the District 4 representative.
8) Recommendation to approve a budget amendment recognizing carry
forward amounts from FY 04-05 for the Vanderbilt Beautification
MSTU Fund (143) in the amount of$67,l71.
9) Recommendation to approve a budget amendment recognizing carry
forwan;i amounts from FY 04-05 for the Lely Estates Beautification
MSTU Fund (152) in the amount of$l44,621.
10) Recommendation to approve the Collier Metropolitan Planning
Organizations (MPO) Operating Budget for FY 2006/07, including
$9,944 County match for Federal Highway Administration Planning
and Federal Transit Administration Section 5303 grants.
Page 9
May 23, 2006
11) Recommendation to approve a new Staff Services Agreement between
Collier County Government and the Collier Metropolitan Planning
Organization.
12) Recommendation to award Bid #06-3961, Purchase & Delivery of
Collier Area Transit (CAT) Bus Shelters and Related Accessories,
Primary A ward to Brasco International, Inc., Secondary Award to All
Purpose Manufacturing. (Project #600831)
13) Recommendation to approve an Agreement with Caribbean Venture
of Naples, LLC providing for an easement over county property to
construct a dual-purpose public access road from the Golden Gate
Parkway to the proposed county park and private development.
14) Recommendation that the Board approve and authorize the Chairman
to sign (1) a Landscaping Installation and Maintenance Highway
Agreement (Agreement) with the Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT) for median and roadside landscape
improvements along Pine Ridge Interchange; and (2) an FDOT-
required Resolution evidencing that the Board has approved and
authorized the Chairman to sign this Agreement.
C. PUBLIC UTILITIES
1) Recommendation to award Work Order CDM-FT-3593-06-09 with
Camp, Dresser, and McKee, Incorporated, for professional services
for a Unified Water Use Permit application and supporting documents
in the amount of$l59,6l9, Project Number 75005.
2) Recommendation to approve Certification of Financial Responsibility
for the Renewal of the Department of Environmental Protection
Permit for Injection Well Number 1 at the North County Regional
Water Treatment Plant in the amount of $302,550.
3) Recommendation to award RFP 06-3959, Annual Contract for
Analytical Laboratory Services for Collier County to US Biosystems
and ELAB, Inc in an estimated annual amount of $50,000.
4) Recommendation to approve, execute and record a Satisfaction of a
Notice of Claim of Lien for Sanitary Sewer System Impact Fee.
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May 23, 2006
5) Recommendation to adopt a Resolution to approve the Satisfaction of
Lien for a Solid Waste residential account wherein the County has
received payment and said Lien is satisfied in full for the 1994 Solid
Waste Collection and Disposal Services Special Assessment. Fiscal
impact is $20.00 to record the Satisfaction of Lien.
6) Recommendation to adopt a Resolution to approve the Satisfactions of
Lien for Solid Waste residential accounts wherein the County has
received payment and said Liens are satisfied in full for the 1995
Solid Waste Collection and Disposal Services Special Assessments.
Fiscal impact is $40.00 to record the Satisfactions of Lien.
7) Recommendation to adopt a Resolution to approve the Satisfactions of
Lien for Solid Waste residential accounts wherein the County has
received payment and said Liens are satisfied in full for the 1996
Solid Waste Collection and Disposal Services Special Assessments.
Fiscal impact is $40.00 to record the Satisfactions of Lien.
8) Recommendation to authorize the submittal of Alternative Water
Supply grant applications under Senate Bill 444 to the South Florida
Water Management District for each project in Public Utilities
Engineering Divisions Construction Capital Alternative Water Supply
Program.
9) Recommendation to approve change order to Work Order ABB- FT-
04-04 for the design of a building and environmental services to
Agnoli, Barber & Brundage, Inc., (ABB) in the amount of $86,000 for
the Master Pump Station on Immokalee Road Project 73l53.
D. PUBLIC SERVICES
1) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners approve a
Fee Schedule for Fiscal Year 2006 for the Collier County Health
Department.
2) Recommendation to authorize the after-the-fact approval of a
submission of an application for continued funding of $67 ,3l3 for the
first year of a three-year project for the Retired Seniors Volunteer
Program.
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May 23, 2006
3) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners sign a
letter of intent to authorize the use of $144,305 from existing funds
associated with the Human Services Department FY 07 budget to be
used as the local match requirement to obtain state and federal
funding for the Horizons Primary Care Clinic in the Golden Gate area
for FY 07.
4) Recommendation to approve a purchase in the amount of $l66,4l2
for sportsfield lighting from Musco Lighting.
5) Recommendation to approve a purchase in the amount of$73,947.03
for bleachers from Seating Constructors USA.
6) Recommendation to award Bid No. 06-3938 to Leos Sod for purchase
and delivery of turf in an estimated fiscal year expenditure of
$lOO,OOO.
7) Recommendation to approve termination of Cool Concessions, Inc.
Contract No. 97-2646 and approve an amendment to the Tigertail
Beach Rental Contract No. 04-3618 to add additional services of
providing food and beverage concession.
8) Recommendation to waive the formal bid process and authorize an
agreement with the Pepsi Cola Bottling Company of Naples for a
period of 18 months for beverage service for North Collier Regional
Park.
9) Recommendation to authorize purchase of park fixtures for East
Naples Community Park in the amount of$28,774.l5 from Swartz
Associates, Inc.
10) Recommendation to recognize the current and future revenues from a
lease agreement with Naples Zoo, Inc. and to appropriate these
revenues for development of Gordon River Greenway Park.
11) Recommendation to approve a Summer Transportation Contract with
the School District of Collier County.
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May 23, 2006
12) Recommendation to accept donated funds in the amount of $1 ,500.00
and approve a budget amendment recognizing revenue and
appropriating funds for Golden Gate Community Center.
E. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
1) Recommendation to confirm and consent to the re-assignment of
Contract No. 05-3831, FEMA Acceptable Monitoring for Disaster
Debris Management and Technical Assistance from R. W. Beck, Inc.
to Beck Disaster Recovery, Inc.
2) Recommendation to approve Budget Amendments in amounts of
$225,000 for purchase of a fuel truck.
3) Report and ratify Property, Casualty, Workers Compensation and
Subrogation Claims settled and/or closed by the Risk Management
Director pursuant to Resolution # 2004-15 for the second quarter of
FY06.
4) Recommendation to approve a Budget Amendment for changes to
appropriations and associated revenues for operating and capital costs
in Fleet Management Fund (521) in the amount of$307,200.
5) Recommendation to approve a work order under contract #01-3291,
Construction Engineering Inspection Services, with CH2M Hill,
project 52533 Courthouse Annex, for construction inspection and
oversight services in the amount of $242,320.
F. COUNTY MANAGER
G. AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND/OR COMMUNITY
REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
H. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
1) Commissioner Coletta requests approval for reimbursement for
attending a function serving a valid public purpose. Commissioner
paid in advance to attend the 2006 Paradise Coast Sand Dollar
Awards and Collier County Tourism Week Luncheon Celebration and
Page 13
May 23, 2006
is requesting reimbursement in the amount of $25.00, to be paid from
his travel budget.
2) Commissioner Coletta requests approval for reimbursement for
attending a function serving a valid public purpose. Commissioner
paid in advance to attend the Physician Led Access Network's
(PLAN) Annual Board Meeting and is requesting reimbursement in
the amount of$25.00, to be paid from his travel budget.
3) Commissioner Coletta requests approval for reimbursement for
attending a function serving a valid public purpose. Commissioner
paid in advance to attend the National Day of Prayer Breakfast in
Everglades City and is requesting reimbursement in the amount of
$lO.OO, to be paid from his travel budget.
4) Commissioner Fiala requests Board Approval for reimbursement for
attending a function serving a valid public purpose. Attending the
Graduation Ceremonies of the Leadership Collier Class of 2006 on
Wednesday, May lOth, 2006 at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf
Club; $50.00 to be paid from Commissioner Fiala's travel budget.
5) Commissioner Coletta requests approval for reimbursement for
attending a function serving a valid public purpose. Commissioner
paid in advance to attend the Naples Chamber of Commerce "Wake
Up Naples" event on May 17,2006 and is requesting reimbursement
in the amount of $17.00, to be paid from his travel budget.
6) Commissioner Fiala requests Board approval for reimbursement for
attending a function serving a valid public purpose. Attending the
Marco Island Historical Society Salute to Founders Tea on May 21st,
2006, at the San Marco Church Assembly Hall; $25.00 to be paid
from Commissioner Fiala's travel budget.
I. MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
1) Miscellaneous correspondence items to file for record with action as
directed.
J. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
Page 14
May 23, 2006
1) Recommendation to approve a Resolution between the Board of
County Commissioners and Sprint Telephone Company of Florida.
(Continuation of 9ll Funding).
K. COUNTY ATTORNEY
1) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners approve a
resolution approving an amendment to the County Attorney Office
2006 Fiscal Year Pay and Classification Plan and the designation of
the classification of Managing Assistant County Attorney as Senior
Management Service Position for Florida Retirement System (FRS)
eligibility purposes.
2) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Final Judgment for Parcel
No. 26P in the lawsuit styled Board of County Commissioners v.
Collier HMA, Inc., et aI., Case No. 06-00l3-CA (CR 951 Water
Transmission Mains Project No. 70152). (Fiscal Impact $30,550.00)
3) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Final Judgment for Parcel
Nos. 124 and 724 in the lawsuit styled Collier County v. Richard D.
Lyons as Trustee of Land Trust No. 11304, et aI., Case No. 04-3779-
CA (Immokalee Road Project No. 66042). (Fiscal Impact $8,750.00)
4) Recommendation to Authorize the Making of an Offer of Judgment to
Respondent, Rose Somogi, for Parcels 123 and 823 in the Amount of
$30,500.00 in the Lawsuit Styled Collier County v. John J. Yaklich, et
aI., Case No. 03-2259-CA, Golden Gate Parkway Project #60027
(Fiscal Impact: $22,796.00 if offer is accepted).
5) Recommendation to authorize the County Attorney to file a lawsuit,
on behalf of the Collier County Board of Commissioners, against
Dillard Smith Construction Company and/or Florida Power & Light
Company, in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit in and for Collier County,
Florida, to recover repair costs incurred in the approximate amount of
$25,000.00.
17. SUMMARY AGENDA - THIS SECTION IS FOR ADVERTISED PUBLIC
HEARINGS AND MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: 1) A
RECOMMENDATION FOR APPROVAL FROM STAFF; 2) UNANIMOUS
RECOMMENDATION FOR APPROVAL BY THE COLLIER COUNTY
Page 15
May 23, 2006
PLANNING COMMISSION OR OTHER AUTHORIZING AGENCIES OF
ALL MEMBERS PRESENT AND VOTING; 3) NO WRITTEN OR ORAL
OBJECTIONS TO THE ITEM RECEIVED BY STAFF, THE COLLIER
COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION, OTHER AUTHORIZING
AGENCIES OR THE BOARD, PRIOR TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF
THE BCC MEETING ON WHICH THE ITEMS ARE SCHEDULED TO BE
HEARD; AND 4) NO INDIVIDUALS ARE REGISTERED TO SPEAK IN
OPPOSITION TO THE ITEM. FOR THOSE ITEMS, WHICH ARE QUASI-
JUDICIAL IN NATURE, ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST BE SWORN IN.
A. This item was continued from the April 25, 2006 Meetin2:. This item
requires that all participants be sworn in and ex parte disclosure be
provided bv Commission members. Petition: PUDZ-A-2004-AR-6283
Lely Development Corporation represented by Coastal Engineering
Consultants, Inc., request an amendment to the Lely Barefoot Beach PUD by
revising the PUD document and Master Plan to amend Tract "J" from a 1.74
acre utility site to a .73 single-family residential development site and 1.0l
acre mangrove preserve area as well as amend the PUD document to bring it
into conformity with County requirements. Lely Barefoot Beach PUD
consist of 461.65 acres, Tract J is located at the southwest corner of Barefoot
Beach Boulevard and Bayfront Drive, located in Sections 5, 6, 7 & 8,
Township 48 South, Range 25 East, Collier County, Florida.
B. This item requires that all participants be sworn in and ex parte
disclosure be provided bv Commission members. Petition: RZ-2005-AR-
8483, Michael Arbitman Trustee of Land Trust UAD represented by Laura
Spurgeon, of Johnson Engineering, Inc., requesting approval of a rezone
from the Agricultural (A) zoning district to the Commercial Professional and
General Office (C-l) zoning district for project to be known as Tivoli Office
Building Rezone. The subject property, consisting of 2.23 acres, is located
on the southeast corner of the intersection of Livingston Road and Veterans
Memorial Boulevard, Section 13, Township 48 South, Range 25 East,
Collier County, Florida.
18. ADJOURN
INQUIRIES CONCERNING CHANGES TO THE BOARD'S AGENDA SHOULD
BE MADE TO THE COUNTY MANAGER'S OFFICE AT 774-8383.
Page 16
May 23, 2006
May 23, 2006
MR. MUDD: Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.
Mr. Chairman, you have a hot mike.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
The Collier County Board of County Commissioners. is now in
session. And this morning we have Reverend Dr. Craig W. Nelson
who is going to give the invocation, and would you please remain
standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.
And I also request that all pagers and cell phones be turned off at
this time. Would you please rise at this time.
REVEREND DR. NELSON: Let us pray together. Dear God, we
thank you for another beautiful day here in South Florida. We thank
you for the privilege of being in Collier County. We thank you for the
privilege of representative government. We thank you for the
privilege of participating in that today.
Lord, for those who are being honored today, we thank you. For
those who are presenting today, I ask that you would give them clarity
of mind. And for the commissioners and other decision makers, I ask
that you would grant discernment.
And Lord, we ask that throughout the conversations today that
we not forget the least, the lost, and the lonely. We pray, amen.
(The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Good morning, County Manager. Do
you have any changes or corrections to today's agenda?
Item #2A
TODA Y'S REGULAR, CONSENT AND SUMMARY AGENDA
AS AMENDED - APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir. Agenda changes, Board of County
Commissioners meeting, May 23, 2006.
Page 2
May 23, 2006
First is an add item, which is 2B, and that's the April 25, 2006,
BCC and regular minutes, and that will be up to the board for
approval. That's at staffs request.
The next item is to add item 4E, which is a proclamation
declaring May 28th to June 3, 2006, as National American Ex-POWs
Recognition Week, to be accepted by Harold Leavitt, Senior, vice
commander of the Collier Chapter of American Ex-POWs, prisoners
of war. That's at staffs request.
Next item is item 8A. Page one under the consideration, fourth
paragraph, lines four and five need to change the sentence from, the
proposed CDD petition is requesting 600 single-family and 600
multifamily dwelling units to, the proposed CDD petition is requesting
the establishment of a CDD for 600 single-family and 600 multifamily
dwelling units. And that correction is at Commissioner Coyle's
request.
Next item is to add item 9D. This item to be heard at 10 a.m. It's
a discussion regarding extending of the May 1, 2006, deadline of
resolution 2005-382, resolution in support of Hurricane Wilma relief
and recovery operations, adopted 4 -- unanimously by 4-0 by the
Board of County Commissioners at the November 1,20005, BCC
meeting, rescheduled from October 25,2005.
It's a resolution 2005-382, supersedes the enforcement
subsections 2.01.00.2 and 2.03.07.J.3.A, and 3.02.09.E, and
4.02.22.C.1 of the Collier County Land Development Code, ordinance
number 04-41 as amended, relating to the prohibition of parking of
travel/recreational vehicles in the driveways of single- family
residences due to the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Wilma,
and that add was at Commissioner Coletta's request. Again, it is at a
10 a.m. time certain.
Next item is to add item lOG. It's to approve the submittal of the
volunteer fire assistance matching 50/50 grant offer by the Florida
Page 3
May 23, 2006
Division of Forestry and approve the necessary budget amendments to
recognize the appropriate revenue in the amount of $3,972.93, and that
add is at staff s request.
The next item is to withdraw item 12B, which is, a notice is
hereby given -- and that was basically the in-shade meeting by the
Board of County Commissioners to discuss the current lawsuits with
the Clerk of Courts, Dwight Brock.
The 12C item is still on the agenda, and that has a one o'clock
time certain, and that has to do with the same particular subject matter,
that -- the lawsuits with Dwight Brock.
Next item is to move item 16B13 to 10I, and that's a
recommendation to approve an amendment with Caribbean Venture of
Naples, LLC, providing for an easement over county property to
construct a dual purpose public access road from the Golden Gate
Parkway to the proposed county park and private development, and
that item is moved at Commissioner Coyle's request.
The next item is to move item 16C 1 to 10H, and that's a
recommendation to award work order CDM-Ft-3593-06-09 with
Camp, Dresser and McKee, Incorporated, for professional services for
a unified water use permit application and supporting documents in
the amount of$159,619. It's project number 750005, and that item is
being moved at Commissioner Fiala's request.
And we have one other time certain item. So we have one at 10
o'clock, and that has to do with the extension of the emergency -- so
we can park trailers -- excuse me, we can -- recreational vehicles and
mobile trailers in driveways.
And the next item as time certain is this one p.m., and it's item
12C. It's for the Board of County Commissioners to provide direction
to the Office of the County Attorney as to any settlement
proposals/litigation expense issues in the Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, versus Dwight E. Brock,
Page 4
May 23, 2006
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Collier County, Florida, case number,
05-953-CA consolidated with case number 05-1506-CA, Dwight E.
Brock, Clerk of Court, versus Collier County, Florida, Board of
County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida's ex-officio
governing board of the Ochopee Area Fire Control and Emergency
Medical Care Special Taxing District, a/k1a the Ochopee Fire District,
Linda T. Swisher and Paul W. Wilson, case number 04-941-CCA now
pending in the 20th Judicial Circuit in and for Collier County, Florida.
That's all I have, Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Thank you very much, County
Manager.
County Attorney, do you have any additions or corrections?
MR. WEIGEL: No, we don't. I think Jim covered them well,
thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. We'll start off with our county
commissioners for -- if they have any changes and also if they have
any ex parte to disclose. Start off with County Commissioner
Henning.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I have no changes to today's
consent agenda and no ex parte on today's summary agenda, but I do
want to thank Commissioner Coletta for putting his add-on on the
commissioner's agenda today.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Fiala, do you have
anything?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. I have no changes, but I do
have ex parte on 1 7 A. I've had a meeting and some correspondence
with the Conservancy on this one.
17B, I have nothing but -- although I think this was something we
discussed like a year or two ago. It seems to ring in my head the name
Tivoli, but I don't remember anything about it, so I won't put that on as
ex parte. I don't know.
Page 5
May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Thank you very much. I, myself,
have no changes to make to today's agenda. I do have some ex parte
in regards to -- on the summary agenda, 1 7 A. I've had meetings,
correspondence, and e-mails in regards to the subject, and they're here
if anybody would like to look.
Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yes, thank you very much. I
have no changes to the consent agenda, and I have no ex parte to make
on the summary agenda.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And I have no further changes to
make to the agenda, but I do have an ex parte disclosure for 17B. I
did receive a telephone call from the attorney of the petitioner, and
that is it.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. I need a motion for today's
approval of today's regular consent and summary agenda as amended.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: So moved.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And do I have a second? I have a
second. Okay. We have a motion on the floor and a second.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries.
Page 6
AGENDA CHANGES
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' MEETING
Mav 23. 2006
Add Item #2B: April 25, 2006 - BCC/Regular Minutes. (Staff's request.)
Add Item #4E: Proclamation declaring May 28 - June 3, 2006 as National American Ex-POW's
Recognition Week to be accepted by Harold Leavitt, Senior Vice Commander of the Collier
Chapter of American Ex Prisoners of War. (Staff's request.)
Item 8A: Page 1 under Considerations, 4th paragraph, lines 4 and 5, need to change the sentence
from "The proposed COD petition is requesting 600 single family and 600 multi-family dwelling
units." to "The proposed COD petition is requesting the establishment of a COD for 600 single
family and 600 multi-family dwelling units." (Commissioner Coyle's request.)
Add Item 90: This item to be heard at 10:00 a.m. Discussion regarding extending the May 1, 2006
deadline of Resolution 2005-382, (resolution in support of Hurricane Wilma relief and recovery
operations) adopted 4/0 by the Board of County Commissioners at the November 1, 2005 Board
meeting (rescheduled from October 25, 2005). Resolution 2005-382 suspends the enforcement of
subsections 2.01.00.2, 2.03.07.J.3.A, 3.02.09.E, and 4.02.22.C.1 ofthe Collier County Land
Development Code (Ordinance Number 04-41, as amended) relating to the prohibition of parking
of travel/recreational vehicles in the driveways of single family residences due to the extensive
damage caused by Hurricane Wilma. (Commissioner Coletta's request.)
Add Item 10G: Approve the submittal of a Volunteer Fire Assistance Matching (50/50) Grant
offered by the Florida Division of Forestry, and approve the necessary budget amendments to
recognize and appropriate revenue in the amount of $3,972.93. (Staff's request.)
Withdraw Item 128: Notice is hereby given that pursuant to Section 286.011(8), Fla. Stat., the
Board of County Commissioners will meet in executive (closed attorney-client) session on
TUESDAY, May 23,2006, in the Commission conference room, 3rd Floor, W. Harmon Turning
Building, Collier County Government Center, 3301 East Tamiami Trail, Naples, Florida. In addition
to Board members, County Manager James Mudd, County Attorney David C. Weigel, Chief
Assistant County Attorney Michael W. Pettit and Assistant County Attorney Jacqueline Williams
Hubbard will be in attendance. The Board in executive session will discuss: Settlement and
strategy relating to litigation expenses in the pending litigation cases of Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County, Florida vs. Dwight E. Brock, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Collier
County, Florida Case Number 05-953-CA consolidated with Case No. 05-1506-CA and Dwight E.
Brock, Clerk of Courts v. Collier County, Florida, Board of County Commissioners of Collier
County, Florida, as Ex-Officio Governing Board of The Ochopee Area Fire Control & Emergency
Medical Care Special Taxing District, A/K1A The Ochopee Fire District; Linda T. Swisher and Paul
W. Wilson Case No. 04-941-CA. (County Attorney's request.)
Move Item 16B13 to 101: Recommendation to approve an Agreement with Caribbean Venture of
Naples, LLC providing for an easement over county property to construct a dual-purpose public
access road from the Golden Gate Parkway to the proposed county park and private
development. (Commissioner Coyle's request.)
Move Item 16C1 to 10H: Recommendation to award Work Order DCM-FT-3593-06-09 with Camp,
Dresser and McKee, Incorporated, for professional services for a Unified Water Use Permit
application and supporting documents in the amount of $159,619, Project Number 750005.
(Commissioner Fiala's request.)
Time Certain Items:
Item 12C be heard at 1 :00 p.m. For the Board of County Commissioners to Provide Direction to
the Office of the County Attorney as to any Settlement Proposal/Litigation Expense Issues in
Board of County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida vs. Dwight E. Brock, Clerk of the
Circuit Court of Collier County, Florida Case Number 05-953-CA consolidated with Case No. 05-
1506-CA and Dwight E. Brock, Clerk of Courts v. Collier County, Florida, Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, as Ex-Officio Governing Board of The Ochopee Area
Fire Control & Emergency Medical Care Special Taxing District, A/K1A The Ochopee Fire District;
Linda T. Swisher and Paul W. Wilson Case No. 04-941-CA, now Pending in the Twentieth Judicial
Circuit in and for Collier County, Florida.
May 23, 2006
Item #2B
APRIL 26, 2006- BCC/REGULAR MINUTES - APPROVED AS
PRESENTED
Also looking for a motion for the approval of the April 25, 2006,
BCC regular minutes, staff request.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. I have a motion on the floor and a
second.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries.
Item #3A
SERVICE AWARDS: 20 YEAR ATTENDEES - PRESENTED
Okay, County Manager. I believe we're into service awards, and
should we go down front here?
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MR. MUDD: Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to present some
service awards today for some very dedicated employees of Collier
County that have served some 20 and 25 years, and we'll start with the
Page 7
May 23, 2006
20-year attendees.
And it's -- and it's kind of impressive, if you take a look at who
we're giving them to, it's all EMS.
And so without further ado, we'll start with the 20-year attendees.
The first awardee is Peter Bolton from Helicopter Operations from
EMS. If you'd please come forward.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Nice to see you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Peter, congratulations. Thank you for
your dedicated service.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Twenty years.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Congratulations.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you. Can we get a
picture?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: You want to get up here in the
middle?
MR. MUDD: Come on. Get up there in the middle there.
The next 20-year awardee is Walter Kopka.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: The next 20 will be a lot easier.
MR. KOPKA: Hope so.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Walter, good luck to you. Thank you for
your servIce.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Walt, thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: We're going to try and make it
.
eaSIer.
(Applause.)
MR. MUDD: And I believe the next awardee couldn't make it
today, but I'll recognize him based on verbal, and if he did have a
chance to come off shift and be here, it's Richard D'Orazio. Okay.
Page 8
May 23, 2006
Item #3B
SERVICE AWARDS: 25 YEAR ATTENDEES - PRESENTED
Then we'll go to our 25-year attendee, Commissioner. And the
first awardee is Mr. Jeff Page, the Director of EMS.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you for being there.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Good morning, Jeff. Thank you so
much.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Wow, thank you.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Jeff, congratulations.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thanks. We're supposed to get
some silver. I'll get some silver for you.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you very much, Jim.
(Applause.)
MR. MUDD: The next 25-year awardee is Paul Joseph from
EMS.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you. Very dedicated service.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you so much.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Thank you very much,
congratulations.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER FIALA: He was offering silver to the last
one, Commissioner Henning, 25th anniversary.
(Applause.)
Page 9
May 23, 2006
MR. MUDD: The next 25-year awardee is William Peplinski
from EMS.
(Applause.)
MR. MUDD: I got to tell you, he doesn't look like he's a 25-year
awardee.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: He doesn't look like he's 25 years
old.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you very much. Let's see if
you're young looking like that after about 35 years.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Six years old when you came to us,
hey?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Congratulations.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
(Applause.)
MR. PEPLINSKI: Thanks again.
MR. MUDD: The next 25-year recipient is Thomas Maguire
from EMS again.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Tom, thanks for your 25 years of
dedicated service.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Appreciate your dedicated
servIce.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Thank you very much,
congratulations.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you.
(Applause.)
MR. MUDD: And then again, there are four recipients for 25
Page 10
May 23, 2006
five years that couldn't be here today, and those are David Kitchen,
Ricardo Garcia, Mark Willis, and Martha Ginter, all of EMS.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Does any other department have
that many people that have that many years in?
MR. MUDD: Not that I know of, ma'am.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Well, that tells us that we're going to
have to start looking for replacements in another five to 10 years, and
so --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Some of them are so young they
look like they have another 25 to go.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Oh, easy, easy. No doubt about
that.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I want to thank each one of them for
their dedicated service here in Collier County. Thank you so much.
Item #4A
PROCLAMATION PROCLAIMING MAY 23, 2006 AS SOUTH
IMMOKALEE COMMUNITY UNITY DAY - ADOPTED
MR. MUDD: Commissioners, this will start with proclamations.
Our first proclamation is 4A. It's a proclamation proclaiming May 23,
2006, as South Immokalee Community Unity Day.
The proclamation is to be accepted by Sharon Tims, chair of the
Greater Immokalee South Side Front Porch Community, and Vicki
Jenkins, community liaison.
If you could please come forward.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: If there's anyone else that's with
you that would like to also come up and be recognized, we welcome
them.
Page 11
May 23, 2006
MR. MUDD: Up front.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you.
Whereas, Governor Bush's Front Porch Florida Initiative was
established in 1999 with a grass-roots, community drive (sic) approach
focused on rebuilding and revitalizing communities throughout the
State of Florida; and,
Whereas, a segment of south Immokalee was designated in 2002
as a Front Porch Florida Community which entitles the community to
direct financial resources as well as training and technical assistance
through the Department of Community Affairs' Office of Urban
Opportunities; and,
Whereas, the designated community has a great need for
enhanced access to services related to housing, health, safety,
education and economic development opportunities; and,
Whereas, the governing authority for implementation of the Front
Porch Florida Initiative is the newly established Greater Immokalee
South Side Front Porch Community, Incorporated, a not-for-profit
entity organized specifically to administrate (sic) the Front Porch
Florida Initiative within the scopes of the Greater Immokalee South
Side Neighborhood Action Plan; and,
Whereas, this community celebration is coordinated in support of
the Front Porch Florida Initiative in order to re-engage community
stakeholders in pursuit to revitalize, rebuild, re-establish and reclaim
the south Immokalee area.
Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Board of Collier County
Commissioners, Collier County, Florida, that June 3, 2006, be
designate as South Immokalee Community Unity Day.
Done and ordered this, the 23rd day of May, 2006. Signed by
Frank Halas, our chairman, and I make a motion for acceptance.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. There's a motion for approval of
Page 12
May 23, 2006
this proclamation. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
(N 0 response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Passes unanimously.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you so much. Just don't
hesitate to call anytime we could be of service.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Congratulations, thanks.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Ifwe could -- no, before you go
back, if we could -- we want to get a group picture here. You'll never
be as young as you are right now, so please smile.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Would you like to make some
comments at the mike? One of you are more than welcome to if you'd
like. Yes, please.
MS. JENKINS: Hi, good morning. I just want to thank the
commissioners for this resolution -- I mean proclamation on behalf of
the Greater Immokalee Front Porch Community, and I'd just like to
thank my council for coming out. I am Vicki Jenkins, their
community liaison, and we're looking forward to partner with different
ones in our community and the county as well as the ones at the state
level to help us with our endeavor. And we do appreciate your
assistance and support or our endeavors.
(Applause. )
Page 13
May 23, 2006
Item #4 B
PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF INSURANCE WOMEN AND PROCLAIMING MAY 23-27,
2006 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE WOMEN
WEEK.
MR. MUDD: Commissioners, the next proclamation is 4B. It's a
proclamation recognizing the National Association of Insurance
Women and proclaiming May 23-27,2006, National Association of
Insurance Women Week.
It's a proclamation to be accepted by Allie Ellis, the
Vice-President, President Elect of the Insurance Professionals of
Collier County.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Proclamation: Whereas, the
National Association of Insurance Women, NAIW (International) has
achieved an illustrious record of professional achievement and
dedicated service to its clients and the nation and is deserving of
public recognition and commendation; and,
Whereas, insurance professionals throughout the United States
and its territories, Canada, Africa, Bermuda, Australia, India, England,
Tanzania, Kuwait, Russia, and Mongolia, belong to NAIW
(International); and,
Whereas, the members work in every facet of the industry as
agents for both property and casualty and/or life and health, brokers,
adjustors, underwriters, claims professionals, risk managers, financial
advisors, attorneys, certified public accountants and information
technology professionals; and,
Whereas, constantly creating good will through integrity and
dedication, the NAIW (International) has grown remarkably since it
was founded in 1940 with some 39 representing -- women
Page 14
May 23, 2006
representing 1 7 regional insurance clubs; and,
Whereas, the NAIW (International) is dedicated to the
professional development of its members and the insurance and risk
management industries through innovative education programs and
meetings offered at the local, state, and regional levels; and,
Whereas, it is of the inestimable benefit to the members to be
provided with the opportunity to associate with other industry
professionals, enabling them to share solutions, problems, and
experiences; thereby gaining better understanding and also increases
alliances; and,
Whereas, the NAIW (International) includes, within its code of
ethics, the laudable pledge of service that is honest, through (sic),
gracious and professional and the promise to perform in an honorable
manner, noble words, which are thoroughly (sic) a part of each
women's (sic) pursuit in their career.
Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, that May 27th through --
May 23rd through the 27th, 2006, be designated as National
Association of Insurance Women Week.
Done and ordered this 23rd day of May, 2006, Board of County
Commissioners, Collier County, Florida, Frank Halas, Chairman.
And Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to approve.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And I second that.
All those in favor of approving this proclamation, please say aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Those opposed?
(No response.)
Page 15
May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Proclamation passes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thorough, not through.
(Applause.)
MS. ELLIS: On behalf of the Insurance Professionals of Collier
County, we thank you for this proclamation. As many of you know,
we worked very hard through Wilma, and we hope that we do not
have to do that again this year.
(Applause.)
Item #4C
PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING AND COMMENDING THE
VOLUNTEER FLORIDA AIRBOATERS WHO SAVED LIVES IN
THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE KATRINA - ADOPTED
MR. MUDD: Commissioners, your next proclamation is 4C. It's
a proclamation recognizing and commending the volunteer Florida
airboaters who saved lives in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The
proclamation is to be accepted by volunteer airboater Eddie Raymond
Rewis, Jr., of Chokoloskee, Florida. Mr. Rewis?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Would your wife and child like
to join us?
MR. REWIS: I guess --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: No, that's okay. Thank you very much
for being here today.
MR. REWIS: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Whereas, airboating is a
traditional form of family recreation in Florida; and,
Whereas, because airboats are adapted (sic) at skimming through
marshes, around lakes, and down rivers as well as through bogs and
swamps, they have become an invaluable ally of law enforcement
Page 16
May 23, 2006
because they can provide the best means of search and rescue; and,
Whereas, the airboater has learned through experience how to
maneuver through treacherous conditions and obstacles; and,
Whereas, airboaters willingly assisted in the rescue efforts after
Hurricane Catherine (sic); and,
Whereas, these volunteer airboaters endured polluted waters,
life-threatening conditions, severe damage to their vessel, and extreme
physical hardship; and,
Whereas, the determination and dedication of these individuals is
an example for all; and,
Whereas, these volunteer airboaters, as members of Florida
Airboat Association, are engaged in creating an airboat rescue service
for animals who also are victims of disaster like Hurricane Catherine
(sic).
Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Board of Collier County
Commissioners, Collier County, Florida, we hereby commend and
congratulate the volunteer Florida airboaters who saved lives in the
aftermath of Hurricane Catherine (sic), and recognize the heroic
efforts in their -- in these selfish (sic) individuals.
Done and ordered this 23rd day of May, 2006, Frank Halas,
Chairman.
And I make a motion for approval.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second that motion.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. We have a motion for approval of
this proclamation. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
Page 1 7
May 23, 2006
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you so much for what
you've given to the community.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Congratulations. Say hello to your
dad for me.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: If I could get a picture. Right
there. Turn the proclamation around. Thank you.
If you'd like to say a couple words, please feel free to do so.
MR. REWIS: It's an honor to receive this from my fellow
airboaters. It was very touching. The 17th, I was over, Red Cross
gave us some medal hero -- hero medal on the 17th, and it just means
so much to us.
We went out to New Orleans there and rescued many people and
seen a lot of very hardship, very hard times that people went through,
and a lot of people we couldn't save. And I live with that, but at least I
tried.
And I traveled -- Evans Oil here in local town gave us fuel to
make it out there. It was a long journey. There was a lot of people
wanting to be here but they couldn't, and I want to thank you all for
the proclamation.
And we're on call any time there's any disaster. We thank you
for your help down in Everglades and Chokoloskee with Wilma, after
I got back, and it tore up our own homes.
And we ended up using the airboat there in Everglades City
because of the flooding, too. And it's just -- it's a very necessary
vehicle, and it's very adapted for that.
When Captain Tocks (phonetic) Brown used to sit me up in the
seat as a young baby and taught me to drive an airboat, I never knew
I'd be working with such professionals.
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May 23, 2006
I had the privilege of working with EMS and the military and the
sheriffs department out in New Orleans, and it just came all together,
us working one on one there. My skills as an airboater learning from
pleasure turned out to save lives and do such a great thing.
I really thank you today. And thank you Jim and everybody. Thank
you, everybody.
(Applause.)
Item #4 D
PROCLAMATION BESTOWING GRATITUDE AND ESTEEM
UPON THE FRIENDS OF BAREFOOT BEACH PRESERVE FOR
UNFAILING DEDICATION TO BAREFOOT BEACH COUNTY
PARK-ADOPTED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, the next proclamation is
bestowing gratitude and esteem upon the Friends of Barefoot Beach
Preserve for unfailing dedication to the Barefoot Beach County Park.
The proclamation will be accepted by Mr. Harold Saylor,
President of the Friends of the Barefoot Beach Preserve.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: If all those that -- would please stand up
here in regards to this proclamation, and people that -- who have not
been to Barefoot Beach need to go there. It's really a piece of
primitive land and it's very interesting. There's an awful lot to see
there.
And I really appreciate the people that are involved in this
Friends of Barefoot Beach.
Whereas, the Friends of Barefoot Beach is a non-profit
organization of over 400 families who are concerned with the
preservation of this precious marine wetland environment, particularly
at Barefoot Beach Preserve County Park; and,
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May 23, 2006
Whereas, the purpose of the Friends of Barefoot Beach is to
preserve, protect and enhance natural features of the preserve, to foster
research and education endeavors at the preserve, to secure volunteers
to assist the county at Barefoot Beach Preserve and to distribute
literature relating to the preserve; and,
Whereas, the Friends have developed and helped maintain the
Friends Learning Center, the Saturday morning lecture series, the
Saylor Nature Trail, osprey platforms, aquatic butterfly garden, the
Xeriscape cactus garden, a purple martin house, and other educational
and research activities at the preserve in order to further their mission;
and,
Whereas, since the inception in 1999 -- or 1990 the Friends have
contributed countless hours of volunteer time, inexhaustible energy,
generous funding, to enhance the preserve and its programs.
Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, that esteem and gratitude
be bestowed upon the Friends of Barefoot Beach Preserve for their
unfailing dedication in Collier County's most precious natural beach
area.
Done and ordered this 23rd day of May, 2006, Board of County
Commissioners, Collier County, Florida, Frank Halas, Chair.
And I move that we approve this proclamation.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. All those in favor, signify by
saYIng aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
Page 20
May 23, 2006
(N 0 response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Proclamation carries unanimously.
Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you. Thank you very
much for your service.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you for your service.
Jake, thanks for being here.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you, sir. Thank you so
much.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I've had some good experiences
down there.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you very much. We'd like to get
your picture.
Would you like to say anything, Tom?
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Get on my knees and the whole
bit.
MR. SAYLOR: Well, Commissioners, thank you very much.
We really appreciate this. I could talk for about half an hour on the
subject of Barefoot Beach Preserve, but Commissioner Halas, I think
you pretty well said it all.
And we would just like to invite people who have never been up
to Barefoot Beach Park to come up there. We have a great park and
we have a nice canoe trail and a nice nature trail. If you come up to
Barefoot Beach Park, I'm sure you're going to enjoy yourself.
So thank you very much. We appreciate the honor. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
Page 21
May 23,2006
Item #4E
PROCLAMATION DECLARING MAY 28 - JUNE 3, 2006 AS
NATIONAL AMERICAN EX-POW'S RECOGNITION WEEK -
ADOPTED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, the next proclamation is 4E. It's a
proclamation declaring May 28th through June 3,2006, as National
American ex-POWs Recognition Week. To be accepted by Harold
Leavitt, senior vice commander of the Collier chapter of the American
Ex - Prisoners of War.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Welcome, Mr. Leavitt. It's a
pleasure to make this presentation to your organization.
Whereas, former prisoners of war are national heros. Their
service to our country place them in dire circumstances. They risk
their lives for freedom and justice. They answered the call to defend
American ideals, and some never return; and,
Whereas, we recognize POW s for their courage and
determination in the face of hardships defying description. We will
not forget them. We will never forget what they sacrificed for our
freedom; and,
Whereas, years after the end of World War II, the Korean War,
the Cold War and the Vietnam War, approximately 88,000 veterans
remain classified as MIA, missing in action. Those Americans
dedicated their lives to protecting our freedoms. They will never be
forgotten; and,
Whereas, to the families of MIAs, we share a commitment and
determination to attain accountability for them, including repatriation,
recovery and identification of the remains of those who died; and,
Whereas, the American ex-prisoners of war chapters devote their
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May 23, 2006
time and efforts to helping veterans get on with their lives. The
trauma they suffered is overwhelming. The bonds of friendship
helped them cope; and,
Whereas, their purpose, we exist to help those who cannot help
themselves; and, Whereas, American ex-POWs motto, "Non Solum
Armis" Not by Arms Alone; and,
Whereas, the Daisy was chosen as a national symbol of all
former POW s. The military code of conduct required that only name,
rank, and serial number were to be voluntarily divulged to the enemy.
American folklore has long deemed that Daisies won't tell, making it
a tribute to the memory of those who have endured the hardship of
captivity in silence; and,
Whereas, Collier County is prayered -- proud and honored to be
the host of the American Ex-Prisoners of War, Department of Florida,
22nd annual convention June the 1st through the 4th, 2006.
Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, that the week of May 28th
through June 3, 2006 be designated as National American Ex-POWs
Recognition Week.
Done and ordered this 23rd day of May, 2006, Board of County
Commissioners, Collier County, Florida, Frank Halas, Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I make a motion that we accept this proclamation.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I'll second that.
All those in favor of approving this proclamation, signify by
saYIng eye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
Page 23
May 23, 2006
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER COYLE: It's an honor to give this
proclamation to you. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Take your picture.
(Applause.)
MR. LEAVITT: It is my pleasure to accept this in behalf of all
the gentlemen who are members of the Collier chapter of the POW s.
Thank you again.
(Applause.)
Item #5A
RECOGNITION OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES'
MEDFLIGHT FOR THE RECEIPT OF THE HELICOPTER
ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL PLATINUM SAFETY
AWARD - PRESENTED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that brings us to our presentations,
5A, which is a recommendation to recognize Emergency Medical
Services MedFlight for the receipt of the Helicopter Association
International Platinum Safety Award.
Mr. Dan Summers will present.
MR. SUMMERS: Commissioners, good morning, Dan
Summers, Director of the Bureau of Emergency Services for Collier
County .
And let me just backtrack just for a second and talk about these
20- and 25-year veterans with Collier County EMS.
They sure age well after the hours and the extensive duty and the
services that they provide to Collier County, and not only are they real
Page 24
May 23, 2006
professionals, they're a good-looking group, and maybe we need to do
an EMS glamour shot or something like that because they're all a
handsome looking bunch of folks. Real proud of them.
I'm here today to tell you a couple of things. We're actually
combining two awards, coincidentally. This happens to be the 20-year
anniversary of Collier County's MedFlight operation. And we've been
flying in one capacity or another in Collier County since 1975, with
MedFlight formation in 1986.
And you see the statistics there on the visualizer with about 660
some calls for service every year, and our Eurocopter, EC135, which
is getting a lot of hours on it, by the way.
But as you know, in the absence of a trauma center in Collier
County, that golden hour is certainly important. And Collier County
MedFlight has saved many lives by taking many trauma victims to
Fort Myers.
And had we not had that program for this many years, I don't
know what our survivability statistics would be like with the
community in a county the size of Collier County.
In recognition for that, we've also commissioned a 20-year patch.
I have to -- flip that helicopter around, if you would.
This is the patch that will be in-bound here in a few weeks to go
__ that our MedFlight team, I'm sure, will proudly put on their
uniforms to recognize their 20-year service.
So if you would, I'd like to have Chief Pilot Terry Henderson
come forward and introduce the MedFlight crew that's here today.
And Commissioner -- and Chairman, you have in front of you
two awards. One is the Helicopter Association International Award
Platinum Safety Award which speaks volumes about Collier County's
commitment to MedFlight safety and all the external programming
and safety review and safety enhancements that have been recognized
nationally by Helicopter Association International, and a plaque from
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May 23, 2006
our office recognizing the MedFlight crew for 20 years of invaluable
servIce.
So Terry, if you'll introduce your crew, and then we'll have them
come up front and the board can make some comments. Thank you.
Terry?
MR. HENDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Summers. As you know,
it's no small feat going 20 years with a perfect safety record, and I'd
like to bring forward some of the people that are responsible for that.
I'd like to start out with Peter Bolton. He's one of our pilots, and
not only that, he's our flight operations training manager, and he's very
instrumental in the 20 years of accident- free hours since he's been here
from the inception.
(Applause.)
MR. HENDERSON: Pilot Anton Burtscher.
(Applause.)
MR. HENDERSON: Our Flight Medic Battalion Chief, Frank
Millot.
(Applause.)
MR. HENDERSON: Flight Medic Paul Passaretti.
(Applause.)
MR. HENDERSON: Flight Medic Scott Wernert.
(Applause.)
MR. HENDERSON: And last, but not least, the man who keeps
us all flying safely, our Director of Maintenance, Bobby Smith.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I just want to say thank you, gentlemen,
and ladies, I'm sure there's some ladies in the background that are
involved in this flight operation also. And I just want to thank each
and every one of you for the wonderful safety record that you've
accomplished here.
And obviously it's because of due diligence that we make sure
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May 23, 2006
that everybody's safe. Thank you so much.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And also I have this other plaque in
regards to the 20 years of operations that you people have here.
Thank you so very much.
(Applause.)
Item #6A
PUBLIC PETITION REQUEST BY ERNEST N. FREEMAN, JR.,
TO DISCUSS WAIVER OF PROPERTY LIENS IN IMMOKALEE
- TO BE BROUGHT BACK AT FUTURE MEETING FOR
CONSIDERATION - APPROVED
MR. MUDD: Commissioners, this now brings us to the public
petition section. And our first public petition today is a public petition
request by Ernest N. Freeman, Jr., to discuss waiver of property liens
in Immokalee. Mr. Freeman?
MR. FREEMAN: Which?
MR. MUDD: Either one, sir.
MR. FREEMAN: Good morning, Commissioners.
In Immokalee, there's currently two pieces of property on 11th
Street in Immokalee. They have liens on them, and the -- they're also
owned by the Immokalee Water and Sewer Board.
I petitioned them about getting the properties, and they've agreed
to do a settlement for the properties, but I've also understood that you
guys have liens on these properties. And I put in a request that the
board feel free to waive those liens so we can do and build more
affordable housing in Immokalee.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Any discussion from the board
members?
Page 27
May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yes, please, if I may.
I see the attached resolution. It makes reference to nonprofits.
And, of course, you're not a nonprofit per se, and I don't know exactly
if we could change that.
I mean, the effort to get affordable housing in Immokalee should
be one of this commission's primary objectives, but I do have some
concerns as to what level we would do this and what the ramifications
would be down the road for other entities out there that may want liens
removed because they may live in what they consider affordable
housing. It could go on. I'm not too sure how to react to this.
A question that I've got that comes to mind, is there a possibility
that if we were to waive these liens, that you could still build a house
but possibly the land could be turned over to the land trust, which
would assure that it remain affordable land for the distant future? Is
that a possibility?
MR. FREEMAN: I believe so, because that's my goal, is
affordable housing,
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Oh, no. I understand that. But
the land trust, the way it works is that the land is signed over to a
non-profit land trust. And when the land's tied up in that trust, the
price of this home remains affordable from then on out because the
people really don't own the land under the house. They own the house
and that keeps the market rate on that house, because Immokalee's on
__ an emerging community. It will only be a matter of time before a
number of these affordable housing units that are being designated
affordable now will become unaffordable as the community marches
forward. We've seen it throughout the coastal areas as it moved out
toward the east with its expansion.
So my question to you, is there a possibility that this land could
be signed over to the land trust? If so, I would be very inclined to
have this commission give consideration in another meeting for the
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May 23, 2006
waiving of those liens.
MR. FREEMAN: The only issue that I have with the, of course,
placing it in the land trust is that right now I'm going to have to have
research and I'm going to have to pay for the research, because to my
understanding, the property's been used for dumping some while back,
and there will have to be some money invested for research and
engineering to make sure that this property is buildable.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I'm sorry. I'm lost. Obviously
there's more here than meets the eye.
MR. FREEMAN: Yes.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: But if you wanted to entertain
the idea of putting the land in a land trust and building affordable
housing on it -- and I don't know all the ramifications of it -- if that
would be the case, I would be happy to have my commission bring it
back for consideration at a future meeting. I'd ask them to do that.
MR. FREEMAN: Okay. And also, if we're going to do that,
could you also come up with a final fee, because after talking to Mr.
Carrington -- is he here?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: There he is right back there.
MR. FREEMAN: I never did get a final amount of what the liens
were also. I know we were discussing what was some of the fees
because they range back all the way, some of them, I believe in the
early '90s.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah. And I know a good part
of the fees that are existing are the interest that occurred because they
weren't paid in timely fashion.
MR. FREEMAN: Exactly. And the owner, I think, is no longer
alive that owned it, that's why the Immokalee Water and Sewer took it
for assessments.
MR. CARRINGTON: Yeah. For the record, Chuck Carrington,
Real Estate Services Manager. The total amount of the liens as of the
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May 23, 2006
15th of May, were $5,425, plus there was an additional $8,547.53 due
in interest, for a total then of$13,972.53.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, I know that the county is
actively pursuing the thought about picking up properties out there
that no longer quali -- under the tax rolls where they failed to pay their
taxes in a timely fashion. I think it's like a seven-year period, and
possibly inquiring of them for infilllots for affordable housing.
In this case, this would be something similar, only in this case we
have another party that's buying the land. It could possibly turn that
land over to the land trust and then still build on it within certain
parameters, that the price of the house is an affordable element.
That was a thought. I don't know if anyone's ever entertained
that particular venture or not, but then the public would be served. I'm
kind of leery about forgiving the fees and not having the savings
directly passed on or just having the regular market house built there
and then it becoming unaffordable in the future. My own thoughts on
it. I don't really think you can comment on that, but I just wanted to
share that with you.
I see Commissioner Henning may have some comments.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, this is a perfect example
of good public and private partnership. If a -- either a not- for-profit or
the county's land trust partnership with you for the needs of
Immokalee. And if you're willing to do that, I would support the
commissioner of the district to bring it back in a future agenda to
make that happen.
MR. FREEMAN: I think I can work with you guys.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Okay. Then I'll make that
motion that we bring this back for consideration at a future meeting.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: We've got a motion on the floor and a
May 23, 2006
second. Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Could I suggest that we get either
the house -- the trust, the land trust, here to make the petition, because
if we are going to transfer land to the land trust as a non-profit
organization, we have to have them as the petitioner --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: You're right.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- in order to do that. So --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Bring this back.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah. So I support the intent, it's
just I'm trying to get the right person here.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I amend my motion to include
that the petitioner be the land trust and they'd work with you on that.
MR. FREEMAN: Okay. Only one other question. Since the
Immokalee Water and Sewer has ownership of the property as well,
how would this land trust work out with them because --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Immokalee Water and Sewer
would be also invited to the meeting, and they would have to sign over
their interest to the land trust also.
MR. FREEMAN: Okay, so I'll be advised on when we're going
to have the next meeting?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, we have to take the vote
yet, but hopefully it goes favorably, and they will advise you, and
we'll work this out so we can move forward. Appreciate you bringing
it forward today.
MR. FREEMAN: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: So we need -- all you need is some nods
on this?
MR. MUDD: No, Commissioner, you need a vote to bring this
particular item back.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. So we have a second on that
motion?
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yes.
. CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. All those in favor, signify by
saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Those opposed, by like sign.
(N 0 response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Passes.
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, and I'll try to get this back to the
board on the 20th of June, if I can get all the parties together and give
them enough time. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you.
Item #6B
PUBLIC PETITION REQUEST BY MARCIA BREITHAUP TO
DISCUSS PET FRIENDLY EMERGENCY EVACUATION
SHEL TERS IN COLLIER COUNTY - TO HAVE EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT AND DOMESTIC ANIMAL SERVICES
ADVISORY COME UP WITH SUGGESTIONS AND/OR IDEAS
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that brings us to our next petition,
and that is a public petition request by Marcia Breithaupt to discuss
pet friendly emergency evacuation shelters in Collier County, and I
believe --
MS. BREITHAUPT: Good morning. I'm here via over a
thousand petitions from Collier County citizens to request pet family
emergency shelters in Collier County.
Page 32
May 23, 2006
I'll be discussing the people involved and why, the problems
created from lack of shelters, how to provide such shelters, why act
now, and a summary.
I'm Marcia Breithaupt. I'm a professional home and pet sitter --
that's my sheltie, Rosie. She's a pet therapy dog -- and just kind of
explain how important she is to me as part of my family.
Rosie does registered pet therapy. She goes to assisted living
homes and helps people like this. This lady calls and asks for Rosie
almost every other week because it brings her out of her depression,
and she relates to animals, and it's pretty important work. And I just
want to give back to her what she gives to a lot of other people.
Also issuing Sheri Lee (phonetic), who is an MS-handicapped
victim who has a testimonial-- it's in your packet. Sheri Lee has a
partial service dog, Snuggles, and she went to every shelter in Collier
County and was turned away because she's not a seeing eye dog, so
she ended up in the Germain Arena and I think in Bonita Springs in a
shelter, and also in an underprivileged home up in Fort Myers.
The other citizens of Collier County are encouraged to have pets
as companions, but then they're told to leave them behind. And one in
four over age 64, one in three in Marco Island.
We all feel that pets of Collier County have the same rights as
people, and they're no less than humans. We can protect ourselves.
They cannot.
More than probably 1,200 citizens have signed petitions. I have
all the originals in here, and they're all in your packet.
I'm involved because, as a professional pet sitter, it is my job to
be prepared in emergency situations affecting my business and my
clients. And as a National Association of Professional Pet Sitter
member, I am required to have a disaster plan. And I am ultimately
responsible for the well-being of myself and all of my clients' pets that
are In my care.
Page 33
May 23, 2006
And I feel like we are all put on this earth to take care of these
creatures of God, and Collier County is a Christian organization -- or a
Christian community.
The direct impact from the lack of shelters are the animals that
are dying due to the owner abandonment and the stray and aggressive
animals. There was a pack of three aggressive dogs after Hurricane
Wilma that went around breaking into people's lanais killing cats; the
euthanasia of hundreds of animals due to the lack of space after
Wilma.
Weare actually enforcing cruelty to animals by having these
mandatory evacuations, yet we have no place to take them. And the
Pets Act 3858, which was voiced favorable in the House of
Representatives and I think may be even -- they may be taking action
on this legislation as early as today, requires state and local authorities
to consider the needs of individuals with pets and service animals in
the event of a major disaster.
The clock has run out. Hurricane season is here. It's less than 10
days away. And we need someone to act on this. The indirect
impacts, of course, are the costs to rescue people with their pets who
did not evacuate. The danger is then to the county emergency
personnel to rescue people and their pets, and also the time that's taken
away from other possibly higher priority rescues.
How do we do this? We use government owned schools. There's
no cost to the county to do this. Sarasota County did this. They have
about 1 7 schools, and they assigned eight -- I think seven schools as
pet friendly, and the openings vary according to the emergency. They
have different tier levels. As tier one opens, tier two's placed on
standby and so forth as they reach the capacity.
All the county emergency and website maps would have to be
updated with a pet friendly notation, and volunteers would be assigned
from all of the volunteer groups. We all went to disaster animal relief
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May 23, 2006
training and were trained to assist in all of these shelters.
Of course, cages, food and bedding would be donated by Petco,
Petsmart, Pet Supermarket, Nutro Foods, and possibly Science Diet.
What a shelter would look like. The pets and owners would be
separated. You can see the kennels are in the school locker rooms.
You'll notice they're neatly organized. Each animal cage is
documented with, you know, the pet's records and a photo of the
picture ( sic).
And most importantly, notice the children in the shelter. This is
very comforting to the children to know that their pets are well taken
care of, and it's very traumatic for them to know that their homes may
be destroyed but comforted to know their pets are well cared for. And
this is just -- this is intangible.
Of course, the owners would be responsible for the feeding, the
care, and the maintenance of their animals and they would have to
provide medical records, all their shots would have to be updated, and
there would be available a vet on site to give vaccinations, and charge
for later.
Owners would provide an emergency pet supply kit, and that
would include a cage, any medications, drinking water, other pet
materials. And, of course, owners would be responsible for exercise
and potty breaks.
If no action is taken -- a thousand signatures from Collier County
citizens, which are attached in your packet, are expecting the county
to act to prevent this from happening.
In summary, I think all of you that have pets know that they're
considered family, and we are willing to jeopardize our safety to
protect our pets. Many animals are full/partial service animals like
Sheri Lee's, and they need our -- are needed full time during and after
emergency events.
The impact on the people shelters during emergencies can easily
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May 23, 2006
be minimized with the simple stepped acceptance plan like Sarasota
County did. This is really good PR for Collier County and makes
good community and business sense.
Thank you, and do you have any questions?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Any questions from commissioners?
Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you. You know, I listen
to what you have to say, and you're right. You're absolutely correct in
the fact that people at a time when they're very much traumatized by a
storm event, having to leave their pet behind does not add to their
well-being in the long run.
I'm sure that -- and I don't know if it's been documented or not,
but I'm sure there's many people that won't leave their homes because
they can't adequately provide for their pets. I do know there are some
alternatives out there, but they're limited, and one of them, of course,
isn't an alternative that I like to see people act on, and that's to leave
the area if you've got a pet and get out on the highway and expose
yourself to further danger.
MS. BREITHAUPT: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Now, there are shelters in place,
there's different places to board pets, but they'll probably be
overwhelmed at the time --
MS. BREITHAUPT: They're all in floodplain zones.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And that presents a problem in
itself.
MS. BREITHAUPT: And do you want to put an animal in a
cage and put it up high and have it die in the cage?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I hear what you're saying, and
once again, too, the people are separated from their pets and they're
unsure of what's happening.
We have to carry it even a step further in some of the thought
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May 23, 2006
process here, too. In these hurricanes too, a lot of our residents,
especially in our rural areas, have horses, and they're housed in barns
or garages of different types, that are structures that do collapse and
kill or injure the horses, and it's very traumatic for the people to have
to come back and not only do a -- try to revitalize their property, but
also have to deal with an animal that they treasured and they loved.
I know the fairgrounds at one time on their own was opening up
their grounds and I'm sure that when we work on our master plan for
emergencies such as hurricanes or tropical storms, that there has to be
an element more inclusive than what it is now as far as how we handle
pets, and I agree with you.
Now, there are complications to the whole thing, but if Sarasota
got around them, why can't we?
MS. BREITHAUPT: Right.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And at present, what we're
doing, we're telling people that don't have a place to board their pet, if
they can't evacuate, they have to go to the Germain Arena to be able to
be with their pet. And are we really doing Collier County residents a
favor? You know, and I don't think so. I think there's a better way to
do it.
Now, can we make the answer up here? No. We're not going to
be able to come up with a final determination. My suggestion would
be, is to take this particular problem, recognize it as a problem,
because it is. We're talking about our residents and their well-being,
and their well-being's directly tied to their pets' well-being -- to turn it
over to the Domestic Animals Service Advisory Board that we have,
and have them work with emergency management to be able to come
back with a solid recommendation that will work for everyone.
Right now I'm very leery about just ordering emergency
management from the dais up here to go forward and allow pets into
the schools. We don't know what the school board permits, we don't
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May 23, 2006
know what kind of ramifications would come from it.
But I would like to see us go in that direction to see what could
be worked out. And if we can't come to a final conclusion where they
can go into the schools or into some other location, at least we can
make the public aware of what the limitations are of what their county
government can do for them in the time of emergency regarding pets
and what few alternatives are available so that they can make it part of
the hurricane evacuation plan.
MS. BREITHAUPT: There's 25 schools that are shelters. I
mean, you could maybe even try a couple. See, you know, if you
could make them pet friendly and see what happens.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I think what we have is a problem
whereby we have to work with the school board. I believe that, as
Commissioner Coletta brought out, I believe is a large problem, and I
think that we have to do a lot of research on this problem. And I think
that our emergency management director could probably put together
a study to see what it's going to encompass.
MS. BREITHAUPT: Okay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay?
MS. BREITHAUPT: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you.
So I think what we'll do is put this in the hands of our emergency
manager and figure out what options we have and get back with us at
some later date.
MS. BREITHAUPT: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you.
Item #9D
RESOLUTION 2006-132: DISCUSSION REGARDING
EXTENDING THE MAY 1, 2006 DEADLINE OF RESOLUTION
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May 23, 2006
2005-382, (RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF HURRICANE
WILMA RELIEF AND RECOVERY OPERATIONS) ADOPTED
4/0 BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AT THE
NOVEMBER 1,2005 BOARD MEETING (RESCHEDULED
FROM OCTOBER 25, 2005). RESOLUTION 2005-382 SUSPENDS
THE ENFORCEMENT OF SUBSECTIONS 2.01.00.2.03.07.J.3.A,
3.02.09.E, AND 4.02.22.C.1 OF THE COLLIER COUNTY LAND
DEVELOPMENT CODE (ORDINANCE NUMBER 04-41, AS
AMENDED) RELATING TO THE PROHIBITION OF PARKING
OF TRAVEL/RECREATIONAL VEHICLES IN THE
DRIVEWAYS OF SINGLE F AMIL Y RESIDENCES DUE TO THE
EXTENSIVE DAMAGE CAUSED BY HURRICANE WILMA -
ADOPTED
MR. MUDD: Commissioners, that brings us to our next item,
which is 9A.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: 9D. I believe we've got a time certain,
don't we, at 10 a.m.?
MR. MUDD: Excuse me. You're correct, sir, and it's 1 0 o'clock.
That is 9D. It's a discussion regarding extending the May 1,
2006, deadline of resolution 2005-382. Resolution in support of
Hurricane Wilma relief and recovery operations.
It was adopted 4-0 by the Board of County Commissioners at the
November 1,2005, board meeting, which was rescheduled from
October 25,2005.
Resolution 2005-382 suspends the enforcement of subsections --
and they're listed on the page of the Collier County Land
Development Code, ordinance number 04-41 as amended -- oh, by the
way, those sections I read earlier when I read this sheet -- relating to
the prohibition of parking of traffic/recreational vehicles in the
driveways of single- family residences due to the extensive damage
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May 23, 2006
caused by Hurricane Wilma. And this item was brought forward by
Commissioner Coletta.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. We have a motion on the floor
for approval. Do we have a timeline on this?
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, I will tell you that the emergency
declaration that the governor signed basically sunsets, and I believe it's
the 11th of June, if I'm not -- if I'm not mistaken, and that's the
governor's extension to the emergency declaration.
I would suggest that if you do do this, that you do put a sunset on
it. If you want to extend it for another 180 days, so be it, but then it
has a sunset so it doesn't become something in perpetuity in Collier
County .
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner, is that in your motion--
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: -- 180 days?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: With due permission, I have no
idea if 180 is excessive or short. Could we ask Mr. Heers to come
forward? He's working with the Wilma Coordinating Council in
Immokalee. In fact, he heads it up. He might be able to give us a
little bit of idea how deep the problem is and what he thinks is
realistic.
Mr. Hears, would you please come forward, please.
MR. HEERS: Thank you. Mr. Chairman and board members, I
appreciate the opportunity to come and speak briefly.
I just quickly -- I just got in. I'm sorry I didn't fill out a form to
speak. My name is Pastor Rick Hears. I am the chairman of Eye
Hope, which is the long-term disaster recover team in Immokalee
helping our people in emergencies.
And I would respectfully request that we extend the timeline for
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May 23, 2006
allowing travel trailers and other portable R V units to be used a
minimum of six months, but I think that we're going to possibly need
even a little bit longer, because unfortunately out in Immokalee, we've
been a little bit slow in getting travel trailers in.
And as a matter of fact, we've got about seven to 10 that are due
to come as soon as they are released by FEMA into our community
because we have several families who are living, literally, in sheds
behind their homes and some living in homes without electricity.
And as soon as we can get authorization from FEMA to get the
travel trailers in, then we can begin working on their home to try to
retrofit them to be able to be genuinely habitable.
We're working with the health department in Immokalee as well
as FEMA and Project Hope and our faith-based businesses and civic
organizations, and we literally have at least 10 to 20 families that are
going to need these trailers. We're just waiting on FEMA to give us
the authorization, and we're all set to have them brought in along with
other mobile homes that they are willing to -- they say they are willing
to donate but have not yet written out the procedures.
We've got a staging ground for them, and we've got people set to
hook them up, volunteers as well as paid people, but we may need
more than the six months because it's going to take considerable time
to get some of these places retrofitted so they're livable.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you. Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: This extension would be applicable
for the entire county if we propose it, or if it is approved; is that not
correct?
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Now, it's been mentioned that
maybe there are 10 or 17 or 20 people in Immokalee who have a
critical concern, and they need to have this. Are we really going to
extend this -- this permission for the entire county in order to deal with
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May 23, 2006
20 or 30 people in Immokalee?
I think that's bad policy. And I think what would be a perfect
solution for this would be to let our code enforcement people deal with
this through organizations that are helping. They can identify those --
those locations, addresses, where people have a special need and it's
taking longer to get things replaced, and then they can waive the
requirement for a specified period of time, and we can give them the
authority to do that.
But I see great chance of abuse if we just have a blanket
exception for the entire county for 30 days or 90 days or six months.
You know that people are abusing this ordinance right now. And so I
would prefer to make these exceptions based upon need and actual
circumstances rather than just use a shotgun approach and say
anybody in the county can do it until, you know, we decide otherwise.
MR. HEERS: And, sir, we do have a comprehensive list of
names and addresses that are in that situation.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Then that would make it easy. You
know, you provide those addresses to code enforcement people and
we give them the authorization to grant exception to those people who
have a demonstrated need for those trailers to be on the property. To
me that would be a better solution.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, thank you. The -- it's just
not in Immokalee. I was driving in Golden Gate City and noticed a
fifth-wheel in the driveway of a home that's being under repair that
received extension -- extensive damage from Hurricane Wilma
because of Australian pines.
I don't know if anybody would want to live in a trailer versus
their home for an extended period of time. I don't know anyone that
would want to abuse the system to live in cramped comers -- comers
( sic) to -- you know, it just doesn't make sense to me. I'm not -- I
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May 23, 2006
know that even in Charlotte County there's -- it's taken quite a bit of
time because insurance companies are reluctant to make it a priority.
And maybe it's our own problem through the permitting process.
I mean, there's -- there's a lot of issues that may arise that we're not
aware of, why these people are still living in cramped quarters, while
their house is -- while they're trying to repair their house.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Well, if I could just clarify that.
The ordinance is a prohibition of parking the travel trailers or other
trailers in the driveway of a home. It doesn't say anything about living
in them. And there are a lot of people throughout the county who
have in the past just parked travel trailers in their driveways in
violation of our ordinances, and they will continue to do so as long as
the ordinance permits them to do that.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: So I understand if people are
actually living in them, they would have a reason to do so. But this is
an issue of parking them on the property or in the driveways.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Maybe I -- maybe I
misunderstood. I mean, I clearly thought that this was for temporary
living quarters for people that's trying to get their home repaired.
MR. HEERS: Commissioner?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: It says -- it quotes the ordinance
number as 04-41 as amended relating to the prohibition of parking of
travel recreational vehicles in the driveways of single- family
residences.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: For -- due to extended damage
caused by Hurricane Wilma.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: That's right.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Does the resolution need to be
amended to reflect that the homes -- that the travel trailers are
temporary housing in the driveway to reflect -- because the home is
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May 23, 2006
damaged and people need these living quarters in a temporary period
of time?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: If I could, I might be able to add
something to this.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah, if I may. The last part of
the ordinance is very specific. It says, while repairs associated with
Hurricane Wilma under authorized and valid building permits issued
by the building review and permitting Department of Collier County
are being made.
So I mean, it's being site specific. So someone can't just park it
there. They have to have a permit to be doing the work and they have
to be actively pursuing the work. If they abandon the home and they
didn't get a permit, then they're not eligible to be able to park a -- live
in a trailer while they're not working on the house, at least that's the
way I interpret it. I may be wrong.
Mr. French, you're up here for a good reason, that's because
you're our representative out in the field on this issue. What do you
see?
MR. FRENCH: Well, good afternoon, Commissioners. For the
record, Jamie French. I'm your Operations and Regulations Manager
at Community Development.
Today, Commissioners, I have with me James Yost from FEMA,
who is our point of contact, as well as Dana Ellison who represents the
State of Florida cert. team that could answer some questions as far as
how many trailers are currently placed within our county in addition
to what they may envision as far as a need.
The intent behind the resolution that we brought to you in
November was, indeed, to allow for temporary living, not to allow
people to just park their trailers in the driveways.
And because this reso. has expired, I would have to defer to the
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May 23, 2006
County Attorney's Office, but I would believe that we would have to
come back with another resolution where we could wordsmith that
language into the reso. to explain exactly that. But it would only be
for the use of temporary living conditions. And we could also tie it
into the disaster number that was assigned by FEMA.
MS. STUDENT-STIRLING: For the record, Marjorie
Student-Stirling, Assistant County Attorney. I would concur that we
need to, since the other reso. expired, that we bring back the new reso.
where we have recitals in there that reference the old reso., and it
really is for the purpose of extending it. It would be very clear in the
reso. that it's only for -- they can only park there for the purposes of
living on site to -- while they're supervising the repair to their home.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, can we hear from the
FEMA personnel first so we get --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Your light was on.
Sir, if you've got anything to add to this conversation --
MR. HEERS: Actually, I believe that what was said earlier is
true, we do have units that are out there right now. And with this reso.
expiring, we're looking at it that, you know, they're there, not say
illegally, but they're there with the expiration of the reso. now.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Does the --
MR. HEERS: We'd like to see this get extended so that we can
continue to house the folks while they're repairing their homes.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And do you -- do you concur that it
should be no longer than six months and then we can address it again
need be?
MR. HEERS: Actually, the state rep. right here would have a
better idea of the timeline how they feel with the state. That would be
best.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
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May 23, 2006
MS. ELLISON: Good morning. Dana Ellison. What we were
talking about outside is that the FEMA time period is 18 months, up to
18 months when they're placed in a temporary unit. So whether
somebody receives a trailer today, whether they received it in
November, everybody's still in the same timeline of 18 months. It
doesn't start over for the new trailer that just came in.
So if you wanted to do the six months and then come back
together after six months -- but we're saying a year because that would
give you the deadline of the Wilma 18 months. And you're being
covered, instead of having to come back and rediscuss for another six
months, if you want to just extend across the board, 12 months, and
like they saying, specifically disaster number 1609, which is Wilma,
and that means it can't be a person -- fire or anything else due to
damage of their home. It has to be specifically related to Hurricane
Wilma.
And right now there's 44 units in this county, and as far as
targeting just Immokalee, there are other units, like you were saying,
that are in different places in the county, so you should do it
countywide. But by limiting it to the disaster number, you're not
having people abuse it, anybody and everybody parking a unit on their
driveway.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Any other discussion or questions?
Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I'm going to restate my
motion to give staff direction to bring back a clarifying resolution for
temporary housing parked in driveways related to Hurricane Wilma
damage to structures with a time period of six months, and also within
__ that we want to be able to come back to the board and renew if
necessary .
MR. FRENCH: Commissioner, I can also tie this to a valid
building permit as well as to the disaster number.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Is that really necessary?
MR. FRENCH: Well, if they were -- if they were in temporary
housing, there should be a building permit tied to the repair of that
structure. Whether it be mobile home or a single-family residence,
they would still basically be doing the repairs to their residence,
whether it be a replacement of a mobile home or whether it be a reroof
or, you know, to --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I see what you mean. Not a
permit for the temporary structure permit?
MR. FRENCH: No, sir. We could not permit.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I apologize.
MR. FRENCH: We can't -- no problem. But we cannot inspect
travel trailers. There's no guidance that's provided to us within the
Florida Building Code.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah. If I may, I mean, six
months would mean that we would have to bring it back again because
we have already heard from our FEMA representative that it's going to
take a year before they can fulfill the obligation.
And if the obligation's clearly stated that it's Wilma related and
the travel trailer's going to go there, I don't know what six -- what
good it will do to just limit it to six months and them come back again
and then extend it. We're just going to be back here wasting
taxpayers' time and money.
That, and the other issue would be, we need to give direction to
staff, because we have a bridge time between the time that this
ordinance expired and when we can reinstate it so that staff has got a
clear definition of what their responsibilities are as far as enforcing the
existing codes and ordinances of Collier County.
We want to make sure that they don't come down on these people
in the interim when we're waiting for an ordinance to come back.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Well, I think what we've got to -- I don't
know if we've got it -- received a second. You still go with the second
that --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, you know, I prefer to see
a year, but if six months makes this commission feel more
comfortable, at least we're moving in the right direction.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I have no problem with giving
the allotted time necessary. So if you feel it's at a year, I don't have a
problem with that.
MR. FRENCH: Commissioners, I could backdate it to 1 May of
next year. That way it would cover us from the time the disaster was
declared. That way it would cover the full 18-month period.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That would be my
recommendation.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Part of my motion.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And I'd second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Yes, County Attorney.
MR. WEIGEL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The motion said to
bring back a resolution, but if it is the pleasure of the board, by your
direction and vote today, a resolution can be crafted upon the
specifications you've already indicated, I think, clearly specific
enough, so that you would not have to bring something back if you
don't wish to, and a resolution number would be placed aside by the
clerk's office in that regard.
So it's your pleasure whether to bring something back, as the
motion stated, or in fact, just adopt a resolution today, we will craft it
pursuant to the instruction and direction that you've given. And as Mr.
Coletta had noted, I believe all staff would recognize the fact that by
such adoption today, or even just mere direction today, that the
application of ordinances relative to this would be taken in proper
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May 23, 2006
perspective for enforcement or non-enforcement.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I amend my motion to -- for that
direction.
MR. WEIGEL: Great.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And my second also.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. So the resolution will be
backdated, is my understanding, to May 1 st of this year and to be
covered until May 1 st of next year 2007; is that correct?
MR. FRENCH: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. And that's what the motion is,
okay.
Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Not hearing any, I'll call the question.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Those opposed, by like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries. Thank you very much
for your time.
MR. HEERS: Thank you.
Item #9A
RESOLUTION 2006-133: RE-APPOINTING EVA DEYO AND
CAPTAIN TOM DAVIS TO THE IMMOKALEE ENTERPRISE
ZONE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY. - ADOPTED
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May 23, 2006
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that brings us to our next item,
which is 9A, it's appointment of members to the Immokalee Enterprise
Zone Development Agency.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: What's the number of that?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: 9A.
MR. MUDD: 9A.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: This is in regards to nominations for the
Immokalee Enterprise Zone Development Agency.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: If I may, I would like to make a
recommendation that we follow the committee's recommendation for
Eva Deyo and Captain Davis.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. I have a motinn on the floor for
the committee's recommendation of Eva Deyo and Captain Davis.
Any further discussion?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yes. The only other thing I'd
like to mention is that I do hope that Ms. Blanton applies again when
the next available position comes, because --
MS. FILSON: She has.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: -- because I think she's a very
capable person for it.
MS. FILSON: She has. We have a business vacancy, and she
has applied for that.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Hearing no further discussion, I'll
call the question.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries.
Item #9B
APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONERS TO SERVE ON THE
VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD AND SET THE DATE FOR THE
ORGANIZATION MEETING - COMMISSIONER COLETTA,
COMMISSIONER FIALA, AND COMMISSIONER HENNING TO
SERVE AS REGULAR MEMBERS; COMMISSIONER HALAS
AND COMMISSIONER COYLE TO SERVE AS ALTERNATE
MEMBERS; AND MEETING SET FOR JULY 26, 2006 AT 9:00
A.M. - APPROVED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that brings us to our next item,
which is 9B, appointment of commissioners to serve as the Value
Adjustment Board and set the date for the organizational meeting.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I was very fortunate that I got a
reprieve this last time around, so I'm more than willing to stand in on
this that's coming up. I'll be available.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I nominate Commissioner Coletta.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you.
MS. FILSON: Actually I need three commissioners and two
alternates.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'm going to be here as well, so I'd
be -- you know, I'd be happy to --
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May 23, 2006
MS. FILSON: Commissioner Fiala has served every year.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: She's very experienced. We need
her again this year.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And we'll -- I nominate Commissioner
Henning as an alternate.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And I second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. FILSON: Do you agree, Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I've got my light on. The
-- I have no problem with that. There's one meeting, I need direction
from the county attorney. Can I -- can I phone in on that meeting if
I'm not available for the organizational meeting in July, I believe it is?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That's what alternates are for.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yeah.
MS. FILSON: Yeah. One of the alternates could do that, or we
would probably still have a quorum.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: You'd still have a quorum.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coletta is the main
person, so you would be alternate.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: What?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: We need three members.
MS. FILSON: And I have Coletta, Fiala and Henning.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And we need two alternatives
(sic). And I do still have a question for the county attorney, but thank
you, Ms. Filson, for answering.
MR. WEIGEL: Okay. I think you can participate by telephone.
But as they indicated, the importance in some of the issues concerning
telephonic participation is whether there is a quorum physically
present in the first place. And so if there is a quorum physically
present in the first place -- these are public meetings. And so even if
an alternate were to be here physically in one's place, you could still
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May 23, 2006
participate by telephone, if you would.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. So we have a motion on the floor
that Commissioner Coletta is the person that's going to be on the
Value Adjustment Board with two alternates.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, no, no. It has to be
Commissioner Coletta, Commissioner Fiala, and Commissioner
Henning as the members, and the two alternates would be you and --
Commissioner Halas and Commissioner Coyle. So I'll make that
motion.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: All right. Do we have a second?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And we might not even be here on
the commission past November.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, yes, you will. Yes, you will.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I'll call the question. All those in favor,
signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, like sign?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Motion carries.
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, I'd recommend you take a 10- to
15-minute break before you do 10.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yep. We'll be back at 10:35. Thank
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May 23, 2006
you.
(A brief recess was had.)
MR. MUDD: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd please take your
seats.
Mr. Chairman, you have a hot mike.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you, County Manager.
Board of County Commissioners is back in session again. And I
believe we're starting -
Item #9C
AN EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT WITH THE EXECUTIVE
MANAGER TO THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AND READOPTION AND APPROVAL OF THE CURRENT PAY
PLAN FOR ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF REPORTING TO THE
EXECUTIVE MANAGER - APPROVED W/AMENDMENTS TO
CONTRACT
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, this brings us to 9C. It's a
recommendation of the Board of County Commissioners to consider
and approve an employment agreement with the executive manager to
the Board of Commissioners and readopt and approve the current pay
plan to the administrative staff support or -- excuse me -- staff
reporting to the Executive Manager.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Is there any discussion on this
matter? Yes, Commissioner Coletta.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah, I have quite a few pages
of discussion, since this is a new item for the Collier County
Commission.
First one is on page 1 where it says, employees shall assume the
responsibility of a commissioner's aide if an aide is ill or on an
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May 23, 2006
excused absence -- on an excused absence, and no temporary
replacement is available.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I'm a little bit lost there, because
the responsibility of the Executive Manager to the BCC should be to
assure that staff will be present in any capacity to be able to carry out
the requirements of running the office regardless of who is there or
who isn't there.
Employees should be adequately trained and be able to work as a
team regardless of what commissioner they serve.
And I don't think we're quite there with it. I think the contract is
excellent the way it's put together. But this has got a flaw in it, the
way it's written, in that the indication is that if a particular aide is
gone, the only person that can fill that position would be Ms. Filson.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I agree with Commissioner Coletta
on that, and I have suggested wording to solve that problem if you'll
permit me to just read it very quickly.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: With respect to the sentence that
Commissioner Coletta is referring to, I would recommend that we
change it to employees shall, and then we'll insert these words,
redistribute the workload as necessary or assume the responsibilities
of a commissioner's aide if an aide is ill or an excused absence. That
gives -- that gives the manager --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Leeway.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- yeah, the ability to redistribute
workload or do whatever is necessary.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: To get the job done.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Which I think is Commissioner
Coletta's point.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, that sounds good.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. I go along with that.
County Attorney, have you got that information?
MR. WEIGEL: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Good. Any other discussion?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, let's see. If I may, there
was so much in here, I mean, that I wasn't too sure of, so I did have
some questions.
Page 2, section 2, last paragraph, regarding the consultation with
a commissioner regarding his or her aide's appraisal. Is it the intent so
that the commissioner can overturn a negative or positive evaluation?
That was my concern there.
And I don't know, maybe it's unfounded, but just the way it was
worded, it gave me a little concern that when Ms. Filson would make
that evaluation, or whoever would make it in her position, that they --
later the commissioner can review it and say, this is totally
unsatisfactory. I want you to redo it over. I don't particularly like
what my aide's been doing, or I think that my aide way exceeds what
you've got down in your report.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I think you're in the same arena that I
was thinking about also. When there's something that comes up that--
there should be a commitment to fair treatment to be able to talk out
the issues or the problems. And I believe that if it's involving a
commissioner's aide, that he should have some input into -- into it as
far as discussing what needs to be addressed as far as -- in regards to,
if there needs to be someone terminated or needs some -- a reprimand
of some nature, I think there should be some inner discussion there.
So it falls in line with what you brought up basically.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So do you have rewording for it?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I leave that rewording up to the county
attorney. Have you got a fair understanding of what we're trying to
accomplish here, County Attorney?
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MR. PETTIT: Chairman Halas, we have a provision in the first
paragraph under section 2 that we will work with Ms. Filson, and
Scott Teach and I, of, our office, will work with Ms. Filson to assist
her in developing a discipline and commitment to fair treatment
approach -- I didn't think that what we had in the county manager's
manual necessarily will work with your department -- and bring it
back, and that's what the contract -- she would then bring it back and
present it for your review and approval.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I mean, I think the issue that
Commissioner Coletta brings up is in section 2, that you do want input
from the commissioners' aides' performance evaluation or review,
correct?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, yes, that would be okay,
but I just wanted to be sure that it was an understanding that it wasn't
meant to be an overturn of that particular thing. I mean, whenever an
issue comes up that a commissioner's in dispute with the executive
director, at that point in time, it should come to the commission for
final determination. I just wanted to make sure that we weren't
empowering each individual commission to act on the part of the
commission as a whole. And I don't even know if that was the intent
of it. That was a concern.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Maybe, once again, I can suggest
something that would solve that problem. If I understand what
Commissioner Coletta is saying, he doesn't want a commissioner to
coerce the employee into giving a performance appraisal or merit pay
increase or decrease that is not acceptable to a commissioner.
Could we say that the staff will be evaluated exactly as it is right
now, but with the addition of -- with the addition of these words, any
conflict between commissioner and employee with respect to the
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evaluation will be resolved by hearing of the full board.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Amen. You got it.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Would you say that one more time,
please?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah. Any conflict between the
evaluation by the employee, Ms. Filson, and a commissioner will be
resolved by hearing of the full board.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And that keeps us -- that gets us
exactly where we are with the County Manager's ordinance without
having all the other constraints associated with it.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay, good.
Any other discussion?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, I hate to be the only
person to go through this whole dam thing. I still have two pages. If
you want to cover something, I can come back if somebody else
doesn't touch on some issues.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. From what I read on this thing, I
felt very comfortable. I was concerned, and I talked with the county
attorney yesterday, basically on page 5, paragraph F, whether the --
and that was to make sure that the employee attends at least two pre-
approved government-related conferences annually, that -- regards to
management skills and interpersonal skills, and I believe that's also
covered down in section K of whether the employee enables
administrative staff to achieve potential career progress by
encouraging and allowing attendance at appropriate relevant
conferences or classes.
And basically I believe that's to enhance the ability for upward
mobility for the employees that is under her. And I think that's very
important, because -- when we look at trying to make sure that we
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have ways for the employees to better themselves within the
organization here.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah, if -- I would like to come
back to Commissioner Coletta's concerns. I don't mind going through
his list. But I can be very brief in my observations.
What I did was I took this contract and I compared it with the
county attorney's contract because I felt we ought to have the same
general principles, guiding principles, in these contracts we have with
the county attorney and the county manager and Ms. Filson in this
case, and I can just make some observations concerning where I found
that there were some differences.
And one is in paragraph 6B where we talk about a -- in the event
of termination, we talk about a lump sum cash payment equal to three
months aggregate salary. It's six months in the other contracts. And
the same thing is true of the following paragraph, it's six months.
And also under 7, resignation, shall give county 60 days notice in
advance. I believe there's a difference there with respect to the other
contracts.
And I'm only raising them because maybe there's a reason for
that. I don't know. Is there some reason that there would be a
difference between the provisions of these contracts? I'm addressing it
to the --
MR. PETTIT: I don't think there's any reason for it to be
different. I think it's the pleasure of the board.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I guess unless there is a reason, a
good reason, I would prefer to leave -- try to make these -- these three
contracts as standard as possible.
MR. PETTIT: There is a question that the nature of the search,
for example, for a County Manager or County Attorney might be
broader and longer.
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COMMISSIONER COYLE: Oh, they're a dime a dozen.
Finding a good office manager would be tough.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, yes. I agree that they should
probably be in line with one another just so everything -- everything
seems to be the same standards. And I also agree, I like the sentences
that you added for both of these things. I think it's a good contract.
With these additions, I think it's a great contract.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. Thank you.
And I believe I have only one other question, and I have no idea
if this is even relevant.
The other contracts provide for a cellular phone allowance. I
don't know if Mrs. Filson needs a cellular phone allowance, but she is
on call 24 hours a days, seven days a week. I'm not sure if anybody
, gave any thought to that, but I do know that a cellular phone
allowance is included in the county attorney's contract. Is it not
appropriate for this contract?
MR. PETTIT: I think you can direct that one to Ms. Filson. I
mean, I don't know what the need would be.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I don't know whether she would
find it -- find it helpful or not.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Well, if it's an emergency and we need
to have her services in here, then obviously she's going to -- if we have
a power outage but the cell towers are still up, that's one way that we
can reach her.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I believe that ought to be put in the
contract that she's allowed to have a cell phone, especially in the state
of emergencies, okay?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: If I could elaborate on that a
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little.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And that covers all my concerns.
I've finished. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I think the cell phone should
have the same capability that the commissioner's cell phone has,
because if Ms. Filson's traveling, she still has to be accessible, and it
shouldn't be limited just to Collier County, the range of that phone.
That phone should have unlimited use in the United States, and the
cost is negligible compared to it.
Also, I'd submit to you that if we're going to communicate with
Ms. Filson in this new particular title, her responsibilities are, I think,
clearly defined here -- and they're much more detailed than they were
before -- she needs to be accessible by computer. And if her only
computer here is at the office, we're at a loss.
And I also suggest that she be assigned a laptop computer with
wireless connections and that a wireless connection's installed at her
house so that she's at real time with the county as far as receiving
emails. And if she travels, that computer could also go with her, and
she would be accessible wherever she was.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Especially if we -- if she has to go out on
-- for classes and is out of the county, definitely.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: But also the high speed Internet
connection is absolutely critical.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: If that's available out in her neck of the
woods.
MS. FILSON: Uh-huh.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: It is. As long as she gets cable,
it's available.
And the only other thing that I don't know if it's even necessary
today -- the more I think about it, I really can't remember the last time
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I received a fax that was that important -- would be a fax machine.
But I think today between the cell phone and the email, that it's not
really quite worth the trouble.
MS. FILSON: And they have stream fax now that goes through
the computers.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Okay.
MS. FILSON: Am I allowed to ask questions? Are you finished?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No, I'm not.
MS. FILSON: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: But I'm close to it. One other
thing, too, is I made a cross-comparison -- just like Commissioner
Coyle did, and I'm sure my fellow -- of the county manager and
county attorney's contract.
Page 5, section 5B, all such merit adjustments shall be included
in the employee's base salary or provided as a one-time lump sum
bonus as determined by the county.
Ifwe are basing the contract on the county manager's or county
attorney's contracts, then shouldn't this contract state that all merit
adjustments be included in the employee's base salary?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I think even the county manager's
contract says that, it's just that the county manager has refused to
accept them. He doesn't like salary increases.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, I mean, that -- which way
is -- the county manager's and the county attorneys? Is that included
just as it's worded or is it different?
MR. MUDD: It says it's in the base salary. And since I've been
the manager, I've only taken it as a lump sum and it doesn't go into
salary and it doesn't keep giving from year to year.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: But I mean, your contract
allows you to?
MR. MUDD: I choose to do that. And it comes in front of the
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Board of County Commissioners, and we both agree to it at the time
of my appraisal rating.
MR. MUDD: It allows me to do that, lets me turn down
something, yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Okay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And I think we have that option also.
Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: County Manager, you set up the
lump sum program for what reason? You do that for all employees,
correct?
MR. MUDD: Commissioners, the lump sum -- the lump sum for
-- is for department directors and above irrespective of where they sit
from the pay ranges, okay. And then it's for employees that are 10
percent above the market level.
At that time, we put them in the lump sum instead of putting it in
their pay, because at that particular juncture, you're paying them 10
percent over what they could get in the market for their skills, and you
are compensating them correctly.
So yes, sir, we do that for directors and above and any employee
that's 10 percent above the market point.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Do you do it for managers?
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir, all department directors and above, yes,
Sir. Automatic, no matter where they are in the pay scale.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. So we don't want to be
any different then, right?
MS. FILSON: But they also have a pay plan maintenance that
adjusts the salary from time to time.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And that would be up for us to discuss?
MR. MUDD: Sure. I can include that if you'd like. I can
include that in the annual survey that we do of the pay ranges, and we
can -- I can bring that particular data back to the Board of County
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Commissioners, and you can make a determination of what you'd like
to do.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: So we could --
COMMISSIONER COYLE: You include the pay plan increase
in this contract with Ms. Filson; is that what we're talking about?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yes.
MR. MUDD: No, Commissioner, what we do on an annual--
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I know what you do, but I'm trying
to get the connection with what we're going to do on this contract.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Contract also.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: So I got a little confused in that
discussion.
Ms. Filson asked the question about -- you have a pay plan
increase, whereas, this contract doesn't specify a pay plan increase at
all during its entire -- entire duration.
MR. MUDD: There should be -- there should be specif -- now, I
haven't read that contract. I did, but I stopped at the second draft,
okay.
There should be a specification in there that Ms. Filson's salary
that she has right now will receive a COLA or -- and/or -- a COLA
increase on an annual basis, okay, to keep track that she stays up with
the buying power of her salary.
That's the same thing that's in my contract, and the only issue is,
does merit go into my payor does it come lump sum? I choose to get
it lump sum.
And this way -- because if you do that in my contract and you did
it over the last couple of years, my contract -- my annual pay would be
well over $200,000, and it would basically price me out of the market
as a manager for you, and that's not fair to the citizens of Collier
County.
And I believe the COLA increase to the salary that was
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negotiated with this board is sufficient. And if you choose to give me
a bonus at the end of the year because of the actions and -- that I did in
performance during the year, then that's so be it, and we'll do it, but
we'll do it on a one-time basis and not put it into the pay so it
overinflates my particular salary.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Then my point was -- and I can't
speak for Ms. Filson, because I don't know what she wants in this
regard.
But the salary provisions don't address a COLA or an adjustment
of the pay range at all during the entire period of her contract. It only
talks about salary increase. It provides the option of including it in the
salary schedule or providing it as a one-time lump sum bonus.
MS. FILSON: There's a provision--
CHAIRMAN HALAS: County Attorney?
MS. FILSON: There's a provision in there for COLA.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I just didn't see it.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: County Attorney, could you enlighten us
on this?
MR. PETTIT: I think -- I believe that in 5C -- maybe it can be
clarified -- but it says, on the date that general wage adjustments, cost
of living, special study pay adjustments -- which I meant to refer to
the kind of pay plan studies that Mr. Mudd's organization does from
time to time where they adjust pay to deal with changes in the market
-- are both to be part of her salary package.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. Then how do we handle the
issue, the option, of including it in a base salary or as one lump sum?
MR. PETTIT: With respect to the annual increase that's tied to
performance, I think, again, that's up to you. I mean, you can leave it
as optional or you can decide to go one way or another. It's a
contractual negotiation.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: So that would be up to us to decide
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whether it's going to be a lump sum or whether it's going to be added
to the base salary, correct?
MR. PETTIT: Or you can direct that the contract be revised to
reflect one way or the other.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. FILSON: During the evaluation period.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Did you have something you wanted to
add?
MS. FILSON: Yes, I have some questions, if I may..
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Sure.
MS. FILSON: On page 1, section 1, it says, employees shall also
develop written policies for the day-to-day business of the office, and
such policies shall be provided by the board.
I'm not sure what that means, and the county attorney was
unclear, so he asked me to address it to the board.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, obviously you're looking
at me for that, and the reason why I wanted to put it in __
MS. FILSON: Because I know you--
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I think it's appropriate to have
fair and equal treatment with all the aides in the -- in the county
commission office, and how to exercise that and enforce that is
through policies, written policies of, you know, their duties.
MS. FILSON: Oh, we have that, and I'll be happy to provide
them to you.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So those -- yeah, as long as
there's policies written on their job and their duties, that's great.
MS. FILSON: Yeah, we have that.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
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CHAIRMAN HALAS: How about, is there going to be some
way that, if there's a conflict, that we'll be able to resolve that conflict?
MS. FILSON: I truly hope so.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Will that be written in there also that __
MS. FILSON: Yes. I'm working with the County Attorney's
Office. I think it's Scott who's going to come up with procedures on
that. But I was confused whether this included that or the day-to-day
business.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Basically what I want to do is make sure
that we have some way of having the commitment for fair treatment,
okay? I think it's very important.
MS. FILSON: The next question I have is, page 4, performance
evaluation. A summary of all evaluations will be prepared by the
employee, distributed to the county. I don't know what county means.
And then it says, and placed on the board agenda, does it mean to
each individual commissioner or place it just on the agenda or what?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Basically it's -- I believe what they're
getting at here is that, just like the county attorney or the county
manager, where each of the evaluation reports will be submitted by
each of the county commissioners and then it will be discussed in an
open forum as far as performance review goes.
MS. FILSON: So that means I'm to summarize them, give them
to each commissioner, and put them on the agenda?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's correct.
MS. FILSON: That's what county means? Okay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's correct.
Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: That means that you provide us
the form, Commissioners, individually.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yep.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: We'll fill them out and give
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May 23, 2006
them --
MS. FILSON: It says you'll give them back to me __
COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's fine.
MS. FILSON: -- to summarize and then put on the agenda, okay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And then you'll have ranking process
that you'll go through, just like the county attorney or the county
manager.
MS. FILSON: Okay. Oh, I have one other question. Page 6, it
says employee sick leave days accrued prior to being capped on
August 2, 1996, shall be paid out to employee pursuant to the county
policy in effect August 2, 1996, but it doesn't say when. And my
question is, if that's going to be paid out, can it be put into my tax
deferred compensation account?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Is there any examples out there
in the county attorney's or County Manager's Office? And what's the
ramifications for the cost factor?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Talk to--
MR. WEIGEL: Mr. Chairman and Commissioners, a few years
ago on my contract when it was being revised, I had, over a 10-year
period, a lot of hours. And the county had adopted a formula back in
'96 to cap hours so that when people left the county that they would
not leave and get paid an inordinate amount of money for the sick
leave that they never used. The concept was sick leave was for use as
sick leave, and if you didn't use it, that was a good thing. They didn't
want to make it an extraordinary bonus.
So the policy that was adopted back in '96 took a -- it took a
valuation figure -- I think it was 35 percent of salary at a particular
point in time -- and created a value for hours up -- that any employee
-- old employee, younger then but older now -- had at that point in
time, and so there was a fixed value for that.
Now, a person could continue to use sick leave and ultimately, if
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you were sick enough, over enough period of time, it would all go
away.
And in my case I had a payment made, and I think it was at 35
percent of the salary that I had at -- in 1996, and it was paid out to me
in a contract amount, and that's what this is contemplating.
And so Ms. Filson's question is, when would that be? The
answer would be, by virtue of the fact the contract as written provides
for that to come to you, it would just be a procedural application after
the approval of this contract, if that term is left in.
Her additional question was, rather than that money just coming
to her in terms of a check, could it go into her deferred compensation
account, and the answer is yes, it could be contractually provided for
here and it should not be a problem.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. So upon signing the contract then
MR. WEIGEL: There is -- yeah. Mike reminds me, there is a
limit annually as to what could go into the account. So I would
suspect that by virtue of the -- call it the statutory limit, that any
amount that was beyond the statutory limit would just spill over to you
as a separate check.
MS. FILSON: I also have a make-up though.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I don't have a problem.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yep.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. FILSON: And those are all my questions, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Any other questions?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Ifnot, do we have a motion in regards to
this?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Motion to approve as so
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May 23, 2006
amended.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MR. PETTIT: May I clarify, see if I've got the amendments on--
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yes. Would you read them back.
MR. PETTIT: I'll try to -- I hope I got them all.
Commissioner Coyle -- and I believe he had consensus on this--
had provided that the language will be, redistribute workload or
assume the duties in section 1 where there was discussion about Ms.
Filson assuming the duties of aides who were out. We've clarified that
the county attorney and Ms. Filson will work to bring back a
discipline and commitment to fair treatment policy. That's already in
the contract, that proposal.
Let's see. With respect to the evaluation, I want to make sure I
got that clear. I think -- let me explain that the reason that sentence
was in there was to just clarify that Ms. Filson, as I understand, it has
been her practice, would consult the commissioner before she would
finalize an evaluation, because a commissioner working with an aide
is going to have some insight into that aide's performance that maybe
she doesn't, it would seem.
And so obviously they would want input from the commissioner.
That's what the purpose of that consultation was. I think what she'd
ask is that there be some provision here in the contract that if there is a
conflict over the evaluation, as Ms. Filson sees it and the
commissioner sees it, that that be resolved by this board at an open
seSSIon.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's correct.
MR. PETTIT: And we can write something in to that effect.
Is the board then desiring to have Ms. Filson have a six-month
pay-out upon termination? And also there's a notice period that I think
you wanted to make just the same as the county -- same as the County
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Attorney or the County Manager.
And to clarify, Commissioner Halas, I know you want -- in the
request for management conference, you wanted to be sure there was a
management conference, interpersonal skills, skills to use in the
workplace to work with people --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's right.
MR. PETTIT: -- one conference. We're going to add a cell
phone allowance and a laptop computer.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Question on that. Cell phone
allowance or county supply a cell phone? They may be able to do it a
lot less expensive than Ms. Filson could do on the open market.
MR. PETTIT: Okay. We can write it that way.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: If she used any of it for personal
use, it would be billed against her just as it is to the commissioners.
MR. PETTIT: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And that allows her to maintain
her own personal cell phone if she so desires to.
MR. PETTIT: I believe that is all in terms of change, because I
think Ms. Filson's questions were answered and clarified, other than
the issue with the deferred compen -- well, the payment of sick leave
that she's entitled to -- what I didn't get, and maybe I just didn't catch
it, when was the payment? That was Ms. Filson's question. When she
leaves the county, is that the plan?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well--
MR. PETTIT: Or would we --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: -- did Mr. Weigel get that
payment recently?
MR. PETTIT: He -- I think you got it in advance, right?
MR. WEIGEL: Well, my--
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Upon signing a contract.
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MR. WEIGEL: My payment, though, was for that sick leave that
I had accumulated from 1985 to 1996 and not used it.
MS. FILSON: And that's what mine is also.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I would like to see it duplicated.
MR. PETTIT: And you would just to follow __
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Upon signing the contract.
MR. PETTIT: -- pay it -- upon the contract execution, there will
be a pay-out, and to the extent that some of that can be paid in
deferred compo in accordance with the applicable laws.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Whatever the limit is, upper limit, yep.
MR. PETTIT: We'll do that.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Any other further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. I believe we have a motion on the
floor by Commissioner Coyle (sic).
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No, Coletta.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Coletta, and a second by Commissioner
Coyle.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Those opposed, by like sign?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries. And I'd like to thank
Commissioner Henning --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Very much.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: -- for working with the county attorney
in regards to formulating this contract. Thank you very much,
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May 23, 2006
Commissioner Henning.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: My pleasure.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah, good job.
Item #10A
REQUEST ADDITIONAL BOARD DIRECTION REGARDING
WHETHER TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE
AMENDMENTS TO COLLIER COUNTY'S NOISE ORDINANCE
- MOTION TO TAKE NO ACTION AT THIS TIME - APPROVED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that brings us to our next item,
which is lOA. And this is a request -- to request additional board
direction regarding whether to further investigate possible
amendments to the Collier County's noise ordinance, and Mr. Joseph
Schmitt, administrator -- excuse me. Ms. Michelle Arnold, the
Director for Code Enforcement, will present.
MS. ARNOLD: Good morning, Commissioners. Michelle
Arnold, for the record.
I'm here in response to your direction that was given to staff at a
town hall meeting in the North Naples area. I've worked with the
County Attorney's Office as well as the sheriffs office, on evaluating
what that -- the current enforcement abilities are of our noise
ordinance.
I -- there was a memo provided to you that gives you a little bit
of background as to, you know, how we are -- or how our ordinance
came to be.
As you all know, back in 2000, we had an extensive rewrite of
the noise ordinance and had a consultant that was working with us at
that particular time. They went out and did 24-hour readings within
the county at various locations and made recommendations for
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May 23, 2006
modifications to the noise ordinance.
And there was discussion at that particular time as well to modify
or reduce the decibel levels, the maximum decibel levels. And one
community, the Immokalee community, for example, was wanting the
commissioners to maintain it as they were.
The ultimate decision of the commissioners at that particular time
was to maintain the maximum decibel levels at the existing levels as
what we have today.
It's staffs position that if we were to evaluate looking at lowering
those levels or modifying them in any way, that it would be more
appropriate to have a consultant come and conduct another study
within the community.
There's been a lot of growth. There's been a lot of change within
the community since the time that that evaluation was done, and I
think it would be appropriate for us to do another evaluation with that
expertise before we do any major modifications to the ordinance.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I have to agree with you.
Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I'm kind of reluctant to do
any changes. And, you know, I do remember a lot of the discussion
back in 2000 when the previous board discussed this. And the
concerns was an average -- a daily average use of a lawn mower, a
chain saw and those things that homeowners use.
The issue -- this issue was brought up by a community that
moved next to an industrial use, the granite plant in N orth Naples.
And, you know, it's no different than people moving near an airport.
And, you know, and there has to be responsible -- yeah, responsible
government and reasonable government, and people need to take
personal responsibility because of what they invested in. And at this
time I can't support any changes to the existing ordinances.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coyle?
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah. I would tend to agree. I
don't know exactly how we go about addressing those, but I would
like to say that I -- if anyone can tell me how we can control these __
the noise emanating from these cars with these very, very loud base
speakers cruising up and down the streets, rattling the windows of the
neighborhoods -- the homes in the neighborhood, you know, if there is
any way we can enforce something like that, it would be really
wonderful.
MS. ARNOLD: That is actually something that is enforced by
the sheriffs office, and there are regulations that would allow the
sheriffs office to enforce those base noises. And if it's audible within,
I think it's like a 50-foot range -- clearly audible, then they can do
something about that. There are representatives here __
COMMISSIONER COYLE: How do you get them if they're
moving in traffic?
MS. ARNOLD: Well, I'm going to have to refer to the sheriffs
office. There is someone here.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Can you shoot them?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I like that.
MR. BAKER: Good morning, Commissioners. For the record,
my name's Mark Baker. I'm a Captain of the Patrol Division of the
Collier County Sheriffs Office. That is specifically addressed in
Florida state statutes on vehicles. It does become problematic of trying
to catch the vehicle. It does have to occur in your presence.
There's a lot of things that are -- makes it difficult for an
enforcement. But as you know, we can't let it go. So any call that we
receive, we obviously respond, but the car is mobile, and it may be
gone from that particular location, as in a neighborhood, a community,
such as that.
It does have to occur in our presence where we, as the law
enforcement officer, hear the clearly audible -- and I believe it is 100
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May 23, 2006
feet, but it is specifically addressed with Florida state statutes
regarding traffic. It's under the traffic statute.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Good. Then the next time I'm
going to follow the car and get you on the cell phone, and we're going
to track him down, okay?
MR. BAKER: We can do that.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay, good.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I have a couple of questions I'd like to
ask staff. I did have a meeting with the people that -- with your staff
that are involved in noise regulation and monitoring of noises.
In our discussion, they -- some of your staff members thought
that it might be conducive to have a study with a consultant because
things are changing in the environment, and also there are
communities that have looked at noise ordinances and have made
some changes.
And I don't agree that we should have something to the point
where you can't run a lawn mower or something of this nature. But I
believe that as the community infills, that we're going to have more
and more cases whereby I think we're going to have noise complaints.
One of the things that came up in the discussion, and that was, as
we have more of these mixed-use items that come before the Board of
County Commissioners and whereby we put residents above mixed
use, we might run into a problem whereby we end up with a noise
issue because somebody lives below a night club or a bar or
something of this nature.
So I think that maybe we ought to look at this. And we're getting
more and more infill throughout the county, and not only just in the
residential area but I believe also in the rural area.
So I think that it would behoove us to have a study with a
consultant and maybe put a limit on the amount of money that we
should spend on this. But I really believe that we should look at this,
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May 23, 2006
because I think we're going to run into more and more of these
particular cases because people are looking at it as a quality -- or
quality of life.
And a lot of times when people buy residences, they may be from
out of town, and the fact is that they don't have the time to investigate
exactly what's going on. And of course, the realtor isn't going to tell
them that there's going to be a bar down on the corner that's going to
have deep base coming out of it.
And I think that hopefully the sheriffs department would -- I'm
not sure what -- maybe you can give me some guidance on this in
regards to how -- do you need more -- do you need more authority or
do you need more guidance in regards to addressing these
noise-related issues?
MR. BAKER: Well, sir, again, just to -- we have been partnering
with Michelle and code enforcement on a lot of different issues, as
you know. We're in the constant state of flux as well as being fluid on
everything.
I don't know that you could give us the appropriate tools to keep
enforcement. I think it's a fact that, as the county continues to grow
and our priorities become -- the priority is the property owners.
And the quality of life issues are very important to address. It's a
matter of how we're going about addressing it.
And we've discussed the ordinance, and the way it is written
today, it is enforceable. It's a matter of having the training, the
expertise, the proper equipment to do those readings as well as the
time and the window of opportunity to do it as the calls for service
continue to come. And again, each call is addressed.
As you know, Sheriff Hunter, if we -- if somebody calls and asks
for a deputy, obviously we respond. It's a matter of having the right
person on at that particular hour who has the appropriate training, who
has the proper equipment, who is able to distinguish whether or not it's
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May 23, 2006
going to be a violation of the ordinance or not.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. In your -- in your professional
guidance, do you feel that the ordinance that we presently have is
sufficient, or do you think there's some areas that we need to address
or consultant?
MR. BAKER: I would probably ask that Captain Hedberg of our
legal discuss some of the intricacies, because it is quite difficult and,
you know, we don't have the availability of having an attorney in the
car with us every night. But we do try to interpret them the best we
can, and I would ask him to comment on the substantive nature of the
ordinance.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I'm just talking about the measurement
system that we presently use.
MR. BAKER: It is problematic in the equipment. And you've
got to take the wind readings. And Michelle's more familiar than we
are as far as what types of equipment provide the best reading to
substantiate a violation.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. ARNOLD: I think what Captain Baker is talking about, too
-- and we had this discussion -- is that it's a staffing issue. We may
train personnel and get them certified, but then those personnel move
on. They move on to different departments and that type of thing, and
it's a constant thing that you have to keep on top of that, you know,
even though we have an ordinance, that once that individual is trained,
is able to -- if enforceable, we don't have that stability of having that
personnel stay in that position for -- and that personnel may not be
available when that call comes.
So that's the issue that we're kind of dealing with.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And how do we address the concerns of
citizens that are down here and continually making calls __
MS. ARNOLD: You're right, it's difficult.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: -- or sending commissioners notes in
regards to loud noises being emitted from establishments? How do we
address that?
MS. ARNOLD: Well-- and, you know, we -- the Code
Enforcement Department has similar staffing problems, but we at least
can address those repetitive problems, the problems that you can
define when it's going to happen. The difficult thing is, those that are
one-time -- the one-time party, the, you know, one-time occurrence.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's not what I'm talking about. We're
talking about -- I'm talking about stuff that is repetitious, night after
night after night, and yet our ordinance says that -- says that, well, I
think they're within the guidelines, but it might be that -- the way that
we're measuring the noise or the averaging time, and that's why I think
that maybe we need to have a consultant get involved in some of these
issues, and see how other locales in the United States are dealing with
some of these issues, especially with quality of life. Do you
understand what --
MS. ARNOLD: I agree, yeah. I mean, I think if -- it wouldn't
hurt to have someone look at what we are doing comparative to other
communities. And I think we have done a little bit of that when we
produced the ordinance, because we want to be consistent with our
neighboring communities and those types of things.
I was provided or I did inquire regarding the Bonita ordinance
that recently was adopted because there was an article in the paper
regarding their -- their ordinance and the increased enforcement. And,
you know, I was pleased to say that our ordinance is consistent with
theirs. So there is -- there isn't any distinction.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I know there's other communities
throughout the United States that have -- did something in regards to
ordinances, and I think it was probably cutting down the averaging
time on using octave band analysis.
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May 23, 2006
Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I don't see any public
outcry for change, and the common complaint that I get -- I don't
know if it's true to my colleagues -- the noise abatement due to
expanding roads. Everybody wants a noise wall.
And so I'm going to make a motion for the board not to take any
action on this item.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Do I hear a second?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I'll second that because I can't
see any particular direction if we hired a consultant. I just think it
would be a -- just turning the money over and not really seeing any
tremendous results. But, once again, I'm open for any suggestions
from my fellow board members.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. My concern is that think that this
is going to be a problem as we have more and more people coming to
this county, and especially if you have entertainment that's closely
associated with the residential areas. But whatever the flavor of the
commissioner here is.
Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, it's really -- you know, we
need -- we need to properly land plan, my opinion, here in Collier
County. The perfect example is allowing residentials to build around
a cement plant in North Naples. Not this board, but previous boards.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Well, I'm not talking about a cement
plant. We're talking about places of entertainment and how that's
affecting some of the citizens, local citizens, and how it may affect
some of the citizens in the future if we go along and -- with mixed-use
residential. I think that could end up to be a concern, so __
COMMISSIONER HENNING: If I may finish.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Again, due to land planning, if
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May 23, 2006
you have a mixed-use product, you could limit the activities in there,
such as a -- such as a bar or something of that nature.
You know, I hope that mixed-use products do come forward, and
I haven't seen anything except for 5th Avenue, personally, but the
county can, on those PUDs, limit the uses on there so that we don't
have a -- create a conflict like has been done in N orth Naples.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah. Let me provide you some
first-hand experience about that on 5th Avenue, as well as 3rd Street
South in the City of Naples.
What Commissioner Halas says is absolutely true. The
mixed-use districts do tend to create problems where there's a conflict
between the commercial segments and the residential segments. And it
is -- you're pretty much walking a tightrope on trying to make
decisions about what kinds of business will be allowed to operate
there, because many years ago when 5th Avenue started developing,
we had a number of residents -- restaurants on the -- in the area, and
then along came live music at those restaurants and/or bar areas. And
then it was outdoor music, and there was a continuing problem with
nOIse.
The city has controlled it for the most part in exactly the same
way we're controlling things now. If it causes a disturbance for
residential residents, it can be ruled in violation and you can pull the
permit for the live entertainment, as an example, or any other music.
So we have to be vigilant, but I think we have the tools to deal
with that, but we do have to attack it from two different directions.
One is, when we decide about the uses in a mixed-use development,
we have to be careful that we don't permit things that are in conflict.
But then once we have approved a mixed-use development, our code
enforcement people have to be very careful about not permitting these
things to get out of hand.
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May 23, 2006
I think we've got the tools to do it. The problem in most cases
seems to be how frequently we monitor it and how well we monitor it,
and we have control over all that, I believe.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. First thing, do we have the
tools in place to monitor it?
MS. ARNOLD: In terms of equipment, yes, we do. I mean,
we're working on increasing that inventory right now, and then also
setting up a training session to train additional staff in the fall.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'm always just a little bit hesitant to
overgovernment anything. And you know, it seems that once you __
once you start regulating, than everybody else wants more regulations
and more regulations, and pretty soon we won't be a community
working together anymore.
I agree that some people violate the privacy or the noise of
others; I understand that. But for the most part, I think we -- you
know, hopefully we strive for a courteous community to one another.
And for those that aren't, then you can step in. And as long as you've
got the tools in place to do it and you've got the staff to work with her,
I would kind of just like to see it rest for now.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Any other further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. We have a motion on the floor to
leave everything the same and not to recommend any further studies in
regards to this.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: At this time.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay, at this time. And we have a
second.
All those in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Those opposed?
Aye.
So --
MS. ARNOLD: Thank you, Commissioners.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you for your time also.
Item #10B
REQUEST BY THE PETITIONER THAT THIS ITEM BE
CONTINUED TO THE JUNE 20, 2006 BCC MEETING. REPORT
ON THE DRAINAGE ISSUE ASSOCIATED WITH THE QUAIL
HOLLOW SUBDIVISION AS REQUESTED BY THE BOARD _
ITEM CONTINUED TO JUNE 20, 2006
MR. MUDD: Commissioners, that brings us to the next item,
which is lOB. It's a request by the petitioner that this item be __
excuse me.
It's been continued till the 20th of June, and that was at
petitioner's request.
Item #10C
REPORT TO THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SUMMARIZING THE APRIL 13, 2006 IMMOKALEE HOUSING
WORKSHOP AND REQUEST THAT THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS PROVIDE DIRECTION TO THE COUNTY
MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, REGARDING ENFORCEMENT
OF THE EXISTING MINIMUM HOUSING STANDARDS
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May 23, 2006
ORDINANCE AS IT RELATES TO THE IMMOKALEE AREA-
APPROVED W/STIPULATIONS
The next item is 10C, and it's a report to the Board of County
Commissioners summarizing the April 13, 2006, Immokalee housing
workshop, and request that the Board of County Commissioners
provide direction to the county manager or his designee regarding
enforcement of the existing minimum housing standards ordinance as
it relates to the Immokalee area.
And Mr. Denny Baker, your Manager for Financial Operations
and Community Developments, will present.
Commissioners, just as an aside, before Denny starts, we had the
workshop, and this workshop was a little abnormal in the fact that it
started with a tour starting at around 2:30, and then we started a
workshop in the gymnasium out in Immokalee at around 5:30,6:00,
and it went -- I think it went till about 9:30, 10:00.
And with your busy schedules, it was difficult to get everybody
to be there all at the same time. And when the final night closed with
public comment, there was not a quorum to get direction to staff, so
that's why we're bringing this item back to the Board of County
Commissioners, to make sure that we draw closure from that
workshop with any direction that this board would like us to take.
Mr. Baker?
MR. BAKER: Hi. Good morning, Commissioners. Jim stole
my introduction, so I'll go right to the recommendations that are listed
in the executive summary, and if I could just take a minute and read
these for you and for the public.
My name is Denny Baker, Director of Financial Administration
and Housing, Operational Support and Grants.
We conducted a workshop on April 13 of this year in Immokalee,
and as Jim mentioned, we had a tour prior to that workshop. The
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May 23, 2006
workshop produced several recommendations.
Number one, to take an aggressive approach to strictly enforcing
our minimum housing ordinance by condemning substandard
dwellings with the intent to complete this work during the summer
months while the foreign population is at low levels. Obviously to __
with the objective of displacing as few people as possible.
Reinstate the program to provide tipping fees for assistance for
condemned mobile homes to the tune of$100,000, which we have as
an expanded item in our FY-'07 budget.
Strictly enforce compliance with code enforcement's rental
registration code.
Provide $250,000 each year for three years to Dr. Colfer's
organization to increase department's health inspection staff for the
Immokalee area.
And finally, to promote the existence of our fast-track ordinance
and our impact fee deferral programs to encourage corporate growers
to build affordable housing for their workers.
So with that, Michelle Arnold, Cormac and I are here, and Dr.
Colfer and Nancy are here to answer any questions.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Commissioner Coletta was first.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Oh, you go ahead.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Oh, okay. I think these are great
recommendations, Denny. I think the staff is right on here. I have a
couple of -- couple of questions.
Number 4, increase the Department of Health inspection staff and
budget by $250,000. What is the proposed source of funding for that?
MR. BAKER: General fund.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: General fund?
MR. BAKER: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I would -- I support the need for
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May 23, 2006
this. The question is, is this just for this -- this particular push in
Immokalee?
MR. BAKER: Yes.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And then what happens at the end
of that time? How are we going to deal with the staff? Are we going
to contract with someone, are we going to hire people permanently
and then discharge them at the end of that time?
MR. BAKER: That's a good question. This program, this
suggestion is for a three-year period, and I'll let Dr. Colfer address
that.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay.
DR. COLFER: Well, quite frankly, I didn't know anything about
the three-year period. No. What we had discussed was the need for
more inspectors. I have one inspector to do that migrant housing
proj ect out in Immokalee.
And I just wanted to show you a picture of something that had
been taken care of. I think this will show up on the overhead. This is
something that you didn't see on the tour, and the reason you didn't see
it --
COMMISSIONER COYLE: It's upside down, is the reason.
That's the reason.
DR. COLFER: Wait a second.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Oh, I see. Okay.
DR. COLFER: Is because that was -- that was something that
was very akin to a trailer that Nancy described to me right after
Wilma. The trailer had been totally destroyed, yet she and her staff
found 23 people living under that trailer and around it. They basically
pulled away that little fencing piece that you see at the bottom and
crawled underneath of there at night to sleep. They cooked in the
open field to survive. I mean, in an open fire. And I have one
inspector out there to deal with issues like this.
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May 23, 2006
Now, since Wilma happened, and the reason you didn't see it, is
that our staff worked with those 23 people to get them placed
someplace else, worked with everybody else in the community,
including the property owners, to create that kind of a place, you
know, cleared up, cleaned up, and the remnants of the trailer taken
away.
The philosophy of the program is to get everybody that rents to
migrants into the program so that they hold a license. Then that way
we're able to raise the standard of living in those places. What the
standards call for are pretty straightforward. Some working sanitary
facilities, adequate space for, you know, beds, potable hot and cold
water, adequate lighting, and if there's a family, refrigeration and
cooking facilities. That's it, bare minimum stuff for survival.
We license 7,500 beds. We think that's probably 50 percent of
what goes on in Immokalee for migrant housing, and we've been able
to find those places over years. So the idea is to give more -- give us
more inspectors. We need -- you know, obviously you need a
computer and a desk and a car to put them in the field, and to go find
the rest of these places so that we can bring them into compliance, and
also have the staff that we can deal with issues like this after the
storm.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Well, my concern here is that, as
Denny said, we want to do these things during the summertime so we
don't displace too many people, we don't have a major impact, and
create more homelessness.
How can we give you funds so that we can get this done, make a
complete sweep this summer? What can we do? Can we contract with
enough people to get you the manpower and assistance to do a
complete sweep of the entire area this summer before the next season
starts?
DR. COLFER: I think we can.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Then if that's the case, I would be
happy to approve an expenditure of this money. I wouldn't want it
phased over three years. Okay, three years is going to take a long time
get this done.
If we can concentrate the effort into this summer and try to have
a place for our seasonal workers to live next season that is acceptable,
then it seems to me that we would be doing everyone a service rather
than trying to spread it over three years.
DR. COLFER: Well, and I don't like the spread over three years.
I mean, I would rather have staff that was consistent. You do have to
bring staff in and train them, you know, so that they can do the job
adequately.
What we discussed at the meeting though was a little bit
different, and that was that we need housing to come on-line. Right
now, you know, we don't have a lot of that housing.
You know, I was out there just last week for another meeting and
drove down Lake Trafford road, and there -- you know, there's some
beautiful housing that's coming on-line. But we need to work, I think,
together with the developers that are trying to develop out in
Immokalee to make that happen. Otherwise, I'm putting people, you
know, out of places, or when they come back next year there won't be
anyplace for them.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: That's right. But I -- and let's be
brutally honest about this, if -- we want to make sure people have safe,
healthy, places to live, not situations like you've just shown us.
DR. COLFER: Right, right.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. And--
DR. COLFER: And this is because of Wilma.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: So we're going to try to put a stop
to anything like this --
DR. COLFER: Yeah.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- except in emergencies, of course.
But we're going to try to put a stop to this sort of thing. And when
people return next year and there are no substandard places to live in,
there is only one way the employers are going to get their labor, and
that is to build adequate housing for their laborers, end of story.
And I don't -- I'm not going to be shy about demanding that. So I
would -- what I'm really trying to get at is, let's eliminate all this
substandard housing and place the responsibility where the
responsibility should be placed, and that's on the employers and the
contractors for the migrant workers to provide adequate housing for
them.
And then I'm going to take it one step further that is probably
going to cause a lot of consternation, and that's the last one, the
countywide impact fee deferral program. I'll be happy to vote for as
many deferral programs as we can possibly get for these people, but I
will not vote for an impact fee deferral program for illegals. End of
story .
So we're going to have to get tough about this problem, and I'm
tired of walking around it and pretending that it doesn't exist. I'm
willing to get tough with it. I have the greatest respect and admiration
and appreciation for those migrant workers who are here legally and
who are working hard to prepare for -- I want to take care of those
people. I really want to do everything we can to help them. But for
those who've violated our laws, I am not going to spend taxpayer
money providing them shelter in this country illegally. End of story.
DR. COLFER: Okay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Dr. Colfer, I have one question to ask
you.
DR. COLFER: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Is -- was this particular home, was it
owned or was it a rented unit?
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DR. COLFER: Well, it had to be -- it was owned by somebody,
but it was rented out to migrants. The statutes reads that it's five or
more individuals that engage in migrant work.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Why didn't we get after the person that
owned this to --
DR. COLFER: Oh, we -- I'm sure that's what Nancy's staff did
do. I just showed you the picture to show you that that's the kind of
thing that we found after Wilma. You know, some of the things as
you saw out there were not in the best of shape, but they did meet the
code as it's written for migrant housing.
Now, we're not crazy about that. Like I said, we've tried to bring
those people up. We do need to be able to have places to put these
folks. And so we, too, are looking for direction from the board. If--
as Commissioner Coyle stated, we're going to start taking a real hard
line, and when people come back, we're not going to have those places
available, that's fine, we can do that.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I just wanted to start off by
saying, Commissioner Coyle, if you weren't so old and ugly and of the
wrong gender, I could kiss you for your statement, because that's
exactly. what I've been saying for a long time.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: We've got two votes so far. Let's
work on the other ones.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Three.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Absolutely correctly. I'm 100
percent down the line. Of course, the migrant situation should be at
the border where they start to control it.
DR. COLFER: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: But what's going to happen is, is
regardless of what happens, they're going to -- if we're not proactive
on this, we're going to have the problem where they're going to be
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coming back to Immokalee and sleeping under tractor trailers and just
wherever they can to be able to exist there.
So we're going to have to be proactive as we get into the season.
But there's two elements to this that complicate it slightly but not
totally is, you have, one is the migrant laborers who come and go, just
like the snowbirds that inhabited Naples. We've got the migrant
laborers. When they're gone, they're no longer our responsibility, and
I agree with you that farms should be providing the infrastructure to be
able to take care of them.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Better believe it.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And the good thing is, a lot of
them are. And that was one of the recommendations I have here is
that we have a proclamation on a future agenda recognizing at least
two elements out there, Gargulio and the Tomato Man who are
providing housing, and have them in front of the commissioner so the
rest of the world can see, and we can restate our position clearly to the
rest of the world.
The other element out there that we haven't answered the
question for, and I think it -- and that was the reason for the three-year
lag, was those people that live here year-round that have permanent
residence here, and that's the concern that's going to take a period of
time to be able to find placement for them.
Now, we don't actually have to put them in places. We have to
find it. And we have several different efforts underway in Immokalee
with new projects coming on-line where they'll dedicate units to these
people coming out of substandard units so there could be an orderly
transition, start with the very worst and work on down the line, and do
you cover the whole thing?
Now, of course, what they're going to move into is going to cost
more and they have to be eligible for it. But if they are eligible and
they refuse to move into it, then that's no longer our problem. They're
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never going to find rent as cheap as what they've got now in units that
are deplorable as what we see in front of us.
But thank you very much for covering the issue. That's why I
didn't hand it to you first. I thought you were going to get it right, and
you did.
DR. COLFER: Could I comment, too, on the nature of this
program? I mean, it requires working with the people that own
housing out there that are going to rent it to migrants. When they're
gone, either, you know, laying the law down, that's it, you know,
you're not going to be able to use this because you're never going to be
able to bring it up to where it needs to be, or in the case where
something is salvageable and they can make repairs and have it fixed
up in time for the migrants to come back, it's a continual monitoring
effort while the migrants are there.
The statute requires that we're in there at least twice. And I know
Nancy's staff is in there a lot more frequently than that when the
migrants are there.
So this idea of, you know, give us the money and then it goes
away, over time that's not going to work, because if we're not out there
looking, it's all going to deteriorate again. So I don't care what the
amount of money is, but I think it needs to be static so that I've got the
ability to get people to meet what we say are the requirements and
keep it there.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And between the efforts of your
agency and the fact that we have a rental registry in place that requires
people to be registered so that their property can be inspected on a
regular basis, I think we're there.
DR. COLFER: Okay.
MR. BAKER: I'm glad Commissioner Coletta brought up the
fact that we're just not talking about migrant housing, because Dr.
Colfer's responsibilities are just migrant.
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So to your point, Commissioner Coyle, the money would go to
Dr. Colfer for the migrant housing, but we still have owners and
renters out there who are a different issue. Just like in the one that --
in the camp that we went into.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Is that $250 (sic) going to include fuel
for the bulldozer to bulldoze that stuff out of there if it's not a --
MR. BAKER: I'll let Michelle Arnold answer that question.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Good. Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Mr. Baker?
MR. BAKER: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: The way I read the executive
summary, the fiscal impact, you're asking for $100,000 for '07, and
then 250,000 for '07 to go on the health department, that's for a
three-year -- is that for a three-year period?
MR. BAKER: Correct.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So you're talking over a million
dollars.
MR. BAKER: Seven-fifty, that's correct, a million dollars.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Pardon me?
MR. BAKER: Yes, sir, that's correct.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: It's over --
MR. BAKER: Seven-fifty would be three years at 250 per year.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right.
MR. MUDD: Over a three-year period of time, what he has in
the fiscal, for a three-year period of time, for the 250- and the 100,000,
yes, it's over a million dollars.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. It's $1.3 million. Is there
any reason why we're not using CDBG monies? Doesn't that have to
do with housing?
MR. BAKER: It does have to do with housing. We don't have
the liberty of just awarding the money to these kinds of activities. It
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has to be a petition from a not- for-profit organization. The merits of
their petition would be weighed against the other merits, and an award
take place. We haven't had anyone come forward with that petition.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, the Board of
Commissioners are non -- I shouldn't say that. We're not a profitable
organization, although we collect a heck of a lot of money.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: We lose money. We're not--
definitely not profitable.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, can Board of
Commissioners --
MR. BAKER: I'll let Cormac answer that question.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And I have some follow-up, too.
MR. GIBLIN: Commissioners, Cormac Giblin, your housing
and grants manager. The issue of disposing of the dilapidated and
condemned housing, that is a CDBG-eligible expense. As Denny
mentioned, it does take an applicant to come forward and say, we
want to do this.
The other issue about the staffing funding, that, I don't believe is
-- would be eligible for the CDBG expense.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
MR. GIBLIN: But the program itself, the dollars of funding the
demolition disposal removal is eligible, it's just someone would need
to apply to do that.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Mr. Giblin, can the Board of
Commissioners apply for it?
MR. GIBLIN: You can apply, yes. It could be a county initiated
program. It's just that when we looked at it -- recently you approved
our five-year consolidated plan and one-year action plan for CDBG
program. The number one priority, you stated, was affordable
housing, and specifically the creation of new affordable housing units,
and that's where you and we have targeted the future CDBG monies to
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go. It certainly -- we could amend the plan to delete one of the other
previously approved projects if this were your direction.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: It takes a majority, and I'm
willing to do that. I just don't see where the general taxpayer is
responsible for this. It is -- $100,000, which could be eligible, is due
to landlords, correct?
MR. GIBLIN: Yes.
MR. BAKER: Yes.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And we didn't -- the general
taxpayers didn't create this mess. The landlords did. So I mean, if
there's three nods -- you got it from me, of amending where the funds
come from, and I still want to follow up.
MR. GIBLIN: Commissioner, one more item on that is that the
CDBG funds, we get from the federal government.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Correct.
MR. GIBLIN: This year we're getting 10 percent less than we
got last year, which is about $300,000. Next year we're projected to
get 25 percent less than we get a year, which would be another
significant amount of money. So it is a shrinking pot meant to be used
countywide.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Well, I guess there's not
enough support on the board. I just can't believe that we're subsidizing
people who have made million of dollars, or hundred of thousand of
dollars to clean up their property. We don't do that for anybody else. I
don't see why we should be doing that for these slumlords in
Immokalee. It should be a lien on the property, just like there is
anything else.
MR. GIBLIN: Certainly, Commissioners, that would be the
other avenue is, this would be incentive, the other would be the code
enforcement liens.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I'm not in favor of setting up
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any entitlement programs, and to me, this is an entitlement to
slumlords. And I will not put general fund money towards it.
The other thing is, the new bill that was passed in -- for the
housing -- affordable housing element, is there anything in there that
could pick up some of these funds?
MR. GIBLIN : You're talking Bill 1360, Representative Davis' --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Representative Davis' bill.
MR. GIBLIN: As I read it, I don't see any money for disposal
demolition, that kind of thing. There is money in there for new
development of both higher-income housing, gap income, and for
below poverty level housing, new rental developments, that sort of
thing. Someone that wanted to come in with a new rental
development could apply to the state for some money, and there is
specific targeting in there for what they call extremely low income
housing.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Now, would the farm
worker's housing apply to that?
MR. GIBLIN: I would assume so, yes.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, why are we taking the
easy route? I'd just as soon look at other resources than the general
fund.
MR. GIBLIN: Again, that is for the creation of new rental units.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Oh, not replacing existing?
MR. GIBLIN: Well, not for demolition and enforcement, that
kind of thing. It would be for -- if someone wanted to come into
Immokalee and build a new apartment complex dedicated to people at
that extremely low income level, there is this new pot of money in
Davis' bill to help that.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, we hold other people
accountable for their actions, and I'm not going to do anything
different.
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May 23, 2006
And the last thing I want to say, that the Immokalee workshop
that was held over there, I picked up material to bring to my desk so I
could read it only to find out when I put my glasses on I couldn't read
it because it was in other languages.
There was no information at this workshop in English. And to
me, I think it's wrong for government to provide that because all we're
doing is providing a -- not a diverse community but a divided
community.
If we cannot communicate in one language, then this community
will never prosper because we are a divided community. And I don't
want to see any material from Collier County government printed in
different languages. We should be encouraging people to speak one
language, and the language of choice in this country is English.
So -- and if we keep on allowing this, we're going to see a
community like Miami where the English language doesn't exist. It is
the second language.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I'd like to pursue some of those
issues. I agree with Commissioner Henning with respect to the tipping
fee. That's a home -- a property owner responsibility. I don't think we
ought to underwrite them. If something needs to be cleaned up there,
they ought to clean it up. And if they don't pay it, we'll put a lien on
the property.
The other point is, I believe there are sources of money for the
cleanup and other things. Let me give you an example.
If we create a private/public partnership in Immokalee with a
builder, with the growers, with the Immokalee -- the empowerment
alliance, anyone who has the capability of building affordable
housing, and they were to go in there and buy up some land on which
there are some substandard affordable housing or substandard housing
and/or mobile homes and clear that land and build an apartment
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building, I believe all of those expenses are eligible under
Representative Davis' bill. Maybe it wouldn't pay all of it, but I think
it would pay most of the expenses.
And the important thing is, if we act on this quickly -- $350
million is not going to go very far, okay? It will take $4.5 billion to
build 30,000 homes; $4.5 billion to build 30,000 homes.
So -- but if we don't get in quickly and ask for some of that
money, it's going to go to some of the other 67 states (sic). And I
think we've got a really good reason to do this quickly.
So here's what I'm saying. If we can give Dr. Colfer and our
code enforcement people sufficient support, whatever that is,
additional money, additional people, to do a really good, clean sweep
this summer, and simultaneously with that we try to put together this
public/private partnership, get a grant request in, then we can get some
money, and I think that can be approved very quickly. I think we
could get approval on these things very quickly in Tallahassee with
Representative Davis' help.
So then we've got a program where we've cleaned everything up,
we've got new housing coming in. It won't be available for the next
season probably, but maybe midway through the season it might be
available, but it gets us started, and that way we've coordinated the
cleanup and the enforcement with the building of the new affordable
housing. And I believe we can cover a lot of these expenses that way.
But I'm willing to allocate some funding for our people to get
enforcement measures, close down some of these substandard
housing, and tell people to tear it down and move it out.
The cost of tearing it down and moving it out is their problem,
but if they want to sell the property and somebody who's going to
build affordable housing comes in and clears it out, then that's part of
the cost of building the affordable housing, okay?
There is an incentive for people to do those kinds of things. If
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they don't want to clean it up themselves, they can sell it to somebody
who will. And I think it's a program that will work if we get busy on
it and move quickly, and I think there's some urgency here.
MR. BAKER: I would like to remind the board that this
$100,000 is a program that was started in 2002 that Michelle managed
for about two or three years and was able to move, I think, about 75 or
80 mobile homes to the dumps during --
COMMISSIONER COYLE: There's nothing wrong with the
program. I think it was fine, but the point that's been made by
Commissioner Henning, and I agree, is it's the property owner that
was responsible for letting it get that way. And if it's going to cost
them more money to take it to the dump and dispose of it, that's not
our problem. We will-- we will assess fines, whatever's appropriate,
for code violations, and they have the choice of paying the fines
letting it sit there, or they can clean it up and take it to the dump.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah. Well, we're getting
closer. It's -- and this isn't a problem that's new. It's been existing for
45 years, and by ignoring it, we've just permitted people to live in
squalor, and I'm glad to see this commission's ready to take a
proactive stance.
The waiving of the tipping fees for -- I guess it -- which is out to
20 trailers because it's about $5,000 -- you're right, there's some very
rich landowners in Immokalee that have made tremendous profits.
There's also a lot of independent people, you know, that have a small
house in the front of the property and a dilapidated trailer in the back
of the property, who to them, moving it to the dump will probably cost
3- to $4,000, and the tipping fee, another $5,000. We're definitely
forcing them into foreclosure.
And is that really the intent? We're not talking about the -- one
of the five people that owns 20 percent of Immokalee. We're talking
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about that small individual homeowner that's existing hand-to-mouth,
found a way to be able to make a small income during the season.
Now, a lot of these units will measure up in the end. A lot of
them can be rehabilitated. We don't really know how many numbers
of units are going to go, but --
MR. BAKER: Commissioner, for the people at the low end of
the income level, we do have funds available within the SHIP program
to help them take care of those actions, yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: But not to remove?
MR. BAKER: And remove.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Oh, to remove?
MR. BAKER: Yes, we've done -- yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And do we--
MR. BAKER: As long as they income qualify.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Okay. But we do have money
in there that's adequate enough to be able to handle the situation at
hand?
MR. BAKER: Depends on the number coming forward, but we
have -- we have quite a bit of funds available.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Okay. So what I'm hearing
from this commission is that you're agreeable for the enforcement,
you're not agreeable for the $100,000 to go towards the tipping fee
waiver. Other than that, I -- and we can always readdress the situation
if we find out that there's some sort of crisis at one end of the spectrum
of the economic situation of Immokalee.
And with that, I'd like to make a motion for approval with the
elimination of $100,000 for tipping fees, with the idea that at some
point in time we can reconsider that if the situation so warrants.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Do I have a second?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'll second it.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
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May 23, 2006
MR. BAKER: Commissioners, are you asking for three years or
are you suggesting for one year for the 250-?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Three years, but we'd still get
the chance to reevaluate at each budget cycle.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Wait a minute. I thought you said
eliminate the tipping fee.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I did, but there's a manpower
need for the funds for that.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: You can't get the money
anyplace else for the manpower but through the general fund.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: The concern that I have is you brought
up a case where somebody has a trailer in their back yard, but
obviously they probably have 10 people in there and they've been
making probably a pretty good sum of money off of that, and to cry
that they're poor and let the thing deteriorate, I don't believe is our
concern. That's --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, and their total family
income with the trailer in the back probably doesn't exceed $30,000,
you know. So I'm just -- I'm just giving you for-instances. There's un
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I know, but the consequences.
That's why I removed it from there. I could see where -- the logic in
the fact that we do have landowners there that are very, very wealthy,
and they would be benefiting from this.
As long as we can enforce it and make the thing go forward,
actually in some ways -- and I hate to say it, because I'm worried
about property rights -- this may force some people to sell their land
where it can be used for better uses.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Fiala?
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. Do you know who's hauling
away the Diamond Shores trailers? They have to do that on their own,
right? And they have to pay for that expense themselves, right? And
they still have the obligation of paying all of the liens that we've put
on there from code enforcement. Okay.
The second question is, can we demand these slumlords to have
these rundown trailers off of their property by, say, one month? And
if they do not, then we haul them away and charge them. Can we do
that?
DR. COLFER: No. Our piece of it would not allow us to do
that. We would only say that you are illegally keeping migrants in a --
in that trailer, and we would fine them, and hopefully the fines would
-- you know, would elevate such that they would, you know, stop
doing business and do something else with the piece. But no, I don't
have the ability to throw them out.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: How about the county attorney? Can
you weigh in on this?
DR. COLFER: Then at that point we would turn it over to code
enforcement, and code maybe can do that.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, okay.
MR. MUDD: Let David go first.
MS. ARNOLD: Okay, go ahead.
MR. WEIGEL: Well, I think Michelle and I will dovetail. But
yes, code enforcement could be involved. One thing that we'd advise
our board, Michelle and county attorney staff, is that if we get -- we,
the county get proactive, the easy examples are when you cut the grass
on overgrown yards, but, you know, you pay someone to do the task,
and then you have to go after someone to get the money.
And if it turns into a lien situation, you still don't have the
money, you have a lien, and you get into the further proceedings that
may require, you know, going to court and ultimately even taking over
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the land. That may have been, for instance, what we heard this
morning in relation to the Immokalee Water and Sewer Board with the
gentleman with the public petition. They had liens on property
themselves, and they had succeeded to become the owner of the
property that they previously did not own for their purposes of their
district.
So that's an area where, yes, there are powers there on behalf of
us based upon, one, potential liens that go on the property from
services that we would provide or pay to have provided to take care of
the issues on those specific properties, but you can be out a lot of
money for a lot of time before you get that money back or become the
landowner or force sale of the land to get the money from the land. So
it can get a bit complicated when you get out in front.
Code enforce -- another element would be to go to court through
authorization of this board to the county attorney, working with
county manager's staff, to attempt to get the court to order--
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's too much.
MR. WEIGEL: -- property owners to do what they should be
doing.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. That sounds like too much
trouble. Go ahead.
MS. ARNOLD: David's right, it's not something that we can
automatically require them to do. We would have to go to the Code
Enforcement Board, for example, and they could so direct them to
remove within a certain time period or fines would accrue or the
county could abate.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, I think we're all in agreement.
We need to get this thing done and we need to get it done quickly. I
was just trying to find out how we can get it done quickly, and -- but if
you have something in place to do that, that's great. I just didn't want
to see it linger.
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I also was wondering -- and this is -- it's probably -- well,
anyway, is there some way that we can regulate rents? I mean, to
charge people $250 a week for a mattress or something is just
disgusting, and that's why we have some of these deplorable
conditions in Immokalee is because there's nobody regulating. I
realize they're private owners, but they just live off the backs of these
hard-working people, and there's nothing we can do, eh?
MR. BAKER: David?
MR. WEIGEL: Well, there's an argument being made at the state
level that they've preempted us in that regard, so we might want to
shove it back up to them --
COMMISSIONER COYLE: What's new?
MR. WEIGEL: -- you know, with the prior issues that we've had
related to rental registrations and fees, things of that nature. So it may
be that there can be some further dialogue at that end. Now, that
doesn't mean -- that doesn't mean that they provide a lot of resource to
one of 67 counties that way. We could certainly pursue the dialogue.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Two more. With the impact fees, I
totally agree with Commissioner Coyle and Commissioner Coletta.
And I was wondering if we do regulate, and we should, regulate who
we distribute impact fee deferrals fees to. Will we then verify that
they legally hold a green card?
I mean, I can run down to Bayshore, and before this meeting is
finished, I'll -- you know, in 20 minutes I can pick up a green card and
it costs me 50 bucks, you know. But do we verify that they're legally
here?
MR. BAKER: We can stipulate that, yes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay, okay. And the last thing is,
with Mike Davis' bill in Tallahassee, he has $15 million -- I think it's a
wonderful bill, by the way. I'm just delighted with it, and I want to go
on record as saying that. But the one thing that I was wondering about
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was, he has $15 million dedicated to building the farm worker
housing. I wondered if that's stipulated to be legal farm workers'
housing?
MR. BAKER: I don't know the answer to that, Commissioner
Fiala. I don't know.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I don't know that either. I'mjust
curious. Maybe somebody can find out and let me know. Okay.
Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Commissioner Coletta, are you
willing to amend your motion to reflect the direction to use other
funding resources other than just general fund? And other -- I mean,
we have a staff and code enforcement. If this is a short-term project,
why can't we use code enforcement to do it?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Because you have to involve the
public health department, which is a state agency. The problem being
is that I'm not too sure what funds could be used to cover personnel.
But my concern is, what's the consequence if we draw funds from
someplace else for the affordable housing issue; what units don't get
built? What things have we promised or that we could promise?
And so, you know, I see this as a necessary expense to start the
pump. I do agree with you as far as people taking responsibility for
what they're doing. I don't see this as an unusual situation. I think the
same thing should apply in Diamond Shores, which is all rental units,
if I'm not mistaken.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Mostly.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And you know, if we were to
grant a waiver fee for Immokalee, we should do it for Diamond
Shores, but we agreed that --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No. I really don't think we should
do it for Diamond Shores.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Okay. We're doing it for
Immokalee though. But I see some similarities, but I still would like
the motion to stand as it is, that it comes from the general funds,
because I just don't -- unless somebody could identify a source out
there that's unincumbered.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Well, then if I can finish
up. All we're doing is -- because we hold other landowners
accountable, all we're doing up -- is setting up an entitlement program,
and I can't support it.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, you know, that might be a
way of looking at it, but the entitlement program, or whatever you
want to call it, has been 40 years in the making and it hasn't happened.
We've finally got a way to be proactive and to be able to make a
difference in the community that needs, not a handout, but a hand up.
And it's not an entitlement program in the fact that it does have a
limited scope to it, and it has nothing to do more than just personnel to
go out there and do what this county assumes responsibility to do as it
is. I mean, we should enforce the codes and ordinances of Collier
County, but we don't have the people do it, and this gives us the ability
to be able to get it done.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: We had -- we had it for
Diamond Shores, but you're saying we don't have it for Immokalee? I
can't buy that.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No, I didn't say that. I was
saying anything we did for Immokalee, we should be able to do for
Diamond Shores too.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And that's my point. If you use
other resources besides the general fund, you're doing the same thing
you are for Diamond Shores.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, I mean, the alternative
would be for me to send a workforce of people out there and just
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May 23, 2006
identify everything that's out there and turn it in to code and public
health, and then you'd be forced to do it, but that would be
counterproductive.
The truth of the matter is, you have a responsibility that you
swore when you became a commissioner to uphold the laws,
ordinances of the State of Florida and the county. And this is one of
those instances where we haven't been able to do it because of the lack
of either will or funding. Now we've got the will to do it and
hopefully we have the funding in place to go forward.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Maybe the Code Enforcement
Director can correct me, but I remember you wanted to delay the
action in Immokalee. And if I'm wrong, correct me.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No, you're not wrong. I wanted
to delay it to that point in time the people moved out of the units, and
we have July and August to be able to move this in force.
The idea of going there and dispossessing people that are living
in a unit, be it even substandard, is something that is contrary to what I
think is good government practices, and it's not humane. You want to
do everything in an orderly fashion.
We have an unusual window of opportunity that won't exist again
until next summer, and so that's why it's necessary to move now and
not delay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I'm not sure we're as far apart as
the -- as might be indicated here. I don't believe that Commissioner
Hal -- Commissioner Coletta is suggesting that we provide the
$100,000 subsidy for the tipping fee.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No, I already dropped it from
the motion.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: That's what I thought. So we're not
creating that kind of thing. So that's been dropped from the motion.
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What we're talking about is doing a concerted enforcement effort
which will not benefit any landowner, quite frankly. It will help us
enforce the law.
But I'm still concerned about doing that unless we have a
commitment and a reasonable expectation that that money will get this
one very, very quickly. Now, I understand Dr. Colfer's concern that
we've got to have enforcement later on, but the enforcement later on
will have -- will be a lower level of manpower than the big up-front
push to do the complete sweep of this area as quickly as possible.
So I would like to have some feeling of comfort as to what the
$250,000 this year will do for us, and then once we have done this
aggressive part as quickly as we possibly can, if necessary running
seven days a week for however long we can do it with supplemental
manpower, and then we can talk about sustaining a level of
enforcement that is appropriate.
I would feel more comfortable doing it that way because we can
approach it on an intensive project standpoint and say, you've got this
amount of money for this period of time, and then after that period of
time, let's talk about a maintenance level of enforcement.
What can you tell us, Dr. Colfer?
DR. COLFER: No. I think that that certainly -- that certainly
makes sense. The only thing I wanted to comment on was that, you
know, for the places that we know about, the 7,500 beds that exist out
there that we know about, you know, we can certainly do everything
possible to, you know, get them up to standard or fine them and turn
them over to code and let's get rid of them.
What I was hoping to also do with some of that funding is find
the other 7,500 beds that we think exist out there that, you know, the
owners don't seem to want to come forward and get a license.
And so that was part of what we hoped to do with some of that
funding was find the others that are renting to migrants but don't
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bother to ever come forward to get the license, because that's the only
way we'll really ever get them all in the system.
What the $250,000 would buy would be four inspectors, you
know, computer, desk, phone that they need, vehicles to put them in to
get them out there. That's what the $250,000 is for.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And how many places do you think
they could inspect each day per person?
DR. COLFER: I need help. Nancy? I think I'm making Nancy
nervous here, but I think we can -- I think we can get pretty close to
this. The migrants come back in October.
MS. FREES: Well, I think part of this it is more investigation
than inspection, because we started a few years ago very limited
investigating what is unlicensed. We have concentrated in
Immokalee, although actually I think it's probably a much wider
problem, but we haven't been able to get all there.
It takes a great deal to be able to document. We have to go in
and actually document that there are farm workers living there, that--
we need to be able to document their paperwork, show that they're
making -- paying rent. We need to take pictures, and then it needs to
go to -- it goes to our attorney to do that.
It can take a couple days to really just do one investigation.
Many of these folks are people very familiar with the community and
they literally are the ones walking into the back yards to find the
toolshed that's been turned into housing. And you have to do it like
you're just part of the neighborhood and walk around and check what's
going on. So it can be very time-consuming.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. If you're going to get some
money, you've got to tell us how many you're going to be able do,
when you're going to be finished.
You want to come back to us on that proposal?
DR. COLFER: No. I mean, we're in concert with you. I mean,
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we have always looked for direction as far as what the philosophy of
this program has been. I mean, when you go out to Immokalee, you're
embarrassed by some of what is considered migrant housing, and I
think you've very wisely given us the direction that we want.
I think we need to work diligently to clean this up and get it to
something -- to be something that we can be proud of. We saw plenty
of examples of decent farm worker housing out in Immokalee. And
so, you know, I think we're there with you.
I'm not sure I can get every single one of those done by October,
but we'll work our best to get as much of it done as we can. We could
give you an actual timeline and what not, we could turn it in to Mr.
Mudd in a couple days if that would help.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah, it would help me if you
could give us a budget from now until October.
DR. COLFER: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: What you're going to be able to do
with it, how much money is it going to take, and then we could ratify
that amount of money, and then we could talk about additional
amounts further than that.
DR. COLFER: I think that's fair, certainly.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay? And that way gives us
some measure of --
DR. COLFER: And I don't want to promise you something I
can't do, sir,
COMMISSIONER COYLE: That's right. And we just don't
want to throw money at it without any milestones, okay?
DR. COLFER: Absolutely.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: So with that, I would -- I would be
supportive of Commissioner Coletta's, if that's -- if this is acceptable
to you, this discussion.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah. The only question I got
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is, is you're talking about approving that and coming back with a
budget?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No problem.
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, I'm going to say -- I'm going to
have to differ with what you've been talking about. Just to make sure I
understand, you're talking about this summer, we're going to have to
come back with an executive summary, okay, that Dr. Colfer will
write and fit all of that stuff so that we can come back to you on the
6th of June, our next meeting, so that we can have that laid out as far
as expenditures are concerned so that we can get at it this summer, and
we'll have to take the money out of reserves, but -- that's where it
would come from. Then if there's anything that goes into the next
year, then we would budget that in the '07 budget.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: But you're --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioners, I think what we need to
do is -- I think we've got a lot of questions here. Why don't we take a
noon recess and come back after 12 -- or 1: 18, and then we can
address this.
I know we've got a time certain at one clock, so we need to put
this on the table at this point in time, I believe.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. I think we're within about
three minutes of getting this thing voted on and approved.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Well, I've got three commissioners here
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: You can take mine off.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. All right.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: You can take mine off.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. Whatever you __
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Can we get this done in a couple of
minutes here, or we going to continue on?
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COMMISSIONER HENNING: No. I think we need to have
more discussion.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Why don't we take a lunch break
and we'll table this.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay.
DR. COLFER: Thank you.
(A luncheon recess was had.)
MR. MUDD: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd please take your
seats.
Mr. Chairman, you have a hot mike.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you very much, County Manager.
We're back from noon recess, and we're now back in session.
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, regarding the last item that we
were discussing, which was 10C, it got tabled. I'd like to bring that
back at three o'clock. Dr. Colfer is working her financial needs in
order to accomplishing kind of where we thought the board wanted to
go in order to have staffing for this summer to get the job done and
then to sustain a, just a maintenance kind of effort out in that particular
community.
She'll have those numbers by three o'clock, so I told her I'd ask
the board for their indulgence to come back at three o'clock on that
particular item.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I wonder if we're already done by
2:30.
MR. MUDD: Ma'am, you won't be.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, wishful thinking.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And I also--
MR. MUDD: Ma'am, but -- but ma'am, you can prove me
wrong.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Hear that, Frank?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Boy, would I like to do that.
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May 23, 2006
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that __
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I think that -- also I think that will give
us the ability to get whatever needs to be done so that we can address
it this year --
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir. This way we won't have to come back--
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And I appreciate the time.
MR. MUDD: -- with a couple of exec. summaries.
Item #12C
DIRECTION TO THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ATTORNEY
AS TO ANY SETTLEMENT PROPOSAL/LITIGATION EXPENSE
ISSUES IN BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA VS. DWIGHT E. BROCK,
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA CASE NUMBER 05-953-CA CONSOLIDATED WITH
CASE NO. 05-1506-CA AND DWIGHT E. BROCK, CLERK OF
COURTS V. COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA, AS EX-OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD OF THE
OCHOPEE AREA FIRE CONTROL & EMERGENCY MEDICAL
CARE SPECIAL TAXING DISTRICT, A/K/A THE OCHOPEE
FIRE DISTRICT; LINDA T. SWISHER AND PAUL W. WILSON
CASE NO. 04-941-CA, NOW PENDING IN THE TWENTIETH
JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA - A MOTION WAS MADE FOR THE LEGAL OR
PURCHASING DEPARTMENT TO SELECT AN INDEPENDENT
AUDITING FIRM (WAIVING THE BID PROCESS) TO
CONDUCT AN AUDIT CONCERNING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE ISSUES RAISED BY THE CLERK, AN ATTESTATION
LETTER TO BE PREPARED BY CHOSEN AUDITING FIRM
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AND NO CONTRACT WOULD BE SIGNED BEFORE MONDAY,
MAY 29, 2006 - APPROVED
CHAIRMAN HALAS: So now we're at -- on a time certain, I
believe.
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir. It's item 12C. The item to be heard at
one p.m. for the Board of County Commissioners to provide direction
to the Offices of the County Attorney as to any settlement
proposal/litigation expense issues in the Board of County
Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, versus Dwight E. Brock,
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Collier County, Florida, case number
05-953-CA, consolidated with case number 05-1506-CA, and Dwight
E. Brock, Clerk of Court versus Collier County, Florida, Board of
County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, as ex -officio
governing board of the Ochopee Area Fire Control and Emergency
Medical Care Special Taxing District, A/K/ A the Ochopee Fire
District, Linda T. Swisher and Paul W. Wilson, case number
04-941-CA, now pending in the 20th Judicial Circuit in and for Collier
County, Florida.
And I believe your speaker is going to be the county attorney.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. County Attorney?
MR. MUDD: And Ms. Jacqueline Hubbard is probably that
designated person.
MS. HUBBARD: Good afternoon. I assume we're here to -- for
me to give you an update regarding the clerk's matter?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yes, ma'am.
MS. HUBBARD: All right. Last week after the county manager
and the County Attorney's Office agreed to meet with the clerk's
attorney and the clerk to discuss the parameters of any possible
settlement of the matter -- settlement of the matter.
The clerk informed us through his counsel that he was no longer
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interested in discussing a settlement; therefore, the shade meeting that
was previously scheduled was cancelled.
And what I'd like to do for a few minutes is simply update you
regarding the status of the litigation and also the status of the
management representation letter that's needed for an audit report to
be issued on the county's behalf.
As of this morning, our outside auditors, KPMG, have not
received an appropriate letter from the Clerk of Courts.
I was involved in a telephone conference call this morning with
the Office of the Auditor General and KPMG, and we discussed this
matter. And I think all parties are aware of the seriousness of the
consequences that can flow from the clerk not issuing an appropriate
management representation letter to our auditors.
And the conclusion that was reached after that telephone
conference call this morning is for me to request of the board on
behalf of county staff the authority to retain KPMG to conduct an
attestation of all of the reasons that have been set forth by the clerk in
the letter that he has sent to KPMG and have some determination
made regarding the ultimate result or conclusions that can be reached
based upon the allegations of the clerk to our auditors.
This would be tantamount to having an independent public
accounting firm examine those issues and report back to you.
In the event that the outside auditor determines that there's certain
things that have been done by the county that are inappropriate, well,
you'll have to deal with those too. But in any event, it's the only
method that I can think of that might possibly resolve this matter short
of the clerk issuing a management representation letter that basically
attests that the financial condition of the county is very sound.
In pursuit of that, I would like to remind the board of a couple of
matters. One of those is that if you will recall, the clerk sued the
county regarding a $21,000 donation that was made to the Ochopee
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Fire District for the purchase of a fire boat.
This board not only closed the account in which that $21,000 had
been deposited, but you also caused to have performed a complete
accounting of that account that went back for five years.
The result of that accounting, in the opinion of the independent
accountant who performed the accounting, was that there was really
no missing money, no money had been misappropriated or misapplied
or stolen, there was no criminal behavior on the part of any of the
volunteers of the fire chief, and the account was closed.
The accounting itself was delivered to the clerk, the funds in the
account were delivered to the clerk, the clerk received those funds,
and the county retroactively approved the Everglades agreement that
dealt with the donation of those funds for a fire boat, and ultimately
this board approved the purchase of a fire boat so that fire service
could be delivered to Pleasure Island and any other outlying area from
Everglades City.
In spite of the fact that the board agreed with the clerk that those
funds should be turned over to the clerk, one day before you were to
act on that matter, which was the 24th of February, 2004, the clerk
sued the county. And the clerk sued the county on the 23rd of
February asking for what really had already been done, which is that
he wanted possession of the $21,000. He wanted to declare that those
funds were public monies and et cetera. So I think it's important to
understand that that was the genesis of this entire litigation.
We filed a motion to dismiss that lawsuit. The motion to dismiss
was granted. And basically the Court stated to the clerk that he had no
cause of action against the county, not on the basis of the lawsuit that
was filed in 2004.
Now, as you'll recall, instead of resolving the issue -- and by the
way, the Office of the County Attorney suggested what we consider to
be a reasonable settlement of this case shortly thereafter, and that was
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rej ected.
And we were told by the attorney for the clerk that the clerk
would not discuss settlement. And this is after -- you know, this is
sometime after this whole matter had begun.
In any event, the lawsuit continues to this day, and now the
lawsuit appears to be tied in in some intimate fashion with the clerk's
duties as accountant and ex -officio clerk to the board, because the
clerk is refusing to execute a representation letter which will permit
our auditors to issue an audit opinion on the county's financial
condition.
I think it's important to remember that the county operates with a
budget of almost $1 and a half billion that none of the groups that have
been mentioned by the clerk in the litigation, such as the Friends of
the Parks of Collier County, the Friends of the Library, the Friends of
the Collier County Museum, the Friends of the Ochopee Parks, none
of those friends groups have ever had in their possession any
substantial sums of money.
And the allegation that the clerk is making to this day is that the
county has somehow impeded his ability to secure information that he
needs for the issuance of an appropriate management letter.
We have reminded the Auditor General's Office, we have
reminded counsel for the clerk, we have reminded the clerk, we have
to remind our auditors, KPMG, that Collier County is subject to the
public records law; therefore, any document that we have that is a
public record is available to the clerk.
We have asked the clerk to tell us, in what instance have we
impeded his ability to secure public information. We've never
received an answer to that question, because to my knowledge, there
hasn't been any. We have always had the policy of having adhered to
the public records law.
So that's where we are. We are still in litigation. We now have a
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May 23, 2006
judge appointed from Martin County for the case. As you know,
Judge Brousseau recused himself. Judge Schoonover was appointed
for the case. The clerk -- the clerk filed a motion to recuse Judge
Schoonover saying Judge Schoonover could not be fair to him. Judge
Schoonover therefore had to recuse himself.
And then recently we've had a new judge, Judge Geiger,
appointed for the case, and we had our first case management hearing
last week. And so we are proceeding as best we can.
So if you have any questions regarding that, I'm here to answer
those to the best of my ability.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: The -- at one point you went
into mediation and those broke down?
MS. HUBBARD: We've never gone into mediation.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
MS. HUBBARD: The only thing that's happened is after--
several things have happened. We suggested the parameters of the
settlement on the same day that Linda Swisher's deposition was taken,
which is probably a year -- or year and a half to two years ago. That
was refused. Even to discuss a settlement was refused by the clerk.
About a few days after the clerk's appearance here on April 25th
in which the clerk stated that he wanted to sit down and talk about
settling the case, there was a meeting between myself, Attorney Mike
Pettit, and one of the clerk's attorneys from the east coast, and we met
for about three hours.
At the conclusion of that meeting, we were requested to ask if the
county manager would be willing to sit down with the attorneys for
the clerk and all the other attorneys involved in the litigation and try
and engage in settlement discussions.
I contacted -- I mean, I personally contacted the attorney for the
clerk and informed him that Mr. Mudd had agreed to sit down and
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talk. Mr. Weigel had agreed to sit down and talk, Mr. Pettit had agreed
to attend, and I would assume that the other counsel would also agree
to attend, and then I was told that the clerk would not -- no longer--
was no longer interested in talking about settlement.
And I finished that with a -- I concluded that discussion by
sending a letter confirming that the clerk had, in fact, decided not to sit
down and talk about settling the case.
I indicated in that correspondence that it was my hope that the
clerk would reconsider that position and, perhaps, sit down and
discuss this matter with us. Maybe that was a response that, maybe on
second thought, the clerk might reconsider. But thus far we haven't
heard anything further from the clerk.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Ms. Robinson, the -- I'd like to
make sure that we all have a clear understanding of the fundamentals
of that particular case. I don't believe that any member of this board
has a problem with the clerk auditing accounts, accounting of
accounts. Are we representing that he is not entitled to audit or
account for funds that are spent by the county?
MS. HUBBARD: No. And that's -- our position is that the--
that the clerk is the accountant for the county, that the clerk has in his
possession all of the bank accounts that contain county funds. If he
knows of any other accounts that contain county funds, he should tell
us what those are.
We know that the clerk -- we don't know about them. We don't
know about any accounts at this point, or for some time, that contain
county money that are not controlled and in the possession of the
clerk.
Each time we found these small accounts, these friends groups
that use the county's tax ID number, those accounts were closed, the
county conducted an accounting, a full accounting of those accounts,
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and the money and the accountings were turned over to the clerk.
So our position has been throughout the litigation that as an
accountant for the board, the clerk certainly has the ability to look at
any documents that pertain to any funds that are spent by the county
on any public projects.
The clerk has a pre-audit function of making a determination
before any funds are spent whether or not those funds are being spent
for a lawful purpose. And certainly, the clerk has at his disposal all of
the accounts, so he can look at any document pertaining to those
accounts. And everything is a public record, so all he has to do is ask
for them and he can see them and conduct any kind of accounting that
he wishes over those monies.
But the problem comes with auditing, which is a term of art
which, to me, has a particular meaning and which is governed by
standards. Those standards have been promulgated by the United
States government's general accounting office, and they demand a
certain degree of independence which the clerk does not have.
Additionally, we believe that the clerk in some instances has
been performing performance audits, which the clerk has no authority
to do, and by his own admission, he admits he has no authority to do.
In fact, the clerk actually admits that he has no independence that is
necessary for doing the kind of audits that apparently he would like to
do.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Now, let's stick with these Friends
of the Library and Friends of the Park and Friends of the Museum.
MS. HUBBARD: Yes.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: These are not government
organizations. They're not controlled by, organized by, supervised by
Collier County government.
MS. HUBBARD: The -- most of the organizations that have
been mentioned by the clerk are independent, non-profit corporations
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May 23, 2006
that are incorporated pursuant to the laws of the State of Florida, and
to my knowledge most of them are also 501C-3s under the internal
revenue code. They are not controlled by Collier County. We don't
appoint the boards, we don't appoint the officers.
Many of them, the connection with the county appears to be that
they perform functions that advise the county about various things,
some of them. For instance, the Friends of the Collier County
Museum operate relatively independently and decide what types of
exhibits or displays or programs they would like to see happen at the
Collier County Museum, they raise money, they have their own bank
account. Most of the organizations that he has named thus far not
only have their own officers, bank accounts, many of them have their
own lawyers.
To my knowledge every public -- every public records request to
any of those organizations that have been made by the clerk have been
positively responded to and they have turned over their records to the
clerk. In particular, I know that the 4-H people have and the Friends
of the Extension certainly have.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And have -- have not the Economic
Development Council and the Botanical Gardens also been mentioned
in this list of organizations?
MS. HUBBARD: Well, there's been a new list. We were dealing
with all the friends groups up until recently, and now the list seems to
encompass Habitat for Humanity, the Veterans Council, and some
other non-profit affordable housing group. I can't list all the names for
you.
But to my knowledge, from my investigation of those groups,
which is relatively limited, you know, checking with the Secretary of
State, asking staff, they don't have any official relationship to the
county at all. I mean, Habitat for Humanity, to my knowledge, has no
official relationship with Collier County, yet that's one of the groups
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that has been mentioned by the clerk that he needs information from.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And is he asking us for information
about those organizations, or is he going to those organizations and
making a request?
MS. HUBBARD: I can't tell you what he's doing with the
organizations. I can tell you that at the meeting that Mr. Pettit and I
had with the clerk's attorney, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Ackerman did have
a list of approximately 13 different groups, and they were all related to
affordable housing commitments that were made by private
developers to private groups.
They didn't appear to be related to the county other than through
the fact that the PUDs stated that the developer would make certain
commitments for affordable housing. To my knowledge only one or
two of those groups on that list had any funds that came directly to the
county.
We did inquire about that, and we found out that the county staff
is in the process of creating, to my understanding, in cooperation with
the clerk, a special fund to accept any type of financial renumeration
that comes from a private developer for affordable housing. That
money is to go into a fund and none of those will be ever expended
until the clerk agrees that it's a lawful reason to expend those monies.
So there is some confusion regarding why we are still in the
litigation, but we haven't been able to -- to convince the clerk that we
could sit down and resolve it. Yes?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Does the clerk have jurisdiction over
affordable housing committees that request money from the county?
Does he have jurisdiction over the accounting procedures for that?
MS. HUBBARD: Not to my knowledge.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: In other words, if there's funds that leave
the county and go to these different organizations __
MS. HUBBARD: Oh, yes. If the -- it depends on the manner in
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which that's done. If it's money that's going to come from the county
CHAIRMAN HALAS: To--
MS. HUBBARD: -- to a group, the clerk's going to have to cut
that check.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. So he does have the authority to
-- then to go through the procedure there of auditing them; is that
correct?
MS. HUBBARD: Normally -- and I'm not sure about every
instance, but usually if there is an agreement for the transmittal of
county funds to a non-profit organization, often in the agreement there
is some provision for the clerk to be able to make sure the money is
spent the way it's supposed to be spent.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Is there any questions in regards to that,
of any organizations that have given money -- where the county has
given money to those particular organizations? Has that been one of
the concerns, or has that been covered?
MS. HUBBARD: There's only -- to my knowledge, of the 67
audits that have been conducted by the clerk in the past 10 years or so,
the one that I recall is an audit of the Lawrence Center, and there was
-- I was informed by the clerk's office that there was an agreement for
a grant of funds to that organization, and in the agreement there was a
provision that allowed the clerk to conduct an audit of those funds,
and that was done. That's my understanding.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. So I think what you're telling me
then, if he does request information in regards to county funds that go
to any of these outside groups, that he does have the authority __ he
being the clerk -- has the authority to audit those particular
corporations, if they're 501 C --
MS. HUBBARD: Well, here's where--
CHAIRMAN HALAS: If it's county money that goes to them; is
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May 23, 2006
that correct?
MS. HUBBARD: He has a right to account for those funds.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. HUBBARD: And that's a distinction that needs to be
remembered.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. HUBBARD: There's a difference between accounting and
auditing.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. HUBBARD: All right?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. HUBBARD: And clearly the clerk has an accounting
function, which means that he determines in the first instance whether
or not the expenditure is a lawful expenditure. If he approves the
expenditure, then the check gets cut and it goes to the organization.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. HUBBARD: The extent to which the clerk can then
examine the manner in which the funds are spent are usually the
subject of the agreement between the county and the recipient of the
county's money.
Now, if the agreement says the clerk can conduct an audit, then
the clerk can conduct an audit; otherwise, the clerk is left with
accounting.
And the reason that distinction is so important is because an audit
is done pursuant to defined standards because an audit requires __ once
an audit is done, it has legal significance that's quite different from an
accounting. And that is why when an audit is done, it's important that
the auditor be independent of the entity that's being audited.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. HUBBARD: Okay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: So where we stand today, we've made
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May 23, 2006
that very clear to the Clerk of Courts that that's the grounds that we're
standing on and, therefore, we feel that we have done everything in
due diligence; is that correct?
MS. HUBBARD: Correct.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I'd like to go back to the beginning.
Jackie, you mentioned that you -- one of the solutions, potential
solutions, with respect to the letter to our auditors, KPMG, was that
you -- we could grant you, the legal department __
MS. HUBBARD: Or the purchasing department.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- or the purchasing department the
right to hire, is it KPMG, as an auditor to review the clerk's concerns
MS. HUBBARD: And allegations.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- and determine if they are
material to the outcome of the audit conducted by KPMG?
MS. HUBBARD: That's correct. And it's called an attestation
engagement, and it would not be part of the engagement you already
have with KPMG because they haven't been hired to do that. And so
the board would have to approve engaging that firm to conduct this
particular attestation.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Is it -- is it important that KPMG
be hired to do that, or would it be better to have a completely impartial
auditing firm do that? Which would be better?
MS. HUBBARD: KPMG technically is an independent outside
auditor. They would be capable of performing this attestation.
Whether or not they will accept the engagement, we don't know yet.
But I was told to ask you as a board if you approve extending their
engagement to include the attestation, that the clerk be given until
Friday to deliver an acceptable management representation letter.
However, in regard to your question, I think it would be best, if
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the board is inclined to proceed in this matter, that staff be directed to
engage either KPMG or another qualified independent certified public
accounting firm to perform this function and have that firm report
back to you regarding its conclusions regarding all of the claims that
have been made by the clerk regarding the management representation
letter.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Now, does that mean that the
auditor general is not willing to do that?
MS. HUBBARD: No. What that means is that the auditor
general -- when our request for the auditor general went up to the
auditor general's -- to the legislator -- legislative joint committee on
auditing, they did not take the matter up, and the legislature adjourned,
so there's no -- there was no time to do it.
And the only time it could come back to them would be when the
legislature reconvenes in the fall, and that's why the representation
letter matter could be removed by hiring an outside independent CPA
to take a look at the reasons that the clerk has listed for issuing the
unacceptable letter to KPMG.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Then, Mr. Chairman, I would be
willing to make a motion that we authorize the legal department or the
purchasing department to select an auditor to conduct this audit, but
that no contract be signed earlier than Monday of next week.
MS. HUBBARD: That's fine. And if there are any competitive
requirements, given the nature of this situation and the need to resolve
it as quickly as possible, I guess we would ask the board to also waive,
on an emergency basis, any competitive requirements that ordinarily
would occur.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And how much do you think this is
likely to cost?
MS. HUBBARD: I would think that it would be a substantial
sum. I don't know. I have looked at the letter that the clerk sent up,
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and I can tell you it was approximately 11 pages of different things
that he had noted that he felt were important.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And I'll second that motion.
I have a question. In -- KPMG cannot issue a management
representation letter; is that true?
MS. HUBBARD: They can't issue an audit opinion.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. HUBBARD: Every year they are required to issue an
opinion that says the county's financial condition is sound, or many
other representations that they make.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Then how would this -- is there any way
that their letter would have a reflection in regards to our bond issue, or
does this have to come directly from the Clerk of Courts, this letter?
MS. HUBBARD: We engaged in that discussion this morning,
Commissioner, and I am glad you raised that issue. It was at least in
the opinion of the partner who works on the county's matters and the
accountant -- the auditor from the Auditor General's Office, that they
felt that if an independent attestation were completed and if the
ultimate result of that attestation was that the -- there was no reason
not to issue an audit opinion, that they would probably be able to issue
it without a letter from the clerk.
So it is important to at least attempt to do it in this fashion.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: So the cost of this would -- of this would
be offset because of the fact that if they -- how it would possibly
damage our credit rating?
MS. HUBBARD: That's correct, your credit rating and your
ability to bond projects. You really wouldn't have anything that said
to a lender that, as of this year, your financial condition is sound.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: The -- if the legislation body, if
I said that right, hasn't taken it up yet, does it mean that they will not
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May 23, 2006
take it up in the future?
MS. HUBBARD: I think -- I don't know what the answer to that
question is.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Well--
MS. HUBBARD: They -- I know there's no way it's going to be
taken -- I was told that there's no way they're going to call a special
meeting of the Legislative Auditing Committee to take it up between
now and when the legislature goes back into session.
So we're hoping that if we use this method, separate this from the
lawsuit -- and what we would like to do is get an audit opinion issued
by our outside auditors, this seems to be the most rational way to go
about trying to do that unless the clerk submits a letter that's
acceptable to our auditors.
If the clerk submits a letter that's acceptable to our auditors, then
obviously we won't have to retain anyone, and I assume that's why the
motion says we wait until Monday.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And my second is in regards to that.
MS. KINZEL: Commissioners, for the record, Crystal Kinzel
with the clerk's office. The clerk did just ask that I submit for the
record the letter from our Attorney Ackerman, and I brought a copy
for each commissioner so that it's on the record.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. KINZEL: And if I could read it, it's very short.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Sure.
MS. KINZEL: Our client -- our client has asked me to respond
to your May 15th letter. Our client and I have had the opportunity to
reflect upon the settlement efforts we initiated a number of months
ago.
The sentiments expressed by the Board of County
Commissioners at the April 25th hearing, the positions asserted by Mr.
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May 23, 2006
Pettit and you during our recent meeting, and the litigation conduct
engaged in by your office, that reflection has led us to conclude that
the county has no genuine interest in truly resolving the issues in these
cases.
We believe that there is a fundamental failure on the part of the
county to appreciate and understand the clerk's role.
For one example, Mr. Brock believes that it is preposterous to
suggest that he must seek county commission approval before
reporting a crime committed by a county employee.
As another example, his ongoing discovery of other
inappropriately established accounts reveals a culture where county
employees tell him one thing and yet do another.
It has been, in short, an exasperating one-sided process to
convince your side that all Mr. Brock wants to do is his job, to act as
the careful custodian of county's money, to verify the lawfulness of
county purchases, to be informed enough about county operations and
finances to reflect them accurately in the county's financial statements
and to conduct internal audits to promote good, sound internal control.
Until the county promotes a culture of understanding,
cooperation for the clerk to fulfill those roles, there can be no
settlement.
At this juncture we believe that a final resolution through the
court process resulting in a written and published opinion will provide
the benefit of guidance to the participants in these suits for their
conduct going forward.
If and when the county has a change of heart and it wishes to
make a concrete settlement proposal, then we will carefully and fully
consider it.
Until then, I respectfully request your corporation in the timely
and professional satisfaction of our obligations as officers of the court
and counsel for our respective clients through the trial and appeal of
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May 23, 2006
this matter.
And that was from David Ackerman to Ms. Hubbard.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning, I believe, was
up to bat.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Well, I think -- maybe
you haven't seen this, but what I'm reading is there is a window of
opportunity for settlement without going to court.
MS. HUBBARD: And what -- I had read the letter. There are
two other letters that I think should also go into the record. One is a
May 4,2006, letter from me to the clerk's attorney, David Ackerman,
essentially setting forth the -- some parameters for a settlement
discussion. And in that letter, I indicate to Mr. -- not -- excuse me.
Okay. And in that letter to Mr. Ackerman that was written prior
to our first meeting, we listed certain parameters that we were hoping
we could all agree upon in terms of a settlement.
One of the items that we did discuss that we think is important is
the fact that in this litigation where the clerk sued the county, he also
sued two county employees, Chief Wilson and Linda Swisher.
Our suggestion has been, and is, that those two county employees
really should not be a part of this litigation, that the litigation, if it's
going to continue, should continue between the county and the clerk.
And we were -- we would assume that there was some response
to that suggestion, but there has not been a response to that suggestion.
So as a result, both of those employees remain parties in the litigation.
That letter, I would also like to -- I will provide copies to you. I
think you may not have received a copy of that letter in which we talk
about the meaning of the term audit.
And if we could just agree on what that term means, we could
probably get someplace in the litigation.
The May 15th letter that Mr. Ackerman speaks about, which I
also would like to make part of the record, but I will also make copies
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May 23, 2006
for you, is simply a memorandum to confirm what was said to me by
him that day, which was that the Clerk of Courts no longer wishes to
engage in any settlement discussions of any kind, and that's as close to
a quote as I can get to.
I also informed him that we were all willing to meet with the
clerk and that we regret that the clerk has taken this position, and that
if there is any questions or if they wish to discuss the matter further,
please contact us. And what we received back is the letter that Mr.
Henning is referring to. I just wanted to make sure the record was
clear on that point.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. But it -- and it does say
at the end of Mr. Ackerman's letter, there seems to be a willingness on
the clerk's side to settle this --
MS. HUBBARD: And--
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- through mediation. So if that
can happen, there's no need for any outside auditor. So why don't __
MS. HUBBARD: Well, you remember there are two issues
before you today. One is the management representation letter, which
is separate from the litigation. That's the one involving the
independent CPA. The other issue is the litigation. Those are two
separate matters, but they're intertwined by the clerk.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah. Jackie, one of the
fundamental problems with this whole issue is that we perceive the
case one way and the clerk perceives it a different way. It seems that
we don't even agree on what the case is all about. And for that reason,
I need to ask you about some statements here.
Mr. Brock says that it is preposterous to suggest that he must
seek county commission approval before reporting a crime committed
by a county employee. I would agree with Mr. Brock.
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May 23, 2006
MS. HUBBARD: I would agree with Mr. Brock also. I don't
know why he makes that statement.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: You have never -- we have never
suggested that he doesn't have that right.
MS. HUBBARD: I think every citizen has a right to report any
crime that they think is being committed.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And that's not part of this case?
MS. HUBBARD: It's not part of this case.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: You've never alleged that it was.
MS. HUBBARD: No, I haven't.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. And another example it
states here is his ongoing discovery of any inappropriately established
accounts.
MS. HUBBARD: Right. I'm not aware of any, other than the
ones that we've already discussed.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: But is it not true that at least one of
those was established by the clerk's own lawyer?
MS. HUBBARD: That's correct. And that pretty much -- which
gets into a very interesting issue.
We have had three county employees, current or former, who
have told us that the law firm of Woodward, Pires & Lombardo
advised the county to establish -- how to establish the Friends of the
Park of Collier County, Inc., and also advised them that if the
volunteers raised funds, those funds should be put in a bank account
and that the bank account should use the county's tax identification
number on it.
We also discovered, through the discovery process
documentation, that verifies what our employees told us. Those
documents show that in 1998 the Florida State Treasurer's Office
wrote to the Clerk of Courts and said to the Clerk of Courts, you have
an account at the Florida Community Bank that is using your tax
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May 23, 2006
identification number, and that account is in the name of the Friends
of the Park of Collier County, Inc. Give us some information about
this.
The clerk then sent a memorandum by fax to Marla Ramsey and
asked her, why does the Friends of the Collier County Parks, why are
they using the county's tax ID number on the account? She circulates
that among her employees, and one response that comes back in
writing is that Attorney Christopher Lombardo advised us to use the
county's tax ID number. This is a 1999 document.
When those employees were interviewed, they gave statements,
their depositions were taken, and that's what they recall, and yet the
lawsuit alleges that one of the problems with the county is the use of
the county's tax identification number on these friends accounts. So
yes.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: So since 1988 __
MS. HUBBARD: 1998.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Well, 1988 originally? That was
when one of them was set up, the Friends of the Parks?
MS. HUBBARD: The Friends of the Parks' bank account was set
up in 1996.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: 1996.
MS. HUBBARD: The incorporation of the Friends of the Parks
was done by the law firm of Woodward, Pires & Lombardo in 1994.
And Christopher Lombardo, under oath, has testified that he did meet
with county employees.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Who is Christopher Lombardo?
MS. HUBBARD: He's a partner in the law firm that the clerk has
been using since 1993, I believe.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. So the same law firm __
MS. HUBBARD: Correct.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- that the clerk used originally to
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May 23, 2006
file this suit --
MS. HUBBARD: Yes.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- was the same law firm that set
these -- set these friends up and their accounts up?
MS. HUBBARD: One. He set up one that we know of.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: One friends organization up and set
the account up. The clerk then acknowledged that the account existed
back when?
MS. HUBBARD: The clerk has never acknowledged that he
knew about the existence of the account. We have found documents
that went to the clerk informing him of the existence of the account.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay, okay. So there are
documents that indicate that the clerk was informed of these back __
MS. HUBBARD: In '98.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- in 1998.
MS. HUBBARD: Yes.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Oh, it gets more and more
interesting.
MS. HUBBARD: So it should not come as a surprise, is my
point.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah.
MS. HUBBARD: Although the clerk alleges in the lawsuit __
which by the way was not drafted by the clerk. It was drafted by the
clerk's attorney. The attorney alleges in the complaint that the clerk
was unaware of the existence of any of these accounts until January,
2004. That allegation is obviously not true based upon the
documentation that has come both from Florida Community Bank and
from the Department of the Treasury -- Treasurer from the State of
Florida in 1998.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. Wow.
MS. KINZEL: Commissioner, could I -- could I make a
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May 23, 2006
statement though on that? On the particular issue with the parks, the
only thing that I would caveat -- there's been a lot of information
going out and about.
But on this particular one, when the finance department sent out a
memorandum regarding that account that Ms. Hubbard just referred
to, the response back from county staff was that it is not a county
account, that it was independently and separately established, and
therefore, finance didn't need to worry about that. And that was how
it was handled at the time on that account.
Subsequent events and a lot of information and details that have
gone out and about have raised other issues and circumstances. So it's
-- there's just a lot of information that is back and forth on the account
that was set up. And I just wanted to put that on the record for that
one particular issue.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I think we'll find -- hopefully we'll find a
meaning to all this information.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah. I think we will.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Is there any other discussion? Ifnot, I'll
call the question.
And Commissioner Coletta (sic), if you would reiterate your
motion again.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: No, it's Coyle.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Oh Coyle, I mean. Excuse me.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah. I make a motion that we
give the purchasing department or the legal department, whichever's
more important, the right to procure, without the need for competitive
procurement, an auditing firm to conduct an audit concerning the
significance of the issues raised by the clerk with respect to the
management letter pertaining to the KPMG audit of Collier County
government and that the contract not be signed prior to __
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Monday.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- Monday of next week.
MS. HUBBARD: And that any competitive bidding
requirements be waived in view of the emergency situation.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Already said that, yep.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's already been in the motion, and
that's included in my second.
MR. WEIGEL: And for the record a note. I think we're talking
about potential attestation letter being created.
MS. HUBBARD: Correct.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Correct.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Hearing no further discussion, I'll
call the question. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Those opposed, by like sign.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MS. HUBBARD: Are there any additional questions?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's it.
MS. HUBBARD: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: No, thank you.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Good summary, by the way,
Jackie. Very good summary. Thank you.
Item #12A
STATUS REPORT ON F.S. CHAPTER 164 PROCEEDINGS IN
REFERENCE TO THE INVERSE CONDEMNATION LAWSUIT
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May 23, 2006
OF BERNARD 1. AND HELEN R. NOBEL, AND VINCENT D.
DOERR VS. COLLIER COUNTY, IN CASE NO. 05-0064-CA
AND DESCRIBE FURTHER ATTEMPTS BY THE STAFFS OF
THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT,
THE STATE OF FLORIDA DIVISION OF LANDS, AND THE
COUNTY TO REACH AN AGREEMENT IN THE MATTER _
APPROVED
MR. MUDD: Commissioners, while we have Jackie here -- and I
know we're supposed to do our advertised public hearings, but if I can
get your indulgence, she can give you a quick update to the
Nobel/Doerr particular issue.
I will also let you know that we're still waiting to hear from the
state if they are going to give us some use of a property to meet your
60-day deadline, which is till the 11 th of June. So at the next meeting,
we'll be able to tell you something more definitive.
I know the state is looking at a property that -- and Clarence
Tears is here to answer any questions. But I know the state is looking
at a property to make sure we could use it for ATV, either as a--
either as a substitute for owning a property of 640 acres -- and I'm
assuming that this property that they're looking at is bigger than 640
acres, one section, and -- and/or something that's used temporarily
until they can identify the 640 acres.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: We're talking--
MR. MUDD: They are -- they are actively looking at that.
Representative Davis has called me and said that he's keeping the
pressure on to make sure that they're looking at that. And I just want
to make sure they haven't forgotten. They basically are trying to heed
to words that you gave them, about a 60-day window before the board
has a decision to make as far as the contract is concerned.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. And this is agenda item 12A that
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May 23, 2006
we're going to be discussing.
MS. HUBBARD: All right.
MR. MUDD: With your -- with your indulgence.
MS. HUBBARD: All right. I can summarize these proceedings
fairly easy, I hope. Once again, you have the matters. You have the
lawsuit in which we were sued by property owners, Nobel and Doerr,
for inverse condemnation in which our response was to bring in the
South Florida Water Management District and the state as third-party
defendants because we alleged that we wouldn't be in this litigation
but for the vacation of the roadways in Southern Golden Gate Estates,
and we were of the impression that they would hold us harmless and
indemnify us of any litigation that occurred.
As to that matter, I have been informed, as of yesterday, that the
state has approved a purchase of the property from Nobel and Doerr. I
believe that's -- and I know that the amount is several million dollars.
And Nobel/Doerr's counsel has approved for his clients the
acceptance of the money that will be forwarded to them by the state.
So that aspect of the lawsuit is successfully completed with no
out-of-pocket expenses from the county. And we faced a liability
somewhere in the neighborhood of three to three and a half million
dollars in that lawsuit, so we this should be happy about that.
The only catch, if there is such a thing, is that the state agreed
that it would pay for the property. The district, South Florida Water
Management District, agreed that it would pay for any attorney's fees
that occurred as a result of the filing of the lawsuit.
There has been a -- at least an agreement as to what those
attorney's fees and costs will be, and the only holdup is from the
Florida -- the South Florida Water Management District which wants
the county to agree to fur -- to that three-year extension of the
agreement.
And in the meantime, the state has informed us that they are
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May 23, 2006
looking at alternative sites, and one site in particular is a 700-acre site,
and it is a site that the state is looking to acquire that's close within __
within Collier County, closer in than the 640 acres.
There are a couple of catches to that, which Attorney Ellen
Chadwell can explain to you better because that's the aspect of this
that she's been mainly dealing with, and also Mr. Tears can speak to.
There are some problems -- not problems, but there are some
complications about that site. It would be -- it would not be a site that
would be given to the county free and clear. It would simply be an
agreement by the state that the county can use that site for A TV use.
And I think Ellen can explain the details of that transaction a bit
better than I can.
MS. CHADWELL: Good afternoon, Commissioners. I didn't
catch all of Jackie's presentation. I'll assume she's talking about the
proposal that we heard yesterday.
MS. HUBBARD: Right.
MS. CHADWELL: We don't have a lot of particular facts.
Obviously there's a lot of questions we'd need some very concrete
answers to before this board could consider the proposal, but I think
it's certainly worthy to hear what they're throwing on the table today.
The best that I can make out, because I haven't gotten an exact
legal description from them -- and please pardon my attempt to create
a map here. My graphic capability.
They own about 700 -- well, they're offering to make available
and to develop as a park, including A TV trails, 700 acres of land that
is owned. The land is located in Sections 32 and 33 of Township 51
south, Range 27 east, and looks like a portion of it is -- may have been
originally -- I think it was an old tomato farm or something to that
effect.
But at any rate, the state has proposed that they would go in after
doing an environmental study, that they could develop the land for us
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May 23, 2006
by preparing the A TV trails and that they would continue to maintain
that for the benefit of the public.
They are contemplating something akin to what exists now up
there out of Brooksville, which is the Crooms motorcycle area. It's
part of the Withlacoochee State Forest, I believe.
I think you may recall that some of the public speakers at the last
meeting were speaking about that particular area as a model for the
type of recreational area they would appreciate having.
At any rate, like I said, it's all pretty -- pretty general at this point.
The land was purchased with Florida grant moneys, so it's restricted to
the use. They can't sell it to the county based -- they can't sell it
period unless they determine that it can't be suitable for a recreational
use.
It was originally purchased, I believe, as -- for some rest -- well, I
shouldn't say that. I don't know why it was originally purchased or
when it was purchased. But evidently they feel it's a candidate
because it has no real restoration value. It's already been
agriculturally developed, so it's cost prohibitive at this point to restore
that and use it as part of the restoration plan. So that is what they have
thrown on the table.
In my conversations with the deputy general counsel, DEP, in
lieu of them being able to lease it or convey the property to us, he
feels reasonably certain that the board of trustees would be willing to
modify the agreement that we have in place now so that you have
some assurances that down the road they're not going to yank it away,
because without any restrictive covenants or lease in favor of the
county, you know, you really are at the state's mercy.
It would be subject to a 10-year management plan. All these
properties need to be -- a plan needs to be devised and their -- the plan
dictates how that property is maintained. That plan would go up for
review, I guess, every 10 years. So it would be our -- in the event the
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May 23, 2006
board wants to hear more about that proposal, we would certainly
insist that there be some extended period of time agreed to. So we had
that additional assurance.
I guess one of the upsides in not having ownership is that you
don't have the cost of developing the park, you don't have the cost of
maintaining the park, and you don't have any liability issues.
So I throw that out there because the state has made that offer,
and I think they're sincere about it. I think at this point it depends -- if
the purpose of the transfer of the 640 acres of land was to provide a
replacement area for your A TV users, then maybe this meets that
purposes; maybe you're satisfied with that. If it was that you
considered it more of a quid pro quo, a land swap for the title that you
gave up in the road easements, then maybe getting less than ownership
rights is not acceptable to you.
But that being said, I think that is what they're proposing. We
would be hopeful, if the board likes, would like to hear more about it,
that we could get some more concrete facts from them, from the
technical folks who might -- what would they build, when might they
get the building commenced, and he did indicate that the first thing
that they would do after doing the environmental assessment was
carve out the trails. But clearly time is an issue here.
There are lots of questions, lots of answers that you need. So we
would try to get some additional information for you if you desire.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, Representative -- it's my
understanding Representative Davis said, you know, whatever lands
that can be found that are state owned would be kind of like a bonus to
the people of Collier County for waiting this long because of the __
they have been waiting a long time. So I hope that's under
consideration. But I'm fully in favor of them coming back and telling
us -- giving us some details.
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. _'_.....-._..,__'"__"_~"_.M_.,."...._.4.",..._,,,.........
May 23, 2006
MS. HUBBARD: Right. And they did ask that we give them an
additional four weeks to come back to you. In the meantime,
therefore, we would ask that you extend again the contractual
provision and not act on the default, because technically they were
supposed to turn over the 640 acres to the county back in October of
2005, and we've been holding in abeyance any default of that
agreement pending some amiable resolution of the issue involving the
acreage.
And perhaps you can decide whether or not owning the land in
fee is very important to you or not, which is, I think, the point that Ms.
Chadwell was making too. So whatever you decide to do, we do need
a formal motion to continue this matter under the 164 proceedings for
at least another month, another four weeks.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No, go ahead, Commissioner
Henning.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, Ellen, can you point out
the property that you believe they're talking about?
MS. CHADWELL: Well, what I have outlined here are the two
sections, 32 and 33. Where that 7 -- the best I understand from talking
to one of their staff folks is that that 700 acres encompasses property
out of both of these sections, so there's some overlap, whether it's the
northern area or the southern area, if it's three-quarters of section 33, I
couldn't tell you.
But let me -- this is Miller Boulevard extension, and let me show
you a little different perspective on it, kind of orient you.
This is the south block. These are some of the roads that were
vacated, okay, and this is Miller Boulevard extension. So if you run to
the west to Tamiami Trail and you keep going, you come to this road,
which takes you into this property.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay, thank you.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yes, thank you very much.
I do think it's worth waiting, although a couple of points I would
like to make is, thank God we've got Mike Davis and that he's been
proactive on this.
I'd like to see us put this in the proper perspective. We're talking
about state land, under state control, and the designation could change
down the road as the state so deems necessary. First, let's find out if
this is available.
But there's always efforts under way, too. I understand the Big
Cypress is coming back aboard with some trails that are going to be
opened up in the near future. This is according to a sportsmen's group
that was put together that's been working closely with them.
I don't think that this eliminates the possibility that we still need
to be able to have the rights to get into the Picayune and some other
areas. It's not a case of, two square miles of any particular place is
going to satisfy the total needs. It won't. It has to be something that's
spread out over a large area.
Now, would this in itself remove the liability from the water
management in the deal that we made with the state as far as the
Picayune and what we gave up? I don't know if I'm willing to go that
far. But still, I think this is a positive step, and it certainly bears
putting everything on hold as we move forward and try to come up
with a realistic solution for this.
Remember, it doesn't matter whose land it is, whether it's in the
control of the state or control of the county or United States of
America with the Everglades. It doesn't really matter. What matters is
the fact that we all have a public out there that's underserved in many
different directions, and the loss of access has been a very big factor in
what we're here today about. But still, I see this as a positive step
forward, and I'm looking forward to bringing it back in a month to
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May 23, 2006
find out what we have.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Motion to approve a 30-day
extension to the agreement.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Any further discussion?
MR. MUDD: Are you talking about bringing it back on the 20th
of June?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I'm sorry?
MR. MUDD: Bringing it back on the 20th of June?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: That's okay with me.
MR. MUDD: Because if you don't bring it back on the 20th of
June, you're not bringing it back until the last Tuesday of July.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. Let's bring it back on the
20th of June.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And my second.
MR. MUDD: And I also want to make sure that you understand
-- and right now I'm checking. And I know Commissioner Henning's
scratching his head, and I'm looking at another letter, but I'm not too
sure that's 32 and 33 that you saw on that overhead on that map, okay?
My impression is sections 32 and 33 are south of Sabal Palm Road,
okay. I just talked to Clarence about it too, and Ellen, I'm -- we're
going to confirm it, okay, because you're not going to bring it back for
30 days. But they are looking in those two particular sections.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: As long as it's not on 5th Avenue
South, I don't care.
MR. MUDD: I was trying to get it down 3rd Street South.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And you don't even have to forge
any trails.
MR. MUDD: Too close to that sign out there at the end.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Any further discussion? If not,
I'll call the question. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries. Bring it back in 30 days.
MR. WEIGEL: Thank you.
MS. HUBBARD: Thank you.
Item #8A
ORDINANCE 2006-24: PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER
ADOPTION OF AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE
PARKLANDS COLLIER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DISTRICT (CDD) PURSUANT TO SECTION 190.005, FLORIDA
STATUTES-ADOPTED
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Now, I guess we can get on with 8A.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: 8A?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I believe that's where we're at.
MR. WEIGEL: CDD, I think, yeah.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yep.
MR. COHEN: Good afternoon. For the record, Randy Cohen,
Comprehensive Planning Department Director.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I just want to say first of all, the people
that have been waiting here patiently, thanks very much for us
working through this process, and we -- sorry that we didn't get this
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May 23, 2006
started at one o'clock.
So please begin.
MR. COHEN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The item here before
you today is the Parklands Community Development District. If you
recall, approximately a year ago this item came before you, and it was
indefinitely continued.
I'm not going to run through all of the items with respect to this,
as that was done at that point in time.
I did want to point out that this particular community
development district is 622 acres in size; therefore, it falls under the
parameters of section 190.005, paragraph 26, subparagraphs A
through F which pertain to community development districts that are
1,000 acres in size or less.
I also wanted to point out for Commissioner Fiala and also other
members of the board with respect to the ordinance that was drafted,
that there's a provision in there in section 7, as will be with all future
ordinances, that calls for the provision of adding a property owner or a
resident when it reaches a certain point in time, which has been a
concern of the commission in the past.
Here today for you is Mr. Don Pickworth representing Ronto
Development, as well as other representatives of Ronto. I'm here also
to answer any questions that you may have with respect to this
particular community development district, and legal counsel is here
as well.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning, did you want to
ask a question now or did you want to wait?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I want to make a statement and
a motion.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: This is a -- truly a public benefit
of a CDD building public infrastructure without a gate. It's partially to
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May 23, 2006
construct Logan Boulevard north of Immokalee Road to Bonita Beach
Road. And so it truly is a great public benefit, and I make a motion to
approve.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: There's a motion on the floor by
Commissioner Henning and a second by Commissioner Fiala in regard
to the CDD.
Hearing no further -- is there any speakers on this?
MS. FILSON: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. I close the public hearing, and
call the question. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
MR. COHEN: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Thank you, everybody, for
waiting so long. We appreciate it. Sorry for the inconvenience.
MR. MUDD: Good work, Don,
Item #8B
ORDINANCE 2006-25: ORDINANCE AMENDING SCHEDULE
TEN OF APPENDIX A OF CHAPTER 74 OF THE COLLIER
COUNTY CODE OF LAWS AND ORDINANCES (THE COLLIER
COUNTY CONSOLIDATED IMPACT FEE ORDINANCE)
PROVIDING FOR THE INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE OF
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May 23, 2006
THE IMPACT FEE STUDY ENTITLED COLLIER COUNTY
LAW ENFORCEMENT IMPACT FEE STUDY COST AND
CREDIT UPDATE DATED MAY 5, 2006, AMENDING THE LAW
ENFORCEMENT IMPACT FEE RATE SCHEDULE TO REFLECT
THE AMENDED RATES SET FORTH IN THE IMPACT FEE
STUDY AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND A
DELAYED IMPLEMENTATION DATE OF JUNE 30, 2006-
ADOPTED
Next agenda item is 8A, and it's a recommendation that the Board
of County Commissioners adopt an ordinance amending schedule 10
of appendix A of chapter 74 of the Collier County Code of Laws and
Ordinances, the Collier County Consolidated Impact Fee Ordinance,
providing for the incorporation by reference of the impact fee study
entitled Collier County Law Enforcement Impact Fee Study Cost and
Credit Update dated May 5, 2006, amending the law enforcement
impact fee rate schedule to amend -- excuse me -- schedule to reflect
the amended rates set forth in the impact fee study, and providing for
an effective date and a delayed implementation date of June 30, 2006.
And I believe Ms. Patterson is going to talk about an
implementation date for the 90-day window that was in the legislation.
Ms. Amy Patterson, your Manager for Impact Fees, will present.
MS. PATTERSON: Good afternoon. I have two items to
discuss before I turn this over to the consultant, Mr. Steve Tindale.
The first is the Productivity Committee recommendation. It was
too late when the Productivity Committee had their last meeting to
have it in your executive summary, but I will read their
recommendation into the record.
On May 17, 2006, the Collier County Productivity Committee
unanimously recommended that the Board of County Commissioners
approve the Law Enforcement Impact Fee Cost and Credit Update and
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May 23, 2006
the associated rates.
And second, as Mr. Mudd indicated, we're making a
recommendation that the delayed effective date provided in the title
block and section 4 of the proposed ordinance and also in your
executive summary be changed from June 30, 2006, as it was
advertised, to September 1, 2006, which is in compliance with section
9 of Senate Bill 1194, which is the Florida Impact Fee Act and is
awaiting signature by the governor, and that this -- that section sets
forth a requirement that notice be provided no less than 90 days before
the effective date of an ordinance or resolution imposing a new or
amended impact fee.
And with that, I will turn it over to Mr. Steve Tindale, and he will
do a brief presentation and answer any of your questions.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Can I make a motion?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I make a motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. We have a motion on the floor by
Commissioner Coyle for approval of this impact fee, and a second by
Commissioner Fiala.
Any further discussion? Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: The -- for the consultant, the fee
is more than doubling, so what's the biggest cost of that?
MR. TINDALE: Very briefly. We updated the construction
cost. The county -- there's three reasons. One is, the construction cost
has been updated. Second, as the sheriff is implementing the impact
fee, you had one of the highest credits, taxes going into the program,
giving credits. Well, you dropped your fifth year, which had a lot of
taxes in it, and you added a year where he's not budgeted the taxes, so
the credit went substantially down. And the single-family home, we
used some updated data on the persons per household.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER HENNING: When did you drop that out,
what year; fifth?
MR. TINDALE: Well, when we updated the credit mechanism,
we just looked at a new budget, and the new budget has less taxes in it
for construction and more impact fees so the credit automatically goes
down.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. So County Manager,
what does that mean to the ad valorem?
MR. MUDD: What does that mean to the ad valorem?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Correct. I mean --
MR. MUDD: In the fifth year of the sheriffs schedule, he's--
there's more impact fees being used instead of ad valorem taxes.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
MR. MUDD: So in the fifth year there'll be less used in that
capital side of the house on the sheriffs side, so you should see some
alternative or offset that comes back into the budget someplace that's
not being used --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: So you're saying the sheriffs budget
ought to come in lower then?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: No.
MR. MUDD: No, because the capital budget, you do,
Commissioner.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: That defies the laws of nature.
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, I won't comment on that particular
comment. But what I will say is, is capital budget is provided by the
Board of County Commissioners, okay?
There are particular facilities that are still on the books to be
built, one of which is an admin. center here on this compound for him
that's attached to his jail facility that we haven't built yet; therefore,
he's in an annexed building off of Horseshoe right now with those
particular special ops and other things that he's got in there, okay?
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May 23, 2006
Now, we're also doing a special ops building that's sitting there.
But as Mr. Tindale basically told this board at the last meeting it
had when he was talking about school impact fees -- and did a very
good job talking about impact fees and impact fee credits.
And the more that you use the impact fee, okay, the less you're
going to have, as a crutch, your taxes that are creditable toward that
impact fee that would serve to lessen it. In essence, what he told you
is, impact fees beget bigger impact fees. And I believe that's exactly
what you said.
And it gets to a point in time that you've got to watch to make
sure you don't cross the ridiculous threshold. And you had some term
for that last time, which I can't remember, but I think I simplified your
presentation. I thought it was a very good presentation.
And that will tell you by -- and if you think about the tenacity
that the county has gone about with impact fees and you think about
where our impact fees were before at around $17,000 on a
single-family home and where they are today, at just about $30,000 on
a single-family home around 2,000 square feet, that that basically is
coming true in Collier County because you're using the impact fees
versus the credits, your ad valorem taxes, in order to build those
particular facilities.
Then you added the fact that our construction costs have gone
almost to the ridiculous sides as far as the State of Florida is
concerned, and I believe the Engineer N ews- Record and everybody
else in the country will tell you that, and it has substantially increased
our impact fees, but I don't want to put words in your mouth.
MR. TINDALE: A real brief comment. One of the things -- and
I was in public works for my first 20 years, and one of the things I did
is reconstruction, replacement, air-conditioning units, everything.
Nothing's cheap.
So there's two things that it does. One is it might reduce the
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May 23, 2006
taxes. The other thing it does is it stops you from having to raise
them. So there's a little balancing there, because many times what
happens, you take this money, you start repairing and replacing things
you haven't done for many years.
And if you didn't do the impact fees, the only other place would
have been to have to creep up with your taxes. So just keeping them
constant is a real goal I would suggest, with the reconstruction and all
the pricing that's going on, and I think that's kind of what's happening
is that the budgets are pretty well being balanced. And rather than
having to ask for more, we're asking maybe for the same or maybe a
little bit less, but they're using the impact fees for the capital and the
other capital money for the reconstruction and the maintenance.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. One last question.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: What year is the fifth year?
MR. TINDALE: To be honest with you, I didn't -- I reviewed the
report, and I don't remember the exact dates. I just remember
distinctly a couple years ago when I met with the sheriff, they had a
huge chunk of money being requested for their construction, and my
comment was, you're above the average. And the comment was, we
don't have impact fees. And there was fear. I just remember this
conversation.
Now they've had a year or two of impact fees, and I'm seeing the
impact fees going into the budget and the credits going down. That's
just the general numbers I've seen because I've probably reviewed 20
of these in the last two weeks. But your numbers have changed
substantially in terms of what he was committing.
I think it's by -- the credit's gone down by at least a third. It was
like $150, and it dropped down to like a $75 credit. I got the number.
But it clearly went down, and I asked, well, did they start moving, you
know, the taxes out and the impact fees in? And my staff said yes.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Maybe the county manager
knows that. What year is the fifth here?
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, I'd have to look. I don't have that
information.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you.
MR. TINDALE: She said 9/10; October 9th, 9/10, so it will be--
is the fifth year.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Any other further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Hearing none, I'll call the question. All
those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries. Thank you very much.
MR. TINDALE: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you very much for your
presentation.
Item #8C
RESOLUTION 2006-134: AN INCREASE TO THE COLLIER
AREA TRANSIT (CAT) BUS FARES - ADOPTED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, the next item is 8C. That is a
recommendation that the board approve an increase to the Collier
Area Transit, CAT, bus fare.
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May 23, 2006
This particular item will be presented by Ms. Diane Flagg, your
Director of Alternative Transportation Service.
MS. FLAGG: Good afternoon, Commissioners. This item is to
obtain your approval following public comment in regard to
increasing the Collier Area Transit fares. The FT A, which is the
Federal Transit Administration, requires public comment prior to you
approving any increase to the fares.
We've sought public comment from the transit passengers by
placing a fare notice on each of the buses in three different languages,
English, Spanish and Creole. We also put a legal ad in the newspaper,
and we also contacted local businesses for public comment.
The overwhelming response, surprisingly, was that they
understand the need for the fare increase and that they think it's
reasonable, but they consistently also asked for additional service,
more buses, more routes, service on Sundays, later hours.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: If you'd put the notices out in
English, you probably would have gotten some people objecting to it.
MS. FLAGG: No, it went out in English; English Spanish and
Creole. We covered the bases. This -- as proposed, a fare increase
would be implemented August 1 st of this year if approved.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I believe we have one public speaker. Is
there any questions before I turn it over to -- opening it up for public
speakers?
MS. FILSON: Bruce Kennedy? He was here earlier this
morning and he said he may not make it back, so --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. So we'll close the public hearing.
Is there any discussion?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah. Just a brief one, if I may.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah. I didn't agree with the
statistics in there, of course, I may be proven wrong, where it
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May 23, 2006
indicated that with every increase, that you have a drop of ridership. I
believe it worked out to like 7 and a half percent drop, that -- if that
particular statistic was followed. I don't think that's going to be true.
But I'll tell you something, I'd like to see the ridership as it
progresses and be able to have a chart to be able to follow it to see if it
continues to climb or if we have a decrease. I seriously doubt we're
going to have a decrease. If I thought we would and I thought it was
going to be an impediment for people out there of a smaller income, I
wouldn't be voting for it, but I see it as just a little bit of a measure to
be able to restore some equal liberty (sic) between the cost of doing
business and the service that's offered.
And just for the sake of everyone that's here, considering what
the state, the federal, and what the county does, how much of it is still
subsidized by government?
MS. FLAGG: Twenty percent on the average is the user fees,
and then the balance comes from federal grants, state grants, and local
funding. And we can certainly monitor. We agree with you that we
don't expect to see a decrease in passengers; however, we wanted to
give you the industry standard in how they calculate that, but we do
agree that we will not see a ridership decrease.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That's important to know; 80
percent of it is subsidized by government, which it has to do in order
to be able to keep this balance and encourage people to ride on the
bus.
With that in mind, I'd like to make a motion for approval.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. I have one question. We have a
motion on the floor and a second. Motion's by Commissioner Coletta
and seconded by Commissioner Coyle.
What is the amount of ad valorem taxes that we use in Collier
County here to subsidize the buses?
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May 23, 2006
MS. FLAGG: This year it's actually -- we're using gas taxes, and
it's 2 million in gas taxes, and then the balance is federal funding and
state funding, and then obviously the user fees.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Good. I would imagine that the
ridership will go up if we see gas go up to $3.50 a gallon this summer.
MS. FLAGG: Potentially. What -- the vast majority of riders on
the transit system are folks that don't have a means of transportation,
and the -- also vast majority of riders are those that are going to work.
So what the bus has done is allowed folks who previously could not
work because they didn't have transportation, has provided them a
means to get ajob.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I understand that also a lot of people are
thinking about parking their cars because they can't afford to run back
and forth every day to work.
MS. FLAGG: We welcome that.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's right.
So any further discuss?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: If not, I'll call the question. All those in
favor, signify by saying aye.
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, County Attorney has --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yes, County Attorney. Sorry.
MR. WEIGEL: Hi. Thank you. No, I could come in after, but
since this is a rate approval here, I would recommend that it be
memorialized in a resolution that the county attorney could draft with
Ms. Flagg, and it works better, I think, for tracking in regard to rates.
And so just that your motion would be memorialized in a resolution.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coyle, is that--
COMMISSIONER COYLE: It's okay with me.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's in your second?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yep.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: All right. So it's in the motion, and
therefore, I'll call the question now.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: All those opposed, by like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries. Thank you very much.
MS. FLAGG: Thank you.
Item #10D
SCOPE OF SERVICES REQUIRED TO PROCURE
PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE PROPORTIONATE SHARE ORDINANCE AS
REQUIRED UNDER SECTION 163.3180 OF THE ADOPTED
GROWTH MANAGEMENT BILL SB 360 - APPROVED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that brings us to--
COMMISSIONER COYLE: 10D.
MR. MUDD: -- 10D, which is a recommendation to approve a
scope of services required to procure professional consulting for the
implementation of the proportionate share ordinance as required under
section 163.3180 of the adopted growth management bill Senate Bill
360.
Mr. Norman Feder, your Administrator for Transportation
Services, will present.
MR. FEDER: Thank you, Commissioners. I'll be fairly brief.
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May 23, 2006
Unfortunately, we didn't get the response we were trying out of the
legislature in some change in Senate Bill 360. With that, we find that
by this December we do have to develop and establish by local
ordinance a proportionate share ordinance.
What we're here to tell you today, and I have Nick Casalanguida,
who is the Project Manager on this, is that we've developed a scope of
services that's in your package. We intend on getting a consultant on
board shortly. We'll probably be working with Tindale, Oliver, who's
Impact Fee Consultant.
And in that process, we are going to look at both the
administrative end, which is basically identifying that unlike a PUD
where we just have a traffic impact statement, that in anything in
consideration of proportionate share, we'll probably be dealing much
more with the level of analysis and requirements closer to a
development of regional impact, much like proportionate share
originally came out of.
The other part is, on the cost side, we've done developer
contribution agreements in the past, to a degree, that will be some of
it. But here, under proportionate share, it also allows us to not only go
after the demands of new growth, but also to try and address prior
backlog.
We plan on making sure that proportionate share ordinance we'll
be bringing to you addresses all of those issues.
I have Nick here that will give you a couple of items on the
schedule and the scope itself, and then we're open to any guidance that
you have as we get ready to kick this off. Nick?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Did you want to ask a question now,
Commissioner Coyle, or did you want to wait?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: It might be appropriate if I ask the
question now. I've already asked this question of staff, and I've sent
them emails concerning -- about my concerns with this proposal, and
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maybe -- maybe staff can clarify this a bit for me.
I am concerned about who we get for a consultant to do this. The
last thing we need to do is to get those people involved in this process
who wrote this legislation in the first place. Number one is, they don't
have the slightest idea how it's going to be implemented and what it
does to anybody.
And my -- we have a model ordinance that's given to us by the
Department of Transportation. It appears to me that what we really
need is someone who has experience, on-the-ground experience, in
growth management to take a look at the model ordinance to
determine how it impacts our ability to manage growth and then make
appropriate changes in the ordinance to get us to where we need to be.
And to me, that is not an attorney, okay? It's not someone who
participated in writing that legislation. But it's really someone more
like the people we have in our own organization, quite frankly,
because I'd be willing to bet you guys understand that a lot better than
the people who put this thing together.
So my -- and I know that we have an attorney sitting in the back
of the room who has followed this from the very beginning. So we
have people here on staff, and the county attorney has already
indicated this to me, that we have the ability in-house to deal with the
legal ramifications of this issue. And what we need is somebody who
will look at it from a growth management standpoint to tell us how we
can best implement this program. Now--
MR. FEDER: Commissioner, we --
COMMISSIONER COYLE: How do you plan to do that?
MR. FEDER: We fully agree with you. First of all, I believe
you do have -- and I'll speak for myself -- but in the staff, and
definitely within our legal staff, everything we need to move forward
on this.
What we do plan on doing, as I said, is under a contract, bring in
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Tindale, Oliver who has worked with us very well on our impact fees,
knows our issues, knows the county very well, and is familiar with
how the proportionate share methodology was developed but was not
up there developing legislation, to help us in bringing forward what
we think we need, which is a proportionate share ordinance that meets
the requirements of Senate Bill 360, yet allows us to make sure that
we maintain our commitment for concurrency management and
infrastructure concurrent with the impacts of development.
And this county's been very, very strongly committed to us. The
board has been committed to that. So that's what we plan on trying to
bring you as best we can.
As far as legal support, we've already worked with David and
with Michael, and we have no problems at all and concur fully that
they will direct the legal review on this, and as they need to, they can
pursue any outside legal assistance that they so choose, or work it
totally in-house, and we're very comfortable with that.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: So your primary objective then is
to get someone who can work with us concerning impact fees; is that
essentially true?
MR. FEDER: Help us to identify how we're going to not only
work from impact fees but start equating the issue of backlog and how
we're going to establish a proportionate share relative to our backlog
use.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: How does Tindale, Oliver solve
that problem for you? Do they have an expertise level beyond the
calculation of impact fees?
MR. FEDER: Yes. To develop the impact fees, they have to
take into account these issues and impacts and can help us in the
evaluation of our backlog, which we have quite a bit of information
already available, that's why we're doing this under basically a
push-button. It would be a small contract that we have with different
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planning consultants that we can bring on board.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. One final -- final word of
caution, you know, at least from my standpoint. Just as an increase in
impact fees causes a decrease in credits in the calculation of impact
fees from ad valorem property taxes, an increase in proportionate
share results in a decrease in impact fees.
So you've got to understand the dynamics because the ultimate
goal of the legislation is to replace impact fees with proportionate fair
share. And as proportionate fair share gets used more frequently,
impact fees have to go down in the calculation process, and ultimately,
that eliminates impact fees as a source of income and puts more of the
burden on ad valorem property taxes.
So you've got to have somebody who understands that and makes
sure that we don't do what we're trying to avoid in our calculation of
impact fees to make these things ridiculous.
MR. FEDER: Understood. And what I will point out to you,
that's exactly why we're trying to bring Tindale, Oliver on board, it's
just that concern.
Also to note to you that right now your impact fees are the cost of
new developments' impact on new growth or new demand for
capacity. What your proportionate share will do is not undercut that, it
should not, and that's what we're going to make sure, but rather add to
that also the cost of making up that backlog that we have today and
have not been able to get to with impact fees.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Well, I would hope so. But
remember, you've got to grant credits for impact fees paid in the
transportation management area where the proportionate fair share is
being paid.
MR. FEDER: Understood.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay? So there's a real danger
about how those two things balance out and how they affect the
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credits. So -- okay. I understand where you're going.
MR. FEDER: That's understood, and that's something we need
to take into account, yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I'm sure Tindale, Oliver will address
that.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I hope.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning, sir?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: So you're saying that the
proportionate fair share would assist us to pay for the backlog of
infrastructure.
MR. FEDER: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: How is that -- the backlog paid
today?
MR. FEDER: Basically today you are moving with your gas
taxes, some of the ad valorem that's coming in to try to meet some of
that backlog.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. And who's going to be
paying the proportionate fair share? And I guess the answer -- don't
even answer that. It is the developers that are going to do that.
And the credits issued to impact fees is only proportionate fair
share of what's collected. So no matter what, growth is going to pay
for growth.
And if we're going to replace the ad valorem dollars to pay for
the backlog with proportionate fair share, I don't see where that's a bad
thing, and I don't see where the legislators hurt us in this proportionate
fair share. It's a good thing, because it's saying that growth is going to
pay for growth.
And if that's the way it's written and that's the way it's going to be
applied, and applied legally, I think we've got everything that
Commissioner Coyle wants, is for growth to pay for growth, and that's
not a bad thing, and I agree.
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COMMISSIONER COYLE: Well, you won't find that out until
this is written and approved by DCA, and that's--
COMMISSIONER HENNING: It doesn't have to be approved
by DCA.
MR. FEDER: We have to be able to show that in no way
conflicts with Senate Bill 360, and that's why we had this statement
about legal services, which will be very well handled by our own legal
staff.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And I was told by department of
community -- the secretary of DCA, he doesn't want to see that
ordinance. Don't send it up there. An ordinance is something
controlled locally.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And by the way, I have to tell you
that I was told by the secretary of DCA four times in a public meeting
with lots of -- lots of witnesses in this room, that the preface to the
model ordinance was supported by his office, and that preface said
that nothing in the model ordinance was designed to prohibit a county
from having a tighter concurrency system and that the proportionate
fair share would be applied in accordance with the concurrency
system. Four times he said he supported that, his staff took part in it,
and within two hours after I talked with Senator Bennett about that
language and we agreed on that language and Senator Bennett agreed
to put it in his bill, DCA was working to undermine it because his
staff, Val Hubbard, said that the secretary of DCA was wrong, and
that wasn't worded properly. So you can believe the secretary of DCA
if you want to, but I'm not.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, somebody needs to prove
to me that the ordinance needs to go up there for approval. It's my
understanding that all ordinances stay here locally except for our
Growth Management Plan and our Land Development Code
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ordinance.
And here's the thing, Commissioner Coyle, you're in the driver's
seat, and I think we're all allowing you to get whatever kind of growth
management that you feel is good for Collier County, so -- and you
got ways to do that through the capital improvement plan by moving
out the construction, and you have ways for growth to pay for growth
with the proportionate fair share in impact fees because you're moving
around the capital improvement of said facility.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: All that is correct. That's exactly
what we're trying to do, we're trying to work within the confines of the
law.
The problem is, we cannot write an ordinance that doesn't
implement the intent of the law. If we're found to be violating any of
the principles of the legislation in a local ordinance, we can be
sanctioned. So there is approval and authority from Tallahassee to
deal with that.
The other point is that everybody who has been to Tallahassee
and has worked with this legislation that I know of on this staff has
said it is designed to permit developers to bypass concurrency.
And so our concern has to be that we work within the law and try
to find a way to accomplish that goal and then be prepared to defend
ourselves at every legislative session here on out, because if a
developer feels that we've done something that is discriminatory or not
in consonance with the spirit of the law, then there's going to be a
legislative change removing that right from us.
And we saw the beginnings of that in this last session where
people were trying to say, it's going to -- you can't have a
supermajority for rezones, you've got to have a simple majority, and
things of that nature.
We have to understand that that is going to crop up in future
legislative sessions. We're going to have this fight going on every
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year for the next five or six or seven years.
And so it's going to be a very touchy thing to do. We cannot take
any of this stuff for granted, and we can't believe something that
somebody tells us. If it's not in writing, forget it, because --
COMMISSIONER HENNING: But here's what's in writing.
The law is -- and we didn't have this ability before to charge
developers for the backlog of infrastructure; $320 million that we
borrowed to -- in the -- or bonded for the existing residents to pay
back. Now with proportionate fair share, we get to have the
developers pay for that.
MR. FEDER: There is one distinction. This lets anyone out in
the viewing area that does not understand. The proportionate share,
when and if applied, once we have an ordinance in effect, would only
be where someone was seeking to advance something that was in the
outer years of our construction project. So, therefore, it wouldn't
apply across the board to all development. Just to make that clear.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: The proportionate fair share is a
way to get around concurrency. You pay proportionate fair share if
you don't want to wait until the road is finished, and that's what it's all
about.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: And if we're going to build a
road anyways, and we have that road improvement in the outer years,
if somebody wants to come along and give us the money to build it, is
that bad?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yes.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah, because you've got to get the
money, you've got to do the engineering, you've got to do the land
acquisition, you've got to get a contract. That might take three years
to get to that point. They can start the minute they drop their money
on you, that's the problem.
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MR. FEDER: I wish I could do it in three years.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah, three to five years maybe.
So that's the fundamental problem. They can hand you the check for
the proportionate fair share and say, here's the money to finish up that
road, but it's going to take us three to five years to do it. They can
start developing right now, today, and we don't have anything to say
about it. That's the problem.
And you'll find that not all the developers are going to do this
because they don't want to advance that much money up front, and so
we're not going to achieve that benefit that you talked about being able
to have all that money for the backlog.
So it's -- it's way more complex than we're going to solve today,
and I hate to bore the viewers with this sort of thing, but it's sort of --
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Commissioners, for the record, Nick
Casalanguida. I just want to clear up a few things. I've slept with this
ordinance in my hand for the past six weeks. I've attended two
workshops. And I want to make sure that you understand. I'm very
clear on where we need to go with this.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay, good.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Second part of this, it's a little
unnerving attending the workshops when one of the DOT slides says,
developer has the right, and they put the word right in bold letters.
So I asked for clarification from DCA legal counsel and from
FDOT. And that right is only when -- and as Norman pointed out --
backlog in vested development, including Golden Gate Estates platted
lots and other D RIs in your area are counted for in our new capital
project in the five-year window.
So it's not as clear as the developers would like to think it is, that
they can come in and say, here's a check, let's go.
After that, it's a may. It reverts back to us. And as you've seen in
the past probably six months to a year, some of the developer
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contribution agreements we brought forward, that's at your mercy, at
your decision. And that's the way we'd like to keep things.
And I think based on what I'm seeing and what we know about
our own concurrency system in backlog development, I don't think
you'll see by right applications as much as we think that they're going
to be out there.
You will see ones brought forward as a request, as may be, and it
will be at this board's discretion. So I'm very clear on what you're
looking for, and I think we'll work forward on that, and you'll see that
by December 1 st.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Good.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Fantastic. Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Do I hear a motion?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Motion to approve.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Do I hear a second?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. We have a motion on the floor
for approval of this and -- by Commissioner Coyle, a second by
Commissioner Fiala.
Any other further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Do we have -- we don't have any
speakers on this?
MS. FILSON: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Any further discussion on this?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Hearing none, I'll call the question. All
those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
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CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Those opposed, by like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries unanimously.
We're going to take a 10-minute break for our court reporter, and
then we'll -- I believe we have an item that's tabled, and hopefully we
can bring that off the table at that time.
So we'll take -- be back here at -- since everybody's been good,
I'm going to give them an extra couple of minutes, and we'll be back at
3:15.
(A brief recess was had.)
MR. MUDD: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd please take your
seats.
Mr. Chairman, you have a hot mike.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And we're back out of recess.
Item #10C - CONTINUED FROM EARLIER IN THE MEETING
REPORT TO THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SUMMARIZING THE APRIL 13,2006 IMMOKALEE HOUSING
WORKSHOP AND REQUEST THAT THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS PROVIDE DIRECTION TO THE COUNTY
MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, REGARDING ENFORCEMENT
OF THE EXISTING MINIMUM HOUSING STANDARDS
ORDINANCE AS IT RELATES TO THE IMMOKALEE AREA-
APPROVED W/STIPULATIONS
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, this item was tabled until three
o'clock, and it's item 10C. It's a report to the Board of County
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Commissioners summarizing the April 13, 2006, Irnmokalee Housing
Workshop and basically asking the board for some direction based on
that workshop.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: What do we have on the screen?
What is this stuff?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Hold on.
MR. MUDD: I have no idea, but we can get rid of it.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Good, okay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: We're bringing that item 10C off the
table for discussion, and hopefully we can get this wrapped up.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I put my button on right before we
left.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Oh, yep, that's right. We had two
questions, thank you very much.
DR. COLFER: Okay, good. Thank you. For the record, I'm Dr.
Joan Colfer, your health department director.
What we did over lunch was figure out some measurable
outcomes for you all. And before lunch we were talking about beds.
In this case it was just easier to talk about migrant housing units. So a
unit, for instance, would be a trailer that had several beds in it, okay.
And the ones that we know about are the 1,440 that you see up
there on the screen. We think that about 50 percent of them are okay,
good quality, about another 25 percent need improvement, and the
ones that we would target for this initiative during the summer would
be the ones that are really beyond repair, I mean, they're so old,
they've been patched together, some blown apart by Wilma, have all
kinds of problems. We think that's a manageable number, that the 360
would be the target group for reinspection during the summer.
Now, let's look at a budget. Okay. So you'll remember that the
$250,000 was something that we calculated for a full year. Now we're
talking about something that we would try and do in 16 weeks, okay.
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So we have some salaries, some overtime. I think it's a great idea to,
you know, have some odd hours for people. I don't think I can work
them seven days a week for a long period of time, but I think we can
work them six days a week. So there's some overtime in there to, you
know, do as much as we can in this 16-week period.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Six and a half.
DR. COLFER: Pardon?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Six and a half.
DR. COLFER: All right, six and a half. Expenses. And we'd
lease some cars. We can't even buy cars that quickly. We'd just lease
some cars to get them out there, some clerical support. Total expenses
of 25,000 added to the 50,000 in salaries would get us to 75,000.
Now, then -- and we would need -- if you want to us to do this
during the summer, I just need a nod from you that you want us to do
that, and then we'd start hiring people tomorrow basically. I mean,
we'd hire them -- we have something called other professional
services, which is OPS, and we can just bring them on board. We do
have to train them, so, you know, that might take us a week.
Now -- then we would leave the 250,000 if that's all right with
everybody, in expanded services, because that would allow us then to
keep these people on board, continue to improve maintenance, and the
existing ones that we think are good, to investigate and identify the
other 50 percent of the housing that we think is out there that we've
never been able to find before -- I mean, you know, we know there's
more housing out there -- and to monitor the existing units that are
there.
And I'll be happy to answer questions about that.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Henning, I
believe, had his button pushed first before lunch.
DR. COLFER: Yes.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Doctor, do you think you could
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get things done quicker by existing county resources than hiring
somebody on a temporary basis to get these accomplished?
And where I'm going with this, we already have an enforcement
arm of the county of code enforcement that has been trained in a lot of
these areas. Now, I know -- I understand that migrant camp work --
working camps are a little different, but they're still the same -- or
similar. Would that work if we provided those resources?
DR. COLFER: Well, it would certainly diminish whosever
program you pulled it from. It would diminish their capabilities.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I understand -- there's no
question about it, but if this is a priority of the county and the county
commission, is there a benefit in -- you know, and we're only talking
about a short period of time.
DR. COLFER: I think I need help from Michelle.
MS. ARNOLD: For the record, Michelle Arnold. I need
clarification actually because my understanding of what Dr. Colfer
would be doing is trying to do inspection of existing units and finding
additional migrant camps.
DR. COLFER: Only for the -- right away for the summer, we
would only be -- for the summer we would only be -- I mean, trying
during the summer to go out and find things that we've never been
able to find before is ludicrous.
What we would do is focus on the things, some of the things that
you saw on our tour that we're unhappy with, and they either need to
be greatly improved or done away with. That would be the focus of
the summer.
And then once we're back into gear, we would then move that
program, if you so desire, into a full-time effort, and that's when we
would go look for other things that are ferreted away out in the
countryside, the one trailer here or there that's, you know, in
somebody's back yard that, you know, we haven't been able to find or
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see before. But we're not going to spend time during the summer
trying to ferret those out. During the summer, we're going to focus on
things that we know are there and we know aren't good.
MS. ARNOLD: With regard to utilizing our staff to -- you know,
with this effort, I think we're already going to be incorporated in that
effort. We are going to already have work that's probably going to be
DR. COLFER: Generated by this.
MS. ARNOLD: -- forwarded to us as a result of their efforts
over the summer. So I'm not really sure that we're able to take on yet
more work on top of what already is going to be produced, you know,
as a part of this effort.
DR. COLFER: And the only other piece -- and I could seek
some further advise from our counsel-- might be a legal one. I mean,
we're a state program. Migrant housing is a state program and may
need to be conducted by us, and then turn -- when we say, you know,
you can't put migrants in there anymore, we can't close them down,
but we can give all the issues that made them unsuitable to Michelle,
and for Michelle to pursue closure. Does that make sense?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Uh-huh. I know perfectly.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes.
DR. COLFER: Yes, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I don't think we've actually nailed
down what you really are saying with regard to migrant and farm
worker. What you explained or what Nancy explained--
DR. COLFER: Nancy explained.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- to us on the bus trip was, a
migrant farm worker, number one, has to work on a farm, and, number
two, cannot work full time. They have to leave and come back. So
that's the housing you're targeting; is that correct?
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DR. COLFER: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: What about the other housing that is
so dilapidated also but isn't being addressed with your program?
DR. COLFER: And that's Michelle's program.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I see.
DR. COLFER: She needs to address that.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. So you then -- the way I'm
understanding it right this moment is, you both are going to be
tackling a different section in Immokalee --
MS. ARNOLD: Right.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- so that we have a bigger push on
getting rid of this despicable type of housing; is that correct?
DR. COLFER: That's correct.
MS. ARNOLD: Right. There's more to the housing than what
the health department handles.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's right.
MS. FREES: And the other things that we find that fall outside
of what we are able to do that we find that, perhaps, it's hotel workers
living in that drive into Naples or something, we take that information,
document it, and forward it on. Because from the health department
standpoint, I don't have any authority over a rental unit, but Michelle's
group does, so I provide her the package of information on location
and what it is and where it is and what we have found, and then she's
able to go with it from there.
We both have different pieces of the puzzle that we can handle,
manage, and resolve, but neither one of us can do both of them
without ongoing cooperation and joint effort.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Somebody else on our board
up here -- I don't remember which one it was -- was talking about, you
know, how much do you expect to get done a day, and you were
saying how difficult that would really be. And I understand that
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because not only do you have to identify, but then there's a lot of
paperwork and talking with the people and so forth, so to answer that,
do you think you would try and shoot for like five a day or
something? Or do you have a number that you were going to try and
shoot for? If you exceed it, wonderful, you know. We did--
DR. COLFER: Right. And what we have is -- if we're only
going to -- we're going to go back and look at the 360 units, okay, so
think of a unit as like, for instance, a trailer, okay, and the ones that
are the worst ones -- and we -- and you know, in our mind we can
make up a list of which ones those are, and go back and look at them,
see if there's anything that can be done to salvage them. If not, they
get earmarked for closure. And then, yes, it is all the paperwork.
So if you take that 360 and divide it by four workers, that would
be 90 of those per worker, divide that by 16 weeks, and whatever that
-- about one a day.
MS. FREES: From Cormac.
DR. COLFER: Oh, thank you. One or two a day.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And when you were talking about
$250,000 a year to provide this service, and then you mentioned
something about desks and cars and computers, but were you -- were
you amortizing that over three years? I mean, because you're not
going to buy more than one car and one desk and one computer. So
does the fee go down, the $250,000 go down, or did you -- did you
divided that up amongst three years?
DR. COLFER: No. I was trying to take the -- I was trying to
take the people from the summer that we would now have trained --
and remember we're in a little bit of a different budget cycle, but this
could work out well. That would get us to October 1 st, and then on
October 1st, if we annualize that, it would come close to the 250,000,
but we would already have the laptops, the cameras. We would have
to go buy the cars, and at that point if that -- you know, if we're going
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to continue the program, we would just rent the cars in the
summertime. I mean, our process for buying a car takes a while. So,
you know, we would rent things just to get people out on the road and
get this going.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Good. You've answered my
questions. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: My question was answered with
the prior questions.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yes, just a couple things. It's a
collaborative effort between code and public health. You need one --
you can't do one without the other. I understand that. The timing's
important in the fact that we have to time it as far as the effort with the
migrant labor so that we catch it when they're out of town, before they
come back to be able to remove them, and also not only remove, but
get the ones that are sub standards and can be repaired.
Okay. My question is, those that are salvageable and those that
have to be condemned, I'm sure that definition can be clarified as
you're looking at them, you know what you're looking at. But what
power do you have to be able to make them comply to that? I mean,
is that your rules or ours?
DR. COLFER: No. That's our rules if it's migrant housing. And
what power we have is fines. If they don't clean it up, we can fine
them.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: What's the fines, if I may ask?
MS. FREES: The fines can be $500 a day. And the important
part that falls into that is enforcement, because once we close a facility
down and no one's allowed to be there, I periodically send people back
to recheck. And if I find them there again, we take pictures, we
document and we start the fines again. Every day they can be there,
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we can do $500 a day.
I believe the most we have done is -- that we've actually collected
on, because those liens come into play, but it's, I think, $13,000.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And then the only other
question I have, other than something for the county attorney in just a
moment, is can trailers that are condemned -- in other words, that are
beyond salvageable, how can you be assured they're not going to just
be removed to Hendry County, put into storage there and brought back
later? How can you be assured that they're going to be demolished?
MS. FREES: I can't be assured that they're going to be
demolished. What I can do is continue on. We do refer it to
Michelle's staff. Yes, because it goes to them.
MS. ARNOLD: That's where that tipping fee would have been
beneficial because then we would have ensuring that they went to our
dump and they were being demolished and not being relocated outside
of the community --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That's the problem.
MS. ARNOLD: -- and then come back later.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That's the big problem. I mean,
they've done this before in Immokalee, just moved them with the
town. When they only had one inspector going around, they've move
them to another part of town, or up to Felda, just across the line, and
then bring them back again, continuously circulating them. And you
know, it's very difficult to follow.
But if you can condemn it and not allow it to be moved and make
sure that it ends up in a landfill, then you're there, and that's the
reason, I guess, that the $250,000 -- or excuse me, the $100,000, was
to give us some assurance that that was happening. They still have an
expense.
Now, if there's some way that we can still get to -- from point A
to point B.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Could I ask you a question while
you're still right there?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Sure.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: So if -- say for -- because you make
such an excellent point, get them out there and dispose of them so that
we know they're disposed of. Can we then take that amount and bill
the landowner for them so that we get -- we can recoup that money?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: You'd have to help me with that.
I couldn't tell you.
DR. COLFER: That may be a legal question. I don't know.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I don't see why not.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Why couldn't we take and put some kind
of identification marks on the trailer so if it did come back we could
fine them for bringing the trailer back on the premises.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'd rather bill them and dispose of it
for sure.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Bill them?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, bill them.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Mr. Weigel, can you answer
that?
MR. WEIGEL: I think so.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Was that the answer or--
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I like that answer.
MR. WEIGEL: Well, it was a yes or no question and I gave you
kind of a yes. I think that one, these -- I was going to call it vehicle,
but it's not a vehicle. But they do have the equivalent of a vehicle
identification number. They do have a characterization number, which
isn't the correct word, a serial number. Unless there's some kind of
fraud going on with those things, they can be identified, as opposed to
actually marking them or putting something on them that faces them
some way.
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May 23, 2006
So they can be -- they could be certainly recognized and tracked
and, therefore, accounted for and penalized by virtue of the
movements that might occur subsequent to being cited.
Now, you may have an additional question there.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, I do know that some of
these go back to the '50s. And I mean, it's unbelievable when you see
some of these things that go back to ancient history. They should
belong in the Smithsonian.
But in any case, I don't know if that's going to be valid or not.
And suppose they never come back to Collier County. I mean, are we
just pushing our problems off to Palm Beach or some other county
where they're going to end up, and then these people have to deal with
it? Are we being responsible as far as lawmakers and as citizens in
what we're doing if we're allowing them to go out of the county? In
other words, like they used to import the criminals of years ago,
usually it's --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah, but that wasn't my question.
My question was, can we take them, us, our people, dispose of them
so that --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Can we do that?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- so we know they're disposed of,
and then bill the landowner? That was my question.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: When you've got something
that's being condemned, can we -- do we have the right to cease it and
to be able to haul it to the landfill and charge the landowner for the
cost?
MR. WEIGEL: I think you mentioned the key word, and that's
condemned, which would mean an authorization -- a recognition and
an authorization by the court, and that's what it would take. And we're
talking about property rights here.
Violation by its -- and occupying a place improperly or it being
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of a certain condition, that's certainly clearly within the ability of our
ordinances to get to in terms of enforcement and requiring owner,
landowner, or property owner in case there's a distinction between the
landowner and the movable object, messed up mobile home. We can
get to those people. We can get -- certainly get to the merchandise
there.
But in terms of actually taking over ownership for destruction,
that is a kind of condemnation of a personnel property entity, and I
think we need authorization from the court to do so, which means
when you get that authorization, that all the property rights have been
adjudicated, they've been resolved in a court of law. That could be
done.
Now, Ms. Fiala was talking, and you were also talking, about
essentially foisting our problems on someone else. Well, you take a
charge for the health, safety, welfare of Collier County, and to the
extent that you're removing health, safety, welfare issues from the
county by virtue of eliminating their existence here, you've fulfilled
that charge.
In terms of that they mayor may not, at the direction of the
owner, who is potentially fulfilling an order of enforcement, to set
themselves to utilize this property somewhere else, it mayor may not
be illegal beyond the county line, mayor may not be.
To the extent that we wanted to pass on information to
neighboring counties, public records and things of that nature, we
could do that if we wanted to provide that little extra amount of
thought in the community beyond county lines.
So there's some, I'd say, some inventive thought processes that
could assist us without necessarily condemning property in the sense
that we become a purchaser of value.
Something can be very out of shape, out of line with our
standards for health, safety, and welfare, but it still does have a value.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, David, let me interrupt you
for just a moment, please.
So Michelle then, you were giving me a nod. So if we then
condemn that thing, we tell the landowner, move it or we'll move it for
you and we'll bill you, and we give him a drop-dead date, one month,
have it out or we'll take it out for you and you have to pay for it; can
we do that?
MS. ARNOLD: Well, we have an unsafe structures ordinance
that gives us the ability with the declaration of, you know, an unsafe
structure from another entity like the health department or the building
department or the fire department and those types of things, and there
is a process in that ordinance that we have to first give the property
owner notice of that declaration, give them time to remove it, and their
failure to remove it within that time period, that notice also says that
we may remove it and bill them.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Good. And we can bill them, okay.
Well, that's all. So really we don't have to worry about the $100,000,
is the point to these questions, because even though we would advance
it, then we're going to bill it back out and get paid for it one way or
another, whether we put liens on the guy's land and take ownership of
the land and put it in our land trust and build houses on there
ourselves, you know.
Okay. That's good. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: What's the motion?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I've forgot, it's been so long.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Well, you made the motion and Fiala
seconded it. And I think you had the motion that you were going to
include the 250,000 but you were going to alleviate the --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Hundred thousand. Hundred
thousand for the tipping fees.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Right. And that's when we got into this
big discussion. So right now we've -- the motion is that you're not
going to have the hundred thousand for tipping fees.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Right, right.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: If I could just amplify that
explanation a bit. We're also talking about authorizing a specific
amount of money for the summertime with the expectation that certain
things will be done during the summer.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Right?
MR. MUDD: Seventy-five thousand.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And that $75,000 will be
subtracted from the 250,000 you're asking for that fiscal year, for that
12-month period, starting whenever you're going to do it.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Is that correct, Doctor?
DR. COLFER: Well, no. I mean, it wasn't. We can do it that
way, and that just means we have less inspectors. That would be
okay. But the idea was --
COMMISSIONER COYLE: But you won't need as many.
DR. COLFER: Right, probably not. We can deal with that.
That will be fine.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: All right.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Okay. Then I amend the motion
one more time to include what Commissioner Coyle just said as far as
the $75,000.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: What'd he say?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Seventy-five thousand dollars to
be -- to come out of the 250,000 for the summer program, and then--
and I do want to add one last thing with the help --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That will be my second.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: -- of my commissioners. I think
we already got a second.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I know. I'm the second, but I'm just
saying that your motion is included.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Is there going to be a time you
report back to us, possibly in October?
DR. COLFER: The end of October, that would be great.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That's included in my motion.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And my second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Go ahead.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: What?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye. I'm voting in favor.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: The $250 (sic) --
DR. COLFER: Thousand.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Two hundred fifty thousand.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- $250,000 for three
employees. Was that four employees?
DR. COLFER: We started out for -- we started out with four.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay.
DR. COLFER: And we've got different time frames going on,
but that's fine.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Per year, is quite an excessive --
and it's a temporary basis, this employment. We're talking about a
three-year program, correct?
DR. COLFER: That you could decide to reinstate after the end
of the three years.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: What are you asking? It's three
years.
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May 23, 2006
DR. COLFER: What I was asking for was to build a program
that would be sustainable.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Sustainable forever?
DR. COLFER: What we can do is target this for three years and
then see where we are. If we're in good shape, that's fine. If I can
make a case, you know, at the end of the three years that, you know,
we've got more work to do, then so be it. But I think this would -- I
think this is a great start for Collier County in addressing its migrant
housing issues.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: So we're looking at $250,000 every year
then for three years; is that correct?
DR. COLFER: Total, yes, I think.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Total or --
COMMISSIONER COYLE: We have to do it.
MR. MUDD: You're looking at -- from what I -- I was trying to
follow this, okay.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: So am I.
MR. MUDD: You're looking at 2 -- from -- starting on 1 June of
this year, okay, and we're now going to run our yearly thing on 1 June,
okay, you're looking at a three-year program, $250,000 a year, for a
total of $750,000.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: That's what I thought.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Do that one more time just to make
sure I got it. All right?
DR. COLFER: See, our budget starts earlier.
MR. MUDD: Hang on.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Tell me again what you just said.
MR. MUDD: Okay. Just a couple minutes ago you basically
said $750,000 right -- excuse me -- $75,000 right now -- didn't mean
to say hundred -- $75,000 right now to get the program kicked off so
that we can have an intense effort to try to get those 360 pieces of
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May 23, 2006
trash out of Immokalee before the migrants come back and try to use
those as their homes; 360, yep.
And then for -- in the '07 budget, okay, but understand that part
of her funding is going to end, all right, on 30 May, okay, to put
$175,000 in there.
So what we're going to have is, we're going to have a total
three-year period of time starting on 1 June, '06, going through 30
May, '09, okay, where she is going to get $250,000 a year in that
window in order to get this program done for a total of three years.
No more than $750,000.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. No, no. Well, there's
another way of doing it, okay? When we were talking about $750,000
over three years, we were talking about doing these units over a period
of time. We're going to now do a crash course in getting these units
reviewed by the end of October. That's going to cost $75,000 to do
that. So for the year starting in October for the next 12 months --
MR. MUDD: Two hundred fifty thousand.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- it would be $175,000, because
we just spent $75,000 getting a big portion of the problem cleaned up.
You don't need as many people then for the second phase as you
needed for the first phase; am I right?
DR. COLFER: Again, what we're going to look at during the
summer -- I mean, we sat over lunch and tried to figure out how we
could come up with measurable objectives for you. And the only way
we can do anything in 16 weeks is to deal with what we know about,
and that's the 1,440, and of that -- and 25 percent that we think are the
worst, okay.
We believe that we only now know about half of the migrant
housing that's out there. So we believe there's another 1,440 units out
there squirreled away. It's taken us years to identify and get licensed
the 1,440 that we have.
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May 23, 2006
So the idea was that, you know, you want to do this quick, tell us
we can do it, we'll start hiring people right away, okay. Then to have
a sustainable program, we would like to be able to go find the other
1,440 and do that in some reasonable period of time. So that's how we
got to the 250-. But if you would like me to scale it back to some
extent, you know, I suppose we could do that.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I guess what I would be happy to
do, under those circumstances, now that I understand what you have in
mind, is approve the $75,000 for the big effort in the summer, give
you $250,000 for the 12 months following that --
DR. COLFER: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: -- and then reassess where we are
at that point in time and determine what we need after that point, okay.
You might find that you have identified them, you might find they
didn't exist in the numbers that you thought.
And so at the end of that year, which will be roughly 18 months
from today, we would reassess it and decide what we -- what we're --
where we are. Actually we'd be doing it earlier than that. We'd be
doing it during the budgeting cycle for that next fiscal year. But can
you live with that?
DR. COLFER: I think I can. I would -- my plan would have
been, you can only keep people on this OPS kind of system and the
state system that we have for just so long. But, you know, I think we
could stretch a point and try and make that work and come back and
make our case in 18 months.
Well, first of all, we'd be back at the end of October, you know,
to show you that we've been able to meet these goals, and then we'd be
back in another year to show you where we are and show you what we
need.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: And reassess what we need. And
that way we don't have to commit to $750,000 right now without
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May 23, 2006
really knowing where it's going to get us and what the significance of
the problem is, okay.
DR. COLFER: I can certainly live with that, sir.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I'd be happy to change my
motion to include that. And it makes more sense. I mean, you're
going to have more time to work with it. The only suggestion I would
make is that you don't wait for the full year to take place, that you
come back to us before October, maybe in September.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: She'll have to because of the
budget year.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah. Because we're going to
have to hit it before that to be able to deal with it, so you'll be able to
make your plans to where you're going.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Maybe the county attorney can
assist us here in regards to -- we've discussed this before lunch, we've
discussed it now. We want to make sure that what we have in the
motion, that we got it clarified for the motion. And I'm not sure if
Commissioner --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I made the motion.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Do you want to try to --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah, I sure would be happy to.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Then we'll have the guidance of the
county attorney, okay.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No problem at all, yeah. The
motion is, is that we break this down into a couple pieces there. One,
the original amount would be what, $75,000? I don't have that sheet
in front of me, to be able to cover the summer portion --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Summer portion.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: -- and that when we get a report
back -- we'll get a report back in October on that. But meanwhile
we'll recognize the fact that there's a $250,000 amount that will kick in
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May 23, 2006
in October and carry to the following October, at which time you'll
come back in the following budget cycle to be able to pick up the next
250-, if needed, for the next year.
DR. COLFER: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: How'd I do?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: You did it.
MR. WEIGEL: You did very well.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Let's discuss it again after dinner
though.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's in my second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: It's getting to be dinnertime.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Call the motion.
MS. FILSON: Did you eliminate the $100,000?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yes.
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, what I've got on your motion is --
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Another interpretation.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I just want to make sure we get this all
cleared up.
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir. We don't want to do this again.
Page 2 of 7 in your executive summary, specific
recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners: We're
scratching number one. You want us to do number 2, you want us to
do number 3, you want us to do number 4 that's been modified that
says $75,000 for the remainder of FY -'06 and to budget $250,000 for
FY -'07 to augment the existing Immokalee inspection staff for the
Department of Health, you want us to do number 5, you want us to do
number 6.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yep, except--
MR. MUDD: Go ahead.
MR. MUDD: That's what I've got in the recommendation right
now. That's what you talked about earlier.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Yep.
MR. MUDD: And we got tied up in this monetary thing so we
were concentrating just on number 4. I don't believe you wanted to let
those other pieces out.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, except that 6, Commissioner
Coyle said, and I think we all agreed, that with the impact fee
deferrals, we wanted to make sure that --
MR. MUDD: People--
COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- people are screened so that they
are legal. Not only do they produce a green card, but we can verify
that it's a legal green card; is that correct, Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: That's absolutely right.
MR. MUDD: Yes, ma'am.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Is that in your motion, Commissioner?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That's all in the motion.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Is that in your second?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, it is.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Have we got good clarification on this?
MR. MUDD: Oh, yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Is there any more discussion on this
matter?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No. Call the motion.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Good. Okay. We have one opposed.
DR. COLFER: Thank you.
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May 23, 2006
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, on the last item, I want to make
sure. There was one other item that was mentioned in the discussion,
okay, and we can do this separately with just some direction.
Commissioner Coletta had mentioned about a proclamation
coming forward at a future board meeting for growers that do their
own housing for their workers.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: You don't have to approve it.
I'll do the proclamation and bring it back for the next meeting. And I
don't think there's any need to get into a deep discussion on that.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yep, I agree.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: All right.
Item #10E
REPORT TO THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ON
THE USES OF A REMAINDER PROPERTY PURCHASED BY
COLLIER COUNTY AS PART OF A GLOBAL SETTLEMENT
ON THE FULL COMPENSATION DUE THE PROPERTY
OWNER FOR THE TAKING OF RIGHT-OF-WAY AT THE
SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION OF
V ANDERBIL T BEACH ROAD AND COLLIER BOULEVARD -
TO BE USED AS A STAGING AREA FOR 951 EXPANSION
AND FUTURE USE WILL BE DISCUSSED UPON
COMPLETION IN A FEW YEARS - APPROVED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that brings us to our next item on
the agenda, which is item number 10E, and that's a report to the Board
of County Commissioners on the uses of the remainder property
purchased by Collier County as part of the global settlement on the
full compensation due to the property owner for the taking of
right-of-way at the southwest corner of the intersection of Vanderbilt
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May 23, 2006
Beach Road and Collier Boulevard. And Mr. Norm Feder, your
Administrator for Transportation Services, will present.
MR. FEDER: Commissioners, I'll be brief. You had asked us to
look at what options we had for use of that remainder property. We've
identified a few uses, but in particular what we're recommending to
you is that at this time we utilize as an interim use for the construction
staging area for the 951 construction.
That would probably be a use of the land for about two and a half
years. It would allow us to put that into that rebid contract you'll be
seeing shortly and reduce our costs on that project.
And at the end of that two and a half years, we'll come back to
you, see if we still feel that some of the uses we've identified right
now are appropriate or if the board recommends possibly disposing of
the property at that time.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Just one thing. I'm a little bit
concerned. We're going to have an asset out there that we're talking
about using for Vanderbilt Beach or for -- excuse me, for 951. When
we get through, we're going to have a -- just a very short period of
time before they start up with Vanderbilt Beach.
It would make sense to keep it in the county inventory for
transportation rather than reconfiguring everything for the Vanderbilt
Beach extension, which is right along that road. So that's the only
thing I would offer. Rather than bring this back for reconsideration at
the end of 951, just hold it in inventory for Vanderbilt Beach, and if
something happens along the way that changes timewise, then we can
reconsider it.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coletta, you're absolutely
right, and I think that the transportation division has already been
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May 23, 2006
looking at the possibility of using this maybe in the future for a transit
-- a transfer site.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That may be, but I just want to
make sure we don't get to the point we get into a deep discussion
about affordable housing or using it for fill or something else, and then
having to find another location for transportation.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: You're absolutely right.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: That makes sense, right. That
makes sense.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. We have a motion on the floor
that was made by --
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Me.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: It was made by you, and who -- and it
was seconded by Commissioner Coyle, I believe.
Okay. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Hearing none, I'll call the question. All
those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries. Thank you very much
for your presentation.
Item #10F
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May 23, 2006
RESOLUTION 2006-135: LOCALLY FUNDED LUMP SUM
AGREEMENT, MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT AND
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CHAIRMAN TO ENTER
INTO AND EXECUTE THE AGREEMENTS WITH THE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO FUND
THE I-75/IMMOKALEE ROAD OVERPASS INTERCHANGE
PROJECT AT A COST OF $16,521,450 - ADOPTED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that brings us to our next item,
which is 10F, and that's to seek board approval of a locally funded
lump sum agreement memorandum of agreement and resolution
authorizing the chairman to enter into and execute the agreements
with the Florida Department of Transportation to fund the
I-75/Immokalee Road overpass interchange project at a cost of
$16,521,450. And Mr. Don Scott, your Director of Transportation
Planning, will present.
MR. SCOTT: Good afternoon. This agreement -- this item deals
with a locally funded lump sum agreement and memorandum
agreement for the price that Jim Mudd was talking about.
The right-of-way was donated, which was four acres, by the
Target in that corner. The issue obviously is -- and I showed it on the
graphic -- is the loop and also free flow route essentially eastbound to
northbound on 1-75 and getting six lanes under the 1-75 overpass on
Immokalee Road.
This essentially locks us in at that cost. They have not finished
design of this yet. Our discussions last week -- and I know
Commissioner Coletta heard them -- but at the toll authority meeting
was that they're expecting their letters of intent today, and hopefully
they're getting a lot of interest on it, and that they expect to start
construction of 1-75 about a year from now, design build.
The issue with this agreement essentially, from cost standpoint, is
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that -- you know, when we first talked about what the cost estimate
was, I think the last estimate you might have heard was around $8
million. The whole cost of the project now is approaching $25
million.
We have some funding that was -- the trip fund that we got was
close to $5 million, 2 and a half million from FHW A. Knowing there
was a shortfall, we also went out and got a SIB loan. We have a letter
from the secretary of FDOT that says we have the loan. We're trying
to finalize the agreement -- yeah, state infrastructure bank -- and at 2
percent for six years for $12 million, and then we also have the other 4
and a half million in the work program at the moment.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: I have one quick question. The Clerk of
Courts had some concerns about whether this was going to be coming
before the finance committee. Could you give us some insight on
that?
MR. SCOTT: I can't say that I knew about the finance
committee until yesterday from the questions, but yeah, we will take
the agreement that we have in draft from FDOT, and we will bring
that to the finance committee for approval. And hopefully by the end
of next month we'll come back to you with the agreement portion of it
for the SIB loan.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Are there any other questions
from the Board of Commissioners?
(No response.)
MR. MUDD: Commissioner--
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Anything else to add?
MR. MUDD: -- so if you take a look at the SIB loan at 2 percent
and you look at your average -- your average instrument that's out
there right now at 3.71 percent all inclusive in order to get those
particular items done, this is a pretty good deal.
I would also say -- mention to you -- and we're going to do the
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finance committee business. But I also want to make sure that you
understand that state revolving fund loans that we take for the utilities
doesn't go in front of the finance committee either because it gets to a
point in time that the loan rate you get on those loans from the state
are so reasonable compared to what you can get on the market that,
you know, when they get done looking at it, it's almost a fait accompli
when they see it, but we'll take the SIB loan to see if there's anything
out there nationally or in the state that can beat the 2 percent.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Now, is this going to hinder us in getting
this loan immediately?
MR. FEDER: No.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
MR. FEDER: First of all, what we would ask though is the
action you're taking today, we do ask you to acknowledge that it's
subject, obviously, to your final approval and of the documentation on
the SIB loan or any other loan that would possibly provide us that kind
of low interest rate.
But what we're trying to do is get this issue in front of Florida
DOT as they're moving forward. So we're trying to make the loop one
of the first actions being done with the new interstate construction.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: When do you expect the loop to start.
Next year?
MR. FEDER: Ideally -- and that's what we're trying to force is
the issue that hopefully it's at the first, so it will be about a year from
now when they say that they're starting construction on the design
build.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Any other questions?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Do I hear a motion?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. I've got a motion on the floor for
approval and a second.
Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Hearing none, I'll call the question. All
those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Those opposed, by like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you very much.
Item #10G
SUBMITTAL OF A VOLUNTEER FIRE ASSISTANCE
MATCHING (50/50) GRANT OFFERED BY THE FLORIDA
DIVISION OF FORESTRY, AND APPROVE THE NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO RECOGNIZE AND
APPROPRIATE REVENUE IN THE AMOUNT OF $3,972.93-
APPROVED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, our next item is lOG, and that is to
approve the submittal of a volunteer fire assistance matching 50/50
grant offered by the Florida Division of Forestry and approve the
necessary budget amendments to recognize the appropriate revenue in
the amount of $3,972.93. And this add was late, and that's what's on
your regular agenda, and this item was at staffs request.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Motion to approve.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. We have a motion for approval
and a second.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries.
Item #10H
AWARD WORK ORDER CDM-FT-3593-06-09 TO CAMP,
DRESSER, AND MCKEE, INCORPORATED, FOR
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FOR A UNIFIED WATER USE
PERMIT APPLICATION AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS IN
THE AMOUNT OF $159,619, PROJECT NUMBER 75005-
APPROVED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, the next item is number 10H, and
that -- and that item used to be item 16C 1, and that's a
recommendation to award work order DCM-Ft-3593-06-09, with
Camp, Dresser, and McKee, Incorporated, for professional services for
a unified water use permit application and supporting documents in
the amount of$159,619. It's project number 750005.
And this item was brought forward by Commissioner Fiala, and it
had to do with the longevity of the particular contract, the amounts
that were awarded in any given year, and what the projection is going
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to be in the future as far as use of this contract, and she wanted some
clarification of this particular item.
Did I miss anything, ma' am?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, sir, you did not.
MR. MUDD: Mr. Roy Anderson, your Director of Engineering
for Public Utilities Division will present.
MR. ANDERSON: Yes. Good afternoon, Commissioners. I'm
attended by Jim DeLony and Paul Mattausch. And the purpose of this
request is to get approval of a work order to Camp, Dresser and
McKee in the amount of $159,000 to apply for permits from the South
Florida Water Management District for all of our well requirements in
the near-term and in the long-term future.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You know what, Roy?
MR. ANDERSON: Yes.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Let me just skip right to the bottom
line.
MR. ANDERSON: Sure, okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Does this comply -- I already got
your answers, thank you very much. Does this comply with the
CCNA?
MR. ANDERSON: Yes, it does.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Could you state that on the record
for me?
MR. ANDERSON: Absolutely, it certainly does.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: What does it do?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: It -- because of the negotiations,
right? I mean, you have to send it out for approval, right, so that
there's bids and so forth, and that's to comply with the CCNA -- oh,
why can't I remember the names of it -- in order to be the lowest
qualified bidder, right?
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May 23, 2006
MR. ANDERSON: Yes, that's correct. Let me ask Steve Carnell
to -- our purchasing director, to address that.
MR. CARNELL: Yes, ma'am. Steve Carnell, purchasing
general services director. This contract was procured over two years
ago through the CCNA process at that time. So we're completely in
compliance with the law.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay, fine. And I was talking -- I
tell you, I was talking with the clerk on this, and that was something
they just -- they said it isn't even their issue, it's our issue. You know,
we have -- we have policies in place, and he just wanted to make sure
that we -- that we knew that it was following the policies. And your
statement that we already did this two years ago, and it complies with
CCNA, that's all I needed to hear.
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, I would really feel more
comfortable if Mr. Roy Anderson, based on the questions, ifhe
basically gave his short presentation to the board to let you understand
the complexity and the magnitude of this particular project, okay, and
what it's there to do just in case there's any other questions that come
up here in a couple months.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Great. And they can probably even
explain the things that -- I asked other questions that I've already
received answers to, so maybe they can explain that on the record.
Thank you.
MR. MUDD: Go ahead, Roy.
MR. ANDERSON: Okay. Thank you.
Well, essentially the recommendation is to award this work order
in the amount that I indicated and to waive the threshold of $3 million.
The public purpose of this effort, it's really our -- it's our
wellfield management program, and the purpose ultimately is to
provide compliant and reliable sources of water for all our Collier
County customers.
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May 23, 2006
The scope of this particular proj ect is to prepare the permit
applications for the South Florida Water Management District along
with all the necessary documentation and then all the coordination
with the various regulatory agencies.
The fees, we've indicated, we've reviewed the fees. We believe
they're reasonable, we've done our due diligence, and all the funding
would be from our water user fee account; therefore, the
recommendation is to approve this work order and to waive the
threshold.
Basically that's my presentation of the actual executive summary
itself. If you'd care for more information, I'd be more than--
MR. MUDD: Ma'am, I think you need to get just a little bit--
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Let me get to -- Okay. The real crux
of the question was -- this is something I asked Jim in my office. It
says here that the -- that the cumulative amount of work order to date,
including this work order, will exceed the total threshold of the $3
million. And I asked, how much will it exceed the $3 million? The
answer is interesting.
MR. MUDD: It's on this particular slide.
MR. ANDERSON: Okay. This particular slide here -- I
apologize. It's kind of busy -- but it really describes all the work
orders that have been done to date in this program on a fiscal-year
basis, a year-to-year basis.
The way the contract was set up is that there was an amount of --
when we approved it back in June of 2004, it was for a long-term
eight-year program at which there was a $3 million per year threshold
set up.
The first thing that we did when we set up the program was to
ask for a work order of $4.9 million to do all the catch-up and get the
program going. So my first action was to weigh the threshold, and
that was for FY-'04.
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May 23, 2006
In FY -'05 we didn't have very much at all in terms of additional
work orders. And now in FY -'06, we're currently sitting at a level of
about $3.9 million in authorizations, which is $900,000 over the $3
million.
And when this was pointed out to us, we immediately put this
item on in conjunction with this next work item, which would increase
it by another $150,000.
The -- so essentially we -- we've gone over, and once this was
pointed out to us, we wanted to rectify that. But I would point out that
this is a very large program. We knew it would be -- we knew it
would be, you know, moving forward. We didn't know exactly how
much we'd be doing every year, and there's a lot of complexity and a
lot of uncertainty in the program.
And the big thing I wanted to point out is that each and every
work order that we've done under this program has been approved by
you in each and every case. So this will -- this will waive the
threshold. It will bring us fully compliant now. And then when we go
into the next year, then we'll be starting on a clean slate again, okay?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You see, I guess -- yes. The reason
I had questions is, it really doesn't say clearly, you know. It only tells
us we have a $3 million threshold, but it doesn't say per year. It
doesn't say how much we've spent. It really doesn't tell us. And so I
needed a little more information.
MR. ANDERSON: Yes. I hope I answered your question.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: It would be nice --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Boy, let's not ask any more questions.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: It would be nice maybe if when we
got things like this, you could give us that information.
MR. ANDERSON: We'll try to do a better job in the future.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: You always do a good job. Thank
you very much. Okay. So I make a motion to approve.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. We have a motion on the floor by
Commissioner Fiala for approval of this item and a second by
Commissioner Coletta.
Any further discussions?
(N 0 response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Hearing none, all those in favor, signify
by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you very much for your
presentation.
MR. DeLONY: Thank you, Commissioners.
Item #101
AN AGREEMENT WITH CARIBBEAN VENTURE OF NAPLES,
LLC PROVIDING FOR AN EASEMENT OVER COUNTY
PROPERTY TO CONSTRUCT A DUAL-PURPOSE PUBLIC
ACCESS ROAD FROM THE GOLDEN GATE P ARKW A Y TO
THE PROPOSED COUNTY PARK AND PRIVATE
DEVELOPMENT - APPROVED
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that bring us to our next item, and
that is item 101. It used to be 16D13. It's a recommendation to
approve an agreement with Caribbean Venture of Naples, LLC,
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May 23, 2006
providing for an easement over county property to construct a dual
purpose public access road from the Golden Gate Parkway to the
proposed county park and private development. This item was asked
to be moved at Commissioner Coyle's request.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay. Let me tell you why.
Please refer to page 9 of 9. In our booklet you'll find a -- an aerial
photograph there, and the notation on the aerial photograph is full
opening potential future signal.
I am concerned that that is indicating a -- an obligation, perhaps,
to have a full opening and a signal at a place we have never discussed,
never been before this board, I don't think it's part of the PUD, and I
want to make sure there is no misunderstanding about that.
I've been told by staff that they really meant that that was going
to be a pedestrian crossing, but actually there is a right-in, right-out
there as far as I can determine, shown on that diagram, but perhaps I'm
mistaken.
But in any event, we need to clarify that issue because I believe
that rather than putting a number of curb cuts and accesses onto
Golden Gate Parkway where we're really trying to assure through put
of traffic, we should be trying to reduce the number. And if it is
necessary to get access to commercial in that area, we ought to work it
off some kind of an access road internal to the PUD rather than
creating another exit point onto Golden Gate Parkway.
MR. MUDD: Commissioner--
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coyle, I'm glad you
brought this up, because that was one of the points that I discussed
with Norman Feder yesterday.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Good, good.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: So it bothered me also because it said
potential future.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And I said, wait a minute.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah. Those have a tendency to
turn into promises or obligations at some point in the future, and I'd
just like to clarify it to get it out of the way. So what do we have in
mind?
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, the only promise we made in the--
you know, when this whole purchase thing was going with TPL and
the person that ultimately -- or company that ultimately bought that
property with the big lake in it that you see on the overhead, was that
we would provide them an access road that would parallel
Goodlette- Frank Road and give them back access so that they could
have a guaranteed access to a light right there at the zoo entrance,
okay? And we made that concession when we did the purchase.
So that part, as far as having a light access so they could go
left-in, left-out, right-in, right-out, was provided in the document as far
as the sale purchase was concerned. And that promise was --
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Just so that doesn't get confused
with this, that's on Goodlette Road, right? Not this one.
MR. MUDD: Goodlette-Frank. Now, Norm?
MR. FEDER: That is correct. And what we will do is
recommend, since it's not part of the agreement per se itself -- as a
matter of fact, I'll note and call your attention to item number 11,
there's a couple spots. But in the agreement on page 7 of 9, item 11, it
talks, location of easement not determinative as access.
It makes it clear there that nothing contained herein shall be
construed as consent of approval to the location of access connection
to Golden Gate Parkway.
What was attempted here is, as we looked at what was
developing to the south and to the north in both of the Fleischmann
parcels, the water quality park to the north and the Caribbean
Garden/Fleischmann to the south, is we want to make sure that we
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May 23, 2006
focus on where we can get access across particularly for
pedestrian/bicycle access.
We also were looking at what other options might come in the
future. But having said that, I agree and I appreciate it being brought
to us by the board that we don't want to give any indication of a
commitment to a full opening and/or signal at that location. So we
would recommend that that notation be removed and/or, for that
matter, that 9 of 9 be stricken as not part of the agreement itself and,
therefore, to avoid any of that confusion, the body of the agreement
makes it clear that there is no determinative other than the right-in,
right-out, which we are providing to provide sole access to that
triangular parcel, which is the subject of the agreement.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: All right. Now, just for future
information -- maybe the commission will agree with me, maybe they
won't -- but I would much prefer an attractive pedestrian overpass here
than to have a traffic light stopping traffic to get bicycles and people
back and forth across Golden Gate Parkway.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Overpass?
MR. FEDER: I'm going to require all the studies to be done, sir.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: A grade separated walkway.
MR. FEDER: As long as I can require that all the studies fully
be done and approved, yes.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: But I think you could -- you could
come up with an attractive design that would do the trick for you,
right?
MR. FEDER: Under ADA you'd have to have actually elevators
in it and other issues that we've looked at.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Make it a ramp.
MR. FEDER: You can make it a long, long ramp, yes.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: They'd have to get a good head
start, work up a head of steam going up that son of a gun.
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May 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Bring that cartoon out.
MR. FEDER: Understand, Commissioner. And for the purposes
of what we're doing right here, we have not committed to anything
relative to either of those issues.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: All right, good. That solves my
problem.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Did you have anything to address?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Motion to approve.
MS. CHADWELL: Yeah, I just wanted to -- excuse me, Ellen
Chadwell, for the record. I just wanted to clarify that to my
knowledge this board never promised an easement to anyone as part of
the zoo purchase. And while this is mutually beneficial and -- to both
parties to enter into it, I just thought it was -- for purposes of the
record, we should make that statement. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. We have a motion by
Commissioner Coyle and a second by Commissioner Fiala for
approval of this.
Is there any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Seeing none -- no more items, I'll call the
question. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, by like sign?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Motion carries. Thank you very much.
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May 23, 2006
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, that brings us to paragraph 11,
public comment on general topics.
Ms. Filson?
MS. FILSON: Actually I've had zero speakers today.
Item #15
STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
MR. MUDD: Commissioners, that brings us to paragraph 15, it's
staff and commissioner general communications.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. County manager, do you have
anything to bring further?
MR. MUDD: Oh, yes, sir, but I'll make it short.
First of all, it's my pleasure to announce that today we stopped
putting sand on the beach at the southern part over at the pier. Our
proj ect is finished as of today as far as sand placement is concerned.
The dredges are on their way back home.
We are dismantling the pipes as we speak right now, and we
should have that entire beach cleaned up and raked and tilled by
Friday night. There might be still some -- a pile of pipe down there by
7th Avenue South. But I will tell you that the pipe will be off the
beach and everybody should have a wonderful Memorial Day
weekend.
It was a proj ect that was well done from the contractor, from the
design, from our Program Manager, Gary McAlpin, from our pseudo
Project Manager, Ron Pennington, to -- you name it. I mean, it has
been absolutely a thing of beauty to watch.
The sand is quite exquisite on the beach. There are no rocks. I
haven't heard anybody basically say anything except compliments.
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May 23, 2006
They're not real happy that the pipe was on the beach, but there's some
things that you can't help in order to get a project that's well done.
I will also -- I would also say that the general contractor, Great
Lakes Dredging and Dock, did a superb job, very professional.
We had a total of 84 turtles that we relocated out of our burrow
area. There were no takes. In other words, there were no injured
turtles at all. No turtles died on this project. We did everything by the
book and then some.
And I will tell you, it really -- when you go out there and take a
look, it's a project to be proud of. And it's taken us -- we learned a lot
from the '95 dredge event, okay, that failed miserably, and we've taken
actions to correct that. So that's one good news item.
The next item I'm going to have to ask the board for a little bit of
discretion on your part to give me over the next couple of days, and
this could be $150,000 expenditure, and I just learned about this last
night.
We have a little problem about who's paying the taxes on the zoo
property, okay, and who paid the taxes at the time of sale. And so I
need to have a little bit of discretion from the board to, number one,
ask the tax collector that this item not be included on the tax sale
document, okay, that he's about ready to go through, because the taxes
weren't paid.
We are working with the Tetzlaff family to get those taxes paid
this week, but I -- the discretion that I'm asking, if all things fail, I'm --
I would like to have the discretion in order to pay those taxes so that
we don't get ourselves in this dilemma and get back taxes from the
appropriate people either, the Trust for Public Lands or the previous
owner.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Henning has a question.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: How did we acquire property
that had liens on it? I mean, isn't that through the title search? Did we
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May 23, 2006
not do a title search on this before we acquired it?
MR. MUDD: Commissioner, those taxes, you know, when you
transfer a property, the taxes that are owed at the time, okay, of the
sale, are supposed to be paid by the previous owner, okay, or covered
by the previous agreement, and that previous agreement basically
stipulated that that particular tax payment was to be made by the
people that were renting the particular property at the time from the
Fleischmanns.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Did we not do a -- did we not
have a title person involved in the closing of this property?
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir, we did.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, they're supposed to be
issuing a clear title for the property. I mean, it's -- every closing
statement that I've been involved with, it goes through all the different
issues of the liens and makes sure that they are all cleared up before
it's transferred. Whose--
MR. MUDD: I'll take a look at that, sir. I'm just bringing
something up to you that I got wind of last night, last evening, couldn't
get it on the agenda, per se. But I wanted to talk to you about the
particular issues and what we're trying to do to get this rectified.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I understand.
MR. MUDD: I'll figure out who shot John in just a little bit.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: I'm sorry?
MR. MUDD: I'll find out who shot John and find out who didn't
do their due diligence on the sale as soon as this meetings' over.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: There's a murder in this?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Might be.
MR. MUDD: That's a ----
COMMISSIONER HENNING: You're going to report to the
board on that?
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir, next meeting.
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May 23, 2006
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you.
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. What's the pleasure of the board
here? Do you want to give the county manager guidance in regards to
figuring out who's responsible for this?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Sure.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And I think that the people that sold the
property to us are responsible or liable for this.
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir. I'm not arguing that point with you. I
just don't want to see that we don't have taxes paid and all of a sudden
all this -- all this process that we went through for 18 months go down
the tubes, and all of a sudden now you've got another semi-owner
because they paid your taxes on this particular property that you're
going to have to deal with to deconflict it and go back into the issue.
It was brought to my attention last night. Friday's the drop-dead
date for the taxes to be paid with the tax collector. And I was -- and it
was brought to my attention last night there is about 140,000 plus, just
a little shy of 150,000 that's owed on taxes on this particular property
and it has -- it's specifically to the zoo.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: County Manager?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think we have to do everything we
can to keep the integrity of that property, and it certainly shouldn't be
going to the tax liens that --
MR. MUDD: Tax deeds.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Tax deeds, right. So I place my
confidence in you and I ask you to clean that matter up with --
however you need to do, and if you need to set aside 140,000 right
now to pay the taxes and then deal with it later, fine. Then I think we
__ you know, I'd hate to see us, you know, playing around with this
thing and then have it be the recipient of bad press. So I make a
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May 23, 2006
motion to do that.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Second.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Motion on the floor by
Commissioner Fiala to give the authorization to the county manager to
pay the taxes and then see what we can do to recoup that, and
seconded by Commissioner Coyle.
Any further discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Hearing none, all those in favor, signify
by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Aye.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Opposed, like sign?
(N 0 response.)
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Motion carries.
MR. MUDD: The next item is just some clarification. Back on
13 February -- and I don't mean to put a commissioner on the spot.
Commissioner Fiala sent a memo that said she wouldn't be able to
make the 31 May town hall meeting. Is that changed or is it still
there?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, it's still there. I'm sorry.
MR. MUDD: Going to be out of town. Okay. I just want to
make sure I've got that down pat.
And the last, but not least. Last meeting I asked board members
if there were other sample ballot questions that you would like us to
come forward to the board, draft, bring to you in June for approval in
order to put on the November ballot, may they be to query the
electorate to see how they feel on a particular item. I know there is
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May 23, 2006
one and it has to do with roads, and the board gave direction on that,
and we will come back to the board in June on that particular issue.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Can I give you my input probably
tomorrow?
MR. MUDD: Yeah, but I'd like --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Oh, I see.
MR. MUDD: -- to at least get an idea from the board as a
collective body if that's what they want to do to --
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah. I'm a little concerned
about sitting here and making up referendums on the fly. The only
way I'd like to see a referendum go on the ballot is if it was a citizen
initiative out there that showed a tremendous amount of support for it.
I personally won't endorse anything just right from this dais as a
good idea without citizen input on it. As you know, I looked at
several items along the way, and there wasn't any citizen input that I
thought was sufficient enough to carry it forward.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: We've already had a vote to put
this one on.
MR. MUDD: Yes, sir, on the road. That wasn't an issue that I
was asking about.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Yeah, okay.
MR. MUDD: I wanted to know if there were any others, because
I'd heard some things about fire districts and everything else. And I
just wanted to make sure that we either closed it or we didn't before it
got too far along and all of a sudden there was a reaction in June to do
something fast and furious without having a proper discussion about
it.
And hearing none, Mr. Chairman, I have no further comments.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Then I guess what we'll do is just
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May 23, 2006
let -- the only one we'll have on there is the one that we approved
earlier. That will be it, okay?
CHAIRMAN HALAS: County Attorney, do you have anything?
MR. WEIGEL: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Henning?
COMMISSIONER HENNING: None from me.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. I also, in case I didn't send a
letter out, although I think I did, but the workshop tomorrow on 951, I
won't be there.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And that's all.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Nothing from me.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Coletta?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yes, thank you. Just one brief
comment.
Once again, I want to thank this board for allowing me to
represent Collier County's interest on the transportation authority.
Very, very pleased with what I seen at the first meeting. I thought
maybe it might be a group that would be indecisive and want to drag
this process out forever.
I can tell you from the get-go, they're not going to wait for
anything. What the game plan is now -- and of course, this is very
preliminary -- is that they're going to be starting construction in a year
of 75 for the extra two lanes, one on each side. And it's going to take
three years to complete it, and they're going to have to marshal
tremendous amount of forces to be able to accomplish this.
The idea is to be able to pull this authority together and have it
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May 23, 2006
running before the completion of the two lanes so that we can possibly
utilize the forces that are already in place and continue with the
additional six-Ianing.
And that's the beginning and -- all of it at the moment.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: There's one thing I'd like to ask our
transportation department. If they could get -- when we start this big
proj ect, is there some way that we can get with Lee County to see if
we can put up signage so that we can probably divert some traffic
down State Road 82 and 29 in regards to this, because I think we're
going to have a huge massive tie-up each day with the construction of
1-75.
It might be just an alternate way of getting some of this traffic off
of 1-75.
MR. FEDER: We've raised that. We've encouraged maybe even
some funding for basically maintenance of traffic rerouting. But
nonetheless, signs, if not electronic signs, then information to show
amount of delay. But, yes, we'll work with Lee County, but in
particular, Florida DOT to see if we can get them to assign 82, 29 as
an alternate.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: It would be nice if we could get some
funding to get that loop around there so we could get that open so that
traffic doesn't go through the downtown area.
MR. FEDER: Yeah. We probably won't get that open before the
construction starts. At least, I hope not if they get moving within a
year.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coyle?
COMMISSIONER COYLE: I have a question concerning the
toll authority. The -- based upon what I have heard, there are rumors
that the study indicates the toll road is not financially feasible, and so
what I would like to determine is if they're -- if the board -- toll
authority board of directors has decided to proceed, where are they
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May 23, 2006
getting the money and how is it going to be paid back and what
financial liability does that create for Collier County?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I'd be happy to answer that.
COMMISSIONER COYLE: Okay.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: You can jump in any time I
seem to run a little short on the answer. But basically the toll
authority, when they come back, most likely their recommendations
will show that it doesn't quite fit, because in so many years it's
supposed to reach a payback, a payout. It's going to miss it by
probably about year and a half, two years.
But still, it doesn't mean that it's not an entity that shouldn't be
considered. That particular amount of money is not something that
we're banking on. Where this money will come from to build this will
probably be a PPP, a private/public partnership.
You were generous enough through the MPO to send me to a
conference in Washington, D.C., last February. Believe me, there's
tremendous opportunities all through the world now. There's
communities taking advantage of this. There's -- Australia's a good
example. Mexico is well underway. Florida, there's efforts all
through the area to pick up on it.
And basically what it is is the public partnership. We have to
come up with something to be able to make it feasible. They get a
lease on the whole facility for a number of years. They actually build
it, they run it, they manage it, and they get back their return over a
number of years.
Go ahead.
MR. SCOTT: I was going to say, the statement specifically was,
turnpike's going to come in next month and talk to the toll authority
board, but the rumors have it, and it was discussed a little bit at the last
meeting, that they have to make their money back in 22 years and that
it probably won't be feasible, that time frame. Meanwhile, there's
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May 23, 2006
plenty of private money out there that is looking at 50-, 100-year
paybacks that could make it work, and that's what the toll authority
board's going to have to deal with.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And the amazing thing is is that
there's already tremendous interest all the way up and down 75.
Charlotte County and Sarasota County are very actively looking at
pursuing joining our authority. I think it's a little soon for that. But
we understand, too, that in the next district up above us, the --
MR. SCOTT: District 7, yes.
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That they're already looking at
the same scenario that we're putting together down here for 75 to
continue up toward the border.
MR. SCOTT: Both district secretaries 1 and 7 have asked the
turnpike to analyze further up through Pasco County or even -- it was
a little further north than they talked about at the meeting the other
day.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Commissioner Coletta, could I ask you a
question in regards to this?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Sure.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: You're saying that they don't feel they'll
get a payback with the amount of growth rate that we're anticipating
down here in Southwest Florida?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, they haven't said it yet,
but all indications are, they're going to indicate by the standards that
they hold to that it won't be there for them.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. Commissioner Fiala?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. You know, something that--
there's no answer today. I don't expect a lot of comments or anything,
I just want to throw this on the table, especially for Commissioner
Coletta, but for you guys, too.
As we go about it, I'm excited to see all of this happening so
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May 23, 2006
much faster. That's great. And I know that we're working really hard
in the Everglades Boulevard extension. That's good.
Eighty-two, 29, that's a wonderful thing. All of these are going
around. We're doing nothing at all with regards to the intersection at
101 or with the -- you know, Davis Boulevard/951 intersection. All of
it comes to a screeching halt before it gets there, but that area is
growing exponentially, and I'm really terribly worried about
evacuation out of that area.
MR. SCOTT: We actually met yesterday afternoon with FDOT
up in Fort Myers regarding specifically that intersection as relates to
our six-Ianing and possibly eight-Ianing underneath 1-75 up through
the canal, up north of the interstate, which, of course, the public
meeting was last night with the County Road 951 project, and also
some of the issues that we are looking at as an interim improvement,
some of the worst movements, like the northbound to -- say
northbound to 1-75, and some of the lesser expensive improvements
that we might be able to apply as we go forward. So yes, we are
dealing with that issue specifically.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: But I think the state's already kicked in
like, what, $10 million just to engineering costs, haven't they?
MR. SCOTT: They have an ultimate design next year. But
based on all the work that we're doing even with Davis and 951, we're
trying to work all the traffic issues out. We've talked about some
additional ramps and locations, and I'm trying to get some answers
before someone, you know, for instance, builds a building in the way
of it, those types of things. So we're moving pretty fast on some of
those issues.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: And I believe we've always asked the
federal government for --
MR. SCOTT: Yeah, federal authorization, right.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: -- for buying right-of-way so we can get
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May 23, 2006
that started.
MR. SCOTT: Yep.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. So we're working on that.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I just -- I just wanted to put that on
the table again. I think it's admirable that we're doing everything else,
but I do worry about that intersection.
MR. SCOTT: And so do we.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Anything else?
COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No, that's it for me. Thank you
very much.
CHAIRMAN HALAS: Okay. I just want to say that -- I want to
thank everybody that did work on that beach proj ect. The only
complaint I got was that we don't have any shells, and I think that
that's going to -- that's going to come around.
But I got to say one thing, that everybody that has walked on the
beach has been -- has remarked that they couldn't believe how well
that project went. And I think it's hat off to everybody that was
involved in that proj ect.
And at that, if there's nothing else, we're adjourned.
***** Commissioner Coyle moved, seconded by Commissioner
Fiala and carried unanimously, that the following items under the
Consent and Summary Agendas be approved and/or adopted * * * * *
Item #16A1
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY
FACILITY FOR DELASOL, PHASE 1 AND DELASOL
RECREATION CENTER SINGLE WATER SERVICE-
W/RELEASE OF THE UPS
Page 217
May 23, 2006
Item #16A2
AGREEMENT FOR SALE AND PURCHASE WITH GEORGE
MCBEAN, NATASHA MCBEAN AND KASANDRA MCBEAN
FOR 5.00 ACRES UNDER THE CONSERVATION COLLIER
LAND ACQUISITION PROGRAM, AT A COST NOT TO
EXCEED $181,650. - GOLDEN GATE ESTATES, UNIT 53 (RED
MAPLE SWAMP PRESERVE)
Item #16A3
AGREEMENT FOR SALE AND PURCHASE WITH GUST AVO
A. PETISCO AND ROSE PETISCO FOR 2.73 ACRES UNDER
THE CONSERVATION COLLIER LAND ACQUISITION
PROGRAM, AT A COST NOT TO EXCEED $101,250. -
GOLDEN GATE ESTATES, UNITY 53 (RED MAPLE SWAMP
PRESERVE)
Item #16A4
RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF PALAZZO VILLAGE -
W/STIPULATION (DEVELOPER MUST RECEIVE A
CERTIFICATE OF ADEQUATE PUBLIC FACILITIES PRIOR TO
THE ISSUANCE OF THE CONSTRUCTION PLAN FINAL
APPROVAL LETTER
Item #16A5
RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF VERONA WALK PHASE 4B,
APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION
AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE
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May 23, 2006
AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY -
W/STIPULATIONS
Item # 16A6
RESOLUTION 2006-125: AUTHORIZING SUBMISSION OF
THE 2006 CONTINUUM OF CARE (CO C) HOMELESS
ASSISTANCE CONSOLIDATED GRANT APPLICATION TO
THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD), AND AUTHORIZED THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE APPLICATION ON BEHALF OF
COLLIER COUNTY AND THE BCC. (BACK-UP MATERIAL
AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW IN THE OPERATIONS SUPPORT
AND HOUSING DEPARTMENT, 2800 NORTH HORSESHOE
DRIVE, NAPLES,FL.)
Item #16A 7
BUDGET AMENDMENT RECOGNIZING THE FISCAL YEAR
2007 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN
DEVELOPMENT (HUD) ENTITLEMENT FUNDING, STATE
HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM (SHIP)
ALLOCATION AND CORRESPONDING BUDGETS-
AMENDMENTS ARE FOR THE PERIOD OF JULY 1, 2006
THROUGH JUNE 30, 2007
Item # 16A8
COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH THE GOVERNOR'S
OFFICE OF TOURISM, TRADE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF IMPLEMENTING THE
Page 219
May 23, 2006
RURAL AREA OF CRITICAL ECONOMIC CONCERN
DESIGNATION FOR THE IMMOKALEE URBAN AREA AND
SURROUNDING LANDS LOCATED WITHIN THE ROUND II
FEDERAL RURAL ENTERPRISE AREA
Item #16A9
RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF HERIT AGE BAY, GATOR
BAY COURT REPLAT - W/STIPULATION (DEVELOPER MUST
RECEIVE A CERTIFICATE OF ADEQUATE PUBLIC
FACILITIES PRIOR TO THE ISSUANCE OF THE
CONSTRUCTION PLAN FINAL APPROVAL LETTER
Item #16A10
OAKES BOULEVARD COMMUNITY TO NAME THEIR
NEIGHBORHOOD PARK OAKES NEIGHBORHOOD PARK
Item #16A11
AUTHORIZING THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A $2,000 FLORIDA
HUMANITIES COUNCIL GRANT AGREEMENT THAT WILL
FUND A PORTION OF THE $5,002 INTERPRETIVE TRAIL
PROJECT AT OTTER MOUND PRESERVE - AND APPROV AL
OF THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Item #16B1
BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR WORK ORDERS TO Q. GRADY
MINOR & ASSOCIATES, P.A. TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL
ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE PINE RIDGE AREA
Page 220
May 23, 2006
DRAINAGE SYSTEM EVALUATION IN AN AMOUNT OF
$101,100 AND APPROVE THE WORK ORDERS #QGM-FT-3290-
06-12 AND #QGM-FT-3290-06-13 (AMOUNTS FOR THE
DESIGN PROFESSIONAL FOR FY 05/06)
Item #16B2
STATUS REPORT FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE LAKE
BETWEEN 107TH AVENUE NORTH AND 108TH AVENUE
NORTH, THE NAPLES PARK LAKE SPECIAL ASSESSMENT
DISTRICT, TO IMPROVE STORMW A TER MANAGEMENT FOR
THE SURROUNDING PROPERTIES AND APPROVE A
BUDGET AMENDMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $13,256.44 TO
INCREASE THE PROJECT TO $30,256.44
Item # 16B3
APPROVAL OF BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO RECOGNIZE
THE INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT FROM HURRICANE
WILMA FROM LANDSCAPE FUND (112) REVENUES IN THE
AMOUNT OF $269,068.87 AND APPROPRIATE WITHIN THE
FUND (112) BUDGET AND FUND (111) MSTD GENERAL
FUND ROAD & BRIDGE LIMEROCK CONVERSION BUDGET
Item #16B4
BUDGET AMENDMENT TO TRANSFER FUNDS IN THE
AMOUNT OF $300,000.00 FROM CAPITOL OUTLAY TO
OPERATING EXPENSES IN THE ROAD MAINTENANCE
MSTD GENERAL FUND (111)
Page 221
May 23, 2006
Item #16B5
A ONE YEAR TRAFFIC RESERVATION EXTENSION
ASSOCIA TED WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE TRAFFIC
IMPROVEMENT STUDY (TIS) SUBMITTED WITH THE
MIRASOL SDP AR #7623
Item # 16B6
DEVELOPER CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENT WITH CALOOSA
RESERVE, LLC, TO CONTINUE TO ACCUMULATE RIGHT-
OF-WAY AND COMMITMENTS FOR THE TREE FARM ROAD,
WOODCREST DRIVE AND MASSEY STREET ALTERNATIVE
ROADWAY PROJECT
Item #16B7
APPOINTING DEXTER R. GROOSE TO THE COLLIER
METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATIONS (MPO)
CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CAC) AS THE DISTRICT 4
REPRESENTATIVE
Item #16B8
BUDGET AMENDMENT RECOGNIZING CARRY FORWARD
AMOUNTS FROM FY 04-05 FOR THE VANDERBILT
BEAUTIFICATION MSTU FUND (143) IN THE AMOUNT OF
$67,1 71
Item #16B9
Page 222
May 23, 2006
BUDGET AMENDMENT RECOGNIZING CARRY FORWARD
AMOUNTS FROM FY 04-05 FOR THE LEL Y ESTATES
BEAUTIFICATION MSTU FUND (152) IN THE AMOUNT OF
$144,621
Item #16B10
APPROV AL OF THE COLLIER METROPOLITAN PLANNING
ORGANIZATION (MPO) OPERATING BUDGET FOR FY
2006/07. INCLUDING $9,944 COUNTY MATCH FOR FEDERAL
HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION PLANNING AND FEDERAL
TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION SECTION 5303 GRANTS
Item #16B11
NEW STAFF SERVICES AGREEMENT BETWEEN COLLIER
COUNTY GOVERNMENT AND THE COLLIER
METROPOLIT AN PLANNING ORGANIZATION
Item #16B12
BID #06-3961, PURCHASE & DELIVERY OF COLLIER AREA
TRANSIT (CAT) BUS SHELTERS AND RELATED
ACCESSORIES, PRIMARY AWARD TO BRASCO
INTERNATIONAL, INC., SECONDARY AWARD TO ALL
PURPOSE MANUFACTURING. (PROJECT #600831) - FUNDS
IN THE AMOUNT OF $373,201 ARE AVAILABLE IN THE
TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT FUND (426)
Item #16B13 - Moved to Item #101
Page 223
May 23, 2006
Item #16B 14
RESOLUTION 2006-126: AUTHORIZING THE CHAIRMAN TO
SIGN (1) A LANDSCAPING INSTALLATION AND
MAINTENANCE HIGHWAY AGREEMENT (AGREEMENT)
WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
(FDOT) FOR MEDIAN AND ROADSIDE LANDSCAPE
IMPROVEMENTS ALONG PINE RIDGE INTERCHANGE; AND
(2) AN FDOT -REQUIRED RESOLUTION EVIDENCING THAT
THE BOARD HAS APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE
CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THIS AGREEMENT
Item #16C1 - Moved to Item #10H
Item # 16C2
CERTIFICATION OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
RENEWAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION PERMIT FOR INJECTION WELL NUMBER 1 AT
THE NORTH COUNTY REGIONAL WATER TREATMENT
PLANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $302,550 - THE PERMIT IS
REQUIRED TO BE RENEWED EVERY FIVE YEARS
Item #16C3
AWARDING RFP-06-3959, ANNUAL CONTRACT FOR
ANAL YTICAL LABORATORY SERVICES FOR COLLIER
COUNTY TO US BIOSYSTEMS AND ELAB, INC IN AN
ESTIMATED ANNUAL AMOUNT OF $50,000. - THE
CONTRACT WILL BE IN THE FORM OF PURCHASE ORDERS
AND WILL BE EFFECTIVE AS OF MAY 28, 2006
Page 224
May 23, 2006
Item #16C4
APPROVE, EXECUTE AND RECORD A SATISFACTION OF A
NOTICE OF CLAIM OF LIEN FOR SANITARY SEWER
SYSTEM IMP ACT FEE - FULL PAYMENT AND
SA TISF ACTION OF THIS LIEN HAVE BEEN MADE
Item #16C5
RESOLUTION 2006-127: APPROVING THE SATISFACTION OF
LIEN FOR A SOLID WASTE RESIDENTIAL ACCOUNT
WHEREIN THE COUNTY HAS RECEIVED PAYMENT AND
SAID LIEN IS SATISFIED IN FULL FOR THE 1994 SOLID
WASTE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES SPECIAL
ASSESSMENT. FISCAL IMPACT IS $20.00 TO RECORD THE
SATISFACTIONS OF LIEN
Item # 16C6
RESOLUTION 2006-128: APPROVING THE SATISFACTIONS
OF LIEN FOR SOLID WASTE RESIDENTIAL ACCOUNTS
WHEREIN THE COUNTY HAS RECEIVED PAYMENT AND
SAID LIENS ARE SATISFIED IN FULL FOR THE 1995 SOLID
WASTE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES SPECIAL
ASSESSMENTS. FISCAL IMPACT IS $40.00 TO RECORD THE
SATISFACTIONS OF LIEN
Item # 16C7
RESOLUTION 2006-129: APPROVING THE SATISFACTIONS
Page 225
May 23, 2006
OF LIEN FOR SOLID WASTE RESIDENTIAL ACCOUNTS
WHEREIN THE COUNTY HAS RECEIVED PAYMENT AND
SAID LIENS ARE SATISFIED IN FULL FOR THE 1996 SOLID
WASTE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES SPECIAL
ASSESSMENTS. FISCAL IMPACT IS $40.00 TO RECORD THE
SATISFACTIONS OF LIEN
Item #16C8
SUBMITTAL OF AL TERNA TIVE WATER SUPPLY GRANT
APPLICATIONS UNDER SENATE BILL 444 TO THE SOUTH
FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT FOR EACH
PROJECT IN PUBLIC UTILITIES ENGINEERING DIVISIONS
CONSTRUCTION CAPITAL AL TERNA TIVE WATER SUPPLY
PROGRAM - AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item #16C9
CHANGE ORDER TO WORK ORDER ABB-FT-04-04 FOR THE
DESIGN OF A BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
TO AGNOLI, BARBER & BRUNDAGE, INC., (ABB) IN THE
AMOUNT OF $86,000 FOR THE MASTER PUMP STATION ON
IMMOKALEE ROAD PROJECT 73153 - FOR THE DESIGN OF A
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES FOR THE
MASTER PUMP STATION
Item #16D1
RECOMMENDATION THAT THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS APPROVE A FEE SCHEDULE FOR FISCAL
YEAR 2006 FOR THE COLLIER COUNTY HEALTH
Page 226
May 23, 2006
DEPARTMENT - TO EFFICIENTLY COLLECT FEES FOR
THEIR DEPARTMENT
Item #16D2
AFTER-THE-FACT APPROVAL OF A SUBMISSION OF AN
APPLICATION FOR CONTINUED FUNDING OF $67,313 FOR
THE FIRST YEAR OF A THREE-YEAR PROJECT FOR THE
RETIRED SENIORS VOLUNTEER PROGRAM - THE
PROGRAM PROVIDES FOR HIGH QUALITY VOLUNTEERS IN
OVER 82 VOLUNTEER STATIONS THROUGHOUT THE
COMMUNITY
Item # 16D3
A LETTER OF INTENT TO AUTHORIZE THE USE OF $144,305
FROM EXISTING FUNDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE HUMAN
SERVICES DEPARTMENT FY 07 BUDGET TO BE USED AS
THE LOCAL MATCH REQUIREMENT TO OBTAIN STATE
AND FEDERAL FUNDING FOR THE HORIZONS PRIMARY
CARE CLINIC IN THE GOLDEN GATE AREA FOR FY 07
Item #16D4
PURCHASE IN THE AMOUNT OF $166,412 FOR SPORTSFIELD
LIGHTING FROM MUSCO LIGHTING - FOR THE NEW
SOCCER FIELD AT EAST NAPLES COMMUNITY PARK
Item #16D5
PURCHASE IN THE AMOUNT OF $73,947.03 FOR BLEACHERS
Page 227
May 23, 2006
FROM SEATING CONSTRUCTORS USA - TO REPLACE
BLEACHERS DESTROYED BY HURRICANE WILMA
Item #16D6
BID NO. 06-3938 TO LEOS SOD FOR PURCHASE AND
DELIVERY OF TURF IN AN ESTIMATED FISCAL YEAR
EXPENDITURE OF $100,000 - FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF
P ARKS AND FACILITIES
Item # 16D7
TERMINATION OF COOL CONCESSIONS, INC. CONTRACT
NO. 97-2646 AND APPROVE AN AMENDMENT TO THE
TIGERTAIL BEACH RENTAL CONTRACT NO. 04-3618 TO
ADD ADDITIONAL SERVICES OF PROVIDING FOOD AND
BEVERAGE CONCESSION - TO PROVIDE UNINTERRUPTED
FOOD AND BEVERAGE CONCESSION SERVICE FOR THE
PATRONS OF TIGERTAIL BEACH
Item #16D8
WAIVE THE FORMAL BID PROCESS AND AUTHORIZE AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE PEPSI COLA BOTTLING COMPANY
OF NAPLES FOR A PERIOD OF 18 MONTHS FOR BEVERAGE
SERVICE FOR NORTH COLLIER REGIONAL PARK - DUE TO
IT'S LOCATION IN THE COUNTY, IT CAN PROVIDE BETTER
BEVERAGE SERVICE WITH REGARDS TO CUSTOMER
SERVICE AND EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE
Item #16D9
Page 228
May 23, 2006
PURCHASE OF PARK FIXTURES FOR EAST NAPLES
COMMUNITY PARK IN THE AMOUNT OF $28,774.15 FROM
SWARTZ ASSOCIATES, INC. - FOR THE PURCHASE OF
BENCHS AND TABLES
Item #16D10
CURRENT AND FUTURE REVENUES FROM A LEASE
AGREEMENT WITH NAPLES ZOO, INC. AND TO
APPROPRIATE THESE REVENUES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF
GORDON RIVER GREENWAY PARK - TO DEVELOP PUBLIC
RECREATIONAL FACILITIES AND ACCESS TO GORDON
RIVER
Item #16D11
A SUMMER TRANSPORTATION CONTRACT WITH THE
SCHOOL DISTRICT OF COLLIER COUNTY - A COST-
EFFECTIVE AND RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
FOR RECREATION PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS
Item #16D12
RECOMMENDATION TO ACCEPT DONATED FUNDS IN THE
AMOUNT OF $1,500.00 AND APPROVE A BUDGET
AMENDMENT RECOGNIZING REVENUE AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR GOLDEN GATE COMMUNITY
CENTER-FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LI'L GATORS
PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
Page 229
May 23, 2006
Item #16E1
CONFIRM AND CONSENT TO THE RE-ASSIGNMENT OF
CONTRACT NO. 05-3831, FEMA ACCEPTABLE MONITORING
FOR DISASTER DEBRIS MANAGEMENT AND TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE FROM R.W. BECK, INC. TO BECK DISASTER
RECOVERY, INC.
Item #16E2
BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO TRANSFER FUNDS FROM THE
WATER-SEWER OPERATING FUND (408) TO FLEET
MANAGEMENT (521) FOR PURCHASE OF A FUEL TRUCK IN
THE AMOUNT OF $225,000 - TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO
PUBLIC UTILITIES DURING EMERGENCIES
Item #16E3
REPORT AND RATIFY PROPERTY, CASUALTY, WORKERS
COMPENSATION AND SUBROGATION CLAIMS SETTLED
AND/OR CLOSED BY THE RISK MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR
PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION # 2004-15 FOR THE SECOND
QUARTER OF FY 06 - AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Item #16E4
BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR CHANGES TO
APPROPRIATIONS AND ASSOCIATED REVENUES FOR
OPERATING AND CAPITAL COSTS IN FLEET MANAGEMENT
FUND (521) IN THE AMOUNT OF $307,200 - THE
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May 23, 2006
UNDERGROUND TANKS AT THE COUNTY'S IMMOKALEE
REFUELING SITE MUST BE REPLACED TO MEET STATE
REGULATIONS AND MANDATES
Item # 16E5
WORK ORDER UNDER CONTRACT #01-3291,
CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING INSPECTION SERVICES,
WITH CH2M HILL, PROJECT 52533 COURTHOUSE ANNEX,
FOR CONSTRUCTION INSPECTION AND OVERSIGHT
SERVICES IN THE AMOUNT OF $242,320
Item #16H1
PAYMENT REIMBURSEMENT FOR COMMISSIONER
COLETTA ATTENDING A FUNCTION SERVING A VALID
PUBLIC PURPOSE. COMMISSIONER PAID IN ADVANCE TO
ATTEND THE 2006 PARADISE COAST SAND DOLLAR
AWARDS AND COLLIER COUNTY TOURISM WEEK
LUNCHEON CELEBRATION ON MAY 19,2006 AND IS
REQUESTING REIMBURSEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF
$25.00, TO BE PAID FROM HIS TRAVEL BUDGET - TO
RECOGNIZE THOSE WHO BRING TOURISM TO COLLIER
COUNTY
Item #16H2
PAYMENT REIMBURSEMENT FOR COMMISSIONER
COLETTA ATTENDING A FUNCTION SERVING A VALID
PUBLIC PURPOSE. COMMISSIONER PAID IN ADVANCE TO
ATTEND THE PHYSICIAN LED ACCESS NETWORK'S (PLAN)
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May 23, 2006
ANNUAL BOARD MEETING ON MAY 8, 2006 AND IS
REQUESTING REIMBURSEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF
$25.00, TO BE PAID FROM HIS TRAVEL BUDGET
Item #16H3
PAYMENT REIMBURSEMENT FOR COMMISSIONER
COLETTA ATTENDING A FUNCTION SERVING A VALID
PUBLIC PURPOSE. COMMISSIONER PAID IN ADVANCE TO
ATTEND THE NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER BREAKFAST IN
EVERGLADES CITY ON MAY 4, 2006 AND IS REQUESTING
REIMBURSEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $10.00, TO BE PAID
FROM HIS TRAVEL BUDGET
Item #16H4
PAYMENT REIMBURSEMENT FOR COMMISSIONER FIALA
ATTENDING A FUNCTION SERVING A VALID PUBLIC
PURPOSE. ATTENDING THE GRADUATION CEREMONIES OF
THE LEADERSHIP COLLIER CLASS OF 2006 ON
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10TH, 2006 AT THE NAPLES BEACH
HOTEL AND GOLF CLUB; $50.00 TO BE PAID FROM
COMMISSIONER FIALA'S TRAVEL BUDGET
Item #16H5
PAYMENT REIMBURSEMENT FOR COMMISSIONER
COLETTA ATTENDING A FUNCTION SERVING A VALID
PUBLIC PURPOSE. COMMISSIONER PAID IN ADVANCE TO
ATTEND THE NAPLES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE "WAKE
UP NAPLES" EVENT ON MAY 17,2006 AND IS REQUESTING
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May 23, 2006
REIMBURSEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $17.00, TO BE PAID
FROM HIS TRAVEL BUDGET
Item #16H6
PAYMENT REIMBURSEMENT FOR COMMISSIONER FIALA
ATTENDING A FUNCTION SERVING A VALID PUBLIC
PURPOSE. ATTENDING THE MARCO ISLAND HISTORICAL
SOCIETY SALUTE TO FOUNDERS TEA ON MAY 21 ST, 2006,
AT THE SAN MARCO CHURCH ASSEMBLY HALL; $25.00 TO
BE PAID FROM COMMISSIONER FIALA'S TRAVEL BUDGET
Item #1611
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE - FILED AND/OR
REFERRED:
The following miscellaneous correspondence, as presented by the
Board of County Commissioners, has been directed to the various
departments as indicated:
Page 233
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
May 23, 2006
1. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS TO FILE FOR RECORD WITH ACTION AS
DIRECTED:
A. Districts:
(1) Golden Gate Fire Control and Rescue District: Annual Local
Government Financial Report, FY 2004-2005; Special District
Facilities Report dated 4/14/06; Financial Statements for
9/30/05.
B. Minutes:
(1) Bayshore Beautification M.S.T.U. Advisory Committee: Agenda
for May 10, 2006; Minutes of April 12, 2006.
(2) Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Advisory Committee:
Agenda for May 8, 2006.
(3) Collier County Citizens Corps Advisory Committee: Minutes of
April 19, 2006; Agenda for April 19, 2006.
(4) Collier County Library Advisory Board: Agenda for April 26,
2006; Minutes of March 29, 2006.
(5) Golden Gate Community Center Advisory Committee: Agenda
for April 24, 2006; Minutes of April 24, 2006.
(6) Parks & Recreation Advisory Board: Agenda and Minutes of
April 19, 2006.
(7) Collier County Planning Commission: Agenda for May 4, 2006;
Minutes of March 30,2006.
(8) Development Services Advisory Committee: Agenda for May 3,
2006; Minutes of April 5, 2006.
(a) DSAC Utility Code Subcommittee: Minutes of March 23,
2006.
(9) Environmental Advisory Council: Revised Agenda for May 3,
2006.
H:\DATA\FRONT DESK - 2006\2006 Miscellaneous Correspondence\052306 Misc Corresp.doc
(10) Forest Lakes Roadway and Drainage M.S.T.U. Advisory
Committee: Agenda for May 10, 2006; Minutes of April 12,
2006.
(11) Golden Gate M.S.T.U. Advisory Committee: Agenda for May 9,
2006; Minutes of April 11 , 2006.
(12) Pelican Bay Services Division. Municipal Services Taxing and
Benefit Unit: Minutes of April 5, 2006; Agenda for May 3, 2006.
(a) Clam Bay Subcommittee: Minutes of April 13, 2006; Agenda
for April 13, 2006.
(13) Radio Road Beautification M.S.T.U. Advisory Committee:
Agenda for May 16, 2006; Minutes of April 18, 2006.
(14) Collier County Historic & Archeological Preservation Board:
Agenda for May 17, 2006; Minutes of April 19, 2006.
(15) Collier County Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board: Agenda for
March 23, 2006; Informal Minutes of March 23, 2006.
(16) Immokalee Beautification M.S.T.U. Advisory Committee:
Agenda for May 17, 2006; Minutes of April 19, 2006.
H:\DATA\FRONT DESK - 2006\2006 Miscellaneous Correspondence\052306 Misc Corresp.doc
May 23, 2006
Item #16J1
RESOLUTION 2006-130: AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND SPRINT
TELEPHONE COMPANY OF FLORIDA. (CONTINUATION OF
911 FUNDING) - TO ENHANCE THE "911" EMERGENCY
TELEPHONE SYSTEM FOR THE CITIZENS OF COLLIER
COUNTY
Item #16K1
RESOLUTION 2006-131: APPROVING AN AMENDMENT TO
THE COUNTY ATTORNEY OFFICE 2006 FISCAL YEAR PAY
AND CLASSIFICATION PLAN AND THE DESIGNATION OF
THE CLASSIFICATION OF MANAGING ASSISTANT COUNTY
ATTORNEY AS SENIOR MANAGEMENT SERVICE POSITION
FOR FLORIDA RETIREMENT SYSTEM (FRS) ELIGIBILITY
PURPOSES - TO EFFECTIVELY RECRUIT AND RETAIN THE
HIGHEST QUALITY EMPLOYEES FOR THE SENIOR
MANAGEMENT POSITION
Item #16K2
STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT FOR PARCEL NO. 26P IN
THE LAWSUIT STYLED BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS V. COLLIER HMA, INC., ET AL., CASE NO.
06-0013-CA (CR 951 WATER TRANSMISSION MAINS
PROJECT NO. 70152). (FISCAL IMPACT $30,550.00) - FOR THE
CONSTRUCTION OF A POT ABLE WATER MAIN ALONG CR
951
Page 234
May 23, 2006
Item #16K3
RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE A STIPULATED FINAL
JUDGMENT FOR PARCEL NOS. 124 AND 724 IN THE
LAWSUIT STYLED COLLIER COUNTY V. RICHARD D. LYONS
AS TRUSTEE OF LAND TRUST NO. 11304, ET AL., CASE NO. 04-
3779-CA (IMMOKALEE ROAD PROJECT NO. 66042). (FISCAL
IMPACT $8,750.00) - W/STIPULATIONS
Item #16K4
RECOMMENDATION TO AUTHORIZE THE MAKING OF AN
OFFER OF JUDGMENT TO RESPONDENT, ROSE SOMOGI,
FOR PARCELS 123 AND 823 IN THE AMOUNT OF $30,500.00
IN THE LAWSUIT STYLED COLLIER COUNTY V. JOHN J.
YAKLICH, ET AL., CASE NO. 03-2259-CA, GOLDEN GATE
PARKWAY PROJECT #60027 (FISCAL IMPACT: $22,796.00 IF
OFFER IS ACCEPTED) - W/ STIPULATIONS
Item #16K5
COUNTY ATTORNEY TO FILE A LAWSUIT, ON BEHALF OF
THE COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS,
AGAINST DILLARD SMITH CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
AND/OR FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, IN THE
TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR COLLIER
COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO RECOVER REPAIR COSTS
INCURRED IN THE APPROXIMATE AMOUNT OF $25,000.00-
AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Page 235
May 23, 2006
Item #17 A
ORDINANCE 2006-22: THIS ITEM WAS CONTINUED FROM
THE APRIL 25,2006 MEETING. PETITION: PUDZ-A-2004-AR-
6283 LEL Y DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION REPRESENTED
BY COASTAL ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS, INC.,
REQUEST AN AMENDMENT TO THE LEL Y BAREFOOT
BEACH PUD BY REVISING THE PUD DOCUMENT AND
MASTER PLAN TO AMEND TRACT "J" FROM A 1.74 ACRE
UTILITY SITE TO A .73 SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
DEVELOPMENT SITE AND 1.01 ACRE MANGROVE
PRESERVE AREA AS WELL AS AMEND THE PUD
DOCUMENT TO BRING IT INTO CONFORMITY WITH
COUNTY REQUIREMENTS. LEL Y BAREFOOT BEACH PUD
CONSIST OF 461.65 ACRES, TRACT J IS LOCATED AT THE
SOUTHWEST CORNER OF BAREFOOT BEACH BOULEVARD
AND BAYFRONT DRIVE, LOCATED IN SECTIONS 5, 6, 7 & 8,
TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 25 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA
Item # 1 7B
ORDINANCE 2006-23: PETITION: RZ-2005-AR-8483, MICHAEL
ARBITMAN TRUSTEE OF LAND TRUST UAD REPRESENTED
BY LAURA SPURGEON, OF JOHNSON ENGINEERING, INC.,
REQUESTING APPROVAL OF A REZONE FROM THE
AGRICUL TURAL (A) ZONING DISTRICT TO THE
COMMERCIAL PROFESSIONAL AND GENERAL OFFICE (C-1)
ZONING DISTRICT FOR PROJECT TO BE KNOWN AS TIVOLI
OFFICE BUILDING REZONE. THE SUBJECT PROPERTY,
CONSISTING OF 2.23 ACRES, IS LOCATED ON THE
Page 236
May 23, 2006
SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION OF
LIVINGSTON ROAD AND VETERANS MEMORIAL
BOULEVARD, SECTION 13, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 25
EAST. COLLIER COUNTY. FLORIDA
*******
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 4:30 p.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS
CONTROL
-~~/
FRANK HALAS, Chairman
ATTEST:
DWIGHT E., BROCK, CLERK
'B,~. ~~ lx:
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. ~ ";#fi .~ ;;~.. ~ ~i11 '"
These minutesap;rov5:d by the Board on (.;, L ~ 0 lOb, as
presented /" or as corrected
TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF GREGORY
COURT REPORTING SERVICES, INC., BY TERRI LEWIS.
Page 237