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Agenda 01/12/2021 Item #2C (BCC-R Minutes - 12/8/20)01/12/2021 COLLIER COUNTY Board of County Commissioners Item Number: 2.C Item Summary: December 8, 2020 BCC Meeting Minutes Meeting Date: 01/12/2021 Prepared by: Title: Executive Secretary to County Manager – County Manager's Office Name: MaryJo Brock 12/28/2020 9:22 AM Submitted by: Title: Executive Secretary to County Manager – County Manager's Office Name: MaryJo Brock 12/28/2020 9:22 AM Approved By: Review: County Manager's Office MaryJo Brock County Manager Review Completed 12/28/2020 9:22 AM Board of County Commissioners MaryJo Brock Meeting Pending 01/12/2021 9:00 AM 2.C Packet Pg. 17 December 8, 2020 Page 1 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida, December 8, 2020 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners, in and for the County of Collier, and also acting as the Board of Zoning Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such special districts as have been created according to law and having conducted business herein, met on this date at 9:00 a.m., in REGULAR SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: Chairman: Burt L. Saunders Andy Solis William L. McDaniel, Jr. Rick LoCastro Penny Taylor ALSO PRESENT: Leo Ochs, County Manager Nick Casalanguida, Deputy County Manager Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney Derek Johnssen, Clerk's Office, Director of Finance Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations December 8, 2020 Page 2 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ladies and gentlemen, the meeting of the County Commission will please come to order. We're start off with our invocation. We have Reverend Edward Gleason, Trinity by the Cove Episcopal Church, with us this morning. Thank you for getting us off to a good start. Item #1A INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE REVEREND GLEASON: All Mighty God, teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept thei r responsibilities to their fellow citizens; that they may elect trustworthy leaders and to make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may faithfully serve you in our generation and honor your holy name, and we pray you send down upon those who hold office in this county the spirit of wisdom, charity, and justice; that with steadfast purpose, they may faithfully serve in their offices to promote the well-being of all people. We offer these, our petitions and desires, through your holy name. Amen. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll ask our newest member to lead us in the Pledge. Commissioner LoCastro. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) Item #1B SWEARING IN CEREMONY OF DISTRICT 1 COMMISSIONER RICK LOCASTRO; DISTRICT 3 COMMISSIONER BURT SAUNDERS; AND DISTRICT 5 COMMISSIONER BILL December 8, 2020 Page 3 MCDANIEL. SWEARING IN ADMINISTERED BY COLLIER COUNTY CIRCUIT JUDGE JOSEPH G. FOSTER CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Our first order of business this morning, three of us were re-elected or elected as commissioners in this election cycle. We have with us Circuit Judge Joe Foster. He's going to administer the oath. And what we're going to do -- a little different than usual, but we're going to stay here at the dais. The judge will swear all three of us in at the same time. Your Honor. And thank you for helping us out this morning. JUDGE FOSTER: It is my pleasure to be here. We're going to be swearing in District 1 Commissioner Rick LoCastro, District 3 Commissioner Burt Saunders, and District 5 Commissioner Bill McDaniel. Gentlemen, if you'd please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I do solemnly swear or affirm. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I do solemnly swear or affirm. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I do solemnly swear or affirm. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I do solemnly swear or affirm. JUDGE FOSTER: That I will support, protect, and defend. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: That I will support, protect, and defend. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That I will support, protect, and defend. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That I will support, protect, and defend. JUDGE FOSTER: The constitution and government of the United States. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: The constitution and government of the United States. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The constitution and government December 8, 2020 Page 4 of the United States. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The constitution and government of the United States. JUDGE FOSTER: And of the state of Florida. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And of the state of Florida. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And of the state of Florida. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And of the state of Florida. JUDGE FOSTER: That I am duly qualified to hold office. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: That I am duly qualified to hold office. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That I am duly qualified to hold office. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That I am duly qualified to hold office. JUDGE FOSTER: Under the constitution of the state. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Under the constitution of the state. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Under the constitution of the state. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Under the constitution of the state. JUDGE FOSTER: And that I will well and faithfully perform. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And that I will well and faithfully perform. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And that I will well and faithfully perform. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And that I will well and faithfully perform. JUDGE FOSTER: The duties of Collier County Commissioner. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: The duties of Collier County Commissioner. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The duties of Collier County December 8, 2020 Page 5 Commissioner. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The duties of Collier County Commissioner. JUDGE FOSTER: On which I am now about to enter. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: On which I am now about to enter. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: On which I am now about to enter. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: On which I am now about to enter. JUDGE FOSTER: So help me God. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So help me God. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So help me God. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So help me God. JUDGE FOSTER: Graduations, gentlemen. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Your Honor, thank you very much for being with us this morning. JUDGE FOSTER: It's my privilege. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, let me be the first on the dais here to welcome Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It's a pleasure having you here with us. And we know you'll be a great addition. And we're looking forward to your comments and your thoughts in helping us get through a lot of difficult issues. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: A few of which we'll have today. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: My pleasure. It's a great honor. Item #2A December 8, 2020 Page 6 TODAY’S REGULAR, CONSENT AND SUMMARY AGENDA AS AMENDED (EX PARTE DISCLOSURE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR CONSENT AGENDA.) – APPROVED AND/OR ADOPTED W/CHANGES CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll move on to Item 2A, which is the issue of approval of the agenda and the consent agenda. We do have changes. MR. OCHS: Good morning, Mr. Chair. If I could take the Board through some of the proposed agenda changes for this morning's meeting, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, sir. MR. OCHS: These are the proposed agenda changes for the Board of County Commissioners' meeting of December 8, 2020. The first proposed change is to hear Item 11A immediately following Item 7 this morning, which is your public comments on general topics. That's a staff request in order to allow the people from the State of Florida Department of Health to get their business transacted and get them back to Tallahassee. Then on Item 14B1, we have a request from Commissioner Taylor to hear that at a time certain. That item, Mr. Chairman, has been set to be heard no sooner than 1:00 p.m. I have two agenda notes. The first is that Item 17A has been moved from your summary agenda to become Item 16A49 on your Growth Management Department consent agenda. This was inadvertently put under advertised public hearings when it didn't need to be an advertised public hearing, so it went back to your consent agenda. It was an item approving a vacation of the public's interest in a portion of a utility easement. And the final note is the County Attorney has made a revision – or included a revision in Items 11E and 11F as listed on your change December 8, 2020 Page 7 sheet. Those are all the changes that I have at this time, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. There were some issues that our Clerk, Ms. Kinzel, had raised. I believe she's okay with the agenda as-is. MR. JOHNSSEN: (Nods head.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I see her representative nodding his head in the back. Okay. We'll start off with Commissioner McDaniel. Do you have any changes or additions to the agenda? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And ex parte as well? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And ex parte as well. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have no ex parte to c laim. And I do want to suggest that we continue -- I didn't have a chance to speak with our County Manager yesterday, but I'd like to suggest that we continue Item 16A44 for -- until our first meeting in January just to have a discussion that that's a consulting firm that we're having issues with with the county. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Atkins. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And I'd like to -- if it's plausible, I'd like to continue that for one month and have us have a discussion about some policy that we might look at to help us along the way. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let me see if there's any objection to that being continued. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: If it's -- because they're involved in many more items in this particular meeting, is it your concern is just specifically the development in your -- in your district? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. It's my -- it's my concern that we, as an organization, don't have necessarily a policy from a contractual standpoint, and I would like to explore it and maybe December 8, 2020 Page 8 development some policies so that we don't continue to -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The only item that we're on is 16A44. There's a request to continue. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's right. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Is there any objection to that being continued, as requested, to the next meeting in January? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: My concern is the fact that this -- if it is specifically about the engineering firm in question, it is -- that name is woven through this -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: When we get to those other items, we can deal with that. Right now we're on that one item. So is there an objection to continuing that one item? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'm sorry. Go ahead. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No, I have no objection. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Is there any concern from the Manager's standpoint that this is an item that -- MR. OCHS: No, sir. We can continue that. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No time-sensitive nature here? Okay. MR. OCHS: No, sir. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: All right. Then I have no objection. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We do have one public comment on the consent agenda. We'll do that before we take the motion to approve the consent agenda with that change. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And after that, I have nothing else. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No changes and no ex parte at this time. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis? December 8, 2020 Page 9 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No changes and nothing to disclose on the consent or summary agenda. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Same. No changes, nothing to disclose. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: On Item 16A24, that is a vacation of an easement. I'd like to have that continued to coincide with when we have the hearing on the One Naples project. Am I -- MR. OCHS: Yeah. Mr. Chairman, just a clarification; that is already listed to be heard as a companion item to the One Naples. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. MR. OCHS: This is the resolution that would allow us to publish the public hearing notice for this -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. As long as we're not hearing that. Okay. Understood. MR. OCHS: You're not approving the item today. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Then I have no other changes and no ex parte as well. All right. We do have one speaker -- MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, we have someone registered. He is not logged on at this time, though. He's not on the meeting, so we can't call on him. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Then we need a motion to approve the agenda as amended and also to approve the consent agenda as amended. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So moved. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion. Is there a second? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, all in favor, signify December 8, 2020 Page 10 by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. If the speaker does arrive, we can hear that person's comments even though the item has already been approved. MR. MILLER: I will keep you apprised, sir. December 8, 2020 Page 11 Item #2B, #2C and #2D OCTOBER 22, 2020 - BCC/SPECIAL MASK ORDER MEETING MINUTES, OCTOBER 27, 2020 BCC MEETING MINUTES AND NOVEMBER 10, 2020 BCC MEETING MINUTES – APPROVED AS PRESENTED MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that takes you to Item 2B. This is approval of the October 22nd, 2020, special meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, approving the meeting minutes from that meeting. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's take 2B, 2C, and 2D simultaneously. Those are the minutes of October 27th, as well as November 10th. Are there any changes or comments in reference to the minutes of those three meetings? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Move to approve. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second. Is there any objection to that? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, all in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. December 8, 2020 Page 12 Item #4 (Items #16H2, #16H3 and #16H4 – Read into the record by County Manager Ochs) PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING THE ROYAL SEAFARER CONDOMINIUM APARTMENTS OF MARCO ISLAND, INC. AS RECIPIENT OF THE WASTE REDUCTION AWARDS PROGRAM (WRAP) AWARD, FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE GREATER GOOD OF COLLIER COUNTY BY ADVOCATING THE "REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE" MESSAGE, THEREBY HELPING TO PROLONG THE USABLE LIFE OF THE COLLIER COUNTY LANDFILL. THE PROCLAMATION WILL BE GIVEN TO PATTY BURKE, PROPERTY MANAGER OF THE ROYAL SEAFARER – ADOPTED PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING JANUARY 9 - 17, 2021 AS KINDNESS AWARENESS WEEK IN COLLIER COUNTY. THE PROCLAMATION WILL BE HAND DELIVERED TO BOB VOTRUBA, ORGANIZER OF THE ANNUAL "ONE MILLION ACTS OF KINDNESS" CAMPAIGN – ADOPTED PROCLAMATION - RECOGNIZING THE INFRASTRUCTURE SURTAX CITIZEN OVERSIGHT COMMITTEES CONTRIBUTION TO TRANSPARENCY; THROUGH THEIR REVIEW OF THE EXPENDITURES AND USE OF INFRASTRUCTURE SALES SURTAX REVENUE – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that moves us to Item 4 on this morning's agenda. Proclamations are on your consent agenda per our protocol during the COVID pandemic. I will read the titles, sir, as I've done in the past, with your permission, beginning with Item 16D13 -- no, I'm sorry, 16H2. This is a proclamation December 8, 2020 Page 13 recognizing the Royal Seafarer Condominium Apartments of Marco Island, Incorporated, as a recipient of the Waste Reduction Awards Program for contributing to the greater good of Collier County by advocating the reduce, reuse, and recycling message, thereby helping to prolong the usable life of the Collier County Landfill. This proclamation will be given to Ms. Patty Burke, the property manager for the Royal Seafarer. Item 16H3 is a proclamation designating January 9th through the 17th, 2021, as Kindness Awareness Week in Collier County. The proclamation will be hand delivered to Bob Votruba, organizer of the Annual One Million Acts of Kindness Campaign. Too bad we can't see Bob's dog this year. He usually brings the dog around with him. Item 16H4 is a proclamation recognizing the Infrastructure Surtax Citizen Oversight Committee's contribution to transparency through their review of the expenditures and use of Infrastructure Sales Surtax revenue. And, finally, Mr. Chairman, Item 16D13 is a recommendation to recognize the Collier County Parks and Recreation Division for earning their fourth National Recreation and Park Association accreditation as part of the Commission for Accreditation of Parks and Recreation agencies. If I could, sir, just elaborate on that one a little bit. In 2004, the Parks and Recreation Division joined the ranks of elite parks and recreation agencies across the country by earning formal accreditation through the Commission for Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agencies and the National Park Association. The Parks Division subsequently achieved reaccreditation in 2009, 2014, and most recently in 2019. The CAPRA accreditation is the only national accreditation for parks and recreation agencies and is a measure of an agency's overall quality of operation, management, and service to the community. December 8, 2020 Page 14 The Collier County Parks and Recreation Division met all 150 standards identified in the accreditation process, and less that 10 percent of the accredited agencies across the country currently meet 100 percent of these standards, so it's really an accomplishment by our team. Once accredited, the agency must uphold the standards by submitting an annual report and is reviewed again every five years. So, again, sir, I'd like to congratulate Mr. Carnell and Mr. Williams and the entire team for the Parks and Recreation Division earning their fourth national accreditation in the parks and recreation category. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Congratulations. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Congratulations. (Applause.) Item #5A PRESENTATION BY MARCO ISLAND CITY MANAGER MIKE MCNEES, RECOGNIZING COLLIER COUNTY'S 45TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY AS A MANAGER-COMMISSION FORM OF GOVERNMENT AS PART OF THE FLORIDA CITY AND COUNTY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION – PRESENTED; PRESENTED STEVE CARNELL WITH A PLAQUE FOR HIS 35- YEARS OF SERVICE CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll move on to Item 5, 5A. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have the Marco Island City Manager with us, Mr. Mike McNees, to make a special presentation. Collier County's 45th year anniversary as a manager-commission form of government, and I think you got your start with us many years ago. So welcome back. December 8, 2020 Page 15 MR. McNEES: That's correct. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning, Mr. Chairman and Commissioners, County Manager Ochs, staff and residents of Collier County. My name's Mike McNees, and I'm the city manager for the City of Marco Island. I also serve as an at-large director of the Florida City/County Managers' Association. And on behalf of the FCCMA, I'm here to present to the County Commission a certificate celebrating 2020 as your 45th year as a commission-manager form of government as recognized by the International City/County Management Association, the ICMA. On behalf of the officers, the Board of Directors, and the membership of FCCMA, we offer our sincere congratulations on this milestone achievement. The commission-manager government was created to help separate administration from direct political influence and to establish merit-based practices within local government. It's modeled after a corporations framework with the voters who represent the stockholders selecting a council or board of directors who, in turn, appoint a professional executive to advise the council and to implement its wishes as expressed through your ordinances and your adopted policies. In Florida, nearly 70 percent of our 411 cities, towns, and villages operate under the council-manager form of government, and of our 67 counties, all but two have professional county managers. Collier County has long been a champion of council -manager government. You have a county commission that works together in a professional manner to make decisions and to establish policies that are in the best interest of your citizens. It's a distinct honor for me to stand here today to give you this award. As the Chairman mentions, I walked into this building for the first time in 1984 to take a job at the very, very bottom of the December 8, 2020 Page 16 organizational chart of what was then the fledgling Collier County Utilities Division, and I've known five -- well, really six of your county managers, which is almost all of them that you've ever had, very well. In fact, most of them at one time know tha t I would consider friends, even this gentleman you have sitting here, Mr. Ochs. And so -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It's good to know that Leo has at least one friend. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. MR. McNEES: Well, I haven't seen him for a while, so... So it's really an honor for me to stand here today. And you might say that the Board of County Commissioners is responsible for what has become a 35-year public service career. Having said that, though, I'm not here for reparations. What I'm here for, on behalf of the FCCMA and the other commission-management communities both in Collier County and throughout the state, is to congratulate the Board of County Commissioners and County Manager Ochs on this milestone achievement of 45 years of service as a commission-manager community. At this time, I'd like to present this certificate to the Commission and the Manager. And I'm not sure what your protocol is. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll accept it up here. Thank you. Thank you, sir. We do have one more special presentation. Unfortunately, we're losing a lot of our upper management staff here this year and early into next year. One gentleman that is retiring at the end of this month is Steve Carnell. And, Steve, if you'd come forward, just come up to the podium. Let me read this little plaque that we have for you. This is Collier County presented to Steven Carnell. In grateful appreciation for 35 years of exceptional service to Collier County, June 1985 through December 2020, forever impacted by your December 8, 2020 Page 17 wisdom and compassion. Presented by the Collier County Board of County Commissioners. I want to personally thank you for your service. We're going to miss you and wish you best in your retirement. (Applause.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Steve, if you have any comments you'd like to make and, Mr. Ochs, if you have any thoughts as well as if anyone on the Commission has any comments to make, this would be the right time. Steve. MR. CARNELL: Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Board, for this recognition. And I just want to tell you very briefly I'm leaving here with a great deal of gratitude. Like Mike McNees, my introduction into public service really began here. I had one job before I came here, but this was really, obviously, where I've invested a good deal of my life. And, again, I'm extremely grateful. I'm grateful for the entire staff that I've had the opportunity to work with. And I don't know if you've ever seen the Progressive Insurance commercial about where people become like their parents. You know, one day I woke up and I realized I was like Leo, and I mean that in the best sense in terms of somebody who had taught me how to delegate and how to trust and how to support people and encourage them and help them thrive. And, Leo, you may be the only person who really truly, truly believed in me all these years, unfailingly, and I'll always be grateful for that. And, Nick, for your help as well in particularly these last nine years. I'm extremely grateful. And the five of you, I wanted to say -- express my appreciation to you, and I was thinking about you-all particularly during this whole COVID pandemic. It has been less than fun for the five of December 8, 2020 Page 18 you, not to mention the rest of us. But you -all have handled this, I think, with a great deal of transparency. You've listened to all sides. I've listened to the discussions month in, month out, whether it was masks or open the beach or close the beach, open summer camp, close summer camp, whatever it was we were doing, you-all have been transparent, and you have spoken respectfully with each other. And I think -- when I listen to your discussions, I really hear democracy. I hear you representing the people, because just about everybody's point of view gets put on the table when you-all talk about this. I'm extremely grateful for that, and I commend you for it. So thank you again. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. (Applause.) MR. OCHS: Commissioner, let me just quickly say that Steve and I came in about the same time to county government, and since the day I met him, I've never known anybody with more integrity and character than Steve Carnell. He always carried himself as a true professional, was always about the team and service above self. So it's a great honor and a privilege to have served with him, and he's going to leave a big hole but a bigger legacy here for the work that he's done over the last 35 years. So, Steve, thank you very much. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I just want to say, as the newest person up here, the only new person, one of the things I really respect in people is initiative. And before I unpacked my first box, it was Steve and his team that reached out to me and got on my calendar and said, you know, Commissioner, we'd like to show you our parks, we'd like to show you our operations, where we've done well, where we have challenges, and I just want you to know I really appreciate that. You know, as you are maybe in your final time, you could have December 8, 2020 Page 19 easily just said, ah, let the next guy do it. But, you know, my calendar quickly filled up with your name all over it, and I really have great respect for that. I also want to just dovetail on that, if you'd indulge me just 30 seconds. What an honor it is to be up here. I don't ta ke lightly being a public servant. I feel like I've been in public service my whole life. I have a great respect for my colleagues that are up here. And I look to serve with integrity and professionalism and do the homework that's required to be a full-time County Commissioner serving not only District 1, but all of the citizens of Collier County. So I thank you for your faith and truth and for your friendship and for our stewardship of spending the taxpayer monies wisely and protecting, preserving, and improving all of Collier County. And, Steve, you've done an awful lot here in 35 years, and I appreciate you for the time that we've spent together educating me on areas where you need support and where we can move forward in improvement. And, you know, I'll continue to pick up that, and so will the rest of your team. But congratulations and thank you for your time. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah, and I would just like to add that in the four or so years that I've had the opportunity to work with Steve, one of the things that really amazed me was his ability to always look at both sides and to always find the -- what's best for, you know, the community in all the decisions, whether it's, you know, sports teams fighting over fields, if it -- you know, all of these things that seem very, very contentious. Steve always had his eye on what was the best thing for the community as a whole, sometimes some of which were not readily apparently. You know, they were kind of counterintuitive but very -- I have to commend you. I really learned a lot from you and how you saw the role of your department and of county government. So I December 8, 2020 Page 20 really appreciate that. And congratulations on a great career, and I hope to see more of you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I've always said that parks and parkways, which is what we used to call it in the City of Naples, you're on the front line. You are the face of our government to the public, from the person who walks their dog, from the person whose dog has just attacked a child, which happened last night, that kind of thing; you're right there, and you've done a good job. And I can say that as we move forward and look at parks and parkways and understand the importance of the green in Collier County, what you've done here and -- you've laid a great foundation, and you've laid a great foundation with the children of our community and all the camps, and your handling of this COVID issue in the camps has been explanatory? No. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Wonderful. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Wonderful. You've had to deal with a lot, and you deserve a great retirement, and may it be a fruitful one for you and blessings to you and your family. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Commissioner Taylor, those were exemplary comments. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: There we are. Exemplary. That's the word I was searching for. Thank you, sir. Item #6A PUBLIC PETITION BY MR. KEN OEHLER REGARDING REQUEST FOR SIDEWALKS IN PALM RIVER ESTATES - DISCUSSED; MOTION FOR STAFF TO BRING BACK AN ORDINANCE CREATING THE PALM RIVER ESTATES December 8, 2020 Page 21 SIDEWALK MSTU – APPROVED CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Let's move on, then, to Item 6A, public petition. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. This is a public petition request by Mr. Ken Oehler regarding requests for sidewalks in Palm River Estates. Mr. Oehler? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Oehler, you do have 10 minutes under our rules. MS. LUCARELLI: I'm joining him. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And would you also state your name for the record. MS. LUCARELLI: Yes. For the record, Stephanie Lucarelli. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I didn't recognize you with the mask. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Hello. MR. OEHLER: Thank you very much and thank you for pronouncing my name correctly. MR. OCHS: You're welcome, sir. MR. OEHLER: Because it gets butchered. I am Ken Oehler. I'm the President of the Palm River Homeowners Civic Association. And a week or so ago I sent to all of you an email outlining what I was going to present to you today, except for you, sir. It went to Ms. Fiala, who responded to me that she's no longer on the Board. Our -- okay. It's up. What our request is, basically, is we would like an MSTU established for Palm River to continue the sidewalks on a loop around the neighborhood. As a brief history, back, I don't know, four -- five years ago, a sidewalk was built on Cypress Way East December 8, 2020 Page 22 from Piper, which runs parallel to Immokalee, to Eastwood. And, in fact, if you could pop that map up that -- it's about the third or fourth one in there -- it will give you an idea -- there. The blue line is the -- is the sidewalk that was put in about four years ago, at around the same time, the blue line in the park along Immokalee. What we were told at the time, and I guess erroneously, was that the county had intended to continue a loop around where you see th e yellow and then back down to Immokalee on Palm River Boulevard. And when we asked about it, we were told, well, no, not really; not for a long time; there's no money in the budget for it. So back in 2017 I appeared before most of you, and I asked you as commissioners to increase the budget for sidewalks in Collier County from the low amount of $250,000, which would cover the entire county, where sidewalks were needed to about $3 million. And, Commissioner Solis, I remember your words well. Ken, get on the plan, and -- which is what we have been trying to do ever since. We met with county officials, and that's where we discovered what the plan was is you have to have an MSTU. You need more than 50 percent of the residents to sign the petition in order for an MSTU to proceed. In Palm River we have 1,900 doors; a thousand of them are condos, and 900 are single-family residences. The prospect of going around door to door to 1,900 doors trying to get better than half of them to sign on to a tax that they would agree to on themselves was formidable, and we didn't have enough volunteers to do it. What we had on the board, they were willing to, but there was just not enough people. It's just a tough deal. We met with county officials, though, throughout. We tried the squeaky wheel approach and figuring if we showed up at the -- I don't if it was called the BPAC or the bicycle pathway -- if we showed up December 8, 2020 Page 23 at enough of those things asking for sidewalks, sooner or later someone would say, okay, well, you know, let's get rid of these people. Let's put sidewalks in. But we were told it's not going to happen in our lifetime because there would not be the money. So we started an education process with our residents. We send out a couple newsletters a year, and then an annual one. We tried to get the residents behind the idea of an MSTU without us having to go door to door. One of our board members, Claudia Koehler, who lives near Viking Way, which is -- well, it's hard to see. Well, it's the one -- this one right here. A particularly hazardous street. Very narrow and heavily trafficked. She started a petition there, and it was met very favorably. And throughout this we were meeting with county officials. Dan Schumacher came to one of our board meetings because we asked him to map out what we wanted to do, what it would cost at the time, because we really had no idea. And at the time he estimated that it was going to be in excess of two-and-a-half million dollars to put in sidewalks where you see yellow. MS. LUCARELLI: And I'm going to jump in, because we're at five minutes. MR. OEHLER: Okay. MS. LUCARELLI: So at two-and-a-half million dollars -- well, let me start first by just saying good morning, and thank you for allowing us to speak. My name is Stephanie Lucarelli, and I am here as a homeowner and resident of Palm River and the chair of the Palm River Sidewalk Committee, not in my capacity as school board member. So at two-and-a-half million dollars, even though there were -- it was -- we had a favorable -- you know, people that were willing to put in sidewalks and pay for them, two-and-a-half million dollars December 8, 2020 Page 24 seemed really excessive, and many people were concerned about that cost. When I learned that the HOA had a sidewalk committee, I got involved, started doing some of the research again, picked the things back up. Of course, COVID-19 hit, and even though we were willing to do the door-to-door 1,900 doors, once COVID hit, it became kind of impossible. So, nonetheless, we started doing an education process again online. The homeowner’s association sent around a questionnaire. I put some questionaries online through the Next Door app, Facebook app, and created a petition. And, again, lots of favorable comments. It seems that the vast majority of people want sidewalks. There, of course, are a handful of people that are concerned about the cost. But what we realized is that this is the time to act because there is a project underway in Palm River or set to happen within the next year or two to work on the infrastructure. And so if we were able to combine our sidewalk project with the infrastructure project that is already happening, the cost to the homeowners of Palm River would go from 2.5 million down to around 1.2 million. Now sidewalks are affordable. People are reengaged. And just in the last two weeks of doing this, we've already had 300 people sign on or comment that they, indeed, are ready to act on this. Commissioner Solis quickly jumped on this last week, had a town hall. We had 90 percent of the people that were on the town hall. Over 100 of the people that are in favor want us to do it now. I think everyone realizes it is now or never. And so our big ask to you is to recognize the safety benefits to the community, the increased property values for our homeowners will see, the timeliness of acting now to direct staff to bring back to a future meeting an ordinance establishing an MSTU for the December 8, 2020 Page 25 construction of sidewalks as described in the Palm River community much as you all recently did in the community of Connors/Vanderbilt for the dredging project that is now underway, so -- I used to live there, so I know about that. So we would just like all of you to direct staff to work on that MSTU to come back and, you know, help us get our sidewalks finally. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I'm going to see if there are any questions or comments from the commissioners. MR. OEHLER: I have one more question. If you'd go to the photograph of Viking Way and what you would recognize as a truly hazardous -- now, imagine this happening on the narrow streets multiple times every single day. It's even worse now because the bridge construction, the streets are more congested. We have kids on bikes, on scooters. I witness some truly hazardous situati ons where, if we had sidewalks, cars could pass each other, and the risks would be minimized. Now, imagine this site with three or four pickup trucks trying to pass each other at the same time while there are pedestrians out. With the bridge construction, imagine dump trucks, and then -- and not even to mention the school buses and the landscape vehicles that are going to be there anyway when the construction is over. We live with this every day. And I walk frequently. In fact, I walk past Stephanie's house. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Oehler, I think you're going to get a positive response here, so let's get the comments from the Commission. MR. OEHLER: Okay. Because I feel like I'm at Shark Tank, and I'm hoping that you're going to buy this product. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, you know in Shark Tank you don't want to oversell either, so let's -- Commissioner Solis. December 8, 2020 Page 26 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And, thank you, Ken and Stephanie, for being here. And, yeah, I held a virtual town hall with just under 120 people that signed on. And the streets, much like in Naples Park, are really narrow. I think this is -- they've been, you know, fighting this battle for as long as I've been around. And I think there is consensus within the community to move forward, and the savings of laying out the sidewalks, including it in the design with the utilities project, much like the utility project in Naples Parks -- I don't know if we follow you around, Stephanie, or not, but it is really substantial. I mean, it's half. I think it comes out to somewhere around $500 a home, which is significant. So I would like to -- if there's consensus on the Board here, to direct staff to bring back a resolution to create an MSTU for the sidewalk project. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We do have two other lights lit up. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And I'm in complete support. I had two questions. Did we ever meet the 50 percent plus one on the petition? I heard some renditions. Yes or no? MS. LUCARELLI: Well, we didn't go through the official petition process because now we're -- we realize -- we were told by the county that it was better for us to try and get this done as soon as possible so it can get in the engineeri ng and design phase of the project -- the infrastructure project that's coming up, and so, you know -- so, no, but we've been -- like I said, through Facebook and online stuff, it's been mostly favorable. There are people that chime in and say -- they're really indifferent to it. They're fine. If we have to pay for it, they'd like it, but they're -- really want to be out there fighting for it, and they're fine if, you know, the other way as well. December 8, 2020 Page 27 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And my other question was -- and I'm not sure -- we've had some serious stormwater issues in Palm River. Have those been addressed? MS. LUCARELLI: Sir, that's all part of this same infrastructure project. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So it's not just the sidewalk MSTU. It's all part of the -- it's all part of the -- MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Totally fine. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I would support Commissioner Solis and compliment the neighborhood for staying with it and becoming a grass-roots effort and reaching out to your commissioner and being smart with it. This is great. Yes, absolutely. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I echo that, you know, for you to take the time and, also, I know your work with the school board, so you're very involved with the community. But you're here representing your community with an issue that needs improve ment. I would just challenge other citizens that are listening, you know, we can do anything, but we can't do everything. But when you have issues like this in your community, this is what it takes, community involvement, an organized plan, coming here, addressing, you know, not only the commissioners, but energizing, you know, the key commissioner that oversees this district. And this is how you get things done. It doesn't mean it's always going to happen in five minutes, but sometimes it will never happen if leaders like yourselves don't come forward with an organized plan. So I really commend you for bringing this to our attention. And I know this isn't the only neighborhood that wishes they had sidewalks. So -- but, you know, we've got to start somewhere December 8, 2020 Page 28 and, obviously, you know, you have all put together a great plan, so I commend you for that. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's entertain a motion. Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'd like to make a motion to direct staff to bring back -- I believe it would be a resolution or an ordinance -- MR. KLATZKOW: An ordinance. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- an ordinance to create the Palm River sidewalk MSTU, or whatever the staff would like to call it, and bring that back as soon as possible just because I know there's a timeline on the design work for the utilities project. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Is there a second? We have a motion and a second. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. Thank you. MS. LUCARELLI: Thank you very much. MR. OEHLER: Thank you very much. MS. LUCARELLI: And congratulations. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's move on to agenda -- well, let's see. Did we ever get -- the person that wanted to speak on the December 8, 2020 Page 29 consent agenda, did that -- MR. MILLER: He has never jointed the meeting, sir. Item #7 PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that would move us to Item 7, public comments on general topics not on the current or future agenda. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. MR. MILLER: I have three registered speakers for this. Your first speaker is Laurie Harris, and she will be followed by April Olson, and then Christina Hauser. MS. HARRIS: Commissioners, I'm sure you know why I'm here. I'm assuming this microphone has yet to be cleaned, and I'm glad we did away with the janitorial services creating the illusion of cleaning the rest of this. Commissioner LoCastro, welcome. Thank you for answering my email. Commissioner Saunders, thanks to your assistant for acknowledging my email without actually saying anything. And, Commissioner Taylor and Solis, you completely ignore me. Literally ignore me. I don't understand why. So in trying to understand why, I looked at your bios. Commissioner Taylor, you're from New York City. Left 30 years ago. That happens to be my hometown. I was there when it was a cesspool under David Dinkins who couldn't say his name without a teleprompter, and Ed Koch who brought the city to bankruptcy. So I'm assuming you fled to get away from big government. Congratulations, you've become the big government you fled by December 8, 2020 Page 30 imposing this mask face covering mandate. Commissioner Solis, god bless your parents. They fled from Cuba -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: You know, I would appreciate it if you didn't bring my dead parents into this discussion. I've had enough of that. And that is just inappropriate, rude, and inconsiderate to two people that came to this country and are now dead and can't defend themselves. So shame on you. MS. HARRIS: I started with "God bless your parents." I apologize. I did not know they are deceased. What I was going to say was, they fled tyranny. God bless them for their courage. Okay. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The commissioner's asked you not to refer to his parents. If you would move on. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. MS. HARRIS: Yes, I apologize. I apologize. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Just move on to your comments. MS. HARRIS: Okay. You've become the big government by imposing a mask mandate. Commissioner Saunders, you've spent a career in big government. Between state senator, county commissioner, your law firm, you are big government, so your mask mandate. Why I am here is you do not answer my emails. Okay. My email says, now that you've imposed this mask mandate, these masks, used, infected, why are they not being treated as medical waste? Why aren't the medical waste receptacles put outside fire departments, ERs, urgent cares? They are now in the parking lots. They have become the new cigarette butt. They're disgusting. And you're imposing this mask mandate -- I'm sorry -- face covering, because any face covering will do, and when any face covering will do, it's not about my health; it's about my obedience. So since we all have to be obedient to your mask mandate, face December 8, 2020 Page 31 covering mandate, why are they not being treated as medical waste if they are infected with a highly contagious virus? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Next speaker? MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is April Olson, and she will be followed by Christina Heuser. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I want to divert for just a little bit -- come on up. I'm talking in reference to your presentation. MS. OLSON: Oh, okay. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You're limited to three minutes. MS. OLSON: Okay. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: But I have a couple questions, so it may take a little longer than three minutes, because she's going to be presenting information from the Conservancy, and I wanted to make sure that that information gets into the public record as it relates to the filings that we've made with the State, so I may ask a question or two, if that's okay with the Commission, so it may take a little bit longer than three minutes. All right. Ms. Olson. MS. OLSON: Good morning, Chairman Saunders and Collier County Commissioners, and welcome, Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you. MS. OLSON: Nice to meet you and thank you for your mask mandate. My name is April Olson with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, and we appreciate the opportunity to speak on an item that is very time sensitive, as it pertains to the county's transmittal of the RLSA amendments and our concerns that have been submitted to you and clarified in our letter to the County Attorney yesterday. The RLSA amendments have already been submitted to the State Department of Economic Opportunity, and the 30-day clock for the response is ticking. December 8, 2020 Page 32 Unfortunately, the county has not remedied the concerns addressed by the Conservancy and, therefore, we ask that you give staff direction today. Our concern can be boiled down to this: The almost three-year process of workshops and stakeholder participation for amending the RLSA culminated in one primary document. That is staff's report titled "A summary of RLSA Amendments, including the 2009 EAC/CCPC, and board comments on five-year review amendments and stakeholder comments and staff recommendations on the proposed amendments." This document right here is the RLSA transmittal bible, if you will. You will see within this document -- or within the title that it says "stakeholder comments." So here's the concern. Even though the Conservancy submitted these comments right here, 30- and a 32-page comments, none of our input was included in this -- in most central document. Why is this so concerning? Because this document is likely the most important document in the amendment process, and it is likely the main document that the DEO will review. While we appreciate that the County Attorney's Office submitted our comments to the DEO, that does not remedy the issue, and it's not responsive to our request; however, the Conservancy had proposed a remedy which is absolutely doable by the county and moves toward bringing this public process back on track. We asked three things. Number one, that our comments are incorporated in this document called a summary of RLSA amendments, and our latest version of our comments was from August. Number 2, after our comments are included in staff's document, that the document is re-sent to the DEO to be considered for the transmittal process before the DEO makes a decision, and there's only a few days left. And, No. 3, when the RLSA adoption package is presented to the Board of County Commissioners, that the December 8, 2020 Page 33 Board is presented with the updated version of staff's document, which includes our stakeholder comments and any other stakeholder comments that were ignored such as the League of Women Voters. Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ms. Olson, thank you. MS. OLSON: Sure. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You actually stuck with the three minutes, so it was perfect. MS. OLSON: Okay, sure. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'd like to see these comments submitted with the package. I don't see any downside. It just enhances the concept of transparency and that we're trying to make sure that all stakeholders are heard on this. Mr. Klatzkow, any problems -- I'm assuming there aren't any. Any problems in supplementing our filings and doing the three things that Ms. Olson has asked us to do on behalf of the Conservancy? MR. KLATZKOW: I don't have an issue if you want to direct staff to do that. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I'm going to make that motion. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'll second that. MS. OLSON: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and second. Any discussion? Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I've got -- do we -- do we -- and I'm looking at you and you. County Attorney, do we usually submit dissenting comments in a submittal package to the DEO? MR. KLATZKOW: I'm advised by staff that the answer to that is no. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. I take exception to the December 8, 2020 Page 34 representation that your comments were ignored. They were not. Nor was the League of Women Voters comments ignored. They were given due consideration. There were adjustments made to the entire RLSA submittal based upon public input that came. I sat through two years of those hearings myself in the five-year review, and then I attended virtually all of the other public hearings that were -- that were carried forward. And I'm just wondering -- and I'm just asking this, Commissioner Saunders, since you've made the motion. My question to you is, is -- it's not common practice for the Commission to insert comments from the public in the submittal on a GMP amendment, and why are we -- why are we doing that now, and what will be the impacts of that in the review process of the GMP amendments? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I think there are a couple comments I would make in reference to that. First of all, I do not see any downside at all in having stakeholder comments attached to this particular application or to future applications. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let me finish my -- you asked me a question. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I did. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Secondly -- and, again, I don't see any downside. The County Attorney's indicated that there's nothing impermissible about doing this. Secondly, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida is a little bit different than your typical stakeholder. I don't know how many members there are of the Conservancy. MS. OLSON: About 7,000. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: They provide a tremendous public benefit. Thousands of students go to their facilities. They do tremendous things in our community. I don't see any downside December 8, 2020 Page 35 permitting this organization that has a great deal of credibility in submitting this package. So that's my rationale for suggesting this. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I guess my other thought is -- and this is just my question to the County Attorney. Ms. Olson suggested three things. One is an attachment of the comments. What I heard was another insertion of the comments into the GMP amendments; is that correct? MR. KLATZKOW: I don't think that's what the request is for, but I'll let Ms. Olson -- MS. OLSON: Our request is that our support -- we have several comments in our two documents that are in support of some of the amendments and that are in objection to some of the amendments. We just wanted to be treated like the other stakeholders who had their comments in here. We have Judy Hushon's comments, Nick Penniman's comments, ECPO's comments. We just want a fair shake and have our comments inputted because we were part of the process. The League of Women Voters also were excluded from this. So we just want our fair shake to be treated as the other groups. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Understood. I'm totally okay with that. I mean, I didn't realize that they were excluded from the actual submittal that went -- MS. OLSON: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- so I have no issue. MR. KLATZKOW: I wouldn't say excluded, sir. But I understand the Board's direction. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So we have a motion and second. Any further discussion of the motion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, all in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. December 8, 2020 Page 36 COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. MS. OLSON: Thank you. We appreciate it. MR. KLATZKOW: Mr. Chairman, I have one final registered speaker for public comment, Christina Heuser. MS. HEUSER: Good morning. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good morning. MS. HEUSER: Pardon me if I'm shivering. It's quite chilly out in the hallway. So before I proceed with the item I came here to talk about, I want to urge you to maybe reconsider the spacing in the room, because there are quite a few people out there as well as in the overflow room, and there is an option for people to participate virtually if they're not comfortable being in close proximity with people. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We're going to continue to maintain social distancing. The next three or four months with this pandemic are going to be pretty amazing in terms of the impacts on the country and potentially on our community. We can have this conversation once people are vaccinated and we're able to relax those standards. But, no, as far as I'm concerned, we're not going to make any changes. We may have staff turn the heat up a little bit in the hallway to make sure it's a little bit warmer, if that's the problem -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Not in here. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- but -- yeah, not in here. We want to keep people safe. December 8, 2020 Page 37 MS. HEUSER: Well, I'm so glad that you said that because that brings me to my next point which is the stark contrast between your position and a couple of your colleagues up there on the dais versus Governor DeSantis' position on where we stand with respect to this so-called pandemic. And Governor DeSantis has moved us to full reopening, Phase 3. He has just recently, since your last meeting, came out and said, unequivocally, that he is un -- he's completely opposed to mandates. And that's what I'm here to address today is your continued mask mandate which you've mandated through April, and you've done so with the justification that asymptomatic people can be spreading the virus unknowingly. So I wanted to bring to your attention a study that was just published. I'm not sure if you've had the opportunity to look at it but let me read to you the pertinent portion of it. Previous studies have shown that asymptomatic individuals infected with CoV-2 virus were infectious and might subsequently become symptomatic. Compared with symptomatic patients, asymptomatic infected persons generally have low quantity of viral loads and a short duration of viral shedding which decreased the transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2. In the present study, virus culture was carried out on samples from asymptomatic positive cases and found no viable SARS-CoV-2 virus. All close contacts of the asymptomatic positive cases tested negative, indicating that asymptomatic positive cases detected in this study were unlikely to be infectious. And if you would like to read the study -- and I would be happy to share it with you -- it also discusses something that the Governor's experts that he brought in in his round table and that Commissioner McDaniel showed a sample of recently, that the PCR test, which is the test that's widely used, reports a lot of false positives because it's December 8, 2020 Page 38 so extremely sensitive that it picks up even small particles of dead virus. So I just wanted to shed light on this falsity because you're mask people. Fortunately, the City of Naples, once again, rejected your mandate, and it was wonderful to be downtown recently for the tree lighting among seas of unmasked people who were enjoying the holidays, as we all should, and I just think it's a travesty that you continue to perpetrate this lie and this narrative of fear. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If you'd like to leave a copy of that with the County Attorney, we'll get it distributed to the commissioners, and if anybody on the Commission at any point in time wants to bring an issue up dealing with this, obviously it's everybody's -- on the Commission, everybody's right to do so. MS. HEUSER: Great. Thank you. I'll do that. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. Item #11A FORMALIZING THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS POSITION REGARDING THE POTENTIAL EXPANSION OF THE BIG CYPRESS BASIN BOUNDARY WITHIN THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT - MOTION DIRECTING STAFF TO DEVELOP A PROCESS AND PRESENT IMPACT OF THE EXPANDED BOUNDARIES AT A FUTURE BOARD MEETING – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Commissioners, we move now to Item 11A. This is a recommendation to consider the selection of the new Collier County Public Health Administrator as recommended by the State Surgeon General. And Mr. Carnell will begin the presentation. December 8, 2020 Page 39 MR. CARNELL: Good morning. Steve Carnell, your Public Services Department Head. On a good news -- a note of good news. I don't know if you-all saw this morning, but the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in the United Kingdom, and the second recipient was an 81-year-old man named William Shakespeare, and they're calling it the taming of the flu. Seriously. Anyway. Good news. As you all know, Stephanie Vick is officially retiring at the end of this month. And whenever a health administrator position among the 67 counties becomes available, the State Surgeon General's Office goes through an extensive recruitment and interview and selection process. And, per state law, when the Surgeon General completes that process, he brings the recommended candidate to the local County Commission for concurrence. That's what we're trying to accomplish here today. DOH has recruited the position. They put together a local interview panel that included representatives from county government, Collier County Schools, Naples Community Hospital. The current Health Administrator sat on the panel, as did the Sarasota Health Administrator as well. The panel conducted interviews and is recommending the hiring of Ms. Kimberly Kossler as the next Collier County DOH Administrator. And the State Surgeon General is making that recommendation to you today. And on his behalf, I have the interim deputy secretary for County Health Systems, Mark Lander, who is here present, to briefly tell you about Ms. Kossler and present the State Surgeon General's recommendation to you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Lander, good morning. MR. LANDER: Good morning, Chairman Saunders and County Commissioners. How are you-all doing today? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good. Thank you. December 8, 2020 Page 40 MR. LANDER: Just for the record, I wanted to make it known that while I will be driving back to Tallahassee today, I am a Gator. Just so we know that up front. Nothing wrong with that. Yeah, thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Some of us are not either Gators nor from Tallahassee in terms of that. I think Mr. Solis might have a comment or two, and I'm a Miami Hurricane fan, so you're not starting off in a good footing here. MR. LANDER: Well, how about we start it like this: I used to be from Collier County, and so we had a lot of the Hurricane -- my father was a Gator, so we would drive over to Miami quite a bit to see those games. Well, I am really honored to be here representing our State Surgeon General and the Florida Department of Health bringing forward to you Ms. Kimberly Kossler. As Steve said, she had been through several local interviews with your local partners and then was brought up to the State Surgeon General for an interview as well, and I can tell you both he and I were very impressed with her education as well as her work experience. Kimberly currently has over 15 years of public health experience in Florida starting off with Broward and Martin Counties and then moving to Saint Lucie County where she currently serves as the Division Director for Disease Control and Health Prevention. In serving in that role, she has several lead positions; number one being COVID response, she also does the lead for Hepatitis A response and then serves on several boards: The Treasure Coast Opioid Task Force, the Infant Mortality Work Group for Saint Lucie County. She's also on her local Emergency Management Work Group and the Area 15 HIV/AIDS Consortium and Planning Network. Quite an extensive public health background. Kimberly received her master's in public health as well as her December 8, 2020 Page 41 bachelor's in science in nutrition and dietetics from East Carolina University. In addition to that, she has received her RN degree from Palm Beach State College, and several other certifications within the state and outside the state. She is currently field epidemiological certified from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill as well as having public health leadership program experience from the University of South Florida College of Public Health. You can see with that kind of background and that public health experience, as we transition into our next phase of COVID and other -- our other routine duties within the county health departments, you're getting a seasoned veteran, somebody who's been on the front line, been fighting those battles, and she is ready to take a baton from Stephanie Vick and move forward to where we don't have any backward movement. Just very, very thrilled and excited with that level of expertise and that background. So with that, I would like to bring her before you-all for a vote to see if we can get confirmation. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Ms. Kossler, did you want to make any comments before we take a motion? MS. KOSSLER: I just want to say good morning, and I'm honored for this opportunity and very grateful to be here, and I'm super excited to help serve Collier County, especially through the COVID. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, welcome. Any comments from the Commission? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And do we have a public comment? MR. MILLER: Yes. I have one registered speaker. Dan Cook. Dan Cook. I do know we have some overflow spaces, but I did get December 8, 2020 Page 42 this slip pretty early. Dan Cook. Item 11A. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Well, we'll proceed with a motion and discussion, and if Mr. Cook arrives, we'll hear his comments. We do need a motion to approve the appointment of Ms. Kossler as the next Collier County Health Administrator. Do we have a motion? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'll make a motion. Very honored to make a motion. You're -- welcome aboard. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And a second? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis has seconded. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, all in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. We certainly want to welcome you. (Applause.) MR. LANDER: Thank you, Chairman Saunders and group. We appreciate this. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Travel safely. MR. LANDER: Absolutely. MR. OCHS: Thanks, Mark. December 8, 2020 Page 43 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Ochs, I believe we're going to have a little bit of a quick COVID update for the Board. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Drew is here to present on behalf of the Collier County Department of Public Health. MR. DREW: Yes, good morning. Welcome, Commissioner LoCastro. Congratulations, Commissioner Saunders and McDaniel. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. MR. DREW: Oh, great. My slides up. I'm John Drew, Florida Department of Health in Collier County, and I'm here to present our COVID-19 update. It's been a while. There we go. So starting with our Emergency Department visits on the influenza-like illness syndrome, there's been, over the last couple weeks, a -- it's trending upward on that, and then on the right-hand side of the slide you can see a historical perspective starting with late July and sort of the peak of the COVID-19 in Collier County, and that has dropped down since early August and been pretty steady since that time. Then the Emergency Department visits for the COVID-like illness syndrome, that trend line is moving slightly downward for the last two weeks; however, those data points usually lag behind about three or four days. So we're predicting that when all the data comes in that will either move to a flat line or slightly upward trend. And then, again, over time you can see on the right that since about the end of September, those numbers have been steadily increasing. Moving next to the positivity rates. Over the last couple weeks, we have had several days where the positivity rate has been over our 10 percent target range, and the -- looking at it from the historical perspective, that positivity rate, very similar to the COVID-like illness, has been steadily increasing since the end of September. And this slide just shows the difference in the variability in the positivity rate in the different regions of Collier County. Not a whole December 8, 2020 Page 44 lot of variability there, but a little bit. And then looking at hospital capacity, over the past two weeks you can see that we have slightly increased in the number of COVID-filled beds, so that's the maroon at the bottom of the bars. You can see that there's still plenty of hospital capacity. And at the end of the two-week period, so over the weekend, there were about 110 people in the hospitals with COVID-19. And from the -- over time, you can see that same curve is happening with the hospitalizations, although it's kind of a -- it's about a week behind the positivity rate. And I just wanted to remind you that when we were here at the beginning of October, we were talking about 20 and 30 people in the hospital with COVID. We came in early November, we were talking about 40 and 50 people in the hospital, and today we're talking about 110 people in the hospital. That's every day. That's not new people, but that's the census. And then comparing the previous two-week period with the current two-week period, so we're looking at November 8th through 21 compared to November 22nd through December 5th, you can see that number of new cases increased by 31.3 percent, positivity rate increased by 8.2 percent, and hospital admissions increased by 17.9 percent. And then comparing COVID-19 deaths with the leading causes of death from 2019, so this is all of 2019, compared to yea r to date in 2020 for the COVID-19 deaths. So, unfortunately, we have had 294 deaths in Collier County, and that makes COVID-19 the fourth leading cause of death compared to the 2019 deaths. Lastly, I wanted to give you an update on our testing activities . So the Health Department is doing free COVID-19 testing seven days a week, and we're doing that at nine different events every week. So Sundays and Mondays we're at our Immokalee site, which is temporarily at 1500 Lake Trafford Road or the Winn-Dixie plaza. December 8, 2020 Page 45 On Tuesdays and Thursdays we do, by appointment only, a drive-through site at our main office here at the government center in Building H. Wednesdays and Fridays we're still at Sun N Fun Lagoon. And then thanks to our partnership with the county, we are able to take our mobile unit out in the county and visit various locations, so we do that every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and that mobile unit, on Tuesday and Saturday we're focusing on the Immokalee region, and we've been to Farmworkers Village, Missión Peniel, Little League Park, and South Immokalee Park, and then on Thursdays we're doing locations in other parts of the county. We've been to Golden Gate Community Center three times now, I believe, Everglades Community Church once, and we've scheduled Marco Island Veterans Community Park for December 17th. So when we started with the mobile unit, we were averaging about 50 tests per event. That demand for testing has increased at all of our sites and, for example, last week we did -- at Farmworkers Village we did 91 tests at the four-hour event with the mobile unit. At Golden Gate Community Center last week we did 114 tests. You're looking for that on the slide. That's not there. That's just up here (indicating). And then, overall, we have been averaging about 3,400 tests per month. That's all I have for you today. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's see if there are any questions from the Commission. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Just a -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- question. Chair, if you'd go back a couple of -- I guess it's to the ranking, Page 9. So it's just one. I'm a little confused about the Florida rank versus -- December 8, 2020 Page 46 MR. DREW: Yeah. So in the gray, the grayed-out area, that's the leading causes of death for the whole state. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. MR. DREW: And that's the -- and for the whole state currently, COVID-19 would be ranked as the third leading cause of death compared to the 2019 numbers. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And in Collier, it's No. 4. MR. DREW: Correct. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. MR. MILLER: The public speaker that wanted to speak on 11A has shown up, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's -- that's Mr. Cook? MR. MILLER: Mr. Dan Cook. Mr. Cook, if you'll come in, please. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good morning. You'll have three minutes, Mr. Cook. MR. COOK: Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I do not know who the State Surgeon General has recommended for the county Health Department Administrator. I do not know who you, the Board of County Commissioners, who have sworn an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution for the United States of America, will choose to fill this position. But one thing I do know is that there are thousands of Collier County citizens who are terrified that one day the State Surgeon General will attempt to exercise his claimed authority under Florida Statute Title XXIX, Section 318.00315, Paragraph 1(c)(4)(b), which states, if the individual poses a danger to the public health, the state health officer may subject the individual to isolation or quarantine. If there is no practical method to isolate or quarantine the individual, the State Health Officer may use any means necessary to December 8, 2020 Page 47 vaccinate or treat the individual. These words are terrifying, Mr. Chairman, and for this board to have claimed for the better half of this year the authority to impose masks upon the people, it is not far-fetched to expect you to choose a county health administrator who feels he or she has the same claimed authority to impose the COVID-19 vaccine upon the people. Recall that Benjamin Franklin said, when the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty. You have the chance to restore liberty, Mr. Chairman. You can prove me wrong that the mask mandate vote was, indeed, not a plunge into the slippery slope of medical tyranny. So how can you do this? Mr. Chairman, you can introduce a county resolution nullifying the authority vested in the Surgeon General by State Statute 318, as I said earlier, and I think you should introduce a county resolution nullifying the authority -- the specific authority of vaccinating people, because for the last nine months you've been willing to shut down nonessential businesses, to close our children's playgrounds, and limit our access to public buildings all to quell the fears of your constituents who are afraid of COVID-19. So now you have the opportunity before you to quell the fears of your constituents who are afraid of a potentially dangerous vaccine, and it won't cost near what the lockdown cost this community. All it will cost you, Mr. Chairman, is your pride. Please pass a resolution. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Cook, before you run, let me make just a couple comments for the public, because I want to make sure that everybody understands what our authority is and what it is not. Number one, we have no authority to mandate at all that people be vaccinated. That will -- MR. COOK: Great. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- never come from Collier County government -- December 8, 2020 Page 48 MR. COOK: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- number one. Number two, you mentioned closing businesses. MR. COOK: Yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: This Commission has never closed a business. We do not have the authority under the Governor's order, but even prior to that, we never closed a single business in this county. Number 3, playgrounds. We closed playgrounds initially until we got a handle on how to disinfect them, and then the playgrounds were opened. As a matter of fact, Steve Carnell did a fantastic job in keeping our parks open, keeping our playgrounds open, and keeping them safe. And, finally, in terms of public buildings, we've not denied anybody access to a public building. What we have done is made sure that when you do have access to these buildings, that it's done in a safe way, not only for the public, but for our employees. So, for example, at Development Services, building permits and things of that nature, we've tried to do that virtual as much as possible. MR. COOK: Yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: When there has to be direct contact with the public, there are shields put up to protect the public as well as our employees. So I just want you -- I want the public to understand that we're doing the best that we can to protect public health and safety. The only thing that we have done is the mask order, which I know you are objecting to. But I wanted the public to understand we're not closing businesses, we're not requiring vaccinations, we're not doing any of that. MR. COOK: Okay. I appreciate your clarification on that. If I just may add, regarding my comments about the closures of business, I guess I would just say that maybe the actions from the Board in the December 8, 2020 Page 49 beginning of this in March maybe led to the closures of businesses. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The actions of this board -- there were no actions in March, the beginning of March. We did not close any businesses, so that is just totally incorrect, and I just want the public to understand. MR. COOK: Okay. Well, thanks for that correction. If I may, regarding access to the buildings, the signs on the door are citing, I think, Order 2205. Could I make a request that those get updated to 2020-07 regarding the mask mandate? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I don't know what that is. We're going to -- MR. COOK: Okay. I'll follow up with the attorney. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Until the Commission changes the order, that order stays in place. MR. COOK: Okay. I'll follow up with the attorney. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. All right. Any other comments before we move on? MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, sir. MR. OCHS: We do have Mr. Mullins from my staff who's here to complete the presentation on the COVID update. He had provided some comparative data to the board last time, and I've asked him just to briefly update that. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Great, thank you. MR. MULLINS: And good morning, Commissioners, John Mullins, Government Affairs Manager. And Commissioner McDaniel had requested an updated series of charts plotting State Department of Health daily coronavirus report data, which I will now briefly review for format and included data points, and then defer to the commissioner for his analysis. First, for the benefit of our new commissioner and as a quick December 8, 2020 Page 50 recap of what you're reviewing, the commissioner requested charts on three topics: Positivity rate, hospitalizations, and fatalities using the earliest report by county that we could obtain, and that ended up being April 25th. And the charts plot one-month intervals from that date through November 25th now. Now, the highlighted sections of the daily report are where the data were collected. And regarding positivity, please keep in mind that the report states that the rate is calculated excluding peo ple who have previously tested positive. And on the positivity charts, the number at each data point is the total number of test results listed in that daily report. Now, there are two sets of charts for each of the three topics; one being the Southwest Florida comparison of Collier, Lee, and Charlotte the other being a smattering of populated counties in Florida along with Collier County. And regardless of which chart you are looking at, Collier County will be the red line in every chart. Now, the circle and cross represents the date that a mask order was put into effect by county and, as you will see, a couple of the counties had mask orders in place prior to public availability of county-by-county data. Also, several counties had stay-at-home orders or it passed resolutions urging residents to stay home, and all of these orders and resolutions predate the county-by-county even reporting data. Likewise, the statewide "safer at home" executive order by the Governor also predates this data. And then, lastly, the phased reopening timeline is depicted on every chart for reference. And with that, I am happy to defer to Commissioner McDaniel and follow his lead in taking you through these charts. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. I just -- thank you, John. December 8, 2020 Page 51 I certainly, you know -- from an analysis standpoint, we're all watching this data. And the premise that I want to continue to share is that necessarily except for, you know, some investigation into what's going on in Lee County with regard to the fatalities, everybody, irrespective of local shutdown orders or particular face covering mandates and such, basically, everybody's doing the same thing. The Phase 3 opening that the Governor moved us to in the latter part of September has opened everything up. And then -- and so, therefore, then, with the commingling of humanity, you're going to see an increase in positivity. I would like to say -- and I'm pleased except for that number in Lee with regard to the increase in fatalities -- that the balance of the fatalities are going down. And I applaud the medical system, which has exponentially enhanced their care for folks that are suffering from the virus. And this was just provided as informational. It's an update. When we talked the last time, I think it was back in October, and I knew there were going to be some -- and, again, this is for information purposes. Just -- and on a comparison with Collier County who has a face covering ordinance, Lee who -- which has nothing, and Charlotte, and in comparison to five counties, Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Orange, and Pinellas Counties, all of which had early mask mandates and local shutdown orders of their businesses and such. So I know it gets a little bit busy, but I just -- for information purposes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Mr. Mullins, thank you. I don't see any other questions from the Commission. We'll move on. Mr. Ochs, does that take us to the Senior Center? MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. And it might be a good time for a court December 8, 2020 Page 52 reporter break before we move into that, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Why don't we take a break until 10:30. Will that be all right: 10 minutes? We'll be in recess until 10:30. (A brief recess was had from 10:20 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ladies and gentlemen, the meeting of the County Commission will please come to order. And we're on Item No. 9A. Item #9A ORDINANCE 2020-50: AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 89-05, AS AMENDED, THE COLLIER COUNTY GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE UNINCORPORATED AREA OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, SPECIFICALLY AMENDING THE URBAN GOLDEN GATE ESTATES SUB- ELEMENT OF THE GOLDEN GATE AREA MASTER PLAN ELEMENT AND URBAN GOLDEN GATE ESTATES FUTURE LAND USE MAP AND MAP SERIES BY AMENDING THE ESTATES MIXED-USE DISTRICT TO ADD THE NAPLES SENIOR CENTER COMMUNITY FACILITY SUBDISTRICT TO ALLOW CONSTRUCTION OF UP TO 30,000 SQUARE FEET OF COMMUNITY FACILITY USES FOR FAMILY SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES FOR SENIORS AGED 60 AND OVER. THE SUBJECT PROPERTY IS LOCATED ON THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION OF OAKES BOULEVARD AND AUTUMN OAKS LANE, APPROXIMATELY 350 FEET SOUTH OF IMMOKALEE ROAD, IN SECTION 29, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST, CONSISTING OF 8.7± ACRES; AND FURTHERMORE, RECOMMENDING TRANSMITTAL OF THE ADOPTED December 8, 2020 Page 53 AMENDMENT TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. [PL20180002622] – ADOPTED Item #9B ORDINANCE 2020-51: AMENDING ORDINANCE NUMBER 2004-41, AS AMENDED THE COLLIER COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, WHICH ESTABLISHED THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING REGULATIONS FOR THE UNINCORPORATED AREA OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, BY AMENDING THE APPROPRIATE ZONING ATLAS MAP OR MAPS BY CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION OF THE HEREIN DESCRIBED REAL PROPERTY FROM AN ESTATES (E) ZONING DISTRICT TO A COMMUNITY FACILITY PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (CFPUD) ZONING DISTRICT FOR THE PROJECT TO BE KNOWN AS NAPLES SENIOR CENTER CFPUD, TO ALLOW UP TO 30,000 SQUARE FEET OF INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY SOCIAL SERVICES (SIC 8322) FOR SENIORS 60 AND OLDER, INCLUDING ACTIVITY CENTERS FOR THE ELDERLY, ADULT DAY CARE CENTERS, COMMUNITY CENTERS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS, SENIOR CITIZEN ASSOCIATIONS, FAMILY COUNSELING, OLD AGE ASSISTANCE, AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS AND FOR GROUP SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY ON PROPERTY LOCATED ON THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION OF OAKES BOULEVARD AND AUTUMN OAKS LANE, APPROXIMATELY 350 FEET SOUTH OF IMMOKALEE ROAD, IN SECTION 29, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST, CONSISTING OF 13.6± ACRES; AND BY December 8, 2020 Page 54 PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. [PL20180002622] – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, these are companion items, Items 9A and 9B. We will hear both together, Mr. County Attorney, then vote separately; is that how you'd like to proceed? MR. KLATZKOW: We will hear both together and vote separately, yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And speakers that are registered -- and I had a couple ask me yesterday. Speakers will be given three minutes. It's not three minutes on each item. It's three minutes combined -- MR. KLATZKOW: Correct. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- on this. MR. OCHS: Let me read the titles for the record, if I may, Mr. Chairman. First, Item 9A. This item has been continued from the June 23rd and October 7th, 2020, Board of County Commissioner meetings. This is a recommendation to approve an ordinance amending the Collier County Growth Management Plan specifically amending the urban Golden Gate Estates sub-element of the Golden Gate Area Master Plan element and Urban Golden Gate Estates Future Land Use Map by amending the Estates Mixed-Use District to add the Naples Senior Center community facility subdistrict to allow construction of up to 30,000 square feet of community facility use -- excuse me -- uses for family social service programs and activities for seniors age 60 and over. The subject property is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Oakes Boulevard and Autumn Oaks Lane approximately 350 feet south of Immokalee Road. And Item 9B has also been continued from the June 23rd and October 27th, 2020, Board of County Commissioners meetings. This December 8, 2020 Page 55 item requires ex parte disclosure be provided by the commission members, and all participants are required to be sworn in. It is a recommendation to approve an ordinance amending the Collier County Land Development Code by changing the zoning classification of the herein described real property from an Estates zoning district to a Community Facility Planned Unit Development zoning district for the project to be known as Naples Senior Center, a previously described location, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's start off with the Commission's required statements. Mr. McDaniel, any ex parte? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely. Meetings, phone calls, and emails. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: The same, meetings. I did attend a NIM earlier this year on January the 27th; visited the site last month; many emails from constituents; and phone calls; had a Zoom meeting with the residents of Oakes this week. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I -- yes. I've met four times with the neighborhood association representatives; I've met four times with the applicant and their counsel; lots of letters, ranging from the Community Foundation to the Chamber of Commerce; and many, many, many emails and phone calls. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I might be new, but I've been flooded with plenty of correspondence. So I've met with both sides; met in person with the citizens that live in that neighborhood on Oakes; I've been to the site on Oakes, as well as the site that the county had offered; lots of correspondence; lots of emails and phone calls from both sides. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And I've had the same December 8, 2020 Page 56 thing. I've visited the site. I've talked to representatives of the project, and I've spoken with and received emails and correspondence from people that are in the community that would be impacted, potentially, by this. MR. OCHS: Swear in participants at this time, sir? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes. Any members of the public that are going to testify as well as representatives of the project. (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Thank you. Mr. Yovanovich. MR. YOVANOVICH: Thank you and good morning. For the record, Rich Yovanovich on behalf of the Naples Senior Center. With me today I have several people. Wayne Arnold, who's the professional planner on the project; Tina Matte, who's helped us with public outreach; Jim Banks is our transportation consultant; Michael Herrera is here to answer any engineering-related questions; our ecologist is Dan Underhill; and Rene Zepada -- or Zepeda will be -- is an architect; Jackie Faffer is the CEO; and John Passidomo is one of the directors who has been very involved in the petition. The order of presentation is going to be: Me, I'll give a brie f overview; Jackie will then give some detailed presentation on the Naples Senior Center; Rene will then talk about the design aspects and why this site is the right site for the project; and then Wayne will follow up with planning aspects; and, finally, Mr. Banks will go through the transportation-related impacts. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I would suggest to the Commission that we get through this -- the presenters program here before we start asking questions. If that's acceptable to everybody, I think it will be much more efficient. MR. YOVANOVICH: Yeah. Our hope is to answer all your questions. I've never hit it 100 percent, but we'll do our best to try do December 8, 2020 Page 57 that in our presentation. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. MR. YOVANOVICH: I do ask -- we have one speaker, Paul Hiltz from Naples Community Hospital. He has to leave at noon. If there is a -- if there's a chance to get him in before noon, we'd appreciate that. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We will absolutely do that, but remind me, so when we get close to that -- MR. YOVANOVICH: I will. I appreciate that. Thank you for your... On the visualizer -- I'm sorry. I keep calling it the visualizer. On your screen is the location of the proposed Senior Center. As you will hear from Jackie on our team, the Senior Center provides a lot of services to seniors that is a rapidly growing population in Collier County. It is undisputed that seniors are underserved in Collier County, and senior services, like childcare, is an essential service to members of our community. Membership growth for the Senior Center has been overwhelming, and a larger permanent location is critical to serve this underserved population. If you've been to the existing Senior Center, you know what we're talking about. It's small, woefully underparked. It appears much more congested than it really is. But this location will alleviate a lot of those concerns and perceptions regarding the amount of parking that's necessary. The search for a permanent home has taken many years, and many, many sites were evaluated. We've used the services of local realtors who are familiar with the market. And even after that site was put under contract, we were provided a list of 14 properties from the Oakes communities to evaluate. We evaluated every one of those sites to determine if that was a potential location, and after that 14th site, we were presented with the Gaynor building in the Hodges December 8, 2020 Page 58 University complex near this location. We even evaluated that site to find out that there's a master lease on the property. So we could buy the property; we just can't use it for the next 11 years. So we have continually responded to the local community to evaluate different locations. As Jackie will explain, the location on this monitor is really the ideal site for what we're proposing and the services we want to provide. We understand that no matter where we relocate there are going to be current members that may find it difficult to get to those locations -- the new location. We are committed, and the board is committed, to providing transportation to anybody who wants to get to the new location, and we will do what is necessary to make sure that if we relocate or when we locate, those who are currently using the facility will use the new facility. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the Comprehensive Plan for Collier County but, in reality, finding a location for senior services is not as easy as it sounds. Depending on the classification, some people claim that this is a commercial use. It is clearly not a commercial use. But finding a location that is of sufficient size is a difficult task, and we spent a long time looking for that and, as a result, the location that we have found requires both a Growth Management Plan amendment and a rezone to PUD. So you have two petitions in front of you, and Leo read them into the record. But I think what is really important to understand is the Growth Management Plan amendment that we're proposing is only for 8.7 acres of the entire 13.6 acres, and that's by design, and I'll show it to you later. The eastern five-acre parcel will remain Estates, and it will not be part of the Growth Management Plan amendment, and that is December 8, 2020 Page 59 because that is our preserve area and our outdoor open space area, and that will continue to be a buffer from our nearest neighbors to the east. So there cannot be creep of the building getting bigger on the 13.6 acres. It will be confined to the locatio n we're showing you. So you don't have to worry about our 30,000-square-foot building growing further to the east or our parking growing further to the east. And the second petition is a rezone to the PUD, which also is very limited with the uses that are allowed. They're only allowed for daily senior activities. We're not allowed to have residential use, and we're not allowed to have any evening or weekend use of the property. At the Planning Commission hearing, we had many supporters present. Many of those supporters would be here but for COVID and other -- basically, COVID, and some are not that great with the technology, so it's difficult for them to even participate by Zoom. Both the Planning Commission and your county staff recommend approval of both petitions. As you will see as we go through the process, we are both compatible and complementary to the existing neighborhood. We are not in the middle of a neighborhood or the Oakes community, and we are, in fact, supported by our nearby residents. That concludes my brief overview. Jackie will come up and give you a little greater detail about the Naples Senior Center, and then Rene will follow her, and then we'll continue on with the presentation. DR. FAFFER: Chairman Saunders and Commissioners, thank you very much for the opportunity to present our vision for the new Naples Senior Center. This project is of utmost importance to serving our 1,400 members who are the older adults and seniors of Collier County and December 8, 2020 Page 60 who have only our center to provide the professional services and programs you will hear about today. I would like to take a few moments to speak to you about our mission for serving our community seniors and why this location uniquely accommodates Naples Senior Center's vision for how to do that in the best way possible. Let me start by sharing some history. In 2012, I was asked by a professional colleague in the northeast for assistance in locating a Senior Center for her mother -- his mother in her 90s in Naples. I was stunned to learn there wasn't one. No therapeutic and social programming for one of Collier County's largest demographics and vulnerable populations. Maybe, I thought, Collier County doesn't need a Senior Center. I, therefore, worked with FGCU on a needs assessment which identified the overwhelming loneliness and isolation of seniors in Collier County. As the then head of the Social Work Division summarized, older adults are alone and lonely. With the support of a dedicated board of trustees, we raised philanthropic funds to open our center in January of 2014. We had 80 members when we opened our doors on Castello Drive. The first person to walk through the doors came up to me and told me that her husband passed away three years ago, and our opening lunch program would be the first time she shared a meal with someone else since his passing. Now, almost seven years later, Naples Senior Center has become an integral part of the social service fabric of our community. Though the demand has been robust and our membership has grown to 1,400, we control the number of people who attend at any given time by requiring registration for programming and establishing satellite locations. Let me share with you what we do with our staff of 20 professionals and generous numbers of volunteers who come to the December 8, 2020 Page 61 center every day for group activities. Everything from chair yoga to arts and crafts to music sessions and so much more. If I had an overhead projector, I'd feel more comfortable. Thank you. If you look at our schedule of events -- and let's take Tuesday -- you can see that staff and volunteers arrive around 9:00, we begin our programming at 10:00, and programming goes throughout the day until -- 3:00 is the last program, and by 4:00 our members and volunteers have left. If you look to the column on the side, you'll see the numbers of people who arrive, and you'll see that although -- on the bottom orange lines, the average occupancy is 328, and we've committed to a maximum occupancy of 485. In fact, we have fewer people who come for each session and many stay most of the day for the different programs, making the entrance and the egress much less than one would expect. We have the only dementia respite program in the entire county where dementia patients participate in four hours of structured therapeutic activities while their caregivers get much needed respite to run errands and care for themselves. Naples Senior Center also has a geriatric case management program through which professional case managers work with frail seniors to enable them to age safely and with dignity in the community, often avoiding nursing home placement. Allow me to share a brief video introduction to our center. (A video was played as follows:) It is estimated that one out of every three seniors in the United States wakes up every morning feeling isolated or lonely. Research has shown that seniors who feel this way have higher rates of heart disease, are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, are more prone to live with depression and anxiety. December 8, 2020 Page 62 Naples Senior Center opened its doors as the first senior center in Collier County in January 2014 to ameliorate senior isolation and loneliness. Since that time, membership has increased from 80 to 1,400. Programs have developed and expanded to meet the needs of our local seniors. The first program offered when Naples Senior Center opened its doors in January 2014 was Lunch and More, a weekly hot lunch followed by engaging entertainment or informative lectures. Classes in a variety of art mediums stimulate creative expression and provide the members with a sense of achievement. Senior Center members, many of whom have never picked up a paintbrush or pastel, see their artwork displayed and, in a few instances, shown in juried art shows and even sold. Naples Senior Center members, so appreciative of the opportunities given to them, also recognize the importance of giving back to the community. They look forward to painting bowls for the Empty Bowls program addressing food insecurity in Collier County. The members participating in NSC's needle-works program knit and crochet lap ropes and shawls for women undergoing treatment for breast cancer at Naples Community Hospital and Lee Memorial Health System and caps for children undergoing chemotherapy. Naples Senior Center partners with many non-profit organizations in the community to provide important information to our seniors. One of the organizations is Shine, which helps older adults better understand what is available to them through the various Medicare programs. We all know the importance of healthy activity at every age, but particularly as one gets older. Naples Senior Center has vibrant and varied wellness activities gauged to fit every level of physical capacity. These activities include Tai Chi, line dancing, chair exercise, and yoga. My name is Florence Weinstein. I'm 95 years old, going on 96, December 8, 2020 Page 63 and a World War II veteran. I'd like to speak about how important the Naples Senior Center is to all the seniors in Collier County. Most of us, before its existence, were stuck at home, and here we found the home away from home. We're able to exercise our brains and our bodies, exercise classes, oxygen to our brain, and lots of loving companionship. The Alzheimer's Association states that one in nine individuals over the age of 65 will be diagnosed with dementia. Is it any wonder that five years ago NSC had one dementia respite group and today there are 10, including three on Marco Island. Through this four-hour structured group, facilitated by a clinical social worker, participants are engaged in activity centers that stimulate their minds and their spirits while giving their caregivers four hours of respite to take care of themselves. One of the highlights is music therapy, facilitated by a credentialed music therapist. The enjoyment of music is universal. Senior Center members participate in singalongs and HUG, the happy ukulele group. Like everyone, seniors come to depend upon technology. NSC offers computer classes and special classes on smart phones and tablets. Please visit us at "experience the connections we create." (The video concluded.) DR. FAFFER: Research has shown that isolation and loneliness seriously impact the health of seniors, often leading to depression, significant medical conditions, and even death. In a 2015 study at Brigham University, they found substantial evidence that individuals lacking social connectedness are at risk for premature mortality. Prior to COVID-19, the thought of isolation and loneliness as a health risk was an abstract concept to m any. Today, unfortunately, with so many of our vulnerable friends and neighbors self-isolating, it has become a reality of our everyday life. December 8, 2020 Page 64 As a doctor of social work and with Collier County's demographics being what they are, I believe we are in the midst of a health crisis, one that can be referred to as a double pandemic referencing the experience of isolation and loneliness combined with COVID-19. As one begins to understand that Naples Senior Center was founded to combat isolation and loneliness, it is easy in today's climate to understand that our mission is essential to the well-being of our community. Our programs and activities provide a portal through which we identify physical, emotional, social, food insecurity, and financial needs, and we develop individual programs to address these often life-threatening concerns. All of this time Naples Senior Center has relied upon the generosity of our donors and private foundations to fund our operations, staffing, and programming; that is more tha n $3 million raised each year to care for our seniors in our community, and this care is not supported by Collier County tax dollars. We now operate a satellite program in Marco Island for our dementia respite program, and we see the future of our service delivery model to be additional satellites in fast-growing parts of the county; however, we need a new center to accommodate the core of our membership right here in Naples. So why is this new location ideal for the new Naples Senior Center? This location is large, more than 13.6 acres of land. This will finally enable us to provide therapeutic programming in a therapeutic setting. We can incorporate gardening activities, walking paths, outdoor Tai Chi, and simply getting our members outside to enjoy the sunshine and the significant health benefits of being in a natural setting. If we had that space today, we would be able to bring our seniors back for on-site programming in a safe environment, an December 8, 2020 Page 65 environment where we could do outside activities and have the room, both inside and out, to practice social distancing. The size of the space means we can have our passive activities at the same time we have ample room for our center and parking as well as deep setbacks and generous landscaping buffers all around the site to ensure we are compatible with the neighborhood. The vast majority of our programming is scheduled between 10:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., outside busy morning and afternoon peak commuting hours. Our members are elderly. They are not interested in early mornings or late afternoons, and they certainly aren't interested in evening or weekend programming. We never have offered on-site programs on evenings or weekends, and we have guaranteed through our applications to continue only offering weekday programs during limited hours. This further ensures our compatibility at this location. The site is central to the majority of our members and volunteers, immediately adjacent to a major thoroughfare and accessible via I-75. And as you've heard, we are committed to providing transportation to those seniors who feel it's too far a distance to the new center for them to drive. We have searched for a permanent home for over three years and have pursued alternative locations, including locations proposed by the leadership of the Oakes Neighborhood Association and Collier County. For various reasons, these locations were not appropriate for us or available to us, and as challenging as this process has been, we have found the ideal location for the Naples Senior Center, and it is at the corner of Valewood Drive and Autumn Oaks Lane. We are dedicated to being a good neighbor at this location. We are thrilled that so many of our immediately adjacent neighbors have welcomed us with open arms. We are committed to doing whatever we can to ensure that our use of this beautiful site is compatible with December 8, 2020 Page 66 its surroundings. We care for your parents, your neighbors, your aunts and your uncles and your siblings. We need a location that will allow us to continue providing these essential services to a vulnerable population often at their times of desperate need. Collier County has long lovingly embraced childcare services as essential to the well-being of our entire community. We believe that the senior care services we provide are just as essential to the quality of life we all enjoy in Collier County and we are all proud of. We, therefore, respectfully request your approval of our applications. Thank you for your time and consideration. And next I'd like to call Rene Zepeda, our architect. MS. ZEPEDA: Chairman Saunders -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Good morning. MS. ZEPEDA: -- Collier County Commissioners, good morning. Thank you for your time. My name is Rene Zepeda. I'm an architect with Stofft Cooney Architects in Naples, Florida. Selecting a site and designing a building for seniors must be seen through a different lens and learning how to see through this lens takes time and dedication. I have dedicated over 25 years of my professional experience specializing in the design of senior facilities. So I was very glad when the Naples Senior Center approached the firm to work on what is to become the new home for the senior center. The first thing we set out to discuss with the team was the site characteristics to ensure that it had what it req uired to meet the needs of the program for the health, safety, and welfare of the seniors and to improve their quality of life. We identified the following fundamental site requirements: A setting that allows seclusion to provide for safety, security, and December 8, 2020 Page 67 privacy; a site where we can design a safe parking layout with extensive landscape for shading, coolness, and a more pleasant environment than that of a hot sea of asphalt, which we see in many places, and also one that allows easy access to the front door. We need a setting surrounded by landscaping to provide the physical and visual connection to natural elements. This helps to combat depression, improve health, and increase healing. We needed a site that allows for the creation and access to manmade gardens for outdoor activities and direct exposure to the sun and nature, which are vital for healthy life. This is the only chance some of our seniors -- actually many of our seniors -- have to enjoy the outdoors in a secure and safe environment. We also needed a site that had access to natural preserves for passive outdoor experiences such as trail walks. Again, in a secured environment; a site that is quiet, peaceful, and non-chaotic in its surroundings, which is a must for seniors' safety and well-being. The design elements of the building are in direct connection with the site setting and site context. A site that allows for details that are vernacular in nature provide a sense of comfort and a more welcoming environment than buildings of institutional or commercial character. This is not a commercial building. The center is to maintain the feeling of extension of home setting and environment which can foster sociability and friendship to diminish the feelings of isolation. Building orientation on the site is also very important. Art is essential for seniors, and northern light is the best light in which to create art. The space adjacencies allow for the art program to have direct northern exposure in this particular site. Southern exposure allows longer sunlight for outdoor activities, particularly during the cold days of winter. Again, it requires space adjacencies allow for the outdoor garden to have direct southern exposure on this particular December 8, 2020 Page 68 site. These are only a few of the elements that are of paramount importance to provide the proper programming in the proper setting. In conclusion, the site in consideration provides all the elements for the implementation of all the design criteria, making it the ideal site for Naples Senior Center like no other site previously considered. Thank you for your time, service to the community, and consideration of this application. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. MR. YOVANOVICH: Throughout this process, we've heard the comment "we love the mission, but this i s not the right location." This is the right location for the mission, and we'll go into greater detail how we met every one of the criteria Rene just explained to you was important to the Board and important to serving seniors. We are not a commercial activity. It is totally inappropriate to require us to locate in an activity center where there's high commercial traffic generation, and it is wrong to locate us in a grocery store that's been abandoned and say that's the appropriate location to take care of seniors. The location that we've arrived at is the 13.6 acres accessed from Valewood Drive and Autumn Oaks Lane. And many of you have been to the site, so I know you're all familiar with how close we are to Immokalee Road. And this location meets every one of the locational criteria to address Jackie's concerns or services provided by her organization and Rene's design criteria to have an appropriate Naples Senior Center. It's also an appropriate location based upon where our members currently reside and where we expect the majority of the growth of our senior population. And we are committed -- as I mentioned, you will see there are seniors that are not in this centralized location. We are committed to making sure they get to the center by providi ng December 8, 2020 Page 69 transportation. I've also shared with you -- and, Mr. LoCastro, I hope you received it -- we have 992 signed surveys. We didn't ask you to get -- we didn't send you 992 emails. We sent you the survey -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Thank you for that. MR. YOVANOVICH: -- surveys from the individual -- your individual districts to let you know that each one of you has a significant portion of your population served by the center. And we are committed to continue to serve that population. As to the location, it's in yellow. We are not in the heart of the Oakes community. We are on the fringe of the Oakes community near Immokalee Road. As Jim Banks will take you through, it is a safe and convenient access not only for our members but for the residents of the Oakes community. We have a signalized intersection at Valewood Drive. We will make sure that our deliveries, the few that we have, use Immokalee Road and Valewood Drive. We will encourage our members to use Immokalee Road and Valewood Drive. As you saw from the previous slide, a lot of those members would be coming from Immokalee Road and Valewood Drive anyway. Naturally, there will be some that will be coming from the south and will continue to use Oakes Boulevard; however, as Mr. Banks will share with you, we are in no way diminishing the safety or the level-of-service of Oakes Boulevard by our seniors coming in the off-peak hours to receive the services of the Senior Center. There is already a dedicated right-turn lane off of Oakes Boulevard to serve the property and, as you can see, the access is convenient to all of our members. I just want to go over what's there today on the property. You've all been there, and you-all have driven by it. The property is currently allowed to be used for new and used building supply company and open storage. That's the permitted use on the property December 8, 2020 Page 70 today. The property was commercial C-3 zoning back in the '70s until it was changed with the Comprehensive Plan. So on the corner piece where these existing structures are, that's basically a five-acre piece. It can be used for -- used and -- used for new and used building supply company and open storage as confirmed by county staff. To our immediate south is the Cypress Cycle shop. So our immediate neighbor to the south is commercial activity. To the north there are a couple of churches, and if you look caddy corner to -- I don't know if -- the cursor right here, that's zoned for commercial uses. So we are, in fact, and Wayne will show you this, surrounded by nonresidential uses on the property. We have strategically located our buffers and preserves around the perimeter of the property. This neighbor right here, I'll show you later, is a supporter of the property. We have extensive buffers all around. It's a shame we're going to hide the building, but we're going to hide the building with landscaping. And you will see the sightline studies that Wayne has done to show that none of these neighbors are going to see the building that Stofft Cooney and Rene are designing to be on this site. We have taken great care in designing this site to meet all of the goals and objectives of the Naples Senior Center and to assure compatibility with the Oakes community. We have -- I was asked the question: Do you have enough money to build the building and make sure it will be properly maintained after the building is constructed? Based upon cash in the bank and pledges from well-known donors, after everything is built and done and totally furnished, we will be -- about $5 million set aside to make sure that there are ongoing maintenance of the building and plenty of reserves to take care of this building and the services of the center. So the community doesn't need to worry about the future. The future has been December 8, 2020 Page 71 generously underwritten by Collier County residents. So you don't have to worry about someone coming and asking to convert this building to some other use through a Growth Management Plan amendment and a PUD amendment, which, in order to do anything different than what we're asking for, which is senior services, would require both a Growth Management Plan amendment and a PUD amendment, which you-all know requires a supermajority vote for both. And the process we're going through right now would involve the community. Throughout the conversations we've had with the community, we have included every one of these restrictions in the Growth Management Plan and the PUD. Jackie mentioned hours of operation. That's already in the PUD. The enhanced landscape buffers are in the PUD. The restriction on lighting for the parking lot is in the PUD. Program -- all program participation is by appointment. We've limited the uses on the open-space tract that I showed you. That's where you'll see the outdoor gardens, and we've limited the uses on the preserves. The busiest day and hour of the center is the Wednesday luncheons they have for seniors. We have, like many -- like typically you find for church commitments on Sundays. We will have a law enforcement officer there to direct traffic to make sure we don't overly stack Valewood Drive, and we regulate traffic leaving our site to make sure there are no traffic-congestion issues. We have also committed -- because there were some concerns -- that if Valewood Drive does stack up to where it's not currently functioning as you're heading north onto Valewood Drive, we have committed to either regulate our uses during those hours, if it turns out that somehow we're wrong on our traffic analysis, or we will build a second dedicated right-turn lane on Valewood Drive at our expense to address any stacking issues that may arise. And the December 8, 2020 Page 72 commitment that's in the PUD has been drafted with your staff. So we have taken every comment from the neighborhood seriously, and we believe you have addressed every one of those comments. We are providing sidewalks along Autumn Oaks Lane and Oakes Boulevard, and we have capped our maximum number of people. Now in that number of 485, that includes people attending multiple sessions. So that number of 485 is actually probably a lower number than we'll actually ever achieve on the site. I mean, it's a higher number than we'll ever achieve on the site, but we were -- and we've agreed to provide monitoring reports to county staff so that you will see that we have committed to and lived up to every commitment we've made. With that overview as to what's in your PUD document and the assurances in the community, I'm going to turn it over to Wayne to go over the planning comments, and then I believe Mr. Banks will follow, and then we'll be available to answer any questions you have. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Can I just -- while they're switching, can I just ask one quick -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Just to clarify. The commitment to build a right-turn lane on Valewood would be where -- the right turn going north on Valewood onto Immokalee? MR. YOVANOVICH: Correct, correct. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. MR. YOVANOVICH: Yes. There was concern that somehow that would back up with our traffic, and we've said if -- our traffic consultant said that's not -- you don't need to worry about it, but -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: But it's the right-turn lane -- MR. YOVANOVICH: It's right turn heading to the east on Immokalee Road. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: East on Immokalee Road. December 8, 2020 Page 73 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor has a question as well. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Because I'm a visual person, would you please put the map back -- or visual of the aerial of the site area back -- MR. YOVANOVICH: With the master plan on it? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. And the question -- yes. So if you would just -- again, this is north. And what is going to remain in preserve? What have you dedicated? What area of this -- MR. YOVANOVICH: This is the five-acre parcel that I told you is not part of the Comprehensive Plan amendment. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. MR. YOVANOVICH: That will be -- this is open space. And then this is all preserve under the PUD and when you look at the master plan. And Wayne will show you that in greater detail so you will -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And then the right turn on Valewood would be -- MR. YOVANOVICH: Would be right here. If it ever needs to be built -- the county owns this parcel already -- we would build it adjacent to the lane that -- the right-turn lane and straight-through lane that's already there. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay, thank you. MR. ARNOLD: Thank you. Good morning. I'm Wayne Arnold, a Certified Planner with Q. Grady Minor & Associates. I'm here to walk you through some of the project location and site details. And Rich did a lot of introductory remarks, and some of the exhibits are similar, so I won't belabor some of those points. But let me get started and talk to you a little bit more about our project location. On the visualizer you can see that we have the site December 8, 2020 Page 74 identified, the 13.6 acres, and we're immediately adjacent to the congregational church that's on Immokalee Road and Valewood Drive. Rich has talked to you about our relationship to the Cypress Cycle shop immediately to the south. We have another church just northwest of us. The existing warehouse and storage uses are on the hard corner of the five acres that our -- of this project. Farther down Autumn Oaks Lane there's another church. Rich pointed out the Southbrooke Commercial PUD that he and I both did a plan amendment for; and another church on Autumn Oaks and Immokalee Road. So, clearly, this is not in the middle of the neighborhood, and a lot of the neighborhood-related uses are similar to what we are, which is I would say is a community facility. Essential service. It's not a commercial use. The only commercial use that's adjacent to us is the unbuilt Southbrooke and the Cypress Cycle shop. And there's a lot of history with Oakes Boulevard, but Oakes Boulevard formerly was all commercially zoned, which is how the Cypress Cycle and the storage facility became located there back in the 1970s before you had a Golden Gate Master Plan. You saw similar photos but looking north is the First Congregational Church. That's our view of the rear of that building; the existing warehouse storage facility is the eastern photograph; and then the Cypress Cycle shop is our immediate neighbor to the south. As Rich mentioned, we're in for a zoning change. We're in for a small-scale Comprehensive Plan amendment. The advantage for us doing the small-scale amendment on only the 8.6 acres is that it does allow us to have the five-acre tract that still will be designated Estates. It will, yes, be zoned PUD, but the limitation in our PUD, which I'll go over in a few moments, will simply be to allow open space or preserve uses. The subdistrict language, it's fairly brief, but it says everything December 8, 2020 Page 75 that Rich has already told you we've committed to, maximum two-story in height, maximum 30,000 square feet. We have to do a Planned Unit Development. We have to provide development standards and appropriate buffers which we certainly believe we have. Proposed uses. When we started this process, for some reason a lot of people thought this was going to be a residential home facility or an assisted living facility, and it is not. You've seen the description and heard Jackie's presentation on what it is that does occur at the senior center. It's an activity center for our elderly. It's sort of an adult daycare. You have an allowance for adult daycares under the Golden Gate Master Plan, but we weren't sure that that peg fit the hole exactly, so -- which is why we've identified that it's also senior centers, that's family counseling services. There's old-age assistance. These are terms out of your Land Development Code that we've picked up on and included in our PUD. And, sort of, more importantly things that we're not and that we also heard that we might be, but we have prohibited uses in our PUD document. We're not a soup kitchen. We're not a homeless shelter. We're not residential care facility. We're not dwelling units. We're not offender rehabilitation or public welfare agencies. We're not a religious facility. You know, some of the neighbors said, well, gee, what if you fail? What's going to come here? Is a church going to want to occupy the space, and I think you heard Mr. Yovanovich indicate that the facility is well funded today. It's going to be tailored for senior facilities, and it's going to be appropriate for the neighborhood. The conceptual master plan, Rich walked you through some of that. He didn't talk to you about some of the detail. But the access points that we have are on Autumn Oaks Lane, and it's directly accessible to Valewood. And it's an interesting assemblage of four December 8, 2020 Page 76 parcels that we have, because the easternmost five-acre tract aligns perfectly for us to utilize Valewood Drive for our access; a signalized intersection, as you've heard. But, more importantly, on the site we have more than well over five acres of the site that will remain green space, whether it's preserve or open space or part of our water management system which, as Rich indicated, had allowed us to bring the building to the middle of the site. We staked out the general footprint. So those of you who made a site visit saw PVC pipes that identified and showed you just how central that was and what we didn't -- what we tried to show you, too, was staking the line of the five-acre tract on our east to show you how little of the site really was impacting any more of the neighborhood. So we've identified, as Rene always mentioned, parking and access to the building is important. So we have parking areas around the site, but we also have large areas of open space that can be utilized by the members of the Senior Center to enjoy the facility, have some outdoor exercise space, outdoor garden space, et cetera. This is another version of the conceptual plan, and what we did at the Planning Commission and prior to the Planning Commission was we made a couple of changes to this. Dr. Faffer and I met with the immediate property owner to the east of us on Autumn Oaks Lane, and he really -- like many of the people said, I really think your use is needed. It sounds really great. I'm concerned about what I see. So out of that grew an enhanced buffer program for our eastern and southeastern portion of the site. So where we abutted anything but Cypress Cycle we provided enhanced buffer. So those gold stars indicate areas where we've committed to those. The green arrows are where we've identified also that the preserve would be no less than 100 feet in width. So you have 100 foot of natural buffer i n addition December 8, 2020 Page 77 to an enhanced landscape buffer. Before we get to any areas that -- you know, we call it out as open space because Dr. Faffer hasn't designed a garden or a hiking trail or anything like that. But some of that may also remain open and native ve getation, but we've called it out as open space. But, nonetheless, those areas on our southern and eastern buffers will have a minimum 100-foot-wide natural vegetation preserve. This highlights -- and it's hard to read, I assume, for some of the viewers, but it identifies that the five-acre tract that's currently vegetated -- I mean, think about that. Five acres of a site as our buffer to our nearest neighbor. That's a significant buffer. I mean, the site's 13.6 acres, and five acres of that is going to be open space and buffer to the nearest neighbors. Again, the rendered site plan shows you, you know, how green the site really is. We've made provisions for there to be grass parking on the site as well, like churches might have, because we don't think the limited use of the site warrants all the parking to be paved. But we also need to have safe passage for the seniors, and working with Rene, the parking lot design is going to be fairly unique. It's going to have more landscaping, wider landscaped areas, more accessible pathways to access the building. So we also took time to create some perspective views, and this is part of our enhanced buffer program along Autumn Oaks Lane, for instance. There actually is a building behind that landscape buffer. It's hard to see, but we've committed to have several layers of landscaping within the 25-foot-wide buffer. So you will get not only the landscape buffer treatment, but there will be additional landscaping in our buildings, and then the count y requires vegetation be planted in front of your building. So you've got this layered approach. And we believe that this has come a long way. And this is not the original image we presented to the Oakes Association before December 8, 2020 Page 78 we submitted an application. We did have an enhanced buffer program. This is even further enhanced. We staggered more vegetation and densified the vegetation. This is from Oakes Boulevard as you're traveling north and east, and you can see parts of the building. But, again, the layered approach to landscaping is something we've committed to, and all the details are in your PUD document. These are views -- you know, bird's eye views of how that landscape treatment looks. This was one that we submitted early on in the process. And if you look at the bottom image, you see it's fairly open. The bottom image we added a lot more vegetation to it at the request of neighbors so you get an additional enhanced 20-foot-wide landscape buffer in this section. Again, another enhancement to the landscaping, using all natural vegetation and staggering it and putting a lot of density to it because the neighbors were concerned about their visual image, and we're doing our best to hide the building. This is the buffer treatment on our eastern and southeastern boundary that we talked to the neighbor about, and he wanted clustering of landscaping with native materials that would mirror what he had on his particular site. So we, our landscape architect and our firm, came up and created these images, and he was happy with those, and we've included those as well in our document. Rich mentioned this, that we also took time to look at -- if you can see the key map to the right, to our nearest neighbor to the south, the southeast, and the east, and we did line-of-sight exhibits for those showing you the enhanced buffers and the preserve areas that have to be viewed in order for them to see the building, and in all cases the landscape buffers will restrict the view of our building on our site. These range from as close as 500 feet from our eastern neighbor to over 800 feet. So those are the adjacency to our neighbors other December 8, 2020 Page 79 than the Cypress Cycle. I didn't look at that because it's not a residential site. It's zoned for commercial use. But, again, I think it just shows how we've centralized the site, kept the retained -- kept and retained the open space and preserve on the eastern five-acre tract, that we have no sight issues with our most immediate neighbors. We also looked at street views, and this is the westbound view on Autumn Oaks Lane as you approach the Valewood intersection. Our building would be to the left, and you can start to see parts of the roof line, et cetera. But that also shows our enhanced vegetation and how limited the view is. When you look at the congregational church that's in the right part of that image at the stop sign, that is our neighbor immediately north of us. This is southbound view. This is on Valewood Drive looking at the site. That's our site entry. We'll have modest signage to announce Senior Center so people have safe passage to it. But you can see, again, that the way it's been designed, there's not a direct view of the building from Valewood Drive. We have development standards that are part of our PUD. I'm not going to go through all of those, but those all meet or exceed any standard that's already in your Land Development Code for Estates zoned property, whether that would be for a church, a childcare center, or any other use that's permitted in the Estates. Rich went through these commitments, so I'm not going to go through all of those again but just reaffirm that our hours are very limited. There's no evening use, there's no weekend use, and programming's going to end at 4:00. So those coincide so that we don't have peak-hour impacts to the community. Even though our analysis has looked at that and we know we don't, we've made that commitment with the hours of operation in our PUD that we'll make sure we don't. December 8, 2020 Page 80 And one of the other things that really didn't get highlighted, but we did hear from some of the neighbors that they were concerned about congestion and pickup and drop-off for school kids and school buses, so we've made a commitment that we will install sidewalks along our Oakes Boulevard frontage and our Autumn Oaks frontage so that there is safe passage for the children as well as any other pedestrian that might want to visit the site. But I think that's a pretty major commitment and, of course, Rich mentioned the limitation on the total number of people. And as Dr. Faffer said, many people will choose to stay for multiple programs, during the day, but those get counted as a person. So the actual impacts is probably less than the number we've committed to. Again, I mentioned the sidewalks as part of our vehicle and pedestrian safety plan. We'll have law enforcement on site during the weekly luncheon to disperse our traffic in a safe manner, including not allowing people to leave the site if it creates any stacking issues on Valewood. If there's any stacking issue on Valewood as monitored -- we've done the traffic analyses that have been presented to staff -- we know that we can have the right-of-way necessary to add the turn lane at our expense for that north eastbound turn lane on Valewood to maintain the capacity. This, again, was the rendering. Just, again, show you how green we are and how we do fit in with the neighborhood. And our conclusions were that we've allowed our site to have very large building setbacks. We've committed to enhanced buffers. More than five acres are going to be clearly dedicated to just open space and preserve. It's a residential style architecture that we do believe fits in with the neighborhood. Maximum two-story height. Our zoned height 30 feet consistent with everything else that can be built in the Estates. We're going to have direct access to the Valewood Drive, which is a key consideration here. No weekend or evening use, and December 8, 2020 Page 81 very limited scope of services that we're providing to the seniors. So in my professional opinion, we are compatible with the neighborhood, we're consistent with the uses that are surrounding us, we're complementary to those, and if you adopt the Comprehensive Plan amendment, we're consistent with the new Comprehensive Plan amendment that would support the Naples Senior Center. So with that, I'm going to turn it over to Jim Banks to walk you through the traffic analysis. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: As Mr. Banks is approaching the microphone, Mr. Yovanovich, could you get Paul Hiltz lined up for his presentation. We'll interrupt Mr. Banks to permit Mr. Hiltz. Mr. Banks, if you'll go ahead and start, we'll -- MR. BANKS: Okay. Good morning, Commissioners. For the record, Jim Banks. My firm did prepare traffic impact study for Naples Senior Center. The report was prepared pursuant to the guidelines set forth by Collier County Government as well as the methodologies that were established with your staff as well as your third-party transportation consultant, Jacobs Engineering. So we also had oversight from your staff as well as Jacobs Engineering on this task. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. We do have Mr. Hiltz here. I didn't realize you were outside there. Why don't you come on up on and make your presentation, and then we'll get back to Mr. Banks. And you have three minutes. MR. HILTZ: Thank you so much for that consideration. Good morning, Commissioners. I just -- I won't even probably take three minutes, but I felt compelled to be here just to support the Naples Senior Center. We think that the Naples Senior Center is an integral part of the healthcare system here in Naples and Collier County. They're a key strategic partner for NCH as we think about the future and delivering December 8, 2020 Page 82 care to seniors. We're firmly convinced that the Naples Senior Center keeps people out of the hospital. And so we think, for a long time in the future, we hope to do a lot more with the Naples Senior Center. And just as a person who's come here within the last year, and I spent a morning over there with Jackie and her team, in other markets I've worked in, we would have just died to have an organization like this to partner with us. We think that it improves the quality of life for not only the seniors but their caregivers, and our mission at NCH is to help people live longer, healthier, happy lives, and we think we're very much aligned with the Senior Center, and I just wanted to offer that piece of support. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to come in and speak. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you, sir. Mr. Banks? MR. BANKS: Again, Jim Banks. As I said, it was prepared pursuant to your criteria. The TIS was based upon the assumption that we would have a daily maximum attendance of 485 participants. That includes the Senior Center participants as well as staff and the volunteers. We established the site generated traffic by conducting traffic counts at the existing facility on Castello Drive. We didn't rely upon the ITE trip generation manual because they didn't have really a good use that would be comparable to what's going on at the Senior Center. So we actually counted traffic on three separate occasions at the Senior Center in order to project how much traffic would be generated at the proposed site. So I think the quality of our information regarding how much traffic is going to be generated is very good. All the results of the traffic study are based on a.m. and p.m. December 8, 2020 Page 83 peak hours, the peak-hour conditions, which we normally analyze, but we also evaluated the weekly luncheon event traffic conditions. So we -- we looked at what -- we generate the traffic at our highest demand is that one day a week during the luncheon event. So we complied with typically how we do the traffic studies, plus we did the additional analysis of the midday luncheon events. Both staff and Jacobs Engineering reviewed the report. And I wanted to say that I actually had numerous conversations and discussions with Jacobs Engineering and your staff about what-all we needed to look at and evaluate in order to address what we perceived was going to be some of the neighbors' concerns. So, again, the traffic study was very thorough. But -- both staff and Jacobs Engineering reviewed the report, and they agreed with the findings of that report, which is that the Naples Senior Center will not negatively impact the adjacent road network or the nearby intersections. That includes Oakes Boulevard, Autumn Oaks, Valewood, and those intersections. We analyzed each and every one of those links and those intersections, and all of those links and intersections will continue to operate at high levels of service. I have to put my glasses on so I can read my notes. One of the questions that came up at our NIM was how would this project impact the neighbors' ability to access Immokalee Road. So we did a specific analysis of how Naples Senior Center may impact that condition. And so -- but I would like to remind the Board that the Oakes Neighborhood has three points of access to Immokalee Road. Two of those accesses are signalized and one is a right-in, right-out access. So they have access to that major east/west corridor via two signals and one right-in, right-out access. The Oakes neighborhood also has access to the south to Vanderbilt Beach Road, which is also a major east/west arterial, and that, too, is a signalized intersection. So as far as access to the December 8, 2020 Page 84 community, it is very good. But we did -- let's see. I want to back up here. So, again, the question was, well, how does -- how would this project impact our ability to access Immokalee Road? As we discussed, the traffic entering and exiting the Naples Senior Center is obviously going to use the Valewood access because it's the most convenient, and it does provide signalized access to Immokalee Road. So we looked at the -- we collected data at those intersections for the a.m., the p.m., and the midday conditions, and then we added our project traffic to those time frames in order to determine whether or not there was adequate storage capacity at that intersection to accommodate the additional traffic. Now, in the mornings when the residents of Oakes community are heading to work or taking their children to school or for whatever reason they're leaving, the Naples Senior Center does not generate any outbound trips. So we're not -- we're not impacting the residents' ability to access Immokalee Road or Vanderbilt Beach Road to the south, for that matter, during the a.m. peak hour, because we just don't generate any outbound trips. And, to me, that was the critical period for the residents of Oakes when we might have the greatest impact, but in this case we don't have any impact. The p.m. peak hour, which is between 4:00 and 6:00, all the senior activities have all concluded, and the seniors have already left the site. So at that time frame between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m., the only thing we have -- only people left on site are the staff and a few of the volunteers, and they kind of trickle out over the next hour -and-a-half. And, again, we collected all this data. So what I'm explaining to you is what the on-the-ground facts are at the existing location, and then, of course, we project that based on the increase of the attendance at the new site. So it will be the same type of occurrence there, just December 8, 2020 Page 85 more traffic than what they generate today. But for the midday on Wednesday, that is when we would impact that intersection at -- it's our highest demand on that intersection. And, fortunately, at that time of the day, which is midday, the traffic on Immokalee Road and that northbound approach at Valewood is at its lowest during the daylight hours. So, literally, we're impacting that intersection at the time that would be best for us to do that. So we did do the analysis for the queuing analysis. There is 300 feet of separation on Valewood Drive between Immokalee and Autumn Oaks, and there are two northbound approach lanes. So that provides a total of 600 feet of queuing capacity. And we did the analysis based on, again, a.m., p.m., and mid-day demands and we determined that there is adequate storage capacity to accommodate the existing traffic that's using that intersection as well as the traffic associated with the Naples Senior Center. In addition to that, the Naples Senior Center has committed to employing law enforcement to moderate the volume of traffic that exits the site in order to ensure that we don't have a queuing issue there at Valewood and Immokalee Road. So that kind of -- and so you know, my traffic study's this thick. I could have made a two-hour presentation, but Rich would have hooked me a long time before that -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We would have hooked you a long -- MR. BANKS: Right. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Yovanovich, anything else on your presentation? MR. YOVANOVICH: Just very briefly, just very briefly. This exhibit shows you in green the local -- our adjacent neighbors. We have received letters of support from everybody in green December 8, 2020 Page 86 supporting this project. They're the most affected property owners for our project. I already mentioned we've had the petitions that I've already provided to you. I think there's no question that senior services is an essential service, and we believe, and I think the testimony supports, that this is the appropriate location to provide these services. It's safe for our members, it's safe for the neighborhood, it fits into the neighborhood, there are no traffic issues, and if any arise, we have a plan in place to address those issues. The proposed use is compatible with our surrounding uses. And I hope you have seen through the site plan layout and the choice in our architect and looking at the building, there is an uncompromising commitment to quality for this project as it goes forward. We meet all of the legal requirements for small-scale Comp Plan amendment. We meet all of the requirements for a rezone. And with that, we're asking the Board of County Commissioners to follow your staff recommendation of approval for both petitions as well as the Planning Commission's recommendation for both petitions. And with that, hopefully we've answered most of your questions, but we're available to answer any questions. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's see if there are -- do we have a staff report? MR. OCHS: Just very briefly. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's do the brief staff report, and then we'll get into questions if that's okay. MR. YOVANOVICH: Okay. MR. OCHS: Mr. Bellows. MR. BELLOWS: Good morning. For the record, Ray Bellows. I'm Zoning Manager for the county. I'm presenting both the Growth Management Plan amendment and the PUD rezone. Staff has reviewed this petition for consistency with the Growth December 8, 2020 Page 87 Management Plan and found it inconsistent as it currently is stated, and that's why we have a Growth Management Plan amendment. This PUD rezone is consistent with that amendment for the Growth Management Plan. The Planning Commission has recommended approval 4-1 subject to some conditions that have been added into the PUD document, and the applicant went over those with you. We are recommending approval of both petitions, and if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Anything else in the staff presentation? MR. BELLOWS: That's it. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's see -- let's go to questions from the Commission of the petitioner. I don't see anybody's light lit up. I do have some questions I'm going to ask, but anybody else have any questions before I start? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Mr. Yovanovich, in terms of the activities that will occur outdoors, I'm assuming there will be no amplification of music or speech or any of that nature. MR. YOVANOVICH: We've already committed to no outside amplified. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And I think you indicated there would be no activities at all Saturdays and Sundays. MR. YOVANOVICH: That is correct. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And then after -- nothing after 4:00 p.m. and no activities begin before 9:30. MR. YOVANOVICH: Correct. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: In terms of the size of the building, you've got 30,000 square feet, and I believe you made a commitmen t that there will be no enlargements to that building; is that correct? Is December 8, 2020 Page 88 that part of the -- MR. YOVANOVICH: That's correct. Both the Growth Management Plan and the PUD cap us at 30,000 square feet. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You mentioned on the transportation issue that you would encourage your providers of materials and all to use Valewood. I would like that to be a condition, that all providers of materials be advised that they have to use Valewood. MR. YOVANOVICH: Absolutely. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And that a violation of that would be, quite frankly, a code violation. MR. YOVANOVICH: Well -- and we would, you know, strongly speak to those to make sure it doesn't happen again. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. And then you are providing transportation. MR. YOVANOVICH: Correct. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And I would want all of -- a condition that all of that provided transportation would be via Valewood. There would be -- MR. YOVANOVICH: Absolutely, absolutely. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. In terms of Valewood, if it becomes crowded in terms of that right-turn lane, you indicated that there would be construction of additional -- an additional turn lane. MR. YOVANOVICH: Correct. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Who determines when that additional turn lane is necessary? MR. YOVANOVICH: Your staff. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I assume staff would use, I guess, basic standard -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- standards for that. December 8, 2020 Page 89 I believe you said that that there would be sidewalks along Autumn Oaks. MR. YOVANOVICH: Yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Where would those sidewalks be? Just in front of your -- MR. YOVANOVICH: It would be in front of our property and also on Oakes in front of our property. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And a question for the County Attorney. One of the reasons that staff -- that the Planning Commission -- or one of the Planning Commissioners voted no on this was the concern that this would be a precedent in terms of other subdistricts. For the record, I don't think this would be any kind of a precedent to any other type of rezone that may come forward anywhere in the county, but I want to make sure that we're not setting any precedent by doing something like this if this is approved. MR. KLATZKOW: Every land-use application stands on its own. There is no precedent set. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: There's also a comment from the Planning Commission, the one member that voted against this, that the size regarding the project being a regional attraction rather than of neighborhood size. I'm not sure I understand that. Is there any requirement that this type of district would only be a neighborhood attraction? MR. KLATZKOW: No. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. All right. I don't have any other questions. Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I've just got one, and I'm not sure what to make of this. In the prohibited uses, one of them is specifically self-help organization for alcoholics. What was the genesis -- I mean, is that -- does that refer to, like, AA, or what was the genesis of that? I'm just curious. December 8, 2020 Page 90 MR. YOVANOVICH: That has -- that has been historically a concern for different civic facilities that are going into neighborhoods, and the concern usually comes up related to churches and are churches going to do more than AA meetings. Since we're not a church, we're not going to be providing those services anyway. We put that in as a belt and suspenders to assure the community that we were not going to venture into those types of civic uses at this site. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: You know, I just -- I know you've agreed to it, but this is just -- for me, this keeps coming up, and I know it came up with regard to some churches in the Estates as well. MR. YOVANOVICH: And, Commissioner Solis, we have historically pushed back on church petitions to allow for AA meetings to occur. Not rehabilitation, but AA meetings for those things to happen at church locations, because I think that is an appropriate use at a church facility. I don't know that it's an appropriate use for this facility. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. And if that's -- if that's agreeable, that's fine. MR. YOVANOVICH: Yes. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'm just -- I'm just always curious as to when these things come up. I mean, was this -- was this something that came out of discussions with the neighbors? Was it from the Planning Commission? I'm just trying to understand the history of this. MR. YOVANOVICH: It's been there forever, right? I mean, it was part of the early submittal process. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. All right. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We don't have any other lights lit up. We do have a public hearing to conduct. How many speakers do we have? December 8, 2020 Page 91 MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, I have 26 registered in person either here in the room or overflow rooms and another 10 registered online. Now, quick examination of those lists, I do know we have some duplications; some people that are here that have also registered. I was going to call all the in -person speakers first so we get that discrepancy taken care of. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And then I assume that the Board would like to take a break at some point here for lunch. So we'll try to get through as much of the public comment as we can, especially the ones that are in the room. Maybe we can take care of that, then we'll break and get to the other comments. MR. MILLER: All right, sir. Your first -- and I will call several names so people from overflow rooms can get here. Your first speaker is John Passidomo. He's been ceded three additional minutes from Dwight Thomas. We did confirm when we got ceded sheets that these people actually are here. Mr. Passidomo will be followed by Scott Relf, and then Alen Silver, and then Phyllis Barlosky -- Barolsky, excuse me. Mr. Passidomo, you have six minutes, sir. MR. PASSIDOMO: Thank you, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And you can take less. MR. PASSIDOMO: Thank you. I will take less. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners. My name is John Passidomo. Thank you for this opportunity to address you and thank you for your service to our community. I'm a member of the board of trustees at the Naples Senior Center. In that capacity, I have had a front-row seat for the site search and selection process culminating in today's presentation to you. And with your indulgence, I would like to share that perspective with you. I think you will find it instructive. The process began -- and I have a slide presentation. If that December 8, 2020 Page 92 could come up, Troy. MR. MILLER: Yeah. Just a second. I was unaware, sir. MR. PASSIDOMO: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Is that the correct one, sir? MR. PASSIDOMO: It is indeed. Thank you. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: It's very characteristic. MR. PASSIDOMO: The process began -- MR. MILLER: Get a little closer to the mic. Thank you. MR. PASSIDOMO: -- yes -- three-and-a-half years ago with the articulation of these site locational criteria and site and building design specifications tailored to the unique safety, well-being, and therapeutic and social service program needs of the seniors we serve. After a year of futility, chasing down disappointing possibility after disappointing possibility, we located the subject site and entered into a contract to acquire the property on July 15th, 2018. These proceedings ensued, and we received a recommendation of approval of our application from the Planning Commission on March 5th, 2020. Six weeks later, on April 24th, you and we were informed in this letter from the president of the neighborhood association that the Gaynor building at Hodges University would, quote, allow the Naples Senior Center to quickly enter their desired activities, unquote, and urged to pursue it. We reviewed the proposal, spoke with the executive vice president, Erica Vogt, at Hodges and were informed in this letter from Ms. Vogt that the Gaynor building, while owned by Hodges, is encumbered by a lease in favor of the Montessori Academy, and the term of the lease runs through 2031. The head of school of the Montessori Academy, Kimberly Hunt, there-after confirmed in this letter that the academy had, indeed, 11 years left on the term of their lease and no intension of relinquishing December 8, 2020 Page 93 their possessory rights. On July 14th, the Board of County Commissioners adopted this executive summary acknowledging the essential service provided by the Naples Senior Center addressing the compelling needs of Collier County's elderly as well as the importance of finding a location that can accommodate those needs and suggesting that, before the Board of County Commissioners consider our application, the County Manager work with us to explore options for a different site for our facility. We were later informed that the county had a site in the North Collier Regional Park, but the site was comprised of wetland preservation lands, encumbered by this conservation easement in favor of the South Florida Water Management District prohibiting alteration of the site from its natural stat e. We, therefore, engaged Collier Environmental Consultants to examine whether or not the conservation easement could be extinguished and the wetland preserves permitted for development through the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We were advised in this letter from the consultants that while the process to permit development on the site would likely ta ke 14 to 16 months, involve considerable expense for mitigation costs and prodigious amounts of fill and entail not insignificant political risk, obtaining regulatory approval to develop the wetland preservation lands, while speculative, was theoretically achievable. We, therefore, met with the Conservancy to seek their opinion as to the environmental compatibility of constructing our facilities within the wetland preserves. The Conservancy told us about a 2016 county feasibility study for constructing ball fields on the park site, the vehement opposition they and key park stakeholders raised in response to that proposal, and the resulting withdrawal of that proposal. December 8, 2020 Page 94 On September 14th, we received this letter from the Conservancy informing us that in their opinion the wetland preserves serve an important environmental function, provide a valuable amenity to county residents, and were, therefore, incompatible with development. On September 17th our board of trustees sent this letter to the Board of County Commissioners advising you that as a not-for-profit agency serving the public interest we could not and we would not pursue a process that required impacting protected wetlands and disrupting the public's enjoyment of a valued public resource. The Naples Senior Center has conducted an exhaustive search based on empirical criteria to find an appropriate site that meets the unique needs of the seniors we serve. We have considered every possibility presented to us in good faith and with due diligence, and we have no viable alternative to the subject site to adequately serve the needs of our community seniors. Our board of trustees pledges to you to be a good neighbor, and we respectfully request your vote of approval of our application. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Scott Relf, and he'll be followed by Alen Silver, Phyllis Barolsky, and Prentiss Higgins. I'd like to remind the speakers you can alternate between podiums. So while that one's being cleaned, you can speak at this one. Thank you, sir. You will have three minutes. MR. RELF: Good morning. My name is Scott Relf, and I am -- I own a home seven houses down from the proposed site on Autumn Oaks Lane, No. 6020, and have lived there for 27 years. And I strongly support the Naples Senior Center project. The services delivered by the Naples Senior Center are beyond reproach, absolutely incredible. And the whole situation with December 8, 2020 Page 95 COVID has put seniors under even greater pressure, both physically and mentally. So I think the work that's going to be done by the Senior Center is incredible. I'm here not to talk about that. I'm here to talk specifically about why I believe it would be a great neighbor. And I want to make clear from the outset that I am very familiar with the Oakes Neighborhood Association. I've been to many of their meetings; worked with them on different things for 10 or 15 years. And on this particular issue, I do not agree with them at all or with their president Tom Ellis' s tand on this issue, and I've communicated exactly why to him myself. And I've also taken a bit of a role in speaking with my neighbors about the project and have met with them and spoken with most of them. And so I'm comfortable with that the chart you saw with the green property owners displayed are people that I've spoken to, and they approve of this project and have done so in writing, and this is why. This is the Autumn Oaks Lane perspective. The first thing is that it removes that ugly building and fence. That has been the worst property in the entire neighborhood, and it's on our street. And every day we drive past it, and every time I go running, I run past it. It is an eyesore. And getting rid of that will be of huge benefit to our neighborhood. The second thing is, it doesn't just get rid of that ugly building and ugly fence. It replaces it with a really incredible facility. And we've just seen all of those presentations. It's going to be beautiful, beautifully landscaped, set back from the street. There are lots of things that could come into your neighborhood, but that is a really nice-looking facility. Third thing is the hours of operation. Absolutely the perfect fit. And I won't go into the details, but just imagine no weekends, n o evenings, no amplified anything. It's just -- it is the perfect -- the perfect fit. December 8, 2020 Page 96 Traffic, I know that the traffic engineer and all the studies, you know, speak to all the details, but I live there. That road is very lightly used. The county spent over a million dollars to build it, and it's almost like my private street. I don't even have a neighbor on the street at the same time I am. There's only 20 houses on the street. The traffic will very easily be handled by that. And the last thing I'd like to do is thank Jackie Faffer and her team. They've already proven to be very good neighbors. They've met both with large groups and with small groups. They've met with myself and our neighbors on the street, and they're wonderful people. I look forward to welcoming them to the neighborhood, and I hope that you approve this project today. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. MR. YOVANOVICH: Mr. Chairman, if I may. We just got a text from a Dr. -- I'm going to butcher it. It's -- Sunil is his first name. He can't come back after lunch. He's online, and he texted to ask if it would be possible to speak -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, this is a little on the fly. Hopefully my Zoom person, Lisa, is listening to me. Rich, can you spell the name? MR. YOVANOVICH: The last name is P-a-n-d-a-y-a. MR. MILLER: P-a-n-d-a-y-a. Lisa, if you can unmute -- MR. YOVANOVICH: Pandaya. Yes, that's what I thought. I just didn't want to mispronounce it. MR. MILLER: If you could unmute that for me. MR. YOVANOVICH: And it's Dr. Pandaya. MR. MILLER: Dr. Pandaya. Lisa, if you can hear me, we'd like to try to unmute that caller. Are you there, Doctor? DR. PANDAYA: Yes, I am, sir. MR. MILLER: Please, sir, you have three minutes. Go ahead. December 8, 2020 Page 97 DR. PANDAYA: Okay. First of all, excuse my absence in this very important meeting today. It's not out of convenience but rather the health and safety of all of you. I work on the front lines in the acute care hospitals and have been doing so for COVID-19 since January 6th. I'm also the director of the Naples VITAS Hospice in-patient unit and, a matter of fact, I have -- I'm working on COVID on a national level, both telehealth nationally as well as the Department of State of our fine government. Flying to DC in about an hour. Why am I saying all this is because what have I seen? In Collier County, we've seen 294 true deaths. It's not an error. I've been involved with probably 20 percent of those deaths, just one physician, because I deal with the hospice side of things. And what I have seen is our seniors of Collier County disproportionately affected with this mortality. I've seen the greatest generation of Americans that have ever lived, our veterans in World War I and II, devastated b y this pandemic. We have seen loneliness and seniors alone who have, as Dr. Faffer mentioned, the double pandemic. Imagine all of you being in a pandemic for the rest of your life. That is what a lonely senior faces every day. I live next door to this center, and I am in complete support of this center, and I hope one day that my children will be volunteers there, that I will serve there, and that my senior citizen father will be a member of this facility. If you look at any of the -- over the satellites, I am the neighbor on the southwest corner. The entire Oakes frontage of this center will be facing me. I'm actually looking out over this property as we speak. A total of 43 cars have passed since 9:00 a.m. on this corner. It is not a high-traffic location, and anyone who says that cars are backing up is, frankly, just misremembering facts. The overall intersection is the only way that I can exit and enter December 8, 2020 Page 98 my home, and I'm fully in support of this project. Our seniors deserve a place where they can go both inside and outside. If we had this now, we would have our seniors being able to enjoy the outdoor environment even with a mask and face covering ordinance, because it would be outside. There are many, many neighbors of Oakes that are unheard that welcome these seniors with open arms, and we want the seniors to know that they are welcome in our Oakes family and in my family. I have attempted to negotiate with the association who are my friends. I have moved to Oakes because of not only the land but the people. They are fine people on the other side of this fence, if you will. But they are fearful of things that are not the case. And, in conclusion, I would say there is no big money involved. There is earned money and made money and donated m oney of people who have lived the American dream of world-class philanthropy who are not going to allow this center to fail or to be causing any irreparable damage to our facility -- our neighborhood. I also, in conclusion, love what I've heard today, that there will be enhanced buffers, a right-turn lane potentially, certainly sidewalks, law enforcement, and a residential style look that looks tremendously better than what we have today. All of these are concessions made to the neighborhood, and I thank Jackie Faffer and the board of the Naples Senior Center for making those concessions and thank you-all for hearing me today. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your next speaker is Alen Silver. He'll be followed by Phyllis Barolsky, Prentiess Higgins, and then Norm Feder. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Alen, before you start, what's the pleasure of the Board? Do you want to take a break for lunch, or do you want to go through the public hearing? The public hearing's December 8, 2020 Page 99 going to probably take another hour. So do you want to take a break? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. Maybe a shorter break than an hour. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, I've got to go -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Why don't we take a recess until 1:00, and we'll reconvene the public hearing at 1:00. All right. We're in recess until 1:00 p.m. (A luncheon recess was had from 12:03 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.) MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll please take your seats. The meeting of the County Commission will reconvene. We were at the beginnings of our public hearing on the two petitions. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your next public speakers are Alen Silver, followed by Phyllis Barolsky, Prentiss Higgins, and then Norm Feder. I'll remind our speakers to alternate between the two podiums, please. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: He's been waiting so long. MR. SILVER: Members of the Board, my name is Alen Silver. I've been a resident of Naples now for all of nine years. In those nine years, I helped found Collier County Honor Flight, I helped found Gulf Coast Veterans and Friends, and now my wife and I, along with Gulf Coast Veterans and Friends, head up a program called VIP at the Naples Senior Center. VIP stands for Veterans in Paradise. If you remember the video earlier, you saw Florence Weinstein, 95, she's now a 96-year-old World War II veteran. She's the one that named the group. So my wife and I have an affinity for the veteran population here. We've had about 125 veterans go through our organization. Some, they come, they go, 15 people a month. We meet once a month for an hour-and-a-half. We bring in guest speakers such as December 8, 2020 Page 100 Lois Bollen, Wayne Smith. We bring in several other pilots. We've had the gentleman who is the director of CBS for the space shuttle flights, and from that we found out that one of our veterans actually was in charge of getting the spacecraft out of the Atla ntic and Pacific Ocean when he was in the Navy. So he then became a guest speaker. The importance of the Senior Center to our group is that we also make sure that our veterans are getting their benefits. And twice a year my wife and I invite the Vetera ns Services Offices to come in and speak. And the good to that is we had a gentlem an and his wife who were living off their savings, and they'd come. We were friends. We'd go out to eat once in a while. We'd have them at our house. And because of the association with the Senior Center, he and his wife now get $850 a month for life. So without the Senior Center, his life would be completely different. I'm sure you've all heard of General Douglas MacArthur. There was a gentleman, Rudy Belacki (phonetic), lived in Naples. Why Rudy? Why is he important to us? He was General MacArthur's Jeep driver. Lived right here in Naples. We got to see him once a month. There's a gentleman named Frank who attends a memory care session at the Senior Center. Well, I walked over to this group, and I asked who were veterans and his hand went up, of course, with a couple of others. And it turns out Frank had a great perspective on Pearl Harbor, and I bring that up today because of yesterday. Frank saw the bombing of Pearl Harbor from the mountains when he was seven years old and addressed our group in a way that no one else could have affected the veterans in our group who served in World War II, which numbered 12, 12 World War II veterans out of 120. It's larger than the population of the veterans of World War II in the United States. It's a pleasure to address you, and I certainly hope that you will December 8, 2020 Page 101 approve the new location for the Senior Center. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Phyllis Barolsky, followed by -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I wanted to thank you very much for your patience. You were standing there when we left for lunch and you were standing there when we came back. So thank you. MR. SILVER: Thank you very much for your time. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Phyllis Barolsky, followed by Prentiss Higgins, Norm Feder, and then Vicki Tracy. MS. BAROLSKY: Good afternoon. I've been a resident of Naples, Florida, for almost 17 years. I'd like to share with you how I became a volunteer at the center and the impact I've seen it have on the community. Seven or eight years ago I heard Dr. Faffer at an event say there was no senior center in Collier County. At that time my 90-year-old aunt living up north was going to two different senior centers every week, and she had been doing that for years. I thought every community had a senior center. So if we didn't have one here, I wanted to be a volunteer and be a part of it. What I've watched the Senior Center do is offer its members reengagement with life. It's supportive. It's companionship. It's friendship. With everything that it does, it is dead on attacking social isolation and loneliness. You've heard a lot about that today. We know that those two characteristics diminish the quality of life for people as they age both physically, psychologically, and emotionally. And I would say to you, in these last six or eight months many of us have learned a little bit about social isolation as we've redone things in our own life to keep ourselves safe and our families safe. December 8, 2020 Page 102 So what is the Senior Center doing with its members in this time? We are delivering meals every week to 50 or 60 of th e neediest seniors, and that volunteer carrying the hot lunch and the bag of groceries may be the only other face that that senior sees all week long. We are making telephone reassurance calls to all of our members, checking in on them, making sure they're doing well. And last, but not least, our Zoom programming. And if you think 80-and 90-year-old people can't do Zoom, then you haven't met the center members. They've worked at learning the technology because it means so much to them to be connected. And if that is the best we can do in our environment right now, then gosh darn, they're going to learn how to do it, and they do. Naples Senior Center is an essential service. We are the only game in town. Nobody is offering what we do. We're not here asking for your money. We're asking for your support. The people we serve are your constituents. They may be your brothers, sisters, parents. They're part of this community, and they deserve the dignity and respect that the center offers. And I hope you'll support them. Thanks for your time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Prentiss Higgins, followed by Norm Feder, Vicki Tracy, and then Tammy Strohl Samuel. MR. HIGGINS: Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you, Commissioners. My name is Prentiss Higgins. I'm treasurer and vice chair of the board of trustees for the Naples Senior Center. I have been on the board for five years, and I'm a resident of Collier County. Again, as you've heard from others, this is an extraordinary organization. It provides critical and essential services. It's run by professionals with a dedicated staff and supported by skilled volunteers and provides valuable information, programs, emotional support not only to the seniors but also to their families. December 8, 2020 Page 103 In other parts of the country, such an organization is run by government and costs millions of dollars, but thanks to this community we have, which is very philanthropic, it costs almost nothing for the Senior Center to run as far as the county's concerned. We spent three years trying to find a location. We've studied very carefully what the needs are, where our people are, where our clients are, and where our future clients might come from. And the location on Oakes -- Autumn Oaks Avenue -- Lane, excuse me, is a perfect location and fills all the criteria. And you've heard some of them, but my version of the criteria are sufficient parking and outdoor space to provide the services that we do; location central to the clients that we serve; permits the shortest commute not only in distance but in traffic to get there; provides easy access for seniors who are driving; it can easily be serviced by public transportation and has the minimum impact on nearby communities. Anywhere this organization is put has some impact on communities, and we have tried to minimize those. And I thank you very much for the opportunity to talk to you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Norm Feder. He will be followed by Vicki Tracy, Tammy Strohl Samuel, and Tom Ellis. MR. FEDER: Thank you. I'm Norman Feder. I'm here today not in my capacity as a vice chair for the fire district, North Collier Fire District, but rather as an individual in strong support for the Senior Center. I want to not cover what's already been covered, so I won't take your time with that, but I do want to provide some emphasis in two areas. One is on traffic. I've worked, when I was here, as your first and, I guess, only Transportation Services Administrator, and worked very directly with a very good community in the Oakes community; very fine people. And we did an awful lot in making concessions to address their December 8, 2020 Page 104 concerns about their neighborhood security and traffic impacts. Every road on connecting over to what was then the extension of Logan Boulevard was not made an access point at the request of this community. That meant that they were trying to stop north/south traffic from going through Oakes and go over to Logan and not have the connections be there to Logan, and that was one of the conditions and one of the things that was done to try and address their needs. Additionally, we essentially, in many respects, for their request, moved the signal from Oakes over to Valewood so that you didn't have that signal at Vanderbilt with a signal up at Immokalee as an encouragement for north/south movement. Yes, this community is a very good community, but they have very, very limited traffic concerns because of the efforts that they've undertaken and undertaken well. But to add to that, I think you heard today the traffic from the Senior Center will be rather de minimis especiall y given the hours of operation and the conditions that they've placed on the request that they have before you today. So I just want to make sure that as someone with some transportation background in this county that you understood that there's been a lot done to accommodate their traffic needs and that this shouldn't undo any of that, especially when the focus is really off of Immokalee at Valewood. Now, having said that, though, the other thing I want to add to you is as an elected official and working with this board and the outstanding work it does and the city councils, what was interesting to me when I became involved with Greater Naples Leadership and past president is the service organizations and what they do in this community. There's a void from anything that the elected officials do with taxpayer money. They bring forward services that are critical to this community. And I want you, in your consideration and December 8, 2020 Page 105 deliberations, to understand that they are another arm of service delivery to our residents and to our citizens. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Vicki Tracy. She will be followed by Tammy Strohl Samuel, Tom Ellis, and then Peter Goodin. Vicki Tracy? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Is she online or -- MR. MILLER: I have a slip for her here in the room. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's move on to the next speaker. We'll -- MR. MILLER: She had to leave earlier, I guess. Tammy Strohl Samuel will be next, followed by Tom Ellis and then Peter Goodin. MS. STROHL SAMUEL: Hi. I'm right here. Can I put something up on there? So the reason why I came here today -- I am an attorney, but I didn't come in that capacity. I came because I live on the corner of Hidden Oaks and Oakes Boulevard, and I am three parcels away from the prospective Senior Center site. And my concern and the reason for my chart is to show you that in 2018, 2019, and in 2020, I have gathered information from the Sheriff's Office to show you that we have a considerable amount of traffic stops, citations, warnings, traffic details and crashes already. So we are a very small neighborhood. We have about 500 homeowners. There is one main street, which is Oakes Boulevard, and then we have streets that come off of Oakes Boulevard. And as you can see, in 2020, when you would think that because of COVID-19 we had reduced traffic, actually, we still had the same amount of traffic stops, which is 373, as compared to last year, 376 traffic stops. Crashes, still 16 traffic crashes in our Oakes Neighborhood December 8, 2020 Page 106 location, and traffic was down. We had 347 warnings, and traffic details, 19. When you look at these numbers, the impact is supposed to be a 2 percent impact to our community. In fact, this is a 13.44 percent. It is six times the amount of traffic and crashes in the community already. So if you take into consideration that we have already now a PUD that's coming into play, and it is coming into play already in our neighborhood, that is another 164 families, okay. So that's regardless of the Senior Center, which is another 485. If you put the PUD, which we've already allowed, which is the 165 families, and then the Senior Center, which is 485, you're more than doubling our area. So it's going to have an enormous impact between traffic, traffic details, and traffic crashes. It's painting a not great picture for our community. Now, do we like the Senior Center? Of course. Do we like its devotion to the seniors? Most definitely. And I know a lot of the seniors in there, and I have the utmost respect for them. So this is not having anything to do with the Senior Center. This is our concern for the safety of our community. So we would like for you to take that into consideration when you're considering putting this facility in our neighborhood. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. MS. STROHL SAMUEL: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Tom Ellis. Mr. Ellis has been ceded three additional minutes from Bob Walker. Mr. Ellis will be followed by Peter Goodin, Joe Thompson, and then John Boettjer, if I'm reading that correctly. Mr. Ellis, you have six minutes. MR. ELLIS: You can turn that the other direction. Thank you. My name is Tom Ellis, as the announcer mentioned, and I'm here today as president of the Oakes Estates Neighborhood Association, December 8, 2020 Page 107 and I'm representing them. I'd like to just kind of correct something that was said earlier. I have not had a conversation with Scott Relf at all about my opinion on this, but I have -- my responsibility as president of the neighborhood association is to reflect their opinions, and that's what I'm here today to do. I have 290-plus letters and emails of neighbors in opposition, and I'd like to enter those into the record. They're right there by my seat. I can get them now for you if you'd like, but -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: When you conclude your comments, just hand those to the County Attorney. MR. ELLIS: Okay, thanks. So I've spoken with each of you a couple of times already, so you already sort of understand the opposition the neighborhood has to this. But I think I can summarize it in two general categories, and one is safety, and the other is basic -- the basic character of the project as it relates to our neighborhood. The map you see on the tele viewer shows the properties represented by the letters of opposition. Regarding safety, you probably should be aware that about 320 of our residences lie to the east of Oakes Boulevard. The only sidewalk we have in the neighborhood is on the west side of Oakes Boulevard, and it gets used a lot. And so most of the community has to cross Oakes Boulevard twice in order to use that sidewalk, and we have walkers and joggers and bicyclists and people pushing baby carriages and walking their pets. And so there's an awful lot of traffic along that sidewalk and back and forth that cross Oakes Boulevard. We also have 75 driveways that open onto Oakes Boulevard. Oakes is a narrow, two-laned road with no berms, no bike paths, and no curbs. And so there's already a certain amount of, I think, safety concern around that just -- just in terms of the amount of traffic that the neighborhood presents there and the nature of the roadway. December 8, 2020 Page 108 I made it my business to pace Oakes Boulevard a few times a week. What I mean by that is when I turn on -- whether it's from Vanderbilt or from Immokalee Road, I'll set my speed control at 39 miles an hour. It's a 35-mile-an-hour zone. And I can pretty much tell by looking in my rearview mirror whether the person behind me is from the neighborhood or if they're not. And the way I can tell is, typically, the people that are not from the neighborhood come right up on my bumper, and they push me all the away down Oakes Boulevard where someone who's turning into a driveway or turning onto one of the side streets is typically following at a safe distance, not feeling, you know, slowed down by a 39-mile-an-hour car. And so I've proved that to myself a number of times over the years that I've lived there. And when I get to the end of the street, if I -- for example, if I'm going north and I turn on Autumn Oaks Lane, then the person that's trying to get out of the neighborhood behind me takes Oakes to Immokalee Road. If I go north on Oakes, they turn right onto Autumn Oaks so they can get away from me. They're just trying to get through the neighborhood. And that's a different kind of a traffic issue than the neighbors that are coming in and out because -- and I think you can probably relate to this. When you're driving through your own neighborhood, you're probably a little bit more aware of something that maybe doesn't look right or doesn't belong there. You kind of know your neighbors and, you know, who aren't your neighbors. And so we can tell the difference, or I can tell the difference, and I think my neighbors have represented to me that they know a lot of times when the people that are in their neighborhood or on their street either are residents or aren't residents. And so I think that the traffic study that's done indicates what Tammy just said, that the increase in traffic from the Naples Senior December 8, 2020 Page 109 Center is expected to be about a 13 percent impact on our traffic where normally the maximum impact would be somewhere around 2 to 3 percent. So I think what that says is that we can expect Naples -- the Oakes Neighborhood can expect more traffic, people that are probably senior citizens, driving through our neighborhood to get to the Naples Senior Center. They've asked for an exception on their parking to increase parking from one per 10 in attendance to one for every 200 square feet. That's about a -- triple the parking they're requesting versus what would typically be expected for that type of a facility, and that's another sort of confirmation that the Naples Senior Center expects a lot of their people to come and self-drive and park and -- rather than take public transportation or be dropped off and picked up. The neighborhood all recognizes that what's there right now is an eyesore, and that needs to change, and it's unfortunate, but the owners of that property have done nothing to maintain or improve those buildings in the last 30 years, and it shows. I think that also brings into question whether that current C-3 zoning that's on that one five-acre parcel in the corner is really still applicable or not. So it's clear that the property's not currently being used by the owners, and so we challenge whether that C-3 zoning should continue. And I think it's sort of -- I think it's sort of -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We need you to wrap up, if you would. MR. ELLIS: Yeah. It's sort of insincere to say that this is the only place in Collier County where the Naples Senior Center can perform their mission. We echo everybody's positive comments about the mission. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you, sir. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Peter Goodin. He's been December 8, 2020 Page 110 ceded three additional minutes from Terry Iamurri, and will be followed by Joe Thompson, John Boettjer, and Michael Vitte. MR. GOODIN: I think Michael ceded time to me as well. Is it possible to check that? MR. MILLER: Yes, sir. I'm sorry. He did not mark it on the correct spot, but he did. Do you have items to display on the visualizer, sir? MR. GOODIN: Yes, I do. MR. MILLER: Then you'll want to use that podium over there. MR. GOODIN: I'm sorry. I don't know how it works. MR. OCHS: I'll help you, sir. MR. GOODIN: For the record, my name is Peter Goodin. I'm an Oakes Estates resident; Collier County senior citizen. Commissioners, thanks for this opportunity. First, I'd like to applaud the Naples Senior Center for their service to local seniors. Second, I'd like to applaud the county for offering an alternative location for the Senior Center on Collier-owned property on Livingston. In short, this is a great project, but it is definitely in the wrong location. This would be NSC's flagship facility and would attract clients from all over the county. This raises the question of why it should be located just three miles from the northern boundary of Collier, the largest county in Florida, and within a low-density residential neighborhood of semirural character. A majority of homeowners in Oakes Estates are opposed to adding a facility of this size within our neighborhood. It would be, by far, the largest thing in Oakes Estates. They also object to the traffic it would add to Oakes Boulevard. Households marked in blue on this map have sent a letter to their Oakes Estates Neighborhood Association opposing the project, and if I may point out that a lot of what you see that's green is vacant lots. December 8, 2020 Page 111 Oakes Estates residents have instructed our neighborhood association board to oppose the project because there did not seem to us to be any change that the NSC would be willing to make that would result in a compromise that would be acceptable to our residents. Choosing not to negotiate does not come naturally to our association's board. They've given conditional approval to churches and a medical office building on Immokalee Road after negotiating neighborhood-friendly changes in the developer's plans. We're not insensitive to the rights of owners of undeveloped property in the neighborhood. We do, however, object to the petitioner's use of projects on Immokalee as justification for projects entirely within our community. If you accept their argument, where does their reasoning lead? To the proliferation of nonresidential uses down Oakes Boulevard. The difficulties with the NSC project boil down to two insurmountable obstacles: Location and scale. This location does not allow traffic to enter and leave the center from a major arterial, Immokalee Road, as the already approved medical office building to the north will. The petitioner's convention [sic] that Valewood would serve as a sort of a driveway for the center overlooks at least a couple of things. First, many of their clients will prefer not to use I-75 to access the center. I can't blame them. The average speed of traffic on I -75 bears no relation to the speed limit. And if there's anyone in Collier County who prefers to use Immokalee Road when they don't have to, I haven't met them. Also, these -- the clients that live between Vanderbilt Road and Pine Ridge are unlikely to backtrack south to use I-75 just so they can use the Valewood entrance. They're going to use Goodlette or Livingston northbound to reach Vanderbilt eastbound and then head December 8, 2020 Page 112 north on Oakes Boulevard. Many Estates residents, even those to the north in our neighborhood, will tell you they'd do the exact same thing in reverse; anything to avoid Immokalee Road. Now, to address the scale issues with the project. The First Congregational Church is across Autumn Oaks from the proposed center. The church is permitted a maximum capacity of 275 people and has a parking lot with 110 spaces. They, essentially, operate one day a week. The proposed Senior Center is asking for a maximum capacity of 485 people and 200 parking places. They propose to operate five days a week. Now, elsewhere in Golden Gate Estates, the Golden Gate Master Plan stipulates that nonresidential development on major arterials be separated from residential Estates land by transitional uses. So what's wrong with this picture? The proposed center is not transitional by any measurement of scale; not by size, not by crowd capacity, parking, or frequency of use. Now, I'd like to shift gears. I'm a senior driver. I remember when everyone used to have to shift gears. The traffic study commissioned by the petitioner's focused, as traffic studies do, on trips per hour, road capacity, et cetera, peak loads; however, the population the center serves is not reflective of county drivers at large. As a senior driver, I have a lot of company in Collier County. In 10-years they expect 30 to 50 percent of Collier drivers to be senior drivers. I've taken the AARP driver's safety class twice already. I've kept the study materials from that course, and I'd like to draw your attention to Unit 3 of the AARP Florida workbook safety strategies. I've highlighted the line. Quote, pick the safest route. You might want to avoid high-speed or interstate roads, end quote. Okay. As I've already shown, you'd be able to get to the Senior Center from almost anywhere in populated Collier County by using December 8, 2020 Page 113 lower-volume, slower, and lower-speed arterial roads. Because they are recent designs, Collier Boulevard, Livingston, and Vanderbilt extension in particular have the advantages of a 45-mile-an-hour speed limit, limited intersections, and many dedicated turn lanes. Their relative lack of commercial development means they have lower volumes and fewer turning vehicles than a road like Immokalee. When you get to Oakes Boulevard, however, your last two miles are on an old, two-lane, residential road with eight intersections, numerous driveways, school buses and school kids, garbage trucks and U.S. Postal, Amazon and FedEx delivery trucks. But, hey, you've avoided I-75 and Immokalee, which are easily more dangerous to senior drivers, right? I hope there are Estates parents here today to tell you what they see cut traffic -- cut-through traffic doing on Oakes Boulevard when they drop their kids to get the school bus or pick them up. My kids are long grown and, anyway, my point is not about the risk to my neighbors of the increase in traffic on Oakes. I want to go back to those eight intersections on Oakes. There's another page from my AARP driver's safety program workbook. The graph is titled, "Percentage of drivers in fatal crashes who were involved in multiple vehicle intersection crashes by driver age." You see the steady increase particularly after age 65. This is not because we are inherently unsafe drivers; we're not. We're just at higher risk of injury and death in an accident than younger drivers are. When you graph this kind of data as road fatalities per 100,000 miles driven, there's an even more dramatic increase with age. Why is this? Well, it's because we seniors don't drive as much or as far as the rest of the drivers on the road. The very simplest and easiest way to reduce risk to a senior December 8, 2020 Page 114 driver is to decrease the number of miles they have to drive to get where they want to go. And, therefore, the best thing that the NSC can do for Collier seniors, their clients, is to choose a more central location for their flagship facility, a location on a safe, 45-mile an hour, underutilized, recently designed arterial road. The county has already offered one alternative. The fact that NSC did not find it suitable does not mean others don't exist. Eventually, the satellite facilities that NSC has proposed may go a long way towards reducing their client's risks if and when they're built. Until then, if an NSC flagship facility is needed and desired, NSC and Collier County need to work together to find a safer and more appropriate location than Oakes Estates. You owe it to our seniors. Thanks for your time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Joe Thompson. Mr. Thompson has been ceded additional time from Bill McCurdy and Ben Ramsey. He'll have a total of nine minutes. And Mr. Thompson will be followed by John Boettjer, John Nicola, and Karl Fry. MR. GOODIN: I do know that Mr. Boettjer had to leave. MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, sir. For the record, Joe Thompson, 5881 English Oaks Lane, Oakes Estates. I'm here today to speak in opposition to the proposed new location of the Naples Senior Center within a residential community, my residential community, Oakes Estates, which is undeniably a residential neighborhood. If you look at us, we're a residential enclave. We're surrounded by major arterial roads. We have eight residential east/west lanes in our neighborhood. We have one major residential road going northwest, which is Oakes Boulevard. There's no question that we're residential in character. We're analogous to Logan Woods, Livingston Woods, Pine December 8, 2020 Page 115 Ridge Estates, these little enclaves of Golden Gate Estates that are within the county that are so highly regarded because we have the serenity and peacefulness of the Estates but we're within a convenient location. That's why all of us love living there. So we have about 500 property owners made up of sizes of one-and-a-quarter acres to about two-and-a-half acres in size. So when you think about, over the years, the county has really reaffirmed our status as a residential community through a number of items. One of those would be the fact that the four-laning of Oakes Boulevard was taken off the table. I think that's a pretty good recognition that, you know, we need to continue to stay as a neighborhood because four lanes would change the character of our neighborhood. Part and parcel with that, when Livingston was extended, the idea of punching Livingston through the finger streets on the east side was taken off the table. So we're bordered by Livingston -- or I'm sorry, Livingston -- Logan Boulevard on the east, we have I-75 on the west, Immokalee Road on the north, and Vanderbilt on the south. So the idea of punching Logan through the finger streets was taken off the table. Another big initiative that happened was that the speed limit was lowered to 35 miles an hour on Oakes Boulevard. Clearly recognition that we're a residential neighborhood. There are over 70 driveways on Oakes Boulevard; mailboxes, driveways. The bus stops at the corner of every residential lane, and Oakes Boulevard picks up the hundreds of kids that live in our neighborhood. I have three kids myself. We have tons of kids on our street. And the last thing was the addition of a neighborhood park in Oakes Estates. The county gave us Oakes Neighborhood Park, which is on the west side of Spanish Oaks Lane. You don't just get a neighborhood park in Collier County. We had to meet strict criteria. December 8, 2020 Page 116 We had to check the boxes that we are, in fact, a neighborhood. We have children. We have people that will actually utilize it. My understanding is we're one of the busiest bicycle paths to that park. Keep in mind, our park, we have zero parking spaces. You cannot bring a vehicle there. That's recognition that we're a very pedestrian-oriented neighborhood. We have to walk to our park. We have to bicycle to our park, we have to walk our pets, we have to jog, take our golf cart, whatever. And guess what? We have to cross Oakes Boulevard. And Oakes Boulevard has no crosswalks. We have no traffic circles. We have zero traffic-calming devices, anything along Oakes Boulevard. And guess what? 80 percent of Oakes Estates, approximately, lives on the east side of Oakes Estates. So if we want to cross over and get to the sidewalk, we have to cross Oakes Boulevard. We have no sidewalk. We have no bike lane on the east side of the neighborhood. So, undeniably, we are a residential community. There's no question about it. And the notion that this project is not within a community is preposterous. So this is one block into our community. On the corner -- it's not on Valewood. It's on the corner of Autumn Oaks Lane and Oakes Boulevard, two residential streets in our neighborhood, tons of residential homes. And also, the interesting thing is these properties don't even have access to county infrastructure. There's no water or sewer connection to these properties right now. It purely would be well and septic if they were developed residentially. So in a county that's 2,300 square miles, the largest county in the state of Florida, the representatives for the Senior Center can tell you that this is the most suitable site for a 30,000-square-foot regional attracter that has desires to become even larger in scope and get more members? I just don't think that that's conceivable, that's the first place I would think of of putting that facility. It just doesn't make December 8, 2020 Page 117 any sense to me at all. So the other thing to note, which is really important, is that this is a very major petition. It's a companion petition. One of them is a Growth Management Plan amendment. So you're all very familiar with the Future Land Use Element map of Collier County. We've all seen that, which is effectively the constitution, the foundation of growth in our county. And in reviewing the Future Land Use Map and the Golden Gate Future Land Use Map, I have not seen one single subdistrict in the history of Collier County that's ever been approved in a residential community. So the idea of a land-use precedent is very real. There's nothing that would ever stop somebody else from coming before you or a future commission down the road and saying, well, we have a subdistrict in another residential area. Why couldn't we do this in Logan Woods? Why can't we do one in Pine Ridge Estates? Why can't we go to Golden Gate Estates? Why is that off the table? Precedent is precedent. There's no question that this is going to alter the landscape of Collier County. Why would we step backwards and go back to patchwork planning and development and get away from all of the sophisticated and sound planning programs that we have in the county, like the Rural Lands Stewardship Area and the Transfer of Development Rights program? The county's come a really long way in a long period of time, and this is going backwards. This is not smart growth. And I don't want to conflate two things, because I think the representatives for the Senior Center are conflating the mission with the land-use decision. This is not an up or down vote on the Senior Center. We all support the Senior Center and what you guys do. I don't think there's a single person in here that doesn't support what the Senior Center does. We know that they are a deserving organization. We know that there's a need in Collier County for what December 8, 2020 Page 118 they do. There's no question about it, but this is a land-use, strictly, decision. This is not about, do we support the Senior Center? Everybody does. And the fact that they already have a location, they just want to grow, well, let's help them find the appropriate location to do that. And in a residential community is not the appropriate location to do that, and that's exactly what's being proposed here. And real quick on the record, it's been mentioned a couple of times. The county offered an alternative site to the Senior Center. I don't know how many times in the history of Growth Management Plan amendments -- maybe the County Manager can address it -- has the county, a public entity, stepped up to a private petitioner and said, hey, I think we have an alternative site for you? And, by the way, the alternative site is at a regional park in North Naples which would be a more appropriate location to absorb the level of impact you're going to have on the surrounding area. I don't know that that's ever happened before. So the gesture for that to happen speaks volumes to this proposed petition before you today about it not being located in the appropriate location currently for what they're desiring to do. So I really think there needs to be some thought and consideration put into that. And last few points. The Senior Center is a highly organized, well-connected non-profit. They have a location currently. They're not a fledging organization. They're not loosely organized. They have a number of very astute professionals that are behind that organization, and rightly so. They deserve to have that. They were able to raise $10 million, $10 million. There's no reason to think that they wouldn't be able to raise more money in the future for another location if necessary. They have the backing of very influential philanthropic individuals in Collier County. That's never going to change. That's not going to go away. December 8, 2020 Page 119 So this decision -- again, I don't want to conflate the two items. There's a mission of the Senior Center that everybody agrees with, nobody's against that, and there's the land-use decision before you and the ramifications and the consequences associated with that as it relates to precedent in neighborhoods and the future of Collier County. So thank you very much. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your next speaker I have as John Boettjer. I do believe our previous speaker said he had to leave, but I'm going to call his name anyhow. Mr. Boettjer? All right. Let's move on. We can come back to him. Your next speaker is John Nicola. He will be followed by Karl Fry, and then Daniel Delisi. MR. NICOLA: Commissioners, thank you for your time today. Many of the residents -- and you see on this map here, too, again -- over 275 of my fellow residents have sent and expressed the fact that this application should be denied for specific reasons. And, again, we need to set aside the Naples Senior Center mission -- because it is a wonderful mission. And we all agree to that, again -- and look at it for what it is truly is, which is too large of a facility proposed within a transitional use. According to the Golden Gate Master Plan, a transitional use should be a bridge between commercial and residential uses, and those transitions are used for low-density nonresidential neighboring uses. Now, we have a regional facility that's to serve the entire Collier County area, from Marco Island to North Naples, including southern Lee County. In addition to this, in their own application, it clearly states this tract does not qualify under the GGAMP for a transitional use or -- I'm sorry -- for a transitional conditional use. So under their own admission this does not qualify for this use here. December 8, 2020 Page 120 This is not transitional in size. Located directly north of this, as you heard, is the First Congressional Church. This facility is approximately 10,000 square feet. We're talking about transitioning up to 30,000 square feet, not downward to a smaller building. That's a 300 percent larger increase and up to a probably eight times the residential -- a normal residential home of about, you know, 3,200 square feet. And as Tony said, and others have said, you know, we've worked tirelessly to maintain the rural nature through our park, from reducing the speed limit. And a regional use is simply not compatible for this. Again, we love the mission; do not like the location. Also, we heard that one of the Planning Commissioners had the wherewithal to deny this for three reasons; those are traffic, precedent, and size. And this Planning Commission person was Mark Strain, probably one of the most well-respected Planning Commissioners ever in the history of this county, and those are the three reasons why he did it. And we do feel that this is setting a precedent. Whether you believe it or not, others will come forward and say, this is -- this was done here. We want to use it. Everybody else going forward will use this and pull this out of the record. In addition, it was stated earlier that this -- that they've done everything to make this compatible. I don't see how a 30,000-square-foot facility is compatible with a residential neighborhood. And my last point: We heard earlier that the Naples Senior Center is clearly financially stable. We understand that. We get that. I just feel that there's more suitable locations than taking a residential parcel and up-zoning it to a residential neighborhood. Thank you. Appreciate it. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Karl Fry. Mr. Fry has December 8, 2020 Page 121 been ceded time from Darren Samuel, from Jim Rice, from Jose Elarde, and Sarah McCurdy for a total of 15 minutes. And Mr. Fry will be followed by Daniel Delisi and Stephanie Molloy. MR. FRY: I will not need 15 minutes, just to put you at ease. MR. MILLER: And I've got a PowerPoint to bring up for you, don't I, Mr. Fry? MR. FRY: Good afternoon, Chairman Saunders, members of the Board of Collier County Commissioners. My name is Karl Fry. I'm here speaking as a private citizen. I am -- I do have the great honor of warming Commissioner LoCastro's seat on the Planning Commission days. I've been on the Planning Commission for about two years. I want to thank Commissioner Saunders for the nomination. I'll tell you that it's been a great -- just a great experience to be on the Planning Commission. When this matter came before the Planning Commission, my objectivity was called into question, and County Attorney Klatzkow suggested that I recuse myself. I honored that request, and I thank him for looking out for my interests. So I'm here today speaking as a private citizen. I'm not here to take a position for or against this. I'm here partly because I live in Oakes Estates, about a quarter of a mile from this parcel, but also because I have been on the Planning Commission for a couple of years, and sitting up there, I come in with one goal, and that is to understand an issue, all aspects of it, and so that I can make an informed decision, at least for my part, so that we just make the best interest [sic] in the interest of Collier County as well as the neighborhoods that are impacted. So I'm here because -- I think -- because of a little bit of another unique nuance to it is that I have been or was on the board for Oakes Estates from 2003 off and on until I resigned to join the Planning Commission. I was president for nine of those years. I was president December 8, 2020 Page 122 at the time when we were approached by the Naples Senior Center to come and take a look at the project. I was a part of the team of the board, went to the Naples Senior Center's current location for presentation, then we had them hosted -- them at our facility. Troy, how do I -- MR. MILLER: Space bar or the right arrow. Either one, sir. MR. FRY: Thank you. So in the interest of a picture painting a thousand words, I've created a PowerPoint, because I want to bring up really a -- I want to answer a question that I think is lingering under the surface here, and then I want to pose one question so that you -- things that I think are important for you guys to consider as part of your decision. So here you see Oakes Estates, and this is an aerial view of Oakes Estates. Vanderbilt on the south, Immokalee Road on the north. Two miles long. Speed limit 35. It was mentioned it was lowered from 45 to 35 in deference that it is a residential neighbor. And you see from the aerial, this is 500 homesites. Nobody in our neighborhood considers this to be a haven for commercial activity. It is a residential area. I counted on the aerial, and I counted 73 residential driveways on Oakes Boulevard. So anybody coming up Oakes Boulevard passes 73 driveways as they travel north or south. Single access. Oakes Boulevard is a single access for 500 homesites. It's zoned urban estates. And I know that we have our -- we've made amendments to the master plan for the urban estates, the rural estates, and, you know, the Golden Gate area as well. So our zoning is one dwelling unit per two-and-a-quarter acres. We have -- years ago, while I was president, we -- we negotiated with Standing Oaks PUD. That's 164 condos and townhomes located in part of our neighborhood. Only access on Oakes Boulevard. So December 8, 2020 Page 123 whenever that traffic is added, you have 164 more homes who will enter and leave based on Oakes Boulevard. So that will increase our traffic. And I'm not here -- I'm actually not here to talk about traffic counts. I've been on -- sitting up there for two years. I have never really seen the traffic counts impact the decision one way or the other. It's always been a factor, but I've never seen it make the decision one way or the other. I really -- differently. So here's where the Naples Senior Center is in relationship to our entire neighborhood. It's up near the northern border. Not quite on the northern border, and it's one block removed. So the question that I wanted to answer with pictures is, well, what difference does it make -- what difference does one block make? We're almost on Immokalee. We're just down that short Valewood Drive from Immokalee Road. So why isn't this very much the same as being on Immokalee Road? So here's Immokalee Road. This is the Southbrooke PUD. It came before us a number of years ago. They came before you with a letter in hand written by me with the support of our board in support of their facility. The key is where it says no access from Autumn Oaks Lane. It is two 20,000-square-foot buildings. That's 40,000 square feet. Larger than the Naples Senior Center. No opposition from the neighborhood. Why? Right-in, right-out, two locations. And then it's always up to the county, you know, do we need a median cut, a turn signal? How do we arrange for U-turns? But you'll notice that there's no impact from Oakes Estates from this. They came in with our full support. Now imagine what if Naples Senior Center was on Immokalee Road or any other major collector or arterial road in Collier County. If it was Oakes Boulevard, if this is the place where the Southbrooke PUD, again, here's what the access would look like. I think it's December 8, 2020 Page 124 coming. We would not be here. Nobody from Oakes Estates wou ld be here speaking in opposition. I will go on the record formally. I love the mission of the Naples Senior Center. I love the people with the Naples Senior Center. I'm honored to know some of them and have gotten to know them through this process. I would only point out for your consideration that this is not a jury verdict on the mission of the Naples Senior Center. This is a land-use equation. The question is, does this project belong in this location? And I just want you guys to have all the f acts and all the different viewpoints to make that decision. So, similar, they would be here with a letter of support from President Tom Ellis if this was on Immokalee Road. So now you say, okay, here's Valewood over towards the left. Now let's take a look -- oh, and I want to just point out recently we approved, and I believe you did, too, the Jewish Federation, the addition to the Temple Shalom, because the traffic was very similar to this on Pine Ridge. All right. So what difference does moving the NSC one block inside the neighborhood make? We had a light, and as former transportation administrator mentioned, it was moved over a block to create better separation and for our intent to cut down on cut -through traffic to our neighborhood. Now, that imposed some complexities when they finally did open up Valewood. A three-way stop was entered -- was added at Autumn Oaks, and then a right-out-only stop sign was entered -- was added at Oakes and Immokalee Road. So this traffic -- this slide is about, what is our current traffic. So you can come eastbound on Immokalee, head down Oakes. You can head up Immokalee -- I'm sorry. You can come westbound, make the jog. We call that area where you take those three turns, we call that the jog. You can come up Oakes, and you can go eastbound. If you go to the light at Valewood, you can then go eastbound or December 8, 2020 Page 125 westbound. So you say -- you'll see we have a few options in and out but a rather convoluted traffic pattern as it is. Now, we talk about entering the Naples Senior Center as proposed in its proposed location. So there it is. Two ingress points. And I will show you the -- you can come eastbound. You can -- you have two options coming eastbound down Valewood. You can come westbound on Immokalee, down Valewood, up Oakes. You can make the short turn in. So those are the multiple ways. There's four ways into the Naples Senior Center. How about exiting? Two egress points, mostly at the stop sign, the four-way stop. So however you get to that stop sign, you then are going to get up to the light at Immokalee. You can go east; you can go west. Furthermore, you could go out to the stop sign and down Oakes if you'd prefer to avoid I-75 and Immokalee. If Valewood is backed up, you can go up to Oakes and make that right-out and get on Immokalee eastbound that way. All right. Now, let's look at all the traffic routes around the proposed NSC. This is the Oakes background traffic, all the ways in and out. Here comes all the ways into the Naples Senior Center. And these are the ways out of the Naples Senior Center. So what do I point out -- Is there a pointer of any kind that I might use? The mouse, oh, okay. You'll just note -- I'm just going to highlight this. You'll notice that there is a lot of -- a tremendous amount of activity. This is the main entrance and exit for Naples Senior Center. People from Autumn Oaks are approaching that. People traveling through Oakes are approaching that stop sign. People coming in and out of Oakes Estates, whether it be Naples Senior Center or the Oakes residents, are approaching the stop sign. That is -- there are a lot of options and a lot of different flowing traffic there. Similar up here this -- this there's a lot of activity at this stop sign and then, December 8, 2020 Page 126 obviously, at the light you've got pretty much everything possible happening. So this is one block off the major roadway versus on a major roadway. So I think there's a -- maybe a presumption that there's a NIMBY point of view in the Oakes Estates residents that, no, we don't -- you know, not in my neighborhood, not in my backyard, NIMBY. And, obviously, after my years on the Oakes board, we never took that approach while I was there. I do not believe that's what's happening here. I think it's a serious consideration for you. I love the Naples Senior Center. I would like them to have a home. I'd like to volunteer for them. I've done a little bit; I'd like to do a lot more. The question before you, I think, is a little bit more complicated; it's really, is this an appropriate site? The one question I want to ask, is this -- because that was an attempt to answer the question, what difference does one block make? The question I'd want to ask is, I've circled the nonconforming use of those old, abandoned garages on that property. That -- and I could speak as former president of Oakes Estates Neighborhood Association, we were approached at least twice prior to the Naples Senior Center by entities that were entering into a contract to purchase that property, and they wanted to do something commercial. First it was condos, and the Oakes board said, we believe that's residential property. It's zoned one per two-and-a-quarter acres. No, there would be some opposition to that. The next one was mini-storage units. It was an owner of a major design firm around here, came and presented to our board. I'd like to build 100,000 square feet of multi-storage units. Low traffic, you know, they're pretty much included in every major development that we do now commercially. We said, there's going to be significant opposition. As a board member, all we ever tried to do and what kept me up December 8, 2020 Page 127 at night was I did not want to stand up here -- or none of our people did, wanted to stand up here and represent something we did not believe was really the majority, a vast majority sentiment of the Oakes Estates residents. So -- and my question is this: It's a nonconforming use. The Cypress Cycle down here is, I believe, also a nonconforming use. Once it's no longer used as a cycle shop, it becomes residential again. Oakes Estates -- I'm sorry, not Oakes Estates, but Estates zoning, one per two-and-a-quarter acres. So you have this property, you know, that's been cobbled together into 13 acres. You have a property owner that is understandably interested in maximizing the revenue on the property. And my question is this: Is this a one off or are there others in Collier County that are just inside a residential neighborhood that are also interested in getting a much higher return on their investment by selling residential property at a much higher commercial price? So I, of course, abide by your decision. I just wanted to enter into what I thought was maybe some unique input from my background on this and hope you'll take it all into consideration in making your decision. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Fry, can I ask you a question? MR. FRY: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We've heard a bunch of different numbers here in terms of number of units. I understand there are 275 letters or emails in opposition -- someone had said 290, but the most recent number I heard was 275 -- and that there are 500 units in this project. Are there -- is this community kind of split 50/50 in terms of support and nonsupport? What's your sense of that? MR. FRY: I would be unable to answer that. I'm not part of the board, and I was not part of the efforts to gather the neighborhood sentiment. I will tell you this, that it's very hard -- these people live December 8, 2020 Page 128 in Oakes Estates because they like the independent lifestyle. They like to not be told what to do and do what they want. A lot of people it's hard to get an answer from. We did have an initiative to put a stop sign at Spanish Oaks where we had had some accidents. And we had -- we did surveys. We got 70 percent response and were conservative enough to say, we are not going to move forward with that because we're not sure we've heard from enough of the neighborhood. You'd have to ask Tom Ellis, president of the Oakes Estates Neighborhood Association, or someone else to answer that question. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro, do you have a question? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Just a quick question. You presented a map that showed where the medical center was supposed to be and that if the Senior Center was there, you know, Tom Ellis would bring a letter supporting -- you know, the whole community supporting it. But what would keep seniors from going up Oakes Boulevard and making a right on Immokalee and then going into that secondary location? I mean, it seems like the big issue is the traffic on Oakes. So why would it -- moving it over there on Immokalee really change anything? People could still come up Oakes, make a right on Immokalee. People would take I-75 and exit and go off Immokalee. It seems like it's sort of same, same. What am I missing? MR. FRY: Well, I was hoping my slides would brin g that to life. What is the difference is that there is no entrance that's actually within Oakes Estates. So while, yes, even for Southbrooke PUD, people could come up Oakes and make that awkward jog, the three extra turns to get there versus taking the highway, we did not have to compete with them in terms of adding more of a convoluted traffic pattern at the three-way stop. Now it would be a four-way stop at all December 8, 2020 Page 129 these intersections. So while, yes, I do think some people would do that, I think that the main thing is that it's not inside the neighborhood. You're looking at a major -- not, you know, a 30,000-square-foot two-story building in the middle of what I think most people consider to be a residential neighborhood, and then the competition for the traffic and the same routes that everybody is traveling to get to the Naples Senior Center. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. Pleasure to see you here. MR. FRY: Thank you. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Your question at the end, is this a one off? So I can only ask -- give you some maybe reassurance. I live in a neighborhood, Lake Park. Lake Park is bounded on one side in the City of Naples by U.S. 41, kind of the Immokalee Road, and on the other side it's Goodlette Road. And they're lovely single-family homes through there. Been there a long time. But 10th Street is a road that parallels 41. And we had that question several years ago, because the commercial area that is on 41 was redeveloping, and we were sure -- we were sure that it was commercial creep. We knew it. We fought the expansion of the car dealership at the time. We lamented and worried and got very much involved in what was really going on, and today the houses that back up onto that commercial development that front 10th Street are redeveloping. There wasn't commercial creep. They are valued as homes, and that's the way they're remaining. So that's just a comment to you that -- your question caught my eye, and I thought, let me just communicate that with you. MR. FRY: I appreciate that, and I'm just grateful for the opportunity to speak and to make sure that everything's on the table for you to consider. December 8, 2020 Page 130 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Let's move on to the next speaker. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Daniel Delisi, and he will be followed by Stephanie Molloy. That's our final in-person speaker. Then we'll move on to our six Zoom speakers. Alan Jaffe and Bobbi Sutton. Mr. Daniel Delisi. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Mr. Chair? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Mr. Tom Ellis is right there if you wanted to ask him about the percentage of membership. You asked that of Karl. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. Okay. I wasn't going to, but -- MR. ELLIS: I was standing in the hall, and I heard your question, so I poked my head in the door to see. But I guess what I would say to you is I don't know the answer, but I think it's probably not likely that if you get half of the people respond in one way that the other half who haven't responded at all are going to be on the other side. That would be my guess. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you, sir. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Daniel Delisi, followed by Stephanie Molloy. Ms. Molloy, are you here? I don't see Mr. Delisi coming up. Ms. Molloy, will you please come on up. Ms. Molloy, if Mr. Delisi does not arrive, will be followed by Alan Jaffe on Zoom, Bobbi Sutton, and then Dan Lavender all on Zoom. Ms. Molloy, you have three minutes. DR. MOLLOY: Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, Commissioners. My name is Dr. Stephanie Molloy, and I reside at 6131 Spanish Oaks Lane. I oppose the proposed district and zoning changes and December 8, 2020 Page 131 respectfully request the Commission deny this request. I've heard people speak today of the value and the need for a senior community center, and I agree with that. I'm wholeheartedly behind their mission; however, that is not the question for deliberation today. The request under consideration is to change a large-lot residential neighborhood, residential zoning to a subdistrict for a community center and change the Estates zoning district of the properties to a Planned Unit Development zoning. I, like most people, look at neighborhood and zoning. What are my potential neighbors going to look like when choosing where to purchase a home to live, considering both property values and lifestyle. I chose this location in western Golden Gate Estates more -- over a more urban setting based on those parameters. I wanted a larger lot, a more rural setting with families but wanted to be closer west and so chose to pay that higher premium for having that larger lot in a semirural residential neighborhood. You've heard other Oakes residents speaking today, but the western Golden Gate Estates residents have spoken before at the Golden Gate Area Master Plan restudy workshop held by the Collier County Planning Commission section on October 20th, 2016. One question at that workshop that was asked was, the western Golden Gate Estates will be distinctive and a premier location for and a complement to Lee County, dot, dot, dot. The most frequent answers to that question were: Residential; large lots; noncommercial. And as an aside, I get that this is technically a noncommercial venture, but the layperson would not know the difference between a residential and this -- and not being a commercial; and neighborhood. Those were the top answers. Another question asked was, what is the full potential of the western Golden Gate Estates? The highest number of respondents December 8, 2020 Page 132 said: No change, residential, large lots, single-family, rural. Again, I fully support the mission of the Senior Center; however, I do oppose locating a new center in a large-lot semirural setting residential neighborhood that is not zoned for such an activity, and I'm confident that the proposed center will find an appropriately zoned location. We've heard the petitioners state earlier at previous meeting that they have 60 -- 80 members and have grown to 1,400 members with 20 staff and additional volunteers. What concerns me is that these numbers will increase. I'm a resident. We've just adopted a new dog, so instead of walking once a day, I now walk t wice a day. I live on the east side. I have to cross Oakes -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We need you to wrap up, if you would. DR. MOLLOY: -- twice. I've almost been run over on multiple occasions. It is a safety issue. It is a lifestyle issue. And I do respectfully request that you deny this petition. Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, we're moving on to our Zoom speakers now. I'd like to remind our Zoom speakers, after we unmute you here, you may need to unmute yourself on your end. First up is Allen Jaffe followed by Bobbi Sutton and then Dan Lavender. Mr. Jaffe, are you with us, sir? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Jaffe, are you with us online, sir? All right. Alert to my Zoom people. Let's move on. MR. JAFFE: I'm unmuted. MR. MILLER: Mr. Jaffe, thank you, sir. You have three minutes, sir. December 8, 2020 Page 133 MR. JAFFE: Thank you. Chairman Saunders and Commissioners, thank you very much for the opportunity to address you. I hope I will not repeat too much some of the things that have been said. As Dr. Faffer described, isolation, loneliness, and dementia will only grow and more so in Collier County than elsewhere in the nation. Each of us or our families may fall victim to these circumstances. Indeed, COVID-19 has surely underscored this reality. This body is empowered to act in the best interests of Collier County and all its citizens, all its citizens, and I am confident that it will do so. The need for facilities and organizations like the Naples Senior Center, of which I am the chairman of the board of trustees, the needs to confront, respond to, and help the seniors in our community cannot be questioned, nor can we question the absence of sufficient facilities and agencies to do the jobs that is needed. Is it not important to fill this gap? Is it not important to plan for the needs of our senior population? Is this not a public health imperative? I submit that the answer to these questions is clear. But why this location? Much has been said about this already. Over 40 percent of our 1,400 members live in this district, almost 650 persons. We have searched for several years, several years, for a location that has sufficient space, parking, and in an area where most of our members are located. And we appreciate the offer that was made by the county, but John Passidomo very effectively told you why that is really quite inappropriate for us. The site is on the northern edge of the Oakes Neighborhood touching the Immokalee commercial corridor, and as the Planning Commissioners observed by a 4-1 vote, any claim that it is in the heart of the neighborhood is simply not the case. December 8, 2020 Page 134 We will build a beautiful facility properly landscaped to fit within the neighborhood, a location that will have walking paths in this parklike setting, conducive to thoughtful contemplation by those whom we serve. Compared to what some say is an eyesore that exists there now, our site will enhance, not devalue, the property, and to suggest otherwise is sheer speculation. We have voluntarily agreed to many limitations on operations including the number of attendees, the hours, the days of operations, as well as limits on future uses of the site. We want only to help make Collier County a better p lace. We are not a commercial business seeking to make a profit. We wish only to help people. We are supported by private donations from Collier County citizens and foundations. We ask nothing else of the county other than to grant our application and to allow us to serve those of its senior citizens who need our assistance in an appropriate setting. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Bobbi Sutton, followed by Dan Lavender, and then David Rutstein. Bobbi Sutton, are you with us online? MS. SUTTON: I am. MR. MILLER: You have three minutes, ma'am. Please begin. MS. SUTTON: Thank you. I'm here today as a resident of Autumn Oaks Lane, the actual street that this building would be placed on. I would have to drive right past this proper ty every day to enter and exit my home. So when we speak about the traffic and the impact that it will have, it will definitely affect my family and my neighbors that live on that actual street. I'm definitely opposing the Naples Senior Center. Their desire to build within the boundaries of my residential community would be December 8, 2020 Page 135 a detriment to my family, my Autumn Oaks Lane neighbors, and all of the Oakes Estates residents. It will affect the character of our neighborhood, our quality of life, and our property values. We chose to live in Oakes Estates to provide us with a lifestyle that did not include sharing our residential street with a two-story building. While Naples Senior Center's mission is to do good for the elder population, they wish to do so at the expense of yet another population, the Oakes Estates residents. That's approximately 500 hard-working, tax-paying property owners. They believe their mission to help the elder population supersedes our rights as residential property owners. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we all live our lives, conduct business, and connect with others. As of now, I believe the Naples Senior Center is operating virtually. At this time, we do not know how long this pandemic will cause those who are at risk to eliminate their social interaction. At this time, the Naples Senior Center can easily operate within their current space. If you approve a change of zoning that allows this commercial building to be built within our residential boundaries now, then y ou are voting yes for any business Naples Senior Center might wish to sell it to in the future. Voting on how the building will be used by the Naples Senior Center today doesn't prevent future owners or occupants from changing the use or hours of operation in the future. Our residents will be the ones to suffer, and we've experienced this with other church entities in our neighborhood already. You may be voting yes for the elder population today, but what you're really doing is voting against our homeowners. You would then be relinquishing all responsibility or concern for what or who occupies that space in the future. This will create a domino effect that could have a drastic effect on our neighborhood as well as my street. December 8, 2020 Page 136 Can you change the zoning of this property in good conscience when you can't guarantee what will become of it in the future? Can you ignore the property owners' rights for an unknown entity to occupy the building in the future when a property is absolutely within the confines of our quiet neighborhood? Don't allow yourselves to be county leaders who are later blamed for the destruction of a quiet and peaceful neighborhood. I care about the elder population in this community. My opposition would be the same if this were a daycare for children, who I also care deeply about. I don't believe the rights of other supersede my rights as a homeowner who not only has a financial stake in this issue but also a quality-of-life issue for Oakes Estates residents. I also sent you-all an email last evening. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm sorry. We need you to wrap up, if you would, please. MS. SUTTON: I just wanted to briefly remind you of an email I sent last evening regarding to some barrels that were buried on this property more than 20 years ago, and this is something that needs to be checked out -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Ms. Sutton. MS. SUTTON: -- and confirmed. Yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Thank you. Your time is up. MS. SUTTON: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your next speaker is Dan Lavender, followed by David Rutstein, and Jay Baker. Mr. Dan Lavender, are you with us online, sir? MR. LAVENDER: I am. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You have three minutes, sir. Please begin. MR. LAVENDER: Thank you. Thank you, Commissioners, for December 8, 2020 Page 137 this opportunity to speak and the time you're taking to address this important issue. As it's been stated, I'm Dan Lavender, the CEO and President of Moorings Park. It has three CCRCs in Naples serving approximately 1,000 residents. I've been at Moorings Park for 15 years and have over 15 years prior to that serving seniors. I'm here today to support the Naples Senior Center. It is essential to the care and well -being of older adults in Collier County. As you've heard, the Naples Senior Center is a center of excellence that provides activities, programs, and socialization that help our senior population remain healthy and engaged. Research at every level indicates that seniors who are isolated and lonely suffer extreme healthcare consequences, whether it be increased risk of dementia, increased incidences of illness. Ultimately, isolation leads to earlier mortality and, as you heard from Paul Hiltz earlier, this center will bend the curve of all those negative outcomes. I recognize that this hearing is about location and zoning, and that may seem unrelated to the services, but I can tell you from our experience at Moorings Park, the environment you provide can be just as important as the programming itself. This site will enhance the services. Many representatives from Moorings Park have toured the existing facility and witnessed the existing programming. It's why our foundation is an ardent supporter, including providing several good grants. The current site is no longer adequa te to meet the growing needs for the services. This site will enable the sitters -- the centers members to enjoy healthy outdoor activities in a peaceful, serene setting that isn't available nor could be in any commercial center. This property is simply ideal for the Naples Senior Center with its proximity to December 8, 2020 Page 138 Immokalee Road. And I am confident, knowing both the leadership and governance of NSC, that it will be a very neighborhood-friendly operation. I've actually been amazed listening to the vast commitments NSC has made to ensure just that. My responsibility gives me the joy of interacting with older adults every single day. It's a wonderful, diverse, and vibrant segment of our population with immense value. Accommodating this zoning request seems like the right thing to do to ensure these members have a nurturing environment in which they can enjoy camaraderie and friendship. Commissioners, thank you for your leadership, especially in these tough times. Now is the chance to enhance the needed serv ice for our community. I encourage you to support our community's older adults by saying thank you -- or saying yes to this request. Thank you for the time. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is David Rutstein, followed by Jay Baker, and then Steven Bracci. Mr. Rutstein, I hope I'm saying that right, and are you with us? MR. RUTSTEIN: Yes, I am here. My name is Dave Rutstein, and I'm a board member of the Naples Senior Center. The commissioners in Collier County have a long history of discerning what is in the public interest and then acting in that public interest. Over the years, you've chosen to identify and protect the public's broader interests, not just the interests of one individual or a group of individuals. This case presents an unusual set of circumstances. Here we have a non-profit organization with a remarkable record of achievement and success which has come forward to say two things: We want no public money, and we're committed to taking care of the interests of seniors as we've been doing without ever asking for public dollars. All we ask is that you permit us to build a building December 8, 2020 Page 139 which will be worthy of these seniors and which will be of immense benefit to the county itself. We're saying, just approve this request, and we will take it from there. And we're an organization, as you heard, which will be a good neighbor. Traffic will be within acceptable limitations. The hours of operation will be reasonable. The property will be well screened, and we've designed sufficient parking. Now, the timing is of utmost importance. We have all the elements in place now ready to go. As Mr. Yovanovich explained, we have secured pledges of money sufficient to build and maintain the facility. The basic plans are drawn. The contractor's in place. The sentiment of the board of directors, the sta ff, the volunteers, and the seniors we serve is unanimous. All participants and all constituencies have moved in the same direction. They all support this project enthusiastically. And as you've heard, most of the adjacent property owners, who are the most directly affected, are comfortable with our plans. We hope that you will now see that all of the pieces of the puzzle are in place. Everything fits together. The time is right. The time is now, today. You now have the opportunity to provide this county with a world-class facility which will fulfill a public need without the expenditure of any public funds. Thanks very much. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jay Baker, followed by Steven Bracci. Mr. Baker, are you with us online, sir? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Mr. Baker? (No response.) MR. MILLER: Mr. Baker, you may have to unmute yourself. Are you with us, sir? December 8, 2020 Page 140 MR. BAKER: Can you hear me now? MR. MILLER: Yes, sir, Mr. Baker. You have three minutes. Please begin. MR. BAKER: Thank you. Hi. I'm Jay Baker. I'm a board member of the Naples Senior Center. I want to thank the commissioners for letting me speak. As you may know, my wife Patty and I love Naples. We've lived in this community over 20 years and have supported many charities here. Several years ago we attempted, with a couple of other friends, to build a senior center, but we didn't have the right leadership and, unfortunately, it didn't work. We might have bee n too early, also. So then my friend told me about three years ago or so, four years ago, about a new senior center, and there was a Dr. Jaclynn Faffer that was running it. I had never even heard of it. It had gotten no publicity. And I heard then later she rented a 500-square-foot area on -- close to where we live, actually. She had two part-timers with 80 seniors. And with continued hard work and determination, we now have a staff of 20, 225 fully vetted and trained volunteers, and we serve 1,400 people. We got the second floor, and I joined the board sho rtly after, and I saw that we were just so crowded. You couldn't hardly park when we'd have our board meetings. You know, if you didn't get there at a certain time, you couldn't even park there. We were -- already had too many people there. What I've also seen is that we've looked for over three years to try and find a location. It is very difficult in Naples to find -- in Collier County to find a location. It's a hot area, and when there are some locations, there are many businesses that want to get those locations. We don't fit well in some big commercial area because that's not what our seniors are used to and what they want. December 8, 2020 Page 141 Somebody mentioned, are we -- this location, why it's so good. One of the reasons, nearly half the seniors that are with us live within a short drive from this location. So it's an incredible location for us. And when I saw it, you know, we were so pleased to see something with 13 acres, and we have space -- outdoor space. We would do all the things to make this look right and do right. So let me say, during this time, when we had to close the Senior Center, we found something very interesting. Jackie didn't just give up. She actually goes to the office with the people, and we reach about a thousand people every week to make sure there's somebody talking to them to try and help them. Because of this loneliness and this pandemic on top of it, there's a friend out there to help you. Also, we found out there were people that were having trouble getting food, so we got in touch with Wynn's. And Michael Wynn is on a board that I'm on. He's a terrific guy. I said, can you help us out? In two minutes he said yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Baker. MR. BAKER: And now we've been able to help these people. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Baker, we're going to need you to wrap up, if you would, please. MR. BAKER: Okay. I would like to end it in really saying, we're all going to be seniors one day. Patty and I are seniors right now. And we need this so desperately for these seniors. It's grown this big because of the incredible need. So I'd like to just say to you, this is such a need, so important. You've seen traffic studies. You've seen all the other things. You understand those. This is one of the greatest needs in this community, and you can make this happen for us. Thank you so very much. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your next speaker is Steven Bracci, followed by Michelle Bracci. December 8, 2020 Page 142 Mr. Bracci, are you with us online, sir? MR. BRACCI: Yes, I am. Can you hear me? MR. MILLER: Sure. You have three minutes, sir. Please begin. MR. BRACCI: Thank you. My name is Steve Bracci. I reside in Oakes Estates. I've been an attorney since 1994, and a Florida licensed attorney since 1998, moved to Collier County in 1999, and have been active in real estate development and real estate law since then. The explanation provided by the Naples Senior Center as to the massive countywide need for this large facility is t he very reason why it cannot go at this location, because it violates the Golden Gate Area Master Plan. The applicant has not provided relevant and appropriate data under the Community Planning Act, Chapter 163 Florida Statutes, to show both the need and the 30,000-square-foot intensity of need at this location. The applicant supports this project based on a needs study for senior and indigent services within the entirety of Collier County and also Lee County all the way to Estero. In fact, they tout a need so large that they anticipate that people will drive up and down Interstate 75 destined to daily for our semirural neighborhood. The application violates the following provisions of the Golden Gate Area Master Plan: Goal 1, to balance the need to provi de basic services and to provide a well-planned mix of compatible land uses which ensure the health, safety, and welfare and quality of life for the local residents. The Golden Gate Area Master Plan was planned and instituted to address specific geographic areas. Goal 1 of the plan is to balance those needs. To repeat, this talks about local residents. In this context, the local residents are the residents within the specific geographic area of the Golden Gate Master Plan, not the county at large and certainly not Lee County all the way to Estero. December 8, 2020 Page 143 Compare, for example, the applicant's own admission that in the future they will have local satellites for various areas. This makes sense. Localized need and corresponding localized services. They've not done that here. They've created a massive needs study two counties wide, all of which will then be compressed into our semirural neighborhood burdened with a 30,000-square-foot supercenter with I-75 serving as the spine road. This application also violates Objective 1.4 of the Golden Gate Area Master Plan to provide a living environment within the Golden Gate area which is aesthetically acceptable and protects quality of life. They talk about wanting a pastoral setting for themselves failing to recognize that it's not -- pastorality is not a two-way street. We neighbors within Oakes Estate have pastorality amongst ourselves with our larger Estate lots, but by contrast, their 30,000-square-foot supercenter will usurp our own pastorality. We're giving them pastorality but not vice versus. Again, that goes to compatibi lity. The application also violates Goal 5 of the Golden Gate Area Master Plan, which is to balance the desire by residents for urban amenities within the Golden Gate Estates with the preserv ation of the area's rural character as defined by limitations on commercial and conditional use. Certainly, a 30,000-square-foot regional destination with I-75 as the spine road is not preserving the area's rural character. It's basically turning it into a regional center like other large regional centers and, again, so large, as somebody mentioned earlier, that this county was considering moving them to the regional park. That admission alone and the vote by this commission to establish a study to put them there shows that you guys know that this is not appropriate for a semirural neighborhood. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Bracci, we need you to wrap up, if you would, please. December 8, 2020 Page 144 MR. BRACCI: I'll do so. Chair Saunders, just in closing, I just want to remind you that for the last two years at your town hall you've mentioned your desire to protect the residents and neighborhoods, and you mentioned that people come to Florida and pick neighborhoods because of their -- wanting to have a nice neighborhood and have it be stable and not change, and I would suggest that now is the time to make good on that pledge. Thank you. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your final registered speaker for this item is Michelle Bracci -- Bracci, I'm sorry. Ms. Bracci, are you with us online? MS. BRACCI: I am. Can you hear me? MR. MILLER: Yes, ma'am. You have three minutes. Please begin. MS. BRACCI: Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Michelle Bracci. I'm an owner on Hidden Oakes Lane. My backyard is adjacent to the southeast corner of the proposed site, and I oppose the proposed new NSC location in my neighborhood because its PUD operational standards will always be subject to change. The site is also a regional attracter that will draw people countywide and beyond into our neighborhood. One of NSC's themes has been, what you see is what you get; we will stand by our commitments. Informational pieces and public statements from NSC cast doubt on the veracity of that statement. Back in September of 2019, they set forth their proposed PUD operational standards to limit hours from 10 to 3 with rotating schedules, never on weekends or evening hours, with Wednesday lunch of 150 and maximum daily attendance of 280. At that same time their own website contradicted those figures, showing programs from 9:30 in the morning, sometimes ending after 4:00 p.m., and also December 8, 2020 Page 145 a history of two Saturday programs and one evening event that occurred at the Castello location. Later in January of 2020 at the NIM and on the -- and their website, those standards continued to change. Most noteworthy, they increased the Wednesday lunch to 200 and the center's average daily attendance to 335 with now a maximum attendance of 485. They also showed multiple double-booked programs with program end times as late as 4:30 p.m. Later in February, Grady Minor filed an exhibit wi thin the county's record that changed the PUD standards to include programming from 9:30 in the morning to 4:00 p.m. and staff hours from 8:00 to 6:00 and also added for the first time ever that the center would be able to obtain special-event permits permitting outdoor and amplified music, and this specifically was previously denied by Naples Senior Center, including today. Later again, in March of 2020 at the Planning Commission meeting, those objectives continued to change, and we saw something new. It was the addition of cafe time added to its daily calendar, which was also shown in an exhibit this morning. Naples Senior Center has denied all food services other than the catered Wednesday lunch at the site. This pattern of evolving standards is of concern to Oakes. Naples Senior Center and Grady Minor have adamantly maintained that the PUD -- that the PUD is what sets an unwavering limit to the Naples Senior Center uses. A PUD, however, is never absolute, has loopholes later used to justify expanded uses, and may be amended to add principal and accessory uses and operational standards. This is essentially what Naples Senior Center has done throughout this process by continuing to revise all of these standards based on Oakes concerns. The fact that they, by their own study, identify as a regional December 8, 2020 Page 146 attracter is problematic because they'll continue to draw increasing numbers of attendees from a two-countywide area, and that alone may require a PUD amendment for capacity reasons. I'd like to highlight two specific volume and regional attracter concerns. The first is the food pantry, which is an allowed accessory use -- (Simultaneous crosstalk.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ms. Bracci, we're going to need you to wrap up, if you would, please. MS. BRACCI: I will. Thank you. -- open Monday through Friday to all of Collier County. This raises questions of volume and traffic. The second i s their outreach programs. In a November 2015 video, Ms. Faffer highlights their multiple relationships with organizations like Shine, other civic services, and healthcare providers, again, bringing in accessory services and other programs to use their site. So for these reasons, we ask that the BOCC direct the Naples Senior Center to source a nonresidential location on an arterial roadway that's suitable for a regional attracter. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Do we have any other speakers? I know there were several that you called -- MR. MILLER: I've not heard from any of the in-person speakers that we've called, and that was our final registrant online, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Then, without objection, I'll close the public hearing. (Cell phone rang.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We're now at the stage of listening to dance music -- at the stage of questions or comments from the Commission, unless you have -- December 8, 2020 Page 147 MR. YOVANOVICH: Can I address just a few of the comments? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes. MR. YOVANOVICH: I will not try to address every comment, but -- Troy, can -- MR. MILLER: Yeah. MR. YOVANOVICH: Thank you. I -- bear with me. I want to address, kind of, themes, if I can, why this location is an important theme that needs to be addressed, and the reality is we've been at this for three-and-a-half years to find a parcel of property that meets the needs. The reality is the Oakes Association or representatives of the Oakes Association has given us multiple leads, if you will. None of which panned out to be an appropriate location to meet where the current members are and the future members are as evidenced by this exhibit right here that shows you where our current membership is. And we all know where the development of Collier County is, and we all know that the urban area is essentially built out. So to find a parcel of property that meets the needs of seniors in Collier County in an appropriate location is no simple task. If there was a location that wasn't going to affect somebody, we would have found it. And to say that because the county offered a wetland piece of property to the Naples Senior Center to go through the development process that the county itself decided to not go through when the opposition to that impact of a wetland area is not a -- is not a reasonable alternative provided by the residents of Collier County or Collier County staff. We appreciated the look at that but, at the end of the day, that was not an appropriate location to relocate the Naples Senior Center. So, yes, we can stand here today and tell you that this is the best December 8, 2020 Page 148 location in Collier County for the Naples Senior Center based upon the existing available land and the facts as they exist today. I will tell you that I found it interesting that somehow Mr. Fry was able to put a 13-and-a-half acre development on a 5-acre piece of property. I don't know how he did it, but you can't put 13-and-a-half acres on five acres, and that's the exhibit he showed you. He superimposed our project on a five-acre piece of property and didn't eliminate anything. So you can't -- you can't do what he did. It doesn't fit on that piece of property. The experts in traffic that analyzed this petition took into consideration the Standing Oaks development that one of your speakers brought up. Jim Banks took that into consideration. It was reviewed by your staff and an independent staff, Jacobs Group, to verify that we will not have a negative impact on the safety of Oakes Boulevard or the streets within that community. Now, keep in mind that Oakes -- the Oakes community got the county to eliminate Oakes Boulevard -- it was supposed to be a four-lane road. It was -- they got it down to a two-lane road. The Oakes community has refused to interconnect their streets with Logan Boulevard, which is something the county would like to see happen so they would have another way out. They imposed those restrictions upon themselves, and yet the transportation consultants have all said, with those self-imposed limitations and desires, the streets will, in fact, be safe, and they will operate appropriately and meet all the level-of-service standards. So the experts in transportation have said, there will not be a negative impact on the Oakes Boulevard or Autumn Oaks Lane or Valewood Drive, and safety -- traffic will, in fact, be safe. The reality is, we are not in the middle of the Oakes community. We are proposing a first-class neighborhood senior center -- or the Naples Senior Center on the edge of the Oakes community right by December 8, 2020 Page 149 Immokalee Road. I thought Commissioner LoCastro's question or comment about traffic -- even if we couldn't put 13-and-a-half acres on a 5-acre parcel, people from the south would still be going up Oakes Boulevard to get to Immokalee Road to get to that center. The traffic patterns are better where we're currently located because you will, in fact, have the ability to get in and out on a traffic signal on Immokalee Road, unlike the other option. This location is the best location. It meets the needs of seniors. You've heard it from other experts. Dan Lavender, that's his mission is to make sure that seniors receive the services that they need and they have the appropriate services. He told you this was the right location. We stand by this project being in the right location, not negatively impacting the Oakes community. It reminds me -- and I can't remember if Commissioner Solis was on the Planning Commission at the time or not, but one of your speakers said this is similar to Pine Ridge, the community. Well, I live in Pine Ridge, and the Pine Ridge community went through the same analysis when Covenant Church was going through an expansion. And, believe me, there were a lot of people in Pine Ridge concerned about the cut-through traffic for people to get through and get to that church from Goodlette-Frank Road. They were worried about cut-through traffic, and it was a church. It was a daycare. It was all of these activities that were associated with the church, and the community was concerned about that. That's where the condition to have a police officer came about to make sure that if there were traffic issues, they would be addressed by that police officer being there when necessary. You recently approved an expansion to Covenant Church. I think we added about 13,000 square feet to the overall church on your summary agenda. We made, like, a two-minute presentation to the Planning Commission because the residents of Pine Ridge December 8, 2020 Page 150 realized that their worst fear was incorrect. I know there is concern in the Oakes community, but we know that those concerns, once we are up and operating, will not come to fruition and that this is a valuable asset, just like Covenant Church turned out to be a very valuable asset to the Pine Ridge community. And we are requesting that you follow your staff, your professional staff, and your expert's recommendation, together with your Planning Commission's recommendation, to approve both requested petitions. And with that, I'll answer any questions. I'm not going to get into every detail of every comment that was made, but I just wanted to deal with those themes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Are there any questions from the Commission? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I do have one. I don't see anybody else's light lit up at this point. There's been some comments about this being a regional attracter, including attracting clients, cus tomers, seniors as far away as Estero. Can you talk a little bit about the needs analysis that your client did and what the service area is of this facility? MR. YOVANOVICH: The reality, there is a tremendous need; there is a tremendous need in Collier County. But generally, based upon the location of this, I can't tell you that there's not going to be somebody not coming from southern Lee, but the demand is based upon the demand of Collier County and the need to serve Collier County residents. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Do you have members there now that are from Lee County? DR. FAFFER: A handful. MR. YOVANOVICH: Jackie said there's a handful of members. December 8, 2020 Page 151 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Jackie, if you'd come on up. Jackie, again, the question is dealing with whether or not this is a regional attracter. You've indicated that there were a handful of -- DR. FAFFER: We have a handful of members from Lee County, Southern Lee. We have a few members from Estero in our dementia respite program. I will also tell you that in the last six months, I've provided consultation to Lee County organizations, an organization in Estero and Bonita towards the development of their own senior centers. So there will be senior centers north of us as well. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. So in terms of advertising to seniors that this facility is there, how do you do that, and do you advertise in Lee County for that? DR. FAFFER: Well, we don't advertise. But people from Lee County -- it's too far for them. So there's -- for the most part, it's Collier County, and it's all of Collier County. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Mr. Yovanovich showed us a chart -- just a second -- hang on a second -- showed us a chart that had the location of your members. DR. FAFFER: Yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It looked -- if you could put that back up. It looked like the vast bulk of them are within a short distance of this new location, and I just want to make sure that -- those numbers are correct. DR. FAFFER: They're correct, and they were our guiding light as we were looking for an appropriate location. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. Hi, Dr. Faffer. It's my understanding that this is how you founded [sic] your current location, is that correct, by the numbers? DR. FAFFER: Yes. In fact, the studies said -- congratulated us December 8, 2020 Page 152 because it was the bull's eye on the target. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And the -- how long has your current location been open? DR. FAFFER: Since 2014. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And have you had any complaints? Because there is residential around you. There is commercial and residential. Are there any complaints or any kind because -- you know, that's -- that lunch on Wednesdays is a popular lunch. DR. FAFFER: Yes. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I remember parking in your parking lot and how well organized it was. But there's a -- there -- you know, that is a very popular event. Were there any complaints from anyone at any point? DR. FAFFER: We take being a good neighbor very seriously, and when we saw that parking was becoming an issue, we hired valet parkers, because we developed a relationship with the church on the corner, and we hired valets for Wednesdays. And then as our programs grew, we hired valets for every day of the week, so it was not a problem. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I don't see anybody else's light lit up. I am going to make just a quick comment, then I think we're probably ready for a motion. MR. CASALANGUIDA: No, sir, if you were going to deliberate. I was going to say, if you're going to have a conversation, it might be appropriate to give Terri a break. I know her fingers have been nimbling away; 15 minutes past normal. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Why don't we take a break until 3:00 p.m. (A brief recess was had from 2:47 p.m. to 2:58 p.m.) December 8, 2020 Page 153 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll please take your seats, we'll reconvene the meeting of the County Commission. Commissioner Taylor, your light is lit up. I'm not sure if you have some questions or if that's left over from before. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, it's not left over from before. I'd like to make a statement if -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Absolutely. Sure. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: In speaking with Dr. Faffer just now at the break, I think there's some confusion with the public that the Senior Center has nighttime events. They do, but it's different places where they have gatherings outside of the Senior Center. Maybe a country club or a hall somewhere where they gather people together at that time. I'm not sure that's even happening right now. DR. FAFFER: No. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Also, really, they have been such a great neighbor in my district again and again. They don't charge people to go there. The need for food is incredible with the seniors. They opened up a food pantry. That's how they got people to come there. When they -- when they approach people to partake of what they offer, they never do it with a hammer. It is almost a kindness and a respect for their dignity. And I would be hard-pressed to think that they wouldn't extend that to the neighborhood that they were in, whatever neighborhood it was in. And for that [sic] reasons, I'd like to make a motion to approve. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have two petitions that are before us -- before us. So we're going to take them one at time. We're on Item 9A, which is to approve the ordinance. So your motion would be in reference to Item 9A? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, Mr. Klatzkow, I assume that December 8, 2020 Page 154 we're at the point now where the public hearing is closed. We have no other comments from the petitioner, so we're ready for the motion; is that correct? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Can I make some comments? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Oh, yeah, yeah. I just want to make sure we're following the right procedure, so... MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So even though we're hearing them at the same time, the motions are separate. MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. You should do the comprehensive plan first, because if that fails, there's no point in doing the PUD. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Then I'd like to make a motion to amend the Comprehensive Plan -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- according to the agenda item in front of us to allow the Senior Center to be at this location. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I definitely have gone into this neutral as a new commissioner and knowing that this was probably the first big thing that was going to come to the table here. I spent quite a bit of time with folks on both sides of the aisle, to include the neighborhood association. Spent over two-and-a-half hours meeting with them in their church to educate myself on their points, and I appreciate their respectfulness and professionalism, not only when I spoke with them, but even here today. I have no doubt that the Senior Center has done an expansive search of property. This is a big footprint, and so it's not just, you know, there's 50 locations around the corner. I want you to know I reached out to my predecessor because, you know, after 20 years of sitting in the seat here, she certainly has a December 8, 2020 Page 155 viewpoint. And I will tell you, her question was she was concerned about people from East Naples and the current Senior Center and how far they would have to go. I want you to know that if you looked at the ZIP code map, there's not all that many people from East Naples, and I reached out to as many of them as I can, and 100 percent of them says -- said they would drive the extra couple of miles to get to the improved center or they would be taking the bus, the increased bus service, so it wasn't an impact on District 1. We talked about maybe more people coming from the north, maybe as far as Estero. I don't know how long of a drive they'd make, but one thing I do know is if anybody was coming from the north, they would never hit Oakes Boulevard. They would take the I-75, get off on Immokalee, and Oakes Boulevard would be a zero factor. If you look at the ZIP code map, the vast majority come from the west or from the north, so they would be taking a gigantic detour if they are going to take Oakes Boulevard. So it's not 400 cars a day hitting Oakes Boulevard. You know, as I educated myself on the legal considerations for rezoning, I just don't see that this is a huge muscle movement for the rezone to make the change. It meets plenty of the criteria, you know, crystal clear. So I know this isn't about the mission. I really appreciated people who spoke about the location. There's not one person in this room that doesn't think seniors, you know, need help, and that the Senior Center is a good idea. But I also agree that I think this is a great location, and I think in time, in short order, this neighborhood, much like some of the citizens who were for it, will really appreciate having the center in the north corner of their neighborhood. It's not smack dab in the middle. So I liked what I heard today, especially having been a totally neutral person just a short time ago. December 8, 2020 Page 156 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. I have a question for the petitioner. And I don't want to lead you down a rosy path. I haven't changed my opinion. Love the mission; don't care for the location. I concur with Commissioner LoCastro with regard to the need for services and help for our elderly community all the way across the board. I would like, if you could, to pop -- I would like to ask if -- because one of the concerns is traffic on a regular basis, and we don't have a lot of control over people coming to the facility, as has been mentioned, but both of your access points, the one on the westerly side is kind of tilted that doesn't -- isn't conducive for a left-out. I was wondering if you could -- you could really control 50 percent of that traffic on an exit standpoint by signing that says "no left turn" back out onto the main street. That would -- that would be a huge. I mean -- "huge." It would be a huge help to the residents of Oakes that have expressed the concerns on the driveway on Oakes so ons and so forth. And it's not something that I have heard mentioned by anybody that would -- you know that would help curtail some of the concerns. My second question -- and, again, who could question the integrity of the folks that are serving on the board of this organization that are operating. Dr. Jackie, she's a little mad at me right now, but -- DR. FAFFER: No. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: But I -- the integrity is not the issue of the folks that are here. It's for those who are coming, and potentially when the leadership changes, when the operational aspects change. Is there a way that we can protect this use in perpetuity? MR. YOVANOVICH: The answer is the Growth Management December 8, 2020 Page 157 Plan amendment that we're asking for is very limited to just this use. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. YOVANOVICH: Likewise, the PUD is limited to just this use. So if someone -- someone said, well, we're going to sell this piece of property to some other commercial user, well, one, we know that's not true, but even if that did happen, they would have to do a Growth Management Plan amendment and a PUD change and convince four of the five of you to allow a real commercial use on this piece of property. And I don't like that person's chances of being successful. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Well, and -- MR. YOVANOVICH: So they are protected in perpetuity, you know, subject to someone coming to you and trying -- being crazy enough to try to convince four of the five of you to change that to a real commercial use. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Some of the -- and that, again, is why I wanted that to be stipulated so that the folks that have those concerns actually know those rules. I'm quite aware of what those rules, in fact, are. MR. YOVANOVICH: Sure. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And then -- well, there again, to state my primary reason it's just -- I don't -- I don't believe that the facility and its size are compatible for a transitional commercial use. And -- now, it kind of sort of looks like it's really not heading the way that I would prefer it to go, but I was wondering -- because one of the things that you had said on a regular basis is you plan on satellite facilities throughout the community, and why not have this be one of the satellite facilities that was more conducive to a transitional use from commercial into the residential area? MR. YOVANOVICH: Well, I think you have to look at the current need and the current location based upon the -- it's not December 8, 2020 Page 158 showing up -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You don't have to pop it up. MR. YOVANOVICH: When you look at the ZIP codes, that makes the sense to be -- that should be where the primary campus is, and it makes sense to have a satellite campus on Marco Island. It would make sense to maybe have a satellite campus out some day in Ave Maria. It doesn't make sense to have your satellite where the majority of your members are currently residing. So I think that's why this location was picked as the hub. And there could be satellite campuses out in the future in other areas. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I do appreciate your limiting of the traffic heading back out to Oakes Boulevard. The no left turn out on both those entrances will at least alleviate some of that. MR. YOVANOVICH: And if I can add one more comment about the satellite campus. We had talked about to Mr. LoCastro's predecessor about the concern about people in East Naples and doing a satellite campus there, and they wanted no part of that. They wanted to come to the main campus and be part of the larger senior community, so they didn't -- because we thought that was a -- and they said, no, no, no, and that's why we have committed to traffic -- bringing transportation, because people want to be at the main -- at the main campus. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I was just going to point out a couple things that I think, for me, have been decisive. One, the limitation in the amendment -- the Comp Plan amendment to really just this use. I mean, there's -- I'm not aware of any other commercial uses that would be interested in purchasing a location that would only be open, you know, from 9:00 in the morning till 4:00 in the afternoon and nothing on the weekends. It's just -- I think -- I think those limitations are a significant protection for the neighborhood. December 8, 2020 Page 159 Also, you know, the fact that the center has agreed to leave the five acres, an entire five acres as a buffer and not include it as part of the PUD -- right, Rich? It's not part -- it's going to remain zoned Estates? MR. YOVANOVICH: No. It's part of the PUD. It's not part of the Comp Plan amendment. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: But it's not changing. MR. YOVANOVICH: It's not part of the Comp Plan. It's part of the PUD. But on the PUD that is limited to open space and preserve uses. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right. I mean, it's a -- it's a significant -- probably more than -- it's more than a third of the property's going to be limited to just preserve and open space where it separates the most. I mean, I think -- it seems to me that the Senior Center's done everything it could do to make it transitional in that regard, and so, I mean, if there's a -- I don't know if there's been a second yet. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: There has not been a second. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. I'd second it. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And we have a motion and second. I've got a couple comments and -- you know, one of the things -- for me this is one of the most difficult decisions that I've had to deal with over the last four years, quite frankly. I remember we had a public hearing on a church. I think you represented the church. It seemed to be a perfect location right on 951 and Golden Gate Boulevard, and the Commission turned that down. The neighborhood was in opposition to it. But it was a -- the comment was, well, we have to put churches somewhere, and if that's not a good location, what would be a good location? It was right -- right on two major arterials. December 8, 2020 Page 160 And the point of all that was that the Commission was trying to make sure that we didn't negatively impact neighborhoods, and that's why this decision for me is so difficult. The mission, the project itself, no issues at all with that. The question becomes, where do you locate something like that, and what is the negative impact on the neighborhood? I don't think there's any place that this could go where there's not some negative impact on the community or, if it's required to be in a -- one of our activity centers, for example, that just isn't an appropriate location for this type of activity. I'm leaning towards supporting this. This is -- from a political standpoint, obviously, this is a very difficult vote for me, but I've always fallen on the side of doing what is correct in my view versus what might be political. And it looks like this may be a 4-1 vote. It's my district, but I just don't see any good to say no to this, because I think it's going to be a tremendous asset, and I think it's going to be, quite frankly, an asset in the community. We have a motion and a second. Commissioner Taylor? MR. KLATZKOW: Commissioner? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Mr. Chair, as it is your district, I am very close to the Naples Senior Center only because it has been in my district, and I've watched them grow. But if you would -- you would agree to this, I would like to give you my first, my motion. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That's okay. We have a motion and second. There's -- the making of the motion isn't what's critical here. MR. KLATZKOW: Commissioner? Commissioner? There have been a number of comments throughout the meeting as to potential conditions or additional conditions. I don't know if you want to make that part of the motion or not. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, my understanding is -- and December 8, 2020 Page 161 maybe we need to just make sure that -- MR. KLATZKOW: And you've got the Comp Plan and the PUD. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, I think we understand what all the conditions are. MR. YOVANOVICH: All the conditions I showed are in the PUD. They're in there, and some of them are in the Comp Plan. Not all of them are in the Comp Plan, but -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Klatzkow, was there something that we had -- MR. YOVANOVICH: Was there something specific? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- suggested that was not included in that? MR. KLATZKOW: I had thought that you had made some comments throughout. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I did, and I went through a list. No activities after 4:00, no activities before 9:30. MR. YOVANOVICH: Right. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: No outdoor amplification of music or anything of that nature, speeches or anything; 30,000 -square-foot building that could not be enlarged. MR. YOVANOVICH: Right. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All providers of materials and services for the facility in terms of construction and after it's operating will be on Valewood, and you'll make sure of that. That will be a condition. MR. YOVANOVICH: That needs to go into the PUD. That has not been -- that's not already in there. We do need to add that to the PUD, Mr. Klatzkow. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. That has to go in the PUD. And that your public transportation that you're providing -- December 8, 2020 Page 162 MR. YOVANOVICH: Will also use -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- will also all be on Valewood. MR. YOVANOVICH: Yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And that if -- obviously, if Valewood becomes crowded, the county staff will make a decision concerning -- MR. YOVANOVICH: And that's already in there, Commissioner Saunders. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And I will also say that I do not believe, even though it's been stated by a few folks, that this serves as a precedent at all. I've asked the County Attorney for his opinion, and he agreed with that. Every zoning case is separate. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And just as a point, I had asked that they, at least signage-wise, put no left turns out of both of the entrances to reduce the traffic of impact coming out of the facility onto Oakes. MR. YOVANOVICH: I think what you had said, right after your -- you don't want to "paint a rosy picture" comment, was the western entrance, you wanted us to put a sign that says "no left turn out." COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's already tilted to the east to induce people to come out and go to the right. But if you at least sign both entrances for lack of -- that was a comment that I made. MR. YOVANOVICH: Okay. That's fine. I thought your comment was limited to the western entrance, but if you want a sign that discourages -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. MR. YOVANOVICH: -- left-turn lanes at both entrances -- left turns at both entrances, we don't have an objection to that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And like you, Commissioners December 8, 2020 Page 163 Saunders, I just -- I agree that each zoning request stands on its own. There is a provision within the Golden Gate Master Plan that allows for nonconforming uses of contiguous property to have the right for a conditional use. So it, Commissioner Taylor, can have that premise of commercial creep as you're going along. Now, this particular facility is fairly well insulated, but in the master plan it's something that we need to be cognizant of as we're going forward, so... CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I think we understand what the conditions are. Seeing no other lights, all in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed, signify by saying no. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes 4-1. Item 9B. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Make a motion for approval. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion. Is there a second? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, all in favor, signify by saying aye. December 8, 2020 Page 164 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye, or no. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Passes 4-1. MR. YOVANOVICH: Thank you for your time, appreciate it, and your approval. MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that would take us to Item 10A on your agenda. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, sir. During the change sheet, we did have a time-certain hearing that Commissioner Taylor had asked about to be heard no sooner than 1:00 p.m. Mr. Chairman, I don't know if you want to take that item up first. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, let's go ahead and do that. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We're only an hour -- two hours and 19 minutes late on that one. MR. OCHS: That item is -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd please be quiet as you're leaving, we're going to continue conducting business. MR. CASALANGUIDA: I think the petitioner's on his way in, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Mr. Ochs, is there an item we can pick up real quickly that will just take a minute or two? MR. OCHS: Perhaps Item 10A, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Sure. All right. Item #10A December 8, 2020 Page 165 FORMALIZING THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS POSITION REGARDING THE POTENTIAL EXPANSION OF THE BIG CYPRESS BASIN BOUNDARY WITHIN THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT - MOTION DIRECTING STAFF TO DEVELOP A PROCESS AND PRESENT IMPACT OF THE EXPANDED BOUNDARIES AT A FUTURE BOARD MEETING – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Would you like to take that? This is a recommendation to formalize the Board of County Commissioners position regarding the potential expansion of the Big Cypress Basin boundary within the Florida Water Management District. Commissioner Solis has placed this item on the Board's agenda. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah, and I'll try to be as brief as I can, because there's really nothing to discuss in terms of the boundary itself, I think, right now. But just as some background as was in the executive summary, Lee County, the City of Bonita Springs, and the Village of Estero had petitioned the District to evaluate an amendment to the Big Cypress Basin boundary, which includes all of Collier County and, news to me, but apparently a small little piece of Monroe County. I did not know that; uninhabited, but yet it's a little piece outside of Collier County. And the legislature, I guess, directed the District to do a study to look at what the scientific boundary of the basin is, not a political boundary but a scientific boundary. Where does the water come from and where does it go in terms of this particular basin or groups of basins? And that study's been completed, and I think this is obviously of significant importance to Collier County. And so what I'm suggesting is that we direct the staff to come up with a process in conjunction with other agencies, the municipalities, to formalize a December 8, 2020 Page 166 position on, you know, an expansion of the boundary, because some of the issues could be complicated. The operational effects of expanding the boundaries. How's the governance of the district going to work? What's the financial impact on how the basin, you know, funds the projects that it does? And then how's the representation going to work? I mean, right now, it's -- it's -- it's all -- the basin board is all Collier County residents, right? So I think there's some very significant issues that need to be fleshed out and vetted publicly so that we're all on the same page, and then we can develop a position, whatever that position may be, in the future. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I had one quick comment when I was reviewing this. I liked the -- thank you for bringing this forward. It's been a subject that we've talked about quite regularly. One of my suggestions was that we appoint somebody from this board to serve on the basin board as a portion of that -- as a portion of that entire process as long as it doesn't create a conflict with revenues and expenses and so ons and so forth, so... CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. On the issue -- and I'll start off by saying I do not want to be appointed to the Big Cypress Basin board. I have a fairly long history on this particular issue. The goal a few years ago was to expand the boundary to include the real boundary, the physical boundary of the Big Cypress Basin, which goes way into Lee County. The theory being that tax dollars raised in the Big Cypress Basin, whether they're generated in Collier County or Collier County, would stay in the respective county. Right now that area in Lee County is part of the Caloosahatchee, I believe, Basin, and dollars raised by that tax levy in Lee County for that basin go over to the East Coast. That money doesn't stay in Lee December 8, 2020 Page 167 County. In Collier County, dollars raised in the Big Cypress Basin stay in Collier County. The governance issue would be fairly easy to work out. The theory being money raised in Lee would stay in Lee; money raised in Collier would stay in Collier. There would be probably either a joint board or two boards to deal with that and, of course, the two boards would certainly work together on projects that were of a mutual benefit to the two counties. So my hope is that we ultimately support the expansion of the boundary, but we have to make sure that we don't lose any money, and we also have to make sure that we don't lose any control of the money that's generated in Lee County. Those are easy details to work out. Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I think -- what I think you're asking, Commissioner Solis, is that we figure -- before we take a position on this, we figure out how it's going to work; is that it? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right. I think we need to fully understand what the impact's going to be on governance, finance operational issues of what increasing the boundary would mean. I mean, how is -- you know, and one of the things that I had a conversation with Charlette Roman, one of the Basin board members, and she expressed a concern that, you know, how is this going to impact even Everglades restoration dollars? Could it somehow make that more complicated? And I don't -- I just -- I don't know enough about the issues to know one way or the other. So, yeah, it's really to be able to direct staff to start a process so that we can make an informed decision on what our position's going to be -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I think that's very wise. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- whatever it is. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: In Lee County if the basin was December 8, 2020 Page 168 expanded in Lee County and those dollars stayed in Lee County, that's about four or five million dollars a year that would be used for water management projects in Lee County. It would not impact the amount of money that we raise here for our projects. So I support the notion that we need to figure out how it would all work, but my hope would be that, ultimately, we are supportive of that expansion, because there are projects in Lee County that will benefit Collier County if they can -- if they can be properly funded. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. I'm sorry. May I ask a question, as you're familiar with this. Why would they not form their own basin and include more for the Fort Myers area? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, the issue is dollars. The South Florida Water Management District does not want those dollars that are generated in Lee County to not be -- for them not to be able to use those dollars and so -- for projects on the East Coast. So it's really just purely a financial issue. But the boundary -- the natural boundary of the Big Cypress goes all the way up close to the Caloosahatchee River. So, again, it's just purely a financial issue. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But it wouldn't make -- so they're saying if we're going to -- if we're going to create anything, have it follow the natural boundaries of the basins -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That's correct. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- is that correct? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Right. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And have it based on designs. Okay. I did speak to Mary Ellen Hawkins yesterday, and basically she said no. That was her response. She said the money in Collier needs to stay in Collier. And I think our -- what I'm hearing on our board is that's the intention here. December 8, 2020 Page 169 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Absolutely. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I think it's safe to say that the boundaries of the basin as it is now was not based -- it was a political boundary. It wasn't necessarily a scientific one. So the study wa s the scientific one, not a political one. And I, for one -- I mean, a lot of this is going to mean a lot to District 2 and the water coming out of Lee County. And some of this started with, I think, the conversations we were having with the City of Bonita Springs maybe, but -- about moving south or the potential for doing that. So, I just -- I think we need a formal process for analyzing this in consultation with the other agencies so that we can, you know, develop a reasoned approach to what our posit ion's going to be. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't want to repeat what he just said, but I like what he just said. I mean, at the end of the day, we're all downstream, and this is -- this decision to expand the boundaries has to do with the impact of the flow of water coming in Lee County that's ultimately coming to us, and it's a revenue source at the same time as Commissioner Saunders said. So we want to make sure that that -- you bring this agenda item. I'll second your motion for approval. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Go ahead and make the motion. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, okay. So I'll make a motion that we direct staff to develop a process and a presentation on a future agenda item to present the impacts of an expanded basin board boundary on Collier County so that we can take a position on it one way or the other. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel, you second that? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, yes, yes. December 8, 2020 Page 170 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. MR. OCHS: Thank you, Commissioners. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll move on to 14B1. Item #14B1 PUBLIC PETITION REQUEST FROM P6NT, LLC REGARDING THE REDEVELOPMENT OF TWO PARCELS LOCATED IN THE BAYSHORE GATEWAY TRIANGLE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA – MOTION FOR STAFF TO BRING BACK ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE PROPOSAL WITH FUNDING MECHANISM AT FIRST MEETING IN JANUARY – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. This is a recommendation that the Board, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency board, review the public petition request from P6NT, LLC, regarding the redevelopment of two parcels located in the Bayshore/Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment Area. Ms. Deborah Forester, your CRA Director -- MR. YOVANOVICH: I don't present first? MR. OCHS: Well, it's a staff item. We were asked to come back with an evaluation. December 8, 2020 Page 171 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You'll get plenty of time. MR. YOVANOVICH: I'm sorry. I thought I had to tell you what the request was. MR. OCHS: I think you already did. MS. FORESTER: Just a second while we change the presentation for you. MR. MILLER: Sorry about that. I don't see your presentation anywhere, Deb. MS. FORESTER: It should be 14B1. MR. OCHS: There it is. Got it. MS. FORESTER: There we go. Thank you. Good afternoon. For the record, Deborah Forester, CRA Director. On March 13th, this item was presented to the Board to consider a request to provide tax rebate incentive to P6NT for developing two vacant parcels located within the mini-triangle area of the Bayshore/Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment Area. The developer stated the incentive was necessary for the pro ject to succeed. The proposed project would include 24 condominiums, 125 hotel rooms, with the slated opening of July of 2023. A restaurant, parking structure, and it would be approximately 10 stories. P6NT is requesting a tax incentive comparable to the one the Board approved with Metropolitan Naples for the previously owned CRA property adjacent to the two parcels that P6NT currently has under contract. The one and only CRA tax increment rebate agreement that has been approved in Collier County was done to incentivize the first-in project on the CRA-owned property. In 2015, a request for proposals was issued to consider both price and concept to create a catalyst project on the 5.27-acre site that would foster revitalization of the surrounding gateway triangle area. December 8, 2020 Page 172 The solicitation notice requested that all submitted proposals identify any land-use modifications and financials/incentives required to develop the property. In 2016, the Board approved the negotiated purchase agreement which included a financial incentive to make the project feasible. The tax increment rebate agreement was approved in September that further outlined the project terms. What was the public benefit that was received when we entered into this agreement? The project property was rezoned to a Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development. We negotiated a cell tower removal and demolished that cell tower. We closed on that property on November 13th. We paid off our long-term outstanding debt on December 1st. The property has been returned to the tax rolls, and we now have another new partner that purchased about 1.6 acres of this property to develop the first of the many high-rises slated for this project. And to date, they had an SDP pre-application meeting. That project is moving forward with 270 multifamily dwelling units and 7,500 square feet of retail. At the October meeting, the petitioner volunteered to prepare an economic impact analysis of the project. On November 9th, staff received a copy of the report. Based on the analysis, the development will have a substantial positive impact on the community; however, the reasons why a tax incentive is necessary has not been demonstrated. Staff has requested additional information to understand if a final gap is needed -- is present in this project. The petitioner had declined to provide any additional information prior to this meeting. This project is not bringing forward a unique development contribution to the area. The petition is requesting the same incentive as provided to Metropolitan Naples without additional justification except that they are adjacent properties. The petitioner's tax December 8, 2020 Page 173 increment analysis estimated about 1.9 million in tax rebate based on 50 percent of increment collected from 2020 to 2030. Staff is recommending that the Board deny this petition based on the following: A financial gap has not been demonstrated that suggests public dollars are necessary. A public benefit outside of developing vacant land is not identified. A standard policy on evaluating financial incentives outside of commercial improvement grants available in the CRA has not been established and vetted through the public process. Without criteria, approval may set a precedent for other developers, regardless of the project type, to come forward and request similar tax rebates. However, if the Board does decide to move forward, staff suggests the following conditions and terms be considered in any incentive agreement: We suggest limiting the term to have it start once the entire project is completed, which is approximately 2024, and to have the increment sunset in 2030 when the CRA is scheduled to sunset. Limit it to 50 percent of the tax increment collected, and tax increment would only be on the hotel portion of the development, which we estimate -- or the petitioner estimated to be about a $30 million investment. Also that it would be tied to an approved site plan that would show the uses and architectural features similar to what is presented in their proposal; that they agree that there's no annexation into the City of Naples, which is similar to the same agreement that was done with Metropolitan Naples. And we also look to some type of public benefit. Two of the ideas would be a contribution to the Bayshore/Gateway Triangle public arts initiative or to do another community infrastructure and enhancement of the streetscape similar to -- or suggested such as undergrounding the utilities along U.S. 41. Based on staff's analysis, this would generate a total of about December 8, 2020 Page 174 $477,000 in tax increment over that period of time. The CRA Advisory Board did review this request at their December 1st meeting, and they voted to support staff recommendations. And with that, staff is here to answer any questions you may have. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Any questions for our staff? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Yovanovich, you have anything to add? MR. YOVANOVICH: A little bit. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just a little bit. MR. YOVANOVICH: Thank you for allowing me to appear before you to talk about the economic benefits of the proposed project by P6NT, LLC. David Parker is with me, who is the principal in that entity, if you have any questions that I can't -- I can't answer. Ms. Forester did correctly outline what the project is, that it's a 125-room hotel with two restaurants and 24 condominium units. And our request was for a 50 percent tax rebate for a 10-year period once the project is completed, similar to the tax rebate the county provided to, I guess, the successful bidder on the county's property. What is important is, what does the county get in return for the tax rebate? And we provided you the economic analysis, but I want to quickly run through the pictures of the project that already is in for an amendment to the SDP. We should have that SDP approved -- amendment approved by the end of the year. But you're looking at a mixed-use building that will have hotel units and the 24 condominium units within it, together with the restaurants and appropriate amenities, to serve both the hotel and residential units. The building is not a picture of what might happen; it's a picture of what is actually going to happen on this property. And when I get to the milestones slides, you'll see if we don't meet those milestones, December 8, 2020 Page 175 we would not be a recipient of any tax rebate. But I think it's important to know that the difference between what Mr. Parker is proposing and the pretty pictures you were shown during the county's presentation is, there's no guarantee you're going to get the pretty pictures on the county's property. We are guaranteeing you the project that we are showing you today in return for the tax increment -- or the tax increment rebate. You have all of this in your backup material, but ad valorem taxes that will be collected, together with sales tax, together w ith bed tax is approximately $16.4 million, 1,400 new jobs, and an investment of approximately $100 million in this triangle that Mr. Parker and his investors are willing to make. We are asking for the ad valorem tax dollars. And we broke this out because the staff asked us to break it out between what's the ad valorem taxes generated from the hotel and what are the ad valorem taxes generated from the condominiums. As you can see from this summary sheet, the hotel over that same -- restaurants over that 10-year period will generate approximately $3.6 million, and the condos will generate approximately $3.8 million. And the other taxes that I had mentioned, together with the other jobs. What we understand your staff's recommendation to be is only give us half -- give us 50 percent of just the hotel for only six years, from 2024 to 2030, which would result in a benefit of $477,000 if all the assumptions are done correctly. In return for that, they want Mr. Parker to, I guess, either spend $200,000 on public art or bury the utilities that not only are in front of Mr. Parker's property but the utilities that are in front of the county's purchaser's property. We've done a rough estimate of what it would cost to bury those utilities, and it's approximately $450,000. Could be more. Could be a little less depending on what we find in managing traffic. So under that scenario we would get $27,000 over a six-year December 8, 2020 Page 176 period in a rebate with an additional up-front cost of $450,000. It doesn't make a whole lot of business sense to go ahead and take that option. And then the $200,000 up-front costs to get $277,000 over a six-year period doesn't make a lot of sense either. What we're asking the commission to do is allow -- I don't know what happened. There we go -- allow for Mr. Parker to actually be the catalyst project for the triangle. We have milestones that are very stringent milestones that we will deliver in order to obtain a partial rebate of the taxes. The closing must occur by the end of January 2021. I moved that out a month because we thought we were going to be in front of you in November, so we were going to close at the end of t his year, but I moved it out an extra month so we can close. I have not moved the completion date of the hotel and when it has to be open and operating; and that we have to get the Site Development Plan amendment by March 26th, 2021. I also moved that a month, but I didn't move the date. The reality is, we're going to get the Site Development Plan amendment sooner than that. We would have to get our building permit by June of 2021, we'd have to mobilize and start construction on July 30th, 2021, project must be completed June 1, 2023, and the hotel must be opened by July 31, 2023. We're asking the county to encourage us, and if someone else wants to bring a 100-million-dollar project to the CRA, maybe they can come to you and say, what do you think? This is not a precedent. It's a process that you can consider encouraging people to invest in this area. I noticed the timeline. I hope -- I wrote it down as quickly as I could. I may have missed some dates. But it was in 2016 that the county went under contract to sell the property. It took four years for that closing to actually occur on the property. And I believe they're December 8, 2020 Page 177 getting 10 years’ worth of tax rebates from this point forward with no guarantee as to when they will actually build and construct this project. We're not asking for the same deal. We are asking for a very strict construction schedule. We're asking for the same 10-year period. And what we thought was -- because staff broke out the condo units versus the hotel units, we expected them to come back and say 50 percent of the tax revenue on the hotel units, which they kind of did, but we didn't expect the other expenses to be added to that, and we didn't certainly expect them to shorten the time period for the rebate. So what we think is this will be the catalyst project that will come out of the ground first in the CRA. You have innovation zones that you've created in different areas of Collier County. This is no different. And those innovation zones use the tax increment, and you actually pay impact fees or you provide infrastructure. You do a similar type of investment with developers to come to that part of town. We're asking you for a similar concept here. We think it is a -- it is a smart investment for the CRA to give back half of the taxes for that 10-year period. After that 10-year period, everything goes to the county. And we request that you consider the tax increment rebate that we had proposed. And I -- and with that, I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have regarding the specifics of the project, the specifics of the taxes, and our request. But we think that this is a valid investment by the county in a developer to come to the CRA and will, in fact, spur future development in the area, and you'll reap significant benefits by providing an incentive to this developer to come to this area. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, just a couple -- if you December 8, 2020 Page 178 could switch back to your analysis of the value, the jobs created, the revenue, tax generated. Because I -- in all candor, I don't like calling these things rebates. I would prefer to consider them an investment in our community and incentivization for folks to create jobs and generate revenue within the community. MR. YOVANOVICH: Right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So if you would, please, just go through this a lot slower -- MR. YOVANOVICH: Sure. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- if you would for me -- MR. YOVANOVICH: Sure. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- and share with me your calculation of the aggregate benefit for the developer at your proposal in relationship to jobs created and revenue. I'm sorry? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Go ahead, Commissioner. They were just -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The Commissioner asked me a question. MR. YOVANOVICH: Okay. And I know I went fast, and I know you have this in the back of your backup. I didn't want to give it short shift. But, essentially, the entire project is both the condominiums and the hotel. That's about a 100 million-dollar investment. That's a lot of construction-related jobs and permanent jobs when the hotel opens. So there will be 16.4 million in overall taxes, which includes ad valorem taxes, sales tax, and bed tax, and we can go through the specific numbers as we get further -- but that's $16.4 million. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's over a 10-year period from the completion of project. MR. YOVANOVICH: Correct. Of that number, approximately December 8, 2020 Page 179 7.4 are ad valorem tax dollars related to the hotel and the condominiums. You break that 7.4 down, it's almost roughly 50/50, but it's 3.6 million in ad valorem taxes related to the hotel and 3.8 million related to ad valorem taxes for the condos. There will be construction-related jobs of approximately 1,200 jobs, and there will be another, roughly, 200 jobs created by the hotel that will be permanent jobs related to operating the hotel. I'm sorry, it was 1,040 new jobs with 723 related to -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The restaurant. MR. YOVANOVICH: Yeah, the restaurant and the hotel, and then the condominium. But the -- what I'm -- so the investment -- and it's clearly an investment, but you guys refer to it as a rebate, because that's how you did it for the other project. "You guys" being the county, not you personally. But it is an investment. It's an investment in someone bringing a project to Collier County, risking almost $100 million to bring this project in an area that is intended to be redeveloped. And, candidly, we're going to be the first one out of the ground, so we're going to be taking the most risk, and we're just asking you to share and invest with us in making that investment in Collier County. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The other point I wanted to ask is the milestones that you brought forward, if any of those milestones are not met, are -- is the developer entitled to -- MR. YOVANOVICH: I get zero. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I got the zero sign. Okay. I thought I heard you say that, but I wanted to clarify it. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So I have a couple questions. I think I need to ask staff a couple questions. In looking at the executive summary and the backup materials, the executive summary says that staff is not recommending approval of CRA incentives for December 8, 2020 Page 180 this project due to the lack of financial information demonstrating the financial gap that requires a public assistance or public benefit received. So help me understand what the analysis is. I know we've openly done this sort of thing as a rebate on the adjoining piece once. But tell me about the analysis that you -- that staff wanted to do and why that's the right analysis. And then -- and I will just put this out there just so that Mr. Yovanovich has an opportunity to think about this and figure out how he's going to respond. Because, you know, I have mixed feelings about this, because, yes, these incentives and these rebates, whatever we call them, are to bring somebody that wants to invest in a redevelopment area that otherwise maybe wouldn't. And so what I hear -- and this makes me feel funny. I'm just being honest -- is that this is a project that's coming forward no matter what, and that's not what I understood this was about. So I'm a little -- I have some weird feelings about that. And so I'd like to hear from Mr. Yovanovich on that. But explain to me the analysis that you were wanting to do. MS. FORESTER: We would like to have done a pro forma to look to see what the internal rate of return would be, what was the equity involvement here. When I look at the proposal, it looks like the equity that the developer is putting in is, I believe, about 1.6 million, and they're taking out a $75 million loan. So what is the skin in the game, you'll have it, for the developer? What's the risk, you know, that we would be joining? What was the gap that was missing? In other redevelopment programs that do tax increment rebates on a regular basis, that is one of the main reasons that they provide incentives is because the developer shows that there's a gap; that there's something that they need to complete this project. If the gap wasn't there and if they didn't get the incentive, the project wouldn't go forward. December 8, 2020 Page 181 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So that's an analysis that we've done in other applications? I mean, that's an analysis that we have done in the past? MS. FORESTER: We have never done that, because we have never had another tax increment rebate come to us -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. MS. FORESTER: -- besides the one that was negotiated back in 2015/2016 when REPI, now Metropolitan Naples, came forward, and we negotiated that purchase agreement. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. And am I correct in that the opportunity zones, we create a zone, and there is a set kind of incentive built into that? MS. FORESTER: I'm not that familiar. I know they are different than redevelopment areas because they do not have the redevelopment statute guiding them. Anything that's used in a redevelopment area has to be identified in the plan. We have a separate trust fund this was established in 2000. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So it's a different framework, but -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: Both. You have money that's set aside and collected in a fund that they apply for through a project to receive and in, like, the Innovation Zone Activity Center No. 9, they can propose a project and ask for that TIF to fill the gap. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. MR. CASALANGUIDA: So they're all structured a little differently. Some collect money. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And it's the TIF to fill the gap. MR. CASALANGUIDA: To fill the gap from -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And that's an analysis that we do in those situations? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. Okay. That was -- that's December 8, 2020 Page 182 helpful. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Ms. Forester, can you just explain to me the rationale between the six years and the 10 years? I'm up here sort of doing the math. And I know they're asking for 10, and then I sort of missed a little bit of the point of why y ou proposed that the six years was a -- you know, a smarter idea or a better proposal. MS. FORESTER: Right now the Bayshore Gateway CRA is scheduled to sunset in 2030. So at that point in time, the redevelopment program would be terminated. And so this would then be taking the funds out of going into the general revenue and then be reallocated to this project. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: For four more years? MS. FORESTER: Yes. And so 2024 is the date that we think that this project would be completed and would be on the tax rolls. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Mr. Yovanovich? MR. YOVANOVICH: Commissioner Solis, if it's okay, can I address Mr. LoCastro's comment first and then yours? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Sure. MR. YOVANOVICH: I do want to point out that it's not unprecedented to go beyond the 2030. You're going beyond the 2030 for the property that was just sold by the county. So you're not required to live with the 2030 cutoff for this incentive program that we're asking to participate in. You're going beyond -- you're going more than 2030 on tax rebates for the property that was just acquired by the county. So the next thing -- the answer to your question is: We haven't closed on the property yet. This is a factor for the investors to consider. They are moving forward with site planning and doing the December 8, 2020 Page 183 evaluation of whether or not to actually close on the property. I can't tell you that they're going to walk from the closing if they don't get this incentive, but the reality is -- and, you know, I'm going to steal this from Mr. Parker, and I think we shared this in some of our conversations. When Mr. Bezos comes to a neighborhood, he doesn't necessarily need the money for the project to be a go. He wants to know that the community that he's investing in also wants to invest in him. And this is really what the investors in this project are saying: Do you also believe in this project and that this project will serve as the catalyst and benefit the community? So the investors in this project are asking you to share some of the risk that the project doesn't give them the total rate of return or internal rate of return that they were hoping for on this project because, as you know, there's a lot of risk, and investors expect a certain rate of return on that investment in order to take that risk. They're asking you to share in a very small portion of that risk through the tax increment financing or rebate, whatever the right word is, incentive. That's what they're asking you to do. And if we're all -- if we're all right that this project comes close to the pro forma -- they never actually hit the actual number in their pro forma, we're all winners. Collier County's a winner because you're going to get more taxes. You're going to get more taxes. And other property owners are going to see that a developer is willing to take the significant risk and likely will spur further investment in the CRA and likely to return greater taxes to the CRA and, ultimately, to Collier County when the county gets rid of the CRA and gets 100 cents of the dollar and none of it goes towards the CRA. So we're asking you to invest in us as well, and we think that the return for everybody is a good investment. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. December 8, 2020 Page 184 COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. Commissioner LoCastro, the reason that the first developers of Metropolitan were given that 10-year, because at that point we as a commission hadn't decided we wanted to end the Bayshore Gateway CRA at the date. We did that after the fact. So their 10 years was written in a contract right at the beginning. And I understand one of the big delays on that triangle property was the cell tower on it and how difficult it was to move it. And as the commissioner of the district -- and I was clear in my position before, and I didn't vote for this to be brought back and have the developer expend all this expense to try to convince us that we needed to invest in him for him to invest in the area. I am opposed to this. We are in Collier County. This is within -- I got a situation where it was, you really can't walk to the beach, okay, but you sure can walk to Fifth Avenue, and you sure can walk to the river, and you sure can walk to Baker Park, and if you can't walk to Baker Park, you can bike. This is a prime location, and I do not believe that we need to incentivize developers to come in. I think the return a developer gets from investing with us is a premier community, a premier area that is ripe for development, and it will only continue. And we have one of the premier areas within walking distance of this for arts, and that's the Bayshore Arts District. And the hotel or -- no, excuse me. The restaurants and then what is going to be the wine restaurant, the wine bar that's coming in there is just first class. Naples hasn't even seen this yet. This is what we give you, and we ask you, sir, to invest in us. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I have always thought that this particular triangle was, quite frankly, a difficult parcel to development, just because of the access and the traffic around it. And when you first made your presentation, I was supportive of December 8, 2020 Page 185 putting this on the agenda, but I was not supportive of moving forward with the rebate. I've kind of changed my mind a little bit. So this is a question -- I'm not sure exactly what the proposal is at this point. But I could see supporting a 10-year rebate, 50 percent of the tax -- ad valorem taxes on the hotel but not on the condominium. I think that that's a fairly small investment by the county. I believe that comes out to about 1.8 million over 10 years; is that correct? MR. YOVANOVICH: Yeah. You know my math's not the best. So it's probably 1.8. It will actually be based upon the real taxes. But, you know, based upon what we think the taxes are going to do, it would be $1.8 million over 10 years. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And if this project does not go, then there are no taxes to split. MR. YOVANOVICH: Right. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So I'm kind of leaning towards that. And I don't have a problem with the 10-year period, because I don't think it has to be tied to the CRA. But that's kind of my feeling at this point. Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I couldn't have said it better. I just wanted to clarify a couple of points. I concur that 50 percent on the commercial aspect, not the residential with the job creation, the revenues generated, the TDT tax, and clarify for me, if you would, please, the 761,000 in fees for the hotel and restaurant for a cumulative of impact fees, 275,400, all those numbers still come to the community -- to the government by having this project. MR. YOVANOVICH: Right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We're getting those revenues, and the investment that we're willing to put forth is approximately 1.6 December 8, 2020 Page 186 over a 10-year period. MR. YOVANOVICH: Yeah, about 1.8 over a 10-year period. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: 1.6, 1. -- it depends on what the actual assessed value is, yes. MR. YOVANOVICH: I didn't know if you were testing me on the math. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. I think I had made the motion to allow this to come back to us just to hear the presentation. Are there any -- Mr. County Attorney, are there any reservations? Again, I think we have these incentives to bring someone to invest and redevelop some property that otherwise has been blighted and nothing's going to happen. So there's something that makes me uneasy about this. Mr. County Attorney -- MR. KLATZKOW: We have a number of programs in Collier County as far as economic development goes. We do not have an ordinance with respect to tax exemptions or rebates. I believe you would need an ordinance to do what they're asking for, and that ordinance would have to be approved in a referendum. That doesn't mean we can't give economic incentives. We do that all the time. And money is fungible. So if the Board has an amount of money in mind to incentivize this we can do it. We do impact fee deferrals. There's a number of different ways to get to the same number. I just don't think we can go down the road of a tax exemption, not without an ordinance approved by the voters. MR. YOVANOVICH: I'm not asking for an exemption. What I'm asking for -- MR. KLATZKOW: It's a rebate. MR. YOVANOVICH: You will collect it -- MR. KLATZKOW: And give it back to you. MR. YOVANOVICH: It's cash. Cash is fungible. What I December 8, 2020 Page 187 heard you say is that as the money comes in, you can provide a cash incentive based upon collections for this project to go forward. I'm just suggesting that. We'll -- if you want to come up with an equivalent through deferring some fees, that was not what we were thinking, but -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And let me just -- anything else from the County Attorney? MR. KLATZKOW: No. It's just the way you structure it. And keep in mind, he's -- I know we're trying to relate this to the county property, but that was as a process of a purchase and sale agreement with a number of different terms in it. That is separate and apart from everything else. All right. This is -- this would be something new for the county. It's -- other counties do it, but they do it by ordinance passed by referendum. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And here's my -- and here's my other concern, and that is, how do we -- how do we judge these kind of requests? Because I think if we go forward with this, we're going to get a lot of these -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- because anybody that's going to build anything is going to come forward and say, you know, we're going to create this many jobs. You ought to be assumed part of the risk and make all this work. I mean, how do we -- how are we going to judge these? I mean, what's the criteria? What's the -- I just think that doing this this way, it makes me uneasy. I think there's going to be some unintended consequences, and it just -- I'm sorry, but I don't think I can support this, because it -- we made a decision. There was going to be a catalyst project. We did something to get it started, and now what you're kind of asking us to do is to switch -- change that and make this the catalyst project. Because you said that. December 8, 2020 Page 188 MR. YOVANOVICH: No. I said reality is, we're going to be the catalyst project. I didn't say switch it. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Understood. But, I mean -- so, I mean, I understand the question, and I understand the math. I just think if we're going to do this, we need a -- we need a better process, and I just don't feel comfortable doing it this way. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's see if we can kind of wrap this up for a couple reasons: One is it's getting late; secondly, it doesn't look like there's support for this. Is there an appetite of the Board to move forward to come up with some way to do this? Commissioner Solis, I think you've said no. Commissioner Taylor, you've said no. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Well, I like the second option where it says that the Board can decide to grant an incentive but direct the staff to develop and bring back, you know, maybe several agreements. One thing I will say is, I'm not in favor of throwing art and burying utilities and all those other things. Let's just strictly talk cash. Having the developer do all kinds of these magical little things, I realize that sometimes it sweetens the pot, but I just think we're making it more complicated. But I would like to see a couple of different algorithms that show some better options to consider because, obviously, there's, you know, not agreement here across the board. It's funny, though, I actually did write down here 50 percent hotel, 10 years, and then you said exactly the same thing. So I had written that a while ago just as a -- not as necessarily a proposal, but just as I was sitting here doing the math. So I don't know if somebody -- you know, Commissioner Saunders, if that was a motion or that was just you thinking out loud. December 8, 2020 Page 189 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, I don't mind making the motion. I don't think it will pass. But I'll go ahead and make the motion just for the purpose of concluding this. But I think your suggestion of having staff come back with some mechanism to do this might make sense. But I'll make a motion just to conclude the item; that staff come back with a way to handle a 50 percent rebate, whatever you want to call it, incentive, equal to 50 percent of the ad valorem taxes on the hotel for a 10-year period beginning in 2024. Now, that may be a tax rebate. That may be impact fee deferrals. That may be something of an equivalent amount, but I think that's what you're saying, and that's kind of where I was trying to go. And that would put it on the County Attorney to see if he can come up with some mechanism to do that. If that passes, the n we'll go to that stage. If there's not any further discussion on that motion -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, there is. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: This is precedent setting. We talked about precedent setting today on more than one occasion. This unequivocally is precedent setting. This is not what the CRA is designed for. We are not in the middle of the Everglades talking to a developer who wants to build there. We are at the entry to Fifth Avenue South. And just because other counties do it doesn't mean Collier has to do it. We're the CRA. We're the CRA that's up and coming. We're the CRA where one person, one woman -- do we remember her? Rebecca Maddox. Does anybody remember Rebecca Maddox and how much money she spent on Bayshore? If there was any street -- any street that was the street that no one ever wanted to walk down, it was Kelly Road and Bayshore, and she decided to build there and invest in it, and she is still doing it. Did she come to us and ask for money? No. Was her hand coming out? No. Why are we doing this? This is -- it doesn't have to be "let's December 8, 2020 Page 190 make a deal." We have a CRA that is developing and growing, and there's no reason why General Fund has to pay a developer to develop in the CRA. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: My rationale for making the motion is simply I do believe this is a very difficult area to develop. I do believe this will be the catalyst project, potentially, to get this whole area under redevelopment. That's the sole reason. I don't consider this to be a precedent at all. There has to be a first or second project. But beyond that, this does not set a precedent for that. So we have a motion and a second. I'll call for the vote. All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: (No verbal response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: (No verbal response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed, signify by saying no. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Opposed. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Let me start over again. Let's hear how that all played out. We have a motion and second. All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed, signify by saying no. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Opposed; no. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. That passes 3-2. Now, staff's going to come back with recommendations on how to accomplish it. That doesn't mean we're going to do it. That just means we're going to try to figure out if there's a way to, because we'll have to have another motion at that point, all right. December 8, 2020 Page 191 MR. YOVANOVICH: My only request, can we be on the January agenda to meet the schedule we've set forth -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sure. MR. YOVANOVICH: -- to be successful. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Klatzkow, how long do you need to come back with -- MR. KLATZKOW: My understanding is that staff's going to develop a proposal that I will review. My review won't take that long. It's the question of staff coming up with a proposal. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Who on staff can give us a little bit guidance on that? Mr. Ochs, can you -- MR. OCHS: We can have a proposal for you by the first meeting January. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So we'll put it on that agenda. MR. YOVANOVICH: Appreciate it. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: There's no guarantee that it's going to be approved. We're still talking. MR. OCHS: I'm not sure what it will look like, but... COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: The camel's nose is in the tent. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: It's only precedent if we approve it. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That's correct. It's only precedent if we let it be precedent. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'm going to hold you to that, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It's getting late. Let's see if we can kind of fly through some of these things. We've got a couple items that are going to take some time. We're now on Item 10B. I'd like to have that combined with 11G. We're going to be talking about the manager. I don't see any point in doing this -- that situation twice. December 8, 2020 Page 192 And, Commissioner Taylor, if you have no objection, let's go ahead and combine that. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Not at all. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So 10B will be combined with 11G, which we'll here a little bit later on. That takes us to 11B, as in boy. Item #11B SIXTH AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 17-7198 FOR CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AT RISK (“CMAR”) CONTRACT PHASE 2.1 AND 2.2A - GUARANTEED MAXIMUM PRICE (“GMP”) NO. 5 FOR FIVE FIELDS, LAKES, ROAD, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND NORTHWEST PARKING LOT PACKAGE TO MANHATTAN CONSTRUCTION (FLORIDA), INC., FOR THE NEXT PHASE OF THE SPORTS COMPLEX AND EVENTS CENTER (“SCEC”) IN THE AMOUNT OF $32,998,449 – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. This is a recommendation to approve the Sixth Amendment to the Construction Management at Risk Guaranteed Maximum Price contract with Manhattan Construction, Incorporated, for the next phase of the Collier County Sports Complex and Events Center in the amount of 32,998.449 -- excuse me -- 449 dollars. Mr. Casalanguida will make the presentation. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Thank you, Mr. Manager. Mr. Chairman, I'll try and be brief, but there's some things I want to make sure we cover in here for the public and for the new commissioner as well, too. I'll take you through a fairly quick slide show and then answer any questions that you have. December 8, 2020 Page 193 I do want to take the time, since it's my last time in front of you, to thank the team: Davidson Engineering, Populous, Manhattan, the county staff, and especially Margaret Bishop, who has relentlessly put up with me over the past two years on this project and done an amazing job. So, Margaret, thank you. She's right behind me. All right. Commissioners, just the location of the project. This is central to all the activities you've acquired in projects that you have. Golf course, government operations business park, where the sheriff's evidence building will be, Collier County landfill, and the Hussey property. Timeline leading up to the construction: Site selection, 2016; bond validation, 2017; design, 2017; initial construction in 2018. It's hard to believe that a winter-and-a-half ago we were kind of working on this project and just clearing the land to what we have right now. Quickly take you through some slides, show you kind of what we have today. These are aerials. You don't get to see them from the sky too often, neither does the public, but the whole complex to the west is predominantly open, and in about two weeks we will open up the stadium for the first project that we have with FBU with All American Games. And just give you some views of the project as it's been opened up. And then this will tell you that last week they dropped the turf in the stadium. We did not know if we were going to make it. We met with our delivery team, and the lights will be on generators for FBU, the stadium install, bleachers will be done, and the concrete guys are working seven days a week starting at 6:00 a.m., double pours a day to get to FBU for the 18th. So we are going to make it, Commissioner Taylor. You've been out on site a few times. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Give you a little bit of context, because this has come up a few times in this project in terms of cost. December 8, 2020 Page 194 This is North Collier Park. And I want to tell you, it's 208 acres, and in 2003 it was $54 million to build. You build that today, it would be $110 million, and it's not as big as the Paradise in terms of amenities -- Paradise Coast Sports and Special Event Complex. This is Big Corkscrew. These are your regional facilities. 2022, estimated $90 million. Again, not as big in terms of amenities but acreage-wise, the same thing, and it has a small water park as well, too. Our complex, as you look at it, it's 178 acres. Many more amenities than both those other two facilities along with the stadium, although no water components are there, and your 2022 cost to build is 105-. Now, your negative variance that I gave you about a year ago was 8 to 12 million. I'm at 20 to 22 million. So I'm up another 10 million in terms of costs, and I'll walk through kind of a reason why, and one of my next slides will explain that. This is your construction building index going back to 200 2. And if you can see in this area, right around here is where we started the project, and we've inflated 20 percent since we originally gave you that first estimate, and we've added some amenities as well, too, predominantly your site conditions. I'll show you in a couple other slides why that's there. So Turner Construction building -- and this has gone up 20 percent since we started the project and 100 percent since Corkscrew -- I'm sorry -- North Collier was built. The Clerk's Office, who has been a really good partner in this project, pointed out that a lot of our projects, she presented a report or a newsletter in November, that have increased beyond initial estimates. That's happening across the board. You're going to see that when we do the mental health facility and other projects what we estimated out. They're about 20 percent higher, 20 to 25 percent higher than we originally estimated. December 8, 2020 Page 195 Commissioner McDaniel asked about operating costs. The interesting model, the blue and orange line are your North Collier and your Corkscrew Regional Park. They cost us about $4 million in General Fund. Your green line, because it's a public/private partnership based on a revenue-driven model, runs about half the cost of your other facilities. Now, one thing I can tell you is, discussions with Leo and the team as I get ready to leave, we want to look at our other facilities, what we've learned from our operator, how to monetize some of those facilities better, providing on-site food and beverage, providing on-site markets, having things that generate revenue on our parks. Right now I play at North Collier, and at nighttime when you're done playing you leave and you go find someplace else to eat. At the Sports Complex you don't. You walk across the lawn, you walk over to the bar, you get a beer, and the food truck provides you whatever you want there. So we're going to look at that. But to give you a feel, Commissioner McDaniel, we run about 50 percent or 50 cents on the dollar in operating costs to our other parks. Which you start running it out year over year, $2 million a year over 10 years, you start talking $20 million in going forward. Future of the complex today, proposed construction is to the east in the orange. One thing we've added and, Comm issioner Saunders, to your credit, we were going to give back that land, the two-and-a-half acre option. Uline to the west bought acreage at $500,000 an acre, and our contract price was 200,000 an acre. So we've acquired or we are about to acquire in Jan uary this 1.7-acre piece and add 185 new parking spaces, which is in this contract in front of you today. Why? Because the great lawn, the Cove, that restaurant area we have, there's no place to park in that corner. So that's an important addition that we did not have, but that added value. To your credit, we did not give back the land. We kept December 8, 2020 Page 196 that option open. Today you approved the extension to close in January on your consent agenda. We're also constructing the entrance into the government operations business park as part of this project. The sheriff's evidence building is going to start construction in about a year. So we'll construct the entrance, the drainage system, and the road going into the government operations business park. Didn't make any sense to do it as a second project, so we bid that out as part of doing this project as well, too. Future of the complex, I think you can get a feel for what's going on. Today you approved the plat for Uline. The second plat that was provided [sic] to make that Developer Contribution Agreement live, so they are going to move forward. So they're going to add five acres to the lakes. It will be a one-mile course around the lake. They are giving us 500 more parking spaces, as we talked about last time, and about, I would say, close to $300,000 in fitness amenities. That's at no cost to you, and you are not paying for that, and that's not added in that negative variance. That's on their dime to do that. So that's what that's going to look like. I know Mr. Callahan is working with Hunden, will be back in January to talk about Great Wolf. A little bit of your conversation today regarding the benefit and should you get into agreements with, you know, investors, I'm sure that will come up with this Great Wolf proposal, because they have told us they're not going to come forward unless there is some sort of tax incentive or something to talk about with the Board. Master phasing plan, as we've gotten more visibility as we move forward in the project, and if you remember the Board directed us the last time we were here is they didn't like that multipurpose field. They wanted us to get back to more of a little bit of a baseball and shared-use facility, so we made that change, as you've seen in the December 8, 2020 Page 197 past, and we've added lakes. What is costing us a significant amount, that shaded area to your right is much lower than we thought in terms of the muck that's there we've got to pull out to build the road and do the east side of the park. Our permit for that section was just released from the Corps and environmental agencies about a month-and-a-half ago, and you just released, last month, the clearing and grubbing of that area. So we're going to start next week clearing the area that's there. This is what's in your contract. So you're going to get five more fields along with an overflow area next to Field 9. You're also going to get a really large 50 feet wide by about 150 feet long open canopy structure to the east of Field 9. Comments we received is there's not a lot of -- there's a lot of shade there but still not enough shade and refuge when we get to summer rains to get there. You're going to get the south connecting road to the east, all the areas in pink. You'll get the blue campground that's in that southwest corner south of Field 9. You will get the park road that wraps around the City Gate Boulevard north. The lake excavation will be done. And going back to two thousand probably '16 when we bought the land from City Gate, we agreed to take the water management. So those blue lakes east of those fields will satisfy that agreement for Uline to come forward, and everybody else. That water will pass through our lakes, and we'll have fulfilled that obligation. So what Margaret, Josh, and myself have bee n repeatedly, along with Manhattan, over the past six months is to really chop this down to what we think we could bring you to what I'll call a minimum. The rest of this, as I'll show you in the next slide, can be done in tranches in pay/go phases. So the rest of the blue parking area that will loop is about $8 million. Then I will cull each cove of fields. They're roughly 4 to $5 million apiece. They do not have a lot of amenities on them, but we tried to get it back into that budget that December 8, 2020 Page 198 we're trying to squeeze down. Our intention is, as much as we want to see the baseball come forward, we're doing some internal borrowing, and Mark is here to talk about that, to get these next what I'll call mandatory phases done. And I really think that you're going to have a good experience in '21, going into '22, and then you can decide to pay/go these in as come in. We were getting a positive variance of about 3 -and-a-half to $4 million before COVID hit on your TD tax. Our naming rights release in January from our superlative contract, so now they're done. We will -- as Commissioner Taylor knows, we're going to start talking to some folks. That's $8 million that will come back into the project. You'll then decide if you want to apply that to paying off or refunding internal borrowing or if you want to apply it to any one of these phases going forward. Mark, I think, is here to talk about any -- in the back any, cash management maneuvers he's done to get this ready. There's not a lot we could chop out of this thing because of your internal requirements through your prior agreement to build these lakes. And if you build the lakes, we're crazy not to build those fields between the lakes and the fields that we have. So I think we've wrapped up what we can in terms of doing this project. Commissioner Taylor, you had asked a little bit about some of the impact. Brian from Sports Force, the CEO, is here, and he has a short presentation. So this is the recommendation in front of you, to move forward with this phase. Get this phase constructed and about halfway through next year probably evaluate where you are in terms of COVID, the vaccine, and if our tourism numbers are going back up and decide how to proceed with additional phases if you would like. That covers my presentation. I can answer any questions for you that you have, and then I can pass it over to Brian to give you a December 8, 2020 Page 199 little bit about what they're doing with the park. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Good? MR. STORM: Good afternoon. Thanks for allowing me to have an opportunity to meet the commissioners. I met some of you independently along the way. My name's Brian Storm. As Nick said, I'm the CEO of Sports Force Parks. Let me start by congratulating you, current board, prior board members, and the staff in the vision that you had to build what will undeniably be the best sports park in this country. We are in the sports park business. We run other parks in this country, and I can tell you, honestly, this is the best park, bar none, as this park completes. So what I'd like to do is take you on a little bit of a tour as to some things that we're doing. This is from the start to where you are today. (A video was played as follows:) This is the combination of just so much hard work, like the sweat, the tears, the joy. This is going to be, like, a prime location for sports all over the nation. It's blown me away. I've worked in athletics for over 15 years and this, by far, is one of the most fantastic projects and sports complexes I've ever been around. Immediately I saw their vision was different. It was unique. It is even more magnificent than what I originally envisioned. (The video concluded.) MR. STORM: So that is your vision in action. So we're very proud to be a partner here with Collier County. And when this park is fully built, both baseball, softball, football, soccer, rugby, lacrosse, and a host of other events -- sporting events will happen here at this park. In addition to that, there will be December 8, 2020 Page 200 cultural arts music events in the park as well. I think that's an important part. We look at it as two buckets. We have the community basis, and we tell people all the time. There's the community. This is good for the community, good for what goes on here , good for constituents, good for the citizens of Collier County. There's the economic engine bucket which is local, regional, and national and international tournaments that we can host here in this paradise, and I think that's very important for you guys to realize. So let's talk a little bit about some of the past events we've had over the last couple weeks, and I'm trying to be brief. So in July we opened. You know, as we -- construction gets finished, we open bits and pieces. It's been an amazing journey. Sometimes it's a little short on getting open, but the staff has done a great job of helping us get things open, and I think the people that have come have enjoyed it. So we -- Top Gun, we did a kick-off classic, the Gulf Coast Kick-Off Classic. We had a Columbus Day event. We ran the Alliance Cup about three weeks ago, and then just after Thanksgiving we run the Plantation Thanksgiving Classic. We had a ton of kids here, ton of teams here, and I think that you'll see that it generated a lot. People come. There's lots of things to do, whether it be the factory, the workout space, the Cove, which is the outdoor bar. If you look at that top picture in the center, that's a view across the lake from the Cove. It's the -- it, to me, is what Naples is all about. It's the beautiful sunset on the corner shore of the Florida coast. And then all of the activities, whether it be the food trucks, the food, all the things that we're offering at the park. And the park is only going to grow, because keep in mind we just talked about the next five fields. The stadium comes online here in a couple weeks, and this thing is just going to continue to grow and become a December 8, 2020 Page 201 destination, again, nationally and internationally, as well as for local citizens. Here is the park in action two weeks ago. (A video was played.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Is that you, Andy? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: That was Nick. MR. STORM: So when you have a project like this, it's really about the numbers, right? I've been here for a good part of the day and listening to your interactions with people, and so we want to talk about -- a little bit about some -- what we believe are some great numbers. Again, we started and opened this park in pieces as we go. We've had 9,487 athletes, 57,000 guests visited, 3,200 hotel rooms, and 15,000 local visitors because, don't forget, Monday through Friday the park is open, and people come out and they use it, they schedule it, and the park is being occupied. We only have four fields right now, technically. And we're producing these kinds of results. And, ultimately, best we can tell, $2.2 million in economic impact in the last, I'll really call it, six weeks, because we did have the FBU event in July, but a lot of it has been in the last six wee ks. So I think it's a testament of what -- you can look for what's ahead and how the park as it builds out is just going to be a phenomenal place. So what do we have for future events? FBU national championship has come up that you all know about, I believe. Soccer, youth, all American Golden Cup. We've got lacrosse and Soccer Master's Boys Camps. We've got the Naples Cup after the first of the year. Naples United, we're just inking a partnership with them to bring the only professional sports team in Naples to the stadium. We also have three or four other soccer clubs that we're working with right now to bring some friendlies. We're working with the USL. There's a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. December 8, 2020 Page 202 On special events, we're doing a Coastal Christmas coming up. We've got a Santa drive-through experience, a paint in paradise, art, musical, and culture events. Please make sure you check our calendar. There's going to be a lot of really cool events after the first of the year. And then what we call holiday events. The first one you're going to look at there and go, "Super Bowl." Well, Super Bowl's not a holiday, but as an employer it appears to be a holiday because a lot of people take Super Bowl off, and there's a high amount of people missing on Monday, typically, after Super Bowl Sunday. We're planning to do some stuff here for Mardi Gras, Super Bowl, St. Patrick's Day. So those are the kinds of things that the park -- when we first started in this partnership, we thought we were going to have a sports park. And in the incredible vision that you guys have had, we have way beyond a sports park. We have an entertainment facility. So just for a second, let me take you down this -- down this dream. The park is fully built. We're playing a baseball tournament on the full-size baseball fields. I've got a youth tournament on a softball field on the five -- tournament on the five. I've got lacrosse going on five fields. I've got soccer going on on four fields. I've got a wedding at the Cove, and we're having a concert on Saturday night in the stadium. That's the power of the park, and that's what I see the vision for the park. And so I want you to think about, as you're funding and approving the rest of this park, for us, it's an exciting opportunity to be a partner here with Collier County. So that's what we're up to. So thank you very much. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them for you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Any questions? (No response.) December 8, 2020 Page 203 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We do need a motion to approve the sixth amendment. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: What -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel, are you -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I was No. 2. Somebody else was ahead of me. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Oh, no. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just one. I didn't see on the plan, and I forgot to ask you about it yesterday, is the potential still existent for the field house, the Cat 5 field house? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I didn't see its potential. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Still preserved. You have 9 million in sales tax funds for hurricane that's sitting aside, we have a $9 million grant application in, and we've got a private person that's approached us. I didn't want to -- I don't want to build you up, but they're talking about asking us if they can attach a hockey stadium to our field house, and they'll fund it. So I said, well, let's put that aside. But it's all right there in reserve. We've got room for the field house. We've even got room for the hockey arena if that moves forward. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, because -- again, just to reiterate, one of the things that sold me on this from the beginning was the 80,000-square-foot, Cat 5, east of 951/Collier Boulevard to help protect our citizenry as a shelter. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Still in the site plan. It is on your site plan. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yep. December 8, 2020 Page 204 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We do need a motion then on the sixth amendment. Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. I think we need to talk a little bit about the money and how -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sure. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- you're planning on doing this, and -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: I'll have Mark come up, if you'd like. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. CASALANGUIDA: And just to talk about -- Commissioner Taylor asked about what it costs to do a beach renourishment with a hopper dredge. Our original one was about 25 million. Last one we put out was 32 after this internal borrow, and there's still over 40 -- over 40 million in reserves. MR. ISACKSON: Good afternoon, Commissioners, Mark Isackson with the Office of Management and Budget. About two weeks ago Nick came down to my office and says, you're going to need $33 million. And you've got to remember that it's nice to have a "sources and uses of fund" table that was in the considerations. Part of that talked about the naming rights, sponsorships. That doesn't do me any good right now, because we have to let a contract. So what we did was we stayed very true to the original concept which was using tourist tax dollars to pick up the construction costs and using, essentially, general governmental dollars to p ay for the real estate. So within that -- within that particular confine, what we try to do is say, okay, where are the dollars available right now that we can use to pick up the costs of this $33 million? You've got substantial reserves sitting in 195. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Which is beach. December 8, 2020 Page 205 MR. ISACKSON: Which is your Beach Renourishment Fund, pardon me. You've got substantial reserves sitting in 183, which is your Beach Park Facilities Fund, 7 point some-odd million dollars. That was set aside for a parking garage which I don't think's going to happen for a time -- for a period of time. Then you've got impact fees which will be used to pick up the circular roadway. So those three components, we think we can leverage that in order to pick up the costs, the $33 million. Now, what's the payback mechanism? The fifth penny was essentially used as a promotional tool. That's what we -- that's why you added the fifth penny. And part of that is used to pick up the debt service cost on the original $65 million bond issue. Now, above that, the dollars above that that come in will be used to pay back the advances that we take from the Beach Renourishment Fund reserves and the -- excuse me -- the Beach Park Facility Fund reserves. So we think that the more important payback is the beach -- the beach renourishment reserves. And Nick mentioned in his presentation that there is a potential for that naming rights to come in. If those naming rights come in, we pay back the reserves that we pulled from the beach renourishment and almost make that whole, essentially. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. MR. ISACKSON: So we think it's a good plan. We think it stays true to the original concept that we were -- that we originally talked about. Now, doesn't fund, as Nick says, the remaining phases of this. You're going to have to take a look at that as a pay/go basis. But for this part, this 33 million, we think the strategy is sound. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Make a motion to approve. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion. Is December 8, 2020 Page 206 there a second? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I have a motion and second. All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. Item #11C EVALUATING OPTIONS FOR THE GOLDEN GATE GOLF COURSE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT AND PROVIDE DIRECTION REGARDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW INVITATION TO NEGOTIATE (“ITN”) OR OTHER SOLICITATION TO REDEVELOP AND OPERATE THE GOLF COURSE THROUGH AN AGREEMENT WITH THE COUNTY - MOTION TO ISSUE A NEW ITN – APPROVED CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: On 11C, that is the Golden Gate Golf Course development, the recommendation is to do an invitation to negotiate again. I'm going to ask the Board to move this along, give it one more shot at getting a golf course developer and operator to come in with cash for the deal. Commissioner Solis, staff has indicated that developing a passive park will cost -- the staff report says $7 million. I don't know that it would really cost that much. They also indicate that a golf December 8, 2020 Page 207 course would cost 14 million. I don't think a golf course would cost that much. But we do know that a passive park will be expensive. And if we can get a golf course developer and operator to come in with at least a portion of the cash needed and we put in a certain amount maybe equivalent to what it would cost to do a passive park, then I think we have a home run there. I know your goal was to have a passive park, but we have several passive parks. We just heard a discussion of one of them at our amateur sports facility. So I'd ask the Board to go along with doing an invitation to negotiate one more time. Let's see if we can get the right golf course developer and operator who is willing to put some money in this to develop a golf course out there. And with that, I'll make a motion to do that. Now, we may need some further discussion. I don't know if we need anything else from staff on that. MR. CASALANGUIDA: I think we need just a little bit of color on the dollar amount if we're going to put some match to that, what the limits should be. I mean, on the low end it was five million to do some sort of passive park. On the high end it was 7.8. If we're going to go out with an ITN with some sort of public/private, you know, we'd probably just need to know what this number is to create the ITN. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I would suggest that, you know, if we have to throw out a number, that the county be willing to put in the 5 million that it would cost for a passive park. Just to get interest from developers and golf c ourse operators. So I'll make that as a motion, that we do a request for an invitation to negotiate from a golf course operator and developer; that the county would be willing to consider putting cash into the development of a golf course up to $5 million. I don't want that to be a hard number, because if somebody comes back and says, well, we December 8, 2020 Page 208 need 5.5 million, I want the county to have some flexibility there. So I'll make that in the form of a motion. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd second that if you would give consideration to not naming a number at all. I don't -- I don't like opening the door for us to make -- there may be somebody out there that would like to come along and do a project here where we're not as exposed as we currently are with the circumstances. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'll take that out of the motion because, quite frankly, I didn't want to put a number in there. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd rather -- I'd rather we not, because we're not limited on an INT -- ITN. We're not limited to accept or reject or do anything. So I'm totally in favor of going forward, but I would rather we just -- we open the door up to see who wants to come along. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That's the motion then. MR. OCHS: With no public participation in the development? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Or not. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, let's see what somebody comes back and tells us that they need. ClubCorp initially said that they would put 100 percent of the money into a golf course, and then one day they came back and said they needed seven million. Let's see what a golf course developer/operator can come up with. MR. OCHS: Proposes? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yep. Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. I would -- this is your district, and I think your heart has been involved in this and, certainly, your work has been involved in this, so I certainly would support your motion and to go and kind of figure out what's out there, what we could do. But just as an aside, I don't want -- the sports park is not a passive park. It's an active park. A passive park would be December 8, 2020 Page 209 Baker Park. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Right. No. I didn't try to imply that the sports park was a passive park, but we have a fit trail there. I think you indicated a loop around the lake that's a mile long. That's a passive part of the park. People can go out there and walk their dogs and jog and whatever, and that's what a passive park is really all about. So I was pointing out that we do have that type of amenity nearby. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. Yeah, and that's very true. It's right down the road. The other thing is, is that Collier County knows how to build parks. If anyone has walked around the Golden Gate Park, the city, what a beautiful park. It's so -- it's extraordinary. Tree-lined winding roads, and Eagle Lakes is just -- it dazzles me. I keep wanting to go back out there. So we know how to do this. So let's -- I think there's no -- we don't have any loss in going out and seeing what the market will bring to us. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I was just going to say, I remember sitting in the audience when the companies that were solicited came in here to make their pitches for the Golden Gate Golf Course, and one of the things that was said up here was, you know, we advertised it a little bit. And if I remember correc tly, like, before Thanksgiving. It closed out right before Christmas. And we might not have gotten the best. You know, this is a complicated project, so for a company to really analyze it and come in here and make a complicated presentation to us with all the positives, you know, it might take more than a short amount of time. So I'm not saying I know what that time frame is, but if we're going to give this one more chance, let's make sure we put it out on the street with enough timing. December 8, 2020 Page 210 And I would echo that we don't show our hand with any amount of money. Let them come to us and say, we've got all the money in hand or here's our proposal or, you know, if you want us to buy artwork or -- I hope that's not the case, but that sort of thing. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I need to educate you on this artwork issue. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I love art. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's do that at a different time. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: But just that we give it enough time so that we really get an aggressive amount of people that come forward so we have lots of options. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Just to be clear, so it's a golf course partner, and it's 12 holes and some sort -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's -- there's a piece of property out there. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Okay. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's don't put any limitations on it, because I've heard that there are some developers and operators that can fit an 18-hole golf course on there. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Okay. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So I don't want to have any limitations that way. Let's see what these companies can come out with. MR. OCHS: This is develop and operate, correct, Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Correct. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Got it. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis, did you have anything else? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, everybody said what I was going to say. And I'll just add that, you know, I remain very skeptical December 8, 2020 Page 211 about being in the golf course business. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Did we vote on that? MR. OCHS: No. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and second. All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Another great report, Jeffrey. Item #11D RESOLUTION 2020-236: ENTERING INTO TWO UTILITY WORK BY HIGHWAY CONTRACTOR AGREEMENTS WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (“FDOT”) TO HAVE ITS HIGHWAY CONTRACTOR COMPLETE ALL NECESSARY UTILITY RELOCATION OF EXISTING COLLIER COUNTY WATER-SEWER DISTRICT UTILITIES DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FDOT I-75 AND 951 INTERCHANGE IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT (PROJECT NO. 70229) – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: 11D is a recommendation to enter into two Util ity Work by Highway Contractor Agreements with the Florida Department of Transportation to have its highway contractor December 8, 2020 Page 212 complete all necessary utility relocation of existing Collier County Water/Sewer District utilities during the construction of the FDOT I-75 and 951 interchange improvements project and authorize necessary budget amendments. Mr. Chmelik is available to present or respond to questions from the Board. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll move for approval. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second -- third. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and second. All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. Let me make a suggestion. Let's pick up -- in reference to the appointment of Daniel Rodriguez and Jamie French, let's hold off on those for just a minute, because I think we're going to need to take a break in a few minutes, and those items could take quite a bit of time. So with the permission of the Board, let's move on to 14A1. We'll take a couple items, and then we'll take about a 10-minute break and come back on the staffing issues. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. Commissioners, we have several items on your airport agenda all related to a positive project, and that is the renovation and rehabilitation of Runway 18-36 at the Immokalee Regional Airport. December 8, 2020 Page 213 Item #14A1 AN AGREEMENT PERTAINING TO THE AWARD OF INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”) NO. 20-7784, “IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT RUNWAY 18/36 REHABILITATION,” WITH PREFERRED MATERIALS, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,887,182.54, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT – APPROVED MR. OCHS: The first item, 14A, is to approve an agreement of an award of a contract to Preferred Materials, Incorporated, for the runway rehabilitation in the amount of $5,887,182.54, and authorize the Chairman to sign the agreements. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Move approval. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and second. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. MR. OCHS: Thank you. Item #14A2 December 8, 2020 Page 214 FIRST AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 19-7558, “DESIGN & RELATED SERVICES FOR IMM RUNWAY REHABILITATION & TAXIWAY C EXTENSION PROJECTS,” FOR POST DESIGN SERVICES IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $73,744.50, WITH HOLE MONTES, INC. – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Item 14A2 is a recommendation to approve the first amendment to the design services contract for the same runway rehabilitation and Taxiway C Extension Projects at the Immokalee Regional Airport. These are for post-design services in the total amount of $73,744.50, with Hole Montes, Incorporated. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Move for approval. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and second. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. MR. OCHS: Thank you, sir. Item #14A3 AGREEMENT NO. 20-7726, “CEI SERVICES FOR IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT RUNWAY 18-36 AND TAXIWAY C,” IN December 8, 2020 Page 215 THE LUMP SUM AMOUNT OF $795,520 WITH ATKINS NORTH AMERICA, INC. – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Item 14A3 is a recommendation to approve and authorize an agreement for construction, engineering, and inspection services related to the Immokalee Regional Airport runway and Taxiway C rehabilitation project in the lump sum amount of $795,520 with Atkins North America, Incorporated. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Now, this is a companion item to the other one where we're hiring the same company. Do we have to hire them now in order to facilitate the balance of these approvals? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Justin's right over your shoulder, boss. MR. OCHS: Justin. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Hey, Justin. MR. OCHS: Mr. Lobb can address that, sir. It's 14A3, Justin. It's the CEI Services. MR. LOBB: Commissioners, good afternoon. For the record, Justin Lobb. Apologies, just a little jumbled with this item moving up here. We flew in from upstairs. MR. OCHS: No pun intended. It is an airport item. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You made a good landing. MR. LOBB: Thank you. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: The runway's a little rough, though. MR. LOBB: It sure is. And thank you. We appreciate your approval of the first couple items on this. Yes, this item here with Atkins, 14A3 for the construction, engineer, and inspection, it is a companion to this runway and taxiway project that the Board approved at the last agenda with Ajax Paving, and going in a different direction at this point would delay December 8, 2020 Page 216 the execution of those projects. MR. CASALANGUIDA: And, Commissioners, if I could add, this is also just a horizontal job. There's no vertical work in this. It's very low risk in terms of, you know, if you're concerned about Atkins. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's not them in particular. Again, it's them in particular in this instance because of previous circumstances that have evolved because of their hiring by us. I'm going to move for approval of the item as recommended, because I don't want to delay these efforts going any further. We'll take up the other item from a policy perspective at our next meeting. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion. Is there a second? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: A motion and second. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, all in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. MR. OCHS: Thank you, Commissioners. Item #14A4 December 8, 2020 Page 217 RESOLUTION 2020-237: AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION GRANT AGREEMENT (PTGA) G0Z12 WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE REHABILITATION OF RUNWAY 18/36 AT THE IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: Item 14A4 is a recommendation to authorize the Chairman to execute a resolution authorizing an execution of Amendment No. 2 to the Public Transportation Grant Agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation for additional funding for the rehabilitation of Runway 18-36 at the Immokalee Regional Airport. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passed unanimously. Item #14A5 RESOLUTION 2020-238: AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE PUBLIC December 8, 2020 Page 218 TRANSPORTATION GRANT AGREEMENT (PTGA) G1B89 WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE EXTENSION OF TAXIWAY C AT THE IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT AND AUTHORIZE ANY NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: And Item 14A5 is a recommendation to authorize the Chairman to execute a resolution executing Amendment 1 to the Public Transportation Grant Agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation for additional funding of extension of Taxiway C at the Immokalee Road Regional Airport. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second. All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. Let's take a break. We'll be coming back for all of the personnel issues. Let's come back at about five minutes after 5:00 so you can collect your thoughts. We'll be in recess until 5:05. (A brief recess was had from 4:51 p.m. to 5:05 p.m.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll please take your seats, we'll reconvene the meeting of the County Commission. December 8, 2020 Page 219 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I believe we're on Item 11E. Item #11E CONFIRMING THE APPOINTMENT OF MR. DANIEL RODRIGUEZ TO THE POSITION OF DEPUTY COUNTY MANAGER - MOTION TO ACCEPT THE COUNTY MANAGER’S SUGGESTION IN REGARDS TO MR. RODRIGUEZ – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. This is a recommendation to confirm the appointment of Mr. Daniel Rodriguez to the position of Deputy County Manager. Commissioners, Mr. Rodriguez, by virtue of his government experience, his leadership skills, his education, his demonstrative management abilities, as well as his vast knowledge of county government operations and his history of effective working relationships with the constitutional officers and the business community, I believe, makes him a candidate that's very well suited to this position, and I would highly recommend him to the position, and I seek your confirmation. I know that in conversations with you individually, some of you have questioned whether this appointment should be made on a n interim as opposed to a permanent assignment, citing either a concern that Mr. Rodriguez' future employment may be in jeopardy in the event that a new county manager might decide to replace him at some point. And while that certainly is a possibility, I would acknowledge that, I would have to say that that applies not only to this position but, frankly, to 50 other senior leadership positions in the organization, all of which serve at the will of the County Manager. All of these professionals willingly accept that risk that they December 8, 2020 Page 220 may be terminated at any time and acknowledge that that's a possibility and a condition of employment and, yet, they all choose to accept that challenge and they bet on themselves, and I certainly appreciate the senior staff for that kind of attitude. However, you know, if that is a concern of the Commissioners, I'm certainly willing -- you know, if it's a concern that they might be displaced by a new manager and have no position to return to in the agency or that these permanent appointments would somehow limit a future county manager from making any changes, I'd be happy to leave the current positions that they vacate, both of those positions, Mr. French who's coming up next and Mr. Rodriguez', hold deputy department head positions in the agency, I'd be willing to keep those open for the time being and, in fact, until I leave so that if there's a concern about flexibility for the new manager or having a place for these folks to land, that would create that opportunity. I also frankly think, from a budget standpoint, given the local economy and the uncertainty of COVID over the next six months, that that wouldn't be a bad idea to hold off filling those positions for budgetary reasons, at least on a short-term basis. But, again, I highly recommend Mr. Rodriguez as the permanent placement in your deputy -- excuse me -- deputy county manager position vacancy, and I ask for your confirmation. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Apparently, the battery on my machine here has worn out, so if you'll raise your hand when you want to speak. I don't have any problem with -- based on what you have said, Mr. Ochs, in terms of keeping the position open, that Mr. Rodriguez currently occupies. I have no problem in relying on your recommendation. You're going to be here for another four or five months. MR. OCHS: Sure. December 8, 2020 Page 221 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Actually, almost six months. So I don't have any problem with that. Any comments from the Commission? Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You go first. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Just -- does my Commission feel that, perhaps, when it's not -- when it's made an appointment rather than interim, that it might have a chilling effect on a candidate that would be interested in the County Manager's position? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: My kind of gut feeling is that it would not, and the reason is, is that it shows that we have a depth in our staff, we have stability, and a new manager coming in is going to be able to rely on good people that are filling those top positions. So I don't think it would have a chilling effect at all. Plus a new manager coming in -- I guarantee we don't want a new manager coming in and firing a bunch of people. So I don't think so. That's just my personal... Commissioner LoCastro -- Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think it provides the flexibility for a new manager and shows the stability at the same time. It doesn't -- it doesn't handcuff us by holding those -- the previous positions open. It allows -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's a plus. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It allows for the new county manager to be flexible if a requisite was there. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I like holding the positions open. And this is nothing against Mr. Rodriguez or Mr. French, but I think -- I wouldn't classify these two high-level positions the same as the 50 others positions. I think we have an HR office that -- I think it December 8, 2020 Page 222 protects Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. French to advertise the positions to see if there's anybody out there who wants to step forward and if, in the end, we go, there's nobody as qualified as Mr. Rodriguez or as Mr. French, I think it protect them from people saying, oh, they just grabbed the next person from inside the way the county always does and just moves someone forward. And it's no disrespect. I know these are two highly qualified individuals. But I think that's why we have an HR office, and so I would challenge Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. French, that even though they might have the title of interim and even though the positions might be being advertised to see if in the county or in Lee County there's some superstars that might want to come forward and compete, that they don't act in the position as interim. Jump in there. And it's -- you're in the longest job interview of any of the other applicants, so you have the best possible chance. But I think that's how they do it in the real world and in companies, and it's a competition, and we don't know what kind of talent is out there. And I trust Mr. Ochs that, you know, we've got -- these are the most qualified people we have currently on the staff, but there's a lot of folks that got jobs on this staff that didn't work up through the ranks. They came out from the outside, and they're superstars for us. So I just think, you know, we play the field a bit, and we open it a bit more to protect ourselves. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Just in response to Commissioner Taylor's concern, yeah, I don't have a sense that it would be -- it would have a chilling effect on somebody that would want to apply to be the county manager. I think it might be the opposite. I mean, I would think that if a county -- if we were looking to fill the county manager's position and there really wasn't a deputy there for them to rely with a lot of constitutional knowledge, that would probably be December 8, 2020 Page 223 more problematic, I think, than anything else, just from my own perspective, to jump in not having a deputy there that wou ld have all that knowledge. So I think this is -- I mean, this is a decision that's -- that's up to the County Manager, as I understand it, and we confirm it based upon, I think, the ordinance -- or the statute. You know, I think from my perspective, you know, Manager Ochs has dedicated, what, 30-some-odd years to Collier County. I'm going to respect his recommendation on that, and so I would support that. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. And just for the benefit of Commissioner LoCastro, generally in these lower positions, the manager comes to us with a recommendation. We don't generally advertise. That's really a management decision. They come back to us and ask for affirmation of that. So I think it would not be unusual to affirm these two individuals. Right now we're just talking about Dan Rodriguez, especially in light of what the manager has said. So I think it's time to entertain a motion. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd like to move to accept the County Manager's position -- or suggestion with regard to Mr. Rodriguez. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Do we have a second? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and second. And the understanding is that this will be a permanent position. Mr. Rodriguez understands that a new manager may change that position. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And we'll keep his current position open just in case that does happen. MR. OCHS: That's correct. December 8, 2020 Page 224 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I have a motion and second. All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? That passes unanimously. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Oh, I'm sorry. That passes 4-1. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And may I ask -- you said no. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I just think that what Commissioner Saunders just said about "this is the way we do it," I would call that a mistake. I think this is a competition an d working in the county. So it's nothing against Mr. Rodriguez. I think he's perfectly -- and I'd love to see him get the position, but I just think, you know, we owe it to other people that are in the community and people that have worked hard within the county to know that this is a position that is open, not that we've just filled it on our own behalf. And I don't think we lose anything by having our HR advertise it for 30 days, and if we don't get any qualified people -- and if we do, then Mr. Ochs, you know, uses his 30 years of expertise to vet the folks. And, you know, that's how they found Paul Hiltz at NCH. I mean, Phil Dutcher didn't get the job automatically as the COO. He applied, and somebody, you know, more qualified that NCH wanted. So I just use that as an example. So it's nothing against you, sir. I obviously hold you in the highest regard. But I just think we don't lose anything by advertising the position and seeing, you know, what other candidates we get to prove -- you know, and I think that it sets you up for success to say, you know, you competed for the job. But just as Mr. Ochs had said, December 8, 2020 Page 225 you're the most qualified. So I don't say no to your position, but I say -- I vote no because I think we're making a mistake by not advertising it and making a mistake by not making you the interim until we see how the competition settles the way they would do in other companies or in other government agencies. MR. RODRIGUEZ: Well, I appreciate that. Thank you, Board of County Commissioners, for your support. And I especially want to thank Leo for the 30 years of support and mentoring and dedicated public service. So I accept that challenge, and I appreciate it. Thank you for the opportunity. MR. OCHS: Congratulations, Dan. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll move on to Item 11F. Item #11F CONFIRMING THE APPOINTMENT OF MR. JAMES FRENCH TO THE POSITION OF PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT HEAD - MOTION TO APPROVE – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. This is a recommendation to confirm the appointment of Mr. James French to the position of Public Services Department Head. Commissioners, again, what I just said about Mr. Rodriguez can apply equally to Mr. French in terms of his background, education, managerial skills, proven track record of exemplary performance in the agency working also with constitutionals and the business community. I think he's ideally suited to succeed Mr. Carnell in this position. And, again, I would ask, respectfully, for your confirmation of his appointment to the position of Public Services Department Head. December 8, 2020 Page 226 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Is there a motion? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'd feel the same way, so -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll make a motion for approval. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and a second. And, again, this is keeping his current position open, and he understands that a new manager may very well make a change. MR. OCHS: Absolutely. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second. Any discussion on the motion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: It passes 4-1. MR. FRENCH: Commissioners. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Congratulations, Jamie. MR. FRENCH: Thank you very much for your support over the years and your continued level of confidence and trust in me and the team that I get, you know, the pleasure to work with every day. I certainly thank Mr. Casalanguida and Leo Ochs and Thaddeus Cohen for their leadership as well over the years. Thank you very much. MR. OCHS: Congratulations, Jamie. December 8, 2020 Page 227 Item #11G PROVIDE STAFF DIRECTION ON THE PREFERRED RECRUITMENT STRATEGY TO FILL THE POSITION OF COUNTY MANAGER AND AUTHORIZE THE STEPS NECESSARY TO BEGIN THE PROCESS – MOTION TO ADVERTISE DECEMBER 15, 2020 MEETING AS REGULAR MEETING WITH AN 11:00 TIME CERTAIN FOR THIS ITEM; STAFF TO COME BACK WITH RECOMMENDATIONS ON SEARCH FIRMS AND TO ADVERTISE AND MOVE FORWARD WITH COLLECTING RESUMES – APPROVED CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll move on to 11G, and we combined with 11G 10B, which is an item that Commissioner Taylor had put on the agenda. MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, I have Ms. Amy Leiberg, our Human Resources Director, here to speak to 11G if you want to go through that item first in terms of some of the strategy decisions for recruitment in the future. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: What's the pleasure of the Board? Do you want to -- I assume we'll discuss that strategy and make some decisions. So let's go ahead and do that. Is that okay with you, Commissioner Taylor? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Sure, that's fine. MS. LEIBERG: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Amy Leiberg, Human Resources Director. The item before you today is to get direction from the Board on the preferred recruitment strategy to fill the position of the County Manager since Mr. Ochs has announced his retirement effective May 31st of 2021. In the executive summary there are several options that are December 8, 2020 Page 228 presented to the Board for consideration either individually or in a combination based on your desire to go out and search for that next candidate to fill the vacancy. And I'll summarize briefly some of those options for you. The option -- the first option would be for the Board to coordinate the steps necessary to fill the vacancy. A second would be to use in-house resources who would employ the process used to recruit and select other county manager agency staff. The third option would be to retain the services of an executive recruitment firm with significant expertise in county manager level recruitments. With any of these recruitment strategies, decisions need to be made about the Board's involvement in the process. Will the entire Board participate, will the Chair oversee the recruitment, or will the recruitment be assigned to a committee of commission members who will discuss updates at BCC meetings or potentially convene workshops during 2021 to keep the process on target. The options of the Board conducting the recruitment or the in-house recruitment are likely to be a little bit more challenging for a couple of reasons. Conducting the search under either option is expected to take significant time for the individuals tasked to do that, whether that be the Board or designated staff members or both. The Board can delegate certain functions to agency staff in either the Option 1 or Option 2 to assist with the key tasks in the process, and those would be creating the county manager position profile, placing advertisement for the opening, collecting the resumés of the interested candidates, and scheduling candidate interviews. With these options, you could expect that designated staff who are going to help with this process would come before the Board at multiple meetings during 2021 to discuss the progress and provide or seek input and direction to move through the steps of the recruitment. If the Board chooses to use a firm skilled in performing December 8, 2020 Page 229 executive searches, you'd have an active role throughout the process, but you'd be assured that the high level of expertise, focus, and coordination that a firm can provide in these cases. But they could -- you could also delegate many of the functions required during the recruitment process to the search firm. With this methodology, after the selection of an executive search firm, the firm would facilitate a discussion with all of you to develop the position profile. Once the advertisement and vaca ncy announcements are approved, the firm would take on a lot of the administrative tasks that are associated with the recruitment, keeping the Board apprised of the progress at designated project milestones. Staff involvement in this model is generally mi nimal. It includes providing details about our organization or coordinating with the firm to schedule meeting attendance when the recruiter would provide periodic updates to you on their progress. Executive recruitment firms have access to candidates an d business contacts the county staff have not developed, because this level of recruitment is not really standard in our organization. They also could conduct a much more in-depth review of the background of candidate -- finalist candidates, including detailed employment history, reference checks, financial checks, social media, and publication searches. These are not part of the standard -- county's standard screening process. With the objective of having a candidate ready to take over upon Mr. Ochs' departure at the end of May of 2021, we have a lot to accomplish in a short period of time. Regardless of the option you decide today, the timeline is substantially the same. The key milestones would be as follows: Today we would request that the Board provide direction on the recruitment process you wish to follow. The remainder of December would be the information-gathering phase. We would either use this time to create December 8, 2020 Page 230 the position profile working with -- getting input from each board member or request quotes from interested search firms. At the January 12th, 2021, Board meeting, the Board would approve either the position profile that you helped to create or would make a selection for an executive search firm who would provide -- perform the recruitment. Then from mid-January to mid-March, the position would be advertised to interested candidates. Mid-March to early April 2021 the Board would approve candidate finalists and set interview dates and times. The middle to the end of April of 2021 would be the interview phase with the Board making a selection and salary and benefit negotiations, and then -- with the expectation that at the May 11th meeting of 2021, that the Board approve a contract and appointment of a county manager with the hopes to get that person here and ready to start on June the 1st. Financial impacts, there are some of those that are listed in the executive summary, but I'll briefly touch on those. The cost of an in-house recruitment would include staff time plus the cost of advertising the vacancy with professional organizations or publications, executive recruitment firm fees, which would include all steps of the recruitment, and selection process as well as advertisement costs for consultant travel for on-site meetings are anticipated in a range of 20- to $30,000. Now, as part of the executive summary, you've got a list of some firms that are there. That's not all inclusive. We have -- those are some of the ones that the county has worked with over time. If we went out for quotes for this, we would certainly search firms that are responsible and have provided similar services to agencies of our size and communities of our size in selecting their chief administrative officer. We'd also be looking potentially to reverse -- I'm sorry -- reimburse candidate travel for coming here. At the end of the search, December 8, 2020 Page 231 we expect that there will be between three and six candidates based on your direction that would be brought back for initial interview and potentially again for finalist interviews. It is not -- you know, we have a practice within our organization of paying for interview expenses when recruiting highly-skilled professional positions. That could include reasonable transportation costs, lodging, and per diem for meals once they're here for not necessarily a first interview but potentially finalist interviews if you so choose. For some perspective, in the past year as we've brought in candidates to interview for county positions, the costs have ranged from 750 to $1,500 per candidate. The one thing to keep in mind is that during the period that we've indicated that interviews would be conducted, that is typically the high season here in Collier County, and if tourism remains strong, it could -- the costs could be a little bit more than that. So with, you know, potentially three to six candidate finalists, travel costs to the organization could be between 4,500 and $9,000. I hope this information is helpful in your deliberations and decision-making, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Ma'am, did I -- Amy, did I understand -- heard you right, you thought that to do a correct search and all the things associated with it would be above and beyond what your office, you know, could handle? Is that your recommendation? MS. LEIBERG: That has been what we've used for other executive -- you know, very high-level searches, and we feel that would probably provide the better option than that being a recruitment within the -- with the Human Resources Division. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. And I think this is one of the December 8, 2020 Page 232 most important decisions we'll make as commissioners, I think. And it's a high-level position. It requires a lot of very specialized experience, and I think -- I would urge that we take the option of hiring a professional search firm. They have access all over the country. I mean -- and, also, I would urge others, you know, currently in our county government to -- you know, to throw their hat in the ring as well. It's not just, you know, excluding anybody locally. But I think we need to get a firm that's going to have a national reach and make sure -- because I agree with what Mr. LoCastro was saying about competition. Competition's good but, ultimately, we want to make sure that we select the most qualified person for the job. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, no, maybe. I'm -- I would rather we just open the position up for 30 no longer than 60 days, review the applications that we've got. There are some people that are right amongst us that I think are more than qualified for us to give due consideration to without engagement. That engagement fee for a recruitment firm is an up-front expense just to get them to look at us. My suggestion would be open the position up for 30 days, no longer than 60. Review it at -- similar to the timeline that you've got set forth here. Review the applications by our second meeting -- no later than our second meeting in January. At that point we can -- and we're not going to disway [sic] or not offer to pay a national recruiting firm that wants to -- once the word is out that there's an opening in paradise, we will pay a recruiting firm if they bring us somebody and then make those decisions -- if we haven't got sufficient applications by that time frame, then we can make the expenditure engage -- still have time and go through that process. So that -- if -- it kind of -- it's kind of -- as I said, I agree it's one December 8, 2020 Page 233 of the most important decisions that we're going to make, but in my other life, I have hired those recruiting firms before, and -- they have a stable of people that they've already got that they can send to us with the fee associated, and off we go. So I think we open t hat door up and let the position be known that -- let the folks know that there's a position available. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I agree with Commissioner Solis and, I think, Commissioner LoCastro, if I'm not mistaken. I think you were talking about hiring a firm as well? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No, not a firm. I -- actually, exactly what Commissioner McDaniel just said is what I would have liked to do for the other two positions as well. But, certainly, you know, we've moved on, but for this one, I would agree with that. And I definitely agree with his last statement that a lot of times these firms have sort of a stable of people already that they move around. And I think we've got a lot of smart people here, in 30 or 60 days they'll, you know, be able to utilize the HR office but not overtask you and use even our own expertise. That would be -- I'd be leaning towards seconding that -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I lean -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: -- discussion. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- towards what Commissioner Solis had indicated, that we hire ASAP a firm to help us find qualified applicants throughout the state and nationally. I think that's -- personally, I think that's the best way to go. So that would be Option 3. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So I don't know that there's support to do that, but we do need a motion at this point, then, to make a decision. Commissioner Solis. December 8, 2020 Page 234 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I would just add one thing is that my biggest concern is that we have a hard date, and I think with hiring a firm, we have a hard schedule to meet because what I think the worst-case scenario would be, would be to get to the end of May and not have made a selection. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. Let me make another comment in reference to that before we take a motion and vote, and this is a question for the County Attorney to opine on. If we do a solicitation, just simply say we're going to solicit applications, anything we do is a public record. Anything that's submitted to us is open to the press. I think that suppresses the potential list of candidates. I do believe that if we have a search firm, there is a period of time where the information is gathered by the search firm that is not public. I may be wrong on that, but that's my -- kind of my understanding; that that does provide some ability for applicants in other jobs to apply without having their name in the newspaper, which could affect their current positions. MR. KLATZKOW: I do know that if you're going to set up a committee, that has to be a Sunshine committee, which is one of the benefits of an outside firm. They could do whatever they want outside the Sunshine. I do not know -- I do not have an answer whether those resumés would be public records or if there's an exemption, sir. That I do not know. I'd have to come back to you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Commissioner Taylor wishes to speak, and so do I. You've been focusing on that direction, so... CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yep. Well, I'm listening to this side of the Board. I'm not paying any attention -- December 8, 2020 Page 235 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Maybe it's on -- maybe it's on purpose. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: See, I'm the swing vote here, so pay attention to me. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: She is. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So can we not do both? Can we not go out and -- because we have to do an RFP, right, for a search firm, is that correct, or do we have a library of recruitment firms? MR. OCHS: You have a number of firms that we could ask for quotes and bring those back. There is an -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. MR. OCHS: -- exemption in your purchasing ordinance for these types of services, professional services where we could get quotes and bring those back to you without having to go through a formal RFP. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Having been through this more than once in my government life, I can assure you there is absolutely no substitute for institutional memory. And I would very much like to open it up here. You know, if someone feels that they're too shy to come forward with it, then maybe they shouldn't be county manager, you know. And I think we need to take a strong look at what's here and -- but maybe at the same time in the same way get some quotes from recruitment firms. Maybe we put the deadline as the first or second meeting in January and make a decision. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. MR. KLATZKOW: I just looked at the Attorney General's Government in the Sunshine Manual, and if we use a recruitment firm, all those documents would be public records. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Either way. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. December 8, 2020 Page 236 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I had a comment to Commissioner Solis, and this is just my perception. We do have a date certain which our current County Manager is going to leave us, but we have an unbelievable firm structure of an organization. I think it's really important for us to shoot to have that replacement in and well on the way, but it's not a date certain or a time certain that we have to do it. The organization has an enormous amount of structure that the folks who we currently have put in place. And I don't want to say that we can get along without you, but we can get along -- we can get along -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Without you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- we can get along without you. The world's not going to stop revolving. And it's -- and it's simply -- that's my -- that's my opinion with regard to that. There's an urgency to get this done, but I think the time within which it's been set forth is sufficient to handle it. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let me ask Mr. Ochs a question, and then I'll make a comment, and then we'll see if -- any additional comments. We'll take a motion. Mr. Ochs, you've been in this business for a long time. What is your recommendation in terms of the best practice, the best policy for us to select someone to fill your shoes? We've hea rd staff -- staff has recommended Option No. 3, I believe, or at least you've gone through, and it sounded like you were leaning towards Option No. 3. But I'd like to hear from you, Mr. Ochs. MR. OCHS: Commissioners, I support Option 3 as well, and the reason for that is it goes back to what Commissioner LoCastro was saying. For a CEO level position, if you really want to cast the widest net to get the greatest number of potentially qualified and best-of-the-best candidates, these recruitment firms have a broad national reach. December 8, 2020 Page 237 They do have a stable of candidates, certainly, but those aren't the only ones. I've been involved in these where, you know, you're paying them to go out and actively recruit and work their networks as well as, you know, traditional ad placement. And they also keep the process going, because time is money for them as well, you know. And I'm thinking about the time of the year if we've got our staff engaged in this, and you've got one meeting in December, you've got the holidays. You know, we're not going to be back together in this forum until the 12th of January. And if we're just then getting you to approve a position profile for the staff, then, to take back and start doing the advertisements, you know, if we really want to keep this on track for May, and it doesn't have to be, but I think given the schedule, an executive recruiter is probably my recommendation to you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Again, I'm leaning towards that. I don't have any problem with the county soliciting resumés, as Commissioner Taylor has said, in addition to that, but I think we need an executive search firm. I would suggest -- and, again, this is just kind of thinking out loud. We do have a short time frame. We can make a -- I'd like to be able to pick a -- if we vote to do a search firm, I'd like to be able to pick a search firm prior to January 12th. That would require us to schedule a meeting. MR. OCHS: Well, Mr. Chairman, you have a workshop coming up next Tuesday. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: On the -- MR. OCHS: And I'm looking to the County Attorney for some help. But if we advertise that as part of your workshop agenda -- typically, you don't make decisions there, but -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, we can advertise a meeting anytime we want to. So if we have a meeting already -- December 8, 2020 Page 238 MR. KLATZKOW: You don't have to do it by a meeting. You could delegate one of you -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, we have a meeting next -- MR. OCHS: You have a workshop on the 15th, yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Why don't we advertise that as a meeting? Come back to us with a recommendation on a search firm. Do the solicitation in terms of what their pricing would be and come back with some recommendations. We can make a decision next Tuesday on that selection. MS. LEIBERG: Sir, if I may, the one thing with going out for requests for quotes, we usually have that open for a period of two weeks. I'm not sure we'll have all of those -- that back from the search firm who'd be interested -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, start tomorrow morning at 8:00. MS. LEIBERG: Very good. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And there aren't that many firms. There's five or six phone calls, so I know you can do it in a couple of days. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: In all due respect, there are two of you that want to hire a firm and three of us that want to open up the position -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Right. We're going to take a motion. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- and still hire a firm if the necessary -- if it's necessary for us to do it. And so leading us down a path of advertising that meeting next week -- I mean, we're going to open -- we have to go -- we have to come back with an RFP, put out an RFP, and get proposals back from firms by January. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We do not. We do not need to do that. December 8, 2020 Page 239 MR. OCHS: You can get quotes, Commissioner McDaniel, for these professional services, and get -- you can get a waiver per your purchasing policy to not have to do a formal RFP but do solicitation of quotes from these firms. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I'm going to make a motion. It may fail on a 3-2 vote against it, but I'm going to make a motion, just to get the issue on the floor, that we advertise our meeting for next Tuesday to be a regular meeting. I don't know what time our workshop starts. MR. OCHS: Nine a.m. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We can -- we only need probably 30 minutes to discuss this, so we could start at 8:30 on a regular meeting. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I won't be here. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Will you be here at 9:00? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, unfortunately. I should be here about quarter after 9:00 or 9:30. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. All right. Well, then we can set a time-certain for a commission meeting, which could be 10:00. You know, pick a time so that we're all here, advertise it for that, present a recommendation on a search firm, and at the same time, if you want to solicit resumés from people that just want to apply, I don't think there's any problem in doing that in addition to that. My personal view is that we should just simp ly use a search firm, but I don't have any issue with people submitting resumés. So I'll make a motion, then -- unless anybody objects. I'll make a motion that on December 15th we'll have a regular meeting at a time certain, staff will come back with a recommendation for a search firm. We can at that point in time hire that firm or not, and at that time we can decide to advertise for resumés as well. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. December 8, 2020 Page 240 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I would second that if you would add in we would go ahead and advertise for resumés now. That doesn't delay the process at all. We can go ahead a nd start receiving resumés as we speak, and then come next week we can decide whether we want to engage a -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Is that -- is that going to complicate things with the search firm? We're advertising for -- I guess we're just paying them a fee, so whether we advertise for resumés and select somebody on our own, we're still paying the fee to the search firm, so I suspect that that will -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was the rationale for not engaging somebody for the first 30 to 60 days was, see first. So we can kind of sort of do both and then engage in January. That was my -- that was what I had proposed, sir. But if you would modify your motion to allow for the position to be open now, we can then decide whether -- next week at an advertised hearing whether we want to engage someone or not and at least have that week o r so to -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Mr. Ochs, how do we advertise that a position is open? MR. OCHS: Well, it depends if you want it national or regional or locally. I mean, locally, we can use, obviously, the newspaper, or if you want to go nationally, we'd have to use some publications like the International City Management Association and some other national publications. I'm looking to Ms. Leiberg for some help on how long it takes to actually place those and get them out. I mean, it would probably take a few days, Amy, to -- MS. LEIBERG: I would think by the end of this wee k. We can certainly publish on the site that we currently use to select candidates, seeking resumés for interested candidates. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Do you have a Twitter account? MR. OCHS: No, sir, but we have a website. December 8, 2020 Page 241 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. All right. Then I'll make the motion -- let me see if I can kind of clarify this -- that on December 15th staff will come back with a recommendation on a search firm. We'll have a regular advertised meeting. And in addition to that, staff will begin the process immediately to let the public know in some fashion that we have an opening for a county manager candidate. MR. OCHS: Okay. You just -- you need to -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Does that cover it? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It does. Second. MR. OCHS: In terms of the position profile in what we advertise, we'll just use the stock kind of job descr iption for now, if that's okay, in the interest of time. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I mean, we have that on your -- MR. OCHS: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- on your annual review. MR. OCHS: Right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I mean, this is -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Do we have any registered speakers on this topic? MR. MILLER: We do not, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. Thank goodness. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Does our County Attorney -- MR. KLATZKOW: My understanding is that HR will be collecting resumés, they will not be reviewing resumés, and you're going to have to figure out some methodology as to go through the resumés at your next meeting. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And you're going to set time for the meeting, or the Manager will set a time for th e actual meeting. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Make sure that Commissioner December 8, 2020 Page 242 Taylor is here for the scheduled time when we hear the item. I don't want to -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: The workshop is on the mental health issues? MR. OCHS: Yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: How long do you think that will take? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It shouldn't be more than hour-and-a-half, two hours. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Do you want to go ahead and set a meeting for 11:00? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Perfect. And then if we're not done with the workshop, we can just continue, hold the meeting, and do what we need to do. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Right. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Can I make one comment? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I have this gut feeling that this is sort of -- going back to my construction days. This is sort of like, you know, hiring a contractor but then the owner wanting to do some of the work themselves. It always becomes problematic somehow. I mean, I think if we're going to hire a firm, l et's hire a firm. If we're not going to hire a firm, let's not hire a firm and do it ourselves. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: What I was trying to do is make a motion that will get three votes. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right. No, I understand. I just wanted to express -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And at the same time -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- that I think it's a concern. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- start looking at a search firm. So that's the reason that I added that to that motion. December 8, 2020 Page 243 COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I mean, am I missing something here or -- you know, putting something out on Indeed, Monster, LinkedIn? I mean, they hire CEOs off of those. I'm not saying that's exclusively all we do but that, literally, takes 15 minutes to cut and paste the job description and, you know, put it out there, and you see what you get. I mean, that's what -- you know, major companies do that all the time. So I think -- I like the hybrid idea. I don't think we're sort of hiring a contractor and doing the work ourselves. I think in the interest of time, we're trying to maximum the advertisement of this to get the best candidate. MR. KLATZKOW: You've got two issues. You've got internal candidates, and they'll be happy to put resumés in. Then you have external candidates. And I can tell you from personal experience, all right, it's very difficult for somebody who has a job to start throwing resumés out because you may -- that may become public, all right. That's -- so, that -- yes, we can do Indeed and Monster and everything else. From my personal experience, I don't think you're going to get a lot of response that way from the outside people, not the good ones, because it's a very public process. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, we're public. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion, and I believe we have a second. MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, if I could just get some clarification on the motion. When we come meet on the 15th, all we're bringing back is quotations from executive recruitment firms. We're not bringing back whatever resumés we've received to date? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: No. You're going to bring back a recommendation on a recruitment firm. Resumés we can individually look at anytime we want to. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, no, no, no. I don't see -- if we're going to open this up and if we're going to make the move, December 8, 2020 Page 244 we've got to think about it. We can't just say, well, we're going to get the firm, and then that will chill anybody interior -- you know, here coming forward doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. Either we -- I don't understand why we can't wait 30 days until the first meeting in January, open it up, and then make that decision in January whether or not -- whether or not, you know, we've -- it's now or never for our local candidates. If no one comes forward, then we go and hire the recruitment firm in the beginning of January. I don't think we're going to lose very much over -- over the holidays. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We do have a motion and a second, so we'll entertain that motion. If it fails, then we'll try something else. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Can you summarize what we're -- because I liked what Commissioner Taylor said. I don't know if she made a motion on that. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: No. We have a motion. We have to take care of that before we get to a motion. The motion and the second was to come back on December 15th at 11:00 for a board meeting at which time staff will make a recommendation on a search firm for us to retain. At the same time during this week in between now and then, staff will make an effort to get out to the world that we have an opening for our County Manager position. That was the motion and the, I believe, the second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I seconded it, because it kind of gets us to that point. We can decide next week whether or not we want to engage a firm or not based upon the applications that we got. If we choose not to, we can still engage in January. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And, you know, I wanted to get the ball rolling on this thing, because I know -- it's easy to say, well, we can do this in January. We'll be in May pretty darn fast, and we need to have some candidates ready to interview long before that, so -- December 8, 2020 Page 245 because it would be nice to have some overlap where Mr. Ochs is here and can help with a new manager in terms of getting that new manager up to speed. We have a motion and second. If there's no -- Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: One last question for -- just so that I understand the motion and what it means. So if we make the announcement we're opening up an advertisement for the County Manager's position, that means internally and locally people are invited to submit their application and resumés, but then what? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: What do you mean? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Then what happens with those? MR. OCHS: That's why I asked the question about what the expectation is on the 15th. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right. I mean, so then what? So we have a bunch of resumés, and then we're going to do what? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We're going to have you take a look at them -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's right. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- interview all the candidates. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: How about the new guy? Let's have him do it. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We will -- you know, those are issues that we're going to have to resolve. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. All right. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and a second. With a great deal of trepidation, I'm going to call for the vote. All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. December 8, 2020 Page 246 COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. All right. MR. OCHS: Go to work, Amy. MS. LEIBERG: Yes, sir. Item #10B DISCUSSION REGARDING BOARD RESPONSE TO THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COUNTY MANAGER AGENCY - MOTION ASKING COUNTY MANAGER TO RECONSIDER HIS DECISION REGARDING THE RECENT APPOINTMENT OF THE CURRENT PLANNING & ZONING DIRECTOR AND BRING BACK HIS DECISION AT BCC MEETING IN JANUARY – MOTION FAILS FOR LACK OF SECOND CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. We're now on to the last item, which is an item that Commissioner Taylor had added to the agenda and, Commissioner Taylor, I appreciate you letting us combine all these together. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Troy, you've got -- MR. MILLER: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's it. All right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: What item are we on, please? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We are on 10B, right? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We're on 10B. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: 10B, okay. December 8, 2020 Page 247 COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And I'm going to read this. I want to be very precise, very exact on this. It's very sensitive and for me a very awkward subject, but I could not leave it. I could just not leave it. It just needs to be brought into the public realm, and I need to get guidance from my commission on this. The situation is that a relative of a Collier County employer -- employee, excuse me -- the employee's son receives a substantial college scholarship from the family office of a Collier County landowner whose property sits in the RLSA. The representatives of this landowner were before the Commission earlier this year seeking development approval for some of these lands. The employee contacted the County Attorney's Office in June with concerns about a possible conflict of interest that she might have. The employee was being considered for a promotion to the Interim Director of Planning and Zoning in Collier County at that time. This is to her credit, and I applaud her for coming forward. I also think it is wonderful not only that her son receives a merit scholarship to attend college and received important education for his future and the future of society, but that he had the support and simply hard work of a mother who instilled these values in him. It is also wonderful that we have such a generous family willing to support the education of our youth. The County Attorney's Office contacted the Florida Commission on Ethics, and the Commission responded that the employee did not have a legal conflict; however, as far as the Collier County Ethics Ordinance is concerned, the County Attorney cautioned that separating her money from her adult son's education from the landowner was a fine line and that she should consult with the County Manager together with her department head. The employee did just that, and the County Manager promoted her to interim division director in June and again promoted her to December 8, 2020 Page 248 director in November. And let us go to the next slide, Troy. I provided you in your packet with the advertised job description of the position of the Division Director of Planning and Zoning, and these are the essential functions of the director. And I'm certainly not going to read it verbatim, but they apply, interpret, and amend the Collier County Land Development Code. They apply and interpret the GMP. They assign projects, land development petitions, correspond to staff. They maintain the currency management system in order to ensure the public infrastructure is -- can support growth and land development. They review and analyze amendments and rezone petitions, supervises, directs, and evaluates staff processing employee concerns and problems. Oversees and administers the Collier County Rural Lands Stewardship Credit Program, reviews all development plans, reviews all requests for rezoning, reviews proposed land-use code for special districts, and assigns, manages, and oversees the Land Development Code amendment processes. There is a lot more to this, but these are the edits that I brought forward. In my opinion, there is simply no way to avoid being involved in any landowner's developments as the Director of Planning and Zoning. The hand of the division director touches every development that comes through the Planning Department. Ethics is what our Former County Manager Jim Mudd worked so hard to reestablish over 15 years in the wake of Stadium Naples scandal that removed three County Commissioners and the County Manager from office, some with jail time, and County Manager Ochs has continued Jim Mudd's ethics legacy. The County Manager agency has a code of ethics, CMA5311. If we could go to that, please. This is the ethics, and we'll go to -- the ethics ordinance -- if we can go to the next slide, I believe. This is December 8, 2020 Page 249 the ethics ordinance. Again, I lifted part of it. And I think it's very important, No. F, and I'm going to read it. No employee shall accept or agree to accept, either directly or indirectly, any favor, gift, loan, fee, service or any other item of value in any form whatsoever from any organization or individual if the employee knows or reasonably should know that it is intended to reward or influence the employee in the performance or nonperformance of his or her appointed duties. And then we will go to, please, the Collier County Ethics Ordinance. The ethics ordinance referenced by the County Attorney in his memo to the employee was developed by two judges, retired Judge Mike Carr and Circuit Judge Romero Mañalich in the aftermath of the Stadium Naples scandal. And this issue of ethics is squarely before us today. This is what it says. That public officials shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any fee, compensation, gift, gratuity, favor, food, entertainment, loan or any other thing of monetary value from anyone who the public official knows or reasonably should know is seeking zoning, permitting, or inspection approval from the county department or board with which the public official is affiliated. I don't believe this was the best decision of our County Manager to put this employee in the position of the Division Director of Planning and Zoning. It is all well and good that she had great good sense to self-disclose, but the critical issue was dropped there. This employee cannot do both, working in Collier County in a position where she can directly influence the out -coming of a zoning matter and have her family receive a monetary benefit from a landowner seeking entitlements on his property from Collier County. I believe that maintaining our taxpayers' confidence in Collier County and maintaining the integrity of the county through responsible ethics is critical, and especially at a time when we are greatly expanding. In light of the above, it is my recommendation that the County December 8, 2020 Page 250 Manager recommends [sic] his decision to appoint this employee to the Director of Planning and Zoning, and I'd like to have support from the Commission on this. Thank you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm sorry. Can you say what -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I would like to direct the County Manager to reconsider his decision -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Oh, okay. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- to appoint this employee as Director of Planning and Zoning. Thank you. MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, if I might. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes, Mr. Ochs. MR. OCHS: Thanks, Commissioner Taylor, for bringing this forward. I do have a couple things I'd like to say, and I'm going to refer to my notes as well so I don't miss anything. The Commissioner's correct, I did speak with Mr. Cohen, the Growth Management Department Head in early June of this year to consider his request to appoint Anita Jenkins as the interim planning director. This is a position that has been vacant since August of 2019. He advised that Ms. Jenkins had made an ethics inquiry to the County Attorney's Office and had received a reply, which I read, and we subsequently discussed it at some length. Once I read that the County Attorney concluded that Ms. Jenkins' appointment to interim planning director did not create a legal conflict of interest but may create a perception of a conflict, I then had to decide if filling a critical important management position in our Growth Management Department with a highly qualified, experienced, credentialed professional with a proven track record of exemplary pe rformance December 8, 2020 Page 251 and professional integrity outweighed the unknown potential prospect that someone might sometime in the future perceive that Ms. Jenkins' job performance has created or might someday create a conflict of interest because her adult son earned an academic college scholarship from a private organization established by an individual who's affiliated with one of several major property owners in Eastern Collier County, an individual whom she has never met. Given those facts, I chose to authorize Ms. Jenkins' appointment, and I would do it again under the same circumstances. Let's examine briefly Ms. Jenkins' involvement in the planning process that led to the Board of County Commissioners approval to transmit the RLSA amendments to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity on November 10th, 2020. Those proposed amendments to the RLSA overlay were based on the Board-authorized five-year review report and the RLSA restudy report commonly referred to as the white paper. The white paper was written by former County Planner Kris Van Lengen in May of 2019 under the direction of Mike Bosi, the t hen Planning and Zoning Director at the time. Mr. Van Lengen left the county in July of 2019. Mr. Bosi left the county in August of 2019. During the summer of 2019, Mr. Cohen took the lead in the development of the five-year review report and the white paper. After extensive stakeholder vetting, Mr. Cohen presented the results of the five-year review report and the white paper to the Board in October 2019. The Board directed staff to bring the GMP amendments based on the five-year review report and the white paper back to the Board. In November of 2019, Mr. Cohen established the RLSA interdisciplinary team to develop the Board-directed advertisement. The team consisted of staff members from Planning, Transportation, December 8, 2020 Page 252 Engineer Review, Environmental Planning, Housing, Transit, and Capital Project Planning. In developing the draft policies, the team had conversations with various stakeholders involved in the process. Draft amendments were posted on March 9th, 2020, with a prescribed comment period of March 9th through March 19th, 2020. In April of 2020, work began on the final draft of the amendments based on the comments received and the internal staff review by the RLSA interdisciplinary team. Mr. Cohen had structured the staff team to work in a collaborative fashion and reserved decision-making authority regarding the final content of the amendments to himself as the GMD Department Head. Issues such as aggregation, affordable housing, tier restoration, credit analysis, Water Resource Areas, et cetera, were refined. Aggregation was dropped since this was a legacy from the rural process for DRIs, and Mr. Cohen believed that the same results could be achieved utilizing existing tools in the GMP and the LDC. Ms. Jenkins' participation in the team consisted of document preparation and Comprehensive Planning consistency review. The final draft amendment was completed by the staff team on June 18th, 2020. Mr. Cohen and the team presented the final amendments to the Planning Commission on September 3rd, again on the 17th, and on the 25th of this year. And, finally, the Board-approved transmittal of the RLS amendments to the Department of Economic Opportunity on November 10th, 2020. Now, the above timeline of key events, it indicates that Mr. Cohen had been the lead in the development of the RLSA amendments since the summer of 2019, bolstered by an RLS team as part of their decision-making process. I am unaware of any evidence or inference that Ms. Jenkins has provided any special consideration to Collier Enterprises as a result December 8, 2020 Page 253 of her adult son's scholarship award. With respect to land-use applications currently or previously under review from Collier Enterprises, it's been established that Ms. Jenkins was not involved at all in the review of the Rivergrass petition. She was working at the time in the community planning section on the Immokalee Road master plan. And with regard to the two SRA village projects currently under review, Mr. Cohen is the lead on both of those planning teams along with the planning manager, Mr. Bellows, and principal managers assigned to those reviews by the planning manager. So, Mr. Chairman and Commissioners, I believe the decision was appropriate under the circumstances known at the time of that decision, and I stand by the decision that I made. I'm available for comments or questions. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Comments from the Commission? I think, Commissioner Taylor, you had made a suggestion. Would you repeat what you're looking for? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. That we, as a Commission, ask our County Manager to reconsider the decision. I did speak to two judges over the weekend, and it's clear, ethics and conflict of interest is based on money and blood. And, unfortunately, in this situation, that definition qualifies. The job description of the Director of Planning and Zoning is clear. It has been developed by the county. Whether our growth management head is taking over or not is not the issue. The issue is that's her job description. She can interp ret the GMP. She supervises -- unless she's not the interim -- or not the director, she's doing those -- she is fulfilling those duties. And it is very clear that between June of 20 -- June 20th -- no, it's not. Maybe let's just say May of 2020 and September, something happened over the summer that the aggregation rule was suddenly removed, and it was sudden December 8, 2020 Page 254 because we all expected it to be in this, and the aggrega tion rule benefits the family in question that is the benefactor of her son. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. I'm going to make a -- I'm sorry. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah, I think we both have -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think we've all got something to say. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I think we all have somet hing to say. Okay. So I think there's several different issues. Number one, it's my understanding that our County Attorney rendered an opinion that said there was no legal conflict of interest; is that correct? MR. KLATZKOW: Correct. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. So we have a legal opinion, and Ms. Jenkins was the one that asked for the legal opinion, and the legal opinion she got was that there was no conflict of interest. So, number one, why would we remove her if there is no legal conflict of interest? Because that's the opinion -- let me finish. That's the opinion of our County Attorney. Number two, you know, here's a long-term employee who did the right thing, who asked for an opinion, is told there is no legal conflict of interest, so she's going to be punished for having done the right thing if we ask to remove her, which I think is just inherently unfair. Number 3, even if -- you know, for the sake of argument, let's say that there may -- you know, let's just say there is a conflict of interest, although our legal opinion is that there isn't one, it's a conflict of interest with one person, not the entire county and not everybody that owns a piece of property in the county that would preclude her from fulfilling her duties as a zoning director. It's -- so, December 8, 2020 Page 255 I mean, the solution is she has no involvement with whatever this perceived conflict of interest would be. I don't see how we remove somebody because there's, you know, a perception -- not a legal conflict, but a perception that there was a conflict. I don't know how -- how that is a remedy that gets to what the issue is, if there is an issue. It would be, she just doesn't have anything to do with anything related to Collier Enterprises. And, I mean, if -- you know, we can't -- I think -- talk about a chilling effect. I mean, we can't penalize employees for having done the right thing and receiving an answer that there is no conflict, you know, and that was the advice given to the County Attorney -- from the County Attorney to County Manager, and the decision was made based upon qualifications. I mean, I can't imagine what the effect that would have on the morale of our employees because it's just patently unfair. Let's resolve the -- if there's an issue, let's just take care of that, but you're talking about demoting her, right? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'm not -- no, sir. I am talking about asking the County Manager to reconsider his decision. That decision on how it's handled is his decision. It is not ours. That's his decision. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Hang on. Let's try -- COMMISSIONER SOLIS: His decision was to appoint her. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's try to do this one at a time. Commissioner Solis has the floor, then Commissioner LoCastro, and then I'll go back to Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So I just don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, because of -- I mean, we've been told there is no "conflict of interest" issue. We've got a legal opinion to that effect. December 8, 2020 Page 256 COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: No, sir, you don't. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Mr. LoCastro. Are you finished, Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, I mean -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Go ahead. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- Commissioner Taylor's saying no, and I'm going to look at our County Attorney again and say, what is your opinion as to whether or not there's a conflict of interest based upon either the statute or our code of ordinances? MR. KLATZKOW: What I stated was there is no legal conflict of interest. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But there is an ethical one. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'm a little perplexed, because 45 minutes ago my colleges here talked about Mr. Ochs' 30 years of experience and that him unilaterally appointing two people to some very high positions -- which I concurred with, I just wanted to see a little bit more of a competition to protect you-all and have you compete. That's already passed. But now we are putting into question his judgment on appointing somebody to a position and now all of a sudden it's in question. I actually think Mr. Ochs has already answered the question. He said if he had it to do all over again, he would do exactly what he just did. And I think what Commissioner -- and I respect what Commissioner Taylor has brought to the table. I mean, this is part of the checks and balances. But if the questio n is, I would like the County Manager to reconsider his appointment, I believe he already did at this meeting, and he -- and he stated unequivocally that he would do the exact same thing again. December 8, 2020 Page 257 And I do think -- I won't counter what maybe two judges might have told one of our commissioners, but I think we take the legal opinion of our County Attorney, and I actually feel like if we're going to trust the judgment of a 30-year veteran and all of his experience just an hour ago to appoint two people unilaterally, then, certainly, you know, we should follow that same algorithm here, and I think that the question's already been asked and answered. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, no, that's fine. I just wanted this to go on the record. I'd like to make a motion that we ask the County Attorney [sic] to reconsider his decision and that it comes -- that he brings that decision to us at the first meeting in January. MR. KLATZKOW: You mean the County Manager. MR. OCHS: The County Manager. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: County Manager. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion. We'll see if there's a second in just a moment. I agree with Commissioner Solis and Commissioner LoCastro. We have a county attorney. We are on solid ground legally from any kind of a liability standpoint when we rely on our legal counsel for his legal opinions. When we vary from that, that's when we are -- that's when we have some potential problems. I think the opinion -- now, Mr. Klatzkow may want to reconsider his opinion. That's a whole different story. And he may be doing that after this meeting. But until we get a different opinion from the County Attorney, I agree that there is not an ethics issue here. We do have a motion. Is there a second? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Not from me. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If there's no second, the motion December 8, 2020 Page 258 fails for a lack of a second. Item #15 STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We'll move on to staff and commission general communications. I'd like to start off -- Mr. Casalanguida's going to be leaving us here in a few short weeks. It will be a sad day. It will be a glad day for him, but a sad day for us. And I wanted to give him an opportunity to say a few words, and perhaps we may even have a few words to say as well. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Mr. Chairman, only just because I'm new. Maybe I'm missing some protocol here, but the re was a line item here, 16G2, that I actually thought we were going to get to. So maybe -- you know, I'm still figuring out the things we sort of skip over. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah, yeah. We sort of -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's consent. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'm sorry? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We sort of got to that already. Those are all the consent. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: They're all sort of lumped into the one giant? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I would just -- I just want to clarify that on 16G2 it talked about airport equipment. And I met with the department that oversees that, and the fine print it just -- and so maybe this is just for the record. It showed the purchase of a December 8, 2020 Page 259 $14,000 golf cart. So I don't know if we're purchasing that from NASA or Elon Musk. But I was told there might have been a typo and that it should have said "golf carts." I hope it's golf carts, because I'd love to see the photo of a $14,000 golf cart, especially that's going to an airport on Marco Island that's a year and a half behind schedule. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You know they do have those at The Villages? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Oh, they've got plenty of them, but none that I want to use taxpayer dollars for. So just maybe a matter of record. I was told it might be a typo. If it's not, I would like to just have some, you know -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: If it's not a typo, we can reconsider that later; not right now. MR. OCHS: I'll provide that. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We voted in the affirmative for it. MR. OCHS: I'll make sure I provide that information. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Just a point of record, I guess, to -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, after -- well, is this a -- MR. OCHS: It's an Airport Authority item under your consent agenda. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's see if we can clarify that right now, because if it's an error, then we need to fix it right now. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Here is the man I talked to. MR. COHEN: Yes, you did. It's a service vehicle. It carries six folks; gas, not electric; and it tows an aircraft. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Well, that was the second. There were two items on there. And I don't want to belabor this point. December 8, 2020 Page 260 MR. COHEN: The first one was a -- yeah, the first issue was a tug. That's a different vehicle. But the one that you were asking me about, that also -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So golf cart wouldn't properly describe what it is? MR. COOK: No, that's correct. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Excellent. Thank you very much. MR. OCHS: Thanks for the question, sir. I appreciate that. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Nick. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sure. Mr. Chairman, I just -- I'll be brief. It's late in the day. I wanted to say thank you to all of you and the past board members I've worked for. It's been a pleasure. Sixteen years, I never thought I'd be where I am sitting today. I want to thank the County Manager. He's a personal friend. I've worked with him for those 16 years, been up here for five years. It's a sad day for me to leave. I really never thought I'd be doing what I'm doing in the time I'm doing. But I really wanted to say to everyone I'm very grateful. It's been a terrific experience. And get rid of any rumors. There's no secret Facebook account anybody found. There's no dark state. Leo and I are not fighting in the hallway and disagreeing, and there's no board members that want to see me leave so I'm getting out early. So -- just an opportunity that presented itself, and, you know, at this stage of my life, you know, as they say, my dad passed away this spring, the dog died, and my youngest is going to colleg e, so it was one of those decision points that came up and -- but mostly I wanted to say thank you. I appreciate the peers and colleagues I've worked with and especially Leo who's been a good friend and will stay a good friend. So thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I will say that you will be missed. December 8, 2020 Page 261 You've done an incredible job over the 16 years. I've worked with you for all of those years. I wanted to wish you the best. I know you're going to have a great career outside of government. And if you change your mind between now and the 15th -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You've got a week to apply. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You would be -- your resumé would still be considered, let me say that. But, anyway, I just wanted to wish you the best. You've done a wonderful job for us. Any other comments and -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Only to second what you just got done saying. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Thank you for all your years of service, and I hope you figure out how to take some time off every once in a while. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yeah. I've got to learn that one, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Staff and commission general communications. Mr. Ochs? MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. Just two items. One brief one -- hopefully brief, but the first is just a reminder, and we talked about this just a few minutes ago. You do have a mental health workshop on December 15th at 9:00 and then, of course, we'll follow that with the special Board meeting at 11:00. And the other item I wanted to get some feedback from the commissioner on is the One Naples hearing that is currently scheduled to -- or tentatively scheduled to come to the Board on January the 12th. I've spoken to all of you individually, and you've all had different ideas and thoughts about how we might want to handle that meeting in terms of date, time, logistics, location. So, Mr. Chairman, I know you wanted to speak to your December 8, 2020 Page 262 colleagues about it. We just need -- if it's going to be somewhere other than this building, you know, the sooner we know that the better, so we can make arrangements for broadcast media and Zoom call in and all those kinds of things. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, I would -- I know there's going to be an awful lot of people that want to participate in that. I think -- they had a neighborhood information meeting; I think they had 400 people there or something of that nature. So that was pre-COVID, so I'm sure that there will be a lot of interest. I was thinking -- and Commissioner Taylor will be the chairperson at that point in time. MR. OCHS: Correct. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: But I was thinking we may want to put this off just a little bit. That first meeting in January is probably going to be pretty much of a monster to begin with, and this is going to be probably a four- or five-hour thing. MR. OCHS: It will be a full day, yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So the thought was perhaps setting aside a specific day other than a county commission regular meeting day and do it at the North Collier Park because there's a lot of opportunity for social distancing. I think we can probably -- I don't know how many people you can fit in that room distancing, but it's probably 50 or 70 people. MR. OCHS: Yeah, at least. MR. CASALANGUIDA: At least. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That was just my thought. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- and the other thought was I like the idea of doing it on a separate day than -- have us do it, but maybe contact the school board. The school board has an enormous facility with all kinds of -- all kinds of recording capacities. And we held one of our early theoretical dual MPO meetings with December 8, 2020 Page 263 Lee County there right shortly after you and I came into office, and that's a large facility that's got tons of parking and plenty of parking spaces and such. I'm not against North Collier because we've got that there as well, but the setting is quite conducive at the school board's facility. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I was -- if I may. I don't know the capacities of all the places that you're mentioning, but I know you've had a lot of big events at the sport -- I'm sure by January it will be called the Casalanguida Sports Park once you depart. But is the Sports Complex anything conducive to -- or larger? Okay. I was just was -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: No, sir. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I was just curious, because I know you've done some big things there. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yeah. No indoor facility. Actually, Commissioner McDaniel's idea is pretty spot on if we can get it. MR. OCHS: The challenge is handling overflow. Once you fill up a room, what do you do with the rest of the people? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. We actually could continue One Naples until that big building out there at the sports park is completed. MR. OCHS: There you go. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We can do it there. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: The hockey rink? MR. OCHS: Yes, yes. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, why don't we do this. I think everybody agrees we should have a separate day. Everybody agree s that the first week of January -- or the second Tuesday in January is way too soon. Let's have the Manager come back to us on January 8th; is that the next meeting? Oh, actually, we're going to have a meeting on January 15th -- December 15th. December 8, 2020 Page 264 MR. OCHS: Yeah. January 12th is your next schedule -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You may be able to come back and advise us next Tuesday. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: There may be a possibility, too, of using the facilities at St. John, the Roman Catholic Church. I think it's St. John, isn't it? That's where the NIM meeting was. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: On 111th? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, because they have two -- they would have the church where you could have people wait out of the elements in case it's raining, and then you'd have the auditorium there. So that might be a possibility, and it's a neighborhood area. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Why don't you come back to us on -- next Tuesday with some recommendations. I personally feel that it should be a government-type facility that we have this in as opposed to a church or a private facility. I just think that that's just a better setting, personally. But why don't you come back with some recommendations, and we'll set a date next Tuesday. Is that all right? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I think it's also important that we still have the option for people to call in because -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Oh, absolutely. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, yes. Oh, no. It should be Zoom and in person -- (Simultaneous crosstalk.) MR. OCHS: Yes, it will be. Yes, yes, it will. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right? MR. OCHS: Will do. I believe that's all I had, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner McDaniel, are you all set, or should I start at the other end? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Go to the other end, please. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Commissioner Solis, do you have any suggestions or thoughts? December 8, 2020 Page 265 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No, other than -- other than to apologize to Commissioner Taylor for having raised my voice. I feel like I've had way too much coffee today. And -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I saw that coming towards your end, these two gentlemen. Next time it needs to come across the dais. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Maybe I need to lay off the afternoon espresso. But I didn't mean to be uncivil or disrespectful. I just -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You were not. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I just -- sorry about that. So I wanted to apologize if I did raise my voice. But other than that, I would wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'd just like to say what an honor it is to serve up here with you-all; that today was a big day for me personally. It meant a lot. I feel honored and proud to be here with my colleagues, whether we agreed or disagreed. And also, too, I just want to clarify something. I think very highly of Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. French, and so I have no doubt you are going to be phenomenal leaders, and I support you wholeheartedly. It was more on the process and protecting you. I will tell you that since we talked, my phone has exploded from citizens that say other things about competition, and they like to see it open. But you know, all said and done, you have my full support. I look forward to learning from you. I know that you're top-notch individuals, and I can't wait to get started with you-all and do great things for Collier County. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner McDaniel. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I went through my notes, and I'm all good. I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas, December 8, 2020 Page 266 Happy New Year and peace be with you. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Peace be with you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. A minor thing, but it's something we need to think of as we maybe finally slowly climb out of the COVID time is that -- and I'm hearing it again and again. The best service is face service. It's one on one. And what's happening in Building and Planning and with specifically the wonderful, wonderful electronic way it was set up so that we could can keep on doing business sometimes isn't the best, because you can yell at that computer, but it's not going to help you. And sometimes things are done incorrectly, and if there was someone in front of them, they'd -- okay, try this or do that, and that personal touch is missing. But, I mean, as someone said to me, as a builder said to me, do you really enjoy calling Comcast? And he's right, right? He's right. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Comcast? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Comcast, yeah. So it's -- as we move, I hope that it's more of a hybrid and more of a balance. And I'm sure it will be. The danger, of course, in managing a county is that, oh, you know, if it's all on computer, I can say -- which is what Comcast has done, right? I can say this, and I can say that. And it's -- we're losing that -- we don't want to lose who we are as Collier County. So that's -- that's it. And I wanted -- I'm not going to say Merry Christmas yet. I'm going to say it on the 15th. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: But -- and I don't know if Deputy Manager Casalanguida's going to be with us on the 15th. MR. CASALANGUIDA: I probably will not be at the workshop. I'll be helping Dan transition. I think Leo and Sean will December 8, 2020 Page 267 probably be conducting that portion of it, unless Leo wants me there for some reason. MR. OCHS: If you want him punished, I can make sure -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I just want to say thank you. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Oh, my pleasure. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I've enjoyed working with you. You have a great future in front of you -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: Thank you, ma'am. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- and nothing but good wishes and blessings coming your way. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Thank you, ma'am. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You're welcome. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I have a couple things. When Commissioner LoCastro was elected and when Bill McDaniel was re-elected, there was a news article, and both gentleman were discussing our meeting schedules for next year and both indicated a desire not to have a break as when we have traditionally done in the summertime, and I wanted to make a suggestion as we begin to formulate the calendar for 2021. We have a -- we have a break in the summertime for a couple of reasons. One is that it gives our staff an opportunity to relax a little bit after every -- you know, every two weeks they're putting together these 1,000-page agendas or 2,000-page agendas. So this gives staff a little bit of a break. We're all here doing whatever we need to do as commissioners, but it gives everybody a break, an opportunity to take some vacations. And we, literally, miss three meetings, so it's not a big deal. And what I would suggest is that in November we have two regular meetings, the second and fourth Wednesday -- or Tuesdays, rather. Every Thanksgiving we all go to the Farm -City Barbecue. That's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We would have a December 8, 2020 Page 268 commission meeting that Tuesday. So we're here. There's no reason for us not to have two meetings in December. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you have a squirrel in your pocket? I haven't been in Naples, Florida, on Tuesday before Thanksgiving for 35 years. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Well, I mean, we don't all have to be here. We can call in. There's ways to deal with that. So the suggestion would be that when we have two meetings in Thanks -- in November and that we have to meetings in December. The -- just as an example -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- we're having two meetings this December, the second and third Tuesdays we're having two meetings. We could have a meeting the first and second Tuesday in December. That would give us a total of three -- we would be making up two of those three meetings that we're missing in July and August. I want to suggest that as opposed to elimination of a break in July and August. So I'll just throw that out and see if there's any discussion. And if not, we'll move on. All right. That was a very popular suggestion on my part. Like I've said to Commissioner McDaniel, a good idea becomes a great idea if you can get a second and a third vote. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You go. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. There's been some misinformation. We have a county committee. It's the Emergency Medical Authority. Just a regular committee that meets all year long. They have a regularly scheduled meeting on December 9th at 9:00 a.m. And somehow or another some folks in the public have taken this to mean that there's going to be an effort to require vaccinations and that sort of thing. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Most importantly, it is December 8, 2020 Page 269 Commissioner Taylor that's calling this meeting, to -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. And I just want the public to understand, this is a regular meeting. It has nothing to do with vaccinations. Commissioner Taylor is not scheduling this meeting and leave her alone. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Before you hit the gavel, I have one point. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And it's an acknowledgment to you. You brought forward, and we passed it already, the initiative with regard to the Productivity Committee, and I want to commend you on that. I like what you brought forward. I like the pretense, I like the additional transparency that it offers, and I applaud you for bringing that forward. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. I've gotten several emails from folks that want to participate in that, and I've spoken to the County Manager in advance of that to make sure we weren't jumping all over his authority. And so I think it will -- I think it will help us streamline some activities of county government. All right. With that, if there's nothing else, we are adjourned. **** Commissioner Solis moved, seconded by Commissioner LoCastro and carried that the following items under the Consent and Summary Agendas be approved and/or adopted **** Item #16A1 FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE SEWER FACILITIES FOR December 8, 2020 Page 270 DOLPHIN AUTO SPA, PL20190001604, ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE SEWER FACILITIES, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE UTILITIES PERFORMANCE SECURITY (UPS) AND FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $9,970.22 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 AND FOUND SATISFACTORY Item #16A2 FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR WINDING CYPRESS PHASE 3A, PL20180003734, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $4,000 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON OCTOBER 13, 2020 AND FOUND SATISFACTORY Item #16A3 FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER UTILITY FACILITIES AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR THE NAPLES BRIDGE CENTER, PL20200001199 – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON JULY 31, 2020 AND FOUND SATISFACTORY December 8, 2020 Page 271 Item #16A4 FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR SUTTON CAY, PL20190001095 AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $4,000 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON OCTOBER 15, 2020, AND FOUND SATISFACTORY Item #16A5 FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE SEWER FACILITIES AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE SEWER FACILITIES FOR FANDRICH RESIDENCE, PL2020001828 – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON OCTOBER 19, 2020 AND FOUND SATISFACTORY Item #16A6 FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR SPRINGS AT HAMMOCK COVE PHASE 2 - SEWER ONLY, PL20190001609, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE UTILITIES PERFORMANCE SECURITY (UPS) AND FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $12,210.68 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON NOVEMBER 3, 2020 AND FOUND SATISFACTORY December 8, 2020 Page 272 Item #16A7 FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR ISOLA BELLA, PL20190000971, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $4,000 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON NOVEMBER 4, 2020 AND FOUND SATISFACTORY Item #16A8 FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR ARBORETUM, PL20190000973 AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE UTILITIES PERFORMANCE SECURITY (UPS) AND FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $45,549.50 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON NOVEMBER 4, 2020, AND FOUND SATISFACTORY Item #16A9 FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR NAPLES ESTATES, PL20190001617 December 8, 2020 Page 273 – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON AUGUST 7, 2020 AND FOUND SATISFACTORY Item #16A10 FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR AZURE AT HACIENDA LAKES - PHASE 1 REPLAT (SUBPHASES 2-5), PL20190001232, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,000 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON NOVEMBER 3, 2020 AND FOUND SATISFACTORY Item #16A11 FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR AZURE AT HACIENDA LAKES - PHASE 2A1, PL20190001367, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $4,000 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON NOVEMBER 3, 2020 AND FOUND SATISFACTORY Item #16A12 December 8, 2020 Page 274 FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF A PORTION OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR EMS 25 HACIENDA LAKES, PL20200001251 – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON OCTOBER 29, 2020 AND FOUND SATISFACTORY Item #16A13 RESOLUTION 2020-213: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT DEDICATIONS, FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF ARTESIA NAPLES, PHASE 3, PL20130002538 AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY Item #16A14 RESOLUTION 2020-214: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT DEDICATIONS, FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF ARTESIA NAPLES, PHASE 4, PL20140002472 AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY Item #16A15 RESOLUTION 2020-215: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT DEDICATIONS, FOR THE December 8, 2020 Page 275 FINAL PLAT OF BENT CREEK PRESERVE, PHASE 2A, PL20170001771 AND PL20180000294 AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY Item #16A16 RESOLUTION 2020-216: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT DEDICATIONS, FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF RAFFIA PRESERVE - PHASE 1, PL20130000232 AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY Item #16A17 RESOLUTION 2020-217: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT DEDICATIONS, FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF RAFFIA PRESERVE - PHASE 3, PL20140000592 AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY Item #16A18 RESOLUTION 2020-218: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAT DEDICATIONS, FOR THE FINAL PLAT OF RAFFIA PRESERVE - PHASE 4, PL20150002153 AND AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY December 8, 2020 Page 276 Item #16A19 RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF ADDISON PLACE COMMERCIAL, PL20200001237, APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY – W/STIPULATIONS Item #16A20 RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF CAYMAS PHASE ONE, PL20200000171, APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY – W/STIPULATIONS Item #16A21 RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF TREE FARM PL20180003592, APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY – W/STIPULATIONS Item #16A22 RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF MAPLE RIDGE AT AVE MARIA, PHASE 6C, PL20200001634, APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY – W/STIPULATIONS December 8, 2020 Page 277 Item #16A23 RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF DEL WEBB NAPLES PARCEL 111, PL20200001217, APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY – W/STIPULATIONS Item #16A24 RESOLUTION 2020-219: HOLDING A PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER VACATING GULF SHORE COURT, THE 20-FOOT ALLEY IN BLOCK “D” AND A PORTION OF CENTER STREET, ALL PART OF THE PLAT OF VANDERBILT BEACH CENTER, PLAT BOOK 3, PAGE 16 OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, AS PART OF THE APPLICATION FOR THE ONE NAPLES PROJECT. THE VACATION WILL BE HEARD AS A COMPANION ITEM TO THE ONE NAPLES APPLICATION. THE SUBJECT RIGHT-OF- WAYS ARE LOCATED IN THE NORTHEAST QUADRANT OF THE INTERSECTION OF GULF SHORE DRIVE AND VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD IN SECTION 32, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 25 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA (PL20200000368) Item #16A25 THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT 17- 7158 "PURCHASE AND DELIVERY OF AGGREGATES" WITH GRIPPO PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE INC. – DUE TO THE December 8, 2020 Page 278 PRICE INCREASE FOR 20 TONS DELIVERED CATEGORY Item #16A26 FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR ESPLANADE GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB OF NAPLES – CULINARY CENTER, PL20190000064, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE UTILITIES PERFORMANCE SECURITY (UPS) AND FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $13,464.50 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON OCTOBER 8, 2020 AND FOUND THE FACILITED TO BE SATISFACTORY Item #16A27 FINAL ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER UTILITY FACILITIES FOR ESPLANADE GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB OF NAPLES – PHASE 5, PARCELS K3 AND K4, PL20190000443, AND AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS DESIGNEE, TO RELEASE THE FINAL OBLIGATION BOND IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $4,000 TO THE PROJECT ENGINEER OR THE DEVELOPER’S DESIGNATED AGENT – A FINAL INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED ON OCTOBER 8, 2020 AND FOUND THE FACILITIES TO BE SATISFACTORY Item #16A28 December 8, 2020 Page 279 HEARING A LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AMENDMENT AT TWO REGULARLY SCHEDULED DAYTIME HEARINGS AND WAIVE THE NIGHTTIME HEARING REQUIREMENT – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Item #16A29 THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $364,865 WHICH WAS POSTED AS A GUARANTY FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE OVER- EXCAVATED PORTION OF SABAL PALM QUARRY ASSOCIATED WITH EXCAVATION PERMIT NO.'S 59.201 AND 59.204 - PL20110001386 Item #16A30 A PURCHASE AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF LAND (PARCEL 109FEE) REQUIRED FOR THE VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION (PROJECT NO. 60168) Item #16A31 AN AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF TWO ROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY, DRAINAGE, AND UTILITY EASEMENTS (PARCELS 104RDUE AND 107RDUE) AND A TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION EASEMENT (PARCEL 107TCE) REQUIRED FOR CONSTRUCTION OF ROADWAY AND RELATED IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE WHIPPOORWILL LANE AND MARBELLA LAKES DRIVE CONNECTION (PROJECT NO. 60219) December 8, 2020 Page 280 Item #16A32 CHANGE ORDER #15 TO CONTRACT #11-5626 “ONE HUNDRED (100) YEAR FLOOD ELEVATIONS FOR FIVE (5) BASINS IN COLLIER COUNTY” PROJECT WITH TOMASELLO CONSULTING ENGINEERS, INC., (TCE) IN THE AMOUNT OF $88,000 FOR THE RETROACTIVE AND ONGOING UPDATE OF THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA) DIGITAL FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (DFIRM) AND EXTEND THE TIME OF COMPLETION BY AN ADDITIONAL 365 DAYS Item #16A33 THE FINAL RANKING OF DESIGN-BUILD FIRMS AND TO COMMENCE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE TOP-RANKED TEAM, QUALITY ENTERPRISES USA, INC./AGNOLI BARBER & BRUNDAGE, INC., FOR REQUEST FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) NO. 20-7735, DESIGN-BUILD WHIPPOORWILL LANE MARBELLA LAKES DRIVE CONNECTION. (PROJECT NO. 60219) Item #16A34 AWARD REQUEST FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) NO. 19-7663R, “NAPLES MANOR STORMWATER IMPROVEMENTS PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING STUDY” (PROJECT NO. 33649) TO KISINGER CAMPO & ASSOCIATES, CORP., D/B/A KCA, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $79,927, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT December 8, 2020 Page 281 Item #16A35 HEARING TWO LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AMENDMENTS AT TWO REGULARLY SCHEDULED DAYTIME HEARINGS AND WAIVE THE NIGHTTIME HEARING REQUIREMENT – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Item #16A36 AWARD AGREEMENT NO. 20-7795R, DESIGN CRITERIA FOR TIGER IX GRANT PROJECT (IMMOKALEE COMPLETE STREETS), TO CAPITAL CONSULTING SOLUTIONS, LLC FOR $728,814.50, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT AND APPROVE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS (PROJECT NO. 33563) Item #16A37 RESOLUTION 2020-220: AMENDING RESOLUTION 2009-302, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE STEWARDSHIP SENDING AREA WITH A DESIGNATION AS “BCI/BCP/SI SSA 13”; APPROVING THE EXTENSION OF CERTAIN DATES TO DECEMBER 15, 2022, IN THE STEWARDSHIP SENDING AREA CREDIT AGREEMENT FOR BCI/BCP/SI SSA 13 AND THE ESCROW AGREEMENT FOR BCI/BCP/SI SSA 13 Item #16A38 AWARD AGREEMENT NO. 20-7713, PERTAINING TO REQUEST FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) NO. 20- December 8, 2020 Page 282 7713, "ENGINEERING DESIGN SERVICES FOR LAKE TRAFFORD STORMWATER IMPROVEMENTS AND WATER TREATMENT FACILITY,” TO GHD SERVICES, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $753,646.88, AND APPROVE REQUIRED BUDGET AMENDMENTS. (PROJECT NO. 60143) Item #16A39 RELEASE OF TWO CODE ENFORCEMENT LIENS, WITH AN ACCRUED VALUE OF $431,700.23 FOR PAYMENT OF $46,270.60 IN THE CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS TITLED, BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS V. IRIS LABRIE, RELATING TO PROPERTY LOCATED AT 266 6TH ST W., COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA – FOR VARIOUS CODE VIOLATIONS THAT WERE ABAITED BY THE NEW OWNER ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2020 Item #16A40 THE SUBMISSION OF A SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL (SRTS) APPLICATION WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO FUND THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A SIDEWALK ALONG 31ST PL. SW, 31ST AVE. SW, 45TH ST. SW, AND 44TH TER. SW TO LAVERN GAYNOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, IN THE AMOUNT OF $923,364.38 – IN THE GOLDEN GATE CITY AREA Item #16A41 RELEASE OF A CODE ENFORCEMENT LIEN, WITH AN ACCRUED VALUE OF $421,130.29 FOR PAYMENT OF $2,000 December 8, 2020 Page 283 IN THE CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTION TITLED BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS V. PAUL A. AND CATHLEEN T. BURCKY, RELATING TO PROPERTY LOCATED AT 4425 NORTH ROAD, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA – FOR A CODE VIOLATION THAT WAS BROUGHT INTO COMPLIANCE ON AUGUST 3, 2020 Item #16A42 PARTIAL RELEASE OF A CODE ENFORCEMENT LIEN WITH AN ACCRUED VALUE OF $212,426.17, FOR PAYMENT OF $3,500, IN THE CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTION ENTITLED BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS V. JEFFREY GALLUCCI, DEBORAH L. GALLUCCI AND MARY P. STEVENS, CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD CASE NO. CESD20140006864, RELATING TO PROPERTIES KNOWN AS 41 HENDERSON DR. AND 3 CREEK CIR., COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA Item #16A43 RELEASE OF TWO CODE ENFORCEMENT LIENS, WITH AN ACCRUED VALUE OF $192,250, FOR PAYMENT OF $3,800 IN THE CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTION TITLED, BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS V. GEORGE J. SORBARA AND JENNIFER TARVIN SORBARA, RELATED TO PROPERTY LOCATED AT 151 BURNING TREE DRIVE, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA – FOR VARIOUS CODE VIOLATIONS THAT WERE ABAITED ON JULY 3, 2019 BY THE NEW OWNER December 8, 2020 Page 284 Item #16A44 – Continued to the January12, 2021 BCC Meeting (Per Commissioner McDaniel during Agenda Changes) RECOMMENDATION TO AWARD AGREEMENT NO. 20-7710 TO ATKINS NORTH AMERICA, INC., PERTAINING TO REQUEST FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) NO. 20- 7710, “SURVEYING AND MAPPING, ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION, AND PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING DESIGN FOR RESTORATION OF PLANTATION ISLAND WATERWAYS,” IN THE AMOUNT OF $423,404 Item #16A45 THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $94,500 WHICH WAS POSTED AS A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER PL20180003067 FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH COUNTRYSIDE GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB Item #16A46 MAINTENANCE OF THE BRIDGE OVER THE COCAHATCHEE CANAL AND CONNECTED ROADWAY AT LOGAN BOULEVARD & IMMOKALEE ROAD, AS DEPICTED ON THE ATTACHED MAP, FOR THE PERPETUAL USE BY THE PUBLIC – BRIDGE #034191 Item #16A47 DEVELOPER AGREEMENT WITH WPPI NAPLES TF LLC AND TBC TREE FARM I, LLC THAT WILL ALLOW FOR THE December 8, 2020 Page 285 DESIGN, RIGHT-OF-WAY AND CONSTRUCTION OF INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS ON COLLIER BOULEVARD EXTENSION AT THE FUTURE GOVERNMENT CENTER COMPLEX/TREE FARM PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT ENTRANCE AND COST SHARING AND REIMBURSEMENT PLAN Item #16A48 FINAL PLAT OF CITY GATE COMMERCE PARK PHASE THREE REPLAT NO. 4, PL20200002078, APPROVAL OF THE STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PERFORMANCE SECURITY – W/STIPULATIONS Item #16A49 – Moved from Item #17A (Per Agenda Change Sheet) RESOLUTION 2020-221: PETITION PL20200001888, TO DISCLAIM, RENOUNCE AND VACATE THE COUNTY, COLLIER COUNTY WATER-SEWER DISTRICT, AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST IN A PORTION OF THE UTILITY EASEMENT, AS RECORDED IN OFFICIAL RECORD BOOK 5653, PAGE 2811 OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, LOCATED IN THE NORTHEAST QUADRANT OF IMMOKALEE ROAD (C.R. 846) AND COLLIER BOULEVARD (C.R. 951) IN SECTION 23, TOWNSHIP 48 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA Item #16B1 A FOUR-MONTH EXTENSION OF THE PROJECT December 8, 2020 Page 286 COMPLETION DATE SET FORTH IN THE COMMERCIAL BUILDING IMPROVEMENT GRANT (CBIG) AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CRA AND KURGIS 1996 IRREVOCABLE TRUST FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 6023 BAYSHORE DRIVE, NAPLES, FLORIDA 34112 LOCATED WITHIN THE BAYSHORE GATEWAY TRIANGLE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA Item #16C1 THE EASEMENT AGREEMENT WITH DH SQUARED PROPERTIES, LLC, A FLORIDA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, AT A COST NOT TO EXCEED $3,000 FOR THE ACQUISITION OF A UTILITY EASEMENT FOR PROPOSED WATER AND WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS, (PROJECT NO. 70240) Item #16C2 RESOLUTION 2020-222: REMOVING UNCOLLECTIBLE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE AND THEIR RESPECTIVE BALANCES FROM THE FINANCIAL RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $11,314.91 Item #16C3 AWARD INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”) NO. 20-7774, LIVINGSTON RD 24” FORCE MAIN – PHASE 6B-C, TO PWC JOINT VENTURE, LLC, FOR A TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT OF $889,000, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN December 8, 2020 Page 287 THE AGREEMENT, (PROJECT NO. 72009) Item #16C4 AWARD OF REQUEST FOR QUOTE (“RFQ”) NO. 20-7734, FOR ANSWERING SERVICE, TO ANSAFONE CONTACT CENTERS, LLC Item #16C5 AMENDMENTS TO CONTRACT NO. 14-6213, “UNDERGROUND UTILITY CONTRACTING,” REQUESTING APPROVAL FOR A SIX-MONTH EXTENSION TO CONTRACTS WITH QUALITY ENTERPRISES USA, INC., KYLE CONSTRUCTION, INC., SOUTHWEST UTILITY SYSTEMS, INC., DOUGLAS N. HIGGINS, INC., HASKINS INC., AND MITCHELL & STARK CONSTRUCTION CO., INC. Item #16C6 THE SELECTION COMMITTEE’S RANKING AND AUTHORIZE STAFF TO BEGIN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE TOP RANKED FIRM ADG ARCHITECTURE, LLC, CONCERNING REQUEST FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) #20-7749, “DESIGN SERVICES FOR THE DOMESTIC ANIMAL SERVICES FACILITY,” SO A PROPOSED AGREEMENT CAN BE BROUGHT BACK FOR THE BOARD’S CONSIDERATION AT A FUTURE MEETING Item #16C7 December 8, 2020 Page 288 CHANGE ORDER NUMBER ONE (1) TO REQUEST FOR QUOTATION #20-8109, “GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS BUSINESS PARK (GOBP) FILL MANAGEMENT,” UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 19-7525, ANNUAL AGREEMENT FOR GENERAL CONTRACTOR SERVICES FOR $155,991.76 TO THE PURCHASE ORDER Item #16C8 CHANGE ORDER NUMBER TWO TO THE “COLLIER COUNTY JAIL (J1) KITCHEN REPLACEMENT AND SAFETY UPGRADES” INVITATION TO BID NO. 20-7696-ST, WITH SDP, INC. D/B/A SDPCONSULTANTS CORP., TO EXTEND THE CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT’S TIME BY SIXTY (60) DAYS Item #16C9 A $486,230 WORK ORDER UNDER A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION FOR CONTRACT #14-6213 TO DOUGLAS N. HIGGINS, INC., AND TO AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT, FOR THE SOUTH COUNTY REGIONAL WATER TREATMENT PLANT CHLORINE STORAGE BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS (PROJECT #70136) Item #16C10 THE COUNTY’S STANDARD DONATION AGREEMENT WITH A PROVISION ALLOWING FOR THE PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY’S FEES TO REVIEW THE ASSOCIATED STANDARD FORM EASEMENT DOCUMENTS PERTAINING TO THE DONATION OF ADDITIONAL EASEMENT AREA FOR December 8, 2020 Page 289 PUMP STATION 309.08 Item #16C11 RESOLUTION 2020-223: A COLLIER COUNTY STANDARD FORM LONG-TERM LEASE NOT-FOR-PROFIT ENTITY WITH COLLIER COUNTY SENIOR RESOURCE CENTER, INC. Item #16C12 A FIFTH AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT WITH GC II, LLC, TO EXTEND THE CLOSING DATE FROM DECEMBER 1, 2020 TO MAY 17, 2021, FOR THE PURCHASE OF 1.75 ACRES PREVIOUSLY APPROVED TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PARKING AT COLLIER COUNTY SPORTS COMPLEX AND EVENT CENTER AT A COST NOT TO EXCEED $415,800 Item #16C13 A SECOND AMENDMENT TO LEASE AGREEMENT WITH ALPERT TOWER, LLC, TO REFLECT THE CHANGES TO COUNTY-OWNED EQUIPMENT ON THE TOWER, AND FOR THE CONTINUED PRESENCE ON THE COMMUNICATIONS TOWER FOR THE PUBLIC SAFETY RADIO SYSTEM Item #16C14 THE INSOURCING OF PROJECT CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND FIELD OBSERVATION SERVICES (PCM&FO), WITH PROJECTED SAVINGS OF $7.2 MILLION, BY ELIMINATING FOUR (4) CONTRACTED POSITIONS, December 8, 2020 Page 290 CREATING NINE (9) FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT POSITIONS, PURCHASING FOUR (4) VEHICLES AND ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT, AND TO AUTHORIZE ANY NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS Item #16D1 THE CONSERVATION COLLIER LOGAN WOODS PRESERVE FINAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 10-YEAR UPDATE UNDER THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PROGRAM Item #16D2 THE RED ROOT PRESERVE FINAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 10- YEAR UPDATE UNDER THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PROGRAM Item #16D3 THE ALLIGATOR FLAG PRESERVE FINAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 10-YEAR UPDATE UNDER THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PROGRAM Item #16D4 A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY AND CYPRESS COVE LANDKEEPERS, INC., REGARDING THE DR. ROBERT H. GORE III PRESERVE UNDER THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PROGRAM Item #16D5 December 8, 2020 Page 291 THE CONSERVATION COLLIER COCOHATCHEE CREEK PRESERVE FINAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 10-YEAR UPDATE UNDER THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PROGRAM Item #16D6 THE FOURTH EXTENSION OF THE INTERIM MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE CONSERVATION COLLIER WINCHESTER HEAD MULTIPARCEL PROJECT - FOR TWO ADDITIONAL YEARS Item #16D7 AN “AFTER-THE-FACT” AMENDMENT AND AN ATTESTATION STATEMENT WITH AREA AGENCY ON AGING FOR SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, INC., FOR THE EMERGENCY HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TO AMEND AND INCREASE THE COMBINED ENERGY CRISIS BENEFIT ASSISTANCE AMOUNT TO $3,500 AND REVISE THE ATTACHMENTS TO CONFORM TO THIS AMENDMENT Item #16D8 THE ELECTRONIC SUBMITTAL OF A PARTNERS FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM LANDOWNER GRANT PROPOSAL FOR $15,000 TO THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITAT RESTORATION AT MCILVANE MARSH PRESERVE Item #16D9 December 8, 2020 Page 292 FIVE (5) MORTGAGE SATISFACTIONS FOR THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP LOAN PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF $76,521 AND THE ASSOCIATED BUDGET AMENDMENT – TWO LOCATED IN IMMOKALEE AND THREE LOCATED IN NAPLES Item #16D10 RESOLUTION 2020-224: THE COLLIER COUNTY CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION REPORT FOR U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT, HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP, AND EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019-2020 AS REQUIRED; APPROVE THE CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION REPORT RESOLUTION, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO CERTIFY THE CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION REPORT FOR SUBMISSION TO U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Item #16D11 TWO (2) BUDGET AMENDMENTS RECOGNIZING STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM INCOME, $7,414.89 FOR PROGRAM YEAR 2019/2020 AND $31,900.90 FOR PROGRAM YEAR 2020/2021 Item #16D12 December 8, 2020 Page 293 THE COLLIER AREA TRANSIT PARK AND RIDE STUDY Item #16D13 THE COLLIER COUNTY PARKS AND RECREATION DIVISION FOR EARNING THEIR FOURTH NATIONAL RECREATION AND PARK ASSOCIATION ACCREDITATION IN PARKS AND RECREATION AS PART OF THE COMMISSION FOR ACCREDITATION OF PARK AND RECREATION AGENCIES Item #16D14 BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO REFLECT THE ESTIMATED FUNDING FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2021 OLDER AMERICANS ACT PROGRAMS IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,294,873.94 AND THE ESTIMATED CASH MATCH OF $104,406.23. THE VENDOR ALSO PROVIDES AN ESTIMATED MATCH IN THE AMOUNT OF $33,721.03 Item #16D15 RESOLUTION 2020-225 (5310), RESOLUTION 2020-226 (5311), & RESOLUTION 2020-227 (5339): THE SUBMISSION OF GRANT APPLICATIONS TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMS 5310, 5311, AND 5339 RURAL FOR FY2021/2022 AND APPROVE THE ASSOCIATED RESOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT TRANSIT OPERATIONS AND SYSTEM CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS December 8, 2020 Page 294 Item #16D16 WAIVING THE REQUIREMENT THAT SERVICES BE UNDUPLICATED AND ALLOW THE FULL FINAL QUARTERLY PAYMENT TO THE DAVID LAWRENCE CENTER FOR FY20 DUE TO UNFORESEEN COVID IMPACTS RESULTING IN A DECREASE IN UNDUPLICATED CLIENT SERVED AND REDUCED PREVENTION UNITS PROVIDED Item #16D17 BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO ALIGN PERSONAL SERVICES COSTS IN THE PROPER FUNDS AND COST CENTERS WITHIN THE PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT BUDGET FOLLOWING A COUNTY MANAGER APPROVED INTERNAL RE-ORGANIZATION Item #16D18 WAIVING THE FORMAL APPLICATION PROCESS FOR FUNDING AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO COVID-19 CDBG- CV ROUND 3 ACTIVITIES FOR THOSE IMPACTED BY THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC AND MAKE CONDITIONAL AWARDS TO FUND A PERMANENT FOOD STORAGE FACILITY FOR ST. MATTHEW’S HOUSE TO OPERATE A FOOD BANK IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,000,000, AND FUND A COVID CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR COLLIER HEALTH SERVICES, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $950,000 Item #16E1 December 8, 2020 Page 295 AN AMENDMENT THE GROUP HEALTH PLAN TO PERMIT NEW MEMBERS TO BE ENROLLED IN THE PREMIUM COVERAGE LEVEL AS OF THE FIRST DAY OF COVERAGE ELIGIBILITY Item #16E2 AWARD INVITATION TO BID (ITB) NO. 20-7759R “CLOSED CAPTIONING SERVICES,” TO AZUR CART & CAPTIONING, LLC. Item #16E3 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT PREPARED BY THE PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY AND NOTIFICATION OF REVENUE DISBURSEMENT Item #16E4 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS PREPARED BY THE PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR CHANGE ORDERS AND OTHER CONTRACTUAL MODIFICATIONS REQUIRING BOARD APPROVAL Item #16E5 AWARD INVITATION TO BID ("ITB") #20-7780, “FLEET VEHICLE AND EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR SERVICES,” TO ETR, LLC., AND DOBBS EQUIPMENT, LLC. December 8, 2020 Page 296 Item #16E6 AWARD INVITATION TO BID (“ITB”) NO. 20-7813 FOR THE PURCHASE OF A BOX TRUCK WITH LIFTGATE IN THE AMOUNT OF $85,793 Item #16F1 TOURIST DEVELOPMENT TAX FUNDS FOR THE CLAM PASS MAINTENANCE EXCAVATION PROJECT IN THE AMOUNT OF $123,149.40 FOR CONSTRUCTION AND ASSOCIATED ENGINEERING, SURVEYING, MONITORING, AND PERMITTING, AND MAKE A FINDING THAT THIS ITEM PROMOTES TOURISM Item #16F2 RESOLUTION 2020-228: AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING GRANTS, DONATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS OR INSURANCE PROCEEDS) TO THE FY 20-21 ADOPTED BUDGET Item #16F3 AWARD REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (“RFP”) NO. 19-7648, “INTERNAL CONTROL SOFTWARE,” TO COMENSURE LLC, FORMERLY KNOWN AS IGNITE SOFTWARE HOLDINGS LLC, AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT Item #16G1 December 8, 2020 Page 297 RESOLUTION 2020-229: APPROVING THE PROPOSED RATE SCHEDULES FOR THE EVERGLADES AIRPARK, IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT AND MARCO ISLAND EXECUTIVE AIRPORT FOR 2021 Item #16G2 A BUDGET AMENDMENT TO TRANSFER $61,000 WITHIN AIRPORT OPERATING FUND (495) FROM RESERVES TO MARCO ISLAND EXECUTIVE AIRPORT COST CENTER (192370) TO ACQUIRE AIRPORT EQUIPMENT Item #16H1 THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO ADVERTISE AND BRING BACK FOR A PUBLIC HEARING AN ORDINANCE RE- ESTABLISHING THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT PRODUCTIVITY COMMITTEE Item #16H2 PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING THE ROYAL SEAFARER CONDOMINIUM APARTMENTS OF MARCO ISLAND, INC. AS RECIPIENT OF THE WASTE REDUCTION AWARDS PROGRAM (WRAP) AWARD, FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE GREATER GOOD OF COLLIER COUNTY BY ADVOCATING THE "REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE" MESSAGE, THEREBY HELPING TO PROLONG THE USABLE LIFE OF THE COLLIER COUNTY LANDFILL. THE PROCLAMATION WILL BE GIVEN TO PATTY BURKE, PROPERTY MANAGER OF THE ROYAL SEAFARER December 8, 2020 Page 298 Item #16H3 PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING JANUARY 9 - 17, 2021 AS KINDNESS AWARENESS WEEK IN COLLIER COUNTY. THE PROCLAMATION WILL BE HAND DELIVERED TO BOB VOTRUBA, ORGANIZER OF THE ANNUAL "ONE MILLION ACTS OF KINDNESS" CAMPAIGN Item #16H4 PROCLAMATION - RECOGNIZING THE INFRASTRUCTURE SURTAX CITIZEN OVERSIGHT COMMITTEES CONTRIBUTION TO TRANSPARENCY; THROUGH THEIR REVIEW OF THE EXPENDITURES AND USE OF INFRASTRUCTURE SALES SURTAX REVENUE Item #16I1 MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE December 8, 2020 Page 299 Item #16J1 REPORT TO THE BOARD REGARDING THE INVESTMENT OF COUNTY FUNDS AS OF THE QUARTER ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 Item #16J2 THE CLERK’S REPORT INDICATING NO INTEREST PAID PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 218.78 FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 Item #16J3 BOARD RATIFICATION OF THE PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AND INVOICES PAYABLE APPROVED AND DETERMINED TO HAVE A VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE BY THE COUNTY MANAGER DURING THE BOARD’S SCHEDULED RECESS. (IN ABSENTIA MEETING DATED NOVEMBER 24, 2020) Item #16J4 BOARD RATIFICATION AND RECORDING IN THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, THE CHECK NUMBER (OR OTHER PAYMENT METHOD), AMOUNT, PAYEE, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE REFERENCED DISBURSEMENTS WERE DRAWN FOR THE PERIODS BETWEEN OCTOBER 29, 2020 AND NOVEMBER 11, 2020 PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06 THAT WERE APPROVED BY THE COUNTY MANAGER DURING THE December 8, 2020 Page 300 BOARD’S SCHEDULED RECESS. (IN ABSENTIA MEETING DATED NOVEMBER 24, 2020) Item #16J5 RECORD IN THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, THE CHECK NUMBER (OR OTHER PAYMENT METHOD), AMOUNT, PAYEE, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE REFERENCED DISBURSEMENTS WERE DRAWN FOR THE PERIODS BETWEEN NOVEMBER 12, 2020 AND NOVEMBER 25, 2020 PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06 Item #16J6 DETERMINING A VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF DECEMBER 2, 2020 Item #16K1 RESOLUTION 2020-230: APPOINTING JARED GRIFONI REPRESENTING THE CITY OF MARCO ISLAND TO THE TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL WITH TERM EXPIRING ON APRIL 21, 2024 Item #16K2 RESOLUTION 2020-231: RE-APPOINTING WILLIAM VARIAN, DAVID DUNNAVANT, MARK MCLEAN, ROBERT MULHERE December 8, 2020 Page 301 AND JEREMY STERK, ALL WITH TERMS EXPIRING ON DECEMBER 14, 2024 Item #16K3 RESOLUTION 2020-232: RE-APPOINTING ERNEST BRETZMANN AND CECILIA ZENTI BOTH WITH TERMS EXPIRING ON DECEMBER 31, 2023 Item #16K4 RESOLUTION 2020-233: RE-APPOINTING JOY WHITE, MARJORIE HALL GAGNON BOTH WITH TERMS EXPRING ON DECEMBER 31, 2024 Item #16K5 A SATISFACTION AND RELEASE OF CLAIM ACKNOWLEDGING FULL PAYMENT FOR WATER AND SEWER SERVICES IN THE AMOUNT OF $170.20 FOR FILING WITH THE PROBATE DIVISION – LOCATED AT 4151 SAINT GEORGE LANE Item #16K6 A PARTIAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT IN THE LAWSUIT PENDING AS BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA V. CERTAIN UNDERWRITERS AT LLOYD’S OF LONDON, ET AL; CASE NO. 18-CA-2727 NOW PENDING IN THE 20TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN COLLIER COUNTY, WHEREBY THE COUNTY WILL RECEIVE December 8, 2020 Page 302 $2,425,000 TO SETTLE ITS CLAIMS AGAINST THE INSURER DEFENDANTS Item #16K7 A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT IN THE LAWSUIT STYLED NICK COLARIC V. COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, (CASE NO. 19-CA-4253), NOW PENDING IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, FOR THE SUM OF $9,000 Item #17A – Moved to Item #16A49 (Per Agenda Change Sheet) Item #17B RESOLUTION 2020-234: AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING CARRY FORWARD, TRANSFERS AND SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE) TO THE FISCAL YEAR 20-21 ADOPTED BUDGET Item #17C ORDINANCE 2020-47: AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 2002-52, AS AMENDED, WHICH ESTABLISHED THE IMMOKALEE BEAUTIFICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE, TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF SEATS FROM FIVE TO SEVEN MEMBERS AND FURTHER DEFINE MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS Item #17D ORDINANCE 2020-48: REPLACING ORDINANCE 2015-36, AS December 8, 2020 Page 303 AMENDED, THAT FORMALLY ADOPTS THE FLORIDA BUILDING CODE, SEVENTH EDITION (2020), ADDS CERTAIN LOCAL EXCEPTIONS AND AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA BUILDING CODE, AND INCORPORATES CURRENT LOCAL WIND ZONE MAPS Item #17E RESOLUTION 2020-235: DESIGNATING THE CLOSE-OUT OF THE ADOPTED NAPOLI VILLAGE COMMERCIAL PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (CPUD) WHICH HAS FULLY COMPLETED DEVELOPMENT PURSUANT TO ITS DEVELOPMENT ORDERS CONSTRUCTING UP TO THE AUTHORIZED DENSITY AND/OR INTENSITY AND HAS BEEN FOUND BY COUNTY STAFF TO BE COMPLIANT WITH ITS SPECIFIC DEVELOPER COMMITMENTS Item #17F ORDINANCE 2020-49: AMENDING COLLIER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 2006-56, THE ROCK ROAD IMPROVEMENT MUNICIPAL SERVICE TAXING UNIT (MSTU), TO AMEND THE GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES OF THE MSTU TO REMOVE PROPERTIES THAT HAVE BEEN SUBDIVIDED AND DEVELOPED INTO A RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY AND NO LONGER DERIVE BENEFIT FROM THE MSTU December 8, 2020 Page 304 ***** There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 6:30 p.m. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL ___________________________________ BURT SAUNDERS, CHAIRMAN ATTEST CRYSTAL K. KINZEL, CLERK _________________________________ These minutes approved by the Board on ____________, as presented ______________ or as corrected _____________. TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF FORT MYERS COURT REPORTING BY TERRI LEWIS, FPR, COURT REPORTER AND NOTARY PUBLIC.