BCC Minutes 06/22/2021 RJune 22, 2021
Page 1
TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Naples, Florida
June 22, 2021
LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County
Commissioners, in and for the County of Collier, and also acting as
the Board of Zoning Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such
special districts as have been created according to law and having
conducted business herein, met on this date at 9:00 a.m., in
REGULAR SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex,
East Naples, Florida, with the following members present:
Chairman: Penny Taylor
William L. McDaniel, Jr.
Rick LoCastro
Burt L. Saunders
Andy Solis
ALSO PRESENT:
Mark Isackson, County Manager
Amy Patterson, Deputy County Manager
Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney
Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller
Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations
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June 22, 2021
COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Community Redevelopment Agency Board (CRAB)
Airport Authority
AGENDA
Board of County Commission Chambers
Collier County Government Center
3299 Tamiami Trail East, 3rd Floor
Naples, FL 34112
June 22, 2021
9:00 AM
Commissioner Penny Taylor, District 4 – Chair – CRAB Co-Chair
Commissioner William L. McDaniel, Jr., District 5 - Vice Chair - CRAB Co-Chair
Commissioner Rick LoCastro, District 1
Commissioner Andy Solis, District 2
Commissioner Burt Saunders, District 3
NOTICE: ALL PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK ON AGENDA ITEMS MUST
REGISTER PRIOR TO PRESENTATION OF THE AGENDA ITEM TO BE
ADDRESSED. ALL REGISTERED SPEAKERS WILL RECEIVE UP TO THREE
(3) MINUTES UNLESS THE TIME IS ADJUSTED BY THE CHAIRMAN.
REQUESTS TO PETITION THE BOARD ON SUBJECTS WHICH ARE NOT ON
THIS AGENDA MUST BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING WITH EXPLANATION
TO THE COUNTY MANAGER AT LEAST 13 DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE OF
THE MEETING AND WILL BE HEARD UNDER “PUBLIC PETITIONS.”
PUBLIC PETITIONS ARE LIMITED TO THE PRESENTER, WITH A
MAXIMUM TIME OF TEN MINUTES.
ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THIS BOARD
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June 22, 2021
WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDING PERTAINING THERETO,
AND THEREFORE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD
OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE
TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED.
COLLIER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 2003-53 AS AMENDED BY
ORDINANCE 2004-05 AND 2007-24, REQUIRES THAT ALL LOBBYISTS
SHALL, BEFORE ENGAGING IN ANY LOBBYING ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ADDRESSING THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS), REGISTER WITH THE CLERK TO THE BOARD AT THE
BOARD MINUTES AND RECORDS DEPARTMENT.
IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY WHO NEEDS ANY
ACCOMMODATION IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCEEDING,
YOU ARE ENTITLED, AT NO COST TO YOU, THE PROVISION OF CERTAIN
ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT THE COLLIER COUNTY FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT DIVISION LOCATED AT 3335 EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL,
SUITE 1, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 34112-5356, (239) 252-8380; ASSISTED
LISTENING DEVICES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED ARE AVAILABLE IN
THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION.
LUNCH RECESS SCHEDULED FOR 12:00 NOON TO 1:00 P.M
1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
A. Pastor Eric Hausler of Christ the King Presbyterian Church and Chaplain,
Naples Jail
Invocation Given
2. AGENDA AND MINUTES
A. Approval of today's regular, consent and summary agenda as amended (ex
parte disclosure provided by commission members for consent agenda.)
Approved and/or adopted w/changes – 5/0
B. May 25, 2021 BCC Meeting Minutes
Approved as presented – 5/0
3. AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
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June 22, 2021
A. EMPLOYEE
B. ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
C. RETIREES
D. EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
4. PROCLAMATIONS
Motion to approve Item #16H1 - Adopted 5/0
5. PRESENTATIONS
A. Presentation from the Collier Mosquito Control District. (Patrick Linn,
Collier Mosquito Control Executive Director) (All Districts)
Presented; Motion to bring back at the July 13th meeting at a time
certain - Consensus
B. Recommendation to accept the COVID-19 Status Report and provide further
direction as appropriate. (Muhammad Abbasi, Director, Communicable
Disease Control & Prevention, Collier County Health Department) (All
Districts)
Motion to waive the rule regarding Public Comment on items on the
current and future agendas, to allow public comment on this item –
Approved 5/0; Report given
6. PUBLIC PETITIONS
7. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE CURRENT
OR FUTURE AGENDA
A. Garrett Beyrent – Property at Davis and Santa Barbara Boulevards;
exploitation of elderly or disabled adults
B. Chantal Scherer – COVID Politics
C. Dan Cook – Improving standards of living for residents
D. Mike Randall – Legends Concert at Sugden Park on July 2nd
E. Beth Sherman – Against COVID vaccine
F. Matthew Hoover – Against COVID vaccine
G. P.J. Hoover – Against COVID vaccines for children
H. Kelly Yahl – Against children wearing masks
I. Jacqueline Keay – Racism in our Country
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June 22, 2021
J. Kimberly Miller – Against COVID vaccine
8. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
9. ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS
10. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
A. This item to be heard at 10:00 am. This Item continued from the June 8,
2021 BCC Meeting. Recommendation for the Board to consider adoption
of a County Ordinance establishing Collier County as a Bill of Rights
Sanctuary County. (Commissioner McDaniel's Request) (All Districts)
Motion to advertise proposed Ordinance and bring back as a regular
agenda item at the July 13, 2021 BCC Meeting – Approved 3/2
(Commissioner Taylor and Commissioner Solis opposed)
11. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT
A. Recommendation to award Request for Proposal No. 20-7777, Intelligent
Transportation Systems (ITS) Integrate Standardize Network
Communications, to Presidio Networked Solutions Group LLC in the
amount of $1,108,362.94 for the purchase, configuration and installation of
Cisco network and security equipment, requisite accessories, licensing,
maintenance, and technical support (per LAP Agreement FPN 435013-1-98-
01) and authorize the Chair to sign the attached Agreement. (This contract is
companion to Agenda Item #16A1, "Interlocal Agreement with the City of
Naples", as required by LAP project 435013-1-98-01). (Anthony Khawaja,
Chief Engineer Traffic Operations) (All Districts)
Approved – 5/0
B. Recommendation to award Invitation for Qualifications #20-7800,
Underground Contractor Services, to Douglas N. Higgins, Inc., Haskins,
Inc., Kyle Construction, Inc., Mitchell & Stark Construction Co., Inc.,
Quality Enterprises USA, Inc., Southwest Utility Systems, Inc., PWC Joint
Venture LLC, Coastal Concrete Products, LLC d/b/a Coastal Site
Development, and Cougar Contracting, LLC, and approve the attached
agreements. (Steve Messner, Water Division Director) (All Districts)
Approved – 5/0
C. Recommendation to approve criteria for establishing new Collier County
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June 22, 2021
Commission District boundaries, pursuant to Chapter 124, Florida Statutes,
and the Florida Constitution (Mike Bosi, Director, Planning and Zoning
Division). (All Districts)
Motion to approve with direction that there is to be no less than three
maps drawn up - Approved 5/0
D. The Board of County Commissioners, acting as the ex-officio Governing
Board of the Collier County Water-Sewer District approves the Resolution
to (1) authorize the issuance of bonds to finance utility infrastructure
expansion in the Golden Gate and the Northeast Service Areas to serve
future residents and businesses and the District's operations facility, (2)
delegate authority to the County Manager to award Bonds to the bidder that
provides the lowest interest cost, (3) authorize publication of a Notice of
Sale, (4) authorize distribution of a Preliminary Official Statement and a
final Official Statement, (5) appoint the Paying Agent and Registrar of said
Bonds, and (6) authorize and approve other matters related to the Bonds.
(Joseph Bellone, Utilities Finance Director) (All Districts)
Resolution 2021-140/CWS Resolution 2021-01: Adopted - 5/0
E. Recommendation to approve an economic development agreement for a
proposed development project involving GWR Naples, LLC, at the City
Gate Commerce Park adjacent to the Paradise Coast Sports Complex, in the
amount of $15,000,000 (Sean Callahan, Deputy County Manager)
(District 5)
Approved - 4/1 (Commissioner LoCastro opposed)
F. This item to be heard immediately following Item #5B. Recommendation
to provide direction to the County Manager on continued use of
communications media technology to allow individuals to participate
remotely in meetings of the Board of County Commissioners, advisory
boards, councils and committees. (John Mullins, Director of
Communications, Government & Public Affairs) (All Districts)
Motion to continue hybrid remote technology until September -
Approved 5/0
G. Recommendation to authorize all necessary budget amendments within
Park's Capital fund (306) and Park's Impact Fee Fund (346) for the Big
Corkscrew Island Regional Park. (Amy Patterson, Deputy County Manager).
(District 5)
Approved – 5/0
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June 22, 2021
H. Recommendation for the Board of County Commissioners to approve the
initial allocations of the American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and
Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, authorize the County Manager or designee to
execute any necessary budget amendments, sub-award agreements, and
submit a required plan to the U.S. Treasury (Sean Callahan, Deputy County
Manager) (All Districts)
Approved – 5/0
12. COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT
13. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
14. AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND/OR COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT
AGENCY
A. AIRPORT
B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
15. STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
A. Future Workshop Schedule (All Districts)
B. Mr. Isackson – Thursday, June 24th Budget Workshop
C. Commissioner Solis – Great Wolf splash pad/pool; Sports Park Cove
area could use an area for younger kids
D. Commissioner LoCastro – County Manager’s Agency Staff; Great Wolf
E. Commissioner McDaniel – County owned retention pond on Immokalee
Rd. for a Developer Proposal - Direct staff to bring back a proposal at a
future BCC Meeting – Consensus; Restore COVID restrictions to pre-
pandemic during Board Meetings while following CDC Guidelines; the
Health Department to continue with updates
F. Commissioner Taylor – Medians on Goodlette-Frank; Employee
recognitions; Bill of Rights Ordinance
G. Commissioner Taylor – Adjourned
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16. CONSENT AGENDA - All matters listed under this item are considered to be
routine and action will be taken by one motion without separate discussion of
each item. If discussion is desired by a member of the Board, that item(s) will
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June 22, 2021
be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered separately.
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Approved and/or adopted w/changes – 5/0
A. GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve an Interlocal Agreement between Collier
County and the City of Naples. This agreement will enable the sharing
of video and data as per Local Agency Program (LAP) FPN# 435013-
1-98-01 ITS Integrate/Standardized Network Communication, across
a standardized network infrastructure. (This Agenda item is a
companion to Item #11A, "#20-7777 Presidio Contract".
(All Districts)
2) Recommendation to adopt a resolution requesting that the State of
Florida Department of Transportation quitclaim to Collier County
certain property located on the east side of the I-75/Golden Gate
Parkway Interchange, needed for maintenance of realigned portions of
the I-75 Canal, and declaring that the property is to be used for public
purpose only. (This item is a Companion to Agenda Item #16A3)
(District 3)
Resolution 2021-125
3) Recommendation to approve and execute a Transportation Post
Project Maintenance Agreement between the Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT) and Collier County for maintenance of the
realigned canal and authorize the Chairman to sign the Resolution and
execute the agreement. (This is a companion to Agenda Item #16A2)
(District 3)
Resolution 2021-126
4) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water
facilities and accept the conveyance of the potable water facilities for
Tollgate Plaza Parking Lot, PL20210000190. (District 5)
A final inspection was conducted on February 18, 2021 and found
the facilities to be satisfactory
5) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the potable water and
sewer facilities and accept the conveyance of the potable water and
sewer facilities for Goodlette Frank Roadway Improvements,
PL20210000372. (District 2)
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June 22, 2021
A final inspection was conducted on March 3, 2021 and found the
facilities to be satisfactory
6) Recommendation to approve final acceptance of the sewer facilities
and accept the conveyance of the sewer facilities for Logan Boulevard
Turn Lane Improvements, PL20200000266. (District 3)
7) Recommendation to approve a Resolution for final acceptance of the
private roadway and drainage improvements for the final plat of
Lagomar at Fiddler’s Creek, Application Number PL20130000866,
and authorize the release of the maintenance security. (District 1)
Resolution 2021-127
8) This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by
Commission members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all
participants are required to be sworn in. Recommendation to
approve for recording the final plat of Majestic Place, (Application
Number PL20190001615) approval of the standard form Construction
and Maintenance Agreement and approval of the amount of the
performance security. (District 1)
9) Recommendation to authorize the Clerk of Courts to release a
Performance Bond in the amount of $134,520 which was posted as a
guaranty for Excavation Permit Number PL20190000997 for work
associated with Enbrook. (District 1)
10) Recommendation to authorize the Clerk of Courts to release a
Performance Bond in the amount of $122,340 which was posted as a
guaranty for Excavation Permit Number PL20180002133 for work
associated with Isles of Collier Preserve Parcel S, and a Performance
Bond in the amount of $52,184 which was posted as a guaranty for
Excavation Permit Number PL20190002337 for work associated with
Isles of Collier Preserve Phase 14. (District 1)
11) Recommendation to approve an Easement Agreement for the
acquisition of four easements (Parcels 160SE, 160TCE1, 160TCE2
and 160TDRE) needed for construction of the Vanderbilt Beach Road
Extension (Project No. 60168). (District 5)
Folio #00205880009
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12) Recommendation to approve an Agreement for the acquisition of a
boat ramp, access and maintenance easement (Parcel 102AME) to
facilitate Collier County’s maintenance of the Barron Canal
(District 5)
Folio #00234520000
13) Recommendation to approve the proposed annual holiday event
known as the Christmas Around the World Parade & Snow Festival
hosted by the Immokalee Chamber of Commerce. This
recommendation is to fulfill a requirement of the Florida Department
of Transportation (FDOT) temporary road closure permit application.
This event has been hosted by the Immokalee Chamber of Commerce
for over twenty-five (25) years. This year the event will take place on
Saturday, December 11, 2021, from 5pm to 10pm. (District 5)
Parade route will go down E. Main Street turning north onto N 9th
St then east onto Immokalee Drive
14) Recommendation to recognize and appropriate revenue to the Traffic
Operations cost center (163630) in the amount of $59,500, and to the
Road and Bridge cost center (163620) in the amount of $16,500 for
Fiscal Year 2021 and authorize all necessary Budget Amendments.
(All Districts)
15) Recommendation to authorize budget amendments to recognize
revenue for Marco Island Executive Airport, in the amount of
$800,000 to accommodate increased fuel purchases and associated
operating expenses over budgeted levels. (District 1)
16) Recommendation to approve an agreement, FPID #444856-2-52-01,
Transportation Off System Post Project Maintenance Agreement
between the Florida Department of Transportation and Collier
County, relating to school zone warning signs. (All Districts)
Resolution 2021-128
17) Recommendation to approve a Department Funded Agreement (DFA)
FM #437103-1-88-01, between the Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT) and Collier County, wherein FDOT will
reimburse the County for the operation of 53 traffic signals on an
annual basis, in the total amount of $397,500, and execute a
Resolution memorializing the Board's action. (All Districts)
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Resolution 2021-129
18) Recommendation to authorize the electronic submission of the County
Incentive Grant Program (CIGP) Application with the Florida
Department of Transportation to fund a phase of the Immokalee Rd.
and Livingston Rd. major intersection improvement in the amount of
$2,500,000. (District 5)
19) Recommendation to award Request for Professional Services (“RPS”)
No. 20-7819, “Verification Testing Services for Whippoorwill Lane &
Marbella Lakes Drive Extension,” to HighSpans Engineering, Inc., in
the total amount of $214,616.88, authorize the Chair to sign the
attached Agreement, and authorize the necessary budget amendment.
(Project No. 60219) (District 2)
20) Recommendation to approve the selection committee’s ranking and
authorize staff to enter into contract negotiations with Hardesty &
Hanover Construction Services, LLC, related to Request for
Professional Services (“RPS”) No. 21-7880, “CEI Services for Golden
Gate Parkway over Santa Barbara Canal Bridge Replacement,” to
bring a proposed agreement back for the Board’s consideration at a
future meeting. (District 3)
21) Recommendation to authorize budget amendments to transfer funding
from Pine Ridge and Naples Production Park Bond Fund (232) to
Naples Production Park Capital MSTU Fund (138). (District 4)
To fund the construction of the intersection safety improvement
project for Commercial Boulevard at Exchange Avenue and
Commercial Boulevard at Domestic Avenue
22) Recommendation to approve Change Order No. 2 to Agreement No.
16-6700 with Cardno, Inc., in the amount of $67,973.32, add 365 days
to the Agreement to address pre-existing conditions related to the Stan
Gober Memorial Bridge Repair and Rehabilitation Project, and
authorize the Chair to sign the attached Change Order. (Project No.
66066) (District 1)
23) Recommendation to approve the submittal of a Derelict Vessel
Removal grant application to the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Commission for the removal of three (3) derelict vessels from Collier
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June 22, 2021
County waterways in the amount of $37,400.00 and authorize the
Chairman to execute the grant application. (All Districts)
For a 34’ Ericson Yacht Sailboat located in the middle of Factory
Bay, Marco Island, a 27’ Watkins Sailboat located O/S of
Keewaydin Island and a 25’ O’Day Sailboat located in Haldeman
Creek, East of Naples Bay
24) Recommendation to award Invitation to Bid ("ITB") No. 21-7879 "US
41 (SR45) North Landscape & Irrigation Installation - Grant Funded"
to P & T Lawn & Tractor Services, Inc. in the amount of $438,324.52,
and authorize the Chair to sign the attached Agreement and approve
budget amendments. (District 1)
25) Recommendation to approve an Adopt-a-Road Program Agreement
for the roadway segment of Capri Boulevard, from Capri Water
Tower to the end of Capri Boulevard with two (2) recognition signs
and two (2) Adopt-a-Road logo signs for a total cost of $200 with the
volunteer group, Capri Community, Inc. (District 1)
26) Recommendation to approve a request from Pulte Homes to allow an
after-the-fact Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) severance from
four (4) properties with a recorded Conservation Easement dedicated
to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and
accept the associated Limitation of Development Rights benefitting
the County. (District 5)
For the Following Folios: #00311880003, #00311840001,
#00311800009 and #00311760000
27) Recommendation to authorize an expenditure to allow the University
of Florida to update and provide maintenance for the Adaptation of
Coastal Urban and Natural Ecosystems (“ACUNE”) GeoTool as an
exemption to the competitive procurement process. (All Districts)
B. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
1) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners (BCC),
acting in its capacity as the Community Redevelopment Agency
(CRA), approve the attached lease agreement with Southwest Florida
Workforce Board to provide office space for the Community
Redevelopment Agency staff in Immokalee. (District 5)
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June 22, 2021
The new lease rate is 3% higher than the current rate, and
increases each year by 3%
2) Recommendation to approve the selection committee’s ranking for
Request for Professional Services (“RPS”) #21-7845, “Bayshore
Drive Redevelopment Project,” and authorize staff to begin contract
negotiations with the top ranked firm, Stantec Consulting Services
Inc. so that staff can bring a proposed agreement back for the Board’s
consideration at a subsequent meeting. (District 4)
For the development of a master plan to create a public space
consisting of a 17+/- acre site, including the design and permitting
of a boardwalk to connect the site to Sugden Regional Park
3) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners and as ex-
officio the governing board of the Community Redevelopment
Agency Board, approve an Agreement for Sale and Purchase to
acquire a property located at 2732 Francis Avenue in connection with
a stormwater project and approve any necessary budget amendments.
The total cost for this transaction will not exceed $319,000 (District 4)
Folio #61834240004
4) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, acting as
the Community Redevelopment Agency Board, approve and authorize
the Chairman to execute a Site Improvement Grant Agreement
between the Community Redevelopment Agency and Michael and
Kelley Vanderstel , in the amount of $ 6,356.46 for the property
located at 2500 Lee Street, Naples, Florida 34112 located within the
Bayshore Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment Area.
(District 4)
For the replacement of a 17-year old roof
5) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, acting as
the Community Redevelopment Agency Board, approve and authorize
the Chairman to execute a Site Improvement Grant Agreement
between the Community Redevelopment Agency and Ozlyn Garden
Villas, in the amount of $ 7,776.78 for the property located at 2582
Arbutus Street, Naples, Florida 34112 located within the Bayshore
Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment Area. (District 4)
To repave the parking lot, with new parking lines and wheel stops
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June 22, 2021
C. PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to direct the County Attorney to advertise, and bring
back for a Public Hearing, a Resolution amending the Collier County
Water-Sewer District’s Utilities Standards Manual (This agenda item
is a companion to agenda Item #16C2). (All Districts)
2) Recommendation to direct the County Attorney to advertise, and bring
back for a Public Hearing, an Ordinance amending the Collier County
Utilities Standards and Procedures Ordinance (This agenda item is a
companion to agenda Item #16C1). (All Districts)
3) Recommendation to adopt and Resolution and to approve a License
Agreement for Construction Storage for a County contractor for the
108th and 109th North Avenues Naples Park PUR project to utilize
County-owned property located in Naples Park. (District 2)
Resolution 2021-130
Continued to the July 13, 2021 BCC Meeting (Per Agenda Change Sheet)
4) Recommendation to award Invitation for Qualification (“IFQ”) No.
20-7771, “Small General Contracting Services,” for County-wide
general contracting services to: Capital Contractors, LLC, DEC
Contracting Group, Inc., Chris-Tel Company of Southwest Florida,
Inc. d/b/a Chris-Tel Construction, Waypoint Contracting Inc, Vetor
Contracting Services, LLC, and N R Contractors, Inc. (All Districts)
5) Recommendation to approve a Certification of Financial
Responsibility, as required by the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, for the renewal of an existing permit to
Construct, Test and/or Operate a Non-Hazardous Class 1 Injection
Well System at Collier County's Landfill Facility on White Lake
Blvd. (District 5)
6) Recommendation to approve a Donation Agreement with 4110 GG
Pkwy, LLC, a Florida limited liability company to accept property and
infrastructure located at 4110 Golden Gate Parkway. (District 3)
Property located on the South side of Golden Gate Parkway,
approximately 300 feet West of State Road 951 intersection
7) Recommendation to authorize budget amendments to recognize
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June 22, 2021
revenue and appropriate funding within the County Wide Capital
Projects Fund (301) in the amount of $661,020.27. (All Districts)
As detailed in the Executive Summary
8) Recommendation to authorize budget amendments recognizing
revenue and reallocating funding between cost centers within the
Facilities Management Division budget in the amount of $433,000.
(All Districts)
9) Recommendation to approve a Third Amendment to Lease Agreement
with Sprint Spectrum, L.P., for space for communications equipment
located on the rooftop of Building L. (District 1)
D. PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign the
amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding between Collier
County and Cypress Cove Landkeepers, Inc., regarding the Dr. Robert
H. Gore III preserve under the Conservation Collier Program
(District 5)
Allowing Cypress Cove to build a restroom facility available to
the public not to exceed five hundred (500) square feet
2) Recommendation to approve the electronic submittal of funding
assistance proposals to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission’s Invasive Plant Management Section for contractor
services worth $210,000 during FY 2022 to treat invasive exotic
vegetation within Conservation Collier’s Pepper Ranch, Rattlesnake
Hammock, and McIlvane Marsh Preserves. (District 1, District 5)
3) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a
Camp Host Volunteer Agreement for volunteers to temporarily reside
on property at the Conservation Collier Pepper Ranch Preserve during
the 2021 - 2022 open season. (District 5)
4) Recommendation to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign an
Amendment to the Interlocal Agreement for Agricultural Extension
Agent Services with the University of Florida Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences Extension (UF IFAS) to correct the annual
amount to $26,971.08, for a cost reduction to Collier County of
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June 22, 2021
$5,451.44. (All Districts)
5) Recommendation to accept and authorize the Chairman to sign the
first agreement amendment between Collier County and the Florida
Department of State Division of Historical Resources for accessible
interpretation of the Budd Tavern Observation Car located at the
Naples Depot Museum. (All Districts)
6) Recommendation to approve two subrecipient agreement amendments
between Collier County and: 1) the Shelter for Abused Women &
Children, Inc. to increase services, modify agreement language,
increase funding, and update Exhibit C and 2) NAMI Collier County,
Inc. to increase funding, services, amend components, modify
agreement language and update Exhibit C. (All Districts)
7) Recommendation to approve the Collier County U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 5-Year Consolidated Plan
for FY 2021-2025 including the FY 2021 Annual Action Plan for
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME Investment
Partnerships (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG);
authorize the necessary Budget Amendments in the amount of
$3,791,975.70 for the HUD FY 2021-2021 budget; approve the
revised Citizen Participation Plan and updated Analysis of
Impediments to Fair Housing; approve and execute the Resolution,
HUD Certifications, SF424 Applications for Federal Assistance, and
authorize transmittal to HUD; authorize the Chairperson to sign the
associated HUD grant agreements upon arrival; and approve and
authorize the Chairperson to sign (10) sub-recipient grant agreements.
(All Districts)
Resolution 2021-131
8) Recommendation to approve and authorize the chairperson to sign
five (5) mortgage satisfactions for the State Housing Initiatives
Partnership loan program in the amount of $77,720.70 and the
associated Budget Amendment. (All Districts)
Property located at 5411 28th Ave SW, 268 Countryside Drive,
2335 Picadilly Circus, 5441 27th Ave SW and 3390 Poinciana
Street
9) Recommendation to authorize one (1) Budget Amendment
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June 22, 2021
recognizing Community Development Block Grant Program Income,
in the amount of $109,194.11 for Program Year 2018/2019
(All Districts)
10) Recommendation to approve an “after-the-fact” contract and an
attestation statement with Area Agency on Aging for Southwest
Florida, Inc. (Agency), for the Emergency Home Energy Assistance
Program (EHEAP) and authorize a Budget Amendment to ensure
continuous funding for FY21/22. (All Districts)
11) Recommendation to approve a Budget Amendment in the amount of
$33,260 to appropriate funds to relocate a Collier Area Transit Bus
Stop on Triangle Boulevard. (District 1)
Due to planned construction
12) Recommendation to accept amendment #1 of the FY20-21 Florida
Developmental Disabilities Council (FDDC) Transportation Voucher
Project to extend the contract to September 30, 2022 and increase the
total award funding amount to $300,000 to allow same day
transportation vouchers for people with disabilities and authorize the
necessary Budget Amendment. (All Districts)
13) Recommendation to approve the State Housing Initiatives Partnership
Annual Report and authorize the Chairperson to sign the Local
Housing Incentive Certification for closeout Fiscal Year 2017/2018 to
ensure compliance with program requirements. (All Districts)
14) Recommendation to approve an “After-the-Fact” amendment and
attestation statement with the Area Agency on Aging for Southwest
Florida, Inc., Older American Act grant program for the Collier
County Services for Seniors to add carry forward allocations for
services, add contract language, revise Attachment II-Exhibit 2
Funding Summary, revise Attachment VIII Budget and Rate
Summary, and supporting Budget Amendments. (All Districts)
15) Recommendation to approve the “After-the-Fact” electronic submittal
of a grant application to the Florida Department of State Division of
Historical Resources in the amount of $522,952 for restoration of the
historic cottages at Mar-Good Harbor Park in Goodland with a
required one-to-one match and authorize the Chairman to sign a
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June 22, 2021
Resolution documenting confirmed match. (All Districts)
Resolution 2021-132
16) Recommendation to approve a 3-year Florida Department of Children
and Families Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse
Reinvestment Grant award in the amount of $1,200,000 with a
$1,200,000 match obligation; authorize the County Manager to sign
the agreement upon arrival; and authorize the necessary Budget
Amendments.) (All Districts)
The grant requires a 100% match, which is being provided by
DLC, CCSO, and CHS in a combined total of $1,200,000
E. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
1) Recommendation to approve Agreement No. 21-021-NS with Public
Consulting Group, LLC, as a single source provider, authorize annual
contingency fee payments in excess of $50,000 for cost reporting and
consulting services pertaining to the Public Emergency Medical
Transportation (“PEMT”) Medicaid reimbursement program
involving Collier County Emergency Medical Services (“EMS”), and
authorize the Chair to sign the attached Agreement. (All Districts)
As detailed in the Executive Summary
2) Recommendation to approve an Assumption Agreement assigning all
rights, duties and benefits, and obligations to Willis Towers Watson
Midwest, Inc. for Agreement #19-7581 “Group Insurance Brokerage
and Actuarial Services.” (All Districts)
3) Recommendation to award Request for Proposal (“RFP”) No. 20-
7786, “Broadcast and Audio/Video Maintenance, Repair Design
Services,” to Pro Sound, Inc., dba Pro Sound & Video, and authorize
the Chair to execute the attached Agreement. (All Districts)
4) Recommendation to extend the existing agreement with United Data
Technologies under Agreement No. 20-043-NS, “UDT-Collier-GSA
Cisco Professional Services,” for an additional period of one year.
(All Districts)
Due to COVID-19 related delays, allowing staff to continue
utilizing professional services for the Cisco Phone System upgrade
project
Page 18
June 22, 2021
5) Recommendation to approve the administrative reports prepared by
the Procurement Services Division for change orders and other
contractual modifications requiring Board approval. (All Districts)
6) Recommendation to recognize accrued interest from the period
January 1, 2021 through April 30, 2021 earned by EMS County Grant
and appropriate funds for a total amount of $202.22. (All Districts)
7) Recommendation to recognize accrued interest from the period
January 1, 2021 through April 30, 2021 earned by EMS Cares Act
Provider Relief Payment and appropriate funds for a total amount of
$113.57. (All Districts)
8) Recommendation to approve the sale and disposal of surplus assets
per Resolution 2013-095 via public auction on August 7, 2021 (All
Districts)
9) Recommendation to approve the administrative report prepared by the
Procurement Services Division for disposal of property and
notification of revenue disbursement. (All Districts)
F. COUNTY MANAGER OPERATIONS
1) Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners terminate
the Agreement with Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) for the
Naples Accelerator Cohort Training Program, for convenience, and
send notice to FGCU. (All Districts)
Many uncertainties have occurred over the past year, including
the COVID-19 health pandemic, which has led the County and
FGCU to look at alternative ways to deliver the program
2) Recommendation to authorize the Chairman, as a member of the
Southwest Florida Job Training Consortium, to approve the Southwest
Florida Workforce Development Board, Inc., proposed FY 2021/2022
budget. (All Districts)
3) Recommendation to adopt a resolution approving amendments
(appropriating grants, donations, contributions or insurance proceeds)
to the FY20-21 Adopted Budget. (All Districts)
Page 19
June 22, 2021
Resolution 2021-133
4) Recommendation to adopt a Resolution repealing Resolution No.
2021-112 that was established to enact an outdoor burning ban in the
unincorporated areas of Collier County in accordance with Ordinance
No. 2009-23, as amended, the Regulation of Outdoor Burning and
Incendiary Devices during Drought Conditions Ordinance, because
drought conditions no longer exist.. (All Districts)
Resolution 2021-134
G. AIRPORT AUTHORITY
1) Recommendation to authorize the creation of two (2) additional Full-
Time Equivalent positions for the Marco Island Executive Airport to
allow for hiring and training of Line Staff prior to the FY22 budget
year, and to authorize any necessary Budget Amendments. (District 1)
H. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
1) Proclamation recognizing Ole at Lely Resort 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. Presentation of the proclamation and a plaque
will be conducted by county staff at the condominium complex.
Adopted
I. MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
1) Miscellaneous Correspondence (All Districts)
J. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
1) Recommendation to approve an Interlocal Agreement for Election
Services for the February 1, 2022, City of Naples General Election.
(District 4)
2) Recommendation to approve an Interlocal Agreement for Election
Services for the November 23, 2021, City of Everglades City General
Election. (District 5)
Page 20
June 22, 2021
3) Recommend that the Board of County Commissioners provide
approval to designate the Sheriff as the official applicant and point of
contact for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs,
Bureau of Justice Assistance Edward Byrne Memorial Justice
Assistance Grant (JAG) FY ‘21 Local Standard grant. Authorize the
acceptance of the grant when awarded, approve associated budget
amendments and approve the Collier County Sheriff’s Office to
receive and expend 2021 JAG Standard grant funds. (All Districts)
The allocation of $73,972 will support the costs of one
Delinquency Prevention Specialist (licensed mental health
counselor)
4) Recommendation to approve obtaining a Federal Aviation
Administration Certificate of Authorization Waiver and to act as the
holder of said waiver on behalf of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
(All Districts)
In order for the CCSO to properly utilize drones in accordance
with federal laws and regulations
5) To record in the minutes of the Board of County Commissioners, the
check number (or other payment method), amount, payee, and
purpose for which the referenced disbursements were drawn for the
periods between May 27, 2021 and June 9, 2021 pursuant to Florida
Statute 136.06. (All Districts)
6) Request that the Board approve and determine valid public purpose
for invoices payable and purchasing card transactions as of June 16,
2021. (All Districts)
K. COUNTY ATTORNEY
1) This item was continued from the April 27, 2021 BCC meeting
and further continued at the May 11, 2021 and June 8, 2021 BCC
meetings to the June 22, 2021 BCC meeting. Recommendation to
take no further action with respect to a public petition requesting that
Collier County enact an ordinance to protect firearm owners from
federal or state government intrusion. (All Districts)
2) Recommendation to declare a vacancy on the Code Enforcement
Page 21
June 22, 2021
Board. (All Districts)
Resolution 2021-134A
3) Recommendation to reappoint three members to the Contractors
Licensing Board. (All Districts)
Resolution 2021-135: Re-appointing Richard E. Joslin, Jr., Terry
Jerulle and Matthew Nolton
4) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Final Judgment with pro se
Respondent in the amount of $101,500.00 for the taking of Parcel
1111FEE, required for the Vanderbilt Beach Road Expansion Project,
Project No., 60168. (All Districts)
5) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Final Judgment for the total
amount of $8,000.00 for the taking of Parcel 272RDUE, required for
the Vanderbilt Beach Road Expansion Project, Project No., 60168. 00
(All Districts)
6) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Final Judgment in the
amount of $90,000.00, plus statutory attorneys’ fees and costs in the
amount of $18,749.75, for the total amount of $108,749.75 for the
taking of Parcel 123FEE, required for the Vanderbilt Beach Road
Expansion Project, Project No., 60168 (All Districts)
7) Recommendation to approve a Stipulated Final Judgment in the
amount of $18,350.00 with pro se Respondent for the taking of Parcel
1175RDUE, required for the Vanderbilt Beach Road Expansion
Project, Project No., 60168 (All Districts)
8) Recommendation to approve the Proposed Memorandum of
Understanding and Resolution to allow Collier County to join the
State of Florida and other Florida counties in the unified plan for the
allocation and use of opioid settlement proceeds as set forth in the
Memorandum of Understanding. (All Districts)
Resolution 2021-136
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. SUMMARY AGENDA - This section is for advertised public hearings and
must meet the following criteria: 1) A recommendation for approval from
staff; 2) Unanimous recommendation for approval by the Collier County
Page 22
June 22, 2021
Planning Commission or other authorizing agencies of all members present
and voting; 3) No written or oral objections to the item received by staff, the
Collier County Planning Commission, other authorizing agencies or the
Board, prior to the commencement of the BCC meeting on which the items
are scheduled to be heard; and 4) No individuals are registered to speak in
opposition to the item. For those items which are quasi-judicial in nature, all
participants must be sworn in.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adopted – 5/0
A. Recommendation to adopt an Ordinance to establish a Local Provider
Participation Fund for the Directed Payment Program to be solely funded by
assessments on hospital-owned property or property used as a hospital or
property used as a hospital. (All Districts)
Ordinance 2021-23
B. This item requires ex parte disclosure be provided by the Commission
members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are
required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve a Resolution of the
Board of Zoning Appeals of Collier County, Florida, relating to a variance
request from Section 4.06.02.c Table 2.4 of the Collier County Land
Development Code which requires a 20 foot landscape buffer along road
right-of-way and a 10 foot landscape buffer abutting adjacent agricultural
property to allow no buffer on the perimeter of the property, to be mitigated
by supplementary native plantings along portions of SR 29, for the
Immokalee Solar project, which property is in the Agricultural-Mobile
Home Overlay Rural Lands Stewardship Area Overlay (A-MHO RLSAO)
zoning district and located on the east side of the intersection at SR 29 and
SR 82 in Sections 4, 9 And 16, Township 46 South, Range 29 East, Collier
County, Florida. [PL20200002161] (District 5)
Resolution 2021-137
C. This item requires that ex parte disclosure be provided by Commission
members. Should a hearing be held on this item, all participants are
required to be sworn in. Recommendation to approve a Resolution for the
establishment of a conditional use to allow a solar energy plant under the
conditional use within the Agricultural- Mobile Home Overlay Rural Lands
Stewardship Area Overlay (A-MHO RLSAO) zoning district pursuant to
Subsection 2.01.03.G.1.a of the Collier County Land Development Code for
property located on the east side of the intersection at SR 29 and SR 82 in
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June 22, 2021
Sections 4, 9 and 16, Township 46 South, Range 29 East, Collier County,
Florida. [PL20200001865] (District 5)
Resolution 2021-138
D. Recommendation to adopt a resolution approving amendments
(appropriating carry forward, transfers and supplemental revenue) to the
FY20-21 Adopted Budget. (All Districts)
Resolution 2021-139
18. ADJOURN
INQUIRIES CONCERNING CHANGES TO THE BOARD’S AGENDA SHOULD
BE MADE TO THE COUNTY MANAGER’S OFFICE AT 252-8383.
June 22, 2021
Page 2
MR. ISACKSON: Good morning, Madam Chairman and
Commissioners. You have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning. This morning we
have Pastor Eric Hausler of the Christ the King church, and he's also
chaplain for Collier County Sheriff's Office in the jail. And after
that I would like to ask Commissioner LoCastro to lead us in the
Pledge.
Item #1A
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
PASTOR HAUSLER: Psalm 126, Verse 1, says, give thanks to
the Lord, for he is good. His steadfast love endures forever. We
have so many reasons to be thankful this morning here in Collier
County as we seem to be past the worst of the pandemic and voted
recently best beach town in the U.S. Tourism is picking up, and life
is returning to normal, so let us give thanks and ask God's blessing on
this meeting.
Heavenly Father, we bow before you because you are the one
who made us and all things, and it is in you that we live and move
and have our being. Oh, Lord, thank you for bringing us through the
worst of this pandemic. Thank you for the honor that this town has
been given as one of the best beach towns in the country. Thank you
that tourism is picking up, boosting our economy. Thank you for the
peace and prosperity that we enjoy here. Thank you for all those
who make it possible, for those in leadership like the Collier County
Commission. Thank you for law enforcement officers putting their
lives at risk every day and night for our families.
Oh, Lord, we pray for your blessing on this meeting. We pray
you bless the commissioners and everyone who speaks. Bless the
June 22, 2021
Page 3
staff, all those who keep things going. We pray that you'd give
everyone involved wisdom and patience and kindness and humility.
We ask for your blessing, oh, Lord. We pray in your holy name.
Amen.
(The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much, Pastor Hauser
and Commissioner LoCastro.
County Manager.
Item #2A
APPROVAL OF 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
MR. ISACKSON: Thank you, Madam Chairman.
We have agenda changes -- proposed changes for the June 22nd,
2021, meeting.
Commissioners, the first item is to continue Item 16C4 to the
July 13th, 2021, meeting. That's a recommendation to award
Invitation for Qualifications No. 20-7771, "Small General
Contracting Services" for countywide general contracting services to:
Capital Contractors, LLC; to Chris-Tel Company of Southwest
Florida; to Waypoint construction [sic]; to Vetor Contracting; and
NR Contractors. That's at staff's request.
Time-certain items today. Commissioners, Item 11F is to be
heard immediately following Item 5B, which is a topic,
communications media technology for remote participation in public
meetings; Item 10A to be heard at 10:00. That's a consideration of a
June 22, 2021
Page 4
county ordinance establishing Collier County as a Bill of Rights
Sanctuary County.
Reminders, Commissioner, 5A, we'll have a presentation from
the Mosquito Control District from Mr. Patrick Lynn, their executive
director. And 5B is a recommendation to accept the monthly
COVID status report and provide further direction as appropriate.
Court reporter breaks at 10:30, and 2:50, if necessary.
That's all I have at this point, Madam Chair.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. So let's just
see if we have any changes to the agenda and any ex parte to declare.
And, by the way, I do believe we have one speaker, and maybe we'll
take that first.
MR. MILLER: Yes, ma'am. I have a registered speaker for
Consent Agenda Item No. 16A8, Nora Arthur. I'll tell you
what -- yes, you're Ms. Arthur?
MS. ARTHUR: Yes.
MR. MILLER: Would you please come up, ma'am. This
podium right here. You have three minutes, ma'am.
MS. ARTHUR: Oh, okay. I am thanking you-all for having
me and for the Habitat for listening to our -- to our concerns.
I live in West Wind Estates on 41. That's a 55-or-older community.
Habitat has two -- or has one subdivision on the east side of us, and
they're wanting to get approved Majestic Place, I believe is the name
of it, yes, No. 2, for north of us. The people -- the residents that live
on the north boundary of our community, it's across the canal from
us, and we don't think they're putting enough buffer between us and
their community that they're proposing.
They have a recreation field in their plans that was noted to us
before as a soccer field. The east community has a basketball court,
and we hear the noise from the basketball court -- excuse me -- quite
frequently.
June 22, 2021
Page 5
We have some natural vegetation, and our board members
believe that we own 10 feet, the community does, West Wind, on the
north side of the canal. And this I don't know for sure,
is -- Mr. LoCastro said he was going to check into that -- do we
actually own that 10 feet?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: You'll speak and then I'll --
MS. ARTHUR: Okay. So we're asking them to leave the
actual 10 feet there or the natural vegetation between -- on the north
side of the canal between their south border that they're proposing
and to make sure the sound wall is definitely a substantial sound wall
so that we don't hear the noise. We've had problems with the eastern
community, but not a continual thing. It's an off-and-on thing.
Also, when they remove that vegetation, they're going to put fill dirt,
from what I understand on the plans, all the way to the edge of the
canal, and there are vegetation that is not natural to Florida. But
there's also native vegetation there that we'd like to keep if they do
have that and get approved. And I only have 21 seconds, and I think
I've said everything that I need to say.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Well, this is obviously in
District 1. I actually met in my office with Ms. Arthur, and she
came with a lot of detail, a lot of eloquence, and which I really
appreciate it. You know, you and your fellow neighbors have done a
lot of homework and are concerned for good reason.
As you know, I met an hour later in my office personally with
Habitat for Humanity and all their leadership. Some of -- as we just
talked earlier, some of the details that you and the residents have are
a little bit dated. They have since updated the drawings. They have
retaken a look at a few things. There's much more robust things that
match exactly what you're asking for. And I also gave them a couple
June 22, 2021
Page 6
of directives that they agreed with; to do a lot more with the
buffering, to extend the fence a lot further.
The plants that you talk about and things, most of them are
exotics. But my request was the same as yours. I mean, if there's a
large Royal Palm there, you know, it would be a shame to take it
down. And I, you know, haven't visually seen what's there, but I
passed that on to them, and they were going to take a look at it.
So my last point to them was to meet with the citizens again,
because the last meeting was quite a bit ago, and I think that's why
your drawings and some of the details don't really match. But I
think they're looking to be good citizens; they're looking to be good
neighbors.
That soccer field is actually not going to be a soccer field
anymore. It's just going to be sort of a multiuse grass field. So, you
know, big soccer games there are a little different than a few
people -- I'm sorry, ma'am?
MS. ARTHUR: We'd love to see a park for the smaller
children.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. And that's more of
what it is. I mean, they're calling it a multiuse field, but there's not
big soccer nets there or stripes for a football field or things that were
in some of the previous drawings.
So I believe you-all as citizens raising that -- the issues to
Habitat for Humanity, they heard you; they definitely heard me.
And you and I meeting an hour prior to my meeting with them was
extremely valuable. So this is one time where all the planets lined
up.
So we'll continue to talk. They're headed, I think, in a direction
that you're going to be very happy with. They're putting a lot of
investment in there because they -- you know, they want to be good
neighbors.
June 22, 2021
Page 7
MS. ARTHUR: They're welcome to see another meeting with
them. And did you find out exactly whether we own 10 feet off
the --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I've asked that question,
because as you raised -- and they weren't really sure where the actual
line is. It's a little bit fuzzy from the canal to where the exotics are to
where the fence line is. And so, you know, sometimes that takes,
you know, a surveyor going out there and seeing where the actual
line is. I mean, by the maps and drawings that I got from both of
you, you can't really tell where the line is.
MS. ARTHUR: Right. Well, they've got the silt fence all the
way down to the canal and --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yes, ma'am. That
homework assignment's on their side, so -- and they can't just
arbitrarily decide, hey, I think we'll put a fence here. So there's a
definite line, and both sides need to know it. So that was one of the
homework assignments that I sort of passed to them.
MS. ARTHUR: Okay. So this final approvement, then, is not
going to go through today as far as --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It takes a vote of three. If we agree
to the consent agenda --
MS. ARTHUR: Okay.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- it will be approved.
MS. ARTHUR: Okay.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: But I think you can take a lot of
solace from the fact that Commissioner LoCastro has gotten certain
commitments from Habitat for Humanity.
MS. ARTHUR: We have no complaint about Habitat. We
think they're doing a great job for the community. But it's just the
idea that -- there's just maybe five or six of us that's it's really going
to affect more than the rest of our community. But it's still -- it's
June 22, 2021
Page 8
going to affect us one way or the other.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: One of the things that I will
promise, pledge -- we had a great conversation. Once we vote, our
homework assignments aren't done and especially, in this case, mine.
This is right smack dab in District 1. I'm talking to all the main
players. So it's not a matter of voting and then looking the other way
and hope everything turns out okay.
So, you know, I plan to support this because of what I heard
from you, what I heard from Habitat for Humanity, the detail I saw
from them, that was quite a bit updated from what some of the
residents had. And that's no fault of your own, but they continued to
move forward without sort of sending you copies. So I feel
completely confident it's headed in the right direction. And the
things that you-all are concerned about, they are as well. I am,
definitely. So, you know, rest assuredly that once we vote here, then
we don't sort of just hope everything happens.
MS. ARTHUR: Okay. All right. Well, we're voting now on
this?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yes, ma'am.
MS. ARTHUR: I won't -- after the vote, I won't take anybody
else's seat, then.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: But you and I will continue
to converse, and I'll make sure that Habitat for Humanity does what
they pledged to do, which was talk to the neighbors.
MS. ARTHUR: I want the rest of the commissioners -- I think
Nile hand delivered the information to everyone a couple weeks ago.
But I do have the money raised to the point now to appeal if it
was -- if it's approved in the manner that it's set up to be right now,
so...
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And, Nora, don't cash those
June 22, 2021
Page 9
checks.
MS. ARTHUR: No, it's in your-all's name.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you, ma'am.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you very much.
All right. So we're going to approve the consent agenda, see if
there's any changes, and declare any kind of ex parte.
So, Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Good morning.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have no -- I have no
changes and/or declarations on the consent or summary. Well, I
think -- you know what, on the summary, I do. On 17B and 17C I've
had correspondence, e-mails, and so on and so forth. Forgive me. I
misread my notes over here.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I have no changes and no
disclosures.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner LoCastro?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: On the consent, obviously,
for 16A8, I had meetings and e-mails; on the summary, 17B, the solar
project, I had meetings; and 17C, which is sort of a continuation of
the solar energy plant, I also had meetings for that as well.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No changes to the --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No. No changes, no.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Good morning. No changes.
Disclosures just on 17B and C. I did have a meeting with
representatives from Florida Power and Light.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And I have no changes or additions
to the agenda. On 16A8, I had a discussion with staff. On 17B and
17C, I had a Zoom meeting with Florida Power & Light
June 22, 2021
Page 10
representatives.
So hearing no changes, all those in favor of the agenda as
presented, say aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
June 22, 2021
1. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS TO FILE FOR RECORD WITH ACTION AS DIRECTED:
A. DISTRICTS:
1) Naples Heritage Community Development District:
Meeting Agenda 03/02/2021
Meeting Minutes 03/02/2021
2) The Quarry Community Development District:
Meeting Agenda 01/18/2021; 02/11/2021; 03/15/2021; 04/19/2021
Meeting Minutes 01/18/2021; 02/11/2021; 03/15/2021; 04/19/2021
B. OTHER:
June 22, 2021
Page 11
Item #2B
MAY 25, 2021 BCC MEETING MINUTES - APPROVED AS
PRESENTED
Item #4
PROCLAMATIONS - MOTION TO APPROVE ITEM #16H1 –
ADOPTED
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, Item 4 under
proclamations, 16H1 is a proclamation recognizing Ole at Lely
Resort as recipients of the Waste Reduction Award Program, WRAP,
for contributing to the greater good of Collier County by advocating
the "reduce, reuse, recycle" message thereby helping to prolong the
useful life of the Collier County Landfill.
Commissioner LoCastro and county staff will make a separate
presentation at the condominium complex for FYI, so a motion is in
order.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Motion.
And I did forget the May 25th, 2021, BCC minutes. So let's
combine the proclamation and the minutes of May 25th, 2021.
All those in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you.
June 22, 2021
Page 12
Item #5A
PRESENTATION FROM THE COLLIER MOSQUITO CONTROL
DISTRICT - PRESENTED; MOTION TO BRING BACK AT THE
JULY 13TH MEETING AT A TIME CERTAIN – CONSENSUS
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, under presentations,
Item 5A is a presentation from the Collier County Mosquito Control
District. Mr. Patrick Lynn, the Executive Director of the District,
and his staff will present.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
Mr. Lynn, you may want to introduce the folks from the board
here and your staff before you begin, just so the public can be aware
of who is here. Thank you.
MR. LYNN: Sure. Good morning, everyone. My name is
Patrick Lynn. I'm the Executive Director at the Collier Mosquito
Control District. And we are represented here today with our own
Dr. Lucas, our director of research, and our current board chair,
Ms. Sandra Lee Buxton, and we're grateful for their attendance and
certainly for our board's support.
Do you require any other information before we get started?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, but you didn't mention
Ms. Buxton's husband.
MR. LYNN: Mr. Buxton is also with us, Reg Buxton, and
we're grateful.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: A former city councilor, Naples City
Council. Thank you.
MR. LYNN: All right. Our presentation this morning -- I
understand you have quite an agenda, and we'll try to keep this fairly
brief.
The Collier Mosquito Control District has been, for roughly the
June 22, 2021
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past four years, aware that there is significant growth in Collier
County, and in order for us to provide good and valuable
service -- our missions are very much in line with the county. We'd
like to talk to you this morning about a -- request your consideration
and input for district expansion.
I've been instructed to use the mouse here. There we go. What
we'll do here is I will present regarding district expansion and the
policy matters, and Dr. Lucas will address some of the more technical
side of things. The theme being that we want everyone to
understand that mosquito control is rapidly evolving. As a matter of
fact, there are some revolutions in terms of modalities and treatment
technologies, et cetera.
So it is very important that, as we make this public, our efforts
are to protect public health as well as comfort and what we want to
do is, in simple terms, describe that our mosquito control efforts will
look different depending on where they are within the new district
boundaries that we propose.
The board of commissioners that we have, we have a
five-member board. They're elected at large. We're a special taxing
district. And they have agreed that we do have a rapidly increasing
permanent population of humans, that is, and mosquitoes as well.
We have an increasing mosquito-borne-disease threat. Dr. Lucas
can address that. We have also, as I mentioned, some advances in
our integrated mosquito control management or, excuse me,
integrated mosquito management program as well as some ecological
concerns, and much access to improving technologies.
We are a well-funded district, and for that we are grateful, and I
humbly submit that our district is actually a leader in the industry,
courtesy of our science team and operations and a great team of
people who sincerely care about the community in which we all live,
work, and play.
June 22, 2021
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I'm not going to read our mission to you, but I will submit it here
and just summarize it; that we provide good and valuable service to
protect public, health, and comfort via means of controlling
mosquitoes, which reduces the threat of mosquito-borne disease as
well as reduces the number of nuisance mosquitoes.
Our vision, longer term, certainly is one of upholding the public
trust. It's very important to us that we occupy the space where
misinformation may arise, and that we're able to clear those up in
advance of any mosquito-borne-disease problems that may arise.
With that, I'll turn it over to Dr. Lucas, who will talk about some of
the district's integrated mosquito management evolutions and
revolutions. Dr. Lucas.
DR. LUCAS: Okay. Thank you. For the record, this is
Dr. Lucas from Collier Mosquito Control District.
So Mr. Lynn mentioned two parameters that I'm going to talk
about that address the need for district expansion. One is the
increasing threat for vector-borne disease and the other is for our
need to practice an integrated mosquito management approach.
So we've really gone from a district that has applied pesticide in
the form of organophosphate to target adult mosquitoes, that used to
be our primary method to control mosquitoes, to now practicing an
integrated program for mosquito management. And what that means
is is it's a sustainable evidence-based method for mosquito control
where we use a variety of tools that you can see on the screen here to
target the specific vulnerabilities of the mosquito that's causing the
problem. What does that mean? Mosquito control is going to look
very different in an area such as Rookery Bay targeting salt marsh
mosquitoes than it is going to look in our eastern areas of the county
targeting freshwater mosquitoes, and it's also going to look very
different than us targeting urban mosquitoes.
Central to integrated mosquito management is surveillance. We
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collect data daily either through our traps that we have stationed
throughout the county, or we have inspectors or field technicians out
in the field that perform what are called landing right counts. This is
when a field technician goes out into a habitat, stands for two
minutes, and counts the number of mosquitoes that lands on them.
Oftentimes, in our salt marsh season along the coast, we get
numbers as many as 50 to 100 mosquitoes landing on you in two
minutes, and in our eastern areas of the county, we can get even more
than that, 100 to 150.
And another method of surveillance is also our service requests.
So our citizens are able to put in a request or a notification to us that
mosquitoes are a problem in their area, and then we can provide our
services as needed.
In addition to surveillance, research is very heavy here in our
district. All of the control materials that we bring to our district are
tested in our lab. We start in our lab, and then we'll bring them to
field cage trials. We continuously test our mosquito populations for
pesticide resistance, and we also have the ability to test for
mosquito-borne diseases from the mosquitoes collected in our traps,
and with that we're able to make same-day treatment decisions based
on the presence of mosquito-borne disease.
Moving on. We also have an education program where we are
able to get into the schools or out into our community to teach people
what they can do to prevent mosquito issues, whether that be
applying repellant to prevent mosquito bites or reducing the source of
mosquitoes around their home.
In recent years, we've started a biological control program where
we use native gambusia fish or mosquitofish to -- and we provide
those fish to our public, and they can put them into areas where they
can't reduce the mosquito source. So maybe a rain barrel, a broken
water fountain, or a swale in front or behind their home.
June 22, 2021
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We also have revolutionized our larval control program. We have
both an aerial and ground-based program. And then, of course, we
continue to control adult mosquitoes as well.
So here in Collier County we have over 40 species of mosquito.
Not all of them spread disease, not all of them even feed on humans.
Really, there's a handful that are of most concern for us.
We have our disease-carrying mosquitoes, aedes aegypti and
aedes albopictus. These mosquitoes are the ones that are in very
close association with humans. And so as our population expands
outside our district boundaries, people are going to be exposed to
those mosquitoes. Where you find people, you find these
mosquitoes. And, unfortunately, they spread some of the most
devastating tropical diseases such as Zika virus, and we all know
about that in recent years.
Chikugunya virus, Dengue virus, and yellow fever. In fact, just
recently there was a Dengue virus outbreak in the Florida Keys,
Miami-Dade, and Broward County.
Then we have our two freshwater species of mosquito, culex
nigripalpus and quinquefasciatus.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Would you repeat that, please.
DR. LUCAS: Sorry. Culex nigripalpus and quinquefasciatus
and, surprisingly, they're not the hardest ones to say. These ones
spread our endemic viruses, so viruses that -- they're here and we
know they're here. St. Louis Encephalitis, Eastern Equine
Encephalitis Virus, and West Nile Virus.
In fact, last year in 2020 we did see West Nile Virus here in
Collier County. There was seven human cases, one equine case, and
we had 7 -- 27 positive mosquito traps here in our district that we
tested in our own in-house laboratory.
We also have the species of mosquito that's capable of spreading
malaria and, because of Mosquito Control, malaria has been
June 22, 2021
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eradicated in the state of Florida; however, we still have the species
that's capable of spreading it.
So going back to that West Nile Virus presence. Here you can
see on the map, we did have 27 positive mosquito pools here in our
district, and many of those areas are centralized in the Ave Maria and
eastern areas of our county. These areas are currently not part of our
district. So these people are being -- are vulnerable to
mosquito-borne diseases.
We also have our nuisance species of mosquito. Aedes
Taeniarhynchus is our salt marsh mosquito. These are the ones that
are deriving from areas such as Ten Thousand Islands and Rookery
Bay. Unfortunately, those areas are not within our district borders
currently and, because of that, we usually have to wait for these
mosquitoes to fly into the district and target them with adulticide.
We also have the Mansonia species of mosquito. This one is
highly present in our eastern areas of the county, typically around
Ave Maria and Immokalee, and they live in close association with
invasive aquatic weeds such as water lettuce and water hyacinth.
Here on the map, one of our biologists had mapped out areas in
the agricultural fields where we find the habitat, which is typically
water lettuce and hyacinth, and this doesn't include the slough here
that also -- in the north swamp that also are covered with this aquatic
weed.
One acre of aquatic weed has shown to produce over 10 million
mosquitoes per acre per month, and there are hundreds if not
thousands of habitat out there.
So how have we changed in the past five years? Again, I have
mentioned we used to be a district that primarily applied pesticide in
the form of organophosphates. In the past five years, we've actually
been able to reduce the amount of organophosphate that we've
applied by 62 percent, and we've also started to incorporate new
June 22, 2021
Page 18
adulticides known as pyrethroids. One of them is actually an
organic or OMRI listed control material. We've created an entirely
new larviciding program and substantially increased the amount of
larvicide that we started putting out. So with larvicide we're
targeting the juvenile mosquito before they're becoming biting, flying
adults.
Our education program in 2019 was able to reach 3,300
mosquito -- students in the classroom. We were able to, even in
2020, with social distancing, we were able to distribute 4,000
mosquitofish. Basically, we had a contactless pickup where people
were able to pick their fish from the district without having to come
into contact with people.
With our in-house disease-testing program, we found 27 positive
mosquito pools, and we were able to use that information to make
treatment decisions. So we knew there was West Nile Virus in the
area. We were able to make a treatment decision based off of that.
We've begun incorporating more OMRI and organic labeled
materials both -- many of our larvicide are organic materials and at
least one of our adulticides is. We've begun incorporating drones.
They're used for both mosquito surveillance, habitat mapping, and we
began using treatment -- doing treatments with our drones.
We also are one of the first districts that incorporated automated
counters. What this is is a mosquito trap that counts the number of
mosquitoes that fly into the trap. With that, we're able to allocate
our field technicians to perform larvicides. They don't have to go
and service the trap, and it provides that information to our operations
team in real time, and they can make the treatment decisions there.
In terms of application advancements when it comes to applying
adulticide, we've gone from putting out gallons of pesticide. Many
people, they equate mosquito control to the DC-3s performing the
fogging here. The material was mixed with petroleum product; not
June 22, 2021
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too environmentally friendly. But now we use a ultra low volume
approach. We're applying less than one ounce of material per acre,
so less than one ounce of material over about the size of a football
field. In fact, our organophosphate applications are performed at
less than half an ounce per acre.
So with that, that is kind of how our program works and how we
perform our treatments. And we'll go ahead and move back to
Mr. Lynn so he can discuss the expansion.
MR. LYNN: Thank you, Dr. Lucas.
So currently we are under a policy-driven feasibility study to
look at district expansion. Here's the short list of some of the
individuals and organizations/groups that we've spoken to and with.
We have hosted many organizations at our district, and we encourage
visiting so that we can provide a tour as well, and this feasibility
study will continue.
Our board is being updated presently. We have a meeting this
week as well where we'll talk about who we've -- who we've met with
and the general level of consensus that we're experiencing.
So per our policy and per Statute 388 of Florida Statutes, we are
engaged in outreach and discussions with, as I mentioned, elected
officials, community leaders, and landowners, land managers
regarding this boundary-expansion proposal.
In the coming weeks and months, the Board of County
Commissioners will be required to accept, edit, or propose district
boundaries, and we're happy to engage in that process. Then a -- we
will seek sponsorship by a state legislator who will sponsor a local
bill, we're hoping, in the 2022 legislative session, and if everything
goes well, we're expecting the new district boundaries to take effect
October 1, which is our fiscal year of 2022.
For some this will mean a new tax, and we understand that that
doesn't sit well on the tongue, but you have my assurance as
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Page 20
executive director and our board's assurance that the value of service
that we provide will always exceed the investment on the part of the
taxpayer.
So a median-priced home in Collier, somewhere around 3- or
$400,000 assessed value, we'll be looking at a total tax bill for
Mosquito Control of approximately 60 to $70 per year, which we
hope will be reasonable or thought of as such.
The current district boundaries are shown within the green
shaded areas. It's approximately 400 square miles, 401 to be precise,
and our board policy within Collier Mosquito Control District gives
us a list of reasons to consider expansion. And, once again,
reiterating newer changing threats to public health, excessive
mosquito populations, disease threat, increases in permanent
population, and changes in natural habitat, including aquatic weeds,
which we've mentioned.
Historically, agricultural interests were the only -- the only
areas -- or were the only thing in the areas where we're proposing
expansion, and we expect that, with expansion, the community will
grow into those areas, and we'll be ahead of the game for a long time.
Our proposed new boundaries would virtually double the size of
the district, and we're thinking ahead roughly 20 years. We are -- if
you look at the -- you'll see a crosshatched area. Those are actually
publicly owned lands. That will require what's known as an
Arthropod Control Management Plan. So our initial foray into those
areas will not include adulticiding, but rather research working with
the land managers, engaging in data collection and analysis, and
establishment of an arthropod control plan that's both affordable and
reasonably effective.
The tax base is not currently substantial in those areas. As a
matter of fact, all of the state-owned lands were publicly -- excuse
me. Publicly owned lands are exempt from paying the ad valorem
June 22, 2021
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tax for Mosquito Control, and our assertion is that even given the
budget that we have today, that if we have access to some of these
areas, that we can do a better job controlling mosquitoes in areas
adjacent to where people are living and moving.
So moving forward. We, of course, as a district, remain
available to answer questions from both the public and from
leadership. We would humbly ask today for a determination of a
level of County Commissioner consensus regarding our proposal.
We will continue our outreach and discussion efforts throughout this
entire process until -- up to and including and actually beyond
execution of the redefinition of the new boundaries.
Our board of commissioners will create a resolution, and we will
have to perform a land survey which those costs would be borne by
the Mosquito Control District. And if we can get one that is
reasonable and agreed upon, we'd like to do it just one time and
present that to -- back to this board on or about October of this year,
2021, and request that you would vote on it at that time so that we
can get in under the wire, as it were, with our local bill for January of
2022.
Once again, thank you very, very much for your time this
morning. I understand that there is a great deal going on in Collier,
and we're very excited to be and proud to be a part of its future.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. Patrick, you folks do
an amazing job. I've known Patrick for many, many years. As a lot
of folks know, I'm president of the Corkscrew Island Neighborhood
Association, and he's done an amazing job explaining to neophytes
how the Mosquito Control actually functions and what it does. And
I'm an old guy. I remember waving at those pilots when they flew
by when I was working on the roof of Naples Therapeutic Center
June 22, 2021
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when I was building that barn, so I remember those days.
I would suggest -- and I don't know. Typically our board does
not take consensus or votes with regard to presentations simply
because of public input or the lack thereof. I have questions that I'd
like to talk to you about that I've learned, concerns that have been
raised to me in the future, and it would be my suggestion that we,
maybe under the wire, if you will, in September when we come back,
we slate this for an actual public hearing to go through the budgetary
process, the proposed tax increases for those that are there.
I know there is a contractual arrangement with the folks at Ave
Maria, the developer, and I haven't talked to them. And so before I
can request -- I mean, from a perspective, it sounds like a good thing
to help humanity, but until I have further detail, I need to -- I'd like to
suggest that we bring it back and actually have a public hearing and
take a vote and do it that way.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And, Commissioner McDaniel,
you're correct, we usually don't take a vote, but we certainly can
create -- we can have a consensus here to ask them to continue. I
think there is a time frame involved, a sensitive time frame.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Did you get that, that she said
I was correct?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Partly. 50 percent.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Bottom line --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You got that?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- is is the consensus to be for
us to actually come back and have a vote in September and the public
hearing on it.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Just a few comments. You
know, first, Mr. Lynn, my visit down there was so impressive. You
know, people that think we just sort of arbitrarily spray and don't
June 22, 2021
Page 23
have a complicated well-thought-out process with an amazing
team -- although, you know, you're the top guy, and Dr. Lucas was
incredibly impressive, your most amazing employee down there is
the gentleman I met that actually stands out and gets bitten 200 times.
So he's not being paid enough. I actually met him. He's a real
person. Incredible, does other things, too, but he's really proud of
that.
The map expansion, it's amazing. I mean, I've had a lot of town
hall meetings since, you know, being elected and really gotten out
and talked with citizens. There's so much misinformation out there.
There's so many citizens who think their area has been sprayed for
years.
One example I'll give you is Port of the Island. And we already
conversed on that. But, you know, for the record, you know, they
basically came to me and said, wow, they've sprayed every year for
20 years, but we didn't see them the last two years. And then rumor
from fact, no, they've never sprayed. Everglades City did you a
favor, you know, 20 years ago with a truck and, you know, that's it.
So -- there's other areas, too. So I think it is long overdue.
But having said that, I also agree with Commissioner McDaniel
that before we go forward, you know, we do our due diligence. I
also have heard from a lot of citizens and, there again, it's rumor from
fact. Always spray and all their plants die and, you know, so they
don't -- understanding the science and getting the word out there is
part of maybe a marketing -- you have an incredible director of
communications.
So while we are simultaneously talking about this, the max you
can do to separate rumor from fact from citizens. Just as you
educated me, you know, what we use to spray, it actually dissipates
before it hits, you know, your plants and all those things. So a lot of
folks have maybe some dated information or just information from
June 22, 2021
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where they used to live, that sort of thing. I mean, I'm getting
e-mails from people that see contrails from, you know, Delta
Airlines' jet, and they actually think that, you know, we're dropping
something on their neighborhood.
So -- and it's important that we clarify that. So, you know,
we've got time to do that. And, you know -- and I know that, you
know, you'll make that part of the education campaign and then,
obviously, when we have public hearings in here and people are
concerned about taxes and whatnot and the small amount that they'll
be raised if it passes, but also, too, the knowledge that they want
about what are we spraying.
Lastly, I actually did have a question for Dr. Lucas. I think I
know the answer, but really for the rest of the group or maybe get it
on the public record. How do we decrease by 62 percent? Because
we changed the chemical, we went from those big, giant barrels?
Because you said we decreased using orthophosphates 62 percent.
So just for everybody's knowledge, how did we do that?
DR. LUCAS: So it's a combination of multiple things. It
could be the mosquito populations in general. But it also is the
incorporation of the integrated mosquito management program.
Like I said, we went from a district that has primarily applied
organophosphate, and that's just how we target mosquitoes, to now a
district that has increased our larvaciding program by 1700 percent.
And we also would like to think that the larvaciding is having an
impact on our mosquito populations as well. And we do have some
data to support that, and we want to continue getting into some of
these areas to apply more larvicide to reduce those populations.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And then, you know, lastly,
you've got a strong board. I mean, you've got Sandra Lee Buxton
sitting here as one of your board members; Russell Burland, so
you've got incredible oversight. And what I learned on my visit, you
June 22, 2021
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all are working very closely together. So I think, you know, moving
forward, this project's in really great hands. We want to do the
maximum to educate and inform citizens about how the map would
change, how their taxes would change, even if it's something small,
not -- you know, making that transparent, and then I think most
importantly educating them on the science and the chemicals and
things that are used and how far advanced, you know, we are here in
Collier County. So thank you.
MR. LYNN: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Lynn, just a question. So
if -- you need a consensus today for us to do what?
MR. LYNN: Our concern is that before we invest taxpayer
dollars in -- and I think it's already been elucidated here by
Commissioner McDaniel, is that before we engage a significant sum
of taxpayer dollars in a survey of our proposed boundaries, we would
like to determine whether or not -- and we're starting to get
that -- whether or not we're headed in the right direction with respect
to the boundaries as we have proposed.
We make this public today, and we are absolutely transparent.
We're ready to speak to anyone who's interested. What we'd really
like to do is to begin to clear up some of the confusion that may be
arising and, therefore -- it's not necessarily that I would withdraw my
request for a consensus. We visited with each of you individually
and tried to provide you with information. I just simply want to
keep the process moving forward.
If we run into a situation where, because it is time sensitive, that
it makes more sense to let it go for one more year, we will certainly
continue to meet our mission with great strength and alacrity.
The process itself has been ongoing for us for many years, and not in
secret but rather in planning phases both financially and sort of
structurally how it's going to work with our Board of County
June 22, 2021
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Commissioners and our science and operations department.
We have to make some changes internally with respect to how many
employees we have and what they do because we need more folks
who are willing to make a foray out into the swamps, if you will.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So and do you need -- so would
September -- the first meeting in September, would that be -- would
that set you back considerably?
MR. LYNN: I don't believe so. My suggestion, again, is that
we're not -- we're not attempting to do something here that is time
sensitive for any nefarious reason. We're trying to anticipate the
growth in the county and get ourselves into position before a lot of
that growth happens. I would defer to counsel and to the legislative
process in terms of trying to get things through.
If we were to have a hearing in September, depending on how
many days or weeks we would have to turn the information around to
everyone's satisfaction, that may be the determining factor right there,
so --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. LYNN: But we are flexible.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you, Madam Chair.
I don't think anybody on this board would object to your expansion of
your boundary. The legislature meets in January in 2022 because it's
an election year, and under the house rules, as I understand, Florida
House rules, if you have a local bill, you have to submit that, I
believe, in August.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So if you want to try to do
something in 2022 and you need some approval from the County
Commission, I think you should get that --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Today.
June 22, 2021
Page 27
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- today or at our next
meeting if you're looking to do something with a special act this year
and in 2022.
MR. LYNN: Okay. I was furnished with different
information. I'm sorry. I have January.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Mullins is in the back of
the room, and I may have bad information on that regard. I do know
that typically you have to get your local bills in pretty early.
MR. MULLINS: Thank you. For the record, John Mullins,
Director of the Division of Communications, Government, and Public
Affairs. Still getting used to that.
Yes, the local delegation meeting will take place on
September 15th, which is a Wednesday. Local bills will be
traditionally heard at that hearing. So anything that they bring
forward would probably need to be prepared for that meeting.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. And, Mr. Lynn, just know
that I did ask that this be moved to a workshop about two months ago
but, unfortunately, our schedule didn't permit.
MR. LYNN: Very well. What -- again, we are -- we have
plenty to do. We're very busy. We'd just like to tidy up the process.
I know that it takes a lot of time for county leadership and others, and
it certainly puts a strain on our communications department --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It sure does.
MR. LYNN: -- to continue this for another year. If that is the
case then, perhaps, we remain flexible. This is something that needs
to happen either now or in a year or even two. But it does -- in our
humble opinion is necessary.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. And I suggested
September not knowing -- thank you for the time frame there as well.
So I don't have any problem in having it come back at our next
June 22, 2021
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meeting. We just have a busy meeting. Unless you all want to
work through the summer. No, we're not going to do that today.
We could hear this --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Quit. We're going to -- I
mean, I'd be happy with hearing it on July 13th and take a formal
vote. I can ramp up my efforts as far as gathering information and
talking to the folks out in the community and come back
with -- again, I concur with Commissioner Saunders. Ostensibly,
we're not in opposition of the boundaries. It's just I need more
information, budgetary, so on and so forth, before I can actually say
yes. So I'd be okay with the -- I know we've got a busy day on the
13th, but I'd be happy to do it then.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: County Manager, let's make it a
time-certain on the 13th, please, maybe the beginning of the meeting.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Perfect.
MR. ISACKSON: Yes, ma'am.
MR. LYNN: Would that be something, for the sake of our
board and council and staff, that we could have a compendium or a
list of things that would help in order -- the information that you're
looking for?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely. I'll reach
off-line to you and let you know what I'm looking for, and I'm
assuming everybody else will as well.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And given the fact that we do have
quite a day in front of us, I don't know how everyone feels, but I
would appreciate we do our homework before the meeting so that the
questions could be minimal, and we could proceed with the decision
at hand. Thank you.
MR. LYNN: We remain at your service. Thank you.
June 22, 2021
Page 29
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Thank you
very much for your presentation.
Doctor --
MR. LYNN: Lucas.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- Lucas, just for the young women in
the audience, how old are you?
DR. LUCAS: I'm 34.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And what's your education?
DR. LUCAS: My Ph.D. is in -- I did my research on mosquito
biology.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And where did you do that?
DR. LUCAS: University of California, Riverside.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Congratulations.
DR. LUCAS: Thank you.
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, my preference is to go to
5B, but I know we're up against a time-certain at 10:00. I'll defer to
the Board on that. If we do 5B, that's our COVID report. At that
point in time, we could either -- we could either continue or not hear
11F and go right to your time-certain and come back to 11F. That's
your preference. My preference is to proceed as --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And there's another issue here. We
have several people -- I think seven have registered to speak under
public comment, and they want to comment on something that we're
discussing today which, of course, is not according to the process that
we have followed forever in the county. Public comment can only
be on issues that are not on the agenda or not upcoming on the
agenda; however, those folks can have a public petition. I spoke to
our County Attorney.
Could you please explain that? And I hope these folks are
listening out there.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. For clarity, what is it they're asking
June 22, 2021
Page 30
for?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Miller?
MR. MILLER: Yes. Some folks indicated they wanted to
speak to Item 5B. We don't take comment on presentations.
They're not voted on. So they have transferred public health
comment policies to public comments. Now, that's not all of the
people registered for public comment. Some of them.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah. They can do a public petition to
the Board requesting that the Board alter its policies with respect to,
for example, the seating arrangements here or anything else, and that
would typically not be an item on the agenda.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Good. So they would have
to do that for the next meeting?
MR. KLATZKOW: That's up to the County Manager.
MR. ISACKSON: We could do that at the next meeting.
We've got a lot on your agenda today.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, sir.
MS. YAHL: You just told us we can't speak. Is that how I
understand it?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: If you want to be recognized, please
come up to the podium.
MS. YAHL: Hi. Thank you. My name is Kelly Yahl. I
came here today to speak regarding something that's going to be
discussed on your agenda, which is the COVID issues.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. And we don't take -- you
understand it's under a presentation. So the way -- the way we --
MS. YAHL: And the presentations that have been given by --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Excuse me, ma'am.
MS. YAHL: -- the health authorities in this county have been
deceptive and incomplete. And so if you're going to take a
June 22, 2021
Page 31
presentation from them, then you should take a presentation from the
educated public so that all the information can be given.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You have an opportunity to petition
us and be heard at the next meeting.
So how many speakers? Would you please call the speakers
that want to speak to this matter so that they understand they don't
have an opportunity to speak today. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: The challenge is, is some have put that that's
what they want to speak about. Some have not, so I'm left trying to
guess names here.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay.
MR. MILLER: Do you want me to try to isolate the people
who wanted to speak on 5B?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, please.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Before you do that, can I just
ask a question. And, you know, as a newer commissioner, I'm still
learning all the protocols up here. But would they be allowed to
speak just during public comment or no?
MR. KLATZKOW: No.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Not at all?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: They have to register to speak on an
agenda item.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Wait. Let's keep some
decorum in here. But, you know, I just -- I sit up here, and I just see
citizens out here who represent the community, and I know we all do,
so I'm not sitting here speaking as a lone voice or anything. But, you
know, when I know people take off from work and they come
here -- and I know we have rules and regulations, so that's all I'm
asking is, so what we're basically telling everybody in this room is it's
impossible for them to get their three minutes to speak on a topic
that -- and I mean this with all respect, because I'm trying to see what
June 22, 2021
Page 32
the options are.
But, like them, is there no option for anybody in this room who
came here this morning to speak on a topic that we're going to hear
from -- and we're basically telling them to go home, even though it
was on the agenda, and come back the next time. Is that what I'm
hearing? There's no option?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And I mean that as an
inquiry, not throwing stones or anything like that, but you've got a lot
of people here.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Commissioner LoCastro, can
I respond?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yes, sir. Absolutely, yeah.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'd like to make a motion
that we waive the rule so that people that are here already on this item
can have their three minutes.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I agree.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I make that as a motion to
waive the rule --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I mean --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- only in this one instance.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And, you know, I mean, I
think this is an important topic. We shouldn't do that a lot, and
maybe we won't get a consensus here for that, but I strongly agree. I
mean, you know, when I see citizens sitting out there -- and these are,
you know, blue collar, white collar, and everything, and this is a very
hot topic. It just bothers me when we send them on their way and
say come back in two weeks, and then in two weeks half of this
group won't be here, and then we won't get to hear, you know, what
you have -- what you feel, what you think your -- you know, your
June 22, 2021
Page 33
background is, you know, on educating yourself and whatnot. I
think it's important.
So, you know, I agree with my colleague, and I think we have to
be dynamic enough up here to be elected officials that -- we're not
bending the rules, but I think we do have things at our disposal to
support citizens and their rights.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We haven't decided yet. So we have
a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor to waive the
rules today to allow the public to comment on a presentation just this
one time, say aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously.
Now, we do have an issue of a 10:00 time-certain. That would put
this item, perhaps, even in the afternoon, depending on how many
speakers. How many speakers do we have for 10A?
MR. MILLER: Right now we have 23.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I would say that we are probably
looking in the afternoon.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: But let's just see how far we get on
this. And I'm not suggesting -- I am trying to be respectful of their
time, not to discourage them.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, if I might.
And I apologize for not pushing my button, but let's go ahead and let
them speak right now. On our time-certains we may be 10 minutes
June 22, 2021
Page 34
late, but that's -- so what? That's -- we're late on time-certains all the
time. We just don't --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's going to be a decision of this
commission.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, you know, there again,
this is a -- it's not uncommon for us to have time-certains. I know
there are a few guests that are here, including our sheriff in the back,
and we want to be certainly respectful of his time. He wishes to
speak on 10A. And it kind of sort of is along the same line. So I
have no issue in going forward with the presentation and hearing
public -- I think we only have five or six --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Seven.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- public speakers -- seven on
that, and I think we can -- I think we can get through it.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And as far as they're concerned, as
long as they don't -- they understand it's going to be heard -- the
Health Department's coming in after you speak. If that's -- you
know, that's just the way it's going to be. So you will speak first, and
let's start.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Other dignitaries that are here
as well for 10A.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay.
Item #7
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS NOT ON THE
CURRENT OR FUTURE AGENDA
MR. MILLER: So, Madam Chair, do you want me to try to
glean out the public comment that are not having to do with the
health department, or do you want me to just call --
June 22, 2021
Page 35
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, please.
MR. MILLER: -- all public comment?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think public comment right now.
MR. MILLER: Okay. In the order that they were submitted,
Garrett Beyrent will be followed by Chantal Sherer, and then -- well,
maybe -- Dan Cook.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And if Ms. Sherer could use the other
podium also and just get poised so that we have two podiums, that
would be great. Thank you.
MR. BEYRENT: For the record, Garret FX Beyrent, Longbow
Lobby. Owner of a cement plant on the corner of Santa Barbara and
Davis Boulevard, right.
I just wanted to let you know that Robert Cadenhead does not
own my property, okay. And that property's actually in a trust. It's
a very complicated trust. It was called a dynasty trust when we
created it.
And I'm wearing all these bandages because I spent too much
time in the jungle, okay, and the jungle has a lot of things in it. But
the jungle I was in had mostly Agent Orange. So I've had 16
surgeries on my face in the last year. Every Thursday now I just
have surgeries. Today I've got to go 2:00 to get more surgeries.
That's what happens. You spray it. It's a defoliant. It's defoliating
my face.
However, that's not why I'm here. I'm here specifically to talk
about Florida Statute 825-103. In one sentence, it's very simple.
It's exploitation of an elderly person or a disabled adult, okay. And
that's what you've been getting from Bobby Cadenhead. He doesn't
own any of our property.
And I talked to my daughter who owns 33 1/3 percent with one
of my sons, and she was not aware that he was up here telling you
that we were going to building five-story buildings overlooking the
June 22, 2021
Page 36
Firano subdivision, which my family never built anything higher than
two stories.
And this guy suffers from a delusional disorder, that he thinks
everything my family's ever owned in Collier County, including the
750 acres around this building, is his. It's as simple as that.
So I filed a suit, but when I went to serve suit against him, I
found five different addresses, all of which are dilapidated shacks
that he doesn't live in.
So my question on Friday at 3:30 to Commissioner [sic]
Klatzkow was, where can I serve this guy? And can you answer
that? Because he called me at 3:30 on a Friday. Nobody ever done
that in 50 years I've been up at this podium. Nobody from the
county's ever called me at 3:30 on a Friday. Everybody's gone on a
Friday. That guy was still working. He's a great guy.
Anyhow, that's basically what I'm saying is that we've got to do
something about this. People are being abused. These people
are -- like, in the case of my brother-in-law, he's been blind for many
years. My other brother-in-law committed suicide with a gun I gave
him. He committed suicide seven years ago, and the house went to
his housekeeper. That's odd when you've got a family. You usually
give your property to your family. And this is a real problem in
Collier County, and it should be looked at. And give me the address,
Jeff.
MR. KLATZKOW: We can talk off-line.
MR. BEYRENT: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Chantal Sherer, followed
by Dan Cook, and then -- forgive me here -- Mike and -- I think this
is Rosemary. I cannot pronounce --
MS. ZORE: Zore.
MR. MILLER: Talking about the Legends Concert.
June 22, 2021
Page 37
MS. ZORE: Yes.
MR. MILLER: But right now Chantal Sherer.
MS. SHERER: Hi. Just I'm not a public speaker, but I'll do
the best I can. I don't know all the technical terms and numbers to
all the -- all the bills and everything.
But I was born and raised in Ethiopia. My parents lived there
26 years. My father was a pilot for his Imperial Majesty for Haile
Selassie. My brother also spent 28 years, Lieutenant Jimmy Hansen,
in the sheriff's department.
All I can do is know in my heart that God put me here to make
this a better place when I left or when I leave. And I failed because I
did -- I knew politics, but I didn't understand how it worked and how
we let things pass by and how we got to this point.
So I've been in politics in the background for 15 years, and I
started with Byron in the Tea Party. I feel like my voice is being
heard, but I don't think we're being listened to.
As far as the COVID, I was inoculated every three to six months
in Ethiopia; however, the drugs were FDA approved. What you're
doing to our children is exposing them to an experimental drug.
Now, we already know we have about 6,000 people that have died
from the vaccine -- the jab itself, and by giving them to our children
is extremely irresponsible as adults.
You have to look at the science. You have to see why Fauci,
Gates, Soros put this plan in order in 1997, all right.
I have a Democratic friend, which is very unusual, but we speak,
and, you know, she listens to me; I listen to her. She told me -- I
said, well, why are they testing on the African children? She goes,
well, that's what they're there for. Really? We can test on African
children because we can get away with it? You should be all
ashamed of yourselves to even follow Fauci, Soros, and Gates.
Thank you.
June 22, 2021
Page 38
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Dan Cook. He'll be
followed by Mike and Rosemary about the Legends Concert, and
then Beth Sherman.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: May I interrupt for a second?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Congressman Donalds is here
to speak on the time-certain at 10:00, and he has a plane to catch at
10:30. And since we're waiving rules, I would like to request an
opportunity for him to come and speak ahead of Mr. Cook, who
won't mind a second, if our Congressman Byron could come and
speak on Item 10A and then hopefully we can register that for
the -- if it's okay.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh, that's fine.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I've got a problem with
Congressman Donalds cutting the line. No, I'm just kidding. He
better be leaving on a plane for 10:30 and going somewhere
important and doing great things for our county. And I know he is.
CONGRESSMAN DONALDS: I know LoCastro doesn't
mind.
(Applause.)
CONGRESSMAN DONALDS: LoCastro, I've seen you cut a
couple lines, you know, so I know you've got problems.
First of all, Commissioners, thanks for the opportunity.
Chairman Taylor, thank you so much for acknowledging the request.
I'll be very brief, because your agenda is long, and I have to go get to
the other place where we have long agendas.
But I know you're hearing Item 10A, which essentially is the
opening bell, if you will, for Collier County considering an ordinance
to become a Bill of Rights sanctuary.
I will tell you that in the nation's capitol, myself and members
June 22, 2021
Page 39
who are on my side of the political aisle are constantly having to deal
with legislative pushes that seek to undermine various aspects of the
Bill of Rights. This goes past the simple arguments about Second
Amendment rights and digs much further. And these are not just
talking points. These are not just speeches at rallies. These are
legislative ideas that are coming from the other side of the aisle.
Collier County, by political demographic, is actually quite
Republican. And it goes farther than that, though. This is not really
a Republican/Democrat thing; this is about the nature of our
Republic, the nature of the Bill of Rights, and our constitution and the
reality that every elected official in our state swears an oath to uphold
the Constitution of these United States.
And part of that constitution is the very Bill of Rights, and the
framers themselves would have never signed the document if there
weren't very clear and prescribed limits on federal power.
Being a congressional representative, I will tell you directly that
there are -- there are moves to try to strip elements of the Bill of
Rights as they exist in the United States Constitution, and being the
lawful authority here in Collier County, I see no reason why you can't
align yourselves not only with the United States Constitution but also
Florida's constitution. Having seen the ordinance, it would actually
give you the legal protection you need under the auspices of Florida
law as well as our constitution to protect the constitutional rights of
the citizens of Collier County, of which I'm one. So that's all I've
got to say. I hope you consider it fairly.
And the last thing I will say is I know I talk a little bit about the
political dynamics in D.C., but I would really stress to try not to make
this about politics, look at this with clear eyes, and make -- and make
the proper determination. I believe you are well within your rights
and your authority here as commissioners for our county to uphold
the rights of the people who live here. Thank you.
June 22, 2021
Page 40
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, we'll resume public comment,
Item 7, with Dan Cook, followed by Mike and Rosemary speaking
about the legends concert, and then Beth Sherman.
MR. COOK: Madam Chair, Board, thank you for allowing us
to be here. Thanks for the amendment to allow the public
comments. We definitely appreciate that, Commissioner Saunders.
I'm going to be real brief, too. I just wanted to come up here and say
that I know it's been a long year. I know we've had some heated,
you know, debates and disagreements in the past, but I think it's
important that we -- you know, kind of as Congressman Donalds just
said regarding the Bill of Rights, that we come together and focus on
what's best for the community, what's best for raising the standard of
living and having -- and maybe this is going into Item 10A, so I'll
hold off on that, but --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, good.
MR. COOK: I'm learning as I go. But I just wanted to say it's
nice to see your faces, and I look forward to working with you guys
moving forward so we can improve the standard of living for all
Collier citizens. Keep it brief.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Mike and Rosemary.
Am I getting this right? Yes, there they are. I'm sorry I couldn't do
the last name. They will be followed by Beth Sherman and Matthew
Hoover.
MR. RANDALL: It's my apologies. I should have been a
doctor. My handwriting skills aren't the best.
MR. MILLER: I -- the attorney couldn't even help me.
MR. RANDALL: Good morning, everyone. My name is
June 22, 2021
Page 41
Mike Randall. I'm the vice president for the Fallen Officers
Foundation that support the Robert L. Zore Foundation. I'm here
with Rosemary Zore, our founder.
And we're here this morning to invite our commissioners to our
last concert July 2nd at our legends concert series at Sugden Park to
be a part of our ceremony that we're going to be giving 29 college
scholarships in the names of fallen officers of Lee and Collier
County.
And it's going to be a very wonderful evening, and we'd love to
be put on public comment that we would like to be able to keep the
concert there at Sugden, and we can have, you know, a talk about this
in the later time.
We also want to build a fallen officers memorial here at Collier
County for the Collier County fallen officers. And with your
permission, and approval, we almost have the funding to do this.
Our fallen officers of Collier County needed a memorial for the
families to always remember and honor them, and we hope you all
can support this. The Fallen Officers Foundation would be funding
this, taking the full bill for this. It means everything to us, and we
hope to see you July 2nd at our concert for this great presentation for
the Fallen Officer scholarships.
Thank you all for your time.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Beth Sherman. She'll be
followed by Matthew Hoover and then P.J. Hoover.
MS. SHERMAN: Good morning. Before I talk about what I
came here for, I'd like to say that it's an utter disgrace that I was
threatened to be arrested because I will not social distance from my
mother. It is a public disgrace that the police are telling me that I am
trespassing when I'm here to simply make public comment. They're
telling me that it is the law. I am telling them it is not the law. I
June 22, 2021
Page 42
would love for someone, including our sheriff who's sitting back
here, to tell me what law states that we need to social distance.
Anyway...
I'm here today to speak on an extremely important element that
is putting our citizens at risk, that which is known as the COVID
vaccine. In fact, it is not a vaccine as medicine has ever known until
now. It is an engineered bio-weapon.
Now, I understand that people want this injection, and that is of
their free will to receive it. I'm not here to argue that point. That's
their choice, and I believe and stand for medical freedoms. I'm here
to state that citizens are not receiving informed consent on safety
before they take it.
Collier County has, in fact, put out marketing materials stating
that this injection is safe. I beg to differ, as I have checked the data
through the VAERS site. And I know that you are aware of what the
VAERS site is because Daija has put this on public record previously.
For those listening who don't know what VAERS is,
V-A-E-R-S, stands for Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
You can view all the data yourself at vaers@hh.gov. It is
co-sponsored by the CDC and the FDA. Their site states that they
are at a 1 percent reporting rate. Currently, they have 5,993 deaths
listed, and 394,525 adverse reactions just in the United States. I
remind you that they state on their own site that this is a 1 percent
reporting rate.
Some may argue that we can't prove this data to be true;
however, it also states that this is a felony to report false information.
It is taking doctors upwards of two hours to fill out one complaint.
Our local doctors and nurses don't even know about the site; perhaps
that's why it's at 1 percent rate.
As of yesterday, the W.H.O. recommends against COVID
vaccines in children and adolescents in light of the evidence of
June 22, 2021
Page 43
post-vaccine myocarditis. Canada and the United States must halt
the vaccine rollout in children immediately. I bet you people would
think twice before giving this if they knew almost 6,000 people have
died from it.
My big point is here, we need informed consent. When people
are going to get this injection, they're getting a long form which they
don't read. They need someone to tell them this data. If you're not
getting informed consent, that's illegal. The Constitution of Florida
25th Amendment states that this must be done. It's all of yours
responsibility as leaders in this community to look into what I'm
telling you and do something about it.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Matthew Hoover. He'll
be followed by P.J. Hoover and then Kelly Yahl.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair.
MS. SHERER: Can I also hand this out.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Can I ask that you advise the
audience not to applaud. We don't permit that sort of out of hand --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: At this point, I'm going to let this go
through and let them applaud, and then after that I'm not going to.
Thank you.
MR. HOOVER: Hi. My name's Matthew Hoover. I've been
a Collier County resident for 44 years, and ditto on what she just said,
because I was going to repeat it.
But I might add that in the last two weeks we've had 500 heart
cases of the young people with the pericarditis.
But getting to the sanctuary thing, I think it's a great idea. I mean,
we are certainly within our right --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'm sorry. Only because --
June 22, 2021
Page 44
MR. MATTHEW HOOVER: Because of Byron?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes.
MR. MATTHEW HOOVER: Okay. Well, she pretty much
covered what I was going to say. I just might add that we have 500
new cases of heart inflammation on young people.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MATTHEW HOOVER: And, by the way, the FDA just
came out and said that they are not going to approve these gene
therapies for -- I mean, if you do the research, what it does is it -- to
keep it short -- it gets into our cells, it tells our natural immune
system to only look for COVID-19. So what's going to happen
down the road when somebody gets a different type of flu, which is
in the COVID family? It's going to do an end around, and our
immune system's not going to be looking for it; ergo, that's why
they're saying we're looking at the potential for autoimmune diseases.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MATTHEW HOOVER: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: What's your name again?
MR. MATTHEW HOOVER: Matthew Hoover. Yeah. I'm in
your district. Thank, God. So that's all I've got to say. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you, Mr. Hoover.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is P.J. Hoover. They'll be
followed by Kelly Yahl and then Jacqalene Keay.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Is this Ms. Yahl?
MR. MILLER: No, Ms. Hoover.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Ms. Hoover. And then --
MR. MILLER: Ms. Yahl, if you'll queue up at the other
podium, please.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
MS. HOOVER: Hi. My name is P.J. Hoover, for the record.
And, yes, I am in your district also, and that was my husband that just
June 22, 2021
Page 45
spoke.
I'm pretty much speaking on the same thing, what is happening
to our children. Our children are the most valuable of any resource
we have in this county, and all of you are their protectors. You are
here to protect us, we the people. And we expect that from you, and
we hope that that's what you're going to do.
I see the admiralty flag flying here. I don't see the United
States of America flag. I see the United States corporation flag.
So it makes me wonder, who are you working for? Are you
working with us and for us? Are you working for the crown? I
mean, I don't understand.
I don't understand any of what's gone on in the last five years.
I've done so much research, and I've found out so much information,
and I would hope that all of you have done the same research and
you've found the same information that we have all found, because
we're all in the same team here, and we want this county to be the
best county, which is what I read you want for us; that that's why you
took the oath and that's why you're sitting up there.
But these children, these children being masked, they're
suffering. They're suffering so bad from mental disorders. That's
not what we want for our children. We want our children to be
bright, articulate. We want them to be learning the good things of
life. We don't want them to have to be cowering in a corner and
wondering what the next thing is going to happen. What else is
going to happen to us?
So, you know, a bunch of parents did a research on masks. I
don't know if any of you read this research that was done on these
masks that these children were wearing. But they were cleaned, they
were washed, and then the children or the adults wore them for up to
one to six to eight hours. And in that time, they found one-third
were contaminated with dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacterial
June 22, 2021
Page 46
pathogens. Less dangerous pathogens were identified such as fever;
ulcers; acne; yeast infections; strep throat; periodontal disease. A lot
of that going on according to my dentist; Rocky Mountain spotted
fever and more.
I mean, we need to know what we're putting on our children's
faces and what's in these masks. What is this really doing to them?
So I know you're going to have the health people follow us --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MS. HOOVER: So we can't reboot [sic] them.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MS. HOOVER: Thank you for your time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kelly Yahl. She'll be
followed by Jacqalene Keay and then Kimberly Miller.
(Applause.)
MS. YAHL: Hello. I do want to thank you for responding to
the community and allowing us to speak.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're welcome.
MS. YAHL: My name is Kelly Yahl. Last year in July I stood
here and explained in detail the physiological changes that happen
when a person wears a mask. I described how preexisting conditions
are exacerbated and healthy people's respiratory function is
compromised. I described how masks serve as a trap, not a barrier to
dangerous bacterial pathogens.
My only regret is I did not have the foresight of the parents in
Alachua County that sent these masks to a university lab to be
analyzed which confirmed that these masks were contaminated with
pneumonia, meningitis, and tuberculosis-causing bacterial along with
fungi, mold, and parasites.
Since then, Dr. Anthony Fauci has been exposed as a liar and a
fraud. He was telling his friends exactly what I just told you while
he was telling the public they had to wear masks.
June 22, 2021
Page 47
The WHO, the CDC, Anthony Fauci, and Naples Community
Hospital are corrupt, dishonest, and untrustworthy. They have no
interest in improving health but only profits. We don't trust them,
and we don't trust people that blindly follow them.
You have already failed and failed miserably. What long-term
good could have been accomplished with all the money spent on
masks and experimental shot campaigns had that money been spent
on installing foot pedal sinks in businesses and schools with
education regarding surgical hand washing techniques. But, of
course, those things would promote health and wellness; they would
not produce profits for the pharmaceutical industry or federal dollars
for Naples Community Hospital.
The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. That
evil has driven the COVID narrative for 15 months. It needs to stop
and must never happen again. The only mandate I will ever support
is a mandate against medical health mandates.
I look forward to having the opportunity to replace every
political puppet in this county, state, and country with servants of the
people, not corporate profits. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jacqalene Keay. She'll
be followed by Kimberly Miller.
MS. KEAY: Good morning.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning.
MS. KEAY: Good morning. Thank you.
As stated by the Kerner Commission, the nation was so divided
that the United States was poised to fracture into two radically
unequal societies, one black and one white. This is a reality that
most blacks are aware of every day of our lives.
As I lived in Alaska, I would like to use salmon spawning as an
June 22, 2021
Page 48
analogy to illustrate this point. I will share my perspective from that
of race; however, these experiences can be certainly applied to people
from different protective classes like religion, physical or mental
disability, national origin, sex, gender identity, or veteran status.
Salmon travel upstream to spawn in more nutrient-rich soils.
Imagine, if you will, that upstream represents access to unlimited
resources and opportunities. Compared to blacks, whites are born
upstream and have equal access to all available resources. They are,
likewise, favored and protected by each system.
Travel -- salmon must travel from the ocean to the rivers. This
is a perilous and exhausting journey. They must swim against a
strong current, jump over waterfalls, and many fall prey to predators.
Blacks must break through the racial barrier to make it to greater
opportunities. It is extremely hard work, and many do not make it
because they are exhausted by the current of systemic racism and lose
their lives to predators such as lack of access to good healthcare, a
discriminatory justice system, and police brutality.
Salmon change color on their journey upstream. The males
change to a bright red to attract their mates, which is quite awesome.
That's my favorite color.
As people of color, we know many are uncomfortable with us
being around, so we often must change the way we look, speak, and
behave just to make others around us feel more comfortable. We
cannot be our authentic selves and must often walk on eggshells,
which is emotionally and psychologically damaging.
I speak up for the black community in Naples because too often
those who are upstream, including some blacks, look down on them
or simply do not care about those still struggling to make it upstream.
I want to serve everyone in the community in one way or another;
however, I know that people in the seven protected classes need help
first.
June 22, 2021
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Every human being matters and is important -- it is important for
them to feel like leaders care about them and their unique needs
which makes them feel valuable. Who are we to decide that one
human being's life is more valuable -- valuable than the other?
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, your final registered speaker for
Item 7 is Kimberly Miller.
MS. MILLER: I wore this mask because when I was asked to
come in here, I asked, do you require this, and they said they follow
the CDC guidelines. So I wore it because I'm respectful. But I'm a
pharmacist. I've been a pharmacist for 25 years. I have a doctorate
degree. I graduated from Nova Southeastern University. I practice
in both hospital and retail. I've worked in USP 979 hoods. I know
what mask it requires to stop infection. These aren't them.
They're -- they're your fitted -- you're fitted to wear it.
I'm going to speak, because I wrote, because I'm -- a public speaker
I'm not.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Would you repeat your name
again, please, Doctor.
MS. MILLER: Kimberly Miller.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you.
MS. MILLER: Do this vaccine because it's the right thing to
do. Do this vaccine for your family. Do this vaccine to protect
others. What good is that going to do if you take this vaccine and
you have an allergic reaction, a cytokine storm reaction, develop an
autoimmune disorder, activate a latent virus or die? What good are
you going to do for your family then? What will happen to our
children that get this novel mRNA vaccine?
These vaccines are unapproved, inadequately tested,
experimental, and dangerous biological agents that have the potential
June 22, 2021
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to cause substantial greater harm than SARS COVID-2 virus and the
COVID disease itself.
According to data extracted for the defendants, Vaccine Adverse
Events Reporting System, VAERS, 99 percent of all deaths attributed
to vaccine in the first quarter of 2021 are attributed to the COVID-19
vaccines, and only 1 percent are attributed to other vaccines. The
number of vaccine deaths reported in the same period constitutes a
12,000 percent to 25,000 increase in vaccine deaths year on year.
The vaccines appear to be linked to a range of profoundly serious
medical complications, among them myocarditis, miscarriage,
irregular vaginal bleeding, clotting disorders, strokes, vascular
damage, and autoimmune disease.
Meanwhile, Pfizer, Moderna, and Janssen enjoys historically
conferred [sic] immunity from liability for any harm caused by these
experimental products, but myself, as a mother of two, a 25-year
doctor of pharmacy, have to be okay with giving the vaccine to
children or to someone that I feel doesn't benefit from this shot?
That's unacceptable to me.
I took an oath to devote my professional life to service of all
humankind through the profession of pharmacy, and I will always
consider the welfare of humanity and relief of human suffering my
primary concern.
In this pandemic, we went from controlling the spread of
approach with masks and social distancing straight to vaccines. The
early treatment and focusing on acute care of this virus was
overlooked. I have my strong opinion as a pharmacist as to why,
which I can and will gladly address one on one with any one of you
that is interested.
I can say that in my opinion the process of this pandemic was
led by fear which led to unnecessary isolation which hurt a lot of
Americans, in my opinion, including my parents.
June 22, 2021
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Thank the Lord we have Governor DeSantis and his expertise in
getting back to normalcy in Florida.
(Applause.)
MS. MILLER: I am a pharmacist with 25 years of both retail
and hospital experience. I have witnessed allergic reactions to
vaccines. I have seen someone rushed to ER, and I have spoken to
loved ones that believe a vaccine killed their family member. So,
yes, I believe everyone has a different immune system, different
genes. We've different mindsets. We are all different ages, all
leading to the road that everyone is different. Not all vaccines are
right for every person. Once you are vaccinated, you can't
un-vaccinate.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. I'm sorry. Your time is
up but thank you.
MS. MILLER: I have a lot more to say. I have a lot more to
say, and I will tell you this: This 112 --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
MS. MILLER: This is 112 pages -- this is 112 pages of a civil
action lawsuit in Alabama of all data and this is -- this is numerous,
numerous individuals that have had allergic reactions to this.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Thank you.
(Applause.)
MS. MILLER: I thank you for listening to me, and I wrote
down every one of your names because I --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
MS. MILLER: -- I'll be sending some type of e-mail --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Ma'am, you can always -- I
welcome you e-mailing your full comments to me, and maybe the
others would as well.
MS. MILLER: Okay. Thank you. I thank you for your time.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
June 22, 2021
Page 52
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So it's 10:32. We are going to break for 10
minutes, and we'll be back at 10:42.
(A brief recess was had from 10:32 a.m. to 10:42 a.m.)
MR. ISACKSON: Madam Chair, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much, County
Manager. I think we are going to proceed with 10A; is that correct?
MR. ISACKSON: That is correct, unless the Board chooses
otherwise.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do I hear consensus?
(No verbal response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. It looks like we're going
to proceed with 10A.
Item #10A
CREATING A COUNTY ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING
COLLIER COUNTY AS A BILL OF RIGHTS SANCTUARY
COUNTY - MOTION TO ADVERTISE PROPOSED ORDINANCE
AND BRING BACK AS A REGULAR AGENDA ITEM AT THE
JULY 13, 2021 BCC MEETING – APPROVED
MR. ISACKSON: Madam Chair, Commissioners, 10A is an
item to -- continued from the June 8th meeting. It's a
recommendation for the Board to consider adoption of a county
ordinance establishing Collier County as a Bill of Rights Sanctuary
County. This was brought forward by Commissioner McDaniel.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. So, Commissioner
McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Who is winding his way back
up here. I'm going to keep my comments very, very brief. I think
June 22, 2021
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we all -- we all are aware why this is coming forward, and I'd like to
hold my comments and my motion for approval until after we hear
the public comment, if that would be okay.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. County
Attorney.
MR. KLATZKOW: No, no comment yet.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. I think we have a
constitutional officer, our sheriff, in the back.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He has asked specifically -- I
asked -- I talked with Troy, and our sheriff filled out a public speaker
request and wants to be kept in line. I think we moved him up to
five or six or so in the list, so -- and he's okay with that, I think.
SHERIFF RAMBOSK: I'm okay with that.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Very good. All right.
Mr. Miller.
MR. MILLER: All right, ma'am. The closest I can tell, we
have 25 registered speakers for this item; 24 of them here, one online.
We'll begin with Carol DiPaolo. She'll be followed by Laura Dion
Jones. I hope I'm saying that right.
MR. ROSENBERGER: James Rosenberger, I'm the petitioner.
MR. MILLER: I have Carol DiPaolo.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: He is the petitioner, that is correct.
MR. MILLER: This is an ordinance.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, this is not an ordinance --
MR. ROSENBERGER: Carol DiPaolo's my wife, and she's
still seated at this time. I'd like to speak first, since I am the
petitioner.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'm comfortable with that. We
spoke about this yesterday.
MR. ROSENBERGER: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
June 22, 2021
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MR. ROSENBERGER: Good morning. Madam Chair,
Commissioners, Mr. Klatzkow, county officials, as well as everyone
seated in this boardroom, I would like to thank you all for your
support of Collier County.
I'm the petitioner, James Rosenberger, and I am proposing the
Bill of Rights Sanctuary County ordinance for Collier County.
There will be others addressing this matter after I speak, and I'm
honored that the congressman took time to show up and to speak on
this very, very important issue.
Our Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United
States and the Bill of Rights are probably the three most important
documents ever written. I think we all can agree on that. If not,
we're all living in the wrong country.
The foundations of the Declaration of Independence are that
God created all men equal and gave them the rights of life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. The government's job is to protect
these rights, and if the government tries to withhold these rights, the
people are free to revolt.
It was written to justify breaking away from our government. It
has never been amembered [sic] -- I'm sorry. It has never been
amended.
Our Constitution and Bill of Rights were designed to establish
our government. The Constitution created a government with
constraints. The Bill of Rights set limitations on our government.
It reflected a fear of an overly centralized government imposing its
will on the people of the states.
All three documents are symbols of liberty. The Declaration
made a promise, and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights legally
guaranteed these rights to the citizens of the United States.
The right to fair legal procedure and to bear arms are encompassed in
the bill. Also noted is that those powers not delegated to the
June 22, 2021
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government were reserved for the states, hence our Tenth
Amendment.
Several months ago the Second Amendment Preservation Act
was brought before this commission. Myself and a group of
dedicated patriots worked tirelessly securing signatures on petitions,
meeting with officials as well as attorneys, and speaking at select
venues. There were roadblocks along the way as well as detours.
Each were met with tenacity.
Today marks the culmination of these months of hard work with
the resultant product being an ordinance designated as the Collier
County Bill of Rights which would designate Collier County as a Bill
of Rights Sanctuary County. The Bill of Rights were designed to
protect these basic rights of all U.S. citizens guaranteeing their
freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion as well as right to
bear arms.
Our forefathers were looking to protect the country from an
overreaching government. I know for a fact that the government has
overstepped its authority. How, you may ask? Simple acts such as
closing down places of worship, refusing people the right to assemble
at a school graduation or a dance recital, family reunions, weddings,
funerals, and the list goes on.
Let's not leave out the pending legislation concerning gun
control. These brief examples clearly show the intent of our
government to insert themselves in our daily lives.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Rosenberger, just -- I just want to
make very sure. You said your wife has ceded you three minutes for
this; is that correct?
MR. ROSENBERGER: No, she wants to speak also. I have
two more sentences. That's why I tried to speed it up.
With this being said, I implore you, our elected county
commissioners, who have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution,
June 22, 2021
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to pass the Bill of Rights Sanctuary County ordinance. Standing for
our National Anthem and our Pledge of Allegiance, invoke not only
feeling of nationalism, but also pride. Let's take the same feelings
and localize them in Collier County. Divided we will fall, and
united we will stand.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. ROSENBERGER: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Laura Dion-Jones. She'll
be followed by Jacob Wagganer and then Victoria Redstall.
MS. DION-JONES: My name is Laura Dion-Jones. I'm a
resident of Collier County and a native of Florida. I am 73 years
old. I have a physical disability, and I'm a proud lifetime member of
the NRA.
I take private handgun and personal self-defense lessons weekly
at Alamo range here in Naples. I am also a proud graduate of an
internationally-known Massad Ayood MAG40 armed citizen rules of
engagement class. Google MAG40. I believe it is essential for us
to lawfully conceal and carry firearms for personal protection.
On June 19th, 2019, I was attacked at 5:15 in the afternoon on
the corner of Russia [sic] and Delaware Streets in the heart of
Chicago's Gold Coast. I was punched in the heart, and my attack
resulted in chronic a-fib that my doctors are having a difficult time
regulating.
Initialing my group here circulated a petition to protect Collier
County's Second Amendment via the Second Amendment
Preservation Act. All I can say is that from my personal experience
of being an older female who is physically challenged and having
already have been attacked once in Chicago, I firmly believe we
should all do everything we can to preserve our Second Amendment
right and to keep and bear arms, and it shall not be infringed, because
one never knows when one has -- the need for self-defense will arise.
June 22, 2021
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Any restrictive gun control measures are a deliberate attack on
law abiding Americans, Second Amendment rights, and our
constitutional rights. It's time to remember that it was the states that
created the federal government to handle disputes, et cetera, between
the states. If the states see that the federal government is
overstepping their bounds, it is up to the states to pull rank and
protect the citizens and the Constitution.
It is we, the people, who are supposed to be in control of the
state and local government, and that local government includes
Collier County. It is we, the people, who have the power that is
backed by the Constitution's first 10 amendments, and it is time that
we, the people, exercise our rights as Americans. Therefore, I feel it
is critical for us to maintain all of our constitutional rights, regardless
of a few of Collier County's commissioners' personal and political
feelings. It's like you-all are all dressed up, and you don't really
know where you're going.
Evidence your Collier County mask mandate, which was ruled
unconstitutional by Florida Court of Appeals 2-1 decision declaring
mask mandates, both past and future, as unconstitutional. I quote
Judge Tannenbaum. Even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be
put away and forgotten.
Now I find myself speaking here to preserve our constitutional
rights. Guns don't leap out of the pockets of thugs. Those who
wish to harm others do not care about the rules in the first place. We
already have laws to prohibit violent criminals and mentally ill from
purchasing/owning firearms.
Lastly, I quote Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper, USMC. If a
violent crime is to be crushed, it is only the intended victim who can
do it. The felon does not fear the police. He fears neither judge nor
jury; therefore, what he must be taught is to fear his victim. Please
stop trying to rewrite and reinterpret the U.S. Constitution.
June 22, 2021
Page 58
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MS. DION-JONES: We will challenge you every step of the
way. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Jacob Wagganer. He'll
be followed by Victoria Redstall, and then Sheriff Kevin Rambosk.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: At this time, we are not going to have
any clapping or cheering. If there is, you will be removed. Thank
you.
MR. WAGGANER: Good morning. Thank you all for being
here. Thank you for giving me the podium. Forgive me if I go a
few seconds over --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Can't do it.
MR. WAGGANER: The best things come from the heart, not
from a piece of paper and a script, because that's what is most
passionate.
So I was a recent graduate of Palmetto Ridge High School,
2021. The mask mandate was a big thing, but it wasn't just the
mask. It was what was said on the mask and the school's, you know,
guidelines for attire and for uniform. You know, it said no words
were allowed on the mask of any kind. I was sent to the office
several times for, number one, speaking out at the first school board
meeting about the -- I went with Dan and the patriots. I was sent to
the office. I was criticized for it. I mean, I was also applauded for
it by certain school members, but I was also criticized for wearing a
Trump 2020 mask, a "Thanks China" mask, and a Publix mask. And
because I knew who I was, they know what I stood for, they didn't
like it. I saw several students with Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and
Joe Biden.
And it scares me that the First Amendment is being okay for
some but not for all. That's my biggest problem, especially for
June 22, 2021
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conservatives in the era of cancel culture and the era of big tech
corporations and companies attacking conservatives. It's really -- it's
really scary that -- what's going on in this country.
My family -- I'm a descendent of Cuban immigrants. My
grandparents immigrated from Cuba under Fidel Castro. They went
to New Jersey, started a business, and then eventually moved to
Hialeah where my mother was born.
And the same thing that happened in Cuba is the same thing
that's happening here. The corporations go first, and they start
promoting what a tyrannical government wants. And I think it's
vitally important -- I'm born and raised in Collier County. I love it.
I don't want to see Collier fall into the hands of Los Angeles, even
Orlando, or the New York City violent crimes and Antifa roaming
our street. And so when I saw Black Lives Matter last summer
terrorize Fifth Avenue, it scared me because there wasn't patriots to
stand up. And seeing riot police lined up on Fifth Avenue with
shields and sticks and armored vehicles, it scared the crap out of me
because I'm like, wow, our town is becoming a big city. It's
becoming something where no longer conservatives are safe, a safe
haven for the First Amendment. It's being put under attack.
And so I think it starts here at the local level. Starting at
schools, starting in businesses, county commissioners, school boards,
that's where it starts. That's where you make progress. That's
where you make Collier County a First Amendment Sanctuary and
Bill of Rights Sanctuary, because those are the most important.
And I think it's -- I think it's great that we have, you know,
deputies here and we have the sheriff here to speak on our behalf in
support. I think it's a pretty noble thing. The Constitution shouldn't
be undermined. And, you know, the Constitution was signed under
prayer, it was signed under the authority of Jesus Christ, and I think
that's what we need to remain as, a constitutionalist God-fearing
June 22, 2021
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Republic, because that's who we are. That's what the First
Amendment is. And when we weren't allowed to go to church and
weren't allowed to attend school because of Plandemic, I think it was
just astonishing. And I did say plan-demic because it was planned.
So thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Victoria Redstall. She'll
be followed by Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and then Anthony Rausch.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: What's your name again,
young man?
MR. WAGGANER: Jacob Wagganer.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Say it --
MR. WAGGANER: Wagganer.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Wagganer?
MR. WAGGANER: Yes, sir. W-a-g-g-a-n-e-r. Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Ms. Redstall.
MS. REDSTALL: Thank you for letting me speak. My name
is Victoria Redstall, and I'm speaking on the First Amendment and
how important, of course, all of the Bill of Rights are, especially for
Collier County. I think we should make an example.
I'm a victim of not being able to speak. I'm a strong
conservative Republican Trump supporter and law enforcement
supporter, and I got completely canceled on Facebook. Every single
memory I ever had since Facebook began was taken from me, and I
was completely robbed. I had hundreds of thousands of followers,
and because I'm a public figure, they can do what they want with
people like me.
I was also a victim of the fake news back in 2006 when I
did -- was commissioned for my first book on a serial killer. Since
then I went on to write three more, and I've done 47 -- almost 47
television shows just on true crime, and I've helped homicide close
June 22, 2021
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cases.
But because I've always been a model and an actress, the world
wanted to come down on me saying the model and the serial killer,
the actress and the serial killer, making me look like a fool. I think
I've proven myself, but I was never able to defend myself by saying,
where did you get this from? This is not who I am. I was writing a
book. I was paid to write a book. I was paid to do a documentary.
So the fake news did attack me in 2006. That does come after
me today. To current day living in California -- thank God I left
there five months ago to your beautiful Collier County -- I was then
told I was a racist because I went into my bank and I asked the
manager, would you allow an employee to wear a Blue Lives Matter
mask or a Trump mask, and she said absolutely not.
I said, well, a lovely fine gentleman over there who works at the
bank representing Wells Fargo is wearing a Black Lives Matter mask,
the Marxist organization that is destroying the country. Why is it
fair for him and not for us law-abiding citizens?
I've been silenced. I've only just recently come back on
Facebook, and I've got some of my friends back, but not all. They
ruin our lives. And I ask Collier County to stand for the Bill of
Rights, the First Amendment, all the amendments, and to keep our
county safe and make it an example. Now I hand it over to Sheriff
Rambosk, because his time's far more valuable than mine.
Thank you, and thank you, Bill McDaniel, for representing our
district.
(Applause.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Sheriff Kevin Rambosk.
He'll be followed by Anthony Rausch and then Desré Buirski. I
hope I'm saying that close.
SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Good morning, everyone. You know,
June 22, 2021
Page 62
our congressman touched on a number of points, and I'm not going to
go back there because I know you have a lot of people to talk to. So
I'm just going to go from there.
And, you know, the character of the solemn oath that I take as
sheriff requires that the performance of my duties must always
conform to the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution
clearly designates the powers entrusted to government by a consent
of the people. The Constitution also sets limits to those powers
which are absolute and perpetual. This is the law of the land in the
United States of America. And I have the duty to protect the
constitutional rights of all persons.
As sheriff, I have the authority to make policies and set
procedures for the Collier County Sheriff's Office. These policies
and procedures are and must be consistent with the Constitution.
Also, as you may know, I've taken the oath of office and affirmed and
reaffirmed my commitment to the United States Constitution many
times over the past 40 years of public service. I live and serve by the
Constitution through the commitment I've made through my oath of
office. I've done this since the very first time that I've taken my oath
of office as a law enforcement officer in road patrol in this
community.
Because of this and by virtue of the duties and responsibilities of
the office of sheriff, I recommend supporting this ordinance, and I'm
going to take this ordinance to the Florida Sheriffs Association and
recommend that they consider for supporting it as well.
Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Anthony Rausch. He'll
be followed by Desré Buirski, and then Rob Tolp.
MR. RAUSCH: Good morning. My name is Anthony
Rausch. I'm one of the newest immigrants into the USA. I arrived
June 22, 2021
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here 10 days ago. And I'd like to talk about the preservation of the
Second Amendment.
Coming from Southern Africa, being Zimbabwe first and then
South Africa, I witnessed the gradual deterioration in law and order.
And one of the problems in that region of the world is that it's
virtually impossible for a citizen, a law-abiding citizen like myself, to
obtain a gun or a rifle. The authorities have made it so difficult that
at this point in time nobody can apply for a weapon to protect
themselves.
In fact, if you apply for a weapon and you give reason being for
self-protection, they say that is not a reason.
So I would just like Americans to realize that if you want a safe
country, a country where citizens are respected, a country where
citizens can live freely and fairly without being attacked continuously
by thugs, by criminals, and by politicians, then we need to
protect -- Collier County needs to protect the Second Amendment.
My father was shot dead in his home at point-blank range by thugs.
My brother was attacked three times on his farm. He was not
allowed to own a rifle, so he lives in fear of his life every day. I've
had numerous other friends, work colleagues, and business associates
shot, killed, maimed, et cetera.
So it's something very dear to my heart, and I thought I would
just come here today just to make people aware of the dire
consequences of removing or diluting the Second Amendment.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Desré Buirski, followed
by Rob Tolp, and then Dan Cook.
MS. BUIRSKI: Thank you very much to all of you. Thank
you, Madam Speaker [sic], for this opportunity to address you
regarding the Bill of Rights.
June 22, 2021
Page 64
Thank you for the job that you're doing in Naples. I said it last
time I came, it's one of the most beautiful cities that I've ever seen,
and thank you for doing everything you can to keep it this way.
Freedom of speech to American citizens is actually enshrined in our
Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but then why am I here talking
about this?
Freedom's not guaranteed. It's not like a tree that gives new
leaves every season. If freedom is not guarded and protected, it will
disappear like a lifeless tree in the desert.
Americans were busy doing life, looking after your families,
working hard while others were chipping away at our rights. If we
lose -- if we allow freedoms to be taken away, then the words we use
will become illegal. Boy and girl will be replaced with "they be."
Comedy. We can't be funny anymore, so comedy's going to be
banned, too, now? How can the new words be the law and the
original words become outlawed? I don't get it.
Then what is the modern version of communism, fascism? This
is not what our Founding Fathers intended for future generations of
South -- of Americans.
Now, as a past South African, do you know that a year and a
half ago in South Africa the leaders of the South African country
were saying kill the whites, drive them into the sea. A group of
citizens, concerned citizens, went to the Human Rights Commission,
and you know what they turned around and said? It's not hate
speech.
I'm on my knees for future Americans. Please, the states have
rights. Help us protect them. Thank you.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Rob Tolp -- excuse me,
Rob Tolp. Mr. Tolp has been ceded additional time from John Meo.
Is Mr. Meo present? Thank you. And by Chantal Scherer. So
June 22, 2021
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Mr. Tolp will have a total of nine minutes. He'll be followed by Dan
Cook, and then I think this says Marge Heingel.
MR. TOLP: Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you.
I'll begin with some comments dealing with some quotes from
our Founding Fathers, then I'll give commentary to them afterwards,
and I'll also ask a point of personal privilege that, after I'm done my
comments, I issue -- or be able to provide these to you to be entered
into the official record.
John Adams stated, there is danger from all men. The only
maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty.
Society -- Thomas Paine stated, society in every state is a
blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil;
in its worst state, an intolerable one, from Common Sense in 1776.
John Adams state these three different quotes. People have rights
antecedent to all earthly governments, rights that cannot be repealed
or restrained by human laws. He also stated, nip the chutes of
arbitrary power in the bud is the only maxim which can ever preserve
the liberties of any people. And he also said, trust no man living
with power to endanger the public liberty.
Government was instituted for the purposes of common defense,
according to Samuel Adams. He continued, the grand end of civil
government from the very nature of its institution is for the support,
protection, and defense of those very rights; the principle of which, as
is before observed, are life, liberty, and property.
Benjamin Franklin stated, in those wretched countries where a
man cannot call his tongue his own, he can scarce call anything his
own. Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin
by subduing the freeness of speech, a thing terrible to public traitors.
Thomas Jefferson stated, to preserve the freedom of the human mind
and the freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote
June 22, 2021
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itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will and speak
as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement. He
also stated a Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against
every government on the earth.
Alexander Hamilton stated, the state governments possess
inherent advantages which will ever give them an influence and
ascendancy over the national government and will forever preclude
the possibility of federal encroachments; that their liberties, indeed,
can be subverted by the federal head is repugnant to every rule of
political calculation.
I want to move on to the beginning of my comments, and I will
enter these others' quotes into the record.
In the aforementioned quotes from our founders, we see two
common themes among them. Firstly, that the premier purpose of
government, with overwhelming support -- supporting evidence for
such, exists to secure the liberties of the people who instituted it. To
apply a biblical passage of truth in this respect, the creature is not
greater than the creator. We, the people, were the creator of the
government, not the creature, and the creature is to be subservient to
the creator.
The government is the creature. We are the creator. And we,
the people, we also created the states from the townships and counties
of the colonial America. Our system was originally a bottom-up, not
a top-down system. The most power resided with we, the people,
then less power to local governments, even less to the states and,
finally, the least of all to the federal government.
That has been turned 180 degrees upside down since the time
shortly before and then finally after the Civil War where the size and
scope of government exploded exponentially in power and the
supremacy clause definition was bastardized.
The second main point taken from the previous quotes is that the
June 22, 2021
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state governments and even local governments also exist for that very
same purpose, even to act as a barricade to an oppressive federal or
state government's action and unlawful execution of statutes which
violate the Bill of Rights on their face, such as the Patriot Act or the
National Defense Authorization Act, both of which were enacted by a
Bush administration and the Obama administration.
The duty of this body is to protect the liberties of the residents of
this county, which it arguably failed to do during the pandemic. For
it is no feat of heroism to defend liberty when times are easy and
going smoothly, but the test of one's character is whether they will
defend our liberties during a crisis. Our founders did not throw the
liberties of the people out the window when the Revolutionary War
of England was taking place. Times of crises expose who truly
believes in liberty and who only pays lip service to it.
Now an opportunity exists for this body to right the wrongs
which it perpetrated over the last past year. History is watching, and
no matter how large or small our sphere of influence might be in the
course of our lifetime, we will be judged by those who come after us.
What will history say of this body during the past year 100 or 300
years from now? Will it say of this body and its respective members
advocated for the infringements on your liberties or that
commissioners stood as bulwarks against the violations of our natural
rights to travel, free speech, and the rest of the Bill of Rights?
Will it say the members of this body stood firm and resolute in
our defense of our natural rights or that for political expediency, for
fear, for the ignoring of science, or for the acquisition or exercise of
arbitrary power, members of this body succumbed to the temptations
to violate the rights of its citizens?
Will the actions of this body over the past year be viewed in
future history of those in similitude to figures like Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Franklin, John Locke, John Adams, George Washington,
June 22, 2021
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Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, or will it be found to have
closer similarities to those of Benedict Arnold, Aldrich Ames, and
others of the most notable traders in U.S. history?
An opportunity stands before you right now, and be aware that it
is not just we, the Collier County residents, who are watching. The
rest of the nation is watching as well. This body has an opportunity
to lead the entire nation in the defense of the core constitutional
principles which found this great country. This is no trivial or light
matter. This is our liberty of which we speak and discuss today.
Today's decision will determine the future of this country and
this state in its respective measure and jurisdiction. We now not
ask -- we demand that our rights be defended after having endured a
year of them being willfully violated by those sitting in elected
offices at every level of government.
With liberty comes responsibility, and the personal ideologies,
thoughts, political leanings, and sympathies, personal political
aspirations or goals of personal benefit via future power positions or
an economic windfall have no place in this decision.
The Constitution, Bill of Rights, our state's equivalent
constitution and the bill of rights already outlines the decision this
body should make regarding this ordinance. So the personal
interpretations of it are irrelevant, and the facts supporting it are
voluminous. What will history say of your decision today?
Know, assuredly, that if you have our backs, we will have yours,
but if you do not have our backs, be aware of the sleeping bear that
you have just poked one too many times over this past year and is
now fully awake and not happy about being awoken from its slumber.
We demand that ordinance 2021 be unanimously passed. Let's send
a message to the rest of our country that in Collier County, Florida,
whether you are white, black, Asian, Latino, gay, straight, trans, Jew,
Muslim, Christian, or atheist, we will defend all of your civil rights.
June 22, 2021
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(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Dan Cook. He'll be
followed by Marcy Daveas, and I'm sorry, I can't read the end of this
last name here, and then Matt Hoover.
Mr. Cook was ceded additional time from Marge Heingel. He'll
have a total of six minutes.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Cook, just one moment. I've
asked that there's no applause, and I would like to maintain that. If it
continues, we're going to recess.
MS. SHERMAN: I asked the Sheriff about the applause and
asked if he would escort us out of the building, and Sheriff Rambosk
said he would not.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you, Mr. Cook. Apologies.
MR. COOK: Well, first I didn't know what to say following
Rob Tolp. I would have to say I echo every word that he had said.
This is a very serious matter. We don't come up here because we
want to spend our afternoon with you guys while you're doing the
business of the county -- and don't take that personally. But we are
here because this is a serious matter. These are our liberties.
You know, whether you are on one side of the aisle or on the
other, whether we agree or disagree on certain matters, what we
should be able to come together on is that we have freedom. We
have freedom of choice, and those freedoms are articulated in our
founding documents.
The three main founding documents that I'd like to speak of
today are the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and Bill
of Rights, in that order. Understandably, that this is the Bill of
Rights ordinance, I think it should be assumed, though, that if you are
supportive of the Bill of Rights, you support the Constitution and the
spirit of those documents, which is entailed in the Declaration of
Independence.
June 22, 2021
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So if you'll recall the -- in the Declaration of
Independence -- I'm going to go ahead and just read some of it since
someone graciously gave me a little extra time. It says, when in the
course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another
and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal
station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitles them,
that a decent respect to the opinions of mankind require that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
A little later it says that mankind are more disposed to suffer,
while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the
forms to which they are accustomed.
We don't want to get to this point again. There's chaos going
around the world right now. There's chaos going on in Washington,
D.C. I can't even trust that the person in the White House was duly
actually elected, and I think a lot of people -- other people share that
sentiment.
But let me not get off track, though, because the spirit of the
Declaration of Independence is that the people are -- we put up with a
lot of stuff before we get to the point of 1776. We don't want it to
get to that point. And so that's why I think an ordinance like this is
important, to keep history from repeating itself, to keep this country
from going to the 1776 moment again.
If we have local governments, if we have state governments that
understand the rights that you have to, you know, exercise the Tenth
Amendment, to stand up to federal laws or federal edicts, you know,
alphabet agencies or departments making executive orders or if laws
do end up getting passed through the Senate and the House that do
violate our rights, we're looking at you to be that barrier. We're
looking to our state government to be that barrier.
And so I'd like to ask for your vote today. I hope that you will
June 22, 2021
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support this ordinance, because we, the people, take our rights very
seriously. We take the matters that are going on in our country very
seriously, and we are looking to you to be leaders, like Rob just said.
The past year of the mask mandates, that's behind us. We hope,
though, that you'll do the right thing now and that you'll support this
ordinance, that you vote for it, and that you really be a steward of our
liberties; that you defend our rights against federal government
intrusions into our rights.
So let me go ahead and touch on the Bill of Rights because I
think it's important, if you do pass this ordinance, that you have a
firm comprehension of what these Bill of Rights are, not that you do
not, but I think it's obviously worth repeating.
So Article 1 of the First Amendment talks about Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of a religion or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof. Well, let's stop right there, because with a
national emergency from the COVID-19, lots of people's religious
rights were violated from churches being shut down. I think there
were a couple churches in Florida where pastors were not allowed to
go up and preach because of fear of the pandemic. You know, a lot
of government -- you know, government entities will use public
health as an excuse to violate our rights, and that's -- that's not right.
So Article 1 of the Bill of Rights, freedom of speech, freedom of
religion, freedom of the press, freedom to petition. That's one thing
that you guys know me very well of. I come here with petitions,
serving you.
The fifth clause of the First Amendment says that the people
have the right to peaceably assemble and to petition the government
for redress of grievances. I love the power of the petition, because I
see that as the lawful way, the respectful way to communicate with
you as our government. So if we are petitioning you to support this
ordinance, that is, I believe, a honorable, respectful way of us
June 22, 2021
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communicating to you as our representatives that this is -- this is the
will of the people; this is what we are asking you to do.
And I'll finish on quoting the Florida Constitution. Article 1,
Section 5, also says that the people have the right to peaceably
assemble, to instruct their representatives, and to petition for a redress
of grievances. So this is all about reminding you guys that you work
for us, respectfully, that we have the right -- the lawful right under
the Florida Constitution and the First Amendment to petition and to
instruct you, and so we're instructing you to pass this ordinance 5-0.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Marcy Daveas, followed
by Matt Hoover --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We are going to recess for 10
minutes. Thank you.
(A brief recess was had from 10:20 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.)
MR. ISACKSON: Madam Chair, you have a live mic.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
Mr. Miller.
MR. MILLER: Yes, ma'am. Marcy Daveas and, I'm sorry, I
cannot read the end of this, followed by Matt Hoover, and then
Stephanie Henderson.
Marcy D-a-v-e-a-s and then a hyphen and then a name I can't
read.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There are some people, I
think, on the fifth floor, Madam Chair. There was an overflow.
MS. DAVEAS-PTZI: I think that's me.
MR. MILLER: I just tried it -- good enough, then. That's
okay.
MS. DAVEAS-PTZI: I'm so sorry.
MR. MILLER: That's okay.
MS. DAVEAS-PTZI: It's probably my printing.
June 22, 2021
Page 73
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: What is your name?
MR. MILLER: Could you state your name, please.
MS. DAVEAS-PTZI: I am Mary Daveas-Ptzi for the record. I
am a very happy resident, full time, of Marco Island. After visiting
for 27 years, I now live on Marco, and I'm thrilled and I'm -- I have a
commissioner of my own there on Marco Island.
But I'm here -- I'm here because I am the person who garnered
thousands of signatures on this petition. And I want you know that
this is what the people want, and that's why I'm here. I was out for
weeks and weeks and weeks, you know, in the Florida sun talking to
people about this Bill of Rights, and I just had to come up here and
go on the record and say that your constituents would like this. They
would like this protection because people are fearful of the federal
overreach.
I won't take up any more time. I will relinquish it to somebody
else, but I just had to be on the record and say, please do the right
thing here, because the county needs this. You know, the country is
in turmoil.
Thank you, and thank you for the job you do.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Matt Hoover, and he'll be
followed by Stephanie Henderson, and then Lisa Stedman.
Ms. Henderson, if we can get you to queue up at the other
podium; that way we can move it a little quicker, please. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Are you Ms. Stedman?
MS. HENDERSON: No. I'm Ms. Henderson. I'll be next.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Go ahead.
MR. MILLER: Mr. Hoover is next.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh, Mr. Hoover is next. Pardon me.
MR. HOOVER: That's all right. I'll keep it short and sweet
because I think Rob and Dan pretty much covered all the really
June 22, 2021
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important talking points, and I support this ordinance wholeheartedly.
I think the last year is proof that we do need protection. After all,
Florida does enjoy its sovereignty, and Collier County has the
opportunity to be the shining example of proper procedure. This last
year, because of unelected officials and -- I mean, I could get into the
WHO, the NIH, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. They're one big cabal.
It's a money-washing laundry -- money-laundering outfit, the CDC,
all unelected officials. The CDC is nothing more than an outfit.
They're vax pimps. They own 15 to 17 patents on vaccines, and
that's how they make their money.
I like the idea that we are in a position to protect our county, and
I support this ordinance.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Stephanie Henderson,
followed by Lisa Stedman and then Keith Flaugh.
MS. HENDERSON: Good morning.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You don't have to stand on
your tippy-toes.
MS. HENDERSON: I do. Can I move this thing down?
Okay. Here we go.
Good morning. I am really excited to see your faces today.
I've never set foot in the Collier County Government building. I was
born and raised on Marco Island. And I didn't really want to come
in this place, because it looked big and scary, this here -- I was all
right with big and scary, because everything was big and scary.
But here we are assembling together talking about the Bill of
Rights, and I'm extremely passionate about you guys doing this.
This is the -- this says a lot.
So that's it. I support you guys. I'm really glad that you're
going to pass this today, because we need this for our community. I
June 22, 2021
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grew up here my whole life, and I didn't have to think about some
things other people did because Collier County has been a great
represented [sic] of the land of the free, and it wasn't until the whole
world collapsed that I had to do some hard thinking. And I'm taking
a class on the Constitution so that I can learn a little bit more about it,
and it's been really helpful. It's this Saturday at 10:00, and that's it.
Thanks so much. I'm glad we're here today.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Lisa Stedman. She'll be
followed by Keith Flaugh and then Alexander Sulecki.
MS. STEDMAN: Hello. Lisa Stedman.
First I'd like to thank Commissioner LoCastro for making a
suggestion to amend how public comments would be heard. I did
notice on the agenda that public comments were to be restricted to
general topics not on the current or future agenda, which confused me
a little bit because I did want to come here and be present for when
the speech was given by the Department of Health representative
that's here. I don't believe I can -- so I had originally put general
comments on my slip, and then I had to change that to follow the
agenda.
So, anyway, I will speak on 10A. I am here in support of you
signing the Bill of Rights Sanctuary for our county, obviously, to
defend the Constitution, to defend your constituents' rights to defend
our liberties and our freedoms here as Collier County residents that
we so thoroughly enjoy up until last year when unlawful mandates
were placed on your constituents by the Board.
I'm hoping that, moving forward, there will not be anything
done like that that will go against our rights and civil liberties.
Basically, just -- I can't even speak on the health topic, I believe, that
I wanted to speak on. If I may, I don't know, now that we're on 10A.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I will grant that.
June 22, 2021
Page 76
MS. STEDMAN: Okay, thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're welcome.
MS. STEDMAN: The VAERS reported deaths post COVID
vaccines. This is the chart. I'm not sure if everybody's seen it. But
the most deaths that have been reported from COVID have been
since after the vaccine. I did get my train of thought going again.
I'm a little concerned about how many votes we will get to pass
this signing today, because the freedom of assembly is being -- we're
not being allowed to express our agreement with one another through
clapping. I'm a little concerned about that. We're being peaceable,
and threatening to throw people out of the room for that is not just.
So, again --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Let me just interrupt for a
quick second. I apologize for that, and I want to make sure that you
have the time.
Has anybody -- nobody on this board has threatened to throw
anybody out. Nobody at any meeting -- I'm talking about -- in all
the years that I've been on this board and during the last year, no one
has been asked to leave this room. So I just want to -- I just want to
set that record straight so people listening --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Excuse me. That's not true. I
was asked to leave this room when there were plenty of seats to sit in
here.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I was asked to leave this room.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I was threatened with being
arrested.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: So was I.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Quite frankly, I find that
hard to believe. But I'm just telling you that no one has been
removed from this room. Now, maybe people have been asked to sit
outside because of social distancing. That's a whole different
June 22, 2021
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ballgame. But in terms of being cut off and removed, that hasn't
happened, and I just wanted to state that for the record.
MS. STEDMAN: Okay. I appreciate you stating that for the
record; however, I will reiterate that Commissioner Taylor did
instruct everyone to stop chapping or she would have them removed
from the building. I have nothing further to say. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Not from the building, ma'am.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Keith Flaugh, followed by
Alexander Sulecki and then Kim Timm.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Just so you understand, I want to be
very, very clear. If there's clapping, we're going to recess. Thank
you.
MR. FLAUGH: Okay. My name is Keith Flaugh. I'm here
representing both myself and Florida Citizens Alliance. We fight
every day to protect our God-given liberty and our constitutional
principles.
I suspect for those of you who haven't decided yet to support
this, that you may be considering or wrestling with two issues. One,
perhaps this is outside your lane. Number 2, perhaps this ordinance
is unnecessary; let's wait until something really bad happens.
We submit that it's not outside your lane. In fact, it's dead
center in your lane. Our Founding Fathers created a federal system
of government with the number-one goal and responsibility of the
government at every level to protect our individual God-given rights.
This is codified in the Ninth and Tenth Amendment and our
entire constitution.
I've just handed you a package. There's a pamphlet in there. It
has to do with the Prince versus USA case. It dealt with a Second
Amendment case. Can I please have your attention, Board? And
please give me some additional time. Thank you.
June 22, 2021
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I've handed you a copy of the Prince versus USA. It's dealt
with the Second Amendment issue, but the case is far more reaching.
It actually dealt with a New York versus USAA case dealing with
radioactive materials. And it clearly stated in its resolution at the
Supreme Court, the federal government may not compel the states to
enact or administer a federal regulatory program.
The second possible argument that you may have is let's wait till
the feds do something really, really bad. Well, I would argue that
they're doing so at an alarming rate every day.
I'm going to give you a couple of examples, if I have time here.
I put them in a folder that I had given you, but I want to reinforce
something that Jimmy Rosenberger said when he started this a couple
months ago. You don't wait to protect your family until the
hurricane is over. I would add to that that in your lives you protect
your families in many, many ways, including life insurance, auto
insurance, home insurance. We are your family. We're asking you
to protect our rights.
In your package, there are several examples that are very active
right now where the federal government is far overreaching. Senate
Bill 1, Peoples Act, is federalizing the California election system.
The second one is the Equality Act. It's turning our -- it will
legislate and codify sexual norms far beyond anything that we would
want to have happen.
Again, I urge you to unanimously support this. Sheriff
Rambosk was very, very clear that he's going to take this to the
Sheriffs Association. Our attempt is -- our attempt will be to get the
Governor to do this at a national level -- or state level, and we ask for
your support. Thank you.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Alexandra Sulecki,
followed by Kim Timm, and Kathy Lowers.
June 22, 2021
Page 79
MS. SULECKI: Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you
for your time today.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do we remember you from
somewhere?
MS. SULECKI: You may. My name is Alex Sulecki.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'm sorry, Ms. Sulecki. We have
clapping, so we're going to recess. We'll -- 10 minutes.
(A brief recess was had from 11:41 a.m. to 11:51 a.m.)
MR. ISACKSON: Madam Chair, Commissioners, you have a
live mic.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Alexander Sulecki
followed by Kim Timm and Kathy Lowers.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: One second. Madam Chair,
I'd like to make a motion that we stop this process of the 10-minute
breaks. This is a public hearing. Commissioner LoCastro brought
it forward that we should be hearing the public.
The folks aren't being -- they weren't being disruptive. They
aren't being disrespectful. And this time-out process -- I made a joke
about it at the beginning, but I think that we should stop that
procedure. It's just delaying the inevitable to where we're going.
So I'd like to make a motion that we just go through the process.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Is there a second to that motion?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's important -- if I may.
I'm sorry, Commissioner Saunders, you go ahead.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. Let me suggest this:
Let's withdraw the motion and the second and just -- Madam Chair,
let's just move the meeting along. I think the message is clear. We
don't want to keep taking breaks, but I don't think we need to take a
formal motion. Just ask the audience -- all we're asking is for
decorum. That's it. Not trying to keep people from expressing their
June 22, 2021
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views. But in a public meeting, decorum has to be maintained. I
think everyone would agree with that.
So I'm going to ask you as a personal favor, let's -- everybody
will get a chance to speak, but let's hold down the applause, because
that's just disruptive. And so we're going to listen to everybody, and
we're going to make a decision. So let's just calm down and
proceed. I don't think we need to have a vote, though,
Commissioner McDaniel, if that's okay with you.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: How's the Chair feel about it?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I would just like it to proceed. I
want to hear from people. I want to hear from Ms. Sulecki, who is
my neighbor, and welcome back to the chambers again. I'm anxious
to hear from everyone.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely. So are we.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So I've asked that we don't applaud.
It's disruptive. And that's what I would like to maintain.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's an emotionally charged
subject, obviously. And, again, it's just belaboring the point by the
10-minute breaks. That's all. That's the point, so -- but I'll
withdraw the motion for now, and we'll see how we go.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
Ms. Sulecki.
MS. SULECKI: Thank you. Good morning, Commissioners.
Thank you for your time today.
My name is Alexandra Sulecki. I'm a resident, a voter, and a
taxpayer in Collier County for 41 years. I'm in Commission District
4.
As a citizen of the United States of America, I've seen things
happening, particularly since the most recent election cycle, that are
very disturbing to me and which promote ideas that appear to
threaten the God-given freedoms and rights our Constitution
June 22, 2021
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promises and protects.
I don't want to restate many of the things that have been stated
here most admirably, but -- so I'll keep my comments short. But
what I want to say is that I understand that some of you feel that there
is a risk. The State of Florida has made a law that local governments
can't make any laws or ordinances regulating firearms or
ammunition. I'm aware of that. And the Second Amendment is
restated within the ordinance. You're concerned you may be sued or
fined or removed from your positions. I recognize that you have
those concerns. But I say, have courage.
You are not regulating firearms or ammunition. You are
restating the Bill of Rights; the same thing that the State of Florida
protects. Have courage.
You as our representatives must have the courage to do what is
right, or what good are you sitting behind that dais? If you don't
have the courage to affirm the Bill of Rights, our foundational
document, then I would recommend to your constituents that at the
first possible moment they replace you with someone who does,
because we need men and women of courage now at this crossroads
of liberty and tyranny.
And I have an additional 231 signatures that I'm delivering to
you today that support this ordinance. And who would you like me
to give them to?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You would give it right here. Do
you have copies of that, Ms. Sulecki?
MS. SULECKI: I do not have copies.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We'll make copies for you, and I can
deliver them, the copies to you. We need the originals.
MS. SULECKI: Very good.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MS. SULECKI: These are originals, and thank you very much
June 22, 2021
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for your time.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kim Timm. She'll be
followed by Kathy Lowers and then Kristina Heuser.
MS. TIMM: Madam Chair, Commissioners, Representative
Rommel could not be here today and would like to go on record with
his statement.
The ordinance establishing Collier County as a Bill of Rights
Sanctuary City that's being put before the Collier Board of County
Commissioners will ensure that the rights of Florida citizens will
remain protected by the U.S. Constitution. The Tenth Amendment
to the Constitution reserves power to the states and to the people.
The passage of this ordinance will help show that Florida,
Collier County, will always defend the U.S. Constitution and the
citizens of Florida from an overreach of the federal government. For
this very reason, I fully support this ordinance, State Representative
Bob Rommel. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kathy Lowers. She'll be
followed by Kristina Heuser and then Alfie Oakes.
MS. LOWERS: Hello. My name is Kathy Lowers. I'm a
Collier resident, and I'm also cofounder of an organization called
Conservative Christians Southwest Florida. We represent voters
who are both Catholic and Protestant in this area, and we would like
to see this Bill of Rights Sanctuary ordinance passed in Collier,
especially because we want our First Amendment protected.
The First Amendment covers the exercise -- the free exercise of
religion and also our right of conscience, which is covered embodied
in the First Amendment right of free speech.
First of all, I was born in Florida, and I lived in two blue states,
and then I came back 14 years ago, home to Collier, and my family
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and extended family live here. And I would tell you that although
we were shut out a short time from our churches, people in those blue
states I used to live in that I speak to, they are just getting back now.
And what does that do to a church? The same thing it would do
to a restaurant that didn't have any customers for a year. They're
tithing. It financially devastates them.
Also, many people move on. They don't go to church again, or
people do not get ministered to through these ministries. So it was a
devastating impact, and it was an example of what happens when a
state encroaches on our First Amendment rights.
Also, our other concern is regarding the First Amendment and a
lot of things that are happening culturally. So the Biden
administration has been in only five months. Already Christians feel
very threatened in accordance to what we can say to preserve, for
example, our jobs.
So the Biden administration has removed the word "mother" and
"father," "he" and "she" from federal documents. This is only five
months in. Where will we be four years in? So Christians are very
fearful.
We go by Genesis 5:2 that says, in the beginning he created
them male and female, and he blessed them. We will never stop
saying mother and father. We will never stop going by the science
and by the Bible that a man is a man and a woman is a woman
biologically. This puts us in a dilemma if our First Amendment
rights are not protected.
We have a great governor right now, but that might not always
be the case. So we are looking at threats, perhaps, to our right to
worship in the future, there's another pandemic, or our free speech
rights, which it's very obvious that they're going to start to attack
those from both the state and federal government.
So passing this means our local officials need to put the federal
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and state authorities on notice that the Bill of Rights will be upheld in
the jurisdiction of Collier and thus protect the God-given rights of
citizens here in Collier.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Kristina Heuser. She'll
be followed by Alfie Oakes, and then Katherine Meo.
MS. HEUSER: Good morning.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good morning.
MS. HEUSER: I'm here to speak in support of the ordinance
that's before you. I want to thank Commissioner McDaniel for
bringing it forward and thank Jimmy and Carol for really
spearheading the effort and, of course, Congressman Donalds, State
Representative Rommel, Sheriff Rambosk who've expressed their
support. This is a very important ordinance.
As the congressman attested to, and he is in a unique position to
know, there is a very real threat. There are people in Congress and
in the White House who are actively trying to intrude upon individual
liberties, and this board has a duty and is in a position to protect those
rights.
Now, this ordinance is firmly rooted in a well-settled legal
doctrine called the anti-commandeering doctrine that has been upheld
by the Supreme Court repeatedly. And what that doctrine says,
essentially, is that the federal government does not have the right to
co-op state and local governments to carry out their programs or their
will, whatever that may be, and that doctrine is rooted in the
fundamental American principle of federalism, and we need you to
safeguard our individual liberties. So I would ask you to please
support this ordinance.
And I just want to address one anticipated reservation that you
may have. Hopefully I'm wrong. But you may ask yourself, why
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do we need such an ordinance if we do have the Constitution, if this
doctrine has been upheld by the courts, if we do have this firmly
rooted principle of federalism? And I would say that as a lawyer,
those of you that are lawyers or have had any dealings with the
justice system, we know that the wheels of justice move slowly, turn
slowly, unfortunately. So while somebody could mount a successful
legal challenge to such an action or a policy or a program by the
federal government, that would take a long time, and by the time that
happened, by the time there was a decision by the Court, many
people's rights could have already been trampled. What this
ordinance does is give an immediate tangible consequence for such
action, and it really bolsters the county's ability to put a stop to that
immediately.
So, once again, I'd urge your support, and I thank you for the
time.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Alfie Oakes. He'll be
followed by Katherine Meo and then Drew-Montez Clark.
MR. OAKES: So I was blessed to have dinner on Friday night
with General Michael Flynn. And that night he asked me if I ever
read this book before. And he didn't know I was coming to this
meeting. I wasn't even sure if I was coming to this meeting today.
But it arrived at my house yesterday, and it is exactly on point
with what this meeting is about. I should buy a copy for every one
of you here. It's called the Doctrine of Lesser Magistrates. And
basically it talks about how when a tyrannical government comes in
place, like our federal government is doing right now, how it is the
duty of the lesser magistrate, being you, the County Commissioners,
being the Sheriff, being Byron Donalds. We had all these great
people show up today to show support of this because we realize
what's going on in our country right now.
The laws that are being passed in our federal government, what
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our federal government is trying to do right now, is more about the
social whims created by man and society than our God-given rights.
Out of this book it says that the laws of a nation should mirror
the law and justice of God, and that's why our country -- that's why
we're living the lifestyles we are, because our Founding Fathers made
certain that that was happening.
It also states in here that a state or local government in the
exercise of its sovereignty may reject a mandate of the federal
government deemed to be unconstitutional or to exceed the powers
delegated to the federal government. The concept is based on the
Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States reserving
to the states and local governments the powers delegated to them, not
to the federal government.
So I don't -- I think this was not by chance. I think that God
may have had a hand in me having this right now. And we
know -- we watch the federal government right now. They're okay
with Black Lives Matter doing $200 million worth of damage and 30
people that have died. Like, that's okay within -- you know, the way
our federal government sees things, but they are calling it a huge
insurrection on January 6th. We know that they don't represent our
values.
And thank God we have a great county here. I do feel like we
live in the very best place in the universe. I was just out there
thanking Sheriff Rambosk because if I had taken this stand in New
York City or Chicago or other places where the social whims have
taken hold instead of our God-given rights, my store would have been
burnt down. I have 3,200 employees that wouldn't have a job.
Everything would have been burnt down. And that's okay in these
other cities because they're not willing to uphold the Constitution.
So right now you have a chance to show that you will uphold the
oath that you took to uphold the Constitution of the State of Florida
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and of the United States, and if you don't vote to do it, then we know
very clearly who it is that we need to elect out of here. So that's
simple. So do the right thing.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Katherine Meo. She'll be
followed by Drew-Montez Clark and then Carol DiPaolo.
MS. MEO: Good afternoon. My name is Kathy Meo.
As you can see, I'm a proud mom of a U.S. Army sergeant
stationed overseas. He, along with the rest of the elite 1 percent, are
fighting for our freedoms, including Commissioner Colonel
LoCastro. I don't know if any you other -- other of you served.
Thank you for your service.
These freedoms were given to us by our Founding Fathers in the
Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. It was
formed to protect tranquility, provide for common defense, and
promote the general welfare, secure the blessings of liberty. Our
current administration government is doing everything in their power
to prevent that by allowing censorship of free speech.
During the plan-demic, they have halted our rights to freedom of
religion by not allowing in-person worship, but there was no problem
going to the big corporations and the stores. Our freedoms are being
taken away one by one.
They are quickly transforming our country into a socialistic
society. They have infiltrated every institution, including the media,
our primary schools, our universities, Wall Street, big tech, and now
their concentration -- they're concentrating on the military.
We need to make sure we protect our Second Amendment, our
right to bear arms, so we, the people, can protect ourselves. They
are coming after that very hard. People are flocking into our country
by the thousands every single day because we are free, at least for
now. They're not trying to get into Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, North
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Korea, or any other socialist or communist countries.
There are sanctuary cities and states all over our country now
protecting illegal aliens and criminals.
We, first and foremost, should be protecting the citizens of the
United States. We have, I don't know, at least 35,000 or probably
hundreds of thousands of homeless veterans, but the illegals are being
put up in hotels and supported and transferred to all cities all across
our country.
I don't even understand why we have to do this today but,
obviously, that's just the state of our country as it stands. But I just
beg you to uphold our Bill of Rights and make Naples a sanctuary
county for the Bill of Rights.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Drew-Montez Clark.
He'll be followed by Carol DiPaolo and then H. Michael Mogil.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Ms. DiPaolo, you can come up, and if
Mr. Montez comes in prior to you speaking, he'll speak other -- he
can speak after you.
MR. MILLER: And H. Michael Mogil is our lone online
speaker.
MS. DiPAOLO: I'd like to give these petitions also.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do you have copies of those?
MS. DiPAOLO: No.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Are they originals?
MS. DiPAOLO: Yes.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do you want copies of them?
MS. DiPAOLO: Not necessarily. I guess so.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You should have.
MS. DiPAOLO: I have 6,000 other, you know --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We'll make --
June 22, 2021
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MS. DiPAOLO: -- petitions --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. So my office will have
copies of those for you. Thank you.
MS. DiPAOLO: Okay. Thank you.
First of all, thank you so much for having me speak. You know, we
started this a few months ago with the Second Amendment
Preservation Act. And I just want to just speak from my heart,
really.
My husband and I, James Rosenberger -- I'm Carol
DiPaolo -- we are refugees from New York and New Jersey because
they have -- the rights that are being taken from us, I can't even
explain to you what we have gone through. We have been attacked
in supermarkets up there for not wearing a mask, you know, had our
lives threatened. The things that are going on you cannot imagine
because you are in a free state. So we decided to become residents
of Collier County.
Anyway, my husband is a retired captain of the fire department,
and he lived through 911 and dealt with that. That was the first
crisis -- one of the crisis where the federal government started to chip
away our rights. It seems like every time that there is a crisis, more
and more of our rights are chipped away.
I come from a situation where my son had open heart surgery,
and he got the AIDS virus at age 4. I know Dr. Fauci. I sat across
the table from Dr. Fauci. I was the national pediatric AIDS rep for
the whole country putting trials together for children that were born
with AIDS.
We fought so hard for the HIPAA rights. I did. And guess
what, with this epidemic, you know what I saw? Our HIPAA rights
being transgressed and infringed upon. You would walk into a store,
and they would say, you can't come in here. Why are you not
wearing a mask? You have a health problem? What is it? That is
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against the HIPAA laws that I fought so hard for. So you see, all of
our rights are being chipped away every time there's another crisis.
Then the COVID crisis came upon us, and churches closed and
schools closed, and all of our rights again were infringed upon. And
every time we hit a crisis, more and more and more of our rights are
being relinquished. Okay. So that's the free part of my speech.
Anyway, the people of Collier County have a right to be free and
independent, and these rights are derived from the law of nature, and
nature's God. They must, therefore, be free from infringements by
the federal government. The Bill of Rights Sanctuary County
ordinance that we've worked so hard for is a peaceful and effective
stand for the rule of law. And I just ask you, from the bottom of my
heart, please think. Ask for the wisdom of God to give you the
discretion to know how to vote on this, and I pray and hope that you
would vote yes.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. MILLER: Madam Chair, our final speaker is an online
speaker, H. Michael Mogil. You should be prompted to unmute
yourself at this time, sir, if you will do so. And you should be good.
Mr. Mogil, you have three minutes.
MR. MOGIL: Quick question before I start. No camera; just
I'm speaking voice only, right?
MR. MILLER: That is correct, sir.
MR. MOGIL: Okay, great.
So good morning to everyone. My name is H. Michael Mogil.
I've been a full-time Collier resident for some 16 years, and I
continue to become more and more engaged in local politics and
government.
The reason is really quite simple. For some 10 decades, yes, it's
been that long, the federal government, both Democrats and
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Republicans, has been incrementally gobbling up state's rights. Now
the federal beast is even more voracious and wants to gain complete
control of our lives at all levels. It is time to say stop. This
ordinance is one way to do that.
The ordinance before you today is a gigantic step in telling
federalist thinkers to take a step back. The Tenth Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution, and it may be the most important of the 10
amendments in the Bill of Rights, states -- and I'm going to quote it
so we can have it on the record -- the powers not delegated to the
United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the states are
reserved to the states respectively or to the people.
This includes healthcare, education, voting, and a myriad of
other areas in which the federal government is a trespasser. Where
the federal government should be taking action to secure the safety of
the country and its residents, borders, immigration, and crime, to
name a few, the federal government is derelict in duty. Instead, it
capitalizes on a political and social agenda that will destroy and/or
bankrupt the country.
Within the past two weeks, two counties in rural Nevada have
approved ordinances similar to that which you are considering today.
Collier is a much more populated county than either Elko or Lander
Counties. And by our passing such an ordinance, we would be
setting a much higher bar for other counties in Florida and
nationwide to follow.
This is a chance for Collier to take the lead on a very important
aspect of our lives, one which I believe most Collier residents would
agree with.
I urge you to pass this courageous ordinance unanimously, if
possible, to send the strongest message against federalism, one that
could be replicated throughout our state and a great nation.
Two footnotes in closing. This process today is an absolutely
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outstanding civics lesson for Collier County Public Schools, and I
hope that administrators, principals, teachers, and students are
listening. This is about what government is about.
Second, much as the previous speaker noted, I'm from New
York, and if I could give up my New York citizenship, I would do it
in a heartbeat. Florida wins; New York fails.
Thank you for your time.
(Applause.)
MR. MILLER: That was your final public comment, Madam
Chair.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: The name of the last speaker?
MR. MILLER: H. Michael Mogil.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Mogil, I agree with you; this is a
quintessential civics lesson. This is what this country's about. This
is wonderful.
Okay. So, Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, thank you --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're welcome.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- Madam Chair. I'm going
to -- I'm going to keep my comments really, really short. I don't
think there's a lot of dialogue that needs to come from here.
Our folks have spoken. Our congressman summed it up at the
beginning, and thank you for indulging to allow him to speak because
he had to -- he had a flight to catch.
This isn't a political issue. This isn't a party issue. This is an
American issue. And it's something that I think we can do just as an
additional step to offer assurances to our community that we're going
to support their God-given rights.
So with that, I'm going to make a motion for -- I'm going to be
very specific in my motion. And from a point of clarification, we
are today voting on an advertising of the ordinance. We have a
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process where we advertise an ordinance and then come back for the
final adoption. So I'm going to make a motion for the moving
forward of the advertisement and then have it come back on our
summary judgment on July 13th for final adoption.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Enough time? County Attorney, is
there enough time?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, I believe there is.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner
LoCastro -- Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I just wanted to make just a
quick comment. First of all, I was going to thank everybody for
your courtesy in letting us proceed without the interruption.
And, secondly, I was going to say what Commissioner
McDaniel just said. This is not a vote on an ordinance today. This
is a vote to potentially proceed to advertising an ordinance.
And with that, I'm going to ask the County Attorney, in terms of
what -- assuming that the Board votes to move forward with this, do
you have an ordinance, or will this be -- the ordinance that's in our
agenda packet, there's some holes in it. Do you have an ordinance
that would pass muster for Commissioner McDaniel and everybody,
or are we going to be voting just simply on the ordinance that's been
presented to us today?
MR. KLATZKOW: It's Commissioner McDaniel's item. This
is the ordinance he brought forward. I'll make some tweaks as far as
maybe like who signs it, the Clerk or whatever, but this is the
ordinance that you're voting on.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, let me ask
Commissioner McDaniel, if I might, then. There are issues that are
raised in this draft that I think should be answered before we do a
final vote on an ordinance, and so we have a couple weeks to make
that happen. But, for example, the -- there's no indication in here
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how a determination is made that an act of Congress or an act of
some federal agency or some state agency would be a violation of the
Constitution. There's no mechanism to make that determination.
So I'm wondering, is that something that you've evaluated and
something you can come back with us on, or does that need to even
be included? Because right now I don't know what would
be -- number one, I don't know what would be a violation but, more
importantly, I don't know who would determine if it's a violation.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And I'm just -- I'm trying to
get you to clarify your actual question, sir, if you will. I mean, it's
a -- I mean --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: My actual question,
then -- let me read a section of the ordinance, and then you can
respond to it and just kind of educate me.
Section 3, definitions, an unlawful act. Any federal act, law,
order, rule, or regulation which violates or unreasonably restricts,
impedes, impinges upon an individual's constitutional rights included
but not limited to those enumerated in Amendments 1 through 10 to
the United States Constitution, that would be an unlawful act, but I
don't know how you determine whether a federal act, law, order, rule,
or regulation violates or unreasonably impinges the constitutional
rights. Who makes that determination?
So, for example, I get -- you know, there's some rule or
regulation that I don't like and say, just as an example, the Sheriff's
Department is enforcing it -- whatever that would be. I'm just
making it up -- how do I determine -- or who determines that that rule
is not -- violates the Constitution? And it's just a question for
clarification when and if this comes back.
So those types of things, I think, could be clarified.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well -- and there again -- and
I have to say this: I mean, the Constitution is pretty clear. The
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enforcement of the Constitution is necessarily up to the Sheriff.
That's the relegation that comes here.
When we drafted this ordinance, we coordinated with the legal
counsel of the Sheriff and the Sheriff himself. I mean, we had
several meetings with them. I spoke to him personally with regard
to it. So from a legal perspective, I think the ordinance that's been
put forth is encompassing -- sufficiently encompassing in order to
make those determinations.
We have a process here in Collier County for the enforcement of
our ordinances, so --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. Again, just a
question. I'm just going through this real quickly to see if I have
anything else. Okay. I'll just listen to what everybody else has to
say. That was just one of the concerns I have, and it can be
addressed when this comes back.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. We can come back to you.
Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I mean, from a -- just a quick
question. I mean, if we advertise it in this form, can we -- does it
need to be -- if it is found that it needs to be adjusted, can we do that
at the actual adoption hearing even though it's on the summary
agenda?
MR. KLATZKOW: Well, no. You'd have to take it off the
summary agenda and hear it regularly, but you could tweak it.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We could move it up to the
front?
MR. OAKES: I'd just like to make a point of order. I don't
understand how we can sit -- with all these crazy ordinances we have
that are very confusing, the Bill of Rights is very clear. How is that
more confusing to any of you than your ordinances? Why is that all
of a sudden -- why is this confusing?
June 22, 2021
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COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I got it. I got it.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, just --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I know.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- I hate to respond to
comments from the audience, especially when the speaker's not at the
podium.
I'm not confused as to what this ordinance says. I'm just trying
to get a clarification as to what one of the terms means. And I think
as a policymaker and, quite frankly, as a lawmaker making
ordinances, I think it's our responsibility to have a full understanding
of what we're voting on. So I've asked the sponsor of this ordinance
a question. And so I'm -- I will continue to ask questions about the
ordinance.
I will say, also, the comment was made the Constitution's clear.
Well, we've spent 250 years interpreting the Constitution, maybe a
little less than that. But we've spent a couple hundred years
interpreting the Constitution. That's ongoing. So it's not
necessarily crystal clear in all respects, and I will continue to ask
questions.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And I think it's critical enough that
I'll ask --
MR. TOLP: Point of information or a point of personal
privilege of diverse proverb [sic] for Roberts.
I'm just going from memory, but I'm sure that your legal minds
here will be more familiar with this. The Supreme Court has at
least -- has ruled at least two times that any statute or ordinance or
regulation that violates the Constitution on its face -- and I'm
paraphrasing, but some of this may be exact quotes from what I've
read in the past. Again, I'm going from memory alone -- is anything
that violates our rights or the Bill of Rights that is a statute or
ordinance or regulation passed by any level of government is null and
June 22, 2021
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void on its face if it doesn't do that, but I can't remember, and your
legal minds may be able to further enlighten you. I can't remember
if that was -- whether that was a majority decision or whether that
was the opinion of the dissenting opinions of the Supreme Court
justices who ruled -- issued that.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Madam Chair, since we're
throwing the process out the window, I'd just like to say that, again,
that misses the point that Commissioner Saunders has brought up.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Something is found to be
unconstitutional by the judiciary, not by you, me, or anybody else.
It's -- you know, the Supreme Court of the United States interprets
the Constitution. The Florida Supreme Court interprets the
Constitution of the State of Florida.
To say that something is -- it can be unconstitutional on its face
is true. Courts have found all sorts of legislation through the years
to be unconstitutional on its face. The courts do that. And I think
that Commissioner Saunders' question, which is the same question I
was going to pose, is exactly right. Who is it and how is it that
something that the federal government does is found to be
unconstitutional?
How does that happen? Who makes that decision? That's the
question. And the ordinance, as it's written, doesn't say that. And
that is a fundamental principle that this country was founded on.
The separation of powers. The courts interpret and apply the
law. If the Sheriff was here, I would ask the Sheriff. Sheriff, if
you're -- if you're in charge of enforcing the Constitution, where are
you going to get that direction from? Is it me? Is it them? Is it the
Chair? Where's that going to come from? It has to come from the
legislature, or it has to come from the judiciary. The question still
remains. It's a process.
June 22, 2021
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MR. OAKES: The legislature and the judiciary are failing us
right now. That's the whole problem. That's why we're doing this,
because they're failing us, and you're failing us.
MR. FLAUGH: Can I speak? Because I can add some real
clarity to his point.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Madam Chair, this is going to
devolve into this, which it's already devolving to, and I think this is
the time for us to have a discussion. I think Commissioner Saunders
was asking the sponsor of the bill the same questions. I have some
other questions I'd like to ask. But I think we've heard from the
people that wanted to speak. I understand where they're at and what
they want, but I think now it's time for us to debate.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And I would agree. Thank you very
much.
MR. FLAUGH: So no?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No.
All right. Commissioner Solis, you wanted -- you have some more
questions about this?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I do. You know, usually when an
ordinance is advertised it goes through a process, one of which is an
analysis by our County Attorney to make sure that it meets with all
the other ordinances that we have about how ordinances are enacted
or approved. I mean so, number one, section -- there's the question
that Commissioner Saunders posed, which is spot on. Secondly,
under Section 5, penalties, A says, anyone -- well, let me back up a
second.
If this ordinance said that the County Commissioners hereby
reaffirm their commitment to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution
of the United States, I would vote for this right now.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: That's not what this does. This
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purports in Section 5 to create a cause of action. It says under A,
anyone within the -- anyone within the jurisdiction of Collier County,
Florida, accused, not convicted -- accused of being in violation of this
ordinance may be sued in Circuit Court for declaratory injunctive
relief, damages, and attorney's fees. Accused by who? Is it the
State Attorney? Is it the County Attorney, even though I'm sure he's
going to shake his head and say, God, please no. Who is it that's
going to accuse somebody and thereby have standing to sue in circuit
court? That's a question, okay?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: May I call on Christina
Hauser to address you two?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. I'm asking -- you're the
sponsor of the bill, right? Did you write this ordinance?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I was in -- I was in assistance
in the preparation of, but by no way am I prepared to be arguing this
from a legal perspective. I can solve it with the County Attorney.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: My main concern,
Commissioner, was that we were not in violation of the preemptive
Statute 790 for the Second Amendment. That was my primary
concern with the creation of this ordinance.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, this --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Why are you not allowing a
lawyer who assisted in the preparation of this to address your
concern? And by the way, what I heard you say I didn't find in
conflict of with regard to the reaffirmation of the Board of County
Commissioners. In my oversimplified viewpoint, that's what we're
actually doing today.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. It's doing more than that.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: This is the problem. It creates a
June 22, 2021
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criminal liability, not only a civil liability, but it makes it a criminal
offense --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- to have done something that we
don't even know who it is that's going to determine was unlawful.
We can't do that. I mean, that's what this country's founded on,
right? Due process requires that somebody know that they're being,
you know, charged with an offense and what it's being -- what they're
being charged with. Who is going to decide that because somebody
enforced or sought to follow some regulation promulgated by the
federal government is unconstitutional? Who is going to make that
determination so that somebody can be prosecuted?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Grand jury.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: If it's the grand jury, then okay, but
this doesn't say any of that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So my question is, from a
procedural standpoint, with the advertisement that we're considering
today, can these suggestions -- because, again, we operate in a
vacuum. We're barely allowed to say hello to one another in the
back halls. We can't necessarily talk or communicate with regard to
these questions and circumstances.
I consulted with the County Attorney. I consulted with the
attorney for the Sheriff, brought forward the ordinance that the
Sheriff had actually -- and his counsel had said that they support.
You heard our sheriff sit there -- stand there and tell us that he can
support this ordinance, was going to take it in its present form to the
Sheriffs Association coming up in July.
I'm not equipped to argue with you on precept with what your
questions, in fact, are. I have -- we have a County Attorney here.
Ask him your question.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'm going to.
June 22, 2021
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COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm wishing the Sheriff and
his lawyer were here so I could have them --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I wish they were, too,
because, you know, how is the Sheriff going to enforce this
ordinance? Who is he going to take direction from? There has to
be some determination by a court of law that something is
unconstitutional for it to be unconstitutional. Otherwise, it's just
somebody's opinion. And whether it's my opinion or somebody
else's opinion, it doesn't matter until a court of law says something is
unconstitutional. So that's number one.
And, Mr. County Attorney, is there anything in here that sheds
any light on that for you?
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah. I had the same concerns, I sent the
ordinance to the Sheriff's counsel asking if the Sheriff had any
concerns in enforcing this, and I was, frankly, surprised when he said
no, that the Sheriff had no concerns about this ordinance. The
Sheriff is the one that will be enforcing it. I can't imagine you
sending Code Enforcement out on something like that. So I don't
know what to tell you.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The next legal question I have for
the County Attorney is Section 5 seems to create a cause of action, a
private cause of action for anybody to sue anyone in Collier County
for an unlawful act which, again, we don't know how that's going to
be determined as unlawful. But anybody can sue anyone under this
ordinance.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not aware of any provision in
state statute that allows a county to create private causes of action on
anything. I mean, we have ordinances that we enforce through code
enforcement, through different means other than creating a cause of
action for anyone to sue anyone based upon some determination by
we don't know who. I mean, is there any provision in the law that
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you're aware of that allows for that?
MR. KLATZKOW: Let's call this what this is, okay.
Normally, when the Board of County Commissioners wants to make
a political statement, we do it by resolution, and if this was in the
form of a resolution, I don't think there would be anybody on that
dais that opposes this.
The problem is you're trying to take something that should be
done by resolution and you promulgate it into an ordinance, all right.
And I don't know, ultimately, what a court's going to decide. If
you're saying that it is creating a private cause of action, yes. Will
there be unintended consequences as a result of this ordinance? I
have no doubt of that, all right.
I understand a federal action of 1983, all right, which is
substantially similar to this. That has been well litigated, and it's
been well known. This is a different animal. It's basically creating
a state action in county court for a 1983 action. How that's received
by the judiciary, I don't know. But we're -- we're shoehorning a
political message here into an ordinance is what we're doing. It's
probably more appropriate to be a resolution. But if the Board of
County Commissioners wishes to enact it, that's your prerogative.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: If it was a resolution --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: According to --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- then we could continue -- no,
continue this, and we can continue this till later in the meeting, I have
no problem with that, so you can consult with the folks --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Good idea. Would you be
all right if I had an opportunity to speak with the Sheriff and his
lawyer and maybe address some of these concerns that you brought
up?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That would really benefit
June 22, 2021
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me --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And we'll keep on that timeline. So
we will continue this and give you that opportunity, but I think before
we do that, Commissioner LoCastro wants to -- I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I just have a couple more concerns,
if you want them all.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I do.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'd like to just go ahead and put
them on the record. There are findings of fact -- this ordinance
wants us to make findings of fact, and one of the findings of fact is
that Collier County has the right to be free from the commanding
hand of the federal government and has the right to refuse to
cooperate with the federal government officials in response to
unconstitutional federal government measures.
I don't know what that is right now. I mean, is there something
that has been found by a court of law to be unconstitutional that we're
being asked to follow? I wouldn't follow it. I would say, we're duty
bound not to follow it because it's been found to be unconstitutional.
I don't know what that means, but we're being asked to make a
finding of fact that that is a fact, and I don't know what that is.
You know, any such unlawful act in Collier County -- this is
Section 3, No. 2, is invalid in Collier County and shall not be
recognized by Collier County and shall be considered null and void
and of no effect in Collier County. That is the law whether we like it
or not, regardless of whether we adopt this. If something is found to
be unconstitutional, it's unconstitutional, and we can't follow it,
regardless of whether we have this ordinance adopted or not.
I mean, I can keep going. It's -- this ordinance -- and I agree with
the County Attorney, there are -- there would be so many unknown
and unintended consequences of this would be tied up in the courts
forever.
June 22, 2021
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I mean, what is "unlawful"? How is that determined? How are
we supposed to -- how is the Sheriff supposed to enforce this until
there's a finding by a court that something is unlawful, or the
legislature says enforce this law?
So if this was a resolution asking me to confirm my sworn oath
to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights,
I would make the motion. This is not what this does.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There are already 40 -- at
least 42 other counties --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I don't care.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I do care.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I don't care.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If you let me finish. There
are other 42 counties that have adopted similar resolutions.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Resolutions.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understand that. The goal
here was to assist our governor with what he has going on with an
actual ordinance that says the same thing. If you have -- and I have
addressed your concerns here. And if you'll allow me to go ask the
proper questions, I'll endeavor to do that.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think that's a good idea.
Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you.
One of the things I would remind my colleagues is we went
through some painstaking detail here to have citizens speak for three
minutes, make sure they were speaking in turn and doing all these
other things. We have a light system up here, so it was great that
you all got a chance to talk, and I sat here quietly following the
process and procedures waiting for my turn to speak. And it was
good conversation.
So I want my colleagues to be comfortable with the vote, and if
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they feel like that there's holes in these documents, then, you know,
then I ask them to pursue those; however, I would just say in its
present form, Sheriff Rambosk, Congressman Donalds,
Representative Rommel, every single citizen in here feel like this is
fine and in its present form, and if there's holes, that's what the courts
are for. And there's holes in all kinds of laws. There's holes in laws
for speeding, and people get out of speeding tickets all the time,
because, you know, something wasn't calibrated right or lots of other
things.
Let me just say this: People wave the flag. I wore it for 24
years in the Air Force to support freedom in some locations that are
horrific, places you would not want to visit, and so did many other
veterans, some of them here in this room and families of veterans in
this room. I've knocked on doors of moms and dads to notify them
that their sons and daughters were killed in action.
The items in this ordinance are the exact things in their present
form that I and so many others fought for. I stand firm.
And to Keith Flaugh, this is in my lane, and I have no concerns
whatsoever. I'm not worried about risk, and I don't think that there
are holes in this document in its present form that I'm concerned
about. But I respect my colleagues who do. So then I say, flesh
them out. Let's make it stronger so we can have a vote that we feel
is worthy of our word and representing citizens.
But I strongly support this ordinance as-is, and I hope my
colleagues will do the same. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Commissioner
Saunders.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: What I -- what I would
suggest -- what I would suggest is -- I'm not sure if we're going to
take a break and have Commissioner McDaniel have conversations.
June 22, 2021
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CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We're going to take a lunch break, a
short one.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: What I would ask is, if this
ordinance is advertised, Mr. Klatzkow, that the title be broad enough
so that if we do make some changes we don't have to delay it. So I
think you understand what I'm saying.
What's critically important in terms of an advertisement is the
title, not so much the substance. As long as the title is broad enough
to encompass potential changes, then I think if this passes today for
further consideration, that we will be able to do a final vote on that
when this comes -- when and if this comes back.
MR. KLATZKOW: And I would advertise the ordinance as
under the current title, which would give you all kinds of latitude.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. That's the only thing
I would suggest.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So that is accurate --
MR. KLATZKOW: We're fine.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So that is an accurate statement, we
advertise an ordinance, we write in the paper that it's advertised this
way, and we can change it? There's a certain degree of change that
we can make to an ordinance before we have to readvertise it?
MR. KLATZKOW: The purpose of the advertising is to bring
the interested public down here. We had the public speakers. The
Board may change its mind as to certain issues. Ordinances get
amended, and then they get enacted.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: But then don't we have to readvertise
it?
MR. KLATZKOW: No, no.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Then I --
MR. KLATZKOW: I mean, if it was a land-use item and you
wanted to increase the intensity, yes. But under those -- except for
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those limited circumstances, no.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And if it's a resolution, we don't have
any angst about it.
MR. KLATZKOW: If it's a resolution, you could vote for it
today.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. That's good. Let's break,
and we'll give us --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: As we're breaking, though,
just so the public understands, we're continuing this item till later on
this afternoon.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. I just want to make
sure that's --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We have some corporate issues that
we have to deal with on our agenda. It will be later this afternoon.
There is not a time; I'm sorry about that. So we're going to break
until one -- correct, gentlemen -- 1:44; one hour.
(A luncheon recess was had from 12:44 p.m. to 1:44 p.m.)
MR. ISACKSON: Madam Chair, Commissioners, you have a
live mic.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
Commissioner McDaniel, just give us an update of where we are
here, please.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, it's a -- it's a really
interesting question. I think I can try to address my colleagues, but
I'm not -- obviously, I'm not geared for that.
I want you to -- I want you to hear from me from a laymen's
perspective, not a legal perspective. This ordinance is
predominantly based upon the potential of federal government
intrusion on our constitutional rights and the Bill of Rights. The
Sheriff is, per -- I think it was Commissioner Solis that asked the
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question, who's going to enforce this. And it is, in fact, the Sheriff.
They do that every day. Every single time they're called to a traffic
stop or another call, that's the agency that makes that determination.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So what I'm understanding is -- and
I'm interrupting you, but you would like to go ahead and get us to a
point where we will vote on it right now instead of maybe waiting till
later in the meeting? That's your call, sir. You were the one that --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I've reached out to the
Sheriff, I mean -- and, here again, I think Commissioner LoCastro
said it best. You know, we've had our sheriff come to us and say
that he's behind this, can support it, does support it. We've had our
congressman come to us and say those things. I don't need to go
through everything that's already, in fact, transpired.
Commissioner Solis referred a long time ago to a circumstance
that he struggles with and this mental issue called a law degree, and
I'm not -- I'm not incapacitated by the same. I have a simple process
of how I go through things.
This is, from what I understand it to be, stipulating the law for
the residents of Collier County. It's as simple as that. It's not -- I
mean, again, all of your questions were certainly -- they certainly had
merit, but the findings of fact that you talked about, one of you talked
about in the findings of fact, those are stipulated up in the whereases,
and then Section 2 that actually says findings.
So I'm really having difficulty. I can understand your
questions. I think I -- but I'm not necessarily sure what you need to
hear from me to make you feel better about it.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And we're going to keep this very
open here and very --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. I mean, I need to
June 22, 2021
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understand -- there needs to be an answer to those questions. And
let me just pose another question that occurred to me during lunch,
okay. Let's say that there's a federal legislation, whatever it is, right,
that we follow because today we don't think there's anything wrong
with it, right, all of us, all of us, and we follow that, and three years
from now that is found to be unconstitutional. The way this is
written, we can all be sued for that. That, in and of itself, is
unconstitutional.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's your --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. I mean, that is my take.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That is your take.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: As a lawyer that worked in the
Florida Supreme Court, that's the way it works.
So the only thing that's going to make me feel better are answers
to those questions and revisions to the ordinance that make it clear
how this is going to work. I mean, I'm in total agreement that the
laws are enforced in Collier County by the Sheriff, but there's laws.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And how does the Sheriff enforce
the Constitution?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Via his interpretation of it.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The Sheriff goes out and arrests
people based upon his interpretation of the Constitution?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Every single time an officer
makes an arrest.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: How is that?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: What do you mean how is
that?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: People are arrested because they
violated a criminal statute, not the Constitution --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct, but there is a --
June 22, 2021
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COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- a criminal statute.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- constitutional decision
that's made every time that they come into that, every time they --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So how this is going to be
enforced -- what you're saying is this -- the enforcement of this
ordinance is going to be totally up to the Sheriff? I would like to
talk to the Sheriff about that to feel comfortable. Because I feel
fairly certain -- I would be surprised if he agreed with that.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you.
I'm not sure how I'm going to vote on this issue today. I know the
issue is do we forward this on for advertising for an ordinance, so I
may very well vote to do that simply because I know how important
this is to Commissioner McDaniel, but that would in no way be an
indication of how I may vote when this comes back. So I just want
to be perfectly clear, if I vote to move this today, that does not mean
that I'm supportive of this or not supportive of it. I'm just supporting
my colleague to get this advertised.
So I'm going to raise an issue. So one of the things a lot of
people are concerned about is the new federal elections potential.
Now, that legislation, from what I understand, is dead in the United
States Senate, but let's assume, for discussion purposes,
Commissioner McDaniel, that that bill passes.
Now, there are a lot of people that will say that's a violation of
the Constitution, that's a violation of people's right to elect their
representatives, that it's a violation of the Bill of Rights and,
therefore, Jennifer Edwards, being required to comply with federal
law, would be in violation of a state ordinance -- county ordinance
and could be arrested and charged with a crime for enforcing a
federal law, and that's where I think Commissioner Solis is getting at,
and that's where I was getting at, is who makes that determination.
June 22, 2021
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So we've got Jennifer Edwards complying with a federal law because
she has no choice, and she's in violation of committing a serious
crime, and the Sheriff's Department's going to be called out to go
arrest her. That's the kind of thing that is of great concern.
So I may very well vote for this today but, again, purely for
the -- to give you an opportunity to address what I think could be
some very serious problems with this.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Let's just -- let's skin this a little bit
more in what you just talked about. So you've got Jennifer Edwards,
who is required -- she's a constitutional officer. She's required to
follow the Constitution of the federal government, and she -- it is
determined that -- locally, that she is not following the law, or it's
contrary, is that correct -- is that how we're doing it?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: (Nods head.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Who's going to make that
determination? Is it a group of people? Is it one person? Who
makes that determination? I'm asking.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: It sounds like, to me, that it
would be -- the Sheriff would have to make that determination. So
Jennifer Edwards, under that scenario, could simply say, well, I'm not
going to follow the federal law. We're going to continue to do things
the way we have. And then she's perhaps violating some -- I don't
know if that would necessarily be a criminal statute at the federal
level, but it would put her in a position of violating either the federal
law or the county ordinance, and that's a problem.
And I only use that as an example. We could probably come up
with all kinds of examples if we really started thinking about it.
So that's one of the issues that I think needs to be addressed is
how do you determine when there's a violation? And so, anyway,
that's --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
June 22, 2021
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Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I was just going to say, much
like I ended my last comments, I'm, obviously, supportive of this
as-is worded. But I do have full appreciation that there's -- that if
my colleagues feel like there's holes in it, then I'd rather have those
holes vetted to their satisfaction rather than do a quick vote, have
them give a no for something that actually, if it was vetted and they
got the answers that they were -- you know, that were acceptable,
then they may have voted for it.
So, you know, we could do something fast. I mean, I came here
to -- I thought we were voting on it. But if there was some
question -- I mean, that's why we also, you know, are up here in
debate. Having said that, I mean, I think we all have great respect
for Sheriff Rambosk. I mean, we're asking a lot of questions that
deserve answers, so I wish he was here so we could, you know,
continue this and have it voted on.
But I'm sure he didn't come to the podium sort of haphazardly
thinking, I'm not sure if I can support this; I'm sure it's full of holes.
I mean, he was pretty emphatic. And we also have waited a month
or so to change -- to give the team a chance to change and tighten the
language and all of that.
So I mean, I feel like there is a lot of vetting, but I also, you
know, will echo and say, this is an important document to a lot of
people, me included. If my colleagues here think that there's holes,
then, if there's an option to vote on this -- I mean, I sort of was
getting a little bit from Commissioner Saunders, which was possibly
vote on this -- maybe he has some questions and reservations, but we
continue to move it forward in a positive way. I really like that, but I
don't want to haphazardly have a vote. Maybe it ends in a negative
way. So I wouldn't be necessarily happy with that, only because we
didn't do our due diligence.
June 22, 2021
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So whatever needs to be done, but I like what I was -- I think I
was hearing from Commissioner Saunders, which was something sort
of in the middle. Hey, we continue to vet this and make sure we're
comfortable with it but, as it stands subject-wise -- and maybe
Commissioner Solis still wouldn't be, you know, comfortable with
that, so I'm not speaking for you at all, but I'm just echoing what
Commissioner Saunders said. I hope we can do that today. It
would be sort of, I guess, my ending comment because I feel like
experts did come to the podium, especially experts like Sheriff
Rambosk, who I think we all respect, who have a large responsibility
to then enforce this, support it, all the things that go with it, and he
was pretty emphatic.
So, like I said, I'd like to -- it would be nice to get some
clarification on so that you-all would feel better, but I don't think you
came in here haphazardly thinking that it was full of holes and, you
know, he still thought we should rubber stamp it. And that goes
along with Congressman, you know, Donalds, Representative
Rommel. You know, they all have a stake in this as well. I don't
think they were just coming in here giving us lip service. And I
know they've done a deep dive and read it as well. But maybe we've
discovered some things, you know, with your legal backgrounds and
whatnot. But, you know, having said that, I hope there's a motion to
move forward even if it is with still some homework assignments to
do, if we have that ability.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: On that note, because -- I'd
like to ask the County Attorney, if we advertise this in the form and
format, how much adjustment can be accomplished when it comes
back for -- and maybe I'll adjust my motion to put it on the summary
as-is, where-is, to have it -- have an actual hearing on it just so we
can actually go through the adjustments that are, in turn, made so my
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colleagues have an opportunity to express their concerns in writing so
I've got something to work with.
MR. KLATZKOW: The title of the ordinance is very broad.
You can make substantial amendments to it.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So substantive amendments
that --
MR. KLATZKOW: Look, I don't know how you fix this to get
to Commissioner Solis' concerns or Commissioner Saunders'
concerns, because the core of the ordinance is to punish people who
support what later comes down to be unconstitutional acts. So I
don't know what you can do to hit those concerns. But, you know,
having said that, I'm comfortable that we can advertise this, and if
you want to make changes to it, then we can make changes to it.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It seems that this is not simply a
restating of the Bill of Rights. And I will echo my colleagues up
here who said that that's -- if that's all this was, I don't think we'd
have this debate.
The issue is the penalty clause is in it, the repercussions if it's
determined by whomever that there's a violation or -- of a federal act,
law, order, rule, or regulation.
So I think at this point I would -- I certainly would support
this -- giving Commissioner McDaniel time to speak to the attorney
of the Sheriff and -- I certainly would, and to give you that time. I
think that's very important. This is way too important to vote on
now and have it fail. So given that, I'd like to make a motion to
continue this until the next meeting.
MR. KLATZKOW: If you simply continue this, you won't
have time to advertise before your break.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I think there's a motion and a
second already on the floor.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think you're correct, you know, just
June 22, 2021
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coming -- so we'd have to pass it.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: For advertising purposes
only.
MR. KLATZKOW: You don't have to do anything, but I'm just
saying, if you want to enact this before your break, you have to give
me direction to advertise it.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All right. So I'll withdraw
my motion. There is a motion. What is the motion?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The motion was to advertise
it and bring it back on the summary agenda because I wasn't aware of
the concerns that my colleagues had at the time, but I don't have an
issue in having it come back up as a regular agenda item just so we
can discuss the potential of adjustments.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I just want -- and, again, I
want to say this -- this wasn't done in a vacuum. We consulted with
the attorney for the Sheriff. Our sheriff stood here today and said
that he can support this today, that he will carry it to the Sheriffs
Association in this form.
So, again, I don't know -- I don't know how I'm going to make
Commissioner Solis feel warm and fuzzy. Certainly at this stage I
don't think I'm going to. But from an advertising standpoint, I don't
think we're at a loss to advertise it in this form and format on that
basis, and then if we can't adjust the circumstances as they are as
represented by the Sheriff's lawyer, then, you know, the chips will
fall where they do on the 13th.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I'm going to
support the motion to move forward with the advertising. I'm going
to make two comments. One, this is in no way an indication that I'm
going to vote for this when it comes back. I'll look at what the new
June 22, 2021
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product is. That's number one.
Number two, Commissioner McDaniel, you said you'd like to
receive written comments from members of the Commission. I'm
not going to do that. I'm not going to try to second guess what you
want to do with this thing. I'll be able to react to how this is
modified, but I don't want to feel the obligation to sit down with this
ordinance and try to make it work. I'm going to leave that up to you
and to the people that are sponsoring this.
I think everybody's heard what Commissioner Solis said in
terms of how do you really make this thing work in a fair and legal
way. You've heard me say the same things. So it's really
incumbent on you to fix this ordinance along with the people that
want this ordinance to make it work.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I understand.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So I'll support the motion
with those two understandings.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I appreciate that moving it
forward we could amend the ordinance at the next hearing, but let me
just suggest that this is such an important issue, that we would, in a
way, be doing what many people complain about, and that is, we
advertise something that our County Attorney has already said
doesn't -- I'm not sure how we can fix it to address the issues that I've
raised. We advertise it as-is, and then when it comes back it's going
to be completely different.
I mean, I -- you know, this might be one of the most important
ordinances we ever adopt, and to do it that way I don't think does
justice to the importance of what we're doing.
Whatever we advertise should be what we're going to be
considering. And I would just suggest that if we're going to change
it, let's continue it and fix it and redraft it and whatever needs to be
June 22, 2021
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done to it to address some of these issues, and then we have what
we're going to advertise, and people know this is what we're going to
be considering, because to do it the other way just -- I don't feel
comfortable with that.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I echo your concerns about doing it
the other way. I think when we advertise, we advertise what we're
considering, not advertising something -- you know, today it's
something and tomorrow it's something different. So I have great
concerns with that.
So we have a motion on the floor and a second to move this
forward for advertising. The motion as stated, I believe, by
Commissioner McDaniel and seconded by, I think, Commissioner
LoCastro. So all those in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
It carries, 3-2.
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, your preference, do you
want me to continue with the agenda as-is with Item 5B, which is
a -- this is a simple -- a short report from our Health Department on
the status of our COVID outbreak, and then followed by 11F. That
would be my suggestion to the Board.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's fine. Thank you.
Item #5B
RECOMMENDATION TO ACCEPT THE COVID-19 STATUS
REPORT AND PROVIDE FURTHER DIRECTION AS
June 22, 2021
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APPROPRIATE – MOTION TO WAIVE THE RULE
REGARDING PUBLIC COMMENT ON ITEMS ON THE
CURRENT AND FUTURE AGENDAS, TO ALLOW PUBLIC
COMMENT ON THIS ITEM – APPROVED; REPORT GIVEN
MR. ISACKSON: 5B is a recommendation to accept the
COVID status report and provide further direction as appropriate.
Mohammad Abbasi, as director of the Communicable Disease and
Control Prevention of your Health Department, will present.
MR. ABBASI: Good afternoon. Muhammad Abbasi, Florida
Department of Health in Collier County.
So we begin by looking at hospital emergency department visits
for influenza-like illness. On the left-hand side, you can see the
number of daily visits over the last two weeks, and they're trending
downward, and on the right-hand side of the slide, this is a long-term
trend for the last six months. And you can see that we peaked
around the first week of May, and then we're seeing a sustained
downward trend going forward.
Next, moving on to COVID-like illness syndrome visits to the
emergency departments, it looks similar to the last slide. On the
left-hand side, the visits over the last -- daily visits last 14 days,
they're trending downward. And on the right-hand side, it's very
similar to influenza-like illness. The peak level earlier around the
third week of April and then downward trend going forward.
Looking at the COVID positivity rate, left-hand side, the daily
positivity rate for the last two weeks, and it's trending downward, and
on the right-hand side over the last six months is the two-week rolling
positivity rate, and you can see the peak in January. We were
around 11.5 percent and then slight downward trend, and then we
peaked up a little bit around middle of April to around 8 percent, and
June 22, 2021
Page 119
our current rate is 4.2 percent for the last two weeks, and that's the
lowest we've seen since the start of the pandemic.
Hospital capacity, overall hospital occupancy is what is
expected for this time of the year, and the COVID-filled beds at the
bottom, and they represent around 5 percent of the total capacity.
There's a number of hospitalizations. There's a 14-day average
over the last six months. You can see the peak in late January of 150
cases, and then we see a downward trend, and now we have under 50
cases in our hospitals.
Testing, we continue to offer testing at our Naples campus from
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. five days a week, Monday to Friday. There's
no appointment necessary. It's a drive-through testing. And we
also have testing for our outbreak and close-contact investigations,
and there are many places in the community testing is available; at
pharmacies, urgent care centers, hospitals, and physicians' offices.
Number of vaccinations, total number of people vaccinated,
216,399, and that's 62 percent of our 12-plus population, and that's
the people who receive at least one dose. And we offer vaccination
at our Naples location 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Again, there's no appointment necessary, and there's no lines, no
waiting. And we continue to offer education to the public.
And our call center is open 9:00 to 5:00 five days a week. Phone
number is (239) 252-6220, and our e-mail address is
covid19collier@flhealth.gov.
I'll take any questions.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No, that was from before.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh, okay. Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I don't know if you have
these details, but I've been asked by a lot of citizens, and I think
June 22, 2021
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they're worthy questions because, you know, if you look nationally
there's been a lot of news about, you know, people that have gotten
the vaccine and then came down with COVID, people that have
gotten the vaccine and had fatality. Do we have those types of
numbers and details, you know, for Collier County? You know,
folks tested positive but they did have the vaccine or, you know --
MR. ABBASI: We do track those breakthrough cases, anybody
has vaccine and COVID 14 days after second dose. I don't have the
numbers with me right now, but I can get them for you.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay. I mean, I'd like to be
able to see that compared to the national average, you know. Are we
having, you know, better -- I don't want to say luck, but better results
I guess is a better term and also to -- you know, to help separate
rumor from fact. I mean, there is -- are folks out there concerned
about the vaccine, and there have been fatalities and, you know -- but
I'm sure there's been people that feel like they've been saved from
having COVID by having the vaccine. So we could debate that for
hours.
But having those stats, because those are nationally really
starting to be released now, because some of those numbers are a
little alarming. You know, they're in the thousands. And so I'd like
to know, you know, here in Collier County how we compare
nationally if it's, you know, not too difficult of an algorithm or
whatnot. But if it sounds like, you know, we do have some of those,
I think it's important for the public to know that since, nationally,
they're seeing a lot of things, but --
MR. ABBASI: Sure. We can get that information.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Kindly send it to all of us. That
would be very interesting.
MR. ABBASI: Sure.
June 22, 2021
Page 121
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. Not for the next
meeting, but when you get it, just an e-mail blast, and then be able to
include it. I think that's important. Thank you, sir.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you very much.
No more questions. Thank you.
Item #11F
PROVIDING DIRECTION TO THE COUNTY MANAGER ON
CONTINUED USE OF COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA
TECHNOLOGY TO ALLOW INDIVIDUALS TO PARTICIPATE
REMOTELY IN MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS, ADVISORY BOARDS, COUNCILS AND
COMMITTEES - MOTION TO CONTINUE HYBRID REMOTE
TECHNOLOGY UNTIL SEPTEMBER – APPROVED
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, if we can move to
Item 11F, which is immediately following 5. Mr. Mullins, your
Director of Communication, Government, and Public Affairs, will
present the recommendation to provide direction to the County
Manager on continued use of communication media technology to
allow individuals to participate remotely in meetings of the Board,
advisory boards, councils, and committees.
Mr. Mullins.
MR. MULLINS: Thank you. For the record, John Mullins,
Director of Communications, Government, and Public Affairs.
And with the likely expiration of Governor DeSantis' state of
emergency executive order at the end of the upcoming weekend, the
Board's Emergency Executive Order 2020-04, which is tied to it and
provides for hybrid virtual quasi-judicial hearing procedures during
the pandemic will also expire.
June 22, 2021
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The County Manager and staff seek the Board's guidance on the
continued use or discontinued use of the hybrid meeting format, and
depending upon your direction, the aforementioned hearing
procedures during declared emergencies that were attached to your
2020-04 order may need revision and, if so, could be provided for
your consideration at your July 13th board meeting. And, as stated
in your executive summary and the legal considerations by the
County Attorney, regardless of your decisions today, due to the
statutory advertising requirements, advertised public hearings
scheduled for the July 13th meeting of the Board will still contain the
hybrid participation notice; thus, any direction you provide today will
take effect after the summer recess.
And with those comments on the record, I'm happy to facilitate
any discussion that you may have and take your direction.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I don't see any comments up here.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, I've got comments. I
thought --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I was going to let
Commissioner Saunders go first since -- you were waiting me out,
weren't you?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was trying to decide
whether to say anything. I fell on the side of trying to say
something.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want to go first?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Not necessarily, but I will if
you want me to.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Go ahead.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. I think we should
maintain the hybrid situation; revisit this back in September. We'll
have a better handle then as to whether the delta-plus variant is going
June 22, 2021
Page 123
to cause problems. So I don't see any reason to change until we get
into September and make that change then.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second, with the provisos.
And if you want to make that as a motion, I'd second it. I like --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Were you reading my notes?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Actually, I was reading your
mind.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, yes. There we go.
MR. MULLINS: Oh, point of clarification here, if I may.
Your order is tied to the state of emergency by the Governor. That
state of emergency expires this weekend, and so do your hybrid
policies.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Right. And the motion
would be to continue our hybrid policies, and then we'll revisit it in
September when we have a little bit more information about --
MR. MULLINS: Okay. Understood.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- what's happening.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I mean, just a -- just to ask a
question.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have a statement, if I may.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just to add on. I seconded
the motion, but I want to clarify a couple of points, and that is, I like
the extension of the hybrid. I like the public participation that we're
affording people that can't trek in here to sit through hours of
hearings because of work and so on. I would like for us to enhance
our transparency of the folks that are calling in, where they're from,
name, address, contact information, and I think we should give
consideration to an extension in advance of the hearing for
June 22, 2021
Page 124
preregistration so our staff has the ability to know how many people
are going to be signing up for a particular item. Maybe -- and not an
enormous amount of time, maybe 24 hours or something along those
lines. But those were my additional thoughts, Commissioner
Saunders. Go.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So the calling in's great, and
I'm all for that. I guess the clarification I'm looking for is, are we
waiting to change anything in here? Like, you know, we had some
consternation in here this morning and confusion and a little bit of,
you know, people getting a little bit irritated or whatnot. How are
we changing what we do in here as far as social distancing, how
many people come in here? Is that all part of this package here, or
we're just talking about the, you know --
MR. MULLINS: We're just talking about the quasi-judicial
public hearings and that operation.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay. All right. Well, that
might be something that we need to talk about. I know that we've
raised it a couple times, and, you know, I think some folks walked in
here thinking everything was back to normal, and because we still
have things maybe in writing or on the books -- so if that's a separate
thing, you know, I just -- maybe, you know, just make the
recommendation that when it's appropriate to talk about that, we
should, because we have a lot of people that are coming in here now
and were very confused this morning and, you know, it started
everything off sort of with a little bit of more aggression than maybe
we needed. But I gotcha, okay.
MR. MULLINS: And, actually, at your last board meeting, you
discussed the relaxing of the social distancing requirements for this
chamber and a return to the in-person honoring of employee
achievements, and at that time Commissioner Solis, I think, was
looking for guidance from the Health Department, information from
June 22, 2021
Page 125
the Health Department as to what they thought about that return to
normalcy in here, and I'm not sure that that was ever provided.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Hey, did you do that
homework assignment?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I had not received anything, no.
MR. MULLINS: But that's where it was left at the last
meeting.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So we have one more meeting.
Now, it's entirely up to the majority here, but we could follow the
comments of Commissioner Saunders who said, you know, to look at
what happens over the summer with the COVID variant and then
make a decision as of September, or we could address the social
distancing given the fact that -- that's CDC guidelines. That is not
the state of emergency, correct?
MR. MULLINS: Correct, the social distancing is part of the
CDC guidelines.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. And we didn't get any
guidelines except our numbers are going down.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I -- just as a thought, I
think we ought to go to and take care of the agenda item in front of us
and then take care of what Commissioner LoCastro was talking about
with regard to our procedures in this room.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah, I agree.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So your suggestion, Commissioner
McDaniel, is to have a preregistration for those folks who want to
participate in the meeting?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. My suggestion is
what Commissioner Saunders made in his motion, which was to
continue on with those procedures even though the executive order's
been lifted as of this weekend, review it in September but continue on
with those through the September meeting and then give
June 22, 2021
Page 126
consideration to the enhanced transparency and the -- and local -- if
you want to call it a local rule with regard to the preregistration
timeline to assist our staff with accommodating the folks that want to
attend virtually, so...
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And this pertains to the public who
want to participate. This does not pertain to anyone who is on a
committee or certainly this board.
MR. MULLINS: No. Actually, you had a previous executive
order provided by the governor that allowed you to have quorums
established by the hybrid virtual format. That lapsed November 1st
of 2020, and at that point, you-all also came back to meet as a
quorum, in person. So, no, this does not cover setting a quorum or
anything like that. This would just be for the participation, basic
participation.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Public participation, yes,
ma'am.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Right, public. I like the
preregistration.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I do, too. Well -- and I think
we can take it up formally in September, if we -- I mean, we're
getting along okay with the current processes that we have. I think,
Troy -- as he gets cross-eyed every once in a while, but we're getting
along all right, and if we continue on with those, where -- I think
we're actually incentivizing the general public to participate in our
meetings, and adding additional transparency and time frame to assist
our staff won't hurt us, and we can review that in September.
MR. ISACKSON: We'll continue our current process for the
lone July meeting. We'll be back in front of you at our first meeting
in September with a recommendation in regards to how we handle
the hybrid/remote, including registration, including other
recommendations in regard to that. That's what I'm hearing.
June 22, 2021
Page 127
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Perfect.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Perfect.
MR. KLATZKOW: And for clarity, this will apply to the
advisory boards?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Can I respond to that?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, of course.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The advisory boards have
been set up -- I'm thinking of the MPO advisory board, so I may be
wrong. What I was getting ready to say is not correct. The MPO
advisory boards do not have to have a quorum in the room to do their
business, but our -- our advisory boards do, so...
MR. KLATZKOW: I'm speaking with respect to the remote
participation.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So I would say yes, then,
they still have to have a quorum in the room.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So we're still allowing the remote
participation on the boards.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The advisory boards, yes.
MR. KLATZKOW: Yeah. My understanding is we will
continue the present policy, and the Board will readdress this thing in
September.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. There's a motion on the
floor and a second. All those in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
(No response.)
June 22, 2021
Page 128
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously.
Thank you.
MR. ISACKSON: Thank you, Commissioners.
Item #11A
AWARD REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO. 20-7777,
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS)
INTEGRATE STANDARDIZE NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS,
TO PRESIDIO NETWORKED SOLUTIONS GROUP LLC IN THE
AMOUNT OF $1,108,362.94 FOR THE PURCHASE,
CONFIGURATION AND INSTALLATION OF CISCO
NETWORK AND SECURITY EQUIPMENT, REQUISITE
ACCESSORIES, LICENSING, MAINTENANCE, AND
TECHNICAL SUPPORT (PER LAP AGREEMENT FPN 435013-1-
98-01) AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE
ATTACHED AGREEMENT. (THIS CONTRACT IS COMPANION
TO AGENDA ITEM #16A1, "INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH
THE CITY OF NAPLES", AS REQUIRED BY LAP PROJECT
435013-1-98-01) – APPROVED
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, Item 11A will be presented
by Anthony Khawaja, who's your Chief Engineer in Traffic Ops. It's
a recommendation to award Request for Proposal No. 20-7777,
Intelligent Transportation System Integrated Standardized Network
Communications, to Presidio Network Solutions Group, LLC, in the
amount of $1,108,362.94 for the purchase, configuration, and
installation of Cisco network and security equipment, requisite
accessories, licensing, maintenance, and technical support per LAP
Agreement FPN 435013-1-98-01, and authorize the Chair to sign the
attached agreement.
June 22, 2021
Page 129
This contract is a companion item to a previously approved
agenda Item 16A1, which is an interlocal agreement with the City of
Naples, as required per the LAP -- per the LAP project.
Mr. Khawaja.
MR. KHAWAJA: Good afternoon. For the record, my name
is Anthony Khawaja, chief traffic operations engineer.
I have a presentation here, or I can take questions, if you like.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll make a motion for
approval, unless you guys want a presentation.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'll just make a quick
comment, so --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'll second it, and then continue, sir.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay. Just for your own
edification, so I got interviewed by the Naples Daily News yesterday
who just maybe called all of us, and I was the first one, you know,
that they got ahold asking about this money.
And to make a long story short, I've actually spent quite a bit of
time in the traffic management center, as you know, not only as a
commissioner but as a COO of Physicians Regional, as a Leadership
Collier graduate, and I reached out yesterday to our staff and just got
incredible detail as to how this million dollars is going to be spent.
And it's going to be incredible upgrades to that facility, which is
already extremely important. It's going to allow us connectivity with
the City of Naples, with the Sheriff's Office that we haven't had. So
it's not that we're missing something, but as part of the normal
upgrades -- so Trinity, actually, was very helpful in telling -- and
Sean, you know, came in and talked with me and a few others.
And so, you know, just as a summary, this is an unbelievable
investment of some things that were already projected to be
upgraded. So it's not that we're behind or anything like that. And,
most importantly, this was a grant from the State of Florida. So it's
June 22, 2021
Page 130
not a million dollars coming out of, you know, Collier County. I
mean, it's still taxpayer dollars, and we still care about no matter
where they come from. But, you know, that was a point that maybe
wasn't in writing here.
So I got a little bit more of a deep dive yesterday and was very
impressed with the long list of things that this investment from the
state will give to us here in Collier County to keep us, you know, in
pace and actually further the capability of the traffic management
center. So I just wanted to -- if anybody's wondering how we're
spending a million dollars of the State of Florida's money, it's well
spent.
MR. KHAWAJA: Excellent summary of the project, yes. It
makes us faster, a little bit more secure, and we will do our job better,
for sure.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And synchronize those stoplights.
MR. KHAWAJA: Absolutely, yes.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. There's a motion. Did we
have a motion?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah, we did.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Motion on the floor and a
second. I second it. All those in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you.
MR. KHAWAJA: Thank you very much.
June 22, 2021
Page 131
Item #11B
AWARD INVITATION FOR QUALIFICATIONS #20-7800,
UNDERGROUND CONTRACTOR SERVICES, TO DOUGLAS N.
HIGGINS, INC., HASKINS, INC., KYLE CONSTRUCTION, INC.,
MITCHELL & STARK CONSTRUCTION CO., INC., QUALITY
ENTERPRISES USA, INC., SOUTHWEST UTILITY SYSTEMS,
INC., PWC JOINT VENTURE LLC, COASTAL CONCRETE
PRODUCTS, LLC D/B/A COASTAL SITE DEVELOPMENT,
AND COUGAR CONTRACTING, LLC, AND APPROVE THE
ATTACHED AGREEMENTS – APPROVED
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, Item 11B is a
recommendation to award Invitation for Qualifications No. 20-7800,
underground contractor services to Douglas N. Higgins, Inc.;
Haskins, Inc.; Kyle Construction, Inc.; Mitchell and Stark
Construction, Incorporated; Quality Enterprises USA, Incorporated;
Southwest Utility Systems, Incorporated; PWC Joint Venture, LLC;
Coastal Concrete Products, LLC, doing business as Coastal Site
Development; and Cougar Contracting, LLC, and approve the
attached agreements.
Mr. Steve Messner, your Water Division Director, will present.
MR. MESSNER: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the
record, Steve Messner, your Water Division director. I do have a
short PowerPoint presentation I'd be happy to show, or available to
answer any questions that you may have.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do I have any questions? Any
preferences?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I've reviewed it. I'll make a
motion for approval, if you want.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second.
June 22, 2021
Page 132
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Motion on the floor and a second.
All those in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you.
MR. MESSNER: Thank you.
Item #11C
APPROVING CRITERIA FOR ESTABLISHING NEW COLLIER
COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICT BOUNDARIES,
PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 124, FLORIDA STATUTES, AND
THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION – MOTION TO APPROVE
WITH DIRECTION THAT THERE IS TO BE NO LESS THAN
THREE MAPS DRAWN UP – APPROVED
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, Item 11C is a
recommendation to approve criteria for establishing new Collier
County Commission district boundaries pursuant to Chapter 124
Florida Statutes and the Florida Constitution.
And Mr. Mike Bosi, your Director of Planning and Zoning, will
present.
MR. BOSI: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Mike Bosi,
Planning and Zoning Director.
Back in April you were presented the draft schedule for the 2021
redistricting process. After each of decennial -- the odd year after
June 22, 2021
Page 133
the decennial census is completed, the redistricting process is
under -- undertaken to get each district to have them -- the most equal
number of population so each vote has the same equal amount of
power.
Today's item is asking simply to approve the criteria that was
utilized in the 2011 redistricting process to be the same criteria that
would be utilized to guide the mat-drawing exercise for the 2021
effort, as well as the secondary criteria.
And as it's contained within the executive summary, there's four
simple criteria. The population of each district should be as similar
as possible, all districts should be as compact and regularly shaped as
feasible, the incumbent commissioners' residence, and the same for
the school board members, must remain in his or her district, and
consider racial and ethnic populations in accordance with the 1965
Voter Rights Law.
And then secondary criteria would be that any plan that has a
retrogressive effect on minority voting strength would be eliminated
from further consideration, well defined, easily recognizably, and
major boundaries such as rivers, arterials, and major roads should be
utilized when not in conflict with other criteria.
Former district boundaries should generally be maintained when
not in conflict with other criteria, and communities of interest, such
as Golden Gate Estates, and neighborhood integrity should be
preserved when not in conflict with the other criteria. So there's four
initial criteria that we're going to utilize, four secondary criteria to
basically get the most equal number of population within the districts
as possible.
Another aspect that we're pursuing, as we did in 2011, is having
an outside firm to observe and verify the process and provide an
independent analysis towards the compliance with the 1965 Voters
Right Act.
June 22, 2021
Page 134
And a last aspect that I'm looking for some feedback on was
during the 2011 effort -- and I spoke with Tom Eastman, who's a
member of your school -- a member of your Planning Commission
but also a staff member of the school district, and he had indicated
that we probably want to have a little bit more discussion in terms of
the number of maps that were drawn.
In 2011 they utilized five maps, but what they said and what
Tom said the feedback was -- and if you read through the
summary -- the most comments were Maps 4 and 5, because when
you get to the fourth and fifth iterations of how to try to get equal
representation and equal populations within the districts, the maps
have to be elongated in ways that aren't logical and sometimes seem a
little bit, I don't want to say outlandish, but more extreme.
So what his suggestion was, to consider three maps instead of
five maps because, as he said, and as the material indicates, it was the
fourth and fifth iterations that received the most comments, but what
was adopted was the first map that was suggested, and just seeking
some individual feedback upon that.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So they decided on five maps
because there's five commissioners?
MR. BOSI: Yes, yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So we all get to draw one?
MR. BOSI: Oh, and a unique aspect that I remember from the
2011 redistricting effort was the commissioners were separate from
the process, because it is a political -- because it could be deemed a
political process. And this -- we view this as a staff, we've got the
criteria that's within -- within the executive summary, but it's a math
problem to us. It's a math problem that we try to solve based upon
the principles of math and based upon these criteria.
And I think what served the Commission well back in 2011 was
to allow for staff to do their work, engage the community within
June 22, 2021
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the -- within the discussions of the mapping process and what's trying
to be achieved with the equal representation, take the comments that
we receive from the general public, forward all those comments to
the Board of County Commissioners, and allow the Board of County
Commissioners, at your -- I believe it's your second -- or your sole
meeting in December, where we'll ask you to select the map that is
preferred based upon all those factors.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Stay away from it, but we can veto
it?
MR. BOSI: At the end of the day, you're the ultimate arbitrator
of it. You'll make the final decision upon what's the most
appropriate map based upon the options that are provided for.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah, Mike, I've just got a
quick question. First off, I don't think the five districts will ever be,
like, cohesively the same size or shape or whatever, so that's kind of
hilarious when you look at it, and for good reason.
But I had asked this question of a few people, but now that
you're honchoing it, I want to get the official word. I was asking
when would we actually get, you know, the new lines, the new maps
and all that. And I was told towards the end of this year, maybe,
like, December or something like that, because we all know it's going
to change a bit, as it has in the past. So, you know, the edges sort of
melt a little bit, and then somebody else gets a little bit more or
whatnot. But is that your timeline as far as what you're hearing?
MR. BOSI: No. Actually, there will be maps that will be
drafted early to mid September.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Oh, okay.
MR. BOSI: Normally it's March that we get the data. We get
the population data from the Census Bureau in March. But they're
not providing that data to us til mid August. So we're going to be
June 22, 2021
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behind -- we're going to be a little bit behind the gun. We have a
proposed schedule that was provided to you that we've refined a little
bit more towards where it's -- once we receive the data dump from
the Census Bureau, we'll sit with representatives of the Supervisor of
Elections, with the school board, with the outside independent
reviewing firm, as well as members of Comprehensive Planning staff.
We will start drawing the draft maps. We'll prepare write-ups of
those draft maps. We'll prepare materials to go out and engage with
Rotary clubs, the City of Naples, the City of Marco Island, and then
at the end of October when we have about seven individual
community meetings, in November, we're going to have a District 1
meeting, a District 2 meeting, a District 3 meeting, a District 4, and a
District 5 meeting in each one of the districts, invite those members
to come review the maps, review the criteria, provide the comments,
and then in December you will be voting upon what the new districts
will be.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay.
MR. BOSI: So it's probably going to be mid to late September
towards when we start getting those drafts out, and in October is
when we start the road show to go out and talk to the community.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And they'd be as detailed as
showing, hey, the district stops at this street, at this road; the new
district picks up, right, those kind of things?
MR. BOSI: Yes.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay. Great.
MR. BOSI: As the map is clearly defined, it will also be -- it
will follow those major -- those major geographic features such as
canals, such as major arterial roads. And the primary purpose is not
to -- not to dilute minority voting population, but not interrupt
existing neighborhoods. That's what we really try to strive not to do.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel.
June 22, 2021
Page 137
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. Well, I ask more of a
rhetorical question. What's the difference between three and five? I
mean, what's your recommendation from a -- I mean, why the
delineation of a number of particular maps? I mean, I would
think -- because we're not involved until the final decision is made,
the more iterations you have to give consideration to the population
dispersal and where the people are, in fact, located, the greater
opportunity -- as we go through this very, very open public process,
we would be able to bring it back to what, in fact, will be the new
lines.
MR. BOSI: And I could understand that thinking, and the only
reason why it was suggested from Mr. Eastman was just because of
the attention that Maps 4 and 5 -- and when he said -- when we were
drafting these maps, we kind of knew that these were -- because we
needed to get to five, that these probably weren't going to be the
maps of preference just because of the way that -- the auditing that
the district had to take to be able to give alternatives.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Maybe I'm in error. I didn't
read in the existing rules that there had to be five maps.
MR. BOSI: No. There -- the statutes are very, very shallow
related to this redistricting process. The only thing that's required is
two -- or four weeks before your December meeting and two weeks
before your December meeting that we advertise it in the newspaper.
That's the only thin that's required in terms of a public process from a
statute. But in Collier County, the spirit we take and we go and we
talk to the community, we talk to the individual municipalities, and
then we have individual district meetings. We'll have a total of 13 or
14 individual public meetings. So anybody who wants to comment,
anybody who wants to get involved, there's going to be an avenue in
a geographic location that's going to probably be very close to where
they live to make it as convenient as possible.
June 22, 2021
Page 138
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So was it defined in '11 that
they had to do five maps?
MR. BOSI: No. It was suggested in the executive summary to
the Board of County Commissioners as direction that they were going
to suggest five maps, and the Board of County Commissioners agreed
with that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have a great idea. Just do
one that's correct.
MR. BOSI: Well, we most certainly will. We most certainly
will, but we also want to know how many other iterives [sic] would
we like to have. And if going to three maybe limits the choices too
much, four -- and, like I said, if we wanted to, we can do five. It's
just four and five do generate a lot more conversation and angst, sort
of, in terms of responses that we get back just because of sometimes
the elongated way that we have to kind of adjust the districts to try to
get to those equal numbers of population.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you need a motion?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Wait, wait. Commissioner
Saunders.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I was just going to make a
motion to approve the process outlined by staff and direct that there
be three maps drawn, and if you need to do more, that would be okay,
but the motion is for three.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No less than three.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: No less than three.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: There's a motion on the floor and a
second. Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye.
June 22, 2021
Page 139
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you, Mr. Bosi. It carries
unanimously.
MR. ISACKSON: Terri, how you doing?
THE COURT REPORTER: I'm good.
Item #11D
RESOLUTION 2021-140/CWS RESOLUTION 2021-01:
AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS TO FINANCE
UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE EXPANSION IN THE GOLDEN
GATE AND THE NORTHEAST SERVICE AREAS TO SERVE
FUTURE RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES AND THE
DISTRICT'S OPERATIONS FACILITY, (2) DELEGATE
AUTHORITY TO THE COUNTY MANAGER TO AWARD
BONDS TO THE BIDDER THAT PROVIDES THE LOWEST
INTEREST COST, (3) AUTHORIZE PUBLICATION OF A
NOTICE OF SALE, (4) AUTHORIZE DISTRIBUTION OF A
PRELIMINARY OFFICIAL STATEMENT AND A FINAL
OFFICIAL STATEMENT, (5) APPOINT THE PAYING AGENT
AND REGISTRAR OF SAID BONDS, AND (6) AUTHORIZE
AND APPROVE OTHER MATTERS RELATED TO THE BONDS
– ADOPTED
June 22, 2021
Page 140
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, 11D is a presentation by
Mr. Joe Bellone, your Utilities finance Director. It's a
recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners, acting as
the officio governing board of the Collier County Water/Sewer
District, approves the resolution to authorize the issuance of bonds in
the amount not to exceed $145 million to finance utility infrastructure
expansion in the Golden Gate and the northeast service area to serve
further residents and businesses and the district's operations facility,
delegate authority to the County Manager to award bonds to the
bidder that provides the lowest interest cost, authorize publication of
a notice of sale, authorize distribution of a preliminary official
statement and a final official statement, appoint the paying agent and
registrar of said bonds, and authorize and approve all other matters
related to the bonds.
And I would add, Commissioners, to authorize all necessary
budget amendments.
MR. BELLONE: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the
record, Joe Bellone, Director of Utilities Finance, and we're here
today to move the utility program forward.
And we're going to talk about the Water/Sewer District Series
2021 revenue bond. As Mark mentioned, par amount not to exceed
$145 million.
The principal and interest payments will begin in 2022, 25 years.
Last payment will be due in 2046, and that the debt-service payment
will come primarily from water impact fees, wastewater impact fees
and, to some extent, very small extent, user fees.
And for your information, we did prepare a bond feasibility
report. It had a final component and an engineering component, and
that information is provided to the parties who will be reviewing and
purchasing these bonds.
June 22, 2021
Page 141
Just a reminder, Commissioners, that the bulk of this funding
will be to expand the potable water transmission mains in Golden
Gate City as well as expand the wastewater treatment capacity in
Golden Gate City on the site of 32nd Street Southwest. We're
estimating total costs there in Golden Gate to be about $88 million of
this bond funding.
Just a reminder, here are the transmission mains. The blue lines
on the outskirts of the city will be Phase 1, and then internally Phase
2 will be those pink lines that you see.
And there's the site, the wastewater treatment site in Golden
Gate City where the expansion will take place up to 4 MGD.
Some of the funding, Commissioners, are to begin to construct
all of the water and wastewater utility appurtenances that are required
prior to actually building the plants for transmission -- I'm sorry -- for
treatment and production. That will include raw water wells and
mains. Deep-injection wells are required on the site. We're going
to update the design to the water reclamation facility for that site.
We'll construct the mains through the second phase of the park, and
we'll also construct some water and wastewater mains and a water
storage tank that will interconnect Bellmar and the
Rivergrass/Longwater area, and we estimate that cost to be about $48
million.
We also anticipate that this bond offering will produce a
premium and to that -- to that end, we will put some of that money
towards a consolidated utility operations facility at the government
operations business park. That will replace the two facilities that we
have, one on Mercantile Avenue, which we will sell eventually, and
Shirley Street.
We'll consolidate all of the warehousing for the utility into one
facility, and we are currently in the design phase.
June 22, 2021
Page 142
And Mark may have mentioned that some of the bond funding
will replace the "pay as you go" strategy. We've included some of
that in the CIP, and we'll talk about that at the budget workshop. But
we've taken that out for next year, assuming that we'll get the bond
funding.
And the timing of this would follow the Sheriff's facility, which
is sales-tax funded. Sheriff's facility would be Phase 1, and the
utility operations center would be Phase 2.
So, Commissioners, we're recommending to you today to
approve this resolution to authorize issuance of the bonds and then
give to the County Manager all the other powers that he needs to
award the bond to the lowest interest bidder and authorize all of the
other notices that are required, and appoint the paying agent and the
registrar for those bonds.
And with that, Commissioners, I'll take any questions you have.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. I just think it's
important for the public to understand that the utility system was
critical as we grew, and the housing of these utility functions were
done in areas that were convenient for the work at the time. But
when you go back and look at them today, this is so needed, this is so
important that we move to consolidate the utility. It's so important.
And I thank you very much for bringing this forward. Thank you.
MR. BELLONE: Thank you, Commissioners. And, again, it's
not a one-person show. The Finance Committee, our -- the county's
financial advisors, bond counsel, bond disclosure counsel all have a
part in this, as does the Clerk. So it's a -- it's a great team effort, and
I really appreciate their help as well.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah. Well, I'd like to make
a motion for approval with just one brief adjustment. You suggested
June 22, 2021
Page 143
we give the County Manager all the power that he needs, and I have a
reservation with that, so just -- with regard to the installments.
MR. BELLONE: With regard to this item. I'll clarify.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. So I'll make a motion
for approval, and I have a couple of comments, if I may,
if -- assuming we get to a second.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'll second.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: More of a question than
anything. And maybe Dr. Yilmaz might need to come and answer.
When I was reading the package, there was -- it was a perimeter
around Golden Gate Estates with the main lines. What are the
plans -- because we've got close to 77 percent of the people in Golden
Gate City still on septic and well. What's the proposed timeline for
the connection of the residents? At least for potable water. I know
that's the primary health, safety, and welfare issue.
MR. BELLONE: I can take that, and if I start to flub, then
George can bail me out.
But as we said, the three main things was public health, that's
getting people off wells that are in proximity to septic systems;
safety, putting hydrants in on those lines; and then lastly was the
environmental, moving people from septic to sewer.
These transmission mains that we talked about today are the conduits
that bring the appropriate quantities of water to the -- to Golden Gate
City. Until that's there, we can't expand the distribution system. So
we've currently got about 3,900 water customers. We anticipate
that's probably a third of what we'll have once we do that. These
transmission mains will probably take about two years, two years or
so to complete.
So if we've got this funding in the summer, we've got to go out
to bid, get the construction going. That probably won't happen till
June 22, 2021
Page 144
later this fall, two years, '22, '23. It will be sometime after that when
we start to expand and fix up the distribution system.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's round numbers?
MR. BELLONE: Roughly; round numbers.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We're two years before we
start looking to actually hook residents into the system.
MR. BELLONE: And just so you know -- and Amy will help
me out on this one, too. We are master planning Golden Gate City
in terms of trying to get water, wastewater, and stormwater and
sidewalks master planned so that we're doing sections of the city all
together.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
MR. BELLONE: So we're not disrupting certain sections two
or three times.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: There is a plan with regard to
that as well, okay.
MR. BELLONE: It's in development, yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And then just to -- and
Commissioner Taylor actually said it, but just for the sake of
repeating, these are much-needed infrastructure improvements to our
entire community, to our existing facilities, both the north plant and
the south plant that we currently have. This is -- this infrastructure's
going to allow us to do the necessary PM to maintain the quality of
service that we've always given to our existing customer base. It
will support new growth, but it's as much for the support of the
people that are already here.
MR. BELLONE: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. All right. There's a
motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
June 22, 2021
Page 145
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously.
How are we doing, Terri?
THE COURT REPORTER: A break at 3:15.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: 3:15, okay.
Item #11E
AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT FOR A
PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT PROJECT INVOLVING GWR
NAPLES, LLC, AT THE CITY GATE COMMERCE PARK
ADJACENT TO THE PARADISE COAST SPORTS COMPLEX,
IN THE AMOUNT OF $15,000,000 – APPROVED
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, Item 11E will be presented
by Deputy County Manager Callahan. It's a recommendation to
approve an economic development agreement for a proposed
development project involving GWR Naples, LLC, which, in
common vernacular, is Great Wolf, at the City Gate Commerce Park
adjacent to the Paradise Sports Complex. It's in the amount of
$15 million.
Mr. Callahan.
MR. CALLAHAN: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the
record, Sean Callahan, Deputy County Manager.
Just real briefly -- and we have representation from Great Wolf
Lodge here today that's asked to make a presentation to you.
June 22, 2021
Page 146
I just want to go through this timeline. Last summer Great Wolf
approached staff, county staff about a potential project here in Collier
County. They analyzed some of the different market costs and
identified what they felt was a finance gap in the project.
In October of last year, the Board entered a contract with
Hunden Strategic Partners, a third-party source, to evaluate the
feasibility of the project and make a recommendation on any type of
public incentive or investment that was necessary to forward the
project.
In February you heard the results of that study. The Board
accepted that and directed staff to negotiate that agreement with the
parameters that were included in the study. Today we're here to
present and include the final economic development agreement for
your consideration.
So with that, I'm going to ask Steve Jacobsen, he's a vice
president of development for Great Wolf Resorts, to come up, and
they have a presentation that they'd like to run through, after which
representatives from Great Wolf and staff will be available for any
questions.
MR. JACOBSEN: Good afternoon, Madam Chair, Chairman,
County Manager, other officials of the county. Appreciate the
opportunity to finally see faces versus the Zoom. Until recently we
haven't been able to travel. So in pretty quick order, I think we
understood what the issues were here, and I think we did a darn good
job of meeting with key stakeholders. Listening to what each one of
you was important as related to this development and what it meant
to Collier County. So we're good listeners, and we're also -- we
acted accordingly.
With Mark and Sean's help, as the Deputy Manager had stated,
we spent quite a bit of time in understanding the issues that were
important to all of you but at the same time understanding what we
June 22, 2021
Page 147
need in order to build, finance, and properly run a lodge of this,
which is, as we believe, second to none in the United States.
Why this part of the world? South Florida is a strategic
location for us. If you look at where we're on the map, California's
covered, the Northeast, Southwest, also the Midwest. But Florida
was an area very important to us for all the reasons you live here.
And we're very bullish on this, specifically this location in Naples
and Collier County.
And it was more than just, you know, gut. We have very
sophisticated modeling. Typical hotels, you'll hear the STR report
which basically will project what the revenue would be for a hotel.
We have a much more complex system called STACKS, and the
reason -- I'll get into that a little bit later, but we have multiple
businesses within a business. So because of that, we have to look at
things differently. We look at, you know, public schools, private
schools, vacation days, road networks.
And this particular metrics that we used to evaluate transient
revenue has been pretty consistent, I would say, across the board of
our -- well, now we have 19 lodges opened up. We just opened up
the one outside of San Francisco. We're within 1 and a half to
3 percent of our projections. We go back and double-check, so we
know this is a very good location for us.
We also believe that by locating next to the sports complex -- we
really haven't done that before, and we actually looked throughout the
United States to see if there's been something very similar to this, and
there really isn't. We really think that there's something about an
additive nature to what you've already spent a lot of effort on
creating, which is a fantastic outdoor sports complex, a regional
draw. We think -- the idea of a rising tide lifts all ships, so we think
we're going to help add to that attraction.
June 22, 2021
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And one of the things that Bryson will get into deeper is we
have a massive marketing program. Each one of the lodges, which
he'll explain, we'll spend between 4 and $5 million annually on
marketing and advertising this location, not to mention the 40 million
that we do internationally and nationally. We now, knock on wood,
just got a project approved in the UK, so people in the UK are going
to know about Collier County. So that's something I think that's
important to understand.
What we're going to talk about today is a couple things. One, I
want to just briefly talk about the amendment and kind of where
we're at with the economic development agreement, which the
Deputy Manager had briefly discussed. We also want to just get you
up to speed on all the meetings we had. So we heard who you
thought was important that we meet with, whether it was Lorenzo
Walker, it was stakeholders, it was hotel operators, CVB, Chamber of
Commerce. All the people that are important to this community, we
reached out to them, and Bryson will go through the Q and A we had
with them. And it wasn't a meeting to check the box. It was a
meeting to listen and to answer their questions, and we believe that
we did that.
And I think to a person, every one of them understood what we
were about and that we were additive and that we were not taking
away business from other businesses in town and that it was the idea
of a rising tide lifts all ships. So Bryson will go into that a little bit
deeper.
And then I'll go back to the economic development agreement
shortly here. And then the other thing is, I want you to know is,
we're ready to go. God willing, if this project gets approved today, I
have approval. Funds are ready to close on the land the end of July,
and probably the next time you'll see me is for a building permit. So
we have the authorization to immediately start the drawings, you
June 22, 2021
Page 149
know, I would say probably 10 months’ worth of drawings, and then
we would bid it out to local general contractors who have the
experience, and then we'd be ready to go.
So we -- we're not prospecting here. We believe in this site.
We believe in what this community has presented to us, and we're
ready to go. And the other thing I think that's important to
understand is we don't shop sites. We're not playing against another
location. This is where we want to be. We're not trying to -- this is
where we want to be. We think we're going to be great to the
community and so that -- I wanted you to understand that as well.
The one thing that the Hunden report -- I just kind of want to go
back a little bit in time. There's been a lot of numbers kicked
around, and I thought I could just briefly kind of sort through that,
and at the end of presentation, I'm going to circle back. And I know
top of the mind is, okay, why do you need the grant? Why do you
need the incentive? What's the financial makeup of this project that
dictates that? So I'm going to circle back after Bryson and answer
that question.
But if you look at the Hunden report, they basically project, they
said, oh, going to be about 234 million. That's probably going to be
close to where it's going to end up; that they're probably going to
have to put in 57 million of equity; and that the gap is about 19 and a
half million. That's where the report started.
Through discussions with staff, looking at our returns, kind of
the second look at the project, and where we needed to be, we looked
at a $15 million grant incentive which was going to be paid during
the two years of construction, and get the project done. And, you
know, you had the clawbacks and everything, which I'll describe in a
second.
As we got to understand a little bit more about the challenges of
this particular district -- because it's early in the stages. A lot of
June 22, 2021
Page 150
money's been spent to create some incredible amenities, but until
Uline's open paying real estate taxes and there's other venues paying
into it, we understood the position that the County Manager is in
managing the funds.
And so one of the things that I thought was -- that we basically
agreed to do with Mark and Sean's direction is that we looked at that
15 million and said, let's split it into a grant and an incentive and use
the incentive up front to get the financing gap but then have the tail
end of it more as an incentive to help in the early years, because we
look at third year as kind of our stabilize year. That's how
Blackstone and Centerbridge and people that own us look at those
projects.
So as we looked at that, there's a couple other things we did. So
as we spread that money out over time, what it did for the county was
instead of paying over a two-year period, now it's a five-year period.
So what it does is it allows the district to get mature. It takes a good
hunk of the incentive and put it into the years when we're operating.
So what that means is, before I even get one payment from the
county, I'm already paying you three-and-a-half million dollars. So
in order to get my building permit, I have to pay a
three-and-a-half-million-dollar impact fee.
The payment, the way we proposed that we negotiated with
Mark and Sean, was that it would be split into two tranches. The
first during construction would be nine million, and then the balance
would be six million over the three-year period. And if you do the
math, the nine million really becomes 5.5 because I'm paying you
three-and-a-half million before you even pay me anything, and we
backloaded it so that the payment got closer to when Uline would be
open.
So, again, being cognizant of the fact of where the county was
from a cash flow, eliminating the need to do a lot of chess piece
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moves on the board to be able to fund from different sources as you
would see fit.
The other thing that's important is by us extending the time
frame, it also kicked a payment into three operating years. And so if
you look at the Hunden report, conservatively it says four-and-a-half
million dollars each of the three years. So if you do four-and-a-half,
four-and-a-half, four-and-a-half, you can do the math.
So you can see that over a five-year period, we'll have paid
17-plus million to the county, and between the incentive and the
grant, we would be getting back 15-. So the county, at the end of
this initial payment period, would be ahead $2 million.
The other thing that I think is very unique with this deal as
negotiated which, frankly, I can't -- I was kind of picking my brain on
other projects. I've never had a municipality have this much control
over the product over an extended period of time.
So there's some subtilties in the agreement which talk about
performance base. So there's three checkpoints during the
construction. It's the drawings, 50 complete, and open. At any one
of those points, if I'm not doing what I say I'm going to do or I try to
deviate from that, you have the ability not to pay. So if I don't
deliver the water park and FEC and the hotel, everything that we are
promising, you have that hammer.
Furthermore, there's a 10-year clawback. Once we're open, you
know, say I win the lottery, I'm somewhere else and the person
standing here decides that, you know, water park, let's make it
smaller; we don't need the family entertainment center, they can't do
that. There's a 10-year clawback in which you, as the county, have
the control to make sure that the product you're buying today that you
know you're getting, you're going to get at least for the next 10 years.
So those were some really important points that I wanted to
bring up. And then one that we volunteered after talking with
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Commissioner Solis and others is, we have the same challenges all of
you do with labor. We are -- we just opened up a lodge in Manteca,
California. It was a struggle getting 700 employees. And so what
we do is we get actively into the community environment years in
advance like we're doing today.
So through all of your recommendations, we met with Gulf
Coast University, with their hospitality program. We're going to be
talking with their water control -- their water training program, water
quality; and we met with Lorenzo Walker. And I'm sure there's
going to be others, but those were two key ones that seemed to kind
of raise to the top as we talk to all of you.
And one thing that we committed to do is that we will, as part of
this agreement in writing, we will commit a half a million dollars for
10 years, roughly 50,000 a year, and we can -- we'll work through the
details. If it's more important to front load a little bit more, we're
more than willing to do that. But it's a way to assist the workforce
so that we can get ahead of the curve here.
And I think the other thing that's important, too, is that is not to
funnel specifically Great Wolf employees. This is to funnel Collier
County. So when we work with Lorenzo Walker, when we work
with the university, it's not going to say they have to go work for
Great Wolf. It's going to be the jobs have to be in Collier County.
So that was another piece to the agreement, working with all of you
and the staff, that is different than from maybe what was originally
out there and what may have been in the Hunden report.
The other piece that we're going to talk about is this is an
innovation zone and, you know, I'm sure you're saying it's great, but
how are you going to really check that box in a material way? And
we're going to go through that. We're going to talk about how we've
raised the ADR's average daily rates in other locations significantly,
10, 15, 20 percent. I know you've received quite a few letters from
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people that sit in your same seats in a different part of the country
that validated that. There's the Star Reports from LaGrange,
Georgia, that actually I think was 20 percent --
MR. HEEZEN: Twenty-one.
MR. JACOBSEN: Twenty-one percent in ADR increase once
we opened. So I think that's going to be important, and we'll go
through it.
And then it's the 700 new jobs, it's the 3,500 construction
workers. And the other piece of this is the half a million people that
visit Great Wolf annually. It's families basically with kids 12 and
under. And what we see that half a million people doing -- is it's
going to be two things: One, it's going to keep families in Collier
County versus going to other parts of the state, which -- to all the
other attractions we all know about -- and give them a reason to stay
here and spend their money in Collier County, and it's also going to
attract people to come here that maybe weren't coming here and, oh,
by the way, maybe extend the stay at the sports complex. So after
they're done with their competition, maybe the next time they're here,
they'll go, you know what, we're going to -- when the competition's
done, we're going to stay an extra day. We're going to go to the
park. We're going to go to other restaurants. So Bryson will go
through that in a little bit more in detail.
And then, like I said, the last thing here is we're ready to go on
this project. So Bryson's going to do a little bit about -- just a little
bit about the concept in a little more detail, and then I'm going to
circle back and then, you know -- and then I'm going to really dive
into the necessity for the grant, because I know that's top of mind of
everybody. Why do you need the grant? How does that work with
your financing? Where are you different than other projects that get
financed to make you special? So I'm going to go through that in a
lot of detail and have you ask all the questions that you need.
June 22, 2021
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So, again, thank you. Apologize again that we're kind of being here
for the first time, but we really weren't able to travel until a couple of
weeks ago. So the first three trips I got on a plane were here, so I
wanted to let you know that.
So I'd like to introduce Bryson Heezen. He's Director for
Development for the U.S., and go ahead, Bryson.
MR. HEEZEN: Thank you. Thank you, Steve. For the
record, Bryson Heezen with Great Wolf Resorts, development
director. Thank you for taking the time to hear from us today.
The point of what I'm going to try to do is give you an idea of the
scale of what does 230-, 250 million dollars represent, and why are
we not a standard hotel. Why are we generating new business that
would otherwise not be coming to the community?
So that -- the very first thing I want to do is just show you a
one-minute video here, one-minute clip of Great Wolf so you
understand, get a better visual who we are and who our customer is.
MR. MILLER: I'm going to need to -- the audio's probably
muted on that. You're going to need to let me stop that and help you
out there.
MR. HEEZEN: All right.
Thank you.
(A video was played.)
MR. HEEZEN: So as you can see, we're all about families.
It's families with kids, primarily 2 to 12 driving about six hours to
come visit us. And simply put, our mission is to bring joy to
families. That's what we strive to do every day, and you can see we
have eight million visitors every single day across the U.S.
We've been doing it a long time. We have 20-plus years of
experience. Locations across the U.S. You've heard from a lot of
those communities about the positive impact that we've had there,
and we hope to have the same impact here.
June 22, 2021
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And, you know, our goal is to provide that safe, convenient, fun
vacation. We have about four-and-a-half guests per room, and
they're staying about one-and-a-half nights when they stay with us.
Frankly, when kids are out of school, we're packed. We are
jampacked, and it's a great experience.
As Steve had mentioned, we're in the innovation zone off of
City Gate Boulevard. I find this image helpful. This is a rendering
of the lodge that we're proposing in Collier County next to the sports
complex right at the doorstep. These are those five businesses that
you'll maybe hear Steve reference later when he talks about how
difficult this can be to finance these projects.
You have the indoor water park, which is about two acres all
under roof; the adventure park, which is another acre under roof; the
conference center; the grand lobby; and, finally, the suites.
When you look at this picture outside of the suites, it's $100 million
investment in attractions that don't exist anywhere in the state of
Florida.
We're far more than a hotel, evidenced by just your arrival to the
experience. When you enter the lobby, it's a three- to four-story
space, first-class experience immersing you into the resort as soon as
you get there. When you walk into the front doors, you're on
vacation, and your kids feel that special moment.
The lobby is where we host all of our activities that are included
with your room rate, everything from story time with Wiley or
Violet, the wolf, our family and friends show. It's a pretty amazing
scene to see a thousand kids down there in pajamas all enjoying
cookies and milk right before bed. I'm sure the parents love that,
too.
Outside of the lobby the next, you know, area families tend to
gravitate towards are their hotel rooms. And we offer them ample
space and amenities. The smallest room sleeps six people. A lot of
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the rooms are themed with bunk beds and kind of little dugouts for
kids called the kid cabin and the wolf den. These are not standard
hotel suites by any means. In fact, business travelers try their
hardest not to stay at our hotels because it is packed with family
members.
For us, the main attraction is the water park. We take a lot of
pride in being the largest owner and operator of indoor water parks in
the U.S. Our lifeguards provide an extremely safe environment.
They are trained above and beyond Red Cross guidelines. If we
don't get the water park right, we've got a big problem. So we put a
lot of time, a lot of investment, and a lot of energy into that product.
As you can imagine, we have all the greatest rides, slides, and
attractions that will help draw a family from six hours away. It gives
them activity to do for two days of play with your one-night stay. So
every night you stay, you can play in the water park the day you
arrive and the day you check out. So you essentially get two days of
play for one night's stay.
On days when capacity allows for it, because it is an enclosed
space, we do sell day passes. So we do work with local hotels to try
to sell those passes to extend the stay in the market, drive additional
sales in the market, and provide an experience to families that may
not want to be staying with us for that particular time period.
Outside of the water park is the adventure park. This is our
family entertainment center. This was in between the
family-friendly suites and the indoor water park. This also is open to
the public. It's also pay to play. So somebody at a sporting event
could take a break between games or an activity and come over and
do the ropes course, mini golf, arcade, rock climbing, all of the things
that we have that are in the latest and greatest versions of our lodges;
laser tag, things like that, just things to really entertain families. In
addition, there's four to five different restaurants, plenty of eating
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opportunities. The restaurants inside of the resort are really geared
towards resort guests. We don't have restaurant signs even outside
of the property. They're really geared towards those that are staying
inside. Like I mentioned, the food and beverage offering.
We also have meeting space. And I want to talk about group
business a little bit because there seemed to be -- when we were
talking with hotel owners and managers in the market, there seemed
to be a concern that the only reason we were locating by this sports
complex was to steal all the sports business. Completely not the
truth or factual.
When the sports complex is busy, we're busy. So we don't have
the ability to take a lot of those room nights from the sporting events
that are happening. In fact, the sporting teams really don't like us
because of our contracting as well, because we're very strict on our
contracts for the weekends. Because kids are out of school, we're
packed; we can really sell those leisure nights.
So by way of an example -- and in Sandusky where there's
another big sports complex that we're located by, we maybe have 5 to
10 percent of those room nights stay with us, and it's people that
specifically have the kids in our range, and they need to do something
with the kids while the older sibling is playing in sports. But it's a
very small piece. In fact, group business is only about 10 percent of
our overall business. Of that 10 percent, only 5 percent of it is sports
related. And we had our sales manager do meetings with local hotel
owners and managers to help understand that and explain that
dynamic, because that definitely was something that came up a lot in
our discussions.
The benefit we do provide to those events is we're going to be
charging a higher rate. We're going to be several hundred dollars
more than what the standard hotel is charging. So in the industry, it
kind of gives you that sales reason to lift your rates a little bit higher,
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and this can be evidenced in other markets we're in, like LaGrange,
Georgia. We ran an STR, a STR report for LaGrange, Georgia, for
2018 versus 2019, and the rates in the market were up 21.7 percent
year over year. So there's proof there. We've asked some of the
mayors to actually call and reach out to Commissioner Solis to
provide -- I don't know if that happened or not, but to provide some
guidance on what our impact has been. They've estimated the
overall lift in the 10 to 15 percent range.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis has a question
for you.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Just a quick question, because I
kind of -- you know, I think we all chuckled when you said that the
business traveler doesn't want to stay there because there's a million
kids running around, but -- so just give me an idea, in terms of
group-business, what kind of group business is it? If it's not
business travel, then what are you gearing your group business
towards?
MR. HEEZEN: The acronym is SMERF.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: SMERF?
MR. HEEZEN: So the elements of that -- I'll come back to how
much -- sports, military, education, religion, and fraternal. It's kind
of a catch phrase in the group business world.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay.
MR. HEEZEN: A lot of folks will focus on sports. We don't
because of the overlap. So we focus -- a lot of our time is on the
association business and the military. So we do a lot of, you know,
coming-home events or going-away events type of things.
What's also important -- and we had this discussion with Clark
at the Hilton is, we're not competing with the local business hotel
meeting space. We're competing with where are families in a
six-hour drive going now for their kind of regional events. So
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whether it's team building for a company or something like that
that's -- it's a real niche market that we go after, because it is only 10
percent, and it's really hard to take that -- you can't replace that higher
transient overnight spend with the lower group spend without, you
know, putting it in the middle of the week, so...
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: How many seats in your conference
center?
MR. HEEZEN: I think we'll get to about -- I think it was 350.
About 350 seats. About 5,000 square feet.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. And, excuse me, is it banquet
-- you can set up for banquet as well as meetings within that
conference center?
MR. HEEZEN: Yes. It's very flexible. It is -- it's some of the
nicest space. We build some pretty nice space because we have to
be able to compete in order to drive that off-peak. And why it's so
important that we drive that Monday-through-Thursday businesses,
we have to be staffed up for that. Whether we have 50 rooms sold to
families or 100 or 500 rooms sold to families, they still want that
Great Wolf experience. So if we can also drive some business
through the conference center, it just helps with keeping those low
periods not so low.
You know, just as a recap here, and I'll hand it over to Steve to
talk about the EDA in more detail. I kind of covered some of this,
but a lot of important points. As Steve had mentioned, over the first
five years, between fees and tax revenues, we'll have generated
17 million versus the nine million of the incentive and six million of
grants over the first three years of operation. So that would be 17
versus the 15.
After 10 years of operations, which is your clawback period,
we'll have generated $45 million. And as Hunden had reported,
150 million over 30 years.
June 22, 2021
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So these are directly from us. This does not capture what half a
million visitors that would otherwise not be coming to the market,
what they will be spending on, which is an entirely different
economic lift.
The multiplier effect being positive, this was what I referenced
with the S-T-R report, the STR report, as well as the anecdotal ideas
from mayors in local communities. It's a tough thing to measure, but
they're in it every day. They talk to the restaurants; they talk to the
hotels.
Steve had mentioned the meaningful marketing spend. That's
why we're successful. We get our message out there, and we spend a
lot to do it. Four to five million dollars is a -- it's a massive
marketing spend every single year.
The job creation is important to us. That's why two years
before we hire our first employee we're meeting with the schools,
we're making a commitment for that half a million dollars of
workforce development, which we should be able to go get some
federal and state grants. So perhaps we can get something matching.
Maybe it's not a half a million dollars. Maybe it's a million-dollar
program. Our goal will be to try to make that as robust as possible.
And as Steve has mentioned, that's not direct placement with Great
Wolf; that's for the community.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just one quick --
MR. HEEZEN: Yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I have one quick
question, Madam - Just a clarification. In that tax revenue there that
you talk about there on the top line, that's not just ad valorem. That's
a combination --
MR. HEEZEN: Correct.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- of sales tax, TDT tax, and
ad valorem?
June 22, 2021
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MR. HEEZEN: Correct, correct, those three.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: But it does not include the
ancillary dollars that are generated with the people that come -- that's
just from you?
MR. HEEZEN: Correct.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: When people come there and
go to our other restaurants and our other communities, those
aren't -- those aren't dollars that are included in that estimate?
MR. HEEZEN: That's correct. And to clarify, it also does not
include the 20 percent lift to other rates around us, to other hotel rates
around us.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you.
MR. HEEZEN: We also understand our place in the
community. We'll be a big employer. We're going to be hosting
half a million visitors in your county, and our general managers have
the discretion -- they're always part of chambers, restaurant, lodging
associations, tourism groups, CVBs. We're very active in the
community because we bring a unique perspective into how to drive
additional tourism.
So, thank you very much. I'll hand it over to Steve now.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis, did you want
to --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, yeah, just while we're getting
ready up there. I was just wondering if -- I don't know if you're
going to go through this now, but just to have an idea of what the
breakdown of rooms are. You know, how many -- your smallest
room, I think --
MR. JACOBSEN: Sleeps six.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- sleeps six people, and your
largest sleeps?
June 22, 2021
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MR. HEEZEN: Yeah. I don't have a graphic to show you, but
it depends on how we eventually adjoin rooms. We can get up to 12.
We might be able to actually do a little bit more. But the way we
sell that is a lot with multi-generational travel. So it's either
grandparents booking one of the rooms and then the family booking
another.
But the other thing we're seeing is millennial travel. They look
at their friends as family. So we'll find a lot of friends that are
traveling together and booking the same rooms, and we can adjoin
those rooms.
So in the typical hotel world, it's modeled differently because
inventory comes out, and you're selling different -- for us, it's driving
number of people because we have all those restaurants, we have all
those activities which drives additional revenue, which Steve will talk
about how it complicates underwriting and makes everything else
more difficult, but...
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. So at this point you're -- I
mean, you haven't done the design, so you don't know what the
breakdown is --
MR. HEEZEN: Yeah, across the -- oh, you want a percent?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Just like how many -- you know,
how many of the six-person rooms, how many eight. Just an idea.
MR. HEEZEN: It's around -- we do around 45 percent what we
call the family suite, which is the sleep-six and doesn't have the
themed elements. We'll do about 20 percent what we call kind of the
grizzly suite which is the bigger one which, at a minimum, depending
on how the final layout it, will be nine to 10 people per room, and
then the themed suites is the remainder. Those are the ones that
sleep somewhere between seven and nine depending on how we set
up the bunk beds inside the kid cabin and the wolf den.
June 22, 2021
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COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. That's helpful. And then
my last question, just because I can anticipate questions. So how do
you handle grandkids coming to Great Wolf and Collier County
resident grandparents? Could they come? I mean, how does that
work? Are there day passes for the grandparents to come?
MR. HEEZEN: Sure. Yes, yeah.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: That's going to be a big draw for
the grandparents.
MR. HEEZEN: Yeah. You can stay in the room and
buy -- the one thing I've learned is there's a Disney fatigue in the
market, and folks are looking for something to do locally, and we
think that there's a big market there for that.
MR. JACOBSEN: The way we handle the day passes, it's
really -- so if you were the manager and you knew you had 20 vacant
rooms coming up this weekend, we average 4.4 people per room stay.
You'd have the ability to sell four passes. So four times 20, you'd
have 80 day passes that you could sell. And you as the manager,
you know, you play the pricing game.
And so the ultimate -- what you ultimately want to do is to get
that family of five to go, well, why don't we just get a room?
So -- we do get a lot of people who will pay to get the room because
it's a great place to change clothes, but they don't stay in the room
because they live two blocks way.
So the way we've set it up is so that people don't come and get
disappointed is you have to go online, and you know when you book
your -- you know you've got the room Tuesday night, Saturday night,
Sunday night so you don't show up with Grandma and Grandpa,
extended family, like, disappointed.
We also make sure that all of that is taken care of online. So it's
seamless for you, and you get the same experience as if you had a
room.
June 22, 2021
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COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Well, I mean -- and I was really
just -- in a way just being kind of tongue in cheek, because we have a
lot of grandparents in Collier County who will -- I can see the
children, the grandchildren at Great Wolf and the grandparents not
wanting to get in the slide themselves, but maybe watching the
grandkids or something.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You don't like the tube?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah, the tube, I don't know.
MR. JACOBSEN: Well, the other thing, too, we have -- which
we didn't talk about. We have the outdoor resort pool which is a
little bit more subdued a little bit. So that -- maybe Grandma and
Grandpa stay out there while the kids went crazy inside.
But by doing that we never -- so it's this balance of wanting -- if,
Commissioner Taylor, you're there with your family and you had
booked a room, we want your experience to be exactly the way you
want it but, Commissioner Solis, if you come with the day pass, you
know, we want to make sure that we don't exceed the quantity.
So that's why we keep it at four per room, and that way we never
exceed zoning, we never exceed parking, we don't -- but we're filling
the water park, because the one key thing that I'll talk about in a
second is we have much higher -- our margins are much different
than any hotel. So think about this, I have this water park of two,
two-and-a-half acres. I have -- we call it FTEs. What that is in
the -- is full-time equivalent employees. So you take the amount of
hours, divide it out, and that's -- we have 74 FTEs in our water park.
So no matter whether I have 200, 300 or 3,000 in the water park, I
have to have the same amount because, as you know, every blind
spot's got to be covered from a lifeguard, I've got to have my towel
attendants and everything else.
June 22, 2021
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So there's a lot of costs. So there's a method to our madness in
driving this day pass to be able to, you know, help us out when in the
trough period.
And the other thing, too, is -- we found out with the locals is
they're smart. They go online. They know when our trough periods
are. And I'm telling you, there's people that get rooms for 120 a
night, 110 a night in low periods and, you know, in the middle of the
year they go, and they're with family and spend the night and have a
great time.
So we think there's a niche there. And the one thing that I want
to hit on again, the one thing that our STACKS model is not picking
up, which really gets us excited, is the grand -- it's that disposable
income on the retirees. It's very hard to quantify. There's not a lot
of data that tells you how much they really have, because a lot of
them are transplants. They come from other areas. They don't
disclose that. So we think there's -- there's a little hidden treasure
there specifically in this neck of the woods, I think, as we actually
increase the numbers, our projections from what we're saying.
The other thing I wanted to talk about quickly, just on the jobs.
So a lot of people say, yeah, that's great, 700 jobs, it's a hotel; most of
them are frontline workers. They're -- okay. They pay well. But
we're a little bit different, and I want to describe that.
So our frontline workers, which are specifically in the
hospitality, we have what we call kind of rugged occupancy, and
what we mean by this is think of you going on a business trip, go to
any of the flags you know, you check into the hotel, put your
toiletries in the washroom, hang up your clothes, you go to your
dinner meeting, you come back, and if you actually pull the sheet and
covers up and leave the room, we'd be hard pressed to even know
you're in the room.
June 22, 2021
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Now go to our rooms that sleep at least six, you've got kids 2
through 12 that have been on sugar and running around. Think of a
room with 15, 20 towels laying around, all of the stuff to clean up,
and this whole thing of, you know, not wanting to touch people's
things, but the room is a complete disaster.
And so we actually have about a 10 to 12 percent attrition the
first 90 days. Because of that, we pay more. So we pay more on
our hospitality than normal because of that. It's a harder job.
The other thing that I'll get into is because of the five different
businesses we have, which is the water park, the FEC, the hotel, food
and beverage, and meeting space, we actually have director level for
each of those businesses. So because of that, you have a director and
you have an assistant. So now all of a sudden you have a higher
management level as a percentage compared to other hotels.
So we're -- let's just say a normal flag you may know that has
500 employee -- 500 rooms, maybe they have 20 -- 18 to 20 salaried
employees. We're going to have 35, 40, 45 salary employees.
Those employees, without benefits, are going to be well north of
$110,000 so -- annual salary without benefits. So we have a much
larger chunk up there, and we pay higher because of that -- call it the
rugged occupancy.
So it is more that -- it's not 700 jobs as you think with normal
hospitality because of the way our business is set up.
The other thing that -- I just wanted to go back to the meeting
room space. The other thing that I wanted to expand on with Bryson
is what we also do is we will team up -- and we've already started the
conversations. So if we're all at a convention in the meeting space,
we're not going to Hungry as a Wolf for pizza with kids running
around. We want to get out.
So what we do is we work with the local transportation, shuttle
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service, because we don't have a shuttle service, and we'll work with
local golf courses, restaurants, wineries, brew pubs. People want to
get out. And so we will facilitate that event afterwards because it
drives business, because people know it's kind of a one-stop shop for
us. We then will work local, like I said, restaurants and golf courses
so that people can kind of team up other things with their conference
room stay. So that's the other part of checking the innovation zone
box, that we do other things besides just what we had talked about.
So the question here is, okay, all right, guys, love your concept,
this is great, you're doing all the social boxes, you met with
everybody, why do you need an incentive? What is it that's different
here? And, so first of all, I want you to understand that of our 19
lodges, every one of the lodges has had financial assistance of some
form, whether it's -- the land's been donated. A lot of locations we're
able to tap into the hotel sales tax. In Maryland, the state credit and
enterprise zone, that started our real estate taxes low and grew over
time. Some communities we get grants for public improvements.
In one location we're adjacent to a casino, and the county's
agreed to give us a certain amount of money per year as proceeds
from the casino to get us into town.
So there's been all different forms and, you know, I can certainly
answer any questions if you want to know what other locations have
given us. I think I may have answered that to some of you. I'm not
sure.
But the thing that -- there's four elements that drive the necessity
for assistance here. And I'll get into the -- it's the complexities of the
financing. And I think you've picked up a little bit about why we're
different. And so put your head in the mind of a lender of how
you're going to finance this project and how you're going to measure
success and the risk, and I'll come back to that.
Then there's excessive land cost. I mean, frankly, we
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don't -- we really don't pay for the land. The land usually comes as a
grant or as part of some enterprise zone, and we usually don't pay for
the land.
There's higher-than-normal fees, okay. That's just what it is in
this part of the world; it's higher fees than we've paid in the past.
And the other one is higher construction costs. And as I said about
earlier, our margins are different on the cost side, on the employee
side.
To give you an idea, a flag that you may be -- any of the flags
out there, 500-room call it, typical Hyatt, Hilton, 500-room. All in
might be, without land, $400,000 a key. That's kind of an average
number to use in this market. We're about 560- to 570,000 because
of this additional hundred million dollars of non-hotel improvements.
So out of the box, we have a much bigger nut to underwrite.
The other issue we have is the banks look at our expense side.
They go, wait a minute, you're about 28 to 29 percent more
employees per room than a typical hotel. So those are some of the
key factors.
So these are the challenges we have. When a call it a Hilton or
a Hyatt or a Marriott go out for financing, the banks, the developer
will submit the STR report, and the STR report will say you're going
to produce this much in income. It's predictable. It's been
happening for how many years in the hotel business, assuming the
developer's creditworthy, they get their loan, probably do anywhere
from 10 to 18 percent equity, and they move on with life, and they
build the project, and the banks are happy, okay.
Now, you come to our product type. I know now five different
businesses that are operating. So banks know how to lend to hotels,
they know how to do water parks, and they actually -- some of, you
know, kind of the Dave & Buster's of world, you could kind of look
at them as more entertainment.
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We have that all together as one complex, and they all operate
differently. So when we talk about occupancy levels, they get
confused because, well, are you talking number of people or are you
talking number of rooms? So just we get natural attrition, so as they
go deeper into it, the wide pool of lenders gets narrower and
narrower, and as you get narrower, the ability to competitively bid
points and closing costs and everything else goes up.
So what we end up having to do -- and I'll give you -- I won't
give the exact location, but we're doing a project in the Mid-Atlantic
that we just closed on. We don't have the luxury of one loan. We
will have anywhere from two to four banks involved. So think about
in today's environment orchestrating four different banks to agree and
close.
So we'll have a senior loan, which will take about 50 percent of
the total loan, and then the balance of the 50 percent is made up of
our equity and the mezzanine loan. The mezzanine loan -- I'll tell
you right now, mezz loans are 8 percent. We're paying 8 percent.
That's today's number, 8 percent. And then the seniors are, you
know, anywhere between 5 and three-quarters to even 6-and-a-half
percent. We're putting in every bit of 30 percent equity today, and
we'll expect to do that in the (inaudible).
So where the Hunden report projected, you know, 57 million, in
order to -- as negotiating with Mark and Sean, in order to push more
of the dollars into the later years to help out with the cash flow with
the county, we've had to step up in a more meaningful equity.
So we are going to be putting in 30 percent. In this project, you
know, it could be every bit of 65 to 70 million versus the Hunden
report said 57 million. So that's how we're able to adjust the
payment for the financial gap.
The other thing, too, is just think about each of these loans.
Each of these loans have their own points. I've got my own set of
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lawyers. I've got bank law -- I've got three or four different law
firms that work for each bank. Got to pay them all separately. I
have my law firm, and I have our advisors in on all the points.
So, again, it's maybe more detail than you wanted, but it's a very
complex financing. We get it done. I mean, we've gotten 19 of
them, and we do it, and we know, but the gap we have here is, it's
the -- it's what's presented today, and that's the gap that gets it done.
Like I said, we're not shopping this project. We believe in this
location. We're ready to go now. And, you know, we need the
incentive. We need what's been outlined, or we can't move forward
with the project. And I'm really excited about this site, as you can
tell. I mean, I've been doing this a while. What you guys have here
is really cool, and I'm just -- we're just pumped over it.
And I just hope as you look at the one-of-a-kind tourist
destination and all the things that we talked about here, that we
do -- we are an economic boost. We're not just in it for ourselves.
We've stepped up in a meaningful way with the jobs program.
You're going to find us as an incredible citizen in your community by
a testament of all the letters you've already gotten.
You know, we appreciate with Mark and Sean, what they've
done. They've been very transparent and professional. I think
we've got an agreement that still works for us. Like I said, we
stepped up with another 10 to 15 million of equity. We've pushed
dollars into the operating years which allow you to get ahead of us,
and you've got all these controls to claw back to make sure we
perform.
I think you've done everything you can to make sure that you get
the product that you think you're going to get and that you want to get
and you deserve.
So we appreciate the time here, and I will answer any other
questions that you have.
June 22, 2021
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CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Before we go to do that,
I think our dear court reporter needs a break, and I think we're going
to take a 10-minute break, and then we'll come back with some
questions. Thank you for that. Very thorough. Thank you.
MR. JACOBSEN: Thank you.
(A brief recess was had from 3:35 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.)
MR. ISACKSON: Madam Chair, Commissioners, you have a
live mic.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So we are now at a point where we
can pose questions. If any of our -- any of us have any questions,
now's the time.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No. Do we have any public
comment?
MR. ISACKSON: There are none, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Well, I do have a
question, just one. Not of the cleaning lady. God love here; she's
not even looking. There you go. Either one. I just -- I had a
question on the -- you have 17 other facilities, did I see, in your
documentation?
MR. HEEZEN: Yeah. We have 17, and then there's one in
Canada and one in Albany in Northern California. That's how we
get to -- that's the bridge between -- that's the bridge between 17 and
19.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So how many have you ever
had to close after you opened them?
MR. HEEZEN: None.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was my only question.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Okay. I've got a bunch,
okay, and some statements as well.
We're not here to decide if Great Wolf is amazing, okay. I've
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actually stayed at one out in the Midwest. You've got 17. I'm
convinced. I don't need to see any more videos and the pool and
everything. We're here to decide if we are going to give you a
$15 million gift of taxpayer dollars is what we're here to decide.
First of all, I do commend you for your detail. You know, I know
you've reached out to all of us. We've either been on Zoom, you
know, you're here in person, so -- but, you know, this is a big muscle
movement. So just -- you know, just hear me out.
And I don't want you to take any of my comments as not being
supportive. I think you-all being in that spot would be amazing,
okay, it would be amazing, for you all, and a little bit for us. And
just hear me out.
So I have some comments, but then I want to hear your -- you
know, your rebuttal. I mean, you know, we're deciding to take
$15 million of taxpayer dollars and gives you an incentive basically
to say, you know, you want to come here, and we really want you to
come here. And so, you know, that's what the incentive is for, and
it's also a partnership. You know, I got it. I get everything you say,
you know, everything you talked about as to justifying the cost and
money and everything. It had merit, whether it sort of resonated
with me as being, you know, sort of -- you know, help me make a
decision, well, we'll proceed here.
Great Wolf is a solid company, okay; 17 locations. I think you,
I guess, are financially sound. I understand the loans and the banks,
okay. That's called business. I mean, everybody does that. So that
pitch -- you know, you guys aren't walking in with a paper bag asking
the bank for money. I mean, you guys are a solid company. And I
got a ton of e-mails from people all over, as you probably, you know,
pulsed mayors and whatnot; we all did. But some of those are
apples to chairs, you know. There's some places where Great Wolf
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may have been the biggest thing in town and they couldn't wait to
give you a big bag of money.
You know, to talk about some of your comments, as you stated,
Southwest Florida is a strategic location, you know. You aren't here.
Some of those places where you went to, I have no doubt that they
gave you a lot of incentives because they were salivating, you know,
at the mouth at bringing in Great Wolf.
The sports complex being in your background is a first for you.
That was your exact comment. So that's value. That's value to you.
You will add to the sports complex but, in my opinion, I think the
sports complex will add way more to you. And, you know, hear me
out.
You know, your exact quote is, this is where we want to be, so
excited about it and everything and, you know, that doesn't take away
from the discussion, but it's not like, you know, you're sitting here
going, yeah, it's an okay -- you know, if you guys give us enough
incentive, you know, maybe we'll make this, you know, Location
No. 18. I mean, you all are businesspeople. You know if you put
something like this in an area where it has nothing like that -- and like
you said, people will come from six hours away. My biggest
concern is I don't know how much of that will add to the sports park.
I mean, I see people coming in for a week and in the end
checking out and paying a big Great Wolf bill and then walking over
to the sports complex, sitting by the fire pit, buying one beer, maybe
paying $8 to work out on the exercise equipment, and then walking
back to Great Wolf and paying, you know, several thousand dollars
for staying at a five-star resort, which is all good. But I think as a
County Commissioner I'm sitting here saying, you know, what's in it
for me? What's in it for the citizens I represent? And do I want to
give you a $15 million gift for the pleasure of you building, you
know, on that property?
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I see you've already started running TV commercials here
locally, which is exactly what I would do as a company to get my
brand out there. So, obviously, you know, you're not on the fence
about this location. We haven't decided on the 15 million, and
already, you know, you're doing what a good company, a good solid,
solvent company, you know, does.
I'll just cut to sort of my conclusion. Lots of things could go on
that footprint and that property, and one of the things I've said over
and over, I'd rather see nothing go somewhere than the wrong thing.
You guys are the right thing, but I have a problem with the 15 million
of taxpayer dollars, a big problem.
So, you know, my conclusion -- and then I want to hear, you
know, what you have to say -- is, I encourage you to come here and
build the Great Wolf Lodge on that piece of property, but I already
feel like Collier County's giving you more than 15 million in value.
It's a great piece of property. So whether you buy it or not, the
property is there. So I can tell you, as a county, I wouldn't vote to
buy you the property and hand you the keys, but if you-all bought it,
it's an incredible footprint with the sports complex in the backward in
Southwest Florida where you don't exist, in a place where people will
drive for six hours to come, where grandparents who have lots of
liquid, like you said, you know, income, are going to spend dollars,
and it's going to be for a Great Wolf bill, not necessarily -- you know,
they're not coming here with a soccer team of 300 people and they're
going to pay us $50,000 to play on our fields. You know, that's
going to be few and far between.
You definitely bring a one-of-a-kind place, but so do we, you
know, but so do we.
You talked about your five different businesses and, like I said, I
remember being at Great Wolf, and it's like a little mini Disney
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World. So, you know, you offer a lot, but all those businesses don't
bring, you know, much revenue to us.
Now, granted the part that Commissioner McDaniel talked about
sort of residual or additional revenue without -- you know,
throughout the community, people leaving Great Wolf and going to
eat at Outback and gassing up their cars and everything, well, we get
that no matter what gets built there. I think we get it in a better way
with an incredible footprint of you, but do I think it's worth
$15 million? Like I said, I'll go back to my initial thing: I
encourage you to build it, and I don't know that you need $15 million
of our taxpayer dollars to be encouraged to do it. Like I said, I think
we already give you more than 15 million of value.
The high cost of land and construction and all that here, no
question, but I think it's made up easily in having an incredible
location with a sports park in the backyard that's going to draw a lot
of people. I mean, you know, let's not -- let's not, you know, mix
words here, fellows. You're going to put a picture of our sports
complex in every single brochure that you have to show, like, what
an amazing location that you're in, and we want you to do that; we
want you to do that.
But in the end, is that going to bring revenue to our sports
complex in some sort of exponential way? I think it's more of a
benefit for you-all than us, and I don't say that to be, like, sarcastic or
anything. I just think it's fact. I think it's 90 percent good for you,
10 percent, you know, good for us. Will there be people that, you
know, mosey on over to the sports park, absolutely, but I just -- I
don't see them bringing exponential dollars.
Like you said, 10 percent of your business is sports related, and
5 percent of that maybe uses the sports complex. So we're not
talking big numbers, you know. It gives us a beautiful resort right
next to the sport complex, but in the end, we're trying to take a sports
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complex that costs, you know, well over a $100 million and trying to,
not get our money back, but have revenue come to it, you know, so
the county -- you know, it's not a sucking chest wound for us.
And there's a lot of operation and maintenance costs to keep that
place looking great, so we need -- we need -- you know, I drive by
that regularly, and you know what I see? Forty kids playing on a
soccer field that aren't paying a penny to play there, a few people
drinking a beer over by the lake and over by the fire pit. And, you
know -- yeah, we've got Ben Allen coming, and hopefully we have
bigger things and whatnot, but the question I ask is, will you
exponentially be feeding that sports complex the kind of things that
will help us -- that will help us raise exponential revenue, and I think
possibly you will, but I just don't know that it's worth a $15 million
gift.
So in the end, you know, I just say I think you'll make up the
construction costs and the land with volume, with revenue, you
know, from all these grandparents and people that are going to come
and folks that go, wow, that's the only Great Wolf Lodge with,
basically, a -- you know, a super -- a superdome, a Raymond James
stadium in the backyard. All the more reason to go there. But those
people aren't going to be writing us $10,000 checks. You know, like
I said, they're going to buy a beer and enjoy the fire pit.
You are a one-of-a-kind destination. This is my sort of closer.
You are a one-of-a-kind destination. So are we; so are we. So if
you want to come here, you know, and be part of an amazing
community, a County Commission that's going to work with you as
businesses and whatnot, going to be very positive, very favorable,
going to be great partners, citizens that are going, you know, to be
wonderful and love things and all that, very positive place, I think
this will be one of, if not, you know, the best locations you've ever
built in. I encourage you to come here and, like I said, I think we're
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giving you well more than 15 million already in value and all those
other pluses you talked about.
So, you know, that's -- those are sort of my notes. I'm hearing
your pitch. And, like I said, I'll preface it, you know, or end it by
saying it's a great facility. Nobody's, you know, debating that, but in
the end we're not here to vote on if Great Wolf Lodge is amazing.
We're here to vote on should we give you 15 million for the benefit
of you building here. And, quite frankly, I'd encourage you to build
here with us giving you nothing.
And we commonly don't give incentives to a lot of builders.
Some we do for various reasons. Every project is different. I think
the first time I talked with you-all and we talked about that land, I
said, I would never be supportive with the county buying that land
and handing you the keys, and obviously you reworked the numbers,
and now your plan is, you know, to buy the land. But the 15 million,
even though I understand the math spread out over the years, it's not a
$15 million check to hand you; it's still real money. And also, too, I
think it's also, too, the principle of the thing. You know, with all
these pluses, do we really need to incentivize Great Wolf to come
here and build? So that would be my thoughts.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. First of all, do
we have registered speakers? I see a masked man in the back there.
Looks like he may be from the Chamber.
MR. MILLER: I see Mr. Dalby as well, but I have no slips at
this time.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The reason I asked that is, do
we have speakers on this? I know the Chamber had expressed some
reservations about this earlier on.
MR. MILLER: I have no registered speakers, sir.
June 22, 2021
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COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm going to tag along a little
bit with what Mr. LoCastro has said. I've raised some questions with
our staff concerning this, and at one point I asked staff if there was
any flexibility on the part of Great Wolf and, of course, staff's
response was that they can't make that determination.
So I did speak with Dudley Goodlette, I guess, about a week,
week-and-a-half ago and asked him that very question, and he had
said that he was going to be meeting with you gentlemen or some
group that evening for dinner, I think you said, Dudley, and that you
had raised that question.
Mr. Goodlette got back to me, I think the next day, and said, no
real flexibility on the amount, but we're going to spread it out over a
little bit longer period of time.
So as we're having this conversation -- and I'll be interested in
hearing what the other commissioners have to say -- but is there any
flexibility -- and I would just need you gentlemen to kind of think
about that as we're debating this -- in that amount because, quite
frankly, I thought that was a bit high myself and expressed that to the
County Manager and to Sean as well.
So as we're discussing this, I just want to kind of plant that seed
for you to think about. You know, is there any flexibility? You
start off by saying there is none, that that's the gap, and there's no
way to deal with that gap other than that $15 million incentive.
So I'll look forward to hearing what the other commissioners
have to say. But give that a little bit of thought as we're discussing
this.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'll speak now, and I think what I'd
like to do is ask our County Manager, you mentioned that if this does
not go through, that your recommendation to this board -- and it's
only a recommendation -- would be to buy that property to protect it
from -- to have some control over what goes next to the sports park;
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is that correct?
MR. ISACKSON: That would be the follow-on discussion if
the Great Wolf economic development agreement fails at this level.
That would be my suggestion to the Board, that they direct me to go
back out and have conversations with the landowner.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And given that -- and, again,
understanding this is conversations, but preliminary guess on the cost
of this -- of the land of this purchase would be what?
MR. ISACKSON: Eight to 10 million.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Okay.
MR. ISACKSON: Twenty acres, 400,000 -- 450,000 an acre,
roughly.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's 10 million.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: The property is shovel ready; is
that correct? Essentially shovel ready? There's no entitlements
needed or anything?
MR. HEEZEN: Correct. It's got a PUD, approved DRI, yeah.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. And that PUD was done
when?
MR. CALLAHAN: There were some variations approved to
that PUD on March -- your March 23rd BCC --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: On the 23rd, right. There were
some revisions, right.
MR. CALLAHAN: Yes.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: But the PUD allows for other uses,
right? I mean, it's not just a Great Wolf PUD; it allows for other
uses?
MR. CALLAHAN: Correct.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Roger's over there.
You know, I had some concerns about this myself. I did spend
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some time speaking with the Great Wolf folks, and they did answer a
lot of the questions that I didn't have answers to before. You know, I
think there is the balancing issue, and it is a big number, I mean, for
us. I think it is a big number in terms of an incentive, because we
don't do it a lot.
But I think the thing that we have to balance is if -- is that if the
property is shovel ready and we don't approve this and Great Wolf
decides to go somewhere else or just not do it, then we have to
balance the impact on the sports park and the other plans that we
have there in terms of some of the other uses that could end up right
next door to, you know, the amenity, really, which I hope becomes
one of the biggest things, and that is, you know, the cove, the lake,
the great lawn, you know, the jumbotron, the part of the park that
people are going to go to use not necessarily to play golf.
And what's the effect of having, say, you know, a manufacturing
facility of some kind or a warehousing facility. I mean, Uline is way
down at the other end, and they're -- we negotiated a great deal with
them. I think staff did a great job to really screen that, right, from
the -- so, you know, I think there's going to be a cost either way, is, I
guess, what my point is.
And, you know, what I would like to see also is -- and I'm not
sure if this is the time to do this or not, but how do we -- if this gets
approved, how do we, in a way, incorporate both ways, this unique
thing that we would have created here, the Great Wolf and this
one-of-a-kind sports and entertainment facility? How does that all
get integrated in the sense that it does all kind of work together, you
know, that -- you know, I don't know if there's, you know, a big
playground in between or something, just so that it looks like it's a
part of a unified plan as opposed to having the sports complex and
then this other resort facility with -- you know, whether it's a wall -- I
don't know what the plans are for that, but how to connect them so
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they really do -- we maximize the cross benefit both for the facility
and for Great Wolf.
So, you know, I'm like Commissioner Saunders, I'd like to
hear -- I don't know if anybody else is going to -- Commissioner
McDaniel has said anything yet --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- but, you know, I think there's
going to be a cost either way. And I like the idea of creating -- I
mean, we already have something, as Commissioner LoCastro was
saying, a one-of-a-kind thing, but I like the idea of making it even
more unique and having something like Great Wolf there, but we
have to balance the cost of that, so...
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And as we take our deliberations, I'd
like to pose a question to my colleagues. If this was -- and this is
hypothetical -- 10 years from now, and there was money -- TIF
money, innovation zone, would this be more attractive?
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, in regard to that, yes.
It wouldn't be less attractive to me. Unlike Commissioner LoCastro,
I have a tendency to treat these as business transactions. This piece
of property is contiguous to our park, but it's a separate business.
And, yes, we bring a lot, but we're the ones that made that
$100 million plus-minus investment in our amateur sports park.
We're the ones that chose to tell the Atlanta Braves, no, we don't want
to play ball with you, literally.
We're the ones that have worked with the Department of
Transportation to do the $90 million worth of improvements to I-75
and 951. Infrastructure, ladies and gentlemen. This is what this is
all about. These people aren't coming to us because we're nice.
We're providing infrastructure to support the wherewithal to support
their business. It's that simple.
June 22, 2021
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You know, our Clerk of Courts actually made an interesting
comment to me during the break. And it was like, why don't you
take them out in Immokalee? I'd love to have them in Immokalee,
but I don't have the infrastructure to move the people to and through.
I'd love to have this facility.
But one of the things that I -- from that perspective, from a
long-term perspective -- Commissioner Taylor, you actually brought
it up, and it flies in with my thought processes from an investment
standpoint. All of our experts, our County Manager and Deputy
County Manager, have worked on this. They're talking plus-minus a
three- to five-year payback before this investment -- not gift,
Commissioner LoCastro -- is repaid back. And we have -- and it's
stationed in over a period of time with measurables and milestones
with a 10-year clawback.
I think -- you know, I've watched other -- I'm not a big advocate
of just giving money to the private sector. I'm not a big advocate.
But I think for us to make an investment like this with the
measurables and milestones that we've actually put in place, it
protects our investment.
We're going to -- if, in fact, this Board chooses to, we're going to
lay out $10 million to buy this land, and then we're going to sit
around and think about it for three years while we figure out what
we're going to do with it. So we've got a carrying cost that travels
along with that. Then we've got to go and incentivize someone else
to come in there in some form or fashion in order to get our money
back.
One of my banker's favorite quotes when I was playing in the
rock mining business was, how am I going to get my money back?
And this is a perfect example. These folks have shown us, from a
risk/rewards standpoint -- and one of the things that's important is, if
we do go forward with this, this isn't going on forever. We take a
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$10 million piece of property that turns into a $260 million piece of
property.
And I don't know if anybody -- somebody told me at one point
in time that it's almost a 75 percent exponential on the overall
revenue that comes off in ancillary dollars back into the community.
You might remember that, Commissioner Solis, from the -- from the
TDC meetings.
And forgive me if that's incorrect. I know there is an
exponential increase in the dollar revenue that's generated from the
ancillary money that comes into the community by having a company
such as this.
So I'm -- I'm okay with this transaction. I'm guarded. I feel
like you do with regard to the concern of the expenditure of the tax
money, but from a global perspective, I really think -- I really think
this could be precedent setting for us. I really think we should give
consideration to good, as you said, Commissioner LoCastro,
financially stable companies that are bringing jobs to our community,
the ancillary revenue all the way across the board, stepping up and
making an investment. And we're not just stroking them a check
because they're nice people. We're actually -- we have it staged out
over a period of time where they're making investments with us,
when we're making investments with them.
This innovation zone that Commissioner Taylor was kind
enough to bring forward I wholeheartedly supported when that came
about because I saw, with the advent and our investment of
infrastructure in the area -- just look what's happened. Amazon's
came. Uline's came to us. We have another hotel, I think a smaller
normal -- you're not normal. But we have another flag that's coming
with an expansion over there, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Tip of the iceberg.
And so, the long and the short, I'll be happy to make a motion to
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accept staff's recommendation and move this forward as proposed.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Second.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I'd like to make -- I had a
question, or maybe I'm --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That doesn't mean we're voting right
now, so let's continue the discussion.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: No. I think Commissioner
McDaniel makes a great point that, again, there's going to be a cost
either way of whatever we do, and it seems to me that the more we
look at -- you know, if we ended up buying the property, then it
comes off the tax roll, then it's going the other way, right? And then
the time to get that repaid is even longer.
You know, I think that -- it's my understanding that there was
some objection from some of the hoteliers, the FRLA, but that
meetings have been had, and maybe there's not the objection that
there was. I don't know where the Chamber is at this point. But
Mr. Dalby has not signed up to speak, so -- and he's shaking his head
no.
MR. DALBY: I'm happy to answer questions.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay.
MR. DALBY: You have our statement.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, plan on coming up
here, because I'm going to ask you a couple questions.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So, you know, I think -- I think in
terms of what I'm charged with as being the chair of the TDC and
trying to make Collier County, from a tourism standpoint, as
marketable as it can be and coming up with the best marketing for the
county to increase our most important industry, you know, I think
creating something that is now even more unique than anything else
that exists maybe anywhere else in the country, while I know you're
next to Sandusky in the sports facility up there, I think ours is a
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little -- maybe a little more nicer than -- no offense, but I might be a
little biased.
So, I mean, I'll second the motion. I think, you know, this
is -- it is an investment. There's investment and a cost anyway.
And I just -- my gut feeling is, is that having crunched the numbers,
as Commissioner McDaniel's done, I think -- I think this is probably
as good a bet as we can make. It's not a bet. I mean, it's -- I think
it's as good a decision as we can probably make.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
Commissioner LoCastro and then Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I understand business, okay,
so I don't need a lesson in business. I own a calculator. I've signed
$500 million deals and have managed a $30 billion military base,
okay. So I didn't just fall off the turnip truck.
Make no mistake, Great Wolf on that piece of property,
amazing, incredible, the No. 1 choice of everything that we've had,
okay. I totally agree.
If I was sitting on your board, you guys would be fools to not
build on that property whether we gave 15 million or not. So I sit
here as a pretty, you know, experienced business person, okay. I'm
not comparing myself to anybody else but, you know, I've balanced a
checkbook before with lots of ones and zeros.
So I think everything you said was true. You're a one-of-a-kind
place, everything that I mentioned. So are we. I hope you come
here and build. And the other thing I would say is my colleagues are
speeding. I wouldn't vote to buy that property, to save it from -- I
think this county has turned into a real estate agency way too much
and bought properties because they're worried it was going to turn
into a Hooters or, you know, an ATV course or something. There's
lots of other ways to make sure the wrong thing doesn't go there. So
I'm not saying we wouldn't buy that property. I just think we're
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speeding by saying if we don't say yes to you, oh, my God, tomorrow
we've got to vote to buy that property for 10 million. I tell you, we
all better pull out our calculators, you know, and put on our business
hats. So I think that's speeding.
And I don't sit here and give a $15 million incentive because I'm
worried if you walk, you know, there's going to be another Amazon
plant there, and what's that going to do. And I come back to my
original point. I don't think it's going to be exponentially feeding the
sports complex, and part of what we're trying to do -- now granted, an
Amazon plant doesn't either, but we're trying to sit here and say, you
know what? We've got one chance to put something on there. And
I haven't been in your boardroom, but if I was, I would hope your
Option No. 2 would be 15 million would have been great, would have
been a nice incentive. We've gotten incentives from everyplace else
that we've been, but we'd be fools to walk away from this property.
And I don't say that by playing some sort of game of I'm trying to
save the taxpayers 15 million. I just don't think we need to give it to
you. I've crunched the numbers, too, and I think -- like I said, I think
we offer more than 15 million in incentives already just by allowing
you to build on that property or at least, you know, being positive and
supportive about it.
So, you know, make no mistake, if we take a vote right now and
I vote no, it's not because I don't think Great Wolf would be great. I
want you there. I just think that I'm supposed to be a good steward
of the taxpayers' dollars, and if we're talking about if you walk, we
buy the land, okay. Well, we just saved the taxpayers $5 million
then if somebody's sitting here doing the numbers.
Now, that's sort of a naive statement because we don't get a
Great Wolf. I mean, I understand what Commissioner McDaniel
was saying. You know, we take a $10 million piece of property and
we put a 200-and-something-million-dollar resort on it. I actually
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get that.
But I just don't think we need to give you a $15 million
incentive. So unless you've got a rebuttal that says, wow, if we don't
get the 15 million, this $300 million investment that's next to a
one-of-a-kind sports park in Southwest Florida where we've never
been with a billion grandparents that are all going to come here with
liquid assets that they can't wait to spend on their grandchildren, I just
hope really smart people who are in your boardroom wouldn't let you
walk away from an unbelievable deal that we have in our backyard
and that it all hinges on us giving you $15 million that we're actually
spreading out over a long period of time.
You know, let's make no mistake, you don't need a $15 million
check to start building this thing. And so, you know, in the end, I
just -- I just don't see where you would need it. But I would hope
you would still come here and build it, and I think we would give you
way more than 15 million, not only in the things I mentioned that are
already there but just in cooperation, good will, being good stewards.
And we'd be sending those same e-mails around to your next 15
locations as Commissioner LoCastro saying, wow, anything you can
do to partner with this company. They've come here and been
amazing. I just don't think I need to give you a $15 million incentive
to do it.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I don't have
quite as much business experience as some of my colleagues here,
but I can count to three, and right now you have a motion and two
seconds. So I think it's pretty clear. I was hoping to at least get an
answer to the question as to whether or not there's any flexibility in
terms of this amount, and I'm still going to ask you that question.
MR. CALLAHAN: Can I address that real quick,
Commissioner Saunders?
June 22, 2021
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COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes.
MR. CALLAHAN: I did just want to point out that we have
amended the agreement from where it was when the Board asked for
more flexibility, and that was done, as we've pointed out here, by
extending the schedule.
So, again, the initial two payments that would come after this
are going to be a combination of fee deferrals and cash payment,
right. So we think there's about 3 to $4 million worth of building
permits, impact fees that we can defer over the long term, and then at
certificate of occupancy there's another $4 million payment that's
due, and we actually deferred that 6 million till after opening when
there's actually revenue that's going to be generated to the tune
of -- when you combine ad valorem, sales tax, TD generation -- about
$4.5 million a year.
By doing that, it wasn't flexibility on the overall number, but we
believe that puts us in a much better position as the county. So I just
wanted to point that out real quick, that there was flexibility since we
came there even though the total number in total and sum is
$15 million, so...
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Let me ask Mr. Dalby if you
would state what the position of the Chamber is in terms of this.
Because I know you had some opposition to it at one point, and I
don't know if you still do.
MR. DALBY: No. Thank you. So Michael Dalby, the
president and CEO of the Greater Naples Chamber.
So our issue is not really with Great Wolf Lodge. We have met
with Great Wolf Lodge. They've had a couple different interactions
with us. Great company, just as been mentioned here, and have a
very unique product which I've experienced. I used to live in Ohio,
so I've experienced the product, and it's great. It's a great company.
Our issue really dealt more with the process of determining how
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incentives are given and what the criteria are to receive those
incentives; that previously in Collier County, the determination to
make incentives or not dealt with a number of different factors that
were mostly in line with state qualifications for incentives.
So if the state had a program that you needed to qualify certain
things, was it a targeted industry? Were the wage rates above county
average across the board? Were there a number of different factors
that were involved with that?
Those state programs have expired. So now there's a little bit
of vagueness in terms of how are incentives provided for companies
that are looking to bring jobs into our area or expand into our area.
So for us it was really more one of clarification of -- because
oftentimes we are the ones who are the front persons as we meet with
businesses and work with businesses that are looking to either expand
or come into the area.
So just for us, the issue is one more of clarification of the
process for projects to receive county incentive of any type and what
are those processes and what are those requirements that need to be
met so you can receive, whether that is a relatively small business or
whether that's a large business. So that was the issue more than
anything else.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Mr. Callahan, if you could
explain how the incentives will work and what the payback period
would be. Commissioner McDaniel said in, I think, three or four
years the county actually get that money back.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Plus-minus.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So if you could clarify how
this works, what kind of cash is really out of pocket, and how long
does it take in terms of getting those dollars back.
MR. CALLAHAN: Absolutely. So there's two different ways
that you can look at it. One, you're going to defer impact fees that
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aren't due till CO. Eventually those need to get paid, and you can't
waive impact fees. You have need to pay them eventually.
We're looking to finance this deal out of TIF generated from the
innovation zone. So with that regard, we're going to do some
pay-go, right? The innovation zone has some cash in it that can
finance a combination of the first three payments. And then at the
end, we would actually have to borrow from some other fund and pay
it back over time with TIF. So the payback solely using those TIF
funds is from about 10 to 15 million [sic] years, depending on what
the --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Ten to 15 years?
MR. CALLAHAN: Using solely the TIF.
The information that Commissioner McDaniel referred to is that in
total generation of revenue to the county, that million dollars will be
paid back in about three years off of generating $4.5 million a year.
The actual payback of the loan for the incentive is going to take us
about 10 to 15 using solely the innovation zone.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: This is a question for
Mr. Isackson, having served as our budget person. We have -- we're
going to be setting the maximum millage rate in July [sic]. And,
typically, what we've done is, certainly over the last four years but
probably over the last 10 or 12 years now, we have maintained a
constant millage rate. We may do that this year; we may not. If we
maintain a constant millage rate, we will generate a very significant
amount of new revenue for the county. And I believe that's
somewhere in the range of 12 to $14 million if we maintain the
current millage rate.
MR. ISACKSON: It's $19 million over the current millage
rate. The current levy, I should say, and it's $11 million over our
2 percent planning scenario that we established in budget guidance.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Right. So if the
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Commission in -- and I'm just trying to make sure that we are able to
finance this without having any difficulties. If the Commission, in
September, decides to go back to the rolled-back millage
rate -- which is a possibility. We may make a determination that our
taxpayers need some relief. If we do that, will that -- will we still be
able to finance this project?
MR. ISACKSON: The answer to that question is yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. Can you kind of
explain how that would work.
MR. ISACKSON: Sure. First of all, your first payment isn't
going to be made until FY'23, not '22. You're preparing your '22
budget in terms of the incentive that's been laid out.
Second of all, the budget that you're being presented this
Thursday and going forward into September when you pass the final
adopted budget, my recommendation has been and will also be
keeping your millage rate the same. That's the -- that's a philosophy
that's worked well in this county. We're setting aside sufficient
resources in reserves and also sufficient resources to pay for our
future infrastructure obligations down the road.
If the Board decides in their infinite wisdom to roll back the
millage rate, whether it's the pure rolled-back rate or some other rate,
that's fine. But remember, there's always a few things that will
always occur, regardless of where you set the millage rate. You're
going to pay your debt. That's the first thing that's going to happen.
Your reserves will always be sufficient to capitalize your cash
obligations at the beginning of the FY. Your credit rating will
always be maintained.
So what does that leave us? If you roll back the millage rate,
you're probably going to lose 6 to $7 million. So where am I first
going to go? It's going to go on the capital side. That's what I'm
going to look at, because I'm not cutting reserves under that scenario.
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But that being said, you enter an agreement like this, as Sean
said, if you're using the innovation zone as the mechanism to pay
back the General Fund -- because the General Fund will be the source
of funding to pay for the incentive. If you're strictly using the
innovation zone, then their payback period is a lot greater. It's 10
years. If you're factoring in sales tax which gets deposited into the
General Fund, tourist taxes, which get deposited into their own
family of funds, five or six different funds that the tourist
development taxes make up, that's -- that's something that I can
manage. I can manage the budget.
And I've said this to each of you individually; if there's a policy
initiative that the majority of this board wants, I make it happen.
And I build the budget flexible so that it can happen, and these things
do happen. And if there was a problem financially where I didn't
think that we could afford doing this, we couldn't manage a natural
disaster or we had problems maintaining our frontline services in the
EMS or our transfer to the Sheriff, which is half your General Fund
operation, then I wouldn't be sitting here saying that we could do that
or not.
So I hope that elaboration helps you a little bit, sir.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: It does. And I think what
you're saying is, this does not lock us into a certain millage rate at
this point.
MR. ISACKSON: No.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: If we go to the rolled-back
millage rate, I think what you're saying is we could still afford to do
this project. It may be financed a little differently, but we could still
do it, and it's not going to create a problem for us during this
hurricane season.
MR. ISACKSON: No.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: All right. Again, I -- we've
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got a motion and two seconds. So I don't know if there's -- I'm
assuming there's probably no flexibility in terms of the amount. I'll
just ask that question because I feel somewhat compelled to do that.
MR. JACOBSEN: Thank you. I certainly respect every one of
your positions. I understand you're coming from it from a very
passionate position; so are we.
The 15 million, we feel that we have compromised based on
where we were. We're taking our equity -- required equity up by
about 15 million in order to accommodate these changes. We've
extended the payment, which if you look even at a conservative cap
rate, is about a $2 million savings as it relates to the time value of
money by pushing the additional 6 million later.
So we need the incentive here. You know, to sit here and go,
well, if you drop it $5, does it get the deal done? We need the
15 million, and we feel that we've extended it. We've loaded it at the
back end. We understand the cash-flow issues. We're been able to
make that work by -- like I said, we're putting about another 10,
15 million of equity in.
We need this to close the financing gap. It's a one-time event.
Once we're done, you know, all these proceeds go to the county. So,
you know, we really -- sir, we really -- Commissioner, we really need
that.
I mean, I think the one thing that Commissioner Solis brought
up, and you as well, Commissioner LoCastro, is, yes, this sports
complex is an incredible icon, but it's kind of like -- you know, I
always am kind of -- I think -- I do this whenever I'm allowed to do a
toast at a wedding. You know, it's -- each of the individuals were
great in their own right. I'm going to even say this to my daughter
when she gets married in August. Her and her husband, they could
have gone on their own way and lived a great life, but it's something,
when you put two great things together.
June 22, 2021
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And I certainly appreciate what the sports complex brings. I
respectfully disagree. I think we bring almost as much based on
what we do from not only regional marketing advertising but
our -- now it's going to be international. And so we're raising the bar
for Collier County, and maybe you want that, maybe you don't, but at
least from what we bring to the table, to bring awareness here as far
as this is a great place to live, work, and entertain.
The other thing that I thought, though, that was important is, I
think we do need to look at how we connect the two. And as far
as -- just as an experience. So whether it's trails or other things to
make sure that the access is there, I think is important. And standing
right here right now, you know, we'd be willing to donate $200,000, a
match fund for a splash pad if you felt that was appropriate in the
park there, and that could be just a way to get activity in the park on
those hot days, and they're relatively inexpensive to run, but we'd
be -- I'd be willing to contribute 200,000 towards matching funds
from the county. Four hundred grand, you can probably get a nice
splash pad in that area. So that's something that we would offer to
do.
And, like I said, when we advertise and promote this, yeah,
we're going to promote your sports complex. We're going to
promote it to every location in the country. We've people that come
to every one of these lodges as kind of a ritual.
So, you know, I'm kind of proud of what we bring to the table,
too. So we're both proud, so that's kind of my response to that.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Now, my understanding is
that you do get incentives just about every project that you do, if not
every project.
MR. JACOBSEN: Yeah, we have, correct.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Can you tell me where this
$15 million incentive in terms of the amount, how that compares to
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incentives elsewhere.
MR. CALLAHAN: Can I show a chart, Commissioner?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: If you have -- yeah.
MR. JACOBSEN: I can tell you right now.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'd rather hear it from Great
Wolf.
MR. JACOBSEN: It's the lowest one.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Can you give me some
numbers.
MR. HEEZEN: Yeah. Just some of our latest examples. As
you can see here, Manteca was in the total reported range of
$40 million, and that was a similar, a 500-room lodge. In state of
Maryland, we're closer to about 95 million. It's over a much longer
period of time, but it's a much higher amount. In Georgia, we were
closer to 100 million. Again, it's about a 15-year deal. So this one
is far lower than past projects.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. I agree in principle
with what Commissioner LoCastro has indicated. It's really kind of
a hard sell to incentivize a hotel project. But I'm going to support
this motion. I think that -- I wanted to make sure that we weren't
getting ourselves into any kind of a financial bind. I didn't want
to -- I did not want to send a message that I'm going to make a
motion at some point to go back to the rolled-back millage rate. I
might. I want to have that flexibility. And, apparently, this will not
impact that. I certainly will remember your offer of the $200,000
matching grant, but --
MR. JACOBSEN: You've got my word on it.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I appreciate
your consideration of this. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're welcome.
Commissioner McDaniel, then Commissioner LoCastro, and then I'll
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make closing remarks if Commissioner Solis is finished.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I'll be brief. As
Commissioner Saunders has said, we can -- we can count where
we're at.
But I just want to say this as a thought process: Maybe we are
running in the fast lane as far as consideration to the acquisition of
this piece of property or not. We haven't made that decision. That's
certainly something that would be prudent for us to do. And I'm not
making this decision based upon the potential advent of that
acquisition. The two are independent from one other.
There's an enormous amount of synergy with this organization,
as you've said, for that entire area. And as Commissioner Solis
suggested, having a connectivity process enhancement some way,
somehow to have that flow go, I really like that idea.
You know, and not to -- not to belabor the point, 4 and a half,
$5 million a year of free marketing for them and us, because we're
going to be in all their stuff, there's a value there. I know as an
independent business owner, when events are held at my facility and
someone else's, I see an increase in my business that comes.
And the last point that I'm going to make, and even though these
incentives are split up over a period of time, there's
not -- there's -- forgive me for misspeaking. There's not nothing
happening during this process. We have hundreds of -- we have
thousands of construction workers that are coming and going,
bringing materials, buying lunch, doing -- doing revenue-generating
things for our community; buying their fuel, buying their groceries,
paying their rent if they happen to work here. So there's a lot more
to it than just on the surface. So I'm sticking to that message.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I agree with all that,
obviously. I just don't think I need to pay $15 million to get it. And
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your slide that shows the 100 million and other places at 40 million,
see, that actually, to me, had an opposite effect, because I could see
where you went somewhere, and if you wouldn't have gotten the
100 million, you would have walked. I'd be flabbergasted if you are
looking to make a 300-plus-million-dollar investment with all this
marketing, and all the smart people in your boardroom said, you
know, the 15 million would be a deal breaker; we're going to walk
away from an unbelievable location in Southwest Florida with all the
incentives on 15 million. I could see you doing it in all those other
areas. If you didn't get 100 million or 40 million, guys, that's a big
number. We can't do it. Can't meet it from here. So, actually, I
did see that slide, and to me it made my point even more.
So I sit here and look at you-all as businessman and go,
$15 million is really the deal breaker? You know, we're sitting here
spending taxpayer dollars. You're businesspeople investing money.
And we have, you know, a synergy here. But, you know, I can see if
it was 100 million how you would say, you know, if we don't get the
100 million like we got in that other town, guys, we just can't make it
happen. But as business people, I'm -- and like I said, I'm not sitting
here saying, let's save the 15 million, they're going to build it anyway.
I'm encouraging you to build it. You've made all the points why you
should build it.
It's not $100 million, $40 million sort of, you know, stopping
point for us. I can see where, you know, the 15 million would help.
I get the algorithm. But I can tell you, we voted on a lot
smaller -- voted against a lot smaller incentives for other developers
that were going to bring us something amazing.
But that's where I always say every deal is different. But, I
mean, I really just flat out ask you, $15 million with this huge
investment you're going to make is really a deal breaker to bring this
unbelievable, you know, facility here to Collier County?
June 22, 2021
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MR. JACOBSEN: Commissioner, each project rests on its own
financial merits. Blackstone just doesn't cut a check. It's got to
meet financial hurdles. The projection on this site is that 15 million
is required to close the financial gap. We don't need the 19 million.
We don't need the 20 million. It's the 15-. We've agreed to spread
it over time. The 15- gets the deal done. And, you know, I respect
your position, but I need the 15 million as it's been outlined in order
to get the deal done. And, like I said, we're not shopping. We're
ready to go. We're ready to commit.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Oh, I know you are.
MR. JACOBSEN: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, thank you. I'll just close by
saying, as economic chair of this board, we created an innovation
zone for projects just like this. And if they had come in 10 years
from now, we wouldn't even have this discussion. They are
investing a quarter of a billion dollars in Collier County. They've
agreed on the record of saying they're going to spend 4-and-a-half to
$5 million in advertising nationally, and that does not include
international, because you've just opened up your international
market.
This is a -- this is synergy that is an opportunity for everyone.
And I've got some ideas that the splash pad that might move into a
pool, but we'll discuss that later.
So we do have a motion on the floor, and a second. And
without any other discussion, all those agreeing to the motion, say
aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
June 22, 2021
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COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries 4-1. Thank you very
much.
MR. JACOBSEN: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: You're welcome.
MR. JACOBSEN: You'll be very pleased. Thank you.
Item #11G
AUTHORIZING ALL NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS
WITHIN PARK'S CAPITAL FUND (306) AND PARK'S IMPACT
FEE FUND (346) FOR THE BIG CORKSCREW ISLAND
REGIONAL PARK – APPROVED
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, Item 11G on your agenda is
a recommendation to authorize all necessary budget amendments
within Parks Capital Fund 306 and Parks Impact Fee Fund 346 for
the Big Corkscrew Island Regional Park. I've asked Amy Patterson,
Deputy County Manager, to answer any questions that the Board
might have on this item, but I think the executive summary is
self-explanatory.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: State recommended, correct, with the
change in the impact fees at the state level?
MS. PATTERSON: That's correct. I'm sorry. Amy
Patterson, for the record.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It just doesn't qualify; is that correct?
MS. PATTERSON: Correct. Coming out of legislative
session this year, there was a bill moving through that was fairly
impactful to impact fee programs across the state. Through
legislative session and the work of FAC in the various counties, a lot
of the more impactful provisions were amended or removed. So
June 22, 2021
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Collier County stands in a really good position other than this issue
with furniture, fixtures, and equipment. We will continue to work
through that for those that are eligible and those that aren't. What's
embodied in this executive summary are those expenditures that are
no longer impact fee eligible.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'd like to make a motion to -- any
other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'd like to make a motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any other discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
MS. PATTERSON: Thank you.
Item #11H
APPROVAL OF THE INITIAL ALLOCATIONS OF THE
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT CORONAVIRUS STATE AND
LOCAL FISCAL RECOVERY FUND, AUTHORIZE THE
COUNTY MANAGER OR DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE ANY
NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS, SUB-AWARD
June 22, 2021
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AGREEMENTS, AND SUBMIT A REQUIRED PLAN TO THE
U.S. TREASURY – APPROVED
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, Item 11H is a
recommendation for the Board to approve the initial allocations of the
American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery
Fund, authorize the County Manager or designee to execute any
necessary budget amendments, sub-award agreements, and submit a
required plan to the U.S. Treasury.
I've asked Sean Callahan, Deputy County Manager, to present.
MR. CALLAHAN: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the
record, Sean Callahan, Deputy County Manager.
So today we're here to talk about the initial allocations of the
State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund that was allocated and
appropriated to us from the American Rescue Plan that passed back
in March 11th.
Again, just to kind of recap what we've all talked about, there
were -- included was $350 billion for State and Local Fiscal
Recovery Funds, allocations of aid direct to counties and
municipalities. Based on population, our allocation was just short of
$75 million.
We came to you, and you authorized us to sign that funding
agreement. We actually received our first appropriation of funds
back on June 10th. So that money is in the bank.
Just, again, to go over some of the allowable uses that are
outlined as part of the bill: Support the public health response,
addressing negative impacts from the public health emergency,
hardest hit communities and families, lost public sector revenue,
premium pay for essential workers, and then some larger and broader
infrastructure investments that have not been allocated in prior
COVID fiscal grant funds.
June 22, 2021
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So just really briefly I want to touch on this because I've heard
through various conversations lots of different ideas for what this
funding should be used for, and I wanted to point out some of the
other programs that were funded as part of the rescue plan. The
$350 billion that was sent to state and local governments was part of
a $1.9 trillion bill. So there were many other provisions that were
made for programs ranking from stimulus payments and
unemployment to rental assistance, transit infrastructure grants.
There's a restaurant revitalization fund that provides grants to
restaurants to make up for lost revenue throughout the pandemic,
shuttered venue operators, lots of different energy provisions, and
then some environmental money that's been apportioned as well.
So out of the $75 million just short of that that Collier County's
received, staff has made these following recommended expenditures.
So, again, you have an existing Community Assistance Program
that's been running that's been providing individuals food assistance,
assistance to small businesses. We would like to continue that
program utilizing some of this funding and make the original funding
that was available for that program available to allocate to
infrastructure programs that we can begin immediately. So that
would be one of the things that we're asking for in your motion today,
along with the approval of these initial allocations.
So just briefly, as our public service announcement of the day,
we do have that ongoing assistance program for individuals and
businesses. We do have several staff that are set up at an assistance
center that can answer questions. You can call this number. You
can go through Collier 311. They can answer any questions that you
have about the applications or funding process or eligibility and walk
you through that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So that's the easy way for
people to get to find out about the availability of those funds is 311?
June 22, 2021
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MR. CALLAHAN: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay.
MR. CALLAHAN: And they'll get you to the right place, or
you can direct dial that number to the assistance center, and we have
staff that's been working these programs since back to our original
CARES Act allocations.
So just very briefly today, Board direction that we'd like to go
with is to approve these initial allocations for the State and Local
Fiscal Recovery Fund, including that reallocation that I talked about
of existing community assistance funds to a fund where we can
execute a number of different capital improvements, water and
infrastructure projects, that we'll bring back to you for your
consideration should you approve this today, and then authorize the
County Manager or designee to execute any necessary budget
amendments, sub-award agreements, and submit a draft plan to the
U.S. Treasury, which is due later in August that was provided as
backup to this item.
So with that, that's my presentation. I will take any questions
from the Board, or if you wish to provide further direction, happy to
receive it and implement it today.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Seeing no questions, do I hear a
motion? Oh, Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: No, no question. I'll make
the motion, if you wish. I mean, this is directly in line with what
we've given previous direction to and emphasizing that the assistance
be brought to our community directly as much as is possible, and in
the same categories that we've -- that we've seen benefit coming to.
I think it's -- I think it's a fine way for us to go. It still provides us
with flexibility if we see a direction that we do need to go.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. So there's a motion on the
floor. So do I hear a second?
June 22, 2021
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COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. There's a motion and a
second. All those in favor, say aye.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you
very much.
County Manager?
Item #15
STAFF AND COMMISSION GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, thank you very much. I
believe that concludes everything other than Item 15 on your agenda,
which is staff and commission general communications. I will
remind the Board that we're going to be back here 9:00 Thursday
morning to continue the business of government having -- conducting
your budget workshop for FY'22. So that's all I have, ma'am.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
County Attorney Klatzkow?
MR. KLATZKOW: Nothing, ma'am. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Only to say that it was great to hear
that Great Wolf would consider kicking in something for, you
know --
June 22, 2021
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CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: A pool.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Splash pad.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'd like -- since we're all kind of
salivating over $200,000, I would like to just point out that one of the
things that I keep hearing about the sports park -- and I've actually
done a little investigative reporting myself in going out there on
Friday evenings and Saturdays to see what's going on at the cove and
who's there, is that while we have a lot of fields and weights and
things, we don't really have playgrounds for the kids, even around the
cove, for the younger kids to play around while, you know, the
parents are enjoying the cove or whatever.
So I brought that up because I've heard that from many, many
people, many different places, and I'm hoping that we can use that to
address that issue, because that's one of the things that just keeps -- it
just keeps coming up.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's it?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: That's it.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
Commissioner LoCastro.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I want to give a shout-out to
our new County Manager. You know, in a very short time -- and
we've talked in private, but I think it's worth saying in public here.
In a very short time, there's been unbelievable exponential change,
improvements, sense of urgencies, smart moves, what you have done,
you know, moving the staff around and decisiveness, which I really
appreciate. You know, I think you can talk about things for six
months.
And also, too, just to your two deputies -- and I've already told,
you know, Amy and Sean how much I just appreciate their ability to
just work really hard, get us answers back, you know, I'll just say me
personally, quickly, vetted, even to say to me many times, both of
June 22, 2021
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them, instead of just giving me the person to talk to, say, no, send the
question to us, because they want to vet it, too. Maybe it's
knowledge for all of us and also, too, maybe you're doing a little
quality control. Hey, that was a great answer from that department,
but it's not ready for a commissioner, you know, or we want to add a
little bit to it, in the case of Amy and Sean do that almost every time.
So I think it's worth mentioning. We've had a lot of changes in
the county in positions and some people moved around, and I think
it's -- you know, they've just been really great, so my hats off to you.
You know, last thing, not to beat a dead horse, I want Great Wolf to
be successful. I think they're the best thing to go there, but I can tell
you 15 million is something that is a drop in the bucket. They would
have come anyway. And the $200 splash pool -- if you buy a
$300 million Bentley, the $200,000 splash pool is the ashtray, okay.
So that's nice. I'll take it. I'll take anything for free.
But much like I've said about the sports park when people ask
me would I have voted for it, my answer is always "irrelevant." I
wasn't a county commissioner when it came up for a vote, and now
our job, my job is to make it successful.
So if they're coming and we've made a vote here, it's one
decision, one voice, so I can tell you I'll be part of the success story,
but I think in the end what we have to make sure is that it does feed
the sports park. And I always like to say I like it to be 51 percent
good for the county and 49 percent good for the billionaire company
that is doing pretty good on their own right now.
So I think we need to continue to work hard to make sure that
good things happen to their resort, but it also makes really great
things happen. And marketing is great, saying we've got a sports
park, but in the end we need money to pay the bills. And so
it's -- we need folks to not just be aware of it but to come over there
and write a check. And maybe it would have been nice if it would
June 22, 2021
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have been the Atlanta Braves. Now it looks like we're going to get a
bunch of kids and grandparents. We need them to buy a lot of beer
and pay a lot of money for something over there to help us offset the
operation and maintenance costs of it.
But, you know, I will be a strong advocate of making that a
success if we continue in the direction of Great Wolf, and it looks
like we're obviously doing that. Thank you. I think they would
have built it regardless.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Is that it?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yes, ma'am.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't think I have anything
to add. This was kind of a tough meeting today, and we got through
it. Unfortunately, we're going to have another tough meeting --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thirteenth.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- July 13th. I'm going
to -- one of the things that I've really resisted is making sure we don't
have two-day meetings. That may be one of those times where we
may have one. But I think we got through some tough issues today,
so nobody got beaten up, and nobody got a bloody nose.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's right.
Commissioner McDaniel.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Two things. I've been
approached by a developer on a retention pond facility that we
already own out on Immokalee Road, and it's -- the proposition is to
swap a smaller piece of property that we own for a larger piece of
property. And staff has looked at it, engineered it, saw that the
model works and all that sort of thing. But they need Board
direction to direct staff to go forth and actually come back to us with
a proposition. And so I've been asked to ask you for a head nod to
have that discussion or give them direction to do that, so if there's a
June 22, 2021
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head nod there --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'll agree to that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- then we'll go that route.
Number two, the elephant in the room we never talked about. I
waved you off on the -- what we're going to do with this room. Did
we ever make a decision? We stopped, we started, you know, we
stopped talking about it because we were voting on the other --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We're going to move Mr. Miller to
the back.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We're going to move
Mr. Miller to the back and create more space. Is that what the deal
is?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: (Nods head.)
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I mean, we didn't have --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Are you talking, like, COVID
changes?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The Governor's -- from my
understanding is, is the restrictions are lifted as of this weekend. Are
we going to continue on with the social distancing and the other
parameters that are in place, or are we going to open up and allow for
the individual choice to be where -- to utilize our facilities? We
never made that decision today. We talked about it a little bit, but
then we stayed on the vote that we were actually voting on. And I
don't know if we can actually take a vote on that right now or if we
ought to --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We're still in the meeting. Of
course, we can.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I really think we do need to
decide today. I just think it's timely. I don't think we want to come
off as, like, you know, kicking the can or we couldn't make a decision
June 22, 2021
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or let's wait until our meetings in September. I mean, every meeting
counts. This place is going to be full on the 13th. There's going to
be a crowd. So I think we look like fools saying, well, we just sort
of kept our normal rules and, you know, we started fresh in
September. And I'm not saying that's what we would vote on, but I
think, you know, healthy discussion right now deciding, you know,
what we can change --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: On that note --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: -- back to normal or
something in the middle.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Excuse me. I didn't mean to
interrupt you. I thought you were done. Are you done?
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No, I was going to say
"something normal." You know, go back to normal rules or
something in the middle if someone's got some sort of creative idea.
But I think, you know, a lot of people have spoken. I'd be in favor
of just going back to where we were, and if somebody comes in here
and wants to sit, they can always wear a mask. They can always
take social distancing. If the room's full, they can always stand
outside or watch it on Zoom. So people have choices.
But I think to those that feel like -- that it's already been -- you
know, people above us have decided. And, you know, if you walk
down Fifth Avenue, it certainly looks very normal. I think we'd be
artificially creating, you know, rules in here that have already been
sort of, you know, overruled by a hell of a lot of other people. So, I
think, you know, that would be my stance, that we go back to normal.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Mine as well. I'm -- I've
always advocated for personal choice, and I certainly want to
continue with that. I want to continue with the education. And as
you said, if someone feels like they wish -- would prefer to wear a
mask, so be it. If they are not comfortable with seating
June 22, 2021
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arrangements and the spatial differences, then we have extra room.
We can -- they can ask to be seated somewhere else.
So I'd be -- I'd be okay with us lifting the restrictions and going
back to business as usual.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Commissioner Solis, any
comments on this?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I've always said we should, you
know, follow the experts. And the CDC, as I understand it now, is
saying that if you're vaccinated then you don't need to be socially
distancing even inside in public places. So I'm -- I'm okay with that.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Just a quick question for the
Manager. One of the things that we took very seriously at the outset
of this pandemic was making sure that our staff was protected and
felt safe. So your view on this would be important.
I don't have any problem going back to the original policy that
we had pre-pandemic, but I'd like to hear what you have to say in
terms of your staff.
MR. ISACKSON: The staff -- we sent out a communication.
We follow CDC guidelines so -- for the staff and the folks that are
down in the various departments and have interactions with the
public, so that has already been communicated to the staff, so...
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So in terms of meetings in
this room, you're okay with going back to the original --
MR. ISACKSON: I'm fine with that.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm okay with that, too.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Can I make one other comment?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, of course.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: But I would like to continue to
have an update from the Department of Health periodically, just to
keep an eye on what's going on --
June 22, 2021
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COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sure.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- because I know the state's not
reporting numbers anymore. But I think locally it would be good to
get that information, you know, once every other meeting. Whatever
they've been doing, I think that's good enough just to keep an eye on
things.
MR. ISACKSON: Can I make a suggestion? I can regularly
provide you with written communication as to what's going on
through the Health Department through me to you, and we could
brief you during our one-on-ones in regard to that rather than have
a --
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: That would be fine.
MR. ISACKSON: If that's okay with the Board.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Sure.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, and if something happens
where it's -- things shift significantly, then we can always have it
presented.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Just to play devil's advocate,
though -- and I' fine with that as well. It would give us the
information. But remember these are also public hearings. So by
not having a speaker here, then the public who still might be
concerned about COVID or whatever, they're not sitting in our
offices hearing what you have to tell us. So that's the part that we do
lose.
MR. ISACKSON: Well, we could put something on our cable
TV system, or Mr. Mullins, our crack director of communications,
can give us a scheme as to how we can --
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I would encourage us to not
have that disappear.
MR. ISACKSON: -- advise the public accordingly.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. I'd encourage us not
June 22, 2021
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to have that disappear. And then if it looks like we're going back to
normal, the same way we aggressively advertised what our COVID,
you know, rules and regulations were, let's make sure after this
meeting that we let the public know we've made an aggressive -- you
know, or we've made a change, I should say. And if we hear from
the public that they feel like they're missing something, I guess, let's
just keep our radar on --
MR. ISACKSON: Sure.
COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: -- you know, because a lot of
times I notice when a speaker all of a sudden disappears -- and then I
can tell you we're already going to get a couple of emails saying, oh,
you're hiding something, you know, we're not seeing the numbers or
something. So I think, you know, let's just be completely
transparent, and if that's -- if that works. But if we hear pushback or
citizens like hearing from a speaker, I mean, then, you know, I think,
you know, bringing them in here for 15 minutes is part of their job, if
we think we need it, but -- okay. That's all I have to say. Thank
you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. That's it?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Except for you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Except for me. So what are we
doing replacing medians on Goodlette Road? Why?
MR. ISACKSON: I'll turn to my Deputy County Manager.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I don't know. They're all dug up.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Is that the city or --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Maybe it has to do with changing the
lanes because of the development going on? Is that -- perhaps you're
changing -- because the medians are all dug up when you go from 41
to Central Avenue.
MS. PATTERSON: From 41 to Central? Let us look into it,
and we can get back to you with an answer.
June 22, 2021
Page 213
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All right. Thank you.
MS. PATTERSON: Unless Trinity knows offhand. But nope.
Neither of us know. We'll check into it and find out.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's a first, because usually if I ask
a question, you know right away. So I bet it -- I bet it has to do with
the development going on.
The other thing is, I really appreciated the employee recognition
event catch-up planning. I think we need to make a decision about
the missed BCC recognition for Employees of the Month awards.
Thirteen employees missed their photograph with us, and
they -- there are two ways we can do this. All 13 can come to one
meeting, and -- but when they all come, it's like, okay, everybody
come up here, and there's 13 people here, and we're behind them, and
we don't make comments. We limit very much. Maybe we'll just
give their name, or we can arrange for three to four employees per
meeting and read a brief statement about why they were selected.
So I would like to know what everyone -- I think it's very
important that we get caught up on this employee recognition. Very
important.
So do we do it -- do we space it out three or four a meeting,
they're briefly acknowledged with why they were important, and they
get each of them, individually -- individually, no groups.
Individually they get a photograph with us. So it's probably a total
of 10 minutes at the meeting.
Are we okay with that?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We love getting our picture
taken.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: That would be nice.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. All right, good.
And then with the 489 service-award recipients that have missed their
breakfast and the -- and I know there's a very optimistic comment
June 22, 2021
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that they don't think that all 489 will want their photograph taken
with the Commission and County Manager, I think we need to count
on it. And I'm going to let the County Manager organize that
because we all take turns. But I don't think we can do that in two
breakfasts.
MR. ISACKSON: I'm sure we'll come up with a solution to
that.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Have an event at the sports park.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: There we go.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: The new splash pool will be
a nice place --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No, no. It's a pool. It's a pool.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Eliminate the breakfast and
give them a raise.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I want to thank my commission
today. It was a rough meeting. I really appreciate your patience
with me. I promise I will not recess as much as I did today. And
I'm optimistic as we go forward that a lot of this will be ironed out
and that -- yes, go ahead.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I'm glad you brought that up.
And we're going to be dealing with this ordinance again at our
July 13th --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's right.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- meeting. We had a very
lengthy public hearing on this. Are we going to assume that the
public hearing is closed? Or I guess we have to have a public
hearing. But are we able to --
MR. KLATZKOW: You've advertised it; it's so.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We're advertising it as-is.
MR. KLATZKOW: It's just the whole Megillah we've got to
go through again.
June 22, 2021
Page 215
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I make a statement?
One of my thoughts that I had -- since I had a moment to prepare,
was to reach out to the Sheriff and have him and his lawyer speak
with you individually with regard to your concerns and potential
adjustments that may or may not come through as well -- individually
between now and then so that the -- so that they can be addressed.
I mean, the -- I have heard back since we voted, and the Sheriff
still stands in support of the original ordinance as was presented
so -- but he will -- he has said that he would reach out and meet with
you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It's that or else if the attorney and the
Sheriff would come to the meeting, we could do it a time-certain and
then --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We will certainly do that --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah, there could be --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- on the 13th.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- some questions from our attorneys
up here, because I always look forward to attorneys and
attorneys -- attorneys and attorneys debating.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, I'm hoping that --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I do.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't mean to interrupt you.
Forgive me, ma'am. But I just -- I have heard that the Sheriff is still
in support of the ordinance and that -- but I thought maybe having
him meet directly with -- and I'll work on taking on my duty,
Commissioner Saunders, to fix the ordinance, but he can at least
reach out to you and maybe answer any questions or share his
thoughts with you, personally, so -- but I'll do my job.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. That's good. All right.
So hearing none, everyone have a lovely 4th of July, and we'll see
you in the sports park July the 3rd. Meeting is adjourned.
June 22, 2021
Page 216
**** Commissioner Taylor moved and carried that the following
items under the Consent and Summary Agendas be approved
and/or adopted ****
Item #16A1
AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN COLLIER
COUNTY AND THE CITY OF NAPLES. THIS AGREEMENT
WILL ENABLE THE SHARING OF VIDEO AND DATA AS PER
LOCAL AGENCY PROGRAM (LAP) FPN#435013-1-98-01 ITS
INTEGRATE/STANDARDIZED NETWORK
COMMUNICATION, ACROSS A STANDARDIZED NETWORK
INFRASTRUCTURE (THIS AGENDA ITEM IS A COMPANION
TO ITEM #11A, "20-7777 PRESIDIO CONTRACT") -
ALLOWING FOR THE RELOCATION OF THE AUTOMATED
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS VIDEO FEEDS TO THE
EMERGENCY SERVICES CENTER DURING EMERGENCY
SITUATIONS
Item #16A2
RESOLUTION 2021-125: THE STATE OF FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION QUITCLAIM TO
COLLIER COUNTY CERTAIN PROPERTY LOCATED ON THE
EAST SIDE OF THE I-75/GOLDEN GATE PARKWAY
INTERCHANGE, NEEDED FOR MAINTENANCE OF
REALIGNED PORTIONS OF THE I-75 CANAL, AND
DECLARING THAT THE PROPERTY IS TO BE USED FOR
PUBLIC PURPOSE ONLY (THIS ITEM IS A COMPANION TO
AGENDA ITEM #16A3)
June 22, 2021
Page 217
Item #16A3
RESOLUTION 2021-126: A TRANSPORTATION POST PROJECT
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) AND COLLIER
COUNTY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE REALIGNED CANAL
AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE
RESOLUTION AND EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT (THIS IS A
COMPANION TO AGENDA ITEM #16A2)
Item #16A4
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER FACILITIES,
AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER
FACILITIES FOR TOLLGATE PLAZA PARKING LOT,
PL20210000190
Item #16A5
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTABLE WATER AND
SEWER FACILITIES, AND ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF
THE POTABLE WATER AND SEWER FACILITIES FOR
GOODLETTE FRANK ROADWAY IMPROVEMENTS,
PL20210000372
Item #16A6
FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE SEWER FACILITIES, AND
ACCEPT THE CONVEYANCE OF THE SEWER FACILITIES
FOR LOGAN BOULEVARD TURN LANE IMPROVEMENTS,
PL20200000266 – FOLIO #64625000366
June 22, 2021
Page 218
Item #16A7
RESOLUTION 2021-127: FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE
PRIVATE ROADWAY AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS FOR
THE FINAL PLAT OF LAGOMAR AT FIDDLER’S CREEK,
APPLICATION NUMBER PL20130000866, AND AUTHORIZE
THE RELEASE OF THE MAINTENANCE SECURITY
Item #16A8
RECORDING THE FINAL PLAT OF MAJESTIC PLACE,
(APPLICATION NUMBER PL20190001615) APPROVAL OF THE
STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF THE AMOUNT OF THE
PERFORMANCE SECURITY – W/STIPULATIONS
Item #16A9
THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE
BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $134,520 WHICH WAS POSTED
AS A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER
PL20190000997 FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH ENBROOK
Item #16A10
THE CLERK OF COURTS TO RELEASE A PERFORMANCE
BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $122,340 WHICH WAS POSTED
AS A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER
PL20180002133 FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH ISLES OF
COLLIER PRESERVE PARCEL S, AND A PERFORMANCE
BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $52,184 WHICH WAS POSTED AS
June 22, 2021
Page 219
A GUARANTY FOR EXCAVATION PERMIT NUMBER
PL20190002337 FOR WORK ASSOCIATED WITH ISLES OF
COLLIER PRESERVE PHASE 14
Item #16A11
AN EASEMENT AGREEMENT FOR THE ACQUISITION OF
FOUR EASEMENTS (PARCELS 160SE, 160TCE1, 160TCE2 AND
160TDRE) NEEDED FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXTENSION (PROJECT NO.
60168) – FOLIO #00205880009
Item #16A12
AN AGREEMENT FOR THE ACQUISITION OF A BOAT RAMP,
ACCESS AND MAINTENANCE EASEMENT (PARCEL
102AME) TO FACILITATE COLLIER COUNTY’S
MAINTENANCE OF THE BARRON CANAL – FOLIO
#00234520000
Item #16A13
ANNUAL HOLIDAY EVENT KNOWN AS THE
CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD PARADE & SNOW
FESTIVAL HOSTED BY THE IMMOKALEE CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE. THIS RECOMMENDATION IS TO FULFILL A
REQUIREMENT OF THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE
PERMIT APPLICATION. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN HOSTED BY
THE IMMOKALEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR OVER
TWENTY-FIVE (25) YEARS. THIS YEAR THE EVENT WILL
June 22, 2021
Page 220
TAKE PLACE ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2021, FROM 5
P.M. TO 10 P.M.
Item #16A14
RECOGNIZING AND APPROPRIATING REVENUE TO THE
TRAFFIC OPERATIONS COST CENTER (163630) IN THE
AMOUNT OF $59,500, AND TO THE ROAD AND BRIDGE
COST CENTER (163620) IN THE AMOUNT OF $16,500 FOR
FISCAL YEAR 2021 AND AUTHORIZE ALL NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Item #16A15
AUTHORIZING BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO RECOGNIZE
REVENUE FOR MARCO ISLAND EXECUTIVE AIRPORT, IN
THE AMOUNT OF $800,000 TO ACCOMMODATE INCREASED
FUEL PURCHASES AND ASSOCIATED OPERATING
EXPENSES OVER BUDGETED LEVELS
Item #16A16
RESOLUTION 2021-128: AGREEMENT, FPID #444856-2-
52-01, TRANSPORTATION OFF SYSTEM POST PROJECT
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND COLLIER
COUNTY, RELATING TO SCHOOL ZONE WARNING SIGNS
Item #16A17
June 22, 2021
Page 221
RESOLUTION 2021-129: A DEPARTMENT FUNDED
AGREEMENT (DFA) FM#437103-1-88-01, BETWEEN THE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (FDOT) AND
COLLIER COUNTY, WHEREIN FDOT WILL REIMBURSE THE
COUNTY FOR THE OPERATION OF 53 TRAFFIC SIGNALS ON
AN ANNUAL BASIS, IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $397,500,
AND EXECUTE A RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE
BOARD'S ACTION
Item #16A18
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF THE COUNTY INCENTIVE
GRANT PROGRAM (CIGP) APPLICATION WITH THE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO FUND A
PHASE OF THE IMMOKALEE RD. AND LIVINGSTON RD.
MAJOR INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT IN THE AMOUNT
OF $2,500,000
Item #16A19
AWARD REQUEST FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”)
NO. 20-7819, “VERIFICATION TESTING SERVICES FOR
WHIPPOORWILL LANE & MARBELLA LAKES DRIVE
EXTENSION,” TO HIGHSPANS ENGINEERING, INC., IN THE
TOTAL AMOUNT OF $214,616.88, AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR
TO SIGN THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT, AND AUTHORIZE
THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENT (PROJECT NO.
60219) – CONNECTING AT THE LIVINGSTON ROAD
INTERSECTION BY ADDING ROUNDABOUTS AND A
TRAFFIC SIGNAL
June 22, 2021
Page 222
Item #16A20
THE SELECTION COMMITTEE’S RANKING AND
AUTHORIZING STAFF TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT
NEGOTIATIONS WITH HARDESTY & HANOVER
CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, LLC, RELATED TO REQUEST
FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) NO. 21-7880, “CEI
SERVICES FOR GOLDEN GATE PARKWAY OVER SANTA
BARBARA CANAL BRIDGE REPLACEMENT,” TO BRING A
PROPOSED AGREEMENT BACK FOR THE BOARD’S
CONSIDERATION AT A FUTURE MEETING
Item #16A21
BUDGET AMENDMENTS TO TRANSFER FUNDING FROM
PINE RIDGE AND NAPLES PRODUCTION PARK BOND FUND
(232) TO NAPLES PRODUCTION PARK CAPITAL MSTU FUND
(138)
Item #16A22
CHANGE ORDER NO. 2 TO AGREEMENT NO. 16-6700 WITH
CARDNO, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $67,973.32, ADD 365
DAYS TO THE AGREEMENT TO ADDRESS PRE-EXISTING
CONDITIONS RELATED TO THE STAN GOBER MEMORIAL
BRIDGE REPAIR AND REHABILITATION PROJECT, AND
AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE CHANGE ORDER
(PROJECT NO. 66066)
Item #16A23
June 22, 2021
Page 223
THE SUBMITTAL OF A DERELICT VESSEL REMOVAL
GRANT APPLICATION TO THE FLORIDA FISH AND
WILDLIFE COMMISSION FOR THE REMOVAL OF THREE (3)
DERELICT VESSELS FROM COLLIER COUNTY
WATERWAYS IN THE AMOUNT OF $37,400.00 AND
AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE THE GRANT
APPLICATION – SITUATED ALONG THE WATERS AND
SHORLINE OF MARCO ISLAND, KEEWAYDIN ISLAND, AND
HALDEMAN CREEK, EAST OF NAPLES BAY
Item #16A24
AWARD INVITATION TO BID ("ITB") NO. 21-7879 "US 41
(SR45) NORTH LANDSCAPE & IRRIGATION INSTALLATION -
GRANT FUNDED" TO P & T LAWN & TRACTOR SERVICES,
INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $438,324.52, AND AUTHORIZE THE
CHAIR TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT AND APPROVE BUDGET
AMENDMENTS
Item #16A25
AN ADOPT-A-ROAD PROGRAM AGREEMENT FOR THE
ROADWAY SEGMENT OF CAPRI BOULEVARD, FROM CAPRI
WATER TOWER TO THE END OF CAPRI BOULEVARD WITH
TWO (2) RECOGNITION SIGNS AND TWO (2) ADOPT-A-
ROAD LOGO SIGNS FOR A TOTAL COST OF $200 WITH THE
VOLUNTEER GROUP, CAPRI COMMUNITY, INC.
Item #16A26
AN AFTER-THE-FACT TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT
June 22, 2021
Page 224
RIGHTS (TDR) SEVERANCE FROM FOUR (4) PROPERTIES
WITH A RECORDED CONSERVATION EASEMENT
DEDICATED TO THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER
MANAGEMENT DISTRICT (SFWMD) AND ACCEPT THE
ASSOCIATED LIMITATION OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS
BENEFITTING THE COUNTY – AS DETAILED IN THE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item #16A27
AN EXPENDITURE TO ALLOW THE UNIVERSITY OF
FLORIDA TO UPDATE AND PROVIDE MAINTENANCE FOR
THE ADAPTATION OF COASTAL URBAN AND NATURAL
ECOSYSTEMS (“ACUNE”) GEOTOOL AS AN EXEMPTION TO
THE COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT PROCESS
Item #16B1
LEASE AGREEMENT WITH SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
WORKFORCE BOARD TO PROVIDE OFFICE SPACE FOR THE
COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY STAFF IN
IMMOKALEE – LOCATED AT THE CAREERSOURCE
SOUTHWAST FLORIDA BUILDING, 750 SOUTH FIFTH
STREET, IMMOKALEE IN SUITE C
Item #16B2
THE SELECTION COMMITTEE’S RANKING FOR REQUEST
FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RPS”) #21-7845,
“BAYSHORE DRIVE REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT,” AND
AUTHORIZE STAFF TO BEGIN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS
June 22, 2021
Page 225
WITH THE TOP RANKED FIRM, STANTEC CONSULTING
SERVICES INC. SO THAT STAFF CAN BRING A PROPOSED
AGREEMENT BACK FOR THE BOARD’S CONSIDERATION
AT A SUBSEQUENT MEETING
Item #16B3
AN AGREEMENT FOR SALE AND PURCHASE TO ACQUIRE A
PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2732 FRANCIS AVENUE IN
CONNECTION WITH A STORMWATER PROJECT AND
APPROVE ANY NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS. THE
TOTAL COST FOR THIS TRANSACTION WILL NOT EXCEED
$319,000 – FOLIO #61834240004
Item #16B4
A SITE IMPROVEMENT GRANT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE
COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AND MICHAEL
AND KELLEY VANDERSTEL, IN THE AMOUNT OF $ 6,356.46
FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2500 LEE STREET,
NAPLES, FLORIDA 34112 LOCATED WITHIN THE
BAYSHORE GATEWAY TRIANGLE COMMUNITY
REDEVELOPMENT AREA – REPLACING THE ASPHALT
ROOF FOR A METAL 26-GAUGE ROOF BY KELLY ROOFING
Item #16B5
A SITE IMPROVEMENT GRANT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE
COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AND OZLYN
GARDEN VILLAS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $ 7,776.78 FOR THE
PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2582 ARBUTUS STREET, NAPLES,
June 22, 2021
Page 226
FLORIDA 34112 LOCATED WITHIN THE BAYSHORE
GATEWAY TRIANGLE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT
AREA – FOR RESURFACING THE PARKING AREA, TREE
REMOVAL AND NEW FENCING AROUND DUMPSTER
Item #16C1
THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO ADVERTISE, AND BRING
BACK FOR A PUBLIC HEARING, A RESOLUTION AMENDING
THE COLLIER COUNTY WATER-SEWER DISTRICT’S
UTILITIES STANDARDS MANUAL (THIS AGENDA ITEM IS A
COMPANION TO AGENDA ITEM #16C2)
Item #16C2
THE COUNTY ATTORNEY TO ADVERTISE, AND BRING
BACK FOR A PUBLIC HEARING, AN ORDINANCE
AMENDING THE COLLIER COUNTY UTILITIES STANDARDS
AND PROCEDURES ORDINANCE (THIS AGENDA ITEM IS A
COMPANION TO AGENDA ITEM #16C1)
Item #16C3
RESOLUTION 2021-130: A LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR
CONSTRUCTION STORAGE FOR A COUNTY CONTRACTOR
FOR THE 108TH AND 109TH NORTH AVENUES NAPLES
PARK PUR PROJECT TO UTILIZE COUNTY-OWNED
PROPERTY LOCATED IN NAPLES PARK
Item #16C4 – Continued to the July 13, 2021 BCC Meeting
June 22, 2021
Page 227
RECOMMENDATION TO AWARD INVITATION FOR
QUALIFICATION (“IFQ”) NO. 20-7771, “SMALL GENERAL
CONTRACTING SERVICES,” FOR COUNTY-WIDE GENERAL
CONTRACTING SERVICES TO: CAPITAL CONTRACTORS,
LLC, DEC CONTRACTING GROUP, INC., CHRIS-TEL
COMPANY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, INC. D/B/A CHRISTEL
CONSTRUCTION, WAYPOINT CONTRACTING INC, VETOR
CONTRACTING SERVICES, LLC, AND N R CONTRACTORS,
INC.
Item #16C5
A CERTIFICATION OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, AS
REQUIRED BY THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, FOR THE RENEWAL OF
AN EXISTING PERMIT TO CONSTRUCT, TEST AND/OR
OPERATE A NON-HAZARDOUS CLASS 1 INJECTION WELL
SYSTEM AT COLLIER COUNTY'S LANDFILL FACILITY ON
WHITE LAKE BLVD
Item #16C6
A DONATION AGREEMENT WITH 4110 GG PKWY, LLC, A
FLORIDA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY TO ACCEPT
PROPERTY AND INFRASTRUCTURE LOCATED AT 4110
GOLDEN GATE PARKWAY – FOLIO #35640240004
Item #16C7
BUDGET AMENDMENTS RECOGNIZING REVENUE AND
APPROPRIATE FUNDING WITHIN THE COUNTY WIDE
June 22, 2021
Page 228
CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND (301) IN THE AMOUNT OF
$661,020.27 – FROM INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENTS
Item #16C8
BUDGET AMENDMENTS RECOGNIZING REVENUE AND
REALLOCATING FUNDING BETWEEN COST CENTERS
WITHIN THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION BUDGET
IN THE AMOUNT OF $433,000
Item #16C9
A THIRD AMENDMENT TO LEASE AGREEMENT WITH
SPRINT SPECTRUM, L.P., FOR SPACE FOR
COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT LOCATED ON THE
ROOFTOP OF BUILDING L
Item #16D1
AMENDMENT TO THE 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 #16D2
ELECTRONIC SUBMITTAL OF FUNDING ASSISTANCE
PROPOSALS TO THE FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE
CONSERVATION COMMISSION’S INVASIVE PLANT
MANAGEMENT SECTION FOR CONTRACTOR SERVICES
June 22, 2021
Page 229
WORTH $210,000 DURING FY 2022 TO TREAT INVASIVE
EXOTIC VEGETATION WITHIN CONSERVATION COLLIER’S
PEPPER RANCH, RATTLESNAKE HAMMOCK, AND
MCILVANE MARSH PRESERVES
Item #16D3
A CAMP HOST VOLUNTEER AGREEMENT FOR
VOLUNTEERS TO TEMPORARILY RESIDE ON PROPERTY AT
THE CONSERVATION COLLIER PEPPER RANCH PRESERVE
DURING THE 2021 - 2022 OPEN SEASON – LOCATED AT 6315
PEPPER ROAD, IMMOKALEE
Item #16D4
AN AMENDMENT TO THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR
AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AGENT SERVICES WITH THE
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES EXTENSION (UF IFAS) TO
CORRECT THE ANNUAL AMOUNT TO $26,971.08, FOR A
COST REDUCTION TO COLLIER COUNTY OF $5,451.44
Item #16D5
THE FIRST AGREEMENT AMENDMENT BETWEEN COLLIER
COUNTY AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DIVISION OF HISTORICAL RESOURCES FOR ACCESSIBLE
INTERPRETATION OF THE BUDD TAVERN OBSERVATION
CAR LOCATED AT THE NAPLES DEPOT MUSEUM
Item #16D6
June 22, 2021
Page 230
TWO SUBRECIPIENT AGREEMENT AMENDMENTS
BETWEEN COLLIER COUNTY AND: 1) THE SHELTER FOR
ABUSED WOMEN & CHILDREN, INC. TO INCREASE
SERVICES, MODIFY AGREEMENT LANGUAGE, INCREASE
FUNDING, AND UPDATE EXHIBIT C AND 2) NAMI COLLIER
COUNTY, INC. TO INCREASE FUNDING, SERVICES, AMEND
COMPONENTS, MODIFY AGREEMENT LANGUAGE AND
UPDATE EXHIBIT C – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Item #16D7
RESOLUTION 2021-131: THE COLLIER COUNTY U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
(HUD) 5-YEAR CONSOLIDATED PLAN FOR FY 2021-2025
INCLUDING THE FY 2021 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN FOR
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS (CDBG) ,
HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS (HOME), AND
EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANTS (ESG); AUTHORIZE THE
NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF
$3,791,975.70 FOR THE HUD FY 2021-2021 BUDGET;
APPROVE THE REVISED CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN
AND UPDATED ANALYSIS OF IMPEDIMENTS TO FAIR
HOUSING; APPROVE AND EXECUTE THE RESOLUTION,
HUD CERTIFICATIONS, SF424 APPLICATIONS FOR FEDERAL
ASSISTANCE, AND AUTHORIZE TRANSMITTAL TO HUD;
AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRPERSON TO SIGN THE ASSOCIATED
HUD GRANT AGREEMENTS UPON ARRIVAL; AND
APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRPERSON TO SIGN
(10) SUB-RECIPIENT GRANT AGREEMENTS
June 22, 2021
Page 231
Item #16D8
FIVE (5) MORTGAGE SATISFACTIONS FOR THE STATE
HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP LOAN PROGRAM IN
THE AMOUNT OF $77,720.70 AND THE ASSOCIATED
BUDGET AMENDMENT – LOCATED AT 5411 28TH AVE SW,
NAPLES; 268 COUNTRYSIDE DRIVE, NAPLES; 2335
PICADILLY CIRCUS, NAPLES; 5441 27TH AVENUE SW,
NAPLES; AND 3390 POINCIANA STREET, NAPLES
Item #16D9
ONE (1) BUDGET AMENDMENT RECOGNIZING
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
INCOME, IN THE AMOUNT OF $109,194.11 FOR PROGRAM
YEAR 2018/2019
Item #16D10
AN “AFTER-THE-FACT” CONTRACT AND AN ATTESTATION
STATEMENT WITH AREA AGENCY ON AGING FOR
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, INC. (AGENCY), FOR THE
EMERGENCY HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
(EHEAP) AND AUTHORIZE A BUDGET AMENDMENT TO
ENSURE CONTINUOUS FUNDING FOR FY21/22
Item #16D11
A BUDGET AMENDMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $33,260 TO
APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO RELOCATE A COLLIER AREA
TRANSIT BUS STOP ON TRIANGLE BOULEVARD
June 22, 2021
Page 232
Item #16D12
AMENDMENT #1 OF THE FY20-21 FLORIDA
DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES COUNCIL (FDDC)
TRANSPORTATION VOUCHER PROJECT TO EXTEND THE
CONTRACT TO SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 AND INCREASE THE
TOTAL AWARD FUNDING AMOUNT TO $300,000 TO ALLOW
SAME DAY TRANSPORTATION VOUCHERS FOR PEOPLE
WITH DISABILITIES AND AUTHORIZE THE NECESSARY
BUDGET AMENDMENT
Item #16D13
THE STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP ANNUAL
REPORT AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRPERSON TO SIGN THE
LOCAL HOUSING INCENTIVE CERTIFICATION FOR
CLOSEOUT FISCAL YEAR 2017/2018 TO ENSURE
COMPLIANCE WITH PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS – ALL
PROJECTS WERE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER 30, 2020
Item #16D14
AN “AFTER-THE-FACT” AMENDMENT AND ATTESTATION
STATEMENT WITH THE AREA AGENCY ON AGING FOR
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, INC., OLDER AMERICAN ACT
GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE COLLIER COUNTY SERVICES
FOR SENIORS TO ADD CARRY FORWARD ALLOCATIONS
FOR SERVICES, ADD CONTRACT LANGUAGE, REVISE
ATTACHMENT II-EXHIBIT 2 FUNDING SUMMARY, REVISE
ATTACHMENT VIII BUDGET AND RATE SUMMARY, AND
SUPPORTING BUDGET AMENDMENTS
June 22, 2021
Page 233
Item #16D15
RESOLUTION 2021-132: THE “AFTER-THE-FACT”
ELECTRONIC SUBMITTAL OF A GRANT APPLICATION TO
THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE DIVISION OF
HISTORICAL RESOURCES IN THE AMOUNT OF $522,952 FOR
RESTORATION OF THE HISTORIC COTTAGES AT MAR-
GOOD HARBOR PARK IN GOODLAND WITH A REQUIRED
ONE-TO-ONE MATCH AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO
SIGN A RESOLUTION DOCUMENTING CONFIRMED MATCH
Item #16D16
A 3-YEAR FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES CRIMINAL JUSTICE, MENTAL HEALTH, AND
SUBSTANCE ABUSE REINVESTMENT GRANT AWARD IN
THE AMOUNT OF $1,200,000 WITH A $1,200,000 MATCH
OBLIGATION; AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY MANAGER TO
SIGN THE AGREEMENT UPON ARRIVAL; AND
AUTHORIZING THE NECESSARY BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Item #16E1
AGREEMENT NO. 21-021-NS WITH PUBLIC CONSULTING
GROUP, LLC, AS A SINGLE SOURCE PROVIDER,
AUTHORIZE ANNUAL CONTINGENCY FEE PAYMENTS IN
EXCESS OF $50,000 FOR COST REPORTING AND
CONSULTING SERVICES PERTAINING TO THE PUBLIC
EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION (“PEMT”)
MEDICAID REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM INVOLVING
COLLIER COUNTY EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
June 22, 2021
Page 234
(“EMS”), AND AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE
ATTACHED AGREEMENT – TERMINATING CONTRACT #18-
7482 AND APPROVING THE NEW AGREEMENT WITH PCG,
LLC (PUBLIC CONSULTING GROUP, LLC) THROUGH FY24
Item #16E2
AN ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT ASSIGNING ALL RIGHTS,
DUTIES AND BENEFITS, AND OBLIGATIONS TO WILLIS
TOWERS WATSON MIDWEST, INC. FOR AGREEMENT #19-
7581 “GROUP INSURANCE BROKERAGE AND ACTUARIAL
SERVICES” – THE COUNTY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
REVIEWED AND ACCEPTED THE NECESSARY BUSINESS
DOCUMENTS FROM WTW
Item #16E3
AWARD REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (“RFP”) NO. 20-7786,
“BROADCAST AND AUDIO/VIDEO MAINTENANCE, REPAIR
DESIGN SERVICES,” TO PRO SOUND, INC., D/B/A PRO
SOUND & VIDEO, AND AUTHORIZING THE CHAIR TO
EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT
Item #16E4
EXTENSION OF THE EXISTING AGREEMENT WITH UNITED
DATA TECHNOLOGIES UNDER AGREEMENT NO. 20-043-NS,
“UDT-COLLIER-GSA CISCO PROFESSIONAL SERVICES,”
FOR AN ADDITIONAL PERIOD OF ONE YEAR
Item #16E5
June 22, 2021
Page 235
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS PREPARED BY THE
PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR CHANGE ORDERS
AND OTHER CONTRACTUAL MODIFICATIONS REQUIRING
BOARD APPROVAL
Item #16E6
RECOGNIZING ACCRUED INTEREST FROM THE PERIOD
JANUARY 1, 2021 THROUGH APRIL 30, 2021 EARNED BY
EMS COUNTY GRANT AND APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR A
TOTAL AMOUNT OF $202.22 – FOR EMS COUNTY GRANTS
BY THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH UNDER THE
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES COUNTY GRANTS
PROGRAM
Item #16E7
ACCRUED INTEREST FROM THE PERIOD JANUARY 1, 2021
THROUGH APRIL 30, 2021 EARNED BY EMS CARES ACT
PROVIDER RELIEF PAYMENT AND APPROPRIATE FUNDS
FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $113.57
Item #16E8
THE SALE AND DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS ASSETS PER
RESOLUTION 2013-095 VIA PUBLIC AUCTION ON AUGUST 7,
2021 – AS DETAILED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Item #16E9
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT PREPARED BY THE
June 22, 2021
Page 236
PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION FOR DISPOSAL OF
PROPERTY AND NOTIFICATION OF REVENUE
DISBURSEMENT
Item #16F1
TERMINATING THE AGREEMENT WITH FLORIDA GULF
COAST UNIVERSITY (FGCU) FOR THE NAPLES
ACCELERATOR COHORT TRAINING PROGRAM, FOR
CONVENIENCE, AND SEND NOTICE TO FGCU
Item #16F2
APPROVAL OF THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT BOARD, INC., PROPOSED FY 2021/2022
BUDGET
Item #16F3
RESOLUTION 2021-133: AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING
GRANTS, DONATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS, OR INSURANCE
PROCEEDS) TO THE FY20-21 ADOPTED BUDGET
Item #16F4
RESOLUTION 2021-134: REPEALING RESOLUTION NO.
2021-112 THAT WAS ESTABLISHED TO ENACT AN
OUTDOOR BURNING BAN IN THE UNINCORPORATED
AREAS OF COLLIER COUNTY IN ACCORDANCE WITH
ORDINANCE NO. 2009-23, AS AMENDED, THE REGULATION
OF OUTDOOR BURNING AND INCENDIARY DEVICES
June 22, 2021
Page 237
DURING DROUGHT CONDITIONS ORDINANCE, BECAUSE
DROUGHT CONDITIONS NO LONGER EXIST
Item #16G1
THE CREATION OF TWO (2) ADDITIONAL FULL-TIME
EQUIVALENT POSITIONS FOR THE MARCO ISLAND
EXECUTIVE AIRPORT TO ALLOW FOR HIRING AND
TRAINING OF LINE STAFF PRIOR TO THE FY22 BUDGET
YEAR, AND TO AUTHORIZE ANY NECESSARY BUDGET
AMENDMENTS
Item #16H1
PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING OLE AT LELY RESORT 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. PRESENTATION OF THE
PROCLAMATION AND A PLAQUE WILL BE CONDUCTED BY
COUNTY STAFF AT THE CONDOMINIUM COMPLEX –
ADOPTED
Item #16I1
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE
Proposed Agenda Changes
Board of County Commissioners Meeting
June 22, 2021
Continue Item 16C4 to the July 13, 2021 BCC Meeting: Recommendation to award Invitation for
Qualification (“IFQ”) No. 20- 7771, “Small General Contracting Services,” for County-wide
general contracting services to: Capital Contractors, LLC, DEC Contracting Group, Inc., Chris-
Tel Company of Southwest Florida, Inc. d/b/a Chris- Tel Construction, Waypoint Contracting Inc,
Vetor Contracting Services, LLC, and N R Contractors, Inc. (Staff’s request)
Time Certain Items:
Item 11F to be heard immediately following item 5B – Communications media technology for
remote participation in public meetings
Item 10A to be heard at 10:00am – Consideration of County Ordinance establishing Collier
County as a Bill of Rights Sanctuary County
7/8/2021 2:10 PM
June 22, 2021
Page 238
Item #16J1
AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR ELECTION SERVICES
FOR THE FEBRUARY 1, 2022, CITY OF NAPLES GENERAL
ELECTION
Item #16J2
AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR ELECTION SERVICES
FOR THE NOVEMBER 23, 2021, CITY OF EVERGLADES CITY
GENERAL ELECTION
Item #16J3
DESIGNATING THE SHERIFF AS THE OFFICIAL APPLICANT
AND POINT OF CONTACT FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE, OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS, BUREAU OF
JUSTICE ASSISTANCE EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL
JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT (JAG) FY ‘21 LOCAL
STANDARD GRANT. AUTHORIZE THE ACCEPTANCE OF
THE GRANT WHEN AWARDED, APPROVE ASSOCIATED
BUDGET AMENDMENTS AND APPROVE THE COLLIER
COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE TO RECEIVE AND EXPEND 2021
JAG STANDARD GRANT FUNDS
Item #16J4
A FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION CERTIFICATE OF
AUTHORIZATION WAIVER AND TO ACT AS THE HOLDER
OF SAID WAIVER ON BEHALF OF THE COLLIER COUNTY
SHERIFF’S OFFICE – FOR THE USE OF DRONES IN
June 22, 2021
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ACCORDANCE WITH FEDERAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS
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 MAY 27, 2021 AND JUNE 9,
2021 PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 136.06
Item #16J6
BOARD APPROVED AND DETERMINED A VALID PUBLIC
PURPOSE FOR INVOICES PAYABLE AND PURCHASING
CARD TRANSACTIONS AS OF JUNE 16, 2021
Item #16K1 – Continued from the June 8, 2021 BCC Meeting
TAKING NO FURTHER ACTION WITH RESPECT TO A
PUBLIC PETITION REQUESTING THAT COLLIER COUNTY
ENACT AN ORDINANCE TO PROTECT FIREARM OWNERS
FROM FEDERAL OR STATE GOVERNMENT INTRUSION
Item #16K2
RESOLUTION 2021-134A: DECLARING A VACANCY ON THE
CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD
Item #16K3
June 22, 2021
Page 240
RESOLUTION 2021-135: RE-APPOINTING RICHARD E.
JOSLIN, JR., TERRY JERULLE, AND MATTHEW NOLTON TO
THE CONTRACTORS LICENSING BOARD
Item #16K4
A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT WITH PRO SE
RESPONDENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $101,500.00 FOR THE
TAKING OF PARCEL 1111FEE, REQUIRED FOR THE
VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD EXPANSION PROJECT
(PROJECT NO. 60168)
Item #16K5
A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT FOR THE TOTAL
AMOUNT OF $8,000.00 FOR THE TAKING OF PARCEL
272RDUE, REQUIRED FOR THE VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD
EXPANSION PROJECT (PROJECT NO. 60168.00)
Item #16K6
A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF
$90,000.00, PLUS STATUTORY ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND
COSTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $18,749.75, FOR THE TOTAL
AMOUNT OF $108,749.75 FOR THE TAKING OF PARCEL
123FEE, REQUIRED FOR THE VANDERBILT BEACH ROAD
EXPANSION PROJECT (PROJECT NO. 60168)
Item #16K7
A STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF
June 22, 2021
Page 241
$18,350.00 WITH PRO SE RESPONDENT FOR THE TAKING OF
PARCEL 1175RDUE, REQUIRED FOR THE VANDERBILT
BEACH ROAD EXPANSION PROJECT (PROJECT NO. 60168)
Item #16K8
RESOLUTION 2021-136: ALLOWING COLLIER COUNTY TO
JOIN THE STATE OF FLORIDA AND OTHER FLORIDA
COUNTIES IN THE UNIFIED PLAN FOR THE ALLOCATION
AND USE OF OPIOID SETTLEMENT PROCEEDS AS SET
FORTH IN THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
Item #17A
ORDINANCE 2021-23: ESTABLISHING A LOCAL PROVIDER
PARTICIPATION FUND FOR THE DIRECTED PAYMENT
PROGRAM TO BE SOLELY FUNDED BY ASSESSMENTS ON
HOSPITAL-OWNED PROPERTY OR PROPERTY USED AS A
HOSPITAL OR PROPERTY USED AS A HOSPITAL
Item #17B
RESOLUTION 2021-137: A VARIANCE REQUEST FROM
SECTION 4.06.02.C TABLE 2.4 OF THE COLLIER COUNTY
LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE WHICH REQUIRES A 20 FOOT
LANDSCAPE BUFFER ALONG ROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY AND A
10 FOOT LANDSCAPE BUFFER ABUTTING ADJACENT
AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY TO ALLOW NO BUFFER ON
THE PERIMETER OF THE PROPERTY, TO BE MITIGATED BY
SUPPLEMENTARY NATIVE PLANTINGS ALONG PORTIONS
OF SR 29, FOR THE IMMOKALEE SOLAR PROJECT, WHICH
June 22, 2021
Page 242
PROPERTY IS IN THE AGRICULTURAL-MOBILE HOME
OVERLAY RURAL LANDS STEWARDSHIP AREA OVERLAY
(A-MHO RLSAO) ZONING DISTRICT AND LOCATED ON THE
EAST SIDE OF THE INTERSECTION AT SR 29 AND SR 82 IN
SECTIONS 4, 9 AND 16, TOWNSHIP 46 SOUTH, RANGE 29
EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA [PL20200002161]
Item #17C
RESOLUTION 2021-138: A CONDITIONAL USE TO ALLOW A
SOLAR ENERGY PLANT UNDER THE CONDITIONAL USE
WITHIN THE AGRICULTURALMOBILE HOME OVERLAY
RURAL LANDS STEWARDSHIP AREA OVERLAY (A-MHO
RLSAO) ZONING DISTRICT PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION
2.01.03.G.1.A OF THE COLLIER COUNTY LAND
DEVELOPMENT CODE FOR PROPERTY LOCATED ON THE
EAST SIDE OF THE INTERSECTION AT SR 29 AND SR 82 IN
SECTIONS 4, 9 AND 16, TOWNSHIP 46 SOUTH, RANGE 29
EAST, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA [PL20200001865]
Item #17D
RESOLUTION 2021-139 AMENDMENTS (APPROPRIATING
CARRY FORWARD, TRANSFERS AND SUPPLEMENTAL
REVENUE) TO THE FY20-21 ADOPTED BUDGET
June 22, 2021
*****
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 5:03 p.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMIVIISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECIALI ISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL
0A1 4141
PENNY TAYLOR, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST
CRYSTAL K: KINZEL, CLERK
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4 ''}i, . ' '' . ' ttest as to C 411 s
These minutes approved by the Board on Q li 20)-1 , as
presented ✓ or as corrected .
TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF FORT MYERS
COURT REPORTING BY TERRI LEWIS, RPR, FPR, COURT
REPORTER AND NOTARY PUBLIC.
Page 243