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BCC Minutes 05/13/1999 TH (District 5) May 13, 1999 TRANSCRIPT OF THE WORKSHOP MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida, May 13, 1999 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 7:00 p.m. in workshop session at Immokalee Middle School, Immokalee, Florida, with the following members present: CHAIRPERSON: Pamela S. Mac'Kie Barbara B. Berry NOT PRESENT: John C. Norris Timothy J. Constantine James D. Carter ALSO PRESENT: Robert Fernandez, County Administrator David Weigel, County Attorney Page 1 May 13, 1999 CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you so much for turning out here tonight. It's just such an honor to get to be here with all of you. We will officially call to order the town hall meeting of the Board of County Commissioners for May 13th, 1999. We have -- we always start our meetings with an invocation. We don't have a minister here to do that -- do we? Well, then would you join us, because -- lead us in invocation, and then we'll remain standing for the pledge of allegiance. REVEREND RICHARD ANDERSON: Let us pray. Father, we bless you tonight, we praise you, we thank you that you are involved in the affairs of men and women through our nation. Lord, we thank you for our commissioners who come here tonight, and we ask a special blessing on those who didn't. Lord, we ask your blessings on our gathering; may you be glorified, honored and lifted up. In Christ's name we pray, Amen. (Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you very much. There are copies of the agenda on the table in the back, if anyone hasn't gotten them. That will be sort of our order of discussion for tonight. I also am going to announce right up front that if there is need for translation, either Spanish or Haitian, we are just honored tonight to have Martha Posada -- which side is that -- Martha Posado here as a translator, and Marie Elias Noevus (phonetic) -- close -- as a Creole translator. So anyone who needs that service, please take advantage of it. The first item on our agenda tonight is a discussion of Lake Trafford -- oh, I'm so sorry. There is -- our county administrator has a letter that Commissioner Constantine asked him to read to us. MR. FERNANDEZ: Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. This is an open letter to the Immokalee community. "Please accept my apologies for not being able to attend the Immokalee Town Hall meeting. I have a long-standing family commitment out of state. I value the input of the citizens of Immokalee and regret having to miss this valuable meeting. I hope the Town Hall meeting is a success and welcome anyone with specific concerns to contact me in my Board of County Commissioners' office, 774-8393. Please don't hesitate to contact me, if I may ever be of assistance. With best regards, Timothy J. Constantine, vice-chairman." CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. So we'll go now -- the first topic we have is community development environmental services. That's the division of county staff that will be making these presentations, with the exception of the very first one, Clarence Tears, who is the director of the Big Cypress Basin, but he's here with us tonight in his capacity as the chairman of the Everglades -- I'm sorry, Everglades Task Force -- of the Lake Trafford Task Force. And he's going to give us an update on the Lake Trafford project. MR. TEARS: Good evening. What I'd like to start with tonight is just let the board know with your efforts and thank you for the two million dollar support for Lake Trafford. It really helped at the state level. It sent a message to the state that we were serious in the county to restore Lake Trafford. It also sent a message to the Corps of how important Lake Trafford is to our community. And since that time, the state has approved one million dollars for the restoration, and are currently working on a cooperating agreement with the Corps, and we hope to have that signed by Page 2 May 13, 1999 September. And we're hoping that by early January to start the project. There's still some funding required, but through the cooperative agreement, we're hoping only a three-year period we can get the additional funds required and keep this lake restoration project on track. What I'd like to do at this time is ask Annie to come up. She'll talk a little bit about the grassroots support. Because the grassroots support throughout this project, which was a high-ranked project that occurred on the restoration list, but through the grassroots support of this community, the project was lowered to over 16, and it really was important grass support from this community. And I would just like her to talk a little bit about that. Thanks. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Some of us had the pleasure of a tour of an airboat ride around the lake today and got to see the birds, and it was just an incredibly beautiful experience. I can't wait to come back and get to see it one more time on the lake. MS. OLESKY: Thank you. I just wanted to fill you in a little bit about the grassroots effort. As you know, we're really excited because you pulled this all together. We came to you and said hey, we need help to save our lake, what can we do? And you said the first thing we do is form a task force and then you get out and find the money. And by golly, we've done that, and we want to thank you again for all the wonderful support that all of you have done. We've also had a cowboy shoot-out. We talked to these cowboys and they dress up in authentic costumes and off they go, and they have everything together that they need to have shoots; like they'll go to a saloon and they'll have a shoot-out in other places. But they took Lake Trafford. Now, these people had no idea what Lake Trafford was, but they had a wonderful shoot-out and I understand that they're donating $300 out of that, which is a pretty good chunk. Other fundraisers that we've had with grassroots would be the bluegrass festival, which is now becoming a yearly thing. And we hope once we get Lake Trafford up and running good, that we can make these fundraisers for other worthy projects. Collier County has a wonderful abundance of diverse tourism possibilities, and Lake Trafford being one of them. We're doing a -- we did the Clyde Butcher pictures, which you all are well aware of, and I believe -- I could go down the list here. I do see a lot of things that we've already done that have been bringing in money. I can honestly say right now that we're over the $20,000 mark on the grassroots effort. We have a can sitting up at the marina, and a lot of my fishermen, who don't have a whole lot of money, will come in and buy supplies and they'll throw their nickels and dimes in. And that adds up. And we'll send off like a check for maybe 60, 80 or $100. So in the grassroots efforts, we're pulling together to make this a worthy project. I talked with the Army Corps of Engineers today to alleviate any problems or fears that we might have, just to ask them, hey, where do we really stand? Are we going on the shelf, or are we going to be a viable project? And they said that there are several of the projects -- there were 34 all total. And that we're in the top three. Which Page 3 May 13, 1999 means that through government, whether that's county, state or the Army Corps of Engineers, have all pulled together, along with the grassroots effort, to make this a viable project. They hope to have, by September of this year, a contract signed by all parties involved to make Lake Trafford a go. So I'm going to close by saying thank you and to invite all of you, my new commissioner, to get out and come see us. It's a worthy project. And thank you. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: You guys are our first Town Hall meeting. We're going to have one in each of the commission districts. And we're your first one. We're happy to be here. And Barbara and I -- Commissioner Berry and I were saying how should the format go? So we thought that if there are people who would like to comment on each topic as we go through, we would offer that opportunity. So if there's anybody who wants to comment on the Lake Trafford project, if you would just raise your hand or come forward to the microphone, we'd love to hear from you. And then at the end of the meeting, we'll have just a general opportunity for comment on any topics. I just wanted to let you know that. MR. FERNANDEZ: Madam Chairwoman, we have a sign-up card from Leo Rodgers, Lake Trafford. If you'd like to speak at this time. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Leo Rodgers? Oh, here you come. Great. MR. RODGERS: I just wanted to thank the community and to thank the commissioners for all the help in raising this -- the funding for this lake. It's been a long, hard deal. And I'd like to invite every -- all of you to the next bluegrass festival, which will be the second weekend in January of 2000. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Write that down, Annie. MR. RODGERS: And it's going to be an annual event from now on, too, we hope, so I want to make -- you know, make everybody aware of it. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. Okay, anybody else on Lake Trafford? If not, we'll go on to our next item, which is the benefits of the enterprise zone. Who's going to make that presentation? MS. CASELTINE: For the record, my name is Helene Caseltine. I'm the economic development manager. I work for the county, in the Department of Housing and Urban Improvement. And what I'm going to do is take a few minutes to talk about the enterprise zone here in Immokalee, the benefits that are available, and so forth. One of the responsibilities I have, among other things, is to coordinate the activities, market the benefits and encourage its use. Right now, just as a little bit of background, there's 32 enterprise zones designated in the State of Florida. The primary purpose is to encourage and stimulate economic activity in distressed areas by offering tax benefits to local businesses that may want to expand in the area and to new businesses that are looking to locate in an enterprise zone area. The enterprise zones are established in urban areas like Liberty City over in Dade County is an enterprise zone, and of course in the rural areas, here in Immokalee, as well as Everglades City. I do have a map behind me, and it will stay up -- it will be available after the meeting. Probably most of you can't see it right Page 4 May 13, 1999 now. But there actually -- as of right now there is a line, a jurisdictional boundary line that shows where the boundaries are of the enterprise zone. I would say that most if not all of the industrial property in Immokalee is located within that zone. Probably more than 90 percent of the commercial property, as well as quite a few residential areas are located within that boundary zone. What I'd like to do, too, is kind of go over what some of those benefits are. The most popular one that we have seen is a program called the job tax credit. For a company either an existing company or a new company that comes into Immokalee, when they hire new workers, they can get a tax credit based on the wages of those new workers, and they can take that credit either against the sales tax that they pay to the state or against their corporate income tax. Another program that is available is a sales tax reimbursement on building materials that are used to either build a new building or to renovate an existing building. You can get up to 97 percent reimbursed on that sales tax. And this is also available to homeowners, private homeowners. If you're thinking about putting a new roof on your house or adding a garage or an addition to your house, if your house is located within that boundary line, then you would be eligible for sales tax reimbursements on the building, on the materials that you use. Another reimbursement is on equipment purchases. It can be new or used equipment, whatever you use in your business. It could be a computer system, cash registers, fork lifts, a whole new assembly line. Whatever it is, you can get up to 97 percent reimbursed on the sales tax that you pay, as long as that equipment again is used within that zone. One program that's real popular, especially with our manufacturers, is a sales tax exemption on electricity. That's for new structures or those that have been unoccupied for three months or longer. You can get up to 100 percent of the sales tax exempted for five years on that structure. Just kind of as an example of how these credits can add up, there is a local kind of a small auto shop, I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with it. They moved from one part of town to the other. They were in the enterprise zone to start with but moved to another part of town within the enterprise zone. They built a new facility, they hired a couple of new workers. Just with this move, they totaled a little over $6,000 in sales tax credits and reimburse amounts. And this is a small operation, five or six employees. So you don't have to be a big corporate giant to take advantage of these sales tax -- of these tax benefits. Right now we have about seven companies in Immokalee taking advantage of these benefits. We'd like to see a lot more usage. There's one other program that's more for corporate donors, and if a corporate donor donates whatever it is, equipment or cash or whatever, to a specified project, they can take 50 percent of the value of that donation and use it as a credit against their corporate income tax. Right now the Immokalee Chamber of Commerce Main Street program is one of those designated projects, and we're looking to get a couple more of those on the books so that -- and it could be a corporation anywhere in Florida, it doesn't have to be here in Collier County. Page 5 May 13, 1999 That's the enterprise zone program. I do have brochures on the back table. I've also got -- I handed to the commissioners and I've got extras too that give much more detail on each of those programs that I described, if anyone is interested. You know, you're certainly welcome to have one of those. I wanted to mention a couple more programs that we do have here available in Immokalee. One is targeted to foreign investors specifically. It's called the foreign entrepreneurial investment zone. And it's for a foreign investor who's looking to get permanent U.S. residency. Typically to do that they would need to invest three to five million dollars in an area to apply for green card status. If they invest in the Immokalee area, they would only have to invest about $500,000, and that's over a two-year period. And they would also have to hire 10 new employees. But that's been very popular to companies that we talk to who are located in Europe or Latin America. It's been very, very popular. In fact, designation was just given a little over a year ago by the Florida Department of Labor. And one final program that I did want to mention called our micro loan program. Again, I've got brochures on the back table. But it's available to people who are either already in business or are looking to start a business. It's a very small dollar amount, up to $5,000. Usually a bank doesn't look at any kind of loan under even $20,000, but this is available if you need to buy some equipment or you need to do some marketing for your company or whatever. We have local banks that are involved. Florida Community Bank is one of our participant banks. But that's available to anyone in Collier County who's looking to start a business or maybe expand on what they've maybe started on the side and want to get bigger. So with that, I'm going to close. I'll be here the rest of the meeting. If anybody has questions afterwards, I'll be happy to answer them, too. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: I have a question. MS. CASELTINE: Yes, ma'am. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Two things. One, this small loan program, up to $5,000. That's -- that's within or without the enterprise zone? MS. CASELTINE: Right. Right. That's available anywhere in Collier County. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: And those -- what does a person have to do to qualify for a loan like that? MS. CASELTINE: Well, what we suggest is that they talk to one of the counselors at either the Small Business Development Center or the SCORE chapter. Those are free private one-on-one sessions with a business counselor to see how business ready they are. And if they've got a lot of knowledge, know-how and maybe they've been in business for five years, then we will take that loan application. If it's something that they're maybe unfamiliar with, maybe the counselor feels they need a little bit of training, there are workshops available through the Small Business Development Center that maybe might teach them how to put together a business plan. And we encourage them to attend one or two of those classes prior to applying for that program. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: The other question I had is if your home is located within the red boundary there and you're going to make any kind of improvement to your home, you should not be paying sales tax, or you should go through this process so you can get your sales tax Page 6 May 13, 1999 back. MS. CASELTINE: Right, right. There is a minimum threshold amount. And off the top of my head, I couldn't tell you. It's like maybe $1,000 or something like that. But yeah, if that structure is located in the enterprise zone you're eligible to get reimbursed up to 97 percent of those building materials that are used. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Any questions? Thank you very much. Any comments from anybody in the audience on the enterprise zone? Okay, then we will move on to the enterprise community programs update. Looks like that's Deb Preston. MS. PRESTON: Good evening, commissioners. For the record, Deborah Preston, from the planning services department. It was just about a year ago that we started a planning process here in Immokalee with all the residents to set up to do a strategic plan for the federal program called the empowerment zone enterprise community initiative. We had several public meetings. We have a lot of input from especially our Haitian residents and our Hispanic residents. We submitted the application in September, and in this January we received notification that we received the award for an enterprise community. The map behind me displays what our boundaries are for that enterprise community. We partnered with Hendry County, Eastern Hendry County and the Seminole Indian tribe of Florida as our group for the application process. This designation gives us $250,000 a year every year for a 10-year period, as appropriated from the U.S. Senate at. It's monitored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it will also give us some leveraging to receive other federal and state program money through other grants that we may apply for. This year we are also lucky that the state legislation has come up with a Florida empowerment zone program. This will mirror the federal designation as well. And right now it's allocated to receive $250,000 in the state budget for a 10-year period. So if Governor Bush continues with the budget appropriations that are currently laid out by the Senate and the house, then we expect to receive the $250,000 in it to the Immokalee area as well. So we have $500,000 that will be brought into the community. In addition to the state legislation of the Florida empowerment zone program, they have also started another program that will expand the rural definition to include Immokalee as a rural community. Immokalee, because of its location in Collier County, often didn't qualify for rural programs. And right now we're fortunate that they've expanded the definition for rural to include any enterprise community as part of the rural definition. We've also received in that legislation the ability to expand the enterprise zone boundaries which Helene just got done talking to, to include all of the Immokalee area that is part of our enterprise community. So the Lake Trafford area, which currently has not been included in the enterprise zone, would be expanded and be able to receive the same benefits that Helene had mentioned earlier. The state appropriations have also included $125,000 for a one-stop career center in Immokalee. This will be a big plus to help with the education and job training opportunities here in Immokalee. And we're hoping to leverage that $125,000 with the Workforce Development Council to receive the rest of that funding and actually Page 7 May 13, 1999 get the facility built and hopefully located right next to jobs and benefits, which if you're familiar with the two-story gray structure as you're coming into town, that's the supposed site -- one of the sites we're looking at for that building, which will be accessible to all the residents in Immokalee. We hope it will include day-care, flexible training hours, evening, as well as daytime training and educational classes. The Planning Services Department continues to give support staff to the mainstream program. We've had six buildings renovated already on Main Street, and we're in the process of two more coming in getting some design work done. And this Saturday there is an Immokalee cleanup plan. This is the third annual one that the Main Street program has been supporting for the last three years. It will be held at the community park starting at 8:00. And in the past they've picked up about 23,000 pounds of trash, so it's a big event. And finally, the Planning Services Department is working on an overlay for the Immokalee area. We've divided the area to six distinct sub-areas, and we're concentrating right now to the downtown Main Street. There we're looking at some flexibility of the development standards to encourage redevelopment and bring more businesses into the downtown. If you have any questions? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: I have one. I seem to be full of them. This half a million dollars a year for 10 years can be spent for what purposes? MS. PRESTON: Okay, we have -- in our strategic plan we have outlined four basic areas: One is education and training; the second is job development; the third is housing; and the fourth is community image and pride. Education and training and job development were rated by the community during our summer meeting sessions as their two top priority areas. Housing was a very close second. And then community image and pride. And just as sort of another side, one our housing benchmarks includes working with some partners to develop a dormitory style housing for single male farm workers. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: When might the community start to see something on the ground as a result of this? I mean, a half a million dollars a year, that's a lot of money. MS. PRESTON: Yes. And hopefully the key really to this program is leveraging without the federal and state monies. And in the past other communities have been very successful in doing that. What we hope to do is by early June actually get a memorandum of agreement signed between the community foundation of Collier County, which is the lead entity, and U.S.D.A. We're hoping that the money will be appropriated to the areas right after that agreement gets signed. And we -- the community foundation, in their plans to implement this program, is looking to do some specific projects that people will be visible. One being sort of an anti-litter campaign, which we have heard a lot about, that there was a serious problem here with litter. That's following up with the cleanup that they're having on Saturday. Also, we hope to set up a community development corporation which will be a nonprofit entity directly held here in Immokalee for specific projects such as buying land and assembling property to build Page 8 May 13, 1999 some additional affordable housing units. Also to spark some economic development opportunities in the area. So hopefully by the beginning of the next fiscal year the money should be coming in, and if everything goes according to plan, we should see some progress. Also, I'd like to mention that the community foundation is having an advisory council, and that is to be made up of the residents where this zone applies. And we are going to be partnering with Hendry County, Immokalee area and Seminole Indian tribe. The council of nine members, five representatives, will come from Immokalee, and they are to make up the demographics of Immokalee. So we're looking for representatives from the Hispanic community, from the Haitian community, all the minorities here with sort of a different economic base to it. And so if you're interested in that, please see me after the meeting, I can let you know. Or if you get an application form, to fill that out, and the community foundation will be selecting the members for that. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Sounds like a real tremendous opportunity for five people in Immokalee to help decide how to spend five million dollars in the community over the next 10 years. That's awesome. If you please -- come up if you have a question. There's a microphone here. And ma'am -- actually, we need you on the mike, please. COMMISSIONER BERRY: For the court reporter. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Sorry. MS. LOUVIERE: I was hoping that you will -- some of it is getting lost. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: I wondered about that, too. MS. LOD'VIERE: Hi, I'm Mireya Louviere. All this -- I was hoping that maybe as you went along you could have this interpreted. Because I think that some of it's getting lost. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: I wondered about that, too. MS. LOUVIERE: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Translate for us. We need some translation. MS. LOUVIERE: I said you're just sitting there, you're not participating. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. MS. LOUVIERE: We have a lot of wonderful things to offer you, but we're not getting the feedback. They don't understand, we need to have somebody that can translate so they can understand. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: So give us a little summary, if you would. MS. LOUVIERE: (Interprets.) THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: She's talking about the enterprise zone benefits. She's telling them that they could take advantage of that. If they needed information, you could come up here and get information, if they need translation filling out the application. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: And also make clear the point about applying to residential homes as well. MS. LOUVIERE: I did apply residential homes and they need to come see me and I'll search the map and see where their home is located at. Marie, did you want to translate anything to them? Come on, Marie, this is your chance. Are there any Haitians? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Haitians -- MS. LOUVIERE: I just want to know that everyone is understanding Page 9 May 13, 1999 what was going on. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you so much for that. Thank you very, very much, because otherwise we're wasting -- MS. LOUVIERE: Go on to the next step and -- CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: We'll come back. Okay, we have one registered speaker and then we'll ask if anyone would like to speak on any of those subjects. MR. FERNANDEZ: Steven Kirk. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: And then would you just announce the people that are ready to speak? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: Sure. Announce it? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Please. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: Is it the housing ownership program? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Enterprise zone benefits or enterprise community. Anything we've talked about so far. COMMISSIONER BERRY: Tell the people that we had asked them if they want to make some comments. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. Our first speaker. MR. KIRK: Good evening, commissioners. My name IS Steve Kirk and I'm the executive director of the Everglades Community Association. And we are a nonprofit housing organization that historically is providing housing in Dade County, Florida to migrant seasonal farm workers. We have a 21-member board. Two of our board members are from the Immokalee community. In past months we have been concerned with quality housing, particularly in the empowerment zone in the enterprise community area. I wanted to just make the community aware of some of our plans, and hopefully we'll be able to link together with the efforts in the enterprise community as well. We currently have site control of Tract B in Roberts Ridge PUD. And that is a 79-unit parcel that is zoned multi-family housing. And it is our hope over the course of the next two years to try to develop 79 units of quality multi-family housing there, primarily targeted to service workers and also to farm worker families. When I speak of quality housing, I know that everyone in this community is concerned with what we do have. And through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation tax credit program, when we develop tax credit housing directed towards these populations, it includes amenities such as pools and recreational area. And it really is geared towards large families, rather than to generally the two-bedroom type community, so we would expect to have large numbers of units for three and four-bedroom families. That said, I wanted to just note that the enterprise zone and the overlapping -- boundaries on the overlapping enterprise community are really tools that we can use. And the half million dollars that was spoken of per year, if used wisely, can really leverage additional dollars. For example, the cost of our plan development is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of six million dollars. And those six million dollars that come in from tax credits is really private equity financing that otherwise would find itself somewhere else in the state. So when you think about competing, we're really not looking at Immokalee projects, or even Collier County projects, competing with each other. We're looking at projects that might be placed in this community or alternatively in other low income communities in the Page 10 May 13, 1999 state. And we need to make certain that we use the incentives that we have available to us to out-compete communities in Dade County and communities in Orlando. And so I just ask the commission and staff to attempt to find creative ways to use these designations. For example, in the past, the commission has been very generous in deferring impact fees on affordable housing for six years. I urge you to at least think about the prospect of even waiving those fees in this target area, because that's what other counties and other municipalities are doing. And in those situations, they walk into Tallahassee scoring many more points than our communities do. And secondly, I was pleased to hear that housing is a high factor in some of the projects. Because again, modest contributions to infrastructure that are related to projects might bring millions more in equity into the Immokalee community. Second, I also just wanted to note a comment in terms of dormitory housing for farm workers. Myself and several individuals had the pleasure in the past months working with Governor Bush's team. Many of you have read in the paper stories of a phantom following of money possibly out there. At this stage it is certainly still a hope rather than a reality. But we have been sitting down with groups like R.C. May and his community and also with Agri Business in this community trying to think of creative ways to try and to solve the overcrowding situation. So I was encouraged to hear that we are trying to think of those efforts. And I know that with the help of Representative Goss and certainly with others here, our conversation with the Governor's office is he's made it clear that if there are two squeaky wheels in the state, that if this money comes through, that it's going to reap some benefit, Immokalee's one of those two. And they also understand that there are a great many immigration issues involved in this and other types of things. And their dream is to try to create housing for unaccompanied workers that is as inclusive as it can be, because those people ~re working in our communities, regardless of whatever international policies. So thank you very much for your time. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you very much. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Martha, would you ask if there's anyone who would like to speak at this time? Mr. Priddy and then after him. MR. PRIDDY: Russell Priddy. And I thank the two of you commissioners for finding your way out here this evening, even though the others couldn't. I wanted to just stress something that Deborah and developmental staff is working on and that's overlays and different standards and policies for us here in Immokalee and what we have throughout the county. As you know, I've sat about six years now on the Planning Commission, and we every six months get a new lesson in Land Development Code and architectural standards and all these things that yes, I think if that's what, you know, the codes in the urban area wants, that's what they ought to have. And if they can afford it, that's what they ought to spend their money on. But I feel strongly that we cannot continue to take those standards and have them apply here in Immokalee or, you know, some of Page 11 May 13, 1999 the other areas in the county and that we have got to give support to the development community -- community development department and the efforts that Deborah and others are working on here in town to create some different standards so that mom and pop that would like to improve this vacant building or start a business don't get discouraged when they, you know, find out what they've got to go through to get that building built. I know there are folks here in town that have rental units, particularly with mobile homes, that would be happy to put a brand new mobile home in that park tomorrow and improve things for the aesthetics and for their tenants, but simply are not going to spend the money that's required to bring things to the standards that are required. That's not to say that we don't want standards and that we don't want landscaping and we don't want improvements, but, you know, a lot of it just cannot be -- we cannot afford the standards that are there for -- you know, for Naples. So I would ask you to please, every time this comes up, to pay close attention and support the efforts of us having some different standards here in Immokalee than what we have for the coast. Thank you. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Russell? COMMISSIONER BERRY: Russell, do you see that if we set up a committee of people to sit down with our planning group to design these standards, would this be beneficial to the community? MR. PRIDDY: Sure, I think we need -- you know, could certainly cull together a handful of people that have run into these problems and know firsthand what they are, and certainly know what, you know, they're willing to do from a financial standpoint to, you know, to make some of these areas in town, you know, look better and function better. COMMISSIONER BERRY: My only concern, and I think something that we don't want to compromise would be two issues that deal with health and safety. Those are the two issues. As far as aesthetics, those kinds of things, I think that's something that we can take another look at and perhaps -- I mean, that's a discussion point. MR. PRIDDY: Sure. I don't -- COMMISSIONER BERRY: But as far as th~ two issues of health and safety -- MR. PRIDDY: No, I don't. COMMISSIONER BERRY: I don't think we should really compromise too much on that. MR. PRIDDY: I would agree wholeheartedly that we don't want to include those two things, but there are -- you know, there's a laundry list of other things that we -- COMMISSIONER BERRY: Right. MR. PRIDDY: -- could relax, could have done differently, could do differently, that I think would -- you know, would help both financially and help functionally. Things here in town. COMMISSIONER BERRY: Okay. I think -- Mr. Fernandez I know is writing, so I think he's duly recorded the concerns that we might have. Would the young lady -- would you interpret that, please, for the rest of the community? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) (Unidentified member in audience speaks.) Page 12 May 13, 1999 THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: She's very glad that there's someone to speak English for the people like her do not communicate in English, and she's very glad to hear that this community could come and open up to the community so that we can communicate and see what's needed. She's very glad for that. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Us, too. MS. CASELTINE: Excuse me, if I could, I was just going to update the commissioners on the overlay process that we're doing right now. Because we're focusing in on the Main Street area right now, we have the meeting with the Main Street sub-committee which is under the Chamber of Commerce, and we've also been meeting with the members of the Chamber of Commerce both. And we hope to have a public meeting on our first sort of draft of what those flexible development standards might occur on Main Street in the Main Street area. And we hope to continue to do that with each of our sub areas as well. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: I think just having had a tour of some of the rental housing in town today, and having spoken with some of the people who own or manage those facilities, for lack of a better term, there does -- it seems to me that that should be the next really high priority. I know Main Street has -- (Applause.) MS. CASELTINE: In each of our areas, when I say Main Street -- I'm sorry, I don't have the map of the boundaries of Main Street, which extend beyond the frontage of 29 and 846. It goes into those neighborhoods that actually abut downtown, and so those issues of housing and -- will have to be addressed in this process as well. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Because like Commissioner Berry said, nobody's interested in changing public safety codes, but if a landscape code is keeping somebody from improving a property, we just need to change that, and we can do that in the overlay process, I understand. MS. CASELTINE: I understand. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Yes. COMMISSIONER BERRY: We need your name. MS. GRIMALDO: My name is Maria Grimaldo. This is just for the record. I had a question to you. What other qualification for the low income family to qualify for -- to apply for -- to get this loan, the grants that the government is going to give Immokalee, or Collier County. What are the requirements? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: The loan -- I don't know if you're mixing the micro loan program with the enterprise community program. MS. GRIMALDO: We went to the meetings where you were talking about the money that the government is going to grant to Collier County. Well, I have a question. What are the requirement for the people, the low income people, to qualify for this? MS. CASELTINE: Well, the money's not going to be handed to individual families. What's going to happen is programs are going to be set up that will then use some of that money and get some other money to provide either low income housing for you or low loan opportunities for you and better educational opportunities for you, better training opportunities for you. So we'll be partnering with other groups that already exist in Immokalee, like the school board, RCMA, the Friendship House, Vo-Tech, to try and get other services out for you. So it's really the benefit of everyone that lives in Immokalee. And if there -- the specific issues we heard during the summer, Page 13 May 13, 1999 we hope to then be able to solve some of those issues by the programs that are set up with this money. MS. GRIMALDO: Thank you. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Martha, would you translate that, please? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: Translates.) MS. GRIMALDO: Another question is regard to the housing. I know that you was saying about requirements or the codes that the commissioners put forth, people who rent the houses. But I guess the thing that I -- also he's asking for consideration for the landlords. But I'm asking for your consideration for the renters. Because the landlords don't considerate the renters. And I investigate myself. I went to some of those trailers. I ask them how much they charge for rents, and they tell -- one people tell me that they pay 160 per week in a very poor conditioning trailer houses. With stove, cockroach everywhere, rats under the table and running around. I mean, that is what you have to take in consideration. That is something that all the millions of dollars, it should be go first to the homeowners to have it better -- better housing. And I went to another trailer, there were -- the C & J Rental Park. And they charged -- that's where they charge 160 a week. And I went to another trailer park and they charge 225 per week. 225 multiply by four, how much is per month? And they are still asking that they need consideration? Give me a break. (Applause.) MS. GRIMALDO: The people that work -- the people that need to be taken in consideration, the one that bring our vegetables to our table, they're the ones that need consideration. So I know so that people that have all the (inaudible) are going to put that in first and priority. We need better housing for those people. We are we're still people, we're not animals. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Are there any other speakers? MS. BETANCOURT: I would like to speak. My name is Priscilla Betancourt and I am a rental owner. That's one of my many hats that I wear. I'm also a school teacher here with a Master's Degree and a farmer's wife. So I represent three aspects of the housing industry here. And yes, I think we could all agree here tonight, there are serious problems in the housing industry in Immokalee. Yes, they're overcharging, yes, there's delapidated buildings. However, I don't think one bad apple slumlord, so the Naples Daily News calls us, refers to all of us. I can cite right now in my situation where I have tried to help three families with the Everglades Community Association put in three new better electrical, better plumbing in my trailer park for them to have a better place to live. Well, what did I do? I ran into the bureaucrats of Naples and an overzealous code enforcement guy that told me about changes that I didn't even know had existed. Had I known, I wouldn't have put myself nor my renters trying to make a better place for them to live in my trailer park had I known that these codes had changed. I would have never done that to you. They left their trailers in my trailer park when they went to Michigan to work, and I didn't charge them anything. I haven't collected any rent for them for over a year. Page 14 May 13, 1999 I would like to reinforce what Mr. Priddy said. Yes, we need help in the trailer park industry. We need help in the rental business. But we cannot have that help unless we have some changes in the zoning. We're not asking for safety standards changed. We are inspected monthly by health officials. We are inspected by the county once a year. All the facilities. Most of us use the municipalities here, which means that we have excellent water, excellent sewer, we have fire hydrants, we have street lighting. But yes, we do. And we're asking, reinforce what Russell says, please, take a look at what was zoned and how you could ease the pain that the bureaucrats -- the paperwork of getting a mobile home moved out of one that's been there for over 20 years and replace it with a newer, newer electric, better plumbing. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: I have a question for you. I ~- what you just said is a speech I would have made and may make again, but what I have been learning today, if what I have been learning, like what this lady who was just here is telling me, that you're going to get somewhere between 600 and $1,000 a month for a trailer, why am I to be trying to lessen the process for you? It sounds like you're making a fortune. MS. BETANCOURT: Oh, no, you're not. Because let me explain the rental season in Immokalee. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Okay. MS. BETANCOURT: Most people base it on a 12-month annual income. It is not. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Of course not. MS. BETANCOURT: It's five and a half months to six months at the most. And when you go in after someone's lived there, you have to most likely buy a new stove. We furnish beds, dining tables, free gas. Most of us -- I can't speak for us all, most of us furnish them gas, water and light because they cannot afford to go down to hook up the $250 it costs for lights, 65 for water, a $42 tank of gas. So the landlords pay all that for them. So that's included in their rent. So when you pay $125 a week, you're getting free gas, free lights, free water. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: But still, if it's $1,000 a month for six months out of the year, why can you not afford to fix it up and go through the regular county process to get the permits to fix it up? MS. BETANCOURT: I'll be glad to take all my trailers out, but I just spent $7,000 on engineering fees and $1,000 on attorney fees , trying to get one part up to code. And that's just a site improvement plan. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: But if you're making $1,000 a month for six -- you're making $6,000 a year off of each trailer. MS. BETANCOURT: You're not making that off of each trailer. That CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: You said six months. MS. BETANCOURT: -- may be a trailer full of men. If you rent to a family, you only rent for $75 a week. And they don't pay their rent every week. Sometimes it rains and they don't work for three days. How can they pay? You don't have a gross eviction notice. Check your county records. You don't see lots of evictions over there. You work with the people because they work for you. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Okay. Come on up. MR. PRIDDY: There are situations -- and I don't own any rental Page 15 May 13, 1999 property, but I can tell you that there are situations that exist and they will probably exist forever where people charge 150, $180 a week for a trailer. That trailer, how many people live in it? Probably 10 or 12 single men that live there because they choose to pool their money, and they only pay rent by the week. So if you divide that by 12 people by the week, they're 10 or $12.00 a week. If they want to leave after three days and go to homestead and work, they can do that. If they're living in Farm Workers Village or some monthly housing, they can't walk away after every three or four days. So we're probably always going to hear these horror stories of 160, $180 a week. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: But Russell, you can still actualize it and know what the average actualized rent for a year is. We can still know what that number is. And they must be making money or they wouldn't be doing it. MR. PRIDDY: Well, I would venture to say yes, they are making money on it or they wouldn't do it. And I think what they're saying is they can get around some of the site plans and engineering and professional fees and re-landscaping, you know, the entire world, that they would stick a new mobile home in there. And in some cases they've got two mobile homes in there now, and the zoning has changed so now they can only put back one. And that's -- CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: That's a big problem. MR. PRIDDY: And -- and that's a -- you know, and that's a big problem. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: And that's the one I'm willing to listen to. MR. PRIDDY: So I would caution you to yes, listen to all the stories, but maybe ask a few more questions when you hear some of the horror stories as to what's actually going on. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Except we had this one petition, and I'm not sure if it was yours, but we had one recently where if I read the backup right, it looked like where there had been a $91,.000 debt on a piece of land, in two years the debt was down to 20 something thousand dollars. So in two years, $70,000 mortgage had been paid off? Somebody's making real money. MR. PRIDDY: I would venture to say that if you ask a few more questions, it didn't come from the rents. I think last year was a good farming year, and I suspect her husband was one of the farmers that also did good. But I would venture to say that that money -- CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Didn't come from the rents. MR. PRIDDY: -- did not -- MS. BETANCOURT: No. Because you only rent six months. And your expenses are year round. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Makes sense. MR. PRIDDY: I mean, that would be like asking you if you paid for, you know, your things with just your County Commission salary. You know -- CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: God help me. MR. PRIDDY: No, you have other -- MS. BETANCOURT: I'd like to share an article with you that I read out of Florida Fruit and Vegetable where they responded to the Gulf Shore Magazine. This is several years ago. It says that substandard housing is all over. You can find it in any city in the United States. But there are a lot of non-agricultural workers also forced to live in substandard housing for a variety of reasons. Page 16 May 13, 1999 Substandard housing, overcrowding and inflated rents can be found in every town and city in our state. In the State of Florida, the Department of Community Affairs presently estimates that there are approximately 305,000 residents currently requiring demolition or replacement. 650,000 of those residents require complete rehabilitation. And by the year 2000, there will be over 900,000 affordable renter units for every low low and moderate income houses needed. Therefore, while affordable housing for farm workers is a problem, it's not only confined to farm workers, however, but agriculture is the only industry in the state that has tried to at least lessen the problem for workers. An example of this is our own farm workers village. And the Everglades community center -- CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Can you kind of make it a little brief, because everyone wants a turn to talk. MS. BETANCOURT: And I know of no other industry or no other community I think that works as hard to develop affordable housing not only for those that are non-agriculture, and for agriculture. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you, ma'am. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: What we do have to do is require a certain amount of family members for each apartment unit. For instance, for a two apartment unit, only four people can live there. And an infant would probably not count, but after two years they start counting as an individual. So if you rent to someone with 12 people and they're out of code, you're going beyond standards for HRS. And that's one of the things that you may need to do to some of these landlords that are not keeping up with the standards. Because we are -- we are an agriculture apartment complex, and we are -- you know, we are checked every six weeks, and we do inspections ourselves, and because we know it's far more worse -- it is more health hazard to have more than the amount -- number of people for each apartment, depending on the number of rooms and the size of the unit. So that is very important. So if it is a two-bedroom trailer and there is the -- the codes are very expensive, but you have to see how many people are in there. They're going overboard. So besides being a health hazard because there's too many people in the trailer, the rent is being over charged, because first of all, you're not giving them an adequate sized unit. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Right. I understand. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: So this is the point you have to look at before you can consider -- each landlord I know is different. I cannot say for her, but we do get some people that kept telling us that my trailer has a hole and I have a three-year-old who's going to crawl in the hole, and they lived in a trailer. Not all the landlords are the same. So I'm not saying -- now I'll go to my translation. The reason I commented was because I do know the problem myself. I live here. (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Can I get you to -- that's probably enough. And we'll go on -- THE COURT REPORTER: Just to make the record accurate, for those of you speaking tonight, if you could give me your name and spell your last name for me, I would appreciate it. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Would you announce that, please, Martha? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MS. AVILES: Hello, everyone. My name is Theresa Aviles. Page 17 May 13, 1999 A-V-I-L-E-S. And I just had a few comments. Maybe on the Betancourt -- maybe perhaps her rents and her trailers are in the conditions that she says they're in, but I work for the Social Services, and one of the services we provided there are rental assistance, so we know rental day in and day out. And the forms that we get back from the landlords that they -- how much they pay a week, we've never seen somebody pay in the family $75 a week. They're always 150, 120, 125 weekly. On Mr. Priddy's comment, he said that the rent is so much and then it's split down into guys when there's guys living there. Well, that is not so either. The typical rent for a single male is $35 per person. If there's 10 people living there, then it's anywhere between 300 and 350 a week. Multiply that by four and you get your figure. So now we don't have the $12 and $10 weekly for the single men, nor do we have 75, $85 weekly for families or two single moms living together or three people living together. Martha was saying about the -- how many people to rooms and to houses. I think it's good, then maybe we wouldn't have the problems that maybe we do have now. I know from just last week's experience that we put two single moms in a trailer and no, the stove was not replaced, and no, the refrigerator was not replaced. And the windows are still barred up with two-by-fours, and so is the door. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: You know something I'd challenge you to do, and I know you guys have more important things to do than write down statistics for bureaucrats, but if you have real data on -- you know, you could help us know what the real facts are. I would sure love to know them. And if you'd share them with us, you know, I'd get them distributed through the county. Thanks. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) I was commenting about the rent. We do have a family that moved in in our apartment complex who was a family of two brothers and two wives and two kids, and they were getting charged individually head $200 a month. That's why we had to give them a 30-day extension for their deposit and so on. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Okay. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. LAGUNAS: For the record, my name is Eric Lagunas. L-A-G-U-N-A-S. I've lived in trailers for about 13 years. My father used to pay $800 every month. What Ms. Betancourt is saying, not taking any shots at her, that all these landlords are really paying the rent -- I mean paying the water and the gas. My father never got his water and other bills paid by the landlords out of those $800. So you're really talking about $1,000 they're spending a month. I believe that all these landlords are really looking for scapegoats, you know. And I wish, you know, there could be some solution. I think I'm the future. Young people like myself are the future of Immokalee, the county, the state and the nation and the world. And I really wouldn't want any more trailers in my community. That's all I have to say. Thank you. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. (Applause.) THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. BONITAS: My name is Luca Bonitas. I work in the coalition right now. I picking oranges on vines. Laura is speaking for me. I speak in Spanish for my co-workers. (The following testimony of Mr. Bonitas was translated from Page 18 May 13, 1999 Spanish into English.) INTERPRETER LAURA: I think we're going to get straight to the point instead of batting the ball around. Go right to the point. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Gracias. INTERPRETER LAURA: In Immokalee all of us know the farm workers, as well as also people that do other low wage work, we live sometimes in inhumane conditions. We in the coalition, we have a program called pilgrimages, where people from Fort Myers and Immokalee, they come and visit and they see the housing, and they ask about it and they say things like well, we think it's a scandal that, for example, there's not even air conditioning when it's really, really hot. And the worst of it is, in the heat, well, we're frying up, and when it's cold, we turn into like ice cream cones because there's no heat in the winter. So the solution is not to improve the living -- the housing that's there now, the housing structures that exist now. The solution is to construct new housing for workers. I think that you all, the commissioners, may have already spoken with the Governor. Because we at the coalition have had direct communication with the Governor, and he's extremely worried about housing conditions for workers in Immokalee; workers in Florida overall, but particularly in Immokalee. And just as the Governor is preoccupied by farm worker housing, I'm sure that you all as commissioners should be, too. And especially because Immokalee, too, pays its share of the taxes that go into Naples where you all are from. I saw that you all were doing a housing tour today in Immokalee, and you all didn't have to go as far as out by the radio station at the camp at the end of the run there. Here, right there where the pantry shelf is, what we call our downtown, there you can step out your door right there and see all the houses we need. And you'll see little dirt paths that people have to use because nobody has a car to be able to live out in Farm Worker Village and to drive all the way out there. So if the commissioners really want to find a solution, it would be good to dig down a little bit and get the solution from the root and not start up at the branches. And excuse me if I'm going to offend anybody, but I'm going to go ahead and say it: Instead of trying to pass laws like English only that separate people, why don't you try and pass laws that unite the communities? (Applause.) INTERPRETER LAURA: We already have enough laws like that in the country here. And this is just causing violence and more ethnic division between the races, and we don't want any more of that. So it's better to work for the people and from the people. (Applause.) INTERPRETER LAURA: Because it's the people who elect you all, so you all should work for us. MR. BONITAS: Gracias. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Okay. Martha, help me announce that we're going to have to limit everyone to three to five minutes in speaking or we're not going to be able to get through this. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MS. RODRIGUEZ: For the record, Anna Rodriguez, R-O-D-R-I-G-U-E-Z. And basically I've been working in Immokalee for five years. And when you do home visits, when you go inside the Page 19 May 13, 1999 homes, it's a different story from what you see from the outside. It's very sad, especially in the winter, to see small children very cold because the windows are broken, there's no heater in the houses, and they're trying just to sleep very close together just to keep a little warm. It's very sad to go into a house where a refrigerator is not working and they have to have ice just to keep a bit of meat so they can cook that. It's very sad to go to a house where there is barely one burner working because the other ones are broken. And that's what I see every day. And it's sad also to see how we try to walk inside the trailers and the floors are almost falling apart. I've had to take care of a little old lady, she was 92 years old, and she was paying $150 a week, and the house was a house that didn't have no windows, there was only one main entrance and one exit. The house had termites. The house had no water, it had no electricity. She -- the bathroom was the outside of the house. We got involved with her and we finally got her decent housing. And with code enforcement the house was condemned and it was torn down. But this is things that I see here working in Immokalee. And I love Immokalee. I wouldn't change working in Immokalee for going to Naples, believe me. But I am concerned. I am concerned because I think that they also have their dignity of having a decent place to live. They work very hard. A lot of people wouldn't even dare to go out to the fields and work during the sun or work during the cold time. And I think the least they can do is provide them with decent housing. And I just hope that all the programs with the enterprise -- I know my husband has been very much involved in the micro loans, and that's one of his pet projects. I just hope that there's some funding that the county can provide to build some decent housing for the farm workers. Thank you. (Applause.) MS. ALCANTAR: Hello. My name is Maria Alcantar. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Would you spell your last name, please. MS. ALCANTAR: A-L-C-A-N-T-A-R. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. MS. ALCANTAR: I don't know if it would be okay for me to speak in Spanish? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Of course. MS. ALCANTAR: (Speaks Spanish.) THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Speaks Spanish.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: The other way. We need to know what she said. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: What she was talking about was she was very concerned that the abuse is beginning within our own race, which is the Hispanic race. She is concerned that there are some Hispanics that are abusing each other by enslaving each other or renting out to some people their extra room, or not talking to them in Spanish just because -- you know, don't appreciate your race. She's just very concerned, very upset that it's beginning within your race. Change that for once. And from there you can go on. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. Are there other speakers at this time? Page 20 May 13, 1999 You want to ask one more time? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Before you start, Martha, if you could say that we are going to talk about housing ownership programs after this. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: And then a couple of other subjects. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: And then they're invited to make general comments. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. MS. GRIMALDO: This is Retina Torez (phonetic). She is from -- she lives in Farm Worker Village. She wants to express her concern living there also. She wants to know, you know, what are the requirements for people to live in there, because she thought that the Farm Worker Village houses are for only farm worker people. Is that true? Is only for people who work in the field? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: I think so. Fred, do you know? Well, we'll let Mr. Mihalic answer. MR. MIHALIC: Hello. For the record, I'm Greg Mihalic. Farm Workers Village Workers Village is set aside for at least one member of the family to work in the agricultural industry. To qualify to live in Farm Workers Village, at least one member must earn at least $2,700 from the agricultural industry, and that's one of the rules. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MS. GRIMALDO: Because the people who live there has to be agricultural? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: At least one. MR. MIHALIC: At least one, right. MS. GRIMALDO: At least one. MR. MIHALIC: Right. Must be in some form of agricultural field. MS. GRIMALDO: (Speaks Spanish.) Because she have a concern that she say that not only the farm worker people live in there, and it is there -- you know, that it's not only mandatory, the application form. MR. MIHALIC: That's managed by the Collier County Housing Authority, and Mr. Fred Thomas is the executive director of that authority, and he manages Farm Worker Village. He also has a board of directors that are over him. MS. GRIMALDO: Okay. So somebody else besides him is -- MR. MIHALIC: Yes. He's -- MS. GRIMALDO: -- for the form of application? MR. MIHALIC: Yes, he is also audited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who provides the funding for Farm Workers Village. MS. GRIMALDO: (Speaks Spanish.) MS. TOREZ: (Speaks Spanish.) THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: She's very concerned. She thanks God for you all. She wants to let you know that her future and other farm workers is in your hands. She's very concerned that you keep your promises, that you bring upon the agricultural workers who are being sacrificed and paid very low, and she says that they've been enslaved. And if you are going to promise something, to please go with your promise. MS. LOUVIERE: She says she thanks you very much for coming and listening to her. And she says that we're all the same and that they are all -- that we are -- that underneath we're all the same and that Page 21 May 13, 1999 THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: We're all God's people. MS. LOUVIERE: We're all God's people. And that it's her future is in your hands because you are the ones with the most knowledge. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Will you tell her how much we appreciate her being here? MS. LOUVIERE: (Speaks Spanish.) MS. TOREZ: (Speaks Spanish.) MS. LOUVIERE: She's a religious person and she wanted to share that. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Some of us are, too. We'll take this lady and then go straight from there to housing ownership. MS. LOUVIERE: Some people here would like to hear about, you know, transportation services and other issues, and also the emergency services. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Okay. MS. RODRIGUEZ: Good evening. Hi, my name is Sandra Rodriguez. I work Immokalee. I work for emergency application affirmative in Immokalee. (Phonetic.) I know, you know, you're here because you want to help give something for us. So I want to know -- I want to tell you the water in Immokalee is no good. It's dirty water. And Winn Dixie only is a place where we have to go buy the food, is no fair, is too expensive, is too -- the food is too -- you know, looks like the -~ I don't know how -- I can't tell you because my English, it's not good. It's too expensive and (unaudible.) The food, I have the -- please appreciate it if you put an application in there. You know, we need another store, you know, because it's not good. It's only one store. Old people, they have to go by buy their drugs and they have to go -- you know, so many people, they don't have transportation. It's not fair. Please give it more attention for this community. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you very much. (Applause.) COMMISSIONER BERRY: Excuse me, would you indicate to her that Immokalee has an independent water and sewer district and the Board of County Commissioners does not have any jurisdiction in the water -- THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interpreter.) COMMISSIONER BERRY: -- and sewer district. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Do we know how they might get in contact with the district, though? Does anyone? COMMISSIONER BERRY: Ms. Goodnight, I believe, the last I knew she was very much involved in the Immokalee water and sewer district. She lives over near Immokalee and she would be a person that could be contacted in that regard. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. We'll have our staff presentation on housing ownership programs, please. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Perhaps it would be a good idea if you would talk a little, translate a little instead of -- MR. GIBLIN: For the record, my name is Cormak Giblin, G-I-B-L-I-N. I'm the housing manager for Collier County, housing urban department. I'd like to talk with you tonight a little bit about some of the programs that we -- the housing department can help you buy a home or Page 22 May 13, 1999 sell. Or if you already own a home, we can help give you some money to help fix it up. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Pause. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. GIBLIN: Our most popular successful strategies and successful strategies are those that deal specifically with home ownership. We have a down payment and closing cost assistance program and an impact fee waiver or deferral program. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. GIBLIN: Both those programs lessen the immediate up-front cost of low income home buyers, giving them that extra little bit of money that they may need to get into that house. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. GIBLIN: Today the down payment assistance program has helped nearly 600 first-time home buyers in Collier County by giving out over two and a half million dollars in down payment and closing cost assistance. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) How much was that amount? MR. GIBLIN: Two and a half million dollars. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Why don't you just run -- why don't you tell how they can get the information. MR. GIBLIN: I've got some fliers out by the door. I'll pass them out here. I'll start with the blue one. This is roughly the guidelines for -- THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. GIBLIN: Our down payment and closing cost assistance program is open to first-time home buyers in Collier County who meet the income guidelines listed on the blue sheet. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. GIBLIN: Through the program, you can receive a loan from the county of $2,500 to help out with your down payment and closing cost expenses, and an additional 2,500 to make any repairs or fix-ups to the home that you just bought. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. GIBLIN: This just isn't available to Immokalee, but everywhere in Collier County. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. GIBLIN: And the program has a maximum sales price of $118,000 per home. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. GIBLIN: Another home ownership program that we've been working on is three percent mortgages for targeted areas here in Collier County, through the Florida Finance Housing Corporation. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. GIBLIN: Through that program, you can receive a mortgage of three percent interest fixed for 30 years if your home lies in one of the yellow areas in the map behind you. All of Immokalee and the surrounding areas are included in that area. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. GIBLIN: I'd just like to share an example of someone who went through that program. Let's say if you were to buy a home that cost $100,000 here in Immokalee, I'd like to tell you how much it would cost you if you went through that program. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: How do you say too much information in Page 23 May 13, 1999 Spanish? MR. GIBLIN: Okay, just the point being you can own a home here in Immokalee cheaper than two months rent in one of the trailers we've been talking about here. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: That's what they want to hear. (Applause.) MR. GIBLIN: I'm sorry, not two months, two weeks. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: How do you say wow in Spanish? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: Wow. MR. GIBLIN: Any more questions about the home ownership program, I'll be glad to answer them. MR. FERNANDEZ: Madam Chairwoman? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Yes. MR. FERNANDEZ: I'd just like to say what you're referring to in the handouts in Spanish, so that those who need the information in Spanish, we'll have that available. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: She's going to need you to spell your last name, please. MS. CENTE: C-E-N-T-E. Thank you. I've here for 16 years, and I'd like to speak about the renting and I'd like to speak about the mortgage and everything. Me having to -- being a farm worker, I make about 12,000, 13,000. A lot of timesI hear these people say about all this help and everything. I haven't seen a lot of them. I'm not trying to say God, I need help; you know, that's why I'm trying to work so I don't -- you know, that's why I'm trying to work so I don't -- you know, trying to do it on my own. A lot of times I have gone -- gone to them, trying to see if they could build me a house. The first thing they say, you don't make enough. Out here in Immokalee, they turn me down. They say you don't need a home. I've been living here for 16 years. I want to stay in Immokalee. I want a home. I'm tired of renting. Why are they turning me down? I don't know why they don't -- they turn a lot of people down. I don't care what you say or anybody else, they (inaudible.) Why? I'm not trying to make out Immokalee to be bad. There are good people around here. But it just seems like it's taken so long. I've been trying to get a house for over 15 years. I'm still here. I'm still in Farm Village. I got three kids. Why nobody wants to help just because we're farm people? What's going on? (Foreign language was spoken at this time.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. MR. GIBLIN: I'd just like to address a couple things the woman just brought up. As far as actual assistance to Immokalee from the housing department, in the past year over 22 of your neighbors have purchased homes through our programs and been able to get themselves on to the right road to home ownership. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) I'd like to add, as a matter of fact, Immokalee nonprofit housing sold eight houses through U.S.D.A. program what had this kind of assistance. It does exist. And it's to farm workers. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Right. MR. GIBLIN: Exactly. Just give us a call and we'll work with you however we can. Thank you. MS. DELAROSA: Hi, my name is Maria Delarosa, last name D-E-L-A-R-O-S-A. I just found out about the SHIP program. I was renting. I'm trying to get into a home -- a place of my own. I heard Page 24 May 13, 1999 about the SHIP program. I called. And there was just a, you know, brief intake over the phone. I told them what my income was, everything. And they told me I would qualify anywhere from 45,000 to 50,000 for a home based on my income. I have been looking for about two weeks. There is no home for 45,000 to 50,000 in Immokalee. (Foreign language was spoken at this time.) MS. DELAROSA: Thank you. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: The next topic that we have for discussion tonight is a report on the status of work performed by transportation services. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. KANT: Edward Kant, transportation services. Good evening, commissioners. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I can't hear you. MR. KANT: I just wanted to bring us up to date on several items that we've been working on. Most notably, for those of you that travel back and forth between Naples and Immokalee or had occasion to go between Naples and Immokalee, you'll probably notice the overlay and new shoulder and striping work that has taken place down around the Randall Boulevard curve. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. KANT: We're going to be extending that program over the next couple of years, as resources are available, to bring that all the way up to the area by the casino. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. KANT: We've also finished the paving on County Line Road, all the way up from the prison up to County Road 846. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Ed, could I ask you to just say -- what are the road projects that we expect to see in Immokalee in the next year or two? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. KANT: Most of the work will be concentrated on Route 29 with the beautification work and with the Main Street program. We're also working on the -- in the neighborhoods. Most of it's ongoing maintenance work. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. KANT: And I wanted to make sure people knew how to get in touch with us in case they have questions or have problems with the roadways or with the roadway drainage. The number -- the phone number in Immokalee is 657-2655. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. KANT: And that will -- if there's nobody in the office, that will roll over to Naples. But the Naples direct number is 774-8925. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. FERNANDEZ: Madam Chairwoman, could I add, according to our report here, we're going to be installing -- widening shoulders on Lake Trafford Road, at Lake Trafford Elementary School east for about one half mile. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Yes, ma'am. MS. DELAROSA: I lived down the road growing up and -- CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: I'm sorry, your name, again? MS. DELAROSA: Elizabeth Delarosa. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. Page 25 May 13, 1999 MS. DELAROSA: I live down Little League Road, which I think they named that Botanical Drive, past the cemetery, past the Lake Trafford Cemetery. There's a sign stuck up there that says maintenance. I don't exactly know that means, but that road cuts in like that. But that road has been like that since I lived out there when I was like maybe four, five years old. All they did was stick in the county maintenance sign, and it couldn't get fixed. And there's a lot of other places out near Immokalee. You know, I think it's great that they're fixing Main Street and widening Lake Trafford Road. But what about these roads? These people pay taxes also. They've petitioned, they've done everything. I don't see anything happening up to this date, and I don't live there any longer. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MR. KANT: I'd be pleased to discuss it with the lady on an individual basis, because there are a number of roads which, while they are traversed by the public, are not maintained by the county. And that's always a controversial issue. So I will take the time after my time up here to discuss it with her. COMMISSIONER BERRY: Would you just briefly, Ed, could you say why they're not maintained by the county, for the most part? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you for asking that, because that's exactly what I would like to ask. COMMISSIONER BERRY: Well, there is a reason. MR. KANT: A number of roads, although they are open to the public, have never been dedicated or accepted by the Board of County Commissioners for maintenance. Where we have roads which we do maintain, typically these are the paved roads. There are still in Immokalee several unpaved roads. One of which immediately comes to mind is Immokalee Drive, west end of Immokalee Drive. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Can I get you to say that we don't own it? The county doesn't own it. It's owned by private property owners to the center of the street. MR. KANT: Even though the road -- this is -- commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, this is a very complicated subject. We could spend a lot of time with it. I'd be pleased to talk with you, ma'am, and you individually and try to explain it to you. SISTER SOUKUP: Well, I only live two blocks off of -- THE COURT REPORTER: Could I have your name, please? SISTER SOUKUP: -- off of 29, and I just can't quite understand CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Excuse me. What is your name, for the record? SISTER SOUKUP: I'm sister Lorraine. I live at Guadeloupe Social Services, and I'm very proud to say I love living here in Immokalee. I've enjoyed living here and the beautiful people that live in this community. I'm director of School on Wheels. I've seen many atrocious homes and trailers, and I'm not going to go into that, because I think you've covered that ballpark adequately tonight. But I'd just simply like to say something to you ladies and gentlemen, commissioners. I've been to a number of commission meetings throughout the United States in my work, and I want to thank you for having the courage to come out here this evening. With all the publicity, both negative -- mostly negative, in terms of what's going on here or what isn't going on here, that you have the courage to come out here and find out for yourselves. We hope it won't be Page 26 May 13, 1999 your first -- it will be your first, we hope it won't be your last visit. Some of you, your interests lie in re-elections. We hope you won't forget it. We won't forget you. Your constituents are in no way connected with perhaps this part of the county, but we are important to this community, and we hope you will remember us, as we will remember you. We know you have families, you have your own concerns. And so do we. We just ask your prayers and we hope you will continue to remember us as we will remember you. Thank you. (Applause.) MS. LOUVIERE: Hi. Mireya Louviere. I want to ask a couple of questions. Golden Gate Boulevard, I notice that Wilkison & Associates is doing some -- picking up some survey information. When is that going to be four~laned? What are you looking at there? MR. KANT: Golden Gate Boulevard? MS. LOUVIERE: Yeah, I saw some Golden Gate -- MR. KANT: From 951 to Wilson Boulevard is going to be four-laned. Present construction schedule has it starting, I believe, late this year or very early next year. I can't -- I can call you and tell you what the exact date is. MS. LOUVIERE: Okay, that would be great. Obviously roads are an issue up here. The other one is on Immokalee Road, I know that we are looking at four-laning that, and then I heard that we are looking at maybe doing some redesign work and going to six-laning. There was some additional right-of-way. Or I'm incorrect and that's fine, correct me. MR. KANT: Your incorrect. MS. LOUVIERE: I'm incorrect? Okay, do you ever see -- talk to me about Immokalee Road four-laning. MR. KANT: Immokalee Road, from 1-75 to 951 we'll be four-laning. Again -- and that will start later this year. The board recently directed us to include a four-laning project from 951 out to the 858 where G's store is. That will probably be done in two sections, 951 Wilson, Wilson to 858. That will be -- it will start under design later this year, and will be probably three or four years, hopefully. The other thing that I neglected to mention earlier is we have a signal design for Wilson and Immokalee. We're going to be upgrading that flash into a full signal. We're also looking at a full signal at Oil Well and Immokalee Road because of the new school that's going in, and it will be a small signal the school and oil well, but only for the school hour beginning and ending. That -- then I believe that next fiscal year we'll be looking at trying to resolve the Randall Boulevard and Immokalee Road intersection. That's going to be very difficult to work on, but that's also going to be in our work program in some form. MS. LOUVIERE: Great. That's wonderful. The -- I understand the constraints as far as the private ownership of the roads out here, and that they have never been formally donated to Collier County. And then -- MR. KANT: There are a number, yes. MS. LOUVIERE: And therefore, Collier County cannot own the roads because they do not own it, they will not maintain it. MR. KANT: That's correct. MS. LOUVIERE: If the road is not up to county standards, the Page 27 May 13, 1999 county will not take it over. MR. KANT: Okay. MS. LOUVIERE: So now we're stuck, okay? How do I -- what can we do to -- I mean -- MR. KANT: If I could take a moment. MS. LOUVIERE: We have a problem, how do we solve it? MR. KANT: If I could take a moment, I could tell you, there are several ways. I'll be very brief. One, the neighborhoods or the people that live on the road can simply get together and decide they want to improve the road to middle and county standard and then petition the board to take that over. And we will be pleased to sit down and work with any neighborhood group that wants to take that avenue. The neighbors can go through a petition routine and get 50 percent plus one of the people living on the street to form what's called a municipal services benefit unit, which they will vote to tax themselves in order to build the roadway. MS. LOUVIERE: Okay. MR. KANT: Okay? And then the third way of doing it, which is not to get the county necessarily to take it over, but at least to get some improvements is -- and we've had several neighborhood groups do this where they will literally go door to door, collect some money in order to get some improvements made, and with the approval of the board the road and bridge department can use those funds to provide some minimal levels of improvement. MS. LOUVIERE: That's great. I'm not going to hold you up because I want to keep it going. And I'll get in touch with you, and you can outline those for me, and we can maybe get ~- MR. KANT: I'd be very pleased to do that. MS. LOUVIERE: Okay. I'll take one road a year. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: There you go. Okay, the next item and final item on our agenda is emergency services, an update to the board and the community on the closure of the Immokalee Urgent Care Center. Martha, could you announce that? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MS. FLAGG: Diane Flagg, chief of emergency services, for the record. Good evening, commissioners, good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Just give me a wave when you want me to stop. The -- although the Immokalee Urgent Care Center has closed, the health clinic remains open. In Immokalee there are two paramedic units that are staffed in Immokalee 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And there has been no change in their staffing. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MS. FLAGG: The Urgent Care is the one that is closed, the Health Department is the one that has remained open. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: How long is it open? MS. FLAGG: It's open during the day. The paramedic units are available -- THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: Seven days? MS. FLAGG: 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the paramedic units. The health clinic is only open during the day. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MS. FLAGG: What was the question? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: No, we're clearing up. The paramedics Page 28 May 13, 1999 is the ambulance. MS. FLAGG: Correct. That's all I have. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Are there questions about that? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) SISTER DOHNER: Sister Judy Dohner. D-O-H-N-E-R. Guadeloupe Center. I don't have a question for you, but I have a comment for the commissioners. I read this wonderful article about the health care committee you're forming. And if you're going to look at indigent care as part of that health care in Collier County, I as a representative of a Social Service agency that serves the indigent have talked to some other agencies, and we are real concerned that agencies -- that you direct service would be part of this committee. And also, that some indigent people be part of the committee. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Well, one thing that we did change Tuesday is we've added five positions for three things -- for users -- what do you call that? For people who use the system. But your talking about providers is a really good one. Maybe if you would fax a list of some suggestions. SISTER DOHNER: Okay, thank you. MS. AVILES: Eluteria Aviles. A-V-I-L-E-S. And I just had a question. The paramedics are there 24 hours using the facility, or maybe not using the facility. We go back to the same thing. I mean, if we call on the paramedics, then we are -- not only to the hospital where we're going to Naples or Fort Myers or Lehigh, but also the paramedic that's taking us over there. I mean, so what's -- what are we gaining out of that? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Tell them how the -- I think she thinks that there has to be some major transport. MS. FLAGG: Okay, during the day the health clinic is open. If it's an emergency, whether it's at day or at night, that's when the paramedics come and transport. There are two paramedic units 24 hours a day, seven days a week in Immokalee. Unlike -- Immokalee's the only place in all of Collier County that has two paramedic units. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Diane, I think what she's saying is what good does that do that they're sitting there 24 hours, seven days a week? Can people go there? How do they access that service? MS. FLAGG: If they call 9-1-1, the paramedics come to whoever they call. They do an assessment, and if they need to be treated and transported, they transport them. MS. AVILES: Thank you for clarifying that, but my question is, I mean, now what do we do without the emergency care unit? We went -- I think we took a step backwards instead of taking a step forward, and that is now we have to go again to Fort Myers, Naples or Lehigh for treatment of a car accident or what, when this facility was apparently brought here so we wouldn't have to go outside of Immokalee. MS. FLAGG: Okay, let me clarify something for you. That Immokalee Urgent Care Center was primarily what we call walk-ins, meaning the paramedics did not transport very many of their patients to that facility because they didn't have the ability to treat their patients. They were already taking their patients -- they had more on the ambulance than that facility had. So they were already transporting those patients to either Fort Myers or Naples. MS. AVILES: What was the purpose for it in the first place? MS. FLAGG: The Urgent Care Center? Page 29 May 13, 1999 MS. AVILES: Right. MS. FLAGG: Was to take care of the -- what you call minimal types of injuries. Small lacerations, headaches, stomach aches, things like that. I need to clarify something, too. The county -- that facility, Immokalee Urgent Care Center, was a partnership agreement between Collier -- CHSI, Collier Health Services, Inc. and Naples Community Hospital. So that -- the county didn't have anything to do with the closure of that facility. What I'm here to tell you tonight is if you have a medical emergency, you call 9-1-1 and you still have two paramedic units that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to your emergency. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Excuse me, but Tom, would you like to maybe tell -- or we have Dr. Konisberg is here, somebody who would tell us a little bit about we're working on at least some solutions to the problem. I don't see Dr. Konisberg after all. Stop hiding. DR. KONISBERG: Dr. Charles Konisberg, director of Collier County Health Department. My intent is to keep a low profile. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Can't do it. DR. KONISBERG: Would you repeat the question again, please? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Can you help describe for the community what the impacts are of the closing of the Urgent Care Center, and what Public Health might be able to do to try to remedy some of the shortfalls? No pressure. DR. KONISBERG: Well, yeah, I'm not entirely sure all the impacts of closing the Urgent Care Center beyond what Chief Flagg has described. It's been pointed out that Collier Health Services, Inc., through Marion Feather Clinic, which is a large comprehensive and fully staffed primary care clinic, is still very much a presence in the community. Bonda Lee (phonetic) was here earlier. Are you still here, Bonda? So she may want to speak to that. So the primary care capacity here is very much here. I think Chief Flagg pointed out two paramedic units. And so the impact may not be all that great. So that -- that may be something that the committee that is being formed will want to look at. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else I can comment on that. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Would you do a little translating for us? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) So what you're saying -- DR. KONISBERG: Would you like me to summarize again? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: Yes. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Please, Doctor. DR. KONISBERG: Okay, let me try to summarize it. I concur with Chief Flagg that the two paramedic units are here to provide for the true emergencies to be handled in the manner in which they can -- were in. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MS. AVILES: Okay, I understand that maybe it doesn't go through the county, but I guess my question to whoever's in charge of it is the building's already here, why not make it a hospital where we don't have to go to Naples, Lehigh or Fort Myers? The facility is here already. Why not bring in the people so we can be taken care of here? The clinic already does small lacerations and whatnot. And if there is a real emergency and those ambulances or paramedics are occupied, then that third person will die between here and Fort Myers or Naples. Page 30 May 13, 1999 MS. FLAGG: All right -- (Applause.) MS. FLAGG: That third person, when both units leave Immokalee, a unit comes out to Immokalee, so Immokalee is not left uncovered. So there's no such -- there will not be an event where there's a third person. And let me clarify for you, the things that you all -- the things that you all face here in Immokalee, the City of Marco also has the same question, and Everglades City also has the same question, is that they would also like to see a hospital for some type of expanded urgent care facility in their area. So your transport times or your distance from the hospital is similar to the City of Marco and also Everglades City. MS. AVILES: Well, perhaps so, but the community of Marco, I believe, has enough transportation to get there. Most of us here do not have our own transportation to go and come back. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Can I just comment on that? What I'd like to say about that is I couldn't agree with you more, that this is -- here's a facility sitting there unstaffed. The problem is what we can do for you as a county is really very limited except for maybe help try to get the private companies to come back to the community. MS. AVILES: And as I said before, I'm sure that the county has nothing to do with it. But it is something that we -- the community would like to bring forward for you and for you to know. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: I appreciate that. Thank you. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Sir? MR. MIDNEY: My name is Paul Midney, M-I-D-N-E-Y, and I'm an Immokalee resident. I would just like to thank the commission for helping us with our Lake Trafford restoration before I talk about the other thing, because you could have easily given money to the coastal areas, but you sent it out here. I'd like to follow up on what Sister Judy Dohner was saying about committee that's been formed, to look into care for people who don't have health insurance. And I think that's a great idea. And I also wanted to reinforce what she said. I work for the Collier Health Services. I'm a registered nurse and health educator. And I handle a good number of these people who need help accessing medical care for Social Services or whatever. And it really is a problem. And for some people, it can have grave consequences, because they can't get the medical care that they need. And I'm wondering, on the 20-member commission, do you have anyone representing Immokalee? CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Actually, I remember looking at it for that purpose and thinking there's not a direct representative of Immokalee, but there are -- help me, Judy, there were agencies? JUDY: Health care agencies. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Not people. MR. MIDNEY: No, we're not. I don't know if that was an oversight. But we've been doing, you know, the best -- the vast majority of our people have no health insurance, and so we've been actually doing this for the past 20 years out here. And also, for the past I guess around three years to the Gulf Shore, in Naples. And I think a committee might benefit from our experience and knowledge and it might help the committee to have a representative from Collier Page 31 May 13, 1999 Health Services, since we're actually the ones that have been doing it. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. (Applause.) DR. KONISBERG: If I may just make a brief comment. I think the committee, when we get to have our organizational meeting, since the ordinance was passed only yesterday, but I think we'll have the opportunity to have perhaps some focus groups have some hearings and really get more people involved in what you see in the actual resolution that created the committee. And I think we've had several good suggestions tonight that you discussed with commissioners, and try to make sure that we got kind of a representation that we need to get a full picture of what's going on in the county. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Diane, can I ask probably a stupid question? If we have two full-time paramedic units here -- well, that's probably too simple. Why couldn't the money we spent on one of these be used to staff the clinic that's here? MS. FLAGG: Because Immokalee's one of our busiest zones. And so it's -- the clinic is for primary care, it's the emergency care. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Okay, it's a thought. Yes, ma'am. MR. GONZALEZ: Hi. My name is Glenda Gonzalez. G-O-N-Z-A-L-E-Z. I'm a resident here of Immokalee. I was born and raised here, and I'm very proud of being here in Immokalee. But I will not go to the clinic for the simple reason that they take forever. If you get an appointment for 9:00, you won't get out of there till 3:00. I do work, you know, and I would rather go to Fort Myers for that reason. And because, you know, they don't (inaudible) they need to bring people from Naples or wherever, other, you know, doctors, nurses, or train these people here in Immokalee to do work here, and that way everybody can -- you know, the Immokalee people can feel more comfortable to go there. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: We're missing -- THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Would you announce that that ends our formal agenda, and we'd like to invite anyone who has -~ I'm sorry, we had some registered speakers, if you would like to come forward now, and if you have just a comment on a general topic, you're invited to come at this time. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: Translates. MR. FERNANDEZ: The first speaker is Robert Cabezas. MR. CABEZAS: My name is Robert Cabezas. C-A-B-E-Z-A-S. I thank you for coming here. I really regret the others did not. I did send you all a letter -- CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Yes. MR. CABEZAS: -~ which I'm sure you have, with some photos and so forth. And you notice tonight the same subjects were covered. Garbage, housing, code enforcement, transportation, supermarket and banking. And banking wasn't brought up, but banking is a big issue. And I tried to emphasize to you to you how we could get some of these things at minimal cost and using your employees as a county commissioner. I was wondering if you had any comments on that at all, what I gave you. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Well, some -- what I did with the letter Page 32 May 13, 1999 that you gave me was give it to the county administrator and asked him to get some answers to some of the questions. Some seemed simple to me, like the garbage cans. MR. CABEZAS: Right. They're intrinsically simple. I didn't come in with a complicated I'm leaving, big houses -- the other committees. We're just talking about picking up the garbage, okay, having the landlords put out the garbage cans, or getting dumpsters, like the rest of Collier County has and Lee County has. I share that with you, two things. One, people let you know about information. You have information. I purchased substantial parts of it from Abe Skinner's office on property. So when people say there's no profit in housing and a guy can own 50 or 100 trailers, he's got to be doing it for a reason. And as a mayor in New York recently said about his actions, and I put it in the letter to you, he said small improvements in the community move it forward. Garbage collection would be a significant thing to accomplish that, followed by code enforce. Take a page from the sheriff and just do it. And lastly, yesterday was the 49th anniversary of a program by Edward R. Murrow called Harvest of Shame, okay? If you can't get a copy of it, I will get you a copy, okay? Look at it, tell me what was different tonight in your tour, which I was very happy to hear about, compared to that. We cannot let this community wait 49 more years. Thank you. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Mr. Cavezas, come back up to the microphone, I've got a question I need to know. We took a tour this afternoon and one of the things I said when we started out is why can't we get dumpsters and put them out? So there was a dumpster, and there was litter all around it. Now, how can we get people to understand to put the stuff in the dumpster, not around the outside? How do I do it? Signs -- if we print signs, do you think we'll -- tell me. I'm looking for help. MR. CABEZAS: I'm looking for more dumpsters. Then you can try to educate the community. Because you cannot take the attitude that these people don't know to put the garbage in the dumpster. (Applause.) COMMISSIONER BERRY: I don't want to take that attitude. MR. CABEZAS: Counselor Berry, what I would suggest is that you not worry about how it gets into it at the moment. One, supply it, and two, then come out unannounced, look at the town, see what's going on. COMMISSIONER BERRY: I'm out here more than you realize. MR. CABEZAS: Fine. COMMISSIONER BERRY: I just want you to realize -- you guys sound like we never come to Immokalee, that's not true. MR. CABEZAS: No, I didn't tell you that, I just say when you come unannounced, just come look at the town at a meeting or something like that. COMMISSIONER BERRY: No, I do. I'm out here more than -- more than you realize. MR. CABEZAS: And these people are more -- in this community, as far as I can tell, more than capable of comprehending putting garbage in a dumpster. COMMISSIONER BERRY: Okay. SISTER SOUKUP: Okay, may I offer you just a simple answer to Page 33 May 13, 1999 your very simple question? When a dumpster is put out for, say, 10 to 20 people and there are 50 or 60 people living in this area, common sense would tell you that dumpster will be overflowing, and things are going to end up next to the dumpster -- (Applause.) SISTER SOUKUP: And the garbage can -- he only picks up the dumpster and leaves the rest there. And who wants to pick up -- COMMISSIONER BERRY: I've got a question. Mr. Russell, can I ask you a question? Mr. Russell is our solid waste director; is that proper -- do we not have mandatory garbage pickup in Immokalee. MR. RUSSELL: Yes, we do. I think one of the problems we face here is that we have a residential rated fee structure and service that we're trying to make work here. And some of those areas that we're trying to serve residentially with multiple units, it's not a good fit. I think possibly what may be needed is an overhaul to look at some kind of different fee structure to provide and improve service. We would have to overhaul the arrangement we have in the franchise here. MR. FERNANDEZ: Could I jump in here for a minute? I think based upon some of what we saw today, areas that may be technically listed as residential areas are essentially commercial areas because they're multiple units. And they generate garbage at a commercial rate, rather than a residential rate. And that's the kind of solution I think we need to be looking at, redefining the service required for certain areas, based upon the nature of the area and the volume of garbage made per day. MR. RUSSELL: That's correct. We pay the franchisee based on the units that are on the tax rolls for a particular parcel, and when we have investigated those, we have found that there are more units than there are indicated on the tax rolls. That's part of the problem, that's part of the sorting out that we've got to do on that problem. COMMISSIONER BERRY: I think we need to take a serious look. I also noted, and Mr. Cavezas provided us with the pictures, that the size of the cans that they're using are totally, totally inadequate for the number of people that are being served. Now, that's in addition -- that's the dumpster issue aside. But this was in and around the mobile home area. MR. RUSSELL: Yes, I see -- CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: In the urban area, we require that they be on rollers. Does that not apply out here? MR. RUSSELL: Those areas are building and are not right now configured to be residential. Although obviously from what you see there, the number of units being served in a can provided by their homeowners or landowners, whatever the case, it's not adequate for what their renters are generating. MR. FERNANDEZ: In answer to your question about the nature of the container, the larger containers in town with the wheels, the service provider in Immokalee is a smaller company and does not have the equipment and capability to utilize that technology that Waste Management has. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. MR. RUSSELL: The larger cans physically -- the people that work on the trucks that fill a 95-gallon container, physically they can't pick them up at times. COMMISSIONER BERRY: Right. And they don't have the trucks out here that pick them up like what -- Page 34 May 13, 1999 MR. RUSSELL: That's correct. MR. FERNANDEZ: The automatic. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: The mechanical. COMMISSIONER BERRY: Okay. Well, I just would hope that before we go too far down the road here we look at this very closely. And before we get into a budget cycle we ought to know exactly what we have to do in regard to this. But I would appreciate it. But we could certainly -- I hate to give you direction tonight, because this -- there's not a full commission here. But I would like us to bring this up at a commission meeting so we can get a clear direction and then you can start to work on that. (Applause) MR. FERNANDEZ: Madam Chairwoman, I think we're all ready to discuss some ideas and we have some thoughts and improvements that we can make and bring some recommendations to the board. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Great. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: I just want to say, I will be gladly the first to take one of those cans as a private homeowner. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Other speakers? MR. FERNANDEZ: We have one more registered speaker, Madam Chairwoman. Her name is Susan -- COMMISSIONER BERRY: We have some registered -- CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Una momento. COMMISSIONER BERRY: We have a registered speaker. MR. FERNANDEZ: Susan Sherrod. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Is she here? Did she give up? Oh, there she comes. MS. SHERROD: For the record, my name is Susan Sherrod. I'm representing Friends of Roberts Ranch. I just want to take this opportunity to publicly thank you Board of Commissioners for your vote on Tuesday for the purchase of Tract D at the Roberts Ranch project, as we've been working on this for a long time, as you know. We had some friends here tonight, I see. As this project develops and unfolds, I know that you will be very proud to have been a part of this project. You'll be seeing more things coming across your table to sign. The papers are in the work for the grant application, and we're very excited about this project and for the -- and what it's going to do for Collier County and the State of Florida. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Martha, ask if there are other speakers, or if -- or if you can listen to me, are there any o~her speakers who would like to just come forward and have any comments on general topics for us? THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MS. D'VALLA: I would just like to comment. My name is Maria D'Valla (phonetic.) What they say is very true. And this question is going to be for Ms. Barbara Berry. Please, would you pay attention? This -- I live in Crown Ridge, a popular trailer house parking lot, and my house is just in front of the mobile homes. And every time that the wind blew from west to where I live, all the garbage come to my yard. And I called the inspector and he went to talk to the landlord, and the discuss that they gave to them is that one of the dumpsters, the big dumpster, it cost too much them to buy another one. And the one that they have is not enough for the people who live there. Page 35 May 13, 1999 That's why they thought have to put, you know, garbage bags around the dumpsters. So which is another renter's cost. This is a cost that the landlord need to put another one. So he refused to do that, because he say it's going to cost too much money for rent. Another comment is that -- this is -- MS. GRIMALDO: For the record, my name is Maria Grimaldoo I am a Hispanic resident of Immokalee, but I speak in both languages, Spanish and English. Also, I was at one time immigrant who came to the United States of America 25 years ago to share my talents, not to take anything or something away from anybody. I live in Immokalee and I (inaudible) American, because for one reason, I have heard some Caucasian people say that you are in America, speak English. Frankly, I believe that it is not only politically wrong, but it also is geographically misunderstood. Because America is a large continent that includes and extends from Canada all the way through Argentina. Consequently now people who live in the United States are American. It is not to offend anybody, it's just that -- just to refresh your mind. Now, I would like to spread my opinion regarding the English as official language. I think that this message has consequential message. Therefore, I would like to report to Mr. James Carter to clarify his reason of his real intention for the new resolution. For instance, when he mentioned during an interview for Wink News, the station, that if you want to live here, you have to learn English. I have no problem with this philosophy, because once a person adopts a new country, he or she needs to adopt the current language or dialect in order to be able to communicate and to succeed. In addition, I heard some other people express their strong feelings against immigrants becoming United States citizen without learning English. Let me share with you what I learned when I read the book the very first Americans here in the United States where real native citizens living before the first immigrants came from Europe. They force the native Americans to move into reservations. The settlers did not want them to live in certain areas, either to plant or to hunt. So that the settlers claimed most of the country. I just stated this to refresh everyone's mind so everybody can understand where people with the mentality as Mr. James Carter come from and why they act as dictators. Or maybe you are afraid that the Hispanic population is going to do what the people from Europe did to the native Americans. I will recommend this, if you want to live and work as a public official in Collier County where a large percentage of the population speak English, why don't you try to learn Spanish? Even in Tallahassee the Governor Jeb Bush speaks Spanish. He spoke to me in Spanish last week when I went to talk to him. I believe that as taxpayers we contribute to pay your wages whether we speak English or not. Therefore, you must respect and take us into consideration. Perhaps we the Hispanic population might have to throw the tea overboard again to demonstrate our disagreement. Because there is no doubt that the new immigrants are also under the same constitutional rights, whether we speak English or not. My question is, do we all believe in one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all? I also read what it says on the dollar bill, in God we trust. But I wonder, would God really trust us to run this board? Thank you. Page 36 May 13, 1999 (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Why don't you translate. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) MS. GRIMALDO: Let me tell you one thing. When I wrote this letter, I think before I put down in writing the United States -- (Speaking Spanish.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: This is a -- MS. GRIMALDO: I believe that -- from my heart, I really love people in America. Many people have been so nicely. Many people. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Thank you. (Applause.) CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Excuse me, let me -- I just have to say one thing about the English as the official language. I hope -- I didn't vote for it. And I didn't vote for it because I had some idea that it would be perceived as an insult to people who speak languages other than English as their primary language. Nevertheless, I want at least to tell you that I do not believe that that was in any way the intention of those who voted for it. I do not COMMISSIONER BERRY: I can speak to that. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: -- believe it. COMMISSIONER BERRY: Let me speak to that issue, because I did vote in favor of it. But you have to understand what the resolution said. The resolution did not address anyone speaking the language. All it said was that official government documents would be in English. That's all. Not this. Not this. We're talking about anything that is recorded at the courthouse, or at the government center. And the reason I say this, that no particular group was singled out. We had a number of people in Southwest Florida that speak a number of languages. To indicate that. To indicate that, I have to name some of the different groups. But in Immokalee alone you have three different languages that you would have to print documents in at the government center if you didn't have this. We also have a very large German population that is coming into Southwest Florida. So you start looking at all the different groups, the influx of people that we have in South Florida, all this applies to is government documents. It does not say anything about the language that you speak in your community, in your household. It has nothing to do with that. We're not discriminating against that. That was never the intention. We're just saying that government documents, things that are recorded at the courthouse or at the government, are going to be printed in English. That's all. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Excuse me, we need to have Martha to translate. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) COMMISSIONER BERRY: Anything that would be recorded down at the government center, those kinds of things. It has nothing to do with voting, you know, when you go to vote and your ballot is printed in another language. It has nothing to do with that. It doesn't even affect it. That's a whole different law. MR. FERNANDEZ: For example, notices for this meeting were -- some of those instruments were prepared in Spanish. COMMISSIONER BERRY: Right. MR. FERNANDEZ: And some have been printed in Creole. And that was done after the passage of the resolution. So it didn't affect the Page 37 May 13, 1999 government's abilities to do that. CHAIRWOMAN MAC'KIE: Would you translate, Martha. THE SPANISH INTERPRETER: (Interprets.) (Due to computer and audio malfunction, a transcript of the remainder of the meeting is not available.) There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 10:30 p.m. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX OFFICIO BOARD (S) OF ' SPEC DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL , ~[A~RWOMA~ ~'T~ese'.~knutes approved by the Board on .~~/2~9 , ' as presented / or as corrected TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF GREGORY COURT REPORTING SERVICE, INC. BY CHERIE LEONE Page 38