3.26.24 Pasco Board of County Commissioners Meeting (Morning Session)

good morning everybody Welcome to the board of County Commissioners March 26 meeting we're going to delay the start of the County Commission meeting to 11:00 we have um three Commissioners that have uh issues at dealing with on health issues so they won't be available till probably tentatively 11:00 so the meeting won't start till then being that we have several resolutions today we're going to read the resolutions we can take pictures and later on in the day when the commission is fully activated we'll then read them by title only and then at that time we'll give you another copy to the re resolutions so could we start with rs1 a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida recognizing Pasco County fire rescue Captain David gapo and his crew of dedicated firefighters including um stand by for just a moment [Music] please we go uh including David or Jason frcp frice lein close Okay Justin beny Mark Anthony marzan Kesler Dixon and Henry n Nunes um for their honorable actions and service to Pasco County whereas the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners is committed to ensuring the safety and overall Wellness of all those living in and visiting Pasco County and whereas Pasco County Fire Rescue encourag is fire rescue Personnel to build impactful and strong relationships with the Pasco County community and whereas Pasco County fire rescue utilizes that encouraging and guiding the youth in Pasco County paves the pathway towards a better future and whereas Captain David gapo and firefighters Jason fryin Justin beny Mark Anthony marzan Kesler Dixon and Henry unz have consistently gone above and beyond to engage support and motivate children throughout Pasco County on numerous special detail and educational opportunities and whereas Pasco County fire rescue is requested to provide standby services for several Sports and public events across the county for emergency medical care should medical attention be needed during the event and whereas recently as well as in years past Captain David D gapo and firefighters Jason price Lebon Justin beny Mark Anthony marzan Kesler Dixon and Henry nunz were scheduled for Courtesy standby details at at multiple Special Olympics events and whereas the crew went Far and Beyond to ensure that the children with special needs felt included encouraged capable and inspired and whereas Pasco County fire rescue prioritizes the relationships with all members of the Pasco County community and aims to show our community it is there show our community it is there for them Beyond just emergencies and whereas Pasco County fire rescue would like to recognize Captain David garolo firefighters J uh Jason freslon Justin beny Mark Anthony marzan Kessler Dixon

and Henry nunz for the embodiment of committed to Excellence and an extraordinary Showcase of Pride and ownership now therefore now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby commends Captain David garolo his crew of dedicated firefighters including Jason frison Justin Binky Mark Anthony marzan Kesler Dixon and Henry Nunes for their honorable actions and service to the Pasco County community well thank you very much uh gentlemen would you like to comment um do greatly appreciate your service and your involvement in the community good morning Captain David Garo for the record Pasco County fire rescue I just want to thank you for this acknowledgement I want to thank Chief Perez for acknowledging us and he uh he's known to lead from the rear and that's what we do at station 13 this is my crew I'm accepting this on behalf of my crew my Battalion Chief's not here he you know we your leaders are who you admire and who you look after and he is the one that we do this for we do this for our community because of our leadership and this is a heck of award did not expect this thank you Tony Perez Fire Chief and good morning Commissioners this is just one of many great stories that our men and women here in Pasco County are out and about uh you know connecting with the community and we just wanted to acknowledge Him Special Olympics is very close to my heart I had I had a special needs son and uh we were involved in these activities growing up throughout our life so they went above and beyond I do have three very short videos that I would like you all to to see and witness as well as the um as well as everyone here in his chamber so if if you can if you can play the video let's not go that way let's [Applause] go [Applause]

organization by performing functions such as executing implementing and AD administering contracts developing Pro uh procurement strategies and cultivating working relationships with suppliers and other departments within Pasco County and whereas public procurement professionals at the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners and other public and private organizations have tremendous influence on the economic conditions in the United States with billions of dollars of accumulated purchasing power and whereas the purchasing department at the Pasco County bard of County Commissioners is committed to providing High Caliber strategic logistical and Operational Support of all departments within Pasco County and whereas the purchasing department at the pasu County border County Commissioners receiv received the achievement of excellence in procurement award in 2023 from the national procurement Institute and whereas the purchasing department of Pasco County border County Commissioners recognizes supports and practices the public procurement values and guiding principles of accountability ethics impartiality professionalism service and transparency established by The Institute for public procurement as fundamental tenants of the public purchasing profession and whereas The Institute for public procurement has proclaimed the month of March as National procurement month to further expand the awareness of procurement professionals roles uh to government officials the public businesses and corporate leaders now therefore be it resolved by the border of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby declares the month of March as National procurement month in Pasco County and urges all Pasco County Citizens to join in recognizing the role of the procurement profession within business business industry and government well I want to say thank you for the work you guys do in procurement uh it has been great to watch different things happen when we come across different purchases like we had the major purchases for a lot of buildings that were coming up and want to make sure they divided out you guys went back to back to work set it all up so it flowed nicely and and gave the county a nice balanced set of contracts so we know we can get done and if one fails we don't have everything falling down on one and we didn't want to see that you guys did a great job um on the agenda today we get a few Cooperative purchases that saves money that saves time and uh usually provides Great Value so we appreciate that as well you taken advantage of those before looking at other ways to go by by uh and I will tell you all the children that were in the chco parade this past week uh were very appreciative that we're all safe all the parents were even thrilled the fire uh the police officers out there were like thrilled that the barricades were in place that was a big discussion that was a big conversation

and you know when they had asked me about it from back in December they did some work on their own to do three different bids or whatever but uh working with you um with working with Mr carbal and commissioner Steiner and commissioner waitman for hanging in there and and we got that project done made a big difference so again I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you did to make all those people thrilled uh and very happy all the volunteers that would normally travel to go get barricades down in Tampa didn't have to do that so all the work you do is greatly appreciated so we thank you all very much commission waitman yeah thank you you know procurement is one of those departments especially if you're a vendor oh procurement gotta go through procurement but you're very important not a roadblock but you know managing the process and making sure proper goods and services are provided to our public and at the same time making sure we have people who want to bid on our projects to come in and want to do business with the county and making that experience a good one where folks want to come back and participate in the procurement so you really you know you kind of wear two hats uh and managing the process and making sure we have folks who want to come in and do do work for us and know it's tedious and um you know very detail oriented so thank all of you all for for you know taking on this profession and uh making a a a hopefully and streamlined process and keeping Board of County Commissioners and others out of trouble if you will by following the process so congratulations on today and keep up with great work thank you sir we prefer speed bump to roadblock we're not there to stop you we're there to make sure you do it safely and properly and make sure everybody's safe um but thank you very much for the kind words thank you for the recognition um the team behind me Works tirelessly day and night to uh keep this County Running smoothly and keeping the project going so we very much appreciate their recognition and um we thank you okay right take a picture here [Music] pleas thank and IRS three a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida commending Martin P pente for 35 [Music] [Applause] years looks like it's Mark no Recreation looks like it's like to have fun looks like it's Marty's party yeah there we go commissioner Mar whereas Martin pente began his career with Pasco County Parks Recreation and natural resources department on July 31st 1989 and whereas during the past 35 years Marty has dedicated his career to the prnr department as a recreation leader to Parks and Recreation manager

and program manager continuously uh Prov proving to be a loyal and dependable team member and whereas the department focuses on providing a balance of athletic recreational cultural and educational opportunities for the citizens of Pasco County Mary helped coordinate many of the Department's first programs such as adult softball league Jelly Bean jamere fall Spooktacular and an extremely successful summer day camp program and whereas Marty and engaged in professional employee passionately served and advocated on many boards and committees over the years such as the American Softball Association the Americans with the disab uh disabilities Association Florida Parks and Recreation Association standown Chasco Fiesta and served as a sterling examiner and whereas Marty has supervised or managed teams at almost every Recreation Complex athletic complex and Community Center in the Parks system and was an essential player in the establishment of initial operations at Veterans Memorial Park J Ben Herold Recreation Complex and the Land of Lakes Recreation Complex and has contributed substantially to the Department's aquatic programs and lifeguard operations and whereas Marty is an avid advocate of teamwork and assisted in the creation of the annual celebration of lights holiday event at JB starky Wilderness Park and in recent years served as an event leader on the celebration of lights festival at The Concourse that raised thousands of dollars for local not for-profits and scholarships for the summer day camp program and whereas Marty has dedicated hundreds of volunteer hours to causes such as Paint Your Heart Out Toys for Tots and students working against tobacco and has continually demonstrated a caring leadership for his teams and colleagues Marty will always always be remembered for his playful fun and loving personality humor and for all the great stories he is shared and whereas Marty's career is an outstanding example of what it means to be a public servant focused on enhancing the lives and quality of life of the citizens of Pasco County now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida say board hereby commends Martin pente for his 35 years of dedicated service to the Pasco County Parks Recreation and natural resources department and wishes for Marty's continued success happiness and good health in the years to come all right Marty so you started when you were e8th grade pretty CL I tell you you're um got to be the longest tenur employee right for Parks uh tremendous what you've done your enthusiasm has been absolutely phenomenal I think contagious um the groundwork you've laid as as Parks invested the county did many years ago into the parks people like you help Implement them all the parks that were that came in along the way and you just did a phenomenal job the team we have in Parks is like phenomenal Keith Wy your whole team is like tremendous uh the

great work you do for our citizens always been near and dear to me I know with raising my kids in this area the busier I kept them the better they behaved the better they did in school the better their life was and uh Parks has a lot to do with that so I greatly appreciate knowing you working with you and all the great work you've done thank you commissioner waitman thank you I don't think we've met maybe we have but you know I'll date myself too so I guess I grew up in your Parks you know and it's such a tremendous asset that we have in Pasco County and people like you making our Parks a great place to be and have fun and kids can go run around and be safe and in a clean environment just thank you you know Jelly Bean jamere that's your idea that's a fantastic fantastic event and um we en we enjoy it as well so congratulations on 35 years maybe a few more left in you and uh you know interim chairman they don't make them at 30 for 35 years anymore so maybe if you want to stick around we're happy happy to keep you so congratulations I just would like to say thank you it's been a great opportunity a great career for me um like you said I started in 89 where we had what maybe Pine Hill was the only field we had Grove Park Land of Lakes out on 41 uh Odessa Shady Hills um I'm really proud and happy to see um where our directors have taken us with this department and how we've grown um just not 35 years with an organization is a little bit more than that it's like a family you spend my whole half of my life here and I do I'm walking away feeling great with the direction we're going and thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to serve thank you Mr chairman if I could I had the opportunity to be uh the department head well actually the assistant County administrator over Parks and Recreation back in those days when we were you know implementing some of the proceeds of the bond issues and uh doing part of that huge expansion had the opportunity to work with Marty back then he was a shining star back then actually worked with his dad over in facilities you know had a period of time earlier in in uh in the 80s but Marty just don't do as I do go ahead and take your retirement get R so maybe we get Marty's fan club up here [Music] too there we go that's the thank you [Applause] all Mar you want all right RS4 a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida commending David Jay for 36 years of dedicated service to Pasco County and congratulating him on his retirement whereas David J began his career with the past County Parks Recreation and natural resources

department on May 9th 1988 and whereas David started his career in the department as a groundskeeper and later as a crew leader labor supervisor and park supervisor overseeing the grounds of Maintenance of up to six Parks consecutively and whereas David lived on site at Cru Lake Park for 27 years and as in uh been involved in the development of the park installation of various Campground uh locations the addition of a historic cabin the implementation of miniature train operations and the recent replacement of the observation tower and whereas David was has displayed tremendous leadership throughout his career is always willing to to train and provide professional guidance to team members both within and outside his area of responsibility which resulted in him working with over 33 years in supervisory positions at more than 35 parks within Pasco County whereas David worked closely with organizations such as the Florida Department of Transportation and The Concourse Council and was involved in developing and operations of the Sun Coast bike trail and the original Environmental Center at The Concourse helping develop standards and operational procedures to maintain these amenities and have them available for public use whereas David has always volunteered to work with organizations like Pasco County School Board Central Pasco and Gulf railro railroad various co-sponsored youth organizations Friends of the parks organizations Local School athletic teams and outside user groups to host events such as Pasco County staff appreciation days Cross County meets holiday train rides youth league play tournaments Earth Day events Battle of the Bands weddings corporate events and reservations and what as David took on numerous project that has saved the county thousands of dollars in Contracting work by using his carpentry and mechanic skills to build and repair County infrastructure rebuild countless pieces of equipment and preventing the department from spending additional maintenance funds and allowing his team to have minimum downtime without equipment that is vital to their daily operations and whereas David Jay has dedicated his career to serving the citizens of Pasco County and is a shining example of a parks recreation and natural resources department professional mentor and leader now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby commends David J for 36 years of dedicated service to the Pasco County Parks Recreation and natural resources department and to the citizens of Pasco County David I apologize that whipper snappa be behind you with only for 35 years you get the 36 one of your friends was correctly pointing out you I think started about the same time actually yeah I think Mar was closer to 36 too we greatly appreciate your uh resumee just like Mar is absolutely phenomenal um tell us how you feel about

watching your experience going all the way through from the bond issue as Harold mentioned all the way through to see the improvements I came on board when the bond referendums came in for the first set of parks and gosh when I started I think we had 11 Parks or 12 Parks or something like that so it's been a long time but I get emotional it's been a long time yeah uh spent half my life here so I just turned 61 and I've been here for 36 years so been at Cru Lake for 27 it's been a long time really neat really neat no regrets at all awesome well we greatly appreciate your service commission wman thank you well Keith I don't know what your what you're going to do here losing bonus losing such 10e maybe some part-time Che big institutional knowledge know Mr Jay thank you I can't imagine how Wonder a wonderful work experience to live in Cruz Lake for what 27 years yes sir and maintaining just the beautiful grounds that's there I mean what a fantastic career perk I guess you could say not many of us have that opport opportunity to live in such a beautiful place and get paid for it and and have fun every day but um you know like your colleague with institutional knowledge that we're losing uh will certainly be missed but uh well earned and congratulations on on your retirement and hope you enjoy your years not working and uh I'm sure if there's ever an opportunity to come back to help us out I'm sure there'll be some openings so um congratulations thank youever like to come up we do a picture again [Applause] conratulations [Applause] from your app you what RS5 a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida declaring the week of April 1st through the 5th 2024 as National Community Development week in Pasco County whereas the Pasco County communities are the F whereas Pasco County's communities are the foundation of providing a high quality of life for its residents and Pasco County's Community Development Department has developed a dedication to homeless initiatives and re alization of NE of neighborhoods and production of affordable housing and whereas the week of April 1 through 5 2024 has been designated as National Community Development week by the National Association of counties and the national Community Development Association to celebrate the Community Development block grant program and the home investment Partnerships program and whereas in 1974 Congress enacted the the Housing and Community Development act making this year the 50th anniversary of the cdbg program and whereas the cdbg program and the home program provide annual funding and flexibility to local communities to provide decent safe and affordable housing and a suitable living

environment for economic opportunities to low and moderate income citizens and whereas over the past 10 years our community has received a total of 30 m $853,000 in home funds from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and whereas a grant of over 1.1 million utilizing cdbg funding was used in partnership with the Florida Department of Education the Florida Department of Labor and several others to create the M skills Workforce Innovation Center designed to introduce people to careers in the manufacturing industry and provide training and job placement opportunities for low to moderate income citizens and whereas this past January the M skills Workforce Innovation Center received the 2024 Audrey Nelson Achievement Award for Community Development from the community uh from the national Community Development Association as an exemplary and Innovative cdb project and whereas in addition to this award there were several significant accomplishments reported for this past year over 200 individuals ban their began their careers in manufacturing 61 special needs households were provided affordable housing units and 100% of funds expended benefit benefited low to moderate income households now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby declares the week of April 1st through the 5th 2024 as National Community Development week in Pasco County okay well Marcy thank you and your team for doing such a great job for the county um we are working as a commission I think to get more and more affordable projects coming forward to help you and uh help people with with the housing issue that's out there um helping people they am skills what a what a tremendous group met them from day one they they came in from way back in coastal quesa on way long time ago um we want to try to keep bringing great projects like we did at Lake Lisa Wesley Chapel um M of fact I might have a lined on some new artificial turf that someone's going to be not using that we can probably use to help cut down the cost for another Park coming up so I know there that's very special to you and we want to make sure we have those happen so commission waitman thank you yeah you guys take on the projects and the challenges that are tough you see things that can hurt your heart and thank you for taking on you know carrying that torch to to help those who are struggling and to get in there and and and really do some dirty work to figure out how can we as a government find a way to help folks who are in a difficult time or may not just have the ability or the means to bootstrap up so the work you guys that all all of you do are incredibly important for our community and thank you for your your dedication it truly is a servant's heart and a calling when you're in a department like yours so so thank you all and thank you for hanging hanging in there especially with some of the politics that that come around that come with budgeting and

whatnot with your department but uh just know that we are all I think the entire board is incredibly grateful for the work you do and um keep hanging in there thank you thank you commissioner Mariano for sponsoring the resolution uh for the record Marcy esberg director of community development thank you to the Commissioners I'd also like to thank our County Administrator carbella and our assistant County Administrator Kathy Pearson for the support that we do for the support that the work that we do here in Community Development and for celebrating National Community Development week next week we're going to be joining with uh organizations like na National Association of counties and the national Community Development Association uh communities all over the country celebrating uh Community Development week recognizing the important work that we do commissioner waitman to your point of serving our low and moderate income citizens here uh in our County with the cdbg Community Development block grant and home investment partnership uh we are making a difference every day with homeless initiatives affordable housing uh neighborhood rization and behind me are the incredibly professional dedicated and passionate team members of our department and please join me in giving them a round of applause for the so 50 years ago President Ford signed into law the Housing and Community Development act and we were talking yesterday in my office what did you do in where were you in 1974 and there's some people here that weren't around in 1974 but we've talked a lot about people that have been here for 30 in 35 years so there are people that have been here for 50 years and um and that's what implemented cdbg and what uh incredible history and impact that's had on our community since then um while our team does work individually with households uh we also work a lot with our Community Partners and we talked about today our work with amp skills and uh that is very critical to our mission and we are very proud to recognize I amskills as this year's uh Award with us uh the 2024 Audrey Nelson award and uh uh for those of you that don't remember both Tom mudano and commissioner starky came to Washington DC to accept the award we did a panel discussion and people are still talking about about what we did um so it was really kind of exciting uh I wanted uh to give Tom a chance to say a few words but before I do that where's my Vanna we want to we want to draw your attention to this National poster that communities all over the country are using to celebrate Community Development week there are four projects noted here what's one of them and skills nice so how cool is that we're just really excited about the mark that Pasco County is making around the country uh we have a week full of activities next week uh that we'd like to invite people to including a kickoff on Monday downtown Newport Richie a lot of people don't realize that we do work

with economic opportunities uh with our partner um Department planning and economic growth so we'll be kicking off uh the time at one of the businesses that has been invested in with Community Development blockr funds on Wednesday Tom and Hillary are going to be doing uh a lunch and learn about our am skills project and on Friday we'd like to invite you all to Community Development for an open house uh and those will be all of our activities to celebrate Community Development week again thank you so much for your support Tom would you like to say a few words good morning um what I first wanted to say was uh thank you to Pasco County for your vision uh because you all establish at M skills helped to establish am skills back in 2014 and I know you were uh uh commissioner Mariano very big part of that so we want to thank the the Pascal County for for your support and helping us to get started um we're just a small part of what you all are Community Development is doing but but clearly it's a big part of what we're doing and we are just so thankful for them as well because we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Community Development we're just so thankful I want to thank you and yourent entire team because it's been a a fantastic experience getting us to this point where we are you know we've got four and a half acres of property on Darlington Road uh over $2 million of renovations to our building and we're debt free and that's pretty amazing so uh we're very excited we've got uh you really conclude our missions transforming lives and strengthening communities through Workforce training and apprenticeships and this project and you all are helping us to achieve that that we want to thank you for that thank thank thank you CH I like just to add in is you know cdbg is so important and marity thank you for having the vision to work with am skills because let's face it you can put someone in a home but if they can't afford to pay for it doesn't last long the the groundwork of giving a place to live a roof over the heads number one thing in life is to have that um then the belief in God but to have a job to go to afterward that can be very productive uh is great and that builds the community up because the more manufacturing uh people we create the more opportunity for more companies to come in as well so you work together is is D Dynamic so we appreciate it do a picture love it if you hold your mug you sir take what you take one more res last resolution and then done I think that was it was and then you break for yeah then you break until oh yeah High School yeah got to talk to rul I that's what I'm talking about there's your okay okay okay RS6 and I believe we have our team coming in from the back of the room

there feel like we need some Walkin as they as they approach commissioner waitman um I found out they were going to the big competition coming up and I wanted to kind of give them a boost before they go to congratulate them there's more still some more to come a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida recognizing nine athletes and their coaching staff from the Hudson High School uh cheerleading team for being selected to represent the country at a world championship whereas the Hudson High School cheerleading team coaching staff was selected to be the coaching staff for the US National Junior co-ed team and nine cheerleaders from Hudson High School have been selected for that team and whereas this is the first time a US national cheer team has been based out of Florida as well as the first time any athletes from Pasco County Schools have been selected to represent their country at a world championship and whereas the coaches chosen from Hudson High School to serve on the US National Junior co-ed team are Chelsea Hatcher Sarah ceni and uh Parker Jud and whereas the nine athletes chosen are George malacos James connley nir Nome sha Rivera Riley Rodriguez tonche Starks Haley Stevenson Haley Castillo and Kylie Watson and whereas over over 175 athletes aged 15 to 18 from across the country applied to be on the US National Junior coed team with only 32 selected to be on the team and whereas the competition is held by the international cheer Union the recognized World governing body of cheer the ICU comprises uh is composed of 10 million athletes around the world host World Championships that welcomes over 70 Nations and continues to grow as a unified for uh voice for all of those who are dedicated to the positive advancement of cheerleading throughout the world and whereas the US National Junior coed team will be competing from April 25th and 26th 2024 against other Junior coed national teams from around the world in the ICU World Championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando now therefore be it resolved by the County commissioners of Pasco County Florida the said board hereby recognizes those chosen from the Hudson High School cheerleading team to represent their country on the US National Junior co-ed team and wishes them luck in the upcoming ICU World Championships well con congratulations um this is something that uh when I first heard of it um I wanted to make sure we recognize you as quick as possible normally we'll only do like four or eight resolutions with the whole group but I wanted to make sure we got to you before you actually made the big trip for your next move it's congratulations for some great work every step of the way um commission wman yeah yeah to represent our country the greatest country on the face of the Earth at a national level at your age is an experience that you know hopefully you have again but most of us in this room

probably never will have so wear the red white and blue with tremendous honor and pride your hometown is here to support you normally you know being a Pasco highr I say go pirates but today you know go cobras and uh just extremely excited for all of you I hope you make memories of a lifetime I hope you kick butt and uh we can have you back with trophies and medals and and celebrate the accomplishments of representing not just Pasco County but the United States of America so jar I guess they want to say a few words and I just want to add one more thing to that so years ago we had uh a local Hudson baseball youth team go out and when they won their state championship we gave them an award gave them a resolution that led them to go to the Nationals and they won the national thing too so I'm betting you guys can do the same thing we done to take a picture okay everybody the camera first please right here the families want [Music] family put the everybody awesome thank you [Applause] all now we wait thank you that is the last resolution we have we're going to resume the meeting it looks like 11:15 thank you e

[Music]

I'm here how we doing Kin I'm good all clear yeah I'm good well no but I'm good we don't know what's going on with me but we'll f good morning we're going to call to order the board of County Commissioners March 26 2024 meeting please rise for the invocation and pledge oh merciful Creator your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature make us thankful for your loving Providence and Grant that we remembering the accounting that we must one day give may be faithful stewards of your good gifts amen the United States of America the for stands na indiv andice for Mr clerk please call the role uh District Two commissioner wakan presid District three commissioner starky here District Four commissioner Bradford is not present for the record uh district one chairman Oakley is not present for the record District Five acting chairman Mariano here and the two Commissioners not here they've had illnesses so they're excused now is it time for public comment citizens are given an opportunity to comment on any current or future agenda item coming before the board or on other business under the board's purview today's public comment will be handled as follows first we'll take public comment from those who are here in person then we'll take public comment for those who have pre-registered for a WebEx link and are currently on Q we request that when you address the board comments are not directed personally at a commissioner or team member but rather at directed at the issues this provides mutual respect between the board members and the public after stating a name and address for the clerk a three-minute timer will be activated after 2 minutes a single beep will indicate you have 1 minute left when your time is up two be beeps will sound and you should close your comments WebEx participants will be disconnected automatically when their time is up Mr clerk I know we have a few people signed up I know tax collector Mike Fano is here Mr Fano would you like come forward good morning Mr chairman members thank you just be a couple of minutes this morning uh there's something on the consent agenda uh that will um allow us to purchase a piece of property uh it's now been platted if you will just a few people I'd like to thank for making this happen um boy it's it's what your staff has to deal with is amazing and I learned a lot through this whole process but people like uh Wayne raty uh raty I'm sorry Lisa crawl uh Bill Williams Kelly Bernard uh Dennis wobble Matt Matt Cook um very very helpful in making this come to fruition special thank you to our uh County attorney Mr Stein Snider and his staff along with two people that you have in your uh on staff uh denth Hernandez and and Heather wolf Heather was just has been extremely helpful in helping us find this piece of property and uh hopefully we'll be able to close

now in about 45 days and then shortly after that uh start building our our Angeline office so thank you so very much God bless you thank you very much appreciate it that's your consent 29 okay thanks collector uh Linda Martell if you would please give your address for the record please yes my name is Linda Martell I'm at 3309 Kilburn Road and holiday um good morning um I have started a petition on change.org against the plan to build a Restaurant at ancl River Park we have over 5,300 signatures that are opposed to this restaurant this should be making a difference because it should be about what the people want and not about money not only with this disrupt sacred land but also nature with taking down our trees and disturb marine life dolphins and manatees swim through the river on a daily basis and I have been a regular at the park for many years lots of people I've talked to aren't aware of the restaurant plan in the first place when I pass out flyers and talk to the locals the sadness disappointment and anger is overwhelming I wish you could see the looks on their faces when I tell them the restaurant plan because then maybe you would find it in your heart to do what's best for ano Park we like our peaceful and relaxing Park after a hard day at work and it should remain the way it is I bought my home in 1998 and an ano Park is the main reason I bought my house if you want to make changes to the park our bathrooms and changing rooms could use updating also new picnic tables benches and Nice Landscaping to add even more Beauty to the park if there are fights happening at the boat ramp now now what do you think will happen with the restaurant that serves alcohol since there are more people living in Holiday area crime rates have gone up what we really need are more deputies along with better roads in our neighborhoods a restaurant taken up 3,000 square ft is not what we need and is still unacceptable we are happy with the food trucks and before helping the small business owners we also have Miss Vicki's restaurant located right next door to the park it's not fear that uh we have about this restaurant it's frustration because we want what's best for anlo Park thank you for your time Linda before you go we we generally don't respond to public comment but this is a very big issue with 5,000 petitions I know commissioner Stark you probably would to add something to that yeah um so we've done a new um Park plan um no one no one here wanted to see a 40,000 foot anything um and so I'm very pleased with all the trees that will be saved and the the new design and if you go out here into my office you can get a copy of the new design and we'll be having a meeting the 17 15th okay out at hallay w to talk about it okay good thank you thanks thank you next person uh David Cruz your address for the record please 6611 Carnation way Port Richie Florida thank you good morning I have a prepared

statement that I'd like to read my parents moved here here to Port Pasco County Port Richie in 1977 at that time my dad's retirement living in New York and staying in their home in New York would have put them $400 a month in the hole moving here my parents would not be in debt they purchased 6611 Carnation way the first house in the neighborhood my father was the second youngest of 17 brothers and sisters which all chose to move in the Tampa Bay area with the exception of two that stayed in New York they stayed here and mostly stayed to themselves except for family I stayed in New York volunteering in fire rescue on Long Island every year coming to visit my parents I had a chance to watch the other homes being built in the area and the changes that happened here in Pasco County I never saw myself moving here as a matter of fact I moov moved further north to New Hampshire working as a police officer in Conway I stayed deeply involved in volunteering in Fire and Rescue and with the Red Cross and in disaster services and training in 2005 my mother uh with mis Medical Care and treatment developed cancer and died at 83 uh this was during the time of Katrina hit New Orleans my dad at 90 was left on his own and started thinking of where he was going to live he still was driving which wasn't very very smart thing to do or safely when it warmed up I would bring him to New Hampshire from April to the end of September this continued until 2009 his home here in Newport Richie was broken into to because of my past training we knew to back out of the house and the Sheriff's Office was able to get a good set of prints which tied the individual that broke into the house to 45 other Home break-ins uh the individual spent 7 years in prison the decision was made I had to move here my mom died after 64 years of marriage to my father and my dad wanted to die here also to be with her this meant I had to give up a lot I was as deputy director of Emergency Management working for Raymond ambulance I had to short sale my house in New Hampshire to move here to Pasco County my dad wanted to make the home better for the two of us he put up a better fence and a shed at the end of a driveway on the Robble way side of the home this was put uh as a gate to the backyard having both door doors on both sides of the shed making it a pass through my dad wanted to make things better unfortunately due to poor Medical Care shortly after moving here demad cracking his hip he became septic and died on December 5th of the same year over the next year according to the will the property was left to my sister and I and we had to split it at this time the property values were at their lowest here in Pasco County uh my sister had to obtain a lawyer and it took a year for the two of us to settle and then during this time I had to obtain a job to get on with my life so I also wanted to continue in volunteering we got to wrap it up um I know you've got a problem with your house and the fence and all so um Roy could you meet with

him actually Pat Patrick is right back there and I called him about this yesterday okay okay he'll meet you all right so Pat would you raise your hand and he'll meet you in the back okay thank you so we got to wrap it up I'll talk to them thank you very much I appreciate it and I hope I can stay in my house all right thank you jacquelene thery hello my name is Jacqueline ther 29129 Johnston Road Dade City Florida and I have a letter which is my third third letter in the last five months or so regard reing file second thank you all in favor say I I and this regards our roads which are determined to be Class A which we thought did not know until recently and uh they have not been paved in 40 years and our particular road is Bush Lane is a hill downward to the north uh that I know that makes sense uh that seems to uh be crumbling more than some of the rest there are other places also that are in distress there are homes that are being threatened by the water that comes surging down that road every time it rains and there is a very big dip in that road as well as a a drainage site in the road behind us so there are issues that need to be looked at as well we did get an appraisal before we knew we were Class A and we had someone willing to do some of this maintenance and it was significant money that we thought we were going to expend ourselves I have been a taxpayer for 20 years we've resided there for that long and we visited for four years prior uh intermittently so I just wanted you aware of our situation this is my third letter I got no responses from the first two so I wanted to make sure you received it and I thank you for your time and please reference this to the apprpriate Department with some attention thank you thank you before you go Branford you mind spend some a few minutes with her and just kind of review thank you uh that concludes those that have signed up Mr chairman okay anyone on WebEx none on WebEx okay uh anyone else in the audience like to speak address the board okay we'll close public comment uh next order bills will be the consent agenda I have a pull sheet um c14 pull and revise C32 is withdrawn and c21 is withdrawn are there any other changes to the consent agenda Mr chairman if I could get a motion for you to add to the consent agenda rs1 rs2 RS3 RS4 RS5 and RS6 so moved second all in favor say I I I so those that that will take up the resolutions that you read right before the board meeting okay thank you very much much all in favor say I I I I we need a motion I need a motion for that sorry I'll move approval to approve a cons as amended with the noted items from second all in favor say I I I any opposed [Applause] okay so the next item we have is r37 C4 sir c14 oh sorry C4 sorry thank you Mr chair for the record

JP Murphy uh building construction services director the uh PLL and revise for you was do the diligent work of the clerk's Department noted that the mem reflected a 5-year term we are just revising it to reflect the actual term of the contract of 3+ 1+ 1 for our view specs video inspection services and I want to say I wanted to pull this item as Mr cabal and I talked about yesterday because I think it's such a great project see great to see more life being put into it uh for those who don't know view specs allows a remote inspector to zoom take pictures in video capture geolocation data comment interact with a contractor and post a result of inspection simultaneously in the Accel application vew spec has now alive and offline capabilities vew specs offers scheduling for over 70 inspection types though mechanical and electrical are the most popular many are eligible and inspections can be conducted scheduled and conducted on the same day generally within a few minutes of contacting the inspector a perfecta use case is an equal equal change out of AC a half day job executing the same day service call for the contractor rather than waiting a day for inspection they can call in for the view specs and close out a permit quick permit and a view spec inspection is a onew punch for a job like this it saves homeowners from res scheduling in multiple days off and view specs cost nothing to the owner contractor it's great technology uh I start when it was first coming on board with my assistant we're kind of watching one of the inspectors do five inspections in about a 20-minute period of time as things were going on so I'm glad to see JJ that you're bringing this forward uh and we got a a new contract for a longer term yep second all in favor say I I I all right thank you that will bring us to R 37 we are caught up so the Florida Gulf Coast Trail benefits of the trail and Trail connections so as my friend is walking up this is um Charles Hines who actually was a fraternity brother of my husband's at University of Florida and is uh an attorney and a former County Commissioner in Sarasota County yeah served many many years in the Gulf chair may approach I just want to hand a couple things out if I could sure move to receive and file someone make that motion are involved second looks like he wants you to keep them so I'm not sure that what's that I don't know reference got one clerk thank you thank you sir thank you okay good again good morning and thank you for the introduction and it's good uh to be back in the chambers as what you all did this morning and those resolutions really uh bring back a lot of good memories and what makes serving on a County Commission so meaningful so that's that's very nice um and let me just say before I get started congratulations to Pasco County I don't know if it's good fortune or good

planning but what's nice to see when we're going to talk about Trails is you guys are really the Confluence of three great Trails panel's Trail the Florida G Coast Trail and the Coast to Coast Trail and with looking at those Maps like I handed you that's the state map you're in a really unique position to take advantage of all the great benefits that Trails bring to a community so one of the thing I wanted to kind of discuss today with you all all right let see if I don't mess this up hey there we go all right um are some of those benefits and then also you know why am I here and why is TPL doing what it's doing so some people may be familiar with my organization but it's a national nonprofit and our mission is to connect everyone to the outdoors and we work very hard to do that and why is that why do our donors say to us you know go forth and work with local government work with state government work with communities and it's a simple as it we believe access to the outdoors is is a fundamental right and a lot lot of times through growth and planning and Roads um sometimes that gets left out in the equation and so as a nonprofit we're out there always promoting this and the main reasons is why um we believe that communities that do this and emphasize this are healthier more resilient more Equitable and some points that I'll get to a little later you know also safer so um that's kind of why we are here and why I'm here then obviously you're very familiar with the Coast to Coast Trail that's pretty much done at this point my knowledge is it's about 95% done there's a couple little gaps but when you see this and the opportunities that exist for your community if you support Trails which I believe you do but I want to say support them more um this is a real economic driver that you can have tourism all across the state people come to St Peter Tampa and they're going to take this Trail and they're going to come through your community and same thing with the Florida GF Coast Trail um you know we're going to hook up with this and I know I believe this is one that's under consideration or proposal which uh would really link up your County uh a lot of citizens and a lot of opportunities um with what I've just described as the trails that are to your North and South so before I jump into the Florida G Coast Trail as was mentioned I was a county commissioner from 2012 to 2020 and we had to make a decision do we invest in trails and we did and we invested in Legacy Trail which if you look at our count is that dark straight line right through Sarasota County and looking back there are no regrets in those Investments at all and actually what we're doing in Sarasota County is continuing to fill in that orange Gap um to the north there I don't know if I have a pointer but that's our connection to Manatee County then that's our connection to Hillsboro County and then that's our connection to you and we're

doing the same thing to the South uh to get into Charlotte County and all the way down to Lee and CER County so my goal from the trust Republic land is I've been tasked as their program director to complete this 420 miles now obviously it's not me that's doing it but um I'm working very closely with all of our County governments and I appreciate the invitation to come here because when we look at Southwest Florida and the Florida Trail system as a whole uh this is very very important I go back to access to the outdoors and let me commend you all also I saw your Awards outside for the adoption of Mobility fees I think we did that in Sarasota County Maybe 20145 so we're a little behind you all but to be creative and find other sources of revenue uh to be able to do trails in addition to the state money that's available and then obviously federal grants so I talked about this you know a little bit why are Trails needed and you know safety and access so when you look I don't know how many points of contact that you have uh in Pasco County but one things that trust Republic lands does is always look looks at a 10-minute walk 10-minute bicycle ride and we have the technology to be able to put those reports together and show particularly how many schools that to give children a safe way to get to schools how many potential job opportunities where people who maybe can't afford a car or just say I'm you know tired of the congestion or I want to do something that's better for the environment I'm going to take my bike to work or I'm going to walk to work so um we always study all those and I think in the go Coast Trail there's almost over 400 schools that are within that 10-minute walk and that's so important to be able to have I don't know if your rules are the same here but I think if you live within two miles in Sarasota County you have to provide your own transportation so being that close to a school and having a safe way to get there and a safe way to get maybe to after school activities like a Boys and Girls Club or YMCA is very important so here's the here's the sad bitty or the sad slide um and there you are number one now I've not personally confirmed these numbers but even if they're wrong right behind you is my county and Manatee County pelis County and Hillsboro County in the country that's sad and so I believe as leadership we have to do do a better job because you know some people say well trails are just an amenity you don't need that um you know we need more roads and so forth but they provide for safety and I know fdot's adopted Target zero and you all probably involved with that through your npos and understand that and it's because our state has been car Centric for so long with its development and even with Trails or even bike Lin planes along roads they think well bikes have the same rights as cars but you're creating conflicts there that really aren't safe so we got to work on that um and there it is there's the

target zero that fdot when I first came on the County Commission really they just kind of well there's no one here from them but you know you probably experienced this fdot would do what they wanted to do and say hey we got you a new road and there wasn't a lot of local input that has changed at least in my experience now and they're working much more closely with local government to be partners and think about planning and how to provide safer merts multi-use recreational Trails the key is separated from the road and you know you have that throughout here but keep doing that so the I'm just particularly about the Florida Golf Coast Trail is when you saw the map the problem with it and a problem with a lot of trails across our state um is they're just disconnected local governments do their own little trails and you get a five or six or a 10 m Trail but it doesn't really serve the bigger purpose and it creates gaps and it out and back trips nothing that really you could do for tourism or true Economic Development so and then also if you do you got two trails that are separated by three or four miles it it causes people to get back out in that dangerous Street before they get to the next one and so we're working across the state to try to strategically fill those gaps and uh what I would ask you all as Leaders to you know continue to do that as well so this is a good example of local government um this was a trail head that opened up I would say about three years ago in our community and this was a site that was our old DMV office and when they built a new building it was about 5 Acres uh we didn't need the land anymore the county owned it it was kind of isolated it was at the end of a street it what are we going to do with this thing and so we put it on the Surplus and we're going to sell it well you know you probably can't see it but right behind there is the trail when the trail came through there all of a sudden this property became very useful because it had connectivity and access and right now I mean the little balls that are on there are pickle balls but you know we created like 10 pickle ball courts basketball courts bathrooms you know on this land that we were going to sell now you you got to get there pretty early to get a pickle ball spot but it it was just I'm using it as an example of how a trail suddenly can change your planning and design of property that was maybe abandoned even businesses that suddenly now have a change of use um become useful again fitness centers brew pubs restaurants suddenly now because you have this little segment behind here will probably get close to a million Riders this year and this segment is very close to downtown Sarasota and so having places to go is is key and so you know Trails really do that so you know how do we get to ribbon cuting one thing that I I put in your bags there is what our organization does is we work very close mostly with local governments to try to help them to get to ribbon cutting sometimes it takes expertise in in purchasing rail corridors we've done

that all across the state and all across the country helping with um ballot measures uh heard that was mentioned earlier in bonds we do a lot of polling TPL actually ran and was working with uh a pack in Sarasota County that ran our ballot measure to extend the trail when I say r i mean Sarasota County um to borrow $65 million to extend the Legacy Trail and because of our organization's help um you know local government doesn't get involved in that but and your Grassroots organizations they may be well meaning but it takes some expertise to get that to the finish line and then also helping local governments find other sources of funding whether it's state or federal so the one thing about the Legacy I'm sorry about the G Coast Trail is when I became involved when I said Florida Golf Coast Trail everyone said never heard of it well we've heard of the panel's trail we've heard of the Legacy Trail so we got involved with the office of Greenways and trails just this past year to Brand This Trail and hopefully some of you all maybe voted on it it was a nationalwide vote and this was the logo that was picked and um so we're going to try to get that out there so that we have this idea of a regional project and and that's what it is and you got to name it first and you got to be recognized so that's it so again together um and I see you all Partners here with what I'm working on the Florida Golf Coast Trail is to connect our millions of florians to these benefits that that are brought and just I'll remind you health resiliency it's Equitable it's safe and then it's just fun you know get out and and hit the trail even if it's just for a mile and you go to a our Fest or you know downtown um you know cookout food trucks all these different types of things a playground that's hooked up so again there's the closing of of the why and so I'm going to keep working oh I'll go real quick on these um the one thing that I said you know Trails really create a sense of place you know more than a road roads are always needed they're always going to be needed soon as you build them they're full and you get the complaint we need more roads Trails really provide a return and an economic benefit and a sense of place so this is in Venice uh that was a train depot that was going to be torn down and you know it was from the 1920s 1930s and uh there was just no use for it anymore the train had left there was no more train service but now it's it's a centerpiece in in Venice where many many events are held you know bikes bike rallies 5Ks wine tastings all of that you know you have a lot of views like this up here on yours uh but we don't have any of those yet actually that's one and right now partnering with fdot they're building two more of those on our overpasses on the state every County gets some but ours for some Reon well I'm here I'll help you with that my engineer back there hiding his face Yes again that's that's these are gateways you know these bridges are gateways into communities and create a sense of a

pride and uh you know water access and Views uh that's the Ringling bridge in Sarasota that connects up Longboat Key to Sarasota um you know that's a rural area out in Northport beautiful and again this was an isolated park it was in way down that's the inter Coastal Waterway and it was a neighborhood park now when the trail connected it up it gets a lot more use so I think uh that's it I just want to say thanks and I just ask you and if I can help you in any way to build your trails and take advantage of your location as a county you're going to see some great benefits as all this gets connected up yeah Mr shy um well a couple things first I'm so glad that you're here and I had my uh director of environmental lands and Parks I make that might be his title I don't know um here to listen um well a couple of things can can you talk about safety and then I want to show you our Coastal enk Trail because I truly believe that should be part of this of this trail and I want to show maybe they can pull it up there on the map but um some of our residents were very concerned if the trail was coming near them of rape and murder and so I'm happy that's one of the things that are always a concern of the unknown and change is safety and property values how they're going to change and and there study after study after study across this country of that's just not the case property values go up crime either goes down or stays the same because usually like in a rail Corridor situation it's an it it's not being taken care of it's abandoned those people that you're fearful of of doing those types of things they're there but then when you put a trail there you create a situation where good elements come law enforcement has access and so that's one thing that I have to do and work very closely with communities hear their fears listen to them and sometimes through design fencing Landscaping setbacks and share them with with actually have a group from Lee County because we have a ra cor or a contract down there right now coming up to Sarasota County next month month to show them the existing Trail so they can actually see it can talk to Residents and understand that Trails aren't being pulled up because of crime they're not being closed because of crime they're actually being expanded and they're supported and sometimes um well don't show me a study from Seattle or Washington we have the penel trail here we have the Legacy Trail Coast to Coast Trail so there's studies that are local that we can share with with them and hopefully address those concerns okay now I want to show you um she hasn't got it up there yet the coastal ancl Trail um which is over by um strawber Memorial and um this so we have a penny for Pasco and um some of that money goes to build the trails and this was um built with the penny money because when the starky Gap got funded by the state when they rolled out the uh money for the coast to coast

we were able to Pivot that funding and build this Trail so here it is um can you zoom out a little bit it goes through some land that the county owns it connects a high school um but if you can you go so you can see ano Boulevard keep going keep going so there's ankot Boulevard and and that trail it comes down ankot it goes into pellis County can you move it where you can see and it goes across the river and it connects into Tarpon Springs to the pellis trail so it's our it's our second connection to the pelis trail um which your your trail goes up to penell County and to the pellis trail but we would love for you to consider this part of your um Coastal Trail yeah so on the you know when you look on on this what I would suggest and Happ happy to help you is to with the office of Greenways and trails and uh their annual meeting is tomorrow oh so um in Winter Haven and I'll be there and you know the the the thing about our trail system is these Maps can be changed and things are added right so that's what they just did a whole review last year and it was funny the Florida Golf Coast Trail which was on their prior map was like 360 miles now it's 400 20 well we can add to it why loops and connectors like that were added and what you just described on you know schools downtowns connectivity in a safe way to get from there to Tarpon Springs uh to go have some great food down there that's what you want to promote yeah and it's that when it goes over the river there it's an old railroad Corridor um I we have to check where the city of tarpet Springs and pelis county is because they had to do some Shoring up of some of the Footers of the bridge going over the river but um uh so I served three governors on the state Greenway at TRS Council and Ralph over there Ralph Lair how long were you on eight years when Weatherford came out I think he pointed weather did did will appoint you yeah so Ralph just came off of the green was and trails Council but um it it seems like it's a good addition for that trail and right uh we you know we don't I don't know if we have one sign in in the county that identifies any of our Trails being part of the coast to coast because every county is responsible for the signage in their County there was a time when we had some money set aside for Branding and for wayf finding but it went to uh actually went to the wire grass Sports Complex for tables and chairs because they needed it so that is something that we have to bring back um and U with those little things that you do on your phone on the um I don't know what you call that geocaching yeah um it's easy to put those on those signs and let those folks who are riding the trails uh know where restaurants or other services or other amenities are around you so I hope that we get maybe this is the year we get going on some branding and that that trail that you saw going across the county uh is called the orange belt Trail and that that somewhat follows the orange belt railroad right away which sadly this County did not hold on to we have some

of it um but it was actually auctioned off on our Courthouse steps decades ago when I became a commissioner I I think I stopped it I tried to stop it so um we have to do some workarounds uh but we uh it's just another route for the coast to coast and it it has more Economic Opportunity in our County because it goes through some some areas uh where the where there is opportunity where the the current Sun Coast Trail just goes up the highway and there's not a lot on it so you make a very good point and it's one thing that I keep running across is you know our state it's you know it's always growing you know booms and bust to Florida I was born and raised here so I get it but right now we're really growing for a lot of many different reasons and if you don't have someone that's dedicated or aware of of our trail system and watching it and Leadership of like what you're describing in that this is important to our community opportunities are constantly being missed oh yeah and the rail Corridor is one and what I'll say to you is the developers the large developers the dris which I that's the term anymore but um across our area love Trails they want the connectivity it's a selling point and so they're always looking for ways to align so working with large developers that say you know okay do you want me to dedicate some land or how how do we do this and constantly staying with fdot so that a road project comes in and you go oh gosh wait a minute only if we would have and it it takes leadership to constantly be there uh to promote those things Charles when you're at the meeting tomorrow um something that we're kind of a little late to the game here in the county but something that we're asking dot to do is consider uh when they're widening aate Road is to put an underpass because they're so much cheaper and safer than an overpass right and we're trying to get one on 52 in this last section that we're widening it well we have Critter Crossings and it would just go you know 4 Ines higher it would legally let us go through on a bike and that's another thing we have to discuss with the state and I'd love TPL to help and that is um we could go under the Sun Coast uh you know what divides our County East and West over here on the West Side those who are living on the just east of it cannot safely access the trail um and there are Critter Crossings going underneath it and when we were developing Bexley I tried and tried and tried with the state uh and they and the developer was willing to pay for the spur that would go under the Sun Coast and connect to the trail that's on the west side of it and it was 7 foot6 and they wouldn't let us do it um and I can tell you around the country there are many trails that go under a Road State Road that are under 8 ft yeah one thing and you know again another great point and this is advocacy um it said well we've dealt with this well that's what it says in the book yeah and sometimes we got to change the book we got to change the

rules yeah and you know that comes through leadership uh from the work that we do we with the state and say we need to change some rules and and you know fdot is getting better uh but I think you just hit some examples of you know where we as representatives of our community say we need to change those rules a little bit Yeah and safety is right where they want to be and so when you hit them with that that's their own words yeah I'm delighted you came to see us it was good to see you at fac and uh I know we talked about coming and sent Katherine over to see you and all and I'm glad you made that great connection it's kind of interesting with Trey and him yeah yeah we're going to go off lunch at a restaurant right on the tra sh St those old days but at least publicly but uh thanks and I appreciate the opportunity Keith would you introduce yourself to him when he when he walks back okay okay thank you so much thank you very much well we got 30 seconds left till noon so let's break for lunch okay