09.19.2023 Pasco Board of County Commissioners Meeting (Morning Session)

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e good morning I would like to call to order the Pasco County bard of County Commission 10: meeting September 19th 2023 at this time silence all electronic devices in mute your phones please rise for the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance 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 account that we must one day give may be faithful stewards of your good gifts amen amen of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation indivisible andice for all now is it time for public comment roll call oh sorry Roll Call district one commissioner Oakley here District Two commissioner waitman here District three commissioner starky here District Four commissioner Bradford excused District Five chairman Mariano here now is the time for public comment citizens have given an opportunity to comment on any current or future agenda item coming before The Bard and our other business before the board's purview today's public comment will be handled as follows first we will take public comment for those who are here in person then we will take public comment for those who are pre-registered for a WebEx link and currently on Q we request that when you address the board comments are not directed personally against a commissioner or team member but rather directed at the issues this provides mutual respect between the board members and the public after stating your name and address for the clerk a 3-minute timer will be activated after 2 minutes a single beep will indicate you have one 1 minute left when your time is up two beeps will sound and you should close your comments WebEx participants will be disconnected automatically when their time is up Madam clerk do we have anyone signed up for public comment yes Mr chair we do um I'll go ahead and uh call out the first three uh Debbie mans followed by Mike Peters followed by Mark Khan good morning honorable chair members of the commission my name is Debbie mans as indicated I serve as a city manager on behalf of the City of Newport Richie I'm here to address two of your agenda items um they are noted as uh C8 and C9 inter local agreements between the City of Newport Richie and Pasco County related to the Town and Country Villas neighborhood Improvement project um I'd like to initiate my comments by indicating that the City of Newport Richie has enjoyed a pritu relationship with Pasco County for a very long period of time and I thank you for that we have not always been on the winning end so to speak of our deals but we have always felt very respected and we have always felt that we negotiated in good faith that being said the interlocal agreement before you today is the result

of discussions that have ensued since 2018 it is the potential of a joint project to address a multitude of problems that exist within an enclave which is basically a four block area located within unincorporated Pasco County but served by City Utilities the purpose of the project in large part is to provide respectable affordable housing it is to improve resiliency of public infrastructure against future storms rising sea levels and other disasters to reduce public health risks and environmental contamination to reduce the cost of providing public services and to incentivize the development of this housing the original project Partners involved in addition to the county and the city are us water people places LLC a real estate development design company and Habitat for Humanity who has since sold their interest that being said no one more than I recognized the importance of budgeting I know that $2 million is important to you I know that you have already made the commitment for $200 there are 185 Lots in this neighborhood that are substandard nothing has happened in five years except that slum and blight has deteriorated please allow the City by appropriating this $2 million to be your project partner and address this substandard condition by installing what will now be a more than $2 million infrastructure and our investment in the neighborhood to provide decent housing for people thank you thank you Mr Mike Peters followed by Mark Khan followed by Alfred kuchi uh good morning chairman and good morning commission I'm um happy to be able to address you today my name is um Mike leaders uh I'm addressing you as a um longtime Pasco County resident since 88 and uh small business owner and employer as well as uh I am now in my third year term as a city council member of the City of Newport Richie so I I would also like to address the project that our city manager Miss man's uh outlined and spoke about uh I I just like to to tell you that uh we appreciate the opportunity to partner with you on a project like this I think u in years past shown we provided to be good partners uh with you on on projects and uh there's an opportunity here for uh you to fulfill things that have been talked about for years I can recall back in the U in the mid 2000s and so I I had an opportunity to serve on several advisory committees here for the county um sign ordinance Review Committee um comprehensive plan revie View and so forth and I can recall back during that time there was there was at that time discussions about the Redevelopment of the uh US 19 Corridor and um and you know that's been talked about and Revisited and and worked on for a number of years perhaps not as much progress that we've all likeed to seen the city we've done our we've tried to do what we can in uh along that quarter within our borders and it's just not the US 19 but

it's those areas that are immediately you know east and west of 19 that needs need some work and this is one such neighborhood um and it gives an opportunity maybe take that steps to fulfill some of that those folks in that area have had substandard services for many years um the city we we've stepped in at time to time whether it's police services or fire Services necessary to do that there OB proximity to many important city um residents and businesses and uh this provides an opportunity for the county to fulfill some of their long wanted projects to enhance those areas and and and take us as a partner so you can basically get this as a bargain with our U stepping in and helping you so I'd like to you to consider the um the agreement that had been place before you thank you thank you uh Mr Mark Khan followed by Alfred kuchi followed by John Russell good morning ladies and gentlemen my name is Mark Khan I moved to Pasco County in 2014 I'm a resident of District 2 I built a house in the Windsor development located off of state road 56 and Meadow Point Boulevard in 2021 DR Horton along with fourstar came in and started developing the Windfield Wood Creek development on our eastern boundary my neighbors and myself went to them and asked if they would indeed leave a land barrier there to to protect us they said they would if you notice on Slide Five the original plat map that they put out from the UT indicates a type a buffer between their development and ours in 2022 they silently removed that buffer and when we contacted them about that they said they decided to put a fence up instead as you can see in uh slide seven they sent this picture to our CDD attorney indicating that a fence would be along the entire eastern boundary the winter development is to the left of that line okay slide eight we'll show you that uh they lied about that they basically stopped the fence 100 yard short of that creating a blind alley and allowing people to Ingress and trespass into the Windsor development unseen slide nine shows you what the land buffer looked like before they bulldozed to the property line with bushes and trees and a safety area there slide 10 shows you what it looks like when they got finished doing that slide 11 this is 17 ft this feet is 17 ft from the actual boundary line people are using using this blind alley unseen to enter into the Windsor development our development has children in it okay slide 12 this individual who was a worker over there decided to come and walk around our community slide 13 these four men decided they would just come into and fish in our pond and at the time my wife was in the back continually staring at her at the time while she was out with our dog a deputy was actually came out this time this is like the 20th time I've called them and he reprimanded them and then he told me there's nothing that can be done

about it until and that until somebody puts up a fence and it's just going to get worse when people move in there slide 14 this is the code that the developers are using against us and it has a caveat in it that districts that developments in the same districts do not have to buffer I am asking the board to change this codee and make it retroactive to January 1st I'm asking the board to contact Dr Horton and make this right okay you need to protect the taxpayers and the citizens that elected you this is going to cause a problem not just for me but for other people as well thank you very much for your time and sir before you leave uh Matt Campbell is ready to talk with you um I appreciate the emails last night di Horton did respond to me last night as well as this was coming up so Matt kimbell's got more information for you to talk to when hopefully we can make this get resolved one way or the other thank you chairman one quick question is whens there a gated community when is a gated community windfields is not okay thank you okay so Matt Campbell Matt raise your hand he's right in the back there sir all right um next the next individual signed up is Alfred kuchi followed by John Russell um and followed by I think it's George oh I can know that name um if you could please state your name and address for the record before you begin my name is Alfred kuchi I live at 9109 cotswald way in Heritage Lake that's Cambridge Commons 2 subdivision I'm on the committee for the Oaks Park msbu from Heritage Lake uh last August we met with commissioner Jack Mariano about this project we were told he was going to recommend that change from the park zoning and have the property considered a surplus real property that is happening now we thank him for that however we're not against the sale but we'd like to be able to monitor it two items of concern are that the property should be sold to build 100 home could be sold to build 100 homes or 100 single family uh townhous houses we prefer the single family homes of course and our second question is the 60ft easement that's being considered uh in the rear of the property which goes from the East side to the west which of course ends at Sebring which is in Heritage Lake we're concerned and a lot of people are concerned that will this become a road eventually or is it going to be just an easement for utility services and nothing but that uh there's also a body of water uh before you get the Sebring and if that's the case is that going to be bridged uh this is part of is it part of the plan that's all I have and I want to thank you for giving me the permission to be here also I have the permission of our president Judith wolf who is out of town otherwise she would have been here so thank you for giving me that time to speak thank you chairman thank you we have a motion to receive motion to file second all in favor say I thank you thank you Mr

kuchi Mr John Russell followed by George romanoli followed by Karen Stokes I'm okay bring them to the clerk have a motion so move second all in favor say I I I I I'm the one with one vocal card left so bear with me my name is John Russell and my wife and I live at 9652 Cavendish Court Pasco County Florida I'm here to represent both myself and my wife we went to we want to express our sincere concerns regarding consent agenda item C20 the reclassification of the Oaks Park property as Surplus real property this property is a subject of a municipal service benefit unit approved by the commission on June 24th 2014 these 41 acres are very special to us and I am quoting directly from the agreement or ordinance section s the msbu will consist of the provision of a neighborhood park and or open space and related facilities including but not limited to storm water ponds section8 that's ironic funds for the services and Facilities authorized under Section 7 of this ordinance shall be provided to special assessments which shall be levied and collected and enforced in accordance with the uniform method special assessment shall be collected annually from the owner of each parcel of land in the msbu and shall not exceed the cost providing the service and Facilities described in section 7 this document was signed by commissioner Mariano on June 24th 2014 my wife and I did not move into to our current address until November of 2019 no one in our community ever told us about an msbu until early 2021 at a commission meeting in 2021 I asked commissioner Mariano why this MSU had not been acted upon and turned over to the tax collector's office commissioner Mari was I believe being completely honest when he simply responded I don't know I'll look into it many meetings have passed since then last year I was told by the commission at a commission meeting that the delay was because we have to recalculate the correct number of erus equivalent residential units to be assessed this is being turned over to the parks recreation and natural resources department now here's a big if for you folks if you had started the msbu in 2014 put it on the tax roles in 2015 8 years worth of Assessments would have already been collected that's well over 50% of the $3 million this is not our fault and clearly the something in the Count's doing there um let's get back on task here and get that msbu over to Mike Fano thank you very much for listening thank you [Applause] we have George romanoli followed by Karen Stokes followed by Alan Rose nice to be up here again my name is George romanoli I had the honor of working for this County for 25 years all in Community Development 15 years at its director I'm now the senior vice

president of neighborhood lending Partners a community development financial institution that funds affordable and work for housing and for six years I was chairman of the Florida Housing Coalition which is the principal advocacy group for housing in Florida I'm not speaking for them though I'm speaking for myself a resident of Pasco County for most of my life with knowledge of how affordable housing is developed when Liv local became law I was skeptical even with increased density and height allowances How could a developer build affordable housing without subsidy I decided to underwrite a live local project and I found out I was wrong in areas of moderate property values live local Works in most of holiday Port Richie Newport Richie Dade City Hudson it will work in areas of higher values like the interstate m56 or the Gulf Coast it would be difficult in really high value areas like downtown St Peter tampus Bayshore it would be impossible I am not optimistic in your desire to amend the bill this year major changes will be difficult as long as the current legislative lead legislative leadership is in place I understand why you want to exempt the county especially in industrially zoned areas but I think we need to look at this bill and why it was done the law was written in a vacuum without most without most of affordable housing community involved the development Community was involved time is money land is constrained by zoning and land use that was developed two generations ago or more I'm an advocate for affordable and Workforce housing I a master's degree in planning but I do not like local redemption in this bill but I understand why it was there and we have a massive need for affordable housing in this County and the state as a whole Your Community Development Department is doing a good job developing affordable housing projects but is not enough if developers accept your subsidy they will have to accept your rules of the Three Counties in our region penel Hillsboro and Pasco we the only County that provides no subsidy to Affordable house housing with local funds you're not going to stop them from building live local but on the site but you may be able to shape the project to make it mixed use or have less density housing goes jobs construction has the largest multiplier of any investment you can make look at creating a revolving Loan Fund with General funds as hsbor county has done one more point I know you're asking developers who are resoning their properties to put deed restrictions as to remain commercial or industrial the first developer that says no and you deny that resoning you have a big birt Harris lawsuit on your hands I would hate to see the county suited thank you for the opportunity to talk to you thank you Karen Stokes followed by alen Rose followed by gu is it ashn good morning to you all years ago my husband and I moved to Heritage Lake we enjoy living there since we have moved you come from South Jersey name

and address pardon me forget your name but your address please of course my name is Karen Stokes I live at 4992 Prince George Circle Heritage Lake and Newport Richie Florida 346 655 at the beginning of this meeting we had a prayer and the prayer included a prayer for every living creature to me that includes the creatures that live in our wetlands and in properties that have not been developed prior to moving to this Heritage Lake we lived in a place called uh hamton and it was in South Jersey there's such a thing in South Jersey called Pine lands commission and the Pine Land commission includes certain areas that are not allowed to be developed because they are sensitive to the environment if certain uh animals or certain uh fauna or Flora are in this area no one is allowed to develop in that area I think it's a good law that South Jersey has I think it would behoove us to keep properties as much as natural to the Florida scenery as possible possible right now we have more car washes within a 2 mile radius than there are cars I've seen car washes being built with Hideous looking vacuum cleaner hoses coming down that look like they're from some kind of alien movie it's ridiculous it's horrible and it does not do justice to our beautiful Florida environment so I will say that I am thankful for the people that who do uh participate in talking to you and speaking speaking to you about the people who live in Heritage Lake we are proud people who live there and we do acknowledge the uh existence of the beautiful surroundings in which we live so I am concerned about any properties that might be de veloped that don't necessarily need to be developed thank you for your time thank you please Don't Clap Please Don't Clap Alan Rose followed by G um I think it's ashau followed by um just simply Nancy is the first name good morning Alan Rose 10221 Hilltop Drive Newport Richie Florida 34654 today it's Coastal my interest has always been Coastal I've been coming to you for years recently I've made some discoveries and I like to share last month I sent to the to the county over $250 million in available funding for Coastal projects strictly Coastal and this month so far I have an extra 45 million available come to find out that what's what's impeding this is that we don't have the Staffing to to enable us to take care of the coastal properly so I'm retiring I'm going to be bringing something forward and uh what you're going to hear about in the future will be Pasco County Coastal Improvement Council to handle what the county is unable to do to the short stabing when you see this just know that we're

friends we're not going to be adversar we're going to help support Pasco but our focus is going to be Coastal we have so much needs out there and just just as an Insight everyone knows that I did a little work at Hudson Beach a few years ago since I did that work prior to that project that I did not approved by anybody just did it on my own time that was that was the issue but used to have uh restrictions every month and since that project we've had one restrictive day month week per year so it worked we can do things and it can be cost effective and it can be done on the larger scale for for our 20 some odd mile Coast I for the projects that I see in the future what I'm used to seeing is a million dollars in miles so between 20 and $30 million will take care of our Coast property and I'm going to step forward and work to get that done for everyone so just wanted to bring that to your attention let you know because we actually did have money available and we didn't go after it because we don't have the Staffing so in the future we'll work on the Staffing it may be aside as a as a m as a nonprofit but we'll work on it and we'll work together to make it happen alen if you would get with Sonia um I want to I want to work with you on that on that nonprofit home assassa did the same thing up there uh we tried to modify that a bit a few years ago we didn't come together but if we get a leader like you out there in community with your experience hopefully can be in this year's budget we do have a c Grand agent and we are looking for a resiliency office here as well so we are making that step but I would love to work with you on that nonprofit absolutely thank you and thanks for all you do Alan yeah okay thank thank you we have G ashau followed by Nancy followed by Tom Summers Summers and you get it close it's G ashpaw so close uh 4723 Portland men Drive uh in Heritage Lake um and thanks for the opportunity to address C20 um first of all the HOA does does not speak for uh a lot of us in this room today uh we oppose C20 the uh I'm I'm a new Resident I've only been uh in Heritage Lake now for two months but I didn't move in to have the kind of distraction over my shoulder that's only going to be a block away from me uh from this kind of construction and this kind of development um anybody who's been to that property and looked at it there can see that what we're talking about here is environmentally sensitive territory um Tampa right now is uh getting Federal money to maintain its green canopy um as I drive down little road Pasco County is doing a good job of tearing it out um we don't want this kind of stuff in our back door I know that's a um not something the Developers like to hear but uh we would appreciate it if uh you would live up to your promises and uh make that area park and um the folks who live in Heritage Lake

uh will remember one way or the other okay thank you thank you no please don't clap no clapping we've asked you not the clap please all right I got uh Nancy I don't know last name followed by Tom Summers followed by Barb Ross if feel like you can try what they do in the state they can wave and support keeping that hello an X and I live in Heritage Lake this is the email I sent to the five Commissioners yesterday ma'am could you take your address for the record 4715 Portland Manor Drive I'm next door neighbors to okay thank you very much I've been coming to these meetings at the government center since 2011 back when I was young and beautiful and you can see what's happened in all those years nothing's changed okay that piece of land has been the center of my nightmares for all these years lawyers hydrologists Civic Engineers Tax Collectors Governors and a whole gamut of your constituents have been fighting for years to keep that as open space we want to save the surrounding subdivisions all the subdivisions from flooding traffic impact and danger so we bought the land from Mr Sherer in 20 4 in 2015 we got the msbu it's 2023 folks we've gone completely circled back to the beginning we have the same problems we're talking about back in 2011 we're going to be talking about now I have a horrible feeling this is a done deal I'm very disappointed in you you yeah we are your constituents you should be looking out for us not the impact fees or whatever else you want and this is the last thing my email there's only one thing that's a given we all vote thank you no laughing so Tom Summers followed by bar Bros followed by Marita casser morning Commissioners my name is Tom Summers I live at 9903 Kingsport Avenue Newport Richie um I'm here today for the uh C40 1 uh Riverside Oak 41 Acres as C 20 20 yes ma' okay um as stated before we've been playing around with this since 2014 2021 and 22 we were talking about it that we were going to change it to an msbu and not go with any more construction up in that area the area is a wet land environmentally sensitive and it's just someplace that I don't think we need to have additional housing build look at the Fiasco that's about to happen down here on Little Road uh it's it's just going to be a nightmare for the communities on the uh western part of Pasco County and you know our quality of life is one of the things that we champion in Pasco County that we want to see always be on a good side so this is something that it may you know it's something that may be a small step but it's something that we need to try and keep under control because of the don't want to rampant uh development just bowling us over and again everybody in Pascal

County quality life will suffer from it um the Our Heritage Lake president uh is not speaking for a majority of the residents in Heritage Lake we uh most of us do not want to see that area developed primarily because of the traffic and the environmental area with that I thank you for your time thank you thank you barbar Ross followed by Marita casser followed by Brenda bradrick good morning um I'm bar Bross I live at 4410 okaa Lane Newport Richie in Riverside Village Estates I'm appreciate the opportunity to speak today and I'm here because I moved here eight years ago and I had been involved in city government for many years and I was a real estate agent for over 30 years pnz was like old hat it's what I did all the time and I moved to that Community because I did a lot of research and I heard about the fact that the land had been planned to be developed and that the residents in all the surrounding communities came together and talked about it and it was resolved it was not going to happen and so eight years ago I was like Yay this is the place for me because I'm a wildlife person I love it it's why I chose to live there it's why most of the residents in that area chose to live there but I started hearing about issues going on and the next thing you know I became the HOA president because nobody wanted to do it and so I invited then commissioner Mr Mike Wells to come and speak to us because all these residents were under the impression they were going to be paying back and just like a lot of people have said here the plan was always there to pay back and so residents in our community wanted to pay back and we had Mr Wells come and speak to us and he said we've gotten grants everything's okay don't need to worry about paying right now there would be no development over there and then we had talked about the land on the other end of our subdivision and promised that there would be no development there for anything except for single families similar to us well we all know what happened to that and so when we talk about what was promised years ago it's like talking to the wall because people don't seem to remember that these promises were made and the residents were willing to work with the county and try to get the Park established but no one came to us to fulfill the need and as a gentleman said it would have been paid off partially by now if we had done it in a timely manner thank you for your time thank you thank you Marita uh ler Brenda brri followed by Miriam Butler good morning I'm here again before you um my name is Marita Lasser and I live at 9457 Nile drive and I um live in a position where I look at the 41 Acres of The Oaks Park every day and I must tell you that the wildlife is very varied there are a lot of endangered spe species now occupying that area because of the development in starky and all the other areas surrounding

us um some history that I haven't heard mentioned was originally this was going to be a golf course when it was being developed by the developers in in the80s then in 2008 we defeated um condominiums that were supposed to be built on that property and the reason for the neighborhood concern is that a lot of the areas in Riverside Village are in azone flood zones I happen to be an AE flood zone with a 50 foot right away that has a canal that takes all of the water from Heritage Lakes Riverside Village Riverside Estates and also other areas that are draining into that Canal so it's quite a concern when you see half of your backyard covered in water I have seen some clean up of that Canal but not enough and the drainage under River under Amazon drive is not adequate it backs up that whole area floods so one of the my questions to you is how are we going to develop that land when they raise those properties higher than the surrounding area what are we going to do with flooding then um you know I've lived there for 20 years and I'm a resident of Pasco County for 55 years I just got a cancellation notice from my homeowners insurance because of flooding and high claims history in Florida so one of the things that we need to consider is what's going to happen once that land is developed I was an officer a 5533 strong we hired an attorney to get that msbu and acted and I've worked with many of you and the thing at this time is it's not a feasible idea to continue developing in Pasco County when you go out Highway 54 and Highway 56 and look at what's happening where in a quandry so at this time I would say that the 132 signatures I submitted from the folks in my area all wanted the msbu enacted thank you so I would consider again what's happening in Pasco County and to your homeowners who are voting in the 2024 2324 election so I thank you for your time thank you have uh Brenda brck followed by Miriam Butler followed by Doug Carol good morning Commissioners I just want to commend you for the wonderful work you've been doing with Pasco County I know it's a very difficult task to be in public service I'm here today to speak on uh regards to my community Jasmine Lakes which is Mr Mariana's district and my name is Brenda bradick I live at 1041 alism Court in Port Richie 34668 we have an ongoing problem which has been persistent for 15 20 years with the need for the fountain to be working to aate what is a retention Pond according to the Departments that I have discussed issues with this body of

water um I've requested Ed for an appointment to speak with you jack numerous times with your secretary and promised that I would have a personal appointment with you to go over the problems that I have that my community discusses with me as I'm walking around the lake and to no avail yet so this ongoing problem it is definitely not a a reflection of the Mission Vision and goals of Pasco County and um I have attended the action planning committee numerous times over the year there is no representative for our district which is your District Jack and I cannot attend these meetings as an advocate for our community I'm a doctoral student with honors I my my last year of my program and it's very important that I complete this and stay focused on my task so I'm here to discuss the economic burden associated with The continu Continuous automobile accidents around the lake that is associated with property damage to our homes and the increase of property insurance the increase of automobile insurance and the rising cost associated with these accidents associated with the health care so the economic loss is I'm sure in the millions because if you take the collected data over the past we've lived here since 2001 on how many times cars have crashed into the light poles and how many times cars have driven into the lake then I'm sure that uh would be somewhere in the millions I'm requesting that oh I'm sorry I'm on the wrong page here I I would like to know more about what's going on with the restriping and painting of our road which was promised to us at the beginning of the year in an action committee meeting meeting the guard rails um the trees that need to be trimmed which is community property uh County property what can we do our homes around the lake and day Springs Academy are half million dollar homes the you know we're encroaching up to the appraisal levels of these homes being in the half a million dollar range around the lake we're not a blight anded Community but we're becoming a blighton community every time a car runs into our home or I had a car that ran into my property BR time's up we got to wrap it up if you would would you talk to Branford and Branford Jasmine lakes with the sidewalks going to go in and we talked about doing the pond there would you kind of like tell her what we're at and if you could I know I had vcat looking at the traffic as far as the study as far as accidents whatever if you could kind of review that with her and brender i' having a an appointment up with you as well thank you thank you have a fantastic day Commissioners thank you thank you Miriam Butler followed by uh Doug Carroll followed by Mike Bloom um I started to say is it good morning still yes still good morning um I'm Miriam Butler I live at 4347 jenese Lane in Newport Richie

34655 I'm speaking as both the president of the HOA the Riverside Village Estates HOA and also as a a longtime resident of that Community who who originally who has been involved in the debate over this property since the beginning of the controversy um it began because we objected to um hundreds of Apartments being put onto that property frankly if it had been another uh kind of development more in keeping with our uh with our homes there Pro might not have been that kind of outcry but the communities all around rose up and font what we knew would be traffic drainage congestion loss of wildlife all of those reasons that you've already heard about today that that would be affected by developing that um land with apartments and then lo and behold in the process of all of this debate we had the backing of some very influential people Mike Fano Richard corkran um Mike Wells they were all involved D in helping the county come to uh the decision to purchase that property from the developer so time and again we have been convinced that this wonderful solution was really going to happen it's encoded in Ord with ordinance numbers and resolution numbers into the Pasco County minutes uh and proceedings and documents to renig on that now and come back as another speaker said full circle we're right back where we started and all of those efforts of residents who fought and gave up their time and and reasoned and cared about this um project are frankly we wonder are you waiting for us to just move away or die we really want everyone in my neighborhood wants this to be the park we certainly do not want to go back to any um development Concepts like multif family dwellings but um so speaking on behalf of my community we hope you will keep your promise thank you thank you thank you I think I was saying no clapping no clapping please I think I was saying the next person's name wrong I think it's Doris Carol not Doug Carol sorry about that um and then followed by Doug Bloom and then Rainey r ruig hi thank you Doris Carroll 5244 Hawk Drive in Holiday 34690 I've been here before I'm a registered nurse of 40 years currently licensed in Florida and I'm here only two and a half years but my mother has been here for 30 30 years I care for her and live with her now she's 89 years old I'm here representing the Democratic environmental caucus of Florida I'm also and I'm the current uh vice president I'm also the past Union president of the Illinois Nurses Association and chief Union St at my hospital for of 1500 nurses at University of Illinois why is that important I'm used to being an organizer and I'm here today because of some of the things that um I've talked about before but mainly about c26 which is uh on the consent agenda and that's the um sorry First Amendment to the Professional Services agreement uh regarding the cultural resources support for complete design for Pascal County and cl River Park uh with the amount of

268 335 so I also represent concerned citizens of Pasco County we have presented to you in the past a a petition of over 1,800 signatures right now it's at 3500 signatures we had a drum circle event at the park on Sunday we are concerned about this project overall we're concerned because for instance the current indigenous Mound that is now considered of no cultural uh significance uh it's not listed as a temple Mound anymore or a mid or for a uh burial mound but we know there's controversy about that it was witnessed a person was riding their electric bike on the mound on Sunday there is only posts and ropes between the posts to prevent the public from disturbing that mound we need to do better we need to protect our sacred lands you're planning to spend almost $8 million over two the next two years uh to redesign the park and to uh I've been told the mound will not be disturbed it's already being disturbed and lastly I want to say I want to know who approved a private citizen to uh give them a permit to dig at the park and to film a History Channel episode how does a private citizen get that permit he's looking for Treasure so hope hopefully he won't be there when the phase three starts thank you thank you Mike Bloom followed by Rainey ruig good morning and with all due respect I come before you this morning as a property owner my wife and I at Heritage lakes and we're concerned about the 41 Oaks property there and you've already heard about the traffic management issues the wildlife the water issues which are all relevant and there and sir your name and address for the record Michael K Bloom I'm sorry my wife Nancy and I forgive me and your address uh 9724 Cavendish Court Newport Richie Heritage L thank you and um you've heard all that about those issues and C20 uh as new Property Owners when we got there a couple of years ago it was such a big deal um in 2014 uh the um establishment of the msbu and um I'm here this morning to just ask the county uh to please reestablish that deal that was already made in etched in stone I notice on the the agenda today it says requested to declare plus real property Oaks at Riverside no funding and as you go back and read that deal that was made please reconsider uh it is so important this day and age to mean what we say and say what we mean and I with all due respect I that request thank you thank you then rainy rard good morning my name is rainy ruig I live at 4428 okaja Lane in Riverside Village of States um of course I'm here on the C20 I'm not going to respond with all the same concerns and issues that we all agree with I bought my property in 2020 with my husband after retire retiring after 29 years of military service both him and I did we bought our property because they said it was going to be a park but one thing I want to

and um that is how that deal came about and inmed with those 5500 the folks who represented the 5500 we had a great big meeting here and they agreed that they would rather have an msbu and a park than apartments in the middle of their Community now now we you know when it's multif family we can't say if it's for purchase or for rent but so it was a but the developer had the intent of building apartments so we we did that um some other political forces came into being and um we stalled putting that msbu together because there was a hope uh that some State money could come in and help pay for that $3 million assessment and he tried he tried two years in a row but it never made it through so that that $3 million that the taxpayers of Pasco County put out um has been tied up in that land ever since and every time we had a new commissioner or a new County Administrator I always drove them by that property to and gave them the history of what was there and what was going on it wasn't my district um but now it is uh some other history I think is important um because some of that land was starky land uh that was purchased for that those developments that whole area was developed as what's known as a subd if that had been done in the normal way they would have had to have Parkland set aside they would have had a different kind of Road Network and it and if you recall what DRS are like Trinity is a drri meadow Oaks is a drri there's a lot of requirements that come with the development that big but this was kind of done in a very unusual way cuz I I have a home right near there and I drive that area all the time there is not one park there was a little teeny Park that river river crossing had or someone had but I don't even think it's used anymore there is no park in that in any of that land for kids to play I have watched the friends of my kids that they grew up with play football in the dry renion ponds my kids went and played soccer in those dry renion ponds so um I think you know you know we have this here to Surplus today but we don't have to we don't have to build on every freaking piece of land in this County and [Applause] and this is a chance Mr watch your adjectives please oh I've gotten a trouble for those um this is an opportunity for a community that never had that never had a park to have their own Park where they can go walk their dogs where their kids can play um where they can go just enjoy nature right in the middle of really that development I I personally think it's a it's a win-win I know that they're paying for it themselves like we chose to do in Gul Harbors we have our own Park and it is not going to be a county park it is a private park for that Community um but if you were to buy a house today someone tell me what is the park impact fee that you would be paying if

you bought a new house in January starting January 1st $4,000 355 $3,500 you would add on to the cost of your house for a park so you're getting a private park for $135 for whatever you know for much less so um I am willing to just go ahead and let's just go on with msbu if I have that support from my fellow Commissioners and commissioner Starkey I want to say you summarized that magnificently uh very accurately I mean could couldn't have said it better so and I apologize cuz I knew this was District 4 years ago I know it's know the change happen so I apologize because I had I've had conversations with a recent developer that wanted to come forward to build single family homes and I entertained but I didn't know was your District I know commissioner Bradford's out so I apologize for jumping in I would have gladly passed it to you because I know you were in it just came to me in the last re drawing District okay so with with that said you know except my apologies for that I would have passed it right to you thank you um but saying that I think you summarized it very well I think the people even the people we just heard from today that thought knowing it was going to be a park bought on that assumption and we protected that assumption for a lot I know we had some discussions from when this is all going on about how to get it funded could the state do it and I know uh speaker Corran did a great job great effort trying to like get it done it just didn't happen maybe it can still happen but I think we do need and we do plan to do the mstu coming up anyway we did want to take a look at this but I think at this point from all I've heard commissioner starky I'm ready to cancel this agenda item put it back in go with the mstu if we can get msbu and if we can get funding we'll proceed that way to try to lessen the cost but I think I'm I'm I'm happy to end it right now and just move on and give you the certainty that we're going to go make it a park it's going to stay a park we're going to fund it you're going to pay for it but we'll try to get the funding if we can chair I chair I say call the question commission Oakley um I agree with you needs to be a park and we don't have to build an every piece of land in the county okay um fact of it is I'll make the motion no no no no let's commission starky make that motion commission starky so I second I make the motion that we withdraw the Surplus and um proceed with the msbu second do I need any more clarification in any part of that mspu Keith we got we because I think we have it where are we with that if you don't mind yeah so ju just for clarification we we're teed up to pursue that but unfortunately for fy2 24 we missed the assessment again again yes because of the opportunity to investigate the Surplus option sure however we're ready to roll we'll work with OMB and we'll go ahead and get that started for the next budget cycle okay very good okay all in favor say I I I any opposed okay thank

you all right you have your please no clapping wave and support all right uh all right rs1 Mr chair we have a Time certain it was for 11 just be happy we have certain Mr chair we have a Time certain for 11 which is RS3 okay let's do that time certain because some that person R okay so RS3 all right get all these done we're going to do RS3 yes yes so for resolution number three um would miss uh Mia Watkins Finley Watkins and Reagan Baron please step up to the podium and anyone else I guess that is here for the lifeguards um resolution I'll go ahead and read the resolution resolution number 23-24 resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida commending Mia Watkins um Finley Watkins and Reagan Baron lifeguards with Pasco County Parks Recreation and natural resources department for their life-saving efforts at Anclote River Park whereas lifeguards play a critical role in ensuring the safety and well-being of beachgoers and pool visitors their knowledge of water safety consistent surveillance and ability to react quickly to potential hazards makes them an invaluable asset to our Aquatics team an Raz Mia Watkins Finley Watkins and Reagan Baron have been lifeguards for Pasco County Parks Recreation and natural resources for multiple Seasons at both Sunwest Park and ano River Park and Ras on Wednesday July 19th 2023 Mia and Finley were lifeguarding at ancl River Park when a moment of Crisis emerged in the designated swim area when a visitor swimming experienced an epilep an epileptic attack Mia and Finley swiftly initiated safety protocol and rescued the patron from the water and r on August 5th 2023 Mia Finley and Reagan were on duty as lifeguards at anlo River Park when a 2-year-old child approached the deeper portion of the designated swim area became submerged and lost Consciousness and Ras the lifeguards responded and found the 2-year-old child unresponsive and not breathing anras Mia Watkins Finley Watkins and Reagan Baron worked together to perform life-saving measures including cardiopulmonary res resuscitation and rescue breathing and Raaz their quick response and immediate action resulted in a successful recovery of the young patron and excess successful life saving situation now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida sorry that said board hereby recognizes Mia Watkins Finley Watkins and Reagan Baron for their heroic efforts in saving the life of a Pasco County citizen at Dan cloak River Park I still have a little left done and resolved in regular session with the corn president voting this day of September 19th 2023 sorry I couldn't get through the whole thing move to approve they told me they save lives they don't like to speak so got a motion to approve second I cannot tell you all in favor say I I I okay go ahead Brian

apologize I can Brian Taylor Recreation manager I cannot tell you how frightening it is when you get that text or your or a call um that there was an incident at a beach or or a pool so um obviously this would this ended very good outcome and I just praise God that you three ladies were there and um we do a res olution and we say thank you but thank you really isn't enough but we we do thank you it was it takes a lot of Bravery you got to act quickly you got to keep a level head when you're um in those situations and you ladies obviously did that so we thank you so much commiss starky well I want to personally thank you uh you know I have uh my brother was a lifeguard and I know I know how tough that can be so um and what a responsible position that is so congratulations on you all for stepping up and serving your community in that capacity would you like to talk about the incident or talk to the County Commission in any way it's good experience good practice I wanted to say thank you for like the recognition from us from over the summer um it was definitely a scary and well scary opportunity but it was definitely life-changing for all of us and we just want to say thank you thank commissioner Oakley y I certainly thank you for saving one of our citizens lives and them being a part of our community still because of your good works um saying thank you doesn't seem like enough really doesn't so from my heart I certainly appreciate everything you'all have done and to help our citizens in those areas so thank you commission waitman thank you chair yes what are how how old are y'all 17 17 so to the to the to the parent taking on taking on a job like being a lifeguard you never know when you never know you're called service there's a bunch of guys in white uniforms back there who who live what you guys do every day and uh thank you for for for taking on the risk because you guys put yourself at risk too to save others and to the parents of any parents out here uh good job I hope my daughter uh she gets older takes on a a job like this and becomes responsible and pays attention and cares about community and her fellow man so ladies thank you all yeah ladies I what what a great story I mean Nikki and I both getting choked up over I mean it's it's like it's just like phenomenal what you did what you went through and to take the responsibility then to execute is tremendous um Chief Perez I think we got like three recruits possibly coming up here get them in the Rooks all right um but we wish you all the best and thank you I mean saving a life how great is that yeah God bless you I also want to say I I've seen recently I've been reading about lifeguards and a lot of communities don't have lifeguards and people swim at their own risk so you know this is at taxpayer expense that we have lifeguards and this and I'm really grateful that we that we do we were one of the fortunate counties that probably had one the most lifeguards in almost the whole state so we're really proud of them um 35 years I've been here um and

thank God for these lifeguards we we've done well we haven't lost anyone so we're proud of that and be proud of that thank you let's get our people we need three frames that coming up right okay everybody right here first [Laughter] please right thank you awesome thank you [Applause] i' like to go to rs2 okay time's turned for 11:30 so it's close enough okay Mickey Pudo Nick wey weary is that correct okay thank you let's see so oh my goodness professional eating contest wow side all right so it's Mickey Pudo and Nick weary we okay thank you resolution number 23-22 resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida recognizing Mickey Pudo and Nicky and commending them on representing Pasco County in professional eating compest worldwide whereas Mickey sudo started her competitive eating career in Las Vegas when she was a student and entered in a 12b bowl of faux is that foe or Foo fa fa okay FA eating challenge and Nick weary had been a bodybuilder in connec Connecticut when he was talked into entering a doughnut eating contest oh my goodness and resz Mickey and Nick moved to Pasco County several years ago and participate in approximately 20 events a year they lead a fairly conventional life aside from the intense 15 minutes of a of a competition Mickey and Nick are proud parents of Max and Mickey in um or Max and Mickey in a loving is a loving stepmom to Nick's other children William and Sylvie and RZ Mickey and Nick are the highest ranked couple in history by Major League eating the official League that oversees professional eating contests worldwide and whereas Mickey Sudo is ranked number three overall in the world and number one for women wow that's great a nine time Nathan's Hot Dog Eating champion including seven consecutive titles a four time buffalo wing eating champion and a former tamale chicken rib and donut eating champion andraz Nick weary is ranked number four in the world and is a wonderful P pistachios eating champion wings for wishes Wing eating competition and a hardboiled egg eating competition and Ras Nick holds world records for eating 14.5 lbs of Minnesota hot dish in 8 minutes 48.5 hot dogs in 10 minutes and 5.5 lbs of Kimi in 8 minutes and 16.5 pints of ice cream in 6 minutes and Nick holds world records for eating 188 pistachios in 8 minutes 50 hard-boiled eggs in three minutes stop already sorry um 3 minutes and 4 seconds and two gallons of pureed baby food and they're so tiny and fit and Ras both have worked with wings

for wishes as part of a wing eating and charity event that raised over a wow $850,000 for make a wish in South Florida with friends of We Care to raise over 150,000 for kids to attend summer camp programs and works with Nathan's at the hot dog eating contest every year where a 100,000 hot dogs are donated to the food banks in New York and Ras Mickey and Nick are making Pasco County proud of continuously wishing winning competitions and holding records in both a national and international level now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby commends Mickey sudo and Nick riry for representing Pasco County at competitive eatings biggest stage done and resolved in regular session with a Corum president and voting this 19th day of September 2023 Mr chair move approval fa say I I I thank you Mickey and Nick thank you guys for hanging in there through through this morning and and Fitness in your in your busy schedules oh no it's been an honor I mean we do uh you have a lot of serious business to tend to if we can bring a little bit of laugh after love to your session the the insanity of what we do isn't lost on us um but to be able to represent the community raise copious amounts of money with our absurd skill um and bring happiness to people uh that that's really cool I never thought that I'd get to you know travel the world and represent a great community and and raise money for for those in Need by eating pistachios in a short period of time soate you've been able to I found the love of my life and and and a job and a great community Through absurd talent but I suppose uh it's a strange job but it's a job so that's F what it's fun I tell you Mr chair and so most everybody here that knows us Fourth of July and in my family and my wife's family especially is our is our favorite holiday so and we have in the past we have large firework shows leading into our our fourth of July festivities we've watched the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest as part of our day of Fourth of July so we' been watching Mickey for I don't know 2015 at least and um when I found out she lived in Pasco I was like I'm a fan like there's a star and her husband's standing next taking on Ching on hot dogs next to Joey Chestnut who's just a a beast in the eating in the eating world so uh super excited and honored a bit Star Struck that that y'all are here today and you live in in in Pasco the greatest county in Florida uh so thank you for for taking time to to see us thank you and please don't judge us if you see a hot dog practice on our front lawn sometimes we try to hide that from the community maybe as much as possible the the side effects to our thank you for your time awesome thank you picture uh commissioner o yeah I thank you stay up there have we do a we're com to you so I thank you for for

representing in Pasco County it's a odd situation you represent us in but my doctors told me not to eat those things y so I try to stay away from him so I can be here a little longer but uh I'm amazed by your talents to be able to do such a thing so thank you for that and thank you for representing Pasco County we appreciate all so if you we like we like to come all take a picture with you than [Applause] that one's going to be very memorable it's like when that4 year old lady came up who rides our bu rode our buses that yeah oh yeah got am skills over here yep uh we're going to get there we're going to go to rs1 okay the resolutions have been great I've cried I've laughed this is r full range of emotion it is all right Mr gorg it's your turn motion to reconsider you get several approvals on that I'll go ahead and read your resolution resolution number 23-28 a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida Comm in Robert goig for his years of dedication of dedicated service to Pasco County and congratulating him on his retirement whereas Bob oh sorry as Robert budget Bob grig was hired as the um was hired as the budget director for the Office of Management and budget in Pasco County on October 5th 2020 2015 after previously being the director of budget strategy and communication for the City of Coral Springs Florida and res Robert has been the Office of Management and budget team for his entire career with Pasco County and R throughout his career with Pasco County Robert has proven himself to be an invaluable asset to those he served daily whether it be co-workers or citizens with his positive and friendly demeanor a whistle tune in the halls or a dad joke to get a budget meeting started and whereas Robert's outstanding work ethic was on display and evidence daily providing budget and oversight and fiscal guidance to the Pasco County's leaders anras Robert worked tirelessly during storm events and could be found in the Emergency Operations Center on the night shift as the finance section chief during catastro Cat cast I can't even say that word catastrophes there you go and disasters that struck Pasco County during his tenure and RZ Robert was not only a director but was also a leader mentor and most importantly a friend to those who worked with him leaving behind a legacy of transparency trust and collaboration and budgeting and Ras Robert was a leader for not only Pasco County but also for the Florida Sterling Council in his roles as Master examiner chair of the Sterling exam committee results lead team lead and trainer he has received recognitions with the examiner Excellence award in 2014 and whereas in October 6 2023 Robert will officially retire from the Pasco County I'm sorry that's not my office from the Pasco County Office of budget and management where he will be greatly

missed now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby expresses its deepest appreciation for Robert Gog for his eight years of dedicated service to the citizens of Pasco County done and resolved in regular session with a quum president and voting this 19th day of September 2023 Mo approval second all in favor say I I hi I commissioner Oakley yes uh I I actually don't really call him Robert I call him U I call him you know Bob the Builder this is Bob the budget man so budget Bobs I call him and he's done a great job the time I've been here and been able to share numbers with him about the county and how much we got and what what we do with it and how we protect it and do the right thing for our citizens I certainly appreciate all that you've done for our citizens of Pasco County while you've been here so thank you he's one other thing he's he a u he's a of course a good husband a father uh a grandfather he has a slight problem in showing the grandkids how to do trampoline so I don't know if he's wearing a boot today but yeah I think he see the boot so he show him how not to do the trampoline so but I certainly appreciate everything you do thank you yes sir Comm anyone else thank you well Shuck's budget Bob this is my first ride through this process but but no congratulations congratulations on your retirement and uh I wish you well so I appreciate our time working together over this last year and um wish you all the best into the future thank you so much Mr starky well and it's been a pleasure I mean you're such a a professional how long have you been here with us eight years yeah um GNA gonna miss your um calm demeanor and professional so I hope you have a wonderful wonderful plans in the future and um are you happy and sad that you're leaving us like both absolutely see a new career opportunity when I saw those of competitive eaters here Mike carella yeah thank you Mr chair Bob I just want to say thank you for all the wonderful years of service you've provided to the county um known you since you've gotten here um and I want to say it's been a pleasure getting to know you and your team even more now that I've changed jerseys going through my uh my now my you know first round here as a as County Administrator here but you've always projected just that that quiet confidence kind of what uh commissioner Stark was alluding to and and more importantly wisdom as we go through this so uh you will be missed uh but uh truly just know that um just appreciate everything that you've done for us thank you but i' like to say in your eight years what you've done has been amazing uh from when you before you came here there was still battles every every meeting almost like the last meeting we just had with people worried about the budget going through it and and dissecting it down we haven't had any anyone for the past several years because the way you work you've worked

to get everything in line set up ahead of time gone through the budgets uh with with your your tremendous team isolating where the savings are where we need to go and how we can add the things in one by one and show them in a very open manner very early early on in the process so every commissioner going to look at it and every citizen going to look at what we doing why we we doing it and I think that inspired a lot of confidence uh in in the citizens in what we were doing as functioning as a government I think that led to the great success we had with the go bonds I mean I don't I think the rest Commissioners with myself we put it out there we showed it to the citizens and they said you know what we want to have these Services we want to make our quality of life better so as a county that PR pretty much has to give city services what you've done for us and the citizens to actually be able to get them out there to show them what we're going to go do with the money and then execute it penny for Pasco long before you got here we did that we executed that well and I think that transposed with that debt going forward but you would just the regular budget has been a tremendous success um I do think you're too young to retire but I think you're too old to do with the trampoline thing so you got to learn get some golf clubs keep it simple and you'll be all right um but again I I just greatly appreciate your your tremendous work anytime we've had a question even even to the last meeting you've been able to answer it clearly um you've helped me many times talking about budget items how to go forward with something um so you're greatly going to be missed your your impact in just eight years has been phenomenal but I know you set up a good team behind you so looking forward to it thank you I'd like to say a few words it's been a privilege to work with the this amazing team past few years for the for on behalf of the citizens of Pasco County thank you right thank you thank you going to take a picture Jo me [Applause] down and and and Bob you have your team here as well let's get Bob's team up here too hey Commission he's got the whole Entourage everybody right here first please everyone all [Applause] right see tonight 5:15 make sure you're [Laughter] here we're not done with you yet who is next resol am skills RS4 Tom come on up anyone here from am skills please come to the podium I'll go ahead and read the resolution resolution number 23-26 a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida recognizing the opening of the am skills Workforce Training Center whereas manufacturing stands as a Cornerstone of the United States economic and National strength

contributing significantly to job creation Innovation and overall stability and Ras Pasco County acknowledges that a vibrant manufacturing sector plays a significant role in our community for both Industries and families and recognizes that the strength of the manufacturing relies upon the recruitment Education and Training of individuals equipped with necessary expertise to cultivate a skilled Workforce and Ras am skills is a Florida not for-profit organization established as an economic development initiative to help manufacture ERS recruit plan and sustain a skilled Workforce with the mission of transforming lives and strengthening communities through Workforce training and apprenticeships for youth adults veterans and uniquely abled um I'm sorry the uniquely abled and economically disadvantaged and weas the first am skills Workforce Training Center a 14,000 SQ foot Advanced manufacturing training facility constructed in holiday is now open addressing the workforce Recruitment and skills training needs for manufacturing Public Works utilities and other Industries in the Tampa Bay area by providing training opportunities for persons with little to no skills or experience employers and those with experience who are ready to advance their skills in areas of Maintenance Machinery ma mechatronics thank you mechatronics you knew exactly what I was going to stubble on uh robotics supply chain Logistics and Industry 4.0 and whereas the new amskills Workforce Training Center will not only train residents but it will also draw people from all over the country for amatal technology Technical Training and Universal robotics equipment training resulting in additional dollars to Pasco County's tourism industry and other local businesses and res this new facility will be home to the Pasco County Economic Development council's Smart Start incubator offering local Pasco County entrepreneurs the support they need to successfully start their new businesses andas to celebrate the grand opening of this new facility in conjunction with national manufacturing day amskills and the Upper Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce will host the 10th Annual manufacturing Day dinner on Wednesday October 4th 2023 at the new center now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby designates the amskills workforce Training Center as one of the Premier Workforce training establishments within Pasco County and celebrate am skills accomp accomplishments at as it continues to transform the lives of members within the community done and resolved in regular session with a quorum present and voting this 19th day of September 2023 move to approve second all in favor say I I I commissioner starky today's the day you get two resolutions have you get two good ones uh but this is this had to be done before um uh October 4th so um welcome Tom and Alex uh we're so happy to have you on board and um and I

just want to thank all the county staff who have helped us to to get this building open and all the support we are really making a difference in the Tampa Bay Area uh for many people and many companies and I think we should all be really proud of what's going on here and I'll turn the mic over to Tom and definitely want to introduce our new employee and and um partner and talk about what's happening thank you commissioner starky I wanted to say a few words wait I forgot my notes hold on Jeff can you bring the notes up oh I love it wow that awesome that's a delivery so this is our other addition to am skills uh my name is Tom madonald the president coo am skills and uh By My Side is Alex enzone he is our new coo he comes from a vast background in uh with the University Systems as president of several colleges but has built programs like ours so we are ready to take am skills to not 2.0 but 4.0 and Beyond so uh we're very excited about where we are today um as you mentioned we've got a new 14,000 foot building that's going to be open and basically it's going to help people who know nothing about manufacturing and you just want to come in and learn uh how do you use electricity uh or fix a light switch all the way up to extremely Advanced skills in things like megatronics which is fixing and building machines by the way thank um so created am skills over nine years ago with Workforce uh in mind uh Economic Development and is initiative to help our manufacturers not only recruit but keep skilled labor and so that's the reason we were actually created but as we said our mission is transforming lives so we're literally helping people who have no idea these careers exist to actually be introduced to these careers we're placing in these jobs we've helped hundreds of people secured jobs as well we've been able to bring in millions of dollars of Grants right here in Pasco County and uh our programs in addition we are flying people in as well who are learning how to use equipment teachers and instructors from all over the country on how to learn to do training uh of equipment and things like that so lastly I just wanted to say we couldn't do it I want to recognize a few people obviously I want to start if I could with commissioner starky who's a co-founder of am skills as well a board member and has just been very supportive but also the commission to you all for your support uh for being behind us the County Administrator we want to thank you obviously for in all of the county departments as you mentioned it's been Long Haul to get us here uh I didn't mention we've got 42 Acres 14,000 ft building fully renovated and we're 90% debt free so as a nonprofit that's extremely uh a great way to get started um Congressman Bill rockus who's helped us to secure funding with HUD uh Dr James gills who uh been a great supporter of ours and obviously the Department of Commerce Florida Department of Commerce the Florida

Department of Education and many others which you're going to learn about if you come to our October 4th opening and I want to close with inviting you to come to that and thank you all again for your support thank you all right let's take a photo say a few words want to say a few words to no that was good okay well I'd like to say Tom you've done a phenomenal job coming coming down the line um I I know I think commissioner starky you and I I think we're down at the Cal Coastal Quon building years ago right and you were in the school board I wasn't here and we were like pushing along and um commissioner starky the work you You' done to help promotee them as well nationally has been phenomenal too uh Statewide Etc so we are known nationally if not internationally actually yes so your your leadership there has been tremendous but and Tom how you've just gone to grow and and do it so fiscally responsibly has been tremendous so you're doing a phenomenal job helping our citizens and and just creating jobs for us and in lives for people so thank you commiss wait I'll just sure I'll just piggy back on to had some comments ear but for our residents to succeed to succeed and Endeavors like yours to succeed we need to have job creating properties and so we need to as we go into these afternoon sessions as I continue to beat my job protect and stand and support our job creating properties so we can have a great relationship and and keep moving moving in the right direction so thank you guys Mr Oakley yes done a great job you come a long way from where I first met you and all and driving around with a truck and the trailer and you know doing what you do the best so I appreciate everything you're doing I I enjoyed seeing your little friend bring you the uh notes and um I went out and visited with St Leo University not long ago and they have a robotics U degree I think they offer now and it's pretty amazing when you're talking to a robot and it talks back to you so pretty amazing stuff and a lot of things can happen from that so I appreciate it commission wait minut one more one more thing go back time commissioner starky and Ralph Ralph's here going back to the speaker Weatherford days isn't that when you brought that forward however long ago yep was Ralph Ralph is here so you know just give a grin to Ralph too uh on this one we wouldn't have started if it wasn't for speaker weatherford's um sprinkle at the end of the year um and uh yeah thanks Ralph and you were in his office then so um that's what got us started was that 1.2 actually end up 1.15 mil from the state um and boy it's been I will tell you it's been we Tom and I laugh like one step forward three steps back I I don't know we I've been accused of all kinds of things with this that I was personally profiting and um we we have we have we have seen a lot through this journey but you know we stayed positive and we stayed on our mission and we wanted to show everybody that um this kind of program can coexist with the

colleges and um the other programs that are out there I I tell them we're here to polish your Apple and not everyone wants to go to a two-year program to get a job um and lots of people who are currently employed want to be upskilled while they're working and and we just have that ability to be flexible and non um bureaucratic and that's what industry needs so we're industry-led and um I'm just really proud of it really am and I want those jobs back from China and some other places so it's kind of a patriotic thing for me I think it's National Security that we know how to make our own things so it's important I appreciate all if I could mention one final point this is actually the start of manufacturing month so for this is basically a play time for people to learn about this industry I didn't mention we have 160 kids in our manufacturing program at ankot high school now so it's growing uh a lot of success and a lot of it's thanks to you all we app greatly appreciate and we have kids that have been employed by Pasco County Utilities how many this year yes absolutely we had 12 kids I didn't mention that we had 12 kids go through the summer internship program this summer uh this year we started it after graduation therefore we had uh four kids who had already graduated and three of them were hired by the public works departments in here in Pasco County so that's actually become another area that we're going to be able to see growth in and help uh those Industries as well awesome let's go take a picture [Music] hang hang on second that's great okay folks right here please this camera first awesome thank you all so let's go RS5 Chief cassen it's your time Chief I'll go ahead and read the resolution first thank you okay resolution number 23-23 a resolution by the board Board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida recognizing fire chief Scott cassen for his distinguished and dedicated service of 13 years to Pasco County Fire Rescue and congratulating him on his retirement whereas Chief Scott cassen was hired on August 16th 2010 promoted to fire chief on August 28th 2012 and has led numerous achievements throughout his 13-year career with Pasco County andras Chief cassen helped establish the new consolidation communications center Public Safety Communications created fire rescue social media Pages implemented the first online mobile computer ter terminal MCT and provided internet access to all employees andraz Chief cassen implemented the rapid sequence intubation RSI medical advancement program implemented the first automatic Mutual Aid agreement with Hernando County and fire rescue began the critical incident stress Management program in initiated the first chapy chapy chapy chaplen thank you program implemented an agreement with Pasco Hernando State College to

begin training classes in the training center and led Pasco County fire rescue to begin awarding to begin awarded the to being awarded the mission Life EMS Gold Award and Ras Chief cassen implemented the Special Operations team squad one migrated the new p e25 compliant radio system implemented does the department first accelerated detection K9 to receive his badge implemented Firehouse RMS software approved the Prototype designs of fire stations that placed emphasis on the health and safety of fire rescue personnel and implemented shift commanders for the first time and whereas Chief cassen implemented the first group of blue card certification graduates and EMS supervisors implementing the six we KY day the pulse Point app and the purose dispatching and station alerting for station 38 to go live implemented the merger of the Zephyr Hills fire department and successfully led the department during covid-19 andwas Chief Cen created a a Clos a closest unit dispatch agreement with the City of Newport Richie I'm sorry with the city of Port Richie implemented an inspection fee schedule for commercial occupancies became accredited through the commission of accreditation of ambulance services caas began soci socialization of paramedic only Personnel to implement peak hour units and offered Pasco County's first in-house fire academy for single certified parametic candidates an Raz throughout his tenure with pasal County fire rescue Chief cassen exhibited Integrity passion and rigor for the job he served the team members and residents of Pasco County with a profound approach to Public Safety now they therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby expresses its sincere gratitude to Chief Scott cassen for the years he has devoted to protecting the lives Health welfare and property of the citizens of Pasco County done and resolved in regular session with a quorum present and voting this 19th day of September 2023 move approval second all in favor say I I Chief I want to say um since you came to Pasco County uh done a phenomenal job when I when I think back to years ago being a lot of volunteers that came together that we brought into the system Chief Laino what a phenomenal leader he was as well and how you picked up and just kind of added all these programs in and it doesn't even include some other ones that should be in there as well one of them that comes to mind is there was one time we were looking at medicines and how we kind of changed the way we stocked the medicines so that we didn't have them expiring but we kind of like made sure they were turning over and using them to to save the taxpayers a whole bunch of money um so all all the things you've done you've elevated the program um the key part that I think strikes all of us is the the safety for our people now I know when we first started talking about building new stations to upgrade our uh uh places where the people were going to be

staying um that safety just became part of it between wash them getting the machines washed uh to be able to wash the machines to be able through it clean it uh to be able to improve the exhaust systems which we just got a a great grant for which I'll actually I pulled the item today just to kind of celebrate their the The Troop that we made to to get that money that being recognized the fire stations phenomenal we're getting recognized as being the best Fire Stations of the nation the fire trucks as you told me we had the fire station the ambulances all being wanted to be looked at by other people because the changes we made that the vendors wanted to take them out to these shows so they could see here's what Pasco County's doing so for what you've done to elevate Pasco County to improve the the quality of life for our our citizens our firefighters uh what you've done has been phenomenal um I think you two were too young to retire but so be it commission Oakley yes sir Chief it's it's been a great time working with you working by you side and I actually tried to I think 95% of U whether it be a groundbreaking or a ribbon cutting on a fire station I was always trying to be there uh because I appreciate the work you've done and and all the firefighters that we have in the county and I respect them very much for what they do for us each and every day and the building the stations in between other stations to cut those times those response times down has been great the I work with you closely with uh which now is the largest city in in Pasco County after the uh census uh Zephyr Hill is when we brought those two stations in to be part of Pasco County uh there was a lot of concerns and a lot of worries on on those employees but when I run into them today in different areas I ask them how they're doing they say things are great and they really uh fell into doing the right thing I mean whether you're a zeph Hills or new Richie firefighter what when you come over in Pasco you have the same mindset there's nothing changed so but those folks did a good job and they certainly appreciate being a part of Pasco County now so they were fearful at first but they really uh said it worked out the way we told them it would and and it has so very appreciative for that happening and all the work that you done for Pasco County in your time so thank you Mr Whit thank you chair well Chief I I don't know coming on board all these top lieutenants are retiring budget Bob Chief cassen the health the what's the health uh guy retired who Mr Napier uh who else am I missing uh Rob Marin retiring I mean everybody's retired no I'm just kidding but hey thank you for for spending time with me since uh I've come on board and uh again congratulations on your retirement and hope youall have a lot of fun and stressfree and uh enjoy and good good to see you again y thank you commiss STK well I didn't know Rob I didn't know he was retiring too not today not today but very soon say that we're g to talk him

out of it enough already um Chief it's been a pleasure to work with you over these years um I just remember working with Chief leento just a little bit I so you must have come on right when I came on so um it's been a journey and you certainly have elevated our fire department to National prominence so I appreciate that and I know I know um we've had struggles as a fast growing County keeping up with the demands um of of the uh challenges that growth put on us and I I thank you for your leadership and and uh hope that you have a wonderful retirement or whatever comes next cuz here's another young one retiring with probably another career still to go so um best of luck to you thank you so much K yeah just just to add on Scott with the the flavor of what's what's been said here nothing really much more to add other than just as the old saying goes right we stand on the shoulders of giants and uh I can say that you're your shoulders are big enough to have provided really truly a foundation for the agency going forward so you should be proud and we we thank you for that thank you got a few words well I don't have anything prepared no I just um you know I've been up here many times over the years and it's hard to believe that 13 years has gone by already you know I feel like I was just up here you mentioned August 28th I forgot that day that's actually my birthday so that was a that was a special day back in that year um but you know it's certainly an honor to be up here and I I wanted to thank each and every one of you for your support over the years you know every time I came up up here with an item before the board you know uh I can say with confidence that you all or the board voted uh unanimously you know in favor of whatever I brought and that's just a testament to the the great working relationship that we have as an organization with the board and and we're very appreciative of that and uh that's not meant to put any stress on on cheap back there moving forward but uh I also would be remiss if I didn't thank you know my my my team that that backed me up throughout all those years you know a bunch of them are here today you know rob you know you you were my right hand for a long time and and Brian and Ryan and and and uh Jeremy and and Justin who are my immediate uh Deputy Chiefs that supported me and then all the division Chiefs and there were several of them here as well uh and their supporting staff um and then just as equally important you know the 800 other people that I represent um in this organization I I couldn't be more proud of what they've been able to accomplish what we've been able to accomplish uh in all those years and I want to thank also all the other County departments that I've had the opportunity to work with the you know the County Administration I was able to have a seat at the table for about five years or so um working with different administrations and I want to you know thank you for the opportunity and and the ability to do that um you

mentioned a lot of accomplishments I don't know that some of that stuff when I think back it's like man that's really amazing that we were able to do all of that I know there was a lot more and there's still a lot more to go as you mentioned commissioner starky that you know this is a growing County and there's a lot of challenges that come with that uh but you know we weathered the you know the covid-19 storm um and there's I'm sure there will be more challenges in the future but there's a great team that that's still here behind me and I I feel confident they will get it done so and I I just realized that I'm the only thing standing between lunch and everybody uh enjoying that so I am uh I'm done I just want to you know wish you continued success in the future so thank you well Chief and again I'm glad you touched on Co I was going to get back to that if some one else did but you got us through Co um and prior to that when we had the go bonds going on um your leadership as you improved Us in so many different ways led the voters to say we want to see better fire protection better fire safy you want to protect our firefighters that leadership that performance you had before led to that great success and that's put us in a great position to protect our citizens better so thank you for all your service yes thank you so much um so we got a big crew down there so maybe I W stay back up here I'll just go down and i' like to do C8 because we have three city council people and the city manager here so if we can get through that one quick C want them to have take heat off me then commission there's two C8 C9 well we can take them both up let you know doing CH doings than app yeah someone on this side go somebody move over the camera camera awesome thank you oh man we stop that closing too right the bond closings during lunch which one I thought so no no you got to do oh no I'm just letting you know we also have a bond closing at lunch time I pulled C8 C9 because I wanted discussion on it it's 12:07 I've got some paperwork I've got to do and other things so think we should carry that after lunch we can do it first thing time certain at 1:30 we'll do at 1:30 we'll do that first before we do all the other stuff okay all right so we're join for lunch [Music]