1.24.2023 Pasco Board of County Commissioners Meeting (Morning Session)

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give Barbara a call please I'm sure added that to yourself I want you to send some of those that cleared Land photos to um exclamation point welcome um what what did the exclamation or have to say that um the constituents the landowner was a constituent of hers elf permit wants to wants to he did apply for apartment but he never responded he's a big truck he's filled in a class A woman okay I'm not telling him that yeah here's the fire pit pictures they do have those to put up on myself oh if you want to start Jackie ready to go let's go I'm going to turn left or turn right good morning I would like to call to order the Pasco border County Commission 10 o'clock meeting at January 24th 2023 at this time silence all electronic devices and meet your microphones 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 of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God Madam clerk please call the roll district one commissioner Oakley here District Two commissioner Weightman District 3 commissioner Starkey here District 4 commissioner Bradford here District Five chairman Mariano here now is the time for public comment citizens are given an opportunity to comment on any current or future agenda item coming before a board or another business before the board's purview today's public comment will be handled as follows first we will take public comment from those who are here in person then we will take public comment from those who are pre-registered for a WebEx link and currently on the queue we request that when you address the board comments are not directed personally at a commissioner or a 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 three-minute timer will be activated after two minutes a single beep will indicate you have one minute left when your time is up two beeps will sound and you should close your comments WebEx participants will be disconnected automatically when the time is up Madam Madam clerk do we have anyone signed up for public comment do Mr chair we have just a couple we have James mallow followed by Kathy Julian followed by Cindy scarda so Mr Mallow there are others I just reading the first three

hey good morning everybody how are we all doing this morning I'm good good all right good I'm actually asking everybody how is everybody doing I'm sorry I didn't want to point out any one person anyway just kidding all right honorable chairman and board members staff and members of the public I stand in front of you today without title uh without agenda and with much respect for each and every one of you um I'm here to ask you directly to to stop some Madness going on and negotiate with the Madam Clerk am I am I off now can you hear me okay um the issue at hand is becoming a point of frustration and embarrassment for all constitutionals involved the employees of the clerk and comptrolls office which some people don't really think about but we have to mention them and and many of your constituents I'm speaking of the court case that pits the Comptroller's office clerk Comptroller's office against the board of County Commissioners the clerk's ask is very basic pay for the pay for the I.T needs of the office which there is no question of the county is responsible for and must properly fund the office with consideration for the logistical and physical challenges a county the size and grow and the population growth as Pasco possesses um the it asks being close to 1 million and the proper funding being close to 7 million can be found within our two billion dollar budget without raising one cent of taxpayer money as long as there's reasonable and proper prioritization the clerk's the clerk's Comptroller's office employees are the lowest paid of all constitutions many of the challengers of the clerk's clerk Comptroller's office is unique to Pasco with with the way the pasco's infrastructure has been built uh our growth patterns and our pool of available Workforce honorable chairman and Commissioners my ask is simple lead the commission get together and Lead no court case don't need that I don't know how close the the consensus Builder and be a consensus Builder and demand that your attorneys and your staff open up communication with the clerk Comptroller's office and negotiate a solution in good faith you all cannot sit here another day together at this at this dice without trying to resolve this issue resolving an issue in court will only set precedent that could be very bad for Pasco as a whole and possibly have very negative Statewide impact I also ask you to investigate how we got here which is really important so self-reflection is is really needed here because you got to also think about the other constitutionals that maybe there hasn't been so so great of communication at times

uh I believe the only way to that that we got to this point by there is by there being no communication miscommunication or even worse negligence please stop the madness and come to the table with each other thank you I'm going to address that comment [Music] um we were sued Nick and I actually met yesterday to talk about future ways to go forward and we agreed we're going to talk with each other I recommend that you talk to all the boat accounting Commissioners not just deal with administrator so right now she's suing us if that lawsuit stops that stops that starts a conversation this is a and this is a deck action that clerk's office has filed against against the County Commission the legal issue is what is her State responsibility and what is her local responsibility there's a difference of opinion and uh you know that's that's a legal issue that will impact you're right it'll impact if we agree that funding this courthouse is a local responsibility that affects 67 counties but sir your your own chairman just stated that you know the conversation has to be had come and should be had and so it can't look I know each one of you personally and I consider each one of you friend um and friends don't this doesn't happen with friends like I know it's a business I know at the end of the day you have to have it's a business and it has to move forward but I think the leadership I think each one of you have such great leadership in your hearts right and you were all elected and so you were elected to be a leader and to to solve problems not to have these this waste taxpayer money in court like I'm against wasting taxpayer money um you know I think we all are so uh public comment so I mean we we had a conversation yesterday we'll see we should take it from here we're happy to work with her we think a lot of her like to get it resolved but again we got to stand with our County attorney as well to lead together please uh yeah I think well we are in litigation so I think our discussions are limited to client attorney I mean I don't think we can think if if the board wishes to have a litigation assessment meeting on this case I would be happy to bring that to you at your next meeting and that's what I mean that would be what I'm asking for that's the only thing that I'm asking for is you all get together and Lead as one thank you very much have a good day everybody thank you Mr mallow for your comments next up um Miss Julian best people to follow when I come to speak um so I'm talking about something which was exposed last week at the school board meeting a couple of my friends found that in the my Pasco link they

accessed it through uh kindergartners and a third graders we just need your full name and address okay my name is Kathy Julian and I live in Golden Acres thank you um it so um they found on the my Pascal link asks accessing it through a sign in from a kindergartner and a third grader which are young students that they were able to access porn on the school website now my understanding is by Friday those links were broken and the information was taken down but I don't know that that's enough because um it was exposed these kids were exposed to it that should have never happened um but the the reason why I'm here talking to you about it is not because of that issue but because a lot of these porn issues were located in books that are found in the Pasco County library and I'm concerned Why We would be spending taxpayer money we should be giving it to the clerk's office not buying books with questionable pictures in them um I don't agree with EX under uh discussing different orientations and things with young children but there could be a case made for that there is no way to make a case for the pictures in these books and if you walk into a public library we all know we all have kids we all know that you walk into a public library you can go anywhere in the library and look even when we had Blockbusters and they used to rent movies like this there were movies all you could see was the cover and you had to go into a special room and you had to be of a certain age at our public libraries that's not the case and um it's really disturbing to me just as a mom and as a community member but I I mean I think our board our school board is in trouble because um there was new law passed last year saying that explicitly you could not do this with kindergartner through third graders and like I said links from those age groups were used to access this information and it has been removed but that's not enough somebody needs to be held accountable um just removing it doesn't make what happened go away it happened and that's the issue I mean if I go out and do something wrong and then I say oh I'm sorry I didn't really mean to do something wrong that doesn't mean I didn't do wrong what I did so anyway that's really all I have to say and thank you for your time Kathy Kathy before you go um Kathy Pearson in the back that's under her Department assistant County administrators please talk with her because we I I will say I think I can say for the board we don't want to have any any point in our libraries either thank you Troy Peterson followed by Douglas chencer and then Brian Peres hello thank you for allowing me the time to speak I want to follow up with Kathy I am uh a member of Pasco County and I'm appalled that these materials are in our

Public School libraries and that kids as young as six seven and eight year olds can access this type of material I know there are new laws being passed we have the parental Bill of Rights we also have a new law I believe right now about the libraries but it doesn't mean they're always adhered to you know you've got some teachers that don't agree with laws like that and go and do whatever they care to do in their classrooms so I know this bill I hope that the new bill being passed will have some teeth in it because the Florida statute 847.012 that is considered a third degree felony and is punishable up to five years in prison or five thousand dollar fine for literally showing porn to children so it should be alarming to everybody and if you really took a look at some of that material you would be appalled I don't know if any of you have small children but you would never allow that to be shown to your children and that is accessible in our schools and in our public libraries should be appalling to everybody because it it's it it's really uh criminal I mean it's unbelievable so um I hope that maybe you take a look at some videos that we're going to be sending you or you take a look at some of the materials I mean if you look at some of the books genderqueer a memoir or all boys aren't blue take a look at that a lot of us in this room won't even dare read that to you because it's so offensive so I hope you really take a look at it and understand what it is that we're talking about and why parents are so concerned we are supposed to be leading the country in parental rights you know we have a great governor who's passed some legislation is doing good things but it's up to you to make sure that it's held up and that it's followed and that it's adhered to so I will be following up to see what's taken out of the library not just new items being brought to the library by outside people or grants or whatever or being bought but the materials that are already there are taken out of the library thank you for your time appreciate it thank you Ms Garda Miss Garda ma'am could you uh did you state your address for the record in the beginning San Antonio okay is that enough no we uh street address please address 29157 what what street you like thank you all right uh Pastor Troy Peterson good morning Commissioners chair staff Troy Peterson 8114 Leo Kidd Road Port Richey Florida that's uh light of the world Tabernacle um I wasn't planning on speaking on this but on the way over here uh I just come from a prayer meeting where pastors get together every Tuesday morning at light of the war or uh over at the Oasis Coffee Spot and we pray specifically for our commissioners for our school board members for our Mayors for our government leaders and in that prayer meeting

uh one of the elders at Calvary Chapel uh we were praying and he said Troy this is what you need to tell them and I'm like okay this comes after prayer somebody cares Pasco is here to hold up your arms just like Aaron did with Moses see but then Pastor Leonard went one step further why was Aaron Holden up Moses's arms Moses said to staff and that staff became heavy right what is the staff the staff is the staff of righteousness so we're here not only to pray for you to hold up your arms but to show you that when we stand up for righteousness God will bless Pasco County number one homework I want to give you guys a homework assignment okay you ready write this down welcome commissioner Bradford nice to meet you congratulations on your win Mr Whiteman congratulations I need to give you guys a homework assignment www dot p o c p dot org that's protect our children project okay and so in Pasco County Schools when they decided to allow a girl which was a girl going to the boys shower room and the coach was threatened to be fired uh protect our children project was founded we are now in 24 counties in the state of Florida and we have Sheriff Grady Judd's backing on the stop cell phone porn project so check out that website uh because we will be addressing these books that are in our public libraries because you guys have control over that and we know as commissioner said you guys don't want them books in there so that's number two number two I want you to look at the Boca haggai chapter 1 and chapter two because what you see I could read it but I only have three minutes what you see is the priest Joshua teaming up with the government zerubbabel and the spirit of God comes upon the governor zerubbabel and says what house will you build me see there's a misunderstanding that the church is a building the church isn't a building the church is the people see and there are some of us that are temples of the Living God we have the Holy Ghost in US and that them people want to help you lead our County thank you for your time thank you um Mr Doug chencer Douglas chinzer sorry it's Douglas chinchar I live at 19471 Leonard Road uh in Lutz Florida my name is Douglas chinchar again and uh I'm the CFO of SNS events it's an organization that runs volleyball events around the country but based in Orlando Florida I of course handle the branch here in Pasco County and we call ourselves a no-name volleyball I've been living here in Pasco County for 19 years I've coached volleyball in Pasco County for 13 years we're the first volleyball group slash club to help the Wesley Chapel sports complex which was run by Rad Sports who manages facility they set up and run volleyball events starting in the late 2020. our first event was the MLK volleyball classic a three-day event in January of

2021. we were also very instrumental in putting on safe volleyball tournaments during the covet crisis and at that time nobody was running volleyball tournaments we were able to get things going to create income and interest in this facility I'm a very successful businessman that has owned a multi-million dollar company for the past 18 years I know that the simple and foremost goal is not only provide a fantastic product but to create income and by this is securing room nights for Pasco County and that also creates restaurants entertainment and everything around our area that is the ultimate goal in this volleyball world it's important to have a great reputation of running events so teams directors and sponsors will follow you the old saying goes if you build it they will come Pasco County built a great Sports Complex we build the people that come to these events uh using the request of public records we were able to pull all the room nights recorded since the opening of the Wesley Chapel Sports Complex in our first year 2021 we secured over 1 000 room nights with five events cover made it tough but we pulled it through in 2022 we secured 1 203 room nights with only two events so with even less events we increased our numbers we were not given all of these that we requested of Oliver Group by the name of hype Nation from out of state came on in took a date which was 212 and 213. that we held the year before hype Nation only secured 35 roommates we had 114 the year before we got the event back this year it hasn't happened yet because it's in February but we've already secured 384 room nights for the upcoming February event okay in night in 2023 we already secured 786 room nights okay the MLK tournament that we want has been pulled away from us for next year we have increased our nights every year we're looking at over 1 000 roommates for the MLK tournament or promise US for whatever reason this term has been taken away from us for 2024. we've been given no reason no explanations we know that the bottom line is to create income for our County room night's room nights room last we have invested a lot of time and a lot of effort to make this tournament happen we have a following the teams that are from out of state or out of this area will not attend this event if we do not run this event we just like to know why we're not able to get this event for 2024 after three years of great success I thank you for your time I do have uh uh information here if you'd like to keep it uh it's just the exact numbers pulled from the public records thank you so much did you want to say something yes Andy Taylor uh placing all right thank you Mr Paris Brian Paris addresses on record I'm actually here to speak about my community um we were we used to be zoned for

agriculture and then we were changed to community farm and garden without us knowing but a lot of us have actually built Community farms and gardens in our community and um I actually we feed people in our community senior citizens who are struggling to just get by to whether pay bills or eat kids in in my area who really don't have a lot of Parental Guidance who we use to feed we've even feed First Responders but yet we have one jerk off in our neighborhood who likes to file false code re enforcement reports and yet nothing happens to him and now here I got to go to court on Thursday to defend my community Farm because they're trying to take my farm away from me and it's ridiculous our rights are by God not by the government no one's here should be able to tell us to and push government tiering on us I even told this guy he's filed reports before and we've had code enforcement come out and clear me he we even agreed I said all right I won't have any roosters I can I can compromise that's understandable whatever but to come out and try to take animals away that we use to feed people with is ridiculous you know just because we knew it was coming down the road where we knew eggs were going to be high food was going to be scarce and so to take away people's food when it comes to paying bills or whatever it's really disgrace what's going on that code enforcement can just believe some guy that files false reports I have letters from people in my neighborhood that will tell you that this guy's a liar he's actually groped a lot of women showed his youth to a lot of ladies in the neighborhood and um the action needs when we win our case we need to be able to stop people who are filing false reports because they can't just keep happening and um that's all I want to say about that thank you guys for your time thank you Mr chair that's all I have signed up I don't know if anyone's in person and we have no one on WebEx okay is there anyone in the audience that didn't sign up that would like to address the board from public comment okay so you know we'll close public comment Now's the Time for Resolutions Madam clerk would you read the first resolution yes um is anyone here for registered nurse anesthetics item anesthesis I'm going to stumble through this one I'm so sorry anesthesis please step up to the podium and forgive me for all the mispronunciations I will say on this one and I am happy for you to tell me as I'm reading it if I get it wrong wonderful all right I'll go ahead and read the resolution resolution number 23-062 resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida designating January 22nd through the 28th 2023 as cert as certified registered nurse anesthesis week to recognize the importance of their role in providing high quality care for the citizens of Pasco County

whereas certified registered nurse anesthesis crnas are advanced practice registered nurses providing anesthesia care to patients in the United States for more than 150 years crnas are among the nation's most trusted professionals and whereas legislation passed by Congress in 1986 made nurse anesthesis the first nurse specialty to be accorded direct reimbursement rights by Medicare Andres crnas are primarily anesthesia providers in rural communities and continue to be a primary provider of anesthesia care in U.S military personnel Andres crnas practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered from traditional Hospital surgical suits to oh and abs obstacle hmm obstetrical how do you pronounce that obstetrical thank you delivery rooms to critical access hospitals from ambulatory surgical surgical centers to the offices of dentists podiatrists ophthalmologists pain management specialist and more Andres crnas are qualified to make independent judgments regarding all aspects of anesthesia care based on their education training and licensure Andres crnas are trusted anesthesia experts on the Forefront on the front lines caring for patients safely and compassionately delivering Specialized cost-effective Care to all patients from newborns to seniors for every type of procedure in all types of facilities and where crnas have courageously served on the front lines of the ongoing Corona coronavirus pandemic using their Advanced skills in Airway management into into be intubation and ventilator management to care for the sickest patients now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby designates January 22nd through the 28 2023 as National certified registered nurse and anesthesis this week sorry done and resolved in regular session with a corn present and voting this 24th day of January 2023. well approval second all in favor say aye aye commissioner Oakley yes sir thank you for coming today and we're happy to recognize you and the care that you give and I'm going to stay away from those words that I probably cannot pronounce y'all would have them spelled a different way probably by the time I finish pronouncing it so but we certainly appreciate the care you give to our citizen here in Pasco County and greatly appreciate it so anybody else like to speak if I'm not I'd like to thank you during covid the great work you guys had to do dedicating yourselves every step of the way and I greatly appreciate you appreciate this great honor and recognition commissioner Bradford my daughter is a nurse practitioner she had that route your route or a physician assistant she went with the one I could pronounce same amount of money too by the way thank you would y'all like to join me down front

and my daughter's a physician assistant and um I'm really grateful that we have all these different Pathways to help people get more access and better access to Medical Care so it's not just one way right and thank you I work in a surgery center in Newport Richie as an independent CRNA where I provide opioid free and opioid sparing anesthesia nice to mostly Medicare and Medicaid patients for dental surgery and orthopedic surgery um so I'm very proud to be able to offer that type of service to the um you know the constituents in Residence in Pasco County so it's my pleasure and my honor today um here in front of you to receive this recognition thank you so very much yeah thank you okay would you all join me down front for a picture the people yeah thank you so very much right here please it's chilly out there iPhone and then the camera right here one more thank you thank you all thank you thank you so very much I really appreciate it thank you so much thank you so much yeah actually right now and Matt o'clock the next resolution Irish too is anyone here uh Pasco citizens committee come on up all right penny for Pasco referendum if you're here please step up to the podium um no brave soul to be at the front all right well I'll go ahead and read the resolution you guys can work out who's going to stand at the mic [Laughter] all right resolution number 23-059 a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida expressing appreciation to the Pasco to the Pasco citizens committee for their efforts and hard work promoting the penny for Pasco referendum whereas the Pasco citizens committee is a group of volunteers from across Pasco County from every political affiliation each with a long-term commitment to an involvement in Civic and charitable activities who bonded together for love of the Pasco County Community with the vision of ensuring that the high quality of life for existing and future residents of Pasco County will be secured and Raz to accomplish this purpose the Pasco citizens committee dedicated itself to the issues related to the penny for Pasco referendum and educated and informed the citizens of Pasco County on the need for improved educational opportunities new schools to reduce overcrowding Transportation improvements to address traffic congestion improving Public Safety acquiring environmentally sensitive lands and building new infrastructure and whereas the Pasco citizens committee lead the effort to promote the penny for

Pasco referendum by fund by fundraising writing publishing and distributing educational literature and attending and speaking at public meetings and discussion forums and whereas collectively the following members of the Pasco County Citizens citizens committee spent countless hours working on Penny for Pasco initiative Michael Cox Ray gadd Bruce Mills Beth frager David Grooms Diane Jones Betsy Kuhn Jennifer matsinger Stu Gibbons Jennifer sunny I knew I had that wrong Jennifer cini Chris Williams Oh bill shutstowski okay Steve Hagerty Barbara wilhide Ralph Lair and Francis Warner Watkins I did it whereas the electors of Pasco County approved the penny for Pasco referendum on November 8 2022 and therefore the quality of life in Pasco County will be greatly enhanced for present and future Pasco County residents now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida in regular regular session duly assembled that said board hereby expresses their gratitude and appreciation to the members of the Pasco citizens committee for their efforts time energy and spirit resulting in the successful penny for Pasco referendum done resolved this 24th day of January 2023. move from oh yeah second okay that's right I'll do that first all in favor say aye aye well good morning everybody um it's really uh an honor to be sponsoring this resolution and I know all of you and no uh all the hard work you did to uh make this come true fruition and I don't think the citizens of Pasco County can truly appreciate how important this is for all of us for the school district for the cities for the county the work that's done with this money definitely uh highly increases our quality of life and we are just so grateful that you private citizens stepped up and and helped make this such a great success so I'm sure my fellow Commissioners have words as well Mr Oakley um well job well done guys because uh and look looking when you start a campaign like you did you you never know the result but this is one of the best tax issues that we have in Pasco County it does so much for our County and infrastructure and other things for for all of us all of our citizens so we've got to be very thankful for all of our citizens actually voting this in in that election so but a job well done from your committee and we certainly appreciate all you do okay commissioner waitman thank you like commissioner Oakley said campaigns are never easy and every single one of you come from a different background and expertise and thank you all for Lending that to such an important initiative we see other counties that aren't as fortunate to have the support that our Penny does and you can see a difference in the quality of life that's there so

thank you all for for being passionate and getting getting behind and supporting such an important issue a quality of life issue for our County and thank you all for for joining the campaign circuit like we do and um congratulations thank you okay commissioner Bradford well done well done you all did an incredible job and to Echo my fellow Commissioners uh sentiment down there uh campaigning is never easy but uh you the guys did a great great job and what I like about how we structure this is It's accountable to the taxpayers we know where the money's raised from and we know where it's going and we and it's our responsibility to spend it wisely so I just want to say thank you again and I appreciate each and every one of you all right I'd like to say again great job um and you know it came from the campaign but I think the base work that was done for spending the money every way putting the right projects in from environmental uh First Responders economic development now for the past two I think we had we hit all the courts that the people wanted us to to go and I think as long as we keep working together to spend it the right way doing the right things it'll keep going but again it always takes a great campaign and kudos for you guys for stepping up and and helping make it happen yeah so last night I passed by um Gulf High School and the elementary school I can't remember which one it what is it Richie element which is the one out there by the hospital yeah so I passed by um the schools that one that was renovated and one that is being renovated and um it's it's just such a good feeling to drive by those schools and see them getting updated like that and that's what uh part of the school district money has gone to is renovating those schools and of course you all know I love my trails and um the enjoyment that and and the relief that our County got during covid to be able to get out on those penny for pasco-funded trails was immense I mean we had people coming here from other counties to be able to get out and and recreate um freely and safely and of course transportation and the uh the improvements that we've made with this Penny on Transportation I'm not sure everybody has has touched understands all those intersections and improvements that we made um and of course the environmental lands acquisition but I did want to answer one thing uh because we we've been getting requests about oversight committee and I know we have an oversight committee at school district right I used to be there but I just wanted the public and you all to rest assured that we do have oversight committees we don't have one big one but we have one for each pot of

money and so we we are making sure that our money is being spent the way it was intended and just wants you to be comfortable knowing that we we have our committees so okay so we hand these out yeah oh yeah you guys can speak for sure all of you three minutes now you want to get to the mic uh good morning Commissioners and uh one of first say thank you to the committee for every thing that they did they worked very very hard in this campaign and um you know there was a time when having lived in this County for 53 something years um I remember when the first half sent Penny was proposed and it failed and when the the current Penny were actually the very first penny uh passed a very slim margin because there was a lot of opposition to that penny when it came up for Renewal that first time there was a theme and that was the fact that the school board the cities and the county made a promise to the citizens and that promise was kept on how they were going to spend that money and they were very very good stewards of those dollars that continued through what is now the current Penny and the renewal that will take effect in a few years we hope that that promise is kept and it continues to to be there um I also wanted to recognize Ralph Laura he wasn't on the resolution because he's one of your indentured servitudes here working for the county but um he was it played a big part in it I want to thank him very much uh you know commissioner Starkey you mentioned the oversight committee as a committee we met and decided that you know because we renewed the penny for 15 years that it was probably a good idea to shut it down shut our committee down stop having to file all the reports for stuff that you know we're not raised any money at this point or anything like that and basically be prepared to hand the torch off to that next generation of folks that are going to step up all of us here other than a couple of them that we're getting old and we're probably we're probably over this right these those campaign stuff we're going to leave it to these younger folks but we need to develop uh that next group of advocates for the for the penny right and that was the impetus of the letter that I sent to Chairman Mariano and copied you all on requesting that you really focus on doing three things the first thing is to develop the staff level advocates that you don't let the staff take it for granted that that funding source is always going to be there because there's a chance that it may not but the staff does a good job we want them to continue to do a good job and that there's good Advocates there that are telling the public about it we do believe that there should be a specific

oversight of the penny for the dollars that are spent in the county similar to what the uh the school board does I've actually heard from a couple cities that are looking to maybe put something like that in place as a result of that because we sent this as the exact same letter to the cities as well and also the school board and then the third thing is that we would Advocate that you do is to put a sign on everything that the penny pays for you know whether it's a building a sheriff's deputy's car or an ambulance let the public know that their penny is paying for that very important thing because you know I will tell you I held elected office before the penny came in to to the county when I was at the city and there were times when the police cars wouldn't work because they were old retired FHP cars so the penny made a world of difference for the quality of life in Pasco County we just want to educate the people of that so thank you for your leadership thank you for what you personally did for us helping us have a successful campaign and um you know a big special thanks to the citizens of Pasco County for for approving and and putting their faith and trust that you'll spend the money wisely thank you thank you very good I just wanted to make one more comment someone that doesn't often get recognized and long before this Penny started um I came over here and met with David Goldstein because it's really important to get the technical aspects of a ballot initiative right as you know in Hillsborough County there's gotten challenged and it's because of this fine attorney that we we tear out the statute books and we make sure that we get the language right that we got statutory guidance and that's a credit to David Goldstein for his hard work on behalf of the county thank you great to you thank you nice anyone else yeah okay I left out Economic Development I don't want Dave Van Gilda you know you know I'm sorry David and we love our Economic Development money and Bill crown and we they've done wonderful things with it yeah it's all been good yeah all right uh do you want to go down there we'll stay back up here with so many thank you so much [Music] yeah good to see you um everybody won two thank you okay make us look good it's impossible for yourself [Applause] thank you hey next resolution RS3 [Music] all right come on up Mr Cox you're just involved in everything [Laughter] all right I'll go ahead and read the resolution resolution number

23-060 resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida commending Friends of Animal Services Inc for their generous support to the Pasco County Animal Services whereas Friends of Animal Services Inc friends is a non-profit organization established for the purpose of enriching the lives of pets at the Pasco County Animal Services pcas adoption center and approving and improving the likelihood of adoption into loving homes and whereas the mission of friends is to provide funding and resources that enhance the wealth Health welfare and environment of shelter animals promote adoptions Advocate responsible pet ownership promote pet sterilization and Foster public interest in and support for the Pasco County animal shelter and its services and whereas from 2019 through 2022 friends donated and provided Grant fund grant funding of 264 000 and 500 to pcas in support of its mission to to help people and pets in Pasco County this funding helped create the pet enrichment program at the shelter to enhance the quality of life and ease the stress of shelter pets by providing pet toys training AIDS pet treats and feeding puzzles friends also funded two new fully outfitted dog play yards and many other shelter enhancements including a new Kubota utility vehicle and awnings to shade outdoor areas andra's friends invested generously in the veterinary services provided by pcas Their donation funded over 113 heartworm treatments for heartworm positive dogs which improved their likelihood of successful adoption friends also funded new medical equipment including dental equipment and ultrasound machine a diagnostic equipment and surgical instruments and post-surgery digital monitors Andres friends administered 125 000 in national animal welfare grants to support pcas's new public programs including free vaccination clinics for over 700 pets a pet food pantry and pet boarding vouchers to help people retain retain their pets during financially hardships brought on by the pandemic and programs for pet emergency medical procedures and pet sterilizations now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County that said board hereby commence Friends of Animal Services Inc for their generous support to Pasco County Animal Services to improve the lives of shelter pets and to provide them a better chance of finding a forever home Denon resolved in regular session with a quorum present and voting this 24th day of January 2023. some of the most second all in favor say aye aye aye okay commissioner Bradford I am honored this is uh my first one Mr chair all right that's a good one so if you come to my house on Thanksgiving or Christmas it's a kennel we have a lot of dogs in our house uh just absolutely wonderful that we have citizens that will step up to the plate for uh our dogs and cats and other animals that we have that uh sometimes fall through the cracks you

guys are truly doing what you should be doing and truly making a difference in the quality of life and the fabric of our community because caring about caring about animals brings out the best in everybody and I'm proud to be a part of that and I'm proud to do this resolution for you so well done and thank you and we're gonna add well I'd like to say commissioner Cox you've been involved as a commissioner you're a very strong supporter of animal services right from the get-go never wavered in heaven Michael the team that you have out there is absolutely phenomenal and I think it makes the friends so excited to help you achieve great things out there and from all the people I've seen you make happy compared how it was when you first got here until we've got this level two it's you've made it Premiere so thank you friends and thank you Michael for the great team and all the great work thanks I'm sorry [Music] um I first got elected it wasn't quite like this and we had a lot of people out against our animal services and working but we've stepped it up and you've done a great job and put us where we need to be to be a premier County and especially with this Services Joe provided so we really thank you for all that good yeah okay yeah Governors I just want to say that the real heroes here is your staff I mean the the people who work at animal services are the the folks that every day face those challenges and do an incredible job you know when when I had the pleasure of of helping start friends uh when I was on the board it was really to try to help them achieve their goals right so the very first time that I toured the shelter if you haven't done it yet you know please go out there and do it but the very first time I toured the shelter a live release rate was in the 40s and I'll never forget seeing the site of the deceased animals that have been euthanized that morning that were stacked up like cordwood out there it was a horrible sight now that they're you know 93 percent I think it is or 93 that's just incredible and you know they're uh they do a great job out there and our group just supports that so thank you for recognizing us appreciate it all right Michael anyone else hi uh I'm Darlene green and I'd like to say that I appreciate everything that the commission has done to help the shelter progress the way that they have and again thanks to the staff that you have out there they are they make it Premier and they are well known throughout the state and the nation for the terrific job that they they're

doing and also for the um training they're involved in training throughout the United States and involved in all types of committees so Pasco County should be very proud of the staff that they have out there as the treasurer of Friends of Animal Services it's always my pleasure to see funds donated by the community come across my desk and so that I can go and deposit that money in to help the people in Pasco County with the shelter um so as a Treasurer I'd like to give you each a brochure so that you can remember us when you leave here today and uh be happy to deposit your check as well so so yeah so I would like to do that and uh but I can't tell you how how pleased I am with the citizens in Pasco County because they're truly the ones that step up and make these donations possible that we give back to the shelter and we give a hundred percent back because everybody on our board are volunteers the money that goes to the shelter out there is to help provide for the benefit and the welfare of the animals there so I thank you very much I thank the staff for what they do and I thank Mike Mr Cox for everything that he did because he had the eye and the ear in the very beginning to come forward and show a spotlight on the shelter and the needs that they have out there thank you okay thank you you know I would be remissive not to say that my wife Abby is the president of Friends of Animal Services she does a lot of hard work she's working in Orlando today unfortunately she's got to keep me in the life I've grown accustomed to so I I appreciate her her involvement all right should we go for a picture [Music] foreign

[Music] okay next resolution is going to be commending the 2020 2022 star performer star leader and Star Team of the Year [Music] if Jordan Veronica the plant review team which will be Lisa Gary and Cody to always come up here very good all right I will go ahead and read the resolution resolution number 23-061 a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida commending the 2022 star performer star leader and Star Team of the Year whereas each year Paso County recognizes a star performer of the Year starred leader of the year and Star Team of the Year for their accomplishments and whereas Jordan miltner okay has been selected to receive the 2022 star performer of the Year award Veronica ignet oh good very good has been selected to receive the 2022 star leader of the Year award and the Platinum review team including Lisa crawl Gary howorka okay and Cody Vaughn have been selected to receive the 2022 Star Team of the Year award and Raz in order for an organization to become Premier it must attract grow and support a Workforce of servant leaders that are dedicated to improving the lives of people contributing to a purpose larger than their individual job and performing at the highest possible level in day in and day out and whereas these 2022 award recipients consistently demonstrate Pasco County's core value through an impeccable work ethic dedication to service excellence and achieving quality outcomes in every situation they serve as an example to their fellow team members of going above and beyond and exemplifying the expectations of star performer of the Year star leader of the year and Star Team of the Year now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby congratulates our 2022 Star Award winners for Pasco County and commends them for their outstanding efforts in serving our community to create a better future done and resolved in regular session with a quorum present and voting this 24th day of January 2023. no approval okay all in favor say aye aye well congratulations everybody it was Pasco County links to be Premier it's going to start with our people uh but we'll for the work you do the dedication uh the processes this goes through to get recognized like this is a is a great achievement for you but I think as you strive to be as great as you can be I think everybody else does the same so that just elevates the county every step of the way so I appreciate your efforts and I congratulate you all I know yeah certainly thank you your work that you've got this far and

foreign okay now it's time for the consent agenda I have a few polls and withdraws we're going to pull number C11 C12 is going to be withdrawn c27 pull and discuss c29 is withdrawn and c35 is withdrawn are there any other items to be added to the withdrawler discussion the approval of the other consent items have a motion second second okay all in favor say aye aye opposed okay so the most controversial one we'll start with C11 it is quite controversial sir it inadvertently put this on the consent agenda but I wanted to I actually do have a revision and I have submitted it with regards to the the fiscal and revenue statement there was some account issues there but those have been corrected and you have that in front of you but Mr Adamo has done a fantastic job uh as our interim assistant County Administrator for public infrastructure uh he's he's done so very patiently for about the past six months so I I commend him for that um and he's been with the county since 2017. most of you know him as our Public Works director and he has made sweeping amazing changes to really help that department achieve the outcomes uh that that we all need and that our citizens deserve so we we went through a process and with every every hire especially in the assistant County administrators we go through a national search bring folks together and we run them through the ringer several four five six interviews with various team members at all different levels in the organization I'm happy to say that the general consensus was that Mr Adamo was was the man for the job and I'm sure he's going to do a much better job than the last clown we had in there so but I know that but I submit him to you for for confirmation in this new role well I want to I want to if I could just lead in Mike as your final cut your comment there um you know I think when Pasco County has a great core of people like we just saw the star leaders star performers the Star team and you can develop the talent coming in and let those people get promoted from within going up even though you want to do the national search it's a phenomenal accomplishment and it's something I think you're doing a phenomenal job uh your leadership has been direct straight you've been involved very impressed with you sitting down with all the Commissioners to kind of like go over the agenda just kind of get if Andy's got any questions you can kind of handle them right away but the way you're doing your job has been phenomenal in the way you've come up through the other days has been great and that's led the way from Brantford now to make a phenomenal move up in Brantford you since you've come on you know stormwater was a big deal procedures of getting things done through the process been phenomenal and

the way you've elevated your team empowers your team to get stuff done all the way through and no matter what the situation you've been doing a phenomenal job so I think you've done a great job to to make this position leap and I think it'll be a no-brainer for you thank you Jay well I'm congratulations and um I have now learned how to say your last name properly so I apologize because I wasn't thinking that way but um look forward to working with you more thank you very much commissioner Bradford I just wanted to say I appreciate you being patient with me uh it's a new Endeavor in your area of expertise you uh you're always a compassionate you're always understanding turn my phone calls which is nice and I'm very very pleased that we have kept it in-house because it is about our employees it is about how we move up the chain because all of us serve the citizens and you're doing a phenomenal job and uh the guy he replaced he's all right too all right Mr Oakley thank you congratulations thank you yeah um like commissioner Bradford you know being new to the board excited to work with you and start this this journey together and um so nothing more than that just congratulations and excited to learn from you and hopefully do great things for our folks indeed thank you commissioner I've been working with you and and know how you work and and approach different you know jobs that we have out in the county and your predecessor did a good job too so I'll have to command him but he I think he did a better job when he uh made such a good pick in you because you've already started off running and and you've started one one small thing it seems like but remember how many years ago we'd talk about potholes here and potos there Bradford instigated a program that when you call in about a pothole within a day or two it's already filled and fixed it's amazing and I had one of my citizens out in all 41 tell me about that so I called it in in the very next morning he calls me and says hey it's already fixed but it's a great program I mean it seems like a little thing but it's huge because I remember going through many many years of having potholes that didn't get fixed so it's it's a big step so but it seemed like a small thing but I certainly appreciate you being on board and and I think you're a great pick for the county to do this job with that I'd like to move for approval thank you second second all in favor say aye aye aye aye any opposed unanimously Bradford congratulations come on not that easy let's go you have a little opportunity to say something yes I I had a little bit of speech here three minutes my wife said I should make sure I say something so thank you Connie administrator

good morning commissioners it is indeed a privilege and an honor to stand before you today my presence here today would not have been possible without a dedication hard work and support of our great team field personnel office employees supervisors managers directors assistant County administrators making a difference in the quality of life of our citizens is what motivates me every day Integrity respect empathy people teamwork pragmatism and outcomes are what Define my leadership and shape my decisions and actions for the past 30 years together with the team we'll continue to move towards improving the quality of life of our citizens and making Pasco a premier County I thank you the County Administrator and the team for the confidence and Trust placed in me I pledge to work hard and do my best I will not let you down thank you thank you congratulations [Applause] okay uh c27 commissioner Oakley uh yes this is uh I believe a project Two Rivers project and a few weeks ago it came forward to me that uh part of that's in Hillsborough County a part of it's in Pasco County and I was it just struck me wrong when the fact of it was that they were going to build bigger Lots bigger homes in Hillsborough County yep and there were Fasco County yep and I didn't necessarily care for that and I don't know I guess I just brought this up so we could discuss it but someday we got to quit 40s and 50s or we don't have our County looking not so good like we would like it to look so someday we've got a shift and have bigger and better launch Better Homes and in those areas that we're going to build homes but and get away from just for you so I don't know uh Mr Caballo do you have answer on um and this is going forward because it it's out of the box it is going to be these 40s but is there a mix and match of 40s 50s a larger size in in Pasco County on that part or is it all 40s I'd probably have to defer to planning on what's in the two rivers mpud I would imagine typically there is a there is a mix but Terry do you have any information on on Two Rivers to Victoria's pizza's Planning Development so the question is just for me to recap if there's a mix of lots within two rivers makes lots on well there is because there's large Lots I hear in Hillsboro but in Pasco are we all 40s or small Lots or do we have a mixed match of different size Lots because I think a while back we made him I believe it's March or March a year ago that we said we would like to have a mix of 40s 50s and larger Lots so are these all 40s or do you know I mean I might be putting you on a spot but I yeah I'd have to look at the plans specifically but as I recall there there

is a mix of 40s and 50s now if there are 60s and 70s in there I had really have to look at it Two Rivers the two rivers on PUD was approved in September of 2021 and the direction the board provided came about in March of 2022 so since March of 2022 we've been actively working to create a much larger mix of unit types within developments still there are some uh provisions in the direction that was provided by the board that if more 40-foot wide Lots were to be added into development they had to follow a particular style of development like like uh traditional neighborhood design we are loaded lot sizes that sort of thing um so to speak specifically to Two Rivers I'm not able to recall off the top of my head okay but generally speaking that's my understanding as well that uh two rivers straddles the two counties and larger lot sizes trended to be within Hillsborough I just like larger Lots don't come more to ask other than I had Hillsboro so um and I brought this forward just to discuss not doing anything else but just to discuss it and someday and I don't know exactly what we have to do in our zoning or whatever someday we need to move away from these smaller lots to larger lots for our County so yeah something to say or Mr steinstein so as I think the commissioner has acknowledged the action of approving a final subdivision plot is a ministerial act by the board of County Commissioners so long as it complies with the Land Development code and its zoning you must approve it right that does not preclude the dialogue that you're having for future projects but I just want to make sure that that this is just that's part of the part of the record I'm just using this as an example of what we have coming on some of our projects we've already approved them and and I'm not trying to stop them but I want to be careful that this train doesn't get bigger going down that track and and we can't stop it so the the other the other thing that you should take heat of I guess is that as with all of your mpds you set those lot types when you approve the Zone the it's unlike unlike straight zoning euclidean zoning where the zoning category classifies what lot sizes you're going to find in that project because they've got minimums right um that decision is up to the board of County Commissioners when they approve the MPD zoning District so as many of those conditions that you see attached that staff provides for you one of them is what size lot they can have or could be what size Lots they buy okay um Mr Starkey um I just thought I'd comment on the 40-foot lots of being rear loaded for an example of what these look like you have um Starkey Ranch and you have Bexley and so for Commissioners who may not know

what we're talking about I would suggest you drive through theirs right right down the street and when you have a 40-foot rear loaded product well when you have a 40 foot wide front loaded product all you have is a garage and a door and and a driveway and a sorry I'm still not sure about that I'm positive I have no idea how that happened ain't nothing to do with that I didn't even touch the phone oh that's so funny the thing Siri says um but when you have a rear loaded product it's a much different presentation to the community and parking and feel so I encourage you to see what that is that we're talking about because um I think you'll see some good examples of why we should encourage that I am going to say I'm not a planner um but I'm pretty sure our account plan says density along the southern border of our County but we should and we should in my opinion there should be areas where we don't allow 40s that should be larger lots and I think that I that may be what Hillsborough has I don't know because I I see when you get to the northern part of Hillsboro it's much more rule then of course you get to the Pasco County Line and then then it's dense to rule and it seems like communities develop that way dense to rural dance to rural but um as we redo our comp plan I think that's our opportunity to make changes and and again I want to talk about the form-based code and hope that we're working towards having a presentation but um anyway we're loaded 40s and 50s is a whole different animal than frontal loading Terry will meet separate and before so go over this uh because we're doing things in the rural area and looking at things for the future so but we'll look more I just thought we are to have this dialogue we had two new Commissioners so they can understand what's happening in some of these developments so very good okay and I'll say that uh I think from the conversation we had commissioner Wheaton brought it up we talked about it as well the lot size uh the Tampa Bay Building Association met with me yesterday we talked about this uh interesting enough at the start of the day I actually had a meeting with a gentleman with a rent to own product and I says you know really I don't want to see more rent to owns I want to have home ownership our business Community wants to see it I think people are investing more Community when they're in there these rent owns are nothing more than really Apartments just in a different style yeah they're going to look like down the road and exactly in 40 50 years when it's done what have you got yeah and we don't we don't know um so they they had a good it was a good company not a rent to own it's built to

rent build a run okay sorry um that's right thank you um so in those conversations they're going to take a look at that a little bit but when we talk up here it actually resonates out there strongly so all the things we're saying are affecting what they're looking at uh we talked a little bit uh quite a bit about the 40s and 50s uh they even talked about to make it more affordable maybe if it was a longer driveway if they changed the width of the street and put the sidewalk right to the front made help with the Landscaping as well so they're looking at things and they'll be talking with all of us through the time but I think this type of conversation is important and and you know to to hear that Hillsborough County had got the bigger Lots we got the smaller Lots right our values just went down in the county and I don't think it's what we want um so for us to negotiate I think we've got to negotiate stronger we've got to minimize those 40s and 50s and and work for bigger so if that means we've got to put another Direction out there maybe it's something that we need to do a mini agenda item for it to kind of bring it back to say instead of having a mix of this 50 that's going to be 40s and the bounce can be 50s we need to we need to give them the direction to go forward right so I think if maybe we can set an agenda item up to bring it back let's let's have the discussion on it and again as we talk about parking is a big issue parking on the streets uh big issues and I think uh commissioner starkille like this we talked about Pulte Homes doing that nice project where they had the back loaded rear loaded project and it looks phenomenal yeah uh when you can actually walk out in the front of your house get to a trail that may take you to the library to a park whatever that's like great quality of life and and I think they would do more of those if they had better incentives to do so because it's more expensive to build it now over in Beacon Woods uh Beacon Woods East they have a linear Parkway on 5A Road they got credit for putting a trail there running all the way through now they have to maintain it but that trail running down there which they maintain they got credit for having a linear Park and that was part of the park thing so between giving them maybe some credits on the park um mandatory requirements that we have maybe we give them credit for that maybe we give them a transportation discount if the trail is big enough that connects to something else to go forward so that could be part of a discussion too to make a better product which is what we're going to be looking for long term what um well when we have this discussion I'm sure we'll look at a lot of things but I know that one of the costs that in the past have made it expensive to do rare loaded is the requirement that our fire marshal was

requiring for the width of a alley but I think there are ways that we can make that much less expensive and I've seen it around the country and I think we're working on that to but that is a big cost is the alley and there are ways to get that Mr shark I'm glad you brought that up because that was one of the points that did come up as well and when you look at that we have some neighborhoods right now that we permitted that used to have a let's say normally would a style would be a cul-de-sac at the end um at the cul-de-sac that fire truck would have enough width to turn around we've allowed them now to actually have a a roadway going down further where the fire trucks got to actually back up if we're allowing that we should be able to work with that issue there on these rear loaded as well what what has always amazed me is if you have a standard home with the driveway in the front the fire trap pulls up to the front on these rear loaded houses you can still access the front but now you can access the front and the back so why why are we making it more difficult with the fire fire stuff so you actually have I I don't see why we should have that rule and I think that's a self-inflicted role here in the county so I think if we could have that discussion we even get to get the fire folks involved as well let's let's bring it back and have a little more in-depth conversation with it okay well I think I thank you for allow us to bring this up and to have this discussion I thought was very important this time so I appreciate that with that I would uh move to approve uh c27 second all in favor say aye aye aye any opposed okay all right so I have an 11 30 times certain the r37 bid protests it's going to address that far as Mike good morning Carrie Roberts purchasing director for the county I am here to address the um bid protest decision by County Administrator to Meg escapes landscape and maintenance Inc award to Sunbelt sod and Grading Company a bid number ifb sn22-171 as needed sod multiple Year award no funding required you have the presentation for you of the timeline oh thank you all right the um the bid originally opened on 822 we received one bid from Sunbelt Assad and Grading um Karen referred to as Sunbelt on 8 16 of 22 we issued the notice of intent to award on 8 22 of 22 Meg escapes landscape and maintenance here in referred to as Mega Scapes protested uh the award on 829 of 22 the County Administrator denied Meg escapes protest on 9 13 22 we know issued a notice of intent to reject all bids on 9 15 of 22 Sunbelt rejected that notice of intent to reject on 11 2 of 22 We Begin negotiations with Sunbelt on 11 12 of 22 we revised the notice of intent to award on 11 29 of 22 Meg escapes submitted a second protest and on 12 15 of 22 the County Administrator denied

that second protest the first protest from Mega safes which was received on August 22nd of 22 the protest was received timely in that protest they stated that they did not bid however if they had bid their prices would have been significantly lower than Sun Belt the County's response was that the County Administrator denied that protest saying that Meg escapes did not have standing to protest and that they as they were not an interested party to the bid on September 15th um Sunbelt protested in between these two dates we did Issue the notice to reject which Sunbelt then protested so their son their protest stated that they would be at a disadvantage if we re-bid because their prices had been submitted with the original notes of potential award the county response was that we concurred with sunbuilt protest letter the purchasing department was then asked to negotiate with Sunbelt as allowed for by the purchasing ordinance through that negotiation we did obtain lower prices and we did obtain a three-year firm pricing from Sunbelt we issued a subsequent notice of potential award for the second round and we received a second protest on November 29th from Mega Scapes they reiterated their claim regarding their prices being lower they claimed that they did have the right to protest as a quote prospective bidder they stated that purging director is also not meeting the responsibilities to minimize the expenditures for the county by awarding to Sunbelt the County's response was to deny the protest we also explained the term perspective bitter applied only to solicitation protests not to award protests Mega scape we felt is not an interested party to the protest and we explain that not only does the purchasing director have the award the responsibility to minimize expenditures but also has the responsibility to ensure the Integrity of the procurement process and not just minimize the expenditures there our recommendation is that the board upholds the decision by the County Administrator to deny the protest by megascape landscape for the purchasing ordinance we will have we have both vendors here to speak megascapes will be given a chance to speak and then Sunbelt will be given a chance to speak as well okay we both set up for five minutes a piece okay actually it was 10 minutes 10 minutes good morning good morning Charles Gray I'm uh here on behalf of Mega Scapes landscape Commissioners um the timeline is absolutely what I had essentially prepared as well um one thing that I would add to it is that on the 13th we were advised by telephone by Ms Roberts and I'd like to start by commending Ms Roberts Mr carbella and everyone else that I've spoken with at the county for their professionalism throughout what's been sort of a lengthy and and somewhat tedious process but nonetheless uh thank you two to both of you for your

professionalism we we were advised on the 13th the date of the issuance of the rejection of all bids and I I might point out that it's a soul bed a single bit um that verbally Ms Roberts indicated during that conversation she asked me two things one would we meet the I should add for the benefit of the of the board we are the current contract holder uh have been for the last two years we hold an additional four contracts with Pasco one of those contracts also includes the provision of sod at Pasco uh pardon me at uh Starkey Boulevard in Alico pass on US 19 we're placing sod and doing maintenance and landscaping for the county there so we were told uh on the 13th in that telephone conversation that all bids would be rejected and in fact they were subsequently on that date as Ms Roberts indicated the notice of rejection of all bids was issued we're also told during that conversation that the project would be rebid because of the size it was pointed out and to give you a to give the board a a concept to the amount of monies involved the uh our annual cost under this contract was around 500 000 the last award was for 500 uh four thousand dollars per year for the two-year existing contract the first bid submitted by Sun Belt was for 750 000 a very very substantial increase and again it was a sold bid um on May the 13th we were aware that this was coming up for rebid on May the 13th 2022 well before this solicit solicitation was opened I personally opened an Excel spreadsheet entitled sod rebid worksheet um and that has been submitted to the county um we actually were I was actually able to lower our prospective bid in anticipation of this bid being issued um I was actually able to lower our annual cost from the 504 000 of the old existing contract to to a four hundred ninety six thousand dollar bid so again that the commissioner will understand that there's 750 000 bid received by Sun Belt was a very very large increase um I prepared this in advance of the issuance of the solicitation which I believe was in June is that correct I have it on my time on here somewhere so May 13th I began to prepare the bid in order to submitted um I don't have the date exactly of the issuance but you're looking at the person who made a dehuman error of overlooking while watching on the bidnet direct system that the county uses for these bids I kept looking for it daily weekly and I did not see it I believe because at that time of year you get a large number of bids at one time that come in or solicitations I should say did it roll past the first page we called missed it we didn't see it it's human error um I kept anticipating that I knew that it was coming up you know during this season this this time of the year last

year and uh finally placed a call to the purchasing department and realized to my horror that like three days earlier it had closed um and so we had fully intended to submit a bid we have an affidavit to that effect so at the County's position in in the denial of our appeal among other things has been stated words to the effect that you know that we were just someone the county is concerned that someone anybody could just call up well that's not I don't think a completely Fair representation of our of our position we are the existing contract holder and by definition we were the low bidder um the county has indicating no there's not any obligation in the county to notify us of that upcoming bid true enough although I believe it's in the County's best interests and I'd like to make among the recommendations it's going to make to the count to the commission today is that the county take a look at making that a policy um I know that I I meant to print it out I didn't I didn't have the time this morning but the there is a list on the County Purchasing website of all of the term contracts be there a year or more in which various vendors provide ongoing services and goods to the county and it it's a number of pages at maybe 20 lines per page so we're talking literally over a hundred of these term contracts of a year or more in length um the county in my opinion more and I'll go ahead and make the recommendation this is not just a one-off I don't think I think that there are probably instances where it by definition the the current low bidder the current contract holder should be notified as a matter of policy um I believe that that it's in the County's best interest financially in the taxpayers best interest what we're talking about here is the bid that we would have submitted and if the county rebids this as we believe that it should um you know the county has evidence before it that I had prepared a bid in of 496 000 per year the county has before today a recommendation to award 580 000. I fertile further analyze the actual use by the Department of Public Works of this sod we're talking about grass and they're not going to meet that 580 that five thousand dollar budget at the proposed prices for that Sunbelt the county and to miss Robert's credit they have acted to reduce by negotiating to reduce the County's cost but I don't believe they've met the requirements under the purchasing ordinance to minimize that cost the county has substantial evidence before it that should it as I believe that the the commission should rebid this this this this solicitation that the county will receive a bid slightly under five hundred thousand dollars for this for this uh for this service thank you any questions I'll make a comment yes ma'am please Mr

darling as much as I would love to pay less money and I'm not an attorney but if you don't bid you don't bid and there was only one bidder and that's if I can't imagine that we would go down this path of of thrown out a bit because your points your Point's well taken the count the counties uh the County's point that um someone could just come along and say hey we we we would have bid less points will take them but again we're not just someone off the street that happened to see this we are the current contract holder but I don't I don't think I think we have to be fair to everybody sure sure again I feel for you but yes ma'am when I heard you were protesting because uh you didn't bid and you want to and you missed it I didn't know how that was even legal so right right you know my reading of the ordinance uh says that the county is not obligated to award any single bidder a contract in fact uh I don't know the County Attorney may be free with exactly where it's at and I must confess I'm a little more con familiar with the ordinance than I'd like to be having spent a few hundred hours on it the last few months but it it clearly it's clearly stated in the ordinance that the county is not it has is fully within its rights to reject any bid and it's fully within its rights to accept any bit that's that's right that's right it absolutely is but um It also says in the ordinance that that the county has an obligation and a duty to minimize expenditures and you know that that has not been accomplished here the county has considerable evidence before it including an affidavit and a spreadsheet that I had prepared that will save the taxpayers of this County somewhere between 350 and 450 000 over the next three years commissioner waiting thank you commissioner sorry what's your name Charles crying Mr cram yes sir it it pains me to see a pasco-based business Pasco first right not receive an award participate receive an award very familiar with with bid processes and yes sir and past life we have to uphold the Integrity of this process and this is a situation you know from my understanding looking into it because pasco-based business I want our pasco-based businesses yes sir to win I don't think there's any coming back when you pull the bid specs after the due date human error happens the bid Pro any bid process especially in government depending on what platform you use is clunky it's in my experience no matter what it's it's kind of it's kind of a pain it's not necessarily always user friendly and I've talked to Mr brightonbach about it and you know there's a human factor there's a platform Factor there's a submittal Factor there's some subjectivity based on scoring this is one of those situations that you know you just missed it and the fact

that if we have a vendor come up after the fact and say Hey you we know what a what the competitive similar business puts out there and then you come out and say here's what we can do I think it muddies up the process and this is just an unfortunate instance where we the the process needs to you know follow what we have have going on here um as far as you know the courtesy in having staff remind our folks hey your your bid's coming out I appreciate that sentiment but when we have so many procurements coming out I think there's a duty it's your business it's how you're making your money that that business be laser focused and know the terms of their contract and when your bid comes up and hey we need to be ready for this procurement we need to have our due diligence done ahead of time be ready to have our q a when that process comes up within it we were and but you said you you were but you weren't we were but we missed it yes and you know I it stinks y'all are a Pasco based business um sounds like you do a good business you have several contracts with the county from my understanding I think the county is is sufficiently satisfied with the work you all provide to the best of mine and um but but based on on the process I think this board we have to support staff in this issue and uphold this process and um you know it's it's just unfortunately one of those situations uh that I don't necessarily necessarily think that we we need to switch switch Direction here so uh well you know I don't want to take up too much in my time maybe about expired at this point but um you know my recommendations are threefold and then I'll sit down and you know let you guys make your your decision um if I could let me get to commissioner you want to ask questions thank you if I may and I don't want to cut the commissioner off but if you've got questions for the protester now would be the appropriate time if you want to explain your vote let's hear from finish the protesters the second vendor who is here who has gotten the award and then you can you all can discuss how you're going to vote but he may not need to even speak that's okay no we should no we need to hear from everybody I can do that but no don't express it I've been in business and you get bids and usually you try to have more bids in one if you only get one bid and you have to go forward with your job you accept that bid and go forwards okay so do you have any any direct questions we'll we'll do discussion after but do you have any direct questions no okay I'm just going to ask one question I don't understand why they didn't bid but yeah um it's simple oversight uh chairman Oakley we did we didn't see it

as it rolled over the computer screen we were ready for it I was looking for it I mean you're talking you're you're talking to the person who made the oversight to be clear okay and I appreciate your acknowledging that so just one question yes with the work you have contracts with us right now that are in place uh yes sir as a matter of fact we've been continuing to provide sod over the last six months to the county under our other contract which is the Horticulture contract that we use to maintain and Landscape the property at Starkey Boulevard in Alico pass and also at us 19. um so we've continued to provide do you still have services at a greatly much at a much but because it also contains Provisions for Bahia and Saint Augustine side which is what this contract is exclusively is about grass on the side of the roads um so we had that additional contract that's still in place and the county has been using does that contract continue or does it end it yes we have we've have an order right now in our books to do work for the county at a far greater at a Florida lower price pricing is being considered this morning how long is that contract run uh I believe it runs through this Con you know until the fiscal year October of this year okay um you know I might add that we you know we we offered to continue interim pricing uh you know back and and Sun Belt apparently was not willing to do so so okay commissioner Bradford do you have a question no okay all right we thank you sir all right can I close with just my recommendations and then I'll have a seat um all right yeah I mean obviously we we believe it's in the County's best interest to capture the 350 000 uh on behalf of the taxpayers by rebidding the contract um additionally it would seem to me that it would be in the County's best interest if there is a concern about um the bid's closing and then someone objecting um that you know possibly an amendment to the ordinance that that's not what the ordinance says regarding the protests it does in fact say that prospective bidders us um May protest an award it's right there in the four corners that's your interpretation sir well no I mean it's it's it's there all right quote unquote but you know I would recommend the county might want to amend that if there's concern about future occurrences like this okay um okay thank you Sean thank you and now Sunbelt we're not getting the commissioner items good morning commissioner items good morning my name is Danielle Silva this is Leslie um we are with Sunbelt sod um we just want to thank you for your time this morning your consideration of

this matter um just tell you a little bit about ourselves we are a small family owned and operated business we've been in the sod industry specializing in sod for 25 years now we specialize in local municipality work dot work so this is what we do day in and day out we hold other side contracts with the county we currently hold the Bermuda contract for the parks department I believe and the school board as well so we are well versed in working with the county um just want to say that we have been doing bids via the seal bid process since the late 90s early 2000s and you know we appreciate the upholding of the Integrity of the process and you know your consideration on the matter any questions well it's just gonna be interesting when does this bid come up again is it a three-year bid is that what I heard yeah all right so all right for yours yes ma'am you awarded the contract for a three-year period at the last meeting I don't like well thank you where and where are you located where the house thank you unless you have any questions for me we would like to recommend that you uphold the award that was made at the last meeting one question for you the previous bid he mentioned was like a two year long bid any reason we went to three years on this one the county the standard contract is typically three years some of the multi-year awards in the past have been for two years but we're trying to standardize on a three-year with two one-year renewals so we took opportunity to try to start that standardization with this contract this year okay what's your waving do with it with the renewals with sod are there index with price increases on the extensions or the prices whole firm yes what index do you this one does not have a this contract that we just entered into does not have extensions it's the three-year flat the previous ones also were for two years flat did not have extensions but for future reference we would tie extensions to CPI indexes and so forth depending on the project I just encourage appropriate index for appropriate industry um uh we talked about that later but thank you thank you yes sir well I'm going to move recommendation of this let's keep the discussion going if we could oh okay Mr Bradford Mr chair uh it's unfortunate that we're here at this position but uh mistake was made they acknowledged it came in County played by the rules uh and I think that uh because of that we should support the uphold the decision by the County Administrator and it's also important that

transparency is very very important in this process everybody knows what's going on but when a mistake is made someone takes responsibility for that gentleman came up here and took responsibility for that and uh I think we should support our County Administrator so let me ask a first of all I think we do need to put a policy in place though not binding us so in case we don't get to get it out there but we should be notifying I don't think not only the people that have a current bid on the contract but people have bid on the previous contracts too to get as many bids as we can please hold um I I also think that we should look at um uh the font size as far as what we're using for that thing I mean when we look at our bid tabulation you've got to put my glasses on to to see that stuff um sometimes you're going to blow up the picture right so yeah I think that could be easier so people don't miss these things um I'll just I'm just going to touch to one question I know sometimes we've had a couple of bids that come in they were extremely high right and they were just one bidder and we've rejected that bid yes sir um this one here came in a lot higher yes sir and you negotiated with the better yes sir that's the one Crux I have trouble with you had the flexibility to reject if you chose instead you just try to negotiate and that's the one issue that I have with it and I again negotiated during a protest period which is okay that the the vendor protested the rejection of all bids and then we're willing to bring their prices down and the purchasing director thought it was in the best interest of to award that that's different than a you've got one bidder it's high they bring it to the board to reject all bids if that helps your it does yeah it does because you know they took a procedure they could do and they went their way so um I think you had you in the process you always have the the ability to reject all bids but in this particular case where the rejection was protested and purchasing director felt that based on the protest based on the reduction of price it was it was better to that you know you also have Public Works needing a product and so for the efficiency of the county for the to move the county forward that the purchasing director and her you know in her role decided this was the best move for the county okay okay so you had your flexibility you made a decision we looked at it we approved at the last meeting so it's moving promotion second

okay any further discussion I'll just say it's an unfortunate situation but I think we gotta we gotta stand by the process and hopefully we'll make some improvements in future things of purchasing all in favor say aye aye any opposed motion carries thank you all right we'll break for lunch be at 1 30. [Music] foreign [Music]