02.25.2025 Pasco Board of County Commissioners Meeting (Morning Session)

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um we got a lot of Staff still talking to people bang that thing bang that thing good morning I'd like to call to order the Pasco County Board of County Commission 10: a.m. Mee 10:02 meeting of February 25th 2025 at this time please silence all your electronics and mute your microphones um and please rise for the invocation and the pledge oh merciful Creator your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature make us thankful for your loving Providence and Grant that we remembering the accounting that we must one day give may be faithful stewards of your good gifts amen FL United States ofice okay Madam clerk please call M Madam clerk Miss clerk please call the [Laughter] RO uh district one commissioner Oakley here District Two commissioner Wan here District Four commissioner jger here District Five commissioner Mariano is not present at this time uh District three chairman starky here okay uh now is the time for public comment citizens are given an opportunity to comment on any current or future agenda item coming before the board and on other business under 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 have pre-registered for a WebEx link and are currently on Q we request that when you address the board comments are not directed personally against a commissioner or team member but rather directed at the issues this provides mutual respect between board members and the public okay when uh after stating your name and address for the clerk a three minute timer will be activated and after 2 minutes a single beep will indicate you have 1 minute left when your time is up two beeps will sound and you should close your comments webex's participants will be disconnected automatically when their time is up and uh Mr clerk do we have anyone signed up the public we do Madam Clerk or Madam chair um Jenny Smithson Jerry sorry Jerry Jerry look like Jenny but you handwriting and the eyesight like to hand these out okay and we'll need your name and address move second uh all in favor I I well did we State the motion receive and file okay thank you is that okay is that good enough okay we're good okay name and address please yes I'll let George talk he's uh vice president of central Pasco and Gulf freay Road we have a little problem but uh I think okay but I need your name and address for the record oh I apologize uh Jerry Smithson 4411 Edith Street Newport Richie Florida 34652 okay and if and if the other Anderson okay 7821 Summer Tree Lane Newport Richie Florida 34653 okay U we're here because uh we are Representatives on the vice president of the central Pasco and Gulf Railroad uh the County Commission

invited the railroad to uh build invited us to build a railroad in 2006 uh which we did and we've run the railroad as a free service to the public in the park since 206 uh on average we have about 10,000 Riders who uh who take uh enjoy the railroad every uh every year sometimes it's a lot more than that uh the reason that we're here is that uh about two years ago the park uh commission came to us and uh told us that we had that they had to update our contract with the uh with the county with the park system and uh we waited for about two years before a proposed contract was presented to us a few months ago uh that contract uh is uh asking us to pay uh $5,000 a year for uh and contribute more actually in uh in service fees uh to provide that free service for the to the public in in the park and uh we just find it uh a little difficult to uh do a perform a volunteer service for the citizens of the County uh and then be asked to pay for the privilege of volunteering uh I've uh prepared a a handout here for you to give a little idea of what it is that we uh that we do and uh what I can tell you is that uh uh my wife is U is back here she's one of the engineers on the railroad the youngest person that she ever rode on the railroad was two months old the oldest person that she ever rode on the railroad was uh 96 I believe it was and uh the railroad gives uh the the public an opportunity to go through SE sections of the park that they otherwise may be incapable of of reaching especially the younger and the older uh handicapped Etc who cannot walk through the uh through the park on their own those people are confined to u to looking at the paved areas of the park and that's not what that park is all about we feel that we provide a service and uh we think that we should not be penalized for um providing that service um we don't normally engage during public comment um is anyone who oh okay we have someone from the parks department here but um I'm just going to say I'm on your side but we will um if you'll go in the back and speak with her then um we will contact you and see if we can't get this resol because I think you provide a great service to the community so Kathy assistant County Ministry of public services so this contract has not come to you yet we're still working on it and we'll be sure to brief each and every one of you with that when it does come back okay okay thank you um but thank thank you for your for all your volunteering out there I'll make sure to take my grandkids on there the next time they come in town next Daryl Henderson good morning I request to submit a docum file second all in favor I oppose thank you morning Madam chair County Commission good morning my name is Daryl Henderson I am the advocacy director can we get your address please my address I my address is 12100 sem old Boulevard in Largo I am the advocacy director for the recovery Epic Center Foundation which is based in clwater

um our our mission at the foundation is to empower individuals by eliminating personal societal and institutional barriers to sustained recovery from substance misuse we actively practice harm reduction strategies that embrace all Pathways to Recovery through connections with direct peer support services from persons with lived experience we reduce stigmas associated with surviving an addiction one person and one family member at a time we currently operate a respit house in Clear Water a respit house for those of you who may not know is a place where those seeking recovery who may fall through the uh Critical Care uh web they can come and get Services before they're actually admitted to a treatment facility we provide food and clothing and shelter for them we help them get IDs if they need it and we help them on their way to recovery I'm happy to let you know that we've just opened a resit house in Newport Richie as of last Monday it's a 13-bed facility we're in the process of PCH purchasing a van so that we can get folks back and forth across the county to services that they need I also want to let you know that we're having a grand opening on Friday April the 4th at 1M and I will be following up this meeting with invitations to each of you to attend that um we're looking forward to it and I wanted to thank you very much for your support of our endeavors in your community thank you very much I'm sorry Kathy Pon has stepped out she she didn't hear any of these can you put uh can you put one of your brochur over there on that table where there's an empty seat over there all right thank you so much is there anyone else online that wishes to speak to us today we don't have anyone but we have one more signed up inside and that is Brenda brri good morning Commissioners my apology I have allergies uh the purpose of my appearance of I'm Brenda bradrick I live at 1041 alism Court Port Richie 34668 thank you we uh my community is in an unincorporated area we do not have a city mayor and I don't believe we have a community advocate and the purpose of my appearance today is to discuss the needs for progress in the revitalization project that's promised to our community Miss Mr Mariano is not here he's our County Commissioner however I still feel the need to bring this to the board um again uh in keeping track of the promise so I'm here on behalf of my community uh the blight and conditions continue what what is the area of your is there a name for your community I live in Jasmine Lakes Jasmine Lakes yes and it's just east of Highway 19 around a circle where day Springs Academy is yeah it used to be our club clubhous uh the blighton conditions continue the water pollution in the pond this is a retention Pond where all the veins of other collectors flow into it's full of algae recently we had 40 plus dead fish foul smell lack of oxygenation in the

water to support the ecology balance we do have in the water 5B wide mouth bass mullet Gators ducks and endangered species the swan Al Ator snapping turtle recently a 30 lb snapping turtle approached my walkway to discuss the low oxygen problems in the lake unfortunately it had a bloom of algae all over it the end the embankments are collapsing and water flooding onto our property killing our plants grass and trees it's it's a csy this is a cyclic event I have lived in this community for 24 years planting Shoreline plants will not resolve this problem the fountain there is a Triad fountain that has been there since the development of this community back in the 60s or so and this Fountain had three uh cascading tiers with lights it does not have a meter where the main pump house is and this has stopped working after a flood that we had when the HOA maintenance agreement with the county ended the fountain never was restored to its original uh working condition and this should have reverted back to the county this is actually County responsibility this is County property and it's highly used by the public we walk our dogs people fish in the pond and so I feel that this Fountain and the problem with it not working ating the water is the responsibility of the county and it has been abandoned for over a decade now and I've constantly asked in meetings with Mr Mariana when can we get this resolved so the life cycle is continuous with algae phosphates and growth and until we have irration this will not be broken so I'm here to plead please restore the fountain into working condition so we can aate the water we are reminded that these social determinants of Health are the community image The Pride the interest the focus on environmental and health change a lot of discussion decades longer on this problem have taken place please do something about this stop allowing County department thank thank you I think you've reached your three minutes and I'm I'm sorry commissioner Mariana is not here but I asked for some of his staff to come out but they have not um Eric would it be Eric okay um if you don't mind um going in the back we'll have one of our AAS come uh speak with you you our engineer thank you Commissioners have a fantastic day you too y you too and I know Jack's brought this up I just don't remember if it's our ours or responsibility of Jasmine Lakes whether their HOA is falling apart they still have responsibilities okay is that is that it for who signed up yes that's all we have signed up is there anyone else here this morning who wishes to speak to the County Commission okay seeing that we will uh close public comment and we will now go on to resolutions resolution number 25128 a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida declaring March 3rd to the 7th 2025 as newspaper and education week in

Pasco County and commending the Tampa Bay times for its participation in this program whereas newspaper and education week an initiative of the American Press Institute is an international program that encourages the use of the daily newspaper as an instructional instructional classroom tool and is celebrated annually during the First full school week in March and whereas for more than half a century the Tampa Bay Times newspaper in education program has served Tampa Bay Educators students and families by providing print and digital newspapers award-winning original educational Publications teacher guides lesson plans Ed educator workshops and many more resources at no cost to schools teachers or families 10 million e newspaper licenses and almost 200,000 print copies of the Tampa Bay Times to classrooms across Tampa Bay and serve 756 teachers of 449 schools in Citrus Hernando Hillsboro manate pelis and Pasco counties and whereas in 2023 2024 newspaper and education provided 36,6 184 print copies and 198,50 180 digital licenses to 83 teachers in 36 Pasco County schools and whereas research shows that students using newspaper as an educational research score more highly on standardized test develop the habit of lifelong reading and are more likely to become engaged citizens and regular voters and whereas incorporating the times into classroom instruction on a regular basis help students develop daily reading habits that they will carry throughout their lives and whereas studying today's critical issues events and people help students understand the past and see a role for themselves in the future now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that said board hereby declares March 3rd through the 7th 2025 as newspaper and education week in Pasco County and commends the Tampa Bay times for its participation in this program done in resolved in regular session with the Quorum president voting this 25th day of February 2025 can I get a motion so move and a second second all in favor I um good morning and uh welcome some some may not know that actually my my husband's great-grandfather William strob purchased the denan times I think it was called D denen times and took it to St Pete and started the St Pete Times way back in the early 1900s and it was a an evening evening paper and I know he said his um grandmother blanch strob starky um used to help uh Del them they'd roll them up at night and take them around to houses in St Pete and deliver them so we we have a long history with the times and um I personally I read it every day I don't always agree with everything that's in it but but I do read it every day and I I uh wish um wish that you stay around for a long time so I know it's a tough time for the news for print media so welcome here this morning and we're glad that you're here thank you thank you on

behalf of the Tampa Bay Times myself Terry Williamson um we thank you for your support in helping our children grow that's it yep okay I'm make it short and easy for you I wrote anyway so I I know when I was on the school board um this was a big deal all the all the schools get Co copies of the paper and you know teaches kids about Civics and um I think it's important anyone else have anything to say yeah I just wanted to say um I worked at Irv high school for 10 years and we got the newspaper delivered and um the kids would flip through it and pick something to write about and it was just very educational and um I think nowadays you know they don't watch the news they don't go on their you know to see the news um on their phones so it was a really useful tool so thank you that's why we also have the E additions yeah that's how I get it yeah I I I remember once years ago my do my daughter told me she got all our news from The Weather Channel I'm sure that's changed now but I'm like really okay let's come down and take a photo we're train [Applause] okay what's rs2 uh resolution number 25129 resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida declaring the month of March as Irish American heritage month not I guess it's not our procurement but I think it's supposed to be our procurement procure well I'm going by the numbers on the resolution is there someone here for the Irish I've got it I've got it I'm just going by the resolution number it's Irish procurement day well what I tell you what since you're halfway up and back down resolution number 25131 a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida declaring the month of March as National procurement month in Pasco County whereas the public procurement profession plays a significant role in the efficiency and effectiveness of both government and business and whereas in addition to the purchase of goods services procur curement adds value to the organization by performing functions such as executing implementing and administering contracts developing procurement strategies and cultivating working relationships with suppliers and other departments within Pasco County and whereas public procurement professionals at the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners and in other public and private organizations have tremendous influence on economic conditions in the United States with millions of dollars of accumulative purchasing power and whereas the purchasing department at the Pasco County border of County Commissioners is committed to providing High Caliber strategic Lo logistical and Operational Support of all departments within Pasco County and whereas in 2024 the purchasing department at the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners received the achievement of excellence

and procurement award from the national procurement Institute and the award for excellence in public procurement from the Florida Association of public procurement officials and whereas the purchasing department at the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners recognizes supports and practices the public procurement values and guiding principles of accountability ethics impartiality professionalism service and transparency established by The Institute for public procurement as fundamental tenants of the public purchasing profession and whereas the Institute for public procurement has proclaimed the month of March as National procurement month to further expand the awareness of procurement professionals roles to government officials the Press public businesses and corporate leaders now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida that Sid board hereby declares the month of March as public procurement month in Pasco County and urges all Pasco County Citizens to join in recognizing the role of the procurement profession within business industry and government that I resolved in regular session with a quum president voting this 25th day of February 2025 move approval all in favor I okay mrle oh I'm I'm not sure there's any Irish in this group but that we cover that other one too so but no thank you for the job that you do as a team um and the leadership you give so it really means a lot to our citizens that we spend their money the proper way and by saving money you're doing it the right way so certainly appreciate all that you do and every item you go through to make sure it's done the right way and our citizen we take real care of our citizens tax dollars and what it means to us so we're U we're the overseers of that so it's very very important that you spend the right way so it can go further than it may may otherwise by choosing the wrong way to do it but certainly appreciate each and every one of you for what you do so thank you thank you commiss commissioner Jagger well I know firsthand that you guys try and keep when you bid things out um the money in Pasco County so that is great and I appreciate that and I'm sure all of our citizens appreciate that and just everything you go through to make sure there's good quality best pricing you buy from Pasco County if possible so thank you very much and great job thank you CH woman yeah you know you guys it's a tough job tedious as tedious can be and striking the balance um and being what's the most effective use for our taxpayer dollar and then making sure that business you're working with has a has a nice working experience with the county that way they'll come back and we have competition for you know the work that needs to be done so I understand that that's a tough day sometimes for all of you but thank you for what you do and hanging tough and striking that balance and um Mr Brighton bot I guess might want to follow up on that

maybe yeah on spot wait well and I I too want to thank you for your work and dedication to the citizens of Pasco County and the good work they you do so uh do we all want to come down take a photo actually I'd like to say something and maybe Carri would like to say something too I just you know again I want to Echo the sentiment to the board you guys ensure you know accountability and fairness when it comes to expending public funds and so so it's appreciative you know as commissioner waitman kind of you're probably not always the most popular people in the room sometimes but I will say that with our core value of innovation I've always found that through my time here at Pasco County our our procurement office has generally been pretty open-minded to try to find ways to streamline things too because efficiency is also also part of the deal and you guys do a very good job of of helping us weave and and color within the lines and so uh and and that that I it's truly appreciated I know you guys have got a lot of certifications and have won a lot of awards and so we're just happy to have you on this team and so thank you Carrie thank you Kim and the team here for what you guys do every day and yes thank you so much from the team myself um we appreciate all the support and to commissioner joerger's Point um local is very important to us we're actually holding our second annual how to do business with Pasco County Event next Monday to um educate the local vendors on how to work with us so we're expecting a very large crowd there and and where do you where do you hold that that's at the Wesley Chapel Recreation Complex from 2: to 4: on Monday okay and the banner is on our website if people need more information they can find it there okay well I'll make sure we send that out in my newsletters wonderful yes ma'am and we can provide you with the flyer if you'd like yes Madam chair if you would y'all will stand up here there's quite a few of them so we probably picture and thank you so much you come in a little thank [Applause] you happen when I'm chair so okay um RS3 one of them we're doing it yeah we'll do this one now yeah and Jack's not here so I will uh hand this one out unless we have an Irish member sitting up here Oakley are you Irish is that English what what's your heritage do what now what's your heritage are you are you it's 23 in me right now so okay I'll do it now resolution number 25129 a resolution by the board of County commissioners of Pasco County Florida declaring the month of March as Irish American Heritage Month in Pasco County whereas by 1776 nearly 300,000 Irish Nationals had immigrated to the American colonies and played a critical role in America's war for independence and five signers of the Declaration of Independence were of

Irish descent three signers were Irish born and 23 presidents have proudly proclaimed their Irish American Heritage and whereas the Irish first CA first came to Spanish La Florida in the 1500s first as missionaries and mercenary soldiers and then as planters Traders businessmen doctors and as administrators and three of the Spanish governors of La Florida were Irish Military Officers and Irish born priest Father Richard Arthur was appointed uh Parish priest for St Augustine in 1597 and E clasical judge of La Florida and established the first public school in America and open it to boys and girls of all Races and whereas Irish forign Commodore John Barry fought the last battle of the American Revolution off the coast of Florida and was recognized by the United States Congress in September of 2002 as the first flag officer of the United States Navy and whereas in 1792 Irish born James H hobin provided the architectural plans for the White House and served as one of the supervising Architects for the construction of the capital and whereas in 1813 Captain Oliver Perry an Irish American received a major Naval victory in the Battle of Lake Erie and whereas future President Andrew Jackson whose family came from County uh entrum served as Florida's military Governor following its acquisition by the United States and whereas in 1942 the five Sullivan Brothers made the UL ultimate sacrifice for democracy and freedom during the naval battle of of guad canal and later had the Destroyer USS the Sullivans commissioned in their memory and whereas Irish Americans since the America's Inception had provided and continued to provide leadership and service to this nation's political business and religious establishments and it is fitting and proper to celebrate the rich cultural heritage and the many valuable contributions of Irish Americans now therefore be resolved by the border C commissioners of Pasco County Florida the said board hereby declares the month of March as Irish American Heritage Month in recognition of the long history of Irish American contributions to the State of Florida and Pasco County done and resolved in regular session with the Quorum president voting this 25th day of February 2025 approval second all in favor I I is there anyone here where's JJ Murphy you got scar is there anyone here to accept this one Chief's Irish big part of the fire department I don't know well guilts and bag pipes and all yeah all Irish people stand up we got one um come on come on um come on down together fellas come on down I mean you know I think this is the first time that we've done this I don't remember ever hearing this here you're okay how are you Irish tell us my last name was garby yeah okay there you go grandfather's side on your grandfather's side Kathy you too my um my grandmother was born in Ireland and my grandfather was born in Sweden oh wow

Scotland sorry Scotland Scotland Scotland well I I just think that that has so many interesting facts in here it's crazy um and I you know I I think that when uh when these five Sullivan Brothers died they made a rule after that right that you couldn't have family all serving like that um but gosh that that it was very interesting I don't know who asked us to sponsor this commission Mariano isn't here but um when of y'all you know you want to say anything ay just did yeah yeah I think honestly if we did a if we did genealogy we probably would all be included and and every is out here right now so it's just you know recognition of one great part of of all who we are so yeah one big Melting Pot one big melting yes ma'am we're just a big mix so good good timing since March is coming too yeah I guess that's why we did this St Patrick's Day yeah all right so um I guess we we won't take a picture we'll just hand this back to Jack he probably is supposed to give it to someone but thank you all for sharing your Irish heritage with us and now we will move on to the consent agenda I believe is that correct well that was different yeah Jack can look back on that on that sometime and uh okay so um we have a pull sheet I'm going to look for it there it is okay we have one pulled off commissioner wait C7 wow is there anything else coming off the consent agenda today okay seeing nothing I'll take a motion for to approve the consent to Jenna minus C7 second all in favor I I all right commissioner waitman see thank you madam chair you should have known this was coming commissioner jger wasn't here I don't know if she would if youve been briefed on history so the county receives Surplus property through tax tees and whatnot and sometimes the county invests taxpayer funds in them and all sorts so there's a there's an expense and principally and philosophically I disagree we were selling them for a dollar I'm glad to see it's for sale for $10 today a property for sale for $10 versus fair market value to the taxpayer even at fair market value with or whatever the reimbursement back to the county is to make the county tax paay hole is is what I still think it should be and um you know I don't mind selling these properties at all sale rate but this rate is just not justifiable in my mind and so I won't be supporting it staying consistent with my arguments in the past and um you know so that's just that's the reason why I pulled it selling property taxpayer assets for a dollar or $10 is wrong in my opinion thank you okay you want to explain uh the process and the property please yes ma'am so this uh consistent with the decision that the board made a little over a year ago uh we were uh proposing to uh after much discussion with individual board members uh we were proposing a $1,000 minimum uh the board ultimately decided in a 3-2 vote to

reduce that to a nominal fee uh as we worked with the county attorney's office that nominal fee ultimately was turned into a $10 transaction um let let let let him give us present so this Colfax Drive location is sheeted to the county and there just so you can get a perspective of where this is that's State Road 52 and us19 are the two main uh thorough fars there you can see the conditions from 2011 to 2024 it's been an overgrown uh lot this is the lot it or this is the partial it consists of two lots uh 50 by 127 in size no taxes were paid on the on this parcel since 2006 which has uh resulted in 25 $5,000 Plus in Lost Revenue to the county just based on the vacant land uh taxation rates if it was developed could be even more it is sheet to the county in 2019 in 2018 um and a sheet is a legal process where no taxes are paid it goes through a legal process at the clerk's office and then is ultimately presented initially by the clerk's office for public sale right no one bids on it and if no one bids on it then it a sheets it reverts back to the county um so we then become the custodian of this property uh what we have also looked at the current appraised value is 26,000 $993 and that's for the vacant land according to the property appraiser again this is one parcel it's 100 by2 100 ft by 127 ft but actually two lots um and so the county expenses from 2009 due to code violations property cleanups and other activities there was an old shed that was on the property that was demolished uh just to remove uh blight and uh other in other concerns in the neighborhood $4,125 197 so as you can see almost $30,000 of expenses in either direct expenses or lost Revenue uh have occurred at this property so what does the future look like for this property Well Community Development when we when this uh property became aware that uh the county wanted to dispose of this property we go through our property or our Surplus and disposition notification Community Development um identified this as a potential reuse for Community Development housing project Tampa Bay Neighborhood Housing Services was uh was one of the the organizations that Community Development partnered with to look at this property and as they really dug into it they could build two approximately 1, 1600t houses three bedroom two bath one car garage houses on this property the estimated value of those new homes will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 to $250,000 this uh then would U be considered approximately $1,500 to $2,500 in taxable value value per year per house so what we've done is take a loss that we were looking at annually of about $1,500 a year and turn that into

Revenue generation of approximately $4,000 a year give or take um going forward by partnering with this and disposing of this and allowing Tampa Bay Neighborhood Housing Services to build these um these homes for Pasco County residents there are reversionary Clause as we've discussed in the previous uh within 3 years construction must take place or it reverts back to the County's ownership um and then once the uh Tampa Bay Neighborhood Housing Services builds these homes the they will be given to Pasco Pasco residents who have been Pasco residents for at least three years they're not give it to them they they they'll yeah they'll they'll be into the program yes with the low low inage and they age there's yep affordability restrictions here's an idea of what that uh similar type homes that uh this organization has uh completed in the past you can see a small three-bedroom two bath house um you know that uh can be no Landscaping we have to well in the front again this is this is from another location you know they'll have to meet our codes and our standards in this County but this is like just to give you a flavor of what we're talking about doing for this project here so that is the and it is consistent with our with our stated not only state statute um but also our County Surplus policies and procedures okay um so uh does anyone besides me have some comments because I mean I'm I'm for selling the property at you know for $10 if it's going to a nonprofit um you know we lean on those nonprofits the county does we partner with them so I think you know that's our way of you know help giving them support so and these these Lots um I have quite a few now in my district they sit vacant and then people start living on them and trashing them and dumping on them and so one we get these Lots you know back into um a good use and stops all that trans activity but it also starts lifting up neighborhoods when they get new homes on it increases the value around it increases the um the uh investment that other homeowners might make so you know we don't get very many of these um but when we do I I'm very much in support of getting them back out into these Community Builders and and back having income coming back into the county yeah and one other thing I it's important too that this is home ownership we're not having you know a rental property in there where people can trash it you know um yeah I'm all for it commissioner Oakley okay well we need a motion then to approve C7 motion to approve C7 second all in favor I nay okay all right thank you very much so gosh ripping right through we are at um so we're going to take we're going to take one of our RS up in the afternoon since commissioner Mariano is at the phsc so we will take up um the confirmation of code compliance director good morning chair board members David Allen assistant County Administrator for development services um I'm pleased to introduce um our um recommendation for our new code

compliance director is Denise Anderson um she has over 15 years of leadership in local government uh most recently at the city of um St Pete Beach U where she was a community devel interim community development director and then prior to that um about 13 years of experience with the city of clearw um she started her career in the Florida area working with Pasco County Economic Development and she um is really excited to to um continue to contribute to the community and I believe that she would be a fantastic fit for our team uh particularly because her values align with ours and supporting the mission and vision in the direction that we want to go in Pasco County so um with that I'd like to turn it over to um Miss um Sanderson to uh provide just a couple of brief words and then following that I would uh recommend um that her approval of confirmation as a code compliance director thank you thank you David good morning Den good morning how are you I'm good good welcome welcome back thank you madam chair it's a pleasure to be back I've as David said I've spent many years in pellis county and it's good to be home this has always felt like home I grew up on a dairy farm in Upstate New York and this community really resonates with me it's certainly changed a lot since I last worked here um but my time at Pasco ADC gave me a great opportunity to get to know the community as it was then and so I'm very much looking forward to working working in the community working with all of you working with the team I had the opportunity to meet some of them this morning and I'm excited to get going so thank you very much well um you have a a big job ahead of you and uh I I am uh a big user of the code enforcement opportunities so I know we'll be working well together already have a list for you what she's doing now what she's doing now is giving you believe I have an email address just yet but I'm so sorry commissioner I said what she's giving you now is a warning of where you going get some but no we glad we're glad to have you uh come into Pasco County and be a part of the code and do the job we know you know what to do so very look very forward for you starting and um coming a part of our employee family so thank you Denise if I remember when you went to Clear Water one of the things you were doing was put you put in those midblock Crossings and those Refuge isn't that right on along the gulf bow didn't you work on those I did not know I I when I went to Pasco County it was to lead their Economic Development effort Implement Economic Development strategic plan and and was promoted um in 2016 to lead the uh within that department to be director overseeing affordable housing community development and so um have a great deal of experience working with um homelessness I led the city's homeless Initiative for eight years in that organization and so I have a great deal of experience I understand the conflicts that arise with with sprawl and growth and so I'm looking forward to working with um not only with my team but across

the entire organization to address problems that um we see in our communities um from time to time and and those that also are sustained over time that need to be addressed awesome I think you're going to be a great fit for us so I look forward to working with you and so we're going to need a motion yes I make a motion to approve I'll second all in favor I opposed wonderful welcome Denise thank you very much welcome [Applause] aboard okay I guess we are on to uh commissioner items then 28 28 we got one more oh another another good morning Kathy Pearson assistant County Administrator Public Services before I introduce Mr Chuck Lane I just want to publicly thank Marcy esberg uh for our current community development director in the many years and her team has done some amazing projects throughout this County and as you all know she's moving on to move with the team that's going to be doing the new Community Development Dr program uh under County Administration so Marcy thank you um I'm pleased to announce that we have a fellow Bostonian too just want wanted to let you know that part of his U agreement so Mr Chuck lane or Charles Lane he is currently working for Pasco County he was the project manager under Public Works and prior to that him and Denise were number one and two and the City of Clear Water for eight years so Denise being the director and Chuck being the assistant director so I think we hit the gold mine between the two of them because I think they're going to bring some fantastic ideas and I couldn't be more excited about having them both join Pasco County and with that I'll let Chuck say a few words and hopefully with due respect that we will respectfully ask you to confirm him uh thank you Kathy uh I'd like to congratulate you on a great hire to my good friend dennie Sanderson she will be fantastic um and I'd also like to extend my congratulations to Mary she's done a great job in this organization she built a great team I've met the whole team I'm looking forward to working with them I understand Community Development and housing issues very well I'm looking forward to rolling up my sleeves working with that team and and bring some uh some help to our Pasco County residents Havey to take any questions you might have for me um I don't know if you noticed swiftmud in his resume there what what since we have some former governing board members and I was on the PA Basin board um what was your experience at swift man I worked for FR musman uh in the land resources department yeah Eric suon I remember you very well Mr O chair I'm member Fritz and Eric um well uh we're very excited that you are joining us also what a what a great resume that you have as well I think these are two really good hires for the county I Echo what you've all said about Marcy um but thankfully we haven't lost Marcy she's just going to have another uh exciting challenge for the next few years so um uh good job County Administrator on some great hires and yeah and I would entertain some

motions well U I would say uh Chuck that uh you were very right when you said Marcy had done a great job for the county and she has and with that I mean uh looking forward to what you're going to do for us where it's hard to improve when when you got the best you're replacing but we look for you to improve that so yes sir but very proud that you're here with us and make the motion that we accept you in this position thank you sir I need a second I'll second it all in favor I oppos okay welcome all right so we will do r29 um in the afternoon and we will move on to commissioner items with commissioner Oakley I thought we were done me fin do you have any um and you might um so that we went out to um nice to the Public Public Schools in the picture you see there is at the c f their their High School constru and this was the what you call that I guess it's the topping out of of this this building and we there had a nice barbecue lunch and got to visit with everyone but very nice it'll actually uh next year when it's done it will um house the first ninth grade of of academic Farm high school and then each year thereafter We'll add a class and it'll hold um four classes 9th 9th 10th 11th and 12th uh in the future and it's already built to to house the four grades so but very good day and very very important that we uh celebrate these so uh let's see I believe oh this is the um seem like there's more and more schools coming in this is the academy ATL leges very nice project the project that holds um I think it's PR kindergart right on up to uh 12 years old I believe the kids are but you know more and more businesses we build in Pasco County the more and more there is a need for families to have a place to take their kids to and go to school that's not right in the busy part of the world but yet close to where their jobs are so this one's in our County in land Lakes area very nice School very look forward to uh it coming up very quickly so and let's see what else we got all right is there anything from Tampa Bay Water um no it was it was a fairly quiet meeting yesterday we uh we got out actually around 11:00 so which is a very short meeting Tampa Bay water so most time it's you're at least noon getting out of there but everything seem to be in order and uh looking forward to things coming in the future with Tampa Bay water and and what we do to uh protect ourselves against having no water we have plenty of water and got projects coming in the future that will add to that uh the thoughts of maybe a Reservoir in the future another Reservoir and then actually um there's possibility of uh diesal going to brackish water wells near near the coast they'll make desel water

cheaper and than it is today and it's it's easier to clean because it's the brackish well there's no trash and all in it's just salt and it'll be cheaper water to make it out of these these Wells that'll come in diesel rather than bringing all the trash in we had to have uh cleaning of of that water before we could treat it and take the salt out so which was very costly in the future that won't happen um the fact of it is is uh things are are recovering pretty well after the storms and uh they they've really done a good job in protecting our water supply as we went through all the storm so so how much longer does uh the Howard Kern get to dump into the to the bay that's got to be ending here pretty soon you're talking about well I think it's two or three years I believe before it ends um I've actually welcomed the the thought of maybe some of that reclaim water coming to Pasco County because uh every four houses that we build only it'll produce only rean water for water in yards for only one house out of four so it's it's very well um well who's going to pay for the pipe to here we can't we can't get enough reclaimed water to to cover all the houses that won't reclaim water we're having that issue right now so and D David Adams aware of all this and so anything you want to add yeah uh chair starky the they have have until 2032 um under the SP sp64 requirements to stop the um or terminate discharge to the Bay Tampa B okay so they still have but I've opened the door several times of asking them uh if they could get away to send it to Pasco we could use that water for our different citizens homes yeah and there's a need every time we turn around there's somebody upset about the fact they can't get enough reclaimed water to water their yards but with that we we got I don't have many much rain we got here yesterday but it was very needed and it was a very good rain it actually uh probably most have soaked in didn't run off like like a lot of rain so and you had a fair coming up no we had a Fair ending oh it ended ended on Sunday oh wow very good Fair very well attended um some of the guys told me that Wilton won't let me buy pigs for for him anymore since I bought tooo many so but uh he was okay last night but he hadn't seen the bill yet so he he wasn't available he had forgot to check that week off his calendar and he was away he couldn't be there so he gave me the task of buying for him so but ever said I I mean I left the I left the building during two purchases that he and I both bought I wasn't even in the building and and he and I were part of the buying of those are these pigs to eat or pigs to raise they could be eat they could be eaten or they're giv back actually they had a new program at the fair where we give it back to uh Florida for feeding Florida and very good program a lot of pigs were donated back just for feeding Florida so that that made a go use for people of need yeah and and and they did that also with the

steer steer sell also yeah so it's the first time I I bought a steer from a long time ago first time I bought one having it cut and wrapped but um my father andlaw I always bought one it was U I got to see the sheet on the uh grade of the animal which is choice and thought that'd be a good animal to uh buy to put in the freezer so yeah and Rachel Rachel mson we all know Rachel mson I know I know Kathy does but she had a very good good project she uh did very good in it and I asked her if she would eat steaks from Johnny Cash she named it John Cash she told me she would so I'm waiting to see so I'm not sure that'll happen but that's all I have and you um we also had the comat festival right well that's that was several weeks ago that several weeks ago but it went far as I know it went very well also so well um I I'll I'll tell you this when and I'll do now instead of during my TDC update um you know Saddlebrook sits on the tourism Council and um he had never heard of the C the new general manager right I I don't remember his title uh had never heard of the kumquat pie and so we um we have suggested to him I'm going to call Mr Goody that and they're going to jump on it that they're going to serve that come quat pie to events in at Saddlebrook so um very unique to this area and so it's something they can easily put on their menu there so I thought what a good relationship between the kumquat growers in D City and S yeah right be good so okay commissioner wait well commissioner o was ins insinuating is he makes one heck of a beef tenderloin and so he'll be hosting a luncheon at the office here what's that cow's wrap right have to get that steering you know my hearing AG I think the battery just went out so uh kicked off today want to congratulate Dr Chessie piser phsc at is invester yeah uh so he's the fifth president of phsc here in Pasco and Hernando counties and um phsc is growing with our County and they're just such an integral part of our DNA I just wanted to recognize them this morning and congratulations to Dr piser and and his staff and in the in the college um next so last week we had so crickets growing in Pasco County and we had the fourth annual President's Cup uh west of Chapel District park which there historically host the event and it's growing every year and this year we had uh seven teams one from Connecticut Cleveland New Jersey Arkansas South Carolina North Carolina and then we had uh the Orlando stars and the Tampa Tigers come in and play over the weekend and so they're growing you know obviously um Keith and his team are trying to manage all the diversity of sport that's come here to the sports coast and uh these guys are eager and it's just a growing unique sport within the Pasco County and greater Tampa Bay Community very much like cck like um pickle ball you know they have their their own worlds in their demands and so it's an interesting bunch of folks that come and travel and

and stay here so congratulations to those guys and look forward to to next year it looks like that was a beautiful day oh it's Chamber of Commerce day look at that it was nice day in short sleeves yeah cool but but not not not that cool next up so we had um a wait yeah we go the uh they gave me a kids bat um you know that thing can double you know like the old school school days um those CRI those crig bats have could have multiple uses on them yeah but look at our field it's looks like it's getting a little overused well that's they are overused that's not good right there got to look at some maintenance for our ramps since you brought it up wow that is not good there's no what is that a soccer field it's a yeah it's multi-use field where's the grass it's all around as you can tell that's where soccer starts soccer season in full swing okay all right next okay so then we have so uh EDC so EDC has their um had our annual meeting and they're starting to kick off their list of events and so the grow Pasco events coming up that'll be Thursday March 20th at St Leo there'll be 15 sessions and some 30 different businesses that will come to that event and um so they're just you know getting the word out there and it's open and more businesses that come and network and spend the day uh getting to know one another there was something else I forgot we had I believe we had the uh Employee Appreciation Day two weeks ago yep I wasn't here for that yeah but it went very well very well out of town I think we fixed food for 3,000 people I believe and I don't know the exact number on that but they had 700 meals they packed in in boxes and sent out so it very well attended where did you do it was that Cruz Lake no Wesley Chapel Park District Park oh it it worked very well in West Chapel Park actually I was my park for a while until y'all got more people in your districts and so they divided up and took a little my land away from it you're still the largest I am still the largest don't forget it and then and then we had our transportation meeting but I guess if chair starky you want to talk about it but it was a nice kind of conversation uh when you look at regionalism and transportation with the 54 and 41 uh potential improvements that are coming on the pipeline but I'll wait and we can commissioner star can we can jump into it can can share so they looking so the the the one fall and it was nice to have perspective from Whit from pelis who's their playing director and their no guy and others in the one piece that was discussed it was a great Point having other Commissioners from other counties so when the intersection is going to be whatever it's going to be if it's a if it's a fly over a 54 over 41 The Pedestrian portion of the project there's I don't I couldn't understand if

there wasn't enough R of way there there's not one and so there's got to be a way to at least get the most basic level of foot traffic across because there's train there and everything else and I personally think that if there's a pedestrian component to the project it's got to be on the south side because a great point was raised if you're coming out of the shopping plaza or any of the shopping plaza uh like where Big Lots is and whatnot in the gas St at 54 and 41 on the northeast side drivers aren't paying attention to pedestrians they're looking their eyes are focused on finding the Gap in traffic and jumping out in the road to get to where they're going to go across four six Lanes whatever it is and that was a really good point that was made So based on that point we we kind of collectively agreed I understood it that having pedestrian opportunities on both sides of that intersection were probably not the best move uh design of it because of the commercial opportunities on the north side of the road because when you're coming down you still have Wendy's and you have no other places you have the beefs and other Plaza just where benedetto used to be so I'm kind of thinking that the boards leaning if we figure out I guess we're with DOT on how to get some level of of sidewalk we need an overpass we need a on on the south side but you know I'll let Comm digress to commissioner starky on her her opinions on it it was a great dialogue and appreciated the other folks there from other parts of the world really taking a look at it um and understanding the need for that intersection and the improvements that need to come that way we can give people some more time in their life and not stuck behind the steering wheel I I just think that they should be planning a pedestrian um or cycling component or multimodal whatever over 41 as well as the cars number one number two they did the the um you know there's a four lane I think it's two lanes in either direction but there's there's no uh space if we ever add some kind of Transit um to go over so I think that's shortsighted as well so even if it's just a 10 12T blank median in between the two lanes we we should go ahead and account for something in the future because a county that's growing as fast and we went over the numbers there um in the area County that's growing as fast as ours and only having two East West Roads I guess we could kind of count half a County Line Road maybe one day we'll start counting that one as well but we're going to need you know it's not for us it's in the future um we're going to need some Transit options and we should be building that overpass and not taking something more growth in my opinion into account so yeah that overpass is going to be I mean there's no red lights anymore so if you're going

east and west you're just rolling right right over it so there's no traffic stopping mechanisms for people so if they're wanting to figure out how to way to cross North and South they're going to be taking their lives into their own hands they're if they get anywhere near there so just a piece for us to think about um but I I I think it's time to make a decision that my statement of done is better than perfect we've been trying to how long y'all been we don't have M on this that's the problem they have $33 million right 30 30 or 22 22 $30 million uh of $200 million worth of acquisition so we we just have to board with support reporting letters um but we're going to need we're going to need fed help on that one to El to bring it sooner rather than later and um it is part of the CIS system so it's part of the evacuation route for the Tampa Bay area and the number one priority when you look at our Pro the regional priorities for an improvement and um it's pretty sad it's the number one priority and there's no funding so yeah so thanks for bringing that up yeah and I I think we continue to um have Regional support for the mer the mo merger discussion um we um did not have a Hillsboro commissioner present at the meeting um but uh the Hillsboro County TPO voted in favor of continuing and moving towards a regional solution overriding some views of the Hillsboro and Tampa City Council positions say like that okay Comm okay okay so we visited the volunteer way that was isn't that amazing it's amazing so um the gentleman in the bottom picture is Lester he founded the volunteer way so those are all of his plants out there so they have banana trees they have you you name it they have every fruit and vegetable out there that they grow um their chickens their fresh eggs when we were there people were shopping and picking their um their fresh fruits and vegetables and they feed about 23 families a month which is absolutely amazing I think it's more than that 23 families no 23,000 okay you said 23 yeah oh yeah no 23,000 and um they have their their um other location off of Moon Lake and they are looking to expand there so next slide please commissioner jger do you know on their Moon Lake um at their Moon Lake site do they also grow do they have a farm they we need we need them to do more Farms we got to figure that out oh it was amazing yeah so beautiful and so relaxing out there it was Chile so this was a really um this was the warrior award presentation and so Captain Shader Christmas Eve this mom walked into the fire station with her children and she was in a very dangerous situation and she went to the fire station and she did not even have car seats to transport her children so um Captain Shader organized this along with his his team was amazing and they got car seats for the mom and they also provided uh an entire Christmas for her

so that was just in he went over above and beyond but du thanks to him um they are safe and they had a Christmas and um it was just very sad that they were in a scary situation so it was an honor to be there and the helmet is really cool so all right next slide okay so throughout the month of February our office did random acts of love so we popped up places and people didn't know when we were coming so um we did a popup Pantry in Moon Lake so that's always great we feed anywhere from 100 to 250 families when we go out there so next slide and this was our random act of love this was at the fire station they did not know we were coming which was really cool so our theme was let's Taco about how amazing you are so um they enjoyed that and um I got a tour and um it was really interesting I encourage all of you you know go visit the different fire stations this particular fire station um at shift change they have 18 firefighters there but they only have two bathrooms so and the showers are with the bathroom so if somebody showering so just you know when we think of their needs and things like that that that stood out to me but um they have three Bays there they have the tool truck which one is this one this one was 39 I was there for like an hour and a half it was it was it was really great they were great and where is 39 I don't remember that was in Sun Lake Sunlake yep all right next slide and this was um our senior Center they did not know we were coming so we decorated the tables we brought prizes and goodies and we played Bingo and let me tell you Bingo's very serious so um you have to make sure that you uh call those numbers properly um all right so they had a great time they were all clapping when we left so um this was the sheriff's office so we gave them breakfast sandwiches and I I just requested a dog and they brought three dogs so we brought dog treats for the for the kin so that was that was the best part all right next slide that's it okay boy that was it all right and for the area of Aging um they had lost some funding so they are trying to Rally the delegation you know for Tallahassee to see if we can get some of that um funding back they get roughly about a th calls a week so that is a lot of calls for their for their small staff they're small but super efficient um they went over their diapers for dignity program where people can donate um items for the seniors and that has been working great so if any of you have any items you want to donate let me know and um that's all I have thank you can you get a list out to what they're looking for absolutely right all right I think County Administrator thank you ma'am uh just a couple of quick things item n83 on your agenda actually I'm formally withdrawing that which one uh n83 but it doesn't change what's been done and I want to take a second to explain what n83 was about it um as as part of the immigration um

status here uh you know in the state and in the country uh we had been waiting for quite some time to get become 287g compliant as it as it's as it's called and basically what that does is allows us to cooperate with immigration officials there's there's two different flavors of it but it had been sitting uh literally in the previous administration's offices for years when we took over the uh the corrections facility uh so now under new Administration there's a push at state level to have all of the jails within the State of Florida uh move towards us so we jumped at the opportunity I went ahead and executed in agreement it'll be coming back to you as a consent item to ratify that decision I I don't think that there' be any any um negative discourse on on on doing thate but you can you can get them to do a approv ratifying consent your sign signatures on 83 and right now and would certainly love that and and I can have wants more in depth about what it was but but well I can you have you have you have executed the documents in because of the time constraints um we traditionally do is bring that back as an is to get the board to approve ratify and confirm the administrator taking that action on your behalf and I I just want to add if you guys don't know what 287g that allows the um Sheriff's Office to go into the jails and re and remove those um illegal I actually have Chief Jen since we have a couple of minutes if you like I can have Chief Jenkins come up and explain real quick you are you wanting to vote on this now you can bring it we can or I can bring it back as a consent item what's done is done so but if you want to hear from Chief that's and you said n87 n83 so what I would like is a is a motion to ratify and affirm my execution of the agreement with um I would rather get it done now and not wait I'll second I'm online I'm online and it stops at 84 on the agenda packet online just just want to be sure that's ac84 it's n83 for noted items oh n83 okay n83 I thought someone said n87 okay commission is that motion yes I I make a motion for you to be allowed do that second all in favor I all do you want to speak I know absolutely chief chief Stacy Jenkins Pasco Corrections um just uh very very briefly um um back in 2017 the the jail became a jail enforcement model under 287g uh which meant we had officers that were trained by um Department of Homeland Security ice and a four-week class up in I believe it was North Carolina and those officers went through that training we had a database placed within the county jail where we would interview any form National to determine um their their immigration status um so we would conduct the interviews we would actually initiate the detainers at that point in time during the trans transition from the Sheriff's Office to County operations initially we attempted to assume the same agreement by the County Administrator um the the jail with

immigration unfortunately immigration came back and said we could not just reassign those duties that an entire new contract or agreement had to be in place so that agreement has been sitting in Washington DC since uh Mr uh carbella as the assistant County Administrator signed that back in August of 2022 um and it has been sitting in in Washington um currently we are in the middle of the jail expansion to get the computer system in there there along with the uh uh really the Manpower that it will take to to operate this program uh we decided to go with the warrant service agreement uh program which is compliant with the 287g it's just an abbreviated program uh where we are accepting those detainers we're not initiating them but we're accepting them and providing all the same services and compliance uh with the governor's uh request and with uh dhs's request and the um folks that went up and got that training are they still with us or do we need to send people up again so some people have um changed um through the through the state and the sheriff's Association we provided a group of names this morning uh it's due by tomorrow a group of officers that we can retrain uh that was provided along with all the waivers that they requested it was provided this morning okay and just last question we will be completely compliant by April first or did that is is it going to be sooner um it will likely be sooner all the training has to be provided by DHS okay uh so we're waiting for them to provide dates uh to send individuals to training uh we are currently honoring all the detainers that come through um so the the jail when they get a detainer we contact uh Mr H with the county attorney's office he reviews them and ensures that there's nothing missing within that detainer and then we we do Curr honor them but we are not within a program we don't have anou which is required thank you okay any other questions okay thank you you're welcome thank you how's our jail coming by the way we're getting there the uh they're painting um in the in the new building um so yeah we're we're excited to get in that um but there is a lot of remodeling to do in the in the current space Also okay Andrew stepping up here we have Andrew give one minute upate yeah give us a one minute update yeah quick quick one minute update Andrew Baxter Facilities Management director um phase one of the jail project jail Expansion Project will be completed by uh the end of this summer and so that is the major expansion that you see phase two will then be the connection and the renovation of a portion of the existing jail and so that will be another about 18 months project one phase one is complet okay but that's where we're looking right now and things are really coming along in Phase One and getting close to close to opening so later this summer any questions up in jail got your stop pick all right thank you I and and testament to to the Chief and HR and our recruiting efforts we are we are adding

Corrections Officers to our uh to our employee roster so we should be in good position to staff it when it opens uh the only other thing I wanted to mention you may have noticed is coming in uh our go Pasco team is is outside uh Kathy I don't know if you want to say a couple of words about what it is they're doing there Cath Caron assistant County ad Ministry of public service so go Pasco is out taking surveys so trying to catch as many of our citizens as we can to find out what we're lacking what we can do better and they got lots of goodies out there too so uh anybody listening they'll be there till noon time and they will again be at the date City uh board the County Commission meeting and I'm going to put you on the spot um and ask you a question I understand if you don't have the numbers but how are we looking at our hope Pasco with our displaced um residents so we just met last week with Mr carbella we have a plan we are about at 50 uh people out there right now displaced or homeless 50 they the displaced still displaced we have not transitioned to a different plan but we will be meeting with you very soon with that plan so uh right now they're occupying I think it was like 30 something units about 50 36 36 units about 50 folks so and what about at the uh family L they're pretty much full so the family um at youth Lane is pretty full okay okay all right thank you that's all ma'am thank you who who do I go to next me okay County attorney I was going to do n83 but the administrator has covered it so thank you well uh let me ask you something I like I said I usually try and read the paper and I only heard heard it anecdotally but are we getting some kind of Doge requirements from our governor that we are going to need to respond to what what so I don't know if Ralph is here I know the governor signed an executive order yesterday which covered uh Doge type activities across the state but to include sort of the way I read it was a deskt audit of of local governments so of course you know we you know here in Pasco County our our office of of Performance Management has for almost a decade uh really been using private priv private practice principles such as lean Six Sigma in in all of our departments to ensure not only you know not only cost efficiency but but really in terms of service delivery uh to our customers because I know we can talk about cost and we talk about cost and efficiency as sort of being one of the same thing but I also look at terms of of value and are we providing value to our citizens and and quite honestly that that group has operated for well over a decade we have four or five Six Sigma Black belts a lot of green belts in the organization a lot of yellow belts it it falls within our culture of innovation that that we try to push here but not withstanding uh you know Ralph maybe you can talk to the particulars of what the executive order had so as you mentioned he had the press conference and he and he rolled out an executive order of what his uh he envisions generally he's created a new Doge task force modeled after Federal

efforts to reduce government waste he will eliminate over 70 boards and commit missions deemed redundant and ineffective a push to further reduce spending despite population growth and inflation a continued focused on tax relief uh including the elimination of Florida's unique tax on business rent efforts to read uh to use artificial intelligence for auditing State contracts and eliminating ideological spending specifically for local government local government spending the governor stated that while Florida state government has reduced spending many local governments have increased their budgets and imposed higher property taxes homeowners are overburdened due to the rising property tax assessment particularly affecting seniors or on fixed incomes he suggested Florida could shift uh more tax burden to visitors and seasonal residents rather than relying on our permanent homeowners local government audits Doge task force will review County and Municipal spending using public available records the governor is requesting legisl of power for the task force to enforce audits at the local level that way a bill would not have to be introduced um the way he envisions this this would go um last for over a year March 26 I think it it would go out um the task force would be done uh legislative action to improve local government transparency he is pushing for laws that would force local governments to comply with audits by the state's efficiency task force so he would have to implement that discuss the task force would also use AI technology to detect wasteful spending local government spendings on Dei and other programs the governor noted that at the state level diversity equity and inclusion programs have been eliminated may still uh be funding similar initiatives under different names at the local level so he wants to do away with those he emphasized that AI auditing tools will be used to flag contracts that continue Dei related spending under new labels infrastructure and local Services the state has been accelerating infrastructure projects to keep up keep up with the population growth in tourism and he suggested that local governments need to be more efficient uh in their own infrastructure spending so that's basically the gist of it uh our attorneys have the uh executive order is under one pager it will be uh now we have to see what uh bills are filed to uh to give him that Authority with the uh task force uh with the local level um we're also you know session uh opens up next week um we have several bills uh out there that have been uh filed um again willling away uh local government uh a couple interesting ones dealing with our our ADV valorum uh a study to uh do away with Ador uh that was something the governor would like to see on ballot uh in the next election have we bonded our do we Bond our ad yes well that okay so so just keep in mind those are those are we but I think at the end of the day you know we'd be ready to comply with that I think we do enough already uh and

we could be proud of where our county is U but I'm sure there are some other local governments that that he's trying to Target but I think as we move forward we should be fine so you know we a number of years ago voted to or agreed to bring in the auditor General's office over at the clerk so we and this is kind of for some of our newer board members they not every County does that um but we we chose to do that and um it's just for us though so not I don't think they go into our constitutionals um but I would imagine that this look and ask for accountability is to all government a agencies and so just at least we we you know we can show we audit ourselves I think so we probably have some good data um here with our office and I'm I'm sure our our constitutionals will comply with that we coming down the pike um okay and we don't have a Dei program here so we're we're good there okay you um we have directly from uh from clerk Alvarez HS but I would just comment that there's currently all the constitutionals are currently audited and the comprehensive audit each and every year yeah but that's part of the comprehensive audit but I think we we go in much deeper than the others you have more you have the auditor general has set up an annual plan to go in and do assisted um for management reasons uh at board level but this is over and above the comprehensive audit that all constitutional officers go through yeah in detail each and every year yeah that's that's the equivalent of what we would call a typical Financial audit and so that's making sure that everything is accounted for appropriately what what we do at our level I think commissioner star is you know we'll look at hotpots in the organization we'll look at areas that you know can you know are we are we adhering to our part are we adhering to our own procedures and our own policies and are those procedures and policies best practices and recognize and so that's that audit plan is developed every year in conjunction with our various departments and the clerk's office we've had them come in you know we've we've looked at our Building Services Group we've we've done stuff with utilities so over the course of many years uh it's it's part of the culture of of continuous Improvement yeah I mean I think when we find you know we're a big organization we handle lots of money lots of programs and it's good to have a fresh set of eyes to make sure we're we're doing everything right and they've we found where we could do things better and we fixed those so we we appreciate that look no doubt okay um is that it for you did you uh marry a bunch of people on Valentine's Day at the clerk's office um we I believe um uh Nicky had 24 I believe 24 couples on the courthouse steps on Val time very good okay so now we're on to me um so we did our very first um Mr Oakley left but we did our very first bard of County Commissioners Farm share uh in the holiday area and I want to thank all the

staff that came out and helped um distribute the food and um and thank you to farm share for helping us the next one is March and it's in commissioner Oakley's District I don't have the date and he's left he's I don't he's left for the day or St but someone can get us a date for commissioner Oakley's we'll all get some notices um told it's February 19th I'm sorry March 19th March 19th okay um I had my Harbor South leadership council meeting and um thanks for all the staff that attended um I don't there we have some pictures so Marcy um JP of course you know we had a lot of flood and uh FEMA questions and so we're we're grateful that he um um was there and uh we get a lot of really good feedback um a lot more people came in after we started so we had quite a few communities represented there um I particip participated again in literacy week and I read to the VPK class uh in Trinity Elementary so that was that was pretty awesome those kids are are really wonderful um I also attended the governor's lunch and commissioner Oakley also attended um at the fair and um and there's our own Wilton simpon sitting there so um great event and uh um were you there did you go you no ma' no okay um let's see what else uh we had the growing Global event so we thank you uh Mr carala for coming um we held this on a freezing day and affect our attendance we had half of our people who registered didn't show up um uh our our International tourism and economic development day um at starky market and actually made some really good connections there the head uh of Florida for the Florida US Department of Commerce was there and um really I'm going to be following up with him on a number of things um speaking down here on the bottom left is again our Stevie who is our County employee who went to Germany for 3 weeks the the uh the money for the tickets for this event um are going to help fund that program and we have some raffle baskets that you're all going to get an email uh to participate if you'd like I think that uh I don't think I have the information on how much the tickets are but they're very cheap and the baskets are worth $450 to $800 a basket so think we have four baskets and um really a shout out to Lisa pzy for helping us get a lot of the items for those baskets and my staff they did a great job um is there anything else I should say about that so and we are working on sending two more County Employees over and receiving two from gersin um this is the starky TLC Outdoor Adventures expo at starky cultural center and that gentleman's speaking as an Army Ranger who was wounded um in his tour Duty he and uh the woman speaking at the mic is from the wildlife Corridor Foundation we had a packed room and they uh they showed a film that they had made with three uh veterans who who traversed part of the wildlife quor was called it's called o too so Cal National Forest to the Ola National Forest I think it was and um they biked and hiked and kayaked and rode horses and and um just

a beautiful film I think you can get it you can see it on YouTube they won a a award for this film and it highlights uh part of the Gap in the National in the Florida Wildlife Corridor so I I tell you Lane Smith's doing a great job over there and there are all kinds of lectures and things going on at the at the TLC that is amazing um that you should try and go look and see what's offered there um they have an event coming up with uh that with the gentleman who has the museum over here at Wendel Ken and it's sold out already so I I I want to go tour with you and Kathy and Mike Go tour his Museum uh he needs a much bigger space um this morning we went and did the ribbon cutting at the elfer senior center um that uh opened again on December 9th of 2024 they since since we reopened they've already served 1300 meals in dece December um see what else oh and that gentleman cutting the ribbon used to go to high school there yes so instead of me cutting ribbon I asked for him to cut the ribbon he went to school there back when um oh interesting I went and looked up the history of alers and um it was uh founded by a woman named Bailey like Bailey's Bluff and someone with the name of Eland e i l a n d so how old is that family in the county yeah so and here they were over over here in ERS and ERS was briefly Incorporated in the 1920s I think from 1920 1930 something so um and he was saying that they got Federal money to build that that school when they were an incorporated city so that was interesting the roads around it are Fallen apart so we're going to look at that and um okay lastly my TDC uh update our revenues are way up and sadly it's because so many people stayed in our hotels during the hurricane so it's an it's an anomaly um but we are up uh 67% from last year at this time um but we know we know that that's not going to um last uh we did a fam tour with eight uh travel advisers that came in uh from the Northeast uh we also had a fam uh kumquat fam tour so we had some people writing about the Kung quat Festival um we had a very big hockey tournament we had 34 hockey teams come in from around the country um and a reminder that the tourism banquet is uh May 22nd 2025 at Saddlebrook our speaker is Tony dunie and I think that um we are just about sold out so if you don't have your tickets you can buy you can participate in our raffle and and our raffle from the tourism um tourism Council has two tickets to the to the dinner at Saddlebrook so with that we are going to break and we will be back after not not for nothing yeah I love Tony dunie but if y'all could somehow recruit Chuck Norris that could be a legendary a legendary night I'm just saying we had Titus O'Neal Titus good guy Chuck Chuck Norris I think Chuck nor does he live around here I don't know where he lives but he might be worth it I mean he's CH just makes tourism Revenue it just happen

he does it he he brings it down we can start there you go Mike you know that's not the world I run around in the one that Mr Norris you know is is he a wrestler what is he what does he do actor he's an actor but wasn't he in a board of some sort exercise black belt you name it I mean Walker Texas Ranger I mean all right well we're going to stick you on that one you get here worth a Google all right word your h [Music] F and other storm drains are meant for clean rainwater most if you suspect an illicit discharge please contact Pasco County Department of Public Works at 72783 43611 here in Florida we're no stranger to rain and Pasco County Public Works wants to show you how we're working to improve drainage along your roads our crews work hard to keep your roads in great shape and you'll notice after a heavy rain we often see ponding or standing water on the road that doesn't easily drain away ponding can be a problem for a couple reasons most importantly it can be a safety issue because when you drive through standing water you can start to hydroplane and lose control so why does ponding happen in most cases it's because the shoulder doesn't slope away from the road so the water doesn't have anywhere else to go Pasco crews are always on the lookout for these problem areas and have a relatively easy way to fix them most Pascal roads that have water ponding problems have a sod curb where the Grass Grows Right up next to the road our crews use this machine called a grater to shave off about 3 ft of sod running along the road this creates a slope allowing water to run away from the road our crews also use a loader to scoop debris and a sweeper to clean the work site then finishing touches are added like new saw or stone to prevent the fresh soil from washing away and just like that ponding is gone and you're roads are protected this easy cost-effective fix doesn't alter the rights of way or affect your property in any way thanks for watching and please visit my paso. to learn more about how Pasco is working for [Music] you hi I'm Hans with Pasco County Public Works you'd be surprised with what ends up in our storm water inlets besides the occasional Gator we find mattresses bicycles even shoes how does it all get here more on that later first it's time to clean up and clear out over time storm water inlets get clogged with sand leaves and grass clippings natural things but also cans plastic bottles and other trash our team clears all that debris so storm water can drain properly to better SE what we're dealing with our storm water asset management team has a special camera on [Music] Wheels the camera goes where we can checking storm water pipes for anything that might block the water flow the

camera also helps us check the condition of the storm water pipes to see if repairs are needed and that's important because Pasco has more than 347 M of storm water pipes and more than 177,000 storm water inlets once we analyze the video the operation team shows up to blast water into the storm water pipes and vacuum up any debris then we truck it all away with clean storm water pipes cleaner water is now flowing into our ponds rivers and lakes and some of that water eventually flows into the Gulf of Mexico clean stormw inlets also prevent flooding which means safer properties and less damage for everyone so now you can see why dumping anything into a storm water inlet or altering a storm water structure is not only illegal but harmful don't dump grass clippings fertilizer chemicals paint basically anything that affects water quality in the environment Pasco has a waste drop off site in Spring Hill that's open every day except Sundays so bring your household hazardous waste here instead you'll avoid a hefty fine for dumping in the storm water drains we want to protect your family and your property from flooding and we want to keep our natural resources as pollution free as possible and you can do your part too we hope you learned a little about how we're serving our community and if you see a clog storm dream please let us know at my paso. or by calling 7278472411 [Music]

[Applause] [Music] Sharon uses Pasco County public transportation just about every day she can it saves my life actually because I'm not a person to stay home she rides the bus system to go to the doctor shopping and even into pelis County I've had a couple bus drivers say you get around pcpt continu to grow expanding service with new buses and new routes West Pasco is a big town middle pasco's Rural and East Pasco is small Urban which presents totally different Transportation difficulties and challenges but our drivers and the team overcome those challenges on a daily basis to make sure our customers get where they need to go on time and safely from professionals to retirees pcpt buses are for everyone sit there use our free Wi-Fi look at your phone get some work done call somebody or just sit there and read a book and leave the drive into us cuz we'll get you where you need to go nice how you feeling okay good I like your purse pcpt also provides special services for those who need a little extra help with the PA of transit buses the service is good because it's be reliable Alana Newman gets doorto door service to pasco's senior service elderly nutrition program they just seem like they have a good time and and they they do enjoy the service no matter where you are headed frequent writers say it doesn't take long to get the hang of things you'll learn where those buses go and then you can learn where to connect and and if you don't know a bus driver ask a bus driver the bus drivers are always um helping me [Applause] [Music] welcome to Pasco County the fastest growing County in the Tampa Bay Area the Pasco Board of County Commissioners is a high performing organization with 2700 employees representing 57 lines of business serving nearly 600,000 people over 740 square miles and we're always looking for talented people to join our team this is your opportunity to help make your community a better place to live work and play if you're ready to be part of a great success story consider a career with Pasco County Government recently recognized as a top workplace for 2021 opportunities include careers in utilities Public Works traffic operations Solid Waste Animal Services public transportation Information Technology libraries Parks Human Services Recreation and Natural Resources Administration Senior Services Fire Rescue 911 Fleet building construction services code enforcement planning environmental science and so much more plus our benefits package is tough to beat we offer employee wellness centers Health vision and dental benefits paid holidays and tuition reimbursement just to name a few we are local government reimagined we're Progressive Innovative and in many areas Pasco County is leading the way want to learn more about what we do and how you can be part of it visit my paso. and

click on job and volunteer opportunities our team is more than 2700 strong your neighbors friends and even family members [Music] come join Pasco County and make a difference every day [Music]

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