MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

April 1, 2008

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in regular session on April 1, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. in the Government Center Commission Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were:  Chairman Truman Scarborough,  Commissioners Chuck Nelson, Helen Voltz, Mary Bolin, and Jackie Colon, County Manager Peggy Busacca, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

The Invocation was given by Reverend Michael A. Farrell, Divine Mercy Church, Merritt Island, Florida.

 

 

Commissioner Helen Voltz led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to approve the Minutes of the November 8, 2007 Special Meeting, the January 8, 2008 Regular Meeting, and the February 7, 2008 Zoning Meeting.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Voltz read aloud a resolution proclaiming April 16, 2008 as National Start! Walking Day. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to adopt Resolution proclaiming April 16, 2008 as National Start! Walking Day, to get Americans to become more physically active.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Commissioner Voltz presented the Resolution to Eileen Bentley.  Eileen Bentley, representing Wuesthoff Health Systems, thanked the Board for joining the fight against heart disease; and advised that Wuesthoff is the local sponsor of the American Heart Association’s Start movement.  She stated in 2006 Wuesthoff initiated a wellness program; they strive to provide personal and professional care of the utmost care; and by taking care of the employees, they may continue to do the mission.  She stated because of the wellness program she stands before the Board today 65 pounds lighter and more than 42 inches smaller with lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure, which significantly lowers her risk of heart disease; and through exercise and healthier eating she is prolonging her life.  She stated through Start! companies can begin seeing the same results in their employees, creating  healthier workforce
and decreased cost.  She invited everyone to join on April 16, 2008 at the Rockledge or Melbourne locations for Start Walking at Work Day, beginning at noon. 

 

Sonia Rivera, Regional Director of the American Heart Association, thanked the Board for helping get this information out to the public; and stated it is important.  She stated they are saving lives every day by encouraging healthy living and active lifestyles.  She stated they encourage people to make this commitment every day, not just April 16; and they have an ambitious goal that on April 16 they want to log one million miles and one million dollars.  She stated everyone can help with that mission by logging on to www.startwithamillion.com.  She stated anyone needing more information can reach her at 255-3557.     

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson read aloud a resolution recognizing the week of April 13 through April 19, 2008 as National Telecommunications Week. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt Resolution declaring the week of April 13 through April 19, 2008 as Public Safety Telecommunicators Week and commending all telecommunicators for their dedication to duty, professionalism, and commitment to saving lives, property, and the prevention of crime in Brevard County.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson presented the Resolution to Mr. Sellers.  Information Technology Director Jon Sellers stated some of the key telecommunication personnel could not be present today to accept the Resolution, so he will accept it for them; and everyone appreciates the sacrifice, hours, and professionalism it takes to have a key role in saving people’s lives in Brevard County.   

 

    

 

Chairman Scarborough stated what Randy Hunt has done is much more than can be expressed in a resolution; Mims was a divided community; that was leading to a split over whether to incorporate or not; and because it was going in so many directions, they opted not to proceed with incorporation but keep the area in the County.  He stated when Mr. Hunt entered that environment it was a divided community with many different factions; and commented on the different housing and social patterns in the area.  He stated Mr. Hunt was able to communicate with all of the groups; and at the last meeting, the Board saw the results when everybody was agreeing that it was good.  He expressed appreciation to Mr. Hunt.

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt Resolution recognizing Roger Alexander “Randy” Hunt as he prepares to leave Brevard County to continue his public service in the State of Wyoming.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough inquired where Mr. Hunt is moving to; with Randy Hunt responding it would be hard to imagine a place more different; but he will be Planning Manager for the City of Laramie, Wyoming, which is at a 7,100-foot elevation and far from any body of water. 

 

Chairman Scarborough presented the Resolution to Mr. Hunt. 

 

Commissioner Nelson expressed appreciation to Mr. Hunt; and advised of his help with two small area studies in Merritt Island. 

 

Mr. Hunt expressed appreciation to the Board; and stated he is more comfortable talking about work than personalities.  He stated it does not get any better than Brevard County, and he has been glad to be a part of it.

 

Commissioner Voltz advised after a winter in Wyoming Mr. Hunt may want to come back to Brevard County. 

 

Commissioner Colon expressed appreciation to Mr. Hunt; and stated the Board received many compliments from people from Mims, and that was because of Mr. Hunt’s patience and understanding.  She stated Mr. Hunt is a role model for how government is supposed to work; and she knows Ms. Sobrino will miss him.  

 

Commissioner Voltz stated Mr. Hunt has only been with the County for a couple of years; and for the Board to give a Resolution to someone who has only been here a short time really says a lot.  She stated normally the Board honors people who have been with the County 25 or 30 years; and the Board is very appreciative of all that Mr. Hunt has done.  

 

 

 

Commissioner Colon read aloud a resolution recognizing April 16 through April 18, 2008 as VSA Art Days. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Colon, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt Resolution recognizing April 16 through April 18, 2008 as VSA Art Days.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Commissioner Colon presented the Resolution to a representative of VSA. 

 

A representative of VSA advised it is now Vision Strength and Arts Activities; it is no longer Very Special Arts; but 20 years ago VSA was brought to the County.  She stated they are proud of the education, arts activities both in school and out, and the culminating day at the zoo.  She stated they also have to recognize the Brevard County Schools for allowing VSA in the school system.  She stated they are proud to accept the Resolution. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the Board will be recognizing Ray Mojica and Randy Durand of the Barrier Island Center.  He stated he had a chance to visit the Barrier Island Center in the South Beaches, and he knows Commissioner Voltz has also been down there; it is a spectacular place; and it is getting ready for opening.  He stated there has been a tremendous amount of work; and the facility will be opening in May.  Mr. Mojica advised it will open on May 10, 2008.  Commissioner Nelson stated he thought it would be appropriate to give some recognition in advance of the opening; and Mr. Mojica will also introduce a video so people will know what they will get a chance to see on May 10, 2008. 

 

Ray Mojica introduced EEL Program Director Mike Knight, EEL Construction Manager Randy Durand, Naturalist Grace Foley, Assistant Land Manager for the South Beaches Nicole Perna, Maintenance Tech Jim Roland, and Land Management Tech Roland Verduyn.  He advised the remaining staff is at the facility beginning to install the exhibits; and it is a very exciting time.  He stated the Center partnered with the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, which will run the gift shop; they received two grants in the neighborhood of $50,000 to develop the videos; and the first one, which he will show, is an orientation to the Center and the South Beach region including some of the trails.  He invited the Commissioners to come to the Center; and stated he would be happy to give them a tour.  He displayed the orientation video. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the Board has had a great desire to have public access to EEL properties; and the Barrier Island Center is going to provide that.  He thanked Mr. Mojica; stated it has not always been easy as they went through the process; the original plan was to renovate Chuck’s Steakhouse, but that did not work out; and they went in a different direction.  He stated in the end, it has been worthwhile; he appreciates Mr. Mojica’s perseverance; and his staff has done a great job.  He stated he looks forward to being there on May 10.  Commissioner Nelson presented the Resolution to Mr. Mojica.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated anyone who has not been to the Center should take a trip down; it is beautiful; and they have done a phenomenal job. 

 

Commissioner Colon commented on taking her family to view the sea turtles laying their eggs, keeping the old Florida feeling in the community, and environmental education.  She thanked staff for protecting Brevard County; and stated the public wanted access to the EEL properties. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated the video was excellent; and it motivates people to physically do the walk and see the sites. 

 

 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca requested Item VIII.E.1, Citizen Request – Richard LeAndro, Re:  Commission Vote, be deleted from the Agenda.  She stated Mr. LeAndro has met with staff and is satisfied with the information that he was provided, so he will not be appearing.

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated prior to the meeting he and Ms. Busacca spoke about getting briefings by Lobbyist John Thrasher and Government Relations Manager Leigh Holt.  County Manager Peggy Busacca stated they are trying to see if their schedules will allow them to call in today; and if not, she will bring it up at the end of the meeting. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated all the Commissioners saw the new numbers; and he does not think anyone fully understands the ramifications but he is looking forward to getting more information. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she went to Tallahassee for the Florida Association of Counties Conference, and had an opportunity to see several of the legislators; and Leigh Holt is being worked to death.  She stated there are a lot of new aides in Tallahassee; there is a new legislator; and Ms. Holt is spending a great deal of her time training them.  She stated not only is Ms. Holt doing the Board’s work, but she is also doing the training; and it is far beyond what the Board expected of her, so the Board needs to recognize that. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated while the Board has Lobbyist John Thrasher, he has multiple clients; and having Ms. Holt in Tallahassee assists tremendously.  He stated if it gets to be such that Ms. Holt is in a predicament, there may be someone on staff who could be quickly acclimated to go up and assist; and he knows staff is needed in Brevard County, but by the same token it is critical to be in tune in Tallahassee.  Commissioner Voltz stated Ms. Holt provides a lot of information on bills that are coming through.  Chairman Scarborough stated many things are happening. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Bolin introduced Tom Szuba, representing the Space Coast United Soccer Club; and stated it is the largest soccer club in Brevard County and the sixth largest in the State.  She stated Mr. Szuba will be talking to the Board about the match between the Florida State Ladies Seminoles and the University of Central Florida Ladies Knights, to bring awareness to the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Florida.    

 

Tom Szuba stated he also represents the Brevard Youth Soccer League, which are all the soccer players in the County.  He advised a year ago in March his wife Chris was diagnosed with ovarian cancer; she passed away on November 29, 2007; and complimented the Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies and the Fire Medics who responded to his house at that time.  He stated they were very professional; and it was like having John Wayne and Mother Teresa in the house at the same time.  He stated Space Coast United Soccer Club is a partner with Parks and Recreation; this is the second event they have done together; and advised of the Tops Festival for physically and mentally challenged kids who came from Cape Coral, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Boca Raton.  He stated his wife was one of the original founders of the equestrian center at
Wickham Park as well as being one of the original ten founders of what is now the Brevard Zoo; and she was very involved with the soccer club and as a volunteer at Johnson Junior High School.  Mr. Szuba stated Jeff Whitehead and some of the other Parks and Recreation staff who knew his wife wanted to do something on her behalf; and explained how they came up with inviting the Florida State and UCF teams to come to Brevard County to play for the benefit of the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Florida, Space Coast.  He stated the Florida State and UCF coaches wanted to come because the best soccer for women comes out of Brevard County; four Brevard County girls are on their way to Florida State and two are on their way to UCF; so the coaches are coming to Brevard County for good will and also some payback because the County sends a lot of good players to their teams.  He stated the event will be on April 12, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.; it will be a nice community event; Parks and Recreation is helping with bleachers for the expected 800 to 1,000 people; and Viera High School is opening its locker rooms for the teams use.  He noted this will be a long day for Florida State coming all the way from Tallahassee to do this; there will be no charge to attend; but the women from the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Florida will have buckets if anyone wishes to make a donation.  He stated this will bring awareness to the group; and invited everyone to attend.  He reiterated it will be a wonderful event and is becoming a big deal in the soccer community; last weekend the opening rounds of competitive soccer started at Palm Bay Regional Park; and the head coach from the University of Florida Becky Burleigh told him to put them on the agenda for next year and she would get another team to come and play so they will be making this an annual event in recognition of women who are suffering from ovarian cancer.  He noted whenever they have soccer events people from other areas of the State comment on the fields as they have nothing like this; Brevard County is fortunate to have Palm Bay Regional Park and Viera Regional Park; and none of them have even seen what is going on at the north end of Merritt Island with the new field that is going up there.  He stated the County is very fortunate; and expressed appreciation to the citizens for providing the facilities. 

 

Commissioner Bolin requested Mr. Szuba announce the time and date again; with Mr. Szuba advising the game will be Saturday, April 12, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at Viera Regional Park.

 

Jeff Whitehead of Parks and Recreation stated it is an honor to be associated with the event; and requested everyone attend. 

 

Commissioner Nelson thanked Mr. Szuba for his effort.  Commissioner Colon thanked Mr. Szuba for keeping his wife’s legacy alive; and stated she contributed much to the community. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she is proud to say they are going to break down on the Senior Center at Wickham Park on Friday, April 4, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.; this started in the 1990’s; and it is finally being done.  She stated they are going to celebrate in the theme of the fabulous 50’s; there will be root beer floats, poodle skirts, Cracker Jacks, and MoonPies; and it will be at the BCC Melbourne Campus at Wickham Park.  She invited everyone to attend.  She stated Commissioner Jackie Colon will be there because she also has been working on this for a long time.

 

 

 

Commissioner Colon stated she had an exciting weekend; West Melbourne worked hard for 15 years to make the groundbreaking possible; and the community was very patient.  She expressed appreciation to staff and many others who made the project possible; and thanked her Aide Rob Medina for sitting through hundreds of hours of meetings.  She expressed appreciation to Parks and Recreation Director Don Lusk regarding the Senior Center; and stated it was one of the first things she worked on because the Senior Center was in her District.  She stated there were a lot of meetings; and when they met with the seniors, they had a huge challenge ahead of them.  She stated it started in downtown Melbourne; when they tried to figure out where to locate the Center, they looked at putting it in District 3 at the Melbourne Airport; but Friday they will make it a reality.  She stated it was quite a challenge because it seemed like the senior center was not going to go into any district; and finally Commissioner Carlson allowed them to work a deal with Wickham Park, so it left District 5 and they are going to put it at Wickham Park.  She stated at that point it did not matter where it went; it was a matter of getting it done; and it was incredible cooperation.  She commented on the patience of the citizens; and stated the project took almost eight years, but it is now going to be a reality. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Colon congratulated the Dance Team of Bayside High School for being national champions; stated it was a tremendous competition nationally; and the Board is extremely proud of the team. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Colon stated April 24, 2008 will be the Crime Prevention Workshop; Sheriff Jack Parker will be her Co-Chair; they will be there to talk about what the municipalities, Sheriff’s Department, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement are doing; and there will be representation from the Attorney General’s office. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Colon requested Item III.B.5, Resolution, Re:  Parks And Recreation Department Establishing Rules And Use Policy And Schedule Of Fees, be removed from the Consent Agenda for discussion.   

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough distributed a printout of what appeared in the Florida TODAY this morning; and stated yesterday it was released that there would be a reduction of approximately 6,400 jobs at Kennedy Space Center, which is more than the previous highest estimate of 5,000.  He stated some years ago the EDC took the 5,000 loss of jobs and estimated a $1.5 billion negative impact on the County.  He stated there was a hurricane that ripped through the Yucatan that did $1.5 billion in damage; and it would be like having that hurricane rip through Brevard County annually.  Chairman Scarborough stated $1.5 billion is an underestimate now because the figure is going to be higher; and he would like to ask for the economic impact with the new figure.  He stated many people have made comments that it is not going to be like the end of the Apollo Program; but that is a subject of debate.  He distributed additional paperwork; stated it was on the news wire this morning that the United Bank of Switzerland has doubled its losses from sub-prime to $37 billion; and he will talk a little about the relevance of that.  He stated the Bear Stearns loss was $3.2 billion; last week the news was loaded with information about Bear Stearns because the Federal Reserve along with J.P. Morgan Chase Bank saved them; but there are entities outside the United States that are very much involved in the sub-prime issue.  He stated the Deutsche Bank, which is the largest bank in Germany, has also written on 2.5 billion euros, which is approximately $4 billion; the Clerk of Courts has all the foreclosures on his website and going down, one will find that the Deutsche Bank is doing as many foreclosures as any American Bank in Brevard County; and the question is what all this means.  He stated the money is moving internationally; there are international collapses that could occur outside the controls of this nation; and commented on China, reserves, and negative impact.  He stated while they may be looking at an event in Brevard County that is less than what occurred with the end of the Apollo Program, it is occurring when there is a construction industry collapse; and with the financial industry collapsing, it is hard to believe there is going to be a lot of money flowing in the economy in a healthy way.  He stated he read that retirees are now the fastest borrowing group in the country; previously they thought that was not a problem; the Board is going to be doing some workshops on retirees; and that is because retirees are finding a loss of their retirement through their investments and also through return on investments being reduced.  He stated they are walking into a problem on the Space Coast at the same time the nation is facing a financial crisis; and the point is they are not looking at Apollo because it did not occur in the terrible times that they are facing now.  He stated the Board needs to do all it possibly can; the Board adopted a Resolution about the need to be in space with a manned program and the significance of that; and Congressman Dave Weldon thinks the Board needs to go to all the Commissions throughout the State and have them write to their individual Congressmen.  He stated if he writes to his Congressman, it is not the same thing as the Tampa Commission Chairman writing to the Congressman from Tampa; and he would like the Board’s permission to send letters to all the Commissioners in the State explaining the situation. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if Chairman Scarborough would write to all the Chairmen of the Commissioners; with Chairman Scarborough responding he is going to write to all the Commissioners.  Chairman Scarborough stated he knows that is a large number; but maybe the Chairman of a Commission might not be interested in the issue, but another Commissioner might be; and with the Board’s permission, he is going to write to all of them. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize Chairman Scarborough to send letters to all Commissioners in the State of Florida concerning support of the Space Program.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve requesting an additional analysis by the EDC concerning the economic impact of the loss of the larger number of jobs.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired about the press conference today.  Chairman Scarborough stated Ms. Busacca said it would be at 1:00 p.m. but he thought he read on NASA Watch that it would be at 2:00 p.m.; and inquired if staff has confirmed the time; with County Manager Peggy Busacca responding no, but they will.  Chairman Scarborough stated there is going to be an additional dissemination of information; and everybody needs to understand that when Senator Bill Nelson had his committee meeting on February 27, 2008 there were questions to NASA Director Mike Griffiths about different centers; and Kennedy Space Center is the one that is going to be impacted by the largest measure.  He stated KSC is critical in maintaining the capacity for man to go into space; and that is important for two reasons.  He stated if they have to go through the Russians, they will have to sacrifice some of their principles because Iran sells nuclear components to Iran, which is contrary to U.S. law and would have to be waived; and secondly, the Russians are difficult to deal with.  He stated certain things mutate and grow faster in space; they brought back salmonella that was stronger; and the idea is this may lead to vaccines.  He stated at the same time the $100 billion American asset is denied, it is denying access to Americans to the investment at the same time, so it becomes economically important.  He stated it would be tragic; and those are some of the things he would like to share with the other Commissioners in the State. 

 

Commissioner Colon stated one of the things that the folks in Washington, D.C. made clear was not to preach to the choir; and that is why Chairman Scarborough’s suggestion is such a wonderful move because it would be grass roots.  She suggested taking it one step further and making sure that the delegation of each County is also backing it; and commented on support and cooperation of Congressional Delegations being the reason why Alabama, Texas, and Louisiana have been so successful.  She stated in Florida it seems the ones that have been the voice have been from Central Florida; there is support from Congressmen Weldon and Feeney; and Senator Mel Martinez said that Brevard County would have to be its own marketing firm and be as aggressive as possible.  She stated that is going to be the County’s message; they have been to Washington, D.C. time and time again with the EDC; but they need to get the support of the Governor’s office so Senators Nelson and Martinez and the Governor will all be echoing the same thing.  She stated they have the numbers; she does not know why anyone is alarmed about the numbers because two years ago she clearly recalls sending out letters with the numbers; and it was 6,000 directly affected jobs and 10,000 indirectly affected, not even counting Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami who are going to be affected with the subcontractors.  She stated it is not a Brevard County issue; Brevard County needs to make sure it brings that message home to everyone in the State of Florida; and it is not just Brevard County in this dilemma, but the entire State and the nation.  She stated this is a huge step in the right direction; it is a lot of work; she has done it; and her staff definitely does not miss her being the Chair because there is a certain responsibility.  She stated her office did a mass mailing to all elected officials to invite them to last year’s summit, specifically in regard to the NASA issue; and it is a great deal of work.  She volunteered to help Chairman Scarborough’s office with the undertaking; and stated it is huge because they are talking about every single County Commissioner in the State of Florida and also every Delegation.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated when she was in Tallahassee last week, Senator Mel Martinez had an opportunity to speak before the Legislature for 15 minutes and never once mentioned space; and she was very disappointed that he did not mention space.  She stated she and Leigh Holt watched the presentation in Representative Altman’s office; and later they talked to Senator Bill Posey who said he would be meeting with Senator Martinez later in the day and was going to bring it up because every opportunity should be taken to talk about space issues.   

 

Commissioner Colon stated she was not at that meeting, but she can forward letters from Senator Mel Martinez and Senator Bill Nelson concerning how active they are in regard to the space issue; and she does not think it is a representation of Senator Martinez just because he spoke at one meeting.  She stated even at last week’s meeting John Newstreet was able to give the commitment from Senator Mel Martinez; and it goes back to making sure that Brevard County is able to champion.  She stated a U.S. Senator has priorities and looks at it in a totally different broad view; and it is the County’s job locally to make sure it brings that message home.  She stated that was one of the things that Senator Mel Martinez made perfectly clear at Tiger Bay a few months ago, that the County has to be the one championing the cause because nobody else will do it for the County; and he and Senator Bill Nelson are huge champions of NASA. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she does not want to add more work, but inquired if the Board is going to be sending letters to all of the Commissioners throughout the State does it also need to send letters to all of the Legislators in all of the different areas of the State.  Commissioner Colon stated that is what she just mentioned.  Commissioner Bolin stated she would like to get approval to do that also.  Chairman Scarborough stated the Board can do that; he does not have any problem with it; but his thought was to put the letter together and then copy each Commissioner.  He stated the letter will lay out why the United States is at risk as a nation; Congressman Feeney said the country won the Sputnik but will not surrender it by inaction; and the Russians will control space and the Chinese will be on the moon.  He stated being on the moon may only seem to be symbolic but to be able to look back from space with the capacity to take out the eyes and ears of a nation is critical to its commercial as well as military sovereignty.  He stated the country will begin to lose what it has accomplished over the last 50 years; and he will also be sending a copy of the Resolution reformatted for the County to which it is being sent with the address and the contact for the Congressmen that he would like them to send it to.  He stated Congressman Dave Weldon is of the belief that if a Congressman gets it from his or her county commission, it will have a tremendous amount of impact as opposed to a commission at the other end of the State.  He stated if the Board would like to expand that to all members of the Legislative Delegation, he can do that, and ask that the House and Senate move in a similar manner. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she thought the Board already sent a letter to all the Legislators.  Chairman Scarborough stated he has not sent anything to the members of the Delegation dealing with the Resolution that the Board passed a week ago.  He stated they have sent various things out, but this is a new step; and the letters will also be accompanied by a copy of the article that was on the front page of the Washington Post.  He advised it is significant that a newspaper like the Washington Post has stated the problem in the same manner that the Board has, as a matter of the nation’s sovereignty if it loses the capacity to have manned flight.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated it is like Brevard County is the little mouse that roared.  She stated when she got off the airplane at Easter in Moline, Illinois, there were pictures of the shuttle and rockets; and under the pictures it said Alcoa, so it struck her how wide-reaching the space program is.  She stated she almost feels like doing a blanket letter to every elected official in the whole country, but she will not.  Chairman Scarborough recommended taking a step at a time.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated when Senator Martinez was at the Tiger Bay Club he was very supportive of the space program; and that is not an issue so there is no reason to be defensive about it; but some people were disappointed that he did not bring it up when he had the opportunity at the State Legislature. 

 

Commissioner Colon stated the Board needs to give credit where credit is due; it is unprofessional for anyone to criticize someone when the Board knows there is someone championing for the County; and that is why it is very important for her to set the record straight so the community will know it has champions in both U.S. Senators.  She stated it is extremely important to set the record straight; and that is why she wants the community to know what is going on and not base it on just one meeting.  Commissioner Voltz advised there is no reason to be defensive.     

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated there are several people in the audience who have an interest in the Marina Park Referendum; and the Chair of the North Brevard Parks and Recreation Committee Rodney Honeycutt is present. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the community has been through a difficult process to get to this point; they are anxious to see the project move forward; and it is a conceptual plan.  He stated there are some little technical issues; and he hopes as they go through design and permitting, they will recognize that it may not look exactly as it currently looks by the time they get to the end, but it will have all the same elements.  He stated he supports it; and they have done a good job. 

 

Chairman Scarborough expressed appreciation to the community.  He stated Titusville is on the river, but has few access points; and one important thing in the plan is that there will be six more places for people to launch boats. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve the conceptual plan for the Marina Park Referendum Project.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution approving application for two grants from the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) to further Brevard County’s Derelict Vessel Removal Program; and authorize the County Manager to execute the subsequent Grant Contracts, if awarded.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to grant a waiver of Section 62-3205(a) to allow a nine-month extension to September 14, 2008 for Sherwood Villas Phase 2, Scottsmoor Partners #05-09-008, in order to allow the applicant additional time to complete the project as requested by G. Wallace McCulloch.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve legislative intent and grant permission to advertise a modification to Article VIII, Chapter 62, Section 62-3203(6), Code of Ordinances of Brevard County, and abate Code enforcement on all current cases relating to this Section.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.    

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to grant permission for Road and Bridge to utilize the City of Melbourne Contract #RFP 10-111-1-2005 CIPP Rehabilitation Services with Insituform Technologies, Inc. for installation of Cured-in-Place-Pipe for the Oxford Avenue Storm Drain Reconstruction Project located in Merritt Island or other projects requiring the CIPP procedure Countywide.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.  

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to grant permission to award sole source procurement for the Menzi Muck All Terrain Excavators Model – A91 to Menzi USA Sales, Inc. for Road and Bridge District 1 MSTU.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

AUTHORIZATION TO RESUBMIT, RE:  BREVARD COUNTY TRAILS CONSTRUCTION
     PROGRAM ENHANCEMENT APPLICATIONS                                                                                                

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize resubmittal and update of costs of the 2004 Transportation Enhancement Application for design and construction of ten miles of trails to the Brevard Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) at four proposed locations:  East Central Regional Rail Trail, North Merritt Island Pioneer Trail, Brevard Zoo Trail, and South Brevard “Al Tuttle” Trail.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize the Utility Services Department to solicit bids for infrastructure relocations that will be necessary as a part of the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) Planned Improvement Project for S.R. 513 (South Patrick Drive); authorize the Chairman to execute a contract with the lowest responsive and responsible qualified bidder as recommended by the Construction Contractor Pre-qualification Committee established by Board Policy BCC-28; and approve Budget Changes needed to transfer funds from Fund 4150 (Capital Reserves) to Fund 4153 (Capital Improvement Program).  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize execution of Change Order Two to the Owner-Vendor Agreement with Creative Education Association, Inc. for $450.00, authorizing additional graphic services for the education exhibits at the Barrier Island Sanctuary Management and Education Center to make the graphics printable; and authorize the County Manager and Parks and Recreation Director to execute any required amendments with Creative Education Association, Inc. per the delegated authority in Administrative Order 29, Contract Administration, when the specific amendment is under $100,000 or $25,000 respectively.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve Legislative Intent and grant permission to advertise a public hearing to consider adoption of the proposed amendments to Chapter 78, Parks and Recreation Ordinance, Code of Ordinances of Brevard County, Florida.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.              

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve the Special Magistrate’s recommendation to reduce the accrued fine for Case #05-2926 from $13,517 to the reduced sum of $500.00; and direct staff to prepare and execute release and satisfaction of lien upon receipt of payment.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve a Sub-lease Agreement with the Brevard County Health Department and Unconditional Love, Inc. for property owned by the County at 611 Singleton Avenue, Titusville, Florida.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve First Responder Agreements for FY 2007-2008 to allow allocation of approved EMS funding to First Responder agencies as follows:  Cape Canaveral, Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach, Melbourne, Melbourne Beach, Melbourne Village, Palm Bay, Rockledge, Satellite Beach, and Titusville.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute the Amendment to Interlocal Agreement regarding municipal services for the Town of Grant-Valkaria.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve the Settlement Agreement for Kaufman vs. Arthur, et al; and authorize the Mosquito Control District to pay costs for appraisals and title insurance not to exceed $15,000.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.    

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize advertising and scheduling an Executive Session on April 22, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. or as soon thereafter as possible, to discuss issues relating to Stack v. Brevard County, Case No. 05-2004-CA-025310-XXXX-XX.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.   

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve a change in the deductibles for the General and Professional Liability insurance programs provided through the Florida Association of Counties Trust (FACT) from the current deductible of $100,000 per occurrence to $50,000 per occurrence to be effective April 1, 2008.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve an Executive Session with the County Manager and appropriate staff to discuss the upcoming negotiations with the Laborers International Union (LIU), Local 678, to be held at the end of the regular public meeting on April 22, 2008.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution approving the issuance of Brevard County Health Facilities Authority Variable Rate Demand Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2008 (Retirement Housing Foundation Obligated Group – Courtenay Springs Village) in an amount not to exceed $26,000,000.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve the Bills and Budget Changes, as submitted.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Voltz expressed appreciation to Chairman Scarborough for bringing issues forward; and stated it will be missed when he is no longer on the Board.

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough advised at 11:20 a.m. both Government Relations Manager Leigh Holt and Lobbyist John Thrasher will be available by telephone. 

 

 

 

Marlene Adams submitted paperwork; and stated she does not know if the Board is familiar with the email from County Attorney Scott Knox dated March 13, 2008 to Mr. Watts.  She stated Mr. Knox is saying, about the letters going out, that is new information that his office did not know about; and informally he has taken the position that any deficiency in meeting the 20-day notice brings into question the County’s ability to continue to use the uniform method for collecting the non-ad valorem fire assessment in future years, but since the collection in 2006 and 2007 has already occurred using that method, he believes anyone delinquent in paying 2006 and 2007 may be able to assert that they should not be issued a tax certificate, which means they were assessed improperly.  She stated in other words taking their property for not paying their taxes in those years would be improper.  She stated Mr. Knox is also saying 197.3632(4)(b), F.S.
does not preclude the County because of the power in 125.01, F.S. to impose the MSBU; but 125.01,F.S. just talks about an assessment and not MSBU’s.  Ms. Adams stated also in 125.86, F.S. it says, “pursuant to the Charter.”  She stated she provided a summary of the local Ordinance that describes what a non-ad valorem assessment is; the assessment coordinator is the person designated by the Board; and the Board policy says that is Road and Bridge.  She stated the benefit area means any unit or lot line within the boundaries which receives a direct benefit from the proposed improvements; and an MSBU is that established by Section 98-37.  She stated it says, notice by mail, if the assessments are to be collected on the same bill as ad valorem taxes the mailed notice shall conform to the requirements set forth in 197.3632, F.S.; and the Board did collect it in 2006 and 2007 using that method.  She stated the Board plans to collect it in 2008, and has hired a consultant for just under $50,000 to try to change that methodology.  She stated the Charter says “Brevard County shall not levy new ad valorem special assessments without the approval of the majority of the electors”; and Chapter 125, F.S. just talks about assessments and not MSBU’s, so the exclusion for MSBU’s would not come into play.  She stated she passed out some emails earlier from July 21, 2006, from Assistant County Attorney Morris Richardson to County Attorney Scott Knox, Assistant County Attorney Christine Lepore, and Deputy County Attorney Shannon Wilson talking about July 21, 2006 being the deadline for the letters to go out; she also handed out copies of July 25, 2006 Minutes, which talk about how the letters had to go out that day; but they did not even get to the mail company until July 26, 2007 and $400 in overtime was paid to have them done on the weekend.  She stated the soonest the letters went out was July 31, 2006; only 13% got them on time; and the rest were late, so everybody knew they were late.  She stated the intent Resolution 06-048 in February 2006 talked about Chapter 197.3632; and it said the intent of the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners was to implement a new non ad valorem assessment to fund the Fire Service Program, and upon enactment the Fire Service Special Assessment shall continue each year.  She noted it does not say MSBU.  She stated she has been ignored, lied to, delayed, and attacked; and it is time for the Board to step up and do something about this because the Board is ultimately responsible.

 

Commissioner Colon read aloud from the minutes of the July 25, 2006 meeting, “Commissioner Colon stated she is more comfortable with the fact that those are going to be exempt and it will be $5 across the Board; that is more fair; and there will be folks who will be upset, but at least the notice will take place.  She stated she was uncomfortable with certain folks not having received notice.”

 

Buddy Spakes stated he would like to read aloud from Chapter 192.0105, F.S., Taxpayer Rights, “There is created a Florida Taxpayers Bill of Rights for property taxes and assessments to guarantee that the rights of privacy and property of the taxpayers of this State are adequately safeguarded and protected during tax levy, assessment, collection, and enforcement process administered under the revenue laws of this State.”  He stated it continues in Chapter 192.0105(1)(e), “the right to be sent notice by first class mail of a non-ad valorem assessment hearing at least 20 days before the hearing.”  He stated his rights have been deprived by the Board; and not the entire County had rights deprived by the Board.  He stated it is time to step up and do what is right. 

 

County Attorney Scott Knox stated the Board sent out a request to Mr. Watts to respond to these questions; he is almost finished with the response; and the Board will have answers in
approximately a week.  Mr. Knox stated he will refrain from commenting on Ms. Adams public comment, but he does not think she fully understands what the law is. 

 

Chairman Scarborough inquired when the report will be forthcoming; with Mr. Knox responding in approximately a week.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated Ms. Adams said that the Board knew that the notice was late, but she did not.  Chairman Scarborough stated Ms. Adams has put the Board on notice that they were late and is asking the Board to do something about it; and he looks forward to getting the report from Mr. Watts.  He stated in terms of where the Board goes from here, it has the consultant; and there is a new date for the public hearing to hear from the consultant on different methodologies.  County Manager Peggy Busacca advised the first meeting will be April 25, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. and the second will be May 8, 2008 at 1:00 p.m.  Chairman Scarborough inquired if the Board will be receiving a report prior to that; with Ms. Busacca responding she does not know if the Board will receive a report, but there will be something in writing.  Chairman Scarborough stated it would be good to have something in writing so that people who have an interest in this will understand what the Board is discussing.  Commissioner Voltz stated she had several people visit her office after the last meeting; and they were very upset that they did not receive notice.  Ms. Busacca stated staff did a release to the television and it was shown on SCGTV.  Commissioner Voltz advised they do not get that in Barefoot Bay because they do not pay the extra $1.  Ms. Busacca stated she understands, but staff did the best it could. 

 

 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca advised the NASA announcement will be made at 1:00 p.m. today and will be carried on the NASA channel.  Chairman Scarborough inquired if it can also be carried on the Government Channel; with Ms. Busacca responding if the Board meeting is over, they will see if that can be done.   

 

       

 

Chairman Scarborough called for the public hearing to consider a resolution vacating plats, portions of plats, and rights-of-way in Scottsmoor Subdivision, as petitioned by Scottsmoor Partners.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she is concerned about cutting off access to any of the lots by the vacating.  Transportation Engineering Director John Denninghoff stated the information as provided indicates that there will be at least one means of public road access to all the out-parcels associated with the petition; but they do not currently know the quality of that access.  He stated pre-vacating activity, there would be multiple means of access to the out-parcels; but subsequently in many cases there might be only one or in a few cases, more than one, but the number would be reduced. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he cannot support the vacating until the Board has demonstrated information that they would have a legitimate access.  He stated his concern is they do not if the accesses run through the middle of wetlands and the Board is vacating the dry upland access, so until it can see that, he cannot support the item.    

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she agrees; the Board does not know; and if the Board approves this, someone could come back in a year or two wanting access to their property or trying to rezone and the future Board will have no idea what was done or why it was done.  She stated they may then be denied access to their property; and those things need to be worked out.

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired if there is willingness to continue this until the information can be provided.  Mr. Denninghoff stated at the last meeting, the applicant was receptive to the idea of a continuance; and they indicated they had a wetlands map that could be utilized, although that has not been received yet.      

 

Chairman Scarborough stated there was a meeting in his office; Mr. Denninghoff was present; and this is one half of the property that the Board discussed extensively in terms of the EEL purchase at County Road 5A in the Scottsmoor area.  He stated the question because such that if the Board did not go ahead with the EEL purchase, the applicants would like the vacating; and if the  County did go ahead with the purchase, then the County would want to vacate; but there was the feeling that there were many moving parts.  He advised this is only half of a PUD; there are questions from certain members of staff as to the practicality of buying half of a PUD that they would not have complete control over; it is difficult to deal with zoning half of something that has been put together as a whole; and while there are people who have told him not to worry, he worries.  He stated they left the meeting with the thought that probably the Board would want to defer a decision until it got further indication as to whether the County would be reconsidering the purchase or  not; and it is also tied into the other portion on the other side of I-95.  He stated this is a very complex issue; and he does not think they left the meeting thinking they would be voting at this meeting. 

 

Mr. Denninghoff stated he would agree; he does not think there was a high expectation that it would be approved today, although clearly the petitioner would prefer that it would be approved; but one private property owner has objected and that has not been resolved.  He stated there have been multiple attempts to contact the property owner, but he has not been responsive; more time would probably resolve some of the issues; and suggested continuing the hearing to July 8, 2008.  Chairman Scarborough suggested going to the second meeting on July 29, 2008. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to continue the public hearing to consider a Resolution vacating plats, portions of plats, and rights-of-way in Scottsmoor Subdivisions, as petitioned by Scottsmoor Partners to July 29, 2008.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.   

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough called for the public hearing to consider a resolution vacating public utility and drainage easements in Lake View Hills, as petitioned by Harvey and Angela Williams.

 

There being no objections heard, motion was made by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to adopt Resolution vacating public utility and drainage easements in Lake View Hills, as petitioned by Harvey and Angela Williams.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough called for the public hearing to consider a resolution vacating alley in Merritt City Subdivision, as petitioned by Mark D. Sutton (Sutton Pools, Inc.)

 

Commissioner Nelson stated previously this came before the Board; and there was a question about what is going to happen in the corner with MIRA.  He stated Mr. Sutton went before the MIRA Board and it just said it did not see any particular use at this point; but he does not necessarily agree because there are a lot of dynamics in that corner.  He stated he is not looking to cause Mr. Sutton any hardship; and he asked Mr. Denninghoff yesterday if there was a mechanism to allow Mr. Sutton the use of the space until a final plan is achieved and they are comfortable to know it is or is not needed for public purposes.  Transportation Engineering Director John Denninghoff advised he has not conferred with the County Attorney’s office on that question, but the only mechanism that he knows of would be a right-of-way use agreement, which currently is only used for landscaping types of activities.  Commissioner Nelson stated his concern is they could end up in a situation where they would later have to buy land when they could have had this as a negotiating tool at some point with the final development design of that area; he does not know what the timing is going to be; he does not know if there is a mechanism that can allow the use of the public right-of-way; and in fact it is between Mr. Sutton’s two properties until such time as they have a better indication of what the final layout of the corner is going to be.  County Attorney Scott Knox stated the first thing that comes to mind is right-of-way use agreement that Mr. Denninghoff mentioned; but he has not really studied this.  Commissioner Nelson stated he does not want to go through a denial; he would like to have Mr. Denninghoff work on a right-of-way use permit for the public right-of-way until such time as a final determination is made as to its necessity; and he would also include the abatement of any current Code issues.

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to direct staff to work with the applicant on a right-of-way use agreement; and abate any current Code issues.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated it will give Mr. Sutton the use until they finally know what will happen; he thinks in the long run the land will not be needed; but he does not want a future Board to be put in the position of having to do something.  Mark Sutton stated it is within 15 feet of the back of his front building; and that is where he does all of his deliveries.  Commissioner Nelson stated it will allow Mr. Sutton the use of that and get him out of the Code issues that he may be faced with; and the key thing is in the future they do not know what use they may have for the property.  Mr. Denninghoff inquired if it is the Board’s desire for staff to come back with a right-of-way use agreement; does it want to continue the vacating hearing until that time; or does the Board want to deny the vacating at this point and bring back the agreement. 

Commissioner Nelson stated he would prefer to continue the public hearing until the agreement comes back; and then the Board could decide on a continuance out for a longer period of time as the issues with how the corner develops evolve. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated from what he is hearing, the Board needs a motion to reconsider. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to reconsider the motion to direct staff to work with the applicant on a right-of-way use agreement and abate current Code issues.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to direct staff to develop a right-of-way use agreement with Mr. Sutton for the purpose of allowing the use of the property as it is currently used; continue the public hearing to consider a resolution vacating alley in Merritt City Subdivision to May 5, 2008; and abate the current Code issues until the public hearing.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough called for the public hearing to consider a resolution vacating public drainage easement in Six Mile Creek Subdivision, Phase III, as petitioned by Dean George Giustiniani.

 

There being no objections heard, motion was made by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt Resolution vacating public drainage easement in Six Mile Creek Subdivision, Phase III, as petitioned by Dean George Giustiniani.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough called for the public hearing to consider a resolution vacating public utility and drainage easement in Viera Tract FF, Phase 2, as petitioned by Fred T. and Mary F. Keith.

 

There being no objections heard, motion was made by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt Resolution vacating public utility and drainage easement in Viera Tract FF, Phase 2, as petitioned by Fred T. and Mary F. Keith.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough called for the public hearing to consider a resolution vacating right-of-way in Plat of June Park, as petitioned by Teresa B. Callahan (Aurora Title).

 

Laurie Druckenmiller and Lisa Ellison advised they are only present to respond to the questions if there is opposition. 

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired if this concerns a mobile home; with Ms. Ellison responding it is a single-family residence that was built on several times; when the garage was added she does not think they got permits; and it encroaches into Colorado Avenue.  Ms. Druckenmiller stated Colorado Avenue is really just about 25 feet of pepper trees; it is owned by the County, but is not maintained; and there is also an easement where tractors can be used to clear the ditch.  Commissioner Nelson stated his concern is it runs a significant distance; and it is on the north end of the new park site.  He stated if the County ever wanted to develop trails in that area, this could have an impact on it; and the survey shows another encroachment issue which is not being addressed, which is the fence that extends into another right-of-way, onto what would be Commodore Boulevard.  Transportation Engineering Director John Denninghoff stated that is correct; but the fence could be relocated.  He advised he is not familiar with what might be behind the fence; but it is several feet into the public right-of-way on the adjacent property to the east.  He advised while it is not a permanent structure, it is an encroachment. 

 

Ms. Ellison advised this is a contract for sale; and they are requesting the vacating move forward.  She stated it is her understanding the vacating is only for the property underneath the garage.  Mr. Denninghoff advised the petition is only for the permanent structure portion of the encroachment, which is on Colorado.  Commissioner Nelson stated what the Board has is a Code violation that has been handed to it. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she guesses it happened a while ago; with Ms. Ellison responding 1978.  Commissioner Voltz stated the garage has been there all that time; but certainly the fence could be taken down.  Ms. Ellison stated it is her understanding that the new buyers are going to do a lot of work there, possibly even removing the garage; but they wanted to handle each thing so when they walked into closing there would be no issues.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if the applicants knew about the fence; with Ms. Ellison responding no, this is the first time they heard about it.  Commissioner Voltz inquired why staff did not tell the applicants about the fence at the same time; with Mr. Denninghoff responding he did not recognize it or notice that part of it until yesterday morning.  Ms. Druckenmiller advised it is a stockade fence with less than ten panels.  Commissioner Nelson stated they just need to move it back.  Mr. Denninghoff advised if it was the Board’s desire, the vacating could be made subject to relocation of the fence. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Colon, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt Resolution vacating right-of-way in Plat of June Park, as petitioned by Teresa B. Callahan (Aurora Title), conditioned on relocation of the fence.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough called for the public hearing to consider an ordinance amending Chapter 62, Article VII, “Land Development Regulations” Engineering Exhibits and Applications for final plat review and approval. 

 

There being no objections heard, motion was made by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt an Ordinance amending Chapter 62, “Land Development Regulations”, Code of Ordinances of Brevard County, Florida; amending Article VII, Division 1 and Division 2, specifically amending Sections 62-2802, to revise and update the engineering exhibits; amending 62-2841, Subsection (A), General; Subsection (B) Filing of Plats; Subsection (C) Information Required to Accompany the Plat (C)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d) Boundary Survey Requirements; Subsection (C)(3) Title Opinion/Certification, (C)(5) Paperwork Required, (C)(6) Vertical Control Field Notes; Subsection (D) Requirements and Information on the Plat, (D)(1)(a) Size and Material; Creating Subsections (D)(1)(b) Margins, (D)(1)(c) Text Size, (D)(1)(d) Line Size and Type, (D)(1)(e) North Arrow, (D)(1)(f) Scale, (D)(1)(g) Vicinity Map, (D)(1)(h) Index Map; Creating Subsection (D)(2) Plat Descriptions, (D)(2)(a) Boundary Dimensions Bearings and Legal Calls, (D)(2)(b) Plats with Multiple Sheets, (D)(2)(c) Plat Description, (D)(2)(d) Plat Note Separation, (D)(2)(e) Plat Notes Organization, (D)(2)(f)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv) Mandatory Plat Notes; Creating Subsection  (D)(3) Name of Subdivision; Amending Subsection (D)(4) Certification of Surveyor; Creating Subsection (d) (5)(a)(b) Dedication; Creating Subsections (D)(6) Survey Data, (D)(6)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v) Easements, (D)(6)(b)(i)(ii) Tracts, (D)(6)(c) Bearings, (D)(6)(d) Boundary/Lot/Tract Closures, (D)(6)(e)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v) Adjoining Properties, (D)(6)(f) Line and Curve Tables, (D)(6)(f)(i) Plat Boundary, (D)(6)(ii) Curve Data Tabulation, (D)(6)(iii) Curve and Line Tables, (D)(6)(g) Permanent Reference Monuments, (D)(6)(g)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v) Permanent Reference Monument Requirements, (D)(6)(h) Permanent Control Points, (D)(6)(h)(i)(ii)(iii) Permanent Control Point Requirements; Creating Subsection (D)(6)(i) Lot/Tract Monumentation; Creating Subsection (D)(6)(j) Section Lines/Government Lot Lines/Grant Lines; Creating Subsection (D)(6)(k) State Plan Coordinates; Creating Subsection (D)(6)(m) Benchmarks and Number to be Established, (D)(6)(m)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v) Benchmark Establishment Criteria; providing for conflicting provisions; providing for severability; providing for area encompassed; providing for inclusion in Code; and providing for an effective date.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

The meeting recessed at 10:45 a.m. and reconvened at 10:59 a.m.

 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated the Board continued the public hearing for Item VI.A to the second meeting in July; and there may be reasons why the applicant did not want that.  He noted it would be necessary to reconsider, but since a representative is present, he will give them an opportunity to explain what the problem is.

 

A representative of Scottsmoor Partners stated they are working with staff to talk about and provide the exhibits they need to show the existing rights-of-way and access to the parcels and out parcels; and they are working to show what they are proposing is adequate for access to the out parcels.  He requested instead of waiting until the second meeting in July, they do something sooner, possibly in May. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated it is so completely tied into the EEL purchase; and he would like to have a clear indication of what is happening.  He stated it can be continued and then continued again; and he has no problem with that; but the community has expectations about the pattern which the EEL group is taking with the contracts.  He stated it is not just contingent on a contract with Scottsmoor Partners but also with the owner on the west side; and inquired if any Commissioner would like to make a motion to have it heard sooner. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated it would not hurt to have it heard sooner; and then if necessary the Board can table it again.

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, to reconsider the Board’s previous action to continue the public hearing for a resolution vacating plats, portions of plats, and rights-of-way in Scottsmoor Subdivision.  Motion died for lack of a second. 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough advised the item will be heard in July.

 

 

 

Code Enforcement Director Bobby Bowen stated the proposed Code change is still under legislative intent and Board discussion; staff is seeing further direction from the Board regarding any Code changes; and what they are looking at is adding some definitions to the Code dealing with the Sections relating to recreational vehicles and equipment only.  He stated once the Board has approved the language changes and grants permission to advertise, it will proceed to the Local Planning Agency, which will hold a public meeting and make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners; and it will then come back to the Board for two public hearings, one to be held during the day and the other to be held in the evening hours.  He stated citizens will have an opportunity to speak on the item at any or all of the advertised public meetings.  He displayed photographs; and stated the first photograph shows a trailer parked close to the property line and another RV parked in the front yard, but not perpendicular to the street; and it is cluttering up the yard.  He stated they are basically talking about quarter and half-acre properties or anything under a half-acre property; and such properties become very crowded in a short period of time when people start putting boats and RV’s on the properties, particularly in the front yards.  He stated the second photograph shows a motorhome that is overhanging the sidewalk, which is a violation of Florida Statute 316. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if the motorhome was just there temporarily for people to unload or load it; with Mr. Bowen responding he does not know, but whether it is there temporarily or not, it is still blocking the sidewalk, which is a violation of Florida Statute.

 

Mr. Bowen stated the next photograph shows an RV with an expansion on one site; and it looks like it is permanent as there are flowers planted around it.  He stated it is basically blocking the whole view of the front of the house; and it is unsightly.  He stated the next RV appears to be parked legally behind the front line of the house.  He stated the first drawing shows a typical quarter-acre piece of property with setbacks and there is a scaled drawing of a vehicle approximately 24 feet in length and a motorhome approximately 40 feet in length; and it provides a visual of the two vehicles parked on a property, either parking on the front area of the property, the side, or the back.  He stated the second illustration shows the property with the Code change to a ten-foot front side yard setback; and it would give the ability for the interior of the driveway to be expanded to meet the ten-foot setback from the front side property line.  He stated the next illustration shows a half-acre piece of property with setback lines, property lines, and the same 24-foot vehicle and 40-foot motorhome; logically as the properties get bigger, there is more room to park these things; but on quarter-acre pieces of property, it becomes crowded in a very short period of time.  He stated the next illustration shows a home with a sidewalk on one side of the street; he is showing a residential area with a sidewalk and then the same street without a sidewalk; and the drawing also shows the private driveway accesses, the edge of the roadway and the shoulder, the roadway itself, and on the other side of the street it shows the apron for the home and the expansion of the driveway area to accommodate a ten-foot side setback from the property line and also from the front property line.  He stated what the changes will call for is some additional definitions of driveway, rear yard, side yard, front yard, and stabilized area; and the changes will also eliminate the 14 days when people can stay in the motorhomes, which has become an enforcement nightmare.  He advised by the time Code Enforcement gets a complaint and gets to the site, the folks have been living in the motorhome in a front yard for a period of time; then staff has to start documenting day after day to keep a running tab on how long the people have been there before a citation can be issued; and it has become problematic.  He stated on less than a half-acre property, people would only be allowed to park one recreational vehicle; but there would be no front setback as the five-foot setback is gone.  He stated it does create a ten-foot front side property line setback and an interior expansion to meet the setback; and the recreational vehicles would have to be parked perpendicular to the street on the driveway.  He stated for residential properties one-half acre or less, one recreational vehicle or recreational equipment may be parked in a side yard behind the front building line of the primary structure or in the rear yard; and all additional recreational vehicles and/or equipment shall be stored in a side yard behind the front building line of the primary structure or in the rear yard and screened on all four sides by an opaque visual barrier.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if this was a citizen request.  Mr. Bowen advised he is talking about Item VII.A, which involves issues that have come up and things staff zeroed in to rectify. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated during the last year and a half that he has been in office and even when he was walking the neighborhoods when he was running for office, this was an issue that had a lot of folks upset; and his point is that people have more toys than they used to and more things they want to keep at home.  He stated the difficulty is how it impacts one’s neighbor and whether people have an absolute right to do whatever they want and impact their neighbors.  He stated the Board has about two years of experience with the impacts of the changes; previously one could not do many of these things; and the classic example is a 30-foot motorhome that is ten feet tall parked on the property line so there is this huge thing parked on the property line, but one cannot have higher than a four foot fence in the same location.  He stated the question is how that makes sense and how does the Board allow one to occur but not the other.  Commissioner Nelson stated he had some constituents come to see him; it is an opportunity for the Board to look at this issue; and they are not going to take it all the way back, which he would not support; but he appreciates staff working with him to try to focus on some of the things that would give some relief to some of the neighbors so they do not walk out their front door and have a view of a 30-foot motorhome.  He stated the Board has the right and authority to set reasonable limits on how things occur; this is the process to do that; and the Board is not saying absolutely no.  He stated particularly in Merritt Island there are a lot of folks who keep their boat trailer there; that can be kept in the ten-foot setback as long as it does not have a boat on it because it is not visible; it would not be blocking someone’s view; but the issue has even gotten to that level of detail.  He stated having a 30-foot boat sitting on the trailer on the property line is a different issue; and there will be plenty of time for beatings to occur, which Mr. Bowen is not looking forward to; but that was the rationale to try to take some of the impact that the Board has created and put it back on the people who are creating the impact, not on the neighbor who did not create the impact. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated this was a mess when the Board talked about it last time; there were many people who came in; and to open this issue up again is not going to be a pretty picture.  She inquired if it is just being opened up for those properties that are a half-acre or less; with Mr. Bowen responding yes as those are the smallest properties and create the largest impact.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if only RV’s would be affected; with Mr. Bowen responding it would be RV’s and recreational equipment as well.  Commissioner Voltz stated it would affect boats; with Mr. Bowen responding it would be boats, trailers, campers, motorhomes, and things of that nature.  Commissioner Voltz stated that could be a big problem since the County is very boat heavy.  Commissioner Nelson stated they are not saying they cannot have them, just that they cannot put them on the property line; it would be okay to have a boat in a front yard; everyone has accepted that can occur; but the boat should not be put on the property line where it impacts the neighbors.  He stated they are trying to create a kinder gentler approach to allow that.  Commissioner Voltz stated she understands but there are a lot of boats in the County; and the Board needs to look at what kind of impact it is going to have, not just in Merritt Island, but all over the County.  She stated she understands that Merritt Island is probably more boat heavy than the rest of the County.  Mr. Bowen stated staff was very conscious of that; they spoke about living in a boating community and made the changes with that in mind; and it does not take anything away, it just relocates to lessen the impact on the neighbors.  He stated they are limiting where they can be parked on the property so as not to create a major impact on the neighbors.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if staff has looked at a quarter-acre and thought about a 2,000 square-foot home on a quarter-acre lot; she does not know the normal length of a driveway; but inquired if those people are going to be able to park a boat either in the driveway or side yard.  Mr. Bowen responded there are some who will not be able to do that because of the size of the property, such as those with zero lot lines and so forth; but basically if it can sit on the property, they can park it there.  Commissioner Voltz stated she understands but they may be impacting more people than the Board thinks; she does not know what the number of boats in the County is; but the Board needs to be very careful.  She stated there are pictures showing that people have done a lot of ridiculous things on their property; but at the same time there are those who have well kept up boats; and advised of an example in Melbourne where there is a house on the corner with two very large motorhomes behind a fence beside the
house.  She stated last time there was an issue if a boat was parked and was sticking up; with Mr. Bowen responding that is not an issue.  Mr. Bowen advised zoning only allows a six-foot fence; it does create a visual barrier; but there will be folks who will say the Board has gone too far as well as folks who will say that it has not gone far enough; but staff has tried to create something that is fair with the understanding it is a boating community.  He stated they have tried to create something that will not impact the neighbor who has to look at a large RV sitting across the front lawn; there is a need for change; and they will have plenty of time to look at this as they go through the public hearings to listen to folks and tweak it along the way.  He stated he is sure there will be some interesting discussions; with Commissioner Voltz agreeing.  Commissioner Voltz stated it is not respectful to one’s neighbors or the neighborhood when people do those kinds of things; but inquired in terms of parking a boat behind a fence, if there are setbacks and the boat is behind the fence but encroaches into the setback, will that be a problem.  Mr. Bowen responded that will not be a problem; where it becomes a problem would be if there was something permanent in the easement; but this is something mobile that can be taken out. 

 

Floyd Rippetoe read aloud from the draft, “Whereas the Board of County Commissioners finds it desirable to further regulate the location of recreational vehicles and boats on single-family residential lots and . . .”; and stated he is amazed that the Board does not realize what a direct insulting slap in the face that statement is to everyone who came before the Board two and one-half years ago to tell the Board that it did not want it to tell the people what to park in their yards or where to park.  He stated the new draft is full of the same kind of silliness and is revisiting something that went through two and one-half years ago.  He stated it was thoroughly vetted then; and now the Board is spending all the money for staff and everything else to go back into the same issue.  He stated that is insulting to everyone who came and spoke before; it is saying this is a do-over and the people will have to come out again and present their case all over again; and it appears in the opinion of the Board that a simple reduction in rules and interference with the public is bad by nature, but the people do not really think that.  He stated he finds it interesting that in explaining why this is necessary staff used a photograph of a vehicle that is already in violation of the law; if they are already in violation of existing laws, additional rules will not help; and this is not just about a motorhome or a boat or things like that.  He stated it completely ignores the fact that a lot of driveways on East Merritt Island, where he lives, are not perpendicular to the house; if this amendment was passed, two of his neighbors could not have a boat in their yard because their driveways make L-turns into their garages; and there would be no way for them to comply without completely blocking their driveways and garages.  He stated that is what happens when the Board starts trying to tell people they can do this but cannot do that; it gets into so many bits and pieces trying to accommodate all situations that it ends up with a can of worms that does not make anybody happy; and it is just going to interfere with the lifestyle of all the people who have spoken out on this before.  He noted very few people trailer 30-foot boats; a 30-foot boat on a trailer would take a lot of vehicle to handle; so this is talking about jet skis, little sailboats on little trailers, and 19-foot IO’s.  He stated there are a few people who are silly enough to put a 30-foot motorhome on a quarter-acre lot with a house; but those are rare; and most people deal with their neighbors by themselves, and do not need new laws.  He stated his biggest concern is that now the Board has gone to having hearings only in the daytime; and inquired if that is why this is being reheard now.  Mr. Rippetoe stated most of the people who come out and complain are not in a position to do that during the
day; and if this issue is going to be reheard, it really should be done in the evening when the people who will be most affected will have the opportunity to speak on it.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he does not think it is a slap in the face; when the Board took on the issue before it was dealing with an existing Code; and inquired if that was a slap in the face to the previous group that had created the Ordinance.  He stated the Board unregulated at that point much of what had been on the books for years; and he does not think this is a slap in the face, but a legitimate process of evaluating Ordinances to make sure they are meeting the community need. 

 

Mr. Rippetoe stated there was an existing Ordinance that was being enhanced and increased to put a lot of the same things in it; and the end result was the Board at that time not only negated the changes but got rid of a lot of other foolishness like the opaque shelter on a ten-foot high motorhome. 

 

Chairman Scarborough advised the Board will take a call from Tallahassee now and will resume the discussion immediately after. 

 

 

 

Lobbyist John Thrasher, communicating by telephone, advised he is going to try to cover three things, the current status of the budget as it has been proposed by the House and Senate, the bills relating to the Space industry that Brevard County and the Commission had a great deal of impetus in getting started, and the proposal that will be before the Taxation Budget Reform Commission on Friday.  He advised they are in the middle of the fifth week of the Legislative session, which means there are four weeks to go, so they are halfway finished with the session; and the most dominating thing is the budget and the continued downturn in the economy of the State, which is going to be reflected in every single program this year in the budget.  He stated two years ago the ending budget that was adopted by the Florida Legislature was approximately $72 billion; the proposed budget in the House and Senate this year is approximately $65 billion, which is a cut of $7 billion over the last two years; and that is a seismic cut in revenue for the State, particularly when they have to deal with education and Medicaid, which are almost sacrosanct, but will be affected by this year’s budget.  He stated the major difference between the House and the Senate at this point is the fact that the House seems to be willing to use some Transportation Trust Fund Reserves to make up the difference in some of the program needs; he was told by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee that he does not believe that a one-time using of those reserves will affect the five-year work program on a statewide basis; however, the Senate would like to use even  more money toward transportation projects statewide.  He stated the Senate’s theory is that infrastructure stimulates the economy; and that it would go a long way to getting the economy back to where it needs to be.  He stated everybody realizes it is a down time and it is going to take some period of time to come out of it; and Leigh Holt will talk about a couple of specific issues that relate to the budget of the County. 

 

Government Relations Manager Leigh Holt, communicating by telephone, stated the Legislature is just starting to look at the budget line by line; but there are a couple of things that are important to Brevard County that they have already seen.  She stated the beach renourishment money has been cut in half, from $30 million to $15 million in the House and $18 million in the Senate, so that will impact the County.  She stated there are big cuts to the Health Department, which will at some point impact the County; Baker Act beds have been a priority of the Board for many years; and there is a $37 million cut to community mental health, which will impact all mental health programs, not just Baker Act beds.  She stated there is an $8 million cut to Medicaid transportation, which was a Board priority last year; and across the board there are going to be cuts that, while they are not unfunded mandates, will probably impact County Departments and County services.      

 

Mr. Thrasher stated he will move to the space legislation; the genesis was the program that Brevard County had a lot to do with sponsoring last summer that brought together all the interested parties to begin to look at the issue so they would be on one page; and so far it has been a successful time in respect to these issues.  He stated there are basically four bills that have been moving through the process, all of which would strengthen and expand the role of aerospace and aviation in the State of Florida; and every one of those bills were heard today in the Senate Commerce Committee.  He stated Senator Posey sponsored all of the bills and presented them; and they were successfully adopted by the Senate Commerce Committee.  He stated unless something happens that he does not know about, the bills will definitely be passed by the Florida Legislature; they involved space contractors; and Representative Altman has the bills in the House.  He stated there is the informed consent for commercial space flight bill; the SADIE act is now called the Space Act; and all of the bills are moving.  He stated there is a lot of unanimity and support for the bills from the folks who are involved in Space Florida as well as Brevard County; and there are great sponsors, Senator Posey and Representative Altman, who are doing a great job in seeing that the bills move forward.  He stated the Taxation Budget Reform Commission, which meets every 20 years, is in the process of meeting; they are getting toward the end of their term, which would be in May; and the next meeting is on Friday, at which time they will consider a proposal by Commissioner Hogan of Jacksonville that would cap revenues for local governments.  He stated there is considerable opposition to that; the Mayor of Jacksonville is coming on Friday to testify against it along with some other folks; and they will have to see what happens.  He stated the Commission has adopted a couple of proposals but nothing at this point is final because everything still has to go through the style and drafting committee for the final draft of the proposal; and then it will be voted on one last time.  He stated those proposals are still out; and he and Ms. Holt will be attending the meeting on Friday and seeing what can be done to modify what most people think is another draconian proposal with respect to local governments’ ability to do home rule.       

 

Commissioner Colon stated one of her concerns is that the second the State cuts, even though they might not be unfunded mandates now, the County will be the one to have to pick up the tab because it will affect the citizens of the community; so the Board is not that detached from whatever cuts are happening at the State level.  She inquired who is watching and speaking on behalf of the Florida Association of Counties and  how much is that group being an influence in Tallahassee; and stated the Board has seen in the past where there are State cuts and the ones to pick it up are local governments. 

 

Ms. Holt stated the Florida Association of Counties is reviewing the budget line by line right now; the group gave a briefing this morning, but is not all the way through it; and they should have the numbers by the end of the week.  Ms. Holt stated the reality is that everything is going to be
cut; there is no way to argue to keep things in because there just is not any money available; so they just have to watch and be able to say what they think the impact will be to local government, so they are gathering that information. 

 

Mr. Thrasher stated as long as he has been watching the State it has never been in this situation where it is not just not filling personnel slots or having cuts from increases, but is making real cuts, which in some areas are substantial; the Legislature seems to be focusing on trying as much as possible to hold education and health care harmless; and even with that they are not going to get the same degree of increase but will get a degree of decrease that will be smaller than some other programs; but those areas are still going to be cut. 

 

Commissioner Colon stated the Board tried to warn the Legislators last year that this was coming; this should not be a surprise to anyone based on what was happening to the economy even a year ago; it did not take a rocket scientist to figure out that was happening; but local government was called drunken sailors.  She inquired if the same thing is happening now in Tallahassee; and do they now know how it feels to take away a program and affect a senior citizen or children.  She stated the Legislators are getting a taste of what they felt local government was doing as far as being drunken sailors; and now it is like welcome to our world.  Mr. Thrasher stated he would not argue with that analogy. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if Mr. Thrasher was talking earlier about TABR; with Mr. Thrasher responding yes, the Taxation Bill of Rights that has the revenue cap.  Commissioner Voltz stated she thought the meeting had been canceled; and when she was in Tallahassee last week, she thought the meeting was being put off.  Mr. Thrasher advised it is scheduled for Friday now; with Ms. Holt advising it was postponed from last week.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if the lady from Colorado was able to speak to them last week; with Ms. Holt responding yes. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated TABR has only been in one state, Colorado; and Colorado got into dire straights and abandoned it for at least five years.  He stated it would be good to get some additional information on TABR.  Commissioner Voltz stated when the call is finished she will give an update on what the lady from Colorado spoke about. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated Mr. Thrasher mentioned the five-year work plan as far as the Transportation Trust Funds; and inquired if he said it was going to be affected or not going to be affected.  Mr. Thrasher stated it is the opinion of Representative Ray Sansom who is the House Budget Chairman and will be the next Speaker of the House that what they are doing will not impact the five year plan. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he has a question related to fees; he knows there have been several discussions related to putting limits on county commissions and municipalities’ ability to raise fees; and the concern is that not all fees are the same.  He inquired if the County charges for use of athletic field lights, will it have to take a vote to be able to charge what the actual cost for the lights is; with Ms. Holt responding possibly.  Ms. Holt advised there are some bills moving through the House and Senate called TABR-light that do restrict all kinds of fees; and
there is a lot of concern about that because in some cases fees are charged to cover actual costs and having to put things like that on a ballot would be difficult.  Ms. Holt stated some of those things will be heard tomorrow in the Finance and Tax Committee, which is Senator
Haridopolos’ committee.  Mr. Thrasher stated he and Ms. Holt are watching the bills; right after the statutory rollback passed last year a number of county and municipal governments not only increased fees but created some new ones to make up the gap in lost revenue; and they will be working with the Florida Association of Counties and others to watch that closely.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated it is his understanding that law enforcement is being cut, both in positions and dollars; and inquired if that is correct.  Mr. Thrasher stated he is not sure what phase of law enforcement Commissioner Nelson is talking about, but the Highway Patrol is one of the few agencies that is actually going to get an increase in its budget.  He stated there is high concern around the State that the Highway Patrol is losing members on an almost daily basis to local governments, so the Highway Patrol is actually going to get an increase in resources, but he is not sure about FDLE or other police agencies.  Ms. Holt stated they heard this morning that the Legislature is looking at cutting about a third of the State’s probation officers, which handle the felony cases so that would clearly impact who is on the street and who is being watched.  She stated there will be a cut to investigators for child welfare, which will have an impact on child abuse cases; and those are some of the things being considered.  She stated there is also the year and a day issue, where they are looking at how prisoners are sentenced; and instead of them going to State prison, they would be kept in the County jail.  Commissioner Nelson stated it shows how fluid it is because at the end of last week there was an article that they were going to cut 60 Highway Patrol positions, then by mid-week, the number has been increased; and it is interesting how that is being done. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the Charter Officers have the appeal rights; and if the county commissioners throughout the State are going to deal with this, they are going to have to deal with Charter Officers and look at some cutbacks in some of those areas as well.  He inquired if Mr. Thrasher or Ms. Holt has any indication as to the sentiment for when the parade starts of all of the Charter Officers heading to Tallahassee to appeal.  Ms. Holt stated it was reported this morning at the Florida Association of Counties that they already know of ten appeals that are expected, so the Florida Association of Counties has some of its Board members in town this week to talk about what that means and prepare for it. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Legislature understands that when the economy is bad, people are not working, and they have no money that child abuse goes up.  She stated if child abuse goes up and case workers are being cut, it does not make sense; and that is when those budgets need to be increased.  She inquired if somebody is watching that and do the State Legislators understand it.  Ms. Holt responded that point is being made this week; it is Children’s Week; and there are millions of children and families in Tallahassee trying to make that point with the Legislators; but the reality is that everything will have some kind of cut.  Commissioner Voltz stated somebody is not understanding basic economics; when people start losing jobs and do not have money, it is a fact that child abuse goes up; and when kids start getting hurt, it is going to be a problem. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated the Board also heard about parole and mental illness; both of those facets are being impacted; but the cost does not go away, but just comes back in multiples elsewhere in society, which is the tragedy of it.  He stated they do not really cut
anything; they just make it worse by moving the problem.  Commissioner Voltz stated all budgets in government should be about priorities.

 

Commissioner Colon stated it goes back to what she mentioned at the beginning; the Legislature will do the cuts, but the impact will be on the Board of County Commissioners; trying to keep felons and so forth in the local jails means the impact will be on the Sheriff; and at that point the Sheriff will come to the Board to ask how he is expected to keep all the inmates.  She advised the State does not want the inmates; the Sheriff is going to need the dollars and will need to hire more officers; and this is the history of what the State has done to local government time and time again.  She stated this is nothing new; every time the Legislature cuts it affects the County and the County has to come up with the dollars; and inquired who are the bad guys.  She stated the response is the County Commissioners, who are asked what they did with all the dollars and windfalls; but nobody wants to talk about all the deputies or other personnel that were hired or all the departments that had to be increased.  She stated no matter what the Board says the Legislature is going to cut; and local government is touched more than Tallahassee because the people come to their local government.  She stated the State delegation only comes before the people quarterly; and the citizens come to the Board of County Commissioners screaming for support.  She inquired when there are probation officers who can no longer check on a sexual predator who is preying on children, what does that mean to the safety of the community; and advised she is not exaggerating or trying to use scare tactics as these are facts.  She stated the Board tried to tell the Legislators a year ago when they wanted the Board to cut; the Board asked what the Legislators thought the County was doing with the dollars; and that money was not wasted.  She stated the Sheriff needed every single dollar; the Board last year gave the dollars for the increase in tents and so forth because the Sheriff needed them; and it was not wasting money.  She stated the scary part is the State is going to pass it down to the counties; the citizens will yell at the Board of County Commissioners, not the Delegation because they will be in Tallahassee; and when the Legislators come home, they do not have to deal with the everyday items that the Board is going to have to be dealing with.  She inquired how closely Mr. Thrasher and Ms. Holt have been working with Representative Sasso since he is new.  Mr. Thrasher stated he just saw Representative Sasso at the Senate Commerce committee meeting where the space bills were considered; and Representative Sasso is very much involved in those bills.  Ms. Holt stated she sees the Delegation members every day or every other day; and Representative Sasso is doing great. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated Commissioner Voltz brought up the tremendous workload that Mr. Thrasher and Ms. Holt have; and the Board requested Ms. Busacca to add additional personnel to staff in Tallahassee if needed.  He stated he cannot think of a more important place and more important agenda, so Ms. Busacca will be touching base with Ms. Holt and if needed, will reassign someone to work in Tallahassee.   

 

Mr. Thrasher stated they will be happy to be in touch with Ms. Busacca; they have a meeting they are going to concerning space; and they will be happy to do this kind of meeting with the Board again.         

 

 

 

Carl Holland stated he thought parking was settled the last time; and it becomes a question of property rights.  He stated the courts have ruled that companies and stores can say what one can or cannot lock in ones car if it is parked in a public parking lot; but the Board is saying he cannot park his motorhome where he wants in his own yard; and inquired where the justice in that is.  He stated he paid more for his motorhome and it looks better than a lot of houses do in the County; and if he wants it in his driveway parked in front of his house, he does not see where it is anyone’s business but his.  He stated he does not tell his neighbor what he can put in his yard; and that is the reason he moved to the unincorporated County because he did not want those regulations.  He stated if he had wanted those kinds of regulations, he would have probably moved to Rockledge where there are enough silly regulations for anybody; but he did not want those so he moved to the County.  He stated he wants to be left alone; and if he wants his boat and his RV in his yard, he does not see where it is anyone else’s business but his.   

 

Bob Harper stated he lives in Merritt Island and is totally against the Ordinance change; he was here two years ago going through the same thing; and the people who have RV’s and boats in their yards are the folks he wants.  He stated he enjoys the opportunity to have an RV or boat; but this is going to change the way his life is and he does not want to see it changed.  He stated if he wanted to live in a deed restricted community, he would; this is what the Board is putting on the whole County; and it is not just the small group of people who brought this up, but will affect the entire County.  He inquired if the Board wants to talk about economics, how many boats, RV’s, jet skis, and trailers are sold in the County; and stated that is all going to go away.  He stated he knows people who have specifically designed their homes to have a cement pad per the County Code; and now those will have to be taken out or they cannot park their cars any more on those cement pads.  He commented on the new definition which will not allow mulch, limit on concrete on a property, and setback of ten feet instead of seven and one-half feet.  He stated it is not just changes in definitions; the definitions dictate everything down the line; and it may be small now, but it will be bigger later.  He stated his eight-year old son said, “I thought we had freedom here”; and he told him that they do not have a lot of freedom when there are people trying to change the laws, but a good thing is that they can speak to the Board of County Commissioners to get their point across.  He stated hopefully everybody will recognize the rights of boaters, RV owners, commercial vehicle owners, and whatever; and they want to be free. 

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired if any of the pictures were unacceptable to Mr. Harper; with Mr. Harper responding most were unacceptable with the existing Ordinance.  Commissioner Nelson advised that is not the case; and stated the motorhome with the landscaping around it is currently legal.  He stated people can park as many motorhomes in their front yards as they can get in there currently; but he thinks there should be limits.  He stated even Mr. Rippetoe said some were unacceptable; and the question is how to define what is unacceptable, which is where he is asking for help.  He stated it is easy to be against the Ordinance; but some of the things that Mr. Harper saw were unacceptable; and inquired how do they get to a point where the neighborhoods are not subjected to that.  He requested help in that regard; and stated they are not trying to get rid of them; under the Ordinance a person could move his motorhome to the center of his driveway and could park on the other side of where the motorhome has been.  He stated that will continue to be legal; the changes are not as onerous as they may sound; and explained why some things were changes so things could be renumbered. 

 

Mr. Harper stated the Board needs to review the mulch and amount of concrete one can have; people have poured concrete to go by the Code; and now they will have concrete that is not even necessary.  He stated the County has a big enough problem with water going into the ground system; and inquired why do they want more concrete and what is wrong with mulch.  Commissioner Nelson stated it is a stabilized surface; there are still other choices to allow percolation, such as pea gravel; but mulch floats and ends up in the drainage systems.  He stated there are some good alternatives that are not impervious.  Mr. Harper stated people with an RV or boat are the type of people who are having fun and enjoying life; and people who do not have the toys stay inside and who knows what might be going on.  Commissioner Nelson stated he would like to believe that people could talk to their neighbors and the neighbors would listen; but he has an example on Merritt Island where that was attempted; and it became an “in your face” issue.  He stated the sad part is the gentleman has an alternative in that he could park in his back yard off a public roadway, but chooses not to; so unfortunately there are folks that will not be receptive to being a good neighbor; and that is what they are dealing with.  Mr. Harper advised he is on the other side of the coin.  Commissioner Nelson inquired how the changes would impact Mr. Harper; with Mr. Harper responding he is present for everybody who is at work right now; and he took off work to come today.  Mr. Harper advised he has more than a half-acre; but he feels for the people who will be affected, although he will not be affected if it is strictly for half-acre or less. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the Board needs to be careful that it does not make laws, rules, and regulations because of the few; and commented on changing the laws and Ordinances that affect everybody when only a few are the problem. 

 

Jean Freeman stated she is not against motorhomes; but she is against where they are parked, which is what they are talking about today.  She stated she resides in Satellite Beach; and she is the area director of South Patrick Residents Association (SPRA) for the 300 homes in North Waterway Estates.  She stated SPRA represents 3,000 residences on the beachside; and she is asking the Board to change the present Ordnance to improve the safety and quality of life in her neighborhood.  She stated she and many of the residents are interested in changing the Ordinance to read that recreational vehicles be parked at a reasonable setback for the safety of children, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists; this is a real safety issue; and in her area there are a few RV’s that extend onto or beyond the sidewalk.  She stated she is asking that recreational equipment and trailers be parked on a stable or hardened surface and perpendicular, not parallel to the road; but she notices there have been a few changes.  She stated many of their lots are only one-quarter acre; at the present time there are several trailers and recreational vehicles parked across the lawns in front of the homes and across the sidewalk; and for their closely knit neighborhood, this is not acceptable.  She stated it is hard to look at a motorhome parked across someone’s front window or across the sidewalk; and requested the Board consider changing the Ordinance to one that will improve the neighborhood and give the residents the safety they deserve and a community of which they can be proud.  She reiterated she is not against motorhomes, but they should be parked where the Board is trying to get them parked. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated SPRA is huge; and inquired if there are no deed restrictions of any kind.  Ms. Freeman responded not in her community; but a few of the communities in the area do have deed restrictions.  She advised in North Waterway Estates, South Waterway Estates, and a few others, there are no deed restrictions; they use to have restrictions; but they stopped before she took over ten years ago.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if they could do any deed restrictions; with Ms. Freeman responding no.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if they would have to vote on it; with Ms. Freeman responding that is right.  Commissioner Voltz stated if they do not have deed restrictions, they would have to get 100% or whatever the percentage is of the people to agree; she will talk to Ms. Samuelson about it; but if Ms. Freeman has been there for ten years, there is no way to go back at this point and do any sort of deed restriction.  Ms. Freeman stated there is no way that she knows about. 

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired how many of the RV’s are in violation currently under the current Codes; with Ms. Freeman responding in her development of 300 homes it would be 25.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if there are 25 units that could actually be fined at this point because they are over the sidewalk; with Ms. Freeman responding affirmatively.  Commissioner Voltz stated that means they are already in violation of the Code and are not legal now.

 

Ayn Samuelson, president of the South Patrick Residents Association (SPRA), stated they are especially concerned about large recreational vehicles that are parked in front yards, parallel to the roadway; some are parked without concern for other property owners; and some have planted foliage as if they were additional outbuildings that have growth up there.  She stated she is very much in favor of property rights; she owns property other than her home; but she also understands responsibilities; and rights and responsibilities cannot be separated.  She stated people can still have their toys; what they are talking about with the Ordinance, which is in the initial stages, is parking perpendicular; and people can still park their motorhomes or trailers in the setback, on the side of the home, or in their backyards, so they are not limiting the ability of people to have, use, and enjoy their toys.  She stated what they are asking is for other people driving down the street or waking up in the morning to not look at and see a 30-foot motorhome parked parallel to the street with bushes planted around it.  She inquired if someone cannot enjoy their toys but also respect their neighbors; and stated that is what they are asking.  She reiterated they are not asking to limit people’s freedom to enjoy; she loves the outdoors and lives on the water; and people should be able to enjoy their toys, but should also have a responsibility to their neighbors.  She stated they are asking people to be more considerate of their neighbors and the community; and she enjoys her rights but also recognizes the responsibilities as well. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if Ms. Samuelson could address the issue of deed restrictions.  Ms. Samuelson responded she read the original restrictions and there were very few other than not being able to run a business out of the home and that type of thing that would have created additional traffic; they were very loose; and there is nothing they can hang their hats on.  She stated some of the smaller subdivisions within SPRA, such as The Moorings, Lighthouse Landing, and Sleepy Lagoon probably have some more stringent restrictions and could ask the residents to follow those provisions; but SPRA does not; and she does not see how it could.  She stated she is a volunteer; this is a huge undertaking for them to even consider at this time; and they are looking to the Board as they are in unincorporated Brevard County.  She inquired if the Codes that were used prior to 2005 were much more stringent than what is being proposed now; with Code Enforcement Director Bobby Bowen responding they were.  Ms. Samuelson stated they are better off for the freedom of the people than they were before; she does not like a lot of ordinances either; but if people are not even considerate and are affecting the quality of life and the neighborhood that is a problem.  Ms. Samuelson stated they are looking at something much less stringent than they had previously; people should be able to bring their
vehicles home; and they are not going backward, but are potentially moving forward with this issue. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired about the number of trailers that are not parked illegally in yards; with Ms. Samuelson responding she does not know.  Ms. Samuelson stated Ms. Freeman knows in her area; in other areas it would be a lot more trailers; but she cannot give an actual number now.  Commissioner Voltz stated she is asking about the ones that are currently illegal because if they are already illegal, changing the law or the Code is not going to make them legal.  Ms. Samuelson advised she is not talking about that issue; she is specifically talking about a recreational vehicle parked parallel to the road; and right now that is legal under the Code.  She stated previously it was not legal, then it was legal for two years; and that change snuck past SPRA, which did not know there was going to be that change.  She stated people were not present because they did not think the Code was going to change that drastically; and she is talking about what is legal now under the Code that is causing a problem.  She stated she is not talking about the Florida Statue in terms of a vehicle hanging over the sidewalk, which is a Sheriff’s issue.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if Ms. Samuelson knows how many motorhomes are sitting in front of houses; with Ms. Samuelson responding there are several, but she cannot tell the exact number. 

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if the main concern is the motorhomes being parallel to the roadway.  Ms. Samuelson stated it is the front yard issue; Mr. Bowen has written the change so that people could have their motorhome and trailer; but the idea is for them to be perpendicular to the road to give a neater appearance.  She stated there may be some people who cannot fit a vehicle there; she cannot speak to that issue; but the change is not limiting the number of toys; and people can park them in their backyard, side yard, and so one.  She stated the critical thing is location; they are not saying people cannot have toys; and it is a very important issue. 

 

Douglas Worth stated he lives in unincorporated Brevard County and not in a deed restricted neighborhood or gated community; he has lived there for 34 years in the same location in the center of the Lake Shepherd area; and he sent a letter to each Commissioner recently concerning this situation.  He stated Ayn Samuelson is the president of the SPRA; she has spoken to the Board today and on December 4, 2007 concerning making specific changes to Code 62-2117(b) to make it more restrictive; and he would not make it more restrictive but would add a setback from the side property line of five to seven feet, not ten feet.  He stated it should not be regulated closer than ones house is regulated.  He stated he does not agree with those who have signed the petition to make the Code contain more restrictions; and the draft code that is presented today is an example of over control in an unincorporated part of Brevard County.  He requested the Board wisely consider the proposed code restrictions and advertise a special meeting at night for the public hearing so the public will know about it.  He requested the Board give ample time and opportunity for all residents in unincorporated Brevard County to announce the public hearing; and advised this issue affects all of unincorporated Brevard County and not just the SPRA area. 

 

Nancy Bass stated her subdivision is made up of lots that are less than a quarter-acre; they do not want to restrict anybody from having whatever they want in the way of recreational vehicles;

however, they do want to keep the neighborhood safe and protect its integrity.  Ms. Bass submitted signed petitions; and stated they appreciate the time and effort that the Board has put into this.  She stated it makes a difference as far as the community is concerned; and they are in favor of the recommendations that have been made. 

 

Buddy Spakes stated the last time this issue came up, commercial vehicles were also included; and inquired why they are not included now as some of them are as unsightly as the boats and RV’s.  He stated the problem is the Board would have all the commercial entities in front of it.  He stated the people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and one person’s happiness may be a birdbath in the part with flowers planted around it while another may be a completely graveled yard.  He stated on Merritt Island he knows of a mailbox made out of telephone poles that reaches to the street all the way from the sidewalk; and this is someone’s happiness.  He stated some people are happy because of their RV’s, boats, jet skis, or whatever; and inquired if they oppose the birdbath or the Queen palm tree that is dropping seeds on the sidewalk, do they have the right to control that property owner.  He stated the Board has to have a vote to do anything and the majority rules; what he has heard from the speakers is that the majority are saying to leave them alone; and if the Board wants a real opinion, it should put this on the ballot and let the people in the entire County speak and say what they want. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated there are legitimate points; one gentleman talked about the curved driveway that goes into the garage; and those things need to be looked at specifically; but there are some pictures that showed things that he thinks are objectionable and not good for the community.  He stated if those things are currently allowed, then the Code is not where it needs to be; and the question is how to get to the point that the Code addresses some of the gross abuses but does not take way the ability to use ones property.  He stated he would encourage the folks who have spoken in opposition to work with staff to figure out where that point is because the original was too restrictive, then the Board went too far in the other direction, and now it needs to bring it back to where there is some common courtesy, which unfortunately the Board may have to legislate versus neighbors being neighborly.  He stated it is a sad state of affairs; but that is where they are; and he would like to make a motion to send this on to the LPA for additional discussions, and to include that when it comes back to the Board that the first public hearing be at a night meeting so that everybody can be present.  He noted the LPA has its meetings at 3:00 p.m.

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, to approve sending the proposed amendments to Chapter 62, Section 62-2117(a) and (b), concerning parking, locating, and storage of RV’s and recreational equipment to the LPA for discussion; and direct the first public hearing to be an evening meeting. 

 

 

Planning and Zoning Director Robin Sobrino stated she wants to clarify that this type of ordinance would only require one public hearing not two; and if the Board wants it brought back in the evening, that can be arranged.

 

Chairman Scarborough seconded the motion.

 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated he was the only one who voted against the Ordinance because he thought it was overreaching; there is a balance between what is right and what is wrong; but the Board also needs to be cognizant that property values are actually established upon the restrictions.  He stated the more restrictive they go with the communities, the higher the property values; there is a point of being overbearing, such as Mr. Spakes’ comment about palm trees dropping seeds; and this is not about palm trees; but he always believes the devil is in the details.  He stated Commissioner Nelson was headed in the right direction when he encouraged the people who had problems to come to the table and define their problems; and it is not going to work if they just have the pendulum go in the other direction without comment.  He stated what concerns him is that there are things that are not appropriate for a neighborhood; but the Board cannot say that people cannot have things that are currently legal under the Code; and inquired if anyone would want to live next to some of those places.  He stated as far as deed restrictions, they can only be created by consent of all the property owners unless they are going by the developer at the outset; it is almost beyond reason to try to contact absentee property owners; they have tried after the fact to deal with certain responsibilities such as retention ponds and things; but once the cat is out of the bag, it is an impossibility to recreate.  He encouraged the Board to open the dialogue; and stated it is just a dialogue and they want to bring people to the table to be fair to all views, so he will be voting in favor.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired who made the motion; with Chairman Scarborough responding Commissioner Nelson made the motion and he seconded it.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated it is their duty as Commissioners that if an Ordinance is adopted or a ruling is made to always be vigilant and see what the outcome is and how it is affecting the public one, two, or three years later.  She stated she will be voting in favor of bringing this forward because she wants to have that dialogue to see if the pendulum went too far and needs to be brought back a little.  She reiterated this is the Board’s responsibility.      

 

Chairman Scarborough called for a vote on the motion.  Motion carried and ordered; Commissioners Scarborough, Nelson, Voltz, and Bolin voted aye; Commissioner Colon voted nay. 

 

 

Commissioner Colon stated the Board already went through this process; all of the people were at the table at that time; and nothing has changed in the process.  She stated it is important for the Board to take care of those who are in violation of the Code; Mr. Bowen does the best job he can but it is a large County; but the Board has already been through this process with meetings after meetings.  She stated she understands where both sides are coming from but she does not think the Board should bring it back. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired besides the vehicles that are unsightly but are okay under the current Ordinance, how many are actually illegal.  She stated it is important to know if there are 20 cases that are illegal under the Ordinance now and those are the ones that are being complained about, if there are ones that are legal now according to the Ordinance that nobody is complaining about, or what the balance is.  She stated she is sure staff has that information; the Board has been through this before and it was a long meeting; there were a lot of people against the restrictions; some were for them; and they went through hours of public hearing. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she does not want to bring it up again; but at the same time, if the Board can look at some of the details, she does not see why it should not.  Commissioner Voltz stated she agrees with Commissioner Bolin that the Board should bring back Ordinances from time to time to see if what was created is working. 

 

Commissioner Colon stated the greatest concern after listening to the discussions is that it is never enough; once they open Pandora’s box, folks are going to want the restrictions and are going to hold each Commissioner accountable because they will feel the Board did not go far enough; and that is what the Board will be hearing.  She stated she cannot blame the people; they are going to have an opportunity to hear the issue again; and they will want the Board to go even further than what it has now.  She stated that was the dilemma; that was what Mr. Bowen and the folks worked on two years ago to try to bring a comprehensive ordinance forward; and once that happens it will involve everybody.  She stated the Board will have folks who are not going to appreciate the fact that it was very lenient on commercial; and recommended the Board be prepared to speak about everything in the Ordinance, not just what is in front of it now.  She stated the Board listened to hour and hours of comments; what is before the Board is not what the public is going to talk about; and they are going to want the Board to go further. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the big difference between where they are today and where they were two and one half to three years ago is that there was no point of reference or history; the Board created something but did not know how it would end up looking in the neighborhoods; and now there is some experience with that.  He stated he would not want to go back to the way it was because he recognizes that as a society people have more things that they value and want to keep at their homes; 50 years ago there were no motorhomes; that is a relatively new activity; and there is recognition of that.  He stated the Board needs to tweak the Ordinance; he is not looking for a wholesale going back to the way it was; and he certainly would not want to see the Board go back in that direction; but it needs to fix some of the problem areas that have come to the Board’s attention.

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated she wants to be sure she understands the Board’s intent; and inquired if it is to hold a special night meeting to discuss this issue.

 

Chairman Scarborough stated that is part of the motion; and before this is advertised, he would suggest that it come before the Board or at least be provided to the Board in case any  Commissioner wishes to have the context of the advertisement increased or decreased because advertising will limit the discussion.  He stated that is a little different than putting it on the Agenda; but this has a lot of dynamics; and that is the one thing that all the Commissioners agree on, that they want to make sure they are going to the right areas in defining clearly where they are going.  Ms. Sobrino inquired if Chairman Scarborough would like to see it before it goes to the LPA; and Chairman Scarborough responded it would be important to see it before it goes to the LPA because once it goes to the LPA, the discussion is already started.  Chairman Scarborough stated as staff begins to put this together, he needs to sit down and talk to staff; he was concerned when it was originally passed; and those concerns have been borne out by some of the things he has seen.  He stated he is just one Commissioner but that is why he fully supports this; he also understands the dynamics and how large this can become; and he concurs with those comments 100%. 

 

 

 

Chairman Scarborough suggested the report be accepted by the Board unless someone has a question.  He commented on pot-bellied pigs. 

 

 

 

Marlene Adams stated she is sure she does not have to repeat how she feels about the consultant being hired; and read from an email from County Attorney Scott Knox dated March 13, which says, “The consultant has been hired to establish a new assessment methodology that will undoubtedly result in new assessment amounts for virtually everyone.”  She advised the low income people got a break in 2006; they did not get it in 2007; so the $129 per person was charged to those people in 2007, but they did not get backcharged for 2007; and read aloud from a February 2, 2007 informal opinion from Attorney General Bill McCollum’s office, “Special assessments are charges assessed by a government agency or unit against particular parcels of land that have received a special benefit from the public improvement.  The amount of the assessment is computed by apportioning all or part of the total cost of such improvements among the properties specially benefited.  Special assessments are not taxes because they confer a special benefit on the land burdened by the assessment.  The Florida Supreme Court has recognized that there are two requirements for the imposition of a valid special assessment.  First, that the property assessed must derive a special benefit from the service provided and second, that the assessment must be apportioned fairly and reasonably among the properties that receive the special benefit.  Thus a special benefit is distinguished from a tax.”  She stated what the Attorney General meant was a special assessment from a tax because of its special benefits and its fair apportionment; and continued reading, “A local government utilizing the provisions of 197.3632, F.S. must adhere to the legislative framework set forth in the Statute.”  She stated the Board did not do that; the letters were late; when the Legislature has prescribed the manner in which something has to be done, it operates as a prohibition against in being done in any other manner.  She stated 197.2332, F.S. recognizes the authority of the local government to accomplish adjustments to an assessment; the Board is scheduling workshops for adjustment to the assessment; and read, “The local governing Board may adjust the assessment or the application of the assessment to any affected property based on the benefit which the Board will provide or has provided to the property.”  She stated what has changed is not the benefit but that the Board recognized that it had done it wrong; but they still have the same benefit to the properties for fire protection services.  She stated the Board is going to change the methodology and change the numbers; Mr. Knox said the County is going to send out new letters and continue on in 2008 like nothing ever happened; and the Board is going to fix it now.  She stated the Legislature has recognized that adjustments may be made by the Board for particular parcels based on differences and the benefits provided with the non ad valorem and assessment money; Section 197.3632, F.S. provides a uniform procedure for levying, collection, and enforcement of special assessments imposed by local governments authorized to impose non ad valorem special assessments; but the County’s Charter requires the vote to impose special assessments.  She stated local government is defined to include a county levying non ad valorem special assessments; if a county chooses to use the uniform method of collecting such an assessment, it must adhere to the procedures in Chapter 197.3632, F.S.; it would appear that if the County determines to use that Statute, which it did, to levy a special assessment, the County is not authorized to create a non ad valorem fire services special assessment exemption or adjustment program, which would reduce the non ad valorem
portion.  Ms. Adams stated the Board has exempted properties like churches, clinics, colleges, and things of that nature; and it raised everybody else’s five dollars; and that is improper according to the memo.  She stated Mr. Knox put out a memo on February 26 where he said Section 197.3632, F.S. only recognizes the authority of a governing body to adjust assessments for a particular property based on the benefit; and the Board hired a consultant to change the numbers but the benefit has not changed.  She stated the Board is just changing the numbers because it did it wrong; it is improper.  She stated assessments are being confused with taxes; and she will provide an example.  She stated if there were ten lots on a road, and it costs $10,000 to pave the road, common sense would tell them that the lots, which are all identical, would be assessed $1,000 each.  She stated for whatever reason the Board might decide because one house was small it would only charge it $500, because the next one was bigger to charge it $1,500, and to charge the one that in between $750; then after two years if it was challenged and the Board was told it was done wrong, it might hire a consultant who would confirm it was done wrong; and then the Board would have to change it.  She stated the Board would start over and charge $1,000 each; but inquired what about the first two years when some people did not pay enough and others paid too much.  She stated it would have to be adjusted to make it fair; and the Board can see the nightmare it created for the first two years on the fire assessment.  She stated back in 1998 when the Charter amendment was put on the ballot, the people voted for it; and it is still in the Charter, as it has been for ten years; but the people have never been afforded a vote.  She inquired what assessment would ever come before the Board that the people would be afforded the opportunity by the Charter to vote for it.  She stated the attorney who was analyzing whether or not that was constitutional said that there shall be no referendum required for the levy by the county of ad valorem taxes; and that can easily be construed as permitting a referendum requiring limiting special assessments, which is what the Charter does.  She stated special assessments are authorized by Chapter 125.01, F.S. and other statutory provisions; and advised the attorney says that for special assessments and the creation of districts funded by special assessments he found no legislative mandate that the County levy special assessments for any purpose and that other revenue sources may be used, such as taxes and fees.  She stated in the attorney’s opinion General Law does not expressly prohibit the kinds of limits intended by the proposed Charter amendments, which is still on the books and has not been challenged; and read from the Charter, “The County operating under this charter shall have all special powers and duties which are not inconsistent with this Charter heretofore granted by State or federal law to the Board of County Commissioners and shall have such additional county and municipal powers as may be required to fulfill the intent of this Charter.”  She stated the intent of that provision is to afford the citizens a vote for special assessments; the Board knows what the Charter says in terms of no new ad valorems being assessed without a vote; and she wants this fixed.

 

County Attorney Scott Knox stated the fact that the Board hired a consultant does not mean that it has done anything wrong; it just means the Board was not satisfied with the way the original methodology worked as far as who paid what; and this issue will also be addressed by Mr. Watts. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated that is why he thinks it would behoove the Board to reserve comment until it gets Mr. Watts’ opinion and the results; he voted for the consultant not based upon anything that occurred previously; and he would have voted for the consultant even if everything the Board had done would have been completely without legal question because he was not happy with the methodology and distribution, whereby people with smaller homes were
paying the same amount as people with larger homes.  Chairman Scarborough stated Commissioner Voltz came to the heart of the issue in that those who are least able to pay have had a burden shifted to them; that has hurt the conscience of the Board; and it was totally independent from anything dealing with the legality.  He stated this would have gone to a consultant regardless of the legal question; but the Board is going to get both answers. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated when it happened the first time, she suggested it be fixed the following year; there was plenty of time to fix it; but it was not fixed in terms of who was paying what; so it needs to be fixed this year. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to approve scheduling Fire Assessment Workshops at 1:00 p.m. on April 25, 2008 and 1:00 p.m. on May 8, 2008.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to approve scheduling an executive session with the County Manager and appropriate staff to discuss the upcoming negotiations with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 2969, to be held at the end of the regular (public) meeting on April 22, 2008.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Parks and Recreation Director Don Lusk stated he has briefed all the Commissioners, but can do a summary if the Board would like.  Chairman Scarborough stated that might be beneficial.  Mr. Lusk stated last fall when the County was going through the budget for this year, a decision was made to have Parks and Recreation budget at a 10% increase in revenues based on fees; so last fall, staff began looking at and doing comparables with what other cities and counties are doing.  He stated they looked at what the competition is and who is providing like services; and it has taken a bit longer to get this to the Board than they anticipated so instead of doing small amounts on everything, staff decided to look at some particular areas where it felt comfortable putting in increases.  He stated they are services that had good value for which people would be “happy” to pay more dollars; and they increased revenues.  He stated they looked at camping, which has been an Enterprise Fund for quite some time; it is popular and there are well utilized campgrounds; and he allowed the campground managers to come back with what they thought they needed to do.  He stated they also looked at tournaments; he is not talking about Little League tournaments but about commercial tournaments that are generally organized by for-profit kinds of groups that come into the County and utilize facilities; and actually the County often supplemented those kinds of things, so they looked at raising the fees so as to not be in a supplement situation.  He stated last year there was discussion about summer youth camp fees; those are targeted to go up approximately $20 a week; they did a survey of a sampling of customers last summer, knowing that there would be future cuts; and the survey showed they could probably sustain a $55 a week fee.  He stated they raised it to $60 and included some  things that people were paying separately.  Mr. Lusk stated there are a few other minor changes in the fee resolution that relate to equalizing like facilities and the costs that were done; they changed some of the methodology on how they deal with strategy areas; and he has explained that to most of the Commissioners already.  He stated he would be happy to entertain any questions; the philosophy was to do what was needed to get the 10% increase and no more at this juncture; and when it was put together, they did not consider TABR and other ugly things that seem to be coming right now.  He stated as far as next year’s budget, they know what the market tells them they can do and are prepared to look at increasing fees more, if that is the direction of the Board.  He stated if the Board wants them to find other methodologies, today might to a good day to know that.          

 

Commissioner Bolin stated they were just listening to Tallahassee say that fees could be affected; and inquired if that is the case, if the Board leaves a fee the way it is now, is it putting itself in harm’s way if it gets to a position where it cannot change fees versus whether the Board can have an item where it says “to be announced” because it knows it is going to change.  County Attorney Scott Knox responded it depends on how the Legislature does its thing; if it passes a bill that says the County could have a referendum on any change or any new fee, then whatever the Board does not is engraved in stone until it has a referendum; and that is what the Board is looking at right now.  Commissioner Bolin stated the one she is talking about is the equestrian facilities at Wickham Park; it has stalls per month; they do not know at this time whether stalls will be rented out or not; but she can guarantee they are not going to be $85 a month.  She stated that is her concern; and inquired if they will have to have a referendum to change that if they move forward with renting stalls.  Mr. Knox stated it will depend on how the Legislature structures the law; but generally speaking in legal terms, a fee is different from rent.  He stated if the Board is talking about rentals, that is one thing; but if it is talking about a fee for the use of the facility, that is something different. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated in terms of TABR, when she was in Tallahassee there was a lady from Colorado who came because she heard the Legislature was considering this.  She stated the lady was just a mom from Colorado who had not paid any attention to what was going on at the capital until her daughter came home from school and said it was freezing cold in the school, and she discovered that because of TABR, the school could not increase the thermostat above a certain level.  She stated the lady advised if they wanted to increase a library fee by a nickel, they could do that, but if it was twenty-five cents, they had to vote to do that.  She stated the lady talked about many of the issues that have become disastrous in Colorado; they do not have a single item on the ballot; and when this was on the ballot there were 17 individual things that were addressed in one amendment, which is why they are not able to just go back and change the amendment.  She stated Colorado has put it off for five years, two of which are left; and they are trying to figure out how to do away with TABR.  She stated the woman’s testimony to the Florida Association of Counties was powerful; she was going to talk to the Committee that was addressing the issue; and if her testimony was as powerful to the Committee, then TABR is going nowhere.  She stated it was very interesting what the lady had to say about the limitations that TABR puts on everybody for everything; a couple of Legislators advised that it is going nowhere; but nevertheless, it is out there.  Chairman Scarborough stated one never knows; with Commissioner Voltz agreeing. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated he was big on the fees; but the Board can get consumed in not balancing a budget.  He stated by trying to balance a budget, the Board may be consumed and never balance the budget.  He stated Ms. Busacca has indicated that the number is probably $30 million; what the Board is discussing is a little less than $200,000; there was a major article about this issue; but the Board would have to consider an item of this nature every day including Saturdays and Sundays until the budget was approved; and he does not mind moving to the bigger numbers.  He stated what will happen is the Board will get these little items, the phones will start ringing, and they will become totally consumed with a $100,000 or $200,000 item that will distract them from making the County viable in October.  He stated there is a risk they will not have a viable county; it is okay to talk about it; but he wants to lead with things that are going to get the Board closer to where it needs to be because there are a lot of people who are going to be impacted by fees.  He stated last year people wanted to look at fees; there are a lot of people who are going to be impacted by a lot of things; but the more they touch the community, he does not know if the world pities them enough for what they are going to go through in the next four months.  He stated his concern is do they need to get beyond the $200,000 items; and he knows it is going to be hard to talk about how to make the whole thing work; but it has to be there.  

 

Commissioner Nelson stated that was his question to Mr. Thrasher because of the fees issue; he would be concerned if the Board was looking to take a service and substitute it for ad valorem; but this is not new; the Board has always looked at fees on an annual basis to see if they are competitive and appropriate; and he would hope that the citizens understand that this is just a routine process.  He would hate to see people thinking the Board is raising all fees to offset tax reform because that is clearly not what it is doing; and reiterated this is a standard process.  He stated he hopes the Legislature understands the difference because otherwise the County will be shutting down services, making no money, and not charging anyone because there will be no one to collect any fees.  He stated the Summer Playground Program is basically a break even program; the County is charging what it costs to put on the program; and if the County cannot raise the fees to keep with salaries and those kinds of things, it will not be able to provide the program, which would be a tragedy.   

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt Resolution approving the revisions to the Resolution establishing Rules and Use Policy and Schedule of Fees for the Parks and Recreation Department.  Motion carried and ordered.  Commissioners Scarborough, Nelson, Voltz, and Bolin voted aye; Commissioner Colon voted nay.                                

 

 

 

 

Upon motion and vote, the meeting was adjourned at 12:55 p.m.

 

 

                                                                        _____________________________________

JACKIE COLON, CHAIRPERSON

                                                                        BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

ATTEST:                                                         BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

 

_____________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

   

          (S E A L)