December 2, 2003

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in regular session on December 2, 2003, at 9:00 a.m. in the Government Center Commission Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida. Present were: Chair Nancy Higgs, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Ron Pritchard, Susan Carlson, and Jackie Colon, County Manager Tom Jenkins, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

The Invocation was given by Reverend Richard Pobjecky of St. Gabriel Episcopal Church in Titusville, Florida.

Commissioner Ron Pritchard led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to approve the Minutes of August 12, 2003 and August 26, 2003 Regular Meetings, and September 15, 2003 Emergency Meeting. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

REPORT, RE: CANCELLATION OF WORKSHOP

County Manager Tom Jenkins advised he sent each Commissioner an email on the workshop scheduled for December 11, 2003; workshop dates are set aside whether there is a topic scheduled or not; and they do not have a topic at this time unless the Board has suggestions or wants to cancel the workshop.

Commissioner Pritchard stated it might be a good opportunity to review the strategic plan and set up some goals and objectives.

Commissioner Carlson stated she thought the Board was going to talk about the jail, but assumes they are not going to be ready for that. Mr. Jenkins stated they have several hot topics coming up in January and February 2004, but they are not ready at this time with several of them. Commissioner Carlson stated she also got an email about a 90-minute presentation; and inquired what was the topic of that; with Mr. Jenkins responding that was Hank Fishkind’s study on the cost of growth, but he is not available on that date. Commissioner Carlson stated she would like to have that before the Board gets too far into the strategic planning aspect of it; and inquired when did the Board request it; with Mr. Jenkins responding staff has been waiting for the study to be completed; it is now completed and they are trying to find a date that meets everyone’s schedule. Commissioner Carlson stated she would think the Board would want to incorporate that into the strategic side of things; and if there is a way to incorporate the study, she assumes it is going to take some time and plenty of discussion. Commissioner Pritchard inquired if staff has a time when Mr. Fishkind will be able to attend a meeting and make his presentation; with Mr. Jenkins responding he asked Mel Scott to get some dates of Mr. Fishkind’s availability; and staff will compare those to the Board’s availability and see what they can do. He noted that is in the process right now. Commissioner Pritchard inquired if Mr. Jenkins thinks it will be February or March 2004; with Mr. Jenkins responding no, if the Board has to call a special meeting, they will try to do it sooner.

Chair Higgs inquired if there is a motion on the workshop of December 11, 2003. Commissioner Pritchard stated if the choice of the Board is to wait until it has the Fishkind report, then he does not want to jump into something haphazardly and can support waiting. Commissioner Carlson inquired if there is anything else in the process that the Board is going through right now, identifying whatever it is, preparatory to the budget process that needs to be gone over that would be worthy of doing it now since they have the date on the calendar. Mr. Jenkins stated they were not able to come up with anything.

Commissioner Scarborough stated at the last workshop there were a number of items the Board asked Mr. Jenkins to report back on; there were a number of issues on how to define, how to get a handle on a lot of things, what would it be if they got a consultant, etc.; and inquired when will that report come back to the Board; with Mr. Jenkins responding January. Commissioner Scarborough stated with that in mind, it may be premature to have a workshop if they do not have the information that is required. Commissioner Pritchard stated that is where he was going; and in January the Board can meet with the Citizens Budget Review Committee if it had not had the opportunity prior to that; and with that he will move to delete the workshop.

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to cancel the December 11, 2003 workshop as no topic was scheduled and no other topics are ready for discussion. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

REPORT, RE: ILLEGAL LAND CLEARING IN OSPREY POINT

County Attorney Scott Knox advised his office was made aware of possible illegal lot clearing and wetlands damage in Osprey Point in District 1; an inspector looked at it and was told to leave the property by virtue of a trespass sign; and requested the Board authorize him to obtain an inspection warrant.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to authorize the County Attorney to obtain an inspection warrant for staff to inspect possible illegal lot clearing and wetlands damage in Osprey Point Subdivision. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

REPORT, RE: PRESENTATION BY KENNEDY SPACE CENTER DIRECTOR
JIM KENNEDY AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR WOODROW WHITLOW

Jim Kennedy, Director of Kennedy Space Center, advised it is an honor to come back and speak to the leadership of this great County; he came with Roy Bridges who set the tone for Kennedy Space Center for the last seven years; and it is an honor to stand before the Board six months later attempting to replace Mr. Bridges. He stated it is a challenge and they are all working hard to do the best they can; and they will forever miss the contributions that Roy Bridges brought to the community and their workplace. He stated he was raised in Cocoa Beach and graduated from Cocoa Beach High School; it is an honor to return home and see the quality of life has improved from what it was when he was a child; and it reflects beautifully on the Board of County Commissioners and people of Brevard County. He thanked the Board for the quality of life it has enabled all of them to enjoy. He stated they have a lot of core values at Kennedy Space Center, but at the top of his list of values is their people; it is more than words, it is a way of life; they value the 12,000 contractors they work with daily and the 2,000 NASA employees; and it is an honor for him to introduce to the Board three of the 14,000 employees at Kennedy Space Center. He advised Denise Catone is a special assistant to the Center Director’s office; and thanked her for all she does to make it a special place. He stated Celine Morgan makes sure they are connected with the community, and does a beautiful job with that because they are an integral part of the community. He thanked Ms. Morgan for all she does. He noted he will introduce the Deputy Director later. Mr. Kennedy advised tremendous news came out a couple of weeks ago; the American University, along with a firm he does not remember, did a study of the best government agency to work for in the United States government; there was a lot of criteria and in-depth evaluation; and their conclusion was that NASA is the #1 government agency to work for in the country. He noted it is something he would not, could not, and should not argue with. He stated the study dropped below the agency level and looked at individual entities such as Kennedy Space Center and non-NASA entities across this great land; and their conclusion was the fourth best entity to work for is Kennedy Space Center, something they take a lot of pride in and cannot agree with them more because it is a great place to work. He stated with that as his introduction, it is his pleasure to share some charts with the Board; first is the economic impact; they have a billion-dollar budget of the $15 billion NASA budget; the gross output of money that they spend in the community totals about $2.2 billion, but the income they pay employees is about $1.5 billion; and that directly affects the community by the 36,000 jobs generated by the work they do directly with Kennedy Space Center. He stated the next chart is a picture of the shuttle launch and international space station; about a year ago a detailed assessment of the most magnificent engineering accomplishment of mankind was conducted by the Discovery Channel; and he is not sure they have done a good job advertising all that the space station does for them; but it was selected as the #1 engineering accomplishment in all of mankind around the world. He noted it is living up to its advertised performance. Mr. Kennedy advised the vehicle, when it is completed, will be about a million pounds and the size of a football field including the end zones; they are currently about 40% complete; 400,000 pounds have been placed in orbit in the total of 36 missions to the international space station; and 22 flights came from their partners in Russia who, without their contributions, they would be in dire straits with the shuttle being down. He stated 16 flights have been from the space shuttle to the international space station. He stated the chart looks at the space station hardware that is sitting at the station processing facility at Kennedy Space Center; if there could be an upside of the period where they are not flying the space shuttle, it is that they have built up international space station hardware; and about 200,000 pounds are near ready to fly on to the international space station. He identified pictures of the expendable launch vehicles, the Delta II and Atlas; stated those vehicles, especially when they are not flying the shuttle, get some noted attention that they deserve; and the expendable launch vehicle program provides the robotic missions that will often be precursors to human space flight. He stated in June or July of this year they launched two missions to Mars, Mar A, also known as Spirit, and Mar B, known as Opportunity and Stay Tuned; in January those two missions will be landing on the planet of Mars and will be roving across the planet getting them real time projections of what it is like to be on the planet Mars, with the primary objective of looking for water; and if they can find water on Mars, he thinks they will have a renewed interest in sending humans onto Mars, a mission they have not defined or put into their projected plan. Mr. Kennedy stated another very exciting thing that came from the expendable launch vehicle program is that early this year they lost the launched space infrared telescope facility, the last of the great telescope facilities to follow on the heels of hobble space telescope; the picture is looking at the infrared spectrum of the universe; the first pictures came back two weeks ago; and the facility is working beautifully and will redefine the books that talk about the universe. He stated those are the kinds of things that are coming from the expendable launch program. He stated in the lower left is the vision for Kennedy Space Center that includes the fact that they must invest in advanced technologies if they are going to be the spaceport of the future; he credits Roy Bridges with that; and it is a pictorial of what the spaceport of the future might look like. He stated Kennedy Space Center is not just an operations mission center; it is a center that thinks about what it takes to invest in launch technology so they can be on the cutting edge of those technologies for the next generation of launch vehicles; and they are actively involved in the orbital space plane. He stated it is going to be a follow-on to shuttle humans initially from station home to planet earth; and two years later assent of humans to the international space station. Mr. Kennedy advised two Commissioners joined them at the ribbon cutting two weeks ago; the Board and County have been very supportive of SERPL, the Space Experiment Research Processing Lab; it is now called Space and Life Sciences Lab or SLS Lab; and explained a photo of Mr. Bridges and the former director of Florida Space Authority, their strong connection with the State of Florida, signing an agreement that they will build space commerce way, a three-mile highway closely located to the international space research park, a large park which has as its magnet facility the initial occupant, the Space and Life Sciences Laboratory. He noted it is a beautiful way of showing how state and federal governments can work together; the facility was funded by the State some $30 million investment; it will be managed by Florida Space Research Institute; and Dr. Sam Durants actively engaged the academic community of the State industry and government alike. He stated there are governments at all levels and it is a tribute to the vision of folks who knew they need to work together in partnerships to make life a success. He explained a picture of Lt. Governor Toni Jennings and former Lt. Governor Frank Brogan who is now President of Florida Atlantic University, Sam Durants, a flown astronaut and head of Florida Space Research Institute, and Winston Scott, who is the new executive director of Florida Space Authority. He stated the picture is of the Lt. Governor looking at one of the many research activities going on at the SLS lab; that one deals with the greenhouse effect; its work is done on what they call the saber program with the University of Florida, where they look at space agriculture as a way to grow life support so they do not have to carry oxygen and consumables with them, but rather bring the biological constituents such that they can get the breathing air and food and other apparatuses necessary for long-term space travel. He stated that is just one example of the many types of research going on at the SLS lab. Mr. Kennedy advised all their lives were shaken on February 1st when they lost the Columbia; one goal was to recover the hardware so they could begin their reconstruction effort; the agency along with other agencies, National Forest Service, FEMA, and many others got together; and within a matter of hours of the disaster had some 6,000 people in East Texas to recover the hardware. He stated they thought at best they might be able to recover 5% of the hardware; the final numbers came in and there is still hardware being found, but the number currently stands at 39% of the gross vehicle dry weight that has been recovered; and that played a key role in helping them put together the pieces to understand they had a breach of the reinforced carbon wing leading edge that came from the external tank that caused the disaster of Columbia. He stated the people in Brevard County were an integral part of piecing together the found hardware such that they could reconstruct the vehicle in the critical areas and understand the cause of the Columbia disaster and get on with the fix. Mr. Kennedy advised the Columbia Investigation Board, headed by Admiral Gammon with a panel of 12 dedicated Americans, did a beautiful service to the agency and the country with the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) report. He stated the purpose of putting the chart before the Board is to make it clear to all who may be watching that they do not take exception to the recommendation of the board; and the board dedicated their lives some 30 hours a day for seven months nonstop to give them a 248-page report that is filled with useful information about what caused the Columbia disaster and what they can and need to do in order to make sure that it does not ever happen again. He stated the chart says they do accept the findings, will comply with the recommendations, and will embrace the report fully; and they will be better for the work that they did in understanding the Columbia investigation. He explained pictures inside the shuttle processing facility of the wiring that in some cases are 20 to 25 years old and exposed to critical environments when flying; stated they are in the process of doing a thorough examination of all the wiring on all the shuttles; and explained a picture of the wing leading edge and the curve part up front of the reinforced carbon carbon panels. He stated there are 22 reinforced carbon carbon panels on each side of the vehicle with 44 on each vehicle; they have three vehicles; and all the panels were removed and sent back to the manufacturer for a thorough as new investigation. He stated they will only fly again if they are as good as new; they also have reinforced carbon carbon on the nose; the upper picture is the front of one of the three orbiters; and the RCC panel of the nose was taken off and sent to the vendor for a similar kind of nondestructive evaluation. Mr. Kennedy stated they are very busy at Kennedy Space Center; if the Board wants to talk about workforce numbers later, he would be happy to do that; but what he has to give the Board in the next few charts is a quick look at some of the things going on to help return the shuttle to flight without any reservation; the return to flight of the space shuttle program is their #1 priority in the agency and Kennedy Space Center; and they must get the shuttles flying again if the station is going to succeed. He stated the station is totally dependent on the shuttle; they are fortunate to have the Russians who take them on progress missions and bring the astronauts home on Soyuz missions; but in order to get the up-mass capabilities of supplies, scientific experiments, and additional people, they need to get the shuttle back flying again. He stated one of the things they found that they had to do is the solid rocket motors, which at ignition give six million pounds of thrust to get into orbit; those motors are sitting around longer than they intended; and they are having to go through a detailed inspection so they developed a way to lower employees, preferably nonsmoking employees, into the motor segments to give a visual check of every square inch of the motor to make sure things will be ready to fly for a date that is targeted to be no sooner than September 12, 2004. He stated another exciting initiative and directly traceable to the CAIB report is the fact that the CAIB thinks they need three useful views of the shuttle at every phase of assent; in order to have three useful views at every phase, they are putting in additional tracking capability up and down the coast of Florida; some will be mobile and some will be fixed; and explained a picture of the Cocoa Beach facility, which has been enhanced. He stated they will be using high-definition television in the future to give them better graphics and better ability to analyze what happens on a mission during assent; and there are some $48 million being spent on the crew tracking in order to make them better prepared to fly. He stated the photo is taken from the space station processing facility where he mentioned they had 200,000 pounds of station hardware in the process of being prepped; a very important thing for the agency is to make sure that the hardware is run out thoroughly on the ground so they do not get it in orbit and find out that it does not work with the rest of the station; at the rear right hand side is the Japanese experiment module known as Kibo, Japanese for “hope”; and on the left hand side is the O-2, an integral part of the station and a piece that will declare they have achieved U.S. core complete. He stated a major milestone they are looking for takes eight additional flights to get to U.S. core complete; and those parts are exciting because they represent the international nature of the space station program, with the Italians bringing O-2 and the Japanese bringing Kibo. He stated one of their jobs in the last couple of months was to do all the interconnecting of the two modules to make sure they talk to each other and work the way they should; and they have a lot of hardware ready to fly in the station processing facility. He showed a picture of the STS 114 crew; stated it is not going to be an assembling mission, it is going to be the first of two missions to get the vehicle on orbit to thoroughly check out the vehicle to make sure it is ready to come home; and if they have a breach of the wing leading edge on the assent, they can use the station as a safe haven to allow the crew to stay onboard for up to 186 days while they have another mission go up and rescue those astronauts. He stated they do not expect to have another Columbia disaster, but they are leaving no stone unturned as they attempt to make sure they are as safe to fly as they possibly can be. Mr. Kennedy advised the 114 crew will be commanded by Commander Eileen Collins, the first female to command the space shuttle mission; and as he wraps this presentation up, he wants to share an exciting opportunity for the State, if not the community, of what they call the NASA shared services center. He stated the center is going to be located somewhere close to a NASA center; the State is very interested, and indeed Brevard County Economic Development Commission is very interested in seeing if they can possibly locate the center in Brevard County; and Florida is looking at the global possibilities of Orlando, Brevard County, and other locations. He stated the Lt. Governor has put together what she calls the “Capture Team” to put together a proposal for the State of Florida; the exact location is still to be determined as to where it might reside; they hope it is in Brevard County; and if not there, then in the State of Florida. He stated the whole idea of this is to bring 600 people to bear on services that NASA needs to provide, such as financial services, human resources, budgeting, controlling, IT services, etc. that are common across the agency and bring them to one location to provide them at a better cost and better quality than they can if they are distributed across NASA’s ten centers. He stated it is on their immediate radar screen; the selection will probably be made within a couple of months; and he wanted the Board to know they are aggressively working with the State and County in pursuing the possibility of Florida and Brevard County as its future home. Mr. Kennedy stated as he brings his comments to a close, he will end with a picture of an Atlantis launch; it is targeted to be the return flight vehicle September 12, 2004; and it is a picture of what they hope to see again from the coast of Brevard County. He introduced Deputy Director Dr. Woodrow Whitlow; and stated it is an honor to have Dr. Whitlow as his deputy; and it is their administrator’s desire to stir things up and not allow people to be grown in silos. He stated they need to be in a group think about the organization they will grow up in so he brought him from Huntsville, Alabama back home to Florida and three months ago brought Dr. Whitlow who grew up at Langley Research Center before he had his Ph.D at MIT. He stated it is very much research, which is out of sync with a lot of the operations work they do at Kennedy Space Center; but it is Shawn O’Keefe’s vision, and one they share, that bringing in people from diverse communities is a beauty. He stated it is an honor to bring somebody with a research background to the Kennedy Space Center; Dr. Whitlow served at Headquarters, and more recently at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio; and he has jointed them at Kennedy Space Center a couple of months ago. He welcomed Dr. Whitlow and stated it is good to have him at Kennedy Space Center.

Dr. Woodrow Whitlow stated he came from Cleveland so there is no sand in his shoes, but there is a little snow; it is a pleasure to be here; he has been here almost three months; and the County and State have done a tremendous job of making him feel welcomed. He stated he is looking forward to making contributions to the space program as much as he can and to learn a lot; he is also looking forward to working in the community and doing things to make it a better place to live; and thanked the Board again for allowing him to speak. He noted he is looking forward to spending a long time here and doing some good things.

Chair Higgs advised the Board appreciates Dr. Whitlow and Mr. Kennedy being here; it is important to know what is happening at the Space Center because it is very much a part of Brevard County, and to have them share with the Board their vision, energy, and dedication. She stated the Board wants to be a part of the space program and wants NASA to be a part of what the County is because it is important to both agencies in terms of their sense of who they are and economically; and she appreciates that they see it as well and took the time to be here.

Commissioner Pritchard advised he understood that the industrial park and SLS facility was a 20-year projected growth in terms of creating the number of jobs and infrastructure; and inquired if they are still on that same track; with Mr. Kennedy responding he is not familiar with the 20-year plan, but they are definitely seeing it as a tremendous growth opportunity for the Kennedy Space Center. Mr. Kennedy stated he tried to get the exact acreage for the international space research park but does not have that number; however, it is very large; and it is the first of many facilities to be built to bring NASA into the forefront of research. He stated Kennedy Space Center’s background at one point was uniquely and exclusively operations, a very important mission for the agency; however, the vision Roy Bridges had was to move into advanced technology so they could be an operations center of the future; and the park has the research leg of that, which not only allows them to be operations and development, but also a research center specifically looking at the life sciences aspect.

Commissioner Carlson advised Mr. Kennedy hinted earlier about something he may want to talk about in terms of employees; and inquired if he would explain that. Mr. Kennedy stated it has been a great concern with the down period of the shuttle that there might be radical layoffs; and he can assure the Board that is not in the plans. He stated September 12, 2004 is launch date for a total down period of 22 months; they are just now at the halfway point of that and think they will be flying on that date or shortly thereafter; and if there was for some reason a radically extended down period, they would have to talk about that, but it is not in the plans right now, and in fact quite the contrary. He stated United Space Alliance (USA), which is primarily responsible for processing the space shuttle, has permission to and is in the middle of an employment process to hire an additional 300 people in addition to the 6,000 or 7,000 they already have. Mr. Kennedy advised NASA, which has done very limited hiring in the last several years and stable with its employment practices, has an opportunity at Kennedy Space Center to hire as many as 200 additional people in FY 2004; so between NASA and USA, the two biggest pieces of the Kennedy Space Center, they see a 500 employee growth this year alone to sustain the work that is on their plates. He noted they do not envision the numbers coming down, but rather going back up.

Commissioner Colon inquired if Congressmen Tom Feeney and Dave Weldon are part of the committee that Lt. Governor Toni Jennings is putting together; with Mr. Kennedy responding it is his understanding that all the stakeholders are playing an active role, from the federal government with Congressmen Feeney and Weldon, as well as Economic Development Commissioners, Florida Space Authority, and the State of Florida. Commissioner Colon advised she wants to thank Mr. Kennedy’s staff for a different reason. She stated there was a terrible accident on I-95 involving a young boy on vacation from South America who was going to Disney World and was going to stop at Kennedy Space Center; he and his parents were taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center for treatment; and he had to go back to South America because school was going to start, but his dream was always to stop at Kennedy Space Center. She stated her office was contacted by the local churches, and they contacted Mr. Kennedy’s Office; and his staff was kind enough to send pictures and stickers; and it made a world of difference when they sent the package to the young man in South America. She stated he is nine years old; they were able to speak to him by phone and he was crying; so she wants to thank the staff because they went beyond what needed to be done and made Brevard County proud. Mr. Kennedy thanked Commissioner Colon for the comment, and will top that with a thank you back. He stated last week they had the privilege to inspire the next generation; and with the help of Commissioner Scarborough, they hosted 6,000 six graders across the County who came and spent a day at Kennedy Space Center. He stated for five days they had 1,200 students and got the same kind of inspiration Commissioner Colon mentioned; and thanked Commissioner Scarborough for his leadership, which was the key in making that happen. Commissioner Scarborough stated it was there and was going to happen, he was just in the right place. Mr. Kennedy stated it was their privilege to help execute that plan.

Commissioner Scarborough stated Dr. Whitlow sent him a signal he has been waiting to see that they are turning a corner with regionalization and the opportunity to analyze clusters and capacity to move into the 21st century; and those types of signals are sometimes subtle, but they are profound for those people at Kennedy Space Center who have observed the operational definition as moving in a new direction. He stated the partnership is more valuable than it ever has been in the history of Kennedy Space Center; and he will read resolutions welcoming Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Whitlow to Brevard County.

RESOLUTION, RE: WELCOMING AND CONGRATULATING JAMES KENNEDY,
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER DIRECTOR

Commissioner Scarborough read aloud a resolution welcoming James W. Kennedy to Brevard County as the eighth Director of NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center, and wishing him well in leading the Nation’s launch team into the future frontiers of space.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to adopt Resolution welcoming James W. Kennedy to Brevard County and congratulating him for his appointment as the Director of Kennedy Space Center. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Chair Higgs presented the Resolution to Mr. Kennedy.

RESOLUTION, RE: WELCOMING AND CONGRATULATING DR. WOODROW WHITLOW,
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Commissioner Scarborough read aloud a resolution welcoming Dr. Woodrow Whitlow to Brevard County, and congratulating him for his appointment as Deputy Director of Kennedy Space Center.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to adopt Resolution welcoming Dr. Woodrow Whitlow, Jr. to Brevard County and congratulating him for his appointment as Deputy Director of Kennedy Space Center. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Mr. Kennedy stated they will hang the Resolutions in their offices with pride.

Commissioner Carlson thanked Mr. Kennedy for the memorabilia, which is very touching and well received.

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to request Lobbyists Ed Pauley and Guy Spearman work with Kennedy Space Center to locate the NASA shared services center in Brevard County. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

REPORT, RE: ADMINISTRATIVE REZONING OF PROPERTY IN MIMS

Commissioner Scarborough advised in working with Zoning Manager Rick Enos, they ascertained that there is a need to administratively rezone a small parcel in the middle of BU-1 zoning north of Mims on U.S. 1 from TU to BU-1.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Pritchard, to authorize staff to proceed with administrative rezoning of property with tourist classification in the middle of business classification north of Mims on U.S. 1. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

REPORT, RE: CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

Commissioner Scarborough stated historically when there is a holiday on a Tuesday or Thursday, rather than have employees come in for basically a dead day, the Board approves an additional holiday; so he would like to approve December 26 as a holiday for a long weekend.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Colon, to approve December 26, 2003 as a Christmas holiday for County employees.

County Manager Tom Jenkins advised the County is giving two days; and inquired if December 26 is in addition to those holidays; with Commissioner Scarborough responding there is no holiday on December 26, and his motion is to approve December 26 in addition to December 24 and 25, because basically it is dead around the County offices on that day.

Chair Higgs called for a vote on the motion. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

REPORT, RE: RED ALERT FOR FIRE

Commissioner Pritchard stated the County is under red alert for fires due to the humidity conditions; and he wants everyone to be careful because of the dry tinder in and around their homes and elsewhere.

REPORT, RE: INTEREST ON PUBLIC DEFENDER’S BILLS

Commissioner Pritchard stated he wants to bring an item to the Board’s attention, but does not know if it can take action on it today or whether it needs to be brought back. He stated in May the Board had the first request to waive the interest on legal fees of the Public Defender; those were conditions where people were given 7, 8, or 9 years before receiving a notice from the Public Defender’s office of interest fees attached to the average bill of about $180; and for the first man who came through, Mr. Rubin, the Board voted not to waive the interest. He stated in July, the Board had three others and took the position to waive the interest on those since it was years between the actual use of the Public Defender’s office and the interest accrued because they were not noticed.

Chair Higgs suggested the item come back on December 16, 2003 with a report from staff. Commissioner Pritchard stated the Board needs to rescind its motion on Mr. Rubin’s case and readdress it on December 16. Chair Higgs suggested getting the report from staff then taking what action it needs to take to see if it is consistent with what the Board did.

The Board directed staff to return with a report on waiver of interest on Public Defender’s bills on December 16, 2003 so the Board can readdress the issue.

REPORT, RE: SCHOOL BOARD SUMMIT

Commissioner Carlson advised one of the first items brought up at the School Board summit was mentoring; and she wants to thank Lennar Homes, which presented $50,000 to the Take Stock in Children program as an early Christmas present. She stated Kathy Harder, Division President, and Maureen Ramsey, Director of Construction, dropped off the check before Thanksgiving; so a lot of folks have a lot to be thankful for, and she wants to send a big thanks to Lennar Homes for its generosity.

Chair Higgs stated it is a wonderful community gift and community partnership.

REPORT, RE: BOAT DOCK PERMITTING

Commissioner Colon advised she received a phone call from Congressman Weldon’s office giving her good news in regards to boat dock permits; and they have been following up after letters from the Board were sent, and working closely with Fish and Wildlife. She stated they will put in writing some of the success they have had so some of the dock permits will be released shortly due to the action the Board has taken.

REPORT, RE: APPRECIATION TO FMU

Commissioner Colon thanked FMU for video taping the School Board summit, which was aired the entire weekend of Thanksgiving; and stated there is a lot of communication that is going to continue because of the summit.

REPORT, RE: HOLIDAY TOY DRIVE

Commissioner Colon advised there is a holiday toy drive for needy families; Housing and Human Services Director has signed on to coordinate the annual holiday toy drive; the families are selected from thousands of families that will be assisted by Brevard County Community Action Team; and they hope to serve 500 to 800 families and the elderly this year. She stated anyone who is interested in sending unwrapped toys and gifts, there will be a lot of drop-off points throughout the County to make sure everyone has a chance to be a blessing to those needy folks in the community.

REPORT, RE: TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY AND PARADE

Commissioner Colon advised there was a wonderful tree lighting ceremony from Palm Bay Community Hospital yesterday; and she was told by City Council to remind everyone that Palm Bay holiday parade will be on Saturday evening on Malabar Road.

REPORT, RE: SPRING TEEN FEST

Commissioner Colon advised for a year and a half they have been working with United Way and Together in Partnership to put together a spring teen fest; and it was supposed to have happened in the Fall, but they were not successful. She stated it focuses on trying to do outreach to youth in the community to keep them out of trouble and have them somewhere to belong to; it is going to happen March 26, 2004, which is the start of spring break; and youth pastors from various churches throughout Brevard County will do the outreach. She stated anyone interested in helping with the activity can call her office at 253-6611.

RESOLUTION, RE: RECOGNIZING JOE LITTLEFIELD

Commissioner Scarborough read aloud a resolution recognizing Joe Littlefield for seven continuous years of service on the Brevard County Golf Advisory Board.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Pritchard, to adopt Resolution recognizing Joe Littlefield for seven continuous years of dedicated service to the citizens of Brevard County as a member of the Brevard County Golf Advisory Board. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Commissioner Scarborough presented the Resolution to Mr. Littlefield who thanked the Board and stated he enjoyed every minute of it. Chair Higgs thanked Mr. Littlefield for his volunteer service.

REPORT, RE: HOLIDAY PARADES

Commissioner Pritchard advised Merritt Island will have its holiday parade on Saturday at 10:00 a.m.; Cocoa/Rockledge will have their parade on December 13 at 10:00 a.m.; and Cocoa Beach will have its parade at 2:00 p.m.

UNPAVED ROAD AGREEMENT WITH WANDA GROSS, RE: LORTIE AVENUE

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to execute Unpaved Road Agreement with Wanda Gross for a building permit off an existing right-of-way known as Lortie Avenue, which has been constructed to the standards of the Unpaved Road Code of Ordinances, Section 62-102. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

PERMISSION TO ADVERTISE PUBLIC HEARING, RE: ORDINANCE AMENDING USE
TITLES DESCRIBED IN ZONING CODE, CHAPTER 62, ARTICLE VI

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to grant permission to advertise a public hearing to consider an ordinance amending use titles described in Zoning Code, Chapter 62, Article VI. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

AMENDMENTS #1 TO AGREEMENTS WITH DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE,
RE: LOCATION OF WEATHER INSTRUMENTATION

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to execute Amendments #1 to Right-of-Entry Agreements with the Department of the Air Force, extending the time of the Agreements for an additional five years at the South Central Regional Water Reclamation Facility and Lori Wilson Park for location of weather instrumentation. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

CHANGE ORDER NO. 3 AND FINAL PAYMENT TO SPEEGLE CONSTRUCTION II,
INC., RE: SOUTH BEACHES WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT HEADWORKS
RENOVATIONS

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to approve Change Order No. 3 to Agreement with Speegle Construction II, Inc. for South Beaches Wastewater Treatment Plant Headworks Renovations, decreasing the contract amount by $1,382.52, and approve final payment to Speegle for the project. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

GRANT-IN-AID AGREEMENT WITH JUSTICE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMISSION, AND
BUDGET CHANGES, RE: CHILD DEPENDENCY COURT SERVICES GRANT

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to execute Grant-in-aid Agreement with Justice Administrative Commission for Child Dependency Court Services; accept funding of $119,823.59; and approve necessary Budget Change Requests for the grant. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

ACCEPTANCE OF INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS, RE: CLERK’S CASH MANAGEMENT
AND SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT LANDFILL OPERATIONS

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to accept the Internal Audit Reports of the Clerk’s Cash Management prepared by Internal Auditors of Brevard County dated September 30, 2003, and Solid Waste Management Department Landfill Operations prepared by Internal Auditors of Brevard County dated October 17, 2003. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

APPROVAL, RE: BILLS

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to approve the bills as submitted. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

BINDING DEVELOPMENT PLAN AGREEMENT WITH UNITY CHURCH OF MELBOURNE,
INC., RE: LOT 8 IN LYTTON ESTATES SUBDIVISION

Motion by Commissioner Colon, seconded by Commissioner Pritchard, to table Binding Development Plan Agreement with Unity Church of Melbourne, Inc. until December 16, 2003. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

RESOLUTION, RE: SETTING FORTH FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS FOR
DENIAL OF REQUEST FOR FINAL ENGINEERING AND PLAT APPROVAL FOR
SAWGRASS SOUTH AT SUNTREE

County Attorney Scott Knox advised it has come to his attention that the eagles have perhaps moved from the secondary nest to the primary nest, and that may create a new set of facts that were not considered by the Board the first time it heard the item; consequently, it may be advisable to go back and have staff evaluate what impact, if any, that will have on the eagles and findings of fact the Board has made initially. He stated when he talked to them, they said it would take a few weeks to do that.

Natural Resources Management Director Conrad White advised Donna Oddy has gone to the site on three occasions to see what the situation is; and she will explain what she found.

Environmental Specialist Donna Oddy advised she visited the site on November 24; at that time, she confirmed the presence of one adult bald eagle that was at the tree and was initially seen before flying off the nest; the eagle later returned around 1:00 p.m.; and the following day at 1:00 p.m., the eagle was not observed. She stated after checking the primary nest, B-17, she drove around to BE-17 nest and did not find eagles in that area. She stated in conversations with John White of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, he informed her he would not be able to come over to view the eagles nest for approximately three months, which is his normal schedule to return to fly the nest; but if he could come over prior to that to confirm the move, he would. She stated she believes that it is too early to actually say whether or not the eagle had indeed switched from B-17 to BE-17 as only one adult eagle was seen within the area; the nesting season began October 1st; this is the courtship time, but no eagles were observed; they did not see them building nests or any courtship behavior or incubation; so it is premature to say whether or not the eagle has moved yet.

Attorney James Fallace, representing Sawgrass Land Development Company, advised the Board is aware they have filed an appeal on the verbal ruling on September 16, 2003 in the form of a petition for writ certiorari; the court has granted the petition; they entered into an agreement to extend the time for the County to respond; and what is before the Board is the proposed findings of fact. He stated he is not here to convince the Board or submit additional evidence; in fact they would say, since this has been pending since December 18, 2000, they need to bring it to a close and move it to an end; so they would object to any additional evidence or reopening. He stated the evidence was presented at the hearing on September 16, 2003 by their expert that in fact the decoy nest would be abandoned; if it has been abandoned, they believe they can prove that; and the prediction of the Board that the eagles may return as a basis to deny the requested plat approval and engineering approval was erroneous. Mr. Fallace stated they have specific objections to the proposed findings of fact; they do not know if the Board is going to proceed with that today; and if it does proceed with it, the basis for their objections are outlined and written objections he has with him today. He stated if the Board does not proceed and defers and tables it, then he will bring the objections to the attention of the Board at that time. Mr. Fallace stated he has an expert here; they do not believe it is premature; they believe 17-B has been reduced in size by two-thirds and has been abandoned; 17-A has been increased in size; and that is where the eagles are preparing the nest. He stated the prediction of the Board was erroneous; and they think the only appropriate thing to do is proceed with the appeal or have the Board reverse its ruling and grant their request for plat approval. Chair Higgs inquired if Mr. Fallace wishes for his expert to testify; with Mr. Fallace responding it is a conundrum that they have because it is a very unusual situation; they do not want to reopen the case and believe there was not competent evidence to deny the request of his client; but on the other hand, they believe everyone predicted that 17-A would be the primary nest and for whatever reason the Board rejected that and determined or proposed to determine that 17-B is the crucial habitat. He stated Fish and Wildlife said there is no such thing for a bald eagle; they do not want to reopen or re-litigate; but on the other hand it is rather absurd when the nest is disappearing for his client to be denied the plat approval; and how the Board wants to proceed he does not know.

Commissioner Carlson inquired in terms of reopening this case with staff providing additional research and review of what has been going on at the eagle’s nest, how would that change the case in front of the Board and the findings of fact; with Mr. Knox responding that is a good question because they just heard Mr. Fallace represent that 17-B is falling apart and is no longer a viable nest; and that is something staff needs to go out and confirm or refute. He stated that certainly changes the findings of fact because those are not even in the findings of fact because they were not evidence that was available to the Board when it first heard it; consequently, his view if the Board wants to make any sound decision about this matter, is to hear all the facts as they exist at the time it made that decision, those have changed since the first time it heard this issue; and that may result in the Board changing its mind, depending on what staff comes back with. He stated the applicant has made a new case today that 17-B should not be considered. Commissioner Carlson inquired if no other data is going to be included in the testimony other than what is here in the findings of fact; with Mr. Knox responding if the Board goes with what it has in the findings of fact today, it will be that decision was made upon the facts that existed at that time; however, he would fully anticipate they will hear in front of the circuit judge panel exactly what they heard from Mr. Fallace a few minutes ago, notwithstanding the facts are not in evidence; so it would be good to have the full picture in front of the court.

Chair Higgs inquired how long would it be before they have those facts in hand; with Ms. Oddy responding that is quite unclear yet. Ms. Oddy stated Mr. White from FWC seems to think that several surveys could be conducted throughout the month of December to confirm the behavior to let the Board know whether courtship is undergoing, a second eagle is seen, the nest is actually being used, or an incubation is occurring.

Commissioner Pritchard stated it seems to him that the Board is postponing the inevitable; as he recalls the information that the Board had back when it first addressed this issue, the FWC did not consider the nest viable or important and was looking at it as sort of an abandoned structure that never reached anything and that would even provide a habitat for two eagles. He stated there were no fledglings that were raised; there were no eggs laid; and the nest was nothing but a bunch of sticks in a tree and not used for any purpose. Commissioner Pritchard stated based on what Ms. Oddy said and Mr. Fallace, the nest is even less of a nest and 17-A has increased in size, which seems that is where the eagles are going to go. He stated all the Board is doing is postponing the inevitable, which would be to reverse the decision the Board made and give the applicant the plat approval he is seeking. He stated if there is some way to do that today without dragging it out any further, then the Board should do it so they can move forward.

Commissioner Carlson stated the Board has come too far that it needs to at least take it to the end and determine if the facts are that the one nest has been abandoned for the other. She stated the other issue the Board addressed were basic guidelines for eagle protection, which would include this kind of a tree; with that said, she would rather leave the facts to staff with a report that comes back, and the Board can then reconsider the issue at another time; so she will move to table with staff coming back with the information.

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to table the resolution setting forth the findings of fact and conclusions for denial of request for final engineering and plat approval for Sawgrass South at Suntree until January 13, 2004, and direct staff to return with a report on the eagles’ nests. Motion carried and ordered; Commissioners Pritchard and Higgs voted nay.

Commissioner Pritchard advised Mr. Fallace has a comment he wants to make. Chair Higgs inquired if the Board wishes to recognize him; with Commissioner Pritchard responding he does.

Mr. Fallace thanked the Board for letting him finish his comments; and stated he wants to clarify one thing. He stated as a legal matter, they have to object to reopening the evidence; and he wanted to point out to the Board that if it was inclined to consider, without waiting 60 more days on something that has been pending two and a half years, his expert is here and has done the follow-up report. He stated he was at the site today and can provide expert testimony; and if the Board can do that without waiving any rights, he can establish that 17-B is not a nest viable for the eagles and avoid further injury to his client. He stated his client is spending tens of thousands of dollars on an appeal that seems unnecessary; he is offering it without waiver; Mr. Godley is here; the Board rejected his testimony the last time, but he was out at the nest; and he has done follow-up studies. He stated they can wait another 60 to 90 days, but it is going to say exactly what Mr. Godley knows today; and that is what he is offering.

Chair Higgs inquired if there is a motion from the Board to hear further testimony today.

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, to approve hearing testimony. Motion died for lack of a second. Chair Higgs advised there is no motion at this time so the Board will hear it again in January 2004.

Mr. Knox requested Mr. Fallace have his expert submit the report he talked about to staff so staff can consider that while they are out in the field checking out the eagles’ nests.

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to request Mr. Fallace submit his expert’s report on the eagles’ nests to staff. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

PUBLIC HEARING, RE: ORDINANCE SETTING FORTH THIRTEENTH SMALL
SCALE PLAN AMENDMENT OF 2003 (03S.13)

Chair Higgs called for the public hearing to consider an ordinance setting forth the 13th small scale plan amendment of 2003; and requested staff update the Board on the status of the small scale plan amendment for property off Fleming Grant Road in Micco.

Senior Planner Todd Corwin advised the small scale plan amendment is not necessary any longer. He stated to assist the applicant in achieving his goal, staff suggested a small scale plan amendment; but as they continued researching and looking at all the options available to the applicant, staff uncovered a comprehensive plan appeal that was accomplished in 1991, which basically gives the applicant the same rights that the small scale plan amendment would have done, so it is no longer necessary to consider the small scale plan amendment.

Chair Higgs stated there is no action needed by the Board, so the applicant can build a home on the lot based on previous action in 1991.

DISCUSSION, RE: RESOLUTION AND AGREEMENT WITH FARMLAND RESERVE, INC.
d/b/a DESERET RANCHES OF FLORIDA FOR LEASE OF FUTURE SOLID WASTE
LANDFILL SITE

Solid Waste Management Director Euripides Rodriguez advised during the workshops conducted in the summer, they brought the big picture of what to do with the Solid Waste system to the Board; and one of the issues that came up during a workshop was the Deseret site or U.S. 192 site on the west side of the County. He stated staff received permission to negotiate with Deseret Ranches; and the lease agreement is the result of the negotiations. He stated there are several alternatives to the situation, which are not to sign the lease, leave the property vacant, sell the entire property, or sell a portion of the property. Mr. Rodriguez stated the Board has a lease for the entire property minus 90 acres, which was to be leased to Parks and Recreation for the future; and he believes they plan to put a model airplane park out there. He advised the lease has several major conditions that are different than what they had before; it is a 20-year lease with two five-year extensions; and after the first ten years, Deseret may terminate the lease. He stated in the event of a sale by the County, Deseret shall maintain its rights and obligations for one year after the date of the sale. He stated the County has paramount right to use the property as a Solid Waste management facility, so it maintains the right to go into the property and eventually develop it into a Solid Waste facility when the need arises. He stated the lease agreement has an additional effect of resolving Deseret’s right to repurchase the land; and in the event of a hurricane, the County has a right to temporarily use a portion of the property to deal with hurricane debris removal and cleanup. Mr. Rodriguez stated the County has the right to construct a Solid Waste management facility during the term of the lease with Deseret retaining the right to use a portion of the property not affected by those activities; and Deseret retains the right to oppose the County in any appropriate forum, but then gives up the right to, after the permits have been taken to their final conclusion, take it to a judicial forum. He stated Deseret shall not locate any new wells within half a mile of the property; and that is a summary of the conditions of the lease before the Board.

Commissioner Carlson advised on page 3 the lease says, “The County will notify Deseret of the portion of the property that will be affected when the County begins construction”; the first paragraph talks about paramount right of the County to obtain permitting for and to use the property as a Solid Waste management facility; and inquired where does it talk about the full or partial sale of the property; with Assistant County Manager Stephen Peffer responding paragraph 2. Commissioner Carlson read that part of the lease stating, “In the event the County sells the subject property to a third party, this agreement shall survive the sale and Deseret shall maintain its rights and obligations”; and noted the lease then passes over that one-year timeframe. Mr. Rodriguez advised the one-year timeframe is to give enough time for Deseret to move its activities to another part of its land. Commissioner Carlson stated, “provided the County gives notice before June 1st, Deseret’s use of such affected property shall cease on September 30 next following the date the County shall give notice” does not make sense to her; and requested an explanation; with Mr. Rodriguez responding that has to do with rearing of the calves and the timing of when that particular property is used to bring up the calves before they move them to another area of the ranch. Commissioner Carlson inquired if that is more than a year; with Mr. Rodriguez responding it could be, but it has to do with the time the lease is terminated. Commissioner Carlson inquired if there is any problem with the consistency of that provision; with County Attorney Scott Knox responding he does not think so, but it could be worded better.

James Payne, representing Deseret Ranches, advised they negotiated with Mr. Rodriguez and the County Attorney, and have gone through a lot of the provisions; they talked about a lot of things that go along with the management and timing of when calves are born and when they are weaned from their mothers; and the agreement gives the County a lot of flexibility of what it can do with the property. He stated it talks about the County’s rights being paramount, and the County being able to come in and do testing to construct and other things the County needs to do, and at the same time giving the Ranch opportunity to use portions of the property that are not needed by the County. He stated that is also a benefit to the County because the County continues to get income from the property that it does not need for the Solid Waste activities. Mr. Payne stated they have been good stewards of the property while they have been there; they keep the property well maintained, keep down the weeds, have the pastures planted, and maintain it in a very acceptable manner, so when the County does have the use for it, it will not be overgrown and will be serviceable to the County. He stated they feel the Ranch gives the County the flexibility it needs, it gives the Ranch a little bit of assurance of how things will happen; and it also fits in well with the activities they have there. He stated the property forms a part of their heifer unit; that is where they raise young females and where they have their first calves before they are moved to other portions of the ranch; it forms part of a larger unit; consequently, it fits well within their operations. He stated they feel the lease and what it provides will work to the benefit of all; they have tried to work with the County diligently on it; and it has been quite a period of time because of other factors, but they feel it is a good lease for the County and for the Ranch.

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Colon, to adopt Resolution authorizing leasing of property, and execute Lease Agreement with Farmland Reserve, Inc., d/b/a Deseret Ranches of Florida, for lease of the future Solid Waste landfill site off U.S. 192. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

The meeting recessed at 10:23 a.m., and reconvened at 10:36 a.m.

DISCUSSION, RE: DANGEROUS DOG RESTRICTIONS

Animal Control Director Craig Engelson advised BASE was requested by the Board to find out two things; and the first is if the dangerous dog designation is permanent or it can be changed. He stated Assistant County Attorney Barbara Amman researched it and found that the State law is clear on it being permanent and there is currently no mechanism available to remove the dangerous dog designation; and what that means is once the animal is declared dangerous, it stays for the life of the animal. He stated the Board also requested BASE to meet with the Dangerous Dog Hearing Council to see if it had any recommendations to amend the current Ordinance; staff met with the Council, which provided several recommendations; and first is to change the definition to be in line with State law. He stated the County’s current Ordinance is “a one-time incident in an animal versus animal where severe injury or death occurs”; and the State law reads, “has more than once severely injured or killed a domestic animal while off the owner’s property,” with the key being off the owner’s property. He noted the Council does not recommend any other changes to the definitions other than that. Mr. Engelson advised the Council also wants to remove the requirement of the owner to complete an improved owner responsibility training class and change that to be a dog owner orientation course conducted by BASE staff because it would rather have a class conducted on what occurs when a person owns a dangerous dog, the responsibilities that person has, and what could happen if he or she does not live up to those responsibilities. He stated the Council would also want to remove the requirement of the $100,000 liability insurance and make it retroactive to all current dog owners; and if removed, raise the current registration fee to $500 from $300 with an option to lower the fee if the dog has been incident free for three years. He stated the Council strongly recommended they make no other changes to the Ordinance, as it has been extremely effective since 1998. He stated the Board has several options available: (1) take no action; (2) authorize staff to make changes as recommended by the Council; and (3) make other changes as the Board sees fit. He noted BASE strongly recommends Options 1 and 2.

Chair Higgs advised there are five recommendations from the Council that the Board can review to see if it is ready to make any changes.

Commissioner Pritchard stated it seems to be a designation regarding animal versus animal; and inquired what about animal versus people; with Mr. Engelson responding that would not change; it would be a one-time incident based on the severity of the injury or another incident that occurred. Commissioner Pritchard inquired why would anyone want to own a dangerous dog; with Mr. Engelson responding because a lot of them feel strongly that the dog is a family member.

Chair Higgs advised #1 is the definition of the State law; and inquired if there is a motion to bring the Ordinance in line with the State law. No response was heard. Chair Higgs stated the next recommendation is that the owner complete a responsibility training class.

Commissioner Carlson inquired what is the difference between the responsibility training class and what BASE staff could provide; with Mr. Engelson responding the first class is more in line with the dog itself; the second class is training the owner more than the dog, and letting the owner know what his responsibilities are now that he owns a dangerous dog and to give him ideas of how to take care of the dog to insure it remains incident free for the remainder of its life. Commissioner Carlson inquired if there is a cost associated with the class; with Mr. Engelson responding there is no cost to the owner. Commissioner Carlson inquired where would they take the class; with Mr. Engelson responding at BASE. Commissioner Carlson inquired if staff will alter the class; with Mr. Engelson responding they would change it to make it better.

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to authorize amendment to the Dangerous Dog Ordinance to delete the requirement for owners to complete an owner-responsibility training class and replace it with a requirement to attend a dangerous dog owner orientation course conducted by the Animal Services and Enforcement Department.

Commissioner Pritchard inquired what happens if the owner does not attend the class; with Mr. Engelson responding because it is a requirement, the owner can receive a citation for $500 for failure to meet that requirement.

Chair Higgs called for a vote on the motion. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Chair Higgs advised there are two other recommendations; and inquired if there is a motion from the Board on either of those recommendations. Commissioner Carlson requested more details regarding the liability insurance and the difficulty of getting the insurance.

Mr. Engelson advised currently there is only one company staff is aware of that will provide liability insurance for dangerous dogs; there are four homeowners insurance companies that will do it for current homeowners, but that does not help people who rent and do not own homes; and they will do that on a case-by-case basis. He stated currently the cost is between $1,200 and $1,400 depending on the circumstances; there are options of maybe lowering the limit to a different limit instead of $100,000; the price would not decrease dramatically; but for a $50,000 policy, it would cost $800 annually with a $5,000 deductible. He stated it is difficult and expensive to get but not totally unattainable.

Commissioner Pritchard stated he has a problem removing the liability insurance because anyone who would own a dangerous dog might not have any other insurance; and inquired if an animal is destroyed or disfigured by a dangerous dog, or a person is severely injured, what recourse would the dog owner or person have; and if the Board eliminated the liability insurance requirement, what other way would there be for the victim, be it an animal or person, to seek recovery. Mr. Engelson stated unfortunately the only other avenue would be a lawsuit, but it is difficult to collect from someone who has nothing. He stated the liability insurance does not help past victims, but will help future victims obtain some level of funding. Commissioner Pritchard stated he understands that in order for a dog to be determined dangerous, it has to go through a lengthy process whereby a board meets and makes that determination; it is not just one person making the call; and it is a board that meets and evaluates all the information that led up to the event. Mr. Engelson stated initially staff investigates in detail then it goes to the lead investigator who reviews the case and sends it to the supervisor of the Enforcement Section. He stated once that is done, it comes to him as Director, he reviews the entire case to see if they actually have a case, and if he finds there is sufficient cause to declare the dog dangerous, staff notifies the owner. He stated the owner can accept that sufficient cause or request a hearing before the Dangerous Dog Hearing Council; and if they do so, the Council reviews all the records, receives testimony, and bases its decision on that. Commissioner Pritchard stated after going through all that, if the dog is determined to be dangerous, then that person is now going to accept the responsibility for having a dangerous dog; and that means the person has to provide insurance and whatever else is necessary in order for him or her to keep a pet that would be considered unacceptable to the general public.

Commissioner Carlson inquired if the liability insurance is applied to people and animals; with Mr. Engelson responding it is $100,000 liability for the animal if it causes any injury once it is designated dangerous.

Chair Higgs inquired if there is a motion to change the liability insurance provision; and no motion was heard. Chair Higgs inquired if there is a motion on the other recommendations; and no motion was forthcoming from the Board.

LEGISLATIVE INTENT, RE: FLOODPLAIN PROTECTION ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS
FOR FILL LIMITATIONS

Commissioner Pritchard stated while he supports what the Board is doing, he wants to know if there are options for building stem walls or on pilings in lieu of compacting fill on their property; with Regional Stormwater Utility Director Ron Jones responding those options are still available.

Commissioner Scarborough advised in Port St. John the first person who built would be at one level; the next one may be a little higher; and the septic tank issue began to drive the elevations higher and higher to the point where the first person who obtained a building permit became the retention pond for that flaw. He stated the Board authorized a subdivision and individual permits were issued by the County that in fact created destruction of people’s properties; and it took a number of years of discussion before the rules were changed. He inquired if this item in any way will negatively impact actions previously taken to prevent that scenario from recurring; with Permitting and Enforcement Director Ed Washburn responding no, it would not. Commissioner Scarborough stated he can support it.

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to authorize staff to prepare an ordinance amending the Floodplain Protection Ordinance regarding fill limitations, and grant permission to advertise a public hearing to consider the ordinance. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

STAFF REPORT, RE: IDENTIFICATION OF NUTRIENTS IN OCEAN SURF ZONE

Assistant County Manager Stephen Peffer advised the Board asked staff to provide a status report on its efforts to get more information about some recent findings that showed there were elevated levels of a certain form of nitrogen in the surf zone; staff has brought back a summary of the efforts taken to try and learn more about the phenomenon that was reported; and they have formulated a series of questions they would like to pose to the national experts on the phenomena of nutrients in the ocean surf zone, and give the Board the rationale of why they are asking those questions and why it is an important thing to do before taking further action beyond getting this report back. He stated on page 4 of the memorandum of understanding, staff proposes to send National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a series of questions to help clarify some of the issues that need to be addressed. Mr. Peffer advised question (1) is, “Are nutrient levels in the surf zone along Brevard County beaches elevated? If adequate data is not available, what methodology should Brevard County utilize to accurately make this determination?” He stated Brevard County does not have adequate data to identify or answer that question. He stated question (2) is, “Do the nutrient levels found off Brevard County beaches pose a risk to human health or the near shore ecology?” He stated staff wants to know what the levels are and if what they are seeing is consistent to what was out there in the past or has something changed and if so does it have significance to human health and the environment. He stated the Health Department does take samples of the beaches to help determine whether there is any kind of health risk; it takes bacteria samples and reports back; to date they have never had a problem on the beaches that would require any of them to be closed; and that is important for the public to know and be reassured that the beaches are safe and healthy. Mr. Peffer advised question (3) is, “If the nutrient levels reported are accurate, is there a likelihood of an increase in the occurrence or duration of red tide blooms above expected background or historic levels?” He stated one of the aspects of the nutrient level is that is it promoting growth of red tide; red tide is something they have experienced over many years; it is a natural and historical phenomenon; it has been with Brevard County basically forever; but there was a recent bloom, which was of a higher than expected duration, and there is some concern to see whether or not there is a correlation between the nutrients they are finding now and red tide, so they want NOAA experts to look at that. He stated question (4) is, “Is evaluation of the N15 isotope ratios in a near shore oceanic environment a reliable method to identify sewage or treated wastewater effluent as the source of elevated nutrients?” Mr. Peffer stated the findings that have been reported have basically said there are nitrogen isotopes in the water that, by their ratio, suggest the source is from human wastewater; what staff is asking for in question 5 is a method to identify sewage or treated wastewater effluent as the source of elevated nutrients, and are there other possible sources for nitrogen in those same kinds of ratios because if there are, then it is hard to point the finger at one single cause, i.e., wastewater; and there may be other things that need to be addressed. Mr. Peffer advised they had findings this summer that Brevard County and other portions of Central Florida coast were experiencing ocean upwelling; that is when the colder water comes to the surface along the surf zone; Brevard County had colder water and experienced upwelling; and it is known that the deeper colder water is nutrient rich, that is why the fishing grounds off Peru is so prolific because they have upwelling there and it is a very rich ground. He stated they know nutrients come from the deeper colder water and could be the source of those kinds of nitrogen ratios they are seeing. He stated question 6 is, “Are there appropriate alternate methods that would indicate whether sewage or treated effluents are the source of elevated nutrients?” He stated in other words, if they have a suspicion that might be the cause, can they verify that, and can they isolate that it is not upwelling and that it is coming from something else, if so, how would they go about doing that; and if the sewage or treated effluent is identified as the source of the nutrients, are there reliable methods to determine whether they are from local or distant sources. He stated that is another issue that relates to how Brevard County would respond to findings if the sources are from Brevard County wastewater, something that is affecting the near shore environment, or something that is natural along the coast from South Florida to North Florida. He stated those are questions staff does not have answers to right now; and they are very important questions if they are looking to the County to find some way of reacting or responding. Mr. Peffer stated question (7) is, “If sewage or treated effluent is identified as the source of elevated nutrients, are there reliable methods to determine whether the nutrients are from local or remote sources?”; and question (8) is, “What recommendations or future research could be designed to determine near shore nutrient sources?” He stated it gets to the prior question is there something going on that is happening in Brevard County, or is it experiencing an effect that might be throughout the entire State or beyond that. He stated because all those questions need to be answered, staff chose to ask a group of scientists with national prominence and expertise in those areas to help them focus on finding the answers and giving them the information they need to respond to concerns that were raised by the recent findings. Mr. Peffer advised the summary is they are in the process of working with NOAA to get a research plan established through the memorandum of understanding, with hopes of getting some of the questions answered, and that the answers to those questions will help direct a response if necessary as they move into the future.

Commissioner Scarborough stated he heard concerns about the ships coming in and out of the Port and no one knows what they are discharging as they enter and leave; and recommended that question be added to the list of questions to NOAA.

Commissioner Carlson stated there is a diverse amount of things; not only is the issue out in the surf, but things that float up on shore that is not generated from the beachside; it is obvious they are generated from the ocean; and how they get here would be very interesting to know. She stated she does not know if in identification of some of those questions staff would be able to get more information about the gulf stream and how the waters have been changing in terms of oscillation and different phenomena that have been occurring, and become more educated about what really does affect the shoreline based on offshore and downstream incidents. She stated she is in support of the questions, and they are well done. She inquired if there is a white paper from Dr. Barile who brought the issue up; with Mr. Peffer responding Dr. Barile said he had a paper that was in peer review at this time; but he does not know if anything has been published with those findings. Commissioner Carlson inquired if those findings would be provided to NOAA in its research; with Mr. Peffer responding yes.

Commissioner Pritchard stated Commissioner Scarborough’s point about various shipping that occurs off the coast is well taken; there has been recent reports about the discharge of products that should not be discharged within certain mileage; and he has a feeling they are seeing the effect of that. He stated one of the things he and Mr. Peffer discussed that he found interesting was the phenomena of Florida’s coast; something could be happening in South Florida and the gulf stream carrying north any currents affecting the influx and discharge could be bringing it into the County’s shore. He stated he thinks it is a 90-foot rule that they have to go out 90 feet before they can discharge anything offshore; 90 feet in South Florida is a lot closer to the shoreline; it is less than a quarter of a mile offshore; but 90 feet here is quite a ways out. He stated he would not be surprised to find out that some of the problem is occurring further south and because of the phenomena with wind, weather, and tidal conditions, they are seeing some of the effects here. Commissioner Pritchard stated one of the concerns he has is the scope of work; for $35,000 he is not sure it is going to provide the results the Board might like to see; and inquired if $35,000 is the entrance figure and depending on what happens, the cost could be driven up comparably to give the County the results it may need to see. Regional Stormwater Utility Director Ron Jones advised Commissioner Pritchard is perceptive in that the nature of those questions may dictate a little higher dollar figure; based on discussions with Dr. Proni with NOAA, they are awaiting their legal review of the memorandum of understanding; and they have a meeting scheduled for December 18, 2003 with Dr. Proni and his work group, at which they will discuss the budgeting. He stated they hope to bring the item back early in January with the details and actual budget figure for the Board’s consideration. Commissioner Pritchard inquired if Water Resources and Regional Stormwater Utility Departments have the funding available for the study; with Water Resources Director Dick Martens responding yes. Commissioner Pritchard stated the importance of this is that it will benefit the entire coastline; one of the environmental awards he got a few years back came from Week of the Ocean, which focuses on reefs and he was told the reefs down south for the most part are not as viable and not as much fun to dive from as they used to be 20 years ago. He stated whatever the cause of that is they cannot afford to have it continue; and they need to do what they have to in order to see that this stops. He thanked staff for bringing the issue to the Board’s attention.

Chair Higgs stated staff will proceed to get answers to the questions, and the Board will hear from staff in January 2004.

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to accept the staff report on source identification of nutrients in ocean surf zone. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

APPROVAL, RE: CORRECTIONAL IMPACT FEE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
PROJECT FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Colon, to approve the recommendations of the Correctional Impact Fee Technical Advisory Committee to purchase 750 stackable bunk beds to accommodate inmates in excess of the designed capacity of the Brevard County Detention Center at estimated cost of $61,950; purchase and install higher capacity kitchen equipment to increase the food service capacity to accommodate a growing inmate population at estimated cost of $69,000; and purchase construction materials to construct a document archive within the Detention Center’s storage warehouse to provide suitable storage space for mandatory document retention at estimated cost of $18,000, and authorize necessary budget amendments to implement the project appropriations in FY 2003-04. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

CONTRACT FOR SALE AND PURCHASE AND ADDENDUM WITH HOLY TRINITY
EPISCOPAL ACADEMY, INC., RE: PINEDA CAUSEWAY EXTENSION
AND REALIGNMENT PROJECT

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to execute Contract for Sale and Purchase and Addendum with Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy, Inc. for .284 acre fronting the Pineda Causeway at $138,400 for the Pineda Causeway Extension and Realignment Project. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

RELEASE OF TEMPORARY DRAINAGE EASEMENT, RE: CLEAR TITLE ON PARCEL
OWNED BY B. S. HOLLOWAY

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Colon, to execute Release of Temporary Drainage Easement on property owned by B. S. Holloway located in Sherwood Forest PUD II. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

PERMISSION TO SUBMIT APPLICATION TO FLORIDA GRANTS-IN-AID PROGRAM,
RE: HISTORIC MARKERS

Thelma Roper stated she has no opposition to the request, but would like to see if the bridge, pier, and causeway in Titusville, which has significant historic value, could get markers. She stated they are dedicated memorials and has historic value to World War II; so maybe a few more markers are needed.

Chair Higgs referred Ms. Roper’s request to staff to consider markers for the facilities in Titusville.

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to grant permission to submit an application for grant funding from the Florida Historical Resources Grant-in-aid Program to provide 50% in matching funds of $3,000 for historic markers for Greater St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Mims, Historic Lagrange Community Church in North Titusville, City Point Community Church in North Cocoa, and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Melbourne; authorize the County Manager or his designee to sign the application and execute any and all additional grant agreements; and direct staff to review the request for historic markers for the pier and causeway in Titusville.

Commissioner Carlson advised the cost of the historic markers is $1,500; the Historical Commission is providing 50% of the matching funds; and inquired where is the other 50% coming from; with County Manager Tom Jenkins responding that is what they are applying for from the State.

Chair Higgs called for a vote on the motion. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

APPOINTMENTS, RE: NORTH BREVARD HOSPITAL DISTRICT BOARD

Chair Higgs advised in the past the Board appointed the County and the County/City representatives separately.

Commissioner Scarborough stated he talked to Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten yesterday; and requested Mr. Whitten explain what his research showed. Mr. Whitten advised traditionally the Board has taken the County seat first, then gone through the joint seat selection process; there are two seats available for appointment, one is the Board’s seat and the second is a joint seat recommended by the Board and confirmed by the City of Titusville; and the Board has four applicants for both seats. Commissioner Scarborough stated the current members reapplied; and there are two new applicants.

George Mikitarian, President and CEO of the North Brevard Hospital District, d/b/a Parrish Medical Center, advised many people have experienced the wonderful things going on at Parrish Medical Center; and they have not only created an incredible healing environment, but have added programs and services that are what the citizens of North Brevard expected them to provide. He stated the Board has shown faith and trust in the appointments of the two individuals to the Hospital Board, and they have not let the Board down; their leadership and guidance, as that of the other members that make up the nine-member board, have been exemplary over the not so many years; and they have shown that they are receptive to public comment and consider the needs of the community. He stated the Hospital Board takes its job seriously; the fact that the two individuals have again applied for those positions shows their commitment and dedication to the people of the County, especially those in North Brevard; and their track record speaks for itself. He stated they have done the job the Board asked of them; and the results have shown that.

Commissioner Scarborough thanked Mr. Mikitarian for doing a wonderful job as Director of the Hospital; and stated he is pleased to see the things Mr. Mikitarian has undertaken.

Walter Pine, representing the Center for Civil Rights Advocacy, advised representatives of the Center appeared before the Hospital Board and asked to investigate and do some research in the use of the old building to provide additional services to the community such as crisis care for teenagers, drug care for teenagers, and some disabled and low-income housing, things that the community needs. He stated under the discussions of the Baker Act that are going on now, the fact that Brevard County does not have sufficient facilities for that type of care in the County was a very significant thing; but the Hospital Board did not find it worthy to even allow them to investigate it. He stated they have people who had used similar buildings committed to help them do the investigation and provide a good concise plan; they oppose the reappointment of anyone who has been on the Hospital Board; and it is time for fresh blood. Mr. Pine stated the situation that occurred there could have been a great boon to North Brevard; they were told there were other uses for the Hospital, but they could never get the documentation that showed them what those other uses were; they were not available; and that greatly concerns him. He stated it is appropriate at this time that new blood be brought into the Hospital Board and be very seriously considered; they have a new facility, but no new beds or very few new beds; they have a great deal of expenditure with only a minor increase in services and impact on the community; and regardless of how they wish to paint it, there are a number of things they need in the community, with a major need being services for teenagers and youth that is not currently available. He stated the facility has that potential; whether or not it would have come to fruition they would have liked to have investigated that and given the opportunity to investigate it; and as a result, he is coming before the Board for the Center for Civil Rights Advocacy and asking the Board not to reappoint anybody to the Hospital Board, and bring in new ideas, fresh thoughts, and fresh people. He stated the idea is the Hospital Board supposed to be by the public; so far very little of the public has had access to that board; it seems to be a certain group of people appointed and re-appointed and re-appointed; and requested the Board consider the public and bring new blood into that board.

Thelma Roper of Titusville stated she was at the meeting when they took the proposal to the Hospital Board; the suggestion to at least give them a chance to come up with a good plan in 30 days was all they were asking for; she felt 30 days was not too much time; but she heard comments from the board like, “well, this just doesn’t fit in with my vision of what this campus should look like." She stated they were considering beauty over their responsibility to the community or what services they could offer to the community. Ms. Roper stated she heard hospital people who thought okay, they have a new hospital and will have wonderful things, go in and look around and say there is not as much room in the rooms as there was in the other hospital, and there is not as many beds. She stated those decisions were made by the Hospital Board; so she agrees with Mr. Pine that they need fresh ideas and fresh blood on the board and do not need the same people again. She stated there is one member that she does not know who appointed him, but when he comes up for re-appointment, wherever he is to be re-appointed from, she will definitely be at that meeting because he has some major conflicts of interest and should not be on the board. She encouraged the Board to get new people and new blood on the Hospital Board; stated it is not accomplishing as much as people perceive that it is accomplishing; and they are perceiving more than they are actually getting.

Commissioner Scarborough inquired if staff advertised the vacancies on the Hospital Board for people from the public; with Mr. Whitten responding three newspaper ads were published, two in the Star Advocate and one in the Florida TODAY, it has been on the reader service board since November 6, 2003; and there was also a public information release on it. Commissioner Scarborough stated this Board has attempted to let people know the positions were open; he cannot speak for others, but he was contacted by only two applicants; and they were the incumbents. He stated the others did not even call him to ask any questions. He stated if there are a lot of people out there, Ms. Roper needs to tell them that the positions were open. He stated since comments were made about what may happen to the facility because the hospital moved into a new facility, it would be prudent for Mr. Mikitarian to tell the Board what is happening and some of the problems they encountered.

Mr. Mikitarian advised some of the issues the two folks from the public presented clearly indicate they do not have all the information. He stated one of the reasons why the Hospital Board decided to build a new facility was because it had two independent analyses done on the building relative to the costs associated with constructing or renovating portions of that old facility; the costs were in the $40 to $50 million range to bring it up to Code; it also became a matter of redesigning the structure to be conducive to today’s systems and processes for delivering health care; and those costs became exorbitant. He stated coupled with the lost revenue that would have been incurred over the number of years the renovation would occur, the cost benefit analysis clearly showed that constructing a new facility was the most prudent thing to do. Mr. Mikitarian stated on two separate occasions, representatives from the Housing Authority brought experts and consultants into the building and analyzed it; and both times they said the same thing the Hospital Board said, it is cheaper to build new Housing Authority space than it is to renovate the building. He stated representatives from Kennedy Space Center looked at the building twice for classroom space and offsite space they were pursuing; and both times the experts from their organization said they can certainly build cheaper new than renovating. He stated they offered the building to the VA for one dollar because they have been talking about trying to get a VA hospital in the County; and they basically laughed and said they can build cheaper new than renovating that space. He stated although the person from the public had issue with the style that was used in delivery of the message, the fact remains that five separate times different organizations independently have all said the same thing that the Hospital Board has said, which is it is not prudent to renovate that building; so they stand on that decision being the best decision.

Commissioner Scarborough stated if it is acceptable, he will move to reappoint the two incumbents for the positions they currently hold. He stated he would have considered anybody who contacted him to discuss their performance, but he did not have that dialogue; so he is not prepared to move in an intelligent manner and assume those individuals are knowledgeable. He stated the current board members have different views; Mr. Parrish and Mr. Noffel do not always share the same thoughts on the philosophy of things; but that is the dynamics of a board.

Chair Higgs recommended taking one appointment at a time.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Colon, to reappoint J. J. Parrish III to the North Brevard County Hospital District Board representing Brevard County with term expiring December 31, 2007.

Commissioner Carlson inquired if due process to the other applicants is an issue; with County Attorney Scott Knox responding the Board has an option to do it by secret ballot, which it has done before, or it can do it by motion if that is what it wants to do.

Chair Higgs stated they cannot be secret; with Mr. Knox responding he meant secret ballot that gets published. Chair Higgs stated the Board can go with a rating system, but it is legal to go either way. She called for a vote on the motion. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to reappoint Jerry Noffel to the North Brevard County Hospital District Board, subject to confirmation by the City Council of Titusville. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

ACCEPT DONATION FROM THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM AND RUTH WOLFF,
AUTHORIZE USE OF JOB ORDER CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION
METHOD, EXECUTE CONTRACTS, AND APPROVE BUDGET CHANGE
REQUESTS, RE: SOUTH MAINLAND LIBRARY SCREEN ROOM

Chair Higgs advised the County is fortunate to have some donations in regard to the South Mainland Library renovations and will be moving forward with the project.

Mike Cunningham, Vice Chairman of the South Mainland Library Advisory Board, advised the item displays a community effort; a two-hour tour of the Library to a gentleman who lives in Arizona resulted in a donation of $29,000; he was very impressed with the library; his family had lived in the area, but when one died, the other moved to Arizona; and the Friends of the Library donated another $15,000. He stated they have a screen room on the back of the building; several years ago they did extensive renovation and enlarged the Library; the room was virtually not used; this was an opportunity to increase the reading room area; so with donations from the Wolffs and Friends of the Library, they decided to go ahead with the project. He requested the Board accept the donation and approve the project; stated they may have a problem with the projected cost overrun, but it can be settled, whether they have to go back to the Friends for additional funds or the Library System can come up with the shortfall; but it is a worthwhile project and shows a community effort. He stated there may be questions staff will bring up, but his plea to the Board is to allow them to continue this community effort.

Chair Higgs advised the Board is grateful to William and Ruth Wolff for their donation to the library as well as the Friends who work hard for the Library. She stated they are close to having the funds they need; they have received bids; and since it is in her District, she would like to have the Board approve going forward as outlined in the Agenda Report. Commissioner Scarborough stated there does not seem to be a shortfall; with Chair Higgs responding she thinks they are there with the funding.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Higgs, to accept donation of $29,000 from the Estate of William and Ruth Wolff; authorize staff to use previously approved job order contracting construction method to replace the existing screen room at the South Mainland Library with an air-conditioned masonry room; approve budget change requests; and authorize the Chair to execute associated contracts. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Chair Higgs advised they will be hosting the Wolffs here later in the month and are grateful for their gift; and she will bring a resolution for consideration at the next meeting.

DIRECTION, RE: PAYMENT OF DUES TO EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA REGIONAL
PLANNING COUNCIL

Chair Higgs advised Sandra Glenn, Executive Director of East Central Florida Regional Planning Council is here if there are any questions. Commissioner Scarborough stated Shelly Lauton from MyRegion is also here.

Commissioner Scarborough advised his perspective is the Board has never spoken with a regional concept; that does not mean it did not have efforts by Mike Snyder for MPO alliance and other things with the St. Johns River Water Management District; but it did not put all the pieces together in a big picture. He stated the Commissioners received copies of the pictorial rendition; it is a wonderful first step and is great because people who did not see Brevard County as a region now see it; and it is nice to see a picture rather than just words. He stated he went online to see what others were doing and happened to go to Silicon Valley; there is a group there called the Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network; and it brought together different groups as a catalyst to do things with business, labor, government, education, nonprofits, and the broader community for economic and social progress and a better quality of life. He stated the Mayor of Palo Alto, executives of Sun Micro Systems, and members of California State Senate were on it; and it is similar to what is being done here, so Brevard County is not unique. He stated what they have done is moved beyond the pictures into a great deal of analysis; having a sound fiscal responsibility of government was one thing they talked about, as well as how to deal with the natural environment and social issues; they brought all those things together; and rather than having fragmented discussions and fragmented communities, they were brought together. Commissioner Scarborough stated one of the reports discusses why it is essential to have a regional strategy; it is a unique area of the country with unique problems; but the language and issues are exactly what are being said at MyRegion. He stated MyRegion is now moving to Phase 2; it is incumbent on the Board to set the example that it needs to be involved; when Rich Crotty, Chairman of Orange County Commission did an analysis, Brevard County had one out of four people in the tech field; it is unique in that area; there is only one place in the country that has a greater percentage of technical personnel; and that is Silicon Valley. He stated Brevard County beat Austin, Boston, and the Research Triangle; other counties have different components; so Brevard County has something very unique and is a part of the region. He stated one report says, “Main Street Silicon Valley connecting the community”; if Brevard County does not move beyond the pictorial into something more concrete, the initiative will be lost; it is incumbent upon the Board to communicate that to the community; and it is not going to be Silicon Valley, or Boston, or Austin, but it should be all that it can be in its own uniqueness and bring the best it can possibly bring to the community. He stated the Board needs to charge MyRegion and East Central Florida Regional Planning Council to move in that direction; and it is not going to be there immediately, but the Board needs to move there; and that is why this conversation is very critical to the County.

Commissioner Pritchard thanked Chair Higgs for his appointment to the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council; stated he is looking forward to attending the meetings; and one concern he has is what is Brevard County getting for the $113,643 it is State-mandated to pay in membership fees. He stated he received a packet of information; one item talked about economic modeling; the Council provides economic modeling services to the region; and that fits in nicely with what Economic Development Commission Executive Director Lynda Weatherman asked about regarding the significant environmental areas (SEA) ordinance. He stated Ms. Weatherman inquired if the County conducted an analysis of the economic impact of the proposed ordinance, and the answer was no; so he wrote to County Manager Tom Jenkins and asked why the County does not have the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council do that for it if possible. He stated he received a note from Natural Resources Management Director Conrad White saying they are going to ask East Central Florida Regional Planning Council to perform an EIS for the County; so it is coming together, and he is looking forward to being a member of the Council, to the assignments and whatever else there is he may do to be of benefit to the County, as well as report back to the Board.

Commissioner Carlson stated the County needs the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council; she has always been concerned about outcomes and seeing something in writing that a community received service-wise for the money; so in the future, she would like to see outcome-driven material that could come to the Board on a yearly basis or however it can do that because a lot of good work has come from MyRegion and East Central Florida Regional Planning Council’s assistance in that whole effort. She stated she does not know the exact breath of what the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council provided in that process, nor the level of detail; but going back to Commissioner Scarborough’s comments about Silicon Valley, when she went on an Economic Development Commission trip with Lynda Weatherman, she brought back a package of everything she did and people she talked to in Silicon Valley. She stated the Joint Venture Group was of major interest to her; and inquired if the document Commissioner Scarborough has is more recent than what she got when she was out there; with Commissioner Scarborough responding yes, some of it came out within the last 30 days; and he will email it to each Commissioner so they can get into it and see what they want to print out. He stated there is a lot of language and a lot of thought that may help the Board in understanding where to go in the next phase. Commissioner Carlson stated what was interesting, and where she thought was important for the community to go forward, because she was on the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council at the time with Commissioner Higgs and with Commissioner Scarborough early on, was the fact that the community needed to get its ducks in a row before the MyRegion folks came in and said this is the way they want to do things. She stated on a regional perspective, it was from that trip that she got a lot of the ideas from how they were working, the Joint Venture Group, because she got to interview a lot of those folks and a lot of the venture capitalist folks; and Lynda Weatherman provided her with various appointments to talk to those people. She stated what they had done for their community was amazing; they had crossed borders and basically smudged the lines between municipalities; venture capital stays there because they have intellectual infrastructure that exists; and that is why they will continue to stay there until the environment gets to the point where it is not conducive. She stated that is what led her to try to get folks in the community together for the Brevard Tomorrow initiative; and having them go even farther would be a great service to Brevard County since that started in the late 1990’s.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to defer making any payments to East Central Florida Regional Planning Council until the Board gets a report back from MyRegion and from East Central Florida Regional Planning Council as to how the funds could be optimized to capture the ideas of a Silicon Valley scenario, and provide that information to the Board.

Chair Higgs requested an explanation of the motion; with Commissioner Scarborough responding he will share the information with Ms. Glenn and Ms. Lauton and would like to see Brevard County move forward through the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council into MyRegion. He stated at the present point, they have basically opted out with the activity of funding through the government entities; they do have the capacity through the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council to take on projects; and one of the projects they need to be a part of is funding and working in some of the regional initiatives. He stated the Board heard from Mr. Kennedy earlier a wonderful example of how it may capture something; UCF is undertaking a study of putting a medical school in; those types of regional activities need to be a part of the agenda as well as how they can move forward in solving regional problems; and he thinks not to call the question is a failure at this moment. Chair Higgs stated she wants to make sure Ms. Glenn and Ms. Lauton understand the motion and can give the Board what it needs. Commissioner Scarborough stated how they can move more towards a Silicon Valley-type of secondary input, and how does Brevard County move to where it gets more extensive information. Chair Higgs inquired if Commissioner Scarborough wants to be assured, through the current funding Brevard County sends to the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, that moves forward; with Commissioner Scarborough responding he thinks it can if the Board asks the questions.

Commissioner Carlson stated the Board was under the assumption that phase 2 was in process in terms of trying to figure out how the money was going to be collected and what the price tag was going to be. Commissioner Scarborough stated everything in life is dynamic; the way people add their two cents in is to ask questions; and if they do not, then they probably will not be part of the process.

Commissioner Pritchard stated he has a memo from Mr. Jenkins saying he is scheduled to attend a meeting of the County Charter Managers in late November; and inquired if that occurred; with County Manager Tom Jenkins responding he stayed here for the summit, but talked to everybody by email; and there has been no action on phase 2.

Commissioner Scarborough stated part of the problem is that at the county commission level, the dialogue is not being charged; and if the Board takes this action, it may be advisable that a letter be prepared advising the chairmen of the seven counties of its action and the reasons why so they understand the dynamics; and that could start a conversation within those counties.

Chair Higgs advised the current motion is to table the item. Commissioner Scarborough stated the motion is to defer payment until the Board has a means to have commitments of how this thing can work. Chair Higgs stated the item has not been tabled, but deferred, so Ms. Glenn and Ms. Lauton are allowed to speak.

Sandra Glenn, Executive Director of East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, advised they have already set out their budget work program for the upcoming year based on assumptions the payments would be coming from the counties; and they would have to do a presentation to their board and get it to alter the work program that they currently approved in some manner to do this and it would need not only a dollar amount but she assumes some direction as to what phase the Board wants to continue, all the phases of MyRegion or specifics that came out of the bag. She stated a little more information is needed; and they have a meeting on December 17. Commissioner Scarborough stated that is when the Council will discuss MyRegion; with Ms. Glenn responding that is when it will discuss it because at this point they have not come up with a work program; and the reason they are discussing it is because to her knowledge and Ms. Lauton can confirm it, they have not asked for money from any of the counties. Commissioner Scarborough stated therein lies the problem of who runs what; and the Board plans to be asking questions to be a part of that discussion. He stated if the Board does not request anything, it will not get anything; and it is going to ask questions and try to move the region further into the discussion beyond what is currently contemplated. Ms. Glenn inquired if Commissioner Scarborough is requesting time on the Council’s agenda for the December 17 meeting; with Commissioner Scarborough responding no, but people are going to be aware of Brevard County’s concern that it is not a part of the Council’s work program, that it is dropping out of the Planning Council as a funding methodology for MyRegion; and it is going to have a discussion. He stated everybody has their own views and that is okay, but the Board also has a responsibility not only to the County but the greater community to ensure it does not fail by default. Ms. Glenn stated she is just looking for protocol and has an agenda item. Commissioner Scarborough stated he thought MyRegion was an agenda item. Ms. Glenn stated it is, but not for the purpose of funding. Commissioner Scarborough stated funding could be added to the item. Ms. Glenn inquired how much would Brevard County be looking for to get into the MyRegion.org project; what is the product it is looking for; and is it looking for answers; with Commissioner Scarborough responding his question is what can Brevard County expect to evolve; it is not a demand, but asking a question be addressed, which is not being addressed by the failure to continue in the funding methodology. Ms. Glenn stated she has to disagree there because in talking with MyRegion, they are continuing to work with other entities. Commissioner Scarborough stated he is talking about County funding and County activities in the process; Ms. Glenn knows how he feels about it; and the failure to be there as a full player is going to in some way diminish the capacity to move the discussion forward.

Commissioner Carlson stated the hope was that MyRegion would rejuvenate the Planning Council and make it a body that has more clout and looking at it as an arm of regional status because it is a regionally-based organization; and its task is to bring the region together from the political perspective. She stated the Board is not sure just how much it is getting for the dollars it is spending on the statutorily required membership fee; she does not know what it means in terms of deferring it, but the Board is looking for the execution of a plan; and MyRegion and all the process that a lot of folks had a lot of hope hung on the fact that it has been a huge community-wide effort regionally speaking; that momentum is of the essence; and if they lose that momentum then they have lost the whole thing. She stated what she would like to see and what Commissioner Scarborough is saying is that Brevard County has to be a major player in the process; a lot of folks are looking to the Council to start leading the process a little more because MyRegion evolved as an entity of itself with a lot of other folks gathered around; but the Council is an established entity established by statute to do just that sort of thing; and the Board expects the second phase to come from the Council and the Board. She stated the Regional Board needs to take the lead in getting the implementation of the process going; with $113,000 from this Board, it is expecting, since it gave more in the first phase, something in the second phase, and a determination of what it is going to cost the County to go forward with implementation. She stated the Board has not seen or heard anything about that. Ms. Glenn stated that might be where they are getting off the track a little because the Council provides technical assistance to MyRegion.org, which is an entity unto itself. She stated the people who made the decisions were members; they had more members as elected officials and representatives from Regional Planning Councils than any other single group; and every decision that was made on MyRegion.org came out of the executive committee, which Commissioner Scarborough is a member of. She stated all they did was prepare the staff time to come up with the information to give to the consultant that brought about the source book for MyRegion; and inquired if Commissioner Carlson is saying she wants the Council to be in charge of MyRegion.org. Commissioner Carlson stated no, but just having the Council, which represents a lot of the public through its public service that it seems that would be at least expressed. Chair Higgs stated Commissioners Pritchard and Colon are going to be on the Planning Council. Commissioner Carlson stated what she is looking for is the plan to go to the next step; she has not seen anything; so she is trying to figure out what part of what the County pays the Council for is coming back to it in terms of assistance in that process. Ms. Glenn inquired if that is for MyRegion, because there are many other things, including funding for the trails that they are still working on. Commissioner Carlson stated critical to this conversation is MyRegion moving forward. Ms. Glenn stated Ms. Lauton can probably share it better, but the MyRegion folks have gone to private enterprise and gotten funding for the first six months; the only problem that MyRegion has to be careful of is there is a private/public partnership; and that is why it has an executive committee so both sides make up the issue. She stated the diversity of the members of MyRegion.org executive committee is dynamic; it has representation from all walks of life, whether it is faith-based or government; and the decisions that came out were actually from that committee. She inquired if the Board wants the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council to play a different role than just technical; with Commissioner Carlson responding no; and to cut to the chase, she thinks the Board needs an implementation plan and she has not seen one.

Commissioner Colon stated Ms. Glenn mentioned trying to find a protocol for the December 17 meeting; and she would like to have the issue on the agenda so there can be discussion. She stated Chair Higgs should send letters to the chairmen of the seven counties to put everybody in line of some of the things the Board has questions about. She stated the Board wants to continue the positive working relationship it has with the Planning Council; it has some ideas and wants an opportunity to share them; and usually attention is gotten when it has to do with finances. She stated she would appreciate Brevard County being part of the agenda if Ms. Glenn would allow them to be to continue the dialogue.

Commissioner Pritchard stated most of his questions have been asked and answered, but he has one question, how the amount the County pays to the Council is calculated; with Ms. Glenn responding it is based on population and for 20 years it has been 23 cents per person.

Commissioner Pritchard inquired how does Brevard County rank in terms of the amount it pays; with Ms. Glenn responding Orange County is the highest and Brevard County is second, then Seminole County. Ms. Glenn requested copies of whatever correspondence goes back and forth; with Chair Higgs responding yes.

Commissioner Scarborough stated he wants to ask the Council to come to the Board with ways it can be more creative in moving toward a Silicon Valley type of environment. He stated none of it is easy; there are people who do not agree; but if they do not put people at the table, it is never going to happen. He stated he does not have a good warm feeling that they are making progress; and they should, after coming out with the picture book.

Chair Higgs called for a vote on the motion. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Chair Higgs advised staff will get with Commissioner Scarborough and prepare the letter to go out, and copy Ms. Glenn and Ms. Lauton. Commissioner Carlson inquired if it is possible to recognize Ms. Lauton.

Shelly Lauton of MyRegion.org, advised one clarification she wants to make is about Commissioner Carlson’s point on the implementation plan. She stated they need to separate the funding issue from the fact that implementation is occurring as they speak; they have not stopped for one second; and what is happening now, and what they heard from each commission as they went in front of each of them in all seven counties is, “do not come back to us and ask us for money until you know what the implementation plan is”; so that is why they are doing it right now. She stated between now and April, they are putting together work teams that include representatives from six priority areas; economic leadership is being chaired by a private person and a public person; they have representatives from all three sectors and all seven counties; and those work teams are being formed right now. She stated between now and mid-April, their plan is to develop the plan of work on how to execute the strategies that are in the picture book; the strategies are already outlined and they need the work plan; they did not want to come to any county government until they had that plan fully formed; and that is not to say Brevard County is not going to be very actively involved and engaged in building that plan because it is being developed and presented every month to the executive committee on which Brevard County and all seven counties have representation; so there is a very clear plan between now and April to build a comprehensive way to make sure they are accomplishing what they set out in the strategy in the source book.

Commissioner Scarborough stated at the Planning Council there was discussion whether certain counties could pay more and certain counties could pay less; the counties that were smaller said they want to pay the same amount because they want to come to the table with the same status as the larger counties; and his thought process is they are putting money on the table and have a capacity through MyRegion to divert funds for any project; therefore, they are at the table as a contributing member financially. He stated it may not occur immediately, but if the Board does not raise the question, it is never going to occur.

Commissioner Carlson inquired if Ms. Lauton is saying they are in the process of implementation but do not have an implementation plan; with Ms. Lauton responding the implementation plan is being created by each work group, so they have clear strategies outlined; those are all in the source book; and the work groups, very similar to Brevard Tomorrow’s model, will now work on how the strategies will be executed, who will execute them, what the costs of execution will be, and what the time line will be for execution. Commissioner Carlson inquired if Ms. Lauton is saying by April they will have a first-year action plan; with Ms. Lauton responding that is correct, they are hoping for the first-year action plan and a five-year view of the world because not everything is going to get done in the first year.

Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board is deferring payment not because it dislikes the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council but because it believes its participation can make it better; so the Council should not look at it as a negative vote. He stated he has always said the Planning Council has never been what it could be; MyRegion concept could have moved it from reactionary to a true contemplative group that could move the region forward; and that vision is still there. He stated with MyRegion, he looks to putting out documents of the level that Silicon Valley has; and it is through that belief and thrust that Brevard County wants to be a part of the process in a positive way. Ms. Lauton stated she has said it many times and will say it to the rest of the Board that Brevard County, on an individual corporate and countywide basis, has participated more actively and been more engaged in the process than any other county. She stated Brevard County has been incredible, from private citizen involved all the way to the County Commission; it has been incredible; and she does not want to see that momentum stop either. She stated their goal is to have a very well-crafted thought out plan and to move the region forward; and the end result is to make sure they are all connected and engaged to make it happen.

Chair Higgs advised the work program will be established in the fall; the budget is established in the same timeframe; so there would be nothing to preclude, if they are talking about an April timeframe, from implementation. She stated the budget and work plan has several months to go into evolving a work program that meets what Commissioner Scarborough is talking about, that the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council have in the work program an item and financial commitment to move it forward if it were the desire of the Council.

Commissioner Colon stated she wants to know about the work groups and inquired who are the chairs or is MyRegion still working them out. She stated the economic work group is the one she would want to be part of and bring the message of what Brevard County is trying to do. Ms. Lauton stated they are working with Lynda Weatherman to make sure they have strong population of all the key sectors in Brevard County on that work group. Commissioner Carlson stated there is already a relationship between MyRegion and Brevard Tomorrow so any of those things can go through Brevard Tomorrow because that is what it is about.

Chair Higgs called for a vote on the motion. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

APPROVAL OF APPLICATION AND MATCHING FUNDS AND ACCEPTANCE OF GRANT,
RE: PURCHASE OF AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS FOR PATROL CARS

County Manager Tom Jenkins advised no one from the Sheriff’s Department is here; and recommended the item be pulled from the Agenda.

The Board took no action on the application, matching funds, and acceptance of a grant from the Florida Department of Health, Emergency Medical Services for purchase of automated external defibrillators for patrol cars.

APPROVAL OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, RE: FLORIDA GAS TRANSMISSION v.
VERONICA ESTATES, INC. ET AL

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Pritchard, to approve a settlement for the value of easements taken by Florida Gas Transmission Company in the Florida Gas Transmission v. Veronica Estates, Inc. et al; James A. Larche, Jr.; Michael C. Wade; Betty Heard Wall; and Brevard County Cases. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENTS - WALTER PINE, RE: PROPOSED SEA ORDINANCE

Walter Pine stated when he was little, he was always taught in order to tell the truth, one has to tell the whole truth; and if not, then he would have lied; Mr. Mikitarian forgot to tell the Board something about the proposal the Center applied for; and it was at no cost to the County and no cost to local government. He stated he thought it was a good thing and is sorry to see that citizen involvement and citizen increase to fill the facility was not supported by Commissioner Scarborough; and he is really disappointed to see that kind of behavior was supported.

Mr. Pine stated the reason he wanted to speak is on the sensitive environmental areas ordinance; twice he has gone to get documents and twice he has been denied those documents and had to go to the County Manager’s Office to get them to comply with the Public Records Law. He stated he looked at their files, and they are deplorable; they looked at one file twice, and so far every time they looked at it the contents were different; so it changed since the first time he looked at it, and was altered. He stated the SEA’s program was set up and the areas were chosen; Conrad White’s own words were that he set up the commission or work group by his choice; and when he asked Mr. White why he did not give preference to County people he said nobody in the County knows how to do it. He stated when he listed the people who know how to do it, Mr. White said oh well, one of them is down the hall but she had already left. He stated the original plan was set up by people outside the County; he asked Mr. White what qualifications were required; and the reply was none, he picked them as he chose. He stated he asked Mr. White a number of questions and everything came down to one thing, he did not believe the citizens of this County would do what was necessary if given the appropriate information and the knowledge to make the decisions. Mr. Pine stated Mr. White believed it was his responsibility to enforce upon the citizens of the County how they should handle the natural resources. He stated he asked Mr. White what would happen if somebody did not comply; and he said Code Enforcement would go out and fine the person for what happens. He stated if all the notes and stuff were read, they say it is a no cost process, but the ultimate end of it is if a citizen opposes it, he loses his property; so it is a no cost way to take people’s property. He stated if he cannot afford to pay for a wildlife management plan, there is no provision for that to be waived; and if he does not pay for it, he will get fined; if he does not do the mitigation that would be required, he would get fined; and if he does not do the restoration that would be required, he would get fined. He inquired where would his property end up if he cannot pay for the stuff and fines.

Commissioner Pritchard stated Mr. Pine commented about asking for information and it not being provided, which bothers him; and inquired how often has that happened; with Mr. Pine responding he has been to the office twice; the first time it took him two or maybe three hours to go through meeting with Mr. Knox and Mr. Jenkins’ office to get the office to provide the information; and last Wednesday he went there again and ended up having been told no and having to go to Mr. Jenkins’ office again to get the information. He stated so far every time he has gone to the office it has happened. Commissioner Pritchard requested an explanation from Mr. Jenkins; with County Manager Tom Jenkins responding he will be happy to provide the Board a report on what occurred. Commissioner Pritchard stated he would be interested in that because the least the County can do is provide the information when people come and ask for it; and if there is a problem, he hopes the Board will address it. Mr. Pine stated a perfect example is at the workshops he specifically asked for the documents that contained the facts to substantiate that it is a valid management process; and to date he has received nothing.

Chair Higgs inquired if Mr. Peffer wished to respond; with Assistant County Manager Stephen Peffer responding it would be more appropriate to give the Board a full report. Chair Higgs requested the County Manager include in that report when requests are made for information the time period and how staff handles those in terms of the time period. She stated she knows when extensive files are requested it takes more than an immediate response; and again requested the time issue be addressed.

PUBLIC COMMENT - J. J. PARRISH III, RE: NORTH BREVARD HOSPITAL DISTRICT
BOARD

J. J. Parrish III thanked the Board for its confidence in his reappointment to the North Brevard Hospital District Board; and stated he would like to let the Board know some of the things that have occurred with Parrish Medical Center. He stated patient satisfaction is their most key indicator of performance; and that is of most importance to the Hospital Board and to him. He stated during his 16 years he had a lot of opportunity to review patient satisfaction scores, and can tell the Board now their patient satisfaction is higher than it has ever been; and he is pleased with that. He stated it is not only his opinion, but the opinion of the Voluntary Hospitals of America (VHA), which ranked Parrish Medical Center #3 of VHA hospitals in the southeast; and that is an independent ranking and validates their patient satisfaction and quality of care both in terms of clinical and aesthetics. He stated closely following that is the financial responsibility; what has always impressed him by their talented management team is their ability to be able to manage the costs and at the same time manage the finances; and they received an A rating on their bond issue, which puts them in the top 20 of nonprofit hospitals in the United States. Mr. Parrish stated they are performing very well; they are looking out for their constituents; and they are doing the best they know how to do. He stated he is extremely pleased that he will have the opportunity to continue to see that forward; and thanked the Board for his reappointment.

Commissioner Scarborough requested a full report as to the viability of anybody moving into the old hospital building, as there are still questions that are coming before the Board. Mr. Parrish stated he will be happy to do that.

Commissioner Carlson stated with UCF looking for a medical center potential, has anyone been working with the University in terms of a medical facility; with Mr. Parrish responding he does not have any personal involvement in that, and possibly Mr. Mikitarian could respond to that on the executive level. Commissioner Carlson stated it seems like an exciting thing if they could get a medical school in Orlando and all the medical facilities would prosper from the research dollars that would come in that direction. Mr. Parrish stated that is something worth looking into and they will get back a report to the Board.

Chair Higgs stated they could launch space medicine; with Mr. Parrish responding absolutely.

REPORT, RE: LEGISLATION SHIFTING MEDICARE COSTS TO COUNTIES

Commissioner Pritchard stated he received a fax from the County Manager’s Office opposing legislation to shift Medicare costs to counties; and inquired if anything has been done with that. He stated it says the Board of County Commissioners requests the Brevard County Legislative Delegation oppose any legislation that would shift the additional costs to counties; but he does not remember the Board acting on it.

County Manager Tom Jenkins advised it is scheduled for the next meeting.

WARRANT LISTS

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 12:02 p.m.

ATTEST: _________________________________
NANCY HIGGS, CHAIR
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA
___________________
SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

(S E A L)