MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

May 14, 2009

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida meet in special session on May 14, 2009, at 1:05 p.m. in the Government Center Florida Room, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were:  Chairman Chuck Nelson, Commissioners Robin Fisher, Trudie Infantini, Mary Bolin, and Andy Anderson, Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten, and Deputy Chief Attorney Shannon Wilson.

 

 

Ginger Ferguson, Executive Director Coalition for the Hungry & Homeless of Brevard County, Inc. (CHHI), stated she is seeing a tremendous need for affordable housing; she stated the partnership with Brevard County in the past has helped the Coalition create 91 homes throughout Brevard with Federal Grants, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Veterans Affairs, and The Home Program and State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program (SHIP).  She stated the County staff has been wonderful to work with through the Continuum of Care Coalition that the County facilitates for the CHHI is have been able to bring over $7.5 million in Federal funding to Brevard to help homeless families of men, women, children, and homeless Veterans; and stated the CHHI is very grateful and sees the need everyday and the Board cannot imagine the different stories of the individuals touched by the foreclosures, rental properties foreclosed on, job loss, and how the CHHI are seeing so many more people in need than they have ever seen.  She stated her thanks for the continued support and hopes the Board keeps focused on Brevard’s affordable housing needs.

 

Joe Robinson, North Brevard Charity, stated the first 25 years of his working life he spent in third-world countries seeing the needs of people that did not have anyone to support them and seen them living on the street in tents that were made of cardboard boxes; he has seen the rain coming down on them and they could not do anything but try to survive; after that 25 years he is happy to go back to America and is going to thank God for being an American because he knows that those things do not happen in America; but when he got back in America he thought he was going to get a job and ended up getting involved with the non-profit community; and stated he has since found that America is not far from what he has seen.  He stated if it were not for some of the wonderful programs available and the people in Brevard it would see much of what he has seen in the third-world countries; and County staff has helped him so much over the last 13 years that he has been in the housing and human service business he could not have accomplished what North Brevard Charities has done for the community of keeping over 90 percent of the clients served from going into a worse state than they were when they came for services.  He stated the housing here effects all of Brevard and is only successful because of the wonderful staff; he stated if anyone can deal with him and his anger sometimes with trying to help people, they are good, Brevard has a wonderful staff, and he hopes his prayers are answered and they do get answered a lot because the staff is the best that he has been able to find. 

 

Debra Conway stated she is a mother of a child that was taken away from her by Department of Children and Families (DCF) and it has been four years of going through the battles in court; she stated if it was not for Gina at Freedom Outpost she does not know where she would be today.  She stated mentally and physically she has had a long time of heartache longing for her daughter and right now where she is living, she is surviving on a low income of disability and because she has a few things mentally wrong she was not able to take care of her child.  She stated she was the first one to talk to the judge about her issues and the judge thought that she was very honest because her case is very different from other people.  She stated she understands today that people coming out of jail needs somewhere to go to start their lives and get back with their children and families and she feels Freedom Outpost is one of those places; she stated she has been with them along time and was a drug addict and has been clean for over 10 years.  She stated mentally right now she is blessed to be at Freedom Outpost because they keep her mentally going and help keep her company because she gets very depressed when she is by herself.  She stated Freedom Outpost has changed her life and loves where she is at; and is begging the Board to please help the Outpost and do not take that help away.

 

Steve Wilkinson stated Freedom Outpost helps people get off the streets when they get out of jail and give people a place with shelter; and are kind loving people that also care about animals. 

 

Fay Pettingill stated she has been in Brevard since 1958 and through tough times she appreciates everything being done.  She stated she was a Court Manager for Judge Woods and Judge McGregor in the 1960’s and her husband worked for the Sheriff’s Department and retired in the 1970’s as a Commanding Officer.  She stated after seven years Pastors Jim and Gina Hage from Freedom Outpost Ministry started a little church in a cracker box down in Grant; she stated she has always been really thankful for the young people because they need all the help they can get today from the ministry; and she has been with them for seven years now and they call her Momma Fay because she is probably 30 years older than any of them there.  She stated 50 percent of the people she has seen go through the program get their own jobs and places to live with their family all back together and doing fine.  She stated she has been to the men and women’s house in Tennessee four years ago, which is partly associated with the Freedom Outpost.  She stated she is here today to speak in behalf of Pastor Jim and Gina and all the people in the program for the continuum of the housing money that is needed to keep houses.  She stated when people come out of jail they need to have the guidance and supervision with moving on to be a house leader in the house; some musicians from the house band play the guitar; and they have a little cracker barrel of a garage down on Neiman Avenue in Melbourne now that was all fixed up and are having church there.  She stated she hopes and prays that the funding is granted.

 

Terry Johnson stated this past November he got out of prison after almost 27 years and he had family when he was released; but the Department of Corrections (DOC) told him that he could not go home to his family because he had to go to a transition house.  He stated he started writing letters that totaled 35 to different transition houses trying to find somewhere to go and everybody responded that their beds were full or there was no funding to accept him.  He stated he ended up going to Freedom Outpost and he is not here today to talk on his behalf because right now he is out on his own; but there are so many guys still in prison that are going to be getting ready to get out; and the DOC will give them $100 and the door.  He stated if those individuals  do  not  have  a  place  to  go  where  they  will  be  accepted to lay their head down,

those individuals will take that $100 and buy something to help them go back to prison.  Mr. Johnson stated his cry today is for this Board to find some kind of way to be able to help fund the people coming out of DOC that do not have a place to go.  He stated when an individual has been in prison for over 25 years their family is no longer intact because of people passing or moving to different locations and they have nobody, just that $100 that will start a cycle to get back into prison.  He stated he prays that the Board will help the transition houses.

 

Victor Lawson stated he is also from Freedom Outpost and has been there for almost four years.  He stated he is familiar with Housing and Human Resources services because ten years ago he and his fiancé received help from them with the First Time Home Buyers Program to get started to help them get on their feet, down payments, and it put hope in his life to get a good start and has always seen good things come from Housing and Human Resources.  He stated he has had drug addiction and has relapsed from that point and gotten into a hopeless state where nobody would help him.  He stated he has tried a lot of places and was fueled by resentment against the system of finding more and more ways to con the system and found himself out there in just nowhere land with no hope and the things that would convict him was when people would help him because that made him think what he was doing was not right; and since he has been in Freedom Outpost he has hope in his life and now lives in low-income housing in Merritt Island, is married, has employment, and has hope in his life due to the help of Housing and Human Resources and thinks it is a great thing.  He stated when a person is in a low state and there is not much help without these resources people can get further and further out in the woods living in tents and stated he is grateful for the stimulus money that the Board received and the way they choose; and he stated the Board does a great job.

 

Laura Ward, Affordable Housing Council, stated Susan Baiocco and she have been on the Affordable Housing Council Board for 16 years when it was first legislated and thinks she was appointed to the Board as some kind of watchdog because she had expressed some skepticism about some of the programs; and she found herself sitting on the Board.  She stated over the years she and Sue have watched it grow and develop and have found it to be that it is something the County should be and can be proud of.  She stated thanks for taking the time to try to understand all the programs; stated it is not easy to understand all the programs; and for the Board Members to take the time to do so is really wonderful.

 

Bob Lambert, Titusville Housing Authority Executive Director, stated he appreciates the opportunity to be present before the Board and hopes if nothing else today staff and the speakers can impress the Board in how many peoples lives the Board touches and improves.  He stated he has been with the Housing Authority in Titusville for 25 years and one of the most desperate things he has had to do was evict the elderly; he stated there is a Federal Statue that says that if in public housing, a person is no longer capable of independent living, the person has to be evicted; and stated that is not all a bad thing because what it means is more help is being looked at for the individual; but it was a horrible experience because it got to the point where he would go to the elderly, sit with them, serve the papers, and tell them not to worry because the State of Florida’s Adult Protective Services would step in and find a nursing home bed for them.  He stated it was still a horrible experience for an elderly person to go through and that was not the end of the problem because the nursing home might have been in Miami, Tampa, or Jacksonville because whoever would take a Medicaid for a nursing home will bill it.  He stated the elderly were yanked, have been here all their lives, taken away from their families, churches, synagogue, and friends to put them in a nursing home in some  strange  place; and it  was   literally   a   death    sentence    because    they   all   passed   away   within   six   months.

 

Mr. Lambert stated this Board and the Affordable Housing Council and their ability to reach out has been looking for a solution under Jeb Bush’s Front Porch Program and he had a sub-program called Aging in Place that was partnered with Brevard and the Affordable Housing Council to bring to the Titusville Towers, which is one of the first assisted living programs in public housing in the nation.  He stated there were four national awards for this program due to the Board and the Affordable Housing Council; and now out of 120 units at the Titusville Towers on the Indian River there are 90 assisted living units licensed by the State of Florida.  He stated he manages a team of Nurses, Certified Nurse Practitioners, and management people that run the building 24 hours a day, seven days a week including three meals a day, seven days a week to the elderly.  He stated an ill person can be taken all the way through HOSPICE and does not have to move, they stay right in their apartment; and this would not have been possible without the involvement of Affordable Housing Council and the approval by the Board.  He stated he thoroughly enjoys working with staff because they have made programs so successful his heart just bursts.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated Stockton Whitten, Interim County Manager, and Gay Williams, Housing & Human Services Director, will direct the Board through a lot of flow charts and diagrams that are either required or mandated by the State with choices available; but at this point there is an opportunity to change the direction of a certain portion of some of the funding; she stated not a lot of it but a certain portion of it; based on the state of the economy she thinks it is important that the Board knows what all of their opportunities are for changing the direction; and with so many people loosing their homes she wants to personally make sure that as much of the money can reach as many people as possible rather than serving just a few.  She stated as much of the resources available to help all those that may become displaced in the upcoming future because of foreclosures or job loss is needed.

 

 

Interim county Manager Stockton Whitten stated there are about two hours of presentation because the Board may want that to be condensed and sort of section off parts of the presentation by functional area; and he will leave it up to the Board to see if the Board wants to proceed with all the presentation or pick the areas it believes may need focused on.  He stated before doing so he does not know if all the members of the Affordable Housing Council are here; but there is actually three members that are going to participate in the presentation and they are sitting around the table such as Susan Baiocco, Affordable Housing Council Chair, John Saxton, Affordable Housing Council Vice-Chair, and Brenda Warner, Government Affairs Director; stated what is behind them for the audience at home and here are flow charts in regards to all of the housing programs that are currently implemented by the County and Workshop discussion; and one book at the counter with Sally Lewis and states there was no need to produce this for distribution to the public; Commissioners were briefed and there is a lot of wonderful information in the manual; and he is seeking Board direction of how to proceed through the presentation.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated from a personal standpoint he was very impressed with the briefing and has a better understanding now than before; and he thinks the presentation needs just the highlights gone over as far as what is local and State law and how getting to this point would help him; and stated he is okay without the two and one half hours presentation as they have already spent an hour with it. 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she concurs with the abbreviated version; but would like to cover the opportunities for change and redirection of funding because there are certain needs that she feels are out in the community that if changed a little bit from the past direction perhaps some of the funds could be diverted from the areas less critical at this moment; and fund for those in greater need at this time.

 

Mr. Whitten stated with that he will turn it over to Ms. Williams and he apologizes to the members of the Affordable Housing Council that did a lot of prep-work for the presentation today.

 

Ms. Williams stated the requirements and the impacts of these funding sources have brought to the County and she will move right into the programs that the Board would like to go to.  She stated for the Boards convenience what was also done, as seen on the slides in the manual, those areas that can have local input are red in the books and for the viewing audience they are italicized and underlined; so those would be all the areas in which local discretion is and that there could certainly receive some dialog input on those areas; and then staff will move right into those action items that are pinned in the books, action items that look at all those programs and possibilities.  She stated Florida Statutes requires that the units of local government include provisions for the creation and preservation of housing choices to meet the needs of very low, low, and moderate income families with the community.  She stated in the County Comprehensive Plan Brevard has set goals, objectives, and policies to provide affordable housing and insure that equal housing opportunities exist for all residents by outlining multiple ways to achieve that; they include utilizing Federal, State, and local sources of funding to help lower income families realize homeownership by providing a variety of housing types, price, and geographic choices; and Brevard County has an Incentive-Based Housing Ordinance enacted to implement the requirements of Chapter 163, Florida Statue 420, and the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.  She stated the great thing about this mandate though is the State, by way of Florida Statue 420 and 24CFR part 92, which is SHIP and Home Program, provides funding to counties to help achieve the goals of the Comp Plan and help increase housing industry related employment; additionally, it is also required and mandated to have a 11-member volunteer Board that is the Affordable Housing Council; she stated some of those members are here; Paul Marek, Senior Lending Officer of Beacon Financial Group representing employers; the Board has already heard from Laura Ward and Susan Baiocco; also here is Corey Lancaster, Certified Building Contractor representing the area of labor and home building; Brenda Warner who will talk about the impacts of the Government Affairs Director of Space Coast Association of Realtors representing a Central Services personnel; and John Saxton, Vice Chair and managing member representing the building industry.  She stated she certainly looks forward to the Affordable Housing Councils’ input and the Board’s direction as continually providing that safety of affordable housing in the Brevard Community.

 

Brenda Warner, Space Coast Association of Realtors Government Affairs Director, stated it is nice to be speaking of a funded mandate for a change versus the unfunded variety.  She stated she  is  going  to  review the economic impact of the housing funds and how they affect the local economy, how dollars spent of those programs translate into the economy, and the impact that they have and how they are served to all citizens.  Ms. Warner stated the Grant Funds awarded from 2005 to 2008 received $28,694 the slide shown break down of dollars received by program with SHIP and Human Health Research Program (HHRP) making up the majority of those funds; and SHIP funds are used for several different programs such as rental assistance, repair and rehab, homeownership, and several others.  She stated HHRP funds were hurricane housing rehab funds of when to repair and rehab issues that resulted from hurricanes; she stated the HHRP and the Home Again funds that are seen are examples of special allocations; and those funds have been expended and are no longer part of the grant award.  She stated the total economic impact of grant funds shows the total impact of those grant dollars; the analysis was preformed using data from Schimberg Center for Affordable Housing, the University of Florida, Florida Department of Revenue, the Florida State Board of Administrations, and the Florida Housing Finance Corporation; $219,799 or $7.66 for every dollar of grant funds are received when housing is built or sold; and the total economic impact is much greater than simply the cost of the construction of sales price of the home consisting of the purchase of the land, construction materials, salaries to the construction workers, electricians, plumbers, architects, engineers, environmental specialists, and many others.  She stated all these payments for goods and services create even more economic activity when the tradesman and professionals take those dollars and spend them to gain their own goods and services; and typically, as any new homeowner knows, purchases of furniture, appliances, and unlimited trips to Home Depot, Lowes, and Ace Hardware for a little bit of everything.  She stated the jobs created by the funds for every $1 million of grant funds received 77 private sector jobs are created, which means over this period of time of discussion 2,209 jobs were created because of these funds; these figures are calculated using the same data in the formula as the previous figures and comes from the same source of everything from construction jobs, retail sales, and fast-food workers when new people get to the area; and the list is extensive of the type of jobs that come out of these funds.  She stated next are the grant funds by Commission District of how the dollars spent by each District; when the Affordable Housing Council is looking at a project they are looking at the need, the need in the location, residence and how it will serve and fit with the overall plan; it is not discussed which Distrct it is in; it is concentrated on making sure the needs are met where they are needed; and the County and its Districts are very diverse.  She stated the homeowner strategy recipients by age, which is a breakdown of residents served with these programs, cover all age brackets; but 73 percent of the recipients are in the highest age brackets.  She stated next is housing accomplishments and successes which is a breakdown of the number of families served totaling 3,975 that were assisted between 2005 to 2008; and this is just the families anywhere from one person to 15 or 20 people in a family.  She advised grant dollars spent or committed to projects, the HHRP and Home Again funds were special allocations fully-expended and will not be apart of any future projects.  She mentioned the Consortion Cities Housings funds and stated these are partner cities that have direct funds received in addition to the ones received through the consortium that puts the total affordable housing funds received in Brevard to be a little more than $52 million.  She stated the funds expended by program per district is a break down by district and program and tells how much from each program was used in each district; and is beneficial to the Board because it shows exactly how much each Member’s district received.  She stated she would like to mention that all the members of the Affordable Housing Council brings a very special skill set to the Board because the members come from diverse background, each have different areas of expertise, and different reasons for being involved in the Affordable Housing Council; but they all have one thing in common; and that is to make sure that the grant funds that  Brevard  receives  are  spent  in  the  most  responsible  manner  possible  and  serves  the greatest number of people possible; and that this why they are members what they want to see as their only goal as a group.  Ms. Warner stated these programs are not staff generated they are generated by the public and by the non-profit partners; she stated they come from ideas of the Affordable Housing Council members; and working in partnership with the staff and non-profit partners to make sure they get accomplished.  She stated there are always new ideas being looked for and better ways to accomplish the goals as the community needs to evolve so to do the programs and ideas to try to change with the flow; she stated at special meetings it has been addressed regarding foreclosure prevention programs; and right now there is opportunity because of the state of the housing market to get ahead; and for years it seems as if the Affordable Housing Council has been working from behind; but now with housing prices reduced, interest rates still low, and mortgages for residential properties available to spite what is heard on the news; there is opportunity to catch up now before housing prices go back up; and for the ones that have been here most of their lives she knows the housing does this just like everything else.  She stated she is personally very proud of the quality in the diversity of the programs that Brevard County has and it has been a real pleasure for her to be apart of this and work with County staff and partners.  She stated Chenita Joiner, Housing & Human Services Assistant Director, will give a presentation next with details of the procedures in the programs; during her presentation there is some opportunities for the Board to give direction to make recommendations to staff and the Affordable Housing Council in three specific areas; the program policies and procedures can be amended at any time, all it takes is to discuss concerns or differences with staff because of the State mandate; and it goes through the Affordable Housing Council and they make suggestions then return them back to the Board for approval. She stated on the five-year Comprehensive Plan due to HUD in August of 2010 they are starting to work on it with staff, meeting with partner cities to develop a timeline; and staff then comes to the Affordable Housing Council, gives any input, and the Affordable Housing Council makes recommendations; and then it comes before the Board for approval.  She stated the 2009 to 2012 SHIP Local Housing Assistance Plan is currently at the State level for review and approval; once it is finished the Board has the opportunity to make any changes wanted in that plan using the same process of concerns with Affordable Housing Council reviewing them and giving the Board suggestions to correct the concerns; and then it comes back to the Board for approval.  She stated she hopes the information given is useful; the rest of the information gets very detailed; and it has taken some people years to learn the processes and procedures.

 

Ms. Williams inquired if the Board would like for her to go over the grants so that the Board will know about that funding.  Commissioner Infantini responded yes.  Ms. Williams stated she will have Ms. Baiocco go through that information.

 

Susan Baiocco stated she has been tasked with explaining a broad overview of each grant; she thinks the key is the $9.5 million that is available to spend in funds that were given in 2008 to 2009; with the State funding of housing partnership $2.1 million; Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) is the next area, which is Federal dollars totaling $1.4 million that has a specific place it has to be spent; the County has been very fortunate to be given direct grants because there was no disband and it kept on going when the Ordinance came into place; neighborhood stabilization has some foreclosures; and once in foreclosure, the inventory gets fixed up and back out for housing, which total $5.2 million.  She stated the Weather Assistance Program (WAP) is another area that has $173,000; but there were some extra dollars given from  the  stimulus  dollars  that  go  into  that  area  and  that  is  going to be very crucial it is for windows, doors, and insulation to help electricity efficiency because the homes they have to fix up are old and is costing folks that live in them an abundance; and that is a crucial piece of funds that has been given more of.  Ms. Baiocco stated Wilma is the remaining section that can only be used to repair homes that were devastated in some way by hurricane Wilma; she stated it took three years for those dollars to be available and now there is one year to expend it or it is lost; and that total is $677,000.  She stated that those are all of the dollars of the specific things and the only real movement area is how the money would be shifted to SHIP and HOME; in the past Affordable Housing was lucky to get funds from the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes and the homes would not be fixed if not for those storms; and also the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) also received Disaster Recovery Initiative (DRI) funding and again, the importance of the Board staying together created them to be in a place to receive those funds.  She stated the SHIP initiative is very specific and those dollars must go for housing construction, acquisition, rehab and repair, rental, home ownership, first time home buyer; and employer purchases assistances; she stated that program does not exist in the County and has not been instituted at this point; and those are the mandates for that $2.1 million.  She stated beside getting those funds, the direct allocations also go to the Cities of Titusville, Cocoa, and Melbourne; and that is where the partnership comes in, in being able to use their funds to do that.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired with the Housing Construction acquisition does that have to be individual homeowners or could that be a not-for-profit organization such as Freedom Outpost coming to her mind because they are right here and have made a great visible presence; but does it have to be an individual persons home or could it be a group home or a transitional home.  Ms. Baiocco responded it does not have to be; stated what is interesting going through this, Freedom Outpost is a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO); that is one arm that actually creates the ability to take these dollars; Freedom Outpost has been a recipient of some of these housing dollars; some are specifically SHIP and some are specifically HOME; but they have been a recipient.  She advised Mr. Robinson’s group is a CHDO, which is a recipient as well and the funds that are available are allocated to go specifically through CHDO and if not used they will be sent back if they do not go through and the development arm of that housing construction acquisition rehabilitation and repair.  She stated Ginger Ferguson is a CHDO and she has been very instrumental in helping to get these dollars out in the form of construction, acquisition, repair, and rehabilitation; it is not only individual homes, it is any type of housing that qualifies for the low, very low, and the moderately income persons; the income is fit into the appropriate category; the grants are then put out for the CHDO to step forward to help people with a plan of how to do so; a Request for Proposal (RFP) is advertised for the public to know that these are dollars available; and that is when the interviewing process to determine who receives the needed funds.  She stated when the public steps forward they are asked in the interviewing process how many people are going to be helped, because they are looking for the largest numbers spread across and not only the highest income levels; but the mid and the low are trying to balance that out and leverage it to as many people as possible.

 

Ms. Williams stated she wants to make a small correction Freedom Outpost is not a CHDO, it is a non-profit, and there are four CHDO’s in the community; she has provided those names in the Affordable Housing Reference Manual; so Freedom Outpost and other non-profits and for-profits respond to the RFP; and that would fall under and could pursue funding that would do construction for not only single-family dwellings but also, other rental units.  Commissioner Infantini inquired if Ginger Ferguson was CHDO.  Ms. Williams responded yes, she is.  Commissioner  Infantini  stated  she  put  together  a  project  that  was  about  $2 million in new construction and stated in today’s time use that same $2 million and purchase a bunch of foreclosed homes, do rehabilitation on them, and then they could be available for families or Veterans.  Ms. Baiocco inquired is that what the Neighborhood Stabilization Plan (NSP) is really going to be about.  Mr. Dettra responded yes, that is a new program coming and the NSP will do that.  Commissioner Infantini stated the fund could not be used to purchase, it has to be apart of the NSP to purchase; and inquired if Ms. Williams could not use $2 million instead of having a ten-unit apartment complex available for the disabled or Veterans, the $2 million instead could be used for buying houses that were less expensive.  Ms. Williams responded certainly any of these dollars can be used in a format where an organization for-profit or non-profit are using the dollars to purchase and rehab properties that might be foreclosed; and that certainly would be up to the organization to put together a project in response to either RFP or the dollars. 

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if the Affordable Housing Committee chooses the projects.  Ms. Williams responded no.  Commissioner Fisher stated those projects are chosen by the ambassador of the non-profit or for-profit agency and they bring the projects to Ms. Williams and from there if the qualifications are met and are eligible for the dollars then the dollars are granted; and he stated Ms. Williams does not have the ability to say that she wants to put affordable housing right here in this location because there has to be somebody to partner with.  Ms. Williams responded that is absolutely correct.

 

Ms. Baiocco stated there was an RFP just put out that says the Affordable Housing Council wants to help with whatever it happens to be because this is what these dollars are for; then it goes through the interviews for the non-profits, CHDO, and the for-profits can actually apply.  She stated in the past, when construction was going on, there was not a lot of response by the for-profits as there is now; she stated that is great that they are back in fold; but in any case there is a broad picture of what they are looking to do; it is not limited to any area; when the projects come in they are looked at and then it is decided what has the most leveraged use of those dollars to help people across-the-board; and they are not looking for programs that are going to help limited numbers necessarily unless it is fixed that way.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired what if there was only one project.  Ms. Baiocco responded there has never only been one project.  Commissioner Fisher stated if there were a couple then one would have to be chosen because they cannot deny somebody.  Mr. Saxton responded what is done in situations like that is sometimes the Council will revise the RFP a little bit in order to further explain what is being looked for; he thinks there has been a rare occasions where they have not had the response they were looking for; but again the Council tries, when the funds are available, in the RFP it states this is what is available are looking for requests to see if they had the certain amount of money what they would do; the qualifications are looked at of the recipient and made sure they have experience and capabilities to do what they say they are going to do; and then they review all the information because they can get a variety of requests in and sometimes it is a multi-family project or 50 homes to purchase and rehab.  He stated the funds are leveraged against other funding sources so the process is; this is what is available and to give ideas.

 

Chairman Nelson inquired about the funding itself being how is it determined how much the County and cities get for instance, does the city get the SHIP dollars as well.  Ms. Williams responded yes, they do receive SHIP dollars, and get a substantially less amount than the County does; generally those  dollars  are  awarded  based  on the criteria set by the State being  the  age of the housing that is in the community and other factors and data collected; and then the dollars are disbursed.  Chairman Nelson inquired is it looked at by jurisdiction; and stated in other words those criteria’s within the cities and that criteria within any unincorporated area.  Ms. Williams responded that is looked at as well and do not allocate by District.  Chairman Nelson stated he would expect Commissioner Fisher to have more because he has about one third of the County for land area.  Ms. Williams stated it does not break out like that; and they just award the lump to the County.  Chairman Nelson inquired is it based on a geographic boundary of the city not included in the unincorporated part; and the part that the County gets is it solely related to unincorporated.  Ms. Williams responded yes, solely related to unincorporated Brevard.  Chairman Nelson stated the County spends those dollars in the Cities.  Ms. Williams stated the dollars are spent throughout the County wherever affordable housing can be developed and created; they have partnerships with the cities; and that is the great thing about it, there are partnerships.  Chairman Nelson stated where there is partnership that is great; but where there is no partnership is were they are getting their own dollars.  Ms. Williams responded the smaller area municipalities that received dollars are Cocoa, Titusville, Melbourne, and Palm Bay being the only Cities that received individual allotments of dollars; she stated some of the programs done are not limited to first-time home buyers because they can go wherever they want to in the County because it increases the tax base; but there are some because they have their repair program, it is not done in the municipalities; and it lets them use their dollars to those types as needed in the unincorporated areas to do those type of programs.  Chairman Nelson stated that was kind of his point, if the criteria is based on the need in the unincorporated areas then they are expended within cities that are also getting money based on their demonstrated need, then it is diluted with what the unincorporated area should have received versus the cities; stated he is not saying the services should not be provided; but he thinks there is a question of fairness if there is not that level of need in the unincorporated area that warrants those dollars; and inquired should all those monies be spent in unincorporated with the cities spending theirs based on theirs.  Ms. Williams responded absolutely, it is heard as far as some of the programs with rehab; those dollars are spent within the unincorporated area; the first time home buyers of the city course the people for their down payment assistance that is only limited if the person utilizes those dollars; but the County’s dollar does not limit a person in unincorporated and it is allowed to go anywhere within the County to spend those dollars.  Chairman Nelson stated but the need was determined for the unincorporated area and that is his concern. 

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if a young couple wanted to use the first time home buyer and come to the County to use the money that is designated for the
County in unincorporated and they find a home that they want to buy in the City of Titusville, are they switched over to the City of Titusville to use the Titusville SHIP funds or are they using the monies from the unincorporated pot of money.  Ms. Williams responded they would use the unincorporated pot of money if they came though the program; and Titusville has a very small pot of dollars received. 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he thought it was already kind of set up for it because if his District is looked at on those allocations; he gets the least amount; he thought that was because of Palm Bay and Melbourne taking up a good portion of his District already; and inquired if that is not correct that they get their own funds with the exception of the first time home buyers move.  Ms. Williams responded the way that the funding is seen is broken with the amount of money  spent  in  a  District;  but  stated  that  is  not  the   way   the   allocations   are   received. 

 

Chairman Nelson stated what he is saying is that will probably run into this with a couple of other allocations and the County spends whatever dollars received throughout the County but often the calculation is based on solely the unincorporated areas; what they means is that “X” amount of dollars are received because of the population in the unincorporated area and the need; but it is being spent in the cities and there is nothing wrong with that if there are partnerships that reciprocate.  He stated the reality is that the County is supposed to take care of the unincorporated area; the cities are supposed to take care of the cities; and where there are partnerships taking care of each other is kind of the concept.  Mr. Saxton stated it is fair to assume that, that probably happens fairly often; as Ms. Williams is saying, the cities allocation is a lot smaller than the County’s; and the need does not always discriminate whether it is in the city limits or not; and suggested if County funds are put into a project that is in a city it has asked the city to participate and maybe contribute a portion of money along with the County’s money.  Chairman Nelson inquired if any circumstances where cities have spent their dollars outside of the Cities.  Ms. Williams responded they cannot.  Chairman Nelson stated this is kind of his point.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he always remembers that the residents of the cities pay just as much for the General Fund County taxes.  Chairman Nelson stated but the calculation is based on the determination of the need in the unincorporated areas.  Commissioner Anderson stated Chairman Nelson is speaking of the Federal funds flowing in.  Chairman Nelson stated and in this case the State funds.  Commissioner Anderson stated he does not know how that would be done because he represents everybody and they pay general funds just like they do in Merritt Island and he thinks they are entitled.  Chairman Nelson stated he has three cities and one of those actually gets dollars; but what he is saying is that they have divided the County into these governmental units and based on the need each governmental unit is getting a piece of that pie. He stated the County then does not hear about those governmental units boundary and goes broader than that, which means it dilutes it to the need that generated the original dollars; it is not that the County is being unfair to them, the County is being overly-fair to them and unfair to the unincorporated area to some extent; and stated he would prefer to see a partnership where maybe it was a large pot and then everyone would not care.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if this is a County Policy rule or a State mandate rule.  Ms. Williams responded it is not State mandated it is just a local policy; and she stated one of the other considerations and certainly that too is something that this Board has the impact and can make input into the area as to what is done in that way; and the other factor to consider is the timeframe of spending those dollars.  She stated it is not just the first time home buyer dollars those are also other projects; like Commissioner Fisher stated the County puts the money out; but the County is not the one to create the project and those projects might not appear in the unincorporated area; is a good project and it does warrant dollars funding so the projects; can be kept in the communities here as a whole.

 

Chairman Nelson stated what he thinks Ms. Williams is doing is making a very strong argument where all ought to be throwing it all into the same pot as opposed to individual pots; but the County is a little more magnanimous because it is also allowing the cities to benefit; and stated not that, that is wrong but it just seems to him if the need was based on a calculation of unincorporated area because it has been unfair to that segment.  He stated if applications are not being received, then it needs to be figured out why because the need has been determined but no applications are being received.

 

Ms. Warner stated she thinks she can help with that a little bit because one of the things that these projects try and address is getting residents in the areas were there are jobs and public transportation services so they can be used for major highways and such.  Chairman Nelson stated what she is saying is the unincorporated area does not have that stuff.  Ms. Warner responded no, but a lot of those areas tend to be in the city and she thinks as the Affordable Housing Council does address that there is always an attempt to say to the person bringing the project forward; if it is in the city what is the city contributing, because it wants to be seen that the city is helping with the project also.  She stated she had a police officer tell her one time during an argument over jurisdiction with the Sheriff’s Office and Cocoa Police Department that her city was in his County so that made it his city too; and she thinks that is the way it is looked at because there many cities with separate jurisdictions; but they are still in the County and those residents are still part of this County; and it is trying to serve all the residents.  Chairman Nelson stated when those cities say they will spend their money outside of their boundaries then he could accept that argument; but they do not.  Ms. Warner responded they cannot.  Chairman Nelson stated if they do then so be it; that is great; but he is not aware of that happening.  Ms. Williams stated she thinks some of the dollars that are being spoken about are the home dollars because through the home dollars and the CHDO dollars those dollars are spent either way and they fit together; and in a sense some of those dollars are.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he thinks there are two factors here, the fact that the city is getting money there is probably a multiple factor there making a bigger impact if taking the city dollars versus the County dollars; he is not sure what that number is; if they build it then ultimately it becomes a taxable property and the tax base gets increased from it; and then there are County taxes received from it and the city too.  Mr. Saxton stated he feels it is a legitimate discussion and is something good to think about; again, if something was to come up to say that the County is not going to put its money into anything in the city, there could be problems there because some of the projects that need to be done would be within city limits with one project utilizing all of the cities allocation; so it could not be done; the County has to be careful of how to do this and if there was a policy created to say no County funds used in the city it would help the County; but it will not help the projects that need to be done that happen to be in the city.  Commissioner Infantini stated she thinks it is good that the dialog has been opened on this and in the interest of getting out before midnight suggested moving on to the next segment.

 

Mr. Whitten stated wherever there is a decision point or a potential decision point, the Board’s fonts are red and may not be able to be seen on screen; but it is in the binder provided.

 

 

 

Chenita Joiner, Housing and Human Services Assistant Director, stated what has been done after preparing the presentation was underlining all of the decision points that are in red and italicizing them because it could not be seen on the screen.  She stated what will be looked at now are items that have been recommended by Affordable Housing Council and approved by the Board as part of the 2009 to 2012 SHIP Plan and 2005 to 2010 Consolidated Plan and the Subsequent Action Plan.  Ms. Joiner stated the First Time Home Buyers program assists with down payment assistance, closing costs, mortgage principal reductions, and education counseling; no funds under this program can be used for households with income above 120 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI); a person could not have owned a home within the last  three  years  except  for a mobile or manufactured home; there are exceptions to the three-year rules; and some of those exceptions are if the person is a victim of domestic violence, a single parent, or a natural disaster; and the person receiving assistance under this program must be able to secure an eligible mortgage and able to prove an eligible residence.  Ms. Joiner stated the residence cannot exceed a market value that is allowable under the program and he or she must attend education counseling, which is a requirement of the program; and like all the programs that the Housing and Human Services Department administers the applicant must be determined based on evaluation of their income and assets, the home must be inspected and meet minimum housing quality standards, and be in compliance with all local, State, and Federal building codes.  She stated table assistance is based on the income level of the applicant and only provides what it needed; the larger the assistance amount the larger the lien; and liens are only forgiven under this program and the end of the lien period.  She stated at the end of each section some pictures have been included of some of the programs done with utilization of the funds.  She stated the next program is the Emergency and Minor Repair Rehabilitation and Replacement Housing Program; she stated to receive assistance under this program a person must own their own home as their principle place of residence; and repairs, rehabilitation, and replacement housing is provided to addresses health and safety concerns, and structural integrity concerns.  She stated the focus is on long-term preservation of affordable housing; and in cases where it was determined replacement housing is needed the home must be determined not to be feasible to be rehabilitated based on the condition of the home and the amount necessary to rehabilitate it.  She stated no funds may be used to serve clients above 80 percent of AMI for minor and emergency repairs; and she stated no funds may be used to serve clients above 50 percent of AMI for rehabilitation and replacement housing.  She stated the next program available is the Foreclosure Prevention Program assisting those with pending foreclosures; assistance is given with getting their loans reinstated and focuses on maintaining long-term affordability; she stated every household assisted under this program must attend foreclosure prevention counseling and must remain in good standing with their mortgage after the assistance is provided.  She stated in order for assistance to be provided to those individuals they must show their foreclosure situation was a result of a health problems or some other catastrophic events such as a medical event or a loss of employment; and not household with incomes over 120 percent of the AMI can be assisted and assistance is up to $4,000 and is forgivable after a 12-month period.  She stated another program available is Rental Utility and Security Deposits Program; assistance is provided to prevent homelessness as a result of a person’s inability to pay their rental security and/or utility deposits; she stated all units must be located in Brevard County and they must pass an inspection; and the applicant could not have received assistance within the last three years.  She stated all payments go directly to the landlord and the landlord is required to provide Housing and Human Services with a W-9 form before they provide any assistance; the rent of the unit cannot be more than 40 percent of the income of the household; no one over 50 percent of AMI income is eligible for this program; and the assistance amount is up to $850 and is given in the form of a grant.  She stated another program available is Land Acquisition and Construction Program that provides assistance to eligible for-profit and non-profit agencies to develop or acquire property for affordable housing; this goes through the RFP process previously  spoken  of;  the  lien  terms  under  this  program  follow  the  First Time Home Buyer Program rules and are based on the assistance needed; no one over 80 percent of AMI is eligible for assistance under this program; the maximum assistance is up to $36,000 per household; and of the $36,000 provided $10,000 can be used for impact fees.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she needs to remind the Board that there is an Executive Session scheduled for 2:30 p.m.; and she will keep going for a little bit longer.

 

Ms. Joiner stated there is a Rental Housing Program and under this program assistance is provided to for-profit and non-profit agencies for construction or rehabilitation of rental housing units; she stated no funds may be used to serve clients above 80 percent of the AMI and no more than $70,000 can be awarded per unit, with these funds being used in conjunction with other funds that comes from those agencies that buy down the cost of the unit; and the unit must remain affordable for a minimum of 15 years.  She stated the last program available is the SHIP Disaster Assistance Program provided to households following a natural disaster; in most cases assistance is not allocated to this program unless a need occurs; counties, and eligible municipalities use their existing uncommitted funds to fund this program; in the past additional dollars have been received from Federal and State agencies to respond to the emergency disasters; she stated locally priority is given to special needs and elderly populations; no funds over the 80 percent of the AMI can be assisted under this program; and a maximum award has been $15,000.  She stated households that received assistance under this program must use any insurance dollars that have been allocated to them before assistance is provided; she stated assistance is given in the form of a grant for $5,000 or less; and awards above $5,000 follow the housing rehabilitation lien terms.

 

 

Housing and Human Services Director Gay Williams stated in the action items under the green tab in the Affordable Housing Reference Manual includes pull out pages that gives discussion to the Board as to where the Board may want to go.

 

Chairman Nelson stated they have done a great job presenting the material today; he inquired are there any questions today for the housing folks.  Commissioner Fisher stated it was a great presentation.  Chairman Nelson stated please do not believe that he does not think this is a great program; sometimes he sees the Board as the only voice for about 250,000 people who live in the unincorporated areas; he is sensitive to that question and tends to look at it from that perspective as that the Board is their City Council for a City of 250,000; he stated at times he loses that perspective because of dealing with all the other issues; and it is a very interesting observation, he does feel this was a job well done, is not being critical of that, and does not know if there is an answer; and he feels one of the things that needs to be looked at is if they are not beating down the doors to do projects in the unincorporated areas then maybe there is a why question.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired about the Affordable Housing Council and if Ms. Williams has any recommendation for the Board to be considered in the future, but does not have to be done today because of the timeline; but stated if she should feel there is some policy changes that do not make sense or that can be improved on he encourages her to submit that and let the Board review it.  Ms. Williams responded in the overview section of the Affordable Housing Reference Manual some upcoming things, and some are recommendations for the policies bringing in more in line with Local Housing Assistance Plan (LHAP) for amendments to some of those procedures; and there are some recommendations.

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated Commissioner Infantini would like to talk about some of those recommendations; so what will be done is take a break for the Executive Session.  Commissioner Infantini inquired if she was  the only person that wants to come back and do this some more and if she is, she will go home and make all her suggestions and then come back and discuss it at a regular meeting.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired is there time to hear her changes; and inquired how many does she have.  Chairman Nelson stated he will inquire if Deputy Chief Attorney Shannon Wilson knows if the Board is locked in to start at immediately 2:30 p.m.  Ms. Wilson stated not immediately; but shortly thereafter because there is an outside Attorney and a court reporter standing by.  Chairman Nelson inquired how much time will be needed.  Commissioner Infantini stated there is a lot of people here and knows how hard it is to get it all together.  Ms. Wilson stated she cannot speak to that because Scott Knox, County Attorney, is more familiar with the case; and inquired if the Board would like her to go next door and inquire about a timeline.  Chairman Nelson responded yes; please see what the timeline is.  Commissioner Infantini stated if it is going to be too long she does not want everyone to sit and wait; but if it is only around 20 minutes then that would be fine.  Commissioner Fisher stated to go ahead and ask her questions while the Board waits for Ms. Wilson to return.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired how will the Board make sure the policies and procedures are followed, which is one item that came about in the audit, and the funding from the Hurricane Wilma disbursements; stated while looking over the policies and procedures they are fantastic and whoever prepared the spreadsheets did a really good job; inquired what has been done in the Housing Department to change the policies and procedures so that the Board is assured the rules are being followed; because as stated before she wants to make sure those most deserving receive the funding; and she stated she is not sure how they were determined in the past.  Ms. Williams responded there is always room for improvement and her Department continually goes over quality assurance; as to the reviews done, there were several concerns and issues that were raised by those concerns; but she feels they were issues that were raised at a point in time that was premature because each grant comes along with different specifications.  She stated the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Initiative for Hurricane Wilma (WILMA) came along at a time that had a requirement that said environmental have to be done; she stated that the environmental was just the paper piece of it that normally is not done; but she followed procedure and kept in check with the funder concerning that; and she thinks the procedures are continually being gone over and she tries to improve upon them.  She stated there were some points raised from some of the concerns and the process was improved as a result of it; she stated everything that has been done has always been in line with State and Federal guidelines; and have not ever been in noncompliance at anytime in the Housing Department concerning any of the grants.  Commissioner Infantini stated when looking at the application process, based on the finding for the audit report the applications were incomplete, they did not disclose the assets and liabilities required for the determination of eligibility; there was no verification that the damage arose out of Hurricane Wilma, but the Board should probably come back to this.

 

Mr. Whitten stated there is 30 minutes before the Executive Session, so please continue.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated the files did not contain inspection information and it just did not look like the whole application procedure was followed; she stated when looking at the flow charts while Ms. Williams was in her office she stated these are great procedures; and I inquired if they would be followed before selecting the property, have somebody apply, screened, visit the  property,  and  check.   Ms. Williams  responded absolutely, and there is a response as Ms. Joiner would walk through and see that at all times Housing was in compliance and Housing referenced  to  Commissioner  Infantini  the  flow  chart  as  spoken  about  in  the  office that the project was in the beginning stages of this process.  Ms. Joiner stated flow chart number eight at the time of the review most of this occurred while at the beginning and stated no funds had been committed; the asset in the final Comprehensive Evaluation process had not been completed; the person had been placed on the waiting list based on the information that the applicant had provided; and once the approval of the environmentals had been received, Housing proceeded with doing all of the eligibility determinations.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired what is being spoken of is the Clerk’s review was premature in the process.  Ms. Joiner responded right, it was at the beginning stages of the process.  Commissioner Fisher stated it sounds like when the applicant filed out the application the County did not commit any funds and then before expending any funds there was a complete application received.  Ms. Joiner advised the evaluation at that point is a preliminary evaluation that is based on the information that the applicant has provided only; she stated what is tried to be done is maximize the use of the grant funds; at that point none of the grant dollars could have been spent because there was no release received yet of the expenditure of the funding from the State; she explained the paper reviews had to be done and then sent to the State before any funds could be expended; then when the approvals came back from the State the proceedings took place with the evaluation that allows them to use project delivery dollars; stated another thing done during that process was to be in constant contact with the technical advisor because there was no direction as to how to determine the Wilma damage; the technical advisor told of what the other jurisdictions were doing with some creating a questionnaire; and some were doing case notes for that process.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated her concern was this information was brought to the Board to decide on these five houses; before something comes before the Board her thought was that the Board was the final and now it is all done why would the Board receive each potential, possible, and maybe application; and should not all the dugilesence be followed and looked into; after selection and all the criteria meet then come to the Board with a plan of how much each application will need because they have met the needs; and she is just trying to make sure that all the procedures are being followed so when something comes forward its that, that is done.  Ms. Williams stated absolutely, and what came before the Board was a Notice of Funding and a release of those fundings and as a part of that was that this was a way to get the funds released; it said that there were five houses and that is what will be done replace five houses; but what the Board did not approve at that time was those particular houses because those houses will change as they do not meet those requirements; it is know they will do five houses with those dollars and it will be in accordance with the outlined procedures; there was just a twitch in that because this funding required something unlike any other funding; and that was going through the environmental to ensure some things and then that is how to get the funding relief.

 

Mr. Whitten stated in terms of lessons learned or in response to the Boards question of would the Agenda Report be in the same format in the future as done in the past; and inquired is there a need to have listed the five homes.  Ms. Williams responded the five homes could not be listed; but stated she could have done a better job in explaining just that process.  Mr. Whitten stated in the future the Agenda Report would come to the Board with the funding request without reference to any homes.  Commissioner Bolin stated putting five homes with a certain amount  of  money  is  sufficient  with  no street address.  Commissioner Infantini inquired how it would be known how many homes to care for with $100,000; and stated it could be ten $10,000 jobs or one $100,000 job; and inquired why not wait until they have the application then come before the Board with what they have and say that they have been reviewed and what it is going to cost rather than asking for a bunch of money and spend it where decided.   Mr. Whitten advised the difference is that when there are funding opportunities available it has to come before the Board to have the funding accepted; the issue in regards to this is that they had on that Agenda Report a listing of five homes that could potentially meet the funding guidelines; in the future they are still going to have to come to the Board and ask a simple question of does the Board want to accept this funding of $100,000 to rehab homes as result of hurricane damage; in the future it cannot be guessed at how many homes that will be allowed to repair; but it will simply approve the funding.  He stated the Board has to actually commit to accepting those dollars and approve the acceptance of that grant funding; and it is more than a one-step process that will have to come back if the direction is not given with the actual listing of homes that are eligible to be assisted.  Commissioner Infantini stated that is fine if it is a two-step process first, applying for the funds and two, $10,000 be spent here and $5,000 here, that is step two after it is all qualified; that makes sense; she thought the approach was incorrect; and she likes to see changes because when she is approving spending she knows where the money is going, and that it is a valid applicant. 

 

Chairman Nelson inquired are there any other questions related to the workshop; stated otherwise the Board will be coming back to adjourn this meeting after the Executive Session adjournment; and inquired is that the way it works.  Mr. Knox responded that is the way it works.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he would like to comment on the Affordable Housing Reference Manual being a great book, and it will be right on his bookshelf; and when those issues come in front of the Board from now on he can go and look at the State Statues and it will help to resolve a lot of his questions.

 

 

Chairman Nelson read into record the Notice of Attorney-Client Private Meeting as follows:  on Thursday, May 14, 2009, at 2:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as possible, the Brevard County Board of County commissioners will meet for the purpose of discussing settlement negotiations and/or strategy related to litigation expenditures in Brevard County v. RKT Constructors, Inc. et al, Case No. 05-2007-CA-12251-XXXX-XX; the persons attending the attorney-client private meeting will be:  Robin Fisher, County Commissioner District 1; Chuck Nelson, County Commissioner District 2; Trudie Infantini, County Commissioner District 3; Mary Bolin, County Commissioner District 4; Andy Anderson, County Commissioner District 5, Stockton Whitten, Interim County Manager; Scott Knox, County Attorney, Seth Miles, Esquire, Angel Hampton, Brevard Associated Court Services, Inc.  He advised the attorney-client private session will be held in the County Manager’s Conference Room, Third Floor of Building “C” at the Brevard County Government Operations Center, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida, 32940; and the estimated length of the attorney-client session in one hour or less. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, for the Board to recess for an Executive Session.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

The Board recessed at 2:40 p.m. and reconvened at 3:48 p.m.

 

Chairman Nelson announced the public meeting is now reopened; and the private attorney-client meeting in Brevard County v. RKT Constructors, Inc. et al has been terminated.

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated there is another item on the Agenda for today and this is the Amendment to the Consultant Contract, Tillman/Lennear v Miller; he stated that information is in our package.

 

Motion by Commissioner Infantini, to decline this item.

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired what is being declined.  Commissioner Bolin responded $6,000.  Chairman Nelson inquired if Mr. Knox would explain what this is.  County Attorney Scott Knox stated this is another extension on the contract for Judge Edelstein; he stated there will be a meeting between the State Attorney, Public Defender, and Judge Presnell from Orlando, which he is coming to Brevard to meet him; specifically requested Judge Edelstein to appear at the meeting to provide his input again and will hopefully get closer to the end of this case.  He stated Judge Edelstein has provided and estimate of $6,000 to complete that task. 

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if that $6,000 is on top of the $5,000 that was already paid to him last time to come and talk to the Board.  Mr. Knox responded that is correct.  Commissioner Infantini stated she thinks he is pretty well topped out; she stated she will make the Motion that the Judge should take that out of his budget rather than the County’s because at this point Judge Edelstein has been to Brevard many, many times and he is very expensive. 

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired what the benefit of this is.  Chairman Nelson advised first, the County is in continued litigation since the 1980’s over the overcrowding; stated the Federal Judge Presnell is the one who has requested his presence and are very close to be able to setting this thing after 20-plus years; he would hate at this moment in time to begin to look like the Board is not committed to resolving this issue once and for all and if there is a Federal Judge that asks he is going to respect that request; he will not be supporting the Motion; and inquired if there is a second.  Motion died for lack of a second.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she respects his request she stated she is just not agreeing with it and there is a difference; and she thinks the Judges have spoken to each other as much as they need to.  Commissioner Fisher stated obviously it is not usual to have a Federal Judge come to the County.  Chairman Nelson responded yes, it is very unusual and stated he did not ask for this assignment for the Board to end up on this issue; but he was appointed to it.  Commissioner Anderson inquired if this is going to be it.  Chairman Nelson stated he really believes there are one or two things that the Board can do between now and when it arrives on the Agenda to talk about a Jail Population Coordinator; he believes at that point in time the Board will be able to ask that the litigation be dismissed since the Jail population is down in support of all the Judges; and with so many good things now happening, the worst case scenario  is  that  people  will  have  to  be  turned  loose  because of Jail overcrowding, which is nothing that any of the Board Members want to be involved in.  Commissioner Fisher stated the recommendation from Chairman Nelson is to approve.  Chairman Nelson responded he thinks so.  Commissioner Infantini stated that she thinks $6,000 is kind of high because $6,000 is 60 hours.  Commissioner Bolin stated is says not to exceed.  Commissioner Infanfini stated she knows and stated has anyone ever received an estimate from somebody to come and work on their home and not to exceed and it did not get within five or ten dollars of that not to exceed amount.  Commissioner Anderson inquired how long Judge Edelstein is anticipated to be in the County.  Mr. Knox responded he is coming from South Florida and will spend one day here looking over the latest statistics of the Jail and talk with the Sheriff, then he will meet with Judge Presnell the following day.  Commissioner Infantini stated two eight hour days equaling 16 hours with two hours drive time here and back equals four hours for a total of 20 hours.  Chairman Nelson stated this is based on the previous in effect per diem and meetings had.  Commissioner Fisher inquired what Judge Edelsteins per diem is.  Mr. Knox responded $100 an hour.  Commissioner Fisher stated that is pretty cheap considering the Board pays Mr. Knox $220 to $250 an hour probably.  Chairman Nelson stated this is actually a Judge not an Attorney; and inquired if there is a motion for the amendment to the consultant contract.

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to execute Amendment to the Agreement with Judge Charles Edelstein for consultant services related to reduction of jail population, with payment continuing to be based on a fee of $100 per hour, and the County raising the cap to $6,000.  Motion carried and ordered; Commissioner Infantini voted nay.

 

 

Upon motion vote the meeting adjourned at 3:53 p.m.           

                                  

 

                      

 

ATTEST:

                                                _________________________________

                                                                                    CHUCK NELSON, CHAIRMAN

                                                                                    BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

                                                                                    BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK