MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

February 17, 2009

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in regular session on February 17, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. in the Government Center Commission Room, Building C, 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 County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

The Invocation was given by Pastor Jody Wells, Pentecostal Church of Titusville.

 

Chairman Nelson led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve the July 17, 2008 Special Meeting Minutes and November 17, 2008 and December 4, 2008 Regular meeting Minutes.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Congressman Bill Posey stated it has been a big adjustment going from a world that is kind of structured like the Board has, like he has been accustomed to, the House, and the Senate, to a world that seems more than a little bit dysfunctional; it is a big adjustment when the temperature reaches 40 degrees and everything thinks it is Springtime; he and his wife got settled in up there and they have a luxury apartment; it is 700 square feet with one bedroom and one bath; and he and his wife had not shared a bathroom since they were married except when they were on a cruise.  He stated there has been an awful lot that has been going on in the past six weeks; there have been six major issues moving around that people have read about in the paper somewhat; he will give a little update on those; and then some of the issues that maybe directly affect Brevard County that are a little bit sub-surfacing.  He advised they have voted on six major issues in the short span of time that the 111^th Congress has been there; the first one was a rule change, which unfortunately took away the rights of the minority to express themselves and amend bills; it passed and that kind of changed the game the very first day; the second major Legislation that came through there was a little bit revision of the TARP Program known as the Bank Bailout; they tried to put some safeguards in there that they did not put in the first time that they passed it; and it was a little bit controversial.  He noted the next was the passage of the SHIP Program, the children’s health and insurance package, which is pretty controversial as it applied to states that do not income test recipients like Florida does; in Florida a person is considered eligible if he or she is within 200 percent of poverty, which is $30,000 a year for a family of four; some states the eligibility goes up to over $80,000; the taxpayers dollars go to subsidize that; and he believes if a person makes over $80,000 a year he or she is not in poverty, and they should not ask the rest of the Country to subsidize their coverage for their children as it is their responsibility.  He explained there is a Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which is a great sounding title, and there are laws that say males and females should receive the same pay; basically what this did was remove the Statute of Limitations; if someone was to make a claim against an employer that he or she did not receive equal pay on a gender basis from years ago, the employer would be defenseless as the records would probably have been destroyed long ago; and this was very controversial.  He stated there was a Paycheck Fairness Act that passed; it is a major issue that affects every state in this Nation; it basically destroyed the sanctity of the secret ballot; if a person is going to vote as to whether or not he or she wanted to have a union and participate in a union, it was done by secret ballot; now it is different; and the scenarios are intimidation and other things that could go along with that he will leave to people’s imagination.  He stated there was an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which probably concerns most Americans the most; and whether it works or not, the taxpayers will be paying for it and people’s grandchildren will also be paying for it.  He advised those are major issues that affect every single person living in Brevard County and the United States of America; the cost of this is estimated between approximately $800 billion and over $1 trillion; as a Nation and individually people are in unchartered waters; no one can say it will work perfectly because it has not been done before; and America has never been as deep in a hole as at this time.  He stated the potential is catastrophic; he hopes the plan that passed is successful; he hopes Barack Obama goes down in history as the brightest, smartest leader this Nation has ever had because this Country needs that right now; people do not need to worry about who will or will not get credited for this or that, people need to pull together as Americans; and people should hope, pray, and work hard to see that this economy turns around.  He noted it will be years before it will be known if this is going to work; the Bill, which had been in the making for a while, was to be available to Thursday; he stayed until 10:00 p.m. Thursday to get a copy of it; it was scheduled to come up at 9:00 a.m. Friday morning; he received a call about 11:15 p.m. someone called and said it was online; it was a little late to start reading it; and it was 1,179 pages long.  He stated they estimate an A student would take 12 hours of uninterrupted reading to get through this thing; he has not read it yet; on the House floor Congressman John Boehner challenged anyone in the House to say that he or she had read it before voting on it, and no one took him up on the challenge; there is a lot of interpretation to be made when looking at it; a lot of it is very general; and if a person sees something in there and jumps up and down for joy thinking there was a homerun hit over the fence, he or she may be in for a surprise later.  He advised a good example of that is what the County fears about NASA.  He stated the final version of the Bill is a little better than the first couple of versions of it; maybe if more time could have been taken, it could have been better; a lot of people thought they were challenged by the time; 24 hours might be the death of the entire economy; and it is what it is and there will be plenty of time to evaluate, fine tune it, and see how it works.  He stated other issues that are going on now simultaneously is the mortgage situation; every month for about 14 months except one, foreclosures have exceeded sales in Brevard County; that is not a healthy path to be on; one of the solutions that was proposed and the one that has the most legs is called a cram down; and that would allow judges to unilaterally change the terms of the mortgage that is currently in existence.  Congressman Posey advised while that may help relieve a little bit of financial problem right now, it would destroy the secondary market because a person would not know what he or she was buying when buying the mortgages in the secondary market; and some people think that could erase every bit of benefit that the stimulus might have when enacted.  He explained there is another proposal going around that he has supported that would allow a judge to maybe delay payments and give people a little bit of a reprieve; if a person is trying to make payments but he or she has been laid off, he could maybe buy a little time if the property is taken care of; most of the experts that testified in the industry say that would be much healthier; and it is his hope and prayer that it will rise to the top and there will not be the cram down situation, which defies all previous case law history.  He stated everyone is especially concerned about the Space gap; there has no been a solution yet; Congressman Suzanne Kosmos was looking for some assurance from the White House that the gap could be closed a little bit more with some funding; she filed an amendment that would bring another $2 billion; it did not pass unfortunately; and Congress really cannot bind the next Congress; and a lot will rely greatly on who the President appoints to be head of NASA.  He stated he was surprised to learn that the opinions of the contractors at the Space Center are a little bit more divergent than he had anticipated; there are a great many who would like to see the Shuttle extended and would like to see Orion and Constellation expedited to close that gap; but everyone is not on the same page; and there is a lot of movement in Washington, D. C., behind closed doors, not to extend the shuttle, to go to a smaller rocket to man, rate, and modify one of the smaller existing rockets.  He stated there are some people who want to go from Shuttle to Constellation; and everything pretty much hinges on who is named as head of NASA.  He stated they pretty much struck a deal with the Corp of Engineers for the South Beaches, it looks like they are onboard subject to a 20 percent match; that does not sound like much, but he knows a 20 percent match is a lot of money; and he thinks that is about as good as it is going to get from his perspective.  He stated there is some port dredging going on at this time.  He stated Congressman Klein will again file for a Federal Catastrophe Fund; he will support that as a co-sponsor in an effort to keep the market afloat somehow; with the State Farm withdrawal it will create a gap; and they will do whatever they can in Washington to see that they fill that hole as prudently as possible.  He stated that is the first month’s update in a nutshell; he understands it does not sound like very much, but there is a lot of work and a lot of study that went in there; and if the Board has the desire, he will be happy to try to answer any questions it may have.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she would like to get a gut feeling from him as far as the money that is set aside for the Space programs; and inquired if that will stick or if the County will go into further negotiations that were on shaky ground.  Congressman Posey advised in the immediate future, he does not think Brevard County has a problem; he thinks it will probably go through at least the end of next year with the scheduled Shuttle launches, and he does not think there will be a withdrawal of funding from that; but he does not know what will happen after 2010.  He stated money cannot really be appropriated for post 2010 right now; it would be like the Board appropriating money for a function of government in 2011 right now; it is off the annual budget; the effort will be focused on making sure there is something in the budget after 2010; and again, that will depend upon who the President names as the head of NASA.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if the Bill said that NASA is receiving $1 billion in additional funding; and what is that to be spent for.  Congressman Posey advised $400 million of that $1 billion will be to study climate changes and that will not be done at KSC; stated the balance is for manned space flight; that can be done anywhere; Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama has a veracious appetite to scarfing down every single Federal dollar appropriated for space, there is a chance a good bit of that money could end up in Alabama; and right now there is no plan to spend any of that money at the Space Center here to the best of his knowledge.  He stated Space flight is Space flight, but Brevard orientation of Space flight is location specific for it; a lot of this stuff is written vaguely; vaguely does not always mean that it will be bad; it depends on which side of the fence a person is on; but his feeling is if they wanted to be more Space Center specific, they would have made it that way.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if there is anything the Board can do to help; with Congressman Posey responding the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners have been as much or more help to his office as any Commission in the United States of America; stated the Board’s position for being proactive is somewhat limited; the Board Members can write or call Congressman Kosmos because Brevard County is under her jurisdiction; she is already onboard; if a person writes or calls Congress people who do not represent he or she, they get a form letter response and that is the end of it; and the best thing is to stay in touch with his office.  Commissioner Fisher stated he was really thinking whether Brevard County’s Space Consultants Marshall Heard, Lee Solid, and Bob Walker could help in any way.  Congressman Posey advised they are doing that; they are well respected in the halls of Congress; Brevard County has a formidable team; but the Board must remember they are going up against many other formidable teams.  He noted his vision for promoting Space is not doing it here; almost everyone is onboard here; and he remembers a representative in South Brevard County that called Space issues a North Brevard issue.  He stated the County traditionally has failed to get the word out of its own backyard; that is what he has tried to inspire the different organizations that are working on Space to do is to come out of the box; Space Florida has been doing that as well; when they go to Tallahassee now they usually bring Astronauts with them and bullet points that show how every other county in the State is impacted by Space spending and jobs; but it is a hard sell.  He explained it is a matter of National security and National economic security; in the early days justice was doled out and peace was kept by whoever had the strongest muscles; as time went on it was whoever had the most sophisticated weapons; then it went on to see who could muster the biggest army; then it was whoever had the strongest Navy; and now today whoever rules Space will rule the destiny of this planet.  He stated the President said he wants the Government Defense Plan of the Nation to be driven by high technology; a person does not get any greater through down from any industry of high technology like Space; and there is about 3,500 innovative products in this Country that come directly from the Space Program.  He advised if a State or County wants to continue to be a leader in high technology Space must be funded; the Space dollar does more for the economy; if a dollar is spent on Space, that dollar will roll over 18 times; and by the time 18 people pay tax on that dollar the Government ends up getting back through its taxes, many times more money from the spending of that dollar, than just that dollar it put into Space.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he sleeps better at night knowing that Congressman Posey is the tip of the spear for Brevard County.  He stated Congressman Posey knows from being a City Councilman and State Legislator what has been fought for in Florida as far as transportation funding; and inquired if there is discussion going on about transportation and the priorities that are being set in Washington, D. C. right now.  Congressman Posey advised United States Representative John Mica is the ranking member on transportation and he has Florida dearly at heart; on the stimulus bill they are talking about building a high speed rail between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, which will cost millions of dollars; everything cannot be controlled; but he feels good that Representative Mica is the ranking member.  He stated he cannot say nothing bad will happen, but Florida will get the best bang for its congressman that it can.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated this Board is very active in Space; for the next two days she is going to be in Tallahassee with Space Florida; they are going to be doing the strategic plan at a meeting; and everything she said she wants to take it with her and show them because it is right on the mark.  She stated it is now getting to the point where she thinks the State of Florida is going to be a united voice; the County has to become a powerhouse to go after the other people who do not understand how important Space is; what the Congressman said is right on target; and she is going to rip off and duplicate what he said.  Congressman Posey stated Space Florida has been maligned and vilified recently in a newspaper from an adjacent county; it was very one-sided; his history with Space Florida goes back to about 1993; if there has been a Space board he has been a member; and they have never before seen performance by this agency or its predecessor agencies like now.  He stated this agency is moving forward now; it is not a one-dimensional view; and there are people in the business who do not want any competition; they go to the meeting and scream that they are not helping them enough; and if they gave them all of the money, they would not build anything else.  He explained he is pleased that Space Florida, under the leadership of Steve Kohler, has taken such a multi-dimensional approach; in the past there was no working relationship whatsoever with the 45^th Space Wing who controls all of the airspace on this coast; a person can do whatever he or she wants to do, but they do not go through that Air Force airspace without its permission; and the County has never had a great relationship with the Air Force before.  He stated NASA historically had not been supportive of the launch industry as it is now; there was basically at one time 100 percent of the worlds commercial launches; and through overregulation and red tape that has been parlayed that into about five percent of the worlds launches; and there would not be a French Aérienne if the Delta had not been strangled to death with extra costs.  He stated he is glad the Board is supporting Space Florida; he has been an observer for over 14 years; he sees what they are doing; they are not perfect and do make a few mistakes; and if it is going to go anywhere, it has to stick its head out a little bit.  Congressman Posey noted if Florida wants to be the Silicon Valley of Space it has to develop a Silicon Valley of Space atmosphere; that is what Space Florida is doing; they have agreements with the Air Force now that are unprecedented; and there is basically a free trade zone out there for Space.

 

Chairman Nelson stated one of the things that happened during the boom was what was called the predatory lending; now there is almost predatory foreclosures where there is law firms literally seeking foreclosures; often the cost to get out of foreclosure is greater than the cost to actually catch up on the mortgage; and what that is doing is compelling people to have to lose their homes, not because they could not catch up, but because they could not pay the attorney fees to go on top of that.  He stated the cram down is not the way to go but there needs to be some restraint on the part of the banking industry; and he hopes as Congress moves through this that it keeps an eye on that segment.

 

Congressman Posey stated the reason for this bubble is because of over regulation by the Government; the Government some time back decided that everyone should own a home in America whether he or she could afford it or not; there were regulations that forced the VA to loan money to people who could not afford to pay it back on property that was not worth what they were paying for it; and when the Government lets someone generate mortgage paper and not be responsible for the collection of it, that is what happens with subprime.  He advised there is Legislation that would provide a limited liability shield from that so that lenders who are making the best case judgment on today’s landscape will not be second guessed tomorrow and penalized for doing that.  He stated if a person has a $400,000 mortgage on a home; he or she loses his job; the market has plummeted; the home is now worth $250,000; and the lender tells these people that if they do not pay them in full they will not take the payments.  He inquired who in the world thinks that makes good sense; stated it is one of the questions he grilled the Secretary of the Treasury with and the ten largest bankers in the Nation when before the Financial Services Committee, which Congressman Kosmos and he serves on; they said it did not make sense and they were trying to fix that; they are going to try to change the mortgages bilaterally, not because they have big hearts but because by the time they get that house now worth $250,000 and put it on the market, no one will pay a bank full price for a foreclosure.  He stated there is TARP and stimulus money that may be considered inducements to reimburse them for some of these losses to make up for that; there is a mortgage modification agreement that would allow a judge to declare a timeout, which would be in everyone’s best interest; it saves everyone money; and it saves every taxpayer in the Country the cost of bailing out that bad mortgage.

 

Chairman Nelson stated his appreciation to Congressman Posey. 

      

 

Employee Relations Manager Leslie Johns introduced his assistant Jennifer Meyer; he thanked the Board for the opportunity to recognize and present Professional Development Certificates to those employees who voluntarily attended the Employee Development Program and successfully completed and passed all three phases of the Program; the Office of Human Resources annually presents a series of 18 classes organized into three phases representing 60 workshops to employees seeking to improve their knowledge of interpersonal and communication skills, the communication improvement process, and organizational philosophies and objects; Phase 1 includes workshop topics such as communicating for results, conflict resolution skills, and basic writing skills; Phase 2 includes workshop topics such as motivation skills for supervisors, team building, and dealing with difficult people; and Phase 3 includes workshop topics such as supervising, performance evaluations and discipline, caring for our own, managing risk effectively, and managing diversely.  He advised since August 2008 when the last certificates were awarded, he is happy to report that 17 additional employees have completed all three phases and passed the voluntary examinations earning their Certificate of Professional Development, seven of which received honors.

 

Chairman Nelson recognized and presented Nancy Garmer, Jennifer Kerr, Judith Langan, Marvena Petty, Suzanne Reed Rayner, Mark Reagan, and Tina Swanson, for successfully achieving the Employee Development Program Certificates with honors; and to Thomas Biamonte, Garry Colvin, James Green, Kenneth Lewis, Joseph Manahan III, Jonathan McLester, James Michonski, Deborah Morancie, Lisa Olzewski, and Sam VanDerwarker, for successfully achieving the Employee Development Program Certificates.

 

 

Commissioner Bolin read aloud a Resolution recognizing Satellite Beach on its Building Health Communities for Active Aging 2008 Award.

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to adopt Resolution recognizing the City of Satellite Beach for its Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging 2008 Award.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.                                                                                

 

City of Satellite Beach Mayor Mark Brimer thanked the Board.  He advised this is a big designation on the part of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recognize the City in this way; the Board has been so supportive of the City for so many years; and in particular he would like to thank the Brevard Commission on Aging for its efforts as well.  He stated the Brevard Commission on Aging is a wonderful organization that has worked with the City and used to work with the residents; and on behalf of the citizens he thanked the Board for the honor.

 

 

Dr. Saira Alikhan, Physician at Cape Canaveral Hospital, stated everyone is aware of the dangers of tobacco use but there is more and more data that is becoming available about the harms of second hand smoke; there is information that found a link to lung cancer, increasing the risk of asthma, and lower respiratory illnesses; and her main concern is the exposure to the younger population who are exposed to second hand smoke in areas such as parks and playgrounds.  She advised there is a possible link to early childhood leukemia and solid tumors with the prolonged exposure to second hand smoke; she appreciates the resolution; and it is a great stepping stone into trying to increase and limit second hand smoke exposure to the general population as well as to the children of the community.

 

Chairman Nelson read aloud a Resolution proclaiming February 27, 2009 through March 7, 2009 as Tobacco Free Florida Week in Brevard County. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Infantini, to adopt Resolution proclaiming February 27, 2009 through March 7, 2009 as Tobacco Free Florida Week in Brevard County.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Meghan Farr, with Prevent of Brevard, stated they have the grant from the Florida Department of Health to do tobacco prevention control through Brevard Tobacco Initiative, which is highly supported by Brevard County residents, businesses, healthcare, schools, and students; she is happy the Board voted on the Resolution; and she is really excited about Tobacco Free Florida Week as there are a lot of activities planned for the schools and around the community.  She requested that everyone get online to tobaccofreefloridaweek.com and pledge their support to be tobacco free for 2009.

 

    

Commissioner Bolin read aloud a resolution congratulating Jos Chalmers on his Cyclocross State Title achievement.

 

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to adopt Resolution congratulating Jos Chalmers on his Cyclocross State Title achievement and wishing him well in his future endeavors.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Jos Chalmers stated cyclocross is an off-season thing; road racing is his thing; and he just got into cyclocross last year.

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated the next item is a Resolution congratulating Cocoa High School football team who are State Champions; he is not going to read the resolution today; and he is going to read it at an awards ceremony in their behalf, it is a breakfast; but he would like to pass the gavel and move the resolution.

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Fisher, to adopt Resolution congratulating the Cocoa High School Football Team as the 2008 FHSAA 3A State Champions.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

Commissioner Fisher stated he thinks the Board all received an email from Lynda Weatherman of Economic Development Commission to come up with an economic package for Brevard; Lynda had some suggestions; he does not know how the Board wants to handle this; and it could at least help begin the dialog towards some things the Board can do from a county level to encourage a more competitive business environment.  He inquired if he should give the email to staff and ask it to start looking at some of these things; stated he does not know if the Board had a chance to look at it as it came through late last night; and further inquired what would be the wishes of the Board.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated there are a lot of things in the email that are worthy of in-depth conversation; she would like to have a moment when the Board; and she is wondering when would be the right time.  She inquired if the item should be discussed at the beginning of the budget meeting coming up.

 

Chairman Nelson inquired when is the date of the upcoming budget meeting; with Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten responding February 26^th.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he would like staff to be ready to report on some of these things at that meeting.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he read something in the paper that concerned him about felony court being moved from Titusville to Viera; after he talked with Sheriff Parker, it looks like the reporter may have gotten ahead of himself; he hopes there will be some study and dialog in reference to that versus that happening; on his drive to the meeting today he had calls from the Titusville Chief of Police, a couple of judges that was not in support of that, and he is definitely opposed to it; and he hopes there will be more dialog before that decision is made.

 

Chairman Nelson stated he sits on a committee that deals with the Jail overcrowding; this is kind of a spinoff of that issue; there has been discussion about the security issues; and that was not in-depth discussion because the Board cannot talk about it on camera what those issues may be.  He stated he did get the opportunity to talk with Mayor Tulley as well as to Councilman Secor about the possibility of a switch; it would be a switch in the sense that if they moved felony down to Viera they would move County court to Titusville; in terms of the impact to Titusville, it could actually be beneficial; until those numbers are known there will not be any additional discussion; and he committed to both Mayor Tulley and Mr. Secor that no recommendation would be made until they had a chance to review any of those discussions, to weigh in on it, and if the numbers do not work they do not work.  He advised it has been a big issue; there are some security issues that one way or the other the Board is going to have to take care of; and that will be coming back to the Board.  He noted one of the things he shared with Mayor Tulley is that it may be a situation where County court has a better class of criminal; there are misdemeanor cases; legally the City sends more police down to Viera for misdemeanors than they keep in Titusville for felony; there may be cost benefit to that; and additionally, misdemeanor trials typically come with family, friends, and support greater than in felony circumstances.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated that is a separate issue than moving it; and there are probably security issues at Viera.  Chairman Nelson stated the Sheriff’s recommendation is to increase the numbers of deputies associated with security versus what there is now, which is the contracted service; and that will be coming back to the Board as well.  Commissioner Fisher stated he does not believe everything he reads so he knew there was probably more to it than that; he wanted to make sure there was not a decision being made; and he hopes the local law enforcement in that community, along with some of the judges, would have some say in this. 

 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated when she was campaigning for office, she pledged transparency in Government upon taking office; she requested staff to begin placing the Agendas and attachments on the website; and the Board was told it would be very costly but it could achieve it if it could just come up with the extra money.  She advised she wrote to Clerk of Courts Scott Ellis and Clerk’s IT Director Mike Bowen to see if they could facilitate placing the Agendas and the attachments on the Clerk’s website; about two weeks later this task was done; she thanked the Clerk of Courts for accomplishing what the Board was not able to accomplish as a Board in the past on its own website; but at least now the Board Agendas are out there and they are transparent.  She advised the problem she is running into now is, now that there is transparency and all the documents are available, the Board is still receiving documentation at the last minute; items are being placed on the Agenda, which the Commissioners do not have to review; and the taxpayers of Brevard County also do not have time to review.  She noted February 2^nd the day before the February 3, 2009 County Commission meeting, the Board received an Agenda Item about a stimulus package, which the Commissioners did not have any input into; during that meeting she was told it was a living, breathing document and not to worry about it as it was going to be discussed ongoing; and it was just to get a list to the Federal Government so it would know Brevard County would like some of the stimulus money.  She stated again Friday afternoon before a long weekend for many people the Board received a last minute add-on to the Agenda, which is now prioritizing some of the those projects, which the Board never had input into.  She explained she would like to have more transparency in Government, she would like more time to review the documents, and she would like to have the taxpayers to have the opportunity to view these documents; and she would like to request that the Agenda Item referring to the stimulus package, the Board can have discussion on it today, but she would like to have the vote tabled until such time that residents, taxpayers of Brevard County, and herself have time to go through the entire list rather than prioritizing three projects when there is so many other things needed.

 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she prematurely stated when the Congressman was here that she is going to be in Tallahassee with Space Florida; the Board was kind to appoint her as the liaison to Space Florida; they are going to be doing the strategic plan for Space Florida and also the Board meetings; and she will be able to discuss the philosophy of Brevard County.

 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated back to the transparency, if the item regarding the stimulus package does not get pulled from the Agenda, there is some movement towards streaming video; that is a very important thing to him; he gets Direct TV; people like him, the only way they can rely on seeing anything through Government TV would be streaming video; and City of Palm Bay and the School Board are doing streaming video, and it is positive step. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Anderson advised another positive step his office is taking is they have an unpaid intern; they are great; they need college credits and his office needs interns; his name is Lloyd Thurman who is a Public Administration Major, with a Minor in Urban Regional Planning; and he will be helping out in his office for this semester. 

 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated his office went out on a field trip with Road and Bridge; he went out with Mr. Burton and Mr. Alward to Deer Run; he got a very good overview of Road and Bridge; and not only Deer Run, but his whole District.  He commended both men on their knowledge; and it was an eye opener for him on some of the drainage issues that Brevard County faces, especially after Tropical Storm Fay.

Chairman Nelson stated he wants to thank Interim County Manager and his group for their efforts in terms of getting the Agenda online; he asked a long time ago before Mr. Whitten was in his current position to have that done, and got no support from the Board, other than Commissioner Bolin; and he did not get very far with it.  He advised Mr. Whitten has done a good job working with the Clerk’s Office.

 

Frank Sullivan, President of the Space Coast Regional Centraplex Board, stated he is also the Chairman of the Brevard County 4-H Foundation and its mission is to raise money to support the youth of the County by giving them support financially to go ahead with their programs, grow animals, and all the things that 4-H does; the children did not have any place to display and tell the County what he or she was doing; he and others began looking of getting the County Fair back; and they now have the official Charter for the County Fair.  He stated then they began looking at what is needed to put a Fair on; one of the things is to find a place to have it; they need about 200 acres of land, an auditorium to seat 5,000 people; an open arena and 90,000 square feet for horse shows, exhibition hall, a 200-stall equestrian center; and this is their dream.  He advised when Tom Jenkins was County Manager he tried to put something like this together and for whatever reason it just never flew; and they started getting interest from different areas such as the Brevard Zoo for a place to quarantine large animals, Emergency Management for a place to evacuate the citizens along with animals during disasters, Cultural Alliance people needed a 5,000 square foot auditorium, and the School Board for graduations.  He advised the Fair will be at Wickham Park on March 27^th through April 5^th; it is a big undertaking; Parks and Recreation has partnered with them, which was a big help; and Parks and Recreation has done large things like this before.  He explained they thought it would be a good economic impact for the County; they thought it would be something that Brevard County should be mature enough to put together; they know the tough economic times; they know they are not part of the Stimulus Package; but they would like to be.  He advised to give them a little more credibility they went to Tourist Development Council (TDC); it funded a feasibility study to see if they were barking up the wrong tree or if they were really on to something; and that is what is being presented to the Board today.

 

Bob Gray, Chairman and President of Strategic Planning Group, stated to give the Board an idea of who Strategic Planning Group is, they have been helping communities such as Brevard County internationally and in the State of Florida; they have been doing this for a long time in the area predominantly of comprehensive planning economic development and in redevelopment planning; and they have done a lot of work in Brevard County and they appreciate being back again.  He stated they have done a lot of fair studies; having done fair studies they found out that agricultural fairs cannot sustain themselves, they have to really look at the capital infrastructure; they have to have other facilities than revenue generators to do it; the positive part of this was that they had scope of work that already acknowledged that concept, that it cannot just sustain itself just as an agricultural fair; and basically those are the components in front of the Board.  He advised it would be a 100,000 square foot indoor arena with a 5,000 square foot seating capability; 45,000 square feet of covered livestock area; the barn services 200 stalls of horses now; a 200-stall event allows equestrian activities at a regional level; and also a 2,400 square foot exhibit hall.  He noted they get involved a lot in doing recreational planning; they can do levels of service and just serve the population and try to figure out how the Board pays for everything or it can go up to the next level and use recreational-type of facilities to be economic development generators; and that really is what this study is about.  He stated the concept is it would be an agricultural fair; it would also have conferences, trade shows, entertainment facilities, festivals, National and Regional equestrian livestock events, and emergency disaster preparedness; that really is similar to what the large fairs are doing throughout the State; and they are just beginning to add equestrian because it is a very positive income generator.  He advised the report had nine sections, he is not going to go through all of them,  he just wants to get down to the critical part at the end; basically what they started with was a review of a lot of data; there have been a lot of studies being done throughout the State; Brevard County does not have a fair up and running so he does not have data to see what the economic impact will be; what they had to do is go back with those criteria that he just walked the Board through and figured out what it would generate; and they looked at other studies around the State, such as large fairs and equestrian events.  He stated Brevard County is very long and narrow and its population is distributed very heavily toward the center and south from the north; all of that will be very important as they move into an impact evaluation because where such a facility is located is critical to its economic vitality; and it has to be near the population-base and access not only to the local but to the regional markets.  He noted at the very beginning they looked at Brevard County’s population trend showing its growth with the idea of being as it is growing what are its needs or what they call a needs assessment; they then looked at the various population bases; and although it was not part of their study, it was their recommendation again the critical location will probably be down in the population center of the County to make it work.  He stated there is not a large agricultural employment base in Brevard County; when a person says agricultural fair it really takes a second seat to other issues; there is a very small point that is dedicated to that hardcore agricultural component be it livestock or agriculture; the fairs apply to a lot more things than they provide an entertainment facility as well as an educational process for young kids coming up, 4-H clubs and the like; and this is just some of the various functions that one would find in larger state fairs.  He stated because of the limited number of residents within the agricultural, the Centra-Plex has got to draw on other types of venues if it is going to be self-supporting and generate economic impact beyond itself in terms of a positive impact to the community at-large; right now there is no dedicated land or facilities so everything being discussed is new; they have had the opportunity to do other studies within the County looking at exhibit auditorium convention spaces; they are not the first ones to tell the Board it is in dire need of those, which is very good that this is rolling in at a time when there is that need; and the mission is to get a synergistic effect on the facilities.  Mr. Gray stated the Centra-Plex is designed to be the fair to be an exhibit hall and equestrian park as they go into it; they have estimated the construction cost without land would be $20 million plus; they ran it through their economic models; they have separated the construction because construction causes short-term impacts as opposed to annual reoccurring ones; but they still have a tremendous impact.  He stated just going through the construction process generates a total amount of $3.6 million or 322 temporary jobs; it just keeps the employment in an area the County is hurting right now, which is the construction side of its economic base; more importantly, it is looking at Brevard County’s annual impacts; this assumes that it is fully operational, which usually takes a couple of years to get to that point; they looked at the fair itself and they have added the equestrian component to it; then they have calculated that Brevard County will have a direct impact of approximately $16 million; it comes out to $24 million if he adds up all the induced and indirect; and it generates on an annual basis about 279 jobs.  He explained it is not job intensive by any stretch but it does generate a lot of economic impact, which will translate itself back into taxes and other items.  He stated the caveat, as he said at the very beginning, is location, location, location; it will be a regional event, and by a regional event he means more than just Brevard County; by throwing in equestrian, it can draw from Orlando and greater regional activity center; and location is critically important.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she was reading the report and Mr. Gray did have quite a bit of information that interested her because it is also a topic the Board is going to be discussing on a lower scale as far as the Equestrian Center; and a lot of this information he put into his report was very helpful also in what will be discussed later.  She stated what Mr. Gray stated in the report is there are three things that the Equestrian Centers are interested in and that was competition, shows, and riding; he also stated that he feels equestrian activities is a positive income generator; on page 37 of what the indirect benefits are in the promotion of horse shows because of people coming in from outside to eat in Brevard County restaurants and sleep in its hotels; and that is a great economic generator also.  She thanked Mr. Gray for bringing all forward. 

 

Mr. Gray stated the idea of being a regional event is that the County would be bringing new bodies in like it would with any tourism event; the secret is on any economic impact is to get them to stay overnight because then they are paying for a room and eating at restaurants; the impact of a stay over is five to 10 times greater than what he calls a day tripper; and that is why it becomes really critical.

Commissioner Bolin inquired what the timeline is for the Centra-Plex if $20 million dropped into the Board’s lap tomorrow; with Mr. Gray responding the fun part is the
permitting; stated if the land is already in place, the construction of it can basically be done if it was fast tracking it within a year; the problem is to get the events; and if the Board knew it wanted something two years down the line it should begin marketing today.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if Mr. Gray gave any consideration to Palm Bay since that is where the largest population base in Brevard County is located; stated she understands in Cocoa there is the ease of access because of 520, 528, and Highway 50; and she just did not know if the Palm Bay area was considered because there is an enormous regional park there that perhaps could be expanded. 

 

Mr. Gray advised they did not tie it down; it was a suggestion; early on there was a more agricultural component and eco-tourism side to maybe push it into a more eco-tourism type of environment, which does not work in this case because the venues are not really agricultural, it is really the capability of having a venue with a 5,000-foot auditorium; they were saying go down to the center south; and that can be anywhere down here as long as it has an ease of access.   

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired what the mechanism of funding of other communities that have done this was; with Mr. Gray responding they did the bond study for the Florida State Fair, so it was a revenue bond; and stated there are all sorts of funding mechanisms.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if that is particularly what people do; with Mr. Gray responding there is no typical funding mechanism; stated that is one source; as a rule there is no singular source; grants and TDC can maybe provide revenue sources; and it is usually a joint group of funding mechanisms, which can also be public/private sources.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the Fair Association in effect is a non-profit organization; the Board has not at this point committed to any course of action; and that is a decision that,  whenever the time is appropriate, will come back to the Board to see if or how it may be able to participate.  He advised what Mr. Gray has done is a study for this group that says it works economically; and now the challenge is to see how that rolls forward.  He explained previously, because of the interest of the emergency management folks, that they had wanted to participate in this even to the extent of potentially to relocating the EOC to this location, and that has some merit; it may bring Federal dollars with it if the County can get there; the agricultural community is interested in this; he is going to give a plug to the Fair coming up; the dates of the Fair are March 27^th through April 5^th; and it is back more to the typical fair as earlier it was carnival as opposed to fair.  He stated it will be alcohol-free; it will be more family oriented than some of the others; he is looking forward to that; they have done a great job; it has a long way to go; and it will take the community to build this.    

 

 

Commissioner Anderson requested that III.C.1, Permission to Bid, Re:  Installation of Shutters and Upgraded Bay Doors at All Brevard County Fire Stations.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she would like to pull Item III.A.2, Approval, Re:  Joint Motion and Stipulated Order of Taking and Final Judgment – Brevard County v. Aaron M. Bross and John T. Bailey, et. al., and Item III.C.3, Extend Agreement with University of Central Florida (UCF), Re:  Software Development Services.

 

Chairman Nelson advised he has a card of Item III.B.2, Billboard Lease Agreement Termination, Re:  Scottsmoor Partners.

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to accept a Sidewalk Easement from Virginia T. Schenck, located in Section 35, Township 24, South, Range 36 East, District 2.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to appoint Lou Copp and reappoint Phil Panzeca to the Brevard County Public Golf Advisory Board, with appointments expiring December 31, 2011.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve naming Field 4 at the Merritt Island Lassie League Complex, Bill “Strick” Strickland Field.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve the advertisement of Request for Proposal for video streaming of Board meetings over the Internet; approve a Selection Committee consisting of Information Technology Director or designee, Communications Director or designee, and Clerk of Courts or designee; and appoint a Negotiating Committee consisting of the Selection Committee and an Assistant County Attorney appointed by the County Attorney’s Office.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to appoint and/or reappoint Ted Hartselle to the Citizen Budget Review Committee, with term expiring December 31, 2009; Patricia Passalacqua to Country Acres Advisory Board, with term expiring December 31, 2009; Steve Triano to Environmentally Endangered Lands Procedure Committee, with term expiring December 31, 2009; Gene Cate to Marine Advisory Council, with term expiring December 31, 2009; Susan Stehman to Personnel Council, with term expiring December 31, 2009; and Gene Cate to Public Golf Advisory Board, with term expiring December 31, 2009.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve Bills and Budget Changes, as submitted.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she would like to hear what staff has to say about this item.

 

County Attorney Scott Knox stated this item is a proposed settlement of a condemnation case involving a specific parcel, which is owned by Dr. Bailey; what staff is recommending to the Board is for it to accept the payment of $33,000 to Dr. Bailey; staff had an appraisal of $11,000 and it sounds like it is a substantial increase; but if the Board will give him the opportunity, he will explain why staff does that.  He stated under Florida Law the County is required to pay the expenses if it goes to trail on any issue for both the property owner and the County; and the County pays for the appraisers, engineers, planners, CPA’s, witnesses, and whatever involves an expert witness the County has to pay for it on both sides.  He advised the County has already expended about $11,000 in expert fees on its side; if this goes to trial, the County can expect the property owner, due to Florida laws, to get the same benefit as the County in terms of hiring experts, so it should expect at least $11,000 that they would expend upfront before even going to trial; the County would also have to pay for their experts to sit at the trial waiting to be called as witnesses; and in this case it will probably be a two-day trial, which means 16 hours worth of court time.  He explained in a simple case like this the Board is probably looking at an engineer and appraiser who would be testifying for the property owner as well as the County; there would be $200 an hour for each of those experts; that would be $800 an hour to sit to wait to be heard during the course of the trial, which comes out to approximately $13,000; by the time the County is done going through a trial, it ends up with expenses that are probably going to be more than what the value of the property and the value of the settlement is; the County can take it trial, and if the County wins it will pay $11,000 to the property owner, the County experts, and the property owners experts; and it will come out closer to $40,000.  Attorney Knox advised the County Attorney’s Office has done this enough to know that it is pretty much the way it works out.  He advised the County has gone to trial on two major cases since he has been here and both of the cases were won; in one case the claim that the property owner made was for $2.4 million; the County’s position on that was $86,000 to $125,000; the jury awarded $121,000 so the County won that case; but it ended up paying $310,000 in attorneys fees and costs; and the County ended up paying double the amount of attorneys fees and costs as the property it acquired was worth.  He noted the same thing happened in another case where the claim was for $1.6 million; the County’s position was $226,000; the final award was $226,000; but it ended up paying $400,000 in attorneys fees and costs in that case; and there is a pattern there where the fees and costs are almost double what the County actually paid for the property.  He stated this money will all go to the property owner as opposed to the experts.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired so as a rule of thumb from now on instead of offering the appraised price the County should just offer everyone triple; with Attorney Knox responding no.  Attorney Knox advised the way this normally works the County has to sue them; they are forced into this position as it is not a matter of the County being threatened by them; if a case is one where the County Attorney’s Office thinks that there is a big gap, like the difference between $121,000 and $2.4 million for example, staff will recommend no settlement at all and go to trial; and he has been here for 15 years and staff has never lost an eminent domain case.  He advised he has tried about 20 in his lifetime and he has never lost as well; and staff has some experience in those kinds of cases.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if the County wins, does it have to pay the taxpayer’s attorneys fees as well; with Attorney Knox responding yes.  Commissioner Infantini inquired if the County has to pay both sides of the attorney fees; with Attorney Knox responding unless for some good fortune staff makes them an offer that they should have taken but did not take; an offer can be made of judgment during the course of the proceedings, which may cutoff attorney’s fees in the event that staff prevails at a certain level; staff does that; and occasionally will win those kinds of situations but most times do not.  Commissioner Infantini inquired if the Board should offer double; and would that be an offer they should accept.  Attorney Knox responded in the past the Board passed a Policy saying 125 percent of the appraised value should be offered; staff tried that; most of the property owners did not really go along with that because most of them found out they were allowed to have an attorney, appraiser, and engineer on their side that the Board would have to pay for; it makes it difficult to settle at 125 percent; and he would hesitate to say that in every case offer double because in some cases the property will be worth a lot more than $11,000 like this one.  He advised with smaller cases it is generally a good rule of thumb because it does not make cost-sense to go out and try cases if it costs more to try and amend than it would just to settle it upfront. 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if she can make a recommendation that the Board pay
him double rather than triple; and based on the presumption that when it goes to court it would theoretically be should he accept that.  Attorney Knox advised if the County wins and goes to court on this case it will cost more than $33,000; and it will be closer to $40,000 if the County wins everything.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if the County is allowed to offer someone double than the appraised value; stated he knows the Board can settle for something else other than the appraisal; but he would have thought the original offer would have had to have been the appraised value of the property.  Attorney Knox stated as a Policy 125 percent can be offered; staff has never gone above that; 200 percent could be offered if the Board wanted to; but he would not recommend that for large appraised pieces of property; and if it is a $5,000 or $10,000 appraisal, that is probably a valuable tool the Board would have.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he understands exactly what Commissioner Infantini and Commissioner Fisher are trying to say, but his concern is the independent consequences where it will end up costing the taxpayers of Brevard County more money than was originally offered; the Board is between a rock and hard place on this; the gentleman the Board is dealing with is an attorney so he is pretty smart; and he does not know how to get around this without hurting the taxpayers to acquire that property.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated this is a very good discussion and she would like to continue it, she would like to do it offline in meetings with the County’s attorneys; in this case, the Board has already played its hand because it just said to try to offer the taxpayer double but if that does not work to go to $33,000; she hopes he is not watching right now because the Board just laid all its cards on the table; in this particular case the discussion needs to be taken further; but because of the situation, she is not going to support it in this particular case since the Board puts its whole court case on television.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she would like to have more discussion in the future regarding paying triple what something is worth before just paying it out.  Attorney Knox stated he does not have a problem with that at all; and the County Attorney’s Office has always sort of thought it would be a lot easier to negotiate if there was a better range of ability to move up or down in price.  Commissioner Anderson inquired if this is time sensitive and does it have to be approved at this meeting; with Attorney Knox responding he does not think postponing it for a meeting will make a difference.  Commissioner Anderson stated he would feel better so he could get caught up on the State Legislation for himself so he could understand; and he would like to table this to give him and his staff time to research the State Legislation.  Attorney Knox stated he does not have a problem with that as long as his staff tells him it is not time sensitive. 

 

Public Works Director John Denninghoff stated the item is somewhat time sensitive; the County has temporary easements for the project; they are going to expire; staff needs to get this project going; there is this piece and one more piece of property; he does not think staff will reach a settlement with the other piece; and staff is trying to move that one forward to go to court.

 

Chairman Nelson stated they know what the rules are; the one thing he would like to see at the discussion, he would hate to see the Board talk about percentage because percentage, based on what the starting number is, does not relate to what those court costs may be; a small, important piece of property may have a small value; but the courts costs can be outrageous.  He stated while the Board needs to have the discussion, but as it gets into it the Board probably needs to look at something a little more sophisticated than just a percentage to avoid that.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if the County tells them the rules; with Attorney Knox responding the County has to send out a pre-litigation letter, which explains the taxpayer’s rights.  Chairman Nelson stated it is clearly stacked against local governments; and that is probably appropriate.  Commissioner Fisher stated if the County is going to take a person’s property, he or she needs to know why and what their legal rights are.  Commissioner Anderson stated the intent is to protect property rights; and he thinks the entire Board agrees with that.

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve Joint Motion and Stipulated Order of Taking and Final Judgment regarding Brevard County v. Aaron M. Bross and John T. Bailey, et. al.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

  

 

Chairman Nelson inquired how should the Board have that conversation; with Attorney Knox responding the Board may want to piggyback it on some workshop that has been scheduled, it can be discussed then; but it cannot be discussed at an executive session.

 

Sergio Anchia stated he is coming before the Board hat in hand and would like to recommend that the agreement be kept in place and to keep the billboard sign up on a month-to-month basis at a minimum; there are some issues that the Agenda Report has discussed having to do with access down a vegetated trail and the issue of prescribed burning; the folks that go out and service his billboard at this location are fellows who do a lot of hunting and fishing; they have been going on the property probably for over a decade; and they are very sensitive to the environmental issues.  He advised those folks go on established trails; they do things in a low-impact manner; he does not think that anything will change on the property in so far as affecting environment detrimentally; and he just wanted to point that out.  He noted it is a tough economic time for anyone; this is
 

a revenue source for the County; rentals from a billboard location can be used to preserve trails by the agency that manages this and similar property; and they are more than willing to work with County on the issue that is mentioned in the Agenda Report of addressing the incomes from the Lease Agreement that have not been received by the governing agency. Mr. Anchia stated he has people whose livelihood relies on signs like these, guys that have been working on this sign for 10 years among others in the area if not longer; it is a bad time for them to lose inventory; and they are very conscious all being residents of Brevard County at their company, Clear Channel, of just how precious the environment is here.  He stated he is from Miami and he loves seeing a Bald Eagle; and he can say from working with these folks for the last two years, it is very cognizant on their minds; it is not like a big city or county where they have to send cranes or heavy equipment to service these signs; he goes down established trails; and he climbs up on the sign with a ladder.  He explained in so far as the prescribed burns, this is not a wildfire but a managed situation so they can work with the County in order to insure that the billboard will not catch fire; there are fire retardants and things of that nature; he is certain the professionals who set these prescribed burns gage wind conditions and things of that nature; and he is here to address any other questions the Board may have.  He stated he wants to continue the relationship and continue to be the County’s tenant; and hopefully allow the County to use some of that money for the very preservation that is intended on this piece of property.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired what if everything came together and he lost the sign, would he hold the County liable for replacement; with Mr. Anchia responding right now they are self-insured; stated if they were to lose a billboard due to fire it is not the landlord’s fault; and also he could put language in any lease agreement covering that very aspect.  Mr. Anchia advised they would not hold the County liable; especially on a month-to-month lease because it is not a long-term leasehold; and they can put a language in there for acts of God. 

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if the County is still leasing 112 acres to the Roberts Family; with EEL Manager Mike Knight responding yes.  Commissioner Infantini inquired if the Lease Agreement’s about $1,800 for 112 acres; with Mr. Knight responding he would have to go back and see what the value is.  Commissioner Infantini stated right now the County is earning $1,800 per year for 112 acres; and she believes the Clear Channel property is a little smaller than that.  She advised to give a revenue stream of $3,000 for a small billboard when the County is also leasing 112 acres on that same parcel and only generating $1,800, perhaps the Board should go back and ask for a little more revenue on the 112 acres because she does not want to give up $3,000.  Mr. Anchia advised that is one of his points; they are more than willing to enter into a renegotiation; his mandate as a Real Estate Manager is to renegotiate leases but in the reverse direction because of economic conditions; if the Board recalls, he came to it February 3^rd regarding another matter; but with that said, they can definitely work with the Board in order to make this what it feels is an equitable arrangement.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated looking at the Agenda Report and listening to everything, he thinks it would be beneficial to the County to find a way to rectify this; obviously it is a small impact, but it is still an economic development impact for the County to lose anything right now.  He stated in all due respect, he is not sold on the notion that fire lines affect the habitat out there; he grew up in Northeast Ohio and there are fire lines that never affected any of the habitat; the do-not-touch policy is a great policy but it is not a very effective in management of wildlife habitat; and there are people who are dependent on the jobs that this little billboard creates.  He stated he does not think the Board should be making recommendations to reduce anyone’s hours in any occupations right now; and it is a benefit to Brevard residents to ensure the billboard can be kept in place. 

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if Universal Outdoor and EEL Selection Committee tried to work something out; stated a couple of things that need to be addressed is there are added expense to the program, which EEL is saying; maybe Mr. Anchia could address the cost to help pay for that added expense; it would be a great time for EEL to work out something to use the billboard as a promotion of what it is doing and what value EEL has to the community; and maybe a month or two of free billboard space might help do that. 

 

Chairman Nelson inquired what the term of the Lease is for the cattle grazing; with Mr. Knight responding he does not know off of the top of his head; stated it is probably three to five years; it is important to note that the only reason the Lease is in existence is because there was a previous lease; and staff is just trying to maintain the cattle until such a time the restoration is done as at that point in time they will be removed because EEL does not support cattle leases.  Mr. Knight advised if they are pulled off too early the exotic species bounce back and there is a bigger problem.  Chairman Nelson advised that was discussed when the Board made the decision to acquire; it was the understanding at that point that the billboard itself would not be there.  Mr. Knight advised staff was told by the billboard company that a billboard lease did not exist; and it was specifically asked by the County Attorney’s Office.  Chairman Nelson inquired if the billboard is in the location of the Cattle Lease or is it in a different area; with Mr. Knight responding it is in a different area along I-95.  Chairman Nelson stated generally he does not support billboards; in this particular instance because of the Cattle Lease, he could probably support a period to match against the Cattle Lease but not beyond that; there are some management issues that do occur associated with billboards on these sites; the County bought it believing that the billboard was not going to be there; and now it is over a barrel related to it.  He stated if Commissioner Fisher wants to kick it back to the Selection and Management Committee to talk about those issues he is fine with that.

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to table authorization to submit ninety days written notice to Universal Outdoor, Inc./Clear Channel to terminate billboard lease agreement, and authorization for County Attorney’s office to pursue legal action to remove the sign in the event that Universal Outdoor, Inc./Clear Channel does not comply; and to send the item back to the EEL Program Selection and Management Committee to see if they can come up with solutions to the issues.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he just had some concerns and wanted it open for discussion for the Board; doing his research, his office had spoken to Interim Fire Chief Dennis Neterer; it is understood that the Federal matching grant is good on this until 2011; and it is a $178,000 for the County’s match.  He stated he understands the current doors and shutters are in fair condition and could maybe make it through a hurricane; everyone would like to upgrade; it was budgeted in the past; but the further the Board gets into this economic issue the more nervous he gets.  He advised $180,000 is a lot of money; and he is wondering if it would be detrimental to Fire Rescue; and it is good until 2011 so he would like to postpone and revisit it if it is a necessity.

 

Interim Fire Chief Dennis Neterer stated he understands Commissioner Anderson’s concerns about the grant; the genesis of the grant is staff applied for it after the 2004 storms; the existing shutters and doors have made it through since then; and they have not been impacted to any great extent.  He stated the shuttering system at a lot of the fire stations is stuff that staff made itself; they are not wind rated; and the bay doors would not probably take a category one hurricane.  He advised the scope of this project will allow the doors and windows brought up to Code and able to withstand approximately 150 to 155 miles per hour winds; being a coastal community, the fire stations run a gamut from North Brevard to South Brevard; Fire Rescue feels it is prudent that these buildings are protected because if they do sustain a category two or greater storm, the ability to operate out of these fire stations will be compromised; and if Brevard does get hit, that is when Fire Rescue is needed the most.  He noted the funds for this have been budged since 2006 and have been carried forward as balance forward since then in anticipation of receiving this grant; here he is today and there is $325,000 worth of Federal money; the Department is budgeted for the match; they are going out for bid; it may end up being less than what is budgeted; and this is very much a critical infrastructure project.

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired if all of the facilities are in the same configuration that they were for Jean and Frances as those were category two storms; with Interim Fire Chief Neterer responding category two, and there were still two or three stations were lost due to the storms.  Interim Fire Chief Neterer advised the newer stations have the doors that meet Code.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if there is a way to reinforce the existing doors; stated when she got her house certified for having shutters placed around the entire structure, one of the things that was done for the garage door was to put in double bars to reinforce it because it is a two-car garage; the bars extend from the floor to the ceiling and they get locked in; during the hurricanes she was in her garage; and it was a little windy, but there was no breech on the garage door.  She advised it may be a way to reinforce the existing doors with an extending pole, which is what she uses.

 

Fire Chief Neterer stated some of the doors are very old; some of the more translucent panels that are very thin, a person can actually see daylight coming through; he does not believe that shoring up the framing on the inside would be enough to protect those doors; they are 14-foot high and approximately 12-foot wide; and it is pretty big panel.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated this is one of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) grants from 2004; she was very much involved with all of those; the group that went through and designated this as a priority and the FEMA Group, which is the hardest group to get anything approved by, went through and deemed this a qualified project as far as costs and benefits; there were hundreds of projects submitted under this 2004 grant cycle; and this one survived.  She advised what the Board is not seeing here is FEMA’s stamp of approval that says that this is a worthwhile project and deemed necessary because if it was not, it would be pulled fast; for the amount of money the County will be paying and the benefit it will get out of this to protect the capital improvements and investments in the fire stations is well worth it; and she is 100 percent behind this item. 

 

Commissioner Fisher stated one of the things as a Board that it might need to realize is these Federal dollars and grants are coming through; they are sometimes 100 percent financed; the question becomes whether to spend the money in Brevard County or another county as the taxpayers will still pay for it; and it sounds like a good return on the money.  He noted these kind of things as the Board moves towards the future will have to understand that Federal dollars will be allocated to different communities; Brevard County should get its fair share of it; and anytime the Board can get 75 percent of 100 percent costs, it makes sense.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she appreciates Commissioner Fisher’s comments regarding the Federal funding; inquired how staff gets an estimate of $503,186.34; and why that is not an estimate of $500,000.  Interim Fire Chief Neterer responded this is based on the Facilities Construction cost analysis worksheet that staff was provided that gave an estimated cost.  Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten advised someone just did not round the number up or down.  Commissioner Infantini inquired if the Board could get a scaled down version of the structure replacement by reinforcing those doors; stated she cannot imagine that every one of the doors are paper thin; in her community, the fire station actually did shut down during one of the hurricanes and had to use a homeowner that had garaging facilities for two RV’s; and they actually let the fire trucks stay in their garage.  She inquired if the item can be brought back at another time with perhaps a scaled-down version by reassessing which ones actually need shutters and which can be reinforced.  Mr. Whitten advised the question is still going to be a matter of whether the grant is for replacement of doors as opposed to the shoring up of the doors; he does not know the answer to that; and he does not know if the grant is valid if the County goes to reinforcement of the existing doors or if it is just a straight replacement of the doors.  Commissioner Infantini stated perhaps the County should do a little more research; that way the Board is not just expending monies; and if the Commissioners can get two weeks notice on these Agenda items that would be wonderful as she and Commissioner Anderson could get some of the questions worked out before the meeting. 

 

Mr. Whitten inquired if the grant is for replacement or reinforcement; but stated he would think it would be limited to replacement.

 

Chairman Nelson stated he is not going to put the firefighters and fire equipment at risk; this was as a result of the hurricanes that sensitized the County to what hurricanes can do; for the Board to try to guess at what may be a shutter-light approach to it is something he would have concern with; these are Federal dollars; and the combination of stimulus and safety are winners.  He advised he supports the item.

 

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Fisher, to grant permission to bid and award contract with the lowest, qualified, responsive bidder regarding the purchase and installation of shutters and upgraded bay doors at all Brevard County Fire Stations; and authorize the Chairman to execute the Contract for the same.  Motion carried and ordered.  Commissioners Infantini and Anderson voted nay. 

 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she was reviewing the contract and she did a little bit of math on some of the statistics; inquired if under the E&G Personnel, is Karla Alvarado and Karla Moore the same people; with Information Technology Director Jon Sellers responding yes.  Commissioners Infantini stated it appears that she received a wage increase from $22.50 per hour from the original Contract and is now earning $48 per hour; and inquired if she got a new title or license because she is in the same category, yet when she mapped out the hourly wage it worked out to $48 an hour.  Mr. Sellers advised she received her Doctorate from the University of Central Florida.  Commissioner Infantini inquired when looking at Will Chang putting in putting in a FTE of .5, when she worked that out it worked out that he would be earning $6.50 per hour; and she was concerned as it is below minimum wage and she did not want the Board to accept a contract that would be paying people below minimum wage.  Mr. Sellers advised he will talk to UCF about that; he did not look at his; he saw the small number and thought that was good; but he will certainly follow-up with UCF.  Commissioner Infantini stated of the $50,000 the County is requesting, 61 percent of the $50,000 is going to wages and 39 percent is going to fringe benefits and overhead; she feels the County is paying an awful lot for someone else’s overhead when there is current staff; and she would rather see County staff working instead of UCF’s personnel.  Mr. Sellers stated County staff is probably booked up for the next two years in terms of the amount of backlog he or she has; that is why staff went outside for the larger projects; he only has five Programmers in the office who do website updates and small projects; and the larger projects staff outsources rather than keep larger numbers of programmers on staff.  Commissioner Infantini stated she does not know that she would agree because she has seen millions of dollars come through just in her short time on the Board; she continuously sees costs going to outside people doing software work for the Board and she would rather see the County employees doing it rather than outsourcing it; and it is just a consideration.

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize the Chairman to execute Agreement with University of Central Florida for software development services in the amount of $50,000 as well as the written Notification of Contract Renewal (Exhibit VI).  Motion carried and ordered; Commissioner Infantini voted nay. 

 

Mr. Whitten advised that Mr. Sellers and Sally Lewis were actually the staff that worked with the Clerk’s Office to put the agendas online; actually every week Sally scans all of the documents the Board has in front of it; and it is put into a PDF Format and those are uploaded from the County’s network to the Clerk’s network.

 

 

Lillian Banks stated she wants to address the ability that Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Infantini that was questioned once upon a time; first, Mr. Anderson served on his town council for eight years and Ms. Infantini knows the workings of the County intimately and knows what the problems are; they are not green; they were elected by a committed group of citizens interested in change; and she hopes they will keep jumping in and keeping it going.  She lived here for 32 years and about 20 years ago she began observing Commission meetings; she finally became active when the scrub jay debate arrived on the scene; and then came the manatee problems.  She advised the Commissioners with personal agendas came onboard and were in charge and the liberal environmentalists took over; the EEL Program was born and the citizens were duped into the disaster of today; people were sold a bill of goods of how he or she would be able to enjoy green space, ride horseback, and observe all of the beautiful trees and birds; wrong again; the agenda was set and it was to lock the humans out.  She noted $3 million buildings arrived on the scene; and inquired what that had to do with taking care of the land, green space, and the birds.  She stated she can go on and on but what is the use; the downhill slide of the Commission continued with its spending ways until the present; recently the more egregious thing facing citizens today is what former Commissioners have done to one Courtenay Roberts, a fellow citizen, who just wanted to build a house; the County is facing a $2 million lawsuit for the fiasco; and in her opinion County Attorney Scott Knox should be terminated for the part he allegedly played in this.  She stated recently it has come to her attention that County staff has selected a person from California and one from down south to be the Budget Director; and inquired why go so far afield when there are so many qualified persons in Brevard County, particularly Roger Shealy who knows all about the Commission and the workings here.  She thanked Commissioner Fisher for speaking up regarding the hiring recently of Mr. Jenkins; he showed a lot of common sense and some smart governing; and she hopes he can join the other two new Commissioners and move the Commission forward.  She stated Brevard citizens need to wake up as it is time to get active; inquired if people know that $75 million of Brevard County citizens’ taxes last year went to the St. Johns Water Management Group, Parks and Recreations, and EEL; is that how the citizens want to spend the money and should it continue; and stated it seems like the well for money and the Board is pumping it out.     

The meeting recessed at 11:22 a.m. and reconvened at 11:37 a.m.

 

Chairman Nelson called for the public hearing to consider a resolution vacating public utility and drainage easements in First Replat in Port St. John, Unit 7, as petitioned by Erwin Krempel.

 

There being no comments or objections heard, motion was made by Commissioner Infantini, seconded by Commissioner Fisher, to adopt Resolution vacating portions of the public utility and drainage easement in the First Replat of Port St. John, Unit 7, as petitioned by Erwin Krempel.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

Chairman Nelson called for the public hearing to consider a resolution vacating a portion of public utility and drainage easement in Ocean Breeze Circle in Ocean Oaks Subdivision as petitioned by David Scott Caddell.

 

Public Works Director John Denninghoff stated this item was originally heard by the Board on January 13^th where it was continued; the reason for that continuance was to give the petitioner an opportunity to resolve an underground utility conflict with Florida Power and Light Company, which was going to be somewhat costly to resolve; at this point it is not resolved and the petitioner was not able to attend the meeting today; and at this point the item can be continued again to give a little more time or to deny.

 

Chairman Nelson inquired if Mr. Caddell is working this out with Florida Power and Light; with Mr. Denninghoff responding there is an underground utility line that is in close proximity and it needs to be moved; and stated it will cost $4,580.  Chairman Nelson inquired if they are currently doing any kind of work in this area; and he worries with FPL that 30 days may be a bit tight.  Mr. Denninghoff advised the resolution would not necessarily have to be that the line was moved, it would just be an agreement to fund the cost of relocating the line; they have expressed concern that the cost to relocate the underground utility is too high; and they are trying to consider what their options are. 

 

There being no further comments or objections made, motion was made by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to continue the public hearing to consider Resolution to vacate a portion of the public utility and drainage easement on Lot 24 in Ocean Oaks Subdivision, to the March 24, 2009 Board meeting.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

Chairman Nelson called for a public hearing to consider a resolution for petition to deny vacating a portion of right-of-way on Skylark Boulevard in Waterway states, Third Addition.

 

Public Works Director John Denninghoff stated with this particular item there is an existing road right-of-way that has no road improvements in it; and it provides access to the canal system along the Grand Canal in the Satellite Beach area.  He advised the petition was previously heard and then continued to give an opportunity for staff to meet with the South Patrick Residents Association (SPRA) homeowners group in that area; a number of staff were present at that meeting; the item was discussed at some length; and the petitioners were also present and expressed their position on the matter.  He noted in this particular case as the right-of-way provides access to the Lagoon system, there is a County Policy that requires that it be clearly in the public interest in order to consider or approve the vacating; that Policy also basically outlines that staff is to make a recommendation; in this case the advantages to the County would be that there is a sea wall that is on the right-of-way along the canal that will require maintenance upon occasion; and if it were vacated the County would probably be relieved of that; the County would presumably be able to collect a little bit in the way of property taxes; but it would not be able to have a building or other improvements of that sort constructed on the site.  He advised the disadvantages of a simple vacating would be that the Natural Resources Group, stormwater quality and just plain water quality improvement programs will have to sort of raise the bar in the coming years; and the need or requirement to provide additional stormwater treatment for water quality purposes would become a pressing issue; and this site would be well situated to be able to provide for that sort of improvement without having to purchase the property.  He stated it is the position of staff that simply vacating would not be in the public interest because of that; but clearly the Board is the final arbiter of whether it is in the public interest and staff recognizes that.  He advised an option would be to vacate while retaining an exclusive easement, which would allow the County to use it for public purposes in the future; and that option would have perhaps some of the advantages on both sides on that circumstance.  He explained one of the concerns that the petitioners have is that other people who perhaps have undesirable activities are on the site and they cannot really control that situation; staff has placed ‘no loitering’ signs; that was coordinated with the County Attorney’s Office, so at this point law enforcement can deal with that; and there are also ‘no parking’ and ‘no fishing’ signs that are already located on the site.  He stated one other option would do a little bit of beautification; and Landscaping Operations Manager Loren Rapport is present to talk about that if the Board desires.

 

Chairman Nelson inquired if this is a public right-of-way dedicated by plat for road purposes; with Mr. Denninghoff responding that is correct.

 

Bill Davis stated this issue is really about the security and safety of the residents nearest to this property, and the second part of it is beautification.  He advised what he wants to do is to quickly go through and give a little history and facts about the property; and then come up with what Mr. Denninghoff just explained to the Board.  He noted the facts on this property is it is part of the original plat, like transportation for a bridge over to Tortoise Island; that is no longer feasible, that has changed; and Tortoise Island was built out and that bridge is no longer needed. He explained the size of the lot is small at 1.4 acres; one-half of it is already an electrical easement; and that is what he believes the best thing is because he believes in the water quality of trying to improve that, that the whole property be made an easement.  He advised the problem for them is there are people who are undesirables, loitering, foul language, urinating on the trees, littering, and it has been a constant problem over the years; it is not a huge problem; but it is one of those things that it is there, it happens, and it is enough to worry about it; his wife will be gardening on the side of the yard and someone will walk up who she does not know; and then she will ask him to come outside so those people will know there is man who lives here.  He stated it is a privacy issue; his bedroom window is right outside of this property; and people can come there anytime they want and just hang out.  He stated signs are ignored; people use the property as a hopping point to jump on boats; people go partying at night, come back in, and hang out; and there have been instances where marijuana has been smelled.  He reiterated that signs are just ignored; the signs do not work; people just ignore them and park where they want; and in their case, the people will not park near the no parking signs, they will park around the corner, in front of the homes, or in the median.  He noted the lack of maintenance over-the-years has been minimal at best; this property is something that can be a nice looking piece of land it was handled and maintained well; the wall is in need of repair and will be an issue; and they know the wall is beginning to seep out sand.  He advised this problem has been going on for many, many years; the residents who lived there prior to them complained about it; and people recognize that people park and ignore the signs.  He stated Commissioner Anderson’s Aide David Isnardi was there one day assessing the situation and there was a man sleeping in his van in front of the no parking signs.  He stated the residents are trying to address it; they talked to the community ahead of time; the property is not a park as it does not have the parking spaces or room for a park; and all it does it create a place for criminal mischief.  He stated they just want a quiet, peaceful neighborhood in this area.  He stated as a good neighbor, Brevard County should control its property and if it cannot control it, vacate it with an easement and let the residents control it.  He advised in the handouts he distributed to the Board, there is a majority of the residents who signed the petition stating he or she is in agreement; they do not want it to be a park and do not want it to be left as an unsightly eyesore; and that vacating is the right solution.  He stated they spend a lot of time meeting with all of the Commissioners.  He stated he understands that the County cannot control public property; people can come on the property as much as they want; there is no way to control this; that is one thing he found that might be a solution around this; but since it cannot be done, they feel vacating is the best direction to go.  He stated they do understand the Policy to keep the clean water and being able to utilize it; that is why they agree with the easement; they have no problem with that as they will take on the liability for it; and to spend their money to take care of the property.  He stated they were actively talking with SPRA prior to the meeting; they spoke with Ayn Samuelson and the area director at that time and spoke to them; and they told the residents that it is not a SPRA issue, it is a County issue, and the residents need to address it with the County.  He stated there was a well attended meeting, which Ayn Samuelson asked most of the questions, and it was discussed that if the property is ever vacated it goes to the adjacent property owners; there were five people who stood up with comments; and he thinks people understand the plight that this property is a problem for the neighbors.  He explained at the end of the meeting they walked away feeling like there was really no resolution; he spoke with David Dingley about it afterwards; and that is where they decided to bring it to the Board.  He stated vacating is what will work; it was done on Sparrow in 1997, which was after the Policy was in place; the Board can see in the pictures that the people are taking care of the property; Port Royal in 1985, that is an exact duplicate of what they have; it was a parcel of land that was supposed to be developed as a bridge, but as time has changed that bridge is no longer needed; and that parcel has become now privately-owned and well maintained.  He stated by looking at the map it shows that the three locations he spoke about are all in the same location; and in Port Royal it is an exact duplicate of what they have as an issue now.  He stated the benefits for the community and Brevard County are that there will be added taxes to the tax roll that would probably come out to approximately $2,000 a year in taxes; there will be about $1,000 in maintenance and lawn care; that would save the County around $3,000 a year in savings; and he is sure there are other expenses associated with managing this property.  He stated the things in black are some of the things that need to be done shortly, the sea wall; the next step is what the Board would want to do if the County mowed it trying to beautify it, and some of the money it would be spending on irrigation; they have a tremendous problem with weeds; and landscaping.  He advised the Board would be looking at $24,000 probably in a short period of time that would be spent.  He noted the property can be a nice, beautiful look at the end of the street and make it look like a part of the community; they can eliminate mischief and make it look like it is private; and that is the main thing.  He stated everyone here is involved in the community, working with SPRA, and helping out; the names are all in the paper as supporters; they really believe and care about the community; and they want to make sure it is something that can be beautified and look good.  He explained it is about control, security, and quality of life for the residents; vacating to them is the only solution they have seen; they have talked to everyone and looked at all of the different solutions; and vacating was the only real solution with an easement, which takes care of John Denninghoff’s issues and Natural Resources, which for them is a win/win situation.  He stated the beautification and the fact the residents are willing to take on the liability and the taxes associated with the property is a win/win because they get peace and security in their lives and the Board does not have to pay the taxes.     

Tony Lee stated yesterday he and Bill were talking in the front yard as neighbors do and a lady, Mrs. Brooks, two houses down walked by and she was visibly upset; she said someone had snipped her boat lock, she has a boat in her driveway; she said she had seen two men she had never seen before in the neighborhood and they were measuring the distance from the seawall to the water; and then she found the boat lock snipped.  He explained this is the kind of thing the residents put up with.  He stated before they made the application they contacted everyone within 500-feet; they were all for it; then the residents spent the $600 plus $500 for a survey to go forward with this; and this is the only way they found to really solve that.  He stated they did meet with the residents; but some of people were there and did not live within 500-feet; and these people were on A1A and they were dead-set against it.  He noted there should be some relevance here; this was never really about ownership, it was about controlling and managing the property; at the SPRA meeting what was interesting is that the representative from the County Attorney’s Office said the way it is now people can do pretty much anything they want; the residents know that; and maybe they can do something to help that along.

 

Virginia Grish stated her family has lived in the area for 40 years or more; she sent everyone an email so the Board knows what her feelings are; Mr. Davis said what she believes in; and she just does not want anything more to happen like what is happening at Lake Shepherd.  She stated she understands that people are parking all of the time, not leaving, and boat trailers all over the place; she really likes her quiet neighborhood; and she would appreciate it if the Board would keep it that way.

 

Dr. Raymond Rosenkaimer stated he is in support of vacating the right-of-way for several particular reasons; in this reality of the real estate demise in all areas, in particularly in Brevard County, it is important that if community members want to help stabilize their neighborhood and take ownership of an area it is a good thing; it is ramped throughout the Country; and if a group of people want to assume that responsibility with some pay back to the community, it is a commendable thing.  He stated he understands the County has a dilemma of how to clean up these types of properties; this is a vacant property; it has been vacant for a long period of time and it is not serving any purpose; the property is becoming a neighborhood nuisance; it is not attractive; and the neighborhood is trying to stay stable and this is specific detriment to the area.  He stated they have two dogs, his wife walks the dogs in the evening; it is not acceptable for her not to be able to walk a dog in her neighborhood at night without being verbally accosted by people who do not belong in the neighborhood; the lack of vigilance of the area and scrutiny of the area is not only a problem currently, but there could be more serious problems in the future because of the lack of whether it is fish or fowl who owns it, who will be obligated for it, and so on; and it is a win/win for the County and the neighborhood.  He advised the County will get some revenue, a parcel of land that is kept up and maintained; and the neighborhood will improve its stabilization by not having this eyesore at the main thoroughfare into the neighborhood.  He stated he is a sailor and he likes the area because there is a lot of water around; that seawall is a problem and it will be a worse problem within five to seven years; it is a hazard; it is allowing a lot of runoff and debris to go into the canal; and it is difficult for him to negotiate that turn at this point because of the shoaling where the seawall is deteriorating.  He explained one of the biggest problems being faced in the Country is the lack of community and neighborliness; here is a group of people who want to take on a responsibility assisting the community in the management of it; and to make it a more viable and more livable community.

 

Tania Hanlin stated she has worked with SPRA with the community ever since they bought their home in North Waterway; she was not aware of this situation at all and neither were her neighbors and most of the people who she knows who live in North Waterway; she has helped in trying to beautify with the different committees and volunteering anytime that she can; and she is also Secretary of SPRA.  She advised she had to come before the Board today because she truthfully does not believe that this should be vacated; this area is kind of an unofficial little green spot that anybody in the community can go to if he or she wishes; and if a person is walking their dog he or she can go to the seawall to look at the boats, watch the water, and just take a little breather.  She stated everyone lives on a canal and they have to be vigilant in their own backyards as well; her husband and her had very negative experiences when first moving here; she lives at the very end of Thresh Drive at the end of the cul-de-sac, and across the Grand Canal is the Pineda Causeway; at that time people were fishing and there were negative aspects all around them; they worked with the Sheriff’s Department; now no one uses that area because it is part of the County; and they have put up barriers and so on, so there are things that can be done.  She explained this is the only green spot for the community besides a person’s own backyard; it is not beautiful but it can be; but it would be terrible for it to be privatized.  She advised people in the community gather to watch the boat parade every year; it is packed shoulder-to-shoulder; that is only one day out of the year; but it is an unofficial gathering spot.  She stated she does not think 80-feet on the Grand Canal needs to be just given by the County; it would be terrible to see private property no trespassing signs; it can be beautified in a very economical way; for people to be vigilant with calling the Sheriff’s Department when something negative is going on and that is what they did; and they did get results.  She stated she is in favor of the Petition to Deny; she understands when a person lives close to a situation like this it does become a person’s situation just like it did for her husband and her; but they were able to resolve them.  She reiterated it was a total surprise to herself, neighbors, and a lot of people she knows in North Waterway; they knew nothing of this; they are concerned about the area, so they did have the public meeting with SPRA; and she understands their plight but it can be handled properly.

 

Mr. Denninghoff stated the process staff uses is Statutorily-driven; it is the process the Board has adopted in order to pursue the vacatings; staff frequently gets situations where they could have gone further or they maybe did not need to go as far as they go with the 500-feet; but it is the standard process and they follow that process precisely.  He advised staff received a number of communications from members of the public who were both in favor of and opposed to this petition; some of that information was passed on to the Board; staff did explore the option of using a right-of-way use agreement; and the petitioners did not find that to be acceptable because it did not resolve the issue of them being able to control access to the site as they would not be allowed to fence it off or prohibit someone from being able to be on the property.  He stated on the reflectors, he knows are annoying, but those are safety issues because the street leads right to it and without the reflectors people who are not familiar with the neighborhood would find themselves in the canal; and the reflectors would have to be there whether it was vacated or not.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated one of the things that was brought up is that the County is going to be having the problems coming down from the State in regards to having waterfront property for stormwater requirements; and inquired in this possible agreement would that still be satisfied or will the Board have a problem where it would have to go somewhere else to meet the State requirements.  Mr. Denninghoff advised it is difficult to actually determine what will have to be done; to a large degree the regulations associated with that have not been fully promulgated and so they do not know what the solutions will have to be; but staff will look for every opportunity to develop strategies and opportunities to be able to improve water quality; and this site would definitely be one of those opportunities because of its proximity to the water.  He stated it is not so much that it has to be right next to the water; but the access is necessary to be able to get the water to discharge out to the surface water after a treatment opportunity exists; and this one has both of those, access to the water and the treatment opportunity.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if the Board vacates and then finds it has the requirement coming down and it has to scramble to meet them how much will it cost to find waterfront property that the County will now have to buy to meet the requirements versus already having the property.  She stated if the property is vacated the County will get approximately $2,000 in taxes; and inquired how much on the reverse side would the County have to spend to meet those requirements down-the-road if this is done.  Natural Resources Management Director Ernie Brown advised that is a very unknown number; staff’s preliminary estimates to meet the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) as the water quality criteria are already exceeding $100 million just for Brevard County’s portion of the Indian River Lagoon; those preliminary estimates include a factor for land acquisition; the numbers being discussed are huge; and any opportunity staff has to layover either easement or maintain ownership of properties to ensure that staff can develop them to meet that unfunded mandate will be pretty critical at this junction.  Commissioner Bolin stated it is not about ownership it is about making sure the location is safe, the maintenance, and not an eyesore, and the seawall; and inquired if there are ways the Board can work in solving those problems.  She stated vagrancy a Sheriff’s Deputy will still have to come out there whether the County calls them or the residents it will still have to happen; and inquired if the County can beautify the property as well. 

 

Landscaping Operations Manager Loren Rapport stated staff has the opportunity if needed and ordered by the Board to plant Queen Palms along the perimeters on both sides of the property; those are being grown at the Sheriff’s Farm and they are Brevard County property for roadway projects, Parks and Recreation, et cetera; the property is maintained now and is mowed, and a dead tree was removed and the stump ground; staff is really trying to keep it looking good; but there has to be middle ground and staff can find it.  He advised he can use Sheriff inmate crews that can dig the trees for the County so there would not be any cost.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if the County vacated the property and the property becomes not Brevard County’s but the neighbors, who would have the responsibility of the seawall; and would the new owners have to maintain the seawall.  Mr. Denninghoff advising the seawall would become the responsibility of the property owners.  Commissioner Bolin stated she has received telephone calls from individuals in the area of South Patrick Shores who do not want the County to give waterfront property away.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she met with the Davis’; like she pointed out the them during the meeting, they bought the property knowing it was adjacent to vacant land; they brought a letter from the former owner stating that the former owner knew that there were ongoing problems; and she pointed out to them they could seek recourse against the former owner if it was not disclosed in the past.  She stated if she buys a piece of property next to an airport and then she gets mad when the planes take off, she probably should have known there would be planes taking off from the airport; she has noticed the property has been used by young people fishing; and she could never approve something like this to take away public access because young people if they are going to fish off of the seawall, thank goodness.  She stated there are not young or old people who make bad choices on property owned by the County, but in Melbourne Beach and Indialantic there are more accesses at the end of every street; from time-to-time people will have to deal with issues; but they bought those properties subject to the fact that there was public access there.  She stated her staff did contact the County Department and asked about the no fishing sign; the no fishing sign was placed there illegally; but she has an email advising that.  She stated as far as what past Boards have
done as far as vacating property, that is why she is here to not make the same choices some of the past Boards made. 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he appreciates what both Commissioner Bolin and Commissioner Infantini has said; he believes the government owns a lot of property in Brevard County and probably more than it should; anytime the County can get in a situation where it is paying its fair share for maintenance back to the taxpayers as a whole it is the best for everyone; there is a precedent set in this County; and now the Board is going to tell one property owner they are not worthy when three others were in the past.  He advised, in addition, it is not just the cost the County would get from tax money; every time a Sheriff’s Officer goes out there with fringe benefits it is about $45 an hour; and that adds up quickly.  He stated it would be in the best benefit to get this property in private hands where it is not being detrimental to other taxpayers that do not live in this area; and inquired why the County put a fence in and control access to that where it is only opened during day operations like other parks.  County Attorney Scott Knox advised the reason the County cannot do that is because it is right-of-way platted in that area; it is dedicated for public road purposes or something related to public roads; if a fence is put up the County has effectively vacated the right-of-way; someone can come along and say what the Board did not do officially at a Board meeting through a resolution it has done by putting up a fence; and the same claim would then exist for the property owners claiming they had a right to have that property.  Commissioner Anderson stated if that was identified as park property under Comp and Zoning a fence could be put in and control daytime access only.  Attorney Knox advised if it was prior that is true.  Commissioner Anderson stated if the Board decides not to vacate it, it is the nighttime activity that is the biggest problem in that area; and he does not know how that can be resolved other than looking at changing how it is designated right now.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated some people buy property based on its proximity and access; it is an extra financial incentive to buy property in a certain given area because now a person will have riverfront or oceanfront access; even though it is not a person’s, he or she just has access to it; it would diminish the property values of everyone else who bought in that community because they did have a community meeting and many people spoke up and said they were not for having the property taken away; and now their property values will be reduced by giving away properties.  She stated she did have her staff try to check with the Sheriff’s Office to find out how many times a Deputy had responded to incidents; and unfortunately the Sheriff’s Office could not locate any times.  Commissioner Anderson stated everyone in that neighborhood has river access.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he wants to commend the Davis’ and the neighbors for going through the effort they have; they have done a great job of at least presenting their case; the Board should try to find out a way to help solve it; he fears that some day the County may have some stormwater requirements that requires the use of the land; this lady has a concern that 4 times a year it seems to be a gathering place for boats and those type of things; and inquired what would happen if the County vacates it, give the County back an easement, and put in the deed that it comes back to the County if it is needed for stormwater or some other thing.  He stated and also have some kind of agreement that from a public view standpoint that 4 days a year that it can be opened for the boat parade and certain events and something like that; and everyone wins in that scenario.  Attorney Knox advised if the Board chooses to follow that concept he thinks there is a way to do it; that could also play into what Commissioner Anderson is talking about in terms of re-designating it as a park; there are legal instruments that can be signed back and forth to allow that to happen; and reiterated it can be done.     

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she does not think three or four days are acceptable because the young people going fishing she does not think they actually plan well in advance; that is why there is no parking, it has to be convenient; she knows all of the access points she is referring to in the South Beaches there is no parking; a person either needs to walk or bike there; and if it is an enforcement issue, the Sherriff’s Office needs to be contacted.  She stated she just does not want to give away an access for everyone’s use because it is an enforcement issue; the Board needs to better follow its own policies rather than violate its own policy, which is it does not vacate public land on the water unless it is in the public good.

 

Chairman Nelson stated he is looking at it with a different perspective with a parks background, if the Board had come to him and asked that he open a park there he would have gone running and screaming from the room because of the very issues that have been talked about; and it cannot be managed.  He stated Commissioner Fisher raised a good point, he thinks that certainly there can be an easement that protects the County’s ability to do stormwater improvements for that area to protect the land; at a time when the Board is trying to cut its budget; but when Loren said no cost to the County, even he cannot believe that one.  He stated there is obviously a cost to the County to do some landscaping and then to manage it.  He stated it is a right-of-way; it was intended to go somewhere, it does not go anywhere now, and it would be turned into a park setting; if the Board is going to do that, it better be prepared to manage it like a park; and he thinks there is a duty on the part of the County to manage this site.  He explained that the Policy was put in place to protect the County’s access to public water, but it was also put into place with the ability to look at each site individually and determine the viability of that access; this is just one of those he struggles with; he thinks the Board has an opportunity to protect its interest, to preserve the easements, the ability to reduce the maintenance cost, which the County is currently paying, and the ability to get the property back on the tax rolls; and those are very positive circumstances.  He stated he does not know how the Board can assure the neighborhood that it is going to be able to manage it in a way short of fencing it off; there are signs that say a person cannot be there; inquired what are the acceptable uses; further inquired those have to be identified, if it is going to be kept in public ownership and access, what are the legitimate uses that this property can be put to.  He stated he will support vacating the property because he does not think there are good solutions otherwise.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired what the compromise is being worked towards to where the County is guaranteed that it will be able to use that land for the stormwater requirements coming doing, and can that be done; with Attorney Knox responding legally it can be done; the resolution would have to be done with a provision in it saying that the property owners who acquired the simple title once the vacation occurs, they would have to sign a deed in advance coming back to the County; the resolution would take effect when it is delivered to the Board; and the deed would go in effect once the vacation took place.  Attorney Knox advised the County would actually have a deed in hand to the easement.

 

Chairman Nelson stated a plat does not transfer title; and the County does not have fee simple to this piece of property.  Attorney Knox advised no, the only thing the County has is the dedicated right to use this property for a road or something related to a road right now; and what is being talked about here is effectively changing that use into an easement that allows the County to use it for specific purposes, be it stormwater or whatever it is going to be. 

 

Public Works Director John Denninghoff stated the question of access is what he thinks much of the public is objecting to; inquired if under the circumstance where the County retains an easement does it also retain access for the public; and stated that is what the Davis’ and Mr. Lee are looking for.  He stated that is a critical aspect to this; if the public still has a right to just go in there any time, then he does not think it solves their problem; and if they have the right to block it off, it does not solve the problems as to the objections on the part of the public.  Attorney Knox advised the simple answer to that is whatever the Board decides it wants to do; if it wants to let access remain it can be arranged legally through the appropriate documents; if it wants to limit that to stormwater or drainage it can be done as well; and it is really a call the Board has to make.

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired if the Board can vacate it and do some kind of use agreement for the County for the stormwater; with Attorney Knox responding yes, he would recommend an easement.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated it sounds like the Board has a lot of work still to do on this item; she would like to hear all of the possible options; and she would like to table the item until the Board can get a staff report with the other options.  Mr. Denninghoff stated if the Board wants to continue the hearing for the vacating for two months, it would be April 28^th.

 

Chairman Nelson stated there needs to be a conversation with the Davis’ and the Lees because honestly he would not want to have the liability associated with allowing just access by the public; the Board can say that is a condition and if they are not willing to accept that then the issue would be kind of dead in the water anyway; and reiterated that discussion needs to happen.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if the Board can do some type of use agreement; and can it be opened to the public for certain events.  Chairman Nelson advised the problem is if someone gets injured and if the seawall is not maintained for some reason; he does not want to put words in their mouth but he would be scared to death because of those issues to suddenly have all of those folks on that property and knowing that if someone gets injured they are on the hook for it; the Board can make them sign waivers and all sorts of things; but the reality is that they are still going to get sued. 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she knows that Mr. Denninghoff followed the rules as far as the 500-feet border; inquired considering the circumference of the circle where the people are in favor of limiting access could that be extended notification so more residents are made aware of the pending vacating of that property; and stated if it turns out that 80 percent is against the vacating and 20 percent is for vacation, that might bear on to the Board’s decision as opposed to the other way around.  Mr. Denninghoff advised if that is the Board’s direction it can be arranged.  Commissioner Infantini noted that has happened in her community where people just sent out notices, but they are not densely populated so very few people found out that something was being changed so no one showed up; and it did not mean people did not care, it just meant no one was made aware of it.  Chairman Nelson stated the more widely known that this is now available, the greater the utilization.  Commissioner Anderson advised most of the comments to his office was about the boat parade; and that is not a valid argument.  Chairman Nelson stated he thinks the community knows; the homeowners have discussed it; and he does not think additional noticing is going to help.

 

Bill Davis stated the bottom line is a quality of life issue for the residents; the easement to them was a solution; it made it quick and easy; they do not plan to change the property; and people can still walk down there.  He advised if a future property owner changes it, then that is a possibility; but right now the residents are not planning to change it; their goal is to keep it so it can be controlled; right now he cannot stop anyone that is an unwanted person standing outside his bedroom window; and he cannot do anything about it.  He stated he did do his due diligence; the County posted those signs, not the residents; the County admitted there was a problem so it tried to fix the problem with signs; and signs did not work.  He stated a property owner has the responsibility to control and manage their property; it is his right, if someone was next to him letting their property go to this situation, he would call Code Enforcement; here he is just told to call the police; and when they call the police they say they do not have any authority to do anything here.  He advised people are using the lock as a boat dock to jump off so they can bring their boats up, jump out, vandalize, steal, and rob, jump back on and they are gone.

 

There being no further comments or objections heard, motion was by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Infantini, to continue the public hearing to consider Resolution to deny vacating a portion of Skylark Boulevard in Waterway Estates, 3^rd Addition, to the April 28, 2009 Board meeting.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Chairman Nelson requested that staff come back with some options and talk with the Davis’ and Lees; and one more meeting is all the Board is going to do for this.

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired if it will be the entire 60 days or is it whenever those tasks get completed; with Chairman Nelson responding it has to be continued to a time and date certain.

 

Assistant County Manager Mel Scott inquired if the motion includes the public notice and should staff send it out again.  Chairman Nelson stated he does not know that there was any direction on that; the County has already noticed it once at 500-feet; and the question is does the Board want to notice it at some longer distance.  Commissioner Anderson stated the expenditure to the taxpayers justifies noticing that.

 

 

Chairman Nelson called for a public hearing to consider amendment to Economic Development Tax Exemption Ordinance for Summation Research, Inc.

 

There being no further comments or objections heard, motion was by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to adopt Ordinance amending Summation Research, Inc.’s Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Abatement Ordinance No. 07-63.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Commissioner Infantini inquired if the Board can put that it is up to seven members as she is concerned about having a lack of quorum because right now there are only five members appointed; and should one or two of those not be present, there could be a quorum issue.  She advised instead of increasing the members from five to seven, put up to seven in the resolution; that way as more people are appointed there will be more of a likelihood of having a quorum at those meetings; the Committee only meets four times a year; and she does not want it to turn into one of those meetings where nobody appoints anybody.

 

Chairman Nelson stated up to seven members is almost impossible to manage; and the Board would have to determine what a quorum is for that particular Committee.  Attorney Knox stated the best thing to do is to decide what the quorum requirements are gong to be; and the Board will not have to worry about who does not show up. 

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if the quorum could be set at three because otherwise there would have to be four out of five, whereas right now only three out of five is necessary.  Attorney Knox advised the Board can set the quorum at whatever it wants to.

 

Chairman Nelson stated he thinks setting a precedent of creating a quorum that is less than the standard he does not support that.  Commissioner Infantini stated the Board does not have anyone else appointed; and until there are more appointees the likelihood of having a quorum at a meeting is more difficult.  Commissioner Bolin advised she is working on finding an appointee.  Chairman Nelson advised right now it reads comprised of seven.  Attorney Knox stated the Board can make the Board the majority of those who are appointed, so if there are only five who are appointed the Board can make it three.  Chairman Nelson stated he is going to support that it stay at the typical four, which would be the majority.

 

Motion by Commissioner Infantini to table Resolution revising Resolution No. 04-281, increasing the Audit Committee from five to seven members.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated it has to be ready for the Board to appoint; and inquired if the Board can get an update; and stated if there are one or two people lacking, he has tons of names.  He stated he promises he will get members in there.

 

Motion died for lack of a second.

 

Motion by Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution revising Resolution No. 04-281, increasing the Audit Committee from five (5) members to seven (7) members.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

Attorney Knox stated this is a matter that came before the Board one time before and what has happened is the estate has a surplus, which by law goes to the County after a certain period of time; there is a two-year period to file a claim; that claim was not filed within two years; a lawyer from South Florida said he did file the claim; but there was no evidence that it had been filed with the Clerk.  He advised the lawyer said he had evidence and was going to submit that to the Board; it has never been received; and at this point it is a matter of the Board rejecting the request to refund the money.

 

Chairman Nelson stated failing to prove that he actually submitted the paperwork; and he always has the ability to come back and readdress it.

 

The Board took no action on the item.

 

 

Tim Williams introduced Claude Lee to the Board; and advised they were present on behalf of the applicants.  He stated Mr. Lee is the Vice President and CFO of the applicants.  He stated the bonds which were used to finance the construction of the nursing homes are due to be paid off on June 1^st; at that time, title is going to transfer to the County at which point they would lose their right of position; the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration requires that under no circumstances does a nursing home have to give 90 days notice of their pending loss of position; and that puts the deadline at March 2^nd.  He advised they have had discussions with the County regarding purchase of the property, but obviously they will not have a finalized deal by March 2^nd; they are looking to a short-term lease to keep the nursing home open in the interim while the discussions are ongoing; and they propose a tri-net lease, month-to-month, with either party being able to cancel with six months notice.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he is fine with the lease; he does have a concern when the actual sales transaction will happen; he does not want to get into a long-term lease agreement with them; and inquired if it is a six-month notice.  Mr. Williams advised the way it is set-up now, either party could cancel on six months notice.  Commissioner Fisher stated to assume it will take the full six months and then give a full six months notice, which will mean they will be there for a year with no lease agreement.  He stated the County needs to move towards a sale; and inquired if the organization had a problem with that.  Mr. Williams advised the issue would be imposed by the Agency for Healthcare Administration’s 90-day deadline; and the 90 days is a minimum requirement if the nursing home needs to be closed down, they would like to give the patients more than 90 days notice if possible.  Economic and Financial Program Director Greg Lugar advised they need a definite 90 days, but it is not to say that if the Board were to consummate an acquisition purchase agreement that it could not be terminated within or prior to 60 days. Commissioner Fisher inquired over the next six months while going on this month-to-month term, is there any good diligence period, are they going to get appraisals, or how is a sale going to be moved towards.  Mr. Williams advised they would not need due diligence because they have been the applicant for the last 30 years; there is an issue with the appraisal as there is a question whether it is a true bricks and mortar appraisal versus an appraisal as a going business; those are some issues to be worked out with the County; and that is the reason they are looking to maintain the status quo at this time with the short-term lease so those issues can be worked through.  Commissioner Fisher stated he is fine with the lease agreement and working towards a solution, but he would like to see a timeline when the applicant will go get their appraisal and come back to negotiation stages.  Mr. Williams stated there was some discussion with the County’s appraiser about possibly redoing the appraisal; and
there may have been a misunderstanding on his part as to what he was supposed to do; the appropriate valuation was to value it not as a going business but simply the land and structure.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if they would take that appraisal if the County redid it whatever the number comes out at or will they want to do their own appraisal; and how is the ball going to keep rolling.

 

Mr. Lugar stated there is a course of action that the Board agreed to September 30^th; in the letter from Northport Health Services there were seven steps; and the applicant should get their own appraisal.  Mr. Williams stated they will get their own appraisal, but they were also trying to work through issues with the County’s appraiser; and maybe they can get him to agree what the real value is.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he would like to see a timeline towards an appraisal and getting to a resolution of this sale; and inquired how to do that to make it part of the lease arrangement.  Attorney Knox responded if the Board wants to move it along, the answer is to shorten the notice period from six months to 120 days; that way if the County gives notice they will still have that 30-day cushion that allows them to give their 90-day notice if they have to.  Commissioner Fisher stated the Board’s intent is not to move people out of the nursing home; the Board wants it to be the buyer as it is the best buyer for it; but the Board also does not want to get into a long-term lease agreement with them.  Mr. Lee stated they have no intention of a long-term lease; and it is in their interest to move to a conclusion.  Commissioner Fisher inquired what timeframe is needed to move to a conclusion; with Mr. Lee responding between financing and appraisal he would hope to have everything in place quickly and immediately to satisfy the negotiated purchase. 

 

Mr. Williams stated the reason for the six months is if the County does not feel the petitioner is moving forward with due diligence, the Board can give a six-month notice; and they cannot find new property and build a new facility in six months. 

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if they have any tenant deposits on hand where someone makes a deposit to stay at that facility or is it strictly a person pays as he or she goes.  Mr. Lee advised this is a nursing home not an independent living or assisted living home.  Commissioner Infantini inquired if the County is the co-insured on that property should there be a fire or something, and is it insured for replacement costs; stated if the Board is leasing something and it is a triple net lease it does not have the insurance on it the lessee carries the insurance; and she would like to be notified if that policy lapses.  Mr. Lee advised the County does not hold title yet so they have not added the County yet, but they would with the lease.  Commissioner Infantini inquired if there is a security deposit; stated her family rented houses and there was always a security deposit held; and since it is a triple net lease, since the County is not responsible for the maintenance it should have some type of privileges to inspect the property to make sure it is being maintained.  She inquired what about a security deposit; with Mr. Lugar responding it is kind of a different leasing arrangement; stated staff has never done that; but if the petitioner is willing to put up a certain deposit there is no problem.  Commissioner Infantini stated her staff called Mr. Williams and he said the way he got the price he was going to pay per month is what they were currently paying per month for the mortgage; and after 30 years she was thinking there may be some appreciation in the value and the County should ask for a little more for the monthly lease.  Mr. Lugar stated staff was hoping the Board would look at the lease as a status quo type of situation until staff could get to the final negotiations of the actual sale price and their ability to purchase it at that price.  Commissioner Infantini state the reason she is concerned about getting to a sales price is that they offered approximately $1.2 or $1.5 million; the County is at $6.5 million; and it is assessed for the tax rolls at $4.5 million; that is $5 million difference; and she does not know how close the County is to the negotiating table so she was trying to get the lease payments more in line with what it would be if the County actually sold it.  Mr. Lugar advised he believes $32,219 is what the County amortizes over 30 years for the bond issue of $3.7 million, which the original value of acquisition and construction of the facility; and that is why staff is hoping the Board would just consider the status quo for that short period of time so staff can resolve the actual real negotiations.  Mr. Williams stated by running the numbers, even at the $6.5 million value, $32,000 works out to roughly a six percent return on the investment, plus whatever appreciation the property incurs.  Commissioner Infantini stated actually when she ran the numbers at $6.5 million at 6.5 percent interest, the rate was $41,000 per month; and she did it if $5.5 million was borrowed at 6.5 percent, it worked out to $34,763, which is right in line with where they are going.

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired how soon will staff will be able to sort out the disconnect on the criteria on the appraisal; with Mr. Lugar responding staff plans to get with Mr. Denninghoff and the appraiser; stated the appraiser has already acknowledged there were two different ways to appraise these facilities; and staff will come back with a report on the two methods.  Mr. Lugar advised the purchaser has the ability to obtain their appraisal and come back to the Board as well.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he wants to get the appraisals closer together; in this economic climate what the County has currently at $6.5 Million is way out of whack; he could buy half of S.R. 192 probably for that right now; and it needs to get straightened out as soon as possible and get a report back to the Board.

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to adopt Resolution authorizing a month-to-month lease with Northport Health Services of Florida, LLC while the negotiations between Brevard County and Northport health Services of Florida, LLC for the sale purchase of the West Melbourne Health and Rehabilitation Center facility located at 2125 New Have Avenue are conducted; and approve 90 days for both parties to do their appraisals, using the cost approach method of appraisal.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

     

Parks and Recreation Director Don Lusk stated he is going to go over the options quickly; and Assistant County Attorney Morris Richardson is going to be present to answer any questions.  He introduced Lisa Williams, Consultant from SMG Corporation; and Ms. Williams wrote the report and has been down to the County many times to do some of the community and group work related to this particular project.  He advised the report the Board has is a compilation of what Ms. Williams has written as well as information that staff has put together; and it includes a lot of information for the Board’s consideration.  He explained that there are three basic options presented to the Board in the report; the first one is long-term boarding, and that is utilizing the boards for that use; that would only be for the boarders use only; option 2 is local horse show/event facility, and the barns in that case would be used for day use and events related to the Equestrian Center; this particular option excludes long-term boarding; the third option is long-term boarding/day show use; that would be to utilize the actual barns for long-term boarding and making the Arena available for shows; and there would be no day use of the barns under that configuration.  He stated number 3 is very much how it was used historically.  He stated there are some legal points related to this and Morris might be able to do this quicker.

 

Assistant County Attorney Morris Richardson stated the legal issue with regard to the horse barns was the historic use was long-term boarding at a fixed rate based on a waiting list or prior occupancy criteria; the question arose whether that was lawful; in 2001 a Florida Statute was effected governing the lease or sale of County-owned property; Brevard County Ordinance 2005-45, adopted in 2005, conforms with the Statutory criteria; and ultimately the answer is yes, it can be let out for long-term boarding but it has to be done through one of the mechanisms provided in the Ordinance.  He advised there are essentially three options; one is to put the stalls out to bid, either individually, which would probably be impracticable, or as one large facility; two would be to put out an RFP, let someone manage it, and sublet it for boarding; and the third option would be a non-competitive lease with a non-profit or other entity that would perform a government function like recreation or something like that.  He stated the specific findings require that this would be in the best interest to the public, a public purpose, and that would require a super majority vote, as would the competitive bidding option; those are the only ways it can be lawfully used for long-term boarding; none of those options or considerations are necessary if it is put to some other use like day stalls or short-term use. 

 

Mr. Lusk stated the recommendation of the Consultant after looking at all of the things she was able to look at when she came here is option 2, which is a local horse show/event facility; that makes the 48 that have been constructed available for day use; it increases the number of event days from the average of 32 up to about 79; it could be used for local or small regional equestrian events; and it would not support the very large events that are available at other facilities similar to the one located in Jacksonville that Lisa is associated with.   He stated the Board talked a little bit earlier, and staff did not put that item on the Agenda this morning, about the economic impact of doing these kinds of shows and this kind of use of this facility.  He advised staff did take this to the two advisory boards involved, one is Wickham and the other is the South Advisory Board, and of course the Wickham Park Advisory Board voted for option 2 by a vote of 4-2; by the time they got to the end of the meeting, which was about two and one-half hours, staff did not have a quorum for the South Advisory Board; and that vote was sort of split two for option 2 and two for option 3.  He explained by the time they got to the end of the meeting, which was about two and one-half hours, they did not have a quorum for the South Advisory Board; and that vote was sort of split, two for option 2 and two for option 3.  He advised that Lisa is available for questions and he knows the Board needs to take the speaker cards.

 

Phil Rochford stated he was a horse owner in Pennsylvania; he owned four horses in the snow and ice; and he understands what it is to take care of horses.  He advised he should say five horses because he had a daughter that insisted she wanted her own horse and one night for some reason the stallion stall door was opened so they had five horses.  He stated as a citizen he does not understand why they are discussing this after a facility is built; inquired why it was not discussed before it was built; and stated he knows there was a referendum.  He stated he thinks a lot of people are under the impression to have shows there has to be stalls, that is not so; he attended one of the best shows in the northeast, which is the Sussex County Fair; all they had was a field; people brought in a horse trailer; most people had motor homes or would stay in a motel; if a person did not have a motor home, people would sleep in the back of the trailers or underneath an awning of the trailer; and that does not affect the fact that horses are boarded in any way.  He stated people enjoyed being together with his or her horses, talking, and sitting out having a cocktail or something after the show.  He stated the Board needs to look at if it is feasible for government to run it itself or would it be better to find an operator and lease it to them.  He stated the going rate around here to board a horse, meaning a person does not have to do anything they just ride, is approximately $500 a month, which includes feed, stall cleaning, et cetera; if a person does all of the stall cleaning, it is approximately $300 a month; so that is some significant income if it is found feasible to run it; and it would be about $20,000 month.  He stated he just does not want people to think because the stalls are leased out monthly it will destroy the show business.  He stated another thing that disturbed him is what was talked about earlier, which are the fair grounds; and if the fair grounds are put in it will completely destroy Wickham Park as far as being used for show; the County is going to have to board horses there.  He stated he read in the paper that it was compared to Ocala; this is not Ocala; if a person rides through Ocala, he or she will see multi-billion dollar breeding farms; the County will never be able to compete with Ocala; there will be shows; but reiterated the County absolutely will not compete with Ocala.  He advised in the future if the Board is talking about this, he would look twice as to if it may want it on a smaller scale and what it will cost the County.  He stated with Wickham Park, it is a beautiful facility; but this should have been decided ahead of time before it was built.

 

Jennifer Fountain stated she is a former boarder at Wickham Park; she had three horses there for five years; and her daughter and she have shown horses on a State level for years.  She advised many of the Board Members do not know her as the Board has changed leadership since Commissioner Carlson and the 2000 Referendum Committee of eight years ago met about this very issue; and she has been on that board for eight ears.  She noted the facts are the County in 2003 gave the boarders a written guarantee for returning when the barns were completed; they are completed; through five years of County protocol set meetings, the Board of County Commissioners appointed Referendum Group, interfaced with Project Coordinator Bill Ross and built the barns now at Wickham Park for the returning boarders; they initialed drawings and approved the changes desired outcomes by faithfully helping the County build what was needed for the renovated facility; today, eight years of broken promises and a brand new 2008 assessment is on the Agenda.  She stated the Board has to decide to uninvite the very people who built the barns, when the County asked for their help and input for over eight years; the Board has to decide on Option 1, 2, or 3; Option 1 leaves out show people all together; Option 2 leaves out the returning boarders all together; Option 3 leaves no one out, and keeps the historic footprint left by 45 years of community use alone and give the people back their park; and she opts for sharing as has been done from the beginning.  She stated the revenue stream for boarding and weekend shows will be right back on track; they just need to put back everything the County tore down and let the horse people back in the Park; Option 3 is a win/win for all; Option 2 is uninviting; and Option 1 is uninviting; and requested that Board consider Option 3 today.

 

Jane Dougert stated she is President and Representative of Dancing Horse Dressage and Cross Training; they are a riding club in Brevard County; and its members and all of those who have participated in the shows and events in the past as well of those who will participate in the future, she represents them.  She advised at the end of 2008 the Club had approximately 70 plus members; and many people participated in the horse shows that did not actually pay membership; they opened it up to them as well, so she is representing approximately 100 people.  She explained she truly means it when she says they truly rely on Wickham Park; they really have no other resources within the County; their Club at the time was holding at least three shows and one spring clinic; with on arena, the show can accommodate up to 60 rides, which mean they could bring in about 40 horses and riders, depending on how many rides a horse and rider combo enter; and if they had stalls, it would provide a safe space for participants horses before, during, and after the show, as well as overnight stabling for more than one-day events.  She explained as the gentleman stated earlier before her, it is true, a person does not have to have a stall to attend a show, but it makes a person’s life easier; this is so much safer to have a place to put a person’s horse; in the past they have always had to tie the horses to the trailer, or some horses do not tie well because they are young or inexperienced, the purpose of the shows put on at a local level are to train the horses to become accustomed to the show environment, which can be very frightening to young, unschooled, untrained horses; and this is sometimes their first experience.  She stated when tying a horse to a trailer a person takes the risk the horse can break its neck, break free, run over people, trample people, and create a huge liability for all people involved.  She advised the Dancing Horse Dressage Club does have its own liability insurance, but that horse could leave the show grounds, go all over the Park, could be in traffic, so this is really a problem as it is not safe; no matter how hard a person tries to keep a horse from getting loose, at least one horse seems to become frightened; and if they have stalls to put the horses in it can reduce the situation.  She stated it would also allow multiple-day events, which would draw participants from outside Brevard County; they would spend money on local hotels and help support the economy going to restaurants, et cetera; and needless to say, if they did have stalls they would be able to plan more activities and take full advantage of the facilities.  She stated as far as the boarders go that were there, those people who were boarding there were paying $75 a month for what was a ram-shackled at best facility barely safe for horses or humans; that was left by Mr. Wickham when he left the Park to the County; if boarders were to come back there, she would ask that the Board make it by today’s standards; there is a state-of-the-art facility; and it no longer has a ram-shackled barn.  She stated when there are 48 horses on a property confined to a 12 x 12 box, the animal needs to exercise; if not, they become dangerous, uncontrollable, unmanageable, and destructive; and they will destroy that barn.  She inquired where the County is going to put 48 horses on a daily basis in an outside area; and there is simply not the acreage for that within Wickham Park.  She stated for these reasons she is asking the Board, she is speaking for many local organizations that use that Park and rely on it, that it vote for Option 2, which would be to let the local clubs use the entire facility of Wickham Park Equestrian Center, especially the barns and all of the stalls by those who come there to partake and exercise their horses and show their horses; many of these people have very expensive horses, they do not want to tie their horse to a trailer and take the risk of the horse injuring himself and others; and requested the Board do the right thing.

 

Shannon Harmony stated she has had a show and pleasure boarding facility in Rockledge for 20 years; she was the President of the National Show Horse Association, which included the southern corner of the United States, for five or six years; and she has shown at Wickham Park since she moved to Florida approximately 25 years ago.  She stated she is in a position now where she shows at the National and Regional level, and does not tend to take her private horses to Wickham Park; she has a boarding facility full of clients who show regularly at the facility; she could probably take twice as many people with their horses on any given show date if she could take a load down in the morning, put those people and their horses someplace safe in a stall, return to her facility; it would be simple to double the amount of people that she brings to the facilities on a regular basis if there were stalls to put the horses in; they do not tie any of their horses to trailers; and she only takes a trailer where she can put the horses back in the trailer, tie them back up, and have them hang out if she can get under enough pine trees to get the shade she needs to even facilitate standing around all day.  She stated there is always the question the last few years that people ask her, her boarder’s, and other people in the community if it makes sense for the County to set itself up to compete with the entrepreneurs that are struggling to manage and keep the businesses open; a lot of boarding facilities have closed in the last few years with grand dreams of selling to people who are going to build homes and make subdivisions; and a lot of that property that has changed hands is still sitting unoccupied by homes or horses.  She explained everybody’s boarding facility offers a very different program to any kind of a board that is looking to keep a horse; there are lots and lots of open stalls in Central Brevard for anyone who wants to set up any kind of a caretaking situation he or she is looking for; if they want to do partial board, buy their own feed, hay, and bedding and take care of the horse, there are a lot of places for people to go; if people want to go to the other end of  the spectrum and stay at a facility that is more like hers where they do everything, there are plenty of stalls; and there is not a need in the area to open these stalls to boarders because there is not anywhere for these boarders to go.  Ms. Harmony advised she does not know anything about the broken promises; and there are only a few facilities around, she is sure that Lisa’s report covers it more thoroughly than she could even begin to.  She stated the thing about the additional income to the local area is kind of easy to skip over, but she has friends from all over the place that would be happy to show; there is a community in Florida in the Southeast of people who show in shows outside of their local area; they all stay in touch; and they look forward to seeing each other at the shows.  She noted no one comes to Wickham Park because there is no way they will stand around all day and hold on to their horse; they need to be able to have down time between classes; bring more than one horse that they are going to show; they may have a horse in the morning classes and they need to do something with that horse, get the horse out, tack it up, and that is going to go in the afternoon classes; and working out of a trailer does not facilitate them being able to do that.  She stated the County is missing those people; they are not going to stay in her guest bedroom, they are going to stay in a hotel; they will go out to eat somewhere; and all of that comes with it.  She stated the other question that comes up about Wickham Park a lot, when she talks to people who actually put the shows on, is that there are not enough stalls to do what they call the A Class shows; there are not enough permanent stalls; New Smyrna Beach is a facility that comes to mind that she does show her horses at, especially her young horses that Jane referred to that are just getting out in the world a little bit, and the temporary stalls are easy to put up; there are a couple of guys that do a wonderful job contracting those stalls; and oddly enough the Wickham Park Facility has lots of good, safe ground between the new barns to facilitate putting up temporary stalls.  She advised everyone puts up temporary stalls; in Tampa, for the regional shows, there will be a couple of hundred temporary stalls; they are not trying to compete with Ocala; those are breeding people up there; Ocala does not have very many good show facilities; and the ones that they have always put temporary stalls up to accommodate the larger crowds; and whether Wickham Park would want to consider those kinds of crowds or not is something to look at in the future.  She stated the way Wickham Park is set up it would be easy to put temporary stalls up to accommodate a larger show; she would like to see the stalls opened up for people to use them for the shows; people can come down on a Friday afternoon, go into those stalls, have their horses settled in, and can show more classes the next day because he or she is not dealing with getting up at 5:00 a.m. and getting all ready to go. 

 

David Palmbach stated he is part of the leadership group that represents a larger equestrian community; they have representation from 4-H, Referendum Committee, horse show users recreational users, and boarders; and he speaks with the interest of the whole group as they have been through countless meetings, including the Board of County Commissioners decisions making sure as they represented the group they went back and worked with the different constituent users of the facility, and subsequently presented what was a consensus to the advisory board and still even at the Advisory Board there was debate and descent.  He explained out of the advisory board came decisions; and subsequently rolled up to the South Area Board and the Board of County Commissioners.  He stated the bottom line is that through nearly a decade of these meetings with a lot of smart people involved, there is nobody that said they are going the wrong direction until November 2007; if the Commission votes to kick out the boarders, it will be disenfranchising an entire group of people in the County; it will preside over a significant waste of taxpayers money because the design and construction was done according to boarding of the barn buildings; however, if the Board votes to return the facility to its historical use, to the way it was designed and constructed, it will allow the largest growth in opportunity for the horse show people, and it will not be disenfranchising any group.  He stated the latter option is the highest and best use of the facility; it is inclusive rather than exclusive; and it provides for an opportunity for growth.  He noted last week at the joint advisory board meeting, which they understood that the South Area Advisory Board did not have a quorum, at that meeting there were two horse organizations present; and they both spoke the same message that regardless of what the Board decides with the barn buildings, they will return and hold horse shows at Wickham Park.  He explained at that same meeting the horse boarders told the advisory board members that if they will be kicked out of the Park that will end their long decades of use and good stewards of the Park.  He stated he is concerned about a few issues; he is concerned the horse show organization uses fear and blame to bolster their issue; specifically, matters such as disease, abuse, and close proximity of boarding; and inquired cannot disease, abuse, and close proximity problems occur with recreational use of the facility or with horse show users.  He stated he was standing immediately next to the woman who had her foot dismembered at a one-day dog show at Wickham Park Pavilion; and he gave testimony to Assistant County Attorney Morris Richardson on that matter.  He stated if the Board kicks out the boarders and allow for day-stall use, the new users of that barn and that facility will be humans and large animals; and he does not think it will avoid any problems.  He advised he also has concerns over the errors in the Agenda Report and the assessment, not the quality, integrity, or experience of who developed it; without correcting these errors they face greater distortion as additional boards make decisions upon these errors; and ultimately these errors become stated as fact because they were never disputed.  He stated they also have concern with the process because the Wickham Park Advisory Board did not have an opportunity to review this in their own setting; they had four brand new members, which the Chair of that Board did not even recognize, and staff had to inform her that the new members were members of her Board; when looking at the Senior Center, that was presented to the Wickham Area Board so they could have as much time as needed in their own setting to discuss it and enroll that decision up to the South Area Board; and that would have been a better venue, regardless of the outcome of it, for the equestrian issue so that the new people could have gotten up-to-speed with some of the culture and history of the Park.  He stated the irony is that in January 2006 they were told there would not be any barn buildings because of the 2004 hurricanes and increased cost of construction materials; they met with Sue Carlson and the other four Commissioners because all districts use this facility, and they proceeded back to a plan to make this project work; at the same time the Supreme Court was about to hear the issue of additional bond referendums to finish the parks, which was pulled because in November 2006 it was put in front of the voters and they voted for additional funding; and the irony is there may not have been buildings to be debated today.  He stated the people who fought, which represent all factions; and Sue Carlson made sure everyone was represented in those meetings.  He stated they see a couple of options; one relies on a promise of more than doubling the numbers of shows available; if that promise does not hold through, then the revenue argument falls to the floor; and the second option is returning the facility to a proven revenue stream and history of running the Park.  Mr. Palmbach distributed handouts to the Board.  He advised the handouts explain many of the issues that have been there; the County asked them to sign off on the design; they have concerns about the legal issue because they never leased the facility, they have always used the facility on a use-fee arrangement; and they think they can go down the road of use-fee arrangements.  He stated they noticed the County Statute says surplus, it is not surplus; the State Statute says lease of real property; it does not say if they have real property they have to lease it; and it just says if the County is going to lease real property, they are suggesting not to lease the barns and use those as a fee-use arrangement.  He stated he included a photograph and cost of portable stalls; these have been used by horse show people in the past; permanent day stalls, he included a sheet that could show maybe along Parkway Road inside the Park the installation of portable 100 stalls tied permanently to the ground, similar with what is done with mobile homes; permanent day stalls would cost $163,000 for 100 stalls; and they built 48 stalls for $850,000.  He stated finally, he gave the Board samples of present-day pricing of no-boarding self-care and partial boarding.          

 

Jeanne Winslow stated she is a long-term resident of Brevard County and a horse owner and competitor for more years than she cares to remember; and she believes the stalls at Wickham Park would be best used on a day-use basis for horse shows and equestrian use.  She advised has been fortunate over the last ten years to have further developed her interest in horse showing and built a family-oriented horse show organization called Horse Shows in the Park; and it got its start right here at Wickham Park in Brevard County nine years ago.  She stated as a show organization from 2001 to 2003, they gave a significant number of horse shows at Wickham Park bringing in up to 110 horses each show; they demonstrated some incredible success; they brought in horses from Sarasota, Orlando, Treasure Coast, and they made a significant contribution to Brevard County’s economy through the customers use of trainers, accommodations, goods, and services; and yes, these people did tie up to the trailer because they wanted to come someplace for a really good, high quality horse show.  She stated she cannot begin to tell the Board the difficulty she had finding the people who were coming in from out-of-town one-night accommodations at various local area stables; and she had quite a few people not come because of that.  She stated a better personal example of the economic impact that a horse show can have on the local area economy; it happened about two weeks ago; she was a show secretary for the small 100 jumper show at Wickham Park, and she had someone come up and she wanted to pay for her daughter’s lead line class; she told the lady she was going to charge $15 for the class and none of the other horse show fees apply; she told her that for the lead line class it has taken $100 worth of special clothing, $75 helmet, trailer fee for the pony, a trainer’s fee to get here, two lessons, and her grandparents come in from Georgia in order to see her today and they have stayed overnight; and she thinks the lead line class cost approximately $600 but they had a great time and will be back here next month. 

Ms. Winslow advised in 2003 Brevard County tore down the facilities that they used and they had to go elsewhere; they built upon the foundation laid at Wickham Park and they began offering larger shows in Lake County and Alachua County where they are now; they currently organize and manage 20 show days per year in Alachua County, with anywhere between 120 to 185 horses; and she brings in horses from Wellington to Pensacola to Southern Georgia and South Carolina, having a significant impact on their economy.  She stated the recent economy has proven a challenge to the higher echelons of horse showing; there is a 30 percent decline in the United States Equestrian Federations entries over the past year; inquired what has it meant for local based organizations; and stated nothing but good news.  She advised in today’s economy it is harder now from a financial standpoint to putting a person’s horse in their trailer and drive 200 miles and pay the fees; these same people are staying home, they have doubled the impact of local show organizations; as a result in 2008 when it cost $4.50 a gallon for the Diesel Dooly, she had 185 horses come in July to the horse show, the most ever; and it was repeated again in September and October.  She stated four weeks ago in January when it was 19 degrees in the indoor in Gainesville, they had a horse show with 120 horses and over 1,000 entries; that very same day 20 miles away the local County-owned facility had over 500 entries; and 50 miles away, they had a horse show with over 120 horses in attendance.  She noted this is on one day where it is 19 degrees.  She stated as schedules get tighter, family time becomes more precious; show management has seen a shift in the last ten years towards their exhibitors desire to utilize on-ground stabling; they turned down competitions that do not have the abilities to supply it; the climate is different than it was in 2001; she knows of three large 100 jumper barns in Orlando that would s hip over a minimum of six to eight horses each on Friday to attend the shows at Wickham Park, stay over night in Brevard County, and enjoy their experience here; and she knows this because right now they are putting all of their horses in the trailers and they are driving three hours north to Gainesville.  She advised people do not want to do that anymore as they would much rather come to Melbourne.  She stated right now other show ground county of State-owned facilities are experiencing the highest occupancy rates on record; there are either no or extremely limited dates available at the Tampa Fair Grounds, the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center, Clay County Agricultural Arena, Clarcona Horseman’s Park, or the Southeast Livestock Pavilion in Ocala; all of these are county or State-owned organizations; and she knows because she has tried to get dates there over the last two years.  She explained a number of Brevard-based equestrian venues currently utilize Wickham Park such as Harmony Horses for the Handicapped, Space Coast Arabian Horse Clubs, Dancing Horse Dressage, and Brevard County 4-H in addition to horse shows in the Park; but there are many others inside and outside of Brevard County who would have great use of these facility the size it is right now; no more portable stabling and no tents; and with the 48 stalls there right now and the addition of maybe using the paddocks on the back side.  She advised she can bring in, and anyone can bring in, the Pasa Fina horse clubs, open, please, English, western shows, breed inspections, Spanish horses, Welsh Pony Associations, and driving competitions; each one of those organizations have approached her as an event manager and asked her to hold one of their shows; and she has had to tell them she had to look at the venues that are available.  She stated from a standpoint of an equestrian and a horse owner, she believes the Wickham Park Equestrian Center should remain open for day and event use, coupled with the ability to function as an evacuation center in times of crisis and need such as they saw during Hurricane Faye; the need for this availability was proven; as a taxpayer and a small business owner, she does not believe Brevard County should offer direct competition to the local area horse boarding operations of which there are many scattered throughout the County all struggling to earn a living in these more challenging economic times; it is true that change comes hard; but sometimes change has to come.  She advised she had a dialogue a few days ago, which really proved that to her; someone her own age grew up riding in Brevard County at a place called the Cape Canaveral Saddle Club; she road up and down on the beaches in what now is known as Port Canaveral; and that has changed.  She noted from a horse perspective, there are many other critical areas of need; as she stated to the Wickham Park Advisory Board just last week, anytime 48-1,000 pound animals living in close proximity with their associated caregivers and no carefully micro-managed level of care standard, there will be the drama and trauma of life in a boarding barn situation.  She advised the drama associated with a boarding operation can range from a horse being underfed or ill cared for due to any number of reasons; their owner may have lost their job and cannot pay for the good feed anymore; they do not know enough, care enough, or are too busy; they can be handled in a private boarding operation but it is difficult when the County is the landlord; it is unfortunate that a partial board operation has to manage the lowest order of owner ability, which is not present in this room today; the boarders here represent those that gave their horses wonderful and considerate care; but the ongoing significant maintenance issues as a result of 48 horses in close proximity, the additional acreage necessary for adequate turnout, and healthy maintenance does not add up.  She stated she supports horse showing at Wickham Park; and she would like to continue to provide a safe, family-oriented fun and competitive horse show.  She urged the Board of County Commissioners to vote and release the stalls for day use and event use.

 

Liz Lee stated she was appointed to the Wickham Park Advisory Board, and it was an interesting experience; her first day, a couple of members of the public asked her where she lived; she told them she was from Cocoa; they asked her why she was here as it does not concern her; and that made her really sad because she always thought of Wickham Park as a regional park that should be opened to every member of the community.  She stated there are a lot of boarding of facilities; the County does not have a lot of horse shows; she used to have to drive all over the County and other states to try to go to shows; she has had horse for about 35 years; her husband was active-duty military; and she has been in every type of boarding facility.  She stated she has witnessed a lot of different changes as the economy changed, as the Air Force did not have money to help off-set the cost of the horse ownership; owning a horse is very expensive; her horses were very expensive; she would never tie her horse up to a trailer at a show; and she has way too much invested in them and would never want to see them or anyone around them get hurt.  She explained Wickham Park is a great facility for shows; it is not for huge shows but nice for the small training shows; it opens it up for the entire community and beyond; the people who are board there is a small number of people; and if a person is doing partial board and is expected to go there twice a day to feed his or her horse, they clearly do not live 50 miles away.  She stated she does not look at Wickham Park as a neighborhood facility.  She stated based on her many years of showing, horse ownership, and the type of people she showed with at Wickham Park, it would be a huge benefit to the County to open it up to the entire County.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated as the Board knows, when a new Commissioner is elected many things come with the territory; Wickham Park is in her District; and she inherited this.  She advised she does not have a horse; she is trying to do this as evenly as possible and understanding the entire picture; once it became known that the barns were going to be there and the equestrian center, she started viewing Wickham Park not as a District 4 Park but that she is holding in her District something that is precious to the entire taxpayers of Brevard County; she received many telephone calls from people saying now is the opportunity to do it right; there are new barns and an equestrian center; and it should be looked at for the best and highest use for everyone in Brevard County.  She stated this is a passionate issue; if there is anyone to be blamed for a delay, it is probably her insistence on taking the time and doing it right; she did not want to do anything until she felt comfortable that this is what the public and equestrian community wanted; and that is why everyone is here today and the item is at this status.  She noted a lot of discussion has been going on from the Report, and also the Report that came forward also on the Fair; they would not compete with the Fair because that will be very large shows; inquired what is the best thing for the children; is boarding going to be the best for the children; stated when she looks at the pros and cons, they had 48 stalls; but only 36 households got use of that.  She stated that kept 16 children the ability to board a horse if the Commissioners let multiple horses go in there; she flipped to the other side and asked herself if they have shows and more activity from different groups, what is the exposure to the child by doing it this way; and the children may want to come to Wickham Park and see the shows.  She advised some people may want to take a class but cannot afford to buy a horse, but maybe he or she could take a class.  She stated her other concern is she feels uncomfortable about Brevard County in going with competition with the private home grown businesses who does stabling; it would be putting 48 horses out of private income if the County did open up full-time; and she has been looking at all of the possibilities.  She stated the gentleman said this morning that the equestrian shows were positive income generators; because of that, looking at the report very thoroughly, and showing that yes, the County is not going to get 100 percent even match for what the investment and income is going to be; shows have more of a potential of matching than long-term boarding; and there is a better chance to provide the most bang for the bang for the buck in that direction.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated Commissioner Bolin covered everything he wanted to say; he thinks the major issue to look at is what option has the least amount of impact to the taxpayers all over Brevard County; it is a regional park; principal-wise, government should not be competing with private industry anywhere on any level; and this is doing that is the County does long-term boarding.  He stated he wants to offer Option 2.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he is sorry that people were led somewhere down the road that the County was going to allow these people to return; and he is not sure where that came from.  Chairman Nelson advised it came from the Board of County Commissioners.  Commissioner Fisher stated this is kind of like a Parks and Recreation quality of life issue; when it is a quality of life issue, the Board needs to make sure it reaches to everyone it can; he agrees with Commissioner Anderson that Option 2 allows that to happen; and talking to horse people if he or she does not have the ability to have a stall, more than likely they will not come to a show or stay overnight. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve Option 2, to use Wickham Park Equestrian Center for local horse shows and events, utilizing the stalls for day use and events, excluding long-term boarding, and allowing for increasing one to two-day equestrian competitions for small to medium events.

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated when he mentioned the Board said they were in the stabling business, he was the one that was the messenger; he worked with the community and had the meetings; that ended up being the decision; and reiterated he was actually the messenger saying this is exactly how it is going to be.  He advised a bunch of hurricanes came through in 2004; it fowled up the schedule; everything just went haywire; and the Board probably would not be having this discussion if everything had proceeded the way it was planned.  He noted the parks side of him says if the Board were going to do an event facility it would not have been designed the way it exists because it was recaptured the way it was not for the use the Board is now contemplating; it is troubling to him that Wickham Park is special; it is unique in the community; a lot of folks feel very strongly about it; he worries it cannot handle the carrying capacity the Board is discussing; and now the Board is talking about events on a weekly basis almost and of a larger scale than the County is used to.  He explained that side of the Park is going to take a lot more use than it ever did; carrying capacity is a concern to him; he noticed all of the parking spots were counted in the Park to come up with 1,000 parking spots; inquired if that means there is no swimming and picnicking; and there is a historical use of that Park that goes well beyond this aspect.  He stated Wickham Park is there because of the vision of Joe Wickham; Joe did not buy or donate the Park; but he had the vision and foresight to recognize the community needed that type of facility and got the Board to put in motion the acquisition and the development of that Park.  He advised he will not be able to support the motion because he feels there was a commitment made to the citizens who were paying for it; if a person lives south of Barnes Boulevard; he lives on Merritt Island and he is not paying for it; and the referendums were specific to portions of the community.  He stated the sad thing is the Board had this discussion at that time when deciding what to do with the Park; and the winner at that time was boarding. 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she is sorry for the fact that the people were lead to believe one thing and then a new Board comes in and changes things; South Beach Park down by her was originally supposed to have soccer and baseball fields, and possibly a skate park; things happen and change; and the most fiscally responsible current use it to try to allow for the horse shows.  He advised it does not preclude the Board in the next two years, if this does not pan out, to be the best use; one the County begins renting to long-term boarders it will always be that; but if this does not work out, not a positive experience, and not financially rewarding, the Board can always change the decision.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if from the south of Barnes Boulevard to the end of the County line is actually paying for this referendum; with Chairman Nelson responding the referendum of 2000 and then the follow-up in 2006; and stated it was the dollars from those communities that are paying for the improvements in those communities.  Commissioner Fisher stated it disturbs him that it would be limited to only 36 families; he thinks the Board will subsidize it no matter which way it goes; but if it is going to do that, it should do it for as many taxpayers as it can.

 

Chairman Nelson called for a vote on the motion.  Motion ordered and carried; Chairman Nelson voted nay.

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated as this moves forward he would like staff to monitor the utilization and impact to the remainder of the Park; it is something the Park and Recreation folks will need to do on a regular basis; and one of the websites for one of the organizations talked about expanding to a second ring.  He stated there is no way to be able to make it through all of the items without a lunch; and this is one item with a citizen who wishes to speak.  Commissioner Anderson advised he has two items he would be willing to defer if that is proper; and that is the impact fee study and St. Johns Heritage Parkway.  Chairman Nelson advised there is a card on that item.

 

 

Chairman Nelson advised all of the Commissioners have met with the applicant; Option 2 is acceptable to him; but he does not know about the rest of the Board.

 

Natural Resources Management Director Ernie Brown stated Option 2 directs staff to pursue Code amendments to provide relief to existing public access working waterfronts as outlined above, and consistent the appellants Option C; and to continue abeyance of the Code Enforcement until it is resolved.

 

Motion by Commissioner Infantini, seconded by Commissioner Fisher, to approve action to direct staff to pursue Code amendments to provide relief to existing Public Access Working Waterfronts as outlined in the Agenda Report and consistent with the Appellant’s Option C; and to continue abeyance of Code enforcement until the issue is resolved regarding the appeal of Gary Coppala, owner of Sebastian Beach Inn.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Cliff Repperger, Attorney for the Applicant, stated the ruling or vote the Board just took was on the Notice of Appeal of the denial of the building permit; at the current time the Code Enforcement action that is in play is an abeyance while the Notice of Appeal is being resolved; they are under the assumption that the Board’s action today would continue the abatement until the issue is fully resolved. Mr. Brown stated that is his understanding as well; and if the Board approves a Code amendment that would cure this, then that would cure the Code Enforcement issue.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated the applicant has the only restaurant facility from the new traffic light in Melbourne Beach south; three others on the ocean have gone out of business; and she thanked the Board for approving this so the locals will still have one venue to go to.

 

 

Maureen Rupe stated she wanted to appeal to the Board on the impact fee suspension; the current economy is bad; approximately 3,000 businesses in Brevard County closed their doors in 2008; and people are constantly hearing of more layoffs within the County as businesses struggle to stay alive.  She inquired why would anyone believe that increasing competition that takes away business from the current business is going to help the economy; the problem is due to people moving into Brevard County and requiring more; people in today’s economy are worried about their income and so they are not spending; banks are not giving credit to struggling businesses to cover costs during the downturn; and in turn are forcing businesses to layoff people, which in turn makes more people worry causing a downward spiral.  She advised if the Board removes impact fees for those who will be in direct competition to existing business it will do nothing but move jobs from one place to another; when the new business opens, the current business already struggling has to let people go or close their doors entirely; this does not increase jobs and does not help the economy it just moves the job from one location to another; growth will cost money; and if the County removes impact fees, the only revenue source left for infrastructure besides the declining gas tax, it will have to increase taxes to current residents or decrease services to all; and all while not providing no net increase in jobs to justify either decision.  She explained if the Board wishes to have development pay impact fees over time or link impact development to a type of property tax abatement program, which requires a certain number of newly generated jobs in targeted industries, that would be much more fundamentally sound and help the County economically than just deleting this important source to fund infrastructure improvements needed to grow; there are still concerns with impact fees paid over time; and inquired what if the business went bankrupt or there were other problems.  She advised a number of studies show the impact fees do deter economic growth and can have the opposite effect; a 2003 study titled Pain for Prosperity Impact Fees and Job Growth from the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policies stated, “Impact fees can directly fund infrastructure needs and indirectly boost job growth by expanding infrastructure and buildable land supply with demand.  Indeed, impact fees may be needed to sustain growth, particularly if the alternative is an inability to expand infrastructure to meet the needs of new development.”  She advised an article in the Illinois Financial Officers Association Newsletter titled Impact Fees a Vote of Confidence for Economic Growth stated, “Impact fees send a message that a community is planning for an securing the financing of infrastructure to meet the demands of new development.”  She stated a study entitled Effects of Proportionate Share Impact Fees by three universities to the Housing Policy Debate Publication in 2007 stated, “Unlike most types of taxes, impact fees are earmarked for facilities that would directly serve new development and may be better characterized as user fees or benefit taxes.  The direct economic benefits include the actual investment in new roads, schools, water, and sewer system extensions.  The indirect benefits are also important and may include improving the predictability of the marketplace knowing when and where infrastructure investment will occur and treating all developers more equitability if they are willing to pay the fees.”  She stated growth does cost money; if impact fees are suspended, she would like the answer to questions she has; inquired what will happen with the improved infrastructure projects that are in place but not yet fully-funded; is the Board ready to cancel those and the jobs they were supposed to create; what happens with those properties that have already paid impact fees; will this suspension affect any agreements such as The Viera Company that has paid for infrastructure; and further inquired was the agreement that future impact fees would be waived as reimbursement to the money the company spent.  She inquired how much would the County have to pay back or would it have to pay any back; stated the Board needs to get serious about real economic development, redevelopment of the urban areas instead of encouraging the ultimate sprawl, and bring in sustainable industry instead of using old ideas for a new type of problem; new business does need to be brought in but it needs to be targeted, not just throwing out the baby with the bath water; and deleted impact fees for all commercial transportation would do nothing but pass on that cost to the current residents.

 

Chairman Nelson inquired if the Board can get a copy of what she read; stated Ms. Rupe raised some interesting questions; and in preparation for the next Board meeting, it would not hurt to have staff prepared to answer those questions. 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated what he was referring to in the discussion was the report the Board received; and some of those questions are answered in the report he requested from staff.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the Board can put this item on the Agenda for February 26^th.  He stated he is presuming that Commissioner Anderson is also going to do that with the Parkway; with Commissioner Anderson responding that was just a follow up to the TPO meeting; and stated it is not time urgent.  Chairman Nelson advised there was no action taken on the item; but requested Interim County Manager Whitten put those back on the Agenda for February 26^th.

 

 

 

Dan Overstreet stated he became aware of Mr. Koenig through Florida TODAY from numerous articles that it has published on him in his growth and awareness in the problem of drugs and the recidivism rate in the community, specifically a phrase that has come up in the last eight years is we are a Nation under the rule of law and that is what separates the United States from any other countries; and there is a problem in that people deviate from that rule of law because people are allowing law enforcement to take a person who they reasonably believe have committed a felony or misdemeanor and tell the person they will forgive them if they will go to work for them.  He advised they bypass the judiciary as there is no judicial review and there is no advocate for the individual, so often times they will find a young man or girl and will tell them that they caught he or she with something in their car; stated they tell the young people they will take them to jail and their lives will never be the same unless he or she buys guns or drugs; and they put them in harms way.  He stated he is troubled because he does not think that law enforcement should exclusively make these decisions and circumventing the judiciary.

 

 

Chairman Nelson advised he is required to read the following:  “The Brevard County Board of County Commissioners will now recess its regular meeting for the purpose of discussing settlement negotiations and/or strategies related to litigation expenditures in the City of Palm Bay versus Brevard County.  The persons attending the attorney/client private meeting will be Robin Fisher, Commissioner of District 1; Chuck Nelson, Commissioner of District 2; Trudie Infantini, Commissioner of District 3; Mary Bolin, Commissioner of District 4; Andy Anderson, Commissioner of District 5; Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten; County Attorney Scott Knox; Assistant County Attorney Morris Richardson; and Angel Hampton with Brevard Associated Court Services.  The attorney/client private session will now commence in the County Manager’s Conference Room, 3^rd Floor, Building C at the Brevard County Government Operations Center, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida  32940.  The estimated length of the attorney/client session is one hour or less.”

 

The meeting recessed at 2:22 p.m. and reconvened at 3:32 p.m.

 

 

Chairman Nelson advised he is required to read the following:  “The private attorney/client meeting in the case of City of Palm Bay versus Brevard County has been terminated and the regular public meeting of the County Commission is hereby reopened.”

 

 

 

Harold Koenig, President of H.E.A.R.T., stated for over ten years H.E.A.R.T. has been trying to stop Florida Law Enforcement from using young errant girls as bait, exploiting them as confidential informants, even providing them with drugs to use in the unconscionable undertakings; the Board has supported this effort numerous times; and he is coming again for help.  He advised following up on his earlier October 28^th appeal, which apparently fell through the cracks during recent changes; this issue may be new to Commissioners individually, but not to staff; Brevard girls have been killed as confidential informants; others have survived like his daughter; but they live in mortal fear of being uncovered as former confidential informants.  He explained recently a young, beautiful errant Florida girl, 23-year old FSU graduate Rachel Hoffman was killed in the Tallahassee area while being used as bait as a confidential informant; this tragic case was reviewed in all its horror on National TV, Dateline, a one-hour program last January 23^rd.  He stated H.E.A.R.T. failed in earlier attempts with Governor Chiles and Governor Bush to stop this evil barbaric practice, even while remedial legislation was being drafted by the State Legislature upped the legislation view it as a third-rail issue; he is now asking his third Governor to finally stop the killing; he asks this Commission to contact the Governor Christ’s scheduler to urge the Governor to meet with H.E.A.R.T. and Rachel’s father; Irv Hoffman will speak for dead girls families; and he will speak for those girls who survived by the grace of God and today live a degraded life of hell.  He requested the Board help by calling the Governor to meet with them.  The Board should know that law enforcement tends to vigorously object to his call for remedial Legislation; ask his friend Scott Knox who accompanied him several years ago to the then Sheriff’s Office to discuss a number of H.E.A.R.T. issues; and when he raised the confidential informant issue, they were both kicked out of the Sheriff’s Office.  He noted that law enforcement contends it is necessary to infiltrate the drug community with pretty, young, and sick drug-abused girl’s first-time non-violent offenders using them as bait, placing them in harms way to promote public safety; this argument is nonsense even refuted by increasing number of law enforcement leaders such as Wayne Torpy, former member of the Melbourne Police Department and candidate for Brevard Sheriff, Tallahassee Policy Chief Dennis Jones, and others; the Government does not need sexually attractive young girls who are sick and untrained to infiltrate deadly drug organizations; and no one can justify placing a young life at risk to avoid a prosecution as a first-time non-violent offender.  He advised that Brevard County has two Constitutional Officers, Scott Ellis and J. R. Russo, who support H.E.A.R.T. on this issue.  He stated he is a U.S. Navy Veteran of World War II and Korea, and while serving in the Pacific protecting the basic freedoms, never did he envision substances as deadly as Crack Cocaine could place people’s daughters, the most previous resource, in worse bondage and horror than what happened with the military enemies; even assisted by the United States Government; and yet this happens in Brevard County and throughout Florida.  He stated as watchmen seeing the evil enemy, they are blowing the trumpet again to call the community into action to stop the flow of the daughter’s blood onto the streets.  He advised his mentally-ill teenage daughter was used again as late as a little over a year ago as a confidential informant, vigorously prosecuted again, and is now in State prison; she was addicted to Crack Cocaine, arrested the first time and charged with non-violent felonies, her car was confiscated, and his wife and he were not allowed to talk with her after her arrest because she was over 18 years old; drug detectives authorized by the Brevard State Attorney’s Office offered her a deal after finding that she had smoked Crack with a prime suspect for a murder in Brevard County if she would be a confidential informant and try to get a confession out of the suspect; and they would drop all charges, wipe her record clean, return her confiscated car, and would not tell her parents.  He stated she was then wired with a hidden transmitter, totally stoned on Crack according to the detectives, given $85 cash to go out and buy Crack Cocaine, given her car, instructed to pick up the murder suspect after buying the Crack, and together go to a Crack House where his daughter was to get the murder suspect to talk about the murder, the murder weapon, et cetera, and to smoke Crack with the murder suspect as she tried to get the confession; for six hours his daughter smoked Crack with this murder suspect who refused to talk about the murder, only wanted to talk about having sex; his daughter left the meeting, met with drug detectives, returned the unsmoked Crack and was released for one day; she was rearrested, recharged with seven felonies, her car was confiscated again, and she was taken to the County Jail; and in route she was warned not to discuss her confidential activity or the detectives would reveal her as a confidential informant to the murder suspect.  She stated as she was aggressively being prosecuted, having put her life at risk and having law enforcement renege to help mitigate her case he paid several thousand dollars as restitution money for money she had allegedly stolen; his daughter’s receipt included $500 paid to a local police department for costs incurred in his daughters case; imagine, he paid for the Crack Cocaine that the police gave to his daughter to smoke; inquired if the Board can see the evil in that; and he requested that the Board contact Governor Christ’s Office on his behalf. 

 

Jim Kelly stated he is a friend of Harold’s, he belongs to H.E.A.R.T., and he supports him.  He stated he has a success story, his daughter made out very well; 11 years ago when she was 21 years old she got hooked on Crack Cocaine; she was busted in a raid and taken to jail; the next day his wife went to talk with the drug authorities to see what could be done; and they said if they could wire her up and use her as a confidential informant they will give her the car back and let her loose.  He stated he said no way; he hired a lawyer; with the lawyer’s help, his wife’s help, and the drug court they got his daughter at The Bridge, which is a rehab center, for six months; and she has now been clean for ten years. 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she would like to move forward; she has three young daughters; she would hate for any of this to happen to any of them; people make poor choices, get scared, and do not want to disappoint their parents so they do not tell them what may have been offered to them; and she would like to get onboard to contact Governor Christ’s Office if the Board agrees.

 

Chairman Nelson stated he does not have any issue at all with discussions with the Governor on this; it would be helpful if the Commissioners talk independently talk with the Sheriff’s Office and find out what its policy is; three of the Commissioners are just coming up to speed on this particular issue; but he would want to give the Sheriff’s Office the benefit of the doubt.  He stated independently the Commissioners will each meet with the Sheriff to discuss the issue.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he would prefer that; as some people know, he has a background in drug enforcement and he knows the use of informants; and he wants to get the Sheriff’s side of the story before moving forward. 

 

Chairman Nelson stated the Commissioners will independently get additional information; and Commissioner Infantini is volunteering at some point to continue that process.     

Ron Butt stated he had never attended a Board meeting; and he has learned a lot today.  He was cited for a Code violation for the steps going from his backyard down to the water; he violated two ways, one not pulling a permit, and the other not keeping up with the new standards of what they want to pass a permit to build; everyone he spoke to in the County were helpful and told him how to work his way through the system; but his house having been built 55 years ago cannot comply physically with the new Code that has been imposed from the State DNR.  He stated it has to meet a 15-foot setback where the steps are supposed to be pile-supported five feet in the air for at least 15 feet; and then a small structure can be built of 100 square feet, like a deck or something like that.  He stated there should be at least 15 feet between the dunes and where the structure can be built; presently at his property because of erosion, most recently the May tropical storm, there is about 11 feet between what was left of the old pool deck; he needs to seek relief; he has exhausted his Code Enforcement appeals; and in speaking with Code Enforcement, they have been encouraging and sympathetic in trying to solve the problem but if people take a look at it he or she can tell that use the property as one of these type of walkways cannot really be made.  He advised with the newer houses that go through now there are different setbacks; it may be expensive, but these people are building a million dollar house; in his case the only reason he did not pull a permit is that he did not know they had to; when the ocean came up, they brought sand, and they bulldozed over what was left of his crossover; and then they packed the sand in.  He stated the reason he is present today is to ask the Board to give him some relief; financially it will be $8,000 to $10,000; he is getting long in the tooth to be tearing up docks and throwing them around; but to tear it up and put another one in it will cost approximately $10,000; and he does not have that kind of money.  He explained he is under an order to pull a permit and comply or his property will have a lien put on it; the reason he feels he should be given special consideration, besides the physicality of it, is that he cannot use his property; that is why he bought a house on the ocean; and this dock on there now is perfectly strong.  He advised he has spent hundreds of dollar and hundreds of hours watering sea oats; he has lived on the ocean almost his entire life; he is not asking for any help, he is just asking to live and let live; someone came out from the County and took some pictures; and he showed them to the Board.  He stated as the Board can see he or she can see there is about a distance from here to there before his steps come down from downstairs on his pool deck; and no one wants to sit on crummy sand that they are hauling from Cocoa.  He advised he does not have the money; he is homesteaded there; and he requested that the Board give him some relief.

 

Natural Resources Management Director Ernie Brown stated as the applicant has illuminated, this has been a fairly long process that staff has been trying to work through to come up with a legal solution; staff was in fact able to work with the homeowners to come up with a legal solution prior to the last magistrate meeting; that was proper to the magistrate and agreed upon; and they requested 120-day extension, which staff supported because recognizing his requested need for more time to get it corrected.  He advised these regulations are in place, the nuances of them a person could debate some of the issues here and there; and the bottom line with them is they are designed to protect property and ensure access while still maintaining the integrity of the dune  systems.  He noted the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) actually regulates the construction standards for such activities as crossovers, and it requires six-foot depth of pile without any concrete and sufficient elevation to maintain dune stabilizing vegetation; it does not happen to have a specified height; the County has the ability to reduce the height from five feet down to three feet, employing ADA, which is what staff also afforded the applicants to employ here; in this particular situation, the applicant when they applied to DEP to rebuild, they are going to have to tear it down and start over anyway because they cannot be flushed with the dune system nor can they use concrete as was done in the original construction, or the two foot piles they have currently in place; and unfortunately, in order to meet the State standards for construction, they are going to have to rebuild.  He stated staff has afforded them through the special magistrate process, which is the process the Board has employed to address these issues, a 120-day extension to rebuild in such a manner that it is not only compliant with the County’s law but also compliant with State construction standards.  He advised under the current Policy the Board does not have a position to provide a waiver of this nature as being requested right now; it would require an amendment to the Code; staff is in the middle of the Code Enforcement process; but he would be required to rebuild to meet the DEP construction standards regardless of the decisions made today. 

 

Chairman Nelson inquired if it requires a DEP permit; with Mr. Brown responding yes.  Chairman Nelson inquired if it is reasonable to expect the applicant could get one of those within the 120-day period and build it; with Mr. Brown responding yes.  Mr. Brown stated John McDowell with DEP is waiting for this decision so that DEP can issue with the building construction standards of elevated to maintain sufficient new stabilizing vegetation as well as the necessary six-foot depth of pile.  Chairman Nelson inquired if the issue is one of cost; with Mr. Brown responding it becomes one of cost; but stated the one other element that DEP would allow that the County does not allow is the expanded deck system associated with it; the County allows crossovers but not the actual deck arrangement; and right on the crescent dune is where the deck system is located.  Mr. Brown advised that is something that would have to come back before the Board; he would have to use the other deck on his property for the enjoyment of that; and the crossover system would be for the access to the beach under current Code.

 

Assistant County Manager Mel Scott advised on Attachment D in the Board’s package, a lot of times staff is asked to have the regulations pass the sniff test; when talking about not wanting concrete poured in with those pilings and having them be at least six feet deep, it prevents Attachment D from happening; it is not just when the storms come staff is picking up these big piling systems off of the beach, they are also lugging the concrete; it does become a safety issue; and there actually is some wisdom in the prohibition of concrete fill and the six feet piling depth.  Chairman Nelson advised that is a State issue; and the County has no ability to waive the State Regulation.

 

Mr. Butt stated since he and Mr. Brown spoke that rag tag way that it was being supported; that was that way because when they put it in they waited until they brought sand; the picture that he has on the initial violation of Code Enforcement where it was about three feet in the sand, then the sand all washed away, he has since taken eight-foot four bys and that is what these new pictures are if he would like to review them; and by looking at any of the pictures as far as the eye can see, including everyone of the city, State and County docks are sitting right on the dunes, not setback 15 feet.  He stated his was not either until they came with the sand and bulldozed the rest of it over; that is the only reason he replaced it; and his property to the high water line that he pays taxes on is out about another ten feet.

 

Chairman Nelson stated Mr. Butt needs to direct his comments to the Board.

 

Mr. Butt stated they are enforcing a State Regulation that was done by somebody and are reading about putting six-foot pilings; he guarantees the Board he could get in a four-wheel drive tomorrow and go up and down this beach; that he is what is going to have to do; and there is not reason he should be singled out. Chairman Nelson stated the issue is the Board does not have the ability to tell him to do something else; while he has made a repair that looks better than the way it was, it looks like it does not comply with DEP’s requirements; and the Board has no ability to fix that.  Mr. Butt inquired if he could be hooked up with that Mr. Boles the lawyer that got $33,000 for his property that is worth $11,000.  He stated if someone did not call him in for a Code violation he would not standing here today.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she understands what Mr. Butt is saying because she knows there are other people in the South Beach community that lost their dune crossovers and docks, and they built back substantially the same with minor larger modifications; and as long as no one called and told on them they are good to go.  She advised the County only enforces what it is told about, staff does not go looking for problems; the problem with this right now is since someone did tell on Mr. Butt, the Board does not have a way to remedy; it is not one of the County’s variances to make him whole; and she guesses it is up to the DEP.  Mr. Brown stated this structure is going to have to be rebuilt regardless of any action the County may take; to meet the County’s current Code, which specifies a certain height and distance back, the crossover itself does not require a distance; there cannot be a setback for a crossover; the setback issues are designed to protect accessory structures; and 15-foot back from the crested dune is an engineering based on a 25-year storm event of where it would be safely placed.  He advised it is a matter of protecting infrastructure; that actually has some engineering science behind, the setback from the dune, to try to minimize people’s repetitive losses associated with a pretty high energy oceanic system that exists on a critically eroding beach system; and those are just realities that the Board has historically put into place to ensure that people are protecting themselves from recurring and repetitive losses associated with this.  He noted since this violation was brought to the County’s attention, several other violations similar to it have been anonymously reported; one neighbor immediately to the south and two immediately to the north; both are in the system for failure to obtain a permit prior to construction; now it is a matter addressing five properties in this basic area that are dealing with this failure to obtain a building permit prior to construction; many of them will be dealing with the same issue of DEP requiring them to build in accordance with construction standards; and they will likely have to redo the crossovers as well as a result of becoming aware of the scenario.  He explained the construction standards for DEP are also designed to try to stabilize it; when a storm does hit, in the applicants pictures, show that the original insufficient piling resulted in vulnerabilities of the stairwell; it has since been shored up, which is great; but it will not meet DEP or County standards at the current juncture.  He stated staff did realize the limitations and the request that the applicant has made, therefore, staff supported before the special magistrate the 120-day extension to allow him to try to get it fixed to both meeting State Building Construction Criteria and the County’s Setback and Elevation Criteria.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he can just see this spreading and spreading and there will be a room full of angry residents here pretty soon.  He advised the intent of the Ordinance is to allow vegetation to grow and reduce erosion; this item could get huge; and inquired if there is a way to go to the State and ask for some remedies or a waiver procedure.  Mr. Brown advised he cannot speak for the State; the purpose of the State’s regulations are to ensure the integrity of the structures as well as maintaining the integrity of the dunes; in this particular scenario whether they were built back to pre-existing conditions or enhanced without the benefit of a permit the reality is that unfortunately if they had come and gotten a permit, they still would have been able to build the structure that they desired to maintain the access to the beach; the dilemma is decisions were made on behalf of the applicants to not pursue building permits, which the construction standards are designed actually to protect them as well as the dune system; and he is not sure how receptive DEP would be to soliciting waivers from that to divert from those objectives.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated the problem is prior to the hurricanes the permit backup for people with docks and dune crossovers was enormous; finally they waived the fee because so many people were applying for fees; some people may have circumvented part of the process, but a lot of people she believes genuinely did not know a permit was necessary to fix what was broken; and now they will be doubly penalized because he or she does not fall within the current Code.  She advised Mr. Butt is not infringing on anyone and he did not build back more than he started with in the first place; he does not have a pool anymore; and inquired if the Board can pursue something kind of like a class action suit for the taxpayers; stated all of these folks are down in her neighborhood and she knows what is going to happen; and she would like to work with the State on this.  Mr. Brown stated staff can certainly look at that; this is reminiscent of the dock discussion that transpired over the past few years trying to resolve those issues; it is an interesting challenge; but staff can look into that.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated it might buy Mr. Butt another 120 days, she does not know; she is not saying it will go anywhere as it very well might not; but it could certainly be tried.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated it seems like DEP may have a bigger issue with this than the County actually does; the Board is sympathetic to the issue; the next time there is a storm the County should get a little more aggressive about notifying people that if he or she is going to rebuild to make sure they get a permit; and he has seen two or three different issues in the last two months because someone has done something without a permit.  He inquired if the Board could not do anything today, and allow Mr. Butt to go to DEP and work it out; stated that seems like that is where the issue is; and if DEP is comfortable and approves it, it will be easier for the County to make the amendment.  Mr. Brown advised right now the special magistrate, which is the proper venue for this discussion to transpire has given him 120 days; maybe the County Attorney can illuminate where the lines intertwine there; and he does not know if requesting a waiver is something the Board can truly entertain during the Code Enforcement process.   

 

County Attorney Scott Knox advised he is not sure what the special magistrate would do, but he thinks the Board could request him to give them an extension and see what happens.  Mr. Brown stated based on that what can be done is right now Mr. Butt has 120 days to deal with the issue; if he goes to DEP and comes back with a viable solution, then he could go back to the special magistrate and ask for a further extension; and right now with the limitations of the County Code, neither the special magistrate nor his office administratively can do anything other than what has been offered, which is a three-foot at the crest of the dune and a slope back constructed to DEP criteria. 

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if Mr. Butt goes to DEP and works something out with it, comes back to this Board telling it what was worked out, why does it have to go before the special magistrate.  Mr. Brown stated it is the cure process for Code Enforcement violations; and if he was able to come up with that cure within that 120 days or even extend it, staff would say he was working through the process.  He stated if the Board interjects itself too much in the Code Enforcement process mid-cycle, it may short-circuit the authorities that it has given to the magistrate; he does not know how that interplay works; but staff can assist the applicant in pursuing a permitable project; it still does not change the reality that the Code requires certain criteria; and if that solution DEP provides is inconsistent with County criteria, then it will still be dealing with a dilemma that the special magistrate nor the Board can resolve under the current Code.  Commissioner Fisher stated the Board can deal with that at that point in time.  He stated his recommendation is to get with DEP to see if something can be worked out.

 

Chairman Nelson inquired what impact would any future beach re-nourishment projects have related to this; stated he noticed that the dune is a vertical face and is already sitting down on the sand; and inquired if sand is brought it, would the crossover be buried.  Mr. Brown advised what is normally done is pack the sand around the crossovers, and it actually buries a couple of rungs of the lower portion of it; it depends on whether it was built properly; if the proper arches are over it, the dunes can be rebuilt without covering the actual crossover itself; and that is one of the benefits of the permitting process is that it is built in such a way that it stays viable through the process.  He stated as it is right now, it is built so close to the impaired dune system that when the repair is done it will be very difficult to see.  Chairman Nelson inquired from a practical perspective to get that three-foot high would the whole structure has to be rebuilt, and he is not even allowed to keep the deck to begin with; with Mr. Brown responding the deck itself, unless it is for ADA purposes turnaround would need to be moved back. 

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he has a copy of 62-4213, which covers the County; under what it can consider it is pretty structured and lengthy; and it would have to change that whole section from the way it is now.  He advised it pretty much ties the Board’s hands on what it can and cannot do under its own Ordinance; and it will have to look at it if Mr. Butt is successful with DEP. 

 

Chairman Nelson inquired if the State permits a deck; with Mr. Brown responding the State permits accessory structures such as this as long the piles are supported and elevated sufficient to maintain dune stabilizing vegetation, neither which apply in this particular category, so the entire thing would have to be removed and brought up to State Code; but they would permit a deck structure; and what has been done at the County level is define how big a deck and where it can be placed.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated Mr. Butt needs to work it out with DEP; and if he was him he might go with a bunch of neighbors because it may be a stronger force in trying to working it out with the State than him by himself.

 

Mr. Brown advised he is looking for clarity.  He stated staff recognizes that there are some areas that need improvement in the Code to better align and remove any perceived or actual duplication as it relates to the State; that is something that can be worked on as it moves down this path; and at this juncture though, where it is right now, that is a pretty lengthy process.  He noted staff is in the process of revising two ordinances; staff is slammed against the wall on that; so any effort to do that they would ask for the Board’s patience and to indulge staff in maybe an extended process in those kind of changes; that will be quite extensive; and it takes a lot of coastal engineering work to get the right answers.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he spoke to Mr. Brown about that; for them, like the landscaping, the pre-ordinance committee would have to finish their stuff before another committee is started; and he does not want Mr. Brown asking for more money at budget time because there is none.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the dilemma is going to be is that DEP is waiting for a solution; the Board cannot give a solution because it cannot get to the Ordinance if it desires to do so; so Mr. Butt’s only option at this point in time is he has to comply with both DEP and the County; and that is the problem.  He stated the Board may want to entertain some modification to its own Ordinance, but that is the process it cannot get to.  He inquired if there is any penalty to Mr. Butt if the Board delays this so the Board deals with its issue first; and inquired what will DEP do if it is not dealt with immediately.  Mr. Brown advised he cannot speak for DEP; DEP may call the question and issue the notice of violation requiring Mr. Butt to rip it out until he comes up with a viable solution because he has an illegal and permanent structure both at the State level and at the County level; he would like to talk to DEP to get the Board that answer and maybe follow Commissioner Fisher’s recommendation to try to work with DEP to come up with that solution, to see how close that is, and if it actually meets the current regulations, he moves forward and implements; and if it is less stringent than the County’s current regulations, then maybe it could be brought back to the special magistrate letting him know the Board’s desire to try to resolve this and give Mr. Butt a further continuance to resolve it.  He advised right now there is 120 days until Mr. Butt has to come back to the magistrate; in that time frame staff will try to work with the applicant and DEP to try to come up with something that DEP would approve; and if it meets the County’s criteria Mr. Butt moves forward, if it is less stringent than the County’s criteria staff will go back to the magistrate and support the applicant’s request for a further extension pending the Board’s consideration of modifications to the Code.

 

Chairman Nelson inquired if Mr. Butt understands what the Board is doing.  Mr. Butt advised that is very fair.  He stated one point of clarification, the reason he said everyone, including the City, it is not that it is supposed to be five-foot high and supported like a new house, no structures of any kind can be within 15 feet of the top of the dune line.  Chairman Nelson stated there is a willingness on the Board’s part to look at that issue; and it will do that as part of the discussions that Mr. Brown is going to get into.  He stated as the Board gets into it, he would like to see the differences between what DEP is requiring and what the County is requiring; and kind of a do a point-by-point to see if either is in need of an amendment.

 

Mr. Butt thanked the Board and staff for all of the time spent on this issue.

 

Chairman Nelson stated there are those five pending issues.  Mr. Brown advised what staff will do is when those come before the special magistrates they will let them know of what transpired today with transcripts in hand, and allow the special magistrate the opportunity to make a wise decision of getting some extensive timeframes. 

   

 

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to grant permission to advertise Request for Proposals (RFP) for Disaster Debris Removal Management Services; and approve a Negotiating and Selection Committee consisting of County Manager or designee, Solid Waste Management Director, Emergency Management Director, and Assistant Director of Public Works.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if the County is using the homes being used that it now owns or is staff tearing them down; with Public Works Director John Denninghoff responding currently the standard approach would be to demolish them as they are acquired, limiting liability, maintenance issues, and things of that sort; stated there was a concept that perhaps staff would try to make some sort of arrangement to go ahead and utilize the homes as some sort of a program associated with foreclosures or other sorts of things; staff has held off temporarily in demolishing the homes; and it is trying to maintain them for a period of time while those efforts are either fully-vetted and developed or decisions made not to attempt to do that.  Commissioner Bolin stated she has a concern about that; the County will be slowly picking up these houses; they are technically good houses as people lived in them; she has pros and cons; inquired if the County should use them or just tear them down; and stated she would like to have some directives on the pros and cons from staff on that.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he would caution the Board on doing that; he has personal experience; Palm Bay did the same thing; and the liability with what occurred is huge.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if Commissioner Anderson thinks it would be better if the County did not become landlords.  Commissioner Anderson advised he just had a bad experience and maybe it will be different with the County.

 

Chairman Nelson stated when the County first had those homes there was the fires and people who had been burned out but it was never able to make that happen; he would hate to get into a landlord relationship just because at some point the people will be asked to leave; and the Board would have painted itself into a corner where it becomes the bad guy.

 

Motion by Commissioner Infantini, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to execute Contract for Sale and Purchase with Kenneth H. Beeman and Lisa S. Beeman for Hollywood Boulevard Road Widening Project; and direct staff to administratively proceed with the demolition process.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten stated in terms of the explanation of why this item was an add-on, if it recalls the stimulus package came together last week so staff was not advised of any requirements or timelines until last week; and this had to be an add-on today to meet a February 20^th timeline.  He stated the funding has to be encumbered within 75 days; and that is why it is before the Board today.

 

Public Works Director John Denninghoff stated there have been a couple of adjustments; the timeline is 120 days now, but the notification timeframe has been shortened; and now instead of Friday staff has until Thursday to give the Countywide list.  He advised the list as produced on Friday, which is what the Board has before it has had a few minor adjustments to it on the first page; staff is getting changes constantly; he just received a phone call advising staff what requirements it will have to meet on the projects; that could easily change the projects staff wants to pursue; the cost of some of them could easily double; and staff is kind of groping in the dark.  He stated the list on the second page is called removed projects, which are ones staff is suggesting would perhaps go on the bubble under future consideration; and he actually has what he thinks is an appropriate sort of ordering on those road projects.  He noted he is not sure as a member of staff how it should have been handled; but all he knows is right now they are telling him he has to give them a list that the County is going to have to sort of live with by Thursday.

 

Chairman Nelson inquired if he is changing anything on page 1; with Mr. Denninghoff responding not in terms of the project list; stated what is there is the City of Indian Harbour Beach has contributed towards North Riverside; that changes the list a little bit; it also gives the County more money; and that project is going to be expanded a little bit; and he expects there will be more of that sort of thing going on.  Chairman Nelson stated he was going to suggest that if the Board approves the item it understands that the key page, which is the page that has the projects it believes to be funded as of today are fine, and staff can continue to work with those that are the removed projects but to keep the Board aware because it will not matter because it will not be in session until some later point anyway; and as the information is shifting if staff would send that out to the Commissioners so if there are any questions he or she can ask John.

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to prioritize Brevard County’s Transportation Economic Stimulus List; approve use of the current Local Option Gasoline Tax distribution formula as the mechanism for the distribution of the potential stimulus funding; authorize the Chairman to execute associated Local Agency Participation (LAP) agreements; authorize permission to bid and award to the three lowest responsible bidders, and authorize the Chairman to execute contracts for the approved stimulus projects; authorize the Chairman to execute all Budget Change Requests necessary for this action; and continue to work on the removed projects, but keeping the Board informed as the information is shifting.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Assistant County Manager Mel Scott stated as staff has had to rush so quickly on this aspect of the Stimulus Package, it seems as if the other areas the County will qualify for will have a little more time to move through the existing processes, which are in place, whether it is fair housing or EPA; he is compiling all of the projects that the County qualifies for, and staff intends to bring those to it one-by-one as the grants are applied for, apply for the loan, or apply for the stimulus dollars.

Natural Resources Management Director Ernie Brown advised staff is bringing this back to the Board in light of what has been learned from Fay and the Board’s direction to try to prioritize all of the projects to focus on flooding as the primary push for the use of stormwater funds, in particular prioritizing where houses actually got wet, as the primary focus Lamplighter, Kingsmill area, some areas on Post Road, areas on Lake Washington, North Merritt Island, West Cocoa, and the list goes on.  He advised what is before the Board now, which was a $150,000 increase in the Lake Washington Project, which is the Upper Eau Gallie Project, a very large project; in August as the storm was on top of Brevard County, the Board approved what he would call a very good project, but not a project that had any effect on flooding; it did not improve the flooding situation it just improved the location of the ditch; it is a worthy project that should happen; but he would be remiss if he did not serve this up to the Board and say it is not a priority flooding or flood mitigation issue.  He inquired if the Board wants to take those revenues and reallocate it to another project; stated in this case it will be the segment, which is on the District 4 and District 5 line, which has significant flooding in that area; this money was taken from the Barnes Project; and if the Board wants it to go this way put it on a prioritized project in the Aurora/Kingsmill segment.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if Mr. Brown will explain where the money came from; with Mr. Brown responding every district has a stormwater utility assessment, which is a below the line non-ad valorem special assessment that is collected from all residents and commercial operations; it goes into each district and will be spent in each district based on that district’s prioritized capital improvement program; both of the projects, Lake Washington and Aurora Road/Kingsmill are both capital improvements projects that were approved by the Commissioner and then the Commission as a whole; it is just a matter of moving those monies around to the specific priorities based on current conditions and situations; and that is where the money came from and that is how staff is dealing the reallocations.

 

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Fisher, to direct staff to perform only stabilization improvements along the Parkway Canal; authorize Natural Resources Management Director to execute a Contract Change Order between Brevard County and Masci Corporation; and authorize budget change requests, as necessary.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to authorize the Chairman to execute the Subgrant Agreement with State of Florida, Division of Emergency Management, for FEMA Public Assistance Grant, which will allow Brevard County to receive Federal and State funding as reimbursement for County funds spent on preparation for, and recovery from, Tropical Storm Fay.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.  (See page                                  for Agreement.)

Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten stated this is a similar explanation as the other; and the request was just received from the Congressional offices.  Chairman Nelson stated Mr. Whitten just jumped to the next item; and he can understand why.  Mr. Whitten stated he does not want to skip that item.

 

Interim Assistant County Manager Frank Abbate stated staff is looking for Board direction on a variety of items on this particular item; staff has given the Board the draft RFP for the selection of an executive search firm; he is looking for Board direction first on the comfort with the selection criteria, and he had spoken with the Purchasing Department, if the Board is good with the selection criteria as outlined in the Agenda Report, he would just want to clarify that the required submittals and completeness of the proposal really should reflect the more of the quality and thoroughness of the proposal; and that was on the ten percent on the selection criteria to make that a little bit clearer.  He stated secondly the makeup of the selection committee; currently it would be Human Resources Director, County Attorney or his appointee, and if the Board would like to appoint a Commissioner then staff would use a three-member selection committee for the criteria to evaluate it; and the third aspect of the Agenda Report staff is looking for direction on would be if the Board wants the committee to come back with a single proposer or a group of the top three proposers, in which case the Board can then do individual interviews with the top three.  He advised the final item would be whether or not, as the process begins and goes through the RFP process, if the Board wants the Office of Human Resources to advertise the County Manager position and accept applications before or during the Nationwide search being conducted by the executive search firm; and if the Board does, then staff would provide that information to the search firm.  He stated one of the things that staff did put in that he wanted to discuss with the Board is the executive search firm would be driving a lot of the process when they come on board in terms of making sure it met with individual Commissioners that the criteria it wanted them to advertise and review would be reviewed with the Board; but the important part of the criteria would also be that in addition to whatever screening process that firm does and comes back to the Board with in a draft RFP would be eight to ten candidates that would go through background review; staff also put a part in the RFP process that that search firm would provide each Board Member a listing of all the applicants so that if individual Board Members wanted to add names beyond the eight or ten that the executive search firm comes up to that the process is amenable to this occurring; and once that occurs that firm would review those additional applicants as approved by the Board and add it to the list that they would be conducting the further review and background checks on.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she wants to make sure everyone understands that this is not the selection of who is going to be County Manager but this is a selection of the firms that is going to help the Board select someone.  She advised her recommendation is that on this committee who is going to look at the RFP’s that it should be Frank and Scott Knox, but she would also like to add the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners to round it out as the three people to look at the RFP’s.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she would like to make a recommendation that rather than appoint the Chairman because he has other duties she would like to appoint Andy Anderson as the person.  Commissioner Bolin stated Commissioner Anderson has a shocked look on his face.  Commissioner Infantini advised it is because the Board is in the Sunshine and he and she did not talk before the meeting.  Chairman Nelson stated he has no problem with any particular Board Member that wants to do it.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired what criteria the Board is giving the consultants for what it is looking for in a County Manager; with Mr. Abbate responding that process upon selection would be required to meet individually with each Commissioner, develop a package of criteria that they would then bring back to the Board, and get the Board’s blessing on as they move forward.  Commissioner Fisher stated he would like to see if the County is going to pay a consultant $30,000 that he would weed through all of those applications and nail it down to three qualified people that anyone of those three would work; and inquired if that is possible.  Mr. Abbate advised it can be done any way the Board would like staff to do it; stated staff was initially envisioning that eight or ten would come back and the Board could add more, and the consultant could use that as the starting point to do the background checks and additional checks that would normally be done; and then weed that down to three.  He stated he thinks that may be consistent with what Commissioner Fisher is looking for as he wants the Board to see the final three; but he wants them to go through the selection committee. 

 

Chairman Nelson stated he would like to sum this up in a single motion; the selection criteria all Commissioners are fine with; and the selection committee would include Commissioner Anderson, Interim Assistant County Manager, and County Attorney.  Mr. Abbate inquired if the selection committee be bringing back one recommendation or to bring it back the top two or three for the Board to interview them to make the final decision.  Commissioner Anderson advised he would be more comfortable to bring back the top three publicly and then make a selection.  Mr. Abbate advised the selection committee could pick the top two or three and just set it up that they would come and make a brief presentation to the Board.  Commissioner Anderson stated he would be comfortable with that.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if it is possible to have a citizen on the selection committee; with Mr. Abbate responding they are only talking selecting the executive search firm right now, not for the County Manager.  Commissioner Anderson advised what the School Board recently did is once the firm was selected the citizens gave input on the criteria; and inquired if that is common.  Mr. Abbate advised he thinks the Board is putting the cart before the horse because once the executive search firm is selected, that firm will be meeting with each Commissioner and coming up at a public session what criteria this Board wants to apply for that firm to move forward, both in the selection criteria and how the County Manager is recruited; and when the Board gets down to the final candidates, the process that will be utilized.

 

Chairman Nelson advised this is to approve the criteria for selection of the consultant and to establishing the committee consisting of County Attorney Scott Knox, Commissioner Anderson, and Interim Assistant County Manager Abbate.

 

Motion by Commissioner Infantini, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve the selection criteria for the Request for Proposals (RFP) for executive recruiting consulting services for the position of County Manager, meeting individually with each Commissioner to develop a package of criteria, and bring it back to the Board for approval; and appoint a Selection Committee consisting of Interim Assistant County Manager Frank Abbate, Commissioner Anderson, and the County Attorney.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Mr. Abbate inquired if there is a interest by the Board of staff advertising the position and accepting applications before the executive search firm is selected.  Chairman Nelson inquired if when referring to advertising is Mr. Abbate talking about in all of the magazines; with Mr. Abbate responding it could be possibly duplicated but there was some interest expressed in potentially doing that on the front end so he wanted to put it in here to get Board direction as to what it wanted staff to do in that area; and stated staff was referring to ICMA, National Association of Counties, Florida Association of Counties, et cetera.  Chairman Nelson stated if any applications are received for that then they go to the consultant for inclusion in its process.  He stated so it is no to the advertising and any applications that come in will be then forwarded to the consultant.    

 

Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten stated this item is coming to the Board as an add on because staff got some heads up from Eddie Pauley, but really just received the official request from the Senators last week to submit this request; one deadline was the last week in February and the first week in March for the other deadline; and he felt it had to be put on the Agenda as an add-on to meet those deadlines.

 

Chairman Nelson advised this is a prioritization of the package that has already been forwarded.  Commissioner Infantini stated if he recalls the Board agreed that this was a living, breathing document that the Board would have more input on; but it was just sending a list so it could get off the list instead of just sending a letter because it did not want to send a letter unaccompanied by a list requesting a bunch of money.  She stated her concern is she did not have any input in any of this list and she did not have any input into the prioritization of the big three; some of the things that she feels are important are not on this list; and they are definitely not on the big three.

 

Mr. Whitten stated what staff gave the Board before the letter was a listing of the Stimulus Package projects; this is the first time the Board has seen this list this year; and this is really a repeat of what the Board submitted last year.  He stated he does not know if Brevard County is at any disadvantaged; but it simply missed the State’s deadline.

 

Chairman Nelson stated this is a Stimulus Package; this is the County’s Federal Legislative Package.  Mr. Whitten advised the previous letter staff was preempting the Stimulus Package submittal; staff did that and the Board had a chance to look at that now twice, or at least the transportation projects; and this is in compliance with those requests that came in last week.

 

Assistant County Manager Mel Scott stated last year the priority was beaches, Ag Extension Service, the Centraplex, and Tourist Development Council; and that was the order of the three last year.  Commissioner Infantini inquired if that was before three of the Commissioners got elected.

 

Natural Resources Management Director Ernie Brown stated while it is critical to hit the State’s deadlines, they are all priorities; the State just makes the County go through the process of setting a number one, two, three because that is its process; but this gets it into its normal appropriations process outside of the scope of the Stimulus Package.  He advised the Mid-Reach Beach Nourishment Project, which is a $16 million appropriation has actually been in the works with the Corps of Engineers and Congress, this is about the fourth of fifth act of Congress that staff is requesting, and it has three more acts of Congress to finalize this; they are currently expecting this project to go to build in 2010 or 2011; but if the County does not make the actual request then it messes up the Congressional process.

 

Chairman Nelson stated Commissioner Infantini is saying that this is a list that was prepared by a previous County Commission; and inquired if she has items she wants to add to the budget request for the Federal Government.  Commissioner Infantini advised yes; stated she does not have the TDC Center in the middle of the State; she does not see a tourist welcome center in the middle of the State as being a priority; and personally she would rather see some Baker Act beds.  She stated Baker Act Beds are a critical need in Brevard County; more people are going to be getting in harms way with losing their jobs and there will be a bigger need for the Baker Act beds than in the past; and the TDC money she would prefer that go towards something like the Valiant Air Command Museum, something that really draws tourists here; and people plan vacations around museums, especially military folks who are history buffs.  She stated maybe she is naïve to the process of prioritizing TDC money and this list itself.

 

Mr. Whitten inquired if staff can see if they can bring this back to the Board on the 26^th.  Mr. Scott advised staff is trying to do this in the absence of Leigh Holt right now; and inquired if the Board was to look at this and it could not be completed by the 26^th, will it give staff some tentative direction if they do not have that window of opportunity.  Mr. Whitten stated staff will either bring it back to the Board on the 24^th, which is the Strategic Planning Workshop or the 26^th.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated the Housing Projects Workshop was being replaced with the budget, which she thinks is wonderful to add the budget, but because so much money possibly will get funneled towards the housing projects it is important that the Board still have that Housing Projects Workshop because she would like to have a better grasp on where the money is going for the different housing projects.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the way the Housing Workshop was being structured was going to be more of a show and tell; he is not sure it is what Commissioner Infantini is expecting; and inquired what kind of information Commissioner Infantini is expecting at the Workshop.  Commissioner Infantini advised she was hoping to receive information based on here is the money that the County expects to spend, here is where the money is going, here is how many people the County serves, and every couple of weeks or so staff is here asking for a few million for one project or another; and she would like to see the plans laid out for the Board at the same time.  She stated Commissioner Fisher asked for some information from Housing and Human Services Director Gay Williams, she saw it, and it was helpful, but it really did not answer the questions.

 

Mr. Whitten advised the intent of the Workshop is to talk about to link the processes with the goals, plans, and whatever strategic objectives that they have over there; he thinks that is the Board’s intent; and staff will work on structuring a workshop that meets that intent.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated flashing back to last year, each Commissioner took a topic and did a workshop; it would be good if Commissioner Infantini would take this on for the rest of the Commissioners to make sure that staff put together what she has envisioned for the Board to see; and then it would be all of the things she wanted to know.  Commissioner Infantini stated that is all right.

 

Chairman Nelson stated there may be some value in Commissioner Infantini working directly with them because his biggest fear was that the information would be there, it would be the nice show and tell, but it would not be the heart of what she is looking for; and if there concerns from the Board, he appreciates Commissioner Bolin’s direction on that one.  He stated he does not think the Board will do those kinds of workshops in general; but this is a very specific one.

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.

 

 

 

 

ATTEST:                                                         _________________________________

                                                                        CHUCK NELSON, CHAIRMAN

                                                                        BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

                                                                        BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

___________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK     

 

           (S E A L)