MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

July 16, 2007

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special session on July 16, 2007 at 9:01 a.m. in the Government Center Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were: Chairperson Jackie Colon, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Chuck Nelson, Helen Voltz, and Mary Bolin, County Manager Peggy Busacca, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the last couple of weeks have been difficult for the Board; those watching closely know that the State has requested a great deal of mandates; the Board has been put in a very difficult position; and it is not just Brevard County, as it is happening all throughout the State of Florida.  She stated little by little the Board is learning every week how much money it has available to it, and how much it has to cut; it has resulted in some things the Board does not prefer to do, which is to let go some of the wonderful people who have been working for the County; and that has been really one of the toughest things the Board has had to do, as the employees being let go have not done anything wrong. 

 

Commissioner Voltz led the assembly in prayer.

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board has begun each workshop with a prayer; and the one workshop when it did not went down hill fast.  She noted it is a very difficult job; folks watching may wonder why the Board is making jokes from time-to-time and think it is not taking the situation seriously; the Board makes jokes sometimes to ease the tension; and she does not want anyone to think the Board is not taking the issues seriously. 

 

 

Nancy Maloney, Attorney, stated she is a member of the Florida Bar; she has practiced law in Brevard County; she has 20 years of experience to the citizens of the State of Florida and Brevard County; and she is now retired from the practice of law as of March 2006.  She stated she has written to all of the Commissioners in reference to the funding of the Brevard County Law Library; and in her opinion, funding the $177,000 necessary to maintain the Law Library at its current location at the courthouse in Viera, with the current staff of trained law librarians, is a necessary expense and it is money well spent.  She advised the Brevard County Law Library is a precious asset that has been invaluable in this community to lawyers, judges, law clerks, law firms, public defenders, State  attorneys, petitioners, respondents, general masters, litigants, the general public, and any person who wants to study law.  She stated Annette Melnicove is the Brevard County Law Librarian; she has been an excellent librarian and a vigilant guardian of the library and its resources for more than 20 years; and she is well known among the legal community for her expertise and ability to find information that lawyers need and to find it quickly. 

 

Ms. Maloney noted Ms. Melnicove has been relied upon by others in the court system; not just the lawyers, but judges, Pro-State litigants, and anyone who comes into the Law Library to access its services.  She stated addressing complicated legal issues and accessing the law materials needed to find answers quickly has been the mission of the law librarian; and the Brevard County Law Library has done it well with not even a full staff in an effort to save the resources of the County.  She noted Ms. Melnicove is operating with one position unfilled and is still doing more with less and providing the same service to Brevard County.  She advised as an individual, and as a lawyer, she can say she is a better lawyer and was a better public servant in her 12 years at the Public Defender’s Office as a Trial Lawyer and in her five years as a Senior Staff Attorney for the Department of Children and Families because of Ms. Melnicove and the trained staff’s access to the Law Library right there in the courthouse.  She stated she cannot tell the Board the number of times she was in trial at the Public Defenders Office and the judge would direct her to find an answer and she would only have her lunch hour to do it; and Ms. Melnicove and her staff were there to assist.  She noted she would argue that the Law Library is a integral part of the system and placing materials at remote locations without trained staff to help find information would render any information to the person seeking it as stale, useless, or inaccessible; and in addition, it would have a chilling effect to those Pro-State litigants who need the help of a trained librarian to help them.  She stated not everything today is on the Internet; and some people do not know how to use the Internet.  She stated the general public, municipalities, Code Enforcement, law enforcement, defendants, victims, civil litigants, and many others in Brevard County rely on the Law Library; it would be a mistake to break it up to move the materials to other locations; peoples’ rights would be affected particularly in instances where General Masters make decisions that are not court orders and they need to use information at the Law Library and file that information the day the decision is made with the clerk by 5:00 p.m.; and they use the law librarians to help them do that.

 

 

 

Libby Donoghue stated she is from 211 Brevard; in the past 12 months, 211 specialists have responded to over 31,000 telephone calls; in addition there have been nearly as many visits to the online database; and when contacts from elder outreach and other services are added, 211 Brevard has served over 64,000 contacts during the last year.  She stated in 2000 and 2001, the Board of County Commissioners, working with other organizations in the community, helped make Brevard County the first County in Florida, and the seventh in the United States, to offer 211 service to its citizens; the 211 service means crisis intervention and information about  important community services; and referral to those services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  She noted since that time, 211 Brevard has had a contract through the Housing and Human Services Department for $50,000 and that amount has not increased in the years since 2001.  She advised in 2004, 211 Brevard answered almost as many calls in September of that year as it has answered in the last year related to Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne; the after-action report from Emergency Management noted the availability of a service like 211 meant those calls were diverted from 911 and Emergency Management officials, allowing them to focus on their primary public safety tasks; and based on that, 211 Brevard also has a contract with Emergency Management for $51,000.  She advised the cost of the two contracts means that for 19 cents for every resident of Brevard County annually, they have access 24 hours a day to information about where to get those services.  She noted when 211 Brevard became aware the actions of the Legislature were going to impact local funding, it began looking at what it  could do  to  manage with  cuts it anticipated to be between  10 and 30 percent; which is what she was hearing at the time; however, both of the contracts have been considered for elimination; and she wants to make sure the Board understands how critical those dollars are to the  organization.   She  stated  one  of  211  Brevard’s  other  funders  sent  a  letter  to  County Manager Peggy Busacca that compared 211 to the seat of a three-legged stool; if one of the legs are shortened, then there will be a wobbly, but functional stool; but if one leg is cut off, the stool is not going to function; and that is a very apt analogy for the situation 211 Brevard is in.  She stated 211 Brevard recognizes the Board has terrible decisions to make, and it stands ready to share in those cuts with the other organizations in the community; but it hopes the Board will maintain some of the funding which is very critical to the operation. 

 

 

 

Linda Brandt, Chairman of Brevard Cultural Alliance, stated Dr. Richard Florida once said, “The creative class and the cultural creative’s are the norm setters for the 21 Century.  Through careful integration of artists and to the structure of organizations, including our schools and businesses and positive healthy function processes, all levels of our economy, manufacturing, service, and creative will become very significant.  Creative people do not just cluster where the jobs are, they cluster places that are a center of creativity and also where they like to live.  Arts and culture cuts across many sectors and affects progress in many areas, and of course, our future.  Ability to attract and attain talented workforce is very important and arts and culture affect that. The ability to capture business relocations and business expansions and draw entrepreneurs, the arts and culture affect that.  A significant factor is certainly growing a YP healthy sector.”  She noted in a previous year the County Commissioners funded an additional $100,000 to the BCA; the BCA understands that in the years it had the privilege of having the one-time figure to add to its bottom line; and the Board may not know what it did with that.  She advised the BCA was able to transition from one kind of organization to another; at this point, it is definitely a service organization with a good visionary leader who has a background in such organizations as Sustainable Long Island, and National Love A Girl Scout, where she helped organizations build coalitions and solve business problems; and additionally, lived in New York and Las Vegas, which are large areas where destination for cultural activities is the norm and is a significant factor in economy and thriving health.  She stated BCA changed itself into an organization that serves three groups, individual artists, arts and cultural organizations, and the community; there are many programs that are on the cusp of growth and there are many partnerships the BCA has been able to build over the last few months, including a partnership with the TDC; and BCA believes the TDC’s partnership will open doors to help support local groups.  She stated one of the important pieces of the Board’s decision making is the $325,000 County Cultural Grants Fund, which the BCA knows is being cut; and it is perfectly ready to put some dollars to that and find some ways to bring the fund back up to a level that is meaningful in the County.  She noted the Board has received statistical information from the BCA that will help it in making decisions.  She stated the BCA wants the Board to know the effects are far reaching and it appreciates the Board’s hard decisions in these difficult matters.

 

 

 

Kendall Moore, Attorney, stated he is before the Board on behalf of LEAD Brevard; unfortunately Chairman Bino Campanini could not be present; and he has agreed to stand in his place.  He  stated  clearly LEAD  Brevard understands the very difficult and enviable position the Board is in having to make cuts to a variety of departments and programs that probably do not make anyone in the community happy; and LEAD Brevard fully understands and accepts that.  He stated as it relates to LEAD Brevard, the Board, in its discussions, has talked about a 50 percent reduction that takes LEAD Brevard back to prior year funding levels; LEAD Brevard stands before the Board today, and hopes that is the Board’s version of the belt tightening as it relates to LEAD Brevard.  He noted the Board will not hear LEAD Brevard get up and complain about that 50 percent reduction; it will take that as its belt tightening; it will still continue to provide the same programs it has previously in the community; and whether that is Young Professionals Programs, the summits that Chairperson Colon has been talking to LEAD Brevard about doing in the past, or many of the other programs that have created nearly 1,500 graduates that constitute some of the finest leaders in the community.  He stated he will not use time by explaining the details and the return on investment, but LEAD Brevard is available to present that during the workshop if asked, or if required; but LEAD Brevard wanted to come up under Public Comment and let the Board know it acknowledges that 50 percent; it understands that is the belt tightening that everybody must endure; and LEAD Brevard will hopefully remain in the budget at that notion in terms of where it is today so that it can continue to look towards the future.  He noted clearly, the budget crisis is one of the present, but there are times that it must be considered there are some things programmatically that continue to set policy direction and look forward to Brevard’s future; and those are the Young Professional Programs, Brevard Tomorrow, and many things that are currently performed by LEAD Brevard.  He expressed appreciation to the Board and noted he will be in the audience if the Board has any questions.   

 

 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated the document distributed to the Board is a modified budget from which the Board is accustomed to seeing; and the abbreviated budget message explains that.  She noted pages 11 through 55 are a listing of each Department and the departmental summaries the Board is accustomed to seeing; and there is a new line item the Board has not seen before immediately above Total Expenditures and it says, “Tentative Expenditure Cuts”.  She advised the Board will notice that as in the case with Agriculture and Extension on page 11, there is a zero; but that is not because there are no cuts in the budget, but because rather than this lump sum saying “tentative”, staff has actually put specific cuts in.  She advised there were two Departments that were so large that those specific cuts were not entered into; and those Departments are Parks and Recreation and Libraries; and in those Departments the Board will see a number.  She advised on page 56 begins the information the Board is probably most interested in; there are two attachments labeled A and B; Attachment A are those tentative budget reductions the Board has already voted on; Attachment B begins on page 63; there are two budget reductions shown for Agriculture and Extension; and although it says zero in the tentative, these specific budget reductions have been included within the budget. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired of the difference between Attachments A and B; with Ms. Busacca responding on Attachment A the Board has already voted; stated and on Attachment B the Board has not voted.  She stated in order to come to the Board with a balanced budget, staff had to assume there would be cuts throughout, so it simply did that.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Attachment B items are not really included yet; with Ms. Busacca responding they are not approved, but they are included in the balanced budget.  Ms. Busacca stated with the first  line item,  should  the  Board  wish  to  reinstate  the 4H Marketing Agent, it will have to find another cut equivalent to the cost of the Marketing Agent; and that is true for anything on Attachments A or B.  Commissioner Voltz stated on Thursday, the Board asked staff to bring it a list of the line items for cash carry forward; and inquired where those cash carry forward items are listed; with Ms. Busacca responding they have been incorporated within the budget.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board does not know what they are; with Ms. Busacca responding she does not have the specific listing.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board had asked for that; with Ms. Busacca responding the Budget Office worked from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, and most of the day on Sunday to accomplish this much, but staff can get that information to the Board as soon as possible.  Commissioner Voltz stated they have been incorporated, but the Board had not made a decision on each one and whether or not that is

 

how the Board wants to spend the money.  Ms. Busacca stated staff has identified the money, and now the Board has to tell staff how to spend it. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the conversation was started when Finance Director Steve Burdett said the Board is carrying a lot of cash carry forward; while the uncommitted reserve had increased only $5 million over a period of time; and the question became how it was in the multiple numbers.  He inquired if the Board can examine if it is using funds set aside for purchases in the future; and advised the Board can always use Commercial Paper to acquire equipment.  Ms. Busacca advised that analysis has not been done; and inquired if the Board had any questions.

 

Chairperson Colon stated what the Board is looking at in Attachment B is everything the Board had questions about and wanted to discuss today.

 

Dennis Rogero, Budget Director, stated for each particular line item, the attachments are going to include all of the items the Board has said it would like to continue to discuss.  He stated as staff refined the figures in the system some of the numbers have changed, not drastically, but some of the final numbers will be a little different.  Chairperson Colon inquired what is the number the Board still needs to get to; with Mr. Rogero responding approximately $8.5 million.  Chairperson Colon inquired what that includes; with Mr. Rogero responding it would include every item on Attachment B, under the Proposed Cuts column; stated for instance, Agriculture and Extension Services is proposing to eliminate 4H Marketing Agent for just over $53,500; and that will be included in the $8.5 million. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated last week the Board was looking at $6 million; it was taken into consideration the Board had to put in its budget any future discussion with Unions and so forth; that is why she is asking what happened from last week until now; it seems like there is a difference of $2 million; and inquired if that is considered in the discussions of $8.5 million.  Mr. Rogero responded yes; and the Board entered into the Thursday workshop looking for $8.85 million.  Chairperson Colon inquired if that is deducted, what is the number; with Mr. Rogero responding the $8.85 million from last Thursday included millions of dollars worth of salary reserves that were compelled to be in the tentative budget per Statute, and are included.  Chairperson Colon inquired what is the dollar amount regarding salaries; with Mr. Rogero responding $1.3 million.  Chairperson Colon inquired what the number is if the $1.3 million is subtracted from the $8.5 million; with Mr. Rogero responding $7.2 million.  He stated if the Board eliminates the salary reserves, it will have $7.2 million more to make decisions on for reductions in order to balance the budget.  Chairperson Colon stated $7.2 million is what the Board  still needs to  look  at that are  obligations; the $1.3 million is any discussion in regards to salaries; and that is how the Board gets to $8.5 million; with Mr. Rogero responding affirmatively.  Chairperson Colon stated she wants to be clear that the Board has not made any commitments in regards to any future salary increase.  She stated the number the Board is looking at because of all its obligations as of right now is $7.2 million; and inquired if that is correct.  Mr. Rogero responded yes, should the Board decide not to hold those salary reserves; he would like to point out that the amount in the salary reserves is the minimum required for the Collective Bargaining requirements; and in most instances they do not include cost of living, et cetera.  Mr. Rogero stated to reiterate, the $1.3 million is the minimum dollar requirement associated with those Collective Bargaining Agreements; a great portion of which is known as a STEP increase; and in many instances do not include a cost of living increase, or anything like that.  He advised it is the bare minimum the  County Manager  had to submit to be  in compliance with Statute and the existing Collective Bargaining Agreements.  Chairperson Colon stated out of the $1.3 million there were three different union negotiations that were going on; stated she was under the impression that out of the three there is one that would have to be followed in regards to State mandates because there was already negotiations.  Mr. Rogero stated that $1.3 million includes a STEP component for the Sheriff’s Office, a STEP for the Rank and File, a STEP and COLA component for the IAFF Supervisory personnel, and for the LIU.  Ms. Busacca advised the LIU is both a COLA and a merit.  Chairperson Colon inquired if the Board had a written contract with all of those unions; with Ms. Busacca responding yes, the County has contracts with all of those unions.  Mr. Rogero stated the other Unions are the Fire Rescue, Sheriff, and the LIU. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated on Attachment B, the Department Budget Reductions, the total is $16 million on the last page; it shows all of the cuts listed at $16 million; and inquired if that is what the Board has already done.  Assistant Manager Stockton Whitten responded that is the total for Attachment B; Attachment B includes $8.3 million in reductions and also $7.6 million in other actions; for instance, the Facilities expenditure for the jail is included in the other action; and in some cases, those one time expenditures are also included in the other actions.  He advised if the Board combines Attachment B with Attachment A, it is approximately $20 million in total reductions; the cuts total approximately $11 million or $12 million; the numbers have to be combined on both Attachments A and B to get the total; and the total reduction is $20 million. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated on page 81, the Board can see there is a proposed cut of eliminating a TV Production position in SCGTV; in addition to that, there is another action of $72,000; that was requested in the General Fund as a reduction; they requested less when they put their budget together, and that would be another action; and the Board does not have to make that cut, as it has been made as a reduction to the request.  She noted there are a lot of actions that can be considered other actions.  Ms. Busacca stated in some cases there are grant funds and a Department may have been able to find a grant to offset that cost; that is now a reduction, but it has been funded by a grant.  She noted there are a lot of different things those other actions could mean; and when it comes to the proposed cuts, that is probably what the Board wants to focus on.  Chairperson Colon inquired where the numbers are from last week, as the Board likes to know what the consensus is as of right now; with Ms. Busacca responding Attachment A is the actions the Board has already taken.  Chairperson Colon stated last week, the Board was able to have a good picture of what its obligations are, including the Sheriff’s Office and the mental health pod, which brought the number to $7.7 million; $1 million for the Supervisor of Elections because he has a special election, which was the decision by the State; and it also included the $9.5 million of the State mandates.  She noted the $9.5 million also included the expansion  of the courthouse;  that  discussion  was  very easy to look at based on the numbers the Board had because by the time it added all that together and started deducting the cuts it has made so far, it brought the number down to $6 million or $7 million, which the Board needed to look at; and that was the number the Board needed to reach, which means it still has $7 million worth of obligations to identify.  She stated that is why she wanted to make sure it was very clear that staff is saying $7.2 million; that is where the Board needs to look in regards to obligation, plus the $1.3 million if the Board needed to do that; and that $1.3 million would also mean further cuts.  She inquired of the total cuts in Attachment B.  Mr. Rogero responded in Attachment B, the final figure the Board needs to make a decision on is $8,375,000; that includes funding of the items discussed at the workshop on Thursday; for instance, for the Sheriff’s Office mental health pod, $1.2 million is in the balanced budget for potential expansion of  the  courthouse;  and  staff  does not have those items itemized in this submission, but those will follow.  Chairperson Colon stated right now the Board is looking at needing to identify where it would be able to get the $7.2 million to meet its obligations; and what the Board has in front of it right now is $8.3 million worth of cuts.  Mr. Rogero noted he would round that number to $8.4 million; and the difference between those two items is the salary reserve of $1.3 million. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated if the Board directs staff to remove the salary reserves from the budget, then on Attachment B the Board has to find $7.2 million worth of cuts, which means the Board can put $1.3 million back that is listed on Attachment B; if the Board says it is going to move forward to fund the contracts outstanding, then it must have an equivalent number of cuts to the $8.3 million that are here; and if the Board says it is not only going to fund the contracts, it is going to give other employees raises, it would have to find other cuts in addition to that.  Chairperson Colon stated she is aware of that; and inquired if $7.2 million is the commitment from the Board as of right now; with Ms. Busacca responding yes, that is without the decision on salary reserves.  Chairperson Colon stated the $1.3 million is not the only thing the Board has; it is trying to meet its obligation right now; the target right needs to be $7.2 million; and staff has given the Board $8.4 million worth of cuts.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like to discuss Departments again; he is still trying to figure out how much the Board has above the line; and inquired where he would find out how the blue line on the graph moved to 2008, and if staff added to it or reduced it.  Mr. Whitten responded the blue line includes $1 million to bring the reserve back to where it was at the beginning of the fiscal year.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if it stays constant at $15 million or does it move up and down; with Mr. Whitten responding it is $16 million.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Board did not move the $1 million back in and kept it at $15 million, would it adversely affect the Board’s bond ratings; stated he knows Moody said it was going to scrutinize all of the Counties and Cities because of what the Legislature is requiring them to do, but Mr. Burdett did not seem to think that was a problem.  He noted he finds it a little difficult to maintain increasing reserves against the cutting of programs; the Board has talked about the reserves and the insurance reserves; he is not clear of the implications of the insurance reserves; and inquired how many million was the insurance reserve; with Ms. Busacca responding it is approximately $3 million.  She advised Insurance Director Jerry Visco is present if the Board would like to speak to him.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like Mr. Visco to come in later so the Board can discuss the insurance reserves with him; but his point is if the Board can look at the reserves without impacting its financial solvency, its job becomes less difficult, and the community suffers less; and he would like to get some answers so the Board does not cut programs prematurely. 

 

Jerry Visco, Insurance Director, advised State law requires self-insured health plans to go through an actual analysis and have it approved by the State; based on the County’s claims volume, the State has indicated the current reserves of $10 million that are in place and are projected through to the end of the year is adequate to meet the needs of the group’s health insured program.  He noted the money is there in the event the County decides to stop providing health insurance; those monies are then used to pay what is called run off claim; in the event the County gets out of the health insurance business, those reserves are committed to known and anticipated loses the County has already incurred, and will pay out over 60 to 90 days following the plan shutdown.  Commissioner Scarborough stated there was an excess of what was advised that was needed.  Mr. Visco stated the County switched to casualty insurance; the casualties are property, workers comp, general liability and automobile coverage; under that  actuary  analysis  there was  roughly $3.4  million  in reserves over what the actuary anticipated the County needed to meet those expenses; and those funds are currently in the reserve fund and are available.  Mr. Visco advised the reserve exists by premiums contributed by all participating members; there are entities that participate in the casualty insurance program that are not part of the General Fund; and those funds would need to be distributed in proportion to the premiums that those folks contribute to.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the math has been done yet as to which Departments would get redistributed; with Mr. Visco responding no, staff has not done that kind of refund analysis.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like to request that information.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if the County has continued to charge Departments for that; with Mr. Visco responding that number has been fairly consistent for the last two years; stated it hit that point after the 2004/2005 storm seasons; initially the monies were held against unreimbursed storm recovery, whether it be FEMA or insurance; it has also been used as a hedge against premium increases; and it has been carried forward as the County still has not closed the book on all of the FEMA storm claims. 

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired what is the Board’s policy related to reserves; with Mr. Whitten responding it is 10 percent of the operating revenues; and that would put the Board at 7.9 percent, which is $16.5 million.  Commissioner Nelson noted the Board is under what the policy calls for; it is his understanding that when the County goes to bonding market, because it has not met its policy, it is penalized or not thought of as favorably because it has not met its reserves.  Mr. Whitten stated the rating agencies look at the fund balance figure; in a lot of instances, the County has been okay because of the fund balance amount; the reserve has been an issue and it has been noted, but the issues have been okay because of the fund balance amount. 

 

Commissioner Nelson noted last Thursday the salary reserves were over $3 million; and inquired what is the difference between Thursday and Monday; with Ms. Busacca responding staff took out the amount that was included for non-union employees because of the Board’s direction that staff was not supposed to consider salary increases for all of those.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if the numbers on Thursday were for all operating agencies including non-union; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Board is going to give some employees a raise based on if they are Union.  Ms. Busacca stated she does not know that is what the Board is going to do, but the State requires that the County budget reflect that.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired which Departments the Board wants to begin discussing; and stated she would like to know if the Board is going to start discussing the list in alphabetical order, or if there are particular Departments each Commissioner needs to speak to.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if the Board invited certain organizations to speak today; with Ms. Busacca responding to her knowledge, the Economic Development Commission (EDC) is present for a presentation and Court Administrator Mark Van Bever is present to discuss court space; and those are the only two items she is aware of.  Commissioner Nelson stated he would like to discuss the information that was just given to the Board, as it is different from anything the Board has looked at so far in terms of how the final cuts fall.  Chairperson Colon stated the only difference is the fact that now the Board does not see what it already took action on.  She stated she needs to speak to Parks and Recreation and Libraries; and inquired when the Board is going to be discussing those items.  Commissioner Scarborough stated this morning he received percentage decreases and budgets; he has highlighted some in particular that he is interested in; and he would like to compare that to the millages because some of it is impacted by millages,  and  the  Board  is  dealing  with an aggregate  decrease rather than across-the-board

decrease.  He noted he has not done the math, but he would like to see from the rollback roll forward millage to the projected millage and how they vary item-by-item to see if the Board is having certain areas take a larger or lesser impact and go back again to the particular Department to see how that is implicated.  He stated his problem is he has two months before he votes on a final budget; and if he has millions of dollars of potential revenues to spend he can have Departments come in and tell him how great they are, but he cannot at this moment say exactly where it is going.  Chairperson Colon stated there are Departments, including the Board of County Commissioners, that need to look at a decrease; those Departments include Human Resources, Board of County Commissioners, Parks and Recreation, Property Appraiser’s Office, and other Constitutional Officers.  Ms. Busacca inquired if Chairperson Colon looked at Attachment A in regards to Human Resources, or if she was looking at the summary sheets; with Chairperson Colon responding she was looking at Attachment A, on page 13.  Ms. Busacca advised page 13 is a summary sheet; and the Board has already voted on the decreases for the Human Resources Department.  Mr. Whitten advised those increases will be health insurance and all of the other lines of insurance for the Human Resources Department.  Chairperson Colon stated she just needs to make sure all of them are the same. 

 

 

Gene McCarthy expressed appreciation to the Board for its continued support of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast.  He noted the Board’s foresight in establishing economic development as one of its top five priorities last year confirmed its dedication to the citizens of Brevard County.  He advised the Board’s funding of the EDC’s program of work has enabled it to be proactive, aggressive, and targeted in recruiting vibrant businesses to Brevard County, while also retaining local companies and fostering their expansion; and it also provides a $75.00 to $1.00 return on investment for Brevard County.  He stated clearly, successes come through unified efforts toward a common goal; and together, the EDC and the Board have been able to accomplish a lot for the citizens.  He stated one example is that the Department of Defense kept military business opportunities in tact on the Space Coast after EDC investors, in partnership with the County Commission, provided research and launched an awareness campaign highlighting the importance of the County’s military operations to the Nation’s Defense.  He noted another example is that the EDC’s Space Initiative was instrumental in bringing assembly and integration of Lockheed Martin’s Crew Exploration Vehicle project to Brevard County; the win of that project marks the first time manufacturing and processing of a launch vehicle will take place in Florida; and it opens the door  to  future opportunities  to diversify  the space  industry’s  presence  in the community.  He

stated over the past decade Brevard County has maintained unemployment rates lower than the national and State averages; at the same time, capital income in the County has continued to exceed the national average and most of the State; it is not from happenstance, as it is from the direct daily efforts of the EDC; and continuing these trends remain the primary focus and charge of the EDC.  He stated as the immediate past Chairman of the EDC, he represents business and community leaders from throughout the entire County; collectively, everyone realizes they are all facing tough times, not only with the current property tax reform, but also with the increases in homeowner’s and business insurance, and the shift within the NASA Space Program with the retirement of the Space Shuttle Program.  He advised he has lived in Brevard County since 1966, and he personally witnessed first hand the effects of the downsizing of the space industry in the 1970’s; he too, was a space industry worker looking for work; and he does not want that to  happen again.   He  stated  as  the Board  is  aware,  during  that  time, Brevard County’s business community was primarily dependent on the space industry and suffered greatly during that transition; the community learned much from those days, and today the economy is incredibly more diversified; and through the focused and deliberate efforts of the EDC, the County has diversified its business community such that it is no longer dependent on one industry.  He noted continued economic development is necessary now more than ever as the community prepares for potential job cuts at Kennedy Space Center in the face of the national economic shifts that are occurring; and Brevard County must be prepared to address the rapidly changing industry demands and workforce needs.

 

Lynda Weatherman, EDC President and CEO, stated she has always appreciated and respected the Commission’s recognition of the role and responsibility taken towards economic development.  She stated the EDC’s early recognition is showing itself again in the support the County Commission has given for the last 18 to 24 months regarding the EDC’s Space Initiative.  She stated the County is struggling with cuts and decisions that are policy driven.  She noted the first unmanned launch of the Aires will be in Fiscal Year 2011; the first launch of the CEV will be 2015; and that is what the County is facing.  She indicated an orange area on a chart and stated it indicates transition retirement; and that is a moving number and no one knows to what degree that is, but there will be some attrition.  She stated she would like the Board to know what the EDC is doing to address the upcoming situation at NASA; and what it has done and what it is going to do.  She advised when looking at direct and indirect jobs, all economies have a good and bad impact when something shifts; with the job loss, the County is looking at a loss of 7,797 jobs; and when looking at the economic impact of the loss of the jobs based on a computer model, it is $105 billion and an additional half billion in regards to induced and indirect impact; and $1.55 billion is the equivalent of about 20 percent of the payroll in Brevard County.  She stated the other thing to look at in regards to the data is the economic national environment the County is in as the shift happens; and stocks are the highest they have been, but the growth is slowing.  She noted inflation is occurring, houses are starting to slow down, gas prices are high, and the labor market is week. 

 

*Chairperson Colon’s absence was noted at this time.

 

Ms. Weatherman stated the EDC is going to address the challenge of mitigating the job loss by addressing the opportunities that come as a direct result of the shifting from the space shuttle; the most profound example is the CEV.

 

*Chairperson Colon’s presence was noted at this time.

 

Ms. Weatherman stated the EDC is going to look at new commercial space endeavors; a renaissance of new space vehicles are being developed that are not of traditional NASA, and not of the traditional prime contractors; but the EDC wanted to get the thin edge of the wedge and address these companies early.  She stated the EDC wants to encourage NASA headquarters and let it be known the EDC understands cuts are taking place; it wants to send a strong message that it does not want cuts to occur in Brevard County; and asked what it can do as a community to bring more NASA programs to the area.  She noted in the past 24 months the EDC has been successful in several endeavors, such as the pursuit and capture of the CEV as a final assembly and check-out; and that is very significant, as the Kennedy Space Center has never assembled a launch vehicle.  She stated because  the  EDC  has  made the case not just to corporate space America, but internationally, that KSC can take on assembly work; and if Lockheed Martin makes an investment and brings jobs to Brevard County, it really opens the first door and lets the EDC make the case for more opportunities that are tied to that.  She advised when the EDC competed for the CEV, NASA KSC was a great partner in providing the ONC Building, but the ONC Building was something that needed to be refurbished because it was one of the EDC’s tools in getting Lockheed Martin to consider locating in Brevard County.  She noted that money came from the State; it helped the EDC be more competitive and that helped it get the job of locating them here, but the reason the EDC got the money from the State was because the space advisers went out and got money; so every investment the Board has made has germinated to other opportunities; it made the EDC have a more creative and competitive package; and it also brought work to local companies.  She stated the biggest investment is the work the State did to bring in $35 million of State incentives; it is a true partnership between the local community and the State of Florida, but they had to have a deal to put money towards; and it was the EDC, which partners with the Board, that brought the deal to the table.  She noted the $35 million is going to have a significant impact because it is going to be brought into reconstructing and refurbishing the ONC Building; and that is 200 construction jobs.  She stated final assembly and check-out is an $80 million economic impact just looking at the construction, and there is more construction opportunities to come.  She noted the EDC is working now with a firm from Orlando to make sure a lot of sub-contracting opportunities come to local construction companies.  She advised the EDC started the Space Initiative 18 to 24 months ago; and it brought in the CEV, the A&E work for local companies to refurbish. 

 

Ms. Weatherman stated there is $50 million in capital investments that is taking place right over the river; and it is approximately 752 direct jobs.  She noted while the EDC wants to focus on job creation, it also wants to focus on the long term; the long term is what it is doing to enhance the business environment; and is what the space advisors at the EDC are doing in regards to creating opportunities for more jobs.   She stated the EDC wants to continue to promote the idea of more work coming from Lockheed Martin as it is tied to the Orion Project.  She advised the EDC promoted the use of Complex 40 for a company called SpaceX; the Board wrote a letter  on  April 4, 2007  supporting  that  company;  there  are new companies out there trying to break the cost barrier to space; and there are a lot of new entrepreneur start-up companies that are addressing that.  She stated the EDC would want to be able to have those companies build their products here; the whole idea of developing lead generations is to identify projects that have not yet met a site that has been identified; and they will never consider locating in Brevard County if they cannot launch out of Brevard County.  She stated the EDC wrote letters and had meetings  in  Washington D.C.;  and  about  six  weeks  after  that,  SpaceX  was  granted range access.  She advised as she told Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, the reason the EDC is working so hard to get this launch activity here is because SpaceX will consider doing operations work in Brevard County.  She stated the EDC has also worked with another company looking to secure work at either Launch Complex 36, or Launch Complex 20.  She advised jobs in an economy are created in three ways, a company relocates, a company starts up, and a company expands.  She noted a good, sound economic approach will concentrate on all of these, not just the CEV, which was great mitigated job loss immediately, but the EDC wants to make sure it has a sound, diversified economic policy; and that is why it is important to promote joint economic industry. She advised the EDC worked to bring CAIL, CEV Avionics Integration Laboratory, to Kennedy Space Center; and that is an example of bringing more programs to Brevard County.  She stated space tourism is something the EDC is working with; the TDC was a great partner about a year ago in providing some incentive marketing information for a company called Space Adventures;  and  it  went  to  the  TDC  to see if it was  something it would be interested in. She noted space tourism companies are also being recruited in places like Las Vegas; and Brevard County should not assume those companies would want to come here just because of Kennedy Space Center.   

 

Ms. Weatherman stated the EDC came before the County Commission last year and asked for an increase and identified certain programs it wanted to enhance; the increase was divided into technology, workforce, marketing, and space enhancement; and as the year went on, the EDC did some adjustment in the dollars, particularly in space enhancement because it got a lot of traction out of that.  She stated article you read talks about the major nodes of high technology; Money Magazine most recently acknowledges this area as being a high technology node; and if there is going to be a program that is going to address the challenges of economic development and the opportunities, the focus has to be on what can be done for those innovative high technology companies.  She stated one of the things the EDC was able to do is meet with venture capitalists; Melbourne is not San Diego and it does not have name recognition that venture capitalists might draw to; and the EDC needs to tell the stories on behalf of the companies in Brevard County that it feels are strong enough for their investment.  She stated there is an organization the EDC will be involved with for the next two days called Tech Fusions; it will be the first time NASA, Langley, and KSC have come to Brevard County to talk about technology challenges; and Harris Corporation, Disney, NASA, and KSC, will be there, as well as Langley, to talk about the challenges being faced and how as a resident industry in Brevard County provide some assistance.  She advised the EDC does an inventory every year of the manufacturing companies as a diagnostic tool to find out what their needs are so the EDC can calibrate its needs; the EDC needs to do that with the innovation companies; and the EDC has been told what the County is going to need are salesmen with high-tech experience.  She advised the next EDC program is workforce; the best way to look at workforce and the program of work the EDC has done is the supply and demand issue; the supply is the labor base and the demand is going to be what the industries demand; the question is if supply meets demand quantitatively and qualitatively; and that is critical. 

 

She stated the EDC knows the shift is happening and it knows it is going to have excess people who are going to have skills; if there are 50 people who do tile work on the shuttle, and the CEV needs two people, can those 48 people’s skills be transferred; and inquired where does the EDC get the money to transfer.  She advised there is a study being done identifying how many tile makers there are; at the same time this is being done, companies are still trying to retain their labor because there are still shuttles to go off; and the next thing the EDC is going to do as part of the workforce program is identify the supply site and ask what skills are needed.  She stated one of the things the EDC has done is interfaced with the major engineering universities in the United States; the competition for talented workers with new skills is severe; and the EDC can make a strong case for that.  She advised the EDC received an International Trade Grant of $75,000 from the State of Florida; that is important because there is a significant role the EDC can play to open up overseas markets for companies to sell their products; and what the EDC has done with the grant is support companies going overseas so they can sell their products.  She stated Brevard County has to compete with the Jacksonville’s and Dallas’, which are places known for having aviation and avionics; but Brevard County is not the size of those cities and it does not have the budget for that.  She stated 3,526 well-paying jobs are what the EDC knows are going to be lost at the Kennedy Space Center if the transition and attrition number is correct; with the work the EDC has done in the last 24 months with the support from the Board, it was able to get 552 jobs; these are jobs that are tied to the CEV and tied to all the other programs; and it does not include the 200 jobs tied to construction.  She stated the Board  and the EDC have never been afraid of hard work, and she looks forward to working with the Board in the future.

 

Chairperson Colon stated two weeks ago Ms. Weatherman mentioned some of the things the EDC was doing in regards to knowing the potential of job loss for County employees; and inquired of the status of that.  Ms. Weatherman stated last week she worked with Human Resources Director Frank Abbate in regards to getting a listing of the job skills that will be available because of the cuts; and the EDC sent a notice to its members explaining there are some opportunities for them to get some good, hard working people.  She advised the EDC has put its workforce advisor in charge, and it will be his priority to interface with the companies as they contact the EDC, and then match the needs against supply coming out of the County with the demands coming out of the EDC members and the industrial base. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the work ethic of a lot of County employees is incredible.  Ms. Weatherman advised she spoke to Mr. Abbate on Friday and they still just have the general description of the skill mix and the EDC has already outreached to it companies; Mr. Abbate gave the project to Personnel Manager Carol Sheffield to redefine the skill mix, specifically, so when the EDC has a company that comes back and sees an I.T. worker skilled in something, he or she can be matched up. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the Europeans are now going to be accessing the International Space Station; the vehicle is called the Jules Verne; and it is going to be launched from South America.  He stated the fact that Brevard County has an aging space fleet, the issue is that sooner or later Brevard County will not be building new shuttles; and yet there is new technology coming out of Europe.  He stated there is also the uncertainty of the presidential elections and the potential there will be a new NASA Director; and inquired will man actually be thinking about going back to the moon and Mars, and will the scientific, commercial, military agendas  take  precedence  over the manned missions.  He stated on August 9, 2007 the Board is going to have an opportunity to have a sort of think tank; he would like to get some of the people Ms. Weatherman would think would be beneficial; he does not want to make it seem like the CEV is not important; but the County is on quicksand and the quicksand can move rapidly with the changes and administrations and party politics.  He stated the Board needs to think about the person losing his job all the way up to where are the shifting geo politics in space exploration.  He stated the Board always wants to capture as much as it can, but the question is if there is nothing left to capture because it has decided to look elsewhere; these are the types of issues he would like to bring to the table during the meeting on August 9, 2007; and he would like the EDC to think through those things with the Board.  He stated he would like to know who the employees are and to what extent the EDC can reach out and maybe obtain a person with specific expertise as to not only strategic planning but how the space can actually become a catalyst for other ideas and industrialization in the community.  He noted sometimes a flood of new employees on the market actually allows for movements into private sector industrialization, if it is able to be captured and moved strategically.  He stated he is going to meet with some people from around the country about those issues, and he would like to get back in touch with the EDC on those issues.

 

Ms. Weatherman stated in regards to the launch and competition, the EDC wants to open up access to launch so it is more competitive, but it does not want to rely on that; it wants to bring in production and technology work; and the EDC is trying to attempt to address the Board’s concern by having a diversified approach.  She stated the only other thing she can think of in regards to all of the outside influences of shifting space industry is there is a National Space Policy, which is going to be the President; and there are a lot of things that are beyond the EDC’s control that will immediately have an impact in Brevard County.  She noted the only thing she can think of are the Chinese; they are very aggressive; and that might bring a real awakening and focus on the National Space Policy.  Commissioner Scarborough stated it raises the issue that fundamentally, the people of the United States need to see a reason for being in space; and there are grave concerns about the capacity because of the distance and other things.  He advised he had a meeting with Shana Dale, who is the second in command at NASA; one of the things she shared was that when she was in Washington with the University of Texas, she found it beneficial to have somebody who understands the bigger strategic; and the Board has been getting different names of people.  He stated if that evolves it would be something that would be best to come under the EDC for a coordinated effort; and inquired if Ms. Busacca has had any further conversations with anybody on that particular issue; with Ms. Busacca responding no. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated another concern is the unknown impact of the Constitutional Amendments that are supposed to be looked at for consideration by the voters in January 2008. 

 

Ms. Weatherman stated about six weeks ago, the EDC met with State Representatives about the property tax issue; the EDC’s concern was to bring to their attention that with the property tax issue there is going to be a severe impact on economic development opportunities; and she is talking about the lack of roads, services, and those kinds of quality of life items.  She stated it is competitive enough in the world with hurricanes and competing sites that have a lot more money and incentive base, such as Savannah, Atlanta, Austin, and New Mexico; and inquired if Tallahassee considered the ramifications that it is beyond County Governments having to make tax cuts.  She noted the cuts the counties are making are going to have a severe impact on economic development efforts. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board has considered the current budget cuts as Round One, and with Round Two, the ramifications are going to be pretty hard for the State of Florida and not just Brevard County; and the quality of life is why residents come to Brevard County.  She noted when businesses come in to communities like Brevard County, they want to make sure everything is here, such as culture and education; and those are things that are looked at.  Ms. Weatherman stated when companies are looking to relocate and they are in town on a site visit, it is a process of elimination; and they are looking for a reason to cut towns off of a list.  Chairperson Colon stated in looking at the proposed cuts the Board has to make, there are many different backgrounds and expertise. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired the if current budget includes full funding for EDC; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired when will Ms. Weatherman have the comparative budgets for the Board; with Ms. Weatherman responding she can get them to the Board on Friday. Chairperson Colon stated she wants people to understand the budget has been a moving target; no one is out of the woods; and she does not want to send anyone away with a false sense of security. 

 

 

 

Mark Van Bever, Court Administrator, stated last week there was a memo entitled “Court Space Options”, that was distributed at one of the workshops.  He advised he and Judge Tonya Rainwater have had a chance to look at those options and also to discuss the options with the judges; and he will summarize for the Board the discussion that has come out of those meetings.  He stated the courts still think it is very prudent to plan on Brevard County receiving two additional judges within the next 18 months; space needs to be provided for their offices and also to hold proceedings; the overwhelming option preferred by the judiciary is the current plan of providing an expansion in Viera that would be four stories, and would provide for the needs for the State Attorney, the Public Defender, and the courts.  He stated Court Administration think that is an option that will be less expensive in the long run; and it is the most productive option as far as holding court proceedings.  He stated the courts also recognize the budget situation the Board is up against; there is a distant and not preferred alternative the courts would choose if the Board cannot build the expansion and if it is going to move the Law Library; and if the Board makes those two choices, the option the courts would prefer to take is the mediation operation, which is on the second floor and already on a judicial hallway next to judges chambers, and convert that to a judges office, a judges judicial assistant office, and a hearing room.  He noted that would leave a spot to put one additional judge.  He stated there is another place at the other end of the hall on the second floor where Judge John Griesbaum currently is and where a second judge could be placed; the office is currently used for retired judges when they come in to hear additional case loads; and that would be the office space that would be required with two additional judges.  He noted the mediation program could then go to the Law Library space if the Board was going to vacate; and he does not recommend either of these, but it is an alternative.  He stated in addition, in order to hold proceedings for those two judges the courts would need a space for a court room someplace in that building; with the logical spot then being the Law Library, if it were vacant; and the courts do not recommend moving the Law Library.  He stated the courts need a space that is a standard size courtroom where there can be a normal sized litigation well where the attorneys work, a normal sized spectator area for litigants and spectators, and a jury box.  He stated a County Court Judge is in the courtroom all the time.  He advised if something else was done in that building as is recommended in some of the options, to provide a much smaller hearing room type of space, it is only going to be semi-functional; it is not going to meet the needs of the County Court Judge; and it is likely to only meet part of the needs of any Circuit Judge that would also be put in there.  He stated a full-size courtroom with a jury box would be preferable.  He noted the downside to what he just explained is that first of all, it does not do anything to meet the needs of the State Attorney or Public Defender; secondly, in order for a judge to access that courtroom if it were put in the Law Library, the judge would have to come down a secure area, which is preferable, then walk the entire length of the jury lounge, and then exit the building to go outside, to then come into a place that is punched into the exterior wall of the Law Library. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired if numbers have been run on the cost of doing that scenario.  Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten responded staff visited with Mr. Van Bever and walked through it on Friday, so staff will be working on those numbers.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Board did that, where does that leave it with the Public Defender and the State Attorney; with Mr. Whitten responding it does not solve that problem.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired what would be the options there; and stated it sounds like the Board may be going up to $1.2 million.  Mr. Whitten responded the Board will need some solutions for the Public Defender’s space.   Mr. Van Bever stated the worst part of that scenario is getting prisoners into that space; that is much harder than getting a judge there; there is not a secure  hallway  or  path  to get the prisoners in there; and it is very makeshift and not preferred, but it would be preferred if the expansion cannot be done, and if the Board is going to relocate the Law Library. 

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired what is the square footage in the proposal; with Mr. Van Bever responding the Law Library is 6,700 square feet; stated in rough numbers, the mediation area is approximately 1,200 square feet that would need to be relocated; and numbers when including the courtroom, witness waiting rooms, and a vestibule sound block between the actual courtroom and public hallway, is approximately 2,500 square feet.  Commissioner Voltz inquired of all the cases that are dealt with on a regular basis, how many of them have timelines in which they have to be heard within 30 or 60 days; with Mr. Van Bever responding every case has a time standard issued by the Supreme Court; but that does not mean the cases have to be heard in those time periods.  He stated there are very strict time standards and requirements for child abuse cases; child abuse cases are a sizeable amount of the cases that are heard; and those cases keep a full-time judge and an Attorney General Magistrate busy all day, every day.  He stated in addition to that, when dealing with cases like felonies that involve a potential loss of liberty, there are very strict standards on those; there are six judges who hear felony cases all day, every day; and there are seven of the 26 judges who do that all day long.  He advised in addition to that, 11 County Court Judges have misdemeanors that also have time standards by which if a case is not tried in a certain amount of time, the defendants can be let go; that makes 17 out of 26 judges that have cases with very strict requirements by which they must be finished, unless some of the parties waive the right to a speedy trial; and then those standards are relaxed.  Commissioner Voltz stated the rest of the judges see cases as they are needed; and inquired what can be pushed out so that the judges use space other than when the other ones are being used.  Mr. Van Bever responded that is already being done with what is being provided to the family judges; it takes a long time to get a divorce case to trial because the courts are already understaffed with judges; and those judges are already required to take whatever courtroom space, or non-courtroom space, is available.  He noted there are 18 judges out of the 27  who  have very strict standards; that leaves the other nine  judges who will do civil trials and divorce/family type work; those judges already require a very significant time to get a hearing on their docket; and some of that is due to courthouse space already.  He stated if two more judges are put in there without space that is designed to hear a complete variety of court cases, it is only going to get worse.  Commissioner Voltz inquired how many of those courtrooms that are there right now are used from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every single day; with Mr. Van Bever responding approximately 75 percent are used all day, every day; stated the major reason is that County Court Judges rotate going to the jail in the afternoon or are in a video room conducting court from jail in the afternoon; and therefore that courtroom is vacant.  Commissioner Voltz stated 25 percent of the space is available for somebody to do something.  Mr. Van Bever stated it is not being utilitzed as of the moment; however, if a judge has a trial planned for tomorrow morning, one of the reasons that courtroom might become vacant is if the trial settles, but it is too late to schedule something in that space; and noted it is like the Commission Room, as it is not always used, but there has to be a Commission Room for the Commissioners.  Commissioner Voltz inquired how often that happens; with Mr. Van Bever responding trials settle a lot because when defendants see the whites of the juror’s eyes, they realize it is for real, and the offer that has been presented to them sounds better than what the result could be; and that often happens on Monday for some trials, but it is not predictable.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if a judge has a trial on Monday, how much of the time of that courtroom is allotted for that particular trial; with Mr. Van Bever responding when most weeks begin, every courtroom has a judge assigned to it to hear expected  proceedings;  however, some  of those  are  going to settle, some are going to be no-shows, and some are not going to be tried for a variety of reasons, but the courtroom schedule shows there are planned proceedings; and sometimes all of those proceedings are held and it is not the kind of thing where courtrooms can be double booked and then tell people who have traveled from far away that there is no space available. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if there is a history on record of everything that is settled on Monday afternoon.  County Attorney Scott Knox stated typically, judge’s line up cases; there may be 10 or 12 cases scheduled for a docket for a week; and if two of them settle, then they go down the line with the other judges.  He noted they are usually scheduled for a week or two at a time.  Mr. Van Bever stated a certain number of cases are notified when their case may be heard; the others are on hold in case some of those settle; but in some instances even those several are stacked up when a courtroom is vacant. Commissioner Voltz inquired how the people on the waiting list are contacted if five cases are settled on Monday morning; with Mr. Van Bever responding usually the prior week they are asked if they can be ready for the next week if needed.  Commissioner Voltz stated the bottom line is 25 percent of the time there are vacant courtrooms.  Mr. Van Bever stated that is a rough guess.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she would like to reiterate what she thinks Mr. Van Bever is saying.  She noted if the expansion cannot be done, then Mr. Van Bever would prefer not to go to Melbourne; and would prefer to use the space of the Law Library if it is moved.  Mr. Van Bever stated yes, if the Board is going to move the Law Library anyway; but he would not recommend that the Law Library be moved just to accommodate the courts’ needs; and he believes the Law Library belongs where it is.  He stated if at some point the Board is not going to do the expansion, but it is not moving the Law Library, then he will get input from the judges and that can be commented on; and that is a very distant alternative to building the expansion.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if nothing is being looked at for South County.  Mr. Van Bever responded the courts’ recommendation is that it should start planning for a significant South County  facility  to  be  occupied  in 2012  when it thinks  it will have additional judges to use that facility.  He stated the court’s believe the only place for something to be constructed by the time judges arrive in January 2009 is in Viera; if something can be built in the South County by January 2009 the Committee is not adverse to going farther south; but the Committee did not think that was possible; and the reason it thinks it is possible in Viera is that the land is there, it is virtually prepared, floor plans are reusable, and there is a construction manager who knows the buildings and what is required.  He stated for expediency reasons the Committee chose Viera, realizing it would take longer to build something in the south; but the south is the next obvious choice for court facilities, and by far the preference for the next round of expansion. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he is concerned there is $1.2 million recurring to finance the facility, and then the issue of moving the Law Library; and inquired if the Board did not do the $1.2 million, how much will it cost the citizens of Brevard County to put something together that is workable if the Board moves the Law Library.  Facilities Director Steve Quickel responded he is reluctant to give the Board a figure; stated he can assure the Board that to convert the Law Library into a courtroom is not a simple proposition; and his guess is it will probably cost half per-square foot to make that conversion of the Law Library into a courtroom.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board needs to know what it is going to cost to restructure something; and the Board will probably have to talk to the Public Defender and the State Attorney as well.  He stated he is afraid of this conversation because there are too many unknowns.  Mr. Quickel stated it is reasonably safe to say, at this point in time, that to convert the Law Library into a courtroom and also provide a secured access into the courtroom by the judge, and the modifications still be required into the existing Justice Center, that the Board is looking at approximately $1.2 million or more. Commissioner Scarborough stated that is not taking the Public Defender and State Attorney into consideration.  Mr. Quickel stated no, the big needs are required space for the Public Defender and the State Attorney; and that is why the original scheme went back to putting an addition onto the Justice Center, as the courtrooms would be there as well as office space.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the $1.2 million was amortized as a debt; and inquired if the Board moved things around, would that number rise to $3 million.  Mr. Quickel advised he thinks it would be more than that to handle everything.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired with $5 million, is he at a level where he goes to the bond market, or is it Commercial Paper; with Mr. Whitten responding it would be Commercial Paper. Commissioner Scarborough inquired what type of terms would he get with Commercial Paper, or what type of payout; with Mr. Whitten responding principle and interest is paid, but it is every five years and it rolls over; and it is flexible in its terms.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board can still be at one-quarter the cost and do Commercial Paper to spread the debt.  Mr. Whitten advised the terms are self-imposed; and the Board can choose a seven-year term if that works out in terms of the annual debt.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she was in Building A the other day; she walked into a huge empty lobby; and inquired if there is anything that can be done with that space, as there could potentially be two floors put there for some extra space.  Mr. Quickel responded there is a lot of volume in the lobbies of several buildings at the Government Center; stated the problem is there is no structure to support any build out above that; staff would have to go back and punch holes in the existing floor, and put footings in to support new construction before it can come up; and that is very expensive, plus the impact it has on the operations of the facility.  He noted staff has looked at doing that in some areas, particularly Building D for the State Attorney’s area; and it is really not a practical approach.  Commissioner Voltz stated for most of the buildings there is already the roof and structure for a second story; and inquired why only a part of it was built to withhold  a  second  story  and  not  the  whole  thing.   Mr. Quickel responded it depends on the loads and usage of the floors that the structure has to hold.  Commissioner Voltz inquired why would the County have structured a building so that a big open space could not be used for anything; with Mr. Quickel responding in the beginning, when decisions are being made to build buildings, the County does not want to spend money where it is not needed; there is a lot of material and labor cost associated with installing materials; and if it is built because of what may or may not happen in the future, it is a lot of money sitting there that may never be used.  He noted Facilities was not involved in the design of Building A; but when growth is imminent, it can be designed into a building and it becomes an economical thing to do because the realization is that at some point in time, it is going to be built out; and that is the logic staff put into the expansion of the Justice Center knowing there needed to be space for additional courtrooms and the State Attorney’s Office.  He noted that is what Facilities did with the last two expansions to the Justice Center; and it planned for building out the floors so everything was put in there at that time.  Commissioner Voltz stated there is still room on the first floor; and it may not be able to go up, but there are walls that could be put in, and it could accommodate somebody.  Mr. Quickel stated putting a single floor in Building A with partitions could be done more economically than two stories, but there is also the addition of electrical systems and HVAC systems.  Commissioner Voltz stated she understands that, but the space is there.  Mr. Quickel stated yes, it is there, but there may be some false economies; it gets to be a very complex process to look at how existing space can be either altered or beefed up and added to; and it has been done, but a lot of times starting off with new construction is going to be the more economical way to go,  because  then the parameters are being set of what is wanted to satisfy the needs of the space being built.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if Facilities can identify the potential of lobby areas of the buildings at the Government Center; with Mr. Quickel responding staff can get that information.

 

The Board recessed from 11:20 a.m. to 11:46 a.m.

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she would like the Board to have an opportunity to prepare for tomorrow’s discussion.  She noted she has questions for staff in regards to the $7.3 million.

 

Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten stated a lot of dollars that were given for one-time expenses are going to be captured under the other actions in both Exhibits A and B; for instance, the Board will see more than the $7.3 million; and the other actions column adds up to more than $7.3 million because it includes some additional one-time expenditures from what were recurring tax sources.  He advised the best example is on page 84, with the SCGTV additional dollars for equipment; that is another action that was already reduced out of SCGTV’s budget; and those were dollars that were given in the current fiscal year for equipment purchases.  He noted staff has done a lot of the work in regards to looking at recurring dollars that went to one-time expenditures; and those reductions allowed staff to present to the Board a balanced budget proposal.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if the $72,000 was money the Board allocated last year, but was not spent; with County Manager Peggy Busacca  responding no, SCGTV had to purchase a piece of equipment; and staff did not have to re-purchase it again, so it did not need to allocate it.  Ms. Busacca stated for example, last year with Planning and Zoning, the Board gave $75,000 for a traffic consultant for the Viera Project; that traffic consultant is paid for, and Planning and Zoning does not need an additional $75,000; that was spent out of General Fund, it was a one-time cost; and it has now gone back into the pot so it can be reallocated this year.  Commissioner Voltz inquired when the Board spends money for those types of things, is that part of the cash carry forward for the following year.  Ms. Busacca responded staff would find that during budget development because the departments request would be reduced because they do not need to spend the money next year.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Departments’ budgets are reduced by all of those specific amounts; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively. 

 

Budget Director Dennis Rogero stated to use the Planning and Zoning example, there is the proposed cuts column, which for Planning and Zoning totals $140,789; then there is the other actions column, which totals $76,305; and the total is $217,094, which corresponds to Planning and Zoning’s General Fund transfer reduction for next year.  He stated the Board will find that is the case for all of the departments; the reduction totals correspond to the ad valorem, and/or, General Fund reductions, depending on what the funding sources are.

 

Mr. Whitten stated in terms of the one-time dollars that would normally go back into the pot next year, that is under normal circumstances, because the pot was so reduced going into next year because of the Statutory reduction; staff is hesitant to say they have gone back into the pot because the tax revenues were reduced by $19 million or $20 million; and there is really no going back into the pot for next year. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board wanted to make sure it was itemized; it is uncomfortable for the Board to continue to look at the eliminations of programs and positions if every single stone has not been turned; and that is uncomfortable because that is where the Board thought it was a week ago.  She stated it would be irresponsible for the Board not to ask if everything has been looked at.  She inquired if every Department said for every project that is finished, the money from those projects are going back to the General Fund.  Mr. Whitten responded it is easily identified as General Fund transfer; stated what the fund balance figure is ultimately going to be is a continuing discussion with Finance Director Steve Burdett; and that is where the Board may have more flexibility if staff is on target with the fund balance figure or is it under the fund balance figure.  He stated staff will continue to have those discussions up until the Board finalizes the budget; that has not been disrupted by the property tax reform; staff decides what the fund balance figure is; and Mr. Burdett believes there may be some room in terms of the fund balance target.  Ms. Busacca stated that has nothing to do with property reform; and this is the way staff always does the budget.  She stated the Board has continually asked staff for the target number that the budget had to be reduced by; what the Board has seen is the same process staff goes through every year; staff gets the requests from the Departments, they are entered into the system; staff looks at all of the other revenues and expenditures that are made and it comes up with a number; and what the Board saw last week was the middle of that process, which the Board never sees.  She noted the Board always sees the end of the process when the proposed budget is provided to it; last week the Board was able to see what happens as it is being provided; and every day the Board asked what the number was.  She noted every day, because the amount of information that gets processed changes, that number changed every day; and staff did its best to bring the Board along.  She stated normally staff hands the Board a completed project and is not expected to show the Board a day-by-day process; the Board thinks there was some large mistake that was made, or some large find that was made; but all that happened is the same thing that happens every year, except the Board does not normally see it; and what the Board has now is what it is accustomed to seeing in its budget, which is the proposed budget with all of the math being done.   

 

Chairperson Colon stated one thing that stands out is the project that was finished, which was the expansion of the courthouse that the Board no longer has to make a payment for.  Mr. Whitten stated the jail is included also.  Chairperson Colon stated a combination of all of that is a pretty penny, but that does not happen every year; and it depends on whenever that project ends.  She noted for example, there may be some projects ending in January or February of next year; and the Board cannot touch those dollars until it knows for sure the project has ended.  She inquired when the courthouse expansion was finished; with Mr. Whitten responding payments are still being made, and hopefully they will continue to be paid through the fiscal year; but the transfer no longer needs to happen next fiscal year.  He stated with that project the courthouse was finished, and the second floor two weeks or so ago, the medical mental health pod at the jail is scheduled for a March 2008 completion date; those dollars that were in this year’s budget at a General Fund transfer are now a part of the fund balance figure; and so the transfer is reduced. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated Mr. Whitten hit on the fact that something like this is going to happen in March 2008; and inquired how much is that dollar amount.  Mr. Whitten responded hopefully, it will be expensed all out in March; stated there will be other projects that either roll over as fund balance next year or expensed out; and that is just the normal budget process.  He stated when the Board looks at the numbers in terms of the property tax numbers or the general revenue numbers that need to be reduced for the Board  to have  a balanced budget proposal, it still is in the $20 million range.  He stated the target has slipped somewhat, but it still has generally been in that range of $17 million to $20 million; and when the Board looks at what it has as a product today, it is still that figure.  He stated that expenditure going away or rolling over as a fund balance helps, but the bottom line is the Board is $20 million down.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated it is tremendously complex; as the Board gets into its individual conversations at a departmental level, there is a whole different conversation; and as an example when he talked to Mary O’Neil from Road and Bridge, they discussed equipment and how the department was going to lose one grader operator because he was going to retire.  He stated it was critical to Eric Citta that the position remain there; however, he was also setting aside $150,000 annually for the purpose of purchasing a Grade-all; stated Kathy England from his office toured with Mr. Citta, and it looked like if a Minze Muck was also needed, they would pay cash.  He stated after having initial conversations the idea was to not set aside $150,00 for the Grade-All later, go ahead and buy the Minze Muck because it was a shorter life span, it would not need Commercial Paper; and that would allow enough money to have the other operator.  He noted there are multiple parts and the Board looks at millages and cutting one program or another, and that is not how it works; it is so integrated, and that is why the individual conversations are so critical.  He stated he would like to know where the Board is with general revenue Commercial Paper; and inquired if it has been increasing over the years, or has there been a decline in the amount of paper the Board has been in because it has elected to set aside monies to purchase things such as a Grade-all with cash as opposed to using paper.  He stated he believes there is a lot more the Board can extract than what it has; there is another two months before the final budget; and he would like to visit again with everything, because he believes the budget can be better.  He stated if the Board had to vote on the budget tomorrow, it would be tragic; and two months will allow the Board a lot more knowledge.  He noted the Board will find that its questions for the departments will create creativity; a question can make people think differently and there are multiple ways the budget can be put together; and the Board needs to go back and ask staff how else it can be done. Chairperson Colon stated it would be comfortable for the Board to take its time if it knew there was a light at the other end of the tunnel, but January 2008 is around the corner; and she is convinced it is going to pass because it is not just Brevard County, it is the whole State who gets to vote.  She stated going through this this year will help the Board next year; by next year the Board will be looking at benefits; and by speaking to directors this year, they are fully aware of Round Two and that is going to be worse than this.  She stated the citizens are going to find out that their tax bill will not change much.  She stated those dollars are never coming back; the same level of service cannot be expected with less dollars; and at that point the Board has to give direction to the directors of the level of service it expects.  

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired if there is a system or policy in place that identifies and returns recurring General Fund dollars on an annual basis; with Mr. Whitten responding staff is looking through the budget; stated in a normal budget those are listed as a program; and it is that process of staff looking back through where those dollars have gone and hopefully the agencies assist in that process also.  He stated there is no tag on the dollars to say one-time project or not, but it is just a matter of diligent review.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if the Board has a timeline on when it approves the millages; with Ms. Busacca responding tentative millage is scheduled for July 24, 2007; and that is only for the aggregate, not for the individual line item.  Commissioner Nelson stated during the break he spoke to Mr. Whitten and Mr. Rogero about the Parks and Recreation millages; and they are going to do the research on those because of the change and the voter approved passage of those.  He stated one of the things that occurs to him is that it may pass in January 2008; the difficulty he has with going too far is that if the Board had known last year about the fire flop and the impact it would have on the calculation this year, the chances are pretty good it would have been done differently because it hurt the County.  He noted revenue wise, it was basically neutral, although individually it turned out to be a problem; yet the County got penalized because it showed up as an increase; and he is hesitant to not get too far out there because the Board may do the right thing and be penalized for it.  He stated his focus is to get this done in September 2007 and hope the citizens of the State of Florida understand what the ramifications are in January 2008. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated even if it is voted on and approved in January 2008, the Board still will not know, and she does not know how long it will take the Property Appraiser to contact every single homeowner, to then find out who wants what; and she does not know if the Board will be able to incorporate that into next year’s budget.  Chairperson Colon stated that is an excellent point.  She stated the Board had asked the question of who is going to be doing that; and inquired if it is the Property Appraiser’s Office or Tax Collector’s Office.  Mr. Whitten responded it is under a process or procedure to be determined by the Department of Revenue.  Chairperson Colon stated one thing that has been really hard for municipalities is the fact that this was just thrown at the County; and the Board could not talk about a budget until it had a number.  She stated Commissioner Nelson hit on something that was huge because the Board never knew it was going to be penalized; it was told what it had to do; and then it was held against it. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated in front of the Board is the proposed budget that is statutorily required to be delivered to the Board today.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if all of the items in Attachment B include all of the cuts; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he believes the County will reinvent itself; it is his belief is the County is going to be less equally based and more consumer based; for instance, lights at a field cannot just be left off, but people can be charged $65.00 an hour.  He stated the Board will find a methodology evolving in the State of Florida where different types of events will be occurring.  He stated the Board needs to have a presentation by the Parks and Recreation Department on the capacity to capture new revenues.  He stated he had discussions with staff about a conference center at the Chain of Lakes; one staff member suggested to go out for an RFP, do a land lease, and let them do a conference center and hotel by the hospital and college and bring in revenue.  He would like to ask staff where it can go to entrepreneurial activities and if there is a person who can come in and revamp so that the parks become self-supported.  He advised that is where the State is headed and the sooner the Board gets there, the better County it will have. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if there are some CRA’s the Board can abolish, or some it cannot; with Mr. Knox responding there are ways the Board can effectively to do away with them.  Commissioner Nelson stated he thinks all of the CRA’s are important; his concern is to not focus on one CRA; unfortunately, it becomes the greatest argument for incorporation of Merritt Island, which is to protect itself from the Board; and he thinks that is sad.  He stated there are issues on Merritt Island that are being dealt with that do not often impact the other Commissioners; stated he has Code issues through the roof; and that is why he has concerns with Code Compliance being reduced.  He stated the Board can certainly look at CRA’s, but he thinks they do a great job.  Commissioner Voltz  stated  she supports  redevelopment, but at a time like now, there are things the Board may want to look at to see if those projects on Merritt Island are all that important.  Commissioner Nelson stated if the Board goes in that direction, he would ask that it look at all CRA’s.  Chairperson Colon stated she believes every penny that went into MIRA was worth it; there are areas in Titusville which are only asking the Board for a very small amount; and Titusville needs that kind of economic energy. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she would like to find out what the Board actually spends on CRA’s; with Mr. Whitten responding $5,053,390.  Commissioner Voltz stated that is $5-plus million the Board is investing back into the community for basically recycling neighborhoods.  She stated CRA’ are part of Brevard County and the Board needs to keep them involved; the dollars and issues need to come out so the Board can look at them; and let the general public know exactly what it is that their tax dollars are going towards.  

 

Commissioner Nelson stated to give the past Board credit, one of the best things it did was start to have the presentations about what the CRA’s are doing; the CRA’s had think about what they were doing as well; it was a good education process for everyone; and it has become a much more transparent process now.  Commissioner Bolin stated she agrees; by the time the Board is finished with this process and a budget is moved forward, if there is anyone in the County who says they do not understand the budget, they have not read the paper, watched TV, or listen to anything the Board has done, because this is the most transparent thing she has ever seen. 

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if there was anything else the Board wanted to prepare for tomorrow.  Commissioner Voltz stated there are a couple of memos the Board received from Ms. Busacca a while ago regarding parking ticket surcharge to fund school crossing guards; and the fee increased for a number of different things.  She stated last year, the Board had to send out a letter saying it was going to increase the solid waste fee; and inquired if that is something the Board has to do.  Ms. Busacca responded the Franchise Fee would not be part of the assessment.  Commissioner Voltz stated with the parks, the dollar amounts are potentially collected from a number of different places.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like to have at least an hour discussion in which Parks and Recreation could come in and give the Board the whole gamut.  He noted apparently, the way the little league lights are handled vary from park-to-park.  He noted because Parks are individualistic, and it already has a lot of existing examples; and the Board could move the examples easily and expand them without trying to figure out the implication. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated she has requests from the Board for information about fees; and inquired if the Board wants staff to be available to make presentations.  Commissioner Voltz responded between today and tomorrow morning, she does not know how many people can be contacted to talk about everything.  Commissioner Scarborough stated Parks and Recreation could come talk about fees and costs; and he does not know how long it will take Mr. Whitten to get the information he requested on how much Commercial Paper the Board is currently carrying.  Mr. Whitten advised he can have that information tomorrow.  Ms. Busacca stated the Board has asked for information on lobby space; that will be able to be provided to the Board; and it has asked for costs of restructuring the Law Library space, but that may not be ready by tomorrow, as it may be extensive.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the only way to answer that is to look at what Mr. Quickel mentioned, which is to also consider the Public Defender and the State Attorney; and inquired what it is going to cost for the second best answer and what is the  differential  between  doing  something the  Board is not as happy with and pledging $1.2 million; and he further inquired if the $1.2 is 20 or 30 years; with Mr. Whitten responding it is 20 years. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated it was very clear that the only reason the budget was balanced was based on everything that has been proposed would have to be cut; that means everything that is on the list would have to be cut, or an equivalent; and the Board needs to be prepared for that kind of discussion.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board is not able to be prepared tomorrow.  Chairperson Colon stated no, but those are the kind of discussions that make it a little difficult because at that point the Board is going to have to put them in another list; and if the majority of the Board still comes up with $2 million worth of cuts it feels it cannot do, it probably needs to put that $2 million in services in a particular area; and then the Board can come back and work on that to try to figure out how to get there, because it has to balance the budget. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he is ready to move on increasing the reserve and moving it from $5 million to $16 million; the Board was going to add monies in this next year to the reserves; unless it is going improve the bond rating and save the Board money in the bond market, he does not want to put $1 million into increasing reserves; and he would like to have Mr. Burdett present tomorrow.  He noted he will be prepared to make a motion that the Board not move an additional $1 million into the reserves.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the other question she has is about when the Board goes back to the $3 million plus for the insurance reserves; stated that is a one-time; and inquired what that buys the Board.  Ms. Busacca responded the Board could take that money and return it to the individual departments from where it came; it could be used to pay for unemployment costs for layoffs; that would reduce the number of people the Board would have to layoff; and the Board could reduce it for this year, use it for this year to say that the Board is going to pay for medical insurance costs, because the costs have increased.  Chairperson Colon stated she thought the departments already absorbed that; with Ms. Busacca responding it is, but by doing that, the Board could get more services if that is what it wanted.  She stated if the Board said it wanted to purchase a building in lieu of building a building for facilities, she is not sure all that money could

be used for that because some of that money was generated by enterprise funds; the Board would have to be cautious to make sure it is returning that money to the appropriate place and then using it appropriately; but some of that money could be set aside, and then the money that came out of the General Fund could then be used for any General Fund expenditure.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Board could have a break down of how that money is going to be divided.  Mr. Rogero advised Human Resources is working on that.  Ms. Busacca stated they are working on it, but she is not sure it will be ready tomorrow, as it is a pretty sophisticated allocation.  She stated if it came out of the General Fund, then it can go back to the General Fund; and approximately 60 percent of all the County’s money comes out of the General Fund, and anything else would have to go back to where it came from. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she would not have a hard time with anything that is one-time, to utilize those dollars.  She stated when the Board talks about buying a building for facilities, it is half a million dollars for operation; and it is anywhere from $400,000 to $500,000 that this Board is going to have to come up with because it is recurring; and it is not just purchasing a building and having a wonderful savings, but the Board has to make sure it has identified half a million dollars to be able to operate.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he can turn those dollars into recurring savings; if the Board has Commercial Paper outstanding what it can do is pay down the Commercial Paper and then it would not be recurring in subsequent years; but different departments have more recurring paper; and that may be an exercise worth looking at.

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired if the Board should meet with another Department or two tomorrow; stated Libraries is a big Department; and it would be helpful to talk about the two biggest Departments.  Chairperson Colon stated she allocated two hours for each one when she met with those Departments, and she used more than two hours.  Ms. Busacca inquired if the Board would like her to tell the other Directors they do not have to be available tomorrow; with Commissioner Nelson and Commissioner Voltz responding the other Directors do not need to be available tomorrow.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated there is an at-large position at TICO that will be coming up in July; and inquired as to the procedure since three Commissioners are going to be making that decision.  Mr. Whitten responded he has the draft agenda report on his desk.  Chairperson Colon inquired if the Board is going to be able to give feedback, because with all the issues the Board has had, she hopes there are some good people applying.  Commissioner Bolin advised she has had applications sent to her.  Commissioner Nelson advised he has received applications as well.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if the three Commissioners have to get that position approved in the Budget Workshops; with Mr. Whitten responding he is going to put it on the next available Board meeting date; and he is taking the information given to him and putting it in an agenda report and not doing and advertisement.  Chairperson Colon stated there is no requirement for advertising.  She advised there is a big difference in the TICO Board from last year to this year.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the Citizen Budget Review Committee has not been very helpful to the Board; she has not heard any constructive information that it has given the Board that it should be looking at; and she knows staff spends a lot of time with that Committee.  She stated the Board has an Audit Review Committee, which is very productive; and she is not sure the Board needs to have the Citizen Budget Review Committee.  She stated maybe the Board can look at sun setting the CBRC.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the only way to get through the  budget  is  for  the Board to meet  like it has this year;  he has never met  more  on a  single subject; but if the CBRC was here, staff would be meeting with it as well; and the Board really needs it helping the Board.  Commissioner Voltz inquired when what the last time the CBRC met; with Mr. Rogero responding it has been months.  Commissioner Voltz stated it is less time staff has to spend on something that has not been productive for the Board at all; but the Audit Review Committee has been very productive.  Chairperson Colon stated she recalls one year in which the CBRC gave the Board information on health insurance and it was really helpful.

 

 

 

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 5:07 p.m.

 

 

 

 

                                                                        ____________________________

                                                                        JACKIE COLON, CHAIRPERSON

                                                                        BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

ATTEST:                                                         BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

__________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK 

        (S E A L)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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