MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

May 8, 2007

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in regular session on
May 8, 2007, at 9:00 a.m. in the Government Center Commission Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were:  Chairman Jackie Colon,  Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Chuck Nelson, Helen Voltz, and Mary Bolin, County Manager Peggy Busacca, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

The Invocation was given by Commissioner Helen Voltz. 

 

 

Commissioner Chuck Nelson led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to approve the Minutes of the December 11, 2006 Special Meeting, the March 20, 2007 Regular Meeting, and the March 22, 2007 Workshop.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon read aloud a resolution proclaiming May 11, 2007 as Child Care Provider Appreciation Day. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to adopt Resolution proclaiming May 11, 2007 as Child Care Provider Appreciation Day.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Chairperson Colon presented the Resolution to Melissa Murphy, representing the Early Learning Coalition of Brevard County.  Ms. Murphy advised of the work of childcare providers and an upcoming appreciation event to be held on May 10, 2007; and expressed appreciation to the Board for the Resolution. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Voltz read aloud a resolution recognizing the week of May 6 to May 12, 2007 as Correctional Officers Appreciation Week. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution recognizing May 6 to May 12, 2007 as Correctional Officers Appreciation Week.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Commissioner Voltz presented the Resolution to a group of correctional officers.  Commander Susan Jeter expressed appreciation for the recognition and support of the correctional officers.  Sheriff Jack Parker expressed pride in the correctional officers; and stated the officers never talk about themselves but about their fellow workers, the safety of the facility, and the citizens.  He stated when he presented the idea of tents, the officers were happy to do anything they could to save money for the citizens and keep as many people off the streets as possible who might hurt the citizens; and he could not be more proud of them for their courage and compassion.

 

Chairperson Colon stated they are compassionate; some of the people in the jails are people who are ruining their own lives, but do not see that; and they come back to the community. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution proclaiming May 10, 2007 as World Lupus Day.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Frank Abbaleo of the Human Resources Office, stated a special group of citizens took the initiative and time to attend the Brevard County Citizens Academy; the purpose of the Academy is to offer the opportunity to learn how the many Departments that fall under the County Manager’s Office operate; and another function is to promote open lines of communication between the citizens and County staff.  He stated the Citizens Academy is an eight-week interactive learning experience; and the citizens meet once a week for three and a half hours plus three Saturdays.  He stated on the Saturdays, they went to the South Central Water Treatment Plant, the Cocoa Landfill, Country Acres, and the Detention Center.  He stated the program also provides information on how the citizens can utilize services offered through their County government by having representatives of the many Departments give an overview of their Department’s operation and responsibilities; each presentation is followed by a question and answer period; and expressed appreciation to all Departments that participated in this year’s program, and especially to Carrie Cotter of the County Manager’s office.  He advised four members of the graduating class could not be present today; and they are Jessica Barone, Beverly Gibson Brown, Martha J. Long, and Marlene Twadell.  Certificates were presented to graduates George Blodgett, Westanna Bobbitt, Matt Chesnut, Cleta Cowley, Beth Anne Dickinson, Mary Dimel, William Embley, Carol Hamilton, Mary Anne Ketterer, Robert Ketterer, Doug Knight, Scott Leeseberg, David Norton, Diane Norton, Janet Miller, Cynthia Rayen, Dale Wise, and Mae Wise. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired how people find out about the Citizens Academy.  Mr. Abbaleo responded this year there was an article in the newspaper; but normally it is run on the Space Coast Government TV Station and there is an ad in Florida TODAY.  He stated a lot of people come as a result of talking to people who have gone through the program.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated even ancient civilizations like Rome had to deal with the same things, waste, water, and criminals; how those things are done defines the quality of a community; and it is wonderful that people care enough to go out to see the opportunities. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated under her report she likes to read a quote; and she would like to do that before honoring Mr. Tuttle.  She read a quote by Mark Twain, “Great people are those who can make others feel that they too can become great.”  She read a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “There are no limits to what can be accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.”

 

She stated Mr. Tuttle is a man who is loved and respected by the community; he is a man of God; and he is a great inspiration.  She read aloud a resolution recognizing John Tuttle, as the Brevard County High School Principal of the Year. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to adopt a Resolution recognizing John Tuttle as the Brevard County High School Principal of the Year.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Principal John Tuttle expressed appreciation to the Board for the honor and recognition; and stated he is proud to be the Principal of Bayside High School and to represent such outstanding students, teachers, parents, and the Palm Bay community.  He expressed appreciation to the community, the Board, Dr. DiPatri and the School Board, and his wife Carlene for their support.  He congratulated Chairperson Colon on her daughter Jasmine’s election as vice president of next year’s senior class. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated Mr. Tuttle is not only an incredible administrator, but also an incredible human being; and that says a lot about his family and beliefs.  She stated that is so important because young people watch adults very carefully; they want to see the actions of adults; and commented on Mr. Tuttle’s interaction with the students.  Chairperson Colon presented the Resolution to Mr. Tuttle.   

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson read aloud a resolution recognizing Sgt. Major Greg Minor for his dedicated and valued service to the United States of America and Brevard County.

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt Resolution recognizing Sgt. Major Greg Minor for his service to the country.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Sgt. Major Greg Minor expressed appreciation to the Board for the Resolution and for the support the Board provides for Reservists and members of the National Guard who are employed by the County.  He stated they may not agree with the philosophy of why they are in Iraq; but requested everyone keep the soldiers in their thoughts and prayers. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board wishes to recognize Sally Lewis, Pam Barrett, Karon Dillon, and Carrie Cotter of the County Manager’s Office; and expressed appreciation to them for their support. 

 

Sally Lewis expressed appreciation to the Board; and stated collectively they have 79 years with the County. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she should say the biggest thank-you because her office is just one floor below the County Manager’s Office so it is easy to go there to ask questions; and she and her staff appreciate everything that has been done for them. 

 

Chairperson Colon presented certificates to Ms. Lewis, Ms. Barrett, Ms. Dillon, and Ms. Cotter.

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca thanked the Board for recognizing the staff in the County Manager’s Office.   

 

 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated staff would like to withdrawn Item III.D.4, Approval of Fundraiser, Re:  Country Acres Children’s Home, which will be put on a future Agenda.

 

 

 

County Attorney Scott Knox stated they met with the Town of Malabar yesterday, and as a result, he and Commissioner Voltz are of the opinion that the Board needs to go forward with an ordinance incorporating the Town of Malabar into the MSTU.  He stated he was told that last night the Town Council voted to go forward with the participation in the MSTU; and in order to meet the deadline, it is necessary to get it on the Agenda before the end of May 2007. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve moving forward with the ordinance to include the Town of Malabar in the Law Enforcement MSTU.

 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated there was a quite a long conversation yesterday; and the Town had all its questions answered.  She stated Sheriff Parker, Commander Drinkwater, Mike Lewis, the County Manager, and the County Attorney were all present.  She stated she understands the Town Council approved the action by a vote of 5-0. 

 

Chairperson Colon called for a vote on the motion.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Chairperson Colon expressed appreciation to everyone for their hard work. 

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired if the Board will still have a workshop on May 16, 2007; with Mr.  Knox responding he is not sure that question has been resolved.  Commissioner Voltz stated she does not know if there is a need to meet; but she will find out and let Ms. Lewis know, and she will let everyone know. 

 

 

 

Ed Baranowski, President of the Strawbridge Art League, stated they are located in the Henegar Center and serve nearly 200 artists in the County; every month there is a new display; and they have a number of shows.  He stated they have provided a packet; and Mr. Emery will comment on that.

 

John Emery, Vice President of Programs for Strawbridge Art League, expressed appreciation for the cultural grant that the Art League received this year; and stated it has been very useful.  Mr. Emery outlined the contents of the packet, including a DVD of the major event of the year.  He commented on the Young Artists Juried Show; the book Florida Florida Florida, a two-year project chaired by Yolanda Schofield; and the Green Gables home. 

 

Yolanda Schofield invited everyone to the exhibit, Landmarks, Our Heritage; and commented on the three-year project to raise public awareness of the heritage of the County.  She stated the show will open on May 19, 2007; and it will then go to BCC, UCF, the Cocoa Beach Library, and will end at the Evans Library with a lecture on the history of the landmarks.  She stated one of the landmarks is Florida Air Academy; and inquired how many Commissioners have heard of the Melbourne Bone Bed.  She stated the Melbourne Bone Bed is part of Crane Creek; it flows through the botanical gardens at FIT, through the Melbourne Golf Course, and past the Florida Air Academy; and in the early 1920’s a human skull was found there, which went to the Smithsonian for exhibition, called the Melbourne Man.  She stated other bones have been found; it is an interesting site; and it goes back possibly 20,000 years.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she had the opportunity to go to the Celebration of the Visual Arts Division; it was a very enjoyable evening; the program was wonderful; and the artwork that was the selection was inspirational and gorgeous.   

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated Principal Tuttle congratulated her daughter Jasmine, but the Board also needs to congratulate Amanda Redmond, who was elected class president.  She stated she is extremely proud of her children; Jasmine is not just beautiful on the outside, but also on the inside; and parents are blessed when their child does his or her very best.  She stated her daughter is in the National Honor Society, received the Jefferson Award, and is captain of the volleyball team; and she is a very loving child.  She commented on role models in the school system; and expressed appreciation to the teachers and administrators.

 

Commissioner Voltz congratulated Chairperson Colon and her husband as well as Mary and Tommy Redmond for the accomplishments of their children. 

 

Commissioner Bolin congratulated the Colons and the Redmonds. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the young people are very disappointed that the graduation cannot be at Calvary Chapel; and they will be tackling that this year.

 

 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated there is going to be a budget meeting; he has been involved in public life for 26 years, but has never seen anything like this; and staff is working late into the night on the budget.  He stated someone said to him that this will be an opportunity to examine for waste; but when there are such massive cuts, there is no opportunity to suggest reorganizing a program or bringing functions together; and the cuts are going to be so mammoth that it goes beyond an analysis.  He expressed appreciation to staff and County Manager Peggy Busacca. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the Board approved the Affordable Housing Ordinance, but did not talk about the position that is necessary for implementation; and suggested the Board discuss the issue at its next meeting or at one of the budget meetings. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated it will be discussed during the budget meetings.

 

 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated there have been terrible dust problems in Barefoot Bay for the past couple of days; the wind is blowing; and people feel like their houses have been sandblasted.  She stated she knows there was a court date in the past that was put off because there were no issues down there; they were watering and had put in sod; but it is not working now.  She stated she does not know where they can head now; but there have been plenty of phone calls to her office; and she wanted to give Assistant County Attorney Morris Richardson a heads-up on what is going on.  She stated the Board needs to move forward with whatever it was doing before.    

 

County Attorney Scott Knox stated he will let Mr. Richardson know, and they will look into it. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Voltz expressed appreciation to the Town of Malabar for meeting yesterday and for the Council’s decision last night; and stated it was the right decision for the safety of that community.  She stated it was a difficult decision; and commented on raising property taxes to pay for law enforcement. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Council is respecting the wishes of the community; there was a straw ballot to give an idea of how the community felt about this issue; and the community voted to go forward with the MSTU.  She stated the Council should feel comfortable with its decision because it was supporting what the citizens want. 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca inquired if the Board wishes to send a letter of thanks to the Council; with the Board responding affirmatively.  Commissioner Scarborough suggested letters go to each individual Council Member.

 

 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated the person she intended to recognize was unable to come to the last meeting, so today she will praise Raleigh Berry.  She stated the Visitors Center at the Viera Wetlands, which is at the end of Wickham Road, was opened on April 21, 2007; and thanks to the work of Mr. Berry, it was a complete success.  She stated Mr. Berry applied for a grant and got the money with which he was able to purchase wildflower seeds for the entire perimeter of the lake; the money also provided a gazebo that Mr. Berry transformed into a Visitors Center; and he created a brochure and designed eight informational panels that are hung on the outside of the gazebo.  She stated Mr. Berry also installed a rain barrel for demonstrating the collection and redistribution of rainwater for gardens; and he also maintains an informational hotline to inform callers of the latest and most significant wildlife sightings at the Viera Wetlands.  She stated she took her husband to the site this weekend; and encouraged everyone to visit the site, noting the site can be seen from one’s car all the way around.  She congratulated and expressed appreciation to Mr. Berry on his accomplishment.

 

Raleigh Berry thanked the Board; and stated it is an honor to serve the community. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated someone requested she repeat the quotes she gave earlier.  She stated Mark Twain said, “Great people are those who can make others feel that they too can become great”; and Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “There are no limits to what can be accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.”

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon advised Item III.D.4 has been withdrawn; and the citizens wish to discuss Item III.A.8, Accept Quitclaim Deeds, Re:  Conveyance of Road Right-of-way to Brevard County in West Canaveral Groves. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if Item III.B.2 is related to Item VI.A; and if the Board continues Item VI.A, will that affect Item III.B.2.  Parks and Recreation Director Don Lusk advised the Board needs to consider Item III.B.2, regardless of what it decides to do with the public hearing.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if Item VI.A. needs to be continued or is the Board  okay with that; with staff indicating it is okay.  

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve a wetland restoration plan as submitted to the Natural Resources Management Office by Atlantic Environmental Solutions, Inc., on behalf of Ron Folino of Florida Commercial Developers Corporation, which owns property at 3190 Suntree Boulevard in Rockledge.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.   

 

 

FINAL ENGINEERING AND PRELIMINARY PLAT APPROVALS, RE:  STONEBRIDGE
      SUBDIVISION                                                                                                                                                                 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to grant final engineering and preliminary plat approvals for Stonebridge Subdivision, subject to minor engineering changes as applicable and developer responsible for obtaining all necessary jurisdictional permits.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.   

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to grant approval for an amendment to the previously approved final engineering and preliminary plat for Heritage Isles, 6, 7, and 8 Subdivision, subject to minor engineering changes as applicable and developer responsible for obtaining all necessary jurisdictional permits.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.   

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve waiver to Section 62-2883(d) that requires a 15-foot vegetative buffer tract around the perimeter of Anglers Subdivision, with the tract to be replaced with a conservation easement.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve Change Order No. 1 with Waste Energy Technology, LLC for CDF-Phase IIICD-Horizontal and Vertical LFG Well Construction, increasing the contract time by 311 days for final completion.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution and execute County Deed transferring unimproved right-of-way for extension of Industry Road by the City of Cocoa.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to grant permission to bid for emergency traffic signal repairs, award the bid to the lowest responsible bidder; and authorize the Chairperson to sign the contracts.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.     

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution and execute Joint Participation Agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation to provide construction funding reimbursement for the traffic signal installation at S.R. 46 and Holder Road/Pine Street; and approve budget change requests necessary to expedite the Agreement.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution and execute Conservation Easement in favor of the St. Johns River Water Management District for the Port St. John Parkway West/Golfview Avenue Extension and the Sheppard Drive Extension Projects.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to accept Utility Easement for a sanitary sewer from Oceanside Village, Inc., located off North Riverside Drive in Melbourne.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution and execute County Deed in favor of Florida Department of Transportation for property needed for the realignment of NASA Boulevard. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to accept a Sidewalk Easement from Brandywine Estates Homeowners’ Association, Inc. for construction of a sidewalk.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize the Clerk to the Board to mail a copy of the Local Option Gas Tax percentage allocations to each municipality for review; and authorize final review of the allocations at the July 10, 2007 Board meeting.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.   

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to execute Amendment to Right-of-way Use Agreement with The Tortoise View Homeowners’ Association for changes to the wall within the public right-of-way of Tortoise View Drive.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve Change Order No. 1 to Contract with Stately Contractors, Inc. for the South Beaches 24-inch Force Main Replacement Project, increasing the amount by a net $289,250 for a revised contract amount of $9,488,034, to allow the northern portion of the force main to be constructed with ductile iron pipe rather than PVC pipe.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.   

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize piggybacking on the Pinellas County Contract and Contract renewals with Elab, Inc. of Ormond Beach to provide laboratory services for Solid Waste, Stormwater, and Utility Services; and authorize the Chairperson to execute necessary Contracts.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution and execute Lease Agreement with the State of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry for lease of 324 square feet of office space at the Agricultural Center in Cocoa.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to terminate Contract with BRPH Construction Services for South Beach Community Park, and authorize payment of $725,482 to terminate the Contract; accept delivery of trusses that are in stock at Industrial Steel, Inc., in Titusville after receiving authorization from BRPH along with partial release of lien; and authorize re-advertisement of the bid and award of contract for the remainder of construction at South Beach Community Park.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve naming the Referendum-acquired property at the North Brevard Senior Center as The Vern Jansen Park.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.  

 

  

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to adopt Resolution and execute Lease Agreement with the City of Melbourne for property at 618 Melbourne Avenue for use as a public parking lot.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to grant permission to advertise a Request for Proposals from qualified financial or banking institutions to install an automated teller machine (ATM) at the Brevard County Government Center and the Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Justice Center; authorize establishment of a Selection Committee consisting of the County Attorney, Personnel Manager Carol Sheffield, and Facilities Superintendent Johnny Godwin or their designees; and authorize the Chairperson to execute a Contract with the elected proposer.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve the FY 2007-2008 TDC Category E, Cultural Events Cooperative Advertising Program Handbook, which includes eligibility requirements, criteria for evaluation, instructions, and application forms.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve the FY 2007-2008 TDC Category B, Beach Clean-Up Grant Handbook, which includes the eligibility requirements, eligible activities, match requirements, review process, criteria for evaluation, instructions, and application forms.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.   

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize seeking Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Tourism Economic Impact and Visitor Profile Research Study in an amount not to exceed $40,000; approve the TDC Marketing Committee to short list and recommend two vendors to the TDC for presentations; approve the TDC Executive Director, Assistant County Manager, and Assistant County Attorney to negotiate the Agreement; and authorize the Chairperson to execute the Agreement.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize the County Attorney’s Office to reject AT&T’s request for easements and releases from Brevard County.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to execute Agreement with Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. for firefighter physicals.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to appoint Travis D. Proctor, Mike McBride, Monica Teran, and Gary Krueger, and reappoint Jack Rood, Bill Sample, Rose Thron, Dayle Olson, and Dr. James Drake to the Brevard Workforce Development Board .  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Jerry Wall stated he is happy that the Board recognized staff today because overall staff does a wonderful job; and some of them are overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated.  He stated West Canaveral Groves is a Community Development Block Grant Strategy Area; and two years ago the Board accepted the Neighborhood Action Plan.  He stated they are proceeding with that now; they would like an opportunity to see what they can do with the plan, working with the County; and encouraged the Board not to accept Quitclaim Deeds at this time.  He stated there are plenty of wetlands in the community; and they wish to protect the environment, the ecology, and the wildlife of the area.  He noted there are quite a few species, threatened and endangered.  He stated if the Board accepts Quitclaim Deeds today, it will be just the beginning; they have been told by others that there will be more coming; and if the Board accepts the Quitclaim Deeds, there will be fiscal and physical responsibilities, both implied and inherent.  He stated if new folks start building in the area, they will be making demands, similar to what was seen in Diana Shores, Suntree, and Viera; and with the current State and County budget situation, with proposed and expected cutbacks, he does not believe the County will be able to
afford to address the inherent fiscal responsibilities.  Mr. Wall suggested the Board table the issue to a future time when there is more of an opportunity to study it. 

 

Len Beckett, Government Relations Chair for the West Canaveral Groves Homeowners Association and resident of West Canaveral Groves, stated  he does not think the County is prepared to start accepting Quitclaim Deeds in West Canaveral Groves; there are some questions that have yet to be answered with regard to what it will cost the County if it starts accepting property; and if the Board  accepts the Quitclaim Deeds, it will accept the responsibility for the property, which means maintenance.  He stated there is already a problem with issues regarding the infrastructure; they are working with staff to deal with the infrastructure such as drainage; and they do not need any more construction than what is going on now.  He stated right now they are taking watershed from everything east of Canaveral Groves and west of U.S. 1; and they do not have the infrastructure to handle that, so they do not need to have developers taking property, clear-cutting it, and creating more of a watershed problem.  He stated they have applied for federal grant dollars to help with the infrastructure problems; and recommended putting the Quitclaim Deeds on the back burner for the time being.  He stated they do not advocate that the people should not have the right to build on their property; but they are calling for structured growth that is sensible so they do not get into a situation where the infrastructure cannot handle the growth.  He stated they had those problems elsewhere in the County; and he does not think they need to be repeated.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated a month ago they held a meeting and County Manager Peggy Busacca was there; Ms. Busacca was one of the first to venture forth into that area; and whereas there had been people shooting at staff, when Ms. Busacca went out there, people started baking pies.  He stated they have come a long way over the years dealing with a nonconforming area; and they have come a long way dealing with health and safety issues.  He stated Assistant County Manager Mel Scott advised yesterday that they are a week or two weeks away from coming out with a report from the last meeting; and the report will give both sides an understanding of the dynamics of many issues.  He stated the St. Johns River Water Management District has shifted its position; in the memorandum, Transportation Engineering Director John Denninghoff indicated that the 60-foot right-of-way is insufficient and an additional three feet is needed, which is a technical issue; and Mr. Wall and Mr. Beckett have both raised the issue concerning maintenance and additional costs.  He stated as the Board cuts budgets, it may not want to be increasing its responsibilities simultaneously; and there may be methodologies that could be used to have the person who is building assume a greater portion of the responsibility.  He stated the other side is not present today, but they were at the meeting when Ms. Busacca was there; and recommended getting both sides together.  He stated everyone is asking for more answers; and it would be prudent to table the issue today.

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to table consideration of acceptance of Quitclaim Deeds for conveyance of road rights-of-way in West Canaveral Groves.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Chairperson Colon inquired when will it come back; with Commissioner Scarborough responding as it is not a public hearing the Board does not have to have a date certain, and it will be back as soon as they are able to bring it back.

 

 

 

Joan Wheeler stated she would like to see the paperwork that shows there is a need to cut; and inquired if there is something on paper or is the Board just hearing it by word of mouth.  She stated Parks and Recreation cannot even start the marina project because it does not have the funds to maintain it; and suggested not giving $80,000 for the improvement of the Pritchard House.  She stated someone came in 2004 and bought property around the Chain of Lakes project; now the County is negotiating to buy that property; the owner wants 50% more; and recommended the County not buy the property if it does not have money for Marina Park, as was supposed to be done in 2000.  She commented on waste in other park projects, coddling the City of Titusville, highest and best use, the Mayor’s desire to put a drydock on the park site, park site not belonging to the City, dedication of Marina Park for public recreation and not for commerce, and stopping other projects if there is not enough money for Marina Park.  She stated there is too much foolishness going on with the people’s money; she would like to see where it is going; at the Parks and Recreation meeting, the Chair said they have the money and should spend it; but she does not buy into that.  She stated the County needs to get something done at Marina Park or stop spending the money for other things; the park was promised in 2000; now the Board is saying it cannot be done because the County cannot afford to maintain it; and requested the Board  find a way to maintain it.  She stated other things got done; Marina Park can be done; and she is very angry. 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated the amounts for the property tax reform proposals have been provided to the County by the Florida Association of Counties, the Governor’s Office, the House, and the Senate; and copies can be provided.  She stated the County has not made those estimates, and they have been made for the County.  She stated there are seven different proposals; there are estimates from all the groups; but the House, the Senate, and the Governor’s proposals are the ones staff has been looking at.  Ms. Wheeler stated the Legislature has not done anything yet; with Ms. Busacca responding the information is available in her office, if Ms. Wheeler wants it.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he received a letter from Ms. Wheeler asking some of the questions; and Mr. Lusk asked someone to show her the allocation of the funds.  He stated the Board has to ask the question, if it builds, how does it maintain; Bill Haas from the Mims-Scottsmoor area asked whether the community center was going to be built; and he responded he does not see that as being possible if it is going to require operating costs.  He stated even if the County has the money there, it has a dilemma; it is not impacting the bonding; there was the passage of a Resolution in 2006, to have additional financing to complete projects; but inquired if the County is going to have less operating, how will it deal with that dilemma.  He stated as to ball fields, there appear to be two Little League teams, one in the north and one in the south, that would like to have the ball fields expanded on their sites; and commented on having three Little Leagues, with one being disbanded.  He stated the need continues but shifts to different fields; and the philosophical question is whether, within the purview of the referendum language, the County can build additional ball fields.  He advised there are completed ball fields at W. W. James and Holder Parks, as promised in the referendum; there are additional lands at both where additional fields could be added rather than at Marina Park; and he does not think anyone from the ball group is objecting to that; but there will be some fundamental things as to what happens at Marina Park.  He stated the City of Titusville plays a key role; the State has given the City a dedication to operate Marina Park and it owns Sand Point Park, so it is impossible not to recognize the City’s role in the issue.  He stated the biggest dilemma concerns
building things which will have operating costs and how to have that make sense; and as soon as a response comes for Ms. Wheeler, each of the Commissioners will be provided a copy of her letter because it may help the Board with its discussion.

 

 

 

Vicki Benoit, representing Citizens Coalition of the South Mainland, stated they came before the Board on April 10, 2007 to ask the County to write a stronger letter than originally planned to the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) regarding the City of Palm Bay’s Comprehensive Plan; and at that time the Board agreed to include other aspects in the letter, including the environment and traffic; but last Monday, the City sent its package to DCA, and it was deemed by DCA that the package was complete.  She advised there is now a 30-day window for the County to voice its objections to the Department of Community Affairs; and inquired if a letter has been sent, and if it has, does it include the concerns they have about traffic and the environment.  She stated there is a new concern growing in the area that may have been brought on by the drought, but some responsibility has to be taken by the City of Palm Bay, which has new wells; some people are getting salt water intrusion in their wells; and she knows two people in the area who have the problem.  She stated one person is just below the legal limit for salt water intrusion and the other is well over the limit; and others are in the process of getting their wells tested.  She stated this is a concern for all of them; and inquired if the letter has been sent to DCA, and if it has, may they get a copy of it. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she is surprised the people did not know about the letter going out; it went out immediately; and people who were interested in the subject were sent a copy of the letter.  She inquired what was the date that the letter was sent; with Commissioner Voltz responding it was right after, and people can get a copy of the letter from her office.  

 

 

 

Michelle Woods, representing the Citizens Coalition of the South Mainland, thanked the Board for sending a letter in a timely fashion; and stated since Palm Bay has now had its Comprehensive Plan Amendments deemed completed by the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), the County needs to send another comment when it sees the package.  She inquired if the County has seen the package that Palm Bay sent to DCA and can the County comment now.  She advised it would be different than the first letter the County sent.  She stated the 30-day window will expire by June 1; and inquired if the letter can be sent by May 28, 2007. 

 

 

 

Mary Sphar stated Palm Bay’s package has arrived at the Department of Community Affairs (DCA); and it is time for the County to step to the plate and send a strong letter reflecting the concerns about the quality of life for the citizens of the County.  She stated the County is one of the commenters recognized in the Florida Administrative Code; the County opinion will have great weight; and on very short notice, County staff was able to compose a letter objecting to a
project in Cocoa, Brevard Crossings, which would have had adverse effects within the unincorporated area.  Ms. Sphar stated that is the kind of letter she hopes the County will send now; and it is the County’s responsibility to look out for the traffic situation and for the public land.  She stated the particular parcels off Micco Road are sandwiched between the St. Sebastian River Buffer Preserve and the EEL’s property; the area encompassed by the four amendments is approximately 1,500 acres; and the projected density, not only in the amendment but also the density that Attorney Logan would agree to, would trip the threshold for a development of regional impact (DRI), if the project had enough information to be considered as a DRI.  She strongly urged the Board to authorize staff to begin immediately working on a stronger letter and bring it back to the Board  so that public comment can be heard at the end of May 2007. 

 

 

 

Maureen Rupe, representing Partnership for a Sustainable Future, urged the County to send a strong letter of objection to the Department of Community Affairs.

 

 

 

Charles Shinn complimented the Board on holding a positive meeting; and stated he works with the Florida Farm Bureau representing water and growth management issues throughout Florida.  He stated the Farm Bureau is an organization with 144,000 members; and many of them have farms and ranches in Brevard County.  He stated he has come to the Board to speak in favor of the intense multi-county collaborative effort known as MyRegion; the County Manager will be bringing forward the topic today; and advised as everyone dives into the new century, they will experience problems that will necessitate them having to think outside the box.  He stated they can no longer stay within the bounds and hope that change does not happen, but instead they must be engaged in the process and promote positive change to benefit all.  He stated the How Shall We Grow effort through MyRegion has been working in that direction for the seven-county region that includes Brevard County; and over 1,000 citizens in the County expressed their opinions over the past year to help the collaborative effort prioritize what is important.  He advised promoting green space and developing regional transportation networks are two of the areas that are deemed vital to maintaining or improving the quality of life in Brevard County; and requested the Board take the time to look at the collaborative efforts of MyRegion as an opportunity to accomplish better planning on a regional scale that will benefit the citizens, including farmers and ranchers in Brevard County. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she is sure staff has already started the process; and requested staff provide feedback.  Assistant County Manager Mel Scott stated staff has received the packet and is starting to review it; staff recognizes from previous Board direction that the Board will want to receive analysis in this regard; and there are opportunities on May 22 and May 24, 2007.  Mr. Scott stated the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has been very
accommodating in the past to local governments; and he brings that forward recognizing the couple of weeks in June that the Board will be taking off.  Mr. Scott stated he intends to have dialogue with DCA to advise of the situation that exists locally as far as the calendar goes; and staff is in the process of reviewing the amendment package. 

 

Chairperson Colon advised nothing stops folks in the community from writing their own letters and providing feedback; and they are welcome to put anything of concern in writing to staff.  She stated at the Board meeting, there will be a full discussion. 

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired if copies could be forwarded to the interested parties at the same time as they are forwarded to the Commissioners because a 30-day timeframe is tight; with Mr. Scott responding affirmatively.  Commissioner Nelson requested the interested parties provide their addresses to Mr. Scott. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon called for the public hearing to consider an ordinance revising the Planning and Zoning Board to include a representative from military installations.

 

There being no objections or comments heard, motion was made by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt an Ordinance amending Chapter 62, “Land Development Regulations”, Code of Ordinances of Brevard County, Florida; amending Section 62-182, membership, appointment, and term of members; adding a non-voting representative from a military installation; providing for conflicting provisions; providing for severability; providing for area encompassed; providing an effective date; and providing for inclusion in the Brevard County Code of Ordinances.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon called for the public hearing to consider an ordinance extending the Local Option Gas Tax. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the purpose of the ordinance is to extend the Local Option Gas Tax, but not to bond it because that decision has yet to be made. 

 

There being no further comments or objections heard, motion was made by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt an Ordinance amending Ordinances No. 88-15, 86-13, 97-06, 99-40, and 2005-51 of Brevard County, Florida; reestablishing and extending the term of the Local Option Fuel Tax imposed upon every gallon of motor fuel and diesel fuel sold in Brevard County; and providing an effective date.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to execute Agreement 07BE1 with Florida Department of Environmental Protection to accept State cost-share for the South Beaches Feasibility Study.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to grant permission to advertise a public hearing on May 22, 2007 to consider an ordinance amending the departmental structure of the County to merge the Stormwater Utility Department with the Natural Resources Management Office.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.   

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve Assignment of Option for Sale and Purchase of the Nevins Fruit Company, Inc. property; execute Acceptance by Assignee; and authorize staff to exercise the Option for Sale and Purchase on or before May 24, 2007.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve Assignment of Option for Sale and Purchase of the Jeffreys’ property; execute Acceptance by Assignee; and authorize staff to exercise the Option for Sale and Purchase on or before June 30, 2007.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon called for the public hearing to consider a request to withdraw petition to vacate a portion of Mullet Creek Road, accept rights-of-way, and name or rename roads following 911 guidelines in South Beach Community Park. 

 

Assistant County Manager Mel Scott stated it is important for the citizens to recognize that the Agenda item is not prompting the Board to actually vacate a portion of Mullet Creek Road; and staff is requesting the Board move the item to the July 10, 2007 meeting so the proposed action
can be replaced with a road segment exchange that will accomplish the same outcome.  Mr. Scott stated staff is also hoping to receive Board direction to create a six-inch access strip connecting Honest John’s Road to S.R. A1A frontage to accommodate that business with a on-premise sign on S.R. A1A, since it is anticipated on July 10, 2007,  the vacating of the road would render that business as no longer having a sign that directs traffic to it.  He stated the issue of maintaining the existing Mullet Creek Road, which has residences on it and either keeping that name or entertaining another name is not before the Board today. 

 

Susan Simoes, President of the South Beach Community Park Committee, stated there are some concerns; they did not know this was being withdrawn; and the Commissioner sent out a letter in reference to renaming and vacating the road, so she came to speak to that issue.  She stated she has no problem with the Board vacating the portion of Mullet Creek Road in the gravel area that is past the paved area; and she is sorry the Board decided to delay the issue because it delays the seven and one-half year project that they have been waiting for.  She stated there are 67 acres of dirt blowing away on the south beaches; it is quite a mess; and it has turned into a solid pile of weeds, so she is sorry this is being delayed because it delays the projects.  She stated they drove 30-odd miles to come to the meeting to address the renaming of the roads; a letter was sent to the community; approximately 36 residents live on Mullet Creek Road; and it is ludicrous to rename that road.  She stated the 36 residents should not be inconvenienced; and commented on addressing subdivisions and trying to have minimal impact.  She stated the new road is going in south of Floridana Beach; and they came up with the name, Honest John’s Road, to accommodate Honest John’s Fish Camp, which will be impacted quite a bit.  She stated the Board needs to assist the people who live on Mullet Creek Road and let them know they can keep the road’s name the same.  She stated when the Board goes back to this issue on July 10, it should seriously look at that.  She stated they chose to rename that road; they have worked hard with the communities; and she wants the Board to understand that the 36 residents do not need the road to be renamed.  She stated Honest John’s Fish Camp can also keep Mullet Creek Road, because Honest John’s Road comes right into, dead-ends and stops, and then picks back up again; and she does not see why that cannot stay Mullet Creek Road.  She stated she lives on Riverside Drive in Melbourne Shores, eight miles south of most of Riverside Drive in Indialantic and Melbourne Beach; and commented on the house numbers.  She stated she does not see why Honest John’s Fish Camp cannot still be on Mullet Creek Road; and she came to speak concerning South Beach Community Park and what they have been doing. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he does not think the County is renaming the road; and that is one issue that is not being proposed at this time.  Ms. Simoes stated there was a letter that was sent to all the people about renaming the road.  Commissioner Nelson stated there was a discussion, but there is no proposal to change it; but cautioned there will be a cul-de-sac, which will encourage traffic to come in and then turn around.  He stated that is an unintended consequence of keeping the name.  Ms. Simoes advised that is going to exist no matter what the name of the road is.  Commissioner Nelson advised there is no intent to change the name.

 

Al Piraino stated he is present in response to the letter that Ms. Simoes mentioned; and advised of names that were suggested for the road, such as Hooch Creek Road and Prohibition Road.  He stated there are people in the area with serious health issues; and they worry if they change the name of the road, there may be problems if they call 9-1-1.  Mr. Piraino stated they will probably have traffic for the next five years until people realize where the new road is, but the residents are used to that.  He submitted petitions requesting the name of the road remain as Mullet Creek Road.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the Board needs to leave the name of the road as Mullet Creek Road; the new road needs to be Honest John’s Road; and everybody will know where to go to Honest John’s Fish Camp.  She stated that is a much easier fix than changing the addresses of the residents.  She stated the Board will be discussing that in July; and she would like to hear Barbara Arthur’s opinion when she comes up.  Chairperson Colon stated Ms. Arthur is present only to respond to questions.

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to continue the public hearing to consider request to withdraw petition to vacate portion of Mullet Creek Road, accept rights-of-way, and name or rename roads following 9-1-1 guidelines in South Beach Community Park to July 10, 2007.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon called for the public hearing to consider an ordinance revising the EMS Ordinance as it applies to the EMS Advisory Council and Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity Review/Approval process.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she asked questions of Chief Farmer yesterday. 

 

Fire Rescue Director William Farmer stated the information Commissioner Voltz was discussing was concerning the consulting firm for the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (COCPN) process; the primary consultant conducting the study would be required to have a Master’s degree in organizational psychology or related fields; and that language is still okay.  He stated the other language was to have 20 years of experience in administrative or management and operation of EMS systems; and the consensus has been that dropping that to 15 years would be appropriate.  He stated additionally is the requirement to have conducted at least two such studies on EMS systems similar to Brevard County’s, with at least one of the studies occurring within the last five years and within the State of Florida; and that is acceptable language.  He stated under item 5(i), it says the applicant must provide the County Fire Chief or his or her designee a position on a consulting team, which the applicant must create in order to provide information to the consulting firm; and that would be stronger language to require there be a consulting team for the firm.  He stated the changes address the issues Commissioner Voltz had.  Commissioner Voltz stated it is important to address that there will be a consulting team. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated there is a requirement to have a Master’s degree in a related field; and inquired what would be considered a related field, and is someone who has an MBA qualified; with Chief Farmer responding depending on what the MBA is.  Chief Farmer stated the purpose behind the qualifications is to allow the Board to have some say in the request for proposal or request for bid mechanism; if the applicant feels that theirs is a related field and disagree with staff saying no, he or she can come to the Board to request a waiver of that issue; and they are looking for a Master’s degree in anything related to organizational study, psychology, organizational management, or something that will look at the impact of the system from a management perspective on how to keep the system running.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if there are enough agencies that provide the service that have those qualifications to provide a good selection; with Chief Farmer responding there are at least four or five firms that have these capabilities and have been used in Volusia County or by a city in Brevard County, so there are sufficient applicants to allow for competition. 

 

There being no further comments heard, motion was made by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to adopt an Ordinance amending Article III, Chapter 42, Code of Ordinances of Brevard County, Florida; specifically amending Section 42-76 entitled “Certificate Application/Renewal” by clarifying and expanding upon existing standards for obtaining a certificate of public convenience and necessity; requiring an impact study as part of an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity; specifically amending Section 42-88 entitled “County EMS Advisory Council” by modifying the composition, authority and procedures pertaining to the Council; establishing a matching EMS Grant Program; providing for severability; providing for an effective date.  Motion carried and ordered; Commissioner Bolin voted nay.  (Reconsidered.)

 

 

Commissioner Scarborough requested Commissioner Bolin elaborate on her concerns.  Commissioner Bolin stated her concern is mostly about the consulting; and she feels that it is narrowing it too much as far as who is qualified.  She stated they did a mini-survey through different agencies throughout the United States; and they have qualifications in one but might not have the Master’s degree.

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to reconsider adoption of the Ordinance.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired if with that in mind, the language could be altered to an extent that it could be opened up to a broader spectrum; with Chief Farmer responding the language was provided to the Board so it would have input into the qualifications of the firm that is hired.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Board tables this to the next meeting, would that be an opportunity to come back with a broader spectrum of qualifications, and does it have to be done today; with Chief Farmer responding it does not have to be done today. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to continue the public hearing to consider an ordinance revising the EMS Ordinance as it applies to the EMS Advisory Council and Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity Review/Approval Process to the May 22, 2007 Board meeting.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Chairperson Colon requested Commissioner Bolin be more specific about her concerns.  Commissioner Bolin stated her concern is the education requirement and also how many times the firm has been doing service in Florida; they should have the opportunity to hire anyone in the United States that provides this service even if they have not done a project in Florida within the last five years; and she wants to get more of a feel for how many different firms would be qualified and five the citizens a fair drawing point to choose from. 

 

County Attorney Scott Knox stated the Melbourne City Attorney and City Manager raised similar issues; and they think the criteria is so narrow that there would be few competitors who would apply and meet the criteria, which is what Commissioner Bolin is saying. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated what they are doing is important to the community and she wants to be sure there is someone who is well educated in this field and has a lot of experience; she does not care whether the firm is from out of State or not; but the firm should have experience within the State because things are done differently in Florida than they are out west or up north.  She stated the Board needs to make sure it protects the citizens by having tough qualifications; having lower qualifications is doing a disservice to the citizens; and while she would like to see the issues with the City of Melbourne addressed, it is more important to have strict guidelines.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he is okay with the Master’s degree; but he would like to see a better description of the related fields.  He stated he thinks 15 years is a little much; ten years would be okay; but he could live with 15 years, although they should keep the requirement for the last five years in Florida because he agrees with Commissioner Voltz that Florida experience is different from other states.  He stated they are less likely to have a challenge if they have a broader explanation of related fields.    

 

Chairperson Colon stated it sounds like the concern is to make sure there is experience in Florida in the last five years; the Board is not budging on that; and it needs to define related fields for the Master’s degree.  She stated they should be able to make the changes today; she does not think this needs to be tabled; suggested staff speak to Commissioner Bolin; and advised before the meeting is over, the Board can take care of the ordinance. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon called for the public hearing to consider an ordinance adopting the First Small Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment for 2007, 07S.01. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated it appeared some other Commissioners had some concerns; the LPA unanimously recommended approval, but the Citizen Resource Group recommended denial; they just went through the Small Area Plan in Mims; and inquired if anyone got back to Randy Hunt on this.  He stated he knows it was a separate product, more to the east than where the subject property is located out on S.R. 46; and inquired if there has been any discussion through Mr. Hunt or with any of the people who were involved in the Mims area. 

 

Planning and Zoning Director Robin Sobrino responded to her knowledge this is an area that the group that participated in the Small Area Study felt comfortable with its current designation, which is primarily one unit per ten acres or one unit per five acres; and they were not looking to increase densities in this area.  She stated this is an area that they feel is appropriately designated for large-scale agricultural pursuits or preservation of environmental resources.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if any attempt was made by Randy Hunt to discuss this with the people of the area; with Ms. Sobrino responding not that she is aware of.  Commissioner Scarborough stated there are many decisions; and the safest thing would be to table this.  Commissioner Voltz stated she was going to move for denial. 

 

Christine Leslie stated she and her husband are the property owners at 6895 Highway 46, which is four miles west of I-95; and described the current uses of the property surrounding the subject property as being very mixed.  She stated the property on both sides of her property is State conservation, one at 20 acres and the other at ten acres; the property to the rear is the Brevard County Gun Range; and the property across the street is residential and commercial, with the commercial being a log milling company.  She stated to the east is Sweetwater Court, which appears to be two ten-acre tracts that were split into one, two, or five-acre parcels that have residences on them.  She stated what they are looking to do is to divide the property to a three-acre portion and a six-acre portion so her husband’s brother and his family can build a home; and the reason they submitted as they did for the one unit to 2.5 acres is because they are not looking to give up a whole five acres so family can build a residence.  She stated that would always be an option, but they would have to refinance their mortgage to release that portion of the property; it is not going against the current uses of the property or creating multiple residences besides the two; and most properties around the property have two residences on a ten-acre piece.  She stated they received unanimous approval of the LPA; and a member of that group was a part of the Mims Study.  Commissioner Scarborough stated that was Laurilee Thompson. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to continue the public hearing to consider adoption of the First Small Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment for 2007, 07S.1 to May 22, 2007.

 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated they need to get all the facts; he does not know the particulars; and they may need to talk about adjustments so they do not begin to change the maps.  He stated one of the problem is they begin to change maps and that has implications; there may be a specific reason for the change; but once the map is changed, it changes the whole growth of all future decisions by future Boards; and he appreciates Commissioner Voltz’s concerns. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he was concerned too when he saw the change because obviously they could get more units than they are actually looking to achieve; and it is right in the heart of a conservation area.  He stated in the past the Board has done kind of a split zoning or a binding development plan.  Commissioner Scarborough stated one problem with binding development plans is when someone looks at the zoning maps, the BDP’s are not reflected; so the Board is running into a lot of informational problems. 

 

*Commissioner Voltz’s absence was noted at this time. 

 

Ms. Leslie inquired what is it that they will need to do.  Chairperson Colon advised Ms. Leslie will have to get in touch with Commissioner Scarborough’s Office.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he has several questions, but his office will contact Ms. Leslie and try to get a better understanding of what she wants to accomplish and how it can be accomplished without changing the dimensions of how the County depicts things on maps.  Ms. Leslie stated when they originally took this to the Planning and Zoning Department, staff looked at the maps and the property was actually shown as public conservation, which had a residence on it; and at that time someone made a simple key change to change it to private conservation and printed her a new map.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the issues bear a lot of discussion. 

 

Chairperson Colon called for a vote on the motion.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

 

*Commissioner Voltz’s presence was noted at this time.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she talked with Ernie Brown about Option 1.  Natural Resources Management Director Ernie Brown stated it would be Option 1, with the caveat to have them come back for administrative approval for concurrence; the applicant asked for a public interest determination in perpetuity, which is fine; the County has not done that before; but it makes sense as long as when they come back in the future for dredging, it is reviewed by the Department to insure that they are in compliance with State and federal permits. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to approve Option 1, to determine the proposed marina basin dredging (current and future) requested by Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. on behalf of Sebastian Inlet Marina LLC meets the public interest criteria, with the caveat that when they come back with future dredging, it is to be reviewed by the Department to ensure compliance with State and federal permits.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.     

 

 

 

Jennifer Scheer stated in February 2006, she purchased a 7.59-acre property in North Merritt Island with the intent to build a primary residence; and since then they have been working toward getting all the permitting in place.  She stated they have secured wetland permits from the DEP and the Army Corps of Engineers; and the only thing that stands in their way is the Code that says the property must abut a County-maintained road.  She requested a waiver of that section of the Code. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated they had a lengthy discussion; they worked with Permitting and Enforcement Director Ed Lyon and staff; and the dilemma is they are on a right-of-way.  He stated if this was an easement, they could do a flag stem lot; but it is a public right-of-way that creates other issues that they have not been able to overcome.  He stated he has shared with them the concern that the Board had previously with similar kinds of approvals; and requested Mr. Lyon explain the ramifications of a decision to approve.  Permitting and Enforcement Director Ed Lyon stated approximately 14 years ago the Board had staff prepare the Ordinance; it has been amended a couple of times; but it requires somebody to have access to a maintained roadway, either public or private subdivision, and/or an easement with legal access to a maintained system.  He stated the other option is to enter into an unpaved road agreement and then build the roadway; and after the roadway is built, it is then accepted and maintained by the County.  He stated if the Code was to be waived, they would have access in a public road right-of-way that was not built to any standard; there would be no maintenance of that and no guarantee that they would be able to traverse it safely; and there could be accidents or problems with emergency vehicles, so that would be the ramification.  Commissioner Nelson inquired how does this differ from Canaveral Groves where there is the same kind of scenario.  Mr. Lyon stated Canaveral Groves is a little different; they are actually ingress/egress easements that are dedicated to all of the individual homeowners; but they appear to be road rights-of-way to someone who is not familiar with the legal aspect of it.  He stated this is actually a platted, dedicated road right-of-way that was accepted by the Board many years ago; Jenkins Lane is the name of it and it was just never built; and platting things without actually building the infrastructure is not allowed today.  Commissioner Nelson inquired what is the solution to Ms. Scheer’s problem.  Mr. Lyon stated the first possible solution is for the Scheers to enter into an unpaved road agreement and build a road, which would be a very expensive undertaking; and they have already submitted their first round of plans for review, utilizing that portion of the Code.  He stated he talked to them in the past about possibly vacating the road right-of-way; they would have to work with all the property owners that would be affected; and it is his understanding that not everyone is willing to do that.  He stated he would be more than willing to sit down with all the parties to try to explain the best possible solution for all of them; but ultimately they have to make this decision.  Commissioner Nelson inquired have there been similar requests previously; with Mr. Lyon responding other than the West Canaveral Groves area, he is not aware of anyone requesting to waive this portion of the Code.  Commissioner Nelson stated he is struggling with it. 

 

Ms. Scheer stated they did start out with the unpaved road agreement; they spent a lot of money having the road designed only to find many months into the process that they could not get the design approved because the area is surrounded by wetlands and canals; due to the road height that was required and where the drainage swales had to be, they could not fit it within the 50-foot roadway; and they were told that they would need to acquire an additional 15 feet on either side of the 50-foot right-of-way.  She advised there are properties on either side that have houses built on them; they were able to build before this was an issue; and technically their legal access is from Crisafulli Road, but since there is a ditch that runs along Crisafulli Road, they use Jenkins Lane for access to their homes.  She stated they cannot get the extra 15 feet on each side because the property owners will not give or sell the property; the drainage swales would end up only five feet off the foundation of one of the existing homes, which would  
cause drainage problems; and that is where they got stopped.  She stated they discussed with
Mr. Lyon and one of the County engineers about the possibility of building the road using retaining walls to build up on either side and then using culverts along the entire length; but it is not possible to tell if that would be approved or not without it being engineered; and they cannot engineer another road on the possibility that it might work.  Ms. Scheer stated even the road as designed would be $125,000 or more; and with the retaining walls, it is anybody’s guess how high that amount could go, but it is a major public works project.  She stated they also investigated the option that Mr. Lyon brought up about vacating; they talked to Commissioner Nelson about it; but it is not believed that it would be practical because there is a 26-acre undeveloped parcel at the end of the road that could be divided into as many as five or six properties later on; and vacating would be taking away the public access for those people.  She noted they could not vacate because it is platted with the property across from them; and those owners tried to get it vacated in 2004, but were denied for the same reason, access problems for the large property in the back and the fact that some other properties, such as hers, could be divided.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the Ordinance change was in 1991; and he was on the Board when it occurred.  He stated people built on roads and had an agreement that they were going to maintain the roads; but the County Attorney advised the County was really in error in making it available with building permits.  He stated the problem was once the County gave someone a building permit, it had certain obligations to be able to get emergency services to them; and it would have to be on a County-maintained road.  He stated the other idea was the flag stem where someone owned the land that went to the street; it was just a narrow access, but it was fee simple ownership; and thinking in these terms, there has been continuing discussion, not just in Canaveral Groves, but in the Mims area as well about opening up different areas for County maintenance in order to have building.  He stated the County has said it will accept if and when it is built up to County standards; sometimes that is not a problem; but other times it is a problem.  He stated the first problem is that in allowing people to build, the County has to service them with emergency services; and if the Board approved this 900 feet, people not only in Canaveral Groves but in other places in District 1 will be asking for the same thing, which will be problematic.  He stated one problem is that they are going to be compelled to  go in and maintain; and there will be the person who wants to build and once he gets his home in there, he will ask for benefits.  He stated many people buy on a dirt road and then come in to ask the County to pave that road; and this is even more compelling than paving because there is an obligation to the people once the County gives them their certificate of occupancy.  He stated it will involve a different Commission; there will be different people because the property may change hands; and the Board  may be putting itself in a posture of having to do certain things to meet certain basic requirements as a County.  He stated he hopes the Scheers can work something out; he hopes Commissioner Nelson will meet with them to work on it; but he is not able to support the request because of his concerns. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated that is also her concern; they have a parcel and the question is how to get to it; but she does not know that it is the Board’s responsibility to make sure they have access to their property.  She stated a lot of times in Florida people buy a parcel that is landlocked; there should be a way to get to the parcel; but she does not think the waiver is the right way to go as it would set a dangerous precedent. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he suspected this was going to be the discussion; and he is going to move for denial, but he will continue to work with the Scheers to see if the issue can be resolved with the property to the north.  He stated the Board will not approve the waiver. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to deny the request of Andrew and Jennifer Scheer for waiver of Section 62-102, Brevard County Code, to allow a building permit to be issued on a parcel that does not abut or have access to a County-maintained road.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated Commissioner Nelson will be working with the couple to see if there are any other possibilities.  Commissioner Voltz stated it is important for the Scheers to have access to their property; and hopefully Commissioner Nelson and staff will be able to work out something.  Ms. Scheer stated they have exhausted all of their options.

 

 

The meeting was recessed at 11:13 a.m. and reconvened at 11:28 a.m.

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if Commissioner Bolin was able to meet with Chief Farmer; with Commissioner Bolin responding yes, and Chief Farmer will read what they are proposing to the Board. 

 

Chief Farmer stated under G.1, “the primary consultant conducting the study must have a Master’s degree in organizational psychology or related field” has been changed to read, “the primary consultant conducting the study must have a Master’s degree, which emphasizes organizational development, leadership, management, and/or psychology.”  He stated item two read, “have 20 years experience in administration, management, and operation of an EMS system”; and they have changed 20 years to 10 years.  He stated the third item is, “have conducted at least two studies on similar EMS systems as Brevard County with at least one of these studies occurring within the last three years and one of those studies having occurred within the State of Florida” has been changed to read, “have conducted at least two such studies on similar regional EMS systems as Brevard County’s with at least one of these studies occurring within the last five years and one of those studies having occurred within the State of Florida.”  He advised they maintained Commissioner Voltz’s item that the applicant must provide a County Fire Chief or his or her designee a position on the consulting team, which the applicant must create in order to provide information to the consulting firm. 

 

Don Hughes, representing the City of Satellite Beach, inquired was the requirement as far as the educational background changed; with Chief Farmer responding yes, the primary consultant conducting the study must have a Master’s degree which emphasizes organizational development, leadership, management, and/or psychology.  Mr. Hughes inquired if it could be a

Master’s degree in public administration or something of that genre; with Chief Farmer responding yes.

 

There being no further comments heard, motion was made by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to adopt an Ordinance amending Article III, Chapter 42, Code of Ordinances of Brevard County, Florida; specifically amending Section 42-76 entitled “Certificate Application/Renewal” by clarifying and expanding upon existing standards for obtaining a certificate of public convenience and necessity; requiring an impact study as part of an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity; specifically amending Section 42-88 entitled “County EMS Advisory Council” by modifying the composition, authority and procedures pertaining to the Council; establishing a matching EMS Grant Program; providing for severability; providing for an effective date.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Chief Farmer stated he owes an apology to the EMS Advisory Council; in an earlier agenda item he put that they were failing to meet quorums; but that was old information and the Council has done an excellent job meeting quorums.  He stated the restructure of the Advisory Council will allow it to function more efficiently. 

     

 

 

Shelley Lauten stated after the workshop a couple of weeks ago, the Board asked she and Mr. Laurien to answer some specific questions; and she did get some specific questions from two of the Commissioners.  She stated when she read through some of the questions, she recognized that she had done a very poor job of articulating the difference between the MyRegion organization versus the project, How Shall We Grow.  She stated she will address some of the questions overall and then will go to some of the specific questions; and she will ask Mr. Laurien to help with some of the more technical questions.  She stated she will start with the difference between MyRegion.org and the How Shall We Grow project; MyRegion.org started through the Chambers of Commerce of all seven counties and the two Regional Planning Councils so they could bring private partners in together with public organizations to think about how to start working together on regional-scale problems; they went through three years of community conversations similar to what was done with How Shall We Grow; but then it was to first identify what the region was and what could be worked on together.  She stated they identified six areas that they thought as a region they would have interest in working together; and one of those was smart growth.  She stated they are a board of public, private, and civic organizations; and they said if they did not get their arms around growth as a region, it would stress all of them.  She stated they looked for things they had in common and how they could begin addressing that; and that is where they began the project called How Shall We Grow.  She stated since their organization is not an expert in growth or growth related issues, they went to two organizations they felt had the most regional expertise, the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council and the MPO Alliance, because they represent the elected officials who are dealing with land use decisions and transportation issues on a regional scale; and that became the consortium
that began the How Shall We Grow project.  Ms. Lauten stated they quickly learned they did not have an organized way to communicate to the Boards of County Commissioners or to organize and communicate to Mayors; those groups had never had conversations about the issues of growth; so in addition to the Regional Planning Council and the MPO Alliance, they also organized and convened a Regional Leadership Council, made up of all seven County Chairs or their designees and the Mayors’ Council, with all 86 Mayors invited to participate.  She stated MyRegion is one of the organizations of the consortium that has convened the community conversation on How Shall We Grow; Commissioner Bolin asked some questions about where the region is headed; and the belief is that the MyRegion organization is a great effort to bring public and private citizens as well as leaders together to have community conversations about the issues that matter to everyone.  She stated they are focused on six priority areas; growth is only one of them; the board sets up 1,000-day work plans; and they were brought together to get the region to think and act together in areas where it makes sense.  She noted not everything is regional in scope, but some things, like transportation, water, and the environment, have regional implications; and the entities can be more effective working together than by working separately.  She stated the group has no authority; it has convening power and the ability to put together good ideas; and it has the ability to work with partners around the region to research best practices, good information, and data that they have not had about the region before.  She stated over the past six years, they have spent approximately a million dollars that was raised privately and publicly, on research that should be useful to all parties; and the role at MyRegion has been to convene, to think tank issues, and to make recommendations to the groups that do have authority on the direction of the region. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated what had her attention was that she kept running into words like create and develop draft policies; a lot was not geared to giving input; and it looked like it was leaning more toward setting policy as a group, which was a concern.  Ms. Lauten stated that is correct because the people who drafted what Commissioner Bolin was reading were not MyRegion, but the joint policy committee; and that committee is made up of representatives from the County Commissions, the Mayors’ Council, and the School Board Coalition, so elected officials are the ones drafting the two documents as consistent policy.  She stated the elected officials believe those are the policies that the region could work together on.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated when she has been at the meetings, she has expressed concern about the same issues; she has questioned the definitive words; and she suggested changing the language so it does not look like they are bound by any of the information.  She stated that is why she provided the Commissioners with copies of the draft so they could go through it; she needs to present the County’s issues at the next meeting; and she raised the same questions at the last meeting. 

 

Ms. Lauten stated Commissioner Voltz has been an incredible advocate to make sure the language does not get in the way of implying that it overrides any local decision making; in the State of Florida all decisions about land use and transportation are at the local level; and what is being presented is a consensus agreement on how the areas could work together.  She stated the first policy that the joint policy committee felt the entities could work together on as a region was to preserve open space, recreational areas, farmland, water resources, and regional significant natural areas; and there has already been a  staff group assigned to look at what the language could be to make sure they are not usurping any authority at the local level, but are
working together across the region to preserve open space, recreational activities, farmlands, water, etc.  Ms. Lauten stated the Commissioners need to look through the information and see if it makes sense and whether it will make the area better together; and they do not want the language to have anyone thinking that the authority at the local level is being overshadowed. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she dominated 75% of the last meeting on some of the same issues; she tried to indicate that the County did not want anyone usurping its authority, but that it needed to make decisions itself; and the How Shall We Grow process is giving good ideas on how to create better growth. 

 

Ms. Lauten stated she knows one of Commissioner Colon’s questions was about water; they are hearing that in every conversation they have with citizens around the region; water is a regional issue; and how to deal with the water supply is important in thinking about growth in Central Florida.  She stated the draft has a proposed policy to implement a regional strategy for water use with specific language; every County’s staff has provided input; and while they may not have the words right yet, some thoughts have been put on paper about developing an equitable regional plan for water supply including alternative water sources.  She stated the plan should include coordination about water management districts, public and private utilities, and major and minor consumers; and it should design and implement best practice mechanisms to equitably distribute the cost of development alternative water supply sources.  She stated another idea is to develop a regional approach to water conservation, including incentives for reuse and practices that limit water use; and to increase the alignment of water supply planning and permitting processes.  She stated the three ideas were brought forward either by staff or by elected officials; not everything in water should be done regionally; but the three ideas are where the joint policy committee felt that having a regional strategy would help all survive in the long-term.  She inquired if the Board wants her to go through the other questions; with Chairperson Colon responding yes.  Chairperson Colon stated she would like to ask the constituents if there are questions; and Mr. Laurien may help to answer some of those questions.  Ms. Lauten stated there are some questions she cannot answer and she will ask Mr. Laurien to respond to those.  She stated Commissioner Bolin inquired if participation by different counties and municipalities will remain voluntary or required by ordinance and caveat; and advised it is voluntary.  She stated this is a process about choice and creating a shared vision; but it will be through consensus and not by ordinance.  She stated it was asked if the region will participate in obtaining funding for different projects in the region; that would depend on which project is being thought about; but for projects such as transportation or land use decisions, there are already agencies such as the Regional Planning Council that would be better than MyRegion.  She stated the goal of MyRegion is to be a convener, to make sure the group is talking about the tough issues, and to provide a place for debate and thinking through some of the core challenges.  She stated there was a question about how representation by MyRegion will be promulgated; it is a public-private organization; and they try to maintain a balance of elected officials, private businesses, and civic organizations in all seven counties.  She stated they have an unwieldy board, with over 100 people represented; Mr. Shinn who represents the farmers of the region sits on the board; there are environmental concerns as well as developers sitting on the board; and they have School Board members as well as teachers on the board, so there is a great cross-section of the community.  She reiterated it is strictly voluntary; it is very easy to be involved; and the group is very inclusive.  She stated Commissioner Bolin asked if the State would override the local plans; she cannot tell what the State will do; and commented
on the Legislature overriding local decisions in Tampa Bay.  Ms. Lauten stated what is working through the Legislature right now is a transit authority, but local governments are not supporting it; and because they are working together now, the seven counties and 86 cities have a much stronger voice than they did working separately.  She stated there was a question about the voting on the computers; they tried to be very clear that it was not a mandated vote online; and what they were doing online was surveying people’s opinions.  She stated they wanted to be sure they were being fair and equitable in getting input so they limited people to one survey per computer; but they provided alternatives.  She stated if she and her husband only had one computer and did not agree on the choices, one survey would be submitted; but they could also go to the public library or call the office to get a paper survey.  She stated they tried to give as many choices as possible for input while remaining equitable and fair and not allowing one voice to override the system. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated there were some extra votes.  Ms. Lauten agreed there were; and stated they were monitoring it, but there were also citizens from Lake County who were tracking it closely and noticed at two significant times through the 20-day process that there were some blips in people sending in surveys.  She stated they used two outside firms, an accounting firm and a forensic computer firm, which identified that of the almost 8,000 surveys, there were approximately 400 that were suspicious; they pulled out the 400 that were deemed suspicious and did not count them; and it is interesting that of the 400 that were deemed suspicious, there was no one clear pattern, so it appears someone was just seeing if they could override the system.  She advised it did not affect the outcome statistically. 

 

Phil Laurien of the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (ECFRPC), stated question three says there are aspects of the modeling that appear to favor the growth of the Orlando economic district; and he suspects this is referring to the modeling of the four different scenarios and the economic impact of the scenarios.  He advised they used the REMI Policy Insight Model, which is one of three nationally accepted models; ECFRPC owns the software and has support for it; and it is an expensive piece of software at $150,000 to buy and $20,000 a year for the updates.  He stated it is supported by the REMI Institute in Amherst, Massachusetts, which is a think tank of economists who created the model over the past 25 years; it is very complicated and he does not profess to completely understand it; but it looks at a series of spreadsheets of economic indicators from existing economies; and what is projected in the future is based upon certain assumptions.  He commented on the four different scenarios; stated they worked with the President of the REMI Institute because it was new territory who advised that the model was doing what it was supposed to be able to do, but that they had never done so before on a regional basis with this kind of model; and they are treading new ground.  He stated it is like weather forecasting; everyone gets up in the morning, turns on the television, and looks to see what the weather is going to be; and if it is bright and sunny all day, no one expects to be caught unaware in a rainstorm.  He stated they have satellite imagery, but before that, they sent up weather balloons and it was the best guess for the day; and sometimes it was wrong.  He stated now they can see a storm brewing offshore; people are more careful and presume it may hit them; and that is what the models were intended to do with regard to the economic aspects.  He stated the assumptions for the different models were the trend; the economy is largely a service-oriented economy, although not so much on the coast; there is a tourism factor, but there is also high tech with the space industry; but in the seven-county region, it is primarily a low wage, service-oriented economy, so the economic impacts of the
trend projected those same kinds of jobs.  Mr. Laurien stated as they moved from that to the conservation, the centers, and the corridors, the model took Dr. Richard Florida’s Studies on the Rise of the Creative Class and Cities in the Creative Class; they are two different studies in two different books written by Dr. Florida; and they looked at what would happen if they started to move some of the future economy more towards the technical and professional, and tried to attract more of those people to the region.  He stated with the space industry, Brevard County already has that; but the question will be what will happen after the current shuttle program ends; and one of the things that the REMI model does is to look at the number of patents per county.  He stated Brevard County has a very high number of creative class patents; but Osceola County is very low; so on a regional basis, it looks at all of those things.  He stated the modeling does not favor growth of the Orlando economic district; it does favor centers of commerce so as more urban centers of mixed use and commerce are created, the model reflects that; and the centers scenario and the corridor scenario are the ones that are more urban center oriented and would be more attractive to the professional and creative types of people with portable skills.  He stated the economies are better in those scenarios; and commented on the corridor scenario having the most robust economic base.  He stated what it is really reflecting is that there are centers of commerce being created; that is the first comment; and the other one is how to assure the smaller counties and municipalities that are outside the Orlando metropolis that their interests will be protected and considered.  He stated the follow-up to the How Shall We Grow project is called the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy or CEDS; it is the project they will be involved with for the next five years; and it relates to the earlier project.  He stated all of the 11 regional planning councils in the State are economic development districts under the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration; they have an umbrella that they call the economic development district; and the State decided it was appropriate for each of the regional planning councils to be the local funnel so that each community, city, and county did not have to create its own economic development district.  He stated the only way to apply for federal EDA funding is through the local economic development district; the regional planning councils in Florida have all become the economic development districts; but they are not doing economic development as there are EDC’s to do that.  He stated they are serving as the umbrella authority that allows any community to apply for a project and not have to first create a district, so that is a benefit of the regional planning councils.  He noted the rules changed within the last year; the federal government, because it had less money to spend on economic development, stopped funding individual projects from individual communities; and it is looking at how regions compete globally.  He commented on competing against other regions of the world, funding only for economic development projects that stimulate regional economies, rule changes, and coming up with a new comprehensive economic development strategy.  He stated the ECFRPC does not do economic development; each of the individual counties has its own economic development agencies; there are a number of them in the region; and the ECFRPC was asked to bring all those folks together and decide which projects would be most beneficial not only to the community but to the region.  He stated the question is how the economic development councils can work together to identify economic clusters and get the most bang for the buck.  He stated that project requires local inclusion; they have used the MyRegion board because it has over 100 members who are public and private; the federal requirements are that they have to have more than 50% private inclusion on the economic development strategy committee; the ECFRPC is primarily composed of elected officials and cannot meet that test; and so they used the board of directors of MyRegion as the strategy committee.  He stated that was too big a
committee to work with, so they defined 12 to 15 key players, and of those, they had representation from each of the counties and each of the EDC’s; and they will be looking at strategies to maximize the economic stimulation across the region. 

  

Mary Hillberg stated the survey by the MyRegion group asked for feedback in terms of the one to five policy framework. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she does not know that they are surveys; and she thinks what they are is just asking the Board to look at the six particular principles and write comments on each of them. 

 

Ms. Hillberg stated the second issue is the vision of the County as it is now and the vision the Board is supporting; and the third is a couple of other notes.  She stated the draft started out a long time ago when it was much different; it has grown and changed; and the wording has improved, but there are several areas that are creating questions for her and other people.  She stated it is a group of assumptions and a framework; all six of the issues are good things; everyone wants to preserve open space, recreation areas, farmland, and water; and people would have to be insane not to want to provide greater access to the highest quality education.  She stated they are 100% great things, but underneath are implementation guidelines.  She commented on being a nurse, teaching CPR, standards from the American Heart Association, accountability, and change from standards to guidelines.  She stated guidelines have no accountability or enforcement; going through them, she sees that the guidelines are interesting; and commented on the improved draft regarding impact fees.  She stated nothing is specific; it is very vague and all encompassing; everyone would agree with A through F; but the guidelines beneath them are much more vague and slippery; and if anyone voted for them and that was considered the County’s position, those guidelines could change.  She stated there are no standards or minimum requirements; there is nothing that says this is the way things will be; and commented on the vision of the Board for the community.  She stated Brevard County excels and is recognized for certain things; and four points are listed.  She stated the first is providing the health, education, and social needs; the second is protecting and preserving valuable natural resources; the third is sustaining a strong and diverse economic base; and the fourth is creating cooperative partnerships.  She stated that is the Board’s vision; the Board is contributing to the enhancing and ensuring of Brevard County’s quality of life; but to accept the things without questioning them, in light of the current economic hardships, is very dangerous and opens the County up to unintended consequences over which the Board has no control. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated there is a workshop scheduled for 2:00 p.m. regarding the budget; the Board is going to be able to hear everything this morning; and those folks who have citizen requests like Mr. and Mrs. Beckman will have an opportunity to speak.  She stated the Beckman’s are welcome to move their item to another agenda; but she would suggest that this is a good agenda and the next one will be packed.  Kurt Beckman advised he will reschedule. 

 

Maureen Rupe advised she already sent some concerns to the Board; she too was concerned about the draft; the Board is at all times speaking in an official capacity; and the results may be taken and used as such.  She stated every invitation she received has been from MyRegion.org; she assumed How Shall We Grow was just a branch under the umbrella of MyRegion.org; she knows that How Shall We Grow cannot mandate anything; but that makes her think that the only way this could be implemented would be to change Florida’s Growth Management Act and laws, which scares her.  She stated she does not see how it could be implemented any other way; and inquired how will they get all the cities and counties to agree on things when in Brevard County, they cannot even get along with the cities at times.  She stated she would like to know the cost; when she was playing the matching chips game, she felt it was flawed; and the voting online was flawed.  She stated she and her husband voted differently; obviously one of their votes was thrown away; and How Shall We Grow controlled the questions, the process, the voting, and the outcomes, so her confidence is nil.  She stated the County should only grow to the extent of its sustainability; and it does not have the natural resources for such a population increase and never will without destroying the environment and quality of life. 

 

Kathy Scheetz stated she echoes Ms. Rupe’s sentiments; she had a speech, but threw it out because she is flabbergasted at what she just heard about MyRegion and the joint policy committee.  She stated she is concerned about how this will exacerbate into something far greater than they all recognized this summer with the workshops when it was based on a template that was flawed.  She stated under development assumptions, they did not do key vital factors that the maps should have been created on; the committees could possibly change policies; and she is very scared.  She stated not participating is the only way to object; the Board  is still faced with a bubbles game; and requested the Board  ask the questions while Ms. Lauten and Mr. Laurien are present.  She inquired does it require all five Commissioners to equally place the bubbles on the map that will then be submitted or is it left to two or three Commissioners to send this forward.  She stated clearly MyRegion has exceeded the grant money; and inquired where the monies are coming from.  She stated Mr. Laurien mentioned there are non-governmental entities; and she would like disclosure because she is upset about how this will crescendo in the future.        

 

Michael Myjak stated his concern is over the last couple of years, development has operated as wolves in sheep’s clothing; and he has an issue of the Martin County Defender, which has noticed it as well.  He stated in the latest issue it says they are simply people who put on a preservation of space to hide their pro-development bias; it is talking about business boosting organizations that involve or ignore the common good, leading toward faux environmentalists who then twist conservation provisions to fit the same mold as those of the developers; and he calls that sneaky.  He stated he has heard Mr. Laurien speak many good words; there has been a lot of good planning; but the problem comes into play when the plans are changed often and regularly; and then it is not a plan anymore, but a sketchpad.  He stated this continued in Martin County until the Economic Council of Martin County was established and started publishing half-page ads in the Stuart News, leading to a proposed comprehensive plan amendment called the Land Preservation Amendment.  He stated this is another disguise for increased density in highly sensitive areas in Martin County; Martin County is one of the best examples in the State on how to preserve land for future generations; and he does not just mean for six months or for two years, but for fifth and sixth generation grandchildren.  He stated the Native America Creed was for seven generations; and requested the Board do today what it would want its seven  
generations to have and maintain.  Mr. Myjak stated if all people were of good will, which they are not and wanted to achieve a benefit from this, which they will not, then it might be a good thing, even as it is laid out.  He stated the County needs to stay vigilant and watch; it needs to preserve and conserve; of the seven counties, Brevard County is the most sensitive and stands to lose the most; and it is up to the Board to protect the County, not just for the current residents or their children, but also for their great great grandchildren.      

 

Chairperson Colon stated one thing that was mentioned that is positive is being able to bring all the different mayors together; she has noticed that the folks from Miami-Dade, Tampa, and Jacksonville work very well together as a region to the point that they are able to get a lot of dollars coming into their areas; it is very positive for Brevard County because a lot of the growth affects the municipalities and all the jurisdictions; and working as a team is positive.  She stated they have been able to hear some of the concerns of folks in the community; she sees a lot of similarities with Brevard Tomorrow and Lead Brevard in terms of bringing folks together from the public and private sector to get input from the community; and even with those meetings there were a lot of people in the community who were at first very concerned.  She stated one of the things they did was invite those folks to the table to give feedback; a lot of concerns have to do with lack of information; and as time went on, they were able to bring all the different parties together.  She stated people in the community from both sides were concerned about whether their rights were being protected; and she has heard that it is extremely positive to be bringing the folks together and also in regard to all the Chairs of the regions.  She stated one of them was Mayor Crotty who is able to have full authority to carry on; he is a one-man show; but Brevard County sends its representatives and is thankful for Commissioner Voltz because she will be bringing the Board’s concerns, questions, and issues back.  She stated that is really positive; Brevard County is very unique; and it wants to protect what it has.  She stated the Board totally understands what the vision is and what the County is trying to accomplish.     

 

Commissioner Voltz stated there are several things that were mentioned earlier about the six issues that the Board is looking at: (1) preserve open space, recreation areas, farmland, water resources, and regionally significant natural areas; (2) provide greater access to the highest quality of education, health care, and cultural amenities; (3) provide a variety of transportation choices; (4) encourage a diverse globally competitive economy; (5) foster distinctive, attractive, and safe places to live; and (6) create a range of obtainable housing opportunities and choices.  She stated they are things that all of the Commissioners can support; how the County gets there is up to them; and the items are just guidelines or ideas.  She stated nobody is telling anybody what to do; this is the third time she is asking for input; she wordsmithed this to death; and she knows everyone got tired of hearing her last Friday because she dominated the conversation about some of the issues.  She stated she needs the Board’s input before May 18 when there will be a meeting on the issues; and if Brevard County decides it does not want to go along with the six items, it is going to be a house of cards and will not be a pretty picture for the region.  She stated the Board needs to make sure it does not go on the road it is headed right now, which is to do nothing at all; it does piecemeal development; and it can no longer continue to do things like that.  She stated they need to have more of a vision for the region and more opportunity to look at the opportunities that have been afforded to others to see what they have done in the past that worked for them.  She stated she needs to have the Board look through the items; and if there is something a Commissioner feels is committing the County to do something he or she does not want to, he or she should let her know and she will bring that information to the meeting on May 18^th.

 

Ms. Lauten stated they would like to get as much done as possible; she was pleased to hear Ms. Hillberg say that no one would disagree with the top six principles; they will continue working on that; but if they can get agreement that the 86 cities, seven counties, business leaders, elected officials, civic leaders, and citizens will all pledge to the six principles, she would be happy that they will leave everything in good stead for their children and grandchildren.  She stated they have not pledged to work together interdependently on a regional scale on these issues up to this point; and if they could do that, the leadership would take it to another level. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated there were hundreds of people at the meetings; there were one or two at every meeting who disagreed with everything that was being done; they cannot please everyone; but they have to move beyond that.  She stated they have to look at the greater picture and all the hundreds of thousands who do not attend the meetings; and they have to do what is best for everybody. 

 

Ms. Lauten stated Commissioner Colon mentioned Brevard Tomorrow; and she would like to comment on how important the county visioning programs are.  She stated there are a few of them in the region such as those in Polk, Seminole, and Volusia Counties; they are the ones that have been stronger at bringing things to the table; Brevard Tomorrow has well represented the hard work that has been done in the County to identify what matters most to the citizens; and when the Board  sees the policies written before it, that is input from County staff and from people who have worked on the Land Use Committee at Brevard Tomorrow.  She stated they have collected all of the data from around the region and tried to bubble up at the joint policy committee those themes and policies that seem to be consistent agreed upon from county to county and city to city; it is nothing more than a framework; and it is not a mandate.  She stated this is where some citizens are frustrated; they want a mandate; but that is not the role of the group.  She stated the role is to provide the framework of information and get groups together to have conversations; and it is up to each county on what it implements.  

 

Chairperson Colon stated this is on the Agenda specifically to be able to give Commissioner Voltz any feedback about concerns; and Ms. Lauten pretty much summed it up.  She stated they would like to share that they want to be able to look at the bigger picture; and she is sure there are concerns from every county because they want to make sure there are no surprises. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he does not think there is any problem necessarily with the wording of the policies because they are general in nature and similar to what the County has in the Comprehensive Plan; but the map has caused problems.  He inquired what part does the map play compared to what the policies say.  He stated that has been contentious throughout the process.  Ms. Lauten responded what is critical is if they can agree on the direction they are heading; the map is a visual representation of what might happen if the policies are implemented; and what the maps do is articulate in a visual form.  She stated this is where they get into trouble because there are planners and there are the rest of the people who do not look at a map and see it as a finite picture of what will happen; and what they intended those maps to do was to articulate the themes they heard people say.  She stated they do not want to keep growing the way they are growing; what they hear from citizens is they do not like the sprawl; and so the core themes that the dots on the map helped articulate was that what is most important to the citizens is preserving as much green space as possible.  Commissioner Nelson
stated from the beginning there was a group that was concerned about the fact that they were placing population on a map, but not protection or wetlands or other resources; so it got off to a start where they were asking how to do that.  He stated he did not know what the resources of Lake County were that needed to be protected, but that was the map he was supposed to put dots on; and he was uncomfortable because he would have liked to see an environmental option.  He inquired how were they to preserve the key things when there was no effort on the part of the dot putting to do that.  Ms. Lauten advised that came later in the process; and the first game with the big chips was for those who are not planners, do not deal with this on a regular basis, and do not understand some of the core issues being dealt with.  She stated the game Commissioner Nelson played the first time may not have been perfect, but it was a stab at trying to communicate to the average citizen the implications of continuing to grow in the current form in large developments and what would happen if they had to place four million people without regard to the environment, which came in a later game when they had all of the GIS information.  She stated they had layers of GIS information; that got to a more sophisticated level of information; this was the first time any region tried to educate on a large scale; and they were trying to move people from “how can they do that” to “what are the most environmentally sensitive lands and how can they be protected.”  She stated they were moving to having to think differently about planning with citizens being more involved; and this is where Mr. Laurien helped with accurate GIS information to determine the most environmentally sensitive lands.  She stated they have never done that as a region before; and they now have an incredible footprint identified through the scientists and the environmental community. 

 

Mr. Laurien inquired if Commissioner Nelson played the second development dot game; with Commissioner Nelson responding he did not play the first or the second one.  Mr. Laurien stated as a planner, he has to express his own frustration; he heard it from folks in the audience; and the chip game was confusing.  He stated he knew too much; he wanted to say there were sensitive areas where he would not put chips; but people did not have that information that night.  He stated it was really about how to allocate the population, and it was supposed to frustrate people; but to a certain extent, it turned a lot of people off.  He stated the second game is the one they invented; they started talking about a more accurate picture of where they are now; and they gave more and more environmental layers.  He stated they brought in laptops and GIS operators; they advised that a city had been placed in the middle of black bear habitat, and asked if they wanted that; and they were allowed to move them.  He stated a lot of people found that to be fun; they had more information and felt empowered; and they do not know how much they will grow, but they want to try and preserve so they started to identify ecosystems.  He stated there is no map right now; there have been a series of maps that have been part of different development games or the four scenarios; but no one map is the vision.  He stated they do not have it yet; what they have is a set of principles and policies that may be applicable on the local level; the local governments will have to interpret the policies to their own Comprehensive Plans; and there will be a map that comes out of that, which they anticipate will be establishing the most critical greenprint.  He stated a committee is working on that; and the question is if they save another couple of thousand square miles of conservation areas in the next 50 years, where will they put the population.  He stated some of it is going to have to go into more urban centers; they will need a balanced transportation system; and they need a graphic depiction of that, but they do not have it yet, although they are working on it. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the population number was the other thing that created a great deal of concern; they said they did not like the trend; however, the numbers are based on trends, so they have not changed that.  He stated if they do not like the trend, they are going to reduce the numbers; but they did not reduce the numbers and just continued that on out.  Commissioner Nelson stated each of the counties had to take a certain amount of population; and commented on playing the dot game, what will happen if counties and cities do not come up to the numbers that are acceptable, and a scenario where population moved from Brevard County to Polk County.  He inquired if the community decides it is close to where it wants to be and does not want to take the extra folks, how does that fit into the bigger picture.  Mr. Laurien responded whatever the County decides to do, there is no harm, no foul because it has local sovereign jurisdiction; but it will be interesting for the County to envision that future.  He stated if the City of Melbourne says it wants to be at 250,000 in the year 2050, but Malabar sees itself as a small town, either vision is okay; but collectively it will be interesting to see what the whole County sees and what the region sees.  He stated additional population has to go somewhere; if they take the extra 2,000 square miles of critically sensitive environmental and habitat areas and get another three and a half to four million people, the question is where would they go; and if the cities do not take them and they are not put in the conservation areas, they will still go into the low density suburban type of sprawl.  He stated they would be able to model that; and that is what the Board will be shown in the fall, if it went in one direction as opposed to any of the other scenarios, how they would be doing with regard to the policies.  He stated it is supposed to be educational; and commented on the example of Winter Park, which does not want to grow any more compared to Altamonte Springs, which does want to grow and expects to be a regional city in 50 years.  Commissioner Nelson stated a month ago, he started cleaning his garage; he put things away and got rid of old stuff to create enough space to park hi scar; but he did not create any rules that said his wife could not put things in there, so now they still cannot park the car in the garage.  He stated his concern is they are condensing and consolidating, which makes a lot of sense; but he does not see the mechanism to protect the green space.  He stated it is easy to create density; it is hard to create the protection because the economy drives the building of density; but whatever it may be, it is the citizens who have to cough up the money to buy the land that creates the protection.  He stated there are some ways of doing easements and those kinds of things, but they are difficult to pull off; and his concern is how to protect the green plan versus having more space to put stuff in the garage.  Mr. Laurien stated there are going to need to be a lot of tools in the toolbox to do that; some of them are already there such as conservation easements, promoting conservation developments in rural areas, and keeping low densities but compacting development so they do not have to pay to acquire the green space as it is already paid for by the development; and in terms of actually taking land off the table, there will probably be State, federal, private and local public money to acquire some of the easements or fee simple development rights.  He stated transfer of development rights could be a tool; as a planner, he has been interested in that concept for 30 years; but he cannot point to any place in the United States where is has been done on a large sale and works.  He commented on the linkage between transportation and land use; and presented a scenario where a light rail system is added in the middle of U.S. 1 and higher densities are encouraged along the route to get impact fees to help pay the costs for the system.  He stated there are going to be sending areas and receiving areas; receiving areas are where density can go and the sending areas will be the greenprint to be preserved; they will take some of the money to buy that; and that is a legal instrument they do not have yet, but it can be done.  He stated they do not have all the answers today, but they realize they will need those answers. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated nothing that has been said is new to the Board; Commissioner Scarborough has been a public servant for 26 years and she and Commissioner Voltz have been public servants for over 13 years; and what is being said is nothing new.  She stated Brevard County has been very aggressive since the early 1990’s and continues to be aggressive when it comes to the kind of issues Ms. Lauten and Mr. Laurien are referring to; it might be news to Orange County or the Orlando area, but it is not new to the Board; and the citizens are fully aware that the only way to achieve this is if there are the dollars to do it.  She stated the citizens are educated and intelligent enough in Brevard county to know that if there are not millions of dollars, they are not going to be able to buy the private property; and to think that the State or the federal government is going to do it for the County is not realistic based on what the Board has seen in the past.  She stated there have been plenty of studies throughout the last decade, but they have sat on shelves; the Board knows where the roads need to go; and the Board can show all the planning and have the planners and engineers come together.  She stated the biggest frustration as elected officials is because they know where the roads need to go, but they do not have the dollars, so the discussion that is happening is not anything that is new to the Board.  She stated there is nothing wrong with giving this information and sharing it with the regional at large; they are all saying the same thing; and Brevard County is not unique when it comes to the things that are important in those categories.  She stated in 1994, Palm Bay was at 60,000; she started holding town meetings and would advise that the potential of the City of Palm Bay was 250,000 people; and that was hard to comprehend at the time.  She stated right now the population of Palm Bay is over 100,000; the community has annexed so much of the County that the number is much higher; and at one point the City was 65 square miles, but now it is approximately 72 square miles.  She stated they have not put their heads in the sand; she is proud of that; and that are some wonderful people in the County who are visionaries.  She stated it is not just the elected officials; they listen to what the citizens have to say; and the citizens were the ones who have been very specific about thinking ahead.  She stated there has been very healthy discussion throughout the region; there is nothing wrong with sending the data back and saying this is how Brevard County feels; and she is proud of the planning that has gone on in Brevard County so far. 

 

Ms. Lauten stated what they hear from the experts is not only how to develop the greenprint but how to fund it; there is an opportunity, if they work together, to gain attention at the federal and State level, not unlike what was done in the Everglades restoration; and it is believed by building together a regional greenprint that shows how the counties link together, they will be able to think creatively about new tools and ways of funding that they might not have done county-by-county or city-by-city.  She stated many counties have done great local planning; but the goal is to weave those ideas together to be stronger as a region, especially with the greenprint.  She invited the Commissioners to participate at the joint policy committee because the first thing that group of elected officials said they need to do as a region was to identify the greenprint and figure out funding mechanisms to get it done.  She stated collectively the elected officials are all providing leadership in thinking through the issues locally, at the County level, and now regionally to determine how to make this work. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he participated in the process and found it interesting; and the Board’s frustration may be because they are in the trenches too much.  He stated if they took the zoning map and everyone build to the maximum, the unincorporated area would have a fourfold increase in population; but the Bert Harris act says property rights and development  
rights cannot be taken away; and if the Board does not follow certain procedures, it is required to grant rezonings, so there would actually be an increase in the numbers.  Commissioner Scarborough stated that is just in the County; he does not know how the cities operate; and there have been times he has been in MyRegion meetings and seen things from a totally different perspective.  He stated one time they were talking about the retiree liking to live outside an urban center and go in; they talked about the medical needs; and because of some of that conversation, UCF has mobilized the community for a medical school.  He stated if they concentrate on growth too exclusively, they lose the world quality; and one thing that MyRegion did was include smart quality.  He stated quality goes not to the growth factor, but to the changing factor; he read something that referred to growth as a cancer; but it could also be intellectually or physically; and growth is a nebulous term that people do not understand unless they ask how they are changing.  He stated they may be changing in a different manner, which may be even more important; ever time he meets with other Commissioners, he sees that they all have similar but different problems; and they understand the County is going to grow because the County does not have the money to purchase a fourfold increase in growth.  He stated the County is not going to be able to stay where it is even if it stops having any rezoning; and How Do We Grow appears to be a justification for additional density increases.  He stated at the same time Commissioner Nelson asked how they are identifying the downzoning and getting the green areas; and this morning Commissioner Voltz was adamant that some things should not go in Mims and it should be kept as a rural area.  He stated he is very concerned; he could be wrong, but there is nothing to indicate the contrary, that the county is going to lose a number of people from the Space Program; and commented on the consequences of the end of the Apollo Program and when the School Board had to close five schools.  He stated the County did not decrease population as a result, but it moved from being the youngest population in the State to the oldest; and that brings the question of where to put resources.  He stated he is part of the process; he has been building parks for young people; but he has not been doing a lot for the elderly.  He stated the School Board is building a lot of schools so he does not know if the County will go through that scenario again; but they are responding as if they were moving into the past rather than the future.  He stated MyRegion made him think differently; and commented on changing his mind on some issues after listening to his fellow Commissioners and thinking through dialogue.  He stated he is concerned that rather than expanding the dialogue, they are limiting the dialogue, and rather than looking at the emerging strange trends, they are looking at things that are obvious.  He stated Commissioner Voltz said every one of the things was good; that is fine; but they need to know what is happening after that.  He stated there is a lot written today about taking the concepts of non-lineal chaos and moving it to the social environment; and commented on the book, The Tipping Point and the concept of the butterfly effect.  He stated what concerns him about the direction of MyRegion is that they have concentrated on the obvious and have not been spending enough time on the dynamics of where they are going; the things that are going to occur are going to be different than ever in the history of mankind; 75% of the people who ever reached age 65 are living today; back in the 1800’s people died at age 47; and each year it is moving on.  He commented on a British betting company that used to take bets that someone would live to be 100, but changed the number to 110; people retiring at 65 spending more time in retirement than they worked; and inflationary factors and health costs.  He stated he has been told 80% of the health expenses occur in the last illness; there are a lot of dynamic factors; and it is going to hit hardest in Florida and in his District because he is going to have layoffs from the Space Center.  He stated he may be throwing away the taxpayers’ money because he does not understand where he needs to be spending it; and there are things he needs to be concerned about.

 

Ms. Lauten stated she misses having Commissioner Scarborough on the board of MyRegion; and advised the difference in MyRegion and How Do We Grow is that the latter is time sensitive.  She stated they wanted to identify the basic themes they could all agree on; she thinks they know what the citizens believe is important; and that can now be used in the local and regional plans and to think through transportation decisions.  She stated she cannot tell how many times the current board members have asked when they are getting off the issue of growth and getting to the other five priorities.  She stated once they have the footprint of common themes of growth, they have to get the information; and they do not have the good information now such as the demographic shifts and how they will shift the footprint.  She stated the Villages, in the northern part of the region, is shifting the economy of that part of the region in a way that is not like her grandfather’s retirement community; and they need to take the footprint and learn more about what is driving change and how to work together to harness that change.  She stated when Commissioner Scarborough was on the board of MyRegion she got calls from him five times a week about different ideas; and that is the benefit of MyRegion.  She stated they are continuing to do that while focusing on How Shall We Grow; and they have not given up the other five priorities.  She stated other groups are working on that; but no one is hearing about it because of the focus on community input that the board felt was necessary to get the themes of growth articulated.

 

Chairperson Colon stated it is funny to hear what Commissioner Scarborough said because when she was on the City Council in Palm Bay, the average age of a resident in Palm Bay was 34.  Commissioner Voltz noted when she moved to the County, the average age was 27.  Chairperson Colon stated at age 34, people had young kids; they wanted parks and recreation; but the Board has not just been building parks, but has also been building senior centers that are the hub of the community, so there is a balance.  She stated it is important to send this information; the Board will be watching it closely; there are folks who have been actively participating in the process; and the citizens are welcome to attend the meetings.  She encouraged the citizens to attend the meetings; and stated they are very important.  Commissioner Voltz stated people can contact her office.  Chairperson Colon stated people can contact Commissioner Voltz’s office to get this kind of data; it is very complex; and they are doing the best they can. 

 

Commissioner Voltz requested all Commissioners take the draft, wordsmith it, and give her their ideas, which she will take back on May 18^th.  She stated she would like to put something together before then so she could send it back out so everyone can see the other comments; and she has to have some information to take back.

 

Chairperson Colon stated that is what this meeting is about; all of the Commissioners are supposed to be prepared now; and any Commissioners who needed to add anything should have done it by now.  She stated it should be the final product unless someone needs to add or delete something now; and it needs to be the consensus today that the Board would like Commissioner Voltz to present it.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she had quite a few changes and issues that she raised on Friday; and she does not know if they have been included.  Ms. Lauten advised they are probably not in the document, but will be in the next iteration.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if those could be added and distributed to the Board.  Ms. Lauten stated the Board will have it tomorrow. 

 

Commissioner Voltz reiterated the issues she raised are not in the document; and they need to be included so everyone can see what has been discussed.  Ms. Lauten inquired if Commissioner Voltz would like it sent to her office; with Commissioner Voltz responding it can be sent to the County Manager who will distribute it.   

 

Commissioner Nelson stated they are going to get another copy; and there is a workshop on Thursday.  Commissioner Voltz stated if they can get it by Thursday, that would be wonderful.

 

Chairperson Colon stated Commissioner Voltz told the Board about this way ahead of time; that is what the discussion was today; there should not be any surprises; and by Thursday, they should be ready to go.

 

Ms. Lauten invited each of the Commissioners to the Community Summit to be held on August 10, 2007 at Champion’s Gate in Osceola County. 

 

Chairperson Colon thanked Ms. Lauten and Mr. Laurien for traveling to Brevard County; stated it is a lot of information; and the Board is thankful to be sharing the information.              

 

 

 

Upon motion and vote the meeting adjourned at 1:02 p.m.

 

 

 

ATTEST:                                                                     _________________________________

                                                                                    JACKIE COLON, CHAIRPERSON

                                                                                    BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

                                                                                    BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

___________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

 

 

            (S E A L)