October 19, 2004

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special session on October 19, 2004, at 4:30 p.m. in the Government Center Florida Room, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida. Present were: Chair Nancy Higgs, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Ron Pritchard, and Susan Carlson, County Manager Tom Jenkins, and County Attorney Scott Knox. Absent was: Commissioner Jackie Colon.

DISCUSSION, RE: HURRICANE RECOVERY AND UPDATE

Chair Higgs advised the special meeting was called to discuss hurricane recovery efforts and give an update to the Board; if it is okay with the Commissioners, Reports will be done downstairs at the Zoning Meeting; and they will start with Director of Emergency Management services Bob Lay. County Manager Tom Jenkins inquired if the Board wants him to give an overview; with Chair Higgs responding yes.

County Manager Tom Jenkins advised the Policy Group had a meeting just before this meeting; in addition to getting an update from Mr. Lay, the Policy Group did several things; it extended the Emergency Order for seven more days; and the principal reason for doing that is because there are still outstanding beach renourishment issues and housing issues, as well as people in shelters. He stated in order to address some of those emergency issues that still exist, based on the legal advice of Mr. Knox, the Group concluded it was necessary to continue the Emergency Order for another seven days. He stated the second thing the Policy Group did was to come to a general consensus to recommend to the Board that a long-term recovery coordinating committee be established; that committee would be made up of various components of the recovery effort, such as Lynda Weatherman with Economic Development Commission, Linda South, Jim Fletcher from the agricultural community, Gay Williams and Bob Lee with Housing, as well as some other areas. Mr. Jenkins stated the Policy Group also concluded that any major decisions that have to be made from this point forward would be brought to the Board of County Commissioners; and the role of the Group would transition for the duration of the efforts, to being a monitor and observing what additional coordination is required on the longer-term recovery. He stated based on Mr. Knox’s legal advice, when the Emergency Order finally expires, the Policy Group would cease to function. Chair Higgs stated she is not sure about that. County Attorney Scott Knox stated that was his recommendation of modifying the plan so in the future that would happen. Mr. Jenkins stated anyway, the Policy Group will be bringing back major issues for the Board to consider as they occur.

Chair Higgs stated the purpose of the meeting is to go over that and be sure the Board is fully advised as to where the coordination is occurring and to feel comfortable that it is occurring in that way, then get an update of where the County is with various aspects of the recovery effort. She stated Lisa Rice with Workforce Development is here as well as Lynda Weatherman with Economic Development Commission who will speak on where they are with manufacturing; and there are others who can speak to some of the issues that Bob Lay may not cover in his report.

Chair Higgs advised the Policy Group discussed long-term monitoring; fortunately the County has not faced a recovery of this magnitude; and when they look at over $400 million of recovery, costs, it is obvious that it will not take place in the next two or three weeks. She stated they want to be sure to comply with the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) and that they are monitoring so the Board knows what is happening because ultimately the Board is going to be responsible for that. She stated that was the purpose of the previous meeting; the purpose today is to raise those issues and get an update so the public as well as the Board will know where they are; and requested Mr. Lay tell the Board where the County is in the process.

Emergency Management Services Director Bob Lay advised he will start from the response phase they were in during the storm and immediately after into the recovery action; and recovery for the storm actually started when Public Safety goals of protecting life and property were met. He stated something he is proud of and knows everyone else is also, is that County and city employees, thousands of volunteers, and dedicated workers all came together to take recovery to the levels that they have never seen before; and he is talking about levels two and three times higher than anything the County has had for any prior disaster. He stated they did things like establish distribution sites for reloading and redistribution of supplies; established comfort stations throughout the County manned by County workers, volunteers, and all kinds of folks coming together with the Red Cross and Salvation Army to run those comfort stations; and they gave out millions of gallons of water, hundreds of thousands of MRE’s, insect repellant, tons of ice, and fresh and hot meals. He stated they had feeding sites for hundreds of thousands of meals throughout the County; damage assessment was done on such a broad scale that they never seen it in the County before; and Community Emergency Response Teams were activated and went into action within neighborhoods. Mr. Lay stated today they are being used for distribution sites and participating in community outreach; they are also working with FEMA and several of the teams have gone outside the County to perform outreach functions; and those are the neighbors from within the County who are out doing that. He stated they have FEMA outreach teams that have been in the area since Hurricane Frances; and the Department of Health’s community health assessment teams were also brought in to make sure they did not have any health problems, particularly in the harder hit areas in the County that are on well systems. He stated as for the current infrastructure status, pretty much all the critical systems are currently green; that includes transportation, power, communication, hospitals, banks, and schools; however, there are about eight water sites that still have boil water notices in effect. Mr. Lay stated there were 8,624 single-family and/or manufactured homes and 308 commercial structures damaged; and that number could rise, as they have been rising daily. He stated 808 single-family or manufactured homes are unsafe or unfit for occupancy; and 663 of those are in Barefoot Bay; that is roughly $261,000,068 in home damages within the County; and add in the municipalities, that total is $407 million, which is a tremendous amount of damage. He stated they currently have one shelter open and had 20 people spend the night in that shelter; they are anticipating that they should be able, through the Red Cross, to find housing for those people by the end of the week; that is their goal; and the Red Cross is making a tremendous effort in trying to do that. He stated they still have three disaster recovery centers operating; one in Barefoot Bay, one in Palm Bay, and another in Satellite Beach; they have a Red Cross Service Center that is starting to do outreach only; and as of October 17, 2004, they had 82,177 persons registered. He stated they had 53,228 in individual housing programs; and of that number 16,729 have been approved; almost 30,000 are considered ineligible; but they could be eligible for Small Business Administration low interest loans; and today about $21,316,330 have been made available and approved for funding to applicants. Mr. Lay advised 2,350 residents are in temporary housing; 70 travel trailers have been occupied; there are still about 304 to be placed; and there are four mobile homes that are occupied and five to be placed. He stated they are also providing apartment listings for people who are looking for temporary housing; there is a housing program that is helping with providing temporary home repairs; and that is called the Tarp Blue. He noted the Corps of Engineers has been managing that program, and managed to put blue material on the roofs of over 3,000 homes. He stated they have 7,000 work orders still pending; and of those 7,000 they said cancellations are running fairly high due to repairs that may have already been done to the residences or they may have received tarp installation through volunteers or VOAD service. Mr. Lay stated the average production is about 120 days; they estimate they will be completed about the third or fourth week in November; they currently have a day and a half worth of materials on hand; and that is fairly important because there was a shortage of materials at one time. He stated there was a two or three-day period where there was a shortage of materials for that program; since then, it started picking back up; they have handed out over 15,522 tarps issued through comfort stations, fire stations, city governments, and VOADs; and of that number, 8,200 were issued just after October 3, 2004. He stated the volunteer organizations assisting with disasters provided personnel to help place those tarps on roofs; it is estimated that about another 1,000 tarps were provided and placed on roofs by volunteer organizations; and the Board should be proud of its volunteer organizations. Mr. Lay stated Emergency Support Function 15 has had volunteers manning the work station in the EOC since September 1, 2004; they were doing it seven days a week until recently; and they are now doing it only six days a week. He stated they have coordinated and facilitated such organizations as the Latter Day Saints, which had almost 3,000 members here who came in to help roof, cut trees, and do debris removal; and Harris Corporation has been involved with 18 working two-day weekends. He stated they had personnel from NASA; the Jaycees of Melbourne, FIT Christian Ministry, Baptist of North Georgia, Bible Baptists working in mobile home parks, Trinity Presbyterian, Riverside Presbyterian, Church of Christ of Melbourne, all doing debris removal and tarp installations; and the Boy Scouts from Troops 724, 524, and 365 all helped with debris removal. He stated they had individuals call in and say they wanted to come in and help, but did not want to be part of an organized group; one individual put tarps on over 50 homes; and that is tremendous outpouring of support to the community. Mr. Lay advised they had donations from various companies that provided shingles and adhesives; a hardware company and a development company provided roofing nails; a cabinetry shop provided wood lading strips to tack the tarps down; and they completed over 453 jobs to provide help to homes and still have 73 that are outstanding, which they hope to finish this week. He stated public assistance damage for Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne, which is damage to government property is probably $30 million with Frances and another $43 million with Jeanne; the worksheets are still being developed; they have some being developed now for emergency berm work for about a two and a quarter miles of the beach; and there is some beach debris removal that will take place as well. He stated in their Hazard Mitigation Program, they have already started providing notices of intent; the County had a little bit over $41 million worth of notices of intent from Hurricane Frances; the City of Palm Bay had over $20 million; and Satellite Beach $21 million, Titusville about $10 million, Malabar about $2 million, and Palm Shores and West Melbourne about a quarter of a million each. Mr. Lay noted the total is about $96 million for mitigation activities that run from shutters, storm drainage, generators for lift stations, to traffic signs on poles and acquisition of coastal residence; so it sort of runs the gamut on the mitigation program. He stated they anticipate from the four hurricanes, there should be available within Florida about half a billion dollars under mitigation funding, which is a tremendous amount of money to provide help. He stated they have a strike team within the County right now; that team is comprised of FEMA, State, and local folks; they are working from the EOC to get as many people as possible into temporary housing as quickly as possible, and to find those people they think might not be eligible for help; so they are out there living in backyards in tents or something waiting to get their roofs or houses fixed. He stated they have an after action view for Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne scheduled for October 29 at the EOC to look at the ESF functions that morning and to work with the municipalities in the afternoon; they anticipate a notice of intent for hazard mitigation funds for Hurricane Jeanne within the next couple of weeks; and they anticipate doing a meeting tour with mitigation officials from FEMA and the State, which will coordinate with Brevard Prepares and the County Hazard Mitigation Coordinator. Mr. Lay advised on November 9th they have established a local mitigation steering committee meeting, which will meet to look at new initiatives from the storm so they can be added to the local mitigation strategy.

Chair Higgs advised she asked Lynda Weatherman to report to the Board and the community on what is happening in terms of the manufacturing and Lisa Rice with Workforce Development to report on what is happening with employment. She stated those are critical issues for the community; and requested Mr. Weatherman proceed first.

Lynda Weatherman, Executive Director of the Economic Development Commission of the Space Coast, advised her comments are tied to many factions, but she wanted to go beyond that and give the Board a snapshot of what is going on; it is not a nice snapshot; they did a survey in their outreach to manufacturers as well as one-on-one visits; and she will give a description of the kinds of companies and the amount of money that was distributed through the emergency bridge loan. She stated they called the Chambers and asked for their input from their clientele, which goes beyond manufacturing; and that is a little bit anecdotal; the hurricane manufacturing hi-tech survey was sent out to the whole database of manufacturing; they asked them if the business had any impacts from the hurricanes and if there were any job losses or infrastructure damages sustained; and if any, projected or actual revenue loss. She stated they received 17% response rate; 23% of the businesses surveyed had no impact; that means they did not lose electricity and did not shut their doors; 77% did; and that is an interesting number. She stated it is a survey response that is not indicative of the whole, but a sampling indicating actual or potential job loss; and $1.3 million impact in infrastructure damage and $11.5 million impact in actual projected revenue loss were estimated. She stated most of the manufacturing economy really suffered after the hurricane, not so much through infrastructure damage, but because of no electricity and having to shut their doors and not generate a product; and some of those companies were building military products and were quite critical they get them out in a timely manner. Ms. Weatherman stated some of the Commissioners may have heard of the bridge loans; the Economic Development Commission was tapped by the Governor’s Office to help in administration of the bridge loans; the money is for hurricane damage; and the businesses must have two employees, but no more than 100 employees. She stated businesses could receive $25,000 interest free with 90 to 100-day terms in unsecured short-term loans; companies responded immediately, and 78 were approved for loans totaling $1.6 million; and they are still in the process of having bridge loan meetings. She stated last week they provided an additional $1.5 million; they had a meeting this morning; and they will continue having meetings until the money runs out. Ms. Weatherman stated it could be from $2,000 to $25,000; of the 78 companies, over 50 of them needed $25,000 maximum; that does not mean their damage stopped at $25,000; and it means they sustained so much damage that they were approved for the maximum amount of the unsecured loan. She stated some examples of the types of businesses that applied and were approved include restaurants, furniture stores, marinas, motels, doctor and dentist offices, hardware stores, interior design shops, office supply stores, manufacturing companies, and car washes; so with the exception of maybe dog groomers, the Board can see there was equal opportunity of getting damage, which impacted everybody. She stated she cannot tell the Board of one graphic area that did not get damage; they asked the Chambers for input; and each Chamber expressed there are still many businesses that remain closed and waiting for repairs, and small businesses that will not reopen due to financial reasons. Ms. Weatherman stated it is estimated by the Agency for Workforce Invocation that the September unemployment is 8% because of storm damage or destroyed businesses around the country; 8% is pretty significant; the unemployment rate this year is 4.1%; and the last time it was 8% was in January 1994. She stated Harris had to layoff in December of 1994; the Space Center was rightsizing or downsizing; every prime contractor had to layoff employees; and McDonnell Douglas announced sole source contract. She stated that was the environment they had in 1994 and an 8% unemployment rate; and the focus and concern of all involved in business development is on that percentage.

Lisa Rice, representing the Workforce Development Board, stated they are pleased with the cooperation and coordination that has gone on, in particular Bob Lay and all the heroes of the EOC; and working through the storms and the recovery afterwards is definitely admirable. She stated they experienced the storms right along side the County; the Brevard Job Links actually ended up closed in September due to storms and damages; and the Titusville Job Link was closed the longest, 12 days, namely due to roof damage and water leakage they had to take care of. She noted it is open now and folks can go there. She stated the Palm Bay Job Link ended up being a disaster recovery center for FEMA operations and it still is one of those; it is operating seven days a week, 11 hours a day; and folks can go there to get help with FEMA and at the same time access Brevard Job Link’s different services. Ms. Rice stated they have definitely seen an increase in unemployment claims; at the end of September there were 6,404 disaster-related unemployment claims out of Brevard County; there have been an additional 965 just regular claims that occurred, which cannot be attributed to a disaster event; however, there is more coming because since October 1 they had 2,685 claims. She stated people are still filing for unemployment compensation; they are just now coming out of it and realizing that is what they need to be doing; and they expect to see that continue throughout this month. She stated they have no industry breakdown at this time; however, they are seeing a lot of the hospitality industry coming in and a lot of the restaurants also; and those workers who are coming in are mostly from the beachside and the south area of the County. She stated they expected to see a drop in their job orders, which would make sense that employers would be closing; however, they have not experienced that; they are actually extremely high with over 1,200 job orders on file to date; and in September, they had a 30% increase in job orders over last year. Ms. Rice stated they ended up with 579 new job orders in September and 88 new employers; at this point folks can come back into the Brevard Job Link and use the services; they are trying to help folks who were laid off and need jobs to get with people who have job openings; and there has definitely been an increase in construction-related job postings. She stated that would be a natural thing after the hurricanes; hospitality and tourism-related job openings have almost literally disappeared; their outreach efforts in the last six weeks have been extremely extensive; and they have been in almost every newspaper, did radio ads, and have cable ads broadcasting availability of jobs for workers affected by the storms. She stated they have flyers with all sorts of community-based organizations and increased their networking with the faith-based network to make sure they understand the outreach efforts and increasing how many people they can get through the fair-based efforts. She stated in September they ended up placing 1,218 people into jobs; and of special interest are those jobs that are associated with disaster recovery efforts. Ms. Rice stated they have 525 temporary job openings and have filled 219 of those to date; the majority of what is left open are construction or general labor jobs; and that is definitely where they see a shortage right now. She stated they do not seem to have the people who are coming in who are able or willing to fill those kinds of general labor positions at this time; however, they have a surplus of people who have registered as job seekers in the categories of housecleaning services, bartenders, cashiers, waiters or waitresses, and customer service representatives; and many of those are not willing or able to take the positions in general labor or in the construction industry. She stated their outreach efforts have now gone even across the border to the south in Indian River County; they are working on reaching out to migrant workers there around the Fellsmere area; and they hope it will result in many general laborers coming to Brevard County and filling the need. Ms. Rice advised they are looking at intermediate and long-term steps; she was thrilled to hear that the Policy Group is looking at a long-term recovery coordinating committee; and they stand ready, willing, and able to assist with any efforts along those lines. She stated about three or four weeks ago on the Government Channel there was a video that the Board aired that talked about post-disaster recovery; and it went into all the different phases, and one of them was about intermediate and long-term recovery efforts and the need for the community to draw together and do strategic planning in order to rebuild the community in the way that it needs to be so it comes out of it on the other end much stronger. She stated she has faith the community can do that; the Workforce Board has the faith that they can do that together; and they are ready to help the Board in any way on those efforts.

Chair Higgs advised people who are ready to move into roofing and other trades can call Workforce Development, as it sounds like an interesting possibility. She inquired if staff wants to speak to the impact on the agricultural community.

Mr. Jenkins advised Agriculture and Extension Services Director Jim Fletcher’s memorandum is self-explanatory; the preliminary estimate of damages and losses to the agricultural community is $30 million dollars; the citrus industry has been very hard hit; and almost 100,000 of 125,000 pasture acres will be affected due to water and flooding issues. He stated hay production is suffering; the mosquito population is on the increase, which is resulting in additional stress to livestock; and they expect it to have a significant effect on cattle gains over the coming months. Mr. Jenkins stated some of the impacts have not yet been calculated; there is also expected damage to turf and nursery crops; there has been damage to farm dwellings, service buildings, and structures estimated at $5 million; and the additional effect on produce income is the availability of labor to assist with production. He stated many laborers are being asked to work in other areas assisting with hurricane recovery, which is going to have a direct effect on the agricultural community; so their net impact is approximately $30 million and potentially rising. Mr. Jenkins stated another report he has, which is not total or final yet, but the payroll and operating expense impact to the Board so far is approximately $7 million; over $4 million of that is related to debris removal, collection, and disposal; approximately $16.7 million in damage to County facilities have been reported so far; and that is in Mr. Whitten’s report. He noted those numbers are continuously being updated, but staff wanted to give the Board some indication of where it is at, at the present time.

Chair Higgs requested an update on where the County is at on beach renourishment issues, then an update on the debris collection.

Walter Pine inquired if the Board is not taking public comment on the issues; with Chair Higgs responding the Board is still receiving updated reports at this point. Mr. Pine stated beach renourishment is Item 6; with Chair Higgs responding Ms. Barker is going to give an updated report; and when the Board gets to that item, it will allow the public to speak.

Interim Natural Resources Management Director Virginia Barker advised the things on the beach issue are a little confusing because there are multiple federal and State agencies involved; and they have good news about the areas that are within Corps project areas that were previously nourished. She stated in the emergency supplement package passed by Congress and the White House last week, approximately $10 million will be available for restoring Brevard County’s North and South Reaches; some of that will require State and local match; and staff will be coordinating with the TDC for the local share. She noted they will be looking on the order of $1.5 to $2 million of local match, but they will not be able to quantify that until they have the full profile surveys of damage offshore. She stated they have done the onshore surveys, but have not been able to collect offshore because the weather has not cooperated; the South Reach that was scheduled for renourishment tentatively in 2009, will probably occur in the spring of 2005; and the North Reach, which was scheduled for renourishment in 2006, may also be occurring in the spring of 2005. Ms. Barker stated Patrick Air Force Base has also been able to secure about $6 million; it anticipates to renourish the northern two and a half to three miles of the Air Force Base beach in the winter or spring of 2005; and she believes that will be happening through the Army Corps of Engineers then through FEMA’s emergency berms program. She stated they spent several days in the field with FEMA staff trying to find structures that are eligible for FEMA berms; Brevard County has approximately 20 miles of developed shoreline that is outside the Corps project areas; about 2.24 miles of that meet the guidelines that FEMA has been using to determine eligible structures; but it is her opinion that those guidelines are insufficient for Brevard County’s needs. She stated they do not match the wave climate and the sand grain size distribution that are on the beaches; she worked with Congressman Weldon’s office and he met with the head of FEMA, Mike Brown yesterday and explained the County’s concerns and thinks that meeting went quite well; so they are hoping that word will trickle down from FEMA headquarters to the local FEMA contractors that they need to look at different guidelines for establishing eligibility along the beaches. Ms. Barker stated the new criteria they discussed should increase and probably double the number of eligible structures along the shoreline, including all of the Mid Reach area, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, and the South Beaches south of the incorporated Melbourne Beach area; and in the meantime, staff has been issuing authorization letters for people to place beach quality sand on the beach themselves to shore up their unstable dunes, and have issued 47 approval letters so far and have 12 additional sites that have been approved. She noted it is just a matter of getting the letters printed, signed, and in the mail or fax machine. She stated immediately following Hurricane Frances and again after Hurricane Jeanne, the Board approved an Emergency Order that allowed staff to use the Olson Report from 1989 to do a fast approval of structures that would be eligible for sandbag systems; using the Olson Report criteria, staff has approved 19 consistency letters to the State that explain the sites would be allowed under the County Code to construct geotubes or sandbag systems; they have ten more in the system that have been approved and three that are under review; and it is just a matter of getting the letters out the door. Ms. Barker stated the Department of Environmental Protection Beaches and Coastal Systems is looking at trying to fill the gaps between sites that are not eligible for Corps projects or FEMA projects but desperately need sand; they will be preparing something for the legislative sessions that is anticipated to take place in December; and it will probably be some sort of berm project larger than the current scale of FEMA berms and the cost share would likely be 50/50. She stated there are too many questions with that for her to put a price tag on the local cost share yet; they met with the State yesterday to discuss many permitting issues; and they have agreed to host a seminar for all oceanfront homeowners that have been impacted by the storm and have permitting questions. She stated the seminar will be held Thursday night in the South Beaches at Eastminster Presbyterian Church on the corner of U.S. 192 and Riverside Drive at 7:00 p.m. Ms. Barker stated the Mid Reach, which is not yet a Corps project area, is only currently eligible for limited FEMA berms; staff is in the process of trying to make that a Corps project area; but the funding for environmental studies and permitting is not in the emergency supplement package. She noted it is in the regular federal budget, which has not been passed; and they are running the federal government under continuing Resolutions. She stated the Jacksonville District of the Corps understands the increased need to keep the project moving along and it is using that continuing Resolution authority to keep a slow trickle of funds headed towards the project to move that along; but it is really not sufficient for their needs, so staff has been negotiating a project management plan that would allow the County to do all the things that are on the Corps list of what they have to do before they get a Corps authorized project. She stated the County would do the studies, surveying, and rack up all the costs and provide an accounting of the costs to the Corps, which the County would receive a cost credit for at the time of construction; and staff will be bringing that item to the Board hopefully as an add-on item on Tuesday if they can get the paperwork from the Corps fast enough.

Chair Higgs requested a status report on debris pick up.

Utility Services Director Richard Martens advised they have collected about 600,000 cubic yards of debris just on the beachside; they are currently soliciting proposals from FEMA contractors to pick up the construction and demolition debris that is on the beach; they do not have those in yet, but it is something that is doable; and when they get those proposals, they will bring a change order to the C&D removal or debris removal contracts back to the Board for approval. He stated there are limited beach accesses so it is going to be a difficult process; there are issues of burial in the sand and things like that; it is the first time they have tried it; and when they get the information, they will bring it back to the Board. He stated they have picked up about 600,000 cubic yards of debris so far, mostly vegetative; they completed the first pass for vegetative debris removal throughout the County; and they are finding occasional exceptions with missed streets and things like that, but think they got virtually all of them now. Mr. Martens stated they started the second pass; many neighborhoods have had second pass for vegetative removal; they started the construction and demolition debris removal, particularly in the south end of the County; and they estimate all the storm vegetative debris can be picked up by about mid-November. He stated in the next week to ten days they will be publishing notices encouraging people to finalize their vegetative debris and put them on the street to make sure they get it in before they release the contractor. He stated the removal of housing debris, construction and demolition debris that they have seen so much of is going to be a slower process; it is harder to get them into the trucks; there are fewer places they can take them; and they are only going to Sarno and the Central Disposal facilities. He stated most of it is located in the south end of the County and have longer travel time; and that could take until the first part or middle of December to have all of it in the landfills.

Commissioner Carlson stated boats that have floated in are still sitting up against the river coastline; and inquired what is the status of those getting disposed of or picked up by their owners; with Mr. Martens responding the Solid Waste Department in the past has removed derelict vessels; he does not know that they have addressed that yet; but he has noticed the vessels out there. Chair Higgs stated those were only removed with grants from the State, which have been few and far between in the last few years. Commissioner Carlson stated she knows there are quite a few of them that are still floating around out there and some of them could be hazardous. Solid Waste Management Director Euri Rodriguez advised in the past those vessels were removed using State grants; the disposal monies have not been used for those vessels; and the process is that the State first has to identify the vessels and go through a process of declaring them derelict before anything can be done with them. Commissioner Carlson inquired if there is any requirement to track them by licenses or whatever is on the boat and go back to the owners to have them removed; with Mr. Rodriguez responding the State tries to do that as part of its process. Commissioner Carlson advised Ms. Barker talked about limited FEMA berms; and inquired what does that mean and what is it going to do for the Mid Reach; with Ms. Barker responding staff calculated that the linear footage of beach that would be eligible for FEMA berms in the Mid Reach is about 2,000 feet; and that is less than half a mile of 7.6 miles. Ms. Barker stated that is why it is imperative that they change the rule of thumb that FEMA is using to determine eligibility; and it is not their rule, it is their guidelines for interpreting their rule; and it is not right for Brevard County. Commissioner Carlson inquired if FEMA is going to okay a half a mile of beach on a seven-mile stretch of beach; with Ms. Barker responding that is their preliminary indication; and those are broken up by properties and condition of properties, so it is 100 feet here and 100 feet there, etc., and not 2,000 feet together. Commissioner Carlson inquired how is the housing market impacted since roofers are not doing their normal jobs and are helping with recovery efforts. Assistant County Manager Peggy Busacca advised staff continues to receive new permit applications; about two weeks ago they were surprised of the large number of new permit applications they received; so they are continuing to do that and processing them as they can. She stated she is not sure if they are up to the pre-storm number, but it is still more than a trickle and is a significant number. Commissioner Carlson stated there is only a limited number of roofers; she does not know how long the outside roofers are going to be able to help with replacement roofs and things like that; and she wondered if the housing market was going to be impacted at all; with Mr. Lay responding they have not seen that. Ms. Busacca stated they expect that construction times will be lengthened, and do not anticipate that they will be able to move as quickly because there will be fewer materials and fewer contractors; but the reason they are seeing so many continued permits is because there is a deadline for the school impact fee.

Chair Higgs stated that completes the updates. Ms. Barker stated she has some environmental issues if the Board is interested in petroleum spills or the impacts to the Indian River Lagoon. Chair Higgs stated she wants to caution the Board that it needs to at least hit on a couple of the other issues; and there are speakers who wish to speak, but she is interested in the impacts to the Indian River Lagoon.

Ms. Barker stated hurricanes caused no substantial petroleum spills due to three factors; one was check valves prevented all the blown over dispensers that are seen from leaking fuels; and deadman anchors prevented underground storage tanks from popping out of the ground. She stated selling out of fuel before the storms meant that as all the canopies fell over, the vent pipes broke and rain fell down the vent pipes so no gas was down there to bubble up and overflow out the top, which turned out to be in the County’s favor. She stated for the Indian River Lagoon, she spoke to Troy Rice at the National Estuary Program; there were very large freshwater discharges through the C-54 canal to the Sebastian River and Indian River Lagoon and through the C-1 canal to Turkey Creek to the Indian River Lagoon; and the immediate impacts were mostly salinity and water clarity issues, which are diminishing now on their own accord. She stated an environmental sciences team will be assessing the long-term damage and will be reporting that at the December meeting of the governing board.

Chair Higgs advised there is one speaker who wishes to speak on the updates, then the Board needs to take on the issue of beach renourishment.

Walter Pine of Titusville stated there are significant points and issues that are not being watched; the level of available housing has decreased significantly because of the emergency needs; and there is a question of whether the FEMA payments for those houses are setting an artificial floor for housing prices. He stated for a lot of people that might not be a significant issue, but for people who are at subsistence level and are service-type employees, the artificial floor can have a significant impact on their lives; so he would suggest when the Board considers the processes and look at those it also look at the long-term effects. He stated he was concerned to hear that the Workforce Development Board is seeking to bring in migrant laborers; when they are brought into the local force, it tends to depress the wages; if there is not enough workers for the labor force, they can either pay more or do without; and the labor force would increase by increasing wages, which would keep the wages consistent with the housing costs. He stated having a State agency seek to immigrate people into the County is going to serve to keep wages artificially depressed. Mr. Pine stated they heard about beach renourishment and everything; it is very important that the County be run by elected officials; and they want to know the infrastructure that has been damaged and rebuilt, the priorities that are being set, how the federal funds are being influenced by the discussions, where the funds are coming into the County, and what is being done because that is what people elected their County Commissioners for. He stated the County is no longer under eminent threat of life and limb; and it is time for all those duties to come back to the Board and all be discussed in the public meetings that are televised so people can hear what is going on. He stated one of the major problems they run into when they have various organizations handling things is that people who are intimate with those organizations get first contact and first bite at the apple; people who are not intimate, which are many independent residents in Brevard County, do not typically take the TODAY Newspaper, and do not have correspondence with those various organizations, and are still in the dark; and that is a significant portion of the residency. He stated 80,000 plus people applying for FEMA assistance is very misleading; the problem is those 80,000 applying for assistance are heads of households; the average number of people in a household is four or five; so they are looking at over 20% of the County in need of assistance of some type or at least they feel they do, hence they have applied. He stated that assistance and what they are asking for is part of what they elected the Commissioners to do, govern how the County is run, how they are helped; so he would encourage that the County Commissioners take a more direct approach and be directly involved in those discussions; and those discussions be directly available to the public. He stated he went into the Policy Group’s meeting today; he asked if he was allowed; they do not keep people out; but there is a significant difference between those meetings occurring in the conference room of the County Manager’s Office than occurring here in front of the camera so that the people can hear it, or downstairs in front of the camera; and encouraged the Board to do that.

Chair Higgs advised the Board is running short on time; and the federal authorization for heavy equipment was an item that was brought to the Board and needs to be acted on today. She stated in regard to the Policy Group and the monitoring, what they discussed and what Mr. Jenkins reported to the Board initially was that the Group will meet next week and formulate a recommendation for the Board so there is a coordinating body and a mechanism for the Board to get additional monitoring input. She stated she does not think that is inconsistent with what Mr. Pine was saying about information getting to the Board and the public and having a broader group continue to monitor what is happening. She stated under the structure in the CEMP, the Policy Group stays in place and they are not quite sure when it dies off, but the work of the County will continue to come before the Board of County Commissioners in regard to monitoring where they are with the recovery efforts; what they thought would be best is that the Board receive a recommendation from the Policy Group in terms of a broader body to monitor and report; and that would come back to the Board.

Commissioner Carlson inquired if staff is going to do a lessons learned from this whole thing; with Mr. Lay responding yes. Commissioner Carlson inquired when is that staged to be done; with Mr. Lay responding they have an after-action review scheduled on October 29; they want to look at some lessons also during their meeting; they incorporated them differently into the last two hurricanes; so there is some good lessons learned, but it is going to take several weeks to put them together. He stated they have already put a format out; they have asked for input so they can do it quicker; but it will take some time because they are still going through the recovery phase. Commissioner Carlson inquired if the Board will get that back in a report fashion; with Mr. Lay responding yes.

Commissioner Scarborough stated he understands they need to keep things intact to keep the communication going; but his question is if the legislative function shifted to the Chair so they can proceed with legislative functions. He stated Mr. Jenkins made the point they have the administration of the County running as it always does through the County Manager and different departments; the Policy Group is a little confusing to him; and inquired if the legislative function shifted completely back to the Board at this time; with Mr. Jenkins responding yes. Commissioner Scarborough inquired if there is anything the Policy Group can do that should be under the purview of the Board; with County Attorney Scott Knox responding the only thing the Policy Group really is now involved with is extending the Emergency Order, depending upon what the circumstances are; so right now that is all the Group does. Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the answer is no, the Group does not have any legislative capacity; with Mr. Knox responding no, as far as legislative capacity.

Chair Higgs stated she would like to see a good mechanism for the Board to monitor what has happened come back to the Board. Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board is also going to get a list of all the contracts; it will see what it is, and that is what got it into the Post Buckley contract. Chair Higgs stated the item the Board needs to consider prior to going to the next meeting is the heavy equipment.

Chair Higgs advised Mr. Pine she did not see a card from him on the heavy equipment item so she is not going to call upon him now. Mr. Pine stated he wanted to comment because what Mr. Knox just told him in the hallway and what he just related to the Board is significantly different; and it is important that the Board be aware of that information. Chair Higgs advised Mr. Pine he had two minutes. Mr. Pine stated the Policy Group, according to what he was told by Mr. Knox and Mr. Jenkins today, can vote to extend its existence without confirmation from the Board; it does not need permission; it can do anything it wants within the plan without the Board’s permission; and it has, by its own volition, transferred legislative authority back to the Board, but as long as it exists, it is up to the Group how it handles that. He stated it was not written into the Plan; it is not there; and there is nothing there that prevents the Group from doing as it chooses within the Plan during its existence.

Chair Higgs inquired if Mr. Knox wants to speak to the issue that is fully the intent of the Policy Group that no other issues come before it other than the extension of the Order and then a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners on monitoring and the additional committee.

Mr. Knox advised the Policy Group has a continued existence under the Plan; there is no clear line as to when the Policy Group goes out of business and everything gets shifted back to the Board; so there is a gap in the Plan in terms of transition and there is no clear definitive guideline as to how transition occurs. He stated that is probably something they need to work on in terms of approving the Plan; that is probably one of the lessons learned that they will come up with; but in reality, the Policy Group is just working on the extended Emergency Order.

Chair Higgs stated her purpose in calling the meeting today was to be sure that the Board is fully engaged and knowledgeable of what is happening, directing what proceeds, and to continue to have a coordinating group; the shift fully is in the Board’s hands; and that is why she asked to meet today to discuss this and be fully informed.

Commissioner Pritchard inquired who are the members of the Policy Group; with Mr. Knox responding the County Manager, Chair of the Board, him, the Sheriff, Public Safety Director, Emergency Management Director, and a representative of the School Board. Commissioner Pritchard stated so in essence the Policy Group is the corps of services provided by the County; Mr. Pine raised a comment that legislative action of the Policy Group could supplant what the legislative action of the Board should be; and what Mr. Knox is saying is that the Board has the legislative ability, the Policy Group would formulate policy based on what the guideline is that has been established and acknowledged by the Board; with Mr. Knox responding right. Mr. Knox stated there is a Plan that is set forth and the Policy Group’s authority is designated in that Plan as delegated by the Board of County Commissioners to the Policy Group under emergency conditions. He stated when speaking of legislative action, the Board is talking about ordinance drafting and things like that; and that is something that resides with the Board; and that is not the authority the Policy Group has.

Commissioner Pritchard stated the Board is going to run over into the Planning and Zoning meeting; he has a lot of questions that he wants to ask; and inquired if the Board can reconvene downstairs and continue the discussions. Chair Higgs stated that is the prerogative of the Board; but one item that needs action is the heavy equipment and sand on the beach; and inquired how does the Board want to proceed. Commissioner Pritchard stated he does not want to take a quick vote on heavy equipment and sand on the beach because he has a lot of information he would like to present to the Board. Chair Higgs stated the Board will finish the item and then go downstairs. Commissioner Pritchard inquired if it is the item about the Policy Group; with Chair Higgs responding she does not think there is any action because it is coming back to the Board. Commissioner Pritchard stated he is only trying to clarify what the function of the Policy Group is. Chair Higgs stated that needs to be clarified; the reason she called for the meeting was because she wanted to be sure the Board was clear and that the coordination of the recovery is a function of the Board; and there is no intention of going beyond the Order next Friday. Commissioner Pritchard stated he did not mean there was any sort of intent; and he has been on policy groups before and was a part of this Group.

Commissioner Scarborough stated to get back to the original issue, there are people sitting downstairs, so maybe it would be good to go downstairs so they understand what the Board is doing and the dynamics of the meeting; and suggested continuing the meeting downstairs.

Mr. Jenkins inquired if it is something that can wait until October 26; with Commissioner Scarborough responding he does not have a problem going ahead and listening to what Commissioner Pritchard has while it is fresh in their minds; and he would prefer to hear it in conjunction with the reports. Chair Higgs inquired if the Board wants to talk about federal authorization and sand downstairs; with Commissioner Scarborough suggesting continuing the discussion downstairs.

The meeting recessed at 5:35 p.m. and reconvened at 5:40 p.m. in the Commission Room.

Commissioner Pritchard stated he has many questions he wants to lay out because there is a concern that the Policy Group would usurp the legislative authority of the Board; and that is not so. He stated the Policy Group is made up of key players within the County’s organization, Public Safety, the Sheriff, etc.; it is their role to implement the Plan as directed by the Board; there is also the Chair who is a member of the Policy Group; and one of the things that he wanted to make sure is that the Group, even though it is more in line with recovery, it needs to be aware that when it is going to be providing the reports that the reports are inclusive and carry a variety of information that is going to keep each Commissioner up to date so they can keep their constituency fully informed. He stated he would like to run through a few things that he would like to insure are part of the Policy Group’s reporting. Commissioner Pritchard stated he wants to keep up on level of debris removal, first pass, which is done, second pass, third pass, and the C&D debris removal; increase in unemployment; industries that have been greatly affected, service industries in particular; and on the other hand there is a demand for workers in the construction industry that they are not able to satisfy, which has created a significant problem on housing. He stated if they are not able to renovate the houses, people who are out of the house are not able to move in; he has a concern that the level of payment for rental housing might rise accordingly; therefore, putting people of ability able to find substantial housing because of the amount of money that they may have available. He stated there is an impact on discretionary spending; there will be fewer people going out into the community and spending on things other than necessities; but Home Depot has not suffered at all and if anything that business has increased. He stated some of the other businesses that he dropped in on had a lack of clientele; they need to insure that there is mitigation to prevent future damage; they cannot continue to plant trees under power lines to have the trees grow up to the point where they damage the power lines; and they need to make sure that they take proactive measures that it does not happen. He stated there was a piece in the paper the other day that said beachside properties have been reducing their asking prices on many properties that are for sale; it can have a trickle-down effect because inherently beachside properties are what drives the market and are usually the most valuable; so if they are starting to decrease in price, the Board can see that happening throughout the County and then the revenue stream that the County currently enjoys based on ad valorem taxes is going to be affected next year. He stated with that in mind, they need to, as a Board and as employees, as well as taxpayers, realize that if the revenue stream decreases, there are two options, one to reduce levels of service or try to generate additional revenues. He stated the position he would be taking is that they need to look at what they are providing in terms of service and make a decision as to whether or not it needs to continue certain services as well as certain levels of service. Commissioner Pritchard stated he has not heard of any insurance companies that have gone belly up that has affected Brevard County; he has not heard of any abnormal price increases in premiums; and he would be interested to see what happens there. He stated he would not be surprised if they do not start seeing 10 to 20% increase in homeowners policies, flood policies, and hurricane policies; and when that happens, then the Board needs to stay in close touch with the State legislators and Insurance Commissioner to insure that the industry does not get away with it. He stated Mr. Jenkins mentioned the County operations impact was $7 million and millions more in damage; and he hopes Mr. Jenkins can come up with a plan in the next few weeks that will show how the Board is going to pay for it, how much FEMA will reimburse, and how the County is going to recover from the effects of the hurricanes. He stated Park personnel are being used to repair quite a bit of the damage to beachside parks and dune crossovers, so the County does not have the ability to recover FEMA money for that unless it is overtime; and inquired if the County would be better served if the Parks and Recreation people were dealing with other park issues and have FEMA people do the repairs to the beachside community so that it would pay for the project.

Chair Higgs stated the next item the Board needs to handle prior to moving to the Zoning meeting would be the federal authorization for heavy equipment, and sand on the beach; and inquired if there is a motion to authorize the Chair to send a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requesting authorization to restore dunes and remove debris.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to authorize the Chair to sign a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requesting authorization for Countywide dune restoration and beach debris removal. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Chair Higgs advised the Board has an emergency ordinance in regard to setbacks along SR A1A.

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Pritchard, to adopt an Emergency Ordinance providing setback relief to nonconforming oceanfront structures sustaining damage from Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne; waiving the public hearing and variance requirements of Section 62-211 through 52-218; declaring an emergency and the need for immediate enactment of this Ordinance; providing for conflicting provisions; providing for severability; providing for an area encompassed; providing an effective date; and providing for inclusion in the Brevard County Code of Ordinances.

Commissioner Carlson stated the Ordinance proposes that if a nonconforming oceanfront structure was damaged by Hurricanes Frances or Jeanne, it would be allowed to be rebuilt or newly constructed and may encroach into the front setback or the A1A setback or both under certain conditions; and a setback encroachment will be allowed when, due to the operation of the coastal setback line, the hurricane damaged structure cannot be rebuilt at its original location, and to reach the original square footage, encroachment into the setback is necessary. She stated it says the encroachment could be allowed up to 20 feet. She stated the Board discussed it the last time to allow them to come in on the setback if they do not have buildable space and their home was damaged and a lot of erosion occurred.

Chair Higgs called for a vote on the motion. Motion carried and ordered unanimously. (See page for Emergency Ordinance No. 04-44E.)

Commissioner Pritchard stated some people may be familiar with an article that was in Florida TODAY last week, which dealt with beach stabilization and a dune stabilization product; it was in Vero Beach; and it explained how the product had been in place for about 14 years or so and because of it, the dune that it was protecting was not damaged; and sand did wash from the beach, but sand will come back to the beach through the normal process. He stated he met with Mr. Sample and Captain Tom McGill who chairs the Brevard County Marine Advisory Council; he has a very interesting presentation and a lot of documentation as to the effect that his product has on dune stabilization; and he sent an email to Mr. Jenkins saying the dune is the County’s protector from continuous erosion and if the dune fails, the next stoop is A1A, so the County cannot afford to allow the collapse of the dune system. He stated millions of dollars in taxable property is subject to failure and eventually the westward encroachment of the ocean will destroy the coastline. Commissioner Pritchard stated a lot of people have the attitude that the people who live on the beach are rich and because they are rich, they should be punished in some fashion; and maybe they should be punished by not providing dune restoration or beach renourishment, but that is not the situation. He stated the situation is if the County does not replenish the dunes, it is going to have a washout of the dune system and A1A will be the next dune; and then A1A will wash out. He stated he has seen that in photographs of the damage that happened in the south part of Florida; so the Board cannot afford to let that happen; and there are other reasons why it cannot let that happen. He stated there is a large tax base on the beach; in many communities beachfront property taxes are about 80% of the community’s tax roll; and he will find out what it is in Brevard County, but that is a rule of thumb he was given. Commissioner Pritchard stated the product that the person has is worthy of consideration because it does not destroy the turtle nesting, it enhances it; it does not destroy the beachfront environment, it enhances it; and everything that the product does enhances beachfront renourishment, dune stabilization, and encourages sea turtle nesting. He stated in areas where the product was installed, there had not been turtle nesting in years; the year after it was installed, there was turtle nesting; so there is a lot of benefit to it; and he cannot see why the County would want to continue to spend millions and millions of dollars every year just to watch the sand go down to Fort Lauderdale or wherever, which is the normal north/south flow. He stated the County loses more sand from the northeasters than it does from hurricanes; the wave action usually hits about every ten seconds; if there is nothing there to capture the sand, it tends to wash away and it takes a long time for a beach to renourish; if there is something to capture it, it renourishes quickly; and he wanted to bring that to the Board’s attention. He stated the Board needs a presentation; and in fact he asked Mr. Sample and Captain McGill to contact Mr. Jenkins and others from Natural Resources or whatever and make a presentation with the Marine Resources Council so the Board can hear firsthand what the system is and based on comments, they will bring it to the Board. Commissioner Pritchard stated the millions of dollars being spent to put sand on the beach would be saved in the long run by putting a structure that would stabilize the dune and encourage the accretion of sand to remain on the beach instead of having it wash off; and it would be a cost saving, effective, and environmentally-friendly.

Chair Higgs stated staff will be working on that presentation; the Board will hear the item again; she has three people who wish to speak, but if their comments could wait until the next meeting, which will be designed to hear those issues, that would be preferred. She stated she will allow Mr. Pine, Ms. Roper, and Ms. Valentine to speak if they wish to do so.

Walter Pine of Titusville stated the beach renourishment project is a result of erosion; storms are natural processes; and at the same time the Board is arguing that they cannot fill wetlands and alter the low water areas, it is altering the tidal areas. He stated they are pumping sand from the sand bars that would normally build up and protect the beach and tearing down the very item that protects it. He stated he is not an expert on it, but he can look at an aerial photograph of the NASA area on Cape Kennedy and see the accretion of sand that has occurred; and Mosquito Lagoon is one of those accretions where it hopped over and built another sand bar and built up until it was out of the water and became a dune, and then the County has a new beach. He stated the problem he sees is that Natural Resources on one hand is telling one group to enforce and protect the pristine environment, the way it is supposed to happen; the same group says okay fill it in; and it should be consistent. He stated what Commissioner Pritchard said if there is technology that will help, that is great; but the Board needs to look at the natural process that is occurring and see if there is something in the natural process that would naturally protect the beaches and ensure that they do not tear down the process, and the sand dune that builds up that would normally protect the beach from erosion is not pumped out. He stated they pay so much to pump it out; then the storm washes it back to where it was and they pump it back out; it is a never ending story; and if they do not find some way, whether it is new technology or some understanding to protect the areas, then they would be better served to buy the property because it is never going to stop, it is a natural process.

Thelma Roper of Titusville stated from articles in the newspaper and from what she knows, the County just renourished areas of the beach within the past couple of years and this item is to do it again; they said the State is in a 25-year cycle where the East Coast may be getting more and more hurricanes; and when she looks at this item, it is like the County is going to be constantly pouring money into sand on the beach to keep redoing the beach every year when it gets the hurricanes; and inquired if they are going to be looking at more money and more money poured into those beaches. She stated she knows everybody who lives beachside is not rich; she knows quite a few people over there; they are not rich; but there are a lot of people inland whose tax dollars are put into this project. She stated people on the mainland who could never earn enough to even dream of having a place on the beach have been able to afford property on the inland side because it is more affordable; and now their tax money is going to the beaches instead of going for things that would benefit the whole area, such as fire, water, hospitals, schools, and stuff that benefit the County as a whole rather than one significant portion of it. She stated the money is going for sand that is going to be washed away again when another storm or hurricane hits the area; that is not an equal distribution; and they need a little bit more of an equal distribution of the dollars for things that are more necessary. Ms. Roper stated Commissioner Pritchard has a great idea for something that will stabilize the dune and stop the spending of tax dollars; and the Board needs to look a lot harder at the continual renourishment to find a way to not keep doing it over and over again, whether it is putting something out there or just stopping it.

Susan Valentine of Melbourne Beach thanked Virginia Barker for all her hard work and Commissioner Pritchard for his information; stated she lives in the South Beaches, which is not covered by any of the beach renourishment projects; they received a great deal of erosion in the area; and they are the keepers of the dunes and dry sand beaches as there is no federal money coming their way. She stated their Deeds state they own the land to the mean high tide mark; they nourish it and protect it; they share that land with Brevardians every day; and she knows of no mainland homeowners who share their backyards with all the strangers that they do. She stated they are distressed by the comments from government officials and fellow Brevardians that they should not be there and do not need help; they contribute a great deal to the tax base because they worked hard and saved to buy homes that have increased in value and in taxes; and they contribute to charities in the County that relieves government from financial obligations. She stated they invest in the local businesses, thus providing jobs for County residents; they have disposable income and buy products from local merchants, which in turn benefits the County; and it has come to their attention by way of the Natural Resources Management Office that they will not be able to rebuild minor structures, i.e., decks, gazebos, and crossovers wider than three feet that were already in existence and were permitted by the County prior to Hurricane Jeanne’s destruction. Ms. Valentine stated the Board made that ruling several weeks ago she is told; she has not read those comments because those minutes have not been published on the website; but she wants to give the Board some facts. She stated the South Beaches received 14 to 17 feet of erosion; they have a wall that goes straight down, more than Indialantic and Melbourne Beach that are in the South Reach Beach Renourishment Program; and the guidelines from government funds stated that a major structure, i.e., home, must be 18 inches from destruction before the government will provide financial assistance. She stated the South Beaches oceanfront homeowners are not willing to wait until another disaster befalls them to protect their investment and receive government funds to rebuild; the County issued permits to restore their eroded dunes; they are willing to pay for that dune renovation to save their properties; and the cost for a 75-foot wide property averages $30,000 per homeowner. She stated insurance does not cover those costs; the homeowners are paying it to replace the land they lost in the hurricanes out of their personal savings and bank loans; and it benefits all Brevardians. She stated their dunes are restored at no cost to the taxpayers; and since they are paying for the land twice, once when they purchased their properties and again since Hurricane Jeanne, she requests that they be able to rebuild the minor structures, crossovers, gazebos, and decks, as they were before the disaster. She stated they invested in their properties; those structures existed; and they could have invested in substantially lower-priced property if those structures did not exist and paid lower taxes. She stated Commissioner Higgs owns riverfront property with a dock; and inquired if that dock disappeared because of an act of God would her riverfront investment be as valuable if she were not able to replace it. Chair Higgs stated her dock did disappear. Ms. Valentine stated the oceanfront property owners are not getting money from any government agency or insurance company; they are once again investing their personal funds in Brevard County; and requested the Board revisit its ruling regarding all minor structures. She stated they ask that the Board revisit it using the facts she stated, with logic and common sense; inquired who would be harmed if those structures were rebuilt; and responded maybe all of Brevard County.

Commissioner Pritchard stated apparently there are homeowners like Ms. Valentine who are in need of a permit to restore the dune; they are willing to do it at their expense; and if the dune is not restored, there will be further escarpment and they end up with a sheer wall. He stated gravity and force is deflected better by a slope rather than a wall because the next thing that goes is the wall and pretty soon the properties fall; and the Board needs to figure out why it cannot have permits issued. He stated apparently whoever is in charge of issuing permits is not doing so in the South Beaches north of Sebastian; it was mentioned that the main structure has to be 18 inches from the eroded area before FEMA money kicks in, but he does not know what that has to do with the County issuing permits to restore the dunes and prevent further damage to private property. He stated the homeowners are willing to pay so it is not costing the County anything, and it is just a matter of issuing the permits.

Ms. Barker advised the Code allows dune restoration for anyone who wants to use beach compatible sand and revegetate the sand; staff is writing authorization letters for that as fast as possible; and they have denied no one a permit or authorization letter for that activity. She stated they have coordinated with Department of Environmental Protection to make sure their authorization meets Department of Environmental Protection’s requirements for those activities and the item the Board approved a few minutes ago will allow them to apply for a Countywide permit from the federal government so that the homeowners do not have to jump through that hoop. She stated staff will take on that responsibility for them. Ms. Barker stated they are not denying any approvals for placement of beach quality sand on the beach to restore their dunes; the confusion may be with the placement of geotubes or sandbag systems the Board approved an Emergency Order for; and that Emergency Order has been extended. She stated the Board gave staff direction to use the Olson Report to streamline the permit approval system; there are some people who do not meet those specific streamlined process guidelines; and those people have been instructed that it does not mean they cannot have geotubes, it means they have to follow the letter of the Code, which requires them to hire a coastal engineer to prove the vulnerability of their structure to the Board and that the Board will make those decisions on a case-by-case basis. She stated staff can only make decisions on the ones that are clearly vulnerable and in imminent danger of collapse.

Commissioner Pritchard stated Ms. Barker loaned him the Olson Report and he has to admit he did not understand a thing in it; it is written in techno-stuff; but he had someone who had Ms. Barker’s job previously look at it and that person said it is old data and things have changed. He inquired if the part of the Olson Report that staff is applying to renourishment is something that has not been affected by the change in slope of the shoreline. Ms. Barker stated it has, the verticalness of the slope of the dune has changed the situation; so they have contacted the author of the Report and gotten a rule of thumb to use for accounting for that problem with the model; and they are building that into their decision-making process. Commissioner Pritchard inquired if Ms. Barker thinks it might be time to have a new report; stated he does not know who the vendor would be or what the cost might be; and suggested staff think about it and come back to the Board at another date. He stated if the Board is going to rely on a piece of information, it should be the most accurate and up-to-date information.

Chair Higgs stated there may be other things that would give the Board the same kind of data that may already be in place; and staff could come back to the Board with that report as well.

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 6:14 p.m.

ATTEST: __________________________________
NANCY HIGGS, CHAIR
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

______________________
SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

(S E A L)