Board of County Commissioners on 2023-10-24 9:00 AM

is OCTOBER 24th 2023. I ll call our border County Commissioners meeting to order This morning. Our invocation will be a moment of silence followed by a nice treat, where we will have George obedient. Born Boyne, Mr George Willborn, The Combat Air Force veteran who will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance if you would all please stand for a moment of silence. Thank you. Sir. Morning. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One Nation under GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Sir. Good. Morning. Thank you so much of we re happy to have you here today. Would you share a little bit about your life with us, Please. Good morning. Thank you for having me my my pleasure to be here. I was born and raised in the Little Town and West Warwick, Rhode Island. I first time on an airplane was going to basic training. I joined the Air Force two weeks after high school. Um Did my basic training in Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. After which time I went to Little Rock Air Force Base. Followed by my tour in Southeast Asia started Taiwan. And went to Vietnam, Cameron Bay. After that. I was fortunate enough to come back with everything. I went over with. My good sense. Ah! My good health. And, uh, Came back to California after that. I used the gi bill, uh, to up further my education. I became a registered nurse. And. I did 40 years as a emergency room nurse. I retired in 2007. And. I cut lawn for a while because I got bored. I rode motorcycles. m a proud member of the American Legion, uh, right here in Stuart Post 62. I loved the Air Force. I love my country. Good for you very proud to have served. Thank you for having me today? Thank you, sir. Catch ask you a question. Question for you? Yes, sir, here from California. From California. I flew. Ah, that was the team I arms are tired. Oh. I did I was discharged from California did a year in and Vandenberg Air Force base after after I was discharged. I went back to Rhode Island and went to school there. Fantastic. Yes, sir. 40 years in an emergency room Er is also just an unbelievable career. Even without the military, So you put those two together. You ve had quite a life. And the funny thing is that one of the service to be a medic. And ended up being an air operations specialists, I I formulated and dispatched aircraft and flight crews. That was my job. I didn t mind it. It was a great job, but I still wanted to be a medic. I wanted to be a flight medic, and I never got it. So When I! Get out. I pursued the nursing field and I don t regret it was a good job career. Thanks to you. So! Congratulations again again. Wonderful. Thank you. That is perfect. We have a couple of additional items of proclamation. Indian River Lagoon Water Quality improvement grand presentation will be made this morning. Ah! Not. Another written apology request by Commissioner Herrington. So. We re going to be doing that shortly. Consent number 19 request to rescind Florida Department of Environment Environmental Protection Grant Agreement number w g 061 and Amendment number one Two agreement number w g 061 withdrawn from the agenda is public hearing number one legislative public hearing to consider adoption of a comprehensive Plan amendment 22 days 0 to 95, Riverside. P u d Pulp the I 95 applicant request due to a noticing issue. Public hearing number two Legislative public hearing to consider adoption of comprehensive Plan Amendment 23-06. Sandy Cove Plaza. Public hearing quasi judicial number one public hearing to consider adoption of an amendment to the Martin County zoning atlas to change the zoning classification for c p a 23-06 Sandy Cove Plaza. There are no consent Polls. Commissioner Smith! Mr CHAIRMAN Thank you move approved the agenda with the two additional items. A proclamation, Item number two consent item number 19 also withdraw ph one public hearing one public hearing to and public here in quasi judicial item number one. Second, the agenda. Thank you? We have a motion by Commissioner Smith seconded by Commissioner Heatherington all those in favor all those opposed that motion carries unanimously We have two proclamations. And. They will be presented beautifully by MISS Laura Bell. Pray Good morning commissioners. The. First Proclamation we have is declaring hospice and palliative care months. Established in 1982 Treasure Coast Hospice is a nonprofit community organization of skilled professionals and dedicated volunteers whose mission is to provide access to compassionate, caring, expert and professional hospice and grief support services to patients and families at the end of life and recognition of NOVEMBER as hospice and palliative care month, the board encourages citizens to increase their understanding and awareness of care at the end of life. And here with Treasure Coast Hospice. We have Craig Parry, whose community outreach representative and Jeffrey White, who is chief compliance and privacy officer. Good morning. If you words, please. Thank you? We d like to thank the board of commissioners for this proclamation and recognizing Treasure Coast hospice. We ve been serving the community for over 40 years as a community partner and we will continue to do so. Thank you for the proclamation. Over this way. Anderson. Thank you. Thank you. Mhm. And the first day I can do it declaring, we have a proclamation declaring Mobility week in Martin County, Florida. Mobility week recognized OCTOBER 27th through NOVEMBER 4th 2023 is a cooperative effort by the Florida Department of transportation in its partner agencies to promote awareness of safe multimodal transportation choices by hosting an annual collection of outreach events and mobility Week is an opportunity for individuals to explore various transportation choices and to consider out to excuse me to consider how sustainable travel choices reduce traffic congestion. Benefit the environment, iron mint and improve community health. And here today, along with some other folks is try McDonald s city of Stuart Mayor and Martin mpo, CHAIRMAN. I can t. Very few words, please to to thank you, CHAIRMAN Campy, Uh, commissioners heard Jake ins, Heatherington and Smith had actually prepared a 90 minute speech. But Beth suggested I do something a little bit shorter. So, for those of you don t know me. My name is Troy McDonald. I am the mayor of Stuart in the current CHAIRMAN Of the Martin County mpo. Which is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for those who do not know that invite all of you to join the mpo Martin County public transit in me and celebrating and participating in the Florida Department of transportation s annual Mobility Week, a celebration of making smart, efficient and safe multimodal transportation choices. This year. Mobility week will be recognized from OCTOBER 27th through NOVEMBER 4th, and there are several ways to participate. You can take a free ride on the Marty bus system. On Monday, OCTOBER 30th and starting at 5 P.M. On Friday NOVEMBER 3rd Martin mpo staff will be at the city of Stuart. First Friday Art walk The art Walk is a walking tour of downtown Stuart and the mpo staff will be on location at Colorado Avenue sharing information on safety and the safety and benefits of biking, walking and riding transit. They will be they will be also passing out a transit development survey. He that is an element of the transit development plan. This planning effort is designed to guide the future of public transportation in Martin County for the next decade. Thank you for allowing me to accept this proclamation and supporting the safety and the benefits of alternate modes of transportation. Also here with me today are Beth Beltran are mpo Administrator. I think you all know her? By the way she s wonderful Along with Ashman Beecher, the transit administrator. Thank you all for this time and have a great afternoon Great day. Hi. I m Beth Beltran. I just wanted to say a couple of things. Thank you for approving this proclamation. And if anyone here is interested in filling out the transit survey today we have flyers in the back of the room with the qr code. You re welcome to do it. Those watching if you want to go to the Martin County website or the mpo website, martin mpo dot com. The survey Is there as well. Thank you. There s more good morning board up Ash Beech or transit administrator in addition to the Marty being free on OCTOBER 30th, the transit division is collaborating with the Florida Department of transportation to host to tabling events. The first event will be at the Robert more gay library from 10 am to 10 Am and the second event will be at the Stuart WalMart. From two pm to four pm. I encourage everyone to attend one of these events for an opportunity to learn more about the county s public transit system. So thank you, and I look forward to seeing you there. Yeah. Okay, I m back. We have three requests to speak forms for error morning public open. Public comment. General comment If you are interested in addressing us on any topic or on a topic that we will have later in the agenda that you won t be able to stay for now would be the time to do that. How it works is you have three minutes to address us. We prefer that you address us as a as a general board instead of singling us out individually. And that the two minutes and 45 2nd mark, you ll hear a tone. That doesn t mean that you have to stop. It means you have 15 seconds to sort of finalize your thoughts, so we don t just shut the microphone off on you in our first request to speak for him this morning as Mr Tom Pine Proclamations. Yes. Morning. Good morning, sir. Good. Morning commissioners. My name is Tom Pine. I ve been a resident of Martin County for over 50 years presently living in Jensen Beach area and today s consent agenda $18,101,143.12 was spent between SEPTEMBER 25th and OCTOBER 9th 2023 without identifying the payees or the purpose of the payments. That s $1.2 million a day. The definition of the consent agenda is quite simple is that it s a list of routine items that don t require discussion or amendment. The key word here is routine. Martin County government does not support this premise. They have their own interpretation. Where anything, they don t want to talk about in public is hidden in the consent agenda, and to today it s packed full. Two. Thirds of all items coming for the county commission will be approved in the hidden consent agenda. No wonder why taxes are so high Martin County So much of our governing is done behind closed doors. During the budget meeting. It was made very clear by the taxpayers of Martin County. They want our parks Department Parks and Recreation department out of businesses they want They are not related to the operation of our county government. They include the three restaurants, the two mooring fields. The Water Park, massive rv park in any other businesses they are operating a short time ago, we had a presentation about the great golf courses. Are all for the environment and Martin County. It reminded me about the cigarette industry telling us how cigarettes weren t bad for us. A recent article in New York time highlighting America using up its groundwater included Florida and I m. Doing. My highlighted was Florida s Treasure Coast. And coastal areas over pumping Cal accelerate saltwater intrusion. The movement of ocean water into the freshwater aquifer or Making it first unappetizing and then unhealthy. So those county commissioners concerned about their Children not being able to afford to buy a home and Martin County need to look very closely if we want to be the golf course, capital of the world. A few meetings ago there was an ongoing discussion about 12% raises for our county ministrations and our county attorney for the full purpose for the sole purpose of maintaining part parody among senior staff. And it was tabled. We the taxpayers like to know when this issue will be publicly discussed again. What you permit you promote what you allow you encourage what you condone you own Thank you? Thank you, sir. Our next request to speak for MISS Thomas Connick. Sir. Good morning. Good. Morning. Good. Morning commissioners. Uh, first before I begin. I want to thank the commission for having that for the first gentleman at the meeting. As, a Vietnam veteran who spent 14.5 months there with the combat infantry. Bremen spared being awarded a Bronze star. When. I got back from Vietnam and this gentleman got back the country. At that point it was not as welcoming as it s shown. So I appreciate that. MR. The reason I m The reason I m speaking on this are I m. Bringing this up is Later in the agenda. I m an attorney, and I represent, uh Papa Sierra, which pirate s Cove is there? Um, I m going to be talking about the reason that that supposed, but that s what I m talking about. Now is is that The institutional structural rules that are in the Martin County code. That Is It. It limits. The expression that ought to be given. Pirates Cove. It s 50 ft. From where this abandonment is Under the rules of the code. They were not having they were not having to be given male notice. They didn t have a right to intervene. I filed a motion to intervene in this matter and was told you don t have a right to intervene and then in addition to that, they said, Well, If you did you would have filed late anyway. Now the way the rules are is is two file a motion for intervening. It has to be seven business days before the hearing. OCTOBER 8th, which was the Sunday That s when the notice of publication was for the hearing on today, the 24th In order to have met that seven business days by Friday, OCTOBER 13th. Nearly five days later, there would have had to have been the timely motion to intervene. I filed my motion to intervene on OCTOBER 18th. My client wasn t even aware That 50 ft from her property. There was this abandonment. This is the kind of thing where people get a distrust for government because they don t have an opportunity. I would what I ve been told. And in fact, what is the fact? Oh, well, you have Three minutes 180 seconds. To present the position which was the motion to intervene. With property being 50 ft away. There could have been something more meaningful and I would ask that the commission think about procedures that they have, and they ll follow. It wouldn t be. They basically The County attorney essentially in my opinion was saying, Well, you know why We can t change this rule. An unfair rule We have to make consistently unfair. That wasn t said. But that s the reality. I ask you to think about it. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Our last request to speak for him this morning is MISS Megan McKeever. From House of Hope. Good morning. Did I pronounce her last name correctly. Good. Good morning. Um, for those unfamiliar house of hope and powers our community to overcome hardship and hunger because of the actions of our volunteers and our community supporters like the Martin County public works and in collaboration with Marty last month, they were able to distribute. Um I m Sorry. Collect 718 of food in their hunger action month that was with the Marty stuff. The bus event again in collaboration with the Martin County public works and also collecting here in the lobby just to translate that that works out to be about 598 meals for our local Martin County families in need. So a huge thank you and round of applause because great work and thank you for all the continued support for house of Hope. We. Appreciate it. Thank you. We do have some plaques as well to present them to pick And. Sherry, would you guys come up? And a special thank you to Ash and Sherry because they ve just been amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for your support. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else looking to address us this morning before we continue. Okay. We re very fortunate this morning to have a Unless treatise Visitor. It was at the request of Commissioner Heatherington, but it will be introduced by Mr John Mail to introduce our guest. It s a proclamation presentation for the Indian River Lagoon Water Quality Improvement grand presentation. So, Mr mail. Why don t you kick us off? Hmm. Morning chair board. Thank you for this opportunity? Um, we are blessed this morning to have the deputy secretary of The Department of environmental protection here this morning to provide his presentation on the new Indian River Lagoon protection program and a water quality Grant Assistance Fund for Indian River lagoon counties and local governments. Um, Hispanic, great friend to Martin County has helped us get a lot done and been available at any time, including today, driving all the way from Tallahassee just to speak to us this morning. That s fantastic anymore. I ll hand it over to Adam. Thank you very much, Mr Blaylock. Thank you so much. We appreciate all your efforts, especially coming down to see us today. Thank you very much. I appreciate the invitation and to be able to talk to you all on not just the Indian River Lagoon protection program but also some of the other water quality. Uh, improvements and legislation that passed this past session in house built 13 79. Is there a clicker for the or do I just say next? And under works Yes, Perfect. Just roll. Here we go? All? Right. Thank You. Um so house built 13 79 and not only established the Indian River Lagoon protection program but also included legislation to strengthen water quality protections, particularly in our Basin management action plan statutes, which really are the plans that are put in place to Allow impaired water bodies to get the necessary pollution reduction so that they become not impaired and are clean for both recreation and wildlife, and also includes improvements to long term comprehensive planning. Primarily with that is just having local governments where you have developments of 50 acres 50 parcels or more to do feasibility to address Alan over a 10 year period. Septic to sewer could be implemented. Um, identifying, you know what is the capacity of your existing wastewater treatment facilities? What are the locations and the means for infrastructure. What. The funding could be it doesn t require any specific action but really is as local governments are approving development, particularly large developments on septic tanks. Where. We know those are contributing to Water quality impairments in Saint Lucie estuary, Indian River Lagoon and other parts of the state, but they re starting kind of thinking forward and how those could be converted when necessary into the future. And then, lastly, expanding the funding opportunities to address water quality impairment. That was a big piece of the legislation and also came with a big part of funding available for Local governments and others so Go into some of the details, And as I said one of the main programs established was establishing the Indian River protection program, and this was modeled primarily off of the Northern Everglades Protection program, which includes st Lucie Be map, which Martin County is a part of the Caloosahatchee Basin Management action plan in the Lake Okeechobee Basin Management Action plan, and so we took a lot of the components. That have been successful in those areas and implemented and adopted those to cover the various be map areas within the Indian River Lagoon, and those are the Mosquito Lagoon. Reasonable Assurance plan the northern Indian River Lagoon Basin Management Action Plan, the Banana River Lagoon Basin Management Action Plan and the Central Indian River Lagoon Basin Management Action plan and you can see on this map kind of the geographical extent and although Martin County doesn t fall within one of those specific be map Areas it s in the st Lucie, but it also does have a connection in the southern end of The Indian River Lagoon and so part of the funding that s available to implement this program is eligible for Martin County so that they can address some of the impairments. But. The specific provisions and more of the regulatory provisions within this program. Don t impact Martin County, but I m also going to get into some of the other protections that were put in place and house built 13 79 that Do. You have those direct relevance to Martin County. And. So one of the main things we wanted to do here and our other general, be map statute was requiring all Basin management action plans to be updated every five years so we can continue to evaluate progress being made so that after that 20 year horizon that generally those plans are established to meet the water quality criteria that we re not getting to the end and You know not having achieved or you know as we re going through that planning process and planning milestones are in place so we can continue and see that progress and make sure we re making progress towards our end result. And, then within that also is requiring those entities that do have specific allocations to reduce nutrients that they re identifying what those specific projects are that they re going to implement Meet those regularly required nutrient loading reductions, and that s one thing that has generally been, you know, somewhat criticized on the Basin management action plan processes that lack of Accountability and making sure as the time periods move forward that were accounting for and making sure that the appropriate reductions in nutrients are done so that as I said before, as you get to that end of the planning horizon that we have achieved the requisite load reductions to meet water quality standards in all of our impaired water bodies that have These be maps in place. In addition, one of the other components of this program was establishing the Comprehensive water quality monitoring program will go into a little bit more detail on the next slide, but really, just trying to understand what monitoring currently exists where we have data gaps and how we can work with all the different stakeholders that collect that data to have kind of a comprehensive understanding of Where the health of the lagoon is as we move forward and identifying where those hot spots are so that we can address the most needed areas where we re seeing the greatest inputs of nutrients throughout the lagoon. And as it pertains to septic tanks. We know that septic tanks are the primary contributor, along with storm water within the Indian River Lagoon. A lot of the Urbanized Basin Management action plans, you know, wastewater, septic tanks, Storm water, All. Those things that come, you know, with a large population densities just Presidential runoff and other sources. And so Identifying septic tanks as one of the main contributors to new excessive nutrients in the lagoon By JANUARY 20 by JANUARY 1st 2024 unless it s previously permitted. The legislation prohibits any news. Septic tanks within the b map or wrap areas identified on this map. Um, unless sewer is not available. If sewer is available. You have to hook up to sewer. If. It s not available. You can still use septic tanks. They just need to be enhanced nutrient septic tanks, which are basically septic tanks that achieve a 65% reduction in nitrogen, come and phosphorus or nitrogen, primarily, um, as a Compared to your standard septic system and then by JULY, 1 2030 any commercial or residential property with existing septic tanks within the b map or wrap areas hook up to sewer were sewer again is available and if not available than replaced the traditional septic tank with and enhance, nutrient reducing septic tank. And knowing that this is a huge undertaking. Cost money that s not lost on the department or the Legislature s, um We have committed to $100 million a year annually to find these water quality projects within the lagoon and also in this previous legislative session, we were able to get that $100 million and we re currently reviewing those projects to assist local governments. Homeowners and all of those that are going to be needing to meet these regulations in order to achieve the necessary water quality improvements to protect the lagoon, protect manatees. Restore sea grasses bring the Indian River Lagoon back to, um you know the level of recreational fishing that was here in the past. Um, And. This is really a good step forward and continuing on kind of past efforts by other entities and stakeholders. Now that I ve talked about a little bit before you know the water quality monitoring aspect and really understanding. Where are the nutrient sources coming from, Where are the highest concentrations. What is the help of the lagoon. In General. There is a ton of data that s been collected over the years by numerous stakeholders. Over time. Some of those if they don t get funding one year, those monitoring stations go offline. So our first step was really getting an understanding of all the different monitoring stations that are throughout the lagoon. What s being collected and how often is it being collected? Is it being q eight q seeds so that we know the data is accurate, and we ve worked with a lot of different stakeholders over the last six months with Then in River Lagoon National Estuary program. The Local governments provide county Martin County st Lucie Indian River Indian River County. All of those entities that do water quality monitoring. Also, a different nonprofits, moat and orca that get state funding. One thing that we kind of were able to identify, was where those gate data gaps exist so that the state can fund And fill those holes so that we can get a comprehensive lagoon wide understanding of what are the water quality issues. Where are the nutrients and the source tracking and then so that we can address those, um and put those at the forefront of funding. And. Then all with that. We ve also kind of came to the determination that all these different entities are collecting great data, but you have to go to each individual organization s website to get their data. And. So if I m sitting in my office, I see a news article Fishkill Indian River Lagoon. I have to find out what s the closest monitoring station who s collecting that data. Do they have it on their website. And. You know, we want to be able to have Policymakers. Local government officials and the public be able to go to one platform see the extent of the lagoon have all of that data into one comprehensive location so that we can see just on one website. What is the help of again. What is Seo in an area where is seagrass coverage, temperature, turbidity nutrients all the things that We need to know to understand the dynamics of the water quality and the lagoon. And, So it s a big undertaking. It been really good working with all the stakeholders, it will take some time to get all that data because it does get collected in different formats and everything, and so getting it all to where it can speak together and be shared, but a really important part of this program that once completed will Really allow us to pinpoint where the specific needs are for projects moving forward. And this is just a visual of what I talked about before, just with the deadlines and timeframes for reducing the number of septic tanks that are contributing to the Indian River lagoon, water quality and just giving those time frames. And so that kind of move off of specifically talking about the Indian River Lagoon house built 13 79 also created a lot of additional protections, primarily dealing with nutrients and all of our basin management action plan areas throughout the state. And so we have a number of impaired water bodies across the state. Not all have these plans in place. But, the ones that do we know that the data has been done. We understand how much reduction needs to be taken, and we continue to update these and so one of the things that this legislation did was to require all of these will be updated every five years, established those five year milestones that we did for the Indian River Lagoon be maps and then require all stakeholders that have specific load allocations and necessary load reductions. To identify the specific projects that are going to get them from point a to point b. So. We know at the end of the planning horizon. These are the projects that need to be done. So if you re a local government, and you have to reduce nutrients by 100. Identify. What are the different projects that s going to get you to that 100 reduction so that at the end of the planning period, all of the different entities and stakeholders that have specific allocations will have met their responsibilities, and it also allows them to identify those projects so that then they can apply to our grant programs and received the funding necessary to meet those reductions. And in addition and some of our b maps in more rural areas are springs be maps like Okeechobee Be map, You know they re less densely populated wastewater Septic tank stormwater aren the primary contributors, But there s areas where agriculture is going to be the primary contributor in the central Indian River Lagoon. It s not in the primary, but it is a has some significant Um, role in the amount of nutrients ending entering the lagoon and in house Bill, 7, 12 and 2020. We established a cooperative agricultural regional water quality element, which basically just gave a platform for agricultural, um farmers and operations that wanted to voluntarily Allow their land to be used for water quality projects could submit those and get those within the element so that then they could be cost shared and funded. Um, one of the improvements that we ve done is for those areas where we know that agriculture is at least 20% of the source of nutrients within a b map area would require the Department of agriculture to work with landowners. It s still completely voluntary. Nobody s requiring a good operation to stop producing or anything like that. That, but To have decks, work with landowners and identify projects that can meet that load reduction that s attributed to agriculture. Although agricultural operations operators are required to adopt basin, Uh, BMPs and those are established to really do things that will reduce nutrients in a way that s economical, cost effective. They do work. They do reduce nutrients, but typically not enough to meet the overall necessary load reduction. So this is a way for Us to know as a state. What are the additional reductions necessary. What are the projects and we ve also expanded our water quality Grant program so that these type of projects qualify for state funding as well. And then lastly, for all of our b maps requiring new construction for lots of one acre or less to hook up to sewer sewer is available, and if not upgrade to enhance nutrient reducing systems. And statewide by 2033 all wastewater facilities discharging to an impaired water body must be upgraded to advanced waste treatment, which just gives that Um, additional treatment so that the level of nitrogen and phosphorus is at a level that moron additionally impair and already impaired water body And, so I know we ve kind of gone over a lot of kind of the regulatory aspect of things. But, knowing that these are huge capital projects, expenditures to judge both Local governments, different stakeholders, agriculture residences, commercial industry. We expanded our what was a wastewater grant program, which really just pertained. Um, wastewater facilities. Septic to sewer and it only applied within a basin management action plan or reasonable Assurance Plan area. And, so we re not only expanded the type of projects that are eligible for funding from just wastewater also include stormwater, the agricultural projects that we talked about before infrastructure needs and also to reduce those sewer overflows but then also still being able to find septic sewer projects and Upgrading wastewater treatment facilities to advance waste treatment. And then it also expanded the area of the state of eligibility from not just being within an area that has a b map because we know there are other impaired water bodies that, um, haven t had a b map established, but we don t want to not be able to fund projects in those areas so expanding to allow projects in any water body that s impaired so that we can be working on You know all impaired water bodies throughout the state. And we prioritize these projects primarily on getting the maximum reductions in nutrients for cost. Those that are shovel ready. We do look to see if there s cost share, but we removed the mandatory cost share that was in the wastewater Grant program, knowing that a lot of local governments, particularly when Prior year we had such a large funding with both state and federal funding the cost share. We didn t want to not be able to fund good projects because the local government had previously given a lot of cost share didn t have enough to kind of continue that level of funding, but not wanting to not fund a project. So we do look to see if there is cost share or if cost share has been provided in the past. But. It s not mandatory to qualify for funding under the new Water quality grant program. So just to go into a little bit of how much funding has been made available over the last four years. We ve funded as of the state $421 million in the Indian River Lagoon. This covers the wastewater Grant program, legislative projects, other water quality projects and stormwater grants. And as I mentioned before we have $100 million that Specific to then in River Lagoon, and Martin County doesn t qualify for those projects because Waters that go into that southern portion of the Indian River lagoon, although not within one of the b map areas they do benefit build again, so they are qualified projects even though not technically within the Indian River Lagoon Geographic area. We had just that. This year. 105 applications were submitted for this specific grant program totaling $554 Million, So. Our staff has been reviewing those crying, grading those putting in the ones that are, the field will get the greatest benefit address really the largest Needs at the moment and then more continue. Hopefully year to year and getting that $100 million. I know the department is going to be pushing for at least $100 million in the upcoming budget and I feel like the Legislature was supportive last session and hopefully continue that support moving forward. And. So for Martin County, specifically as John mentioned, and we ve had a great partnership with Martin County over the last four years again, the department has been able to provide $84 million in grants to Martin County 58 million for wastewater grants. 23 million were legislative water projects and $3.2 million for other water quality projects, primarily coming out of some of our Other smaller grant programs. We got $200 million this year for the water quality grant and again we re in the process of reviewing those And again $100 million for the Indian River Lagoon, so $300 million of projects that Martin County is specifically eligible to apply for We ve had a great partnership. We hope to continue that, And. I think it really is important to educate constituents in the area to support the accepted to sewer projects because By 2025 Senate Bill 7 12 from 2020 directed local governments to develop Waste water and septic tank remediation plans where septic tanks and wastewater is a primary contributor. Local governments have to submit those plans. The department they get incorporated into the b maps by 2025 and will have to be statutorily implemented and so applying for these wastewater grant programs so that the state can offset that funding and cost to homeowners. We hope that this level of funding continues, but the wastewater grant pro or the water quality grant program is funded by doc Stamps. We re seeing a reduction due to rising interest rates. Decrease in the amount of dark stamp revenues being collected. Unfortunately. We ve been able to supplement that with additional funding from the Legislature, but at some point in time, a lot of these homeowners and Businesses will need to be getting connected to sewer putting in enhanced septic systems in order to meet those water quality requirements, and so it s really important that Taking advantage of the funding now that it s here because it going to have to, you know happen at some point in the future, and there s no guarantee this level of funding is going to be there. And so I just wanted to throw that out there, hopefully continue to be able to provide funding to Martin County and to the residences to offset some of the costs that we know. Are going to be required under some of the new regulations, But we do know that these regulations are necessary in order to improve water quality in the state, which I know all of you are more than aware provides a huge economic in production to your local government from tourism. And so we want to be able to protect that moving forward, and I m happy to answer any questions, But again. Thank you for allowing me to come and talk to you. Thank you for coming, Mr Blaylock. We appreciate it. We ll start with your person Who invited you, Commissioner Heatherington. Firstly is Adam. Thanks Thanks again for coming because we know it s a busy week right now in Tallahassee, So we appreciate you being here. You presented this to our board at the Indian River Loop Lagoon Council and I thought it was just filled with valuable information that our community and our board, um would find very relevant. Timely and valuable So thank you for coming to present it directly to them. I always think you know, there s so many new residents moving to Florida from other states. Where. The environment is very different, so we have such unique ecosystems and water quality challenges, so it s important on a regular basis. I think for those residents to hear you know what we re looking at. What kind of challenges. What kind of water quality are unique ecosystems. So. I don think that our residents could hear this kind of information enough. So thank you for being here and presenting it and it s all great news and we are very much appreciate our partnership with you. Thank you very much. Smith. Adam All of that Thank you, and we should have applauded at the screen with the amount of money that you all have brought thus far to us, because that s a really big number. Sometimes. And I think we did just on? Unfortunately, just glass right over how big that number was. Um, but thank you for all of that. A. Couple of thoughts. Couple comments, Um The map that Presents in the presentation that shows the I guess those are the b map areas that make up that map. Yes. So is the Indian River Lagoon funding legislation is that the Indian rural Lagoon, or is it the the map? Or. Is it the same? So the funding for the Indian River Lagoon protection program if it s a project that benefits the Indian River Lagoon, it s eligible. It doesn t have to be within one of these be map areas. The regulatory side applies just in those be map areas, But. The funding is available Entire Lagoon. Yes. So do do we need the Legislature to amend The map that represents that so that you don t have to always explain that it is. The whole thing, because if somebody looked at that map There you go. Where are we? And in Yeah, And. The reason it is where it is, is because just to the southern border is the st Lucie Be map, And so there is another be map in place there and the Northern never really protection program encompasses that. And there s funding that through the South Florida Water Management district, So it s also do but we are also are eligible for Yes, you are. Yes. It s just can t have the kind of overlapping kind of be map areas just but you know it is something that is when you go on our portal to submit an application. We put as clear as possible that any project that will benefit to do something we will Um, because when I was on the ndp for a long time, one thing that was always very confusing that During almost all the presentations. It was always kind of like the northern portion of the Indian River Lagoon and then the Southern And I. Sometimes I we always kind of seem to think that because the office was in Brevard that it always was just the Brevard map. And, not the Southern map. And so when I was looking at this again, I was like GOD. We re out of it again. We re not in the map, so Um, but if it s okay, leaving it like it is, that s fine. Just I was just curious about that. Um I think something else That s important to mention and I ve been working with Frank Bernardino for for years on this, and we re trying To, get what we call all things water adopted with legislature. Hopefully this year, the framework for what that looks like as a statewide policy because the number and as as as grateful as we are, and we continue to keep pushing its in the billions of what is needed to fix what we have or what exists. It s like. I think Frank s latest number is 115 billion or something over 20 years. And so I think the question for everybody listening and watching is how do we get there? And how do we How do we How do we get to a point? And this is what the legislation is. We re hoping to get past this year is How. Do. We get them a model that really kind of mimics after its model and the type of funding that f dot gets annually. Now they re in the 14 to $16 billion range year. And we re in about 3 to $4 billion range, and we need to be in that $12 billion range to get where you guys have got to get so Um We look forward to doing that. I think from leadership we ve heard this year that that s potentially on the horizon, and we might get that passed. And if it doesn for the community that wonders how all of this works and what Adam just presented and how I think what was important to take away from what Adam said is that s the funding today we have. It s the it Reoccurring funding that we need to make sure that gets somehow put into legislation that make sure that Regardless of who the leadership is in the Senate, the House and the governor s office. There is legislation is pushing and driving a reoccurring. Funding source to make sure that Adam gets to do all the cool things he gets to do. So. Thank you for being here, and I know it s a hall down here to get here. But And safety. Thank you for having really super important. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, commissioner heard Secretary Blaylock. The Department of environmental protection has long been a terrific partner to Martin County. But. I. Think that under your leadership commitment to water quality has never been stronger. And for that We are extremely grateful. It s not important just to tree huggers like me, but also to the economic prosperity in Florida. So thank you very much for your commitment. And. Also good luck sorting out that $500 million worth of submittal. Yeah, I can give you some suggestions. You only have to worry about the 1st 50 million. That s all of sore losers. Yeah. I hope we re not among them. No. It s I have a great staff that really can narrow in and know exactly what are the you know best projects and they go through and we go through spreadsheets and everything. And you know, it is a Really? It s great to have that problem, but it is. It s awesome now. Not Easy, always. But yeah, Thanks. We ve been converting septic to sewer since before it was cool. Commissioner Smith to out to other things, 11 bundle it. I think when we talked last. Um and I think I mentioned this to you 11 thing we have we have butted up against a little bit here and I think When we brought it up the Association of Counties We adopted. It is one of our policy procedures this year. Um, it s dealing with are fiscally constrained neighborhoods and you know how we have fiscally constrained counties, but we also have fiscally constrained neighborhoods. Hopefully. We ll get some legislation that will address that which will hopefully make your effort a little bit easier that you have in the picking of how you rank and where we go. Because statewide we are absolutely going to have neighborhoods that can t afford whatever formula we come up with. And you all come up with with grant dollars to match I think that will be, um, hugely and important to all of us. Um If we can get that done. So, as he just said, with one. I ll leave the other one off legitimate legitimately, sir. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Get home safely. Thank you member Martin m a r t I n write it down. Thank you very much appreciate it. Mm hmm. Okay. Okay, people probably wouldn t have clapped for the ep. You always clap with a guy with the money with that we re going to go to commissioner comments and I m going to start our comments this morning with Commissioner Jenkins. So. I would actually like to invite Jeff Dowery, the head of our building department up To introduce and to present a well deserved community Recognition Award for outstanding job. Morning commissioners Jeff dirty with the building department and code enforcement. Uh, the team is here today is part of the building department. And cut enforcement can be a very challenging career. Do that in nature of how it operates many times, the individual is upset with another neighbor, a business maybe the government and they go through the effort to register a complaint the person on the receiving end of the complaint is upset because they feel they ve been unfairly singled out and it s up to the code enforcement team to China resolve that to everyone satisfaction as well as the county s ordinances. Can be very tough, thankless job and no one s situation. So today we wanted to acknowledge the whole code in force Mint team which is here today, So. Thank you very much, and also one individual who has been recognized by the community. It s not often It s very rare that the community would do that, so I would like to make a to come up, please. Tamika has been recognized by the banner Lake Club for her outstanding service to the community there and a little bit about Tammy because she came to the county about 2.5 years ago after serving as a code enforcement office for officer for about 12 years in South Florida. She holds three certifications through the Florida Association of code enforcement, and she comes to work every day with the smile on her face. See, that s why a positive attitude and is always willing to help others as well as learn and grow every day she reaches out to everyone to try and make a fair and balanced approach. Even her name says that her name is Tamika. Clinton bush. How much more neutral. Can you possibly got very about partisan. So with that on behalf of the better late club I d like to Present you with this award that they actually presented and it it reads to, uh Tameka. Clinton Bush, outstanding community support and beautification of the banner like and Hobe Sound community. So congratulations, you Thank you very much. Take a photo, Jeff. I can tell you firsthand that, um She has melted into that community and the and the Hobe Sound community amazingly and for a code enforcement officer to actually Ah, the community actually reach out and and recognized for her for her personality and her in the way she just operates is pretty amazing. So Fantastic relations. I think with that we could have you eggs The team can exit that way. Thanks, team. Thank you be safe out there? Okay? And I m ready? Ready. That s That okay. Happening here over there. You see a violation. Is there a violation there the rug. Okay. Commissioner Jenkins. Anything Further. Good. Thank you, commissioner heard set Heatherington Commissioner Smith Yesterday. We had our mpo meeting. Uh and towards the end of the meeting I asked for our staff to put a letter together to the county Commission, which should be coming shortly. Um, we had a presentation. We have the secretary or district secretary up yesterday. Sharing with us Our long range plan. In. Some highlights of that and one of the sort of key pieces of that is the funding. Request and needs for 7 10 for land acquisition, which at this point is still three years in the making, and so Our ask of of our staff was to put a letter to you chair or to us as the board but for you, too. Um, I work with our staff and our legislation or legislative staff. That if there is to be additional funding, as was done last year, there was some 20 projects and roughly $4 billion at f dot that were granted for Some very specific projects that both the leadership I think in the governor s office requested to be funded and were and were agreed to her signed. That if anything such of that sort of package or, um, level of funding comes forward that we request of our delegation to include that in an ask that we could maybe accelerate. Those acquisition dollars at a faster level for 7 10 land acquisition, So Hopefully, you re all agreeable to that. Um, I m sure that Beth hasn t put that letter yet together, but, um, we have our meeting today and I thought we could maybe gain another week in time by agreeing to put that letter together from the commission to our delegation. I would agree. I think that s everybody. Good. Thank you? Thank you, Commissioner Smith. Thank you I have nothing to add this morning, Mr Donaldson. Nothing for me. Thank you. This woods. Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Thank you? Our first agenda item is going to be postponed until NOVEMBER 7th. It is public hearing quasi judicial number two requests for approval of and of the Ninth amendment to the 95 Riverside Planned Unit Development, p u d e zoning agreement. Including revised master and phasing plan and final and Phase four final side plan and 0 to 7013. We re going to open it up to receive any public comment at this time, But we won t be hearing the item correct. We won t be hearing the iron or at least elder Deputy County attorney But If. You could do the ex parte communications is where in the witnesses, and then we can continue it and then close it, please. Since this is a quasi judicial. I ll ask my colleagues. Do, you have any ex parte Communications Commissioner Smith, Heatherington Commissioner Jenkins Commissioner heard in their filed. I also have some and they ve been filed. Anyone that s going to be offering Testimony, would you please stand to be sworn in? Raise your right hands. Do you swear? Affirm the evidence you re about to give will be the truth, The whole truth and nothing but the truth. Thank you were there notifications that needed to be submitted for today. They were probably submitted the lp a Bob. You can confirm Yes for the record by brains here on behalf of the applicant the notification for this hearing were submitted at the l p a that took place last Thursday night. Thank you so much no interveners. No interveners, So I think that s everything we needed. So now if anyone would like to address us in a public comment now would be the time even though this item will be taken up again on NOVEMBER 7th. Seeing none. Commissioner Smith. We need to. We need to make a motion Continue to NOVEMBER 7th? Yes at a time certain So nine o clock or as soon after, as can be heard. It s up to dawn or whatever. Yeah, okay. So that I would move that that we continue to this item hearing item number one to NOVEMBER 7th to be heard at nine o clock or as soon as the item can become available on the agenda. Post nine Second Thank you? We have a motion by Commissioner Smith seconded by Commissioner Heatherington all those in favor all those opposed The motion carries the item has been continued until NOVEMBER 9th seventh NOVEMBER 7, Thank you very much. Okay. Our next item on the agenda. Public hearing, quasi judicial number three request approval of the First Amendment to the Discovery planned Unit Development zoning agreement, including a revised master. And Phasing plan and Phase one b final site plan h 123-023. Will be presented this morning by Mr Pete Walden, its quasi judicial, so I ll start with you, Commissioner Heard. Do. You have any ex parte communication? I do and they ve been filed. Thank you, Commissioner Jenkins Commissioner Heatherington filed Commissioner Smith and their father, If any They have been filed from me as well, if you re going to be offering any testimony, please stand to be sworn in. How about that? Do, You swear or affirm The evidence you re about to give will be the truth, The, whole truth and nothing but the truth. Are there return receipts that are necessary. They were turned in at the l p a thank you any interveners. There are no interveners. With that Mr Walden, you are recognized. Thank you, sir. Good Morning Commissioners, Uh Peter Walton, the deputy growth management director. I d like to enter my copy of my work history and the agenda item as Exhibit one. Thank you. And I d also like to enter the revised special warranty deed and a copy of the resumes for the applicant as Exhibit two. Thank you. And this is a request for the First Amendment to the p u d Agreement for the Discovery Planned unit development. It includes revised Master site plan or revised phasing plan and the Phase one b final site plan requested by Louis Edo and Associates. A little recap on the royal lifestyle land use. There was a new land use, uh, approved for this property. The future Land Use Map amendment was adopted on SEPTEMBER 13th 2022. It became effective on SEPTEMBER 18th of 2023. Part of the lifestyle. Land use requires a any development to be done under a p u d agreement. You also have to have at least 1000 continuous acres. And to increase the density from the existing egg of one unit per 20 to 1 unit per five. You need to set aside one third of the property and neither an agricultural or conservation easement. The p u d has to maintain 70% open space and economic analysis has to be provided to ensure level of service is not impacted for the rest of county. Utilities can be provided to a rural lifestyle, land use development. And development standards need to exceed those of the General Article three and four of the ld r s Business occurring area of the site. It s the existing as the Hobe Sound Polo Club. Um they have the Grove 23 golf course in the upper Northwest corner of the project is surrounded on two sides by the Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park. There is existing egg production on the southeast corner. It s adjacent to and accessed by Bridge Road to the South. And. There is an existing agricultural range to the West. This is the revised master site plan. There aren t many changes. There is a slight change to the phasing of the project. Whereas the maintenance facility is now shown with its own access on bridge Road. Ah, there is an addition of eight golf cottage is proposed. Yeah, and the rest of the project is pretty much the same run through briefly. I know Mr Creedy has a presentation as well. There s polo grounds up towards the front along Bridge Road. There s 125 acres of habit of Fallow orange groves that are going to be restored as habitat. There is a horse barn and paddocks stable. That s going to be provided to the state park and a road built from Bridge road that it will provide access to that. This is a blow up of the East southern part of the project. Um, basically that some of the lakes have been expanded. But. Other than that There s very little change. All. The lots have been configured to make sure there at least one half acre greater As said that the lot layout is very similar to what was established before this is a little bit clearer Picture of where the existing stable that s being donated to the state park is located. Phase one b is also being proposed today it entails all of the earth work for the entire site. Um And. It will include all the construction of lakes littoral zones, the golf course. Basically wherever Phil was going to be generated or placed The Habitat Restoration area will be started. And also part of the phase b. The train station will be donated and placed back into Hobe Sound. So development Review staff have found the application of being compliance with the Comprehensive growth management plan and all applicable land development regulations. The staff recommends approval. This matter was heard before the local planning agency on October 19th and the lpa voted unanimously to recommend approval. The four staffs recommended nation is that the board moved to receive and file the agenda item and its attachments as Exhibit one. And move that to board approved the First amendment to the discovery. Pds owning agreement, including the revised master and phasing plans and the Phase one the final site plan. That s my presentation, Be glad to answer any questions. Thank you, sir. Very much questions for MR. Walden. Commissioner Heard. Yeah, the, um Maximum density is one unit for five acres, but the net density is more than that. Correct. There is a little sliver of royal density in the upper in the northern part of the property that is staying and that s how they get to a 0.207 units per acre. Instead of 0.2, so please expand upon that explanation if the rural lifestyle allows one unit per five acres, then why is it allowed to be, uh more than that, because the royal lifestyle land use was applied to the other 1500 acres in the royal density was kept on the upper part, but the whole area was incorporated into the beauty. So that you re allowed to share land uses in in a lifestyle, peut. And blended density. Just like you know what s the maximum allowable density? In the in the world lifestyle Land Use 1 to 5 If. You donate a third of your property. But it also incorporates that little bit of real estate up there. So that s how they got a little bit higher than that. Um I m on page 9 11 and it says potable water for this project shall be provided by South Martin Regional utilities. On page 9 12. It says the service provider is a Martin County. And on 9 13 it, says the service provider for sewers Martin County. So, Who is the service provider. Ah, it is going to be worked out in the face to a but right now it looks like it s going to be extended from existing lines from smr. You. Okay, so we don t know. So that s not part of the agreement doesn t have doesn t specify part of the original application materials was unclear at that time when it was applied for that, both of them have availability, but it has been moving forward with smr you providing the service, but the agreement doesn t specify. Be agreement. Yeah. It says irrigation, water and sewer. Will be provided by a regional Utility or by various means that that wastewater and water service agreement has not been executed yet. When all that when will that be executed Face to a So. We re not approving Phase two a today? No. Ma am. We re not approving anything other than the earth work for the site and phase one b. It s laid out in the Puy de agreement. Those are the questions I have for right now. Thank you very much any other questions for Mr Walden seeing none Applicants opportunity. Mr Rain s good morning. Good morning, Mr CHAIRMAN Commissioners for the record. My name is Bob Rains on the land use attorney with the gun stir law firm. And here on behalf of the applicant this morning. Uh, I d like to begin our presentation by stating for the record that we have received and reviewed. The staff report that Mr Walden referenced and we re pleased to state that we agree with the conclusions. The comments and the recommendations in that staff report showing that we are in compliance with all of the land development regulations in the comprehensive Plan of Martin County. Um As. You know this is a quasi judicial matter. So. Obviously we re required to provide confidence, substantial evidence that we meet the rules and requirements And with that will bring forward Mr crazy to