Board of County Commissioners on 2025-11-18 9:00 AM

Now it s worked well for me for the 1st 60. I think I m gonna, I m gonna run it out. Good morning and welcome to our NOVEMBER 18th, 2025, Boorda County Commission meeting. We re delighted that you ve joined us this morning. Please join us for a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance, which is going to be led by Ashley Western, who is from the she s a from the Marine office. Good morning Thank you 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. Would you like to tell us a bit about your service. Uh, good morning, everyone. My name is Ashley Western. I served in the United States Marine Corps for 4 years between 2012 and 2016 Um, I was stationed in Camp Fuji, Japan for one year and the rest of my 3 years I served on Camp Pendleton, California. Now I have the pleasure of serving Martin County veterans, um, as a er veteran service officer. Thank you very much. Happy Marine birthday. Uh, let s see, the, uh, agenda today will include two additional con uh, uh, 2 additional items. One is consent 9, which is request approval of renewal addendum to fiber exchange and reciprocal license agreement with Blue Stream Communications and Department 5 is approve a contract with MS. Elise Elder for the position of uh county attorney, and we are requesting to route the withdrawal public hearing number 3. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? I ll move approval of the agenda with the additional items consent number 9, Department and tool 5, and withdrawing ph3. Second, there s a motion in a second. All those in favor, I oppose that motion passes unanimously. Uh, the first proclamation is a proclamation, uh, from Florida Power and Light. And Marshall is here to make a presentation to the commissioners. Good morning. Good morning. Shall I speak first? Yeah, sure. Good morning, everybody. Chair, commission, staff. Uh it s a special year for Florida Power and Light. We re celebrating our 100th anniversary as a company, and I thought it would be nice since Martin County is also celebrating its centennial, that we would, uh, memorialize the occasion, um the truth is we didn t start providing power in 1925 to Martin County. Um, the guy who had my job in 1925. Nick Blunt, you might know him. Um, he came up by train from Miami and said, let me sell you electricity and Martin County said, you know, no, we, we, we like fire pits and gas lamps. And the truth is we don t want to be like Miami. So it wasn until 1945 where we um were able to provide electricity, um, but I do think the relationship does go back to 1925. Because we ran the ice plant at Melbourne and the ice would have to come, Stuart would have to get ice from somewhere. So I do think it s 100 years exactly. So I won t take any more of your time I know you got a busy agenda, but um. It s my honor to present this to Martin County on behalf of fpl. Oh fantastic My photographer s out in the field today. Oh, Back to your roots. My pleasure, my pleasure. Thank you Our next proclamation is a proclamation congratulating the Ryo Civic Club. Upon the occasion of their seventy-fifth anniversary in Martin County, Florida. A group of 25 residents of Ryo met on JUNE 2, 1950 at the Royal Baptist Chapel and formed the Ryo Civic Club for the purpose of supporting community improvements. The club is noted for its long history of fundraising and volunteering efforts that have supported local parks, hospitals, law enforcement, youth programs, beautification projects, and historic preservation. The club is continually committed to improving the community s amenities, environment, and quality of life. The board congratulates the Ryo Civic Club on their seventy-fifth anniversary and commends them for their community service. And here we have PRESIDENT Of the Row Civic Club Jolyn Jensen along with a lot of her folks. Thank you Congratulations. Thank you so much. On behalf of the thousands of board members, volunteers, and business sponsors who have given their time, talenttt, and treasure to educate and assist Ryo residents to improve conditions in Ryo. I accept this recognition. Since it was formed in 1950 in order to pave Dixie Highway, the Ryo Civic Club has literally built the Ryo Civic Center as a hub for the community and spearheaded or partic ip ated in hundreds of programs and projects for the betterment of Rio. At your last meeting, the Board of County commissioners approved the final site plan for Ryo Marine Village and the preserve, a redevelopment project we have been working toward for 20 years since hurricanes destroyed Rio s only waterfront restaurant. And we have just begun the planning for a replacement for the Ryo Civic Center and enhanced streetscapes on Dixie Highway. As we look back and forward, it is clear that none of this could have been accomplished without the cooperation and partnership with the Mount Martin County Board of County Commissioners and staff. So we applaud you too and thank you for sharing our vision for a revitalized yo. We look forward to continuing to do good in the neighborhood for another 75 years. Thank you. We are, we are, we want you to come back every week and we ll give you a different project. Care right?. Yeah, let it be in the picture. She s shooting at a camera. All right. Let s see. Oh, she s, she doesn t realize that s cool again Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you. Be Now, do you need some motions on the next ones? Not yet. Not yet. One more? Yeah, one more. The next proclamation is a proclamation declaring Alzheimer s disease awareness in Martin County. In the United States, there are over 7.7.2 million reported cases of Alzheimer s disease, and in Florida, approximately 50 to 80,000 people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer s. It is critical that Alzheimer s families coping with the disease are safe with well-being, dignity, and quality of life preserved through services and resources accessible to all. The board urges the citizens of Martin County to learn more about Alzheimer s disease and attend to educational events and seek out help and local drug trials during Alzheimer s disease Awareness Month, and here to accept from Alzheimer s Community Care, we have David Franklin, PRESIDENT And ceo, and Jeanette Brumman, director of operations. Nice. I have lots of jokes for that, but I won t. We were formed 29 years ago because there were some caregivers that recognized that the burden here, particularly in South Florida, on, on caregivers is tremendous. The statistic at the time was if you were a caregiver caring for a spouse with Alzheimer s related dementia. 75% of the time, the caregiver would actually pass away first. And so when we started 29 years ago, we went to caregivers and said, what do you need? Where are the gaps? How can we come alongside you and help? And that s what has evolved into our seven core services here in Martin County throughout the treasure Coast, Saint Lucie and Palm Beach as well. And we re just, uh so thankful for your partnership these many years and for the recognition of this tremendous need. Your statistic of 580,000 in Florida is uh is accurate and the thing is, in the next 25 years, the estimation is that that number will triple. And that s just diagnosed cases. Not those that don t get diagnosed or this, those that are suffering from other types of dementia as well and so thank you for this and, uh, thank you for your partnership to continue to serve the people and the citizens. Of Martin County. Thank you. Backwards on the sheet arrows are weird. Yeah. 01 arrow goes up, one goes down. And I m a little confused with this. We are we, are we supposed to, to approve these first? They re not signed yet, so we present them, but then we ll get those signed proclamation to them after we sign them? I will send them to sign. Ok, so we will present them today though. Ok, first, yes, I would make a motion that we adopt and present a proclamation celebrating 100 years of service by First Baptist Church and the next one, you want to do both at the same time? I would also make a motion to the same motion to adopt and present a proclamation declaring hospice and palliative care month in Martin County, Florida. Second, there s a motion in a second. All those in favor, I oppose that motion passes unanimously. So our next proclamation is a proclamation celebrating 100 years of service by the First Baptist Church in Martin County. In First Baptist Church provides for the spiritual needs of its members and the community and is celebrating 100 years of service. The Churft offers daycare and aftercare services to students who attend the church school, provides for the need of children in vacation Bible school, ministers to middle and high school youth and provides youth group activities and provides aana clubs for children and caters to the needs of seniors. The board congratulates First Baptist Church on the occasion of their 100 year anniversary of providing service to the Martin County community, and I don t know, uh, Donna k Du Bois is supposed to be here to accept, but I m not sure I saw her come in. We will accept on her behalf then and we ll mail it to her. Everyone s turning 100. Um-hum. I think so The next proclamation is a proclamation declaring hospice and palliative care month in Martin County, Florida. As Medicare s first proven coordinated care model, hospice offers person-centered, compassionate care, ensuring people dignity, choice, and quality of life. 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 parents and families at the end of life in 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 commends the treasure Coast Hospice team for their service to the residents of our county and here to accept we have Shannon Cooper, who is the chief operating officer of Treasure Coast Hospice, and she s also rn mph and chpn. We re not 100 years old. No. I mean, we re over 40, which is not bad, um, I just wanted to thank you all so much in receiving this proclamation on behalf of our board of directors, our volunteers are more than 350 clinical staff that we have, including, um, nurses, chaplains, social workers. Uh, and grief bereavement counselors. We are so honored to serve members of our community. I m not sure if you know about our organization, but we were started by volunteers and volunteers that were members of our community that wanted to provide this end of life care to members of our community, their neighbors and their friends. So we continue on that path of service and, um, I appreciate so much this proclamation. Thank you. Sure Mhm That s fancy. You could put it in your house. By your meter. Ok. Next up is public comments Uh, the first request to speak for him is that I have is from Daniel Dingman. Is MR. Dingman here Hey, second is Derek Powell. Here comes MISTER Dingman. Followed by Derrick Powell If you re Derek Dingman, Daniel Daniel, sorry, I m sorry, I, I thought we weren t going to speak till 10:30. Sorry to keep you waiting. Oh, well, he might want to do the agenda item. Uh shall I proceed? Sure. My name is Daniel Dingeman, 116 South Sus Point Road, um uh, i m new to the community. I moved here six months ago. I had purchased a, a lovely home right on the water, um, I m a real estate developer and a real estate attorney. I ve never, um, I ve developed 4 shopping malls, condominiums, hotels, lots of subdivisions, lots of things all over the country. Never occurred to me that my sewage my septic tank would somehow get backflow drainage in the, in the sewage would end up on the street. Uh, and that just didn t even occur to me that I would have to look at the, the drainage system of a road in a place that s as pristine as Sells in, in the greater community, everyone was telling me you got to move here. The waters, we love the waters, we love the rivers. We really take care of things. So, you know, there s a drainage easement, there s a grate Great, I wouldn t pull it up or go talk to the the county or the drain commissioner or anyone and say, jeeze, does a backfill? Do you have backflow preventers? Do you have enough capacity to handle the water as it comes down the street and if it does come down the street and you don t have enough capacity, does it pool all over the street and cause everybody with a septic tank. They have their sewage float to the top and then sit on the street. I mean. I do the things I ve recited that I developed and I m trying to be braggadocious. I m trying to share with you that I have experience in this subject matter and it s always, how do you handle your groundwater? How do you handle your waste? What are you going to do with the vegetation. Don t cut the trees down unless you re gonna replant them, that kind of thing. I ve got sewage on the street um, there s a drainage easement down the side of my house, goes right into the Indian River. There s sewage in the river. I would not swim in the river in front of my house There s sewage in that, so I m just a small piece of this whole complicated situation. I recognize that, but, uh, concisely my understanding is, uh, we re trying, we, our community is asking you for more grinder capacity. I know there s a limitation to it, but at the very least, these low lying properties need to have the capacity to hook up to the sewer system, otherwise we re gonna continue to see sewage on the street in our yards, all my landscaping shot. Sewage in the river uh, guys fish in front of my house all day long. I m not gonna, I m not gonna go in that water. So, um so I don t understand the nuances of the issues, but I do believe that you have the capacity to award us the community more uh uh connections, more benefits. I would urge you to environmentally do the right thing, um, and, uh, allow that to occur. Thank you. Thank you Derek Powell is next, followed by Julie Husky. Good morning, commissioners. Morning, morning. Um, just wanna give a shout out to my son s 14th birthday today. Happy Tucker. Surprise, this is your birthday party. Um yeah, I m no stranger here. I just, uh, I missed a few meetings to, uh, some vacations and other things, so I figured I d come in and voice my concerns again. Um, good morning, commissioners. I m here again because the development behind my home and the developments all across our community are having real consequences on the people who already live here. My property floods now in ways it never did before. Trees were taken down with any proper accountability and drainage patterns are changed. The traffic on Cove Road is a daily reminder that these decisions were made without any regard for the folks who call this place home. This isn t just happening to me. It s all around the state. I ve seen, um, plenty of posts, um. The surrounding neighborhoods and feeling this, the surrounding neighborhoods are feeling the same pressure. We re seeing our quality of life chipped away one approval at a time, and for what? For the huge developers will never have to live with the mess they leave behind. The truth is Florida s waking up. You can look across the state and see a growing number of residents standing up, fed up, saying enough is enough with the absurd pace of development. People are tired of watching what makes their community special, disappear in the rearview of a dump truck. So why don t we see more residents in these chambers speaking up. A lot of, uh, a lot of people don t believe it matters. They, they believe the decisions are already made and the support they need doesn t live in this room, and honestly standing here it s a little embarrassing to think that I, uh, was so naive. Every time we show up, we hope this will be the day someone on that dais will take the side of a resident rather than the shrug and push forward with another project benefiting a corporation that doesn t care about Martin County, wants the check clears. All we want is leadership, that values the folks who are invested here for the long haul. The workers, the families, the kids who grow up playing on the streets. The people who pay the taxes and build the businesses that make the county more than a developer s playground. So I m asking again for you to show the residents that you stand with us, not with whoever can submit the biggest site plan. Not with whoever has the most attorneys at the table, but the families who lose another piece of the community every time a decision is made without us. That s all I have. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Julie Pohutsky is next, followed by Tom Pine. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Julie Pohutsky, and I m here today to request the commission approve the additional grinder pumps to South Sus Point. As mentioned earlier, I also live in Riverview where it regularly floods with river water that comes up from the storm drains and the flooding resides the what s left behind is muck, dirt, and torn up asphalt road. I m frequently surprised that I live in such a beautiful peninsula community that uh where hundreds of septic systems leave our rivers vulnerable to septic leaching from the fields. On behalf of the residents of Riverview Drive, Palm Road and Oqua Court. i m presenting to you a petition requesting that you approve the needed grinder pumps to help keep our sup environment clean and healthy. Thank you again for your support and help with our matter. It doesn t go unnoticed. And I don t know, where do I give this gentleman right there. Thank you Tom Pine is next, followed by Wanda Truba. Good morning, commissioners. My name s Tom Py. I ve been a resident of Martin County for over 50 years. This is one hard one. As I understand it today, we ll mark the first time in over two decades that spending of our tax dollars against in the consent agenda will be made public The expenditures of millions of our tax dollars will be in a lengthy and detailed report showing where our tax dollars are being spent. And to whom the payments are being made to. Open government is the cornerstone of democracy. It will be nice change in Martin County, where the taxpayers will finally be able to see where our tax dollars are being spent and who benefits off our backs. Well I don t support altering the service the urban service boundary for the waterside development west of Interstate 95 and Kenna Highway. I also don t support the fact that the ultra rich can violate the overservice boundary, and Martin County on a regular basis because money rules in Martin County. Thank you for your time. Thank you Wanda Truba is next. And then I have 3 more requests to speak for, uh, Jackie Thurlo Liish, would you like to speak on Department 4 or now? Ok Good morning everyone. Thank you for your service, commissioners, and thank you for having me here today. My name is Wanda Truba, and I m a resident of Stuart West. Um, our property is out at 95 in Martin Highway. It s a beautiful equestrian property. About 13 years ago, my husband and I bought some property there with the intention of building a retirement home in an equestrian center. We did so about 3.5 years ago. We have a multi-million dollar home, and we love living in Martin County and our community. I m a board member of the Stuart West poa. As a board member, uh, of a pud agreement change has been brought forward, not by me as part of the board, but by an unrest board of which they are looking to change our pud agreement to include domestic animals. Right now everyone knows for the last 30 years, the county has already acknowledged that we are an equine center. We are an equine community. Domestic animals include, if you look it up, uh, chickens, goats, and other types of domestic animals that do not belong in our community across a small paved road is another community called Cobblestone, which is track homes and they too do not deserve uh a pud change. This pud change was orchestrated by two members of the board who no longer have uh abide on the board. They have since resigned. It also was brought forward by a um a PRESIDENT Of the board who has been recalled and 3 other board members who are in legal litigation on the election of their term to the board by the director in Martin County as we speak. Domestic animals do not belong in our neighborhood for many reasons. They, um, they re, they re foul. They require a lot of maintenance and upkeep. They create a nuisance to the community of which our bylaws and our covenants do not allow nuisance, and it would really create an undue stress on the county to discipline these animals, including chickens, which is a main focus of a small group of residents. The majority of the residents, 249 to be exact, and Stuart West, do not want this domestic animal rule The domestic animal came to us by an Orlando attorney who read our coveting documents and continue to find loopholes and is costing the community, costing our residents tens of thousands of dollars. I ll leave it in your hands. Thank you for listening and I hope you vote no on this PUt amendment that s pending. Thank you. Thank you. Jackie Thurlo Liish is next, followed by Jeff Whitman Good morning and welcome Good morning, Honorable Chair and commissioners. It s great to be back in the chamber today and uh I am here in support of Souls Point, the mayor and the residents of which I am one, lived in Sauls Point since I was 10. Um I live on Riverview Drive. I live at 18 Riverview and I know you ve heard the stories, but it s, it s really hard to imagine what happens, um, on that road and other parts of Seuls Point, uh, my husband used to live at 22 South Sus Point Road, and before we got married 20 years ago, I experienced it for the first time when the hurricanes came through. Francis and Jean, and there was sewage all over, uh the, the property and the road and I thought, gosh, that is just so disgusting. I cannot believe this. And then when I moved to Riverview, uh, we started having the king tides, in my opinion, around 2012. I mean, they were before then, but it s gotten more, uh, since that time. And you can smell it. It s up to your knees almost. It is unsanitary. It is unhealthy for people, for, uh, the environment, and it s just not the way we do business in the United States of America. Please help us. And if we need to help ourselves more, whatever that means, please let s work that out, but this must get fixed. Thank you so much. It s entirely in your hands. Thank you. Thank you Jeff Whittman is next. David Kurtzman, would you like to speak on Department 4 or now? Ok Good morning Good morning, Commissioner Jeff Whittman, Hope Sound, um, the ham property, aka Hope Sound scrup Preserve It s some of the most environmentally sensitive land in Martin County and maybe even in the state. It has the 2nd highest mountain, Mount Olympia in South Florida at about 83 ft above sea level, uh, the Hope Hope Hope Mountain is 86 ft above sea level. Native American mounds, plants and animals, plant, sorry, Plants found nowhere else in the world the Ascinema tetramera, the four pealed pawpaw. The 1.2 acres contiguous to the ham properties is up for sale. It has been approved by Martin County to build 4 two-story townhouses, 27 20733 square feet each. For those who say this parcel is too small to be a sustainable environmental habitat. It is contiguous to the so Hope Sound scrub Preserve, which is 45 acres 18 acres were carved out and given to smru, which is contiguous to the Hope Sound National Wildlife Refuge, 356 acres which is contiguous to Jonathan Dickinson State Park. It would be a shamed to see, it would be a shame to see this property developed. It contains many plants designated as endangered by the state. That the applicant s consultant missed. um, Tillancia is ultra triculata is, is one of them that everybody missed. I believe it is protected by the state Um, it also has two active gopher tortoise burrows which, um, is actually 3 now because Commissioner Capps found the 3rd 1. We could see the little footprints going, going in. So this, this property should be bought and preserved by the county as part of the Hope Sound scrub Preserve. And um thank you Commissioner Capps for walking the property with me. Um, it is absolutely beautiful on the consultant for the applicants said there was no scrub habitat on the property. Um, native Plant Society came out and said there is scrub, quite a bit of scrub on the property. I estimate it to be about 1/3 of the property is scrub habitat. Um there s, there s a champion longleaf pine, it would take 3 of us to put our arms around it. That would have to be cut down and bulldozed for the entrance to the town homes. Hope Sound is changing so rapidly like Commissioner Capp said, it is a initiation We have to leave something for our children and our grandchildren, and it would be, and it would be a shame to see townhouses right next to the Hope Sound scrub Preserve. Thank you very much. Thank you. David Kurtzman is next, followed by Diane Kimes. Would you like to speak now or on Department 4? Pardon me now Good morning. Good morning, David Kurzman, Mayor of Sus Point. I, um i m here to talk about the grinders as well for Sewell s Point. Uh, River Road and Palm Road, they, they have severe flooding, as you ve already heard, when we had the king tides come up, it goes up about as high as if you probably you covered the 1st 10 homes going up. The road and what happens these leech fields are covered. I wasn t even a commissioner, but a few days when I got a call from one of the residents there, this is going back over 7 years ago. And when I went on the property, she showing that it was actually a nice couple that was living there at the time and they showed me, they go, don walk on the grass. I go, why not? They go, see all that black muck? That s coming up from the leech fields and it s all the ways down the road and I took the time to get the whole tour, then other neighbors came out, uh, before that happened, I only knew maybe one person that lived on Riverview Road, and by the time the first year was done, I knew almost everybody lived on Riverview Road, and I share their heartache of what happened when you move into a house, you don t expect it and isn t it just Riverview. It s also Palm Road. It s also part of Kingston. It s also um going down to Oakwood. You ll see these waters come up and then what happens is the waters start going down whether it s a king tide or heavy rains. If it rains like maybe 10 minutes hard, that whole road, once again, it s flooded the lee fields are covered and you re watching it looks like a sew, but it s an outfall. The water goes into the outfall right into it s the express lane into the Indian River Lagoon. And then if it doesn t go beyond there, it goes straight through the properties that are across the street, An Ses Point Road into the Indian River Lagoon. If you look in the backyard, you ll see a black muck going into the river and in the river, uh, when it s hot out, you will see a green algae. And it some of the nastiest things and when you go there when things start drying out, if you ve ever smelled a septic tank when the lid first comes off, that s what you smell when it gets really hot and it s right out there and I could tell you we re one of the neighbors that lives there, they showed me, they moved it with like a shovel. This parts of this are inches thick of nothing but rural sewage that s just sitting there and I m sure fellow commissioners over there, I assure you if there was any of your properties, you would not accept that. And right now if we have to wait for other grants to come in, it s gonna be 23 years. Before this whole thing could be fixed. That means we re probably speaking millions of gallons of raw storage into the river, an Indian River lagoon, and we all when we ran as commissioners at the time we all basically said we re gonna help the river no matter what this is very important to that. And I could tell you right now when you look at each and every one of their loins going several feet up it s once again you got that thick muck. That s along there and some people when they bought their homes had no idea of what they were buying when they bought these homes. And uh forgive me, I m just reading off the index card make sure I don t forget anything here. The people that live on these roads they can t walk their dogs, they can t have their kids playing, walk in the front when you go into your house, if you don t take your shoes off, you re trailing sewage into your home. If you have a dog, your dog has to go out. It s a tough situation once again. The dog s paws are now loaded with raw sewage. If you have a cat, the cat wants to come in the house. You can t let the cat out anymore. Um, is there if I speak a little bit more please? Thank you so much wrap up All right. Um we have another situation where there s a couple of people that have to go to work in the morning. What happens is when you have these king tides where the heavy rains, they have to get a ride in with a uh usually a pickup truck or an suv that has a higher reach otherwise you re walking through once again the raw sewage to go before you go to work. That s the greeting, so they have to go further up into the driveway because the small car will eventually have can t get through because sometimes these waters could be up to 3 ft deep. I ve witnessed it myself. And I m encouraging the commission to please allow us the extra 134 grinders that will cover all the low lying roads and when I see these people, I ve literally witnessed people crying It s that hurtful that they have to live through this. And I appreciate your concerns and thank you again. Thank you Diane Kimes is next, followed by James Traynor. Good morning, commission. I have lived in Martin County since 1994, uh, and in Ses Point and um I m here to urge you to consider expanding the number of gravity systems to include Riverview, the low lying areas, um, along the Indian River Lagoon, which is, as you know, it s known as a unique body of water biodiversity, um, estuary of national significance. And um it has been the residents as a resident of Riverview and the other low lying areas we have been subjected to enteric water sitting on our roads and in our yards. Um, the road beds have cracked and uh potholes and um, you know, it is a combination of between king tides, sea level rise, and since the hurricanes of Francis and Jean, um, it really has been untenable. Um. Uh, our former mayor, um, a former, excuse me, our former town manager, Michelle Berger had this the waters tested and uh the numbers came back 160,000 to 175,000 parts per million, and I don t know if you know what normal is, but it is 160 to 170. So it is this water is full of poop. Um, I know of at least 3 cars that have gotten totaled as a result of the floodwaters on South Sells Point Road, uh, including a former neighbor, um, who has since moved away, um. and another with the realtor, um, my personally, my drain field was replaced in 19 in 2020, 2011, 2012, but I ve been a vocal advocate for septic disorder ever since I moved next door to John Beatty, who was a longtime activist and um he served on many commissions, um, for the, for the county of Martin County and um and he was the one that shared with me that there was a there was a a sewer pipe running down the road of Sewells Point. So there was always intention to have, um, sewers in this region. What we re asking for is, is your partnership. Um, we re not asking you to pay for it, but we re asking to give us, to grant us the opportunity to expand the grinder systems so that we can provide services that to replace this archaic septic that is polluting our streets and roadways and most importantly, our Indian River Lagoon. Thank you so much. Thank you. Games trainer is next. And MR. Traynor is the last to request to speak format I have if you d like to address us, please fill out a request to speak for and hand it to the bailiff. Good morning, guys. Good morning, all for all your help. I ll be quick. Uh, you ve got the gist of everything so far. Uh, a couple of things I would mention is when I walk down to the, uh, community boat slip that we all share. The water walking into the boat so not even connected to anybody s house. Stinks horribly like you re walking into a septic field. When I bought my house two years ago, I was told by town engineers that it was already approved and I would be hooked up within a year. We had company this year. We had to put everybody in hotels. We couldn t even stay in the house because nothing worked for 3 days. We had 10 people in hotels because we just couldn t do anything about it. Uh, and then I guess the last question is, I don t know if I m right or wrong, but why would we be concerned so much about High Point if it s so much higher is the problem equal up there to what we re having in the area we are? Why would we go to High Point when the water problem would be, I would think, at the low point. So that s about it. Thank you guys. Would anyone else like to speak to us in that case we will go to commissioner comment. Commissioner Vargas I had several people, um reach out to me um and I think I want to address, uh MR. Pine s um concerns, uh, that we are approving. Uh enormous amounts of monies every board meeting. Um, I did speak with our county administrator about that who has assured me that this has already been approved in the cip. This is not something on the fly that s additional, uh, I am all for transparency and hopefully this might, um, satisfy the concerns that you have. I m also a taxpaying citizen of Martin County also, so, um, I just wanna address that, um, I am not deaf to what is the comments are in this room or those that reach out to me after the fact or approach me on the street. I m available. That s my job. Thank you. Commissioner Capps We had a public speaker just a little bit ago named Jeff Whittman, who was very instrumental in securing a large piece of preservation property and Hobe Sound, uh, called the Hob Sound Scrub Preserve or the formerly known as the ham property, and he played a big role in that. Securing of that land and uh I just want to thank him for all that he did, and he called me a little while back, and we went over and looked at another little parcel that borders Dixie Highway, uh, just as you re going into the Hobe Sound scrub Preserve parking lot. It s a a small parcel to the north there that could end up being developed with townhouses, the parcel is, uh, backs up right to the entrance to the Hobe Sound Scrub Preserve right there by the exercise equipment. I think it would be really inappropriate to have townhouses right there. And I would love to see our board make it a priority to try to secure that parcel of land. We walked the property and found 3 gopher, uh, tortoise burrows and MR. Whitman mentioned this gigantic pine tree that would be right in the path of the entrance to this small town home development that would have to be pushed over. And I think that would be a shame. So I would, I d just like to mention that if, if we could prioritize it, uh, it would be a wonderful thing. Let s, let s see what we can do to, to get that done. And then I wanted to mention that a great pillar of Hobe Sound, uh Eric Wessel passed away this morning. He was the owner of Jupiter Island Pool s great community supporter, long term board member at the community chest which has done so much for the residents of Hobe Sound. He will be greatly missed, and we offer our prayers for his family during this difficult time. Well, Hope Sound is experiencing some losses. Another pillar of the community passed away last week, and that s Sally Schwartz, our beloved journalist for the Palm Beach Post for many years. She had a keen, intelligence. She was a wonderfully objective journalist. She had a terrific sense of humor. Uh, she was a proud Martin County resident and after retirement, she became an esteemed friend of mine. Uh, she was a wonderful friend and pillar in the community, she will be greatly missed. Thank you. Mr Campi Wow, the two of you hit with 2 people. Excuse me, that I m very familiar with and I had no idea Eric was a great guy, young. Hobe Sound. Yes, in the last couple of weeks, as had remarkable amount of sadness and loss, so, uh, my sympathies for both of you. Sally Schwartz, when I first came into politics, she was tough as nails. She didn t pull any punches. She, uh she knew what her positions were and and she was very good at her job, so that is a loss. Uh, couple of things. One, 2, Commissioner Cap s point about the Hobe Sound scrub Preserve. Uh, I have some recent experience on trying to um. Maneuver around development, uh, projects that are not necessarily appropriate for their location and the overall, um, well-being of the community. Based on what we heard from the speaker and what you re saying. I, I agree with you that if, um, that parcel of the Hobe Sound next to the Hobe Sound scrub preserve needs to be preserved then I support you in asking staff to get involved in that because we all know once it s gone, it s gone, and it would be less expensive, uh, to get involved sooner than later because even from the developer s point of view. If they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars developing a project there ll be a lot less likely to want to negotiate. Out of it, um, we were fortunate in Palm City Uh, re still working through the details. It s a complicated process, but I think if you have the support of your board and staff realizes that it might not be 0.5 cent sales tax money it might not qualify, but there s other opportunities, district funds, ways that you can make that happen. If it s a small parcel. I agree with you, you, you can t let it get away. Um, question for MR. Donaldson, which I know you will need to come back to us. I believe all of us have been receiving quite a lot of emails about a doc permit in North River Shores. I m not an expert on what that is all about. Uh, I ve read the emails, but know very well that um someone s passionate email does not necessarily explain and lay out factually every bit of the situation both sides. So I would ask if MR. Donaldson maybe by the end of the day, uh, you could just bring the rest of us, uh, up to speed on what that is all about so that when I do get any uh communications from residents about my opinion on whether that should or should not be happening, I would know i d be more aware of what the set of circumstances are. Thank you very much MR. Hetherington. Yes um, I would like to thank our veterans service office and all of those that help plan the veterans, uh, uh, festivities, parade, and memorial service last week. It was a fantastic event. The weather was phenomenal, a nice cool day and um we all enjoyed it so much and honoring our veterans. So thank you for those that plan that and then I had on my list also the doc permit for in North River Shores. I would love to get more information and then following up on MR. Powell s comments. I, I believe that there s a screening issue where the, the mobility path comes right up through and next to his driveway I think of any of us, um, had recognized that when the pud was approved that we would have tried to screen that. So after the fact, I don t know what can be done, but I would like to see us try to work with him as a county and at least screen that mobility path. And that s all I have today MR. Campi, thank you. I forgot one thing. I noticed before I received a phone call and maybe many residents did. If you ve driven on Indian Street from us One. Almost to the turnpike entrance in Palm City. There is a large trail of splashed white and yellow traffic paint. Um, it s very noticeable. It s, you can see when the truck had to stop at a red light because there s a puddle and then it continues, but it s not like a little drip It was a tremendous amount I got an email, uh, from someone that said, hey, what about this? And I thought they were complaining like, why isn this handled? I said, Don worry, I ve seen it We ll have staff try to figure out, not that many people are driving around with trucks full of yellow and, and white traffic line paint And he said, no, it was us. And I would like to work with the county to correct it and clean it up. So I would share with you afterwards. Um, who did it and what their plan is to clean it up. I told them they wanted to do it over the weekend just on their own. I said, it s an Indian street Let s not do it that way. So I want to get with you, MR. Gordon, but I just want, I, I don t know, I don t have permission to say his name, but I thought that was very responsible of someone because it s a long, it s a big mess. Um all the way to the turnpike from us One to the turnpike, you can, you can see they even pulled into Wawa. And dripped it all out into the wah wah. So I have someone that s willing to clean it up and I thought that was nice. They live and their business is located here, so, um, kudos to them for correcting their mistake. And that, and that same business owner called me yesterday and tattled on himself also. Commissioner Vargas. Yes, um, referring back to the North River Shores Dock, um, it s my understanding is that the poa has legal rights, uh, to build the dock. This was approved not by Martin County, but Florida Department of Environmental Protection. They are the ones that approved the docks. So I definitely want to set the record straight on that. Do you want to add anything else to that, MR. Donaldson? Because s in my district, so I definitely, that s fine. I was going to get with Smith Salder and report back at the end of the day on some, so thank you. Also, uh, several of us attended the uh ribbon cutting and cocktail party to celebrate the opening of the Mariner Sands Clubhouse. Mariner Sands is a longtime development. They ve been here since 1978 and just uh bulldoze their clubhouse and built a new one and it s spectacular. Tell them that it didn t cost the residents any money. And it didn t cost the residents any money. They were, they were, they had a financial genius, according to the PRESIDENT Of the association who had been planning for this for about 10 years, and they had been gradually accumulating, uh, uh, monies so that when it came time to, uh, approach the residents to about whether or not to build a new clubhouse, the vote was 86% in favor of it because they didn t have to s themselves. They already had the money, so get great job Mariner sands. We tried to recruit him to work at the county, but they refused to he wants to be anonymous, so we re still working on figuring out who he is. It s not the same guy that dripped the paint down Indian Street. MR. Donaldson, uh, the first thing real quick is I did see that a couple of you all supported us investigating the property ad Jason the Ham property if I think there s more than 3 or 3, I will, I see enough head nods, we will have staff work on that. Thank you. Yes. Um, the next item is, uh, it s regarding uh Brownfield and you ve this is the 3rd time we ve done this, I think, in in our history, I don t think we did any for for decades, but this is regarding a brown field and it requires a public announcement. It s the same one I did before, except the previous announcement had to do with a community meeting. This one will be here at the chambers. So as follows. There will be two public hearings requested by Oasis Development llc and the Palms of Hope Sound llc for the Board of County commissioners to adopt the resolution designating property located at Southeast Gomez Avenue in Hope Sound, Florida, as a brown field under Florida statute Section 376.80. The meetings will be held before the Martin County Board of County Commissioners on DECEMBER 9th, 2025, and JANUARY 6, 2026 at 9 A.M. Or soon thereafter as the matters MAY be heard. The public hearings will be held in the commission chambers at the administration building located at 2401 Southeast Monterey Road, Stuart, Florida, 34996. Thank you. MR. Donaldson, is that the former carnation Farms. I believe, yes. Ok, just so that neighbors know that s what we re going to be considering on DECEMBER 9th. That s correct. Carnation Farms, Hope Sound, off of Gomez. A brown field declaration which necessitates a federal cleanup, correct? State. State? Ok. All right. So alert your peeps MISS Elder In that case, we are going to have our reorganization meeting this morning. Uh, the first item is a, we elect a chair and a vice chair. MR. Capps I think Commissioner Hurd has done an excellent job as our chair in the last year, and I would move that she remain as our chair in the coming year. Commissioner Hetherington, yes, I put my light on because I wanted to say thank you, Commissioner Hurd, because it s been a very busy year of um both our centennial and um a lot of environmental advocacy at Washington in Washington and Tallahassee. So thank you for your leadership and representation, and I was going to um move that commissioner can t be procedurally move up to chair and move that commissioner Caps because he s been very involved throughout the year, become vice chair Mer Vargas Yeah, um, I, um, I really enjoyed working with um CHAIRWOMAN Heard, and I think that she deserves to be in that position. Uh, we do, um, appreciate your insight and your fortitude and I will second what Commissioner Capps has put forth as well deserved. Thank you. There s a motion in a second, uh for me to remain as the chair and for Commissioner Campi to remain as vice chair. Is that? I, I would like to be considered for vice chair, um, I have definitely put forth a lot of effort and I think also we need a fresh voice. Um, he s been vice chair. He s also been chair, so it time to, you know, shuffle a bit. Well, Commissioner Capps, it was your motion, so who s the vice chair? I would like it to have it be separate motions as historically the way it works. We don t normally bundle the two positions. Ok. So there s a motion, uh, for me to remain as a chair and a second, all those in favor, I opposed that motion passes unanimously and now we will entertain motions for vice chair. I d like to move um, Commissioner Campi remain as vice chair. Second and the reason I m seconding that is with all due respect to Commissioner Vargas serving one year on the commission as well as the fact that um it s a very complicated position. Commissioner in general, and I think to assume that you are prepared with all due respect to you and your history, uh, in the private sector. I don t believe that one year on the commission would, uh, would be appropriate. For, um, you to be vice chair, which means you d have to serve in the position if the chair is not available, you would be addressing organizations and I, you know, I don t want to get too deep into the weeds, but I think your first year has been a learning year. I don t know if it is a springboard to, uh, board leadership at this point. Commissioner Vargas, well, I d like to say I d like to counter that with I have a wealth of background as being chairperson on different committees, not just here but also in Miami-Dade County and, uh, while I appreciate your comments, I think we need freshness in the chairs, um, so one year, 5 years, some people were never ready for the position I feel that it s appropriate that I am ready for the position. I m a successful businesswoman also, so I ve been able to have a lot of insight and be able to grasp tremendous amount of information. Well, in just less than a year. It ll be coming up a year on the 19th tomorrow. MR. Campi, thank you. I don t want to go into a back and forth. We vote, we take motions and vote. There s 5 of us. I personally think that you are not just you, I think most people with a single year of experience. Would be unheard of for that level and your experience in Miami-Dade, I m sure most people would assume it s not necessarily equate to what happens here. Uh, I don t want to get into a back and forth, but I would, I personally don t believe you are prepared Uh, not that you won t ever be, but you re certainly not prepared to be. In that leadership position at this point. Commissioner Vargas. Well, I appreciate your opinion. However, I think it s very narrow, and I think that um I, I presented myself in a way that is very well aware of what s going on here in Martin County, having grown up as a as a child here and come back several times. I ve seen the transformation and under your leadership, there s been tremendous change of development. People don t want this at all, and we need to be able to have a different perspective. I saw what happened in Miami-Dade County, Broward County, Palm Beach County, we are not those counties. So perhaps the change is necessary. I guess we ll see what the 5 of us think. There s a motion in a second. All those in favor, I opposed opposed that motion passes, uh, 4 to 1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. That was the motion. You made it. I expected it. Yeah. So now we ll approve the use of the prior chair, the need to do that don t need to do that one. Adopt a resolution designated who MAY sign documents on behalf of the board. Is that everybody? Yes, I ll put you chair, vice chair, and then down by. Do we need to adopt a resolution? I d make a motion to adopt that resolution. So I there s a motion in a second, all those in favor, I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Now let s look at the, uh, boards and committees, uh, commissioners look on page 31 and you will see the, uh commission representation currently. Commission, Commissioner Campi since we are in the season of leaving things as they are, I would make a recommendation that, uh, since it s only been a year, especially with my newer colleagues and those that are, uh, the longer serving commissioners just got into some new positions. Yourself included, MADAM Chair, Commissioner Hetherington, I would make a motion that we leave our current positions as they are for the coming year. MR. Vargas. Yeah, well, that s not possible because uh canvassing board chair, I would like to be appointed as the chair for that. We have, uh, the per the commissioner Hetherington, who is running for office next year, so that s not possible. Definitely want to request that position, and there s several other positions that I would like to shuffle around, um, keeping things frozen static is not healthy. At all so, uh, there is a lot of uh change in the air and I think this is the proper moment. This is the proper year for it. So if you want us to tell you what we would like. All right, fine. So as I said, um, the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, I would like to remain on that. The chevassing board chair would like to return to the affordable housing. Excuse me, I m saying so that if we re debating back and forth very well. Not acceptable not acceptable I ll just deal with what I m, I referring to affordable housing advisory Committee, I would like to stay on that committee also canvassing board chair the mpo I m a member of that also as required. Small county coalition chair. The treasure Coast Council of Local Governments. Um, I would like to be considered as an alternate for that. And an alternate for the treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and value adjustment board. I was appointed on the committee. I d like to be an alternate. Wooster caps Um, I was going to, uh, I m, I m satisfied with the boards that I m currently on, so I would be willing to second uh Commissioner Campe s motion. Do we have a problem technically with uh the canvassing board issue at this point? Yeah, we would have to switch the canvassing boards, so that would be one change that we would have to commission. Ok. That s 11 Well, uh is, is, is anyone else interested in canvassing board? I just want to make sure I m the alternate. I would like to become the chair and if MS. Commissioner Vargas would like to be the alternate. Mhm I d like to be the chair You re, you re the vice chair. I would like to be the chair. That s a this is the back and forth that we do here. So I appreciate that you ve given your list first, but that s not how it works. You don t automatically get because you want to, we re going back and forth to see how it works, but, but I have to voice what my requests are. Ok, thank you so much. I appreciate it. No, I agree with you completely Commissioner Hetherington, yes, I m satisfied with all my, uh, committees. I would like to remain on them, um, and I would also get a motion and a second. I would also support, um, Commissioner Campi being the chair of the canvassing board. I know he s, he s done it, enjoyed it, and Commissioner Vargas as being the alternate. MR. Campi the only um issue that I would like to keep is I d like to become the chair of the canvassing Board, and I will relinquish my interest in the affordable housing advisory Committee. Uh, so that commissioner of Vargas can remain. We call that compromising. Ok. Commissioner Vargas, very well aware of compromise. Martin portable housing advisory Committee, uh, CHAIRWOMAN Hurd, um, I would like to be the chair of the canvassing board, um, I think that uh commissioner Campi, um, is well suited for the position as he stated, to consider the vice chair of this board so he can be there and I would be the chair. Uh, that s fair. He served before. It s time to pass the baton for this so that we all have the experience and the pleasure of working There s a motion and a second for the board, uh, the committee appointments to remain the same except for, uh, canvassing Board, which is, there s a, a motion in a second for Commissioner Campi to be the chair and for, uh, Commissioner Vargas to be the alternate, then the rest of the committees remain the same, correct? No, I d, I d like, as I requested, the Treasure Coast Regional alternate Value adjustment board alternate. Small county coalition chair I ll remain the same. The mpo I m on and chair canvassing board. I m already on the Affordable Housing Committee. So we have a motion in few changes. There s a motion in a second. All those in favor, I opposed, opposed. That motion passes 4 to 1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Now we ll take up the Value adjustment board. Do we gonna commissioner Hurd is appointed as chair. You re gonna remain as chair. Sure, thank you. Anything else, MISS Gordon? Uh, no, that s, I got it. All right, can we move on to meetings They are on page 32. Do those look good to everybody? Yes Yes, I will. I m concerned about NOVEMBER, but apparently that s just, uh, there s only one meeting. I guess that s because there s an it s an election year it s an election on NOVEMBER 3rd, and we can t, what s, what s up with NOVEMBER 10th I ll do two in a row 1 a month is light. Is there any Madam Chair, I agree. Is there any reason we can t have a meeting on NOVEMBER 10th. We do have sometimes meetings back to back. I believe we re doing that in DECEMBER of this year. Um, no, there is a you could have excuse me, you could have a meeting on NOVEMBER 10th. Is there a conflict One commissioner was going to be out. There s 5 of us I think the re on the 10th, 10th and the 17th. I mean you had a meeting without me, so we have a meeting without one. I would make a motion that we add an additional meeting for the month of NOVEMBER 2026 for NOVEMBER 10. So we would have the 10th and the 17th. Residents need more than one meeting a month. I agree I ll There s a motion in a second to adopt the calendar, adding NOVEMBER 10th to the meeting schedule. All those in favor, I opposed That motion passes unanimously. Now let s look at uh holidays. That s on page 34. Is that the next item? I d make a motion to accept the scheduled holidays as they are presented. Second, there s a motion, and second, all those in favor, I opposed that motion passes unanimously and lastly, is there a motion to adopt the rules of procedure, any changes, uh, proposed. Seeing that the rules and procedures are the are the same as they have been. I d make a motion that we accept them. Second, there s a motion in a second. All those in favor, I opposed that motion passes unanimously, uh, commissioners, we are now going to run into a preset. I don want to start the meeting. I don t think, um, because we re gonna run into the preset, so you wanna take a break until 10:30? We will break until re on We are back We are resuming our meeting, taking up our preset, which is Department 4. Which is a request from the town of Sewell s Point to provide an update on its septic to sewer projects. Good morning, MR. Emerson. Good morning, MADAM Chair and Commissioner, it s always good to be with you again, um, as you stated this item, uh, was at the request of the town of Sewell s Point, um, and I d like to just give you a little brief background on where they are, um, in 2022, the Souls Point Commission authorized a septic to sewer conversion, uh, with the, with the assistance of an $8.4 million grant from the fdep. The town and the county entered entered into two interlocal agreements. One was for the construction of 169 uh connections for Grinder Sewer and the second was for 171 connections. So for a total of 340, uh, grinder sewer systems to serve 340 parcels, uh, in low lying areas and so that was what was approved in the interlocal agreement. Since then, the town has had a special meeting, uh, MR. Daniels discussed it, uh, discussed, um. 4 options for the town to consider, uh, they selected, uh, I think option 1 and option 4, and I think that MR. Daniels is here this morning and also the town, uh, the town s consultant Joe Capra, and I believe they wanted to address the board. That s your cue. Good morning. Great, thank you, Sam. Sure, uh, and thank you all for uh having us here and, uh, entertaining my uh town commissioners who are also here. If I can just take a quick moment and introduce you to everybody, uh, our town engineer Joseph Capra from Captech Engineering and uh James Carnes, who is his right arm over at uh Captech, uh, then my mayor. Uh. Gave Kurzman and my vice mayor, Vinnie Borrell. Uh, I also have Commissioner Titigas. Commissioner Mayfield and Commissioner Fender. So I got all 5 of them here. So, uh, it s, and I ll be seeing them again tonight because we have our meeting tonight but anyhow, I don t want to take up a lot of your time, but I, I did want to, uh, let you know that, uh, you know, we re, uh, obviously we re very fortunate, you know, working hand in hand with uh with Sam and Don, uh, they ve been most gracious and and very helpful as we proceeded through this project and I know I ve, I ve talked with some of you one on one and, and, uh, you know, you pretty much you know, you know, we ve been trying to get this thing done. The, the grant, I guess that we re up against ends at the end of JUNE and uh the, the reason why we had our meeting to discuss different options is I didn t realize that we were going to have an uh an opportunity to come back before you. So I appreciate that, but the options that we looked at basically were doing some gravity work and we, uh, Joe will probably walk you through that and, but we re doing uh 70, I believe it s 76 connections in the Rio Vista subdivision through gravity, uh, which has gotten the ok from Martin County Utilities, uh, to do that, but, uh, we also, you know, looked at an option of trying to move Grinder units from people that have already been expecting them an