Board of County Commissioners on 2023-03-07 9:00 AM

Oop. Was that the start Good morning and welcome it is MARCH 7th 2023. We re going to call our board of County Commissioners meeting to order we will start with an invocation by Pastor Blaine Albright from the Christ Fellowship Church, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by Mr Pete Luther Retired, us Army Colonel. So if you would all please stand. Thank you. Good morning. Good Morning. Let s pray together. Thank you for today? Thank you for the opportunity that we have to come to you in prayer. Thank you that you are not far off and distant and unconcerned with our lives, But you tell us in your word, quite the opposite that you care for us that you know us. You love us and that you want us to come to you, just like the Bible says to pray about everything, too. Pray without ceasing to pray with faith and belief that you are ready and willing to move on our behalf. Word tells us that if we need wisdom That we can come to you and ask for it. And you will. You will give it to us. And so I pray that you ll do that today Help us nowhere to act and where we need restraint to help us know where we need to speak and maybe where we need to hold our tongue. The Bible says that where there is unity, there s blessing. And, So I. Pray that our community we seek you together that would be united in the pursuits that bring honor to you. That we d always be looking for the opportunity to recognize the dignity. And the value of every person is we re all in image bearers of you, Our creator. Thank you for these leaders and many others who serve our county so faithfully. I pray that you bless their families and their relationships, their businesses and you d open our eyes to you today in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Morning. Uh, before it Do. You want this mean? Yeah. Why don t we say the pledge and then you can share with us a little of your background face flag. Please follow me in the pledge. 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. Colonel good morning and thank you. I figured this way everyone could sit down and they can hear about your illustrious career. If you don t mind sharing some of it with us, sir. And, well, first off, Thank you for this opportunity to be with you today. But As I was, as was said. I was commissioned in initially in 1967. From Michigan State University. I was in rotc grad, but I went into the regular army was a dmg, which is a distinguished military graduate. And when in the Army is a regular, uh Served in armor first. Because there was a combat armed detail during the Vietnam War time frame. And then after that, I reverted Ordinance Corps and became a basically maintenance battalion commander and that kind of thing that right over my career. I spent 10 of my 26 years in the army overseas. Um Of course I was in Vietnam as a maintenance company commander. I was a I was also served in Italy for four years running a maintenance shop there and at a depot. Ah then I also served in, uh Korea is a, uh, the executive officer for the 70 2nd Maintenance battalion, which was the largest in the second Infantry division at the time. And, then I also served four years in, uh, London, England two years at the embassy on diplomatic status. And then two years of the current commander of the Army Standardization group. So, um Then. I completed my career in 1993. And became a defense contractor for another 21 years. Doing missile defense and a lot of that, So anyway, I have over 40 years of serving our country in one way or another, so I appreciate the opportunity to be here and to be with you today, So. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir, We re honored to have you on Thank you very much. Okay, Um We have one additional item departmental number five and affordable housing update. And. There are no consent polls so I would This chair move approval of the agenda with the consent. Thank you very much. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith to accept the agenda as presented seconded by Commissioner Heatherington. All those in favor all those opposed the motion carries unanimously. We have two proclamations this morning. The. First one is Irish American Heritage Month. And. It will be presented by Ms Laura Bow Premise Bo, Pray Good Morning You are recognized. Good morning commissioners. The Irish first came to Spanish, la, Florida in the 15 hundreds first as missionaries and mercenaries, soldiers and then his planters, traders, businessmen, doctors and administrators and three of the Spanish governors of la, Florida We re actually Irish military officers. Irish Americans since America s inception, have provided leadership and service to Florida and our nation in recognition of MARCH as Irish American Heritage month, all are encouraged to celebrate their cultural heritage and many valuable contributions and here to accept we have Ray Lynch, who is the state PRESIDENT And national director of the ancient Order of Hibernians. 20, sir. Good morning few words to speak into this. Ray Lynch national director and Florida state PRESIDENT Of the ancient Order of Hibernians on behalf of the Irish Americans in this county and within the state of Florida, I humbly Thank you along with the governor. And 62 other municipalities within the state for naming MARCH Irish American Heritage Month. Thank you. Okay. Hmm. Thank you so much. Perfect. We re just discussing how much Irish you have. I said. I m not Irish, but I married one. Oh, I am. You are is Our. Next Proclamation is flood Awareness Week in Martin County, Florida. Martin County has experienced severe weather in the past in the form of extreme rainfall or tropical events, resulting in flooding in both coastal and riverine areas. This flooding has caused damage and flood losses to homes and buildings and all areas whether they are high risk special flood hazard areas or low to moderate risk flood zones. During Flood Awareness Week marks MARCH 6th through the 10th. The board encourages residents to increase their knowledge of how to protect themselves and their property from flooding and here to accept. We have Christine Medicine. Who is our engineering permit manager with public works. Good Morning commissioner. Good morning Flooding is one of the most common and costly natural disasters that occur throughout the United States. Just one inch of flood water can cause up to $25,000 in damages during flood awareness Week MARCH 6th to the 10th Martin County public s work department is joining a statewide effort to help educate residents about the importance of flood awareness and the benefits of having flood insurance. We are encouraging residents to become flood ready by being prepared and knowing the risks associated with flooding in our community. We asked residents to have an emergency plan and disaster supply kit ready in the event of an evacuation and to assure ensure residents acquire flood insurance to protect their property. During flood awareness Week. Residents can learn about the different flood related topics featured on the county social media pages or by visiting the county s website. So if you have an opportunity, please stop by and check out our flood awareness displays. We have one here in the lobby, one of the Black Library and one at the building department. Thank you. Thank you. I MISS That. Alright, everybody this way a little bit. It can t be in the t v. Thank you, Laura. Okay, we ll take some public comment and then to my colleagues. We re going to take the agenda a little bit. Out of order. For some folks that are here in the room this morning. We re going to take departmental number four. Special Olympics update Following our comments. Second session with that, um If. Anyone would like to address us and has not yet filled out. A form You can ask Arbella for one of these requests to speak forms. You ll have three minutes to speak to us on a general topic item or a later agenda item. If you re not going to be able to speak about it later. If you do speak this morning about an agenda item and you want to speak later. You can only speak one time per agenda item. Our first request to speak for him this morning is from Ms Linda Smith. Good morning. Hello. Linda Smith. I live in Jupiter, Florida, but I m representing myself and the Sierra Club locks, a Hachi group. We have over 5000 members and supporters in Palm Beach, Martin, st, Lucie and Okeechobee counties. I Am speaking today to encourage you not to develop Martin County like Broward, Palm Beach and even st Lucie counties. You re welcome Sign and many of your promotional items online say things like, naturally quaint and small town feel The rural lifestyles ep a dash two destroys our our your speaking for the members that live in Martin County urban boundary. Development must be limited to the urban tear. You do not want Suburbans for all like the rest of South, Florida Believe me. I. Experience it down South cp a 21. Oh, eight will affect Traffic Congestion taxes, preservation, land programs schools, school budgets, our waterways and our quality of life. Affordable housing should not be located outside of the urban tear. Where they re not a central services and mass transit. Do not get fooled by opening up your western areas. It will not help your need for affordable housing, which I know you re speaking to later on. Maybe. You just did, Um You will need more low wage workers and they will not be able to afford the home in the areas close to where they work. Taxes is another red herring for development. They always say that tax revenues will increase. That is true, but they do not cover the long term expenses. They need more services than agriculture. Just think about all of the sewer conversion and septic tanks that you are going to be doing in the next couple of years. Finally within this theme. I do want to speak to items c n s t Dash nine the approval of purchase by Martin County of two vacant half acre lots in Palm Mar. I Hope you can do this at every meeting. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next risk request to speak for MISS Mr Tam Pine. Good morning, sir. Good. Morning commissioners. My name is Tom Pine. Presently live in Jensen Beach. Once again hidden the consent agenda $13,194,675.23 spent between JANUARY 24th and FEBRUARY 6th of 2023 without identifying the payee or the purpose of the payments. This past week I looked up consent agenda and Google What goes into a consent agenda. And the answer is items that are typically routine. Non controversial or matters that board has reached a consensus on after a previous discussion. A hidden in a jet hidden agenda is a private goal that members MAY be pursuing which they feel would be not accepted if they were made public, and that s exactly what we have. Here in Martin County. Already appears that this commission does exactly what you re not supposed to do when using a consented Dender. You re not supposed to be using incentive agenda to hide from the taxpayers were millions and millions of our tax dollars are being spent without identifying the pay you the purpose of the payments. You re not supposed Supposed to hide, sweetheart deals for your friends at the Martin County Chamber of Commerce, either. The agenda as used in Martin County shows. We do not abide by democratic principles rather operate our local government as well as some kind of third World Banana Republic. This must end It s unacceptable. Since our county government seems to be consistently looking for new business ventures using our tax dollars. I said. I have a suggestion that would fall under public service. Garbage collection, like all other businesses that county operates. Such as two restaurants in the morning field just to name a couple garbage collection comes under public service, and it s done by many local governments across the country. The city of Stuart has done their own garbage collection for decades now and there has their their rate single family home is to 65 a year for once a week garbage pickup plus yard waste and recyclables, whereas Martin County rate is 405 garb dollars a year. For garbage twice a week. Garbage. One garbage is one of the items costs are going to keep rising and doing our own would be a big plus financially for years to come. Do understand this would never happen with this commission. After all waste management belongs to Martin County Chamber of commerce. But someday maybe the county Commission works taxpayers instead of making commercial common. Chamber of commerce. Their main concern. Thank you for your time. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it Our next request to speak for MISS MISTER David Gonzalez. Good morning. Good guys. It s funny because what I have to say, kind of relates to some of this stuff, but I think it s time we have a serious discussion about the Zoning laws of Martin County. Um some of us know that there are a tremendous amount of commercial businesses running on residential properties in the farms. Hundreds of employees, dozens of businesses. You ve got Dog food distribution centers, landscape companies, yacht brokers, the words out on the street that Palm City farms is ripe for the picking by these commercial operating entities. Okay and I know because Ed you and I have had conversation about this. I think it s time we put together some kind of a committee and I m willing to be involved and put my time into it. Okay, because Like some of these people who want to save Martin County You have to get at the core reasons why things are happening. Okay? I Street alone. There s a dozen operators. Four seasons landscape. Which we know is already in violation and has a judgment against them by the county. They gave him $100 fine. That guy s laughing at that He s probably making $10,000 an hour out there. He s brought hundreds of yards of Phil onto that property, and we re all aware of it, so he s going to ruin it for everybody else, because a lot of these guys are my friends, but you ve got aggregate yards. Pressure cleaning companies, landscape maintenance companies, commercially dumping and burning. Okay, So I know the interior of this county loves to have all those services but the fact of the matter is are all operating illegally outside. The zoning laws. This Commission and the tax appraiser and you re zoning guy and your code enforcement need to come together to formulate a plan. Okay, you have to because this is at the heart of growth. Okay like her. I ve seen it. I grew up here. I m fifth generation Floridian. What s happening is disgraceful all the way to Ocala. Florida is being decimated. You guys are good people. I know. I know a lot of you personally, These are hard, difficult challenges. It s time to call a meeting. Time to bring all these business owners who are going to be very happy, who say there s no place to go? That What. The Economic Development Council is about. That s what your guys job is about. That s what the tax appraisers about Let s put everybody s head together and get all these companies. I got them surrounding me. You got 40 ft semis coming in next to my house dumping dog food. What four seasons. 25 trucks, excavators. This is all illegal according to the code, So Ed, Um, asking you I ll help you. I know it s not going to be easy, but we got to come to some sort of a solution because it s chasing a lot of us out. I worked really hard to maintain my ag business. I ve been boarding horses for 20 something years. And what I have to do. And then get assessed by the county while these guys run commercially, Okay, Anyways, we have to have serious reads. Thank you? Thank you, sir. Our next request to speak for MISS MISS Linda Fithian. Good morning, ma am. Morning commissioners. My name is Linda 50 and I live in Palm City and I wrote all of you a letter. It s probably in your mailbox if you haven t seen it yet, so I d like to read that today and thank you for your time. Hello commissioners. I write today regarding the live local presentation of the Florida Senate Bill one Oh, two scheduled for the county commissioners meeting on MARCH 7th today. That s the agenda of the special agenda that was added to the to it. Senate Bill one Oh, two in its current Burbage inform is to take over of local government. The statements preempting local government on zoning, local government MAY not restrict the density of development. Local government MAY not restrict the height of the development, local government must consider reducing parking requirements are all in the policies included in this bill. There are many of these dictates in this bill, conversations and decisions in our local communities such as people are just having with you will no longer be ours to make. You. Really do we really want people who do not live here to dictate what gets built here? Most of you have lived in this county for a long time. Why would you want this bill in its current form to pass? This Bill will change Martin County forever and not for the better. It takes away much of your local control. You have all heard from many of your constituents about the crowded roads and flooding from the new construction that has already taken place. This bill will enable over building one wonders why the current building projects have been recommended by the county planners and approved by county commissioners and this state bill only piles on I asked. Why did the state senators wish to make Florida a nanny state? This bill is nothing more than wealth redistribution. This takes away home rule and I ponder why we would even need commissioners. This bill seems to be trying to push all communities into a one size fits all model, all state and federal funding programs have strings attached. Leaders in our state and local communities need to just say no. There are many tax exemptions listed in this bill, including tax assumptions that are mandatory for developments that have more than 70 affordable dwelling units, no matter how much money this bill is spending on affordable housing a tax exemptions the state does not make that money. The federal government does not make that money. These monies which originate from federal and state funds come from taxes paid by citizens of this state and country. This bill takes away all local control of how these monies are spent and takes away control of local county commission boards. The local government and the people. If. State legislators and local governments wish to help the citizens of this state and country to create thriving communities with housing for all economic levels allow local government to help their local citizens and taxpayers with tax exemption money. MAY I finish reading this letter because we let everyone have three minutes We re going to have an agenda item. As you know, I hope you ll be able to stay. Probably not be able to. I m hoping to make it back for that, But thank you. We re going to have it this morning, ma am. My time? No, but you can have your time, though our next request to speak for MISS Diane Castellucci. I m Diane Castellucci from Palm City and basically what I was about to read was a letter that one of my members wrote to state Senator Gale, Harold and Pretty. Much says. Everything that Linda just said, but Since I have the three minutes I will read it. Senate Bill one out to also known as live Local Act contains a clause that if passed, seems to suggest it would remove the authority to limit how high and how large future buildings can be built. Our. Concern is that this bill will affect the density and quality of life in our county specifically in cities such as Stuart and Palm City. We have seen this happen in other counties such as Broward and Miami Dade with Obama s affordable housing initiatives. High rise, low cost suburban neighborhoods that was purposely designed to change red areas to blue areas where by changing the political demographics we do not want that to happen and Martin County We feel that this bill will ultimately ultimately remove the authority of local governments to decide what is best for the local residents. We need our elected officials to help us preserve the charm and attractiveness of our communities, but also to preserve the conservative majority that we have worked so hard to secure. Thank you? Thank you very much. Diane was there last request to speak for him? If anybody else would like to speak at this time? Now would be the time to let me know. Seeing. None will go and we ll start with commissioner comments with you, Commissioner Smith. Thank you very much, um So I I. Guess I assume all of us know that are, um Administrator has chosen Jeff Doherty to become our next, um, building department director. My assuming Accurately, Okay? Um And. I just found out the other day and I was kind of reaching out to Jeff to talk to him about some things that were occurring and found out and I and I forgot about this that we have to vote to ratify Jeff to be our building department director, and that won t happen until wasn t scheduled to happen until the 21st of MARCH. I believe Um and so Jeff s not In that role as we speak. I assumed he was actually And I was kind of getting mixed signals. Like why can t we make that decision? So? I asked Don yesterday if there was any reason why we couldn t bring that up today, and if it s merely a vote of the commission Is there a way that we can do it today and get him going so that he is not just out there. He s actually sitting in the seat, So. That s my question for the day and all, maybe turn it over to dawn for further clarity if need be. Mr Donaldson. Catch that hot potato. Thank you, sir. Um it is a item that I had scheduled to bring before the board and next meeting, Um, Jeff s official start date could be moved up. If you this was happened Curly earlier But. You know, Jeff is put it in his resignation to st Lucie County. So if you were to take action today, it would, um relieve me the responsibility of completing the agenda item and we could we could move forward today if you like. Otherwise Is it scheduled for the 21st to come before you as a consent item. With the recommendation that the board confirmed Jeff Doherty as our building department director. Commissioner Smith back to you. I would make that motion to confirm Jeff. Doherty has our building department director. i ll second that Fantastic any comments from the my colleagues? Um Thank you for bringing that up? I did have an opportunity to speak to Mr Doherty, and he did say something about that It would take a couple of weeks. For him to come on board. I mean, obviously. The, Martin County, Steph and families suffered a tragic loss with Larry Massing. Back in the They Late 2022. I know that. Scott has done a very, very good job filling in and handling the department. I had said. To many people that call me and I m sure you all as well about business Building department issues that the business of the building department did not stop sadly because Mr Massing passed away. So to get someone in there to sort of firm up the The direction forward, I think sooner the better, and Mr Doherty who had been with us at the county level for people that are not familiar with him. He was here and then he recently went to st Lucie County. I m thrilled to have him back. He s He s a smart guy. He s a thoughtful, think thinking person. He is a team builder. He s reasonable and I think you know if if we could ever try to fill Mr Mass. Ing s Um Shoes. It would be with Mr Doherty. So I m Very happy to support that with that we have a motion by Commissioner Smith seconded by Commissioner Jenkins all those in favor all those opposed that motion carries unanimously. Thank you commissioners and I think for Community that relies on our building department. I think having that position stable now and moving forward, I think will be a huge plus to our community, So I appreciate that Thank you. So. I have this one. Commissioner Heatherington Are you taking? The affordable housing that the No we re going to do to do department number four. First, the Special Olympics update and then we ll do departmental number five Affordable Housing update because there are members of the public that are here that would like to hear it, so instead of pushing it to the end of the day, when they re gone, we ll hear it second after the special Olympics I ll save my comments for them, But, I think, Linda your your letter that you Mentioned. I think you share you know, we all share. Many of us share those sentiments that we want local control and Martin County, So I m sure we ll have lots of comments during that agenda item and that s all I have during commissioner comments. Commissioner Jenkins agree with that statement in, uh, I ve got nothing. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Heard? Yes, I ve received lots of correspondence from residents about Senate Bill one. Oh, two Senate Bill 1 to 4. Oh, and it s House Companion Bill, which is 11 97. All in opposition to those bad bills that are pending. So what s our response? What? We re going to hear it in two agenda items there there. We re going to take up Senate Bill one. Oh two and Senate Bill 12 40. Sure. I plan on the affordable housing We re we I I don t see it on the agenda. Well. I mean, if you d like to make comments now, that s Of course. Your prerogative. I figured as commissioner Heatherington just said that once we kick it off with Senate Bill one. Oh, two that we can have a conversation. I received those same emails. A couple of times, I tried to reply to folks that thought they were our initiatives, which they re not. Uh, and then you know, the conversation to me is a little bit a little more broad in terms of home rule and what a legislative session has, you know quite often every year. As a matter of fact we talked about You know not just what s happening or not happening, but this year in particular their right out of the starting gate with a lot of things that would be detrimental for especially you know, and the comment was made one size fits all one size fits all at a state level doesn t work in 67 counties, and especially doesn t work in Martin County. So, but I just figured we would have that conversation sort of wrapped around that departmental number five. Okay, But If you just didn t understand how it was going to to fit in with discussion about That, an affordable housing update. It doesn t sound like an affordable housing update to me, so we re going to fold the discussion of the legislative session into The affordable housing update. Well The agenda item that I read said that we are having a gentleman who s pretty well versed on this from the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council come to discuss some of those legislative ideas that are affordable housing at the state level. You re talking with the other b. Correct, So. I just figured we d start with that. And. Then we can tailor off from the conversation as long as we re going to have a conversation. We re having a conversation to oppose these bills. I want us to oppose these bills, so we need to have a public discussion. I don t believe you re going to in this particular case. Find an argument. Good. Your colleagues. That s my personal opinion. I don t know, obviously have not spoken to. My colleagues. Also Also Speaking of that. What representation do we have in Tallahassee for the upcoming Legislative session. Commissioners we have our legislative, um, position has been filled with Ms Sarah powers. She started. Um yesterday. We have our team of lobbyists that we have on board with Ballard and a few others that are also advocating on our behalf. Um and in general, we have already adopted your legislative priorities Priorities, which one of them has always been? A opposition to those those bills that, um diminish home rule. And, So we ve already taken those actions. Um and of course during the session, we do know that several of you will be going up and advocating as well. Thanks. Mr Donaldson, probably before we get into the second agenda item. Maybe. You d want to have MISS Powers come down and Mr male if he s assisting Yes. I was thinking that too. I don t see why she does. Well Stark you know with right right? Well. She s a local a Sometimes. Yes. I appreciate your initiation. Yes. Thank you bring it down. Um so with that in mind anything else commissioner heard. Mr Donaldson anything? MISS Woods. I actually have nothing. We can move directly into our agenda. Our first agenda item will be departmental Number four, a special Olympics update. It will be presented by Mr Kevin a body and Mr Kevin Kirwin. Good morning your recognized the morning Kevin about a parks and recreation director for the record. Um, today we bringing back and an item that requests of the board in the county administrator about the Special Olympics Florida Um the and the executive summary, You ll see that there is a special Olympics. Florida is requesting that the board found a full time position within the Parks and Recreation Department for the fiscal year, 2024. Budget, which is currently underway for planning now. A little history on AUGUST 16th of 2022 special index provided a presentation to the board and requested that the board funded position within the Parks and Recreation Department, and at that time no action was taken, and we actually met with the Special Olympics to talk about the position and some of its needs. Um The proposed position would coordinate all these special Olympic programming along with, um Mark, Martin County based team of athletes. In connection with the position. Especial mix is also requesting access to various Martin County parks and recreation facilities for team training, equipment and storage at no charge. Currently special Olympics, um, uses the water park for the swim practices and we do charge a not for profit rate for the special Olympics. They used the other amenities during the summer for programming their programming needs as well. We did a little analysis, um, to determine what type of position would be appropriate if it were housed in the parks Department. And, the therapeutic recreation coordinator, which is a specialized position for special needs. Athletes, um, has the proper training that position all in would be $92,000. You ll see the breakdown with us roughly a starting salary of 55,000 and the other self salary, um, Cellphone Stipend office base, etcetera. Legal, um, has in risk management trick. Oh, um, would also have to evaluate Some of the feasibility requirements. Relative to transportation. If that were something that we needed to look at down the road for a program participants. Um and that is and the recommended action for this item is that the board provide direction to the staff. Um on requests of this position within the Parks Department. Thank you, Commissioner Smith. Um, if it s okay, I d rather the public or first. Then I ll come back back on. Okay, We have to thank you. Mr about we have to request to speak forms and if anyone else would like to address us, there s a form you can come speak ahead of time and fill the form out afterwards. Ah. Our. First request is from MISS Jackie Lewis. Slow is good morning. It s good to see you again. Good morning a long time back in back into the community. Well, good morning commissioners. My name is Jackie Lewis and I m the and I m here with my daughter, Kori. Some of you MAY remember me I was the general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott here in Stuart opened that back in 2008 and worked along many of you side by side building the tourism in this county. Today. I stand with you to provide you a personal testimony of the priceless value the Special Olympics has provided to Corey and our family. I am not sure if you re aware, but Corey attended Martin County schools lettered as a Southfork cheerleader and works in the Palm City. Um pump city Publix here for the past three years. She has also represented Martin County, the great state of Florida in the United states in the Special Olympics World games as an equestrian and Abu Dhabi in 2019, winning a silver a bronze. Any fourth place. Great job, Corey. Most recently she has represented again, Martin County and in the state of Florida at the at the usa Games in Orlando last year in 2022. Um, as the fastest three mile paddle border winning gold against five men in the usa Games. Um there, so she s a tough athlete, But. She learned these sports here in Martin County. Obviously. We have a huge question. Community and pomp City and the beautiful waterways Paddleboarding. Are there sports or a great accomplishment. They are small compared to the life skills that Corey has achieved. Being in special Olympics that is that she can tell. Self advocacy and most important independence and self worth in a world that will not be easy for her. These are valuable members of our community that have so much to offer and not nearly enough for participating so that they, too, MAY find their place in this world. It is often I hear from parents of special needs that no matter no matter how mild or severe disability maybe I didn t know my child qualified for Special Olympics. As a parent. I want Cory to find her independence so that she is not so dependent on the world around her. And that truly began with participating in Special Olympics. And anyway, that our community leaders and neighbors can support this great organization. It will all help us all. Thank you. Thank you very much. Our next request to speak for Mr Adam Grams. Good morning, Sarah. Welcome. Good morning commissioners. And I. Thank you for the time. I don t know how I follow that up. I think our personal stories are typically are most impactful. Um. I m here on behalf of the Special Olympics. Florida, um, just kind of want to remind everyone of Erin s presentation in the fall and, um Cory story isn t unique. Corey is unique. But Cory s story within our programming isn t only isn t unique and also like to recognize Andy and Ollie that are here. Andy and Ollie, can you stand up and showcase your medals? Corey or you can join them and just as a reminder with Special Olympics, a lot of people recognize us for the sports we do in communities, but a lot of what we do is outside of sports. It is health communities. It s the social network. Um. We do a lot of outreach to try to help our athletes become employed within the community and try to do everything we can to help them feel included, Um a big part of our programming as well as our school programs and our leadership programs that we have actually seen a decrease the amount of bullying in high school so we really feel strongly about our programs. We feel strongly working with parks and rec that we can accomplish great things here in Martin County. If the Commission determines that this is not a position that they are going to be able to fund within parks interact. We would love to work with parks and rec on drafting a grant proposal for positions specifically within special Olympics, Florida That would be specific here for Martin County, and we would make sure that we continue to try to recruit because right now we have about 300 athletes here. Just based on the numbers that could be closer to 3000, and we know we ll never touch that many. But as many as we can touch, we would love the opportunity to do that. So I really appreciate your time today, and I appreciate you guys putting this on your agenda and focusing on the stories of Andy, Corey and Allie and continuing to focus on Special Olympics. Florida Thank you. Thank you, sir. Anyone else from the public looking to address us. Yes, ma am, please come forward. You got to speak at the microphone. Otherwise. Nobody can hear you. State your name again For the record, please. Thank you? I m Linda Fithian from Palm City And I think these are where our tax dollars need to be spent. So the only thing I didn t hear was what the requirements would be for that special Olympics, trainer or person in that park, So. I d like to know what the requirements are for that position. Okay. Okay, good. And this is where Tax dollars or grant money is 100%. I Think You have the public? Um, I do I would back it, So thank you. Thank you very much. Take your time. Hmm. Good Morning, ma am and welcome Good morning to the members of the board. I m. Betty Marshall isn t gonna Martin County for a number of years how public school teacher for 38 years and was the director of Special Olympics for 42 years. Ah the impact that especially has it. And we hopefully that y all can continue to support us and keep looking looking back because I have one decided in the lobby that s being a little stubborn. I don t want to come in, but we do appreciate you all giving us the time. To talk How I have worked with Martin County Special Olympics for a very long time. How about probably telling my age when I tell you I remember Bob Dent and back in those days You guys have been very supportive. Hopefully. You will continue to support us. It was special, and it s a great program. Ah, I forgive him most of my life to it, so Uh huh? I Hope you guys really considers And I continue as long as I don t not working now, but I still go out with special embassy in China Morning. Whatever. So. Thank you for the time that you re giving us we appreciate it. Thank you for your time. Um anyone else would like to address us? Seeing none will turn it to Commissioner Smith. Thank you, Mr Chair. And to those who spoke. Thank you? Um. I think I think I d like to take us back a little bit to win. This idea came to us came to me, Um a couple of years ago. You know, I think About, all the the programs and all the things we ve done with our parks Department over the last 25 years since Mr Dennis Johnson left long time ago. Um And. I think how remarkable. The offering is and I think what we have as a county as a community have been able to achieve with the park spoke with the Parks Department of Parks program. I think with the leadership we have now with our parks program. We have revel it revolutionized even further. We have taken it from being The parks Department to I Think, a world class Parks department and that s no small task and given the guys that are doing this, and the girls are out there doing it s fantastic. But what struck me when Special Olympics came to us, and the request came in. The. Idea came was that There s a segment of our population that doesn t have exactly the same equal access as as others do. And if there was ever a need in our county with all the things that we fund with all the positions that we do. I can t imagine one that will impact her community more so Than adding an individual to our staff to oversee a department and a program department in the program. To really focus on those kids and those young adults. Um to give families the opportunity has just was expressed, which was absolutely remarkable what their achievements have been. Um, but imagine being a family that doesn t even know that you can participate. And. You have to deal with the challenges day today. Of raising a child. That has special needs. That could really, really use the same kind of accessibility. The. Same opportunity is every other child and Martin County gets to have And. So for the last couple of years. That s really what has driven me to support this idea. I think it s it matured and the idea that a couple other communities in the state of Florida have explored in different ways. Not exactly this way, but in different ways. I think we and Martin County have the opportunity to become the model. For, the state of Florida in terms of having a dedicated staff person that really oversees the programmatic side of Special Olympics. To make sure That. Every child that wants to And every family that wants to has access to the same kind of programmatic opportunities as every other child doesn t Martin County so I think it s I think it s exciting? I think the stories that we just heard from those who were involved are remarkable. Um And I would love to be able to say in a couple of years that we ve got a couple 100, other kids and young adults that could come back and tell us the same stories. And give them the same opportunities as These young folks have had so I just think it s a cool thing, and it cool opportunity and and again for All of the things we do fund in this community. Um Adding this one budget item and staff person, I think with the how many staff do we have Mr Donald 900 something? 1100 employees. Yes 1100 employees, I Think in the grand scheme of 1100 employees, we could fit another individual in our program, fund them and have a remarkable program and be quite frankly, the model for the state Thank you, you get it. Cute. Commissioner heard. Yes, Well. Of course This is a wonderful program And. Of course we should support this program because they achieve really, really excellent results, So. I m very much in favor of continuing to support the Special Olympics program, But there are many special needs. Children and adults and special interest groups in Martin County that deserve our support. And that receive our support. Ah. I just has any. Does. Anyone have any idea about that? The the $92,000 for a staff person is just the beginning of our responsibilities. It s just the tip of that iceberg. Does. Anyone have any idea what transportation costs would be? Does. Anyone have any idea what indemnification costs would be? Oh, um Does. Anyone have any idea what facilities would be required? Yeah, um Because. Those are the those are the huge expenses for us? You know a certainly they provide wonderful benefit, but I need to understand the costs. Before. I can begin to support this project. That s the question. What was the question? Is that a question for me, it is Mr Abbott. That s a question. How. Many millions of dollars are we talking about here? We re talking about five Busses. Are. We talking about Busses that are specially equipped or we re talking about providing, um Accompaniment when there s transportation involved. Tell me about indemnification. Tell me about facilities costs we just touched the surface with risk management and Tri Co. On Whether or not, transportation could be met from the program standpoint. Um. Obviously there s a lot that has to be still evaluated, um, relative to transportation. Cost, Um You know registration of how many people are transported towards a group where you have to have adults with them. There s a lot of questions that I don t have answers for today. Um so I m unable to Give you a full invented response at this time. I think we need We need to understand these things fully before we take this first step. And we don t know. Nearly enough about this proposal. Thanks. Commissioner Smith back to you. You know it s interesting when we when we talk about That aspect of it all, Um years ago, we added, um skate parks to our our inventory. Um. Nobody really knew what the cost was going to be with adding skate parks, too, our inventory, But we did we had some private funds raised Braille really led the way and built the first major skatepark. Um, but that lead to other skate parks in Martin County and really expanded the capacity of that need. Um I remember years and years ago, there was a debate in at the school level about lacrosse. Lacrosse didn t used to be part of Martin County school system, and there was a huge group out in Palm City. Um that wanted to have lacrosse as part of the school board, and you know it was kind of fought for many years. Wasn t um I don t know it wasn t looked upon as being what we should have. And lo and behold. There were some changes and The cross became part of our programmatic side of the school system. There will always be costs involved with adding a new program. There s no question Um, But. I look past that, and I think you have to. To some extent when you look at Categories of individuals that we serve. And more. Just use the Parks Department as that as that. Discussion. There s a large segment of our community that needs access that today doesn t really have the equal same type of access that Others do And. I know how you I don t know how you Don t say, Look we should do everything humanly possible to make sure that that special risk category Has the opportunity to participate. In in in the broadest sense that we can allow for them. Um And so I, you know, I I m I There are certainly challenges. I m sure with everything, but I That s something we can overcome and We do it in every department. We do it across every field we spend Hundreds of millions of dollars on water quality, which is the right thing to do in our county. We spend millions of dollars we nourishing our beaches for people to enjoy them. And to add protection to our beaches. We dredge our inlet and spend millions of dollars doing that so voters and the economy can thrive from that. This is just another piece of that. And. I think it s time that we step up to that level. So again. Thank you, Mr Chair appreciate it. Thank you, sir Commissioner Heatherington. Thank you, Commissioner Smith and thank you for those that came to speak today. I ve had the pleasure to work with Special Olympics and the private sector supporting Um and I think it an amazing organization. And while I do agree, probably there is is limited access. Um. I do agree with commissioner herds comments that we there There are some unknowns here, and I think it. It should be vetted. Um There s a lot of unknown costs, and I do think that s the start, which is a tremendous thing for the community and I would wholly support us trying to assist with some grant writing, or you know something to continue to facilitate the program, but I m hesitant to jump in To a position when I think it s going to evolve into some unknowns like transportation things that we have not yet been able to discuss. Um, But it is absolutely a very valuable organization and Martin Count. Thank you, ma am. Commissioner Jenkins. I Tend to agree with Commissioner Hetherington statement to appoint, um Currently. We have staff that interacts with Special Olympics correct. Correct, For example. The special Olympics uses selfish splashed water parks. The competition pool for their for their training and coaching. And, then other facilities. We they have access to through. Our staff with them programming. Correct me if I know they do. They work with surfers for autism at Stuart Beach in different programs that the use of the Countywide Park system is available so that they re currently but they need a person to Program their own programs correct is that the request is for a full time position within the department to further expand the program and kind of formalize it for Martin County. Only so I d be all I mean the one gentleman that spoke as is us, helping them get grants to actually fund that position within their own organization. Seems more. I mean we ve already got the machine. You know our organization to provide staff to help them facilitate their needs and the facilities to facilitate their needs. I understand? We probably need to expand. That Maybe there s some Additional opportunities within our system that would be more accessible for them that we can work on internally. Um, but it sure Kanis seems to me just common sense that we would Help them. Fun that position internally in their own organization if we already have the staff that Helps them program. I m not saying this very well. I m. Um I just sitting here kind of processing it and it Doesn t seem very efficient if we ve got the programmer for another organization, I m trying to wrap my head around how that works. Thank you, Sir Commissioner Smith. So as I understand, Harold in the conversations I ve had with Special Olympics and our staff about the programmatic side and the reason why I think it I really favored. The idea of us having our own internal staff person be responsible is the accountability to the county to the taxpayers. For the money that we would spend at whatever level That There are some 20 different sports. I believe activities sporting activities that are available and we only avail like seven or so maybe eight in Martin County as they exist today. And so To coordinate all that. And to make sure that At least for Martin County residents in the in the way Special Olympics is structured. I think there there s regional kind of struct. Ha. I think sometimes the the How. It gets done and how it s it programmatically driven. Gets a little Muddied up. And and The grand ideas, certainly a concept. I would much prefer From from my side of this thing, the accountability side to say. If. We knew we had a staff person. We knew they oversaw the program. And. We knew that they had goals and objectives and numbers that would be accountable to us to the board and to our staff, I think for the program itself and for us It would be much better served. Um And. That s how I ve just always kind of thought about this. You know it in so many things the Parks Department does. There s there are programs. We Don t farm out because of that accountability factor. And we know How well, we do what we re doing. And. I and I just kind of assume. And in my own thought process that having that same level of accountability overseeing this program. Would give us in their residents, the best results, but Commissioner Heatherington If it were mean, you know, and then in the organization, I mean there s nothing that no offense to all of us move slower than than sometimes you know, government so I would I would want to have that internal position if I were special Olympics have the support of us and be able to be, um Nimble and move you know much more quickly and have the resources that the government, you know in the parks provides, but to be able to maneuver within their organization, and again, i m willing to assist you know, we re willing, I think to do anything we can to support But I think that you re going to find that you re probably going to be more successful to have that. Person internal within your organization. Is my personal opinion. Thank you, Um I ll chime in. I did have the opportunity to speak to Mr Doug Campbell a couple of times and I appreciate the time. Um, it s an interesting Situation and I appreciate Commissioner Smith bringing this forward. He s obviously passionate about it, and I think it s terrific. Ah, we don t have to sell our community and our residents on Especial Olympics. Everyone on, you know, it s a worldwide success story. So that being said, we don t It s not like you re coming in and you trying to pitch us on like, Hey, we got this brand new idea, and we hope we re hoping that it s going to be a workout. We already know. So for now, and you know, and I appreciate the conversation because I think everyone up here agrees that this is a worthwhile endeavor. Um and there are many worthwhile endeavors because some other people that are organizing other You know senior games and everybody else might be like. Well, wait a second if you re going to do this, then we wanted as well. Even, though. I think that the history with the Special Olympics Sort of elevates them over a lot of the other organizations not to say that the others are not worthwhile. That being said. We get into the mechanics of how does the government work the bureaucracy? How does it work? And when Mr Campbell and I were having conversations originally was talk a couple of months ago about as Commissioner Smith said, bringing a person directly into our organization. And then I guess through the iterations of the process when Mr Campbell and I got a chance to speak again. He said that one of the options that was floated was a grant opportunity and I think what I ve heard today is somewhat confusing to me, so it could be confusing to the folks that are listening. I didn t believe that That meant we would help them apply for grants elsewhere. We have something here called Grants and aids, which is one of our programs where we internally Fund through taxpayer dollars a whole host of not for profits that come annually and reapply or they have a, you know, revolving kind of agreement with the county. I agree with what Commissioner Heatherington and maybe it s because we re sitting next to each other and Jenkins that I think the more effective efficient Position. Would be internally to the Special Olympics organization, spending the entire day understanding through their their tears of statewide regional state regional country nationally globally to participate at that level and that this should be brought back through our grants and aids procedure that we are funding that position. And, then let that person to commissioner herds, concern and caution. We have no idea what level of participation the county government would play should play. We don t offer Busses to too many other organizations. If I m not mistaken. We don t offer transportation to any other ation. And. I do know from Palm City dolphins, Martin County Pioneer Lacrosse Martin County North Little League pick one of our groups. The transportation or even my wife for eight years at the as the athletic Director Secretariat, Martin County High School, the biggest Portion of her job was figuring out the transportation Um and not just Hey. How do we get this team from one location to another and back safely? All that comes with that. So. I would personally um Show support with the hybrid option, which is to Commissioner Smith s idea that someone should be very specifically a special Olympics coordinator or whatever the title is. I m sure there s people that have these positions elsewhere in America. That s specifically works with us that can come in and work within our parks and rec and advocate specifically for special Olympics with our team and then come to us periodically and say, Okay, we re starting with this present this proposal. It s going to be these things. Some of it. We re already doing the swimming pool. But. Maybe they say, Look we need to have, um Mountain biking or whatever the case MAY be, and we need to access help Patio coke or we re going to do something at the golf course or we re going to do something equestrian and we have coordinated with private. Um, vendor out in Palm City farms to do that. So Special Olympics is getting exactly what they needed. And. They join our family of other not for profit organizations that have received grants and then we can layer in What programs we want to now embrace because I would like us to be a destination for special Olympics as well. I think Martin County could do that. We do have the senior games where a destination for senior games. Um We also have Patriot games and other were started to just include fire rescue their tournaments here. I love it. I love that idea, especially with this organization because I agre. That if there are 300 people participated, participating now it could be a. Huge multiplier of that if the programs were based here, so after all of that, I would say that I am in complete support of having them come and apply for grants and aid and not like you re rolling the dice on. Maybe. You know you ll come back and six weeks when is that, Mr Donaldson? Any idea when the grants and aid procedure and timing opens up That s coming up, right? Um, we review that during the budget process, which is in JULY. Um certainly the those that are on the list are what we have today. The formality of an annual application process You currently don t have, but people can request but we do consider it through our budget process, which is, uh, Through the hearing budget hearing, which is in JULY. But the concept of putting that budget item or line item together happens prior to the budget that happens in the months leading up to it. Yes. Well. The departments are preparing their budgets, the grants and aids folks will be supplying what their request is. And then we present that to you in JULY. Okay, so it s not that you start that process in JULY that that process ends in JULY with grants and I would tell you and I m based on You know what I heard from my colleagues? I think that that is something that has yet to been asked for in the past, but It s completely appropriate to be asked for now and if if the structure of that is an individual if we gave you a grand for x amount of dollars And you felt that it should be For, a specific coordinator within the county. Then. That would be your prerogative if you structured that person to also assist in other responsibilities that you might have to work in other areas that could benefit your organization. Having the flexibility of the grant allows you to do that, versus a permanent employee in parks and rec that answers To Mr Abbott. I think you would have a lot more of an efficient representative and I Think to Mr Commissioner Smith s vision of this and I give him all the credit because he was the one that brought this great idea forward. Um That s how I would do it, and I think you d be very successful with that. And then, like I said, I would also commit to, um Also supporting opportunities that came down that came with a price tag. So commissioner heard and the rest of us could fairly look at our taxpayers and say, Well, we did approve that. Not with our hearts alone, but with our brains and so with that alternative commissioner hurt. Yeah, There s there s still a great deal of uncertainty for me with what we re proposing. What I. Also heard is that another option for us might be to apply to special Olympics. The National Special Olympics or the regional Special Olympics or whatever for a grant to fund Position dedicated to Martin County. Did I hear that? Sarah Woods you like to come forward? I did not hear that. But Yeah. So I m wait till you get to the microphone, please. That wasn t one of the options proposed. The option proposed was the option. You discussed where, um, utilizing the grants within the county or money within the county, someone dedicated for recruiting athletes, coaches, aligning facilities and just one thing I would like to speak to because I know it s one of the major concerns was brought up. All transportation for our athletes to any competitions is covered by us. We pay for all our transportation. So, um as it comes to participating in regional or state competitions, it s actually funded through Special Olympics, Florida as well as any insurance concerns. We do we work with outside entities to cover all of our athletes? When They are training during the training. It s covered by Special Olympics, Florida and do any other, Um Government agencies. Municipalities have a special Olympics person who is dedicated to their Government agency rather than internally internally having having one because I think I think that that would be the more appropriate uh, Placement of that employee is not within Martin County, but rather within the special Olympics. That s a great, um so kind of hybrid models exist within each, Um Various government agencies. So within a county there could be a government position just like the one proposed here. There s also counties that provide us grant money that directly goes to funding a position and through a lot of counties. It s actually through the school board or the Education Department, so there s different models that have been successful. Just To give you high different models that we work with within our 67 counties. Okay, I think we have a lot to consider here and, um, a lot of different possibilities to examine and to analyze further, So. I m all in favor of continuing to analyze this, Um To see what the best course of action is. Thank you, Commissioner Commissioner Smith. Some as chair listening to everybody s conversation. There seems to be some support