[3:36] Good evening. >> Good evening and welcome to the

[3:40] September 8th village council meeting. Uh Marne, will you please call the role?

[3:46] » Council member Steve Freriedman >> here.

[3:48] » Council member Deb Gillis >> here.

[3:50] » Council member Anna Richards >> here. Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney

[3:54] » here. >> And Mayor Don Horton,

[3:55] » I'm here. Let's see. Rob Stober, will you please lead us in the pledge of

[4:00] » allegiance? Stand your heart, hand over

[4:06] to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it

[4:11] stands. One nation, indivisible,

[4:16] and justice for all. >> Thank you so much.

[4:24] Let's see. Do we have any requests for deletions or

[4:28] emergency additions? Steve, we'll start with you.

[4:31] » None for me, >> Deb.

[4:33] » Yes. I'd like to pull tab one on the um housing discussion. Uh I'd like to just

[4:40] see some more comparisons to the other districts before we see that.

[4:46] » Council, y'all okay with pulling tab one? Okay, very good. We'll pull that.

[4:51] » Thank you. >> Um

[4:53] Anna, >> nothing. Vice Mayor.

[4:57] » Okay. I I think we had an add-on to this agenda

[5:02] from uh Chief Ael. So, why don't we put him at K11, the last on the resolutions?

[5:14] Barney, you good with that? >> Yes, sir.

[5:17] » Very good. Um Ron, do you have any additions or

[5:22] emergency additions or deletions? I have a couple items, but I'll bring it

[5:26] up during my report. >> Okay. Very good, John.

[5:30] » Nope. Nothing from me. >> Wonderful. Okay,

[5:33] moving on to reports and presentations. Um,

[5:40] Captain Lzette, I think you're up. And get the good stuff out of the way first.

[5:45] » Thank you, sir. Ma'am, good evening, Mayor, members of the council, and

[5:50] members of our community. I'd like to take a moment to introduce Sergeant

[5:54] Darnell Durham who has served our community on night shift and will now be

[5:59] transitioning to dayshift.

[6:04] » Hello everybody. >> Hello.

[6:06] » Um I know most of you here. Uh I'm glad to be here and uh thank you for having

[6:13] me here. Uh of course I'm on dayshift right across the street at the fire

[6:19] station. Um, I'm assuming uh I don't know if you remember Greg, Greg Johnson,

[6:24] so I'm taking his spot and what he does. Um,

[6:28] and my name is Darnell Durham. Um, I know you're probably wondering what the

[6:32] sheriff calls me. I'll tell you that special name.

[6:36] Everybody ready? >> Darnell.

[6:40] [laughter] Uh so I started uh in 1997 as a

[6:45] correction officer for the uh Florida State Penitentiary

[6:49] uh up in uh off 40th Street. I don't know if anybody knows where that is. So

[6:53] that's what I did when I was 19 years old. I did that for about about eight

[6:58] years and I've seen people getting stabbed, stuff like that. So I said,

[7:04] "You know what? I got to leave here." And I put in to be a law enforcement

[7:09] officer. And uh I put in five applications and of

[7:13] course the sheriff's office called me for I told myself whoever calls me first

[7:16] that's where I'm going. So the sheriff's office called me first and I uh I came

[7:22] to the sheriff's office. I got hired and my first position was in uh all the way

[7:27] in Kajjo. So I to earn this position I drove all the way from Homestead to

[7:33] Kudo. >> Wow.

[7:34] » To do a 12-hour shift. I wanted to be uh with the sheriff's office that bad. Uh

[7:40] so I put in my dedication uh to be here and uh and I thank the sheriff very much

[7:45] for hiring me. Uh from there uh I went up to district 7 road patrol. I worked

[7:54] there for about maybe five maybe five years. Road patrolled there. And from

[8:01] there I went to the courts. I used to work in the courthouse. I worked courts

[8:05] and that's how I know Rob Stober over there. and uh Cheryl Cheryl Coberson,

[8:11] how are you? Uh so so I met a really good people. Um I built some

[8:17] relationships there. Um I had a great time in there. I learned a lot. Um that

[8:22] kind of developed me. Um and I always had uh you know people skills. I wanted

[8:27] to always give back to my community. Um so I just had a passion for that.

[8:34] from the courthouse. I did uh some civil work and again Rob Sto and co uh Cheryl

[8:40] Coberson there. Uh I did some civil work. I was doing the civil processing

[8:45] for the sheriff's office and from there I became a detective with

[8:51] uh CIU. Um I did some detective work for about five years and my supervisors and

[8:57] detectives might be present in the room. uh Lieutenant Benadetti and Captain

[9:02] Quantero, they were my supervisors there and they uh put a lot of work into me

[9:06] because uh of course I needed some work and they took their time out to mold me

[9:11] to be that and kind of give me the encouragement to move up in the

[9:16] department. Um so that's why I'm here today and and of course I in 2023

[9:23] I got promoted to sergeant and that's how I came to this uh beautiful city in

[9:28] Alam Marada. Um, and I I'm having a blast. Um, and I'm

[9:35] here. [laughter]

[9:38] » Thank you. >> Thank you very much.

[9:39] » Oh, okay. All right. I I I had Hey, I had a little more.

[9:44] » Hey, Darnell. Darn. Wait a minute. Darnell.

[9:48] I've [laughter] I've got I've got a really long uh

[9:53] presentation that I give got to give tonight with a lot of where's you want

[9:58] to cover that for me tonight? >> I can I can take it. I can take it. All

[10:01] right. [laughter] >> Thank you. I told them write a short

[10:05] speech. Wow. [laughter] It is also my distinct privilege tonight

[10:10] to introduce a key addition to our district's leadership team. Joining us

[10:15] um as a critical supervisory role in our is our new sergeant Willie Gara.

[10:20] Sergeant Gara comes to us with 12 years of dedicated law enforcement experience

[10:26] um previously serving with the distinction to of our um in our traffic

[10:30] division. Throughout his his career, Sergeant Gara has demonstrated not only

[10:34] tactical excellence, but a profound commitment to the principles of

[10:38] community oriented policing. As a sergeant, he'll be responsible for

[10:42] leading our frontline deputies, ensuring accountability, and most importantly as

[10:48] a direct point of contact of our for our residents and our business owners. Uh

[10:52] please join me in offering a warm welcome to Sergeant Cara.

[10:56] [applause]

[11:00] I'd like to say thank you CF. Thank you um the board for having us and I'd like

[11:04] to say thank the community for giving us a chance to speak. I'm Sergeant William

[11:07] Garrett. I've been employed since 2014. I started at the age of 19. I did I

[11:11] began my career with the correction facility down in Key West. Did five

[11:14] years there. I got transferred out to road patrol where I also did five years

[11:18] on road patrol. Got promoted to uh the traffic division and did two years there

[11:23] as the DUI unit and the aggressive unit. And then I got the opportunity to

[11:27] promote and uh now become the night supervision supervisor in Alam Marada.

[11:31] I'm also on the SWAT team and RDF and I look forward to working with the board

[11:36] and the community as well. If you guys need anything, you can always give us a

[11:38] call and we'll we'll be there so to support you guys. Thank you very much.

[11:43] » Thank you very much. [applause]

[11:46] » Thank y'all both y'all all very much. We're glad that you're on board with us.

[11:50] And Darnell, we're glad you're working days now. I bet your family is too.

[11:55] Thank y'all so much. >> That's exactly it. That's right.

[12:03] » All right. Let's see. Next, we've got Dr. Steve coming up to give us a

[12:07] presentation. Uh we've been I've been hoping that we could get you here for

[12:12] past couple of months. So, I'm glad you're here to talk about the Everglades

[12:15] Foundation, the great work you're doing. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor, uh Vice Mayor,

[12:20] council members. Um it's been a while since I've I've spoken before this body,

[12:25] but uh it it there's a lot to uh convey and and I know that uh maybe Captain

[12:32] Canaro might might pull me back if I run over time. I'll I'll try to to stick to

[12:37] the schedule here, but um we we've made a lot of progress in Everglades

[12:43] restoration over the last 10 or 15 years. And and I know many of you recall

[12:47] the last seaggrass die off that we had in Florida Bay in 2015. Uh we've been

[12:53] really touchandgo this year, but I'm confident that the the the bay has been

[12:59] in a much better condition this year even though we've been in a much more

[13:03] severe drought. Uh, and the reason why the bay is in a much better condition is

[13:07] because we're seeing the benefits of Everglades restoration infrastructure

[13:11] and more importantly the operations that allow us to get more water into the park

[13:17] down into the bay. Uh, as many of you know, Florida Bay is the estuary of the

[13:22] Everglades. Uh, as and as an estuary, it requires fresh water from land mixing

[13:29] with ocean water from the Gulf and the Atlantic. And if we don't have fresh

[13:34] water coming out of the Everglades, then it's no longer an estuary and it can't

[13:38] function as one. And of course, the recreational fishing, the habitats that

[13:43] many of the fish and shellfish depend upon require that fresh water coming out

[13:47] of the Everglades. And we've seen that this year. And so my message to you

[13:52] today is that not only is Everglades restoration worth it, and that's a

[13:57] message we've been communicating for years now, even most recently at an

[14:01] economic roundt at Angler House Marina back in April, but that it's also

[14:07] working.

[14:10] So, I I I love this this image here. And if you're a fan of National Geographic

[14:15] and some of the old illustrations, this map really speaks to not only how the

[14:20] Everglades worked historically as a massive river of grass that Marjgery

[14:25] Stman Douglas described from Lake Okachchobee all the way down to the

[14:30] Florida Keys. So, that's an important recipient of that freshwater. And of

[14:34] course, we changed that. We dissected the Everglades. We disconnected it from

[14:39] Lake Okachchobee, its headwater supply. You see that surplus water going east

[14:44] and west, those plumes of water extending offshore. Very little water

[14:48] making it into the park. You see fires and Everglades National Park there. And

[14:54] and those red arrows speak to saltwater intrusion into the Everglades. And we

[14:59] also know our aquifer is at risk of that. And when we have drought years,

[15:05] these problems are exacerbated. And most recently, uh, this is an image that FWC

[15:11] took over Johnson Key Basin to the northwest of here. After that seaggrass

[15:16] die off, the entire basin and many others around it, 40,000 acres uh, were

[15:23] decimated by that seaggrass die off, and it's taken the bay many years to recover

[15:28] from that. This is an image uh from Ed Lipish up in the Stewart, Florida area

[15:35] showing that plume of water extending from Lake Okachchobee offshore. This is

[15:40] a very unnatural connection that was made to the lake and over time with the

[15:44] lake being polluted that has led to impacts in that area. Uh I know some of

[15:49] you were around for the nowades campaign in 2016. This was on the heels of

[15:57] seaggrass dio in Florida Bay and and harmful discharges to the east and west

[16:02] coast. We had communities in crisis as a result of that. Uh our organization, the

[16:08] Everglades Foundation, working in partnership with fishing guides, with uh

[16:14] fishing apparel companies, the Orvis Company, uh just down the street here,

[16:18] Sandy Morett, one of the leaders uh on Everglades restoration. We worked

[16:23] together as a community, uh, Captain Freriedman as well, working to push for

[16:28] a reservoir south of Lake Okachchobee, uh, that we knew was necessary to

[16:34] reconnect the lake back to the south, recognizing that water's polluted. We

[16:38] need to clean it. I'll talk briefly about the technologies we have there,

[16:42] but this is really something that we did not know was going to take place just 10

[16:47] years ago. Yet we're seeing this reservoir come out

[16:51] of the ground now. Uh this is a four plus billion dollar project led by the

[16:58] federal government, the US Army Corps of Engineers working in partnership with

[17:02] the South Florida Water Management District. This is an enormous project

[17:06] that will benefit Everglades National Park, Florida Bay, and the Florida Keys.

[17:12] uh on that map on the right, that light blue area and the small treatment

[17:16] wetland to the left of it, you could fit Manhattan into that project footprint.

[17:21] It's enormous. Uh and this is the way that we reconnect the heart of the

[17:27] ecosystem, Lake Okachchobee, back to the body. Uh this project was recently

[17:32] accelerated for completion in 2029. uh we were looking at a 2034 timeline, but

[17:38] now we're looking at 2029 to getting this project ready for testing.

[17:46] Uh I talked about how we need to ensure that water's clean. Uh we've in invested

[17:51] billions largely taxpayer funding in treatment wetlands on the southern end

[17:57] of that Everglades agricultural area to ensure that clean water is going south

[18:02] not just for our water supply but for protection of the Everglades ultimately

[18:07] all the way down to Florida Bay. Uh there's an important compliance testing

[18:11] that's now underway for the first year of the expansion of this infrastructure

[18:16] that we call restoration strategies. So, we're hopeful that we'll hit that water

[18:20] quality mark and in subsequent years, but this is something that we're always

[18:25] mindful of that there may be a need for more treatment south of Lake Okachchobee

[18:29] as we send more water south. Two massive reservoirs have now been constructed to

[18:35] the east and the west of Lake Okachchobee. The C43 along the Kusa

[18:40] Hatchee, the C44 along the St. Lucy. These are critical to cutting down some

[18:46] of those discharges to the east and west coast. But working in concert with that

[18:52] EA reservoir, we'll be able to see more than 50% of those harmful discharges

[18:57] reduced and more of that clean water flowing south again to the park under

[19:03] the bridges of Tammy Trail. Uh these are projects that have been in the ground

[19:09] since 2012 2018 and we're now realizing the operational benefits of being able

[19:15] to sheet flow water into Everglades National Park under these bridges

[19:20] through Shark River Slooh, removing a bottleneck that's existed for a hundred

[19:25] years now in this part of the system. One thing you may not know about is that

[19:31] we've built underground walls along the eastern boundary of Everglades National

[19:36] Park. These underground walls help to reduce the leakage of water eastward

[19:42] into areas that used to be the Everglades but are now developed. Uh so

[19:47] these underground walls are built and designed to allow for aquafer recharge.

[19:52] We have water supply wells to the east of these walls, but they protect

[19:57] communities more importantly as we're putting more water into the Everglades

[20:02] and flowing it south again down to Florida Bay.

[20:06] And of course, the goal is the finish line. And it's getting that water into

[20:11] the park where it's free flowing, no obstruction to flow through Everglades

[20:16] National Park down into the southwest coast into Florida Bay where we know it

[20:22] will nourish our estuaries protecting mangroves, seaggrasses and of course all

[20:27] the habitats that uh various species that we value depend upon.

[20:33] But it's again it's not just infrastructure. Uh and I I I plant this

[20:38] as a seed to be mindful of that as we build this infrastructure, we now need

[20:44] to begin the process of operational planning. How are we going to operate

[20:49] this critical infrastructure uh from Lake Okachchobee through the reservoir

[20:54] through that water quality treatment infrastructure down through the central

[20:58] Everglades and then ultimately down into Everglades National Park and the

[21:02] Everglades Foundation as an independent science-based organization. This is our

[21:08] priority for the next three years to ensure that this infrastructure is

[21:12] delivering delivering the maximum benefits to this part of the system as

[21:17] much as possible. Uh and we're already seeing the benefits

[21:22] of Everglades restoration. Uh this next slide will show you the uh uh conditions

[21:29] that we've experienced in Florida Bay over the last uh year and a half. We've

[21:34] been in a a two-year state of drought. I don't know if you could advance that for

[21:38] me, please. Clicker doesn't seem to be working.

[21:43] Thank you. Uh, we know that we've had reduced

[21:47] freshwater flows into Florida Bay over this past year and a half because of the

[21:52] drought. there's not water to to go around, but because of the

[21:56] infrastructure and because of the operational changes, we've seen more

[21:59] water flowing under Tamiami Trail this year than we did in 2015 when we

[22:05] experienced a drought where there was zero water crossing Tamiami Trail for

[22:09] multiple consecutive months. And despite the heat, despite the lack of rainfall,

[22:15] uh so far we haven't seen that critical die-off condition experienced in the

[22:20] bay.

[22:23] And I've just got a few data slides uh uh plots here to speak to that. Many of

[22:28] you have seen these drought maps. Uh we we can compare 2015 to 2026. 2015 again

[22:36] when we had that die-off. Uh we have had a much more serious drought this year

[22:42] than we did in 2015, which would suggest dire conditions in Florida Bay. But the

[22:48] plot at right there speaks to the real uh response variables. With more fresh

[22:54] water going into the bay, we've seen salinity levels, that orange dash line,

[22:59] not reach that same peak that we saw in 2015 in the blue line. And this is not

[23:06] to say we're out of the woods yet, but we do know that as a result of 10 times

[23:11] more water going under those bridges of Tammy Trail this year, we're seeing the

[23:16] benefits of Everglades restoration even before that reservoir is built and new

[23:21] waters coming south. Last thing I want to leave you all with

[23:25] is just a reminder of the economics. We're doing this because it it matters

[23:30] environmentally, but also it has multiple touch points with our economy

[23:35] and you all know that in the Keys more than any other area of South Florida. Uh

[23:40] recent studies that we've commissioned and working in with con in concert with

[23:45] Earth Economics has shown that the Everglades is a trillion dollar asset to

[23:49] the state of Florida. Uh it generates upwards of $330 billion dollars each

[23:55] year to our clean water economy. Uh tens of thousands of businesses that depend

[24:00] on clean water. And we also know it's a smart investment. Uh years ago, we

[24:05] commissioned a study to show that for every dollar invested in Everglades

[24:09] restoration, we get $4 in return. And it's in real estate, it's in recreation,

[24:15] it's in our water supply. uh not even considering the valuable attributes of

[24:21] carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and the other environmental amenities that

[24:25] the Everglades affords us. So, uh kept [clears throat] to my promise of

[24:30] being brief. Uh I'm I'm happy to pause here if there are any questions, but

[24:34] again, I thank you all for the opportunity to report on this.

[24:39] » Thank you very much. Um Dr. Steve, I I got to say that I went to the EAA with

[24:46] the the a lot of people from the community. Uh Judy was there with me and

[24:51] and Rob was there. Uh and it it's just a a phenomenal undertaking. The the

[24:57] technology and the engineering there is is just unbelievable. And I I don't know

[25:03] if you're going to open it up to another tour soon or or if you are. Uh I I'm

[25:08] sure that those of us that were there while you were building those uh

[25:13] underwater dams and and starting the construction there certainly like to see

[25:18] the condition of it now. It's it's just a amazing project and uh we're really

[25:23] proud to to whatever we can do to help with that, especially to spread the word

[25:28] of the good that y'all are doing. >> Well, thank you so much. It's a

[25:32] community effort and I think the more people we can get out there, the more

[25:36] they'll understand the the scope of this project and how something 80 miles away

[25:42] can benefit Florida Bay and the Florida Keys. So,

[25:44] » yeah, maybe we can change the name to Forever Glades now. So, what what we're

[25:49] going to save that. That's awesome. >> Sounds great.

[25:52] » Council. >> Yeah, Steve.

[25:55] » Yeah, Steve. I I just want to thank you um for helping educate us on Everglades

[26:01] Foundation and and why it's so important to communities that are so far away from

[26:04] it that that really everybody in Florida is touched by it where depending on

[26:08] where the where the water goes, but a healthy Everglades is is going to be a

[26:12] healthy Florida. Um and your relentless uh mission to educate people on that is

[26:18] is uh not lost on me and it's part of the reason why I'm sitting here. Um I

[26:24] would also like to note that uh he gave us so much information there so quickly

[26:29] that I think it's important to realize that this is not in design phase. This

[26:35] is not in preliminary projects. This is ongoing. We are in the ground shovels

[26:41] going um and we're really trying to uh get the funding to be able to advance

[26:48] some of these projects. And you mentioned the uh reservoir that wasn't

[26:52] slated to start I think um really until 2020 but for the advocacy of uh

[26:59] fishermen scientists uh and communities they were able to accelerate that one

[27:04] project. So that will hopefully be done in time because right now um we are

[27:08] still in crisis of this drought that he spoke about. Uh there's an article by

[27:13] vote uh water that says deep dive Florida bay always one threat away from

[27:17] devastation >> and can you just talk a little bit about

[27:20] what that means because the quote that I use a lot that you've told me is that

[27:23] the wick has been lit. What does that mean? Well, I I think the the best way

[27:29] to look at it is that um with the construction of Tammy Trail in the 1920s

[27:35] cutting off Lake Okachchobee from the rest of the system, it's really put

[27:40] especially Florida Bay in a perpetual state of drought. Unless we have uh a

[27:46] big rainfall event like we did with Hurricane Irma in 2017, it's almost

[27:51] always in some state of drought. Uh and of course being on a knife's edge means

[27:58] that when we actually have a drought historically it would tip over. We saw

[28:03] that as you may recall in the late 80s early 90s and of course you recall 2015.

[28:09] Uh this year being a more severe drought and extended uh really was putting us on

[28:15] call nearly 247 just keeping track of salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen

[28:21] levels. Uh but because of those inflows that we've been able to get into the

[28:26] bay, it's helped to keep it at least for now out of that condition. But um

[28:33] restoration really it this is the one of the biggest beneficiaries of Everglades

[28:39] restoration, restoring flow through the central Everglades, getting it down to

[28:43] this part of the system. Um yeah, >> I also wanted to thank you for touching

[28:47] on the uh economics of it with the trillion dollar um industry that it's

[28:52] creating. I think it's important because there's a lot of misinformation that

[28:56] talks about um wanting to uh take land for this and um and I don't think that

[29:02] there is that's really accurate. I think that uh there is a cohesive plan here

[29:07] for all of the stakeholders from agriculture to uh fishermen to uh

[29:13] hunters and uh I appreciate you talking about that because I I don't think that

[29:17] can be overstated. And I guess I just want to end with you know what can we do

[29:22] uh as a municipality to um help this help ensure that this continues? Well, I

[29:28] I'll commit to updates as frequently as this council would like. Um, but I think

[29:36] just staying involved, staying engaged. These operational planning processes are

[29:41] really where those benefits are going to be realized and there are going to be

[29:46] efforts to curtail that to some extent. There are uh other interests that would

[29:51] like to have that water for themselves. Uh, we want it for the Everglades. We

[29:55] want it for the 9 million people that reside in South Florida and of course

[29:59] all the environmental uh habitats around it. So, we're going to be working

[30:04] steadfastly to ensure that those benefits are realized all the way down

[30:08] to Florida Bay. So, I think staying engaged um and regular updating will

[30:13] will be the the the best. >> We you've got an open door for us. Just

[30:18] whenever whenever you've got something or want to bring us an update, u don't

[30:23] hesitate. just call Ron, get on the schedule, and let's let's have you talk

[30:27] to us because this is a big deal. We're really proud of what you're doing there.

[30:31] » Great. Well, thank you, >> Deb.

[30:33] » Yeah, I just had a short comment. Steve and I have known each other for several

[30:36] years now. [clears throat] Uh, and your organization has done a

[30:40] great job in helping educate the public where we are and where we need to go.

[30:47] And I just want to thank you again for this. And you're always welcomed at this

[30:52] podium. >> Thank you.

[30:55] All right, good deal. >> Thanks a lot, Doc.

[31:02] » On to the next. Let's see. We've got a proclamation,

[31:08] [clears throat]

[31:10] an official statement. Whereas diapers and other basic necessities are

[31:14] essential to keeping babies and young children clean, dry, healthy, and able

[31:18] to participate in child care in our early learning settings. And whereas the

[31:25] National Diaper Bank Network, Diaper Check 2026 found that 40% of the US

[31:32] households with children under four in diapers experienced diaper insecurity,

[31:37] including 62% of lowincome households. And whereas diapers insecurity affects

[31:44] families economic stability, caregivers who reported missing work because they

[31:49] lack diapers needed for children missing an average of 5.3 work days in the prior

[31:55] 30 days and families experiencing diapers in security reported sacrificing

[32:01] other necessities including food and housing payments to afford diapers. And

[32:06] whereas in Monunroe County alone, an estimated one in four children under the

[32:11] age of three experience diaper insecurity. And whereas Miami Diaper

[32:16] Bank, a member of the National Diaper Bank Network, supports the Florida Keys

[32:21] Healthy Start Coalition that helps fill a critical gap in human services for

[32:27] vulnerable children and families. And whereas the National Diaper Need a

[32:32] Awareness Week established by the National Diaper Bank Network and

[32:37] observed on September 14th through the 20th, 2026

[32:42] provides an opportunity for residents, businesses, civic organizations, and

[32:47] public officials to learn about diaper diaper insecurity and take practical

[32:53] action through advocacy, diaper drives, donations, volunteer service, referrals,

[32:59] and community partnerships. And whereas Alamrada is proud to be home

[33:04] to trusted community-based organizations, including the Florida

[33:08] Keys Healthy Start Coalition that recognize the importance of diaper in

[33:14] ensuring health and providing economic stability for families and thus

[33:19] distribute diapers to families through various channels. And whereas through

[33:24] our important work of addressing diaper needs, the Healthy

[33:29] Start Coalition and Diaper Banks play a critical role in supporting families,

[33:35] improving infant health and well-being, and advancing our local and state

[33:40] economic growth. Now therefore, I, Don Horton, mayor of Alamra Village of

[33:45] Islands, do hereby proclaim September 14th through the 20th, 2026 as NA

[33:52] National Diaper Need a Awareness Week. Alamada Village of Islands thanks the

[33:57] aforementioned Florida Keys Healthy Start Coalition, their staff, partners,

[34:02] volunteers, and donors for their courageous service and encouraging

[34:06] residences, businesses, notfor-profit organizations, health and social service

[34:11] providers, and public agencies of Alamada Village of Islands to donate

[34:16] generously to the Florida Keys Healthy Stark Coalition, host diaper drives, and

[34:21] support those organizations that collect and distribute diapers. ers to families

[34:26] struggling with diaper needs so that all of village of island children and

[34:31] families can thrive and reach their full potential with health, dignity, and

[34:36] economic stability. I witness thereof my set unto my hand to cause the official

[34:44] seal of Alamrada village of Islands to be affixed on this 8th day of September

[34:50] 26. >> Thank you.

[35:04] Thank you, village of Isa Marada, for recognizing diaper need awareness week

[35:07] and helping bring attention to everyday needs of Keys families. The coalition

[35:12] distributes anywhere between 80,000 and 100,000 diapers every year to the

[35:17] community. Um, so we'd like to help you join us for our annual diaper drive that

[35:22] we host in February. This September, we'd also like everyone to be a safety

[35:28] hero in recognition of National Safety Month to ensure local families have

[35:33] access to essential items such as car seats and safe baby beds. We are so

[35:38] grateful for your continued partnership and support in our endeavors. Thank you.

[35:43] » Very good. Thank you very much. >> Thank you.

[35:47] All right. And now we've got an update on our uh

[35:52] uh FKA transmission line replacement. >> Good evening, council.

[35:57] » Welcome. >> I'm glad to say this is still the most

[35:59] challenging aspect of this project.

[36:07] » All right, skip past the project team, but it's remained the same since the

[36:10] beginning. Um the main update here is that we are getting to the paving and

[36:15] that is scheduled to be start on um September 14th and that'll be Sunday

[36:21] night and the paving will be uh continuing Sunday night through Thursday

[36:25] night um for however many weeks they need to get it complete. Um and then

[36:31] work is work is paused for FDOT blackout dates, but during the month of

[36:34] September, we don't have any blackout dates. And then um if the paving

[36:38] depending on when we get to the end of this month and into next month in

[36:42] October, we'll update based on the blackout dates if we're going to get

[36:44] into Halloween or Fantasy Fest.

[36:50] Um this is the traffic control plan. What you're going to see when we get

[36:54] into the paving, we're going to start down at the Snake Creek uh way station

[36:58] area and then the pavers are going to move north going with the flow of

[37:01] traffic. Um, you'll still have one northbound lane and one southbound lane

[37:06] uh from the way station all the way up until Woods. We'll be doing the same

[37:10] thing where at night we'll be shifting cars over into the center lane, rolling

[37:13] lane shift as they go through and do the restoration. Once we get up to Woods

[37:18] Avenue, the contractors indicated that um as of right now, they're going to

[37:23] have the two southbound lanes open all the time and then they'll have one lane

[37:27] on the northbound section closed uh at each time as they do the outside and the

[37:31] center lane. Um I still think there's a possibility we may have some times where

[37:36] they have to do the full lane shifts. We'll update you as we get closer to

[37:39] that. Um but just be aware that there is a chance that could happen.

[37:44] um access to businesses will always remain open

[37:48] and

[37:53] so we're still in that that step 10 completing the the final cleanup of the

[37:57] project. We've done most of the restoration and there just to add on

[38:01] there are a few areas where you might see the crews doing some additional work

[38:04] um off the side of the road. So, if you see some signs, like always, um, use

[38:09] caution and, you know, slow down because a lot of those are neighbors, friends,

[38:13] and people who live here. [snorts] Any questions,

[38:18] council? Nope. All right. Thank you very much.

[38:23] » Thank you. >> All right. We'll move on to citizens

[38:27] advisory committee reports and appointments. We don't have any

[38:30] appointments, I don't think. But, um, do we have Carolyn Whiteitman on Zoom?

[38:37] I am here. >> Hello Carolyn.

[38:40] » Hey there. Let me make sure I don't have double volume here.

[38:48] Okay. Is that our Whoops. Whoops. Sorry, I'm on twice. Hold on one second.

[38:54] Hang on. Remote technology is wonderful.

[39:01] Okay. Well, I'm happy to report on behalf of the citizens advisory group

[39:06] from parks and rec committee and I'm honored to say that um both Rich Russell

[39:11] and I have been appointed or elected to continue on as the chairperson and the

[39:17] co-chair. Um we have two new members from our our um our um committee. One of

[39:25] them is Scott Ghost and Scott was with the Coast Guard here in Alam Marada for

[39:31] about three years until 2021. And he told his stories saying that he was

[39:36] looking forward to going back to North Carolina and found that they loved the

[39:41] community so much that they stayed. He is currently the executive director of

[39:46] Habitat for Humanity and his family is very engaged in the community. So he is

[39:52] a new member of the parks and wreck committee along with Cindy Smith who uh

[39:57] lived in Keargo for 20ome years but moved to Island Marada and um so she is

[40:03] now very active in all the park activities and does a lot of

[40:07] photography. I'm also happy to say we have a third applicant that could be

[40:13] available for this committee that I think also will be excellent. um he is

[40:17] married to a longtime family here and will be available. So in the event that

[40:22] another opening comes up I think we have a very strong and very um committed

[40:27] committee. So, at our meeting, which was just last

[40:32] week, um we did get a report from the manager, and part of that was a report

[40:38] on the baseball agreement, which I'm guessing that report will probably be

[40:44] more completely done later during this during this time, but I believe that the

[40:50] rest [clears throat] of the agreements have now been signed. So the baseball

[40:53] park is on the way and and is scheduled to be available for the coming baseball

[40:59] season. So that's really positive for us all. Um there are two events or two

[41:06] activities that the parks and rec committee is involved in in looking at

[41:12] with the budget relating to um relating to the council. And one of those is that

[41:20] um the the commitment to continuing to have the events of Beats on the Bay and

[41:26] some of these other um sort of um you know inspiring events that go on with us

[41:34] in the village and that the connections those are our connections to our

[41:40] community. So that's one of the commitments that the council or I mean

[41:44] that the uh committee is very supportive of. The other one includes a discussion

[41:49] of the history and records wall at the pool. And for anyone of you who don't

[41:54] know about that, um I just like to do a quick aside on budget. Uh the council, I

[42:01] mean the committee voted unanimously to continue that project. There's always

[42:06] the question of budgeting, but I'd like to just do a quick aside, and that is

[42:10] that the the the village of Isa Marada's budget as a whole, the big budget also

[42:19] includes a section which supports the park and that is not designed to be a

[42:25] revenue producing part of the of the budget. It is just part of the

[42:30] commitment of the village to maintain the park. However, on the side of the

[42:34] park, what you may remember from the past couple of years is there have been

[42:40] continuing efforts to um by the staff to make sure that there is revenue coming

[42:47] in for the use of the park, which includes some of the admissions from out

[42:51] of town people and and the park fees for the pool and so on. So um it's the sense

[42:58] of the committee that that the village um wants budget but that the park is

[43:05] supporting the the overall objective and bringing in some additional revenue. So

[43:12] um that's what's behind desiring to have those continued um activities. Um there

[43:20] are some Earth Day events that are um there's an Earth Day event that's

[43:23] scheduled coming up on April 16th. Um one of the questions that came up was

[43:29] relating to staff and the lifeguards and um that's an ongoing issue that staff is

[43:35] doing a really strong job of recruiting lifeguards so that there is full

[43:40] utilization of our pool facilities. That's an ongoing issue. Um, and then in

[43:47] the master plan, there are several things that have been pointed to that

[43:52] relate to parks and wreck. And these are all moving forward. Um, one of those has

[43:59] to do with the beach um, bathrooms and some of the fencing areas. Um, updating

[44:06] or or upscaling the the golf driving area that might include putting. Um,

[44:12] some things about the storage bins. One of our community members made a request

[44:17] to uh look at at um shade on the um the kids playground area on the far side of

[44:25] the beach and staff is working on those things. Um coming event quickly is uh

[44:32] the trunk retreat that will be on the 24th of October which is a week before

[44:37] Halloween. Um but that's always a great fun event. And then the last part is

[44:43] relates to the lighthouse and um the lighthouse gala which will be November

[44:49] 14th has requested been permitted for and given permission to have their gala

[44:57] on the on the um property of the park on the night of November 14th. This fits

[45:03] into all of the guidelines. It's a local event.

[45:06] um all of the guidelines that we have on hosting those events fit. So they will

[45:11] be coming here on the 14th of November. And that brings up to us then just a

[45:17] reminder of this weekend. And this weekend is the I don't know is this the

[45:23] 12th or the 13th 14th? I don't have the right numbers. Um the annual swim for

[45:29] Alligator Lighthouse which is a stunningly impressive event. And if any

[45:35] of you are inclined to just come and be a part of it, this is an event that

[45:40] celebrates it is the swim for alligator lighthouse, but it's to Alligator

[45:45] Lighthouse. It's an 8 mile swim to and from the lighthouse. There are I didn't

[45:51] get the current numbers, but I'm ballparking from the past. There are

[45:55] over 300 swimmers. Some do it solo, some do it as a team, and some do it with

[46:02] four. All of them are supported by a kayak. So, if you can imagine the

[46:08] beaches surrounded by a couple of hundred kayaks that are there to support

[46:15] the beginning and the completion of this race, which will be this coming

[46:20] Saturday, and it's at Amor. And um hopefully the weather will be

[46:25] great. And it's an event that brings in to my recollection last year I think

[46:32] there were people from five countries from like 38 states. This is one of the

[46:39] most highly celebrated open water events in the world and we are hosting that to

[46:46] celebrate the um the the protection and the and the sustaining of alligator

[46:53] lighthouse. So, um, I think that's a quickie on my report. If there are any

[46:58] questions, I'm available. And, uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[47:04] » Thank you so much, Carolyn. Council, any questions of Carolyn tonight? Nope.

[47:09] Carolyn, thanks so so much. And, uh, thanks for talking about the uh, uh,

[47:14] Lighthouse Gala and the the the Lighthouse Swim. That's a a big deal

[47:19] coming up this weekend. So, everybody should pay attention to that.

[47:24] » All we have to do is look behind you and the seal of the village has the

[47:29] lighthouse as the center of our seal. So, it's important for all of us as a

[47:34] community. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Carolyn. All right,

[47:39] moving on to mayor and council communications. Steve, you got anything

[47:44] for us tonight? >> Nope.

[47:46] » All right, Deb. Anna >> Sharon.

[47:50] » All right, moving on to village attorney.

[47:54] John, you have anything for us? >> I will join the no party.

[47:57] » Well, how about that, >> Ron? I'm sure you do. How about you?

[48:01] » I have a couple things. >> Good deal.

[48:02] » Uh, one to continue on with the chair's report. Uh, we are working with the

[48:06] school district on the ball field. Uh, we received their site p plan and also

[48:11] drainage plan and approved them. And so, we issued permits for them to proceed. I

[48:15] saw today there's a fencing company out there. So, we're going to be proceeding

[48:18] with the field, the fence, and the dugouts. Uh we're in daily communication

[48:22] with Keystar, their contractor, and our staff and planning and building are both

[48:26] working with them to make sure we expedite it. And so, at this point, we

[48:30] don't see any reason why it's going to be delayed and hopefully be finished

[48:33] before season starts. We're trying to schedule a groundbreaking in the next

[48:37] week or so. We'll coordinate with y'all schedules to see uh once they start

[48:41] getting equipment out there and all just to have like an official kickoff for it.

[48:44] Uh but seems like everything's on track. Uh so that's the ball field. Any

[48:48] questions on the ball field? >> Who do you have uh u as far as being the

[48:54] liaison for the work that's going to take place in on the village staff?

[48:58] » Sheila Denort has been the one almost in daily contact. So every day Sheila and I

[49:03] meet uh she reports me whatever she's been discussing with Keystar. And also

[49:08] as as I think I've told you they they did select the turf vendor. It is called

[49:12] Astro Turf. It's not the old Astro Turf. that's the name of the company and so

[49:16] they have been officially picked as the vendor. So we're also coordinating with

[49:19] uh them to make sure maintenance that we get proper training of how

[49:23] [clears throat] the field is going to be maintained that we're not going to be

[49:25] maintaining but we want to find out uh what's involved on it. So we're look

[49:28] I've had question about the cost of maintenance and we're getting those

[49:31] issues resolved but we are in almost daily communication with them.

[49:36] » And the uh u school board have they assigned a project manager to that? Uh I

[49:42] well they relied on Keyar obviously uh as you all know I think I part last

[49:46] meeting uh Captain Lefir retired who was the main lays on but they did not

[49:50] replace him they split his responsibilities and so when I asked who

[49:53] was in charge of the school district they said Ed Tierney the superintendent

[49:56] so uh he and I have been in touch every week and so he'll be our point of

[50:01] contact over there. >> Good deal. Thank you.

[50:04] » Uh so that was the ball field. Any other things on the ball field? Couple other

[50:08] issues. Uh there was some interest uh as you know we we have a jewel not just

[50:12] founder spark but also the green turtle hammock and we did a great job over

[50:17] there. We built a pavilion that has attracted some interest. I did get some

[50:21] inquiries about having weddings there. Uh after we discussed this with staff

[50:25] and and talked about some issues with parking and security and alcohol. Uh we

[50:30] uh I decided from our perspective with staff that we were not going to have

[50:35] weddings there. Uh but since you're all the ultimate policy uh deciders, if you

[50:39] want to decide otherwise, I asked for direction, but unless otherwise

[50:43] directed, uh my decision was to not have weddings at Grand Turtle just because of

[50:48] the issues. It's not really set up for that, particularly with the parking. Uh

[50:52] people would would have had to park across the street and walk across. We

[50:55] just thought the potential liability, etc. was not worth the several hundred

[50:59] dollars we might collect. And so, uh from a staffer's decision was to not

[51:04] proceed with weddings. But I did I know there's some community input on it. So I

[51:07] didn't want to just arbitrarily say that without bringing it to your attention

[51:10] and see if there's any interest in doing otherwise. If not, we'll just keep that

[51:14] as our policy. >> Do you have any written policies and

[51:18] procedures whatsoever for that use of that area?

[51:22] » We had a rental agreement that we're going to make it we're going to make it

[51:24] more specific that weddings are not allowed. Uh we are open to having you

[51:28] like a birthday part, small things, a birthday party, something like that. Uh

[51:31] but the weddings just had too many issues that were out of our control and

[51:37] we just don't want we didn't think it was worth and also you know we don't

[51:40] want to really be directly competing with small businesses in town that also

[51:43] had wedding venues and we got some feedback about we were undercutting them

[51:47] and our prices etc. We just didn't think it was worth the the ask.

[51:51] » So are you planning on limiting it to a certain number of people? Is that where

[51:56] you're >> Okay.

[51:58] » All right. because we had issues about question about security, you know, and

[52:01] and whether alcohol should be there or not. So, I I think that caused us to

[52:05] have take more attention to the details and we're we have a rental agreement.

[52:10] We're going to have a policy. Uh but we wanted to make sure before we got too

[52:13] far that unless council had, you know, other ideas that that we wanted to kind

[52:17] of restrict it and that not that's not the main purpose of the of the hammock.

[52:20] It was to do ed environmental education, etc., which we Florida Bay Forever and

[52:24] other groups have done a good job on. want to continue that, but we were

[52:28] opening it up to having some private events there to generate some revenue.

[52:31] But I think the particularly the wedding situation just had too many issues that

[52:35] we didn't think were a good thing to deal with.

[52:38] » All right. >> Um, yeah, I I don't think that it's our

[52:43] job to be in competition with our small businesses in town. So, we need to be

[52:47] careful with that. Um, small very small things is fine. even you may think

[52:54] through that there may be retirement parties and all sorts of things that you

[52:58] may not want to put in that group also. Um but I I don't want us to be in

[53:05] competition with our small businesses.

[53:11] » Anyone else? >> Uh one other item. Uh we have a we've

[53:15] been in discussion with the the consultants that you authorize us go

[53:19] ahead with on the boat ramp at the marina. Uh we have had discussions with

[53:23] the our consultant also with private citizens that have an interest in it. Uh

[53:27] we have thanks to the efforts of Vice Mayor Mahoney a dedicated $750,000 from

[53:32] the TDC. Uh I know that you know Councilman Gillis is on the DAC 4. So we

[53:37] have some really good connections with the TDC. Uh but the 750 is not

[53:41] guaranteed. we have to actually have a plan of action and and and move forward

[53:46] with something. And we've also been told uh I've direct conversations with Cara

[53:50] Franker, the head of TDC, that 750 is not the the limit that we can come back,

[53:55] but first we have to make some progress. And so one thing we're looking at is

[53:59] money and time. Uh we have to think the money to proceed with a replacement of

[54:03] the existing single ramp. That that's that's a no-brainer. They can do it

[54:07] offsite and then come in and demolish the existing one and then immediately

[54:10] replace it. that doesn't take a lot of time. If you expand it to a double ramp,

[54:14] that is going to be more expensive and more timeconuming because there you have

[54:17] to remove that finger that has the mangroves on it, etc., and there's more

[54:20] permitting issues, etc. So, we're still looking at the timing and the cost. We

[54:24] have the cost down pretty well for a single ramp. The double ramp, uh, it's

[54:28] more complicated and we probably couldn't do it for the 750, but other

[54:32] not need to do it like right away. maybe phase it, but at this point the the

[54:36] direction from the council has been to move forward and we have in the budget,

[54:39] as you'll be hearing Thursday, uh the 750 that TDC has committed uh for that,

[54:45] but nothing else from the village. And so once again, we know we we're pretty

[54:48] confident we can replace the existing ramp and do some other improvements. Uh

[54:52] if you go to the double ramp, uh we would have to get come back with more

[54:56] estimates and and probably that would exceed it and we'd probably have to go

[54:59] back to TDC again. So once again, timing, but I I know there's been

[55:03] discussions at least in the community about single versus double ramp and the

[55:07] need for it, etc. At this point, I don't think a decision has been made at least

[55:10] at the council level. But we want to kind of keep getting information in and

[55:14] then we'll report back to council. I've asked Lisa, our random manager, to start

[55:18] keeping a monthly report, which I'm make available to all of you. It it tells us

[55:23] how many people have used the ramp and importantly how many are residents

[55:26] versus non-residents because I think in order to justify the TDC dollars, you've

[55:30] got to make sure it is not just for residents. It's as as as Councilman

[55:34] Gillis has pointed out before, we always have to make sure that we're clear that

[55:37] this is for not just residents, that tourists are using it. And so I think

[55:42] those numbers are good too to establish the demand for it. We've had some

[55:45] interest in maybe having a ship store there, uh redoing the fuel pumps, etc.

[55:49] So there's a lot of good things I think to do with it. Uh we're also taking a

[55:53] more active uh role from the villages standpoint. The marina was always kind

[55:56] of considered a standalone as you know we are now going to be charging them

[56:00] rent because we've been subsidizing in some ways the marina and we have the

[56:04] potential to have a really nice project over there. But uh you know you have to

[56:08] be concerned about time and expense of the ramp situation. There's not a

[56:13] question it needs to be replaced. That current ramp is in bad shape. The angles

[56:17] are wrong etc. And I know Captain Steve is uh you has used it himself and so he

[56:22] can probably speak to some of the concerns, but I I do think eventually

[56:26] we're going to have to make a decision at the council level, you know, how big

[56:28] the ramp's going to be, etc., and how much we want to spend on it. But at this

[56:31] point, I feel confident. The the single ramp is definitely there. The double

[56:35] ramp is certainly a a good possibility, but once again, I think we need to be

[56:39] looking at the cost of it and the time. If you want to do it at one time, it's

[56:43] going to be closed for a while. If you want to do it in phases, you could

[56:46] probably switch back and forth. And I just want to see if there's anybody had

[56:49] any thing to add to that. I had one final issue before I get to to that.

[56:54] » Steve, um, yeah, I I'm glad that you pointed

[56:59] out that you're starting to gather data. I think we need that before we can make

[57:02] any sort of decision in terms of doubling the size or or an additional

[57:05] ramp. Well, I like the idea of of thinking into the future where where we

[57:09] might have that demand. we need to have at least a base in terms of uh the

[57:14] amount of use and then um is any of that current TDC money uh can that be applied

[57:19] to uh parking situation? >> They my understanding is it cannot be

[57:23] used for parking but it could be used for other things uh you like the fuel

[57:27] pumps etc. But apparently parking would not be and we have an expert uh who's

[57:31] been with TDC for a while but I've been told that the parking could not be part

[57:34] of the 750 at least it's not really capital the type of capital project that

[57:38] would be eligible for this type of funding. Um, yes,

[57:41] » I I've been talking to them a little bit about that and they're still working on

[57:46] the details. The money is secured for Islam Marada. We will clarify that the

[57:51] money is secured for Marada, but the the the

[57:55] devil's in the details. Um, I they didn't tell me it wouldn't be used

[58:00] couldn't be used for parking. they were going to try to word it for uh other

[58:05] things besides ramp that it would be park improvements.

[58:10] Um but it's all in us presenting what we

[58:15] want to do and when we're going to do it. Uh any money that's already been

[58:20] spent is not reimburseable. So it it would be future money. uh in thinking

[58:26] about closing the ramp. We we and this is where you are the expert on it

[58:33] probably as to timing of what's the best time of year to close it down for I

[58:39] don't even know how long that take to replace the one ramp even if we didn't

[58:43] do anything else. Um it will be closed for a while many season

[58:48] » lobster [laughter] I might agree with you.

[58:53] » All right. So anyway, the TDC money is ours, but it's we have to we have to

[58:58] show them what we're going to do with it.

[59:00] » Thank you, Deb Hannah. >> I I agree. I think it's all about the

[59:05] data. If if the need is there, then we do it. If not, then we just do a single

[59:10] ramp because I don't ever recall hear seeing a big long backup of boats

[59:15] waiting to get put in. >> Yeah. Right. Okay.

[59:18] » Vice Mayor, >> I do want to give a shout out to Peter

[59:21] Fresa. He's been our point person on this. So, if any of you individually

[59:24] want to contact uh Peter, uh he has a lot of the day-to-day information on it.

[59:28] And if any citizens have any input, I also encourage them to talk to Peter

[59:32] Fresel also because Peter's really on top of it. So, thanks Peter for your

[59:36] » I think when it comes to the dredging part and putting in the second the

[59:39] second ramp, I think it'd be prudent for us to have a pre-application conference

[59:45] with the uh with the Army Corps >> and the D before we just envision and

[59:51] making drawings and all that stuff for that.

[59:54] » Um because, you know, that's where we're going to end up having potential

[59:59] problem. We're going in there and dredging even though it's our basin. uh

[1:00:02] dredging that that whole spoil area out and and all of that. So, I'd say before

[1:00:08] we start spending a lot of money on designing all of that and designing, you

[1:00:14] know, enough parking for two ramps or whatever that we uh that we actually sit

[1:00:20] down and have a pre-application conference with the Army Corps so that

[1:00:24] we don't we're not chasing after something that may be a dream and not

[1:00:28] possible. And even though once again that the parking may not be subject to

[1:00:33] for the uh TDC grant, we are looking at moving forward with it because I do

[1:00:36] think our parking needs to be done. Uh I know that Vice Mayor uh Mahoney has has

[1:00:41] talked to folks. We had three different options presented by our our engineering

[1:00:44] firm and I think there was some consensus of a good one that's there and

[1:00:48] I'd be happy to share that. Once again, anybody on the council or in the public

[1:00:52] or Peter would guess would be the one to do it.

[1:00:54] » Actually, I think we ought to do that at a public meeting one of these. I'm

[1:00:57] thinking about maybe at the next October meeting

[1:00:59] » bring out the ideas that are there and get a lot of feedback from the community

[1:01:03] » and and uh before it reaches a se it point too far out

[1:01:07] » and it may be worth having a separate workshop on it if we need more time you

[1:01:10] know because it depends on how much time we're going to do with it but I I would

[1:01:13] say by the next meeting we should have more information and if not a workshop

[1:01:17] then at the meeting but perhaps even having a workshop to to talk about it.

[1:01:21] Yeah, it would be nice to continue the interest, see if we can gather who's

[1:01:25] interested in it, maybe revert back to the original program, padlock and a key

[1:01:30] until this all goes because this isn't going to happen overnight.

[1:01:35] » All right. Very good. >> One one final issue would be uh some

[1:01:38] clarification and our and our contract with freebie. Uh there was discussion

[1:01:42] about advertising. Initially, the thought was that we couldn't do it uh

[1:01:46] advertise on the cars because of DOT. DOT said, "No, that's not us and it

[1:01:50] turned out it's in our code that we can't allow it. The question is though

[1:01:54] whether we have to officially approve invehicle advertising or online

[1:01:58] advertising which is not prohibited by our code. Uh apparently we may want to

[1:02:03] get direction. I don't I personally have no issue with um the with the freebie

[1:02:08] doing the in vehicle or online but in in case it is does require official

[1:02:14] approval I'd ask for if it's acceptable have a motion uh to approve invehicle

[1:02:21] and online advertising not on car advertising

[1:02:25] » you just need a consensus on that or do you actually need a vote

[1:02:29] » I would do it as a yeah I would do it as a motion with a with a vote of councel

[1:02:32] uh since it's a contract requires the village approval.

[1:02:35] » Do so you going to Excuse me, Dev. You want to bring that back to us then for

[1:02:39] us to have a a presentation and discussion or

[1:02:43] » No, I would just ask for a motion tonight. I I think that was discussed

[1:02:45] before and I think there was just an an assumption that was okay. But because of

[1:02:49] the contract, I think it's it's safer to say let's have an official motion and

[1:02:54] vote. Uh because I haven't heard any objection to it. There's some problems

[1:02:57] with the outside of the car advertising both with our code and also with some

[1:03:01] citizens, but I don't think the in invehicle or online advertising has any

[1:03:06] objection unless somebody in the audience has something if they want to

[1:03:08] take public comment. But I I know of no problems with having invehicle online

[1:03:13] advertising. It was just the on the vehicle advertising.

[1:03:15] » Very good. Deb. >> Well, I just had a question about the

[1:03:18] online if you're talking about on their app.

[1:03:22] » Yes. >> Doing advertising because up until now

[1:03:25] it's been free. And it still may be what I'm saying is

[1:03:28] in the event it becomes a for you know for pay advertising then we would want

[1:03:34] to you know be part of that you know and we haven't really pursued that. There's

[1:03:38] also other types of advertising with hotels etc that may be potentially

[1:03:41] there. Uh but at this point the only thing we've ruled out would be on the

[1:03:46] vehicle outside. uh the inside of the vehicle and online are just things that

[1:03:51] are potential but rather than waiting for it to happen I'd rather go ahead and

[1:03:54] get make sure that's okay with the council and if it is then if and when it

[1:03:58] happens we don't have to come back to you for approval. So my question is why

[1:04:03] didn't we just have that on the agenda then? If we needed to have this

[1:04:06] discussion and we needed to vote on something, why isn't it on the agenda

[1:04:10] for tonight and it just pops up in manager discussion?

[1:04:14] » Because we're not really even sure we have to have the vote as my position was

[1:04:17] is better safe than sorry. We've been trying to get clarification uh from

[1:04:22] Phoebe about what they will or won't do right now, but because uh let's say they

[1:04:26] decide next week to do it, we won't have to come back and then do it again. So,

[1:04:30] I'm willing to delay it if you want to delay it. I'm just thinking that since

[1:04:33] it didn't seem to be very controversial, I would just go ahead and get the

[1:04:36] approval and then continue work with freebie about what type of advertising

[1:04:39] would be feasible or not. >> I would like I would like to see it on

[1:04:42] the next agenda as opposed to doing >> I think it should be on the agenda and I

[1:04:46] think we should be able to open it up for public comment and talk about it.

[1:04:50] » All right. Is there anything else? There's one thing I forgot earlier is

[1:04:56] last week it was Anna's birthday. Yesterday it was Steve's birthday and

[1:05:00] today it's Sharon's birthday. So, no singing to Sharon, but we had three

[1:05:05] council birthdays just like within a week of each other's.

[1:05:11] » Yeah. Right. Okay. >> Happy birthday, Sharon. All right. Well,

[1:05:17] with that, why don't we open it up to public comment? Uh Marty, you got

[1:05:22] anybody signed up? >> Yes, sir. Um, first up is Craig Bellen.

[1:05:30] And I could have that last name. >> Belure.

[1:05:32] » Thank you. >> Welcome, Craig.

[1:05:35] » Sorry. Hard to walk. >> It only hurts when you get up or sit

[1:05:38] down, right? >> Yeah. Well, no, it's hurting all the

[1:05:40] time. Um, Craig Belchure, 200 Ren Street, Isa Marada. Uh, I'm here to talk

[1:05:46] to council and the public for support of Beats on the Bay. Um, I've, uh, been the

[1:05:52] pleasure of being able to be a food vendor there for three years. And, uh, I

[1:05:57] just want to point out a few things. Um, the general attendants there are older

[1:06:04] people like myself, so taxpayers. They come with their chairs. They get to sit

[1:06:08] down and, enjoy some music, get some food, maybe a free uh, drink or

[1:06:13] whatever. Um, we have this beautiful amphitheater. We need to support it. Uh,

[1:06:18] I would also say that I I understand that they've asked for an increase in

[1:06:22] the budget. Part of the problem with the Beats on the Bay is you need a good

[1:06:28] cover band in order to get people to come to the event. So, if you have a

[1:06:35] cover band for Journey and it's successful night, people go home, they

[1:06:39] tell their neighbors, "Man, we had a great time. Had a fish sandwich. We got

[1:06:43] to hear a great band that might possibly get more people to come out. I think

[1:06:48] that uh there are several ways that uh the park officials can promote it

[1:06:54] better. We should maybe be able to get sponsors for each band that comes in in

[1:07:01] the community. You just have to make more effort to try to do more things to

[1:07:04] generate revenue. Um, I know it uh it doesn't make a profit, but it

[1:07:11] shouldn't have to make a profit because it's part of the park. And if it's it

[1:07:17] allows people to come here and enjoy our park and enjoy our facility and I would

[1:07:21] like for the council to support that and I would like for the council to support

[1:07:25] that with additional funds. I'll take any questions if anybody has any.

[1:07:31] » I think you're good. >> Thank you.

[1:07:33] » See microphone. Thank you, Craig. Morning.

[1:07:36] » Next up is Roland Moore. >> Welcome back, Roland.

[1:07:41] » Thank you. >> Before I start this, I just want to pass

[1:07:45] a photograph.

[1:08:00] » My name is Roland Moore. I'm from lower Madakumbi Key.

[1:08:05] Uh my wife and I have been going to Mangrove Mike's which is the subject of

[1:08:10] this discussion for breakfast every Sunday for 25 years.

[1:08:17] Mike and I were best friends and he loved dogs.

[1:08:24] He I attended his funeral and also as along with many of you,

[1:08:32] the Mike Forester Memorial Dog Park. Last week, as we always do, we showed up

[1:08:38] for breakfast with our little puppy, uh, which is a service dog and and a in

[1:08:45] a puppy pouch. The manager, Donna, was not there in

[1:08:50] large in a large uh Sunday crowd, but the

[1:08:54] waiter yelled at us, telling us that to get the dog out of here right away in a

[1:09:02] very rude uh fashion. Dogs are not allowed in this restaurant ever. I

[1:09:08] complained to the manager, Paige, who never responded, and I don't think we

[1:09:14] should be treated this way. And Donna did apologize. I sent you a photograph

[1:09:19] of of all of you at the at the dog park. So my point is that they said that no

[1:09:26] dogs are allowed in any restaurants in Isa

[1:09:31] Marada. And my point is that I've lived here for

[1:09:36] so many years and we take our service dog to a lot of restaurants in in Isa

[1:09:44] Marada and we were really flabbergasted that at Mangrove Mike's in particular

[1:09:51] that they said get the hell out of here. That's my point.

[1:09:57] And I don't know whether that's really a Florida law.

[1:10:01] And if it is, I would really question it because

[1:10:06] we've lived here for years and and and nobody's really tried to enforce it.

[1:10:13] » Thank you, Roland.

[1:10:19] » Morning. Next is Joe Wishmeer.

[1:10:29] » Welcome, Joe. >> Thank you.

[1:10:33] » Yes, Joe Wishmire, Plantation Key. Uh, mayor and council, I want to send out a

[1:10:38] special thank you to the Madakumbi Historical Trust for the service they

[1:10:42] put on at the hurricane monument, remembering all those that lost their

[1:10:45] lives during the Labor Day hurricane of 1935.

[1:10:50] That not only changed Isa Marada, but it also changed all the keys. I would hope

[1:10:55] that more people would come out and help celebrate that day or mourn that day,

[1:11:00] whichever way that you want to look at it.

[1:11:04] Next, I'm sure you've heard that the Crooked Palm is closing its doors on

[1:11:08] October the 4th. A number of months ago, this council

[1:11:12] removed many of the restrictions placed on the business to protect the

[1:11:16] neighborhood. The reason stated was there were not many complaints and that

[1:11:22] the Crooked Palm was a good neighbor. Since that time, not much has changed

[1:11:27] other than they're getting ready to close their doors. Our concern is that a

[1:11:32] new business may not be uh proved to be as good a neighbor and disrupt our

[1:11:38] familyoriented neighborhood. I would hope that this council would reinstitute

[1:11:45] the previous restrictions to protect our quiet enjoyment of life. As it says in

[1:11:50] our village statement, don't forget about all the young kids

[1:11:55] riding their scooters and one-wheelers to the 7-Eleven at all hours of the day

[1:12:00] and even sometimes at night to get their snacks. If the new business proves to be

[1:12:06] a good neighbor, then you can also again remove the restrictions.

[1:12:11] So I would hope that you would really consider that. And the last thing I

[1:12:15] would like to say is about the afteraction report. I know you're

[1:12:18] probably getting tired of hearing me asking for the old one where it followed

[1:12:23] up with the actions because you as council members direct staff to do a lot

[1:12:28] of different actions and it would like to be seen in the report as to what

[1:12:33] actions have been taken. Thank you. >> Thank you, Joe.

[1:12:37] » Morning. >> Next is Scott Gus.

[1:12:44] » Welcome Scott. >> Thank you.

[1:12:48] Evening, mayor, fellow, and council members. Um, I understand that the uh

[1:12:53] the council communication for the affordable housing tables were pulled

[1:12:56] from the agenda. Um, but I would like just to take uh do I get three minutes?

[1:12:59] Habitat for Humanity, the upper keys um as an entity. Um, but I would like just

[1:13:04] to take a moment uh to explain why, you know, I think it's it's really important

[1:13:09] um and we're and also as a member of your affordable housing committee that

[1:13:14] we are recommending um that the housing program mirror the framework that Murro

[1:13:19] County has used for years. It's one that treats married couples and registered

[1:13:23] domestic partners differently than two unrelated uh adults sharing a unit. And

[1:13:29] here's the problem we're trying to solve. Under a flat household size

[1:13:32] income limit, two working adults who get married can can find themselves priced

[1:13:36] out of the very program meant to keep them here even though nothing about

[1:13:39] their household expenses changed overnight. We call this a marriage

[1:13:42] penalty and it's real. At Habitat, we've it has been the differencemaker of

[1:13:47] qualifying families versus they they didn't qualify because we are bound as

[1:13:53] Habitat to a maximum of 80% AMI or area median income.

[1:13:59] Um, so our current ordinance in the village doesn't distinguish between a

[1:14:03] married couple raising a family in one uh in one of our one of the units and

[1:14:07] two unrelated roommates splitting rent. And it should. Monroe County figured

[1:14:11] this out and it's in their section. I won't take time to to to go through

[1:14:15] that. Um, I'm sure John and others can can opine and and and bring that to you

[1:14:19] for for uh their analys for your analysis and and understanding. But

[1:14:24] what's important here I think is yeah I think there it is always important to

[1:14:28] look at other municipalities what are they doing and by no means am I

[1:14:32] suggesting that we just blanket copy Monroe County we need to look at what's

[1:14:35] right for Marada but in this case um it is what's right because it's it's it

[1:14:42] would open it up to more families and just like we go to Florida Keys Day and

[1:14:46] and petition to the legislation for hey we're different in Monroe County we're

[1:14:50] different in the Keys right because blanket things across the state don't

[1:14:54] don't apply. We need, you know, carveouts to best represent and take

[1:14:58] care of the people that that we're representing. So, why does this matter

[1:15:01] for us? Three quick reasons. First, it keeps working families together in our

[1:15:05] community instead of pushing them out the moment that they marry or register a

[1:15:08] partnership. That's exactly the workforce retention goal our own housing

[1:15:11] program was built to serve. Second, we're not reinventing inventing this

[1:15:15] from scratch. The county has been admin administering this exact framework for

[1:15:19] years and we can adopt the language and and whatever we need to right from from

[1:15:22] there and that's what we we've proposed. Third, it's a targeted fix. This isn't a

[1:15:26] blanket increase in who qualifies. It only adjusts how we count the hours and

[1:15:31] the income for one specific household type, married and registered domestic

[1:15:35] partners, while leaving every other qualification standard untouched. And

[1:15:39] that's really the gist of it. But I just I think it was important to understand

[1:15:42] where we're coming from both as a habitat, both as spent a lot of work.

[1:15:45] It's been hard to to keep some meetings. We're trying to do some meaningful work

[1:15:48] in the in the committee and the committee all agreed on this to to

[1:15:52] recommend it uh for discussion at least as a council communication uh to be

[1:15:56] heard. Um and I just thought it was important to bring for that. Lastly, on

[1:16:00] a separate note, if I could, I just would like to make for the freebie uh

[1:16:03] plug. I came to the workshop. I was one of I think only two people or so or a

[1:16:06] hand small handful besides most of you who uh showed up for it. But um it was

[1:16:11] we were told it's just an ask to lower the age the minimum age requirement from

[1:16:15] 18 to 13. There's plenty of precedent for that. Tons of municipalities offer

[1:16:20] uh the age uh minimum limit of 13 for for their riders. Um so and it was told

[1:16:26] it's just an ask. We can ask for it. So haven't seen that done yet. Love to to

[1:16:30] see if that could be something that could be revisited. Any questions?

[1:16:34] » Thank you, Scott. Thank you. >> So, maybe we can uh add that on when we

[1:16:38] have our discussion about freebie and their advertising so that you killed two

[1:16:42] birds with one stone. Ron Anna, >> I spoke with Kate Delos about that a

[1:16:47] while ago and I know she was going to talk to freebie about that about

[1:16:50] lowering the age. So, I don't know if she got anywhere

[1:16:53] » or we got any further with that, but yeah.

[1:16:56] » Thank you. Uh, Deb. >> Um, I just wonder I don't think Scott

[1:16:59] was here when when I pulled the item and I didn't pull it because I didn't want

[1:17:03] to talk about it. I pulled it because I thought we needed more information from

[1:17:09] the other municipalities to to make it right. Um, I totally

[1:17:14] understand um penalizing

[1:17:18] singles versus uh married couples. So, I it's just it's just about getting more

[1:17:25] information from other districts to make sure we're doing it right.

[1:17:28] » Yeah. I was going to ask about how the graft is, too, because we don't have

[1:17:32] very low and low. So, >> we do have low. We do have low.

[1:17:36] » We have moderates. >> No, we have low.

[1:17:38] » Okay. >> Uh, habitat works off of low and so does

[1:17:42] uh the Woods Corner. >> Our code doesn't.

[1:17:46] The village's code does not. We work off of moderate. So I wanted to have that

[1:17:52] discussion about that. So we'll have that.

[1:17:54] » I got it. >> Yeah.

[1:17:55] » Okay. Well, yeah, that's within the organizations then.

[1:17:58] » Right. >> Okay.

[1:17:59] » But that's a discussion from the other day. I It's not that I didn't want to

[1:18:03] have the conversation. I just think it's premature yet.

[1:18:06] » Understood. Thank you, >> Marne.

[1:18:10] » There's no one else signed up. >> All right. Public comment still open. Is

[1:18:14] there anyone else that would like to speak of public comment?

[1:18:18] Is anyone online? >> No, sir.

[1:18:23] » All right. Seeing hearing none, then public comment is closed.

[1:18:28] » Seriously. >> You want to Oh, Terry, you're not the

[1:18:33] public. >> Terry,

[1:18:35] » I am at the moment, sir. >> Okay. Very good. Terry, welcome.

[1:18:38] » Um, just putting it out. Uh, Friday at 8:30, Station 20 is the 25th anniversary

[1:18:45] of the 911 ceremony. So, if anyone would like to come out, uh we'll be starting

[1:18:49] at at uh 8:30, Station 20, 81850, across from the hurricane monument, and

[1:18:54] everyone's welcome to attend. Thank you. >> I hope we have a good attendance to

[1:18:58] that. Station 20. See you there at 8:30.

[1:19:04] » All right. Now, Terry's comment is closed.

[1:19:08] » So, is that at the fire station itself or will it be at the monument?

[1:19:13] » Fire station. >> Fire station.

[1:19:14] » That's it. Fire station 20. I'm just making sure.

[1:19:17] » All right, good deal. Uh let's see. Consent agenda, John.

[1:19:23] » Yes, we are in the consent uh consent portion of the agenda. These items are

[1:19:26] of routine nature, and council members have reviewed these items in advance and

[1:19:29] sought the advice of staff as they felt necessary. There'll be one vote on the

[1:19:33] consent items, which today are tabs two through four. If anyone would like to

[1:19:37] pull an item for consent, he or she should state so now.

[1:19:41] » Council, >> nope, we're good.

[1:19:45] All right. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda for tonight?

[1:19:49] » Motion to approve. >> And a second.

[1:19:51] » Second. >> Okay. I got a motion. Second. Is there

[1:19:54] any no votes? >> All right. No. Do we need to do a Marne?

[1:20:00] Do we have or John? Do we need to do a a voice vote? A voice vote or

[1:20:05] » you can do any opposition?

[1:20:09] » Yeah. >> Yeah.

[1:20:14] » Yeah. We need to do public comment. Absolutely. Okay.

[1:20:16] » Yeah. >> Um,

[1:20:19] » do we have any public comment on the consent agenda tonight?

[1:20:23] » I don't have anyone signed up for it. >> All right. Is there any public comment?

[1:20:27] One once and twice. Seeing none, public comment is closed. Got a motion and a

[1:20:33] second. Marty, will you go on a call, please?

[1:20:38] » Even though it's not needed. >> Council member Anna Richards.

[1:20:42] » Yes. Vice Mayor Mahoney. >> Yes.

[1:20:45] » Council member Steve Friedman. >> Yes.

[1:20:47] » Council member Deb Gillis. >> Yes.

[1:20:48] » And Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes.

[1:20:50] » Motion passes. 5-0. >> Very good.

[1:20:55] » John, you want to introduce this resolution?

[1:20:57] » Yes. >> We are.

[1:20:59] » We are on tab five. A resolution of the village council of Mara village of

[1:21:02] Islands, Florida, amending the village's adopted budget for fiscal year 2025 2026

[1:21:07] and providing an effective date. >> Patty, go for All right, council. Happy

[1:21:12] birthday to everyone. Apparently there [laughter]

[1:21:18] » um the proposed budget amendment updates revenues and expenditures through May

[1:21:22] 31st 26 to better align the budget with actual operating activity and

[1:21:27] anticipated year-end results. Overall, the amendments primarily consist of

[1:21:31] budget reallocations, recognition of additional revenues, grant proceeds, and

[1:21:36] adjustments to capital and enterprise fund projects. The amendments improve

[1:21:40] the projected financial position of several funds while maintaining

[1:21:43] budgetary compliance. So basically it's just interfund transfers. Um it's

[1:21:49] actually projecting that we're going to be adding to fund balance at this point.

[1:21:53] So I recommend that we approve the budget amendment.

[1:21:56] » Thank you very much. Deb, your mic's on. >> I'm sorry, but I do have a question.

[1:22:00] Will will this um will these adjustments be in our affect our budget on Thursday?

[1:22:09] Our budget discussion >> this this update isn't in the budget

[1:22:14] » not necess the the budget coming up are all based on projections for the fiscal

[1:22:20] year 2526. So in a way, yes, they are included

[1:22:24] because I'm I I project as of I think the budget is as of 331 and then you

[1:22:29] project for the remaining portion of the year based on the

[1:22:34] » Did I get that? Did I get that? >> It's just calculated a different way.

[1:22:37] That's all. >> So the fact that we're adding to fund

[1:22:41] balance will show up on Thursday night's budget discussion.

[1:22:46] » Yes, it sure will. >> Asking. Thank you.

[1:22:49] » Yes. Thank you, Dan. All right. Uh, is there any public comment?

[1:22:55] » No, sir. >> Okay. Is there anyone from the public

[1:22:58] that would like to talk about this resolution?

[1:23:02] Public comment is closed. Council, any further discussion?

[1:23:08] I'd like to ask for a motion in a second.

[1:23:13] » Motion to approve. >> Second.

[1:23:16] » Okay. I got a motion in a second. Marty, will you call the role? Council member

[1:23:20] Anna Richards, >> yes.

[1:23:21] » Council member Steve Freriedman, >> yes.

[1:23:23] » Council member Deb Gillis, >> yes.

[1:23:24] » Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney, >> yes.

[1:23:26] » And Mayor Don Horton, >> yes.

[1:23:28] » That motion passes 5-0. [clears throat] >> Tab six is a resolution of the village

[1:23:32] council of Vermont Village, Florida, approving the renewal of property

[1:23:35] casualty and workers compensation policies and coverage and pol pollution

[1:23:39] liability from world risk management through public risk management of

[1:23:42] Florida effective October 1, 2026. authorizing payment of the associated

[1:23:47] renewal premiums for fiscal year 2026 2027 authorizing village officials to

[1:23:51] execute required documents authorizing village manager to expend budget funds

[1:23:54] and providing for an effective date. >> Thank you so much.

[1:24:00] » All right. The proposed renewal continues the insurance program

[1:24:03] originally procured through a competitive solicitation process in

[1:24:07] 2019. It represents the village village's eighth eighth consecutive year

[1:24:12] of coverage through uh world risk management PRM partnership. Uh staff

[1:24:17] recommends approval of the two-year coverage agreement which provides the

[1:24:21] greatest overall savings and rate stability through October 1st of 2028.

[1:24:27] Under this option, the village's annual premium decreases from1,30,147

[1:24:33] to $934,568,

[1:24:37] representing a reduction of 95,579 or 9.28%.

[1:24:44] Despite increases in insurance property values of 8.95% and payroll exposure of

[1:24:50] 5%, the one-year renewal option would reduce premiums by 7.43%.

[1:24:55] However, the two-year agreement provides additional savings and improved budget

[1:24:59] predictability. Um, we also have our consultant for insurance, Benf, on Zoom

[1:25:06] if you guys have any additional questions related to this renewal.

[1:25:10] » Did he have a presentation or anything? >> No. Nope. Just available for questions.

[1:25:16] » Okay, council. Yes, Steve. >> Yeah, I've got a question for uh Ben.

[1:25:20] Uh, uh, we spoke about this at the briefing today. I was wondering if

[1:25:24] there's any possibility in looking into expanding our coverage for um legal

[1:25:30] liability. We we ran out of it last year at $100,000. It seems like if we could

[1:25:36] find something that would add to that premium a little bit, it might be worth

[1:25:39] it in the end to uh to protect us if we are at risk of going over. And then at

[1:25:45] the same time, I think that's another thing is uh how can we uh track that

[1:25:49] where we're at? Where's where's the meter at when we're getting close to uh

[1:25:53] uh finishing that that particular part of the policy?

[1:25:56] » Good question. >> Sure. Uh Ben F, good evening uh mayor,

[1:26:01] council, Mr. Village Manager, Mr. Village attorney, Madame Clerk. Um I am

[1:26:06] exploring an option for that right now. Um I would say the types of claims that

[1:26:11] erode um non-monetary claims, the ones you're the ones you're speaking about,

[1:26:17] um are few and far between. and you had a very interesting loss here. Um, you

[1:26:21] had several claims all in a row that eroded that limit. And I would say for

[1:26:26] context and perspective, these are the types of claims that I'm sure attorney

[1:26:30] Quick would uh agree with me that were historically not covered at all under an

[1:26:35] insurance program. So, I would I kind of consider this type of coverage,

[1:26:38] non-monetary claims, um, to be a gimme coverage. However, we are looking at

[1:26:44] options to see what we can do about that. I will say that as um as you

[1:26:48] compare with other entities of your size and scope and indeed other insurers um

[1:26:53] you have exactly what they have in terms of of limit for those types of claims.

[1:26:58] Um again that said we are exploring an option to see what we can do about uh

[1:27:02] increasing that limit. >> Thank you very much. Um, I got one

[1:27:08] question and I'm sure that it's on the mind of a few people that may read um,

[1:27:14] our agendas and there's a there's a a statement that's made in here uh, that

[1:27:20] says based on current conditions in Florida insurance market been few risk

[1:27:25] managers recommend renewing the villages existing coverage rather than

[1:27:29] undertaking a new competitive solicitation process at this time. And

[1:27:35] I'm thankful that we're having a reduction in something that doesn't that

[1:27:40] seems to be pretty rare nowadays. But can you explain to us why uh uh you

[1:27:46] would recommend not undertaking the competitive solicitation process at this

[1:27:51] time? >> Because Sure. Because you're in a very

[1:27:54] soft property market right now. Everyone's seeing the exact same thing

[1:27:57] and your program is now one that is running into issues in terms of the main

[1:28:00] types of claims that you you ensure for property and casualty. Uh, aside from

[1:28:06] what we just discussed, um, I I don't see a lot of benefit to you to go to a

[1:28:12] competitive bid at this particular point in time because I don't think there's

[1:28:15] much to be gained on the greater market. Um, the insurers and the market that

[1:28:20] would ensure the village um are only but a handful. The market is very small. Um,

[1:28:27] so what you want to do is save that for a rainy day. If you are getting poor

[1:28:31] service, if your claims have deteriorated such that your your

[1:28:35] premiums are skyrocketing, then we take a look at the market. Then we start

[1:28:40] making moves to go out there uh to competitive bid. But right now, you're

[1:28:44] in a great situation uh overall. And to be able to negotiate a renewal um and

[1:28:50] and sort of save that solicitation for a rainy day is is very valuable. I've had

[1:28:57] clients that insist upon going to bid every year and the market just

[1:29:02] completely dries up. It's these guys again and they don't get any bids and we

[1:29:07] tell them that's what's going to happen. Uh and that's that's what happens.

[1:29:12] » Very good. Thank you. >> Anything else, Hattie?

[1:29:16] » Except for me, council. >> I had a question.

[1:29:18] » Okay. >> It's um

[1:29:22] first of all, I want to say I think it's absolutely amazing. And I actually asked

[1:29:27] Haddie probably four times, not just one time, how they came up with this

[1:29:33] reduction in this 9.2% reduction. Uh I think it's amazing what you did. Um I

[1:29:41] don't ever see my private company insurance go down. So

[1:29:45] » 100% you're doing a good job. >> So it's a good job. Um, and I also asked

[1:29:51] um how that comes about to be able to guarantee it over two years. I guess

[1:29:58] it's just through the contracting method and then I have a a second statement

[1:30:04] question when you answer that. >> Sure. You contract with the trust. Uh

[1:30:09] they're a little bit different than a standard carrier. Um they are

[1:30:12] specifically designed and formed under special statute to ensure

[1:30:16] municipalities. Um so yes it would just be through a contract mechanism um that

[1:30:21] you are you uh commit to two years. >> Okay. The second half is um just for it

[1:30:29] was for my education and on one of the pages it talking about the two-year

[1:30:34] coverage if it says uh that the options that the the

[1:30:41] rates would say that this would apply to rates but not to premiums. Um just so

[1:30:47] people understand what the difference is just a very short synopsis of the

[1:30:51] difference between a rate and the premium.

[1:30:54] » Sure. The the rate is what is charged against the underlying exposure. The the

[1:30:58] simplest example would be um your property values or maybe your your

[1:31:02] payroll. Um those can change year. Obviously if you're going to hire more

[1:31:07] people payroll is going to go up. But that's that exposure is what the rate is

[1:31:12] then charged against to derive your workers compensation premium for

[1:31:15] example. Um so the exposure may go up yeartoear but the rate that is being

[1:31:20] charged for that exposure is locked in. That's the same and that gives you the

[1:31:25] you know the budgeting advantage going forward.

[1:31:28] » Okay. I just wanted that out to the public. Um, I got I got Hattie and the

[1:31:34] group to explain it to me earlier and I just thought it was an important

[1:31:37] » issue to bring out to the public issue. >> Anything else, council?

[1:31:42] » Thank you. >> Can we open this up for public comment

[1:31:44] then? Is there any public comment on this item?

[1:31:48] » I don't have anyone signed up for it. >> All right. One more time for public

[1:31:51] comment. All right. I'll entertain a motion

[1:31:56] » or make a motion to approve. >> Why not with that reduction?

[1:31:59] » Yes. Second. We got a motion and a second. Marty, we call.

[1:32:03] » Council member Deb Gillis. >> Yes.

[1:32:06] » Council member Anna Richards. >> Yes.

[1:32:07] » Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Yes.

[1:32:10] » Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes.

[1:32:11] » And Mayor Don Horton? >> Yes.

[1:32:13] » That motion passes 5-0. >> All right.

[1:32:16] » Number seven is a resolution of the village council of Vamara Village,

[1:32:20] Florida, adopting an updated village personnel policy manual, authorizing

[1:32:23] village officials to implement the terms and conditions of the personnel policy

[1:32:26] manual and providing an effective date. >> Jamie. Good evening, council. Jamie uh

[1:32:32] Terry, HR director. Um there was really one primary driver for this update um

[1:32:40] which was the outside employment expanded and strengthened based on a

[1:32:46] concern that we had in house that we investigated. The second part was to

[1:32:51] update the vacation leave from days to hours

[1:32:58] um because we have people that work 410 so and we acrew at an hourly acrual for

[1:33:05] the annual acrual. So that was to update that and then also to update for

[1:33:11] longevity for giving additional time for employees that have served the village

[1:33:16] longer than the 15 years. So

[1:33:21] » and then just some housekeeping on some language to make sure the language in

[1:33:25] there is consistent saying department head versus director or director versus

[1:33:30] department head. Some those editorials are kind of in the back in the appendix.

[1:33:36] I I forgot to ask you during our meeting. I'm sorry. Um if we spoke a

[1:33:42] little bit about the fact that this may increase the amount of

[1:33:47] payroll vacation benefits. >> Do we have any estimate of how much more

[1:33:54] by offering the additional um week at the end of the

[1:34:01] long-term benefits? Um it's

[1:34:05] » and I understand that that that can be rough because it depends on who it is

[1:34:09] and where it is but >> right and and the cap is capped at 200.

[1:34:14] So the liability is only at 200 hours. So we're really talking about the

[1:34:21] liability. I I think what you're asking me is the liability for if somebody was

[1:34:25] to terminate and they had the full two No.

[1:34:27] » No. >> Okay. I'm talking about if we pay out

[1:34:32] uh the extra time. They're they're here and and we're paying them the extra time

[1:34:37] and because we might have to pay overtime

[1:34:41] um due to the fact that we we need to cover the hours with somebody else while

[1:34:47] they're gone. >> Um there's

[1:34:50] » what you tell me 10 employees that that might qualify for that over 15 years

[1:34:56] » currently. currently and of course that could move up. Hopefully that moves up.

[1:35:01] » Yeah. I mean we have people that are at 10 years that would be approaching that

[1:35:06] 15. So >> in the next few years

[1:35:09] » do we have an idea of how much additional payroll we think that that

[1:35:13] would >> generate by giving the extra? It's not

[1:35:18] that I don't want to I think we just need to know how much payroll we're

[1:35:22] spending. >> You're asking me two questions. is the

[1:35:25] people that are like over the 15 years that get that extra

[1:35:29] » well time. Okay. Or in my budget summary I say this could impact for overtime

[1:35:35] purposes like >> right that's

[1:35:37] » and that only impacts that would only impact places that are operationally

[1:35:41] required to stay open and they would have to fill that spot. So that's a

[1:35:46] difficult question number to come up with. It would be

[1:35:50] » $10. >> Yeah. parks and um the marina are the

[1:35:54] ones that are open seven days a week. Typically,

[1:35:57] » it's not $10. >> No.

[1:35:58] » And it's not $500,000. >> No.

[1:36:02] » Do we have >> ballpark? I don't know. 8,000

[1:36:08] maybe. >> That's That's what I'm looking for.

[1:36:10] Okay. Thank you. >> Sorry.

[1:36:11] » Vice Mayor. >> Um let's go to what she was talking

[1:36:16] about, which is what I want to talk about. Um I would like to know the exact

[1:36:21] number of employees that fall in the zero to one year, one to three years

[1:36:26] because what Deb was trying to say is you are looking at people who have 200

[1:36:31] hours which is five weeks if I just did my little math here

[1:36:35] » which to me five weeks are gone. So that's going to impact other employees

[1:36:41] to cover their time off. And I agree with Deb where there's nothing in here

[1:36:46] that tells me how much overtime you you don't know what the budget impact is.

[1:36:52] And to me, I'd like to know how many 15 plus employees we have, how many between

[1:36:57] five and 15. I think that's a number that we should have that's not provided

[1:37:03] for us. Also, page 31, I don't agree with you. what a merit increase is. To

[1:37:08] me, a merit increase is uh this the way we did it, the way I saw it was like if

[1:37:15] you answered the phone or if you to me a merit increase, I'm sorry, but it a

[1:37:20] merit increase is if you take an extra class, if you do something above and

[1:37:24] beyond what your job is. >> And it's sort of like I

[1:37:30] » that was how our merit increase was done.

[1:37:32] » But to me, that's not really a merit increase. So maybe you ought to call it

[1:37:35] something different. To me, a merit increase is if you take an extra class,

[1:37:39] if you got another certification. That's the way I thought a merit worked.

[1:37:44] » Or above and beyond. >> Above.

[1:37:45] » Yes. >> It could it could be it could be work o

[1:37:49] over and above and beyond what your normal duties were.

[1:37:52] » And then I'd like to have a conversation with our manager while we're here where

[1:37:58] » there were very some very upset people Friday. I was one and she was one that

[1:38:04] 12 days off. No, no, it's not 12 day 12 holidays off. Last year we fell into the

[1:38:11] between Christmas and New Year extra days off and stuff. This is a business

[1:38:16] and we should be open business hours. And I know the employees or the staff

[1:38:20] probably doesn't want to hear me say this, but they don't come and complain

[1:38:23] to you guys. They complain to me Friday that there was nobody here. And so if

[1:38:29] these the 12 days off, we need to have set guidelines and not at somebody's

[1:38:35] whim decide, oh, you guys all get Friday off, too. And that's the way it's been.

[1:38:40] So, I don't know if that really goes to you or to this gentleman over here, but

[1:38:44] it needs to be addressed because there were some upset people Friday. So, but I

[1:38:49] would like before I pass anything on this tab 7, I want to know the impact to

[1:38:54] the budget like dead mast because how many people are 15 up?

[1:39:01] Well, [sighs] >> and they're going to take their vacation

[1:39:05] probably that's a over a month. >> The the number of people that are 15 up

[1:39:10] there's 10 employees that are impacted. The zero to one there is 11 employees

[1:39:15] that are impacted. Um, and then any new hires, the in between, I can give you

[1:39:20] the exact numbers. I >> Well, does does everybody else

[1:39:23] understand what Deb I know you did because you hit on it before me

[1:39:27] understand that this is going to be How can you guarantee that the five weeks of

[1:39:32] vacation isn't going to be overtime for other employees?

[1:39:35] » Well, the people that fall into the 15 and above are Maria, Terry, Annie. Those

[1:39:42] people don't get nobody covers for them when they're gone. So that's why I said

[1:39:46] it's difficult for me to know because most of the people that are 15 and above

[1:39:50] are people directors that nobody has to cover for when they're gone. I there's

[1:39:56] no overtime when they're gone. >> But that's excuse me. But this is

[1:40:01] today's people. >> Tomorrow's people may be a different

[1:40:05] batch that I have. I have people that they would qualify for this

[1:40:11] » uh 15 and up, but they would love to have half of this.

[1:40:16] » I know for the current budget I I guess in per perpetuity

[1:40:22] [snorts] there would be a budget impact. Um obviously every year.

[1:40:28] » Yeah. Anna, you >> got your mic on?

[1:40:32] » Yeah. Well, we already touched on the the holiday thing because, you know,

[1:40:36] last second half day, we know how that played out. Not well. And my thing was

[1:40:42] also on top of that was on page nine where it and I know I emailed you today

[1:40:47] about it, but it says on there that any employees who engage in outside

[1:40:52] employment, so if you want to go get a second job, you must request permission

[1:40:56] from the village. I don't think you should have to request permission to go

[1:40:59] get a second job. half the people in this town have second jobs. I think if

[1:41:03] you want to inform, if we want to have it so you inform your supervisors that

[1:41:08] you have a second job, that's fine. But I don't think you should have to request

[1:41:12] permission in order to go get a second job.

[1:41:15] » Yeah. >> Well, I think I think that there's a

[1:41:17] fine line there because there could be some type of conflict. So, you

[1:41:21] » you want to make sure there was no conflict.

[1:41:23] » Well, that's why you're informing, right?

[1:41:25] » You shouldn't have to request to go get a second job. Most of the people that

[1:41:28] are getting second jobs are they're guiding, they're bartending, they're

[1:41:32] waitressing, they're doing stuff like that. But you shouldn't have to request

[1:41:36] permission. >> So maybe it should be rewarded to where

[1:41:39] if if the in in the event there's a a perception of a conflict or something

[1:41:44] like that. >> Well, that's why I said inform, not must

[1:41:47] request. >> Yeah,

[1:41:48] » I agree with that. >> Uh how many holidays were in our paid

[1:41:53] holiday list? >> 12.

[1:41:55] » 12. I know that's in here, but was it 12 this last year, too?

[1:41:59] » Yes, >> it's been 12 for a while.

[1:42:02] » Yep. >> Okay.

[1:42:03] » Okay. >> Uh,

[1:42:05] » that hasn't changed. The only two changes. [laughter]

[1:42:08] » I'm going to go I'm going to go >> Everything else is the same.

[1:42:11] » Is there not a change in the front loing of the vacation?

[1:42:14] » There is not a change to that language. >> Okay. So, we are not front front loing.

[1:42:18] » Yes, I am frontloading. >> We are frontloading. I don't agree with

[1:42:21] that. I think it's earned time off. I think it is not shouldn't be uh that you

[1:42:27] just come to work for the village and you automatically get time off. Uh and I

[1:42:32] and and in almost every business, you earn your time off. You don't just grant

[1:42:39] u. So, is there something in there that stops them from coming in during their

[1:42:45] probationary period of six months or whatever that is that they're uh I mean,

[1:42:50] that's when they're supposed to be there learning their job and learning the

[1:42:53] trade and and studying and instead of taking

[1:42:58] a week off or however many days they're getting. Is there something in there

[1:43:02] that prohibits that? >> Currently, they're acrewing monthly. So

[1:43:07] technically the first day that the first time they get paid they have um pay

[1:43:13] period wise currently um they have 3.96 hours that they can take off and

[1:43:19] probationary employees do that. This new change would be from 0 to one years

[1:43:25] which we currently don't have would be up to 40 hours but you have to meet your

[1:43:30] probationary period. So, even if I frontload it, it's based it's prrated.

[1:43:37] Um, so if you hire in January, you're going to get the 40 hours for the year.

[1:43:43] But if you terminate in March and you've taken that time because your department

[1:43:49] head says that you can, um, I will take time back from you on your final check.

[1:43:55] That's the only reason for frontloading. And then after the first year, then

[1:44:00] you're at the 96 hours. Our current policy is 96 hours from the day you walk

[1:44:04] through the door at Village Hall annually. And it says annually.

[1:44:11] So whether you do that monthly, whether you do it pay period wise, it says you

[1:44:15] get 96 basically 12 days annually. Sorry, not 96 hours. It says 12 days

[1:44:23] annually. I I know you're trying to let me how it's been said to me boost morale

[1:44:31] but you know our biggest expense is the staff and you know there's just some

[1:44:36] things that happen that nobody seems to have the answers to why

[1:44:42] they happen and everything and I agree with Don I don't agree in front loing I

[1:44:46] just don't I just >> Frontloading is just an administrative

[1:44:51] » process It's

[1:44:55] » but >> well

[1:44:58] » it's completely up to you to approve the changes. The one change that I

[1:45:02] definitely need and if you want to amend the resolution I'm totally fine with

[1:45:05] that. But the one change that I absolutely need is [snorts] to the

[1:45:09] notice of the second employment. There's liability reasons why we need to be in

[1:45:14] not just informed but must be told because we have workers comp issues that

[1:45:20] come up and people don't tell us that they have that second job um and things

[1:45:26] happen um performance issues that can happen here

[1:45:31] when we don't know about that second job. So the reason for the change is

[1:45:35] because our policy was not strong enough to begin with. So, the must and the

[1:45:39] shall are um directed by our attorneys. >> I have a question about that or

[1:45:46] statement. >> Yes.

[1:45:49] » To >> Oh, really?

[1:45:54] » Um >> go ahead, Dad.

[1:45:55] » So, so to require

[1:46:01] to require that you approve me getting another job is one thing. It's not

[1:46:06] really >> for Well, that's where I'm going.

[1:46:09] » Yeah. >> Uh to require me saying, "Oh, I want to

[1:46:13] go get a job selling drinks, bartender, and and you approve me going get that

[1:46:20] job is one thing. For me to be required to tell you, I have a second job and

[1:46:26] it's selling drinks." >> Mhm.

[1:46:29] » Um what? >> Huh?

[1:46:31] » Selling what? >> Drinks.

[1:46:32] » Oh, drinks. >> That's what we do. we drink

[1:46:37] um being a bartender or whatever it is there those are two different statements

[1:46:42] » so I I don't need approval from you from village not you personally I don't need

[1:46:49] approval from the village to get a second job but I do need to tell you

[1:46:52] that I have a second job this needs to be carefully worded accordingly right is

[1:46:58] that where you're going with this yes >> yes and perhaps John should weigh in on

[1:47:04] this as far as what would make it acceptable at the same time not begging

[1:47:11] to be able to have another job. >> Yeah. I mean, so my labor partner worked

[1:47:16] on this with with Jamie, but I think I hear what you're saying and I think I

[1:47:19] hear what Jaime's saying and it sounds like the issue is we want to make sure

[1:47:24] that we as a village are informed and that is the mandatory the must shall and

[1:47:30] the the issue is about the um the the approval of the second job. And

[1:47:39] I guess it I'd have to get further clarification from my labor partner

[1:47:43] because I could see the one hand where we say yes, you know, serving drinks

[1:47:47] isn't a conflict with the village, but if you get an if you have an injury on

[1:47:51] that job and then you try to make a workers's comp claim on the village

[1:47:55] workers comp because maybe we have better workers comp coverage, that could

[1:47:59] be an issue that we would want to make sure that um that not only we're not

[1:48:03] aware that we're aware of it, but we want to protect ourselves. So I have to

[1:48:07] I have to get a little bit more clarification on on on whether that is

[1:48:11] something that is that we truly need to protect ourselves. So I I I think I need

[1:48:16] to get my get >> I think that I think that's where the

[1:48:18] must inform comes into place, not must request permission.

[1:48:23] » Yeah, that that's what I think too. But that's why I say I just need to I need

[1:48:26] to I mean I can step out and try to give her a ring to see um what the the status

[1:48:30] is on that as to the the the must shall. So, if you guys give me a

[1:48:36] couple minutes, I'm happy to step out and see if I can reach her right now.

[1:48:38] » I think her change of word is perfect. >> Most

[1:48:42] » Well, while you're doing that, why don't we open this up to public com is there

[1:48:46] any public comment on this, Marty? >> I don't have anyone signed up for it.

[1:48:51] » After all of that controversy, is there any public comment perhaps out in the

[1:48:56] » Obviously, we covered it all. >> Just just one comment. I'm getting word

[1:48:59] that the public feed is not um going through. So, I don't know if Vince or

[1:49:03] somebody can verify that >> what

[1:49:07] » we're not on we're not on the air you're saying

[1:49:09] » right >> or we're not being heard

[1:49:12] » both the feed is not happening so just >> wonderful

[1:49:16] » okay it >> and thank you for all your questions

[1:49:18] » just a good time to take a quick break ladies

[1:49:22] » nobody's thrown candy at me >> okay I'm getting thrown in okay may

[1:49:28] perhaps see that that's an indication it is a good time to take a quick little

[1:49:32] break um So, I'm going to call a five minute break.

[1:49:36] » That's fine. >> Five minute.

[1:49:37] » Don't take me long.

[1:58:36] Okay, we're back on now. Let's uh let's finish up where we're at here.

[1:58:41] » Let's grill Jamie. >> Let's grill Jamie some more. Let's do

[1:58:44] » We're still on tap seven. And we're >> Jamie's got a birthday this weekend, Mr.

[1:58:50] Mr. Mayor Horton. >> You You do too.

[1:58:53] » Yeah. You didn't read the birthdays for September.

[1:58:54] » Bring my birthday. I'll do that. I'll do that Thursday night so that you

[1:58:58] » Sam's gonna be old. Oh jeez. This weekend. [laughter]

[1:59:02] » All right. I think what she's saying is don't pick on her anymore.

[1:59:05] » Don't pick on me. >> That's it. All right. So, we didn't have

[1:59:10] any public comment. >> So, Ron, did you have Oh, I'm sorry.

[1:59:16] » Yep. John, >> I did I was able to get a hold of

[1:59:18] Allison and of course there was no public comment when I was Give me a

[1:59:22] couple minutes. So, [laughter] >> thank you for taking the break. Yes,

[1:59:24] sir. Um she's so uh I think we we have some language I think we can suggest to

[1:59:30] work. She did say it's important to have the um uh the approval in there because

[1:59:35] of of uh it protects the village from there's potential ethics ethical issues

[1:59:40] as well as potential issues that um that you that may not you may not even be

[1:59:45] aware of when it comes to procurement type items and things like that. I did

[1:59:48] explain to her and I proposed some language that I thought would based on

[1:59:52] the conversation I thought might work for you all and and might be uh you

[1:59:56] might be open to and she was okay with it. And it was it was to include

[2:00:02] language in the approval requirement that says um which shall not be

[2:00:07] reasonably withhel withheld which shall not be unreasonably withheld unless um

[2:00:13] it uh presents a conflict of interest or the employees or um interferes with the

[2:00:19] employees performance duties. And then that that ties it into that's the

[2:00:23] language that was used in conflicting employment. So it basically lays out

[2:00:27] that the only reason it would be withheld is if there is some sort of

[2:00:30] conflict. Um whether it's performing of performance of duties or

[2:00:35] an actual conflict. So they would notify and I'm going to I'm going to go uh you

[2:00:40] know bartend over at you know ex uh facility. You know that unless it

[2:00:46] impacted their duties here that would not we we wouldn't withhold it and that

[2:00:49] would just be automatically approved. Um, so it was just in in those instances

[2:00:54] um where it presented a conflict. So hopefully that's either sufficient or at

[2:00:59] least on the way to being sufficient. >> You you lost me back at Allison.

[2:01:03] [laughter] Um so in other words, you're going to make it the wording that you

[2:01:08] just said in here. Yeah. If you were to approve it, I would ask you to approve

[2:01:12] it with that language and then that way it's clear that as to when it could be

[2:01:16] withheld and it's in those limit it's in that limited instance where it's a where

[2:01:20] it's a conflict and otherwise it's just it goes through and it's approved.

[2:01:23] » So that fixes one of the issues that we talked about. What about your other

[2:01:27] issues? Are you are are you >> I still want to know the impact of five

[2:01:33] week I'm sorry five weeks off which is a lot and uh you know I keep going with

[2:01:40] what you said when you said well those are department heads and it doesn't

[2:01:44] matter if they're gone and I'm thinking how can that not matter

[2:01:47] » for overtime purposes >> let's take Maria

[2:01:50] » for overtime purposes is what I meant because Maria nobody covers for me when

[2:01:55] I'm gone >> well but I don't have 15 years.

[2:01:58] » Yeah. >> Um but but Maria has Annie who is also

[2:02:03] exempt. Annie doesn't has Maria. So >> that's

[2:02:08] » Terry covers for or Charlie covers for Terry. So there's no overtime. We don't

[2:02:14] pay overtime to exempt employees. There's no

[2:02:17] » So taking them the department's head out. How many are there after besides

[2:02:22] those two? Terry and Maria? >> Terry, Maria, Annie. Um

[2:02:28] » my concern >> trying to run through the list.

[2:02:30] » You said there's no budget impact and there is.

[2:02:33] » Well, I didn't say there was no budget impact. I said there's a budget impact

[2:02:36] if for overtime if they have to have somebody cover a shift or something for

[2:02:43] operationally like the parks and >> that could also fit the five to 15 year

[2:02:50] people who have 160 hours. That's four weeks. I just find it hard to believe

[2:02:54] that something can go somewhere for four weeks.

[2:02:56] » It impacts any 40 hours. It impacts one week, two week I mean

[2:03:02] » it it does it does impact even one week. >> Sorry.

[2:03:07] » It does impact just one week also but um do it's along those same lines what you

[2:03:14] were getting towards I don't remember reading in here but

[2:03:18] it's a big manual. Um, do we have any limit of how many weeks that they can

[2:03:22] take in a row or how many hours that they can take in a row?

[2:03:26] » No, it's up to the operation currently.

[2:03:31] » People can save up to 100 currently in the in the policy the the max is 192.

[2:03:39] » No, I'm just >> Can I take Can I take 190 assuming my

[2:03:44] boss says yes. >> Yes. But can I take 192 hours in a row?

[2:03:51] » Can I be gone for five weeks? >> Yes. If your boss

[2:03:54] » says there's no operational impact, you can be gone. You are entitled to all

[2:03:59] those acred hours. Yes.

[2:04:04] » I just find it hard to believe that doesn't affect other people time. I

[2:04:08] don't know >> that it it could

[2:04:11] » I'm sure there is >> if you needed to repeat from a world

[2:04:14] that I could only take two weeks at a time at the most.

[2:04:17] » When I um when when I when I retired from the village, I had over well over

[2:04:23] 200 hours of vacation and well over 200 hours of sick leave. I could have taken

[2:04:27] them all. Uh could have done like some people and take it all at the end and

[2:04:31] then and then [clears throat] go away, which really affects, you know, your job

[2:04:36] opening still open. Somebody's got to fulfill it. Uh at that time the the mil

[2:04:40] village manager back then was even talking about use it or lose it.

[2:04:45] » It's that's in here. It's kind of sort of

[2:04:47] » huh >> as part of that is in here now so much.

[2:04:51] » Right. >> Yes. They can only carry over so much.

[2:04:53] » It can only carry over so much. Use it or lose it.

[2:04:56] » Let me ask you a question. Would the odds of over I'm not staring you down

[2:04:59] either at the same giving me dirty looks. But [laughter]

[2:05:03] would it would it uh affect better if we changed

[2:05:09] it so you couldn't take like Deb said, you know, you can take two weeks, you

[2:05:14] can't take five. Would that make it lower the rate

[2:05:18] of potential? >> Um, so

[2:05:23] that's kind of a catch 22 because we don't have a short-term disability

[2:05:28] policy. So, if somebody breaks their leg and all

[2:05:32] they have is vacation, I can't tell them they can't take all of their

[2:05:37] » all of their vacation for a broken leg. Um,

[2:05:42] because we don't have a short-term disability, they can use their sick time

[2:05:45] and any acred other PTO bank that they have or pay time off that they have. So,

[2:05:51] I'm hesitant to put something in there. I don't think

[2:05:57] » that a department head would be okay with

[2:06:03] somebody being gone for a month, but >> um

[2:06:07] » that's kind of where I was headed. >> Yeah.

[2:06:09] » For somebody to be operational four weeks or five weeks out of a department,

[2:06:14] » it's it's tough. >> It is tough.

[2:06:17] » And what's the reality of somebody how many people actually do that? I mean,

[2:06:21] when was the last time you had somebody take four weeks off or or even request

[2:06:24] it? >> Now that we're asking that didn't break

[2:06:27] their leg. >> [laughter]

[2:06:28] » Yeah. >> That didn't break their leg.

[2:06:29] » They were just going on vacation. >> Just going on vacation. It I none I mean

[2:06:34] that I can recall. >> So So have you compared these policies

[2:06:40] with other municipalities? Does the village have this extra or the the

[2:06:44] county have this extra week of of time? >> I have compared what their banks are in

[2:06:51] the past. Um we're pretty comparable bank size, but um how they actually

[2:06:57] administer it, >> this longevity thing that's coming in

[2:07:01] here, is that normal in other circles? >> Is this where did this idea come from?

[2:07:09] » Cocktails. >> Yes.

[2:07:12] [laughter]

[2:07:17] um engagement ideas from the engagement

[2:07:22] team. Um five weeks isn't

[2:07:28] I know it feels like a lot. >> Yeah, it's a lot.

[2:07:31] » But for longevity, it's it's less than the firefighters get.

[2:07:37] It's um that which doesn't help. But now the firefighters have of course that's a

[2:07:45] contract negotiation thing may come up someday soon

[2:07:50] » but but now they have to schedule all of their time well in advance at the

[2:07:54] beginning of the year or something. Right.

[2:07:56] » There's some contractual term terminology in there for how they need

[2:07:59] to schedule their time, but it's I that's up to Chief Abel how he

[2:08:05] administers that in his department. >> Well, it's in a contract. It's in the

[2:08:10] contract. Isn't that something that has to be lived up to or something?

[2:08:14] » Yeah, >> it should be. If I mean, unless I mean,

[2:08:18] if everybody's okay with it and they're not grieving it, then

[2:08:22] » Got you. >> I I don't feel a I don't see a comfort

[2:08:27] level up here, but I'm going to >> I don't feel one either. I'm not very

[2:08:31] comfortable right now. >> I'm not feeling a warm and fuzzy. Deb,

[2:08:33] your mic's on. >> Yes, [laughter] it is on. Um,

[2:08:38] I do know companies that that do five weeks for long term and I I really don't

[2:08:44] have a problem with that. I'm just trying to get comfortable with

[2:08:48] » how we're covering it um how much it's going to cost us otherwise.

[2:08:54] Um, and if you're saying that it's only in the critical departments and

[2:09:00] your first stab at it would be under $10,000, we're not talking millions of

[2:09:05] dollars here on it. >> Yeah.

[2:09:07] » Um, I think also um

[2:09:16] Yeah, there's there's just some some I think we ought to limit how much

[2:09:23] people can take unless it's under certain circumstances. How much vacation

[2:09:29] time that they can take in a row, that's vacation time. If they have a broken leg

[2:09:35] and they're taking PTO plus and they need more time that, you know, we can

[2:09:40] write that into the policy that uh under circumstances you can use your vacation

[2:09:46] time with it or something. it. >> Um,

[2:09:50] » I don't think we've ever I think you're probably right. We probably have never

[2:09:54] had it, but now that we've said it out loud, somebody might think of that.

[2:09:57] [laughter] >> I I mean, I have some other department

[2:10:00] heads here tonight that might be able to I mean,

[2:10:05] one way or the other, it doesn't matter to me administrative wise. I They put

[2:10:09] their request in, I approve it, I process payroll.

[2:10:13] But um feedback from the employees is really what I'm just trying to convey.

[2:10:18] » So >> okay.

[2:10:21] » Yeah. I mean I'd like to see a chart of the personnel in terms of the

[2:10:25] implications. It doesn't have to be the name specifically but like what they do

[2:10:28] and so we could get a better understanding of what because we say may

[2:10:32] have implications on the budget. If we can get a chart we can kind of I think

[2:10:36] that would be a little bit more clear to see what if any implications are going

[2:10:40] to be with specific positions. Thank you, Steve. I uh so I'm hearing that

[2:10:46] this thing isn't fully cooked and why don't we not [laughter]

[2:10:49] » I can keep cooking. >> Why don't we why don't we let this bake

[2:10:52] a little bit longer and see if we can get some, you know, more uh feedback

[2:10:57] from the council and maybe discussions with council and see if we can get this

[2:11:01] thing. >> She asked for the one section to if we'd

[2:11:06] approved the one section about outside employment.

[2:11:10] Uh, can we go ahead and approve that so that she can move ahead with that or

[2:11:16] does everybody want >> that help you right now?

[2:11:19] » Yeah, that's the one that I kind of really need to hear.

[2:11:22] » That's the one you need right now. >> Yeah,

[2:11:25] » John, can we have the wording? Uh, can we

[2:11:30] go through this, revise this resolution just to address that portion of this and

[2:11:36] and then get that done for Jamie now and then talk about this other when it's a

[2:11:41] better time? Yeah, I think you can do it if you do it as a motion to um to

[2:11:46] approve with the amendment that it um it be limited to the conflicting employment

[2:11:51] changes and consistent with the uh the language that I um uh I read off a short

[2:11:57] while ago. >> Okay. So before we do that, is there any

[2:12:00] more public comment that we might want to have before we move on to the next

[2:12:05] No. Marne? >> No, sir.

[2:12:08] » Very good. Public comment is closed. I want somebody to repeat exactly what

[2:12:12] John said in that motion and we'll move forward.

[2:12:17] » What John said in that motion. I make that motion.

[2:12:19] » You make that motion. Exactly. Okay. Do I have for that?

[2:12:23] » You got that, Marne? [laughter]

[2:12:26] » Do I have a second for the warning on that?

[2:12:32] » Goodness. Yes. Go ahead. >> Okay. We have a [laughter] motion and a

[2:12:35] second. I think we ought to call the role. Marne.

[2:12:39] Council member Deb Gillis, >> yes.

[2:12:42] » Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney, >> yes.

[2:12:44] » Council member Steve Freriedman, >> yes.

[2:12:46] » Council member Anna Richards, >> yes.

[2:12:49] » Mayor Don Horton, >> yes.

[2:12:50] » Okay, that motion passes 5-0. >> Very good.

[2:12:55] » Sorry about that, Jamie. >> Thank you. It's okay.

[2:12:58] » Okay.

[2:13:02] » I chased you away. >> You changed shirts. Uh,

[2:13:07] » it's it's you're not the public anymore. Okay, but you still don't have your fire

[2:13:11] chief. >> You don't have your whites on for us

[2:13:14] tonight, Chief. >> Abley, where do you find this stuff?

[2:13:17] » I know. We're going to move on to [laughter]

[2:13:20] the next item. >> Let's go to tab eight. That's a

[2:13:23] resolution of the village council of vom village of island violence Florida

[2:13:25] approving the final rankings and recommendations of the RFP 26-09

[2:13:30] evaluation committee for selection of a contractor for professional surface uh

[2:13:33] surface repairs and exterior painting of island fire station 20. Authorize the

[2:13:37] village manager and village attorney negotiate agreement for the services.

[2:13:40] Authorize a village manager to execute the agreement. Authorize the village

[2:13:43] manager to expend budget funds and providing an effective date. Chief, so

[2:13:48] what you have before you is the approval of the rankings of the review committee

[2:13:53] for an RFP. We sent the RFP out earlier in the year. A crew of three of us met.

[2:13:59] We scored everybody. Um it was quite an oddity when uh all the scores were

[2:14:04] actually tallied up. The top two people actually tied. So then we went back and

[2:14:08] with the top two of the scores, one and two, we looked at them and kind of dug a

[2:14:14] little bit deeper. And then we actually went with the

[2:14:18] not the lowest bid but Engineer Coding Solutions uh at a bid of 4275267.

[2:14:25] Um so they were tied for top ranking on the evaluation committee. I did put a

[2:14:30] 10% contingency fee in here for the not to exceed for the contract and uh we

[2:14:36] just need to get our our uh building back watertight again. So that's what

[2:14:40] this is all about. So, we haven't had the building painted in about eight

[2:14:44] years, and we're having some water intrusion issues. So, before it creates

[2:14:48] bigger issues and mold and stuff of that nature, we're getting our water tight

[2:14:51] again. It is a budgeted item, and it is under budget.

[2:14:56] » Terry, who did the specs for your uh for your bid?

[2:15:00] » Uh, for the paint, >> it was a combination of myself, AJ, and

[2:15:04] Sheila. And did you spec out exactly which paint that you're going to use,

[2:15:08] the brand and and all? >> The type of coke, but not the name of

[2:15:12] coaul. Um, the type and speck on paint for primer and for the finish coat. Yes.

[2:15:17] » And you did but you did spec out a particular kind of paint.

[2:15:21] » Yes, sir. Down to the color. >> Okay.

[2:15:24] » That was Sheila's doing. >> Is there any public comment on this

[2:15:28] item? >> No one has signed up for it.

[2:15:31] » Public comment still open. Is there anyone would like to talk about paint on

[2:15:35] a firehouse? >> Very good. Okay. How fast is your paint

[2:15:40] going to dry? The sky is beautiful right now. Is there a motion on uh to

[2:15:45] recommend painting a firehouse? >> I'll make a motion to paint the

[2:15:48] firehouse. >> Thank you, sir.

[2:15:50] » And whatever this says in the second. >> Had a motion and second.

[2:15:54] » Marne, will you call the role, please? >> Council member Deb Gillis.

[2:15:58] » Yes. >> Council member Anna Richards.

[2:16:00] » Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman. Yes.

[2:16:02] » Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes.

[2:16:04] » And Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes.

[2:16:05] » That motion passes 5-0. >> Thank you, council.

[2:16:09] » All right, John. Let's move it. >> Tab nine is a resolution of the village

[2:16:13] council of Alamara Village of Islands, Florida, approving a one-year renewal of

[2:16:16] the agreement for professional state lobbying services between Grey Robinson,

[2:16:19] PA and Mara Village of Islands. Authorizing [snorts] village officials

[2:16:22] to implement the terms and conditions of the professional services agreement.

[2:16:25] Authorizing the village manager to expend budget funds. Authorizing the

[2:16:28] village manager to execute the professional services agreement.

[2:16:30] providing for a waiver of competitive bidding and providing for an effective

[2:16:33] date. >> Very good, Ron.

[2:16:37] » Uh, as you recall, last year we did a one-year extension for Gray Robinson.

[2:16:41] Uh, the one year is up. Uh, the difference between previous years was we

[2:16:45] requested them to add a local lobbyist, and that was the Southern Group, Kate

[2:16:50] Delo is here, and at no additional cost. That was the agreement was that they

[2:16:54] would absorb uh uh the Southern Group. So, we basically got two of the best

[2:16:58] lobbying firms in the state for the price of one. Uh, we think that they did

[2:17:02] a good job during session doing the weekly updates. We did well with the

[2:17:05] legislative preparations. Also, they helped with the stewardship money. And

[2:17:09] so, at this point, I would recommend that we approve a one-year extension for

[2:17:14] it says Gay Robinson, but it also includes Southern Group.

[2:17:17] » Very good. Thank you. Uh, is there any council discussion about this item,

[2:17:24] Steve? I would um with with all due respect to

[2:17:28] Southern and Kate and and Gay Robinson and the work that they did for us

[2:17:32] specifically um they are also hired by the county to do um a lot of the similar

[2:17:39] work that uh we asked them to do in Marada. We just had a scientist from the

[2:17:43] Everglades Foundation come and give us a presentation and he said there are other

[2:17:47] interests that want access to that water and he did not want to say it, but what

[2:17:52] he was intending to say was uh big sugar and I would just like us to once again

[2:17:59] think about looking for a lobbying firm that is not attached to sugar to reduce

[2:18:04] any sort of propriy of um conflict of interest.

[2:18:09] » All right. Thank you, Steve. I I got to say that last year I was uh I

[2:18:16] was on the fence and there had been several years previously that uh uh when

[2:18:22] I wasn't on council that I I came to that podium and uh wanted to know why

[2:18:28] the only time we heard from our lobbyists was when it was time to renew

[2:18:31] their contract. Um, I think that message resonated to uh the folks at Gay

[2:18:38] Robinson and I think Ryan Matthews stepped up really good. Uh, bringing the

[2:18:43] Southern Group on board was a huge step for a lobby firm to bring another lobby

[2:18:48] firm on board. Uh, I think that their communication uh this year has been

[2:18:56] outstanding. I think that they um I think that something that's never been

[2:19:03] done before at at at my request and at Ron's uh request to have them during

[2:19:10] legislative session give us a a Friday update on uh exactly what was going on

[2:19:16] and what we could expect. I I think that them coming to us now and wanting to

[2:19:21] know what you know those items that we want to have brought in front of them so

[2:19:25] that they can start lobbying for us and so Kate and her folks can get to work.

[2:19:31] um uh is is been outstanding and I think they've I think they've earned it uh to

[2:19:39] to uh continue to work for us and and to bring even more dollars for us if we

[2:19:45] asked for it this year. Um so I'm I I I'm really pleased with the work that

[2:19:51] they've done and and how they've stepped up.

[2:19:56] » I'm good with that. Deb,

[2:20:01] » everything you said. Yeah. >> Plus more.

[2:20:03] » Yeah. >> Even in the years that we didn't tell

[2:20:06] them things to do, they they found things that we needed and they fought

[2:20:11] for us. Um, which is commendable. So, [clears throat]

[2:20:16] um, everything you said. >> Thank you, Dana.

[2:20:21] » Everything you said and then more like they, you know, we had extra meetings

[2:20:24] this past year. Um, I think we did better than a lot of other

[2:20:28] municipalities on all of our appropriations that we received. So, I'm

[2:20:33] all for continuing with them >> on a year when a lot of other agencies

[2:20:38] were getting a no and getting a veto out of the the governor and uh not even

[2:20:44] being heard. Um, >> we got everything we asked for. We got

[2:20:47] everything we asked for and uh and and the presentations that they gave us

[2:20:54] during Florida Keys Day and the communication they've had with us, I

[2:20:57] think has been outstanding. So,

[2:21:02] uh let's open this up to public comment. Is there any public comment on this

[2:21:06] item? >> I don't have anyone signed up for it.

[2:21:09] » Is there anyone would like to talk about this item?

[2:21:13] » I'll entertain a motion. I'll make a motion to approve.

[2:21:17] » Second. >> Okay. Marne, I got a motion, a second.

[2:21:20] Will you please call the role? >> Council member Debb Gillis.

[2:21:24] » Yes. >> Council member Anna Richard.

[2:21:25] » Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman.

[2:21:27] » No. >> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney.

[2:21:31] » Yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton.

[2:21:32] » Yes. >> Motion passes 4 to1.

[2:21:36] Steve, I I I hear you loud and clear and I hope that we can

[2:21:43] put that message out there that that there's an importance

[2:21:47] of what has to happen in the Everglades and and and what we're looking for that.

[2:21:52] Thank you for that. >> Thank you.

[2:21:56] » All right, let's move to the next resolution. Tab 10 is a resolution of

[2:22:00] village council of Isamata village of Islands, Florida accepting the grant

[2:22:03] award from the Florida Department of Transportation for design of the Imamada

[2:22:06] US Highway 1 breakwater project at Coots Beach FM458469-1-34-01

[2:22:14] approving the state funded grant agreement between the Florida Department

[2:22:16] of Transportation and Island Village of Islands to provide reimbursement funding

[2:22:20] for the project of up to $300,000. Authorizing the village manager to

[2:22:23] execute the agreement authorizing village officials to implement the terms

[2:22:26] and conditions of the agreement. authorized the village manager to expend

[2:22:29] budgeted funds and providing an effective date.

[2:22:31] » Peter. >> Okay. Thanks, John. And good evening,

[2:22:35] council. So, as you are likely aware by now, the village is looking to construct

[2:22:39] a living shoreline/breakwater just offshore of Sea Oats Beach. We're

[2:22:44] looking to do this in about 2 to 3 feet of water on average and about 75 to 100

[2:22:49] ft off the uh mean high water line. Uh I would like to note that this is a

[2:22:55] different completely separate project from what we heard uh the the group uh

[2:23:00] reef starter the reef starter firm they are proposing to do a

[2:23:04] breakwater/artificial reef much farther offshore of Seth Beach

[2:23:08] and about 6 to 7 feet of water over 1200 feet offshore so different projects

[2:23:14] however they are complimentary and they would benefit one another um but we are

[2:23:18] proposing something much different I know there's been a lot of questions

[2:23:21] just the past couple weeks speaks about the two projects. Um, so where we are

[2:23:25] with this project, we are just wrapping up the design work. You've heard me talk

[2:23:29] for about the past two years on this project. We went through a feasibility

[2:23:32] study, preliminary design. We are wrapping up our design right now. Uh, it

[2:23:37] was in October uh 2025. We did submit for a uh local initiative uh state

[2:23:42] funding request to help fund the remainder of our preconstruction

[2:23:46] activities that go along with this project. The main thing is the

[2:23:49] permitting. That's going to be the biggest part of this biggest hurdle

[2:23:52] really for this this project is the permitting. Something like this has

[2:23:55] never been done in Monroe counties. We're working in outstanding Florida

[2:23:58] water. There's never been any type of fill material deposited in a near

[2:24:03] offshore environment like this. So, we're looking for a we have a quite a

[2:24:08] bit of permitting, probably over a year process here. Um, we were notified that

[2:24:13] we were given the award, so that was in uh late spring, early summer uh of

[2:24:17] $300,000. Our request was 300,000. We are being awarded $300,000 for the the

[2:24:23] permitting activities for this project. So exciting and news. We do Kate's still

[2:24:26] here. We want to thank Kate and the rest of our lo lobbying team with Gray

[2:24:30] Robinson. They did a great job for us this year. We got all four of the state

[2:24:34] appropriation request we submitted for us. So we got a lot we have a lot of

[2:24:37] money this year to work with and some really interesting projects. So before

[2:24:40] you this evening, we're just approving the grant agreement. We have to execute

[2:24:43] a grant agreement uh with the state uh to receive the funding. and wanted to

[2:24:48] bring this before the council. We need a resolution in order to do that. And also

[2:24:52] just wanted to highlight the uh you know the award and uh the project we want to

[2:24:55] move forward with. So staff are recommending approval of an adoption of

[2:25:00] the resolution to >> Thank you agreement.

[2:25:03] » I think we also need to give a big thanks out there to Rep. Mooney and uh

[2:25:07] Ann Maria Rodriguez as well. I I think they're they're being extremely helpful

[2:25:12] to us for our environmental projects and what we're doing. We're the the

[2:25:18] environmental projects that we're doing in Alamron are unprecedented and I thank

[2:25:22] you for the hard work that you're doing on this and and uh I think this is an

[2:25:26] awesome project that I I'm so looking forward to this happening and and uh of

[2:25:32] course in concert with you know with our fishing captains and making sure that

[2:25:38] they're aware that we're not going to harm any uh you know tarpon migration

[2:25:42] areas or anything like that like reef this reef

[2:25:46] builders might be getting in the middle of this thing is so far inshore that

[2:25:51] it's not going to affect that. >> So, uh,

[2:25:55] » correct. >> Council lady, any comments, Deb?

[2:25:58] » Yes, I wanted to comment on the matching funds. Um,

[2:26:03] tell everybody what you told me about the matching funds.

[2:26:06] » That's a good point. I meant to mention that. So, there is a $105,000 match with

[2:26:11] this. However, we are able to use the all the design work we've already done.

[2:26:16] We've done over $105,000 worth of design work. So, that can be utilized as the

[2:26:21] match for this project. So, we're not putting out any more u funds or money um

[2:26:27] for this $300,000 >> for this portion.

[2:26:30] » For this portion, correct? >> Thank you.

[2:26:32] » Yeah. I don't want the message out there that it's the rest is free too.

[2:26:37] Yes. >> Yeah.

[2:26:40] Steve. >> Um, yeah, it's just uh amazing to me to

[2:26:44] think that uh this $300,000 grant is really just for the the the permitting

[2:26:48] process. It kind of gives you an idea of the of the scale of this thing and uh um

[2:26:53] I think it's great and yeah, I'll take the money.

[2:26:55] » Yeah, for sure. Anna, anything? >> Vice Mayor,

[2:27:00] » is there any public comment on this item?

[2:27:02] » There is. >> Let's do it.

[2:27:04] » All right. First up is Joe Wishmire. >> Welcome, Joe. Sorry.

[2:27:10] It was mainly for you, >> Joe Plantation Key. Uh, I guess I was

[2:27:16] just a little confused on the two and I was hoping that Peter might be able to

[2:27:19] explain why we would need one inshore and one offshore. Um, because I'm I'm

[2:27:25] guessing that this grant is for the two different projects. This doesn't have

[2:27:29] anything to do with the one offshore. >> It's only for the one that's inshore.

[2:27:32] » That's correct. And I'm just wondering why we need both of them just for a

[2:27:37] little clarity. That's all. >> Thank you, Joe. I I think Peter will

[2:27:41] explain that that that was just a presentation the other day. It was not

[2:27:45] something that was necessarily >> contemplated, but it was a good

[2:27:49] presentation >> and that's a a fair question. So, just

[2:27:53] I'll start off with saying we developed this project long before we knew

[2:27:57] anything about restarter. This was a number one project in the vulnerability

[2:28:02] assessment. and the village worked on for years. the required vulnerability

[2:28:05] assessment number one project try and stabilize the shoreline at Seotes Beach

[2:28:09] highly vulnerable and we have US1 right there the most vulnerable part of US1 we

[2:28:14] have a beach that is completely washed away so we're looking to create some

[2:28:18] habitat and stabilize the shoreline so that's why our engineers developed this

[2:28:22] project later on so year and a half later restarter came to us to explain

[2:28:29] what they were looking to do a much farther offshore project. Um, really

[2:28:34] more of an artificial reef project really than a wave attenuation thing.

[2:28:38] Super interesting, right, with what's going on with our our reefs these days.

[2:28:42] So, this this doesn't impact our project affect or negatively affect our project

[2:28:47] at all. It can only benefit. So, again, they are looking to attenuate waves to

[2:28:52] stabilize the shoreline to minimize damage to that shoreline and US1. All it

[2:28:56] does is help, benefit, complement our project. So, we don't have a problem

[2:29:01] with it. and the the added effect of an artificial reef. Super interesting. Like

[2:29:06] our project isn't going to be that much of an artificial reef, it's going to be

[2:29:10] very shallow. But there certainly is. Uh and artificial reefs are are a big topic

[2:29:15] these days. As you know, the county's going through it. The state's going

[2:29:17] through it. So, we support them because it can only benefit our project.

[2:29:23] » Yeah, there's so many neat technologies now. And this res this presentation that

[2:29:28] that Restarter gave us was really good. But in one of these days, we probably

[2:29:31] ought to have a presentation from a company by the name of Kind Designs and

[2:29:36] have them come and talk to us about what they can do on uh uh on seaw walls and

[2:29:42] and uh wave deflection and those kind of things because we need to keep up with

[2:29:48] this technology and like what Peter's doing now, we need to be first first out

[2:29:53] of the box to take care of these things. We're we're already doing great things

[2:29:57] down lower mat company. We need to continue to do that all the way through

[2:30:01] the village and and be, you know, be that the ones that are starting these

[2:30:06] trends going. >> Yep.

[2:30:08] » I just wanted to make the comment that to make it clear that the the

[2:30:11] presentation that we had the other day was just an inform

[2:30:16] presentation. We have no commitments to it. We have nothing that's to come.

[2:30:21] Maybe, maybe not. Maybe another company. But at least it's information that we

[2:30:26] can put in our pocket to have for future use.

[2:30:30] » Thank you. Marty, is there any other public comment?

[2:30:33] » Yes, sir. Nancy Carajio.

[2:30:37] » Welcome. >> Hi.

[2:30:42] » Hi, Deb. Um, I have um I'd like to say that uh I've

[2:30:49] been here 26 years. I study marine science.

[2:30:53] I um Seats Beach is one of the places that I study at and we have spent $10

[2:31:02] million to move the power poles. We have spent $18 million

[2:31:09] to raise the road. Okay. What are these barriers going to

[2:31:14] do to get the ocean away from US1

[2:31:19] so it does not buckle the road again? >> Right.

[2:31:24] » What that doesn't do us any good to put barriers out

[2:31:32] so many feet offshore. Okay. We need to fix US1 now, not wait

[2:31:39] until Irma or another storm comes. We need to get the ocean away from US1.

[2:31:47] The only way you're going to do that is to renourish the beach. I've lived in

[2:31:53] Florida all my life and every beach I've ever lived on from Clearwater Beach, Dun

[2:31:59] Eden Beach, Indian Rocks Beach to here has reourish their beach. We put money

[2:32:06] aside every year and any storm that comes, we reourish our beaches. Okay?

[2:32:14] A barrier out there is not going to do us any good.

[2:32:19] You might as well wait for the parrot fish to poop enough sand out. I'm sorry.

[2:32:24] That's the way it works. I mean, think about how much sand the parrot fish do.

[2:32:31] Anyways, that's not going to help us one.

[2:32:38] » Thank you so much. >> Sorry.

[2:32:40] » Thank you so much. >> You're welcome.

[2:32:43] » Peter, can you can you fill in the the blank on that for us, please?

[2:32:47] » Sure. and we've done it before and we can

[2:32:51] continue to do it until it happens. >> So, with all due respect, you can't

[2:32:54] renourish that beach. You cannot put sand there unless you move the road.

[2:32:59] What's going to happen if we put sand there and there's a tropical storm or a

[2:33:02] hurricane? All of that sand is gone instantly. Where's it going to go?

[2:33:08] » Right. >> In everyone's backyard and in the canal.

[2:33:11] Then we're going to be responsible. Who's responsible for that? The village.

[2:33:14] Yes. getting all that sand out of everyone's yards, off the streets, out

[2:33:18] of the canals. Millions and millions of dollars. We can't put sand on that

[2:33:23] beach. It's unfortunate. I understand. >> That's not true. We're not going to have

[2:33:27] an exchange. >> I want to see a big I would love to see

[2:33:29] a big beach there. There's never going to be a beach there if the road stays

[2:33:33] where it is. It's the road. The ocean is on the road. We would need to move the

[2:33:38] road to reourish the beach. The sand is never going to stay there. The sea

[2:33:42] level's rising. It's all going to move into the canals, people's backyards. We

[2:33:46] can't do that. >> But this will, this will help replenish

[2:33:50] that. >> Yes. So, all of the wave, we've done

[2:33:52] extensive wave modeling. It knocks wave energy down. That's what we're looking

[2:33:56] to do. >> Knock wave energy down. If there's a

[2:33:59] category 5 storm, 20 ft of water goes over the road. Okay, maybe it's not

[2:34:03] going to help. But for our day-to-day storms, you know, tropical storm,

[2:34:08] category 1, two, three storm, sure, all the modeling shows it. We've had

[2:34:12] extensive engineering done on this. It knocks the wave energy down, hence less

[2:34:16] damage to the shoreline. And we're creating habitat. That's a

[2:34:20] fact. That's why we're doing this. >> Thank you, Peter.

[2:34:24] » Sure. >> Thank you, Marne. Is there any other

[2:34:27] public comment? >> No, sir.

[2:34:29] » Okay. Council Steve. >> Yeah. I um I'm trying to think of what

[2:34:34] the term is. I I think we're we're treating the symptom and not the cause,

[2:34:39] but at least we're doing something. And um I agree. I think that that we need to

[2:34:44] do a lot more for the infrastructure and the road uh in terms of what these um

[2:34:50] what we're going to try to do to help prevent that from happening. But I think

[2:34:54] this is at least a step in the right direction. But other bureaucracies need

[2:34:57] to step in in order to raise that road more resiliency and and that sort of

[2:35:03] thing >> because we don't have any authority over

[2:35:05] that road. That's that's Florida DOT >> and we can beg them and we can plea with

[2:35:10] them and we can argue with them. I mean would it be better to build a like I 10

[2:35:16] in that area and elevate that road to where it doesn't have that kind of

[2:35:20] effect or where it doesn't dam >> um

[2:35:23] » that that's the ultimate perfect answer. I mean an elevated road, but it's not

[2:35:27] going to happen. It just cost too much money,

[2:35:29] » right? And that's DOT and we, you know, we are the u we're the little small

[2:35:35] speck on the elephant when it comes to that kind of thing. So

[2:35:38] » yes, >> uh so it it it's like you said, Steve,

[2:35:42] we're we're we're treating the symptom. We're not the cure, but we're certainly

[2:35:47] trying to do something that's going to help replenish that beach and have some

[2:35:51] wave attenuation effects on that in a in a big part of the storm.

[2:35:56] So, um, is there any more public comment?

[2:36:01] » You don't get two bites at the apple. I'm so sorry because we're just going to

[2:36:05] argue about it. We've done the studies. We've had the engineering and u and

[2:36:11] we've got a project that we believe and staff believes is going to work. Maybe

[2:36:16] you need to have a conversation with staff and see if there's some better

[2:36:19] idea that you would have on that. >> I have a question why we're not putting

[2:36:23] sand back on the beach. That doesn't make any sense to me.

[2:36:27] » Understand that and have that conversation with with Peter and and he

[2:36:31] should be able to help you out and understand that. I'll

[2:36:33] » I'll just be happy to discuss it more. >> Thank you, Peter.

[2:36:36] » Sure. All right, we've got Do I have a motion on to second? Make We have a

[2:36:42] motion. Do I have a second? We have a motion and a second.

[2:36:46] » Marty, will you call the roll, please? >> Council member Steve Freriedman.

[2:36:49] » Yes. >> Council member Anna Richards.

[2:36:51] » Yes. >> Council member Deb Gillis.

[2:36:53] » Yes. >> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney.

[2:36:55] » Yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton.

[2:36:56] » Yes. >> Okay, that motion passes 5 to zero.

[2:36:59] » Let's move on to tab 12. >> Uh tab 11.

[2:37:03] » I'm sorry. Tab 11. Yep. Um, I know I bounced it too fast, didn't

[2:37:09] » 11 is a resolution of the village council of Alamara Village, Florida,

[2:37:13] approving work authorization number two with res

[2:37:16] Florida Consulting LLC for environmental permitting services associated with the

[2:37:20] Seotes Beach Restoration Project, authorizing village officials to

[2:37:23] implement the terms and conditions of work authorization number two,

[2:37:26] authorizing village manager to expend budget of funds, authorizing village

[2:37:28] manager to execute work authorization number two, and providing for an

[2:37:31] effective date. >> Thank you, Peter. Now, let's restore a

[2:37:34] beach. >> Yes. Okay. So, the last agenda item that

[2:37:37] discussed the receiving of the money. Now, we're going to talk about the

[2:37:40] spending of the money. So, as I mentioned, we have completed the design

[2:37:44] work for this project. Res Environmental Consulting did complete all components

[2:37:49] of this project up to now. The preliminary uh pre-construction

[2:37:52] activities including feasibility, all the design work. We did request a

[2:37:56] proposal from REZ for the permitting. That's the next step in order to move

[2:38:01] towards construction. uh REZ, we do have a continuing services agreement with

[2:38:05] them. So, this does uh authorize the work author authorization for the

[2:38:09] permitting. Their proposal came in at $200,000. So, uh Councilman, that that

[2:38:15] is less than the state appropriation. Uh we weren't sure how much the permitting

[2:38:18] was going to cost. So, we do have a nice buffer there extra. Uh so, that does

[2:38:23] allow for any additional work we may need with the permitting. We don't know

[2:38:26] what's going to happen with the permitting. could turn into a bigger

[2:38:29] project than we thought. If we don't use all of that $300,000, we can roll that

[2:38:33] into the next stage of the project to even into construction. So, we're very

[2:38:38] well set there. Um, so yes, this just does approve a a project agreement with

[2:38:43] REZ to move in and complete the permitting for our our project at uh

[2:38:48] Seotes Beach. And um staff is recommending adoption and approval of

[2:38:52] this uh this resolution. >> Great work on it.

[2:38:55] » Answer questions. Great work on that. Is there any comment, guys?

[2:39:01] » Okay, let's open it up to public comment. Is there any public comment?

[2:39:05] » No one has signed up specifically for this one.

[2:39:08] » Okay, public comment still open. Going once, going twice. No one online.

[2:39:13] » No, sir. >> All right. Public comments closed.

[2:39:17] » Motion to approve. >> I'll second.

[2:39:19] » Got a motion in a second. Marty, will you call the role?

[2:39:23] » Council member Ann Richards? >> Yes. Council member Deb Gillis.

[2:39:26] » Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman.

[2:39:28] » Yes. >> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney.

[2:39:30] » Yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton.

[2:39:32] » Yes. >> That motion passes 5-0.

[2:39:36] » Good job. >> Tab.

[2:39:40] » Let's go to the next tab. >> Tab 12 is a resolution of Village

[2:39:43] Council of Vomar Village, Florida approving work authorization number

[2:39:46] three with WSPUSA Inc. for Canal 145 Restoration Project Construction

[2:39:51] Engineering Inspections and Administration Services. Authorizing

[2:39:54] village officials to implement the terms and conditions of work authorization

[2:39:57] number three, authorizing village manager to expend budget funds,

[2:40:00] authorizing village manager to execute the uh project agreement for work

[2:40:02] authorization number three and providing for an effective date. Okay, thanks

[2:40:06] John. So, at our past council meeting that was in the August meeting, council

[2:40:12] approved an agreement with Adventure Environmental Incorporated to complete

[2:40:16] the next canal restoration project we have planned, which is an organic

[2:40:20] removal and a backfilling of canal 145. That's the canal in between Cortez and

[2:40:26] Columbus drives on lower Madakumbi. So, we have in the process of executing that

[2:40:31] agreement with Adventure Environmental. We are looking to start this project in

[2:40:35] late October. So, in order to do a project like this, it is required to

[2:40:39] have construction, engineering, inspection, and administration. It's

[2:40:43] essentially the the oversight, the monitoring that needs to be done in

[2:40:47] order to complete an environmental project like this to make sure we're

[2:40:50] complying with all the permitting regulations, threatened endangered

[2:40:54] species protection, and it's also a requirement within our uh stewardship

[2:40:58] act grant. We have to have this monitoring. Uh um WSP has been the firm

[2:41:03] that has done all the monitoring for us. all of our canal restoration projects

[2:41:07] and the county as well. They are currently right now doing the CI work on

[2:41:12] a very similar canal project for Monroe County that is slated to be done in

[2:41:16] about 3 weeks. Once they're done, we're going to start our project. WSP has been

[2:41:21] working for the village for 13 years. Um done an excellent job for us. Uh we have

[2:41:26] a continuing services agreement with them as well. So we requested uh their

[2:41:31] service to do the CI work on this canal restoration project as well. Uh their

[2:41:36] cost was cost proposal was $103,000 kind of Oh shoot

[2:41:44] $103,000. Um

[2:41:48] that's fits with about how much these projects cost the the the monitoring

[2:41:52] work for this. It's quite extensive. Um grant funded. So we do have funds a

[2:41:58] stewardship act grant will cover the full cost of this. We have the grant

[2:42:03] already um appropriated, ready to spend the money. Uh $2.2 million. Uh so even a

[2:42:10] little extra there. Uh so looking to approve this work authorization with WSP

[2:42:15] for the CI oversight of our canal restoration project

[2:42:20] and no no expenses to the taxpayers. No local taxpayer money will be utilized

[2:42:25] for this. This is all grant funded. And you're already seeing success on these

[2:42:30] when we filled these canals and backfill these on Plantation Key, right?

[2:42:34] » Absolutely. The back filling really I mean other than you know maybe a culvert

[2:42:38] pipe or something it's the best thing you can do is to reduce that depth.

[2:42:42] Anything below six feet just goes anoxic. All that sargasm sinks can't

[2:42:47] really decompose. The bacteria can't act on it when it's that deep. It's anoxic

[2:42:51] zone. It stinks. So once you decrease that depth you have life. You have

[2:42:55] oxygen. Yeah. We're seeing amazing uh submerged vegetation, seaggrass, sponge

[2:43:00] growth in these canals that we've backfilled. So, yeah, they are it's a

[2:43:04] huge benefit. >> You know, that's

[2:43:08] » that's bad luck to have that happen to you, Sue. All right. Is this the extra

[2:43:13] merit that we're talking about? >> I think so.

[2:43:15] » That's [laughter] that's the e that's the above and beyond

[2:43:18] right there by our fire chief. Steve, your mic's on. Did you have something

[2:43:21] you want to say? No. Okay. Are there any questions of uh Peter at this moment?

[2:43:28] » No. Okay. Uh why don't we open this up to public comment?

[2:43:33] » I have no one signed up for it. >> Is there anyone would like to talk about

[2:43:37] our canal filling? >> No.

[2:43:41] » All right. Very good. Do I have a motion to approve?

[2:43:43] » I'll make a motion to approve. >> Second.

[2:43:46] » I got a motion. And we have a second. Marty, will you call the role?

[2:43:50] » Council member Deb Gillis. >> Yes.

[2:43:52] » Council member Anna Richards. Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman.

[2:43:55] » Yes. >> Council or excuse me, Vice Mayor Sharon

[2:43:58] Mahoney. >> Yes.

[2:43:59] » And Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes.

[2:44:00] » That motion passes 5-0. >> Thank you so much. We'll move on to tab

[2:44:05] 13. >> 13 is a resolution of the village

[2:44:08] council of Alamada Village of Violence, Florida, approving the updated retainer

[2:44:11] agreement for village attorney legal services between West Florida Healthman

[2:44:14] Cole and Beerman PL and Alam Marada village of Violence authorizing village

[2:44:18] officials to implement the terms and conditions of the agreement. Authorizing

[2:44:20] village manager to expend budget of funds. authorizing the village mayor to

[2:44:23] execute the agreement and providing for an effective date.

[2:44:26] » Well, you're not done. How about you give us a presentation, too, then?

[2:44:29] » Yep. I'm doing double duty, sir. >> Yes, sir.

[2:44:32] » Um, so, you know, as we were going through the budget process, one of the

[2:44:36] things that, you know, I was looking at was trying to figure out a a way to to

[2:44:41] try to ensure that there's better budget certainty for the village while also

[2:44:45] trying to um make it cost-effective and reduce expenses for the village. And uh

[2:44:51] I spoke with uh with my firm uh about potentially uh bringing forward like a

[2:44:57] flat fee agreement because now that we have been here for the last four years,

[2:45:02] we have real data that we can look at. We have an average and we understand how

[2:45:06] much work the village um is looking for with uh uh out of its village attorney.

[2:45:11] Uh so uh we I went forward they did some they did calculations um which is borne

[2:45:17] out in the proposed retainer agreement and it basically what it does is it it

[2:45:22] effectively takes uh reduces the budgeted amount for the legal department

[2:45:27] by just a little over 25%. and then divides that by 12 um which is obviously

[2:45:32] the the 12 months and so that that bears out a flat fee for each month and that

[2:45:38] is what would the village would pay for its general municipal services. There

[2:45:44] are a couple of um carveout areas because um some of which are because

[2:45:48] they're not paid by the village. That would be like cost recovery which is

[2:45:52] built into the into the code where uh your developer comes in and the

[2:45:56] developer when it's getting um when it needs legal uh review for development

[2:46:01] applications that's paid for by the developer. So obviously that would be

[2:46:04] carved out because it's it's not being paid for by the village. Um and that's

[2:46:08] not born in in the village budget as it is now anyway. Um litigation matters are

[2:46:13] carved out because those are are really difficult to figure out. There are some

[2:46:17] years where we have a lot of litigation. There's some years where we have

[2:46:21] virtually no litigation. And and ideally the the plan would be to have no

[2:46:26] litigation or if we have some that it would be covered completely by insurance

[2:46:30] so that the village isn't paying for it. And if that's the case, then that would

[2:46:34] never, you know, that would never trigger. So, um, I did talk to them

[2:46:38] about trying to see if we could figure out just a flat fee for everything. But

[2:46:42] it was it was the experience that we've had with the village and then looking

[2:46:47] back from before we were here. It's just such w it can be the swings can be so

[2:46:52] weird when it comes to litigation that there could be years where the village

[2:46:55] is paying us and we're not doing anything and or there could be years

[2:46:59] where you know there's so much litigation again fingers crossed

[2:47:03] hopefully that's not the case um where my firm ends up taking a bath. So we

[2:47:08] just we looked at it and just realized listen the the best way to approach this

[2:47:12] would be to carve out the litigation aspect um because it's just so uh

[2:47:18] dependent on the issues and so um it's just you just the ability to predict is

[2:47:25] is is very difficult. Um and so this made it a lot a lot simpler to do it

[2:47:29] that way. Uh the other carveouts would be what I would call like special

[2:47:33] projects. So, if we were to do, not that we have this planned, but something the

[2:47:38] example I would give is like if we're going to do like a whole code rewrite,

[2:47:41] not not just, you know, amending a section or amending a portion, but if

[2:47:45] we're going to go in and dive into the code and just say we need to do a

[2:47:49] complete overhaul of our code legal, take this. I mean, that's a six-month

[2:47:54] minimum thing. That type of thing is is a a huge undertaking. I don't think

[2:47:59] we're planning to do that, but I use that example. I mean our our code listen

[2:48:04] we've got some you know we've got little uniquenesses here and there but overall

[2:48:07] it works for us so it's it's not something I would envision. So when I

[2:48:12] say th those are the types of things that we're we're talking about in terms

[2:48:15] of like a carveout. Hopefully we never have to use those. So the idea was how

[2:48:20] can we get the village certainty so that when we come budget time it's not a

[2:48:26] question here it is this is the budget and here you go and then you know how

[2:48:30] can we do it where you know we can be cost-ffective and save the village you

[2:48:33] know hopefully save the village money um you know every year and and this was

[2:48:37] this was idea and this was you know kind of how I approached it with you all. Um

[2:48:41] the other thing this would do I um we were hired under the interim label um

[2:48:46] this would it it just I drafted as you retaining me as the attorney taking off

[2:48:51] the interim label. Um I mean frankly as I joke all the time or we're always

[2:48:55] interim I mean most every employee unless you've got an employment contract

[2:48:59] we're interim so um whether we have the title or not it uh it doesn't matter but

[2:49:03] I've I've heard some some folks have had mentioned that you know they'd like to

[2:49:07] you know remove that title since I've been here for four years and it seemed

[2:49:09] kind of silly to have it. So um this retainer would just would be for us to

[2:49:13] be the village attorney as well. Um, and it would still be for me to serve uh to

[2:49:18] serve in this capacity and you would have all the backup that that you have

[2:49:22] uh currently um uh at your disposal. >> Very good.

[2:49:26] » Council, any comments, >> Steve?

[2:49:30] » Um, I I have uh some questions and some reservations about going forward with

[2:49:35] this right now. And um I don't know if you want to do public comment now and

[2:49:40] then I can reserve that for later. How whatever your pleasure is, Mayor. Uh you

[2:49:44] go on now and might help somebody during public comment too, Steve.

[2:49:48] » Okay. >> Yep.

[2:49:49] » Um so I I I appreciate the um the effort. John uh I believe contacted us

[2:49:55] individually with this idea. Um I'm not sure who brought it about in your firm

[2:50:00] if it was you that brought it to your partner, one of your senior partners

[2:50:03] that had this idea. I I like the idea of flat fee. I think it's just the

[2:50:07] specifics that aren't in there. like I would like to see um an exhibit of

[2:50:12] specifically what's covered and what's not covered. I

[2:50:16] think it's just it's still general. I'm I'm happy to continue with this as

[2:50:20] [clears throat] long as we can get some of those very specific items. Um I'm I'm

[2:50:24] also concerned a little bit about the um the the cost recovery um hourlys that

[2:50:31] you're putting on there. Even though those wouldn't necessarily affect our

[2:50:34] taxpayers uh as a tax as us paying them, it would certainly affect uh those that

[2:50:40] are um doing the cost recovery to more than double what they'd be paying now, I

[2:50:46] think. So, um I'll just kind of stop there. Those are just some of my

[2:50:51] concerns. I'm willing to listen and have a discussion.

[2:50:55] » Very good. Thank you, Vice Mayor. >> I can see you wanting to poke. I'm going

[2:51:00] to make you public. Go for it. >> I have the same question Steve has. Um,

[2:51:06] it's, you know, and John, you're worth every cent you want. You and I have a

[2:51:11] great relationship. It's not you. It's It's a little bit who decides what's the

[2:51:17] flat rate and what's not in the flat rate. It's sort of open-ended to me as

[2:51:22] well. and the 650. I feel bad that it seems like we nickel and dime now over

[2:51:28] the years I've been sitting on this council and Jennifer, don't get mad at

[2:51:32] me, but they you guys used to do the uh put the signs out. You used to do the

[2:51:37] noticing of the neighbors. Now slowly we're putting everything on the other

[2:51:42] the applicant to do. And I just think 650 is a lot. you know, I sort of agree

[2:51:48] with Steve that >> I just think it's a little open-ended

[2:51:51] for me right now. >> Okay.

[2:51:56] » Um, yeah, I can I can address those. In terms of the cost recovery, those are

[2:52:00] actually the rates that are currently charged. They're not increased. Um, so

[2:52:03] those are those are the same rates that were approved by the council last year.

[2:52:07] So, I didn't put an increase in those at all. It's it's exactly the same. So,

[2:52:11] that stays. Yeah, that stays. Um, in terms of what's covered and what's not,

[2:52:16] it's the the decision would have to be made. The we the village attorney, we

[2:52:22] wouldn't we don't have the authority to decide that it's not covered. We it

[2:52:26] under the agreement, the manager has to assign it to us and has to sign off that

[2:52:31] um that this is a a special project. Other obvious litigation is carved out

[2:52:35] that that is automatically carved out but anything else would have to be

[2:52:40] approved by the manager um to sign off on and say yes this is a special project

[2:52:45] I'm assigning this to legal and we're doing this under the special projects

[2:52:49] otherwise everything else would f falls within the general municipal and falls

[2:52:54] within the flat flat rate because um I did think about I did try to come up

[2:53:00] with an exhibit like what you all were talking about it was just there's so

[2:53:03] many possibilities that come up and I didn't I my concern in doing that is I

[2:53:08] also didn't want it to be so specific that if something comes up and it's not

[2:53:12] included um that we don't know how to deal with it. So, um, this was a way

[2:53:17] that that my firm has done this with other cities and it's it's worked for

[2:53:23] for them. And so, I I put it in this way, which is, you know, you've got your

[2:53:28] professional manager. You know, the manager, you know, knows what the

[2:53:31] special projects are and and uh he would be the one to assign it and sign off on

[2:53:36] it. So, we're not the ones making those decisions. um that's that's made by your

[2:53:41] you know the village uh the village manager would be the one who would have

[2:53:44] to approve all of that. >> It's um it it's kind of the same thing

[2:53:49] that we had before when we had an onstaff

[2:53:54] » uh village attorney. Um, I mean, he would often times farm something out to

[2:53:59] the to the firm or another firm or whatever and then the village would

[2:54:04] start getting charged for that and we were already paying that guy uh and then

[2:54:10] turn around and and have them come to council and authorize an expenditure for

[2:54:15] something that was a special project before. Uh I think that those uh those

[2:54:21] projects are still going to have to come to us to approve the expenditure. Uh and

[2:54:27] uh I think this with the with it actually lowering, you know, what we're

[2:54:33] what we're budgeting at at this point is is probably a win win for us. And we

[2:54:38] still have at our fingertips the firm as a whole with all of their specialties

[2:54:45] that they have at the firm level. So I I think this this further drills it down

[2:54:51] and defines it and makes it something to where it's it's acceptable. I I think

[2:54:56] Deb, >> I I agree. I think it's acceptable this

[2:54:59] way. And I think the I I asked some of those same questions. Well, what does it

[2:55:04] include and what doesn't it include? And I think after hearing it again just now,

[2:55:09] it's pretty clear. >> Litigation is litigation and you know

[2:55:13] that's pretty clear. Uh and special projects will be special projects. We

[2:55:19] will know what those are and then everything else falls in

[2:55:23] » Yeah. >> the flat fee.

[2:55:25] » Yeah. And the litigation's always been that way and that's that's what's always

[2:55:29] killed us anyway. It's not something >> budget for and we just hope that

[2:55:33] planning stops getting sued. >> I um [laughter]

[2:55:39] » Yeah, I know that. Uh I I remember I remember back in the days when we had

[2:55:44] lots and lots of litigation and I remember a few years after that we had

[2:55:47] very little litigation. So it it it does eb and flow and we need to be aware of

[2:55:54] that and I've I assume that um John will be able to work with with Ron and and

[2:56:00] and Hattie in getting a separate kind of a separate line for litigation or

[2:56:06] special projects so that we can track that better ourselves.

[2:56:11] » Yeah. >> Um

[2:56:13] um I I like this thought pattern. I've always liked having the firm because it

[2:56:19] gives you such a wide variety of people to rely upon like this evening. You just

[2:56:25] called one of your partners this evening, you know. Um, so I'd like to go

[2:56:31] forward with this. >> Thank you, Deb. Why don't we open this

[2:56:34] up to public comment? Is there any public comment?

[2:56:37] » Yes. Sue Miller. >> Sue, welcome.

[2:56:44] » Sue Miller. Laura Madakumbi um representing the

[2:56:48] Alamrada Community Alliance and I want to say happy birthday to all of you guys

[2:56:54] up there and um I want to say how lucky we are to have John Quick,

[2:57:02] » however,

[2:57:06] » however, but wait, there's more. >> I do not believe that you're ready to

[2:57:11] make this kind of decision. And I think there's too many things that are left

[2:57:15] unanswered in the presentation that I saw. I think that what you're discussing

[2:57:22] has been completely different than my understanding. I went through the um 12

[2:57:29] months of 2025 invoices. And with this new system, I calculated

[2:57:35] that West Weiss Ceroda would make approximately $200,000

[2:57:41] more with an identical workload using the billing method proposed.

[2:57:48] Um he is saying that they did that study and that you would save money. I did the

[2:57:54] study and I don't see the same results. The list of general government services

[2:58:00] that would be included in the fixed monthly charge needs to be complete in

[2:58:06] my opinion and because anything that's left over that isn't considered general

[2:58:14] government service gets charged at 327 $325

[2:58:21] an hour when we're accustomed to paying $250 an hour. some things there are

[2:58:29] things that are missing from the list that that I saw that are have been built

[2:58:36] on a regular basis. So it's not like these are mysteries. There's workshops

[2:58:41] are not listed on on as being included in the uh standard monthly charge

[2:58:50] are workshops $325. What about foreclosures?

[2:58:55] What about collective bargaining? Some things are on both. You know, the the

[2:59:01] planning and zoning issues. What is specialized? We're in the process of

[2:59:06] having a new comprehensive plan done which may require significant

[2:59:12] legal help. Is that considered specialized? He just said if we rewrite

[2:59:19] our code, isn't that what we're about to do?

[2:59:23] um litigation would be $325 an hour instead of the current $250.

[2:59:31] There's no way of predicting how much litigation will cost when it's an extra

[2:59:36] $75 an hour cost recovery. He says that we're already charging

[2:59:45] our uh applicants $650 an hour. That's more than what standard

[2:59:54] public pays for for um legal services. I just find that really an incredible

[3:00:04] burden. That's 2.6 times more than what you pay for legal services. The invoices

[3:00:13] through June of this year for cost recovery indicate that there are 17

[3:00:17] property owners that had to pay cost recovery at 2 what I believed was 250. I

[3:00:25] did never hear anywhere where the uh cost recovery was more than that.

[3:00:33] the um of those 17 there was one one applicant

[3:00:40] who has already through the month of June not July, August, not September is

[3:00:46] in the agenda tonight that has already been charged $637

[3:00:53] to downzone their property. Now we should be having a ticker tape parade

[3:00:59] for them. We shouldn't be charging them for $650

[3:01:04] an an hour for legal fees. While the applicant pays the cost recovery, not

[3:01:09] the taxpayers, this is likely to impact the little guys ability to request

[3:01:14] changes. Well, it might not matter to applicants for major projects. A

[3:01:19] municipal contract attorney usually gets a small hourly wage, much smaller than

[3:01:27] attorneys would make as members of the by members of the public. But we need to

[3:01:33] see what other I actually called another company and I Googled

[3:01:39] the school board has a retainer of $10,000 and then anything extra is $195

[3:01:46] from a local company that does municipal um legal fees. And I think that we

[3:01:53] should get other find out what other companies charge negotiate with Weisser.

[3:02:01] don't take their first offer. >> Thank you, Sue.

[3:02:04] » Thank you. >> Is there any other public comment?

[3:02:09] » No one else has signed up. >> Okay.

[3:02:13] Public comment is still open. Is there more public comment? Anyone on board

[3:02:17] online? >> No, sir.

[3:02:20] » Okay. Hearing none. Public comment is closed. T um this is the first public

[3:02:25] hearing that we've had to discuss this. I don't see why we can't just um you

[3:02:29] know table this and and and John can clarify some of these things and um and

[3:02:35] really uh be a bit more specific so we're all comfortable with it. I just

[3:02:38] don't see why we can't continue the relationship that we have right now

[3:02:41] until um another month when we can meet again and discuss this.

[3:02:50] » Vice Mayor any comments folks? >> Can John rebuttal? [laughter]

[3:02:55] » Absolutely. >> Yeah. And I'd say in terms of a

[3:02:58] deferral, part of the reason to do this is so it lines up with your your budget.

[3:03:02] Um and so so the next fiscal year starts October one. So this would line up

[3:03:07] October 1. Um and you would also get this was one of the things that um

[3:03:12] Councilwoman Gillis asked about and I I neglected to mention and I should have.

[3:03:16] um on the budget line item, you will also be able to track this more easily

[3:03:20] because you will have a line item for general municipal services and because

[3:03:24] we can car we'll be able to carve this out and I've already we've spoken with

[3:03:27] Hattie and it's we we will be able to do it and then you'll have a line item for

[3:03:32] litigation and special projects so you can track more easily your expenses for

[3:03:36] litigation or whatever special projects um you might have. In terms of what Miss

[3:03:41] Miller brought up, um, yes, of course, workshops are included, workshops are

[3:03:45] meetings, of course. I mean, that is a general municipal, uh, issue. Um, uh,

[3:03:52] collective bargaining to labor issue. Yes. The comp plan.

[3:03:57] So, no, that's not a special project because I'm not the one being hired to

[3:04:01] write the comp plan. You guys retained Able City East and you're paying them.

[3:04:06] It's the same thing that I'm talking about just they are the one who's doing

[3:04:09] the writing of the comp plan. If if you would have asked us to write the comp

[3:04:12] plan then as you can see this is that's a huge undertaking. They've been doing

[3:04:16] it now for two yeah close to two years. I mean this is a a big undertaking. So

[3:04:22] » no the comp plan is not going to be a special project for us because it's a

[3:04:27] special project for the village but somebody else is doing it. So we will be

[3:04:31] working with the village council with staff to implement it. Yes. and and

[3:04:35] whatever comes along with that that will be updating the code but that is part of

[3:04:40] the general municipal services um that that is included in this um I didn't

[3:04:46] write out every single thing >> 650

[3:04:48] » an hour >> the 650 an hour so yes so I said that's

[3:04:52] that's what we are charging now um that is definitely below market rate for

[3:04:57] private individuals so if you were to if if a developer were to retain um any I

[3:05:04] We have different attorneys that come and represent uh here. Uh I would be

[3:05:08] surprised to hear if any of them are charging a private developer uh less

[3:05:12] than 650 an hour. In fact, I would anticipate more are probably in the $800

[3:05:16] to $1,000 range. Um in terms of uh hourly rates, uh I don't know I can't

[3:05:22] speak to the school board because I don't know how much work that they have

[3:05:26] and how much work that they they do for the school board. I can tell you that in

[3:05:30] Key West, which is the only other entity that does have a an hourly um attorney,

[3:05:36] they are over $400 an hour. Yes. Um and so I I can speak to that. Um but I I

[3:05:42] don't I don't know how much work goes into the uh the flat fee for the school

[3:05:46] board, but I'm sure that that's a calculation that they they entered into

[3:05:50] as well as to um you know, what would fall into that for for that firm. So um

[3:05:55] so yeah, so I I am comfortable. I will tell you when if I were to be hired by a

[3:05:59] a private entity, um I charge more than 650 an hour for for any private work. Um

[3:06:05] and in fact, um I know that even some of our our brethren down here in the county

[3:06:11] as well as in Marathon when they retain municipal attorneys um for for for work

[3:06:17] outside um it's usually 550, 650, 750 an hour. Um the Supreme Court work is a

[3:06:24] little different. That's that's a whole another set. But uh but um uh it's all

[3:06:29] it's all well within if not exceeding that that $600 to $650 range.

[3:06:35] » And that's for municipal. >> Well, I appreciate your explanation. You

[3:06:39] just cleared up a lot of what my questions were. So, thank you for

[3:06:44] answering my questions. >> Thank you. You're welcome.

[3:06:47] » All right. I think I if I have it, we're gonna Oh, Steve, just one more thing.

[3:06:52] And and all I'm asking John to do is exactly what he would advise us to do

[3:06:57] with any agreement. It's just to spell things out so it's very clear. What I

[3:07:01] heard him say was the rush was we wanted to get this done to align with our

[3:07:05] budget. We just uh approved a budget amendment. So for convenience sake, yes,

[3:07:11] I understand why we would want to do this October 1st. I I just don't see the

[3:07:16] harm in just let's let's just take a look at this again and make sure that

[3:07:21] we're doing the right thing here because um you know this is potentially a lot of

[3:07:26] money at stake that we're not anticipating uh that might not be

[3:07:30] spelled out that happens later on. >> Very good.

[3:07:35] » Yes, absolutely. Mr. Manager, >> just a couple of points is that um I'm

[3:07:40] still a member of the Florida Bar. I'm the former in-house general counsel for

[3:07:43] the Monroe County Clerk. So, I'm familiar with the type of work he does

[3:07:47] and I'm certainly I'm the gatekeeper as far as some of the expenses and we've

[3:07:50] been making decisions on behalf of the village as far as what to proceed with

[3:07:52] legally. One point I watched the Ka city commission meeting the other night and

[3:07:56] their interim city attorney is charging $850 an hour. So, when you talk about

[3:08:01] the market rate, um we are significantly under that. So, you know, we do keep a

[3:08:05] look at at I'm familiar with Veron Bowling. I used ice council when they

[3:08:08] weren't representing the school board back then. And the legal work that they

[3:08:12] do for the school board is not comparable to anything that we're we're

[3:08:15] doing up here. True. It's much less and less complicated. They don't get the

[3:08:19] land use things, for example, that we get uh they don't get as much

[3:08:22] constituent input on different issues. And so, I think my recommendation is

[3:08:26] that this is a good deal for us because we can monitor it. and I'm familiar with

[3:08:30] them for the past year and their bills have been going down because we're not,

[3:08:34] you know, call them every time we have a question and I think we've got a good

[3:08:38] control a better control over the legal cost at this point

[3:08:41] » and and not to disparage that but I felt like when we were dealing through a lot

[3:08:45] of the negotiations with the school board we were dealing with a junior

[3:08:48] attorney and we weren't journey dealing with someone that's as seasoned as John

[3:08:54] is and and and knowledgeable as what John is on land use matters and

[3:08:59] municipal matters. Uh so I feel like we're I feel like at at that rate we're

[3:09:04] getting an absolute bargain. So um >> and the certainty

[3:09:09] » and certainty. Yes. >> I like the certainty of it, too.

[3:09:12] » Yes. So I think I closed public comment, but if I haven't, if public comment can

[3:09:18] still be open. Is there anyone? Marne?

[3:09:22] » No one else. >> Okay. Public comments then closed.

[3:09:25] Council, what's the pleasure? I'll make him a motion to approve as presented.

[3:09:31] » Got a motion. Do I have a second? >> I'll second it.

[3:09:35] » Got a motion and a second. Marty, will you call the role, please?

[3:09:38] » Council member Deb Gillis, >> yes.

[3:09:39] » Council member Anna Richards, >> yes.

[3:09:41] » Council member Steve Freriedman, >> no.

[3:09:44] » Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney? >> Yes.

[3:09:46] » And Mayor Don Horton? >> Yes.

[3:09:48] » That motion passes four to one.

[3:09:52] » Okay. Uh let's move on to tab 14. Tab 14 is a resolution of the village council

[3:09:59] of Alamarda village of Islands, Florida, amending resolution number 26-08-75

[3:10:04] to increase the authorized not to exceed amount for RFP26-07

[3:10:08] council chamber broadcast and audiovisisual system hardware refresh

[3:10:12] from $90,000 to $100,000 authorizing a village manager to execute any necessary

[3:10:17] amendment or related documents authorizing expenditure of budgeted

[3:10:20] funds and providing for an effective date.

[3:10:22] » Hey Vince, >> good evening mayor, council. Um, so an

[3:10:25] RFP that was approved by council last month, we found an error in the in in

[3:10:30] the uh initial quote from broadcast picks who won they won the bid by a long

[3:10:35] shot, but we were missing four of the five cameras that operate in this room

[3:10:39] and are constantly moving. These cameras are end of life and I think it's

[3:10:43] important we change those and it was including the RFP and we had budgeted

[3:10:48] $100,000 for this equipment which is under how much it cost last time to

[3:10:52] refresh this equipment which is amazing. So, um, we're asking that you approve

[3:10:56] this so that we can get all the equipment that we need for this project.

[3:11:00] And I'm happy to take any questions. >> So, you're saying that we already did

[3:11:04] budget the 100,000. We're not having to change what we budgeted.

[3:11:07] » This is this is budgeted for this project specifically.

[3:11:10] » And it came the original quoted 85 and now it's going to be, I believe, 99

[3:11:17] $99,21. >> Thank you, Vince. Council, is there any

[3:11:22] questions for Vince? I see none. Okay. Is there any public

[3:11:26] comment on this issue? >> No, sir.

[3:11:29] » Public comment one more time. Is there anybody would like to comment on this?

[3:11:35] All right. Very good. Um, council, what's your pleasure?

[3:11:41] » Approve. >> Move to approve.

[3:11:43] » I'll second. >> We got a motion in second. Morning. Will

[3:11:46] you call the role? >> Council member Anna Richards.

[3:11:48] » Yes. >> Council member Deb Gillis.

[3:11:50] » Yes. Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Yes.

[3:11:52] » Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes.

[3:11:54] » And Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes. Motion passes.

[3:11:56] » Thank you, Council. Have a good evening. >> All right. Thank you so much.

[3:11:59] » Um, so now we're going to move to the item

[3:12:03] that we uh added on here, which would be item K. And that would be Terry's issue.

[3:12:11] » And I got another one in the truck. >> Wear your dress white one. And we'll

[3:12:17] » All right. So that's a resolution of the village council of Alamara Village of

[3:12:19] Islands, Florida providing for adoption of the tenative budget of the uh village

[3:12:23] for the fiscal year 2026 2027 commencing on October 1, 2026 and ending on

[3:12:29] September 30th, 2027. >> Am I reading the right one, Terry? Okay,

[3:12:34] this that's the one I have in front of me, but I'm like I'm like, "Wow, I

[3:12:37] didn't study for that one." [laughter] >> Um yeah. All right. So, I did not have

[3:12:44] yours in front of >> the add-on item. The [laughter]

[3:12:46] » Yeah, that was the one I had in front of me separate. So, I uh I apologize

[3:12:50] » as I'm reading. I'm like, that doesn't sound like a Terry item. So,

[3:12:54] » correct. [laughter] >> All right. So, back to back to let's

[3:12:57] start over. Resolution of the village council village of Islands, Florida,

[3:13:00] approving fiscal year 2025 2026 expenditures with Florida Keys Emergency

[3:13:04] Vehicle Repairs LLC for the materials, repairs, and maintenance of the vill's

[3:13:08] fire rescue. Authorizing village manager to expend budget funds and providing for

[3:13:11] an effective date. Thank you. >> All right, Terry.

[3:13:14] » So, good evening, council. What you have before you is the third not to exceed

[3:13:19] for this vendor for this calendar year. Uh, in October, beginning of the year,

[3:13:25] uh, came at you guys for 120,000 as our not to exceed to maintain our eight big

[3:13:31] pieces of equipment, the rescues and the engines and ladder. Uh, historically,

[3:13:35] that's been about what it's been costing us to maintain all these trucks. uh come

[3:13:40] around June of this earlier this year, I came for an amendment to add another

[3:13:44] $20,000 because I was running out of money quickly and need to keep the

[3:13:47] trucks operating. Uh about two weeks ago, we ran out of that money as well,

[3:13:53] and I currently have three trucks that are inoperable, one engine and two

[3:13:56] rescues. So, I contacted the contractor, asked him what it would take to get

[3:14:02] those three trucks back up and operational. and don't spend any more

[3:14:05] money till the end of the year as far as PMS unless it's absolutely crisis mode.

[3:14:10] And he said he could do it for another 20. So, uh, what I'm asking for is to

[3:14:15] actually increase my not to exceed with Florida Keys EVR LLC to $160,000 for

[3:14:20] this year. If you look on page two of two, I did have a goof on the

[3:14:26] authorization amount. It's there at 140. It should actually be 160. It states it

[3:14:30] in the background, but I had the numbers wrong on the back page.

[3:14:35] I do have it in the budget under my R&M for this fiscal year and uh it doesn't

[3:14:40] have to do any line item adjustments or amendments or anything of that nature.

[3:14:43] Just need the authorization to spend it with this vendor.

[3:14:47] » Terry, what are the what are the mechanical issues that are creating this

[3:14:51] problem? >> It's a little bit of everything. Uh

[3:14:54] currently with one of my rescues, the body mounts are actually failing. So,

[3:14:59] um, of the 12 body mounts, I'm changing eight of those body mounts out and doing

[3:15:03] brakes at the same time cuz the truck's out of service. Um, I've had rear main

[3:15:09] seals go out on one motor. Uh, I've got rear main seals on two of the axles in

[3:15:15] the ladder truck and in one of the engines. And that's been quite an

[3:15:19] extensive. Um, I had to do brakes and rotors on one of the engines as well.

[3:15:23] And that's the rotors and everything and the brakes, the whole assembly. And

[3:15:28] that's quite expensive. You name it. AC units are a constant

[3:15:33] challenge for us down here to try to keep it working and functioning,

[3:15:36] especially in the rescues. In the engines, I'll let them sweat, but in the

[3:15:39] rescues, we can't do that. We can't transport a patient without a

[3:15:42] functioning AC. So, they have to have AC in the back. So, when it goes down, the

[3:15:46] truck goes down. Um, most of those units in the back are actually sealed units.

[3:15:50] So, it's not a you can fix it. As days of old, you would take it apart and fix

[3:15:54] it. and now it's take it apart, put a new one on. So, it's kind of ridiculous.

[3:15:59] They don't build them like they used to. >> What's the life of those?

[3:16:04] What is the life expectancy of those? >> On which, sir?

[3:16:07] » On the AC's? >> Uh, if we get two years, we're doing

[3:16:11] pretty good actually. >> Really?

[3:16:13] » Yes, sir. Keep in mind they run the the 12volt units that are on the top or the

[3:16:17] 110 units that are on the top. They run the entire time they're in the station.

[3:16:23] Yeah. Does anybody want to step on that guy? Um, they run the entire time the

[3:16:27] trucks are sitting in the station because we have to maintain uh uh

[3:16:31] temperature control for all of our medications.

[3:16:33] » Hang on a second. We got a roach going across the and and the girls are

[3:16:37] freaking out. So, hang on.

[3:16:43] » Ron's grounding. He'll get it in a minute.

[3:16:45] » Okay. [laughter]

[3:16:50] » So,

[3:16:56] So if >> approving this extra 20 isn't going to

[3:17:00] guarantee that this guy's going to >> hang on a second.

[3:17:04] » Yes, sir. >> It's in purse.

[3:17:11] » Oh, it's still alive. Come on, guys. >> Hang on. Let me

[3:17:16] » one moment, please. I can't say it's a technical difficulty.

[3:17:22] » Okay. Are we good now?

[3:17:27] » All right. Where's Where's AJ? We need to get our exterminator back out here.

[3:17:32] » All right. >> Never a dull moment. Thank you.

[3:17:35] » If we approve this 20 grand, that's not going to mean that this guy's going to

[3:17:39] find 20 grand worth of repairs to >> This is a necess necessity. At this

[3:17:44] point, >> we we've already over spent with this uh

[3:17:48] contractor for the 140 not to exceed to get the last truck back in motion. Uh

[3:17:53] this is to get the three that are currently out of service back in motion.

[3:17:57] » Okay. >> And no, we're my plan is not to spend

[3:18:00] the whole 20. My plan is to spend what it takes to get these three trucks back

[3:18:04] in operational. And like I said, I'll I'll hold off uh preventative

[3:18:09] maintenance and stuff until the new fiscal year uh come October. It's only

[3:18:13] another three three weeks out, but I've just got to get these three frontline

[3:18:16] trucks back and operational. >> Very good. Thank you, Terry.

[3:18:19] » Yes, sir. >> Is there any public comment?

[3:18:24] » Don't have anyone signed up for this. >> Okay. And we'll still keep it open. Is

[3:18:27] there any public comment so we can have an air conditioned ambulance?

[3:18:33] Okay. Council, what's your pleasure? >> Approve.

[3:18:37] » Move to approve. >> Second.

[3:18:39] » I've got a second. Morning, will you call the role?

[3:18:42] » Council member Anna Richards. >> Yes.

[3:18:43] » Council member Deb Gillis. >> Yes.

[3:18:45] » Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Yes.

[3:18:48] » Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes.

[3:18:49] » And Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes.

[3:18:51] » Motion passes 5-0. >> All right. Thank you.

[3:18:54] » We move on to ordinances now.

[3:18:59] » We are John. >> We are on tab 15.

[3:19:02] » Ordinances. This is an ordinance of I am village of islands Florida amending

[3:19:06] article 4 administrative procedures of chapter 30 land development regulations

[3:19:10] of the village code relating to environmental restoration standards and

[3:19:13] agreements providing for the repeal of all code provisions and ordinances

[3:19:16] inconsistent with this ordinance providing for severability providing for

[3:19:19] inclusion in the code providing for the transmitt of this ordinance to the

[3:19:22] Florida Department of Commerce and providing for an effective date upon the

[3:19:25] approval of this ordinance by the Florida Department of Commerce. Um this

[3:19:28] is an ordinance on first reading. uh this uh um I can uh present this or I

[3:19:34] can discuss this. An an issue arose uh with a property within the village that

[3:19:41] had um uh improperly uh clear-cut their property. Um and they uh would under our

[3:19:51] code they would they are required to um replant uh the improperly cut uh

[3:20:00] vegetation and it and it needs to stay there for 2 years. Um they are they have

[3:20:07] they have approached the village with a concern that if they are going to

[3:20:11] replant it, wait two years and then just cut back cut down the portion that's

[3:20:17] there for two years. um that uh would in order to build the house that they uh

[3:20:23] thought that that would uh be inefficient and they wanted to see if

[3:20:26] there was a way that they could pay replant the areas outside of of the

[3:20:31] footprint and then pay a um mitigation fine um for the other areas. That was

[3:20:38] not something that was in our code. Um so that was something that they had

[3:20:42] petitioned and asked for and that is what we are uh trying to accomplish in

[3:20:48] this code provision. Um if that is the pleasure of the council um to um uh to

[3:20:54] allow for that scenario. >> Okay. Thank you, John. Is there any

[3:20:58] council discussion before we open it up to public comment? Deb, your mic's on.

[3:21:03] » Oh, >> okay. Deb.

[3:21:05] » Okay. I I think the only thing the part that John left out was this particular

[3:21:10] piece of property was only because they have an existing TDR for it. This isn't

[3:21:18] » Yeah, >> Jennifer saying now

[3:21:21] » No, they have it. >> There's no TDR on that property.

[3:21:24] » They said John and I stopped saying that they transferred it.

[3:21:29] » They submitted an application for it. I know that. Yeah.

[3:21:31] » Okay. So, they asked for a TDR. hasn't been assigned yet,

[3:21:35] » but it's in the process. >> But it's in the process. Is that right?

[3:21:41] » That's what we're told. Jennifer, talk about this.

[3:21:43] » They've applied and it's on hold until this is resolved. This

[3:21:46] » Okay. So, you can't advance it because there's a code case.

[3:21:49] » Correct. We can't we can't approve a any application on any property that has an

[3:21:53] existing code case in the village. >> Okay. Well, you can, but it's

[3:21:59] » not the code does not allow. >> The code specifically says you can't.

[3:22:01] » That's correct. Okay. I thought it was at the discretion of So, it doesn't I

[3:22:06] mean, it kind of makes sense to me if if why make somebody plant something

[3:22:12] that is going to >> rip it right back out,

[3:22:15] » be ripped out in two years, right? >> Um I I mean, I don't have a problem with

[3:22:19] the the fines and the and all of that. I mean, we need to discourage that every

[3:22:25] chance we get. Well, they have to replant and they should have to Yeah,

[3:22:29] they should have to replant the area that is required to be replanted plus

[3:22:32] play all their mitigation fee in play, >> right? And

[3:22:36] » and their double permit fee and all of that.

[3:22:39] » Yeah. All of their fines and everything like that. Yes.

[3:22:41] » And what fund would that money go into? The the money they pay

[3:22:47] » um the code fines. Uh >> it goes into general fund. It's a code

[3:22:52] case. >> General which money? Well, let's let's

[3:22:54] say they have to replant where they're not going to build, but doesn't really

[3:22:59] make much sense to plant trees that in two years are going to be taken out. So,

[3:23:04] the money that they would pay, the mitigation

[3:23:06] » mitigation money goes into the landscape mitigation fund.

[3:23:08] » So, we like we can fix a hill that was butchered over

[3:23:13] » that could be one use of that money. >> It could go into planting, right?

[3:23:17] » Yeah. It could go into the Peter plant, the Johnny Apple Seed fund. [laughter]

[3:23:21] » Okay. Just making sure. >> Yes. All right. Is there any public

[3:23:25] comment on this? >> Yes. Joe Wishmire.

[3:23:28] » Welcome, Joe. I kind of figured that. [laughter]

[3:23:33] » Thank you, Joe. >> Yes. Joe Wishmire, Plantation Key.

[3:23:40] I guess in the ordinance, it even states that Marada has established LDRs to

[3:23:45] properly guide development and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the

[3:23:51] public. to allow additional alternatives where premature land clearing,

[3:23:58] grading, filling or vegetation like making a payment to the village in lie

[3:24:03] of restoration goes against preserving our environment. Instead, the penalties

[3:24:08] should be made much harsher to discourage the clearing of lots. Why

[3:24:14] amend LDRs and everything now when our new comp plan is supposed to be coming

[3:24:18] out? Although staff has had it for about a year now. Um why don't we wait and see

[3:24:25] and that way we can incorporate the new LDRs that we want into our comp plan.

[3:24:31] The fact that you're talking about planting trees that might get cut down

[3:24:35] in two years, well if they would have followed the law, they wouldn't have

[3:24:38] been allowed to build to begin with. So, I think that rewarding people for doing

[3:24:43] this is not what we're all about here. We should be trying to preserve and make

[3:24:48] sure that people do follow the code and [clears throat] when they don't, there

[3:24:52] should be much harsher penalties, especially for clearing without a permit

[3:24:56] or illegal clearing. Thank you. >> Thank you, Joe.

[3:25:01] Is there any other public comment? >> No, sir.

[3:25:04] » No one online? >> No, sir.

[3:25:07] » One more shot. Public comment. Okay, very good. Public comments closed.

[3:25:12] T >> just kind of related to that, didn't we

[3:25:14] give instruction to the staff to look into increasing the fines and and and

[3:25:21] to make it a little bit more um uh difficult for someone to think about

[3:25:26] doing that. It's just cost of doing business.

[3:25:28] » Yeah, I think I think that's on the table is to to add more discouragement

[3:25:33] to illegal clearing. Yeah. >> Um, Deb,

[3:25:38] » well, it's almost identical to what he just said is I think it was only about a

[3:25:42] month ago that we we sat here and we said that no, we need to discourage

[3:25:47] this. We need to not allow this to happen. Um it does seem kind of um

[3:25:54] counterproductive to plant trees to have them cut down, but at the same time, if

[3:25:59] we want to stop what's going on, we have to start by not changing the code to

[3:26:07] allow somebody to do what they should have known that they shouldn't do. They

[3:26:12] had a couple permits. They had a uh this isn't this isn't a property specific,

[3:26:17] although it involves a property. Yeah. >> Um,

[3:26:22] these in particular, these people had um some rights to to

[3:26:29] uh cut down some mangroves and whatever, but they didn't have all of the permits

[3:26:34] that they needed. >> Yeah.

[3:26:36] » And and I'm just afraid of the snowball effect of we're just going to let the

[3:26:43] developers figure out a way to get around it and do more of it.

[3:26:51] I get you. Oh. Um I think I and maybe

[3:26:58] I hopefully staff looked at this. I think that this doesn't like encourage

[3:27:04] somebody to go out and illegally clear uh and they still have to pay the fines

[3:27:10] and they still have to pay the mitigations.

[3:27:13] It it just um fixes an issue to where somebody could

[3:27:19] have cleared their lot with a permit and um and and in this instance they would

[3:27:27] have to transplant that entire lot to bring it back to its current condition,

[3:27:32] wait two years, and then tear out everything that they had just put in.

[3:27:39] It's only two years old. It wasn't a hammock.

[3:27:43] It's But they'd only have to remove 50% of it.

[3:27:45] » I'm sorry. What? >> They could only remove 50% of it. They

[3:27:49] removed all of it. >> But I'm saying it wasn't a hammock, so

[3:27:53] it wasn't a 50%. >> I was told that they would have to leave

[3:27:57] 50%.

[3:28:00] » They're >> 50% of the lot, I think, is what it I

[3:28:03] think is what it is. They were allowed 50% clearing.

[3:28:06] » So, it was a ham. >> No, they didn't clear the whole thing.

[3:28:09] They cleared part of it is what I was told.

[3:28:12] » CVS. >> No, this is on lower map.

[3:28:16] » On lower map. >> Oh, okay.

[3:28:17] » I think Yeah, maybe we should >> clear this up, Daniel. So, was this a

[3:28:23] hammock piece of property? >> No, it was all wetlands with mangroves

[3:28:27] and buttonwood. >> Okay.

[3:28:29] » So, they they had a permit with Army Corp and DP to fill wetlands. And that

[3:28:33] was that was the mistake on the owner. They didn't have any permits through the

[3:28:37] village. They were in BPASS. They didn't have any building rights yet. Okay.

[3:28:41] » So, they filled the wetland and they cut all the vegetation.

[3:28:44] » They would they have gotten a permit to fill the wetlands

[3:28:49] » if when they if their BP pass got issued. Their their plans was to fill

[3:28:52] the wetlands and then build the house. >> How do you fill wetlands?

[3:28:56] » They were low quality. It came up low on the um key.

[3:29:00] » Oh, so okay. So, a low >> Yes.

[3:29:04] » Okay. So like a red flag wetland or a a wetland that should have been preserved,

[3:29:11] » right? It was low enough quality to allow the conversion from lowquality

[3:29:14] wetland to upland. >> Okay. [clears throat]

[3:29:20] » So now are we we're not approving filling of wetlands?

[3:29:25] » No, they have no approvals through us right now. They have no permits through

[3:29:28] us. >> This is only vegetation.

[3:29:31] » But the wetland is currently filled. >> Yes. Yeah, it's [clears throat] already

[3:29:35] filled >> and

[3:29:37] » it was filled with it was filled with dirt from

[3:29:39] » if he's allowed to fill the wetland area

[3:29:45] » with the after the fact. He's paying a fairly large fee for doing what he's

[3:29:50] done. >> We're not charging him anything for the

[3:29:53] fill of the wetlands. >> We're not charging an after the fact

[3:29:56] fill permit for that. >> It's it's in code right now. Right now,

[3:30:00] the the the code requires that the lot be restored back to the pre um the

[3:30:05] conditions before the illegal filling and the removal of vegetation.

[3:30:09] » So, he's going to have to remove the fill

[3:30:12] » the the way the code is now. Yes. >> Yes. We're not changing the code to

[3:30:17] where he's going to keep the fill. >> He would have to remove the fill.

[3:30:20] » This >> the the fill came from the Colbert

[3:30:23] project. >> John,

[3:30:26] » I thought we were just talking about plants.

[3:30:28] » I did, too. That's what this that's what this is discussing. This is just talking

[3:30:32] about >> this is a general

[3:30:33] » this is only plants >> plants.

[3:30:35] » Okay. >> This is this is this is applies to not

[3:30:40] just this property but this is the only one that it applies to right now.

[3:30:44] » I understand that. >> Okay.

[3:30:45] » But it's only plants. It's not Phil. >> That's true. And he

[3:30:50] » So in order to clear his code case, he's going to need to remove the fill that he

[3:30:55] put in illegally. Correct. That's not what you said a minute ago.

[3:30:59] So, he's going to remove the fill to clear his code case.

[3:31:02] » Yes. >> Okay. Okay.

[3:31:06] » Yeah. >> And supposedly the fill came from the

[3:31:10] Culver projects. >> Yeah, it was free.

[3:31:14] » Yeah, it was free. >> That's where it came from. But they

[3:31:17] should have to >> I think it's silly to put plants in to

[3:31:22] just rip them back out in two years. >> I do, too. I think you should have to

[3:31:25] pay multiple [clears throat] and pay all the fines 100%.

[3:31:29] » 100%. >> But if you have a TDR that they're

[3:31:34] waiting to put on the property but can't put on the property until we say that

[3:31:38] they can put the TDR on the property, I think it's kind of silly.

[3:31:41] » Yeah. >> The the TDR has not been purchased yet.

[3:31:45] » No, they have it. They have a TDR.

[3:31:49] » They've made an application to the >> They've made an application. They do not

[3:31:53] have put it on this property. >> They've made an application

[3:31:58] » to put it on this property >> to get the TDR

[3:32:02] » on this property. >> They do not own the TDR yet.

[3:32:05] » It's not what I was told. >> Jennifer,

[3:32:09] » we wouldn't know if they own it or not. They have an application in to transfer

[3:32:13] a building right to this property. I'm not sure what

[3:32:15] » the owner told me. I was told >> The owner told me they had a TDR.

[3:32:19] » Oh my goodness. >> They have a TDR in line. They have one

[3:32:23] lined up. >> They own one. They b They have one.

[3:32:26] » It's a It's a mute point. >> It's kind of an apple and orange kind of

[3:32:30] thing. >> Yeah. I still think it's silly to put

[3:32:33] plants in and turn around and rip plants out. So, I just don't agree with that

[3:32:36] part. >> That's right.

[3:32:38] » Okay. >> That's all we're talking about, right?

[3:32:39] » That's all we're talking about. >> So, I I just perceive that as it's not

[3:32:45] maybe encouraging, but I could see this happening going down the road. Okay. I

[3:32:50] have a TDR. I have a lot. It's got lots of vegetation on it. Let me cut down all

[3:32:55] the vegetation and then just pay the fine so that I can

[3:33:01] do that instead of going through proper channels. We just sat here last month

[3:33:05] saying that we need to stop that. >> So maybe one more

[3:33:10] aspect to this is that they have to wait the two years.

[3:33:16] » We've need to make it serious enough that people stop this. Okay.

[3:33:21] » Well, I think that's where the fines come in.

[3:33:23] » Well, where are we at with the fines? And do we ever

[3:33:26] » We just said increase them and nothing was done.

[3:33:29] » This We're not technically we're not talking about one case.

[3:33:33] » I know that. >> We're talking about in the future. What

[3:33:35] happens in the future on another lot? >> Yes.

[3:33:39] » But my point is we haven't increase the fines yet.

[3:33:42] » No. >> Okay. Let's increase.

[3:33:45] I'm okay with [laughter] that. I don't know. I don't know that we can back

[3:33:50] increase. >> That's what I'm saying. Let's

[3:33:53] » That's fine. >> Let's increase them before we give them

[3:33:55] permission.

[3:33:59] » Okay. Is that Well, let's do this. The public

[3:34:04] comment is closed. Is there a motion on the table

[3:34:06] » to do what? >> To approve this

[3:34:09] » as he wants to know is there a motion as as presented

[3:34:14] » the fine >> going once. Is there a motion?

[3:34:18] » You want to double the fine?

[3:34:22] » Or >> you want to wait until the fines are

[3:34:24] » based on the I would rather >> based upon the new fines

[3:34:29] » based upon the new fine schedule. >> Well, let's when is that going to

[3:34:33] happen? So

[3:34:37] » go ahead. >> Yes.

[3:34:38] » I was say one option if you if you all are wanted to pass it subject to you

[3:34:44] know fine u an evaluation of the fines is we are still on first reading. So we

[3:34:49] could you could pass this on first reading. We don't have to bring it back

[3:34:53] immediately. We have to bring it back within um 180 days. Um, so we could

[3:34:58] bring it back at a later date while while you as a council evaluate the

[3:35:03] fines um and uh and potentially address those or or we could defer this item as

[3:35:09] well. So >> can can something be added like in

[3:35:13] addition to fines that they have a year waiting period or a two-year waiting

[3:35:16] period? >> Well, that would be existing. So yeah, I

[3:35:19] mean certainly you can make an amendment to the to the language that's presented

[3:35:23] and if you wanted to to add uh add that that that in addition to paying um

[3:35:29] paying the fine that there's also a waiting period to to build of x amount

[3:35:34] of time. That that's certainly something we could

[3:35:36] » I just think it's silly to to to uh to make somebody plant a whole lot of

[3:35:42] plants just to tear them out in the future. I I just that

[3:35:46] » that part is the part that >> but I think that the illegal clearing

[3:35:50] and the illegal feeling filling of of that property

[3:35:55] » there I think that there should be >> well they should have to pay the fines

[3:35:58] for all of that. >> Yes.

[3:35:59] » And I why don't we >> defer it till we figure it out

[3:36:04] » or we can approve it until they come back with a new fine schedule based upon

[3:36:09] a new fine schedule that we can approve. Well, that gives a deadline at least to

[3:36:14] when the fines come in front of us, which is not open-ended.

[3:36:19] [clears throat] >> I just think it's I think it's crazy to

[3:36:22] me to sit there and >> Yep.

[3:36:25] » to do that. >> Well, somebody want to make a motion,

[3:36:31] » no. I mean, I I I'm following the discussion. We're getting off the rails

[3:36:34] a little bit, but um I don't see we can either we can either defer it and you

[3:36:39] know put the horse before the cart or we can do it now, put the cart before the

[3:36:43] horse and get it done in the in the inter room. But I agree we we it doesn't

[3:36:47] make any sense to plant trees and rip them out in a couple years. Um if we if

[3:36:51] we pass this tonight with a certain language that um maybe that will will

[3:36:55] help anybody else that might be thinking about doing that in in the future in the

[3:36:58] interim. think we could probably um work on figuring out what kind of fines we

[3:37:03] want to do to deter that sort of situation from happening. So, to me, it

[3:37:07] doesn't matter whether we defer it or or agree to it tonight. Um, you know, but

[3:37:12] we need to we need to work on the fines. >> Well, I think I think hitting them with

[3:37:16] the bigger fines is what's going to discourage people from doing that.

[3:37:22] » Yes. I just Yeah. So,

[3:37:26] » can we c talk about a combination of time weight with that?

[3:37:30] » I'm sorry. What's that? >> Can we talk about a combination of time

[3:37:33] weight? You have to wait before you can reapply. You can pay your fine, but you

[3:37:38] going to have to wait. >> But if they end up having a building

[3:37:42] right, what's the point? Like, if they didn't have a building right and

[3:37:47] they were just sitting in the line, who cares if they had to sit there and wait

[3:37:51] five years? But if they have the building, right?

[3:37:56] » Yeah. >> If they have It's It's just the

[3:38:02] » How do I explain this? Um it's just the point of of

[3:38:09] not giving them what they really wanted. >> Yeah. The perception.

[3:38:12] » And I understand that. And I also understand that they had the D and the

[3:38:16] Army Corps permit, which in their minds thought that they had the okay, not

[3:38:20] realizing they needed the village permit. But at some point, I don't care.

[3:38:24] Triple the fines to keep people from doing it. I'm all for that.

[3:38:30] » Be a discouragement. >> I just think it's silly to put plants in

[3:38:33] and rip plants out. >> But the time thing you want to do can go

[3:38:37] » part of the fines. And >> that can be part of the fines.

[3:38:40] » I agree. >> I agree. Not saying

[3:38:43] » I I agree. It's It's crazy to plant trees to know that two years from now or

[3:38:48] whatever that we're going to rip them out or they're going to rip them out. I

[3:38:51] I agree wholeheartedly. I've had this argument since I read this.

[3:38:55] » Yes. >> You know,

[3:38:57] » but to to not penalize >> um them strong enough to to for the next

[3:39:07] person it we're we're seeing more of it. We're seeing more of it. We had

[3:39:12] » one about five years ago. You you've got something else. Sorry,

[3:39:16] » John. Well, one question was um as we were talking over here was we want to cl

[3:39:20] get clarity on what fines you guys are talking about so we can analyze

[3:39:24] » the code enforcement fines I think is the after the fact clearing the after

[3:39:28] the fact filling >> the code enforcement fines to increase

[3:39:32] those fines. >> Yeah. So that one we're capped under um

[3:39:37] state statute as to how high we can go >> um for for

[3:39:43] code violations >> for permit fees.

[3:39:48] » No permit fees would have to be Yeah. So, but if we're going to do permit

[3:39:54] fees, so Sheila is going through that process now of um of analyzing the the

[3:39:59] permit fees and uh what and justifying what our fees.

[3:40:03] » So, an after the fact permit fee can be X plus a double permit.

[3:40:08] » So, that's Yeah. So, that's different. So, I'm trying to we're trying to figure

[3:40:10] out because there's different fines and then there's also the fines that are

[3:40:13] built into this. >> So, we can build it into the permit fee

[3:40:15] and not the code enforcement fee. >> Yeah. And there's also fines that are

[3:40:19] built into this provision which is um paying the mitigations paying 100% of

[3:40:25] the estimated cost of restoration as as determined by the planning director.

[3:40:29] Right. >> So that was also another reason why I

[3:40:31] asked because if you were talking about the fines, the mitigation fines, we

[3:40:34] could deal with those right now because it's it's just a simple, you know,

[3:40:38] listen, we we don't agree it's 100%, we think it should be x%. Um and but that

[3:40:44] that's solely the mitigation fee fine. So that was why we were trying to get

[3:40:48] clarification as to if if you guys were talking about all of them or if there

[3:40:52] was a specific group of fines that you were talking.

[3:40:54] » No, what I'm hearing is a consensus that we need to build in a deterrent some way

[3:41:00] where this doesn't happen. Yes.

[3:41:05] » Okay.

[3:41:08] » Well, I don't know what's the pleasure of the council.

[3:41:10] » Defer. >> Do you want to defer? Do you want to

[3:41:13] make a motion?

[3:41:19] What's your motion? >> What's your motion?

[3:41:22] » I said motion to move forward, but not until we won't approve on a second

[3:41:28] reading until they come back with a redefined

[3:41:33] uh fines to try to keep people from doing it. And maybe we do six months to

[3:41:37] a year, but two years to sit there and wait, I just think is

[3:41:41] » okay. >> Is crazy.

[3:41:44] I think extra fines. >> Is there a second to her motion?

[3:41:51] » I want it spelled out better. >> You want it spelled out better? Okay.

[3:41:55] » Before we do anything, >> you want to defer this?

[3:41:58] » I do. >> Okay. Well, hang on a sec. There's a

[3:42:00] motion on the table. Is there a second? >> Is there a second again?

[3:42:06] Hearing no second. The motion's going to fail. What is your motion? to defer it

[3:42:12] until we have a better structure for fines and for

[3:42:17] » the process penalty. Yeah, the whole process because this is too vague for

[3:42:20] me. >> Very good. Is there a second on that?

[3:42:25] » I'll second it. >> Okay,

[3:42:27] » it's fine. >> So, there's a motion and second to defer

[3:42:30] this until we get a better feel for what's

[3:42:34] going on here. Something more defined. >> Yes.

[3:42:37] » Okay. >> But which is going to be when?

[3:42:41] who don't probably won't be till November or December at least.

[3:42:46] » When do we think we could have that back?

[3:42:49] » For clarity, that's a question. >> Well, I guess if if you're looking at

[3:42:52] the permit fee fines as well, we would need to get the the analysis back from

[3:42:57] the uh the who whoever I can't remember the name of

[3:43:01] who we retain, but the entity that we retain to analyze the permit fees. So,

[3:43:06] uh it wouldn't be November. uh could potentially be December, but we'd have

[3:43:10] to check to see if if Sheila knows what the status of that is. But

[3:43:14] » okay, >> once we get once we get their their

[3:43:16] recommendation and then we can bring that back to you all for uh the permit

[3:43:20] fees. >> All right, there's a motion in a second.

[3:43:24] » Um we didn't have any public comment on

[3:43:28] this. Marty, will you call the role? >> Hey, Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney.

[3:43:33] » Yes. >> Council member Anna Richards.

[3:43:36] » Yes. Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Yes.

[3:43:39] » Council member Deb Gillis.

[3:43:45] » Yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton.

[3:43:48] » Yes. >> That motion passes 5-0.

[3:43:53] » Hopefully we come back something that's a lot more defined on your makeover.

[3:43:57] » I think it makes sense just to just line it up a little bit better. I think it's

[3:44:01] clear. We we we know what the intent is. Let's let's get the um deterrent in

[3:44:05] first. >> Yeah,

[3:44:07] » 100%. >> All right, moving on.

[3:44:10] » We're into the uh we're into the quasi uh judicial portion of the um item to

[3:44:16] the agenda today. There's three uh quasi judicial items. 16, 17, and 18. Uh tab

[3:44:22] 17, and 18 are um companion items. Uh please be advised that the following

[3:44:27] agenda items are quasi judicial in nature. If you wish to comment upon

[3:44:30] these items, please inform the village clerk by filling out the available

[3:44:32] signup form. An opportunity for persons to speak on each item will be made

[3:44:35] available after the applicant and staff have made their presentations on each

[3:44:38] item. As a reminder, testimony inquas judicial items must be in person. Zoom

[3:44:42] testimony will not be permitted. These proceedings will be handled in

[3:44:45] accordance with the village code requirements. All testimony, including

[3:44:48] public testimony and evidence, will be made under oath or affirmation.

[3:44:50] Additionally, each person who gives testimony may be subject to

[3:44:53] cross-examination. If you do not wish to be either cross-examined or sworn, your

[3:44:56] testimony shall be disregarded. The general public will not be permitted to

[3:44:59] cross-examine witnesses, but the public may request the council to ask questions

[3:45:02] of staff or witnesses on their behalf. The full agenda item uh the full agenda

[3:45:06] packet on each item is hereby entered into the record along with the village

[3:45:09] code and comprehensive plan. Any correspondence that was received by the

[3:45:12] village staff is included in the file and part of the record. Persons

[3:45:15] representing organizations must present evidence of their authority to speak

[3:45:18] with the organization. Further details of the quas judicial procedures in

[3:45:21] section 30-256 of the village code may be obtained from the village clerk. As I

[3:45:25] mentioned tonight, there are three quasi judicial items. Tab 16,1 1718. At this

[3:45:30] time, I would like to ask anyone who intends to speak on the quasi judicial

[3:45:33] items uh to please raise your hand and be sworn in by the clerk.

[3:45:38] » In the matter in which you're about to give testimony, do you spare to tell the

[3:45:41] truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

[3:45:44] » The witnesses have been [clears throat] sworn.

[3:45:46] » Uh Mr. Mayor, the first uh is tab 16, which is a resolution of the village

[3:45:50] council of Alamarda, village of Islands, Florida, concerning the request by

[3:45:54] Native Construction Contracting LLC, agent for owners Robert R. and Sarah W.

[3:45:58] Rodriguez for administrative relief from the village building permit allocation

[3:46:02] system BPASS for property located at 313 Woods Avenue, Plantation Key as legally

[3:46:07] described in exhibit A, providing for transmitt of the department to the

[3:46:10] Department of Commerce, and providing for an effective date. Uh before we

[3:46:13] begin, if you'll council, if you'll please disclose any exparte

[3:46:16] communications you may have had with the applicant or anyone else. Um again, this

[3:46:20] is on tab 16. Uh please include whether the person represented any group or

[3:46:24] entity as well as the specific subject matter as you best recall.

[3:46:28] » Very good. Anna, >> none.

[3:46:31] » Vice Mayor, >> none.

[3:46:32] » Steve, >> none.

[3:46:33] » Deb, >> none. Uh I uh got a quick text uh from

[3:46:38] Brett Akblum about uh the just asking to approve the application.

[3:46:46] » Yeah. >> All right. We are uh ready to proceed.

[3:46:51] » I might have I I'll take that back. I might have gotten a text, but I didn't

[3:46:54] even read it. I saw Brett's name come in, but I didn't read it.

[3:46:58] » It was before the meeting started. Thank you.

[3:47:01] » Good evening, council. Jennifer Bowie and playing director for the village of

[3:47:04] Island Marada. I'm here this evening for the administrative relief application

[3:47:07] for 313 Woods Avenue. Uh Native Construction Contracting LLC has uh

[3:47:12] submitted the application on behalf of the owners Robert R and Sarah W.

[3:47:16] Rodriguez. Um the application is p submitted pursuant to section 30-477 of

[3:47:21] the code of ordinances. The village code section 30-477

[3:47:26] requires that a public hearing be held during which the village council shall

[3:47:29] consider all evidence presented regarding the application and shall

[3:47:33] follow the procedures standards and criteria found within code sections

[3:47:36] 30-552 beneficial use determination and 30-553

[3:47:41] procedures standards and criteria for relief. The applicant has the burden of

[3:47:45] establishing the need for relief. The subject property is located at 313 Woods

[3:47:50] A and is legally described in exhibit A of the proposed resolution in your

[3:47:54] package. The application was entered into the BPASS system on April 26, 2022.

[3:48:00] The application has been considered in four consecutive annual allocation

[3:48:03] periods and has failed to receive an allocation award. At the close of

[3:48:07] quarter 2 of 2026, the application was ranked 17th with 18 points. Pursuant to

[3:48:13] the requirements set forth in code section 30-477A,

[3:48:16] the applicant was eligible to apply for administrative relief between 12:01 a.m.

[3:48:21] on July 1st, 2026 and 12:012 a.m. on October 29th, 2026. The applicant

[3:48:28] submitted the application for administrative relief on July 29th,

[3:48:31] 2026. The proposed development is a two-story single family residence

[3:48:36] containing two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, and is approximately 2757

[3:48:41] square feet of living area. The site is approximately 6,000 square ft of

[3:48:45] permitted with permitted clearing and associated mitigation subject to

[3:48:48] habitat-based regulations. The full analysis of the properties in the packet

[3:48:54] and additional information provided by the

[3:48:58] applicant is that the property owner has complied with all requirements of the

[3:49:01] building permit allocation system. The BPASS application has not been withdrawn

[3:49:06] at any time. The property owner has not applied for a deferral and the applicant

[3:49:10] as stated is seeking an allocation award. Code section 30-477F

[3:49:15] the action by village council at the conclusion of the public hearing the

[3:49:19] village council may take any or the combination of the following actions one

[3:49:24] grant the application an grant the applicant an allocation award for all or

[3:49:28] part of the allocation requested in the next seding allocation period two offer

[3:49:33] to purchase the property at its fair market value or three suggest other

[3:49:37] relief as may be necessary and appropriate. Currently, the village has

[3:49:41] five allocations available for administrative relief. And at this time,

[3:49:45] staff recommends awarding the allocation to this applicant. I'm available if you

[3:49:48] have any questions. >> Very good.

[3:49:56] Um,

[3:50:00] council, is there any discussion you want to have?

[3:50:05] No, but you want to open up to public comment. Is there any public comment,

[3:50:09] Marty? >> No, sir.

[3:50:13] » Okay. Going once, going twice. Public comment. Very good. Council, what's your

[3:50:18] pleasure?

[3:50:22] » Motion to approve. >> We got a motion to approve.

[3:50:28] » Do we need to hear for and against? >> Yeah. I thought

[3:50:31] » well is well is there >> I assume when you said public comment

[3:50:36] that since there was nobody that that meant for both for and against but if

[3:50:39] you we for the record we could we can specify it against

[3:50:45] » Is there anyone for this? >> No, there is not.

[3:50:48] » Is there anyone against this? >> No, there is not.

[3:50:51] » That's kind of what it was going for. Okay, so

[3:50:56] » second. >> We have a motion and a second. Thank you

[3:50:58] so much. Keep me on this straight narrow. [laughter]

[3:51:02] » We have a motion to second. We call the roll order.

[3:51:05] » Council member Deb Gillis. >> Yes.

[3:51:07] » Council member Anna Richard. >> Yes.

[3:51:09] » Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Yes.

[3:51:11] » Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes.

[3:51:13] » And Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes.

[3:51:14] » Motion passes 5-0. >> Very good.

[3:51:16] » Thank you. >> Uh as mentioned, tab 17 and 18 are

[3:51:21] companion items. Uh usually we take those together as long

[3:51:24] » them together. Yes. >> Okay. As long as that's uh okay with the

[3:51:28] applicant. Uh, any issues applicant taking these together?

[3:51:31] » Um, I [laughter] I'd like that. >> Rob, are you in a flat fee or is it

[3:51:38] hourly? [laughter]

[3:51:41] » Let's not get into that. Although, we might find out what kind of good deal

[3:51:45] we're getting.

[3:51:49] » Tell the truth. I don't actually know. [laughter]

[3:52:00] She'll she'll really tell the truth. >> Thank you, John. Will you read the item,

[3:52:03] please? >> All right. So, I'll read both. Uh, so

[3:52:06] first is tab 17, an ordinance of Alamara Village, Florida, considering the

[3:52:09] request of James S. Lepino Esquire, agent for Robert E. Mao, Florida

[3:52:14] Residence Trust 05-01-2017, and Kathy G. Mau Florida residents trust

[3:52:19] 05-01-207 to amend the village's future land use

[3:52:23] map from residential high to residential medium for the subject properties on old

[3:52:27] highway located on upper Madakumbi Key with real estate numbers

[3:52:30] 00009-624-00000000

[3:52:34] and 00009-624-000000

[3:52:38] as legally described herein providing for the transmitt of this ordinance to

[3:52:42] the state department of commerce and providing for an effective date upon the

[3:52:44] approval of this ordinance by the state department of commerce and tab 18 is an

[3:52:48] ordinance of Alamarda Village of Islands, Florida, containing the request

[3:52:51] of James S. Lapino, Esquire, agent for Robert E. Mau, Florida Residence Trust

[3:52:55] 05-01-2017 and Kathy G. Mau Florida residents trust

[3:52:59] 050-01-207 to amend the official zoning map from

[3:53:03] multif family to settlers residential for the subject properties on old

[3:53:07] highway highway located on upper upper Matic key with real estate numbers

[3:53:10] 00009-624-000000

[3:53:14] and 00009-624-0000100

[3:53:18] 0 as legally described herein providing for the transmitt of this ordinance to

[3:53:22] the state department of commerce and providing for an effective date upon the

[3:53:24] approval of this ordinance by the state department of commerce. Uh both of these

[3:53:28] ordinances are on second reading. Um and council uh before we begin uh please

[3:53:33] disclose any exparte communications that you may have had with the applicant or

[3:53:36] anyone else on uh on either of these tabs and please include whether the

[3:53:41] person represented any group or entity as well as the specifics of the subject

[3:53:45] matter as you best recall. Anna

[3:53:49] » um only Casey Douly with uh who represents the Miles or works for the

[3:53:54] Miles in regards to the zoning issues. >> Thank you, Vice Mayor.

[3:53:59] » None. >> Steve,

[3:54:01] » none. >> Deb,

[3:54:02] » none. >> Me? None.

[3:54:05] » We're ready to proceed.

[3:54:09] » All right. Good evening, Mayor and Council. We made it to the end. So, uh

[3:54:14] this is the second reading. First reading occurred on June 11th of this

[3:54:17] year and received unanimous approval. Uh this item remains unchanged from first

[3:54:22] reading. Uh the summary is there was an approved lot combination to combine four

[3:54:27] properties into two at 80839 Old Highway. The combination resulted in

[3:54:31] having properties with two different zoning districts on the same lot. Each

[3:54:35] lot was zoned both multif family and settlers residential. The flum and

[3:54:38] zoning map amendment will correct this issue so that each property has one

[3:54:42] zoning district and one flum designation. The owner wishes to

[3:54:46] classify the properties under the settler's residential zoning district

[3:54:49] which falls within the residential medium flum category. Settler's

[3:54:52] residential zoning district has fewer permitted uses than multifamily and

[3:54:56] residential medium flum has less allowable density than residential high

[3:55:00] flum. The owners have no desire to build multif family housing on the properties

[3:55:04] and would rather have single family homes in uses. There is no budget impact

[3:55:08] with this application. There are no staff impacts with this application and

[3:55:11] staff recommends approval of both the flum and zoning map amendments on second

[3:55:15] reading. >> Thank you so much.

[3:55:21] » Would we like to hear testimony from the applicant?

[3:55:28] » Rob Rob Stober on behalf of Jim Lepino as agent for the mouse. Uh, I'm just

[3:55:34] here to answer any questions or help if I can.

[3:55:39] » I heard staff uh say that the uh property owner doesn't wish to build any

[3:55:47] multifamily or anything other than a use with a single family. Is there intention

[3:55:52] to do a another residential unit on that property?

[3:55:56] » Um, I I can't answer that, but what because I don't know. Um but the the

[3:56:02] purpose of this was they took the old Comcast service property

[3:56:08] » and it was you know offered to them. It's contiguous with their property and

[3:56:12] so they were joined with the unity of title. When that was done, nobody

[3:56:19] appreciated that there were two different, in fact, three different

[3:56:24] zonings, >> right,

[3:56:25] » in the, you know, if you if you were to drive by or ride your bicycle by, you

[3:56:30] would not realize that there are three different zonings in this one property,

[3:56:35] » right? >> So, I can't I can't answer what the

[3:56:38] purpose is because I don't know. But obviously they would be restricted in

[3:56:43] what the the downgrading of zoning which is you know a preferred use for Marada.

[3:56:50] So I can't answer that but obviously it's not going to be multif family. It's

[3:56:54] not going to be high density. It's going to be medium or on one one property. It

[3:57:01] only could be medium on one property and settlers residential on the other.

[3:57:06] » Great. Thank you >> Mr. Mayor. I can sorry I can speak to

[3:57:10] that a little bit. We we do have an application in our office for um

[3:57:13] development of this property. I I believe it's just a garage. I don't

[3:57:17] believe it's an additional unit. >> Okay. So there's currently an

[3:57:21] application and it just needed to be >> That's correct.

[3:57:23] » unified the zoning changed so that they could build this

[3:57:27] » that's correct >> other structure on there. That's

[3:57:28] correct. >> That's perfect. Thank you.

[3:57:30] » Thank you. >> Is there anyone who would like to speak

[3:57:33] in favor of this? There's no one signed up.

[3:57:38] » Okay. Is there anyone who would like to speak in opposition of this?

[3:57:42] » Also, no one signed up for that. >> All right. Rob, would you like to

[3:57:46] present a rebuttal to any of the comments that we make?

[3:57:51] » You're here. >> Silence is the hallmark of wisdom.

[3:57:55] » Very good.

[3:58:00] » John, is there anything else or or Jennifer, is there anything else that

[3:58:04] that the village needs to say about this?

[3:58:08] Okay. >> I would just remind that we need two

[3:58:10] separate votes, one on each item. >> So, can I first start off with a a

[3:58:15] motion to approve the change in the future land use map?

[3:58:21] » Motion to approve. >> There's a motion to approve the future

[3:58:24] land use map. Is there a second? >> I'll second.

[3:58:29] » Okay. There's a motion in a second. Martin, will you call the role?

[3:58:32] » Council member Anna Richards. >> Yes.

[3:58:34] » Council member Deb Gillis. >> Yes. Council member Steve Freriedman.

[3:58:37] » Yes. >> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney.

[3:58:39] » Yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton.

[3:58:41] » Yes. Now, is there a motion to change the zoning?

[3:58:44] » Motion to approve. I'll second. >> Okay. Barney, we call the role.

[3:58:49] » Council member Anna Richards. >> Yes.

[3:58:51] » Council member Deb Gillis. >> Yes.

[3:58:53] » Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Yes.

[3:58:55] » Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes.

[3:58:56] » And Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes.

[3:58:58] » That motion passes 5-0. >> All right. Council staff, is there any

[3:59:02] other business that we need to take care of tonight?

[3:59:06] » There's a motion to adjourn.

[3:59:10] [applause] >> We are now ajourned.

September 8 2026 Regular and Land Use Village Council Meeting

Transcript