[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.