[2:44] Andrew Connors: Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[2:53] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

[2:56] and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God,

[2:56] indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[3:13] Let us hold a moment of silence in memory of what happened 25

[3:18] years ago .

[3:27] Call the roll please.

[3:34] [Roll call]

[4:02] Georganna Gillette: I do want to acknowledge

[4:04] we have one alternate today, but the member is present.

[4:20] Andrew Connors: We're going to ask that we go in a different

[4:25] order .

[4:36] The motion carries unanimously thank you very much.

[4:49] Mr. Forrester: We'll be having a nine over 11 remembrance

[4:52] ceremony in City Hall tonight you are all welcome to come .

[5:09] It's 830 in the morning on September 11th we've got some

[5:17] outstanding speakers, thank you.

[5:38] They're starting to run at six in the morning tomorrow .

[6:03] Andrew Connors: We are on to item 6A.

[6:16] Georganna Gillette: It's likely everyone has heard about

[6:19] the award , My apologies .

[6:43] As bill Crow, the senior engineer for Port Canaveral

[6:49] comes up, it's been working with the Department of Transportation

[6:53] on a modification to the energy and this

[7:00] is a project that is going to be really very important to traffic

[7:08] and although it is going to be completely funded by the port

[7:12] it's going to be a major project that

[7:15] really should be reflected in the long range transportation

[7:19] plan.

[7:19] At this time we are going to have Bill give

[7:22] a brief presentation on that.

[7:32] Bill: As Georganna Mentioned, I am

[7:44] the VP of Managing and construction for Port Authority

[7:48] and have been here almost 12 years,

[7:53] I'm really sad to see his tenure Start to wind down,

[8:00] some of my colleagues are here in the audience

[8:05] and they have served faithfully in the technical Advisory

[8:10] committee level for a number of years.

[8:13] They let me get up here and do the dog and pony show,

[8:18] I must be brief so I will pass on that.

[8:24] Moving right along, I have a few slides

[8:28] that we are going to roll through.

[8:31] Many of you have probably heard about Cruise terminal

[8:37] for Project, I will connect these dots for you.

[8:40] Every good engineer must have a laser pointer in their pocket,

[8:44] which I came with today.

[8:45] This is the Port Authority, this red box right here

[8:49] is the future site for the development of cruise terminal

[8:52] for, it's roughly where the current points

[8:55] Marina is if you are familiar with the port,

[8:59] so it will be our next mega ship cruise terminal coming

[9:03] online the summer of 2030.

[9:06] We're docking vessels that produce a lot of traffic,

[9:10] a lot of passengers, about 8000 passengers on board

[9:14] the vessel that's going to be visiting,

[9:16] so we are very excited about that.

[9:21] Moving on, there's a couple of other developments

[9:25] you probably have heard about as well.

[9:27] One being the future aquarium, we've

[9:30] been working closely with the East Coast Zoological Foundation

[9:34] on the development of a roughly 14 acre parcel on our river site

[9:40] for the development of a future aquarium.

[9:42] I can share good news that just a couple of weeks

[9:46] ago we were able to give them their conditional site plan,

[9:49] it really does open the doors for them

[9:52] to move forward with the leasing agreement and transitioning

[9:55] the development agreement to a lease agreement

[9:58] and ultimately supporting their groundbreaking Lake this fall.

[10:09] In addition to Cape Marina, points are coming off

[10:15] of their lease, it's a 50 year plus lease that have been around

[10:20] since the mid 70s.

[10:23] We are redeveloping that, making it into a more dense Marina

[10:28] facility, more efficient.

[10:32] Deployment of offshore, nearshore commercial fishing

[10:35] boats is going to be the focus of that Marina

[10:38] and in order to support all of this growth,

[10:42] we are proposing this overpass that you see right here.

[10:47] This is George King Boulevard, many of you

[10:49] have traveled on George King Boulevard.

[10:51] It is connected to 528 and a one a

[10:56] through a single point urban interchange.

[10:59] For decades it has only had access on the east side,

[11:04] so in effect we've only been using

[11:07] 50% of the capacity of that interchange.

[11:12] We in recent years have sought additional methods to get access

[11:18] onto 528, working closely with district five .

[11:30] It's been very problematic because it's

[11:33] been elevating the corridor for a number of years

[11:37] and what we have been able to decouple in this project is

[11:41] our overpass will actually go up and over

[11:46] the future elevated cross section of 528,

[11:50] so we're very excited about that and it's

[11:53] been a great breakthrough with district five.

[11:58] That represents that overpass that would take traffic off

[12:01] of the west side of the 528 Boulevard interchange

[12:06] and deliver it right into the Cove District for retail

[12:10] commercial purposes, also assist us with CT four and provide

[12:15] a direct access back over to the aquarium parcel from the Cove

[12:20] District, so we are really excited about the benefit this

[12:24] overpass is going to bring to port and its users .

[12:40] We will be working closely with their design engineer

[12:44] and our designers to make sure that any impacts to the parking

[12:49] lot are accommodated, including in both

[12:53] their design and our design.

[12:56] Intentionally as this representation of the overpass

[13:00] crosses over the 528 corridor, it comes to an abrupt end

[13:05] and it doesn't mean there's going to be an Evil Knievel

[13:08] ramp at the end, just means we are still

[13:12] fine tuning exactly how this overpass will

[13:15] land on the north and east Side of the A one a 520 curve.

[13:24] Over the next six months, as we put together our criteria

[13:27] package we will be able to fully determine

[13:29] the limits of this overpass.

[13:32] Just to end with a discussion about schedule,

[13:36] we talked about opening midsummer 2030

[13:39] and building up to that, we have a season of permitting

[13:45] and development of the design criteria package.

[13:49] We will have a solicitation at the end of calendar

[13:54] year for design contractors and we will enter into a six month

[14:00] design phase early 2028.

[14:04] Construction is approximately September of 2028

[14:09] and wrap up almost a year and a half

[14:12] later at the end of 2028 and 2029,

[14:14] this is roughly six months prior to our summer

[14:18] plan in the terminal in the summer of 2030

[14:24] so that gives you an idea of the scope

[14:26] and the breadth of the project, 55 million

[14:29] is the latest budget programed in

[14:33] to give you an idea of the magnitude of the project.

[14:37] That is my summary, are there any questions I can field?

[14:48] Speaker: How much did you estimate it's going to cost?

[14:53] Bill Crow: It's been a while since we've done an overpass,

[14:57] every time I get a new bid I'm shocked.

[14:59] Right now we're budgeting $50 million for this overpass.

[15:11] 100%.

[15:32] What are the investors for the aquarium saying

[15:35] about this having an overpass go through Their beautiful area?

[15:50] Bill Crow: They're excited about the free covered parking.

[15:56] Sebastian Park, my favorite place to park

[16:01] is underneath the overpass because in Florida inevitably

[16:04] it does rain and it's just a great provided

[16:07] safe haven to park under.

[16:16] The east coast Zoological Foundation is more than happy

[16:22] to work with us , the best place to place this overpass is

[16:29] through the parking lot so they're rearranging of islands

[16:34] and if we need to expand their property line to the south

[16:38] to accommodate, let's say we lose half a dozen or a dozen

[16:44] parking spaces, the Port Authority will gladly do that.

[16:49] We are working hand in hand with them

[16:52] and this will be a successful win win project for both teams.

[17:06] Speaker: I know there's parts of Brevard Zoo that they couldn't

[17:11] build zoo type things because it was so close to the highway

[17:17] and whatever they had within the confines of the zoo

[17:20] and the aquarium, I know the water heavy trucks shaking

[17:26] so that's what that was about because I know 95

[17:29] is a concern for Brevard Zoo and they have an old area

[17:33] that they can't use just because the sound of the vehicles

[17:38] and everything else, that was a concern that I had.

[17:56] Bill Crow: Those speeds are highway speeds,

[18:00] the speeds on our roadway are going to be much less than that

[18:09] .

[18:09] We've recently had to change out all the windows of our Maritime

[18:12] center with regards to sounds and pressure

[18:18] events which exceeds anything we have at the port traffic wise.

[18:34] Mr. Forrester: If the overpass starts taking up parking spaces

[18:38] does the Port Authority own what is south to the parking lot

[18:44] there?

[18:47] Bill Crow: Yes, we've already started to have that discussion.

[18:51] We own the parcel and so our ability

[18:53] to flex that southern border as we

[18:56] end at parking spaces in their parking lot

[18:59] has already been discussed and contemplated.

[19:12] Andrew Connors: When did you guys first come up

[19:14] with this idea of this flyover?

[19:18] Bill Crow: It was brought to us by former FDOT Secretary.

[19:30] Was then subsequently CEO of GOA Orlando International Airport

[19:40] and has offered his advice over the years with various traffic

[19:44] related items, so it was roughly last November

[19:47] if I recall correctly the first time

[19:51] I heard Kevin start to talk about the single point

[19:55] urban interchange, and the fact that we are only

[19:58] using roughly 50% and have only been using 50% of that fDOT

[20:05] build facility from a number of decades ago.

[20:09] Just off the mat here on the left hand side

[20:13] we will see a very similar shaped parcel of land

[20:17] and a very similar shaped interchange which actually does

[20:22] take full advantage of both the North and the south sides of 528

[20:28] and that is statement 401.

[20:33] It's off the page, not a clear comparison

[20:36] but you can start to see from what is visible

[20:38] that this parcel of land here actually

[20:41] has the same shape as what was created decades ago,

[20:46] so it's a very very similar project to be implemented there

[20:51] and we were definitely grateful that Kevin brought that

[20:54] to our attention late last fall.

[21:03] Andrew Connors: When did you enter into a proposed

[21:05] agreement for development?

[21:10] Bill Crow: I don't have the date off the top of my head,

[21:13] I remember discussions with the zoo going back to 2017.

[21:16] The formal agreement I would guess is probably 2021,

[21:24] we can certainly find that date for you.

[21:34] From the standpoint of we've been discussing some time

[21:41] our ability to increase the access and currently

[21:45] on the south side of the port I would venture

[21:48] to guess 80% or greater of our traffic still

[21:53] only has one on ramp onto the westbound 528 corridor,

[21:59] and that is limited access area for FDOT.

[22:08] we recognize the widening and elevating of the corridor

[22:10] is critical for the region, critical for the county

[22:13] for many reasons, critical for traffic capacity.

[22:17] Our ability to again take advantage of infrastructure that

[22:21] has existed now for a number of years

[22:24] where we've only been utilizing 50% of it

[22:29] to take advantage of the other half of that to allow better

[22:33] flow of traffic into a district will have a beneficial effect

[22:41] on 528.

[22:54] Andrew Connors: Why is this the first time we are

[22:56] hearing about it as a board?

[23:00] the Space Coast organization exists so we all

[23:03] move together as a county.

[23:09] our board should have some opportunity

[23:10] in helping facilitate this, you are

[23:12] talking about working with another organization for a while

[23:19] and the only reason we got wind of it

[23:20] is because we heard about it through a grapevine.

[23:22] I feel like there's some disconnect here

[23:25] because as we all represent constituents around Brevard

[23:28] County, Brevard County really Prefers our aquarium,

[23:35] over $120 million has been raised

[23:39] for this for our community and to see this project

[23:43] it doesn't quite sit right for a lot of us.

[23:46] Doing this overpass, this is just

[23:50] to address the next mega ship coming in in 2030, correct?

[23:59] Bill Crow: For the existing Rodney Ketcham boat

[24:02] ramp which is at the west end of the port, the Cove district,

[24:08] back feeding from the Cove District

[24:10] to the aquarium parcel in addition to CT 4

[24:20] .

[24:20] Those vessels don't exist yet, our largest cruise ship

[24:29] is a very large ship.

[24:34] Andrew Connors: Right now it backs up all the way to us one,

[24:38] so our residents are feeling frustration.

[24:40] If this is only going to alleviate the traffic when

[24:43] you get to the port just to redirect to the next cruise

[24:48] ship, what are we doing about 528?

[24:54] Bill Crow: This is a huge help to 528 traffic

[24:57] accessing the port, as long as I've

[25:01] been at the port, a great use of the roadways and the lands

[25:06] and the resources that we have control over.

[25:09] I think we as the Port Authority,

[25:12] I don't want to speak in place of the commissioner,

[25:15] would have much preferred to see the widening

[25:18] and elevating of the 528 Corridor occur by now.

[25:26] That is not within my department's control,

[25:30] but what is within our control is roadways,

[25:34] improvements, efficiencies that we can build on our lands

[25:37] with our resources that then have

[25:41] a beneficial downstream effect, will

[25:44] have a beneficial downstream effect to traffic on 528.

[25:56] Andrew Connors: If you handed the money to FDOT,

[26:03] don't you think they would do it?

[26:11] Speaker: It looks like this road would

[26:12] help internalize a lot of traffic,

[26:15] but then congestion getting up to 528.

[26:23] Bill Crow: It adds queuing capacity and enhanced

[26:25] routing from the aquarium site to the Cove.

[26:29] If we were not to build this road,

[26:31] the traffic from the Cove and park in aquarium site

[26:36] would have to pass through the congested 528 and George King

[26:47] Boulevard to pass through.

[26:49] This provides great relief to that specific movement

[26:52] in addition to general increased queuing capacity of port.

[27:06] Speaker: The concern is the overall traffic flow on 528,

[27:10] rather than just this intersection which I don't see

[27:14] impacting the flow of traffic .

[27:28] Until 528 is widened or fixed I don't see it's going to have

[27:37] much impact .

[27:43] Bill Crow: The only improvement to capacity on the 528 corridor

[27:48] to Orlando is widening .

[28:03] it makes it easier for them to

[28:12] Andrew Connors: It makes it easier

[28:14] for them to get to the cruise terminal.

[28:19] Speaker: The cruise ship is coming no matter what ,

[28:24] the cruise terminal is coming no matter what.

[28:27] Certainly we would like to widen 528

[28:31] but no one's got the money to widen it.

[28:55] We don't have the authority to fund it.

[29:02] any project other than what's on the board .

[29:17] Speaker: I was told it's going to help alleviate traffic

[29:20] because people are coming to take the train,

[29:23] but I understand the port is not contributing anything

[29:27] toward the station and here today you are

[29:30] talking about traffic on 528.

[29:43] Speaker: How does this fit in with the 401 drawbridge,

[29:47] because currently because of cruise ship traffic and people

[29:52] trying to get into the Cape, the morning

[29:57] when the drawbridge goes up traffic

[30:00] backs up from there all the way down state route three sometimes

[30:05] in the morning.

[30:06] It could take you an hour to get off beeline

[30:09] to make it to the Cape South Gate which is

[30:12] nearly every morning currently.

[30:13] We already know we have that drawbridge there and that

[30:18] traffic jam that's going on right on the edge of your map up

[30:23] there, and more people are going to try to get through that

[30:27] section there that curves off to 401 and goes over that bridge

[30:31] trying to get over there .

[30:36] The question is when does the 401 bridge get fixed?

[30:44] get that eliminated out of the way

[30:45] so you could have a freer flow of traffic down the road.

[30:49] Right now, this is nice, but the bottleneck is still west of it.

[30:57] when all the traffic is at a dead stop from State route three

[31:00] all the way down before you can even get here,

[31:03] and this is not going to get anything

[31:05] if you can't get to your new road

[31:08] because you're stuck in traffic.

[31:11] My thoughts are the drawbridge thing

[31:15] come into play, when the ships are there in the morning

[31:22] that huge thing is a problem now every day.

[31:28] Bill Crow: For a while we've been

[31:31] working with the Army Corps of Engineers,

[31:33] I think everyone knows FDOT owns and operates the bridges

[31:40] and the Army Corps of Engineers own and operate

[31:43] the locks, that has been the system since its inception.

[31:47] Only in more recent years have we

[31:52] been able to work with the Lock Master

[31:56] so that those heavy traffic opportunities,

[32:00] the drawbridge can stay closed, we

[32:03] can consolidate a number of boats

[32:07] before opening the locks which automatically

[32:10] triggers the opening of the controlled bridges.

[32:13] We agree and our current CO has been

[32:20] a big proponent of the study to replace the bridges with a fixed

[32:29] bridge.

[32:30] It was identified the price tag is about $260 million is what I

[32:40] understand, so that aggregate total between both sections

[32:46] of 528, state road three to George King and the 41 bridge

[32:53] totals about $1 billion, that is a substantial investment

[32:58] for roadways that serve all of Brevard County residents

[33:04] and that service all the local hotels and neighboring cities

[33:08] and all of those revenue streams that come from tourism,

[33:12] so we fully agree that both the widening projects and the 401

[33:23] replacement are priority projects .

[33:43] Speaker: It's not just the cruise ship terminal,

[33:45] everyone knows with all the expansion going on to the Cape

[33:48] and all the launch pads we probably almost quadruple

[33:51] the amount of people coming through the south gate which

[33:54] means all those people are coming

[33:55] through that section coming up and across 528 to squeeze

[34:02] into the Cape which can take you an hour in the morning just

[34:09] to get from 528 to the south gate which is a couple of miles

[34:13] is all that is,

[34:14] even if the bridge doesn't go up and even

[34:16] if you don't have a cruise ship in you already

[34:19] have that traffic at 630 in the morning

[34:23] before you start talking about tourists and cruise ship people

[34:26] and everything coming in there, which I understand

[34:30] the project and the port's page, who am I to say you

[34:36] can't spend your money and build your road

[34:41] but I just don't think that the payoff in the long run

[34:46] is really going to be seen until 401 bridge

[34:51] and 528 actually have it, I think

[34:54] that's when it will open that up and you could get more use out

[35:00] of that.

[35:11] Trying to get in and out of the Cape from State Route

[35:15] three or down through that corridor is a whole other issue.

[35:24] Bill Crow: We've observed the same thing,

[35:25] the increase in traffic from the space center has been dramatic.

[35:29] We were shocked with the south gate you brought up

[35:33] a couple Just the tremendous backup with contractors getting

[35:40] into the south gate not only replace the one launch

[35:45] pad but now they are doing a dual launch pad,

[35:48] so it's a great story for the workforce,

[35:51] there are so many jobs being created not

[35:54] just at the port but space center commercial space

[35:57] and that does bring with it commercial traffic.

[36:00] We've seen the same things you are highlighting, getting back

[36:04] to reinforce what the Port Authority is proposing here,

[36:08] the best improvements that we can do on lands that we control

[36:13] with our resources to take advantage of past investments

[36:19] from FDOT.

[36:23] we have an interchange that is 50% efficient because it

[36:25] has no other connector on the west side, that's

[36:28] what we are planning is actually capitalizing on investments

[36:31] all of our predecessors made, specifically

[36:35] in this area that will bring efficiencies to the project.

[36:39] I love the train, it's definitely

[36:45] worth the drive to the airport in Miami

[36:47] to catch that train down to South Florida.

[36:59] Speaker: What was the reasoning for not getting off at the exit

[37:02] before just going straight over instead of going

[37:05] through the aquarium?

[37:09] Bill Crow: They would not allow that,

[37:14] they would not allow any further connection to 5/28 corridor

[37:17] because they are at 60% design for the elevating and widening

[37:22] of 528, and with an undetermined time frame for when that would

[37:27] be complete they were unable to pursue any discussions with

[37:31] that, so we are kind of where we started.

[37:36] In fact, taking advantage of the other half of the investment

[37:41] from years ago magically decouples us from that

[37:47] permitting discussion of the widening and elevating in time

[37:51] frame for that project from 528, we actually go up and over

[37:57] their future elevated and widened section,

[38:01] the civil engineer in me gets excited but I'm sure you can see

[38:05] just the benefits of that efficiency as well .

[38:24] Mayor: Will these designs be available as well?

[38:29] Speaker: Yes, we will send that out, mayor.

[38:36] Mayor: Where is it right now, in preliminary or conceptual?

[38:42] Bill Crow: Our team of consultants,

[38:45] supplemented by kimley-horn and associates .

[38:53] Many of you have heard of them in the transportation arena ,

[38:59] we have engaged them in a scope that will create a design

[39:04] criteria so we will pursue the design build procurement method

[39:08] of the facility which begins with design criteria package.

[39:12] We are now in that process, so as of basically

[39:18] this month we kicked it off at the commission meeting

[39:21] through the end of this calendar year

[39:23] I actually think I have it going toward the design criteria

[39:32] package, along with conceptual permitting for the roadway

[39:38] that you see here.

[39:47] Speaker: Have you met with the City of Cape Canaveral

[39:50] administration on this project?

[39:55] Bill Crow: I have not, they've continued discussions

[39:57] on a number of topics related to infrastructure and utilities

[40:00] with the city, I couldn't tell you

[40:03] if this specific one was brought up at that meeting.

[40:18] Georganna Gillette: The design 60,

[40:20] so it's on the shelf until some construction funding becomes

[40:25] available .

[40:30] a recent conversation led me to believe

[40:33] that they are looking at on the eastern section

[40:36] 528 the department is looking at some very

[40:40] heavy operational improvements potentially

[40:43] for 528 just on the eastern section

[40:47] that they could potentially move forward

[40:49] in the interim, because the widening is just so expensive

[40:55] but that section alone I think is 340 million

[40:59] or something like that and of course the bridge is

[41:04] 260 million, so it appears the department is looking at it.

[41:08] What can they move forward quickly with some of the savings

[41:14] that they've been able to get across the board

[41:16] with transportation projects?

[41:18] Hoping that that will happen sooner rather than later.

[41:31] Speaker: The cruise terminals and the traffic that has come,

[41:36] at the end of the day when we look at this terminal coming,

[41:47] I think this greatly benefits and increases

[41:50] the capacity for the port, I'm not sure

[41:55] how it benefits the greater community

[41:56] and I hope our city administration can

[42:00] talk through this because it is something

[42:04] I know our community has continued

[42:07] to bring up as a concern.

[42:10] The port is very good at driving cruise terminal traffic as far ,

[42:22] but we need to talk about them being involved in the community

[42:30] more.

[42:38] Speaker: I know there was a study,

[42:40] how long ago was that and is that obsolete at this point

[42:47] because it's about increasing that capacity ,

[42:54] so where are we in that

[43:06] Georganna Gillette: The study was finalized back

[43:08] in 2016, that was a long time ago.

[43:11] I believe the department was doing an update because there

[43:14] were things that have changed from an environmental

[43:16] standpoint, and getting it ready potentially to move forward

[43:21] as funding becomes available.

[43:24] I think all of that is being worked on.

[43:45] Bill Crow: I don't believe they're planning to redo

[43:48] the study, it has resulted in a 60% design with the widened road

[44:06] .

[44:10] Georganna Gillette: They have a 60% design,

[44:11] that's not going to change, they just need the construction

[44:15] money to kind of move it forward or the design build

[44:21] and whatever they can manage to do.

[44:44] Mr. Forrester: When the 528 redesign was done

[44:47] they voted to increase the availability of water

[44:54] flowing under the roadway in order to assist waterfall.

[44:59] This board recommended it I guess,

[45:06] I don't know if it was incorporated in the design.

[45:14] Georganna Gillette: Yes, basically the bridge

[45:16] over the banana River would be definitely elevated but also

[45:21] extended to kind of expand the causeway for the possibility

[45:28] of one day opening up the flow.

[45:33] Of course, 520 would also happen to be opened up

[45:37] for you to really see tangible benefits,

[45:41] but that was incorporated into the design, yes.

[45:52] Speaker: Has the port looked at transportation impact fees

[45:58] to address their traffic impacts on roads.

[46:16] Bill Crow: Yes, over the past number of years

[46:19] we developed a very robust fee structure and policy.

[46:23] When I started, it was a largely a cash based system in the form

[46:28] of permitting was difficult to document and track,

[46:31] and that was one of the first initiatives was we need

[46:37] to standardize our transportation and my team with

[46:43] engineering construction plugged into that ,

[46:49] we began with tolling gantries for commercial transportation.

[46:53] Busses, shuttles, Ubers, taxis.

[46:58] We do have a fee system that they pay into.

[47:03] The beauty of the system not just as a financial component,

[47:08] there's an efficiency component along with it

[47:12] because it reduces development.

[47:14] A decade ago providers would come to the port ,

[47:22] park a street or a parking spot, take up space,

[47:26] cause additional traffic congestion,

[47:29] and now because of our extensive tolling system our gantries we

[47:33] can track that and they know they only have a certain window

[47:39] once they cross in that virtual fence to pick up the passenger,

[47:44] drop the passenger off before they need to exit.

[47:47] It's a quite robust system , I spent a few years prior to that

[47:55] at Port Houston Authority.

[47:57] You've seen one port, you've seen one port.

[48:03] They're all incredibly unique in terms

[48:06] of recreation, crews terminals and cargo activities

[48:11] so it's a lot to coordinate.

[48:14] I can say our ground transportation system policy

[48:17] and software fee system is second to none,

[48:20] it's a very robust system.

[48:22] Thank you for the opportunity to highlight that.

[48:34] Speaker: If you want to build a shopping center or hotel

[48:37] or stadium that would have significant impacts,

[48:40] are you all providing any?

[48:45] Bill Crow: We don't assess impact fees for infrastructure

[48:48] we don't own, like widening of the DOT or neighboring

[48:55] municipality facility.

[49:01] I could not answer that, I don't know that legally we

[49:07] could under our term with the state of Florida

[49:10] assess impact fees for jurisdictions outside

[49:12] of our authority, I don't think that's possible

[49:15] but I'm just a civil engineer.

[49:22] Speaker: The delegation could probably address that issue,

[49:27] it's created by the state of Florida.

[49:29] If it does have significant offsite impacts,

[49:34] it's totally fair the standard we all live by here and it helps

[49:38] your cause, it's not negatively creating a revenue source

[49:48] to address your needs .

[50:21] Andrew Connors: You impact the community ,

[50:25] roughly making revenue 160 to $180 million a year,

[50:31] there's five district cities , so the sentiment we get is you

[50:41] guys are making all this money, we are bearing the brunt

[50:45] of the impact and what can we do to work together,

[50:48] this is exactly what this board was designed for so we can plan

[50:53] together.

[50:53] We cheer each other on wholeheartedly,

[50:58] I'm excited for their project and this is how we work together

[51:03] and I feel like when you try to go it alone

[51:07] it's going to be very tough to go as far as you

[51:10] want to go with that.

[51:11] Thank you guys for the discussion,

[51:13] I will take it under advisement, I appreciate your presentation.

[51:17] Thank you, on to item six B.

[51:40] Georganna Gillette: I know Chair Connors asked several months ago

[51:42] that it would be a really good idea

[51:45] to have the transit come and present on transit operations

[51:50] for the whole county.

[51:52] What is the status of the different routes

[51:56] within the individual cities and what are the challenges.

[52:00] You all are the policy makers, what

[52:03] are some things the members can do

[52:07] that get your councils in the commission to improve things.

[52:11] Very good conversation at the committees on Tuesday and Terry,

[52:17] I will kick it to you.

[52:40] Speaker: We have been asked to present on the state

[52:42] of transportation in Brevard County .

[52:50] what we do for each of the cities

[52:52] specifically is the question we were asked.

[52:58] You may have seen this in the last transportation Development

[53:02] Plan update, here's specific details about the routes we

[53:09] operate, the passengers .

[53:15] We have a couple routes that operate until midnight,

[53:20] I will talk about those a little bit later in the presentation.

[53:25] What you see on the screen is primarily

[53:29] the reasons why people use transit in Brevard County.

[53:36] You will see a lot of it is for going to the residence ,

[53:47] additional information you see the passengers are on board

[53:55] and that tells the passengers are using it for a specific

[54:00] reason, work and destinations such as shopping and medical

[54:09] trips.

[54:12] The hours of service each city specifically receives,

[54:18] when you look at the gradients and as you see the city

[54:25] of Melbourne is higher than everybody else and the city

[54:34] primarily receives the service because the routes operate

[54:41] almost entirely within the city limits .

[54:57] As you can tell, if the city received

[55:04] so many hours of service every year, that comes at a cost.

[55:11] As you see also, having the highest cost

[55:17] of service within the jurisdiction

[55:20] through Brevard County, 2.7 million.

[55:24] I'd like to highlight this slide because it shows the amount

[55:28] of service the city sees and the amount of expenses .

[55:37] as many of you know a major part of our funding

[55:39] comes primarily from revenue services

[55:42] from federal and state dollars.

[55:46] Our local match is actually the source through the county ,

[55:57] thank you for allowing this to continue each and every year

[56:00] and applying this.

[56:01] You can see there's about 2.2 million

[56:03] in the general fund of received revenues,

[56:09] without this local fund as the base we would then

[56:13] be unable to match the dollars we need to operate the services.

[56:18] I also want to be sure I am clear about this,

[56:21] it's primarily for operation purposes.

[56:24] There's a few Comp and benefits for our operators .

[56:37] Georganna Gillette: I just wanted

[56:38] to point out as we were going through this presentation

[56:40] general fund 2.2 million, if you compare that amount to our peers

[56:50] Sarasota receives 26 million and what

[57:00] Terry has been able to do with organization they really operate

[57:05] above and beyond and so very fiscally responsible, if you

[57:13] double the 2.3 million just imagine what

[57:18] could happen within the county.

[57:20] It's also like a 5050 operating multiplier, so you get a return.

[57:27] The more money you contribute, the more

[57:30] you're going to get back pure nothing against the county

[57:34] commission, there's only so much money to go around,

[57:38] but that's how efficient he's running the transit service,

[57:42] this is something to kind of hone in on here.

[57:50] Speaker: Our local match is not quite to the level of other

[57:53] cities, however the service we operate On the screen you also

[58:12] see other sources of revenue , we do have an agreement with

[58:21] the city to receive direct funds from the State College

[58:30] and traffic Management Association which they are

[58:34] responsible for encouraging alternatives to the single

[58:43] occupancy vehicle .

[58:57] One of the areas chair Connors wants to hone in on,

[59:03] what are some of our challenges?

[59:08] recently we've been focused on our corridor grant services.

[59:18] We have some of the highest ridership between routes four

[59:26] and nine.

[59:30] As you see here it's almost a quarter of all of our services.

[59:33] Now we are looking at maybe an alternative funding source

[59:38] to provide for these routes, currently for the last 20 plus

[59:44] years we've been allocating these funds to transit services

[1:00:00] but without this funding to operate these routes we will

[1:00:04] have to make sure we have funding coming from somewhere

[1:00:07] else to allocate and distribute throughout the entire service .

[1:00:27] Georganna Gillette: What the department

[1:00:29] is doing when he got the call was

[1:00:32] they're looking at the highest value for each dollar that

[1:00:35] is being used across the board, remember

[1:00:39] we are talking about a transportation

[1:00:41] project or a transit Project.

[1:00:49] He needs to look at and see what are the routes that are not

[1:00:54] performing and potentially shift .

[1:01:00] This is the exercise he is currently going through right

[1:01:03] now .

[1:01:30] Speaker: One of the things we now have to investigate

[1:01:34] is the mobility on demand study, it really

[1:01:41] focuses on how we can efficiently transfer

[1:01:44] from the larger busses to something maybe a little bit

[1:01:48] more efficient, services that are not

[1:01:53] providing the level of ridership that some of the bigger

[1:02:00] [Indistinct] It's on request , the passenger solicits

[1:02:18] the vehicle some of the benefits are it provides flexibility.

[1:02:38] One of the things we have, one of the concerns

[1:02:43] is the distance they have to travel.

[1:02:46] If I go back a couple of slides and see some of them

[1:02:50] have 15 minute walks after they get off the bus.

[1:02:55] We want to get them closer to their destination

[1:02:57] or closer to their origin points.

[1:03:05] I will stop here and see if there's any questions?

[1:03:20] Speaker: What is the pricing model

[1:03:21] and is there a price that could be said for you all to offset

[1:03:25] your costs with the ridership?

[1:03:31] Speaker: I'll answer it this way,

[1:03:38] Typically for a fixed route operation and about $150

[1:03:44] to operate all the routes.

[1:03:48] For our paratransit services, the cost per mile is around $5

[1:03:59] and change, so if you determine the cost it just determines how

[1:04:06] far the passenger needs to go for the destination

[1:04:09] but it's probably $5 and change per mile on a transit service

[1:04:14] which would also be a little higher when you compare that

[1:04:17] to The other service because now you're paying a vendor and they

[1:04:23] have to recoup , they're trying to generate much more revenue

[1:04:37] than they are putting out.

[1:04:41] We've seen those charges exceed ten, $15 per mile.

[1:04:50] Speaker: Not to put any other cities on the spot,

[1:04:52] but why don't they contribute as far as funding?

[1:04:58] Speaker: I can't answer that question,

[1:05:00] I believe that's why we were invited

[1:05:02] to have this conversation today because there's

[1:05:04] a need for additional revenue.

[1:05:06] We operate of course not at a gain, we operate at a negative

[1:05:13] and there's a need for additional revenues

[1:05:16] and that's why we are here having this discussion today.

[1:05:20] One thing I want to go back to is

[1:05:23] if the revenues decreased, that money

[1:05:36] will have to come from somewhere whose services will then also

[1:05:41] have to reduce.

[1:05:48] Andrew Connors: Any other questions?

[1:06:01] I think that's something for us to all be conscientious about

[1:06:06] as we move forward in our budget process,

[1:06:08] we can see losing that approximately million dollars

[1:06:11] that funded the bus route , I'm sure I speak for the rest

[1:06:17] of the cities when I say we don't want to see additional bus

[1:06:20] routes be cut from their city and it's kind of surprising

[1:06:24] to me that palm Bay has let sprouts given that you are three

[1:06:29] times our size.

[1:06:32] Obviously, we have a lot more work to do in this area.

[1:06:39] Speaker: Talk to your legislators

[1:06:40] before the next session.

[1:06:46] Sometimes they don't even want to see me coming ,

[1:06:53] but if that's something you're interested in talk to them soon

[1:06:56] after this election.

[1:07:01] Speaker: I want to make sure as we are talking about

[1:07:03] the services , one of the things we would like to do is maintain

[1:07:13] the service at all costs because we understand that

[1:07:17] our individuals that depend on our services ,

[1:07:28] Georgiana and I have had these discussions based on what are

[1:07:32] our next options.

[1:07:41] Georganna Gillette: The Department of Transportation

[1:07:43] is looking at options to try to keep those two accounts going.

[1:07:46] One of the options is flexing the funding,

[1:07:51] which really gives you the broad authority

[1:07:53] to transfer funding from the Federal Highway

[1:07:56] Administration which is where our funding is at over to FTA.

[1:08:02] Unfortunately you're only allowed

[1:08:05] to do that for capital projects, the military doesn't need

[1:08:09] any more busses, he needs funding

[1:08:13] and that is not an eligible expense

[1:08:15] to transfer the funding over but there's certainly

[1:08:18] a lot of benefits for it.

[1:08:20] These are all the different funding programs through

[1:08:24] the Federal Highway Administration .

[1:08:48] some of the funding could be swapped with a project

[1:08:56] with the program funded with state money that would

[1:08:59] allow the routes to continue.

[1:09:02] This is an option that we are also discussing, and curious

[1:09:07] to know if the governing board would support that but there's

[1:09:11] going to have to be some decisions made,

[1:09:14] and this is definitely the body that needs to hear all of this

[1:09:19] because we really can't underestimate

[1:09:20] the importance of transit in moving people

[1:09:25] within the fabric of transportation,

[1:09:27] not to mention from an economic development standpoint.

[1:09:32] That concludes.

[1:09:47] Speaker: I just have a couple of quick videos.

[1:09:52] [Video plays]

[1:11:12] Chair Andrew Connors: Normally when

[1:11:14] someone does an ad it looks like wasted money.

[1:11:16] You guys nailed it, that was a great ad.

[1:11:20] Any other Seeing none, we are on to item 5A.

[1:11:32] Does anybody have any questions?

[1:11:53] Speaker: In the memorandum I prepared,

[1:11:55] there was a recommendation .

[1:12:12] Chair Andrew Connors: It was voted on to approve a one time

[1:12:15] $5,000 bonus for the executive director and I will entertain

[1:12:19] a motion.

[1:12:57] Speaker: I can tell you as an elected official

[1:12:59] if I make a phone call she's there

[1:13:00] at the ready when I need her.

[1:13:02] I appreciate your hard work on behalf

[1:13:06] of each and every one of us and even moreover

[1:13:08] on the constituency.

[1:13:17] [Applause]

[1:13:21] Chair Andrew Connors: When we did the performance evaluation I

[1:13:23] believe it was before the award came out for that grant ,

[1:13:30] she probably could have gotten six out of five.

[1:13:33] I believe we are on to resolution

[1:13:36] of transportation improvement program amendment number one.

[1:13:47] Georganna Gillette: This is a routine housekeeping item,

[1:13:50] the link is provided on the item sheet for the actual report.

[1:13:55] It's a very long report, it's not

[1:13:58] included in your agenda package.

[1:14:00] When the worker program become effective,

[1:14:04] there were projects that were supposed to get authorized prior

[1:14:08] to June that did not and so these projects automatically

[1:14:11] move forward in the work program .

[1:14:17] Hence the need to reconcile the two documents and bring it up

[1:14:20] to date to ensure that projects that received federal funding

[1:14:24] can be authorized prior to the federal fiscal year which is

[1:14:28] October 1st.

[1:14:30] This is really accomplished by incorporating the big report

[1:14:34] into our existing, so we are asking for approval

[1:14:40] of resolution 27-05 via roll call vote.

[1:14:57] Chair Andrew Connors: Any discussion?

[1:15:04] [Voting]

[1:15:37] Now we are on to item 5C, the National railroad partnership

[1:15:48] program grant funding.

[1:15:54] Speaker: This is really a housekeeping item,

[1:15:56] we are amending a project to the long range transportation plan.

[1:16:07] neither of these projects impact any of the previous projects

[1:16:10] that are cost feasible in the long range transportation plan.

[1:16:18] This would add auxiliary lanes to help

[1:16:24] improve traffic flow and safety along that section of 95.

[1:16:28] This is completely state funded, and as I mentioned

[1:16:32] does not impact the cost feasibility of other projects.

[1:16:36] The next one is once again administrative,

[1:16:38] we are able to add $57 million received

[1:16:44] onto the multimodal station project.

[1:16:48] With that I would like to request approval

[1:16:52] for a Resolution 27-06.

[1:17:12] Speaker: The dedicated lane, is it like an auxiliary lane

[1:17:14] like we have down south?

[1:17:19] Georganna Gillette: My understanding

[1:17:20] they call it an auxiliary lane because it goes from interchange

[1:17:23] to interchange, so they would just

[1:17:28] be adding a lane which does add capacity

[1:17:32] even though it's not technically considered a widening.

[1:17:35] As the department receives funding,

[1:17:38] we are going to keep going south all the way to Malabar.

[1:17:51] Chair Andrew Connors: You can stay in the same lane

[1:17:54] the entire time.

[1:17:58] any other questions?

[1:18:09] Speaker: There is a sound barrier wall as well.

[1:18:16] Georganna Gillette: It's a specific section.

[1:18:20] Speaker: They conducted a sound study,

[1:18:22] and that was one of the thresholds required

[1:18:26] that would allow for it to have the sound wall.

[1:18:36] It was by the Viera East community

[1:18:42] but it's the HOA for that area.

[1:18:54] Speaker: Is there an inherent risk

[1:18:55] it would be subject to a noise?

[1:19:00] Speaker: I would have assumed he would take that

[1:19:02] into consideration.

[1:19:08] Georganna Gillette: The board can certainly

[1:19:10] make a recommendation for that.

[1:19:16] Speaker: It seems a better use of the money

[1:19:17] would be to spread it out for future widening

[1:19:19] instead of isolating $1 million wall

[1:19:24] for a particular neighborhood.

[1:19:30] Georganna Gillette: The project was approved previously

[1:19:31] and we are just adding it to the long range plan

[1:19:33] because the highway requested it needs to be in the long range

[1:19:38] plan similar to discussing with the port's overpass

[1:19:41] project due to the cost.

[1:19:47] But it is approved already, But the board certainly you

[1:19:56] have the authority to make that recommendation.

[1:20:18] Speaker: It didn't break down come

[1:20:19] I don't know what the cost is between the land

[1:20:21] and the wall itself.

[1:20:44] Chair Andrew Connors: Any further discussion?

[1:20:50] Speaker: Allocate the money for the barrier wall

[1:20:52] to be used for other portions.

[1:20:57] Speaker: My question would be can

[1:20:58] we get a guarantee saying I don't want

[1:21:02] you to take that money and build a wall,

[1:21:05] or will they just recoup their money and do what they want?

[1:21:13] my fear is that they just take the money off

[1:21:18] and they'll keep it.

[1:21:22] Chair Andrew Connors: Could a reasonable compromise

[1:21:24] be with the conditioned approval of doing it

[1:21:33] for the subsequent sections as well because I'm

[1:21:36] sure we've heard from Melbourne and Palm

[1:21:38] Bay of folks that are also having similar issues with noise

[1:21:41] on 95.

[1:22:01] Georganna Gillette: One of the things the department mentioned

[1:22:04] putting in an auxiliary lane, they

[1:22:06] will have to look at sound within those overheads just

[1:22:10] because of the sheer growth and the traffic counts,

[1:22:16] so I think that it will be done.

[1:22:23] Chair Andrew Connors: Council member Hamer was first,

[1:22:25] then I will get to Hanley then Forrester .

[1:22:39] Councilmember Hamer: I know if I build

[1:22:41] on a lake I'm not going to be mad

[1:22:44] about the sound of the water, I think it's opening up

[1:22:49] a gate to everybody requiring this wall all the way down

[1:22:57] and how are you going to justify it for one and not another.

[1:23:12] Speaker: Just because you think it's just the sound of cars,

[1:23:14] I have clients in other parts of the state that are not that

[1:23:20] close but close enough to the interstate and they said

[1:23:23] the biggest thing that they hear and problems being that close is

[1:23:28] tires blowing .

[1:23:36] You're just thinking of that sound ,

[1:23:39] they said every day they hear the tires.

[1:23:44] It's not just for the sound wall,

[1:23:46] it's for the protection of us and different parts

[1:23:51] of the roadway.

[1:23:53] Somebody's not going to look , so it's not just we have

[1:24:02] straightaways there, but we have to look at the tires.

[1:24:14] It's not just for the car sound, it's the tires that blow .

[1:24:26] We've got to look at if they put it in there ,

[1:24:32] maybe there's a reason other than just the sound from that

[1:24:36] wall.

[1:24:45] Councilmember Forrester: It just occurs to me

[1:24:48] we're talking about this and using our money

[1:24:50] to mitigate a problem that was caused

[1:24:53] by people building their houses on the side

[1:24:56] of a damned interstate.

[1:24:57] I don't know, different jurisdictions I'm sure have

[1:25:02] different availability of requiring some mitigation from

[1:25:09] these neighborhoods developed in the first place,

[1:25:14] that doesn't solve the problem but it might save

[1:25:17] our predecessors or successors the problem of having to deal

[1:25:23] with the new developments that are going to be going in ,

[1:25:29] we need to first mitigate trees, if they're going to build up

[1:25:35] that close then back up entirely before they build.

[1:25:42] Just a suggestion, something we could take direct action

[1:25:47] on to prevent it from continuing to be a problem years from now .

[1:26:01] They hear the cars and I don't have a lot of sympathy for them

[1:26:03] because they knew the highway was there in the first place .

[1:26:15] Councilmember Georganna Gillette:

[1:26:17] Sound walls are very expensive and there's only so much money

[1:26:21] to go around.

[1:26:25] Councilmember Forrester: You can negotiate with the builders

[1:26:27] and get walls built, get trees put up

[1:26:33] to mitigate, there's a lot of things that

[1:26:35] can be done to mitigate and to keep us having to pay for it

[1:26:43] or spend money doing it 20 years from now.

[1:26:54] Speaker: I know many developers did do the sound barrier

[1:26:57] and the zone you are speaking of ,

[1:27:02] but since that time particularly in palm Bay and throughout now

[1:27:09] because 95 expanded from four lanes to six lanes and so as we

[1:27:16] continue what encroaches onto 95 but right now what we are

[1:27:24] talking about is the south wall buffers,

[1:27:26] so maybe in the future you are right but I can tell you that

[1:27:32] when 95 was first constructed there was no sound walls

[1:27:37] and the result of it was vegetative buffer as a sound

[1:27:43] barrier .

[1:28:07] Speaker: I understand the sound barrier is only effective up

[1:28:10] to the first 30ft.

[1:28:12] So one of the subdivisions near me had all the vegetation,

[1:28:23] they did not have a sound wall.

[1:28:29] FDOT came through and pulled it all out ,

[1:28:35] so the residents took it upon themselves to plant bamboo

[1:28:40] in there which grows quickly and it has helped immensely

[1:28:43] and it's been a very short time, I think depending on what

[1:28:49] property you're planting on that might be an answer just as much

[1:28:59] as the sound wall, thank you.

[1:29:13] Speaker: I was wondering if you would split this item in half

[1:29:16] and we vote on them separately .

[1:29:27] Chair Andrew Connors: Let's tackle the first one first.

[1:29:33] Commissioner?

[1:29:40] Speaker: I've been involved in providing sound barriers

[1:29:44] for residents that have been impacted by the cars

[1:29:46] and trucks along the corridor, it

[1:29:49] does have impact on property values

[1:29:53] and affects our tax base and ability

[1:29:55] to do development and even crime by protecting the neighborhoods

[1:30:04] preventing them from becoming blighted,

[1:30:07] keeping the sound on the noise and the light away.

[1:30:11] My understanding as well is I think to protect neighborhoods

[1:30:28] and if you deny the money it's going

[1:30:32] to go to another community.

[1:30:39] Councilmember Georganna Gillette:

[1:30:39] I was unaware the money for sound walls

[1:30:41] was specifically for the federal government.

[1:30:47] Speaker: There's a criteria you have to meet.

[1:30:52] Councilmember Georganna Gillette:

[1:30:54] And a study that has to be done as well .

[1:30:57] If you're going to add capacity to a roadway,

[1:31:00] same thing they have to do an analysis .

[1:31:14] They are adding a lane which is technically adding capacity

[1:31:16] and they apparently did this analysis

[1:31:19] for this particular neighborhood and did qualify.

[1:31:23] So I would assume as they move south we have to do the same

[1:31:25] exact thing and if they meet the criteria I'm not sure how they

[1:31:30] can get around, so that's a good point .

[1:31:45] Chair Andrew Connors: So I have a motion

[1:31:46] to approve the National Railroad Partnership Program grant

[1:31:50] funding to support the station.

[1:32:07] All those in favor say aye?

[1:32:15] motion carries.

[1:32:19] we kind of went out of order, I apologize.

[1:32:26] one nay, Commissioner Feldner.

[1:32:33] Earlier there was a motion on the floor which

[1:32:36] I skipped earlier because it was requested to split them up,

[1:32:39] so now there's a motion by everybody to approve

[1:32:44] and there was a second one still in discussion

[1:32:48] so now those two things are separated

[1:32:50] let's continue the discussion, how

[1:32:53] do you want to proceed forward?

[1:32:57] this is basically to put in our plan

[1:32:59] because they are using federal dollars.

[1:33:08] in the process of them adding capacity,

[1:33:12] they are adding in a sound wall.

[1:33:34] Vice Mayor: This was a request from the Viera Homeowners

[1:33:37] Association.

[1:33:37] I think we've discussed this , our input saying we don't want

[1:33:49] the wall will impact what the federal government is going

[1:33:52] to do.

[1:33:53] My solution would be to do this looking at it much closer

[1:33:59] because we've had this discussion .

[1:34:07] Chair Andrew Connors: Deputy mayor brought this up

[1:34:09] as a concern because it is a very large project in terms

[1:34:11] of cost, what could those funds elsewhere be used for to help

[1:34:19] increase the capacity which is why the discussion is occurring

[1:34:23] which I think is a fair conversation to have .

[1:34:42] I know all the cities represented here

[1:34:46] that are south of there, you're going

[1:34:53] to see that on the southern end.

[1:34:55] Is this neighborhood special or is every neighborhood going

[1:35:01] to get the same kind of treatment

[1:35:03] because the cost of $37 million per,

[1:35:08] we are not talking about much distance here.

[1:35:11] Are we going to get all the way to palm Bay ?

[1:35:24] Speaker: As you know Commerce of of our southern part has evolved

[1:35:30] but we've always known these sound walls do take a lot

[1:35:36] of funding from increasing our capacity when you go vertical,

[1:35:46] but my question is more geared towards their requiring this ,

[1:35:57] they are actually putting this in place because of some policy

[1:36:04] that they are doing it that way.

[1:36:11] Councilmember Georganna Gillette:

[1:36:13] Anytime you add capacity to a roadway you have to analyze

[1:36:15] the environmental aspect of it, that's just one component of it,

[1:36:20] and there's a very specific and detailed analysis that goes

[1:36:24] beyond that, and if it hits that mark ,

[1:36:29] if it qualifies we can certainly add another meeting have someone

[1:36:33] come in and present on it that actually knows what

[1:36:36] they're talking about .

[1:36:44] That may be very good for the conversation

[1:36:47] as the department moves south moving forward.

[1:37:03] Speaker: Could we potentially not approve the project

[1:37:06] at this time and go ahead and I will process amendment

[1:37:11] one with the rail station and then Chuck sets us

[1:37:14] up for October but to someone come in

[1:37:17] and tell you more about the project

[1:37:19] and give you the breakdown and provide you that opportunity

[1:37:24] to learn more?

[1:37:29] Councilmember Georganna Gillette:

[1:37:29] I'm a little concerned considering we had to send

[1:37:31] a commitment letter to the Federal Highway Administration .

[1:37:40] I'm a little concerned unless members really feel strongly .

[1:37:59] Speaker: We might not like it, but we need the capacity.

[1:38:10] going south we're going to have tremendous growth going on,

[1:38:17] expanding businesses.

[1:38:23] Maybe we don't like that but sometimes we need the expansion

[1:38:27] and if we don't take it now it might

[1:38:30] be two years before the gap or longer than that.

[1:38:38] So hold your nose, you might not like it

[1:38:43] but we've got to take it.

[1:38:45] I propose we vote Yes for the auxiliary improvement.

[1:38:59] with the funding things and going on,

[1:39:03] we've got to say yes, we hold our nose and vote.

[1:39:12] Chair Andrew Connors: I don't think

[1:39:12] anybody had an issue with the auxiliary lanes,

[1:39:14] it was just the wall and what other improvements can

[1:39:16] be made with the wall funding.

[1:39:19] I'm going to call a roll call vote.

[1:39:30] Speaker: It's for specifically approving the new project

[1:39:35] for 195.

[1:40:02] Councilmember Georganna Gillette:

[1:40:03] Can you repeat who had the initial motion and second?

[1:40:17] Chair Andrew Connors: Mayor and vice mayor.

[1:40:43] Speaker: My concern also is from a legal perspective,

[1:40:48] this has been a approved under the federal act and I would be

[1:40:53] concerned --

[1:40:59] I don't know the ramifications.

[1:41:08] but just sitting here gives me some pause.

[1:41:17] Speaker: Just to again confirm, moving to approve the resolution

[1:41:20] as it appears in the package.

[1:41:28] [Voting]

[1:42:01] Chair Andrew Connors: The motion carries.

[1:42:06] Speaker: I do have a question.

[1:42:16] Vice Mayor: My question is that if this construction is starting

[1:42:19] in a couple weeks, why are we just getting it

[1:42:22] for approval now?

[1:42:23] Why haven't we seen this before?

[1:42:30] if we don't approve it, I'm not sure what that has.

[1:42:37] getting it two weeks before the construction starts, what

[1:42:42] are the ramifications on us if we did not approve this,

[1:42:45] I'm just talking for future projects.

[1:42:51] Speaker: Technically it was already approved when

[1:42:53] you approved the amendment tip.

[1:43:01] Councilmember Georganna Gillette:

[1:43:02] There was another amendment .

[1:43:23] Speaker: We had to put it in the 26 tip because the federal

[1:43:28] government still recognizes the fiscal year 26 so it was

[1:43:35] in the 27 tip but the letting was going to happen before

[1:43:43] the federal fiscal year and we had to amend it to add it .

[1:43:51] That's the gap that we have to deal with between the fiscal

[1:43:54] years .

[1:44:04] Councilmember Georganna Gillette:

[1:44:05] The highway came back and said that needs to be in your long

[1:44:08] range plan, so we had to send a commitment letter saying we will

[1:44:11] bring it to the board and cooperated into the long term

[1:44:16] plans so that's how that's played out over the past few

[1:44:20] months .

[1:44:31] Consent agenda, approval of the minutes,

[1:44:37] approval of committee appointments,

[1:44:41] approval of resolution amendment to the transportation

[1:44:45] disadvantaged local coordinating board policy.

[1:44:51] the adoption of resolution for fiscal year operating budget,

[1:44:59] approval of work order a major update to the transportation

[1:45:03] Disadvantaged Service plan working with Space Coast Area

[1:45:09] Transit .

[1:45:13] This is our 2627 Traffic data report analysis.

[1:45:19] Approval of work order, this is the Cross City Trail feasibility

[1:45:25] study, first study from the master plan.

[1:45:32] Approval of Melbourne Beach study,

[1:45:39] and approval of legal services agreement extension.

[1:45:53] All those in favor say aye?

[1:46:01] motion carries unanimously.

[1:46:07] Councilmember Georganna Gillette:

[1:46:07] I was so excited to talk about the grant

[1:46:08] that I kind of went off, but just wanted

[1:46:12] to I think it certainly represents a big step forward

[1:46:19] in expanding transportation options

[1:46:21] and connecting the community to the future of passenger rail.

[1:46:25] This is certainly a big deal, and as the regional body

[1:46:31] we have a very big role in the years of planning

[1:46:34] and coordination, so I would say thank you

[1:46:37] for allowing us to continue in this effort

[1:46:40] over the past decade.

[1:46:42] Thank you for your leadership, your advocacy and funding

[1:46:49] partnership, because that's what it's all about is having

[1:46:53] the funding match our state legislators that support

[1:46:56] the project and I have to thank the Congressman,

[1:47:01] he's instrumental on the federal level and having his

[1:47:05] conversations with Secretary Duffy because you cannot submit

[1:47:12] this large competitive discretionary federal grant

[1:47:17] and forget about it, it really takes advocacy

[1:47:20] if you're actually going to see the money.

[1:47:25] Then, next slide I would like to introduce our new staff

[1:47:31] member who is in the back, she is our new accounts payable

[1:47:35] and contract specialist.

[1:47:39] She's been with us two months and has really

[1:47:41] hit the ground running and we are

[1:47:43] very excited to have her as we accomplish our strategic plan

[1:47:47] goals.

[1:47:52] that concludes my report.

[1:48:04] [Indistinct]

[1:48:39] Speaker: We will rename that the Michael C Blake terminal...

[1:48:47] [Applause]

[1:48:54] Chair Andrew Connors: Any committee reports?

[1:49:00] now we are on to Space Coast area transit,

[1:49:04] we already had the presentation from them.

[1:49:08] We have the modal reports by the airport ?

[1:49:23] Speaker: Last night at Melbourne City Council this was presented.

[1:49:27] There's a new soccer stadium that's

[1:49:31] coming to property that the land was purchased near the airport,

[1:49:37] these are some renderings of what that area will potentially

[1:49:46] look like with the soccer stadium.

[1:49:49] It's directly across from the Apollo and this used to be where

[1:49:56] the lagoon area was going to be .

[1:50:03] Any questions for me?

[1:50:15] Speaker: Mayor Connor said we cheer each other on,

[1:50:17] we are cheering you on.

[1:50:22] thank you.

[1:50:25] Speaker: We haven't heard any timelines but it's definitely

[1:50:28] on the radar to be happening.

[1:50:32] Chair Andrew Connors: It's exciting

[1:50:32] because it's the same ownership that brought

[1:50:35] Orlando City to Orlando.

[1:50:39] I think we can all take pride in the next generation of football

[1:50:46] fans that are out there .

[1:51:16] Speaker: In your public engagement report,

[1:51:17] just a special note.

[1:51:20] Right before school started I just

[1:51:22] wanted to give out a shout out for a tool schools can use

[1:51:29] to share messages with parents, their announcements

[1:51:32] and on social media, it's already being used by schools.

[1:51:37] Moving on, just a quick thank you

[1:51:40] to everyone who either participated in Melbourne

[1:51:49] at this event spreading that message of making

[1:51:56] sure we are stopping on red.

[1:52:01] lastly I just wanted to share some major awards

[1:52:05] at our statewide Florida Public Relations Association's PR

[1:52:11] and Communications Summit and we are really proud of these two

[1:52:18] specific projects, the first is a brand guide which means it was

[1:52:22] top scoring in its category and deliverables and the social

[1:52:28] media campaign took home not only a golden image but a grand

[1:52:31] golden image which means it's only one of three in the state

[1:52:34] that received it and it just goes to show government

[1:52:36] communication matters and we were really excited to celebrate

[1:52:42] our friends from the city ,

[1:52:47] and it was on the day of the announcement of the rail station

[1:52:50] so it was very celebratory and I just

[1:52:53] wanted to say I was proud of our team and the work we do

[1:52:56] does not go unrecognized.

[1:53:02] Chair Andrew Connors: Now on to space.

[1:53:07] Speaker: It's exciting to see the big things happening

[1:53:12] around the county.

[1:53:13] As you are all well aware, we have touched on this before,

[1:53:21] not sure if everyone saw back in July

[1:53:25] the Brevard Air Show the announcement of the expanding

[1:53:31] footprint here in developing manufacturing complex yet

[1:53:36] to be determined.

[1:53:40] It's expected to bring thousands of jobs with it by 2030.

[1:53:53] NASA announced they will be hosting the Max power

[1:54:00] event at the launch and landing facility operated by Space

[1:54:08] Florida, they will play a role in hosting the event

[1:54:11] as the facility operator and it's

[1:54:13] going to be a phenomenal event not just an air show,

[1:54:16] it's going to be a major technology showcase

[1:54:19] and there's also going to be some special attractions hosted

[1:54:24] by Delaware North November in the visitor center that

[1:54:34] will be open to the public, very exciting,

[1:54:38] the public can come and park on the runway of the facility

[1:54:42] and it's going to be a great event.

[1:54:47] our Space Florida board met this morning

[1:54:50] and they approved several additional major facilities that

[1:54:55] are going to be developed, everything from processing

[1:55:01] and testing facilities and major infrastructure

[1:55:05] needed to support the growth that

[1:55:08] benefits multiple companies.

[1:55:11] With that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

[1:55:21] Chair Andrew Connors: We're expecting over 5000 visitors

[1:55:24] easily, that's typical for the Cocoa Beach Air show .

[1:55:32] Brevard County awarded some marketing dollars to that,

[1:55:37] but this is kind of unique and it's not just an air show,

[1:55:41] it's also a big event that's never

[1:55:42] happened in the state of Florida before so the future plans

[1:55:45] for this is to compete with Paris and England

[1:55:48] in terms of the size and scope of the air show.

[1:55:52] Really cool, looking forward to hosting you guys.

[1:55:58] We've got plenty of parking Sam .

[1:56:25] Speaker: Port Canaveral continues to experience growth

[1:56:28] across all segments,

[1:56:34] the fiscal year 27 projects that were announced

[1:56:40] include more than 10 million passenger movements,

[1:56:57] cargo activities with 5.8 million tons of cargo

[1:57:06] passing through the port they proposed operating budget

[1:57:15] projects $289.8 million in operating revenues

[1:57:22] and approximately 95.5 million in infrastructure improvements.

[1:57:35] The capital program budget is going to be around $249 million

[1:57:43] in infrastructure improvement.

[1:57:49] The plan exceeds $1 billion in infrastructure improvement.

[1:57:57] Cruise Terminal ten expansion and innovation is underway

[1:58:03] planned for November 2027.

[1:58:09] Approximately $18 million for improvements across traffic flow

[1:58:20] enhancements .

[1:58:24] The port remains committed in support

[1:58:32] of local and regional tourism and

[1:58:39] regional economic development.

[1:58:55] We will shortly have plans to be working on an economic impact

[1:59:00] study by the port's impact in the economy of the county.

[1:59:24] Speaker: Just a few updates from some projects here.

[1:59:36] The resurfacing of us one, working on their final punch

[1:59:43] lists and close to completion here shortly.

[1:59:46] On a safety note for September, we continued our campaign

[1:59:52] for safety with the children making

[1:59:56] sure they ride inappropriate child seats

[2:00:02] and remind motorists not to leave their child in the car.

[2:00:10] Also included in this month is drowsy

[2:00:15] driving which can be as dangerous

[2:00:17] as drunk driving and railroad crossing safety.

[2:00:28] That concludes my report !

[2:00:59] Marie Smith: I'm the town manager of Melbourne Beach,

[2:01:03] I started about six months ago.

[2:01:06] Thank you for passing the multimodal study,

[2:01:08] I just really wanted to thank members

[2:01:11] for coming and visiting us.

[2:01:15] I was listening to all the projects you are taking on and I

[2:01:19] just wanted you to know we are very appreciative that you

[2:01:22] don't forget even the little towns like us and what we are

[2:01:25] doing and I just want to commend you for all your work .

[2:01:40] Thank you all very much!

[2:01:49] Chair Andrew Connors: That kind of

[2:01:50] gets us to the end of our agenda unless anybody has anything

[2:01:53] they want to talk about.

[2:02:00] Mayor: I want to say that's the best public comment we've ever

[2:02:02] had !

[2:02:08] Chair Andrew Connors: You're welcome to come back any time

[2:02:10] come to our next meeting has been set for October 8th

[2:02:13] at 1:30.

[2:02:21] do I have a motion to So moved.

Transportation Planning Office on 2026-09-10 1:30 PM

Agenda

Transcript